#Like go ahead right now listen to anything off Siege and then check back to me okay? Okay.

[martensite-triangulation]

So I've found out that some Mechina fans take offense to Mel being featured so prominently in their most recent albums and all I can say is

???

?????

hOW-

[punkrockandreticence]

The Quiet

before the storm is

the storm. Our waiting tunnelling outward, chewing at the as-yet-not-here, wild,

& in it the

not-yet,

that phantom, hovering, scribbling hints in the dusty airshafts where we

await rain which

once again will not come, though something we think of as the storm

will. Steeped in no-colour colour. Smothering hopes with false

promises, as wind comes up and we feel our soul turn frantic

in us, craning this way and that, yes the soul can twist, can winch itself into knots,

why not, there is light but no warmth, we are alone yet

not, no trace but the feeling of

trace, who wouldn't be a child again,

teach me how to work, how to be kind, teach me ignorance, sweet ignorance,

the roads lie down in us, all the roads taken, they knot up.

they went nowhere, cld that be true,

they made a shapeless burden we carried around calling it lived -

experience. Did you live. Did it feel like life to

you. At the water's edge you feel

you should ask for

instruction. Go ahead. Right there where the waves shatter over the rocks and the plumes

rise, the vast silky roads of ocean arrive as spray, spume, droplets, foam.

Is that shattering what was meant by ripeness.

We were told to aim for ripeness,

to be broken into

wisdom. You look at the rocks again, the sleeping planet at your back, under yr

feet, nothing coming back, nothing coming round, you close yr eyes

for clues, u peer, inhale, listen madly for clues. What is hell. The

imagination of what is

coming is hell. The light of my monitor

blinks. What will the readout

tell us. Who is us. How will us change

when the readout

arrives, the ice-core update, the new temps for the

arctic depth-sounds, bone scans, outposts on

stars, on cells. I look for the stars

my on body, I look all over. The spray off the rock rinses my face. My

eyes take the brine. What

is coming, will you be there. In this quiet now is

all of

yr life says the monitor, should I say my

life, should I say

ours, I can't tell tenses & pronouns

apart, I can feel

my veins, I shake in my dreams, I think I am cold, the wind picks up,

like a tooth on a stone, the tooth of something small

which was slaughtered,

its screaming

below the threshold of our

hearing, just below. Then maybe I'm not born yet. Maybe I am waiting in

the canal. Can you

hear me I say again. They are putting a drug in.

They want me to join the

human

race. They know we are out of time.

Hurry they say. A different kind of hurry than the one you

are used to

they say.

They are trying to tame us.

Outside I hear laughter but it could be veins rushing when

guns are pointed. They are pointed at the outside of

this. At the belly of

this poem. They can't help

it. They are in cities under

siege. Their hands on the triggers are

hopeless. They have run out of

ideas. Dogs run through the streets till they

turn to meat.

The things that live in the ground

have to surface.

The heat outside sounds like air sucking up

light. They are calling my name. I am not born yet & still I am trying to say yes, yes,

here I am,

is there a bloodied envelope for me,

one of us needs to be delivered. Now a beam is shining over all the rubble

picking for clues.

Is this all the life left before the gate to

the next on thing?

They tell me the gate to the next on thing is bloody but warm.

That they mean well.

To remember that they

meant well.

A seedpod floats down, swirling light on & off.

The shadows want to show us

wind. Even the invisible

say the shadows

is here. Are you here?

Was that a butterfly or its shadow just now. The lake

dried up. The earth is

on standby. No, the earth is going off

standby. The mode is shifting. A switch is

being thrown. The passengers

are stranded. Will there be enough. Of

anything. Look,

the girl is sitting on her small suitcase weeping. She is alone now.

Look, she is no longer weeping. She is staring. The earth says

it is time. Everyone checks their watch.

Your destination is in sight. Be

ready. Brace. The traincars shake. They rattle.

Our test is still blinking.

Is this the ending rattling. The outcome. The verified result. No

it is something else that rattles.

How I wish there were an intermission.

The sweets would arrive on their little wooden trays.

The curtain's velvet would descend.

To let the story cool off

for a while.

So we could catch up,

compare our favourite parts, wonder who would be saved,

who would pay the price in full,

for their folly, their trespass, their refusal, their

love. No, I remember learning,

back in the prior era,

there is no love. It's all

desire. Hurry up. Your destination's

in sight. Brace for

arrival. The traincars

shake. They rattle.

No it's something else that rattles.

I shake you gently. This would be a good time to

rouse. Do you wish

to rouse.

Are we there yet you ask. I do not know. I am

the poem. I am just shaking you

gently to remind you.

Of what? Of time? That this is time? That there is

time. Do you want

the results. No. I don't want to know.

The lake went by so quickly.

It was teeming, as they used to say, then it was

sand. Then even the sand blew away.

And now look. It is

bone. How it shines.

The people in the committee meeting don't see the lake, they are

still talking. Actually

they are not talking.

They are

screaming.

They do this by looking

down. The lakebed goes by in a flash

on their overhead.

Whose turn is it now.

Have you stood your turn in line.

Have you voted.

For what says the young eagle

diving over the lake looking for the lake

as the train rattles by, for what.

— Jorie Graham, LRB 44 (18) [art by Angela Deane]

[ikeromantic]

Following Orders

A Mitsuhide Akechi fanfiction, approx. 2200 words. This scene occurs between Ch. 12 and 13 of the romantic route - featuring Kyubei! And Motonari! Spoilers Ahead!

P.S. I took some liberties with this chapter ^_^

First: Mitsuhide and the Maiden

Previous: Siege

Kyubei rubbed a hand over the skin of his head. It felt cold in the pre-dawn breeze, unused to being exposed. Shaving a receding hair line was a necessary sacrifice to ensure he wasn’t recognized. Between that and the scraggly beginnings of a beard, his own mother would have trouble picking him out from the other guards.

For his patrol, he’d picked a spot near enough to the shogun’s chamber to overhear most of what went on within, but out of Ashikaga’s line of sight. Perfect to keep a low profile and gather intelligence. Mitsuhide already had the bulk of what Kyubei knew - all written in cipher and left in the cache in the orchard. Things were going as planned. Or . . . they had been.

This morning he could tell something was amiss. Instead of the usual morning routine of servants going in to prepare the shogun’s clothes and food, to bathe and dress Ashikaga, the hall was eerily still and silent. Yoshiaki sat alone in the audience hall, his eyes red from lack of sleep, his face set in hard, angry lines.

Kyubei expected more activity, especially after the discovery yesterday that the estate was surrounded by enemies, isolated from help. This stillness was troubling. It meant he’d missed something. He didn’t have long to wonder what.

A man hurried into the hall from one of the secret doors nearby. This one let out near the guardhouse, but the man wasn’t a guard. He was Yoshiaki’s messenger - a man Kyubei felt certain was ninja. His presence here had not been a pleasant discovery, and it seemed Kyubei’s fears were now realized.

The messenger carried a woman slung over his shoulder. Though her face was badly bruised, and hair hid her features, Kyubei recognized her. The chatelaine, and his lord’s fiancee.

It was difficult to resist his first urge to disembowel Yoshiaki’s man, take the girl, and run. His orders were to infiltrate and inform - if he acted now, he’d be no use to his lord. He had to be smart about this. Kyubei followed the messenger into the shogun’s chamber.

The chatelaine was tossed to the floor like a sack of rice. Her hands were tied tight at the wrist, anchored by rope to her feet. Kyubei could see where she’d begun to bleed. He wanted to tell her he was here, that she would be alright. But instead he knelt beside her, quickly checking her for weapons just as a guard would do.

Ashikaga’s eyes went wide as he took in his prize. He didn’t even seem to see the messenger or Kyubei. “Well done.” He stood and walked from the dais. He stopped at her feet, an unpleasant smile curling his lips. “Leave me.”

“Yes, excellency.” The messenger bowed low, and backed away.

Kyubei knew he would be expected to go to, but he couldn’t simply leave her here. Not like this. Not with the shogun ready to visit every humiliation on her, flesh and spirit. He backed away to the door, but stayed beside it, as if he would protect the shogun from intrusion.

The chatelaine glared up at him from one eye. The other was swelled shut, bruised the color of overripe plums. She struggled up to sit on her knees, never taking her eye from the shogun. Had she not been gagged, she would have spoken. Or spit at him.

Yoshiaki regarded her with disdain. “Keep your head down! How dare you raise your eyes to me without my permission.” His voice was a strained hiss.

“Mmf-ing mmll,” she growled back at him. She didn’t look down either. Somehow, Kyubei didn’t think that was an apology. He couldn’t help a small burst of pride at how she held her own, even now.

“What insolence!” Yoshiaki slapped her with his fan. Her cheek reddened from the blow, as much from humiliation as the slap. “Even animals have better manners.” He stared down at her and shook his head. “To think this pitiful creature is the result of lax rule under Nobunaga.”

The chatelaine tried to reach for Ashikaga - to do what, Kyubei could only imagine - but she couldn’t even come close.

Yoshiaki pushed her with one slippered foot and she fell back, smacking her head on the floor. “Peasants exist to serve their betters with good behavior. You are proof I am needed to lead this land back onto the right path.”

Kyubei held himself rigidly still. He dared not act unless absolutely necessary, but this was harder than he expected. All he could do was watch Ashikaga for now. But if he looked like he might kill the chatelaine, then he would die.

“As the traitor’s fiancee, I am certain you are aware he has this castle surrounded?” Yoshiaki paced slowly around the fallen girl, circling her.

“Ahh mmoe mme mlls uuh,” she said around the gag.

The shogun laughed, his pitch high and false. “You should hope that he cares for you enough not to get you killed, if you hope for anything.” He squatted down, staring intently at her face. “For each day he keeps me under siege, I will send him a piece of you. Should we start here?” He brushed a hand over her lips.

“Ah, excellency? Fingers or - or ears are traditional,” Kyubei stuttered. Not that he wanted her to lose those either. But he felt he had to intervene.

Ashikaga glanced up, his expression one of annoyance. “You must belong to the daimyo here. My men know when to keep silent.”

Kyubei bowed low and stepped back to his position. Every muscle in his body was taut and ready to spring into action at the first sign of violence from the shogun. He didn’t think his chances were good if he was forced to act now, but there was no way he was going to stand and watch Yoshiaki cut a piece from the chatelaine.

Whatever the shogun planned to do next, the chatelaine changed his mind. She brought her bound hands up to slam into his chest, rocking him back a step.

Yoshiaki straightened, his face crimson with rage. “You touched me! You . . .” He snarled incoherently, unable to speak an insult great enough for this affront.

Kyubei saw his opening. It was a risk, but worth it. He lunged forward and grabbed the chatelaine by the shoulders, slipping her onto her belly. He set a knee on her back, though he kept his weight off her. “Shall I kill her, excellency?”

“No.” Yoshiaki was literally shaking with rage. “I need her alive until that kitsune arrives.”

“Then let me humble her for you.” Kyubei leered down at the captive girl and licked his lips suggestively.

After a moment, Yoshiaki nodded. Though his face was still red, a slight smile returned to his lips. “Yes. Take her and let the men use her. You may do whatever you want, so long as she lives.”

Kyubei bowed. “It will be my pleasure.” Then he picked her up and put her over his shoulder.

The chatelaine kicked at him, cursing from under her gag. Beneath her show of anger, she trembled too. With fear.

It was a long way to the storage sheds, but Kyubei hurried there as fast as he could. It wasn’t that fast, not with a squirming chatelaine on his shoulder. He passed a few of the castle servants and one sleepy guard, but no one seemed to take note or care that he had a bound woman with him. When he got to one of the empty buildings, he pulled open the door and stepped inside.

The chatelaine had quieted down by now, but she was glaring at him like an angry snake. Kyubei set her gently against the back wall. He tore her kimono, baring one of her shoulders. The skin there was bruised too, he thought darkly. And he removed her gag.

“Mitsuhide will kill you too,” she said hoarsely. Her lips and tongue were swollen.

“I’m sure he will.” Kyubei gave her a drink of water, which she accepted reluctantly. Then he reached for her bound hands.

“Don’t touch me,” she yelped and tried to push him away.

Kyubei stepped back and frowned. He didn’t want to reveal himself to her - not when there was still danger for both of them. But he needed to get those bonds off her too. “Look - I’m just going to untie you. Nothing else. For now.” He gave an evil smile. “I’m on duty until noon. After that . . .”

The chatelaine spat at him. “I would die first.”

“And you might.” Kyubei grabbed her arms and held her still while he cut the binds from them and from her feet.

She rubbed her wrists, hurt and angry and clearly exhausted. Despite that, he was fairly sure she was planning to try to escape. Already figuring out how to get past him, and whether she thought she could run.

“You will stay here. Quietly,” Kyubei told her.

“Or what?”

“Or I . . . I follow my orders.” He narrowed his eyes and slowly looked her over. “I follow them right now. And when I finish with you, I have a lot of friends.” Kyubei felt disgusted with himself and how well he was playing this role. But he had to keep her quiet, even if it meant terrifying her.

The chatelaine pulled her knees up to her chest. Fear and anger played across her mouth as she tried to decide how to respond. “I’m not . . . not afraid of you. Or your friends. Mitsuhide will come and he will stop you and your disgusting lord.”

Kyubei smirked. “We’ll see.” Then he set down his water gourd and went out the door. He closed it and tied it shut. Then he carried some heavy crates to set in front of the door too. Just enough to dissuade anyone from trying to go in. “Girl, you should stay very quiet now. I am leaving. If someone else finds you before I come back, it will be worse for you.”

The chatelaine was silent.

***

Motonari sprawled against a tree trunk, listening with half an ear to the day’s reports from his scouts.

“I thought I heard a woman just before sunrise. Might o’ been a rabbit . . .” He was saying.

“Ya can’t tell the difference between a rabbit and a girl?”

The scout gave a half-hearted shrug. “Well . . . it sounded like a woman. But there ain’t women out here so it couldn’t be.”

With a look of disgust, Motonari motioned the scout away. It seemed someone managed to get through their barricade. Though he had no proof to speak of, the pirate knew without a doubt the little Oda princess was involved. But he needed more to go on than his gut. The abbot and the kitsune wouldn’t act on that alone.

He was about to go looking when Kennyo walked into camp. The abbot’s frown was deep, his jaw set in hard lines.

“Mitsuhide!” Kennyo called in his low, grumbling voice.

The kitsune stirred from his tent after a moment. Despite his wrinkled clothes and mussed hair, he managed to look elegant. “What has happened?”

The abbot tossed him a sandal.

Mitsuhide caught it, his expression turning from annoyance to unhappy surprise.

Motonari tilted his head, curiosity peaked. “What is that?”

“A woman’s sandal, with a broken strap.” Kennyo replied. “It was discovered near the castle late this morning. It was not there earlier.”

This was about the location Motonari’s man had heard the ‘rabbit.’ He tried hard not to grin. If anything would get this battle started, this was it. Finally.

“There’s no doubt,” Mitsuhide said softly, turning the small shoe over in his hands. “This is . . . it belongs to my little mouse.”

“Huh. So Ashikaga’s got somebody with enough skill to get past us, carrying a hostage even.” He couldn’t keep the admiration out of his voice. “Be real fun to kill that one.”

Kennyo ignored Motonari. “Will he negotiate for peace in exchange for her life?”

“Negotiate? The shogun?” Mouri laughed. The idea of that man asking for anything was hilarious. Ashikaga didn’t ask - he simply took. “More like he’ll use her as a human shield.”

“What is your plan, Mitsuhide?” The abbot waited to see what the kitsune warlord would say.

Motonari waited as well, if less patiently.

“I believe our enemy has just given us a reason to stop playing nice with him.” Mitsuhide’s golden eyes glowed with the heat of his anger. They fixed on Mouri. “It appears your boredom is at an end.”

“Finally!” Motonari didn’t wait for him to change his mind. He turned on his heel, giving his men the signal to arm up and get moving.

Kennyo looked surprised. “You would abandon strategy and attack now?”

“We cannot delay. Not even for dawn. I won’t keep my darling little one waiting for me.” His mouth turned up at the edges in a sharp smile.

“You don’t sound as desperate as I thought you would,” Kennyo replied. It was impossible to know what he thought about that.

Mitsuhide nodded once. “I have never been calmer. Now come. We must use whatever means necessary to rescue her - and to make the shogun regret his actions.”

The abbot turned to rally his men. There was nothing more that needed to be said.

Motonari didn’t worry too much about Mitsuhide’s state of mind, or the abbot’s judgement. He rushed into the orchard and toward the fortress, eager for the bloodshed to begin. This was going to be fun.

Next: Base Villains

[sweetdonutwolf]

A Near Fatal Mistake Pt. 1 ^

PART 2

This is my first imagine so please go easy on me.I hope you enjoy it as much as i did making it :).

P.S I really do suck with grammar and writing structure so I’m sorry if it isn’t perfect.

 Angst Prompt: You’ve finally made it to the final round of the Rainbow Tournament Of Champions and all eyes are on you everything must go perfectly but one wrong move earlier in the day may prove fatal.

WARNINGS: Mentions of death and near death experience, violence, cussing, blood, shooting, injury to you and others, explosion, hospital setting ( In Pt. 2).

NOTES: For the sake of keeping 5 operators on each side I cut out Dokabi from the attackers. Also I tried my best to keep to the video but for the smoothness of the story I had to switch some things up.

Based on the Rainbow Six Siege Tournament of Champions Video

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

Appearances:                                                                                          

Attackers: Y/o/n, Blitz (Elias), Thatcher, Sledge, Hibana                              Defenders: Caviera (Cav), Pulse (Jack), Doc, Mozzie, Mira

y/o/n= your operator name

y/n= your name

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

Hibana sat beside you checking her gear over and over again making sure it was all in order. Blitz was sitting on the bench across from you polishing his beaten shield for the 2nd time while Sledge and Thatcher were going over the plan once more in the corner. You on the other hand were sitting there listening to the roar of the crowd as they heard the five minute count down being announced. You’ve always been use to working and training without thousands of eyes on you. No pressure you kept telling yourself. No fucking pressure, it’s not like its the last round or anything, winner takes all.You began tapping your foot nervously checking your gear just as Hibana was. Blitz got up and sat down next to you putting his hand on your bouncing leg. 

“Y/n you’ll be fine you’ve made it this far you cant freak out now” he steadied your hand in his and looked up at you. “Look I know you don’t like the big crowds but this isn’t life and death a mistake is just a mistake, use it to learn from, that’s all this is one big learning experience for all of us and at the end of they day we’re all still friends’’. 

The tone of his voice calmed you down he always had a way of doing that. You pulled your hand from his and looked at him. He realized his mistake. 

“I’m not  saying that you’ll make one of course but if you did”. You smiled and gave him a playful shove knocking his shield over in the process giving it a new scuff and dent on the side. 

He looked back at you while lifting the heavy shield up with little effort. 

“That’s my new favorite scratch, I’ll remember that one” He gave out a little chuckle and held his hand out. You reached out and he hoisted you to your feet. 

Thatcher and Sledge called you guys over to get ready to walk out. Hibana stood next to you looking as calm as ever Blitz passed by you giving you an encouraging nudge 

Over the speaker you could hear them calling out the teams to the field.  It was time and together you made your way out to the field. 

The spotlights shined brightly on each of the teams as they walked out. You gave a quick look at the defenders, Cav, Pulse, Mira, Doc, and Mozzie all very skilled, you all were after all the best of the best. Walking up you could feel the tension in the air and the piercing gazes being exchanged from the teams. You looked away trying to get into the right head space, you kept replaying the plan over and over again in your head. Thinking kept you distracted from everything around you and helped drown out the crowd.

Thatcher stopped in front of everyone and held his arms out wide.

“Everyone huddle up” he moved his arms in a waving motion as everyone huddle around. “I just want to say no matter what happens out there we should be proud of each other and ourselves. We’ve made it this far but not with out some close rounds, remember that and let it humble you, they’ve trained with us before many times we know what they’re capable of so lets not forget that” He looked up at everyone glancing around before looking back at you giving you a little nod. “Most importantly no matter what I’m proud of each one of you we didn’t get here without some blood and sweat and lets hope we can finish this with one last win”. He put his hand in the middle of the group prompting the others to do the same.

“One more!” Sledge yelled out. 

“One more!”. Everyone’s hand flew in the air and for a moment you forgot about the crowd all together.

“OPERATORS PREPARE FOR THE FINAL ROUND, DEFENDERS TO THE MAT”

The crowed roared and came even more alive as we headed to our positions.The lights were blinding the crowds deafening, waiting for the round to start was always the worst. You could feel your heart pounding.Blitz noticed your worry and put a hand on your shoulder. 

“You’ve got this y/n you’re going in with me and I’ll make sure you don’t do anything stupid” He looked at you with a smile. You smiled back. 

“Don’t make me put an ever bigger dent in that thing’’ You playfully tapped at his shield. 

“OPERATORS THIS IS MATCH POINT”. 

You looked at your team once more checking things over. Sledge stood ready to breach the wall, Blitz stood in front of you ready to run in the moment the wall went down. Hibana and Thatcher were on the roof going in at a different angle.

 ”ATTACKERS PREPARE FOR INSERTION”. 

Blitz gave Sledge a nob before they both looked back at you, you gave one back. 

“We got this” you said to them both.The bell went off signaling the start of the round Sledge drew his hammer back and hit the wall down with one strong swing. You could hear the windows break from the other two breaching in above. Blitz immediately ran in first followed by you right on his six with Thatcher bringing up the rear. Instantly you were greeted by bullets, Mozzie and Doc were waiting for you. 

“Behind me!” Blitz crouched down in front of you and Thatcher. You guys began to return fire. Bullets pinged off Blitz’s shield but  luckily none were hitting you guys. 

“I’ve fucking got this” Thatcher steadied his aim behind you and hit Mozzie square in the chest. The powdered rubber pellets staining his uniform with dust. Right as you were about to shoot again Doc dragged Mozzie behind a reinforced wall to another room.

Trying to get a better angle the three of you were about to push in on the two of them when you spotted Thatcher and Hibana they must have cleared the loft above already and made their way back down. 

“We’ll take care of those two you guys keep going”. Hibnana’s voice rang out on the radio. Sledge tapped on your shoulder giving you the all clear to move ahead. As you began moving in the same formation you could hear a flash grenade go off in the distance and burst of gun fire. 

“THREE DEFENDERS REMAINING”. 

You breathed a sigh of relief knowing you’re team was ahead for now. The three of you moved on to the next room. 

Stopped at a doorway Blitz peaked the corner first into the room. “Mira is held up on the right slightly elevated” He took one more peak. 

“Is she alone?” Sledge was watching our back to make sure no one came up behind us. Cav was still on the loose after all. 

“By the looks of it yes”. Bltz replied.

You grabbed a smoke grenade from the belt, we all knew that was the plan without even asking each other. “Throwing smoke”. You pulled the pin and gave it a toss.The smoke hissed alive a soon covered the door in a thick haze.You taped on Sledge’s shoulder signaling we were moving forward. “Lets move”. 

Mira knew we were coming and she opened fire. Blitz ran out first and stopped short while me and Sledge ran out further. “It’s hopeless” You were running out of ammo too fast. 

“Get to the bomb sight!” Sledge looked at me and started giving covering fire as I ran past him with Blitz at my heels.”I’ve had enough of this shit”.The shooting from Thatcher stopped and a loud explosion ensued. 

“TWO DEFENDERS REMAINING”. 

The crowed screamed with excitement once more.

It was just you and Blitz now, Sledge was going to meet up with Hibana and Thatcher for our final push to the bomb site while you and Blitz cleared out any remaining roamers. you guys were going to meet them after clearing the west stairs as they continued up the north ones and push the bomb site from two angles.Blitz was once again up front with you in the back. Being one man down sure made it harder to watch for Cav. 

Blitz stopped in front of you. “Two ways to go both look like they lead to the western stairs”. You turned and looked thinking of your options. You were both skilled enough to go on our own and with two left on the defending side we thought the risk was worth it. You crouched next to him.

”I’ll take right you take left and we’ll meet up at the stair case on the other side”. Blitz held out a fist which you met with yours. Blitz stopped you for a moment “If we win this drinks are on me tonight’ With a smile you left and started pushing the room. 

You hated being on your own with the spot light on you and you could feel the pressure of everyone watching. You could never understand why scenarios like this freaked you out more then the real life or death missions you’ve been on. Maybe it was the fear of failure for not just your team but everyone watching. You couldn’t fail under the pressure. You snapped out of your head you couldn’t risk any more distraction. You began rounding the corner to the last room when shot rang out from the room in front. You turned the corner and found Cav choking Thatcher both of their guns on the ground. Thatcher was struggling to break free. You pulled your gun up holding steady. 

“Hey Cav”. Without letting her grip go she looked up giving you the perfect opportunity to shoot her right between the eyes. She fell back letting Thatcher go.

“ONE DEFENDER REMAINING”. 

“Thanks y/o/n”.

“Any time”.you smiled at him as you helped him get his footing.

Cav began to get up to walk out of the building to go wait the rest of her team. 

“I fucking had him” you heard her whisper as she picked up her gun and stormed off.  

Blitz came through the other door way. “Had some fun I see“.He  said jokingly helping brush Thatcher off. 

“It was a blast” He pushed Blitz’s hand aside.

“Where’s Hibana?”. You began looking around.

“Me and her got separated clearing rooms, I was on my way to meet up with her Thatcher explained. “What about Sledge?”.

“He’s was going to meet you at the north staircase like we planned while me and y/o/n came up the west stairs.” Blitz motioned his hand to the North.

You picked up Thatchers gun and handed it to him. 

“Blitz and I will continue up the west stairs you go meet up with the others. Pulse is still out there so we gotta be careful one C-4 could take us all out”. 

Thatcher gave you both a nod and continued on his way. You heard him on the radio a short time later 

“Hibana I’m coming to you and Sledge wait for me to get here before you attempt to defuse”.

“Roger that Thatcher is already with me, we’re holding position while waiting on you”. 

You and Blitz got back in formation and pushed on.

You finally made it to the stairs it was knowing that Pulse had to be on the 2nd floor, your team already cleared the first. 

“I’m thinking something fancy for my drink tonight, you know top shelf quality I mean you are buying after all”. 

 Blitz let out a chuckle.“If you say so, only the fanciest liquor for you”.

The two of you were about a fourth of the way up when you caught something out of the corner of your eye.

“3 o-clock above us!” you yelled

Blitz turned his shield and both sides began opening fire, it was Pulse. 

“Keeping pushing up!”. 

You could barely hear Blitz over the gun shots being fired and ricocheted by his shield. 

“Pulse is on us feel free to plant we’ll let you know if he moves from us.” You hoped Hibana and them heard you. 

You guys held a steady pace while slowly working your way upstairs. Then you saw it, C-4 was falling towards you.

“Shit fall back!” You yelled but it was no use. 

Blitz pushed backwards trying to get right up against you hoping to block you both from the blast. You closed your eyes so the powder that came from the fake C-4 didn’t irritate them. There was a loud boom followed by darkness.

“Y/n, y/n, y/n!”. You felt your body being shaken.

Your eyes slowly opened your vision was cloudy and your ears were ringing loudly. Your whole body hurt, your head felt like a 100 pound weight had been dropped on it. You tried talking but you lungs felt like the were going to burst they burned so badly. 

“Y/n, stay with me!”

Your vision finally gained some focus. Blitz was above you holding your aching body in his lap blood staining his uniform. 

“I hurts so bad, I feel so weak” you finally managed to choke out. Looking up at Blitz you could see the worry clearly on his face. You felt a sharp pain on your side, you looked down and saw his hand covering a bleeding wound on your abdomen. There was so much blood your uniform felt soaked in it. Blitz gaze moved from your wound to your face once more his bright blue eyes gazing into yours.

“You gotta stay with me y/n” Tears began to fill his eyes. Seeing his eyes filled with worry made your heart ache. “They’re coming to get us, they wont be long” He took his free hand and held yours. 

You looked around to see how bad the situation was. You guys were trapped from the rubble with no way out twisted metal and debris surrounded you. Something must have happened during the equipment change after the small fire that occurred a couple of days ago, there was no way live C-4 would make it in here. What if it was done purposefully?. Your mind began to wonder again. Luckily you caught yourself before you got in too deep. You look towards Blitz.

“Ar-are you okay Elias?” you mustered up the strength to grab his arm. With guilt in his voice and painted on his face he spoke 

“Just a few cuts and bruises I’ll be fine”. He grabbed your hand tighter. 

“What about Mike?”. You look around for any sign of Pulse but could find any. “Is he okay?”

“I’m sure he’s okay too”. You could hear the fear in his voice.    

“How’s the shield?” you laughed a bit trying to lighten the mood. You turned and saw it charred on the ground, you could feel yourself getting weaker and weaker. 

“Could be better” Blitz managed to let a small smile out. 

“So does this count as a win? I’m still looking forward to my drink tonight.” 

Blitz whipped away a tear quickly thinking you weren’t looking. “After today you can get any drink you want once we make it out of here and get you patched up”. You laughed again this time the pain was too much and you began coughing up blood, the taste of iron filled your mouth. “That’s enough jokes for now” The worry was growing stronger on his face as he began to hold you closer to him. 

“If you say so”. You gave a small smile trying to hide the pain you were in still. He held you there as he continued applying pressure to your wound. You felt a sense of security and peace being in his strong arms, he had a firm yet gentle presence and despite his worry you felt safe. A bit of silence passed. 

“It’s not your fault Elias” Tears began to build in your eyes as you felt the darkness creep up on you. You used what ever strength you had left to sit  yourself up a bit  and gently grab his face to turn towards yours. Tears were running down his face now he couldn’t stand seeing you like this. You whipped some of his tears away. “None of us could have known this would happen it’s no ones fault”. You assessed your wounds once more, the blood has stopped for now on your abdomen but you still felt weaker and the room felt colder and colder.  

Blitz’s eyes filled with tears “If i just shielded you more y/n. I---I could have prevented this”. The pain in his voice made your heart break.You brought your hand up to his face once more and gently brushed his cheek. His hand came up and met yours. 

You spoke out with a raspy breathy voice.“I may not make it an-and if i don’t you have to promise not to blame yourself Elias that no one not even Jack blames himself. I forgive each one of you today.” Blitz pulled you in closer. You could tell he was at a loss for words, you knew he saw it all as his fault and you felt terrible that he was beating himself up for it. “You’ll always have the scratch on the shield to remember me by.” You could see a faint grin on his face he knew you always tried to keep a light mood no matter what the situation. 

“Don’t say things like that we’ll make plenty more memories together y/n plus I still have to buy that drink I promised you, top shelf.” Blitz said holding back more tears trying to keep a smile on his face. You saw his effort to remain calm and a faint smile appeared on your face, you began coughing up more blood. Each breath started to sound worse and got harder and harder to take.The realization that you may not make it out of this hit you. There was so much you still wanted to experience in the world. So many people you wanted to thank, Blitz being one of them.

“Th-th-thank you Elias for-- everything.” You could barely string a sentence together now and couldn’t keep your eyes open any longer. Your vision went black and you could hear Blitz cry out your name gently trying to shake you awake. You opened your eyes one last time “ I’ll be okay...”. You vision was again black and your eyes shut once more. 

You could hear the sobs of Blitz and he held your now limp body tears landing softly on your face. You felt him bring you up to his face resting his head on yours. 

“I’m so sorry y/n please forgive me”. It was the last thing you heard then suddenly nothing.

PART 2

Written: 8/15/20-8/16/20

[naviizeldablog]

Betrayal by Blood

Request by Tuxedo Elf on the LU discord:

“Some warrior angst with a happy ending?”

Credit goes to @linkeduniverse for the au, @mytoomanybookstoread, @cassandrasartworld, Auroraful#4260 and Lazer Lim#7313 on discord all for the idea of Warrior having a lot of sisters and for each hc about them. (I hope I didn’t miss crediting anyone) and Nintendo. 

Peace out.

Warnings: swearing, fighting, blood, death, the usual

He hated traitors. The ones who couldn’t keep their loyalty and their oaths. He knew that the turncoat leader was a figure of authority in the army, probably one of the knights of the royal guard. But he never expected him to go against the crown.

He was the oldest of all of Link’s siblings, born to another mother before their father met a fair and widowed noblewoman.  He and his brother didn’t look that much different, he had a darker blonde than Link, and kept the undercut buzzed.  He was tall and lanky, but didn’t try and hide it like his brother did.  In fact, if he wasn’t such a well recognized knight, people may have seen him as a troublemaker of sorts. His name was Trixon, a commander in the Hyrulian army that lead his section into the front lines of battles. Having such a high and dangerous role to play left him distant from his family, every trip home a family reunion to rejoice his well-being.

“How is it like, now being an official knight?” sitting together on a hill to escape their festive and crowded household, the brothers watched the sky as the last embers of light disappeared into the horizon and the first of the stars appeared.  Link had been knighted the day before, now being the only time he has had to himself since then.

“It’s very strange, I now have authority over those decades ahead of me and of those who I grew up with in the barracks. My friends and I grow more distant with each step I take to being part of the royal guard.”

Trixon nodded along, re-accounting his days of youth.

“Our father’s legacy will carry on proudly with you little brother.” Link looked over at his brother surprised, for he had never really mentioned their father except for when the time called for it.

“And what’s to say that you won’t, being that you are the eldest.” Trixon looked at his younger brother with fondness, but Link could see a twinge of sadness in his brother’s eyes. The sadness disappeared when Trixon smirked and ruffled Link’s hair, much to Link’s annoyance.

“I see this potential in you brother, a spark of courage that will one day give you a name to succeed our father’s.” a call from inside of the household summoned them to dinner, and so Link got up and brushed himself off with reluctance. 

“Before I am to leave again, I want you to remember,” Link turned to his brother with eager ears, watching him as he gathered his belongings and started to walk down the hill, his younger brother at his heels.

“to remember that, if you truly are worthy of walking in our father’s footsteps,” a crowd of blonde haired relatives waited inside, each welcoming their brothers and uncles as dinner was being served.

“then you must do whatever it takes to achieve your goal.”

It’s been six months since that night.

“Trixon please! Why are you doing this?” it only took two months for a civil war to plague Hyrule. At first no one really thought much of the knights sneaking off into the hillsides. None batted an eye when swords strapped to the backs of what seemed to be well civilized knights came back coated in blood. So when the first siege against the castle went into effect, everyone was caught off guard, almost promising a sure victory for the turncoats if the princess hadn’t organized her troops right away and started to march against the rebels.

“This kingdom is corrupt! Its foundations made by lies and the blood of innocents.” Trixon walked towards Link with no weapons unsheathed, which caused Link’s instincts to bring up his shield a little up.

Seeing his brother’s reluctance to listen, he extended his arm as if to grab Link’s hand, “Come, join me brother.”

“What?!”

“I don’t want to fight you any longer little one! Please, let me spare your life.” Even though they were on opposing sides, Link could see the desperation and agony in his brother’s eyes as he pleaded.

“My loyalty was chosen long before you did this.” shaken by Link’s declaration, Trixon stepped back, only to bow his head and draw his sword.

“And that is what makes you better than us all.”

As their swords clashed, the battle waged around them, none daring to cross their blades or interfere. But after every blow, every thrust, every block, neither of them were gaining an upper edge on the other. For what seemed like hours to them they fought and fought, rage and loyalty guiding their swords to their opponent’s weak spots, only to the countered and the process repeated.

Suddenly the older knight switched his tactics, putting his shield up and barging at full speed at Link. Unable to jump out of the way, Link brought up his own shield only to hear a sickening crack from his arm as he struggled against Trixon’s weight. A swift kick to his chest pushed Link back, causing him to double over while cradling his injured arm. 

Glowering at his dishonored brother, Link saw a glimpse of sorrow in his brother’s eyes before they turned dull and deprived of emotion. Trixon brought his sword up, ready to end this quickly before he could start to hesitate. But Link was quicker, and dodged the blade to pierce his sword through the armor embedded with the enemy’s crest.

A warm and sticky fluid splattered across his face, and when he pulled his sword it was coated in a dark red liquid. His hands started to shake, dropping the blade that his sister had so carefully crafted for him. He felt Trixon fall besides him, and sunk down to his knees. A cough awoke him from his shock, and made Link gaze upon his brother. 

“I’m sorry little one, you deserve a better brother than what I have to offer.” Trixon took Link’s hand into his own, hoping to get some kind of response. But instead Link looked away from his dying brother and took in the view of the barren battlefield littered with corpses and lost horses looking for their masters. It would seem that while they fought, the battle had ended and they were abandoned.

“Our family, you take care of them.... you hear me?” hearing Trixon whisper to him while coughing up blood made Link want to curl inward, to block out the sound of his brother’s voice and the stench of blood and metal.

“Of course.” his pathetic excuse for a whisper came out broken and nearly inaudible. But the small smile his brother wore told him that he had understood him without the need of words.

“Good, may you live long and prosperous...” Overcome with agony, Link buried his head on his brother’s chest, one hand clenching Trixon’s and the other his tunic, while tears trailed down his face.

“Brother.”

The only sound that could be heard in the aftermath of the massacre, was the cries of despair from a knight mourning for his lost mentor and friend.

He woke up to a bed, his arm in a cast, and a sleeping soldier with horrible bed head besides him. Link smiled softly, and gently nudged his sister awake.

“mmmmmhhhh... five more minutes...”

“You know, if Lilith was here she’d drag you out and throw you into a basin of freezing water for such laziness.”

“You’re awake!” snapping to attention, the captain of the royal guard pounced on her younger brother, nearly suffocating him while hugging. Now fully awake, a wave of memories flooded Link’s mind. The battle. The blood. Trixon.

“Trixon... is he..?” his sister looked away with her head bowed, shame and despair written across her face.

“If only I would have known, I could’ve stopped him make him reconsider his actions-” before Link could continue his train of thought, he was quickly cut off.

“For what? To then live on in his place as he rots in the castle’s dungeons? You know this is what he wanted.” she pulled away from Link, and took his hand in hers. Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes but before Link could say anything to comfort his sister the door to their house barged open.

“Cahira, how long are you going to mope around here while the others and I-” before the intruder even got to finish her sentence, the sight of her youngest sibling alive and awake urged her to walk swiftly to him and nearly crush his ribs while she embraced him.

“Rainee please, it’s okay-”

“No it’s not fucking okay! We didn’t know when you were going to wake up, IF YOU WERE GOING TO WAKE UP.”

“Rainee...” but just as Link tried to ease his sister, the rest of the family quickly filed in through the door and surrounded their brother, each asking him different questions and some checking his injuries.

“I swear if you keep scaring us like this I’ll pull you out of knighthood and force you to work at some domestic job right where we can keep an eye on you firetop.” said Coretta, trying to stay stable with her cane while wiping tears away. 

Her comment sent a few laughs and chuckles, but the reminder of Trixon’s death still loomed over their heads. Who it was that started to sniffle first is unknown, but soon enough Link found himself in the midst of his sisters as each of them tried to sit next to him on his bed.

And so they huddled around their last brother, each counting their blessings as the new day’s light shone from the windows.

[echoesintoeternity]

A Perspective & Practice During the Coronavirus

Anyone need some encouragement? How about some peace? How do we maintain inner peace in the midst of outer turmoil?

This is a long-read. I want to help anyone struggling right now - with a perspective & a practice.

A couple of mornings ago, I was studying a commentary on the biblical book of Lamentations. Now don’t let me lose you here, stick with me.

It’s a book that both mourns the fall of the city of Jerusalem and offers reproof, instruction, and hope to its survivors. Lamentations is associated with the word "how" - a characteristic cry of lament or exclamation. 

Isn't this right? "How" is a question we ask. It's circumstantial, looking for answers to a specific situation. 

Truthfully, sometimes there aren't simple or easy answers for specific situations. Thankfully, there are bigger truths we can look to and hold onto - truths that overcome circumstances or situations, regardless of how dark & heavy they may be.

Here's what was happening leading up to the writing of the book of Lamentations (and notice what they invoked):

Jerusalem's defenses were taken down. Uncertainty & fear settled in for its people.

Her allies had been vanquished in battle & any vain attempts of rescue had not been successful.

The cities around them were crushed.

A siege on the city was ever-tightening. The infiltrating armies unraveled the very fabric of society.

The people cried out to any & everything for deliverance.

Paranoia gripped the people until they turned on God Himself.

Their walls of protection were tore down & the city was left in smoldering rubble.

The once-proud city was trampled in dust. Her people had been devastated by a cruel taskmaster.

Tyler, I thought you were aiming at peace & encouragement? Once again, stick with me.

Most scholars point out that the book of Lamentations attempts to show the fulfillment of what was stated in the biblical book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy, heartaches & hardships had been predicted. But God also promised restoration for repentance. Thus, in Lamentations, the author Jeremiah offers hope in the midst of despair.

Currently, a lot of our personal defenses - who & what we look to for security - are being challenged. A lot of the allies we rely on are trying to figure this out just like us. The world around us is being crushed. Society seems to be unraveling. We are looking for any & everything - information, products, distraction, etc - to deliver us at best or settling for numbing at worst. We are anxious, paranoid, and slowly pointing fingers at any and everything we can to make sense of this. The "walls" we've trusted for protection & infrastructure are being left in a smoldering rubble. We feel scared, unprotected, caught off guard, and upset that something like this could happen to us. The plans we hear don't seem to be able to truly & fully protect us & prevent harm. We’re unsettled, unnerved, and on edge. If we’re honest, it is both an interruption & inconvenience to our lives in trivial ways and simultaneously a big-picture epidemic & life-threatening scenario. This confuses us and we don’t know quite how we’re supposed to feel. No one seems to be responding to this particularly well. We feel trampled in dust, being devastated by a cruel taskmaster. Day after day, we echo “My God…”, for a difference reason...and at a deeper level.

I'm not here to offer you an extensive look into answering the questions of "how" or "why". Only God knows these intricacies. But there is a big-picture question that aims at our current state of mind, but goes beyond just today's circumstance - “What now?”. Let me point you to the one thing bigger than this present circumstance - God Himself, and specifically, God’s truths. If you desire internal peace regardless of external circumstance, if you need hope in the midst of despair, if you need good news today - we must turn to God. Any & everything else we look to, even good things, will fail us ultimately.

Listen to this commentary on the book of Lamentations & let this encourage you:

At the climax of Lamentations, God’s covenant faithfulness is affirmed and celebrated. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases” (3:22). God “will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (3:32).

Just as pain is a global and ever-present experience, however, so too is God’s mercy for those who trust him through Christ. Although it recounts suffering as bluntly and awfully as anywhere in the Bible, the high point of Lamentations is its spelling out of a steady trust that “the LORD is good to those who wait for him” (3:25), for “the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” (3:22). As surely as judgment awaits the faithless, mercy awaits the faithful—those who look to God, waiting on him, trusting in his Son, and yielding themselves to him.

Here is the greatest hope of all: God’s unfailing, unstoppable mercy toward his beloved people. The Lord himself sovereignly oversees all that his children go through, yet “he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men” (3:33). “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (3:31-32).

God draws near to his suffering saints. Indeed, in Jesus Christ, God has drawn closer to us than could have been imagined—he has become one of us, sharing in all that we suffer in this fallen world (Heb. 2:14-18; 4:14-16). Remembering him and his cross, and the glory into which he entered and into which we too shall enter (Rom 8:17), we trustingly submit to him and his fatherly governance of our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters around the world today.

This sums up an empowering perspective to guide us through everyday life. But what about some things we can do practically, things we can practice? I’m shifting gears a bit, but I feel it is extremely important to have practical practices to live out the perspective you’ve just been armed with.

I hope these points help you and give you a strategic focus during this season. Please note, do not zoom past these points just because they seem so obvious or cliche. It’s not if you agree that they are true, but are you actually doing them?

Read the Bible. It’s important to set your mind on the things that will contribute to a right mindset & perspective. That does not happen passively or by accident.

Create quiet time to pray & meditate. There’s going to be a lot of “noise” in the next couple of months. Make sure your soul is at rest, you are bringing your fears, concerns, requests to God, and take time to listen to His response.

Journal. If you’re anything like me, your mind can be an overwhelming place. I have to take a proactive approach in sifting through it, collecting my thoughts, and cleansing it. If I don’t, it ends up an overgrown garden, a vicious cycle of more stress. Every day I take 5-10 minutes to answer questions like “3 things I’m grateful for (in the morning & afternoon), one big focus for the day, 3 big things I need to accomplish, lessons learned & opportunities to improve, if I owe anyone amends or need to forgive anyone, wins, patterns, affirmations & reminders. Try it out.

Connect with your family. Have you ever wondered in what ways the most important things in life could have been simpler way back when? This season is an opportunity. Do not get sucked into everything else when a primary opportunity is right in front of you. Spend quality time with your family.

Stay physically fit. Not focusing on this for months can lead to mental, emotional, & physical atrophy. There’s something to be said about the science behind getting the bad stuff out of your system. Don’t let it just sit & accumulate. That’s not going to be fun for your state or others around you. Stay active & eat as well as possible. You may be doomsday grocery shopping and stocking up. Your doomsday may be putting on 20+ lbs the next couple of months. Even if it’s from home, do workouts - look some up if you need to. Walk together as a family.

Keep an inventory of your intake. Yes, it’s a nice opportunity to catch up on your favorite show. Yes, you may have more time to check out social media. Just make sure your intake is balanced. If you go full entertainment, well, see above for my thoughts on junk accumulating in your system.

Connect with healthy relationships, even if it’s via technology. Don’t let hunkering down lead to loneliness, isolation, and depression. You need relationships, maybe now more than ever. Get creative in this.

Don’t neglect your responsibilities. The state of your environment influences your mood. Yes, those stacking dishes can create some anxiety for you or others.

Be wise, taking into account the recommendations of health professionals.

Serve others. Is there anything you can do to help the world or your key relationships right now? Sometimes the best medicine is offering some to someone else!

Listen to the Holy Spirit. Keep all of the general guidelines & recommendations in mind. And be led by the Holy Spirit. He is a personal relationship, living inside of you - your counselor, your helper.

Turn back to God. For your inner state, regardless of outer circumstances. Be wise. Get ahead of this. Have a plan. Connect. Ask for help. 

Love you guys & I’m praying for you.

[ursafilms]

Sara Bareilles, Sausalito, The San Francisco Bay, and The Shoulder

Phone rings. I don’t recognize the name.

Me: “Hi. It’s George.”

Person: “George, it’s Sara Dauberman. You worked with me when I was Sara Clarkin.”

Me: “Are you in the WPP?”

Sara: “The what?”

Me: “The Witness Protection Program, hence the name change.”

Sara laughs a musical laugh, which jogs my memory.

Me: “Okay, now I remember you. You’re the person I turned upside during that Cisco job for sassing me.”

Sara: “Yes, that was me.”

Me: “Okay. How can I help you?”

Sara: “A friend of mine is producing a concert video for Sara Bareilles in San Francisco, and she needs a co-producer for the location work.”

Me: “So you’re still mad.”

Sara: “What? No. What makes you think that?”

Me: “I don’t hear from you for a couple years after hanging you upside down by your ankles and you finally call and threaten me with a music video? I’d say that shows some open hostility.”

Sara: “What are you talking about? It’s not a music video. It’s a concert video.”

Me: “Does it involve a record label, a recording artist, a film crew, and very little money? And are all the people involved going to converge in the same place at the same time? If so, it’s a music video. And music videos suck. They’re for young people who need to develop production skills and who might also recognize the artist and the song. I stopped producing music videos after doing two of them in the early nineties. One for Zhane. And the other for Emage.”

Sara: “For who?”

I waited for the light bulb to go off over her head that she did not recognize those two groups before moving on.

Me: “During my LAST music video job, my camera went south on me on twice during the shoot. Once after it was “repaired.” And it took me six months to get paid. The only reason I got my check was because I happened to be in Los Angeles where the production company had their offices. I walked in and refused to leave until they gave me a check for the full amount.”

Sara: “Did they?”

Me: “Only after I’d been there for a few days and had begun to smell.”

Sara: “Well, this won’t be anything like that.”

Truer words might never have been spoken.

****

In order to educate myself on Ms. Sara Bareilles, I purchased a copy of her latest CD, and listened to the whole thing. Beautiful voice. Crystal clear. Strong. Had it not been for the usual pack of lies about what I had agreed to produce, and make no mistake it was a music video, I might have been a fan.

I agreed to take on the project since the, ahem, “concert video” consisted of a multicamera shoot at the Fillmore, a famous iconic San Francisco 60’s Rock venue in which I’d never worked. For that alone I thought it worthwhile. A classic bait-and-switch awaited, as the executive producer informed me that in addition to the shoot at the Fillmore, I’d be producing some performance footage of one of Sara’s songs at a houseboat location in Sausalito.

But not to worry, the houseboat location had been secured. It belonged to a friend of the executive producer. All I needed to do was scout the place and . . .

1.    Arrange for crew and equipment parking in the private lot owned by a bunch of inbred Sausalito houseboat occupants.

2.    Clear the dock area for usage of storing equipment, including the band’s instruments, and for serving meals and craft service. Said inbred Sausalito houseboat occupants were all part owners of said dock.

3.    Work out the fee with the houseboat owner and get her signature on a location agreement. In other words, nothing had been done to secure the location and inform the woman of the juggernaut of people and equipment about to invade her crackerbox houseboat.

4.    Inform the union that production company is from NYC, but is an IA signator, a little fact not presented to me as I attempted to hire the crew.

5.    Rent several vans for the agency, record label, and clients use.

I could go on, but the upshot is that I had to produce the entire job. Nothing had been put in place, despite being told that it had, and the record label, the agency, and the client were all expecting to lay siege to the dock with a camera crew of at least six people and grip and electric and props of three times that many, plus the dreaded Vanities department, and video engineering, all union, all expecting to cram themselves into the one person houseboat, which, by the way, sat at the very end of the next to the last dock in Sausalito.

Making the job even more pleasant, the union strong-armed the third prop into sending them the call sheet, and then hassled me for not informing them of a sixth camera operator.

Me: “If you would give me two seconds, I would have, but I’ve been a little busy producing the job to do things on your schedule.”

Jimmy Hoffa: “You’ve got an attitude problem. I should fine you.”

Me: “Ah, go ahead. That will make me that much more cooperative.”

We did not get fined.

As the shoot progressed, it became obvious the crew didn’t want to walk more than eight feet to receive their daily intake of 6000 calories. My craft service person cleverly moved some of the food inside the houseboat and staged it in the kitchen, where it looked like, oh I don’t know, food in a kitchen.

NYC Cameraman: “Did you all see George’s on-site craft services?”

Me: “Okay, I dub you producer for the next three minutes. Where would you put it, goofy?”

NYC Cameraman: “Not on set.”

Me: “Brilliant. I had it “not on set,” but the Jenny Craig dropouts on the crew couldn’t go more than five minutes without a cookie. Any other suggestions?”

NYC Cameraman: “Yes, can we get a real A.D.?”

Me: “Sure. Can you get me a real budget? And, ironically, I was just going to ask about getting a real cameraman or two.”

That conversation deteriorated further, and I felt it best to leave the set and let the director continue to ask Sara Bareilles the same six questions over and over again, while the half-dozen cameramen tried to find the best angles inside the phone booth that some woman called home.

The shoot continued just fine without me, and as the sun set over Sausalito, the testosterone-challenged version of The Magnificent Seven, the director and the six cameramen emerged from the claustrophobic confines of the houseboat interior.

Me: “Do you want to call wrap, or should I?”

Director: “I’d like to put Sara in a canoe and have her sing using only her acoustic guitar while the camera boat follows her around the Bay.”

Me: “In the dark?”

Director. “We’ll use a DC powered light.”

Me: “I don’t remember that in the script.”

Director: “I’m adding it.”

I invoked my usual “It will never end up in the movie,” and it didn’t, but not for the reasons you might imagine.

****

I called for the camera boat, which pulled up next to the dock. I loaded a couple of the cameramen in, the ones not gorging themselves at the craft service table “not on set.” The gaffer grabbed the DC powered light and checked the battery level. I put Sara in the canoe. One of her sycophants handed her the acoustic guitar.

I turned to walk back inside the phonebooth sized houseboat to assist with the wrap.

SPLASH!

The next thing I knew I had entered the 55 degree water of the San Francisco Bay. My production gear and clothes weighted me down, but I had been open water swimming for 12 years by now, and prepared to head to safety. But my left arm wouldn’t move. I had dislocated my shoulder.

I struggled to the surface. A hand reached down and took my right wrist. I scissor kicked onto the dock and rolled over onto my back. John South, the key grip, had pulled me up and out of the water. I panted. The pain traveled from my left shoulder to my brain. I gritted my teeth.

Jon Fontana, the gaffer, knowledgeable in dislocated shoulders tried to push it back into place, but something felt off.

Me: “Socket ain’t cooperating.”

Jon: “Ambulance is on the way.”

The EMTs arrived and hustled down to the lower dock. They asked several questions to check my level of shock, including;

EMT: “Do you have anything you need to tell us?”

Me: “Yes. I don’t think I’ll be coming into work tomorrow.”

Finally, after 24 years in the business. My favorite comeback.

They got me to my feet, but I had to walk the several hundred yards to the ambulance because the dock wasn’t wide enough for the gurney. I looked like a member of the SS in 1945 being led away by the Red Cross, my arm locked in a Heil Hitler salute, since any other position did not appear to be in my shoulder joint’s retinue anymore.

Me: “No more music videos.”

EMT: “What was that?”

Me: “Please don’t ask me to repeat myself.”

[katalyna-rose]

Adamant

Fenris/f!Hawke

Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort

Summary: The battle of Adamant was a terrifying time for Hawke, despite how accustomed she's become to dangerous situations. She did not escape the Fade unscathed, and in her injured state she couldn't write to Fenris to tell him she was alive. He might overreact. 

Read on AO3!

 Fenris,

 Wardens and blood magic and everyone thinks I stole their ale. I did steal their ale, but that’s not the point. Throw in a few Templars and it would be just like home! Except, you know, the sand and the lack of crazy friends and the awful heat. Did I mention that I hate the desert? Because I hate the desert. This place is awful.

 I miss you. This shit would be made marginally more bearable by your presence. At least then I would have someone to hold me when At least then I could get drunk in peace. Varric is no help at all, going on about the benefits of staying sober. He didn’t used to be so annoying, I swear!

     Do I really drink too much?  

 Anyway, we finally found where the Wardens are holed up. It’s called Adamant fortress and I’m told that getting in will be quite the feat of military might. But don’t worry! You should see the kind of forces the Inquisitor can call upon at a moment’s notice! And Cullen! He’s lyrium free. He won’t admit it, but I can sense it. He’s stopped taking it and it’s nearly all out of his system. I wonder how long he’s been without it to be so clean already? He’s actually competent here! I mean, he always was I suppose, it was just Meredith fucking it all up. You should see him now, though, all confident and in command. It’s almost hot. You’re still far more attractive and assertive, of course.

 I get to leave this fucking desert now! We’re going back to Skyhold to prepare for the siege. It won’t be a long break before we’re back in the sand, but I might have time to get the shit out of my sensitive bits! Of course, then I’ll just get more back in everything when we leave to assault Adamant. Oh, well, I can’t have everything I want no matter how hard I try.

 I miss you so much, but hopefully I’ll be on my way home soon, after the siege. I wish you were here, but I understand. There were things you needed to find in Seheron. I suppose it’s time we both tied up loose ends, fixed finished what we started. But please be safe. I know it’s about as hard for you as it is for me, but try anyway? I love you, and you had better come home in one piece.

 Always Yours,

 Alie Hawke

   Fenris,

 Looks like your songbird is flying away now. Adamant is just ahead and I’m sending this with the last courier before the siege. I know you pray every night, love, and I never thought I’d ask you this because you know I have no real faith, but pray for me. This place is worse than I thought. The Wardens have already bound so many demons, almost all the mages are enthralled by Corypheus. I didn’t think it would be this bad. I’m sorry.

 I wish you were here. With you fighting at my side I know we could carve through this place! We’ve always made such a good team, even when we were fighting, even when we were trying to ignore the steadily mounting sexual tension. I don’t want this letter to be the last time you hear from me. I will come home soon. I’m sure they won’t expect me to do more than this.

 I’m sorry that I have to do this. I’m sorry that I have to fight this losing battle. I’m sorry that I can’t be beside you on Seheron. I’m sorry that you can’t be with me here. I’m sorry I stole your last bottle of Aggregio Pavali. I needed it. It always makes me remember how it feels to be with you, to kiss you. You always taste like it, even when you haven’t been drinking it recently. It lets me feel like I can still kiss you even when you’re far away. I love that it reminds me of you. So I guess I’m not really sorry that I stole it.

 I hope I’ll see you again. Soon. At all.

 I love you so much.

 Alie

Hawke sat on a bench in the main hall of Skyhold, holding her side and breathing heavily. And cursing.

“I told you not to get out of bed too soon,” Varric scolded, arms folded across his glorious chest hair. Hawke rolled her eyes.

“I was going crazy,” she said grumpily. “Crazier. Anyway, I couldn’t stand to just sit there any longer.”

“You took a blow to the gut, Hawke!” Varric reminded her, as though the pain and shortness of breath had somehow escaped her notice. She rolled her eyes.

“It didn’t hit any vital organs,” she told him again. “It’s mostly healed.” He glared at her. “It’s somewhat healed,” she amended. It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Whatever, did you write to Fenris like I asked? I can’t hold the damn quill steady.”

“No, I haven’t gotten to it, yet,” he said, finally relenting. He sighed. “Fenris is going to be pissed to find out so late, but I had my own healing to do and a few things more important than letting him know that there’s no news.

“Um, me being alive after all that is the news, Varric!” Hawke exclaimed. “I told him I was going to be in the siege at Adamant! He hasn’t heard anything since! This is kind of important!”

“What? Shit! Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I thought you’d get on it instead of procrastinating!”

“Shouting at each other in the main hall is probably not the best idea,” the Inquisitor said, a small smile on her lips as she approached. “There are a lot of listening ears here.”

“Sorry, Moonlight. We’ll try to keep it down.”

“Varric didn’t tell Fenris that I’m still alive so he might think I’m dead!” Alie blurted out loudly.

“What?” Lyna asked, brows raised. Varric groaned.

Suddenly, the giant double doors of Skyhold burst open as though a giant battering ram had hit them, slamming against the walls so hard Alie thought they might shatter. Nobles scattered like rats, screaming.

“Where is she?” a very familiar voice shouted as a very familiar figure stalked in, blue light flickering around his form. Everything about him was menacing, his deep scowl and the ominous light he emitted, but Hawke felt her heart melting at the sight of him. She hopped to her feet, ignoring the pain in her side.

“Fenris!” she cried, taking a step forward. His eyes landed on her, and he paused, shaking, before his lyrium lit up like a star and streaked across the room and suddenly he was right in front of her. He snatched her up and crushed her against his chest until she screamed. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!” she chanted as he hastily set her back on her feet.

“Alie? What is it? What happened?” he asked quickly, brushing her hair out of her face and gently wiping away the tears that the sudden, sharp pain had brought to her face. “Are you hurt?”

“Uh, yeah,” she told him, holding her side as though that would help. “I kind of got stabbed by a demon. While I was in the Fade. Physically in the Fade. It’s a shitty place, by the way. Always with the spiders.”

Fenris was silent and still for long moments while she breathed through the pain, but when she felt she could drop her hands to her side and look up at with a small smile, he broke. His hands cupped her jaw none too gently and he crushed her lips with his. He was more careful this time, her body still a few inches from his, their lips and his hands on her face the only points where they were touching, and it sent fire through her. She gasped and whimpered, submitting to him with ease. She clutched at his chest as his tongue thrust into her mouth, tasting just like his favorite wine. Her grasping hands found a new scar on his arm and his skin was darker, tanned in the time since they’d last seen each other. She was likely a shade darker herself, though mostly her pale skin had just burned in the desert heat.

When he finally released his claim on her mouth, she swayed in his gasp and he held her gently, careful of her injury. Gentle kisses were exchanged, each of them covering the other’s face with their love. Alie could barely stand, started leaning on him more and more until finally he swept her up into his arms.

“Where is the infirmary?” he asked her, voice hoarse with emotion. “You need to get checked again.”

Alie pointed weakly. “That way.”

“It’s outside and down the stairs to the right,” Inquisitor Lyna Lavellan provided. “Next to where Cassandra is beating up an innocent training dummy.” Fenris nodded his thanks and carried Hawke in the direction indicated.

“You didn’t write to me,” he observed, something like hurt in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, feeling tears gather again. “I couldn’t hold the quill. I asked Varric to do it, but he kept putting it off. I’m sorry.” Fenris sighed and kissed her again without breaking his stride.

“I was so afraid,” he whispered hoarsely when he pulled back. “I was so afraid that you were dead. The stories coming out of Adamant terrified me. And you didn’t write… I had to come see you.”

“Thank you,” she whimpered, clutching at him. “I needed to see you, too.” He held her tighter in his arms.

“Never again,” he vowed. “We are not going to be apart, fighting different battles like this again.”

“I can agree to that,” Alie said with a watery smile. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed, happy to have him back.

[death-knight7]

Six Names (P.2 FIN)

Ngl, cried writing the last few paragraphs of this.

I plan on writing more on the Six themselves rather than just this but it felt to write their end before the beginning.

1 day before the siege of Tanaran 

Everyone has their own preparations before they go into battle. Most are the same, a stiff drink with friends and goodbyes said just in case they wouldn’t see the next day. For the Kin it wasn’t much different. For an army who had been known to do the impossible because they were lucky, they never knew when the luck would run dry and if most, if not all of them wouldn’t see the next sunrise.

For The Six, things were slightly different.

The General would sit in his tent, his guards dismissed, open for any visitor who would like to share a drink with him and talk about anything. Things before the war, back home, anything to ease the mind. Plenty of wine to be shared too, which is what most came for. Not that he paid any mind. When traffic slowed he’d grab his violin and head to the center of camp and play for anyone who would listen.

Liza wouldn’t be seen for most of the day. Often a mile or so away from camp running through her drills nearly non-stop until her hands bled and her shirt was soaked in sweat and even then not stopping till the sun had set and the moon had risen. Then, she would head to wherever the majority of The Six had gathered, that often being at the command tent to share one final drink before the fighting started.

Gallow would spend the day reading reports from the people he had in place over endless amounts of coffee. Everything had to be right for the fight. Nothing out of place, No casulties caused by inaccurate information or by misreading a sentence. Everything had to be right, then he could sleep easy, knowing that he had done all he could do and would be ready for the battle more than most. Or just as ready as everyone else, depending on how good the information was.

Nez would bring life to the camp, often making impromptu drinking games and tournaments for the soldiers to participate in. They would start out slow at first, but as more people joined, the livelier the camp got. Those who had instruments would bring them out and play lively music, sometimes the General himself would play among them. The cooks would break out the rest of the ale and food and serve it to those who wanted it in huge portions or as much would allow for the time.

Stag was often found with the rowdiest of the infantrymen. Drinking, fighting, singing poorly and having a good time with all those involved. He often helped Nez set up the tournaments and drinking games. He ended up being half hungover by the time he woke up for the fight. Not that it mattered, he’d sober up by the time he saw the enemy.

Dok was ordinarily seen on the outskirts of the camp on her own. No one dared ask what she was doing because they were never sure if they would like the answer and those that did ask usually weren’t given one, only a quick glance and she was back to sharpening her sword or drinking her own wine. The elf had her ways, whatever they were, and they worked.

They had finally gathered in the tent, some drunk, some tipsy, some completely sober, all ready for a fight the next morning. The General had his violin strung playing it absent mindedly with his feet on the table as Nez whistled a melody in turn, matching the song Raide played. Gallow and Dok sat quietly, Gallow dozing to the song as it was played. Dok actually smiling for once as she sipped her drink. Liza and Stag closing their eyes and relaxing for once for the day.

They needed this. Everyone does.

Day of the siege

after the citadel had been taken.

Casualties: 45,000 soldiers, 15,000 civilians,

upwards of 5,000 MIA

Raide walked through the streets dragging the bloody mess that was Stag behind him. He was dead already, missing an arm and a leg and had bled out ten blocks earlier. He himself was close to Stags fate, a long jagged scare through his armor and chain mail, bleeding profusely. If he was going to die, it wouldn’t behind the walls of this goddamned city, not like Stag, not like the rest of them.

Soldiers both friend and foe ran past him, either in retreat or chasing after someone. “Always moving to the next fight right Stag?” No answer. Why would there be? The dead tell no tales other than the one of how they died. His vision began to fade, it was slow but it was happening and then he noticed a still body in an alley way.

It was Dok.

He set Stags body to the side and approached her, or rather, stumbled over to her and checked to see if she was alive. She was. She raised her head, a weak smile spreading across her face as she recognized Raide.

Odd. He had never found Dok attractive in anyway. Mainly because he liked to keep things professional and he knew so little of her too. But now, things we’re different. They were both dying even if he was the one standing with a god smacked look on his face.“Eve.” She whispered after a moment shifting and wincing slightly, pressing her hand against the several wounds in her stomach. Eve? What?

Oh

“A good name. Though I think it’s a bit late for introductions Dok...Eve.” Raide said as he leaned against the wall, his vision was fading a little faster now. She chuckled and shook her head then eyed Calder for a moment “General...Raide, I don’t want to die in this damned city, at least not like a dog like I am now. Put me down. Let me die to someone I know and trust.” another short chuckle or a cough, it was hard to tell now “I’m too much of a coward to do it myself.”

It was almost surreal hearing that. Dok...Eve, the one who came third in his cabinet, a soldier above Raides years, asking him to finish her off. It was an honor but at the same time a shame, he wasn’t sure if sweat got into his eye or he had begun crying.

It was probably both.

Raides grip tightened around Calder and held it up to her chest and looked into her eyes and gave her one small, sad smile before saying “Regroup with Stag on the other side alright? Poor bastard is probably going to have a hard time getting used to up there.”

“Understood general. See you there when it’s your time.” she closed her eyes and leaned back relaxing before looking at him one last time and nodding. Raide thrust the blade into her heart, making sure to do it quick so she didn’t feel anything. She let out one final breath and she was on the other side.

Raide walked back out of the alley with her body on his shoulders and started dragging Stag back towards the door of the city. That damn iron door.

Nez appeared a few hundred yards ahead shouting something. His name? He couldn’t tell. He could hardly tell where he was going anymore, much less hear anything. He stumbled down to one knee, losing his grip on Stag and Eve, their bodies falling next to him. Before he got one last look at Nez as they closed in on the three of them.

He could rest now. It was a long day.

[laurens-lil-fics]

Pins and Needles- Chapter 1

Cassian x Reader

Next Chapter

Series Summary: Reader is a combat medic who joins the Rebellion at the age of seven and is assigned to be Captain Cassian Andor’s field medic. But Cassian carries a dark secret with him as he and Reader go on more and more covert reconnaissance missions. The closer he gets to reader, the harder this secret is to keep.

Chapter Summary: Reader finds her way to the Rebellion after escaping Imperial soldiers.

Word count: 1775 words

NSFW: nope!

Author’s note: So for this first chapter, no Cassian! He’s going to appear in the next chapter which I will hopefully have posted either tonight or tomorrow. This exposition is important though and I didn't want to overload y'all with too much at once. Hope y'all enjoy!

She thought she had more time. More time to hide out on Jedha. More time to learn to defend herself. More time to give her daughter the childhood she deserved, but could never have.

Nara glanced in the direction of the main street, checking if the coast was clear, then darted across the narrow road. Many of Jedha’s citizens stayed hidden away in their homes when they saw the Star Destroyers entering the atmosphere. But Nara had a precious treasure to retrieve before any nosy Imperials could sniff it out.

Her home was on the edge of the city, where it would be difficult to locate her. After serving in the Clone Wars as a nurse and aiding in the escape of a few missing Jedi, your face becomes rather recognizable.

She adjusted the cloak to further hide her face, not noticing the pedestrian in her path. The two collided causing Nara, the smaller of the two, to fall onto her backside. The man she ran into looked her over in surprise, then in realization. He knew who she was.

He then caught a brief glimpse of the item in her hand before she jumped up and ran into the direction of her home, not bothering to pick up her hood. No point in wearing it now; she had been discovered, the Imperials would come searching for her.

Nara practically tore the door off it’s hinges as she stormed into the house, her eyes frantic as she searched for her child.

“(Y/n)!” she cried out, flinching as she heard the sound of blasters in the distance. They were already searching the city.

Nara jumped as a hand clasped her shoulder, turning her to face its owner. The large man gripped her tightly trying to ground her as he spoke.

“Nara, calm down! The Imperials will hear you-” He stopped mid sentence when he noticed the item in her hand, his eyes wide.

“Where did you get that?”

“Baze, there’s no time! They’re ransacking the city, where’s (Y/n)?!” Nara pressed, looking at her companion. She looked about the house once more before shouting for her daughter again.

Another man emerged from (Y/n)’s small bedroom, carrying the young girl with one arm and a staff in the other. (Y/n) quickly jumped from his arms and hugged her mother’s legs tightly.

“Mama, I was with Chirrut! He showed me how to hide, in case they found us!” The girl explained, watching as her mother stepped away to pack their bags.

Baze eyed her as she flew across the house, packing scattered articles of clothing and food from the cupboards. Chirrut picked up the child once more and soothed her as she whimpered softly.

“It’s alright, little one,” he cooed, his dull eyes fixated on her as he spoke. “Baze and I are going to take you and your mother to the best hiding place in the city. They’ll never find you there.”

Nara returned to the group and hoisted the bags over her shoulders, giving the smallest bag to her daughter.

Baze led them to the back door of the house, checking if the coast was clear before stepping out and into the chaos.

All the people who had been hiding seemed to be out and about, running in every which way, trying to avoid the troops and their blasters. Chirrut held (Y/n) tighter as he felt the force shift around her, and continued to follow the others.

They had made it about halfway until a large crowd of people appeared up ahead, charging in the direction of the small group. Chirrut and Baze managed to duck into an alleyway, while Nara became momentarily disoriented by the crowd.

“Mama!” (Y/n) cried out, catching her mother’s attention. Before Nara could react, a stray laser hit her side, causing a scream to erupt from her.

The trooper who hit her approached until a larger blast knocked him away from Nara and into a nearby trinket stand. Baze pulled back his weapon and watched as Nara struggled to stand.

(Y/n) jumped out of Chirrut’s arms and ran to her mother, her brown eyes wide with fear. She began sobbing as Chirrut and Baze immediately went to her side and attempted to calm her down before she could call any unwanted attention to themselves.

Nara groaned softly and pulled her treasure from her robes; a lightsaber, the hilt shone in the light, despite the wear and tear on the metal from years of use.

She gave it to (Y/n) and gently cupped her small cheek, smearing some of her blood onto her dark skin.

“Mama will be alright, my sweet. Go with Chirrut and Baze…” she groaned in pain as she attempted to sit up, making (Y/n) only sob harder.

“N-no! I-I don’t wanna go, mama!” She pleaded, gripping the saber tightly.

“You must… They’ll take care of you.” Nara brought (Y/n) closer and planted a kiss to her forehead before looking down at the lightsaber. “Take care of that for mama… she got it from an old friend...go…”

(Y/n) screamed as Baze pulled her away from her dying mother, throwing her little hands every which way in an attempt to break free. Chirrut’s face hardened as Baze covered (Y/n)’s mouth and continued on his way to their destination.

“We can’t just leave her.” Chirrut protested, the sound of approaching troops growing nearer and nearer. Baze grabbed onto his robes and tugged him into another alley, then down a different road, free of troops.

“You heard her. We have to take care of the little one now.” Baze tried to sound as passive as possible, but he knew what was in store for Nara, and he couldn’t have (Y/n) see that.

(Y/n) eventually calmed down and shoved the saber in her bag, knowing it must’ve been important if her mother wanted her to keep it safe.

The trio continued on their way until Chirrut gripped Baze’s arm, warning him that more troops were arriving, in the only path they could take.

Baze cursed under his breath and set (Y/n) down. She looked up at Chirrut as he kneeled so he was eye-level with her. “You remember how I taught you to hide, right?”

(Y/n) nodded quickly and repeated the instructions he had given her earlier: Stay low, don’t make a sound, don’t move.

He gave her a comforting smile and tousled her curly hair. “Good girl. I need you to hide for us, Baze and I are going to leave, try to get them away from you. Then once they’re gone, we’ll come back for you.” He explained.

(Y/n) turned and hid under one of the vendor’s stands that had been abandoned during the siege, the tattered table cloth hid her perfectly.

Chirrut stood up straight and gripped his staff, leading the way towards the Imperials. Baze cast one final glance in (Y/n)’s direction, noticing her peeking at them from under the cloth.

He gave her a gruff ‘stay put’ before following Chirrut until they were out of site.

(Y/n) waited there for what felt like hours until she heard muffled chatter nearby. She peeked out from under the table and spotted two imperial troops standing only a few feet from her hiding spot. She knew the white armor from how her mother described them.

A third man joined them, a citizen of Jedha. He must have looked too suspicious or didn’t listen to the troop’s orders, because he was soon on the ground, lifeless.

The blank look in his eyes made (Y/n) scream then quickly cover her mouth. The troops heard her for sure.

She watched as their armor clad feet approached her and she began looking in her bag for anything to hit them with. All she found was the strange metal object her mother had given her.

(Y/n) threw all caution to the wind, if Chirrut and Baze could be brave, so could she.

She emerged from under the table and let out a tiny battle cry, swinging the metal at the troops.

One of them grabbed her, and lifted her up. They had no intentions of harming a child, until they noticed what she was holding.

Before one of them could radio it in, (Y/n)’s tiny finger found the button on the handle to ignite the weapon. She continued swinging, unaware of the weapons ignition, and soon fell to the ground.

She didn’t bother to glance at the men, she just turned off the metal thing, hid it in her bag and ran as fast as she could. She didn’t even notice the sound of Baze and Chirrut shouting for her.

A few days past after that, Chirrut and Baze still hadn’t managed to find (Y/n). They heard talk of a jedi having killed to Imperials, they knew it had to be her. It had to have all been an accident, she had no idea what the saber was capable of.

(Y/n) wandered about the city, on her own search for Baze and Chirrut. She heard a lot of gossip when she’d sneak around the markets in search of them. But never anything about one blind man with a staff and another with a big blaster causing trouble.

(Y/n) bit into her last piece of fruit as she hid underneath another vendor’s stand, listening to the chatter around her. It wasn’t until she heard one man speak up that she started listening.

“I’m to meet a rebellion captain right now and give him information… I’m gonna help them make sure those damn Imperials never came to our planet.”

Rebellion. (Y/n) heard her mother talk about that a lot of times. She said they would be safe with them, they’d just have to find a pilot willing to get them there.

(Y/n) knew if she followed the man she would find a pilot who could take her to the rebellion. And that’s what she did.

She followed the man for a couple hours, then followed the captain to his ship. Before he or his co-pilot could notice, (Y/n) snuck onto the ship and hid behind a large crate, hoping it would conceal her presence.

The ship soon took off and (Y/n) breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe.

A sweet smell caught her attention and she turned to one of the crates. There was fruit in there, and she was starving. Bread and fruit can only keep you so full. Surely the captain wouldn’t notice if she took just one little morsel.

As (Y/n) struggled to open the crate, she noticed she had drawn attention to herself. The co-pilot approached her and took hold of her wrist, sneering at her.

“A stow away, huh? Trying to steal from us? Or maybe you’re a little spy for the Imperials.” he growled, watching as (Y/n) attempted to get out of his grip.

The Captain approached and ordered the Co-pilot to let her go. He insisted that if the Imperials wanted to spy on them, they wouldn’t use a child.

The man knelt down, locking eyes with (Y/n) as she attempted to hide behind the crate. He asked to see her bag, told her it was a nice bag, and she hesitantly handed it to him.

He dug through the bag and froze before slowly pulling out the saber, glancing between the weapon and the child before him.

(Y/n) gasped softly, reaching for it until his free hand stopped her.

“Wait no, that was my mamas…” she paused, watching as the captain studied the metal before lowering his hand to let her come closer.

“And where’s your mama now?” He asked, allowing her to gingerly take back the saber and put it in her bag.

(Y/n) stayed quiet as tears began forming in her eyes, causing the captain’s eyes to soften. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and wiped her tears with the other.

“It’s alright… you’re with us now. We’ll keep you safe for her.”

(Y/n) looked back at the captain, slowly nodding at his words to show him she understood.

The Co-pilot called out to the two, letting them now they were approaching Yavin 4.

The ship landed and the bay doors opened, light flooded into the vessel, causing (Y/n) to shield her eyes. The Captain led her outside and watched as she marveled at all the people busily moving about the landing pad.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked in the direction of the base.

“Welcome to the Rebellion.”

[witharthurkirkland]

The Siege of Paris

Summary: After a strange malfunction in the TARDIS the Doctor and Romana find themselves at the Battle of Wissembourg where they meet someone they didn’t expect. Now they’re trying to figure out why Irving Braxiatel is getting involved in the Franco-Prussian War.

Note: there are probably historical inaccuracies. I tried my best and I apologize for any mistakes.

Part 1 is here

Here is part 2 of 3

Thanks to Braxiatel’s influence (although he claimed that it was due more to Romana’s charm) the Doctor and Romana were allowed to stay with the army. Neither the Doctor nor Romana heard what Braxiatel said to his general to get his permission.

They were assigned shared living quarters (which were no more than spaces in a tent) with Braxiatel and the instruction seemed to be that they were to stay together, possibly to let one of them keep an eye on the others.

Romana, tired of her impractical dress, managed to get a uniform that fit her and “looked quite fetching”, according to Braxiatel, while the Doctor stubbornly refused to part with his clothes. Two hours of arguments later the Doctor changed into a uniform, keeping his scarf and hat. The soldiers all teased him about the scarf in the middle of the summer, but he only grinned and went on about Nostradamus.

The soldiers treated him as their private entertainment. No one took the Doctor seriously as if he was an uncle who wasn’t quite right in the head or a clown with an odd sense of humour.

Romana, on the other hand, commanded complete respect (especially after the second day) and there was a long-running bet that either Romana was Braxiatel’s relative or fiancée. There had been a brief bet about the Doctor, but it was resolved quickly enough.

On the second day after their arrival Romana found Braxiatel and the Doctor sitting next to each other in the shade of a tree. The day was hot and the soldiers who weren’t posted to watch for the enemy or sent away in search of provisions sat around, half sleeping.

“Can you give me a gun to train with, Braxiatel?” Romana asked.

Braxiatel smiled, rose to his feet and wordlessly handed her his rifle. Romana and the Doctor had both noticed that Braxiatel obeyed Romana without question, but neither of them ever brought it up in a conversation.

Several soldiers gathered around to watch.

“This should be good,” one of them muttered.

Romana turned the rifle over, studying it carefully, then she raised it to her shoulder and aimed at the dead branch of a tree. She fired and the bullet missed its intended target by several feet.

“Not as easy as it looks, is it?” someone said.

Braxiatel gave the Doctor a look. “This should be interesting.”

The Doctor frowned. He never approved of guns and he didn’t approve of this target practice.

Romana asked someone to help her reload the rifle and lifted it again.

This time the bullet hit the branch at the weakest point, breaking it into pieces.

Whistles and applause followed this.

Romana fired three more shots to make certain that she had complete control of the rifle. Once she was satisfied she returned the rifle to Braxiatel.

“Quite easy when you account for gravity and air resistance.”

Braxiatel gave her a knowing look and then gave the same to the Doctor. “Would you like to try, Doctor?”

“No, thank you. You know I don’t approve of guns.”

“How would you have us fight?” Braxiatel asked. He was aware of the tension that followed the Doctor’s words as well as the looks some of the men gave his naïve brother. “With pillows?”

The soldiers broke out into laughter. Some of them slapped the Doctor on the back and called him brilliant. He grinned foolishly all around at them.

But both Romana and Braxiatel could see that he was furious.

 ***

 “We should leave,” the Doctor said urgently to Romana. They were taking an evening stroll around the camp, supposedly to check the watch posts on Braxiatel’s orders

“And never find out what your brother is doing here?” Romana asked.

The Doctor stopped and let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I admit, you’ve got me there, but it could be just our imaginations. It’s possible that he just decided to follow my example. My inspiring example, I should say!”

Romana gave the Doctor a look. In the week they’d spent with the soldiers she’d seen enough of Braxiatel to understand the difference between him and his brother. The Doctor led a chaotic life, gallivanting through the universe with no purpose except to see new things, or help someone, or to just have fun.

Braxiatel, on the other hand, acted as if everything he did was a well-calculated move in a complicated chess game that no one knew he was playing with them. He managed to get his hands on good food and wine when supplies were hard to come by. He even contrived to eat it all out of silver plates with silver cutlery.

There was only one explanation Romana could think of for this and she wondered where Braxiatel’s TARDIS was. She didn’t even consider the possibility that Braxiatel had travelled in anything else.

The Doctor walked into a bush and spent five minutes pulling himself and his scarf out.

There was only one thing for it. She had to look for it herself. It was unlikely that seeing Braxiatel’s TARDIS would answer any of their questions, but it could be a good starting point.

 ***

 The Doctor woke up from the sound of shouting and jumped to his feet. Romana’s place was empty and he wondered how long she’d been awake. He didn’t listen to the shouting, dismissing it as the usual military nonsense and pompousness.

He emerged from his tent with an exaggerated yawn and grinned at the first soldier he saw.

“André! Good morning! Any chance of a breakfast? I remember once saying to –”

“Never mind your stories, Doctor!” Braxiatel interrupted, rushing to him. “Where is Romana?”

“No idea. She isn’t in our tent.”

“I know that. I just spent an hour looking for her in the camp.”

“She’s probably out on a stroll,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Doctor! This is serious! We’re in the middle of a war! The Prussians can attack any minute and Romana is gone!”

“Maybe she returned to the TARDIS.”

Braxiatel sighed. “I have patrols around it. No one saw or heard anything.”

“We can ask around to see if anyone saw her,” the Doctor said calmly, but he was starting to feel Braxiatel’s anxiety. How was it that panic was so infectious?

“We don’t have time! The men said –”

The rest of the sentence was drowned out by screams and suddenly there were soldiers all around them.

“Did you say Prussians could attack any minute –” the Doctor began.

“Stay close to me!” Braxiatel raised his rifle and fired. “Men! To me! We’re under attack! Defend your positions!”

The Doctor ducked behind Braxiatel as the other fired shot after shot.

“Fight, Doctor! Find a weapon and fight!” Braxiatel shouted.

“I’d really rather not, if it’s all the same to you.”

“It’s not! I can’t defend you!”

Several French soldiers ran forward. They attacked with a great deal of energy, as if taking the sudden appearance of the enemy as a personal insult. But there were too many soldiers attacking. The French were overwhelmed on all sides.

“Retreat!” someone shouted. “Fall back to the city!”

The Doctor grabbed Braxiatel by the arm and they ran, ducking and weaving past the soldiers, trees and flying bullets.

Wissembourg loomed ahead, surrounded by walls that no longer seemed impenetrable.

Braxiatel and the Doctor were the first ones to make it to the city. Braxiatel shouted orders to the soldiers, forgetting about ranks and taking command of the situation in the confusion.

The next group of soldiers that came brought bad news.

“They killed the General! They killed Douay!” someone gasped out while trying to catch their breath.

“There’s no time to mourn him now,” Braxiatel said. “We must –”

“Yes, thank you, lieutenant. I can take over from here.” The voice of command made Braxiatel turn and salute.

“Marshall.”

“Take up positions and prepare to fire on my command!” the Marshall shouted.

Braxiatel stepped aside and stood next to the Doctor out of the way of the other soldiers as they found places to stand around the perimeter of the town and load their weapons.

Despite all of the noise caused by many people moving around and preparing for an attack the soldiers were quiet. Their spirits were broken by that one death.

And then the Prussian artillery fired and cannonballs rained down on the city wall.

The Doctor grabbed Braxiatel and pulled him further into the city.

“I need to fight!” Braxiatel protested. “You might not want to, but I will!”

“Braxiatel, listen. Maybe Romana is here somewhere. We need to find her.”

“You go look. I’ll stay here.” He saw the Doctor’s expression and sighed. “Alright, point taken. We’ll both look.”

As they slipped away unseen by any of the soldiers the Doctor missed the smile on Braxiatel’s face.

They searched the city, desperate for any clues. The citizens were all confused and frightened. Some were searching for food. Some had gone to help fight the attackers, while others hid in their homes and barricaded their doors. Of Romana there was no sign.

The canons kept firing sporadically and more and more of the wall was turned to rubble. A couple of the buildings near the walls were also destroyed.

The Doctor noticed a big gap in the city wall in front of them that offered a way out. He ran ahead before he noticed that Braxiatel had stopped.

“You lost her!” Braxiatel exclaimed. “Do you know what you’ve done? We’re stuck on this stupid level 4 planet, in a war that has nothing to do with us that will turn bad very soon, cut off from our only way of getting out and you lost the President of Gallifrey!”

For several minutes neither of them breathed. Canons continued to fire. Soldiers screamed. Children wept. People shouted something.

“Did I ever tell you about the time when Caligula and I –”

“Doctor, please, not now.”

The Doctor sighed. “Romana is a clever girl. She can take care of herself,” he said calmly.

“This is war, Doctor,” Braxiatel replied in a tone of voice that was much more subdued, “not a puzzle you can solve with your brains.”

“I know. Jelly baby?” the Doctor offered his bag.

“Where did you – oh, never mind. Do you have any green ones?”

“I think so.” The Doctor searched his bag. “There!” He pulled one out and handed it to Braxiatel. “What will we do now?”

Braxiatel, who managed to eat a jelly baby with a grace a member of the royal family would have been proud of, considered his words before answering. “Wissembourg will be taken. Then the war will move further into France. There will be several battles and a siege, but it will all end in Paris.”

“Then that’s where we go.”

“Easier said than done in these conditions.”

“Are you giving up already, Braxiatel?”

“Of course not, Doctor.”

 ***

 They spent the day moving in what the Doctor judged to be Paris’ general direction. It took some careful maneuvering to slip out of the city and past the soldiers that were closing in.

When night fell they were deep in a forest.

The Doctor sat down next to a tree. “I suggest we take a short rest and keep going.”

“Agreed.” Braxiatel collapsed next to him. He tried to hide how tired he was, but the Doctor was watching him closely this time.

“You know this reminds me of a camping trip with –”

“Doctor, if you’re planning to name drop again…” Braxiatel warned in a fed up tone of voice.

“— the Brigadier and Sarah. Well, we also had a bunch of soldiers from UNIT with us. We weren’t really camping, to be honest. There was an animal that came out late at night and kidnapped little children and we were sent to investigate. We hid and waited for it to appear. Turned out it was just stealing children to feed and look after them, because its maternal instinct extended to humans. I never did find out what it was called or where it was originally from, because one of the soldiers got overenthusiastic and shot it.” There was a sad smile on the Doctor’s face. “And it will all happen in about 100 years or so, several hundred miles from here.”

“Doctor…” Braxiatel began and stopped.

“Yes?”

“Do you think you could keep your voice down?”

The Doctor grinned. “Not a problem,” he said in a theatrical whisper.

Braxiatel leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. “We have five hours before the sun rises and it will be light again.”

The Doctor searched his pockets and pulled out a yo-yo which he tossed into the air in front of him.

It was quiet, apart from the many noises made by various animals that live in a forest and come out to hunt for food at night.

The Doctor looked at Braxiatel. His brother’s eyes were still closed and his chest was rising and falling steadily.

“You’re getting too old for this,” the Doctor whispered really quietly.

Braxiatel opened one eye. “Maybe I am, Theta.” He closed his eye again.

The Doctor shifted a few inches closer to Braxiatel and continued to play with his yo-yo.

Twenty minutes later Braxiatel opened his eyes and rose to his feet. “Time to go.”

 ***

 They travelled onwards, slipping through forests at night and avoiding all roads. They hid whenever they heard soldiers coming their way. Twice they just barely avoided being captured.

The Doctor’s supply of jelly babies ran out on the third day and they had to look for something edible in the forest. They found fruit trees and devised ways of carrying more fruit with them.

Two weeks after Wissembourg they ran into the French army and ended up with no choice but to join them in their retreat.

“Very clever, Doctor,” Braxiatel mumbled. “I told you to keep your voice down.”

“This is why wearing uniforms was a bad idea,” the Doctor grumbled.

The soldiers spent all night and the early hours of the morning digging trenches. Braxiatel and the Doctor were forced to join this task. They worked side by side, not exchanging a single word. Occasionally someone would pass, shouting more orders and saying something about the position of the artillery that the Time Lords didn’t hear.

And then the sound of gunfire broke the sound of people moving huge quantities of dirt.

Braxiatel stood with a rifle in his hands, ready to fire as soon as the enemy appeared. The Doctor continued to dig as if nothing happened.

“They’re coming!” a soldier shouted.

“You there! Stop digging! Take your position!”

The Doctor pretended not to hear.

“I can see them,” Braxiatel said quietly and fired.

The Doctor sat down on the ground. His uniform was muddy as were his hands. He wiped one dirty hand over his face. “We can leave now,” he said quietly, “while they’re distracted.”

“Not yet.”

When he ran out of bullets, Braxiatel tossed the rifle aside and picked up the one that had been assigned to the Doctor. “I’m ready.”

They slipped away unseen: so engrossed was everyone in the battle. They walked through the trenches, passing soldiers and telling anyone who saw them that they had an urgent message for the General.

Their luck lasted three hours. Then it ran out.

“Yeah, right. Show me this message,” a captain demanded.

“It’s verbal,” the Doctor said, “and only for the General’s ears. It’s urgent.”

“As if I’m going to believe that.”

The Doctor threw a look at Braxiatel to see if he had any ideas as to how to handle this.

Braxiatel’s response was swift: he raised his rifle and shot the captain.

“Braxiatel!” the Doctor exclaimed angrily. He jumped up to the body on the ground and turned it over. The man was dead. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Yes, I did. We’re getting out of here, Doctor. Now get up and let’s go!”

“Haven’t you had enough of killing, Braxiatel? How many people did you kill today? How many lives did you take? And this man was supposedly on your side!”

“No one is on my side.”

“Then why are you fighting this war? Just what are you doing here? Did you get so tired of negotiating peace that now you want to kill everyone you meet? Does life have no more meaning for you? Why not kill me too?”

“He’s fighting a war. He would’ve died anyway.”

Braxiatel’s cool attitude fired up the Doctor’s temper even more. “How dare you? This isn’t the Braxiatel I knew! Who are you? What happened to you?”

“Now isn’t the time.”

“Yes, it is!”

“Get down!” Braxiatel grabbed the Doctor and pulled him down as bullets flew overhead.

“What are you doing?” a soldier shouted. “This is no time for an argument! Back to your posts!”

Braxiatel raised his head. “Look at him, Theta,” he said quietly, his arms still on the Doctor’s shoulders. “Look at how he waves that around. I fired that shot to help us get out of here, to protect your life and he just fired on his own soldiers.”

“Brax, you –”

Braxiatel raised his rifle and shot the soldier. Then he got up and brushed himself off. “Anyone else?” He looked around.

The trenches were empty around them.

“Come on, Doctor, let’s go.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Really? Now you want to throw a tantrum, Theta? You’re not a time tot.”

“I’m not a killer either.”

Braxiatel sighed. “Doctor, remember we’re looking for Romana. We don’t know what happened to her. Every moment we delay might cost her her life.”

“What happened to you, Brax?” the Doctor asked again, the anger no longer present in his voice.

Braxiatel shook his head. “Many things. I had to learn how to survive.”

The Doctor stared in horror at the corpse on the ground. “I’m not sure that’s called survival.”

“Now’s not the time for catching up, Doctor, or a debate about morals.” He looked down at the Doctor and then extended his hand. “I can’t even tell you most of it. I’ve already revealed too much. You have to trust me. Please.”

The Doctor looked at Braxiatel’s hand. “You’re from Gallifrey’s future, aren’t you?”

“Many, many years in the future. By rights, I shouldn’t be here.”

“You called Romana a President.”

“Yes, well…” Braxiatel made to retract his hand, but the Doctor grabbed it and pulled himself to his feet. Braxiatel nearly lost his balance.

“I don’t need to know any more,” the Doctor said. “I’ve heard enough. Looking at you, I dare not guess what happens to Gallifrey.”

Braxiatel controlled his face and kept it from revealing anything.

“Let’s go and find Romana.”

The rest of the day was spent moving through the trenches.

[preppersasylum-blog]

Penelope. Part 5

Penelope Part 5

Joe looked over at Penelope once again to make sure she had her seatbelt secure. She was still crying and holding Dora tight. Dora looked at Joe as if to say “Daddy, I feel bad for her.” After breaking eye contact with Joe, Dora gently licked Penelope’s face to show that she cared. Joe started to pick up the pace a little, not knowing if there were others with the 3 men who attacked Penelope.  He wanted to "Get Out of Dodge" (GOOD) A.S.A.P. so no one could follow them, and careened around a few turns. Luckily for Dora, Penelope was holding her tight. They came out of the shortcut and made a left onto Old Route 28, where Joe continued to accelerate.  Penelope could hear the hypnotic Ta-Dunk, Ta-Dunk of the tires as they passed over the joints in the roadway, and it seemed to have a calming effect on her. As Joe continued to pick up speed the tires hummed as they met the pavement. Penelope closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds, trying hard to forget the bloody scene she had just witnessed, and the fact that she had left her Mother lying on the ground with her attackers. Joe's eyes moved rhythmically from side to side, scanning the terrain looking for trouble. He knew it was a 2 ½ hour drive back to Haven and he not only needed to be careful for himself and Dora, but now was taking responsibility for the safety of Penelope.

Back in Haven, Mary began to make dinner. She had no idea when Joe would be back, but she was hopeful that he would have Penelope and her family with him, so she was planning ahead. As she started to get some fresh vegetables from the icebox, Halle heard the door of the icebox close and the tinkle of flatware in the kitchen. She jumped to her feet from a nap she was taking. Food is her weakness. As Mary stood at the counter cutting up the vegetables, Halle was under foot. Mary took a step and almost tripped over her. “Damn dog, I should have learned after all these years.” Mary said. “Get out of my kitchen!” she scolded Halle. The dog retreated to the kitchen doorway, out from under foot, but still close enough to grab any morsels that might drop to the floor. Halle is a typical standard dachsund, able to sniff out a single molecule of food from 2 rooms away! Her hearing is so acute that she can hear a can open in the kitchen if she is fast sleep in the bedroom. She is afraid to get her feet wet, hates the rain, hates baths, hates to ride in the car, but has more grit than a dog 3 times her size. She would lay down her life to save Joe or Mary. Her bark and growl are as fierce as that of a Rottweiler, so she makes a wonderful watchdog!  Mary finished preparing her casserole, and put it away for when Joe gets back. As Mary leaves the kitchen, Halle knows that is a sign that it is safe to enter once again. She sniffs around the floor and finds a few spots where a crumb or a drip of food have fallen. She licks the floor and when she is satisfied she got every molecule, she goes back to her blanket and starts her nap all over again. “Ahhh what a life I have,” Halle thought.

John, who had offered to accompany Joe on his mission to rescue Penelope, stopped by Mary’s to check and see if there was anything he could do. They sat on the porch and chatted a bit. “God, I hate this.” Mary said. “I hate the waiting. I hate not knowing if anything went wrong. Is he OK? I wish I could call his cell phone to see where he is. It is so hard to be out of touch like this, but I know we can't waste energy charging cell phones when all the towers aren't working anyway." She continued to rant, since she had a good listener in John. "What a SNAFU (Situation Normal, All F....d Up) our world has become. But we picked a good place for a Bug Out Location (BOL). In Haven, everyone pitches in to do their share. Hell, at the farm it’s like a 4H club with the kids learning about farming.” John agreed that the next generation of preppers were learning fast, but said he was worried about them forgetting the 3 R’s. "We need to be sure our youngsters learn the trades, and science,” John added, "Just in case." In case we never get to leave Haven they both thought.

The ham radio came to life and both Mary and John went in to listen. A report from Pakistan was being transmitted about a nuclear weapons depot under siege by a terror group. The government forces were holding them off. “Good God Almighty!” John yelled. “If they get their hands on nukes there is no telling what will happen to our civilization, or whats left of it! Crap, it's bad enough that we have to worry about gangs, warlords and zombies! I just never thought it would get this bad.” Mary tried to calm him down. “That is another part of the world at the moment. We don't even know if Pakistan has a delivery system to reach Europe or Asia with a nuclear weapon. I am more worried about here and now. It's only a matter of time before someone stumbles across us here in Haven.” Mary said quietly. “I believe in being a humanitarian, and helping others, but we only have enough stock and food production to feed the people we have now. What will we do if this goes on for months, or even years?"  

Joe was driving the Blazer hard and fast. It was only about an hour more to reach Haven. Penelope had finally stopped crying, and Dora kept comforting her as they zoomed down Old Route 28. Penelope asked, “Joe, why did this happen? I mean those men just killing my mother like that.” Joe replied “Lack of law enforcement, lack of food. Hungry people are desperate people. They start to prey on people who are weaker, stealing from them so they can survive. I am so sorry about you losing your mother like that.” As a tear welled up in Joe’s eye, Penelope pointed to the road ahead. “What is that? It looks like the road is blocked.” “Well, it was clear on my way up.” Joe replied. He slowly applied his brakes. “Reach in the console and get the binoculars. Tell me what you see.” Penelope did as she was told. They were about a ½ mile away. "It looks like 2 trucks. OH NO, NOT AGAIN!!” she shouted! “OK, calm down and grab the wheel so I can take a good look,” Joe said. He grabbed the binoculars and focused down the road as they continued to move forward. The trucks were backed into each other across the road, forming an inverted V. Joes engineering mind went into overdrive. If I hit them in the “V” the trucks will spread apart. It doesn't look like there is anything in the beds of the trucks, which makes the back end lighter than the front and easier to push through.  “If we turn around there are probably others blocking us from behind.” he said.  “DORA. HERE. NOW.” Dora sat on the console and he reached up to grab a strap hanging from the roll cage. He handed it to Penelope. “Quick! Buckle her in, and there is one on the floor behind her, hook that to the “D” ring under her belly,” he ordered Penelope. She did as Joe said. Penelope cried out “What are we doing?” "We are going through, my dear! Hang on! ” Joe answered. They could see two men standing in the road with rifles. “We're going to die!” Penelope cried. “Not today. This is why we have the Tank! ” Joe said as he accelerated. “But they have guns so duck down as far as you can go.”  About 100 yards from them the men started to shoot at the Blazer. You could hear the distinct THUD as each round hit the reinforced windows and Kevlar reinforced body. Just as the Blazer was about to hit the men, one jumped out of the way. The other man wasn't fast enough, and was hit at 60+ miles per hour. He flew over the top of the Blazer and his lifeless body landed behind them like a discarded rag doll in the road. Then the impact came. Penelope, Dora, and Joe were thrown forward from the force, but they stayed strapped in. Joe said”You two all right?” Penelope said breathlessly, “I think so.” Dora just looked at Joe with a gaze that said “What the hell was that?” and sat back down. Joe looked in the rearview mirror and saw that those 2 trucks were toast. Out of his peripheral vision he could see movement on a side road coming towards them from the left. Joe pushed the gas pedal to the floor and you could hear the Holly 4 barrel open up to make that distinctive sound of WAAAA. Joe had barely passed the side road when another car turned onto Old Route 28 closely behind him. It was an Old 1990's Cutlass. Two men hung out of the windows pointing weapons at the Tank. They opened fire and again you could hear the THUD as the bullets hit the vehicle from behind. Penelope cowered in her seat, with her head in her hands, as thoughts of the sub-division raced through her head. Dora took it all in stride-she was just panting, oblivious to the disturbance. The chase went on for about a ½ mile when Joe said “I had E Fricken Nuff of this!” He slowed down and let the assailants catch up. “After all a small block V-8 compared to a Big Block 427 is apples and oranges,” he thought. “And this has to end now. We can't let them follow us to Haven.” The outlaws rammed the back of the Blazer trying to force it off the road but the Blazer outweighed the Cutlass. Joe accelerated again as if to try to get away, but then suddenly slammed on his brakes, startling the driver behind him, which caused him to swerve to miss the Blazer and crash into a tree beside the road. Joe, Penelope, and Dora took off, shaken but with no injuries except bruises. “Joe, doesn't it bother you to hurt and even kill people?” Penelope asked, as she stared out the back window of the Blazer. She was startled to see a few bullets stuck in the glass. He replied, “Penelope, it bothers me a lot. It is something I hoped that I would never have to do. I value all life, but anyone that tries to harm my family, friends, or my property will pay a price. I will defend them till my last breath.” Penelope continued “Does that include Dora?” “Absolutely!” Joe said. "She is one of the Girls, she is like my kid, and she is my friend and part of my pack!” Dora strained against her harness, so Penelope unhooked her and she climbed back on Penelope’s lap, thinking “Open the window, girl, let’s put our heads out and enjoy the breeze! Oh, and you are in my spot.”

They are a few miles from Haven. Joe tried to radio in on the 2 way radio, but it must have been damaged in the impact. It is dusk now. The guys guarding the gate can see a vehicle approach and they ready their guns. About a ¼ mile from the barricade Joe flashes what lights are still functional on the Blazer, in the secret code the guys will know. One of them starts the forklift to remove the heavy concrete barricade and allow Joe to enter. He stops far enough away for them to replace the barricade. One of the men comes over to the Tank and says. “Looks like you had a rough trip. Glad you made it back in one piece." As he approaches the house, Halle is napping, but she jumps up and runs to the door. “Got to go out and pee?” Mary asks. Then she hears the rumble of the Blazer and smiles. Mary looks out the door, and sees the doors of the Blazer open. Halle, with her short legs, hops down the steps to go greet daddy! Dora jumps down out of the Blazer and passes Halle as she goes in the house to get a drink. Joe stoops over to pet Halle, and Halle sniffs around Penelope who is standing unsteadily next to the Blazer. Joe puts his arm around Penelope and walks her to the house. “Honey, you remember Penelope. She has had a very rough day. We need to feed her and get her cleaned up.” Mary did not see anyone else, and knows this is not a good sign. She hugs Penelope close and says “Come on lets go get you something to eat.”

Preppersasylum.com

(The Penelope Story is the intellectual property of Joe and Mary Macaluso and PreppersAsylum.com. Shares only are permitted-do not cut and paste into a new document.)

0 U�&fK

[wizardnamedduh]

Consuming Shadow: "The Sinner"

Inspired by the events of Consuming Shadow by Yahtzee Croshaw

Written by Wizardnamedduh

15 Hours Left...

The invading god was getting closer.

I already felt its presence consume the air. It was unraveling this reality in order to shape its influence onto the world. I've been fighting this thing for more than two days, but all I've done is temporarily break the footholds that anchor its manifestation in our dimension.

There was a note on my car door after I cleared another office for clues. It was the same jumble of lore; some god banished the other. The gist of it was "the god of pain is not the invading god".

This isn't much to go on because I only know its rune, Shm. That's not helpful, but I know that the god of pain is an enemy to the god of disease; who is allied with the god of lust. Either one could be the invader.

Who's the invading god?

I find myself asking this question again and again. The clues haven't helped me at all.

My only hope to banish a god is to incite a banishment ritual. I should know; I've been told in the past that I helped summon this god. It was supposed to be a god of everlasting power. With its help, I would've erased the sins of this earth.

That was all in the past now. Before I learned that my knowledge of the occult was very limited; I couldn't control the god I helped summon. Instead, I sent a signal to all of the closest gods; one of them has taken the time out of its schedule to destroy this world.

It sent a fraction of its power towards us. I called it the Darkness in the past. Back when I thought it was the god in physical form. The truth was that the Darkness was only a fraction of the god's comprehensible body.

The clues left by other cultists were all I had to identify and hopefully banish the god.

Here's what I had:

The god of pain identifies with the color purple, Chzo is the god of lust, Shm is the symbol for the god of pain, and Chzo is allied with the god of disease.

After placing the notes in my journal, I looked at my inventory. There were three armor-piercing bullets in my pocket. I hesitated to equip them; they could be valuable later.

I kept a note in my pocket that said "don't look back". This was a reminder to never seek the same power I sought before. The god that I summoned wasn't something that could be negotiated with, it wasn't something that I could make lasting demands from, and it wasn't something that I could gain power from. It's just a creature that I needed to banish.

Someone named 'T' sent me another text. I was driving so I couldn't read it. Instead, I skimmed it to see the name "Ashborne". It was a town about ten hours from Stonehenge.

I had time.

Ashborne. I remember Ashborne. I went there on holiday once with my family. The sun soaked through my skin, we ate watermelon in the evenings, and my son wanted to buy a sunhat. We had a good time until I ran out of gas. Spent 100 dollars that day...

The memories clogged my train of thought. I froze when I felt a tear pour down my neck. The memories that followed clogged some thoughts; they were images of a life that led me to the occult. Some of them were blurred images, some were faint tastes, but I could still smell the blood. I made myself forget about the past, "don't look back".

There was a needle hidden behind my car mirror. It's "pain reliever", but I chose not to use it. When I was living the lowest point of my life, I was addicted to the calming drug. It reduced my stress. The crash always made me crazy and in want of more. I needed it for the fight with the god; my mind was too damaged to fight it without any help.

Ashborne is near the ocean. I almost fell asleep when I heard the waves rush onto the beaches in a rhythmic tide. I looked at the houses near the shore; it's an expensive place to live. All this money would go to waste.

The ocean was a thick ooze that bled onto the sand. If I shined a flashlight on it, then, under the large expanse of red, I would see the mangled creatures that hunt for prey on the shores. I could almost see the larger monsters splash the water in the starlight.

Above me was the Darkness. It's been that way for more than two days; I missed the sun. Anything that wasn't covered by black clouds was red. The faint glows of my stars faded in the distance of the ever expanding universe. These stars were important, but I had long forgotten why. They were shadows when I focused on them.

But I couldn't think about the universe. I had a mission to do.

I grabbed my gun, a set of lockpicks, and my rosary when I parked next to a shop. It wasn't a very smart move; I could've been killed if something jumped on me from the roof. I must have been really tired if I made that mistake. This town, no matter how friendly it appeared, was still infected.

I found a store with a strong glow. That was a good sign for the moment, but the Darkness would likely be attracted to this area.

This was a new store. It sold organic fruits, exotic spices, and scented candles. Each product had a small price-tag attached to them using a string. The prices were in cursive, and I nearly panicked when I saw similarities between ancient runes and the numbers.

I tried to think of something else. Eventually, I remembered that I used to go to stores like these back when I had a smoking habit.

The shelves were filled with supplies, almost all were useless for my mission, but there was an item that caught my eye. It was a four leaf clover encased in a thin layer of glass. Why? Why was it there, and why did I have a sudden urge to buy it?

"Excuse me," I said. My gun was in my coat pocket, but I had the safety on so I wouldn't misuse it.

I heard heavy footsteps. Sweat poured down my brow.

It occurred to me that, if this town was really under attack, then the clover would be useless. I was running with the assumption that the item wasn't already cursed, or that I didn't enter a trap.

A silhouette of an elderly man in a trench coat was stuck inside the shadows. I've been fooled by the Darkness before. Sometimes it made me see things so I would feel safe: lights, people, and even memories. They were only tools the Darkness reflected from my mind.

He was human at least. The Darkness would never reveal its minions in full light; it takes enjoyment out of seeing me desperately fight in the dark.

I could see every wrinkle on his face stretched when he smiled. I felt reassurance when I looked into his eyes, but I felt the cold hand of death when I looked at where his mouth was supposed to be.

He didn't have a mouth, but that didn't seem to bother him.

We were at a stand still. I looked at him, my right hand frozen on the gun in my pocket, and he looked at me with his hands on the cash register.

My first instinct was to run, but that never worked with the Darkness. I decided to point at the clover with my left hand; I kept my eyes on him so he wouldn't try anything. Slowly, I picked up the clover and walk towards the man.

Each step took all my strength. The sweat from my hands made it hard to keep a firm grasp on the trinket.

I nearly had a heart attack when he opened his hand. I was already accustomed to the Darkness ambushing me. Yet, he only wanted to hold the clover.

I dropped it into his hand. He nodded, wiped the sweat off the glass, and charged me four dollars. At the time, I didn't want to argue so I paid him.

The act of leaving the store took a lot of effort. I noticed at the door that I was holding my breath. The door opened with a bell ring, and I took a deep breath of air.

"Thank you," said the man.

I turned, but he still didn't have a mouth.

My eyes weren't used to the sight of people walking the streets. They looked like shadows underneath the street lamps. I heard laughter, but, when I turned, they came from people without mouths.

A police officer walked towards me after speaking to a parking attendant. He had a perplexed expression. I looked at where his mouth should be. He was trying to explain something, but I couldn't hear him.

I looked at my car. When I did, I heard the officer speak.

"Sir, can you speak English?" He asked. "Is that your car parked there? I'll let you off with a warning, but you can't park there at night. Are you listening to me?"

I looked at him. He was still speaking because he bobbed his head from time to time. I nodded. That was a good enough answer for him.

He hissed something vulgar when he walked away.

Before I entered my car, I had to check my pockets. I had my keys, my gun, my wallet, my rosary, and the clover. I needed to find the source of the problem. Maybe I could help them if I destroyed the source. I started to drive through the streets, and I turned towards the less populated areas.

The buildings were dark. They were mostly small businesses and houses that have fallen victim to the Darkness. I saw shadows through the windows; this town was under siege. The lack of mouths was a side effect from this infection, or perhaps the battle with the Darkness took a toll on my sanity.

Creatures festered around an office building. I knew from previous encounters that offices carry information prior to the Darkness; a majority may relate to the identity of the invading god.

At the same time, I worried about supplies. I only had one syringe of "pain reliever", three armor-piercing bullets, and my medical kit was half empty. Offices don't carry any of these things; I'd have to rely on the off chance that the monsters swallowed some usable ammo.

In my other hand, I had a black book next to my notes. I knew more spells a long time ago.

I had the complete god's banishment ritual. There was a spell I've dubbed "Clairvoyance". I remembered loathing this spell. It was supposed to reveal the path ahead of me. The sudden jolt of seeing an entire building took a toll on my sanity.

Finding the god in Stonehenge would be easier with Clairvoyance.

It's both the most useful and useless spell I've ever had.

Objective: Find and Destroy the Nest.

The entrance was quiet and lonely. Near the closed door, I heard an insidious buzz. Experience already told me that the Darkness wanted to trick me. It wanted me to think that the nest is extremely close

I cautiously opened the door.

The hallways were pitch black. There was a small flashlight in my pocket for such an occasion. I lifted my gun and carefully stepped towards the shadows. There was a door to my right, locked, but the one to the left was unlocked. The last door was at the end of the hallway.

I didn't want to look back.

Don't ever look back when fighting the Darkness. Besides, the Darkness doesn't attack me from behind. It wants me to waste energy thinking there's something behind me. If I leave the room, then I'll be tricked into thinking that the room is still safe. I know how it works.

Sometimes, I trick myself into thinking that the Darkness is an army, and every action it took could be predicted; I always forget that it's the manifestation of a god. This was just an infection that just so happens to hate humanity.

I opened the door at the end of the hallway.

Immediately, I saw a filing cabinet to my left. I smiled, but I had to check the entire room. Raising my gun, I sprinted towards the end. There was a door to my right, and one at the end of the hallway. The Darkness didn't send me monsters.

I ran back to the cabinet and searched for files. Beneath the reports and essays, I found an article clipping:

"In ancient times, it was believed that the god of pain, Gnix, would grant blessings to those who sacrifice to it. These beliefs continued in small, pocket cultures until the first Crusades."

I know three gods that all have a part in this invasion: pain, disease, and lust. One is the invader, one is the ally to the invader, and the other is the enemy of both. I already know the god of pain, which identifies with purple and the Shm rune. It was not the invader. This clue was useless.

I know two names now: Gnix and Chzo. Chzo might be the invader, or the ally. The ally, as I have been told, only fuels the other god and has no interest in invading. I needed more clues.

I walked towards the door on the other side of the hallway.

Something buzzed at the corner of the room. I only saw the shadow, but I hastily reacted with two bullets. When it was lowered to the ground, I began to slam on its thorax with my gun. I tried to wipe away the blood when it finally died.

I call this type of monster the Soldier Buzzers. They're stronger than the workers, more tenacious, but equally grotesque as any other servant of the Darkness. Their movement haunted me. They barely float in midair, they could only move with a series of spasms, and every action looked painful to them. I've been stung enough times to know that they're willing to share their pain.

I hated this part; I had to search the Buzzer for supplies.

There was a usable 9mm bullet so my other one wouldn't be lonely. This round wouldn't be useful alone; I needed to find something else.

This room didn't have a cabinet for me to search for clues.

The last door was locked.

I had three picks in my pocket. I wasn't the best at it, but I tried to jiggle them into the lock. Two snapped in half, but the last one unlocked the door with a satisfying click.

This room didn't have the nest, but I was happy to see a filing cabinet at the end of the hallway. It contained another article:

"Yellow is often associated with disease. Early civilizations believed that they would anger the god of disease if they did not pray in front of a yellow flower."

The god of disease associates itself with the color yellow.

I found a door on the right and opened it. There weren't creatures inside the room, but I found a set of keys.

The only way out was in so I walked back into the other room.

I heard coughing sounds when I entered.

The sound of chunks falling to the floor immediately followed. It was a Cougher, and I shot it with my last armor piercing round.

The monster, from what I could tell, was already injured. This was just something to test my reflexes. I noted the spots on the legs as they seeped into the abdomen. My stomach would only allow a two-second glance at the thing.

I heard a buzzing sound behind one of the doors. Funny, I can't seem to recall ever walking into this room; this must have been an effect caused by my deteriorated mind. I tried to step towards the door, but my feet didn't move.

I checked my inventory before I entered. I didn't know how to defeat the nest with limited equipment. The nest would be guarded too. The Darkness loves to put Buzzers in my way. They're hard to hit, and I can't focus with them around.

There was another option: I could run into the room and pistol whip them.

That would be a bad idea, but these offices never carry any ammo.

I decided to continue searching through rooms for clues. If I left the office early, then maybe the clues would make up for the guilt. I would be leaving the town, but the clues would hopefully put me inches away from banishing the god.

As I walked down the hallways, the walls felt like one big monster. It grew sockets for the god to see me, but the eyes never protruded. They'd bleed out the Darkness before eradicating it. Either I was going insane, or the Darkness had a firm grasp on this area.

There was another locked door. I used one of the keys. Inside was a Cougher, which I promptly eradicated, it didn't have loot, but I saw a cabinet with another note:

"Symbol found near an ancient tomb of Pharaoh's wife. Her tomb was covered in a yellow cloth."

They showed a picture of the Agn rune. I already knew that the god of disease identified with the color yellow. This was either the ally or the invader.

I had an option now: Go to Stonehenge with whatever I have for the god banishment ritual and pretend that Agn is the god's rune.

It would be suicide.

At least I know the god's banishment rune: Agn, Shm, Kz, and the god's rune.

Was Agn, Shm, Kz, and Agn the banishment ritual?

I didn't want to assume. The Darkness loves to see me scramble. It wants me to think there's hope, or that I solved the puzzle. Maybe it did give me the ritual, and continuing my adventure would send me on a wild goose chase to find the god of lust's rune.

Still, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I walked towards the nest when I was sure there wouldn't be clues. The other rooms were empty; not even the monsters carried loot.

I could've left the building, but my mind told me it would be a bad idea. I already left home, abandoned hostages, and ignored invaded towns with the hope of making up for lost time. I didn't need another town weighing down my consciousness.

The nest wasn't the first thing I shot at when I entered the room. It was easy to notice the pile of what could be bodies attached to what could be eggs. The problem was the invisible Cougher.

I didn't notice it until my lungs were infected with spores. My nose burned itself from the inside like I was pouring burning metal into them.

I had a swift memory of a chemistry class in high school. Someone dared me to sniff a chemical straight from the flask. My nose bled for ten minutes, and I was suspended for breaking the lab equipment after throwing them at the students.

My first thought wasn't fear. I pushed the Cougher to the floor and started stomping on it. The squishing sound followed by a liquid that poured into my socks satisfied me.

I looked at the nest. It produced spider-like entities known as Scutters to defend itself. They were the size of my forearm, but extremely brittle.

One tried to jump at me, but I quickly hit it with my pistol. The nest was next.

I didn't want to touch the thing. I only needed to squish the eggs until the Darkness retracts the core. The best I could do was chip away until I hit the source.

When I did, my conscious continued to bother me. My mind betrayed me with false illusions and hideous shapes that protruded from the ground. Some formed into hostile bodies that the Darkness manifested into existence.

My next objective: RUN!

The Darkness sent me a monster while I was distracted with my own insanity. The wall opposite to the exit molded itself into a shapely nose. More of the disjointed monster began to stretch reality to push its way towards me. This horror, which wore the face of a human and dragged itself towards me with a sinister grin, was known as an Overseer.

I ran towards the door in a frenzy of fear and madness. The Overseer bent the space around the door so it could seep through to the other room. I desperately ran to the door on the left.

There was a Cougher in the room, but I didn't have enough time to fight it. The Overseer broke through the wall and absorbed the monster. I walked through the door with a hefty toll on my sanity; that creature is still alive, and it could make another nest.

I was safely back at my car. The Overseer, like many other monsters, chose to stay within the building to repair the damage.

There's nothing more I could do for this town. Destroying the nest halted the growth of monsters, but I knew that they would rebuild. On the bright side, maybe the defeat of the Darkness could reverse any future damage; anything and anyone killed would just go back to normal. That was a big hope, and I knew it.

I secretly wished this was permanent.

Wait, no I don't.

But I pressed on the gas pedal and drove towards Danport, a city between Ashborne and Stonehenge.

The Darkness followed me while I silently drove past images created by my imagination. I looked at the clock and almost cried.

14 Hours Left...

It would take me 10 hours to get to Stonehenge, and I felt frustrated because Danport wasn't invaded; no more clues, and I didn't know the invading god or its symbol.

I pulled over to sob.

My phone buzzed. I knew the risk in looking at the text; sometimes it's a message that breaks either my already fragile heart or my sanity. Other times, though rarely, it's something good. This one was a message from "T":

"I was just given valuable information; the god of disease is the invading god."

[alexhogh7137]

The Battle Between Love and Fire-

Ivar the Boneless × Reader

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Journal

Chapter Twenty-Five

Word Count 3.1k

Warnings: mentions of past abuse, sad context, fluff in between

Later the same day...

When you and Ivar returned home, Hvitserk had been waiting for your return. He is holding something in his hand. Some sort of book or journal. He found your eyes and never looked away. 

Ivar "What is that in your hand? And where did you find it?"

Hvitserk "I did not find this. You see when you two were gone, our carrier came in with a little gift."

Ivar "Who is this gift from, Hvitserk?"

Hvitserk does not respond to him, only hands it directly to you. The journal cover says "To my dearest Y/n." You recognize the handwriting to be none other than your mother's. 

"Hvitserk.."

Hvitserk "I didn't look inside. I figured that it is very special to you."

Ivar "What is this?"

"This..this is my mother's journal! I used to see her writing in it when I was little. I would always ask her what she was writing but she would always tell me that I would read all about it one day. Did he tell you why it was sent?"

Hvitserk "He only said that it was a gift from the king of Wessex. I took it and waited for your return."

Ivar "Why would he give you this now?"

"I do not know..but at the same time I do not care. Will you excuse me?" You don't wait for them to answer before you hurried to your chambers and shut the door. 

Hvitserk watched your emotions go from a happy you to a more emotional one. 

Ivar "Why would he give this to her? What is his reasoning?"

Hvitserk "How would I know?"

Ivar scowls, "I don't trust this."

Hvitserk "Neither do I, Ivar. But this moment is special to her. She has probably been wanting this journal for years now, let's let her enjoy this, yes?"

Ivar "Yes. I hope that whatever is written in that journal brings her joy and not more heartache."

Hvitserk shakes his head in agreement, "Where did you take her by the way? Did she enjoy herself?"

Ivar "Very much so. I took her to my hideout."

Hvitserk "The waterfall?"

Ivar "Yes. I wanted to share that place with her. She didn't want to leave but I told her that we could not stay, that it was unsafe."

Hvitserk "It is right now but hopefully things will be different soon enough."

Ivar "It will be once we overthrow this so-called king of Wessex and get justice for our princess."

Hvitserk smiles, "Yes. She will be happier then. I know it."

Ivar pats his shoulder, "She will. Let's go join Ubbe, hmm?" Hvitserk agrees. 

…

You have tears in your eyes as you trace over her handwriting on the cover. It is the perfect cursive handwriting to ever be seen. You take a deep breath and flip the cover over to expose the first page. 

It reads as follows: To my dearest Y/n. I know that by the time you are reading this, I am most likely gone. And oh how I miss you sweetheart. But as I write this, you are just a little girl, playing with her wooden horse in the gallery. I want you to know that you are the greatest joy in my life Y/n. I love you more than I could ever tell you. And that is why I am writing this for when you are ready to read it. This journal consists of everything that you need to know about your father and the dragon's that he will gift to you when you turn twenty…

Your tears are overflowing now. You read it with your mother's voice in your head. Her calm, soothing voice overlaps your own and brings you so much peace. You know what you are about to read so you  hesitate to continue. But indeed, you continue on.

Sweetheart, your father is a very dangerous man. I know what he has done to you and I want to tell you that I did everything that I could to try and stop his actions. I know that I failed most days, but I tried my hardest, dear. Your father told me the day that you were born, that he wished for a son. But to me, you are perfect. A pure blessing from the gods. I knew right then that I needed to protect you with my life. And if you are reading this now, I most certainly did. I do not regret anything in my life. Not even marrying your father because he gave me you..

You force a smile on your face as you wipe away your tears so that you can see to read on further.

With all of this being said, when I am gone, I will not be able to protect you. Therefore, I will tell you everything that I can to help you in the defeat of your father...

Your breath hitches in your throat. It is like the gods knew that you were fearing the days ahead, so they gave you this journal. 

You know where I used to hide you when your father's temper rose? He hides weapons in those cupboards. Weapons that are so strong that they can pierce a dragon's heart. He will use them when the time comes, so if you take your dragons to win this battle, you will need to take those weapons away from him. How would you do that? Have a few guardsmen travel to Wessex ahead of battle, take the weapons and bring them back to your home. If he does not have those weapons, your dragons will live through this siege and will be victorious. If they are unsuccessful in retrieving them, know my dear that your dragons will certainly die in this seige…

Your heart breaks in your chest. This siege has become even more difficult.

I know that you are probably very worried right now sweetheart. But do not worry, you will be victorious. I will be by your side the entire time, please remember that Y/n. Your father will do anything he possibly can to stay the ruler of Wessex, even if that means that he would have to kill his only daughter to do so. I know that is a very hard pill to swallow sweetheart, but it is the harsh truth. So I am giving you this so I can do my part in the reassurance that you will be the victor…

Your heart cannot take anymore, so you finally close the journal. You bring it to your lips so that you can kiss the cover. You hold it to your chest and breathe in deep. You jolt when you hear a knock on the door.

"Uh come in!" You place your journal in a drawer next to the bed and wait for whoever knocked to come in. When you see who it is, you smile.

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

Hvitserk comes in the doorway, with a worried look on his face. That is until he saw your smile. All he needs is to see your smile and he will be completely okay again. 

Hvitserk "Hey sweetheart...how are you feeling?" He asks sitting down next to you.

"Oh I'm okay. Just a little overwhelming."

Hvitserk "Do you want to talk about it?" You tell him all that you have read so far and he listens intently. 

"It is like she sent it down from Valhalla! It is as if she knew that it was time for this battle and she knew that we needed all the help that we could get."

Hvitserk "Of course she did, Y/n. She is with you always. She looks down at you from the great halls of Valhalla. Just because she is not visibly here, does not mean that she is not here at all."

You smile, "How are you, my love?"

Hvitserk "Me?"

"Yes you. This morning you were-"

Hvitserk "Oh," he scuffs, "that.."

"Tell me, what happened?"

Hvitserk "I just felt like I had a vision but I spoke with Ubbe and he explained to me that it was all in my head. I'm fine, kitten."

"What was this vision?"

Hvitserk "I do not wish to tell you. Please do not make me-" Ivar comes in, cutting Hvitserk off mid-sentence.

Ivar "Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to check on you."

"I'm good, my love."

Ivar "Okay good. I heard soft whimpers.."

"Yes, it was very emotional to read but I'm okay, more than that."

Ivar "That is good. I'll leave you two be." When Ivar leaves, Hvitserk looks at you in such a way that makes your heart flutter in your chest.

"What?" You chuckle as you blush.

Hvitserk "I don't know. I just love you so much."

"And I love you so much."

Hvitserk "I know you do. How is our little baby doin' in there?" He places his hand over your growing belly.

"She is doing better, I think."

Hvitserk "Of course she is! I told you that she would be perfectly fine."

"You did." You lean on his shoulder and he leans his head upon yours. 

Hvitserk "My girls…" your heart melts in your chest. You honestly do not know what you would do without Ivar and Hvitserk. They are the love of your life. They both mean the absolute world to you. He leans down and raises your face to his and presses his lips onto your own. Your eyes flutter from the satisfaction of his love. His hand does not move from your face. He just holds you there, close to him and you don't even try to pull back for air. Because truthfully you do not wish for him to stop. 

Hvitserk whispers, "I love you." You smile and kiss him again and again. You two go on until he pulls away fully.

"And I love you."

Hvitserk "You should eat, you have not eaten in awhile."

"But I am not hungry."

Hvitserk "I know, but if we continue for much longer, I do not know if I can resist my urges any longer."

You snicker, "Okay."

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

When you and Hvitserk come out, Ivar and Ubbe are eating dinner with some of their people. 

Ivar "Ah my sweetheart! Have you come to join us?"

"Yes, Hvitserk and I are hungry. What is for dinner?"

Ubbe "Buck!"

Hvitserk "My favorite!" He rushes over and sits down next to Ubbe, you next to Ivar. 

"How was the ride, my queen?" The woman asked.

"Oh it was lovely, thank you for asking."

"And where did he take you, if I may ask?"

Ivar "And you may not ask."

"Sorry, my king. I was only trying to make conversation." She said.

Ivar "Yes but that is no concern of yours, now is it?"

"No not at all, my king."

Hvitserk "The buck is delicious, Ivar! Is it not?"

Ivar "Mm lovely."

"How are your dragons, m'lady?" The woman's husband asked.

"Oh they are doing just fine. They loved their fly time.."

"That is good. I still pinch myself knowing that we all live amongst dragons!"

You chuckle, "Yes, I suppose it is a new way to live."

Ubbe "But it is a good change!"

Hvitserk "I mean look at how magnificent they are!" You know what they are doing, trying to shift the awkwardness to a more cheerful atmosphere.

Ivar whispers, "How are you feeling sweetheart?"

"I'm okay, thank you for asking, my love." He takes your hand and kisses your knuckles.

Ivar "Of course. Would you like to tell me about your readings?"

"I will later, if that is alright? Even though they are our people, they are acting quite strange tonight. I do not wish for them to overhear about my personal life.."

Ivar "Yes, I understand completely. I will get to the bottom of their actions."

"I do not wish for you to get upset-"

Ivar "I am not, but if you disrespect my wife, they are disrespecting me. I cannot have that."

"Just eat with me, yes?"

Ivar "Oh I'm not going anywhere." He says, taking a bite of food.

Ubbe "So Y/n, how would you like to go hunting with Hvitserk and I tomorrow?"

"Oh I would love to!"

Ivar "You know how to hunt, my love?"

"Oh yes! I was the best archer in Wessex."

Ubbe chuckles, "I'll take that as a definite yes." Hvitserk smirks.

Ivar "Take Ryuu with you, will you?"

"Yes I will." Ivar knows that out of your dragons, Ryuu is the biggest and the strongest of the three. He is also his personal favorite and the closest to. 

Hvitserk "This is exciting news. I can't wait to see you with a bow and arrow." You start to laugh but switch it off because you know that the guests are still at the table.

"So, how did it come that you are here tonight?" You asked the couple.

"We were invited, my queen."

"I can see that, but for what reason?"

Ivar "I was having a feeling of the need to share our gifts with our people. These two have been close to this family for quite some time."

"Oh how lovely!" They smile and take a bite of food. "Are you frightened of me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me, are you frightened of your queen?"

"I must say, your dragons are intimidating-" the woman said.

"They have proven not to be a threat to you and the rest of the people of Kattegat, have they not?"

"Yes..o-of course. I apologize.."

"Have I not proven myself a good queen?"

"Oh absolutely!"

"So I will ask you again, why are you acting so frightened?"

"Y-...you are just so powerful..m'lady. It is...frightening." she stuttered. You don't know whether to take it as a compliment or as an insult.

"Ivar, I have lost my appetite.."

Ivar grabs your hand, "Do not leave, they will leave, you do not."

"I wish to leave. I am tired, goodnight Hvitserk. Goodnight Ubbe." Ubbe puts down his ale and gets up. He walks over to you, kisses your cheek and then grabs the man by the collar. He would do that to the woman but he does not harm women. 

"I suggest you apologize on your wife's behalf."

"My queen, she did not mean what she said. She is very tired today, is all. We have been working since first light. Please forgive her."

"Yes. Good night you two." You walk out of the room and into your chambers. 

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

The first person to come in is Ubbe. 

"Thank you for sticking up for me like that.."

Ubbe "They were in the wrong. You've done nothing to justify their reasoning for being frightened of you."

"Mmm."

Ubbe "You believe them?"

"No I'm just exhausted. A lot of emotional up and down's."

Ubbe "Alright, princess. Are you alright before I leave."

"I am, yes. Thank you Ubbe, love you brother."

Ubbe "Love you too lil sis." He kisses your forehead before leaving. Hvitserk comes in next.

"He isn't killing them right now is he?" He chuckles.

Hvitserk "No, not yet but he definitely will. For more reasons than one."

You huff and sit down on the bed. 

Hvitserk "You look so tired, kitten."

"I am, Hvitserk."

Hvitserk "Do you wish for me to leave, so you can get some rest?"

"No, I never wish for you to leave Hvitserk. I love you, you know that."

Hvitserk "I do, sweetheart." Ivar came into the room with unsteady hands. You walk over to him but he holds you back. Hvitserk pulls you away from him, knowing that he is too angry to feel your love. He puts his body in between you and Ivar.

"Ivar..?"

Ivar clears his throat, "I uh, I am sorry on their behalf. I shouldn't have invited them to join our feast."

"You didn't know how they felt about me. That was not your fault."

Ivar "Their feelings are unjust. They will stand in front of the rest of our people and will be held accountable for how they treated their queen."

"Are you sure?"

Ivar "I am certain. No one mistreats my wife. That being said, I want you to sleep with Hvitserk tonight Y/n. I am too angry right now..I do not wish for you to get hurt."

"What about today? We had such a lovely day..are you going to let two peasants ruin our day?"

Ivar moves past Hvitserk and cups your cheeks and places a kiss to your lips, "Today was the most perfect day, my sweet. Everything about our time together was perfect. But I do not wish to ruin it by hurting you from my rage."

"Okay..I love you."

Ivar "I love you more, now go." Hvitserk takes your hand and takes you out of the room. Bur before he leaves completely, he looks at Ivar.

Hvitserk "Do not kill them without me being there to bare witness."

Ivar smirks, "I won't. You two sleep well." Hvitserk nods and closes the door behind him, leaving Ivar with his thoughts. Ivar cannot believe what happened at dinner, how unbelievable the guests were. He offered them a nice warm meal and what do they do? They are rude to their queen! Ivar is beyond furious. He has to do something about those two but what is the question.

Hvitserk undoes your braids from your hair, easing your senses. 

"Are they right to fear me, Hvitserk?"

Hvitserk "Do not even ask me that, you already know my answer. They were wrong.."

"Would you tell me if I was beginning to be frightening?"

Hvitserk "Y/n...you are kind, loving and a generous queen. You are in no way frightening! Do not take their words to heart."

"Mmkay." Hvitserk finishes your hair and then scoops you up in his arms and places you gently on the bed. He hovers over you, kisses every inch of your body. Why? Because he knows that you for one, love it and two, he knows that it calms you down.  You hum from the feeling so he continues. 

Hvitserk "Feeling better?" 

You chuckle, "Shut up!" You say jokingly. He laughs, kisses your lips. You moan and so does he. 

Hvitserk "But.."

"I know...we can try."

Hvitserk "No..not yet. I don't want to hurt you. You are finally starting to be able to walk without any pain, kitten."

"I know."

Hvitserk leans down and kisses your lips, "Soon, I promise." He rolls off of you, undressing himself down to only undergarments. He hands you the dress that you left in his room from the mast time that you slept in his chambers and you change. Once you are both back in bed, he places you on his chest and your eyelids immediately start to get heavy. Hvitserk is like a huge teddy bear that you have fallen in love with. 

Hvitserk "Good night, kitten. I love you."

"I love you."

@hvitserkmarcosource @youbloodymadgenius @ivarsgoddess @a-mess-of-fandoms @jzr201 @heavenly1927 @saldelys @conaionaru @readsalot73 @herestherealproblem @ivarzeitgeist

(I am so freaking proud of this chapter! I hope you all loved reading as much as I did writing it xx)

[jackpot807]

Warrior - Act I Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Aetheas was the last man to leave the situation room at midnight. He was finishing typing up some statements for the public that he will announce in the morning on his typewriter. The tedium of authoring a five-page report on three hours of action only drove his already frustrated mind further down. The main lights had gone off maybe thirty minutes ago, and the janitors were now sauntering through the halls of the Ministry of War.

“Aetheas.”

With a final click of the period, Aetheas looked up and to his right. Marcus was walking into the room with a cup of water in his hand. He sat down.

“How long have we known each other, Aetheas?”

Looking down, Aetheas sorted his papers in place,

“Maybe twenty years.”

“Would you call us friends?”

“You’re the closest thing to a friend I have, Marcus.” Even though that’s not much.

“Then maybe you want to tell me what on God’s green Earth you were thinking when you ordered the execution of twenty civilians earlier?!” Marcus said it evenly, but Aetheas could pick up the obvious tension in his voice. Aetheas leaned down to pick up his suitcase, and he gave a curt, brief response,

“The CLA armies were coming. We didn’t have time for a siege. If I didn’t do what I did, they would have overrun us and all of our planning would’ve been for nothing.”

“There were only fifty men left.”

“Fifty men that could have caused serious damage if we just let them be. We needed A’had alive, anyways.”

“Aetheas-”

“What, Marcus?” He interrupted. “What could you have left to say to me?”

Marcus shrunk a tiny bit in his seat, “I know losing Europa gutted you, but-”

Aetheas had finished storing away his things in his suitcase and, with a violent slam shut, he said calmly, “Goodnight, Marcus.” And he was gone.

Aetheas was home a little past midnight. Marcus had caught him at his car and tried to get him to stay a little bit later, but he was so depleted that the mere suggestion almost sent Aetheas’ fist flying into Marcus’ face. Physically, he was wide awake. But the effects of committing ethical suicide can have a very tiring effect on your soul.

Why did I do that?

He told Marcus that it was to save time. But he knew the real answer to that question, and he did not want to accept it. The answer lies deep within his own pain and despair.

He walked through the door and set his coat on the coat rack, calling out, “Isabella, I’m home.” To the maid.

The answer can be traced back to his wife, Europa. It can be traced back to his father, and the death camps and the War and blood and gunpowder and tears. All these traumas screaming a singular message of-

Why isn’t Isabella saying anything?

He called out to the maid, but received no reply like he usually does. He wasn’t the least bit concerned. Moreso curious as to what might be keeping her occupied. Maybe she was feeding Aage upstairs. He went up to check.

The walls were a white carved oak. There were pictures of his father and some old friends hanging on the walls, and his hand glided up the polished handrail. He took a right and went up to the door, putting his hand on the doorknob.

A massive wave of unease began to wrap around his throat as if were trying to strangle him.

The house was deathly quiet and calm, all the doors were closed and not a single window open. Everything is telling him that he has no reason to be afraid,

But every fiber of his being is begging him not to open that door.

But he had to.

So he opened the door.

Inside was how he left it. A moonlit-blue room with a crib in the corner and the window was open, with the curtains gently swaying.

But by the crib stood a man.

He wore a navy-blue suit and tie. The man had a buzzcut and his skin said he must have been maybe sixty years of age. Along with the suitcase he carried, he seemed perfectly normal. But his eyes were the most inhuman shade of turquoise imaginable.

He was standing there next to the crib, tall and lumbering like a monster from a child’s story, partly obscured by an odd shadow. In the crib lay baby Aage, fast asleep and unaware of the entity lingering over him.

Aetheas froze solid. The two men looked at each other for several moments of silence, the only noise came from the flapping curtains. And then the man opened his sickly maw of a mouth,

“Mister Stronos…”

The words sounded senile and strained, as if he didn’t know the right way to say them. The hairs on Aetheas’ back stood up, and a horrible knot formed in his stomach. He wanted with every fiber of his being to get away from this man, but his muscles refused to move.

I can’t move.

The man moved his mouth to speak, while remaining monolithically still, with those eerie, alien eyes.

“I am pleased to finally make your... acquaintance… Mister Stronos.”

Aetheas could only gasp in horror as sheer terror washed over him.

“You and I have not been properly iiiiinnnntroduced. I am your… employerrrr… And you are my emmmployeeee.”

He adjusted his tie.

“Within the coming decades, Mister Stronos… You will prove to be a driving factor in change in the world. The first steps you have taken today have begun a series of events that will lead to a new epoch of your… people.”

He looked down at Aage.

No.

Aetheas was a mentally resilient man. His willpower is unmatched in all of Aethos. Today he proved it. But this man had gotten to him to a point where his very body refused to move out of terror.

He had to move. Get Aage and get as far away from this man as possible.

But he couldn’t.

The man looked at Aage plainly and with detachment. He set down his suitcase slowly and deliberately, and leaned into the crib, picking up Aage, cradling him in his arms.

Aetheas was at the apex of his terror, now. Watching this horrifying man hold his only son while he was helpless to do anything about it was driving him into a primal insanity. All he could do was bite down so hard on his lip, that he drew blood. The man looked down at Aage in his arms,

“The young Aage will have a… Significant role… In the times ahead… Your plans for him are in alignment with your contract, Mister Stronos. No harm will befall the boy as long as he is kept on the guidelines that have already been provided for you, Mister Stronos.”

The man, still holding Aage in his arms, slowly walked up to Aetheas. His walk was the most unnatural gait he has ever seen. He put his weight on his right leg and his left leg quickly shot forward each step, until he was so close to Aetheas, that Aetheas could smell the sickly copper emanating from him.

“Listen to what I have to say, Mister Stronos.”

And he leaned in to Aetheas’ ear, saying,

“Continue on the path, Mister Stronos. Bring your son to your side and remain loyal to your employers, and all will be well. But… If you were to… Deviate… From this plan…”

He stepped back and looked down with sorrow at Aage.

“Well, let’s not dwell on that, Mister Stronos.”

He walked over and gingerly laid Aage back in his crib. He picked up his suitcase and re-adjusted his tie.

“One last thing, Mister Stronos. A small tip for the troubling times ahead…”

Once more he leaned into Aetheas’ ear and said with the most haunting malice he could muster,

“Prepare for times of change, Mister Stronos.”

The terror had reached a crescendo, and Aetheas started to shake in fear. Suddenly he collapsed down onto the floor, slamming his head on the doorway.

He saw stars for a moment, but forced himself to his feet, swinging his arms to try to hit the man.

But when he regained his composure and looked around, the man was gone.

A single stroke of distant thunder shook the house.

It scared Aage, and he awoke with a cry.

Aetheas shot his head to the direction of his son and ran over to him, picking him up and holding him close, embracing him and whispering words of love into his son’s ear. He sat down in the corner, surrounded by a plush lion and bear.

There was a loud thumping coming up the stairs.

Aetheas heard it, and he tensed up.

Out of the darkness came Isabella, a spanish woman of 25.

“Oh my goodness, sir, I am so sorry! I must have fell asleep on the couch for too long after I fed him, I have never done that before!”

Aetheas’ mouth hung open for a moment as he tried to find words, “Uh, uh no.. No it’s alright Isabella. I uh… I came home and heard him crying and…”

He could see the worry in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Isabella. You can go home, I’m sorry I was so late tonight.”

With a quiet sigh of relief, Isabella nodded, “Okay. Thank you so much for understanding. Have a good night, sir.”

“Yea, you too.”

And with that, he heard her walk down stairs, open and close the door, and leave, leaving him and Aage alone in that big, empty house. He looked down at Aage.

And for the first time in many years, Aetheas felt afraid.