#... AND pirate with years and years of fighting experience under his belt.

[seastarlily]

Not to be a "Negative Nancy", but if anyone, and I mean anyone thinks any member of the main voice cast sounds "too old" to be playing their characters and should retire, you're ageist and we cannot be friends.✌

[casual-violinist-fangirl]

Just Call Me And I'll Be There (3,090 Words)

Injured and on the run, Omega is forced to run to the first person she thinks of... but will that person be wiling to help her out after all of these years?

Set after the epilogue of the Bad Batch, exploring Omega's life in the rebellion! This will be a two-chapter fic and I'll make sure to tag the second chapter when it is completed!

As always, the link for my AO3 page is here and the link to my Tumblr masterlist is here.

I hope you enjoy!

--------

Omega was typically good at getting out of uncomfortable situations; the prospect of being captured was no stranger to her, so when the Empire had eventually caught up with her squad she had hardly been surprised. Luckily, none of them could trace her back to Hemlock’s experiments on Tantiss (thanks, Nala Se) so those holding her hostage just assumed that she was some washed up orphan that had joined the rebellion on a whim…

… if only they knew the truth.

Needless to say, her escape had been pretty spectacular. Echo would have been proud if he could have been there to see the way the cruiser exploded as she flew away in a modified TIE fighter. He was still working on liberating clones, even though Rex, Wolffe and Gregor had retired years earlier. Age hadn’t stopped the ex-ARC trooper from fighting for the rights of clones, and luckily Senator Chuchi was still standing strong and by his side. 

If Omega had to be critical, the only downside of her escape this time was the nasty burn on the side of her leg from where she’d dodged some explosive flames on her way out, combined with the blaster wound on her shoulder; luckily she had been wearing a disguise at the time of her capture, not her lucky jacket.

Still high on adrenaline and fear, the young woman had managed to punch in hyperspace coordinates and class her way to the nearest neutral planet she could think of: Ord Mantell.

She hadn’t exactly been planning on going there, but it popped up on the navi-computer as being the closest by a long shot… Pabu was way too far for her to go now. 

Landing on the planet hadn’t been an issue, although some people had stopped and stared at her as she clambered out of the TIE fighter, ragged and bleeding. Where was she going to go now? Kriff, she hadn’t thought this far. Hobbling out of the spaceport, she surveyed her surroundings as she tried to think of a plan of action. As long as she put space between herself and the ship she guessed it didn’t really matter where she went. If this place had access to long-range comms and  med-kit that would be even better…

A nasty thought filled her head and she swore quietly to herself… there was one place she could think of going to, not that it filled her with much joy. Realising that she didn’t have much choice and that if she wanted to go under the Empire’s radar, she’d need to rely on a friend. 

If she could call this person a friend anymore… time would tell.

——

The last twenty(ish) years had not been particularly kind to Cid. After she had lost communication with the Bad Batch, she had been riddled with guilt. That guilt had only gotten worse when she’d realised that the creepy scientist had been after Tiny and not her brothers. She had tried her hardest to put all of that behind her, until Phee had come knocking on her door.

The pirate had yelled abuse at her, calling her a coward and declaring that she had no right destroying the family of clones in the way that she did. Cid had made some below-the-belt comments about Phee and Goggles, snapping about how she was only acting this way because of his death.

Needless to say, Phee hadn’t spoken to her since. Cid had lost one of the only people she could call a friend. 

Then, six months later, a dangerously skilled clone had rocked up on her doorstep, threatening to burn down her bar if she didn’t give him a way of finding Omega. So the kid had escaped? With the help of one of her brothers, she’d later found out. Not that Cid was surprised. She guessed it must’ve been Bandanna who’d rescued the girl; she was closer to being his daughter than his sister anyways.

Stuck in-between a rock and a hard place, Cid had said the only person she knew who might have contact with the Batch was Phee. Luckily for her, the clone had left, but not before firing a blaster bolt through her shoulder in an attempt to kill her.

After that, Cid heard nothing else about her ex-mercenaries, and she decided that was the way she liked it. She could run her bar undisturbed by clones and their issues. No whiny kids, no grumpy fathers, no loud, boomy brothers. No know-it-all clones who always interrupted her when she was talking… It was kinda quiet though.

That was until one day, nearly twenty years later, she was closing down the bar after a long night. The door beeped, a sign that the security code had been tapped into the keypad outside, and hissed open; it creaked a little, a sign that it needed oiling… or possibly outright replacing.

Cid scowled. She was the only person who knew the code to that door, so either someone had overridden it or it was….

… surely not. She hadn’t heard from any of them in years. If they were even still alive, why would they want to see her? She had betrayed them, sold them out to the Empire like they had been nothing to her. They hadn’t meant anything to her… or at least she hadn’t thought so until Tech had died. The day they’d rushed into her bar, injured and broken, her heart had hurt for them. It had hurt even more so when he’d seen the distraught look on Hunter’s face as he stooped over Omega’s injured form. 

Shaking herself out of her thoughts and back into the present, Cid grasped the blaster that she had clipped to the bottom of the bar. The woman clicked it out of stun mode; whoever was coming into her bar, they weren’t expected and they were unlikely to be friendly. 

She could hear laboured footsteps coming down the steps and exiting the shadows. There, stood in front of Cid with blood oozing out of her shoulder and smelling a little bit like burning, was a young woman.

“Long time no see, Cid,” the girl said with a small smile that instantly sent the Trandoshian back in time. 

“Tiny!”

Blaster dropped to the floor and forgotten about, Cid moved around the bar and towards Omega. Upon closer inspection, she noticed just how bad the blaster wound was, and realised that the smell of burning was coming from the scorched fabric on her trousers. This kid had been through the wars.

“What happened to you, someone try to barbecue ya?” she asked as she glanced down at the burn on the girl’s leg. That was gonna need some serious bacta, and even then it might leave a mean scar. Omega rolled her eyes as she moved to a bar stool, sitting on it heavily. 

“Got captured by Imperials,” she started to explain through gritted teeth. “Had to blow up their ship when I escaped.” 

Cid’s face must have held a bewildered look because Omega snorted humourlessly. “You haven’t changed much,” she muttered as she rested her head against the cool bar surface. She groaned as there was a pull in her shoulder but sighed contentedly as the cool metal met a bruise on her temple. Had she been hit around the head at one point? Who knew. 

Cid stared at the young clone in front of her, still not quite believing her eyes. 

“Where are your posse?” she asked, moving back to the other side of the bar. She reached back and pulled down two glasses and a bottle of liquor. The kid looked old enough to drink now… stuff it, even if she wasn’t, it would help ease the pain of her injuries. 

“That’s what I was coming to you about, actually,” Omega raised an eyebrow at the alcohol in her cup but didn’t even flinch as she knocked it back like a shot. Cid shrugged and poured her some more.

“I don’t know where your family are, kid, if that’s what you’re asking.” The Trandoshian’s voice seemed to be filled with sympathy that Omega didn’t know she possessed. She shook her head.

“I know where they are,” she replied. “I just need access to a long-range comm that I know will reach them undetected.” She looked at Cid pointedly. “… and a med-kit that’s well stocked,” she added, knowing that Echo used to put things into Cid’s med-kit that probably hadn’t been used since they were placed there. Out of date bacta was better than no bacta. “You owe me after what you put me and my family through.”

Cid sighed, knowing that the girl was right. She could hardly turn her away, not after she had done exactly that years prior. She had betrayed the child and her brothers more times than she cared to admit… it was time to make good.

She lead Omega through the bar, still carrying the bottle of alcohol and their glasses, and sat her down in the office. There she went about looking for the med-kit; Omega had been right. It hadn’t been updated since Echo had done it fifteen years ago. She sighed as she clicked open the box and began searching through it for what she needed. 

“Comm’s all set up,” the quiet voice of Cid broke the clone out of her concentration. “I’ve rigged it so no one will trace your call.”

Omega nodded in thanks and watched as the Trandoshian left the office before turning her attention to the machine. She tapped in the code for her family’s comm device on Pabu before sitting back and hoping that someone would be on the other end to pick up…

The comm hadn’t even rang three times before Hunter’s scowling face appeared. 

“Cid,” he started. “I don’t know why you’re trying to call us after all these years but…” his voice trailed off and cracked when he noticed who was on the end of the line.

“Omega!” he gasped, and the woman in question smiled a watery smile. 

“Hey, buir,” she croaked as she tried to hold back to onslaught of emotion she was experiencing upon seeing her father for the first time since before her capture. 

Of course Hunter had questions. “Why are you at Cid’s?” was the first, though it was swiftly followed by “are you hurt?” and “do you need me to come and get you?”

Omega had given him the shortened version of what had happened leading up to and following on from her capture. Her buir’s eyes widened when she said that she had been hurt and gave him the brief rundown of her injuries.

Before too long, Hunter was saying goodbye, promising to be there soon to pick her up. He hung up the call, leaving Omega alone once more; all of a sudden the wave of emotion was too much for her and she burst into loud, heartbreaking sobs. 

Cid, on hearing her crying, opened the door to the office and peeped in. 

“You okay, Tiny?” she asked, concern lacing her usually blunt voice. Omega nodded, but hissed in pain as she jolted her shoulder once more. The Trandoshian guessed that the call had been successful considering how long it had gone on for, and that one of Tiny’s brothers would be here soon. “Let’s get you patched up,” she carried on, walking further into the room and prying the med-kit out of the girl’s hands.

She worked in silence, carefully peeling away what fabric she could from Omega’s burn as the young clone breathed through the pain. She then sprayed a bacta-laced freezing spray over the wound; Tiny’s shoulders eased up as she sighed a little with relief. 

Then came the shoulder. All Cid could do was place out of date bacta over it and dress it neatly, hoping that it would stop bleeding soon.

“Sorry there isn’t more I can do, kid,” she muttered in apology as she stood away to admire her handiwork. Omega nodded, though her eyes were unfocussed and looked heavy. Cid swore quietly and waved a hand in front of the girl’s face.

“Hey, Tiny,” she spoke a little louder, snapping Omega out of her slump. “I reckon you’re concussed. No nap time for you, at least not until one of your brothers turns up.” The woman in question nodded in response, not being able to bring herself to speak. She was so tired, surely a small nap wouldn’t hurt…

… “TINY!” Omega jumped out of her skin, hissing at the movement in her shoulder. “Come on, kid,” Cid grumbled. “You gotta stay alive until Dark and Broody gets here. I’m guessing he’s the one who’s on his way?”

Omega nodded, a small smile on her face at the mention of her buir. Cid rolled her eyes; this kid had always been soft.

“Has he finally decided he’s your dad yet?” she asked sarcastically. “Or is he still pretending that his Jango Fett gene didn’t activate?”

She turned to face the wounded clone, only to see a frown on her face. 

“After my second escape from Hemlock…” Omega started slowly. “Hunter said that we were free to be whoever we wanted.” She smiled fondly at the memory. It hadn’t been long after that she’d started calling him buir. She had been so nervous, petrified of being rejected, but she needn’t have been. Hunter had practically burst into tears upon her asking permission to call him dad.

“He chose to be a father,” she finished with a fond smile on her face. Cid nodded, somewhat impressed with the clone sergeant. When she had known him, he had seemed so emotionally stunted that she thought he’d never admit to Omega how he felt about her, but here the pair were. Father and daughter… Cid realised she should have guessed this from the red bandanna the kid wore around her head. Yeah, there was no confusion as to whose kid she was.

“I’m glad he came to his senses,” she commented, making Omega snort a little with laughter. 

“You sound like Crosshair,” she replied with a laugh. “He’s the one who said I should talk to Hunter.”

Cid vaguely remembered the Batch talking about a Crosshair and she had assumed that he was one of their brothers, but had never met the man. 

——

Hunter barrelled through the door of the bar four fours later looking frazzled and… older than Cid remembered. Of course, she didn’t look the same, but she hadn’t been expecting the small streaks of silver running through Dark and Broody’s hair, or the way his battle-ready body had filled out… that probably came with being able to afford food, she thought to herself as she stood up to greet him. 

Omega was getting tired again, her eyes drooping as she complained about the pain in her leg beginning to come back; Cid had kept her busy with a caffeinated drink and multiple games of Djerik. Of course the girl had won every single came, even concussed; as they played she wittered on about the time she had won nearly 50,000 credits whilst on the run with Crosshair.

“Omega!” Hunter ran to the young clone, not even looking at Cid. He crouched in front of her, ignoring the twinge in his knees. Checking over her injuries, he frowned as he noticed the gunshot wound, treated but still painful. It turned out that out of date bacta wasn’t as effective as Omega had hoped. 

“Hey, buir,” she said in a voice that was suddenly choked with emotion again. “Everything hurts.”

Hunter breathed out a short laugh, though the concern on his face was still evident. “I’m not surprised, ad’ika,” he replied, cupping her cheek. “It’s okay though, I’ll get you home.”

Cid raised both eyebrows at the mention of ‘home.’ She had just assumed that the boys would still be wondering the galaxy. She was surprised that they had found somewhere safe enough to settle down.

She was broken from her thoughts by Hunter easing his kid to her feet and slinging her good arm over his shoulder. Omega hissed as the pair took an unsteady step forward, Bandanna whispering soothing words to her as a couple of tears leaked down her cheeks. The pain really had come back with a vengeance, huh. 

As the pair reached the door of the bar, Hunter still having not knowledge Cid’s existence, Omega put her hand out to stop them both. She shuffled around, nodding at the Trandoshian.

“Thanks, Cid,” she said and for what it was worth, she sounded genuinely grateful. Cid nodded in return at them both. 

“See you around, Tiny,” she replied. “You too, Bandanna. I’m glad you got to live your lives in peace. You deserved it.”

For the first time, Hunter looked at her. Cid could see the bitterness in his eyes, not that she could blame him. As he observed her, his eyes softened a little. She knew he was grateful that she’d looked after his little girl. After everything she had put their family through, that was as much as she could ask for. The pair nodded at each other before Hunter re-adjusted his grasp on Omega. The pair shuffled out of the bar, slowly making their way back to their ship.

——

“You were smart to go back to somewhere you know,” Hunter commented as he settled Omega in the co-pilot’s chair of his ship. His first move had been to give her a dose of pain medication; she had no idea when she’d hit her head, but it was safe to say that she was coherent that Hunter wasn’t worried about her falling asleep. As the pain medication kicked in she began to doze off. Her buir took the opportunity to re-dress her arm with bacta that would actually do its job, and put more spray on her burn before dressing that too.

“You trained me well…” Omega slurred slightly, her eyes drooping. “Missed you, buir,” she added in a pitifully small voice as he finished up re-dressing her injuries. Hunter stood back to his full height and sighed at the sight of his grown-up daughter falling asleep in front of him. He stooped down and pressed a gentle kiss against her temple.

“Missed you too, ‘Mega,” he whispered, not wanting to make her jump. He sat down in the pilot’s chair before tapping in the coordinates for Pabu. Upon entering hyperspace he finally breathed a sigh of relief; they were going home.

[tifa1991]

Trafalgar Law and Reader Part 4.

“My...heart...you have my heart. I want to know why, but first I want it back right now" you still sounded weak but your voice had emphasis.

"I can't, at least not now" the blackhaired man said in a cold tone.

"Are you kidding me?" you got back up, ignoring the dizziness and trying not to sound too weak.

"You can't do that".

"I already did" he wandered over to a wardrobe where his long coat and a special belt hung, which he grabbed and placed on your duvet. You took it straight away, your two short swords were still there as was your small bag full of Berry. But one important thing was missing.

"Are you looking for this?" Law held a small dendenmushi in his hand, it wore small aviator sunglasses on its case and had a red scar under each eye. You were already worried he would have it.

"Why don't you tell me why you're really on Punk Hazard?"

"Because I don't know if I can trust you. I've last seen you two years ago and now you attacked me and stole my heart, while at the same time you took care of me. Maybe you should tell me what's going on first" you said in a calm, still weakened tone.

"Look, we know each other, our crews are not enemies"

"-but not friends either" he said serious, "but I understand what you're getting at. We won't get any further if we don't tell each other something" he said and you nodded.

"Is it safe here? Can I talk to you here without anyone hearing us?" He looked at you for a moment saying nothing. “Come on, Law. You’re definitely not alone in this huge thing and I’m not talking about your crew.” He closed his eyes briefly and thought about whether it would be right to reveal part of his plans. Sure, you were right, you knew each other. A little over two years ago, he and his crew landed on a winter island at the same time as you and your crew on one of the routes to the Sabaody Archipel, shortly before heading to the Sabaody Archipel itself. It turned out that parts of your crew had to work together and as chaotic and exhausting as your stubborn captain was, Trafalgar Law had to admit that he was more than capable of leading his crew and could fight. You and he proved the same when you had to fight Pacifista together with him and Eustess Kidd on the Sabaody Archipel. You four were a good team.

"It's safe in this room, wouldn't say that for other rooms," he finally said. "Okay then, for now, I suggest we start again from the beginning. I'll tell you something you want to know and then you tell me" your voice was hoarse and your throat slowly started to hurt due to being dry despite the glass of water. Law sighed and turned the chair in front of him, his right arm resting on the back and your dendensnail in his left, he looked at you with a piercing gaze. "Fine. I'll start. As I said, why are you really here on Punk Hazard and how did you find it?"

"Our Captain send three of us on a mission to find out if a dangerous rumor is true. We heard about Punk Hazard which we only knew a the Island where Akainu and Aokiji fought, that it still had a factory going on with bizarre experiments. Knowing it couldn't be found with a logport we found out what islands would be nearby and docked at yellowhealth a small trading port near dressrosa."

"So the rumors about your crew disbanding or disappearing aren't true?"

"No, only to a limited extent. We haven't disbanded, we've just gone into hiding and are operating in the background. Somehow we got deeper and deeper into the underworld of bad pirates, marines, bounty hunters, bandits and even some pretty rich people. And the name of something in particular appeared more and more often, which is said to have its origins in Punk Hazard".

Law grinned, "I understand, then you are responsible for the fact that some of the most evil pirates and criminals were gradually handed over to the Marine. I've heard some rumors myself about a group of unknown people causing turmoil in the underground, and the leader fit the description of the Captain of the Spirapirates very well. There was also talk of a woman who looked like a demon, and by then it was clear to me that you had something to do with it". "

Oh then you remember our navigator?"

"Sure, she was a Kryptid-Zoanfruituser Type Gargoyle".

You nooded. "This means she is able to sense the magnetic poles of the islands, which are not too far away. This also applies to islands that the logport cannot record, such as Punk Hazard. Normally the three of us were supposed to enter the island but the group around our captain had figured out other things. We had made quite a few enemies in the underworld and should therefore not follow this lead alone and come back to better analyze the situation from our hiding place".

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Dad Squad Brain Rot is back, have a character reference

@nancyheart11 @silvercaptain24 @ajscico @skyward-floored help this is becoming more coherent in my brain and it's scaring me lol

The Dads!

The Cinnamon Roll with Hidden Skills (Rusl) - A farmer and blacksmith, Rusl is used to the quiet and simple things in life except for all those times he goes on secret undercover missions and has years of fighting experience under his belt and is like a Hero of Hyrule in his own right. Gentle, definitely the most emotionally intelligent of the bunch, with just enough touch of chaos to be able to put up with the other two and simultaneously throw them both for a loop sometimes.

The Tired and Paranoid One (Abel) - This man needs that 100 year sleep almost as much as his son. Was definitely a Workaholic in his glory days, put duty before everything, kind of hates himself sometimes for it and other times just... doesn't have faith in himself anymore. Or anything. But he's a hell of a fighter, very protective and tries to be honorable... most of the time. He will slit someone's throat if he has to, and he more often than not thinks that he has to. He's a survivalist, not a knight. Not anymore. But he tries to still have a soft heart and help others.

The Otherworldly Bizarro Mildly Terrifying but Soft One (FD) - Nobody knows a lot about him except that he can kill an army with one hand and has no idea how social situations (or people in general) work. Sees everything tactically because that's all he's ever been used for. Softie at heart but do not make yourself a threat. Ever.

The Sons!

Brother Wolf (TP Link) - Absolutely will protect the hell out of the other two. Unfortunately stuck in wolf form for a long while because he doesn't want to transform in front of anyone, so kind of has to deal with that. Very worried about his Dad, last time he saw him he was unconscious!

Coma Boy (BotW Link) - So much personality. Sleep. More sleep? Some more sleep. Maybe he can moan sometimes! Kind of dying, actually. Maybe Fairy Boy and Brother Wolf can help somehow.

Fairy Boy (Hero of Time) - Quiet, sweet, reserved, cold all at once. Nice to Wolf because he's a wolf. Nice to Coma Boy because he's in a coma. Cold as ice to literally everyone else. Will help someone but never get close to them. Knows how to kill way too freaking well for his age. Kind of bitter but doesn't bring it up much. Has no clue that Fierce Dadity is on the hunt, thinks they're on their own.

Honorary Dads!

Mr Upstanding Citizen (FSA Dad) - Everybody loves the manga, apparently lol, but also he seems like a cool character. So he's like... there? Sometimes? I guess?? Abel is in awe of him. He doesn't know how to take it.

Linebeck. Just... Linebeck - I don't know what he's doing here, and he doesn't either tbh, but I just love his character so much even if I know next to nothing about him, the game he's in, or the Hero of the Winds. This is @smilesrobotlover's fault, I don't make the rules. He just comes and goes as my brain pleases.

Honorary Sons!

The Captain (HW Link) - Technically is the one wearing FD's mask, so in Fierce's eyes he's already protected and safe. Except for all the PTSD he's been dealing with up until this point and the now nearly fatal magical fatigue he's building up from being Fierce's host for so long. But he was in trouble, needed help, and kind of sort of vaguely recognizes that Mask is in trouble too and isn't bucking against the possession. What little of his consciousness registers it, at least.

The Pirate (Hero of the Winds) - I don't even know, guys, if Linebeck is here I guess Windy Boy is too. He's somewhere out at sea blowing things up and the Yiga have no freaking clue how he got there or how to get to him. Oh, and he found FSA Link and they're bffs.

The Boys (FSA Link) - I know nothing about this little quartered muffin, he's just vibing with his Pirate Friend, I guess, but if his Dad's an honorary member who comes and goes as people please then I guess FSA Link is too. OR or he actually fought off the Yiga and he's fine at home and is now freaking out because Dad's Missing Oh No

[hazzyking]

Official- unofficial OC information!!!

Tada it's done!!!!!

Name: "Ame Newgate!"

Age: late 20's early 30's I'm remaining ambiguous cause her age is a mystery lmao and when you read her story, you'll understand why

Height: 5'3 ", which is interesting considering how tall my pops is!" ((Also, that's my height, and I get made fun of it a lot))

Weakness: "my family. And my unpredictable power!"

Power: "some strange phenomenon happened the night of my birth. I was born with the power of the Gura Gura No Mi! Except, I can still swim, I'm infact the strongest swimmer of all the Whitebeard pirates! No one knows how this happened, not even the Marines! They would do all kinds of experiments on me if they ever caught me again, so I tend to keep my power a secret."

Affiliation: Whitebeard Pirates

Strawhat Pirates

Dreams: "I don't have many dreams. I just want to be free. Feel the wind blowing through my hair. And be able to live without judgment. That's a right that every living creature deserves!"

This is just a brief telling of what Ame was doing up until she met the strawhats. All of this I will write out in auctual fan fiction form, too, and everything that happens after will also be in fanfiction form:

Ame was born during a monsoon in the middle of the grand line. The storm was so powerful, and all the members of Whitebeard's crew remember that the storm came out of nowhere, too. When she was born the storm stopped and they ended up in the calm belt for the first week of her birth, Whitebeard and his lady weren't able to think of a name for her when she was born, and a few days after Ame's birth, her mother fell ill and passed away in the calm belt. The crew held an at sea burial, and on that day was when Whitebeard named her Ame (meaning Rain). When Ame became old enough to make her own decisions she declared she wanted to be the strongest woman in the world just like her father, the whole crew was touched by her declaration but Whitebeard found it a bit problematic. He knew he could never let her work on his crew because whenever any hint of danger happened, he would shield her from the fight so he asked one of his enemies Gol Roger if he'd teach her how to be a pirate. Gol Roger agreed, and that's how Ame met Shanks and Buggy! As the years went on, the three grew very close, and all of them planned their futures together. But when Gol Roger was executed, Buggy and Shanks had their big fight and parted ways, leaving Ame behind in the crowded city. Lucky for her, she found Ace, who brought her back to Whitebeard's ship, and she continued to serve under Marco's decision. Whitebeard always talks about how she would distract him whenever a battle happened, so he kept her as far away as possible to be fair to her.

While Ame is with the Whitebeard pirates. She gets her tattoos and her and Ace develope a relationship and they both work closely together *wink wink* Whitebeard tells Ace that he's too immature to ever Marry Ame and that he will never gain the old man's blessing. Which pisses Ace off buy, whose gonna argue with Whitebeard?

The ship gets ambushed by the Marines, and this is the first time Ame is aware of intentionally using her power. The Marines are stunned that she shares the same power as her father and captures her and does a bunch of horrifying experiments on her. She's captured by the Marines for a whole month before Ace and Whitebeard can find her again. And when they find her, she's so tramatized that she basically says she doesn't wanna be a pirate anymore. Ace and Whitebeard are upset to hear that, but they understand, and she says she wants to be a Lounge singer instead. So, Whitebeard enlists Mihawk ((we will say, like just before he becomes a Warlord)) to escort her to the Barite where she meets Sanji and later on down the line the crew.

When Luffy stumbles upon the Barite and that whole Arc plays out, Ame recognizes Luffy as Ace's brother, and she joins her bestie Sanji on their adventure. ((She dosnt officially join the crew, but Luffy is convinced she did.))

Description:

((Art done by @buggy-samaaa ))

In flashbacks she will have Long blonde hair like her father. In present times she has shoulder length purple hair ((she did this so to keep her identity hidden from Marines)) she has ocean blue eyes (like her father) and light freckles on her cheeks (like her mum) her skin isn't fair but it's not dark either. Just a nice in between tan.

Not much is known about her mom so most of her features that aren't like Whitebeard are just chocked up to being from her mother.

Her Whitebeard tattoo is on her chest (like Marco) except she's got tiddies so the U of the cross is just under her collar bones ((for placement purposes))

She has a full back tattoo of the moon on one shoulder and the sun on the other and that dream catcher that goes all the way down her back

She has her first 2 holes in her ears pierced in the first hole she wears dangly earrings of various types, her casual dangling earrings are pentagram though and there the size of like a dime at most. And in her second hole is always a Dimond stud

She always wears two necklaces. One sits in between her collar bones it's an upside down Cresent moon with an emerald dangling from it and the other one hangs between her brests and its a howlite upside down moon ((to represent her father's mustache))

She wears a black beeded bracelet on her right arm ((the beads are skulls. This is important because Usopp is very quick to judge her based on her looks))

On her left arm, she wears a leather cuff with a metal feather on the center. ((To represent Marco))

While she's on Whitebeards crew she wears a black shirt that plunges so her Whitebeard tattoo if visible. The sleeves are flowy witch sleeves. And she wears army green cargo pants and brown cowboy boots.

At the Barite and so on she wears a high neck shirt with tassles hanging off. And denim bell bottoms and black boots or sometimes a bright neon pair of sneakers. The high neck shirt is important cause it's to hide her identity 👍🏻

When she joins the strawhats her outfits very but most of them are designed to conceal her tattoos.

After her dad's death she gets more revealing with her outfits cause everyone knows who she is after she destroys an entire island. She also wears Ace's red and white bracelt post MarineFord

When she is recuperating with Mihawk she wears she wears this:

((I love this dress so much))

Sometimes she wears a hat. Sometimes she doesn't. Much like all the one piece characters her outfits change as time goes on

I hope you all enjoy this. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer!

[flaray25]

In your own AU, how many siblings does Spongebob have? What are their names and information you'd like to tell us?

Spongebob has three siblings! ^^ (in my own au)

Let's start off with the oldest child.

Stephen SquareSuit

The oldest brother/sibling

Age: 37 (a year older than SpongeBob)

Birthday: June 8, 1985

Height: 5'11

Occupation: Agent, Actress, Model, CEO who owns a company from another state (also famous so he never mentioned he has siblings)

Personality: Overprotective, mad, he may look like he's staring at you to feel fear but in reality that's just how he is.

Likes: Anything

Sexuality: Straight Ally

Difference: His voice is deep (like Tom Kenny's but a bit low tone) His eyes are Trombone dark yellow color (#D2B55B), different attire (It's like what men wear when they work in an office), and His hair is Goldenrod color (#DAA520), he has a dry and permanent mascara under his eyes. He's smart like Spongebob, and thinks faster, he likes multi-tasking in his job.

Next up is

Robert SquarePants

Spongebob's look-alike twin the 2nd middle brother

Age: 35 (about a year younger than SpongeBob)

Birthday: July 14, 1987

Height: 5'6

Occupation: Navy Chef, part of a pirate crew on Mr. Krabs's other of his captain friends (He mentions having siblings but doesn't mention their names for personal reasons)

Personality: Kind, Helping, Soft, Less energetic, Funny, Unlike Robert, he doesn't know how to do karate or fight, so all he does is scream for help.

Likes: Baking, Cooking, Helping

Sexuality: Panromantic

Difference: His voice is softer and lighter, and a little quiet like a pipsqueak, his eyes are like a light blue color (#8ecae6) and his freckles are many than SpongeBob's three freckles, he doesn't have a dimple, his hair is light yellow than SpongeBob's yellowish hair color (It's close to blonde) and his attire is like a sailor's uniform.

The youngest sibling is

Bella SquarePants

The youngest sibling/sister and Spongebob's identical sister

Age: 30 (6 years away from Spongebob)

Birthday: May 20, 1992

Height: 5'4

Occupation: CEO's Assistant in a different state, Nurse, Assistant in teaching Taekwondo. (She only mentions her brother SpongeBob)

Personality: Kind, Pleasing, Loyal, Gets angry when someone makes Spongebob cry, Gets a bit frustrated and mad when someone thinks she's Spongebob in disguise as a girl

Likes: Getting compliments, Comforting her, Desserts

Sexuality: Queer

Difference: Has three freckles on her cheeks too but 2 other dot freckles on her nose, her accent is southern, and her voice is higher and lighter, she's an advanced learner in taekwondo and had received the black belt and also known as "Grand Master" belt at her age 19, her fighting stands is better than SpongeBob's. Her hair is short and the same color yellow as Spongebob's hair color, and her eye color is aqua blue (#a8eff4)

(Also for my Spongebob)

Robert SpongeBob Martin Harold SquarePants

Age: 36

Birthday: July 14, 1986

Height: 5'7

Occupation: Fry cook, Janitor, Cashier, Manager, Model, Actor, The Boss/A Leader of the Sharks gang, Detective, Agent, Karate, Waitress in another but an expensive restaurant, Engineer, Doctor, Coach (In a gym), Musician, Artist. (Never mentions his siblings but if someone asks if he has siblings, he would only mention he has siblings and not their names, nor how many)

Difference: (actually this is the usual him but I added some other stuff)

-Events/Trauma Experiences when he was back in Elementary, Highschool, and College

-Had an Ex Boyfriend who is a shark in Highschool

-Takes pills every day

-Patrick knows about it

-Stressed and in need of help on the inside but pretends that everything is fine

-Used to be a nerd

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird:  The Hand of Andromeda Ch. 2 ( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps) (New chapters will be posted first to patreon and then moved here)

The Ageis system was not what one would consider a pinnacle world of civilization in an age of interstellar travel. At best it was a backwater system deep in unclaimed space between the Rylon Collective and Havatal Republic the system with only one habitable planet, Ageis Prime.

The planet itself was largely barren, consisting of entire continents of jagged rocks and acidic seas. Only a small belt of land near the equator was remotely capable of sustaining life and supported small clusters of forests isolated from the harsh surrounding landscape.

First development of the planet was made by the Xlaxon Mining Guild when a remote probe of theirs scanned the system and found valuable minerals scattered around the planet. Shortly after a group of indentured laborers were imported to the planet and a mining operation was established, initially consisting of a landing pad, machine shop, processing facility, and several other living quarters.

Just as the operation was about to get underway however the Xlaxon Mining Guild found itself drawn into what is now known as the “Guild Wars”, which were a series of escalating conflicts fought between rival mining organizations. To put it mildly the Xlaxon’s did not last long and were quickly consumed by a larger guild. In the confusion of the guild wars the newly establish mining operation on Ageis Prime was lost in paperwork and quickly became further isolated from the rest of the galaxy.

With no overseers left and a semi functional colony all to themselves the newly transplanted workers began to form their own society on the planet and carved out a small patch of the planet they could call their own. It was nothing to brag about, but given their limited resources they made due. Several years passed before the planet would encounter a small group of mercenaries that would change their destiny forever.

A group of mercenaries calling themselves “The Fishermen” landed on the planet, which had now grown into a dense urbanized city, looking to finally establish a base of operations. There was initial resentment from the inhabitants as the established ruler of the planet, a self-proclaimed warlord known as “Kevin the Heartless”, ordered his enforcers to drive off the mercenaries. The battle was swift and the better trained and armed mercenaries easily overpowered the enforcers with the struggle finally ending when the warlord himself had his head bitten off and spit out by the mercenary’s Predatorian leader.

The inhabitants were surprised to find their new overlord was much more merciful than they had expected. While the mercenaries did establish themselves on the planet they also brought with them a vast amount of wealth from numerous sources. The normal baggage train of any military group flocked to the planet and set up shop. Bars, brothels, weapons dealers, mechanic shops, and even an official branch of the intergalactic bank quickly set up as the mercenary band began to sell out their services. As their fame grew the group not only enriched themselves but oddly enough began investing in the planets community’s as well.

Schools and hospitals were built for the growing population, a new police force and government system was established for official recognition and participation by the people of Ageis Prime, and most beneficial of all were several terraforming towers that were installed around the planet which began replacing the harsh world with an increasingly comfortable climate. With all of these improvements the general population lauded the Fishermen and heaped praise after praise on to them.

In the span of three years Ageis Prime had gone from a forgotten backwater to the galactic hub of the dead zone of unclaimed space; a pillar of civilization in the dark void of forgotten space.

Yet for all their generosity, the Fishermen still controlled everything from the shadows. It was an unspoken law of the land that nothing of importance was done without their leader’s approval. Even to run in an election a nominee had to first come see their boss and present him or herself to see if they’d amuse the Predatorian; if he didn’t find them amusing than they were expected to drop out, lest an unfortunate accident befall them.

At any given time the mercenary group was contracted out between ten to fifteen jobs ranging from basic security details for high value personnel and facilities, to waging wars on distant planets on part of an ad hoc detachment. This abundance of work was rather common as both the Rylon Collective and Havatal Republic lacked the means to enforce their wills in the unclaimed systems between their two borders. This didn’t even come close to the dozen or so different criminal groups that inhabited this unclaimed space who were always in need of additional muscle.

There were of course rival organizations to the Fishermen such as the Abvara Syndicate, Pelpens Pirates, the Brotherhood of Orion, and the Band of the Hig who each had their own sizable forces; yet each of them were constantly switching between periods of stability and bloody internal struggles for leadership. This facet was not seen inside the Fishermen thanks not only to their structuring, but also to the visionary leader that formed and continued to lead the group even now.

Sitting at the very top of the organization was the Predatorian, a massive mound of raw muscle, sharpened teeth, and with a twisted sense of humor only psychopaths could fully appreciate. Rising from a former slave he had first formed the Fishermen from the same slaves he was freed alongside during a bloody slave uprising. After taking control of ship that had once held them captive he steered it to the nearest port and sold it off, then used the funds to train and equip the slaves into a standard fighting force.

His name was Mr. B.

No one in the organization knew if that was his real name or not but what they did know was not to mock it. The last person that did had their fingers bitten off one at a time by Mr. B before they were thrown out on to the street. Mr. B later said that hearing all their jokes about his name had made him hungry for some “finger food”. He was ruthlessly efficient in his work and he expected that from all those under him. His combat experience was rivaled only by the commando units of the galactic governments. Yet for all his combat talent and training he was not as skilled when it came to logistics and the day to day operations common for such a large group. Thus he was greatly benefited by his second in command who was aptly proficient in such matters at such a young age.

A nine and a half year old human child named Lizzy Stalwart.

If there was little known about Mr. B there was even less known about his adopted daughter Lizzy Stalwart. Freed from the same slave ship Mr. B had been previously held, she had been by his side ever since. Rumor was she had been the one to trigger the mass unlocking of cells on the ship which led to the ship wide revolt of slaves against their captors.

While Mr. B handled the military aspects of the group it was Lizzy that managed the books. She had a keen insight for numbers and was always able to keep the group well-armed and fed as they went contract to contract. A common saying among the grunts of the organization was that you’d never run out of blood with Mr. B, and never run out of bullets with Lizzy Stalwart.

Despite his brutish demeanor, Mr. B had a natural soft spot for Lizzy and he had taken her under his fin so to speak and had come to see her as his daughter. The two of them were set to take on whatever the galaxy could throw at them, and they had an army behind them to throw it right back for payback.

The transport shuttle slowly descended to street level before killing the thrusters. The bus driver checked his systems and pulled open the door latch to the street.

“Fisher HQ!” they called out to the passengers behind them.

Vick grabbed his satchel bag and hefted it over his should as he stood up and made his way to the door.

“Let me guess,” the bus driver said as he finally reached the front; his eyes taking him in for a moment before he smirked, “trying to swim with the big boys?”

Vick smiled at the man as he got off but didn’t answer him. The shuttle thrusters kicked back on and the craft once again rose upwards into the air before speeding off down the road leaving Vick in the billowing cloud of dust it left behind.

He coughed several times and swiped the dust from his eyes before the cloud parted and revealed his final destination; the headquarters of the mercenary Fisherman.

It was a vast compound just outside of the city limits easily taking up nine city blocks in size. It held its own private landing pads, medical facilities, housing and training grounds, munition depots and manufactures... It was like an entire city itself dedicated to killing for money.

From the moment he had quit his dead end job as a dish washer of Veega Ce, Vick Novikov had thought of nothing but this moment. He had spent every credit he had ever saved to purchase his passage off world and the compact pistol strapped to his right thigh.

No longer would he be looked down on by those around him, no longer would people shove him out of their way as if he was garbage in the street, no longer would kids throw fucking rocks at him and laugh like the little shits they were.

Today Vick was going to become someone new, someone better, someone to be respected and feared.

Today, Vick was going to become a Fisherman.

[chaseatinydream]

pirate king (31) || atz

“HAVANA-OHNANA-”

The five of you are walking along the streets, footsteps echoing on the cobbles as you take in the sights about you. It’s a bright and sunny day, with a stiff breeze keeping the temperature cool while you tour the town. You’re dressed lightly for the day, your hair done up in the pin Wooyoung had given you a while back to keep it out of your face.

But Jongho. What is Jongho doing?

Seonghwa sighs, turning to look at their maknae. “Well, he did get drunk yesterday after we told him I was staying with the crew and sobbed for a whole hour about how happy he was.”

“Let’s not forget how he danced around the ship trying to do a striptease to celebrate.” San mutters under his breath. You gulp at the thought and cover your eyes, as if that could change what your eyes have already seen.

You’re probably still traumatised.

“HALF OF MY HEART IS IN HAVANA-”

Yeosang stares worriedly after Jongho, who’s still dancing his way through the marketplace, belting out some song none of you have heard before at the top of his lungs.

“Is he still drunk?”

It’s funny how Captain actually let Jongho go into town with you and the others after the little fiasco yesterday. After returning to the Treasure on your little rowboat, Seonghwa had immediately explained to Captain and the rest about all that had happened. Hongjoong had simply listened quietly to Seonghwa, nodding in understanding when his cook had told him about how he had been tempted to stay in Nassau.

“It was understandable.” Hongjoong had shrugged.

But when Seonghwa had declared he was going to stay with the crew no matter what, you swore you had seen Hongjoong sigh a silent breath of relief under his breath, the tense muscles in his shoulders relaxing.

The rest of the crew hadn’t been quite so reserved in showing their joy.

Yunho and Wooyoung, once again the life of the party, had snuck down into the storage hold and swiped an entire cask of aged fire rum, giving drinks out to the whole crew, much to Hongjoong’s horror.

And absolutely the entire ship had gotten dead drunk.

The last time when you had gone drinking with the ATEEZ crew, you had thought you had seen everything. From flirting with inanimate objects to burning down restaurant kitchens, it had been bad. Until you had seen this.

Two words.

Absolute. Pandemonium.

What happened had literally been the stuff of nightmares. Your master, soft spoken oddball Choi San, had only managed two glasses of alcohol before he had gone streaking across the main deck of the ship, dressed in a grass skirt of medicinal herbs which you had been forced to toss this morning due to hygiene purposes. You had managed to save his clothes from being lost to the unknown, but your sanity had been sacrificed in the process as you tried to drag him back to the sickbay all with your eyes firmly shut against the evils of the world.

Mingi. The silent, steady quartermaster was one depressed drunk. After a few minutes of cheering like a lunatic with the rest of the crew, he had suddenly stood up, walked over to the captain’s cabin and lay down on Yeosang’s bed, hugging a terribly ugly plushie that you assumed your master had sewn years ago, a yellow bean in blue suspenders and clearly missing an eye. To it he had sobbed his life story, which mainly involved how he had joined the Treasure and how he wished Hongjoong could have had a better life. You had chosen wisely to leave the cabin before the room flooded with his tears.

Only to run in Jongho, who was in the middle of the main deck attempting to do a striptease along to a tragic ballad he was singing at full volume, hyped on by the rest of the crew chanting along. You had gone already nearly gone blind trying to escort San back to the sickbay, but with Jongho, you weren’t quite as lucky.

For a moment, you had very nearly wanted to claw your own eyes out. Fortunately for you, you had been saved when Jongho had decided to do a swan dive over the side of the ship into the sea all while screaming something that sounded suspiciously like ‘yeet’, prompting the only other sober person besides you on board, Seonghwa, to jump into the frigid waters to rescue him.

And gods. Rational, gentle, innocent and sweet Yeosang had gotten drunk. And when he got drunk, he drank even more. And when he drank even more, boy did he let his mouth run. You never wanted to hear the words that he had used to describe his father leave his mouth ever, and in the morning when they had been slightly more sober than before, Hongjoong had threatened to wash his mouth out with rubbing alcohol if he ever heard them again.

Which was rather ironic, considering that Hongjoong himself had been Yeosang’s most ardent supporter and listener the night before, cursing his own father with all sorts of colourful and creative words that had nearly made your ears bleed. The two had sat in the bow with a bottle of fine, powerful whiskey between them, screaming all sorts of unrepeatable expletives into the dark of the ocean. You had carefully kept clear of the forecastle deck, but even from the main mast you could hear them shrieking words like ‘shitbag’ and ‘bastard can’t even aim a gun properly-’ over the howling of the wind.

You had chosen not to dwell too much on that. After all, you had bigger problems to deal with.

Yunho and Wooyoung had been attempting to swing around the masts. The three of you were rigging monkeys, so this was nothing unusual. The problem with that was that Yunho and Wooyoung were on the verge of getting into a fist fight on the yardams, and that scared you more than it should have.

Because the two of them were fighting over the mast.

“The main mast is the best mast of the three! She’s tall and gorgeous, with such a slim and sleek figure! What does your mast have?” Yunho screamed from above, clinging onto the main mast’s rigging like it was his one true love. You had wondered briefly who he was talking to, until a voice from the mizzen mast had shrieked back in response.

“The mizzen mast is made of the most exquisite conifer! I’d like to see your mast made of anything better!”

It was Wooyoung, the drunk idiot second only to Yunho.

The first time you had caught wind of their argument, you had briefly wondered if you were the drunk one instead, but then you remembered that you hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol.

“Guys,” You had tried to cajole them into coming down from their dangerously high perches, “The masts are just big sticks-”

From the horrified screeching above you, you would have thought you had just murdered their firstborn children.

“How dare you, Haechin!” Yunho had blubbered, sloshing alcohol everywhere from above and you had been forced to dive out of the way to avoid a shower of rum. Wooyoung had thrown his wooden mug at Yunho with all the fury of a professional thrower but without the aim, so his shot had gone far off. The piece of tableware had flown through the air and hit Jongho straight in the forehead when Seonghwa was trying to haul him back on board, so the maknae simply toppled back into the ocean, much to Seonghwa’s horror.

“Don’t you dare call Chon Ha’s name wrongly!” Wooyoung had screeched from the mizzen mast, dangling upside down from the ropes, failing to recognise the hypocrisy of his statement. “Names are important, Yun Hoe!”

“What did you just call me, Poo Young?”

You had merely stood at the main deck for a long moment, staring up at the masts as you wondered how on earth you were ever going to get them down, the two slinging insults at each other with all the maturity of a five year old child split between the two of them.

“They’re very passionate about this.” Seonghwa had appeared at your side with a limp, kicking Jongho slung over his shoulder. He watched as the two flung rude hand gestures at each other, occasionally forgetting that they needed their hands to hold on to the rigging and almost tumbling off the masts, but somehow managing to save themselves at the last moment. “That’s how the two of them started talking when Wooyoung first joined the ship.”

You had stared at the cook incredulously even as Jongho attempted to struggle out of the sackcloth Seonghwa had tied him up in to save what was left of his shredded dignity. “By talking about which mast is better?”

Seonghwa had shrugged in reply. “Every time they get drunk, they flirt with inanimate objects. Along the way, Wooyoung and Yunho just… fell in love with the mizzen mast and main mast, I guess.”

Maybe the maturity of a five year old split between the two of them had been a little too generous. You doubted they had more brain than Shiber even if you put their minds together.

“I once woke up to see Wooyoung getting it down the mizzen mast. And Yunho attempting to seduce the mast with terrible puns about… you know.” Seonghwa had mumbled, shaking his head as he massaged his temples. He had clearly seen terrible things, you could see the trauma of his experience on the lines of his handsome face. What a difficult life he has been through. “Well, anyway, I need to get Jongho below deck before he attempts to go skinny dipping in the sea again.”

Your eyes had widened in horror as Seonghwa hoisted a whining Jongho higher up his shoulder. “You can’t leave me alone with these two idiots! You’ve known them longer, you should know what to do!”

But Seonghwa merely waved over his shoulder, opening the hatch to below the decks and rolling Jongho’s body down the stairs.

“Look at the blue she dresses herself in! The beauty of her robes, she’s such a fine mast!” Yunho screamed above you, and for a moment you had been very tempted to just grab Mingi’s ax from the cabin and hack the entire mast down.

“You’re merely dressing a swine in pearls!” Wooyoung waved his fist back furiously, his face red from hanging upside down or from the alcohol, you didn’t know. “What matters most is the person within!”

“That would have been so much more touching if he hadn’t been talking about a mast.” You shook your head, completely exasperated. But Wooyoung and Yunho had obviously not forgotten about you, because they turned to you simultaneously.

“Haechin!”

“Choo Ha!”

Their voices echoed together. “Which mast is better?”

You had buried your face in your hands. This was actually a real conversation. These two grown adult men had just asked you which big wooden stick was better than the other.

You’d had enough.

“Neither.”

Yunho had slid down his rope precariously to stare at you in the eye seriously. Then he screamed “What?” so loud in your ears you were pretty sure one eardrum had just given up on you, the sound ringing in your ears. But you had forced yourself to keep your calm.

“The foremast is better.”

Now that you think back on it, you had probably broken them. The two of them had merely gaped at you in shock and horror, and Yunho had actually slipped from the ropes to land in a crumpled heap right next to you.

Sobs had burst out from the mizzen mast.

“How could you say such a cruel thing, Choo Hoo?”

That was probably why the two other rigging monkeys had refused to join your little excursion to Havana today. Neither Wooyoung nor Yunho had met your eye, probably still unable to accept by what you had told them.

It was either that or the roaring hangover both of them had.

Suddenly, a screech pierces the air, much like a dying ostrich and you clap your hands over your ears, eyes flitting around for the source of the noise. Yeosang, too, flinches, but manages to stay a lot more composed than you. He must be too used to the sound of cannon fire and Wooyoung’s shrieking laughter.

“What was that?” You gape, but then all you see is a fruit cart, overturned, and suddenly, it explodes into flames.

Yeosang dives at you, knocking you to the ground as bits of charred wood fall all about you. To your left, you see your master crouched behind another stall with his hands protecting his head. To your right, you see Mingi and Seonghwa ushering a small girl to safety and away from the explosion.

“What happened?” You ask as Yeosang crawls off you, brushing ash from the knees of his pants as the two of you rise to your feet. The navigator frowns, coughing from the sheer amount of smoke as he attempts to see where your battlemaster has gone.

“Where’s that dumb maknae?” San yelps from the ground, and you can see him clutching a small Shiber stuffed toy to his chest protectively. “I swear, if he got into some sort of shit-”

“Language, San!” Yeosang chides, but the tips of his ears turn pink in embarrassment at his hypocrisy. Then he catches sight of something, and his eyes widen in sheer horror. “What the fu-”

You clap a hand over his mouth before he can say anymore.

“-urry cute bunny.” Yeosang manages to save his mouth from a date with rubbing alcohol. “Is that Jongho? With my new explosive, highly dangerous smoke bombs?”

You almost choke in shock as you stare into the clearing smoke. Then you see it. Jongho, hooting madly with laughter as he raises another hand bomb in his hands. Yup, definitely still drunk. “Oh, fu-”

What has Jongho done?

Before you too have a date with rubbing alcohol, San spots the town law enforcement approaching, the sound of their boots thundering across the stone pavement. The healer looks at you determinedly. You glance at him, intending to convey your message to him. Your master has always understood you intuitively, much like how you and Wooyoung can communicate through touch alone.

We’ve got to get Jongho out of there before the officials spot him.

San nods seriously in agreement.

Then he opens his mouth and screams. “Abandon ship!”

With that, he shoots down a small lane and out of sight before you can say a word. To your horror, Mingi and Seonghwa bolt as well, as if this is a drill they’ve practiced thousands of times.

Your eyes widen. Those little shits...

You and Yeosang exchange grim looks. Neither of you want to do it, but you’ve been saddled with the responsibility. You’re going to murder San when you get back to ship.

“We need to save Jongho’s ass.”

“We do.”

Saying it out loud doesn’t make it any easier to do.

So this time when Yeosang swears rather colorfully, you don’t bother stopping him.

Yeosang takes your hand and yanks you with him as he grabs Jongho by the scruff of the neck. The surprised maknae barely has the time to react before Yeosang is dragging him down the street with you, deceptively strong for such a lithe person. The three of you duck into an alley, just as the officers dash past you, shouting for the offender to step forward and admit to his crimes.

“Let the world burn!” Jongho crows, attempting to toss the bomb to the ground. Yeosang struggles against him, trying to get him to let go of the bomb and simultaneously attempting to shut him up at the same time. Honestly, what on earth did Jongho drink last night? How was he still drunk even now?

Then the memory comes back to you.

This morning, Jongho had woken up with a hangover, like everyone else on the ship. He had come to you, looking for something to help with the headache, so you had suggested a common household remedy, a splash of gin with a tomato based drink to take the edge off.

Just a little gin, you remembered saying. When you had walked into the storage hold to clear up after the night before, you had seen an entire bottle of gin, empty and bone dry on the floor. At the moment, you had wondered if Jongho had drunk the whole bottle himself in the morning, but you waved it off, Jongho couldn’t be that stupid, and the empty bottle was probably just from last night.

Well, apparently Jongho was that stupid, because he had likely downed the entire bottle of hard liquor by himself in the morning and had gotten drunk all over again.

“I heard some noise coming from over here!”

You and Yeosang exchange glances and begin panicking simultaneously. Your eyes search the alleyway desperately for some means of escape, but all you see is a shop with grimy windows that are too dirty to see through…

And that is perfect.

You pull on Yeosang’s sleeve and tug him into the door, the tinkling of chimes signalling your arrival. The two of you barely manage to bundle the screeching human shape that is Jongho into the shop after you before you hear the guards run past the door. The three of you land in a tangled heap on the ground.

“We’ve got to catch those offenders!”

You groan in exasperation and feel tempted to slap your forehead, but you reach over and smack Jongho instead. The maknae yelps, but at least he drops the bomb into Yeosang’s outstretched palm before abruptly falling unconscious.

“I wish we could kill him.” You glare at his form. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day off, one in which all of you could relax together, and you and San had intended on visiting the herb garden markets for rare plants and the like. Now it seems as if you will have to wait until tomorrow to wait for the fuss to die down.

“How may I help the three of you?”

You jump in shock, scrambling backwards and almost knocking Yeosang over. He moves in front of you protectively, and from his sleeve you see the glint of something silver just in case.

But it’s just an old man standing there, with greying hair and eyes that seem to keep shifting colour. You frown. At one moment they seem to be blue, then brown, then grey, and in the end you give up on trying to decide exactly what shade they are. He must be the owner of this shop.

“Ah!” You and Yeosang exchange glances and your eyes flit around the shop, your foot shoving Jongho’s prone form behind you as you try to find a suitable excuse. “We were… ah… we were looking for a book.”

It’s a bookshop, after all.

“That’s nice to hear. You rarely get youngsters such as yourself who are interested in books.” The old man smiles warmly, and something in you feels like you want to stay with him somehow. He radiates a sense of comfort that you want to keep with you at all times. “Are the two of you married? He seems like a sweet boy.”

You spit and Yeosang chokes at the same time, you reach over to slap his back as he tries to recover from his coughing fit. “Thank you, sir.” Yeosang thumps his chest, heart racing beneath his skin at the man’s words. “But we’re just friends.”

“Oh?” The old man raises an eyebrow, and you frown again, wondering how his eyes can be such a unique shade that you cannot identify. “Then again, there are always more choices. Fate changes, you know, like a stream flowing down a mountain. It curves and winds, overcoming whatever is in its way. No path is definite.”

You cough awkwardly. “Yes, sir.”

As weird as this conversation is, you’d prefer him to ask you about this than Jongho’s body. Maybe the man is too senile to think otherwise about a dead drunk body on the floor.

“Anyway, I might have the book for you.” The old man moves about the shelves, searching for something, you don’t know. You glance about you, the shelves are made from tree roots grown into the wall, the books leaning against a wall of soil. Then you realise why the floor is so soft. It’s a carpet of soft green grass, well kept with tiny flowers blooming. Your eyes widen in wonder at the beauty of it all.

“Your shop is beautiful.” You gush, astounded at the effort that must have gone into creating and maintaining this shop. “You must have worked hard on it.”

The old man’s fingers still on the spine of a book. “Well… I have a… talent for these sort of things and I enjoy it… I suppose you could say I have a green thumb.”

With that, he pulls out a book from the shelves and offers it to you. “That’s a beautiful necklace, by the way.” He comments, gesturing to the silver chain hanging from your neck. You smile as you accept the book gratefully, Yeosang peeks over your shoulder at the cover.

“Thank you. I’ve had it with me for a long time.”

The Little Mermaid.

“Isn’t this a kid’s storybook?” Yeosang asks, studying the rendition of the mermaid drawn on the cover. The old man nods wisely.

“It is sometimes the simplest things that hold the most truth.” He says and you nod gratefully, reaching into your pocket to pay him for the book (and for harboring the three of you from guards). But he stops you. “Ah, don’t pay me. I have a feeling you might need that book. Have you ever heard of the saying, do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it? Although it may be a little different… in this case.”

You don’t really understand what he’s saying and shake your head, but take the book anyway. “Thank you very much, sir.”

Yeosang hoists one of Jongho’s arms over his shoulder and the three of you prepare to leave, but the old man calls out to you one last time.

“Chin Hae?”

“Hmm?” You turn around in response to your name. The old man smiles at you, and suddenly you feel something wet sliding down your cheek. It’s a tear, you realise in shock, and hurriedly wipe it away before he can see.

Why are you crying in front of an old man.

“That’s a beautiful name. I’m glad they chose it for you. Stay safe.”

You frown a little at the strangeness of his words, but you thank him anyway for the compliment and well wish. Then you and Yeosang are out of the shop, the chimes swaying as the door clicks shut. The old man stares after the three of you, watching through the window as you speak to Yeosang about the book.

“Chin Hae, huh?”

He glances around the shop. This is such a measly sight of what he can do, but you complimented it and called it beautiful. If only you could see the true beauty of it, like you’ve always wanted to.

“Maybe soon.” He murmurs to himself and snaps his fingers.

Suddenly, the old, aged trees shrink back into the wall of earth, the plants wilting and dying in mere seconds, the flowers falling to the earth and vanishing into the soil. The books, shelves, everything disappears in mere seconds, and suddenly, the old shopkeeper is standing in the empty alleyway all by himself.

Except he’s not an old man anymore.

The skin on his face stretches and smooths out once more, his skin darkening till it takes on an earthy brown tone. The colours in his eyes swirl together, twisting and mixing in a kaleidoscope of shades until it finally settles on one single hue.

A bright, unearthly green that no one else in the world can replicate.

[letstalkaboutshtufff]

Burning Secrets Obi Wan Kenobi x Padawan Reader Pt 1

Pairing: Obi Wan Kenobi x Padawan reader

Summary: reader gets injured on a mission and tries to hide it from her master.

Warnings: mild swearing, mention of injury, violence

A.n Hello my lovelies! I absolutely adore Obi Wan and couldn't help but write something about him after rewatching clone wars! Enjoy😊 part 2

*************************************************

You knew the danger that came with every republic mission. Not everyone always survived. And often times you made it out with more than a scratch. But that came along with the job.

Being a padawan meant that you were always put in dangerous situations. Along with your master Obi wan Kenobi. Most of the time things went relatively well. Your master would often bail you out of trouble when things got too sticky.

However this particular mission went a little different..

You were on the planet Saigon, defending against a large group of pirates who attempted to take the planet for themselves. Normally pirates were no match for the jedi forces however they had something they didnt before...the separatist army backing them as well as a new leader, Zoc tane.

Obi wan and you had split up, you took a decent sized squadron and managed to bomb their main camps while Obi Wan worked on freeing the enslaved citizens.

"Y/n, status report" the collected voice of your master broke through the chaos around you. You sliced your lightsaber through one of the battle droids as you brought your wrist up to your mouth.

"We bombed the camps, just finishing off these-" another droid ran up but you ducked under and swiped from behind, "-droids.."

"Very good, finish up quickly and meet me back at the slave camps, we could use the extra help"

"Alright be there as soon as I can" you shouted orders to the men and began fighting off the remaining droids.

"Alright men let's hurry to help the others!" You all jumped atop your speeders and made for the slave camps.

"Sir over there!" Pinks shouted suddenly, you followed the direction of the clones finger until you spotted the familiar face from the briefing this morning.

"Tane.."you growled. quickly you shouted for 2 of the men to follow you and the rest to go aid master kenobi.

"Sir are you sure thats a go-"

"If we let him leave this planet we may never get a chance like this again!" The cadet nodded and hurriedly followed orders.

You were quickly gaining on Tane, he shot some blasts with an arm bent back but you all dodged easily.

After a while of high speed chasing your comlink beeped.

"Y/n! Your men just told me you went after Tane! Don't be foolish, he is much stronger than you, get back here immedi-" with a click you shut off the com and focused on the battle. You could tell him it got messed up in the battle. You were not letting a chance like this slip away. And you were definitely planning to prove yourself by taking Tane down yourself. Just then the criminal threw a little ball backwards.

"BOMB!" you managed to veer right and dodge however pinks wasn't as lucky.

"Speedy, get him to a medical droid!" You shouted at the other clone, not slowing down your pursuit. Before speedy could even try to stop you, you were gone.

Tane eventually landed in front of a small space ship.

You hurriedly jumped off and force threw a giant rock in front of him, successfully blocking his space craft door.

He smirked and turned around. His tentacles moving eerily around him. He was built like master fisto, strong and swift.

"Well done little one, but what will you do now? Surely you aren't thinking of fighting me alone are you?"

You bit your lip, you had planned on at least having the boys with you but that quickly flew out the window. The logical part of you said that you shouldve turned back but the young fighter in you pushed you forward. Eager to prove yourself. You confidently lifted your chin and ignited your saber, "That's exactly what I plan to do"

He smiled even wider, "Well then trust me when I say it wont be much of a fight.." he drew his own weapons, double swords that glowed black. Ugh great, off brand sabers. How many kinds of weapons did he have anyway?!

"We'll see about that!" You sneered and charged forward.

******************************************

"Why must I always get stuck with the most stubborn padawans!" Kenobi shook his head. You were skilled yes, more than anakin had been at that age but you still had much to learn. And Tane was not an enemy to be taken lightly. He sighed with frustration and worry.

"Alright men, let's deal with this as quickly as possible!" He prayed that you would hold your own until he got there. Perhaps you had listened and were already on the way back? Yeah right..maybe in another universe..

**********************************************

The fight had proven to be more difficult than you previously imagined. You could practically hear obi wan tsking.

"I'm almost impressed padawan, your lasting much longer than any of my other opponents, but no matter, soon you'll be dead like the rest of them"

You tensed at his words, he was still relatively unharmed, you managed to place a searing scratch on his arm but that did little to weaken him. Ok new plan..if I can't beat him, I can at least keep him from escaping.

Quickly you force jumped over his head which at first confused him but he quickly realized what you were up to. He glared,

"Stupid little pest!" He jumped after you but you were quick to dodge and made sure to jab your saber wherever possible. When he got a little too close you managed to force push him off which gave you just enough time to jam your saber through the main engine.

You smirked knowing he wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

"Aghh" a burning sensation across your stomach brought your attention back to Tane.

You clutched your stomach and took a few steps back trying to regain your composure.

You tried force pushing him back but he was quicker and kicked you back sending another wave of pain through you.

Shit shit shit, you desperately tried to push yourself up as he walked menacingly towards you. His weapons crackling dangerously at his sides. You tried force calling your fallen saber but it was no use. You were too exausted.

"I must say I'm disappointed" he mocked walking closer.

You managed the best smirk you could through the pain.

"Disappointed? I did destroy your only exit off this planet did I not?"

His smile dropped into a low growl, "Yes.." he lifted the saber high above his head, "and you'll pay for it!"

You tried using the force but found yourself too weak. So this is how it ends...how embarrassing....

Shutting your eyes you resigned yourself to your fate.

Forgive me master

...................

No need for apologies just yet little one

Huh?

The smooth sound of your masters voice floated in your mind.

You snapped your eyes wide open. "Master!" You shouted in surprise.

"Sorry I'm late" he said in his usual playful tone.

"Aghhhh" Zane let out a grunt as Obi Wan pushed him backwards and began dueling. Zane was powerful you had to admit, however he was no match for your master and his years of experience and soon started to show signs of fatigue.

"You alright commander?" Rex came up and offered you a hand. Smiling you accepted and tried to hide the inevitable wince of pain.

You knew he would go straight to kenobi if you were injured in any way and you were determined to hide it as long as possible. It was highly likely that Obi wan would punish you for running into danger alone like that, an injury on top of that would make everything worse. He would probably bar you from missions for a long long long time. And the worst part was how disappointed he would be..

Shifting your robes closed you smiled reassuringly, "I'm fine, I'm assuming things went well on your end?"

He nodded, a look of pride crossing his face,"More than well I'd say, cleaned up those droids in record time" you laughed lightly then drew your attention to a now unconscious Tane.

Stepping close you watched as you master disabled his lightsaber, clipping it back on his belt. Sensing your presence he turned around and offered you a small smile. He scanned your form quickly, satisfied when he didn't notice anything out of place.

"Y/n, looks like I got here just in time" he crossed his arms smirking.

"Oh please, I had the situation completely under control"

He scoffed, "Under control? If that's what you call under control, I'd hate to see your definition of a bad situation"

"Oh hush" you rolled your eyes, " Everything worked out didn't it?"

He sighed shaking his head slightly,"Yes we may have won this time, but you were too reckless, what if I hadn't gotten here in time?" He said, his face a turning serious.

You avoid his gaze, you hated that scolding look he gave you.

"I know...I'm sorry.." you mumbled. With another shake he finally placed a gentle hand on your shoulder. "Well in any case, you did manage too thwart Tanes escape, for that I say well done" you immediately met his eyes with a beaming smile. He smirked as he couldn't help but feeling slightly proud of his student.

Finally some recognition!

"We can discuss your blantent disregard of my orders later.." he added seriously.

Ughhh whyyyyy

You hung your head down again as he led everyone back to the ship's.

The more you walked the more your injury throbbed. You almost cried in relief when the ships finally came into view. The first chance you got you snuck off into private quarters and assessed the damage.

A nasty dark and ugly wound decorated your stomach. It had blistered and was turning very unflattering shades. You gingerly applied some numbing cream. It was the only useful thing you found in the small med kit. All private quarters had a simple one, small bandages and low dose pain relievers, anything for something more serious was packed near the medical droid. For sure if you ventured there some clone would see you. Many were being treated themselves.

You sighed and debated on wrapping the wound. Wait are you supposed to wrap burns or let them breathe?? Crap you shouldve paid more attention during basic first aid.

You decided to let the wound breathe by changing into one of your training long sleeve crop tops. You swung on your cloak and made sure it covered everything.

Perfect, non restricting and Obi Wan will have no clue. Oh I better remember to be mindful of my thoughts, never know when he could be listening.

Satisfied you walked back out and headed towards the food units...

...........................................................................

The flight home wasn't as dreadful as you previously thought. Your master told you to get some rest which you gladly obeyed. Although it did little to soothe your aches. The cream worked in short bursts, soon you had used up all the supply. If only you could get some of the strong stuff from the med bay...you pondered for a moment but decided against it. Nope you wouldnt risk it. Obi wan had a talent for popping up out of nowhere. Especially so when you were up to something. Sighing you layed back down in the cot and closed your eyes.

******************************************

"Y/n"? Just how long do you plan to sleep?" Your eyes shot open at the sudden voice echoing around you. You squinted and sighed annoyingly when you realized it was just Obi wan.

"Ugh master, didn't you say I should go rest?" You flopped a pillow over your head and flipped sides.

Stupid move, your stomach burned at the sudden twist. You but your lip determined to conceal the pain.

"Rest yes? Hibernate no?" He chuckled softly and force shoved the pillow off of you. You glared up at him through your disheveled hair.

"In case you're unaware, we landed quite some time ago, you've been sleeping quite a long time, I actually came because I was worried you had passed out or something" he joked.

"!!" Even though he was teasing you felt a tinge of worry. You quickly sat up, and did your best to act like your stomach was not being roasted over an open fire at the moment. "I um must've been more tired than I realized" you lamely joked back. You could not believe you actually slept through most the entire trip.

He shook his head amused, "Well hurry up, the council is keen to hear how the mission went"

Oh good lord, anything but that. You felt fear rise in you. Standing for what may be hours in front of the council did not seem like the best treatment for you right now. What if you accidentally let your pain slip through the force and one of them senses it??

A million scenarios ran through your mind as the two of you walked towards the temple meeting room.

"Y/n?" Obi wan side eyed you slightly curious."Everything alright?" You didnt realize you had been so quiet.

You quickly plastered a smile on your face "Yup everythings fine, just dreading the long meeting ahead, I wonder if anyones actually died of boredom before" you joked lightly.

He rolled his eyes and soon the both of you were standing before all members of the jedi council. Heavens help me..

*************************

You had been right, the meeting had been long and boring and a million times worse because of the throbbing burning sensation, however you had held strong and no one seemed to notice anything was wrong.

You let out a sigh of relief when you finally exited. Knowing now you had a decent chance of sneaking some higher grade medical treatments without being spotted.

Just as you were about to make your escape your master called out from behind you.

Heavens when was I going to catch a break?!

Forcing a smile you turned slightly, "yes master?"

"I have some new techniques I want to teach you later, get something to eat and rest for awhile, then meet me in our usual training rooms." You nodded and turned back around heading to your room.

Great now you had to learn new moves while simultaneously hiding your worsening wound. Could this day get any better...

******************************************

You let out a sigh as you stood before the training doors. You had treated the wound and taken some pain pills. You felt much better however it was still very painful to the touch. You would try to avoid any hits but you knew that it was going to be a challenge.

You pressed the button opneing the sealed doors. Your master sat in the middle meditating. He smiled when he noticed your presence, "Ah Y/n, right on time" he stood up and grabbed two training sabers, tossing one to you, "Shall we?" He smirked getting into a fighting stance.

"Ready when you are.." you mirrored his actions swallowing the large lump of nerves.

You were only a half and hour in and you felt as though you had just fought a whole droid army using a stick.

You were sweating profusely and your mind had trouble focusing in order to predict your masters movements. Obi wan stepped back at some point holding his hand up as a signal to stop.

He eyed you with a look you were too exausted to decipher, "Y/n? Is something wrong? I figured with the ship and earlier you had had enough rest, but perhaps I'm missing something?" His voice was now laced with concern and confusion.

Shaking your head you mustered up your most confident tone, "I'm perfectly alright master, just getting used to these new techniques is all" you assured him.

Now that he was already suspicious, you had to be extra cautious. Your master was no idiot. If you slipped up, he would notice.

He swiped at his beard in thought, after a moment he relaxed, "Alright I'll take your word for it, now then shall we continue?" He lunged forward suddenly and you quickly blocked him. He swung again and again and you managed to block those as well.

He moved quickly behind you and you spun using the technique he taught you to block, well you tried at least.... Instead of meeting his weapon with your you either misjudged the distance or he was too quick because soon you found yourself on your back in a world of pain.

"You've gotten rusty my padawan" Obi Wan teased playfully above you. It was your lack of retort that made him eye you closely.

Suddenly all playfulness was gone as he took in your pained face and suddenly felt your burning pain through the force.

He was beside you on the floor in an instant, "y/n!? Are you alright?!" You had your eyes scrunched tight, your only thoughts on how you felt as if a saber stabbed through you. You couldn't even register him speaking.

Obi wan panicked slightly, had he truly hit you that hard? At first he thought you were faking in order to get the upper hand but the force didn't lie, you were in immense pain.

When you couldn't even answer his panic grew more. Carfelully he moved your clutching hand away and gently pulled apart your robe opening the middle.

You felt a rush of cool air and it soothed your pain slightly. You were still so out of hit however you felt a new...feeling in the force...

Was that fear?

Obi wans eyes widened in shock and horror as he took in the large discolored wound that plagued you. What?! How?!When?!? He found himself completely at a loss for words.

He placed a gentle hand on your cheek, "Y/n! Wake up! Tell me what's happened?!" He slapped lightly but you were barely there.

Sucking in a nervous breath he wasted no time in scooping you up into his arms. He felt a deep pang of worry when you let out a noise of distress at the movement.

In all his years Obi wan had never made it anywhere as fast as he did with you in his arms to the med bay.

His brows furrowed with worry and helplessness the entire time...

*************************************************

And that's part 1, stay tuned for part 2! Thanks for reading! Also please comment and tell me what you thought😚

[ficswithluv]

Tatsu’s Choices: 2019 Awards

Ficswithluv launched in September of 2019, and we could not have possibly imagined that we would grow as quickly and wonderfully as we have!! You all send us such phenomenal recs every week, you've helped to spread love, positivity, and feedback to so many authors on this site, and we cannot wait to see how that continues in 2020!!!

Because you've all been so absolutely wonderful about sending in your favourite fics and telling us a bit about why you liked them, we thought we would continue the trend! Additionally, in order to celebrate our lovely affiliated authors, we’ve also decided to pick one fic from each of them to showcase their talents too! 

And so we present ‘The Best of FWL’, where Tatsumaki* selects a handful of fics from each masterlist we've had so far, as well as from masterlists from every author associated with ficswithluv, and we highlight them in one large masterpost!

*Tatsumaki is the Discord Bot that the Admins use to choose bookclub fics. She randomly generates the fics using numbers. Hence: Tatsu’s Choices!

💌 ⇥ Affiliated Author

Best Seokjin Fics

⟶ all i want for christmas ➵ @sunkoos​​  💌

↳   Slice of Life AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Seokjin, your ever eccentric love of your life, proposes an unconventional idea you cannot deny taking him up on. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ blood and mercy ➵ @sugasgrowl​

↳   Mafia AU ღ sfw series

« There is a rat in Bangtan, but you’re going to fight for mercy. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ bobsy die ➵ @jincherie​

     ↳   Werewolf AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Fed up after a week of being ignored by your friend and crush, you march on over there to rip him a new one with hell on your heels and find yourself in a situation with more than you bargained for. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ date night ➵ @bang-tan-fan​   💌

↳   Idol AU ღ sfw oneshot

« you and your husband relax with a date night. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ erasers ➵ @bloodpotato​   💌

↳   Soulmate AU ღ sfw oneshot 

« You never thought to contact your soulmate through the erasers you always lose until you lose something extremely important and irreplaceable. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ ghost night out ➵ @spookitokki​   💌

↳   Supernatural AU ღ sfw oneshot

« After bearing the sting of a rough rejection, you call Jin to come to the usual hangout in the middle of the night in hopes that he can cheer you up. It seems to work until you both are met with a dark presence and an unusual chill. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ i thought i was alone ➵ @aroseforyoongi​

 ↳   Roommate AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« On the day your boyfriend cheats on you, Seokjin is there to provide comfort and some greatly needed affection. He is the perfect roommate and friend. Always patient and willing to lend an ear. It is then, when you’re with him, that you realize that maybe you want more. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ just say goodnight and go ➵ @vanaera​

↳   Roommate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« The spirit of Christmas is yet to be felt as a blackout on a chilly December night becomes the icing on the cake of your horribly shitty day. You just really want to sleep tonight but your neighbor seems to have lost his mind again when he comes knocking on your door to demand for an uncalled sleepover. Said neighbor is Kim Seokjin, the famed crush of the university, and no, he’s not your friend. He’s most definitely not your crush and he’s absolutely not the reason why warmth fills your entire being when it’s not even summer.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ not enough ➵ @jingabitch​   💌

↳   Idol AU ღ nsfw series

« When Jin cheats on his girlfriend while on tour, it’s the last straw for their already strained relationship.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ off script ➵ @baojinnie​

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You’re my best friend, please don’t forget about me.The script says, you hug him, and promise him never, and assure him that he will always be part of your life, will he be a groomsman, or something?But then before you can do that, he stops laughing. He looks you in the eyes, closes the distance between you, and you have never seen him look so serious. Warms arms tighten around your waist and his lips brush the tears off your face before you realize they ever even fell. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ olive me (loves olive you) ➵ @joopiterjoon​ 💌 

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw series

« A series of drabbles about you and your boyfriend, Kim Seokjin »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ peach parfait ➵ @jamaisjoons​  

↳   Enemies to Lovers AU ღ nsfw twoshot

« you and seokjin have always been at odds as the top two chefs at big hit academy of culinary arts. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ pink panther ➵ @gimmesumsuga​ 

↳   Hybrid AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The one where your boss, Kim Seokjin, tries to show you how beautiful you are. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sempiternal ➵ @softlyjiminie​   💌

↳   Hogwarts AU ღ sfw oneshot

« seokjin helps you get over your ex.»

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ strawberry roses ➵ @peekaboongi​   💌

↳   Cupid AU ღ nsfw oneshot

«  When a chaotic man who claims to be a Cupid appears, your dull life is suddenly filled with laughter and strawberry roses. You’re just forgetting one important thing—magic never lasts past midnight. ; or, chaotic but domestic Jin trying to teach you how to make strawberries resemble roses »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ strings ➵ @holyfluffly​​  💌

↳   Idol AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You audition to be a BigHit backup dancer. .»

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the bough that broke ➵ @readbeneaththelines​  💌

↳   Idol AU ღ nsfw series

« Jin is injured from an avoidable accident, leaving him partially paralyzed from the waist down. Reader is the nurse that is hired to take care of him once he gets back to the dorms and begins the physically and emotionally painful road to recovery. Will she have what it takes to spark determination in him to get back on the stage? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ waterboy ➵ @dimpled-gukkie​   💌

↳   Roommates AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Craigslist is very hit or miss for you, so maybe you shouldn’t have chosen to find a roommate that way. At least he’s cute though. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Yoongi Fics

⟶ all the room in the world ➵ @inkofyoongi​   💌

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ sfw twoshot

« After four years, you go back to Daegu for Taehyung’s wedding. However, things aren’t as you left them… and Min Yoongi either. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ baby’s first christmas ➵ @hobisgorgeousass​ 💌

↳   Parents AU ღ sfw oneshot

« 3 months after you give birth to your first child, you and your husband start putting together the perfect first Christmas for your new family of three. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ black magic ➵ @preternatural-fools​

 ↳   Witch AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Yoongi is a witch who always has the sniffles because he’s allergic to the herbs/plants he’s surrounded by. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ boseong breakfast ➵ @honeymoonjin​ 💌

↳   Strangers to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« it may be misfortune that brings you to min yoongi’s door looking for a place to stay, but luckily holly lodge has a vacancy. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ catharsis ➵ @dovechim​

 ↳   Roommate AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Where do you draw the line between fantasy and reality? Yoongi knows he has a kink that isn’t socially acceptable as kinks go. He’s already had several failed relationships in the past tucked under his belt as a result, so when you offer him a chance to live out his fantasy in a guiltless, no strings attached kinda way, what could go wrong? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fear and dumplings ➵ @softyoongiionly​   💌

↳   College AU ღ nsfw series

« You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears.Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ friend request ➵ @spoopysoph​   💌

↳   College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You get a friend request from someone you don’t know.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ iron world ➵ @gimmeyoon​ 💌

   ↳   Cyberpunk AU ღ nsfw series 

« Welcome to Iron World, the latest virtual reality online game. Choose your class, join a guild, and explore the depths of this planet. As one of the first 20,000 people to explore this brave frontier, how you enjoy this immersive experience is up to you. There is so much to do and see, you’ll never want to leave. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ maybe i’m a little dangerous ➵ @hollyhomburg​

    ↳   Mafia/Soulmate AU ღ sfw series

« Rare soulmate marks don’t guarantee that you find your soulmate easily, and when your soulmate is the head of a mafia, being together will never be easy either… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ pure instinct ➵ @maptoyoongi​  💌

   ↳   Hybrid AU ღ sfw series

« The instinct to protect someone we love is a powerful force. When Yoongi is given the chance to protect you, how far will he go? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ silly kitty ➵ @badbhye​   💌

↳   Hybrid AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You and Yoongi visit your grandmother, and you have a realization. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sugar, yes please ➵ @btsfiles​

↳   Sugar Daddy AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You’re a college student with an aspiration for journalism, but the traumatic experience of being broke and lonely gives you an opportunity to try out something new: become a Sugar Baby. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ support ➵ @saikokirakira​

 ↳   Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the touch of silk ➵ @floralseokjin​

↳   Supernatural AU ღ nsfw series

« In a world where vampires coexist with the living, there are many humans looking for a cheap thrill…you’re ashamed to admit you’re curious too, putting to good use a dating app you find…but Min Yoongi is nothing like you imagined a vampire to be… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the way to your heart ➵ @joonary​   💌

↳   Office AU ღ sfw oneshot

« when your office christmas party’s secret santa gives you absolutely no context on what kind of gift he wants, you have no choice but to get to know him better. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ true disaster ➵ @rmddaeng​​  💌

↳   Supernatural AU ღ nsfw oneshot 

« You’re a simple angel, the lowest of the Three Seraphic Spheres. On a hot, muggy day when you’ve nothing to do, a demon stumbles upon you. But who is he? And perhaps more importantly, what does he want? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ wrapped ➵ @btsunniemoonie​  💌

↳   Boyfriend AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« In which your world crushes because you didn’t pay too much attention in biology class »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Yoonji

⟶ calming seas ➵ @barbyisafangirl​   💌

↳   Pirate AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« the sea is rough and wild most of the time but eventually, it has to calm down. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Hoseok Fics

⟶ babysitters ➵ @httphopewrld​  💌

↳   Boyfriend AU ღ sfw oneshot

« It’s your first time babysitting your sister’s son, Ryan. Not only are you nervous because you’ve never done it before, but because of your boyfriend decides to tag along. Surprisingly, your nephew and boyfriend get along well. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ bloom ➵ @guksheart​​  💌

↳   Soulmate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« your soulmate’s first words to you will be burned into the skin of your wrist upon first meeting them. no one anticipated that yours would turn out to be a world famous rapper by the name of jung hoseok.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ blue ➵ @littlemeowmeowschimmy​ 💌

↳   Husband AU ღ sfw oneshot

«  You're pregnant…and the only thing that your boyfriend cares about is his job. His job…it frightens you everyday.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ by its cover ➵ @crystaljins​

↳   E2L/Supernatural AU ღ sfw series

« Your annoying little brother Jimin accepts a dare and summons a demon into your living room. There are multiple problems with this. 1) Demons are the most hated species on earth.2) That demon happens to be Jung Hoseok, the most popular guy on campus 3) The fact that Jung Hoseok is a demon is his biggest secret and 4) Jung Hoseok hates your guts. You’re in for a wild ride. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ get wet ➵ @prolixitae​ 💌

↳   Dancer AU ღ nsfw oneshot

«  sitting in on your boyfriend’s dance practice is probably your biggest kink. it’s also the reason you asked to be so shamelessly fucked in the locker rooms of his dance studio, in spite of the pending consequences. note: this is not an idol-verse fic »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ letters to you ➵ @jiminsmagicshop​ 💌

↳   Soulmate AU ღ sfw series

«  When you read the first Email you felt intrigued and without any hesitation you send one back, not knowing that those emails would lead you to a new life or a soulmate. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ of hentai and gay panic ➵ @enchantedyoon​

↳   College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« The story of how Namjoon and Hoseok meet and fall in love over hentai. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ peppermint ➵ @readyplayerhobi​

 ↳   Office AU ღ sfw series

« Achieving your dream job is something that very people manage to do, which is why you’re all the more happier when you land a job on the film team at Poppin’ Culture; the biggest pop culture website, blog and YouTube channel around. What you don’t expect however, is to fall for the exceptionally shy and awkward colleague who is not even remotely your type. Or is he? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ perfidy ➵ @yminie​

 ↳   Halloween AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Why do so many people in scary movies die? They trust the wrong people. »

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⟶ ramen & company ➵ @sweetheartjeongguk​ 💌

↳   Ponyo AU ღ sfw oneshot

«  in which hoseok has a plan of revenge, but it doesn’t work out in the way he hoped it would.   »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ say no to this ➵ @hobibliophile​

    ↳   Best Friend AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« It’s been a while since you and Hoseok have spent time with each other, but he hasn’t forgotten how hard it is to say no to you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sweetest crush ➵ @minjoonalist​ 💌

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

«   What would you do if your friend’s younger sibling suddenly asks you for sex?  »

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⟶ synchronized ➵ @bangtans-salty-sac-snacc​ 💌

↳   Soulmate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Everyone is born with a timer on their wrist, counting down to the moment they learn who their soulmate is. Your timer is a few seconds behind Hoseok’s, the love of your life. And it’s those few seconds that keep you from ever being with him. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the keeper of the light and keeper of the night ➵ @spicykoreantatertots​ 💌

↳   Fantasy AU ღ sfw drabble

«  yoongi is the keeper of the night. hoseok is the keeper of the light. sometimes they meet. »

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⟶ the most wonderful time of the year ➵ @lamourche​

 ↳   E2L/Office AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ you’re my light ➵ @bts-poetry​  💌

  ↳   Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« A call from your best friend inviting you to the yearly Diwali celebration has you and your boyfriend really excited but what would happen when you stumble across your troublesome ex on such a good day? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Namjoon Fics

⟶ baby, please! ➵ @jungkook-me-down​​ 💌

↳   Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You can’t seem to help yourself these days. Lately you’ve been getting more and more into children. When your cousin asks you to babysit her daughter Hae, you never imagined the situation you’d be thrown into and the outcome of her visit. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ be my palentine ➵ @bangtanstanst​ 💌

    ↳   College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Being single on Valentine’s Day isn’t so bad, as long as you have an equally single friend to spend your night with. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ details in the fabric ➵ @jinitude​​ 💌

↳   Widow AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Missing someone means noticing the little things, and those little things tend to hurt the worst »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ foreign heart ➵ @dejun-ge​

 ↳   Idol AU ღ sfw series

« Namjoon was an ordinary person - as ordinary as you could get for an idol. But there was silly foreign girl who made him feel normal, like he wasn’t stuck behind a wall. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ home ➵ @hobidreams​​ 💌

↳   Married AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Turns out, Namjoon can’t keep his hands off his wife after all. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ late nights ➵ @taeintedlove​​ 💌

↳   Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ love bytes ➵ @stutterfly​​ 💌

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw series

« It’s been a year since you first met Kim Namjoon, the passionate, talented English professor at the local campus. He’s always been clumsy and aloof, but he’s on a whole new level in terms of “technologically incapable.” One call to IT was all it took to pull you into his life, and with it a whole string of friendships full of flirtatious banter and undying support. 

Your dating situation has been drier than the Sahara for years now, and you’ve wasted too many lonely nights drinking alone, so you try your hand at Tinder. But you’re not getting any bites. When the group finds out, they are more than willing to help–even Namjoon, though he finds it increasingly difficult to deny that he’s hopelessly smitten. You consider their opinions on potential Tinder dates while fighting off feelings you never knew were brewing for the caring soul who becomes the home you never had. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ more than words ➵ @ironicarmy​​ 💌

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You and Namjoon have been painfully -and blindingly- pining for each other since your teenage years, much to your friends’ chagrin. So, unbeknownst to both of you, Seokjin and the rest plan to finally make you confess during a ski trip. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ obligated ➵ @underthejoon​

   ↳   Arranged Marriage AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Married by obligation, weighed down by circumstance. Except for those nights when you’re both drunk, falling into bed with one another and realizing you’re human. Occasionally this happens, occasionally you fuck. Until your life changes and you realize Namjoon, the very man you’re obligated to, might just be the very man that you crave. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ oh, death ➵ @loveejoon​​ 💌

↳   Death AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« There’s no leniency with Death. you die when your time comes, without remorse. But why does Death look at you, and suddenly things change? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the rich man’s crochet club ➵ @kpopfanfictrash​

 ↳   College AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« When they were freshmen in college, Namjoon began a club with his six closest friends. The one thing they all had in common? V i r g i n s as fuck. Obviously, they couldn’t call the club the Virgins Club though and so, the Rich Man’s Crochet Club was born. Until time passes and Namjoon is the only one left. Now, the Club has one, final mission: to get Namjoon laid. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the transfiguration tutor ➵ @purpletigertaetae​​ 💌

↳   Hogwarts AU ღ sfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ time management ➵ @feralbangtan​​ 💌

↳   Married AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« “No, no, no. I know where this is gonna lead. We do not have the time for sex. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ try me ➵ @jjkfire​

↳   College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You wanted nothing more than to leave behind your old self when you graduated from high school and moved on to college to play rugby but when you see your high school classmate, resident fuckboy and captain, Kim Namjoon, at the rugby department orientation, you feel like everything might fall apart. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Jimin Fics

⟶ busan mental asylum ➵ @lovehrs​​ 💌

↳   Doctor AU ღ sfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ but this isn’t love ➵ @daze-six​​ 💌

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ sfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ don’t move ➵ @jeonsweetpea​​ 💌

↳   Idol/Stylist AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You had a solo debut coming up and it was nerve wracking. What’s even worse is that the stylist in charge of your photoshoot was none other than Park Jimin. What’s wrong with Jimin? Oh. Nothing. He just hates you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fairytail ➵ @gukyi​

 ↳   Fantasy AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You have a particular disdain for the beach. Jimin is here to change that. Oh! And he’s also a merman. So there’s that, too.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fan-cam ➵ @cottonhxney​​ 💌

↳   Idol AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Y/N watches how Jimin reacts, as recorded by fans, and can’t figure out how to feel about it. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ mon cœur t’appartient ➵ @jiminspjm 💌

↳   Werewolf AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Just let me love, you »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ peaches and piercings ➵ @matchakoo​​ 💌

↳   E2L/College AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jimin, dipped in hair-dye and pierced in so many places that you just couldn’t keep track, doesn’t think you’re his “type”. You call bullshit. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ ring lover ➵ @flowerwrites06​​ 💌

↳   Boxer/Ballerina AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jimin could fight every battle in his life until he started courting a delicate ballerina who can’t stand violence. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ spellbound ➵ @minflix​

 ↳   E2L/Witch AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The only reason you agreed to do this magical ritual with Park Jimin’s Circle was for the sake of your own Circle - to strengthen your individual magic. Yes, that means you’ll have to fuck him, but no, you weren’t happy about it because you hate Park Jimin. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ syndicate ➵ @jungkookiebus​​ 💌

↳   Mafia AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

�� the other half ➵ @silverlightqueen​​ 💌

↳   Badboy AU ღ nsfw series

« In Winchester, y/n has it all. Gorgeous and glamorous. A friendship group just as gorgeous and glamorous. Fantastic grades. A handsome boyfriend with a family just as successful as hers. A doting dad and a brother just as beautiful as she is. An amazing school, and an even more amazing house. As many cars and clothes and bags and shoes, and as much makeup and money she could ever ask for. But when Winchester Academy puts on an exchange programme with Burnley Tech School, a high school in an underprivileged area, two completely different worlds collide, and y/n has her hands full, practically overflowing, dealing with her exchange partner, bad boy Jimin with a whole lot of baggage… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the rules of heaven ➵ @seokoloqy​​ 💌

↳   Angel AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Jimin is in love and Heaven doesn’t allow for it. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ what do you desire? ➵ @prisczero​​ 💌

↳   Devil/CEO AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ what you deserve ➵ @jiminniethemarshmallow​​

   ↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Taehyung Fics

⟶ across cyber space ➵ @goldenjulychild​​ 💌

↳   Camgirl AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« It’s normal to have lots of admirers in your line of work, but the user strawberrylover312 is not simply one of them. As your relationship builds so does your doubt about him being too perfect to be true. After all, it’s impossible to find true love across cyber space, right? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ black irises in the sunshine ➵ @ddaenggtan​​​ 💌

↳   Greek God AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« anger is everything. other gods tease you for the short fuse, but it comes with the territory. people have called you stupid, have called you dumb, oafish, useless, incompetent, insolent, rude, arrogant. all of it. insults and mockery flung at you, but even your skin isn’t thick enough to deal with constant abuse. it’s the exact reason you keep going to the underground, knuckles bloody and bruised, fighting anyone that dared enter the cage. it’s the reason you go to the clubs, surround yourself with mortals and their writhing bodies. it’s there that you see him the first time, voice husky as it rolls through the room. it’s there you find someone who treats you differently than the rest. you just never expected him to be one of the muses.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ carnal cupidity ➵ @kittae​

 ↳   Werewolf AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Things are a little tense in your relationship with your boyfriend, an alpha wolf and leader of his own pack. After another fight, you’ve had just about enough and decide to take matters into your own hands when his heat approaches. Your methods, however, prove to be more effective than intended… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ catching a case of the doctor blues ➵ @justimajin​

 ↳   Enemies to Lovers AU ღ sfw series

« When asked about Dr. Kim, a string of beautifully aligned words are ready spew from your lips. You could possibly go on and on about how his wonderful stubbornness wasn’t similar to talking to a brick wall, or how his observation skills were especially great in preparing your blood vessels for a drastic rupture or even how one gracious stare of his nearly had you on the verge of ripping your essential documents in half. But it seems that, perhaps, there was a lot more to Dr. Kim then what meets the eye… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ cheap skate ➵ @taehyungforreal​ 💌

↳   Domestic AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Granny Park’s Gossip: Who doesn’t know Taehyung and his lady? Cutest couple in town, I’d say, and have been since they started dating in their college days. Oh, that was a while ago, though. And still, they’re happy as can be in that place they have together. Almost hate seeing one without the other, y’know, it’s like seeing just one testi- oh, right, I’m not supposed to talk like that. Anyhoo, I only say that because I saw Taehyung at a jewelry store the other day while I was buying my sweet Jiminie his presents. Maybe that boy’s finally gonna pop the question, but I do hope he’s got a good plan for it. Something sweet and romantic. Maybe I’ll find out after Jiminie gets back from that cabin he’s visiting. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ christmas cookies ➵ @mistysuga​​​ 💌

↳   Established Relationship AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You are in charge of making the cookies for your family’s Christmas party, so you and Taehyung have a blast while doing so. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ don’t blame me ➵ @diortae​​​ 💌

↳   Cheating AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Kim Taehyung has always been there to soothe the sting of your failing relationship. But matters of the heart are never that simple. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ every word ➵ @jessikahathaway​​​ 💌

↳   Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fever ➵ @yoonia​

  ↳   Werewolf AU ღ nsfw series

« I wish I could hate you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ frisky ➵ @uwugalore​​​ 💌

↳   Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Sometimes, your fiancé was just… frisky. And boy did you enjoy it to the fullest. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ get you the moon ➵ @bymoonchild​​​ 💌

↳   E2L/College AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Life has its ways of fucking with you, but you know you’ve hit 50 feet below rock bottom after being tasked to do a profile feature on Kim Taehyung, the varsity football captain, for your school newspaper. Pure torment awaits you, but this is alongside glassy eyes, pink cheeks and conflicted feelings that you’ve never dared to imagine with the likes of the devil incarnate. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ glacier’s view ➵ @rosaetae​​​ 💌

↳   E2L/Dystopia AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Everyone knows when they were born— the date of when they enter the world. Everyone in this world not only knows their birth date, but also when they die, when they kick the bucket— the date of when they leave the world. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ not your typical flower shop story ➵ @jungtaeyoongles​​​ 💌

↳   Flower Shop/College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You always goes to the cute boy next door’s flower shop across the street because hi yes he’s the cutest damn person you’ve ever seen, until one day a guy with tattoos and a severe obsession with the color black shows up in the shop asking for the ‘usual’ and you find out that your cute innocent little flower boy has a dirty little secret. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sorrow ➵ @jiminsfault​​​ 💌

↳   Pianist AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The man had you tight in his grip without knowing it, knowing you. For him, you were just a mere pair of eyes watching him, paying to listen to his work. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ suite 114 ➵ @haylokitteh​​​ 💌

↳   Idol AU ღ nsfw series

« An innocent staring contest leads to a not so innocent relationship. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Jungkook Fics

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ blue raspberry ➵ @strawbxxymilk​​ 💌

↳   College AU ღ sfw drabble

« Jungkook asks you to live life on the wild side »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ date in a box ➵ @jimlingss​

   ↳   Dating Service AU ღ sfw oneshot

« If you’re in a hurry then we’re here to help you! Everything you need in a box. Delivery less than five minutes. Upgrade and we can personalize your date even more! Guaranteed 100%! Don’t fret, we’re here. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ dive ➵ @guktwt​​​ 💌

↳   Swimmer/Photographer AU ღ nsfw series

« This is a bad idea, you think, but there’s something so satisfying about seeing Jungkook so pliant and desperate under your touch. You’ve seen him in all his glory, a boy who’s made for the water and loved by all, but you think he looks prettiest like this; up close, pressed against your body, and under the warm summer light.  »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ drug wars ➵ @plumblackjeon​

   ↳   Mafia AU ღ nsfw series

« She’s a babygirl Yoongi, and I think I’m in love with her. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ duvet days and vanilla ice cream ➵ @jhspetitegf​​​ 💌

↳   Sperm Donor AU ღ nsfw series

« Sick of waiting to fulfill your dream of becoming a mother, you stumble across an interesting site called bundlesofjoy. Here, you find not only the key to your future happiness, but further down the line, it turns out that site could have brought you more than you’d bargained for. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ enraptured and enthralled ➵ @smartkookiee​​​ 💌

↳   College AU ღ nsfw smau

« It’s your third year of college and you are finally into the spring and summer trimester. You never imagined you would be where you are now. Living the dream as a poor theater student. You get to be the big roles on stage and have hundreds maybe even thousands cheering for you. Finally being the one people looked up to in awe and want to see more of, to see succeed. It’s the dream… isn’t it? Though you adored it… something was missing from it… of course you weren’t going to quit but your passion and drive seemed to be fading. Do you really want to be an actor? Would you let your best friends down? Do you leave? These question swirled as you began to wonder if this is the right path anymore. Fortunately, who would have thought that a night of cabaret and the biggest competition of your life could change all of that? Or could… someone? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ heavy machinery ➵ @solarjeon​​​ 💌

↳  Construction Worker AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jungkook works across the street, doing construction on a new apartment complex being put in your area. You’d rather not wake up to the beeping of heavy machinery every morning, so you decide to go over and give that brawny construction worker a piece of your mind. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ love letters ➵ @jjkwithluv​​​ 💌

↳   Poet AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You get a crush on a certain poet named Jungkook, while secret messages start appearing in your locker… you’d think that poetry and romance and mystery would go well together, think again… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ mutual ➵ @seokjxnnie​​​ 💌

↳   Office AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Your boss was always talking about how her son would be perfect for you, promising that he was going to the staff holiday party. He turned out to be the hook up that happened a couple months ago, who you kept around for some good dick. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ picture perfect ➵ @moononthejoon​​​ 💌

↳   Historical AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The king is dead. New portraits need to be done. But what happens when the painter is not who you expected? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ pretty birthday boy ➵ @yoonminos​​​ 💌

↳   Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« It’s Jungkook’s birthday and you throw him a surprise party with the help of your friends. The thing that surprised you, though, was Jungkook buying himself a gift and asking you to use it on him. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ rebound ➵ @ropeseok​

   ↳   Enemies to Lovers ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jungkook relieves you from an awkward time at a party - in more ways than one. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ waves of fate ➵ @ttaekimm​​​ 

   ↳   Mamma Mia AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jungkook is a lifeguard who unfortunately loses his memory and got drifted by the sea ,but the waves brought him to the door of an exquisite hotel where he stays there and work with the manager until his memory come back. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

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↳   Friends AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You (kinda) explore an abandoned building with you best friend Jungkook. »

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« n/a. »

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⟶ bts and their creampie kinks ➵ @jiminsoxyjeon​​​ 💌

↳   PWP ღ nsfw headcanons

« n/a. »

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↳   Supernatural AU ღ sfw oneshot  • jinkook • mxm

« Seokjin had learned long ago that he and Jeongguk could never really be together, but his time as summer is almost over and he’ll wait as long as he has to before winter comes to pass. »

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⟶ hypnagogia ➵ @joonsrack​​​​ 💌

↳   College AU ღ sfw oneshot • taekook • mxm

« ‘‘So you’re telling me a creep has been following you around the University, waiting until you fall asleep and then jumping on you to kiss you in your sleep?’’

“Well, if you put it that way…’’

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  ↳   Idol AU ღ sfw series •  namgi/ot7 • poly

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« How little vampire Tae found his way to Yoongi. »

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«  Who knew that one of the most magical yet devastating nights of your life brought someone into your life that just ended up completing the missing puzzle piece in your heart you hadn’t thought was missing until he showed you that it was. »

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[sadienita]

Maison des cartes - Knight of Swords

Pirate!Sua x Gender Neutral Reader (feat. Jayoung and Iree of Rolling Quartz, and Ateez)

Word Count: 10.9k

Contents: death and dead bodies, gore (pretty much just blood), magic, pirates, sword fights and sword injuries, cannons, a giant snake, mentions of fire

Previous | Next

~

disregard for consequences

~

Your hand shook slightly as you felt the scars on your body and sat up. They didn’t hurt at all, and they felt old, like they had healed from years and years ago. But it chilled you to feel them at all. Didn’t Youngeun say you wouldn’t die? Or you couldn’t? Was she lying? Or did she know something you didn’t?

You tried to shake the eerie feeling you were having as you searched the bed, your fingers finding the scraps of paper. More and more of them were between your fingers and you sat there, trying to keep your mind off of the scars, you pieced them together. More of the sheet was there, only a few pieces remained and that made you feel better. You would only be stuck here a little bit longer.

You dragged yourself up off the bed and into the hallway. The moon had moved again in the sky when you looked outside, you didn’t know if that was good or would have happened anyway. A quick glance around the hallway led you to another door that had swung open. It was creepy but some part of you was a little numb to it now. Something about all of these experiences was getting to you, clearly. But you were almost done, only a couple more cards to find and then you would have the whole paper.

You looked into the creepy child’s bedroom. Old dolls were cracked on the floor and a rocking horse sat collecting dust. You moved quietly towards the bed, only barely registering that that was where the card was as you laid down. A sigh left your lips as you looked over at it and put down the music.

“Here we go again,” you muttered, breathing in deeply before grabbing the card.

~

“Get up!” 

You started as someone shook you awake, scrambling to grab at them and stop the bed from shifting underneath you.

“Where am I?!” Your eyes adjusted to the sunny face in front of you. A woman had her hand on your shoulder and was shaking you, a grin on her lips and long red hair cascading down from under her bandana.

“Sleeping quarters, but you’ll be in quite a bit of trouble if anyone else finds you down here.”

“Uh-h” Something about the way everything was swaying was disorienting you. “A-Are we on a boat?”

The woman looked at you like you’d lost it. “I’d bloody well hope so,” she said, tugging at you. “Now get up we need to get up to the deck.”

You followed her, trying to get your bearings as she led you to the ladder and then up onto deck. Sun streamed in from above and then filled your vision before she pushed back the door to reveal the clear blue sky and salty air above. You climbed out after her and gasped at the sea that stretched out to the horizon, kissing the sky and reaching up for the sun in the form of waves.

“C’mon,” the woman hissed. She pulled you towards a gathering of people and you kept your mouth shut as the men looked up at you and one sauntered up to the woman.

“Finally got your charge out of bed,” he smirked. “My boys have been cleaning the deck since dawn.”

“Shut up Hongjoong,” she hissed. “At least my charge has an important job.”

The man, Hongjoong, opened his mouth to speak again but stopped as he saw something over your shoulder. He barked to the men to line up and the woman pulled you in line next with her.

A small, blonde woman came around to the front of the line. No one moved or said a word and you pressed your lips together as she inspected the line. She muttered things to the different men in the line and got closer to you. You felt your heart beating faster but she merely glanced at you before looking at the woman next to you.

“Just make sure they’re dressed properly tomorrow, Iree.” She sighed. Some of the men snickered. “Shut up!” she snapped at them. “You all have work to do, get going!”

The men scrambled off and you looked nervously between Iree beside you and the blonde haired woman.

“Sua needs my help today. I trust you can take care of getting our new friend acquainted with the ship?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Iree replied brightly.

“Good,” she nodded. “I’ll be in her study if you need me.”

Iree nodded as the woman walked off. She turned to you with a bright smile on her face.

"Okay! Let's get you acquainted with the ship shall we," she said happily, grabbing your hand and pulling you along behind her.

"I-I okay-" you mumbled as she dragged you towards the front of the ship.

"This is the Midnight’s Curse. She's a good ship and she's run by Sua, one of the fiercest pirates out there. We run a tight operation around here so I expect you to be ready every day for it. You need to dress properly but I'll give you a uniform and all that."

"Ah, okay, uniform? And what do I do everyday? You said I have a special job."

Iree stopped, leaning against the railing at the bow of the ship. "Sua's been tracking down a magical artifact. I only know a little about it, she's been very secretive. But we… brought you aboard… because of what you know."

"What I know?" You felt some level of panic rising inside of you. "I-I know about this artifact?"

"Yes!" She smiled. "Well that's what Sua said, that you know what it is and how it works. She says you have knowledge beyond the present or something."

You had no clue what that meant and it scared you. What would happen if you didn't have that info? Did they think you were someone that you weren't? You didn't want to think about it too much but you also needed a clear idea of what you were supposed to do. And who to help. There were so many people on this ship so far. How would you figure out who it was?

"That's where the study is, you might go in there in a bit to talk to Sua." Your brain came back to the present and you realized Iree had been telling you more about the ship while you worried.

"Does she see everyone often?" You asked.

"Usually, she's been checking her maps a lot recently and trying to get us to where the artifact is supposed to be. But she might come out later on too."

"What's she like?" You asked as Iree walked you towards the stern of the ship.

"Sua? She's strict at times but she likes to have fun and she takes good care of us. Jayoung is scarier than her," Iree giggled. "She's the one who inspected us this morning. She's the first mate, and quartermaster. Sua does do it a lot but not much recently."

You mulled that over. "And Hongjoong and the others. Are there more?"

“There are, mostly gunners to work the cannons. They have their own inspections but some of the crew are trained on the cannons too. And don't let Hongjoong fool you, I outrank him," she said proudly.

You chuckled. “I��ll remember that. So he’s in charge of the crew?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “He oversees them and does some of the gunner training, though I don’t talk much with the other gunners since they look after other things. I see the crew around. Seonghwa cooks. Most of the rest of them are in charge of the sails and cleaning. They’re more spare gunners than anything but they do all know how to fight well. You might see them sparring if you're lucky.”

“Don’t they get hurt?” You worried.

“Not usually,” she shrugged. “They’re pretty good. You should see San and Wooyoung spar, or Hongjoong and Seonghwa. Perfectly matched partners, it’s something else.”

“Wow,” you hummed, wondering if you’d get to see that. “So, what’s your role?” 

“Oh yeah!” She exclaimed. “I almost forgot! I’m Sailing Master. I assist Sua in sailing and I look after you now when she’s busy. You’ll be with me, her and Jayoung most of the time.”

You nodded and followed as she walked. “You might as well meet her.”

“N-Now?” You asked nervously.

“I think it’s a good idea. You’ll like her. And she can tell you more than I can about this artifact.”

You followed Iree nervously, playing with the fabric of your shirt and chewing on your lip as you spared glances as the sea. You still didn’t know what it was you were supposed to know to help them. Or what your task was while you were here. It was exciting but you had a feeling it could get dangerous.

Not that any of these trips had been without mortal peril.

Iree led you across the deck of the ship and through a large wooden door. Inside was a beautiful round room made of warm woods. Tapestries with patterns you’d never seen before hung from the walls. A large globe sat near the centre of the room with a large desk and a table set up with a map. Bookshelves on the walls were lined with large tomes.

But what caught your eye was nothing on the walls or tables.

It was the beautiful woman who had just turned to look at you, hair cascading over her shoulders. Her hand rested on the hilt of the long rapier in her belt and she scuffed her book across the floor as she turned on the spot and gave you a dazzling smile.

“I was wondering when you would show up.”

You couldn’t seem to find any words as she approached you, seeming to look you up and down before extending a hand to you.

“Captain Kim Bora of the Midnight’s Curse, but everyone here just calls me Sua.”

You stumbled through an introduction and Sua chuckled at you before ushering you closer to the map, a spot along the shoreline was stuck with a dagger.

“I trust Iree told you why you’re here?”

“She told me I know something about the artifact that you’re looking for.”

Sua threw a quizzical glance at Iree before focusing her eyes on you. “That’s part of it,” she pointed to the dagger. “The artifact is held here, and getting to it won’t be easy. That’s no ordinary cave.”

“There’s magic there, isn’t there?” you asked.

Sua smiled. “Aren’t you a smart one. Yes, there is magic guarding the way. I don't know much about it but I do know that you might know something.”

You bit on your lip as you thought for a moment. “If you think I have magic…”

“Oh I don’t think that,” she laughed. “No one has seen much magic for a while around here. But I heard you have seen things. And we could use all the help we can get.”

You didn’t like the sound of that, no magic in a long time. What did that mean? Was this the same world, much further on? Or a different one altogether? You didn’t know. You weren’t sure that you wanted the answer.

“I think you may also know about the artifact, but I won’t give away too much.”

You quirked an eyebrow at her. “And how do you know so much about me?”

“I have my sources,” she grinned. “Now, we’re about here.” Sua pointed to a spot on the map. “About a day or so out from the cave. You’re welcome to look through the books here if they help you get acquainted with the ideas, and this one,” She grabbed a book and handed it to you, “is about the legends of this cave. Read up.”

“Yes Ma’am,” you nodded.

~

“And he shouted ‘En garde’ and drew his sword,” San cried, reagailed you all with a tail.

“You can’t call a baguette a sword, San,” Seonghwa chuckled.

San ignored Seonghwa and the chuckles from his crew mates as Wooyoung jumped to his feet, as if on cue.

“En garde, you mangy scoundrel,” his tone was dramatic as he and San drew their swords in unison. “Today will not be the day you steal from me.”

“I’ve never stolen a day in my life!” San cried, both of them seemed in character now.

“Then empty your pockets you filthy thief,” Wooyoung sneered playfully.

“And I reach into my pocket,” San mimed the action with his free hand. “And pulled out that delectable sweet roll, the one I stole to share with my dear little sister.”

“Your older sister,” Seonghwa corrected.

“Who worked,” Hongjoong added.

“For my dear little sister,” San reiterated. “The fiend charged at me!”

“With a baguette!” Seonghwa, Hongjoong, and Yeosang called out.

“He charged at me with his sword!” San cried, ignoring the snickers.

Wooyoung let out a cry and charged at San and the sound of steel clashing filled the air. Their swords swung quickly, meeting each other every time as their feet moved lithely across the deck in the dark, only light by candlelight.

“They’re good,” Sua leaned over as she sat next to you and you turned your head to look at her but she was quick to grab your chin and turn your head back to look at them.

“No no don’t look at me,” you could hear the smile in her voice. “This is the best part of the story. Their spars are amazing.”

“Perfectly matched,” you hummed.

“Exactly,” she said quietly. “They work so well in tandem. Of course Wooyoung will start to go easy on San so that San can-”

As if on cue, San's sword spun around Wooyoung’s in a smooth manner and it flew from his hand, landing some feet away on the deck. The point of San’s sword was pressed to Wooyoung’s chest as he fell to his knees dramatically.

“You should have let me have the sweet roll,” San said dramatically before miming running through Wooyoung’s chest with his sword. Wooyoung grabbed onto the sword and died the most dramatic fake death you had ever seen.

For all of their jeering and heckling during the story the crew all stood and gave a round of applause, cheering as San helped Wooyoung up and the two bowed and grinned. Sua stood next to you and you followed her to your feet, clapping.

“You see what I mean?” She asked.

“I do, they’re so impressive,” you finally looked at Sua. “Do you do this every night?”

“Ah not every night, but often enough. It makes the nights feel warmer, safer, when we’re way out here. It can feel very alone being out on the sea.”

“I imagine it would,” you hummed thoughtfully.

“Well then!” Sua’s voice was loud now as she clapped you on the back with her hand, making you stumble a bit. “I think our guest might have a few tales to tell.”

“I wh-what?? No?” You stuttered.

“Aww come on,” Sua flashed you a brilliant smile. “You must have come across something interesting.”

“I-” You thought for a moment, feeling shy with all the eyes on you. Your hand came up to your stomach, tracing the scars. “Have you ever heard of shapeshifters?”

One or two of the group nodded but most shook their heads and quickly turned to sit and watch you excitedly.

“Well then, I guess I have a story.” You chuckled.

~

You slept well that night despite the way the boat rocked under you and moved with the waves. It lulled you and sent you to sleep calmly and you arose with everyone else in the morning, eating breakfast before heading to the captain’s study and immersing yourself in the books. You figured the more you knew about it the better and so far you were recognizing things in the stories, though the way they were talked about like things of the distant past chilled you. How far in time had you traveled in this strange world? How much time had passed?

“Learn anything interesting?” Sua asked as she studied her map closely. 

“I’m seeing things I recognize, so that’s good. I may be of some use after all.”

“Good,” she hummed. “I hoped we hadn’t grabbed you for nothing. If all goes well we’ll be able to explore the cave tomorrow.”

“This artifact you’re looking for, why?” You asked.

“It will allow me to… gain some insight into the future shall we say. It’ll make things clearer and that can be of use to me and my crew.”

You nodded as you digested her words. Your lips had just parted to ask another when the door swung open. You both looked up to find Hongjoong standing there, looking very serious and sword on his belt. 

“Captain, you should come take a look at this,” she said.

Sua gazed at you. “I’ll be back,” she said before following Hongjoong out the door.

You went back to reading, trying to put the looks on their faces from your mind as you did so. If they were worried it could be over any number of things to do with the ship, and there wasn’t much you could help with anyway. The best option was likely to stay put until the matter was solved.

Footsteps rushed around on the deck and you buried yourself further in the book, hoping to tune it put as much as possible. There were many pages in this book about potions and that much you were familiar with. You had seen some potion making and you knew a few of them on sight. The ones you didn’t… well you hoped you wouldn’t need to test anything out to see if it was safe.

A loud bang from the deck made you jump.

You looked towards the door as you tried to make sense of what sounded very much like a cannon. Smaller bangs started but before another loud on as the ship rocked and your stomach dropped as you realized that the ship was under fire.

As much as it scared you you couldn’t just sit here and hide. You had no fighting skill that would help you in a pirate scuffle but you weren’t sure you wanted to stay here with no clue of what was happening. If you could find anyone or if you needed to escape you didn’t want to get stuck if the ship was sinking.

You walked quietly across the room and opened the door.

You were met with mass chaos and you cowered behind the door as you took in the scene.

Another ship was right next to yours and pirates had poured onto the ship. The sounds of clashing metal and firearms going off filled your ears. The air was filled with smoke and the scent of sulfur stung your nose as you slipped out of the room and hid behind a set of barrels.

Everything you could see was bloody and made your stomach turn. Amid the clashes lay bodies on the deck, pools of blood encircling each one of them. You could barely see with the smoke but the fact that so many faces you had never seen were rushing past was a bad sign. You were outnumbered and there was no way for you to help.

Was this right? Was this supposed to be happening? Everything felt strange, as if shifted off center like your whole world was tilting. Your eyes scanned the bodies you could see and you felt your stomach turn and tears well up in your eyes, your hand coming up to cover your mouth and hold in any screams at San’s lifeless face staring off into nothingness.

How many of them had already died? You tore your eyes away from him and caught sight of Wooyoung not too far away. The fighting was already dying down and the blank expression on his face, the numbness told you that he had already seen.

You could barely bear to look at the faces, feeling a horrible twist of your gut with every face you recognized. The men you had been dancing and singing with just last night were lying dead on the deck. A loud bang so close to you caught your attention and you couldn’t help your scream as Iree’s body slumped to the deck, blood pouring from her abdomen and gaze going glassy and lifeless. You tried to run to her, as if you could save her, only to have someone grab you by the back of your shirt.

“And what might you be?” He sneered.

No words escaped you, only a pitiful sound so your eyes locked onto the smoking gun in his hand. You remembered what Youngeun had said. You knew what she had said. You had nothing to truly fear and yet. You couldn’t shake the question, couldn’t forget the scars.

Could you die?

“Ill prepared,” the loud voice caught your attention and you both stopped, looking towards it.

If you didn’t already feel as if your heart was made of lead, you did now. Sua was on her knees, holding her arm that was bleeding all over her jacket and hiding where her hand should have been, giving you the horrible sense that her hand was gone. She was looking up at a man with contempt, the point of his sword against her throat.

“Ill prepared to take us on. You should have known Sua, you should have known.”

“I’ll pay you back for this,” Sua grunted. “I’ll pay you back ten fold.”

“Oh no,” his grin was cold and unfeeling. “I made that mistake last time.”

You screamed as he plunged his sword into her chest, leaning in while she sputtered up blood. “This time I’m not leaving you alive.”

The man stood up and kicked Sua to the ground where she coughed as blood spilled from her body and her mouth until she stopped moving. Darkness spotted your vision and you felt dizzy as the man looked towards you. Your world tilted sideways before you were engulfed in blackness again.

~

“Get up!” 

You started as someone shook you awake, scrambling to grab at them and stop the bed from shifting underneath you.

“Where am I?!” Your eyes adjusted to the sunny face in front of you. The sunny face of Iree, smiling down at you. Iree, who you had just seen die before your very eyes, was shaking you awake again as if it was yesterday.

“Sleeping quarters, but you’ll be in quite a bit of trouble if anyone else finds you down here.”

“Uh-h,” the words slipped from your mouth as you tried to figure out what had happened. Iree was dead. She was supposed to be dead. How was this happening?

Just like she had before she tugged on you. “Get up, we need to get up to the deck.”

You followed her out on the deck, not so disoriented by the setting but more so by what was happening as you followed her up the ladder and out into the bright sunny day, the smell of salt hitting your nose and sea spray in the air.

“C’mon,” Iree hissed. She pulled you towards the other crew members and you tried to quell your confusion and emotions as you saw their faces, lively and smiling. All eight of the boys you had spent the evening with, that had fought, some had died. And here they were, in front of you, very much alive.

“Finally got your charge out of bed,” Hongjoong smirked. “My boys have been cleaning the deck since dawn.”

“Shut up Hongjoong,” she hissed. “At least my charge has an important job.”

Hongjoong opened his mouth to speak again but stopped as he saw something over your shoulder. He barked to the men to line up and Iree pulled you in line next to her.

Jayoung came around to the front of the line. No one moved or said a word once again and you almost tuned out what she was saying as you tried to make sense of it. Iree was dead. San was dead. You were sure so many of the others were dead. Had you gone back in time? How? You had no clue that was even a possibility. 

“Just make sure they’re dressed properly tomorrow, Iree.” Jayoung’s sigh brought you back to reality. Some of the men snickered. 

“Shut up!” she snapped at them. “You all have work to do, get going!”

The men scrambled off and you looked between Iree and Jayoung, letting it all sink in.

“Sua needs my help today. I trust you can take care of getting our new friend acquainted with the ship and how we do things?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Iree replied brightly.

“Good,” she nodded. “I’ll be in her study if you need me.”

Iree nodded as Jayoung walked off. She turned to you with a bright smile on her face.

"Okay! Let's get you acquainted with the ship shall we," she said happily, grabbing your hand and pulling you along behind her.

"Sounds good,” you said, a little dazed as she dragged you towards the front of the ship.

"This is the Midnight’s Curse. She's a good ship and she's run by Sua, one of the fiercest pirates out there. We run a tight operation around here so I expect you to be ready every day for it. You need to dress properly but I'll give you a uniform and all that."

You wracked your brain, trying to remember what you had asked her the day before. “And what do I do everyday? You said I have a special job."

Iree stopped, leaning against the railing at the bow of the ship. "Sua's been tracking down a magical artifact. I only know a little about it, she's been very secretive. But we… brought you aboard… because of what you know."

“Ah,” you hummed. "So I know about this artifact then?"

"Yes!" She smiled. "Well that's what Sua said, that you know what it is and how it works. She says you have knowledge beyond the present or something."

You were reeling still. So that was wrong, the bad ending. Then there was a good ending? Clearly they were not all meant to die being raided by another pirate ship. Clearly you were all meant to be alive and finding that artifact. Were you in charge of changing fate? Was that what you had been doing this whole time? Altering pathways, altering fate, changing history in some way?

"That's where the study is, you might go in there in a bit to talk to Sua." Your brain came back to the present and Iree telling you about the ship all over again.

"Does she see everyone often?" You asked idly.

"Usually, she's been checking her maps a lot recently and trying to get us to where the artifact is supposed to be. But she might come out later on too."

"Is she nice?" You asked as Iree walked you towards the stern of the ship.

"Sua? She's strict at times but she likes to have fun and she takes good care of us. Jayoung is scarier than her," Iree giggled. "She's the one who inspected us this morning. She's the first mate, and quartermaster. Sua does do it a lot but not much recently."

You hummed in response. "Is it just the ones I saw on the ship?"

“There are more, mostly gunners to work the cannons. They have their own inspections but some of the crew are trained on the cannons too. And don't let Hongjoong fool you, I outrank him," she said proudly.

You chuckled a little hollowly. “I’ll remember that. So he’s in charge of the crew?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “He oversees them and does some of the gunner training, though I don’t talk much with the other gunners since they look after other things. I see the crew around. Seonghwa cooks. Most of the rest of them are in charge of the sails and cleaning. They’re more spare gunners than anything but they do all know how to fight well. You might see them sparring if you're lucky.”

“That would be something to see,” you said, “so long as no one gets hurt.”

“They’re pretty good.” She said. “You should see San and Wooyoung spar, or Hongjoong and Seonghwa. Perfectly matched partners, it’s something else.”

“Mmm,” you hummed. “And what about you?” 

“Oh yeah!” She exclaimed. “I almost forgot! I’m Sailing Master. I assist Sua in sailing and I look after you now when she’s busy. You’ll be with me, her and Jayoung most of the time.”

You nodded and followed as she walked. “You might as well meet her.”

“Now?” Your mind was elsewhere. It was eerie hearing her say the same things over again.

“I think it’s a good idea. You’ll like her. And she can tell you more than I can about this artifact.”

You followed Iree almost numbly. You thought you ought to be happy but you felt like you were spinning or falling into some strange dream. And yet this felt right again. The strange feeling, the off feeling was gone. So you were back on track then?

Iree led you across the deck of the ship and through a large wooden door. Inside was the study, so familiar to you now. But your eyes only seemed to care about Sua, the way she turned and smiled at you. Seeing her in front of you alive and well with a fire in her eyes again. Everyone was alive again. Everyone.

So you just needed to keep them all from dying this time.

“I was wondering when you would show up.”

Sua approached you, seeming to look you up and down before extending a hand to you.

“Captain Kim Bora of the Midnight’s Curse, but everyone here just calls me Sua.”

You still stumbled through an introduction and Sua chuckled at you before ushering you closer to the map, pointing to a spot along the shoreline with a dagger stuck in it.

“I trust Iree told you why you’re here?”

“She told me I know something about the artifact that you’re looking for.”

Sua threw a quizzical glance at Iree before focusing her eyes on you. “That’s part of it,” she pointed to the dagger. “The artifact is held here, and getting to it won’t be easy. That’s no ordinary cave.”

“There’s magic there, isn’t there?” you asked.

Sua smiled. “Aren’t you a smart one. Yes, there is magic guarding the way. I don't know much about it but I do know that you might know something.”

“I’m not magical,” you said

“I don’t think you are,” she laughed. “No one has seen much magic in a while around here. But I heard you have seen things. And we could use all the help we can get.”

You still didn’t like the sound of that.

“I think you may also know about the artifact, but I won’t give away too much.”

You quirked an eyebrow at her. “And how do you know so much about me?”

“I have my sources,” she grinned. “Now, we’re about here.” Sua pointed to a spot on the map. “About a day or so out from the cave. You’re welcome to look through the books here if they help you get acquainted with the ideas, and this one,” She grabbed a book and handed it to you, “is about the legends of this cave. Read up.”

“Yes Ma’am,” you nodded.

~

The days were so similar it was eerie. But you did see why people loved San’s story so much, it was just as entertaining the second time, just as much fun watching him spar with Wooyoung. It was just as much fun telling them stories again and for a few moments, you forgot the images of them laying dead, lifeless in their own blood. For a moment it gave you peace and you joy and let you sleep well enough.

The morning went by the same way and once again you found yourself pouring over the book about the cave, looking for what might help you out. You were further into the book now, with a few more things that could help. Still, they might be rumours, they might not be real, you wouldn’t know for sure until you were there.

“Learn anything interesting?” Sua asked as she studied her map closely. 

“I’m seeing things I recognize, so that’s good. I may be of some use after all.”

“Good,” she hummed. “I hoped we hadn’t grabbed you for nothing. If all goes well we’ll be able to explore the cave tomorrow.”

“Are you sure about this?” You asked.

Sua looked up at you. “What?”

“This cave, by all accounts, looks dangerous. Are you sure this thing is worth it?”

“This thing will let me see beyond the moment,” she said seriously. “This will let me know before something happens, what I can expect. I-”

Sua was cut off by the door being thrown open. Hongjoong stood there, looking very serious and sword on his belt. 

“Captain, you should come take a look at this,” he said.

Sua gazed at you. “I’ll be back.”

“No!” You were on your feet before you realized it. This time you had to stop it.

Sua looked surprised. “If you’re sure.”

“I am,” you said seriously.

Sua and Hongjoong rushed from the room and you followed them to the deck, very clearly seeing the problem as he took her to the wheel. The large ship, not too far off in the water. You were just close enough to hear what they were saying.

“They want us to go around, they’ve already fired off a warning shot.”

“No,” said Sua, “I’d know that flag, that ship anywhere. And I know where he’s going.”

“Sua.” As the three of you stopped at the wheel Iree came rushing over. “We need to change course. If we don’t-”

“If we don’t we take out them and their crew.” Sua said darkly. “Or we die trying.”

“Then you’ll die,” your eyes were fixed on the ship ahead of you.

“What?” You heard Sua’s voice as she gripped the wheel.

“If we take them on we’ll die, we’ll all die,” you said bitterly.

“We can take them o-”

“Sua,” your voice was harsh as you turned your head sharply and Sua met your gaze, looking startled. You barely realized you were crying until you felt something wet drip down your cheek. “We are outnumbered. You didn’t plan for this. If we do this, you sentence us to death.”

Sua moved closer to you, her voice dropping to a whisper so only you could hear. “How do you know?”

You just shook your head. “Just trust me when I say I know. We can’t take them. Not like this.”

Sua stared at you, a hard look on her face, nearly unreadable. She pressed her lips together before taking in a sharp breath.

“Iree, change course. Heed their warning shot,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Yes Ma’am,” Iree said, taking the wheel.

“You better be right about this,” Sua growled before turning on her heel and stalking back to her study.

~

You leafed through the book again, dog earing pages for things you recognized and taking note of the things that seemed to be mentioned more than once. The more substantiated the claim the more likely that it would show up in the cave, that it was true. That’s what you thought at least.

You were holed up in a cozy nook under the deck and you had been all afternoon. You thought Sua might be angry and you wanted her to calm down before you spoke with her, or maybe you were just afraid of the conflict. Either way you were hoping to be left alone while you read and reread sections of the book, looking for what you might find in the cave. Hopefully you hadn’t saved everyone just to get them killed again.

“You’ve been down here a while.”

You started at the sound of Hongjoong’s voice. There was a curious look on his face as he leaned against the nearby wall, just able to see where you were hidden from where he stood.

“You startled me, don’t sneak up on me like that.” You muttered.

“And you didn’t respond to what I said.” He hopped up onto a nearby barrel and sat there watching you. “You’ve been down here a while.”

“Yeah I wanted some peace and quiet,” you muttered.

“The study is peaceful and quiet.” He said. You shot him a look and he smirked. “Afraid of the captain?”

“I’m giving her time to cool down.”

“Do you know who that was?” He asked. “I’m betting you don’t. Those are her oldest rivals. They’ve cheated her, they’ve stolen from her. In her eyes they’re to be killed on sight.” Hongjoong leaned a little closer to you.

“What did you say to change her mind?”

You looked back down at your book. “Just that it was a bad idea, okay?”

“Are you okay?”

Your head snapped up to see him. “What?”

“You were crying earlier. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you muttered. “Just- Let me read okay?”

“Sure thing,” he said calmly. “Iree is looking for you though, and you ought to talk to the captain. She may have been angry about changing course, but whatever you said to her…” He jumped down from the barrel. “Sua wouldn’t have done that for anything. So for some reason, she trusts your judgement. You ought to talk to her.”

You sighed and slumped against the wall as Hongjoong wandered off.

~

It was nearing dinner and you were heading back up to the deck when you felt the ship slowing down, lurching. You rushed up the ladder in time to hear Hongjoong yelling and the crew pulling ropes, the sails bundling up towards the masts. The sun was sinking in the sky and painting it a brilliant array of red and orange. 

You looked around and found Sua standing at the bow of the ship with her telescope. You were quick to rush closer but stopped a little ways away. She was caught up in looking ahead through her scope, hair whipping around her head in the wind, jacket rustling and blowing, the stunning sky her backdrop as she lowered the telescope and caught sight of you, a curious look on her face as she beckoned you over.

“They’re in the cave,” she pointed to the ship and then to the mouth of the cave that looked rather small from here. “They got here before us.”

“So we need a plan,” you said.

She regarded you for a moment. “Indeed. Jayoung, can you grab the small map for me?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Jayong hurried off and Sua stepped closer to you, now alone with her.

“This was your idea,” she said seriously.

“If we had attacked them we all would be dead right now,” you said.

“I believe you,” she said. “I don’t want to but you’re probably right. So now we need a plan for if they come out of that cave. In your reading did you get a sense for how long it might take to get through there?”

“I- uh-” You thought it over. “A day, maybe a little longer. From the writings it doesn’t seem large but does seem complex. If they rush through though they might not make it.”

She nodded thoughtfully, looking back at the cave. “Then we wait, amush them if they come out.”

“And if they don’t?” you asked.

Sua looked back at the cave. “We wait tomorrow, we watch. If we don’t see anything by the next morning then we go in after them, and assume the worst.”

“By worst y-you mean-”

“I mean they get what’s coming to them,” she said bitterly.

~

The day had passed uneventfully and the night as well so you spent the early morning gearing up to explore the cave. You tucked the book away in your bag before heading up to the deck where Hongjoong was fighting with Jayoung.

“I don’t like it either but we’re not going,” Jayoung said. “Now pick who to send.”

“I can’t just send them off, you know I can barely keep them alive as it is-”

“Hongjoong,” Jayoung had a warning in her tone. “If they need us, we’ll go in.”

“Fine,” Hongjoong muttered bitterly. “Take San and Wooyoung, they’re the best fighters. Do you need more?”

“Sua said four.”

Hongjoong groaned, crossing his arms. “I hate this.”

“So do I,” said Jayoung. “Now pick.”

“Jongho, he’s strong and…” Hongjoong gazed at his crew preparing the bags. “Mingi. They can take Mingi.”

“You’re not coming?” You questioned.

Hongjoong glanced at you. “Someone has to hold down the fort here, and come in and get you if you all mess up.”

“We’ll be fine,” Iree said brightly, coming up from behind you and slinging an arm around your shoulder. She handed you a pistol and you took it carefully. “No need to be saved.”

“We need to get going,” You heard Sua’s voice and looked over to where she stood near one of the lifeboats. Iree led you over happily as Hongjoong barked to the four to follow you. They all did as they were told and the crew came over as you got into the boats. Hongjoong’s hands were on the ropes but he stopped when Sua’s hand grabbed his, looking at him and Jayoung.

“If they others come out and we don’t you come in after us,” She said. “But if two days pass and no one comes out you leave, do you understand?”

“Sua, we can-” Jayoung started.

“Do you understand?” Sua growled.

“Yes, Ma’am,” they both mumbled before slowly lowering the boats into the water.

The trip to the cave was quiet. You and Iree rowed your boat as Sua checked her pocket watch and her small map. The four in the other boat chattered happily and teased Mingi for being afraid. 

You thought over what you knew about the cave and listened idly to their laughing until you got to shore, all of you getting out of your boats and tying them up before making your way to the mouth of the cave. You finally felt the fear setting in. What if this just got them all killed? But should the other group have come out by now? Why were they taking so long? You figured they didn’t know what you knew though.

Sua stopped the group, speaking to you all. “We only have some idea of what we’ll be facing. Everyone, stay behind me and move slowly and quietly. Don’t touch anything unless I tell you to. We have a goal and we don’t know what happened to the others. We may very well encounter them inside. Stay on your guard at all times.”

You all nodded and followed her in, you staying close by Sua’s side. The initial entrance looked much like a normal cave, rocky and wet being near the shoreline. You were careful as you walked in, figuring the traps would be deeper. The book had mentioned an uneventful beginning.

Maybe it was because you were all a little scared but no one talked too much as you moved through the cave. Into the first few rooms you moved slowly and quickly, hands on swords or pistols just in case. But the cave had a strange feeling. Like the carnival. As if the rocks around you were just a little strange, too cartoonish, as if time was thick and slow as you moved, as if it was ticking closer to a stand still as you got deeper in.

You stopped Sua in one of the small passageways.

“Check your watch,” you whispered.

“What?”

“Just… check your watch.”

Sua pulled out her pocket watch and a look of shock took over her face. “It’s broken.”

You shook your head before turning to the group. “I think we’ve gotten to the magical part of the cave, and it’ll only get thicker the further we go. Be careful.”

The others nodded and you snuck forward, them at your heels as you slipped into the room and held your breath, freezing at the scene in front of you. The floor was littered with bodies and bones. The other crew, you assumed, was lying dead in front of you. There were swords all over the floor and the air reeked of the stench of blood.

“What killed them?” Mingi whimpered.

Your eyes scanned forward. An army was guarding the way, that’s what the book had said. Ahead of you were empty stone chairs and beyond them stone chairs still housing seated skeletons, swords in their hands or laps.

“There,” you motioned with your head. “The skeletons. They’re the guards.”

Sua took a deep breath while Mingi whined. “Alright,” she said. “Slowly now, let’s do this. Expect them to jump to life. Take them out. They others didn’t know, we do.”

You followed behind the group this time, wondering if a pistol would help you out. Sua, Wooyoung, and San led the way, followed by Jongho and Iree, then Mingi, then you. The creaks of old bones filled the air and you watched in horror as the skeletons moved from their seats. Only twelve of them remained but you fell back more as San and Wooyoung jumped to action. Iree rushed forwards with Sua to take on three of them and Mingi clung to your side as Jongho glanced back at the two of you and sighed, staying where he was to defend you.

The skeletons sparred well but they were fragile. It only took one hit to knock them down and San and Wooyoung were whizzes with their swords, ripping through them with what looked like ease. Jongho fought off the two that made their way back towards you while Iree and Sua fought back to back.

The others must have been ambushed, unprepared, and none had made it, or some were somewhere up ahead. Either way as the last skeleton crumpled to the ground Jongho looked back at Mingi wearily. 

“Really helpful,” he said.

“Shut up,” Mingi muttered.

You joined Sua at the front again and slipped through a set of winding passageways before a room opened up ahead of you. You were slow as you looked through the mist of the room, listening to a quiet sound that moved over the rocks. Hiding in the shadows you slipped along the wall, signalling for silence from the others and happy that they all complied. Soon enough you were closer and fear struck through your heart as a large serpent lifted its head.

Sua raised her pistol but you grabbed her hand and shook your head. Though it couldn’t see you from where you stood in the darkness you could see in its eyes, the look in its eyes.

This was a shapeshifter.

You motioned for the others to be quiet and follow your lead. You knew that this shifter could hurt you, and might. How long had they been stuck here? Was there anything that would help you turn them back? You didn't know.

The large serpent put their head back down and you snuck slowly along the wall again. As the curve of the cave brought you closer you noticed the bodies littering the floor around the snake's body. 

So they would kill you.

Good to know.

Your eyes scanned the room and you noticed a passageway just beyond the snake. Of course. Of course you'd have to go through the snake den.

You stopped the group, looking at the floor. There had to be a way through here. It had to be possible to get past. For those who created the cave, to check on things, to store more deep inside and get things out. Like magical security. There had to be a way past, something to control the creature.

You kneeled down and grabbed a few stones before creeping forwards, toward the light. The serpent stirred in the mist but didn't move too much. The closer you got the more you saw cuts in its skin. Did shapeshifters stay in their form all the time? Did they change when hurt? Wouldn't this one, to hide?

If most of who came in here were wizards they could cast spells to keep the beast still. But this was a person, and if they didn't want them changing form, wanted them to stay a snake. Then…

Even as the stone left your hand you knew it was incredibly stupid. This creature could and would kill you all easily, and here you were trying to draw their attention, not directly to you but still, they might see you.

The serpent stirred, looking up and following the sound. Sua grabbed your arm to pull you back but you stood firm, looking at the snake's body and sure enough.

"There," your voice was barely audible even to you. "Tied on the tail. It needs to come off, that’s the only chance."

Sua nodded before turning to the others. You heard a whimper from Mingi but her voice was too quiet to hear. A hand landed on your shoulder and you looked at Iree who nodded to you with a nervous smile. Beyond her San and Wooyoung were slipping through the shadows. A quick turn of your head told you Mingi and Jongho were going the other way and Sua was still behind you. 

She leaned closer and whispered. "When you hear noise, go. We'll distract the serpent, you and Iree get that thing off its tail."

"Yes Ma'am," you whispered.

Your heart pounded as Sua backed away from you. You trained your eyes on the snake's tail while whispering to Iree. "We need to cut that off. If I'm right that'll make it change forms."

"Okay, a-and if it doesn't?"

You gave Iree a dark look and she nodded quickly before creeping into the light with you. The large snake didn't see you at first, seeming to explore where the rock had hit but stopped suddenly and you both froze as it started to slowly turn its head.

"Hey! Slither boy!" Wooyoung's voice bounced off the walls of the room and the snake snapped it’s head in that direction.

"Over here rats-for-brains," San was quick on the uptake, a little ways away. He mimicked Wooyoung's voice, clearly trying to confuse the serpent. You returned your attention to the tail as the other five popped in and out of the shadows, calling to the snake and keeping its attention away from you and Iree.

Iree dashed as quietly as she could around the edge of the room, trying to get to the far side of the tail. You spared a glance at the beast's head before watching its rattled tail raise into the air, shaking. The snake lunged for someone and you dashed closer, diving for the tail.

You managed to grab a hold but only for a few moments before the snake flicked you forcefully off, throwing across the room. You hit the wall with a groan and looked up, dizzy, at the snake rising above your body and hissing. A flash of red hair out of the corner of your vision just made it into your consciousness before the snake lunged and you rolled to the side, just barely missing it and trying to get to your feet.

The snake let out a piercing cry and you froze, looking at it as it's form shrunk, Iree triumphantly holding up the tie that was on its tail in her hand. Sua and Jongho rushed to you, helping you to your feet. You moved forward slowly with their help as you recovered from the hit. A young woman was on the floor, panting and gazing up at you dazed.

"Where- Who?"

You kneeled down. "Do you know where you are?"

Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head. "I- I don't r-remember?"

"Shh, it's okay," you hushed her before looking around at the group. Your eyes landed on Sua.

"We can't leave her here." You said.

"I know,"Sua looked around seriously. "Do you have any idea how much longer this cave is?"

You shook your head. "Time doesn't work right here. But there were only a couple more accounts that seem probable."

"Okay," she looked around the group. "Mingi, take her back to the ship, update Jayoung on what we've seen and let her know that no ambush is coming."

Mingi seemed relieved as he helped the girl to her feet. He bid you all goodbye before leading her carefully back the way you'd come. You stood again and beckoned for the rest to follow you onward and you made your way forwards through the passageways in the rock.

As you stepped into the next large space a fire pit sprung to life in the center of the room, throwing shadows on the wall. You stopped the group and whispered to them.

"This one was mentioned in a number of accounts. Terrifying illusions thrown on the walls. None of it is real, but it will play on your fears. The room will look bigger. And…"

"And?" Sua's voice came.

"We won't go any further if we go as a group. We have to go one by one. Stick to the shadows, away from the flame no matter how much you want the light."

"What if something's actually there?" Jongho questioned.

"Nothing is," you said. "I've seen these before, they're terrifying but harmless. Just keep moving and don't let it get to you."

"Who's going first?" San asked the real question and you knew what the answer had to be.

"I'll go first. Sua last to make sure everyone makes it in. Everyone else in between. Okay?"

All of the responses sounded scared but there was little you could do. You took a deep breath and stepped forwards. As you walked the darkness swallowed you, so thick you could only see the light and you moved around it. The room was too big and shadows moved too near to you. Whispers in a woman’s voice seemed to sneak up behind them. It made your hair stand on end but you steeled yourself and kept going, walking around the flame. 

A low growl caught your attention and you glanced into the shadows just long enough to see the outline of a large leopard. Fear struck through your heart as the shadow beast lunged at you and you couldn’t hold back your scream as your feet hit the ground hard and you flew through the room. You kept the flame in your line of sight, out of the corner of your eye as a wolf howled. Shapes appeared on the ground and you realised with a horrified shriek that the ghostly dead faces of San, Iree, and Sua, were staring up at you, glassy and unfeeling. 

You could feel tears on your face and you weren’t sure if the screams you heard were merely your own or the others as well. The beasts behind you were right on your heels and despite the burning in your legs you couldn’t stop, losing sight of the flame behind you now and too busy running through the darkness to care, racing from the beasts, too afraid to look back.

A groan left your lips as you hit a wall. The sounds behind you disappeared in an instant and you noticed light to the left of you, feeling along the wall until you found the passage onwards. You gazed around, panting. You were sure you heard screams but they sounded distant. You hoped the others would make it but you just needed to wait. You leaned next to the passageway.

Iree was the first to come through, hitting the hall near where you did. She had tears in her eyes and was gasping, clambering to you when she saw you and hugging you tight while her body shook.

“Th-That was th-the- the w-w-worst-”

“I know,” you hushed her, hugging her and stroking her hair as she caught her breath. “It’s okay, none of it’s real. It’s just meant to scare you.”

Iree kept her arms around you until Jongho hit the wall not too far away. His breathing was shaky and he kept quiet as he made his way over to you, trying to play it cool but you could see the tear stains on his face and you and Iree pulled him into a hug anyway.

Next was San, who collapsed against the three of you in tears, inconsolable until Wooyoung made it through as well. The two were shaky and teary but no worse for wear and now you were just waiting on Sua.

The feeling of time was off and you knew it, so there was no use wondering how long you had waited for her. Still, it made you antsy that it felt like it was longer than the others. That was probably the way the room worked though, suck you back in, lost in the darkness being chased by your fears forever looking for one another.

“Sh-She’ll be fine, right?” Iree asked.

“She’ll be fine,” you said, more to calm yourself than anyone else. “It’s likely a trick of the room, make you go back looking right when they’re about to make it.”

“Right, b-but what if-”

“Iree, no. We can’t go back, you won’t find her in there.” You said sternly.

“Please I could jus-”

As if on cue Sua hit the wall hard. She was panting as you called her name but she didn’t move right away, seeming to catch her breath first. Finally, she shook out her hair and stood tall, turning to you all, the most stoic exit of any, though she looked incredibly pale.

“Let’s just go,” she said.

You led the way into the passage, praying there was very little left. It didn’t seem to take long before it opened into a much smaller room lit by torch light. At the far side of the room, a glowing passageway and in the center a circular, shallow calderon. A body lay on the floor, on the far side of the cauldron and Sua let out a cold laugh.

“Well, looks like he really did get what was coming to him,” she walked to the pirate captain’s body and rolled him over with her foot. “Serves him right.”

“It looks like we can just go-” Wooyoung started but you cut him off.

“Don’t! That’s what killed him.”

“Yeah Wooyoung, that’s what killed him, keep up,” Jongho teased.

“Geez Wooyoung,” San snickered.

“Quiet,” Sua warned before looking at you. “What do we need to do.”

“Pay,” you said, looking around the calderon. Sure enough there was a dusty old wand hidden in a pocket along the side and you pulled it out. You wondered if you could use it, could you really have come this far for nothing.

“Take what you give,” Iree read off an inscription from the cauldron. “It’s a payment right, so it needs to equal what’s being taken.”

“I’ll do it then,” said Sua. “Since I’m the one taking, just tell me what I need to pay.”

“A memory, knowledge, something like that.” You said.

“Okay,” She thought for a moment. “Okay I think I know what to give. Whenever you’re ready.”

You bit your lip, still unsure. The wand though, seemed enchanted. As soon as you touched it to Sua’s temple she shivered. A long, silvery-grey nearly smoke-like substance was pulled from her head and slowly fell into the caldron. Sua leaned against Iree and you turned to see another entrance open. A smile spread across your face when you saw the riches beyond.

“We did it,” you grinned.

“Good,” Sua’s voice was breathy. “Everyone, look for a mirror, a small hand held mirror. Touch nothing else.”

A chorus of ‘yes ma’ams’ left you all as you spread out into the room. It was stacked high with piles, mountains of gold and jewels. You couldn't see how far it went but could see the light from the fire scones along the walls glinting off the treasure and up to the ceiling of the cave. You wondered if you would have to go back the way you came, not sure you could face the room of darkness all over again.

Beyond the initial piles were pedestals, nestled between the precious jewels.

“Hey, come this way I think it’ll be-” You started to call out but your voice seemed to cut out as you spotted the mirror. The hand mirror, the small, pretty hand mirror with a surface that seemed to move and shimmer like water.

You approached it slowly, picking it up with tears in your eyes. If this was here… 

How long had it been? How long had they been gone? Was it possible this was before Siyeon and Yoohyeon’s time? You had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t, that this had been hidden away here for a long time. That your dear friends were gone. 

Even though you knew that at some point they wouldn’t be around it still pained you. It felt like losing them in real time, felt like you would never see them again.

Though the thought dawned on you that after tonight, you would likely never see any of them again. You had no clue how to get back here on your own. All of these people, the ones you had spent days with, the ones you knew for weeks, or months, would be lost to you forever once you found all the pieces of that paper.

And you were just worried about getting out of the house.

You heard a voice nearby but ignored it as the surface of the mirror moved and an image formed. You saw fire, a room burning and a woman in the midst of before a hand landed on your shoulder and the image vanished.

“You found it,” Sua smiled. “Everyone, come here!” 

Sua took the mirror from you and up ahead a light shone in, the sound of the waves and the view of the shoreline and the ship was in sight. The others gathered round as Sua turned the mirror over in her hands.

“We’ve got it!” She cheered. “And we’ve got a way out!” You couldn’t help the way it made you smile to see them all so happy. They all made their way to the exit and as you got closer you realized it looked more like a portal, like it would jump you back to the outside, and your heart dropped. Just before reaching it you stopped them all.

“When we-” You started, unsure where your words were going. “Going through that portal. I-I might not- I mean I might- uh-”

“What’s wrong?” Asked Iree.

“I-” You sniffed, holding back the lump in your throat. “I think when we go through there it’ll send us back home. But this isn’t my home so I don’t think I’ll be going with you all. Wh-What I’m saying i-is-”

“-that this is goodbye,” Sua finished. You nodded, unable to meet anyone’s eye. They were all quiet for a moment before San stepped forward and hugged you, Wooyoung joining in and then Jongho.

“We’ll miss you,” San mumbled. The other two agreed and you nodded, saying goodbye before watching them walk through the portal. Then Iree stepped closer.

“It feels like it’s been so much longer than a few days,” She sniffed.

“Yeah- yeah it does. Just, take care okay?”

“Of course,” she smiled. “You too.”

“Definitely.” 

Iree hugged you tightly before heading through the portal as well. Finally you turned to Sua.

“You kept us alive,” she said. “I have a feeling that was more than just in the cave.”

“I- Yeah, yeah it was. Sometimes it takes a second chance.”

Sua looked at you curiously. “Thank you, for making me see reason. For leading us through this so I can see reason,” she held up the mirror, “on my own.”

“Take care of them all,” you said. “And have some fun for me.”

“We’ll toast to you, we’ll tell your story, no matter how long you’re gone from here you’ll always be here in our hearts. Of that I can assure you.”

You nodded, sucking down you tears before throwing your arms around her. She hugged you tightly and neither of you said a word more, walking towards the portal together. You let her pass through first, with one last smile back at you, before she was gone.

You took one last look at the cave, one last look at this world before taking a deep breath and stepping through, falling into darkness.

~

action

~

It felt as if you fell onto the bed, but it was still a bed so at least there was that. You saw the puff of smoke out of the corner of your eye but covered your face instead, not wanting to deal with it. You knew the paper was there, you knew you needed to move on, that something was in this house pushing you through.

“I just-” You mumbled. “I don’t know if you’re listening, but I just need a minute.”

Masterlist

[whenimaunicorn]

The Heart of Admiration - Part 2

Charles Vane x Reader, slow burn adventure/romance, written in a series of short scenes.

Part One Here

This episode’s prompt: “ “I thought they’d killed you. I lost my temper.”

The sea spray leaves the taste of salt on your lips as the ship crashes through another unexpected wave. It feels good to be sailing again, even with a crew you were all but press-ganged to join, and even with the weather now threatening to turn dangerous.

You had pled for mercy for Captain Fisher’s life, and those of his men. They had been your crew for going on five years, and though the plan to steal the cargo from Vane’s ship had been a foolish one, you couldn’t just let them die for it. That moment in which you watched Captain Vane’s eyes smolder while he considered your plea had been the longest one of your life. “So long as they leave Nassau,” he had finally said. “They leave, and you stay.”

You watch your new captain now, down on the deck below, alternately barking orders at the men and peering up at the darkening clouds moving in from the southeast. His heavy brow and bold cheekbones give his face a rugged sort of handsomeness, like he was carved by gods more primal than the Christian one, out of tougher stuff than other men. No one in Nassau knew where Vane had come from, only that he rose through the ranks of Blackbeard’s crew and barreled through the island like a storm.

He catches you looking at him, and responds only by calmly staring back. He looks at you too much. He has not yet been crude, but you fear you know what it means regardless.

It’s hard for a woman to survive as a pirate without becoming somebody’s woman. It would be safer that way, too. Easier. Anne Bonny may be an absolute hellcat, but surely the place she’s carved out on this crew stays comfortable because everyone knows she’s the quartermaster’s woman. It would be easier to have that kind of protection yourself, too, but the idea rankles you. You joined the pirating life because you wanted independence. You made it on the last crew because of your quick wit, and because your skills with celestial navigation were unique and indispensable. Although it helped that the captain was married to your sister and treated you like kin.

You had assumed those skills were the reason Vane wanted you for his own crew, as well. Very few people in this life are educated enough to read the charts and almanacs, to decipher the celestial bodies and figure a precise location in the middle of the ocean. But he looks at you too much. This may be an uglier trap than you had thought.

A lock of hair that escaped your braid flies across your face. The prevailing winds are changing. Perhaps the only thing this particular long look signifies is Vane’s awareness that this storm means the course you’ve been marking out for him will have to be corrected. The course that, if the weather doesn’t blow you too far off from, will take you to meet the intended course of a merchant vessel, whose schedule just happened to fall into Vane’s hands, much farther out from land than most pirating crews would ever hope to be able to find.

You’re already up here to take the noon measurements, but the sun is not quite at its zenith. Once you have the number, a flurry of calculations will follow, and you’ll give Vane your course corrections based on precisely where on the open ocean this ship is located right now, and where the other ship is most likely to be. But you’re already feeling extra tension in your chest looking at those thick clouds; if they cover the sun before you’re certain it has reached its apex, your faulty measurements could throw your course off by miles. And if that storm catches the Ranger, all you can do is wait for the skies to clear to figure where the hell it has blown you. Your chest tightens further when you see the captain mounting the steps to come up to your deck.

Even though you had intended to wait a little longer to take the next measurement, you find yourself lifting the backstaff toward the horizon again while you listen to Vane’s boots approaching you from behind. It’s careful work, to line up the sun’s shadow as the deck rolls in the waves. And it’s only getting more difficult as the nearby storm makes the sea choppier.

“Nineteen point three, and…” You mutter the numbers under your breath as you get them, not wanting to forget the figures before you have a chance to write them down. “Eighty-two point four.”

“Is that what you were expecting?” Vane is standing so unexpectedly close behind you that you jump at the sound of his rumbling voice.

You step away from him, quite deliberately, as you answer his question. “I’m not certain that’s the precise number we’re looking for, but yes, I believe we are still on-course.”

Vane closes a little of the space you had drawn between your bodies. But not enough to be worthy of further correction. “You look worried.”

The last thing a woman trying to hold her own on a ship should do, is admit vulnerability. You roll your eyes at him. “Fuck off. This is not my first storm at sea.”

A smile cracks the captain’s stony face at your response. “Fair enough.” He looks to the south. “We should be able to skirt the edge of that one without much difficulty.” His heavy gaze falls back on you, a sudden gust of wind pulling at his long, twisted locks. “But it will take us off the course we’ve been plotting.”

Usually you have no trouble looking a man in the eye; it’s something particular to Vane that has you dropping your head. You draw your little notebook from its pocket to excuse the movement. “Now who’s the one that’s worried? It’s no problem. I can correct for that just as soon as we get another sighting after it’s passed.” You flip to an open page, and lift your pencil. 19.3, you write, and then… “Fuck me, what was that last number?” Normally you have a good memory. The captain is just being too damn distracting.

You hear Vane chuckle. You refuse to look up. “If I tell you, do I get to?”

It takes you a half a second to run back through the precise words you just said, and catch his meaning. Your voice turns acid. “If you are not going to be helpful, then get out of my way. I am attempting to do the very work you pressed me into service on this ship in order to perform.”

Vane rocks back on his heels. “Is that what I did.”

Your exhale is a sharp burst of irritation, on many, many levels. “You can’t say you gave me much of a choice, about joining this crew.”

You risk a glance directly at Vane’s face again. He looks pensive, behind the general air of aggressiveness that usually suffuses his features. “You’ll be happier here,” he growls out after completing his thought.

You arch an eyebrow at him, just about as high as it will go.

“You were wasted on the Starling.”

 ~*~

 Every pirating crew hopes to avoid violence. They ready themselves for it, bristling with threat and menace as they wait for the ships to close tight enough for boarding, but the most preferable option is negotiation, always, with a prompt surrender on the part of their quarry before any blood is spilt.

That ideal outcome is not playing out today. This merchant vessel’s crew must have been largely made up of former naval soldiers, given the competence with which they are resisting Vane’s vanguard, and the discipline you are observing in their ranks from atop the Ranger’s quarter deck.

“Get belowdecks,” Jack Rakham, standing by your side and watching the battle just as closely, suddenly urges you.

“What? Why?” you bristle on reflex.

Jack interrupts himself to bark orders across the locked sides of the ships: “Watch those riflemen! Aft!” Three men peel off the main fighting to interrupt the knot of sailors that Jack had spied franticly reloading near the back of the other vessel.

You raise your chin as one of Vane’s crewmen severs a man’s arm at the elbow with a deft strike of his axe. “I assure you, I am not squeamish.” You are accustomed to observing the fighting from one of the higher decks with your old crew. On just about every run, unless… Jack’s fingers close tightly around your elbow. With a little shove, he directs your gaze.

A knot of enraged seamen are pushing through the Ranger’s men, dangerously close to one of the gangplanks connecting the ships. “If they get across, you’re a target,” Jack says sternly. “Seeing as you are not disguising your sex. Hide yourself. Now.”

You’d been held hostage once before. It was not a pleasant experience, for you or for your crew. You forgive Jack for shoving you as you start to make your way down.

The fear starts to set in as you scramble toward the ladder that leads to the lower deck; enemy boots stomp onto the Ranger just before your head disappears down the hatch. You hope that Jack, or some of the other men still aboard, notice in time to resist them, but that officer’s eyes landed on you with heavy interest as you scurried away. It seems likely they are indeed intent on a hostage.

The long knife you keep belted to your waist is in your hand as you scurry through the belly of the Ranger. You whip your head and turn back and forth in the muted light belowdecks, changing your course more than once in a way that you are dimly aware signifies panic. This is not your ship. This is not your home. You don’t know where to hide in this unfamiliar place.

Booted feet are pounding somewhere behind you. No way to know if they are friend or foe. And would your new crewmen even care enough to defend you? You duck into the doorway ahead of you and then put your back to the wall beside it, clutching your knife to your chest and readying to ambush anyone that comes through after you.

Your eyes land on a bed, bolted into the bulkhead. You’ve somehow chosen the captain’s cabin in which to hide. Not that it means much more than that you ran straight to the back of the ship. You’re much more concerned with getting your breathing under control, until your great gasps are not making quite so much noise, so you can listen to the sounds of approaching feet.

A figure steps through the door, and your knife flashes out with barely any choice on your part. You bury it almost to the hilt in his chest. You may not be one to ever storm another ship in the vanguard, but you’ve been training to defend yourself for years. You wrench it out of him and blood flies as the startled man stares down at you, not even realizing he’s already dead.

His last earthly act is to attempt to grab you about the arms, which unfortunately means that when his body sags into dead weight, he’s falling directly into you. You had got the knife free to stab again, but that’s not going to help you against his two hundred pounds of inertia. You have to twist with him in a macabre dance, his life’s blood still spurting, in order to not be knocked directly to the floor.

Which, unfortunately, puts your back to his fellows, rushing into the room after him. You hear a couple of enraged voices screaming at you and then a sharp crack, which instantly creates a thundershock of pain reverberating up from the back of your skull before everything goes dark.

 You wake to shouting, then screams. Ugly, ragged, tortured ones, of men too far gone in pain to retain either sense or hope. You feel your body, laying flat on the deck, and a splitting headache that rouses you quickly to consciousness. The sun is harsh against your eyes. Somehow you’ve gotten abovedeck again.

You lift your head; you don’t quite feel ready to move anything else. Your eyes focus dully on a dead man’s face in front of you, his cheek wet in a pool of blood that’s slowly expanding. You don’t know him.

Somewhere past your feet, you hear a voice call “Mercy.” The only response is a bestial snarl and then the wet sound of something slamming over and over again into meat.

You know that snarl. There’s only one voice in the West Indies pitched like that, rasping over blown-out vocal chords. You push up on your hands and look over at the men fighting less than two paces away from you.

The fight is over. Vane hacks once more with his cutlass and the head of the man who was just begging for his life drops to the deck and rolls.

It looks like most of the crew is back on the Ranger. How long had you been knocked out? “Captain…” comes the voice of Jack Rakham, and he’s pointing at you.

Vane’s face is feral as he turns, his long hair matted up with other men’s blood, sweat glistening on his exposed chest. His eyes widen, and your name falls from his lips. He takes a long step toward you, and drops to his knees at your side.

“Are you wounded?” His voice is low, and you’re surprised at the concern you see in his steady gaze.

You push with your hands so you can sit up on one hip, then reach up to the back of your head. “Quite a lump here,” you report, wincing.

Vane reaches to your chest, pinching up a bit of the fabric of your shirt. The whole front of it is soaked red with blood.

“That’s not mine.”

Vane lifts one scarred brow.

“You’ll find the first of the men that came after me belowdecks, with a hole in his chest.”

Your captain nods, looking pleased.

You notice that several sprawling corpses surround you on the deck, each one a red ruin, hacked more brutally than would have been needed to kill them. The would-be hostage takers? You look back at Vane for answers.

“When I saw them dragging you up here, covered in blood, I thought they’d killed you.” Now it’s your turn to raise an eyebrow at him. “I lost my temper.”

Your chest fills with some unexpected emotion that feels rather too complex for you to even attempt to sort out. “You can’t be losing the asset you just went to such lengths to attain for your crew,” you say wryly.

Captain Vane fixes you with eyes as blue and deep as the sea. “No one else could have guided us this far out to meet the prize,” he acknowledges. “But I have a feeling I’ve only barely begun to discover your worth.”

Part 3 Here

Notes: if you liked this, thank @acebreathesfire too, she’s my source on navigation facts and basically has been co-creating this OC with me. If not for her encouragement none of this fic would have happened!!!

Taglist is open: @acebreathesfire @kind-wolf @that-was-not-supposed-to-happen you are all pressganged into this ship but anyone else is free to request to be put on the list!! Also I am creating this series entirely out of prompt fill drabbles, so if you come across any dialogue prompts you think would inspire good chapters, please pass them my way!!

Link to More Vane Action

[bluecoffeemugs]

Hey guys... so i just re-wrote the very first chapter to my fic. 

I did it bc of many factors, but mainly it was bc I didn’t like it anymore and I noticed how much my writing had improved. It just didn’t seem fair that the ending was much better written than the beginning, bc i feel like no one would get past the first chapters bc of my writing. I mean yeah, it has much more attention that i could hope for, but i’m pretty self-critical about my work, so i just had to re-write it.  

Anyway, I’ll just post the chapter here because I want you to give it another chance, maybe it spikes your interest now. I’m putting a whole lot of effort in the ending, it’s got just a couple of chapters left, so it will be a finished fic soon. 

Here it is: 

(bill cipher x dipper pines. pirate au. pirate!bill. siren!dipper.)

- - - - - - - - - - 

The gigantic ship swayed calmly over the ocean. The night was clear, the fresh salty scent of the sea lingered on the deck of the Golden Giant. The only sound besides the water below the ship, crashing small waves on the wooden walls of the ship, was the croaking sound of the captain's footsteps on the wood.

The crew had already released the plank, readying the ship for what they had been planning to do for months. And so, they stood, expectant and eager for what was to come, waiting for orders on deck.

The blond captain walked out of his cabin with a grin on his face. See, their crew had been waiting to catch this creature for months, but he had been waiting years. Oh, captain Bill Cipher knows about sirens. He knows how those beasts slaughter his kind. But he is not afraid of them, not a single ounce! The pirate also know how difficult it can be to catch one, he has heard countless stories and legends, none of them have succeeded. However, there has never been a legendary pirate that has tried to capture a siren.

Indeed. Bill Cipher is a legend. He has been living in the sea for as long as he can remember, and it has slowly become his life as a whole. Since he was a little boy, he was not only charming and ambitious but also highly curious. The supernatural and mystic myths spiked his interest from a very early age, so his drive for adventure and the unknown has never ceased.

Bill Cipher had always been so invested on mysteries, that he became a mystery himself.

The captain seeks creatures — all around the seven seas, and of any kind or species — studies them, and then sells them. The highest bidding of gold takes the price! Cipher doesn't need the creature anymore, what else could he do with them? Set them free? Now that would be insane. Setting them free means letting them go for free. If they won't pay, Cipher won't deliver. Besides, it's none of the blond's concern what the bidders do with the creatures after they buy them. Will they study them as he does? Will they slaughter them? Will they cook them, even if they're still alive, just to know what they taste like and brag about eating a mythic creature? Meh, Cipher doesn't care. He never has.

The blond went down the stairs and on to the deck to meet his crew. Such familiar faces that have grown into a family. See, Bill Cipher didn't always have his own ship and crew. Of course, he did acquire his ship — through a most epic fight he will never forget — when he was eleven years old, but still, not belonging to a family for his entire childhood until he was almost a teenager was not easy.

Belonging. Ha! Bill Cipher knows he doesn't belong. He actually takes pride in it! Because you know what? He figured that belonging to made you somebody else's possession, so he swore to himself he would be the only one who ever got to own himself and/or others.

Nonetheless, his current crew is better than what he could ask for. They are invested in the supernatural almost as much as he is, all of them have unique abilities that benefit him either on battle, on investigation, navigation, or plans, and most importantly, they are loyal. That's the quality Cipher values the most.

The captain was finally greeted by his crew. They were standing in line, looking at their pirate in anticipation, eager. All of them were loaded with their weapons of choice, let it be guns, knives, swords, or even knuckles.

The crew cheered at their captain, smiling widely at him. As the moonlight and oil lanterns were the only light that lit their faces, the shadows looked menacing and eerie.

The blonde returned the sly grin and humorously vowed to his crew's cheers. He was wearing a tail-coat made of leathery-fabric, a white button-down shirt that wasn't all that white anymore, black pants, and a slightly loose golden and weaponized belt around the hips. He was carrying his favorite gun and sword, plus other minor weapons that he hid not only around his belt but also around his whole body. And of course, he wore leather boots that reached almost up to his knees and his fancy black pirate hat, which had a single golden feather and some jewels adorning it.

"Tonight's the night, fellas," he spoke, his crew finally shutting up. "As we speak, fierce beasts are swimming below us, ready to devour another pack of men. Creatures that have forever lured uncountable men to their deaths by using their celestial voices and bodies."

His crew nodded. They knew all of this already, but something about hearing it right was those beasts live made it a whole lot more difficult to bear. Now they weren't only listening to a story, they were about to experience one. And maybe, they wouldn't even get to live to tell it.

"We will be the first known pirates to ever defeat them; conquer them!" The captain continued to speak. The crew's nerves turning into excitement, "Tonight, we catch a siren!"

Everyone cheered and punched their fists in the air. Noise returning to its natural state.

“Kitty,” Cipher continued, nodding to the toughest-looking man on the crew, “you will be in charge of the ship while I go on the rowboat.”

The man nodded in return, so the captain kept speaking, “Bigfoot, Cain, Red, Onyx, and Tiny, you will be staying here too.”

The biggest man in the crew, a man with a scar across his face, a red-haired young adult male, a woman with almost charcoal-black skin, and a small boy nodded in response. 

“Guard my baby while I'm out," Cipher joked and winked. They all knew how much he loved his ship. “And that leaves Hellhound, Dawn, Dagger, and Cheat with me."

A muscular young man, a tough but very beautiful looking woman, another woman highly equipped with at least half a dozen daggers and swords, and a teenage boy agreed.

“Get settled, then.”

And with that, they all retreated to stuff their ears with cloth or wax to muffle de sound of the sirens' voices. They had been preparing for this, they knew exactly what to do. They also knew perfectly well to stand their ground, no matter how tempting a siren could look. And most importantly, they knew that their goal was to catch a siren, not kill one. If for some reason they started to get aggressive, which they figured would be bound to happen, they would result in violence.

A few minutes later, the rowboat with Cipher's chosen crew was lowered down to the ocean. They paddled slightly further away from the ship, and then stopped when they started to notice the shadows under them. They were currently surrounded by huge boulders, covered in algae and coral, where they also spotted movement. A wave of adrenaline washed over everyone's veins, making the captain smile even more widely.

Cipher's team had their ears shut by different types of material, except for the captain himself. He was wearing an enchanted necklace of black pearls, which made him completely immune to the sirens' singing.

Soon enough, a ginger-haired siren came out of the water, and the pirates were immediately amazed by her beauty. However, none of them moved, as they waited for their captain's orders.

The siren swam closer to the boat, her eyes fixed on Cheat, the youngest one on the boat. The ginger held a powerful gaze, making the boy shiver, which was either because of her captivating beauty or because he realized he had been chosen as her meal.

The captain shot Cheat a confident look, making the teenager feel just a tiny bit better.

When the siren was practically touching the ship, another one came up to them. This one had curly, black hair and was staring straight at Dagger. Then a few seconds later, another creature appeared, she had darker skin and powerful blue eyes, swimming closer to Hellhound. The captain felt slightly overwhelmed by the sudden arrivals, but he never lost his calm.

Suddenly they realized that the ginger siren had gotten so close to the boat, she could easily snatch Cheat and drown him. Then, she saw the spears and fishnets, freezing on the spot.

"They're hunters!" She yelled, making all of the other sirens gasp and submerge back underwater. Cipher thought they were going to attack, but apparently, this pack of sirens had had other experiences with pirates and did not wish to repeat them.

Sure enough, however, the ginger siren was not going to leave her favorite meal alive, so she launched, grabbing Cheat with her sharp nails, and pulling him underwater with her. Hellhound threw himself forward and grabbed onto Cheat's legs.

The siren's strength was immense, causing Hellhound to begin to sink. Dawn and Dagger grabbed his torso and began to pull him to the boat. At this point, Cheat was completely submerged. In the meantime, Cipher loaded a crossbow and aimed to the spot where the siren was holding Cheat.

"No!" Dawn exclaimed although she could barely hear her own words because of the wax in her ears, "You might shoot Cheat!"

"Don't worry, sweetie" Cipher said calmly, fully aware that Dawn knew him enough to be able to read his lips perfectly, then shot the arrow. The movement below the water stopped. Hellhound pulled Cheat back to the surface. The boy was unconscious. Dawn began trying to remove the water from the teen's lungs.

Cheat suddenly coughed a great amount of water and took in shaky breaths, shivering. Dawn just looked at the captain and slowly shook her head.

"I never miss," Cipher said, obvious pride in his voice, Dawn could see it by the look of his face. She turned away.

The blond nodded at the coughing boy, and the teen managed a smile. Then the captain took off his coat and handed it to him, as the boy obviously needed it more than him at the moment. Cheat muttered a thank you. 

Cipher sat down with a sigh and looked around. He signaled his crew to hide the weapons and the fishnets, he should've known better. He might have blown their chance for the night, maybe their only chance! How could he have not foreseen that?

Time passed, and as he feared, no one else showed up. The pirates waited in silence. Cheat was almost completely dry now.

The captain fixed his eyes on the boulder closest to them, lost in thought, when he spotted another pair of eyes staring back. Immediately after those eyes noticed the pirate was looking at them, they hid behind the huge rock. Cipher stood up with a jolt, making the others around him jump in surprise. Then, nodded towards the rock and signaled his crew to remain silent.

"Hello?" Cipher said loudly, with the kindest voice he could manage, "We don't want to hurt you."

After waiting a few minutes for a sign of life, and not seeing the eyes again, he sat back down and sighed. He looked at the boat's wooden floor, sighing in defeat. Maybe he had imagined it.

Then, his crew gasped.

Cipher looked up and saw the siren far away, right beside the boulder. The light from their boat did not reach that far, so he could only see a dark figure the clear brown eyes looking back at him.

The captain stood up again, this time more slowly. He smiled gently at the creature, and spoke, just loud enough for the siren to hear, "We're just curious about your species, we don't mean any harm."

"I saw you shoot one of us," the siren said, still in the dark. His voice cracked but tried to remain steady. This only intrigued Cipher even more, because he had found himself a male siren. 

The crew looked at each other with wide eyes, they didn't understand what the captain and the siren were saying, but they sure as hell knew they were having a conversation.

Cipher remained calm, answering to the siren, "She was trying to drown one of us."

"You're hunters," the siren said gravely, much more as a statement than a question.

"We're pirates," the blond responded, as if it were pretty obvious, "we have weapons to defend ourselves, it's in our nature. Just as much as it is in your nature to lure us to death. Fair game, don't you think?"

The siren thought in silence, analyzing the words. But Cipher was not about to wait anymore, so he offered, "If you don't harm us, we don't harm you. Deal?"

Something about the way the pirate spoke made the siren want to trust him. Even if he knew the stories of pirates, how reckless and dangerous they were"¦ curiosity had always won him over. And something in his gut made him think that this pirate was not lying.

The words lingered. Cipher was afraid the siren might be smarter than him and swim away for good. But he was proven wrong when the siren slowly came into view, swimming closer to the boat.

When the siren was just a few feet away from the rowboat, the lantern's light finally glowed on his skin. Instantly, the pirates were captivated by his beauty. They had never seen a merman, much less a male siren. 

"You can come closer," the captain said, leaning closer to the water, "See? I have nothing on my hands," he said as he lifted his hands up innocently.

The siren moved closer, feeling just slightly safer and a whole lot more curious. He was intrigued by the sailors, he had never seen so many up close, and they were all staring back at him. The feeling was overwhelming.

Cipher smiled at the siren, then turned to Hellhound and winked, which roughly meant wait for my signal.

The siren's light blue tail was almost touching the rowboat's wood from below. He looked about Cheat's age.

The blond placed both of his hands behind his back. The siren and he just stared at each other in awe, each of them amazed by the other. Cipher noticed there were splashes of tiny blue scales on his shoulders, he had chocolate brown hair, and the most entrancing deep brown eyes the captain had ever seen. His gaze was purely innocent and curious.

"You're magnificent," the captain whispered to the siren, completely lost in the siren's eyes, almost forgetting what he was there for. Almost. Behind his back, he closed his hand into a fist. And so, the crew launched the fishnet at the siren and fastened it as fat and swiftly as possible, apprehending the siren.

The brunet screamed an unholy scream, Cipher was suddenly jealous of his crewmates with wax on their ears. The siren tried to escape the nets, almost knocking the boat over, but the crew acted faster. They lifted him, and with a loud thump, the siren was on the boat.

The captain had a large grin on his face and got closer to the siren. The siren had never felt so much fright in his entire life. He felt as if his heart had run up to his throat and was about to be regurgitated. He was about to scream louder, and try to knock the boat over once again, but with one swift move, one of the men that was holding him down injected a syringe into his skin. The last thing he saw was the grin on the blond pirate that had just betrayed him, until all faded to black.

[pwnyta]

Jinbei, the most seasoned of the Strawhats, coming in clutch. Brook might be older, but he spent years just floating around the Florian Triangle. Jinbei, meanwhile, has years of experience in the New World. Also nice work, Otama, further turning the tides. At this rate, the Beast Pirates are well and truly fucked. Also also, here’s betting Zoro is on his feet just long enough to help Marco take our King.

Yeah I cant wait to see more of Jinbeis fight. Not only for him but for Whos Who. But it will be nice to get some Mugi battles under Jinbeis belt!

And YES! Another weird nonsense DF ability becoming super deadly for no reason LMAO I love that about stories with silly powers. Find some creative powers and ways to use them... thats all I ask.

I do kinda wish Zoro would be with Luffy fighting Kaido considering this art specifically... Its be just the tits seeing Luffy and Zoro take down Kaido together (and if Yamato can hold out long enough against his dad itd be cool to have all three of them and would certainly make Kaido more of a threat if the three of them have to struggle bus their way to victory!)

but a King is fine too and to see my two favorite boys (Marco and Zoro) teaming up? I would love that for me.

[atelier-dayz]

⭐star⭐

The Patching Up Scene! 8D

After they hand off an excited Skywalker to the pilots in the cockpit, Jango isn’t completely sure why he follows Kenobi, though part of it is curiosity and another part practicality. Kenobi shoots him a questioning look when they reach his quarters. 

“Do you need help with some of those wounds?” he offers. There’s one he can see, wrapping around Kenobi’s right side to his back. Jetii powers or not, he doubts Kenobi can treat it properly on his own. 

“Oh…” Kenobi hesitates for a moment, but ultimately nods. “Yes, please, if you don’t mind.”

Okay, I honestly did not plan for this scene to happen! It just naturally happened, the next logical thing. Obvs Jango likes Obi, but also after a battle, you patch up your fighters. Nothing to question about it. *nods*

Between the two of them, they gather up the ship’s medkit, a small basin for the antiseptic wash, and a few scraps of clean cloth, before returning to the jetiise’s room. 

The moment Kenobi unties his belt and starts unwrapping his tabard and tunics, sand begins skittering to the floor. Jango eyes the growing pile, thankful it isn’t his problem to clean up. 

“Shouldn’t have laid down in the sand. You’ll be getting rid of it for days,” he says, and Kenobi shoots him a weak glare.

“I was tired,” Kenobi grumbles. “Besides, sand gets everywhere anyways.”

Kenobi strips down to his smalls with all the modesty -- or rather, lack thereof -- of a warrior who has been in front of too many medics. The myriad of scars of different ages on his body is certainly evidence of that. Jango is still baffled, because he’s fairly sure jetiise were less...careless with their padawans than that, but he saves those questions for later.

Obi’s childhood, man...and the scars you see are only the ones on the outside.

The wounds from the darjetii, now fully visible, makes Jango want to hiss in sympathy. Kenobi has two shallow burns on his left arm and one on his right forearm to join the old jetii’kad scars. But the Zabrak had cut deep into Kenobi’s right upper arm. Jango couldn’t quite see bone, but Kenobi is kriffing lucky to not have any nerve damage - at least, not that he could tell. Other than the wound that wraps around Kenobi’s side that he’d noted earlier, the last is a slash across the side of his left thigh, not as deep as the ugly one on his arm but deep enough. 

I imagine some of the old lightsaber sabers came from too many tussles with Bruck.

You’ve got some pretty important nerves and arteries in your upper arm ie the radial nerve LOL The outer side of your thigh, not as much, hence the instructions for epipen injections to be given against the side of your thigh. 8D /random trivia

He’s honestly impressed that Kenobi could walk or move his arms so freely, much less continue fighting the way he had.

“Well, at least you’re not bleeding,” is all Jango can say. 

Hurraaay instant cauterization (oof the burned tissue though)

Kenobi grimaces and sits himself down on the bunk they’d set the supplies on. 

“Painkillers?” Jango asks, opening the medkit. 

Kenobi shakes his head. “I’m alright for now. Perhaps before I sleep,” Kenobi says. “The Force helps me dull the pain.” 

Jango huffs. More jetii sorcery, though that explains a lot. 

He finds the antiseptic wash and pours it into the basin over the cloth they’d collected. They clean their hands, and Kenobi starts wiping clean his left arm, careful over the burns. 

I almost glossed over this stuff, but it pained me to not mention CLEAN HANDS. Clean hands during wound care, folks. I restrained myself from having them dig out gloves or something LOL

“I’ve got your side,” Jango warns Kenobi, before pressing a dampened cloth to his right side. He starts cleaning the wound from Kenobi’s front before moving to his back. 

Jango should have expected it, but somehow he hadn’t. Up close, he sees barely-there Lichtenberg scars that he’s seen before on others, from electro-jabbers held too long against skin. He also sees whip scars across Kenobi’s upper back, faded enough for Jango to tell he had gotten them far too young. 

The slave guards on Bandomeer, to quote, “beat them savagely with an electro-jabber.” I imagine prolonged contact with an electro-jabber would lead to injury and scarring like you’d see in a lighting strike but smaller/more localized. (Note: Some caution if you  google what it looks like!)

“How old were you?” he can’t help himself from asking, but managing at least to keep the words less sharp than he had wanted.

“What?” Kenobi starts to twist to look at him but thinks better of it. 

Jango brushes a hand along one of the whip scars instead of explaining, and Kenobi stiffens for a moment, before relaxing. He moves on to cleaning his leg wound, and Jango thinks he might not answer, which is fair. Jango resumes cleaning the side wound. 

“I was just shy of thirteen," Kenobi suddenly says. "Deepsea mining on Bandomeer."

Jango curses under his breath and has to keep himself from inadvertently pressing too hard on Kenobi’s wound.

Thirteen, as a mining slave. A deepsea mining slave. 

Every slave knows that deepsea mining is the one of the worst positions to be in. The life expectancy is five to ten years maximum. Kriffing hell, some slavers use deepsea mining as a threat to make their slaves behave.

This I unfortunately based on what I learned about slavery on sugar cane plantations in the (American) South. Being sent South, to a sugar cane plantation, was a threat (Northern) slave owners would use to make their slaves behave. Life expectancy decreased dramatically if you were working on a sugar cane plantation. (If you’re in New Orleans for tourist purposes, many people recommend Oak Alley Plantation. But that’s because it’s very pretty. It glosses over its history of slavery though, and its tour focuses on the owners. Please go visit Whitney Plantation too. They do not gloss over the history and all the awful things that happened there. The tour guides are phenomenal, and you learn a lot from them.)

"It was only for a week, but it was long enough to...understand," Kenobi murmurs.

Long enough for him to have scars to this day. To say nothing about however it must have kriffed him up at thirteen. 

"One day would have been too long," Jango growls. "Where was your jetii master in all this?" 

He gestures roughly at Kenobi’s right arm, and Kenobi holds out his arm for Jango. Jango begins carefully cleaning around the deep wound. 

“He wasn’t my master then,” Kenobi says. “To make a long and rather complicated story short, I had been sent away to AgriCrops on Bandomeer as a--failed initiate, and got myself involved in Master Qui-gon’s mission on Bandomeer. I discovered Offworld Mining tampering with AgriCorps and was captured...I woke up as a slave on one of their deepsea mining platforms.”

Even that sparse a recounting is too much to unpack. But foremost on his mind, the jetiise had sent Kenobi away to be a farmer? With everything Kenobi has said and especially considering the duel Jango had just witnessed...had they been blind? If there is such a thing as a good jetii, Kenobi is likely it. 

👀👀👀 @ Jango

“How’d you get out?” Jango asks.

“Master Qui-gon found me. He disabled my collar, and we escaped the guards. We managed to disable the other slaves’ collars once we were on the mainland as well. They revolted and freed themselves,” Kenobi says with a small quirk of his lips.

Jango grunts in approval. “Good on them.” He drops his cloth into the basin. “Let’s get patches on your burns and your side. Your arm definitely needs stitches. It’s up to you on the leg.”

Kenobi looks at his leg wound thoughtfully. “Are there any of those deep incision BactaBonds?” he asks. “If not, then stitches will do.”

Mentioned it on AO3, but I based BactaBond off of Dermabond. it’s Dermabond but more magical because bacta.

Jango pulls out all the bacta patches they’ll need for Kenobi’s burns and side wound before digging around the kit. Sure enough, he finds a tube of BactaBond and the roll of mesh tape that came with it. 

“You’re in luck.”

He hands the BactaBond and the mesh tape to Kenobi. Kenobi nods in thanks and begins fixing up his leg wound. Jango starts placing patches over the wound wrapping around his side. 

Okay, so I want to note that when you have burnt up tissue, you’re supposed to remove the dead tissue when cleaning up burns because that dead tissue isn’t gonna do you much, but I didn’t want to get more detailed than I already was, and I decided to just...handwave it as part of the magical bacta healing effect LOL

They work in silence. Jango knows from experience the BactaBond and mesh tape can be an absolute kriffing pain to apply properly, so he tries not to disturb Kenobi as he finishes patching up his side. 

He waits for Kenobi to finish with the mesh tape before handing him some dressing to cover the whole thing. They quickly cover up the burns on Kenobi’s arms with bacta patches before finally addressing the deep cut on his right arm. 

“Are you sure you don’t want pain killers?” Jango asks, assessing the wound. It really is a nasty injury. With the BactaBond, he could probably get away with one layer of stitches instead of two or three.

“I will be alright,” Kenobi says again and hands Jango the BactaBond. 

Jango grunts. “Suit yourself.” 

He applies the BactaBond into the wound before pressing the wound edges firmly together. Kenobi doesn’t even flinch, sitting there quietly with his eyes closed while Jango picks up the suture needle and begins stitching close the wound. 

I would like to draw this scene one day. Or someone can draw it for me. LOL 

After some consideration, Jango says, “I was sold to a spice transport.” He keeps his focus on closing the wound as tidily as he can, but he can feel Kenobi’s gaze on his face. “I was there for two years.”

"...How did you end up escaping?" he asked.

"Pirates attacked the ship. I freed myself in the confusion and ended up making a deal with the pirates.”

“Quite a few pirates would take the spice and the slaves…” Kenobi remarks.

“I had the upper hand on them. Besides, ‘Hondo Ohnaka would never deal with slavery’,” he quotes, “or so he claims.”

"Ah," Kenobi says in the tone of everyone who has ever met Hondo Ohnaka. Jango pauses in his suturing to look at Kenobi.

"You’ve met." 

Kenobi sighs, sounding as exasperated as anyone who has dealt with Ohnaka. “It was a very...trying mission.” He smiles wryly. 

HONDO OHNAKA IS A DELIGHT. Also I love the idea that the pirates who attacked that spice transport and gave Jango the opportunity to escape were Hondo’s crew. Idea thanks to blue_sunshine’s Desert Storm.

Also the ways in which Jango and Obi can connect with their experiences. Just aaaaaaah *flailing Kermit*

“I am not surprised.” Jango finishes up the sutures and assesses his handiwork. It’ll do. “Patch or plain dressing on top?” he asks. He thinks plain dressing would do just fine, but the patch might not hurt considering the extent of the wound.

Kenobi gestures to the patch, so Jango applies the patch. 

“Done. Listen to Jinn and get some rest. I was tired just watching that fight,” Jango says.

Kenobi gives him a half-hearted glare, but doesn’t make a word in protest as Jango stands and starts collecting all their first aid detritus. Despite his protests, Jango suspects Kenobi’s ready to pass out. 

An hour long high speed lightsaber duel in the sand. Can’t believe Obi wasn’t asleep on his feet. LOL

[muddyhippy]

A Tangled Problem

So today is my birthday and I am still working on Night Terrors chapter 6 which fighting me rather impressively but I had this little scene pop into my head and demanded to be written. 

Please enjoy this little bit of fluff from the Lily ‘verse! 

Lily padded into the common room still quite sleepy but with a single goal in mind. She’d got up out of Jonny’s bunk whilst he was still fast asleep determined to wash and get dressed and make a nice breakfast for everyone. She’d had another bad nightmare and Jonny had stayed up late with her telling stories and singing. He made her feel safe and cared enough that the nightmares stopped being horrible and scary in her head for the rest of the night so she wanted to let him sleep and make a tasty breakfast. Her plan was going quite well when she washed and dressed but got stuck, literally, when it came to brush her hair.

 Lily’s hair was a thick mass of candyfloss-soft silvery tangles at the best of times but last night’s upset had obviously made it ten times worse.

 Her brush got stuck and no matter what she did it wouldn’t come free.

 It hurt when she tugged and pulled and struggled. Enough to make tears prick her eyes.

 So she headed to find the one person who’d probably be best to help.

Without ceremony she headed directly to the person sat on the sofa completely absorbed in their music to the point they didn’t notice her approach until she climbed into their lap.

 Tim physically startled to suddenly have a lapful of Lily appear between his chest and his guitar and stare intensely at him.

 “Um hello Sweetness?”

 “Tim! Help!” She pleaded.  

 He tensed, fully poised to murder the shit out of whatever that had prompted this response.

 She pointed.

 Tim’s eyes alighted on her very tangled-in-hair brush caught up in her tresses. His eyes ran a quick diagnostic that helpfully returned the report ‘Ouch’.

 “Oh.” He considered why she was showing him this and came up with nothing, “Um why—?”

 “Because Jonny’s asleep,” She explained simply, “and you’ve got the prettiest hair, you tangle it all up in your goggles but it always ends up nice and untangled again so you’ve got to be good at hair-brushing.”

 That, that was an impressive leap of logic he had to give her that.

 “But Raphaella…?” He began weakly

 “She has really pretty hair too and it’s even longer than yours but it’s never tangled! Yours does so you’ve got more practice at fixing it. Please?” She sniffed, “I’ve tried and tried and it only hurts more.”

 Tim took pity on her, that snarl up did look painful and it was obvious everything she’d tried had made it worse.

 Plus, she was doing the look that Jonny warned him about, the whole ‘her-eyes-take-up-half-her-face-look’ that made his insides get twisty and him want to fix whatever the matter was.

 He suddenly understood why Jonny was willing to do as much stuff as he did. Lily was bloody hard to say no to when she looked like a particularly sad octokitten.

 “Um, alright then.” He carefully put down the guitar to give the small sad child his full attention.

 It really was a disaster. Tim considered his approach whilst ignoring the growing warmth in his chest at the idea that the little who’d joined them not that long ago apparently trusted him enough to ask for help with something personal and left her vulnerable. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Probably Bertie. Best not think about that then.

 “Okay Sweetness, can you turn around for me so I can get to the brush please?”

 “Ok, thank you Tim,” she pressed a heartfelt kiss to his bearded cheek before turning around obviously utterly convinced that he’d got this and she trusted him implicitly that he’d make this better.

 Fuck he hated Jonny for not being awake.

 Tim, not for the first time since Lily joined them, regretted being an only child with absolutely no sibling experience to deal with situations like this.

 Ah fuck it, he’d do his best.

 Using his enhanced vision, the patience he used when cleaning and repairing his weapons and the comb he kept in his coat pocket but would never admit to, he very carefully, painstakingly, detangled her hair.

 After half an hour he managed to free the brush from her head then proceeded to comb all her locks clear so she would be tangle free for the next five minutes at least. Maybe he’d have to ask Ashes to show Lily how to plait properly since he’d seen Ashes wear some excellent styles over the years.

 He’d never bothered to learn, he liked having long hair, it was something that was his own rebellion after school and whilst he was completing his mechanical engineering apprenticeship. It was easy to tuck it up under a cap after all.

 He’d tried not to show how heartbroken he’d been when he’d been constripted and shorn short again. Bertie had known of course and told him he was still just as handsome. During the time in the tunnels his hair had grown out again since no one was really paying attention to uniform rules in the depths of the war.

 He’d kept it long ever since. He wasn’t sure if it was out of defiance or as tribute to Bertie who’d never been able to keep his fingers out of it when they were alone together.

 Tim mentally shook himself, now was definitely not the time to start down that track. That route led to months locks in the armoury building non-stop. Or murdering Jonny repeatedly. Neither of which were viable responses right now.

 “Right then, I think we’re done, turn around for me Lily.”

 The little girl shuffled around on his lap to face him, she shook her head slightly. “It feels so nice! Thank you!”

 Little arms engulfed him in a grateful hug, enveloping him like the octokitten she masqueraded as half the time.

 “You’re very welcome Sweetness, now, let’s show you how to brush your hair without it getting all tangled up. Sound good?”

 “Yes please! Jonny helps me a lot but he doesn’t know as many tricks.”

 “Jonny doesn’t have as much patience, he’s had longer hair a few times but mostly because he couldn’t be bothered to cut it.”

 “Did he have hair as long as yours?”

 “No. Just to his shoulders.”

 “Oh.” She considered, “Mine’s already nearly that long.”

 “I had noticed.” He couldn’t help grinning.

 “I want to grow mine more.”

 “Oh yes?”

 “Yes! So I can be as pretty as Raphaella and you!”

 Tim felt both the blush and lump rise.

 “That’s, that’s kind of you to say Sweetness, but you’re lovely just as you are. You don’t have to look like anyone else to be better in some way.”

 Lily paused and thought about it.

 “Well, I won’t be exactly like you and Raphaella, my hair’s a different colour.”

 He couldn’t argue with the statement, she was a lot lighter than even Raphaella, “That’s very true.”

 “But I still want it long. I think it’ll be even nicer long.”

 Tim couldn’t help but smiling at that very familiar conviction, “Then I best show you how to look after it then shouldn’t I?”

 Lily beamed, lighting up the way she did whenever any of them took time to show her something. It was why they all, without exception, took time to show her things. They might be immoral, immortal space pirates but none of them were above wanting to feel like a hero for teaching a kid to tie her shoe laces, flip pancakes or make belt holes. “Yes please!”

 Which is why Brian walked in twenty minutes later looking for his fellow chef to find Lily and Tim in the middle of a hair brushing lesson, The child sat on the master-at-arms lap facing him, little tongue poking out in concentration, a long hank of Tim’s glossy tresses held reverentially in Lily’s tiny hand, her other carefully brushing it through as Tim talked her through the method of working in stages, his hands guiding hers, starting at the bottom and slowly working up to the roots.

 “This isn’t what it looks like—” Began Tim, colour rising dramatically in his face.  

 Brian raised an eyebrow.

 “Tim’s teaching me to brush hair properly so my brush doesn’t get all tangled up in my hair again because that hurts!”

 Tim sighed.

 “You know,” commented Brian, attempting to sound innocuous, “that looks exactly like what’s happening.”

 Lily looked puzzled, “That’s because it is.”

 “Quite right too,” Agreed the pilot, “looks like you’re doing a good job.” Brian took closer notice of their youngest crewmember, her usually wild mass of waves looked decidedly neat with that glossy sheen that only came with extensive grooming. “Did Tim do yours earlier?”

 “Yes! He’s really good! I got my brush stuck in my hair and he got it out and brushed it really nicely! I asked him because he has really pretty hair and is good at getting tangles out of it after he wears his goggles. He’s really gentle and clever at it!”

 Brian was amused to watch battle of emotions war over Tim’s face pride, pleasure, embarrassment and fury all crossed his face, clearly annoyed that this moment of softness with Lily was being witnessed.

 Brian found he didn’t care all that much for Tim’s comfort, this was more important. They were bonding over something other than guns, completely unprompted. This was good progress. The fact that Tim was obviously trusted enough by Lily for her to ask his help and that he’d clearly given it freely said at lot how comfortable they were becoming together which wasn’t bad for barely three weeks on board for Lily. Then again, last week her nightmare-stricken visit to his room that night she couldn’t find Jonny had probably cemented him as a ‘safe’ adult she could go to when the first mate wasn’t available.

 Brian hoped the rest of them would become as easy to approach eventually.

 It was nice to be reminded that deep under everything, he and his crew, at a push could remember how to be kind.

 “Right well, I’ll leave you to finish. Would you like me to start breakfast Lily?”

 The child paused looking conflicted.

 “I am more than happy to.” Brian clarified.

 “Oh um, yes please.”

 “Did you have a plan?”

 “Scrambled eggs and bacon and pancakes.”

 “Sounds good to me!” Approved Tim, feeling that she shouldn’t feel all that bad about not cooking one meal.

 Brian smile widened, pleased she was deciding to spend more time with Tim, “Me too, right then, I’ll get started, you can join me when you and Tim are done. See you later.” He left the scene as the two continued their lesson.

 “Right then, reckon you can do the rest before Brian finishes?”

 “Yeah!”

 Tim arrived to breakfast on the table, Lily holding his hand, the two looking decidedly neater than normal.

 As the others began to gently tease and pass the pancakes Brian overlooked the group, his family and couldn’t help but beam.