#RSC Group | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dumbkiri · 2 months ago

Text

𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 3

χα∂єη яισяѕση χ ƒ! мαιяι! яєα∂єя

ρℓσт: Training. RSC. Bodhi. Xaden. Can anything get worse than the future you see for yourself? The dream of falling out of the dark sky with a shrill roar of heartbreak? No, you think your fate is sealed in stone.

(slight Bodhi bc ngl im feeling this sweet goober)

PART THREE

TW: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE

Training Violet wasn’t so bad after all.

However she did talk too much, always reciting some story, the Codex or a book to keep herself motivated. You could never get her to close her mouth these past days. She asked too many questions about your signet and this time, you chucked your dagger into the tree she was kicking to get her to shut up.

“Seriously, Sorrengail,” Your shoulders dropped in defeat, yet tone laced with a threat “If I have to hear another word come out of your mouth instead of a grunt, I will cut your tongue out.”

Violet’s eyes turned away from you and she went back to kicking the tree. Good, she is smart after all.

“Tairn told me that Sgaeyl watched you kill six people during your Threshing.”

You don’t see what Xaden sees in her. Everyone goes off about how smart Violet is, but here she stands testing your patience. Perhaps the feeling of a new person stirred something inside of him. The excitement of sneaking around and-

“She said that if Xaden never existed, she would have chosen you.”

“Then it’s a good thing he does,” You grumbled, your face falling into your hands. Damn it, if she doesn’t understand your story or relationship with Xaden she’s just going to keep talking.

“Come join me over here,” You tear your hands from your face and gesture to the spot in front of the boulder you sat on.

Violet, slightly limping from the extensive exercise, made her way over to you and sat on the dirt ground across from you.

“Since you cannot focus on your training, ask me only three questions,” You leaned back on your palms and looked at her expectantly.

“Why did you kill those people? Were you fighting them to have Lenin claim you?”

You narrowed your eyes at the ground and shook your head, “No.” Then you looked back at her, “These people were bullies, picture Jack Barlowe cloned six times and have them band up together. That is the type of group that targeted me. Although it was a woman that led the group and her name was Lara, she is the seventh. Lenin killed her and I swear, I can hear her pleas and the way her body crunched in his mouth.”

Violet, appalled by your description leaned in, “Lenin didn’t burn her? Tairn burned-”

“Nah, Lenin saw my memories and knew about all the pain she put me through. He wanted her to suffer and I’m telling you it was a very scary situation.” You huffed out a laugh without humor.

“We were surrounded by a dense fog, you could barely see five feet in front of you. I just got done killing the sixth when Lara froze up. I thought maybe she couldn’t believe that I killed all her friends. Hell I barely remember killing them, it was like I was possessed.”

Again, you can feel the rain wash the blood from your enemies tainted on your body. You spun your dagger with your middle finger remembering the feeling so well. Like it happened yesterday. Your heart pounded against your chest, the breath that left your lips vaporized, your muscles forced you to move on to your next target.

You cleared your throat and said, “When I finally moved to her, having the itch to drive my dagger into her heart that is when I felt that tugging Professor Kaori informed us about. Then I heard his voice way before his tail came in, swiping her from under the floor. Can you imagine it? Having Tairn hide in the dark fog, his deep voice rumbling in your head?”

Violet nodded her head, “I think I can, but he says his son is very attached to you. It’s why Lenin showed no mercy to that Lara woman.”

You smile back at her, “Because I’m his first rider. I’m sure Sgaeyl and Tairn have told Lenin about their previous riders. That the death of a rider isn’t improbable. So Lenin is attached to my hip, and he’s still young. We got a special bond going on. He makes me stronger.”

“My cloak and dagger,” Lenin hummed with gratification, his feelings drowning you through the bond. You swear he felt a strong desire to protect you. Not wanting to give you a Rider’s death. One of pain and suffering. Lenin does not want to almost die like his father because of a rider.

“You will not die.” Lenin ordered.

“Are you and Xaden dating?”

What a weird question to ask. It’s almost fucked up to ask. Xaden hasn’t spared time for you and she wants to ask if you’re dating him? She should know Xaden is wrapped around her finger and yep, you’re starting to hate the both of them for their audacity. Xaden’s jealousy and Violet’s insensitive question got you riled up. This honestly pissed you off and you didn’t hold back questioning Tairn’s decision for this girl.

“Lenin, can you ask your dad if he really chose her for her intelligence?”

“I wouldn’t answer her question, Dagger,” Lenin said, “Almost seems like a trap.”

You take his words into consideration. How would this be a trap? If you said the truth, which is no, would she go on pursuing Xaden? Not that it matters anymore. You lost Xaden to her. Watching them together made you feel blue. Out with the old and in with the new.

You shook your head and sighed, “Dating didn’t seem problematic for us. We might as well have been with the amount of times we’ve slept together.”

Suddenly his scars came to mind the moment you thought about him. The pain he burdened himself to keep all the children alive. Violet’s mother, the one who made him go through that, showed no mercy to him. He paid the price of mercy, you reminded yourself and your heart grew heavy with the reminder.

How can he look at Violet and think she’s the one for him. Especially after what her mother did to him.

“You asked three questions,” You pointed at her tree, “Now go back to kicking.”

Violet looked at you like she wanted to say more, yet she held her tongue for once. Then she started kicking the tree with her right leg. She couldn’t get your words out of her head, and she asked with heavy breaths, “What do you mean by ‘dating didn’t seem problematic’? Why didn’t you guys-”

When she turned back around to direct the last bit of her question to you, you were gone.

“[Name]?” She called out into the silent day.

……

“Well this is probably the worst group I’d want to be in,” You muttered under your breath, sitting across from Dain. He gave you a look that said he’d rather be kidnapped with someone else too. You’d forgotten about the whole kidnapping part in the RSC.

Then he straightened out his back, trying to size you up it seemed. Dain spoke with slight annoyance, focusing on how close you and Imogen stuck to one another, “We have to work together, and believe me. If I had a choice, I would be stuck with another group.”

“Since you’re Colonel Aetos’ son couldn’t you, I don’t know,” You waved your hand lazily, “Get your way with a group for RSC?”

“I like to do things by the rules, Mairi,” Dain huffed.

You laughed with your shoulders, “Oh yeah, I forgot about you and your rules. God, no wonder Violet moved on to Xaden. Your girl just stole my man because you couldn’t keep a tight leash on her.”

“Maybe it was you,” Dain bit back, not liking how you pulled Violet into the conversation, “Aren’t you two supposed to be endgame? Xaden had no problem flaunting you like a trophy, but like every trophy…they’re left on the shelf. To be looked at as a memory of the past.”

You shook your head and said unbothered, “Ouch. Although I’m glad you described me as a trophy, it’s better than a rebound. Or gum stuck under someone’s boot.”

“You’re starting to piss me off, [Name],” Dain spat as he rose from his seat.

You stood up to meet him halfway, “Oh no, did I break a rule doing so? Hurt your fragile ego?” You reached for your dagger at your hip and forgot that you’ve been unarmed. Well that ruined your threatening nature because Dain’s frustrated look turned into a smirk as he looked down at you.

“Listen, we need to share our secrets with one another,” Pam said, growing tired of the back and forth between you and Dain, “ I also feel like there’s some sexual tension you’re sharing with one another.”

Appalled, you and Dain reeled back in utter disgust.

“Fuck no.”

“Hell no.”

Pam laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “Your responses are close enough too. It’s not wrong for the both of you to get together especially after being replaced.”

“She’s right,” Imogen crossed her arms over her chest and when she saw the hurt on your face, she corrected herself, “we need to focus on the secret part. Mine is I’ve slept with [Name] twice before her relationship with Xaden was even a thing.”

“Imogen!” You shouted, pink tinting your face, “That is like the ultimate secret! It’s supposed to stick with us. Now they know!”

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “That's the whole point of this RSC training, woman. I didn’t describe our situation and-“

“Can I use the same secret?” You asked, interrupting her so she really wouldn’t say anything else and Dain shook his head.

“Nice try.”

Rolling your eyes, you thought hard about a secret. You really didn’t have any. Besides Xaden and the rebellion…revolution. Fuck, do you know if it’ll be fine to say your signet is stronger?

“[Name], what’s yours?” Pam asked. You must have missed hers and Dain’s when you were thinking of one.

You looked at Imogen then back to Dain. Yep, you were really doing this.

“I can cloak more than two people.”

“What.” Pam and Dain stared at you incredulously.

“I can cloak more than two people,” You reiterated.

“[Name], that’s…amazing! You can-“

“It’s dangerous,” Dain cut in, his eyes narrowed with a threat. You knew what he was implying. You can cloak three or more Marked people without the chance of getting caught. You have done so many times. Not that he needs this information.

Now he could ruin everything by telling his dad this shit. You put yourself and everyone else in danger with this secret out.

“Look,” You said with a grim smile, “If anything it allows us to escape this RSC exercise. We can be the first group to achieve this.”

You tried to make things better for you. Keyword: tried. The way you caught Imogen giving you a hard stare implied that she really wasn’t happy about you spilling this secret.

“You’re right!” Pam jumped up from her seat and said, “Your cloak will trick the interrogators when they come back in! We can just hang in the back and wait.”

Without a word, your cloak moved over them and they shuddered in the cold. You wanted to get this thing over with, as fast as you can so Imogen could wipe their memory.

“I’m sorry, it’s a new feeling, but you’ll get used to it.”

“I can’t believe you can do this,” Dain whispered, entranced by the darkness that covered him.

“I only started doing this when Professor Kaori caught Bodhi and I-” You shook your head and said, “Professor Kaori told me I should work on my signet because it’s unique. So I did, not everyone knows I can do this. It’s why it's a secret, a really huge one.”

“I don’t understand why you’d keep it a secret,” Dain muttered, “With you being a Marked one-”

“Aetos, shut your mouth,” You whispered and the door to the classroom opened up.

Show time.

……

“Bodhi, I messed up.”

Your eyes skimmed over the bruises on his muscled arms in deep thought over the consequences that may follow you. This is how you should have come out of RSC two days ago. Or at least one of your group members.

Recovering from bruises and a rough interrogation. Instead your group walked out because of your signet, easy as pie. No bruises, not cuts or fractured bones. You guys walked out of the room under your cloak. Being invisible to the eye really worked wonders.

The patch on your flight jacket didn’t even bring joy to you. You earned it at what cost…

“How so?” He hummed while resting his head back onto your pillow. He stared at you with his crown of black curls framing his handsome face. God, those eyes melted your worries away until you remember the hardened ones that belonged to Dain.

You were in deep shit. Shit you couldn’t swim your way out of even if you did have help. No one wants to help someone who literally dug their own grave.

With Bodhi’s knees bent, you leaned over them with your arms crossed on top of them.

You didn’t dare look back into his eyes, afraid of the initial reaction. You can barely stand the one Imogen gives you now.

She didn’t outwardly tell you, but you knew she had to tell Xaden. To warn him and the others that your signet is out. You’re going to be monitored by all the professors and more importantly, Dain.

“I told Dain Aetos that I can cloak multiple people as my secret for the interrogation.”

“Oh.”

Great. You pulled away from him, but he was quick to catch your hands in his. And he tugged you down to him, “You didn’t let me finish.”

“What is there to say? I fucked up and when Xaden catches wind of this…I’m utterly screwed.” You tried one more time to pull away from him, yet his arms circled around your waist with gentle care.

“Please listen to what I have to say then you can wallow about the future.”

“If I have one,” You muttered, rolling your eyes. This made him chuckle and lift you a little higher to his face. Your head rested on his chest and he began playing with the strands of your hair.

“We know, everyone knows that you told Dain this. Do I think telling the guy who can search through memories that you can cloak multiple people is a good idea…no.” He said flatly, his fingers running through your hair.

“But do I think your mind is a strong force to penetrate, yes. Why do you think Xaden spent all his time questioning you, he can never read you. Yet he reads the rest of us like open books. Our shields mean jack shit to him. My point is; Xaden isn’t worried about you spilling anything because he trusts that fortress inside your head too much. We all do.”

“Bodhi, that is the literal point,” You worriedly argued, “I’m going to be questioned and have my memories searched. Just because Xaden can't "read" my mind like he does you- do you really think I’m safe within these walls now that my signet is-”

You started to worry about the truth of your signet. You can move objects now. If Dain finds out about this-

“They don’t know your signet, [Name],” Bodhi reassured, “They don’t realize the real strength you have. You still have a dagger up your sleeve. You just told Dain the easiest part of your signet.”

He moved his hand down to your shoulder and rubbed up and down your arm. He shared his warmth with you and you can feel sleep gradually whisk you away as time went on in the silence. His relaxed breathing lulled you to sleep as you both got comfortable on your bed.

Tomorrow you will think more about the consequences. Right now, you will happily enjoy Bodhi’s gentle company.

……

“Liam, listen to me!” You begged, grabbing onto his hand.

“No, you listen,” Liam shouted back, his blue eyes glaring into your soul, “I’m sorry, alright? I haven’t spent any time with you and I’m sorry. But you know how important it is to keep Violet alive! I’m doing a favor for everyone and I’m sorry you can’t get past the hatred you have towards her. It’s not my fault Xaden forgot you! It’s not my fault Violet is easier to be around with!”

Shattered.

Your brother heaved as he focused on his breathing, to get all the air he let out into yelling at you. Deigh’s throat rumbled in dissatisfaction, looming over Liam and you paid no attention to the dragon that wanted to claim you before Lenin got to you.

Although Deigh must have said something to your brother, the way his eyes softened at your desperate expression forced himself to calm down.

“[Name], those last parts- I didn’t mean…” His words drowned out in the back of his throat because the look you gave him broke his heart.

“I just want you to save yourself,” You whispered, then your hands pushed against his sturdy chest. The anger in you boiled inside and you had to let it out, let it out, “but if you want to die then do it! Kill yourself and leave Sloane to deal with me! You’d leave her alone with the worst older sibling, is that what you want? To have our baby sister hate Violet, your precious best friend! To have Sloane deal with me!”

“I want them to live!”

“And I want you to live!” You countered back.

Liam sighed heavily, burdened by the choice of his sisters or everyone’s fate, “We all can’t get what we want. Whatever ends up happening, I will still be your brother. You should know that I love you and Sloane and I will do anything to come back to you guys.”

“This isn’t just for love,” You stressed the words in your sentence, “This more than that. Losing you, I-I cannot let that happen.”

Liam enveloped you into his hug, he felt like nothing.

“I’ll be safe, I won’t do anything reckless.”

……

The moon never looked so pretty. You always looked at it with privilege and now you enjoyed the graceful light. It stared at you, enveloped you in a chill that allowed you to accept your fate.

Because if Liam can sacrifice himself for Violet, why can’t you make the same sacrifice for him?

You fell in what felt like slow motion as you kept your eyes on the moon. Liam was right. Sloane would be better off with him alive and mourning you. She needed him more than you, the bitter sister of the Mairi Family.

“Hold on, Dagger!”

No, you didn’t want to. You’re too far gone. The edges of your vision darkened, but the moon still kept its beautiful glow on you as it watched you fall. What a beautiful sight to close your eyes to. The last image of your ending.

Then your ears hurt at the sound of a piercing cry of a weak roar. One that begged you to keep your eyes open. One that said, don’t leave me.

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

taglist: @luvly-writer @desprrssooo-espresssooooo @blueeclipsepaperstudent @honethatty12 @poeticbookwormcat @cheappremingerfromdelululand @eep500 @littlepippilongstocking @86laura11 @lxnvmvrzx @what-will-be-your-verse @sheblogs @fangirling-galore @callsigns-haze @side-angel @faeofthemoonandstars @jesschalamet @abysshaven @bisexualbitchsgotass @books-hlmc @r0sluvs SHIII SOME TAGGED PEEPS ARENT TAGGING WHHYYYYY

#x reader #x female reader #fourth wing imagine #xaden x female reader #xaden riorson imagine #xaden riorson x reader #bodhi durran #cloak of shadows

325 notes · View notes

angstywaifu · 3 days ago

Text

Black Dahlia - 58. Tell Me What You Know

Summary: Dahlia's RSC takes an interesting turn when her father makes an apperance. Just how far will he go to get what he wants from her? A/N: Damn, another follower milestone! You guys are smashing it. Enjoy your bonus post!

Warnings: Violence. Torture. Death.

Black Dahlia Masterlist | Masterlist | Links

I can’t tell if time slows or if he’s taking his time to saunter into the room, but his steps echo around the now deadly quiet chamber. Why the hell was he here? He shouldn’t be here. But he was. And his presence scared me more than the training we were being put through.

”I can see why you enjoyed War Games so much last year. Quite satisfying being on the other end of this.” He mocks as he stops in front of me, taking in how I’m shackled to the chair.

Of course he’d be getting a kick out of seeing his own daughter strapped into a chair and being tortured. Fucking bastard.

”Sure you don’t want to swap? It’s quite enjoyable.” I try and say cheerily.

He doesn’t even hesitate as the back of his hand flies out and snaps my head to the side. The ring he wears on his finger cutting across my cheek. And there’s not denying the blood that rolls down my cheek from it.

”She’s your daughter.” Kai snarls.

”No. She’s a prisoner for interrogation.” My father says calmly as he keeps his focus on me. “I don’t have a daughter.”

Somehow his words hurt more than him hitting me. It’s not the first time he’s said I’m not his daughter. Though he’s probably hoping the others see it as him playing a long with the scenario. Little does he know they all know the slight truth behind his words now. But this feels like the final nail in the coffin.

”Have they said anything?” He asks, turning his attention to the two riders.

They shake their heads. “No. They’re a tight nit group. But we’ll break them. We always do.”

He turns his head, taking in my squad mates chained to the wall. And I don’t miss how his attention stays more focused on Bodhi than the others.

”Cuff those ones and take them to the other room” He commands the other two before turning his head back to me.

”But si-”

”Now!” He commands, cutting off the female with a stern look.

She nods before they both turn towards my squad mates, all of who look nervous as hell to be taken from the room. This wasn’t normal. This much we knew. And out of all of them Bodhi looks the most unsure of what’s about to happen. He’s the last to leave the room, and they have to literally shove him out to get him to move.

The two riders go to come back in, but my father waves them off. “Stay with the others.”

They both share an unsure look, but quickly nod and leave the room, not wanting to disobey a direct order. And with that, they leave me alone with my father as they close the door behind them.

”Finally worth your time am I?” I ask him. Probably not my smartest move, but it’s not like my situation could get any worse.

”Don’t flatter yourself.” He snaps at me as he circles my chair. “You’re just lucky you’re some what useful now you’re in with that lot and dating him.”

My heart drops. Shit. He’s going to use this as a chance to get back at me for being with Garrick. Being friends with Bodhi. And I can’t help but wonder, does this have anything to do with what I’ve noticed recently?

”His name is Garrick.” I point out.

For the first time since being in here, I cry out in pain as his fist connects with the side of my face. I try to blink through the pain, but only one of my eyes wants to open and close. Great, my eyes swollen. Just what I need. But I know it’s going to be the least of my worries.

”I don’t care what his name is. All I care about is what he’s told you.” He says as he stops in front of me.

I spit out the blood that’s started pooling in my mouth, barely missing his boots as it hits the ground. “Y-you’re going to have t-to be more specific.” I grit out as I slowly raise my head.

He steps forward, grasping my jaw as he angles my head back and glares down at me. ”Don’t play dumb girl. I know he’s told you something.”

I scoff at him, causing him to shove my head to the side as he steps back. “Oh he’s told me plenty.” I drawl as I spit out more blood. “H-How he doesn’t care about what happened. How he k-knows you’re a manipulative bastard. Hell, even said he’s proud of me unlike my own father.”

I scream as a sickening crack echoes around the room. Not just any crack. Bone breaking. My bone breaking. I struggle to stay conscious as my arm throbs with excruciating pain. In the distance I can hear someone yelling. But I can’t tell who it is over how much fucking pain I’m in.

”Don’t play with me girl. Tell me what I want to know.” He demands.

I force my eyes open, seeing my father stand there with the fucking hammer he used to break my arm. Fucking bastard. My body shakes as I try to calm down. Get my body to relax. But I’m not sure how much more I can take before my body gives in. There’s a ringing in my ears, black dots starting to plague my vision. I had to hang on. Otherwise he’d move to Bodhi next. I knew he’d be able to hold on. But I couldn’t be the reason he went through this. But there’s no denying this is more than just me dating Garrick. More than me being friends with Bodhi. No, there’s more to this.

”S-starting to feel l-like this is p-personal and not the s-scenario C-colonel.” I get out between heavy breaths.

He crouches down in front of me, swinging the hammer down to my opposite arm, the hammer crushing my fingers as I scream in pain. I’m pretty sure I black out for a few moments. Because when I open my eyes my father is no longer crouched before me, the door to the chamber wide open. Panic sets in as I hear yelling, the unmistakeable sound of a fist connecting with someones face before they hit the ground. I try to pull on my restraints, but it makes my vision start to fade to black. Shit. I look up to see my father dragging someone into the room, my heart lurching into my chest at the sight of black hair. But he turns them so their back is to me. I have no way of knowing if this is Kai or Bodhi. Both of them similar height and build. And the same damn black hair. Shit. Please don’t be Bodhi. Please don’t be him. Xaden and Garrick would never forgive me.

”You want personal Dahlia? Now it’s personal.” He says as he twists his hands and the sound of bone breaking echoes in the room again as he snaps their neck.

I don’t even know if I scream as I watch the body fall to the ground. My heart stopping as I watch it crumble into a heap at my feet. All I can do is stare at the body in the dimly lit room. Stare at the messy black hair.

”You fucking bastard.” I growl out at him, not giving him the satisfaction of yelling or screaming at him as I continue to stare at the body at my feet. A body that is definitely not breathing.

”Tell me what they’re up to then. Tell me what they’re planning. Tell me where they do. Tell me and all this stops. I’ll even say you escaped so those left of your squad can get that silly little patch that no one’s gotten in years. Tell me and this is all over. Tell me and no one else has to die.” He tells me in a calm voice that sends shivers up my spine.

With my fathers words, it’s clear he’s noted what I have. Confirming my suspicions that they haven’t been going to outposts for training operations. They’re up to something. Something he’s scared of. Something leadership would be scared of. And the only thing that could be was another rebellion. Something Xaden wouldn’t risk without good reason.

I slowly raise my head and look at him. Knowing with what I say next I’m not going to be able to stay conscious after. Offering him a smirk I know is going to do me no favours. “I don’t know anything. And even if I did, maybe you should have treated me like a daughter. You’re not my family and I owe you nothing.”

And with one final hit everything fades to black.

@imtoanonymousforyou @simplyme-fornow @omalmal @lalaluch @wolfbc97 @leptitlu @fullmoon-94 @the-fandom-ness @fan-of-many-bands @awkardnerd @heeseungthel0ml @acourtofsmutandstarlight @fairchild06 @freyagallileaevans @pit-and-the-pen @hannraumari @elliot-rain @thestarseternaal @stupid-and-contagious01 @hyperfixation-train-station @lxnvmvrzx @thebreadisthetruevillian @red0202 @fangirling-galore @craftytrashprincess @taliyahvermillion @xadenswhore @fenixyrie @lagrandeourse @hellodarling1357 @iambored24601 @thegiftofacreativemind @fanfictionjunkie1112 @mysticalfuncollectorus @ohlookitsasinglepoeceofpopcorn @emoravenwolf @imheretobeinvisible @pvrkacciosan @fuckingsimp4azriel @clarewinchester

#fourth wing #fourth wing fanfic #fourth wing imagine #the fourth wing #garrick tavis #garrick tavis imagine #the empyrean #garrick tavis x oc #garrick tavis x reader #fourth wing x reader #fourth wing x oc #garrick tavis x dahlia aetos #dahlia aetos #bodhi durran #colonel aetos

85 notes · View notes

callsign-rogueone · 1 year ago

Text

what was I made for? - g.t.

Garrick Tavis x Marked!Pacifist!Reader (continuation of keep her safe) The aftermath of War Games has you questioning your purpose, and what your signet truly is. wc: 4.4k 🏷: FOURTH WING AND IRON FLAME SPOILERS (I have 50 pages left, but I just can’t do it. send help.) canon-level violence, injury, canon character death, self doubt, anxiety. oops, I made Dain tolerable again. angst, then happy, then more angst. I also skipped over a smut scene / just made a reference to it happening, so if anyone wants that as a separate post, lmk and I can make it happen 👀 thank you to everyone who liked/reblogged/commented on part 1! it means a lot to me 🫶

Riorson House is more your home than Basgiath ever has been, but it’s become foreign to you in the three years you’d spent at the college. It feels like you’re hallucinating as you wander the halls.

Maybe everything that’s happened in the last few days has been a hallucination -- it wouldn't be the first time Varrish or Carr had pushed you to delirium with the amount of pain you’d taken for others.

Maybe it’s a dream. That’s it. A really bad dream. Any moment now, you’re going to wake up in Garrick’s bed and get ready for morning formation, and you’ll forget the sight of Liam dying by breakfast, when you’re sitting across from him at the table like you always do. Violet’s screams of pain will stop playing in your ears, replaced by her laughter at one of Ridoc’s jokes.

But no matter how much you pinch at your skin, you aren’t waking up. This is reality.

“I hear you’re a mender, too,” someone says in a gentle voice, bringing you out of your daze. Violet’s brother, Brennan.

“Does it ever get easier?” You ask quietly. “Does it always hurt this much?”

“Mending becomes easier. Seeing that kind of stuff every day doesn’t,” he replies, and the exhausted look on his face tells you he’s being honest. “But it shouldn’t hurt. Tell me more about that.”

“The second person I mended was a scribe who’d fallen from a ladder in the library and broken her leg. I did everything right, the bone set properly, but my leg hurt for a week, right where she’d broken hers.”

Brennan is silent, letting you continue.

“They broke Garrick’s arm in RSC. I was able to fix it for him, and I took the pain, but they broke it again two hours later. I mended him and Xaden over and over until I collapsed. I didn’t wake for two days. They both still think it was just exhausting for me. They don’t know about the pain.”

The tears are coming openly now, dripping down your cheeks, and you bring a hand up to wipe them away with the sleeve of your flight jacket. “But it isn’t all bad. I couldn’t save Liam, but I was able to make him more comfortable in the end. I took his pain away, and let him go in peace.”

You don’t tell him what death feels like. No description you could give could adequately prepare anyone for the cold sensation that still lingers in your chest. It will likely remain there for the next few days.

“Hey,” he says softly, “We’ll figure this out, I promise. For now, just try to get some rest.”

You nod quietly, looking back up at him. “Can someone please tell Garrick that I’m okay?” You ask in a small voice, folding your hands in your lap. You’d been heartbroken to realize that the rest of the squad had left for Basgiath before you woke, leaving you here alone.

You didn’t get to say goodbye to any of them, and you don’t know when you’ll see them again. Or if you’ll see them, you think, but you push the thought away quickly. They’ll survive. They have to.

Brennan cracks a smile - everyone in the rebel cause is aware of how deeply Garrick loves you. “Of course.”

———————————————————————

“Cadet Mairi died alongside his dragon, who was attacked by a drift of Gryphon riders. Cadet Avan attempted to mend them, and died trying,” Xaden says levelly, staring down the group of professors on the dais. “They both died honorable, but preventable deaths.”

Garrick knows Xaden is lying, knows you aren’t dead — or you hadn’t been when they left for Basgiath, at least, but his friend’s words have him on edge. Have you woken up yet?

Chradh speaks into his mind, sending a wave of hot rage through him. “Relax.”

“Relax?” He echoes, irate. “You’re telling me to relax right now, when-”

Chradh doesn’t bother to argue with him. “She is safe under the care of the silver one’s brother, where she will remain until the moment is right. It is better this way. She won’t be in pain anymore.”

Chradh doesn’t elaborate further. Fucking dragons and their constant need to speak in riddles.

The rest of the quadrant spends the night drinking and congratulating themselves on surviving, but Garrick doesn’t touch a drop of alcohol. The three of you were supposed to do this together. It wouldn’t be right to celebrate without you.

———————————————————————

“We’re gonna start from square one, with something that can’t hurt you,” Brennan says, placing two halves of a cracked plate on the table in front of you.

It’s simple enough to make the pieces rise into the air, using the same magic required to make a pen write for you. You concentrate, willing the halves to fuse together. They touch, and you think you’ve done it, your heart leaping, only to fall as they crash back down to the table again, splitting into even more pieces.

Brennan touches one of the shards, and they glue themselves back together perfectly; no cracks, no trace of the plate ever having been broken. “That’s what I thought.”

“Let me keep trying,” you begin, heart pounding. Brennan can’t think you’re a failure, not this early.

“You could sit here with this plate all day and it wouldn’t change,” he says gently, confirming what you know deep down. “I don’t think you’re a mender. I think you’re something else entirely.”

You sit with the information for a moment.

“Signets take the form of our base need as a person,” he says. “We need to find out what that is for you.”

You already know. “I wake up every day grateful that Xaden bargained for our lives, but I have done too much harm in my time at Basgiath. The crown has done too much harm to Tyrrendor. All I’ve ever wished for is to fix that, to undo the pain.”

“To undo the pain, or to help move forward and grow?” He asks gently.

You aren’t sure.

———————————————————————

You go through your morning stretches, as always, focusing on your breath to distract from the pain in your side.

“Your mate has returned.” Tab says, interrupting. “Thought you’d like to know.”

You bolt upright, running through the house toward the gates, bypassing Xaden to sprint straight toward Garrick.

He wraps you in a warm embrace, resting his chin on the top of your head. You still fit together like puzzle pieces, even after months apart.

“You’re alive,” you breathe. “Nobody would tell me anything, I was worried sick,”

“Of course I’m alive, angel. Had to come back to you.”

You trace the Lieutenant’s patch across his collarbone, memorizing the shape. It looks natural on him, like it’s always been there. It sounds good, too. Lieutenant Garrick Tavis.

“I need to tell you something,” you say quietly, “I haven’t been entirely honest with you about-“

Footsteps approach. “Sorry to break up the reunion,” Felix says, “but Avan, we need you.”

There’s something in his tone that has your heart pounding. Which of your friends is it going to be this time?

“Tell me later,” Garrick says. “Go. Do what you were made to do.”

You know he means well, but his words tie your stomach in a knot. What you were made to do. Were you truly made to endure the suffering of others?

———————————————————————

Every muscle in your body feels like it’s on fire as you slump into a chair, sitting down for the first time that day. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to get some sleep before you’re needed again.

“There you are. I didn’t see you in battle brief.” Garrick says, relieved.

“Haven’t been going,” you mumble. “They need me here. Bren’s teaching now, so s’ just me and one other mender.”

He realizes no healers had come with the riot from Basgiath. You likely haven’t left the infirmary since they’d arrived.

“Come to bed,” he coaxes softly. “You need sleep. You can't pour from an empty cup.”

Yes, you can. You have been for months.

He takes your hand, not giving you a choice. You lean into him as he leads you up the grand staircase to a room near Xaden’s. Your muscles protest every step, but you keep quiet.

You haven’t been in here for years, not since you’d left for Basgiath as candidates, but it’s exactly the same as you remember; dark drapery, bookshelves, a neat display of the knives that he hadn’t taken to school with him.

The sight has you in tears.

“Whoa, hey,” he says softly, pulling you closer, and you whimper in pain at the pressure against your ribs. He lets go immediately. “Angel, I’m sorry — are you hurt?”

You sob, the dam finally breaking and grief flooding out of you. You haven’t seen each other since that horrible day, you haven’t seen anyone from the squad you went with to Resson, haven’t had anyone to talk about it with, until now.

You shake your head, tears dripping down your cheeks. “I couldn’t save Liam. I tried, I really did. All I could do was take his pain away.”

So Xaden had told Basgiath the truth, to some degree: you tried to fix Liam, and couldn’t. The boy’s death had hurt you badly enough that Xaden wouldn’t let you return to the school.

“There was nothing else you could do. Nobody could save him, not after Deigh…”

“I know that, but it wasn’t just him. Everyone I’ve ever… fixed, I’ve taken the pain from their body into mine, and I can’t get rid of it for days.”

Garrick’s heart breaks. So that’s what Chradh meant when he said you wouldn’t be in pain anymore if you left Basgiath. Those eight-hour days of mending infantry may as well have been torture for you.

Torture. RSC. You’d healed his wounds, Xaden’s, Bodhi’s, Violet’s, time and time again without complaint, and he knew it took a lot out of you, but not that it hurt. “Angel, why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known…”

“I wanted to,” you sniffle, “I wanted to tell you a year ago when it started happening. I thought it was normal, that I was just weak, until Brennan told me that this doesn’t happen to him. He just gets tired, like everyone else does when they use their signets too much.”

You try to steady your breathing, but the pain in your not-broken ribs is too overwhelming. “I’ve spent hours practicing and I can’t even fix a broken plate. I’m not a mender. I don’t know what I am. Nobody does, not even the professors. Brennan thinks it’s getting better, but I don’t have it in me to tell him that it isn’t.”

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers. He wants to pull you into an embrace, wants to stroke your hair and tell you it’ll be okay, but he doesn’t want to hurt you any more than he already has.

“S’ not your fault.” You sniff.

“But it’s not yours, either,” he reminds you gently. “You’re so strong, angel. You crossed the parapet, ran the gauntlet, you bonded a dragon, and you’ve endured everything else. Please don’t ever think for a second that you’re weak.”

He takes your hand in his, watching your face carefully, but you don’t wince at the touch. “We’ll talk to Brennan tomorrow, together. For now, I just want you to get some sleep, okay?”

You nod silently, having run out of tears.

“Attagirl.”

As you settle into bed next to him, freshly showered and wearing one of his warm sweaters, you swear the pain has dimmed.

———————————————————————

When Garrick takes you to see Brennan the next morning, he isn’t alone. Your professors are seated beside him, along with some of the Tyrrish elders.

Devera speaks first. “We owe you an apology, Cadet Avan. The faculty was unaware that Carr and Varrish were using your signet as a method of punishment, or that it pains you to use it.”

“And I owe you an apology,” you say quietly. “I should have come back after the War Games.”

“That was my decision,” Xaden says firmly, “and I stand by it. She was in no condition to return to the school, much less to graduate and be stationed at an outpost across the continent from her support system, while still feeling the coldness of Cadet Mairi’s death.”

How does he know that you could feel it? Had you told him in your delirium? Had Brennan told him? Had you even told Brennan?

“Your friends have effectively plead your case, and we agree that you have satisfied all the requirements for graduation from the Rider’s Quadrant.” Emeterrio says. “Congratulations, Lieutenant.”

Garrick slips your flight jacket onto your shoulders, and you notice the Lieutenant insignia has already been sewn on, to match his. When did he…?

You accept the handshake Devera offers you, still a little dazed, but there’s one more order of business to address.

“May I rejoin my old squad?” You ask the table of professors quietly. “They are family to me. I would like to ride with them again, and aid them however I can.”

They exchange hesitant looks, and your heart sinks. Do they not think you’re good enough?

“I don’t see why not,” Brennan says firmly enough for everyone else to agree — he outranks the professors with the years he’s been part of the movement.

You exhale in relief.

Garrick cheers. “The dream team is back, baby!” He pulls you into a gentle embrace, knowing you’re still in pain, but wanting to hold you close.

You laugh, not minding the ache in your ribs.

Xaden is unimpressed. “When have we ever once called ourselves the dream team?”

“We haven’t, but I’m starting now. It’ll stick. I’ll have it embroidered on your flight jacket, Xay.”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Xaden replies, setting off a brotherly argument behind you.

You look to the leadership once more, bowing your head in respect. “Thank you. For everything.”

Devera gives you a warm smile. “I am glad to see you have found your place here, Lieutenant. Remember that your empathy is a gift, even in times of war.”

Empathy.

“Am I dismissed?” You ask.

“Yes, Lieutenants, you are all dismissed,” Emeterrio answers dryly, looking over your shoulder at Garrick and Xaden. The latter has the former in a playful headlock, messing up his hair.

“Human boys,” Tab says, exasperated. You laugh in agreement, leaving them in the Assembly room to sort themselves out.

It’s easy enough to find who you’re looking for — he’s the only person sitting completely alone in the mess, a textbook open in front of him that he isn’t reading. He’s gazing into the distance, eyes unfocused, but he looks up when he realizes you’re standing in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, “about what I saw in Varrish’s office. I had no idea how much you all have endured. What we are taught in Navarre is only one side of the story, but you showed me the other.”

“I’m glad I could help change your mind.”

He reaches into the pocket of his flight jacket and extends a hand. Your protection rune sits in his palm, complete with a new leather cord. “A peace offering. I stole it back from Varrish, and Brennan mended it.”

You smile, taking it from him and slipping it back over your head. “You’re turning into quite the rule-breaker, Aetos. But thank you. It means a lot to me.”

You’re about to leave, but something compels you to impart a piece of advice. “I know how it feels when people don’t want to trust you because of your family history. It’ll take a while for some of them to warm up to you, but you can make it go a lot faster if you keep yourself out of trouble.”

———————————————————————

Your first flight back with your squad is supposed to be easy, a surveying flight with a small riot, just to check their perimeters, but you can’t seem to quell your anxiety as you take off.

“We will be fine, gentle one. We’re in strong company,” Tab reassures. He stays close to Chradh, knowing Garrick’s proximity will calm you. “How does it feel to be back?”

“Good. I’ve missed this.”

“You have always enjoyed being up this high,” he agrees. “Shall we review some of our basic maneuvers?”

“Sure.” Maybe that will settle your nerves.

“Hold on.” Tab dips, practicing all the angles — banking right, left, up, down.

“Something is wrong,” you blurt, and Tab straightens his path immediately, falling back into the formation. Every nerve in your body pulses with a sensation you’ve never felt before, standing on end. “Something really bad is going to happen.”

You’re right.

“Wyvern,” Tab warns just as they come into your line of sight. They charge straight at the front of the riot, where Sgaeyl leads the pack.

You’re outmatched, nearly two dozen of them and only ten of you. You’re going to die here. At least you’ll be with your best friends.

“That kind of thinking isn’t helpful!” Tab scolds, tightening the formation.

One gets too close for comfort, spewing blue flame, and Chradh banks hard - too hard. You gasp in horror as Garrick is thrown from his seat down to the ground below.

“Dive!” You yell, and Tab follows without hesitation, making a near-vertical drop.

You’ve never been so grateful for the running landing they’d taught you last year. It had been excruciating to execute on top of the pain of unbroken bones, but it’s just manageable now after a few days off from the infirmary.

Clutching Failsafe for dear life, your only defense, you sprint toward Garrick’s limp body, ripping off your goggles.

His heart still beats, but multiple bones look broken, his breathing labored. Touching him is almost unbearable, which tells you he won’t last much longer if you don’t do something.

Deep breaths, like Brennan had taught you, to accept their pain as it entered your body, holding it before batting it away like a fly.

You still haven’t figured out how to make that work.

Hot tears roll down your cheeks, and you start to berate yourself; Why can’t you do this? Compose yourself. Garrick is going to die if you can’t pull it together. Garrick is going to die, just like Liam did, because you aren’t strong enough to fix a fucking plate.

Anger overcomes you for the first time since you’d watched your parents die six years ago. You scream, a sound like nothing you’ve ever heard before splitting the air. The pain dissipates almost instantly. For the first time in two years, your body isn’t aching, and you sob in relief.

Garrick bolts upright, gasping for breath as spring blooms across the snowy plain, trees with bare branches suddenly teeming with green leaves.

Tab roars in pride and the rest of the riot joins in, the cliffs shaking from the volume of their celebration.

“Lifebringer!” He thunders into your mind.

Your head snaps upward, and you realize that the ground is littered with motionless wyvern.

Garrick pulls you to your feet, brushing the tears from your cheeks. “Come on, angel,” he says, grinning, “we have a war to win.”

You’re still dazed as Tab brings you back to Riorson house, Garrick helping you dismount and leading you inside.

“We have a weapon,” Xaden says, actually smiling as he faces the assembly. “Something, someone, that can destroy wyvern in their tracks.”

Garrick keeps you glued to his side as Xaden tells the elders what happened, but it’s all in one ear, out the other.

You’re dismissed after a few minutes, heading back out to the mess, where your friends gather around one of the large tables in the library.

“Tab called me lifebringer,” you say, confused. “What is that?”

“I thought it was just folklore,” Violet says from a few rows down, scanning the shelves, and everyone turns to her, listening. “Lifebringers are said to influence healing and growth. In some cultures, they’ve been credited with ending famines by rejuvenating harvests, and saving the innocent from the grasp of Malek and his Death.”

“Wicked,” Ridoc appraises quietly.

“Aha.” Violet produces a thin volume, cracking it open to the right page. The illustration there looks uncannily like you.

“Only the purest of heart can be lifebringers, those who hold no malice toward their fellow man. The weapons they carry are sharp, but unused,” she reads aloud. “Garrick gave you Failsafe as just that — a failsafe. You never drew blood with it. You never hurt anyone except in challenges, when it was kill or be killed, and even then you held back.”

Bodhi speaks next. “With most signets, the stronger the wielder’s emotion, the more powerful the ability becomes. You feel empathy for the wounded, so you can fix them and ease their pain, but when you thought Garrick was going to die, that was another level of distress, and I guess it was enough to overcome the dark magic.”

Garrick squeezes your shoulder in reassurance that he’s still very much alive beside you.

Violet closes the book, setting it down.

“I’m not in pain anymore,” you whisper, still dazed. You’ve almost forgotten what that feels like, having spent the last three years holding both your own and that of all your friends.

“You needed an outlet,” Xaden says. “Pain makes it harder to channel, and you were in pain 24/7, which is why the professors thought your signet was underdeveloped. Getting angry, and getting that energy out of your body allowed you to use the full extent of your power.”

“If I had known this earlier, do you think I could have…” you don’t finish the sentence. Everyone in this room knows how hard you’d tried to save Liam.

“Maybe,” Violet says quietly, “but that is not a path you want to go down. Trust me.”

———————————————————————

“Do you want to explain why the hallway was full of sunflowers when I went to bed last night?” Xaden asks slyly, dropping into a seat in front of you with a plate of eggs and bacon.

You burn with embarrassment.

Bodhi grins. “You see, cousin, when a man and a woman love each other very much, - ow, fuck!” He exclaims, rubbing the back of his head where Garrick had whacked him.

“At least they didn’t set the vale on fire,” another of your squadmates says, looking at Xaden and Violet pointedly. “You still owe me for putting that out, by the way.”

Your eyes widen as you connect the dots. “So all that dry lightning last year was you two…”

“Okay, changing the subject!” Brennan says loudly, not liking the way this conversation is headed. “We need to figure out how to use your signet without endangering Tavis’s life again.”

“Well, it sounds like they already found another way,” Ridoc says, grinning, but he squeaks out an apology as Garrick begins to rise from his chair.

You tug your boyfriend back into his seat by the sleeve, looking past him at Brennan. “I think I need to work a few days in the infirmary between flights,” you propose. “If I build up enough pain, I could probably-“

“NO,” the whole squad says at once, Tab included.

“Your healing is only to be used when absolutely necessary,” Xaden orders, and even though you’re on equal footing now, both newly-minted Lieutenants, you agree quietly without protest.

“See, that’s your problem,” Sloane says, and all eyes turn to her. “You defer to literally everyone. You’re an officer now. Act like it.”

“Pardon?” You ask, looking at her in disbelief.

“That’s exactly what she’s talking about,” Imogen cuts in. “Pardon? You can’t even discipline a first-year cadet. Do you really think any veteran rider will ever listen to what you have to say?”

“Enough,” you say firmly, your nails digging into the wood.

None of your friends intervene, not even Brennan. This has to be another nightmare. There’s no way they'd hang you out to dry like this. Right?

Sloane isn’t finished. “It’s a miracle you made it out of Basgiath alive. You’re too soft. If you won’t kill anyone, what are you going to do when it’s between your life or someone else’s? Their life or his?”

The mention of Garrick is your last straw. “That is enough from both of you, Cadets,” you reprimand. Thorny vines burst from the seams of the table, whipping out toward them, and they stagger back to avoid being cut.

You startle, your heart pounding against your ribs as you realize what you’ve done.

Sloane is the first to apologize. “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean any of it. I just thought that provoking you might…” she doesn’t finish the sentence, looking down at the still-twitching vines covering the tabletop.

“We definitely took it too far,” Imogen adds, sounding genuinely remorseful. “That was a really fucked up thing for me to say. I’m sorry.”

Bodhi waves a hand, and the vines slither back into the table, as if they were never there.

Your eyes widen at the blood on his cheeks — he’d been caught in the crossfire. You touch his face with a shaky hand, only brushing your fingertips across the skin, and the scratches disappear instantly, leaving no trace of the harm you’d done.

Somehow that makes you feel worse.

“Well,” Garrick says in his section-leader voice, “that was certainly informative, but none of you are to ever disrespect her like that again. Is that clear?”

“Yes,” both girls answer quietly, heads lowered in shame.

Your breathing has steadied enough to speak. “I understand why you did that, but I’m not going to tell you that it was okay, because it wasn’t.”

With that, you take your plate and leave. Nobody follows you.

———————————————————————

The balcony door slides open, soft footsteps approaching.

“I want to be alone, Gare,” you say quietly.

“Not Garrick,” Xaden replies, settling down next to you on the stone floor, “and you may want to be alone right now, but you probably shouldn’t be.”

“I didn't mean to hurt anyone, Xay. You know that,” you whisper. You don’t move your gaze from the potted plant in front of you, as if you’re worried it will lash out at you — or him — if you turn away.

“I know, angel. I know.” He exhales deeply, a gentle cloud forming with the warmth of his breath.

There’s a moment of quiet before he speaks again, just the sound of the cold wind over the valley and the distant footsteps of cadets running on the trail below. “Working through this is not going to be easy, but if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

You’ve come to hate that notion, everyone’s insistence that the pain you’ve been through has primed you for more pain, different pain. Why can’t it ever end?

#garrick tavis x reader #fourth wing x reader #fourth wing fanfic #fourth wing reader insert #garrick tavis #fourth wing #reader insert #imagine

597 notes · View notes

nomie-11 · 6 months ago

Text

Chapter 8 - Resilience, Lexicon, and Coincidences

<- previous chapter | masterlist | series masterlist | next chapter ->

“This isn’t right,” Sawyer mutters, refolding the homework map for RSC. “I can’t get number four no matter how many times I count the little elevation lines.”

“That’s north,” Violet tells him, tapping the bottom of the folded monstrosity. “You’re looking at the wrong sector for the question. Trust me, I had to ask Genevieve for help last night.”

“Ugh. This is some infantry bullshit.” He shoves the map into his pocket.

“You asked Genevieve for help?” Ridco quipped, raising a brow. “Isn’t it normally flipped?”

Violet grimaced slightly at the prospect of her needing academic help, but nodded. “She’s freakishly good at the survival stuff.”

“What can I say, maybe being abandoned by my mother did have a positive effect on me after all.” Genevieve grinned, crossing her arms over her chest with a smug look in her eyes.

The group exchanged glances at Genevieve’s remark. Ridoc shifted uncomfortably but Sawyer snorted a laugh, breaking the tension.

“You might be the only person alive who can spin ‘childhood trauma’ into a brag,” he said, shaking his head.

Genevieve smirked. “It’s called resilience, Sawyer. Look it up.”

And then Genevieve turned around, her own map unfolded in front of her. Random circles and lines were scribbled down onto it, her new and messy handwriting scrawling her little survival notes all around the edges. With Genevieve’s attention shifted, Violet smiled and leaned in to Ridoc and Sawyer.

“I taught her the word resilience last night,” She grinned.

“Hey!” Genevieve whipped back around, glaring at Violet. “I heard that!” she said, pointing an accusatory finger.

Not long after Violet had learned about Genevieve’s lack of schooling, she encouraged Genevieve to tell the rest of the squad. Which she did solely because she was grateful that Violet was talking with her again. Not because she needed more than just Violet could provide. Definitely not.

Violet raised her hands in surrender, but her grin only widened. “You’re welcome for the vocabulary expansion. Use it wisely.”

“Whatever.” Genevieve rolled her eyes, though the faint smile tugging at her lips betrayed her amusement. “Next time, I’ll keep my newfound lexicon to myself.”

Violet nodded her head at Genevieve’s subtle questioning gaze, wondering whether or not she had used ‘lexicon’ correctly, and Genevieve grinned.

Before Ridoc or Sawyer could quip back, Rhiannon approached, slightly breathless.

“Finally! You’d think leadership would be on time.” Ridoc said, feigning annoyance by puffing a stream of air to a stray curl on his forehead.

“Leadership was in a meeting,” Rhiannon replies, holding up a collection of missives. “And leadership was given the mail!”

Genevieve feels the hope leap up in her chest for a moment, before she quickly squashes it.

“Ridoc,” Sawyer says, handing over a letter. “Sawyer.” She turns, giving him the next one. “Me.” She flips that one to the back. “And Violet.”

“Anything for me?” The hope flickers up again for half a breath.

Rhiannon glances down at the single letter left in the pile, clearly addressed to a Ms. Rhiannon Matthias, and not a Ms. Genevieve Hale. “No, nothing. I’m sorry.”

Genevieve keeps her face impassive, the flicker of hope dying so quickly it almost hurts worse than if it hadn’t been there at all. She shrugs, trying to seem nonchalant. “Figures. No one’s got my address, anyway.”

The lie is easy to say, but Violet’s watchful eye peels every layer of Genevieve’s facade until she’s looking directly at the shattered pieces of Genevieve’s heart that she’s been working so desperately to repair.

Genevieve knows that her mother couldn’t write. It would expose the entire rebellion, and it wasn’t like she even wanted a letter from her mother. She wanted nothing to do with her mother, but Xaden?

Her shoulders drop just slightly, which is just… pathetic.

“No letter from Xaden?” Rhiannon asks softly, not paying any attention to Ridoc reading a record of his father’s gripes out loud to Sawyer.

She shrugs, but it’s hard to keep the dejection and frustration out of her voice. “I know better.”

“You miss him, don’t you?” Rhiannon’s voice drops further as they shuffle closer to the steps up to the Vale.

“Not really.” She shakes her head no. But Violet mouths ‘she does!’ over to Rhiannon, who shakes her head yes.

Genevieve shoots Violet a sharp look. “I don’t.”

Violet doesn’t even bother humoring Genevieve as she folds her own letter and tucks it into her jacket. “Sure, you don’t. That’s why you stare at the sky every night like it owes you answers.”

Genevieve crosses her arms, a small scowl on her lips. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“That’s besides the point,” Rhiannon waves off Violet before leaning in towards Genevieve. “Are you two together? I mean, everyone knows you're sleeping together, and gods know you have some weird attachment to him, but something’s off with you.”

Genevieve glances ahead, making sure Sawyer and Ridoc are engrossed in their letters. This is a truth Genevieve doesn’t have to dance around. “Not anymore.” She scoffs.

“Why?” she asks, confusion etching into her forehead. “What happened?”

Genevieve opens her mouth, then shuts it. Maybe the truth isn’t that easy, because she can’t exactly tell Rhiannon Xaden hid an entire rebellion from her, and hid the truth about her sister’s life, and her sister’s death, and lied about her mother’s existence.

“You can tell me, you know.” She forces a smile, and the hurt Genevieve can see behind it makes her feel like total and complete shit. “I know you already tell Violet everything, but I care about you too.”

“I know.”

They reach the top of the stairs, walking into the boxy canyon of the flight field, and her heart swells at the sight of the dragons organized in the same formation as they stand in the courtyard. It’s a beautiful, terrifying, humbling kaleidoscope (new vocabulary word, bonus points for Genevieve!) of power that steals the breath from her lungs.

“This is never going to get old, is it?” Violet says as they follow Ridoc and Sawyer across formation, a smile taking over Rhiannon’s face.

“I don’t think so.” Genevieve says, and her, Violet, and Rhiannon share a look, and she breaks. “Xaden wasn’t honest with me about a lot of things.” She says quietly, feeling like she owes Rhiannon something true. “I don’t talk to people who won't talk to me.”

Her eyes flare. “He lied?’

“No.” Her hands clenched into fists. “Stupid bastard didn’t tell me the entire truth. He still won’t.”

“Another woman?” her brows rise. “Because I will absolutely annihilate that shadow-wielding asshole if you guys were exclusive and he—”

“No, gods no,” Genevieve snorts. “Nothing like that.” The group passes by Second Wing’s dragons. “It’s… it’s just complicated. Anyways, how are you and Tara? I feel like I haven’t seen her around.”

She sighs. “Neither of us has enough time for the other. It sucks, but maybe it will ease up next year when neither of us are squad leaders anymore.”

“Or maybe you’ll be wingleaders.” Genevieve offers with a small smile, the thought of Rhiannon as a wingleader made perfect sense. She would be fantastic.

“Maybe,” There’s a bounce to her step. “But in the meantime, we’re free to see whoever we want. What about you? Because if you’re single, I have to say that a couple of the guys in Second Wing somehow got hotter after War Games.” Her eyes sparkle, and Genevieve feels the heat creep up her face.

“Or, you guys could secretly visit Chantra this weekend and hook up with some infantry cadets,” Violet offers with a teasing smile. “Healers might be all right, too, but I have the feeling you guys draw the line at scribes. I’m just saying, we’re second years, no need to be hung up on a guy who lied to you.”

Genevieve shot Violet an exasperated look, and Violet just shrugged with a smile. Genevideve knows that a random stranger might be what she needs to flush Xaden clean out of her system, but she doesn’t want that. She wants him.

Rhiannon studies her face like she’s a puzzle that needs to be solved as they continue down the field. “Shit. You are hung up on him.”

“I’m…” she runs a hand through her hair. “It’s complicated.”

“You said that already.” She tries to school her expression, but she catches the flash of disappointment when Genevieve doesn’t elaborate. Quickly, her gaze flickers over to Violet, and the conversation shifts. “Mira have anything to say about the front?”

“Not sure.” Violet glances through the letter, skimming over it. “She’s been reassigned to Athebyne—oh, and Genevieve, she says thank you for saving my life—and she say’s the food is only a step above our mother’s cooking.” Violet snorts, but as she flips the page over, the laughter dies quickly on her throat. “What the…” she flips to the next page, finding more of the same before she signs off.

“What’s wrong?” Rhiannon looks up from her own letter at Genevieve’s question. The group passes by the Third Wing dragons as they continue down the rows.

“I think it’s been redacted.” She flashes the letter and the two girls so they can see the lines, and then looks around to make sure no one else notices.

“Someone censored your letter?” She looks surprised.

“And,” Genevieve continued. “Someone read your letter?”

“It was unsealed.” She stuffs it back into the envelope.

“Who would do that?” Rhiannon presses.

Genevieve immediately pulls up a mental list. Melgren. Markham. General Sorrengail. Varrish. Anyone under Aetos’ order. There’s an endless list of option, and Genevieve knows Violet has the same list swimming around her head. “I’m not sure,” Violet says softly.

They continue down the rows, Train’s head far above the other dragons on the field as he huffs at Astrape for bothering him over Dunne knows what. He looks completely and utterly bored as he waits for her, and Genevieve takes immediate notice of the lack of a saddle on Astrape’s back.

She passes a glance at Violet who is deep in conversation with Ridoc, brows drawn as they talk about something she’s not catching.

And then, all of a sudden, Tairn straightens. “On your left,” he warns as a shape approaches from behind.

Genevieve whips around quickly to face the threat, making sure her shields are securely slammed down and shut tight. Varrish saunters toward her, and she immediately tenses.

“Ah, Hale, there you are.”

As if Tairn is hard to miss.

“Major Varrish.” She leaves her hand at her thigh, where she can easily grab hold of a dagger. She has no clue what his signet is, and she’s not about to take chances, watching as dark vines break the surface of the field and slowly creep around the ground.

“Quite the necklace you have there.” He points to the greenish bruises on her throat.

“Thank you.” She clips her words. Would you like one, too? “It was expensive. Cost someone their life.”

“Ah, that’s right. I recall hearing you were nearly done in by a first-year. Good to see that the embarrassment didn’t finish the job he started. I assume you didn’t life weave him immediately so as to not show the first year your signet?”

She clenches her jaw.

“Actually,” Genevieve interrupts sharply, her eyes narrowing, “unlike some people, I don’t kill just to show off.” Her voice is cold and clipped, every word a dagger aimed at his smug expression. She plants her feet, arms crossed, daring him to push her further as the vines creep higher and higher on her legs.

The Major smirks, unaffected by her barbed reply. “Is that so? Interesting philosophy, Hale, but don’t let it make you soft. This isn’t a game; this is war.” He takes a deliberate step closer, his gaze flickering to the dragons behind her. “I want to see your signet. So maybe you should be showing off. Or perhaps you prefer to rely on others to fight your battles?” His gaze flickers upwards, catching the sun on Tairn’s scales.

A growl rumbles up Tairn’s throat, and he angles his head over her. Saliva drips in giant globs, hitting the ground in front of Varrish. He tenses, but maintains a perfect mask of amusement as he steps back. “Always had a temper, this one.”

“He likes his space.”

“I’ve noticed he likes you to have yours, too,” he comments. “Tell me, Hale, how do you feel about the way he gives you… oh, shall we say, an easier path to take than your fellow cadets?”

“If you mean to ask how I feel about how he stopped the needless execution of bonded riders by your dragon after Parapet, then I’d have to say that I feel very good about it. I guess it takes one bad-tempered dragon to keep another civil.”

“Remind him that I threatened to digest him alive.” Tairn snarks, growling deeper.

“I think he would stick me on a skewer and toss me off the roof, but thanks.”

Varrish’s eyes narrow momentarily on hers, and then smiles, a sick, familiar smile. “About your signet—”

“I’m not running tests for you, sorry.”

“Is that so?” Varrish tilts his head, the sick smile widening into something predatory. “You misunderstand, Hale. This isn’t a request. You will show me what you can do.”

Genevieve’s heart hammers in her chest, but her voice stays steady. “And if I refuse?”

He leans closer, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper. “Then I’ll have no choice but to make a formal inquiry into what really happened to that dungeon they kept you in. I assume it wasn’t renovated, and who would miss an orphan with no ties, no prospects, and a questionable attitude?”

Her fists clench, nails biting into her palms, but she doesn’t speak. Any word she says now will betray her, because she wants nothing more than to curse him out and cry.

“It’s ironic, don’t you think?” Varrish asks, retreating one step at a time. “Your father kept all those journals, all on his studies of signets and what they really mean and do, and now you end up with one of the rarest signets ever.”

“Coincidental,” she corrects him, somewhat of a smug grin on her face at the fact that she was correcting him. “The word you meant to say is ‘coincidental.’”

“Is it?” He seems to ponder, backing away and passing by Bodhi. Her head pounds and her stomach flips.

“Is it?”

“Your signet manifested on its own, I had no say in whatever powers you gained,” Tairn promises.

She huffs, confused and stressed out of her mind as her head pulses in pain.

“Riders!” Kaori projects his voice across the field as Bodhi reaches her side. “Third-years have joined us today for a very special reason. They’ll be demonstrating a running landing.” he gestures to the sky.

Cath is on approach from the west, the Red Swordtail blocking out the sun for a second as he dives for the field.

“He’s not slowing down,” Genevieve murmurs, and a part of her hopes Dain will just fall off of Cath’s back.

“He will,” Bodhi reassures her. “Just not by much.”

A slow grin spreads across Genevieve’s lips as she watches Dain crouch on Cath’s shoulder, his arms flying out for balance as Cath drops to fly level with the field. The beats of Cath’s wings slow only slighter the closer he gets, and Genevieve holds her breath when Dain slides down Cath’s leg to perch on his claw while his dragon is still flying.

Holy shit. This looks so fun!

“This is inadvisable for you,” Tairn says.

“You’re such a buzzkill.” She grumbles in return.

Cath flares his wings subtly, enough to drop speed, and Dain jumps as he passes by the professors. He hits the sunburned grass at a run, dispelling the momentum from Cath’s flight within a few yards, and comes to a stop.

The third-years cheer, but Bodhi remains silent at her side.

“And that is why Aetos is a wingleader,” Kaori calls out. “Perfect execution. This approach is the most efficient landing for when we need to engage in ground combat. By the time this year is over, you’ll be able to land like this on any outpost wall. Pay close attention, and you’ll be able to complete this safely. Try your own method, and you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.”

“Adaptation will be necessary,” Tairn decrees.

“At least let me try it!”

“Not a chance, little soldier.”

“For today, we’re going to practice the basics of moving from the seat to the shoulder,” Kaori instructs.

“And how are we adapting to that exactly?” Her tone is nothing short of sarcastic.

“I didn’t say we would be adjusting.” He chuffs. “The dragon-watcher will adapt his request, or I’ll have an early lunch.”

“You suck.”

But a dragon over, her and Violet share a glance. This maneuver is totally and completely pointless in the kind of war they need to be fighting.

“Kaori doesn’t know what’s out there,” She says softly to Bodhi.

“What makes you so sure?” He glances her way.

“If he did, he’d be teaching us faster ways to get off the damned ground, not land on it.”

—--------------------------------------------------

“Tell him that we’re still working on the next shipment,” Bodhi tells Genevieve as they walk through the moonlight flight field a little before midnight.

“Shipment of what?” Genevieve prompts, adjusting the brace on her wrist slightly with a small wince.

“He’ll know what I’m talking about,” he promises, and Genevieve notices as his fingers graze the dark bruise on his jaw. “And tell him it’s raw. They’ve had the forge burning night and day, so we haven’t been able to—” He flinches. “Nevermind. Just tell him it’s raw.”

“I’m starting to feel a lot like a letter.” She shoots a glare at him for half a second before she looks back at the uneven terrain. Violet had given her the prompt advice that she would need to keep her eyes forward when walking in the dark, because the last time they were out at night together, she took a tumble down a set of stairs and ended up with more than a bruised ego.

“You’re the best way of getting information to him,” he admits.

“Without actually knowing anything, right?”

“Precisely.” he nods. “It’s safer that way until you're capable of shielding from Aetos at all times. Xaden was supposed to continue teaching you last visit, but then…”

“I killed a cadet and got strangled.”

“Yeah. It kind of fucked with his head.”

“I imagine that dropping dead randomly would have been inconvenient to him,” She mutters, half listening. Ever since that incident, Genevieve had been increasingly worried about challenges that were steadily approaching, especially since the only reason Violet survived last year was because she was poisoning people, and now Genevieve was dealing with her body.

“You know it’s not like that for him,” he says in a lecturing tone that reminds her of Xaden. “I’ve never seen him—”

“Bodhi, be quiet.”

“--care like this—”

“Shut up.”

“---and that includes Catriona.”

Her gaze whips towards him. “Who the fuck is Catriona?”

He winces and presses his lips in a thin line. “What are the chances that you’ll forget I said that between here and Samara?”

“Absolutely none.” She stumbles on a rock, or her feelings, but she manages to catch her footing, cursing under her breath. Who the hell is Catriona?

“Right.” he rubs the back of his neck and sighs deeply. “Not even the tiniest bit of a chance? Because the thing about the deal you two have with your dragons is that he’ll be back here next week, and I’m not remotely in the mood to have my ass kicked after fending off another assassination attempt.”

Genevieve halts, her eyes narrowing. “Another assassination attempt?”

He sighs. “Yeah. Second time someone tried to jump me in the bathing chamber this week.”

Her eyes widen as she lets out a slow breath of air. “Are you okay?”

He has the gall to grin. “I completely eviscerated some asshole out of Second Wing while naked and only got a bruise. I’m fine. But back to why you shouldn’t mention that comment to my rather moody cousin you’re sleeping with—”

“You know what?” Genevieve interrupts, walking to the middle of the field again. If he doesn’t want to talk about the assassination attempts, fine, but she will not be talking about her sexual relations with Xaden’s cousin. “I don’t talk about my love life with my best friend, I’m certainly not talking about my love life with you, Bodhi.”

He shoves his hands in his pockets and leans back on his heels. “You make a fair point.”

“I made the only point.” She huffs, and Tairn’s silhouette blocks the moon for a heartbeat before he lands promptly in front of her.

Bodhi grins sheepishly. “Your dragon has arrived in time to save us from the awkwardness of this conversation.”

“Come, let's get going.” Tairn all but snap, and Genevieve shrugs it off. He’s been insufferable for days now, but she can’t blame him. She hasn’t exactly been the nicest either, and she can feel the physical pain like a knife to her own chest when his emotions overpower hers.

“He’s in a rush,” She tells Bodhi. “See you later and—”

“Humans!”

“Gods, sorry,”

“Well, fuck,” Bodhi swears under his breath as mage lights flicker on behind them, lighting up the field the sam way they had the night they flew for War Games.

“Cadet Hale, you will delay your launch.” Varrish amplifies his voice across the field.

They turn and see him flanked by two other riders, walking their way. Tairn growls in answer, and the two humans exchange a glance in silence as the trio approaches.

“What do we do if they try to stop us?” Genevieve asks Tairn.

“Feast.”

“Sick.”

“I didn’t expect you to leave until morning,” Varrish says, flashing an oily smile as the other riders flank them. The stripes on their uniform declare them as first lieutenants, one rank above Xaden.

“It’s been a fortnight. I’m on leave.”

“So you are.” Varrish blinks, before turning to the female lieutenant on her left. “Nora, search her bag.”

“I’m sorry?” Genevieve asks incredulously, taking a step back between her and the woman.

“Your bag,” Varrish repeats. “Article Four, Section One of the Codex states—”

“That all cadet belongings are subject to search at the discretion of command,” She finishes for him, grateful for the fact that not even three nights ago Violet had forced her to finally read and memorize the codex.

“Ah, you know your Codex. Good. Your bag.”

She swallows back the urge to roll her eyes, then drops her pack from her shoulders and holds it out to her left, never taking her eyes off of Varrish.

“You may leave, Cadet Durran,” Varrish dismisses.

Bodhi only makes a move closer to Genevieve’s side, and the male lieutenant takes a step closer as well, the mage lights catching the signet patch—fire wielding—on his uniform. “As Cadet Hale’s section leader, I am the next in her chain of command. And as Article Four, Section Two of the Codex states, her discipline falls to her chain of command before being brought to the cadre. I would be negligent in my duty were I to leave her in potential possession of… whatever it is you’re looking for.”

Varrish narrows his eyes as Nora empties her bag onto the ground, watching as her fresh set of clothes tumble out of the opening and onto the dirty floor. So much for a set of clean clothes.

Tairn lowers his head behind her, angling slightly to the side and growling deeply in his throat. At this angle, he can scorch two of them without touching Bodhi or Genevieve, which would only leave them with one to dispatch if they had to. Anger prickles along Genevieve’s spine, and she clenches her hands into fists as if that will stop the vines that slowly creep up her legs from making their presence known.

“Was that really necessary?” the other lieutenant asks.

“He said search,” Nora replies before looking up at Varrish. “Clothing,” she says, flipping the pieces over. Her hands tremble when she glances in Tairn’s direction. “A hairbrush… and what looks like secondary school grammar and vocabulary practices.”

Genevieve fights to shift her gaze from the overwhelming shame of exposure.

“Rudimentary grammar?” Varrish comments with a smirk. “This quadrant really has gone soft, letting in cadets who are borderline illiterate. Give me the book.”

Genevieve’s scowl deepens on her face. “Need a refresher?”

Varrish doesn’t respond as he flips through the pages of terrible handwriting, no doubt looking for secrets scrawled into the margins. His jaw flexes when all he finds are rules on how to use a semicolon, and how to spell ‘ambidextrous.’

“Satisfied?” She drums her fingers along the sheaths at her thighs.

“We’re done here.” He tosses the book onto a pile of clothing. “See you in forty-eight hours, Cadet Hale. And don’t forget, since you dodged signet testing last time, I will be pondering your punishment for dereliction of duty while you are gone.”

And with that threat, the trio walks away, the mage lights winking off one by one as they pass, leaving the two of them in the dark again, except for the circle of light directly above us.

“You knew that was going to happen,” She glares at Bodhi, before crouching in front of her discarded things, and packing them into the bag. “That’s why you insisted on walking me out.”

“In addition to the very real attempts on all of our lives—Imogen and Eya were attacked today, too, coming out of a briefing for third-years—we suspected they’d search you but wanted to confirm,” he admits, dropping down to help.

Immediately Genevieve scrambles to grab her books before he can really see how far behind she is, and he doesn’t press when her hands curl protectively around the book on the floor between them.

“You used me as a test?” She jerks the fastener on the pack closed and shoves her arms through the straps, hoisting it to her shoulders. “Without even telling me? Let me guess–it was Xaden’s idea?”

“It was an experiment.” He grimaces. “You were the control.”

“Aren’t experiments supposed to also have a variable?”

The bells ring out, the sound faint from the field.

“Check Tairn. It’s midnight. You should get going,” Bodhi says. “Every minute you stay is one fewer that Tairn gets with Sgaeyl.”

“Agreed.”

“Stop using me like I’m some kind of game piece, Bodhi.” Each word is sharper than the last. “You two want my help? Ask for it. And there was no reason for you to send me out here tonight unprepared, it’s not like Varrish needs any more leverage over me, and I didn’t ask to be humiliated in front of him.”

He looks abashed. “Fair point.”

She grumbles out a nod, then mounts the ramp that Tairn has insisted on creating everytime they need to fly now. Moonlight and what little mage light reaches his height is more than sufficient for her to find that what looks like Astrape’s saddle is now securely strapped to Tairn’s back, and two packs twice the size of her’s are securely strapped behind the saddle.

“A saddle?” She asks, distaste dancing on her tongue.

“Blame Violet,” He shrugs.

“Good thing they didn’t search me,” Tairn says.

“Are we carrying…” She blinks twice.

“We are,” He confirms. “Now get in the saddle before they change their minds and I’m forced to incinerate your leadership. Later I’ll have more than a few words for the wingleader about not preparing you, trust me.”

Taking a second to secure her pack, too, she settles into the flight, dragging the leather across her thighs and strapping in.

“Let’s get to them,” She says once she’s buckled.

Tairn backs up a few steps, no doubt to keep Bodhi clear of his giant wingspan, and then launches into the night, every wingbeat taking them closer to the front lines… and to Xaden.

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

Hey everyone! Merry Christmas and happy hannukah! Also—happy new years! This is my last update of 2024 which is kinda crazy to me (lol). Anyways, not much to say really about this one, it’s mostly filler.

I do like writing Genevieve being a little bit happier. She deserves that, and she’s genuinely enjoying her tutoring sessions with violet and now studying with the rest of the squad, as well as being leagues ahead of them for once in RSC. As I said before—RSC will be a class Genevieve can pass with flying colors.

On another note, I just watched arcane, and fun fact about me—I am bi! I think Vi from arcane has taken the title for my favorite Vi (sorry Violet, you’re Genevieve’s favorite).

As always, that’s it from me! If you enjoyed, please leave a like, comment, or kudo, and I’ll see you all next Saturday (in 2025!) with chapter 9!

-------

Taglist: @awkardnerd , @hannraumari , @minjix , @glaciuswduo , @wolfbc97 , @heeseungthel0ml , @acourtofsmutandstarlight , @kylaisra

#fourth wing #xaden riorson #xaden riorson x reader #fourth wing imagine #fourth wing x reader #fourth wing xaden #xaden and sgaeyl #violet sorrengail #garrick tavis x reader #liam mairi #bodhi durran x reader #garrick tavis #the empyrean #the wounded healer

40 notes · View notes

todaysdocument · 11 months ago

Text

Telegram from Foreign Minister Gabriel S. Valdes of Chile to Secretary of State William P. Rogers

Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of StateSeries: Subject-Numeric FilesFile Unit: SP 10 US

[written by hand in upper right corner "SP 10 US"]

[handwritten in left upper corner "43"]

Department of State TELEGRAM

UNCLASSIFIED 928

Page 01 2401132

ACTION ARA 17

INFO OCT 01, CPR 02, JPM 04, NSC 10, P 04, RSC 01, SS 20 USIA 12, SCI 05 NASA 04, RSR 01,/081 W

068484

R 2120082 JUL 69

FM GOVERNMENT OF CHILE

TO SECSTATE WASHDC

UNCLAS

OFFICIAL TRANSLATION

TO HIS EXCELLENCY WILLIAM P. ROGERS

DEEPLY IMPRESSED BY THE MARVELOUS FEAT ACCOMPLISHED BY THE BRAVE ASTRONAUTS TO WHOM WE WERE LINKED BY TELEVISION, WHICH TRANSMISSION WAS POSSIBLE THROUGH YOUR DEPARTMENT'S GOOD OFFICES, I SEND YOUR EXCELLENCY MY MOST SINCERE CONGRATULATIONS ON THE PRODIGIOUS ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR GREAT NATION.

GABRIEL VALDES S.

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF CHILE

UNCLASSIFIED

#archivesgov #July 21 #1969 #1960s #moon landing #chile

71 notes · View notes

shakespearenews · 11 months ago

Text

The son of Bangladeshi immigrants, Zaman was first seduced by the theatre’s siren song as a teenager. “I know exactly when it happened. I was 15 or 16, and my school took a group of us to a show in Newcastle, which was an international telling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was an RSC production, with an entire company of actors from the Asian continent, across East and South Asia, all speaking different languages. The whole play was done in every language they spoke but English, and it was so beautiful and physical. I was blown away by it, and seeing people who looked like me on stage.”

#shakespeare #william shakespeare #midsummer #a midsummer night's dream #assad zaman #interview with the vampire #rsc #royal shakespeare company #shakespeare in translation

80 notes · View notes

avengersome · 5 months ago

Text

It’s Twelfth Night.

And in 6 days I will see RSC’s Twelfth Night in Stratford-upon-Avon.

6 days to this:

I feel like I’ve been looking forward to this since time began, it’s been so long since it was booked.

I cannot wait. The perfect perk for mid-January - getting to go and see a Shakespeare play in Stratford, starring Sam West, with a group of my favourite people.

(Image source: RSC - screenshots from the on stage trailer)

#samuel west #rsc #twelfth night #Shakespeare #stratford upon avon #Hope to see Sam after the performance #I need a Sam hug #medical requirement in mid-January quite frankly

41 notes · View notes

aq2003 · 6 months ago

Note

How's Love's Labour's Lost? I heard some critics at the time said DT was much more suited to Berown than Hamlet lol. Well, maybe one critic idqr, but I read something to that effect.

On that point, reading up on those reviews from that time, it's kinda strange that a significant portion of mainstream coverage of DT's mid-Doctor Who RSC season was taken up by hack writers being pretentiously disdainful about "Doctor Who in Shakespeare". I remember reading an article in Sunday Times or Daily Mail, the writer clearly thought he was being super clever and treated DT as if he had no previous theatre career, including RSC. Like he's some fleeting US sitcom star who's never been to drama school, but wanted to star as Hamlet in the West End for some reason.

As someone who became a fan about 10 years after that, it was really odd. I was used to DT being treated as a respected veteran Shakespearean actor, even before I was a fan, by reputation. But here he was, mocked and doubted and treated like an outsider.

i expected going in that i would love his berowne and i did god bless <33 hamlet will always be The dt role for me (well. um. besides macbeth. my brain is still processing that) but this LLL was SOOOO much fun.. it was so much better than the 2015 one sorry like greg doran understood the assignment the play is so fucking unserious and the lords are the most "me and the boys" friend group of all time and this production was this to a T. i think i will make posts on all of the archive recordings i watched later (need to organize my notes. and my thoughts) but yea!!

i think maybe theater critics back then were killjoys and got really snobbish about the doctor who guy bringing lots more young people to the theater. because david having a solid background in shakespeare/the theater is something you'd know if you looked into the stuff he's done for like 5 seconds. like hghhbshghdfw free him from the people that do not know what the hell they are talking about. he thinks of stage acting as his day job do not forget this!!!

#david tennant #love's labour's lost #ws #british theater grindset #my impression of david in my head has morphed from "oh that guy i really liked in good omens'#to 'extremely talented shakespearean actor that accidentally got famous because of doctor who and good omens'#thank god hes famous though i wouldnt have found out he existed and spent 12 hours in the shakespeare archives otherwise

21 notes · View notes

evelyn72 · 1 month ago

Text

RSC WITH BRENNAN AND NAOLIN

Summary: You're in Brennan and Naolins squad for RSC and it does not go according to plan. Especially when you have to stay the night in the forest when you can't find your way out.

This is definitely NOT how you pictured RSC. I mean, it's not like it was supposed to be fun, but you have to work with infantry cadets? Really? You were too busy complaining in your head to realize the dragon standing behind you about to completely scorch you alive.

That's when someone from your squad shouted your name.

"OH FU-" an infantry cadet tackled you and you both rolled out of the way. She glared up at you before getting up. "Haha.." You attempt a smile that turns out more like a grimace and scratch the back of your head. "I guess infantry cadets aren't so bad after all!" You heard her grumble something about riders under her breath as she walked back towards the group. The dragon must have gotten bored and left, as you didn't see it anymore.

What you did see, though, caused a warm smile to spread across your face. Your favorite squad mate, not only because he was one of your best friends, but also because he was one hell of a rider and mender, was running up to you with a concerned look on his face.

"Oh, Brennan! Fancy seeing you here. I'm perfectly fine." You put two thumbs up as he approaches. He gives you a straight face. "Close one, huh?" He says with an unamused face as he hands you his waterskin and starts walking with you back to the group.

You aren't necessarily surprised by his sarcastic reaction; as your squad leader, he's probably already stressed having to lead the group, and watching you almost die doesn't make it any easier.

You take a sip before handing it back to him. While standing in front of the group you notice the sun starting to set. "Hey, uh, we're not gonna have to spend the night out here, are we?" an infantry cadet glares at you. "Right. Point taken."

A few minutes of staring at a map and your OTHER favorite squad member comes over with an infantry cadet. "Naolin! It's about time you got back-" Brennan elbows you "OW-" aaand Brennan interrupts you, "Did you guys find anything?" Naolin sighs before coming and looking at the map. "Nothing that's gonna get us out of here."

It's around an hour later and you're nearing the point of exhaustion after helping to build a fire. "This entire squad and not a single fire wielder!" Someone from your squad pipes up, "At least we have the two strongest riders in our year. Plus, there's nothing the iron squad can't do." You look over, "Except pass RSC, apparently."

“Something smells good.” You said to the squad mate you were conversing with.

“That could be dogshit and your big back would still think it smells good.” She responded. Naolin started cackling from where he was sitting next to Brennan "HEY-"

“You know, you guys could come help cook.” Brennan stated.

You sighed and walked over to help with food, stopping short when you saw an infantry cadet cutting it up like Gordon Ramsey with a knife. “Hey, you’re pretty good at that!" You said in awe. “Uh, yeah, my mom taught me.” He said. You continued to linger... "Okay, man, can you move-" Unfortunately, he didn’t realize how close behind him you were, and when he put his hand up to signify he wanted you to move he accidentally punched you in the nose.

“Fuck!” You curse bending over and holding you nose. He stared at you in shock.

“Why the hell were you so close to me?” He yelled at you.

Your squad an the infantry cadets were both looking over at this point.

Brennan ran over “Hey," he stood next to you, "did you just punch her?" He was already looking at you to see if he could mend it. Naolin slowly walked over, too. "She was practically on top of me, man! It was an accident!"

You look up with a trail of blood dripping from your nose. “Don’t worry about it. Accidents happen.”

Naolin stared at you with one of his brows raised. You were swaying back and fourth, not saying anything else. “You good?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m-“ the last thing you heard before you went down was Brennan and Naolin yelling at you and some of your squadmates running over.

…

You were surrounded by a group of people as you slowly woke up. You were propped up on the ground with your head in Naolin's lap. You put a hand to your nose. It feels like Brennan mended it. You have a pounding headache now, though.

“Hi.” You groan as you grabbed your aching head. "Hey, sleeping beauty." Naolin says. When you sit up your met with the sight of your squadmates and infantry cadets sitting across from each other and glaring. The one who punched you has a split lip and Brennan is holding a bloodied handkerchief to his own nose. Naolin hands you his waterskin and you drink to your hearts content. "Much better." You hand the waterskin back.

"Well, I would pay to see what happened when I was out." Nobody found that funny. "Brennan, you know it was an accident, right?" You speak more gently this time. Suddenly, the infantry cadets shoulders start to shake and he starts laughing. You look at him with wide eyes. "Sorry. Sorry, it's not funny." He says, though he's still laughing.

To your surprise, one of your squadmates starts laughing.

You're confused. So confused. "...What's so funny." MORE PEOPLE START JOINING IN ON THE LAUGHTER. Even Naolin starts laughing next to you. You look to Brennan and he runs a hand down his face letting out a breathy laugh that sounded more sarcastic than anything.

One of your squadmates looks at you. "You should've seen the way Brennan was acting-" WHEEZE "-You got punched in the face, it wasn't like you were going to die-" "Guys, come on-" "And then you wake up, perfectly normal-" "Ohhhh, I see what's going on. Brennan was worried about me!" After a few minutes of this conversation continuing, you start to laugh with Brennan, too.

What was once a competition to one up the other group turned into a bond, an understanding, and a mutual respect and care for each other. All it took was an accident. Let's just say, everyone woke up the next day. And everyone made it out of RSC alive. JEHEJAIJVNIKDN

(TO BE HONEST I don't know Brennan's character that well, I was just going off of an interview where RY said that Brennan is like serious and that's why he has an unpredictable dragon or something. Same with Naolin I just did whatever I want I'M SORRY. This is also my first time writing an actual fic, and writing for fun, so please give me grace! I would also like to start taking fic requests, too! I will write for fourth wing and throne of glass currently, but if anyone has any ideas please please please send them to me!!! I'm also sorry the ending is really lazy I got tired BEIGBSIGIUSRNH anyways thank you for reading and being patient with me!)

-Evelyn

#fourth wing #iron flame #onyx storm #brennan sorrengail #brennan x reader #naolin #the empyrean #fourth wing x reader #fourth wing imagine #riders survival course #naolin x reader

10 notes · View notes

cryptidcat5105 · 4 months ago

Text

Sky wielders AU

Part 1 | Art ... Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

I was planning on taking a little break after I got to the end of Fourth Wing but once I got to writing I blacked out and woke up 20 something chapters deep into Iron Flame with this AU.

Anyway, without further ado, spoilers for the empyrean series and enjoy!

The atmosphere in the Riorson house is tense to say the least. The assembly are being bitches about Violet and the sky wielders knowing about the revolution, Violet is gathering every bit of information to put on her conspiracy board, Brennan is contemplating his own mortality and Xaden is doing massive amounts of groveling to get back into his girlfriend's good graces.

Violet and Brennan got to talk a bit about Naolin and I will say this now: yes, Brennan and Naolin are gay for each other in this one and yes, Naolin is a venin. Idk how or if I'll use this tibbit of information but I'll leave it here just in case

After Violet humbles the Assemblely a bit, the group goes to see the dragons and Andarna's big now, huzzah, also Deigh looks like he's recovering pretty well. The scales on his chest seem to reflect different colors where Kate mended him though.

Andarna still doesn't have the second set of muscles it her wings but she doesn't mind much at the moment. She'll cross that bridge when it becomes a problem.

And so the Resson crew flies back to Basgiath. They make their iconic entrance and have to talk with general Sorrengail and Daddy Aetos (/derogatory) and while the marked ones do get excused, Aetos continues arguing that the sky wielders are deserters and should be treated as such. Lilith is having non of it though, because dragons actually talk, so after Chopai found out from Cuir where our crew was headed, he actually asked Aimsir what the fuck was going on (keep in mind these are dragons who have seen war before so they know when shit ain't right) and so Mama Sorrengail actually knew what was going on, allowed the first years to break from their squads and follow to the border ( they would've done it anyway because dragons don't listen to humans, but it's the thought that counts) and she prepared to publicaly rip Aetos a new one once the kids were safely back.

Xaden and Garrick still get assigned to Samara which sucks for them, but this time we don't have the "I need full disclosure from you" problem so Violet and Xaden have room to be however horny and secretive they like to be. Xaden still promises Violet to help her practice shielding enough for Dain to not me able to read her memories.

I'll be honest, I don't remember how Violet ends up talking to Dain after formation but things are said, our girl is really angry and Dain ends up needing to go to the Healer's quadrant after a well thrown dagger to his shoulder. Violet still says to remember Athebyne if he ever thinks about reading her again and bro is left with a strong inpression. He will take those words to heart.

Cadets celebrate graduation, everyone's a bit drunk and while Xaden and Violet say their goodbyes Varrish gets introduced and after all of that Rhiannon tells Violet that Dain is their new wingleader. Goody.

RSC make an appearance and the sky wielders are positively frothing at the mouth at the aspect of torture class. Also the marked ones and the now second year sky wielders have a sort of unspoken allience after Resson and everyone kinda got used to Violet's looks so they no longer avoid her either. They'll end up sharing tips and tricks on how to survive this class and what not.

Conscription day! Violet and Owen take final roll before the parapet and Owen decided to play a little game: name as many candidates as unseriously as possible! At some point Cam Tauri shows up and this is what ensues:

Violet: Does your dad know you're here?

Cam: No. And I go by Aaric Greycasle now.

Violet: ... We'll talk later. There's the parapet, have fun!

Owen: And this one's gonna be Princess!

Violet: *snorts*

A little while later Sloane comes into the picture. She's not as resentful towards Violet as in canon since Liam is still alive but Violet's red eyes sure don't do anything for her nerves.

Sloane: Sloane Mairi.

Owen: Mairi? As in-

Sloane, irritated: Yes, as in colonel Mairi!

Owen: as in Liam Mairi.

Sloane: Oh... Yeah, that Mairi.

Owen: Cool. He's on the other side, dying to see you again. Don't keep him waiting, baby blue!

Violet: Alright, tie your hair, arms out for balance and don't die!

Sloane finally gets going muttering "baby blue?" under her breath. After she's out of earshot Violet Turns to Owen, asking the same question.

Owen: She has blue eyes and she's Liam baby sister. Plus baby blondie doesn't roll off the tongue as well as baby blue.

Later in formation Sloane was right next to Liam, both their eyes clearly puffy from crying. Then Solas shows up and scorches half a squad after which Tairn asserts dominance as the superior dragon.

Violet will still start the unofficial Basgiath running club, kick-starting her friendship with Imogen. In addition she starts asking the sky wielders for ways to deal with venin draining the earth while she's on the ground. They found three obvious solutions so far: get to already drained ground, draw from the sky as a way to fight fire with fire in a way or don't be on the ground to begin with. The last two aren't very helpful to Violet but she supposes the first one is a viable option.

More misinformation happens in Battle Brief and Bodhi and Imogen are kinda impressed at Violet's lack of reaction to the lies. I don't think they processed that she and the sky wielders already knew about venin so they're just a bit confused at Violet's poker face.

At challenges a first year with the venin magic flow shows up asking for Violet so she assumes he wants to join the sky wilders, but nope! He kills Nadine after she says she's Violet and Violet kills him in turn. This is the drop that fills the glass and the sky wielders decide to bring the remaining second year iron squad in on the national secrets to prevent any more possible deaths. No keeping everything to yourself this time, Violet, you have a giant ass support group and that shit's about to expand.

Also Sloane is really not good at hand to hand. Liam and Squad are doing everything they can to get her in top shape but in the meantime she's getting her ass kicked. (Dain tries to help as well but the betrayer allegations earn him a screaming match with the spitfire that is Sloane)

Btw we're skipping over the lovey dovey aspects of Xaden's and Violet's relationship unless it has lore relevance. Spicy weekends are still happening in the background, they're just not the main focus.

Ok, we're skipping ahead a bit and Varrish punishes Violet for Andarna not showing up to Flight Maneuvers. She wields lighting to borderline burnout and right before the last strike she can muster the air around her seems to tense and she senses power shifting in a dense pattern around her, as if reaching out, waiting for Violet to meet it at the halfway point. She ignores it in favor of Tairn who gets her to the river to cool off. After this point she feels the sky magic more often around her like cool breezes and occasionally she can sometimes sense the patterns in the earth which are like cracks filled with warm steam.

Land Nav is in session and iron squad is blocked from their dragons by the weird herbal concoction/serum. Violet can't feel the bonds anymore but the sky's power is still there. Dull, but there.

They encounter Baide who looks downright feral is not a bit rabid. Violet can't feel it, but by the way the magic flow shifts around the dragon she figures that Baide is still bonded which is really bad since they all thought Jack "the cockroach" Barlow was dead.

While in canon they don't make it to the extraction point because of the maps Violet just straight up ignores them because she has a whole ass 3D magic map surrounding her even if she feels like she's looking at it through foggy glasses. So she burns the two papers that have caused nothing but discord in the group and just yells at her less cooperative teammates until they follow. When asked how she knew the way without the maps all she says is "My mother is the literal general of this place. You think I don't know my own home?" After this they add "human compass" to her long list of unofficial titles.

In the background Jesinia and Violet still have their little book exchange business going on. On the other hand the matter of Sloane refusing to train or not making much progress (dunno which one it was) straight up doesn't happen cause Liam's here.

Xaden's mad cause Violet has been doing research into the first six and venin and stuff so she just shows him the conspiracy board™ which is technically any place in her room that can hide sticky notes: the inside of her armoire, a pin board under her bed, the underside of her desk, you name it. She's had these since first year and thankfully for her Xaden doesn't understand much of the red yarn mess and the unhinged scribbles, so he decides that she knows what she's doing and let's her be.

(I also like to think that she has a more cohesive version of the board in Liam's and Owen's room that's hidden behind, like, the Tyrrish flag or something, cause she knows no one's getting in that room if Owen doesn't want them there. Ward signet and all.)

We're skipping ahead again cause stuff from the book just ain't relevant anymore with the changes I made so far. The only notable things that happened are Tairn humbling Solas and Varrish and Mira being stationed at Samara and telling Violet about the wards. She could've asked Owen about the wards too so you can pick which one sounds more appealing, it really doesn't make a difference.

Dain still challenges Violet so he can talk to her and things are a bit different since Athebyne hit him harder in this time around. He apologize for going to his father about it for one. Says he shouldn't have spilled without permission and he won't blame her if she hates him. He's also pretty cryptic with some stuff like "if you want the whole truth, go ask your mother about it" Like, what do you know, my guy? What kinda truth are you on about? Are you in on the venin? (Stay tuned to find out 😏)

Anyway Idk how to transition this smoothly so, Aaric's here for the venin shitfest so Violet just sends him Kate's way to fill him in on the sky wielders' side of things. She'll see if Xaden will let him in on the revolution later. (Also Aaric ends up getting along with Dallas who's the son of some minor duke and also Owen's cousin, cause I realized I haven't mentioned it and it's gonna be semi-relevant later on)

Also, side note, I had to look up chapter summaries for this one cause I really can't remember much of iron flame and I realized how much of the conflict between Violet and Xaden is just them being stubborn mules. It's kinda funny to be honest.

Part 1 | Art ... Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

#the empyrean #fourth wing #iron flame #onyx storm #venin #violet sorrengail #xaden riorson #dain aetos #sloane mairi #iron squad #original characters #sky wielders au

17 notes · View notes

justinspoliticalcorner · 1 year ago

Text

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

In 2024, reliable access to high-speed internet is no longer a luxury; it is a basic necessity. From job applications to managing personal finances and completing school work, internet access is an essential part of daily life. Without an internet connection, individuals are effectively cut off from basic societal activities.

But the reality is that many people — particularly those living around the poverty line — can not afford internet access. Without internet access, the difficult task of working your way from the American economy's bottom rung becomes virtually impossible. On November 21, 2021, President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The new law included the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provided up to $30 per month to individuals or families with income up to 200% of the federal poverty line to help pay for high-speed internet. (For a family of four, the poverty line is currently $31,200.) On Tribal lands, where internet access is generally more expensive, the ACP offers subsidies up to $75 per month. The concept started during the Trump administration. The last budget enacted by Trump included $3.2 billion to help families afford internet access. The FCC made the money available as a subsidy to low-income individuals and families through a program known as the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The legislation signed by Biden extended and formalized the program. It has been a smashing success.

Today, the ACP is "helping 23 million households – 1 in 6 households across America." The program has particularly benefited "rural communities, veterans, and older Americans where the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet contributes to significant economic, health and other disparities." According to an FCC survey, two-thirds of beneficiaries "reported they had inconsistent internet service or no internet service at all prior to ACP." These households report using their high-speed internet to "schedule or attend healthcare appointments (72%), apply for jobs or complete work (48%), do schoolwork (75% for ACP subscribers 18-24 years old)." Tomorrow, the program will abruptly end. In October 2023, the White House sent a supplemental budget request to Congress, which included $6 billion to extend the program through the end of 2024. There is also a bipartisan bill, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would extend the program with $7 billion in funding. The benefits of the program have shown to be far greater than the costs. An academic study published in February 2024 found that "for every dollar spent on the ACP, the nation’s GDP increases by $3.89." The program will lapse tomorrow because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuses to bring either the bill (or the supplemental funding request) to a vote. The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act has 225 co-sponsors which means that, if Johnson held a vote, it would pass.

[...]

The Republican attack on affordable internet

Why will Johnson not even allow a vote to extend the ACP? He is not commenting. But there are hints in the federal budget produced by the Republican Study Committee (RSC). The RSC is the "conservative caucus" of the House GOP, and counts 179 of the 217 Republicans in the House as members. Johnson served as the chair of the RSC in 2019 and 2020. He is currently a member of the group's executive committee. The RSC's latest budget says it "stands against" the ACP and labels it a "government handout[] that disincentivize[s] prosperity." The RSC claims the program is unnecessary because "80 percent" of beneficiaries had internet access before the program went into effect. For that statistic, the RSC cites a report from a right-wing think tank, the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), which opposes the ACP. EPIC, in turn, cites an FCC survey to support its contention that 80% of ACP beneficiaries already had internet access. The survey actually found that "over two-thirds of survey respondents (68%) reported they had inconsistent internet service or no internet service at all prior to ACP."

[...] The RSC also falsely claims that funding for the precursor to the ACP, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB), "was signed into law at the end of President Biden’s first year in office." This is false. Former President Trump signed the funding into law in December 2020. The RSC's position is not popular. A December 2023 poll found that 79% of voters support "continuing the ACP, including 62% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 96% of Democrats."

In 2024, access to the internet is a necessity and not just a luxury, and the Republicans are set to end the Affordable Connectivity Program if no action is taken. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provided subsidies to low-income people and families to obtain internet access.

#Internet #Internet Access #Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act #Affordable Connectivity Program #Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act #IIJA #Emergency Broadband Benefit Program #Republican Study Committee #Economic Policy Innovation Center

34 notes · View notes

angstywaifu · 2 months ago

Text

Black Dahlia - 45. Karma

Summary: With the appearance of Ethan at RSC Dahlia finally opens up about her past. Black Dahlia Masterlist | Masterlist | Links |

Luckily with us picking up on the different maps we were able to pinpoint our location and figure out our course of action with in the hour. But we’d also realised neither map was fully correct. So it meant regular stopping to make sure we were still heading in the right direction. Especially with a large body of water on one of them. And if I was right on my hunch on where we were, if we took a wrong turn we’d have a lot of back tracking to do as our extraction point would be on the opposite side of it.

We take turns on who leads and who flanks the side and rear of our makeshift squad. We had decided to leave infantry rotating between the front and middle due to their upper hand in the navigation department, while us riders rotated the outside due to our knowledge of dragons should any choose to approach us.

”So we going to talk about how you know that Infantry guy and the comment he made?” Bodhi asks as we take up the read of the group.

I stiffen slightly at his words, and I know with how his eyes rake over me he notices. Between him and Garrick, I’d somehow managed to avoid the subject. I’d honestly been surprised Garrick hadn’t asked after my father had outright said I’d killed my mother. But with what had unfolded after, I couldn’t really blame it for skipping his mind.

”Any way I can get out of this one?” I ask hesitantly, already knowing he’s going to say no with how he looks at me.

”I can’t force you, gods I don’t think anyone can. But it’s becoming pretty clear something happened. Between what Garrick and I heard Dain say, and then your dad at Reun-”

I grab his arm and turn him to face me. ”How do you know about that?” I demand, my had tightening on his arm.

He sighs. “Garrick might have brought it up.”

I let go of Bodhi’s arm and keep walking so we don’t get too far away from our squad. Of course he would have brought it up. It kind of hurts he didn’t bring it up with me, but I don’t entirely blame him for talking to Bodhi about it.

”Talking about me behind my back are we?” I throw back at him as he catches up.

”He was just worried. Not exactly a small accusation for someone like your dad to make. And given how we’ve seen him act around you, it’s not hard to piece together. But, we know you. And yes you might be ruthless, but I know you wouldn’t kill your own mum. If that was the case I’m sure you would have slaughtered your dad at this rate.” He tells me as he looks at me.

I scan the group in front of us. There’s no way any of us could hear us. And I know none of the riders amongst us have a signet they could use to amplify their hearing.

”You have to promise to let me tell Garrick. No running off to your little boy club and gossiping about me.” I tell him.

Bodhi barks out a laugh which has a few of the cadets at the back turn to look at us. “I promise I won’t. You can trust me Dahlia.”

A shadow catches my eye and I look up to see Proth flying overheard, clearly rotating out to be on the defensive rather than the attack. His presence above me almost comforting with what I’m about to tell Bodhi.

”I was ten when it happened. We were stationed at an outpost and we’d finished training for the day. I was playing with some of the other kids and we decided to have a race through the forest. A race that took us to a clearing where I won even though I was smaller than the other kids. The clearing however is where the dragons of the riders stationed there stayed.” I tell Bodhi, squeezing my hands shut as they start to shake and get clammy with sweat. Bodhi just looks at me, waiting for me to continue. “Ethan dared me to approach one of the dragons when I told them not to be scared. Even though I knew it was foolish, I did it. Caved into peer pressure. I did it. Approached my father’s dragon. It didn’t do anything, probably knew how angry he would get. But then Ethan threw a rock. A rock that caused a dragon to react. I didn’t have time to run. I-I should have died. I should be dead. But…”

”Your mother got to you and saved you. She sacrificed herself.” Bodhi says, finishing my story.

I turn my head to Bodhi, pursing my lips, tears stinging my eyes as I nod at him. “Yeah. And even though my father and Dain watched it all happen, I got blamed. My father twisted it so I was to blame. As if I was the one that threw the rock. But in the end I’d been the one to approach his dragon and the reason it was thrown. Ethan didn’t even get in trouble.”

Bodhi’s eyes flare with anger before he turns his head to the front, glaring at the back of Dain’s head who still leads our squad.

”One good thing did come out of it though.” I say, recalling the memory before everything changed. Remembering all the colours of the dragons who had stood in that clearing. ”Proth. He was there that day. He was in that clearing. Not sure he would have bonded me without that day.”

”I would still have bonded you. That day may have changed you, but deep down everything I value was already there.” He snaps at me, as if offended for even thinking he wouldn’t have bonded me.

”I’m sure he would have. You’d probably be a little different to what you are now, but you’d still be Dahlia.” He assures me.

”I don’t know, maybe I would have turned out more like Dain.” I tease.

Bodhi shudders and shakes his head. “That’s not something I need to imagine. We don’t need two Dain’s.”

I couldn’t agree more, but if that day hadn’t happened, if my mother was still alive…. I would have probably turned out exactly like Dain. Meaning I probably wouldn’t have ended up being friends with Bodhi, Austin and Liz, let alone be in Xaden’s squad after learning he’d asked for me. And there definitely wouldn’t have been whatever Garrick and I were up until a few weeks ago. My life would be so different to what it was now. And as hard and difficult as my life had been after that day, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

”We definitely don’t.” Imogen adds as she falls into step next to us, falling back from where she had been at the front of our group with Dain and Ethan. “Pretty sure we’re seconds away from those two blowing up at each other because of it.”

”Sounds about right with those two. Always hated each other.” I inform them.

Imogen opens her mouth to respond but our group comes to a halt as Dain and Ethan bicker about our location. It was inevitable it was going to happen. Dain had never liked Ethan, and Ethan had never liked Dain.

”We’re clearly here, so we need to go that way otherwise we’ll run into the lake if we are where I think.” Dain tells Ethan as he gestures to the right.

Seems Dain and I were at least on the same page when it came to that. But with how many years we had spent at Basgiath, it was only natural we would know the area well. But Infantry had been trained in land navigation since their first year. Meaning they all had a year on us riders.

”You riders don’t know the first thing about reading a map.” Ethan seethes as he steps towards Dain. “You wouldn’t even know what way to go without a compass. There’s no body of water out here. If we go that way we’re just adding extra time.”

I don’t miss out Ethan’s hand moves to sit on the pommel of his sword. Shit. As much as Dain and I don’t get a long, if he pushes Ethan too far I know he won’t hesitate to use it on Dain. And I can’t have that. Just another thing my father would blame on me.

”We may not have as much experience on the ground with navigation, but we constantly use it in the air.” Dain fires back as he gestures to the sky where a blur of red and blue shoot over our heads.

”Please, that’s all your dragons. Riders are nothing without their dragons.” Ethan’s jaw ticking with irritation.

”We need to defuse this now.” Bodhi says from next to me as we approach the group.

I nod in agreement. This exercise is meant to show how we can worth together at a moments notice. And right now we’re seconds away from bloodshed because I know Ethan won’t be able to keep his cool.

”Let’s take a minute and assess the maps and the area and we can decide as a team.” I say loudly as I step forward and put myself between Ethan and Dain.

Ethan narrows his eyes at me. “No, because you’re wrong. Riders know nothing out here. So let us Infantry take over and do our damn job.”

”Ethan, we’re meant to-” The blonde infantry squad member tries to say before Ethan turns towards him, storming over and getting up into his face.

”Get out of there little flower.”

”I don’t care. I’m sick of riders thinking they know what’s best and being above us.” He turns back on Dain and I and draws his sword as we both reach for our daggers.

The rest of our squad back up, unsure if they should intervene or let this play out. Dain and I back up, trying to put distance between us and Ethan. We could take him, but if we could sort this without bloodshed, we would. Otherwise we wouldn’t hear the end of it once we got back.

”Backing up like the cowards you are. Typical.” He says before he goes to rush Dain and I.

”Down!” The command roars in my head.

Dain and I drop to the floor simultaneously, barely hitting the hard ground as heat rushes over our heads, screams filling the clearing we’d stopped in. My heart thunders in my chest, scarred to look up and see what’s happened. Dain nudges my arm and I finally look up, pushing myself to my knees as I take in the spot Ethan had once stood. Now all that’s left is a very large black scorch mark and the smell of sulphur. The ground shakes behind us, casting Dain and I in shadows. I turn my head to see red and blue scales looming over us.