#I AM SO GIVING STEVE DRAGON FLY WINGS

[lemonlinelights]

Referencing the post below here’s the godamn Steve Harrington Centric stranger things au that’s been plaguing me and I literally have a full of notes but no actual writing

The short summary: Steve is a faerie

The long of it: The Harringtons in desperation to be seen as a perfect family with a child made a deal with the fae to have one, instead of giving of fertility though the tricksters gave them a whole entire fae baby. Steve has no idea what he is but he has some ideas, and the Harrington’s are away all the time because they are scared of him. When he was younger he went through Nannies who were unnerved by him quickly, Steve tires to act human but still has his quirks.

The biggest changes that I think exist:

Instead of trying to get attention and be King Steve, Steve instead is quiet more so he has less of a chance at being weird. He is still very popular but he is more of a bodyguard when it comes to this au’s high school royalty.

Him and Nancy? This involves how the timeline is different so it’s,,,,complicated. I have two timelines in my brain.

A. Nancy and Steve are together, break up happens as normal, except Nancy now has suspicions of Steve’s human nature.

B. Nancy and Steve were never together. I am more in favor of this one because I want to write Johnathan getting to know Steve and …Oh my god I’ve figured it out lads. Yep I am doing this one. SO! Steve and Nancy were never together and Johnathon and Nancy together befriend him (poly?*) and eventually figure it out. While I am not 100% sure when it’ll definitely be after season three. BECAUSE

I have plans where Hopper basically becomes Steve’s dad. The man has a habit of collecting kids who can kill a person. He (Mainly Jane tbh) is the one who’ll figure out Steve’s deal first in season two.

Barb is still dead, I’m sorry guys I tried figuring out versions where she’s alive but her death is literally so important which is ironic with how it’s treated in the show.

* I love Nancy/Jonathan/Steve so much and it was my og plan but then season four came out and Steve/Eddie, gosh, is so lovely! I am like stuck between on what to do. But I didn’t want any romance to happen until much later anyways so I guess I should just start writing it and see which one feels right for the story once I get there

That saying I literally don’t even have a paragraph down for this just by god am I going to do it (eventually)

[fizzigigsimmer]

Dragon!Shifter AU

I wrote a little in the tags on the OG post but I am still thinking about this so...

The way Billy arrived at the academy, swooping over the castle and roaring loud enough to shake the walls before he flew up towards the Grandmaster’s tower and disappeared into the clouds, there’s no way for anyone not to know who he is and what he is.

Steve’s very used to the way the student body can latch onto a person and OBSESS. You’d think, with their powers and their lineages that the students wouldn’t be effected by things like fan mania, but no, they’re just as impressed by pretty faces and showboating as ordinary humans are. Steve can’t go anywhere without his classmates stuffing the poems and ballads they’ve composed - praising his pale elfin good looks and comparing him to snowdrops, stars, and moonlight - under his pillow or in his satchel when he isn’t looking. And at least once a week someone actually gets up the courage to stand in the courtyard and sing. He’s been crowned King of Midsummer every year that he’s been old enough to attend the end of term festival reserved for the higher level students.

But from the minute Billy Hargrove saunters out of the Grandmaster’s quarters he’s all anyone can talk about. It’s so fucking annoying. His golden skin and sun streaked hair, his glittering blue eyes and the flames that (apparently) dance in them when he’s wielding magic (Steve wouldn’t know because he can’t stand the prick and the less time spent in his company the better) and the inked markings that decorate his back and shoulders that glow gold just before he shifts his shape.

Steve knows Billy’s markings intimately because he sees them three times a week during Champions practice, usually right after Hargrove strips naked and dives from the banks of Emerald Lake, changing shape in a burst of golden magic just so he can knock Steve and the rest of his teammates off their feet with a ten foot wave. And Billy does that shit on purpose, because he doesn’t have to be big as a house when he shifts.

Billy has a demi form, effectively no bigger than a kitten. Steve can hold most of his bendy lizard like body in the palm of his hand while Billy’s long serpentine tail coils around his wrist, warm despite the cool scales that line his body. No one knew dragons could go small like this. Well, correction, Steve supposes it makes a lot of sense now why humans call so many lizards dragons. Wingless, one scaly lizard thing scuttling around looks like another, and it turns out Dragons have been coming to the human world far more often than people think.

Steve discovers that Billy can go small after Flight Studies one day, which he’s endlessly thankful is not one of the classes he has to share with Hargrove. While some elves have strong enough magic and a sturdy enough connection to the fae realm that they can achieve winged flight, Steve remains as grounded and talentless in this area as they come. It’s enough of a sore spot as it is because his dad and all of his cousins fly. The last thing he wants to put up with is Hargrove giving him shit about it.

Steve comes back from class still wingless, but sweaty from all that straining to connect with Gia, and immediately heads to the room he shares with Tommy in the Blue Hall to change before supper. He doesn’t expect to find anything but shirts and tunics in his drawer, so he nearly shrieks the house down when he opens it to find a big lizard thing coiled up in a nest of his shirts.

Patrick, one of the selkies who shares the room next door, comes running in to see what the commotion is about just as the scaly creature raises its long neck, blue green scales glinting in the late afternoon sunlight and yellow eyes fixed on Steve as it opens its mouth and hisses. It has a small row of very sharp looking teeth and a very pink tongue.

Steve slams the drawer shut.

“Whoa! What was that?!“ Patrick demands, drawing closer, only to scurry back along with Steve as the drawer with the creature inside rattles violently.

“I have no idea. Probably another one of Munson’s freaky little pets.” Steve seethes, speaking of the boy from Black Hall who is infamous for his love of dark magical creatures, the more dangerous the better. The drawer rattles hard before suddenly popping open, and one very pissed lizard crawls its way out onto the top of the dresser. it twists its upper body until its head faces the two gaping boys. For a moment Steve admires the elegance of its long body and the dramatic spiny fins that raise from its back as it elongates itself, thinking that the strangely human expression of absolute grump that it wears on a decidedly lizard like face is unexpectedly funny... and then the creature opens its mouth and Steve and Patrick bolt with a yelp, scrambling for the door as a stream of electric blue flame erupts from the creature’s mouth.

The House Head thinks they are pulling a prank when they bring him back to deal with the beast, only to find the room completely creature free and no sign of anything burning. But Steve knows what he saw, and Patrick isn’t known for being a prankster so the Head promises to go over to Black Hall and have a talk with Munson. He advises the boys to keep their windows shut going forward, so nothing has an opportunity to crawl in.

It doesn’t work, because Steve doesn’t know it but the creature was actually a dragon shifter who also happens to live in Blue Hall, just one floor below. Steve doesn’t notice either that first time that one of his shirts is missing.

Long before Billy was ready to admit he liked Steve as a person, he liked the smell of his soap and his magic. Dragons are creatures of indulgence, so the things they like they take to horde. Steve never gets that shirt back or any of the other things Billy ends up claiming from Steve’s room. Not until Steve starts sleeping in his bed. But anything he brings back with him from Billy’s room, Billy just replaces with something else.

It’s expensive dating a dragon, is what he’s saying. The only solution is to cohabbitate.

 The First Part

[rikalovesrice]

Trollhunters : Rise of The Titans [Rika’s Version!]

AIGHT SO THIS IS WHAT SHOULD’VE FREAKIN’ HAPPENED --

The movie starts a year after Wizards. We see Douxie, Archie, and Nari all settled in Metro City. Douxie managed to get a dinky little apartment and works two jobs. He comes home after a long day to Nari and Archie.

Maybe Nari’s running around chasing after Archie. Maybe the two of them are curled up on the couch and snoozing. Douxie smiles softly, petting Archie’s head and gently brushes Nari’s hair out of her face. Maybe Nari was singing to one of her plants and just beams when Douxie walks through the door. Just Magical Siblings and Their Therapy Cat fluff.

But that night, Douxie wakes up. Something feels very, very wrong. Nari feels it, too. 

Cut to the door to their apartment being busted right through, flames quickly consuming the threshold. To Douxie’s horror, it’s the Arcane Order and he immediately goes on the offensive. This is the first display in the movie of Douxie’s strength as a Master Wizard, his proficiency and skill with his magic as he holds his own against Bellroc and Skrael as he did in Wizards. He tells Archie to take Nari and run but neither of them want to leave him behind. Archie instead fights beside Douxie, urging for Nari to escape while she can. Nari’s reluctant because Douxie and Archie have become so precious to her.

When it looks like they’re about to be done in, Archie wills himself to transform into a huge dragon, taking Douxie and Nari into his claws and flying out of there, busting straight out of the apartment. But not before giving Bellroc and Skrael a thrashing with his tail. They manage to give the Order the slip. For now.

Archie quickly loses steam from holding such a form and crashes on the outskirts of the city, transforming back into a cat. Douxie cradles him in his arms. Nari tends to their wounds with her magic, looking forlorn. 

Douxie frantically dials a number on his phone. 

“Claire? Claire it’s me...” A column of fire erupts in the distance. A shot of Douxie, Archie, and Nari huddled close. “They found us.”

Trollhunters : Rise of the Titans Title Screen

The scene fades in on the new and improved Camelot, where the Lakes are staying. We see Jim spending time with his mother and Walter and it’s lovely. We see a hint of Jim’s trauma when he’s cooking and looks at his reflection in a spatula. He flinches away. He doesn’t want to look at himself. Barbara comforts him, a tender heartfelt moment between them.

Claire then emerges from a shadow portal with grim news : The Arcane Order have found Douxie and Nari.

Jim gathers his friends. Claire shadow portals them all to Douxie, who’s found shelter in a hut Nari made from tree roots. Douxie’s cast a barrier to hide their presence, though it won’t last long. 

It’s a really sweet and awesome reunion. Douxie gives Claire and Steve big hugs. Nari bounds up to Toby and holds his hand. Jim, Krel, and Douxie have a “good to see you again, bro” moment between them. Aaarrgh licks his lips at the sight of Archie.

It’s here that Douxie gives the deets on what’s happened. As they begin to figure out a way to keep Nari safe and away from the Order, Nari suddenly says, “No.”

After almost losing Douxie and Archie, her new family, Nari decides enough is enough. She wants to face her corrupted siblings head-on. To not only protect the world, but her newfound friends. 

Douxie understandably protests. But Nari, gentle but resolute, tells him she’s made up her mind. No more running.

And so, Douxie acquiesces. 

Cue the sequence/fight scene on the train!

Nari realizes what Douxie’s doing when it’s too late. They switch bodies and Douxie’s taken away by the Order. 

“Douxie, I’m so sorry...I couldn’t save her,” Claire laments.

Nari, in Douxie’s body, “N-no...No, I am fine. But Douxie...Douxie!”

Everyone’s like, “Oh no” but then oof, they all get arrested.

The police department scene! With Krel and the Blanks busting everyone out.

Now, we find ourselves back on Camelot where Jim’s being attended to by Walter and Barbara after waking up from a nightmare. Bellroc’s words torment him : “Without your Amulet, you are nothing but a frightened! Little!! BOY!!!”

Walter suggests Jim should lay low, let his friends handle things. Jim reaches a real low point here. Claire provides some comfort. Hand in hand, they make their way to the Round Table, where everyone’s licking their wounds. 

Blinky explains to them that the Order wants to awaken the Titans and need all three members of the Order to do so. While everyone’s relieved that Nari’s safe, Douxie’s now in the Order’s clutches and they want to figure out a way to save him.

Nari, sad and grim, says that Douxie’s spell will eventually wear off.

“He is, as humans say, buying us time...”

Cut to Douxie (in Nari’s body) with the Order. Douxie doesn’t make a sound, not wanting to give anything away. They try the ritual and when it fails, Bellroc and Skrael quickly suspect foul play. They realize that Nari isn’t Nari and proceed to forcefully, painfully, undo Douxie’s spell.

Douxie wakes up, back in his own body. He’s swarmed by his friends, all overcome with relief that he’s alright, but it’s short-lived. The Order has Nari. 

Douxie manages to recall where the Order took him. Before they head out, a downtrodden Jim says he should stay behind, going back to the bed chamber. Claire goes to talk to him, but Douxie stops her.

“Let’s give him some space,” Douxie says gently, though he looks just as concerned for Jim. “In the meantime,” he summons his staff, “we’ll hunt the Order down, put a stop to their schemes, and bring Nari home.”

Everyone heads to the warehouse-train track place (I forgot what it was called rip). Just then, Aja comes flying in, having been contacted by Krel. The Tarron siblings have a sweet, wholesome, long-awaited reunion. Also Staja and Creepslayerz reunited!

Aja cautions Steve about the whole seventh kiss-pregnancy thing and he quickly decides that, yeah no, he’s not quite ready for that. His Alien Queen Muffin (or whatever the heck he called her) is back and that’s all that matters to him. Also wtf Eli’s hot and taller than him now.

There’s a cute moment of Douxie and Aja really meeting for the first time. Aja recognizes him.

“Oh! You were the hand-reading waiter boy!”

Upon hearing she’s a Queen, Douxie’s Medieval chivalry kicks in and he bows at the waist.

“The name’s Hisirdoux, Your Majesty.” After Aja butchers his name, he says “Douxie” will do just fine. 

Nomura abruptly reminds them they don’t have time for pleasantries. They get to it. Douxie figures out the sigil and the illusion fades, revealing the Order performing their ritual with a brainwashed Nari. They’re unable to stop it and the Order members teleport away to join with their respective Titans. We see each of the Titans rising.

The Arcadia Gang regroups back on Camelot to form a plan. Jim, discouraged and deeply troubled, is leaning over a rail, head in his hands. Douxie comes up beside him, silent.

Jim eventually asks how things went. When Douxie tells him they failed and the Titans have risen, Jim feels even more powerless and guilt-ridden.

“I’m sorry...I’m sorry, I couldn’t...I can’t do anything. Without the Amulet I’m not the Trollhunter anymore and I’m just...useless--”

Douxie cuts him off, putting a hand on Jim’s shoulder. 

“Jim. That’s not true. Do you remember what I told you? That our strength doesn’t come from special trinkets. Our strength...” Douxie finally gets Jim to look at him, “comes from our friends. From each other. All of us together. That includes you.”

“But...without my Amulet how can I do anything--”

Douxie smiles gently. “By being true to yourself, Jim. As we, your friends, are true to you.”

Just then, Claire joins them and asks if Jim’s okay. Jim smiles as Douxie ruffles his hair.

“I will be. Thanks.”

Jim, Claire, and Douxie find everyone arguing at the Round Table. Aja is wanting to evacuate everyone off of Earth, to which Blinky protests. Everyone just keeps going back and forth until Jim yells for them to stop.

Time to divide and conquer, cutting back and forth between each battle with the Titans.

Aja, Krel, Steve, and Eli tackle the Fire Titan.

Blinky, Toby, and Nomura handle the Ice Titan, with Walter and Barbara steering Camelot.

Jim, Claire, Douxie, and Aaarrgh go for the Earth Titan. Douxie’s hoping to get through to Nari and break her free from the Order’s control.

Aja and Krel fight the Fire Titan side by side on their hoverboard. Steve and Eli help civilians off the bridge and keep them safe. 

Varvatos Vex in his giant robo mech incoming, along with a handful of Akiridion warships.

The Fire Titan proves to be too powerful and defeats Varvatos’ robot, melting down the Akiridion troops in the process. Aja and Krel are knocked down from their hoverboard. They and Varvatos retreat as the Fire Titan continues to burn a path towards its destination.

Toby and Nomura attempt to zipline their way to the Ice Titan to take down Skrael with Akiridion bombs. When the rope fails, Walter extends his wings to save them, but his wings quickly freeze. 

Nomura grabs the bombs and sacrifices herself, bidding a heartwrenching farewell to Toby and her longtime friend, thanking them both. She asks Toby to tell Jim she said goodbye. Ever agile, Nomura scales the Ice Titan and detonates the bombs.

But to everyone’s horror, the Ice Titan only puts itself back together. Walter sinks to his knees. Toby throws down his helmet. Their friend sacrificed herself for nothing.

Aaarrgh is charging after the Earth Titan, Douxie, Jim, and Claire hanging onto his back. Claire shadow portals the three of them onto the Titan’s back. Douxie begins to plead with Nari, even as she constricts him with vines.

Douxie manages to grab her hand. He begins to break the mind-control with his magic, still calling out to Nari as he’s losing the ability to breathe. 

Douxie’s voice reaches her and she breaks free. Nari frantically asks where she is, if she hurt him or his friends. Douxie, overcome with relief, just embraces her.

“You’re here with us, Nari...You’re here with us.”

Nari assures them they have a Titan on their side now. They receive communication from the Tarrons, who warn them that the Ice Titan is getting close to Arcadia.

No time to wonder why Skrael’s headed there. Claire makes a massive shadow portal to Arcadia (the field trip scene!), taking Nari’s Titan with them. Nari tries to reason with Skrael, but he’s having none of it.

NARI VS SKRAEL COMMENCE!

The Tarrons and Creepslayerz arrive on scene. Douxie boards Aja’s hoverboard and together they fire lazers and magic at the Ice Titan. Varvatos dashes and slashes his way up the Titan. Claire, Jim, Krel, Steve, and Eli work to rescue the school bus from getting crushed.

Well, it does get crushed but thankfully everyone made it off. Then, Archie comes flying in with his father, Charlemagne. Charlie flies all the students and Coach to safety. Archie joins Douxie in the air, blasting Skrael with fire.

“C’mon and face the music, Skrael!!!” Douxie summons Spellcaster and starts shredding.

Enraged, Skrael releases a devastating burst of magic that knocks Douxie, Aja, and Varvatos away. Nari seizes the opportunity to impale Skrael’s Titan, but not before Nari’s fatally wounded by him in return. Both Titans collapse.

Douxie runs to Nari, desperately calling her name. She’s on the ground, dying. Everyone gathers around, devastated. Douxie holds Nari in his arms. Archie nuzzles Nari’s arm, tears forming in his eyes. Douxie’s already crying.

“No..No, no, Nari, please...” Douxie holds her hand. “Nari, don’t go, please...!”

“It is okay, Douxie...Do not be sad...”

“I’m sorry...I’m sorry, I said I would protect you...” Douxie leans down, almost touching his forehead to hers (it’s Harry and Dobby y’all). His tears fall onto her face. “I said I would protect you...!”

“You did something greater, Douxie...” Nari squeezes his hand. Tears of her own roll down her cheeks. “You gave me a home. And many, many friends....” Douxie sobs harder, holding her close. “You saved me, Douxie...” She’s beginning to fade. She smiles, her eyes closing. “Thank you...Thank...”

Nari fades, wisps of magic and flower petals slipping through Douxie’s fingers. Douxie wails, Archie pressing close. Jim and Claire lay their hands on his shoulders. Claire hugs him.

Krel is then alerted that the Fire Titan is also on the move towards Arcadia.

Everyone reconvenes on Camelot. They all mourn the deaths of Nomura and Nari. 

They learn that Bellroc is headed towards Arcadia, the center of the universe, because that’s where the last Heartstone is. If at least one Titan reaches the Heartstone, the world will be wiped clean.

Before they head out, Douxie and the Tarrons present Jim with a brand new Amulet, forged from magic and Akiridion technology. That, and the stone in which Excaliber lodged itself. Douxie encourages Jim to try once more. 

Jim steps up on the stone, gazing fondly at his friends around him. They all place their hands on the stone in support. Jim pulls Excaliber from the stone. Everyone cheers for him.

Douxie’s seen texting someone.

FINAL SHOWDOWN IN ARCADIA

Bellroc is seen making their way towards the Heartstone. But what stands between them and the prize is the Guardians of Arcadia. 

Charlemagne, Archie, and Walter soar above. Blinky and Aaarrgh lead an army of trolls. More Akiridion fleets arrive, Aja and Krel at the helm. Varvatos has a brand new robo, too.

Bellroc sneers at their defiance and summons an army of their own : hundreds of big rocky lava monsters.

BATTLE OF THE MOST EPIC OF PROPORTIONS IS A GO.

Trolls are punching, Akiridions are blasting, magicians are casting.

JIM SUITS UP WITH HIS NEW ARMOR AND EXCALIBER AND IS LIKE DON’T THINK BECOMIN’ FOR YA BELLROC FOR THE GOOD OF AAAAAAAALL

Douxie conjures up a spell to send that boy flying onto that Fire Titan.

Toby and Aaarrgh slam and hammer their way through fiery goons. Claire and Aja team up to take down the opposition, noting they should get lunch together sometime. Charlemagne tears through the enemies with his claws and wings. Krel and the Creepslayerz flail about and kick tail anyway. 

Our heroes all cover one another and play off of each other’s strengths and it’s beautiful.

When Douxie’s about to get smothered by lava fists, there’s a flash of lightening and the monsters vaporize. 

Douxie turns to see Zoe with a brigade of hedge wizards. Douxie’s immediately bowled over, smitten.

“About time you showed up...,” Douxie says, in a daze cause wow Zoe’s so pretty.

“Oh, you’ve got a lot of nerve --” Explosions. More lava monsters. Zoe sighs and pats Douxie’s cheek. “Ugh, focus, you big sap!”

The pair are unstoppable together, mowing down the lava monsters in powerful bursts of blue and pink.

DOUXIE’S EYES GO BLUE AND ZOE’S EYES GO PINK EPIC AVATAR STATE RINGS OF MAGIC AS THEY DECIMATE THEIR FOES WITH ROCK MUSIC BLARING YESSSS

And well, Douxie can’t help himself and gives Zoe a good long smooch after they’ve destroyed half of Bellroc’s army.

Toby in the distance : HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN A THING?????

Archie just groans.

And meanwhile, Jim’s finally facing off with Bellroc. After having one of the most badass fights in the franchise, Jim comes out on top, skewering Bellroc in the stomach with Excaliber.

AND BOOM THEY DID IT GUYS EARTH IS SAVED.

....But not without great cost.

Toby’s been mortally wounded, crushed by the falling pieces of the Fire Titan. There’s the tearful, heartbreaking moment Jim has to say goodbye to his best friend, the one who was there with him through it all.

“We did it, Jimbo...We did it...”

Jim holds Toby in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Claire holds Jim and weeps beside him. Aaarrgh is in hysterics but is calmed to pained whimpers by Blinky. The Arcadia Gang grieves, feeling the painful weight of losing the friends they held so dear....Nomura, Nari, and now Toby.

Time Skip/Montage

Douxie found a proper apartment in Arcadia. He keeps a potted plant with those distinct pink flowers, the flowers Nari loved, on his windowsill. Smiles softly at them every time. 

Scenes of Mary with Darci as she mourns. Steve and Eli hanging out. Douxie and Krel jamming, Krel creating beats and Douxie riffing on his guitar. Aja and Claire going on that lunch date. Archie taking a nap on top of Aaarrgh. Walter playing classical music.

It’s taken a while, but Jim’s starting to feel a little bit better. Douxie, Krel, Steve, and Eli came over for some bro time. Seeing the pain in his eyes, Douxie gives Jim a hug.

The final scene is a picnic at everyone’s favorite spot in Arcadia with a single bench and an awesome view of the town.

Aja and Steve are cuddling. Krel and Eli play with a frisbee. Blinky, Aaarrgh, and Varvatos laugh around a table. Douxie and Zoe, holding hands, are having a lively chat with Claire. Jim serves up a huge plate of enchiladas.

Walter and Barbara announce their engagement. Everyone celebrates. 

EMOTIONAL SPEECH VOICEOVER TIME.

Aja, Varvatos, and Eli depart back to Akiridion-5. Steve honks into a tissue. Krel pats him on the back as he waves to his sister.

Barbara kisses Jim on the forehead before going home with Walter.

Zoe kisses Douxie on the cheek and heads off. 

Steve and Krel are the next to go.

Douxie, Archie around his shoulders, pulls both Jim and Claire into a hug before leaving.

Blinky gives Jim a hug. Aaarrgh nuzzle him, looking sad. 

Jim and Claire hold hands and sit on the bench, gazing out at the town.

EMOTIONAL SPEECH VOICEOVER ENDS T_T

The End.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Treasure hunt

Pairing: dragon!Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, kidnapping, death of minor characters, minor depiction of violence.

Words: 2133.

Summary: No knight would dare to save a sacrificial bride of the dragon.

______________

When he lowered your body into a little pond, a cloud of blood dissolved into the water. You whined, looking at your wounded legs. They stopped bleeding when you were in the air riding on the flying dragon's back, but it still hurt too much for you to walk across the cave on your own. You felt the man leaving a gentle kiss on the top of your head while you sobbed.

"You will be alright, my darling." He cooed in your ear in a soft voice and let the water cover half of your body, soaking your long white nightgown smeared with blood. 

You shivered but stayed where you were. You were thinking of his eyes dark as the twilight sky when he came closer to you, tied to a stake and barely conscious after all the beating you took. You tried to run on the day of sacrifice, and the villagers didn't take it kindly. They tried to cover your wounds as much as they could, but the dragon only had to lift the hem of your nightgown to see the ugly shackles marks on your skin. He took away the cranberry beads from your neck and saw your chest, all black and blue, smeared with the red juice. Did they think these smashed berries could cover the bloody marks? 

When the dragon in a form of a man lifted his head, you felt an unbearable heat rising in his fiery mouth.

"Fear not, my lady, it's all being dealt with." 

Although you thought your bones could break if he touched you, he cleaned the cuts and bruises so carefully you barely felt anything at all. Was it his magic? Was the water in this pond charmed? You didn't want to know.

The man wiped your face tenderly and took off your earrings colored in red, scoffing at the piece of metal in his large palm. Apparently, they didn't suit his taste - you saw little, but one glance at the treasures he kept hidden in his cave was enough to see the dragon had more precious metals and gems than the King himself. You expected dozens of servants and concubines to meet their rightful owner, too, but there was not a soul around you two. Did they hide? You hoped so. Otherwise it meant the rumors were true - the dragon simply ate all those sacrificial brides given to him. Even if he cared so genuinely about your wounds, maybe it was because he didn't like to see your bruised skin.

"Ah!" You squeezed your eyes shut. The man above you was covering your cuts with an odd ointment, its smell fresh and somewhat icy.

"We are almost done." He assured you and left an airy kiss on your knee. "You are so young, my love. You will heal fast."

You timidly bowed your head at his remark. How old was the dragon? It was too bold of you to ask him that, of course, so you simply kept your mouth shut.

"I am a century older than you." The golden-haired man said to your suprise, and your eyes widened at his words. "And no, I can't look inside your mind, my lady, but I am able to read your face. Please, do not be afraid."

You nodded, too frightened to speak. You remembered villagers running away in agonizing pain, screaming and pleading and cursing; the smell of the burning flesh and wood; the mighty flame devouring everything on its way. Those people had never been kind to you from the moment they seized you a month ago, but you still did not wish to see them dying such a horrible death.

"Do you feel better?" 

It took you a few moments to respond, and you shivered.

"Yes, Your... Your Highness."

You did not know how to adress someone as mighty as him, and the dragon laughed at your words, making you feel even more humiliated.

"You do not have to call me that, my love. I am Steve, Sarah's son." The dragon smiled at you and kissed your knuckles with his soft lips. You were confused and ashamed. This moment felt too intimate. "I mean no harm to you. Whatever people have said to you before, I did not bring you here to kill."

You stared at him in disbelief. What? Did his words mean the dragon did not want to eat you? Maybe you were supposed to become one of the concubines, then. In the end, if there were many of them hiding somewhere deep in the cave, it could be true. You had never wished to serve any man like that, yet it was still better than to be eaten alive.

"Steve, Sarah's son." You mumbled quietly, looking at your drenched nightgown with a sense of deep shame - the white fabric became completely see-through, and you tried to cover yourself with your hands. "T-thank you for..."

It was hard to speak as you trembled in his strong muscular arms, and the man smiled at you, caressing your head as if you were a child. Before you could finish your thought, he lifted you up in the air, caring little about your soaked clothes that got him wet right away. You shut your eyes again, afraid to see where he was taking you and trying to concentrate on your pain instead. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as before - the ointment Steve used was magical, indeed.

Once you realized both of your were up in the air, you held on to him for dear life. You still couldn't understand how the dragon was able to transform only a part of him - his hands caressing you were still pretty much human. 

You didn't utter a single word before you landed on something soft and fluffy, your nightgown oddly dry on your skin. As you finally opened your eyes, you saw Steve's large figure hovering over you and whimpered, balling up on a huge bed high above the ground.

"It pains me to see you like this, sweetheart." The dragon's voice was unexpectedly tender. "But I know how terribly those filthy brutes treated you. You are afraid I will do the same..." He became quiet for a few moments, and you gulped, suddenly feeling guilty. "Please know I am here to protect you, my love, from any danger from within. No one will ever hurt you again. You're safe here."

Your eyes glimmed with tears at his kind words, and you sobbed, covering your face with a fluffy blanket you found on the bed. He wasn't going to hurt you, he said. He took care of your wounds and brought you somewhere nice, giving you a chance to rest after all the horrors you went through. You didn't know whether he was just toying with you, but for now you felt better, laying on a huge bed covered with blankets and furs. 

"I know you would like to have some time alone, but I can't leave you as of now." The dragon explained when he lowered himself on the bed. "You will heal better with me close. You can handle it, my lady, can't you?"

You wished his hot hand was not on your belly as you shivered from his touch, but you kept silent and nodded. Even if you did not want to be close to the man who could burn you to ashes within a minute, you had no right to protest. Maybe you would heal faster just as he said. 

"Sleep now, my love." Steve pressed his burning lips to your forehead. "It will get better tomorrow."

You said nothing as he pulled the blanket over you and moved closer. This intimacy with a man was foreign to you, but he did nothing other than holding you in his arms. He didn't want to hurt or use you. He only kept you safe just as he said before, you tried to assure yourself.

Thinking of his gigantic scaled wings of blue and gold colors, you quickly drifted off to sleep.

____________

The next morning you woke up to the divine smell of fresh fruits and honey, the dragon placing some peculiar dishes right on the bed around you. When you gaped at him, he let out a low chuckle and gave you a wet towel to wipe your sleepy face. He insisted that you ate right after waking up, claiming that your body needed strength - most of your wounds disappeared during the night. Apparently, it was all his magic.

"Try this, my lady." He easily sliced an odd red fruit with his razor sharp claw. "This one is special."

"Why?" You asked timidly, but took a piece and saw the white pulp with little black seeds inside it.

"It is called dragon fruit." He answered, proud. "It tastes like nothing else, believe me."

You smiled back at the man and took a little bite, feeling something sweet and sour on your tongue. He was right, you had never ever tried anything like that. Snatching more pieces of the fruit from Steve, you started eating them so fast he ended up laughing and rolling over the bed. 

Then he took you to the pond again and gave you your new clothes, a white nightgown embroidered with golden threads and a blue robe, soft as a cloud. Once you changed, Steve showed you around his cave, giving you an opportunity to look at his fabulous treasures - golden and silver coins, gems, jewellery, armour, statues, all those things you had never seen before. He said you could take anything you wanted except for a few magic tools that were unsafe to use. You felt like you were living in a fairytale. 

However, you became frightened again once the dragon told you he had neither servants nor concubines. When you asked what had happened to all those women who were sacrificied earlier, he simply said he took them to the other kingdom far, far away as he had no need for them. But over the seven seas, where women were treated better than here, no one could take them against their will, he claimed, and all of them agreed to leave to start a new life. Did a place like that truly exist?..

"Will you bring me there too?" You whispered, afraid of your own thoughts. 

You didn't like that look in his eyes. It didn't sit well with you.

"I do not think it is... wise, my love." His quiet voice alarmed you. "The women I brought over the seven seas were stronger than you... smarter than you. No one was as fragile, easily broken. Look what had happened when those peasants kidnapped you. You barely stayed alive."

"But..." Your eyes were glistening with tears again. "... You said women were not treated like posessions there... Why won't I be safe?"

"Nowhere is safe if you can't protect yourself even a little. I pray you stay mindful, my lady."

You had nothing to say, lowering your gaze to your bare feet and clutching the silk fabric of your elaborate nightgown. Although the dragon was right, it was hard to believe now he truly let all those women go. Were you that bad? That feeble he decided to leave you with him? It was unfair. You had the right to decide your own fate even if he considered you weak. 

You didn't say it, though. He could still burn or eat you alive if you protested against his decisions, you thought. When his claws scraped over your gentle skin, you bit down on your lip and nodded again. 

You were trapped.

"Until I get stronger, who am I here? What do I do?" You whispered, not meeting his gaze, and the man softly caressed the top of your head. "Am I a prisoner?"

"Of course not, my dear." He shook his head at your words and took your cold hands into his own, his skin so hot it was almost burning. "You are my precious sacrificial bride, my treasure. The only thing I demand from you is obeying me, love. Do what I tell you, and you will always be safe."

He wrapped his hands around your back and made you lean on him, pressing your head to his wide chest and kissing your temple. There was so much tenderness in his moves it almost made you cry. Why did it have to be like that?

"Can you make me stronger?" You moved your head to look at him and saw his bemused expression.

"Forgive me, my dear, but women like you are not made to overcome hardships of life." The dragon's fingers stroked your flushed cheek. "I cannot share my strength with you, I'm afraid. But I can protect you. It is enough, isn't it?"

You nodded once more, keeping your eyes shut and listening to him breathing slowly. You knew little of how possesive the dragons were once they spotted a treasure they wanted to keep for themselves.

[janeykath318]

BuckyNat Fantasy AU

For @green-angst-and-ham

“How much farther?” 

“Not much,” answered Lady Natasha softly. “Quietly now, Sir Steven. We cannot afford to alert the sentries just yet.”

Steven nodded and followed her silently, leather boots making very little sound as the pair crept toward the lair of the evil Hydra sorcerers, who were finally going to meet their doom today. 

The land had suffered greatly from their cruelty and inhumane magic and thousands had died at their hands or killed by the fire of their fierce black dragon, who periodically emerged from the Serpent Mountain to wreak havoc.

Ostensibly, Natasha and Steven were here to slay the dragon, but their true mission was rather different, for the Hydra dragon was no natural dragon, he was a man under a powerful spell, captured years ago in battle and now forced to do their bidding. 

Steven had been Sir James’s close companion and had grieved his friend’s supposed death for years before he had met Natasha and she had told him of her own captivity under Hydra and that she had known and loved James before they’d turned him into their puppet. 

Natasha had spent long years searching for answers in dusty magical tomes and seeking out the most renowned Wizards in the land in hope of learning how to break the spell that held James captive. 

Finally, she had succeeded in finding it and together with Sir Steven, was nearing the end of her quest. Her heart pounded as they drew closer to the entrance to the cave where the dragon was chained. Several stern looking guards were posted outside, but they would soon pose no threat. 

Natasha looked at Steven. 

“It is time,” she told him. “Remember, it is crucial that you not interrupt me when I start the ritual, no matter how perilous things become, do you understand?” 

Steven nodded somberly. The risk they were taking was very high and there was a good chance neither would survive, but it was one they were both very willing to take. 

“I understand.” 

“Then, let the rescue commence,” Natasha said, giving him a confident smile. 

Stepping in front of the cave mouth, she waved her hands and cast a spell that put all the guards into an enchanted sleep. Steve bound them and dragged them away where they wouldn’t be any bother. Step one completed, they entered the cave and Natasha led the way through its winding, twisting passages until they reached the largest chamber where the shape of a huge beast could be seen, chained to the wall and deep in slumber. 

The dragon was huge and fearsome looking, with sleek black wings and scales and deadly claws and a large horned head with flared nostrils that gave out puffs of smoke as he slept. As they grew closer, Natasha could see he looked rather thin and gaunt and the iron chain was digging into his neck cruelly. His left front leg appeared to be made entirely of silver. 

She saw Steve’s mouth tighten in anger at the sight and her own heart ached thinking about the mistreatment he’d suffered from those brute sorcerers. Normally, he’d be surrounded by his handlers, but they were currently being engaged in battle by The wizards and knights of the Golden Shield. 

Taking a small bottle out of her pouch, Natasha carefully opened it and let the contents waft around the room as she began speaking the words of the spell that would break James’s enchantment. 

The dragon began to stir and large red eyes glared at them suspiciously as he sat up on his haunches. Steve moved to stand closer to Natasha, ready to throw up his magical shield of protection, should The Dragon breathe fire at them. Natasha calmly continued chanting, words flowing effortlessly from her lips. It had taken her months to memorize it all and it would likely take at least ten minutes to cast. 

What she had not told Steven was that the spell was so powerful, it could very well drain her life force and kill her by the time she finished. Stephen Strange had almost refused to even give her the formula, so concerned was he for her safety. 

What did her safety matter while the man she loved continued to suffer so? 

She swallowed the lump in her throat and kept speaking. 

The dragon was growling at them now, eyes blazing and mouth opening. Steve threw up the protective shield just in time as a blast of fire burst toward them. Natasha held her ground, sweat trickling down her neck as she recited the spell. 

The dragon continued to blast fire at them and grasp with his claws, but due to his chains, he couldn’t get around Steven’s shield and growled angrily before giving up and sitting back down.

Feeling herself weakening every minute, Natasha steeled herself to finish her mission, Steve standing silently beside her. 

As she uttered the final words, she pulled out a blue powder and threw it into the astonished dragon’s face. 

A piercingly bright light appeared and Natasha sank to her knees, feeling as though she’d been kicked in the chest. As she tried to get her breath back, she heard Steven gasp and looked up to see the light dissipate and the dragon gone, leaving the huddled body of a man where he’d been. 

Steve reached him first, but only because Natasha could only crawl in her weakened state. He broke the chains off of James and began looking his unconscious friend over worriedly. Natasha’s eyes filled with tears as she recognized James’s human face, bruised and battered, dark brown hair falling past his chin. The rest of his currently bare body was littered with various scars and marks from tortures she didn’t want to even begin to imagine. 

“Oh, James,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and muttering a quick healing spell, forgetful of her lessened powers.  

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Steve’s panicked face.

She woke up in James’s arms, with his big beautiful blue eyes looking down at her with love and worry in them. 

“Natasha,” he murmured. “You saved me. How…..”  

She rested her hand on his face and enjoyed its warmth, relief and joy coursing through her. She had her James back!

“With a lot of help and practice,” she told him. “It was a complicated spell to master.”

“Without doubt,” he agreed, placing his right hand over hers. “You nearly killed yourself for me. Good thing Steve here had some healing potions.” 

He gestured towards Steve, who was standing guard some yards away to give them space.

“It was worth it, James,” she said tenderly. “I love you and I never stopped.” 

James’s expression twisted as he fought back tears. 

“Natasha, my love, I longed for you for so long. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” 

His voice broke and he buried his face in her hair, breathing hard. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long.” She told him. “Those Hydra dogs made it very difficult to undo their enchantments, curse them to the black pits of Hell.” 

Her vehement tone had him smiling again and he helped her sit up.

“Do you feel able to walk?” He asked. “We should probably make ourselves scarce before any of them come back.”

The healing potion seemed to have been very effective, because Natasha found she could indeed stand and walk, if a little shakily.

“Yes, but James,” she asked, noticing his silver left arm, “what happened to your arm?”

He gave a grimace and pulled on a tunic Steve had given him. In one of his more optimistic moments, Steve had decided that human Bucky would likely need clothing once he had been transformed and had packed a whole set.

“Happened during the early days as a dragon before the enchantment had been perfected. I transformed back into a human while flying and nearly died in the fall, which cost me my arm. For a long time, I wished I HAD died.”

Natasha’s heart ached for him again and she saw Steve visibly wince at his friend’s words. Leaning up on tiptoes, she took his face in her hands and kissed him. James seemed surprised, but definitely returned the kiss eagerly. 

“There,” she said, after they’d managed to pull apart. “Feel a little better now?”

James outright grinned at her teasing tone and she basked in the glow of it, not having seen of of his becoming smiles in way too long. 

“With this kind of treatment, I’ll be good as new in no time,” he declared, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. There’s no telling how long their flirting would have gone on had Steve not given a polite cough.

“Loathe as I am to interrupt this happy reunion, we really do need to be going, friends,” he reminded them, though his own eyes were sparking with delight. “It would be best if we put on our Cloaks of Concealment.”

James and Natasha took his advice, and soon three grey-clad individuals were stealthily exiting the caves. No one spoke until they had managed to leave the Serpent Mountain far behind and then James heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Thank you,” he said quietly to both of them. 

Natasha squeezed his hand in response and Steve said firmly, “You know I’d do anything for you, Bucky.” 

“I remember,” James said fondly. “How many times did you go off and fight something well beyond your strength because it looked askance at me? Does he still do that?”

“Less often now that he has a wife and child,” Natasha informed him. “Lady Margaret has been wonderful in talking him out of overly reckless ventures. And when she can’t, she usually joins him.”

Steve blushed and James turned to him, looking downright delighted. 

“Lady Margaret! Really? My heartiest congratulations, Steve! So You finally got up the courage to speak to her!”

Steve mumbled again and started walking faster to avoid his friend’s questions. 

“Oh, they’re an absolute delight,” Natasha told James, green eyes dancing with mirth. 

“I’m sure they are,” he agreed. “I have so much catching up to do, especially with you.”

He kissed her hand with a look that promised a lot more, and Natasha’s heart fluttered in a way it hadn’t in a very long time. Her James was finally free. 

[naferty]

For as long as Tony can remember he has been free, unclaimed and witchless. Left to wander the lands Familiars inhabited until the fateful day his fated witch appeared.

Many witches tried. 

Those insanely lucky enough to run into him during their trek on Claiming day instead of summoning him attempted to persuade him to be theirs. Seeing a grand opportunity. They used pretty words and promises. Tried to claim themselves superior, above all other witches, saying with his power and their skill they could be the Matriarchs or Patriarchs of a generation. They tried to bribe him with foods and sweet snacks and materials. Those with wealth tempted with gold, and silver and jewels. Lots of gold, silver and jewels. An amount of wealth no sane familiar would ignore. 

Especially a Dragon Familiar. 

Dragons are famed to be hoarders, but what use is gold to Tony when knowledge is his calling?

He didn’t care for promises or bribes. Didn’t care for the strongest or most skilled. What matters is what’s in their head. Thinking. Quick wit. Able to solve a problem within minutes. 

Tony has the power, the strength and the genius. What he needs is a witch capable of bringing out his full potential just as Tony would bring out theirs. 

And one day he finally finds them. 

On the 97th year of his life, on claiming day, he hears it. The voice of a witch. Strong and clear. Calling for their familiar. Summoning their fated. 

Tony has heard many callings in his years, from the youngest to the oldest of witches, but nothing as loud or as vivid as this voice. It’s as if the very witch is speaking to him directly, and Tony understood what it meant. The witch is his fated. Compatible with Tony in every way excluding size and age. Finally, his witch is among him!

Tony moves quickly. Out of his cave, he flies to follow the sound towards his fated. Branches are snapped upon contact with him and leaves are blown by the mighty gusts his wings created. Never before has the forest experienced his presence in this manner and after today it never will again. 

He landed with a soft ‘thump’ when the voice sounded mere feet away. The trees did well to hide him as he searched for his witch. No steps were heard in the forest despite his size. A skill Tony had acquired over the years. It did well to remain quiet when avoiding witches during Claiming day. 

What is heard are voices. Many voices. Four to be precise. The call goes silent as the voices speak. His witch interrupted just as Tony is about to make his presence known. Tony goes still. Only extending his neck in order to see through the branches. There he sees five bipedal bodies. Witches, from what Tony could feel. A single one on his own and four to the back. The single one Tony could sense as his witch. The strong aura he carries is unmistakable. It’s his fated.

The small pack of humans gathered in a manner that is perceived as threatening. One single witch spoke to his fated. Taunting him. Mocking his skill as a witch. 

“Give it up, Rogers. You’re never going to get a familiar. No animal will waste their time with you.” 

One of the witches behind their leader chimes in, “he should get a rat. Let everyone see the vermin he is.” 

“Good idea. A familiar to match his witch. A pain in the ass and an eyesore.”

“What’s why you have a vulture as yours, Rumlow? To match that disgusting character you have?” 

Tony preened. That’s his fated! As quick with his wit and sharp tongue as Tony, leaving no question he is not scared. Even as the Rumlow character’s face grew dark and he took steps forward. 

With that, it’s Tony’s moment to move. With two large stomps purposely created he broke through to the clearing the five witches found themselves in. All of them turned simultaneously at the new sound and all of them jumped back, scrambling to get away at the large presence he most certainly creates.

It’s when his entire body shines under the sunlight, his red and gold scales glistening, that he stops. He has his neck up high, looking down and showing just how tiny the four witches threatening his fated really are. When they are all left trembling does he finally look at his witch. 

He is a tiny thing. Compared to the four aggravators. His frame is only skin and bones. His head barely reaches Tony’s own belly, but behind all that Tony can sense the power hidden underneath. 

Finally. He has finally met his witch. 

Tony exhales through his mouth. A small flame follows it. Mostly for show to let the four aggressors know what exactly they will be messing with should they continue their attack on his witch. The display has the unwanted side effect of also scaring his witch as he curled on the ground, covering his face. 

That simply won’t do. Tony lowers his head down, trying to take his threatening appearance back. He snorts at his witch to get his attention and when that fails he digs his right claw into the ground and throws the dirt and grass at the boy. 

“Are you ignoring me? Our first meeting ever and you choose to ignore me?” Tony says to the boy.

Finally, that gets his witch moving. From between his arms a single eye peaks through. When the boy realizes Tony will not, in fact, attack, he finally uncurls and stares up at him in awe. 

“There we go. I hear the first meeting between a witch and a familiar is supposed to be life-altering. So far you’re not making a good impression,” Tony says in jest. He has never been happier to finally have his witch. 

“Y-you’re my familiar?” 

“I am, and you’re my witch. I’ve waited for a long time. It’s good to finally meet you.” 

The boy’s eyes go dreamy, as if never having expected a familiar in his life, let alone a dragon familiar. 

To be fair, not many expect a dragon at all, as dragons are a rarity and the most powerful familiar one could partner with. This witch no doubt is questioning how he’s gotten so lucky. 

“That - that can’t be!” shouts the leader of the aggressors. Tony’s sharp eyes land on him. “Why would you choose this runt? Of all the people you went with him?!” 

“The familiar is often compatible with the witch. Don’t get upset you got the scavenger bird just because you can’t do it yourself and have to take from others,” tired of the annoyance, Tony lunged forward and snapped his teeth. The length of his neck is nowhere near enough to actually reach the four, but they didn’t know that. They scrambled tot heir feet and ran for their lives. 

Satisfied, he looks back to his witch now standing. Still on his face is an expression of disbelief. “I can’t believe - I mean, how did I get you of all familiars? Why would you settle for me?” 

“I didn’t settle. I was summoned. You called and I answered. This works both ways. You’ll bring something out of me and I’ll bring something out of you. Perhaps more and nothing less.” 

“Bucky is going to freak! We thought maybe I’ll get an owl if I was lucky enough, but nothing like you! No one thought I’d get anything.” There’s a sparkle of pure joy and excitement in his witch’s eyes. Tony couldn’t help but feel smug about it. 

“How about we give everyone a show when we return? Hop on up. I’ll fly us there in style - whoa!” Quick as a flash, Tony moves to grab his witch from falling. His claw large enough to fit most of the boy’s body in it. “Don’t faint on me. Deep breaths.” 

“Sorry - sorry, I have some health problems, but I’m okay. I swear. I just still can’t believe you’re really here.” 

“In the flesh. Now, what’s the name of my witch? I can’t go and keep calling you boy in my head.” 

“I’m Steve Rogers. What’s yours?” 

“Call me Tony. Now, about flying in with style. You’re up for it?” 

Never has Tony seen a witch move so quickly to the point of nearly passing out from labored breaths, but this is his fated witch and Tony knows he’s destined for great things. After all, Tony is a dragon and dragons are known far and wide for being the strongest familiars. Dragons didn’t earn that title from bonding with common witches. This would be no different. 

He couldn’t wait. 

[platypanthewriter]

The Dragon’s Prince

Chapter One: Humans Aren't Furniture

Steve knew he was in the right spot when the first villager to see him--a man with a huge bruise on his forehead--yelped and ran, clutching at what looked to be a solid-gold chamberpot. 

“I heard there’s a dragon here,” Steve called out, standing in his stirrups.  His horse sighed. “I don’t want any trouble--I definitely don’t want your chamberpots--”

“Who the hell are you?”  A young woman poked her face over the fence near his elbow.  “What’s that sword for, then?”

It was both convenient and annoying, Steve thought, to be travelling without his entourage and ceremonial armor.  “This sword wouldn’t hurt him.” He grabbed the hilt and pulled a few inches of blade to show plain steel, not the slick, greenish sheen of an anti-magic enchantment.  

“Mmmm,” she hummed, squinting.

“His privateer license expired, is all--” Steve shrugged.

“Go away!  You’re here because he ate our sheep!” a kid yelled, and Steve sat back down in the saddle, brushing snow off his arms.

“Is that what happened?”

“He just strolled into town and asked whose sheep he’d eaten,” said another villager, hanging out a window.  “Been up on north field. Hucked treasure at everyone.” More of them were venturing forth, one of them holding a golden harp.  

“Broke my front tooth,” said the kid, yanking her lip back to show a gap, “--he was naked.”  Steve stared between his horse’s ears, and the kid smacked his boot.  “You gonna take all the stuff he gave us? It was too much, but he gave it to us.”

“No,” Steve grimaced at the guy hiding in plain sight “behind” a tiny shrub, “--no, keep your...chamberpots, I understand a trade caravan will be coming through, if you want to sell some…” he trailed off as a villager waved and pointed him to a ceramic vase larger than she was.  “Uh, some of his...gifts. They usually keep track of where he’s been.” A cheer went up around him, and he sighed. Definitely the right place, he thought.  Now I just have to convince him to listen to me.  And risk his life. If anything, he felt more tired, and he rolled his shoulders, hiding his wince as it strained the bandages under his jacket.  While I’m doing those two impossible tasks, maybe I can convince him to put on pants.

After some negotiation--and a stern refusal to accept harps or encyclopedias in payment--Steve stood at the base of a fall of boulders, and began to climb.  He started scrambling faster as the sun set, and the boulders shifted, and caught his boot. He froze, taking a shaky breath, and clung to the rock face, remembering the expression on General Hopper’s face after Steve received his orders.  

“Why not a dragon that responds to summons,” Hopper had gritted out.

“We need a fire dragon,” Steve had echoed his father’s words in his own voice, and tried to sound certain.  “He--he doesn’t kill anyone outside his license. I just--I don’t know what I can offer him. He could be in danger from them too, and they didn’t give me any--I can’t go to a dragon, even that dragon, and say “Please fight our battles, we’ll definitely figure out something to pay you with later--”

“There was that bandit.”  Hopper had shaken his head, and stomped away.  

Steve had imagined himself seared black, and speared on a tree like a butcherbird’s breakfast, and wondered semi-hysterically which had happened first.

“E-except that,” he’d agreed.  “I’m--I’m sure there was some--”

“He is a dragon,” Hopper muttered.

Steve yanked on his leg, yelling at the flash of pain, and the boulders shifted again, sending an avalanche of rocks and dirt down slamming into his shoulders, and the back of his head.

When he awoke, he was warm, and clean, and everything was bright through his eyelids.  “...oh shit,” he whispered, curling tighter, “--I’m dead, and now everyone else will be dead--”

“Whoa there,” breathed a voice next to his ear, “--pretty boy.”

Steve stilled, opening his eyes on gold, and golden scales, because the voice of a dragon was unmistakable.  It rumbled all around him and blew across the skin of his back like bellows over hot coals. He swallowed, closing his eyes again.  Of course I’m naked.

“I know, touching me feels like heaven,” the dragon continued, “--but I have to ask.  What drives a prince...to climb a landslide...to knock on my door?”

Steve tried to stand, and found his right foot was a sea of pain.  His vision went starry.  

“Whoa, whoa,” the rumble said, and smooth scales curled around him.  Steve allowed himself to be propped up, then lifted, grabbing at the talons around his butt and ribs, and blinked into the face of the gold dragon.  He’s young, he thought distractedly, his head’s barely the size of a pony.  

“My--I’ve been sent--”

“Are you a present?” asked the dragon, ignoring him.  “I took your giftwrap off, it was a bit--” it waved a claw, “--torn, after I dug you out.  I think you’d look great on this rock here,” it held him up to a slanted boulder the size of Steve’s bed, and tugged some furs from a pile to toss over it.  “I think your ass would really bring the room together.”  

“My--what,” Steve tried to turn, and the dragon leaned its head within view, teeth bared in what Steve suspected was an annoying dragon grin.  “My--I am not--I am his Royal Highness Prince Steven of Hawkins, Duke of Harringtown and Knight of the Realm, and I have been--”

The dragon sniffed him, and he resisted jerking away, swallowing.  “Why send you out without your guard? You were wounded before you came here,” it informed him, and he stared back into enormous, bluey-gold eyes.

“I know that.”  Steve gritted his teeth.  

The dragon’s grin widened.  “Entirely-gold hoards are out this year.  I think a prince’s smooth skin would really make it pop.”  

“I thought you didn’t eat people.”

The dragon blinked, then huffed.  “I’m just saying you’d look nice lounging--”

“I need your help,” Steve hissed.

The dragon momentarily stopped trying to angle him different ways in the light.  “What are you offering?” he asked, the flames flickering in his throat.

Steve rolled his eyes.  “I don’t know what you want.  You must have enough money,” he waved at the piles of treasure, “--this isn’t even your main horde.  And you aren’t paying taxes, like you agreed to do when you applied for your privateer license--”

“...you.”  The dragon went still, running a knuckle down Steve’s face, and then met his eyes again and laughed.  “As--as decor, naturally--”

“In a cave where you put me?” Steve asked, to clarify.  It was better than being roasted, he figured, or dropped onto a spike.  “I’ll need to ask you to defer my payment until--”

“One night, with you,” the dragon interrupted, turning its face away.  “I mean, if you can’t tear yourself away after--”

“One night?” Steve squinted at him, and then grabbed for the dragon’s talons again, kicking for balance as he was suddenly lowered to the floor of the cave.  The mountainous gold coils and wings folded and curled inward, packing themselves impossibly tiny until they resolved into a human-ish shape covered in shining scales, and sporting dragon horns.  

He crouched, frowning at Steve’s swollen foot, then smirked up.  “One night...with me.”

“Oh!” Steve almost clapped in realization, but caught himself, blushing, as the dragon-man leaned his face into his scaly hand and cackled.  “Just…” he trailed off, rephrasing his objections, until he remembered the amount of people at risk, and the whole reason he was there.  Maybe he enjoys sex where the human survives, he told himself, and held out his hand.  

The dragon took it in both of his, edging much too close for a handshake, and held it, grinning, as though he was delighted Steve had offered it, and didn’t intend to give it back.  

He leaned closer, his clawed thumb rubbing gently at the skin between Steve’s knuckles, and licked his lips, his gaze dropping to Steve’s mouth, and Steve barely had time for a startled inhale before he had warm lips pressed to his.  Up close, the dragon looked a bit like a very expensive costume, Steve thought, like someone at a masquerade ball, when he would wonder whether the person pressing him into the wall knew who he was kissing. He wondered, now, whether the dragon had ever attended.

 The gold was digging into his butt, and his foot throbbed, but the dragon’s warm bulk was surprisingly cozy.  He had unreasonably long lashes, and soft lips, and Steve let himself relax into the kiss, licking curiously into a dragon’s mouth.  He found it nearly steaming hot, and thankfully clean of singed bandit. The pile of treasure he was lying on shifted.  

He winced as something jabbed into his side, and the dragon reached over--still licking gently into Steve’s mouth--and bent the metal arm of it back with a grating creak.  The reminder that a dragon could have crushed his skull with one hand, and instead was running soft fingertips along his jaw--and shifting scaly knees so as not to jostle his sore foot--made him feel a bit like jelly inside, and he laughed into the kisses, panting.  He pushed himself up on his elbows, into the kiss.  

The dragon hummed, grinning against his mouth, and dropped alongside him.  His hands were pleasantly hot, running up and down Steve’s ribs. “You should see what I’ve got, before you agree to anything.”

“What?” Steve murmured back, tossing a leg over the dragon’s waist.  

“We can--we can make sure this is fine--after I’ve saved your humans.” 

“What--what do I call you,” Steve whispered into the kisses, and the dragon pulled back to grin at him, then leaned in for another kiss, and another.  

“You don’t--you don’t know my name?”  He kissed Steve’s lips again. The skin was starting to feel tender.  

“You’re designated by color, ability, and area,” Steve rambled, accepting kisses when he paused.  “--it’s--mm. It’s a mess--the way you keep flying around--I thought your name must be some--some Dragonish growly noise that--that they didn’t know how to spell, which, rude--” he panted into another kiss, losing his train of thought.

“...Billy,” he snickered into Steve’s ear.  “You always let strangers do this?”

Steve remembered with a jolt that he’d been sent to bring a dragon back, whether it required his oath or his life, and he shook his head.  “It’s dangerous, what I--what I need from--”

Billy bit, oh-so-gently, up the side of Steve’s neck, and he groaned, losing track of his words as his eyes fluttered shut.  “You finally came without your guards.”

“Were you waiting to get me alone?” Steve snorted.  “If you weren’t giving pornographic statues to children, you wouldn’t rile everyone up so much--” 

Billy snickered.  “It was heavy! I didn’t wanna carry that thing!  Fun though it was.”

“She was eleven--”

“Oh, she kept cows, she’d seen worse.  You probably bought it from her.”

“We couldn’t very well--”

“So she’s better off, now.  Several times the price of a couple cows.”  Billy’s teeth shone sharp in his grin, and he leaned in to run his knuckles up Steve’s side.  “I’ve got some treasures I’ve been saving for you…actually, here--” he leaned off the edge of the rock, then held up a vial of sparkling silvery fluid.

“It’s--it’s just my ankle,” Steve stared at it.  “We can stop by a healer on the way back, there’s no need for--”

“You’re hurt,” Billy uncorked it with his teeth, “--that’s what it’s for.  If I’m not paying attention, and you get hurt again, it’ll use it up later, maybe.  Maybe your tears will start healing the sick.”

“How would I even find out that was happening,” Steve asked, frowning at the vial.  “You should sell that stuff to some kingdom with a dying queen, or something.”

“Or maybe,” Billy whispered, “--you’ll live as long as a dragon.  Try for that one.”  

“How am I supposed to try for something--”

Billy grinned, sticking it in Steve’s mouth, and Steve drank it, staring at him over a potion worth as much as...a prince’s ransom, he wondered.  A king’s castle?  

“Why didn’t you drink it yourself?” he asked, as Billy frowned at, tapped it, and tipped the last drop onto Steve’s extended tongue.  “You could--”

“I’m a dragon,” Billy licked his lips, watching Steve’s mouth, “--you think I’m going to get hurt?  You’re fragile.  If something happens--”

“Why do you care about me?”  Steve asked, lowering his eyes to flex his suddenly-painless foot.  He reached down to tug at the loosened bandages. They were stuck together with blood.  “I mean--”

“You--you’re the prince,” the dragon laughed, tossing the empty vial against the far wall, and Steve nodded, biting his lips.

“Right.”

“No, I mean--” Billy crouched in front of him, cocking his head to catch Steve’s eye, “--everyone knows what you’re like.  We know what you do, because you’re the prince. You’re on coins--”

“I’m valuable.”  Steve nodded, keeping his shoulders relaxed, and giving his best public ‘welcome’ smile.  

“No,” Billy pushed him back, climbing over him again, and kissed his nose, “--no, I mean--I know you, I read every copy of the Imperial Gazette--”

Steve snorted, bursting into cackles of laughter.  “You think you know me through that?!”

“...no,” Billy muttered, his gold scales pinkening.

“What’s my favorite color?”  Steve grinned up at him, and Billy leaned in for another kiss.

“Gold,” he whispered.  “The best color.”

“...I do like yellow a lot,” Steve whispered into the kiss, and Billy squeezed him.

“I know enough about you,” he mouthed along Steve’s ear, “--to know I want to know everything about you.”  

Steve’s heart pounded, and he took a shaky breath, then cleared his throat.  “...what kind of name for a dragon is ‘Billy’,” he mumbled, his head muzzy with warm hands and bright smiles.  “Shouldn’t you be. The Slayer. Something about fire. Smog.”

“Rude,” the dragon whispered against his mouth.  “Billy the Slayer?”

One more question, Steve thought, before he burns them all away, kissing me.  “Wha--Billy.”  he cleared his throat, leaning into the hand on his head.  “Wait. Why did you burn that man?” 

Billy punched his shoulder.  “You saw his crimes!”

“I didn’t,” Steve raised his eyebrows, tugging a fur over himself, and lying back against the boulder with a sigh, “--because you didn’t send in your paperwork, like usual--my lungs are full of bandit flesh now--you couldn’t just break his legs and drop him at a guard station--”

“I--I definitely sent--” he paused, thinking.  “I didn’t.” The dragon scrambled away, sliding down the mound of treasure in his tiny human form.  “Ah, here they are--”

“How do you fill them out?” Steve asked.  “Do you use your claws? With your eyes shut?  Because that would explain--”

The cavern brightened with a poof of flame.  “I use a quill--look--” he clambered back up the shifting mounds of treasure, waving a handful of papers, “--see, look, he stuck his cock in places it wasn’t wanted, so I stuck a tree through it.  And set him on fire.”

Steve grimaced, finally relaxing.  “Oh. Well. That’s fair.”

“And then I threw his golden chamberpot at the first person I--”

“Who has a golden chamberpot,” Steve started snickering, and couldn’t stop, curled against his warm dragon.  Eventually the days travelling wounded caught up to him, and he mumbled his replies, then snored, with the vague impression of gentle claws combing through his hair.

@neonlaynes​ @tracy7307​

[chequeredwhitpost]

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Three: 🌹🎞 : Reunion Part One-      ‘I Thought You Were Dead’.

(Douxie X OC)

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I run around the corner into an alleyway, only to find a dead end.

Melia: Shit…

Their eight presences come up behind me, thus blocking me in. And I can bet on them having drawn their weapons.

Douxie: “Alright! Who are you?”

I turn around, my mask still covering my face. I lift my arms in the air, peacefully.

Toby: “Take off your mask!”

Claire: “Let’s see who this mystery do-er finally is!”

I look up at the height of the wall, thinking of potentially hopping the height and running for it. However, a black—flying cat with dragon wings—hovers into view.

Archie: “And don’t try anything funny!”

I scoff. Looks like I have no escape. I slowly rest my hands on my mask.

Melia: “I guess you guys finally got me…”

But that’s a half lie. They’ve only ‘caught’ me because I wish them no harm. I want this to go peaceful. I don’t want them to walk away injured in any shape or form. But if I wanted to, I could have them down on the ground, rendered helpless and escape. But that’s not me. Unfortunately, though, they think of me as their foe because I was spotted at the wrong place wrong time, at one of their scenes. I’ve been following them lately, to make sure of what they find doesn’t kill them.

It’s not like I’m a creep though! It’s just to be protective of them! To make sure all goes well! That’s all. . .

Steve: “Stop delaying!!”

Though, I don’t quite understand how he became a regular.

Melia: “I can’t believe I’m doing this…”

I remove my mask, and the instant that I do—the instant that I reveal myself and they see who I am--- each of them freeze. I bite the inside of my cheek, feeling nervous.

Melia: “Well? Now you know who I am, so what’re you going to do?”

Douxie is the first. He steps forward, closer to me. I step back, closer to the walls of the alleyway. This continues and soon enough, my back is pressed against the bricks, as far as I can go. And Douxie’s right in front of me. He reaches his hand up and I look away, closing my eyes.

But then, his arms wrap around me in a hug. I open my eyes to see the others stepping closer. Douxie whispers to me something that semi-breaks my heart.

Douxie: “I missed you…”

I hug him back, wrapping my arms around him. I rest my head against his shoulder, sighing.

Claire: “Hold on! This doesn’t make any sense!”

Douxie pulls away, pulling me closer to the group by my hand. Everyone looks to me or Claire as she brings up a very valid point.

Claire: “Ok, how are you alive? We all saw the footage where you were killed by Seviaya!”

I lower my gaze to the floor.

Melia: “Heh. Well, it’s not exactly all of what you were supposed to see.”

Jim: “What we were supposed to see? What does that mean?”

Melia: “Well…”

I nervously rub the nape of my neck. Claire directs her staff --- which I notice is no longer the shadow staff and is now just a typical witch’s staff— she directs her staff at me, as to threaten me. But I don’t flinch.

Claire: “Jim asked you a straight question, so I expect you to give him a straight answer.”

Douxie: “Claire! Are you insane?!”

I scoff, pushing her staff aside and out of my face.

Melia: “Seems like someone still doesn’t trust me.”

Claire: “Not since you told me what you were really after—I don’t care if you’re alive or if you’re dead either way.”

I roll my eyes as Douxie growls under his breath, staring at Claire. I push my hand out in front of him. Melia: “Relax, Hisirdoux. We’re fine. Right, Claire?”

Claire turns her gaze away from mine, but nonetheless she nods.

Claire: “For now…”

I grit my teeth, Melia: “Wonderful.”

Toby: “Yeah, OK, you’re alive! But someone wanna tell me WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON???”

Blinky: “Yes, I agree with Tobias. I’m sure we’d all like to know.”

I sigh, running my fingers through my hair and lowering my head. I cross my arms and look up with a proud smirk of mischief.

Melia: “Well, let’s just say… Here’s where it gets complicated.”

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End part one!!!

CLIFFHANGER!!!

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

A Painter’s Embrace*

Chapter Four

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Alpha!Steve Rogers x OFC  |  Word Count: 3228 Warnings: Angst, hurt, fluff, smexy bordering on smut

Constance tried not to sigh loudly in the face of Mister George Bailey. A nice enough alpha, he danced attendance along with the others, but Constance had grown weary of his company.

She'd grown weary of all their company. Grown weary of the pretense. None of these males did for her what the Colonel had for Lizzy.

And she wanted that. She wanted heat and fire. Wanted uncontrollable desire. Wanted a male who looked at her like she was everything: the beginning and the end of all things. She was not that for these men. She was a prize to be won. Nothing more.

“Jarvis.”

Her father’s beta arrived instantly at her side. “Miss?”

“I am tired, Jarvis.”

“Gentlemen.” Jarvis’s wings, a deep russet and black swept up. “The lady is retiring. I shall see you out.”

There were six males in attendance today. All of which sought her hand for their own personal reasons. In other words, they were after her fortune.

Constance wasn't stupid. She knew that was her major draw. Her last name and the fortune attached to it had become a beacon causing every alpha with even a modicum of pedigree to pant at her wing tips. But she didn't want just any alpha; she wanted her alpha.

She wanted what her parents had. She wanted what Lizzy had.

Quietly bidding her suitors farewell, Constance stood and brushed past Mister Bailey to go and look out the window. Even know she knew Lizzy was upstairs with her prospective mate, likely getting into who knew what kind of trouble.

Well, not trouble per se, but a modicum of fun Constance envied. What she wouldn't give to have an alpha sweep her off her feet. What she wouldn't do to have one stroke her wings.

She would love to get her hands on those midnight feathers or into those raven locks. Feel the rough stubble of his unshaven face against her palm. Breathe in the scent of his skin once she’d divested him of the cravat which hid his scent-

Her thoughts came to a grinding halt.

What in the world are you thinking, fool? Constance berated herself.

Lord Barnes was nothing but a rake in a uniform. He’d made his opinion of her blatantly obvious, and to let herself daydream down that folly of a road would only lead to disaster.

Still, a quiet voice inside her whispered, he has magnificent wings.

She sighed softly and stretched her own out behind her to their full extent. It had been too long since she'd taken to the sky and let the air fill her feathers.

“What? Chase them all out already?”

Constance yelped and jerked her wings in. Pain tore it's way up her shoulder, and she grabbed for it when her wing drooped toward the floor. “Was that truly necessary?” she snapped, turning to face the man most prevalent in her thoughts.

He gazed at her without comprehension. “It was only a query. Not that I care about the males you bat your eyes at.”

“Not that, you ignoramus! You startled me, and now I have pulled something in my shoulder!”

He came to attention so swiftly it gave Constance pause. His entire remember changed, going from petulant ass to concerned Alpha so quickly it left her breathless when he cleared the room in five long strides.

“Show me,” he demanded.

“I'm well able to care for myself!” she snapped defensively.

He turned eyes of silver blue to hers. “I did not say you couldn't, but an injury of any kind to the wing muscles is not something to ignore. Now show me.”

This time the demand was accompanied by a brush of Will, firm but warm, which saw her submitting before she'd fully comprehended what was happening as she turned to give him her back. Gentle prodding of a rough hand had her standing very still until he found the sore spot and she hissed in pain.

“It's a flight muscle. You're grounded for two weeks.”

Constance gritted her teeth together and stepped away from him. “I shall take your opinion under advisement, Lord Barnes.”

“It's not an opinion. It's a statement of fact. If you try and fly with that muscle acting up, you could do permanent damage!”

“And I said I would take your opinion under advisement!” she huffed. “I'm not a child, sir. I can care for myself.”

He took a step closer. “Now you listen here you little fool! I'm trying to help you!”

“By ordering me grounded?” she gasped. “Who died and made you my alpha?”

Red tinted his eyes. “Do not sass me, omega.”

Constance’s wings slowly lifted, the one drooping when her muscles gave out, but the other lifted high and spread with her anger. “Do not speak to me like that again! Alpha or not, Lord or not, you have no right to speak to me like I'm yours! Not after last night and what you said. I am not some village girl you can treat with contempt one moment and order around the next! I am a Stark, Lord of Winterborne, and you will show respect to me in my own home or I will have you tossed out on your ass.  Have I made myself clear?”

“Perfectly,” he snarled. “But let me explain something to you, omega. I'm here at the behest of your father.” He stepped closer and locked his fingers around her wrist. “You can spit, and you can snarl all you like, but I'm not going anywhere until the Colonel tells me it's time to go.” The arm he had in the sling slowly pulled free of it as he backed her into the wall and closed his left hand around her throat.

He didn't squeeze but brushed his thumb over her scent gland and made her shake. Then, without warning, he laid the full weight of his Will against her.

Constance whined as her knees gave out.

“Make no mistake, my pretty omega. No one will make this Warlord Alpha leave before he's damn good and ready. Not you, not your threats about your father, nothing!” he hissed harshly, continuing to massage her throat.

“Alpha,” Constance whimpered, only for him to release her roughly and step away. She looked at him for one long, heated moment before rushing from the room, unwilling to allow her tears to fall in front of him.

It wasn't fair. Not fair at all.

She'd found him, her alpha, but he didn't want her.

***

Lizzy lay on Steve’s chest, her head pillowed over his heart. She felt… floaty, like when a strong updraft held one aloft without the need to work one’s wings.

Her dress had long ago pooled around her waist, though her stays and soft blue slip remained in place. His shirt was open to the navel, and her hand rested on warm, toned, ridiculously sculpted muscle. He liked her touch, had in fact, encouraged her to touch more; such was the reason for their scandalous lack of dress.

She smiled and rubbed her cheek on his chest. Not so scandalous, she supposed. They were courting, his offer of mating accepted, and if what Aunt Pepper had told her was true, her Aunt and Uncle’s interactions had been even more risqué during their initial encounters.

His hand had yet to leave the skin between her wings, his fingers tracing and dancing patterns on her flesh. The passionate kissing, touching, wandering of hands had pushed her farther than she was ready, but her alpha had known instantly and slowed down, bringing them to this position of comfort.

“I could sleep here,” Lizzy sighed. Never had she felt so warm or safe as she did in his arms.

He caressed her cheek, trailing his fingers down to her chin which he lifted so she could see his intense eyes. “You could if you wished it,” he offered quietly. “No one would think anything of it if you came to my bed, omega.”

Butterflies jumped in her stomach. Could she? Did she dare?

“I’m… not ready,” she whispered, looking away.

“Elizabeth Heartright,” he huffed teasingly, “I was only offering myself as your pillow. That you would imply I meant something nefarious,” he gasped and placed his hand on his chest, “I am shocked and appalled!”

She’d started to giggle long before he finished and wriggled around until her chin could rest on the back of her hand while she peered up at him. His eyes twinkled, his smile was full and genuine, and she smiled coyly. “Isn’t the Golden Devil known for his devious nature? A girl must protect her virtue from those who would seek to snatch it away, after all.”

He sat up slowly, all power and grace, forcing her thighs to part over his when he shifted their positions and laid her back on the seat. He was so gentle, tucking her wing, careful of her feathers, seeing each one lay flat and straight on the wing stuck between her body and the back of the settee. The other, he ran his fingers through, stretching it out long into the room, sending the pastel rainbows shimmering through the plumage.

Then, his began to lift, big and beautiful and golden, gleaming in the daylight streaming into the room. They went higher and higher, curved out slowly, then snapped outward, quick and sharp, cracking loudly in the silent room when the air was cut by his feathers.

Lizzy gasped, her heart pounding. He hovered over her, like a dragon who’d caught his prey, glinting fangs, red-rimmed eyes, and flexing muscle. His Will washed over her, caused her to quake and moan with the tender brushing. Heat built in her abdomen. Need hummed on the air. And when he lowered his head to lave his tongue along the edge of her stays, press beneath, and slide over the hard bud of her nipple, Lizzy growled.

“I assure you, Miss Heartright,” he rumbled, treating the other breast to the same attention, “if I wished it, I could be most nefarious. But,” he brought his mouth to the gland on the side of her throat, “I gave my word. At the Queen’s pleasure.”

His words whispered over her skin before his mouth latched down and pulled on the tender flesh. She gave a soft cry, the pleasure intense, and wrapped her arms around his waist, tugging him down until his big frame pressed against hers. She needed the weight, craved it like she craved his scent. Craved the way he made her feel. Safe. Desired. Adored. Protected.

“Alpha! Please!” she begged, her legs falling farther apart, the fabric of her dress pinned beneath his hips. A surge of heat shot through her body when his ground down, giving her only some of what she needed. Still, the pleasure was beyond what she’d yet experienced, exciting her omega, and leading her down a dangerous path when she rumbled a purr, soft and low, meant to entice and invite her alpha to continue.

He rutted against her slowly, pushing, grinding, pressing the hard length of his arousal into her, soaking her pantaloons in seconds when heat began to build there. There, where before she’d only felt pain and discomfort, aching for something she had failed to find when each heat had torn through her body.

He collected her hands one at a time, drawing them up, linking their fingers together and holding them above her head. The rumble of his purr was nearly a growl when he bit lightly at her throat, nipped and sucked and licked her skin, leaving marks behind she was certain, but Lizzy found herself unable to care.

He was calling to her base self, stoking her instincts into a raging fire. She wanted him. She lusted for him. She was desperate to release the pressure building in her belly and heard her dress tear when she jerked her knee up to feel him better.

“‘mega,” he purred and it was an avalanche falling, a cascade of boulders tumbling through her body. “Lizzy,” he whispered, soft and sweet, barely audible above her harsh breathing. “Tell me you want me.”

“Oh, gods,” she whimpered, nearly screaming when his teeth scraped her skin.

“Tell me you want me.”

“Yes!” she cried, her hands clenching in his. “But I’ve never felt…”

“I know, my sweet dove,” he purred, kissing her tenderly, still rutting, still rocking into her aching center. “I could show you pleasure unimagined, Elizabeth.” She stiffened, but he nuzzled his nose against hers. “Completely clothed, my darling. Just like this. I could give you a taste, Lizzy. A taste of what being mine would entail.”

His eyes were heavily shuttered when she managed to bring her gaze to his, but there was enough room to see the bright sky blue swimming in a sea of red.

It gave her pause for only a second before she nodded slowly, giving permission. He hadn’t tried to force her, or coax her with his Will, only waited for her agreement.

Once she gave it, he settled further into her, adding more weight, shocking her that he’d held back, to begin with. Then his wings came down, covering them completely, closing them in a haven of darkness and heat, need, desire, and excitement swiftly suffusing the air. She tasted them on her tongue, just like she could practically taste her own arousal, so thick was the moist heat between her legs.

Again he began to grind his hips into hers, rut against her, but this time there seemed to be a purpose to it as the heat built swiftly in Lizzy’s belly. Her breasts burned, ached and tingled, then his mouth was there, hot tongue stroking, teeth nipping, sneaking beneath the edge of her stays again to curl and flick and worry her nipple. Her heavy breathing eventually worked to his advantage when the flesh worked its way upward with the assistance of his mouth. His lips closed over the entire bud and pulled.

Lizzy growled, excitement pulsing with the pleasure searing her veins. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so good. Not even flying filled her with such freedom as the attention of her alpha’s mouth on her body. When his hips connected the next time a shock ran through her, driving her head back into the settee in bliss, her throat arched, nose fogged with the intensity of the scents surrounding her.

She could smell him laced through them all, musk and pine and a sharp spice like cinnamon suddenly joining the bouquet. Lizzy knew instantly it was the scent of his arousal. Hot and sexy and she lost herself in the haze of instincts pounding through her blood when she twisted one hand free of his and buried it in his golden curls to pull his head up. He moaned, deep and throaty, and she tugged further, lifting her head to latch her mouth to his throat and suck hard.

His teeth snapped together, and he snarled, his now free hand sinking into her hair to hold her to him. The rutting of his hips became frantic, pulsing in time with the beat of her heart until the tight coiling the heat in her middle had been doing snapped, and she wailed, her cry cutting off under the onslaught of his mouth swallowing her scream.

He thrust gently twice more, sending her body reeling before going still above her. He continued to kiss her though. Long, drugging kisses, pulling every ounce of pleasure out of the action he could before letting his forehead rest against hers as he sucked in air.

“Thank you, omega,” he sighed, a smile curling his lips.

A blush coated her cheeks, and Lizzy looked shyly away. “That was… incredible.”

“Come to my bed,” he coaxed, placing soft kisses on her cheek and jaw. “I can show you more. So much more, Elizabeth.”

“Steven…” she hesitated, knowing just how easy it would be to give in and mate the Warlord Alpha.

“I give you my word, my dove, as a Colonel and an Alpha, I will not mate with you until you agree to it. Until you ask me to before a heated moment happening in my bed. I would never take advantage,” he promised, truth resonating in the words.

Lizzy bit her lip, wanting to give agreement, but hesitant toward the unknown. Could she trust herself with him? Could she keep her hands to herself when all she wanted to do was submit?

A pounding on the door had his eyes flashing instantly red right before he leapt to his feet, his leg giving out before a sweep of wings steadied him. He dragged Lizzy to her feet, had her dress up and refastened in an instant, his shirt buttoned, and was striding with his cane toward the door before she’d fully registered the intrusion.

Steve wrenched the door open. “Who the bloody hell interrupts a courting…” his voice trailed off.

The distress hit her but a second later and sent Lizzy stumbling forward. “Constance?” The woman’s face crumbled, but it was the abject despair which hung on her like a cloud which broke Lizzy’s heart. “Oh, Constance! What happened?”

“He… he… he,” she tried, only to shake her head when the crying wouldn’t stop.

“She smells like…” Steve’s nostrils flared, and his brows pulled together. Then, anger coated his face, followed swiftly by rage when red ran through his eyes. “I’ll kill him.”

He was gone out the door before Lizzy could ask, slamming it loudly behind him. Constance jumped and hunched in on herself at the noise, her wings snapping down as she bawled into her hands.

Lizzy rushed forward and hugged her friend. “Whatever has happened? Constance, please! You’re scaring me!”

She looked up, her face blotchy and eyes devastated. “He’s mine. He’s mine, and he doesn’t want me.”

It took a moment for what she was saying to make sense, but when it did, Lizzy felt all the blood rush from her head. “Lord Barnes? Lord Barnes is your alpha?”

She burst back into tears and nodded.

“How? Are you sure?” Lizzy asked, leading Constance toward the settee before changing her mind and taking her to the window seat instead.

A frantic nod was all Constance could manage for a few minutes as she sobbed against Lizzy’s shoulder. Finally, after soft coos and soothing pets, she calmed enough to give a coherent answer.

“He’s not wearing a glove on his left hand. I knew it the second I smelled him. He’s mine, Lizzy… and he doesn’t want me.” Constance closed her eyes and curled in on herself, her head landing against the window pane. Her wings lay limp behind her, the picture of pain.

Lizzy stared in disbelief. It wasn’t possible. It didn’t happen. Alphas didn’t reject their omegas. Ever.

She took Constance’s hand and held it tightly between her own, silent tears now falling down her face.

Whatever were they going to do?

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[thesteamhat]

the making of Something Old, Something New TLDR: Paintings are Essays and stories of their own creation. This is how I Fan art. Fantasy Art is more than just dragons and wizards. I owe a lot of my integrity to the work of Wizards of the Coast. If you don’t want to read it, thanks for being an audience, if you like this piece as much as I do, maybe consider buying a print HERE So now and then, very rarely in recent times, you make the piece you are most proud of, what makes pieces like this, to you, so important is often they act like little essays of what’s going on in your mind captured in your visual artistic abilities. Firstly, I only found out I was a part of the @lightgreyartgallery Gallery, Link HERE  (<= CLICK IT, there are some AMAZING artworks in there and I am humbled and honored to be amongst some of them) about 20 days after I should have, I had roughly ten days to make this piece happen.  But this piece has been rattling around my head for a very long time, for multiple reasons I have wanted to paint my reimagining of Wurmcoil Engine for several months now, taking influence from Old Phyrexia moreso than it’s more smooth styles now, the old grimy exposed biomechanical monstrocities they were when they first struck fear into the multiverse of Mtg. And I have loved drawing gnarled monstrous teeth since I was like, 14 and found my first salvation from the Anime style black hole, with the work of Dave Allsop. The piece clicked after a while of me researching angels and their less common eldritch appearance, I love angel mythology because it’s some of the first cases when Fantasy Art as we first would understand it, was born, when artists, with patronage from the church, began to capture the more mythological visuals in a realistic believable way, these were the stepping stones towards imaginative realism, and with this classical painters began adding realism to images of the Minotaur and Gorgons. Naturally tribute goes to Frazetta and his pulp colleagues for making Fantasy Art a valid genre of Art, but Angels and Demons have their seats at some of the earliest forms of what we now know as fantasy art. In this there are many scriptures that make the ranks of angels far more than just winged humans, ranging to anthropomorphic shoggoths of wings and animals to 6 winged seraphim covered in eyes and the strange mechanical flying objects of the ophanim or thrones. In taking inspiration for these and looking up eldritch angels, finding the obvious references being made with the Eldrazi as they stretch between @bugmeyer art and the Angel Eldrazi of Shadows over Innistrad. Suddenly my speculative Vorthos fired up and I couldn’t stop thinking of this simple story I wanted to tell. So, there’s a fairly obvious storytelling theme a lot of my work recently, it’s an inevitable marriage of what I want to draw and paint from what’s inspiring me, and a drive to improve the storytelling purposes of illustration, there’s an easy way to tell a story visually and that’s through duality. Duality is simple, it’s a clear and obvious conflict presented to an audience, old vs new, mechanical vs natural, good vs evil, light vs dark or simple, Thing vs ANOTHER Thing that isn’t the first Thing: This was sort of struck on when I found the work of @gallerygerard and I was hooked, there’s a lot of pieces depicting smaller warriors facing off Balrogs or Giant Wolves and the narrative being presented is inescapable, so yeah, I wanted to be able to do that too. So this piece is definitely not the last of something like this I’ll do, I hardly think I’ve mastered the simple diorama of this at all, but this piece was definitely all because I started pushing for that. (also helps that I can make some money off designs like this because they make killer playmats.) So before I get to Magic and it’s influence on me... I need to talk about Paint. I am not a painter, every time I have attempted to mark a canvas or board with wet or traditional has failed horribly and I escaped to the confines and safety of digital from a young age, on the upside it’s definitely saved me a LOT of money avoiding paint, but truly, I never really have touched it all again. But then I gave a good proper look at the work of Ryan Pancoast, Steve Prescott and the Man who taught me about colour, Jesper Ejsing . I have SO much respect for their work, nothing comes close to how much a piece inspires me as seeing it in physical paint, there’s a strange sort of magic (hehe) with the bravery of what is being done with a brush to capture wholly what makes a piece unique when it’s literal material smeared, dabbed and layered on a canvas. I tried to capture this by making the design intricate and filled with visual eccentricity and natural texture, as well as using the literal shape of marks made to really push the values to try to tell a bolder narrative with this piece. I cannot list the ways I think I failed at this, but I only want to learn and keep practicing when a piece like this comes just a little close to capturing that magic. An additional mention on the artists above, the pure bravery of making work that looks so perfectly not of this world in an industry plagued by stoic realism is nothing but inspiring, I truly want to achieve as Elsing puts it: “a window looking into another world.“ Interestingly I struggle with fan art, every now and then there’s a thing I like at the time so I make something to celebrate it, I however often lose interest before making it an actually good ‘to my own standard‘. Magic allows me to still stretch my own creative wings, my own imagination being allowed to play amongst an established universe that no other Fan Art allows me to. Magic’s art direction told me it was okay to be a bit weird. It’s no secret that I aspire to work on Magic the Gathering art, to give contributions that could only come from myself and aren’t just attempts to be ‘that kid who makes art that looks like it was made by Prescott/Ejsing‘ so the eclecticism there, while attempting to learn the secrets their work holds and putting it into my work. I love the fact that through the years I’ve seen work come out of Mtg, that has truly allowed artists to put their own unique vision into a game with such a flowing world. To follow the gushing about Mtg, this card game has had a massive effect on my development, whilst it’s definitely John Howe’s Smaug to be the piece that opened a door to me to Fantasy Art, it was also a little card called Vizzerdrix from Starter, that fully made me fall in love with Magic’s art, that made sure that one of my aspirations would be to make art alongside pieces like it. Once I’d grown up a bit Magic’s art and art direction allowed me to discover artists, some already mentioned, that would show me how it’s done: Throughout my portfolio in the past I have made little attempts at the sharp lighting and texture of a Tyler Jacobson facet or the bold journey of colour through an Ejsing and the brave shape of a Raymond Swanland . And I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that Magic has taught me both a love of games and the value in just going outside and meeting someone new, and having a conversation with someone over our mutual love of slinging spells, beating people’s faces in with an array of creatures and the elegant game of drawing and flopping cards.  I love that whilst I needed it to be there for me, Magic was, from the fact that when I’ve been at my lowest darkest moments, I could go out and enjoy playing Magic with someone, to the marvelous time of becoming more aware of challenging myself with more diversity to my characters and worlds, Magic’s art and story seemed to agree. Thank you Magic. So here’s this piece, what I see as my way to pay tribute to 25 years (that’s almost my age) of Magic the Gathering, it’s only a whisper of it’s effect and influence on me whilst I am hoping it feels as awesome a piece as I feel it is right at this moment. This month is insanity for me, my participation in the Gallery is a true first, my partially developed tabletop game Disastles is making massive progress over on Kickstarter (please take a look at that HERE) and that product and the relationships it’s making are laying the groundwork for something to be announced in the near future which is literally a career moment for me. I needed to just talk about this exact moment in time and I am so happy that I have this piece that’s just a small snippet of my life where a lot is going on, as in every life, and it’s just (as Fantasy Art almost always is) a lot more than a monster fighting another monster. Thanks for reading if you did I tried to share a lot of my influences both for context but especially because if you like art, you owe it to yourself to know some of these names and see their work, I owe so much to them myself

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #321

“Pinwheel and Crim, Wolf Heads, MissingNo is Healed, Scuttle Is Annoying”

[Pinwheel] Is chasing some flitters-

[Crim] - is lounging in the branches of a tree, half asleep -

[Pinwheel] Starts scrambling up the tree to catch a flitter-

[Crim] snores softly, completely unaware -

-The flitter lands on Crim-

[Pinwheel] Launches herself at the flitter-

[Crim] - is suddenly wide awake as Pinwheel lands on him. In a blind panic, he goes limp and falls out of the tree -

[Pinwheel] Falls on top of him- Oof

[Crim] - wraps all six legs around Pinwheel - Whys? Is better ways to wake me up.

[Pinwheel] - Was chasing flying thing, it land on you

[Crim] - looks around and spies flitter, still up in tree - Dat thing?

[Pinwheel] - Uh huh

[Crim] - groans, letting go and rolling to feet - Is just little thing. It no bite, no sting, not like other buzzing ones.

[Pinwheel] - But it challenge

[Crim] - watches flitter wander away - Yes, can be. It getting away...

[Pinwheel] - Gotta chase- Starts taking off after it

[Crim] - snorts smoke watching her chase after the poor flitter - Flap fast little thing.

[Pinwheel] Lunges and catches it, starting to pull it apart-

[Crim] No! - jumps up and rushes over - You not need to kill. You can't eat it, play yes, but not hurt.

[Pinwheel] - Why not?

[Crim] - sadly picks up a piece of the flitter - Cause, not nice. Not good. Hunt to eat, yes. Play yes. Protect, yes. But kill for no reason, bad.

[Pinwheel] - But these fun to tear apart!  And yellow glowy eyes just makes more

[Crim] - frowns as flitter pieces despawn - Yes, but still not nice. Hurting others not nice, even little flapping things.

[Pinwheel] Sticks tongue out at Crim-

[Crim] - sighs sadly - This why others 'fraid.

[Pinwheel] - I don't care

[Crim] turns away and starts walking - You should Pinwheel. Alone is not nice. No fun, no safe, no friends, no happy.

[Pinwheel] - Not alone, have you

[Crim] - stops and looks back - What if something bad happens to me and I gone?

[Pinwheel] - I no let that happen

[Crim] - shakes head - You can tries, but there are nasty things out in world.

[Pinwheel] - But here is safe, at least, that what Splendy say

[Crim] Safer, but not always. Friends help protect, help watch to keep safe. The more friends, the more safe.

[Pinwheel] - But our bites protect us

[Crim] My bite works once, then I need to hunt spiders to do again. I can't breath fire right, I can't fly. You has limits too, water bad, right. Friends would help keep safe, help hide from rain or heal ouchies.

[Pinwheel] - But...  But...

[Crim] - turns around and comes back over - I no wants Pinwheel ever hurts, but I know things happen. Bad things, that we can't stop. I... Couldn't help siblings, so was left alone. I dont want you to be alone Pinwheel, Evers. So, I try to make friends so I will always not be alone, and so others can watch you too.

[Pinwheel] - Siblings?

[Crim] - frowns & nods - I knew I had siblings, we could talk through eggs to each. But... They suddenly were afraid, then silent. Then I alone.

[Pinwheel] - I always alone, had nobody

[Crim] - goes over and flops down beside her - Not anymore. You has Crim, you has Tall Happy. Others here do cares about you, even if you no want.

[Pinwheel] - I meants to be alone, I know that

[Crim] - shakes head - No, You make choice.

[Pinwheel] - No I knows, Splendy tells me my egg found by itself, no signs of anything else

[Crim] I hatched alone, in dark cold cave. Then am I to be alone?

[Crim] And they found your egg... You didn't hatch alone did you?

[Pinwheel] - You said you had siblings, so no.  I hatched here, by Splendy

[Crim] Had. They... Weren't... Only bones and cracked shells. I was alone.

[Pinwheel] Huffs and flicks her tail a bit in irritation-

[Crim] I had no ones. No one to feeds me, keep warm, keep safe. I almost got eats many times.

[Pinwheel] - But then you taken to other seed

[Crim] I hatched there.

[Pinwheel] - Oh, I thought big ones were supposed to keep all of you safe...

[Crim] - shivers - I hunted by other big ones. They.... Not nice. Crim was very very small. Big protectors not see to protect

[Pinwheel] - Oh...  I just bit everyone who got near

[Crim] I not have poison then. Too small. After I grew some, I... Had trouble finding good rocks. So I hunted spiders, then I get good bite.

[Pinwheel] - But then you came here!

[Crim] - nods and smiles - Yes. I made friends with Docs, with White Lie, and others. - boops her nose with his - Met yous.

[Pinwheel] - And then you bits me!

[Crim] Well, you bigger and scared me. I fear you wanted to eats.

[Pinwheel] - I was nots bigger!

[Crim] Bigger is bigger. Everything bigger before tried to eat Crim. I didn't know and wasn't used to others. I was afraid.

[Pinwheel] - I was just curious

[Crim] Yes, but I didn't know. Is sorry I bite you.

[Pinwheel] - No, is okay, you first to bite back

[Crim] - giggles - You did looked surprised.

[Pinwheel] - It hurt, but that's okay

[Crim] And that's why sorry, not wanted to hurts, just not get eats.

[Pinwheel] - Is okay- She leans against Crim

[Crim] - starts purring & putting off heat - So see, friends is good. I like being your friend. And, even if you not want, others are your too.

[Pinwheel] - No, only Cri

[Crim] Nope. I wants Pinwheel safes, so others are & will be. It makes Crim happy to make sure you safe.

[Pinwheel] Annoyed sound-

[Crim] - nuzzles her, cranking up the purs - You want Crim happy, this make Crim happy.

[Pinwheel] - No promises

[Crim] Is start. Not say go play with them, just no mean to them.

[Pinwheel] - If they stay away, I no bite

[Crim] Is start...

[Pinwheel] - I sleeps now

[Crim] - yawns - Yes, sleeps and me watches.

[Pinwheel] Curls up into a ball of feathers-

[Crim] - shifts to curl around her, but still sitting up -

[Pinwheel] Is soon sleeping away-

[Crim] - is just purring away and notices another little flitter wander over toward them -

-There's a little whuff of air as something orange flies by low and fast-

[Mb] Don't go too far! - Is stomping along in a bit of a huff-

[Celine] Circles back around and does a graceful roll in the air just above the treetops before winging in a curve to get lower-

[Mb] Eyebrow at the pair in the grass- Well you got bigger, little red.

[Celine] Wheee!

[Crim] - nods - Aye, Grumpy. So did she - watches Celine flying -

[Mb] Yeah, still a little small though. I like the new scales.

[Celine] Flaps slow and catches onto a tree, flumping upsidedown like a bat- Such a pretty day!

[Mb] Yeah yeah.

[Crim] Yes, Big Red took me to nether. Helped get rid of old, Pinwheel helped too. Hi Celine.

[Celine] Crim! - She drops down and bounces in the grass a bit awkwardly - Oh... - She gives Pinwheel a pointed look- Why you with little meanie?

[Crim] Cause she my friend. She naps, I watch over.

[Mb] Oh Gk? Heh, nice to know the big nether dragons softened up to the idea of another male around.

[Celine] But she's mean. She'll bite you!

[Crim] - shakes head - No, I bites her. She not mean, just like to be left alone. Others.... Pester her and no listen to her.

[Pinwheel] Ruffles feathers a little in her sleep-

[Celine] Listen to her what? She just says no.

[Mb] Yeah last time I saw, that was the only word she knew.

[Crim] - cranks up the purs again - No, she talk more now.

[Crim] Angry no one understand and made her upset.

[Mb] Then poke her. Lets see what the puffball has to say.

[Crim] - stops purring and growls - No. Let her sleeps.

[Mb] Whatever.

[Celine] Okay. You sleeps then. I'm gonna go play!

[Crim] - nods - Has funs !

[Mb] Huffs-

[Celine] crawls up Mb who is basically clawed and poked as she does so, and then launches off his head.

[Mb] Grumbling and a little bit of bleeding.

[Crim] - tries not to giggle - She fly very goods.

[Mb] With a little help. I hope she gets bigger. She needs stronger legs to get a lift up-

[Crim] She will, I think she'll get bigs enough you can flys with her.

[Mb] I can already fly with her. Just not... on her. - He looks down and rises off the ground in a creative hover.

[Crim] I knows, I means on, Grumpy. - sighs - Must be nice to fly.

[Mb] You could always hitch a ride on one of the big dragons.

[Crim] No no no. Some of the bigs are goods, but... I stay on grounds. Been dropped before, not good.

[Mb] How the hell did you get dropped?

[Crim] When little, bigs hunted me. One caught and fly up, but I bite and they drop. Hurt several feet.

[Mb] Dammit, the big ender dragons were supposed to watch the little ones. We got three adults over there. There weren't that many eggs. Shit.

[Crim] - shrugs - Crim was very very little when hatch.

[Mb] What a bunch a bullshit.

[Celine] whisks by - Master said a bad word!

[Mb] COME ON.

[Crim] - giggles -

[Pinwheel] Huffs a little, her feathers flaring out where her breath hits them-

[Celine] Zooms by and messes up Mb's hair-

[Mb] Muffled cussing-

[Crim] - purs softly and curls tighter around - Shush Grumpy, no wakes.

[Ryan] -is walking through the trees when he come to the group the three heads all talk- hello

[Mb] What the fuck?

[Celine] from above- BAD!

[Crim] - sits up blinking, startled but still wrapped around Pinwheel - Hello, hello, hello.

[Ryan] dragons like me want to play?

[Crim] Play is good, but I watch friend sleeps. Sorry sorry.

[Ryan] oh sorry should be quiet?

[Crim] - nods - Yes please. Thanks.

[Celine] Swoops low and Mb sticks out an arm, there's a little bit of blood as she glooms on him to stop but he just ignores it-

[Ryan] -loafs on the ground-

[Crim] - smiles at newcomer - I Crim, she Pinwheel, who you?

[Celine] Bobs her head around like a chicken, not sure which eyes to look at-  I'm Celine!

[Ryan] I'm Ryan

[Mb] Where's your Herobrine kiddo?

[Celine] Hi Ryan and Ryan and Ryan!

[Ryan] Herobrine I has no Herobrine only stevenson

[Mb] Eyebrow - You belong to a Steve?

[Ryan] yes he super nice but I wanted to explore so I here now

[Mb] Mutters - fricking Steve with a dragon, what the fuck..

[Pinwheel] Her tail flinches a little in her sleep at all the noise-

[Celine] Dances around a little- You a neat dragon! Pretty eyes!

[Ryan] this is second time he raised me

[Ryan] thank you celine

[Mb] Another one in a regeneration cycle. Hmmph. I never even heard of that shit until coming here. Do you get bigger each time too?

[Crim] - curls up and lays head over Pinwheel's back, purring and being warm and calming -

[Ryan] stevenson said my egg glitched back to him after I died when the world fell apart

[Crim] That sounds scary.

[Ryan] I don't remember it but it does

-Out in the real world-

-It's night and very foggy. The streets are quiet apart from the barest chilly breeze. Under a street light something staggers, it's fuzzy and smoky and barely there apart from a small object in it's center. It falls to all fours and snuffles in phantom pain, trying with all it's might to just exist. It manages to make it into a nearby yard, covered by the fog and practically crawls up the short steps of the bungalow. With it's last gasp of energy it ejects the tiny artifact and the stone carving rolls onto the doormat and comes to a stop with a small click at the base of the door. The shadowy figure reaches out a barely defined hand for it, but the smoky fingers slip through it's stone surface. It's a carved wolfs head, with a bitter, slavering grin. Cut crudely from plain gray rock. The intruder begins to unravel, just fading away into shadows with a single pitiful cry. It sounds like an infant in distress and it's meant to rouse the occupant of the house on this bitter, dark night. Officer Licht, someone has left you... something...

This message has been removed.

[Silver] Is washing Lapras' shell while his other pokemon all relax in the sun-

[Liz] -Jogging with Buff-

[Buff] Is jogging along the coast at a loping pace with a big smile. He's shirtless with a towel on his neck- What a great day!

[Lapras] Turns to look at them as they draw nearer-

[Silver] Climbs on Lapras to get at a more difficult spot-

[Sky] -Walking after Buff and Liz. It's a bit of a fast walk-

[Buff] Slows down to look- Wow! Your dragon looks great all buffed up shiny!

[Silver] - Huh?  Oh, um, thank you...

[Buff] Turns to check on Liz and give hir a little scratch- It's a great morning to be out and about with friends! Hey Sky! You're never gonna work up a sweat just walking!

[Sky] That's fine by me!

[Liz] -Prrrrrrr-

[Espurr] Toddles closer to them, a bit curious-

[Buff] But it's good for you! - He does a little flex with his free arm and his bicep muscles roil around -

[Liz] -Leans down to sniff Espurr-

[Sky] So is walking, Buff.

[Silver] Starts working on Lapras' neck- Easy now, I know this tickles a little

[Buff] Pokes Sky with a thick finger- You should punch trees, work on that upper body. You're skinny as a rail!

[Espurr] Goes to pap Liz-

[Sky] -Exasperated arm wave- I'm an ENDERMAN!

[Liz] -Lightly noms Espurr's paw-

[Espurr] Lets off a psychic blast as a warning-

[Buff] So? Spend more time carrying blocks! You gotta LIFT bro!

[Liz] -Lets go of Espurr's paw and hisses-

[Silver] - Espurr be nice!

[Sylveon] Jumps around happily in the shallows-

[Sky] Endermen aren't mean to look like anything other than twigs, Buff.

[Buff] But you could try! And it feels good to gets your hearts rate up.

[Sky] -Crosses arms- No.

[Zweilous] Is a bit agitated as it starts huffing and stomping around a bit-

[Silver] - Zweilous?

[Buff] Notices Zwelious- Aww. It's a little dragon! With two heads? Whats the matter little guy?

[Silver] - I don't know...  I know he's been fighting mobs lately, but he shouldn't be agitated

[Buff] Maybe he's hungry?

[Liz] -Bats Espurr-

[Silver] - He shouldn't be, I just fed all of them

[Buff] Scratches his scalp- Maybe he needs a haircut? It seems like his fringe is covering his eyes?

[Silver] - He's supposed to be like that, it's how he is as a pokemon

[Espurr] Jumps around Liz's paps-

[Buff] Oh... I don't know. Maybe he just needs some scritching? - He reaches to rub the creatures fringe like it was one of the servers dragons-

[Zweilous] Tries to bite Buff-

[Silver] - Zweilous!

[Buff] Whoah! Snippy little thing. Naughty! - He wiggles a finger at Zwelious.

[Zweilous] Continues trying to attack-

[Sylveon] Makes a concerned noise-

[Buff] Just pats his face away each time it gets close-

[Zweilous] A slight glow begins to surround them-

[Buff] Is too focused on parrying to notice-

[Liz] -bat bat-

[Silver] - Um... Buff?  You might want to step away...

[Espurr] Grabs Liz with it's telekinesis-

[Liz] -Yelps- No! No! Do not grab!

[Espurr] Gently puts Liz back down-

[Buff] Huh? Um... - He backs off quickly-

[Zweilous] Is soon enveloped in the light and suddenly grows much larger-

[Silver] - Oh no...- He's reaching for his pokeballs

[Buff] What's going on?!

[Liz] -Hunches close to the ground before turning to look at the freshly evolving Hydreigon- Why it glow?!

[Silver] - It's evolving!

[Buff] Is that okay?

[Hydregion] Roars angrily, Silver has once again lost control of this particular pokemon-

[Sylveon] Darts to hide behind Lapras-

[Liz] -Scoots hirself between Espurr and Hydreigon-

[Buff] WHOAH! It's huge, and kinda floral?

[Silver] - Hydregion please!  Calm down!

[Buff] Should I grab it for you?

[Silver] Fumbles for the correct ball- Hang on, I should be able to at least get it in it's ball-

[Buff] It's okay, I can get it. It's no biggie- Strolls right up to the hydregion-

[Hydregion] Snaps at Buff, aiming for his head-

[Buff] Just ducks and dashes between the pokemons legs-

[Hydregion] Is focused on attacking Buff-

[Silver] - Buff move!  So I can catch them

[Buff] It's okay! I've got this! - He reaches up and just picks the Hydregion up from underneath-

[Hydregion] Uses one of it's attacks, becoming more angry-

[Buff] Just bounces the pokemon up a little to get a better grip on it. It's having a hard time snapping at him around it's rotund belly-

[Liz] -Now fully flat on the ground watching Buff try to disable Hydreigon-

[Buff] Gives a big huff of air and squat thrusts up, flipping the pokemon into the cold shallows-

[Hydregion] Roars using tackle as it charges forwards-

[Buff] Just braces himself and lets the Hydregion run smack into him, his feet furrowing deep grooves in the sandy shallows.

[Silver] Finds the right ball and throws it-

{Buff] Is shoved over with a big splash-

[Hydregion] Is caught by the ball, angrily shaking it once inside-

[Silver] - Oh dear, are you okay Buff?

[Buff] Yeah! Just a little wet. That was fun!

[Silver] Sighs- Now I'll need to probably get another badge...

[Buff] Badge? What for? Do you need to arrest the dragon?

[Silver] - No, in my game you earn badges to prove that you're a good trainer and certain badges help you control other pokemon

[Liz] -Slowly stands back up- What badge for? -Shi starts to move toward Buff and Silver, only to turn and nose Espurr toward them too-

[Silver] - To help me control the other pokemon- He pulls out what badges he does have

[Buff] Those are neat! You're a real boy scout! Should put em on a sash.

[Silver] - We have special cases to keep them in

[Espurr] Goes to check on Sylveon-

[Buff] Pokes the ball, - are ya just gonna keep him squished in there for now?

[Liz] -Trots up to them and sits beside Silver, looking up at him-

[Silver] - He's not squished, the inside of pokeballs are miniature environments perfect for the pokemon inside-

[Buff] Oh... okay. Well if you need anything else wrestled, just call me!

[Silver] - I'll let you know

[Buff] Yes! I'm Buff by the way. Doc's NOTCH, and this is Liz and Sky!

[Silver] - I'm Silver...

[Buff] Well you look snazzy with all that gold. I bet you've got a solid handshake- put er there! - Offers a hand-

[Liz] Hi!

[Silver] Hesitantly takes his hand-

[Sky] -Totally didn't teleport away when the Zweilous evolved into Hydreigon... Nope. He didn't just come back, either, no sir.-

[Buff] Shakes firmly but gently and lets go- You've got lots of cute pets.

[Silver] - Thanks, they're all dear to me

[Buff] So where are you from?

[Liz] -Blepping up at Silver-

[Silver] - A different game, a glitched version of it at least...

[Buff] So does that mean you're going to have to go out to get a new badge? I haven't been out much. Kinda fretting because my Herobrine stepped out for a while.... feeling idle... Anyway!

[Silver] - Yeah, but I have to figure out which badge I need first

[Liz] Why not get all badges?

[Silver] - Because I only needed all the ones from my game.  Those I have, but Hydregion is from a different game so I need a couple different badges

[Liz] But get all badges? Wouldn't be useful? Get them all in one go and not need anymore, right?

[Silver] - You have to go through a lot of fights to get all of them Liz

[Liz] Oh.

[Liz] But you're strong, right? Must be no problem?

[Buff] But... If you've got all the badges from one game that means you're already a high level, right? Don't all the games start you out from nothing?

[Silver] - I'm not the strongest...  And yeah, but I just use my pokemon instead of trying to train up a new team

[Buff] Shrugs- Makes sense to me.

[Liz] Isn't that cheating?

[Silver] - No?

[Liz] Supposed to start with new but use old. That isn't cheating?

[Silver] - No, you can bring your team from game to game legitametly...

[Liz] Oh, okay!

[Silver] - I...  I should probably go check on Missingno

[Buff] Missingno? That's an odd name. What does it look like?

[Silver] - Currently?  A ball of glitches...  But I'm working on it

[Buff] Is a pokemon brine?

[Silver] - No...   It's from the very first game, nobody is really sure what it is...

[Buff] Can I see? I'm just curious now.

[Silver] - Sure, if it wants to come out that is...

[Buff] Uses the towel to dry himself off a bit and waits patiently. - Okay!

[Silver] - Wait here, I'll see if I can find them- He goes off, trying to find Missingno

[Silver] Returns after a few moments with a glitching mass cradled in his arms- Here we are...  See?  Outside isn't so bad...

[Liz] What is? Is that Missingno? -Tries to sit up to look at the mass-

[Buff] Well hello there! You're so fuzzy!

[Silver] - Yeah, this is Missingno

[Missingno] Tries to pull away from Buff's loud voice-

[Buff] Oh sorry- speaks more quietly- It's so little. Where did it come from?

[Silver] - the original game, I'm not sure which version.  But Doc was the one who found it and gave it to me

[Liz] Can touch? Is it okay with touch?

[Silver] - I don't know Liz, you can try...

[Buff] Ah, they're here to heal. That's not suprising. - Smiles warmly-

[Liz] -Scoots closer and arches up so shi can reach a paw toward Missingno-

[Missingno] Makes a panicked and loud noise at Liz's touch-

[Liz] -Retracts paw- No, no! Shhhh. Is fine. Won't touch again, am sorry!

[Silver] - It's okay Liz, I know you didn't mean to scare it

[Liz] Is it like sibling? Not used to touch? To everything?

[Silver] - Yeah, pretty much

[Buff] Aw... Maybe it needs a little ring of swatches like Alan got?

[Silver] - I think we need to take care of the glitching first...

[Liz] Can go get it's ring! If we need!

[Buff] Do we know what caused the glitching? Did someone try to delete it?

[Silver] - We don't know...

[Buff] Hey... what about the healer lady? Traveler told me they fix glitches! I think her name is Bessie?

[Silver] - What healer lady?

[Buff] They live on TLOT's seed. Some kind of priestess that's sweet on NOTCHs.

[Silver] - I mean, I can open ways...  Not as quickly as BEN or CP, but I can...

[Liz] Skee can open all sorts of things! What are we opening?

[Sky] -Slightly embarrassed look-

[Buff] I'm not sure where it is... I'll ask Steve! -starts typing-

[Silver] - A way to a different seed I think...

[Buff] Got the numbers!

[Silver] - Wait, we're going right now?

[Sky] Might as well, Not like any of us have any other plans.

[Buff] We are? This'll be fun!

[Liz] Field trip!

[Silver] - Okay, he tosses out most of the balls and calls them back into their balls except Ponyta and Sylveon

[Buff] Let's go! - Starts heading the direction of the cage-

[Silver] Starts following the large NOTCH-

[Liz] -Scuttles after Buff, Sky walking behind hir-

[Buff] It doesn't take them long to get there and he leads the way down into the cage- Oh... I don't know which one it is?

[Silver] - Ummm...

[Buff] One in three chance... you pick!

[Silver] - Ummm...  Middle one?

[Buff] Go ahead then, I don't think they're protected from people going in and out

[Silver] Starts concentrating and slowly an opening forms-

-A little snow blows in from the hole-

[Buff] I bet that's it! Steve said it was snowy!

[Silver] - Well, good thing cold doesn't bother me...

[Liz] -Goes barreling in yelling SNOW-

[CP] - FUCK OFF!

[Sky] Liz---

[Buff] Cp?

[Liz] THAT'S A NAUGHTY WORD!

[CP] - Go away!  We're busy!

[Liz] No! You said a naughty word! Apologize!

[Buff] Whoops... we're looking for Nessie!

[CP] - Wrong seed dumbass!

[Buff] Sorry! You have fun playing in the snow then!

[Liz] -Butts hir head against CP's leg before turning to dash back out-

[CP] Flips off their retreating forms-

[Buff] Comes back out into the cage- Sheesh... It's my turn, let's try this one. -points-

[Silver] Closes the other portal and works on opening the new one-

[Sky] -Pats Liz's head as shi plunks beside him to wait-

[Silver] Gets the new one open-

-There's a bit of a crackle as Buff interferes to get the portal to open at the right spot. It's cold on the other side, early morning in a spruce forest biome.

[Silver] - Is this the right one?

[Liz] Is this one right now? -Scoots over to look inside-

[Buff] Yes! We just have to walk up the ridge a bit. It's some kinda temple.

[Silver] Steps through with his two other pokemon following-

[Ponyta] Snorts as they feel the cold, sending up a cloud of steam around them-

[Sky] -Folding his scarf up over his head for safety reasons. Totally not prepared for snow hell or the resulting injuries it'll cause. Nope.- Lets go Liz. -Shoos Liz in and Looks around as they do-

[Silver] - Do you think you'd be better off on Ponyta?  I could try and convince them to let you hitch a ride...

[Buff] If not I could carry you. I bet you don't weigh anything at all.

[Sky] I'm fine! Don't worry.

[Buff] If you're sure....

[Silver] - Okay...- Silver shuts the way behind him and holds Missingno close

[Liz] -Snuffling around at everything-

[Buff] Tromps into the woods following the F3 positioning numbers on his heads-up-

[Sylveon] Wraps a tendril around Silver to comfort him-

[Sky] -Walking along behind Liz, herding hir after Buff-

-There's the sounds of some shuffling in the surrounding foliage and some monks step into the path with bows drawn-

[Monk] Halt intruders!

[Buff] Oh Hi!

[Silver] Shrinks back a little-

[Liz] -Sniffs at the monks-

[Monk] Wait? Are you a NOTCH?

[Other monk] Sniffs the air- That's one stinky glitch...

[Buff] They can't help it! They're broken!

[Silver] - Um...  We were...  Um...

[Sky] We're looking for someone.

[Liz] -None too sneakily scooting closer to the monks, sniffing all the way-

[Buff] We need a healer! The best you've got!

[Monk] Scoots away from the dragon.

[Other monk] We have many healers...

[Missingno] Makes a scared noise-

[Liz] -Scoooots after the monk, tongue starting to hang out-

[Monk] Points an arrow at her tongue and lightly pokes it with the point- Back dragon!

[Other Monk] We should take them to Lady Nessie...

[Liz] You smell nice.

[Monk] Looks a bit disressed- I am pure! Unglitched! As I should be!

[Sky] Liz, let them be.

[Liz] But Skee! Things that smell nice must be licked!

[Monk] Throughly weirded out-

[Ponyta] Snorts and bucks a little, not liking all the snow-

[Silver] - Easy Ponyta...

[Other monk] Follow us please.

[Monk] Scoots after him quickly to avoid Liz-

[Buff] Follows cheerfully-

[Liz] -Trots after, trying to stay close to the Monk shi was going to lick-

[Sky] -Follows group-

[Silver] Quietly follows-

-The monks lead them to the temple and past another pair standing guard. One of them runs to get Lady Nessie and the others lead them into an anteroom with a fire and couches-

-The three that stay are sniffing the air and casting glances at the Missingno-

[Liz] -Darts to the fire and plops beside it-

[Silver] Holds Missingno a bit more protectively-

[Lady Nessie] Strides in with a slight twist in her expression and stops. It's clear she was expecting TLOT or Doc or even Lie, and Buff catches her totally off guard. - Who are you?

[Silver] - Um...  Hi?

[Liz] You smell nice too!

[Nessie] Crosses her arms - Thank you? But I mean it, who are you?

[Buff] I'm Buff, and this is Silver, Sky and Liz!

[Sky] -Waves-

[Nessie] Points at Missingno - That is one of the worst glitches I've ever seen.

[Buff] Can you fix it?

[Nessie] Perhaps... if only to clear the air.

[Sylveon] - Syl?

[Liz] -Slowly scoots away from fire to watch everyone else-

[Sky] -Stands by Liz before sitting and basking in the warm air-

[Silver] - Um...  If you could...  It would be appreciated?

[Nessie] Do you know what it will be?

[Buff] A pokemon!

[Silver] Shakes his head- No...  We don't know what it should be...

[Nessie] I will fix it, but you have to take it elsewhere. Are we in agreement?

[Silver] - Uh...  Yes...

[Nessie] Removes a plant from the top of a block- put it here then please.

[Silver] Carries and tries to put it down, but it makes frantic noises as soon as Silver tries to pull away-  Ummm...

[Nessie] Just waits patiently-

[Silver] - Hey, calm down, I'll be right here...

[Missingno] Long sustained noise-

[Nessie] Stand close if you like, but it will be dangerous to touch it while I work.

[Silver] - Um...  Okay- He pulls away  and Missingno reacts badly- It's just for a minute...

[Nessie] reaches out and gently probes it with her delicate long fingers, feeling out it's shape - easy child. I will not harm you.

[Missingno] Loud screech-

[Liz] It doesn't like touch.

[Nessie] If it wants to be healed it will need to endure this.

[Silver] - PLease calm down...  It will be over fast...

[Nessie] Is focused now and moving over it faster, almost as if typing onto it's fuzzy surface, as she moves it's becoming more well defined in it's outline.

[Buff] Wow...

[Silver] Watches nervously, a bit of ice spreading at his feet-

[Sylveon] Tries to comfort Silver-

[Nessie] Gives it several small pokes in key areas and steps back as the small shape becomes a ball of light-

[Buff] Is it gonna evolve?

-The light receeds and the little creature falls back onto the block with a loud wail. It's brown with a thick tail, clawed feet and little hands. It's eyes are dark and it's got stubby horns on it's head-

[Silver] - Hey there...

[Missingno] Leaps for SIlver who catches and cradles the small pokemon-

[Buff] AWWW it's so cute!

[Silver] - Th...  Thank you...

[Liz] -Scuttles closer to examine- Different now!

[Nessie] Nods in satisfaction- now please go.

[Silver] - Uh...  Yes ma'am...- He turns and starts heading out with his pokemon following

[Buff] Thank you! - Heads out as well.

[Monks] Carefully avoid Liz and hir tongue-

[Sky] Back into the cold? Dang.

[Buff] We can go home now. A good days work I think!

[Liz] -Tries to lick any monk that doesn't move as shi leads Sky out-

[Silver] Creates another opening-

[Buff] Hops through happily - What are you gonna do now Silver?

[Silver] - Get this guy settled...

[Buff] Pats Silver on the head - Good for you!

[Sky] -Steps through with Liz and puts his scarf back to normal-

[Silver] - I...  I'll see you around?

[Buff] Heck yeah!

[Silver] Hurries off-

[Sky] Well that was eventful...

[Scuttle] Is shoving bread under BEN's door-

[Hyrule] Is laughing as he gathers the bread-

[BEN] - Hyrule what are you laughing at?

[Scuttle] Runs out of bread and shoves a fish under the door-

[Hyrule] Goes running past BEN with the bread- Dada look!

[BEN] - Where are you getting that?

[Scuttle] Is laughing on the floor outside the room-

[Gem] -is outside look up at the bridge scuttle is on- what are you doing?

[BEN] Is trying to catch Hyrule-

[Scuttle] Noooothing.

[Gem] don't make me come up there where you doing

[Hyrule] Drops the bread and goes to get the fish-

[BEN] - Hyrule don't touch that!

[Scuttle] Putting stuff in the slots, or playing, or having tea!

[BEN] Kicks the fish away and picks Hyrule up befopre opening the door-

[gem] -flies up to look at scuttle-

[Scuttle] Flops on the floor and wiggles all four feet in the air like he's pedaling a tandem bike-

[BEN] - The fuck is going on?

[Scuttle] Revolution!

[Gem] he glitched with my world and he still scares me some times he is just being werid

[BEN] - He was shoving stuff under our door...

[Scuttle] I was not!

[Gem] -flinches at his loud voice-

[Scuttle] Gets himself upright again and starts playing with a piece of spider string-

[BEN] - ...  Am I allowed to stab him?

[Scuttle] Has made a kind of mobile and is attaching random things to it-

[Hyrule] - Dada I play!

[BEN] - Inside Hyrule

[Gem] no he technically is my notch so I am in charge of him.

[Scuttle] Notices the kid and gets tangled up in the mobile-

[BEN] - Yeah well we don't need him giving Hyrule anything that could harm him

[Gem] what did he show under the door?

[Scuttle] Gets mostly undone and gets out a piece of paper, waving it to get Hyrule's attention-

[BEN] - Bread and then a fish

[Hyrule] Looks at Scuttle-

[Scuttle] Folds a paper airplane and sends it flying around in a sharp curve so it sticks in BEN's hair.

[Gem] well that seems mostly harmless they are food.

[BEN] Growls and burns the paper with his lightning-

[Hyrule] Giggles at the lightning- Dada! Sparks!  Sparks!

[Scuttle] Claps - And for his next trick!- Makes a ta-da gesture at BEN

[Gem]  hyrule seems to like him but do you want me to get him out of here BEN?

[BEN] - Yes!  I know so far he's shoved harmless things at Hyrule, but I doubt he knows what's okay for babies and what's not

[Gem] okay come one scuttle lets go down stairs

[mymarvelimagines]

The Captive Dragon - Part 2

So Muspelheim is one of the 9 realms, it’s considered the Land of Fire. If you have any ideas on what you want to happen, send it to my inbox!! I’ll need some ideas for what happens!!

----------

You hum softly, watching from your position on the floor as King Nicholas Fury and The Avengers walk into the Great Hall.

Leonora stands up, sweeping her arms out wide, “Welcome, King Fury! I welcome you and yours to my home”

King Fury isn’t a large man, and even though he only has one eye, it seems like he can see right into your soul, “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Queen Leonora”

Leonora smirks, taking in the armor-clad knights, “The pleasure was all mine. Even after so many years it is a pleasure to show-off my pet”

“Ah yes, your pet dragon. Where is the beast anyway?”

“She is right here” Leonora yanks on your chain, causing you to fall forward onto your hands and knees at her feet. Immediately several of the Avengers reach for their weapons, Leonora only smirks. “Y/N, change”

She forces magic through you, making the transformation into a dragon agonizingly painful. Your scream morphs into a roar, your body grows to curl behind Leonora’s throne, your large head rearing high over the humans.

One of the knights step forward, and pulling off his helmet he gazes up at you, “An Antipodean Opaleye, one of the most beautiful dragons in existence. Hello, Dragon” the Knight bows, “I am Prince Thor of Asgard, it is an honor to meet Dragon Royalty.”

Leonora face goes red, “She is not the royalty that you should be greeting, Prince Thor”

“Of course, My Lady. It is an honor to meet the Queen of Muspelheim, Land of Fire” Thor bows low, and takes the Queen’s hand, pressing a kiss to it.

You lay your head onto the ground, quietly watching as everyone approaches the Queen and introduces themselves. Leonora jerks slightly when Lady Natasha kisses her hand, and when James Barnes, who has an enchanted metal arm, approaches her. Leonora looks like she is going to fain when Prince Anthony “Please call me Tony” of Stark steps out of his enchanted armor. When Sir Barton and Rodgers approach, they seem to be the most normal of the group. And then there is Sir Banner, who can turn into what Prince Anthony calls “A giant, green rage monster”.

“You have quite an interesting group of knights, King Fury. I wonder how you were able to acquire such an assortment of people.”

“When my kingdom needed heroes, they stepped up and fought. Unfortunately, my kingdom is in need again. Thanos has cast a curse on my land, and the only one who can undo it is Prince Thor’s brother Loki. The Avengers have been tasked with finding Loki and bringing him back to Midgard so he can undo this curse.”

“And why, pray tell, would that lead you here? I do not have extraordinary soldiers, or assassins in my ranks. Surely these Knights could find this sorcerer on their own” Leonora casually pulls on your collar, making it difficult to breath, “Unless there is something here that no other Kingdom can offer, let us say … a dragon”

Fury huffs and steps forward, “I would greatly appreciate it if we could continue this discussion in private. The Avengers are weary from their travels and would appreciate a place to rest.”

Leonora waves her hand and several servants step forward, “Take these Knights to the guest wing, makes sure that all of their needs are met, and let the chef know that we have guests. Y/N” This time she touches the gem around her neck and magic wraps around your mind, “Go back to your nest. You are not to leave it until I come for you.”

“Yes, my Queen”

“She can speak!” Thor immediately steps forward and open his mouth as is to engage you in a conversation. The last time a guest spoke to you, Leonora had you punished.

“Of course she can speak. My pet knows all of the languages of all of the lands, and I am the only one who speaks to her. You will do well to remember that, Prince.”

Thor bows, but he still doesn’t take his eyes off of you. “I apologize, these travels must have made me lose my manners. Perhaps after some rest I will be able to think clearly”

Leonora huffs and turns away from the prince, “Nicholas, I do believe that you wanted to speak with me in private?”

“Yes, Leonora. Lead the way”

As soon as Leonora steps away the chain that binds you to the throne dissolves into gold dust. You quickly slip back into your human form, tuning away from the Knights and servants to head back to the dungeon.

“Dragon! Wait!”

“I apologize for my departure, however I cannot disobey the queen. Please let me leave in peace”

Sir Steven Rogers places one hand on your shoulder, “I’m sorry for the way you are treated here. I knew a shifter growing up, you aren’t a common pet, you are meant to be free.”

You whip around, facing off against all of the Avengers, “I gave up my freedom in order to save my sister. If I hadn’t someone much younger than me would have been here to greet you. I live as a prisoner so she can fly free.” Letting out a soft growl you rake your fingers through your hair, “I have to go now. The queen will not be happy that I spoke to you”

Thor steps forward, his large frame seeming to dwarf Sir Rogers, “What will happen to you?”

“The queen will sentence a punishment. I have been subjected to many throughout the years, so I do not know which one. Now please, let me go”

“I am truly sorry that we are the cause of your future pain”

You give the Knights a sad smile, “There is nothing you could have done. I would have been punished for one transgression or another. Goodnight, Avengers. I hope you sleep well and I wish you luck on your journey.”

--

After setting all of their belongings in their respective room and changing into more comfortable cloths, the Avengers gather in Steve’s room.

“You think Fury will get the queen bitch to let us take her dragon?”

Natasha punches Clint in the arm, “Don’t talk about her like that. It’s not like Y/N chose to be her dragon”

Clint waves off her words, “I was kinda hoping that Y/N would just toast her, Leonora would have deserved it”

Thor hums, clasping both Clint and Natasha’s shoulders, “Did you not see the necklace that Queen Leonora wore? And the collar that Y/N wore? Magic forces the dragon to submit to Leonora, it prevents Y/N from hurting her.”

Steve hums, sitting on the couch with Tony and Bruce, “Is there any way to get the collar off of her? Tony?”

“Bruce and I can’t remove the collar until the magic is removed”

Steve sighs, “I hate that she’s a prisoner here. We’re supposed to fight bullies, but here we are begging one for help”

Thor lets out a contemplative hum, “Perhaps when we find Loki he will be able to help us free her. My brother has always had a soft spot for dragon kind.”

“Maybe we can use her to convince Loki to undo the curse”

“That’s a possibility, Clint. Loki owes us nothing. If we try to convince him to help, he will most likely refuse” Steve sits back further into the couch, letting out a tired groan, “Right now though, I need some sleep. We call all talk about this again tomorrow, once Fury can give us some insight on how to handle Leonora”

“A fine idea, Steven. I do believe that I will take a walk before I retire, acquaint myself a little more with the castle”

Natasha chuckles, “You’re going to try and find, Y/N’s nest. Don’t lie to us”

“Yeah, Thor. Don’t lie to us. If you need any help, just shout. The Other Guy will hear you” Bruce stands up and quietly begins ushering everyone out of Steve’s room and into their own.

“I will do my best not to get into trouble, my friends”

--

Finding a dragon’s nest is not supposed to be an easy job, however there are only so many places in a castle where a dragon can live. You hear someone coming down the steps to the platform. There is no tingle of magic letting you know that Leonora is near, and no one else dares to come down here.

“Dragon? Are you down here?”

You raise you head up so you are looking down on the platform, “Prince Thor?”

He gives you a blinding smile, “I knew that I would find you!” He looks around, taking in the damp walls, and the chilled air, “This is where she keeps you? Alone in the dark?”

“This is the only place away from everyone else … or so I’m told” You wings flutter slightly as you stand up, quietly changing form and landing on the platform. “Why are you here? Leonora ordered you not to talk to me”

Thor lets out a booming laugh, “Your queen has no right to order anything of me or my comrades.”

You roll your eyes but can’t help smiling at his remark, “You did not answer my question, prince. Why have you sought out my nest? I have no eggs for you to take, or scales to give away, the queen takes all of them to make them into jewelry”

“Please, call me Thor”

“Then you will call me Y/N”

“Very well, Y/N. I cannot help but feel drawn to you. I cannot help but want to steal you away from here” he admits.

You sit down on the edge of the platform, letting your legs dangle over the edge. “I’d go with you if I could, in a heartbeat. I would rather trust a group of deadly strangers than stay here for one more day.”

“Let us leave then! We can escape into the night! Leonora holds no power over you if you cannot feel her magic”

You snort, “Do you think I haven’t thought of that? I tried, early in my captivity, to escape. This collar binds me to the life-force of whoever is wearing the Infinity stone around Leonora’s neck. That also means that it doesn’t matter how far I go, the magic will always have ahold of me. I don’t know who made this collar, but Leonora has no magic, she isn’t the one who controls me, that stone is.”

“I see”

“Yeah, it sucks, but such is life”

Thor finally sits next to you, “Do you miss it? Do you miss being free?”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t change what I did” You turn to look at the prince, “Would you have done this for your brother? Faced life-long imprisonment and torture in order to make sure that he was free?”

“I would, in an instant”

“Then you know what my decision was. Either let my little sister, only a hatchling, become a prisoner, or become one myself.” You take a deep breath and decide to change the topic, “How did you know that I was royalty?”

Thor chuckles, his blue eyes twinkling in the low light, “Only the royals have purple eyes. Did you know that you have a ring of purple around your iris even as a human?”

“You’re probably the first human to notice that. Then again even Leonora doesn’t get his close to me when I am a human. She is only ever interested in me when I am a dragon.”

“Her loss then. It is … refreshing … to speak to someone who is not concerned about my title.”

“I’m glad to be of service, Thor”

He reaches out, gently brushing your hair behind your ear, his large hand cupping your face with a tenderness that you haven’t felt in years, “I will do everything in my power to help you, Y/N. I swear on my kingdom that you I will free you.”

You lean into his hand, savoring the contact, “Don’t make promises that you can’t keep”

Thor’s thumb brushes along your cheek, “I always keep my promises, Y/N. Now,” he stands up, helping you to your feet, “it is time for us both to sleep. Hopefully tomorrow will bring good news to us both”

“I like your optimism”

He chuckles, “Goodnight, Y/N”

Steeling yourself you lean forward and press a gentle kiss to Thor’s cheek, “Goodnight, Thor”

Before he can say anything else you quickly shift back into a dragon and curl into your nest. Thor stands there for another minute before he slowly makes his way back up the stair. You can’t help but feel hope at the princes promise. Perhaps one day you will no longer be a captive dragon, perhaps one day you will finally be free.

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

Part 3 ... ?

[littlemaatta]

Sides- Part 4 (Steve Rogers)

A/N: let me know if you want tagged! Sam Wilson is adorable and I love him with all of my heart. 

Warnings: language,

Word Count: ~1,500

Part 1/ Part 2/  Part 3

After Mr. Everett Ross tried to legitimately fight me, Sam, Steve, and I were taken to see Tony. Our suits and Steve’s shield were all confiscated and I still wore handcuffs. T’Challa was put in an office and Bucky was taken to be interrogated for his crimes. 

“Consequences? You bet there will be consequences.” Tony says, walking slowly towards us. “Thank you sir.” he says, ending the call with my favorite rude and conceited Secretary of State. 

“Consequences? Was that Ross? God, I love that man. Steve, I may have to leave you for him.” I say my voice dripping with sarcasm and disgust. Steve rolls his eyes but smiles, and Sam snorts at my comment. 

“Secretary Ross wants you three prosecuted.”

“Well I want a pet dragon but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” I laugh. 

“Ali.” Steve says in a warning voice and I hold up my still cuffed hands to show surrender.

That’s when Tony notices the cuffs. “What the hell are these?” he reaches towards me but I flinch away. A hurt expression appears on his face but it’s gone as soon as it came. Tony and I were close, despite being afraid of me when I first joined the team, he was always kind. But now that we’re on opposite sides of this battle, that friendship is damaged. “Get these cuffs off of her.” Tony orders a guard who objects but Tony stops him with a look and he reluctantly steps forward to remove the cuffs. 

I rub my wrists when they are released from the cuffs and smile thankfully at Tony. 

“I’m not getting that shield back, am I?” Steve asks Nat and Tony as they walk away. Nat turns around to tell him that it’s “government property” along with Sam’s wings and my suit, made by Tony. I was given clothes to change into before they cuffed me earlier and my suit was confiscated.  

“That’s cold.” Sam says. 

“Warmer than jail.” Tony responds over his shoulder. 

Sam and I are taken to another room so that Steve can talk to Tony in private.

“Sam, can I ask you something?” I say after a while of sitting in silence with my friend. He hums in response.

 “Are you.. scared of me? I mean... because of my powers.” I ask quietly.

Sam quickly turns to look at me with wide eyes. “What do you mean? Why would I be scared of you?”

I sigh, “Sam, these people put power inhibiting cuffs on me cause they were scared of me. They had their guns pointed at me the entire drive here. So I’m just wondering, am I really that scary? Do people worry that I might hurt them?”

“Listen, Al, these people don’t know you. They saw what you can do. And yeah, that might be scary for people who don’t understand it but the people that know you, they aren’t scared. People whose lives you’ve saved, they love you, they aren’t afraid of you.” Sam responds, “I’ve known you for a while now. The only time you scare me is when you play poker because I know you’re gonna take all my money.” he laughs and so do I. 

“Yeah, well I am pretty good at poker.” I say with a laugh and Sam smiles widely at me. I move closer and give him a short hug. “Thank you Sam.” 

“Any time Terra.” he says with a wink.

Later, Sam and I are brought into a conference room with glass walls in the center of the building with Steve. Steve and I stand at one side of the room looking through the glass to watch Bucky get interrogated although we can’t hear what’s being said. Sharon comes in and gives Sam the receipt for our gear. 

“Bird costume? C’mon.” Sam says, reading the paper.

“I didn’t write it.” Sharon replies. I turn to look at her as she presses a button that turns on the TV in the room so that we can hear what’s happening to Bucky.

We smile thankfully at her and turn our attention to the screen. I take a seat across the table from Sam. As we watch, we discuss who may have framed Bucky but we don’t get to talk long because soon, the power goes out. The room is black and we all turn to look at Sharon, knowing that something is going to happen to Bucky. This power outage is most likely not an accident. 

“Sub level 5, east wing.” Sharon says and the three of us take off. 

When we arrive on sub level 5, we find many soldiers passed out on the ground. Bucky is out of his cell and I have a feeling he’s not Bucky Barnes right now.

We make out way through, Steve leading us and me watching out backs with my hands raised and ready to protect my friends. We come upon the room where Bucky’s cell has been torn open and the psychiatrist lies on the ground, feigning hurt. Sam and I lag behind as Steve goes inside and forces the man up, holding him against the wall and asking who he is. 

“What do you want?” 

“To see an empire fall.” the man replies as Sam walks in and narrowly misses the blow from the Winter Soldier’s metal arm. He grabs Sam by his chin and throws him across the room into the cell. 

“Sam!” I yell and send a blast of wind at the Soldier, throwing him back into a wall.  When he recovers, he walks towards me with an angry glare and I prepare myself but before he gets close to me, Steve jumps in and begins fighting him. 

I move out of their way and rush over to Sam who still lays on the ground unconscious. “Sam! Wake up, Sam. Please wake up.” I lightly shake my friend’s shoulders. His eyes flutter open and I sigh in relief but his eyes stare at something behind me. I turn to look as well and see the ‘psychiatrist’ standing at the elevator. 

Sam yells, “Hey!” and begins to stand. I take his arm and help him up and we run towards the fleeing man. 

“Sam you got this? Steve fell down the elevator shaft, I’m gonna help him.” Sam nods and runs after the man as I slide through the hole in the elevator doors and float down to the bottom. I find my boyfriend lying face down on the ground and I struggle to flip him over. 

“Steve, wake up!” I wait but he still doesn’t move. As I’m about to dump some water on him, he begins to stir and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as he wakes up. “Sam went after the guy and I don’t know where Bucky is but we gotta go.” I say and I help him to stand again, checking his body for injuries.

“I’m fine, Al. Fly us up there.” he orders and I nod, putting an arm around him to fly us to the top quickly. 

Once out of the elevator shaft, Steve rushes to the roof, pulling me along with him. “There’s a helicopter on the roof.” he explains as we take the stairs 3 at a time. 

We arrive at the roof and Steve throws the door open to see Bucky already in the helicopter and starting it up. Steve runs and jumps to grab onto the leg of the chopper. 

To my surprise, he pulls it down and drags his feet on the ground, pulling with all of his strength on the helicopter. I watch in awe as he holds on to a bar connected to the roof, holding the chopper in place with his bare hands.  When Bucky moves to slam the chopper down on Steve I freeze the blades, causing it to fall onto the edge of the roof. Steve dives out of the way. 

With the hum of the helicopter gone, it is silent on the roof until Bucky’s metal arm crashes through the window of the helicopter and grabs Steve by the neck.

The helicopter, which is laying at the edge of the roof begins to fall off the edge, pulling Bucky and Steve down with it. I hold out my hands and use the air to stop the fall but the vehicle is too heavy and I am only able to slow down their descent. I run to the edge and fly down to the river. I fly above it, looking for any sign of the two men. 

Finally I find them, an unconscious Bucky being pulled along by Steve. I help them out of the water and we leave the area as quickly as possible in search of Sam and somewhere safe. 

Tag List: @crownie-sr

[inawickedlittletown]

Walking The Wire (74/?)

Summary: Tony Stark always knew about Peter Parker. He didn’t know that Peter was going to get superpowers and become Spider-Man, but he always knew about Peter because Peter was his son.

This will span from pre-Iron Man up through the rest of the MCU (eventually including Infinity War) and will be for the most part canon compliant except where I’ve taken some liberties and interpreted canon a certain way.

Pairings: Pepper/Tony, Tony/Steve (endgame), Tony/Mary (past)

A/N: If you want me to tag you when I post new chapters let me know. This fic is also on AO3

I used Collider’s MCU timeline to stay canon and the title of this fic is an Imagine Dragons song that is just so fitting for Peter and Tony

Masterpost

Chapter Seventy Three

Even as Iron Man headed off after the van, Peter knew that he couldn’t not help, so he rushed after him, crossing through people’s yards without a care for who saw him or what destruction he might cause. He finally spotted the van and Iron Man bringing it to a stop and dodging attacks from yet another of the alien weapons. Peter jumped off of a roof to help Tony but instead, something grabbed him -- something that felt like claws. Metal ones at that.  

He actually screamed and Tony must have heard it because he abandoned the van and the two guys and flew up after them.

“Karen, what is that? What’s --”

“I told you to stay away,” Tony muttered in the comms before Karen could answer and Peter could tell that he was mad. “God damn it, kid.”

The flying guy whoever he was didn’t seem to have realized that Iron Man was there until that moment and once he did he just panicked and his grip on Peter loosened enough that Peter managed to just wiggle out of his grasp.

Peter hadn’t realized how high they were and then he was falling and Peter didn’t have anything to shoot a web at so he could swing to safety. He flailed, trying to figure out what to do and trying not to panic but he was falling and he was falling fast.

“Karen! Karen, what do I do?”

“Deploying parachute,” Karen said.

Tony cut in. “No need for that. I got him.”

Iron Man was rushing towards him and Peter felt it when he grabbed him out of the air because of how hard he hit Tony’s armor but that didn’t matter because his panic and his fear had subsided. He was fine. Tony had him and he was fine. Peter clutched at the armor.

“Peter, you are so much trouble,” Tony said as he flew them down and they wound up at a park by a lake -- a lake that he had nearly ended up in.  

Peter took off his mask and Tony’s faceplate went up and Peter had never seen him like this before -- he didn’t know what to make of the anger and the way that he didn’t even seem to know what to say. It took him a long moment filled with a bit of pacing.

“I asked you to do one thing,” Tony said. “One single thing -- to not go looking for trouble. To not go looking for this specific kind of trouble. And then I told you to go and let me take care of it but you couldn’t do that. Peter, what am I supposed to do if you won’t listen to me?”

“But I just wanted to help,” Peter said.

Tony shook his head. “I get that, I do, but I need you to do what I ask you to do. This could have been fine -- I had those guys but now they all got away and...”

“But that winged guy he’s clearly the one behind all of this. We can -- I can take him down..”

“Take him down, now, is it?” Tony asked and Peter could tell that Tony was mad because he had never heard his voice go like this -- loud and with an edge to it. “What the hell did you think you were doing? What are you even thinking? Have we not gone over this already -- you can forget about the guy with the wings and the weapons. Someone will take care of this.”

“But why--”

“Because I said so,” Tony snapped.

It made Peter nervous somehow to have Tony actually snap at him. Peter’s phone rang as it had multiple times over the course of the night and he knew that it was Ned. Oh god, what had happened back at the party? He had just left Ned there on his own.

“And who is calling you?” Tony asked.

“Ned,” Peter muttered, glancing at his phone and the picture of Ned.

Tony nodded and he seemed to have calmed down a smidge. “Wondering where you are, I bet. Kid, you can’t even go to a simple house party without getting yourself into trouble. I am not -- I’m not happy with you right now. If you want to keep being Spider-Man I need you to listen to me. I’ll -- go back to your party and your friend.”

He was disappointed. That was the look that Tony was giving him -- disappointed and upset and Peter hated it. This was a look that he had met only once before the night he left the hotel room back in Germany. Back then it hadn’t felt like a weight settling on Peter and making him small with that weird churning feeling deep in his abdomen because he’d done something wrong. It hadn’t made him feel ashamed and disappointed in himself and just wrecked.  

“I’m--”

“We’ll talk tomorrow, Pete. But it still stands. Stay away from this.”

Then, Tony just closed the faceplate and left and Peter watched him until he disappeared and he didn’t know what came next. His phone rang again and this time Peter picked up.

He hadn’t wanted to yell at Peter but it had just been so hard not to. Tony hated it. He hated how the whole thing had made him feel especially the anger and the feeling that there was nothing he could actually do. The thing of it was that he had specifically asked Peter to not go looking into the whole alien weapon thing just hours earlier only for him to do exactly that. Tony understood that Peter had just seen the blast and had to go make sure no one was getting hurt, but this wasn’t the kind of thing that Peter needed to involve himself in. He should have been smart enough to just leave it alone especially once Tony was involved. At first it had seemed a little like some random guys trying to sell weapons they’d found or engineered out of alien tech -- probably stolen -- but that last guy that had shown up with mechanical wings meant that this could be bigger than that.

Tony could only imagine what might have happened if he wasn’t there. What if he had gone to that wedding and been all the way in India when all of this was going down. Sure, Friday would have known to send a suit but that just wouldn’t have been the same and it might not have even been enough. He just had to hope that he hadn’t spooked them because they needed to be caught and put in jail. Hopefully none of them would try and find Spider-Man.

Friday kept him updated on where Peter was according to the gps on his phone. He didn’t head back to the party but instead ended up back home which was good. Tony had to remind himself that Peter really was a good kid. He was responsible -- he was just excitable and too ready to be a hero. Tony just wished that he would slow down some. That he would let himself be a kid for a while longer while he still could.

When he was back at the tower, he was surprised to find Pepper waiting for him once he had gotten out of the suit. It was a little reminiscent of their first night turning on the tower.

“It’s done,” she said with a small smile.

“What’s done?” Tony asked.

“The amendments,” Pepper said. “Friday said you were busy so we couldn’t reach you but there’s been a consensus on everything we proposed. The council seems to be on our side. It helps that we have so many of the original countries that asked for The Accords signing off on the changes. They took a vote today and it’s -- none of us expected this to happen so soon.”

This was -- it was the news that Tony hadn’t expected to get any time soon mostly because they were asking for huge changes.

“That’s amazing,” Tony said.

Pepper nodded. “I couldn’t believe it myself. The UN is usually not this quick but I think with the reinstitution of Shield and all the problems that have been happening with the Inhuman population across the globe they had to do something. There’s protests of course. Some sort of terrorist group that’s been going after Inhumans even before this is getting worse and worse but the new Accords will offer some protection.”

Tony really didn’t know what to say. He had expected negotiations to go on for months and months. Maybe the meeting from the other day really had done it, he wasn’t sure, but this was more than he had expected.

“What about Steve and the others?” Tony asked.

“That’s becoming less of a UN problem and more of a US Government problem,” Pepper said. “Although I imagine that Natasha would be the easiest to get back on the legal side of things. Sam, Wanda, and Steve -- it’s going to be a little more difficult.”

Tony nodded. Where one fight ended another begun.

“I know you miss him,” Pepper said and her hand squeezed his shoulder. “He’ll be with you again soon. This -- getting them home, it’s doable.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, “let’s hope that’s the case.”

He walked towards the kitchen to get a bottle of water and Pepper followed and it was nice to not hear her heels but just the soft padding of her bare feet. It reminded him of before.

“So what happened tonight?” Pepper asked and motioned back towards the landing pad.

“Peter,” Tony said and he hadn’t thought about the whole thing for a few minutes which meant that the anger from earlier had faded some. “He just -- he went after something I told him to leave alone and--” Tony rubbed a hand over his face in frustration “--he was falling and he was so scared, Pep, I could just tell not just because of his vitals but I was there to catch him and I was so glad I was there. But this shouldn’t have happened -- he should have been at home or at a party and--”

Pepper shook her head and Tony could tell that she was amused. “Tony, I think you’re starting to realize how I felt.”

Tony couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, it’s not fun,” Pepper said. “Don’t be too hard on him.”

“But what if I hadn’t been here tonight?” Tony asked and he hung his head.

Pepper sighed. “You were here and you were there for him.”

Tony nodded. The thing was that he knew that one day he wouldn’t be. It would be like the night before all over again. He was stuck in some meeting and Peter was in the middle of an ATM robbery that destroyed an entire deli.

“I won’t always be and that scares me more than anything.”

Pepper didn’t say anything. She hugged him instead and Tony wrapped his arms around her as well. It was familiar to have Pepper there.

“It seems,” Pepper said, “that Peter is more like you than you think. But he’s better equipped and he has you and you’re not going to let anything happen to him.”

Tony nodded but it didn’t make any of the worry fade.

Chapter Seventy Five

[phatjosh180]

Quotes for the Everyday Runner

Yup, it’s another quote post. I like do these every now and again because I actively collect quotes year round. Whether they pertain to running, life or whatnot. I usually write them down in a notebook I keep, but I like to share them as well — so that’s one of the reasons why I do these kind of posts.

Most of my quote posts here are running related — I have a few that are life in general as well. But, on this one I decided to mix the topic up and just post my favorite quotes about running, overcoming fear, goals, pursuit of happiness and life in general. They’re all pretty much related in the sense that they’re quotes to hopefully motivate, inspire and encourage you.

I also like to use many of these quotes for memes to posts on the @trailsandpavement Instagram account and in the Trails & Pavement Facebook group. So, if you have any quotes you’d like to share, please by all means share them in the comments below!

“Make friends with pain, and you will never be alone.” ― Ken Chlouber

“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

“These woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” ― Robert Frost

“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” ― Pablo Neruda

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” ― Rumi

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ― George Bernard Shaw

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” ― Jack Kerouac

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ― Aristotle

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ― Marcus Aurelius

“You wouldn’t train for a marathon and then give up a mile before the finish line. Same goes with your life and dreams.” ― Dawn Gluskin

“We move forward, but we must stay in the present.” ― Scott Jurek

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” ― William Shakespeare

“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” ― Thucydides

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” ― Helen Keller

“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.” ― Colette

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ― Rumi

“If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.” — Tom Hanks

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill

“I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” ― Aldous Huxley

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ― Henry David Thoreau

“You don’t have to be fast. But you’d better be fearless.” ― Christopher McDougall

“Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.” ― C. JoyBell C.

“Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” ― Plato

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein

“You’ve climbed too many mountains and crossed too many rivers to stop and turn back now.” ― Eleanor Brownn

“It’s amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday.” ― John Guare

“All happiness depends on courage and work.” ― Honoré de Balzac

“The reward of running—of anything—lies within us.” ― Scott Jurek

“Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.” ― Ovid

“It’s pain that changes our lives.” — Steve Martin

“You cannot change anyone, but you can be the reason someone changes.” ― Roy T. Bennett

“Fear will fuel my journey or it will cause me to forsake my journey. And it is utterly amazing that the self-same thing can build me or destroy me.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Runners can be having an absolutely miserable race and yet still be cognizant of the fact that they are undertaking something amazing.” ― Cory Reese

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” ― Leo Tolstoy

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” ― Truman Capote

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ― Lao Tzu

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” ― Helen Keller

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” ― William Shakespeare

“It had been said that the marathon doesn’t really begin until mile twenty. I say mile twenty-six would be more appropriate. The final two-tenths of a mile is filled with emotion. No matter how desperately you’re struggling at this point, thoughts typically drift away from the immediate task at hand (ie, survival) to broader feelings.” ― Dean Karnazes

“The best way out is always through.” ― Robert Frost

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ― J.M. Barrie

“Don’t be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only complete idiots are not afraid of anything.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón

“Don’t allow one setback to define you. Your true self is beyond measure. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Move on to where you flourish.” ― Assegid Habtewold

“It’s not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong.” ― Jon Krakauer

“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” ― Milton Berle

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

“Without fear there cannot be courage.” ― Christopher Paolini

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” ― William Shakespeare

“In the marathon of life, there is no finish line.” ― Bill Courtney

“Confine yourself to the present.” ― Marcus Aurelius

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” ― Mother Teresa

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” ― Martin Luther

“We know what we are, but not what we may be.” ― William Shakespeare

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” ― Andy Warhol

“Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” ― Aldous Huxley

“The art of the hero wasn’t about being brave; it was about being so competent that bravery wasn’t an issue.” ― Christopher McDougall

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ― Plato

“Big dreams are marathons. Passionate actions are marathons of marathons! Waiters don’t deserve it; Quitters don’t get it!” ― Israelmore Ayivor

“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.” ― Margaret Mitchell

“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.” ― Henry David Thoreau

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” ― Nelson Mandela

“Let him who would move the world first move himself.” ― Socrates

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” ― William Jennings Bryan

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ― George Eliot

“I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” ― Anne Frank

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston S. Churchill

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” ― Maya Angelou

“The pain of running relieves the pain of living.” ― Jacqueline Simon Gunn

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” ― Vincent van Gogh

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” ― C.S. Lewis

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” ― Marcus Aurelius

“The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind.” ― Kiran Desai

“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?” ― Rumi

“Finish: Even if you run a slower than expected time, you succeed in any marathon when you finish.” ― Hal Higdon

“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“There is no greater burden than great potential.” ― Charles M. Schulz

“Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.” ― Mitch Albom

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart” ― Helen Keller

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ― Henry David Thoreau

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” ― William Shakespeare

“Freedom lies in being bold.” ― Robert Frost

“The future depends on what you do today.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

“Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.” ― Ovid

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa

“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.” ― Marcus Aurelius

A post shared by Trails & Pavement (@trailsandpavement) on Aug 6, 2018 at 4:59pm PDT

Quotes for the Everyday Runner was originally published on PhatJosh | My Life Running.

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #282

“Celine Vs Pinwheel, Pinwheel Sitting, Server Jam Session”

[Deer] Is watching Pinwheel play in the grass outside-

[Pinwheel] Reaches out to scratch at a tree

[Celine] Goes scampering across the yard-

[Pinwheel] Spots Celine and hisses-

[Celine] Backs off a little- Why you hiss?

[Pinwheel] - Go away

[Celine] Sticks out her tongue- You're mean!

[Deer] - Now now you two, there's no need to fight...

[Pinwheel] Her tail is flicking in agitation-

[Celine] Runs awkwardly over to Deerheart- Fluffy neck is being mean!

[Deer] - It's okay, Pinwheel just doesn't have very good social skills

[Celine] Sad face- Like Master...

[Deer] - Where is he anyways?

[Celine] -shrugs-

[Deer] - I see, so you're doing some solo adventuring?

[Celine] Wanted to fly a little. Got tired.

[Deer] - Ah, and how is flying going?

[Pinwheel] Is listening-

[Celine] I fly really good! You watch! -She scrambles up Deerheart like a cat, her claws are a bit poky-

[Deer] Winces a little but holds still-

[Celine] Crawls up on Deerheart's antlers and jumps off, she spreads her wide wings and glides down, flapping a little and landing several blocks away.

[Deer] Claps- Good job!

[Pinwheel] Scoffs- I fly better

[Celine] Beams at Deerheart and then huffs at Pinwheel- Prove it.

[Pinwheel] Stands and climbs a nearby tree and jumps off a branch, she spirals around a bit, flapping to prolong her flight time before landing on a raised grass block-

[Celine] You glide too. It's the same.

[Pinwheel] - Do not!  I flap!  I fly longer!

[Celine] I can fly longer! I can glide for long times! Not all heavy like you!

[Pinwheel] - I is not heavy!  My bones hollow!  You big and bulky!

[Deer] - Okay you two...  I think that's enough...

[Celine] Am not! - Sticks her tongue out at Pinwheel again. - Fluff head!

[Pinwheel] Is getting angrier and is ready to lunge into an attack-

[Deer] Calls out into chat to see if she could possibly get some help-

[Mb] in chat- Do you have Celine? Where are you?!

[Deer] - By the castle and yes!

[Mb] Teleports nearby with a growl -

[Celine] Is flapping her wings a little to look bigger and Mb darts between her and Pinwheel, ready for a fight-

[Pinwheel] Lunges out lightning fast, aiming to kill-

[Mb] Gets bit and swears loudly, his hearts dropping quickly-

[Celine] MASTER! - She jumps onto him protectively and belches a cloud of nasty green gas at Pinwheel

[Deer] Quickly pulls the anti venom fruit out of her inventory- Eat this!  Now!- Is already trying to get it into his mouth

[Pinwheel] Pulls back, still angry and starts using her wings to try nd push the cloud back towards Celine-

[Mb] Is confused but chews the fruit anyway, gasping around it

[Celine] Stands and flaps her larger wings to send the cloud straight at Pinwheel.

[Pinwheel] Moves in the blink of an eye to avoid the cloud, hissing loudly at Celine- You bad!  And liar!

[Celine] You hurt Master! You evil! - She's crying a little-

[Mb] Is just wheezing on the ground. The bite is healing but it's still swollen and angry looking-

[Deer] - Hang on, I think I have some cooling paste...

[Pinwheel] - Am not!

[Celine] Just makes a tiny roar at Pinwheel and snuggles against Mb, lashing her tail club in a warning way.

[Deer] - Pinwheel?  Please...  Calm down...- She puts a bit of cooling paste around the bite wound on MB

[Mb] Hisses as the stuff touches him. One hand is around Celine as she makes little gasping noises.

[Deer] - How do you feel?  I've seen just how deadly Pinwheel's bites are, and that's when she was smaller...

[Mb] Like my veins are full of lava, and not in a good way...

[Celine] Weeeeehhhhh!

[Deer] - Do you want me to get you some food?

[Pinwheel] Is climbing a tree now-

[Mb] How about you get a muzzle for that dragon?

[Deer] - That would be outright cruel and probably make Splender very angry...  And from what I've heard we don't want to see Splender angry

[Mb] Everybody else seems to think I need some kinda fucking anger manegment therapy, how come she gets a free pass?

[Deer] - She's still a baby and learning, and she's been getting better, used to be that she'd try and bite people non stop...- Deer finds a steak in her inventory and offers it to MB

[Mb] Scowls at the meat- Don't cry Celine... I'm okay-

[Celine] NO! YOU EAT! GET BETTER! - She takes the meat and stuffs it in his mouth

[Mb] MFFPH!

[Deer] Has to fight down a laugh-

[Pinwheel] - Is the liar gone?

[Celine] You stay away! Evil fluff!

[Pinwheel] - Bulky no fly right!

[Celine] Makes another little roar-

[Mb] Rolls his head sideways- Piss off you loud little bastard.

[Pinwheel] Angry noises-

[Deer] - I'm sorry MB, Splender has been watching Sally so I've been baby sitting

[Mb] Whatever. Celine flew a bit too far out of my sight or I wouldn't be anywhere near that little monster in the first place.

[Pinwheel] - I want Cri!

[Deer] - I'm sorry Pinwheel, but he is taking a nap, remember?

[Mb] Who the fuck is Cri?

[Deer] - Crim, a Nether dragon who was advanced enough that we brought him over here from the other seed.  He and Pinwheel actually get along very well

[Mb] Oh. The little red fucker? Yeah I saw him. Him and pissy floof over here are friends?

[Deer] - Yes, Pinwheel loves spending time with him

[Mb] Lovely. They can make the most lethal baby dragons in all the multiverse together. - Groans in annoyance-

[Deer] - Well Crim is also poisonous...

[Mb] Yeah, so I heard. He bit that fuckhead Dn, remember?

[Deer] - Oh that's right

[Mb] When's Cp supposed to come back? I'm bored.

[Celine] Exhausted herself and is nodding off on his chest-

[Deer] - I have no idea, if Lie were around she could probably tempt him back

[Mb] Dammit. It's no fun fighting with that Buff nitwit. He never gets angry and it's like punching bedrock.

[Deer] - He is pretty optimistic...

-The distantest soft music-

[Mb] What the fuck?

[Deer] Perks a little at the noise-

[Mb] Zeros in on Deerheart - Maybe I should fight you. A server dragon should be pretty tough.

-And add Drums. Actually pretty loud. Holy hell.-

[Deer] - You do remember I'm the one who completely destroyed DN, right?  And that was with almost no effort...

[Mb] Yeah and I heard you almost got wrecked yourself because of it. I didn't say delete me, I said you should fight me. Get the biscuits out of your ears woman.

[Deer] - I'm not going to fight you

[Mb] Why not? You can't be getting too much exercise with your glitched out sweetie off the server.

[Pinwheel] - What is bang bang?

[Deer] Is getting miffed-

[Mb] Yeah... what the fuck is all the noise about? Usually that Alexsezia chick plays in her basement at least.

-Go fucking find out, before someone goes deaf from that terrible mockery of drumming. It's so bad.-

[TLOT] Comes outside- Who is making that racket?!

[Pinwheel] - Bad loud noise!

[TLOT] Goes to look -

[Steve] Hi Deerheart. Hi.. oh! Uh... Hi Mb....

-Drumming stops, followed by muffled laughter-

[Mb] Piss off.

[Pinwheel] More angry noises-

[TLOT] Looking for the source of the noise-

-It's Liz, in hir humanoid form, one hand still on the drum that shi pilfered from Mix. Shi's sitting across from Stev, who has some, metal thing in his lap. He seems just as amused.-

[Liz] -Sheepish look at TLOT as he finds them-

[TLOT] What on the seed are you guys doing?

[Stev] I was playing, and Shi..... Well.... Trying hir best?

[Liz] Mom makes it look easy!

[TLOT] I see.... perhaps this is something that could be done... farther away?

[Liz] But...  but....

[Steve] Comes running up with his digeridoo- Wait! Can I play too?!

{TLOT] Groans-

[Stev] Or shi could do it quieter. Shi's got the pattern- I.... Uh... Sure?

[Stev] I'm.. Not sure what that is, though.

[Steve] Plunks down on a dirt block- It does this! - He blows into the tube and it makes a low thrumming noise that varies as he modulates his breath - WWWWAAAAAAWWWUUUMMWMMUMUM

[TLOT] Is making a 'just kill me' face.

[Stev] Oh gee. -He taps out a tune on the metal in his lap, bobbing his head a bit.-

[Liz] -Listens a bit to both before drumming a bit excitedly, but somewhat to the tune-

[Deer] - You could help me round up a very overstimulated and angry dragon instead?

[TLOT] Gladly. I think my ears can't take this-

[Deer] Is keeping an eye on Pinwheel-

[Steve] Happy wwummumumummuing

[TLOT] Come on Pinwheel lets go somewhere... quieter

[Liz] -Laughter as shi drums-

[Stev] -Amused smile as he tapa tap taps-

[Pinwheel] Angry tail lashes- No

[TLOT] Do you want to stay out here?

[Steve] Pauses long enough to say - I wonder if any of the other Steve's can play? Does Mix play?

[Pinwheel] Hisses and shows off fangs- I bite

[Deer] - She bit MB...

[Liz] Mom plays her drum!

[Stev] ... Which you stole.

[Liz] ..... Noooo?

[TLOT] She's bit Mb before hasn't she?

[Liz] I borrowed it... without asking.

[Stev] ... Stole.

[Steve] That's not nice.

[Deer] - I don't think so

[Liz] -Huffs a bit-

[TLOT] I'm actually suprised at that... and I know you bite Pinwheel.

[Steve] No huffing Liz. You should ask your mom for your own drum.

[Pinwheel] - Bulky fly was lying!

[MA] -Comes trotting up, NK trailing behind. Nk's actually got a bigger drum than Liz does, but it's clear that the design for Mix's came from his.- What's happening? Can I join? I brought company!

[NK] -Beelines straight for Stev and bumps up against him before sitting and tucking the drum between his legs-

[Liz] But... Don' wanna.

[Steve] Don't be a bad dragon Liz. You know some of the Herobrines can copy things. You have to ask. Stealing is bad.

[TLOT] Bulky fly? Were you fighting with Gk?

[Stev] Sure! -softer, to NK- Hey babe.

[Liz] It's not stealin'! I was gonna give it back!

[NK] -Smiles a bit and rests head against Stev's shoulder-

[MA] Great! -Plunks down cross legged and brings his flute out-

[Pinwheel] - No!  That one!- Motions towards Celine

[TLOT] I wouldn't call her bulky... she's pretty thin really.

[Steve] Gives Liz a 'look'.

[Pinwheel] - She liar!

[Deer] - Pinwheel, please come down...

[TLOT] Do I have to get the gauntlets out to get you down?

[Pinwheel] - No!  I bite more!

[Steve] I'll play with you Liz, but you have to apologize to your mom when you get home.

[Liz] Fffine.

[Stev] -Starts tapping out a tune and NK drums to it calmly-

[Steve] Good. - Goes back to his mostly musical droning with gusto-

[TLOT] You bite me and you'll be sorry. You come down here young lady.

[Pinwheel] - No!- Adds a little hiss

[TLOT] Takes out the gold gloves and puts them on -

[Pinwheel] Backs away towards the trunk of the tree-

[Alexsezia] Comes running up with a Shulker shell trunk- Can I play too?

[Stev] Sure! More the merrier!

[MA] -Started to play his flute too.-

[TLOT] Tps into the top of the tree and reaches down to grab her from behind-

[Alexsezia] Yes! - She starts dragging out noteblocks and tuning them with practiced ease-

[Pinwheel] Bolts over to the next tree, leaping across the small gap-

[TLOT] Hop tps after her, trying to grab her-

[Pinwheel] Keeps dodging, showing off her speed a bit-

[Alexsezia] Raises her hands high and then begins pounding out a fierce staccato beat-

[TLOT] Is just as fast and beginnng to anticipate her moves.

[Pinwheel] After a few more dodges is caught and struggles as hard as she can, whipping her sharp tail about-

[TLOT] Is holding her at arms length and very glad he has armor on as her tail thunks against his gold pants-

[Pinwheel] Extends her neck and twists it ab out, trying to bite TLOT-

[Deer] - Oh Pinwheel...

[TLOT] Stop that!

[Pinwheel] - No!

[TLOT] Tps to the ground- Can I get a hand here?!

[Deer] - I have no protection, but what can I do?

[TLOT] I have no idea!

[Pinwheel] - No!  No!  No!

[Deer] Carefully gets closer-

[TLOT] FUCK. - The little dragons tail finds an unprotected spot and leaves a small gash on his side. There's a sudden strong smell of coffee.

[Deer] - I think I'll just open the door for you...

[TLOT] Rushes inside and plunks Pinwheel down by the fireplace before quickly backing off- Ow....

[Deer] Shuts the door quickly- Do you need anything?

[TLOT] Pulls up his shirt- Nah... it just stings a bit. Got any lava handy?

[Deer] - No, but the furnace room is right down there, do you want me to get you some?

[TLOT] Please. - He turns to Pinwheel- Are we done with the temper tantrum?

[Pinwheel] Angry tail swishing-

[TLOT] I'll take that as a no. Why do you have to be so difficult?

[Pinwheel] - They started it!

[TLOT] Sighs- His gloved hand is covered in blood and his shirt is stained. - And what did I do to deserve this?

[Pinwheel] - Was mad

[TLOT] At me?

[Pinwheel] - No, me mad

[TLOT] And how do you feel now? Are you sorry you hurt me?

[Pinwheel] Grumbles- Still mad

[TLOT] Sends her some soothing thoughts- What would make you not mad?

[Pinwheel] - Don't know

[Deer] Comes back with a bit of lava in a pail- Here you go TLOT

[TLOT] Thank you - He sits on the edge of the tub and rubs a handful of the glowing slush on his wound, making it close-

[Pinwheel] Angry tail swipes have slowed a little-

[TLOT] Deerheart? Can you put yourself in creative?

[Deer] - Um...  I don't know.  I know I'm in creative when I'm a dragon

[TLOT] does that mean if you babysat Pinwheel as a dragon that her bite wouldn't hurt you?

[Deer] - Somehow I suspect it would still hurt, but not kill me

[TLOT] Then wouldn't that be safer overall? You guys could go make sandcastles or something.

[Deer] - True

[Pinwheel] Gives a little yawn-

[TLOT] Uh-oh. I hear tired dragon. It is nice and warm in here next to the fire, isn't it? I wonder how it is where Doc and Lie are.

[Deer] - Doc said Lie is very whiny about the cold.  I'm a bit more concerned about CP

[TLOT] Chukles- Yeah, I don't like the cold either. Why? Just because Lie is out?

[Deer] - He was starting an energy surge, right?

[9/11/2017 3:15:34

AM] Dr. Franken Stein: [TLOT] He went out while verging on THAT?

[Deer] - Yeeeeesssssss?

[TLOT] Where did he go?

[Deer] - I have no idea...  We need to go see Notch, don't we?