#Keep at it fellow dragons and you can fly again too! Or swim

[roarrainbowdragonhero-blog]

@helpful-dragon

I flew again! And I did “stunts” like flying under a bridge and dodging trees!

Oh its great to do that. I can feel my tail now! When I’m awake!

[descendantofthesparrow]

Shuffle playlist - Rewrite - Part of Your World - Harry Hook x Reader - part 5 - the isle.

warning: talk of non-con selling of sex in last bit of chapter

(note: (n/n) means = Nick name)

=

Mal took a heaving breath as she led her scooter towards the edge of the cliff, facing towards the isle of the lost. Harry repositioned behind her, tightening his grip on the cushion below him.

Mal let out a few sputtering sobs and lifted her goggles off the bridge of her nose and placed them on top of her helmet. she swung her backpack off her shoulders and grabbed her spellbook from her bag, hurriedly shifting through the pages to find the correct spell. There it was. “Noble steed/proud and fair/you will take us/anywhere”

The scooter glowed purple for a moment before it went back to normal, and Harry could swear the barrier had shimmered purple as well.

Mal stuffed her book back in her bag and shrugged it back on, turning to Harry while reshifting her goggles back onto her nose “hang tight, and onto me, I know it'll be uncomfortable but I don’t know if this will work, and I still can't swim” Harry sighed and released the cushions, wrapping is arms around Mal's torso and leaning against her.

“okay, hoo” she took a deep breath again, revving the engine of her scooter “please work”

“Mal if this doesn’t work and we die I am going ta kill yeh!” Harry yelped as Mal suddenly swerved to the right towards the steep slope down towards the beach and lead the bike onto the ocean.

The bike hopped on the surface a couple of times before smoothing out, Mal looked over her and Harry's shoulders back to Auradon and let out a breathy laugh, she was free!!!! Free from the pastel dresses, the invading press, the bobby pins, the painful too small at her toe heels, the rules, everything!

She could finally be herself again.

She and Harry let out a gasp as the barrier shimmered over them, the feeling of her magic draining from her was probably the worst feeling she had ever experienced, yet the scooter was still running atop the water. “odd” she muttered to herself, slapping the handle of her scooter as she remembered FGs explanation of good-intentioned magic being allowed to exist behind the border.

And she was doing everybody a favor by going back to the isle, so it had to be good-intentioned…right?

She took a hard right, making Harry yelp, and rolled into the wharf market that was near the Core fours hideout. Harry finally looked around, fixing the black motor helmet over his head as he passed his fellow isle pirates.

Mal suddenly stopped, looking to her left and taking off her goggles, Harry looked away from the market and towards her, raising his brow as she tore down the defiled poster with her and Ben on it and bunched it up, she threw it over her shoulder and replaced her goggles. She drove the scooter down to the next block and parked it in the slot next to the ascending stairs up to the core fours apartment. Harry quickly slid off the back and ripped the helmet from his head, shaking around to get rid of the squished feeling on his ears.

“I’m never doing tha’ again” Harry growled, his icy blue eyes locking with Mals now dull green ones as she passed by him and walked over to the entrance of her apartment. She picked up a rock and chucked it at the yellow sign with the words ‘danger flying rocks’. the sign swung back and the metal fence door lifted up.

Mal glanced back at Harry and gestured to the hideout, inviting him into the safe space. He shook his head and held his hands up, the weight of the helmet in his left hand shifting a bit “nah, I swore never ta step foot in tha’ place, I’ll be at meh apartment for a bit till I go talk ta Uma” Mal tilted her head at him.

“why do you want to talk to Uma?” she asked, leaning over the railing of the steps. Harry gave her a look.

“I need her ta know I haven’t abandoned her” Mal's mouth made an ‘o’ shape as she nodded, realizing what Harry was talking about.

“I get it….sorry, I know I was part of the distraction that prevented Ben from getting more kids off” she sighed, scratching the back of her head. “I've- I wish I could’ve done something more- I-I just” Harry held his hand up again, shaking his head.

“I know, lemme say this from (y/n)s perspective because from mine I would just blame yeh fully” Mal let out a little snort, if anything her and Harry's distaste of each other hadn’t changed in the last 6 months, which was nice. “yeh were under a lot of stress, and it’s not yer job ta make sure Ben follows through on his promise to bring more vks over” Mal shook her head, pushing up on her toes and pouting at Harry.

“but I could have helped with moving it further along, it was my fault that he kept blowing you and (y/n) off on those meetings for the vks, I could have…I don’t know made him think we were having a date in his office and then you two just make him sit through the meeting or something” Mal sighed, leaning her cheek on her hand.

Harry shrugged again, looking down the alley “aye possibly, I’ll be back at meh apartment if yeh need meh, Jay will know where it is” Mal quirked her brow again.

“huh?” Harry smirked up at Mal, rolling his eyes.

“did yeh really think those three would jus’ leave ye ‘ere? and yeh know once (y/n) finds out I’m ‘ere too she’ll drag me off by meh ear” Mal rolled her eyes.

“I guess….though I was kinda betting on someone coming over and taking me back, I’m really just here to get away from it all” Harry nodded at that.

“aye, once we crossed the barrier yeh regretted this a bit didn’t yeh?” Mal nodded a bit.

“…yeah, that feeling of magic being drained from me it was just….made everything come back, now I remember why we all wanted to leave so bad….I guess the stress from Auradon made this place seem a lot better than it was” Mal sighed, looking up to the dark grey sky.

Harry nodded again and started to back away “aye, when the rest of em get here, just tell (y/n) I’m at meh apartment and Jay can lead ‘er there” Mal waved him off and watched him disappear into the dark alleys towards the wharf. She tapped her heel against the steel stairs nervously as he left her sight.

God, she hoped Hook wouldn’t find out about Harry’s presence on the isle.

She couldn’t bear to hear those sounds again.

=

You sighed as you leaned back in the cushioned chair in Ben's office, watching him quickly write down on the papers for cotillion. You had bust into his office about an hour ago, waiting until he finally talked about his fight with Mal. He stopped, looking up at you through his lashes before sighing and leaning back against his chair. “I really screwed up didn’t I” he finally muttered, crossing his arms and looking up at the ceiling.

“yep” you popped your lips, smirking as he groaned and rubbed his face in stress.

“but she lied to me! She lied about everything and thought she could get away with it! And-and” you rose your brow as he looked back to you. “-god I was just so angry at her for doing that but then….god I fucking compared her to Audrey” you blinked at that.

“you-I-wow Ben, that’s….alright then” you chuckled, pinching your nose and standing from your chair, walking over to bens desk and leaning on it “alright imma say it straight, and before you ask, I’m from a world where yall are a movie remember?” Ben nodded, slightly confused at the last part, leaning back slightly as (y/n)s disappointed look turned to a glare. “you are valid to be mad at Mal for lying to you about using her magic, you are valid to be mad at her for doing that. But you have to understand, she.is.not.you. she is not Evie, she is not Audrey, and she is not from here.

She is from the isle, where EVERYTHING was different for her, there were no rules, there was no press, there was no dress code, there was no nothing, she could just do whatever she wanted. Going from that, to having a billion rules and demands from everyone, is extremely stressful”

Ben tried to speak up but you silenced him with a glare “you may say ‘but I never asked her to be anything other than herself’ you never told her that, when she started to try being the perfect Auradon girl, you never told her that you liked it, you never told her you didn’t like it, you just let her keep going, which in her head translated it as ‘oh he likes me better this way, I’ll keep going’ I know you have that stained glass window with her in her full isle style self, but that window would have been helpful two months ago when all this shit started. She's having an identity crisis Ben, she needs support and guidance, now I don’t mean she needs her hand held, she needs someone to say that she's doing the right thing, that she's not screwing anything up.

she needed someone to say that she didn’t have to change because she was already perfect, yes, her attitude and shit needed work but as a whole? She was fine, she didn’t need to change the way she spoke, or walked, or dressed, or smiled. She just needs to learn that it's okay not to be okay, and to ask for help. She JUST learned that she wasn’t the only person in the world 6 months ago, and now she needs to learn that it's okay that she's not doing okay.

And you haven’t helped her with that, you have just stood by and acted like nothing was wrong, and that’s what is wrong Ben, you live in this world of lollipops and sunshine, that you don’t see what’s two inches in front of you! And that’s not a bad thing, I love that you’re an optimist, but when It comes to not seeing that something is wrong with your friends, that’s when it becomes a problem.” You sighed, leaning back and cracking your neck.

“again, I will say you being mad at Mal for lying to you about using her magic and…lying to you about how she was doing is completely valid. but you again have to understand, her entire existence, up until 6 months ago, was pleasing her mother.

and when her mother was turned into a mini dragon, her people-pleasing tendencies turned to you, and what she thought would please you most. And that would be a perfect Auradon girl. That’s why she did all that, because she thought you would prefer her that way instead of her actual self. On both sides of your argument, you both are in the wrong, and you both are in the right, but because you both lack communication between the two of you”

you held up your hand again as Ben tried to speak “neither of you truly talk to each other, yes you talk, but not really, you never asked about her boundaries, she never asked you about what you wanted, both of you suffered because you just won't talk to each other like that, you need to talk to each other and find out what is going on with the other to find balance in your relationship. Ben, you can't just rely on the other to come forward, you both have to if you see a problem in the relationship.

And the problem with yours is that you don’t know how to look past the surface and see beneath anything, and Mal doesn’t know how to ask for help. I’m not saying your shallow, I’m saying you’ve lived in a world of everything is perfect and nothing is ever wrong; so it's hard for you to realize that someone is having a hard time, and Mal has lived in a world where asking for help meant weakness or even worse death.” Ben paled at that

“so both of you have to teach the other about yourselves, Mal can teach you how to look beneath the front mask of people and see their true selves and intentions, and you can teach mal to soften up and learn that asking for help is not a bad thing anymore”

You sat back down in your chair and crossed your arms, waiting for Ben’s response as he just stared at you “I know, that was one big ol’ rant but it needed to be said” you laughed, cracking your neck and sighing “I haven’t talked that much in….never” Ben rolled his eyes and leaned forward on his hands.

“I need to talk to her” you nodded, shifting in your chair.

“what you need is to take your relationship slower Ben, it's only been six months, don’t you think that’s a little fast? especially for Mal who’s never done anything like this before? Something like cotillion and her being introduced as Lady of the court would be something that happened in a year, not six months. I think it would be better to celebrate the half-year of the vks being here than all that.” Ben paused for a moment, then groaned, flopping back in his chair.

“I’m an idiot” He muttered, you snorted and rolled your eyes “of course she's not ready for all this….I really should have paid attention to her more instead of just assuming that she was okay with everything changing so fast” he sighed, glancing back at you. You nodded to him, letting him know he was on the right track.

The two of you sat up as the door to Ben’s office opened suddenly and Evie stepped in, knocking rapidly on Ben’s door. “Evie!” Ben sighed, letting a smile bloom on his face. “come in” she quickly stepped into the room and closed the door. She let out a shuddering sigh and looked from you to Ben. You sighed, closing your eyes, right you had forgotten about Mal going back.

“Mal’s gone back to the isle” Evie's voice wavered, looking down at the floor as she quickly walked over to Ben and handed him a note. Before he could read it she said his name, and handed him the golden class ring Ben had given Mal during the coronation.

He stared at it for a few moments before hurriedly unfolding the note and reading it, his eyes shining as his shoulders dropped as he read the note. “this-this is my fault! She had been under so much pressure lately and I-I was the last straw….I shouldn’t have yelled at her like that” he bit his lip, a few tears trailing down his cheeks and hitting the top of his desk “she wasn’t even doing anything bad with her magic she was just taking a few shortcuts….I have to go to the isle and get her back myself! It's dangerous over there and she could get hurt…I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her” he turned to the window, peering out the side where he could see the edge of the ocean.

“Ben you’ll never find her! The isle is huge and she has a million hiding places!” Evie sighed, rubbing her arms as she thought about what she was about to do “you have to take me with you” Ben turned around, looking at Evie with wide eyes.

“I can't let you do that” he muttered, his shoulders dropping “I don’t want anything happening to you” Evie shook her head defiantly.

“I’m going, you don’t even know how to get from the entrance to the market, you need someone who knows the isle sand from stone…and I can't leave her there either, there's no doubt she’s made some enemies over there that are just waiting for a moment to strike, and without her mother's protection…even if it was lousy protection, she could get seriously hurt, or even worse killed…” Ben turned pale again, he didn’t want to think about that. “and she's my best friend Ben, I won't just leave her….and we’ll bring the boys too, because there's safety in numbers and I’m betting none of us are popular over there right now” Evie sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, she stopped, watching as Gil entered the room quickly and slammed the door behind him “Gil?” he looked to you, his face place and his body shaking.

“Gil what's wrong?” you asked, standing up quickly and walking over to him “you look like you’ve seen a ghost” he let out a small whimper and handed you a piece of paper from Harry's journal. “what-“ you felt your world stop.

-Gil, I’m sorry, but I’m going back to the isle with Mal, I’m not planning on staying but I need to make a point to beasty boy. I'll stay out of sight I promise.

-Harry

Harry had gone back to the isle with Mal “he what?!” you half screeched, almost stumbling back into the seats in front of Bens desk if it wasn’t for Gils hands on your shoulders

“(y/n)” Evie gasped, rushing over to you and wrapping her arm around your torso “what’s-oh no” she read the note, her face forming into a look of horror “Harry’s gone back to the isle too” she muttered, covering her mouth with a gasp. Ben furrowed his brows in confusion.

“why-you sound like it's even worse that he went back?” he asked, walking over to the three of you and glancing at the paper.

“because it is” Evie looked up at Ben “Harrys had it a lot worse than Mal, his- his father” you felt a cold chill rush over your skin and you broke from Gil and Evie's grip.

“his father what?” you snapped, the vks flinching from your dark tone. “tell me.”

“his-his dad um…he sold him when he didn’t have money” Gil muttered, his face turning green from the memories.

“or just didn’t feel like spending money” Evie snapped, hand clenching so hard you would hear her knuckles crack.

“…sold him?” Ben asked naively, Evie and Gil looked at him with sad eyes.

“he sold him to others to have….sex with” Gil paused between his words, they were almost too hard to get out “when he bought his rum or whatever he felt like drinking, I don’t remember how long it was happening but if Hook finds out Harry is on the isle….we might not ever see Harry again” you and Ben looked at each other and nodded.

“then it's settled” Ben clenched his fist around Mal's note and his ring, watching you as you grit your teeth and your eyes turn dark “we head to the isle as soon as possible, we can't risk anything happening to Harry or Mal” the three of you nodded and rushed out of Bens office to collect Carlos and Jay.

‘oh Harry’ you felt tears burn in your eyes as you burst into your dorm room and grabbed a change of clothes that suit the isle ‘why didn’t you tell me’ you stopped, seeing a large piece of paper from Harry's journal sitting on your desk. You quickly walked over and grabbed it, unfold it, and start to read.

-to my dear (n/n)

I’m sorry, but I’m going back to the isle. No, we aren’t breaking up, this has nothing to do with you, I’m making a point to Ben.

I know he and the others will stop at nothing to get Mal back from the isle and I needed to make sure Ben would see the isle for what it really is. A place where no child should be and hopefully, he will get a move on for the vk transfer thing.

I also needed to see Uma and my sisters; they need to know I haven’t abandoned them. I know you’ll be coming with Ben and the others to get me, I do not doubt that, so I’ll see you soon.

I know the dangers of me being here, and I’m sorry I never told you about my history with my dad, but I’m sure Evie and Gil filled you in on it. I’m planning to stay out of sight and away from him and anyone who might tell him about me being here.

I promise when we are back in Auradon I’ll tell you everything about my life on the isle, you deserve to know.

I love you; I know I have never said that, but I’m sure of it now, and I wanted to say it just in case.

-Harry

You let out a low sob and collapsed against your desk, holding the now crumpled note against your chest “Harry” you chocked out, feeling droplets of tears hit your hand. “you stupid fucking idiot”

“I love you too”

-end of part 5-

Here it is! Part 5! I hope I made bens side of the argument…better while also still being like “yeah both are wrong both are right in it, but Mal was really having a hard time and ben needs to slow the fuck down” because MAL IS NOT READY FOR ANY OF THE DATING SHIT SHE IS DOING IN D2, COTILLION SHOULD HAVE WAITED FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR INTO THEIR RELATIONSHIP NOT 6 MONTHS! Anyway, I also hope Mal and Harry's talk at the beginning was also…nice? That’s the best word I can think of right now but I hope im making Mal an actual likable character instead of….ya know *gestures to d2/3* that. Im trying to actually develop her d1 character into something more instead of just making a whole new one each “movie”

And yes, James is just as Bad in this as he was in the OG part of your world, and don’t worry, he does get his ass kicked by reader.

Thank you for reading!

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and now the rewrite taglist because im sorry i forgot about yall lol

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[mgrgfan]

Past of the future, future of the past...

Chapter 8. The sky's not the limit.

Author's warning: a suicide is attempted in this chapter. Proceed at your own risk. If computer systems could've been bored, the avionics of the "Hauler" would've been bored for sure. For more than a day, it was slowly doing small burns here and there, carefully deorbiting after having been unloaded, while also trying to evade space debris. Despite being impacted at several points already, automatics deemed the damage acceptable and went on with soft landing program, instead of simply deorbiting craft in they way it will burn and break apart. Right now, as Rayquaza was no longer of any concern and Minior posed not much more danger than debris - even less so, in fact, as they were actively trying to avoid collisions. Back on Earth, not too far away from Zemlino, recovery forces stood by, waiting for the cargo ship to land, so it can be brought back to Space Center for turnaround procedures, much like rocket stages of the "Water Dragon" would be in mere hours. Heat shield, parachutes, gas bags - all landing systems were still green and data meteorology stations was showing, that everything was within acceptable parameters for the landing and recovery. But right now, the ship still had to orbit Earth two more times… ---- "So… what do you think of it?" asked the captain of the "Red Explorer" everyone else, who was currently present in the mess hall in the centrifuge. "The more I think of it, the more it hits me, just what kind of a thing we've done - we've killed Rayquaza, a being millions of years old, who has controlled the skies for many eons." "And?" asked him the engineer. "Well… I mean, it's been around much longer, than humanity. Our actions has removed it out of play and, if data from ISF 9 and Hoenn locals is to be believed, there are two more players in there - Groudon and Kyogre. And with no Rayquaza to keep them in check…" "We may have to," said the pilot. "I mean, even excluding the retro-missiles, we can use solid-core railgun ammunition for orbital bombardment!" "With crappy precision and power," replied the sensors operator. "Atmosphere won't be gentle to it." "Even so…" muttered the captain, then assumed a bit more relaxed position in the chair. "I hope they'll be able to figure something out, back on Earth…" --- "And here our babies are," muttered technician in the Imperial Gray Sea Starport, seeing recovered stages of the "Water Dragon" being towed towards drydock for repair and later reuse, with a few curious Alolan Flygon in Rainy forms flying/swimming around them, as "buzzers" on the ships were now disabled. "Seems like everything went perfectly." "Indeed," replied the engineer nearby. "Just like the previous time." "Which one of previous times exactly?" asked him technician. "The original delivery of landers, docking block and Power and Propulsion Module to the Space Lab 1 to make it into the ship for the Imperial Moon Mission? The missions to build Space Lab 2?" "All of them, starting with the test flights with recovery system installed." "I guess. Kinda shame, that the early missions for delivering satellite constellations had to be only partially reusable, with only engines saved…" "Agreed. Well, they've almost got the stages there, so, time to get to work!" --- As the morning came to the eastern parts of Soris, the Emperor, still stationed in Zemlino Space Center, prepared for something truly special. Dressed in a strict suit, more fitting for a spokesperson of the space agency, rather than royalty, he, nonetheless, appeared to be concentrated, confident and serious. Right now, he was about to give the most important speech in his life so far. When the time came, he entered the conference room and walked onto the scene, under the gaze of cameras. "My dear sorisians, good morning," started the Emperor, sounding far more serious, than ever before. "I want to tell you something… Back before the Shift, when I was a young boy, one of the court's elite engineers and entertainers has constructed the first ever liquid-fueled rocket, which worked on kerosene and hydrogen peroxide. Even then, rockets have already fascinated me, but solids didn't have quite the same impact as this one did. When I first heard the roar of the turbopump, installed on the test stand, when I saw the assembled rocket blast off… I knew, that nothing would be the same for me from this day hence." "Because of that, when I've become the Emperor, I chose to, instead of trying to conquer the rest of the world, set our sights a bit higher and start conquering skies and, later, space." "And look, where did that get us. Even back then, while the rest of the world had to rely on the Pokemon to attempt to traverse the skies, we did so via comfortable machines, more advanced than anything would be in millennia to come. Even now, our nuclear airships are unmatched." "When the rest of the world had to rely on Castform at most and signs normally for predicting weather, we've had meteorological satellites for that. When bulk lifting was unachievable for them, we've used our helicopters and airships for that. When they've had to risk their men and Pokemon to get high-altitude observations, we've had satellites for that." "A lot of our technological achievements can be traversed back to the space program and the applications program for it. Even the TVs you are watching my speech with have a lot of components, derived from the space program." "For many years, we were exploring space. I remember, how happy I was, when we've managed to put the first satellite into orbit. I remember my ecstasy, when I've managed to quietly replace pilot of the SP-04 "Black Bird" with myself for the first mission and has become the first human in space." "For years and years, we were putting more and more satellites into orbits. We've also put men there - first in small spaceships, then in the Proof-Of-Concept Stations, then in the Space Labs… And when Rayquaza, without any warning, has destroyed our satellites, along with Space Lab 2 and LRV-03 with 12 cosmonauts onboard… We've turned our shock and grief into first resentment, then hatred and then - innovation." "Nowadays, there's a huge nuclear pulse battleship, which, currently, is stationed in orbit of the Moon, serving as a deterrent to any aggressor, who may think of attacking the Empire. In addition to that, as researches in the Space Lab 2 and ISF 5 have shown, some normally-terminal diseases can be treated in the microgravity." "As you've seen, aerospace industry was a great part of why our Empire was so successful. Because of that, I want to announce the Integrated Program Plan - our ticket into future. By the end of this year, we will clean the orbits a bit, partially restore the satellite constellations and, once again, have an operational space station, bigger and more advanced, than Space Lab 2. By the end of the next year, the first dedicated orbital hospital will be opened. By the end of third year, the first industrial-grade orbital factories will go operational. By the end of fourth year, the satellite constellations will be completely restored and we will have the Moonbase. By the end of fifth year, we will perform an expedition to the Red Planet. By the end of sixth year, more orbital factories and hospitals will be brought into operation. By the end of first decade of IPP, the assembly of the space colony in the libration point L5 will begin. By the end of the second decade, the colony will be brought into operation. Of course, there might be slips… but all of it will be achieved." "The Earth is a cradle of mankind… but one cannot eternally stay in the cradle. We should remember, what have we already achieved, and go on towards the future. The achievements of yesterday are commendable, but it's the achievements of today, which are truly impactful. Stay strong, my fellow imperials, and together, we will conquer the space!" ---- William Steelman, the president of Unova, didn't feel well. In fact, the entirety of the last year, especially the months after the so-called "Shift", was a major clusterbomb of problems. Especially when those damn Sorisians launched their damned space warship and demonstrated how they can use it against planetary targets. Especially when they've demonstrated the feasibility of nuclear weapons - something, that he had supported defunding back during the war with Hoenn and Kanto, before his presidency. Especially when he has also supported defunding the space program, considering it a waste of tax money, which could've been spent on more PokeCenters, hospitals, shelters and so on. And now, after this damned speech of this damned Emperor of this damned Soris Empire, he had no idea, what to do. And Sorisians announcing and giving a TV report about recovering all parts of their gigantic "Water Dragon" rocket, including the heavy cargo spacecraft, for a bit of repair and reuse soon after, was making things even worse, given the current-day situation with launch vehicles in Unova. And, what was the truly worst about it all, is that a decent part of the reason for Unova ending up so behind Soris Empire was his own fault. Even when he was defunding UASA and allowed them to lease the Space Shuttles to the rest of the world (mostly Hoenn), he only did it to free up tax money and spend it on social programs, to help everyday Unovans… and then it turned out to be a doom to Unova in the long term, unless some miracle saves them. And even nuclear industry of Unova wasn't in the really good condition, when compared to the Soris Empire… though, at least, he has helped to progress the molten salt reactors, which worked on relatively cheap and abundant thorium… But what's use in all this, if Soris Empire continues the conquest of space and, surely, builds more space battleships and weapon platforms, until they can keep the entire world compliant to their terms, lest the orbital bombardment with nuclear weapons commence?! William opened a drawer of his table. In it, alongside some old-type Pokeballs, which he kept from his League days, original ebonite knobs included, there was a familial heritage - a revolver, made by his gunsmith grandfather, along with a speedloader from the same maker and a small box of ammo. While the firearms were never too widespread in Unova, as Pokemon were almost always just as good and far more versatile, they've still had their niches and customers. Steelman took the revolver in his hands, looked at it, reflecting on the engraved writing and overall beauty of the weapon, then placed it on the table. He grabbed the speedloader and started putting cartridges into it, while thinking of what he has done in his life. After he was done, he used the speedloader to reload the revolver in one swift motion, just like during his time with father on the shooting range. William took the revolver in his hands, opened his mouth and inserted the gun's barrel into it, until it was touching the palate. He cocked the hammer, closed his eyes… and put the gun back on the table. He was the reason Unova was inadequately prepared to deal with the Soris Empire now. "Easy way out" was nothing but a cowardice of the highest level. He will be the one, who atones and fixes those mistakes or, at least, does his best to. As Steelman was unloading the revolver and putting everything back in place, his mind was racing, combing the memory for the project UASA has previously shown to him, what they've promised and how much money will they need to be done. He had work to do. A lot of it. And, maybe - just maybe, - he'll succeed in this endeavour. Even if it will require cooperating with all other member states of the Pokemon Nation. --- Around Zemlino Space Center, as always, there was a lot of work. Just as the recovered "Hauler", moved on the crawler, was rolled into one hangar, from another, a vessel emerged. It was a spaceplane - a sleek, delta-winged one, with boxy engines underneath the fuselage bringing those of "Dreamwing" to mind… and some of them were pretty similar, also being hydrogen-fueled scramjets. Others, however, were not, for they were not scramjets, but nuclear turboramjets. Inside the cockpit, two test pilots were checking everything. As this spaceplane was powered by the nuclear reactor, they've had to be very careful. Even though reactor was built to withstand low supersonic impacts, wrecking such an advanced vessel was… undesirable. "Zemlino, this is Bluebird-1, all systems green, running on batteries. Towing truck at safe distance, requesting permission to start the reactor," said the commander, hovering his hand over one of the covered buttons. "Bluebird-1, this is Zemlino, permission to start the reactor granted. Take off when ready." After receiving those words, commander flicked the cover open and pressed the "START 1" button. Far behind two humans, several control rods were retracted, allowing the chain fission reaction to start and get into high gear soon, heating up the hydrogen coolant, while the turbine pumps were revving up to ensure normal circulation of coolant through the entire system, including the heat exchanger on the outside. As the temperature continued to rise, electric motors inside the turboramjet assembly kicked in, revving up the turbines to get the air going through the heat exchanger and start up the turboramjets proper. "So far, so good," muttered the second pilot, observing the data on the MFD. Right now, the thrust has reached sufficient level to allow pilots to begin taxi to the runway, preparing for the takeoff. As much as they've wanted the Bluebird-1 to go to space today, alas, it was not an option - their test program was limited to some supersonic and hypersonic flight to test the engine assembly, then a bit of maneuvering to test the structure. As the vessel took off from the runway and the landing gear retracted, commander looked to the side and saw a "Whitebird" spaceplane, a recently-built unmanned cousin of the "Dreamwing", getting launched to deploy a satellite of sort and later retrieve it. There were rumors, that this satellite was supposed to house some kind of weaponry… but, most likely, they were just rumors. Author's notes: MFD - Multi-Function Display. BLUEBIRD spaceplane is based on the real M(G)-19 "Gurkolyot". Alolan Flygons are based on that wonderful picture. Hopefully, this chapters will be one of the last, so focused on the worldbuilding. Anyway, by the chapter ten, I will do my best to make story enter the more Pokemon route.

[spearcast]

SO  i finally finished the Roz Rundown as i’ve been calling it, the general correct timeline and story lines of Roz as to where i’ve gotten here. i’m putting it under the cut. she LONG so if ya’ll read this i apologize

Born alongside her twin sister on Tatooine to mother Yvait Pabura. Roz is born with yellow eyes like her father. Both twins have their mother’s brown hair. Lyn, however, has regular brown eyes. Both have sharp canines.

THE DEFINING INCIDENT;  at the age of four, Roz kills a Zygerrian slaver with the Force in defense of her and her sister, and Force-chokes another in defense of her new adopted togruta mother, Roxxa Vela. Her birth mother killed the Zygerrian slaver with her slugthrower rifle and buried both of them in the sandy yard away from the farm.

When Roz turned eight, four years after said defining incident, Luke Skywalker showed up on their doorstep. Well- in reality, he had been showing up on the Pabura farm’s doorstep and talking with Yvait, and visiting the children. It was just that at eight, Yvait gave both Roz and Lyn the option to go with Luke and train at his Jedi temple on Dantooine. Lyn was unsure, and hesitant; ultimately, the “elder” twin declined and wished to stay with her mothers all year round. Roz, however, at the pushing of her best friend Jhoren and the encouragement from Luke himself, jumped at the chance to train with the legendary Skywalker.

Roz trains with Luke and the other padawans until she’s 12. Through these years she returns to Tatooine every other season so she can still keep close with her family. She’s transported by friends of the Harsh family (Yvait’s mother’s family), the Taaks- Nesota, T’seri, and their hybrid daughter Tabiit. This creates a bond between the Taaks and Roz, especially as Tabiit becomes sort of an older sister to the girl.

The year that Roz is 12 is the year Ben goes fucking crazy. “Canon” says he didn’t kill anyone, but in actuality he did. The transformation from Ben Organa-Solo into Kylo Ren is a bloody one, and Roz stumbles out of her hut to be greeted by the dead bodies of her fellow students, everything in flames, the Knights of Ren, the three or so remaining padawans at Ben’s side, and Ben- with his hands bloody and his lightsaber reddening, extending those bloody hands to her. He asks her to trust him and come with her, where she’ll be safe. And she almost takes his hand but after feeling the rush of cold come off of him and the others she turns and jumps into the ocean despite not knowing how to swim. She manages to survive despite being hurled against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff; she gets herself into an eroded alcove and only after she feels the lot of them leave, begins climbing the steep steps that lead her back up. Luke is distraught, sobbing, screaming at the bodies of all of the fallen- when he senses Roz, and goes to her, and the two embrace and cry and mourn and he promises her he’s going to get her to safety. He’s going to get her home. In his hidden escape ship he calls Leia and Han, he calls Yvait, he calls Nesota for back up just in case those who did this to his temple return.

They’re just leaving Dantooine’s atmosphere when his ship is attacked by Alrai Kal’eeb, Roz’s biological father, and his crew of pirates and slavers. The Order is offering big money to anyone who can find any force sensitive kids and bring them to Snoke (and his new pet). Luke will always define this as his final great failing- after failing all of the padawans at his temple, he feels he failed Roz by not saving her from her father’s clutches.

Alrai Kal’eeb being a stupid, ugly man doesn’t realize as he and his buds are jetting away from Luke’s damaged ship that the Amazon and the Taaks family are there to kick ass and take names. In the skirmish while the ships are connected, Tabiit finds Roz and rescues her and carries her back to the Amazon where they disconnect with Nesota and T’seri and flee to safety. (T’seri goes back for Luke in their personal ship and takes Luke to where Leia and Han are.) Roz, after going back to Tatooine to her family who is crying and so, so happy she’s safe, decides to fly with the Taaks for a little while and offer her service to them for saving her life. They agree, also because staying in one location would draw too much attention and they don’t want the Order to track her down. At fourteen, two years later, they return to Tatooine so Roz can go back to her family.

This is a mistake though! If only because that’s when Roz stumbles upon her farm under siege by the Order. Ren and Hux and Phasma are at the helm for the first times in their lives in the Order and they’ve got Roxxa and Yvait tied up and on their knees before Ren and Hux. Lyn is nowhere to be found. Hux ends up shooting both Roxxa and Yvait and Roz does the smart, terribly scarred thing to do and runs back to the Taaks.

Roz transforms. She is no longer Roz Nuun Pabura. She is now Roz Sunborne. The Taaks take care of her and Roz stays with Tabiit when she pairs up with an old friend, Corellian and Mandalorian bounty hunter and space pirate, Rhys Th’on. The trio bond and help each other. It’s within the next two years that Roz also is gifted the Taaks’ family heirloom connected to the Force- the lava crystal lightsaber belonging to their great grandmother Aremna Taaks, who was a Jedi but left the Order bc she wanted a FAMBILY. (Aremna Taaks may or may not be a technical sister or cousin of Ahsoka Tano.) The lightsaber calls to her and Roz /loves/ it. This is in addition to the one she built at Luke’s temple (the one with the krayt dragon pearl as the crystal which is a silvery-yellow color).

Roz needs a teacher! So she, Tabiit, and Rhys search out the vibes Roz is getting and they meet up with Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren, and Ezra Bridger. Roz has THREE teachers. Well, two technically, but Sabine loves her and teaches her what she can because fuck it. Fuck it. Roz gets to be trained by the coolest motherfuckers. Die mad about it if you’re mad about it. This info will most likely shift a little when the Ahsoka & Sabine Hunt Down Ezra show eventually comes out.

Roz is 17 when she starts hunting down Kylo. She’s still 17 when she decides to join the Order for a bit after dabbling with the Resistance also. She is technically a double agent via Leia’s orders but she still is doing it for selfish reasons.

It’s a stint of a year and a half with the Order before she gets hit with reality and accidentally kills Kosmik’s aunt and is only praised for it by Kylo. This disturbs her greatly! So deeply! It’s after this that the Siege of Quarzite happens and while at first Roz is like !!!! FUCK YEA it’s then revealed the Order wanted to essentially kidnap the Kage people because of their prowess as warriors and turn them into enslaved soldiers. Roz is like oh wow I fucked up!! In this time she starts getting really strong with the Force and almost rips some of the Knights of Ren apart during training the last time before she yeets out of the Order. Kylo is like… she’s just fucking mad it’s whatever. OG Ren Ren (aka original Ren?? I’ve only read a little about him but he seems interesting and weird I like him) is like… nah man she’s Different. (This would be the spot in the story where it’s starting to hint at Roz being the descendant of Revan.)

She kills her dad somewhere in that year and a half also. That story is really good and it’s when she’s found by Tabiit and Rhys before Kylo finds her and it’s. It’s good. Roz’s patricide is actually meaningful and not horrible and it’s a moving on point. It’s one of the reasons she starts becoming herself rather than living in Kylo’s shadow still. Baby’s growing up.

Roz leaves the Order! She’s so fucking lost! There’s a funny story in here somewhere where Hux actually assists in her escape because he a) hates her fucking guts and b) wants to see Ren suffer and c) is almost completely sure she has none of the Order’s information which is……. Wrong. But. She doesn’t have enough info to stop what happens in TLJ I guess. Might rewrite some stuff. But this is also where her story starts pulling away from the main line. Roz really doesn’t want to associate with Kylo ever again, she hates him a lot more than she could ever love him, and she just gets ANGRIER but she gets angrier with a PASSION and a FIRE and an UNDERSTANDING of how she feels. No more vague feelings and no more wanting to save him.

She’s like 19-20 when she gets a vision of her Aunt Cora (her dad’s sister, Kage warrior mama) and also of a woman who may or may not be Shmi Skywalker reminding her that Jhoren is on Tatooine and that he needs help breaking the slave trade once and for all. She calls in anyone she’s met within the past years- which, again, somewhere in there the Amazon gets her crew and is joined by Khorde Khell and his ships (the Tuskat Retribution, the Revenant Concordia, and the Zakkeg Bolide) as well as gathers the Teal Squadron and the like; somewhere in there she meets and loves up on Miss Badass Senator of Coruscant Lenore Baccre Moorheart and also somewhere in there dearest Lenore becomes a FORCE to be RECKONED WITH (Padme would be proud mama ILU so much).

The Crew Stage A Slave Revolt On Tatooine. They Kill A Lot Of Slavers. They Kill A Lot Of Hutts. Goodbye Hutts. Tatooine Belongs To The Sand People Now. And The Criminals. And The Slaves Most Of All Because They Are Not Slaves Anymore. Fuck You Star Wars Tatooine Has No More Slaves. There Was No Bargain Bitches!!!!!!

Uhhhh also Roz gets really fucked up when Luke dies. She feels it in her bones. She gets kinda confused when Kylo dies tho. She’s like…. Yay? But Also??? Screaming??

When Luke dies Roz has a meeting with his force ghost on Tatooine during a binary sunset because I’m emo. That’s Her Dad. Like Her Real Dad. Fuck that other guy. But also Roz is like wait have you blue hallucinations always been force ghosts??? And Luke is like ALWAYS?? Turns out Roz’s special connection to the Force is being able to talk really easily with the Force ghosts!! Fuck those 5 minutes Rey had with all of them- Roz even talks to ANAKIN even though she doesn’t realize who it is. She talks to him a lot, actually. (They’re very similar okay??? OKAY??? I know it’s super OP but let me live, she’s Special alright, she’s my Special Little Baby Who Talks To Ghosts And Kills Things)

So like… she helps the Resistance return the Kage to Quarzite where they create their own happy peaceful empire, she reunites with Lyn because Lyn doesn’t die in this one!! Haha retcon. We still kill their moms tho sadly. But like!! Yay the Galaxy is at Peace!! Oh ALSO Roz is the descendant of Ancient Sith Lord Darth Revan and Badass Bitch Bastila Shan. Roz is like IDK who those people are but cool cool I guess.

Then she returns to the Temple on Dantooine and discovers the ruins of the Jedi Enclave and finds a MASK and turns out Roz is haunted cause she gets fucked up by all of the Force Ghosts who tell her some SHIT is coming but she’s like ???? Why?????? Everything is PEACEFUL why can’t it STAY peaceful???

And then BAM Sith Lord Hyaljenasha “Yaljen” sith pureblood who has been frozen for thousands of years (was around when Revan was around, just not powerful then) and when he awakes he’s like….. That’s a Revanchist force signature singing if I’ve ever FELT one! And he’s like…. Obsessed with Roz a little but he wants to train her

He’s got novitiates which are like his apprentices but he’s so technically old (even tho physically he’s closer to Roz’s age, so like between 22 and 27) that he doesn’t believe in the rule of two lmfao. He’s got Nevtay Strake who’s an Umbaran force sensitive, she’s a snooty bitch who wants everything to burn. He’s got Johaale Garnak who’s Chiss and unfortunately not force sensitive, but they’re a boss ass motherfucker who knows how to fight with weapons especially a lightsaber. They’re cool. Like. Chaotic neutral. Not even evil wtf. He’s also got Carnhea Wellew, a twi’lek woman who is supposed to be a juxtaposition to Roz- they’re very similar, Carnhea has been through some shit and is angry because of it and she needed direction with her immense force abilities. Yaljen is that direction for all three of them! They Love Him a lot and are Way Too Attached to him and while he cares about them also he kinda becomes one-track-minded when Roz Revandescendant comes into play cause he’s like…. Whew…. Wipe me off the face of the GALAXY please. Lemme teach you. Please.

The reason they’ve gone undetected since Yaljen’s awakening is bc he was like…… WOW the force is fucked up now. It wasn’t this fucked up when I went under. We gotta lay low. Gotta literally keep the Force close to the chest here. So they fly under the radar! Amazingly enough!

This is where I’ve gotten. Roz and the crew are like….. HM….. Yaljen is very kinda scary and he has a hold on a lot of strings that we don’t know about but we can’t kill him outright bc he’s so powerful and has powerful darkside followers and also fuckin Johaale who’s a batshit talented motherfucker…

Roz is like. Teach? Him teach? I learn his secrets and destroy him? And everyone at first is like you just didn’t get to do that to Kylo so you want to do that to Yaljen but then they realize it’s probably for the best to wait it out until they can get like. HELP.

Roz has training stints with Yaljen. Yaljen sexy! Roz is like Hm. Yaljen adores Roz and is very patient with her and is very kind and reassuring and Roz is like HM.

Poe and Finn are also gay I’m making canon now. I say this because they appear sometimes! As the heads of the Resistance as it stands they interact quite a bit with all of the squad. Sometimes there are double dates with FinnPoe and Jhorhys (Rhys and Jhoren), sometimes triple dates including ChorZeebs. It’s cute!

IDK where to go from here so I’m just gonna…… leave this all here for now

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 19

This chapter is somewhat shorter than I hoped for and shorter than what I have been posting lately (this is a hair over 1500 words, and I’ve been doing really well posting between 2000 and 2300 lately). I struggled with the decision of whether to force myself to add more, or to post it as is.  In the end, I decided that I would rather post a chapter I was happy with, rather than forcing more words and mucking it up.

The good news is, we actually get to meet Grey Hodenson ( @werewolf2578, I hope I did them justice!), our Councilor over Research.

Read and review... I love feedback!

Xiomara Kalloe turned out to be quite easy to persuade regarding a communal swimming area.  Once Arantxa and I explained what we were trying to accomplish, with assurances that we wanted it to be done as safely as possible, the Councillor of Safety was enthusiastic about the entire prospect.  Having grown up in what was formerly Suriname, she was a very enthusiastic swimmer and believed that teaching everyone on board to swim was a primary safety concern for the planet the Ark was en route to.  My vehemence regarding watercraft only sweetened the deal – in any large body of water, the majority of the danger came from boats and the like.  Once she asked about it, we also fervently agreed that fishing would be clearly prohibited, as we were discussing using a marine biology lab for this venture, and decisions regarding the viability of fishing on Kepler 442b was still up in the air.  Beyond that, the rest was merely smart decisions: lifeguards, swimming lessons, proper depths for stationary diving platforms, etc.

“Stationary platforms,” I asked skeptically. “I was hoping to minimize impact on the experiments by using floating platforms instead.”

Xiomara shook her head, dreadlocks flying. “Floating platforms run the risk of trapping someone beneath them when they move.  And with people pushing off from them, they will move.  There is also the danger that they can drift to dangerously shallow areas, leading to severe spinal injuries.   I feel Grey will agree that stationary platforms will, in the end, be less disruptive than large, drifting pieces of shade and any fervor stemming from diving accidents.”

I rolled that idea around in my head. “You have a really good point, that hadn’t occurred to me. We’ll just have to convince Councillor Huynh.”

“You let me deal with Giang if he objects. Our areas overlap entirely too much for him to risk bad relations with me, and he is very aware of that. What depth do you think the platforms would be best positioned in, since they will be stationary?”

“Probably the deepest areas,” I sighed, feeling like this was a test. “For maximum safety, and to ensure only those who can swim well enough to get to them will be jumping in water deep enough to drown anyone on board.”

White teeth flashed a grin and I knew I had indeed been tested, apparently passing. “Exactly what I was thinking. Are you considering anything like waterslides?”

It was my turn to shake my head. “Not right now, not until we know everyone on board can swim.  I drowned twice before I was 12 in water I was tall enough to stand up in, because I was so dazed from going down a waterslide and didn’t know how to swim.  I know that’s my personal experience talking, but I feel it’s a good argument for at least making sure everyone can swim, and revisiting the idea later.”

“While there is no one on board that young, I do think you make a compelling argument. And honestly, I think that’s everything.  Congratulations, Councillor Reid, you have slain your dragon with no blood spilled,” she chuckled as she mock-toasted me with her coffee.  When I flushed, she broke out in full-fledged laughter.  “No worries, Sophia.  I figured out what you were doing not long after our first meeting, and it certainly expedited your proposal.”

“You’re not mad?” I asked.  It happened rarely, but it did happen.

“Absolutely not. I meant every word about it being a good idea, and at no point have you put your foot down out of pride when I thought you were wrong.  It was certainly a gamble, but it paid off.” Another flashed grin accompanied her words.  “You have my complete support when you take this before the Council.  Now, I know you have plans tonight, so I won’t keep you any longer.  Shoo! Beta shift ends in two hours!”

I could only laugh as she dismissed me from our meeting early. Several times in the past weeks, meetings had been scheduled on the days I had dinner with my ersatz family, so she was aware of my standing arrangement.  Waving over my shoulder, I left her office and started to head back toward my quarters. As Arantxa had not joined me for this meeting, instead putting together the research proposals that Grey Hodenson had sent to include when I brought my idea before the Council for a vote, I quietly walked along the corridors, deep in thought and humming to myself.  

Idly, I looked forward to tonight, as I did every week. The past weeks, in particular, had been grueling for both myself and my assistant, and fortunately it was my sister’s turn to make dinner.  She had a good intuition for when comfort food was necessary, so I really hoped for a good pseudo-beef stew and crusty bread on the side.  It would be comforting food the night before I brought the proposal to the Council. 

Several weeks later, BioLab 2 was officially opened on a provisional basis. In the end, Councilor Huynh had indeed been persuaded by Xiomara (read: mildly threatened), but insisted that we gauge the response of the crew before he would agree to allocate personnel to build the diving platforms. While the excuse made my eyes roll so hard I thought they may fall out, I was surprised to see Grey furrowing their brows; from the aloof researcher, that was practically a shout of frustration.

Nonetheless, it was opening day finally, and I was excited for my first major project as a member of the Council to be unveiled.  The opening ceremonies (not my idea) had been completed along with a barbecue (my idea) in a nearby mess hall – food was not allowed in the Lab – and I was currently watching several people splashing about in the shallows.  No one was truly swimming yet, since the announcement had been enough of a surprise that no one had appropriate clothes for swimming.  Still, my face hurt from smiling as I watched my sister wading, heedless of her wet skirt dragging in the water, along with Arantxa and Conor, who were taking turns trying to playfully push each other deeper.

A cleared throat next to me broke my reverie.  Turning, I saw a familiar dark-haired face looking at me, expression studiously neutral behind wire-rimmed glasses. “Councillor Hodenson,” I greeted them. “Thank you, again, for your assistance with this.  I literally could not have done this without you.”

“I find it will be mutual beneficial, Councillor Reid.  You were quite compelling with your point regarding reactions of the specimens to human interference.   And I quite appreciate the prohibitions against boats and fishing, I must tell you.”

“Please, I beg you, call me Sophia. I’m no longer officially at work, and besides, we are peers.  Even at work, it is entirely appropriate to call me by my first name.”

Glancing over at the raucous excitement of those playing in the water and along the artificial shore, Grey adjusted their glasses. “I will do my best.  It is somewhat engrained from my upbringing to only use informalities with family and very close friends.  Though they never approved of me, I still find some habits difficult to break…Sophia.”

I grinned at the small victory. “As long as it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, that is all I ask, Councilor Hodenson.  Now, I am sure you didn’t just come over here for a chinwag.  What can I assist you with?”

“Actually, I feel that we may be able to assist each other further.”  They nodded toward the marine basin. “The idea you and Councilor Kalloe had for stationary platforms will add value to our research. You are aware that some aquatic species need a hard, stationary surface to anchor themselves to?” When I nodded, they continued. “The platforms are quite ideal for that.  The lab has considered multiple solutions for how to study these species as we ramp up the project, and we agree that the diving platforms would serve an ideal dual purpose: members of the crew will be able to dive from the platforms, stirring the water sufficiently, and the platforms themselves will be secure and sturdy places for growth habitats.  I am very interested in placing leverage against Councilor Huynh to see this accomplished.”

I arched an eyebrow in surprise. Grey was, in their quiet way, throwing considerable support behind me. “You are seriously willing to apply pressure to Giang to help me get diving platforms put in?”

“I admit, I was quite furious when he delayed the construction, largely for personal reasons.  I am very fond of diving, as it happens.”

“Councilor Hodenson, I didn’t even know you could swim.  No offense, but you can barely walk and think at the same time without tripping twice over nothing.”

“I take no offense.  I do often get so lost in my thoughts that I try to walk in two different directions at once, and inevitably trip or knock something over.  But bear in mind: Terran penguins are quite ungainly and graceless out of the water, as well.”

I laughed at the comparison, true as it was.  I just couldn’t get over the mental image of my fellow Councilor waddling and sliding on their stomach to get from place to place.  Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I glanced at Grey.

Their wink and smirk sent me into breathless laughter again.  “Oh, this is going to be fun,” I gasped.

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[mathiaskillmaster]

TITANS: The Queen and the Beast (Elsa / Godzilla - Disney Monsterverse) - Chapter 6: Rise of the Titans

Middle of ocean, off the coast of Norway

Usually, at this time of the year, after the winter, the storms in the North Sea were supposed to subside, and for now it seemed to be the case. Apart from a sky covered entirely with black clouds masking the sunlight and a heavy rain falling in a torrent from the sky, the water of the ocean, except for a few strong rolls, seemed calm, for the moment.

Three fishing boats, coming from Iceland, sailed side by side in the middle of this ocean more and more agitated by the rising wind. Behind them, the three boats dragged a huge fishnet, connecting between the boats by strong ropes. The return of spring announced a new fishing season and the winter reserves had to be supplied again.

In the hold of the ship on the left, covered with moisture and lit by a small flickering lantern, a young sailor descended the little wooden staircase to join two of his older, miserly comrades seated on wooden crates as chairs, and in the middle a third box acting as a table for playing cards. While waiting for the fishnet to fill up as much as possible, they did not have much else to do. The young sailor, named Otto, checked the state of the lantern to prevent it to turn out and joined his friends around the box to play.

- "Ouf, I don't have to hold the helm anymore. Oh, and the captain sends me to tell you that you should move from there, otherwise he will come and kick your ass." Otto said by taking his cards in hand. The other two sailors exchanged a laugh. - "Oh yeah, let him come, I'm waiting for him." replied one of the two sailors bluntly, scratching his stomach lazily. Otto gave a little laugh, knowing well the limited character of these two feigners who think only of drinking and going to see the prostitutes at the brothel of the port.

The three sailors began their game of cards, depositing the first cards on the box, all this while being gently lulled by the rolls. Outside, the wind seemed to intensify even more, coming whistling against the walls of the boat.

- "Well, it looks like it's going to be interesting soon." said the round-faced sailor, listening to the wind.

- "By the way, did you hear these stories to Norway, about those missing ships and those villages being attacked?" Otto asked as he watched his cards. The sailor facing him, with a bushy black beard, nodded.

- "Yeah. Arendelle's kingdom would be in a state of siege, apparently. There are some who say it's an enemy kingdom trying to invade them."

- "Arendelle ...." said the sailor, trying to think "... Oh yes, I remember, I've already been there with some friends to land fish and sell it to shops there. I managed to catch sight of their famous queen, there .... What's her name .... Uh ..... Elsa. Well, I can tell you that it's a pretty beauty. If I could. ... You know what I mean."

He laughed heartily, slapping Otto's shoulder, who just smiled a little embarrassed. The other black-bearded sailor mocked his perverse friend.

- "Let me laugh. If she see you, she'll tell you to go take a bath."

Suddenly, the boat seemed to stop suddenly, shaken in all directions, so much so that the three sailors were thrown from their crates and fell to the ground, the cards flying in all directions. In the hold, several objects fell to the ground. On the deck of the boat, the captain, a man in his thirties, with a mustachiated face, short hair and a long gray-blue coat, rose to his feet after this strange shock and went immediately to the back of the boat to check what's going on. The ropes were stretched to their fullest and the net had completely disappeared under the cold, dark water. The captain had trouble understanding what's going on.

- "Hey, why we don't move forward? The fishnet is too heavy, or what?" shouted a sailor's voice on another boat against the captain.

-"I don't think so!" replied the captain, shouting also to be heard in the rain and wind. "I think the fishnet is hanging on something, maybe a rock!"

Suddenly, a dull and strange rumble sounded under the water, and even, close to the boats. All the sailors heard this really curious sound, and some shuddered. After all his years fishing on the high seas, the captain had never heard this before and had a bad feeling.

All of a sudden, several hundred yards in front of the boats, the sea seemed to rise in a huge explosion of water and foam, as if a volcano was rising from the water. Surprised, all the sailors turned their eyes towards this direction, and very quickly their stupefaction changed into a great fear. Leatherback had risen, roaring fiercely, raising his head to the sky.

- "Oh, my god ..." muttered the captain, shocked by this horror vision. While the sailors began to panic at the sight of this gigantic monster, the boats were shaken in all directions once again, and soon after, began to be pulled back. The ropes of the fishnet stretched even more, stirring up and down. Once again, the sailors were thrown to the ground and stunned. Recovering his spirits and raising his head, the captain felt his heart make a huge leap in his chest. The three boats simultaneously slid backwards, slowly. The water behind them seems to be boiling and agitated more than usual. The back of the boats began to sink in the water, to the great fear of all.

- "We are taken to the bottom!" yelled a sailor in panic.

- "Cut the ropes! Cut them!!" immediately ordered the captain, caught unprepared. On the three boats, some sailors caught axes, generally used to decapitate large fish after fishing, and began to bang their full force on the thick ropes of the fishnet. But the rain making the ropes slippery, and visibility very bad, made the task very difficult and the sailors could not break the ropes. The boats sank deeper and deeper into the water, while the roar under the water echoed once more. Further, Leatherback watched without moving what was happening, with a carnivorous smile.

- "Drop the axes and undo the knot!" shouted a sailor realizing it was useless.

-"Too late!" shouted another. Indeed, the three boats were suddenly engulfed entirely, body and property, under the surface of the black water. Some crates and other debris rose to the surface, but no sailors, alive or dead, reappeared.

Leatherback gave a groan of satisfaction and walked a few steps forward, to see the magnitude of the thing. Seeing no survivors, he seemed happy and made other sounds, more acute and repetitive, as if he was calling.

A hundred meters ahead of him, the ocean rose again, torn by a new giant form emerging from the water. Leatherback seemed to smile at the appearance of this other creature. This other titan, the water streaming in torrents on his skin, emitted a first grunt and looked at Leatherback in turn. 207 feet in height, standing on four legs, the two fronts of which were longer and ending with hands with long, clawed fingers. Under his arms were taut skin filaments, like folded dragon wings. A body leaning forward, covered with gray-green scales. A back covered with scales plates looking more solid than his skin. A long tail trailed behind his body, ending with a large three-fingered and clawed hand acting as a pincer. The facial structure of this creature was made up of a long neck, plated and ridged, and her head includes a large, powerful jaw and is marked by a signature crest on between her forehead and snout, with two extra, golden eyes on each front of the crest. The crest is curved in the front, with a long, sturdy spike protruding from the back for protection of the eyes.

The dragon-like titan was masticating what was left of the fishnet, having devoured everything in it, and dropped it into the water, torn and covered with saliva. Advancing in front of Leatherback, the sea dragon tilted his head slightly, as a sign of greeting, or submission, hard to say. Leatherback smiles at this, accepting the bid of his fellow. The two titans looked at each other in the eyes, exchanging the same satisfied glances and decided to spread the destruction in the world of the humans. The time of hiding from everyone's eyes was over, Leatherback thought, looking towards south, there or miles and miles further, was Norway. From now on, humans would rediscover who are the true masters of this world.

**********

Meanwhile, at miles and miles, in another place of the North Sea, Godzilla continued to swim, slowly because of its enormous size and weight, its giant backbones tearing the sea in their wake. Around him, three warships with sails bearing the coat of arms of Arendelle, seemed to follow him, keeping a certain distance from the giant monster. By order of Commander Ulrik, these three ships had been sent in pursuit of the titans to see where they were heading. Leatherback having disappeared, the ships had been able to find Godzilla, this one being slower.

It was a long time since the ships were following Godzilla, and this one had not even reacted to their presence, just swimming right in front of him. The soldiers on the ships were struggling to understand his behavior. Why did he ignore them?

The canons of the ships were ready for use, and each soldier stood ready, with a rifle in his hand, just in case. Did Godzilla think that these weapons posed no danger to him and did not want to waste time in destroying ships? Perhaps. One thing was obvious: he was tracking something he considered far more dangerous than human warships. Surely that other titan. On the main ship, to the right of Godzilla, the captain was continually observing from the bow, without looking away from the creature. The sailor next to him was also watching, but showing a much less serious and more worried face.

- "Captain, can you tell me why we have to follow this giant monster?"

The captain stared at him sternly.

- "Commander Ulrik's orders, that's all you need to know, sailor."

Suddenly, Godzilla's back seemed to be arching and the backbones gradually sank under the water, under the incredulous eyes of the sailors of Arendelle. Godzilla's gigantic form made a detour to the right, passing under the one of the ships without even touching it. The captain of the said ship leaned over the rail, contemplating the immense dark form under the water leaving in another direction. The captain suddenly understood and shuddered.

- "It goes to the south ...... To Arendelle ..."

Underwater, Godzilla continued to ignore from the beginning those ships that followed him. Those reptilian yellow eyes focused on looking straight ahead. He was very focused on his target, which he was tracking since now years. He gave a roar of frustration. Not only did his target seem to have changed directions and headed south, but Leatherback no longer seemed to be alone, which was not reassuring. Also, Godzilla continued to feel this same attractive aura..... That of the woman with blond hair and dressed in this ice blue dress he had seen.... She was also in this direction..... Grumbling softly, Godzilla seemed to speed up a little swimming, visibly hasty to arrive before Leatherback at destination.

*********

Jungle of Japan, Okinawa Islands

The jungles of the great country of Japan were thick and mysterious, subject to many legends and stories through the world. Many explorers from all over Europe had come in search of temples and treasures that this wild and dangerous nature was trying to hide. Some had been found, others not, too well hidden from foreign eyes.

It was the case for a particular temple, so well hidden in the middle of the jungle, in a huge lush valley and trapped between huge cliffs of brown rocks seeming impossible to cross. However, despite the dangers, some worshipers sometimes went to the temple, by secret passages through the mountains that only them were knowing, but refused to reveal what he could worship in this temple.

But that day was very different. One of the high monks of the cult was immediately called to the temple, something serious apparently having happened. Escorted by a troop of his faithful, all armed for the case, the monk, very old, with a bald head, his face drowned in wrinkles and dressed in his traditional monk's robe, arrived in front of the temple entrance and was see for himself what had just happened. A hole about fifty meters high was at the place where the entrance to the temple was usually located. Dozens of men were busy gathering the rubble in piles. The old monk came forward, looking at the giant hole in the temple, but yet did not seem more shocked than he should be. His gaze rested on one of the lion statues, standing on his stone pedestal and almost seeming to send a message to the old sage by his stone gaze.

The monk seemed to be acquiescing, apparently having understood this invisible message in the ears of others. The old monk's gaze then rested on huge footprints that had crossed the earth around him. Further away, the vegetation, the trees and the rocks seemed to have been overthrown by something very large and strong, and formed a long, devastated path heading south. The monk sketched a semblance of a smile, and spoke in his calm voice.

- "The king has finally awakened ..... Kingu Shisa is back."

[lovelylogans]

PRINCESS BRIDE AU

BC I CAN also i just rewatched it and it’s one of my fav movies so

LOGICALITY/PRINXIETY BUCKLE IT UP

please. please. y’all already know roman is buttercup. upcoming royal??? yeah it’s roman, obvi

westley is virgil. 1. bc he was socially awkward to the point of throwing himself down a hill as a way to communicate to his former love that he’s actually alive, 2. westley’s snark is iconic

logan is inigo. bc he studied for years and years under the greatest swordsmen. like, canonically. boy is inigo. 

patton is fezzik. partially bc i like the idea of gentle giant patton and partially bc of the way he nursed everyone back to health (inigo from drunk stuff, westley from death) and also like he’s so soft and gentle and the end where he gets two white horses???? it’s patton y’all

deceit is humperdinck. on a related note, please let deceit’s canon name be on the level of ridiculousness of humperdinck @ thomas and co i’m begging

vizzini is uhhh. uh. hm. you know what. full absurdity here it’s the dragon witch (you know how the dragon witch was like a throwaway character except i’m basically shoehorning her into every fic i have?)

(the magician and his wife who resurrect westley are now joan and talyn, i don’t make the rules, except i do)

also tw mentions of suicide, and also torture 

ACTUAL PLOT UNDER CUT

so! roman as the slightly bratty upcoming lord of the land or whatever on the farm, and virgil as the farmboy

virgil is a Useless Gay and as such whenever roman asks him to do anything he just “as you wish” and tries hard not to be too obvious about staring at him and covers up his affection with snark

roman, who is an Equally Useless Gay, just kinda. keeps giving virgil these useless commands (”farmboy! ....um. hand me those reigns!” “...the ones... you’re holding?” “THE OTHER REIGNS” “....as you wish”)

eventually roman does a “farmboy. fetch me that pitcher.” and virgil does and whispers “as you wish” and roman grabs him by his lapels and brings him in for a kiss

virgil however fully recognizes that he has to up his social class in order to be with roman so he goes sailing before they can marry but the dread pirate anx attacks

roman is devastated, ofc, and makes the “i’ll never love again” vow

let’s do the time warp again!

five years later!

roman’s accepted a proposal from deceit, bc 1. he’s the prince and 2. if he’s gonna be miserable may as well be miserable in a high social standing, right

plus he always kinda dreamed of being a prince as a kid, didn’t he? maybe this way he can enact some change

it is hard to remember such things when he is trotted out in the public square like a prize goat, but he clings to it regardless

except!

he goes out riding (one of the only things he still loved) before the wedding and gets knocked out by the dragon witch and co.

logan and his husband fiancé boyfriend (?) patton have mostly accepted this job bc they need money, and keep accepting the job bc... well, money

logan swears they’ll get out of it and he’ll find the six-fingered man, and patton doesn’t like the unscrupulousness of it but. well. they have to eat somehow

and he debates with the dragon witch about and he goes “you were not hired for brains!” “but i was,” logan says coolly, sharpening his sword. “and if you speak to him like that again, you’ll see precisely the other reason you hired me.”

yeah they don’t like it

anyways logan starts the fast/alas harm/charm rhyme game with patton to cheer him up. and then they keep it up bc it annoys the dragon witch

roman wakes up and logan notices someone following him (spoiler it’s virgil) and the dragon witch threatens roman. everyone on the boat hates the dragon witch, basically

but roman jumps into the shrieking eel-infested waters, swimming to the boat, bc as miserable as he is he doesn’t wanna be murdered for a war

patton ends up smacking the eel on the nose and bringing roman into the boat, huddling over him protectively and asking if he’s okay

roman gives him a why would you care look, and patton gives him some extra food as sympathy

the CLIFFS of INSANITY!!

and patton climbs them all up, shortly followed by the Mysterious Masked Man

“INCONCEIVABLE!!” and the dragon witch cuts the rope, and the masked man managed to cling to the rocks

the dragon witch makes to leave logan behind and patton looks anxious and logan smiles and shakes his head and says “i’ll be fine” “just... be careful, okay? people in masks can’t be trusted” and they kiss and the dragon witch urges patton and roman on

basically as soon as the dragon witch is out of earshot logan calls down to him

“slow going?” “look, i don’t mean to be rude, but this isn’t as easy as it looks. i’d appreciate if you didn’t distract me.” “sorry.” “thank you”

five seconds later... “i don’t suppose you could speed things up?” “look, if you’re in such a hurry, you could throw down some rope or something?” “well i’m not sure if you’d accept. i mostly want you to speed up so i can fight you. potentially to the death.” “...that does put a damper on our relationship.”

ten seconds later... “look, okay, i’ll throw down the rope, and step back from it.” “why do you want to help me so bad?” “well, that sword you’re carrying.” and then he goes on a tirade of how that exact blade and how beat up it is etc. is evidence of a good swordsman and it’s been  a g e s  since logan’s had a good duel

“...all right, fine. anyone told you, you talk too much?” “i could rescind that rope offer--” “on seCOND THOUGHT”

so virgil reaches the top and logan offers him a breather until they duel, and logan lays out his backstory in all kinds of matter-of-fact language

he tells the story of the six-fingered man after virgil catches him looking closely at his hands, and explains that he went from studying sword-making to sword-fighting after the death of his father, along with the twin scars on his face

he also explains the whole “we’re working with the witch to pay the bills” kind of thing and also patton

“you seem a decent fellow. i hate to kill you.” “you seem a decent fellow. i hate to die.”

do yourself a favor watch the swordfight again it’s glorious (that link also includes the inigo/westley convo)

logan, a nerd, lists off the routines. virgil, also a nerd, offers counterpoints

it’s the debate, basically. it’s their debate but with swords

“who are you?” “no one of consequence.” “i must know.” “get used to disappointment.”

logan gets his sword knocked out of his hand, and very matter-of-factly says “kill me quickly. and tell patton--tell patton--”

“i’m not going to kill you, for goodness sake’s. i’ve never had an equal like this. however, i can’t have you following me, either.” and whacks logan over the head

meanwhile, they see virgil coming up over the hill, and the dragon witch takes roman and leaves patton (who is worrying VERY MUCH as if he got past logan then--)

virgil comes up over the hill to a rock thrown at him and smashed very near his head. he whirls around, bringing up the sword, and patton emerges from behind the rock, another rock uplifted.

“what did you do with logan?!”

“he’s alive, just unconscious.”

“oh thank god,” and he lowers the rock, beaming. “this business is so dangerous the only reason we stick with it is because we’re broke” “well, understandable. i did the same for five years.”

“...so, uh, what now?” “i just kinda figured. well. i don’t want that nice prince to die. if you’re trying to save him, you can knock me out. i’ll kneel to make it easier for you, if you like.” “well that’s very kind of you”

ft. battle of iocaine powder, with a blindfolded roman, and virgil smirking as the dragon witch rattles off the varieties of reasoning (”you fell victim to one of the classic blunders!”) and eventually swaps glasses and dies anyways

virgil crosses over and unties the blindfold

“who are you?” “no one to trifle with. and that’s all you need to know.” “to think--yours was poisoned!” “no. i’ve spent the past five years building up an immunity to iocaine powder.”

eventually virgil lets roman stop to catch his breath and roman promises ransom, adding that deceit is a fantastic tracker

“you admit to me you do not love your fiancé” “he knows i do not love him” “are not capable of it, you mean” and roman draws himself up to his full height

“i have loved more deeply than a killer like yourself could ever dream--”

virgil snarls and pulls roman along, keeping going before they get caught by deceit

eventually roman snaps that he knows he’s the dread pirate anx, admit it! and virgil does, and roman snarls that he can die slowly, cut into a thousand pieces, etc etc etc

virgil, kind of testing him, asks about the love that he apparently killed. who is “poor and perfect, with the most beautiful eyes” and they bicker more and more, virgil saying “i remember this farm boy, i think.” and talking a game about how he died well and said “please. please, i need to live.” because he had true love

they bicker more and more and roman screams “i DIED that day!” and they see deceit’s horses, and roman snarls “you can die too for all i care before shoving him down the hill

“AAAAAS..... YOUUUUUUU... WIIIIIIIIISH”

and roman immediately throws himself down the hill after him

deceit realizes they’re heading to the fire swamp

roman and virgil have their sappy reunion “you’re alive! if you want, i can fly!” and the “death cannot stop true love. only delay it for a while” 

and then... fire swamp

roman gets a bit singed by the fire, and virgil explains how he took the dread pirate anx is actually multiple people; ryan, cummerbund, etc etc, while carrying roman through the forest. and then he sets him down and basically immediately roman gets sucked into lightning sand, and then the rous’

they make it out of the fire swamp and straight into deceit’s calvalcade, ft. six-fingered man

“you mean you wish to surrender to me? very well, i accept”

but also roman sees them trying to kill virgil and basically surrenders so they promise not to hurt him

“i thought you were dead once. it almost destroyed me. i can’t do it again.” and deceit whisks him onto his horse before he can say a proper goodbye to virgil

virgil gets knockt out and taken to the pit of despair

(fun fact: the henchperson in the pit of despair in the movie terrified me so much as a kid, oh my god)

anyways they clean his wounds and basically prep him for the Death Machine

roman, meanwhile, is moping quietly around the castle, as deceit basically covers for it with his father’s failing health. roman has stress dreams and nightmares about the wedding, before he marches to deceit’s office and declares that he will be dead by the morning after their wedding

deceit simpers that he could never cause roman grief, and they’ll alert virgil’s ship, etc., all that, and casts some shade, but roman stays strong. eventually they make a deal that if virgil wants roman, sure, but if not, please consider deceit as an alternative to death.

deceit reveals that he hired the dragon witch, as they walk to the pit of despair, and the six-fingered man starts virgil up on the Torture

after that, logan and patton (since reunited) are having a merry old time knocking people out in the thieves’ forest and avoiding arrest, when patton at last reveals the discovery of the six-fingered man

CHANGE OF PLANS, logan declares, and basically drags patton into this plan. he also needs, well, another swordsman, so he may as well go looking for...

virgil! who is Suffering, highkey, when deceit struts into the room. roman has since figured out his letters to virgil haven’t been sent, and he is. Angry About It, which makes deceit Angry at him and roman has basically been locked away until the wedding

back to virgil! as deceit is ranting about the true love, which is a once in a century ordeal, and so deceit snarls “then no man in a century will suffer as greatly as you will” and cranks the machine up to fifty

and uh. he ded y’all

not before screaming loud enough for basically the whole country to hear, including logan and patton!

who move towards the screaming, and are basically like “well, we’re in the middle of a forest, now what” until they stumble along the henchperson, who gets Knocked soundly along the head until he reveals the pit

they cart out virgil’s body to joan and talyn, and logan basically tells them that it would greatly displease deceit and so they have their whole thing (and TO BLAAAVE, which means to bluff! and rewatch the whole situation because it’s so funny and also like. oh my god. joan and talyn as miracle max and valerie)

so they get him the little chocolate covered miracle pill and haul virgil out

“bye bye, boys! have fun storming the castle!”

they feed him the miracle pill, but, uh, virgil’s physicality is....... incredibly limited

“let me explain! no, there’s too much. roman’s marrying deceit’s in less than half an hour. so we gotta break into the castle. and i have to kill count rogen.”

“great. the only trouble is i can’t move and there are sixty guards on that door”

basically they come up with the whole, like, demon entrance plan, which is hilarious, and come upon the head guard

“give us the gate key.” “i have no gate key.” “i see. patton, tear his arms off.” “oh you mean this gate key!”

wedding is happening, which.

“mawwaige..... mawwage is what bwings us togezzer... today.”

oh my god. oh my god it’s the precursor to the hewwo meme

anyways they keep talking “wuvvvvv.... TWU wuv!” and deceit snaps they speed up for it and they get the shortest vows ever

deceit gets roman taken to the honeymoon suite by his parents and he goes racing out to face virgil, logan, and patton, who is carrying virgil

in comes the six-fingered man, and six guards, who logan slays with ease

“hello. my name is logan sanders. you killed my father. prepare to die.”

dude fuckin sprints outta there, and logan follows

meanwhile, patton continues calmly carrying virgil until logan starts shouting for him to break down a door

patton gently installs virgil into the arms of a knight thing and stops logan from basically knocking his head against the door, before punching it down for him, and going back to get virgil

roman’s being escorted by the queen, who he gently kisses on the cheek

“what was that for?”

“you’ve always been so kind to me. and i’ll be killing myself once we reach the honeymoon suite.”

“....won’t that be nice. HE KISSED ME!”

logan has his Badass Fight and gets jabbed pretty bad in the stomach, but not before enacting his awesome revenge

roman dully enters the suite, and preps to stab himself in the chest, until he hears a voice from the bed

“there are very few perfect chests in the world. it’d be a pity to damage yours.”

“VIRGIL! OH, VIRGIL!”

and he rushes to kiss and hug him, and basically virgil reveals he can’t move all that much right now and is in a fair bit of pain

“won’t you forgive me?” “what did you do?” “i got married” “well, did you say i do?” “well... no.” “then you didn’t get married. don’t you agree, highness?”

and roman whirls around to see deceit

and virgil gives the badass to the pain speech

god it’s so. yes.

and virgil manages to stumble to his feet and hold out his sword, snarling “drop. your. sword.”

it’s scary enough that deceit basically immediately forfeits, and roman ties him up, beaming

logan stumbles into the room, holding his stomach “where’s patton?!” “i thought he was with you!” 

and they hear patton calling from the window, beaming and holding the reigns to four white horses

and they uh... happily ever after, running away together, to Be Gay and Do Crime

[welcometoels]

Session Eighteen - For A Few Otters More

After the revelations last session, the group settles in at The Burning Man to compare notes.  They confirm that each of the original four started their unexpected journey here.  A stirring discovery indeed.

The discovery seems to have hit Julius especially hard.  Knowing he is now so close to his home, he tells the group that he wishes to go there - perhaps to stay.  The team is surprised, and a little alarmed, but they offer to join him on his return journey.

The party decides to bed down for the night to absorb this information, and Talion strikes a deal with the staff: A quick performance on the stage in exchange for discounted rates on the remaining two unoccupied rooms.

He absolutely crushes the performance of “The Worst Whore In Els” - despite some very squonky harmonica backup from Oddsock - and even gets a bit of a singalong going during the chorus.  The barman is delighted and slashes the room price as agreed.

After a night of heavy dreaming and a morning of inevitably bacon-flavoured items - the orange juice being especially weird - the team inspects a local newspaper.  There is mention of an undead creature who is currently being held in Monthend prison, screaming about a monk who stole his lantern, but other than that the only thing of note is in the personals:

Z -

The place just isn’t the same without you.  Please come back.

T

After dwelling on it a moment, Talion recalls that the bar manager at The Wayward Alchemist was named Tabatha.  Is this her, reaching out to Zanthia?  If she didn’t return to the Alchemist, where did she go?

There being only so much they can do from Greysnipe, the adventurers decide to head out and accompany Julius back to his old cottage.

Progress is slow, thanks to thick foliage and a lack of path, but they eventually find themselves at a quaint little log cabin next to a river.  The building is small - just enough for two short people - but it is pretty, despite the vegetable patch and herb garden being in sore need of tidying.

Julius, overflowing with excitement, leaps straight into the river for a swim, followed by a boisterous Oddsock.  Julius shows off his strong swimming skills with a few figure-eights, while Oddsock flounders in the shallows a little, before returning to the bank and shaking himself down right in front of Kadis.

A squelchy squeak emerges from Oddsock’s possessions, and the dog retrieves his dragon chew toy Tim.  From within, a muffled voice complains about leaks inside his pocket dimension, so Oddsock deploys his Mage Hand to hang Tim out to dry.

Eventually tiring of his swim, Julius re-emerges, whereupon he notices that the door is slightly ajar.  Cautiously, with staff in hand, he approaches and pushes it a little wider.

From within the cabin, two shadowy figures with two pairs of beady eyes appear.  As the light reaches them, they are revealed to be two small Otter people - no more than two feet tall - staring agog at Julius.  “The giant!” they squeak in unison, before fleeing into the forest.

Julius is bamboozled: He has never seen other Otters before, and is quite upset that they are so frightened by his presence.  Searching through the cabin, he can’t find anything missing or seriously out of place, leaving him even more baffled.

Oddsock, ever helpful, uses his cunning dog nose to try and pick up their scent.  He catches the musky aroma of wild animals and fish, and confirms that they went into the forest.  The fact that everyone saw them go that way does not dampen his enthusiasm or pride.

The group splits, with Cailynn joining Oddsock on the quest to follow the Otters, and Kadis and Talion staying to keep Julius company.

As the search party treks into the trees, Oddsock picks up a stronger scent.  Pressing onward with increased speed, they find their path blocked by a thorny thicket.  Deploying his sharp canine ears, Oddsock detects a telltale squeaking from beyond.

Friendly as ever, Oddsock calls out a greeting, and the squeaking stops.  Concerned, he pulls out his Ball of Compulsive Throwing, gives it a little squeak, then nudges it into the briar.  After a moment, a tiny Otter paw emerges and takes the ball.  Lots of squeaks follow, and the ball is thrown back out, followed by the same two Otter faces as before.

These two little fellows are nervous, but also curious, so Oddsock lays on the charm and assures them that he and Cailynn are both friendly.  The Otters confer for a moment, then invite the pair through.

The thicket is tough going, and very spiky, but Oddsock and Cailynn manage to wriggle through with only a few light scratches.  Once beyond the border, they are surprised to find a miniscule village of huts built from mud and pebbles, each one host to more little Otter people, all no more that three feet tall.

A small commotion ensues, and one of the taller Otters steps forth to chastise the two youngsters - Snapper and Perch - sending them back to their home with the threat of no supper hanging over them.  He then turns to the two adventurers and demands an explanation.

Oddsock and Cailynn fill the Otter in on who they are and why they are there, but at the mention of Julius, he goes a little quiet.  He confirms that they both know “the giant”, then disappears to the far end of the village to fetch the Elder.

This Elder is every bit the distinguished Otter patriarch: though stooped, and needing a cane for support, he carries himself with dignity, and wears a headdress of twigs, leaves and berries to show his station.  Upon meeting the Dog and Drow, he asks them to bring Julius to him.

Oddsock tries Message, but he is too far away, so Cailynn uses the pendant.  Back at Julius’ cottage, the message comes through, but faintly.  The connection is clear enough for Cailynn to advise where they are, and to tell them to look out for the Dancing Lights she will place at the entrance to the thicket.

A few minutes and a few more scratches later, the team is reunited.  All are agog at what they have found, but none more so than Julius.  The Elder greets him warmly, and presents a letter, which is accompanied by a story.

Many years ago, when the Elder was a young Otter, a basket containing a strange creature washed up on the banks of the river.  The creature was clearly very young, and appeared to be made entirely of water.  The Otters took it in, and tended to it as best they could.

Over time, the creature grew, and started to resemble an Otter - albeit a larger one than any of the others, even at a young age.  So, the Otter clan called upon the assistance of the local druid Pa McGinley.  After some cajoling, he agreed to take in the young creature, and named him Julius.  He just liked the sound of it.

The other thing Pa helped with was the translation of the letter, which was written in some dialect of Primordial.  This is the letter Julius now holds in his paws - it states that he was to be kept safe, and protected, for he was important, and in danger.

Julius reads through the note a few more times, and puts it away.  The Elder nods, and advises Julius to seek out more information, should he need it, from the only person who might know more - Pa McGinley.

Julius is confused.  He was certain that Pa had died years ago, after abandoning his cottage, but the Elder wears a mysterious expression, and advises that this is not the entire truth.  If Julius wants to know more, he can travel to the sacred Druidic Forest, which is a short but difficult trek through the woods.

Julius absorbs this information solemnly, then asks his travelling companions if they will assist in this journey, and they agree immediately.  The Elder nods, and presents Julius with a nice pebble.  Julius gives one of his in return, unknowingly completing a traditional Otter transaction that is a cornerstone of their society.  Perhaps he absorbed more Otterness during those early years than anyone thought.

After pressing through the spiky brush again, the team follows the Elder’s directions to the Druidic Forest.  Progress is slow, as there is no path - just thick foliage and sturdy trees.  If anything, the forest gets thicker as they progress, the upper branches knitting together and blocking all but the most stubborn rays of sunlight.

For the sake of those without Darkvision, Talion casts Light on his lightning pendant.  In the dim glow, it becomes clear that, not only is the forest ahead of them thicker, but the forest behind them is too.  Suspecting imminent danger, Julius casts Pass Without Trace on the team, so they can sneak through more easily.

This works for most, but Oddsock finds sneaking on four paws somewhat more difficult.  He tries his best, but is very nearly struck by a swinging branch.  The team rallies just in time to witness Oddsock being attacked once again, but this time more successfully, a hefty blow striking his golden flank.

Kadis returns with a flurry of blow, sending chunks of bark flying.  The trees try to retaliate, but he is altogether too swift for them.  Oddsock, having had quite enough, readies his fiery magic and threatens to set the whole forest ablaze.

It is unclear whether or not his words are understood, but the motes of flame that leap from his fur communicate his intent clearly.  The trees raise their branches, indicating surrender.

As this happens, a miasma engulfs the party, and suddenly they find themselves able to understand the trees on a psychic level.  The trees see them as trespassers in sacred ground, and want them to leave immediately.

The situation looks bleak, as more and more trees close in.  Julius tries his best to explain, but then a familiar voice breaks through.  Stern, but warm, this is a voice that Julius has known for all of his life.

When Pa appears, though, he is not at all as Julius remembers.  Though still Gnome height, more or less, he is distinctly more mushroomoid.  Julius is taken aback, but the figure in front of him is definitely his old Pa.

Pa McGinley confirms everything that the Otter Elder told him: he adopted Julius as a child and promised to keep him safe, which is why he encouraged his young charge to not leave the cottage.

Now, though, he sees the power and potential in Julius, and encourages him to go out on an adventure.  Pa himself saw a lot of the world before settling down at the riverside cabin, and wants the same for Julius.

As far as the note goes, he advises Julius to start with a trip to Tý-En.  The Elves pride themselves on their magical history and wisdom, so there would be worse places to try and find out more about water creatures and from where they might hail.

As a parting gesture, Pa takes Julius’ staff - really just a branch that he used to use to chase rabbits away from the carrot patch - and imbues it with more Druidic power.  It now acts as if Shillelagh is cast upon it at all times, and also carries a little extra sting of poison.

Pa waves off Julius and his team, as a few more mushroom people emerge from the gloom.  He also encourages Julius to visit again, once he has mastered the druidic arts, and to join with the master druids of millennia past.

The trees part, leaving a clear path for the party to return.  They make their way back to Greysnipe to enjoy some drinks at the Hanging Lock, and to absorb everything that took place.

Tý-En is calling, but will they heed?  Find out next session!

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #236

“Dn Picks a Fight, the Truth about Herms”

[Deer] Calls out for Doc- Love?  The new refugees are here

[Doc] Incoherent keyboard smash of frustration in the chat-

[Deer] - ...  I'm naked?

[Doc] Is running in hir dragon shape and goes overhead in hir crazy ratcheting way. Yaunfen is safely in hir mane but xe looks extremely stressed, and lands on top of the shrine, before scuttling away from the edge. -

[Dn] Is walking after hir and crisping the grass with his ice as he goes-

[Testificates] Slowly edge behind Deerheart and Cp-

[Deer] - Hello love!

[Yaunfen] Baps at Doc- Mada

[Doc] Cuddles Yaunfen almost desperately-

[Dn] Snorts at the Testificates-

[CP] - Need some fire Doc?

[Doc] Anything!

[Dn] Coward.

[CP] Launches a fireball while holding Lie cradled in his other arm-

[Dn] Counters it with a chunk of packed ice that melts in his hands on impact- Defending your fellow brine, creepypasta?

[CP] - Eh, I'm bored and could do with some murdering

[Deer] - Hm, I wonder if there's a way to remove his power...

[Dn] Sweeps a hand in her direction and leaves a bit of ice on her nose- Put some clothes on.

[Deer] - No

[Dn] Stubborn. But that's how the Doctor likes them I think- Meaningful glance upward- You can't hide from me Herobrine.

[CP] Growls a little-

[Lie] - CP...

[Deer] - Hmph, I'm not the only one naked...

[Bee] Who are you?

[Dn] I am Dark NOTCH. Counterpart to the cowardly dragon hiding from me on the rooftop-

[Testificates] Hiss in fear-

[Lie] - CP, just go ahead and put me down...

[CP] Gently puts his wife down and charges at DN, summoning his pick-

[Dn] Creates an ice spike and swings it like a sword at the charging brine-

[CP] Turns up his temperature creating steam around them-

[Dn] Kicks out with his boot to try and sweep Cp's legs-

[CP] Takes to flying so the kick is avoided-

[Dn] Throws sharp shards of packed ice at Cp-

[Doc] Has crept to the edge of the rooftop and peeks over-

[Mb] Is coming up the path and egarly puts Celine next to Deerheart before summoning his own sword-

[CP] Ducks and dodges, turning up the temperature in the area-

[Mb] Grins even as he gets sweaty and charges into the fray as well, stabbing at Dn-

[Dn] Impudent fool! - He ices a bit of ground so Mb slips and falls before stabbing at him with a spike-

[CP] Digs his pick into DN's back-

[Dn] Angry roar-

[Mb] Stabs him from below as well-

[Celine] Peeps at Deerheart-

[Deer] - Awwww, hey Celine

[Celine] Buts against her hooves- Happy squeak-

[Deer] Pets Celine-

[CP] Aims for DN's legs after ripping the pick out-

[Mb] Gets hit in the head with a chunk of ice and is slightly dazed-

[Dn] Ends up on his knees with a lot of blood. He gives Cp a baleful look with his blank black eyes before toppling sideways-

- /PlayerDarkNOTCH was killed by CreepypastaHerobrine /-

[Mb] That was easier then I expected.

[CP] - Well that felt good

[Mb] Happy grunt of agknoledgement-

[Testificates] Actually cheer for them-

[Deer] - Come here love- She holds her arms openly for Doc

[CP] Returns to Lie and picks her up, some of DN's blood on him and transferring to her fur-

[Lie] Shudders- Even his blood is cold

[Doc] Drifts down the airblocks on the side of the building and transforms in front of her, leaving Yaunfen gently in the grass beside hir and hugging Deerheart almost desperately-

[Mb] He's a dumbass.

[Deer] Rubs Doc's back-

[Yaunfen] Decides to roll around in the grass-

[CP] - Which one?

[Mb] Dn. Duh. Even I think he's a dick flavored pricksicle.

[CP] - Yeah we can probably agree on that

[Celine] Squeaks at Yaunfen-

[Yaunfen] - Burp?

[Lie] Yawns- You going to be okay Doc?

[Doc] Is shaking - He's making me crazy...

[Celine] Happy jumping around Yaunfen-

[Dn] Comes back out the front door and shuts it carefully before straightening his clothes-

[CP] - Oh look who's already returning...

[Doc] Nggggghhhhh-

[Mb] He's stupid too...

[Dn] Walks deliberatly up the steps and pauses for a moment to give Cp a condescending look-

[Splender] In the distance- PINWHEEL NO!

[Pinwheel] Comes racing towards them- NO NO NO NO NO- Bites DN because he's kinda in the way- NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

[Dn] Jumps around for a few seconds and then clutches his throat, scrabbling at it desperately before despawning-

- /Player DarkNOTCH was killed by Pinwheel/ -

[Celine] Is startled and jumps onto Yaunfen's back, clinging like a bat-

[CP] Immediately takes to the air to keep himself and Lie out of Pinwheel striking distance-

[Pinwheel] Races past and Splender is chasing her-

[Splender] - I'M SOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRY!

[Mb] Runs after then and throws a rather large blanket over Pinwheel so she'll get tangled up -

[Pinwheel] Hissing angrily from under the blanket- NO!

[Mb] Mean grin- YES!

[Candleabra] Splendiferoiusman!

[Splender] Quickly grabs the angry bundle of blankets from MB- Hm?  Oh, hello, I don't believe we've met...

[Doc] They're from TLOT's seed -

[Bee] Bows- Sir!

[Splender] - Why are you bowing?

[CP] Slowly lowers himself and his wife back to the ground-

[Spork] Showing respect before our gods and goddesses, sir- also bowing-

[Splender] - Oh!  That thing, okay!  If it makes you happy then I'm happy!

[Spork] Very much so! That was amazing!

[Bee] And scary!

[Splender] - Oh, I didn't mean to scare you!

[Bee] Nono! Like scary exciting. He's a mean NOTCH and deserved it.

[Mb] Yeah, fuck him

[Splender] - I see...

[Doc] They're right. He's basically stalking me and it's gone beyond getting on my nerves.

[Deer] - Oh that reminds me, I need to go see Flux

[Mb] Haha! She's probably snogging Markus!

[CP] - Doubt it, last I'd heard they'd barely done anything...  Plus I got him to spill hot tea on his crotch yesterday

[Lie] - You what?

[Mb] Ouch. Poor bastard. - Doesn't look like he means it at all-

[Candelabra] At Pinwheel- why so negative little one?

[CP] - That's just how that one is...  There is an antidote to her venom though

[Candelabra] As quickly as it killed him, one would have to very prepared.

[Lie] - It's a good thing Splender is immune

[Bee] And is a very nice person who doesn't get mad about being bitten

[Splender] Returns with the still wailing Pinwheel-

[Pinwheel] - NOOoooooooOOOOooooooooOOO

[Doc] Awww, don't cry Pinwheel. What's wrong?

[Splender] - I don't know, I raised the bridge and she just went tearing off!

[Celine] Friendly peep at Pinwheel

[Doc] Are you hungry? I have some void? - takes out a bottle

[Pinwheel] Hisses and lunges for the other dragon-

[Splender] Quickly wraps a tendril around Pinwheel's head- NO!  We do not bite other dragons!

[Celine] Frightened squeak and darts behind Deerheart's legs since she's the closest

[Deer] - Oh, it's alright Celine

[Doc] Love? You've always had good luck communicating with the mobs and calming them down. Try talking to Pinwheel

[Celine] Meep!

[Mb] Stop being cute dammit, it's  unseemly.

[Deer] - I'll try- She reaches out for Pinwheel mentally

[Pinwheel] Is just simply in a bad mood-

[CP] Snickers at MB-

[Deer] - She's just not feeling good

[Mb] Gives Cp the finger-

[Doc] Mental or physical not good?

[Deer] - I can't tell...

[Doc] Makes the scratching motion with hir hands- do you... want to be petted?

[Pinwheel] - Noooooooo!

[Splender] - Well...  She did eat a few feathers from my pillow...

[Doc] Awww. Probably a tummy ache then. If you hold her still for me I'll give her a dry pill

[Bee] So brave!

[Splender] - I'll try- He gently places one of his long hands at the base of her skull trying to hold her still

[Doc] puts the bottle away and takes out a pill. Xe approaches from the side, grabbing her head and squeezing her jaw to pop the pill in her mouth

[Pinwheel] Her mouth springs completely open, her fangs swinging forwards lightning fast-

[Doc] Pokes the pill in from the side, behind her fangs- Easy, you know I'm not trying to hurt you-

[Pinwheel] Rapidly swings her tail around-

[Doc] gets the pill in and topples backwards onto hir butt to avoid the dangerous tail-

[Deer] - Careful love...

[Pinwheel] The pill goes down her throat and Splender lets her go-

[Doc] See? Isn't that better?

[Pinwheel] - No

[Doc] Darts forward with hir own abnormal speed and rubs the ruff of feathers around her neck.

[Pinwheel] Stiffens a little before giving a tiny trill-

[Doc] Is just saying soothing nonsense, trying to relax Pinwheel-

[Pinwheel] Settles down a little-

[Celine] Crawls up Doc's back with her little clawed fingers and peeps over hir shoulder at Pinwheel-

[Doc] Ow. Ow. Ow.

[Mb] Laughs-

[Pinwheel] Hisses at Celine-

[Lie] Rolls over onto her back in CP's arms-

[Celine] Peep.

[Doc] Don't take it personally Celine. Yaunfen seems to like you.

[Yaunfen] - Burp!

[Lie] - Hey Deer, can I have my clothes?

[Deer] - Nope, not until you join me in the bay

[Lie] - No

[Bee] I would love to go swimming with you, if it's allowed.

[Spork] Me too!

[Deer] - Certainly, love?  Will you be joining us?

[Doc] Not naked in this shape, but yeah, okay. You want to go swimming Yaunfen? And Cp don't forget about the hot tub - Thumbs at the sheltered lava pool beside the shrine-

[Yaunfen] - Burp!  Burp!

[CP] - Why would I need that?

[Mb] Just wades blithely into the water and takes off his shirt. The skin under it is a vertible patchwork of scars-

[Candelabra] How many battles have you seen sir, to be marked so?

[Mb] Grunts- A lifetimes worth and then some.

[Doc] In case you wanted to... nevermind.

[Lie] Purrs and nuzzles CP- Come on, we could warm up, the water is to cold for me-

[CP] Grumbles but does head for the lava pool-

[Doc] Xe pulls gently away from Pinwheel as her eyelids begin to droop. Xe transforms agains and slides into the water with barely a ripple, turning around to lay hir chin on the shore. -

[Bee and Spork] Both strip and jump into the water. Their breasts are small under their heavy robes but they're certainly female.

[Deer] Happily goes into the water as well-

[CP] Shucks his shoes and socks off before getting into the lava, holding his wife above it until she shifts back into her human form, hiding herself in the thick liquid-

[Mb] Is playing with Celine, who's strutting around and kicking up the sand with her claws-

[Yaunfen] Jumps into the water and paddles around-

[Candelabra] Sits down in a comfortable pose on the shore. - Xe looks up at Splender - No taste for water sir?

[Splender] - Oh, I'm okay with it, but I should keep an eye on Pinwheel

-There's a bit of rustling in the sugar canes and Exeggutor happily tromps into the water and stomps around in the shallows-

[Doc] I think it's enjoying the... additions I made to the castle.

[Candelabra] Chuckles- I imagine she's no fun to bathe.

[Splender] - Well, she can't be bathed in water, it hurts her

[Candelabra] Poor baby!

[Doc] We just use warm sand and let her roll around in it. -

[Lie] Snuggles up against CP  in the lava-

[Doc] Hey Splender? She's probably a little stir crazy if she attacked your pillow. Let her down to run around a bit. She seems calmer now. Destroying a tree with her claws might be just what she needs.

[Splender] - Okay!- He puts her down and Pinwheel spazzes a little

[Mb] Laughs- what the fuck? She not used to grass?!

[CP] Is keeping an eye on those on the water-

[Splender] - She does this every once in awhile

[Doc] LH does something similar if he needs to be played with. It's a boredom thing. Do you have any mice on you?

[Splender] - No, she killed them all

[Doc] Makes a sixteen stack of eggs from the four in hir inventory and holds it out to him-

[Splender] Lets a few loose and Pinwheel immediately begins chasing them-

[Doc] Puts a paw up under Yaunfen and supports them for a momentto give them a little kiss. Xe's beaming with pride.

[Bee and Spork] Are happily splashing one another-

[Deer] Moves closer to the shore where Candelabra is- Why aren't you joining us?

[Candelabra] Looks caught out a little- well... I wouldn't want to expose myself in public. Considering....

[Deer] - Considering what?

[Candelabra] Well... I am a herm. It's like being part of a mystery religion. We tend to keep our... most intimate anatomy covered except in the presence of a lover.

[Deer] - Well that seems silly, who cares what you look like down there so long as you are enjoying yourself

[Candelabra] Oh no! I'm not ashamed! It's just... I'm a... rare type. - She gestures at the two fem Testificates - They know because we are as close as family, and Muug and Handle... were the only others....

[Deer] - Well my mate used to be the same way

[Doc] Hey! It's usually a reflection of my mood when I wake up! And I don't want to bother people with that info, especially if I know they don't care.  - Pointed look at Mb-

[Mb] Blah, you're just indecisive.

[Deer] - Makes it fun when we have sex

[Mb] Ugh.

[Candelabra] I have heard that the Doctor is sometimes mal and sometimes fem. It is... more complicated then that.

[Deer] - I don't understand, can you explain?

[Candelabra] Blushes a bit- Herms vary a lot... Some of us have both sets of anatomy, others neither, and some... have something else entirely....

[Deer] - Something else entirely?  I don't understand

[Candelabra] Well... some of us can divide into two individuals under the right circumstances, others self-impregnate, and some... - very very quiet- lay spawn eggs.

[Deer] - Really?  How remarkable!

[CP] Scoffs quietly-

[Candelabra] You really think so?

[Doc] That's fascinating! And it explains the spawn eggs too. I always thought that was a bit weird.

[Deer] - Absolutely!

[Yaunfen] Tries climbing on Doc-

[Candelabra] Well I guess I could... I could join you then... if no one minds?

[Doc] Not at all! - Is okay with being climbed on-

[Bee] It's safe, I think it's clear we're amongst friends.

[Spork] Please do, the water's lovely and warm-

[Deer] - No one here will judge

[Candelabra] Looks around a little and slips off hir robe, dipping a toe in the water. Hir chest is entirely smooth and the slit between hir legs is also hairless and ends halfway up hir belly. Xe lowers hirself into the water with a sigh-

[Doc] That warmpth is from the lava fountains, but it's perfectly safe over here-

[Deer] - Wait, where did CP and Lie go?

[Doc] Probably in the lava tub- points a claw-

[Testificates] Nearly in unison- Lava tub?!

[Deer] - Yes, several here can bathe in it, but Lie usually will only get in if her husband is with her

[Doc] It's a body temperature issue. The water is too cold for them.

[Candelabra] I've heard that TLOT could walk in the fire unharmed, but, it did not occur that that was a normal trait.

[Doc] Lava heals him in particular.

[Deer] - I'm not sure if there is any benefit to lava other than a bath for CP and Lie...

[Doc] As far as I know TLOT is alone in that. It entirely resets his health.

[Deer] - Ah well, every brine here has their own unique abilities

[Celine] Is running around flapping her wings-

[Pinwheel] Swats at Celine-

[Celine] Meeeeh!

[Mb] Don't hurt her! I'll fuck you up.

[Splender] - Sorry!

[glopratchet]

map

It looks like it might be an old one from when this place was still called "Hoover Dam" You look around for something on your phone ; (which of course has been completely trashed) and find a map lilo's You don't know where the hell it is, but you figure that if you want to go there, then you need to get a map Map: bixie lixie 07-functional: function of 68, function of 79 The first thing you do is pick up some water bottles, which seem to make things easier Then you start walking along the road in the direction of the dam This is a very simple game, but it seems to have no end You pass by several people playing cards and dice on their own property as well as on other cars' windshields or in back seats In fact, there are so many people out here that they're almost all looking at you! 08-structural: pond primal alligator ranch ing dam You're on top of it, and you can see twists and spillways dotting its surface, as well as fat lazy fish swimming through the resulting ripples You might or might not be able to get down to it using the little ladders they have here and there pond primal alligator ranching dam Pond primal alligator ranch : pond primal, 08-structural, mom and pop alligator farm Note: (If you like, you can try reading the "Hoover dam" sign on the other side of the road You don't get very good visibility however) Okay, time to admire the insanely blue water again and Or should you go hunt some bigger prey in a different location, or is that a bad idea? You have decided Pond primal: unyielding east gate, unyielding west gate You run across the road into an awesome wilderness and you start looking for fresh tracks So far, there don't seem to be any Have you gotten here too early or are you simply not as skilled as you thought in finding prey? unyielding south gate You spy a cute beaver in the pond straight ahead of you! It doesn't appear to have seen you, and it's the perfect size for a good meal Eeeeeevil! look out, it will tenderize your flesh and make you into a nice meal some other day Chopping its head off is the most effective thing to do unyielding east wall, unyielding west wall You see a eerie serpent chained to a tiny island just above water level It must be a dragon and it's surrounded by an invisible barrier of magical energy Of course you could eat the small birds flying over its head instead Eeeeeeevil! So you sit down beside the picnic area to have lunch and admire the beauty of your surroundings unyielding south wall unyieldning east wall After browsing through pictures of beavers and dragons on your backpack, you come across a picture of your school It seems so long ago that you used to dream about protecting it from evil Somebody awesome with magical powers would probably protect it in my place, nowadays The sight or thought of your school fills you another pang of regret Why the hell didn't I ever really enjoy the very things that made up my life? unyielding south wall, turning viper street Unyielding east gate: pebbled path, Wandering through the desert alone changes a person, and it has changed you Every day out here is an adventure of the highest degree You've seen sights few others have ever gotten to see! That alone is worth the price of admission Sure it can get lonely from time to time, but that's part of what we do Pebbled path: sphere of nourishment, cottage of sacrifice Finally, you've reached your destination With a tired but determined step, you enter the abandoned ghost town The bones of long dead miners jut out of the ground in various places through out the street, and tumble weeds push their way through cracks between broken flag stones It looks pretty miserable actually High above a purple gibbous moon shines through the thin atmosphere, basking the entire ghost town in an eerie light esteemed tenement, employed foundation With the moon shining so prominently, it takes some time for your eyes to adjust to the darkness As your pupils contract, you find yourself staring at a long abandoned mineshaft this must be the one A single deserted tower spotted with "UV lights" overlooks the crumbling building, and an ironic sign reading "owl cave mining co " sags over the entrance It appears to have been condemned long ago gate of greatness orifice of saviors W-what? The sign has changed! Are you finally going mad? Your grip on reality was tenuous at best in the "real world", and your time here in this place has only made your the sickness worse Waving a hand in front of your face you try to will the letters into changing, but no such luck Huh, you guess that decides it then doesn't it gate of greatness, Gate of greatness : hedged maze union lab Rain begins to pour down as you enter the mineshaft That's it, you're getting out of here This place is just too screwed up! You don't know who this Jack Atlas is, but you're convinced he's deranged And this stupid sick fantasy is probably what drove him there in the first place Far too creeped out by everything that has happened so far, you turn around and head back toward your helicopter hedged maze, Cottage of sacrifice: drain beds, master bedrooms Too preoccupied with your inner demons to notice the deluge, you're suddenly caught off guard as a wall of water barrels down from a nearby rooftop Shrieking in terror you're forced to brace yourself for an imminent impact with the street below Only instead of splattering like a bug on impact, your fall is broken by something giving way way underneath you Slowly opening your eyes you find yourself waist deep in murky sewer water Hedged maze: enchanted pools midnight oil Is the change just not settling well with your stomach, or is it actually reacting to being down here in this filthy place? Or maybe the sickness is coming from elsewhere Looking around it's pretty apparent that someone has been down here a lot more than you have recently Stepping back onto dry land, you take a closer look at the numerous pipes running along the ceiling of this particular chamber Hopefully, somewhere along these corridors will be your way out of here enchanted pools, Enchanted pools: bull run one, bull run two Come on This is just getting stupid What the hell is a "bull run", and how come you keep repeating the words over and over in your head like that? It's almost as if "you're hearing voices" You shake your head and rub your temples No, it would seem hallucinations aren't part of the change simply being down here is doing to you Bull run one: half past eight "HEY! " You exclaim, spotting another human at last "What is THIS? Mind telling the world what the hell you're doing down here? A weathered old man stumbles out from behind a corner, catching you offguard as he seizes you by the wrist He's thin as a rail and his scraggly white beard reaches down to his toes Bull run two: vegetable broth "Ha ha! Been a long time since I seen someone new in the pipes Where you come from stranger? You wouldn't be from the "Other Side" would you? You stare blankly back at him, unsure of how to respond Other side of what? Bull run three: By now, you hear the words being repeated back to you from some far off corner of the tunnel It's starting to get annoying Sphere of nourishment: fredricksburg dominion, chancellorsville dominion "Don't mind them " The white bearded stranger says, releasing his grip on your arm "Just the voices in my head, he he he Grunting softly to himself he continues "The name's Slitemaster, but you can call me Samuel What's yours? "Ken " You respond to him, trying your hardest not to look directly into his watery eyes "Connecticut chattanooga dominion, antetam dominion "Where have you dropped in from? " He asks, more coherent than you anticipated " You tell him, the voices repeating Connecticut like an echo in your head You watch as he edges closer to you, squinting as he looks you up and down Bull run four Samuel opens his mouth slightly, sniffs the air and grimaces Fredricksburg dominion: Getting unnerved by his erratic behavior you try to edge your way past him only to have him reach out to seize your arm once more "Do you have the sniffles my boy? bringing his face right up to yours "By god, you do! "No I don't " You snap angrily at him, doing your best not to blow your cover "I don't have any diseases Chancellorsville dominion: Angry with his presumptions, you jerk your arm forward to free it from his grip Antetam dominion: He stumbles backwards, and you get a good look at his emaciated figure Chattanooga dominion: He's nothing but bones, and looks about ready to collapse any minute "Watch out! " You blurt out in alarm, as he starts to fall over Dazed and confused he looks up at you, blinking owlishly as if he didn't expect you to catch him Because I didn't catch him I didn't catch him! "I'm too old for this " He says with a sad smile, shutting his eyes Acquired: Spam! Looking down at the spindly legged fellows body, your first instinct is to shout out in an attempt to bring aid But then you remember you're shooting for cover and lowering your voice to a whisper: "I'm sorry friend " Jesse's throat was torn out Claw marks hook around his neck like a human binder tearing it wide open, as blood leaks from his jugular like someone attached a hose directly into it Esteemed tenement: trailer jackson, trailer bragg Stepping up to the front door you take in a breath, preparing to hammer it with your boot Looking around first you notice two things: the path has been spun with webbing, at least three different types and between you and the murky river a blonde woman dressed only in rags shuffles onto the path, little more than flesh and bones with dry mud coating her legs trailer lee, trailer picket Seeing you she begins to wail, smacking her hands together badly and letting out an awful screech Between you and the river you have two choices: right and down to the river or left, up towards the tenement buildings Trailer jackson: esteemed tenement: thornwell, terry chamberlin Unsure of what to do you stand for a moment in indecision, jittery as you see the woman break into a shamble towards you Turning you make a sprint for the tenement while getting ready to slam your heel into the front door Trailer bragg: thornwell trailer forrest: In front of you the door is just a thick slab of plywood, duct taped in place in its frame Before your boot even connects it flies open with enough force to slam into the side of the trailer, and a giant of a man lunges outside Trailer lee: trailer rockefeller: smokehouse Trailer picket: trailer lee: esteemed The giant is even taller out of the trailer Made all the more apparent by his torn and tattered clothes, and a face covered in hair with two mismatched eyes, one brown and bloodshot and the other blue and concerned beneath bushy brows that nearly meet over the bridge of his long nose And he has a calf-high walking stick which he switches to his left hand, extending his right towards you Employed foundation: sufficient prison, locked door Manager: esteemed tenement "Step inside, sir, " he says in a surprisingly soft and pleasant tone "You don't want the ladies seeing you like that " Step inside : Flee down slope NOTE: To any fellow aliens reading this book: Congratulations on discovering the oldest known copy of the Great Library of Tribalia You see, there was once an ancient library located in an ancient city on Earth primary office, storage room The Tribalien Printing Corporation Newest and Best Offerings! manager's office, human resources Proper shampoos for proper people (Has pictures Proper soaps for proper people Even Properer Hand Sanitizers! Forget the basics we're talking gooooold here, people Lets start with the world within worlds Sufficient prison: human resources Alright A series of gates, each with two specific and unique sides representing two alternate realities linked through magical portals Gate no 1 - the simplest of them all Coin input slot on one side, coin output on the other although that doesn't matter so much as what's on the other side of the portal Excuse me, sir Do you work here? Downstairs labratory: pulstating beam of pure energy strange machines Although there are a few people from other floors who act as staff here, every worker is actually an adventurer just like you trying to recover a key component for their generator As is the great Tribalian custom, you can choose to either help one another or ruthlessly steal the items you need before fleeing to the surface The Tribals have developed clans based on the elements, with the Electrochemical Engineering clan weakest and therefore your enemy pulstating beam of pure energy, Primary office: storage room Now here, relying on simple but high quality illustrations and large text so that customers can read over your shopping experience, is where we have different products divided between lightweight transit cases and large but manageable cartrideable Quantums Clans: Poison - heavy machinery for dastardly deeds! If you're a member of the poison clan then that means you come from a long line of industrial minded engineers who specialise specifically in creating new and better methods of death and mutilation Storage room: Quantums - movable innards of machines and weapons of the machine-heavy 'Claw! The Claw are the one of the Tribals' automaton-using warrior clans, with a heavy reliance on machines, gearwork, and gases that eat away at flesh to produce dreadfully painful wound infections The material you seek-- the metal that will make your personal portal home again-- is somewhere here in this room Path: unyielding west gate, pebbled path tumultuous north path, hangars A and B Metal Eating Mold: relentlessly east from Hangar-B Thankfully, gas masks protect the scientists creating these delicious acids from slathering it themselves Nice coin-secure door at the end of the hallway Very strong We're getting nearer the anti-materiel rifles Antichamber: fifty foot wide pit leading to a hallway in A-01 This all feels very familiar for some reason hexagonal antechamber, office 223 Internal Offices Employee Pictures 1/4 Kast is of average height for a human ; (5 foot 9) and wears a long, black trench coat with the hood up, despite it raining His hair and face are shaved clean, and his disposition is serious no matter the situation He sees you as reliable cottage of sacrifice, spherical amphitheatre, spiraling staircase to the upper floors Welcome to Evios! The planet of endless possibilities! Our company president dedicated this branch of our gleaming office to speed and convenience for all who have business here Through the guidance of Investment Banking, Stock Markets will rise and billionaires will be made! Strike fear into the hearts of competitors with the booming Sales and Trading department! employed foundation, divided promenade, cylindrical core, ascending C and D pods ; (top, bottom) C-pod is used as sleeping quarters and for living a comfortable work-life; a small garden grows top-quality herbs for soups and other cooking ingredients, and there is a saltwater pool for relaxation The pod is secured with a biometric lock Benches and Display This company philosophy has not been set in stone Pulp: a ten foot tall oak desk that coms from the land before the darkness brought technology, and a glistening crystal ball that shows all-- but only at certain times You have two bars to meditate in One is under lighting for alertness and mental endurance and the other is kept in perpetual twilight ; (triggered by pedaling a generator) to trigger REM sleep Close the shutters on the windows to keep out the light 09 peopled: town of hog eye, town of lickskillet town of mallet beatle town of lover's leap Gurning is a self-sufficient town They have their own farming and manufacturing businesses, and maintain an extremely active stock of blacksmiths, cobblers, and butchers town of mallet beatle, Hog eye : 09-peopled town Llickskillet : town of lickskillet, 09-peopled town Workers move about their jobs in hundreds of different directions Tamed house cows chew wheat from their feed while wild buffalo roam past the stockades The carpet of the deep forest are littered with high bushes that mock your height as you walk on by Mallet beatle : town of mallet beatle , Lover's leap: town of lover's leap, great firm limestone hill, towering foam at edge of sea cavern, blazing hot mountain in dead land of thorns and wicked weeds Hope that helps Yours sincerely, William Lemuel Cla Dungeon-Lord skulkitator investor avenger P I hope this is the first step in a lasting business relationship 10-institional: basic foundational church of mining, four sided chess piece statute, paved walkway to twilight fort, restless small metal dog far from home small hidden door at ground level: detailed with the engraving "madeline madie's make dream" Begin skulking You are looking for valuable or unique treasures and items to be used or sold to the outside world basic foundational church of mining, 11_political : lixie dixie box canyon, four sided stone pyramid with climate controlled sand filled bottom floor The sand which only a privileged few can enter is the cornerstone of our civilization-- without it, perfumers could not complete their best work, tanneries would go out of business, and our great city would smell bad, be covered with animal hides, and you'd have to wade through garbage after Earth-Days lixie dixie box canyon, Lixie dixie , commonwealth of lixie dixie town, 09-peopled, gemte prestige Go up to lixie dixie then swing right stockade of hog eye Outpost of Mallet Beatle Quietly approach the quaint little village It consists of twelve fierce cannibalistic warriors, a vicious, unfriendly bunch commonwealth of lixie dixie , 12 commerical : googizon, mirrolabs, glopratchet , pond primal supplies, milk mart, farm fed, pet shop, coolidog Cafe, industrial supply store, rib house , manufacturing ; (tannery smell) arts community ; (or shameless & sprawling; booming metal days; home of hamlets finest craftspeople; artisans propping up the failing economy: Without them East Lake would sink even further into poverty Snuff it: for protection teams it's useful to be able to work smell into a routine pond primal supplies, Heaviest portable cassette tape player : yellow metal-cased, with an option to add headphones yellow, Mechanically locked door: mechanical lock pulp, mechanical lock path mechanical lock piton, mechanical lock piton disruption, mechanical lock small metal dog set off Monstrous jackalope head Monsters and gods really are shameless about their sexual excesses aren't they? There must be something in the water 01 infiltrating: mine's very quiet lately; may even be closing soon, 2 guards on lunch break, sleeping secure lax security nowadays, no outsider has to risk entering mechanical lock path, Mechanically locked door pulp: silverlight metal, fiercely inappropriate, sticker reads: leave me alone, or ill blow your brains out Metal dog three down from jackalope head: small and fierce; loud menacing bark; would scare the jizz out of most intruders Boiling hot infiltration point metal door: right down the hall from grossly inappropriate treasure Get in quick to avoid unexpected interruptions Solid and sturdy bunker metal door, boobytrapped with cleverly concealed gun port sticker reads: Mechanically locked door path: good time gate locking system 3 mile mark An average carnivore could easily ambush prey here Metal man trash disposal hatch on the battleground that doubles as a vault door It's half open, and the smell of fresh corpses within is strong Almost under lock and key, sealed with pond scum to avoid attention; lays buried deeper in silo 9 In milk mart: shoddily armored, by crafty chimera; requires jiggling doorknob in a precise pattern good time gate locking system 3 mile mark Okeenokee swamp: okeenokee, swamp, doghead, odd gulplokia murk, kraken seen? badland, stump town Several types of blackworms bile ferment in old cans on disused chimera industrial site Time before lake was dammed: cloneratops milk and duck eggs near spawning pools ; (can't breed without those) That old nuke site; still protected by shield generator; grove of trees shimmering in a dome Highway to good time gate : good time gate Good time gate : path to suawannee canal, stream to prairie of minni eme, road to millstone of modeshine, crossroads prairie paths lead to minnieme cross roads-2, bramble tunnel to charred forest-2, webs of giant spiders-2, cave to twisting gulch-2 He's seen too much already! he's right, it would be safer to kill him But where would the fun be in that? stream to prairie of minnieme, discover feminist scholarship forced road to handmaid bridge, lynch kozmo miner, Zalmora's charmed life, good time tunnels, green pastures of knowles, predator's speed Goblin generals in stone towers must declare allegiance or meet sword justice: wandle outcast- general to tan ambassador; trackers mist follow leaders-soldier brainless? discover feminist scholarship, happy cypress tree, wide mechanically locked door from training wheels of young king/queen, twisting hills where once were fields, path to dog tunnels-2 wide mechanically locked door from training wheels of young king/queen, Wide mechanically locked door : good time gate locked , good time gate unlocked Lake house, good place to relax, overseer's house, dynamite storage Milk mart: bookshelf with gun cabinet: rifles, pistols, ammo, unlocked supply cabinet: health elixirs Cafeteria: filled with incapacitated guards hastily armed with pistols; one-eyed albino goliath lies on table, groaning unconsciously; horrible cuts mark huge frame Commonwealthers sure know how to make an entrance good time gate unlocked; Happy cypress tree: locked , goatskin notebook-keeps record of various transgressions/ Handwritten terror threat propagandas on parchment, crafted in decadent noble circles; content speaks of aimless struggle for power and scene of carnage Torn had parchment showcases once prosperous land now waste, prays for return of Albino Emperor; days when it went out rule are over Several roads lead to twisted gulch, caves and abandoned mineshaft; towering chimera factory belches Stream to prairie of minni: prairie of minni twisting gulch-2, web riddled cave, crystal mines Severed claw wrapped in bloody burlap Claw is spongy, light, and serrated A human mandible lies nearby; the tooth has been purposefully sharpened into a fang Hobby shop: scented candles, harpsichords, oil paintings of pastoral valleys, tiny collapse tunnels; leads to twisted gulch-2 prairie of minnieme, Discover feminist scholarship: insufferable cliques, feathered pens corrupt academia Severed albino alligator tail Tail is lizard like, muscular yet sensitive Gripping it, you can only imagine how long it must take to wipe the toilet paper off of this thing A melted down femur lies nearby; it appears to have burned clean through good time gate: Path to suawannee canal: suawannee canal go forth and get wet, fiery abyss, lake house, good place to relax and unwind Zalmora's charmed life: happy cypress tree-4, twisted gulch-1, web tunnels Sweaty mithral full helm- headache abound! ancient battle-axe-who knows its history? suawannee canal, Suawannee canal: notice gator, notice persona -gator in suawannee canal respond "It was only a matter of time before one of you ran down here Hanging from a pole lies the shredded skin of what appears to be a gator The vile creature's eyes have been gouged out and its mouth gapes open exposing broken teeth; apparently it didn't go quietly You peer over the side of the bridge into the murky waters notice persona -gator in suawannee canal respond waterway to new island, notice citizen A Dead End Captain Rifiv at the docks will hire explorers to lead teams of adventurers into the wild unknown in his badly damaged vessel He's a gruff old bird, but you know he cares about people despite what the rumors say He's saved your bacon on more than one occasion and replaced gear that you lost along the way The damages to the ship were bad even though it wasn't your fault trail way to suawannee river notice femurs, notice puma, notice persona-femurs of peluda bear Oddly nearly every bone in a creature's body can be found Some humanoid, some ursine, some piscine, some avian, some matters not to your oddly diverse team Someone call the bug guy; his help could come in handy Looks like an owlbear or token from one was left behind trail way to suawannee river, path to goodtime gate blood pit, notice gut, notice magic Chunks of meat line the rusty walls Ghoulishly, tendons from various species dangle above gore-saturated water The occasional hand or finger can be seen reaching for the edge from underneath; death has claimed most of those hunting for a way out Oddly enough, even in death one can still hear an echo path to goodtime gate, discover beauty, the crystal mines, notice mine A gloomy tunnel within a larger tunnel system; uncannily similar to fabled mountains far to the east Unearthly minerals and slightly radioactive, the rocks and ores glisten in the multi-hued light from above You've been here before once with your family on a day trip out of Silverton but you got lost in some passages and ended up here gator attack to lively landing, notice tree, notice slot Oddly, there used to be a large willow tree here until Duncaster got hit with a lightning storm during one of his rants; turned it into super flammable kindling Legend has it he burned for three days straight At times like this, you wish you had a miner's pickaxe or even some dynamite gator attack! Find treasure in rapid pool : sunken plastic wrapped gloprachetel grimoire Giant black bear: notice snout, notice claw UN DEUX TROIS ! BAM BAM Obnoxious you are Thank heaven above You fire a shot Unbelievably it hits the bear in the face and knocks it against the wall! What luck! It wasn't a direct hit to the brain or even a fatal hit, and yet you've wounded the creature Keep shooting until it stops moving! Sunken plastic wrapped grimoire : enter kung fu hyperspace A magic trick for you is akin to medical science to a primitive person You can't go wrong with this logic-free outcome Tall shaman with tales of yore: notice totem, notice spear, notice moose Nobody ever listens to the old guy anyway; always going on about truth and honor and respecting nature as if that meant anything to scavengers like you Your only true fidelity is to your own race and yourself well that and Benson enter kung fu hyperspace! Photograph fierce gator: Battle fierce gator: win battle fierce gator: kill urple lizard you've fought izards before during one of your unsanctioned excursions outside of lawful civilization Granted those bastards were the pink ; ("friendly") kind that you found living within the comfy confines of a certain banana themed cavern where did that episode end up anyway? Find lizard egg: How very stereotypical of an evil villain or an Empire general; hoarding loot for himself like some bourgeois pig! Suawanne canal With distance now placed between you and the beast, you are easily able to work your way around him and retrieve the egg As you trudge back to the blood pit, you try to remember any of the details which Benson shared about the eggs a long time ago Prairie of minni : super gator Concentrating your thoughts on the matter at hand, you walk in a parallel path alongside your mind palace hallway which is lined with the rooms of all important subjects Ultimately, you know you'll have to go back there and refresh your knowledge lest it start to rot from disuse but for now you continue pondering the puzzling obstacle course before you Thoughts churning like swarming termites, you picture a hallway with eight doors leading to different paths super gator, Sunken plastic wrapped grimoire: enter rezzurection room Enter stage right, the shady Egyptian and his well curated fortune telling tent To think that Charlemagne himself knew this man back when slavery was still a legal institution and people took the Fab Five Tournament seriously even if they weren't in it Tales of yore: wizard Remembering tales woven around old campfires, you mentally visualize a young boy reciting myths and fairy tales for his captivated though not entirely appreciated audience of peers Living gate: path to sapling prairie path to charred forest, path to pit of flames, path to sunken plastic wrapped grimoire, path to wizard, path to ? With great trepidation, you decide to leave the living gate behind and turn your attention to the center door path to sapling prairie, gaint mechanically locked door door in spooky hallway, door in spooky hallway Baffled, you take the only option available gaint mechanically locked door, Gaint mechanically locked door: living gate locked door, door to master bedroom, door to sapling prairie You can't believe you're actually doing this Master bedroom: gargantuan elegant tub, king sized bed, pile of cash This hellish place is fully furnished from floor to ceiling and immaculately clean which can only mean that someone other than the pig had a hand in cleaning it Finally found a use for you, eh? living gate locked door, living gate unlocked clover marked trail door Ah, good old clovers! Thanks to your timely choice to play the Shamrock Snatched game all those years ago, you can now use the knowledge you gained then to identify and access this lowly disguised backdoor That and your newfound ability to psychically perceive the clovers wherever they may be helps you swing open the door and swiftly make your escape from this place of horror living gate unlocked door, good time gate path, good time gate pulp, good time plot All of a sudden, you're in a completely different environment The vine walls expand to reveal a scene right out of the story books, with a picnicking family of four enjoying a spread of delicious food in the grassy field adjacent to the woods Nothing odd about that, you suppose, though where the path and tunnel were is now nothing more than an ordinary tree stump Good time gate path : Good time gate pulp: cypress tree, locked gate In an instant you're back at the beginning where you first began psychically perceiving this branch of the good time gate network Though puzzling, this journey through these mysterious portals doesn't appear to have done anything to your corpse or mind so there's that to be grateful for at least Lizard skull plot: gator wrestle pit All of sudden you find yourself in an environment that looks like it was lifted straight out a cyberpunk flick sat right there in front of you is the very same gator skull that you just thought of The combination of this and the environment severely creeped you out to the point where your psyche suffers a total system meltdown that results in your death Statues with incomprehensible symbols carved into them line path for several more miles before it diverts from its current position along side the canyon and leads you to an ancient city situated on rocky terrain just steps away from where the statues are gator wrestle pit Rambling gate: suawannee river, camp cornielia, chase prairie Bizarre paling Glowing orbs appear one by one high above a seemingly boundless canyon And, of course, there's the sky sapling prairie green prairie path, clover marked trail On returning from the portal you just came from, a series of black and green cubes materialize all around you forming a perfect cage that your mind instinctively fears as a threat Somehow, you know all too well that you'll be drawn inexorably to one of them eventually of course you've no idea which yet but it hardly matters when they all look the same after all sapling prairie, Sunset gate: prairie of floyd smooth rock canyon, rancher paddocks You find yourself transported back to the living room in which you began this experiment There are other people in here now, two girls and a guy, all of similar universityage and all looking curiously at you as if you're the newcomer in a space simply too small for a stranger A timer set for the hour you spent inside the cave now sits on the table counting down to zero where it then flips over to an hourglass prairie of floyd, sinking sandbar You open your eyes to the sight of a burning sun high up in the cloudless sky All you can do is lay there and stare at it till its warmth has done its work to relieve the stiffness in your bones and joints new island, suawannee river Slowly you slip back into the realm of the living once more Prairie of minni: lake of minni, big water lake You stumble through the undergrowth around the pond and lay back down on the same rock you were sitting on before you passed out Interesting adventures, to be sure, but you wish they didn't keep revolving around states of perpetual dehydration and extreme hunger pains Assuming the events of the previous cycles are in any way related, and you have no reason to believe they aren't given that seed, it would seem that your time is running out There's only one thing for it: you grip the holy book as hard as you can and head towards the west to begin the cycle again Suawannee river: chase prairie, prairie of minni, bobcat prairie, You have to go down that rushing river if you ever hope to escape this accursed place Perhaps, just perhaps, you might even get lucky Camp cornielia: brokendown fort, old nameless town The water churns and froths all around you, tossing your tiny raft about like flotsam and jetsam as you struggle to keep it above water The noise is tremendous as buildings and entire chunks of ancient highways are squeezed and ground down into the swirling mass Countless metres below, grey-white tendrils of foam almost fuzzy at this distance, a solid stone aqueduct spans the river in an otherwise unbroken line Chase prairie: island of rosewell, dinner pond, black jack island You still don't understand where this place is, really With a heavy sigh of relief you lie back against your pack to await the opening of the so-called fifth portal Hours pass but the overcast and rust-brown sky keeps the sun's worst heat at bay Island of rosewell: rocky plains, camp fort You plant your hands against the rocky soil and lean out as far as you can over the Flint River to lap up a couple of mouthfuls of the sweetest, freshest water you've ever tasted There's no telling when you'll get the opportunity to drink again so you make the most of it, swilling, slurping and guzzling down that glorious liquid The pocket: You scramble back to your feet to see a short, swarthy man, dressed in eastern-garb similar to that given to you by Lars Manton but far finer and cleaner return to camp fort, to prairie of kimberly With blinding speed the door slams open and before you even know what is happening, you have been grabbed by the scruff of your neck and thrown out onto the rocky ground Black jack island: arrival isle, camp prairie, prairie of kingmen You sit down against one of the cold metal walls and try to make yourself as comfortable as you can It's a pretty grim situation you've landed in this time but there's little point in getting all worked up over it because you're pretty sure the word if hollowed out pearlescent blue shell that you always hold onto is going to come in handy here Prairie of floyd: petering prairie, aqueduct of upton, aqueduct outlet of valley Everything goes black as the portal opens only to reveal the beginning of a huge underground complex with ceilings so high they are lost in darkness far above you and corridors sprawling off either side The acrid smell of cigarette smoke tickles your nostrils and as you cough the heavy iron door swings shut behind you revealing a tall, slender man wearing spectacles leaning against the wall New island: open territory prairie, old western town Lake of minni: islands of minni, strange island open prairie, flat island, minni lake Everywhere you look there is water Everywhere Above, below, to all sides, excluding the direction you're heading of course, is nothing but endless ocean Your throat dries up just pondering it strange island, Big water lake: great basin, edge of great plains, islands of the prairie You haven't eaten in days apart from some mouldy crackers and yesterday you drank from a stagnant puddle that made you vomit repeatedly but still feel endlessly thirsty Your tongue has swollen to more than twice it's size and the lining of your mouth hurts like your lips are horribly chapped but you can hardly even feel them any more Sapling prairie: pine island, lake of floyd, island of fiddler The door to the chamber overlooks a barren rocky plain but through the doorway you can see that over the railing and down several floors is nothing Just empty space To your right another doorway reveals a short staircase leading onto yet anouther level Behind you the first doorway on the floor below reaveals a spiraling staircase twisting both up and down seemingly forever Bobcat prairie: chupacabra island, open valley, winding moutains, prairie You had the strangest dream You were a fox and were running through an endless prairie pursued by wolves You've always loved the bigopen plains and the thought of it causes you to feel drawn to that direction so despite your inner voice telling you to simply abandon the ship entirely you head off across the deck and down the side of the hull toward the bow Islands of minni: fields of minni islands, open chupacabra island within big trees, minni large lake such trees Kill me Waking in the pitch blackness of your metal prison with only bitter thoughts, agonizing over decisions you wish you could redo but can never take back, each more disastrous than the last Strange island: ruins on the prairie, chimney islands, tree line moutains Pine island: moutainous island, small tree line mountains Light swings down from a metal handle on the ceiling and bright enough to actually hurt your eyes Sitting up you find yourself on a bare metal table in a large metal room dominated by a huge machine of some kind with long complex internal mechanisms Pushing yourself into a sitting position you look down at yourself and find you're naked and scan your body quickly for any sign of trauma but you seem to be fine Lake of floyd: island of floyd, mitcheel island big bobcat prairie, island of summer A green herb is growing here Island of summer: island of trees, wolves island, prairie, chupacabra mountains You can see the open hold of the ship ahead of you and smell the fresh air emanating from it As you climb through the hatch a wave of humid jungle air washes over you Island of fiddler: large tree island, open big trees island, large island Swamp of fiddler: humid swamp, small island You are on the upper level in a room with barren walls and a small table under a security camera Two wooden doors lead out of the room A metal ladder leads down You find yourself climbing down a homemade ladder into the blackness of Island of floyd: soldier camp, boom shaw island, lake of floyd You are on a raised Metal walkway in an old room with a dim light hazing above your head The room has several old pieces of tech and a sotve which is dented and rusted out You can see exits leading North, south and To the east You can also head down below A metal ladder hangs against the wall waiting to be descended You see something scratched in the rust on the ladder: "1234" Mitcheel island: old fields, open valley You are on a raised railed walkway in an old room with a dim light hazing above your head Soldier camp: open shaw island, sun island, night twin island Swap around the numbers as you like, the result is still an incomprehensible jumble of letters and numbers With a sigh you realize there is nothing more to find here and move on to Boom shaw island: islands, tree line mountains Deep within the twisting and turning cave you start seeing bright colors shining out from under protruding rocks Anticipating finding something remarkable your heart skips a beat when you uncover a beautiful purple and blue painting of some kind of deer with horns? It takes a moment for it to dawn on you that this is just utter nonsense Dinner pond: booga boo island, honey island Sitting in the water is a table with two trees growing through it and holding it up A large net hangs over the water under the table with dozens of different fruits hanging from it You reach up and grab one as you see Anthony does and you find yourself chewing on a peach You left with the peach in your mouth, then you had an orange, then you ate a pear honey island, Booga boo island: small island, shubu lake, mountain range ridge Thinking you saw something move out of the corner of your eye you spin around only to see a squirrel disappear up a tree Unnerved you keep a watch out for any more signs of life but nothing else makes itself known to you except the soft chattering of leaves in the light breeze that runs through the trees Honey island: As you are navigating your way through the blue stem grass you spot a comb trying to blend in with its surroundings by adopting the same color It seems to have perfect teeth marks in it though which makes you narrow it down to being from a horse or a cow Keeping secrets is important to some people It looks like something is written on the inside You see a lot of nope just more teeth marks Mountain range ridge: Suddenly you hear a bloodcurdling scream piercing through the silence and paralyzing you in your footsteps Keeping secrets is important to some people Desire belongs between subject and object, like the relationship that exists between man and woman: desire is all the same Everything begins with a hope Everything is directed toward an object, or if you prefer, toward a subject ; (a personage, a god) But in either case, this subject or object outside of us is only significant in as much as it is able to awaken a sentiment in us: fear before the gods, love for a person Desire belongs between subject and object, Faradays fields : trees, side island Everything goes black and you are forever confined to a box of pain and suffering which constantly shifts and changes around you The DFI pulls from the pockets of the dead their driver's licenses or passports and dumps the bodies naked into a meatgrinder where other corpses have been dumped before them Out of the grinder comes hamburger to be formed into patties, breaded, deep-fried, bagged, & frozen for future consumption Constructions by the milkman: mailboat inn, hospital cafeteria Time passes before you realize that a hamburger has just touched your lips pulled back now touches them again Time has passed but you really can't tell when inside the black box You can't see anything or anyone and can only rely on your other senses and the feeling you've gotten from the hamburger as it seems to repeatedly tease your lips and pull away Pure perception of modern world: soup kitchen, residence hotel Your ears are bombarded with a chaotic array of elevator music It would put you to sleep if it wasn't for the occasional jolts of static electricity crackling through cheap speakers which keep you on edge and awake You're seated in front of a spinning wheel with various items labeled with amounts from 01 - $1 Itsy bitsy microscopic seed : horse stable, fort franklin It is then shortly followed by the sound of door you entered from slamming shut and locking The light from the small window above the door becomes a laser beam from which you can see dust particles floating A steady ticking comes from an old wall clock projector An ancient HH Holmes sits somewhere behind it watching you A loud chime plays every hour and you are given a painful electric shock before the chime resounds throughout the room Wait Little turpentine laden paintbrush : bunkhouse, camp humphrey Holmes was hanged and evidence indicates his body were buried next to the real H Holmes Which means that this HH Holmes is just an impersonator and the real one must be somewhere near by After realizing this you rush leaves the room but all of the doors are locked and all the rooms are empty You begin to think that you are in a huge fun house where everything pops out to intimidate you Maybe it's all an illusion Middle eastern traditions : dresser, fully painted house Supreme wickedness : window, bank of america The door transforms into a huge grinning demon head The eyes glow red and fire billows out of the nostrils "YOU HAVE GIVEN IN TO THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH NOW YOU MUST PAY FOR YOUR SINS " a booming voice intones near your ear You try to explain that you're just here to investigate but you are given no quarter intemperate Railroad street, artists loft district "IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN THE HOLMES SLAUGHTERINGS, THEN KNOW THAT DEATH IS WAITING FOR YOU Think martin codel : Demons bellow their hot fumes into your face You feel like throwing up when a long long finger seems to enter your body "YOUR PAST CANNOT BE ERASED WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? Keeping secrets : private domicile, mansion and estates "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO HIDE? WHY WON'T YOU TALK ABOUT YOURSELF? ARE YOU A MURDERER ALSO? or whoever he is seems to know things you've done in the past Things you once thought long forgotten In panic, you compare your own memories against his words You are absolutely terrified to see that he is right, down to the last grisly detail Falcone naples : idaho, a state street apartment At once the walls close in on you The heat becomes unbearable and your skin begins to prickle as if soaking in hot water Above you, the skeleton of some huge animal hangs from the ceiling "PERHAPS YOU WISH TO TALK ABOUT YOUR FATHER NOW" Your father or was he? His face is all mashed in and bloody He's yelling at you for something but the sound is barely audible against nowadays standards The trustees : gopher lounge, hospital street In the next blink you are transported to a different place, although there is no visible way of getting inside Dimly lit with sunbeams peering in through a grime encrusted window, the room has a comforting feel to it but something sinister lurks here too Framed newspaper clippings hang over a small upright piano The sun baked : greenwich street, east village The carpeted room is baking hot and something hangs from the ceiling Homer coulee : ottawa, queen st café From irons that pierce savagely through his wrists The screams are unbearable until the pain destroys his vocal cords He's dying and he's being eaten from the inside out Holger McHenderson's prone on the mattress, or what remains of him Rsa robinson : sewell, south seattle district The bed where the wolves tore at his skinny legs is soaked with rust colored blood Trollbomb's shadow on the opposite wall stretches out over him like a harbinger of doom Bitterroot : settler, the terminal morgue "Yeah, it's real nasty in here Who are you again? " the CSI nerd says from behind his thick glasses fantasy and reality have become one 16 deceptive : pro choice clinic , zergwatch Acid is vomit in your mouth and churning in your belly You need to release it but the stink of the dead and dying here makes you hold it back A heathen hippie girl fried with obscene amounts of electricity due to refusal to "stand together against the anti-social forces of big pharma A father hangs from the ceiling, his skinny arms outstretched towards the device that killed him pro choice clinic , You recognize him as the father of one of the middle school youngsters you counsel You look away, that scream still rings in your ears and hurts your brain Two peas in a pod : capitol hill, caravan lounge He had a wife and son Mother is the mayor's wife Carelessly dumped garbage litters nearly every street You are too shaken to try to sort out the trash from the corpses at this point But, you know the city and realize that mass hysteria has seized the populace Yet, it is more like panicked bedlam than a mass evacuation Everyone is heading every which way you turn and you've already had to run several checkpoints Makeshift barricades are being hastily constructed out of dumpsters and newspaper dispensers Once you think you spotted your sister but couldn't be sure from this distance From what you saw she was pushing a grocery cart full of suitcases And being pursued by a mob of terrorists! Your heart is in your throat and you could use some water but keep running in the opposite direction You see in the panicking crowds, rioters burning buildings and an advancing military force blocking all streets leading out of the downtown core It's the hardest you've run in a long time but eventually the skeletons of high-rise buildings give way to suburbs and then turns into countryside You see a river and wade into the crisp water up to your knees to douse the ache in your cupped hands and take a few healing gulps You fill your canteen before hiking the opposite direction towards the setting sun You need to calm down You need to rest and think but there are too many what-ifs to consider: What if your sister really was here? What if she was taken away by the terrorists? What if she is injured or needs help? What if you could have helped her? What if she's already dead and you weren't there What if you came back to help her and you were too late? What if she could be helped? Sitting by the side of a gravel road, you pull out your phone for the first time in months It's dead and there's no signal out here but perhaps it wasn't a total loss as you use it to bash in the skull of a rabid Rottweiler ambling nearby Setting up camp some distance from the road, you take stock of your supplies You also have: One ; (1) bag of assorted pot, pills, and ecstasy confiscated from ravers You've got two gallons of water, a half packet of instant noodles, your mess kit, and about a pound of beef jerky Each meal of noodles takes a quarter-pound of the stuff so you've got about eight meals there (1) zippo lighter (1) sleeping bag ; (empty) Two hundred ; (200) wooden matches Which amounts to two or three days if you're conservative and fast walking You consider everything you know so far about the events--and there's not much Your sister Elizabeth was out when terrorists struck The city fell three days later under martial law after holding out for as long as it could Think The terrorists--probably Islamists, it fits their MO--terrorized the city for three days before the military opened fire, killing nearly five hundred people two thousand Or was it six? Dead isn't dead anymore You've seen videos on the internet of tens of thousands of corpses after government troops opened fire on them (And look what it got them) Surely someone would resent the 'murican regime for causing this collapse? There has to be a reason why they cut the power Did they think they'd get away with it? Or did they intend to bring back civilization after everything was running again? You have been chewing on one of the many sticks of beef jerky--almost toothpicks at this point--staring at the flickering campfire You toss it back and forth between your hands Who was "they? " What was their purpose? It has probably been hours since you last thought about the hypothermia that probably would have killed you if it hadn't been for two paper-thin sleeping bags But there's no way in hell you're setting them on the ground--with or without a print This tarpaulin will have to do Thank goodness for survivalist parents You'll need fire to keep warm You can never have enough water Especially out here Sure, you still have the potable water you filled up before entering the woods But what if the pond is contaminated and you need to boil or filter the water? Fire for warmth and boiling water You'll have to collect wood first thing in the morning They didn't exactly teach us how to start fires in scouts I'm sure there are videos on it You'll have to evacuate your bowels soon But then, where will you do that? Not here That's for sure Dig a hole and cover it up? Then again, what if a snake found its way into it? EVER thought about that? Not saying there are any here, but I mean, this is the woods You could go in the pot Boil it after, if you want There's always the sleeping bag At least that way no animals would bother touching it or shitting in it Unless they crawl inside with you! Who's to say they haven't already? On second thought, forget the backpack idea All these options and only one defecation: You Sorry, door prize Screw it I have a reputation--well, actually a good chunk of iDEAL's money--to maintain And that reputation says you find the best spots to take a dump: proudly on asphalt As you step behind a tree you consider what might happen if the tree were to suddenly fall and squish you Who would come get your backpack? Would your sister be motivated enough to drive out here and get it? Your parents? There's a huge rustling sound You drop the leaf you were going to use for toilet paper You turn and look behind you You don't see anything, but you're sure that noise wasn't made by a small woodland creature Wolves! They'd love some tender, defenseless hiker meat like you right now Should you run? Can you reach the gun in time? Just as you decide to turn and make a dash for your: weapon, you see the most magnificent creature behind you Its eyes are almost angelic in nature and seem to shine with a divine light Though its large, its movements are elegant So elegant, in fact, that they're startling when matched with the creature's appearance Oh wait! It's-- Yes! It's Sven! And he's coming straight for-- "Rrawr! The beast sniffs you, its large nostrils reserved only for its master You reach a trembling hand to pet him when-- "Whoah! --the hideous monster leaps away from you and begins to prance around the clearing, obviously enjoying the chase You see that he has astring dangling from his mouth and Is that a green plant voucher? Several more vouchers spill out of his mouth when he opens it to yawn And to yawn again, as if to confirm what you see But he's not done yet With a snort he begins giggling and Is that feces? indeed He has fills your lap with fresh mountain doo-doo! You protest by waving your arms about and trying to stand up--to no avail--Sven's massive bulk just keeps coming The animal knocks you over with his snout then begins licking your face affectionately The stench! So awful! But the dog just wants to play He's curious about you and isn't afraid How adorable You almost want to take him with you Almost but, Between his size and incessant flatulence, your sister certainly wouldn't want him inside neither would anyone with a nose or pants ; (haha) To be or not to be Yeah, in the story Hamlet asks that question, but it could just as well be asked by you right now Will you ; (whisper) take him with you? It suddenly occurs to you that this animal would be absolutely no problem at all if you had him as a companion Car rides? No problem Hotels? Sleeping outdoors? Still no problem It would be just like having a dog when you were little! But would your sister agree to take care of it? Only one way to find out You pick up the poo with numerous green vouchers and shove them in your pocket You then lick your fingers and attempt to wipe off the ick on your pants, but do more smearing than cleaning Definitely not something you'd show your friends boyfriend girlfriend

[mbrz]

Yep, I really hate this world - Ch.2.1

The breath of fire cascaded them, yet they stayed still. Not one of them flinched at the monstrous flare enveloping their very beings. The largest of them, raised his greatsword and with a single swing, dispersed it all. There were 3 of them. One was a short fellow doused in a mysterious cloak. The second one was tall and well-built, his body encased in a dark, gleaming armour. The third was slim and lean, wearing armour that could have been passed off as plain steel were it not for its shine.

“Woah, looks like this dragon thinks its hot shit or something”, the steel armoured man snickered as he swept away the remaining embers. He turned around to face the huge, looming figure behind them. Sheathing out his sword, he pointed it straight at its eyes.

“Okay, listen up, you good for nothing, over-sized lizard. It seems today must be the unluckiest day of your life, for now you have to face me, the gallant and valiant Matthias. I shall end your pathetic existence with a single swipe of my blade. Forsake those treasures of yours and I may just spare your life!”

The dragon roared. Fire lurched from its mouth, dousing him completely, yet the man hardly seemed threatened.

“Hahahahahaha, is this the mighty draconian breath that everyone fears? How pathetic! It’s no hotter than steam from a water bath.” The man stood there, sneering with a smirk plastered all over his face. The short one sighed. Ever since they had come to this world, his ego had gotten even bigger.

“Yea but that’s all because you wished for an armour that’s immune to all damage.”

“Shut up! My talents are more than just this armour I wear.”

“Sure sure, then why don’t you face this dragon without it. I’m prettttyyyy sure you can just equip normal armour and fight like a normal knight.”

“What! Are you stupid? Do you realise how much of a disgrace it would be to the gentle Miss Clara if I threw away this gift she granted me?”

Huge, blistering winds bellowed through the cave and threw away the two bickering comrades. They turned around to face the dragon. It was now flapping its wings, getting ready for flight. Both of them looked at each other and realised it would become a nuisance once it got into the air. The tall one, seemingly exasperated at his comrades’ actions, sighed.

“Listen, if you two are done with your banter, lets finish this before it gets messy. Gaius, secure him before he gets even higher, I’ll end it with one strike.”

“Gotcha.”

The man known as Gaius started a chant. Two earth arms emerged from the ground and started to extend, heading towards the dragon. The arms gripped the dragon’s wings and started to bring him back down. The dragon started to struggle, flapping its wings but it was no use.

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere, my friend.”

With a burst of energy, the two earth arms crashed the dragon to the ground. The dragon was not given a single second to raise its body up, as the large man rushed forward, the greatsword glistening amongst the dust and earthen debris. With a leap, greatsword held high above his head, he brought it down.

————DragonSlayer Art 4: Reverent Strike———

A burst of light surrounded the greatsword and with a single strike, the dragon was beheaded.

“Nice KO my dude”. Matthias gave a thumbs up to his dark companion.

“Ah, it was nothing. Though, it doesn’t feel good doing that. I guess a living monster is different from an rpg monster after all.”

“I worry about that attitude of yours. Dude, WE ARE HEROES. Ultimate warriors. Look at us, we hella hypeeeeeee.”

“Ugh. I get it. No need to shout like that. Keep your excitement to yourself. And maybe spend less time preaching to the enemy about your might and prowess.”

The three traversed through the cave. They had heard of a legendary dragon, guarding immense wealth. Not being able to contain their excitement, they rushed off immediately.

“Woooooaaaaaaahhhhhhh. LOOK AT ALL THIS GOLD.”

The two watched as Matthias ran forward and jumped into the heaps and troughs of gold in front of them.

“You know Gaius, sometimes it seems hard to comprehend all of this. I still wonder if I’m actually in a coma imagining all of this.”

“I get you man, but if this is some dream, I hope to never wake up. You should take a page out of Matthias’s life and chill more. Geronimoooooooooo.”

He watched Gaius jump and join Matthias.

“Well, I guess pondering the mysteries of our existence is a lower priority than swimming around in gold. Hold up, you guys.”

And with that, the three of them basked in the gold, living their lives to their fullest.

Laying around in the gold, a thought occurred to Gaius.

“Oh yea, don’t you guys think that _____________ would have arrived by now?”

“Pffffffffffftttttttttttt, oh I completely forgot about that guy. Oh my god, I can’t wait to see his dumb ass. We totally have to find him.”

“How are you so sure that he even made it?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out. Ohhh, I can’t wait to mess him up. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come on, let’s pack up here and get moving. Let’s head to the central city. We’ll know for certain if he’s here. It’s gonna be so much fun seeing his dumb face.”

                             ____________________________

His black hair swayed in this wind. An average build with an average height. A perfect nose. Or so he had been told by his Grandma. Cyrus had set off on his journey. With his trusty companion dragon Tya and a gun that could obliterate anything, he had a goal.

To defeat the demon lord.

To be able to return to his world.

What a noble quest, it was indeed.

Which was why he was robbing a traveller of his belongings.

Truly a just hero.

“That’s right, hand me half of all your rations and all your travelling gear.” Training the gun on him, I made sure he was incapable of any sudden actions. “Make any sort of movements and I won’t hesitate to obliterate you.”

“Please sir, I’ll gladly split my rations with you but if you take away my equipment, I’ll be completely lost.”

“Shut up, I didn’t ask you for any comment. Just hand over your stuff if you don’t feel like dying.”

Tya was resting on a tree branch, watching this all play out. She couldn’t help release a dismal growl at her master’s actions. Seeing her master act so despicable was really unbearable. She was disappointed in him. She would keep in mind to reprimand him later through her nips.

“All I have is this compass and map. Here you go, just please spare my life!”

Sigh. Dealing with this guy was making me more depressed. Somehow seeing him whimpering and begging me for his life was making me feel like I’m the bad guy. Oh wait. I am the bad guy here, huh. I felt some guilt as I took the stuff from the guy. I remembered Miss Clara telling me how she would teleport me at a temple near the central city. Yet somehow, I had ended up in this prairie field. I had no idea where I was either. Ahhhhhh, couldn’t luck just be on my side for once. Would really appreciate it ya know, O Mighty One in the sky.

“Hmmmm, looks like everything’s good. Well then, you have about 10 seconds to get out of my sight.”

“YESSSSSSSIRRRRRR!!!!”

I watched him bolt off. Wow, I guess the flight of fright reaction is a pretty crazy thing. Looking around, I decided to head towards the forest. It will be safer to relocate before taking a look at that map of his.

“Come on Tya, let’s get a move on.” Tya leapt off the tree, stretching her wings, smoothly glided on to my shoulder. “Let’s try to go a little deeper in the forest. Not too deep of course, just enough so we can’t be spotted by anyone directly­­–––Ah!” All of a sudden, Tya rushed at me and clamped down on my shoulder.

“Hey, that hurts! Ouch stop it! Not another one! Okay okay I get it, you’re mad about the guy I robbed right? Wait don’t nip me again! Is that a yes nip or a no nip? Ah–Stop with the nips already! I know that what I did was––– God not another one! At least stop biting at the same place! Fine I promise not to do it again. That’s good enough right?!? Ouch what was that one for! I apologised now right? You’re just enjoying biting me now aren’t you!”

Tya released a contented growl, seemingly satisfied with her discipline. Leaving my shoulder, it seemed she was in the mood to fly for a while. That little devil. Rubbing my sore neck, I decided that we had walked deep enough to be by ourselves. Sheesh, she really didn’t hold back with the bites. I’ll have to keep in mind to not upset her too much in the future.

Resting on a tree stump, I decided to examine the stuff I got from that wimpy traveller. The rations he had given were basic. A few bread rolls, a piece of cheese, some biscuits and dried fruit. A flask of water alongside the map and compass he had mentioned. First things first, let’s examine that map of his. I remembered some of the basic blessings that Miss Clara had given me. The ability to read and speak this world’s languages was one of them. I crouched down, spreading the map on the ground.

“Now, let’s see here……….” The central city was located clearly, on the western side. Earlier, I remembered seeing a sign post indicating a town called Glendall. Now to find it on this map. It took a while, but I managed to find it. Lucky me. Glendall was east of the Central City. Meaning, once I reach Glendall, it should be a straight-forward journey towards this Central City. Hmmmm, what about distances though? Nothing was mentioned on this map. “Oh well, it seems like Glendall is the first step to go.”

It seemed the sun was starting to go down. There’s no point of travelling at night and this place seemed safe enough to camp for the night. Looking around, I found it. A perfect tree. Tya watched her master hoist himself up the tree. She watched him fall down a couple of times, wondering what was he after. Did he realise how comfortable trees were? She released a squeal of joy. After all, there wasn’t a single human she knew who could truly appreciate the wonders of the tree.

“Hah hah…, what are you so excited about Tya?” Finally, managing to climb the tree, I looked at the happy-go-lucky dragon in front of me. How convenient, must it be to fly. It was too dangerous to sleep on the floor. Who knows what sort of beasts might lurk around in this forest. I managed to find a tree with sturdy branches, strong enough to support me. I could never have imagined I would end up sleeping on a tree. I looked below, wondering how much it would hurt me if I fell off during the night. Tya landed directly on my stomach. Oof, you could give a little warning, you rapacious beast. It seemed my discontent didn’t bother Tya one bit. Releasing a yawn, she decided to curl up and prepare for sleep. Well, this works, she gets a cozy bed and I get this bundle of warmth and fluff. Not a bad deal, at all. Looking at the sunset, I wondered what else awaited me. Oh well, better get some rest.

The night past by peacefully. After indulging myself on some of the rations and watching Tya hunt down her meal of sparrows, we were all set. Tracing back my route, I came out of the forest and headed towards the sign post. It had a clear arrow, pointing towards the left with the labelling “Glendall”. According to the compass, Glendall appeared to be towards North. Checking with the map, the direction matched up. This took away the presumption of a tampered sign. I realised I was taking too much energy and time on needless precautions. Hiding in woods, sleeping on trees, double checking everything. But in a world like this, I’d rather be safe than sorry. I ain’t gonna be no noob who falls into some dumb trap in volume 1.

“Let’s go Tya. Our destination is the town of Glendall.”

“Errpphhhhh”

With Tya’s valiant cry, we set off on the path.

                                ____________________________

In the pub known as Twisted Branches, two companions were discussing a matter over their meal.

“Hhhheeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy”

“Matthias keep your lousy arms to yourself”

“Liisssteeeennn maaannnnn, the hellll is up vit this. Dat ass haznt even shown up. WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLLL!”

“First of all, quiet down! You’re making a scene for no reason”

“But bububut buttttttttt I was so excited to meet him. I had made so amny plans to mess with him. But he dididmt even show up. ITT SUCCCKSKS”

At this point, people had started to look at them, Matthias’s loud booming voice was one thing, but it seemed due to his previous ventures in the pub, people had already started to dislike him. The only reason he was allowed was because of his wealth and status.

Gaius, pulled Matthias by the ear and forcefully made him sit down.

“Listen here, I’m not going in to get caught up in your messes. Just quiet down. If you don’t shut up, no more alcohol you GOT IT?”

“Fine finifffe fineeeeeeeeeeee but why are a you so okay with it? I thought you were looking forward to him.”

“I was. But I’ve also got a life. I’m not gonna cry and lose myself like you. So what, he probably got his ass handed to him. He probably met a bandit or a goblin and shit himself.”

“Hahahhahaha, that’s so true. That guy totally would just shit himself. He acted so big online, criticizing everything but he’s nothing more than a giant baby in real life.”

“You mean like you are if someone takes away that enchanted armour of yours.”

“Huh, what yous say sumthing?”

“It was nothing. Just looking around at some stuff.”

“But maannnn, I really wanted to screw with him. Thisi sucks soooo muuuucccchhh. I had planned to make him pay fur everthing he said. That ass…. All thddat bullshitit talking he did, all those insults at mer waifus, I’d planencd to make him pay so mjuch.”

“Just take another quest. Who cares about him. This world is so awesome, you can do so much. So go another quest man”

“There’s no point”

“Huh?”

“After all after after all AFTER ALL, THAT PRINCESSS STILLL WONNNT ACCEPTP MEEEEEE”

“What dude, quiet down! People are seriously looking at us now. I’m sorry guys hahahaha, seems like my buddy had a little too much to drink!”

A large, burly man came over. Gaius groaned at who it was. The pub owner. Muscles popping out of everywhere, with the shine of his bald head, he truly looked like the ultimate macho man.

“Yeah, it seems like your buddy has had too much to drink. Strange, considering how much he was shit talking my drinks last week.”

“Well you see uhhhh”

“2 minutes. Get your friend and his drunk ass out oy my pub. No one here can stand his bumbling cries anymore. Either we have to listen to his tall tales of his adventures or his dumb cries for attention.”

“OHHHHH well uif aint mista baldy talkiinn. Dududue should feel honoured I EVEN COME TO THIS SHIT CREEK. HWO YO think tUMMMMFFF”

Gaius used both his hands to cover Matthias’s face. “I’m so so so sorry for this idiot’s words. We will leave immediately––––”

“Oh don’t worry you’ll leave alright.” Picking both Gaius and Matthias up in each arm, the pub owner flung them through the open door. A huge crash was heard as the two bodies collided on the pavement.

“Don’t ever show your sorry asses here again.”

Gaius groaned from the collision. What the hell. Due to him being in the same party as Matthias, his reputation was also starting to drop considerably. This absolute moron. Ever since they had come here, he had gotten over his head. He would brag about himself to no end, hit on any woman he fancied, act like a total prick. And since they were chosen heroes, they had gotten everything they wanted. Aristocrats allied themselves with Matthias, entertaining him to use him in their politics, women swooning over him just for his fame and money. It had all built up his ego to no extent. Gaius wondered what the future held in store for him at this rate. The only person who would tell Matthias to his face how much of an idiot he was, was the second royal princess. She was the only one who condoned his actions and refused to get along. Of course, Matthias only saw this as a challenge. After all the countless light novels he had read and animes he had watched, he only thought of her as the stubborn princess who would fall in love with him over time. And that did not seem to be the case any time soon.

“Imma head too Eden. You commess too?”

“No, I’m not going to that brothel. You do realise that the only reason they entertain you is to drain of your money, right? And in your current drunkness, they’re gonna end up bleeding you dry.”

“Who careeeeeezz. Iz awesome ther. Sooo many baabezz. Hehehehe, Iamaam swimmm in breastzzzz”

“Suit yourself. I’m going home.”

But his companion wasn’t paying attention. He was already staggering in the direction of the high-end district.

Gaius only sighed and went the opposite direction, towards the housing district. “But still, I didn’t think ___________ would kick the bucket so early. I thought he was a smarter guy.”

                               ____________________________

Cyrus was feeling great. He had finally gotten some luck on his side. On his journey to Glendall, he had stumbled onto a caravan heading towards there. The farmer and his grandson had offered to take him with them and even going as far as to offer them lodging for the night. The grandson, Jay was proud of his town, telling me all about it on the way there.

“Here we are Sir Cyrus. This is the peaceful town of Glendall.”

“Huh, looks like just one of those stereotypical opening towns in JRPGs.”

“What do you mean Sir Cyrus?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it”

I was still uncomfortable with that title. Turns out, only royals and high-level officers would have pet dragons. Seeing Tya, they had automatically assumed I was a high-level officer. Well, it made explaining a lot of stuff easier for me.

Going through the town and meeting people, Glendall turned out to be a little, humble town hosting a small group, engaged in their daily lives. After reaching the farmhouse and taking a much-needed bath and dinner, it was time to bring up my plan to go to the Central City. I joined Old Man Jerry and Jay sitting around the fireplace.

“Haha looks like you got some spunk back in ya sonny.”

“Yes sir, a bath and a warm meal was what I needed to get up again”

“That’s good to hear.” He offered the bottle to me. “Dis is good ol’ merrywine. Freshly brewed here, ya ain’t gonna taste anything like it.”

“Thank you for the offer sir, but I don’t drink.”

“Dats dere a shame.”, he muttered as he took another swig.

I looked across to see Tya and Jay playing together. They were playing a game of fetch and every time Tya managed to successfully catch the ring Jay would throw, he would reward her with a sugar cube. Of course, that greedy furball would entertain the boy for food.

“You should be careful, Jay. If you feed her too much, she’ll get too heavy to fly like that.” It only took a second for Tya to cannonball herself into me. Oof, what the hell! I guess the species doesn’t matter when it comes to women and weight. Placing Tya in my lap, I turned to Old Man Jerry.

“Sir, I’m thankful for your hospitality but I have a journey to complete. You see, my destination is the Central City. Could you tell me the quickest way to get there?”

Both Old Man Jerry and Jay looked at each other. Did I say something weird? Jay looked at me, with a perplexed expression.

“Sayyy Sir Cyrus, you’re really not familiar with this area, are you?”

“I can’t really say that I am.”

“But still…. You should at least–––”

“Jay, pipe down now. You’re being rude to our guest. The Central City you say? Ya know Sir Cyrus, I don’t mean to offend ya or anything but you say you’re an officer but you aren’t exactly wearing their uniform or even carrying their badge. So what I’m tryna say, is dat you aint exactly really assuring.”

……What do I do know? I managed bullshit them and make them believe that I was a high-level officer but now they needed proof. I looked down to see Tya giving me a disapproving glance. Well I bullshitted my way here, it’s time to bullshit some more.

“Actually you see, ummmm originally I was with my squad and due to an accident…..we got separated. When I woke up, I was uh stripped of all my belongings. Most probably, some bandits came across my unconscious body and robbed me. That’s why I don’t have anything on me right now. Umm it seems when I fell, I hit my head a bit and I still feel kinda fuzzy so if I say something weird, please don’t mind it.”

Holy shit. That was bullshit level 10,000. There’s no way they bought that made up excuse. It’s so inconsistent and full of holes. Actually, this might be bad for me. They might even turn me over to the guards. I glanced at Old Man Jerry to see if he had bought it. He scratched his head and looked as if he was trying to make sense of what I just said.

“Hmmm Hmmm I see. That really is unfortunate. I’m sorry for doubting ya.”

What.

“Yea yea and why didn’t you tell us about your head injury. We would have taken you to the town doctor.”

“Oh well, I didn’t want to trouble you guys. You know, since you guys did so much for me. Plus, I’m pretty sure I’ll feel better after a good rest. Haha, yep, that’s all I really need.”

“Oh-okay if you so Sir Cyrus”

Holy shit. It worked. Never expected things to go so smoothly. Is this what it feels like to be one of those low tier protagonists that have the plot always work in their favour?

“So, what’s the best route to get there as fast as possible? I would prefer to get there in around 2-3 days, but even a week-long journey is all-right with me.”

Again, the two exchanged an awkward glance amongst themselves. Just what did I say to cause such a response. It was Jay that responded this time. He sheepishly scratched at his arm as he spoke.

“Sir Cyrus, I think it’s good if you show yourself to the doctor. Your injury might be more serious than you think.”

“Wha-What makes you think that? Have I said something that truly weird?”

“Well, I mean you journeyed all the way from the Central City to here with your squad, right?”

“Yes, I suppose I did. What’s that got to with anything?”

It almost seemed like he was embarrassed for my sake with the way he was responding. They were looking at me as if I had gotten something very basic messed up. As if someone like me, should never have been able to make a mistake like this! Wait a minute, did I screw up somewhere??? Jay looked straight at me with an apologetic smile.

“Well then, you should obviously know that a trip from Glendall to the Central City is 3 months long.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...............................................................................................… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………............................................................................................... …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...............................................................................................

Mother******.

[readbookywooks]

The Gathering of the Clouds

Now we will return to Bilbo and the dwarves. All night one of them had watched, but when morning came they had not heard or seen any sign of danger. But ever more thickly the birds were gathering. Their companies came flying from the South; and the crows that still lived about the Mountain were wheeling and crying unceasingly above. "Something strange is happening," said Thorin. "The time has gone for the autumn wanderings; and these are birds that dwell always in the land; there are starlings and flocks of finches; and far off there are many carrion birds as if a battle were afoot!" Suddenly Bilbo pointed: "There is that old thrush again!" he cried. "He seems to have escaped, when Smaug smashed the mountain-side, but I don't suppose the snails have!" Sure enough the old thrush was there, and as Bilbo pointed, he flew towards them and perched on a stone near by. Then he fluttered his wings and sang; then he cocked his head on one side, as if to listen; and again he sang, and again he listened. "I believe he is trying to tell us something," said Balin; "but I cannot follow the speech of such birds, it is very quick and difficult. Can you make it out Baggins?" "Not very well," said Bilbo (as a matter of fact, he could make nothing of it at all); "but the old fellow seems.very excited." "I only wish he was a raven!" said Balin. "I thought you did not like them! You seemed very shy of them, when we came this way before." "Those were crows! And nasty suspicious-looking creatures at that, and rude as well. You must have heard the ugly names they were calling after us. But the ravens are different. There used to be great friendship between them and the people of Thror; and they often brought us secret news, and were rewarded with such bright things as they coveted to hide in their dwellings. "They live many a year, and their memories are long, and they hand on their wisdom to their children. I knew many among the ravens of the rocks when I was a dwarf -  lad. This very height was once named Ravenhill, because there was a wise and famous pair, old Care and his wife, that lived here above the guard-chamber. But I don't suppose that any of that ancient breed linger here now." No sooner had he finished speaking than the old thrush gave a loud call, and immediately flew away. "We may not understand him, but that old bird understands us, I am sure," said Balin. "Keep watch now, and see what happens!" Before long there was a fluttering of wings, and back came the thrush; and with him came a most decrepit old bird. He was getting blind, he could hardly fly, and the top of his head was bald. He was an aged raven of great size. He alighted stiffly on the ground before them, slowly flapped his wings, and bobbed towards Thorin. "O Thorin son of Thrain, and Balin son of Fundin," he croaked (and Bilbo could understand what he said, for he used ordinary language and not bird-speech). "I am Rac son of Carc. Carc is dead, but he was well known to you once. It is a hundred years and three and fifty since I came out of the egg, but I do not forget what my father told me. Now I am the chief of the great ravens of the Mountain. We are few, but we remember still the king that was of old. Most of my people are abroad, for there are great tidings in the South - some are tidings of joy to you, and some you will not think so good. "Behold! the birds are gathering back again to the Mountain and to Dale from South and East and West, for word has gone out that Smaug is dead!" "Dead! Dead?" shouted the dwarves. "Dead! Then we have been in needless fear-and the treasure is ours!" They all sprang up and began to caper about for joy. "Yes, dead," said Rac. "The thrush, may his feathers never fall, saw him die, and we may trust his words. He saw him fall in battle with the men of Esgaroth the third night back from now at the rising of the moon." It was some time before Thorin could bring the dwarves to be silent and listen to the raven's news. At length when he had told all the tale of the battle he went on: "So much for joy, Thorin Oakenshield. You may go back to your halls in safety; all the treasure is yours-for the moment. But many are gathering hither beside the birds. The news of the death of the guardian has already gone far and wide, and the legend of the wealth of Thror has not lost in the telling during many years; many are eager for a share of the spoil. Already a host of the elves is on the way, and carrion birds are with them hoping for battle and slaughter. By the lake men murmur that their sorrows are due to the dwarves; for they are homeless and many have died, and Smaug has destroyed their town. They too think to find amends from your treasure, whether you are alive or dead. "Your own wisdom must decide your course, but thirteen is small remnant of the great folk of Durin that once dwelt here, and now are scattered far. If you will listen to my counsel, you will not trust the Master of the Lake-men, but rather him that shot the dragon with his bow. Bard is he, of the race of Dale, of the line of Girion; he is a grim man but true. We would see peace once more among dwarves and men and elves after the long desolation; but it may cost you dear in gold. I have spoken." Then Thorin burst forth in anger: "Our thanks, Rac Carc's son. You and your people shall not be forgotten. But none of our gold shall thieves take or the violent carry off while we are alive. If you would earn our thanks still more, bring us news of any that draw near. Also I would beg of you, if any of you are still young and strong of wing, that you would send messengers to our kin in the mountains of the North, both west from here and east, and tell them of our plight. But go specially to my cousin Dain in the Iron Hills, for he has many people well-armed, and dwells nearest to this place. Bid him hasten!" "I will not say if this counsel be good or bad," croaked Rac; "but I will do what can be done." Then off he slowly flew. "Back now to the Mountain!" cried Thorin. "We have little time to lose." "And little food to use!" cried Bilbo, always practical on such points. In any case he felt that the adventure was, properly speaking, over.with the death of the dragon-in which he was much mistaken-and he would have given most of his share of the profits for the peaceful winding up of these affairs. "Back to the Mountain!" cried the dwarves as if they had not heard him, so back he had to go with them. As you have heard some of the events already, you will see that the dwarves still had some days before them. They explored the caverns once more, and found, as they expected, that only the Front Gate remained open; all the other gates (except, of course, the small secret door) had long ago been broken and blocked by Smaug, and no sign of them remained. So now they began to labour hard in fortifying the main entrance, and in remaking the road that led from it. Tools were to be found in plenty that the miners and quarriers and builders of old had used; and at such work the dwarves were still very skilled. As they worked the ravens brought them constant tidings. In this way they learned that the Elvenking had turned aside to the Lake, and they still had a breathing space. Better still, they heard that three of their ponies had escaped and were wandering wild far down the banks of the Running River, not far from where the rest of their stores had been left. So while the others went on with their work, Fili and Kili were sent, guided by a raven, to find the ponies and bring back all they could. They were four days gone, and by that time they knew that the joined armies of the Lake-men and the Elves were hurrying towards the Mountain. But now their hopes were higher; for they had food for some weeks with care-chiefly cram, of course, and they were very tired of it; but cram is much better than nothing-and already the gate was blocked with a wall of squared stones laid dry, but very thick and high across the opening. There were holes in the wall through which they could see (or shoot) but no entrance. They climbed in or out with ladders, and hauled stuff up with ropes. For the issuing of the stream they had contrived a small low arch under the new wall; but near the entrance they had so altered the narrow bed that a wide pool stretched from the mountain-wall to the head of the fall over which the stream went towards Dale. Approach to the Gate was now only possible, without swimming, along a narrow ledge of the cliff, to the right as one looked outwards from the wall. The ponies they had brought only to the head of the steps above the old bridge, and unloading them there had bidden them return to their masters and sent them back riderless to the South. There came a night when suddenly there were many lights as of fires and torches away south in Dale before them. "They have come!" called Balin. "And their camp is very great. They must have come into the valley under the cover of dusk along both banks of the river." That night the dwarves slept little. The morning was still pale when they saw a company approaching. From behind their wall they watched them come up to the valley's head and climb slowly up. Before long they could see that both men of the lake armed as if for war and elvish bowmen were among them. At length the foremost of these climbed the tumbled rocks and appeared at the top of the falls; and very great was their surprise to see the pool before them and the Gate blocked with a wall of new-hewn stone. As they stood pointing and speaking to one another Thorin hailed them: "Who are you," he called in a very loud voice, "that come as if in war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain, and what do you desire?" But they answered nothing. Some turned swiftly back, and the others after gazing for a while at the Gate and its defences soon followed them. That day the camp was moved and was brought right between the arms of the Mountain. The rocks echoed then with voices and with song, as they had not done for many a day. There was the sound, too, of elven-harps and of sweet music; and as it echoed up towards them it seemed that the chill of the air was warmed, and they caught faintly the fragrance of woodland flowers blossoming in spring. Then Bilbo longed to escape from the dark fortress and to go down and join in the mirth and feasting by the fires. Some of the younger dwarves were moved in their hearts, too, and they muttered that they wished things had fallen out otherwise and that they might welcome such folk as friends; but Thorin scowled. Then the dwarves themselves brought forth harps and instruments regained from the hoard, and made music to soften his mood; but their song was not as elvish song, and was much like the song they had sung long before in Bilbo's little hobbit-hole. "Under the Mountain dark and tall The King has come unto his hall! His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread, And ever so his foes shall fall. The sword is sharp, the spear is long, The arrow swift, the Gate is strong; The heart is bold that looks on gold; The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong. The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, While hammers fell like ringing bells In places deep, where dark things sleep, In hollow halls beneath the fells. On silver necklaces they strung The light of stars, on crowns they hung The dragon-fire, from twisted wire The melody of harps they wrung. The mountain throne once more is freed! O! wandering folk, the summons heed! Come haste! Come haste! across the waste! The king of friend and kin has need. Now call we over mountains cold, 'Come hack unto the caverns old'! Here at the Gates the king awaits, His hands are rich with gems and gold. The king is come unto his hall Under the Mountain dark and tall. The Worm of Dread is slain and dead, And ever so our foes shall fall!" This song appeared to please Thorin, and he smiled again and grew merry; and he began reckoning the distance to the Iron Hills and how long it would be before Dain could reach the Lonely Mountain, if he had set out as soon as the message reached him. But Bilbo's heart fell, both at the song and the talk: they sounded much too warlike. The next morning early a company of spearmen was seen crossing the river, and marching up the valley. They bore with them the green banner of the Elvenking and the blue banner of the Lake, and they advanced until they stood right before the wall at the Gate. Again Thorin hailed them in a loud voice: "Who are you that come armed for war to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain?" This time he was answered. A tall man stood forward, dark of hair and grim of face, and he cried: "Hail Thorin! Why do you fence yourself like a robber in his hold? We are not yet foes, and we rejoice that you are alive beyond our hope. We came expecting to find none living here; yet now that we are met there is matter for a parley and a council." "Who are you, and of what would you parley?" "I am Bard, and by my hand was the dragon slain and your treasure delivered. Is that not a matter that concerns you? Moreover I am by right descent the heir of Girion of Dale, and in your hoard is mingled much of the wealth of his halls and town, which of old Smaug stole. Is not that a matter of which we may speak? Further in his last battle Smaug destroyed the dwellings of the men of Esgaroth, and I am yet the servant of their Master. I would speak for him and ask whether you have no thought for the sorrow and misery of his people. They aided you in your distress, and in recompense you have thus far brought ruin only, though doubtless undesigned." Now these were fair words and true, if proudly and grimly spoken; and Bilbo thought that Thorin would at once admit what justice was in them. He did not, of course, expect that any one would remember that it was he who discovered all by himself the dragon's weak spot; and that was just as well, for no one ever did. But also he did not reckon with the power that gold has upon which a dragon has long brooded, nor with dwarvish hearts. Long hours in the past days Thorin had spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him. Though he had hunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, yet he had an eye for many another wonderful thing that was lying there, about which were wound old memories of the labours and the sorrows of his race. "You put your worst cause last and in the chief place," Thorin answered. "To the treasure of my people no man has a claim, because Smaug who stole it from us also robbed him of life or home. The treasure was not his that his evil deeds should be amended with a share of it. The price of the goods and the assistance that we received of the Lake-men we will fairly pay-in due time. But nothing will we give, not even a loaf's worth, under threat of force. While an armed host lies before our doors, we look on you as foes and thieves. "It is in my mind to ask what share of their inheritance you would have paid to our kindred, had you found the hoard unguarded and us slain." "A just question," replied Bard. "But you are not dead, and we are not robbers. Moreover the wealthy may have pity beyond right on the needy that befriended them when they were in want. And still my other claims remain unanswered." "I will not parley, as I have said, with armed men at my gate. Nor at all with the people of the Elvenking, whom I remember with small kindness. In this debate they have no place. Begone now ere our arrows fly! And if you would speak with me again, first dismiss the elvish host to the woods where it belongs, and then return, laying down your arms before you approach the threshold." "The Elvenking is my friend, and he has succoured the people of the Lake in their need, though they had no claim but friendship on him," answered Bard. "We will give you time to repent your words. Gather your wisdom ere we return!" Then he departed and went back to the camp. Ere many hours were past, the banner-bearers returned, and trumpeters stood forth and blew a blast: "In the name of Esgaroth and the Forest," one cried, "we speak unto Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, calling himself the King under the Mountain, and we bid him consider well the claims that have been urged, or be declared our foe. At the least he shall deliver one twelfth portion of the treasure unto Bard, as the dragon-slayer, and as the heir of Girion. From that portion Bard will himself contribute to the aid of Esgaroth; but if Thorin would have the friendship and honour of the lands about, as his sires had of old, then he will give also somewhat of his own for the comfort of the men of the Lake." Then Thorin seized a bow of horn and shot an arrow at the speaker. It smote into his shield and stuck there quivering. '"Since such is your answer," he called in return, "I declare the Mountain besieged. You shall not depart from it, until you call on your side for a truce and a parley. We will bear no weapons against you, but we leave you to your gold. You may eat that, if you will!" With that the messengers departed swiftly, and the dwarves were left to consider their case. So grim had Thorin become, that even if they had wished, the others would not have dared to find fault with him; but indeed most of them seemed to share his mind-except perhaps old fat Bombur and Fili and Kili. Bilbo, of course, disapproved of the whole turn of affairs. He had by now had more than enough of the Mountain, and being besieged inside it was not at all to his taste. "The whole place still stinks of dragon," he grumbled to himself, "and it makes me sick. And cram is beginning simply to stick in my throat."