#Canon Divergence How to train your Dragon

[wolfasketch]

Some canon divergence/redesigned Night Lights

Before DreamWorks announced the Night Lights species name, given names and genders, I called them Blight Furys(didn't know blight was a fungus at the time) and gave Dart the name Twilight and made her male, Ruffrunner was given the name Midnight and made him male and Pouncer was given the name Eclipse and made him female.

Lineart is a F2U Base by LumiiDragon over on DA

[friendlyneighborhoodfinch]

yknow the hyperfixation has taken over when you have to go search for new wallpapers

[k-x-tana]

'I see you'

Pairings: Merida DunBroch & Hiccup Haddock Horrendous III (mostly platonic)

Word count: 5,424

Synopsis:

After reuniting with his mother during a crusade for magic, Hiccup is overwhelmed by the things that this event has awakened, however, he is not alone, a good friend comes to help him.

Or, where Merida and Hiccup tell each other parts of their lives that they hadn’t allowed themselves to share with anyone else.

(Most of this is just Hiccup and Merida telling each other how they viewed their stories)

Warnings: Abandonment issues, regret, insecurities.

Author's note:

Hi everyone! First of all, this is my first fanfic ever, I wrote this just to please my 9-year-old-self and she was obsessed with mericcup, but it has little to no romantic content, it's more of a character study, I needed to understand MY Hiccup, because I changed A LOT of the HTTYD plot, I really just stayed with the first movie, the rest it's just little bits of all of the other things, so keep that in mind. For me it's just the start on a slow burn but but you don't have to see it the same way.

Also, this is part of a RoTBTFD saga, and if you just like all of this people being friends, no shipp drama (not even the canon one), then the first book of said saga is for you, no shipps, just friends and bonding and a little bit of angst, after that, there willl be slowburn mericcup, so stay tuned! (The thing with Hiccup and Valka would be fixed eventually, it's in their nature to understand).

Thanks for reading!

Other places to read:

AO3 (english)

AO3 (spanish)

Wattpad (spanish)

That morning, Hiccup discovered that her mother had not been killed by a dragon, leaving no trace behind, but left Berk, she had seen how a dragon showed curiosity for her son, saw that dragons are not bloodthirsty beasts, she thought maybe there was something else behind all this ridiculous war, but if so, in the village they would never listen to her, they would probably throw her overboard; being the village chieftess would not gain her any privileges. So she left her son in the care of her husband, and left the only home she had ever known.

When Valka and Stoick reunited, she was sure he would hate her; but her husband simply took her face, wiped her tears and welcomed her back into the family; turns out that Vikings don’t usually stop to think about the past. Or, well, most Vikings.

At first Hiccup was happy, but as the day went on, he began to think about what it meant for his mother to be gone, everything plummeted when in his mind a short, simple and hurtful phrase echoed: "So, that’s why she left me".

That terrible idea did not come alone, it took many different forms, but so far it had not left him alone. Hiccup retained his emotions as much as he could, it wasn’t something he used to do, but this time he didn’t really know how to act, so he kept a slight smile all day and just watched her parents dance, love and tell how much they had missed each other. During the night everything exploded. In his insomnia, Hiccup was scheming so many ideas and questions that he thought he would ignite at any moment. Then he began to feel that he was short of air and that he had a big, heavy lump in his throat, he needed fresh air urgently, so he began to walk towards the exit, and he inadvertently started running; he only stopped outside the ice cave, then the air began to fill his lungs again, but it was not enough to continue to hold the cry and fell on his knees. Shortly after that, Toothless arrived, he brought a boot and a blanket, the dragon had accompanied him for many nights where it was only him, Toothless, the fire of the chimney and his silent tears, today he did not care to let out sobs or gasps, he was tired of being silent.

The pair of friends were huddled together, until the sound of the iron falling interrupted them.

-Hiccup? Oh my, are you hurt? Is everything okay?

It was Merida, her hair looked even more agitated than usual and she had an untied boot. What they heard was the girl’s huge sword that she had dropped to the ground as soon as she saw Hiccup hugging Toothless and rushed over to make sure they were okay.

-What are you doing up?

-I... couldn’t sleep and I heard you running away, I thought something would have attacked you, besides, I don’t know if your sense of direction is as bad as Corona’s and I didn’t want you to get lost here by yourself.

She finished scanning them and their agitated breathing began to stabilize, apparently no one had hurt them. However, she noticed his friend’s wet eyes and the dragon’s sad look.

-Oh Hiccup, do you need anything? I can give you some space, or listen to you or just stay with you without talking or-

-Stay. Please stay.

The boy wiped his face a little, sat on the edge of an overhanging rock and pointed the place to her. She sat and then turned to him:

-Do you... want to talk?

-I’m not sure, but I’d like to try.

-Whatever you need.

She smiled at him, and he returned the gesture. Toothless moved a little so that Merida could reach his head to scratch it. Hiccup took a deep breath:

-These days have left me exhausted, but today more than tired, I am... confused, I think, a little angry even. Meeting your mother after 20 years shouldn’t be so painful, I should be happy, all my life I was imagining what my life would have been like if she had been with me at Berk. I thought that would have made the days where I haven't met Toothless yet, well, easier. I never imagined there would be a life with her away from the island, and now I’m not sure what I would have preferred, or why I care so much to answer that question.

-How did you imagine your life with her before?

-Well... I don’t know, I think that more than having her with me, I needed someone to keep me company, anyone. I know it’s hard to believe, but I wasn’t always "Berk’s pride".

In the last sentence Hiccup made his voice deeper and bent his arms showing his thin biceps. "At least he still maintains his terrible sense of humor," she thought. Then the boy returned to his hunched pose, resting his elbows on his knees.

-I tried to fit in as much as I could with the other Vikings, to be strong and big like them, but as hard as I tried I could never, not quite. You know? For the last attack before we faced the red death, my father needed volunteers to go on an expedition to find the nest, and nobody wanted to go until he said that whoever stayed would have to take care of me. Of all the adults in the village, only Gobber, the old woman and a couple of farmers stayed on the island. Maybe they didn’t see me as a productive member of the community, and I was always screwing up, but they didn’t gave me a chance to prove otherwise either, they’re too stubborn to do something like that. Before I understood that dragons are not enemies, I was always to be equal to others, or not to get in the way. I was so lonely for so long.

Merida thought of her father, he taught her that she had potential, to develop it, she couldn't imagine what life could have been in the castle without him. However, the walls of the castle were very lonely as well, more so when her brothers were not yet born.

-And today, to see her, to know her a little... We are very similar, now I see that all of this-

He pointed at all of himself.

-Didn’t came out of nowhere. I think having her would have made me feel accompanied, understood. And the worst thing is that she saw Berk, she lived there, Gods! She was the head of the village! , she saw everything that was wrong about dragons, and she saw me, she knew I was not as strong as the rest because I came early to this world and almost died in the crib. Still, I don’t understand what made her think Berk was a good place to leave me all alone. And I know it’s unfair to say that, I had my father and Gobber, but being the Chief while grieving her, I wasn’t his only responsibility, since I was 7 he left me almost totally in charge of Gobber, and neither of them ever listens to me. I don’t understand how anyone can make that decision... But I’m willing to listen, maybe I don’t like what she'll say, but I think I need answers.

The boy turned to see his friend, and was surprised to see her gaze fixed on him, it seemed that she was about to release an arrow, one would think that that expression would be intimidating, but Hiccup had seen her frown the same way when Jack showed her the way, or when Rapunzel explained to her how they had solved the whole matter of her hair, the sun and the moon; she was simply paying attention to him, only that he had never seen her so determined (and so close). The boy felt the heat running down his face to his ears and looked down, he thanked for his tan skin and Odin who hid the sun so she wouldn't notice. Even now that he was used to being listened attentively by the entire village, he had never talked about that part of his life with anyone, not even Astrid, because it was not necessary, she had seen it with her own eyes.

-What about the blonde girl? I thought you and her... Well, you have a very strong connection, I thought she would have been with you since the beginning.

-You mean Astrid?

-She’s the only blonde girl in the group, Haddock, I doubt you can mistake her for Gobber.

The boy smiled slightly, she was right, and he really needed sleep.

-Oh, well, she became my friend thanks to Toothless, like everyone else, although our story is a little more complicated than that. I remember when we were barely 10 years old I used to go out and walk in the woods as far as I could, and once I got lost, that time I thought the rest of my life I would live among deer and rabbits, but she found me, told me "no Viking should be left behind", then took my hand, guided me through the forest showing me in detail what was the way back. By the time we saw the village again, she had my heart in her hands.

-You really are easy to impress, huh?

-Hey, that was the first time someone from the village care to help me. And the first time someone called me a 'Viking'.

-As you say, lover boy.

-Well, after that, it was about four years of absolutely nothing, at best she scolded me, saying that I had to take my place among others, take things seriously or try harder. Today I understand why she told me all those things, she was one of the few who had a little common sense, and it was always central to her the commitment to Berk and the community, without blind trust, of course. She was the first to trust me and Toothless, the first to know about him, and the first to support me in the fight against the red death. But it was only until that moment that she really saw me, that she regarded me as more than just another child in the village. And after the battle with the dragons ended, she... Well, she fell in love with me, and she didn’t know what to do with that, so she acted like nothing happened, and when I tried to get close to her, she would get me away, usually with hurtful words.

-How did you solve that? You look so close now...- She had the same eyes a kid has when the bedtime story gets too exciting.

-Actually, we fixed it because I exploded and asked for an explanation

-Did you have to explode to ask for an explanation?

-Huh, I guess so.

-And did you told each other how you felt?

-It sounds easier than it is, but yes, long story short we did. Now that we knew that we loved each other, it seemed pretty easy to fix everything, right? Well, we tried to be together for a while, but we realized that we wanted different things, she wanted to stay and I wanted to leave, and that what was good for us was just to support each other and that made our friendship even stronger, she would make sure I don't lose the floor and I would help her... Well, I’m not really sure, but she likes me a lot so I guess I have to do something right. She’s like my soul mate and she’s one of the most important people in my life.

-So you’re not together now?

-Nope, this guy is single. Why? You interested?

Hiccup arched an eyebrow and gave her a smirk. A very dumb one. Merida let out a chortle, although it really sounded far away from a normal laugh.

-Okay, I have experience with rejections, but you didn’t have to make fun of me like that.

Hiccup’s remark only made her laugh more, and instead of feeling offended, the laugh became contagious.

-I guess I have a bright future, I have found my mother, new friends, a mission, an opportunity to learn more about dragons... Maybe I didn’t get a girlfriend with a stunning Scottish accent, but whatever.

-If you keep making me laugh we’ll wake up the others.

-It seems that I touched a nerve.

-You have no idea.

-I could, if you'd like to tell me...

-I would like to, but I’m not sure this is the right timing, you are my priority right now.

There was silence for a moment, a warmer feeling in Hiccup's stomach.

-Gods, you have no idea how much I like to hear that.

Hiccup smiled at Merida, and this time she was the one who suddenly had her face as red as her hair. She didn’t thank anything nor anyone, she was well aware that even in the dark night her carmine face was evident.

-I’d like to say that to you more often, but if you’re going to get all sentimental every time I do, then I think I’ll keep it for special occasions only.

-Ha ha, how funny, even when you blush for my charms you take advantage of my vulnerability.

-You’re not as charming as you think, Haddock.

-Ouch, okay. Thanks for your consideration, but I think a distraction might help, let me listen to you for a while, would you?

Merida sighed, took her hands to her face, hoping the cold touch would help lower the temperature of her cheeks.

-Okay, I’ll tell you.

Hiccup got up, moving a little away from the edge, Toothless accompanied him and settled down so that the two friends could lie down on him and look at the stars. Merida understood and settled down on the side of Hiccup, arranged the blanket that Toothless had brought to cover them both.

-You see, a few years ago, my mother sent three letters to the lords of the allied houses, Macguffin, Dingwall and Macintosh. I had already reached the appropriate age to make the traditional games for the heirs of each house to fight for my hand in marriage.

-Wow, do they really do that in your village?

-I’ll get to that. And actually, we are a kingdom.

-Alright new-world girl, get on with your story.

-So, all my life I lived inside the castle, I only went out to ride Angus or for some lesson; I do not know how my mother expected me to be ready to marry when I had only had human contact with my family and the people who work in the castle; or maybe that’s the whole point. Anyway, back then, my mom and I had a terrible relationship, she wanted me to become this perfect princess, a symbol of righteousness and grace that is always at the service of all and whose life is limited to tending the castle and the lands. And I’ve never wanted that, I mean, now I understand why all the boring protocols I’ve been taught throughout my life are important, and why I'm important. But at the time my mother only thought that this was the only goal of my life and I thought that nothing that happened made sense.

-I think I would have thought the same as you.

-It was difficult not to do so when no one ever explains you the reason for something but force you to obey it.

-Touché.

-When the lords and their sons arrived, my mother explained the rules "Only the firstborn of each clan can compete for the hand of the princess of DunBroch", and well, I am the firstborn of my clan. And, according to tradition, the princess chooses the activity with which the clans compete.

-Let me guess, you chose archery

-Duh. Nonetheless, when I faced the clans to defend my hand I almost started a war. My mother was furious, we had a big fight and I thought that the only way to achieve what I wanted was by changing my mother so that the thought that bethrothing me to some lord was not necessary. I took Angus and I rode into the forest, we reached some very old stone steles, in my kingdom we say that those stones were placed by benevolent trolls, and that there they wrote instructions to control magic, as a symbol of peace between the men and the creatures of the forest. It’s a very important magic center. When I got there, the first thing I saw was a path of little blue fire-like creatures, what we call Will-o’-the-whisp, souls that decided to stay longer on earth to guide the living to their destiny. They took me to a witch’s cabin and I asked for an enchantment to change my mother, I wanted her to stop believing that marriage was a good idea, but when I came home and gave the enchantment to my mom, she turned into a bear. Once again I acted without knowing the consequences.

"Magic really is strong in DunBroch", he thought while trying to hide his amazed expression. At the same time, he remembered having an encounter with something very similar to this souls Merida described, but kept it to himself.

-Then I had to take her out of the castle, and try to find answers. Meanwhile, my mom and I had the opportunity to get to know each other a little better, she listened to me and I listened to her, or something like that, she was a bear, she couldn’t communicate with anything but gestures.

-That explains why it is so easy for you to understand Toothless.- he said, althoug he didn't mean it to be outloud. He scolded himself.

-You think so? Corona is also tactful with animals and this boy gets along very well with Jack.

She said as she scratched the dragon’s forehead, he seemed very comfortable and happy.- He relaxed a bit, he hadn't lied anyways.

-Yes, but you listen more calmly and do it more often, I think you are the only one who "converses" with him besides me. I would even say you're his second favorite, after me, of course.

Toothless turned a little to lick Merida’s face.

-Toothless, I told you that doesn’t come off! Stubborn, giant lizard. Wait, I have a handkerchief over here.

-Don’t worry, that's how you show affection, don’t you? oh, poor boy, the bad Viking mistreats you?

Toothless nodded, feigning a painful scream as Merida scratched his chin.

-Great, another rejection.

-What can I say?, everyone wants a little of me, you should get used to it.

-And here I thought that this trip would lead me to make more friends, not to lose those I already have.

-Do you want to keep listening to my story or are you going to keep feeling sorry for yourself?

-Please continue, at least I will know well who is leaving me alone in the world once more.

Merida rolled her eyes, but she contained laughter.

-Well, we went back to the witch’s cabin, and it turned out she left us a message, said we only had two days to undo the enchantment or my mother would become a bear forever, and just recited a couple of rhymes as a clue.

The girl cleared her throat a little and gave a more mystical tone to her voice:

-’Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride.’

Hiccup felt chills, sometimes he forgets that Merida can have visions and recite prophecies, when the girl’s blue eyes became glassy, as if looking at something in the distance, while speaking in Gaelic.

-That was really creepy.

-I think you’re too soft.

-Oh come on, attacking me again. Better keep talking.

-As you wish. The point is that it didn’t really tell us anything, so we left, frustrated. Well, before that we made a couple of weird mixes with the jars the witch had left and almost destroyed the whole cabin.

-I think we should reconsider entrusting you with the spell...

-Haven’t you just say you wanted a chance to prove yourself despite your mistakes and-

-Okay, okay, I get it.

-Better. Then we were discouraged and nervous, but once again the will-o’-the-whisp guided us, this time towards the ruins of an old kingdom. That’s where I had my first vision. I touched a broken carved stone, and I saw a man become a bear in an ancient throne room. You see, my mother always told me the story of an ancient kingdom, the king divided the kingdom among his four sons before he died, but the elder was superb, and proclaimed himself the legitimate leader of all the land above his brothers, The war on those lands continued until my father and the lords united to defeat a common enemy. Remember when I told you how my father lost his leg?

-He was attacked by a bear called Mort

-Mor'du, but yes. It turned out that in all that time, the greedy son who faced his brothers became Mor'du, he wanted the strength of 10 men and asked the witch for the same enchantment as me. When I returned to the present and saw the broken stone, I understood what the witch told me: during the fight with my mother, I cut in half a tapestry that she was making, the whole family was in it, I sliced my sword right were my mother and I held hands. That tapestry had to be mended. Suddenly, in the shadows I saw a huge beast full of arrows that pierced his thick skin, a blind eye, and a black and ruffled fur that was advancing dangerously towards me. Without knowing it, we had entered Mor'du’s home. My mother and I ran and we managed to lose him. Now that we knew what to do, we went sneaking to the palace. Meanwhile, in the castle, things were getting tense, the lords wanted to know which clan I was going to marry. My father defended me every second...

Merida smiled slightly, remembering her father's courage.

-Before mending the tapestry we had to avoid a war, so I went to talk to the lords while my mother explained to me with signs what to say, and against all odds, my mother asked me to say to break with tradition and give me and the young heirs, the opportunity to follow our heart and find love in its time.

-That's hard to believe, amazing.

-I know, I wouldn't have expected it, I was honestly about to pick one of those three before my mother stopped me to give a precious speech about making our own decisions.

-Really? Which one were you going to choose?

Hiccup's eyes were mischievous. In less than a second, Merida’s face was boiling.

-It is not important.

-Oh, come on, I don’t even know them.

-Most likely you will.

-Even if I have the pleasure of meeting then, I promise not to tell anyone.

-Hiccup, I trust you, I’m not worried that you’ll tell them, I’m worried that you’ll know.

-All right, I won't insist further.

Until then she had not wanted to tell anyone, but Hiccup had entrusted her with a vulnerable part of his life. It wasn’t that she owed him anything, but she wanted things to be reciprocal, so she took a deep breath and let go:

-Macguffin, I would have chosen Macguffin.

Hiccup seemed surprised, but ventured to ask more.

-What is Macguffin like?

-Well, today I know he’s kind, altruistic, sensitive and a great friend, but at the time I would have chosen him more than anything because the other two guys didn’t show their best side, Macintosh had a terrifying outburst of anger when his shot wasn’t perfect, And Dingwall just looked distracted and you could tell miles away that he was only there to do a duty to his clan, at least Macguffin seemed interested in me and not in my title. Although if we’re strict, I should have been Lady Dingwall, he was the one who hit his the bullseye, even if it was mere coincidence.

-Merida Macguffin... It doesn’t sound so bad. They match.

The girl hid her face between her red curls, and spoke to Hiccup in a very faint voice.

-For Gods’ sake, Haddock.

The boy laughed.

-Come on, Merida, I’m just messing with you.

-I know...

-Why don’t you finish your story instead? I suppose you managed to break the spell.

The girl looked up at Hiccup, nodded and came out of her hiding.

-Fortunately, although it was not easy, the will-o'-the-wisp led me once again to the stones, they were about to kill my mother, I had to fight with my father, and if it was not enough trouble, Mor'du decided to go out to greet. My mother and the devil bear had a gruesome fight, but Mom got one of the stones to fall on him. When Mor'du stopped breathing, his soul came out of his body and gave us a little bow, before turning into a whisp himself; it seems he just needed someone to free him from the bear skin he got himself into. When it was all over, the sun began to shine, I hurried and covered my mother with the tapestry, begging the gods and fate not to be too late. And for a moment it was it, I saw my mother lose the white in her eyes and become just a creature of the forest, and I felt the weight of the world on me. I thought I had lost her forever, and it was my fault. There are still days when I have nightmares where I really lose her like that, where i loose her because I was selfish and stubborn.- He saw something in Merida, something he thougt impossible: fear, regret.

-That day, life gave me another chance, and my mother returned to her human form, just like my brothers. After all the fuss, my mother and I really changed, I took her lessons more seriously, and she was more patient with me. Now we both hear each other, and we understand each other, we’re closer than ever.- Merida was watching something beyond the sea in front o of them, her eyes full of love and pain at the same time. She was far from home.

-Despite everything, I wanted to learn more about magic, how to use it, stop it, and mold it as much as possible. So without telling my parents, I went to take lessons with the same witch who gave me the spell that time, I mean, she just gave me what I asked for, and I know some problems would have been avoided if she had explained in detail what was going to happen and how to undo the spell, but she’s the only one who knew magic in the whole kingdom, and being something so alive and so present in our lives, it seemed wrong not to know anything about it, even if in doing so, I hurt the relationship with my family... My parents didn’t want me to go near magic again, but being in DunBroch that’s impossible.

-I think I understand you, the dragons were also as present in our life as the sheep and we never stopped to think why they attacked us. We just took the war for granted.

-You know? The relic I’m trying to save on this mission belongs to one of the clans, blesses them with good harvests every day of the year, and we all rely heavily on those harvests during the winter, if I didn't have asked the witch for help, right now we wouldn’t know what to do, chaos would ensue and everyone in the kingdom would be dead by next spring. I honestly think we all make a great team, I’m sure we’re gonna make it. I know that even after we recover the magic of the relic, we have a lot ahead of us. You don’t know how grateful I am to everyone for helping us with this and trusting me.

Merida tried to hide a yawn, and failed. Hiccup sneered.

-Don’t you think I should have been the one bored by your story? Or doesn’t Her Majesty usually sleep late?

-My story was not boring, Haddock. And, just so you know, I sleep a lot, sometimes in the castle, it is necessary for my mother to take the triplets to bother me to get me out of bed. And between my unexpected insomnia, Toothless and this delicious blanket, I’m more comfortable than you’d expect to be out in the open at midnight.

Hiccup realized that he was also starting to feel heavy on his eyelids. Finally, he was resting.

-Sorry I woke you up and worried you, but i'm thankful that you did.

-Hey, we’re more than a team, okay? We’re friends. The day you need me and I’m not there for you is the day my heart stops beating, I promise.

He took a moment to see the stars shining on him, and then to Merida and the kind smile she had over him. There was something comfortable in her, and not just that, she was amazing in all kinds of aspects; he found himself mentally listing all of them.

-Well...- She looked nervious and her cheeks were light pink, maybe he stared at her a little too long- I think it's time for us to go back before we fall sleep here, don't you think?

-Yeah, sure, you're right.- He got up in a jump. -Let's go.- He extended his hand to help her get up, she took it.

-I'll take the blanket!- She said in a playful tone, and hurried to cover herself with the thick fabric.

-How considerate of you...- He looked at her like she was dressed in jewels and silk. Fortunately, Merida was already walking back and didn't noticed.

That morning Hiccup thought that he would have a broken heart for the rest of the trip at least, but as he saw her leave, he realized that he wasn't so sure anymore.

[httyd-divergence]

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[armybratz123]

Company's Shadow

The Hobbit x How to Train Your Dragon

Being the last of your kind is a lonely thing. Especially when you no longer have your best friend, brother in all but blood, by your side to distract you from that bone crushing loneliness that comes with being the last.

So, you find it easier to just wander. Reminiscent of the old days of just flying to get away from everything. Two partners just flying away together, exploring for anything new, just get away from all the responsibility and worries that come with life. It's nice and nostalgic. Helps make remembering things less painful.

And that's what Toothless was doing, for he may not have knew it then when he had first met his human, but the moment the human Hiccup had dubbed him Toothless, from that moment on, it became his name until Toothless finds his own end. Toothless flew and flew, expecting to find the end of the world as Hiccup talked about during their past explorations. Toothless flew, finding many new islands. Until, one day, he came upon a large piece of land, much bigger than any island Toothless has ever seen before in the past. So, Toothless decided to explore this new land and its people.

By this point in time, it's been years, and on one of Toothless's many wanderings and explorations, one day, he finds a strange large group camping out on the cold night.

This group consisted of a tall elderly looking man and thirteen short people. The man dressed differently than other humans Toothless has met or seen, wearing almost ragged looking grey robes with a large wide brimmed pointy hat, in his hand is a tall wooden staff. He looked old and frail, but the aura he gave out told Toothless that this man is much stronger than he looks. And the thirteen short people were definitely not children, despite being about the same size, for the way they carried themselves reminded Toothless of the grown men, they remind Toothless of the short people he has caught glimpses of in the mountains he'd passed by. Dwarves, Toothless remembers over hearing other humans call them. But what built upon the strangeness of this group that caught Toothless's attention, is the fact that they aren't heading in the direction of any mountains, at least not any close by. Which means these dwarves are far from home, and Toothless is curious as to why. But there is one that stood out to the Night Fury. One that can't be a dwarf like the others. For he may be small like the other dwarves, but he's smaller still, he is built differently than the others, he has less hair on his face, has slightly pointed ears unlike the others, and this one holds himself much differently compared to the others.

The little man reminds Toothless of his human Hiccup actually.

Strangeness of no home or mountains nearby, this little man would have been the only reason Toothless would need to stay and watch. He reminds Toothless too much of Hiccup not to stay close. Hiccup had the bad habit of finding himself in trouble quite often.

Toothless has the feeling this little man is no different.

So, Toothless settled himself quietly above the group of sleeping dwarves, the little man, and the strange old man, easily blending into the shadows and the darkness of the night. He notices they already have someone awake and on guard, notices how they wake each other up to take turns watching over the others.

And Toothless sleeps, keeping an ear out and instincts alert as he decides to watch over the group. Just until they get where they are going.

~

It's been multiple days since Toothless had decided to follow and watch over the company, what the group had called themselves, and he is slowly learning the names. One of the younger dwarves, Kili and Fili, reminds him a little of the twins on their Zippleback, except with less fighting and more bantering. Kinda like him and Hiccup when they play and mess around together. The leader of the group is named Thorin, he reminds Toothless of Stoick, Hiccup's father, before he was okay with dragons. More angry and fierce.

Though Stoick was always fierce, he just had more reason to be when dragons and Vikings were at war with each other.

There's this one dark haired dwarf that wears a funny hat, and tells fun stories, always keeping the other's spirits on high, his name is Bofur, Toothless remembers, and the cheery dwarf reminds Toothless of Gobber actually. The two both liked to tell stories around the campfire. And then the little man, Hobbit, half-ling, or burglar Toothless has overheard the others refer to the smaller one as. But it was the man, Gandalf the half-ling has called him, that finally gave Toothless the Hobbit's name, Bilbo Baggins.

~

It's been a week now and Toothless noticed how Bilbo's been getting skinnier and hasn't been dealing well with the small rations, none of them have really. But Toothless noticed that it has been affecting Bilbo the most.

Well, he can't have that now, can he?

So Toothless decided to lend a helping hand, or claw really. Before, Toothless mostly hunted for himself and always did so whenever the Company would sit and eat. He would fly to the nearest pond, lake, or other water source and grab what he wanted before flying right back to wherever his hiding spot is close to the camp, and enjoy his meal.

Now, things are different. Compared to their first interactions together, Toothless likes to think he is pretty knowledgeable to humans, and dwarves and hobbits in this case, eating habits. And Toothless has realized three very important facts about humans and their diets.

First, they are not like hatchlings. They do not like to share food that have already been consumed. When Toothless realized this later in life, he was actually impressed his partner still did it in their original meetings in the beginning.

Second, they don't like raw food, prefer to cook over fire or some other heat source. Fortunately, Toothless has that covered. His plasma blasts will have his killed cooked and ready to eat in no time.

And thirdly, humans don't like just fish. They eat other meat. Prefer land meat actually. Only the cities, villages, and smaller islands that live/surrounded by water eat more fish then land meat. And based on their usual meager meals, Toothless can safely guess that the company is former, and prefers the meat from the lands than the water.

So, the next morning the company awoke to find a charred.... deer? Wolf? Boar? It's kind of hard to tell from the blackened fur and burned flesh.

Toothless waited eagerly in the shadows, tail swaying excitedly behind him. He hopes they like his hunt. Plus! He made sure to make the land meat extra crispy.

"What in the heavens?", Bilbo mutters as he stared the lump of charred meat.

"That wasn't there earlier.", a small red headed dwarf states as he keeps spinning around as if in search of the source of the strange... gift?

Unbeknownst to Ori, said source was crouched, hidden, right behind him. Only mere feet away.

"Well.", Bofur said with a raised considering brow, "It may be charred beyond belief, but it's food. Bifur, help me cut off anything left that may be edible for today's lunch and, if there's enough, dinner."

Toothless ears perked up. Not edible? He thought he did a great job! Maybe it wasn't cooked enough?

The next day, they found another unrecognizable animal, for it too was burned until black. Except, this time, it's somehow worse than the last one. The company could only look at the charred remains incredulously.

"What is wrong with this trail?", Gloin asked in confusion, "Why is it we keep finding burned animal meat?"

Gandalf actually looked amused, "Either there is something hunting for sport, or there is something out there trying to tell us to eat more... albeit poorly."

"I don't like it.", Thorin spoke as he crossed his arms, eyebrows furrowed in suspicion, "There are not many out there that could cause such damage like this. And those that can, are creature I'd prefer to keep my distance."

"I don't understand. Your saying that a-a... creature did this?", Bilbo asks face becoming pale as he stared at the poor animal, "What could have done this? What kind of creature?"

"None I care to meet.", grumbled Thorin before turning to the rest of company, "Gather up anything that can be used for food and be ready to move out. We need to keep moving."

Toothless laid in his hidden patch of shade, pouting. He cooked it more this time and it seemed to baffle and upset them even more. Maybe they do prefer fish rather than the land meat.

And that's when Toothless remembers, whenever they took a break and ate together, Hiccup preferred to cook his own food. Maybe humans just had this territorial thing of cooking their own meals. Not that much different from dragons being possessive of their own kills. Only sharing to those they like or trust.

So, once again, the next morning, the company awoke to find another animal carcass sneaked into their camp. But this time it was fresh and left alone.

Toothless was very happy to see the company take to the meat with glee. So he was right! They are just particular about cooking their own food.

Good to know.

After that, every other morning, the company would awake to new meat waiting for them. All of them confused, Bilbo looked sick at the sight at first, but as time went by, the hobbit was just relieved to have the extra food on his plate. Thorin remained suspicious, but won't turn away good meat that can be used to feed his men. The quest will all for nothing if they're starving by the tie they reach Erebor. And Gandalf seemed to be amused, but curious as well.

Out of the company, Gandalf seems to be understanding what's going on the most. But even though he understands the situation, he doesn't know or what is doing it. Following them as a self-proclaimed guardian it feels like.

Again, amusing, but curious as well. For whoever or whatever it is that is following the company, is very good at hiding themselves. Gandalf knows that they are being followed, he knew just before the meat begun to turn up. But thing is, the wizard is aware that the group was most likely followed by the creature for longer before Gandalf had noticed.

Gandalf chuckled, and Bilbo looked over to the Grey Wizard curiously.

"What's so funny?"

"We are being followed.", Gandalf answered with an amused mischievous twinkle in his eye.

But the moment those words were out of the wise wizards mouth, he had the attention of the whole company.

"Followed?", Thorin rumbled, "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"Because by the time I noticed Master Dwarf, our shadow had started to leave gifts for us to find.", Gandalf spoke calmly, staring at the dwarf pointedly.

"You mean the food?", Kili asked.

"Makes sense why the meat was charred at first. Probably tried to cook it for us. But when it noticed we didn't like it, tried to cook the meat more, and finally left it raw for us to use as we pleased.", Balin mused.

"It's intelligent then?", Bilbo guessed.

"Must be.", Dwalin crossed his arms over his chest, "Other wise, we'd either have found it by now, or the meat would have remained charred like it was the first time we found it. Or, more likely, not burned at all."

Dwarves all nodded in agreement. So that's one clue to this mysterious tag along, it's a creature, but it's intelligent enough to understand them and make adjustments according to their reactions.

"What I don't get is when it started following us in the first place, and why?", Dwalin grumbled.

"That's what I would like to know.", Thorin agreed with an angry furrow in his brows.

"My guess, is that it's been following in our shadows long before it had started to leave us food.", Gandalf informed the company, "A week, a the least, and a fortnight at most. For some reason, it seems that this creature, whatever it is, has determined to remain in our shadow until it is needed, remaining hidden at all times."

"Alright, but what for? For what purpose?", Thorin pushed.

Gandalf shook his head, "Your guess is as good as mine."

The left the Company in silence before Bombur looked over and saw Bofur looking off into the distance thoughtfully.

"Bofur.", the round dwarf called out.

Bofur hummed with a thoughtful look, "The Company's Shadow. I'd say that's a good as name for it as now."

"We're naming it?", FIli and Kili asked in unison.

"No. No. No. We are not naming whatever thing is following us.", Thorin thundered.

But Bofur just grinned, "We just did."

"Shadow's a good name.", Bilbo nodded in agreement.

"Aye, fine name for any lass or lassie.", Balin agreed, many dwarves followed their leader voicing their own positive reactions and agreements.

"Ya hear that!", Fili calls out into the woods.

"Your the Company's Shadow now beastie!", Kili finished.

And Toothless couldn't help his roar of amusement and permission. His name is still and forever will be Toothless. But he doesn't mind being called a shadow for now.

It's funny, because many of the Vikings in the village joked about the same thing when referring to how close he stuck to Hiccup. It's not his fault the human kept finding himself in trouble and needed to be watched at all times because of it!

So yes, for now, the Company's Shadow Toothless shall be.

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

Author's Note:

Hey ya'll! Hoped you liked it! I've had this stuck in my head for a long while. I think I'll turn this into a series. When the next part is posted, there will be a link pasted below to the next part. Hope you enjoyed!

Be Your Best You! Bye~!

[blakeblueboi]

I have such a good idea for an Au- I’m gonna do some sketches and hopefully post them soon.

Basically what I have in mind, and what I’m calling it for now is “Johann’s Apprentice Au” which takes place around Season 4 Episode 6 “Dire Straits” and through the rest of Race To The Edge. It’s gonna be canon divergent obviously.

In “Dire Straits”, Viggo gets angry at the Dragon Riders for continually interfering with his business and uses a deep sea dragon, the Submaripper, to control Berk's trade. My au would begin right at the end of this episode where Johann joins the riders again after surviving the Submaripper and trade can resume to the Edge and to Berk. This is where Jack would make his appearance- it would be revealed that Johann had taken on an apprentice since the last time he had seen the Dragon Riders which was in Episode 3 Season 3 “Last Auction Heroes”.

I haven’t decided yet how I want Jack to end up as Johann’s apprentice but I do know that he’s just human- and obviously not from the Archipelago.

They’d first meet Jack on Berk while he helps bring rations to the starving village and they’d later meet him back at The Edge some time later the next time we see Johann in the show, which is quite a long time after that. During this time, Hiccup is fascinated, as well as the other riders, by the foreign teenager. His accent is very different from any Viking’s or otherwise they had encountered and they want to know more about where he comes from, Hiccup especially so. It’s obvious that he comes from way beyond the Great Beyond, as they call it- He even speaks a broken Norse so it’s not his first language. I was thinking he could be from Greece or Rome but I’m not entirely sure.

Of course this puts a lot of drama into everything regarding the riders’ relationships, given in canon Episode 11 Season 4 is when Hiccup and Astrid get together. It will be interesting to weave Jack into all of that drama-

I’ve gotta work on homework first but I can’t wait to get these sketches out on paper

Feel free to drop an ask if you have any ideas!! This is still a very rough idea so any ideas are welcome!

[joyfuladorable]

Fuck it, here's all my favorite Mikey-centric fanfics!!

There's A LOT + personal blurbs, so they're going under the cut (Mostly AO3, but there are some FFN links, too. Also, besides like the first two, there's no favoritism in the order)

2k3:

Pretend That I Never Left by redstringraven(sirimiri) - Complete/Plans for an Epilogue & Sequel!!

Fic that changed my BRAIN?! If my fanart [1 | 2 | 3] for it is any indicator, lol. I'll say for the umpteenth time that if you're looking for an Excellent Mikey fic with Perfect Characterization, this is IT (and you don't need to know ANYTHING about HZD trust me TRUST ME this fic deserves WAY more love) His swift ride-or-die friendship with Aloy will melt your damn heart!

Dragon of the Sun by ForestWhisper3 - Ongoing

My Other TOP favorite Mikey fic!! Again, fanart [1 | 2 | 3] indicator! Slow Burn(ish) Canon Divergence of Mikey unlocking his Mystic Powers as his family looks on in dismay as they struggle to protect him. The Good Shit!!!

Of Darkness And Light by Bayluff - Complete

OOOOOOO THIS ONE! Very good (also drew fanart for it)! Evil creature literally trying to consume Mikey's lifeforce from within as his family scrambles to help

A Chat With The Titan by secreterces5 - Complete

Mikey has a fun one-on-one talk with the supposedly reformed Bishop in Fast Forward. Mikey vaguely threatening Bishop, HEEHEE

A Simple Act Of Kindness by UlisaBarbic - Complete

That feel when you put your worth in what you can DO and the wish to be Acknowledged and the ONE thing you thought you did right was taken away OOGH AGH OOOOGH

Difficulty Breathing by RealityBreakGirl - Complete

Mikey did not come out of Grudge Match unscathed *smile* Truly one of my favorite 03 Mikey prompts to read about (honestly just check the entirety of the Grudge Match tag on AO3 for a fun time)

"A delivery boy! Uh, or turtle." by LollyHolly99 - Complete

Fic that has the distinction of being the first one I ever did fanart for! Gender Feels for Mikey cuz they're just like me FR!!

What Darkness Most Fears by UlisaBarbic - Complete

OOOGH AGH I LOVE THIS ONE!! Mikey has to save his bros from the clutches of an evil spirit while surviving horrifying monsters and battling a wicked fever!

Michelangelo by ForestWhisper3 - Complete

Mikey through the eyes of his family and how much they respect him and know him UwU

Mikey's Jigsaw by SailorSaysAhoy - Complete

Another awesome gender Mikey fic HOOHAA

Train-Wreck of Thought by halogalopaghost - Complete

When you're so talented you learn how to astral project but you start using it for pranks instead of understanding the drawbacks of said power and that bites you majorly in the ass big time (very good my stomach turned while reading this /pos)

A Brother's Bond by SuperKat - Complete

Mikey gets Real Sick and the fam can't help but remember last time one of them got so ill. OH MAN heartstrings WILL be pulled in this one!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by moogsthewriter - Complete

Why can't Mikey ever catch a break during Christmas! A short fic that I enjoy Immensely for Mikey being stubbornly heroic and his family desperately trying to play catch up to help him

Questioning Choices by Mystic Medjai - Complete

Fun day at the beach goes catastrophically bad and the fam has to make difficult decisions to keep Mikey alive. THIS THIS THIS!! If I could pour this into my veins for the perfectly paced plot and characterization...

When It Counts by Kallasilya - Complete

Short fic of Mikey stubbornly and bitterly proving his brothers wrong (+ Don being a good brother)

Favourite Disease by devirnis - Complete

Mikey is forced to save his brothers as his body gradually falls apart from the inside. SO GOOD UGH Mikey being forced to deal with situations on his own always show how far he can Shine!

Nowhere Boy by taizi - Complete

OOOH I dunno how I can summarize this without giving the plot away but just know Mikey pulls through by thinking of his family

To Fit the Crime by T33la - Complete

AHHH AHHHH AHHHHH AHHHHHHHH!! Mikey is accused of Murder and receives his sentence before his brothers can even jump to his defense! Oh the twists and turns of this murder mystery!!

you want to know why i sit and sigh (the night is so young it hurts) by love_killed_the_superstar - Complete

Angel and Mikey bonding over comics and unsupportive brothers So Cute)

imma be real with you (cause i started being real with me) by love_killed_the_superstar - Complete

Leo and Usagi being supportive of Mikey as he struggles to train for the upcoming Battle Nexus fight (and also maybe they flirt with each other a teensy bit)

just a hop, skip, and a jump away by baba_buoy - Complete

Mikey sick fic. Heart melting amounts of comfort UwU

Weak Link by yellowhollyhock - Complete

Sweet fic of Mikey feeling insecure about his place on the team, and Leo going through great lengths to prove him wrong like a good older brother :')

'Cause you are the sun, he is your moon/And though he can't speak, he will thank you soon by naivesilver - Complete

Post-Grudge Match Mikey waking up in the middle of the night bitter and sore and gods damn why's Raph awake, too?

Hunted by DysfunctionalRequest - Complete

Mikey wandering the woods alone in the middle of the night and having a VERY unfortunate encounter with hunters

Flipbook by T33la - Complete

Heartfelt moment between Mikey and Don concerning SAINW that makes me want to smash a cinder block against my head /pos

Dramaturgy by Completely_Unaware - Ongoing

Mind the tags! Mikey deals with a Battle Nexus loss in an unhealthy way (UmU)

The Red Means I Love You (Work) by AnonymousCritter - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS! AU of Fast Forward. Mikey isn't saved from the traffickers in time and things spiral from there

The So-Called "Champion of the Battle Nexus" by 0ozero0 - Ongoing

Grudge Match canon divergence where Mikey gets hurt a little more seriously than in canon (but still wins)

2012:

Devil took your hand by moogsthewriter & taizi - Complete

Mikey mind controlled by the Shredder moment!! *laughs through my pain and tears and screaming*

walk with open hands by taizi - Complete

Mikey gets his hands on one of Renet's watches and things go topsy turvy from there (and it HURTS ME)

(un)reality by SpectrumWriting - Complete

Mind the Tags! Dimension X AU where Mikey is captured by the Kraang and is put through the wringer in more ways than one (OWIE)

evermore (Dimension X AU) series by coffeejellyenthusiast - Complete?

Mind the Tags! Mikey was in Dimension X for over a year and he's NOT OKAY

Gravitational Collapse series by Writing_In_Denial - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS!! An Incredible it gets worse before it gets better series of Mikey being unintentionally abandoned by his brothers post-series and dealing with some Major Isolation and OOOGH IT HURTS ME SO MUCH BUT I WILL KEEP READING FOR THE EVENTUAL COMFORT

traveling so far to get there by taizi - Complete

Mikey and Raph getting stuck in an empty, post-apocalyptic world and struggling to survive (their BOND IN THIS IS SO SWEET WEH)

Rise:

nice, nice by postergirlsprank - Complete

Short fic of Casey Sr and Mikey bonding after an unfortunate encounter while on a snack run (Hey if you want more context for how this author writes Casey, go read his fic Imperfect Animals too heehoo)

either way, we're not alone by sinaesthesis - Complete

Mikey throughout the years of the Kraang Apocalypse (Lots of Loss and Hurt and Badassery)

going under by redhairedmuses - Complete

Mikey almost drowns during a fight with a mutant

Hyperactive Hypothermia by VeryAngryGremlin - Complete

After Mikey's winter wear accidentally goes in flames and a villain-enduced avalanche, Donnie struggles to keep his baby brother warm

that’s where the blood’s supposed to be! by Dragon_Scales_and_Fairy_Tales - Complete

With Raph and Leo constantly bickering, Mikey ignores a very serious injury after a fight with Meat Sweats

Clever Little Dino! by VeryAngryGremlin - Complete

Mikey trying to keep a robot pet a secret and suffering the consequences

Vs The World by DysfunctionalRequest - Complete

The aftermath of the Kraang strains the family's bonds, and Mikey feels hopelessly alone (and definitely isn't dealing with his trauma properly)

Empathy Amplified by Filsamek - Complete

When you accidentally use your powers to connect with your brothers' emotions then purposefully use them to ease their pain

Sunshine in the Rain by Carnati0n_bl00m - Complete

Probably the first fic I read after watching the Rise movie cuz I wanted to find something Mikey-centric involving Bishop and BOY does it deliver with the additional bonus of Leatherhead!! (also hey look fanart)

A Mystic Connection by rytheoneandonly - Complete

Mikey's mystic powers manifesting and evolving in ways he could never predict (aka Long Fic of Mikey stumbling to figure out why he wakes up exhausted and hurt every night)

The whole world in your corner series by GibbousLunation - Complete

Two fics of Mikey being Mikey and his bros being protective

Better Check Twice by Marz_Zero - Ongoing

Bishop captures a turtle with a bear trap (OW) and is an absolute bastard about it

Come Home Soon by Sherlock_Brolmes - Ongoing

With his brothers unavailable, Mikey (with the help of a former enemy) uncovers a massive conspiracy involving New York and the Hidden City. I LOVE THIS I LOVE SOLO DUO TEAM-UPS!!!! *PUNCHES THE AIR 13 TIMES*

Mikey's Artistic Guide to Dealing with Trauma and Fame by Origami_Nami - Ongoing

Mikey using graffiti as an outlet and accidentally becoming famous

Rook by unorthodoxx - Ongoing

Another Bishop fic of him outwitting the turtles to abduct one of them (Mikey)

Multi/Other:

Mystic Malfunction by VanillaVengeance - Ongoing

Rise Mikey accidentally portals himself to the 2012 Universe and struggles to survive and avoid this other version of his family (with mixed success). The progression of familial bonds in this is just *Chef's Kiss*

The Gauntlet by T33la - Complete

A mix of IDW & 03, a wonderful showcase of how Donnie and Mikey support each other (also, a cool invention and a big rocket and a terrifying near-death experience are involved)

I Get Knocked Down (But I Get Up Again) by Justalittleobsessed - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS!!! Set in its own original iteration, Mikey has been immortal for as long as he can remember, and he's used to his occasional deaths (and revivals). But then his brothers find out... (AGH AGH THIS ALSO HURTS MEEEEE BUT OOGH the comfort and hope of the later chapters is so Worth It)

Whumptober 2023 series by Justalittleobsessed - Ongoing?

Collection of Mikey-centric one-shots from different iterations and feeling the HURT (Personal favorites are If Only the World Could Stop Spinning..., Just a Flesh Wound, and Not the Best of Days)

To Know Peace (You Gotta Let Go) by Deadpool1763492 - Ongoing (technically)

The Last Ronin Spoilers!! Mikey survives and whisks the new turtle tots away to live on a farm instead of being raised as soldiers. (AUUUUUU THE FEELS!! THE TOTS! MIKEYYYY!!!)

How to accidentally kidnap yourself several times over by Camildeni - Ongoing

Rise Mikey gets captured and accidentally summons other iterations (03, 12, and Bay) of himself trying to get out! They do NOT have a good time!! (but at least they have each other)

the dad diaries by angelmichelangelo - Ongoing

More TLR Mikey being a Dad (and dealing with his trauma sorta kinda)

The neighboring cell by SaltyYagi - Ongoing

2012 Mikey and Rise Leo trying to escape Dimension X together (and bonding)

Bonus Non-Mikey-centric:

Weathered Strings, Tethered Wings by Deadpool1763492 - Ongoing

(2003) SAINW AU!!! With the possibility of Don being alive dangled in front of them, the remaining turtles begrudgingly reunite to save him. Drew a cover for this with more art to come! LOVING the slow burn of reconciliation between these bitter old turtles UwU (Bitter Old Mikey my poor Bestie)

Mutant Nightmare by HamsterMasterSamster - Complete

(2003) The immediate aftermath of Worlds Collide

Hanging By A Turtle by CamsthiSky - Complete

(Rise) Literally the turtles struggling to get out of a deep pit they're hanging over

Shell Game by T33la - Complete

(2003) OKAY OKAY SO!!! OOGH Don encounters something Impossible while prepping a tracking device (for himself) and it snowballs into another Renet-involved time adventure (AND UMMM lots of existential contemplation and a surprise historical guest who's Very Cool)

Turtle Power by halogalopaghost - Complete

(2003) Immediate aftermath of the star ship reactor explosion in Exodus

Disposable by orphan_account (kudos to you wherever you are, author) - Complete

(2003) Bishop captures Don and Mikey and gives them a terrible choice

Dissection by AmevelloBlue - Complete

(2003) So much Comfort after the trauma of Worlds Collide (ie Don's interrogation and Mikey almost getting sliced open)

Find the Road by SillySocks - Complete

(2003) Perfect encapsulation of the family as they cope with Leo's absence while he trains with the Ancient One

Handle with Care by HamsterMasterSamster - Complete

(2003) April is seriously injured during a mission and has to deal with the turtles distancing themselves from her as she recovers

mind-body problem by hiraethseok - Complete

(2003) April and the Turtles Being Siblings the Fic

Healing in Tandem by Eggstasy - Complete

(2003) Canon divergence of Worlds Collide where Splinter is just a little too late to intervene before Bishop starts sawing into Mikey's shell

Let's Take Ibuprofen Together by GreenGoddessSmoothie - Ongoing

(2003) The turtles swap body and have learn to cope with each other's chronic pain

Not the Face I Know by GreenGoddessSmoothie - Ongoing

(2003) Mikey accidentally makes a wish that changes his family's lives forever (THEY'RE HUMAN THEY BECOME HUMAN AND THE PLOT IS COOL AND ALSO QUEER THEMES MY BELOVED)

The Great Skittle Heist of 2105 by AmevelloBlue - Ongoing

(2003) AU of Fast Forward where the Dark Turtles are babies instead and are very swiftly adopted by the Fam

The Labyrinth by HALFnHALF1 - Ongoing

(Mix of IDW/03) The Turtles wake up separated in a labyrinth with only a mysterious voice in their heads to guide them (and manipulate them)

“You didn’t tell me your extended family was in town!” by BoStaffsAreCool - Ongoing

Post-Turtles Forever. The 03 fam is Just beginning to wind down after the events of the movie and look who's knocking at April's door (the 87 turtles)

[mugiwara-rosewolf]

All My Life

Part One II Part Two

Sabo x F! Reader

Summary: Reader has been a Revolutionary since birth. But her first mission went terribly wrong, leaving her friend Sabo terribly scarred. They've stuck together since the day he lost his memory--but she remembers everything. So when news hits the papers, and Sabo falls ill, Reader has to grapple with the outcomes and consequences of her first and longest-running mission. Has she succeeded or failed? What happens when her former-amnesiac Sabo finally remembers her?

Warnings: Slight Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Trauma, Medium Angst & Mild Cursing.

ROGER'S SON, FIRE FIST ACE, DEAD AT MARINEFORD

This is it. I failed. Two out of three thoughts circled in Y/N's head. Day in and day out. Sun up to sun down. The third, well, the third, was on a loop all its own. A sensation not unlike an iron brand or an ice pick to the chest every time she heard those words inside her head.

Guard him with your life.

That's what Dragon had told her. Her, her mother, her father - her parent's final mission when they set off all those years ago. 'I've hidden something precious on that island. Your mission is to Guard it with your life.' At first, she thought it was just Luffy she was meant to protect. They had docked at Fuschia Village and moved in right next to a little barkeep and one Monkey D. Luffy, and she assumed that was the end of that. Just keep that little twerp out of trouble as best she could, and her mission would be complete.

Then those blasted pirates came to town and threw a wrench in their plans. She should've known those pirates were a goddamned trouble magnet. Bringing mountain bandits down on their heads. Convincing Luffy to stab himself in the face...and that stupid straw hat. After that, things only ever got worse. Luffy was dragged into the mountains by his grandfather, so of course, Y/N chased after him. But then - for reasons unfathomable to her - Luffy started chasing after Ace. The idiot was constantly risking his life for the sake of some stranger who literally put the two of them through Hell.

Of course, that boy would turn out to be the son of a Demon.

Portgas D Ace, the lost son and only descendant of the legendary Gold Roger. A boy she hadn't put any stock in at first. A feral child she assumed to be some spawn that loud-mouthed bandit lady didn't want. At first, the truth sent Y/N reeling.

Wait, is this what Dragon really meant? She thought. Something Precious. Guard it with your Life.

Suddenly, not was she in the presence of the son of Dragon, but also the son of Roger -- two of the most wanted legacies in all the world. Two lives the World Government would love to snuff out for good. Guard it with your life. Guard it with your life. The words kept cycling, skipping, repeating in her head over and over again. So that's what she did.

Sworn to secrecy, Y/N dedicated herself to ensuring that Luffy and Ace survived to reach their majority. Saving Luffy's sorry butt from those blasted Blue Jam Pirates. Bailing that hot-tempered Ace out of fights he couldn't win. Teaching both boys how to sneak behind grownups undetected. To pick their pockets. To play to their sympathies and get what ya want from them. Garp and the bandits called them all reckless hoodlums. But the only hoodlum who had ever reached back and saved her skin - was Sabo.

He knew the lay of the land better than almost anyone. Could navigate both Grey Terminal and the Inner City even with his eyes closed. And if Ace wouldn't listen to her in a fight (which was often), he would listen to Sabo. And that was good enough for her. He was kinder to Luffy than either Ace or Y/N had the patience for, trying his best to train the boy in his devil fruit even with no powers of his own.

Powerless. She remembered that day. The day that golden boy in blue turned himself into - no, for us. Y/N bit her cheek. He left to save us.

She remembered the night when the fire started. Everything happened at once till all that came to mind was a rush of sensations. The smell of burning flesh. The ring of dying screams. The stampede of footsteps, desperate to escape.

'Luffy! Ace!'

Howling and screaming for her parents in the wreckage, when she couldn't see a thing.

'Mama! Papa!'

Lost in the maze of melting metal and tongues of flame. Guard them with your life. Guard them with your life. The words on repeat and repeat and repeat - and then he appeared. The source of that never-ending mantra.

Monkey D. Dragon himself.

Y/N reported the situation, just as she'd been trained. It didn't matter that she was straining for breath. The tears blurring her vision didn't matter. Coarse hands smeared the saltwater and grime from her cheeks.

'Head to the ship,' His deep voice instructed. 'I will take it from here.'

Y/N did as she was told. Upon Dragon's ship, her fellow Revolutionaries were awaiting her. All senior agents and officers. She spent all night in the crow's nest of that ship, watching the black plumes of smoke rise into the night. Eyes eagerly searched the dancing firelight for any silhouette she might recognize.

'Luffy, Ace, Mama, Papa - where are you?'

Surely Dragon would find them. Surely Dragon would take them home. Goa was no longer safe if it ever was. Surely Ace and Luffy could be better protected on Baltigo. Surely she and her family could take a break from active duty. Then finally, she could be honest with her friends.

Her parents never came home.

She never saw her friends again.

Upon the first light of morning, the only thing she saw was the smouldering wastes of Grey Terminal. -What was left of it, anyway. The Revolutionaries set to caring for those who escaped the wreckage. The refugees who now, more so than ever, had truly lost everything. All that day, Y/N's fellow agents looked after the wounded, offering them food and drink, even a place among their ranks. All the while, Y/N kept her eyes fixed on what remained of her family's hunting grounds. The jungle was thankfully untouched. The Upper City almost disgustingly so. But she saw no movement amidst the smoke and metal. No familiar silhouettes. No one.

The only things of note were the sounds of cheering and the blasting of a canon. Some sort of fanfare or festival must've been going on on the other side of the city. The sky scraping sprawl of the Nobles' estates kept Y/N from getting a clear view of its source. The Celestial Dragons must've been approaching the southerly port, she thought. She wouldn't have known that if Sabo hadn't drawn a map for her all those months ago.

Sabo... Her chest ached at the thought. She imagined the boy trapped behind a window in one of those pristine white buildings. His whole life was condemned to stay behind layers upon layers of cold stone walls. If Ace and Luffy died in that fire, their brother would never be free.

And what about me? The thought occurred to her as a chill down her spine. What force for good would she be if she knew he was trapped there and did nothing? What kind of friend would she be if she left them all behind? Yet again, Dragon's commission reverberated in her mind. Guard them with your life. Guard them with your life. --but how?!

Sunlight was already being swallowed by the sea by the time Dragon returned. Y/N could see the black of his cloak wandering between piles of smouldering rubble. But beyond her target's line of sight, something else caught her eye. Out there, floating in on the tide, was a familiar stove pipe hat. The glint of those oversized goggles at their brim was unmistakable.

Sabo!

Without a thought, Y/N leapt from the crows' nest and dove headfirst into that tepid water. The impact stole the breath from her lungs. But she didn't have time to stop. Arms and legs pressed her onwards, chest burning. Through the blur of the salt water, she could see the petite silhouette, those tailored blue clothes stained in smoke and blood.

Blood-?! Y/N paddled faster. The current pushed and pulled her side to side, tearing her off course, but she would not be deterred. Diving deeper, she perched herself on the nearest boulder on the ocean floor. She could feel the pressure of the ocean trying to pull her down. But the shadow cast by Sabo's limp body in the water spurred her on. She pushed off the rock and up towards the surface. Her arms crooked *just so* to catch Sabo under his arms and catapult them into the fresh air.

Foam and shards of wood sprayed around her. Y/N gasped for air. Every muscle burned and ached. Beyond her, a discordant choir of voices were hollering and calling out her name. She could see her leader's black cloak reach the shoreline. His strides paused upon hearing his crew's commotion.

'Dragon-sama!' she cried. 'Here! Right here!'

The Revolutionary turned. Every scrap of seafaring wind squealed in shock at what he saw.

'Help!' Y/N called out. 'He's hurt, please!'

The tides seemed rattled by the change in weather. A breaking wave shoved both Y/N and her unconscious friend forward. Out of her eye, she saw that stove pipe hat getting knocked about in the torrent. Wait-! Grabbing a nearby bar of flotsam wood, Y/N scrambled to hook the hat like a fish on a spear and fling it towards the shoreline. When the next wave hit, she transferred her limp friend's weight from her front to her back. When her feet finally touched the sand, she could race to Dragon's side and snatch Sabo's hat from him.

'We need to get a doctor, sir, right away.'

Dragon blinked. As he scanned the injured Sabo from head to toe, something shifted in his face.

'Y/N, do you know this boy?'

'Yessir,' No reason to lie to her leader. 'He and Luffy were bond brothers.' she glanced at her friend's face. Dripping in saltwater and blood. Everything within her ached. '...All he wanted was to be free.'

Her elder nodded. 'Very well. We can grant him that much.'

And that was the beginning. Or...maybe the end? Y/N never resumed her initial mission in Fuschia Village. When Dragon told her about her parent's fates in the fire, he formally dismissed her from active duty. She tried to press the issue, saying Luffy and Ace still needed her, but to that, he said:

'At least one of them has unlocked Conqueror's Haki. After this, neither should find much danger in the East Blue.'

Your job has been done for you. --He didn't say that last part, but she certainly heard it in his voice. Her mother always said, 'Spies are well versed in the art of subtext'.

Now, years later, come to find out, neither of her East Blue friends had ever been safe. From the moment Ace left Fuschia, he was dogged by an Ensign and then enslaved by a Yonko. Two Yonko, if Y/N's information network was to be believed. She found it hard once she got word that Ace was pursuing an exiled crewmate who'd turned around and murdered another in their ranks. That second Yonkou, Whitebeard - Ace wouldn't have done that if he didn't believe in the old geezer.

Then Luffy was chased to Paradise by an East Blue captain, where he proceeded to dethrone one of the Shichibukai! And several more after that! Hell, Luffy went all the way to Enies Lobby and fucking declared War on the World Government! The first time Y/N read that headline, she swore she nearly had an aneurysm. Meanwhile, Dragon was sitting at the head of the conference table fucking smirking about it. Little did she know things were only gonna get worse from there.

Ace was captured by the Marines.

Ace was sent to the deepest level of Impel Down.

Ace was revealed publicly to be the son of Gold Roger.

Ace was sentenced to be executed at Marineford.

A secret of the highest clearance has been exposed to the world - and Y/N wasn't there to keep him safe. Not like she promised. Not like she'd been tasked to do for as long as she could remember. Her orders were to 'guard them with your life'. ...And she hadn't done it.

The moment she heard the news of Ace's arrest, she raced to Dragon's office immediately. Requested reconnaissance, search and rescue, and any team fast enough to get him out of Impel Down before Luffy decided to pull a stupid and do it himself. Because he would. She knew he would. Because she still knew him, even after all these years.

Being a part of the Revolutionary Army, agents were forbidden from contacting anyone outside their trusted communications channels. Even passing on a message through her own communication network was considered a breach of conduct. Ace and Luffy probably didn't even know she was alive, or that Sabo was alive. But then again...Sabo didn't even know Ace and Luffy existed.

'Sir, if we don't act first, your son is gonna put himself in danger,' She remembered arguing with her leader. Something she never would've dared to do as a child. 'If he dies trying to break Roger's son out of Impel Down, then -'

'You are certain that will be his next course of action?'

'Of course, sir, Luffy and Ace are bond brothers. Same as he and Sabo. Luffy would drop everything to save his Naka-'

'Evidence serves to the contrary.'

'Are you kidding me?!' Dragon threw her a stern look. Y/N winced. 'A-all due respect, sir, but the whole reason Enies Lobby happened is because Luffy was looking to rescue a crewmate.'

'A crewmate who also happens to be a valuable asset,' Dragon noted. 'The last scholar of Ohara capable of reading the Poneglyphs.'

'That's not why he did it, and you know it.'

'Do I?'

You would, if you any spent time with your son. Y/N knew better than to say that retort out loud. Instead, she said: 'Sir, the first orders you ever gave me were to protect the secrets you'd hidden on Goa. Ace may no longer be a secret, but if we don't act, Luffy's cover will be blown, too.'

'Portgas D Ace has nothing to do with your orders.' Dragon said sternly. 'Your request is denied.'

'But Sir-!'

'Our mission is to free the people. Not one man,' The man's eyes were sharp as flint and harder than bedrock. 'Your request is denied, Y/N. Let. It. Go."

And he was right. Y/N hated to say it, or even to think it, if only to herself. But Dragon was right. The resources required to ensure success, either infiltrating Impel Down or foiling his transport to Marineford, would likely ruin their chances completely. If they were to fail, their forces would be wiped out. Their plans for the Reverie would be compromised. And the Revolution could not afford that...not even for the sake of her friend.

The Army's mission was to free the people. Not one man. Dragon was right. She knew. He told her to let it go, and she tried. Tried to fight other battles and go on other missions with Koala and Hack, and Sabo. -But she was off her game. Getting knocked by blades and bullets, she should've been able to dodge. Stealing more files from outposts than they'd actually need. Striking too hard and accidentally killing a few enemy soldiers. Something Hack most definitely disapproved of. Koala pinched her cheeks and tugged on her ears. Tying bandages too tight and making new bruises when Y/N scrambled for excuses. Hack even noted how he sensed her Chakras were out of balance or something.

But the worst part of it was Sabo. At team meetings, he would keep sneaking glances at her. Even when she stood on his left side, where he couldn't see, and his scar left no sign of any eyebrows furrowing in concern - she could still sense it from him. It was in the way he stood close enough to brush her shoulders in the hallway. Or the way he'd play with her fingers under the table. It had started out as a habit to help him sit still during class when they were little. But now, she knew it was a reassuring gesture. Something he did to reassure himself they were both okay. - Which meant he was picking up on the fact that she was not, in fact, okay. And that was a problem.

What she didn't expect what just how big of a problem it would grow to become.

It happened when she was going to Dragon's office, having just gussied up the courage to argue with him about this whole Ace debacle (again). She'd just bypassed Sabo and Koala in the officer's lobby, she caught hold of the whispers in the halls.

'Hey, check it out, the News Coo just arrived,'

'Eh, Hack-san, you better take a look at this,'

'Hm? New on the war, I presume.'

'Yea. It's finally over. The only reported casualties were Whitebeard, the Emporer, and -' Y/N's stomach twisted. '-Fire Fist Ace.'

Every drop of lifeblood in her body immediatley sank to the floor. Y/N's knees shook. The world spun around her. She couldn't think, could barely breathe. Y/N scrambled to clutch the nearest wall for support to keep her upright.

Ace, Ace, no- She gasped. Her eyes burned. Like she was drowning in salt water all over again. the corridor blurred around her. Only she wasn't in a hallway anymore. She was looking up from the bottom of the ocean as someone else's corpse floated above her. Corpses. Y/N clasped a hand over her mouth in an effort to contain her sobs. Ace, Luffy - oh, Luffy....

The headline staring her in the face was more than proof enough. That freckled face. That mane of tangled hair. That wicked smirk pressed ear to ear on the front page of the News Coo - that was him.

That's when she heard it.

A voice screamed - a howling cry of anguish and agony. Y/N's heart seized in her chest.

Sabo.

That's when it all went to shit.

***

Ahhh! This got way out of hand. I am so sorry, my dear but I'm afraid the epic conclusion to this swelling saga has become its own 3rd part. Please forgive my tardiness. I hope when this is all complete, you will find this story well worth the wait.

All the best,

Rose

[multi-fandom-simp]

The smell of lilies

Aemond Targaryen x Female!Reader

[Reincarnation!Au]

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon or Fire & Blood characters. I do not claim any of them as my own. This work is purely fictional.

Summary: The universe had bound your soul with Aemond Targaryen’s soul long before they actually belonged to the two of you. They had plucked two stars from the sky and decided to see if they could beat the test of time and distance as mortals. Perhaps it would've been more of a challenge if they hadn't given the two of you a distinct smell.

TW: Canon divergence(I spread out the years between Rhaenys I having Aenys I and her death, as well as I added Aemond into two other timelines. It will make sense when you're reading) mentions of forced marriage, mentions of childbirth, mentions of blood, angst, character death, (not proofread, lol)

(A/N: Welcome back to yet another angst piece. This idea has been sitting in the back of my head for a hot minute, so I decided to write it out. I found it both difficult and fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it as well! As always, I love to hear feedback or your thoughts and theories, so please feel free to express how ever you want! Enjoy!)

Word Count: 2,158

The first time you met Aemond Targaryen he was the bastard son of queen Rhaenys, not that anyone knew of that as he held only Targaryen features. You on the other hand, were simply a maid in training. His favorite maid to be specific. You had been paired to his service when you were seven and he was six, courtesy of the queen who once had your mother as a handmaiden. Aemond knew from the first moment that you spoke to him, that he would follow you anywhere.

"Where is your other eye-ow!" The septa beside you retreats her hand and gives a stern nod for you to try your introduction again, " My apologies, Hello."

Little Aemond simply cocked his head, " Mother says a sickness took my eye"

"How odd" You acknowledge.

"You're odd-"

"-Aemond!" Queen Rhaenys interrupted her son despite the fact that she was holding in her own chuckle.

" I am telling the truth, mother. She speaks casually and smells like the garden." Aemond expected you to take offense, but instead you snorted out a laugh. 'Improper' was the first word Aemond thought of, but it was quickly followed by the urge to hear you do it again.

The little prince's eyes slanted curiously as he looked back to you, " You smell like the silken flowers that match my hair. Lilac-

"Lilies," You correct, " The silk ones are lilies, they're my favorite."

"Mine too" it was then that Aemond realized that you weren't meant to be his maid, but rather much more.

In the watchful eye of others you would follow the little prince around, play with him when told to, and observe how the older maids prepared his bath. Behind closed doors, however, you were the hands that messily braided his hair, the only person who could make the usually quite prince laugh, and the warm presence that lulled him to sleep.

On the flip side of that, you were also the one who received all his emotions. The good, the unsure, and the bad. Everything Aemond Targaryen felt, you felt too. Which wasn't a bad thing...until queen Rhaenys died that is. Aemond, being only nine when his mother died, feared that the same fate would find you. In response, he did the only thing his little brain thought was smart.

"Aemond please, I do not want to leave-"

"You must." Aemond huffed, " I told you to leave, and what a I say, you must do.

" As your maid, I must....but as your friend.." Your throat tightened while trying to subdue your emotions. Your mothers voice shamed you from the afterlife for hiding your pain, but what else could you do? At ten years old you weren't sure how to explain to Aemond that your little heart housed butterflies every time he was near, or that you dreamed of being a princess at his side. Instead, you pushed that all down and stood with the bravest face you could muster.

"We are not friends", and with that, Aemond looked away from you for what he thought was the last time.

It was unfortunately not the last time. Aemond Targaryen would see you again in this lifetime. The actual last time would be years later when he was forced to his knees before his younger half brother, Maegor. His other brother, Aenys had died, and Maegor had taken you as a wife to taunt Aemond. He thought it to be a rumor until he laid eyes on you himself. Your eyes hollow, lips set in a thin line, and your stomach devastatingly swollen. The familiar scent of lilies still seeping from you in the way he remembered. Oh how Aemond wished he would've drowned in your scent rather than be where he is now, laying in the castle cells listening to you scream out during childbirth. Well, listening until your screams turned cold and ghostly that is.

The second time you met Aemond, he was still a Targaryen prince, but this time his parentage wasn't questioned. He was the second son of King Viserys I and Queen Alicent Hightower. Now as for you, you had been born the first daughter of Laena Velaryon and Daemon Targaryen. A different body than the last time, but the same soul nonetheless. You and Aemond had became fast friends during childhood, much to your father's dismay.

" I do not want you flying off unannounced anymore. You are too young an-"

" I am of one and ten!" The biscuit from your morning meal muffled the argument aimed towards your father.

" I was not finished speaking, Tala-"

" -Neither was I, Kepa" You protest once more, mocking him in high Valyrian.

Your mother, Laena, who sat behind you with her hands busy with your hair, chuckled, " She is your daughter, Daemon. There is no use in arguing with yourself."

Daemon looked to his wife with a sigh, " She is nearly at the age of maturity, Laena. Men will start to look at her differently, that Hightower half-breed will start asking me for her hand."

You smiled deviously, "I'd quite like to give him my hand"

" and to think you were my favorite-"

"Alright, you two, enough." Your mother kissed your crown as she stood, " The sun has nearly finished rising, you may go now, but be back before noon."

"Thank you, Muña!" With that, you stick your tongue out at your father and bolt from the room before he can retaliate. Not one thought occupying your mind other than seeing Aemond.

The green prince was always your favorite stop while flying in the mornings. He punctually awaited your scheduled arrivals atop a grassy knoll where the morning mist still swirled. There, the pair of you would read novels and gorge on apple cakes. Huddling close under the rising sun whilst clinging to a familiarity that neither of you understood. Embracing memories that neither of you had lived through. Most whisper of your voice would haunt Aemond's dreams, and even though you were never there to greet Aemond when he awoke, a lily scented breeze was.

You, on the other hand, refused sleep whenever you could. Taking to the skies or burrowing into a book to run from the bloody hands that dragged you into the inky depths of your mind. Unfortunately, your body could only abstain for so long and would eventually plunge you back into the crimson sea that felt so desolate and unfamiliar. A green tinged trail bathed in honey was the only thing to ever keep you from succumbing to these terrors. It's trail of white silk leading you to the only thing that could save you. Aemond.

and perhaps, the only thing that could kill you as well.

"Naejot, Vermithor, naejot! Rȳbās!" Forward, Vermithor, forward! Focus!

Tan wings shook furiously as you surged forward towards the chaos before you. Aemond and Daemon circled each other furiously. The one who held your heart and soul and the man you called father circled each other furiously. Your mothers stubborn blood ran thick through you as Valyrian commands flew from your lips. One way or another this battle would end by your hand, or perhaps your life.

Truth be told, the people will never know if it was Vermithor's interference or your death that ended the battle. Mainly because they never saw it, no one did, except Aemond. His eyes saw it all. The part where Vermithor attempted to knock apart both dragons and Vhagar retaliating with teeth and fire would be but a blur in his mind, but the image of you injured and falling from your dragon would stay with him for life. Well, for the few minutes of life he had left anyways. Daemon would soon after drive Aemond from Vhagar with dark sister, letting the one-eyed prince free fall after you. The ocean encasing both your bodies as time did your souls.

The third and final time that Aemond Targaryen graced your life was during the uprising of his twin sister, Daenerys. He of course had been born a Targaryen again, like before. That's the funny thing about the two of you. Aemond always appeared with the same face and same name, all whilst you changed.

However, if the universe thought changing your appearance would keep Aemond from you, then it was sorely mistaken. The moment you stepped foot up beside Jon snow on the remnants of Dragonstone, Aemond could feel his soul lighten. His sapphire twinkled as he traced your appearance. You looked as good as the last time he saw you, different, but good.

"-the breaker of chains, and her brother, Prince Aemond Targaryen, third of his name, protector of the queen and the heir to Dragonstone." Silence feel upon the room as Jon's announcement was awaited. Jon looked to Ser Davos and then you, who had yet to look away from Aemond.

" I present Jon snow, king in the north, protector of castle black, tamer of the wildlings, and defeater of death" The men beside you peered over in astonishment while Aemond simply smirked.

" That was quite the introduction from someone who does not appear to be the kings hand, nor advisor." Wisps of lips, hands, and hair cascaded behind your eyes, and a part of you knew that he had seen the same.

" I am the king's protector, my prince" You preened under his gaze. Smiling when you notice his eyes widen slightly.

"How impressive-"

"-I do not mean to interrupt this delightful conversation, but as I recall, Jon Snow was here for urgent matters" Your eyes slid over to Tyrion Lannister, and for a moment you thought you saw someone else, or rather two other people, twins perhaps.

Your mind played that trick quite often in the time you spent with Aemond and his sister's followers. People of the present would flicker to whispers of time before your very eyes, and the only person who seemed to understand was Aemond.

" It get's easier" Your spine bristled at the sound of his voice, "knowing that you've lived before."

" And you know this because-"

"-Because I never forget, not you, not the lives we've lived, and not the ways in which you've died. These memories grow with me like a second skin from birth." Aemond's hand reaches out to caress your temple and for a moment you consider stepping away. It was all too much. The honey fresh smell, the sapphires reflection, the dragon's roar. Him. Just the mere feeling of him in front of you set your mind ablaze, as if the feeling of loving him was drowning you on the spot. Drowning you just as the blood and lake had before.

"-Come, I know a way to clear your head" Within a blink it had all gone away, revealing Aemond no longer in front of you, but mounting his dragon who glided beside the boat. The hesitancy to take his outstretched hand was clear.

"I've had dreams of falling from one of those things. It wasn't very mind-clearing" Each protest was drowned out by your feet moving closer to Aemond.

Aemond gripped your hand tight in his, " I won't let you slip away this time"

Aemond tried to keep that promise, he really did, but what power does a man have against destiny. This had been the shortest amount of time that life has ever granted him with you. He had met you mere weeks ago on Dragonstone and now he glides above a burning Winterfell, forced to watch you fight for your life atop a crumbling fortress. Each stumble that you took towards the edge sent a tremor through his heart.

"Sōvēs! Sōvēs!" Aemond's throat was raw from the commands, but he needed to be faster, he needed to be there this time.

"Dracarys!" Everything around them burned as Aemond leapt from his dragon. Fear overshadowed the pain jolting through his body at the harsh landing. Corpse after corpse fell into a parted pathway on his journey to you.

No. Turn Back. Time is up.

You silently mouthed plea after plea to your blood soaked lover as he marched through an army of death towards you. Each glance his way cost you traction against the general you fought. The strangers grip beckoned you from below and you were ready to greet it as long as Aemond would be there when your soul regrouped.

You released the weight supporting your blade and awaited your icy fate.....but it never came.

When your eyes opened, Aemond was there, like always. Eyes bright just for you, and a hand reaching for your cheek. Except he couldn't reach you, not while the generals sword remained lodged in his chest.

Your eyes widened in terror, "No! This isn't how it was meant to go!"

" I told you I wouldn't let you slip away this time-" and with that, Aemond Targaryen was falling, falling with his eyes locked on yours, ready to greet them again.

[wolfasketch]

Eclipse's mate Void and their clutch, Stardust, Galaxy, Nova, Dipper and Milkyway

Bases belong to LumiiDragon on DA

[emilykaldwen]

The Maiden and the Drowning Boy | Aegon x OC | Chapter Five

Rating: Explicit Ships: Aegon II Targaryen x Abrogail Strong (Lyonel Strong's Daughter), Jacaerys Velaryon x Helaena Targaryen

Summary: As the kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos, Alicent Hightower swaps the pieces on the board: Aegon will marry Abrogail Strong, Larys’ younger sister and heir to Harrenhal. Caught in the web of intrigue and political machinations, the pair must figure out where their loyalties lie, and what they mean to one another.

Tropes: Childhood Sweethearts/Friends to Lovers, Generational Trauma and Cycles of Abuse, It's All About the Character Development, Unreliable Narrators, Multi-POV, Canon Divergent, Bisexual Aegon II Targaryen, Book/Show Mash Up, Fix-It Of Sorts, Stopping the Cycle of Abuse before it gets us all killed, Team Neutral, fairy tale vibes meets victorian medievalism meets grrm

no tag list. please follow @emkald-fic and turn on post notifications for updates or subscribe on AO3

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Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four

CHAPTER FIVE - PAIN IN MY HEART

Some time has passed for the dust to settle in the wake of the betrothal, unshed tears, and attempts at fratricide. Aegon and Abby begin adjusting to the new state of things and Alicent begins to show her hand. Mommy issues abound for all.

The maester's hands were cold and uncomfortable as they examined him, searching for sores and whatever the fuck else he rattled on about as he came entirely too close to his person. Aegon's fists clenched at his sides, his head tilted back so he had no chance of catching sight of the grizzled head below him, bobbing around his cock. It would certainly ruin any pleasure that he would ever experience again.

It was too damn early for this. The sun was still creeping over the walls of the Keep, not even past the early morning. Dreadful.

"No unsightly marks, your Grace," the man affirmed. "Ensure that any pleasure house you visit keeps clean quarters, and you should be safe from giving illness to your Lady wife."

His Lady wife. He saw the smile that graced her features, the spray of freckles along her nose and cheeks. Her bright eyes were blue as the sky he found escape in, and her cascade of sunset curls were his. Every bit of her would belong to him in a few moons. Cool hands that tempered his fevered skin would touch him without a barrier. The soft pout of her heart-shaped mouth pressed open by his thumb-

"I don’t need guidance on spreading illness to my wife when I visit her bed. I’m more concerned about avoiding having my cock fall off," he snapped defensively, yanking his trousers up as soon as the maester pulled away, not wanting the stirring from where his thoughts had been wandering to manifest in front of his current company. Ser Criston was on the other side of the low partition and Aegon did not need to meet his gaze to know that he was being examined and judged and found wanting.

Aegon could barely resist mouthing the words that followed, for they were as familiar as his mother's prayers. "Every woman is an image of the Mother and should be treated with respect," Cole reminded him with a level voice. Aegon knew it, as intimately as his mother's judgment, that the man was disappointed; disappointed in his inability to be better in the training yard, and his inability to keep his cock in check.

For as long as Aegon could remember, Ser Criston Cole had been by his mother’s side and by extension, that of him and his siblings. While Viserys (he could never think of the rotting king as his father, only Sire, for all that the word entailed) had noticed him in Aegon’s earliest memories, telling him how he would tame a dragon one day, and regaling his young self with stories of the Black Dread, it was Criston who came to his mind when one asked or spoke about father. Just as he desired to keep and then win back his mother’s affection, lost to time as it had been, he felt the same with the man who was currently judging him like the Father and Warrior themselves. Once, Cole had seemed heartened by Aegon’s natural talent with a blade and his hunger to prove himself in the training yard, especially in the face of Rhaenyra’s growing brood of dark haired brats. It hadn’t hurt as much then, the lessons. The weight had not come upon him all at once. It was a slow build. Stone by stone, they pressed down on his shoulders, with each turn of the moon until he struggled beneath the weight of the expectation.

His mother’s growing paranoia and panic with each new son born to his sister, and what Aegon suspected was pressure from outside sources, left his cheeks mottled pink and red from her hands and the bite of her nails on his shoulders. It left him sensitive to raised voices and sudden movements. It left him pretending to be more in his cups than he was, if only to keep watch of what went on around him, what people said, what someone might do to him. Then came the times when he was beyond caring of his fate and hoping some percent oblivion might be found beyond the next bottle.

Cole’s growing shift in praise to Aemond and his increasing barbs for Aegon to pay attention and how a warrior and a prince did not prowl after the ladies and the serving maids poured salt on the growing wounds his mother gouged.

“A man saves himself to perform his husbandly duties,” he’d said when catching him in the hall with his tongue down Lady Melia’s throat when he was three and ten. The older girl had been dismissed from his mother’s service within days of the event.

Ser Harrold had told him that he should not force himself on a lady, that a good and honorable man does not use his power as an advantage over young lasses. A good and honorable man treats them with respect. “A man denies the temptation to sully himself for one night for a simple promise or a hope of a dream,” he’d said when Aegon had been dragged back from the Street of Silk, soaked to the bone from the rainstorm, and bruised and beaten from the paramour of the woman who’d lured him in. He’d been five and ten. She had been the daughter of a merchant, sharp and lovely with brown ringlets that frizzed in the heat. Aegon thought she loved him, or at the very least, desired him enough that maybe he could run away from everything that hurt. Maybe, with this other woman and her dark curling hair, he could forget how beautiful Abby looked laughing beneath the dappled sunlight of the weirwood tree, for surely he would never be allowed to have her. She would be sent away, meant for someone else because he was a growing disappointment and do you not see how Aemond applies himself? Why is it so difficult for you?

Ser Harwin had sat him, Aemond, and Jace down one afternoon after coming upon them doing something ridiculous in the garden. He couldn’t remember if it was because he had pulled Abby’s hair, or the fact that Aemond and Jace had been fighting over something - a toy or some such nonsense. He’d said that when you found the perfect someone, you would make a deal with the seven devils if you had to, to be with them. And that it was always worth it.

“Women and young ladies are not here for such earthly pleasures. They are all that is pure and good in the world, and are ruined beyond measure when they fall into the depths of pleasures of the flesh. Every woman is the image of the Mother, and every young girl the Maiden herself. Protected and unsullied,” Criston said when Aegon had come bounding to him, barely ten years of age, flushed and with bubbling nerves and excitement in his belly. He’d asked if Abby kissing his cheek meant that she loved him. “Do you think Mother would let me marry her if I asked?’” For she was his Rhaenys, and Cole knew his mother better than anyone in the world.

‘Always with the Mother,’ Aegon thought, feeling as if the cascading shadow of the Seven-Pointed Star shone on him now. ‘Always with the Mother, and every girl an image of the Maiden, so thank you so much for that.’

The smile Aegon turned on the Kingsguard was deceptively innocent, dimpled cheeks and all. "Funny, pretty sure the two I fucked the other night would have my queenly mother scream in terror and bar herself in the sept."

Now Ser Criston wasn't even trying to hide the look of judgment on his oh so perfect face. Aegon snatched his tunic off the partition and shoved his arms through. "Is she going to keep me under house arrest until the tourney? The wedding? Lock me in a tower like a maiden in a song?"

"Your mother could have married you to the princess."

Aegon felt a curl of nausea in his stomach at the thought of bedding his sweet sister, regardless of the custom of his forefathers. "And make dear little Aemond a kinslayer? I would not survive long enough to make it to the sept."

"Or she could decide to marry Lady Abrogail to your brother."

“And we’re back to Aemond kinslaying, or worse, to get himself out of a marriage he never asked for. Not with our sweet sister right there and ripe for the taking.” It mattered little to Aemond that it was becoming increasingly obvious to anyone who cared to look that Helaena’s affections had withered, that, in truth, they had really never been what their little brother thought they were. Aegon scoffed. “It puts us all back in the same boat." His gaze flitted to meet the knight's through the mess of hair hanging in his eyes. "Me miserable and alone, or dead. Such love you hold for me. Not to mention, how cruel of you to flaunt my betrothed’s narrowly avoided demise to prove a point." His waspish tone didn’t feel like enough to banish the pressure of unease that settled inside Aegon’s chest at the thought of harm befalling Abby, poor point or not.

Such love and regard his family held for him, while screaming that he was to be king. Expecting one thing from him, and something he didn't want.

At least we like one another. That counts for something, doesn't it, Aegon?

But it didn’t count, did it? Liking had nothing to do with what he wanted. He didn’t want the neglect and cruelty within his parents’ marriage. He didn’t want Abby to simply like him.

Aegon lifted his wrist to adjust the cuff of his sleeve and hissed softly when the fabric dragged over the healing scratches Abby had left. He instinctively pressed his mouth against the injury to soothe it before doing the clasp. So rarely did Abby’s teeth bite at him, and there was something satisfying and pleasing at the reminder of it.

Unlike Cole, who continued to speak to him as if he were a child, as if he were some squire or recruit. Sometimes Aegon felt as if the knight treated him no better than a troublesome hound. As if the man were his true father, thinking it his right to speak to him in the same tone he already heard from his mother. This man was Kingsguard, his mother’s sworn shield, and if they were so hellbent on making him king one day, Cole would answer to him. Perhaps he should remind Cole of that more often.

"You didn't answer my question, Ser Criston." Still waspish, his tone grew firmer. He might not be king yet, but Aegon was a Prince of House Targaryen, one of his father’s heirs, and a dragonrider - no mere mortal man, not a backwater soldier from who knows where.

Cole watched him steadily, the muscle in his jaw ticking before averting his eyes "Not so much locked in a tower, but confined to the Keep, my prince.” Cole spoke as if the proper etiquette physically pained him and Aegon smirked, humming softly. “You may go to the Dragonpit, escorted, but should you try anything, your mother has ordered that we bar you from it."

Something ugly curled in his chest and he barked out a laugh as he pushed open the door and headed out. "Cruel woman." It almost impressed him. Only once had they ever barred him from Sunfyre, and it was when he thought, after several cups, that going riding was the best idea ever. He still thought it was. His mother? Not so much.

He still had the scars from her nails along his elbow. A half crescent around the joint like a bite mark.

Cole was not far behind, and he glanced sidelong at the man. "Is there a schedule now? Classes with Aemond and his favorite maester? How lovely to be shown up by him in another arena."

"Well, that's why you're going to the yard. Your… everything could use some work. And it'll be a good release for you, since you're under confinement."

They had confined Mother for three moons before she had Daeron. Seven hells, he and Abby were going to have to have children. He was supposed to sire heirs and be a father, and his father was utter shit. But making heirs wouldn't be so bad?

A clap on his shoulder jogged him back to attention. "Physical exertion helps."

Aegon sneered. "Says a man who doesn't fuck. You can't trust a man who doesn't fuck, with only his own hand for company." He made a lewd stroking gesture before miming a spray of victory.

"Says a man who was once seven and ten," Ser Criston corrected, and Aegon rolled his eyes. His point still stood. Fucker never gave into the bait that he laid for him. Aegon still felt annoyed, although he acknowledged it deserved some respect.

As they reached the training yard, his eyes still bleary with sleep and the lingering headache, the coil of tension in his chest eased. Aemond was not alone, making the impending humiliation more bearable. Helaena may cheer for every time he'd get whipped in the yard, but there was no malice in his sweet sister.

"Good morning!" Helaena sang, her voice like a bell bouncing off the worn red brick of the yard, and she waved excitedly at him and Ser Criston. "It's been so long since I've seen you with a sword."

Sweet, supportive sister.

Aegon peered into the basket she was holding, snatching a piece of gingerbread. "Wine?" he asked with a hopeful look.

"Mother says you're to dry out so that you stop sweating wine." Aemond's tone was neutral, but his sly little smirk - what Mother would call sweet innocence - was all that he needed to provide.

"Does she not care to witness her son's humiliation that she ordered by her own queenly command?" His voice was light as he pulled on his padded coat over his tunic. At least Ser Criston was letting him ease back into things. No need to cut him and have him grow leprous the way their father had. He felt a vague dread at his siblings' pitying glances. He yanked at the strap on his tunic as Aemond moved towards the ring, twirling his wooden sword in hand.

His brother had long moved to live steel and Aegon's bitterness was acrid in the back of his throat. Or maybe it was just the lingering effects of the wine. He grimaced at the weight of the practice sword in hand and reached for a second one. It had been months since he'd dragged himself to the training yard. When Aemond lost his eye, he threw himself into the blade, and Aegon felt overshadowed as his brother earned admiration and love for something he was supposed to excel at. The presence of Daeron would worsen the situation, but it might shame Aemond with him before the shining little star.

"Alright, let's warm up. Aemond, what we did yesterday. You," Ser Criston pressed the tip of his own wooden sword - a toy in the hand of a Kingsguard and the Queen's sworn protector - into Aegon's chest, “You surely remember how this goes, right? It's been some time. Mayhaps you'd like to start off with only one, my prince?"

The taste of bile continued in the back of Aegon's throat. This man might be the closest thing he had to a father, no matter how he rejected it. Ser Criston Cole was there, without his gleaming Kingsguard armor, and he spoke to him in the same holier than thou tone he would to Ser Harwin Strong.

“Breakbones.” Ser Criston's voice would drip in sharp venom. Breakbones to the man who he'd witnessed act with kindness to his little sister, who had inquired to his well being when Aegon had been hacking away at the practice dummy until splinters of his sword had embedded into his palms. Who'd pressed a cup of cold water in his hands and simply sat with him as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

Aegon felt the muscle in his jaw tense and jump, his ears burning with a feeling that he would not acknowledge. It was the wine. The hangover. Nothing more. Aegon used his left sword to knock Ser Criston's away and the man let him with a smirk.

He should apologize.

He should ask Abby how she truly felt. He should ask her why she had gotten so upset when he laughed. He should… do a lot of things. Aemond was probably right, insufferable as always, despite his lack of understanding when it came to their sister.

Riding. He would take her riding, Aegon decided, while his man set out fresh clothes and his riding leathers. He scrubbed the sweat off the back of his neck and concocted his plan. Yes, he'd pack a basket of wine - no, cider, Abrogail preferred cider, but he preferred wine. So, a sweet wine. Yes. Perfect. There certainly would be cakes in the kitchens, and they would picnic beneath the afternoon sun in the Kingswood. By the lake, he thought, tugging the loose, bleached linen shirt over his head and shoving his legs into his trousers. Black wool for warmth and leather along the inside of the thighs for strength. The lake where they'd played as children would be perfect.

The last time, they'd played capture-the-treasure, during Rhaenyra's nameday before she'd left for Dragonstone. Helaena refused to be the princess, so Abrogail took her place and had been quite the quarry. She'd called Jace and Luke for help and he had to fight them off until Aemond and Helaena showed up.

Aegon paused as he pulled his hair back from his face. Maybe he should get her something. Girls liked trinkets and pretty things. It always excited Helaena when Aemond brought her bugs and flowers. A frustrated sigh and he grabbed his jacket. "Where's my sister and her ladies?" he asked his man, who'd been tossing the used water out the window.

"With her Grace, your mother, my prince," he said with a bow.

He winced. With his mother. Aegon wondered if he should ask if Lady Abrogail was there, but Abby was always with Helaena.

The path to his mother's room was an achingly familiar one, and the knots in his stomach were frustrating and unpleasant. Why did she have to be with his mother? She'd been angry about the fight, and Aegon had been doing his best to avoid her while Aemond sported the worst of the bruises. Laughter echoed down the hall when he made the turn towards her chambers, and he flexed his hand, wiping it along his thigh. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

"You are close enough to my size, but I do not think this suits you for a wedding," came Mother's voice, through the half-open door. Thoughtful, critical, but not bad-critical. "Turn? I don't think this shade of red goes well with you."

"The curse of red hair," was Abby's reply, light and agreeable as always. "It's a beautiful dress, your Grace, but should this not be for Helaena?"

"I don't like it," came her sister's complaint. "It feels like it wants to hook into my arms. Oh! Hello Aegon!" she called, and he realized they caught him before he could even announce his entrance.

He wondered if Helaena knew he was coming.

Mother's room was full of afternoon light streaming through the southern facing windows. Helaena sat on the couch facing towards him, running her fingers through an assortment of brightly colored ribbons in her lap. Mother stood by the window, speaking to the woman who knelt at her feet, adjusting the hem of the dress that Abby wore. She stood on the stool in front of the mirror, and from where he stood in the doorway, he had the perfect view of her reflection.

The red of her curls glowed almost as gold as Sunfyre's scales where the sun caught them unbound down her back. Abby smiled uncertainly as she gazed at her reflection, her hands on the golden dragon decorations on her shoulders. She wore a cream dress with deep Targaryen red slashes in the back of the skirt and long tapered sleeves lined in the same blood crimson.

Aegon's mouth went dry at the sight of her, and the way her eyes widened when she looked towards him over her shoulder. As his mother turned to look at him also, he tried to school his appreciating expression to one that wouldn’t get him scolded and thrown out. Abby’s face was one of surprise, his mother's expression one of exasperation.

"I…" He couldn't speak. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and he wiped his hand on his thigh again. The twisting sensation in his gut moved lower, familiarly, and he shifted his jacket in front of him.

"Ser Criston tells me you performed well in the training yard this morning," his mother said, and the exasperation turned… into a smile. Not a large one, but a genuine smile all the same.

"Did he?" Abby asked, looking at his mother, then she positively beamed at him, which wasn’t what he expected after the way things ended in the garden a fortnight ago. "Well done! Did you use both swords today, or just the one?"

Aegon swallowed and felt the blood rush to his cock and to his cheeks. "Just the one. The one sword." Not quite a lie, as his dual swords did not last very long. Why did he sound like that? High pitched and voice cracking as if he were a kitling like Aemond. "I don't think Ser Criston wanted to face me with both, no matter how rusty I am." He cleared his throat, rocked on his feet. "Need to lull him into a false sense of security. Underestimate. Your opponent, I mean."

Helaena giggled.

Aegon's cheeks flamed hotter.

"Well," his mother stared at him, and it really did nothing to dissuade the discomfort in his trousers. "I'm very glad to hear that. Was there something you needed?"

‘Her. I need her.’ Aegon didn’t know how to voice the prayer.

"I… I was just letting… I'm going riding. On Sunfyre. I'll be back by supper." His voice didn't crack again, and he got all the words out. Huzzah.

"Oh! Abby's outgrown my old riding clothes," Helaena said with such excessive delight that Aegon wanted to throttle her. "We should also have new ones made for her. Perhaps they could match Aegon's!" His sister's bright eyes met his, and he could sense the mischief radiating off her. "You could leave your jacket, wear your spare today."

Aegon took everything back. He hated his sister.

"That's a good idea, but Aegon doesn't need to leave anything," Mother mercifully cut in. "Enjoy your riding, Aegon."

"Have a wonderful ride, Aegon," Abby echoed, averting her eyes and turning back to the mirror.

"Are the rooms prepared for Lord Tully and his retinue?" the Queen asked Lady Fossoway, who sat across the table with parchment scattered across the blue and green tablecloth. Abrogail took her seat on the other end of the Queen's settee, the elder woman sparing her a glance and a small smile of greeting.

"Yes, your Grace. Lord Tully and the Lords Bracken and Blackwood will have rooms within the South Tower," Lady Fossoway confirmed. "Lord Vance will join them, and Ser Simon Strong will meet with their party when they reach Harrentown."

"Uncle Simon's coming?" Abrogail broke in. Lady Fossoway's green eyes flicked up to her and Abrogail felt as if she should apologize for speaking out of turn. The words caught in her throat and she broke the lady's gaze to look at the Queen, who was watching the exchange with an unreadable expression in her dark eyes. Something in it felt like a test, and so Abrogail continued. "Larys said that Uncle Simon would relay to Aegon and I about the current state of Harrenhal and where we might start."

She almost said where Aegon might start, but Abrogail understood that in running a lord's holding, both husband and wife had their duties. Queen Alicent sat on the Small Council, and she knew from stories that her own lady mother had run Harrenhal before they joined her father in the capital.

"Yes, he'll be staying with us through the tourney, so that the pair of you may be better acquainted," the Queen confirmed and Lady Fossoway's eyes averted back to the parchments. "Abrogail, I'd like you to join me in the small council as our cupbearer."

Lady Fossoway's gaze rose again, only just.

"Shouldn't…" Confusion overtook her previous uncertainty. "Shouldn't that be for Aegon, or Helaena, or even Aemond?" Or Jacaerys, she thought, but did not say.

"Aemond will also serve. The two of you will take turns, but I want you to have the experience before you leave for the Riverlands. Della, Lord Grover's maester, has requested a meeting with Grandmaester Mellos to see about the ailments he's having. Make sure he tends to him. Can't have him dying beneath our roof." Clipped tones, matter of fact, one item after another.

They passed a parchment to her, and Abrogail took it. A list of ladies and houses filled the page. Alerie Blackbar, Wylla Karstark, even Allana Tyrell and Josana Lannister. She even saw the names of the Blackwood girls as she scanned down the page. "You and Helaena will each take a Baratheon into your circles, and then between you both, you can find which of these ladies will be appropriate for your needs." The Queen continued to speak to another of her ladies who had just come in and Abrogail took a deep breath, fingers wrinkling the edges of the page.

"Aegon should do it," she said in a rush, and the gazes of the three women now gathered around her turned to look. Abby took a deep breath and licked her lips.

Marrying Aegon makes me a princess, she thought. And she wants to make him King, and I'll be his Queen.

"With respect, I am grateful for the opportunity, but Aegon should be cupbearer before we leave. It would be prudent for him to understand the workings of the council, especially since he shall be in the position of vassal in the future." Vassal to his elder sister. To speak otherwise would be treason, even among this circle.

The Queen’s large, brown eyes watched her for a long moment and Abrogail did all she could not to shrink away from it. There was something deeply unsettling about it, as if she saw something weak inside her that she wanted to sink her teeth into at worst, or at best, bat around like a lazy cat to see what Abrogail might do. The watchful gaze felt like it lasted for eternity before the Queen finally lifted a hand towards her ladies in dismissal. The women quickly moved and Lady Fossoway shut the door, leaving Abrogail with Alicent Hightower and the anxiety at speaking up threatening to suffocate her.

"You are a good girl, aren't you?" she said after a long exhale that did not quite ease the tension riddled line of her shoulders. The Queen reached out and her cool fingers tucked Abrogail's hair behind her ear. Her curls hung free down her back, a simple twist on either side of her head keeping them from getting in the way.

The Queen was beautiful, as she always was, with her auburn curls pulled back with tendrils loose around her face, untouched by gray. Beautiful, and ever melancholy. Even when she smiled, it did not wipe away the shadow that lingered along her regal features.

Abrogail would never speak it aloud, but the Queen and Aegon looked more alike every day, and it broke her heart.

She did not answer, and one did not appear to be expected of her. The knuckles of the Queen's hand traced along the curve of Abby's cheek and instinct compelled her to reach up and take the woman's hand in her own to hold. No different from what she might do with the others, even if it was stepping over a boundary that she wasn’t supposed to cross. There was pain in the woman's eyes that hurt to see, for the Queen, for Alicent Hightower, was the closest thing that Abrogail had left to a mother anymore.

An almost child she might be, but Abrogail was under no illusion that she was as important to the Queen and the Hand as if she were a true child of the crown. There was no one left for that, and so, she would do all that she could to be valuable.

"I am merely a reflection of the lessons and values you've instilled in me, your Grace," Abrogail said, fingers squeezing the Queen's hand. "I want to make you proud, and to not dishonor you, especially now that I am to be your good-daughter."

"A daughter," came the swift correction that had Abrogail looking up with surprise. "You are like one of my own children. I have watched you grow the same as them. The only difference is I don't have to worry about you the way I do them, now do I?" The Queen extracted her hand and Abrogail folded hers in her lap. "You are a wonderful influence, and I am ever grateful."

“Always smiling, it warms my heart in these trying times, a stór,” her papa would tell her when Mama was sick. Never stop.

So she didn't.

"Forgive a mother for her inclinations," the Queen continued. "I understand that the decision made has changed everything for you and it's not a simple thing. This is one of those events in our lives that we as women must endure, and we must make do." The Queen paused, looking away, and Abrogail watched the Queen's fingers twist, fingers picking at her thumbnail. “Aegon is certainly not whom you imagined. I never thought I would marry the King. I was young and thought I might marry a Tyrell, or perhaps a Tarth. Knights of flowers and charm."

Something cold settled in Abrogail's stomach. It was an unsettling and familiar sensation, one that ran through her veins when they stood as witness to Aegon's tongue lashings, the sharp crack of a hand. Sometimes there would be the thunderous threat of warning when the Lord Hand was giving it, for he would raise a hand to Aegon and Aemond both.

She'd noticed the Queen flinching during those moments, a pale look of dread on the woman's face in the presence of her father.

"My apologies, your Grace," Abrogail spoke softly, mouth turned into an uncertain, her brow furrowing. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

She wanted to hear Aegon's mother say it.

The Queen reached out to take both of her hands and held them tightly, thumbs rubbing soothing strokes along the back of Abrogail's palms. Brown eyes glistened with unshed tears, a softness to the Queen's features that reminded Abrogail of Aegon and a faint memory of her own mother.

"Aegon refuses to listen to me. He’s out of control. He is determined to flaunt every privilege granted to him, every opportunity we set before him." When the Queen took a shuddering inhale, it felt as if she was drawing the air from Abrogail's lungs to sustain herself. "He's like Rhaenyra in that way, but she was eager to serve the King on his council. Aegon, sadly, lacks the same ambition she has. Fortunately, you and I, my dearest, are very much alike. Therefore, I've asked you to serve, not him."

Abrogail's gaze followed the Queen's fingers as they held hers, unable to face the hurtful expression in her eyes. She thought of Aegon vomiting in the bushes after he dragged her from the Hand's tower. He clutched at her like demons from the hells would reach up and tear them apart. Even when he’d hurt her the way he had, unintentional as she was sure it was, Abrogail couldn’t hate him.

Slowly, she extracted her hands from the queen and leaned back to put some distance between them. Teeth caught at her lower lip as she tried to find her words.

‘I am to be his wife, and that is a sacred thing,’ she thought. It didn't matter if they were Lord and Lady, or King and Queen. They would be Aegon and Abrogail, married beneath the eyes of the Old Gods and the New, and like the example shown by the Queen, Abrogail would stand by Aegon through whatever trials awaited.

The promise was made years ago in the cold room at Driftmark, while she cut his long curls with embroidery scissors and he wept for his brother and cursed his father.

"You've watched us our whole lives. You’ve borne witness to the games we've played, the companionship and trust that we've built, and yet you feel you must apologize to me?" Her voice wavered, but her posture was strong, and she held the Queen's gaze. "I know Aegon. I've known him my whole life and while maybe we aren't as close as we once were, I know these good things are still there."

Abrogail remained steadfast and silent, hoping the Queen would understand Aegon was not a punishment. Despite everything, she knew that the kind boy she had known was still there, and she was confident that she could help him find his way back. She wouldn't have to spend her nights wondering if news of Aegon's death in Flea Bottom would reach her by morning.

"Abrogail, your heart is gentle, but your fond memories do not erase the egregious things he does now. Not his drinking, his lechery, his bad habits. But, if we work together - you, me, and your Uncle Otto? We can shape him into the king that he needs to be. That takes trust, my dear child." With each word out of the Queen's mouth, Abrogail's heart fell, and a mournful understanding took root inside her chest. "We do not leave you to handle Aegon on your own. You tell me everything, and we'll handle it. Do you understand, my sweet Abrogail?"

Did she understand everything, sweet girl that she was?

Sweet girl. Darling girl. Dearest Abrogail. Sweet Abrogail. Little Maiden Marchpane, sweet as honey, and so easily devoured.

Mo stór beag, Papa would call her, the River tongue rolling off him as easily as common. My little treasure.

The loud sound of the door opening broke the silence, boots scraping across the stone floor, and both of them jumped at the suddenness of it. Aegon entered silently, his jaw tight, lips pursed, and hair disheveled.

"Aegon," she said, her voice lilting, immediately drawing back from the Queen, feeling an easing sensation in her chest that chased away the cold. Abby smiled while the queen frowned at the intrusion.

She watched him move, glancing between them, and Abby stood up, fingers smoothing the pale blue and gold silk of her gown. She wondered if she still had to curtsey to him now that they were engaged; Aegon was apathetic about such things, while the Queen was not.

At the moment, Queen Alicent's thoughts were irrelevant to her. Despite still feeling heartsore from the morning in the gardens, Abby smiled at Aegon. It was not a bright one, but it was there all the same, and focused on him.

Aegon seemed confused, then his face softened as he searched her face for something she didn't understand. He then turned his gaze to his mother. "Abby's coming with me this afternoon," he said with no sort of greeting except the clearing of his throat. "We're going riding. We'll be back before nightfall."

The command of it all brought a flush to Abby’s cheeks, and she cast her eyes to the ground to avoid the piercing look the Queen was giving them both. It was a complicated feeling that tumbled inside of her chest; she was still hurt, though the bruise on her arm from where he’d grabbed her had faded. In truth, Abby was still sour about it all, but in the wake of the conversation and the Queen’s request, in the aftermath of her frustration and distaste for her son, and her own insistence of Aegon being given a place to serve and not her, she felt protective of him - gentled towards Aegon. And it was a feeling that was most certainly helped by the way he simply walked into his mother’s room to state "Abby’s coming with me." There was no asking for permission, nor even a greeting to his mother. She wondered if it was nerves, she wondered if he had seen something in her expression that spurred it.

Abby knew though that she didn’t have to wonder at her answer to it.

"Abrogail is assisting me with the arrangements for the tournament, Aegon. Perhaps you should find Aemond. I believe he's still training in the yard with Ser Criston," the Queen said, indulgent but firm in her tone.

Abby's mind was racing as she swallowed nervously. "Your Grace, I apologize, but Aegon and I had already planned to ride." She looked at the Queen with her eyes demure, a curtsy dropped, the lie flowing from her so easily she could not believe herself. "I’ll take the time to pry his mind for things he'd like at the feast."

As Abby moved, Aegon's gaze shifted from his mother to her, making her stomach tighten. It reminded her of the look on his face in the fountain beneath the weeping cherry tree. Her hand reached out for him and she bobbed another graceful curtsy to the Queen. "Your Grace," she murmured. It was her turn to pull him out of the suffocating room and Aegon’s huff of surprised laughter made her grin.

[Chapter Six]

[softsan]

Eyes On Fire. (Pt. 4)

PAIRING: Aemond Targaryen & Fem!Reader

CHAPTERS: | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 |

WORD COUNT: 3389

GENRE: Alternatively Universes/Canon Divergence, Alternative Ending, The Greens Win, Loosely based on the books/show, Made up House,

DESCRIPTION: After the Greens win the Dance of The Dragons, you a left alone navigating the dangers and woes of Kings Landing. You were one of the last survivors of House Vermillion with the expectation to restore your House to its former glory. Pressured to find yourself a husband, you unintentionally catch the eye of the dangerously, one-eye kingslayer—how will you ever survive amidst those who kill, those who take, and those who wish to eat you alive? Can also be read on AO3 here.

WARNINGS: Bodily Injury, Death, Graphic violence, Torture, Suspicion, Attempted murder, Murder, Poisoning, Possessive themes, Aemond in general

OPTIONAL PLAYLIST: Don’t Fear the Reaper by Denmark + Winter, When You Break by Bear’s Den, Hold On by Brooke Annibale, 

Darkness clung to the four walls that kept you contained. The repugnant smell of rot was profuse, while the stone ground was covered in a thick layer of grime.

You had been held prisoner since the day after the tourney, ambushed the morning after whilst walking the Street of Flour, a famous street for its many twists and bends as well as its countless bakeries and dessert stalls. Two cloaked thugs had roughly manhandled you before throwing you into their carriage and speeding away.

You had verily considered, fending them off, breaking an arm or two, and continuing your day as if nothing had transpired but ultimately you decided not to.

It sort to reason that someone had their grievances with you, most likely due to Aemond's recent antic of crowning you the Queen of Love and Beauty. Therefore, you chose to play along. To unearth the question of who? You wouldn’t reveal your hand nor let on that you knew how to fight. You wouldn't risk such notions being spread by the wordlessly prying eyes of the city folk. For months you had tirelessly built an image of fragility and innocence. An image you intended to keep utilizing until you could successfully fulfill your duty to your House.

The dank and dingy vault below the castle was void of sunlight. The only light source available came from the dull lantern, its transparent case protecting the faint flame from blowing out. Beside it stood a short wooden frame that they’d dubbed ‘the bed of tortures’. You were bent over the frame, ropes restraining your wrists behind your back. The twisted strips of hide gnawed at your skin, leaving cuts and burns behind. Exasperated, you blew the mattered strands of hair away from your face, your eyes trained on Lord Unwin Peake who sat on the opposite side of the cell observing how the interrogation progressed.

“Let me ask again,” The foul-breathed servant of Lord Peake tormented, “What kind of relationship do you have with Aemond Targaryen?”

You near rolled your eyes, spent by the same handful of questions the servant had repeatedly asked. You grappled with yourself whether you ought to just tear off the restraints you had managed to loosen over time and stab the servant with the knife you had hidden in the pockets of your undergarments.

Your limbs ached, your stomach famished and most pressingly your mind was bored. You had despised being held hostage during the war and the sentiment hadn’t since changed.

“I guess one can’t go ahead with killing Lord Peake’s servant without inferring further consequences for one’s self,” Your mumble was inaudible, neither Peake nor his servant catching what you had said.

The servant sneered, “What was that? Speak louder girl!” He chastised.

You said nothing, your lip curling in defiance.  

It appeared you had made a powerful enemy out of Lord Unwin Peake, the hand to the king. Aemond’s declaration and favor towards you during the joust had foiled Lord Peake’s plans to propel his daughter, Myrielle Peake into Aemond’s arms (and eventually bind the two with marriage). You huffed. Your intentions were never to be thrust between such political affairs, your initial plans were but to attract a wealthy Lord to marry and to save your House. However, after being held captive for days, you were feeling particularly spiteful... Perhaps you would change those plans, perhaps you'd begin to embark on the dangerous political game you'd thus far avoided. A new plan, with a new goal—one which involved the Targaryen Prince after all.

“The relationship between Prince Aemond and I?” You toyed, prolonging your eye contact, “Would you care to hear that we’re close? Or would it make you feel safer if I said we weren’t?”

Lord Unwin Peake’s face soured, comprehending the underlying threat of your words. The conveyance was that if Aemond indeed considered you more than a plaything, more than a pastime then Lord Peake would be faced with the Prince’s unrelenting wrath.

A thick silence lingered as Lord Peake thought through his options.

“From this moment on you shall stay away from the Prince,” He calmly rose from his chair, dusting his trousers, “If you care for that life of yours, I’d advise you not meddle where you ought not to.” He then nudged his head toward one of the instruments that hung to the wall, “Finish off her punishment.” He ordered.

“It’d be my pleasure, my Lord,” The servant eagerly bowed.

You heard the crack of a whip, the distinctive sound of leather.

Lord Peake stopped before the cell’s exit, turning aback, “Her face is to remain untouched,” He soon left, the cold metal bars slamming loudly behind him.

The whip came lashing at your calves. You squeezed your eyes tight, balling your fists until your fingernails dug into your palms. A flurry of curses were stuck to your tongue as you tried to drown out the pain by thinking of happier thoughts, such as taking your sweet revenge and plunging your knife into the servant’s chest.

You felt the warmth of your blood streak down your legs and feet, a puddle of scarlet pooling on the ground below.

A manic laughter echoed throughout the dungeons, “Scream for me,” He sadistically urged.

You gritted your teeth. You wouldn’t oblige. You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing you beg. You held in any sound, swearing to yourself you’d inflict a pain tenfold worse onto both Lord Peake and his servant.

The fire burned, its flames licking the wood of the balsam fireplace in Helena’s study. Aemond was lent against the fireplace, absently watching Maelor play with his toys. The young boy roared aloud as he pretended his dragon carved from birch burned down the stick figures of men.

Helena had neglected her book, her violet eyes fixated on her brother. She was curious about what had brought on Aemond’s recent behavior. Aemond was not known to listen to just anyone… Even their dear mother struggled to put him in his place. Yet, during the joust he’d immediately caved to your demand, stopping just as you’d asked.

Helena knew this displeased her mother greatly. Aemond was handful enough for her to restrain but to have him now obey another? It threatened all she’d thus worked for, all she’d done to ensure Aemond wouldn’t rise up against Aegon and seize his brother’s crown.

Gaomagon ao hae zirȳla? Do you like her?  Helena’s dreamlike voice inquired.

Qilōni? Who? Aemond grumbled, well aware of whom his sister was referring to.

Se riña lēda mele laesi. The lady with crimson eyes.

Before Aemond could answer, his mother Alicent came sauntering into the study, Ser Criston Cole following shortly behind.

Alicent's neck was flushed, her expression clearly vexed, “What do you think you’re doing?” She bellowed, the volume of her voice startling young Maelor.

Helena quickly attended to the boy, picking up Maelor as he began to wail.

“What does it matter?” Aemond countered, his arms firmly crossed against his chest.

“What does it matter?!" Alicent exclaimed, “It matter so, you’ve crowned a maiden from a lower House. A House insignificant in comparison to the great Houses we are hosting during the tourney.” She flailed her arms, “Great Houses we intend to forge allyship with.”

“House Vermillion wasn’t always insignificant,” Helena softly corrected, “Despite, their small fleets they were unmatched in naval warfare. Their vessels were painted red as their sigil, their cargo carried a myriad of hibiscus’ which they threw into the sea to bribe the gods for their victories—”

"House Vermillion was a House which supported Rhaenyra’s false claim to the Iron Throne," The Dowager Queen Alicent cut off her daughter, her eyes narrowing, “A House which should have been wiped out completely.”

Aemond’s jaw clenched at his mother’s last sentiment, “A House, like many others Aegon pardoned,” He sternly rebutted, “An idea you proposed would unite the Seven Kingdoms.”

Alicent's bottom lip trembled, taken aback by Aemond's retort.

“If that’s all mother, I’ll excuse myself.” Aemond’s heavy boots stomped, the door slamming behind him as he left Helena’s study.

“I cannot believe it,” Alicent bespoke to Ser Criston Cole, “Of all the noble ladies in King's Landing why her?” She shook her head in objection.

“Perhaps, it is but a fleeting affection that will die when the controversy and excitement begins to wane.” Ser Criston offered.

Alicent peered upward, still riddled with doubt, “Do you truly think so?”

Ser Criston Cole opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Helena.

“Hair of silver. Eyes of crimson. Footsteps in a set of three,” Helena’s eyes glossed over, as she faded into a trance.

Alicent and Ser Criston exchanged looks, Alicent quickly bending down beside her daughter. She gently took Maelor off his mother’s lap, offering him to Ser Criston to hold while Alicent tried to regain Helena’s attention.

“What do you see?” Alicent had long learned to heed her daughter’s words, to pay mind to Helena’s prophecies, as frequent to none, they near always came to tuition.

“A mother’s beauty. A father’s temperament. All is sound, all is as it ought to be.” Helena finished her train of thought.

The Dowager Queen Alicent’s face hardened. What possibly did the gods have in store for her son Aemond?

“Keep an eye on Lady Y/N Vermillion,” She instructed Ser Criston Cole, “And report back to me. I want to know whom she interacts with, her goals, and her every intention.”

The midmorning offered your deprived and cold self a yearned warmth and solace. The sun's golden rays filtered themselves through the stained-glass windows, reflecting a merriment of colors on the ground beneath your bloody feet. Without assistance, you had managed to crawl up the stairs of the dungeons, trekking a trail of blood behind you.

Your torture had been drawn out the length of the night, Lord Unwin Peake's servant only leaving after the seventh hour. You couldn't discern how long you had stayed laying motionless on the bed of tortures, staring at the unlocked door to your cell. After what felt like an eternity, you dragged your rigid body off, your calves protesting as you forced yourself to stand.

The pain, however, grew too great, causing your vision to blur, and your head to spin. You stumbled, your knees buckling from underneath. You placed a hand on the wall beside you, stopping yourself from faceplanting into the tiles. Days without food and water had finally taken their toll and you hadn’t the energy to continue.

“Lady Y/N Vermillion!” A surprised voice called aloud.

You felt their hands immediately rope around your hips, in an attempt to keep your torso upright. You blinked a couple of times, trying to determine who had found you.

“Ser Criston Cole?” You croaked, your cracked lips turning downward. Surely, you were mistaken.

“Yes, it is I,” He said softly, brushing back your wayward hair that draped over your face.

He observed the terrible state you were in, deducing it to be in result of what had transpired with Aemond during the joust. Others besides the Dowager Queen Alicent would consider you a threat to their political agendas and wouldn’t think twice about taking their frustrations out on you.

Ser Criston Cole’s eyes momentarily flickered toward the sound of footsteps in the distance, “Let me help you back to your room,” He whispered, sounding almost as if he pitied you.

Without waiting for a response, he hurriedly lifted you off the ground and cradled you against his steel-plated chest. You were too frail to argue, allowing him to carry you throughout the rest of the castle.

Ser Criston took an alternative route to your chambers, sensing the footsteps he’d heard, belonged to the prince. Over the past day or two, he'd had been discreetly watching Aemond from afar, noting the numerous times he’d tried knocking on your chambers only to be turned away by Lady Alyssa Royce. Ser Criston Cole was weary of the scene Aemond would surely cause if he saw you in such a state.

As Ser Criston reached your door, his knuckles thumped on the wood.

It was Lady Alyssa Royce who answered, “I’m afraid my Prince, Lady Y/N, still hasn’t returned—" She abruptly paused, sighting you limply lying in Ser Criston Cole's arms.

“Y/N?” Horror replaced her usual unemotive persona, “What happened to her?”

“Let us lay her down first,” Ser Criston bypassed Alyssa without a further explanation.

He quickly lifted the furs and delicately placed you down on the bedspread, “We have to roll her over.” He directed.

Lady Royce obliged without complaint, aiding Ser Criston to roll you onto your stomach. You muffled a cry, the sudden movement aggravating your open lesions. Blood continued to hemorrhage, spilling onto your white linen sheets.

Lady Royce's brows furrowed as she hastily lifted your skirt and removed your torn petticoat. She gasped, once the true extent of your wounds was revealed. The soles of your feet had been mercilessly slashed, whilst the irate lacerations to your calves had cut deep into the muscle.

“There are some gauzes and string in the cupboard,” Lady Royce demanded forgetting her station, “I’ll find us some alcohol to disinfect her wounds.”

“Shouldn’t we call for a maester?” Ser Criston Cole questioned.

You grabbed Lady Royce’s hand with haste, squeezing it with all the strength you could muster, “No,” Alyssa Royce said firmly, apprehending what you were trying to communicate, “Otherwise, Lady Clarice Osgrey will be summoned. Let us keep this between ourselves.”

Sir Criston reluctantly nodded, undecided if he’d pass on what had occurred to the Dowager Queen.

Aemond stalked the corridors, his irritability only increasing by the hour. Over a week had since passed, and you had missed the chaos that was brought by the melee, an event where forty or so riders armed with blunt weaponry, fought to be prized as the next knight. Aemond disinterested how the contest unfolded, drowned himself in drink instead.  

You were avoiding him, or so he thought…

As the afternoons passed, he began to grow dubious. Suspicious, why all the other ladies beside you and Lady Royce were in attendance at the Targaryen festivities? He'd also taken note that Lady Myrielle Peake was now serving his niece Princess Jaehaera in your stead.

He reached the large oval door of your chambers, reaching of its handle. However, Lady Alyssa Royce opened the door first, her body blocking Aemond’s view of the inside.

“Where is Y/N?” He sternly imposed, “She has not been in attendance to melee nor has she served my niece.” He drew a maddened breath, “Princess Jaehaera has naught been impressed by her replacement.”

“I’m afraid Lady Y/N is still unwell your highness,” Lady Alyssa Royce politely bowed, her voice ever so slightly trembling.  

You listened from inside, overhearing another of Lady Royce’s fumbling excuses. You and Alyssa had always been civil but far from close. Nonetheless, she had aided you, stitched up your wounds, and kept your injuries secret. You owed the girl a great debt, one you’d hope to someday repay.

You were running a fever, your insides hot, your outsides cold. You were sat against the headboard of your bed, leaning on some flat pillows while your legs were covered in furs. A small smile crossed your lips as you continue to listen. In truth, you were gladdened by Aemond’s concern. Thankful, for the countless times he’d implored for you. It wasn’t something you were accustomed to, the worriment, the exertion. Nobody had ever put so much effort in for you.

Aemond’s exasperation was obvert, he was growing tired of the evasiveness of Lady Royce, “Step aside,” He, at last, demanded, the intensity in his tone, making Lady Royce cower.

Your smile faltered, conceding Aemond was going to barge in. You hurriedly unraveled your legs from underneath your furs and forced yourself to stand upright.

You silently yowled, it was as if lightning had struck your legs. It took a few seconds for you to regain your breath, the agony that pulsated from your calves immense. You used the bedside table for support, wincing as you slid on your cloth slippers.

You had made the short distance to your vanity when Aemond furiously pushed back the doors to your chambers, his violet orb narrowing as searched around your room.

“Prince Aemond,” Short of breath, you did your best to bow.

Aemond’s annoyance dissolved instantaneously. Yet, the creases on his forehead remained. He swiftly approached his silvery hair bouncing behind him as he moved. You took a short moment to admire how his hair glistened underneath the yellowish candlelight, how it only enhanced his fearsome beauty.

Aemond abruptly stopped before you, his large hands unexpectedly cupping both of your cheeks, drawing your face closer to his. You involuntarily shivered, as his thumb brushed across your cold lips.

"What is it you are ailed with?" He searched your face, his brows knitted.

Aemond studied your sickly pale hue and the shade of blue that replaced the color of your lips. He felt a protectiveness over you. A feeling which was foreign to him.

“I’ll send for a maester immediately,”

“No,” You shook your head, his hands still firmly resting on your cheeks, “I have no desire to cause a fuss. All I need is some rest.”

Aemond didn’t feel assured, in fact, it only strengthened his worry.

“You’ve had a week’s worth of rest” He pressed “You should be seen by a maester. What if your sickness gets all the worse?” His hands slowly slid from your face and down your arms until he grasped your two hands within his own. Aemond held you so gingerly as if he was afraid you’d break.

Your stomach fluttered, recalling the change of your plans. Lord Unwin Peake desired you to stay away from the Prince… And you’d do nothing of the sort.

“I won’t get worse”

“You couldn’t possibly be sure.” His face close, his breath hot.

You stifled a smile. Boldly you closed the distance, using your nose to gently nudge his, “I am,” You insisted, pulling away.

Aemond’s eye widened, the violet of his iris deepening. He was overwhelmed by the impulse to pull you back but to capture your lips this time.

“Just a few more days of rest and I’ll be back to my true self,” You wriggled your hands free, “But first you must go,” You incited, softly pushing his chest to leave, “You’ve caused me enough trouble. If someone catches you in my chambers, I’d never hear the last of it.”

“What trouble? I only crowed the one deserving of the title of the Queen of Love and Beauty,” Aemond smiled smugly “And showed King's Landing of my intentions,” He playfully tilted his head, his hair falling off his shoulder, “And what a mistake it would be if others were to approach what is mine,” He whispered the last part.

“I repeat,” You light-heartedly shook your head, “Trouble.”

Aemond laughed, relenting and taking a step back, “I’ll go but if you feel worse, promise me you’ll summon a maester?”

“I promise,” You nodded, “My Prince you may take your leave,”

“Not until you are tucked soundly under the covers,” He directed, lifting an arm towards your bed.

“You won’t leave otherwise?” You swallowed, dreading the walk from your vanity back to your bed.

“Yes,” He maintained, “Do you need some help?”

“No need,” You vigorously shook your head, exchanging a daunted look with Lady Royce who had been loitering by the door.

You tried your darndest to ignore the heat that radiated upward with each excruciating step. You just needed to make it to the bed without falling, you told yourself.

Aemond followed you with his gaze, his body stiffening as he caught the stain of red on the hem of your nightgown.

“Y/N,” He said, his tone spine-chillingly cold.

You hadn’t the chance to turn completely round when he wrapped a steel arm around your waist and carefully lifted the cotton of your nightgown to expose your calves.

You sucked in a breath.

Aemond’s face darkened, while an enraged snarl left his mouth. His playful disposition vanished, a seething fury coming to take its place.

“Y/N,” He growled, his arms shaking uncontrollably, “Who dared to harm you?”

TAGLIST: @elleraelockwood | @hawsx3 | @xxxevevfzeizaz | @simpsrus00 | @mistalli | @yoshiplush | @anthonys-viscountess | @bitch-biblioklept | @dudfahsn | @dangerousbluebirdpoetry | @mischiefmanaged71 | @shnadaidas | @tardis-world | @darkened-writer | @akilababs |

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

Lies Late at Night

Summary: Written for AI-less Whumptober Day 4. Canon Divergent AU. Hiccup won the honor to kill the Nightmare, but before he could, the Nightmare mysteriously disappeared. Now it’s been three years and his father still doesn’t know about Toothless and the Dragon Riders.

Warning: /

Rating: General

Characters: Hiccup, Stoick

Pairing: /

Words: 1 011

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon, Race To The Edge

Prompt: Hiding an injury, Betrayal, Lying

Whumpee: Hiccup, Stoick

Author’s Notes: Thought of this AU, don't have a name for it yet, but I can see the potential for a lot more fics for this one.

Enjoy!

@ailesswhumptober

XOXOX

As quietly as he can, Hiccup tries to open and close the front door to his home. It's late. Much later than he told his dad he'd be. And as luck would have it; his father sits at the fire. He’s been waiting for him, stoking its dying embers.

A pot hangs above it. Hiccup wonders if whatever used to be in it is still edible. He hasn’t eaten since this morning, but he doesn’t hunger for a hearty dinner.

Stoick knows he’s there, he knows he does. Even so, Hiccup tries to sneak past him up the stairs.

Unfortunately, he’s limping and that means he doesn’t get very far without drawing attention. His prosthetic is quite loud on the wooden floor. He can hear the stool under his father creak as the mountainous man rises.

Hiccup freezes just shy of walking up the stairs. His face is in a grimace, bracing himself for what could possibly turn into a lecture.

“You’re late,” his father starts, hands on his hips. It’s a very father-like way of standing and Hiccup can’t look at him.

“Uh, yeah. I, uh… I got held up,” Hiccup explains briefly.

“You got held up? While fishing?” Stoick asks. His son doesn’t need to look to know that at least one eyebrow is raised in suspicion. Not only did he return with no fish to show for his efforts, but the gear he has is not one would usually take with them on a trip to the nearest lake. Not unless his way of catching fish is by clubbing it over the head with the hilt of a sword.

He knows it’s a collapsible sword. Stoick doesn’t understand how it is in any way a reliable weapon.

“Uh, yea-yeah? Anyway, gotta go to bed. Need to get up bright and early tomorrow for work, right?” Hiccup chuckles awkwardly as he tries to cut this conversation short. He’s so tired. He’s tired and in pain and he wants to go to bed.

His father might’ve actually let him go with that one. Hiccup once earned the right to kill the Nightmare, but the dragon mysteriously disappeared and with it disappeared any hope of a connection between father and son.

Not because of Stoick, however. He assured him that they would catch another Nightmare to prove his worth with. It was Hiccup who suddenly pulled away and distanced himself from his father as far as he could go. It no longer feels like they even live in the same house anymore and Stoick has absolutely no idea why.

In a way, it broke the man and that’s why- three years later- he won’t question his son’s whereabouts anymore.

The rest of the village might complain to him about their lackluster heir, but he has lost the will to fight with his son. Hiccup is 18, if he couldn’t change to be one of them earlier, he’s not going to now. At least he still has his friends, for however long they’ll stick around. At least for the time being Astrid seems fond of him. Hiccup won’t let either of them cross this distance between them, but at least he doesn’t have just him and Gobber in his life.

Unfortunately for the both of them, however, he’s limping and his father is still his father.

“Son? Are you hurt?” Hiccup winces at the question.

He and Toothless made a bad fall, dislocating his weak knee. Astrid reset it, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still hurting and his knee isn’t still swelling.

But he can’t tell his dad that. He doesn’t know about Toothless or the missions they do together. No one in the village knows about the Dragon Riders and it’s for the best. If they did... He refuses to imagine what would happen to their dragons if they told anyone. It’s the one thing keeping Snotlout and the twins quiet about their secret.

“Uhm, I-I slipped. It was muddy out there and-and you know how clumsy I am, dad,” Hiccup makes an excuse and one his dad doesn’t believe. He sighs heavily and Hiccup’s chest constricts, he aches knowing that his dad is disappointed in him. They both know he’s lying.

From the corners of his eyes, he dares to look at his old man. Stoick rubs in his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He can see the migraine growing.

But just like they both know he’s lying, they also know that neither of them are trying anymore.

“Did you at least visit Gothi?” Stoick asks.

“Of course!” He responds eagerly.

Hopefully, it’ll ease his father’s heart. He hasn’t forgotten yet how he responded to his friends returning him to the village with a terribly mangle leg. The limb was nearly lost in an attempt to rid the Archipelago of the Red Death, but it was in vain. She’s still in that volcano, ruling with an iron fist and bringing death to the Barbaric Archipelago. He and the rest of the Dragon Riders almost lost their lives fighting this behemoth only to find out that she was quite untouchable. And so, the only alternative was to help dragons escape the nest.

“It’s, eh, a minor injury, so,” Hiccup gives him a thumbs up. He hopes to at least assure his father that he’s okay.

But his father sighs and walks back over to the stool to drop down onto it. He should be glad that his son is okay, he should be relieved, but all he can think of is how Hiccup is still lying to him and how he would’ve hidden his injury if Stoick hadn’t caught him.

Hiccup’s guilt grows, he looks away.

“Hiccup… son… When will you finally tell me the truth again?” The question is asked so quietly, he’s not even sure if Stoick meant for him to hear it.

“I don’t know, dad,” Hiccup responds even quieter and limps up the stairs. He heads up to his loft to drop down onto his bed and hopefully leave this day far behind him.

[phoebehalliwell]

hi how does the power situation work with all the next gen? i've been trying to figure this out for ages and i found your next gen fic and figured you'd have a general idea (or one that i like best). i know wyatt's twice blessed so he has a lot of stuff but chris seems to have prue's abilities and then paige's twins have piper's abilities split up between then. did the cupitches get any halliwell powers and what's melinda's power? (by power i mean like... special power, yknow, how the twins got piper's abilities split up) i know they're all capable of basic witch stuff of course

BASICALLY. i think i'm asking for a rundown on how powers work for the nine of them (henry's power is being real to me u don't have to explain that one)

okay so basically in my writings Wyatt has been stripped of the twice blessed destiny (which, akin to having The Source, is a power battery that augments and enhances and like boosts a witch's powers) making him now as powerful as a first born warren witch (read: hella powerful) but not a god, and then Melinda is also a proper true to form witchlighter -- leo was/is still in my writings a whitelighter so melinda is a proper halfling. i think those are my only major divergences from canon so okay!!

WYATT had the powers for telekinesis, telekinetic orbing, orbing, & healing but his main power is Projection, which is manipulation of everything that isn't. essentially, the ability to create something out of nothing. this includes energy blasts, which can be used to vanquish demons. this also means he can create things like, yes, dragons, or any other monster if he felt inclined, a full building, you name it. BUT. he has to have a full concept of how it works to make it so to speak. So Like. wyatt could make a car. but as he is not an automotive shop, he can't super make a working car. if he studied it and understood exactly how cars work he could, but he's not a car guy. if he were to make a car, it would run entirely off magic, meaning for long as it exists / has to run, he is being tapped into it and drained. so like he could create a monster or even a dog or whatever, but as he doesn't fully understand innards and the creation of life and souls and all that, they just wouldn't be real. eventually they would fade if wyatt himself does not release the projection

CHRIS is just your basic telekinetic he also has orbing and telekinetic orbing. he is an incredible gifted witch and a very strong telekinetic. right now, he strength lies in brute force -- he weight trains as a telekinetic, i wouldn't be surprised is he was able to lift gram's marble statue from witch prue is it anyway. i don't think he could throw it across the room (yet) but the point is he's stronger than your average telekinetic. his aim (magical) is also decent because his aim (normal people) is kinda dogshit so he usually has to use telekinesis to guide things he throws (e.g. potion vials). he's not exceptional as minute movements (yet) such as like stopping someone's heart from the inside, but that's just because he doesn't train like that

MELINDA is our third witchlighter and can orb, telekinetically orb, she's an empath, and she's a telekinetic. technically. the way her empathy fuses with her telekinesis actually makes her much more adjacent with a psychokinetic than a technical telekinetic (a place where i think prues powers could have easily developed had she not died). the main difference between melinda's telekinesis vs her brothers is her brothers move things they send out lil telekinetic blasts but it's all v external. melinda can actually use her telekinesis to touch/feel an item. it's not technically proper psychokinesis either because she still has to be in the location to get a vibe she can't sit in the parking lot and tell you where the light switches are in the back room of the building but she can sit in the manor living room and feel whether there are flowers in a vase in the foyer, she can tell you if there's a textured rug in the sunroom. It's kind of like echolocation, her telekinesis lays a blanket over the area she's in. If she's pinned behind a rock in the underworld, she can feel where the demon is (that one's extra easy bc her empathy gives her extra strong clarity when the thing she's feeling is experiencing strong emotions). and then, of course, her empathy is just kinda is empathy it's not super strong atm she has to be in the same room as, ideally within six or so feet of, anybody to get a really solid reading. touch is a main way she channels the power. if she really focuses, she can extend her power to about the size of an full american football stadium (lots of people), or, if they're hella spaced out, about one suburb block, but this is a major extension (nigh overextension) of her powers. with, of course, the caveat that strong emotions augmented by magic (like the demon of rage, demon of anarchy, shit like that) stands out to her quite loudly, she's v attuned to that.

TAMORA&KAT have a psychic connection to each other. that is specifically because they are both twins and witchlighters (tho that -light part is getting kinda distant). all of sets of siblings have some vague type of connection, like they would have able to tell if their immediate sibling is like mortally injured/dying (probably... like. in the same sense the original charmed ones are able to in the show), but since tam and kat are literally identical twins like one being split into two in utero like. they can communicate with each other psychically. this involves both like communicating thoughts (across any distance) and the ability to astral project their sister to them, provided that the sister is already open to being called (asleep, unconscious). the caveat with this link is it's only intact when the girls are at their standard chemistry. so, if their brain is altered by caffeine, alcohol, potions, medication, anything, their communication is thrown off. neither of them are on anything prescription, but if one of them were, there would be a brief period where the twins would struggle to communicate, lasting roughly four(ish??) months or so, until the link had reached it's new stable plateau if you get what i'm saying.

on top of that TAMORA has piper's blasting power and the whitelighter healing power. between her and her twin, they kind of have a sun/moon dynamic going on with their powers which is kind of funny bc in this said dynamic, tamora is actually the sun, even tho her irl personality really does not reflect that at all (yet). so her powers are all very like warm/hot/burning + a development soon be be related to light. so right now her powers are blasting and healing, which are loosely related in my mind because healing is inherently warm in my mind. she was able to practice molecular acceleration when she was a youngin but now she only has molecular combustion as that was what her power has evolved to by the time they were unbound again so that was the only part of that power she trained.

KAT is on the "moon" side of this spectrum, her powers are more for the activities shrouded in shadow (#tome). both freezing, orbing, and even her omnilingualism are all this kind of secretive powers, they're made to blend in and hide from detection, which, kind of like tamora's, sit counter to her current personality. also like her sister, while theoretically she possesses the capability for molecular deceleration, that is not a power she knows how to access at all. kat's strength by far is her freezing radius. she can freeze a lot of things, she can freeze very powerful things (not upper level demons quite yet but eventually probably), however, she is shit at the minutia of freezing. she cannot unfreeze people, much less body parts. she also cannot "hold" a freeze while moving someone's body (e.g. moving their arm so the gunshot misses would immediately unfreeze someone due to agitation of the hold/freeze). if she's fighting and henry is there she fully has to orb him somewhere else (usually magic school)

HENRY is a g

PJ&PARKER&PEYTON have some shared cupid-witch (cupitch) powers. the first is beaming, the cupitch variant of orbing. orbing is more thought based, beaming is emotion based. both are teleportation powers. since the sisters are all a) sisters and b) of the same hybrid species, they can sense each other in a manner akin to a whitelighter's charge sensing. they can get a loose read on their sister's emotions and the vibes of their surroundings if they really try. this limited empathy also grants them "cupid vision," giving them the ability to see both love and sexual attraction. love is a gauzy, hazy, fuzzy type pink aura that reaches out to others. If two people are in love with each other and in the same room, they will see one singular aura encompassing the two. sexuality is a purple-y electrical connection. If two people are both sexually attracted to each other, they will form their own sort of circuit. if a person is horny but not attracted to anyone in the room, electricity will just travel over them. the caveat with these abilities is due to the refractive (?? i feel like that's the right word?) nature of these auras you can never see an aura travel towards you bc it is heading directly towards you. the cupitches struggle to see love connections for any of their sisters because they all love each other so much they just have one strong linked aura between them. they can see if someone finds their sister hot, but quite frankly they don't like to check bc it feels weirdly invasive!! the girls can slip into cupid vision as easy as unblurring thir eyes, but if they want to see the auras more clearly/for longer periods of time they need assistance from their cupid rings. their personal cupid rings can also act as a small battery (akin to the twice blessed augmentation but way smaller. think aaa battery vs. car battery) and strengthen their powers if they really try to tap into the power of the ring.

PJ has her personal witch powers of levitation and astral projection. i liked their connection bc they are widely considered the prue/phoebe powers to be switched, so to speak, and i liked that juxtaposition between her mother and her namesake. levitation is levitation idk it's just what it sounds like. astral projection is similar to what we see in the show but since pj is no prue (yet) she cannot maintain limited conscious as prue could (her head down but stay standing state). pj has to fully conk out. her mysterious bruise games leaves everyone else in the dust.

PARKER has the sole with power of premonitions. she has no active power (kinda. beaming is debatably an active power.) she is the only one of the next gen to lack an active (witch) power. however, she has trained her premonitions well, she can get a premonition almost on command, she can recall premonitions by essentially using the emotional scar they leave on her to retrigger it. so like, it's not a permanently stored thing, but she can bring back a premonition usually for the present case she's working on. she can almost subconsciously uses premonitions in her hand to hand combat skills by anticipating her opponent's next move. since parker converted her cupid ring into a cupid athame it functions slightly differently. she can beam it to/from her. when she has not physically beamed her athame to her, it actually ceases to exist. it becomes a physical item once she beams it to her; it will continue to exist until she beams it away. when she beams it away, it actually become a part of her aura. technically speaking! this makes her a stronger witch that either of her sisters because she is (now) permanently tapped in her cupid's ring. but you and me are the only ones that know that shh.

PEYTON has telekinesis as her only active power. she's good. nothing to write home about, but not only is she the youngest of the generations, she's also just like, hella young in general. her powers have yet to grown in any way that marks serious deviation from the standard

thanks for the question! i love answering questions about the next gen they are so much fun ❤️.

[ashleybenlove]

Title: Hiccup’s Recovery

Prompt: Broken Limb + Amputation

Summary: Hiccup gains consciousness soon after Stoick finds Hiccup and Toothless after the battle with the Red Death and soon they discover that he needs an amputation of his leg. Hiccup also spends his recovery cultivating new friendships.

Not a happy ending.

Fandom: How To Train Your Dragon

Pairing: None

Word Count: 1611

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Major character death, injuries, off-screen surgery

Disclaimer: I don’t own the source material in this fanfic. That’s to whatever company or person owns it. I would never claim to own it.

Notes: There are probable influences from fandom and whatnot in this story. Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo @badthingshappenbingo​ for the space “Broken Limb” and @ailesswhumptober​ for the Day 16 prompt “Amputation”. Canon divergence of the ending of HTTYD1.

AO3.

[yeowangies]

Blood Stains

CHAPTER IV: A Formidable Woman

❧

PAIRING: Raditz/Reader RATING: Mature CONTENTS: Canon Divergence AU, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Enemies to Lovers. WARNINGS: None WORDCOUNT: 3100

Summary:

This isn’t the kind of conversation you expected to have today, you didn’t even know Raditz was going to show up at your balcony like he’s some kind of Romeo. He isn’t Romeo by any means, but you had never liked any kind of Prince stereotype anyway. When you turn your gaze towards him, you notice how close he actually is.

Notes:

Things are finally moving along 😏

You can check the tag #*bs if you wanna see the previous chapters.

Raditz had remembered what he heard Vegeta and Nappa say through his scouter when he was practically on the brink of death after his fight with Kakarot and Piccolo.

Revive him? We’re better off without him.

That has been Vegeta’s voice talking about him. 

To say that he got mad was an understatement.

He blasted through a mountain, effectively making it explode and leaving nothing behind. It was almost time for a full moon as well, and he was tempted to just look at it and destroy the fucking planet in his Great Ape form. 

But he didn’t. 

The moon never even showed up in the sky in all the time Raditz had been in the open. He guessed it’s probably Kakarot’s doing. It would have taken Raditz maybe a couple of weeks to kill every inhabitant of this planet in that form, but he didn’t want to do that anyway. And he knew it had everything to do with you. 

Thinking about it now, as he flies all the way to a mountain area where he has been the past few days, he knows it wasn’t only because of you. You have been an influence, but it’s not only that. 

As Raditz noticed he could feel your energy, and a lot of other energies around him, he realized that that’s how his brother must have found him when he kidnapped his nephew. He doesn’t have control of that ability yet, but the more he sits down and focuses on it, the better he gets. Yours had been the easiest to find, because you had been around him for weeks, so he got used to it. 

He doesn’t need his scouter, but that’s also when he thinks that there’s a reason why you and your friends need it. Kakarot had the ability to read and find distinctive energies, but you didn’t seem capable of that, it made sense that you would want to keep his scouter as some kind of radar. 

Which makes Raditz think that a radar is the way to find the so-called Dragon Balls. You did mention that they scatter around the world, and that you had to find them. Assuming that you were telling the truth (he can’t be sure since he knows you lied about some details before), then it’s not as crazy to think that a radar to find those magical orbs exists. And if it does exist, then he has to get it and find the Dragon Balls himself.

What for, though? What does he want?

Vegeta wants immortality. Kakarot’s friends want to bring him back to life. But Raditz is not exactly sure what he wants. 

Immortality seems like a safe option, considering how little disregard his own comrades have for him. Especially if they plan on one day confronting Frieza to destroy him. 

But Raditz doesn’t want to live forever. He got a taste of a certain amount of freedom in just a few days since he’s been on those highlands, and he’s enjoying it. He’s just enjoying living. Eating when he’s hungry, sleeping when he’s tired, bathing when he feels like it, and training when his body asks him to. And his mind is not even thinking about living forever because just being able to live like this is enough for him.

There’s only one thing he wants that he doesn’t have. 

But he supposes that asking the Dragon Balls to let him have you is a bit extreme; he never had to force himself on a woman and he never will. He’s pretty sure you want him too anyway. He just needs to make a move, and he would have if he hadn’t seen you look so upset about what he witnessed when he found you. It sent him on edge, so he couldn’t blame you. He really should have ripped that guy’s dick off. 

Raditz feels how ridiculous he’s being the more he dwells on that. He washes his face in a nearby river, staring at the dark sky for a long time. He just needs to get laid, that’s all. It has been a while since he’s had sex, over a year for sure. He’s getting too obsessed over a human girl he just happened to see when he got to Earth. 

He just needs a fuck.

He’ll get more time to think about it afterwards, but he has to get those Dragon Balls. He has to find out if a radar for those exists first.

*

“You’re telling me someone tried to attack you, and Raditz saved you?!”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I just said.” You reply to Bulma, taking a long gulp of her very expensive wine. 

“This is such a wild turn of events.”

“I say.”

Bulma looks you over for a long time.

“So… did something else happen?”

You smile, amused. You were waiting for her to ask that, because of course she would. 

“No, nothing happened.”

“Are you telling me the truth or are you still mad at me?”

“No, I’m not mad at you.” You chuckle, eating more of the snacks she had laid out at the table for the both of you. “It’s the truth. I… I thought maybe he would make a move or… I don’t know. Nothing happened in the end. But I didn’t feel well enough anyway, so it would have sucked…”

“It’s weird that we are talking about an alien that came to Earth to recruit his brother and who set the planet up for an imminent destruction.” Bulma commented, way too casually, as she took a sip of her glass.

“Well Yamcha tried to rob and kill you and Goku when you met him so…”

“That’s nowhere near the same thing.”

“I know…” You sigh, drinking the whole glass at once.

“Well, I’m not judging.” She smiles, reaching for some chips. “I mean, the way I see it, maybe you can save the Earth this way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, maybe you can bang him and he’ll decide to convince his buddies not to kill everyone here, you know? Like, the pussy is so good he’s not a bad guy anymore.”

When you burst out laughing, Bulma laughs with you. 

“I think we should stop drinking, you’re just talking nonsense.”

“Oh, I make perfect sense.” Bulma says, but still puts her glass away. “Do you wanna stay? Maybe you’ll feel better here.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’ll like that…”

You help Bulma clean up the kitchen before you turn to leave towards the room you usually stayed at. 

“Hey, about what I said the other day,” She begins, walking with you down the hall. “I didn’t mean any of it, I was angry…”

“It’s fine. I slapped you so we are even.” You smirk, and she rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m letting that one go for now.”

You chuckle as Bulma pats your shoulder before leaving once you reach the door of your room. 

It wasn’t in your plan to stay at Bulma’s but you always felt a lot better there than you did at your own apartment. Besides, your room is almost as big as your place anyway, and her house is so huge that it’s basically like living on your own. 

Some days go by, and you wonder what the hell is Raditz up to. You have no idea where he’s staying, and the TV news don’t mention anything about a crazy looking guy wrecking havoc, so he must be staying low. But doing what? You don’t doubt that he can take care of himself, you’re not even worried about that. But you’re damn curious about everything else. 

You spend a good amount of time thinking about everyone else; Goku, Gohan, the rest of your friends, and even Piccolo. You hope to God Piccolo did not harm Gohan, explaining that to Goku when he’s brought back it’s going to be awkward. It has been four months since he died, you wonder what kind of training he’s doing. It’s weird that dead people can still train.

Bulma seems less preoccupied, though she still sometimes complains about Yamcha ‘still being gone and all’ (you figure she only does it because she misses him because there’s no way she doesn’t know about the severity of the situation, but you’re no one to preach about it anyway). Sometimes she would ask for your help regarding some technology project or something, but other than that, you used your time to work.

You’re sitting by your computer, when you feel a sudden rush of air hit the balcony windows, making them rattle. You stand to check on them and make sure they’re closed when you practically have a heart attack, as you notice Raditz standing, or floating, right outside. 

“What are you doing here?” You ask him when you step out, confused. 

“Hello to you too, woman.” He says with a smirk. 

He isn’t wearing the shirt you gave him (you figured it wasn’t going to last anyway), and the pants are now basically shorts, though he still has his boots and gloves. With his arms crossed across his chest, he flies a little closer to the rail without actually getting on the balcony, as you step out. You rest your arms on the handrail, looking him over; he looks okay, more than okay if you compare to the last time you saw him, he had scratches on his skin then, but he’s all healed now, and it doesn’t seem like he’s been doing anything dangerous. 

“How have you been?” You ask.

“Is that really what you want to know?” 

“Well, yeah. I don’t even know what you do with your time.”

“I don’t know what you do with yours either.” He smirks and you snort. 

“Ah, so we are doing this, now?”

“I see your hand healed pretty well.” 

Raditz stares at your hand, and you take a quick glance at it. Your nails grew back a bit and your hand looks fine; obviously since it has been just a superficial injury. 

“Yeah, I’m afraid I don’t have a battle scar.”

“Now that would have been sexy.”

“You’re telling me I would look sexy with a scar?” You raise an eyebrow when he chuckles.

“Absolutely, it would be a reminder that you won.”

“Like I said, it was hardly a battle, and I didn't win, you saved me.”

“You still defended your honor well.”

“You’re weird.”

It’s his turn to snort, and you smile. Raditz does look a lot better, the last time you saw he was obviously on edge. He must have been like that for you maybe, but you don’t want to conclude that. 

“It must be a cultural difference.” He says, still smirking. His eyes are lingering on your face for so long, you can’t help but feel your face heat up. “What’s considered attractive on this planet?”

“Uh… I don’t know, it depends…” 

Your eyes trail down his body. You don’t know if Raditz is considered attractive in space, but he sure as hell is attractive on Earth. He’s tall, muscular, he has a defined jaw and his long hair just makes him look rebellious enough to attract those teenage girls who like the bad boy image. You are not a teenage girl, but you get his appeal. 

When your eyes land back on his face, you notice he’s grinning.

“What?”

“So I’m considered attractive.”

“Of course you’d get to that conclusion.” You roll your eyes, looking away to try and hide the blush on your cheeks. 

“Are you telling me you're not attracted to me at all?”

This isn’t the kind of conversation you expected to have today, you didn’t even know Raditz was going to show up at your balcony like he’s some kind of Romeo. He isn’t Romeo by any means, but you had never liked any kind of Prince stereotype anyway. When you turn your gaze towards him, you notice how close he actually is. You have to look down to meet his eyes because he’s flying low, but if you move a couple of inches your noses can touch. 

“I think we already had this conversation, don’t you remember?”

“I remember. I was wondering if you still feel the same way.”

“I don’t know, why are you asking?” Your face is positively on fire, but you can’t help your smile. He’s still grinning widely, and you lean a little closer to him. 

“Curiosity is getting the better of me.”

“So you flew all the way here?”

“Yes, I’ve been up all night and all day thinking about it.” There’s a mischievous gleam in his eyes. You can’t wrap your mind about it; he’s openly flirting with you. 

“I should put an end to your misery then.” You say, biting your lower lip.

“You should, you started this after all.” Raditz takes a quick glance at your lips before meeting your eyes again.

“I started this?”

“If I remember correctly, you’re the one who walked out of that house with those tiny clothes.”

“Like you didn’t come here wearing only an armor and your underwear.”

“That was not my underwear.” He laughs. “You were trying to distract me from my mission here on this planet, didn’t you?” 

“Oh yeah, I sure knew an alien was gonna get here, and my secret weapon was my bikini.”

“What a formidable woman you are.” Raditz smirks, obviously playing with you.

Your eyes light up at the compliment nonetheless, and you smile wider. 

“I suppose I am if all I need is a swimsuit.”

“Maybe I should look at you wearing that again, we’ll see how effective it is.”

“You’re a perv, you don’t wanna check that at all!”

“You’re right,” His nose is almost touching yours as you hold in your breath, unable to tear your eyes away from his handsome face. “I already know that you are the one who has power over me.”

No matter the fact that you see it coming from a mile away, when Raditz kisses you, it still leaves you breathless. It’s surprisingly soft too; it's just his lips pressing against yours, but you feel electricity pulsing through your veins. 

You can’t help your smile when you pull away, and you’re happy to know that he’s grinning just as gleefully. You take a step back as he flies over the rail, wrapping his arms around your waist in an instant and leaning down to capture your lips once more. 

This kiss is a lot more heated and passionate than the last one as he presses his body against yours. Putting your hands on his shoulders, you hum contently when he licks your lips, coaxing you to open your mouth, and you comply with no objections, tangling your tongue with his fervently. His hands are gripping you firmly and you can’t help but gasp, thrilled about it as you imagine what it would be like to feel them on other parts of your body.

You’re not sure if Raditz can read minds, but his hands start roaming your back, stroking your skin through your shirt before sliding downwards and settling on your hips. You wrap your arms around his shoulders, not wanting to break the kiss anytime soon.

Soon comes quickly when Bulma calling your name from outside your bedroom door catches your attention. Raditz doesn’t seem to care as he keeps kissing you, but you know better, pushing him away by his shoulders. 

“Ignore her.” 

“I can’t…” He kisses you insistently, leaving you at a loss of words for a second before you hear Bulma’s voice again. 

“Why not?” He grunts against your lips. 

“Because she won’t go away until I answer… I-I love her but she’s annoying.”

Raditz growls lowly as he pulls away only an inch before stepping back, his body finally leaving yours. He looks frustrated and tense as you look him over. You straighten your clothes, feeling your cheeks with your hands to cool them before walking into your room. 

“Why didn’t you answer?” Bulma asks impatiently when you open the door.

“Sorry, I was with my earbuds.” You lie. She looks you over with a curious look before speaking again.

“I need your help with something, can you come to the lab?”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“…Why can’t you come with me now?”

“Because I… need to use the toilet.” You know you don’t sound too convinced but she shrugs before walking away. 

You sprint across your room to check the balcony, calling Raditz’s name in a whisper when you don’t see him. 

He left, and without actually saying goodbye. You’re a little disappointed, but it’s not like you’re never gonna see him again, so you close the window to head downstairs. 

You almost fall down, startled, when you hear a loud explosion. An explosion that sounds way too familiar. 

“Oh, no, Raditz, what did you do?” You mumble to yourself, heading towards the sound of the blast. 

Turns out it has been on the other side of Bulma’s laboratory, where she kept some of her big inventions and capsule designs. By the time you get there, there’s only debris and dust flying around, but nothing else. 

“This was your boyfriend!” Bulma exclaims in anger, walking through what used to be her lab. 

“Raditz is not my boyfriend…”

“Why did he do this?! What was the point?!”

You don’t know, so you don’t answer. While Bulma keeps lamenting to herself you look around, not exactly knowing if anything is missing, until you hear another explosion that makes you both fall down again. 

“Fuck!” Bulma screams in the highest pitched tone you have ever heard. “I’m going to fucking kill these Saiyans myself!”

You try to contain your laughter as she runs out of the room to head towards where this new explosion was. 

What the fuck is Raditz doing? What was the point of destroying Bulma’s laboratory? 

She stays pissed about it for a few days while all the areas affected get fixed, she would even glare at you whenever you were around. As if you have anything to do. And you don’t see Raditz at all for the next few days. He really just wrecked havoc and disappeared, with no explanation. You’re confused but still a little lightheaded about the kisses you two shared. You feel bad about Bulma’s lab rooms and everything, but goddamnit, you can’t stop thinking about those kisses you exchanged on the balcony. It could even be considered romantic, you weren’t expecting anything like that at all. 

But where the hell does Raditz even go?