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pred1059 · 2 years

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Just A Chance Chapter Twenty

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Journal: Day Six

Today was Naminé’s first day of training. She really seemed to pick it up really quick, especially with magic. Not that surprising since she’s so smart. Though it might have been nicer for the training session to end on something besides Ansem barging in and almost killing us.

Not that Marluxia and Larxene seem to care, they just want results now. They want to try and have Naminé get close to her other half to get her to summon her keyblade. I don’t think it’s going to be easy.

Well, at the very least, I’ll be there on the mission to help her along with Axel and Zexion. It wasn’t a hard choice for me to make anyway. Of course I’d help Naminé. She’s my…

Best friend?

It’s strange. I’m only just understanding what it means to be friends.

But I think Naminé’s become something else to me.

Something bigger.

I just wish I knew the word for it.

Roxas was about to head out after Marluxia left to get Axel and Zexion, but no sooner had he walked out the door than he had seen Axel leaning against the wall outside. A bit surprising since he usually spent his mornings sleeping in. “Hey. You ready to go?”

“Almost, I need to grab one of your cloaks.” Axel quickly walked inside before Roxas could react.

Watching as Axel began to rummage through his footlocker, Roxas was dumbfounded, “Wha…? But none of my stuff fits you.”

“It’s not for me.” Axel answered as he pulled out a spare set of robes, but as he reached for the lid, he paused. He glanced over to Roxas who had made his way over to him. “You still haven’t gotten rid of your outfit from before you joined.”

Roxas put his hand on the lid and moved to shut it. “I haven’t found the time, alright?”

Axel raised an eyebrow, still holding the lid open. But eventually he let go with a shrug and a smile. “Fair enough, things have been pretty crazy lately. Just remember you can’t hold onto it for too long. You’re with the Organization now, you know?”

A feeling of unease came over Roxas as he answered back, “Yeah, I know.” He knew his friends were a part of the Organization. But there was a lot about the other members of the Organization that made his skin crawl. The way Vexen seemed to only care about him as a test subject for potential dissection. How Marluxia and Larxene held Naminé captive in the name of their own pursuits.

And that wasn’t all.

Something about Xemnas told him that he was hiding even worse secrets.

He couldn’t say exactly what it was. But something inside of him was screaming not to trust him.

When he first woke up, he joined the Organization because they promised him answers. But the more he thought about it, it seemed more like he was just one more number to add to their ranks.

But for now, he had to set that aside. He had to focus on the people he could trust.

Zexion was up by the time they arrived at his door, using a hand to brush aside messy hair into something presentable. He seemed a bit more grim as he walked beside them. As they arrived at Naminé’s door, he looked to Axel. “This mission is not going to be simple.”

Axel sighed as he rested his hand on the doorframe, “When is it ever?” Raising his fist, he knocked on the door before pulling it open and calling out cheerfully, “Wakey, wakey, Naminé!”

The sudden arrival caused her to jump to her feet. “A…Axel, it’s you. Good morning.”

Roxas frowned as he looked over to Axel. “You don’t have to be so loud.”

He was unperturbed, simply shrugging. “Eh, I need a loud alarm clock sometimes, so it’s my baseline.”

“If we could focus on the matter at hand.” Zexion’s voice got everyone’s attention as he waved a hand over the crystal ball. “Our mission today will take us to a simulacrum of Agrabah that the princess of heart is travelling through.” The image of Kairi in Castle Oblivion holding a card before a set of double doors came into view.

Axel clapped his hands together and rubbed them together as he summarized, “Simply put, we need to get Naminé close to Kairi for a bit to try and get a better look at her keyblade, and then get her out. And of course we can’t get too rough with Kairi or let her learn too much about the Organization.” He glanced around the four of them as he asked, “Any ideas on a master plan to pull it off?”

Roxas racked his brain to try and come up with something before his eyes lit up as he suggested, “Maybe if there’s a big enough fight with the heartless, we could use the confusion to take the keyblade from her and get it to Naminé?”

Zexion and Axel looked at him with raised eyebrows before Axel held out his hand. “Roxas, summon your keyblade.” Roxas hesitantly called the weapon to his hand, unsure where this was going. Axel taking the weapon from him was about as expected but why? In a flash the weapon vanished.

And reappeared in Roxas’ hands.

“Oh.”

Axel shook his head as he began to pace. “Yeah, we can’t just take it for too long. I was hoping some sleep might help me come up with something, but it’s a total blank.”

Zexion tapped his lexicon as his brow began to furrow. “Illusion magic has the potential to bring us close, but if she makes contact with anything I create the magic might break from her natural light.”

The room was silent, and inside of Roxas his thoughts began to race. Larxene and Marluxia were pretty insistent that this mission get done, and Roxas really didn’t want to know what would happen if they failed. Would they send Roxas back? Turn them into Dusks?

What would they do to Naminé?

“There is something we could try.”

At her voice the three of them looked over to her, Axel and Zexion in surprise, and Roxas with a glimmer of hope. She looked at the image of Kairi now walking sandy streets in the crystal ball and began to explain, “I haven’t been working much with Kairi’s version of the floors, so she hasn’t been seeing anyone but enemies.” “If I show up and I’m not threatening, she might be caught off guard long enough for me to make a connection to my keyblade before she can do anything.”

“And then I can use my magic to help with extraction.“ Zexion concluded, though he wasn’t quite satisfied with the idea. “It’s risky. Any touch from the princess will render my magic ineffective.”

Axel sighed and shook his head. “This whole mission was risky from the start. But at least we’re going in with a master plan.” Walking over to Naminé, he held out the black cloth in his hand with a smile. “At least I’ve taken care of how to get down there.”

“Oh, It’s…“Though Naminé smiled at the gift she winced as she looked at Axel, “A little big. Besides, I thought I wasn’t in the organization yet.”

Zexion began to nod in understanding, as he saw the garment. “Of course. We need to go through the dark corridors to reach the princess’ location. Since we don’t have your custom uniform yet you’ll need to borrow one of ours.”

Naminé nodded, and glanced down at the floor. “If it’s all the same, I’ll only wear it through the corridors. I feel a bit more comfortable with it off.”

“Suit yourself.” Axel shrugged as he dropped the cloak at her feet. “ I think it’s great at adding a bit of mystery.” He turned to conjure the dark portal downstairs.

Roxas walked over to Naminé as she put on the black coat over her white dress. Roxas couldn’t help but ponder if the Organization’s uniform was really protecting her, or if it was erasing her to be just another number. He placed a hand on her shoulder as she zipped up the garment. She paused and gave a small smile back in return.

Seeing the way her smile made her eyes that little bit brighter made the weight on his shoulder fall away. She wasn’t just a number.

So maybe he wasn’t either.

“Ready?” Axel called from the portal.

The two of them looked at each other and nodded. He answered back, “Yes. We can do this.”

From the day Kairi had begun to wonder about other worlds, one thought helped to quiet her fears of the unknown. That she wouldn’t be alone. No matter where she went, Kairi was certain that Sora and Riku would be right beside her. And in a way she did get part of that wish. Her time in Sora’s heart had her see every sight and wonder that he did as well.

But this journey was different. It wasn’t just a journey that had become something more. She stepped through the portal to find a way to save her friends. Not just the ones she had lost on her journey, but one that had vanished so long ago. And it was one she was walking alone.

She sighed as she glanced across the streets of Agrabah. The only company she had on her journey were the heartless and anyone that Sora had faced in his journey. Not exactly great conversationalists. The only other contact was Axel, and it didn’t bode well that their first interaction was a fight. Why? What exactly was he hiding here in this castle? Were there others like him?

Either way she had to press on. Maybe this world might be different. It was one of the few times Sora had run into one of the other princesses of heart. She almost wished she had time to meet with them all at Hollow Bastion. Just to ask what having a heart of pure light really meant. But it was too dangerous for all of them to be in a single location, too much of a chance for someone like Maleficent or Ansem to swoop in and capture them all again.

So for now, she had tried to find their counterparts in these illusions. Wonderland was a bust, with Alice nowhere in sight. But there was something in Agrabah that felt familiar. What or who wasn’t clear, she wasn’t even sure it was one of the other princesses of heart. But whatever it was felt so similar to herself.

Kairi perked up as she heard footsteps on the sand. It was quiet, but facing so many heartless attacks taught her to pay attention to the details. She glanced around the abandoned marketplace, and spotted movement by one of the back alleys. Calling her keyblade to her grip, Kairi chased after the figure shouting, “Hey! Hold it!” Sand kicked up as she turned the corner, ready to face her opponent. “Now I’ve…”

But she wasn’t ready. Not for this.

The sun of Agrabah illuminated the alley, yet even so she stood out. She had grown much taller than when she had seen her last. But her hair, her dress, so similar to when they were kids. Then she turned around and spoke with a fond smile, “It’s nice to see you, Kairi.”

There was no mistaking her.

“Naminé?”

After so many years, it was really her.

“Naminé!”

Her fears forgotten, Kairi sprinted forward and embraced her long lost friend in an instant.

In an instant, Naminé could see the plan fall apart. There was no time for her to react, no time to make Kairi stop what she was doing. As soon as she recognized her, Kairi just ran over to her and hugged her. Even now she was oblivious to the plan she had thwarted, Kairi continued to rejoice, “It’s you! It’s really you, Naminé! It’s been so long!”

“Kairi…you can let go.” Naminé tried to loosen the grip Kairi had on her, but it hardly seemed to stop her.

She shook her head as she began to collect herself. “Sorry, it’s just…I’ve been in this castle for so long and haven’t seen anyone friendly.” Eventually, she loosened her grip and settled for putter her hands on Naminé’s shoulders as she separated from her. “Seeing you again, after all these years. It’s so hard to believe.”

A friend? Kairi considered her a friend? She knew that she had inserted herself into Sora’s memories as someone he grew up with. But for Kairi to feel so similar to how Sora did? To brave danger for a forgotten friend? Naminé slowly smiled as she somehow mustered the words, “I’ve…wanted to see you too.” And admittedly, she truly did. Even if it was just for a moment to see who she came from.

To see what her other meant to her.

Finally, Kairi let go, clasping her hands together. “Where have you been all these years?”

“It’s a long story.” Naminé answered as her mind raced. Actually telling Kairi where she came from would be the worst idea. Marluxia or Larxene wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. There was one way she might be able to salvage this plan and stay alive. To maintain contact with her until she understood her connection to the keyblade. “Maybe we could talk after we get through the city?”

“Sounds good. Get to safety before we catch up.” “Naminé, there’s so much I’ve got to tell you.”

Some part of Naminé ached hearing that. While the revelations that Kairi had experienced with Sora on their journey were groundbreaking, it was nothing compared to the secrets the Organization was hiding. She wanted so desperately to talk about them, but knew that Marluxia would never have it.

Though she also wondered if Kairi simply wanted to talk about Sora. Perhaps then, she might have an easier time holding a conversation since she had been spending so much time with Roxas.

…

Was...was their relationship truly so similar? What was between her and Roxas? Last night she called him her best friend. But still it didn’t seem like enough. There was one idea she could think of.

An idea that was taught to Naminé as impossible for her.

But the longer the days with Roxas went by, she wished more for the impossible.

She wished for love.

“What was that?!?” Axel hissed from their vantage point above the alley on the rooftops. “She just hugged her on the spot!?! We had a master plan!!!”

Roxas didn’t truly understand it well either. But he knew that Naminé interacted with Kairi as well in those memories. Had it become so real that Kairi had truly cared for Naminé like a friend? Surely as someone of pure light, she would have picked up on the difference between a person and a nobody.

Or...was there any difference at all?

“One thing is certain, illusion magic is useless now,” Zexion scowled as he snapped his book shut, “And with Naminé so close to the princess, that resistance will linger. We will need to take drastic measures.”

“What?!” Roxas couldn’t help it. Things were already bad enough, but a phrase like ‘drastic measures’ set him on edge. Naminé was someone he cherished of course, so he had to look after her. And while Kairi was a keyblader, she also wanted to look after Naminéi too. So she couldn’t be all bad.He realized however, that Axel and Zexion were staring at him in surprise. “I mean, what were you thinking, because…we can’t hurt Naminé or Kairi too badly.”

Axel looked towards the towers of Agrabah’s palace and began to smirk. “Simple, we get the help of the Grand Vizier.”

#my fanfiction #KH Fanfiction #Kingdom Hearts #fanfiction #fanfic #what if #Just A Chance #roxas #roxas/namine #roxas x namine #rokunami #kh axel #axel #zexion #kh zexion #kh kairi #kairi

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robynmizore · 1 year

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Redemption Chapter Two

The Prince With The Silver Hair

Robyn stepped out of the meeting room, her mind spinning. The meeting had taken hours, and while she was grateful Alfonse was so thorough, she found these meetings mentally exhausting. Now that the Summoner had organized the training groups for the day, she was free to head to the Summoning Ruins. Robyn had only one precious orb left, so they were going to have to go orb hunting soon. Pushing open the castle doors, she stepped down the familiar cobblestone path that gave way to a grassy field. For a moment, she wished she could let down her hood so she could feel the breeze in her hair, but Alfonse’s advice to conceal her unusual appearance from the others rang in her ears. If the other heroes were to see her, and word got out to Embla, she’d be more of a target than she already was. That.. and the questions. It was an unspoken rule among the heroes not to ask their mysterious Summoner about her past. Any attempts were dodged or deflected, and they’d given up asking. The questions were too painful, and as the Summoner crossed the field and began to walk uphill, she tried to quell the sharp pain in her chest. While she did dedicate a lot of time to the army, she also spent hours upon hours trying to figure out how to get home.

I’ve gone over every possibility so far.. she mused. If I don’t find an answer soon, that probably means-

..No. She was not going to think about that. Mist rose up around her as the grass turned to stone, and she continued to walk up the path as the mist thickened. When she reached the top, she stopped and glanced behind her, just as she always had when she went to summon. It never ceased to amaze her how cut off from the world she felt when up here, especially with the mist pooling around her like a protective wall. Sighing, Robyn turned her eyes to the stone slab that rested at the end, the hole carved in the middle patiently waiting for its orb. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a single, precious orb, and her Briedablik. When she wasn’t summoning, it turned into a deep purple book for some reason, allowing her to store hand drawn maps or notes about other worlds. Placing the orb into the artifact, the ground in front of her glowed, revealing five balls of light, shining in various colors. This time there was two blue, two red, and a single grey orb.

Odd one out it is. Robyn decided, touching it lightly with her fingertip.

The Breidablik glowed, seeming to approve of her choice as she aimed at the hole in the stone slab.

Sometimes I wonder if this thing has a mind of its own. she mused, and fired.

The orb shot into the gap, fixing itself into place. Robyn shielded her eyes from the brilliant flash. When the light cleared, a tall figure was left standing in the middle of the Summoning Ruins. While most heroes wore heavy armor or mages cloaks, he was dressed in a blue, white and brown outfit with puffy sleeves. A fur wrap was secured tightly around his waist, but that wasn’t what held Robyn’s attention. The man’s long silver hair was tied up in a long ponytail, spiked in the back while the rest fell down his back, wild and wind blown, but beautiful all the same. When he swung around and locked eyes with her, Robyn’s breath hitched in her throat at the intensity in his reddish, amber eyes. At once the eyes narrowed, and the grip on his bow tightened as he hesitated, unsure of whether or not to attack. Robyn slowly approached, speaking gently as to not appear a threat.

“It’s alright.” she murmured. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

”W-where am I?!” he demanded. “And where’s Hoshido?!”

”You’re in the kingdom of Askr. My name is Robyn, the Summoner of Heroes. We’re in the middle of a massive war. We.. we need your help.”

He raised an eyebrow, suspicion still glittering in his gaze. The eyes lowered, and he mumbled

“I was so close to proving myself to him as his equal..”

Sympathy flooded over her as she observed the troubled man.

“You could prove yourself here.”

He froze at this, and Robyn couldn’t tell if her words had soothed or angered him as she pressed on.

“Embla won’t just invade us. They’ll invade other worlds and take control of their heroes, forcing them into a contract to fight for them, including yours.”

His eyes widened briefly, then hardened.

“So they’re a threat to Hoshido too.” he murmured. Straightening up, he fixed her with a steely gaze. “Need me? Alright, I’ll help. I’m Takumi, second prince of Hoshido, and wielder of the Fujin Yumi.”

”N-nice to meet you, Takumi. I’ll show you to the castle.”

Takumi nodded, and fell into step beside her. He was quiet at first, and she noticed he was trying to subtly sneak glances under her hood. Every hero did. In the Order of Heroes, the summoner’s hidden appearance was a hot topic when they thought she wasn’t listening. But the magic kept her face hidden from his prying eyes, and with a faint huff of defeat, he made an attempt at conversation.

“So.. tell me about this war.”

Trying her best not to overwhelm him with details like she had been, Robyn answered the onslaught of questions about Askr, Alfonse, and of course their enemy Embla. And Veronica, who was still dead set on killing them all. As they stopped in front of the castle, she heard Takumi’s breath catch in his throat as he stared up at the massive castle looming over him. Robyn shared the sentiment, knowing how intimidating the building looked at first glance. While she wouldn’t admit it to the others, she still got lost in it sometimes.

“The castle is bigger than I expected.” Takumi remarked as she pushed open the doors. “Just how many heroes are in this.. Order of Heroes?”

”Only a handful.” Robyn replied as they walked in, their shoes clicking pleasantly on the purple crystal floor. “I was only summoned here recently myself.”

”So you’re not from here either.”

When she glanced at him, she noticed he was scrutinizing her carefully, and Robyn would have traded her cloak to know what he was thinking.

“Um..” Robyn’s gaze darted to the side uneasily. Why do I get the feeling he doesn’t trust me? “There should be a clear orb in your pocket now. All summoned heroes have them.”

Looking intrigued, he rooted around his pocket, producing a clear orb.

“It’s how I can send heroes home.” she added. “So you should keep a close eye on it.”

“So the Briedablik you spoke of before also uses orbs to summon heroes here?” Takumi inquired.

“Yes.” Robyn answered “Its a divine artifact only I seem to be able to wield. I’ll have to collect more orbs, however. I used my last one today.”

”Interesting.”

The prince fell silent as they continued their tour of the castle, and his eyes swept over the other heroes as they talked about various topics. His amber eyes narrowed distrustfully as they cast curious glanced at them, and he turned his head away sharply. Robyn frowned, but chose to say nothing.

”Robyn!!”

An excited call stopped the pair in their tracks as Sharena came racing towards them, her brother Alfonse trailing behind with an exasperated expression.

“Slow down!” he scolded. “What if you crashed into someone?”

”Sorry!” Sharena panted as she skidded to a halt in front of Takumi. “I just had to meet the new hero! Hiiiii! I’m Sharena, princess of Askr. What’s your name?”

”U-uh..”

Robyn stifled a giggle at the blush on the very clearly flustered Hoshidan prince’s face. Poor Takumi looked like he had no idea how to handle the peppy princess. Collecting himself, he raised himself to his full height and met her gaze squarely.

”I’m Takumi. Second prince of Hoshido. You summoned me here to help with your war, correct?” he stated bluntly.

“Straight to the point I see.” Alfonse replied, his tone respectful. “Yes, I am Alfonse, prince of Askr. And this is my sister, Sharena.”

”We’re heading to the mess hall.” the princess put in. “Won’t you join us? You can meet the other heroes!”

”No thanks.” Takumi deadpanned, unfazed by the hopeful look in her eyes. “We’re allies, and I’ll respect that. But I can’t trust someone I just met, especially in an unknown world.”

The prince and princess exchanged uneasy glances, before Sharena mumbled awkwardly

“I.. see. Well, alright then. We’ll be going now.”

They walked away quickly, leaving the two alone again. Robyn found herself playing with the sleeve of her cloak, her mind replaying the harshly spoken words, jolting when he spoke up again.

”Are you just going to stand there?”

”Ah.. right sorry! I’ll show you to your room.” Robyn answered hastily, turning her feet towards the stairs.

Instinctively, she turned down the hallway towards her room. She’d chosen it because that particular corner of the castle was quiet. Not many heroes inhabited it, so it allowed her to let her hair down without fear of being seen. Pausing outside her door, she hesitated. Was it a good idea to give him a room so close to her own?

But he might appreciate the quiet…

”Something wrong?”

”Um.. no.”

Making her decision quickly, she led him three doors down to the room on the very end of the hall, opening the door for him. With a small nod, Takumi stepped inside, his eyes sweeping the room. A bed lay in the far corner to the left, a large window on the wall beside it. All the room were furnished, this one having a medium sized desk, a fire place, and a storage bin to put his belongings. Robyn noticed he did not have a bookshelf like her room did. She snuck a glance at the prince’s expression as he investigated the room, a look of satisfaction on his face. As he stopped in front of the window, overlooking the castle, he hesitated.

What is he thinking..? Robyn wondered curiously, tilting her head slightly.

“Do.. do you ever miss your home?” he asked suddenly, turning to face her.

Robyn flinched, and was extremely grateful for the hood that concealed the look of heartbreak that must have crossed her face in that moment.

“I.. I guess..” she mumbled, trying to keep her emotions out of her voice.

Takumi’s eyes seemed to pierce through her, and in sudden a desperation to be alone, she swiftly regained her composure and blurted out

“Right um.. I’ll leave you to it. Oh.. and if you want fresh air at night, the windows push open. G-goodnight.”

”Very well then. If you need me, I’ll respond.”

As soon as Takumi closed the door, Robyn darted back to her own room, shutting the door quickly. Unable to hold it in any longer, she ripped off her hood and collapsed against the door.

“It’s okay.. it’s okay..” she whispered.

It’s not okay. her thoughts echoed back.

A sob escaped Robyn’s lips as she sagged against the door, covering her face with her hands in a feeble attempt to muffle her cries.

Do.. do you ever miss your home?

Takumi’s words echoed.

Yes! I do miss my home.. I miss it so much..

Takumi’s eyes raised as the Summoner shot out of his room, seeming a bit upset. He frowned as he sat on the bed, pondering over the day’s bizarre events. It had started out as a seemingly ordinary day before he was ripped out of his world, unexpectedly summoned by Robyn. Sighing, he let down his hair and tugged off his fur wrap, placing them and his bow into the storage bin and laying down in bed.

There must be more to Robyn than she’s letting on.. he mused. No one hides their face unless they have something to hide.. I should keep my guard up..

Closing his eyes, Takumi fell into a restless sleep.

“Geez, you’re always up so early. Doesn’t being an early riser ever bother you?” Ricken asked, yawning.

They were on their way to the mess hall for an early morning meal before heading to the Training Tower. With the looming battle against Embla rapidly approaching, she knew there was no time to waste.

“I’m not tired.” Robyn replied simply, then frowned for a moment as the thought suddenly occurred to her.

No matter how early she’d wake up, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt tired since joining the Order of Heroes. They reached the Mess Hall and settled together at one of the table as Flora smiled in greeting and set a blueberry Askr style tart in front of them. The berries were exclusive only to the Kingdom, and were a perfect balance of sweet with just a hint of sour, while under them was a layer of cream and a buttery shortbread crust. Robyn had one every morning without fail, and had yet to grow tired of them.

“These things are the best!” Ricken sighed blissfully as he leaned back in his seat.

Robyn hummed softly in agreement as Jakob poured their coffee, mulling over her World of Binding book, her quill darting over the parchment papers as she drew out a map.

“Hey!” Ricken hissed suddenly, starting her as he leaned closer. “Remember that new guy you summoned yesterday?”

”Takumi?” she answered absently, resuming her work.

“Yeah, him! Um.. not to make a big fuss over it or anything, but he’s kind of staring at you.”

Robyn was grateful for the hood that concealed her eyes as they darted up suddenly to see Takumi standing across the room, leaning against the wall. One arm was crossed over his chest while the other rested over his mouth. His eyes were indeed fixed on her in a look of deep pensiveness, making her feel uneasy. What could be possibly be thinking? To her relief, the awkward moment passed as Flora approached him with a steaming plate of omelette. They spoke quietly to each other, and Takumi held up a hand and shook his head, seeming to refuse. But Flora persisted, and looking reluctant, Takumi accepted the food and the maid walked away. The prince’s eyes swept over the mess hall again before he went to sit by the fireplace at the far end of the room.

“Well that was weird. Yeesh.. talk about prickly. I’d hate to make that guy mad.” Ricken remarked, and Robyn nodded as she watched Takumi pick half-heartedly at his food.

He looks lonely…

”Nya-ha-ha! Finally some enemies to kill!” Henry cheered.

They were standing outside the Training Tower with Ricken, Fredrick, Henry, Laslow, Gregor, Niles, and their new addition Takumi, who Robyn noticed was standing a short distance away while the others conversed.

“Gregor wish Gregor could have slept longer.” the mercenary grumbled, but there was a good-natured gleam in his eyes as he added “How much you pay Gregor to get up this early?”

”Awe, you don’t wanna train with good ol’ meee? I’m told I’m irresistible..” Niles teased, earning a unanimous grimace from the group.

“Alright, let’s head inside.” Robyn said quickly before Niles creeped on anyone else.

”He’s not even talking to me and I feel violated..” Ricken muttered to Henry, who just snickered and they walked inside.

The group walked swiftly up the stairs to the first stratum as Robyn gave the run down of how the tower worked. The other members were already familiar with it, except for Takumi, who listened intently, his eyes seeming to analyze everything.

I wonder what kind of fighter he is..? she pondered as they halted in front of the door to the first stratum, and she turned to face the group.

“Remember, the enemies and even the landscape here aren’t real, just an illusion crafted by Askr’s finest mages.” she warned them. “Even injuries and death here will feel real, but do not falter. This is just a battle stimulation to prepare us for the real thing. Is everyone ready?”

The group nodded, and Takumi’s eyes narrowed as the Summoner turned and pushed the door open. The walls and floor were a plain grey, an eerie silence settling over the room as their footsteps clicked softly on the floor. A single, raised tile rested in the middle.

Here we go.. Robyn thought as she stepped on the tile.

He’s amazing! Robyn exclaimed silently as Takumi shot down another flyer with calculated precision.

The string of his legendary bow, the Fujin Yumi, glinted even in the false sunlight, his long silver hair swaying gently as he swiftly ducked and dodged several mage’s attacks and launched himself into the air.

“Oh that’s it!” the prince cried, unleashing a barrage of gleaming teal arrows.

”Wow! His arrows form by themselves!” Ricken paused to gasp in awe, not noticing as an axe fighter loomed behind him, their axe raised.

”Watch out!” Henry called, firing a spell just in time. “Nya-ha-ha!” he giggled as the boy yelped and jumped out of the way. “You almost got your head taken off!”

”T-that’s not funny!” Ricken blustered, clutching the top of his hat for dear life.

The scenery flowed and faded back to grey as the last soldier faded away.

“That was wonderful!” Robyn praised the group, beaming with pride. “You’re all natural soldiers, so I can’t think of many things you have to improve on. Just keep it up and we’ll be good to go for orb collecting tomorrow.”

”Ricken could practice not getting his head chopped off- tee-hee!” Henry teased, earning a scoff from the younger mage.

“It’s not my fault Takumi’s such a good archer. I just wanted to take a quick look, that’s all!”

While the prince said nothing, Robyn thought she caught a proud gleam in his eyes. As the other heroes dispersed to go train on their own, Robyn hesitantly approached him.

“Um.. you’re really good. I think you’re actually the best archer in the army.”

”Thanks.” he replied simply, walking away.

While his response was casual, Robyn didn’t miss the faint pink dusting his cheeks and her heart rose.

Maybe.. we can be friends?

#blametakumi #blametakumiforstealingmyheart #fe fates #fe takumi #fire emblem #fire emblem heroes #takumi (fe)#takumi x reader #takumifeh #takumifireemblemheroes #feh #fe heroes #feh summoner

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starlling-writes · 2 years

Text

I Planned For... Well, Not This

The plan was to commit a heist of a lifetime. In the city of the corrupt, in the biggest casino. They each had their big part to play, even Cyrus. But you can only plan for so much. And Cyrus—he didn’t plan for most of his night out in Kymal.

Rating: T Contains: swearing, violence, some suggestive dialogue Words: 5400

Writing Masterlist

The plan was for Cyrus to find something explosive to help break the skydeck from the building. When his brother first told him the idea, it sounded perfectly achievable. In a city with a reputation for attracting the corrupt, how hard could it be to obtain some explosives? Between his charms and the bit of money he just won playing cards, this would be a piece of cake.

That’s what our dear, sweet himbo thought, anyway.

The market was easy enough to find. It was far grander than anyone made it out to be. Finding what they needed might take more time than Cyrus had thought… Time was ticking; he better get started.

He wove his way past the stalls. This wouldn’t be something so out in the open, would it? he wondered. He had no idea what explosives looked like or cost. Hopefully whatever venders he approached would be endeared by his doltishness and pity him instead of fleece him.

Cyrus picked a weapons stall and approached the seller. “Do you know where I could get something… explosive?” he asked and pantomimed an explosion.

The vendor—a burly dwarven woman with more gnarly, visible scars than Cyrus had years—gave him a once-over. He was sorely out of place. It didn’t help that his tone was so bright for someone asking for lethal. What the kid wanted them for when tensions were high, she didn’t dare ask. She let out a single, gruff laugh. “None here. Try an alchemist.”

“Oh, thank you.” He turned and started to leave, but stopped short. Whipping back around he asked, “Which way would one be?”

She raised a brow as she stared at him, dumbfounded. How had this boy not been eaten alive here yet? She sighed then threw him a bone, “Take a left out of here. Keep going until you see a florist. They’re a bit tucked to the right side, about an eight-minute walk down. Go in there and go straight out the back. The alley is rough,” she specified and eyed his nice outfit, “but it’s the only way to get to Zaphi’s. Go left down the alley but stick to the right wall. There is a split that’s easy to miss. Eventually you’ll exit into a small pocket. Zaphi’s shop is the only thing there. Say Merovecht sent ya.”

A flamed burned in Cyrus’s eyes. “Left, flowers, left, right, Merovecht. Got it. Thank you.” He whipped back around and floated off, chanting the shortened instructions under his breath.

A stroke of luck sent the scent of flowers on an errant breeze to help him find the florist quickly. He politely ducked in and out the back. Merovecht was right; the alley was rough. Though it wasn’t the worst one Cyrus had found himself in since misfortune sunk its teeth into him. If things went well tonight, hopefully this would be the last dark, dank alley he had to skulk through.

Left again.

The alley was narrow and filled with all sorts of junk; not to mention a lot of liquids and questionably furry things that Cyrus really didn’t want to think about. Despite the obstacles, he managed to forge onward. Barely. His cloak snagged on a crooked nail. He hit his head on a half-fallen beam. He tripped and fell forward right into one of the puddles with dubious furry bits that he had been desperately trying to avoid. Perhaps this was the worst alley he had been in—what he would give to go back and enjoy that spa in The Maiden’s Wish. With his countenance compromised, he shudderingly put his right hand along the wall to make sure he didn’t miss the right path.

The minutes started adding up. Cyrus worried he messed up somewhere along the line. Or had been tricked. Just before he admitted defeat, the alley let out into a small alcove. The space was no more than ten feet in any direction. Across from the alley’s mouth was a crooked, wooden archway with a faded curtain pulled to one side. A feint glow escaped from within. It was the only sign of someone might be there; the only sounds were the muffled hubbub from the main shops. Cyrus began wishing that at least one of the others had come with him.

“What can I do for you, kid?” a smoke-scratched voice asked over his shoulder.

Cyrus yelped, whirled around stumbling a bit, and looked up at the goliath consuming the entire alleyway, preventing any kind of escape. Why did it feel like he just made the last mistake of his life? Hopefully his charms would get him out of this alive. “Ah! Hello there. I was told that, um, I could get some…” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “explosives… from you.”

The corner of their nose scrunched up briefly—were they sneering or sniffing? “Oh yeah? And who was it exactly that said I had these explosives?” They whispered the last word mockingly.

“Right. Merovecht sent me.”

“Merovecht, huh?” They crossed their arms. A sharp jerk of their head left and then right, cracked their neck in a way that sounded like it broke. It made Cyrus’s skin crawl. “Well, I guess I should thank her for your patronage.” This was feeling more and more like a threat to our decreasingly naïve prince. They clapped a hand on Cyrus’s shoulder. “Come. I’ll show you some explo–” They cut off short, their words turning into a groan as they doubled over. They stumbled to the side, one hand cradling their groin, the other bracing the wall.

Standing in their previous place was now a disgruntled, though strikingly gorgeous, human. When she was done starring daggers at the goliath, her eyes snapped to Cyrus. He had a flash of understanding of the concept terrified yet turned on. “You didn’t keep right,” she accused, raising her eyebrows judgingly.

“What? Of course I did,” Cyrus floundered defensively. Mentally he cursed himself; he knew he’d mess up at some point tonight.

She rolled her eyes. “Mervecht would’ve neve' sent you here. She and Verkeerd have had a grudge for years. Dropping her name is only gonna get you robbed dead.” She marched over to Verkeerd, tossed a sack at his feet, then snatched the coin purse from their hip. After giving the coins a quick count, she gave Cyrus another look over. “You said you were looking for explosives, right?”

“Yes?” He wasn’t fully trusting of her, but he had no other leads.

“Look.” She closed the distance between them, standing familiarly close—she kept looking him over too. “If you could help me out tonight and help me earn a bit of money, I’ll get you some good explosives. Deal?”

“Deal—wait. What do I have to do?”

“Are you good at fightin’?”

Pretty boy started to get flirty. “I can hold my own,” he said.

She didn’t trust that he could throw her further as she could him, but he was the best bet she was getting tonight—at the very least, he’d might be a hot hookup after a bath. “So… is that a yes?”

“Yes, of course. Shall we go?” He flashed a smile and motioned for her to lead the way.

And so, instead of retracing his steps and following the instructions already given to him, he followed this mysterious, new beauty to aid her whims tonight.

Despite her being in high heels, she navigated the precarious alley and streets better than he could. It made him think of Opal; quite a few things about her made him think of Opal—confidence, attitude, her own sharp sense of style. Plus, all the looks she kept throwing his way.

“So, what do you need money for? If you don’t mind me asking.”

She groaned in annoyance then spoke venom. “My fuckin’ ex vanished when we were in the middle of a job. Bitchass left me and stuck me with a massive debt that I need to hurry and repay.”

“That’s horrible.” Cyrus had half the thought to offer her some of the loot they were going to nab tomorrow but—thankfully—he stopped himself. He didn’t know how much money was in that vault. And between his high bounty, and the fact they had to share their spoils with someone else already, he wasn’t sure he could offer such help to her. He couldn’t afford chivalry this time. But the knowledge he was currently on his way to help her get money assuaged his growing guilt. “I hope you’ve at least had better luck with partners since then.”

She threw a knowing glance at him. “I haven’t had any partners since. At least not any for more than a night or two.”

With it blatantly obvious they were both interested in hooking up, they continued on in silence—because why at least exchange names when you can just make it known how horny you are?

The mysterious woman led them out of the market and towards the Wishing Well. The casino wasn’t their destination though. They snaked through the alleys beside it and stopped at a crossway. She spoke aloud in a language Cyrus didn’t understand. He glanced around. He didn’t notice anyone, but she had to be talking to someone. Right? A moment passed without anything happening. Then the ground beneath them started to rumble. He jumped back in surprise. The stones parted and revealed a staircase descending into total darkness.

“Come on,” was all she said before heading down.

Did he continue to trust her? Did he follow her into the dark unknown in the hopes that she’ll uphold her end of their deal and give him explosives? Did he let her beauty completely cloud his sense of self-preservation?

Yes. Because the Wyvernwind brothers were like that more often than not.

The stairs were narrow, fitting only one person at a time. Thankfully it was also straight, so Cyrus didn’t struggle keeping his feet in the darkness. Light started to bloom ahead of them and soon the stairs opened into a wider, lit hallway. A roguish individual leaned against one of the side walls; they watched them closely as the passed.

Cyrus leaned in close and whispered to her, “So what exactly are we doing?”

“Beast fighting,” she answered with no care for secrecy.

“Okay… and how exactly do these beast fights work? Are we just betting on fights?” The memory of what she asked him earlier jumped to the front of his mind. Dread rapidly settled in. “Am I going to have to fight a beast?”

“You’ll take a polymorph potion and be turned into a random beast. I’ll handle all the betting. Hopefully, Avandra favors us tonight—and I guess Kord.” Quieter, she sneered, “If the gods even feel like giving any of us their attention.”

“There—there are healers there, right?”

She loudly scoffed at him. “Fights end once you’re knocked out of polymorph. Besides residual aches and phantom pains, there’s gonna be noth’n to heal. Well… unless your opponent gets a really good last hit. Then some of the damage might carry over as you detransform.”

Cyrus made a small, whimpering sound. But it was lost under the growing chatter from up ahead.

They finally arrived at the arena.

There were a lot more people than Cyrus expected—there was a lot more space too. It was an underground amphitheater that had similar vibes to the West Run. Was this apart of it? Considering the path they took to get here, Cyrus doubted it. But what did he know. It was likely built at the same time, originally a deep, underground part of it, but was now sealed off and used by the bands of rogues for their own gambling schemes.

His eyes caught on the five figures in the center of the pit. Three of them chatted like they were old friends who did this often. One was on edge, sitting off to the side on a stool, his leg jittering like a woodpecker. The last one was leaning against the wall, flirting with a few of the attendees leaning over the edge.

“Hey!” his companion yelled at him as she snapped her fingers in front of his face to catch his attention. “Come on. We gotta regista’ you.” She grabbed and dragged him off by the arm.

Heads turned and eyes lingered as they wove their way through. There was a mix of curiosity, threats, disinterest, and interest. None of it was making Cyrus feel remotely better about what he was about to be thrown into.

His still-unnamed companion handled his registration. When that was done, he was escorted to the pit. Before he went in, the woman stopped him and leaned in close. “Listen… Thanks again for doing this. I really need this money, so… do your best, alright.”

“With you cheering me on, how could I lose?”

His flirting caught her off guard; she laughed. “Save the charm for when ya win.” She stole a quick kiss before shoving him towards the pit. He stumbled back, smiling at her. A few other people around them whooped and jeered him. Flustered, Cyrus turned away and went down near the other combatants. They looked him over but continued as they were. Ten minutes later, the last two fighters joined the pit.

A wave of cheers filled the room. An assistant walked out and had them each pull lots as magic amplified the MC’s opening speech. Cyrus rolled the stone over and over in his hand. Then, as the MC prompted, the fighters held out their hands. A wave of magic swirled around them and numbers burned in the air above each stone, revealing their positions in the fighting bracket. Cyrus was number five. First bets finished up as the fighters took turns selecting their polymorph potions.

“Fighters, to your circles!” the MC declared. They all went to their respectively numbered magic circles along the perimeter. With a bit of flair, they activated the circles to contain the fighters until it was their time to fight. “And now… time to transform. Fighters! Take. Your. Potions!”

The crowd roared again. Each fighter downed their potion and turned into a different beast. Second bets poured in, both for the primary wave and the overall winner.

First fight was a giant boar verses a brown bear. Their containment spells dropped the moment the MC yelled fight. They both charged forward. The bear made the first strike. They landed a bite but missed a claw swipe when the boar pulled away. The boar threw their head to the side, attempting to jab the bear with their tusk. But they missed. Again, the bear could only get one bite in, deepening the wound they already created. Writhing in pain, the boar finally managed to jab the bear with their tusk. It wasn’t a strong attack, but at least they got one hit in before the bear chomped them, knocking them out. The bear dropped the limp body then turned and roared at the audience, triumphant. But they took their win prematurely. Their opponent had been downed, but not detransformed—giant boars were resilient after all. The boar staggered to their feet, barely hanging on. While the bear was distracted, thinking the cheers from the crowd were still singing their praise, the boar backed up then charged them. They hit the bear hard and knocked them prone. Breathing heavily, the boar screamed at the bear in a last act of defiance. To no surprise, the bear finished off the boar and the fighter reverted to their normal form.

Second fight was between a crocodile and dire wolf. The cheers of the crowd quickly turned into boos and yells of, “Come on!” and “Hit him already!” as the croc couldn’t catch the agile wolf, and the wolf didn’t know how to deal with the croc’s scaly hide. As the wolf tried to break past the croc’s rough skin, they tripped and plopped onto their back. This granted the croc an easy hit. With a yelp of pain, the wolf was quick to retaliate. The crowd’s cheers began to shift into amusement—but the joy was short lived. The damn fight quickly returned to the two of them not being able to do any damage against each other. The dire wolf finally got another bite in and finished off their opponent.

Then it was Cyrus’s first fight.

He, a polar bear, was up against a giant goat. Even with his lethal attributes, he didn’t underestimate the brutality of those horns. Especially since the goat instantly charged him and knocked him prone. With his enemy in close, Cyrus managed to land both a bite and claw swipe. It was almost enough to instantly win. The bloodied goat got one more good ram of its horns in before Cyrus landed the winning blow.

The last fight of this wave pitted a lion against a giant constrictor. First blood went to the lion, who pounced on the snake and got in a deep bite as its claws dug in for purchase. The snake flailed, trying to bite back but ultimately just shaking the lion off themselves. Prepared, the snake did not let the lion bite them again. They baited the lion and struck while they were recovering, coiling around them. They successfully immobilized the lion. Not that the lion cared much. It was easier for them to sink their teeth into the snake’s muscly body when they wasn’t slithering around. But exchanging bites paid a toll on both fighters. As fatigue set in, they both failed to make purchase. The constrictor almost lost grip on the lion, too. In that flash of fear of their opponent escaping, they struck true, winning the round.

So far so good. Cyrus and his new friend made a small profit already. Hopefully they could keep it.

The second wave started up. It was the battered bear verses the rather healthy dire wolf. Based on apparent health, the fight would go to the wolf. But based on damage capability, the bear lead in lethality.

The fight was decided in two strikes. The wolf won before betting could even finish.

Cyrus’s little bear ears drooped. He was not ready for his second fight to happen so soon. But now he had to fight the giant constrictor. They both received about the same overall damage, but Cyrus was looking worse. He needed to stay smart. He needed to avoid further injury. He rushed to get the first strikes. He had the advantage of being able to get two strikes in near simultaneously. His opponent went with the same tactic as they had their last fight and wrapped around him, restraining him. He refused to go down like the lion had. He put up a struggle then bit down as hard as he could in the spot the lion had started. It was enough. Cyrus won again.

The final fight.

Cyrus got a short reprieve to allow the last bets to be placed. Then it was him verses the dire wolf.

The wolf lunged, going for a bite. But they weren’t expecting him to dodge by standing up on his hind legs. Cyrus slammed down with a swipe of his claws and snapped a near lethal bite. The wolf yelped and whined. And because he failed to finish the job in one go, the wolf got another chance.

Ripping the victory from him.

The crowd was cheering in a mix of joy and defeat. Cyrus slammed his fist on the ground, then, recalling their group’s luck in the previous day’s gambling adventures, he yelled out, “Double or nothing! Double or nothing!” He caught eyes with the MC.

“Quite, quiet,” the MC hushed the room. They strode up to Cyrus and looked at him with an amused look. Then they looked at the other fighter, a chartreux tabaxi, as she popped out of the polymorph. To her, they asked, “You up for another fight?”

She shrugged and put her fists on her hips. “I’m good with kicking his ass again. Especially if it makes me more gold.”

“You good for the money?” the MC asked Cyrus.

“I don’t plan on losing,” he said, avoiding having to lie.

His little aversion did not go unnoticed, but they let it slide. “Well, well,” the MC boasted to the room again. “It looks like we have a rare opportunity here. Here’s how the betting will go…”

Cyrus’s friend ran up to the side of the pit and glared daggers at him. He skirted off to the side as the MC talked on. “What the hells are you doing?” she hissed at him. “You really think you can take on Ivy? You’ve already lost. I’ve at least made some gold tonight; just get the fuck outta there!”

“Trust me on this,” he said. It was a complete mystery where he got this confidence from, but he was obviously dead set in his decision. “Please.”

He looked so sweetly sincere. Fuck, why did she always get mixed up with cute fools like him? She groaned and shook her head. “Fine! But I swear… I will crush your skull with my thighs if you lose this.”

“Deal,” he smiled then captured a quick kiss.

“We’ll have a non-morphed fight in twenty minutes,” the MC said. “Settle your bets and prepare for a fight.”

Thankfully for Cyrus, they provided him with his choice of weapon. He took a dagger and a sword. Usually, he didn’t like fighting. When his brother and his friends got into fights, he always tried to avoid the fray. Large fights were not his forte. But duels… Duels were where his skills shined best.

He took a couple test swings, then faced his opponent. “You—you’re not going to use a weapon?”

Ivy smirked and cracked her knuckles. “Boy, I am a weapon.”

For yet another time tonight, Cyrus felt both intimidated yet turned on.

But then mostly intimidated as she made the first move. She rushed in and threw two punches. Dodging the first one made the second land precisely in a tender spot. Thankfully his training helped him mitigate some the damage. He used his momentum to dodge her next punch, but again got caught by the follow-up. Usually, his duels were against other weapon wielders; her being a monk and only using her fists was something he needed to adjust for. And fast.

Cyrus swiped with his sword, hoping to at least get her to back off. Though he did land the hit; she wasn’t expecting such a quick reaction from him. His sword left a nasty impression. His dagger followed suit.

Neither of them had been prepared for just how nasty the other could be. She couldn’t take more risks. Yet again, he managed to avoid her first of two punches. She focused herself and forced her energy into his pressure points, attempting to stun him. If she could incapacitate him for even one round, she’d prevail. But he was unfazed. Perhaps it was his airy nature that made him such a challenge; not only did he brush off her stun, he dodged her second flurry of punches.

Like him, Ivy didn’t fall for same tricks. Both of Cyrus’s swipes failed to connect. Focusing herself, she got in two quick jabs. She didn’t have much Ki left, but it was now or never. She tried to stun him again. Cursed when it failed again. Using the last bit of her reserves, she struck out with two more punches, landing both. Finally, she was in her zone.

Cyrus would not last another round. It was now or never. He stole a glance at the woman he still hadn’t gotten the name of yet. Her expression was nothing but cold panic. I can’t let her down, he affirmed to himself. He couldn’t let his brother down either. Brontë—Dorian, had done so much for him already; he and his friends were continuing to do so much for him. He had to prove himself worthy of all this effort in at least one way.

He needed to win.

He needed to get the explosives.

With this weight pushing him on, Cyrus went for a slash. He feinted, using some fancy footing, and aimed for her back. He felt the blade connect. In his desire to end this fight, he let the blade eat into her back. Just as he went to follow up with his dagger… Ivy fell to her knees. Then collapsed face down.

The roar of the crowd was deafening. A cleric rushed forth to tend to Ivy as Cyrus laughed, releasing the tension that had been holding him together. He went to the edge of the pit and pulled his friend into a proper, deep kiss. She laughed against his lips.

Then the adrenaline high ended. All Cyrus could make sense of was pain and fatigue and the strong desire to not be standing anymore. He went down. The woman cursed and reached out a hand towards him as he collapsed—she couldn’t really help him at the angle they were at. She jumped down into the pit and eased him onto her lap. Withdrawing a potion from her bag, she started to carefully pour it into his mouth. He stared up at her with half-lidded eyes. This was nice. Especially so when she started gently combing her fingers through his hair.

His little respite was interrupted by a small tremor. Everyone gasped and exclaimed in alarm, asking around but gaining no answers. Regardless of what it was, it reminded Cyrus of his real mission tonight. “Um, do you think we could get the explosives now?”

Her hand stopped in his hair. He looked like crap. He needed rest. Out of everything he could ask for right now, he still just wanted combustibles? It insulted her that all their flirting didn’t eclipse his strange need for the weapon. Perhaps he was denser than she thought.

“Sure,” she said flatly. They both got up and exited the pit. As she collected their winnings, she chatted up a few of the rogues. They tipped them off to a guy that did some dealings with an old merchant in Vasselheim who always seemed to be fresh from a fire. If anyone would have what Cyrus was looking for, it’d be him.

They left a different way than they came in. The hall had a small crowd. Most were in a small panic from the quake, but still lingered about. Whatever was going on up top, no one seemed in a rush to go see it firsthand. In a room branching off a side hall, they found their man. He greeted them with a sharp, judging glare. But once he recognized Cyrus for the winning fighter of the night, his expression morphed into a big grin and friendly posture. “What can I do you for?”

“I’m looking for some explosives. We heard you were the guy to see.”

“Sure thing. How much you want?”

Cyrus hesitated. That he wasn’t exactly sure of. He knew what they needed to do with it, but he couldn’t exactly say he needed to blow the skydeck off the side of The Maiden’s Wish. Well… he shouldn’t have said it. “Uhh… like enough to break a balcony off the side of a building?”

Both of them looked at Cyrus. They were so confused and a horrified kind of curious, yet ultimately hesitant to ask and learn what the hell this boy was up to.

A sale was a sale. The merchant raised up both his hands, palms out, letting his skepticism go. There was enough shit going on in this town. He’d rather have plausible deniability. While he excused himself to grab the items from a hidden back room, his lovely kissing buddy angry whispered, “What the fuck, dude? You blowing up a building?”

“No! No. Not a building. Just,” he shrugged, making a small sound and partially guilty face, “part of a building. Literally just need to break a piece off.”

“I can’t believe you’re gonna do this shit instead of getting laid,” she sighed.

“Wait, what?”

The merchant came back out with a small crate. “Alright, here ya go.” He set it on his desk and counted out a handful of… wooden cylinders? Cyrus had no idea. “Careful with these, alright. Place them where you want the explosion then light this wick—called a fuse. They tend to burn down rather quickly so light it then get some distance back. The powder inside these things is highly flammable. Got it?”

“Yes. Highly flammable. Thank you,” he said earnestly like a puppy. Thankfully the vendor put the dynamite into a leather satchel for him because he didn’t think to bring anything to carry it in. It was time for him to get back. He definitely had lost track of time and wasn’t sure if he was already late. With an endearingly pitiful expression, he asked, “Also, which way is the fastest way out to The Maiden’s Wish?”

The merchant raised a brow at him. He was beginning to assume that Cyrus intended to use the dynamite on the casino—which wasn’t wrong; he just couldn’t have guessed it was for the skydeck. Regardless, it wasn’t his business. He pointed straight up. “It’s nearly on top of us. Just go to the main hall, turn left, and there’ll be a ladder up about thirty feet down.”

“Thank you, again.” He turned to the woman, taking both her hands in his. “Sadly, I must part ways. Hopefully, we won enough money for your debts tonight.” He went in for another kiss but stopped short. Pulled back a little. In a hushed voice he said, “This is sort of embarrassing but… I never did catch your name.”

“I never threw it.” Cyrus stared at her with utter confusion scrunching his face. She rolled her eyes. “That was a joke, dummy.”

“Oh, right,” he chuckled, only partially understanding it now. “I’m Cyrus.”

“Denise.”

“Well Denise. I don’t know if I’ll ever be returning to Kymal after tonight. But it’d be great to run into you again somewhere else one day.”

She gave him a sassy look and pulled into a kiss by his collar. “We’ll see, pretty boy.”

Cyrus rushed off. He found the exit without trouble and exited out in a sliver of an alley a building over from the casino. Peaking out, he didn’t see any possible trouble. He darted for a set of doors on the side of the building. They were locked. He banged on the doors, calling for someone to, please, let him in. Dammit. Did he need to temp the front entrance? Sounds came from the other side of the doors and then they opened for him. Luck was still on his side.

He ran past the person who opened them, only throwing a quick thanks over his shoulder as he beelined for the skydeck. He took the stairs two at a time, shoving past the few people who were still moving about—some having small fights of their own. He caught a couple errant blades, adding to his wounds for the night. But he wouldn’t let it stop him.

The first thing he noticed was that the skydeck door was closed. Cyrus considered knocking on the door in the pattern he and his brother always used growing up. But nah. That wasn’t the style of this group. And so he yelled, “Two bits!” and burst through onto the skydeck where, thankfully, everyone else already was.

Immediately, Dorian looked to him. “Did you bring the explosives?”

“I bought it—I brought it,” he said while recovering his breath. He pulled out the bag and offered it to his brother. “The things I gave away to get it…”

The rest of their heist was just as hectic as Cyrus’s night.

But they did it.

They succeeded. They got enough money to pay off his bounty; made a new friend and helped her with her goal; likely made more enemies; and they also managed to heist some rare broomstone—its fate yet to be determined.

For the first time in a while, Cyrus was able to rest with lighter shoulders.

— — —

Fun Facts: for the fights, I literally rolled up a random battle roster and then rolled each of the fights (I made Cyrus a polar bear instead of a black bear like mentioned in the one-shot because he needed to have a better chance of actually winning, lol). Also, I made Cyrus a Swashbuckler Rogue; though he’s bad at the more rogue-ish bits and doesn’t even know Thieves Cant. Also also, Denise is Aimee’s character Deni$e that she portrayed in her Narative Telephone episode, and that was name dropped in the ExU: Kymal one-shot—I didn’t write her name with the “$” for the sake of anyone using voice to text.

— — —

Other Crit Role writings:

Critical Narrative - Poems based on the Narrative Telephone stories

The Gold of the Lucidian - Song about Uk'otoa

Nein Goodbyes (the Mighty Legend) - Song covering the Mighty Nein's adventures

Copper & Amethyst - Shadowgast fanfic

Main Writing Masterlist

#cyrus wyvernwind #critrole fanfic #ExU #ExU: Kymal #exandria unlimited: kymal #exandria unlimited #crown keepers #critical role #critrole fanfiction #my writing

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whitherliliesbloom · 4 years

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You follow the scent trail of sweet flowers...until you bump into a mysterious bijou girl with starspun hair and lustrous lavender eyes. Mysterious girl far from home: “O-oh- I’m sorry... The way you’re looking at me as if you want to d-duel... W-well, i-if you in-insist..”

@windupnamazu‘s Pokemon!AU Illya headcanons under the cut! It’s very long, so hang tight! Note the headcanons may be subject to change or updates in the future ;w; Drawings and designs of Illya’s outfits by @rosepinkwol.

Illya’s personality is about similar with her ffxiv canon verse. Shy, reserved, very sweet and gentle. But she’s considerably more cheerful in her pokemon au form and less emotionally volatile / depressed. She still does have some lingering emotional and mental health issues though, which will be covered later.

She became a pokemon trainer primarily to explore the world and meet more pokemon. Dueling and beating others isn’t a real priority for her, though she still does it to earn money.

While Illya bets pokemon dollars in normal battles with trainers she is unfamiliar with or in official tournaments, she doesn’t like gambling real money when battling with friends. Instead, she’d often suggest that the loser has to treat the winner to a meal.

Extremely good cook. You’ll never go hungry or be unsatisfied in the tummy if you go camping with her. Just don’t mention that you like spicy foods or she’ll almost always assume that you’d be able to handle the same level of spice as she does (pro-tip: you probably can’t).

She smells like the most gorgeous mix of flowers - no thanks to her Comfey often playing with her hair and wrapping flowers around her.

She takes pokemon welfare very seriously due to her upbringing and background. She thus has a habit of releasing pokemon she captured that she feels would either be happier out in the wild or are showing signs of stress in her care. That seldom happens though, due to how loving and caring she is towards all her pokemon - most of them end up becoming very attached and even protective of her.

In the same way, she never forces a pokemon to battle, evolve or do anything they don’t want to, even if they are strong.

Illya knows a lot about pokemon care and the likes / dislikes / proper way to take care of different types of pokemon. Thus, she makes friends with pokemon a lot easier than she does humans.

The very definition of ‘gotta catch em all!’..... but only if the pokemon wants to be with her. She loves all pokemon, regardless of her personal tastes and will treat any pokemon she comes across with respect and care as long as they mean no harm to her.

Knows basic first aid for both humans and pokemon. And much like in canon, her pain tolerance is incredibly high.

She’s very particular about money. Short-change her, and she’ll be very very cross. After all, less money means less treats she can buy for her pokemon.

In general, she’s dainty and graceful... however she is a tad more clumsy in her pokemon au form compared to canon.

Illya is the definition of gap moe: her sweet, cute and angelic demeanor causes a lot of people to underestimate her. When they challenge her to a battle, they are later shocked by just how ferocious and skilled she is as a trainer.

Illya has become quite famous everywhere she travels - owing to her infectiously sweet, genuine and kind nature contrasting her ferocity and skill in pokemon battles.

She’s extremely intelligent, observant and intuitive. She often stays on the defensive for long periods of time before she works out a strategy or her opponent pokemon’s weak points before going in for the (metaphorical) kill. Reckless trainers who don’t plan accordingly are the quickest to lose to her.

She WILL order her pokemon to use stun debuffs on your pokemon (sleep, charm etc). And she won’t apologize for it.... until the battle is over.

As stated, since Illya doesn’t especially care about dueling or becoming known as the best pokemon trainer, she often doesn’t see the need to challenge gym leaders to duels unless her friends urge her to, or if beating a gym leader is required for her to be able to advance in her journey.

Illya’s an extremely good sport. She’ll congratulate you wholeheartedly if you defeat her, and will also wish you ‘good fight!’ if she beats you.

Gives the best hugs - especially to her pokemon. It’s not uncommon for people to see her giving group hugs to her pokemon after a particularly tough or difficult duel.

Illya actually has a lot of pokemon, many captured but also many that she befriended and didn’t officially ‘catch’ until they decided to follow her home. She carries a fair bunch around with her, but also left a good number of her pokemon at home to live peacefull with her father. Of course, she only enters battle with 6 pokemon at maximum, as per usual pokemon battle rules. Relationships with her main pokemon team and other notable pokemon detailed below!

While Illya is generally not one to fuss too much about her appearance or fashion, she does care about making presentable. As such, she has a more colorful and varied self-made wardrobe in her pokemon au form than she does in canon. She does however, have a favorite outfit that has become trademark to her:

A loose cloak that is fastened either with a pin or buckle, and a long flowing scarf that sways freely in the wind as she walks. Underneath her cloak, she wears a knee-length dress with a sailor collar and elbow-length sleeves and black fingerless gloves. She often switches between various hair accessories such as flower corsages, ribbons and pins. However, her brightly colored hairbands are perhaps the most well remembered to those who meet her.

Some people speculate that her scarves were sewn from the fur that was shed from her Cinccino, hence how warm and fluffy that look. Her hip length pure white hair is wrapped against her neck when she wears her scarf.

Illya’s trademark outfit in the pokemon au has two different versions: one that she wears in the spring and summer, while the other is worn in autumn and winter.

Her spring / summer attire is lighter- both in color and fabric. Her baby pink cloak is fastened with a flower pin atop her pink and purple dress. Intricate flower patterns adorns her skirt, and she wears ankle-length socks and purple flats. She also wears flower earrings

Her autumn / winter attire is made of thicker, warmer material - specifically her purple cloak which has a star print and is fastened with a buckle. Her dress is a darker blue in color, with constellation and star patterning around the edge of her skirt. There are rumors that the underside of her skirt shimmers like a starry night sky... but you’d have to be out of your mind to want to look up it to confirm said rumor. Instead of socks, she wears white tights and dark blue shoes. She also wears a star hairclip and earrings to go with her blue hairband.

Illya does not like feeling cold, and thus usually travels around wearing her cloak and scarf... however, she will on occasion take them off indoors out of respect - such as when she’s eating a meal at somebody’s house as a guest.

Illya was born to two loving parents - Cocona, a lalafellin woman who worked as a nurse at the nearest pokemon center to their home in a small, quaint town and Lachlan, an ex-pokemon trainer who retired shortly after having his name entered into the hall of fame, now settled down to live with his wife and daughter.

Cocona’s job as a nurse gave her a lot of knowledge on how to take care of pokemon, and together with her husband set up a daycare / nursery for both young and old pokemon alike, where they spent their days taking care of many different species of pokemom.

Born under those circumstances, Illya was exposed to pokemon since a very young age, and began playing with and interacting with pokemon as a toddler. She also quickly learned to help around the daycare, learning more about each different type of pokemon and how to best take care of each of their needs.

At age 9, her mother fell ill with a life-threatening disease, and in order to allow his wife to see the world before she passed on, Lachlan took Cocona away on a one year journey outside their hometown, leaving Illya alone with her aunt (Cocona’s younger sister) to take care of the pokemon daycare in their absence. Unfortunately, Illya’s aunt had a somewhat sour relationship with her sister, and was neglectful towards Illya, often leaving her unattended for extended periods of time.

Illya sought refuge and comfort from the pokemon she was tasked to take of, and for a long time, they were the only ones Illya talked to. She’d take the pokemon out flower picking, stargazing. She ate with them, slept with them and vowed to take care of them to the best of her abilities for the sake of her parents.

On a particularly terrible stormy night, the land surrounding her home became flooded with rainwater and seeped into her house. While Illya scrambled to keep the water out, her pokemon were thrown into a panic, and eventually one of the baby pidoves flew out and away from her home. Illya chased after the pidove into the woods despite the rain, the wind so strong that it caused her umbrella to be carried away into the wind.

As she ran after the pidove, she slipped and tumbled down a hill, breaking her leg. Now injured, scared and alone in the middle of the forest, the young Illya cried for help, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of the pouring rain and thunder. With nothing but the darkness of the night staring back at her and fearing that a wild animal or hostile pokemon may be lurking about and attack her, Illya attempted to crawl her way back home, but the pain from attempting to stand up only causes her to collapse once more.

It felt like the entire world had abandoned her, and just as she heard a strange noise from the shadows and feared the worse, a mimikyu approaches her from the dark and sat by her, watching over her and shielding her with its appendages, as if to reassure her that it won’t let any harm come to her.

She was found later in the morning by the people from the nearest town, who had gone over to her house to check on her only to find she wasn’t in, her pokemon panicking and gesturing towards the forest for the townspeople to look for her. The pidove was hold safely afterwards too, trembling as it took shelter in a tree.

The incident left Illya well traumatized, and stemmed her own growing self-hatred and anxiety which would only grow worse as she grew to become a teenager.

She doesn’t like talking much about what happened to her as a child, and she only ever mentions the incident to people she truly cares about and trusts. And if anybody were to ever upset her by being pushy and asking her about it when she doesn’t want to share, her Mimikyu would be the first to smack the offender in the head.

Her main pokemon team underwent a few changes over the years, but for the most part now, it’s fixed and she rarely switches members of her party out for another pokemon unless she thinks it’s really necessary.

One of the first and oldest member of her current pokemon party. Illya and her Mimikyu are inseparable.

Mimikyu had in truth been watching her since she was but a child, enviously admiring how happy her family and her pokemon in their daycare had been together. He had, on multiple occasions, attempted to show himself in order to be part of their family, but was always too cowardly to do so. He would always scurry away whenever Illya or her parents would approach, hiding in the shadows and only ever watching from a distance. He watched her even as she was left alone, and on the fateful night of that storm where Illya would find herself lost and injured in the forest, Mimikyu folllowed her.

Watching Illya cry alone in the rain, he felt a surge of protectiveness and compelled him to finally step out of the shadow to comfort and protect her through the night. Perhaps in that instance, he saw himself in Illya, someone who was scared, alone and just wanted to be loved. He could relate to Illya’s loneliness, and loved her for the way she would love and accept any pokemon, regardless of their appearance or strength.

Since that day, Mimikyu hasn’t left Illya’s side and is one of the most protective pokemon of her.

Mimikyu can often be found sitting on Illya’s head when he’s out of his pokeball and traveling around with her. He will extend his appendage out to grab any food that she offers him, or even to swat away anyone who gets too close to Illya.

Compared to other Mimikyu, Illya’s Mimikyu isn’t at all aggressive towards Pikachu. It is however, very shy and embarrassed and will attempt to hide if it spots one.

As Mimikyu only really cares about what Illya thinks, he won’t attack anyone who catches a glimpse of him under his disguise. But he will be very, very grouchy.

He gets along decently well with all her other pokemon, though it is sometimes jealous of how big and strong Corviknight is.

From a distance or as a shadow, Illya’s scarf often resembles the appendage Mimikyu extends out. Once, while the pair were out in the woods and Mimikyu was sitting on Illya’s head, it extended its appendage to grab hold of a treat Illya was offering it. A distant passerby who could not see clearly in the dark of the night mistook their silhouetted figure as being a monster - or a near and frightening mythical pokemon. The myth is still circulating to this day, and Illya has no idea that it had been caused by her and her Mimikyu.

Mimikyu doesn’t like going inside his pokeball - not that Illya would force him to. He’d of course, prefer to spend time outside with Illya. He especially never leaves her sight while she sleeps, often snuggling up to her beneath the covers or otherwise making himself comfortable in her scarf that she set aside.

He’s surprisingly, and scarily very physically strong - able to grab hold of other pokemon and even other people several hundred times larger than itself. He uses this to his advantage by grabbing people who get too close to Illya and shoving them away - and he’s not at all gentle about it.

Comfey shares Illya’s love and passion for flowers and it’s not uncommon to see her Comfey drifting around her, weaving flowers into her hair as she walked. The scent of the flower crowns Comfey weaves makes people who wear them feel relaxed, so she often wraps Illya in flowers whenever the girl is feeling particularly stressed or uncomfortable.

Comfey loves decorating hotel rooms and campsites with flowers she picks from the wild, and she seems to be particularly generous when it comes to giving out her flowers to others. Friendly, sweet and kind - it’s almost as if Comfey was an extension of Illya herself sometimes.

Comfey is the resident healer of Illya’s pokemon roster, able to not only heal the ailments of humans but also the other pokemon. She is especially active when Illya is helping out at pokemon centers or giving first aid to others. When Illya is in pain, Comfey often goes into a tearful panic.

Corviknight’s appearance almost always gives other people a heart attack. Nobody ever expects someone as small, cute and demure as Illya to have such an intimidating looking pokemon. But she does, and she is just as affectionate to him as she is with her other pokemon. Strangely, Corviknight seems to be very uncooperative to everyone except her.

Once lacking a flying type pokemon, Illya almost fell to her death after being pushed off a cliff. Corviknight caught her in midair and hid her under his wings after he landed, guarding her with a ferocious glare even as other humans attempted to check on her. Ever since, he’s ever a watchful guardian to her, glaring from behind her back even as she smiles sweetly at others.

Corviknight also serves as Illya’s main mode of transportation when she isn’t able to walk herself. As Illya loves taking her time to explore on her own two feet, she tries to not overly rely on Corviknight... sometimes, it can’t be helped however - such as when she needs to cross large bodies of water.

Interestingly, Corviknight bears a striking resemblance in both his aesthetic and personality to a hyuran pokemon trainer of dark skin and black hair who has secret romantic feelings for Illya.

Bellossom met Illya while the girl was traveling through a tropical area that has been haunted by rain clouds and dark skies for the past several days. Illya was first attracted to bellossom because of the flowers on her head, and had watched as the Bellossom danced and chanted, mesmerized when the rainclouds pulled apart and sunlight began to shine through.

The two quickly bonded, with Bellossom teaching Illya her sun summoning dance before finally, she decided to join Illya together on her journey.

She wasn’t exactly meant to be a part of Illya’s team, and for a while, she was but a mere travel companion. However, Illya noticed just how active and enthusiastic Bellossom was to battle - or perhaps she saw it as an opportunity to show off her dance to more people. Regardless, bellossom hence became a new member of Illya’s pokemon team replacing Cincinno.

If it wasn’t obvious enough, Bellossom loves to dance. She is rarely ever seen not at least swaying to its own beat while she’s outside her pokeball, and she becomes very eager when other pokemon or humans show an interest in learning her dance.

Evolved from an eevee that Illya had taken care of since she was a child, it alongside Mimikyu are the two most senior members of her current pokemon team and also the longest to have known her.

Sylveon is a free spirit, much like he had been when he was still a baby eevee. He enjoys roaming about a fair bit, though he takes care to not stray too far from Illya.

He’s very attached to Illya and much like other sylveons, understands his trainer’s emotional state well by wrapping his feelers around her hand while walking with her. Whenever Illya gets sad or upset, he often likes sitting in her lap, purring and nuzzling himself against her in an attempt to make her feel better. He also wraps his feelers around her in an attempt to soothe and calm her down whenever she cries.

Despite his adorable appearance, he’s actually very daring and fearless, never once backing down from a confrontation or fight with other pokemon even if they are multiple times his size or even if they are a type that holds an advantage against him.

Illya’s Sylveon is also very attached to Alphinaud’s Espeon, nuzzling himself to espeon whenever Alphinaud has it out.

Gardevoir was one of the latest pokemon to have joined Illya’s team. She is an extremely elegant, regal but also stoic member of the party.

Like other Gardevoir, she is able to read the future - and it was through her prediction that she foresaw her meeting with Illya and prematurely approached her. She is also able to distort dimensions and create black holes, though she rarely ever does the latter.

Much like Mimikyu and Corviknight, Gardevoir is extremely protective of Illya despite not having known her for as long as the others have and would not hesitate to expand her own psychic powers to her fullest if she feels like Illya may be in any sort of danger.

Though powerful, she doesn’t tend to like roaming about much and mostly stays within her pokeball unless Illya calls her out for food or battle.

Gardevoir’s demeanor and headstrong personality reminds Illya a lot of her late mother, and perhaps there is some deeper reason for why Gardevoir herself feels such a strong need to protect Illya as if she were her own kin.

Some of her pokemon are carried around with her as travel companions, only occasionally taking part in battles, while others are left at home to be cared for by her father.

TRAVEL COMPANIONS [to be updated as au is expanded on]

Vulpix: A male vulpix that Illya carries around and cuddles with during the winter or when she’s traveling through locations with colder climates. Out of all her pokemon who are not part of her main party of 6, vulpix is probably one of the most active and frequently called forth in battles that aren’t official tournament leagues or competitions. Illya also calls her vulpix out whenever fire is needed. He is brave and enthusiastic and hopes to one day evolve himself into Ninetales.

Dragonair: A gentle male dragonair that Illya caught near a lake one day during clear skies. It had dragged her into the sky and allowed her to ride on his back, soaring high into the clouds before dipping back down towards the waters. However, Illya lost her balance and fell into the water. He still feels bad about it to this day. He likes to curl around her to sleep.

Cinccino: A playful female cinccino who evolved from one of Illya’s minccino that she has been caring for as a child. She was once an active member of Illya’s party, but now is more of a travel companion who rarely ever battles now. Some people believe that Illya used the fur shed from Cinccino’s scarf to sew her own trademark scarf that she’s seen traveling around with now.

Rowlet: Though Illya gets along with many pokemon in general, birds in particular seem to be very fond of her. This male rowlet followed Illya as she was traveling through the woods and eventually became a part of travel party. He doesn’t see very many fights but he does love to cuddle and is very affectionate towards not just Illya but other pokemon and trainers.

Alcremie: A shy female Alcremie who offers sweets to new friends she meets. Illya often has reservations about eating the cream and berries secreted from her, but after being assured that it doesn’t at all hurt her Alcremie and that it’s offering of sweets is a sign of affection, Illya has started learning to indulge more in sweet foods more and more. Illya doesn’t have the heart to tell Alcremie she prefers spicy food, though.

Trevenant: A female trevenant that attacked a woodcutter that Illya saved while traversing through the forest. Convinced at first that Illya intended on harming the forest, it proceeded to trap her in a cage of trees until she was finally convinced to release Illya after witnessing the way Illya refused to let her vulpix burn the trees down just to escape. She follows Illya around and holds a lot of respect for the way Illya cared for nature and the environment.

Hatterene: A reclusive Hatterene Illya met during her travel. She once hated Illya, chasing her by emiting a strong psychic aura much like she does with other strangers. Upon sensing Illya’s lack of hostility and own gentle soul however, she eventually calmed down enough to allow Illya to approach. She is very moody and temperamental.

NOTABLE POKEMONS AT HOME [not including pokemon that belong to Lachlan or pokemon that belong to other people being taken care of]. List is NOT exhaustive!

Cleffa: A female cleffa born from Cocona’s retired Clefairy. As Cocona passed away shortly before cleffa was hatched, Illya became her owner / trainer instead. Though cleffa wishes to someday be a part of Illya’s team, grow stronger and evolve herself, Illya hasn’t quite allowed herself to let go of her mother’s death, and hence prefers to keep cleffa safe at home. It’s one of the rare instances where Illya has explicitly gone against a pokemon’s wishes, even if out of a genuine love and protectiveness of it.

Musharna: A female Musharna that eats the nightmares of Lachlan and any guests who come to stay over at their house. She sleeps a lot and frankly cannot care any less about battling.

Chimecho: A male Chimecho that Illya caught and took along with her on her journey for a while, before leaving him at home with Lachlan. He likes hanging himself to the roof of the house and swinging in the breeze. Not hearing chimecho’s wind chimes tells Lachlan and Illya that something is wrong.

Azurill: A male baby Azurill that Illya rescued. He is very timid and lacks a lot of confidence. He wants to get better at doing battle, but still has a lot of training to do before it can get to that point.

Beedrill: A male beedrill that was evolved from a weedle - the very first pokemon Illya ever caught in the wild on her own. She’s trained him personally as she grew up, and he saw many of her clumsy behavior and less experienced days. He’s sort of retired now, spending his days keeping the more rowdy pokemon in the daycare in check.

Theme songs

If pokemon au illya were to have a theme / ost track, it’d be this lovely re-orchestrated track of the Lacunosa Town Theme! It’s soft, peaceful and has a touch of melancholy which suits her perfectly. This, this and this remix also fits her and may double as her battle theme?

Illyanaud track mayyyybe?

Legendaries / Mythicals??

I didn’t include any legendaries or mythical pokemons into her roster because lore regarding those are that they’re very very rare BUT if Illya were allowed to have a legendary and a mythical pokemon, she’d probably own a Cresselia and a Celebi!

Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon. Shiny particles are released from its wings like a veil. It is said to represent the crescent moon. On nights around the quarter moon, the aurora from its tail extends and undulates beautifully.

Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon. This Pokémon wanders across time. Grass and trees flourish in the forests in which it has appeared. When Celebi disappears deep in a forest, it is said to leave behind an egg it brought from the future.

Shout out to Diancie, who is a close second choice solely based on the fact it’s design looks like what Illya would be if she herself were a pokemon.

Relationships with other OCs / NPCs

To be added!

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #illya skawi #headcanons #mine #the greatest treasures #pokemon au #ffxiv art #i looked over this post maybe more than fifty times now and #one half of my brain says this is long enough and nobody's gonna care to read it all #the other half is saying i should write more #THANK YOU SO MUCH KAI FOR THE ILLYA DRAWINGS #HONESTLY YOU'RE SUCH A SWEETHEART FOR MAKING MY IFFY DESIGN REQUESTS INTO A REALITY #i already have alphinaud's team planned out and what some of the extra pokemon he owns will be but #i don't have the strength...to edit graphics for him....

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hentaimommi · 4 years

Text

ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ | ᴀʀᴍɪɴ ᴀʀʟᴇʀᴛ (x fem reader)

Warnings: cute cute cute. This is s4 Armin btw! (for timeline)

Summary: Being the new commander of the survey corps was fresh, new. Your first act was an innocent trip to the beach..but was it all so innocent?

[O C E A N E Y E S]

"Commander (F/N), this is your new office. I expect great things from this space. Armin Arlert will be here shortly." Captain Levi left coldly, as he always did. A mystery even to his superiors, who had stripped him raw over the years. Your eyes met each corner of what used to be Erwin's office. Dust had taken over old areas, books piled high and unfinished paper work rested on his desk. Your eyes softened, paneling over to the chair Levi had sat your things in.

Erwin was a leader you'd looked up to the entire time you participated in the corps. Even as a newbie, he held his head high as the commander, and others followed. Being apart of the 104th was difficult; but you had ripped your way up the charts. Caring for no one was the name of the game, it was easy. Until you met Armin. He was the sweet to your salty, always right beside of you. He'd push you through every problem, loss, and back track you faced.

When Eren was gone, taken by the traitors, you knew nothing would be the same. Armin cried on your shoulder that night, and slowly, you learned to comfort him. Mikasa didn't mind your connection to him, neither did Eren. They only asked that you never hurt him, but, how could you? He was the sun in your darkness. So smart, kind, and full of dreams. The way he talked of the ocean, you knew you had to go. The day you all rode out for hours, nearly lost. Levi kept pointing out how stupid and useless that was, but you didn't care. Armin was happy, so were you.

When asked who you wanted your 2nd in command to be, the answer came without question. Armin accepted with joy on the promise that you would, once again, see the ocean. With him. That was your first thing to do, first plan as the 14th commander. No one agreed with you, but why would you care?

Unpacking the rest of your items and sweeping the last parcel of dust, you sighed looking upon the clean room. It was a nice fresh sight to see, perfectly suited to your style in all. You sat down in the old chair, only to hear a quick knock at the door. "You may enter." Your voice was raspy from not using it for so long. The door creaked open slowly, revealing the short-haired blonde man. "Hello commander! I'm here to help with plans for tomorrow! Sorry for the intrusion I just-" "Say no more, Armin, its okay. You can sit down- and, call me (F/N), as always, please." He nodded, sitting down along with the three books on the ocean he had brought.

You smiled at the sight, eyes lingering in his blue ones for a second longer. The one to break contact was him, looking down at the now open book you hadn't realized changed. "So, um, when would you w-want to leave?" His voice was meek, you could tell he was scared. "Are you afraid of something?" You asked, slightly smiling and removing your hair from the tight pony tail it had been in all day.

His swallow was hard, eyes jerking out of the window that subsided in the left wing of your office. "I just don't to overwhelm you to the point you don't want to go." His shame filled voice was sweet, making you smile once more. "I will go, no matter what. It's the least I could do." He nodded, beginning to read aloud a passage of the sea.

The night was sweet. He read, telling you interesting facts about the ocean. His eyes wouldn't leave the book, if only once to look at you. He observed your under eye bags, pretty hair, even wondering how soft your skin was. He then felt as if he had violated a boundary, instantly looking back down. By the end of the book, you'd fallen asleep in your chair. Armin smiled down at you, standing up. His heels clicked across the wood over to you, his nimble fingers scaling through your locks. He enjoyed seeing you at peace, for no one else had.

The next morning you awoke in your bed. The morning light split between the slips of your curtains, blinding your freshly awaken state. Groggily, you stumbled into the bathroom, only to find yourself losing motivation. Then, a knock came on your bedroom door. "Comman- (F/N)! Sorry. Are you ready?" The meek voice plated into your ears. Armin.

Swiftly you ran back into the room, opening your drawers to find a quick outfit. "Yes! Give me a moment please sweet heart!" Blushing at the accidental name calling, you threw on a uniform, matching yourself with the cloak in hand. Putting your hair into a ponytail, you then slipped out of the door and into the office portion of your quarters. "Sorry, I woke up late. Ready?" You asked, smiling. He took one look at you, then stared for a moment. You looked so breath taking, like this. His heart began to thump until he was smacked back into reality with a firm grip on his shoulder. "Armin?"

When you all set off there was a breeze in the air, something special. You had wished other cadets a sweet goodbye, leaving your duties to Levi for the evening. He agreed in order to keep his fresh shipments of tea coming in. Armin looked back at you a few times on the ride. You rode the carriage, which had many supplies for an overnight camp-out on the shore. Everything was tied down well. You all spoke little, determined to arrive there before dark.

Upon arrival, the ocean stared at you smack in the face. A sea breeze like no other, salty and sweet, perfect for the both of you. He looked back once more, only to feel the same feeling from before boil in his ribcage. You looked stunning. You had been looking back, too. The eye contact was unbreakable, like the ocean wasn't even there. Although it broke when your horse shook, scaring the both of you. Playing it off with a chuckle, you coughed. "Should we set up camp?"

Armin nodded, "U-Um, yeah that'd be good." He jumped down from his stallion, climbing onto the cart that held your supplies. Pulling a small paper and pencil from his pocket, he began checking off things. You, however, were captivated by the sea. So large and beautiful, like nothing you had ever seen. You almost felt bad. In your own world with Armin, citizens would never see this in their lives. Why did you deserve this?

"(F/N), we have a problem." His voice was almost squeaky as you turned around, wind blowing through your locks harshly. "Yes?" You walked over, smiling at his frown. "There is only one tent, someone must have forgotten the other." Hands placed firmly onto your hips, you laughed a bit. Problem? That wasn't so bad. "We can sleep together, can we not?" As soon as the question left your lips, his ears and cheeks free ablaze. "Y-Yeah, we can. For sure." You smiled, clapping your hands together. "Okay, let's get this done!"

When finished setting up camp, Armin had been basking in the dull light of the shore. His feet were dug into the sand, pants rolled up along with his sleeves. Your heart panged, why were you feeling this way? He was so beautiful, so untouched and virgin to anything. If you had romantic feelings, would he even notice? You shook off the feeling, sitting down beside of him. There were no words as you both looked out, the ocean reflecting beautifully from his eyes like the depths of something you had never seen. In a fit of exhaustion, your head fell loosely onto his shoulder, making his chest rise. You looked so calm, so gorgeous. He wanted to hold you instead, but knew it might overstep a boundary.

"Sleepy head, it's dark, we need to get into the tent and snuff the light." You heard Armin's voice push you away from your sleep, your eyes meeting with his. His hands were tucked softly under your legs, which had been wrapped around his waist. Never had you felt so flustered, although it was obvious he had lifted you from the sand. "Oh! I'm sorry." You got down, wiping yourself of the sand. He smiled, opening the tent flap for you to crawl in.

You did, and he followed, only making you realize how cramped the space was until this point. The tent was meant for one person and a few items, but you had two people, along with their items. Armin felt conscious of his breathing, as he nearly held you agaisnt his chest whilst being curled into the cramped tent space. "I-Is this, is this okay?" He asked, pushing the light away with one hand. It was dim, barely providing adequate light. "You can come closer, if you need. I know the sand is uncomfortable." You offered, pulling yourself as close to the tent wall as possible. He did so, scooting further, spooning you.

Both of your faces were bright red, ears as well. The tension was so thick even Levi couldn't cut it, and that was saying something. You felt him hesitate, but slowly relax. "(F/N)?" He asked, arm resting onto your shoulder. You turned, finding him closer than you had thought. Your faces were met close and together, finding out just how small the tent really was. "Yeah?" The air was hot, matching your cheeks and forehead. "I have something to tell you."

You nodded, stomach churning. Did he not like this? Was this making him uncomfortable? How stupid were you. "I have feelings for you. The reason I insisted we go alone, was because I'm in love with you," He admitted, clearly zoned out enough to let himself admit just embarrassing things. "When I see you walk with Eren and Levi, laughing, it hurts. When I watch you cry, I only want to hold you. I've never felt this way for anyone, so I have concluded this is love." He finishes, finding himself looking into your eyes for reassurance.

You are stunned for a moment, taken aback that he felt the same for you. Quicky he over-thought the silence, thinking this was rejection. Though, you noticed the drop in his expression, and cupped his pale cheeks into your hands. "Armin, I love you."

His cheeks grew even more red, eyes searching for your own. His large hands came up to yours, cupping them softly. Your bodies came closer, forever shutting the physical and metaphorical gap between the both of you. Your lips met, noting how soft his were. Just as he was. Then, his nose nuzzled against your own, foreheads meeting to match. "I truly do love you."

#armin arlert #armin fluff #armin shingeki no kyojin #armin x reader #aot imagines

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ozzdog12 · 4 years

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2020 Top 7 (and 1)

2020 am I right? We saw an insane amount of games come out and 2 brand new consoles. What a wild and weird year for gaming, and life in general. In case you are relatively new here, and to be honest that would be completely fair considering I don't post very often on Tumblr anymore, every year going on the last 4 years (on here) I have done a Top 7 (& 1) for my favorite videogames of the year. Check out 2019, 2018, & 2017. What’s wild, as I look back on my list of games that I’ve completed and played, only maybe 10 came out this year. 2020 was a huge backlog year.

Lets get on with the ‘And 1!”

Favorite Game that Didn’t Come out in 2020: Control (PS4)

Control may very well have been my 2019 Game of the Year, had I played it in 2019. I LOVED Control. I wanted to play it in 2019, but initial reports that it was a little rough on base consoles put me off until it was fixed. And Holy smokes what an insanely fun and trippy game once I finally started it. I knew within the first 20 minutes this was going to be the shit when I went down a hall, walked into a room and talked to the “janitor” left out a door behind him and the entire building had shifted. I’ve always liked Remedy games, but from a distance. Max Payne 1&2 and Alan Wake all oozed with weirdness and intrigue, but never enough for me to finish them. I missed out on Quantum Break. The story is Control is just the right amount of mind f*!$ for me and builds a universe I didn’t know I needed. It take some time to piece everything together, then everything just clicks. The game does have a weird difficulty spike when fighting bosses and the checkpoints were too far apart at times, but those were later patched. I spent an insane amount of time within the Federal Bureau of Control building and even more time after that with the Foundation and AWE DLC and it STILL wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Outside of Prey, I can’t think of another game that stuck in my brain more after I’d finished it. Control is absolutely a MUST PLAY title. In a world where everything sort’ve feels similar, Control stands out of the crowd.

Number 7: Astro’s Playroom (PS5)

I never thought in my wildest dreams that a game I had almost zero interest in playing would end up on my list of favorite games this year. Astro’s Playroom is being labeled as a ‘Tech demo’ but that feels like an insult to what it is. It’s a full fledged game and its free! I’ve paid more for less. A charming little platformer that lives and breathes the history of the Playstation. So many cool Easter eggs and references. It certainly centers its gameplay around the DualSense controller and everything it can do, but at its core, its a completely approachable and forgiving 3D platformer. I played it just to see what it was about, next thing i knew I had completed all the levels and wanted to further explore all the nooks and crannies within the game. I wanted to see everything the game had to offer and I had an absolute blast doing so. Makes me kinda wish I’d played the previous game on PSVR (I’d have to have a PSVR too)

Number 6: Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

Another quality title, albeit a spin-off, from Insomniac to add to their Spider Man universe. Gameplay felt obviously like Spider-Man, but Miles has unique abilities that made the game feel different enough, especially the cloak and stealth. I enjoyed the fact that it was short and concise. The issue with most ‘open-world’ games is that they are entirely too bloated with unnecessary filler content (I’ll get to that in a later game), something I felt the first game suffered from, but I also understand why they are there. However I could’ve use one or two more story missions to help flesh out some characters, but it wasn’t required and didn’t change my opinion one way or the other. My one BIG gripe was with Miles himself. He is an extremely smart young kid, but so incredibly naïve. Peter Parker tells him the one thing he SHOULD NOT do is tell people he is Spider-Man. I get it, that’s part of his growth, but Miles thinks he can just solve his problems by revealing his identity and it almost certainly never works out.

Number 5: The Last of Us: Part 2 (PS4)

The Last of Us Part 2 may be the most polarizing game in the history of the medium, but for the absolute wrong reasons. I’m in the minority that I very much enjoyed my experience with TLOU2, quite a bit actually. Its better in every single way over its predecessor, except the overall story. There are plenty of fair criticisms to be had about the story and various things within the game itself, but I thought the gameplay was so tight and crunchy. There were genuine moments of suspense and terror that I felt that no other game has ever given me. The entire hospital section (2nd time) was so susensful, I had to put my controller down to gther myself. Some of my favorite moments in the series I experienced with a character I wasn’t overly fond of. How many games can do that? The Last of Us Part 2 was meant to invoke emotion, not necessarily joy. I think that's what people lost along the way. Say what you will about the direction Naughty Dog has taken over the years, but you would be hard pressed to find a studio that makes games graphically better than they do. Yes, I know about their crunch culture, but this is not a place for that. I will say, the game was a tad bit too long, which is not something it typically say for a single player, narrative driven game. The pacing and the way the story was told wasn’t my favorite, but I respect what it was trying to do, even if it failed in some aspect of that, I finished the game within the week it was released. Something I RARELY ever do. I’m a father and I related with Joel a lot in TLOU, but I also recognized how wrong he was. There is a lesson to be learned. Your actions always have consequences and while he was doing what he thought was the right thing, it wasn’t his choice to make, and in doing so set up a series of events that were entirely avoidable, but again, that’s the point isn’t it?

Number 4: Grindstone (Switch)

I’m counting this as a 2020 game since it just came to the Switch this year ( less than a month ago) but its not the first time I’ve played it. Grindstone was the only reason I kept my Apple Arcade subscription and when I let it lapse, there was a void I just couldn’t fill. I bought Puzzle Quest on Switch but it just wasn't the same. Its THE perfect game for bite sized play, even though in its addictive nature, you’ll clear a few levels and an hour has passed before you know it. It has the perfect amount of depth that most ‘match’ games don't. You have different weapons, items, and outfits w/perks to use and experiment with to keep it fresh. I went months without playing my Switch and when this was announced in August, I couldn’t wait! Sadly, I had to wait 3 months, but since then I have spent so much time on the Switch. It gave me a reason to play it again. The art style and humour is great. The variety of enemies and challenge is just right. I can’t recommend it enough. Seriously, check this game out!

Number 3: Doom Eternal (Xbox One)

I will be the first to tell you, I did not like Doom (2016). I found it extremely boring and trite. I understood what Doom(2016) was doing and it succeeded, maybe too much. Nostalgia is a helluva thing. So in saying that, I was mildly interested in Doom Eternal. Doom Eternal is nothing like 2016 outside of it being a Doom game that connects to the rest of them (& also being a sequel to 2016). The mechanics are drastically different with more platforming (for better or worse). Eternal is challenging, at times very hard, especially early on. Eternal has no respect for its players, in a weirdly good way. It laughs at how you’ve played FPS before this one and WILL MAKE you play it its way, not your way. Yes, you point and shoot, but ammo is scare and you MUST use everything in your arsenal. No more using just 2 guns for the whole game. The enemies are relentless. Sometimes you have to pause and take a breath after a battle because you go a 100 mph for the whole fight. You have to continuously move or you die. There is an enticing rhythm to it. I categorize Eternal as ‘Blood Ballet’. Its a game where when your feeling it, much like a rhythm game, you get in the zone and there is no stopping demons from getting slayed. Surprisingly, unlike most games in the genre, it seemed to get easier (sans one extremely frustrating platforming section late in the game) the longer you played it. Was that a testament that I ‘learned’ the Eternal way or it truly did get easier? I don’t know, but the final Boss(es) were....easy.. I had more problems and deaths within the first 4 hours than I did the final 8-9 hours. The multiplayer was also surprisingly fun. The older I get, the less interested I am in multiplayer, but I found myself coming back for more for a good month or so.

Number 2: Gears Tactics (Xbox One)

As 2020 comes to a close, I came to a stunning realization. I might be a bigger Gears of War fan than I had previously thought. Don’t get me wrong. I love Gears, but I seem to love Gears more than I thought. I'm way more invested into the lore than I recall. Anyways, Gears Tactics is everything XCOM 2 SHOULD’VE been. Not only does Gears Tactics utilize the Overwatch action, its makes it EXTREMELY important. The story revolves around the father of Kait Diaz, Gabe and a ragtag group of mostly random soldiers to take down Ukkon. Anyone who is remotely interested in the Gears universe will love the story and references. The gameplay is just so damn satisfying. The bosses are very challenging and different. I actually had to change my strategy to finish the final boss. I experimented with a totally different style of class and was rewarded for it. The post game stuff is also aplenty. This game scratched a VERY specific itch for me and I’m itchy to jump back in. I’m glad this came to Xbox One because I’m current computer could not run it.

Number 1: Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

I have a very odd relationship with massive open world games. I love them, but I get very burnt out on them. They all have a relatively same-y formula and are often populated with bloat. GoT does have some of that but to its advantage, its not very populated, in a good way. One of the things that I really appreciated about GoT and its side quest is most of them felt meaningful. The thing that really stood out to me about GoT is the absolutely satisfying combat. It just feels SO GOOD. It requires timing and patience. There are different fighting styles for different enemies and even the armor you wear is more than just cosmetic. The combat is so fun and satisfying that I was immediately excited when they announced Legends, a multiplayer add on, for free. Its so much fun and is a blast to play with a group of friends. I’m sporadically still playing the Legends mode. I initially wanted to play the game in ‘Kurosawa’ mode but I am glad I didn’t because the game, even on the PS4 is stunning, and on the upgrade on PS5 is jaw-droppingly smooth. I did play the entire game in Japanese with English subtitles. I still don't know what Jin’s English voice sounds like. GoT does a good job a drip feeding you new abilities and things to keep things fresh. I love stealth and once I unlocked it, I spent the majority of every battle taking out as many enemies as I could while in stealth mode. Ghost of Tsushima does a lot of things very well, that the few things it doesn’t can be easily overlooked.

#videogames #control #grindstone #tlou #doom eternal #gears tactics #ghost of tsushima #ps4 #ps5 #xbox one #switch #nintendo switch #playstation4 #GOTY #spiderman #astro playroom

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noladyme · 4 years

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The Frog Princess. Chapter 8

She had no wish to be bound down to anyone, but Y/N none the less found herself being dragged across the continent; to marry King Foltest of Temeria. Instead of pomp and spectacle; she was accompanied by the witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Their travels would bring both monsters, lust, love; and heartache. All sound tracked by an endearing buffoon of a bard, named Jaskier.

TW: Violence, language, sexual themes. Rated M.

We rode for days, due northeast; each mile we put behind us bringing me closer to my inevitable end. At least, that was how it felt. I felt my limbs growing stronger from riding and carrying wood for fires; and though the sun was never shining brightly; my skin grew more tanned by the day.

Geralt had begun to train me with the sword he’d taken from O’Dimm’s man. I wasn’t a skilled swordswoman by any means; but I was sure I’d be able to defend myself in a fair fight. We made breaks for eating, resting, training, arguing, making up; and the occasional fuck against a tree – a least once a day, on a bad day.

On one of these occasions; in his eagerness; Geralt almost ripped the buttons off the breeches Ajvin had given me. “Fuck!”, he growled. “I don’t like these things; they make it too difficult to have you”. “You were the one who insisted I need new clothes”, I laughed. “Besides, practicality over easy access”. I opened the buttons myself, and slid down the breeches over my bottom; before bracing myself against a tree with my hands, and pushing my backside out.

Geralt accepted the invitation, and felt for my wetness; before pushing himself into me, slowly. “I thought you were in a hurry”, I breathed in complaint. Geralt pulled himself back; and slammed back into me, hard. “Shit!”, I cried out. “Too much?”, Geralt chuckled hoarsely. One of his hands held on to my hip; the other found my nub, and stroked it to the rhythm of his thrusts. “W-why do you always ask that?”, I panted. He slid his arm around my torso, and took a light hold of my throat; pulling me flush against his chest. “I don’t want to hurt you”, he said, kissing my neck. “You haven’t yet”, I smiled; before groaning loudly, as he pushed himself hard into me again.

He let me come before finding his own relief – as always; inside me. I suspected it was his way of making his mark on me – even if we both knew there was no chance of a child coming out of it.

After cleaning myself up – with a clean wet cloth provided by an embarrassed looking Geralt – I straightened my clothes. I’d had to make alterations to them – clearly they were Ajvids own old clothing; including the purple shirt that hung low on my shoulders. My new outfit furthermore consisted of dark grey breeches, that I’d adjusted so they hung snugly to my frame – making a certain witcher have to occasionally adjust himself, when I bent over – and a dark brown leather jerkin, without sleeves. I still had my grey cloak; which kept me somewhat warm during the nights, when Geralt had to patrol the area around our camps for sounds he’d heard – and therefore could not lay next to me.

There was a strange domesticity to our days. As if we’d be travelling like this for the rest of our lives. But we won’t, I kept reminding myself.

The man travelling with me – my lover, my friend, my confidant – was transporting me closer and closer to a land further from mine than I had ever been. The man who spent most of his nights between my legs and staring into my eyes; was handing me over to a stranger, who would from then on have a claim on doing those things himself. The thought made me sick to my stomach; but I kept returning to it, to remind myself – so that my heart wouldn’t break as much when the day came that our journey was at an end.

The glade we were occupying was quiet. Food had been scarce for a few days, as we hadn’t come across any villages; and it seemed that most of the wildlife had fled. I sat by the dying embers at our fire, thinking.

“I want to see Mousesack”, I said, catching Geralt of guard. “Why?”, he asked, voice gruff. “He has information for me. The butcher’s wife said so”. Geralt poured a bowl of water over the embers. “He’s going the opposite direction than we are”, he said dismissively. “Who’s eager to reach our destination now?”, I mumbled.

Geralt went to pack Roach’s saddlebags. He still kept our horses apart, for fear that Bayrd should act on his carnal desires towards his mare. “I don’t want to do this now”, he said. “Do what?”, I asked. “Fight”, he answered. “I’m not fighting”, I said, standing to kick dirt into the smoking ashes in front of me. “I’m stating facts. You made a contract to transport me to Temeria. You are acting on it. I’m just surprised you were in such a hurry to get rid of me”. I clenched my jaw.

Geralt grunted, and continued his task, moving on to Bayrds saddle. “I understand it, you know”, I said, putting on my cloak. “You’re a witcher. I age; and you do not. Besides, you’ve already had me every which way you could want”. “Stop…”, he muttered. “It’s inevitable that you were bound to get sick of me at some point…”, my voice broke. “Stop!”, he roared.

He strode up to me; and took my face in his hands. “Y/N”, he said. “You are the furthest thing from easy to be around. You are stubborn; rash; you never listen… and your mushroom stew is bad enough to kill a dead man”. He put his forehead to mine. “And I would have you no other way. I wish I could keep you; but that’s not how destiny has made it”. “Fuck destiny”, I snarled. He chuckled. “If only I could”, he answered. He kissed my forehead; and wrapped his arms around me. My eyes welled up, and I cried against his shoulder.

“I have to see Mousesack”, I whispered through my tears. Geralt exhaled. “I know. But I don’t know where to find him for you”, he said. “We can’t go backwards…”.

He was interrupted by a rumbling of hooves, that almost made the ground quake. He pushed me towards the trees. “Go! Cover your face. Don’t let them see you!”, he hissed, and pulled his sword from his back. I ran to Bayrd, and grabbed my new sword; then fled towards the edge of the trees; crouching behind the largest one I could find.

The riders approaching bore Cintran colors. It was a large group; of about 20 men; all dressed in armor. I saw Geralt glance in my direction, before facing the rider at the front.

“Witcher!”, the man called. “What is your business so close to Ortagor?”. Geralt relaxed his stance. “I have a contract”, he answered. “A bruxa. Near the border of Sodden”. “And your companion?”, the man asked. “I have no companion”, Geralt said. “Since when do witchers travel with two horses?”, the man barked.

Geralt put his sword back in its sheath. “No answer?”, the soldier said. “You’d do best to respect your betters, mutant”. Geralt clenched his jaw. “Right!”, the soldier called to the men behind him. “Take the mare. As a gift for her majesty’s war efforts”. Geralt snarled and went to draw his sword again.

“Calm the fuck down, Thaggert!”, a familiar voice called. “I have enough horses. Besides, I like the stallion better”.

From the middle of the group of riders, strode a tall woman; dressed in intricately decorated armor. She got of her horse, and walked up to Geralt; flanked by two of the soldiers. “Witcher”, she hissed. I recognized her instantly. Calanthe. The Lioness of Cintra!

“Your majesty”, Geralt grumbled; and nodded slightly. Nothing in the world could get him to bow to anyone, I knew that – something that at that moment made me fear for his life.

“You made a promise!”, she snarled. “I did, your majesty. And I am upholding that promise as we speak”, Geralt answered her. “I am here for a contract”. “What contract?”, Calanthe demanded. “As I told your man”, he replied. “Bruxa. Near Sodden”. Calanthe spat at the ground. “Horse shit”, she said. “We were just coming from Sodden; no word of vampires there. Tell me the truth”. Geralt exhaled slowly. “Men!”, Calanthe called. The soldiers drew their swords.

“He’s here with me!”, I yelled; and stepped out from behind the tree. Geralt looked at me angrily. I sent him an indifferent look back. “You? Show your face girl”, Calanthe barked.

I stepped into the glade, and pulled down my hood. Calanthes face lit up. “Y/N!”, she laughed. “What are you doing here, girl?”. She stomped up to me, and took me in her arms for a tight squeeze. “Lower your weapons, men. This is the lady Y/N, my husband’s cousin”, she said; and patted my cheek. “And; the future queen of Temeria!”.

The soldiers on the ground took a knee, and the ones still on horses bowed their necks to me. I felt a strange knot in my stomach. “Where is your guard, girl? Your following?”, she asked. I nodded in the direction of Geralt. “Him?”, Calanthe asked; frowning bewilderedly at me. “He is… my guard”, I answered. Calanthe stepped back, looking from me to Geralt. “What in Hels ass was Eist thinking?”, she snarled. Calanthe was married to a Skelliger, not one herself – but she had taken on some of our profanities; at least the ones she liked.

I walked towards Geralt. “My cousin seemed to find it a necessity to keep my travel arrangements a mystery to certain parties. So, he hired the witcher”. The queen laughed sarcastically. “Oh, I am going to have words with my husband”, she growled.

One of the riders called out to her. “Your majesty; Ortagor awaits your arrival”. Calanthe sighed. “Yes, yes. Someone is always awaiting my arrival”, she groaned. “We take them with us. The lady rides along side me… the witcher takes the back. Keep an eye on him”.

Geralt sent me a poignant look, and went to saddle up on Roach. Before he got all the way over to the mare; Calanthe grasped his arm and looked at him – her eyes ablaze. “If it wasn’t for my cousin-in-law, your head would be rolling on the ground!”. Geralt tried for a mediating expression. “Your majesty…”. “Don’t!”, Calanthe hissed. “If I hear you’ve been asking about the child – even so much as mentioned Pavetta – I’ll personally cut of your bollocks, and feed them to my dogs!”.

My heart dropped. Geralts eyes found mine for a second; before falling to the ground. Calanthe let go of his arm, and went back to join her men.

I went to saddle up, my hands shaking so much in the process, I almost lost my footing in the stirrup. One of the soldiers on the ground grabbed my calf; and helped me up. I could feel Geralts eyes on us.

---

The ride to Ortagor wasn’t long; but it felt like an eternity. I was deep in thought.

“How is my husband?”, Calanthe suddenly asked from beside me. She’d caught me off guard. “What?”, I said. She chuckled at me. “I said, how is my husband?”. I smiled. “Well, last I saw him. No less annoying, no more regal”, I said. “Good”, the queen laughed. “And his bed?”. Her eyes were suddenly hard. “Empty, save for him”, I assured her. She grunted, satisfied.

We rode on in silence for a little while. “And… the princess Pavetta. How does she fare?”, I asked as casually as I could. Calanthes face hardened slightly. “About to pop”, she said. “She’s going the way you came. Eist convinced me she should give birth in Skellige, for some reason”. I felt a rush of blood to my head. “Oh!”, I said. “I didn’t know. Congratulations!”. Calanthe scoffed. I tried to smile. “And the father is?...”. “Not who I would have picked”, she snarled. “But... no matter now. The child will be loved and raised by the right people”. I smiled and nodded; wanting to scream.

We arrived at the fortress of Ortagor to great fanfare; the crowds cheering for their queen. All around people were celebrating the arrival of the Great Lioness; with drink and music. Great, I thought. Another feast. Just what I needed. I was in no mood for any celebrations myself.

We unsaddled, and followed the queen towards the great hall. I suddenly felt a tug on my arm. Geralt was looking at me with hard eyes. “Little frog…”, he said. “Not now”, I stopped him, and pulled my arm from his grasp.

“Witcher!”, Calanthe called from behind us. “Lady Y/N is perfectly safe within these walls. We have no need for you. Go do whatever it is, your kind do”. Geralt clenched his jaw. “My kind eat, drink and rest when we can”, he said. She looked at him dismissively. “You can do that at the other end of the hall; where I don’t have to look at you”, she said. “Come, girl. We have feasting to do!”.

I followed the queen into the hall – having much rather wanted to find a dark corner to calm myself. As the door opened; horns blazed a salute. “Yes, yes. Fuck off. I’m here now”, Calanthe growled, and threw her helmet at a servant. “Music!”.

A familiar voice began a song I had heard before.

“Once a lady from Kaer Trolde fared, with skin so smooth, and beautiful hair. She held the heart of many a man; but mouths stood agape, when she speaking began.”

Jaskier!

“Foul mouthed lady, be kind onto me And I’ll be your thrall, I will never flee. Foul mouthed princess, have mercy, I plea And I shall be ever a servant of thee”

The crowd sang along to the chorus.

“The foulmouthed princess of the Skellige Isles The foulmouthed princess, the foulmouthed princess, the foulmouthed princess of the Skellige Isles!”

Jaskier strummed the last chord to a roar of applause. He bowed and sent air kisses to a buxom redhaired girl standing nearby.

I sat down next to Calanthe at the head table; and soon food and drinks were placed in front of us. Catching Jaskiers eye; he rushed over. “Your majesty”, he said; and bowed so deep his nose was almost touching the floor. “My lady Y/N!”. “You know each other?”, Calanthe asked. I cleared my throat cautiously. “We met in Skellige”. Calanthe grinned. “No…”, she laughed. “You’re the foulbreathed princess?”. “Foulmouthed, your majesty”, Jaskier smiled. “I’m quite certain there’s nothing wrong with the lady’s breath”. I chuckled nervously. “My lady, where is…”, he began. “The witcher”, I interrupted, sending him a poignant look. “He is somewhere in the hall; probably buried in some servant girl’s cleavage”. Jaskier narrowed his eyes. “As he does…”, he said.

Calanthe threw a gold coin at the bard. “Go. Do your work, minstrel. I want music and cheering. It’s been a long day”. Jaskier bowed. “As you wish your majesty”. He sent me a final look, and went back to the makeshift stage in the middle of the room, to play for the dancing crowds.

“So”, Calanthe said, smiling at me. “You’re on your way to Foltest, I’m told”. “I am”, I replied. “You seem… less than pleased”, she continued. I sighed. “Am I supposed to be pleased to be shipped of to a man twice my age? – with an inbred daughter to boot…”, I said; and took a sip from the goblet in front of me. Calanthe tightened her lips. “Temeria is not much different than Skellige”, she said. “Less water surrounding it… The winters are cold as a witch’s tit, but the summers are bearable”. I scoffed. “It’s not the weather that concerns me”.

Realizing the quail in front of me had been served without utensils for carving it; I pulled my knife from my boot, and cut in to the bird – ravished from the last few days lack of real food.

Calanthe smirked. “Travelling with the witcher has made you rough, Y/N”. I looked down at my dirty nails; realizing she was right. “I told Eist to get you your sgian-dubh for your 15’th birthday”. Calanthe and Eist had been sending each other eyes for years before they were married in a small ceremony, I’d heard very little about. She’d visited for my coming of age celebration years before – mostly, I think, to see my cousin. “He wanted to give you a new dress”. I laughed out loud. “Of course he did”, I said. “Yes, well”, she continued. “I would have gotten one for Pavetta, but apparently that is cultural appropriation”, she sneered. I held my tongue.

She looked at me solemnly. “He cares for you deeply, Y/N. I know this isn’t the union you’d dreamt of… but it is the right move”. “For your war?”, I said hesitantly, careful not to look the lioness in the eyes – admittedly, she scared me, and for good reason. “It’s true”, Calanthe admitted. “Foltest has promised his help in the war effort, in return for his marriage to you; and the dowry you bring with you”.

We were quiet for a while. “The witcher”, the queen began again. “He protects you well?”. I half smiled. “He does”, I said. She took a long sip from her goblet. “And in bed?” My face turned white. “I-i… that’s not…”, I tried. “Come now, Y/N”, Calanthe smirked. “I’ve seen how he looks at you”. “And how’s that?”, I said; trying for dismissive. “Like you’re a freshly cooked rabbit; and he hasn’t eaten in a week. Reminds me of how Eist would look at me, before he had me the first time”. She smirked, and took a bite of her quail. “More like a frog”, I muttered. “What’s that?”, she asked. “Nothing”, I answered.

She leant back in her chair, and looked at me seriously. “He’s not a good man, Y/N”, she said. ”I’m beginning to see that”, I answered.

We ate the rest of our meal in silence; only interrupted by the occasional lord coming forward to wish health on my upcoming marriage. I wanted to stab each and everyone of them in the neck.

---

A guard was posted outside the room I had been given for the night. It was larger than the one Geralt and I had shared in Tigg, and much grander in its decorations. A large bed with beautifully embroidered bedding; rich carpets decorated the walls and floor; a table set with fruits and wine; a roaring fireplace, and – thank the gods – a warm bath in front of it.

I shed my dirty clothes, and stepped into the tub; lowering myself into the water, until only my face was above the surface. For the first time in days – weeks – I was alone. And I cried. I wept so long that it felt like there were no tears left in the world. My chest hurt from the contractions of my sobbing; and I was beginning to struggle for breath in the end.

I heard a skirmish outside the door. Someone was banging loudly at it. “You can’t go in. The lady is not to be disturbed!”. “She’s in my charge, and I’ll see her!”. I recognized Geralts voice.

I stepped out of the tub, and put on the clean robe that had been warming by the fire. Opening the door, I saw Geralt pressing his lower arm against the neck of the guard; forcing him against the wall. Two other guards were holding their swords to his back.

“It’s fine”, I said. “Let him in”. “But my lady; Queen Calanthe made it perfectly clear…”, the man against the wall said. “Fuck off, dingleberry”, I growled; earning a gasp from all three guards. Geralt removed his arm from the man, and the three guards slowly stepped back. “Foulmouthed princess, indeed…”, I heard one of them mumble, as they walked away.

I stepped aside for Geralt to enter the room. He looked around; as always ready for an attack from any corner. They’d taken his weapons and armor, it seemed; as he was left with only his plain clothes. “The bathwater is cold”, I said; and sat down by the table. Geralt grunted and went to stand by the fire.

“I heard you cry”, he said. “From where?”, I asked. “From the courtyard”. I covered my face in embarrassment. “No one else heard you”, he said. “Right…”, I mumbled; remembering his enhanced hearing.

Geralt went to take my hand; and examined my face. “What’s wrong?”, he asked. I pulled my hand away from him furiously. “A 15 year-old girl, Geralt”, I snarled. “How could you?”. He looked genuinely confused. “The child!”, I said. “And here I thought witchers couldn’t procreate”. “We can’t…”, he grumbled.

I stood up, and threw an apple into the fireplace; cracking it against the back wall. The juices dripped down, and made the fire sputter. “Then, why…”, I growled, punching him as hard as I could in the chest; “… is princess Pavetta on her way to Skellige to give birth to your child?”.

His face went from confused, to relieved – to finally; angry. “You think I would get a girl pregnant, and then just leave her? A princess, no less?”, he scoffed. “Do you not know me?” “No!”, I yelled. “I don’t know you. At all!”. He took a step backwards. “No”, he said. “It seems you don’t”. He walked towards the door. “We leave in the morning. Your husband will want to see you soon”.

I lost all composure. Picking up the entire bowl of fruit from the table; I threw it at his back; grapes, oranges, plums and apples splattering across his shirt. And then I screamed.

Geralt growled, and sped at me; grabbing my shoulders, and throwing me on the bed. I clawed at his face – doing my best to scratch him – but he held my wrists down. “Stop!”, he roared “Go to Hel!”, I screamed. “You can go right along with me, woman!”, he answered.

I wrestled myself free from his grasp and struck at his head. He narrowly avoided my hand by rolling onto his back; and I straddled him – once again getting my wrists caught in his grasp.

Suddenly the door opened, and the three guards were standing in the opening. “My lady!...”, one of them called. “Get the fuck out!”, Geralt and I roared at the same time; staring at the dumbstruck men. They silently closed the door. “Bloody crazy, that one”, I heard one of them say through the door, as they walked away.

I got off Geralt; and laid on my back next to him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”, I said. “There’s nothing to tell”, he answered. “But you have a child on the way with another woman!”, I half whimpered. “And you are marrying another man!”, he grunted. I sat up and shook my head in exhaustion. “I never wanted to marry him!”, I said. “And I never wanted a child”, he muttered. I stood up, picked up an orange from the floor, and threw it at him. He sat up, and looked at me angrily. “Would you stop throwing fruit at me?”, he snarled.

I scoffed. “You never wanted a child”, I hissed. “Maybe you should have thought of that, before you stuck your dick in the 15 year-old lion-cub of Cintra!”. “I didn’t!”, he roared, making me jump. “It’s a child of surprise!”.

He walked over to me slowly; prepared for more flying fruit. “It was an accident”, he said. “I didn’t know she was pregnant, and neither did the father when I asked him for the law of surprise. I thought it would earn me a keg of ale at the most”. I laughed, and shook my head. “A keg of ale?”, I said. “You stupid man…”.

He put his hands on either side of my face. “Yes. Stupid enough to fall for a woman, who by rights belongs to someone else”. He put his forehead to mine. “Stupid enough to want your heart, when I know it’s not mine to have”.

I put my hands on his chest; and grabbed at the fabric of his shirt. “What are we doing, Geralt?”, I whimpered. “Everything wrong, it seems”, he groaned.

He pulled back from me; holding on to my shoulders; and boring his amber eyes into mine. “I can’t help it, little frog”, he said. “You said you didn’t want to be a part of someone else. But you are. You’ve shaped me; and I’ve shaped you. It’s unavoidable”. A single tear fell from my eyes. “But it doesn’t mean you have to lose yourself; or I myself”, he continued. “It only means that we... change”. I sniffled – embarrassed at my own reaction to his words. “But you said you don’t change…” He smiled. “I have changed. You’ve been a part of that change”, he breathed. “You wrote your name on my life, as I have written mine on yours. No matter where I travel and who I meet; you have made your mark on me. We aren’t an entity; but we are two of a whole”.

I put my hands on either side of his face; and laughed through my tears. “Please stop crying”, he said. “Does it make you uncomfortable?”, I sniveled. “Yes”, he admitted. I laughed out loud. “For someone so uneasy with human emotion, you do have a way with words”, I said. “Only for you, my lady”, he whispered; and kissed my lips.

---

We made love softly that night; taking care to not leave an inch of the other untouched. Geralts lips were the nourishment of my being, it seemed; and he let those lips touch every part of me that would bring me pleasure – seemingly finding pleasure himself, in nothing but the moans and whimpers he could draw from me. I came undone so many times I lost count, and the witcher came along with me. We were two of a whole.

When morning came; we hadn’t gotten much sleep – but for some reason, I’d never felt more awake. I knew what needed to happen. I knew that we would continue on our journey to Temeria; that I would marry Foltest; and that it would break both of our hearts when I did. There was nothing else that could be done.

I could not spend the rest of my life travelling with this man. I’d grow old, and he wouldn’t. I couldn’t be chasing monsters around the continent; when I was old and grey, and my bones were creaking. He could not give me children. Not that I was sure I wanted any; but our lives together would never be truly fulfilled – and his job never truly done.

We had each other now. And should we never see one another again; the marks we’d left on the others being would never be erased.

Geralts head was resting on my chest, and I was running my fingers through his hair; when there was a knock at the door. “Come in, Jaskier”, I called – quickly covering myself with the sheets.

The bard stepped inside; almost tripping over a plum. He looked around the room – stray fruit scattered across the floor. “Well”, he smirked. “Nothings changed here; I see”. He sat down by the table; pouring himself a goblet of wine. “So… when do we leave?”.

Geralt and me both looked at him with wonder. “Whose wife did you diddle this time?”, Geralt grumbled; laying back in the bed with his arms behind his head. I chuckled. “Uhm, sister; actually”, Jaskier replied; and took a sip of the wine. “Mmm! 1249; good year”. “Jaskier?...”, Geralt demanded. “Some lord, or another”, the bard said dismissively. “Apparently Jas… Jel… Jissanya, it was. Well, she’d been promised to Aretuza”. He looked at me apologetically. “They are quite fond of their virgins there. But I can tell you right now; that girl was not a maiden!”.

“Hels ass, Jaskier. Are you insistent on getting yourself killed before the end of the year?”, I chuckled at him. He stood up, looked at me; hurt in his eyes. “What if I told you it was true love?”, he said. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, you’re right. It would never work”, he chuckled.

I went to get out of bed, and gestured for him to turn around. “What?”, he shrugged. Geralt sat up and looked at him menacingly. “All right, all right. It’s not like any of you have anything I haven’t seen before – right, Geralt?”, the bard smirked; and covered his eyes with his hands. “I don’t want to know what that means”, I mumbled, and went to get dressed behind a divider in the corner.

---

We were met in the courtyard by Calanthe and her men from the day before. “Lady Y/N”, the queen said. “I hear there was trouble in your room last night”. My face reddened. “No trouble, your majesty”, I said. “Just… a discussion on our next move”. “Hmm…”, Calanthe frowned, looking from Geralt to me. “I trust you remember our conversation?”. I nodded and smiled. “I remember it well”, I said. “And I trust you, of anyone, will understand why I must live the life I choose, until I have to live the life I must”. Her face contracted into a smile for a second. “I do, my dear”. She sighed. “I just wish you hadn’t chosen as you have”. I smiled again.

“Thank you for your kind hospitality, your majesty”, I said. “And thank you for sacrifice”, she answered. “This is my war; but part of the burden of it has fallen upon you. If I could, I would undo it”. She looked at me earnestly; and then held my face in her hands; putting her forehead to mine. “If Foltest ever… should he ever be cruel to you; I will come up there; and I will rip his cock of with my bare hands”. I laughed. “I might take you up on that offer”. She chuckled, and kissed my forehead. “Be well, cousin”, she whispered.

Jaskier cleared his throat. “I am very sorry to disturb this special moment, your majesty, but I think one of the lords in there has an arrow with my name on it”. Geralt grunted.

“Witcher”, Calanthe said, letting go of me. “You will protect this woman with your life”. “You have my word”, Geralt said, and nodded at her. She narrowed her eyes at him. ”And go north. There are Nilfgaardian outposts further east”. Geralt frowned, and nodded again. “All right”, she said. “Now fuck off, all of you”.

We saddled up; Geralt and me on Roach; and Jaskier on – a quite unhappy – Bayrd.

On our way out the gates; I turned to the bard. “Jaskier; do you like my mushroom stew?”

He didn’t answer.

---

Thanks for reading.

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list.

- no lady

Tag list:

@ayamenimthiriel

#geralt of rivia x reader #geralt of rivia #the witcher #the witcher fic #the witcher netflix #jaskier

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askmyboys · 3 years

Text

I’d call these more, my own interpretations instead of just OCs

I’ll tell you how this happened tho, i was literally just comin back from a l o n g ass road trip listenin to the musical and my tired lil brain started thinkin bout these boys and i was like ...what if i just,, made my o w n versions of em? What if I just,, and then boom, out popped well, this-

| Names: Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde

| Nicknames: Jekyll doesn’t much care for nicknames but Hyde calls him Jek, Hen or Hen-Hen, or Henny which he REALLY hates. For the other, it’s either Ed or just simply Hyde ...Jekyll has given him many ‘nicknames’ mostly they are hateful ones tbh.

| Genders: Henry goes by he/him and Hyde goes by he/him and it/its

| Ages: Unknown but they are both adults

| Heights: Jekyll is 5’7” and Hyde is like 6’6” for sure (even tho they inhabit the same body, fuck it, im makin the rules ..andchangingthemfromtheogthing but i say height changes when Hyde’s in control)

| Species/Races: Henry’s a human ofc and Hyde? Honestly, idk what this thing is, all i can tell you is he’s stinky

| Eye Colors: Jekyll’s eyes are a Baby Blue color and Hyde’s eyes are Blood Red (ooh e d g y man)

| Hair Colors: Jekyll’s hair is honestly a messy curly undercut and the color of it is a dark brown and he has gray on the sides meanwhile Hyde’s hair is Black and in a spiked quiff style and he also has gray on the sides

| Skin Colors/Body Types: Jek’s a BIT pale but Hyde’s a much more- his skin is definitely more so a Whitish Gray kinda color so it’s definitely more noticeable than Jek’s skin if you look close enough at that (things do have to change when a certain one is in control of the body, can’t be EXACTLY the same or else it might give away that their the same person hehe) and their body types don’t really change- Jek’s body type is skinny (nothing TOO bad ofc, just a tad bit) if Hyde had his own body he’d definitely be a more average kinda bulkier build.

| Appearances: Okay first things first- they both have circle beards EXCEPT Hyde’s is a LOT more scruffier (he also has thicker sideburns btw!) and a BIT more grown out than Jek’s which is trimmed a bit more and groomed perfectly.

Jekyll usually has the typical lab coat on and a baby blue turtleneck underneath it, he also has blue pants that he wears with it as well and some oxford shoes that match the outfit, he also wears circle glasses as well (they help him see a lot better p much whereas when Hyde’s in control he doesn't really need em actually) Henry has a GOOD amount of scars all over his body, whether it be by accident, inflicted on purpose, or something more… It’s partially why he keeps his turtleneck on mostly and the lab coat helps as well- he’s ashamed of the scars and he tries to hide them especially so no one will worry about him, also for some more minor details- he wears a black watch on his wrist as well (he has no piercings or nothin like that) that’s p much it for Jek tbh, his features are p much 100% human so uh yeye

Now onto Hyde’s outfit- And yes, keep in mind- he’s still kinda,, an entity or whatever the fuck he is inside Henry’s body essentially but he DOES change his clothes when going out- his main one for going out is usually a black cloak he wears around himself (the outfit underneath is a black suit vest with a long dark red tie (his shirt underneath the suit vest is a dark red long sleeved shirt), he also wears black pants, and dark red oxford shoes, and of course he’s got a black top hat on (the band on it is red, definitely keeping a black n red themed appearance here aint he?) (his other outfits, hm I can leave up to the imagination tbh this is just for when he’s travelling around and so other people don’t spot him nearly as easily, especially when it’s n i g h t t i m e…) he’ll wear whatever the fuck he wants, and it doesn’t have to be fancy in the s l i g h t e s t- he has a variety of options.

He also has pointed ears, razor sharp teeth (got them bear trap teeth but not only that, he’s got a lot more s e c r e t teefs than that ;) he’s a lot more monstrous on the inside than the outside i’ll say that much, Jek’s n Hyde’s anatomy does change and transform depending on who gains control ...honestly it probs hurt to have your body transform and shift like that ouchie) he also has multiple tongues, he has claws that he painted black and red for the a e s t h e t i c s ya know- and hell at this point he might as well have tentacles ...He might- but I mean if you really wanna know, fuck around and find out for yourself and fuck it- he also has a dark red devil style tail since he wanna act like fuckin Satan himself smh

...I made him a lot more monstrous than originally planned but eh its fitting- bc this is Jek’s body even with a LOT of changes in these regards, he’s got the same scars n such as that, he also wears black and red spiral gauges in his ears (I should also say, he can technically hide these features to make himself appear more human, i didnt originally intend on giving him any actual monstrous features except maybe sharp teeth, claws, n the pointed ears but here we are, he still gotta not arouse suspicion around him too much tho) also his eyes have dark circles around them, not because he’s a tired man he’s just a fucking- hellish bastard who loves to look intimidating.

| Personalities: Let’s uhh start off with Jekyll because he’s better and nicer and not nasty and gross n smelly looking- He’s kind, sweet, compassionate, caring, honestly wouldn’t hurt a fly himself- could never willingly hurt someone! A sweet babey man! He’s very intelligent- I mean,, he IS a Doctor after all, he takes pride in his work but it’s not that overbearing narcissistic type pride, he’s just proud of the breakthroughs he’s made ...Granted, there is one “breakthrough” he wished he could take back .. -glancing slowly at Hyde in the reflection of the mirror- ahem- but he’s always been pretty outgoing but a lot has changed since, that abomination came into his life, sure he still tries his best to be a good person, he tries his very damnedest to find some sorta way to separate or better yet a way to destroy this evil vile beast that plagues his and everyone else’s lives! He’d rather destroy Hyde than separate from him because even then, it's still back to square one only with worse damage since he’d be of his own free will now.

He shuts himself away in his Lab a LOT, as much as he can anyways to avoid going out and risking something more happening to anyone else, of course…

There is no avoiding the outside world forever, he needs things to eat and drink, he needs things to keep his body functioning and not to mention not going outside could drive him, well, more insane than he already feels he is- He just tries to be as quick as he can about it before the other takes control or tries to, Jek definitely has a lotta anxieties and fears, and ya know at this point I mean,, hell- the man’s got trauma- Sometimes he wonders if any of this is actually real, if he had just gone insane and was just imagining all this, sometimes his head hurt because of all the thoughts and potential scenarios along with their outcomes plagued his mind, he feels a lot of things he never thought he’d feel towards anyone, he feels anger and hatred toward Hyde but in a way aside from feeling so negatively toward the other, he can’t help but admire the way Hyde wishes to just simply l i v e, and even before this beast became apart of him… He was always anxious deep down and almost scared to take that jump when needed.

But Hyde? Hyde doesn’t seem to even c a r e! That thing lives it’s life without any care whatsoever, he doesn’t have any anxieties or fears at all it seems! In a way, Henry might even be a lil envious toward the other’s carefree attitude and that he’s free of anxieties and fears ...H-He still doesn’t want the other around, he still wishes to destroy Hyde of course, even with the envy and maybe a slight bit of admiration he has his morals and principals, and if Hyde continues to exist or w o r s e gets his own body it could prove v e r y perilous.

Now onto… Eugh, Hyde- The bastard man himself- He’s stinky- an evil bastard who really needs just a good punch in the face (god don't do it yourself tho, he’ll probs eat ur entire arm) Hyde’s absolutely disgusting, will do ANYTHING to get what he desires, he can be narcissistic in some regards, VERY prideful and greedy in many ways, he isn’t above committing murder like really, was he EVER above it? If he wanted, he’d literally murder you not even for a bag of corn chips but literally just one, psh- selling you to satan for one? Bah that’s amateur’s work! He’s somehow a minor inconvenience who can commit REALLY nasty and horrible atrocities at the same time if he feels like it, if he finds out something annoys you or REALLY pisses you off he’s going to keep doing it, he will literally try driving you insane just for the fun of it, really at this point it doesn’t seem like he HAS much of a goal but to just l i v e and cause chaos, destruction, and mayhem wherever he goes, he despises Jekyll in many ways, one being for trying to destroy him first and foremost but also Henny is just s o fucking weak, such a weak man with far too many anxieties, fears, etc- He’d be SO much better of a man if he’d simply let Hyde take control and STAY in control!

It’d make everything a lot easier, then Jek wouldn’t have to worry about ANYTHING ever again! No more of that pathetic nonsense! If it were possible, Hyde would absolutely l o v e to have his own body, separate from Jekyll, that way he could have his own life separate from that pathetic weakling’s! But… Even then, Jekyll and Hyde are one, in many ways they are absolutely apart of one another, two sides of the same coin, even with their MAJOR differences in personality and Hyde almost seeming like an entirely different entity just merely possessing Jekyll, after all, Hyde will admit it himself, he spawned from deep within Jekyll’s mind, he’s tried to get the other to see time and time again that he’s always been apart of the other deep down, Jek’s always had a more mad and evil side to him! Even if the other will deny this and take the denial to his grave, Hyde always persists in trying to get the other to see the truth in front of his eyes!

Aside from that tho, Hyde is just generally a dick and loves to mess with Jek and terrify him sometimes for literally no reason, hell he could be bored one day and decide “Hey Henny, fuck you, you suck” he loves to start drama, he loves to cause problems on purpose- Both of them would give anything to separate from each other, even if Hyde knows the truth deep down bout the both of them, even if he were always originally a part of Jekyll, it didn’t matter, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to get his own body, away from that pathetic coward of a man!

| Side Facts: Jekyll rarely ever gets to relax or any free time, he’s too worried to give himself that in fear he’ll lose control, he’s almost CONSTANTLY fighting to keep control over the other, even though he knows it's physically impossible to do so, after all, he can’t stay awake forever, sure that doesn’t stop him from trying to stay awake as long as he can before his body practically forces him to pass out and he’s MUCH weaker than he used to be, I mean hell, given how long Jekyll seems to have been around, fighting SO much and almost EVERY single day has practically worn his body down but whenever there is an opportunity for any “free” time he usually spends it trying to figure out an antidote or a way to get rid of Hyde (I will say, before Hyde REALLY started doing bastardous n horrendous things, Jek would still get annoyed with him bc he was always that way but he actually, I’d say tolerated him more so than he does by now) and Hyde even- well, he still disliked Henry IMMENSELY so, but he definitely wasn’t as bad or as awful as he is to the other now, it was more so I tolerate you and we dont have to seriously fight or struggle with each other for control and back then Jek would even sometimes let Hyde have control.

But then… A serious incident (I wont name what exactly) but a serious incident that happened caused the two to absolutely despise each other (i didnt say up there, yes, Hyde absolutely despises Jekyll but there is some heavily hidden admiration in regards to the other’s determination, his persistence, and even somewhat of his creativity, Jekyll despite being an annoying nuisance in Hyde’s way, he does have some admirable things about him) but anyway- ever since that incident occurred, Jek has tried almost EVERYTHING he knew of to get rid of Hyde, even if separation from his body would still be bad bc that could mean Hyde would obtain his own body honestly? I believe Jekyll would still take that opportunity if he were given it, if he needed, he’d try and find someway to stop Hyde’s evil, maybe it’d be easier even if the other had his own body, he didn’t know, he just wishes he could be free from all this torment and agony like gosh damn give this man a b r e a k. Give him some fruit gummies and an appy juice carton and leave him be!

When Hyde is in control he wastes little time in finding things to do, being able to be out, to see the world, the world ripe for chaos and destruction, he wastes little time in getting straight to work with whatever his devious lil mind wants to think of- also for more monstrous purposes, back up there, I was p vague with the mention of teeth on his insides- p much teeth going down his throat and hell who knows, the bastard probably has teeth on the inside of his stomach at this rate- Another not so fun fact, this man can unhinge his jaw! Yaaay so u can see sharp teefs! ...He does have to kinda set his jaw back in place though bc god forbid Jek takes control then.

Smh imagine taking back control of your body only to have a fucking dislocated j a w wouldn’t that be hellish?

Hyde rarely ever does this for a few reasons- he only does it if he’s in the mood for just takin a big chomp outta someone (big chompy) just, just please- lock this thing away- or kill it, it's a menace to society and deserves nothing good- two more things btw, tbh I genuinely wasnt even considering inhuman features at first but ya know, I compromised- he has them he just chooses to hide them more often and speaking of, while Hyde says he’s always been apart of Jekyll (well this version I made anyway) that deep down their two sides of the same coin, can you really believe him? I mean, I’m not going to spoil it and tell ya anything in that regard, but who knows, who knows what Hyde REALLY is, whether or not he’s always been apart deep down inside of Jek or just some form of entity that spawned via that wonderful little formula.

And the final thing is, their voices are p much based on the musical ones' voices- Hyde’s is that deeper n raspier kinda voice while Jek’s is much softer and ya know POLITE sounding.

#my own versions #im not gonna tag them as OCs or anything like that #so they get an entirely different tag #jekyll and hyde #we have one himbo doctor who honestly shoulda known better smh and then we have one bastard #who needs to be put on a fucking leash

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flipomatic · 4 years

Text

Range of Emotion: Chapter 1 - Worry and Joy

Summary: Penny never thought she could feel such a wide range of emotions, but that was before she met Ruby Rose.

Author Note: I’ve wanted to write this ship for a long time, but never did. Penny is really hard to write. This fic will have 3 chapters.

_______________________________________________________

As Penny rebooted, with her eyes still clasped shut, her first reaction was to panic. She had just been fighting with Pyrrha, with her metal wires being pushed back and around her. If she didn’t stop them, something terrible would happen.

Or, as she was starting to realize, had already happened. Penny couldn’t hear the roar of the crowd, and she was laying down in a completely different position. A quick diagnostic told her that her swords were safely stowed inside her back, though it showed other strange anomalies. Today’s date was no longer the same. The metal must’ve cut her clean in half, since she seemed to be completely rebuilt. Her limbs were longer, and her code had been updated. She was wired directly into the mainframe, which could only mean one thing.

Penny’s eyes popped open, taking in the room around her. It was a familiar place, her father’s workshop. He sat nearby, typing rapidly at a computer. He glanced her way, perking up with a smile when their eyes met.

“How do you feel?” Her father asked, leaving the computer to approach where she was lying. He was in his usual mechanical chair.

Penny referenced the diagnostic she had run to respond. “Bodily functions are all rebooted.” She said, sitting up and placing her feet on the ground. They clanged loudly against it; it was going to take a while to get used to having longer legs.

Her father nodded, still smiling “I’m glad to hear it.” That smile quickly faded to an expression Penny couldn’t parse. “What do you remember?” He asked in a much softer tone.

He must’ve been trying to be sensitive. “I was fighting Pyrrha, and then nothing.” Penny glanced around again, her processor whirring as it searched for other information. Her father looked sad now, like he could cry. “What happened?”

He sighed, a sound Penny knew was associated with disappointment. “Not long after you were defeated, Beacon was attacked by the Grimm.”

Penny’s eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. She felt like her chest, which normally functioned just fine, had seized up. “Are my friends injured?” She used the word friends, but there was only one name flashing loud and clear through her mind. Ruby, what had happened to Ruby? It wasn’t that she didn’t care about the others, because she did, but Ruby was a true friend.

Her palms felt strangely warm.

Her father shook his head with a frown. “A few of them are.” The feeling in Penny’s chest tightened. “Ms. Nikos, didn’t make it.” Oh no, an image of Pyrrha right before the fight flashed across Penny’s eyes. She’d been so strong, Penny couldn’t imagine someone defeating her. “Ms. Xiao Long was seriously hurt. Other than that, I’m not sure. I haven’t heard much from Beacon since the attack. I was only able to recover your core because it was on Amity Arena.”

“I.. I see.” Penny muttered, directing her eyes down towards the floor. It was awful to hear about Pyrrha, but somehow felt worse to have no news about Ruby.

“General Ironwood should know more, you can ask him when you see him.” Her father offered, which loosened that awful tight feeling.

“I certainly will.” Penny looked back up, offering her father a half smile. Her new face felt more flexible than the old one had, moving easily to the expression.

Her father backed up a little, giving her room to stand. “You might notice some changes with the new body.” He changed the subject with a wink.

“It is taller than I’m used to.” Penny admitted, taking the chance to stand up. She was able to balance on her feet, though her center of gravity felt higher than it had been before. She started calculating the best way to walk in this new form, how to best angle her steps.

“It’s not just the height.” Her father replied, pulling up a diagram of her body on the computer and turning the screen so she could see it. “It’s connected better with your emotions now, with stronger physiological responses. Have you noticed?”

Oh, so that feeling, that pain in her chest, that was from an emotion? She hadn’t thought emotions could hurt like that; they never had before. “I think so.” She took a calculated step forward, to look more closely at the diagram.

“We’ll run more tests to make sure it’s working properly.” Her father zoomed in on one of the hands, looking closely at the image.

They talked a bit longer about the upgrades to the body, with Penny looking at her new form in the mirror, before she went to rest in her room. Though she’d been gone for a while, everything was the same as she had left it.

She wasn’t the same though. Going to Beacon, making friends, being destroyed and rebuilt, had all changed her.

Penny sat down on her bed, the emotion from earlier coming back in full force now that she was alone. She hoped nothing bad had happened to Ruby. Ruby was a strong girl, Penny thought, reviewing a memory of Ruby spinning her scythe, she had to be fine.

Even that thought wasn’t of comfort though. Penny realized that this was worry, this nagging tension that she couldn’t shake. Was this how people felt all the time?

She wished it would stop. She wished to know that Ruby was safe.

Later, she would find out from the General that Ruby had been unharmed in the attack. That helped, but she wasn’t able to completely shake the feeling.

________________________________________________________

As the protector of Mantle, Penny had grown accustomed to flying out, fighting the Grimm, and then returning back to base to report. Most of the time she worked alone, since she could move faster that way. If she got there quickly, less people would be hurt by the Grimm. She didn’t mind working by herself.

That’s why it was unusual to see other huntsmen fighting the Grimm. Penny had been deployed as usual, to fight Grimm close to where her father’s workshop was. When she had almost reached her destination, she saw a large number of huntsmen already fighting them. Her father was there with them, she could detect his electronic chair. The group had some familiar color schemes, but she would wait to process them until after the threat was defeated.

Penny aimed her laser beams carefully to take out the last few Grimm, stopping them from reaching the huntsmen. A moment later she had flown over the group, and carefully landed in the middle of the road.

When her father said to say hello to her friends, Penny finally looked their way. The instant she did, she wished she’d identified them from the sky.

Penny’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t help but grin. Her cheeks almost hurt from the expression, which they shouldn’t have been able to do, but she couldn’t stop it. Her whole body felt light, like she could fly without her thrusters.

Right in the center, standing in the middle of the road, was Ruby. Her red cloak was tattered, and she was wearing a different outfit, but Penny would recognize her no matter what she wore.

Ruby, her best friend Ruby, who she hadn’t seen since before the fall of Beacon, who was looking back at her with a slowly growing smile. There were others there too, acquaintances from Beacon, but Penny couldn’t even see them.

Penny felt like she could explode, like her whole body could just combust right then and there. Even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. Ruby was there, in one piece, with her glimmering silver eyes. In Penny’s chest, where her heart would’ve been if she’d had one, where tight worry had haunted her, now there was only smooth warmth.

Just walking over to Ruby, which was the normal accepted way to approach someone, wouldn’t be enough. No, Penny couldn’t stand being this far away for even another second. She was bursting with energy; there was only one way to do this.

She knelt down in order to get a running start, and then took off dashing towards Ruby. Once she had enough momentum, she kicked her rocket boosters into effect to go even faster. Penny rushed past the others with her arms outstretched, with only one target in her sights.

Ruby looked slightly panicked about Penny’s method of approach, but she still outstretched her arms to receive her.

As Penny crashed into her, she still had no doubt that this was the best method to reconnect. Knocking Ruby to the ground, briefly having her arms around her, was a bonus.

They quickly got to their feet. Penny smiled as she added words to her greeting and as her father reintroduced her, before chatting about her upgrades and new job. It was hard to believe that Ruby was actually here, after all this time.

They had so much to catch up about, Penny wanted to start immediately. She stepped closer to Ruby, leaning forward to grab her arms and tell her. She had so many questions, so many things she wanted to know. Even when the alarm blared in the city, calling Penny to another district, that didn’t dampen her mood.

Penny kept talking as she took off, flying towards the sound of the alarm.

Even having to wait to catch up couldn’t stifle the joy she felt at seeing her friend once again.

Later, after the whole group talked with General Ironwood, Penny would lead them to their dorms.

Team RWBY had quickly claimed bunks, each member relieved to rest. Ruby had settled up on the top bunk, leaving her scythe against the wall with the other weapons. Penny stood below, looking up at her. The room was silent, with Yang already asleep in the bunk below.

Ruby was looking down at her, a look in her eyes that Penny couldn’t read. For a minute, Penny just returned that gaze. She wondered if Ruby would invite her up to talk.

Then she realized, oh, maybe she was intruding.

Penny glanced between the bunks, reprocessing what was happening. She had been excited about catching up with Ruby, but the whole team seemed to be tired. She could wait again.

This time, her warmth was diminished by the delay. Penny ducked her head slightly as she turned away from the bunks, taking a step towards the door.

“Penny.” Ruby’s voice, quiet and uncertain, stopped her.

Penny looked back over her shoulder, at Ruby’s half outstretched hand. “Yes?”

Ruby pulled her hand back, sliding off the side of her bunk with her feet barely making a sound as they hit the floor. She stepped towards Penny. “Let’s catch up.” They left the room together.

Penny didn’t have a heart, but if she did it would be soaring.

Next Chapter

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #nuts and dolts #ruby rose #penny polendina #ruby #penny #i've wanted to write for this ship since volume 3 aired #but i never got around to it #doing it now

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ahatintimestorybook · 3 years

Text

Eclipse Chap. 2-No More Miss. Nice Girl

Hello! Got the next chapter out!!

I enjoyed the feedback I got on here and from discord and I was just motivated to get this next chapter out!!

Enjoy!!

Snatcher was relaxing in his tree home reading a book and letting out a sigh. Hat Kid was gone for a while now, and he was a bit concerned about where the kid ran off too. He shrugged it off and thought she was on her ship, in bed crying. He’ll check up on her later.

“Boss! Boss!” Two Subconites yelled. Snatcher looked up to see his two minions panicking as they ran inside his home. “It’s the newbie!”

The soul stealing ghost’s eyes widened hearing that something happened with Hat Kid. “What happened?” Snatcher asked.

“S-She’s walking towards her place!” Another Subconite shouted. Snatcher dropped his book and soon the ghost flew out of his home and quickly flew straight to Vanessa’s manor. He hoped the kid was still alive, and that he wasn’t too late.

Hat Kid and the “dweller” made it to the entrance of the Manor, which caused Hat Kid to gulp remembering the horror of being inside the manor and being chased by a mad woman, just to find her Time Piece. “W-what you're-looking for is in there?” Hat Kid stuttered.

“Yes.” The “dweller” replied. The “dweller” then saw Hat Kid in fear as she stared at the manor. The “dweller” wrapped around Hat Kid’s shoulder and nuzzled her cheek. “Hey you’ll be fine, I’m with you.” This gave Hat Kid a small smile, seeing how the “dweller” gave her comfort. The “dweller” then picked the lock with their tail, and the door to the manor opened.

Hat Kid went inside the manor and it was quiet. Too quiet. Like before. “So where is the item?” Hat Kid asked.

“The attic.” The “dweller” answered. The “dweller” then heard Hat Kid let out a frustrated sigh that she would have to find the keys all over again and go through all that trouble. However, before the girl could vent, the “dweller” added, “luckily I know a shortcut!”

The “dweller” then went straight towards the cellar door and opened it for Hat Kid. Just as Hat Kid went in the “dweller” heard footsteps coming from the owner of the manor, Queen Vanessa.

“WHO'S THERE?!” Queen Vanessa shouted as she stepped out of the room. “WHO DARES ENTER MY-“ just then the “dweller” released some green magic towards the corrupted queen, cutting her off and knocking her out.

Hat Kid stopped at her tracks and turned around hearing Queen Vanessa’s voice. “Was that the queen?” Hat Kid asked.

The “dweller” quickly caught up with Hat Kid. “Yeah, but I stopped her.”

The hat wearing child was surprised at the “dweller” and gave a small smile. “You're strong.” She commented.

“Thank you.” The “dweller” replied with a proud smile. Once inside the cellar, the “dweller” then took her to a part of the cellar and opened a small trap door inside. “After you.” Hat Kid bowed and went inside the secret entrance first. The “dweller” looked around the cellar before going inside and closing the door.

Just as the door closed, Snatcher just made it to the manor and stopped at the entrance of the cellar. He gulped and slowly went back inside to where he died, as well as his rebirth. Snatcher saw the secret door and followed Hat Kid and the “dweller”.

Once Hat Kid made it to the end of the secret passage she saw that the “dweller” was right and it did lead to the attic with no trouble from Vanessa. Inside the attic, Hat Kid saw what appeared to be a staff leaned against the window, something she didn’t see her last time here.

“Is that the treasure you're looking for?” Hat Kid asked.

“Yes!” The “dweller” replied, excited to find the said treasure.

Hat Kid walked up to it and grabbed the staff. It didn’t look special, just a rusty black staff with something that could fit on the top. The child inspected the staff and saw nothing special about it, except it was missing a piece.

“I think it’s broken.” Hat Kid said.

The “dweller” giggled. “Oh how silly of me.” They replied. Using their tail a Time Piece appeared, but not just any Time Piece it looked like the Time Piece from Snatcher’s death wishes. However, there was something odd about this one. “This staff could fit anything and everything, and it belongs to you Hat Kid.”

Hat Kid blinked in surprise. “For me?” She asked.

“Yes.” The “dweller” replied. Soon, the Time Piece floated and placed itself on the staff.

Then the unthinkable happened.

A bright purple light appeared and started to circle around Hat Kid. Snatcher finally made it to the attic and gasped seeing the aura circling Hat Kid. “KIDDO!” Snatcher yelled.

Hat Kid was confused as the light started to engulf her. “W-what’s happening to me?!” Hat Kid asked, fearful of what's going on with her. However, the “dweller” didn’t reply and just watched Hat Kid transform. “S-Snatcher! H-HELP!” She screamed once she was fully engulfed by the light.

Soon, little by little Hat Kid appeared, but she looked different. Her skin was pale, and she now wore a black cloak over a dark purple outfit, and the cloak was tied with a pink orb. Her brown boots were dark purple, and her bright sky blue eyes were dark blue and hollow. Her hair was brown, but with a black ombré and her hat was pale grey.

Snatcher was horrified at the child, and inside it felt like his fault this happened. “Kiddo?” Snatcher asked, as he tried to reach out for the little girl.

Hat Kid didn’t reply, and in a flash she used her new staff and shot a pink beam at Snatcher, which slammed him to the wall. The blast was painful and somehow made him feel weak. “K-kiddo. I’m.” Before he could apologize Snatcher passed out.

“Good job Hat Kid.” The “dweller” said as she floated towards the child. “Now, show me your true power.”

Hat Kid smirked as her staff started to glow brightly and soon she slammed the staff by the bottom end and a bright pink light engulfed everything, including the planet.

Snatcher groaned as he slowly opened his eyes to see he was in the cellar again. He tried to get up, but heard the dangling of chains. Feeling the air leaving him, he looked up to see he was chained up like he was 100 years ago. Snatcher’s eyes then widened when he looked at his arms again, and instead of his purple shadow arm, it was a human arm with a red sleeve.

The ghost, or should I say former ghost, was now human again wearing the same red prince’s outfit he wore that day.

#a hat in time #ahit #ahit au #Eclipse AU #Hat Kid #dweller ahit #queen vanessa #ahit snathcer #ahit the prince #ahit fanfic #a hat in time fanfic

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mylifeisactuallyamess · 4 years

Text

This chapter is a bit boring, no idea what’s coming next though! Like I said I’m just going with the flow on this one.

Unexpected

Chapter 6

You dragged your stick behind you as you slowly made your way back to your quarters. Luckily you didn’t see anyone else you weren’t sure if you could handle that now. Your door whooshed shut behind you. You dropped the training stick and headed straight for a bath. The water was warm and you sunk in washing your hair. Your muscles ached and you felt so drained and tired. Time seemed to have no meaning for you anymore as all that was on your schedule was training. You regret losing your temper earlier but you wish you could have seen his face. You lay down and the water lapped gently at you lulling you into sleep.

The grass was tall around you and it swayed as you looked up at the blue sky above you.

Ben! Ben! A voice called and you sat up to see a young woman with incredibly long hair reaching out for you. You jumped up laughing and ran away from her. Come here you little rascal! She grabbed you and squeals of joy erupted from your mouth as she tickled you. Her face was kind and her eyes a rich brown colour. Go and see who’s here she whispered. Excitement shot through you and you ran over to the hut at the edge of the field and burst through the door. Uncle Luke!! You screamed and ran into his arms.....

You jolted awake, the cold water splashed up at you and you cursed. You got out and wrapped a towel around you, pondering over your dream. Everything about it was familiar you felt like you should know who those people were. You collapsed on your bed went back to sleep.

You woke up before your alarm this time and you were in the training room alone. You twirled the stick and practised some moves alone. If felt good to train again, once you had become an Officer there had been no time for this. The moves came to you much more easily today, yes your muscles protested from the battering you gave them yesterday and the cold bath but it felt good. A door you hadn’t noticed before whooshed open and Kylo emerged. He stopped and looked at you seeming surprised you were there.

‘You are early’ he exclaimed. His mask wasn’t on, but you could tell his hair was freshly washed. He stood tall his posture tense.

‘I wanted to make up for last time Supreme Leader’ he nodded.

‘Let’s begin.’

The only words spoken through the whole session were Kylo correcting your posture or telling you how to improve your swing. And so the sessions carried on for weeks. The force was there at your finger tips you could feel it almost like you could touch it. Kylo had started teaching you how to manage it and block people out of your thoughts. He also taught you how to block others off so you could now stroll about the ship without being bombarded with sounds and images from everyone around you. You meditated daily, you trained daily and your body shape began to change. You felt strong and confident.

You turned up for a training session but Kylo was already there, the dull ache began in your heart as you looked at his face gorgeous face. Not once had he slipped up in your sessions to even give away how he was feeling. Maybe he didn’t feel for you anymore. That man on your one night stand who looked after you and cared for you was gone. He handed you a black bundle.

‘Put these on, I’ll meet you outside.’ He left, his cloak flaring behind him as he went back into his quarters. You sighed and striped off. You looked at the new outfit and realised it matched Kylo’s, the black padded tunic, the leather trousers that were so soft and supple. Even the boots but it all fitted you perfectly. You didn’t have a cloak, but a cowel that wrapped around you, it was long and tucked into your belt and flowed around your feet. The hood was deep and you loved how it covered your head and hair completely. You stepped outside of the training room slightly nervous. Kylo was stood there with his mask on. He didn’t even really look at you just turned on his heel and all you could do was follow him.

Kylo strode into the meeting room and everyone hushed as he marched over to his seat. You silently followed hoping no one saw you but knowing everyone did. Kylo summoned an extra chair for you to sit on next him.

‘Begin’ his automated voice came through his mask. General Hux stood up and a holo map appeared in the middle of the table. He started talking about a mission something about a map. You zoned out. You couldn’t remember the last time you left the ship. Felt fresh air on you face or the wind in your hair. You couldn’t even remember the planet you came from you were so young when you were offered to the First Order.

‘I will go with a division of storm troopers and my apprentice’ your attention snapped back to the table as Kylo started to speak. His apprentice? You were going on a mission! You could have heard a pin drop as every officers eye were drawn to you. They couldn’t see your face properly but they had their suspicions as to who you were, especially with what happened on the bridge all those weeks ago.

‘Very well’ snapped Hux. Kylo rose and you jumped up with him. All the officers stood and waited as you both left the room before filing out after you. You walked beside Kylo brimming with excitement. You wanted to ask questions but you knew better. You followed Kylo to the training room, once you were inside you lowered your hood. He carried on walking through the other door to his quarters leaving you alone. Were you done for the day? Something told you to wait so you did. The door reopened and Kylo emerged with a small box in his hand. You could feel the power radiating out of it as you inspected it with the force. He opened the box and a crystal glowed at you

‘Wow.’ You breathed, it was beautiful, you wanted to touch it.

‘Here are all the components to build your own lightsaber. This is the last piece.’ He placed the box on the table. ‘Let the force guide you.’

‘A lightsaber?!’ You stared up at him. Was this real? He was trusting you to do this. He looked down at you with his brown eyes, memories of the night you spent together come flooding back you, you wanted that so desperately you wanted him. Your body ached to be grabbed by his huge hands, you subconsciously bit your lip just thinking about it. Suddenly Kylo moved away from you.

‘Once you have made this you will be known as Commander Y/N.’ He disappeared into his quarters and you groaned out loud. That man was so infuriating. You sat your self on the floor and began to meditate. You fell into meditation easily. You inspected the pieces on the table, you had no idea what went where? You closed your eyes again and used the force to guide you like Kylo said. You don’t know how long you sat there for putting pieces together but it felt right. The last thing was the crystal. It rose out of the box and into its compartment in the hilt. You placed the cover over it and set the finished item on the table. You opened your eyes and looked at your new finished lightsaber. The hilt was black and sleek, nothing like Kylo’s as his seemed to be chaotic like it was made in a hurry. You force flicked it on and red light shot out of it. It hummed in your hand and you admired how light it was. You twirled it round. Perfect, everything about it was perfect. It was different to the stick you had been using but it was roughly the same size. You clicked it off and went to attach it to your belt. So this was your life now. Apprentice to the Supreme Leader, the same Supreme Leader you wanted between you legs. You shook your head, you couldn’t have him. He didn’t want you. Move on, you told yourself sternly. You reached out tentatively with the force.

Kylo?

The door whooshed open and he stood there in just a plain shirt, trousers and boots, his dark hair flopped into his face and it looked like you had just woken him up. He came over and held his hand out. You handed him the hilt, he lit it and gave it a few swings.

‘Good. This is a decent weapon.’ He handed it back to you. ‘Do not lose this. This weapon is who you are. Now go and rest we shall train tomorrow, then we go planet side.’

‘I’m excited.’ You said. He paused to look at you. You shrugged, amazed you even had his attention, usually he dismissed any effort at small talk. ‘I can’t remember the last time I was on a planet. Feeling the wind, seeing greenery.....’ you gave yourself a mental shake.

‘Have you ever seen the sea?’ The question startled you, you tried to look anywhere but his face.

‘I can’t remember.’

‘When this mission is done, I will take you.’

‘Really?’ You breathed, your eyes widened in excitement as you locked eyes. The air between you almost seemed to vibrate as you looked at each other, you noticed he was breathing heavily and his fist clenched. He bit the inside of his cheek and his jaw tensed up.

‘Get out.’ He snapped. The mood in the room changed in an instant. His eyes grew dark with anger and his presence seemed to grow before your eyes. You didn’t need telling twice and ran for the door slamming it shut behind you. You ran for your quarters and didn’t stop until you were safe inside. You could feel his anger, his frustration in tremors through the force as he destroyed the training room. Tears flowed down your cheeks, you just wanted to take away his pain but he wouldn’t let you in. You didn’t even undress, you threw yourself onto the bed and succumbed to sleep.

#kylo #kylo angst #kylo ren x you #kylo ren x reader #kylo x you #kylo x reader #kylo x y/n #kylo ren #star wars fanfiction #star wars #lightsaber #supreme leader kylo ren #ben solo #my writing

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williamsilverwood · 4 years

Text

The Banquet Part ll

(( This takes place post BFA and before Shadowlands. Because I’m lazy with writing. )) The embroidery was impressive, the highest quality silk one could get their hands on. A vest with the Silverwood house sigil on the chest and shoulders hugged against the young lord’s chest, fitting snugly against his body. He wore grey and dark pants that were of a similar fabric. To top off the outfit, a billowing cloak hung around his shoulders and down the rest of his back like a blanket.

Will sat on the edge of his bed, tugging black shoes onto his feet. It had been sometime since he wore proper noble attire and even longer since he was in his human form to do so. His elongated ears twitched at someone approaching. He turned to look over at the grizzled complexion of his friend and trusted advisor, Thoros.

“Well, never thought I’d see much of you in your old body.”

“I thought perhaps it is time to get more acquainted with it. Though I’m unsure what the reactions of the other nobles will be.” He replied, murmuring out his last words.

Thoros’ bushy mustache twitched and he rolled a single shoulder in a shrug.

“I do not think they’ll make too much of a fuss about it. Besides, it is a face they remember after all.”

Will rose a brow. “Is it? I did leave home in my teens, and I doubt they remember what I looked like.” He rubbed at his face with both hands. “Even then it's still the face of the first born son of a prominent house who decided to abandon his duty to his family and live in the city.” He ran a few fingers through his long locks, looking up towards the older man.

“Can’t dwell too much on the past, lad. You came back, didn’t you? Established your right once more and have been fighting under the Gilnean banner for years now. Though, I’m sure Grymm’s Vale’s people would like their lord around more often. You’ve been fighting for quite some time.”

Will blew a strand of hair away from his face, peering towards Thoros. “Well, there’s always fighting to be done. Not my fault there are constant battles. The Legion, a bloody fourth war. Never seems to end. I just hope we’re given some time to finally relax.”

“Agreed.”

In the moment of silence between the two men, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard along the spiral staircase that led to Will’s chamber. A teenage boy with the symbol of a Silver tree emblazoned on his tunic’s chest came hurrying into the room. He had a shock of messy red hair and wide cheeks.

“My lords..” He dipped his head and upper body into a brief bow. “The guests have arrived in the great hall. Shall I see them to their seats in the dining room? Or do you wish to make an address first, my lord?” His hurried eyes glanced towards the lord in question.

“Hm. What do you think?” Will eyed Thoros who was busy caressing his goatee.

“Huh? Oh, you should greet them. Its the formal thing to do. It leaves a good impression, lad.”

Will nodded. “Right..” He brought himself up to his feet, brushing his pants off for a moment and passing Thoros with a good hearty slap to the shoulder. “C’mon old man, lets go address the peoples.”

“You are addressing them! Not me. Don’t be putting this on me like usual, boy.”

The young lord patted the teen on the shoulder, ushering him down the stairs as he turned his head to flash a grin to his old friend. Those prominent fangs sticking out as he did so. “I’m just messin’ with you, ya’ old bastard. I know what I gotta do. No sweat.” He waved a hand dismissively before following suit down the stairs.

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

The various lords, ladies and high ranking officials of the Grey Hand were present within the great hall of Silverwood manor. They intermingled with each other; mostly conversing about where they felt Gilneas and the Alliance as a whole was headed after the recent war.

Will had just arrived at the main floor with Thoros in tow. He looked around the room, watching as servants carried out large platters of food. Various meats, breads and other treats were placed upon the white tablecloth.

The dining area housed a long table with many chairs tucked neatly beneath it. The most prominent chair was at the front of the table, stark white in color with a large emblem of the noble house it represented on the back.

The Lord of the house sits there. Many times did William see his father sitting at the head of the table, usually stroking his beard and always looking grumpy. The forced dinners with other families were always the worst. Though William had a good feeling this one was to be different than all the rest. Hopefully.

Thoros slammed a heavy hand against the young Lord’s shoulder. “Ready to make that address, lad? Doesn’t have to be too long, just welcomin’ them in.”

Will’s brow twitched and he glanced over to Thoros. “Suppose so. I never did listen when my father did these things. I was always off in my own head, wanting to break out of these stone walls.”

“Ha, I know lad, I know.” Thoros replied.

With a soft sigh, Will began to move towards the banister that overlooked the main entrance where everyone was lingering. Before he could however, he heard small footsteps barreling towards him. His ears twitched and his head turned. Though he did not even need to look to know who it was rushing towards him. A wide smile was already present on his face as he knelt down to welcome the embrace of his only daughter.

He hugged her against his chest, squeezing for a moment or so before letting her go. “You look adorable.” The young girl donned a dress. It was dark in color, various blacks and greys with intricate patterns of red roses running along the trim in typical Gilnean fashion.

Zoey beamed, moving away from her father to spin around in her dress. She seemed rather pleased with herself. “Its pretty!”

Will gave her a look. “I thought you didn’t want to wear a dress..” He murmured, a glint in his eye as he teased his daughter.

She puffed up a bit, cheeks tinged with crimson. “W-well… I…!”

Her father laughed, reaching down to comb a few thick fingers through her chestnut hair that was all done up in curls. “I’m teasing you, sweetie. You look very pretty.” His daughter’s smaller fingers tried to bat away his own as he touched her hair.

“But daddy has to talk to all the lords and ladies. Carmen will take you to the other children. Play nice.” He pinched her cheek before kissing her forehead.

Zoey nodded quickly, prancing off to one of the caretakers that took her hand and led her to one of the tables.

Will walked confidently towards the main bannister overlooking the conversing crowd that had gathered. Men were in fine linens and suits while most of the ladies wore expensive dresses.“Good evening!” Will stood at the bannister, gesturing with his hands out towards the

crowd. He was using that billowing, loud voice of his. Instead of shouting over a battlefield, he was shouting over lords and ladies. He was certainly not in his element. Many heads turned to regard him, looking up at a lord they did not instantly recognize.

Will was one who revered the embodiment of Goldrinn’s fury. It was a blessing to him. More often than not he was within his Worgen form. Tonight, he donned the body in which he used to frequent these very halls with. However, it was changed. He was beginning to slowly adopt more of his wolven features onto his human body. It was without a doubt because of his nearly incessant use of the blessing that was gifted to him. He did not mind the changes much but to the various aristocrats gathered in his great hall… that remained to be seen.

“I welcome you to Silverwood manor as it’s reigning lord.” One of his brows twitched. Usually he heard his father say those words and it was odd to hear them come out of his own mouth now. The thought of having a similarity with his father provided an unsettling feeling.

“Tonight, we celebrate our victory in the fourth war. From Arathi Highlands to the distant shores of Kalimdor, the Alliance have claimed a resounding success against the Banshee Queen’s brutish Horde.” William paused for a long moment, looking across the crowd of faces that peered back at him.

“She has descended into darkness once more and our hunt continues. But for now, drink, be merry and enjoy yourselves. Glory to Gilneas.” He ended to an applause from the guests. The tips of his ears twitching slightly and a smile forming on his lips as he offered a half bow. He turned on his foot to face Thoros who had been crossing his arms over his chest nearby.

“Brief but good. Nice job, kid.” He clasped a thick, calloused hand on Will’s shoulder, giving him a firm pat.

“I thought I started to sound like father. Almost lost my appetite.”

Thoros bellied out a loud chuckle. “At the start, a bit, but you’re not him. Don’t fret now. Try to enjoy yourself tonight. You’ve earned it.”

“Mm.” Will muttered, staying at the top of the stairs so he could greet each and every noble that walked up on either side. It was draining. He was a socialable person but this seemed like too much. Every lord and lady were greeted formally with slight small talk before he moved onto the next couple. It went on and on before he finally saw no one else coming up the stairs. He turned, eyeing everyone at their seats, conversing quietly. Will let out a small sigh, about to engulf himself within many more conversations before he felt a presence rush up behind him suddenly.

Instinctively, he whipped his body around, right clawed hand ready to slash at whomever had decided to appear from the shadows.

A raven haired woman in an equally as dark dress quickly ducked underneath his hand that was coming towards her. As soon as the young lord saw the ‘intruder’ was not really an intruder, he stopped his hand before it would even reach her.

“I didn’t see you treat the other guests like this..” Her voice was soft but carried a slightly huskier tone to it, one that made Will’s ears twitch in familiarity.

“... Caitlyn?” He asked, eyes widening to see the woman before him.

She stood close to him, a lavish and elegant vanilla scent surrounding her form. Her face was narrow with sharp features. Lips plump and painted in a daring red color. Her eyes were large and strikingly bright green, dark full lashes surrounding them, paired with smokey eyeshadow. They held a mischievous glint in them as they peered upwards to him.

The woman’s body was more on the skinnier side. But for some reason, she still looked like she could hold her own. Perhaps it was the aura of confidence she seemed to exude around her or the stance she took with her head held high and eyes forward.

“It has been some time, dear.” Will smiled softly towards her.

“That it has. And you’ve.. well… you’ve changed a lot, Will.” She reached out with long, thin fingers and took one of his hands, moving it up in between them so she could see those elongated, sharpened nails. “Gods, your’s are almost longer than mine. Such interesting changes.” Her own long nails pressed against his palm for a moment before withdrawing.

“Aye, it happened over a long period of time. I never really do come out of my other form.”

“You prefer it?” She perked a thin brow before upturning the corners of her lips into a grin. “That does not surprise me.”

Will could not help but to let out a small snicker at that. “I do, yes. Much more than this form. This body, this.. face, reminds me of my days back here. Being molded into the perfect first born son I was supposed to be.”

Caitlyn took a step back, getting a better look at him. She crossed her left arm over her chest, placing her right elbow into her palm and cupping her chin while an elongated nail tapped at her soft lips. “Well, aside from your wolvish features, I see much of that perfect first born son you were supposed to be right now.”

Will’s brow furrowed, eyes glancing away from her.

“Or.. its just the clothes you’re wearing. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you in threads like those. Definitely not back in the city.” She winked at him, moving a few steps forward so she could place a gloved hand against his chest. “Now, don’t you have guests to attend to?”

Will looked down towards her with an amused gaze. She was just like he remembered. Bold. Confident. Alluring. There was much he learned from her from his time in Gilneas City, like how real people got their way. That certain kind of charm that became one of the young lord’s most strongest attributes. He had much to thank her for. Perhaps an invitation to his chambers to catch up would suffice.

“Unfortunately so. And you’ll have to tell me how you managed to get past my gates, my hounds and my guards without so much as a speck of mud on you.” He remarked.

Caitlyn slid away from his body, moving towards the large banquet hall. She stopped for a moment and looked over her right shoulder to simply wink at him before proceeding to walk confidently into the main hall as the various nobles conversed with each other at the table.

Will stood there, eyeing her as she left. The corners of his mouth upturned in a gentle grin. It seemed the distraction that was needed from this formal procedure had just arrived.

#roleplay #world of warcraft #warcraft #writing #oc #gilneas #worgen

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ruffled-serpent · 4 years

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Lair Review for TazerPones

whoo! my last one! And what a great lair to end with :)

@flight-crashing

You specifically asked me to pay close attention to your G1s but I’d like to give you some first impressions of your whole collection first. At a glance most of your lair is filled with dragons that stay in the cool color range, and that’s something that I really like about your lair! Purples, blues, blacks, and greens are all among my favorite colors and you’ve done a great job with your dragons.

Beluga

Beluga is such a fantastically put together G1. The greyscale is just something to be marveled at, but I am totally going gaga over how you paired up the pink silks with the subtle lavender in her primary...I mean wow. The veined also goes soooo nicely with marbled and seraph. Beluga truly is a queen amongst genones.

Mar

Mar is a buckwild looking bogsneak. The glowing eyes with the mischievous post of these gals makes for a fantastic combination. I also really like just how well the blues of the poison blend in soooooo nicely with the glowtail gene. Her overall look is so flawless, you’ve used her blues so well in her whole design.

Rose Quarts

I love this proud papa. You’ve married the greys from the white seraph so well with the silvers of the vest and tail bauble. And the matching eyes are to die for. I also found how you incorporated the ice tomb to compliment his goldenrod tertiary. I also love how he gets a happily ever after in his lore where he gets to be so proud of his adopted daughter ;;w;;

Roden

Roden looks SPOOKY and I’m absolutely here for it. Giving him the horns just bumps up that creep factor by ten fold. And I love the small detail where you’ve matched his eyes with the necklace. I just love this funky lad so dang much. I wish him all the best in his (evil?) adventures.

Waverly

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor because Waverly is stunning. I love how you took peridot and used bee to give it those nice murky greens taht match nicely with swamp. The added touch of using the legbows to match with the lead glimmer is also appreciated. The combined sparkle of the rest of her outfit goes well with her shimmery appearance here, making her such a treat to look at as a whole.

North

I wanted to include North even thought she’s not one of you G1s because of just how well her lore ties in with her outfit. The way the steampunk set is used as a device to help her be mobile again is such a cool story aspect. I love the choices of color here too, the steampunk’s golds pop nicely against her dominant white palette, as do the reds from the bandages. What a fantastic use of storytelling!

Canyon

I enjoy Canyons neutral-red tones and how well they go with the more naturally looking genes. I always enjoy the combination of more natural colors with genes that are based on animals, and canyon here is no exception for that love. Not only does he look great though, he’s got a great...er...personality to boot? Since he has no brain I’m...wondering if there’s much to go off of there, but REGARDLESS of his head being empty it’s still a neat character trait to include.

SirBreunor

Sir Breunor is a stunning pastel gen one. I love the gradients we get from the Blend and Fade and I can’t wait for that beautiful tertiary to be added into the mix. It’s going to go so well with that. Also those daybreak decorations overtop the cloak is just beautiful. UGh I’m so in love with Beunor’s aesthetic.

Gawain

ok so I’m probably incredible biased with Gawain but I love her and can relate to this dragon because it’s my own goal to become a veterinarian ;w; Apparel-wise I love how you’ve meshed the purples from the Herald’s Wrap and her tertiary (and speaking of that tertiary...those matching eyes are SO lovely). Plus the tail ring to match those reds and oranges is such a neat little detail.

Honorable mention: Medusa

I couldn’t help but notice your plans for Medusa and oh my gosh she’s going to look SO good. I’m envious at how you were able to find blue in both her primary and secondary to match her tertiary. I can’t wait to see her all gened and dressed up!

Thank you for letting me review your lair! You’ve taught me a lot about making the most of G1s even if they don’t quite have a ‘desirable’ color scheme. You’ve really made a beautiful lair out of your collection, thank you for sharing.

#lair reviews #TazerPones

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darksideish · 5 years

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A small, personal ship custom designed to look like a miniature star destroyer, though painted black. "Tali, I have need of your services." He said, staring blankly at the planet below him. "...who is this?" she asked. Her image appeared on the holo display. Tall, friendly, tired face. Medium short hair, strong muscles, wearing armor mixed with cloth to give it a half cloaked look. 'Quite the attractive outfit' he thought. He sighed and turned on his own holo display and turned off the voice modifiers. "Right, anyway, I have need of your services." He repeated "What's the job?" She asked "You get a premium job today, quite a deal." He smiled "How would you like to get paid half of a planets entire wealth just for a single shot?"

A small group of people in an underground bar. Password only, but he had his ways of getting into places he shouldn't be. The empire would call this place the base of a terrorist cell. The rebellion would call it one of the few truly free places on this world. He called it an opportunity. He wore formal clothing, the kind of stuff that you would never find among people who actively were having everything taken from them. The kind that would only be found among diplomats, high ranking imperial military members, or people running large scale businesses while either working with, or avoiding the notice of the empire. The people in the room eyed him with suspicion immediately. Their anger, fear, and suspicion was evident even without the force. He sat down in a corner and drew a deep breath. "I'm not looking for any trouble. I'm just some wealthy idiot who hates the empire." His words were very convincing... They just ignored him and went back to their conversations. "Kept me up for three hours at a checkpoint today. Three hours. I almost got fired from my job." one of them complained. "They broke into my house while I was away. They just hacked the doors open and searched the place. They broke my droid. That was my grandmothers droid. I spent years fixing it." "Why can they get away with this?" "I don't know! They shouldn't! I hate that we can't do anything about this! There are too damn many of them! How the hell did any of this happen?!?" "It just hurts that there is nothing more to be done." "You're right it does. Absolutely right. I just wish..." "...that you could do something. Anything, to stop them. Even if it meant begging or fighting." The people in the room murmured agreement quietly, but they'd heard all of this before. "Would any of you like some weapons? I have a lot of weapons." The voice in the corner spoke. "What...?" They turned their attention to him. Who was that? Did anybody remember him coming in? He seemed...odd. "What did you say?" "Who are you anyway?" He stood up. "I'm a weapons merchant. I'm...not really with the rebellion or anything. I don't quite trust those charity types. They can't pay me in promises and smiling free faces. Justice does not feed me. Credits do. Imperial, republic, local, whatever. I'm not here for you people in particular, I'm here because you want to be free on your own, and I see money in that." They stared at him, once again angry and tired. "What? So you want to send us off with your shiny weapons to gouge the last of our credits out of us, and then watch us die to the imps when they come around with an army?" He shrugged "Is there an answer you would accept, or are you just so terrified of actually doing anything to improve your own situation that everything seems like a suicide mission? Scared to look out your window at night because someone might think that that counts as you breaking curfew? Coward." The man ran at the weapons merchant only to suddenly find himself on the ground. He had been grabbed and thrown in an instant. "Yeah...weapons merchants tend to know how to fight. Just a fair warning for next time. Oh, and also, any other weapons merchant would have actually fired this." The man refocused his eyes only to find a small, compact blaster pointed at his face. The weapons merchant flipped the gun around and put it in the mans hand. "You can attack a weapons merchant on your own, but not a single stormtrooper?" He shook his head. "This, friends, is exactly what I'm talking about. They do have an army. They do have AT-STs, they do have giant buildings, turrets, fortresses...but do you know what they don't have?" He smiled. "They don't have infinite of anything. They are people. You are innocent to them. Exploitable, but harmless. Kill one stormtrooper where they can't see, and who is to say you did it?" He pulled out another blaster. "I'm not offering to sell you weapons. I'm offering to give you weapons. It is not charity. It's an investment. If you succeed at this, I want the rights to half of the mines, and half of the wealth of this world. That is all. You think it won't work. You think it'll be too hard, but all you need to do is kill a good number of those useless troopers, and you'll bait out an official who will do something drastic to fight back. When they do, kill them, and in the chaos of the chain of command being broken, by then you'll have contacted the rebellion. They will help you shrug off the empire. They won't fight against an entire imperial controlled world...but a world that already got rid of the highest ranking imperial officer? That's another story." He smiled. "I'm sure you can figure out what you need to do." "It...seems dangerous." "What if they found you here?" the merchant asked "Is this dangerous? What about a checkpoint just deciding that they didn't like you, and pulling you aside and taking you out? What about them waiting for you in your home, deciding that your taste in books breeds chaos, and killing you for it without a single word? This? This is dangerous, but no more than any other day under their boots. Take a deep breath, and try it. Throw away your gun after one kill if you don't like the feel of it. They'll never know it was you anyway." The patrons of the underground bar paused for a moment, and then several of them stepped forwards. "Good." He said. "You can do this. I believe in you."

The troopers saluted him. He had a serious, dark look on his face. 'How could this have happened?!?' He thought to himself. 'This is an outrage! A complete outrage! Not a single one of them should be-' he blinked in surprise as he saw the man in his office. He sat at his chair with a serious expression on his face. He wore a formal outfit and had an odd weight to his presence, as if the entire room was darker just because he was in it. It was almost hard to breathe. He swallowed. "W-who are you!" He demanded. "Sit down." The man commanded. For some reason, he felt he should listen. Despite all of his misgivings, he shook off the feeling. "I will NOT be ordered to sit down in my own office! I am not going to be taken for a fool by-" The man in his chair stared at him. The look in his eyes... He felt himself shaking. This man... He sat down. "Why did you allow this to happen?" He demanded. Oh. Oh no. This man...he must have been sent by...oh god. "S-sir... this is only a minor criminal group. It is nothing to be...to be..." he swallowed. "To be concerned about." "Concerned? This is not a matter of concern, governor. This is a matter of COMPETENCE." The force of the one word shook him. He tried to open his mouth to protest, but was interrupted. "Competence, governor. Yours." The look in his eyes got darker. It was like his eyes were burning into him. Like they were cold, so cold that it sucked all of the air out of him. He couldn't breathe. "I-I...s-s-sir...I...I..." He couldn't breathe. "They don't know about it yet. None of them do. I do." His anger made him shrink back into his chair. If he hadn't been sitting, he would have collapsed onto the floor and started crying by now. Only the hard supports of the arms of the chair prevented this. "I can help you." "What?" He managed. "I can help you." He repeated. "What do you mean?" "I mean that I can help you." "...why?" "Profit. Mine." This...this was familiar to him. He could do this. This made sense. He didn't need to know who he was. He didn't need to know who he reported to. So long as he got out of this, it would be fine. He just needed to make sure this man was paid, and everything would be fine. "What do you...what do you need?" "I want the prisons. Half of this worlds current wealth, and rights to half of the prisons on this world. Legitimate rights, nothing under the table that could have you squirm away from this, or that would get you investigated for embezzling and would ruin this for me." His eyes focused intently on him. It almost hurt just seeing them. "You couldn't afford the consequences of this otherwise." "I-I understand, sir."

A woman in armor hid in the shadows of the rooftop. "How many in the hideout?" "About a hundred." "How many outside of it?" "I dunno. I'd estimate about a hundred fifty." "Really? You're putting both of them about even?" "Well, one side theoretically has more, but also I don't know about outside of the hideout." "So, now are you finally going to tell me who my target is?" "There are two." "I thought you said that this job would be one shot fired?" "It is." She could hear the humor in his voice. "Did you know that your voice sounds really cool in that helmet of yours? It's a nice voice filter." "Thank you. Do try to stay on topic though." She replied. She was enjoying herself here, but he had been really evasive as to what, exactly, she was doing there. "Two targets, one shot, and one choice, Tali." He said. "Choice?" "You get to choose, either way, it's all the same to me." "What is this choice of yours?" "Down on the streets there, there is an imperial governor. He is personally leading his forces, and he is a clever strategist. He knows what needs to be done for this operation, and he has a fairly good chance at victory here." "And? Who is the other target?" There was a small pause. "A door panel." "What?" "Yes. A door panel." "How would that matter in any way at all?" "The hideout there has two exits. One at the front, and one far off in the back. The second target is the control for the door. Shoot it, and it will be sealed off, closing the resistance forces only way of escape, leaving them trapped and easy to pick off, one by one. Your choice. Kill the governor and allow the resistance to win, to call the rebels and liberate the planet, or shoot a single door panel, and close off all escape, ending all thoughts of victory in this place once and for all. The whole world is in your hands. Choose what to do with it. Either way, you'll still get paid." He was laughing to himself. The call ended. What kind of a choice was this? Why would he do any of this? Well, it didn't matter to her, in the end. A single silenced blaster fired. The sun fell over the horizon. The darkness crept in and the doors sealed themselves shut never to open again. Manic, intoxicated laughter could be heard on top of the resistance base. He was there. "Can't you hear it? The entire world, stood still on a point, a knifes edge and frozen in a balance, a stalemate, and now it's all crumbling! All of it! All of it falling apart! Every face, every voice, every thought they ever had, all of it shattered! You made this world! Haha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" He saw it all moving as it happened. Saw through the troopers eyes, felt their movements, their emotions. Felt the color drain from the resistance members faces. Felt their hopelessness, their fear. Felt them as they desperately tried to hide away, their ragged breaths as they shook as the footsteps approached, their hearts stopping as they saw the lights of the troopers guns focus on them. The cruel pride the troopers felt as they did it all. He even whispered some hiding places into some of their heads, just as an added bonus. There was no way he could have lost this. In either case, he would have won. Now though, at this moment, he felt it. This is what he had wanted from her. Unrelenting, devoid of mercy, and certain of her choices. This, he thought, was a wonderful, momentous night.

#Star Wars #Sith Lord #Tali

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