#A knife. Just bullets. Blades. Swords. ANYTHING is better

[wrenwinchester]

I talk about Millie and knives a lot. I know I do. Partly, if not mostly, because I myself have a lot of love for knives, they’re practical and useful, and truthfully I mean anything with a blade. Machete, sword, anything like that.

However, I don’t think I’ve mentioned anything about why she prefers blades to bullets, or how we ended up here to begin with.

It’s not because she has bad aim, or doesn’t like the loud noise. She’s been able to shoot a gun accurately since she was about 8, and she’s been training with guns since she was 7.

She was careful and cautious, but determined. She’d been watching Dean practice shooting at Bobby’s since she was 5ish, begging him to teach her just as long.

It didn’t matter, Dean wouldn’t disobey John, who refused to teach her to shoot until she was just a little older, worried about the kickback, especially not when it came to his siblings’ safety. However, John hadn’t said anything about knives, so Dean started teaching her to fight with knives, disarm an opponent, and even throw unbalanced knives perfectly. She practiced all the time, especially when Dean and John were gone, and when she was at the Roadhouse. They became an extension of who she was, a part of her, when she doesn’t have a knife on her person she feels vulnerable. Even just a small one strapped to her ankle, or tucked safely into her boots or in a sheath on her thigh is better than nothing at all.

[hellonoblesky]

Obsessed with the fact that Chuuya jjust. Has a box of bullets ans throws them at people because he literally does not need a gun he just… gravities them. insane. love him

[jinx-jade]

Secret Dreams Chapter 6: Who is Marinette Dupain-Cheng?

The bats had been informed of an in-progress Scarecrow attack, making their way to the shopping district as fast as they could. Wishing to minimize the collateral civilian trauma.

 When they arrived they saw Marinette Dupain-Cheng fighting off Scarecrow’s goons. Marinette twisted the blade she was currently holding, before pulling it back out.

Her movements were smooth and well-practiced, as she quickly threw her dagger at another goon, hitting them in the upper arm. They pass out from what they assumed was the pain and hopefully not some type of poison. Marinette darted forward, opening one of their eyes. Most likely checking for consciousness. They could only assume the goon was unconscious when Marinette refocused on the fight. 

With the goons taken care of, it was simple to take down Scarecrow. Knocking him unconsumed before tying him up. They then moved the goons into medical care.

 Marinette looked there, seeming ready to shoot before freezing for a few moments. She tilted her head to the side. Nightwing moved towards her slowly with his hands in a placating gesture.  After a moment Marinette relaxed her body from its tense posture.

They injected her with the antidote only for Marinette to sway on her feet, Nightwing easily moving to catch her.

They picked Marinette up and moved her to an ambulance where her vitals got checked over. Most of them were tense, impatiently waiting to question her. 

Nowhere in the file they had on Marinette Dupain-Cheng did it say she could fight like that. She knew basic self-defense, but those movements were too practiced for it to just be self-defense training.

“Are you alright?” Nightwing questioned.

“Mh. Just a bad headache.” Marinette informs them.

“If you’re up to it, could you answer some questions?” She simply nodded her head.

“You were under the influence of fear-toxin?” Batman questioned with a neutral tone.

“Yes.”

“What could you see?” Red Robin inquired with curiosity.

“Blood, Dead bodies, Akumas, Hawkmoth.”

“You’re from Paris then.” They already knew that but she still nodded her head.

“Where did you get the dagger, knife, and gun?” Red hood asked.

“I took the knife from one of the standing Akumas, or I guess Scarecrows goons? I did the same thing to get the gun.”

“And the dagger?” Red Hood questions with an amused tone.

“That was mine,” Marinette responds. “ I keep it on me in case of an emergency.” That made sense since this was Gotham, but how well did she know to use the weapons?

“You know how to handle each of these weapons?” Batgirl asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.”

Their questions paused briefly as they looked in each other’s directions. Her file had said nothing about being trained with weapons.

“Did you have proper training with them? Or was it adrenaline?” Red Hood asked. Repeating Batgirl’s question differently.

“I’m not sure if it counts as proper training but I was taught how to use them.” This had the bats looking at each other once again. 

None of her friends or family she has been in contact with knows how to use a gun. Sure the blades could be chalked up to the Tugarugi family, but they mainly deal in swords, not small knives and daggers.

Marinette seemed confused about their reaction.

“The person who taught me is more than proficient with them if that’s what you’re worried about,” Marinette informs them in an attempt to try and ease their worries.

The bats’ had another moment of silence before Batman stepped forward. The others having been dismissed started heading back to the cave.

“We’ll contact you if we need more information.” They hear Batman over their comms.

Once all the bats were in the cave, including the ones who didn’t come to the Scarecrow attack such as Robin and Blackbat, Oracle pulled up the secretary cameras recording from the fight.

They watched as the fear gas filled up the room. Marinette seemed unfazed while others dropped to the floor with heavy or shallow breathing. All the bats cringe at the sound of screaming, shrieking, and sobbing.

Marinette simply looked around before the goons seemed to be in her vision. Her breathing became uneven as she slowly and shakily moved towards the group. The bats looked to Blackbat for a better read on her body language only to see her grinning, she pointed at the screen.

“Watch.” That was all Blackbat said.

Turning their attention back to the screen, only to see Marinette snatch the knife from a goon. She wept the legs out from beneath another and stabbed him in the lower calf. Quickly moving to roundhouse kick the other one in the lower jaw.

A goon tried to sneak up on her only for Marinette to pull out her dagger and stab them in the shoulder. She twisted the blade before pulling it out, quickly throwing her dagger at a different goon.

Marinette darts forward to check for consciousness only to find none. She then shot her gun at the goon that was charging towards her. The bats cringed again. There was a lot of blood as the goon fell to the floor.

“Relax, kid’s shot wasn’t fatal, the bullet only grazed that goon's head,” Jason tells them, causing the others to relax. “Now the question I got for the little pixie is how her marksmanship is that good. Her file says nothing about knowing how to use a gun or even going to a gun range.” 

Barbara started running a more thorough check for anything and everything connected to Marinette, only to run into a heavily encrypted firewall. Both Tim and Barbra and to pick at it till they were let in. Once they got in the computer went static before blacking out.

After about forty-five seconds the screen flickered through a few different colors before settling on a logo.

The logo was a red circle with a white line down the center. It was outlined in white as well, with five white dots in a similar pattern to a dice. The top left dot had the letter ‘M’, the center dot had the letter ‘D’, and the button right dot had the letter ‘C’.

Three loading dots appeared on the screen with a green answer and a red decline button. The bats were unsure as to whether they should answer or decline the incoming call. Tempted to just let it ring out, but one of them had already answered the call.

tag list: @little-bluestar @redbullgivescaswings @stackofrandomstuff @meismu @maskedpainter @nyx-in-line @iamabrownfox @m0chik0furan @jjmjjktth @icerosecrystal @machichannx @a4-machete @our-preciousss @justafanwarrior @animegirlweeb @loopingtangent @buginetye @blueslushgueen @solangelo252 @officiallydarkgreek @toodaloo-kangaroo @melicmusicmagic @alysrose-starchild @lunathealphafemale @frieddonutsweets @marvel--unsolved @user00000003 @henie04 @anonymously-odd @jayjayspixiepop @eggadoodle @demonicbusiness @laurcad123

[dameronology]

walls {steve rogers}

summary: steve just wants to look after you - even if it means breaking down your insanely stubborn walls. 

warnings: swearing, mentions of blood + stitches 

- jazz

Steve Rogers was overprotective. 

Everyone knew it - you knew it, his team-mates knew it, his best friends knew it. Heck, the crazy old lady who lived across the hall from you knew it. Most of the time, it was pretty endearing; he’d refuse to let you walk alone in the dark and he’d make you text him when you were home safe. You knew that he was your ride-or-die, your partner-in-crime and your best friend all rolled into one. It was the sort of thing that people found their lives searching for but rarely found. Perhaps you’d been one of the lucky ones.

But, working in such close proximity to each other - and especially in a line of work where doing dangerous things was literally in your job description - could often be a source of friction. You both tried hard to work around it, but sometimes things came to head in an unavoidable way and you just had to deal with it. Steve’s overbearingness was the very anti-thesis of your rebellious tendencies and, like a match being struck, a fire was bound to start. 

‘You didn’t listen to me!’ 

‘I did listen to you!’ You were moving around the apartment, attention half on unpacking your things and the other half on ripping into Steve.

‘So why didn’t you follow my orders?’ He was stood in the door way, a stony look on his features and his arms folded tightly across his chest. ‘I told you to get out before the agents could open fire on you-’

‘- and I got them before they did!’ You cut him off, throwing him a glare over your shoulder. ‘I had every one of those HYDRA bastards out cold before they could even reach for their guns!’

‘That’s not the point.’ Steve’s voice was cold, almost accusatory. ‘The point is that you went against my direct orders-’

‘- save it, Rogers.’ You slammed your wardrobe shut, kicking the empty bag under the bed. ‘I still have to stitch myself up and I don’t have the energy to fight with you.’

‘You need stitches?’ Right, that only made it worst. Great going, moron. ‘Why didn’t you go to medical when we landed?’

You groaned. ‘Because I couldn’t be bothered, okay? I’ve spent the last five days in rural Russia hearing Barnes and Wilson argue over weaponry tactics and I just wanted to get home and having a fucking coffee.’

Steve decided he couldn’t argue with that.

Pushing past him, you headed to your bathroom to find the first-aid kit. It wasn’t anything bad - just a small wound on your thigh. It would have been much easier to let the medic deal with it back at the base, but as you’d said to Steve, you just wanted to get home. It was much more pleasant to do it in within the walls of your own home, even if your stitches were usually a little wonky. 

After ditching your SHIELD uniform for an old t-shirt of Steve’s, you propped your leg up on the counter and unwound the bandages you hastily forced on there in the quintjet bathroom. You could have stitched yourself up there and then, but the turbulence had made things a little bumpy and Thor had been banging on the door for the better part of ten minutes. Whatever genius had lead Tony Stark to put only one bathroom on those jets was beyond you, but you’d made a mental note to write him a strongly worded email.

‘Shit.’ You murmured. Even after years on the job and hundreds of stitches, they still hurt. ‘Fuuuuuuuck.’

‘Sweetheart.’ Steve’s voice came from the doorway. ‘I know you’re mad at me, but please let me help.’

Admittedly, you wouldn’t have sustained the injury if you’d just done as he’d said. Both of you were very aware of the fact but bringing it up would have simply been salt in the wound. 

‘I don’t need help.’ You grunted. ‘It’s not even that big of a wound.’

‘You can’t downplay a knife wound-’

‘- it wasn’t a knife!’ You protested. ‘It was just another form of bladed, metal weapon.’

‘So...a sword, then?’ He took a step closer to you, warm hands coming to rest on your shoulders. ‘Surely that’s worst?’

Letting out a groan, you dropped the needle in defeat, taking a seat on the edge of the bath. The super soldier crouched in front of you, a large palm resting on your thigh to keep it still as the other went to work on closing your wound.

‘These look like Y-incision stitches, doll.’

‘I’m a field agent, not a doctor.’

‘Thankfully.’ He muttered. ‘I’ll get some pain killers for you from Bruce in the morning.’

‘You don’t have to do that.’ You replied. ‘I’m fine, I swear.’

‘It’s more for me, actually.’ Steve quirked a brow at you. ‘You’re a real grouch when you’re in pain and I have to live with you.’

Steve was fluent in...well, you. He knew exactly what to say and exactly what to do to get you to do things (usually in the form of looking after yourself). You would never admit that you needed painkillers but you would take them if he insisted that it made life easier for him. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book - and you were completely aware of his play.

‘In that case, I suppose I should take them then.’ You casually shrugged.

‘Thank you.’ He leant up to give you a kiss on the cheek.

After giving the wound one final clean, Steve wrapped a bandage around your thigh and picked you up, carrying you back to the bedroom. He placed you down on the bed and took a seat beside you. The post-fight tension quickly returned, seeping into the nooks and crannies of the temporary truce you’d found in the bathroom. The issue was still there; you were still mad at each other. 

‘Next time something like that happens, please go to the nurse.’ Steve gently reached out to you, placing his hand over yours. ‘It might injure your pride but that won’t kill you.’

‘It might.’

‘Baby.’ He groaned. ‘I can live with you ignoring my orders but I can’t live with you getting hurt because of it-’

‘- it’s a few stitches. Stop being a drama queen.’

‘What if it’s not a few stitches next time?’ He let go of your hand, twisting to face you so that he was resting on his side. ‘What if it’s a knife to your chest? Or a bullet?’

‘It won’t be!’ You said. ‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘Every agent who’s died in the field has probably thought the same.’ Steve shot back.

‘We both work in an area with high risks.’ You reasoned. ‘You’re going to have to learn to live with the fact that I’m going to get hurt.’

‘I know that.’ He reminded you. ‘But I just...I give you those orders for your safety. I don’t do it to boss you around or to piss you off. I do it so that you don’t get killed.’

‘Steve-’

‘- so that I don’t lose you.’ 

All pride aside, he kind of had the upper hand here. You were utterly terrified of the prospect of life without Steve, and it was foolish to assume that it didn’t go both ways. You were so desperate to hold onto him and to keep him by your side, but you never stopped to think that he did the same. Everything he did, he did for you. You knew that, but it was easy to forget when your pride got in the way. 

‘You’re not going to lose me.’ The words breathily escaped your lips. Steve took you in his arms as they did, reaching out to you to pull you into his chest.

‘Please try and understand where I’m coming from.’ His tone wasn’t pleading, but you could sense the desperation in his words. ‘I know it was just a few stitches today-’

‘- I do.’ You cut him off. ‘I do understand, I swear.’

‘You know I love your stubbornness, but it’s not worth much unless you’re alive and in one piece.’ Steve said. ‘Please just promise me you’ll try and listen?’

‘I promise.’ You quickly replied. 

‘And I know I’m asking a lot now, but please start going to the nurse-’

‘- Rome wasn’t built in a day, Stevie.’ You pressed a kiss to his nose. ‘Maybe ask me about that next week?’

‘I’m starting to think you like it when I stitch you up.’

‘I was never denying it.’ 

[akampana]

Oh, oh, how about a Gil vampire lord and arty famous vampire hunter in a eternal rivalry for no.1, kinda Hellsing and dracula rivalry but with a twist

“I couldn’t live with myself, if I didn’t tell you.” Gilgamesh x Arturia Vampire x Hunter. Enjoy!

_______

Three bullets.

Two knives.

One vampire.

Arturia Pendragon clicked the cylinders back into place and brought her weapons up to her chin, the warmth of her breath misting the polished barrel. She was the only thing in this accursed mansion that had any sense of heat, as everything inside was either unlit, inanimate, or dead.

The small hunter cursed the winter. There wasn’t a poorer season for killing vampires than one that was as dark and cold as the night creatures’ hearts. However, she could wait no longer. For generations, her family had pursued the blood-sucking fiends, hoping to one day cease the plague that had haunted their lands. At last, it could come to an end. There would be no need for her little brother to learn to handle a gun as well.

All she had to do was put Gilgamesh to rest.

A sudden movement from the right had her fingers on the triggers, but it was an effort wasted. There was nothing but the creak of wood and a curtain dancing in the cold breeze. However, she was not too quick to drop her guard. The vampire she hunted tonight was older than time and just as wise. Tricks like this were not beyond him. It made his hunts more interesting, she bet.

"There you are, my love."

...

Too slow!

The Pendragon ducked to the floor just in time to hear his palm smash through the stone brick behind her. Aiming her revolvers, she sprang up like a gymnast, twisting midair to face the hellspawn.

Silver shot out of her gun, but she already knew it would miss. Vampires were quite the agile creatures, having shed their human limits in exchange for their souls. Even if Gilgamesh looked mortal like herself, the way he sidestepped fire at such a short distance clearly suggested otherwise.

The soles of her boots screeched against the floor as she secured her landing by chucking the revolver at her opponent. Empty guns were useless in fights that required all her attention, but thankfully, this one had extra utility against creatures of the night.

When a high pitched squeak more suited to a frightened pig passed her old rival's lips, she knew she'd made a successful play.

"A silver-barrelled gun? Ha! And here I believed you had exhausted all your options," the older one smirked, the skin of his hands hissing from the contact. "That must have cost your family the entire treasury, my dearest Arturia. Who did this once belong to, hm? Was it your father's? Grandfather's? Great-grandfather's?"

Arturia grimaced as she snatched one of her knives from her heel.

"Killing your kind brings quite the fortune,” she answered, as per their usual simultaneous verbal bouts. “I can buy a hundred more with the price on your head, Gilgamesh."

She spun the blade round her fingers to provoke him, stopping in a backhand grip.

"More of your distractions, girl?" he sneered, just a hint of irritation breaking through his haughty mask. "It will take more than parlor tricks to fell the likes of me!"

Arturia lunged like a fencer, weaving through his usual jabs till she nicked his skin, lamenting how terribly shallow the cut was. As her breaths began to labor, her eyes flickered to the hallway, debating whether or not she could make a break for it. There was no outmatching a vampire in a direct dance to death, but she’d already made that play. Gilgamesh was not going to let her go a second time-

A sharp hiss was the woman’s only warning before his hands seized her throat.

No!

Desperately, she fired the gun at his knee, but all it did was have him bruise her skull on the floor instead of the wall, flinging her around like she weighed nothing.

The woman kicked and thrashed, but for all her effort, all she managed was a slash to his face before he rid her of her knife. Black spots began to cloud her vision, but Arturia took aim even as her lungs began to burn.

She had one bullet. One final attempt to make sure no Pendragon would ever have to take up the craft again. She had to spare poor Arthur. Only six and already being taught how to wield a knife. Igraine was already planning to take him out to hunt foxes. Arthur loved foxes. God. She had to make this one shot. Just this last one. For his sake. Please.

It didn’t take Gilgamesh any effort to bat her gun away.

Arturia’s emerald eyes locked with those of her assailant’s. Her whole life, she’d trained for this day, only to still come up short. It didn’t matter, the thousands that had fallen to her technique. She was still no match for him, not even after all this time.

Her nails clawed into the skin of his knuckles as Gilgamesh dipped down toward her shoulder, no doubt preparing to sink his teeth into her jugular.

Was this how she was going to meet her end? So close to finally ridding the continent of every vampire there was? So close to liberating her brother, her entire clan, from cruel deaths at the hands of the immortals? Why, after all she’d sacrificed, after giving up her life to become a hunter, did she have to fail at her mission’s most crucial moment?

Tears fell from her eyes as she shut them tight, refusing her last glimpse of life to be the eerily perfect face of the undead.

His teeth scraped against her skin. A final torture before he drained the life out of her.

Arturia braced herself for the bite, her head screaming apologies to every person she was letting down. Igraine, her late father, her cousins, Arthur.

But it never came.

“You have done well, my queen,” whispered the old creature, his cold lips brushing against her neck. Arturia gasped for air, hacking and coughing beneath him, a million questions running through her mind. He quieted them all with his thumb on her bottom lip, freezing Arturia where she lay.

“I have endured several of your lifetimes. Each, more passionless than the last. I thought myself fortunate at first, able to experience every pleasure the world had to offer, but a thousand years can make even the sweetest fruit seem vile.”

A flicker of irritation crossed his sharp, eternal features, but it was quickly replaced by something Arturia had never seen before. The emotion swelled within his vibrant ruby irises, which glowed even through a night as dark as this one.

“Eventually, I saw this ‘gift’ for what it truly was: a curse, bestowed upon me by that loathsome snake an eternity ago,” he voiced cryptically, knowing this beautiful little girl would likely never grasp just how long he’d walked this earth.

The Pendragon stared up at him with those fiery irises he’d been fond of since the first time he beheld them.

It was exactly twenty years since the day she first came here. Fifteen years old, a mere child, yet one that possessed the gall to challenge him to a duel. He spared her that day, and she went on to challenge every single creature in the continent that had been turned, coming back every now and then for another shot at his head.

Arturia wasn’t anything like those that shared her last name. Her clan was stiff. Traditional. She took their knowledge, but did not stop there, taking various forms of study to hone her craft. She'd been to Ireland to study their methods. To France to understand alchemy. Three years ago, she nearly killed him with near-invisible wire she acquired from the east. Before that, it was a sword of fire. Today, apparently, she’d gotten dexterous enough dual wielding either guns or knives, when she hadn’t that skill prior.

Ever since they met, his days were full of excitement, anticipation for the day she’d return. Suddenly, he was always on his toes, rising at the first sign of night to prepare for her next arrival. His hunts were no longer mechanical, for he knew now that he and she were bound to cross paths. Where would she see him next? On a hike into the mountains? In summer, when the days were long? Maybe even at the local ball? There were so many possibilities!

About a decade into their arrangement, Gilgamesh realized he was feeling something he hadn’t felt in eons.

He felt alive.

But like most living things, he knew Arturia had a limit. And before she reached it, before his fun could be taken away once more, he knew he had to do this. What better time than now, when he had the opportunity to caress her cheek for the first time?

“However, despite how I’ve loathed my own longevity, I never want our duels to end,” he admitted, memorizing her face, counting her freckles, brushing his thumb against lips he didn’t dare kiss for fear of imparting his curse.

“You, wicked woman, have made this soulless being crave a soul, if only to meet you once more beyond the grave.”

Minutes passed in silence as Arturia registered his confession. The night did not conceal her expressions from him. Not the fear, the anger, the confusion. He witnessed the exact moment of her realization, felt her heartbeat quicken, saw the heat rise to her cheeks. At last, she understood why she lay under him and had not yet fallen victim to his fangs.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked calmly, her voice strained, but clear. “Why now?”

“I have desired to do so for half a decade, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you...and I cannot die without you knowing that you are treasured beyond belief.”

Slowly, he reached for her ankle, where he knew she’d hidden her last knife. It burned his flesh as he grasped the hilt, rejecting the impurity of his being, but he persisted anyway, rejoicing in the sensation. This would be one of the final times he’d experience it.

“Wh...what are you doing?” she asked as he pulled her up to face him, placing the dagger in her grip and clasping his hands around hers. Even presented with the opportunity, it was no longer killing intent that resided within her eyes, only conflict.

“Without an end to one’s existence, love, the delights of what you call ‘life’ have no meaning,” he explained, moving her arms so that the blade’s tip rested just above his heart. “Therefore, Arturia Pendragon, I ask that your worthy hands grant me mine.”

He’d expected his death to be immediate, to happen as soon as he loosened his hold. Gilgamesh knew better than anybody what Arturia had at stake and who she was protecting. Hell, he was excited just contemplating what kind of life she’d lead, now that she’d been liberated of her family’s burden.

But now, when her goal was right in front of her, she hesitated.

For what seemed like a better eternity, Gilgamesh watched her stare into his exhausted red eyes, like she was engraving their intimidating splendor into her memory.

“Thank you.”

His death couldn’t have been sweeter.

[queensconquest]

@aristarchos​ said:  ╳ // pm and lw :3

( SEND  ╳ FOR MY MUSE TO TAKE A BULLET/SWORD FOR YOURS )

   It  hadn’t  been  a  hard  choice.  For  centuries  ,  Ling  Wen  had  put  herself  and  her  own  goals  at  the  forefront  of  what  she  did  without  a  moment  of  hesitation  or  care  for  anyone  else.  But  life  had  a  way  of  making  things  suddenly  change  without  warning.   Contrary  to  the  stories  and  plays  of  a  heartless  figure  torn  between  themselves  and  another  ,  it  hadn’t  been  a  hard  choice  at  all.  It  had  been  simple.  She  would  have  laughed  if  anyone  had  ever  tried  to  tell  her  otherwise.  Her  ?  Care  enough  to  save  someone  purely  because  she  wanted  to  ?  Not  likely.  And  yet  ,  in  an  instant  ,  it’d  become one  of  the  easiest  things  she’d  ever  done.  

   Crimson  grew  like  a  morbid  flower  against  dark  fabric  as  she  stared  down  at  the  hilt  of  the  blade.

   All  it  had  taken  was  seeing  the  danger  that  even  Pei  Ming  hadn’t  spotted  yet.  It  had  made  her  throat  tighten  and  fear  swell  in  her  chest  at  the  thought  of  losing  him .  She  couldn’t  just  stand  there  and  watch  him  fall  or  get  hurt.  Not  now.  Not  when  she  could  do  something.  She’d  been  unable  to  do  anything  with  Shi  Wudu  but  wait  to  hear  back.  But  here  and  now  ,  she  could  do  something  beyond  just  be  a  bystander.  In  a  split  second  ,  her  mind  had  already  assessed  that  calling  out  for  him  wouldn’t  help.  It’d  just  be  another  distraction  and  he  would  focus  on  her  rather  than  the  danger  already  nearly  sinking  its  fangs  into  him.  Her  body  was  moving  already  ,  pushing  Pei  Ming  out  of  the  path.

   She  claimed  to  still  be  heartless  ?  She  was  only  fooling  herself  if  she  really  still  believed  that.

   Ling  Wen  could  feel  her  legs  trembling  ,  starting  to  give  out  from  either  pain  or  blood  loss.  She  wasn’t  quite  sure  which  ,  only  that  she  could  hear  her  name  being  yelled.  But  even  that  was  iffy.  What  she  was  certain  of  was  that  she  was  caught  before  she  could  collapse  to  the  ground  ,  saved  from  the  hard  embrace  of  the  ground.  She  blinked  slowly  ,  staring  up  at  Pei  Ming’s  worried  face.  That  idiot  was  going  to  blame  himself.  She  could  already  see  the  thought  forming.

   Men.  

   Ling  Wen  lifted  a  hand  to  his  face  ,  fingers  brushing  over  his  cheek  to  try  to  ease  the  worry  she  could  see  forming  on  his  face  like  storm  clouds  rolling  over  a  field.  Granted  ,  the  knife  buried  in  her  chest  probably  wasn’t  helping  ,  but  she  knew  better  than  to  pull  it  out.  Pei  Ming  had  been  a  soldier ,  he  probably  knew  that  too.  Probably.

   “  Stop  it.  “  She  weakly  scolded  ,  too  pained  to  life  her  neck  or  head  from  where  she  laid  in  his  arms.  “  Don’t  blame  yourself.  I  chose  to  do  this.  So  don’t  you  dare  start  blaming  yourself.  “  She  took  a  deep  breath  in  ,  wincing  in  clear  pain  as  she  did  so.  “  Don’t  you  dare  invalidate  or  devalue  my  choice  ,  Ol’  Pei.  Or  I’ll  -  I’ll  get  even  when  I’m  better.  I  don’t  regret  it.  “  

   It  was  disconcerting  how  aware  she  was  of  her  own  heartbeat  ,  but  she  didn’t  focus  on  that  or  the  pain  that  made  her  head  spin.  Her  eyes  were  focused  on  Pei  Ming’s  face  as  her  fingers  slowly  slid  down  his  cheek  and  her  hand  fell  to  her  lap.

   “  I’m  glad  you’re  okay.  “  She  added  softly  ,  struggling  to  keep  her  eyes  open  as  she  gazed  at  him  ,  feeling  safe  in  his  arms  despite  the  terrifying  lack  of  control  she  had.

[waynewifey]

Fading away. —

Pairing: Jason Grace x Roman!DaughterofPluto!Reader

Sumary: after moths of over working, a colapse makes you get into a coma and reflect on your feelings.

Warnings: coma, angst, Pluto as a caring dad, fluff at the end.

Words: +-3k.

A/N: This is my first Percy Jackson Franchise fanfiction, so take it easy on me. This is also my biggest and favourite one. I hope you like this! My requests are always open.

(Y/N) (L/N) had a good reason to hate Jason Grace. How could she not? Jason was so annoying, self centred, selfish, stubborn and worse of all? He dated Piper McLean. Piper was great, (Y/N) knew that and they seemed happy together. But, still, he chose Piper, not (Y/N), his girlfriend back at Camp Jupiter, who he totally forgot about. How come Percy remembered Annabeth but Jason wouldn't remember (Y/N)? And when he recovered his memory, he chose Piper. But she also loved him still, and seeing him hurt like a bullet going straight through her heart. She decided to spend a year at Half-Blood Camp to stay with her half-brother Nico Di Angelo when Gaea were defeated. She thought she could manage to see him almost every day, but she couldn't. So she started doing anything to get her mind occupied. Going on meaningless quests, travelling to New York randomly, volunteering for literally any service in the camp and barely sleeping — because sleeping meant dreams.

"It doesn't have to be like that, (Y/N)." Her brother gave her another shot of Nectar. The sunlight that entered Hades' cabin was leaving slowly as they talked, (Y/N) leaned on her bed watching her fingertips become solid again.

"I'll learn how to do it right and I promise I won't push myself too much, but I can't stop practicing." She avoided eye contact with Nico, feeling ashamed of herself. After all, she was supposed to be the one taking care of him, since she was older. She came back from a "quest" for her father, that was staying a weekend on the Underworld. She started using Shadow Travel to get there. The problem? She had no idea how hard it was, and she almost died every time. He sighted.

"I'm not talking about Shadow Travel. You should talk to Jason and sort this out. You're almost killing yourself everyday doing the craziest stuff just to keep your mind off him. He already broke up with Piper, what's stopping you now? I'm your brother and it pains me to see you suffering, I won't just sit and watch while you literally desapear." He got up and walked to the door. The (h/c) girl forced a smile so he believed she was fine. Nico left the cabin.

After hours reflecting and thinking, she heard the trumpets that announced the convocation to a game of Capture the Flag. Since she was feeling better, she changed her clothes and walked outside. The teams were: cabins 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 21, 23, 27, 28, 29 vs. cabins 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 24, 25, 26. They started the game. (Y/N) had to protect the boundary with a kid from Hipnos' cabin while a group attacked the opponent's flag and another protected their territory and their flag. Everything was going as planned, she hadn't seen anyone yet. Out of the sudden, she saw a blond guy running in their direction with a sword. Oh hell no, Jason Grace wouldn't attack her like that. But he did.

"What the hell?!" She screamed, reacting to the blade flying in her direction. Her teammate was asleep. She defended herself with her own sword and counterattacked. He invested against her leg, trying to make her fall. Her instincts took place, she jumped, attacked again and they started a meaningless battle. Jason looked the same as always. He was almost the same Jason that used to take her on cute dates in New Rome. But he fought like a greek. And that was when it hit her, he changed. The mixture of love and hate made her loose her senses for a bit, giving Jason the lead. He focused on her leg but hesitated to hit it, giving her time to get back on the fight. She knocked him to the floor, her foot on his chest and her blade on his neck, when she heard footsteps approaching quickly. Of course. It was a trap. She turned around and saw a son of Hebe holding her team's flag running, followed by two daughters of Hephaestus. She grabbed a knife from her belt and threw it to his leg, hitting exactly where she wanted. She then grabbed Jason's blade and Shadow Travelled. For a moment everything was fine, while she drowned into darkness, but then she couldn't get out. She saw her father's face mixed in the dark. He raised his hand and touched her face, than she was back at the forest. Realising not even a second had gone through, she attacked the — injured — boy and the two gigantic girls at the same time. She wasn't really expecting to defeat them, just trying to win some time so, hopefully, someone would come help her. The boy dropped the flag and got a small sword. The two girls had hammers... oh. The three of them attacked at the same time and she protected herself with Jason's sword, which flew away. She was out of hopes when a figure appeared beside her and started fighting them.

"What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to help me, we're enemies, remember?" She said, fighting Hebe's son.

"I guess you're welcome then." Jason replied smiling, fighting the hammers-girls. (Y/N) sighted in annoyance. Seconds later, her teammates came running from the enemies' territory with a flag and the three-people group surrendered. Everyone started screaming and celebrating. (Y/N)'s head hurt with the noise and she looked to her brother, feeling numb.

"Hey, can we talk?" Jason said, getting in front of her with a big smile. He was proud of himself for helping her? Of course he was. He was going to take all the credit for her team's win. The anger rose inside of her burning everything. She furrowed her eyebrows and with the last energy that remained in her body, she tried to Shadow Travel for the perhaps hundredth time that day.

She fell into the darkness while feeling her body desapear quickly. Her heart was very accelerated but then it stopped. She saw herself at the barks of Lete's river. I'm dead., she thought. The desperation started taking over. She remembered the face of all her friends. Her siblings, Hazel and Nico. Her mother. Her best friend Reyna. Camp Jupiter. New Rome. The Lar Vitellius. Lares? Lares! Maybe she could go back as a ghost! She would at least see her friends again.

"Didn't expect to see you this soon." A voice said with humor. She turned around, as always enlighten by her father's presence. But his face was sad. Not the everyday-sad-Pluto, but the my-daughter-just-died-sad-Pluto.

"Am I d-... dead?" The anxiety forbid her from crying in front of her father. The one she never knew and once she did, she didn't want to disappoint him.

"Yes and no. You see, my darling, there are things more powerful then death. Right now, your physical being is exhausted from travelling through darkness and light — which I told you not to, but we'll talk about this later, you have a decision to make. You're body is surrendering to Death out of hopelessness. But your soul, on the other hand, still fights for the heart beating in your chest. And your conscious, the controller of both body and soul, has to decide which one of them you'll support right now. As Lord of the Death that's all I can say to you. But as your father, I would like to say that we have a room for you in the castle, if you'd like that. And also, I feel obligated to show you what is happening on Earth." When he finished his words, an image formed in the air, sort of an Iris message, but no one saw them. (Y/N) saw herself laying on the grass, surrounded by some campers, Nico and Jason.

She was watching them from above. Jason put two fingers on her neck, trying to feel her pulse. She — the one in the Underworld — gasped as the blond boy whispered 'nothing'. She glanced at her father, who had a pained expression as he stared at Nico freaking out. Her brother had his hands on her chest and was murmuring something in greek. Then, he opened his eyes, filled with tears of desperation, and glanced at Jason, who didn't look any better. She wanted to scream and go back to up there, but her voice wouldn't come out of her throat.

"Half of her is already gone." Nico struggled to say. Everyone around gasped. "I can't Shadow Travel with her, it- it would k-kill the other half..."

"Let's take her to the Infirmary. Everything's gonna be fine. She'll be okay." Will Solace had appeared in the crowd and kneed down to take (Y/N) in the arms, being helped by the other two. As they walked, (Y/N) held herself in her arms, sobbing. She didn't want to die, not like that. The image faded away and Pluto hugged her. He never did that before. She left out all her emotions through the cry. Her father caressed her back and gently kissed the top of her head.

"Now you see, my child, what those on Earth are going through. You have a family up there. And if you'd ask me, Jason Grace is a good person, even being a son of my brother. You have a choice, so make it wisely." Pluto said, not backing away from the hug. She nodded and he immediately knew what her choice was. "You know I'd love to have you here with me, but I'd love even more to see you happy. Don't be reckless. And listen to your brother. You don't have to worry to come see me, I'll make sure to visit you during your recovery." As he said that, a white door appeared out of nowhere. "Here's your carpool." The girl started to walk to the door, when she heard Pluto say: "(Y/N) I lo-... Good luck." She smiled to him and went through into the door. It felt like eons in the nothingness. She felt so much pain all over her body. Then she gained conscience. She didn't knew how long it had passed. She also couldn't open her eyes or say anything, but she knew she was laying down something comfortable, a bed, perhaps. But she could hear perfectly well.

"... and I'm so sorry you had to die for me to gain the courage to say this. Please come back to us... Come back to me. Nico barely leaves this room and nor do I, Will had to force him to go eat. It's not the same without you, (Y/N/N), it really isn't." Jason's words gave her the urge to cry, but she couldn't. It was like her body had shutdown completely. She felt his warm hands on her cold ones and after that, a door was opened. Footsteps. Only one person. Jason didn't move. Someone sat down next to them.

"Dad- I mean, Hades said she will be okay." It was Nico's voice. He sounded extremely tired.

"Didn't he say that last month?" Grace was annoyed, but he didn't stop holding her hand.

"I know, I wish I could do more... I'm... I'm sorry Jason." The blond sighted.

"I should be the one to be saying that. I know there's nothing else to do. I'm sorry for putting the blame on you. It's just- if we've talked before, nothing of this would have happened. If only I was brave enough..." (Y/N) felt weak and her consciousness was back at nothing again. When she heard something again, it looked like a lot of time had passed by, but she wasn't sure at all. Jason's voice was happy as he told her his plans to the future.

"I realised you would like to work with me training the legion. You're obviously skilled and the payment is quite good. And I've heard they are planning to build a village here as well, but I don't know if you-..." Every time she tried to stay conscious, she felt weaker. 'Rest', her father's voice said inside of her head, so she let herself.

Some time...? A long time...? She didn't knew. But the next time she heard, she was way stronger. She waited until then, so she could stay longer and try to understand her emotions. She heard almost an entire day. Her friends entered and left cabin 13 — she found out that she was there. Some of them talked "to" her, some just sat there in silence. When alone, Nico talked a lot about Will Solace. (Y/N) smiled mentally. Then Jason entered. She could already recognise the sound he made walking. He sat beside her bed and held her hand, as usual.

"Hello, princess. You look better." She reunited all the strength she had storage and sent it all to her right hand. She softly squeezed Jason's hand, for a small portion of second, trying to say 'hi'. She felt exhausted. He gasped.

"She just squeezed my hand!" He screamed, laughing. Nico jumped out of his bed, laughing as well. They both stared at her, waiting for more. "You're there, right? I knew you were! It's been long months, but you're getting better. Don't work too hard. We'll see each other soon, don't worry." He kissed her forehead. After that, it was easy for her to let go and dive into her sleep again.

She was slowly getting better. She noticed her comas were smaller now, and she got stronger every time. She started communicating by squeezing people's hand. One time for 'yes' and two times for 'no'. But it still was exhausting. She met with her father a couple times through dreams, but it never lasted long. She was sick of it. She wanted to jump out of the bed and run through all the camp. She was alone with Jason, as he talked about the last time he went to Camp Jupiter, telling every change. She slowly forced herself to open her eyes. It wasn't for too long, just enough for her to see the big smile he had while talking, her favourite blond hair and how he gesticulated while speaking. By that time, her feelings were completely lined. She declined her childishness and stubbornness to accept the fact that she obviously loved him. Her lips were able to form a small smile. He hadn't noticed her yet. I can do this, she thought.

"J." She whispered for the first time in five months. Her eyes were already closed again. He gasped.

"Did you just say J? That's me! I'm here, i'm right here, love. Can you hear me?" She squeezed his hand one time. Yes. He chortled. "You're so strong. I miss you so much." He started softly crying. She squeezed his hand two times. No. Don't cry, she wanted to say. "Alright, 's fine, 's fine. Gods, you're coming back. I bet Aphrodite is watching us closely." He chuckled but suddenly stopped. "I forgot we haven't talked about that yet, i'm sorry. I don't wanna be intrusive, you know. It's just, by what Nico has told me, well, you still liked me." She squeezed two times. "That's... that's great, love. But don't worry about that just yet. You should take some rest now, my love."

Five days. She had woken up every single one of them, but only listening. No squeezes, no talking, no looking. Just storing strength. She knew she was close to fully waking up. She was already able to keep track of the days. It was a Sunday, the day she received the most visits. It should be morning, because she only heard Nico's snorting. She slowly opened her eyes. The same place. Different clothes. She wondered who had changed them. Perhaps Will did. She systematically moved her arms, pushing herself to sit. Her back was laying at wall. She took a deep breath. It was going fine. She wanted to wake Nico up, but she decided to wait to see if she would be able to actually stay awake. About an hour later, Nico woke up by himself. He yawned and turned to her bed. She looked at him with a big smile. He jumped out of bed.

"Holy shit, (Y/N)! You're up! How- Wait! I need to- Wait! Don't fall asleep, I'll be right back!" She blinked slowly to sign 'ok'. He was back moments running later with a bunch of teenagers in pyjamas. They all froze at the door, staring at her. Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, Jason and even Piper. Hazel was the first one to wake up from the trance. She ran to her sister and hugged (Y/N).

"Ouch." She managed to say, reacting to the tight hug that made her head hurt.

"Right, sorry! I forgot. Wait, you speak!" Hazel answered and laughed. All of the others joined in, amazed by her friend, and started talking, telling everything she had missed. (Y/N) couldn't speed properly, only a few words like 'hi', 'ow', 'miss' and 'food'. Later that day, Will came to check on her. He said everything looked just fine, but that she should rest.

"Hey." Zeus' son said, once they were alone.

"Hi."

"Gods, it's so good to finally hear you again. I've talked to myself for a long time." They giggled softly. (Y/N) wasn't showing any signs of it, but that day had been extremely tiring. Her entire body hurt but she couldn't give up just yet.

"I... heard." She whispered. "A bit." Her eyes tried to close but she opened them wide, fighting her own nature. Jason noticed that.

"Hey, no need to over do it.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb.

"Sleep... here." She begged, placing her hand beside her. He froze for a moment, embarrassed. And then, with a rubor across his face, he sat on the bed beside her. She laid her head on his chest and quickly fell asleep.

“Go to sleep, love. We have all the time in the world.”

[dimitrescus-bitch]

Memory (Elle Driver x Reader)

Pt. 1

smut

It wasn’t everyday that you woke up in a morgue. In fact, that had never happened to you before. Normally, you woke up in the comfort of your own home. However bad your day had started out, you bet the morgue attendant’s was way worse than yours. Not only had you scared the shit out of him, but you’d taken his clothes keys too. 

You made your escape from the hospital in the medical examiner van. Hopefully nobody got murdered while you borrowed it. You’d only need it for a couple hours tops before you found a car to steal. Elle had taught you how to look for good getaway vehicles. 

Elle. You were going to kill her. She knew that if there was one way you didn’t want to die, it was by gunshot. Swords? Fine. Poison? The quicker the better. Disease? Not ideal, but you can’t be too picky. Guns? Fuck that, unnecessary. 

Elle knew your stance and still, the bitch fucking shot you. She shot you and she insulted your taste in interior decoration. The two of you hadn’t spoken in years and she decides to be catty with you before shooting you. Unbelievable. Although, you doubted that you’d have asked her if she wanted something to drink had you gotten the chance. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Finding Elle was pretty easy. All you did was leave a few clues and she came to you. She was panicked when she saw you, like she knew that she’d really fucked up. It was sort of weird, but that thought didn’t come up until after your blade was pressing up against her jugular. 

“You know what, that’s too quick,” you said as you lifted your knife away from her throat. “I shouldn’t kill you so easily when you fucking left me Elle.” 

“I didn’t want to kill you, and I certainly didn’t want to leave you, but I couldn’t watch you die,” Elle said and there was no mask over the emotion in her voice. You cleared your throat and stood up, towering above her. You could easily have stomped on her throat or bashed her head in. When you stole your steel toed boots, that is what you had been thinking about using them for anyways. 

“Ridiculous,” you said and Elle sat up. She was still staring up at you, letting you keep the upper hand. “Elle, you were aiming for my heart, that’s a little personal.” 

“Lovely, look at me.” It wasn’t fair, how she could get under your skin like it was nothing. You glanced down at her and she was telling the truth. 

“I oughta gouge your good eye out for fucking with me like this,” you said and Elle stood up. She had always been taller than you, but with her heels on, she towered over you. Elle stared at you for a moment before placing her hand around your throat. Maybe this time, she’d kill you for real, but you doubted it. The look in Elle’s eye as she backed you against the wall wasn’t one of anger or hatred, but rather lust. 

“Lovely, why would you say such a nasty thing?” Elle asked you. She squeezed a little and you whimpered. Elle leaned in and kissed you while your mouth was open. You kissed her back and her hand let up from around your neck. It was quickly replaced by her mouth though, trailing up and down the spots where her hand had once been. “I’m sorry.” 

The two of you left her apology there and moved on. Elle’s hands came to rest on your hips, just barely pushing your shirt up. Your arms wrapped around Elle’s neck and she supported you as your legs wrapped around her waist. She carried you across her hotel room and laid you out on her bed. 

Your pants were the first thing to go. Once they were off, she kept her hands on your thighs. Elle’s jacket had been discarded sometime during the fight, so you worked on getting her shirt unbuttoned. That was thrown behind her and became barely an afterthought as your hands traced over the trails that you’d created in your mind years ago. 

Elle’s pants didn’t come completely off. She had never been an overly patient woman when it came to her own pleasure. Once there was an opportunity for your hand to be in between her legs, Elle urged you to take it. It was just like old times, everything from the way that Elle would keep herself above you while you fucked her with your fingers to the way that she’d almost always nearly headbutt you when she came. 

You held Elle’s body against yours for a moment. She would keep her face buried in the pillow for a moment or two before she lifted her head. Kisses were pressed across your shoulder and along your neck until her lips met yours. You ran your fingers through her hair and pulled her closer to you. Elle broke the kiss and pulled you up into a sitting position. You lifted your arms up and Elle removed it before tossing it behind her. 

“Don’t look at it,” you told her. Elle’s eyes were glued to the scars. All of the ones that hadn’t been there before. Each and every one of them haunted her, but the ones that she had caused were the ones that rocked her to the core. You were honestly shocked by the guilt and regret that she wore on her face as she looked at you. Her fingers pressed gently into the scars before she snapped her hand back, as if caught by an electrical spark or something. 

Elle didn’t say anything or meet your eye, she just sat there staring at her own hands. You moved to touch her and she pressed you back against the bed. The gentle press of her lips over the scar on the top of your breast was tender and more loving than you remembered her to be. The kisses trailed in between that scar and the one where the bullet had entered hadn’t been as emotionally charged, but you could feel her. You could feel Elle and regret washed over you at the idea of what you’d come there to do. Sure, the memories of each other that you’d shared weren’t necessarily great, but there hadn’t been any love lost over the course of your struggles.

[nightingaletrash]

For you? Anything

AO3

“I will arrange an audience with the Blacksmith’s Association and we can clear up this tax dispute in no time. Two or three days of negotiation ought to settle it.”

Logan was struggling to keep his eyes open. Maybe it was because he’d spent four years as King trying to prepare Albion for war, and as such had dealt with such quibbling disputes with brute force. Or maybe five years of war prep had simply alienated him from the simple minutiae of day-to-day business and rendered it impossibly boring.

Peace, he had found, did not feel like peace. It felt more like anticipation. A breath between battles, and merely a pause before some new threat loomed on the horizon, ready to be fought. Once the illusion was shattered, nothing ever truly restored it, and anything that didn’t seem to contribute to a greater goal seemed pointless or wasteful.

He found himself understanding his mother a little better with every passing year.

At least he wasn’t the only one struggling. Lorna’s head had drooped no less than three times in the last five seconds and her dark eyes fluttered in an attempt to stay open. Truly, the most fearsome foe the two siblings had faced since the Darkness’ defeat was the unending drone of Hobson’s voice.

“Now, onto much more important matters: the hiring of a new head gardener. As you know, the rose bushes this year have suffered some minor discomfort due to the inclement weather and less than salubrious soil management. I’ve arranged an interview process that should take no more than eight weeks, starting tomorrow morning. It should make for a very stimulating two months.”

Logan glanced down at Lorna and jerked his head as if to say ‘I’ll catch you up on the details later.’ She gave him a grateful albeit weary smile and finally let her eyes slide shut as she slumped into the throne, letting her exhaustion overtake her. 

Logan forcefully straightened his back and reasserted his focus onto Hobson, who didn’t seem to notice her Majesty clocking out of the conversation, and he tried his best to hang onto the aide’s every word. It was perhaps the greatest obstacle he’d had to overcome as Royal Advisor.

The hours crawled by and the sun began to sink lower and lower in the sky. Servants stole their way into the throne room to replace candles that had burned too low, sparing glances at their dozing Queen, though they quickly hurried away after receiving a pointed look from Logan, who managed to remain awake, attentive, and on his feet which were beginning to ache.

And somehow, even as nightfall finally arrived, Hobson was still talking and working his way through that damned list of his.

“But lest we forget matters of state, we really ought to begin a more considered census of the population. Estimates of the number of citizens vary widely.” 

Something in Logan’s gut jerked and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Something - he wasn’t sure what - was very wrong. Suddenly listening to Hobson was no longer his focus. He scanned the room for any sign, any clue to support the sudden feeling of unease that had overcome him.

Nothing immediately jumped out. The most recent rotation of guards were all stood at attention, weapons ready at hand. The doors didn’t open, there was nothing to suggest any intrusion whatsoever… Until his gaze wandered upwards.

“I suggest each one come to the throne room and has a little chat with you while I count them-”

With a flick of his wrist, Logan drew his sword and deflected the blade away from the throne - away from Lorna. It flew across the room and bounced harmlessly across the carpet. Hobson yelped and dived for the cover of the throne as Lorna flinched awake, staring wildly around for the threat that Logan had already spotted.

A bald, scarred man dressed in dark leathers and with a sword sheathed on his back. He scowled at Logan, backed up and then leapt down to the ground, tucking and rolling across the floor. He drew his sword and rose to his feet in a readied stance. This was a man with experience and training. An assassin in every sense of the word.

“Is it too late for an audience, my Queen?” he spat, glaring at Lorna.

Logan moved to block her from sight, keeping his weapon trained on the assassin as the guards drew their rifles.

“Surrender now and you may live long enough to receive a trial,” he said coldly.

The assassin spat.

“I’ve come here to fulfill my destiny. To get revenge for everything you’ve done.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed.

“If you want revenge, I think you’ll find I’m the one you’re after,” he growled, gripping his sword tightly. “But you will leave my sister out of it.”

There was a pause, and then the assassin said, “no. I don’t think I will.”

He lunged faster than expected and swung hard, giving Logan barely a moment to parry the blow. Then he attacked again, jabbing and swinging with the sort of mastery that took years to perfect, and with all the anger one might expect from a vengeful madman.

But he was also outnumbered. Logan parried another blow and smashed the pomel of his sword into the assassin’s nose, sending him staggering backwards. He hung back a moment, giving the guards a chance to aim and fire. 

There was a deafening crack of multiple gunshots, but the assassin rolled back, skirting out of the path of the bullets before catching one of the guardsmen between the eyes with a throwing knife. The guard crumpled into a heap, and the assassin lunged for Logan once more.

Their blades locked, and the assassin stared pointedly over Logan’s shoulder.

“Did you think you were safe here, your Majesty?” he jeered. “Did you think that your guards could protect you?”

Logan forced him back, determined to put the assassin on the back foot.

“I know all about guards,” he continued regardless, dropping and rolling backwards, putting distance between himself and Logan. “They couldn’t keep me in the Keep, and they couldn’t keep me out of your castle!”

Another throwing knife aimed to catch a second guard in the throat, but it was knocked out of the air with a ringing gunshot. 

Logan knew better than to take his eyes off of his adversary, but he knew Lorna had been the one to shoot it down. Instead he lunged, knocking the assassin’s blade to one side and then making to run him through. But the assassin simply dropped his sword and rolled in the opposite direction, pulling out a switchblade. There was a piercing screech as the blade glanced over Logan’s chestplate.

“I am the voice of change!” the assassin declared. “I am the voice of a revolution!”

Another bullet skimmed past Logan and struck the assassin in the thigh. He yelled as his leg gave out under him in a burst of blood and gunpowder, and he scrambled to regain his balance. Logan didn’t let him.

Instead he kicked the switchblade from the assassin’s hand, pressed his foot hard on his wrist, and plunged his sword through his sternum. 

There was no deafening scream or wail of pain. It was like all the air had just gone out of him in a small gasp, his mouth forming a small ‘o’ as his eyes rolled back into his head. He floundered weakly on the floor, a hand grasping at the blade in a vain attempt to pull it out. 

Logan decided to save him the trouble.

With a swift twist, the blade came free and the assassin lay there, gasping for breath. And yet he still found the strength to lift his head. 

“You think you’re safe now? That your precious sister is safe?” he spluttered through a mouthful of blood, bubbles forming at his lips. “I am the first of many. We will kill you, both of you, in the end.”

He fell limp and Logan stepped over him. Lorna lowered her rifle, her face white with shock. Funny. After facing the Crawler, it was hard to imagine that anything could surprise her anymore-

A hand clamped on his ankle with a murderous desperation, and before he could react to stop it, a dagger sunk into the flesh of his hip. His eyes bulged as he stared down at the assassin, who grinned up at him through bloody teeth and a glare filled with malicious glee.

“And the end will be sooner than you think!”

A guard sprinted forward, shoving Logan aside before promptly drilling the assassin between the eyes. But the damage was already done. The blade came free, clattering to the ground as Logan stumbled and collapsed, pressing a hand to his wound.

It burned, by the Light it burned! He’d never been one to panic unnecessarily, but the pain did not dull and it only furthered the onset of fear blossoming in his chest. The pain only grew, spreading and burning until he was writhing on the ground, pleading for the agony to stop.

“-poisoned blade, your Majesty-”

“I know, Hobson! Fetch the healers-”

Lorna was at his side, Hobson at her shoulder. She was gripping his hip, putting pressure on his wound as the aide vanished from his swimming vision.

“-on, Logan, help’s-”

Sweat was already beading his forehead and he couldn’t understand a word she was saying. Was he dying? Light, please, he didn’t want to die. Not now. Not after all of this.

“-unidentified ship in the harbour-”

“-can wait until- -healer for my brother-”

“Understood. Have- -until her- -to receive-”

He couldn’t follow. His vision was blotted and his blood was on fire. A cool hand cradled his face and for a brief moment in his delirium, he thought it was his mother. But that wasn’t right because his mother was dead. Like Walter, his father. And tonight- Light, tonight they had tried to take his little sister too. Why did the Light want his family so badly? Why?

When he awoke days later, he was in his room with no recollection of sobbing in his sister’s arm as the poison’s agony wracked his body, but he could feel the after effects. He’d not felt so weak since his encounter with the Darkness. He could barely lift his head, barely even speak. His wound hurt with every movement, even the slightest shift of the sheets or coil of his muscles, causing a wave of pain to radiate out from his hip, and there was little the healers could do than continue to provide the necessary potions every few hours.

When he was finally able to speak without slurring into unintelligible nonsense, he asked for his sister. He was met with disappointment.

She had gone to Ravenscar, the healers told him. There was a situation involving some escapees, but they knew nothing else for the time being. Her Majesty would be back as soon as possible, but he would need to rest in the meantime. But rest assured, the watch had been tripled and the castle secured. He was safe now. 

Which was useless to him because Lorna wasn’t.

He had never told her about Ravenscar. He’d told himself that he would after the Crawler was defeated. But then he didn’t. Something new would come up and he decided to put it off a while longer. The subject of their mother’s rose bushes had taken priority over that damned island. And he knew why it hadn’t come up before now.

Because if she knew, it was another problem she’d need to fix. If she knew, it was another reason to hate him. If she knew, she might decide he didn’t deserve to live after all.

Cowardly. So bloody cowardly. What would his mother think if she could see him like this, if she could see that she had raised a coward to be King? To see her first born reduced to a sobbing mess over every little thing he realised he’d gotten wrong.

He wasn’t sure if it was his brush with death or if it was some effect of the poison that was playing havoc with his emotional state, but he was trapped with his thoughts and no means of assuaging them. The only person he could bring himself to trust was Lorna, and Lorna wasn’t here. She was on Ravenscar, where people wanted her dead because of him, and that realisation wracked his still-healing body with a fresh wave of sobs.

It seemed like an eternity of living the same day over and over again. Wake up, be tended to, cry over everything, regain control for another check up, cry some more, then fall asleep when he exhausted himself from crying. Over and over again, with little to no variation.

Finally there was a knock at the door and it wasn’t a healer that stepped inside. 

“Logan.”

He stared for a long few seconds, then made to push himself up to greet his sister. His arms, however, seemed to have forgotten all of their strength, and at best he managed to accomplish an undignified flop.

Lorna had the good grace to let it go unmentioned, and instead sat down beside him on the bed. She brushed a hand through his hair, smoothing is back, and then glanced him over.

“You look terrible,” she laughed, a weak smile tugging at her lips. “But I’ll take that over the alternative.”

The unspoken word hovered in the air, but Logan had no interest in plucking it out of the air and putting it in his own mouth. Besides she wasn’t wrong. He felt terrible, so he had to look it too. Weak, unkempt, sick to his stomach. His body was healing, but the pace was a slow one.

“I feel it,” he mumbled. “Lorn… about Ravenscar-”

She cut him off with a shake of her head.

“We can talk about it when you’re feeling better,” she said gently. “Just rest, Logan. There’s no point in arguing about what’s already done.”

His eyes burned and he scraped together what little strength he’d recovered to raise his arms in an attempt to pull her into a hug. Luckily she got the idea and met him halfway. She gathered him up into her arms and held him gently as she buried a hand in his hair.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled thickly as the tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she murmured back, her voice gentle but firm. “I’m here now.”

[lovelikedestiny]

Snow and Ashes

Booker wants to laugh when Joe almost stumbles into a tree in the darkness in front of him, but the exhaustion weighs leaden in his bones and the past mission pulls the corners of his mouth down with sad certainty. He is content with a snort, which doesn't even sound amused, just wounded and painful.

Every one of his steps carries the weight of the innocent lives they could not save today. His hands are covered in the blood of the children who were killed a few hours ago, the sight of tears smeared faces and empty eyes has burned itself into his mind - because they made a mistake.

It was supposed to be a relatively simple mission: free the detained young women, men and children, and kick the human traffickers into Tartarus. But something went wrong. They made a shitty mistake and now the victims - people who had families who prayed for their deliverance - are dead and the world is no better place.

Booker wants to throw the responsibility of saving as many lives as possible on the ground and trample on it at times like these because he doesn't know how the hell to live with the knowledge that he let people die he could have saved.

The cries for help still echo in his ears, as well as the gunfire and the screams. Pale, non-existent fingers cling to his equipment, begging him to take them back to their families, and Booker almost chokes because his throat is suddenly too tight to breathe normally.

"The tree wasn't there two seconds ago," Joe says in an attempt to loosen the depressed mood that has settled over the four immortals like a threatening storm cloud. But his voice sounds dull and flat and when he straightens the scimitar on his back, his gloved hands shake.

Still, Booker steps in immediately to prevent Joe's attempt to come to nothing and although the words feel like broken glass in his mouth, Booker brings them out. “I bet it was just waiting to hop in your path. So that you would literally be a blockhead."

Joe doesn't laugh, but the grateful look he gives him over his shoulder is enough to take the pressure off Booker's throat a little. At least for now. “Exactly. This forest is dangerous.”

“I heard that beeches are supposed to be particularly smart,” Booker says, straightening the straps of his backpack, which dig into his shoulders as if their failure would make his backpack even heavier.

"Then I'll keep an eye on beeches," Joe says and the weak, narrow smile on his face is atypical for him and his broad grin with the radiance of the damn sun, but Booker doesn't blame him and clings to the much smaller version of this smile.

They've been wandering through the forest for two hours after rushing to leave the place on their mission after they screwed up. It's freezing, the wind feels like little blades in Booker's face, and to top it off, it looks like it is going to start to snow soon. Booker has hated snow since his first death in the icy winter of Russia and after the complete failure today he is not exactly eager to deal with snow.

The darkness has long since settled over them, but the full moon gives them enough light. Booker has no idea what time it is, and he doesn't bother to check. What does time mean when there are people whose time ended today because of them? While they are still walking around and alive despite the bullets that hit them?

At the head of their formation, Andy doesn't seem to be deciding to take a break anytime soon. Her steps are determined and harsh, though she's still limping slightly from the force of the grenade that hit her and Joe.

While her lower body was most affected and it was sheer luck that none of her legs were completely torn off, Joe had been hit mostly in the upper body. His jacket is torn, and his sweater is barely there and dark from the blood and remnants of the intestines that had previously oozed from his open abdominal wall. He protested when Nicky handed him his jacket on the grounds that his hoodie was thicker than Joe's barely existing sweater, but he put it on. And that is sorely needed.

Even Booker is already freezing in his intact, well-filled jacket and the thought of just trudging through the forest in a sweater gives goosebumps to his goosebumps. At least the numbness has disappeared from his left arm, which lurked there since one of the criminal bastards rammed a knife into his shoulder.

However, this does not lessen his exhaustion and if he is so tired, it must be worse for Joe and Andy, who suffered the most severe injuries on this mission. Without a word, he watches as Joe stumbles more and more over roots or branches, which are actually easy to see in the moonlight. And even if Andy continues to keep her tight pace, Booker reads in the way her shoulders hunch that she is drained too. There are still a few miles to go to the place, where the hut they are aiming for to gather from today's loft, is. At least if Booker's brain hasn't completely shut down yet.

There is almost nothing to be heard from behind him and if Booker had less faith in his team, his family, he would be of the firm belief that Nicky would not be walking behind him at all. As he always does, he brings up the rear this night too because he prefers to cover their backs. And although Booker doesn't hear anything from Nicky other than the occasional cracking of branches or the sounds of his weapons, he feels a little better knowing that Nicky's watchful eyes are on them.

When Joe stumbles so hard that he has to support himself on a tree trunk within his reach to avoid falling, Nicky glides past Booker more gracefully than he should be able to with all the equipment strapped to him.

One hand curves gently around Joe's neck, the other carefully grips his upper arm and he asks Joe a question so quietly that Booker can't hear him.

"Boss," Booker calls to signal Andy that they have stopped briefly, and the warrior immediately comes to a halt and turns around to them.

“We can't take a break. The fucking bastards who are still alive could be on our heels and I want to get to the fucking hut before the snow sets so that it can cover our tracks,” she says impatiently, but in her old eyes the hopelessness is visible that Booker currently prefers to drown with vodka.

"Andy, you have to rest," Nicky says quietly, without letting go of Joe, who no longer leans on the trunk, but practically clings to Nicky, even if he tries to look as if it doesn't cause him any problems to keep his footing. "Major injuries take their toll and it is not advisable to ignore your body's signals."

The fact that he speaks so steadfastly and confidently is in stark contrast to the blood that covers most of his face like a grotesque mask. Head wounds have a habit of bleeding like a stabbed pig, and although Nicky's cut was relatively small and healed quickly, the residue is all too obvious.

“It's not wise to take a break while these fuckers might be after us. We pretty much ruined their day because they lost their hostages through us and if they want revenge, I don't feel like dying in this motherfucking forest.”

The effect of her words does not go unnoticed: a muscle in Nicky's jaw twitches, Joe lowers his head as if he wants to hide and Booker can't suppress a jerk of his hands. The truth of Andy's words is like salt in a wound that cannot heal. And it shows Booker how much damage they have done today instead of helping.

The innocent are dead and those who deserve to die may hunt them down because they lost their wares to the immortals.

If Booker's stomach wasn't empty, he might throw up. Purely on principle.

Nicky doesn't look satisfied, but he doesn't argue, and Booker believes this is just because of Andy's demeanor, which is so crooked as if she could feel all her millennia to the core.

They start moving again and Booker is tempted to hold his backpack in front of him to protect himself from the razor-sharp wind that makes his eyes water. After a few meters, Joe sways slightly in front of him, but before Booker can move to help him, Nicky is already at Joe's side.

“Tesoro, you are tired. Give your body a break,” Booker hears him say.

Joe makes an indefinable hand gesture that was originally supposed to be a wave aside sign. "I'm fine," he mumbles, blinking like an owl. Booker, who knows what a deep sleeper Joe is, grimaces sympathetically. “I can go on in five minutes. Just five mnts...” The last sentence is so mumbled that Booker can only understand the content from the context.

Five minutes later, Nicky carries Joe piggyback, his own backpack on the front of his chest. Joe's faint protests are silent now, his head resting on Nicky's right shoulder and his curls brushing Nicky's cheek regularly in the rhythm of his steps.

How Nicky doesn't even falter despite his sword, the two backpacks, the sniper rifle and Joe with his scimitar, is a mystery to Booker, but it is very likely that Joe is the reason. And this tender consideration from Nicky for the love of his life on his back causes a bittersweet pain in Booker's chest.

He breathes on, however, and is relieved that the memories of his wife and babies are not surfacing in addition to today's shit and that the pain goes away as soon as it comes.

Booker really doesn't begrudge Joe and Nicky their relationship, despite the occasional touch of envy, for the two never behave cruelly, never rub their love under anyone's nose, and embrace everyone in their aura of joy. Booker is one of those people lucky enough to experience love from them. In the form of the jokes and hugs from Joe, the derisive comments and headbutts from Andy and the barely visible smiles and blankets that Nicky carefully puts over him when Booker has drunk himself into a coma again.

He is not alone in the sinking ship that the world seems to be from time to time. But sometimes it feels like that.

Because Nicky now carries Joe on his back, he has taken his position in their formation and even if Booker is not often at the tail, he has nothing to complain about. Having no one behind you has the advantage of being able to think about it without having to pay attention to how you appear to the outside world.

It's not the first time Nicky has carried Joe because he's too tired, and Booker has seen it the other way around, albeit not very often. Nicky doesn't retire until he's made sure they're safe and everyone is fine, but when he was injured so badly that he couldn't walk alone and they had to leave, Booker got the chance to watch Joe carrying Nicky.

The familiarity with which the two deal with each other always tells of the length of their relationship without needing words and it is equally fascinating and frightening: fascinating because they are the only people in this world who have been together for centuries and have reached a depth in their connection that no one will ever reach and scary because Booker doesn't want to find out what happens when one of them ultimately dies and leaves the other behind.

Nicky's lowered voice pulls him out of his thoughts, and he is happy about it, preferring to concentrate on something other than his head and what is in it. "Andy, please wait.”

Her leader walks two more meters before she complies with Nicky's request and turns her head to them with a raised eyebrow in question. "What is it?"

Instead of answering her, Nicky turns to Booker and the request in his bright eyes is so clear that, for once, he doesn't have to put it into words for Booker. "If that goes wrong, you'll pick up my remains," Booker grumbles so quietly that Andy can't hear him as he walks past Nicky.

Andy takes note of his approach in silence, but then rolls her eyes when he stops next to her and takes his backpack from his back to put it on his chest like Nicky. "Fuck off, Book. I don't need to be carried.”

Andy's hard shell is easy to see through with centuries of practice and Booker sees her exhaustion as clearly as if it was broad daylight and the lines of tiredness had been circled with a marker on Andy's face. It's no wonder Nicky spotted the signs long before Booker. When it comes to their family, he never misses anything.

“I know you don't need to be carried. You don't have to tell me,” Booker replies casually, but makes no move to put his backpack back on its proper spot. "But we both know who wins when Nicky has a say in this matter, and what we need least at the moment is a discussion with that stubborn man." They both know what Booker is doing, but Andy doesn't address it and Booker pretends not to notice that she got it. "So, it would only be beneficial if we could avoid these problems by letting me carry you, even if you don't need help, right?"

As Booker follows her gaze backwards, Nicky's focus is not on them, but on the sleeping Joe, whom he carefully pushes higher on his back to get a better grip on his legs. But it is no secret that Nicky was still following their exchange closely.

With a low growl, Andy lets out a sharp gush of air through her nose, which rises into the sky in clouds of steam. “For fuck's sake, fine. But if you drop me, I'll break your nose.”

Booker coughs a strange kind of a dead laugh. "Got it." It's not the first time he's carried Andy either, during missions there is no time to make out who is carrying whom with which injury and when she climbs onto his back, he finds her warmth a little comforting.

Read more on AO3 ;)

[the-wanted-man]

Comrades-in-Arms .II

Warnings: Potential 5.x spoilers regarding Garlemald. Part [1] Imperial Garlemald | Levi’s Theme

“The whole damn country’s gone to hell in a hand-basket, boys. Now, I don’t, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, say this to be an alarmist but...just look at the facts. Losing royalty left and right. People disappearing in the dead of night. I mean I love this country as much as any true son but we’re eating ourselves from the inside out, and it doesn’t seem to matter what side you’re on anymore.  I know you can feel it. The noose tightening in around the neck. The cross-hairs on the back. We’re coming up to the point of no return. Loyalist...or otherwise.”

The windstorm comes on much quicker than they’d anticipated and it makes those last few malms a miserable journey for the small unit. Even fully suited the harsh winds cut through the layers of their like phantom swords and moving became a matter of necessity to keep the chill at bay. Even silver-spoon Leviticus found it necessary to walk eventually.

Companionable moods from even minutes before seemed to lessen at the same rate their visibility did. The snowy haze of the blizzard made seeing more than five fulms ahead a near impossible feat after a time and were it not for the pulsing red light of the old guard tower beacon ahead they might’ve surely been lost to the white.

Eventually, they came upon an impenetrable wall of steel that seemed to simply rise up out of the snow. It wasn’t exactly the kind of sight that most would consider welcoming with its clinically grey exterior, and structured lighting that barely seemed to shine through the thick coat of hoarfrost that had built upon its metal surface. What bliss it would be to leave this place behind.

“Now, talk of insurrection is on the winds...and I’m not saying I support it but I DO understand it. You’re kidding yourself too, if you think I’m the only one who sees how this is going to get. Everyone’s thinking it, even if no one’s out right saying it. I mean...civil war...When its neighbor against neighbor....friend against friend...Brother against brother...It’s only a matter of time before you have to -really- start asking yourself -- Well, who can you really trust?”

A kind of tense silence seems to sweep over the convoy by the time the magitek vehicle rolls to a halt in front of the castellum gates. It starts as the usual routine first: the declaration of ranks, unit and business into a blue screen that takes their information. .

Albina quo Silvius. XIth Auxilliary. Supply drop.

The terminal flashes, and then beeps in acceptance of the credentials provided. With an almighty, groaning, screech of moving metal, the barricade begins to lower itself. Sinking into the earth like some kind of retreating monolith.The ice along its frame spider-webs and cracks, before falling away.

They are waved through, just past the barricades where two armed guards walk forward to greet them. Little more than a skeleton crew was necessary to keep the checkpoint appearing operational. Papers were exchanged and one guard points something out to verify it with the other. They nod, and then the first guard lifts his rifle up to Bastille’s chest, and fires twice.

“Times like this, might SEEM like you can’t trust anyone at all. Like you got to keep your guard up to keep the knife from sticking in your back. Like its all you can do to keep it from twisting... You might even feel like you’re alone. Like the whole world is pitted against you. Well, I’m here to tell you that you are NOT alone. There’s people you can trust. ”

It was absolute chaos.

Gunfire erupts from behind them and the team scatters. Albina shoves Quintus just as the second guard opens a volley of fire where he’d previously been sitting. Her weapon is drawn, and she cuts down one of the soldiers before he can fire again.

Tatius tackles one of the castellum guards as two more flank them from the gates. Cicero dives for cover, taking Levi with him as he goes. He screams for Crispus to radio for help while they’re pinned down by fire. Leviticus thanks the man by flossing the space between his ears with a bullet.

His unit starts to fall, one by one. Tatius manged to take on with him before he is pulled into a chokehold and he struggles until he doesn’t. Everything happens so fast, Albina barely has time to process as she pulls her blade from the body of an imperial soldier. It begins to dawn on her though, as she turns to her treacherous fiance.

“What did you do?”

“Matter fact, they’re right here in this very room. Take a look around boys, to the left, and to the right of you. Ahead and behind. Look around and witness them - your family! Us who’ve slept together. Who’ve bled together...Killed together.  -Trust- in them. Your fellow brothers-in-arms. Trust...in me.”

She knows before they’re even at each others throats. She knows the man she’d intended to marry so well she empowers him in moments and backs him blade tip first into the caravan. She knows that somehow this is his fault and doesn’t understand how she could have been so blind.

Leviticus only answers with a shameless smirk, but she catches the flick of his silver eyes and turns in time to be impaled by Crispus. He had always been quiet, and she had thought, dependable. She realized now, just not to her. Albina slumps to the ground. The battle is over and the damage done as quickly and as suddenly as a lightning strike.

The world starts to muffle and fade into black. Albina hears her fiance say “Took your sweet time.” As he brushes off his uniform and looks to the two remaining guards. He steps over her body, pausing long enough to tell her “Consider this an end to our engagement, darling. It’s not that its me, it’s just that it’s you. Quintus -- you can come out from hiding now.”

Harsher blows couldn’t be dealt as the young medic crawls out from the mud and snow, shivering as he stands and looks Albina in the eyes as they close. “R-really, Levi. Sh-she was your fiance.”

“I know! What was I thinking? Marriage never would have suited me.” 

“You see, commitment is important. How long have we been at this -game-, Family? Four years? Five? Because that’s what it comes down to. Our lives, are a -game- to...to these people! Heartless, and arrogant leaders who care more about their image than those who make them -look- good...Who are so quick to kill their own loyal brothers and sisters, if it makes them look good. Greedy, selfish leaders. That’s what they are.”

“Load those supply crates in that freighter there. We’ll need all the money we can get across the border and these weapons will flip for a pretty gil piece there. Especially now.” 

Equipment is quickly  transferred and stored within the cargo hold of a small airship, none of which Levi lifted so much as a finger for. The ship itself was weaponless luxury class and couldn’t pass for militaristic if it tried. Too spacious. Too comfortable. Being royalty had its perks, and no one said escaping couldn’t be done in style.

“Did we really have to...do all this?”  Leviticus looked over to Quintus, who stood anxiously over the body of Bastille. He seemed like he was having second thoughts, and Levi couldn’t have that.

“Having doubts, are we? You know they never would have hesitated for us. Even my loving fiance was too committed to the country for us to ever work. It still hurt me, having to do this to them. Him though...I never liked Bastille. It might be terrible but..It’s true. He always acted like he was...better than all of us. Better than you.”  Bastille croaks and Levi considers it the definition of a corpse turning in its grave.

“I...oh jeez, I think he’s still alive..?”

Leviticus passes the young man a knife. “You said you could kill for a bath, right? Well, how bad did you want it?”

"Was it those officers starving in the cold beside us while they shouted orders from the back lines? Hm? Was it them? Huddling in the trenches, never knowing if  they’d see the light of day? Do you think they care? What about the people. We serve citizens that don’t even care for the sacrifices we make. Who spit on us when we marched in the cities. They don’t know what we had to do, to survive. What we -will- do.”

They staged the scene, positioning the bodies of their fellows more deliberately. Stripped the castellum of its valuable supplies and spilled a trail of ceruleum around the encampment with whatever excess they could find.

A more immediate guess once discovered might lead the assumption of an encounter with savages and he relied on the fact that resources would be stretched too thin to make an in-depth investigation. It wasn’t perfect but it would do.

The four loaded themselves onto the new convoy, an airship no bigger than standard fare civilian transport and luggage but it was enough for them and  their haul. At the hatch, Leviticus turned to look behind him. Struck a match off his chest, and tossed it into the shimmering pool of oil. Blue fire spreads like spilled ink over thin cloth. Leviticus leaves brimstone in his wake, and it makes him feel divine.

If he can do this, he can do anything.

“The hand that claims to feed, has only ever taken away. Everything we did, we did for nothing. But I promise you...if you follow me...if you trust me...trust the man on your left, and on your right...Nothing, is what’s going to stand in our way.

The ship full of defectors takes off from a blazing outpost and veers off into the distant sky.

                                            To be continued...                                                    

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 7 Snippet

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I’d like to say that I’d been perfectly on guard and ready for the attack. I mean, I‘d told Ruby how the bandits were doing what they were doing. Setting lures and manipulating the Grimm. We hadn’t been subtle either, though.

Ruby playing ping-pong in the sky didn’t detract at all from our presence. She literally flew around, and we’d made no attempt to hide our attempt to save the village. We couldn’t. That made us obvious targets.

All that aside my semblance glows in the dark, and I’d been consciously trying to activate it while riding. We were just taking a mellow pace to try and get back to civilization, so I wasn’t doing much more than steering and thinking.

It suddenly worked and I just sort of lit up in the dark. Georgia jerked Ruby awake before I could do anything. “Huh- whats-“

My semblance is anti-stealth. If camouflage could collide with something and destroy itself and become pure energy, it would be my semblance.

She made out the blue blur that must have been me and woke up quick, “is something bad or good happening?”

“I-“

Then I got shot.

I was falling off the horse which was taking off someway. I was going to land flat on my back and my chest stung, too. The Titania plating was more than tough enough to take the bullet through my aura without fear of breaking, but not enough to not hurt.

Whoever fired had a friend that also tried to shoot Ruby, but she just burst into petals with a flare of aura and took cover behind a tree. Georgia, pre-spooked, may or may not have taken off in the direction of Indiana.

I’m not sure. My head cracked against a rock hard; hard enough to concuss or kill a normal person, even. I just rolled with it and found a tree to hide behind. I swept my sword from my back and stood with the sword tip down and my body hidden behind the tree.

“Are you hurt?” She wondered. “It wasn’t high power, or MA based.”

I shook my head. Twelve percent. Maybe ten, based on the discomfort. I peeked my blind and the tree lost a lot of itself in a small explosion of wood. I might have lost a few percent, too. If I wanted to use my semblance, then I’d need to use it before the power faded. Peeking out into the dark again, I saw nothing, however.

“How fast did your semblance activate that time?” She wondered. I guess we were the only ones in danger, so she felt confident enough to chat.

I shook my head. “I think I can charge it.”

“Oh, really? That’s useful.”

“Huh?” I was checking my chest to make sure I really was all good. Sometimes Aura was hard to believe. I glanced over.

“Oh, I just thought you were trying to keep me asleep again?”

“In a gunfight?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Ready?” She was waiting on my mark. Poised with Crescent Rose ready to snap into place.

I folded my weapon, slipping my left arm into the shield and drawing the sword free. I swept out from cover with Ruby, perfectly synchronized. Humans and animals usually responded to audible stimuli faster than visual ones, even still I didn’t say anything as I leapt out of cover. Ruby was in perfect harmony with me regardless and she was already prepared to use me as cover to fire out.

We gazed out into the dark in a shower of petals and I held my sword up to extend a soft blue glow. We received no fire and perceived no targets in the dark trees. Therefore...

We were already mid ambush on this position.

I whipped around in time to be thoroughly jabbed at by three quick stabs of a small and fast dagger. The girl behind it wore a simple tunic and dark olive skin with some visible even darker tattoos.

She slashed at me and I stepped back, trying to make some space. I heard Ruby call out behind me, likely engaging my opponent's friend.

I leveraged my shield between us, but she jumped off it and backflipped above me. I watched the eighteen-centimeter blade in her hands fold inwards like a fan or accordion. She let it roll across her fingers like she was reversing a butterfly knife and its form became that of a jagged pistol.

She shot me twice more as she twirled over me. A confident grin like she'd killed a thousand idiots like me roaring on her face, which may be the case.

I turned around, grabbed Crocea Mors with both hands over my head and whipped it at her. It caught her at the pinnacle of her leap in the center of the blade and it slammed her into the ground nearly ten meters away.

It was immensely satisfying to watch a deep green crackle come over her. It was hard to fake that. I'd done something to another hunter.

I didn't get to soak it in, because it became clear why Ruby was being kept busy while I was keeping up. We were outnumbered.

Ruby shouted out again, something very helpful that I couldn't interpret without our connection. With it, I was able to spin around and meet the butt of a spear. The man behind it knocked me back and reversed the weapon.

It was shorter than the longest reach of Crescent Rose. He was also shorter than me by nearly ten centimeters. Maybe more. He was also at least ninety pounds lighter and much less broad across.

I was able to avoid his attack but all it did was force me back into the range of the girl with the green aura in purple. Her light blonde hair was held back into a tight ponytail. To keep it out of her eyes, I imagine.

She had the glow to her that all people with aura had that made them stand out. The hue of her eyes. The shine of the hair. How she backflipped and kicked me in the face before burying her blade at my collar bone.

It bounced off my aura and armor and I heard Ruby call out and the last opponent, a girl in mostly white and brown with pale skin and red hair, flew by. She slammed into a tree next to me hard enough to shake it.

She slumped down with blue aura pouring over her and she lay without moving.

The dude turned around only to eat lead from Ruby's gunfire before she was on him. The purple girl shouted the dude's name and I dashed towards her while she was distracted. I got my shield between us before she could rip any more of my aura out.

She tried to regain her advantage, but it was already lost. She rushed me but I'd had practice with similar ranges of weapons with Ren and even some other people back at Beacon not worth mentioning.

I was ready for her to go low and I predicted her movement with my shield. I slammed it into her face. I took my sword in both hands once she was air-born and lashed out in two hits. The first one knocking her up, the next bashing her out with both hands. I ended it with a shout.

She landed on her back and pushed herself away from me. I watched her land back next to her friend with black hair.

I glanced back. Ruby was dancing circles around the poor guy, out-speeding and out-ranging him. Slowly picking his aura off in large tan chunks.

I rolled my wrist with my weapon over the one with my shield and the two clicked together into the massive broadsword. I pointed it down at the two girls. The girl with the purple tattoos didn't get the memo and was fumbling for her friend’s sword but she only looked up to meet the lowered business end of Crocea Mors.

I clicked my tongue. She met my eyes and must have known I wasn't kidding because after just a moment of consideration, she dropped it.

"Jaune!" I whipped around. Ruby's enemy had left the fight. He abandoned it and ran straight at me, some desperate jailbreak but…

I stepped forward and swung. My semblance… I didn't realize I'd gained it.

"Don't-" Ruby finished her eyes wide.

I stepped threw him and across the other side. I turned around.

I watched as the boy fell apart.

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Killing someone was something new for me. The cold Titania edge glided through first aura then muscle and bone as I swung in a tremendous cross slash. I stumbled with it. I expected to meet resistance, instead I just went through.

I imagined it was cold. I couldn't feel it beyond the padded wrapped handle. The cold night air was constantly drawing warmth from my fingers like a giant heat sink. I actually felt that lessen, as the weapon moved through him. I had so much time to think.

I stumbled through the falling puddle of person. The spine and ribs were splintered and crushed. His upper body rolled around trembling in the gravelly mud and soft grass. His legs twitched behind me on the ground while he shuddered and gasped one horrific choking last.

I was hardly looking at him, I was staring at Ruby and she was gaping down at the body. I flinched, feeling scorched just being so close to the target of her dread. The sheer frost against my soul wilted me in a way that not even my mother's harshest glares could. I wanted to destroy it, but I was the source of it. The cold was me. I turned back to his compatriots.

I knew far better than to underestimate them. Unarmed or not. Woman or man. I'd gotten my ass kicked before.

They panicked when I stepped towards them, which was expected. Big dude, bloody sword, evidently homicidal. Yep.

I took two steps and halted at the sight of the terror on their faces. My emotions were ablaze, roaring in my chest, but my mind was stunned and muted.

Ruby was beside me in a scattering of petals, her hand on my chest. A gentle crimson touch. Her lips were tight but her eyebrows were wide. Bright eyes pleading with me, something desperate in them.

My indignancy over their reaction faded slightly, I mean, they did shoot me. My face, I realized, was twisted into something awful. My skull roared in a way I wasn't super comfortable with, clashing with the feeling of victory I deserved and the rush in veins. My heartbeat hammered in my ears for a terrible moment and I thought the sum of it all would drive me mad if I wasn't already.

My indignancy didn't fade entirely.

Ruby's gaze was so full of concern that I could barely hold myself together. I swept a hand through my hair, rubbing the whole of my face hard. The motion broke our eye contact and I felt her recede in the direction of our prisoners.

How dare Ruby empathize with a dog like me, honestly? As though something like her could empathize with something like me. The sheer audacity brimming in those eyes made me want to lash out, but against what?

I always meant to kill them; whoever was responsible, that is, but I hadn't wanted to get my hands dirty for real. It was inevitable upon retrospect. I'd need to kill again, too. Probably here soon. That wasn't really what scared me.

I… wanted to, too.

Ruby would understand what had just happened. Any sane person would. However, even the gore and the trauma of shredding a mortal coil with my own two hands didn't actually shrink my rage towards Cinder one iota.

I wanted to do it again.

I wanted to guide Crocea Mors through Cinder Fall's body. I wanted to watch her life fade. I wanted to feel it in my hands when I unwound her. I was hungry for it in a way that kept me up at night with an empty stomach.

That desire to make someone end felt gross. As gross as any of the bodies I had seen or… or made myself, I guess.

The sight of the guy with his staff was far, far easier than having to gaze at Ruby again. If I really felt so bad and gross, then why was I doing it anyway? How could I face her? Could I look at her and say this was an accident and then… then when I made my move, whatever that meant, what could I say?

I wanted to talk to her about it, too. I wanted to tell her how I felt. I wanted to tell her that every single day it ate me a little more.

Surely only she could save me, least I sink, though if she saw what I really was, would she still rescue me?

"Jaune," her soft voice returned me. "Jaune, I need you." I woke up from my stupor.

Ruby and the music were waiting for me to face them. She was right. This was no time to lose focus. Who was to say this trio was alone? They almost certainly weren't.

I focused my disgust and self hatred on the problem at hand. I felt like an ocean that was as still as a lake.

"Look you have no idea who you just killed, alright." The girl with the dark tattoos began.

I blinked, "well yeah. You shot me in the dark."

Silence reigned.

"Well Khagan Branwen isn't the sort to forgive people killing her people."

"Branwen…" I murmured, absently, trying to think.

"What did you just say?" Ruby spun her scythe off her back. The edge, a razor to the waking girl's neck. "What was that name? Branwen who?"

"Branwen, Branwen." The girl insisted. "Raven Branwen."

Ruby's face twisted into something awful. Something like disgust filled her as her nose twisted and she glared downwards. She put a round in the chamber.

"Khagan?" Ruby wondered.

"Branwen as in…" I struggled. "Qrow Branwen?"

Skepticism turned sideways in the kneeling girl's eyes. They flicked from Ruby's weapon up at me. "You know the Khagan's brother?"

"I thought she was Khatun Branwen," Ruby refocused.

"No, not anymore, not since the black-out. Maybe before."

"Jaune, uh, a little pow-wow?"

I bent down and grabbed the bandit's pistol. Her eyes followed it, as I collapsed it and slid it into a belt. It was actually well-made. Not Ruby Rose(TM) quality but the way it folded couldn't be cheap.

We stepped back, I matched Ruby's distance away from the prisoner. "Aunt Branwen?" I wondered. She glanced behind me at the captive.

"No. Not Aunt Branwen. She was-ugh- I wanted to..." She squeezed her hands tight at her side. "She was Dad's first wife."

"Oh."

"She abandoned us after Yang was born. She went here and started a horde of bandits." She snarled. She just spat the words out.

"Um." I just blinked.

"What do I do Jaune?" She reached out and grabbed my shirt.

How in the fuck could I possibly know?

I opened my mouth and stopped. Ruby looked up at me. I felt the tip of something press against my head.

When I got off the ground my head was ringing. I wasn't in a lot of pain. Well scratch that. The inside of my head pounded like an entire xylophone being struck at once over and over.

The girl with the gun… her weapon had a twin.

I realized, dazed. It was a sort of black flash when it happened. The point blank shot immediately dropped my aura to red and activated my semblance at the same time. It threw me forward and made me splay against the ground.

I lost sight of Ruby as the force tossed me but I am fairly certain I heard her gun fire again accompanied by the girl's arm twice more. One final crack of Crescent Rose, then there was silence.

I picked myself off the dirt with a groan, but I pulled my weapon into my hands and stood up. "Ruby?" I whipped myself around. I blinked a few times fast. My vision wasn't clearing.

At all.

I rubbed the back of my head, that would leave a bruise. Right above the occipital lobe, too. I really liked that hemisphere, two.

Vague grey shapes I distinguished using aura rather than with any means of light. I felt beyond myself in the ways Ren had showed me. I wasn't one half as good as him. I barely made out colored blurs before me. Mostly red and fading green on the ground but… no distant blue?

I expected a distant blue by the vaguish tree, there was nothing, though. "Jaune? Are you alright?"

"That's a hard maybe?" I gave, squinting. "The prisoner?"

"She's alive. Probably stable." Ruby judged for me.

"The other girl?"

I felt as much as saw the blur turn around. "Gone. A semblance, maybe?"

I nodded. I watched my own power fade, my aura turned to its usual dull grey and yellow, the charge wilted. There was nothing to spend it on and so it left. It took my breath with it as my gauge fell to empty. I felt exhausted and swayed on my feet.

Ruby caught me. My vision completely going. "Ouch," I confessed. "The horses?"

"They'll find us, you goof." She shushed. "I'll set up camp and secure her. Rest for a bit, alright?" I didn't have much choice. My head in her lap and her fingers against my forehead and through my hair and in my scalp was like a narcotic. I couldn't even try.

She cooed, running my hair through her fingers as darkness descended over even those details my eyes made out. "I'm sorry Jaune." She whispered, hands cupping my cheek.

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If you're enjoying these snippets give my fanfic Motion Sickness a chance.

-WG

[nuttyjellyfishlover]

One Piece Anime Wano Arc Episodes 890

One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 890 This honestly is less going to be a review and more of a commentary as I watch through the anime's rendition of the Wano arc. I've honestly never really watched too much of the One Pieceanime, mostly just looking up the highlights of the arcs I read in the manga. I did watch the filler episodes and most of the movies, as I've talked about at length recently. And everyone tells me that the anime has some rather terrible pacing, particularly around the time of Dressrossa, which is apparently pretty padded out. But then I heard the absolute opposite for Wano, where the anime has received a new art-style and one hell of a fancy makeover. And I thought... hey, I'm on a One Piece kick this year, clearly, so yeah, I think I'm going to give this a shot.

The Wano arc, I think, is one that works a lot better because it has the reverse problem of a lot of One Piece arcs -- there are a lot of moments in Act One of the manga's version of the story that the writer clearly purposefully threw in a couple of off-screened moments that the anime could expand into full action scenes. I already know that Sanji versus Page One is fully animated in the anime, and scenes like Big Mom vs. Kaido or Zoro vs. Basil Hawkins are extended a lot more than the couple of panels we had in the manga. And Wano's got a lot of supporting characters, some of which actually get swept under the rug when I first read through the manga chapters weekly. So yeah, having bright colours and voices and music is going to make this a much more fun experience!

Anyway, here goes my collection of random notes and commentary. Be aware that there will be MANGA SPOILERS, as I will point out a couple of things here and there about stuff I notice that's foreshadowing or whatever:

* Marco's blue-and-yellow phoenix form looks so, so much more vibrant and pops out compared to anything else in the series in colour, huh? I think out of any other character, Marco is extra-memorable in animated format. * That said, basically half this episode is just a recap of the Paramount War. I mean, I haven't seen the Paramount War in full animated format, so it's nice to hear Whitebeard and Ace and Marco speak some of their more famous lines there. But on the other hand, it's also it's kind of one of the more-criticized parts of the One Piece anime that any time they could pad out an episode with scenes from a previously-produced episode, they will. * We actually get to see the Grudge/Payback War in the anime! I think this is less of a showcase of events that actually happened and more of a symbolic one, but hey, we get to see Blackbeard doing some sky-quakes and black holes and Marco turning phoenix. It just shows the Whitebeard division commanders getting sucked into a giant Dragon-Ball-esque spirit bomb Black Hole. Actually pretty neat! * Jozu has both arms in that vision. Whether it's an error or a spoiler or if he has a prosthetic a la Akainu in Film: Z, we'll see eventually.

* This episode also has a bit of a recap of the revelations about Wano from the Zou arc, but it's a lot shorter and feels a lot more relevant to the upcoming arc. * Brook actually expresses some interest on Vivi, apparently having heard of her from the others. I've always liked this from the filler episodes, of the newer Straw Hats slowly learning about prior adventures. Brook being Brook, of course, a panty joke was tossed in. * The Japanese-art style water waves look so pretty when animated! * The random octopus that makes Japanese kabuki theater (?) sounds is another thing that works so much better in the anime. I've always thought it felt a bit forced and random in the manga version. * The high-tempo music when the Sunny sails into the koi waves is very, very fun! * Ah, yes, the very first chapter of Wano in the manga shows off a bunch of carps jumping up a waterfall. You know, considering the whole legend that a carp that jumps over the waterfall transforms into a dragon... i.e., a fish that is also a dragon...

* The first one that's properly and almost fully drawn in the new Wano art style! And it looks gorgeous. * Also a new theme song! I've never paid that much attention to theme songs in anime, but I definitely like "One Dream One Wish" more than "We're the Super Powers". Shame that, as with most anime, the opening sort of spoils, like, half of the things that happens in the arc. * Speaking of great background music... the tempo of that opening instrumental that Komurasaki plays on shamisen is pretty catchy, especially with that octopus going iyooo~ in the background. It also makes for very fun background music for Zoro's rampage at the end of the episode. * Anime Wano is so freaking colourful. The rooftops, the kimonos, the hair... I think I remembered reading that Oda made it a point to subvert the fact that everyone in feudal Japan had black hair by explicitly doing the opposite -- black hair is the exception rather than the norm in Wano. Fun! * The frog on Usopp's hat is a real frog! I always thought it was just a hat! It's adorable! The wiki tells me it's called Gama Pyonnosuke. It's an adorable friend! Forget Carrot or Kin'emon or Yamato, Gama Pyonnosuke for next Straw Hat! * The biggest expansion here is that we actually follow Zoro around as he wanders around the city until he gets arrested by the corrupt magistrate. And Zoro actually bumps into the man-slayer and corrupt magistrate, actually explaining why he recognizes the specific scent of blood during the whole seppuku court. * And then we get around a minute of Zoro fighting the magistrate guards with the seppuku knife and good ol' fisticuffs, something that I didn't think I needed, but is certainly very fun to watch! * This new animation studio loves the angled zoom-in into eyes, and I highly approve. I think we had that like at least three times when Zoro decides to get dangerous.

* I never quite realized that if Luffy hadn't been interrupted by the octopus and washed up next to the Thousand Sunny, the poor ship would be literally left to its own devices. You'd think after losing Merry, the Straw Hats would be more careful with their ships... * Zoro gets to slash the magistrates up even more! It's a single Tatsu Maki, but god damn what a pretty Tatsu Maki. The shot of his feet kicking and breaking the wooden floor, the black aura around his blades, the way that the dragon aura appears behind him, the demonic red eyes as Zoro slams down from the sky, and the shots of the surrounding terrain being cut up into cubes... pretty awesome! * Luffy dodging the bullet from the random Beast Pirate goon with Observation Haki and the gomu-gomu-long-range-bitchslap has always been cool in the manga, and this episode makes it even cooler. Those glowing eyes! This is going to be the whole commentary, isn't it? Just me commenting on the scenes I find to be really cool? * Luffy's Conqueror Haki against the giant baboon is another very cool one. From the expression to the delivery of the line to the sound effect... Luffy's expression is actually pretty cool and borderline scary as he beats up the second goon. No wonder Tama went straight into "This is the I surrender pose!" * Also added in the anime is a vignette of Franky, Robin and Usopp seeing the news of Zorojuro becoming a wanted criminal. Again, not entirely necessary to know the story, but actually scenes that I don't mind being shown to us. Particularly that scene of Usopp utterly bullshitting an officer. * Luffy pets Komachiyo with his rubber arms. Komachiyo is a good boy. This is the most important scene.

* Did the manga show Luffy hiding the Sunny and letting it anchor in a cave? I don't remember it. I know that before the flashback and the raid we see the Sunny there, but it's nice to actually show Luffy not being so callous with the Sunny. * They got a pretty good voice actress for Tama that really makes her pretty adorable! So many times these kid guest star characters end up being annoying if they don't get a good voice, but between the voice-acting and the expressions, she's pretty fun! * Also, I think this is going to be something I repeat a couple of times, but both Tama and Tenguyama are so much more visually interesting with their full colour palettes. * Oh, right, Drake was the one that ransacked Tama's village. Wonder if that'll actually come up later on in the story... * Okay, thanks to the anime, it's really going to drill to me that it's pronounced 'Diez Drake' and not 'Eks Drake'. * I'm pretty sure everyone noticed it, but Ace learned to weave hats in Wano! That's how he became buddies with Oars Junior! I didn't notice it until just now!

* (Episode is the Cidre Guild filler arc that ties in to Stampede.) * What is Tenguyama waiting for? It's probably Oden or his retainers, but I don't think he's part of the samurai that was recruited by Kin'emon's group. Maybe he just missed the big recruitment drive, but that's weird. I wonder what role he's going to play in the arc... * There is a random metal guitar riff when Luffy sees the Nidai Kitetsu. And a glow of Observation Haki on Luffy's eyes. That's a small detail, but very cool! He also uses Observation when Hawkins arrives later on. I love the little trail of glowing red that streams out of his pupils when he activates it. * Tenguyama's sword has a very cool leaf-based handguard! Never noticed that. * Speaking of cool Observation Haki effects, Zoro's apparently activates when he senses sake. Appropriate! * I know it's me repeating this over and over, and we'll get so many cooler scenes later on, but Zoro casually launching that Phoenix Cannon to blow up the two random raptor-riders when he saves Tsuru? Such a simple scene but still so cool. Also very cool is the very brief slo-mo as Zoro re-angles the pathway of his slice when cutting down the second random goon. * Unlike most of the other things, I've always noticed that Basil Hawkins has a very cool Koma-deer mount. It looks even cooler in motion!

* This is perhaps one of the more extended scenes, since it features... fight scenes! In the manga, I think this lasted... maybe half a chapter? Less? A couple of page spreads? It's not just the Hawkins fight, either, Luffy's 'swordfighting' with Nidai Kitetsu also gets extended. Luffy's a bit more successful in using the sword to block and parry here. * Luffy's voice actor really makes the 'de gozaru' sound really funny. * I 100% missed Tsuru the first time I read through this chapter since we only see part of her in a single panel before her full-body debut after the Hawkins fight, and it's a lot less likely that you'll make that mistake in the anime. * Some 'elite' goons show up here, including a guy that uses his ponytail as a whip against Zoro, and a dude that makes fissures with a hammer that fights Luffy. Probably feels a bit more filler-y compared to the rest of the action scenes, but that's honestly nitpicking. * Zoro launching a Phoenix Cannon that slashes Hawkins's face is very cool. * Hawkins' little straw dolls gets an extended scene of it crawling out of his arm. It's so creepy, I love it. * Hawkins' giant straw demon StandBankaigets an very cool summoning animation and it's so creepy. The skies darkens and everything. Most importantly, it makes noises! Again, I love it.

* Luffy and Zoro vs. Hawkins! It's extended beyond just the simple 'dodge, then one-shot-slash' that it was in the manga. I really like Hawkins and his creepy-ass Straw Stand, so I am a huge fan of this. We get a couple of nice juxtaposition shots of Hawkins and the straw monster. Also Zoro goes shirtless in the fight. That's an important detail! * I really, really love how Zoro is having a gritted-teeth expression as he fights the giant straw demon; the straw demon is going gakakakakakakaka like a lunatic... then we cut to Hawkins who has a deadpan, bored expression as he swings his sword in the distance. * The animators really like to let the straw monster use the nails entwined to the tips of its fingers. That's fun! Zoro backhand-blocking the nails from hitting Luffy and Tama? That's cool! * Zoro does Ichi-Gorilla-Ni-Gorilla at one point, and totally slices and 'kills' Hawkins a bunch of times. * Also, speaking of pretty, glowing-eyes motion shots, Zoro using Nigiri: Toro Samon? Yeah. The cut itself is cool, but the zoom-in on Zoro's eyes as he does so? I'm sorry, I have a weakness for that kind of shot, it appears. * To extend the fight so that it's not just a single exchange of blows, Komachiyo gets knocked to the ground so that Zoro and the straw demon can actually fight for a bit. * Also shots I have a weakness to? DBZ-style 'aftermath of a powerful move'. This one isn't too over-the-top, but the slash extending into the sky and the shockwave rippling out from where Zoro slices the strawman thing is cool. * We actually see the scene of Okiku being harassed by Urashima in chronological order, and Urashima scares off a customer. Also, the implied scene of Zoro scaring off Urashima is actually shown here.

* This episode kind of extends the scenes in Tsuru's shop a bit more. Not the most exciting thing, but it does really help to build up Tama, Tsuru and Kiku. * ...wait, Tsuru's shop just displays the Kozuki crest very, very evidently on its door awning. If simply speaking the Kozuki name alone is a punishable crime, how did they get away with that? * Zoro trying to get Luffy to adopt a Wano-ized name is extra-funny in the anime! * Speaking of extended fight scenes, Batman gets to shoot alotmore arrows at Luffy and Zoro. It's kind of over-the-top on Batman's part, if we're being honest, even if Zoro and Luffy very easily dispatches of them.

* The anime does give Batman the ability to control his arrows via sonic waves or something, but he lasted for a much, much longer time than he really should have. * Batman fucking blocks Luffy's Busoshoku-empowered punch! He most definitely doesn't do it in the manga, and sure, knocking Luffy down with sonic waves? I buy that. Blocking Luffy and causing a small explosion in the air? ...I'm pretty sure just some random Gifter isn't supposed to be able to do that. Unless they're thinking of the other Batman? * They make the initial shot of Holdem answering the phone with the lion face pretty intimidating! * Holdem's lion beating their shared balls is still one of the weirdest jokes in the manga. * Some really nice face shots in this one, from Tama to Holdem to the lion to Luffy's group.

* A pretty obvious extended filler is Urashima bullying other sumo wrestlers. Urashima is kind of a dipshit, so it's not a particularly enjoyable filler for me. * Zoro gets to sumo-wrestle with one of Urashima's goons! This one, on the other hand, is pretty fun. We also get a little added bit where Zoro smirks after remembering Kiku's earlier insistence that she's a samurai, so it's less of a 'he doesn't give a shit' and more 'he wants to see what Kiku's skill is' or something.

* Luffy vs. Urashima is prolonged a bit in here, obviously. Not as entertaining as fighting Hawkins or even Batman, but okay, sure. Lots of grunting and growling in this one. Urashima cheats a bit more, Luffy has to use Armament Haki at one point... really don't think Urashima's someone that you should bother using hardening on, Luffy. * The kabuki-style delivery of "I'm going to be the king of pirates" is very well done. * Poor Tama! Holdem's a jackass. * We actually get to see Urashima crashing into Holdem's house, in yet another obvious 'hey, anime team, this is something for you to animate' scene from the manga. * Law gets an extended scene with seeing the sick Bepo, including a Room/Scan showcase and Bepo looking cute and Law being unable to keep being angry at him.

* The fight against the pirates and samurai in Bakura Town gets extended a fair bit in this episode. Luffy throws Nidai Kitetsu's scabbard around again, repeating the thing he did before. * This episode noticeably has a bunch of brief flashbacks to previous episodes. Anime episodes do this all the time to easily eat up like, ten or fifteen seconds of runtime. But I felt this one was particularly noticeable since it's to the previous episode which we already had a recap segment of before the episode begun. * Ball-de-boo!

* We get an adorable crayon drawing memory when Luffy remembers Zunisha one-shotting Jack's fleet. * Luffy and Zoro's synchronized neck-crick is pretty fun. Also fun is their super-speed when they simultaneously rescue Tama and steal the food barge. The question is, where is this super-speed when they were bamboozled by Batman and Gazelleman? * Unlike the anime, Holdem is able to turn his sword into a flaming segmented sword. It's like Zabimaru from Bleach, but on fire! * We get an extra scene of a random goon holding Kiku hostage and Zoro locking eyes with her and saying "I'm not going to help you", knowing full well she's pretending to be a damsel in distress. * Speed also gets to do something here! She gets to shoot Armament Haki'd arrows at Zoro and Kiku! In the manga she doesn't do anything while this is happening. * REDDO HAAAAAWK! * God damn that's a very satisfying Red Hawk. Such a pretty-looking one! This was the scene that a friend showed me that got me excited to sit down and watch the Wano arc in anime format. From Holdem shooting a lion's fire (how does that work?) and engulfing Luffy, to Tama's yelling, to the zoom-in to Luffy's angry eyes, to the orb of flame dissipating, the zoom-in to Luffy's angry face, the impact, the music... it's just Luffy beating up Holdem, who means jack-all in the grand scheme of things, but what a badass Red Hawk.

And I think that's a neat place to stop off, with the initial Hawkins-Urashima-Holdem opening prologue to Wano done with. I'm not sure how often I'll update this little watch-along series, but I certainly am enjoying myself!

[wonderful-writer]

13 - Wartime

Summary: The camp prepares to make a trip to the ocean, but the grounder army puts a stop in their plans, forcing them back to camp to fight a war.

Word Count: 2.94k

Based Off: 01x13, “We Are Grounders, Part Two”

Everyone outside of the dropship prepared to leave while Clarke cauterized Raven’s wound and Finn held her hand. 

“That should stop the external bleeding.” She put the knife in a basin and Finn started talking.

“I don’t understand, how did Murphy get a gun?” He asked.

“Long story,” Bellamy said. 

“We got lucky,” Raven moaned. “If Murphy hit the fuel tank instead of me, we’d all be dead.”

“Wait, there’s rocket fuel down there?” Clarke asked the brunette. “Enough to build a bomb?”

“Enough to build 100 bombs.” Raven replied. “If we had any gunpowder left.” 

“Let’s get back to the reapers.” Bellamy lifted Lincoln’s book to show a sketch of one. “Maybe they’ll help us.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?” You asked. 

“Not this enemy.” Clarke said. “We saw them. Trust me, it’s not an option.”

“There’s no time for this.” Finn chimed in. “Can she walk or not?”

“No.” Clarke responded. “We have to carry her.”

“The hell you will.” Raven tried to sit up. “I’m good to go.” Her attempts at sitting up were feeble, and she put herself in more pain trying to do so.

“Hey,” Clarke got her attention. “Listen to me. That bullet is still inside you. If, by some miracle, there’s no internal bleeding, it might hold until we get somewhere safe. But you are not walking there. Is that clear?”

Raven nodded and laid back down on the table while Finn went to get the stretcher to put her on. 

“Can’t run away fast enough, huh? That’s brave, real brave.” Bellamy commented in a snide tone.

Finn turned at his comment and walked back over to the man. “Dying in a fight you can’t win isn’t brave, Bellamy. It’s stupid.”

“Spoken like every coward who’s ever run from a fight.” Bellamy walked closer to Finn as he spoke, getting dangerously close. The tension in the room was high due to their verbal fight, and you could feel that this was going to escalate quickly.

“Alright, that’s enough.” You spoke up from beside Raven. “You two need to stop. We have to go.”

“If they follow, it’s a 120 mile walk to the ocean.” Bellamy informed you. 

“Like I said,” You moved closer to Bellamy. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take to make sure my people don’t die.”

“Look, we’re wasting time.” Finn interrupted. “If he wants to stay, he can stay.” 

“No, he can’t,” Clarke replied, but Finn was already out of the dropship. She turned and walked up to Bellamy to try and get him to come along.

“We can’t do this without you, Bellamy.” She told him.

“What do you want me to say, Clarke?” He replied angrily and with a steeled expression, keeping his gaze looking over her shoulder.

“I want you to say that you’re with us.” She said.

“Those kids out there,” You stepped in to help persuade him. “They listen to you, Bellamy.” 

“They’re lining up to go. They clearly listen to you more.” He countered. 

“We gave them an easy choice.” Clarke said. “But 5 minutes ago they were willing to fight and die for you. You inspire them.”

He looked up at the doors, and then to you without saying a word. “I’m afraid we’re gonna need that again before this day is through.”

She turned and walked out of the ship, while you took her spot in front of Bellamy and out a reassuring hand on his arm. “Come with us, Bellamy. You’re one of us, and like it or not, we need you.”

Not long after, everyone was ready to leave camp. The gunners were leading the walk to protect against any attacks, while the others stayed behind them and carried what they could. You and Clarke waited until everyone else was out of the camp to make your way to Bellamy, who was still looking at the ship. 

“You did good here, Bellamy.” Clarke assured.

“18 dead.” He said.

“And 82 alive.” You countered. “You did good.”

He nodded and tossed a bucket of water onto the fire, throwing it to the ground and walking away with you and Clarke. 

You’d walked a fair bit, keeping your hand on your sword’s hilt in case there was someone you needed to fight. It wasn’t very long until the group stopped moving, and from where you, Bellamy and Clarke were, you couldn’t see what was going on. It was then that you heard a loud thump and Jasper scream out that the grounders attacked did everyone rush to get back to camp.

You and Bellamy directed everyone inside the walls of camp and everyone moved to their own stations or foxholes, prepping hastily for the battle. You helped to close the door and unsheathed your sword while Bellamy was at the watchtower. 

“Lincoln said the scouts would be the first to arrive.” Clarke said, directing her sentence to Finn.

“If it’s just scouts then we can fight our way out.” Octavia chimed in. “That’s what Lincoln would do.”

“We’re done doing what that grounder would do.” Bellamy jumped down from his post. “We tried it and now Drew’s dead. Do you wanna be next?”

“That grounder saved our lives.” Finn defended. “I agree with Octavia. For all we know there’s one scout out there.”

“Yeah, a scout with insanely good aim.” Jasper said. 

“Clarke, Y/n, we can still do this.” Octavia pleaded. 

“Looking at you guys, what’s it gonna be?” Bellamy asked you. “Run and get picked off out in the open, or stand and fight back?”

You took a mental step back and assessed the situation. If you agreed with Octavia and fought your way to the ocean, you might not make it out alive. The grounders would surround you and you’d be in their territory, vulnerable to a major loss. If you stayed in camp and tried to do what you could to fight, you’d have a better chance of surviving and you’d likely lose less people to the grounders. 

You looked at Clarke and voiced your opinion as she looked out into the woods before jumping back down. “I say we’re staying. If we use everything we’ve got and fight like hell, we could actually make it out alive.”

“Clarke,” Finn grabbed the blonde’s arm. “If we’re still here when Tristan gets here-”

“Lincoln said ‘scouts’. More than one. He told us to get home before the scouts arrived. Finn, they’re already here.” She turned to Bellamy. “Looks like you’ve got your fight.”

“Okay then.” He spoke loudly to address the other campers. “This is what we’ve been preparing for. Kill them before they kill us.”

“Gunners, to your posts!” You shouted beside him. “Use the tunnels to get in and out. From now on, the gate stays closed.”

You watched everyone move into position as Octavia did, too, but Bellamy caught her arm, telling her she wasn’t a gunner and she defended herself before moving to the exit to help with the battle. 

“So, how the hell do we do this?” Clarke asked. You all moved into the dropship to explain the plan and information you had to her, Finn, and Raven.

“We’ve got 25 rifles with 20 rounds each, give or take.” Bellamy said. “Roughly 500 rounds of ammo.”

“While you two were gone, we made some improvements.” You took over. “Thanks to Raven, the gully is mined.” 

“Partially mined.” Raven corrected painfully. “Thanks to Murphy.”

“Still, it’s the main route in. If the grounders use it, we’ll know.” Bellamy told the room. 

“She also made grenades.” You picked one up to show Clarke and Finn.

“There’s not many,” Clarke commented.

“Again. Thank you, Murphy.” Raven said sarcastically. 

“We’ll make them count. If the grounders make it through the front gate, guns and grenades should force them back.” Bellamy pointed to the scale model of the front gate on the table. 

“And then?” Clarke asked worriedly.

“Then, we close the door and pray.” Raven said. 

“And pray what? That the ship keeps them out?” She asked. “Because it won’t.”

“Then let’s not let them get past the front gate.” You said, looking at the scale model and gripping your jacket sleeve in hopes to relieve some stress. 

“All foxholes, listen up.” Bellamy spoke into the radio. “Keep your eyes and ears open. Inflict casualties, as many as possible. You can hold them off long enough to make them turn back. That’s the plan.”

“That’s always your plan.” Finn said. “Just like the bomb at the bridge.”

“Damn right. You got a better idea?” 

“I think I do.” You spoke up. “Raven, you said there’s fuel in those rockets, right? Enough to build 100 bombs.”

“I also said we’ve got no gunpowder left.” She told you. 

“I don’t want to build a bomb.” You said. “I want to blast off.” 

“Draw them in close, fire the rockets. A ring of fire.” Clarke explained simply, smirking along with Raven. 

“Barbequed grounders. I like it.” Bellamy agreed.

“Will it work?” Finn asked Raven.

“The wiring is a mess down there, but yeah.” She turned to you and Bellamy. “If you give me enough time, I’ll cook ‘em real good.” 

You smirked at her and nodded, liking that you had an even better plan than what was formed before. Clarke and Finn went underneath the floor of the dropship to look for the ignition system while Raven sat near the floor entrance and worked on repairing the electrical board, while you and Bellamy headed out to prep for the impending and inevitable war.

It was nightfall when you heard the drums. You were by the fire, sharpening your own and other people’s blades in case it came time to use them. You looked to Bellamy, who seemed to have the same idea as you, and ran to the main foxhole. 

“Where’s Octavia?” He asked Miller.

“No idea. She left 5 minutes ago, didn’t say where to.” He responded. “She thinks she’s a damn samurai.”

“Do you see anything?” You asked, sword drawn.

“No.” Monroe replied frustratedly. “What the hell are they waiting for?”

“The longer they wait, the better. This is about buying time for Raven.” He told her.

“I see them! They’re moving!” Sterling’s voice cut through the air, slightly staticy. “I count 2, 3- no, wait, there’s more. I don’t know man, there’s too damn many of them!”

A gunshot rang through the air and Bellamy asked Miller who was on the radio. “Sterling, I think. South foxhole.”

More gunshots rang out as Bellamy pulled out his radio. “South foxhole, report now.”

“Yeah, yeah, We’re okay. They didn’t attack. It’s like shooting at ghosts.”

You kept your eyes on the terrain ahead of you, seeing grounders move across your field of vision. “There!” 

“I see them!” Monroe shouted, shooting at the grounders. Miller joined her and Bellamy shouted at them to stop.

“Reload, now.” He commanded, as they were both out of bullets. 

“Those were our last clips.” Miller told him.

“We should- we should fall back.” Monroe suggested, panicked.

“No.” Bellamy said. “If this position falls, they’ll walk right through the front door.”

You unsteadily readied your sword as Bellamy positioned himself to look through the scope of his gun. You kept your stance and listened to the radio, Jasper confirming that the land mines worked.

“Jasper, we need you in the dropship, now.” Clarke’s voice came through.

“Negative.” Bellamy responded. “We can’t give up the west woods.”

“The west woods are mined, Bellamy. The grounders just figured that out.” Clarke said. “Jasper, get in here.” 

“All gunners, listen up.” Jasper spoke. “The grounders are not attacking. They’re making us waste bullets. Don’t shoot when they’re running laterally.”

“Jasper’s right,” Bellamy confirmed. “Don’t fire until you’re sure it’s an attack. Repeat, do not fire until you are sure.”

Jasper then told Clarke that he was coming to help out, and you looked around worriedly. Something was feeling off to you. You didn’t know what it was, but your gut instincts were telling you to flee, to leave now and save yourself. But you knew to go against them, that you had to stay and fight. This was your battle, too. 

Then it came. The gunfire, the battlecry. Grounders were headed straight towards you. You swung your sword as they ran for you, Monroe falling back with Miller. You slashed one grounder's throat and spun as you did so, plunging your sword into another grounder’s chest. 

One of them attacked Bellamy and pushed him to the ground, Miller attempting to go after him, but failing when another grounder shoved his spear into Miller’s shoulder. Bellamy managed to fight the grounder, but failed when he was pushed to the ground again, the grounder’s hands tightening themselves around Bellamy’s neck. 

You were busy fighting one of the other grounders and couldn’t help, but once you had killed him, you saw Octavia shove her sword through the back of the grounder’s head and straight through his eye, saving her brother.

“Admit it, you want one.” She said, panting. Before she could help her brother up off the ground, an arrow fired from behind her and struck her in the leg, causing her to falter and fall, Bellamy catching her. 

“Miller! Fall back! Now!” He stood and grabbed Octavia by the arms to support her. “Can you walk?”

She stumbled and he put her arm over his shoulder. “O, hey. Hold on to me. Let me get you behind that wall.” He carried her bridal style and you followed behind, serving as cover for the siblings in case any grounders tried to attack them while they were vulnerable.

When you neared the gate, you heard screaming and metal clashing, causing Bellamy and you to skid to a halt. 

“What is that?” Octavia asked.

“I don’t know, but they’re distracted.” Her brother responded, placing her against a tree. “Let’s move.” 

“We’ll never make it.” Octavia panted. “Leave me. I’ll find another way.”

“No way in hell are we leaving you here.” You said. 

“Octavia!” Lincoln said from behind you as he broke through the trees. A small smile came to your lips as they hugged. 

“You did this?” Bellamy asked, nodding his head towards the reapers and grounders fighting one another.

“With Finn.” He told Bellamy. He looked down at the broken arrow in Octavia’s leg. “It’s deep.”

A grunt came from nearby and Lincoln spoke quickly. “I can help you, but you have to come with me now.” 

“Go.” Bellamy said. “Let him help you.”

“No way,” Said Octavia. “I have to see this through.”

“You can’t walk and we can’t get you to the dropship.” You intervened. 

“They’re right. This fight is over for you.” Lincoln told Octavia. 

“O. O, listen to me.” Bellamy said. “I told you my life ended the day you were born. The truth is, it didn’t start until then. So go with him. I need you to live. Besides, we’ve got this.”

You put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, letting go so she could hug Bellamy and say their own goodbyes before being carried away by Lincoln so she could remain safe. 

You both paused for a minute until the shouting began again, revealing that the grounders were advancing on the wall. You and Bellamy picked up the pace and ran to the entrance. Clarke and Finn spotted the both of you, screaming for you to run, which you did. Bellamy picked up a gun and attempted to shoot at Tristan, but it was out of ammo. 

You didn't make it very far from the entrance when four grounders closed in on you. You managed to take down the first one with relative ease, slicing his throat. One of the others attempted to bash your head in but you sliced his arm, causing him to fall with pain. You kicked him over forcefully and plunged your sword into his heart.

You spun around to face another grounder, thrusting yourself and your sword forward, stabbing him in the stomach. You watched the dropship door close, and you feared you were running out of time. You froze in your spot, but not for very long when the last grounder that had surrounded you shoved his dagger all the way into your right side, more towards your back. 

The grounder left you once you collapsed to your knees, attempting to tear the dropship down to nothing with the rest of the army. You knew the blast was coming soon, so you dragged yourself to the exit and attempted pulling yourself to your feet. You groaned in pain, coughing at the sting of the blade. ‘I’ve been here for what, a month? And I’ve already been stabbed twice.’

You stumbled to the path that led out to the main gate as the rumbling of fire and the heat touched your skin. You slowly walked as the energy further drained from your body, feeling blood drip down your skin. The knife moved and tore your flesh every time you made a movement, but you knew it was important that you got to the main gate. You needed to survive. You needed to live. 

You felt yourself getting lighter with every step, pushing through bushes and shrubbery. A sigh escaped your dry and pale lips as you saw the treeline, the wall. You reached out to stabilize yourself on it, but you fell to your knees instead, collapsing as darkness surrounded you. Your torso and head hit the ground with a thud, but no pain was felt when you hit the dirt. You just closed your eyes, feeling at peace. 

Taglist:  @soullessbabee​ | @hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis​ | @dummythiccwitch​ | @sireddobrev​ | @gxvrielle​ | @hurricane-abigail

[rachetmath]

What would it be like if rwbyjnor met the dutch, revy and rock

I don't understand the specifics of this request so I'll do this in the best way I can. This going to be long so be ready.

Rwby x Black lagoon

Black Lagoon crosses to Remnant:

Revy and Dutch along with team RWBY, Ren and Nora are fight a bunch of Beowolves while Jaune and Rock are fighting side by side with mostly Jaune doing most of the work while Rock provides a view tips and assisting mostly with what he can find.

Revy: So, let me get this straight you fight shit heads freaks of nature like these like every single day?

Ruby: Yep.

Dutch: And all of you have a very specific weapon that you customize yourselves to be it a blade and firearm?

Ren: Precisely.

Benny: And you have unnatural and natural resources like dust and with highly advanced technology?

Weiss: Yes.

Dutch: And you can use all that as well as this thing called aura along with a semblance?

Nora: Yeah, semblances are like a superpower.

Revy: How super?

Yang: Universal.

Revy: Well-

Revy looks to see Ruby turn her weapon from a sniper rifle to a scythe.

Revy: Dutch, can we stay here?

Dutch: HELL NO!!! Look, I hate to say this, but I much prefer seeing crazy psychos, and bullets fly than this horror fest. Plus, I may not be father but ya'll parents let you do this every day, they are very stupid and irresponsible.

Yang: Hey we're trained for this. Well except one.

Revy: Yeah that guy with Rock over there. He is doing fine but I can tell he's not all your levels. How did even survive let only get into your school?

Ruby: That we don't know or bother asking as long he works.

Revy: Well I can say that it's stupid but I still I wonder how he got in.

*Jaune and Rock side*

Rock: So, let’s get this straight. Your father never bothered to train you and no combat school was willing to accept you, so your best method was to cheat?

Jaune: Yeah, I know, I'm a complete fool.

Rock: I mean if you were willing to work hard to get there despite the risk, I say, you sir have my respect.

Jaune: But I am an idiot, I mean, I lost the only girl you who believed in me.

Rock: Jaune, let me give you a piece of advice. Get over yourself! If you still have even just one friend in this crazy messed up world then you're okay. Trust me, I know a little on how you feel. I mean look me compared to the others, do I look like I'm a mercenary?

Jaune: Why do hang out with them anyways?

Rock: Like you with your friends, mines, I guess appreciate my abilities. Look let's talk about this another time and try to survive this freak show.

Jaune: Deal.

RWBY and JNRO crosses to Black Lagoons:

Team RWBY and JNPR are fighting a mafia group along with Revy and Dutch. Ruby armed with a handgun, an old scythe and sniper with a bayonet, Weiss with a rapier and little knifes, Blake with a handgun and a katana, Yang with a shotgun and iron brazed knuckles, Jaune with an military armed shield, sword and rifle(Dutch taught him how to use it. Surprised it took him a week.) Nora with a grenade launcher, Ren dual wielding pistols and knives and Oscar with a pipe.

Revy: Holy crap, you brats are good even without your powers or usual weapons.

Ruby: We adapt.

Nora: Seriously, you guys do stuff like this every day?

Dutch: For the right price, yes. But yeah, you kids on a natural.

Yang: By the way, thanks for teaching Jaune how to use a gun.

Dutch: Thank Rock for making him listen, he said he wouldn't last long if he didn't. But in all seriously the guy learns quick, I mean, it took him a week to learn how you use that rifle.

Ren: A week! We need to start teaching him and make sure he brings one more often.

Nora: Might makes things easier from here on.

Jaune: Can all of stop talking and focus! We'll talk when we're done. Oscar, hurry up.

Oscar: Oh, I'm sorry but fighting with a pipe is hard!

Jaune: Why didn't you bring a sword!

Oscar: I will not kill!

After a crazy battle, the group along with Rock and Benny celebrated their victory at the bar. While the girls, as well as Ren and Oscar was living it up with Revy, Benny and Dutch, at the front bar Jaune and Rock were talking after Rock told him a stories about how his employers sold him out, the hell he endured in his stay Roanaper, Yukio, and his old client Garcia.

{Rock's side}

Jaune: Damn.

Rock: Yeah.

Jaune: Well, you did what you had to.

Rock: But I didn't have to. I should've walk away and not attached. I'm supposed to be the good guy, Jaune. But this city, I feel like it's eating me alive. All these mafia bosses, war criminals and shit... it's all just getting to me. You know.

Jaune: Yeah, I understand, but what are going to do about it? you made the choice to stay and you got live with it. I mean, hearing all the crap you've done, I somewhat envy you.

Rock: What do you mean?

Jaune: When Chang said pull out, you went in. Every time something bad happens you try to be the good guy and make things better. True it fails at times and from the look of this city, you'll have no choice but to throw righteousness away to survive.  But in my opinion, you still at least stand as the hero of the story.

Rock: *laugh* How so!? Come on tell me, how can I, a piece of under burying shit can possible still be a hero to you. The worthless knight, who can barely fight and couldn't save his partner!?

Jaune: Exactly. Most people survive based on luck.  You on the other hand survived not just on what you know but what learn in return. The world's a crazy place, and most of time you don't know where you'll end up. However, you still have control of what you do next. Your still able to keep people alive. You still do your job. You still try to be nice and maintain some level of morality even if it may never be enough or get you killed. So, trust me when I say this, you have done all what you could. Hell, I barely can do anything.

Rock: Shut up. When it comes down to it your friends are as crazy and trigger happy as Revy. They need somebody like you who can keep them alive. Just keep trying to do right by them and for yourself. Trust me, you can talk down to yourself all you want. But it doesn't change the fact that your alive, you made mistakes and you change. Promise you won't go down how I did, because believe me once you go too far in the darkness you may never come back from it. Or at least not be the same person you were before.  

Jaune: Yeah. Plus, that Revy woman, I think you can trust her to help you back up or shoot you down when you have gone too far.

Rock: Really? How come?

Jaune: She talks about you all the time when she's drunk. She saves you even when you deserve to die for being stupid. And finally, she hasn't killed you yet despite the many times you've pissed her off.

Rock: Speaking of women, which one of those lovely ladies is your girlfriend?

Jaune: Funny I was about ask you the same between Revy and the blonde, named, Eda.

Rock: *laughing* To the C.M.F.?

Jaune:  To the C.M.F *Shared a toast with Rock and started drinking*

{Revy Side}

Ruby: So, Revy?

Revy: What is it little red?

Ruby: Are you and Rock dating?

Revy: *cracks glass cup while blushing* W-w-WHAT!? NO!! Of course not. Why the hell would you ask that?

Nora: You look at him a lot.

Blake: You talk to him the most.

Yang: An unlike most, you call him your partner.

Revy: Well yeah cause he's useful. That’s all. Nothing special.

Weiss: Really, cause when you got drunk last time, we asked you about him, you got an attitude and started talking crazy.

Revy: Oh.

Yang: So how-

Revy: We started off at the wrong foot and we're just making up as we go.

Yang: Well that's great and-

Revy: Can't say the same thing for you guys and your friend Jaune, though.

Nora: Pardon?

Revy: I'm just saying, don't think you know everything about your friend, hell I don't think he cares about any of you.

Blake: *angry glare* What makes you say that?

Revy: Well let’s be clear here. Jaune was loser with dreams, he was willing to make those dreams a reality, no matter the price he didn't know he'll have to pay. And guess what, the debt was do and it caused Pyrrha her life.

Yang: Maybe so but-

Revy: And before you all start giving him praise for what he accomplished, let me ask you something. How did he feel afterwards? I mean, losing the only person to ever provide with some sort of love and respect, a family that never believed in once in his life, I say the kid must been a loser for a long time. And if him and his Sapphron were the only two to ever bother to leave the nest, then that proves that the rest of his siblings are just good for nothing nobodies who scared of the world, or just found more meaning in their lives without having to leave the comfort of their home. Face it, like Rock, your friend got something to prove and he's willing to do whatever it takes to prove himself to everyone. Even if it causes him his life and his humanity.

Ruby: No. No, we won't-

Revy: And what are you people going to do? Hold his hand? Give him those morally great speeches of yours? Pathetic. Just like your friend Pyrrha who died a meaningless death for worthless, foolish old man, who could barely do the job he's was given by god himself.

RWBYN: *angry at Revy comment but grows to accept it*

Ren was about to start threatening however Dutch stops him by reestablishing that one shot can turn the bar into a war zone and showing Ren that Revy always has her trigger finger ready. So, Ren does nothing.

Revy: Face it, you guys aren't capable of saving him. But what do I know, I'm no hero nor do I want to be? The only guy I seem to care about is changing and I don't know how he's going to turn out. To think that I might have to shoot him down someday. But fuck it, that’s just of missed up every world is.

Dutch: Wow Revy you changed.

Revy: What?

Benny: You act less bitchy than you were before and now you’re a little more open with others. Rock must have touched your heart.

Revy: Shut up, Benny. *looking red all over her face*

Everyone laughs at her embarrassment.

Revy: Oh, shut the fuck up you cunts! Hm. Anyways which one you are dating that knight in shining armor anyways since you're all worried about him?

Nora: I already got a boyfriend.

Revy: You mean twinkle toes right there. Mr. Emmo.

Nora: You must want to fight.

Revy: Anyone?

RWBY: Nope.

Revy: *makes a call*

Eda: Hey bitch, what do want?

Revy: Hey Eda do you like blondes? Because I got an average looking-

Eda barges in with her short green skirt and pink top shirt on. She looks at Revy, knowing what she wants, Revy points to Jaune with Rock and Eda makes her. She walks with hips swaying from side to side and sit between Rock and Jaune.

Rock: *surprised* Eda, what are doing here? When you did you get here?

Eda: Oh, Rock honey, I’m just taking advantage of my opportunities. *Sees Jaune staring in amazement. She smiles* Say, I heard rumors about you and your blonde friend right here and was wondering if you two would have some-

Revy and Weiss both break their glasses and make their way over.

Revy and Weiss: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM YOU CUNT!!!

Revy surprised how Weiss and she were in complete sink and while she smug, Weiss was embarrassed.

Revy: Oh, so you like him like that.

Weiss: *grabs Jaune by the arm and pulls him away* EVERYONE! WE ARE LEAVING!

Jaune: But Weiss I finally found someone I can talk!

Weiss: YOU’LL PLENTY OF PEOPLE TO TALK TO ONCE WE GET HOME!!

Jaune: But Weiss- damn it, later Rock. See you someday.

Rock: God speed brother and remember everything I told you.

Jaune: You as well and good luck.

A bright light was opened and just like that the kids disappeared. Back to their universe. Revy and Rock were smiling but Rock, remembering what Jaune said about trust, ask Revy

Rock: Revy?

Revy: What up, partner?

Rock: Let’s say, I things took too far and made an enemy of someone who would want me killed. Will you be there to kill me instead? Even if you were paid to do so, will be there to stop me?

Revy: *smiles but then covers Rocks eyes so he never sees it* Of course. I got you into this, so you’re my responsibility. Partner.

Rock: *smiles* Thanks.

[rayveewrites]

Guess who's created another Among Us OC! This is Saffron, AKA Yellow.

Yellow is an imposter. More specifically, she's a human imposter- a mercenary hired by one of MIRA's many enemies.

She's quite small for a human, allowing her to squeeze through vents where most people would get stuck. Yellow is not as skilled with the gun as she is with a knife, and tends to favour blades over bullets as a result. She's not massively strong, but she's fast and she knows where your arteries are and how long it'll take for you to bleed out, so watch your back.

Yellow's pretty competent at spotting her fellow imposters, and she's fine working with them. Typically they're aliens of some description; it's rare she finds herself working with other humans. She's never afraid to throw her fellow imposters under the bus if things go pear-shaped, and she can manage fin on her own.

Yellow chose her colour because her name is Saffron; not the other way round. She's not much of a talker; because of this, most people don't hear her voice enough to pick up on any tells.

Yellow went into mercenary work out of desperation- she was born into poverty and would do anything to claw her way out of it. She knows full well that if she gets caught, she''l be dead, and she's learned to accept that. She's paid both by MIRA and the company she works for, and has a pretty sizeable amount saved up (MIRA pays well because it's the only way they can keep astronauts on; Yellow's shadowy organization pays well because they're basically hiring a serial killer). Yellow has learned to not care about any life other than her own, which is pretty much the only way someone can deal with being an imp.

She has a rather one-sided rivalry with this one Purple botanist; when the aliens tell Yellow pretty directly not to kill her, Yellow just wants to kill her more. Sadly, she's never had a good chance on a crew without an imposter that won't sell her out. So she waits, because she'll get her chance. One day...

(Purple, on the other hand, either doesn't know or doesn't care, and blatantly ignores Yellow for the most part.)

Saff saves most of her spare cash, but she does splurge occasionally on her sword collection. She has a sword collection. Even better, she can use those swords! She has a place on Earth where she keeps them, because trying to smuggle a dozen swords onto the dropship is not happening. MIRA may be spectacularly stupid, but even they will notice something like that.