#IS THERE A SHIP NAME FOR FUTURE TRIO... there must be. ...oh... is it just...

[tagarilaghost]

I SWEAR CELEBI'S THINGY IS COMING SOON BUT I REALLY WANTED TO POST THIS ALRIGHT

yeaah... future trio got me too...

and Darkrai is there too, because of course he is.

hey look i drew a cute Drifloon :D

...ignore the rest

whatever started at Darkrai doodles ended in brainrot of future trio + darkrai and I'm blaming @scribz-ag24 for this

[bjorkncaddel]

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 around Cordelia, the elder blonde always makes her comfortable in her skin without being judged. As she explained the reason why the name was chosen for her future babies and the following. ❛ Ah, well… He likes it too. It's a simple name easily to be pronounced correctly, in both nacionalities. ❜ She refers in Swedish and English. ❛ You're welcome. ❜ Delia never abandoned her during this new route of motherhood, life changes. When Linnéa once first heard the news she was the first one to leave the ship, leaving Neva on this path without guidance. All the blonde needed was a bit of maternal figure to calm her nerves but unfortunately, this wasn't what she got. She feels completely blessed that Ryan's family accepts her with open arms, without making her feel so miserable.

❛ None is shorter than me, in my Swedish family of course. ❜ She says with a giggle, shaking her head. ❛ Not even my grandma Freja, she was shorter. ❜ She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. ⎯ Neva was surprised when Cordelia recognized her grandmother. Wait what? Ry's granny knows everyone in this world? How is it possible? Small world. ❛ You did? I --- I eh… I don't know what to say. My mother never talks about her. Small world! ❜ She explained excitedly. ⎯ ❛ We don't have any reasons for NOT wanting you there. I know how important your presence is to him, and you're doing too much for me, I still don't even know how to thank you. ❜ She admitted.

❛ Thank you. ❜ The Swedish blonde said to the other, with a genuine smile as she recalled her wedding. ❛ This one definitely has some charms! ❜ She smirks, proud of Cordelia find someone that makes her happy, although it is too early to know, considering she never met him in person, but he seemed like a gentleman, a man of taste and poised. Upon her reaction to her former ex-fiance… ❛ I am not joking. He cheated on me countless times. ❜ She informed her. ❛ I thought he was the love of my life. And he was the favorite of my family. Especially my mother who adores him. But things were starting to not going well between us. And we ended. I left our penthouse, and my Ferrari with him. I just was fed up with him and wanted to leave Manhattan. ❜ She explained. It was always reassuring to know people like Cordelia know him so well that he genuinely loves her. Not that he ever planted a doubt, but it is nice to hear from another point of view.

Before they both had an enjoyable conversation, the nurse and Baldur entered the room. Baldur waited for to Ryan leave the hospital so he could get in and attempt to talk to his daughter. He nodded in a very princely way to Cordelia, and his gaze met his daughter. ❛ Birgitta, Cordelia. Hi. ❜ He finally said. Before he could even make a conversation the nurse quickly informed both of them. ❛ Oh! So good to see your parents come to visit for your support, Mrs. Caddel. ❜ The nursed referred to Cordelia and Baldur as Neva's parents, but he had a chance to correct her. ❛ But I am here to deliver the news from the doctor, and she cannot come to share it, so I'm doing it for her. Mrs. Caddel, for your safety and the babies as well, you must stay here until the babies are born. Here in this hospital. In two hours, we are going to monitor you again. And no traveling no treatment at home. Until you get better. If you two excuse me, I have to leave.❜ The nurse warned Cordelia, Baldur, and Neva before leaving. The trio alone. Baldur upon hearing the news and situation doesn't know what else to say. In fact, he was a bit speechless. He approaches Neva and touches her head patting her awkwardly, looking at Delia a bit blushed. ❛ I forgot what I wanted to say. ❜ He started, he was lying. The news shocked him. ❛ I want to talk to you, if you ever talk ill of my husband, don't talk to me. I'm tired of pretending, I'm not hurt when you speak badly about him. It affects me too. You can call me all you want, harlot, dumb, whatever is it to please you. But not him.❜ Neva said it to her husband, not ashamed to share it in front of Cordelia. ❛ Take care of my daughter, I hate this hospital. If you were in Sweden, I know good doctors, or even in L.A. Take care, let me know your due date. ❜ He talks looking at Neva, feeling ashamed, but his expression remains cool, not betraying his inner feelings. He patted her head awkwardly and kissed the top of her head. ❛ I promise to be nice. ❜ His last words before leaving.

—Cordelia gave her a look. she understood, however, that Neva must have felt overwhelmed with the pregnancy; especially since it was her first one and her not being ready for them. or to be a mother in general. she was not going to judge her, of course; never, she aimed to support the younger woman, aid and offer advice where she could, not make her feel bad about her decisions. or worse. ‘it is alright,’ she said reassuringly, nodding to emphasize the statement. ‘let’s talk to your doctor first, no need to stress.’ and now that this was out of the way, and they had agreed they were going to consider their options, she listened to her speak of the names she had picked out for the twins. ‘what does Ryan think?’ she asked first with a small laugh, and then her expression was swiftly replaced by an amazed one as the younger woman explained that the name Nils also has some Greek roots. ‘Nicholas….’ Cordelia mused. a smile formed on her lips again. ‘Freja is such a beautiful name! I love them both!’ and she was not just saying that; she was not this type of person. but both names were beautiful, held a meaning to her and it made her smile, the sentimentality of the choice. ‘thank you!’ she squeezed her hand, lovingly; it was indeed an honor she had thought about her and her Greek roots while picking out their names. she felt appreciated.

another pearl of laughter fell from her lips, nodding. ‘yes, I know! I am glad the women in my family are short,’ she laughed once more. ‘Aleida is even shorter than me!’ she said, almost proud. a smile formed on her lips and she nodded; it was plainly obvious for anyone to see how much she loves her grandson, specifically. ‘he just has this…air about him.’ she laughed. ‘unless he pisses someone off, then you wanna murder him with your own two hands,’ which, also rang true for Neva in the, very recent, past. ‘but I am sure they will love you both the same,’ she concluded with another gentle smile. and then she took the phone to look at the photo, mouth agape at how much Neva resembled her maternal grandmother. and then, a beat. ‘I had met her!’ she exclaimed, quite shocked. ‘such a beautiful, poised woman. very elegant.’ she gives Neva her phone back. ‘you look so much like her…how I never put two and two together!’ she shook her head.

‘I am sure he has forgotten all about it,’ she waved a hand, laughing. a blush crept on her cheeks, and she looked at Neva with a gentle smile. ‘your wedding was so beautiful! I am honored you two wanted me there!’ especially given it was such a small wedding, with a few of their closest people present, a simple, sweet ceremony. and Neva had looked absolutely stunning in her ethereal, flowy wedding dress. another laughter fell from her lips. ‘he is handsome, no? and I think Ryan might actually like this one…’ she mused and then looked at the photo of Liam, still laughing at Neva’s comment; almost choked upon the photo she was presented with. ‘you can’t be serious, right?’ eyes widened. ‘this…man you were engaged to? why?’ she was glad she wouldn’t be offended, because the man in the photo looked…ugly, and Neva is such a beautiful woman, she is damn breathtaking. no wonder Ryan is so taken with her; she is beautiful inside and out. ‘I am sure there won’t even come a time he will tire of you,’ she winked at her. ‘trust me. I know him better than anyone; he adores you.’

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for Legacies 316: (here we go again😂)

(I’m combining after thoughts with live thoughts)

1) The soundtracks for this episode are amazing, they fit very well even for Finsie that I heard that a lot of people were complaining on Reddit.

2) I finally get my team Sowanby! I just feel so much from them! They kind of make a great team, but please, do not go on another heist again. You both sucks at that! The holes are, the museum don’t have a fucking alarm for Leonardo DaVinci’s work? Are you kidding me? And Landon beating the shit out of the guard but not putting him out first is so dumb. The worst is Cleo calling Landon’s name so loud, I can’t😂😂😂😂😂😂 you don’t want people to be on your back when you have the Malivore threat going on guys! And ha! You guys are on the headline! That’s why I really feel like these supernaturals are so outdated and solidified from modern technology, even in 2030! Are you going to tell me everything technology will still be the same like now?? Come on, there’ll be cameras watching everywhere. Like they can see Cleo using magic! I need my Trimini (or bridge) coven and Hope starting to integrate the supernatural world with the modern world. About Trimini and Hope future career, click here.

3) the line about “many who shaped it are never acknowledged” I stand! After that, about the key card my random thoughts were about Landon being the one that stole the key card😂 just out of the blue and I’m proven wrong though.

4) Landon bonding with Cleo!!!! They thought the same way, and “I can promise that anyone that have to get to you, they have to get to me” is so strong! But the scene after, is the moment I started really doubting Landon, the look is too alarming. But there are still Sowanby scenes😭😭😭 and the melted heart mud... I mean I genuinely believed that the spell didn’t work because Landon is also mud himself. But in hindsight it is horrific, like the serial killer is just standing next to you but and the signs are right in front of you.

5) Malivore mud being artistically friendly! I can’t haha! Oh and when Holarke walked on Sowanby inspiring moment🤣🤣🤣I can’t, they act like both of them are cheating on one another it’s hilarious. Thank you for acknowledging each other Holarke and Sowanby🤣. By now, I should have known that’s MaliLandon. It’s humiliating because Holarke and Sowanby got me so happy that I didn’t see the clues lmao! Because there’s this line: “Following the footstep of the Renaissance greatest man? ” but this thing, Cleo only did it with Leonardo, with whom she slept with......

6) And damn, after that, I felt like a FOOL, CLOWN, WHATEVER after that! All I have for team Sowanby is fake 🙃🙃🙃🤡🤡🤡 Anyway we still have to admit that the promise still stand true right, cuz it’s literal.🤣🤣🤣 MaliLandon fulfills his promise by eating Cleo. TYPICAL.

7) Holarke! Clarke is still handsome as ever😍. We can see his presence is clearly affecting Josie and making Hope giving him information. Can we talk about how cute is he sleeping soundly here?

8) Lizzie being the only unaffected queen here. AND IT’S FINALLY LIZZIE’S TURN FOR “AD SONNUM” I can totally see her pleasantness in doing that to somebody after being on the receiving end🤣🤣🤣 Josie and Hope had done it before so now we actually see her doing it. I somehow feel completed.

9) The look Hope and Josie shared. Hosie!

10) Josie is going to be the death of me! I like her look. And how the camera moving upward gosh! And I’m totally digressing here, what is a razzleberry? And what is a slush? I have no idea what they are, I just feel like tasting what she tasting now. Lizzie’s line, crashing and splashing😂 Am I colour blind? Cuz I really can’t tell whether Hope is wearing dark blue or dark green 😅 if it’s green, then the traffic lights colour are back again lol. If blue, then Hosie matching clothes! Did Finsie ever have matching colours? I’m just wondering.

11) Hosie scene! They talked about how seeing Clarke traumatised Josie~~ damn and Josie says traumatised is her permanent resting state. I mean even on her birthday she was buried alive lmao. And Hope wants to help Josie stop the traumas by sacrificing herself to defeat Malivore, like by literally dying. Which she didn’t want because she didn’t want to live forever.

12) Holarke scene again! I love all those banters and their dynamics😂😂 how Hope is the only one that trusts Clarke now. The mimic spell! It’s their thing😍😍. Oh it totally surprised me that Clarke isn’t mud man anymore. I’m really happy for him, because he finally break himself out of the abuse! It seems like triad is totally gone?? But I still kind of think that there may be something more? And Clarke’s reaction to Hope opening the artefact! 🤣🤣🤣 and the way that Clarke sensed the familiarity with Cleo! Yea boy, she’s the inspiration to the creation of you.

13) Clarke keeps calling Hope and Landon kids🤣 how’s the feeling of getting kid!Hope kicking your ass and saving you😂😂😂 oh she’s totally your equal. Frenemies at best! YES! I love Holarke bonding. And the fact that Clarke being Hope inspiration to believe in friendship and her family now can help her to defeat Malivore, I Stan! Don’t lose sight of the corner! Josie! Lizzie! Clarke! Yes you have them! I’m glad that Clarke didn’t die, I’ll be so mad because the writer would be bringing him back for nothing. Oh the incendia is painful, affecting me more than the fake looking MaliLandon eating Cleo. The height difference again🤣 with Holarke this time.

14) I love Maleb clothes, not really shipping them just short form for their bromance😂 but I do enjoy if there suggests shipping cuz it’s fun! Love that them being supportive of each other, superheroing, and the hero name🤣🤣they’re clueless too. Poor Kaleb and Cleo. I really need his backstory 😫

15) about hero names, I’m still having playback of “blursome and essential” in my mind. MG is looking at the mask longer than Kaleb, I feel like he’s missing Ethan, like a lot. Another thing is, since we see the effect of someone else being compelled so clearly, but we never seen Ethan’s compelling effects. Or it’s a budget matter? They must be kidding right? So maybe Ethan is really faking it? So that leads us to Lethan....

16) if my suspicion is true, then damn, Ethan is using Lizzie to get into SBS? I’m worried for Lizzie’s wellbeing. Also the look on Josie when Ethan drives near tight after she said like some eligible will fall out of the sky🤣🤣🤣 the timing is impeccable lmao. For real, Lizzie wanting Ethan to be Hope’s rebound after her kiss with him in the trio imagination, is ....so the trio is now sharing guys now? Jandon is still there in the history! It’ll be like a very messing love multi-triangle😌😌😌

17) the way Lizzie talked about how Hope is perfect the whole way and judging by the day when they arrived at SBS? That’s very long! Lmao, Lizzie are you sure you’re not in love with Hope? Hizzie rights! (I don’t even know when I started to ship Hizzie, it’s a mystery🤣) I think I can only talk like that about my love. Why don’t you make you and your sister Hope’s rebound? I’ll be happy with what I get🤣

18) The decision to bring Ethan on a tour, is so bad. What if ethan ended up enrolling SBS and Alaric can’t deny the application? Did she ever think of that?? And Josie and Mg is going to face the consequences in the near future🤣 dreadful! From there I already felt the cliche sweetness that when you’re trying to be a wingwoman and ended up “selling” yourself out🤣🤣 fuck CW for cutting the scenes of Lizzie’s epic facial expression when she was slapped with her own words😂😂😂anyway, it’s no way she can refuse the ask out after 315 where Lizzie still thinks that she can’t be the chosen one when Hope is there, but someone actually chooses her even after all the Hope is perfect speech. As much as I mourn for Methan and Mizzie, I’m happy that she got someone to tell her that. But I think they’re destined to backfire😅

19) so does the Mizzie “will they won’t they?” officially end here? I’m confused. Btw it’s really a way to mention Sebastian’s death being relocated permanently 🤣 oh wait...she knew that that prison world is destroyed forever right????? Someone save me.

20) okay I have to go back before Ethan picked the twins up: while Lizzie is actually worrying about themselves being stranded, Josie is just more concerned about Hope? Hosie! Poor Josie, she never sees that she is Hope soft spot and can totally make Hope happy too. Look at your dumb joke at 103, Hope’s laugh is magnificent too. It’s because of you. And yes I’m with Josie, I just ship Hope with herself and her axe right now, don’t put her with anyone for at least 5 more episode please.

21) The one that doesn’t dissolve into goo! Now is Clarke! And the both of you my dear twins. Btw, the dna thing, where Clarke confirms that dna is still toxic... so it applies to Landon too right? And it’s now just more overwhelmingly apparent that handon sex is without protection. Yea so much for epic love. And this is about the possibility where (hopefully) it’s not MaliLandon when the sex scene happened.

22) Finsie time! I got to say, it’s really improving. Their scene is beautiful, finally. That feeling that they’re nice together is now going on continuous for me. I’m happy for them! They are now stepping up on Hosie, not derogatory, I’m just seeing some parallels from hosie here. The disclose of Ethan broken arm, where Hosie has done, before that there’s Clarke’s traumatising Josie thing with Hosie. Next, the focus on the hand holding, I’m thinking of 207 and others. The “me being here with you”, with hosie 308 “then I’ll be here with you”. The whole thing is very comforting for Josie. The hug is good too. We can see that they finally have some nice scene and the bgm is good for them.

23) I have no idea what is magical agronomy, so I look it up. Again, that shows how Josie love plants, like someone in Reddit said they observed that Josie’s side of room has several plants. And in 307, the herbs, that she remembers. I think it can help a lot if Hope is starting a magical technology company. Josie’s interest in that can come in handy. They’ll make a great team. About TRIMINI INDUSTRIES tap here.

24) we are still missing Jed here. Justice for Jed. We need Jed real first name. Did anyone notice when the super squad faces MaliLandon there’s no werewolf present? They’re really downplaying that huh? But maybe I can be satisfied that they are not making Finch being there but not Jed.

25) We need to address this thing about Handon. It’s like one and a half time that Hope couldn’t recognise that Landon is not Landon right? We still have to give credits to her memories shared with Cleo actually make Cleo kind of recognise the difference? So half a time. I agree with Josie’s words that Landon makes Hope happy. I mean, yes, most of the time they failed in working but there’s still sweet scenes between them. So that’s actually what makes Handon tolerable. They are what makes me only do facepalm rather than skipping them. So yes of course Hope has happy moments with Landon. Just that it doesn’t mean that they’re good together.

26) it’s always Landon’s bros that first find out Landon wasn’t Landon😂 this time is Clarke. It’s Clarke that tell Hope, “Landon will never leave you”. That’s the inconsistency of the writers, not counting MaliLandon’s time, it’s still two times. And there’s time that some will argue that Landon’s feet literally walk away from Hope. So...that’s not true, do not stuff that in our throat anymore. “I always thought you two are destined to be together” is this the writer way of saying they’re not doing Handon anymore or otherwise? Cuz “thought” is past tense and “are” is present tense. I’m tired. It’s normal that Hope still wants Landon to be happy and still love him. But after the breakup, when she still doesn’t know that it’s MaliLandon, the “still dying to get Landon again” is obsession. Girl, it’s derogatory to your self-esteem. “If a mud man like me can beat his fate, maybe you kids can too” yea that’s Handon going on.

27) we shouldn’t need to be told that Handon is epic love multiple times. We should be able to feel them, see them ourselves. Why did I start approving Finsie now, because instead of them being only all talking and no showing, now we see them working well (until now). I have been widely accepting to any other legacies ships and why I never ship Handon? So really these multiple telling us that how good is Landon to Hope, is not working. I’ve never been so frustrated.

28) Let’s appreciate the Handon parallel with 101. It’s interesting that how Landon is inside the cage and Hope is outside the cage again. The meaning of the cage has deep meaning here. Handon first kiss is in the cage, that kind of mean that their love is trapped there. Like how their relationship being so troublesome and bound by these fateful encounters. The lights are quite similar, handon always has this blue lighting for them, which sometimes it’s kind of weird. The first time it is Hope decorating the ceiling with stars for Landon. It’s sweet, but also implying that what Handon has is the false beauty of them and not keeping the cage symbolism in mind. In other way of interpreting it, this is the writer foreshadowing their endgame. Cuz they’re trapped there, no way in no way out.

29) I think I’m not the only one bothered by the mostly lack of real Landon appearance in s3. As we can see how MaliLandon words sits so right about, Landon not belonging to SBS if it weren’t Hope. Then he leaves with Cleo, that’s a thing for Sowanby too, they still don’t have roots with the school, and it’s a great bonding between them, friendship or not. It’s the bond between them that matter. In 314 315, we always see that the students were totally fine without Landon. Like the three trios paralleling? It’s sad that Landon is like bouncing here and there in SBS but never really belong. And now the writers kind of ripped his personal development. So now he has neither his pheonix powers nor fighting skills, great? And even Hope’s growth too. We are seeing her moving to a good direction and the writers have to drag her back in the hell hole. Hope needs to not always looking at Landon for her happiness, it’s not good for the both of them. Like MG said, be your own person.

30) THEORIES regarding Landon: a) It’s MaliLandon all the way? I hope not, it’s reminding me of Lost Girl that one of the characters slept with the father personating the person she loves, and got pregnant. Tell you what was more alarming? When the episode ended, I was recommended to move on to Lost Girl on CW seed. It’s disgusting! Why do you want to help make me hate Handon? I don’t even hate them initially! I’m like struggling to be logical and lean on the positive side here. Why I can’t move on from this possibility: first, I’ve always headcannon that Malivore has partial control over Landon. Like how Landon actually wasn’t lying in 102 103? That’s Malivore. And Handon, as genius as always, doesn’t talk about it. Second, the way that Landon dissolved, he was human back then, but he turns into goo? how does it even work? If he is human, toxic to dna will make him die, not become goo, right? Even if that wasn’t a problem, it can also be MaliLandon trying his luck. Third, Malivore purpose is to make the perfect legacy, he will totally give it a try to make tribrid-Malivore babies. Fourth, during the inspiration from Cleo, MaliLandon has Landon’s memories, enhancing the theories that Malivore has partial control over Landon, so even if it wasn’t MaliLandon, it’s still partial-MaliLandon. Fifth, after the inspiration, MaliLandon said that he doesn’t need Hope to tackle his problem or for his purposes, which means he initially wanted Hope, thinking getting to Hope can help with his purposes. It’s really not a far-fetched.

31) THEORIES regarding Landon: b) it’s real Landon during sex, but Malivore got him in the prison world. While having Landon’s personal growth ripped and Handon still dragging out are not pleasant at all, this is still a more pleasant theory for me. At least Landon did start fighting for himself after sometime, and while the sex is still partial-MaliLandon, at least it’s not MaliLandon. (I’m always using at least for Handon 🙃) maybe we can still have Landon fighting skills? Cuz I was happy for him about this though. But I just don’t think so. The evidence for this theory is, my feeling about Landon in 306 is that it kind of fits Landon personality, but he did start his violence there. Another thing is the letter. There’s care in “to whom it may concern”. However, that can be just me being simp. And there’s also possibilities that the partial control from Malivore is cultivating Landon’s behaviour starting there and slowly taking control. Because making a deal with the devil always has its consequences. It’s either that or Landon was taken after the letter.

32) regarding the picture above, i just want to point out about another interesting point about the structure of the scene, if you scroll back and see sowanby picture with the door and another bonding talk, you can se that there’s always pillar and frames that’s framing or trapping them together. Like Handon. I mean that’s totally MaliLandon, so this pointing out is not mean to be romantic. It’s just a thought about how devastating that Cleo is stuck in something her whole life, especially the picture structure that implies that she’s stuck with MaliLandon again.

33) overall I’m thinking this is a good and disgusting episode. With all the unexpected twist, it’s really good, there’s actually layers in showing us that Landon is not Landon every time. Then those bonding. The soundtrack, the scenes. Disgusting, is about the theory, and how we are all tangled back to Handon again after we finally have some fresh air. Not to mention the always surprisingly convenient that Landon always has an excuse when we see Landon did something bad to Hope. Like he can never be making big mistake while only having little questionable doings that can’t possible tarnish him being the perfect person in the show. The first time he lies, Malivore controlled him. During the pageant competition, he is justified to walk away when he totally chose the wrong timing to ask that question, leaving Hope alone breaking in front of such important event. 207, monsters are coming for him, he’s protecting people by leaving. Musical episode, he needs to cross boundaries because it’s bound to be, without further reasoning it with Hope, when Hope specifically was very respectful of him in 111 about his songs. And now, this. That’s not him, we can’t blame him. He will never be blame for something big because the writers is biased. Very biased in making that Landon is better than anyone else in the show, so he’s the perfect guy for Hope. Like no one can compare with him. He’s almost perfect. Perfect than Hope.

34) Reflect on what Hope did in 308, MG is kind of right, she shouldn’t have touched it without fully prepared. Because it totally let Malivore running out free instead of him being an originally contained problem. It’s for the good view in whole. Heroes make hard decisions. There’s still the hair thing cut from Hope and Golem!Landon.

These pictures is my work, while it’s easy to get it yourself, and not that I’m professional in doing this. But I still did screenshot them one by one and did some editing. So please like or label the sources when you save or use it. ♥️

[harringrovetrashrat]

Tagged by @disdaidal !!!  Thank you!  Omg I’m like 🥺💖🥺💖

So, I figure since I have so many things I’m working on, and no idea when I’ll actually finish them (outside of my Big Bang Project), I should share the bits of them that I do actually have dhfoiahfiosh

What we have are these:

A fic where Billy meets some older queer people while kicked out, and learns from them how to love himself

“So I’m guessing you’ve never met a queen before,” they said. Billy shook his head.

“I’ve never met any royalty.” Juicy laughed and it made Billy feel like he’d said the wrong thing until she looked at him again, practically beaming.

“Well honey, there’s queens abound in here. Drag Queens, specifically.” Billy’s mouth formed a small ‘o’.

“So, you’re a… man?” Juicy shook her head.

“Personally, I find man and woman too limiting. All gender is a costume, darling. I just think dresses are prettier than suits.”

“You haven’t been in the right suits,” Cindy said with a smirk. Juicy gave her the finger without looking.

“It’s called taste, sweetie.” Cindy just laughed. Billy stared at Juicy, feeling awed by them. They were so tall, toned and beautiful. Their skin was dark and glistened with the glitter they’d spread over it. “I’m sure you have taste, don’t you munchkin?” Billy couldn’t help it and he pouted.

“I’m not short, I’m average for my age,” he snapped. Juicy just smiled.

“I like you,” they said, pointing a long nailed finger at him.

A Cheesy Summer Camp Horror fic, with romance and comedy because Like.  Y’all know me.

“Let’s stop talking about her,” Heather cut in. “Let’s talk about this weekend.”

“This weekend?” Billy asked, perking up. “What about it?”

“Well, I was thinking we could celebrate the end of the first week with a skinny dip,” she said, eyes sparkling. Billy didn’t miss the flush that crossed over Robin’s face, though he wasn’t entirely sure who it was directed at. He definitely had a guess.

“I’m game!” Tommy piped up, grin wide, anger disappearing from his face. Billy rolled his eyes and snorted, but raised his hand, tongue running over his top teeth.

“Why not,” he said, giving his eyebrows a quirk. “I ain’t no pussy.”

“Of course,” Adam muttered, rolling his eyes. Billy’s eyes snapped over and narrowed. “Isn’t it a little, I dunno, juvenile?”

“Oh come on,” Steve chimed in, munching on the cookie now, relaxing with the change of topic. “Maybe so, but it’s summer, it’s camp, why not, right? Start it off with a bang?” His smile was teasing, bright, and Billy found it hard to look away, hard to deny that smile what it wanted.

The Reverse AU where Steve moves to Hawkins with his father and step family, Claudia and Dustin, and Billy was adopted into the Mayfields

“I’m not--! It’s just midterms! That’s what has me all out of sorts.” He opened his notebook and tried to will his blush away. There was a soft thud and Nancy joined them.

“What has you out of sorts?” She asked.

“Mid--”

“Billy so has a crush on that new guy from New York,” Heather said. Billy made a noise of protest when Nancy smiled, leaning over.

“Oh he’s so cute! Truly impeccable taste you have,” she teased. Billy rested his head on the table.

“I hate both of you so fucking much,” he hissed.

“No you don’t,” they chorused.

“I do, I really do,” Billy replied.

Mermaid AU where Steve and Billy were young friends before being separated.  Steve tries to reunite them obviously

“I can show you a bunch of cool stuff,” Billy said, feeling oddly proud of himself. And well, the ocean was his home. And he never got the chance to really show it off to someone who didn’t already know it. “If I show you the ocean, will you tell me more about humans?” Steve nodded. “Like, why are all the ships girls?”

“Huh,” Steve said, tapping his chin with his finger. “I don’t actually know… Usually I think ‘cause a guy names them. I’ll ask my tutor. He knows everything.” Steve wasn’t a huge fan of Professor Owens, but he was nice enough. He let Steve find things to bring in and ask questions about, he didn’t get mad like Steve’s other tutors had when he had trouble reading. So even though Owens still pushed for Steve to focus more on his future, he was better than the other adults in Steve’s life.

“Tutor?” Billy asked. “What’s that?”

“Like a teacher,” Steve replied. “But like… Different.” In fact, Steve wasn’t totally sure what the difference was. Billy just squinted, looking confused.

“Different… how?”

“Uh, tutors are… are taller,” Steve replied matter of factly. Professor Owens was taller than Ms. Joyce had been, so there wasn’t anything to argue against that. Billy nodded seriously, making a note.

There was a ringing bell and a distant voice calling Steve’s name, making him sigh dramatically. It was already time? Billy’s ears twitched a little and he looked at Steve.

“What’s that?”

“That’s my nanny,” Steve said, mopey and pouting.

More of You’ll Find Me Looking Over the Edge of the World

“Oh, King Steve thinking about skipping?” Billy tugged him down, making Steve stumble as a fist started rubbing against his scalp and messing up his hair.

“Fuck, dude!” Steve cried, nearly dropping his tray. Billy just cackled, letting him go and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“No,” Nancy said through grit teeth. “He’s thinking about staying and taking--”

“He can’t go around looking like that,” Billy said with faux concern, eyes all worried as he leaned on the table with one hand and used the other to point at Steve’s, now fully messed up, hair. “I think Steve’ll have to take the afternoon, don’t you?” Billy turned to look over his shoulder, not seeing the way Nancy rubbed at her temples as Jonathan very obviously tried not to snicker. Steve almost felt bad. Billy knocked on the table with his knuckles, pushing up with a grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him home safely.”

“Get me home--” Steve began, but before he could finish his sentence, Billy was shoving him around and out of the cafeteria. Nancy sighed, shaking her head, giving Steve a look he knew would turn into a talk later. “Sorry guys!” Steve tossed over his shoulder.

Billy with a rat he named Max to piss off Max (he calls her human Max and she hates it)

“And what the fuck are you doing here?!” He asked her. Max, the little trouble maker, just squeaked at him, wriggling in his grip. “No fucking wonder I didn’t see you in Barbie’s house this morning, you decided to be a fucking Houndini, didn’t you.” She squeaked again, tail swirling and dragging along his wrist. He heard footsteps behind him and moved to shove her back into his jacket sleeve when Steve approached.

“You okay-- Oh!” Steve blinked, brows raised as he saw Max reach with her small, cute little pink hands to grab for Billy’s hard nipple again. “So…”

“Cut that out!” Billy hissed, moving her down to cradle her against his stomach. She settled in, but she was definitely hungry and would get restless again quickly. “I didn’t see her this morning but just assumed she was hiding in her little pile.”

“Me too,” Steve said, checking around the hallway for anyone who was late. Luckily, there was no one around to see them trying to hide a rat in Billy’s jacket. “How’d she even get out?”

“I mean, we are keeping her in a Barbie dream house instead of a cage--”

“Really? You’re gonna sass me now? After you insisted that she ‘live like the princess she is’--”

Stranger Than Fiction AU

“Billy, I swear to fucking god if you don’t get out there right now--” Billy stumbled out from the back, head turned to glare at Max, who was pushing him from behind. She pushed until he was at the counter, face to face with Steve. He glared, though his face was flush. Max crossed her arms. “Like we fuckin’ practiced.” Billy shot her another angry glance, but then looked back to Steve. Who was so confused.

“Max may have, uhm, brought it to my attention that I may have overreacted just the tiniest little bit.”

“That’s not at all right,” Max said under her breath. Billy swatted behind him without looking, missing her completely.

“Anyway,” he pressed on, “I just,” he sighed, pushing an errant curl behind his ear. Steve watched the movement before snapping his eyes back to Billy’s. “I don’t often take the chance to be nice, so I got maybe a little offended.” Max scoffed. “Okay a lot offended,” he said with an eye roll. Steve couldn’t help it; he snorted. Billy’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes lit up, like a kid who just learned Santa was real. Steve blushed, looking away, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“It’s okay,” he replied, turning back to look at Billy. The sun lit up the stray blonde hairs poking out of his messy bun, making a light halo around him. Steve had to catch his breath.

It was like looking at an angel, vengeful and dangerous, but exciting all at once. His eyes seemed to shine, bright and gleeful, but also full of mischief.

“It’s okay,” Steve repeated, feeling his face heat up more. “I would have taken them if I could. They were amazing.” He smiled, nodding towards the stairs. “I should get to it though. Last day and all.” Something sad briefly flickered over Billy’s face, but it was gone as soon as it was there, and Steve thought he must have imagined it.

“Yeah, good luck,” Billy said. Max was smiling, smug, and she punched Billy’s shoulder.

Leverage AU

“Well,” he said slowly, letting the trio shake off their shadows. “The lab closed.” This isn’t about the kid was the underlying message. “But, what’s happening now is that Mayor Kline accepted a lot of weird bribes. They’re from a company called Starcourt Industries. Now, that’s the name of the mall that opened, Starcourt, but what’s weird--”

“--Is that they didn’t exist for very long before suddenly popping up in Indiana,” Alec cut in. “It reads like one of our companies. General background, seems legit, but I did a lot of poking around most of this stuff leads to loose ends. It took a while to get there, so at first glance…” The group nodded. At first glance everything checked out, and even a little digging would provide a general cover that most people wouldn’t think to look past.

Of course, none of them were most people.

“So who are they?” Eliot asked.

“All of the loose ends lead back to Russia,” Alec said. “But nothing concrete or connected, just more companies that do really general stuff. It goes real deep.” The implications there were discomforting. Alec was a genius, and excelled in his line of work, but this kind of grand scale cover up meant one thing: this was bigger than just a few bad apples in a company. This was a plan.

“So who’s the client?” Sophie asked. Nate pulled up a picture of a grumpy looking man, mustache groomed and eyes hard, but kind.

“Chief Jim Hopper.” That got Parker’s attention, bringing her out of the funk she’d been in since the mention of San Diego and Billy.

“Like, Police Chief?”

“Yep,” Nate said, popping the P. “He’s the one who found the kid, found out there was something going on at the lab. Now, he’s positive something weird is going on. Knows he’s done everything he can to legally take the Mayor down, but the man has a lot of friends in high places, and Jim can’t do anything. And that’s,” he smiled, “Where we come in.”

That’s still merely some of what I have going on, but that’s what I’ll share rn. Anyway, tag me in ur WIPs! I’d love to read them :) tag ur it

[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 10

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black-furred monkey put out a hand towards him

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 10: Do You See That?

MK moaned as he stumbled down to the restaurant.

“Still can’t find it,” Mei acquiesced as she saw him flop down on the counter.

She got a groan in response.

“Yikes, are you sure you check everywhere?”

“Yes! I looked everywhere!” He lifted his head to meet hers and began to rant. “I checked in my drawer, my nightstand, my closet, all of my pockets, under my bed, under the nightstand, under the floorboards, and I even tried to see if Bobo had it!”

“You tried to see if your stuffed monkey had it,” she raised her eyebrow.

“Have you seen what goes on in this city? You never doubt the unexpected! For I all know, Bobo could suddenly turn into a real monkey overnight!”

“Point, well have you retraced your steps?”

“Yes, and I even called all the places we’ve been to, but they found nothing.”

“You lost the skeleton key?” Pigsy deadpanned as he tossed the apron to MK.

“I didn’t mean to! I thought I'd put it in my room, but now I can’t find it!” He groaned as he put on his apron

“Hopefully it’ll come up eventually, I mean it’s for sure to make it to the news if any criminals decide to steal something from a tightly locked place and when that happens we’ll nab them like the dirtbags they are,” she pounded her fist together.

“Yeahh, I guess you're right,” he sighed as he got behind the counter, “speaking of, have you seen Red Son recently?”

“No,” she shook her head, “last time I saw him was when we were at that arcade trying to beat his score.” Let it be known that all three trio had at least one high score in a game at the arcade. For Mei it was the combat games, MK proudly took his dancing games, and for Red Son it was the shooting ones.

“Same, I hope he’s alright,” he said worriedly.

“If he isn’t, we'll bust him out,” Mei said as she got her food, “never liked his family and the whole taking over the city didn’t really help.”

“Count me in,” his eyes darken a bit, “I still don’t like the both of them.”

“You and me both, now time to get to work, noodle boy,” she teased him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he rolled his eyes as he helped with some of the prep.

The boat was in a comfortable silence as two demons were calmly drinking tea, or at least one of them as the other was nervously petting one of the very fat cats.

He opened his mouth to talk, but shut it right quick as he instead took a sip of his steaming tea.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Sandy comforted him when he said his actions, “we can just sit here and relax.”

“I know,” Red Son muttered as he held the tea in hand. “You always preach patience and confidentiality.”

“And I still do, remember if you don’t want to share something, you are under no obligation to say a word. This is your choice and your choice only,” he smiled as he took another sip.

“Yeah,” he put down his cup as he brought the car back to his lap, “I…I did something really bad, not in a physically harmful way, but I still feel ashamed of myself that I had to do it to someone I care-to someone I know,” he quickly said.

Sandy nodded his head as he continued to listen.

“I know I didn’t hurt them, but I still feel gross that I did that to them and they still don’t know it was me. They have even been asking about me and if I’m well and I don’t like this feeling, hell I don’t even know what I’m feeling, but it feels like a bunch of snakes slithering all through my stomach and trying to escape out of my throat,” he stilled his hands as it began to shake.

“Do you care for them?” He asked.

“No!” He yelled at first, but then he settled down as he silently nodded. He may have known Mei and MK for only a couple of months, but he cares fiercely about the two of them. He doesn’t know why he even does, but there is something about them that just makes him want to never let go.

“I think it’s that you feel that you took their trust for advantage,” the blue giant calmly said.

Red Son's eyes widened as that clicked in his head. He abused the trust in him and he feels utterly disgusted with himself. “What have I done,” he whispered out as his whole body dropped.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s the end,” Sandy quickly said. “All types of relationships go through this kind of struggle, it’s easy to just give in and think that it's all over, but it's not. It’s not over, after all, it doesn’t take one person to communicate, after all, you need someone else to talk to rather than you and your doubts, so why don’t you try to talk to them and explain why-”

“But I can’t,” he fiercely whispered out. “I had to do it! I had to.”

“…do you mind if I ask why you think you had to do it?”

“I had to!” He shot up, almost knocking down the cat in his lap, who just gave him a side glance before settling down next to him. “I had to! I can’t disappoint them even more than I am! I was a failure all those centuries ago and I am one now! I need to show them that I can be successful, I can help them when they need it, that I can be useful!”

Sandy’s lips pursed, he already had a good idea who Red Son was referring to and least to say that he doesn’t really have that high of an opinion on his parents and instead, he asked, “But did you want to do it?”

He froze as he looked at the blue demon, “What?”

“Did you want to do it?” He calmly asked once more as he could see the turmoils running all through his mind.

The Bull prince wanted to open his mouth and agree that he wanted to steal from his friend's home, that he wanted to abandon his friends for his family, that he wanted to betray his friends, but he couldn’t even force it open as it would just taste vile coming from his lips. So instead he sinks back down to his seat and tightly gripped his head as he shook his head in denial as his eyes were tightly squeezed shut.

He never wanted to do this in the first place.

The ship was in somber silence as two demons were silently sitting across from each other until the giant demon went to the other side and began to rub the smaller demon back as the fat cat climbed on back to the demon lap and began to purr.

There are no words that can be said at the moment, nothing that can be done or said that can magically make it all better. But there is that comfort that someone knows of his vile actions and still doesn’t harbor hate towards him.

And he can’t help, no matter how much he knows he doesn’t deserve this kind of warmth, but be fucking grateful for this.

“But wouldn’t it be best if I added the components before the pot settles,” MK asked as he held up the vials in his hand.

“Why is that?” Macaque hummed as he was scrunched his nose at the package he had received and was currently opening the note.

“It just wouldn’t make sense if I had to add the mixture after it has cooled down, I mean I know for some recipes it would be fine, but doesn’t this one account for the melting process later on? So it would be better to mix them while it’s still steaming right now so that they can be melded in properly,” he deduced.

“And you would be correct, nice job thinking ahead shooting star,” he smiled as he tossed both note and package in the trash.

“Thanks!” He perked up then he blinked as he looked to his dad, “you were testing me weren’t you.”

“Oh yeah,” he unashamedly said.

“And what would happen if I got it wrong?”

“Well I always did think that failure was the best way to learn from your mistakes,” he teased, “but I would have told you to add it in, I would rather not waste my products.”

“Ha Ha Ha,” he deadpanned as he poured the vials in and mixed the pot, “you’re hilarious.”

“I try to be.”

He rolled his eyes as he put the timer on, took off his gloves, and washed his hands. He couldn’t help but look towards the monkey's traditional methods as he continued to grind down the herbs. “So I’m curious, you have been alive for centuries and obviously kept up somewhat to the times, so why are you still using old methods for medications?” He was always a bit curious over this, but never really thought to ask until now.

The monkey just shrugged his shoulder, “honestly it’s both a habit at this point and relaxing. When Ping first taught me this, I couldn’t help but be frustrated at all the little details and accuracy you must have in order to correctly make the right dose, but now that is almost background noise as it comes almost instinctual.”

MK hummed as he sat on his stool, “so can you tell me more about Ping? Like, I know why you continue to go back to your friend and all and how he taught you how to make medicine, but you never did talk more about him.”

“Didn’t I say Ping was a normal ass bastard who was just way too chill about basically everything,” he smirked as he began to place the bright herbs into another pot.

“You did, but I’m still curiousss,” he whined. “You must have some more stories about him.”

“You must be bored.”

“No!”

He raised his eyebrow.

“Okay fine a little, but I am curious,” he huffed.

“Fine fine,” he gave in as he continued to mix his pot, “did I ever tell you the first time I ever found out that Ní was a fox?”

“No!” He eagerly exclaimed.

“Well it was the same day I found out that Kappa was an adrenaline junkie.”

MK didn’t twitch at the Shui Gui name given by his Dad as he listened to the story with open ears.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Macaque couldn’t help but yell out as he swung from tree to tree, hoping to outrun the enraged spirit, with crinkled gray skin and a long red tongue, chasing after them. “I’m going to kill you once this is over!” He yelled out.

“How was I supposed to know not to piss off their feeding!” Kappa yelled back as he clung onto the demon's back.

“That’s fucking common sense!”

“Spirits don’t even need to eat, so I don’t know why the hell they are so mad?!”

“Apparently this one does!”

They both yelled as they felt a fireball whizz by their faces.

“It even knows fire magic?!” The Shui Gui blanched as much as an already pale spirit could. “Now you're just showing off!”

“Less talking more thinking of a way out of this,” the monkey growled out as he had to jump up higher to the next branch of the tree to see if Kappa could get a better look of where they were going.

“Can’t you use your shadow magic?”

“Oh geez, I wonder why I haven’t thought of that? Oh right! You fucking fed me Mandrakes and now I can barely see shit let alone use my magic!” He snarled out. “Do you want me to send us down under to Yama's home cause that can happen if I happen to even try to go into my shadows?! Or do you want to be smothered by your own shadow cause that can also happen you stupid fuck!”

“Sorry! I really didn’t think that this would happen!” He did wince, he was trying to play a prank on his friend and it was funny at first at how he stumbled throughout the place, but now it has gotten less funny.

“Your very fucking lucky that I have great fucking hearing to manage to run this far without running into anything,” his lips curled up, but then he stopped as promptly jumped all the way down to the floor as a large fireball was aimed directly towards them.

Macaque stumbled for a bit as he couldn’t exactly see the tree branches as he was falling thus the two of them separated during the fall and were now lying on the ground.

“Fuuucckk,” the monkey groaned as he got up, “I am so killing you again when this is all done.”

“That’s fair,” Kappa moaned out.

The spirit let out a warning hiss as it drew closer to the both of them, their long tongue licking their lips as they couldn’t wait to drain their soul for their meal. They haven’t eaten in so long and they would take anything at this point, even if it means coming from something as dirty as a demon.

“I ain’t nobody meal,” Macaque growled out as he got into position, he may not be able to use his powers, but he can still kick ass without it.

He tensed as he heard the creature leap for him, but before it could even go near him a large plume of fire directly hit the crazed spirit.

“HIISSSSS!” They screamed out as the fire burned their skin, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t get it out until they were burned away into ashes.

“Uhhh what just happened?” The demon questioned as he tried to hear out on who did that cause all he can see was a blurry form and a large orange flame if he is correct judging by the smell.

“Ní you beautiful bastard!” Kappa threw his hands in the air. “You have amazing timing!”

“I wouldn’t if you would not run into danger every week,” they scoffed as they walked towards the tensed monkey. “I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say you still can’t see?”

“Not for shit,” he grumbled. “Also, when can you do fire magic?” He tried to see the best he could in the small bunny form, but for some reason, it was a very large form. “…are you not a fucking bunny?”

“Nope,” this time it was Ping's voice that said that as he handed him a jar filled with orange liquid. “Drink that, it should help.”

“Thanks,” he nodded as he wrinkled his nose as he chugged down the entire vial. “This is still the nastiest thing I have ever tasted.”

“If it tastes bad then you know it works,” he chuckled as he watched the monkey blink his eyes.

“I’ll give you that, I can finally see shit again,” he agreed as everything became much clearer, but he couldn’t help but rub his eyes as he saw that what he assumed was Ní was instead a large, brown, nine-tailed fox looking down at him. “You’re a Huli Jing?”

“Took you long enough,” they smirked.

“I’m sorry if I thought you were a regular damn bunny demon,” he snarked out as he rubbed his eyes.

“Apology accepted.”

He rolled his eyes and instead look towards Ping, “and you fucking knew about this?”

“Course, been living with them long enough to know that wasn’t no damn bunny with the way they eat,” he let out a toothy grin.

“And you just don’t care.”

“Nope,” the human chuckled at Macaque's twitching eye.

“Course you don’t, next thing you’ll tell me is that you routinely have a deity visiting you every day.”

“Well, not every day, but every once in a while.”

He whipped his head towards him, “what.”

“Probably once every few months,” he calculated as he began to walk back to his home.

“Hold on now! You can’t just say that and walk away!” The six eared demon quickly began to follow, “like what the hell do you mean you get visits from a fucking deity?!”

“One of the top pups in the Heavenly Realm at that,” Kappa grinned wider at his friend's befuddled look.

“What the fuck?! How in the fuck?! What?” He couldn’t comprehend how Ping, the most basic ass human who he ever met, knows so many creatures, demons, and now a celestial deity that apparently have a high ass position in one of the most sought out places, and still stays in this place. “I can’t even right now.”

“Awww is it too much for your brain to comprehend,” the spirit mocked as he then let out a yelp as he quickly began to run away from the ticked off monkey.

“I still haven’t forgotten what you did! Get back here and face vengeance you slimy bitch!” Macaque yelled out as he chased him.

“I have no regrets!”

“You will soon!”

“I didn’t think it could get more lively,” Ping chuckled as he watched those two run around. “It’s nice to see Shi Shi make a friend.”

“Pretty sure his friend is gonna kill him,” Ní snorted as they silently followed behind.

“That would be interesting to see and I bet even Shi Shi would enjoy it.”

“…you're not wrong.”

“Whoa, wait how does one person who stays in the same area get to know so many mythical beings?” MK tilted his head.

“You're asking the wrong monkey,” he shrugged, “but the deity still comes around every once in a while.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he may have a long life, but he still remembers Ping,” he had a somber smile on his face, “he even likes to visit his old home sometimes.”

The human couldn’t help but remember an old shack deep within the forest that he found when he was thirteen. He shook his head to get rid of the memory and instead asked, “So that's why you built the forest here, Ping home was like your first ever home?”

Macaque stilled his body then he shook his head, “technically second.”

“Second? Then what was your first? I thought you were a traveler before this?” The boy asked, while his Dad never really got into his own backstory, he can still safely assume that he was not born and raised in a warm and safe environment with kind and loving parents.

“Flower Fruit Mountain,” he rubbed the back of his neck.

“What?”

“Yeahh, that was my first ever home for a bit.”

MK leaned forward as much as he could on the stool. “Tell me everything.”

“Well, aren't you nosy today.”

“I’m hungry for knowledge about your past that you never speak of unless it has to do with others, so talk.”

“I have raised such a snarky child,” he mumbled.

“And you still love me for it, now talk.”

“Fine, fine,” he threw his hands up, “so I was currently enjoying my free time when Wukong decided to drag me over to his mountain.”

“Can I at least know why I’m being carried to your home instead of walking?” Macaque questioned why Wukong was currently carrying him while flying on his cloud.

“Cause this is the fastest way to get there!” He grinned.

“You could have just asked.”

“Yeah, but it was fun surprising you like this,” he won’t admit that he kinda likes having his friend close to him like this. He has an image to keep up after all.

“I literally can't escape dumbass, just let me go,” he groaned as he didn’t even attempt to break free of his grasp. He knew damn well how strong sunshine can be, he as seen him lift an entire fucking mountain for god’s sake.

“Alright,” he jumped down and when his feet reached the bottom he let go.

“…go fuck yourself,” Macaque couldn’t stop the low growl in his voice as he picked himself off the ground.

“Fuck me yourself,” he smiled as he earned a nice view of six ears flaring up in a fierce red.

“Wha-shut the fuck up dumbass!” The shadow demon shouted out as he stomped towards him.

“It was a joke, a joke,” he grinned as he began to run away.

“I’ll show you a joke.”

“Oooh?” They both paused their actions as they saw a few monkeys climb up the tree and pop their heads from the bushes of trees and hanging from the branches.

“Friends of yours,” the black furred demon muttered as he saw that more came to join.

“Yep,” he then said a little louder to the tribe of simians, “everyone this is Macaque!”

This got a reaction out of them as some of them began to chatter a bit louder and a few even hopped off their tree.

“Don’t worry, he only looks like an angst ridden demon, but that’s just his normal look.”

“I will tear out your tongue,” he side eyed him.

“But you love me too much~”

“You overestimate my fondness and patience I have for you,” he deadpanned as he still kept an eye out for one of the monkeys who was getting closer to him. He nervously shifted as he was about to take a step back, but he was stopped as Wukong wrapped his arm around his shoulder.”

“Take it easy moonshine, they just want to get to know you,” he comforted him as one of them stared up at Mac.

Said demon said nothing as he looked back down to the monkey as well. It was a weird standoff between the two monkeys, well it was until the smallest one seemed to decide something as he began to climb up the demon.

“Wha-hey?!” Macaque flinched at the actions but managed to not accidentally shake the monkey off thanks to Sun’s arms keeping him in place.

“It’s okay,” he softly whispered in his ears as the small simian made his way to the black furred head and began to groom him. “See, he just wanted to groom you.”

“Wow I couldn’t tell,” he snarked back and slowly began to feel his body ease up at the touch. He wasn’t use to anyone grooming him other than Wukong, so it was a new experience for him. “I guess it’s not so bad.”

“Great, cause here comes the rest,” he pointed out a few more making their way to them.

And soon enough many were crowding around the two demons and some were even brave enough to climb on the Six Eared demon.

“I don’t think I've ever seen them take a liking to anyone so fast,” Wukong smiled as he watched his friends climb all over him.

“Probably helps cause I’m a monkey,” he said and couldn’t help but smile as one of them that was hanging from his neck began to nuzzle him.

“Nah, they basically adopted you at this point,” he teased as he saw the interaction, “they practically are welcoming you home.”

“Heh…wait what?” He was startled by that last word, “Home?”

The brown furred monkey sucked in a breath as he facepalms. “Shit I knew I forgot something.”

“Forgot what?”

“Sooo, do you want to live here?” He grinned widely trying to hide his nerves.

“Huh?!” Macaque was not at all following the impulsive monkey train of thought.

“It’s just that I don’t think I've ever seen you have a house before and I know you usually spend your nights out on the streets or in the wild when you want to snooze. So I was just thinking that, hey I have a big ass mountain that has plenty of space and it would be awesome if we could just, you know, stay together here.” He didn’t know why he was going on a tangent right now, but he felt like he just needed to explain himself.

“…couldn’t you have asked instead of kidnaping me here then?” He raised an eyebrow as he tried to follow his friend's mindset.

“Kinda forgot that part and went straight here,” he grinned.

“Of course you did,” Macaque fondly rolled his eyes.

“So, what do you say?”

“Well,” the demon monkey looked down to one of the monkeys who was staring up at him and once they made eye contact he lifted his arms. He could tell that this was one of the younger ones so, with a small smile, he picked up the infant and held it close to his chest as he felt him begin to purr. “I wouldn’t mind living here, it's not so bad if they can deal with you.”

Wukong couldn’t think of a retort back as he watched his moonlight hold the infant close in an almost motherly way. He was treating the little one as if it was their own with the way his nimble hands slowly caress the infant head, how his sleek arms were supporting his body, how his beautiful golden eyes lovingly look down at him, how his lips…he stopped that train of thought as he felt his face flush up in a bright red.

“So how bout I take you to all my favorite spots later,” he accidentally shouted out as he quickly got rid of his thoughts.

“Favorite spots?”

“Best places to hide, best view, best fruit tree, you know the awesome stuff!”

“Oh right, how could I forget,” he smirked.

“Don’t worry, that’s why you have me here,” he puffed out his chest.

“Well then I can’t wait to see them,” Macaque said with a smile.

The Monkey King smiled back then he grabbed one of the monkeys that were about to jump off his shoulder. “You need to do better than that to steal from me,” he joked.

The hanging monkey just grinned as he tossed a bag filled with nuts to his other accomplices and they quickly began to run off.

“Hey! Get back here!” He yelled out as he began to chase his friends.

“Nice to see someone can keep him on his toes,” the black furred monkey grinned as he watches his friend, unsuccessfully, try to get his snack back.

“Ooh oo,” the small one in his arms chirped as it grabbed his nose.

“Yeah,” he chuckled and rubbed his head, “I think I’m gonna like it here.”

“I met some of those monkeys when I first cra-I mean landed on Flower Fruit Mountain,” MK abruptly changed his wording. He rather his monkey Dad not try to smother him again. “A few even like to torment me or climb on me too whenever I take a break during training.”

“How are they doing?” He curiously asked as he got up to check the mixture

“They seem fine, they tried to rob me a few times, but fine.” He had to stay on guard each time, but after the fifth time, it has sorta been a game between them all now. He even playfully stole a few fruits from them and they began to chase him as well.

“That’s good,” the six eared demon may have left the mountain, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care for the rest of the tribe that he had to leave behind.

“But I’m curious,” MK said after a few moments of silence.

“Hm?”

“…did…did you add the solution before the mixture or after?” He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t ask his original question. He couldn’t ask if he missed living with the Monkey King, he thinks he may already know the answer.

“After it would be much more malleable to combine that way and speaking of herbs, I’m running out of some of them, specifically the ones used for pain relief.” He eyed the almost empty jars, he has been restocking his supplies back up ever since the hospital demands have cooled down, this was one of the last things he needed. “I’ll have to grab some by the mountain later on in the week.”

“Ooh, can I come!” He excitedly asked, he hasn’t been herb gathering with his Dad in ages.

“Always comet,” he smirked as he watched his son squirm happily in his seat.

“Yes! Yes! Uh Huh! Oh yeah!-wait, my pot!” He immediately stopped and checked over his medicine.

“Still have nine minutes on the timer,” Macaque pointed out to the still ticking timer.

“Oh right,” he actually forgot he set it.

“I worry about you sometimes.”

“Psshh, my memory is not that bad.”

“Do I need to remind you of the vase incident?” The monkey deadpanned.

“Okay to be fair I wasn’t paying any attention to the history of it, so how was I supposed to know that it was a curse. Besides, Mei was playing with it as well.”

“And this is why the two of you were stuck at the hip, literally. You should just be lucky that Ahmed was around else you really would have been stuck together for a much longer time,” he bluntly said.

“I still think that curse was stupid,” MK mumbled.

“Just be glad that it was stupid and not deadly.”

“…point.”

Wukong silently watched his successor spar against one of his clones as he sat still on his cloud. He had to admit that while MK still tends to have his own burst of impulsiveness, a mild reckless streak, and a curiosity that could even rival his own, he can certainly still find new ways to surprise him.

SLAM

Like right now, he used a fake out move as when he swung high, only to go low instead while making sure to grab hold of his tail. It didn’t get the clone in time, but it was still a shock to see that he can be sneaky when he wants to be and this was just with the staff in hand.

He had a hand to hand session with him, in the beginning, to see what he was dealing with and he was very surprised to find that, while he couldn’t keep up with him, he can almost match his own pace, which is no easy feat.

So it really piqued his curiosity on just who his Dad was. After all, he could count a handful of demons and deities on both hands that could rival him in speed and it wasn’t that many.

He still was silently watching his protege when one of the monkeys, one of the immortal ones, hopped onto his cloud and watched with him. He did give a slight grin and scratched the back of his friend's head, they were the reason why he hasn’t gotten insane with isolation for all those years.

“Not feeling like playing,” he said.

The monkey shook her head, she liked playing with her tribe, don’t get her wrong, but even she needs some time away from them.

“I feel ya, lazing about is truly the best,” he stretched on his cloud. “We’ll almost, I still have to watch over my student after all.”

She looked to where he was pointing to and she cooed excitedly as she saw the familiar scent infant. She and the rest of the tribe absolutely loved playing with him whenever he was. He was really nice with sharing his food with them and they couldn’t help, but share their own games and food with him as well. It does help that he knows how to groom them, his fingers feel really nice.

“Familiar scent?” He questioned her words, he knew that the tribe had been hanging around MK, but what did they mean by the familiar scent? “What does it remind you of?”

“Ooh! Oohooh!” She told him as she watched the infant jump away from the strike.

“Like ginseng, earth, and…mango?” He paused at that last one, but he shook his head, “no it couldn’t, not after all this time.”

SLAM

His eyes widened as he watched MK pop up from the ground and grappled the clone from the back as he wrapped his arms around the neck and his legs around one of his clone legs. It didn’t work as the clone easily broke free and counterattack, but that grapple has been used countless times on him before, but not by MK.

His eyes became golden as he activated his eyes of truth and it wasn’t obvious at first, he still had the same bright golden aura tinted with a reddish-orange glow, but when he looked closer past the obvious glow he saw it. Right there flowing through his meridians and underneath the eye-catching colors, was a subtle violet aura gently coursing through.

He could feel his heartbeat fiercely in his ears and his body froze in time as he couldn’t stop staring at the familiar aura that was almost intertwined with MK.

What is Macaque doing with his student?

“Why are there so many mountains around this city?!” MK groaned as they trekked up the mountain carrying his own satchel of stored up plants. “Like one I can get, but we have so many that it’s spewed around like it’s nobody's business.

“I’m pretty sure that this was the aftermath of some deity and demons fighting, after all, we also have an ocean to one side, a forest on the other, a volcano between, and a desert just a ways past.” He said as he eyed his surroundings, never really clarified on why it was like this too, he has seen some areas like this, but to have so many different biomes all encircling this one area was more than a bit weird. All he knew about it was that there was some big battle with the city, before it was a city, being the center point of it all. Someone wanted something from the city, he didn’t know if it was the deity or demon, and the other party made sure to prevent the other from grabbing it. No one knew which side won as there was simply destruction one moment and a bleak silence the next.

“That is weird, I wonder what kind of beings would have that kind of power to make a whole new area,” he mused as he hopped over to another rock.

“Quite a few actually, maybe the library will help,” he said while his ears twitched.

“Or Ahmed and Tang.”

“Or Ahmed and Tang,” that lion is almost as big of a book nerd as the historian, the big lug even likes debating with him over what’s true and what’s fake. It’s sorta hilarious, Pigsy has to be the one to hold Tang back when he really gets into the debate and stops him from practically climbing Ahmed. “Now try going for that section over there and see if you can find any Lichens in your area.”

“Alrighty, but I still say it would be easier just growing it in the forest, I think you have just enough space,” he teased.

Macaque rolled his eyes, “You already know damn well that even I can’t forcibly grow certain plants.”

“So you're saying you can’t do it.”

“You can’t grow a goddamn plant that has adapted to the mountain to just grow in a forest.”

“You can’t do it~” His mischievous grin grew wider.

“Come here you,” the monkey began to chase after his child, who quickly began to run away from him.

“I think you’re getting slow in your age, old man,” he jumped from rock to rock until he landed on flat land.

“Me old?” MK suddenly felt an impact hit his back as he felt his head go into a headlock. “I’ll show you old,” the demon said as he began to roughly ruffle his head.

“I give! I give!” He laughed as clutched onto the furry arm.

“You better,” he was about to let go when he suddenly tightened his grasp and threw his son away from him.

“Whoa!”

There were few times where his hearing was a shortcoming compared to his other senses. His ears are the epitome of who he is, his whole name revolves around his six ears. But right now, even when he knew something didn’t sit quite right, it was the feeling that saved him as he felt a threatening aura press down upon him as he managed to leap away from that spot and-

BOOOM!

-safely avoid the crater that was dead center to where he was.

“What do you think you're doing with my student Macaque?” An oh so familiar voice hissed out at him as the dust settled.

This time his ears didn’t fail him as even before he spoke, he remembered the sound of his heartbeat echoing all throughout his mind. He first memorized it when they were far from immortality after he had come back to their meeting point broken and bruised. He had picked the wrong fight with a demon who had a gang backing behind him, he barely managed to win against them all and dragged his fractured body to him. Macaque had watched over him all night and, even when he knew he had advanced healing, couldn’t help but listen closely to the sound of his heart pulsing in his chest.

He didn’t want to wake up to his friend's lifeless corpse.

But luckily that didn’t happen, when that morning hit the impulsive idiot popped back up as if he just took a nap and complained that he was starving. Obviously, he smacked him upside the head before throwing his pile of stolen fruits in his face. Then the two ducked out of that area as soon as possible with wild grins on their faces as they went off to find their adventure. The two of them really did go through too much and seen so much together that he didn’t believe it would end.

But that was then and this now.

So, he put on his best theater grin and the most mocking voice he could muster up as he locked down that fragile piece in his head that held his fondness of the monkey glaring at him. He began to talk as he went into a defensive position.

“Sun Wukong! It’s good to see you bud!”

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 22: Pumpkin Patch (originally published on August 9, 2021)

AN: At long last, the homestretch of Part 3, which I have already dubbed the Tearjerking Three last time. And for our first entry into this trilogy, we finally get an update on the relationship between Peridot and Lapis, which I found to be done so dirty in Future as a Lapidot shipper. I mean, they didn't even interact with each other even when they were in the same episode together! Plus, Pumpkin just disappeared into thin air once the movie came along, leaving the only hint of where she is now are those similar gourd puppies from The Future. But enough griping, let's get my personal answer on what really happened, and maybe a big surprise that I no doubt have already spoiled on DeviantArt anyways.

Synopsis: Steven, Peridot and Lapis reminisce on the anniversary of Pumpkin's death.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven, Pumpkin

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Ocean Jasper

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Jeff Bergman as Farmer

Featuring Billie Eilish as Turquoise

--

"Maybe I'll find myself smiling on that distant shore," Steven sang to himself while gazing at his watch as the oven timer counted down in front of him. "Maybe I'm not alone."

The timer beeped, notifying Steven that whatever he had in the oven was ready. After putting on some oven mitts and opening the oven, Steven pulled a pumpkin pie out and set it on the counter to cool. "This one is for you two, guys." He said before gazing at a nearby calendar that read June 7th. "I remember it like it was yesterday." Steven then began to reminisce on the aftermath of his visit to Homeworld.

--

A few weeks the Crystal Gems have successfully convinced the Diamonds to help them in healing the corrupted Gems on Earth, these Gems now needed somewhere to live. As far as Steven knew, there was no way they could expand the Temple to make room for all of them, and he's sure none of the newly healed Gems wanted to return to Homeworld, so the Crystal Gems decided that their only choice now was to build them their own little town. They had some basic ideas down, but all they needed now was a name.

"How about Peritropolis?!" Peridot suggested as she wrote down her choice of name on the whiteboard, with little sketches of her face surrounding the name for emphasis. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"How about something that won't stroke your ego?" Steven frowned at the idea.

"What about Barnstantinople?" Lapis proposed. "We are building it around where the barn used to be after all."

"Speaking of which, how's clean-up on that going?" Amethyst asked, looking out the window to gaze at the wreckage that was once Lapis and Peridot's barn house home. "I think some bits of it might be useful somehow."

"I say we put that on hold." Lapis stated. "That old barn caused just as much harm to Peridot and me as much as it did good."

"You serious about this?" Peridot asked her blue roommate. "I mean, we had so many good memories in there."

"Yeah, and a lot of those memories were you just bending over backwards trying to keep me happy." Lapis added. "I know you're still sad about me jumping ship and coming back with only a "Hey", but I still got things to work out, y'know."

"OK." Peridot said just as their pet Pumpkin opened the door. "Oh, hey Pumpkin!"

In contrast to Peridot being excited to see Pumpkin, the little canine fruit let out an exhausted bark before sitting down to nap, revealing wrinkles around her eyeholes.

"Hey, is your little buddy there doin' alright?" Bismuth asked. "I barely know a thing about the lifespan of organic creatures, but even I know she ain't doing so hot."

"Oh, I'm sure she's just tired!" Peridot assured Bismuth. "Just needs to rest, that's all!"

"Don't be so sure Peridot." Garnet advised the little Gem. "Pumpkin was brought to life with magic, which means she's probably lived longer than a pumpkin normally does."

"Just let her be happy Garnet." Pearl whispered into Garnet's ear. "She's already been through so much recently, and I don't think she can take anymore."

"You sure she's OK Dottie?" Steven asked Peridot regarding Pumpkin. "Nothing lasts forever, you know."

"Oh, she just needs some extra time in the Sun!" Peridot laughed. But despite her insistence, that wasn't how the story really went.

--

"Okay, a little to the left!" Peridot commanded Squaridot as the eye Gem Peridot levitated a lifeguard chair around while Bismuth, Ocean Jasper & Teal Zircon dug up the ground to build a swimming pool. "No, your other left!" she corrected herself. "Wait wait, your other OTHER left!"

"There's no such thing as an other other left!" Squaridot yelled and grumpily set the chair down next to where she was standing. "How's this?"

"Perfect." Peridot gave her fellow technician a thumbs up before turning around to see the Lapis twins walk towards the construction site. "Oh, I see our lifeguards wanna start early!"

"Why was it necessary for us to dress in these?" Laz wondered while modeling the red one-piece she was wearing. "I don't think red is my color."

"I don't know about you Laz, but I make this look good!" Zuli declared while flaunting her body in a matching outfit. "We look just like the hotties on Coast Patrol or Destiny from CPH season 3! By the way, where's Lapis? She's head lifeguard, so shouldn't she be out here with us?"

"She still has the suit, but she's not coming out because today is a special day." Peridot stated. "It's the anniversary of a certain something."

"Hey, I think I can see Steven's car!" Ocean Jasper cried out as she peeked out of the hole to find Steven disembarking from his Dondai Supremo and walking over with the pumpkin pie in hand. "And he's got a pie, maybe as thanks for our hard work."

"Naw, I don't think it's for us Ocean." Bismuth said just as Steven walked over to Peridot. "I think we should leave them alone for a bit and get back to work."

"Aw, but I wanted a pie!" Teal Zircon complained.

"I see you got the pie." Peridot said to Steven while gazing at the pie in his hands. "In case you're wondering, we worked on a new meep morp last night dedicated to her."

"Okay, why don't you show me?" Steven offered.

"I'd be happy to." Peridot smiled before turning back to everyone at the in-progress pool. "Keep up the good work everyone, I'll just be taking the rest off!"

"Yeah, take some time for yourself, Peri." Bismuth replied while Squaridot used her burgeoning ferrokinesis to lift the blacksmith out of the pool. "Just don't get too teary-eyed and fill up the pool early."

"Yeah, we're planning on filling the pool for our opening ceremony!" Teal called while struggling to get out.

"And I'm just gonna catch some rays." Laz declared as she sat down on a lawn chair, pulled some sunglasses over her eyes, and began sunbathing. However, her moment of peace was cut off by Zuli loudly blowing into her whistle and laughing.

"So, who's the pie really for Bis?" Ocean Jasper asked as she climbed out the pool before helping Teal and the two sat down next to Bismuth.

"You two got a moment?" Bismuth asked, and the Jasper and Zircon nodded in affirmation. "Well, the pie is actually for a friend of theirs."

--

Steven and Peridot kept walking away from the pool and eventually found themselves in front of the Little Homeworld house that Lapis & Peridot shared. It looked like a smaller version of the barn the two Gems once lived in, but instead of being decorated with a mishmash of items around the barnyard, it now looked like Peridot did most of the construction with bits of metal and advanced technology sprinkled onto a simple-looking two-story cabin.

"Hey Lapis, we're here." Steven called out to Lapis as he and Peridot entered the cabin to find Lapis napping on the couch with a manga on her lap and a red one-piece hanging on a clothes hanger nearby. "Lapis, wake up."

"Agh, don't go with her Pierre!" Lapis yelled as she woke up from her nap and rubbed her eyes to find Peridot & Steven before her. "Sorry you guys, I was trying on my lifeguard uniform, but then I got bored and decided to relax a little."

"You still remember what day it is?" Peridot asked while Steven presented his pumpkin pie.

"Yeah, I still do." Lapis declared sadly. "Want to see the meep morp we've been working on, Steven?"

"Sure." Steven replied before the two Gems took him upstairs to their shared bedroom & workshop, where a very large sculpture of Pumpkin stood, a big smile permanently etched onto the front beneath a pair of innocent eyes. "Almost like the real thing. Except bigger."

"Showing this to you makes me miss her even more." Peridot began to hold back tears. "I still remember how I coped with it too."

--

The groundbreaking ceremony of what would soon become Little Homeworld went quite swimmingly for the Crystal Gems, thanks to the support of their Beach City friends and the Diamonds. But amidst the rejoicing of a new beginning for Gems on Earth, there was some bad news that flew right under everyone's noses.

After Peridot marked the giant pit where the barn once was with Little Homeworld's flag, Pumpkin came strolling up to her green owner looking far wearier and more decayed than she did previously, a sight which worried them greatly. As soon as the ceremonies ended, Pumpkin was rushed back to the beach house.

"Please Steven, you gotta do something!" Peridot begged Steven while Pumpkin laid before the trio with a heavy sigh emitting from her mouth. "Pumpkin doesn't have much time left, surely you must have the solution like you always do!"

"I'm really sorry Peridot." Steven said regretfully. "As much as I would love to help you and Lapis out, Pumpkin wasn't long for this Earth anyways. Death is a perfectly natural part of life. It can be real sad and scary to watch someone you treasured so dearly go, but ultimately, their time will come all the same."

"So, she was going to die regardless?" Lapis said apprehensively while stroking the living gourd's rotting body. "I don't really see how this is possible since you did bring her to life with your powers, but I can deal with it."

"Well, I'm not!" Peridot objected tearfully. "It's not fair! I've already been through so much, why does the universe have to keep nailing the hammer into the coffin?!"

"Peridot, I know you're upset, but you gotta listen." Steven tried comforting his little green pal. "Death is completely natural, even if it's scary. I mean, my dad might die someday, and so might Connie. I'm not sure if I can die like a human though."

"Well, your race is different." Peridot declared. "None of you will ever know what it's like to live forever!" With that, she stormed out of the beach house to vent, leaving her two friends to worry for Peridot.

"I don't think I want to know where this is going." Lapis muttered.

"If it's anything like what happened to Peridot after you left Earth, I don't think she'll take it very well." Steven agreed.

--

Using a trashcan lid, Peridot flew far away from the general area of Beach City and into the countryside, where farmlands were very prosperous. Farmlands like the ones she and Lapis tended to together in the past, and the ones where Pumpkin was born. The very sight of all these fresh crops made her more miserable. What gave them the right to grow so healthy while Pumpkin looked so withered?

"Rackum frackum produce, I'll show you what for!" Peridot mumbled as she touched down in front of a pumpkin patch and swiftly got to work on destroying them. "You walked so Pumpkin could die!" she yelled as her green body became covered in orange pumpkin insides. "Why can't anything go my way for once?!"

"Hey, get offa my crops ya gremlin!" a farmer yelled at Peridot while stomping over to her with a pitchfork in hand. "You got any idea what it's like to work so hard on a great harvest, only for it to be ruined by a bunch of punks?!"

"No, but I'm sure you don't know what it's like to love someone only to lose them!" Peridot argued with the farmer, a retort that stunned him a little before he tried to look more sympathetic.

"Coping, eh?" the farmer said. "Look, you have every right to get mad, but that don't mean you can just stomp all over someone else's hard work! You gotta find better ways to vent, ya know!"

"Look, sir, I literally just ran away from home, I don't have time right now." Peridot coldly rejected the farmer's advice.

"Well, looks like you left me no choice." The farmer shook his head before reaching behind his back and pulling out a scary mask to frighten Peridot with. "BOOGEDY BOOGEDY BOOGEDY!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Peridot screamed loudly before flying away from the farm on her lid.

--

As soon as Peridot returned to Beach City, she soared right towards Steven's house, where she found him making a grilled cheese sandwich, and began pounding on his window.

"Steven! Steven!" Peridot yelled from outside, getting the half-Gem's attention. "Let me in, I wanna talk!"

"You know you can just come in yourself." Steven suggested before opening the door for his green friend. "How have things been going?"

"I got an idea for you." Peridot stated. "How about in exchange for helping me with Pumpkin, I'll do something for you in return. Just name your price, I'll do anything!"

"Peridot, are you trying to bribe me into saving Pumpkin?" Steven asked. "Didn't I tell you earlier that death is a natural part of life?"

"But you managed to save Lars from death with your crying!" Peridot objected. "Why can't you do the same to Pumpkin?! Why does she have to die while so many other pumpkins have to live?!"

"Pumpkins?" Steven asked. "What other pumpkins?"

"I vented my frustrations by whaling on some farmer's pumpkin harvest." Peridot confessed innocently. "He didn't take too kindly to that."

"I think I know where this is going." Steven realized. "Five Stages of Grief, right? First was anger, now you're bargaining. Which means depression might not be too far behind." Just then, as if on cue, Steven's phone started ringing with a message from Lapis that he readily picked up. "Hello?"

"Steven, is Peridot there?" Lapis asked from the other end of the line. "Ever since she fled the house, I took Pumpkin back to our place, and now she wants to see us both before, you know."

"See what I mean?" Steven declared to Peridot, who was now on the verge of breaking down because now, she finally realized it was too late. "Do you want to see her?"

"Yes please." Peridot began to sob and hugged Steven tight. "Promise me that you won't ever leave too, Steven."

"I promise." Steven stated, hugging Peridot back.

--

Meanwhile, at the massive construction site that would soon become Little Homeworld, Lapis gently watched over the slowly dying Pumpkin, whose normally bright orange skin now had splotches of grayish-black, as she let out a weak yip. "Don't die yet, sweetie." Lapis assured Pumpkin. "Peridot will be here soon, I know it."

And right on cue, Peridot and Steven soared right towards Lapis on the trash can lid to see Pumpkin off one last time. Peridot raced as fast as she could towards the groundwork for her and Lapis's new home and tightly nuzzled her pet gourd, unaware that it wasn't in the mood for such a tight hug.

"Peridot, let her go! She's in pain!" Lapis yelled while prying the sentient pumpkin from Peridot's embrace, much to the green Gem's agony.

"No, please!" Peridot cried. "Just let me hold her!"

"I'm sorry Peri, but I don't think she can take much more!" Lapis argued while on the brink of crying just as much. "Pumpkin's already dying. She's so scared right now, so let's just-"

"Don't try to argue Lapis." Steven solemnly interrupted Lapis. "Peridot's already having a breakdown as is."

"I'm sorry about that." Lapis quickly apologized before she turned to Pumpkin. "Pumpkin, if you can still hear me, I want you to know that you and Peridot were the only things keeping me sane here, even when I ran off to the moon." She said to the dying fruit. "I can't thank you enough for brightening my day with your cute little smile, your barking, and all the days we spent playing together. Even if we find a replacement, none can ever replace you, little guy."

"You want a turn, Peri?" Steven said to Peridot.

"Fine, but I won't like it." Peridot sniffed loudly as she walked up to Pumpkin. "You were like an offspring to us, Pumpkin." She said quietly. "When I first saw your little carved face, those adorable stubby legs, it filled my heart with so much joy. Figuratively, of course, since we naturally don't have hearts. But every step we took together, every struggle, kept me grounded here on this crazy planet. Oh stars, now I won't know what to do now."

"Mah, mah," Pumpkin barked weakly with her last breath. "Mommy."

"I promise you," Peridot declared while her gem touched Pumpkin's forehead. "I'll never forget."

And with that, Pumpkin gently shut her eyes, allowing herself to pass on with her mothers and her creator by her side.

--

The funeral that followed was a private affair, with only the other Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg in attendance, and Pumpkin buried outside Peridot & Lapis's house. However, it was after the funeral when trouble began brewing. Just like when she had first begun living with the Gems, Peridot began hiding away in the bathroom for the next week to grieve the demise of Pumpkin and seemed resilient in refusing to come out, no matter how much they tried.

"C'mon P-Dot, open up!" Amethyst called while pounding on the door. "If you're planning on flushing yourself down the toilet again, let me tell you again, I tried that once and it didn't work."

"I think I know what to do." Greg proposed his idea and held up a boombox that began playing a song he knew she would recognize. "I look up to the sky, that's full of stars-"

"I'm trying to mourn here, leave me alone." Peridot despondently declared.

"I say we should respect her wishes." Garnet stated before she turned her gaze to Lapis. "Unless…."

"You think I should go in there?" Lapis asked.

"You are quite possibly Peridot's closest friend." Pearl agreed with Garnet.

"Closest friend?" Bismuth raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, we all know there may be something more than that!"

"Well, okay then." Lapis finally accepted with a shrug and slowly pushed the door open. "Wish me luck." She then said before entering the bathroom and closing it behind her. "You still in here?"

"So, they sent you in now." Peridot observed hoarsely. "I may have lost all hope, but I can still hear you know."

"They do say we're the closest." Lapis said before she sat down on the edge of the tub where Peridot had hidden herself away beneath a cocoon of Steven's bedsheets. "Come on now, get up and sit next to me."

"Okay, if it's you, I'll talk." Peridot succumbed to Lapis's offer and rose from her comfy shell to talk with her barn mate. "I'm sorry for worrying you all this past week, it's just that Pumpkin was basically our baby! Watching her die was like watching a child die!"

"Except the child wasn't human, it was a magical living pumpkin." Lapis remarked, which caused Peridot to glare at her. "No offense."

"But still, outside of our relationship, why did you volunteer?" Peridot wondered.

"Well, because I wanted to return the favor." Lapis answered. "Remember what happened after that boat trip I took with Steven and his dad?"

--

As soon as Lapis dropped Steven and Greg off at the docks following the boat trip gone wrong, she needed someone to lean on in her time of need. It didn't matter who, it could be any of the other Crystal Gems, or one of Steven's human friends. But right now, there was only one person, or rather Gem, that she could turn to.

Lapis could now see the barn in the distance, and as reluctant as she was to admit it, Peridot was the only one who could understand her regarding a certain Quartz. "Peridot, are you there?" she called for her green housemate. "I'm back!"

"Lapis, so glad you could make it!" Peridot exclaimed while racing out of the barn. "I discovered that I can move spoons with my mind, I made some decent progress on my Camp Pining Hearts essay; though I'm still stuck on the poutine theory, and-" However, she realized a bit too late what Lapis was feeling. "Is something the matter?"

"Steven and I found Jasper during the trip." Lapis said morosely. "She wanted to fuse with me again because she says I changed her. And to be honest, I think it was kind of my fault. Unfusing with Jasper drove her mad and I even said I missed taking all my frustrations out on her!"

"Lapis, are you serious?" Peridot gasped in alarm.

"Yes, I'm serious." Lapis declared as her eyes darkened and she turned away from Peridot. "Go ahead, run off and live with the Gems again so you don't have to be another one of my victims. If Jasper says I'm a monster, then I guess I really am one, especially after the way I treated you when we first moved in together."

"Okay Lapis, I don't want your garbage right now!" Peridot yelled, briefly breaking Lapis out of her funk with the almost exact words she described the tape recorder she broke. "I can see you're very stressed out. You want to scream so bad, to hit something, to let your anger out! But whatever you do, don't lose it on other people."

"Wh-what are you saying?" Lapis asked.

"I'm mostly just repeating stuff I read online," Peridot admitted. "I think what you need is a way to vent healthily, maybe on a perfectly defenseless object."

"Like what?" Lapis raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"One second!" Peridot exclaimed while walking into the barn and coming back out with an alien plush wearing a top hat and bowtie that she gazed at with a solemn expression. "I'm so sorry my sweet." She said softly to the stuffed toy before presenting it to Lapis. "Go ahead, hit it as hard as you can. Or maybe something else violent, whatever."

"Okay." Lapis sighed as she began feeling around the toy for something to do before grabbing at the bowtie and ripping it off the alien's neck, causing some stuffing to spill out of the hole she created. "Whoa."

"So, how did that make you feel?" Peridot asked as the alien dropped from her grip.

"Good." Lapis muttered in awe of what she just did. "I feel so much lighter now, like a real adrenaline burst."

"See, as I told you." Peridot smiled happily. "You just needed healthier ways to relieve stress."

"You're right." Lapis agreed when she got an idea. "Now, how about I try something a little heavier?" She then glanced over to a nearby pickup truck and used the water from Peridot's makeshift pool to lift it into the air. "How about this?"

"Yeah, I think that could work." Peridot nervously replied before Lapis suddenly tossed the truck into the air. "NO WAIT, THAT'S A LITTLE TOO-" she screamed and covered herself to avoid getting hit, but the truck instead crashed into the wall over the barn entrance, creating a massive hole that the vehicle filled. "Hm, guess I was wrong."

"Well, if we're gonna be living here together, why don't we make ourselves at home?" Lapis laughed and put a hand on Peridot's shoulder.

"Yeah, I think this is a good start." Peridot agreed while wrapping her arm around the taller Gem's waist and the two began brainstorming ideas for remodeling the barn.

--

"Yeah, I really was there for you back then." Peridot realized with a grin. "And from then on out, we were so close."

"You bet." Lapis replied and cupped Peridot's face in her hands. "Let me be a shoulder for you to cry on this time. I love you Peridot."

"I love you too Lapis." Peridot responded happily before the two began to kiss, and their gems started glowing as they began to fuse into a tall, slender Gem with turquoise hair, dark cyan hair in the shape of a maple leaf, Peridot's glasses, Lapis's top with a bright yellow star on it, a skirt with a bronze ribbon around her waist and dark teal sandals with bronze accents.

The new, accidental fusion of Peridot and Lapis looked around the bathroom and gazed down at her four hands. Feeling around her body, she felts the gems of her components on her forehead and back before coming to a shocking realization and let out a loud, confused scream. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"Is something wrong?!" Steven exclaimed as he barged into the bathroom to discover the fusion before him and started screaming as well, but this time in joy. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the new fusion continued screaming and covered her face in alarm at Steven as the two continued shrieking at each other.

--

"But was that fusion really an accident or maybe something more?" Peridot asked while she, Steven, and Lapis walked outside to her and Lapis's garden in their backyard.

"Maybe a mix of both?" Lapis answered with a shrug. "I mean, we did kiss each other after saying "I love you" to each other, but the fusion part came out of nowhere."

"Still, we were all so happy to see you two fuse at last." Steven said. "Words could not describe how long I've been waiting for that moment."

"I couldn't shapeshift, so I just assumed I couldn't fuse as well." Peridot observed before they happened upon a makeshift tombstone that read 'In memory of Pumpkin. A good girl to the end.' "You know, all this talk reminds me of a song I've been writing for the past few days. It may seem a little short and I pulled from other sources, but it's the best I got."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lapis suggested eagerly. "Sing for us."

"Yeah, we never heard you do a solo before either." Steven agreed with the ocean Gem.

"Okay, if you insist." Peridot declared before she cued a nearby Robonoid tending to the garden to start playing jazzy music, and she started to sing. "My sweet little pumpkin o' mine, a living gourd with a smile so fine. You made us smile with your bark, your stem's like emerald, and filled with seeds of gold. You were our most beloved work of art."

Almost as if Pumpkin was coming back to listen to Peridot's eulogy, many similar living produce like additional pumpkins, some gourds, and squashes, began coming out to watch. "You saw fields of corn, sandy beaches too. In summers so warm, it was just us and you." Peridot continued singing. "And I think to myself, what a wonderful pet."

Soon, Lapis began to join in on the song as well. "Though your time was short, like all things are." She joined Peridot in singing with her own solo. "We'll always think of you, when we look at your star."

"Our sweet little pumpkin of ours," the pair finished the song and embraced each other. "You were a wonderful pet."

With that, the two Gems fused into Turquoise, this time on purpose while surrounded by living Cucurbita, and smiled.

"Thank you for coming today, Steven." Turquoise said to Steven. "It really means a lot to us."

"Nothing to it girls." Steven smiled while rubbing his finger on his upper lip.

In Memory of Thea "Muriel Bagge" White

June 16, 1940 – July 30, 2021

"What courage you have."

--

So ends the first installment of the Tearjerking Three. In comparison to what will come next, I'm pretty sure this will be tears of happiness at these two dorky barnmates basically becoming an item at last and even fusing too (also, I totally took Turquoise's design from @artifiziell, she makes some amazing stuff, go check her out). But next time, we move on from someone being dead for real to someone being dead to Steven. Can you guess which one? Oh who am I kidding, if you watch me on DeviantArt, I basically spoiled everything after this.

[hawksward]

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing Ch. 2: Your Heart is an Empty Room (Childe/OC)

Since being granted a vision at the tender age of 10, Irina has owed her life to the Tsaritsa and dedicated herself to rising through the ranks of the Fatui. In becoming a top-ranking diplomat she’s received her easiest assignment yet: ensure the 11th Fatui Harbinger remains ignorant of La Signora’s plan to obtain the gnosis of Rex Lapis. A simple task for someone who’s made a career out of lying.

Unfortunately, even the simplest tasks can go awry when feelings get in the way.

Rating: E (For eventual smut)

Warnings: None that I can think of for this chapter, there will eventually be smut

Two weeks had passed since Irina first arrived in Liyue. Signora was out of the city that night, gone to some other far-off place to complete her work. As for Zhongli? Since he hadn’t made any request pursuant to the contract she hadn’t seen him either.

Her days were mundane, filled with bank paperwork and pointless meetings with the Qixing to source where they hid the gnosis. Which she already knew they didn’t have. It was impossible to say when Zhongli would be satisfied with his end of the contract and until then she would keep up the song and dance to avoid suspicion by a certain ginger harbinger.

Who once again burst through her office door without the courtesy of knocking.

“I have a new recruit orientation at the docks and I need someone to come do the paperwork.” His expression was the same as always, a charming smile that never quite reached his eyes “Put down whatever you’re doing, we need to leave in five.”

Irina sighed before returning her attention to the stack of papers on her desk “I have a mountain of paperwork here, surely you can find someone else to handle the new recruits.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Childe’s hand slamming against the table. She looked up through her lashes to see the same fake smile at eye level.

“It’s not a request.” He walked around her desk and pulled out the chair with her still in it “With how pale you are you could use some time in the sun anyway.”

“First you give me all of your loan paperwork, now you want me to go do different paperwork down by the docks? It’s a task so simple a hillichurl could do it” Irina stood from her seat to look him in the eyes “a particularly stupid hillichurl.”

She watched as Childe’s smile only grew bigger

“Then it’s perfect for you.”

She didn’t have time to be offended before he shoved a clipboard in one of her hands and grabbed her other wrist, leading her down the staircase of the bank and out the door.

“Look at that.” Childe looked to the sky before looking back at Irina with a cocky smile “The sun’s out and you’re not even melting!”

“Ha. Hilarious.” She struggled to keep up as he continued to pull her by the wrist down to the docks “You must have women lining up for you.”

He chuckled

“Someone sounds jealous.”

“Not even slightly.”

——

The docks were bustling with midday activity, but the ship waving the Snezhnayan flag was easy enough to spot. Six Fatui skirmishers stepped off the boat, which Childe greeted enthusiastically before easing into a grand speech about serving the Tsaritsa.

Irina was left to sit on a crate and process six diplomatic visa applications for extended stays. It wasn’t lost on her how unglamorous her job was in comparison to Childe’s flaunting.

If she were more suited to combat she might have considered killing him for his position.

Unfortunately, life wasn’t fair. Although the Tsaritsa had blessed her with a cryo vision she was never really suited for combat. Over the course of her training with the Fatui it was clear that her talents were in shields and healing. She was probably one of the few Fatui vision users who didn’t end up in a combat position.

“Daydreaming on the job?” She looked up to see Childe hovering over her, a trail of new recruits behind him “We might have to consider docking your pay”

His frown was clearly fake. He was enjoying making her look incompetent in front of those who didn’t know any better.

“On the contrary, considering how long your speech took, I finished ages ago.” She shoved the stack of papers into his chest “If that’s everything Lord Tartaglia, I’ll be going back to the bank to finish my previous work.”

“Ah.” He held out an arm to stop her before turning his attention to the recruits “You there. Take these papers and file them with the milileth. They’re located in the gaudy building in the center of the city. You can’t miss it.”

Irina stared at him expectantly while the recruits followed the man holding their paperwork. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised that Childe had once again sent new arrivals off with zero directions.

“ We ” he emphasized “Aren’t going back to the bank. I have a business dinner that I want you to attend as well.”

Irina perked up. He was asking her to do a real task? Not just busywork? Surely there was a catch.

“You want me to attend?” She pointed at herself “You’re not going to make some grand statement about how you don’t need my help?”

“Not today” he laughed “I can’t tell if this particular business partner is immune to my charm or just isn’t into men. A more feminine touch might help.”

He wanted her to be a honey trap. Of course.

“It’s probably just you.”

——

Dinner was of course at one of the two nicest restaurants in town. Liuli Pavilion and Xinyue Kiosk were rivals for the higher-end business in Liyue Harbor. Even in her limited time in the city, Irina already heard ravings from the bank staff about how it was worth blowing some extra paycheck money. Her mouth was already watering at the prospect of a nice meal after eating from street carts since her arrival.

The moment she stepped through the door of Liuli Pavilion it was clear that Childe was flaunting his wealth. The rich woods paired with a gold inlay made it look like it was fit for royalty.

“Master Childe,” The host greeted him with a bow “Your private room is ready and your guest has already arrived. Please, allow me to escort you to your table.”

Childe gave her a wink before following the host down the hall and to a secluded part of the restaurant.

“Apologies for the tardiness, I brought a friend.”

Irina turned the corner into the room to see a familiar face sitting at the table.

Mr. Zhongli.

For just one moment, the surprise was written all over her face. Childe knew exactly what Signora was up to. That she was just a proxy. She was going to lose her job. Her life.

She pulled herself together, a smile crossing her features

“It’s a pleasure sir, my name is Aster. I’m an associate of Childe’s at the Northland Bank.” She moved across the room to the seat next to Zhongli, who rose to meet her and pulled out her chair “And he’s a gentleman” she flashed a smile to Childe, whose expression was of course, unreadable.

“The pleasure is mine.” Zhongli returned to his seat “My name is Zhongli, I’m a consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.” he directed his attention to Childe “When you mentioned you may have a guest I assumed it would be the traveler again.”

Childe took his seat next to Irina at the large, round table “I happen to associate with more than one other person.”

The conversation was mundane, but pleasant enough as the trio waited for the food to arrive. It was a common skill in the Fatui to be able to carry the conversation while still saying nothing of importance. Irina did her best to pepper in some flirtatious side glances and arm touches to Zhongli whenever it was clear Childe was watching.

Not like Zhongli looked remotely interested.

Then again she wasn’t exactly putting in the effort either.

Plate after plate of food arrived at the table. It was clearly a show of extravagance from Childe. Although she couldn’t quite tell if it was meant for Zhongli or to remind her that he was the top agent in Liyue and had the mora to prove it.

Irina didn’t hesitate before taking a bite of the first plate she could reach. Sure enough, everything on the table was delicious. She chatted with Zhongli as the two went from plate to plate, marveling at the chef’s expert use of spices. Until she noticed that Childe had eaten nothing.

She looked over to see him grossly misusing his chopsticks. Every time he managed to get them into position, one would slip through his fingers or collapse onto the other.

Irina let out a sigh, moving closer to him in her chair “Here, let me help.” she reached out her hands, gently touching his fingers before he immediately recoiled.

“What are you doing?” he demanded

“Helping. If you keep holding your chopsticks like that you’re going to starve to death.”

“I’ve got it.” he pulled his hand away from her, still fiddling with the two foreign objects in his hand.

“If you insist.” she moved back to the center of her chair, clearly ignoring the struggles of the man next to her.

The rest of the meal was painfully uncomfortable. Irina and Zhongli spent the rest of the time doing their best to ignore Childe as he frequently dropped food short of his mouth. By the time they had finished, she wanted nothing more than to go back to her hotel room and pretend the whole thing never happened.

Except maybe for a clever jab here and there.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Zhongli, I hope we meet again in the future.”

“As do I, Miss Aster. Allow me to escort you back to your hotel, it’s gotten dark since we’ve arrived.” Zhongli held open the door for both Irina and the suspiciously quiet Childe to exit.

“Oh thank you, but you really-”

“I’ve got it from here. After all, she is my subordinate and I’d hate to see anything happen to her.” Childe was back to his normal, cheerful demeanor. Although that just seemed to unsettle her even more.

“Of course. Have a pleasant evening, both of you.”

Childe waved as Zhongli disappeared from view, then turned his attention to Irina. She knew this wasn’t going to end well. Zhongli wasn’t interested in her playful flirting, which was admittedly half-assed and on top of that there was the matter of her trying to help with his chopsticks.

“So are you going to tell me what that look was at the beginning of dinner?”

Irina raised an eyebrow, trying to consider every ‘look’ she gave since the moment they walked through the door of the restaurant. “What look?” She asked

“I saw your expression when you first saw my contact.” All traces of his previous smile were gone. He wasn’t hiding the fact that he was all business now

“Ah. That.” her thoughts raced as she tried to come up with an excuse. Clearly, she couldn’t say that she’d met him before “Normally when someone wants to use my services for seduction it tends to be for some old bureaucrat. Your contact is young and handsome.”

Childe shook his head, clearly disappointed in her answer. But at least he seemed to believe it. “Don’t go falling in love on the job.”

“Don’t worry. I have no heart.”

She gave away her heart the moment she signed her life away to the Tsaritsa.

The two maintained eye contact for longer than what either was comfortable with, each too stubborn to back down. It was impossible to tell how much time passed during their unspoken competition.

“Shall we head back?” Childe asked, finally averting his eyes to the road ahead.

---

The walk to the hotel was short but silent. Crowds moved for them, people stared, parents pulled their children closer as they walked by. It was the same in any country that wasn’t Snezhnaya. The Fatui were always seen as a threat, which in defense of the people, they were. Most of the time the fear in their eyes didn’t phase her, but it was nothing compared to having a harbinger by her side.

“What’s with the long face?” Childe asked

Irina snapped out of her own head to notice that they had already made it to the hotel.

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t give me that. I’ve got sisters, I know that look.” He chuckled quietly “The ‘the weight of the world is on my shoulders and no one else could possibly understand’ look”

She laughed, “It’s really nothing. Just a long day is all.”

He looked lost in thought for a moment “The mail boat arrives at 10 tomorrow. Why don’t you take a couple hours in the morning before that for yourself.”

Irina was shocked. Sure, Ekaterina and Vlad and the others at the bank all spoke highly of him but she’d never seen it for herself. She just assumed they spoke highly of him because they had to.

“You don’t have to do that. I assure you whatever is going on in my head will never impede my ability to do my job.”

Childe let out a long sigh before rubbing the back of his head. It was a gesture that looked both human and unsure. Two things she knew he wasn’t.

“That’s not what I’m insinuating. Just...take a break. That’s an order.” He opened the door to the front of the inn, ushering her inside “If I see you at work before 10 I’m going to be pissed. Goodnight.”

Irina watched from the window as the man disappeared down the street, still confused by what just occurred. For two weeks since she arrived he either outright ignored her, berated her, or made fun of her in front of the rest of the bank employees.

Maybe his delusion had finally caused him to go insane.

[crystalgirl259]

How to Train Your Dragonblood 3: The Dragonblood Alpha Ch3

After Jay and Cole finally got Kai and Rocky to stop their little game of tug and war, they all flew towards the smoke to investigate it. Below them, the trees look like an orange, yellow blur below them and on any other day, Jay would be in awe. But as they flew further into the forest, however, the bright orange and yellow colors became a burned, gray forest. The place looked downright depressing. The trees were devoid of any leaves, standing like sticks among the ashes.

They flew through the burnt remains of the forest until they reached the ocean and saw a large and piercing structure of ice, with large protruding spiky icicles.

As they flew around the destroyed structure, Cole realized that used to be a type of trading post or battle fort. This fort looked like it was once a thriving outpost, complete with docks for ships, weapons, and what looked like cages. Jay really hoped they were for containing livestock and not something else. There were even raised docks for archers to fire. Despite Cole clearly identifying the fort as strong, something had reduced it to splinters and icicles.

At first, they thought it was an Ice Dragonblood, but judging but the size of the blast, it must have been an incredibly large and strong one.

They stopped in midair to take in the sight. Jay turned around to Cole, who shrugged helplessly. They had all seen Ice Dragonblood attacks before, but it wasn't just the ice that was strange. The way the ice shot out from the ocean suggested a Water Dragonblood, but the few scorch marks on the bits of wood exposed made Jay think of a Lightning Dragonblood, or possibly a Fire Dragonblood. Jay could feel Kai's hope through their link, but they both knew not to get too hopeful.

They had been disappointed in the past.

They flew closer to the massive hunk of ice, looping through a ring and around it until the man-made structure became more visible.

"What happened here?" Jay asked in horror, but none of his friends had an answer for him. As they kept flying around, the wood splinters on the ice made it seem as if the ice suddenly grew in the middle of a village. On the muddy ground around the ruins, two dragon-like footprints were seen. They looked to be around the size of the monster from the Dragonblood's Nest from five years ago, possibly even bigger.

"I really don't like this," Kai said through the link as he shook his head and Jay put his hand on his neck in reassurance.

"Easy, baby." He replied, but he couldn't hide his own unease.

"Jay!" Cole suddenly cried when he saw something down in the ice, but it was too late.

"Fire!" A man suddenly shouted from below as a net was launched from a trapped ship and Jay and Kai got out of its range just in time. Even though the couple had managed to dodge the net, Cole and Rocky were not that lucky. The Earth Dragonblood was caught in the net and they fell down. Cole was thrown off from the saddle during the sudden drop. The noirette cried out as he fell, but Kai to catch him in his claws. Rocky landed on the ground and men suddenly surround him, carrying shields and spears.

Rocky struggled to escape or transform, but the net seemed to be made from vengestone, blocking out all of his powers.

As the men closed in, Rocky launched rock spikes from his tail that struck a fallen mast. From behind the fallen mast, a man jumped out to join in the fight. The middle-aged man had messy black hair and sharp, sandy brown eyes with long sideburns and stubble around his mouth and chin. He wore a brown jacket with large pockets on the front and a patch on the right side, tan pants, and a black belt, and carried a brown whip. He was also wearing an eyepatch on his right eye with a necklace made up of large teeth from hunted dragonbloods.

"Watch the tail!" He shouted to the men as he leaped on Rocky and grabbed his snout and head spines, pulling him down. As the men tried to tie Rocky's legs, he grabbed a rope wrapped around his arm that he used as a muzzle when he was suddenly distracted by a loud roar in the sky. As he looked up he saw a red dragon crossing the sky above at blazing speeds. "Is that what I think it is?" He whispered as his eyes widened in shock and excitement.

"STOP!" Jay shouted as Kai flew lower with Cole still hanging from his claws. Cole growled in anger when he saw his friend in chains as he hopped down and ran towards his dragonblood, but was pushed back by the men holding up their weapons in a warning. Jay quickly stepped up, holding a flaming sword that he swung at them. They backed off in surprise and Cole took the chance to grab a random sharp stick from the floor.

"Back again?" The man sneered angrily at them until his eyes zeroed in on Kai, still in his dragon form, snarling and snapping behind them. His eyes widened in amazement as she stood up on top of Rocky, holding his left hand over his sword. "Well what do you know, that is a Fire Dragonblood." He smirked at Kai with a predatory stare. Jay's eyes narrowed as he kept his hand in front of protectively while the dragonblood bared his teeth at the hunters.

There was no way Jay was going to let these hunters hurt his boyfriend.

"Thought they were all gone for good." The man continued, sounding very pleased. "Looks like our luck has turned for the better, men; I don't think the Baron has one of those in his dragonblood army."

"Dragonblood army?" Kai mentally asked. Jay was also curious, but right now they needed to save Rocky.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." He tried to reason with the man but he laughed, mocking them, and carelessly gripped into one of Rocky's head spikes. Cole bristled, but fortunately, nobody saw it. The last thing they needed was a fight with their leader targeting Kai and Rocky still in chains while he and Jay were badly outnumbered.

"You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragonbloods and blasted our fort to bits!" The man shouted angrily as he pointed to the remains of a structure that were impaled by ice. The other men holler in agreement, but the riders were even more confused.

"Wait, what are you talking about? You think we did this?" Jay asked in disbelief. The man huffed and placed one foot on Rocky's head as he scowled at them in contempt. Cole and Kai scowled right back and Jay gripped his sword tighter.

"Dragonblood trapping is hard enough work as it is without do-gooders dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them!" He shouted angrily, but this just confused the trio even more.

"What do-gooders?" Kai asked, but Jay said nothing as he and Cole shared a look before the ginger-haired man processed the whole sentence and turned around, sheathing the sword.

"There are other dragon riders?" He asked in shock. As far as he or anyone else from Ninjago was aware, they were the only ones who ride and co-exist with Dragonbloods. The people of Ninjago had tried for years to get the other islands to accept the Dragonbloods, but it was a painfully slow process.

"You mean other than your little thieving friend from last night? You tell me! You may have an all-powerful dragonblood on your side but we still have a quota to fill!" He sneered as she stepped down from Rocky and on the floor, slowly pacing in front of his people. "How do you suppose we explain this mess to the Iron Baron?!" The man demanded in rage and his people all shouted in agreement. As soon as he said that name, Kai visibly stiffened.

There was no way that fairytale was actually true.

He could swear he had heard that name before when he was just a hatchling, but everyone believed it was just a scary story their parents would tell them to make sure they stayed as far away from humans as possible.

"Kai? Do you know him?" Jay asked through their link, but Kai shook his head, confusing everyone but Jay.

"Never met him, but when we were little Mom would tell Nya and me of a giant human made out of metal trapping disobedient Dragonblood hatchlings and dragging them to the Cursed Realm to work as slaves in his monstrous forge for all of eternity," Kai explained, barely suppressing a frightening shudder. When they were little and told this story, Nya and her friends thought it would be funny to gather up and scrap metal lying around.

They then used it to make Kai think the Iron Baron was coming for him.

"Does anything you say make sense?" Cole growled, snapping Kai and Jay out of their private conversation.

"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons by tomorrow." One of the men said, looking torn between anger and fear. The man, obviously their leader, pointed his finger at the one speaking and nodded his head in agreement.

"The Baron doesn't take well to excuses." Another trapper wearing a hood added, batted his blade weapon at them.

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed." The man said as he pulled down his coat and shirt to show them a scar burned into the front of his left shoulder. Cole, Kai, and Jay looked at each other mortified. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future."

"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief or an all-powerful dragonblood or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay?" Jay gulped nervously, not noticing as the man faintly nodded and other trappers behind them aim their catapults and crossbows at the two humans and Fire Dragonblood. "Just give us back our dragonblood and we'll go, you very strange hostile person whom we've never met."

"Oh, where are my manners?" He mocked as she bowed down and slowly clutched a knife strapped to his lower back. "I am Clutch Powers, the finest dragonblood trapper alive." He announced as he took the knife out of its sheath with a flourish. He looked up where the men turn a large crossbow. He smirked as he pointed the blade at Kai who growled louder.

"After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Fire Dragonblood."

"Go jump off a bridge you one-eyed bitch!" Kai roared, even though Jay was the only one who understood him.

"This is my boyfriend Kai; he says we're going, now!" Jay snapped, standing protectively in front of his boyfriend, even though they both knew Kai could handle himself in a fight. All of a sudden, the hidden dragon trappers attacked and Kai barely managed to dodge the hit from the crossbows. At the same time, the men began to converge on them. Thinking quickly, Kai shot a fire blast at the ice above them. A large icicle broke off and fell down, causing the trappers to yell and duck for cover.

Clutch too was thrown off his feet.

Jay quickly activated the sword and the flames around it and quickly cut the ropes binding the Earth Dragonblood. With his dragonblood free, Cole, Kai, Jay, and Rocky fly away while Clutch got back up. By the time he was up the pairs were both back in the air.

"You will never hold onto those dragonbloods forever, you hear me? The Iron Baron is coming for them all!" He yelled at the top of his lungs furiously, as he started swinging around the knife. As they flew as fast as they could from the trappers, Jay looked back, concerned at those words...

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

Back at Ninjago, Jay's friends were all flying around the island, having a playful race amongst themselves. It was just after lunch now and now that they were all refueled and well-rested, the riders and their dragonbloods were looking for anything to pass the time. Right now, that something was racing. Dareth cheered the loudest, currently in the lead, as the others chased after them. As they raced, Plundar and Adam suddenly flew near Ed and Edna's hut.

There Edna was trying to relax, scaring her and the few pigeons and seagulls perched on the porch around her.

The normally calm and sweet Edna grunted and shook her fist at the group of flies, but none of them paid her any mind. In the plaza, Cliff casually greeted the many villagers as he walked towards the forge, hoping Jay would be there. As he maneuvered his way through the crowd, he chuckled when he saw a small group of people either scowling or celebrating at the recent Dragonblood game. A few of them had placed bets to who they thought would win.

Honestly, Cole, Zane, and Jay, if he ever attended, were the only ones who actually won any of the games.

The others were skilled riders and fighters, but they always fought each other instead of focusing on the task on hand. As Cliff entered the forge, he saw Ed working on the grindstone.

"Any sign of him?" The village leader asked when he didn't see his son or Kai in the forge.

"He's probably flown off the edge of the world by now." Ed hummed as he walked next to a Wind Dragonblood in his dragon form and opened the mouth to work on his teeth.

"You sure you want him running the village? You can still delay your retirement." He continued, worried for both Cliff and Jay.

"He's ready, you'll see," Cliff promised as a roar was suddenly heard from outside the forge. Kai and Rocky soon landed with their riders, kicking up a cloud of dust. As soon as Cole and Jay jumped off their backs, the two Dragonbloods returned to their human forms. "Hahaha! Here he is! The pride of Ninjago!" Cliff exclaimed to everyone who could hear, grinning from ear to ear. Dragonbloods aside, his son was becoming more and more like a worthy heir.

Jay quickly took off his helmet and walked towards the two men, with Kai and Cole following close behind.

Rocky would have joined them, but after that close call, he wanted to spend some quality time with his mate and their hatchlings.

"Who finally decided to show up for work." Ed joked lightly as he made a few pretend swings of his hammer as Jay dodged with a smile. Kai and Cole smiled at the casual interactions of the three. Cole had never noticed how close Ed and Jay were but neither did they often banter like that in public. Despite it being five years, it was like a breath of fresh air to see the boy he had been ostracizing still so spirited.

"Sorry, got held up." Jay grinned as he followed his father deeper into the building, dodging any object hanging low from the ceiling. "Hey, um, Dad! Can I have a word?" He asked and Cliff looked positively pleased as he put his large hands over Jay's shoulders.

"Something you're itching to tell me? He grinned as he wrapped his arm around Jay and they keep walking.

"Y-Yeah, not quite the itch you're thinking off but yes." He replied as the Chief grabbed two aprons from a hook that he threw to his son and Kai. Jay put it back on the hook whereas Kai just dropped it on the floor.

"Ah, good man! Now lesson one, a chief's first duty is to its people!" Cliff happily exclaimed as they stopped at a post. From a hook in the wall hang numerous slates inscribed with Ninjago runes and Cliff took the one labeled forty-one.

"Well, can we just talk in private for a-" Jay tried to say but was interrupted as Cliff shouted out the number. People outside were yelling and one excited man was seen jumping up and down and waving his hands.

"It's me, that's me! I'm next!" He cheered as he ran up to the counter as Cliff turned to smile knowingly at his son, who held in an irritated groan. "Okay, okay! I want one of those high sitters with lots of spikes and a big storage compartment." The man squealed in excitement like a child on Christmas Day.

"Absolutely! You got it, sir." Cliff smiled as he wrote down the order and went back into the forge, gathering tools and materials and handing them to his son.

"Dad, this is actually a little more important than building saddles." Jay insisted.

"Yeah, you think you can stop with these little orders and listen?" Kai snapped, only to back off at Jay's glare. Thankfully, Cliff didn't pay Kai's comment any mind.

"Ah, lesson two; no task is too small when it comes to serving your people." He told the ginger-haired man as they got to a table with diverse instruments. Cliff began to look at them and dropped them in a box while Ed got Kai to re-light the forge's fire behind them.

"Dad..." Jay whined as Cliff pushed the box of supplies into his arms and he took it as they started to walk to another part of the forge. As they walked, Jay also grabbed several things that he placed in the box. "I really need to tell you about this new land we came across."

"Another one?" Ed hummed as Zane and Pixal appeared from his right.

"Any new dragonbloods?" The pale man asked in excitement as Cliff picked up a large piece of leather, looking completely focused on his task and unaware of the conversation going on around him.

"We didn't stick around to find out." Jay shuddered at the memory.

"Yeah, these folks weren't friendly." Cole agreed with a glare as Jay and his father stopped beside a big, wooden structure that was meant to represent a dragon's back. Cliff put the leather on it and began to inspect it.

"Aw, really? Your Fire and Earth Dragonblood didn't bring them cheering to the rooftops?" Plundar laughed at the scowls they all sent him.

"No, this was different." Jay insisted as he began to draw the outline of the saddle while Cliff pushed on a level that aligned the leather and the structure that it sat on. "These guys were trappers, dragonblood trappers." He gulped and all his friends seemed to freeze at that. Over the years, especially in the beginning, a few ships would attack the odd Dragonblood that was hanging around near the edges of the island, but when they saw the riders coming in to attack, they quickly fled.

That didn't make it anymore scary at the thought of one of their scaly friends suddenly being taken away, never to be seen again.

Jay often had nightmares about that, as did Kai.

"You should've seen their fort, all blown apart and stuck in giant spikes of ice, it was weird," Cole added, still really confused by it all.

"Do you think it was an Ice Dragonblood?" Pixal asked.

"It's possible, but there was something about how the ice was shaped that didn't look like the work of an Ice Dragonblood." Rocky suddenly said as he walked in with Adam. "There was also damage to the ships and scorch marks on the wood."

"So a group of dragonbloods?" Morro suggested.

"No their leader said it was one, all-powerful Dragonblood that attacked them last night, I've never seen anything like it; and worst of all, they thought we did it!" Jay cried in offense and shock. Sure they had an island full of Dragonbloods and a seeming one-of-a-kind Fire Dragonblood, but even they wouldn't just up and attack a base and risk any lives like that, human or dragonblood.

"You know, you kids are gonna get in serious troubles one of these days, not everyone appreciates this way of life." Ed reminded them all.

"Ed's right, son, best we keep to our own." Cliff agreed as he took the leather and walked over to a table with a giant saw, where he laid it down. "Besides, you have more important uses for your time once we make the big announcement." He smiled as he pulled a lever that activated the saw and rubbed his hands gleefully, thinking of seeing his son taking over as Chief. Jay didn't share his mood and stopped the machine to finally get his attention.

"They are building a dragonblood army." He said in a tone that showed everyone that this was no laughing matter. His serious tone drew the looks of the people waiting outside, and some even subconsciously held their Dragonblood friends and family closer. "Or-Or at least the guy they work for is... uh, Metal Barton or something." He continued, trying to remember the name Clutch told him but failed. As soon as Jay said that, Cliff's eyes widened and he shared a look with a terrified Ed.

"I'll bloody his fist with my face if he tries to take Tox!" Dareth exclaimed as he punched his fist in his hand as the overall mood dove in somberness. Ronin, Shade, and Tox all rolled their eyes at Dareth's declaration, knowing he was all talk. Nevertheless, Ronin shared his brother's determination, as did the others. Before Jay could say anything else, Cliff suddenly grasped his shoulders, pushing him back a step as he forced the ginger-haired human to look at him.

"Baron? Iron Baron?" He whispered in absolute terror, something Jay nor anyone else had ever heard in the chief's voice.

"Uh... Yeah, I think so." He nodded, feeling incredibly confused and uncomfortable with his father's sudden shift in moods.

"Wait! You know him?" Kai frowned, but Cliff didn't answer. He simply had a faraway look in his eyes as he gazed around in thought. There was only one thing to do...

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 17: 2x26 Assignment: Earth

Finally finished up S2 of TOS yesterday. That was... a rough episode tbh. I’m just gonna say it: back door pilots are bad! They’re bad. If I wanted to watch that other show, I’d watch it.

Wow, they’re just really jumping right in, huh? “Here we are, on a routine mission into the past, using a time travel method that we invented nbd.”

Investigating desperate problems in the year 2020...2016.... no wait 1968.

Ooh, Spock in the transport room today. Does he have a whole extra random station there? That’s so weird; I’ve never seen that before. It’s like hidden in the corner.

Cat!! Cat!!

What a good actor. I’m still bitter that wikipedia has a whole section about the casting for “Isis the cat” that talks entirely about the human who played Isis for 2 minutes and nothing about the talented feline actor. Where did they find her? How did they teach her to act?

She has a lot of thoughts about Kirk.

I wrote down “Scully, you’ve got to see this” in my notes and I’ve already forgotten what it refers to lol. Some moment that I thought would fit well with my favorite x-files meme.

Change history, you say? Spock is intrigued. ...Admittedly, Spock is often intrigued.

“What if it turns out you’re an invading alien from the future?” Honestly...let him invade. You’re not supposed to be here anyway.

I’m pretty insulted by this. The aliens went through all this trouble to help in 1968...where are our alien helpers NOW?

The cat straight up attacked his face.

Kirk is so fond of Spock being fond of the cat.

“It’s a lovely animal. I feel myself strangely drawn to it.”

Kirk is way too confused by Seven--an allegedly human person with super-human abilities that he says come from aliens--and yet, he’s met Charlie X so??? Is this not the same?

Kirk’s got the whole crew checking in on zoom.

(I actually do like this sequence of him getting video calls from different parts of the ship.)

“Weren’t orbiting H-bombs a huge problem in 1968?” Looks at the camera like he’s on The Office. Not the subtlest bit of writing in the “social commentary” genre. I do say this with love, though. I always enjoy when they comment on contemporary problems.

“He has a totally perfect body.” Lol don’t distract these two bisexuals.

[soft meowing]

“The prisoner has escaped.” The way this is shot, it looks like he’s talking about the cat.

Hmm, I do love the decor. Very 60s. This honestly immediately feels like a different show, and a much more dated show; even when the Enterprise time travels, it tends not to time travel to... office space.

Love the little sounds the computer makes.

So is Isis supposed to be one of the fancy aliens? It’s never explained but one must assume she is.

Aw, he’s petting her paw.

So I assumed the cats sounds are real, but just dubbed. They’re not lol. Which I guess isn’t surprising: this cat makes a lot of noises! They were provided by a human voice actress.

Damn.... I want a secret bookshelf that turns around to reveal a super computer with a big screen. “Computer... play Netflix.”

That’s what Seven does in his spare time.

The computer is an AI. “Beta 5 snobbery” lol.

Where are OUR alien overlords to stop US from destroying ourselves before WE can mature into a peaceful society?

This is really masterful exposition lol. Not forced or awkward at all.

ST sure does love the snooty female computer trope.

“Get us the proper costumes.” Yes, get Spock his Requisite Hat.

Omicron IV....that’s one of the names they use in Futurama lol. Such nerds.

Another excellent Spock Hat.

I love Seven’s various IDs. Great style. I wish my driver’s license looked like those.

“Who do you think you are?” He hasn’t decided yet. That’s why he was shifting through his IDs.

Seven is not smart lol. Like, he should have figured out way faster that this lady isn’t one of the Alien Overlords. He asks her the code question, she doesn’t understand it, and he... assumes she’s just really in character? Dude, that’s what the code questions are for!!! To help you identify people! Otherwise you could just straight up ask: are you an alien?

Instead he’s like “oh, you silly alien, you’re playing with me,” and then is forced to trap her, reveal his whole mission, and ultimately ensnare her in his plan.

I want that typewriter. Voice recognition typewriter.

"My incompetence has made you aware of very secret devices." Well at least he knows.

Trained cat!

The alien overlords were killed in a random car accident. That’s ironic.

Oh look, a real rocket!

Brown pants + short sleeved shirt + tie is such a Classic 60s look.

This security guard doesn’t think it’s weird that this random dude has a cat with him? Is this part of Isis’s alien power?

Except for the part where it’s a weapon, it’s pretty cool to see all this build up to, like... launching stuff into space. Exciting.

Isis likes to be on shoulders. Just like Little Guy.

New hat for Spock. His outer wear hat, and now his fancy hat. There is something to be said for this ep, and that is Kirk and Spock in suits.

Amazing how they literally launched rockets with computers that old. Like seeing the big bank of primitive computers is totally wild. We put people on the moon that way! Amazing.

“Meow.” Lol, Isis is stressed so she’s speaking like a cat. That’s a pretty funny joke actually.

Seven is so incompetent. If he’d just let the Enterprise help, Scotty could have fixed that rocket issue in like 3 seconds.

Lol everyone’s just pulling Gary through space. Now on the Enterprise. Now in the office.

Why does this computer have a hug black screen if it only displays images on the small white circle?

"Spock and  I in custody. Main characters, doing nothing, knowing nothing, totally useless and irrelevant. I have never felt more helpless." Literally what is even the point of them today? Does Spock even have lines outside of “I like the cat”?

Isis is jealous of Roberta. Is she.. in a relationship with Seven lol?

Uhura is listening to everyone in the world. She probably has a universal translator on, but I do feel like this scene implies she just...understands all the languages.

So now the warhead is armed and heading to somewhere vague... in other words, everyone has collectively made the situation worse.

....Or this was Seven’s plan all along? To scare people into ceasing to be so careful with nuclear weaponry? As someone who knows humans better than this guy, I think this is a dumbass plan.

“That’s why so many people in my generation are kind of crazy and rebels.” Same, sweetheart.

Really this is just a story about bad communication. If Seven had told Kirk his plan upfront, Kirk would have helped him. And if Kirk weren’t so insistent on involving himself in something just because he happens to be somewhere he probably shouldn’t be, we wouldn’t have this issue either. The hubris of everyone.

Overall, just a really forced narrative imo.

Or that’s how it was supposed to be lol. The Irony of time travel. By it’s nature, everything has already worked out.

Kirk and Spock are like “You’re welcome. Peace out.”

Honestly... Isis was the only good part. Such a talented cat actor!! Or trio of cat actors, I guess. Had to do all those stunts and stuff.. .amazing. I also liked the concept of Isis. How she turned into a human later just to troll Roberta. How she’s never really explained--one must assume, an alien? Plus I pretty much never get tired of human + animal teams where the animal makes animal noises and the human just understands and answers in English.

As a stand alone sci fi concept...it was okay. Kinda dated by now. The alien tech was nifty and Roberta could have grown on me. Maybe even Seven, though he left a lot to be desire. That said, the narrative relied a lot on people getting in each other’s way for no reason, which I find very frustrating.

But as a Star Trek episode....no. The main characters were just nuisances on the side lines!! I’m not even sure what Kirk’s mission here was--to try to figure out what Seven was doing? And stop him if necessary? But he never really decided if it was or not, until the point where not trusting him would basically cause a nuclear war? I don’t know, I found it all very frustrating. The melding of the original show and the spinoff was not smooth.

If I were watching this in 1968, I’d feel very cheated. THIS was the season finale? That’s it? I don’t even get a real Star Trek episode and now I have to wait months for anything new?

And what I get after all that waiting is Spock’s Brain?? I’d be tempted to quit. If I had a tumblr in 1969 I’d be writing multi-paragraph rants about how the best show on television has completely nose-dived lol.

But then there’s The Enterprise Incident, which is one of the best episodes... I don’t know, man. It’s a conundrum. I’ve only seen maybe half of season 3 but from what I remember it’s very uneven: some of the best eps (The Enterprise Incident, For the World Is Hollow, Day of the Dove) mixed in with some of the worst (Spock’s Brain, The Paradise Syndrome), plus some that are good concepts but shoddily executed (The Way to Eden). So we’ll see what I think about it when I see it all in one piece, in air date order.

[razieltwelve]

An Offer (Final Rose x Game of Thrones)

Daenerys paused. There was a musician with a harp in her room. She couldn’t remember asking for a musician, and she doubted her brother would have sent one. Her brother had not been kind to her in a very long time, and she doubted he ever would be again. People often whispered of the madness that lurked in Targaryen blood, and she couldn’t help but wonder how long it had ruled over Viserys.

Was the kind brother she could only vaguely remember nothing more than a figment of her imagination, or had time truly changed him for the worse?

“Who are you?” Daenerys asked. She backed toward the door only to find her path blocked by a pair of men. Their appearances were so ordinary that she couldn’t help but be afraid. Ordinary men were dangerous, for they could strike with impunity and melt back into the crowd. “If I scream, the guards will come for me.”

“The guards,” the musician replied. “Have already been dealt with.” She flicked her wrist, and a knife appeared. She twirled it around with the sort of skill and ease a master craftsman might have used to carve a block of wood. The weapon was a blur of steel, flicking up and around her fingers before settling into her palm. Another flick of her wrist lodged the knife in the door frame, a single lock of Daenery’s hair pinned against the wood. “And if I had wanted you dead, Daenerys, you would be. So sit, and let us have this conversation like civilised women, and perhaps you might even find yourself enjoying the music.”

Daenerys sat.

The young woman - a girl, really, for she could not be that much older than Daenerys herself - began to strum the harp. Despite the situation, Daenerys couldn’t help but appreciate her skill. It was... lovely, a cultured, measured song that called to mind days spent in quiet contemplation by bubbling brooks or whispering shores.

“You have a choice before you, Daenerys,” the girl said. “And depending on what you choose, it may be the last choice you have in a long time.”

“What choice?” Daenerys asked bitterly. “If you are here then you know what my brother wants me to do.” The mere thought of it made her shudder in disgust. The things her brother had said to her... that he would let all forty thousands of the Khal’s men have their way with her if it would secure him an army...

“There is always a choice.” The girl smiled. “Why, you could take that knife in the doorframe there and cut your own throat. If that is a little too difficult, then perhaps you could slit your wrists instead although I recommend going up and following the vein rather than simply cutting across. It tends to work far more quickly, and the last thing you want is someone stopping you.”

Daenerys stared. “What kind of choice is that? I... I don’t want to die! I want to live! I...” Daenerys knew what she wanted, but she had never quite dared to voice the words. Viserys would have beaten her or worse. “I... I want to be free.”

“Free,” the girl replied. “It’s an interesting word. Is anyone truly free? Take your friend the magister. He has wealth and power, yes, but he has obligations. He has things he must do if he wishes to retain his wealth and power. Is he free? More than a slave, perhaps, but truly free? I doubt it.”

“A king is free,” Daenerys retorted. 

“Are you sure?” The girl’s lips twitched. “You brother calls himself a king, and by blood, he may very well be. But does he act free to you?”

Daenerys shook her head. “No.”

“In fact, I’d say that being a king is the precise reason he isn’t free.” The girl chuckled and continued to strum her harp. There was something vaguely disconcerting about the melody now, something that made Daenerys shiver. She thought of turbulent seas and dark waters too deep for anyone to see the bottom. “You’re not stupid, Daenerys. I’m sure you and your bother got offers from wealthy magisters and nobles eager to add your royal blood to theirs. You could have lived a life of comfort and luxury. Your brother wouldn’t be a king, but he wouldn’t need to marry you off to a Dothraki warlord either.”

Daenerys’s fists clenched, and for a moment, she felt a stab of anger so hot and heavy it made it hard for her to think. Viserys liked to talk of sacrifice, but it was she who was always being asked to sacrifice. If his plan worked out, he would be a king, but where would she be? She would be stuck with the Dothraki, treated as little more than a broodmare by some savage warlord. “Then what? What am I supposed to do? You sound like someone who thinks they have all the answers! Well, what is my answer? How can I be free?”

The girl smiled beatifically. “Oh, Daenerys, I thought you’d never ask.” She stopped playing the harp and stood. She was tall for a woman, Daenerys thought, but there was something about her that made her loom larger still. It was the knowing gleam in her eyes. It was the absolutely certainty in her gaze. This was a woman with power. This was a woman who did as she pleased. “Your answer is very simple.”

“What?” Daenerys whispered. She shook herself. “Who are you?”

The woman gestured, and the room around them darkened. For a moment, they were bathed in utter darkness, and the only thing Daenerys could see were the shining eyes of the other woman. Was this magic? She had heard that there were those who used magic in Essos, but she had never met them before.

“I am the person who can set you free, Daenerys. All you have to do is come with me, here and now.”

Daenerys recoiled. “Stop this.” She swallowed thickly. The darkness seemed to be closing in on her. “Please.”

“There is magic in your blood, Daenerys,” the girl said. “I can feel it.” She took a step closer, and Daenerys tried to retreat only to find her feet rooted to the floor. “Your brother calls himself a dragon, but the fire in his blood is weak, little more than embers. There is an inferno raging inside you. I wasn’t sure until I met you, but I can feel it.”

The darkness retreated, and Daenerys looked around frantically. If the men standing behind her had noticed anything odd, neither of them gave any sign of it.

“I...”

“You have a choice, Daenerys, you can come with me, or you can stay here. If you stay, you will wed the Khal, and what happens next... well, I’m sure you’ve had nightmares about what that might be.”

“And if I go with you?”

“If you go with me, I will see you educated. I will see you trained. I will see you made into a woman worthy of the great name you bear. Daenerys Targaryen... the Stormborn, some call you. By the time I’m done with you, they will call you Storm Queen.”

“You offer much,” Daenerys murmured. “But what would you ask in return?”

“Valar morghulis... all men must die.” The girl chuckled. “And all women too. But when I die, I wish to leave a legacy that shall live long after I am gone. You see, I am from Braavos.”

“Braavos?”

“Yes. And if there is a dream we Braavosi have had, it is to wipe out slavery in Essos. You wish to be free? We Braavosi wish for everyone to be free. If you go with me, then you must swear on your life and all that you hold dear that you will do everything in your power to aid me in this quest.”

“What could I possibly do to help you?” Daenerys asked.

“You’d be surprised.” The woman flicked her wrist, and the space beside her shimmered. There, settled upon a trio of velvet cushions, were three dragons eggs. “The dragons are dead, or so I’ve heard, but magic has returned... and perhaps, just perhaps, the dragons might not be dead forever.”

Daenerys stared at the dragon eggs. Something called out to her, a tug on her very soul. “I...”

“If you wish to be free, Daenerys, then you must be willing to make the choices that come with that freedom. A free woman chooses her fate, so you must choose yours.” The girl extended her hand. “Come with me, Daenerys. They call your brother the Beggar King. One day, perhaps, with the right training and support, they will call you the Breaker of Chains, the one who brought fire and ruin... but not to enslave, no, to free.”

“Did you see that with your magic?” Daenerys whispered. “Have you seen my future?”

“There is no future but the one we make,” the girl replied. “So... stay or go, Daenerys?”

“I...” Daenerys reached out and took the girl’s hand. “I will go with you.”

The girl smiled. “I’m so glad you chose wisely.”

X     X     X

Alera, the girl who had once been Jahne, was not surprised that Daenerys had practically collapsed after being smuggled onto her ship. The poor girl was utterly exhausted emotionally, and Alera had no doubt that she would have to spend the next several months at least dealing with all of the various problems that Daenerys had developed over the years. There had long been rumours about the madness of the Targaryen bloodline, but after closely studying their history, Alera was willing to bet that it had more to do with the absolutely horrific way most of them were raised.

Good grief. Targaryen parenting was awful.

Still, with the city in a state of disarray as the magisters searched frantically for Daenerys, Alera still had one last loose end to tie up. After all, having the second-last Targaryen wouldn’t be nearly as good as having the very last Targaryen.

She had brought her more... gentle associates to the meeting with Daenerys, men who radiated quiet menace rather than the sort of pure, undiluted malice some of her other associates were capable of. However, those were the ones she’d brought to this particular meeting.

“You know,” she drawled as one of her men drove a meaty fist into Viserys’s gut. “If you’d been any less stupid this wouldn’t have worked. Honestly, what sort of fool gets an anonymous message claiming to have found Daenerys and then charges off to the meeting point without bringing any backup.”

“A fool, my lady,” Tereno replied. Despite his towering size, the man was sharp and cunning. She’d saved him from the hangman’s noose, and he’d sworn his life to her. Naturally, she made sure to keep him well rewarded. Amongst his many, many skills, Tereno was a master of beating a man until he wished he was dead without actually killing him. 

“Indeed.” Alera waited until Viserys had dragged in some air before nodding at Tereno. Another punch folded him over again, and Alera shook her head. “Such a waste. Now, if I had been born an exiled Targaryen prince, you can be sure that nobody would be calling me a Beggar King.”

“I am no Beggar King!” Viserys growled, somehow finding the air to speak. It was almost admirable. “I am the rightful King of Westeros! The people clamour for my return!”

“The only thing they clamour for,” Alera replied. “Is Robert Baratheon’s favour. After your family’s disastrous rule, Robert has proven to be quite a good king, or so I’ve heard. The small folk praise his name, and revel in the prosperity his reign has brought. Besides...” Her lips curled. “What sort of king finds himself being beaten along the docks in the middle of the night?”

Viserys reared back to spit, and she calmly nodded at Tereno. Another punch folded him over again, and she heard him curse as the sudden impact had him biting his tongue.

“I do hope you didn’t bite your tongue too badly. It would be shame for you to go that way. I mean... your end isn’t exactly going to be the stuff of legends, but it will still be a good deal less ignominious that simply biting your tongue off.”

“What?” Viserys groaned. “You can’t! You can’t kill me! I am the rightful King of Westeros! I am a dragon! I will -”

“You know,” Alera said as another nod brought another punch. “You’re not very bright. Most people would have learned that speaking out of turn gets them a punch in the gut.” She glanced at Tereno. “I’m making you work quite hard tonight, it seems, old friend.”

The brawny man chuckled. “You also pay me very well. I’m not afraid to earn my keep.” The others laughed. Behind her, and slightly to her right, Velena gave a throaty chuckle. The assassin was an absolute master of using her looks to her advantage, and there were few who could match her expertise in stealth, poisons, and daggers. It was Velena who had lingered here, catching Viserys’s eye just enough that he never noticed Tereno closing in on him until it was too late. “Shall I keep hitting him?”

“No.” Alera smiled. “Now, do you think you can keep quiet?”

Viserys looked as if he wanted to say something, but a scowl from Tereno had him nodding quickly.

“Ah, very good. It seems you are capable of learning.” Alera rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “You see, Viserys, you’re something of a problem for me. For all that you’ve treated her horribly, there is a part of Daenerys that still loves you as her brother. It would be most inconvenient for me to spend so much time and effort training her only for you to return and mess everything up. Moreover... are you familiar with the concept of supply and demand?”

Viserys shook his head.

“In simple terms, Viserys, if people want something, then they’ve got to pay for it. But the more of that something there is, the less they have to pay. All things being equal greater supply lowers the value of something. But if everyone wants something and there is hardly any of it, well, in that case, the value of that something increases dramatically.” Alera’s warm smile turned cold. “Targaryens are in high demand, Viserys. Every city and noble in Essos would like to have one. That’s the only reason you’re not out on the street like the beggar you are. But supply... now that’s a tricky one. If there are two Targaryens left, then the one I’ve got - and yes, I’ve got your sister - is less valuable.”

His eyes widened in sudden horror as he put the pieces together. 

“Ah, yes. You see. Oh well. If only you’d used that brain of yours earlier, we might not be standing here.” She grinned. “Imagine how valuable your sister will be if she truly is the last Targaryen.”

“You can’t do this!” he blurted. “I... I’ll pay you!”

“With what?”

“I... when I become king!”

“The only thing you’ll be ruling will be the bottom of the harbour.” She nodded at the others. “Help our friend here put on his new shoes.”

As Viserys writhed against Tereno’s steely grip. The others attached thick, weighty metal shackles onto his legs. The moment they released him, the chains clanked onto the ground with a heavy, ominous thud. Combined with the block of stone they were attached to, Viserys was looking at an extra hundred pounds or more of weight.

“They say that fire cannot kill a dragon,” Alera said as Tereno dragged him toward the water’s edge. “But it was also said that in days long gone, the water wizards of the Rhoyne drowned the dragons in its waters.” She smirked. “I’m not water wizard and this isn’t the Rhoyne, but I’m sure you can see the similarities.”

“No!” Viserys screamed. “No -”

Whatever else he might have said was drowned out by the splash he made when Alera kicked him into the water, the shackles dragging the block of stone in after him. She leaned over the edge and watched him sink toward the bottom, flailing and screaming, before she slowly counted to a hundred just to make sure. When he failed to miraculously return to the surface, she shrugged.

“I don’t know if fire can kill a dragon, but it seems like water can.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Good, old Alera (Jahne) turning that charisma stat up to eleven. This Daenerys is still young and relatively easily influenced. That’s why Alera tells her the truth, more or less, about what she wants to do with her. As she will later say to Daenerys: ‘I may not tell you everything and I may even twist things a little, but I will never outright lie to you.’

Being capable of ‘magic’, Alera can sense the growing strength of magic, and she has done enough research to know what that might mean. Once she heard about the dragon eggs, she knew that she could no longer simply observe (she had travelled to Pentos in disguise to get a better idea of what was going on). This was her best chance to secure both the eggs and Daenerys’s loyalty.

Of course, she also had to deal with Viserys. No loose ends, and all that. If Danaerys ever asks, she’ll simply tell her that Viserys drowned while searching for her. It’s the truth, albeit not the whole truth. 

And to everyone else, it will seem as though Daenerys has simply vanished. By the time she arrives in Braavos, she will have a disguise and a backstory, so that Alera can continue to teach her without anyone asking any unneeded questions.

As for the people Alera brought, you’ll see more of them. She does need minions to help carry out her plans, so she’s been very careful to choose only the best, brightest, and most loyal.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

[eyesofsteelandsky]

Too Good To Pass Up

First in a series of story posts related to an on-going effort to restore Brem’s eye. Includes violence and blood. Future stories will have a LOT more of both.

The crunch of sand under the heavy, pacing bootfalls had almost withered its way into being as much white noise as the occasional lapping of the mild tide in the long stretch of waiting. Several well-worn lines and circular trails around the heavy crate she had been watching over marked Brem’s impatient path. Even with the more frequent visits and having been in the area for the better part of a week now, the East’s winds and seas didn’t bring that same feeling of home as the sandy beaches of La Noscea. As she was settling into the internal debate if they were the comforts of a stranger, or simply she was the stranger in someone else’s comforts, a familiar pudgy figure called out from the tunnel into the small cove.

“Miss Abylnpfefwyb! I’m so glad to see you learned punctuality since our first meeting! And I do see you came alone as well. Were it that everyone in our business that could take instruction so well.” The bespeckled Hingashi hyur made his way forward from that cave passage, waving at those behind him to start filtering in. An entourage including a handful of muscle, some set with swords on their hips and others with long rifles. The last threw were a pair escorting a thinly, if particularly tall woman in cuffs. Though the woman’s long hair hung over most of her face, there were still clearly a few bruises over the visible portions of her cheeks. “I do believe you’ll find that the merchandise is exactly what you asked for. I do hope my.. adjustment in payment wasn’t too demanding.”

“I wouldn’t want you walking away from this thinking I didn’t respect you, Kubo. Like the obvious respect your rather extensive negotiation assistants clearly represents for me.” One of the sea wolf’s gloved hands grips the front of the crate she had been pacing around for so long, letting it crash forward firmly enough to erase much of her trail from the sand. A faint blue glow illuminates the machinery with, as well as the pair of tanks at the back end. “One Garlean magitek engine and enough ceruleum to get any prospective magitek business’s R&D going. Though as far as I can tell what you’ve brought is a tall woman with a black eye..” The Hingan man’s smile stretched so broad it threatened to chase his hairline even further into retreat as he snapped his fingers to have the captive brought forward. Once the muscled pair had her close enough to present they forced her to hunch forward so Kubo could raise his hand to push her hair up and out of the way, revealing the Garlean third eye in her forehead. “I believe you’ll find she has two entirely untouched eyes, even if the one looks more like a clam spit it into her head. “May I present Fulcinia lux Protus. Or is the ‘lux’ reserved for those who aren’t traitors to the empire? Ijin naming habits are so hard to keep track of..” The woman in question turns the eye that isn’t swollen shut or in the middle of her forehead out Brem’s way, but it’s clear any desire to resist had already been beaten out of her.

“Looks like short of tossing an Allagan puzzle for her to solve at your feet, I’ll have to take your word on it. I -am- rather disappointed that you’re asking full price for damaged goods.” Several heavy strides draw her pointedly away from the crated engine, with one hand waved back towards the man’s payment. “Though seeing as I can’t imagine paying with most of an engine is going to work, perhaps you’ll consider a friendly discount the next time we do business?”

“Oh, of course, of course. We’ll take a bit right off the top next time, as a show of good faith. The man’s smile lingers on as he snaps his fingers again and the Garlean woman was drug over Brem’s way, with one of the burly xaela men escorting her offering the chains of the woman’s cuffs forward. “Though there is one thing I should mention, I suppose..”

“While I do so greatly appreciate the business you’ve brought me today, Miss Abylnpfefwyb, you do have to know the value of what we have here in this bay. A woman who’s made a fortune blowing Garleans out of the sky, here with a traitor and and a salvaged ship engine. Do you have any idea how much that trio of treasure would be worth, even to a fractured empire?” Kubo raised his hands and gave a loud clap, leading to several fully armored Garlean soldiers to pour through the cave tunnel into the cove, as well as the magitek whirr of several armors, predators, and vanguards activating and stepping up from the rocky ridge, and several of the true constructs walking up out of the hiding places within the waters behind the sea wolf. “And I’m afraid if I have to choose between long term business partners with an army, or a bitchy sky pirate with a superiority complex, it’s not so hard a choice. Now then, you can come peacefully or we these fine imperials can take home the obsidian we can blast you into. Your choice.”

Her fingers curl around the chain she was holding, drawing that single teal eye up from the woman she was here for to the shit-eating grin being beamed down at her by the triumphant hyur. “It’s a good trap, well sprung Kubo. Even I know better to take on everything you’ve brought with you by myself. So there’s not really any choice is there? Though I must say..” The warm leather her hand was bound in subtly tightens it’s grips over Fulcinia’s bindings once more. “There’s an important talent in our kind of negotiations. The ability to recognize the look in someone’s eye when they’ve decided to piss on a good thing. And you, Kubo, don’t hide that look well.”

Though his expression soured briefly as she spoke, eventually a laugh burst from the Hingan’s chest, waving both arms out at the overwhelming force he’d brought along with him. “And what good has that ‘talent’ brought you, pirate cunt? You’ll leave here chained like her and I’ll be spending my imperial coin before the day is done!”

“The thing is, those who don’t hide it well usually don’t know to look for it themselves.” A swift yank sent the bound Garlean flying past her to land face-first into the sand as aether went ripping around the pale pirate’s other hand, eventually forming a spear that went flying towards the engine and it’s crate, landing in a pipe that fed the ceruleum tanks into the engine. Immediately after she flung herself on top of Fulcinia and immediately forcing the aether around her into plate after plate to drop onto the pair. 

A few stray rounds from Kubo’s riflemen made it past the initial defense, one even tore into the roegadyn’s shoulder, but as she’s finishing the cocoon of protection the magical spear she’d flung erupts into flame, rushing into the pair of tanks. There’s a brief hiss of build up before the engine and its fuel supply violently burst, catching the swordsmen rushing forward in the explosion while the concussive wave slams into the rest of the crowd within the enclosed cove, knocking a few unconscious outright while others are simply sent flying backwards onto the ground. 

With the signal sent and received, the roar of an airship’s engine announces the presence of the pirate’s vessel only moments before it rose into view from its hiding place among several several sea vessels. The First Mate was already shouting the command to fire as the heavy Garlean machinery on the ridge tries to whip around and chase the mobile arial target, catching each in a steady stream of cannon fire. Shouts of retreat from both Kobu’s men and their Garlean cohorts sounded almost immediately, though it wasn’t slowing the fire from the ship above.

Though the heavy aether around them distorted the sound, the shift in the battle, it was enough to get Brem to drop the spell and yank the chained Garlean up with her. “You want out of this alive? You come with me.” The intensity of her rushed words, half of a metal face, and the battle raging yalms away was enough to get a bobbly-headed nod from the shell-shocked woman as the pair rushed past the burning wreckage of the engine crate. With one arm wrapped around Fulcinia’s core as best she could manage, the roegadyn flung the other upward with another ripple of aether, launching the familiar shape of a frog tongue up to an anchor built onto the side of her ship. As soon as the magical shape tried to pull back, the anchor itself whirred to life and instead yanked back with equal force so that the sea wolf and her ‘cargo’ were hauled rapidly skyward, tumbling out onto the main deck of her airship.

“Welcome aboard, Cap’n! Orders?” The bright faced First Mate flashed that energetic and occasionally frustrating grin down to the bleeding pile of roegadyn.

There’s a snarl as she hauled herself up to her feet, motioning down to Fulcinia. “Get her below deck, keep someone with her and get that eye looked at.” Stalking over to the weapon rack on a nearby wall she yanked a long rifle free, stepping to the edge of the deck to raise it. Aiming one-eyed always had it’s challenges, but hours of practice and a burning pit of fury in her stomach steadied her hand. One loud crack of gunpowder and the paunchiest of the figure’s fleeing the beach collapsed just short of the tunnel out, blood flowing readily from the freshly formed hole in his throat. “Get us the fuck out of her. Once she’s cleaned up, me and my ‘guest’ are takin’ the ‘cutter. You need to get the ship back to home port before the Garleans start swarmin’.”

[anxresi]

Amity’s Amends

Story: After the events of 'Understanding Willow', Amity knows she has a lot to make up for. And she'll start tonight, right in front of four people who have been the bane of her existence for too long. Get ready for a roasting, s'mores optional.

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

Amity Blight arrived home that night after her adventure inside Willow’s head, full of more hope and determination for the future than she ever felt possible.

Her initial skepticism of the Earthling Luz Noceda had long since disappeared, and now the two could honestly even describe themselves as good friends. Maybe even more, if the way I blush whenever she hugs me is anything to go by. Just like my favorite ships in those Azura books we both like...

The young witch quickly dispelled all thoughts of frivolous romance from her head, using the same methodology she would dispel one of her enchantments if it got out of control. That’s for the future, if it happens at all. Right now I have other stuff to take care of…

She burst through the front door, half-expecting her strict parents to meet her there with the standard ‘where do you think you’re been?’ or ‘your darling brother and sister would never stay out this late’.

Whereas she dreaded such searching questions before, now an odd mixture of defiance and resilience made her itch to hear them, just so she could show off her new steadfast attitude.

Alas, there was no Mr and Mrs Blight in sight. They’d taken the night off (again) to mingle with the VIPs their family relied on for its ‘prestigious’ reputation, so her long-awaited confrontation with them was just gonna have to wait until later. Goodie. Gives me something to look forward to.

In the front room however, were two other people Amity wanted to put straight on a few things… along with a couple of surprise guests. Erica and Edmira Blight, her ‘dear’ siblings, sat on the couch with her so-called best friends, Boscha and Skara. They seemed deep in conversation, but the intense chat soon faded to a whisper the moment Amity strolled through the door.

“ Mittens!!” Edric was the first to greet his little sister, grabbing her by the shoulder to give her a light noogie. “We were wondering where you got to! I was just about to send out a search party… or at least, borrow mom’s crystal ball to track you down.”

“Great to see you, sis!” Emira smirked at Amity in a non-too genial way. “And look who’s here too! Your besties, Boscha and Skara. They came over because they tell me they’ve been worried about you lately… and I must say, me and Edric have been as well. So think of what you’re about to hear as an ‘intervention’, if you like.”

“Amity, you’ve changed! You don’t insult the other losers with us the way you used to, you don’t let us tell you how to dress, and we’ve even caught you hanging out with that Earth creature!” Skara stared at Amity unblinkingly, as if unwilling to let Luz’s dreadful name pass her lips.

“Yeah, exactly! And after all the bad stuff you said about Willow, I can’t believe you defended her today! Almost like you were... friends or something, but of course that can’t be the case.” Boscha sniggered to herself, like the mere notion was just impossible.

Amity listened to all this ‘selfless’ advice until it was over, with her arms firmly crossed and her left foot tapping on the plush carpet. “So, you’re all here today out of the goodness of your hearts, to tell me I’m hanging with the wrong crowd and I should act more like everyone else here?”

“Yeah, Mittens. I mean, we love Luz and all but…” Edric gave his opinion, hesitantly.

“...She’s just not right for you. She’s lucked out so far in her spell training, but when she crashes and burns she’ll take you down with her. Not a pretty sight.” Emira was a bit more forthright than her twin brother.

“Plus, she’s always with Willow. Ugh , instant popularity killer.” Boscha put her finger in her open mouth to illustrate her point.

“Also, what’s that other kid’s name? ‘Gas’, or something? He’s as much of a geek as the others, always going on about Earth stuff. If he likes it ssssoooo much, why doesn’t he just move there? And take those other two freaks with him?” Skara chortled at her joke, obviously thinking she’d said something hilarious.

Amity heard all this rudeness and bile aimed at her newest pals with the patience of a saint, but finally she could take no more. “ Excuse me , but his name happens to be ‘Gus’. Him and Luz are two of the nicest people I’ve met, so if you think I’m going to let you talk that way about them around me you’ve got another thing coming. If everyone in the Demon Realm was as stuck-up and conceited as you and Boscha are, believe me… I’d be on the first broomstick out of here with them! Now, what else was I going to say…”

Amity’s siblings and ‘friends’ sat there open-mouthed, unused to hearing such backtalk from someone usually so compliant, but she wasn’t finished yet. Not by a long shot. “Oh, yes. Sorry Skara, I am unable to attend your 15th birthday celebrations because of a prior… wait, I don’t have any pressing engagements. It’s just that you’re a total bitch, who I no longer want to be associated with. I set your butterfly free, too. Never mind, I’m sure there are loads of other brainless bullies out there you can hang around with, to make your fragile ego feel better about itself! Which brings me neatly to…”

If Boscha thought her obnoxious snickering was going to win her any brownie points from Amity, she was very much mistaken. “...You. I don’t know what you’re finding so funny Boscha, in many ways you’re twice as bad as Skara. You lead, her and me follow. At least, that’s the way it used to be. I hope you’re happy with this trio becoming a duo, because I am through . As for what you said about Willow, strange you should mention that as we were besties once, before I messed it all up. Now I’m trying to make up for it, by apologising a lot, attempting to be a better person and getting away from two horrible girls I only hung around with because my parents made me…”

To this last statement she gave a meaningful look at her quaking ex-pals on her couch. “...And I wonder who they could be.”

She turned around without missing a beat to her equally nonplussed siblings sitting nearby, but addressed them in slightly less harsh tones than the previous pair. “ Edric, Emira… you know I love you both dearly, even if your childish pranks do sometimes leave me wondering if you really are the older, more ‘mature’ brother and sister you claim to be. But please, stop trying to ‘encourage’ me by subtly putting me down. It’s not helpful, it’s just dispiriting. And please stop calling me ‘Mittens’. That was cute when I was a baby and couldn’t put my gloves on, now it’s just irritating and makes me think you don’t respect me. Lastly, you’ll be glad to know that by tomorrow, you’ll both stand out a lot more. I’m washing the green out of my hair! Brown is so much more my color, dontcha think?!”

At this juncture, and with everyone around her completely shut down by her searing outburst, Amity stretched and gave out a fake yawn. “Anyway… early start in the morning. You know how it is: the pressures of being top student never go away. Well, see you tomorrow brother, sister… and as for you other two, see you never . Ta-ta!”

She then made her way upstairs with a noticeable spring in her step, the only things on her mind being to work hard to achieve all her goals in life, being the best friend she could be to Willow to make up for years of neglect…

And the way her cheeks flushed whenever a certain Earth girl held her real close.

Oops. Here we go again.

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

Well, what do you think? I know this is very unlikely to happen... after all, they do have a lot of episodes to pad out. But hopefully, now that Amity understands how some of the more toxic influences in her life have been allowed to shape her, she can start confronting them and making her own decisions.Also, it's so obvious her and Luz are a future ship. Fight me if you disagree... kidding. ;)

[safestsephiroth]

#12: Tooth and Nail - Ebony Wae (FFXIVWrite2020)

More information on FFXIVWrite can be found here: https://sea-wolf-coast-to-coast.tumblr.com/tagged/ffxivwrite2020+prompt+list

-

Behemoths were, by their nature, both a rarity and an enormous threat. The necessity of eradicating the potential spawn of Bahamut was not lost on Ebony Wae, who, given the choice, would have waited for them to grow to full size so that the fight would be more fair. What was the fun in fighting what amounted to a feral teenager?

Her armor shone in the Coerthan sunlight, stark ebon-black and silver filigree sticking out amidst the snowfall. True, this one didn't directly threaten Ul'dah. But she could not trust the denizens of Ishgard to shut down such a thing before it did. A trio of attendants kept their distance - a Keeper conjurer hire-on and an Elezen archer picked up in Gridania, a Highlander pugilist from the Guild in Ul'dah.

"It's freezing," the pugilist moaned. His skin was tinged red under the harness he wore. His bare chest fared poorly matched against the Coerthan chill.

"Then run in place." Ebony's battle-chocobo towered over those of her companions. "All you need do is clean up. The bulk of the work I will do myself."

"No doubt," the archer muttered. His bow, he had sworn, was passed down through generations. Ebony suspected it was simply old and, therefore, cheap.

"I still think we should have brought more with us," the conjurer added. She had eagerly accepted Ebony's job offer and had only found out, after the contract was sealed, that they were hunting a Behemoth. The eagerness died there, and hadn't come back since.

"That will be unnecessary. The only reason I hired you lot was to create commerce, to please Nald."

"Right. Right..."

The opening of the beast's den was obvious. Ebony dismounted not far from it. Pulled a horn from her side. The merchant had told her this warhorn would summon the beast. Fighting it inside its own lair would be far more dangerous than choosing this ground.

A falling rock from the sky may well collapse a cave.

"Prepare yourselves."

The Gridanians groaned in unison, dismounting. The pugilist hopped from his bird, and blew on his hands before drawing his hora. "Finally. Let's hurry up."

"It's none of our faults you didn't bring a coat," Ebony pointed out.

"It's just my way not to."

"You've never seen snow before, have you." Ebony's voice was as dry as the Sagolii.

"...No."

"It's colder than a desert night."

"Yeah, I'd noticed."

"Coats are cheaper in Ul'dah than in Coerthas, because the demand is much higher, but with ongoing reconstruction supply is also lower proportionally, since many are shipped in from the Weaver's Guild now."

"Blow the damned horn."

"We must pray to Nald'thal first."

"Oh Gods."

"No, that's not how we start a prayer." Ebony cleared her throat. Held her right hand to an icon of Nald'thal emblazoned across her armor. "Cherished Nald, hear my call! Your beloved follower in profit and business asks: please bless us with financial gain on this venture, and ensure our dealings fall in line with Your expectations."

The conjurer opened her mouth, and was silenced with a look from Ebony, who then continued: "Beloved Thal, I ask, please grant this beast we face the death it deserves, and pass Your judgment on whether we deserve to join You now or in the future."

"That's... not any prayer I've heard..." The archer mumbled.

"SILENCE!" Ebony pointed. "I'm talking to Nald'thal!"

"Sorry, Your Highness." His eyes rolled.

"Your apology is accepted this once." Ebony cleared her throat once again. "Beloved Traders, please bless this hunt, which I carry out in Your names."

Silence fell over the Coerthan valley, as the wind died down. Clouds drifted past the sun, dimming the harsh glare across the fresh snow.

"See? Nald'thal has blessed our hunt. We cannot fail."

"Just a coincidence," the archer mumbled again. "There's no godsdamned way she can control the weather."

"Faith is our shield." Ebony pulled the oversized two-handed sword from her back. "And I am our sword. Let us begin." She hefted it over one shoulder, balancing it with one hand, and blew the horn.

An odd, echoing, rumbling cry filled the valley.

One which was matched from within the cave.

At breakneck pace, a wild-eyed Behemoth burst out of the cave, at least two tonze of pure muscle. Ebony grinned. The pugilist balked. The archer nocked an arrow.

"Shit." The conjurer stepped /well/ back, readying her wand.

Ebony sprinted, full-pace, towards the Behemoth, leaping through the air to slam her sword straight into its face. It leaped towards her in kind, the two colliding mid-air. An arcane shield formed around her the instant before the collision, and she was knocked back some ten fulms, blood fresh on her blade. The Behemoth was now one-eyed and furious.

An arrow limply connected with its mane, tangling in the fur. The lack of blood from the shot infuriated Ebony, whose rage fueled her power further. She threw her arm out, flinging an ominous ball of energy at the beast. It exploded at the Behemoth's side, the smell of scorched fur filling the air. It charged her, and the pugilist leaped forward, slamming his hora into its side. The beast roared again at the impact. It turned mid-charge, skidding to a halt through the snow, eye focusing hard on the pugilist. Ebony's sword carved a gash across its back.

"I am the threat, beast. Focus on me!"

She was hauling back for another mighty swing when it turned, sweeping its hand and knocking her aside. The weight of the impact flung her through the snow. She reveled in it.

"Twelve alive," the conjurer muttered, channeling a Cure spell. She stepped back even further before flinging it at Ebony, who was already climbing back to her feet.

"I'm not finished yet, you meaty bastard!"

The pugilist backed off as the Behemoth turned to face Ebony once more. The man was narrowly able to dodge as its tail swept at him, clouds of breath in front of his face.

Another arrow limply bounced off the Behemoth's skin.

"This is bad," the archer observed. "We should leave this to the Ishgardians."

"COWARDICE IS INTOLERABLE!" The Behemoth leaped towards Ebony, jaws wide, fangs clamping down on her sword, held before her with both arms bracing the blade. "ATTACK ITS RIBS, THEY'VE BEEN SOFTENED UP!"

A soft /whump/ as another arrow connected.

"DAMN YOU, YOU SAD EXCUSE FOR AN ARCHER!"

The pugilist's arm SLAMMED into the beast's side, and it reeled, hot breath washing over Ebony. She yanked her sword back, cutting across its mouth as it turned at the pugilist, before bringing her blade down into its neck. The beast swiped at her, claws slamming straight into her armor and knocking her back into the rocks, before falling limp, its blood spilling onto the snow. The body twitched a few times.

A slow, soothing pulse across her body. Ebony straightened herself up as the cracks in her ribs mended.

"I don't know what that armor's made of, but it's saved your life at least twice."

"The Wae Family accepts nothing less than the best." She looked between the trio. "When it comes to our armaments, at least. Good work, everyone. Now let's get this body back for the bounty."

The head adorned her bedroom wall, for a short time, before being moved to her trophy room. A mysterious decision, whose timing coincided with a private visit from a particular blonde woman.

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for legacies 3x13: I’ll try to put the point chronologically

1. When Kaleb blew the candle, I’m so confused because the first thing that comes to my head is: he’s blowing that because is daytime, but why put it so far from Cleo? Why use a candle when you have electricity? And apparently I’m a fool, because that’s how the confinement spell works duh! I only recalled that when Alaric blew it in the end. I’m so dumb lol.

2. I love that Kaleb is the first to seek Cleo out, wanted answers and ready to accept them. When he tries to comfort Cleo in her memories, that’s me too! But apparently being the badass she is, she immediately come up with the idea of replacing her grandma to go with Malivore.

3. Poor Cleo! My heart sores when it started with a little girl, just like with Finch. She’s a hero! She’s so brave! She’s a queen! And weirdly she likes frogs(or toads?) very much. I wonder why. And although she tried to kill Hope last episode, I never see her as a villain. Never for a second. Instead I’m impressed. Tbh I didn’t understand why she is always playing with clay/mud since the beginning of this episode. But after her backstory, I just feel sad and proud at the same time. Sad because it’s shaped from her painful time of enslavement. Proud because she’s using the thing she learned from it against Malivore as her weapon despite the painfulness. I remember she talked about her sister dying, but nothing about that occurs in the memories. Did she lie before or it’s just another thing that the writers forgot?

4. ‘Jonch’ is horrible! I prefer Finsie as the ship name. Why is their moment always so cringy? I get this second embarrassment from them a lot, mostly from Josie tho. I always felt there’s something lacking in Finsie, just like what I felt when Handon started it’s kind of sudden. Maybe because of my perception, I really didn’t know why Josie think Finch is hot. I have to learn how to appreciate her beauty. But goof news, I actually appreciated Finsie first kiss, because I see why they haven’t kiss before, and why they finally kiss. It’s cute and the sparkling, haha. Tbh I start to appreciate Finch’s beauty from the kissing scene angle. But this episode, again, I still feel cringy in most of the Finsie scenes. I have to put my palm on my head. Anyway, I enjoy the “girlfriend” scene tho, like Finsie starting to grow on me(again, the first time is their first kiss, hopefully no more cringy afterwards). It’s really good to see Josie happy. Btw, since Finch decided to enrol, will she be the new alpha now that she defeated Jed? That’s good for her, she finally has a pack and no longer lonely.

5. Along with Finsie scenes, does anyone realise there’s actually other students there? And there are actually other witches at the school?? I remembered that there’s like only four witches? Because Josie was the only witch at the school when Berbelang!Hope happened? Annnndddd! To that! Does anyone remember there’s this girl Gaby/Gabby? She’s also a witch, and she loves dnd like Wade? They can’t tease us with Penelope using her then just let her disappear?

6. Oh great there’s actually other wolves at the school. I’m starting to think Jed is the only wolf left (of course there’s Hope, but she’s tribrid). As much as I enjoy Finch being badass that she can stand beside Josie, I felt so sorry for Jed and his actor. He’s been there for 3 seasons and yet Finch get a backstory before him. He has none! The actor is great, look at the siren episode! He hardly gets any decent lines and scenes now. Instead, they make him looked useless, hard to be respectable. Like anyone can just harm his alpha reputation. Justice for Jed please. Oh and the fact that Finch got a backstory before Kaleb too? It’s unacceptable. They deserve more. Jed doesn’t even have a last name, my god! Anyway that doesn’t change the fact that I want to hug baby Finch so much bc she’s adorable!

7. With MG gone, Kaleb looks like the only vampire left in the school. I miss MG. What about Ethan?

8. Josie and Cleo finally met! I’m glad that she’s learned something from her too. I think it’s true that other kids never felt as easy as Josie at the school. They finally addressed it.

9. I’m frustrated that Hope never wanted answers from Cleo. The only friend that helped her grieve. But hey maybe she’s too hurt to be able to bear Cleo in her sight. But then again there’s the Landon problem, so she’s off with Landon again. Only taking to Landon the whole episode, being the only one that only talk to one person in the whole episode. Feel bad for her about this. Poor Hope.

10. I really feel bad for Landon, because there’s a lot of hardships to make him like that. Someone please give him hugs and a therapist. The show is doing a full cycle by stating what he’d done is just like what Hope did when she returned from Malivore. I understand why he kept himself away, but weirdly, the way the let those words out, it feels like he wants to get back at Hope when I think he wanted Hope’s understanding. Maybe he wanted both?

12. Someone told me that every 13th episode is the episode where Landon’s power are explored. I kind of agree with it now. Because he’s finally having the fighting skills that he’s longing now. Finally he can achieve his desires to physically fight alongside Hope. For what though, I don’t know, because in the case of supercorp, Lena never needed it physically to be Supergirl’s partner in saving the world, or of course to protect Kara. Glad for him, anyway, bc that’s what’s he wants. And the blow to the head? It’s awesome.

11. I can’t believe Landon is blaming Hope for not coming to save him sooner?! What the hell? What happened to “I’m going to be the one that always fight to find Hope”, idk whether I quoted it precisely, but the meaning is there. I am furious. Is this some sick drama that the show wants Landon to think that Hope was not coming to him because she had a perfect version of him?? That aside, when I see that Handon is going to fight together physically, I actually think the scene is good and they will overcome the blaming thing, and going to be a power couple. Just when I have that thought, Landon have to fucking throw the artifact towards Malivore(whether it is Malivore I’ll discuss afterwards, it’s contradictory)!! That’s such a stupid move! Where’s your brain? And it’s broken, oh god. And the show have to show Hope being so weak during the fight. I mean why? She’s a badass, why do they have to make her weak to glorify Landon?? They made her look useless. These things just really kill the budding Handon spirit in me. The show really knows how to make people resent Handon and Landon. Just please change the show name.

12. Anyway to be fair, Landon do care for Hope and do love her. Before, though I don’t think they are endgame quality, I think that if they do improve, Handon endgame is tolerable, acceptable. But now, I’m not so sure of that anymore. Other than the above mentioned points, Landon did leave Hope for a solid third time. Why the show have to establish that for Handon when their fans desperately defended Landon that he wasn’t always leaving. I mean I’ve seen Handon shippers fought really hard against the “Landon is always leaving Hope” argument. What a way to make a couple being endgame. In Chinese proverbs, there’s a thing for a third time. Like the three strikes law, I think? It says not to do anything or tolerate anything undesirable that has happened more than three times. So please do not make Handon together ever again. It’s an insult to Hope too.

13. To see it differently, poor Hope will finally have time out of Landon to think of herself and her future. We need to see her having her own storyline. So maybe we can see Hosie eventually? Sorry Finsie for anticipating your break up in the future. But please enjoy yourselves when Hope grows on her own, because Josie deserves a decent relationship on screen too. Hosie didn’t interact this episode, I’m sad.

14. I just can’t help but wonder why Alaric oversee the artifact being destroyed so easily. And when Josie introduces Finch, she deserves a decent conversation with the headmaster, really. Oh he’s an adult, be a responsible and respectable one, especially you’re Josie dad. Help her with her impression with her crush. Alaric really need help, we need another adult figure. It’s okay that’s not Caroline.

15. I kind of thinking that Landon and Cleo are shippable too when I know that they are leaving at the same time. Cleo being the sole reason to Landon existence is one of the reasons to ship them. She’s the one that tell Malivore he can make vessels and create legacy, that leads to Landon existing. Not to mention she did literally made Golem Landon by hand (we all know the thing that Hope made doesn’t have a body, so Cleo must have made his torso and limps right). Or maybe we prefer wandon endgame? Wade is precious too, he’s the one that point out Landon is not himself.

16. I’m so confused by this episode Malivore. I thought Cleo trapped him inside that monster Handon defeated this episode. But if it was trapped this long? How did the pit, Clarke and Landon even exist? Did Malivore escape from it?? It must have escaped.

17. In the promo for the next episode, we’re seeing Lizzie and Hosie interaction! I’m excited! I think maybe Josie will be the one that bring Hope out of the cult’s enchantment. What will happen? Maybe they will realise something or develop something towards each other? Anything hosie that MAKE SENSE please. Oh and Hizzie friendship/banters, and Lizzie suddenly being and “angel” will be so fun to watch. Finally, the trio!

18. I know it’s irrelevant but since I mentioned Clarke, I miss Holarke. I have some shippable thoughts about Finch and Penelope too. P is the she-devil in good girl attire; F looks like a bad girl but she’s good hearted. They are both fiery, imagine what they’ll be like when they’re together, erupting volcanoes?

19. Applause to Aria’s acting skill, this is like the eleventh role he’s played in legacies? Original Landon, Hope’s (subconscious) Landon, Landon’s (subconscious) Landon, Josie’s SimuLandon, Hope’s therapy Landon, Malivore Landon, golem Landon, ptsd Landon, oni-possessed Landon, golem Landon micmicking Necromancer, Clarke-Landon. Keep up the good work!

[santalsaburablog]

Adventures of Santal. Chapter 1: The girl who survived.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

Heroes create the times.

The story begins! On the beautiful Twi'lek planet Ryloth, a young Twi'lek lethana, Elina, is raising the daughter of her friend, who, along with her husband, was killed on a starship in an attack by mercenaries. Baby Santal lives carefree and happy. But no one suspects that it has a great destiny in store for it. Only time will tell.

— Santal! There is no answer.

— Santa-a-al! there is no answer.

Elina was walking up and down near the house and shouting:

The woman went through all the rooms once more , then suddenly it dawned on her, and Elina quickly went in the direction that her brain suggested, hoping that her instincts were not deceiving her.

"Of course I forgot about the backyard. What were you doing there? In

front of Elina sat a little girl with dark hair tied in two ponytails. Judging by the condition of her clothes, the little girl had time to Tinker in the ground.

"I'm sorry, aunt. I watched the flowers and didn't hear them. After all, what beauty surrounds us!

Elina was touched and calmed down. Why be angry with a child for such nonsense? Thank you for thinking about flowers and nature, and not about something indecent. And so, let him think about the world around him. In General, her ward loved life in all its manifestations.

"Santal, let's go." I need to get you cleaned up. We'll be having lunch soon.

An hour later, the two women, the big one and the little one, were sitting at the table. Letanka this day rasstaralas and prepared a favorite meal of the pupil.

"So go with her, — thought Elina. "She's not doing this out of spite. Just likes to touch and explore everything. But Santal is only three years old, in six months — four. I try my best to raise her, because she is, poor thing, the daughter of my late friend. I still remember that story. Her family was attacked by hunters. And Santal managed to survive. I just don't know how. Later, when the case was resolved, the mercenaries were not caught, and they wanted to send the girl to an orphanage. But my husband and I didn't allow it. Especially since I'm infertile myself. And I want children. Nobi's husband is a farmer, and I'm a homemaker. We live modestly, but everyone is happy."

Three and a half years ago.

The New hope starship, commissioned by the Shang couple, had just come out of hyperspace. Thirty-year-old Adira Shan lay exhausted after giving birth. Her husband, Bastian, was holding a newborn, long-awaited first child.

"It's a girl.

— Santal, — Adira said.

"Why Santal?" my husband was surprised.

"Your ancestor's name was SATEL. Looks like it, doesn't it?

— Exactly. Perfect. Bastian happily circled the room with his daughter, and then gave his wife to feed.

"She will be the most beautiful and intelligent Jedi in the world, — the woman said with love and tenderness as she watched the baby drink breast milk.

"That's right. You'll see. As the child grows up, we will give it to the temple. In three years somewhere.

"I want her to stay longer." You can ask. And we would have taught her everything.

"You know the rules. Must not.

Adira sighed, thinking how unfair this was.

"Do you remember how we met?"

— Yes. We were younglings then. I was coming from training, and you were coming from the library. Our heads collided. The conversation started in just a minute. They became friends, and then, when they grew up, they got married.

— Many memories. You can't remember everything. Oh, well. We're about to land on Ryloth. Soon we will hug with friends, show the baby and…

Bastian's thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected explosion. The man quickly ran to the sensors.

"What is it?"

— The enemy spaceship! We are shooting back urgently! They seem to be mercenaries!

And the starship seemed to be lying in wait. Waiting for the right boat to come out. On it a girl with a red tail on her head commanded:

— Aim for the engines! Don't let them land!

The shelling started. The enemy ship had good weapons: it included a laser turret mounted on top for space combat and crushing asteroids that got in the way, a pair of heavy laser cannons that could cause deadly damage to the enemy even faster, and an ion cannon that was used to immobilize cargo ships. As for the "New hope", there were improved armor, hyperdrive and power volleys of two guns.

Unfortunately, on this day, the victory was won by an enemy ship, which took the loser on Board. The leader of the bounty hunter gang quickly drew his Blaster.

— Begin.

Meanwhile, Bastian and Adira drew their swords.

— Adira, protect Santal! I'll try to deal with the mercenaries. There must be three of them.

The Jedi, using the Force, realized that the hunters were divided. Question: who will he run into? As Bastian passed through the corridors, he heard voices. One is female, the other is male. As the man approached the door, a short, fish-faced man jumped out and scurried back when he saw the Jedi.

— What's the big idea! Open it quickly, I won't hit you!

Suddenly, a second wickway man came up behind him and started shooting.

"Well,well. What do we have here? "no," he said.

Bastian was a master at deflecting shots, even when the bullet hit him squarely in the arm. The hunter fell, and the Jedi saw that a red-tailed girl was standing behind him, who also started firing at him. And then fishface jumped in from behind. As a result, the girl shot the unfortunate man. Advertising: Hide

— Great, " she grinned. "Bane, we did it.

The gang leader, who had been watching from afar, approached the trio.

— Well. Look for the second one. The customer gave clear instructions: destroy the dynasty, every last one of them!

Meanwhile, Adira was bundling up her daughter, preparing to escape in a secret escape pod. Of course, the mercenaries all blew up, but one was overlooked because it was disguised.

"Santal, all my gift to you, I'm sorry. Only hope to save your life. I hope Bastian doesn't let you down.

A shot rang out.

"Hello, honey." Duros pointed the Blaster at the woman.

The Jedi activated the sword and held it out in front of the hunter.

— Stay back! What did you do to my husband?!

— The same thing I'm going to do to you now!

Adira ran further and further, deflecting the shots, which was difficult, especially since one arm was occupied, and she herself was weakened after giving birth. So it was quickly backed into a corner. All four of them.

— Well, that's it.

— No. Not all. The Jedi gathered herself and pushed the hunters aside as she ran forward to the capsule.

But then there was a roar of four Blaster shots. Adira had just rounded the corner when a burst of energy from one of the weapons hit her in the stomach.

"Hooray! Hey, who got hit? — shouted the fishheads.

Red-tailed Aurra laughed.

— No matter. We must return to the starship immediately. It remains only to destroy the ship, ' ordered the duro, well knowing that this did petroliana.

Or so he thought. In General, it was unclear who was hit. Bane decided to cover up the discussion, because who cares? It's like setting off an explosion.

Adira waited until the footsteps had subsided, then rose quietly, holding her hand tightly to her abdomen, hoping to stop the hemorrhage a little. Finally, with great difficulty, she managed to put the baby in a compact capsule. Adira was mentally prepared for death. She's seriously injured anyway, and soon the ship will explode.

How cruel and unfair the world is sometimes! Just as you're making serious plans, the next moment something terrible happens and everything changes. Or you realize that you are dying and that the dream is already out of reach.

"Hush, daughter. Don't cry, don't be shy. Grief will leave you. I lullaby my last I will always be with you.

Adira kissed her daughter one last time, laid her on the pillow, closed the door, and pressed the button. And just in time, because fifteen seconds later the ship was engulfed in an explosion. The last thing Santal's mother hoped for was that Her little girl would be saved and taken care of.

***

"They are the chosen ones of the force. And it is our duty to remember that we will also leave in due time. We are creatures of Light, but our bodies are not eternal vessels. And we'll all be here in time. Please be silent for a minute to remember and move on. We must live for the sake of the living Jedi. They will live in us forever, " Grand master Yoda concluded.

Since there were no bodies, the Jedi order and their companions were standing in the open air, with two fires burning. Some even cried.

"Bastian was my best friend, — qui-gon said.

"And mine, too," Windu said.

"How pathetic. So young, — it was heard from all sides of the phrase in this way.

"It looks like the legendary Jedi dynasty has ended forever," Ki-ADI-Mundi said.

"Are you sure?" Yoda asked. "I can smell the excitement of The force. Maybe there is hope, and someone survived. It is impossible to foresee our future. Bastian and Adira are dead, but the dynasty is alive. Bye.

"Do you think someone survived?" But there was no one there.

— Maybe — Yes. Or maybe not. And this gives me hope.

As the Jedi reasoned, in the distance, one of the senators, Palpatine, thought: «Perfectly. So the Shang dynasty is gone. No one can stop me."

Present time

And Santal lived quietly in a foster home. She knew the history of her real parents very well. She was repeatedly told about them. The girl sometimes missed her family, even though she didn't tell anyone. The only thing left of my mother is her Padawan scythe, which she managed to pass on as a souvenir.

Santal desperately wanted to know the truth about the tragedy that happened over Ryloth. How it really was. What if they weren't mercenaries? What if the parents managed to escape? Etc., etc. And so nothing.

In General, the girl began to notice strange things lately. Santal always felt that something was going to happen. Or no, it's not. She always felt the presence of someone or something. It was as if someone was telling her, guiding her, keeping her on her way. Santal found a logical explanation for this: it is the parents who help. They're right next to her.

And so the carefree and fun life of Santal Shan went on. But there was no sign that she would soon be the one to change the order of things in the galaxy.

A new life was about to begin.

[angelwingsl3]

Summary: “Quarantine?” Shepard scoffed, stuck on the word. “What do you mean, quarantine?”

Pairing: F!Shakarian, FShep/Garrus

Rated: T

Beautiful art embedded by @blueboxness

Just a little something to help with your self-isolating blues. We’ll be back every day until Shepard and Garrus’ quarantine is over! 

Chapter 1 - Spacewalk

---

Looking across the dark strip of space between the Normandy’s airlock and the opened cargo bay of the asari transport, Shepard swallowed thickly. Before her first ship went down, spacewalks had never spooked her, hell she was a spacer by birth, damn it! This 20-metre jump with a tether shouldn’t phase her in the slightest.

But somehow it did. The Commander’s stomach flip-flopped as she gazed out into the open vacuum. Stars flicked at the edge of her vision and made her world spin. Stupidly, she looked down into the void instead of straight across the gap. She took a step back, deeper into the safety of the Normandy.

“We can find another way, Shepard,” Garrus said at her side as he bumped his shoulder into hers. Even through the comm, she could hear the reassuring buzz of his subvocals. He must’ve swapped to their private channel, no way he’d let anyone else hear his voice as soft as it was now. He’d joked too many times about his reputation as the big-bad-Archangel. “You don’t have to go.”

She shook her head to clear it. “No. I-- I’ve got this.” Shepard closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. She held it for a moment before letting the air waft out into her helmet and fog her visor for a brief second. “Okay.”

Garrus’ steady presence stabilized her, and when she leapt, he was at her side. Weightlessness lasted a bare ten seconds before they slammed into the artificial gravity of the asari ship. She landed hard, her knees buckling as she hit the deck.

“All right, Commander?” Miranda asked in her ear as she held out a hand to help her rise. The ex-Cerberus Operative had leaped first, and Shepard had watched her gracefully land on her feet, rather than stumble.

“Fine.” Shepard took Miranda’s hand and stood. “Thanks.” She turned in time to see Garrus closing the doors behind them and watch him engaging the safety protocols. Anxiety rose in her throat as he fiddled with the controls. “Is it breathable yet?”

“Good to go,” Garrus announced when the light blinked green, and an audible alarm sounded off to let them know the bay had pressurized.

In a second, Shepard had her helmet off, and she took a long, deep breath of the stale air. “Oh, that’s better. I do not like that at all. Nope. Nuh-uh.”

Garrus walked over and put his hand on her shoulder before squeezing gently. Shepard couldn’t help but turn into his embrace. One hand found the back of her neck while the other reached up to remove his helmet. “You’re all right, Shepard. Just breathe.” They stood wrapped together for a while until Shepard’s heart stopped pounding quite so hard in her ears. Having her partner’s even breathing to match herself to, helped. “That’s it,” he cooed warmly in her ear, making her smile.

Meanwhile, Shepard could hear Miranda moving about the area. Her heels clicked against the decking as she checked for survivors. They’d answered a distress beacon from the Akkeema a few hours ago. The Normandy had been the only ship in range. When they arrived, no one answered the comms, so Shepard took it upon herself to investigate. Scans didn’t show any life signs, but she couldn’t in good conscience leave them, not when her crew had waited for rescue a lifetime ago.

A good Spacer never left anyone behind.

“Okay.” Shepard disengaged herself from the embrace. He let go easily enough, but she lamented the lack of warmth almost immediately. “Let’s go--”

“Commander!” Miranda yelled from the other end of the cargo bay. She and Garrus sprinted over with weapons out only to find Miranda on her Omni-tool, leaning over some sort of pink mould. “Get your helmets on!” she snapped upon looking up at the pair. Even behind the thick Cerberus-branded helmet visor, Shepard could see her glare.

The Commander didn’t think she’d ever slammed her helmet on so fast, and she could hear her partner doing the same thing. She hovered over Miranda’s shoulder. “Shit, what is that?”

Garrus had his ‘tool out now too, and he took a scan. “Nothing good,” he hummed. “I’ll send a sample to Mordin for analysis. Maybe he knows.”

Helmets now securely fastened, the trio explored the rest of the ship. They didn’t find any survivors. It hardly took ten minutes to search both decks, storage units and all. They could account for all the cargo, and while the two asari aboard the ship had passed on, neither appeared physically harmed. Miranda turned off power to the emergency beacon when they reached the cockpit. There was no use leaving it on now.

“Commander,” Mordin’s voice piped in over the comms. “Found a match for mould. Prognosis not good. Appears to be a toxic variety, airborne spores. Very dangerous. Must not inhale.”

Shepard shared a look with Garrus.

“How dangerous, Mordin?” she asked, pressing a finger to her comm unit.

“Lethal, given enough time.”  

Again, her stomach dropped and damn Mordin for choosing this moment to give her single sentence answers. Usually, it took minutes to find a place to interrupt his rants. “How much time?”

“Few days. Good news, curable. Bad news, extremely contagious. Should return to the ship. Airlock decontamination cycle sufficient to remove spores from armour. No danger to ground team in hard-suits.”

“What--” she swallowed. “What if we breathed the air?”

Mordin sniffed sharply in the way he did when he disapproved of something. “Breathed air? Would be bad, Shepard. Very bad. Require quarantine measures, medication, clean room. May take weeks to cure.”

“Quarantine?” Shepard scoffed, stuck on the word. “What do you mean, quarantine?”

---

Setting the Akkeema up as a quarantine site made the most sense. There was no reason to risk contaminating the Normandy, and it gave Shepard and Garrus the most space to move around rather than being confined to just the loft. While the ship wasn’t frigate-sized, it gave them access to all the amenities they’d need: sleeping quarters, a kitchen, the cargo bay to exercise, and the cockpit for sitting around.

It would be enough for just the two of them. Thankfully Miranda had kept her helmet securely fastened instead of hastily removing it as Shepard had. She felt bad enough that Garrus had taken his helmet off to comfort her, she would have felt even worse had Miranda done the same, too.

Mordin came aboard and, along with Miranda, they cleaned the ship of all traces of spores and mould. They removed the bodies, too and notified the Asari Republic of their status. Doctor Chakwas performed medicals on both Shepard and Garrus via vid-comm, as she would do every day until she cleared them to return home. It could take up to fourteen days for any signs of illness to show, Karin had told them.

Mordin vaccinated them against the virus, but they would have to be isolated for a full two weeks to ensure they didn’t get anyone else sick and the vaccine took.

Supplies were shipped over, and contingency plans created. At least they didn’t have anywhere to be just yet. The crew had destroyed the Collector base, repaired the Normandy, and left the Cerberus name in the dirt-- where it belonged. Other than the looming threat of Reapers somewhere along the horizon, they had nowhere to be.

“That’s it then, Commander,” Miranda said as she packed up the last of the cleaning gear. “Is there anything else you need?”

“You’ll be right next door.” Shepard tried and failed to smile. “Take care of the Normandy until I get back, all right?”

“Of course, Shepard.” Miranda’s hand landed on her shoulder for a brief moment before the woman stepped away and headed for the Normandy. When the airlock closed, Shepard and Garrus were left alone and quarantined for the foreseeable future.

- - -