#THEY’VE TAKEN TO HUNTING IN PACKS

[captainbucky-yt]

LUKE THOMPSON as Benedict Bridgerton and LUKE NEWTON as Colin Bridgerton | S03E02 ‘How Bright the Moon’

[loosethreadsofyoursoul]

one thing about benedict bridgerton is he’s going to have the most iconic lines of the season

[theminecraftbee]

Joel and Grian are curled up on either side of Jimmy, and Jimmy is lying wide awake.

He shouldn’t be worried, of course. In a lot of ways, he’s not, really. Sure, Joel sort of smells like blood and Grian sort of smells like gunpowder, but that’s to be expected of the two of them, especially considering the amount of bloody gunpowder from the day before. Joel is happily and contently asleep, having mellowed out almost instantly after his kill for the day, and Grian had taken longer to sleep but fell into it easily enough, oddly sated, and Jimmy—

He’s still awake. He’s staring at the stars.

He sort of feels like he’s a human who got adopted by a wolf pack?

Which, like, okay. Joel occasionally hums in his sleep, which is weirdly cute. If someone tried to attack them in the night, Jimmy’s pretty sure Grian would actually bite them. Like, Jimmy’s pretty sure he’s seen Grian bite before. The rules of the game say no killing on green but Joel loves killing and Grian will tie himself in knots to avoid the rules so it doesn’t matter.

There’s nowhere in the world Jimmy could be safer, really. Like, outside of the fact Joel and Grian are both morons who convince him to do dumb things too, but from the moment Joel came across him and asked if he’s a bad boy too, Jimmy knew that would happen. It’s fine. It’s fun, even.

It’s… heady, even.

Jimmy lies on his back and looks at the stars. He feels like a human who got adopted by a wolf pack. Sure, he doesn’t know how to be a wolf, but that’s okay. They do. They’ll show him. They’ll make up for the places he can’t fight.

They’ll make up for the things he fails to hunt.

They’ll…

Grian turns over. Jimmy lies stock still.

They’ll do it until they realize he’s not a wolf. Then what? Joel brought him into the pack. Grian joined on willingly. They knew what they were getting into, really, they did. The two most bloodthirsty men on the server, they’d known what they were doing, taking on one of the only men here who hadn’t managed to kill almost at all. They had to have known, right?

They had to have known. They’ve made fun of him for it before. They still make fun of him for it now.

But.

But.

Jimmy lies awake on his back and looks at the stars. A human adopted by wolves—it has things the wolves wouldn’t. There are reasons wolves decided to let humans run in their packs long enough to make them dogs. There are reasons to take a human in, if you’re a wolf.

Jimmy wonders if there are reasons to take him in, or if he’s just… dead weight.

Joel hums in his sleep. Grian turns over again. Jimmy doesn’t move.

For now, though—for now it’s good. Feels good, lying between two wolves. Feels good. Feels better than lying in the cold, at least. Feels like he can almost be one of them. Feels like he could understand.

Gods, he’s never telling Joel or Grian he thinks of them as wolves. He’d never hear the end of it. He wonders if Joel knows how to bark.

Slowly, he stretches an arm around both of them. They get closer.

He may as well enjoy it, he decides warily. If they never realize he’s a lamb in wolf’s clothing, that’s on them.

[venesins]

Lonesome West: Random Ideas

Just gonna drop these before I forget in the morning lmao

Since Dream represents exploration, and the bravery/courage it requires, being around him for an extended period of time would cause someone to become fearless and/or have less restraints when it comes traveling into the desert or mountains. Think of it as hubris. When he was young, Dream didn’t know he had this lingering effect on the people around him (due to the fact Nightmare was there to balance it out) and it only became obvious after his and Nightmare’s separation. People he cared for and would spend the majority of his time around would ignore warnings when traveling and usually meet their end in gruesome ways. Ever since he’s realized what effect his presence has on others he’s taken to distancing himself in subtle ways: taking long missions in far-off towns that Blue could have easily done himself, excluding himself from his return parties under the guise of fatigue, etc. It’s hard for him to form relationships with others this way as he fears they will eventually end up like his companions so long ago.

Nightmare, since he represents the wild, has some semblance of control over majority of the wild-life. Bounty hunter that’s getting overly curious over his and his gangs’ location? Enjoy the rattlesnake that snuck into your tent. Going hunting in the forest near their campsite? Watch out for the 10-point buck behind you! He gets a kick out of it really. It’s less of a mind-control ability and more intent focused, surprisingly he’s an animal guy and gives them the choice to follow through with his commands. (just don’t catch him petting the doe that showed up right before they were about to pack up and leave, you might find a scorpion in your boot the next day)

Dust and Axe like to sell their own individual creations at the markets. Dust sells carved knives, polished figures, etc. while Axe sells hides and other leather works. (Killer helps supply him with the hides since he has a better aim when hunting) Occasionally, this veiled figure buys Dust’s entire stock and they’ve become a sort of client for him: Dust still doesn’t know how they figure out which market he’ll be at every time.

[mimis-memes]

🍎 ｡:*• ─ WEREWOLF PLOTS.    ›   ( a compilation of plot ideas involving werewolves, suitable for both modern days and past eras/AUs. )

1. The cure — muse A is a scientist who, having had a bad experience with werewolves in the past ( maybe they barely escaped from an attack ?  maybe they’ve seen a loved one being attacked/kidnapped by werewolves ?  maybe they’re the descendant of a deceased wolf-hunter ? ), has dedicated their whole life to find a cure for lycanthropy. One day they find and kidnap muse B, a werewolf, to keep in their lab and learn more about their condition, maybe even do some testing and experimenting on them. How will their relationship develop ? Will A learn that there’s more to werewolves than meets the eye ?  Could they make peace with the past and accept B for what they are ?  Or will they forcefully cure them ?  Will B turn against their captor ? Try to escape or punish them by turning them into what they most despise ?

2. The hunt — muse A and muse B come from an old, renowned clan of werewolf hunters ( they could be siblings, cousins, a couple or just friends ) . They’re considered the best, but during a particularly difficult hunt, muse A makes a mistake and gets attacked by the werewolf, who escapes unharmed. Now they both know it’s only a matter of time before A also turns into one of the creatures they’ve hunt all of their lives. Will B put their old beliefs and traditions above all and abandon A ?  Maybe even try to kill them ?  Will both of them return to their clan and pretend nothing happened for as long as they can, while trying to look for a cure ? Will this give them and their clan a whole new perspective on werewolves, or will everything remain the same ?  And what if they end up face to face with the werewolf that bit A ?  Will they still want revenge, try to learn more about A’s condition, become friends with the wolf ?  ( As an alternative, muse B can be the werewolf, instead of muse’s A hunting partner. )

3. The prophecy — muse A and muse B are two werewolves born on the same night ( maybe they’re twins, or just belong to the same pack ?  maybe different packs ? ), fitting the exact description of an ancient prophecy that says that one of them is destined to bring peace, while the other is fated to start a pack war. As they grew up, have they always known about this prophecy ?  How has it affected them and/or their relationship with each other ?  Is it apparent which of them will bring peace and who will bring war ?  Do they even believe the prophecy or will do anything in their power to prove it wrong ? And what if, in their efforts to escape their fate, they end up fulfilling it ?  Could a pack war be necessary to ultimately achieve peace ?

4. The willing victim — muse A has never been popular  ( maybe they were considered the “weird kid” at school and suffered bullying growing up ?  maybe they’ve moved a lot and never made friends ? ), struggling with lack of confidence and never being taken seriously by their co-workers and/or love interests. With little to no social life, they had plenty of time to dedicate to something that has always fascinated them — werewolves !  Having watched all the movies and read all the books, muse A knows all the lore about werewolves, so when they meet muse B ( a new roommate/neighbor/co-worker ?  someone they met at a bar or just passing by ? ) it doesn’t take them long to notice some signs and recognize them for what they truly are. Will A confront B with this ?  Will B try to deny the truth ?  Will A see this as an opportunity to be more than what they’ve always been and beg B to turn them into a werewolf as well ?  Maybe even blackmail them into it ?  Will B give in ?  And if yes, would they try to take care of the new wolf, teaching them all they know ?  Would A try to impress the people in their life with their new powers, maybe even take revenge ?  How would the relationship between A and B develop ?

5. The new pup — muse A had a one night stand with a stranger and ends up pregnant, but something isn’t quite right, as they tend to sleepwalk and have a peculiar craving for raw meet, especially when there’s a full moon. Muse B is taking care of them ( they could be a friend, a family member, a house keeper, etc... ) and, secretly being a werewolf, knows exactly what is wrong with muse A. Will they tell A ?  Will they assist them in birthing and raising a baby werewolf ?   ( Alternatively, if muse A is male, they could have had a one night stand with a stranger and, nine months later, a baby is left at their door. Muse B is a friend / partner / family member / roommate living with them and, being a werewolf, knows exactly why this baby isn’t like any other they’ve seen before. )

6. Tale as old as time — muse A is a werewolf, muse B is a vampire. Ignoring the centuries-old war between the two species, they love each other. Will they be able to conceal this relationship from their clans ?  Pretend to hate and fight each other in the presence of others, while secretly meeting afterwards ?  What if they were discovered ?  Would they run away together, fueling the war even more ?  Would their familial bonds speak louder than love ?  Or could love be the answer and the beginning of a truce ?  What if an hybrid child had been conceived ?  And what if muse A is betrothed to the alpha of their wolf pack ?  Would they end up fulfilling their duty and abandon their vampire lover, in order to protect them ?  ( As an alternative, muse B can be the alpha to whom A is promised. How would they react to the news that their betrothed had been with a vampire ?  Could they look past it and still accept A ?  Could A learn to love B ? ) 

[ghost-bxrd]

Oh even better

What if Calvin was taken in around the same Dick was by Bruce after the Flying Graysons ‘accident’ but he’s the one to suspect foul play involved first so he’s the one who encourages Dick ro sneak out at night along with him ( neither of them have any shoes or socks for better traction of course) to investigate along as the Circus was packing up and they both run into the Batman who was also investigating the case?

Oooo, so I think Calvin would already be very protective of Dick at this point. They grew up veery differently, and Calvin is hyper aware of the fact that Dick never had to learn to be wary of adults, or people in general. He‘s been sheltered in a way Calvin never was, so obviously he needs to keep him safe in the wake of this tragedy.

Sadly, Calvin‘s idea of “danger” is a little skewed (which is why canon him ended up with the Court), so hunting for the Grayson’s killer sounds like a marvelous plan (and a great way to get away from the maybe-maybe-not creep that took them in).

Batman is already hunting for Zucco and… is taken completely off guard when two awfully familiar children just kind of fall into his path.

And then his dad instincts kick in and he realizes those are HIS children and they’ve been traipsing around Gotham at night with no protection whatsoever, and feels his soul nearly leave his body.

He did not expect parenting to be this hard.

It doesn’t help that Calvin and Dick manage to slip away from him in the hot second it takes Bruce to get his bearings because H O W even!?

[seiya-starsniper]

For the flower prompts: Hyacinth - loser has to ask out...

I will leave pairing(s) to your discretion, whoever most strikes your fancy ❤️

TJ, thank you for the prompt! I went with Dreamling, with a nice little monsterfucker twist to ring in the first day of @monsterfucktoberbingo!

Square: Were-creature.

Flower Prompt Game!

-------------------------------------

“You ready for tonight?” Johanna asks, dropping her densely packed duffel bag onto the table before plopping in the chair next to Hob. She’s tense. Hob can tell without even looking at her. But there’s also a thrum of excitement coming off her in waves.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Hob replies, not looking up from his stake sharpening. “How many stakes have you got in there?” he asks.

“A dozen wooden, and three steel,” Johanna answers, patting the duffel with pride.. “All consecrated, and plenty of holy water.”

“Good girl,” Hob praises her. He means it too. Johanna’s one of the best damn hunters he’s ever worked with, and he knows she’s going to give the vampires they’re hunting tonight absolute hell. It’s one of the biggest nests they’ve ever come across. Nearly six dozen vampires all quartered in a large abandoned grain barn that spans nearly a quarter of an acre. They’ve been hunting all the nearby towns, picking off the elderly first, but soon moving onto the adults and children. Their mission tonight is to raid the nest for hostages and kill any of the guard vampires, then torch the whole thing at dawn when the rest come back to sleep. Their reign of terror should hopefully end tonight.

“How many are you aiming to gank yourself?” Johanna asks casually, but Hob can hear the competition in her tone. 

“You looking to put some money on that?” Hob replies cheekily. “I thought you’d have learned with the banshees that you can’t ever beat my record, Constantine.”

“Those were unfair odds and you know it!” Johanna whines. She’s right, of course. Banshees tended to flock more to men, and so Hob had taken out far more than Johanna had. But a bet was a bet and Johanna had had to clean Hob’s shotguns for a month after.

“I’m just saying,” Hob says, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m happy to let you clean out the Impala when I trounce your numbers tonight.”

Johanna grimaces. It was no secret that Hob lived out of his car and that he was a bit disgusting about it. She’d once opened the back door to sit in the back and had been greeted a rat he hadn’t even known was there. To this day he doesn’t know where it came from. 

“How about this instead?”Johanna replies. “If I get the most vamps in this nest, you have to ask Peggy out.”

Hob sighs. He should’ve seen this coming. “Johanna—”

“I’m serious Hob,” Johanna interrupts him. “I know you two get along and I see the way the two of you look at each other. You’d be good for one another.”

“Peggy’s young,” Hob argues. “She deserves someone who will get her out of this life.”

“You and I both know she’s never getting out of this life,” Johanna replies solemnly. “And she’s 25 for Christ’s sake. Not even a decade younger than you, stop looking at her like a child.”

Johanna was right. She was usually right, not that Hob would ever tell her unless under extreme duress. Peggy may have been a child when she first became a hunter but she was a full grown woman now. And well…she was quite beautiful and smart as fuck. Hob could maybe love her. It’d been almost fifteen years since Eleanor was taken by vampires herself, and the void she’d left behind had gotten easier and easier to bear with each person he saved. 

Hob sighs. What could it hurt? If things didn’t work out, he knows he and Peggy could still be friends. 

“Fine, but if I get more vamps than you, you’ve gotta ask out Rachel instead,” Hob says back. 

Johanna blushes a furious shade of red and Hob smiles. Now that was a relationship he was invested in seeing bloom.

“You got yourself a deal Hobsie,” she replies, and the two of them shake on it. 

—------------

Hob is at five vampire deaths when he starts chasing three fledgling vampires into the woods. They’re fast, but uncoordinated, and Hob thinks he can probably pick them off one by one if he times his shots right with the crossbow he borrowed from Johanna.

He realizes too late that the vampires have isolated him from the other hunters, and that he’s been led to a clearing to be ambushed. There had also been a fourth he hadn’t accounted for, and he curses at himself for falling for such an obvious trap so easily. He manages to take out one of the fledglings, but the remaining three overpower him. Just as they’re getting ready to tear into his flesh, Hob gets unexpected support in the form of a fucking were-panther.

Hob watches in awe as the beast knocks aside one of his assailants, freeing Hob from their hold and allowing him to stake one of the remaining vampires holding his arms. He then watches in awe as the panther tears into the throat of the fledgling it knocked aside, before the beast grabs the thing by the hair and yanks the head clean off. 

The final vampire is easily picked off between the two of them. Hob is surprised by how fluidly they work together, despite this being the first time he’s ever met the creature. When he is certain there are no others approaching, he turns to the panther, who is looking at him with curiosity and brilliant golden eyes. 

“Not that I’m not grateful for the assist, but what the fuck is a were-panther doing here?” Hob asks.

The air seems to vibrate for a few moments and Hob recognizes the tell-tale signs of a shift and moments later he’s face to face with a pale naked man with a shock of messy, jet black hair, and the most brilliant blue eyes he’s ever seen.

Fuck, but he was gorgeous and Hob’s type in every single way. Despite his shifter disposition, the man’s human form was void of any hair, and though he was thin and almost lanky, Hob could see the ripple of muscle in his legs and arms. Hob knew he was staring, but for some reason he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man. It was only when his hands landed on the man’s cock that he jerked his gaze upwards, and instead of disgust, he found the were-panther actually looked pleased at Hob’s obvious leering. 

“My name is Dream,” the were-panther introduces himself with a smirk.

“You certainly are,” Hob replies then slaps a hand over his mouth. “I mean—” 

God’s wounds, why had he said that? He was smoother than that! Had the vampire hunt really scrambled his brain that much? 

Before he can come up with an apology for his poor brain to mouth filter however, Hob hears a low, rumbling noise, and he belatedly realizes that Dream is purring.

“You are pleased with me,” Dream says, stepping closer into Hob’s personal space. “That is…good.” 

Hob suddenly smells his grandmother’s homemade bread and his favorite beer. He realizes quickly the delicious scent is coming from Dream, and before his brain can tell him otherwise, he pulls the pale man in a desperate, teeth clacking kiss.

Dream moans into his mouth and pushes Hob down into the grass in the clearing, grinding his hips down on Hob’s rapidly hardening cock. He growls and tugs angrily at Hob’s jeans, and Hob quickly works at shucking them off before the were-panther could tear them clean off. Now that would be embarrassing to explain to the rest of the hunters. 

It isn’t long before Hob’s completely naked underneath Dream and it feels absolutely amazing and right the way their bodies fit against one another. Dream’s cock is a pleasant weight against Hob’s own as he strokes them together, pleasure building higher and higher with each needy whine and moan shared between them. 

“That’s right, love,” Hob pants, increasing the speed of his strokes when he realizes he’s close. “I’m so close, I wanna come with you, come on—”

Dream wails as his orgasm hits him, and then there’s a sharp pain in Hob’s shoulder when his own orgasm follows shortly after. His brain blearily registers that Dream’s bitten down on him, and though there’s some part of him that knows he should be alarmed by that, his body is too blissed out from the earth shattering orgasm his just experienced to care.

“Mine,” Dream mumbles, licking at the new mark on Hob’s shoulder and snuggling into his chest. “My mate.” 

Ah, fuck, Hob thinks as he drifts off to sleep, wrapping his arms protectively around Dream. Johanna was absolutely going to skin him over this.

[lusi-raul]

The difference in the vibes between each team during the latter half of the day was so funny lol. We have the Green team grouped together walking around in a pack like wolves hunting out for their prey mostly having calm conversations and figuring out their strategies. The blue team was efficiently gathering resources while having a mild internal conflict mostly between Tina and Bad. The reds… well, they were going ape shit crazy AHAHAHAHA. It’s amazing how the blue and green unintentionally ganged up on red which was the breaking point that made them go insane. It wasn’t planned at all but watching the red’s pov first made me think it was premeditated by both teams lol.

Looking back, the Reds could’ve secured a 2nd place spot if they didn’t give up. Even after Etoiles clutching those last minute global tasks for the greens, Red was way ahead of them that had they strived to at least complete the potatoes & apples and had not piled up their death counts further there was no way the Greens could catch up. Even so, there is absolutely no remorse and grief for the 2nd place they could’ve been because frankly I love the madness they’ve become. The red team really is the perfect team for all this misfortune to befall on because they can take it and make us laugh about the situation instead of malding our heads off. Yes it’s absolutely unfair but it’s also absolutely hilarious. The other two teams would have never taken it this well.

What I’m sad about is the missed opportunity for the reds to call their team name “The Big Swellers” 😂

[angelsworks]

Dating Klaus Mikaelson

Type: Headcannon

Request: yes, however I feel I’ve taken a darker route with some of it. Hints of dark! klaus and yandere! Klaus. But I hope you like it :)

Summary: What dating Klaus Mikaelson would be like

Dating Klaus is going to be difficult to navigate for anyone. However you can plan on that being a lot more difficult depending on who you are in mystic falls.

Innocent bystander

Klaus: Normal

If you aren’t involved in any of the supernatural sides of mystic falls, then things will run a lot smoother.

It makes it easier for Klaus to introduce himself, without you knowing anything about him.

Maybe he sees you at the grill, hanging out with friends, or working there.

He’s cool and calm, extremely flirty. Expecting to sweep you off your feet immediately.

It’s happened many times before for many other women.

Yet with you it doesn’t work.

You’ve seen men like him before, flirty and kind until they’ve gotten what they want.

As attractive as he might be, you won’t let him in that easy. You can almost see through his flirting to the man hiding underneath.

It takes several more attempts before he realises being honest and vulnerable with you is the only way to get your attention.

Maybe draws you on a napkin. One from his table at the grill. It’s a rough sketch, but undeniably you.

He hands it to you at the grill, a genuine smile on his face as he explain how beautiful he finds you and that he’d like to take you out.

From there it’s dates, dates and more dates. To grand dates going to museums and restaurants, to smaller ones having a picnic in the park or midnight stroll somewhere.

You’re happy to go anywhere with him as long as he’s genuine.

You see a side to Klaus he often tries to hide. With you he can’t do that. It’s like you repel any persona he tries to put on.

And he’s thankful for it.

Eventually he’ll tell you he’s a hybrid. Although he may scale down the fact he the original hybrid and his family is the most deadly to ever exist.

Life with Klaus is sweet. He keeps you protected with various talismans and charms. He makes sure you take vervain every day.

He most likely keeps you a secret, away from supernatural activities. Only his inner most circle know about you. That being restricted to his family only.

Supernatural reader

Klaus : protective

Being supernatural yourself, you do of course know of klaus Mikaelson. You know how other tremble before his name, how the aura of death follows him and how carnage is left in his wake.

You know to avoid him to summarise.

Maybe you’re a vampire, in which case great.

Maybe you’re a werewolf, in which case even better.

Vampire

You go with friends to a party, not realising this is the Mikaelson family ball, which you definitely weren’t invited to.

You try to keep a low profile , staying away from said family.

That becomes increasingly hard when the hybrid himself asks for a dance.

Despite your senses, you accept. Dancing the night away. The two of you talk over your interests and history . Sharing the best and worst stories from your vampirism.

Towards the end of the night he takes you outside. He shows you the stars and points out some constellations.

He asks you out there and then.

If you accept, you’ve made him a happy hybrid.

If you decline, things may get interesting.

While he’s not above compelling you to stay with him, he’ll try to resist.

Instead compelling your friends to change your opinion of him.

Next time he asks he’ll be sure you won’t say no.

Werewolf

This is a situation Klaus can exploit.

Maybe he finds you while hunting werewolves with Stefan.

He sees the fear in your eyes and his ego inflates. While he enjoys it, part of him wants you to look past that.

You watch as he mercilessly attempts to hybridise your pack mates, failing with everyone.

For some reason he keeps you. Takes you with him back to mystic falls.

When he’s sure he can make his hybrids work.

He turns you.

Being sired to him makes it hard to resist his advances.

He likes to keep you close at every opportunity.

Sometimes going as far to keep you on his lap during each and every meeting. Be it with friends, family or enemies.

Earning you the nickname ‘The hybrids Lapdog’

Witch

Maybe he comes across your coven while needing witchy services.

His eyes are drawn to you in an instant and he singled you out.

He chooses you to be his own personal spell caster

Being part of his every scheme brings the two of you close.

You become his confidant so to speak. Giving him advice on his problems.

In exchange for your services he houses, clothes and feeds you. Taking care of your every need.

Being in such close proximity leads you to seeing a side to the hybrid not many do.

It leads him to seeing you as more than disposable.

It leads him to asking you out.

And who are you to deny him?

Inner circle

Klaus: obsessive

You’ve always been apart of the Scooby gang. Maybe your someone’s sibling or just a friend.

There isn’t anything supernatural about you. You have just always been close with the group.

But you can be sure you know how awful klaus has been to your friends.

Terrorising teenagers for fun it seems

You don’t agree with anything he’s done, but your friends make you biased.

You meet klaus for the first time after being kidnapped by him.

His plan is to take you and compel you, turning you into a double agent.

When he realises your on vervain, he has no choice but to wait it out. He has his minions watch you while you’re locked in his manor.

To say you put up a fight would be an understatement.

By the second day your voice is hoarse from screaming. It gets to a point where his siblings are complaining about all the noise.

He has no choice but to interact with you more. Telling you how much he sees your defiance as an inconvenience.

It only enrages you more. Making you scream bloody murder that it’s you that’s been inconvenienced.

He finds it funny. How such a weak being can have so much fire.

Over the next few days he makes it his job to bring you food and water, clothes, whatever you need.

He wants to interact with you as much as possible rather than leaving it to his minions.

Before sending you back he of course compels you.

Over the next couple of weeks he meets you in secret, making you give away valuable information regarding your group.

He takes you out on dates, getting to know you. Without compulsion.

Despite what he’s done he’s been nothing but kind to you so you know

When the time comes he takes you on a final date to the grill. Your friends see you together and put two and two together.

He foils their current plan with knowledge only the inside circle knows.

They accuse you of working with Klaus. To which you deny of course.

Everyone turns their backs on you, which drives you into klaus’ arms.

He has successfully killed two bird with one stone and you don’t even realise.

When he asks you to go to New Orleans with him, you have no reason to say no.

He’s isolated you from your friend and stopped anyone getting in his way of courting you.

You never find out or course. That would ruin the paradise he’s created for the both of you.

[chaotic-orphan]

Could you write a story where a king who outlawed magical beings (like fae, elves, sorcerers, etc Bc they’ve tried to kill him multiple times ) has a trial for a young magical creature found in his lands, but the creature isn’t evil, didn’t even KNOW they were trespassing, and is terrified they’re gonna be executed or tortured or something. But the king doesn’t hurt it, since the magical being didn’t mean any harm? Could turn into found family or he just lets it go or something

Love ur writing!!

A Benignant Mischief

@annablogsposts THIS ASK HAS CONSUMED MY EVERY WAKING THOUGHT SINCE I GOT IT! IN THE MIDST OF FEBUWHUMP NO DOUBT! THE GALL, THE NERVE!!!! I must say, this idea has taken hold of a good chunk of my brain and I have just been obsessed with Cosimo and Henrik (who will be introduced in part two), I hope you love them as much as I do. There is far more than this part written, but I had to divide it up to get some of it published so you didn't think it was just collecting dust in my inbox.

Thank you so much for this ask, it has rekindled an obsession with writing plot that isn't exclusively whump?! If that makes sense. I hope you enjoy it!

*~*~*~*~*

Cosimo ran through the forest with a sharp urgency, an unconscious boy cradled close to his chest as he went. The rain pattered down on his head as he ran, bare feet clawing at the ground to keep his grip. To an onlooker he could have been running on plain terrain instead over the wiry and rough forest, leaves slick with water; as if he were one with the Earth; knew every root, every nettle and broken tree bows that he hopped over with graceful ease.

His sharp eyes searched the forest frantically, pleading for a shelter to open up to them. Ahead was a wooden fence, tree branches crisscrossing before him like a blockade. Cosimo bowed his head and turned to the side, curling his upper body around the smaller one in his arms. Branches snapped and scratched at him as he pushed his way through with a determined resolve.

When he finally emerged from the branches, he found what he knew would be waiting for him. A small burrow made in a circle of trees, an opening in the trunk of a thick elfbow tree, the size of three fully grown oaks. A shelter mercifully presenting itself. Cosimo let out a soft sigh and whispered a soft thank you to the forest for providing.

His limbs grew heavier and heavier the closer he got to rest, but he walked on, slower now but just as strong as he was when he set out from court. He lay the boy in his arms down on a bed of leaves for the moment under the shelter of the elfbow. Cosimo touched the trunk as he entered, his heart feeling full as he did.

“Thank you protecting us,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to the entrance. Then he pressed his knuckles against the unconscious boy’s forehead, letting out a soft sigh. He was okay. Not as hot as he was before. Cosimo would gather food and herbs tomorrow to help the fever, but at least he was stable for now.

Cosimo took off his pack that he had hastily gathered from home. Two blankets, two pillows, a canteen of water, a hunting knife — just the essentials.

“The very bare necessities, Cosimo,” Cosimo chastised himself with a sigh, running a hand through his soaked hair flicking the rain from it. Cosimo put a pillow under the boy’s head and wrapped him in a blanket to keep him warm. Cosimo sat with back against the trunk of the tree, arms wrapped around his knees that he hugged to his chest and just watched the rain patted down on leaves outside the elfbow. The gloomy grey of the evening bled into a darker, broodier grey but the rain let up before night fell with its coat of deep purples and midnight blues.

Cosimo didn’t know at what point he fell asleep, but he woke to footsteps cracking the leaves beneath its feet and he was immediately alert. His hand shot and grabbed the hunting knife, unsheathing it and lunging forward teeth bared.

He came face to snout with a fox that was frozen in place, brown eyes meeting Cosimo’s with a slightly dazed and stunned glimmer to them. Cosimo let out a breath that reflected on the air with a rolling wave of smoke, before settling back into the nook-like shelter of the elfbow. The fox didn’t retreat, instead he sniffed the air and timidly took a step towards Cosimo and the unconscious boy beside him.

Cosimo inclined his head slightly and the fox entered the elfbow with all the inquisitiveness of a cat trying to sniff out the source of fish. The fox turned his head to the boy, and glancing back at Cosimo quickly for permission he curled up on the unconscious boy’s chest. Curling into a little ball on top of him, deep brown eyes meeting Cosimo’s again before closing half-lidded.

Emotion clogged Cosimo’s throat as he reached out to pet the fox, allowing the animal to sniff his hand before allowing the affection.

“See?” Cosimo whispered to the air. “You’re not nobody. You’re like me.”

Cosimo didn’t sleep exactly, but he at least got some semblance of rest before Dawn broke and he woke with it. He looked down at the sleeping boy, who was still asleep, the fox now curled up to the boy’s side. Cosimo reached his hand out and brushed the boy’s hair back from his forehead to feel it.

He was warm, not too hot. Maybe the fever had passed with the rain? Cosimo didn’t know enough about it, but he knew the rejuvenation powers of rain that came with him so he suspected maybe it could be the saviour of the boy too.

Cosimo drank some water from the canteen before grabbing the empty rucksack he took with him and slinging it over his shoulder across his body. He took the water and the hunting knife and set off about the day. When he exited the elfbow the sun was only starting to rise, birds heralding the morning.

Cosimo looked back to the sleeping boy and the fox. He pressed his hand to the tree and leaned his forehead into the back of his palm.

Protect them, please. I’ll return with food.

Cosimo felt the rush of feeling that flooded him when he felt around nature. Then he turned and walked out of the small clearing and into the embrace of the forest again. He remembered hearing running water when he was running with the boy, the sound distinct from the patter of the rain.

The dense woods were not nearly as imposing as they were the night before, when Cosimo’s thoughts were on finding shelter and nothing else. There should be some mushrooms nearby he could roast, maybe some berry bushes if he was lucky and water. Not enough to feed them properly, but to sustain them? It would be enough.

Cosimo found the stream under a thicket of leaves. It was slightly lower than the ground that Cosimo was on, so he simply extended a leg and slid down the bank to the stream, opening his canteen as he went. His feet settled into the damp earth, and he crouched down to refill the canteen. Not before drinking the last of the remaining water.

He heard a huff from his left so Cosimo glanced towards the sound and saw a horse lapping up water from the stream. Cosimo froze like the fox had the night before, before kicking himself into action. He sprung up, canteen forgotten in the stream and bolted back up the bank, his fingers clawing into the clay.

He scrambled to the top and was met with a pair of legs. There was a flash and a pressure on his chest and Cosimo was airborne, gravity grabbing at him and bringing him down hard into the outer bank of the stream. Cosimo let out a gasp of air on impact but quickly sprung to his feet and turned to hop the stream to the other side.

A hand grabbed him by the strap of his rucksack, and he was yanked backwards. “Hey! Wait!” Cosimo cried, bringing an elbow back sharply and his head back too. He slipped under the strap of his bag and grabbed the hunting knife and hopped the stream with ease. He didn’t look back.

Humans were bad. They killed people like him, there shouldn’t even be any for miles around!

Cosimo climbed up the opposite bank of earth with deft speed and hoisted himself to the other side, knife ready in one hand, the sheath in his other with one thought and one thought only — to go back to the boy in the elfbow.

He didn’t account for more soldiers to be on the other side of the stream. Cosimo froze again when he was first recognised by another man. They were all fully grown humans. Cosimo had yet to pass his fifteenth year, at least he had a slight boost in height, but he was too skinny to fight.

There wasn’t time to think before a hand was bunched in his shirt again. Cosimo whirled on his heel, slashing out blindly with the knife. The blade cut into the soldier’s cheek Cosimo realised with wide eyes, and the Soldier let him go. Cosimo fell to the side at the sudden lack of force holding him, but quickly got his bearings again and ran to the right of the soldier’s camp.

An arrow whizzed by his ear, startling him and Cosimo lunged to the left only to be caught with a kick to his leg. Cosimo stumbled but remained standing, turning to his new attacker baring his teeth only to get a punch to the face. Cosimo’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell, stiff as an oak onto the forest floor.

A boot stomped down onto Cosimo’s wrist wielding the knife and Cosimo cried out, reaching over with his free hand to paw at the boot but it wouldn’t budge. A knee to the chest followed and Cosimo cried out, trying to wiggle himself free but the human was too heavy. Whether his weight was from his diet or the weight of the uniform of metal that the man wore Cosimo didn’t know.

“Well, well, well,” the human man remarked. Cosimo swallowed the lump in his throat, struggling to free himself from the man’s pin. “You’re only a baby, aren’t you?”

Cosimo bared his teeth in response. They were so close to where Cosimo had left the boy and the fox, and he prayed that the elfbow would protect them from the soldiers.

“Let go of me,” Cosimo demanded, eyes blazing up at the man. The man smiled, something wicked twinkling in his eyes.

“Have you run away from home? You do know what we do to your people in these parts, don’t you?”

Cosimo let out a cry of frustration at trying and failing pathetically to free himself from the man’s grip.

“Please,” Cosimo said. “I don’t mean you any harm. I was just coming for water.”

“Won’t do harm my arse,” the soldier that Cosimo cut ground out, fury winding his features tight. Cosimo didn’t see him lift his leg, but his head whipped to the side with the impact. Cosimo righted his head too early as the man he injured stomped a foot down on Cosimo’s face.

Cosimo heard the bones in his nose crack inside his head while he screamed out loud, a quiet whimper following after his scream died in his throat.

“Hey!” The soldier pinning Cosimo growled. “You can’t kill it. They must be brought to court before their execution.”

Execution?

Cosimo’s struggles to break free renewed at the thoughts of the soldiers taking him away from the boy. “No! No, you can’t! I can’t leave the forest, please!”

The man above him tilted his lips down into a frown. “Sorry kid. Orders are orders, we have to bring ya in.”

“Don’t talk to it like it’s a child,” the angry soldier scolded. The man on top of him reached over and plucked the knife from Cosimo’s grip. Cosimo let out a soft whine at the object of his defence leaving his grasp.

“Just get the irons and let me deal with h—” the man above him said, then corrected himself, glancing down at Cosimo with a frown. “It.”

The angry man stormed off out of sight. Cosimo just stared above at the man still pining him to the forest floor.

“Please…” Cosimo tried. “Please don’t kill me.”

“Like I said kid,” said the man. “There has to be a trial in front of the king.”

Cosimo’s eyes widened significantly. There wasn’t a king for miles around court… how far had Cosimo travelled, and in what direction? The question lingered on his tongue, and he wanted to voice it, but thought better of asking the enemy… or even worse, letting them know just how clueless Cosimo really was.

The man stared down at Cosimo with a stern glance. “I’m going to get you to sit up, if you try to escape, we will catch you, and the other soldiers will hurt you again. Do you understand?”

Cosimo nodded. He hated himself for it, but he had to listen to this man. He seemed to be the only one who didn’t want him dead at that moment. The angry soldier returned with two bands of metal attached together with a thick link of metal between them.

“What— what are they?” Cosimo asked, his voice cracking with fear. The soldier helped Cosimo to sit up which caused a wicked amount of pain in his nose to flare up and Cosimo grunted with the effort.

The man took the metal from the angry soldier and dismissed him with a wave. The other soldier didn’t want to listen but obeyed the man when he told him to go verbally.

The man opened the metal loop and showed it to Cosimo, saying with a reassuring smile: “They open like this, see?”

Cosimo leaned in closer to inspect the metal. “What do they do?” He asked, a little less scared at seeing them up close. The man lifted his hand and put the metal over his own wrist.

“They tighten over your wrist like this, see? They lock— well, they essentially keep your hands tied behind your back so you can’t hurt someone again.”

Not have use of his hands. Cosimo shook his head vehemently. “No. No. I won’t hurt anyone else; I promise. Don’t put them on me.”

The man’s smile faded back into a frown. “I’m sorry, but I have to. Please don’t fight me. I don’t want you getting hurt again.”

Cosimo was trembling in the man’s hands, but he nodded his consent for the man to grab Cosimo’s wrist. Cosimo screamed when the metal touched his wrist and bolted back away from the man.

“Wait! Please! Please! Wait! Ow, please! I won’t hurt anyone!” The man caught Cosimo’s ankle before he could get further away from him and dragged him back. “Please don’t. Please! I’ll be good.”

A shadow crossed the man’s face as he grabbed Cosimo’s arm and pulled it behind Cosimo’s back before locking the second cuff around Cosimo’s wrist.

Cosimo let out a hiss as the metal burned a circle around his wrists, tears coming to his eyes. “Please, I’m sorry. Take them off. I’m sorry. What— agh! What is it?!”

The man grabbed Cosimo’s arms to stop him struggling more and hurting himself. “Iron. It’s a metal that is poisonous to your kind.”

“Please,” Cosimo whispered, the plea coming out soft and childish, fat tears trailing down his cheeks. “Please take them off.”

“I can’t,” said the man. “I’m sorry,” and it sounded like he meant it. The man then got to his feet and waited patiently for Cosimo to do the same. Cosimo pushed himself up, his balance going off and he hissed as he moved his hands to catch himself. All they touched was iron and it burned. The man put a hand under Cosimo’s armpits once he saw the boy struggling and helped him into a standing position.

“Thank you,” Cosimo said, the words like ash on his tongue. Thanking humans now? What would court think of him? His mind trailed back to the boy in the elfbow and guilt flood his body as he was pushed forward gently by the man.

“Change of plan, boys. We are bringing this one back to the King.”

One of the other men stood up, his face the shape of a weasels; small wisps of hair clung to his upper lip and chin in what Cosimo could only assume was supposed to be a beard and a moustache. The soldier lifted his nose high in the air when he looked up at Cosimo, grinning up at him and revealing yellowing teeth.

“It’s not even fully grown,” said the soldier with a high-pitched voice. The nice man holding Cosimo scoffed and pushed Cosimo forward again.

“Either are you, McClagen.”

“Does it know that we kill things like that?” McClagen sneered. The man didn’t reply, but Cosimo’s fate weighed heavy on him, heavier than a cloak made of stone. He frowned as the nice man led him passed the other Soldiers readying to take off again.

—

Continued here

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

I’ve been reading a bit of analysis of the autumn statement, and I’m deeply concerned.

The Tories, ideologically, are against government borrowing, and don’t want to increase it. Hunt effectively made up fiscal rules for the autumn statement, so he could say he met them and appease the markets (or try to). In order to meet these fiscal rules, he effectively needs to propose more cuts, and limit public sector pay and other spending.

But there’s a problem. He’s done nothing to bring down inflation, and nothing to bring down interest rates. For most UK household, their biggest cost is housing- high interest rates mean high housing costs. High inflation means the costs of energy, food and other necessities will continue to rise. The average household is expected to have increased costs of £4000 over the next 12 months, according to some estimates.

The Tories will protect pensioners, because that’s their voter base, and the very rich, ideologically.

They’ve also announced increases to national living wage and to benefits, which are in line with, or just below inflation. I genuinely think they’ve done this because the alternative would be mass scale theft, homelessness, starvation or food riots. It’s probably not going to be enough to keep people comfortable, but it’s just enough to put off national unrest.

But, here’s the issue- very roughly working people/households with incomes between 30%-70% aren’t going to get any sort of help/protection. They will have to absorb rising costs, and these are the households facing the £4000 (and remember, that’s just an average) in increased costs. The treasury hopes that people will dig into their savings in order to do this- but not all households in this income bracket have savings of any kind. Many, many people towards the bottom of this income bracket have no savings at all and live pay cheque to pay cheque. And savings are all well and good, but they don’t last forever.

So, what happens when savings run out? Well, people have to borrow. People will extend their mortgage terms, or use credit cards, or take out loans, or use finance to buy a new car when theirs packs up, and so on. And that’s shit- to ask ordinary working people to take on debt, so the government doesn’t have to.

But it gets worse- because some of these people won’t have access to the credit they need. If they rent, their housing costs will likely go up, and their wages won’t, and that will impact their ability to get credit. And at some point, for some of these people, their income will exceed their outgoings.

What the Tories hope is that this will happen slowly. They are, in effect, kicking the can down the road. Hoping they can hold out until the next election, before the shit really hits the fan. That things will somehow get better.

They also hope that they can push the blame onto individuals, if their lives go tits up. They shouldn’t have taken on a mortgage they couldn’t afford. They should have managed their spending better. They shouldn’t have gotten into debt. They should have known the cheap credit would run out... (you know the lines, you remember then from 2008).

It is very easy for governments to borrow money, to spend it, to improve the economy. (This is what Labour should be advocating, by the way). But the Tories won’t do it, because they are against it ideologically. So instead, they will ask ordinary working people to pick up the slack.

Over the next year or so, it’s very likely a lot of traditionally “middle class” professions will strike or take some form of industrial action. The media will say that these people are well paid, that they don’t need pay rises, that they’re just being greedy. But, among other issues, these people are now, effectively, being asked to take on debt so the government doesn’t have to.

Anyway, this country is really, seriously facing an economic crisis- and it’s clear that we need to do something as soon as possible to try and prevent it. OR look for a different way altogether.

[bullet-prooflove]

StolenMoments!Series Part Five: Gone - Vostanik Sabatino x Reader (feat: Sam Hanna)

Tagging: @kmc1989 @novamariestark @words-and-seeds

Part One: First Date - You and Nik have an unusual first date.

Part Two: Christmas in Afganistan - You and Nik reunite in Afganistan.

Part Three: Yours (NSFW) - Nik and you take the next step in your relationship.

Part Four: Last Words - Nik goes on the hunt after you're taken.

Sam finds you sitting alone on the edge of your bunk, your packed bag resting in the space alongside of you. You don’t look up when he enters, you’re too focused on the plush heated blanket that’s folded neatly upon your lap. Your fingertips toying with the edges of it.

“It was Sabatino’s.” You find yourself telling him. “He lent it to me when one of the generators broke.”

“I know you hate the cold.” He had murmured, his lips ghosting along the line of your jaw as his heated form covered yours.  “And I won’t be here over the next few weeks to keep you warm.”

You had told him that a lifetime ago, back when the two of you were sitting in a car watching Sidorov fuck his mistress. You’d been surprised he remembered. He’d laughed when you’d said that, his nose trailing over yours as he’d whispered.

“I remember everything my girl tells me.”

He’d made love to you that night for the last time. His hands threading through your hair as he kissed you. You’ll never forget the way he looked at you in that moment, like you were the most precious thing in his world, like he loved you more than life itself.

“He’s a good guy.” Sam says as he takes up residence alongside of you, his shoulder nudges against yours. “But you knew that anyway.”

You purse your lips together grimly before you tilt your head to look at him. You look like a horror show. The left side of your face is swollen, marred with hues of purple and blue. Your lip is split, and your right eye is bloodshot, the broken blood vessels stark against the white of your eye. Your nose has been reset by the medic on base and you have cracked ribs from the beating you had taken when the Taliban had first tried to interrogate you.

As soon as you had landed back at base you’d been triaged. Your injuries didn’t warrant a hospital visit. You’d been taken away to the medical tent instead while Sabatino was airlifted to Daoud Khan Military Hospital in Kabal for emergency surgery. The bullet had torn through his back and exited through his chest causing him to bleed internally, his lungs had begun to soak up the blood causing him to choke. It had been fucking devastating to watch, the man you love dying right before your eyes.

“I got word that he made it through the surgery.” Sam says quietly as he leans forward, clasping his hands together. “That man is one tough bastard.”

“He is.” You say with a small smile because the Sabatino you know never quits; it isn’t in his nature. “When can I see him?”

Sam doesn’t say anything and that’s when you realise the real reason he’s here. The words that he’s not saying.

“He’s already gone, isn’t he?” You say raising your eyes towards the ceiling as you inhale deeply.

“Yea.” Sam says quietly. “The CIA closed ranks, he was moved as soon as the surgery was completed. I don’t know where they’ve taken him.”

It’s a blow. Sam sees the impact of it as your grip on the blanket tightens, your knuckles whitening. You haven’t learned yet the sacrifice that comes with being involved with a CIA Officer, but you’re starting to. Their lives, they aren’t their own, they belong The Agency. They go where they’re told and they do the job. Sabatino, he’s an important asset, the connections he has, the operations he’s worked, the shit he knows, they can’t afford for him to be vulnerable. Sam knows it must kill you, it had killed him once upon a time when it happened with Michelle. The worst part is, he doesn’t think you understand what Sabatino was saying in the chopper, how he’s betraying the CIA by giving himself to you.

“You don’t know do you?” Sam says softly. “What he was trying to tell you in the helicopter.”

You shake your head.

He slips into Armenian sometimes when he’s emotional, when he’s in the throes of pleasure and he can’t find the words, he wants to say in English. He whispers them against your skin in the heat of the moment, saying the most beautiful things in a language you don’t understand.

“I love you.” Sam tells you in a low tone. “He was saying I love you.”

It hits you hard because in Sabatino’s final moments that’s what he would have wanted you to know, that he loved you. He had repeated it over and over again until he’d begun to drown on his own blood.

“He doesn’t know…” You trail off, your palms smoothing over the blanket.

“You never told him.” Sam states.

“No.”

Your eyes fucking sting, you pinch your brow to stave off the tears, but it’s been a traumatic twenty-four hours and right now, this conversation it’s more than you can bear. Sam’s hand comes to rest on yours, he squeezes it lightly before he sighs.

“If you go down this path, it’s going to be like this. It’s hard, loving someone like him, there’s going to be compromises, ones you don’t even see coming.” He warns you. You know he’s speaking from experience. His wife Michelle was a CIA operative when they met, she’d given it up when they had decided to start a family. “If this were a normal relationship you’d be going home to your man, he’d be taking care of you, helping you recover but it doesn’t work that way with them. They can’t be there when you need them. It hurts the both of you.”

“Was it worth it?” You ask him. “You and Michelle going through all of that?”

Sam smiles, because the years he’s had with Michelle have been the best ones of his life.

“Yea, but that included a lot of sacrifice on her part.” He tells you with a knowing look because that’s what it takes, commitment, endurance. He knows Sabatino is willing to go the distance, but the question is are you. “If you want this, write him a letter and tuck it in the folds of that blanket, sooner or later his belongings will find their way back to him.”

He raises to his feet, his hand coming to clasp your shoulder.

“You need to choose quickly.” He tells you, his eyes meeting yours. “Our ride will be here in an hour. We’re taking you home.”

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[mageofsleep]

Koishi vs Miss Merry The Prologue, Silly but very long story

alright, before I begin this is was all meant to be lighthearted shitposty but got wayyyy too wordy. 🥲 It's a little bit related to these two, but it's self-contained and can be read without them. Also, it was meant to be a hifuu story, too.... I will edit this post and post part 2 later Please click "Read more" after you're done with the first paragraph

In the forests of Youkai Mountain, there’s a small market stall run by a tengu reporter, selling books and cawing at youkai passersby, “You should read this book report! As the war between humans continues, sailors from the land of Portugal have arrived in Japan! They’ve been selling specialized weaponry to profit from the war for economic gain! Some of these sailors have been sighted and killed right here on Youkai Mountain by fellow youkai! There are treasures flying about Gensokyo that have been lost and forgotten about! Just as there are wars between humans, wars between youkai are being fought right here in Gensokyo over treasures!” A satori with mint green hair, Koishi Komeiji, strolls along the path and becomes curious, “Hmm? Treasures? Por…tugal?” The tengu cheerily answers Koishi, “Good morning! Would you like to buy one? It’s all about treasures! Gensokyo is scattered with treasures worth plundering! You satori could read my mind and find out that it’s no lie! Give some of those long weapons to the kappa for their research and they will most surely reward you. Act fast, I couldn’t publish a whole lot of them, so what you see here is all I have.” Koishi says, “Well, I can see that you’re not lying. Hmm… I’ve never seen a tengu journalist talking about technology and writing book reports like that… I’ve only seen papers about trashy gossip and drama from the tengu. Hmm…” The tengu then reassured Koishi “Nothing to worry about! These papers aren’t that speedy as that gossipy tengu Aya, but they are packed with information! You see, if you buy this book, you’ll have more knowledge about the treasures and inventions better than others!” “Hmm… Maybe it could convince my sister to go outside and treasure hunt with me, too! She’s always shut-in our little house. She’s so sleepy and I think she’s starting to grow sickly from being indoors so much, too. The tengu hesitated, “Ummm… Yeah… Y-You have a nice day, now,” The tengu then thought, “You can get sick from being indoors for too long?” Koishi replied to her thoughts, “As long as you adventure outside every once in a while, you’ll be healthy and won’t be sick, too! Can’t write reports when you’re always sleepy and tired, y’know.”

Koishi happily strolled away with her purchase, but the tengu cawed back to her, “Wait! I forgot something! Come back!” Koishi turned back, and the tengu gave her a small felt bag, “As my very first customer, I’m obligated to give you one half of the treasures I found while I went outside for once, as a bonus offer. I’d hate to spoil the reading a bit, but since I’m thinking about it, anyways, and you can read minds, I had to let you know that they are one of the most valuable treasures. I was ordered by my boss to find any treasures that landed on the Mountain for her, and found these bags of seeds by the corpse of the sailor at the foot of the Mountain that nobody seemed to bother taking. No native Outsider had gotten a hold of these, either. If you plant these now and take good care of them, then they will allegedly grow unique and sweet fruit next year. Once they do, that will make Gensokyo one step ahead of the rest of Japan!” Koishi took the bag of seeds and continued her journey to her house while reading the book report.

Koishi entered back down to her and her sister Satori’s small little house on the skirt of Youkai Mountain with the tengu book report and seeds. “Satorin! I’ve got some stuff!” Koishi sees Satori sleeping with her head on her desk with stacks of paper, and her quill taken off from her hand, as it had dripped strands and drops of ink onto the paper. “Satoriii! I’m too late! She fell asleep!” Koishi tries to shake the shoulders of Satori in order to awaken her, but she had barely opened her dark baggy eyes. Koishi rests her sleepy sister against the chair, and places the bag of seeds on the desk. Koishi tries another method to wake her up one more time, “Satori! You look so sick, you need sunshine! I got a book for you to read! It’s a book report about treasures from the tengu,” Koishi said as she opens the book to a random page and hands it to Satori. Satori was enticed by sketches of a mansion, and her eyes opened up even more. Koishi continues, “The tengu who wrote it even gave me these seeds, too. She told me to keep them safe, they might contain strange fruits we don’t know about! Maybe we can go outside together, get some fresh air plundering for treasures, or even garden! Also, I wanna try out that memory digging hypnosis magick you taught me!” Satori sighed, “Oh alright, Koishi… I do want to see what sorts of information we can dig up with that skill and our mind reading powers. I guess I’ll go outside, but let me finish reading this first.” Koishi beamed with excitement, “Yay! In the meantime, I’m going to brew some remedies for exploring and for you since you are so ill from being inside all the time.”

The Komeiji twins wander around the foggy mountain and come across two different paths with the sign at the top pointing to the left that says, “Forest of Magic” and the sign below it that says “Misty Lake”. Koishi exclaims, “There shouldn’t be any more treasures on the Mountain since the tengu took them all, so we should head downwards. Where should we go first? I bet the Forest of Magic has magicians with tons of knowledge on treasures that we can memory dig from!”  Satori then warned her, “Koishi, some of those magicians are pretty scary, even for satori like us. Some of them are weaklings, sure, but some know terrible spells from youkai who live in an underground world deeper than Hell. Some know how to give us headaches for reading their mind… some can even forcefully close our third eye with magic stitches that seals it forever… I think we should take another path.”  Koishi turned to Satori and startled, “They can do such a thing?! Wouldn’t that just make us lose our ability to read minds?”  Satori replied “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard scary stories from other satori on the mountain. Our third eye is our ‘heart’, so if the stitches seal the eye, then the ‘heart’ is also sealed. Another story is that those whose hearts are sealed are forever forgotten.’” Koishi shivers, “Why would such a thing even exist? Do other youkai hate and fear the satori as much as humans do? How do you know this stuff when you’re always in your room?”  Satori tells her, “Koishi, maybe you’re a shut-in yourself if you don’t know those horror stories. Anyways, Let’s try that lake with fairies and mermaids. Fairies are weak enough and we can grab some information from them with our memory digging hypnotism. Same goes for the mermaids, too.” Koishi agrees with her, and they continue their descent from Youkai Mountain to the lake.

Later on, a purple magician aimlessly wandered through a foggy forest on the Mountain. She passed a cliff and heard a youkai communicating with her, "So she says, 'Well... I think I’m lost, but I guess I have to make my way to the top somehow.'" Another voice was then heard after, "'Well, I know it's a mountain filled with youkai, but I just hope that I don't encounter anything uninteresting,' How silly this human is!" The purple magician turned around and looked at the cliff behind her: she saw the two Komeiji sisters. Satori had continued to mock her thoughts "'Oh dear, not just a youkai, but a satori…’” and Koishi followed “‘Weren’t they banished to Former Hell?’ Huh? Satorin, this one’s thoughts are a bit silly… What’s she talking about?” Satori had replied “Here to climb the mountain to the oni? Might as well write your wills.” Satori looked at the human magician more carefully and mocked her once again, “‘Oh dear, I must’ve landed in a time period where they were still on the mountain,’ Hmm… I think this individual isn’t human, Koishi, she might be the Gensokyo Sage Yukari Yakumo. That youkai is more terrifying than us satori, she can set up barriers that block our ability to read her mind! The barriers are filled with nonsensical readings that might give you a headache, sister, so try not to read them too much.” The magician chimed in, “I don't know if I'm even human either, but I’m pretty sure my name is Maribel Hearn, not Yukari Yakumo.” Koishi cheerily says, “Oh, a human who speaks her mind for once. This silly human’s name is ‘Maeribeu’ or something. Satorin, she might be a sailor! Thinking she’s in the past! Oh goodness, in her mind she says she’s from Ireland and moved to Japan, she wants to find the oni at the summit.” Satori then followed after, “Pay attention and read carefully, sister. Look, ‘At least they think I’m someone else, a stronger youkai even. I might be able to just walk away from them and just head to the top,’” Maribel walked away from the two and continued to traverse through the forest, Koishi was shocked, “Oh right, right! We were supposed to prank humans like her and warn her about the mountain, but she’s getting away! It would be very tragic of a silly human like her to die. We have to chase her and prank her before the other youkai kill her, sister!” Satori replied to Koishi, “If you say so, I’m too lazy to prank today, though. I do want to see what interesting things you can do with pranking her, so I’ll just follow you. Maybe you can test your new skills of hypnotism that I’ve taught you on this human, Koishi.” The Komeiji sisters continue to follow Maribel deeper into the steep forest.

Maribel had carefully tried to walk along very steep terrain and found shrubs bearing small pome fruit. She inspected them carefully, but found that they were still not ready to be harvested. While distracted, Koishi had talked behind her, “I wouldn’t eat those fruits if I were you, they’re pretty sour and can make your face scrunch up and maybe even kill you! We wouldn’t want a dead human while trying to read her mind, right?” Maribel became startled and fell down. Koishi continued, “Maeribeu, right? Would it be okay if I called you Miss Merry instead?” Satori scolded Koishi, “Koishi, you scared our test subject and killed her. How are we gonna find another human to test the hypnotism I’ve taught you now?” “Aww…” Koishi poked Merry’s head with a stick and read her mind “‘Hmm, I don’t think she’s dead, I’m still able to read her mind. See? She thinks, ‘Oh dear, these two are not going to leave me alone, huh. Well, I guess I could make a report about the satori for my studies, instead.’” Koishi turned back to Satori and excitedly claimed, “Satorin! This’ll convince Miss Merry to play with us, too!” Merry, annoyed by Koishi poking her head, tries to stand up. Once she stands she tells Koishi, “Alright, Koishi, I’ll play with you. Do be warned that I do know some magical skills myself, though.” Merry takes out a strange rectangular device with a set of lenses to the side. Koishi mocks her mind one more time, “‘Bullets from youkai turn to nothing with thi-’” but Koishi was interrupted by a flash, "Aaah!" and a shudder was sounded from the strange device. Koishi recoiled back, “Wait! Restart! Let me start first! I attacked from behind you, so it's only natural that my turn is first! Also, if you lose, you have to play with us again! I’ll start by testing this skill that makes you think of your true inner secrets and traumas!” Koishi spinned lasers towards Merry and scattered simple yellow bullets of light throughout the field. Merry’s vision had grown darker and darker throughout until she could see nothing but the light of the danmaku. Merry had felt as if she had died, and this feeling is what floods her thoughts of precious memories and traumas.

“I see them now… This skill makes it so I can dig up precious and unforgettable memories and traumas stored in a hidden part of the mind that satori can't read by forcing one to think of them! But Miss Merry’s precious memories… they are a bit strange… I feel a bit of a headache but… It’s like they are from another world! Or more worlds than one!” Koishi said, “Miss Merry is no ordinary human who landed on the mountain… She’s a magician who studies minds from a world stranger than Gensokyo, or maybe even the future! Precious memories of the future, of leaving her faraway country to Japan. There’s tall, rectangular prismic buildings… And she’s always with another girl who studies the forces of nature and things that are tiny and unseeable! She’s traveled to Paradise… to the Moon… to Hell except it had a big castle in the middle… and then there was another stranger Hell??. She’s traveled to the past and seen the formation of Japan by Izanagi… As a matter of fact, the girl standing before us isn’t really her, but a doll of some sort, that she created to possess and traverse these strange worlds without endangering her real self who’s just sleeping in her room in the future! What a strange human!” Satori tries to read the trancing Merry’s mind as well, but she develops headaches and passes out from the information she’s read. Koishi shocked, “Oh no!! Merry put sister Satori back to sleep! I’ve got to have vengeance!! Alright, so I’ve narrowed it down to three choices: A battle with a silvery blade maid of a vampire, visions of a fiery Hourai immortal, and a battle with a cat-like chimera youkai from a spacey place with wings! Although, there isn't enough information about their attacks, as each one of them ended with her waking up in the end, so I will collect them and do each of them in order.” The bullets of yellow light and lasers continued to rotate. Merry had started to develop migraines and vertigo after trying to just dodge and time out the attack, but then remembered that she can’t time out Koishi’s attacks because they are not spellcards. She then tries to use her strange device to flash against the bullets and Koishi. “Eek!” Koishi recoiled against the flash once more, “That strange device, it’s a ‘smartphone’? Spellcard rules? Don’t worry, my first attack will be from your future! My next trick is to use the attacks of the blade maid you’ve battled once before! This one will have a timer.” Despite delivering an attack to Koishi, Merry’s headaches continue to develop into more severe migraines. Koishi scatters knives throughout the field. Knives are placed behind Merry, but she was too distracted by her migraines to pay attention to the patterns. The knives then, all at once, quickly jolt towards Merry. The ‘doll’ that Merry is possessing is destroyed and disappears before Koishi.

“I won! I won! Miss Merry was nothing compared to a mountain youkai! She has to battle us again!” Koishi cheers, but then she turns back to the downed Satori. Koishi crouches down and tries to gently shake Satori’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. Satori slowly wakes up. She then sits up but tries to hold her head and faintly responds to Koishi. Koishi takes out a vial of medicine and hands it to Satori. Satori drinks the vial and tells Koishi, “I told you… I told you those magicians are terrible… I think this fog made us go the wrong way…” Koishi cheers, “We’re on the right path, and we won! Miss Merry was from the future and she was possessing a doll that looked just like her. I used all my power, copied abilities from her memories, and she lost! We can go back to siphoning information and finding treasures! Then prank Miss Merry again once she comes back!” Satori sleepily responds, “Koishi… What are you even talking about? That human magician was from the future?” she then, still drowsy, smirked, “We can’t prank Merry because she’s from the future, and I lost anyways to her, so that makes it a tie. No more migraines from Miss Merry ever again.” Koishi sulked, “Well… if we live long enough, we can see Miss Merry in the future again… right?” Satori questioned Koishi, “How were you even conscious during that whole battle? Miss Merry’s memories and thoughts gave me such a headache.” “I think I can explain but let me help you stand back up so we can explore more afterwards,” Koishi helped Satori back up, they both paused and their thoughts scrambled with time travel and other worlds. Koishi then snapped out of it and clarified, “Miss Merry’s future is where humans like her study minds and become magicians, and she’s traveled to other worlds, other time periods. She has a friend who believes that everything is made from really tiny things we can’t see. If humans can end up learning tricks like that, then we youkai must grow and form new tricks, too!  We satori can only read what people are thinking about at the moment, there has to be more to the mind than just what people are thinking about. For example, memories are stored in a place of the mind that us satori can’t read unless one thinks about them at the present moment, so we needed to learn that magic about how to hypnotize people to reveal their memories and traumas. If we learn more psychic skills like memory digging, we could learn more about that side of the mind and become powerful, so much more powerful than Miss Merry even! We could do so much and change fate if we just explore!” Satori smirked, “We satori will become the most powerful youkai there is.” Koishi and Satori then continued their journey and wandered downwards from the foggy Mountain.

Afterward Notes: So for this beginning part I wrote them in the Sengoku period, because of Zanmu Nippaku who's based on a monk from that time, Zanmu Nichihaku. (their given names are spelled slightly differently in kanji and surname for the real guy is pronounced Nichihaku instead but with the same exact kanji spelling as Nippaku) There's not too much information about him either way and he's a bit enigmatic, but Nichihaku's death is recorded in 1576, or in touhou lore Nippaku from TH19 "purposely descends into hell and becomes an oni" possibly vaguely around that time. If you want to read more about the lore of Zanmu Nippaku and Nichihaku I suggest reading this post. And obviously after she turns into an oni, Nippaku from TH19 is the one who convinces the Yama and the dwellers of hell to abandon the underground/former hell in favor of a new hell. This first part of the story takes place many years before that time and the middle of the youkai expansion project, tho.

This may be obvious but the original joke is because Maribel is Merry but Koishi pretends to be a vengeful spirit urban legend named Miss Merry/Mary in ULiL that nobody in the game seemed to get because gensokyo residents dont know what a phone is. And also this part having Koishi before she closed her eye happy about her mind-reading ability... well... I know AO3 exists but also im too lazy to make an acct, i just bookmark things on my browser when i read on there, but I'll crosspost anyways if i do

The pome fruit that Merry sees is the quince of some species of Chaenomeles that is native to Japan, and is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae) and Koishi uses roses as bullets. It's a very hard fruit when its raw and very sour in general but the flowers are quite amazing to look at during the spring.

[sepublic]

Now I want to elaborate on the Makuta of Odina as our big bad villain. The thing about Vamprah is that he’s a hunter, and one who has taken a vow of silence; He acts animalistic, all things considered, and wears the Mask of Hunger, which adds to his motif as a predator who feasts on prey. 

One of the earliest descriptions of Makuta was that of a “raging, kicking, screaming beast” and it’s a depiction that’s really stuck with me. Less of a person or god and more of a monster, an animalistic force of nature incomprehensible to the Matoran. 

When Makuta was first introduced, it was as the master of the Rahi, powerful and dangerous beasts that have been placed under his sway by masks he infected. This precedent was not forgotten later down the line, when 2003 established Rahi Control as one of Makuta’s powers, and it was eventually revealed that the Brotherhood of Makuta’s original purpose was to create Rahi for the Matoran Universe. 

So Makuta in this story is the apex predator, the leader of a pack; The most powerful beast in the land, for whom all others answer to. And an unnatural, ravaging monster with endless hunger, and a taste for sport. There’s a sadistic side to Makuta, who ravages ecosystems like an invasive species.

Humanity has a primordial fear of beasts lurking in the darkness, waiting to strike; Unseen with only our imaginations to fill in the gaps. So let’s incorporate that idea for the Makuta of Odina; A creature who brings darkness with it, enveloping the area in shadows for Makuta to hide in and strike unseen. Like Shelob from Lord of the Rings, and especially like...

You ever heard of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal? It’s a wonderful animated show, about a caveman and his T-rex surviving against some horrible odds in prehistoric times. My favorite episode is the The Night Feeder, and the titular beast is a cryptid that strikes only at night, in total darkness. It remains entirely unseen for the whole episode, so you can only see from its perspective, and glimpse the damage it inflicts on prey and environment alike.

We only get to see the Night Feeder’s dreaded true form in the last minute of the episode, for a few seconds. This is after our protagonists learn that its fear and weakness is fire; Fire which brings light, which allowed humanity’s ancestors to conquer the darkness and explore new horizons. The Night Feeder is beaten as it is seen and revealed, stripping it of the infinity of the unknown by making it quantifiable via comprehension.

I want to play with that idea; A thematically protean creature that can be anything, whatever its prey imagines, because it’s a Schrodinger’s Cat situation where if you can’t see it, who knows what it is? And thus so many options are on the table. Makuta is a monster of shadows, so the way to defeat it is with light; Light thematically reveals its true form, taking away both the shadows it uses to hide itself, but also taking away a lot of the mystique and fear Makuta employs. It is no longer a formless entity, you can see now that it’s limited to the physical form that is illuminated. Like Jean Jacket from Nope, seeing the beast is a form of victory over it.

And it’s neat that I bring up the idea of monsters and beasts that must be hunted, primordial times and whatnot. Because Vamprah’s domain in G1 is the very headquarters of the Dark Hunters... So what if we took that name literally in this adaptation? You’ve got this mercenary group, not exactly good guys, but our protagonists hired against an even greater threat. Makuta ravages livestock, it slaughters entire herds for no other reason than the fun of it, while eating something unknown from its prey that cannot be interacted with.

Enter our Dark Hunters; A group of trophy hunters, monster hunters, that kind of thing. They’ve conquered the most elusive and dangerous cryptids, but this is their greatest hunt yet. They learn the mistake of underestimating the Makuta; They think they’re the masters of the shadow? The Dark Hunters believe it’s their territory and camouflage from which to strike? Their greatest asset has now been turned against them by the Makuta. 

Our protagonists can be Dark Hunters with explicit ties to hunting and/or animals; Such as Airwatcher, Savage, Charger, etc. Tracker and his pet bull are must-haves, as is Primal, whose name and use of a simple spear feels VERY relevant given the influences I’m incorporating into Makuta here. The Hordika Dragons can be a pack of hunting dogs, feared and reputable, only to fall against the Makuta. 

There’s definitely the tension of Man VS Nature, Man trying to conquer the wilderness and its animals, taking trophies. Maybe Makuta is a punishment sent upon these Dark Hunters, who kill for sport, and now find themselves on the receiving end of a karmic beast who inflicts the same. It eats light, spreading the night and darkness across Odina, thereby spreading the Makuta’s territory. It can only strike in shadows, but when it does, it’s virtually unstoppable. Courage is tasty and Makuta knows its scent, devouring bravery to leave nothing left of its prey but terror in their souls as they are shredded.

While other Dark Hunters rely on fancy tools and machines that fail in the face of the supernatural power of Makuta, Primal (whom I shall refer to by the name Nuoka given by creator Peter Dolan), our main protagonist, prevails in his simpler toolset; He hearkens back to the ancient hunters of prehistoric times who fought like animals and thus better understood them. He can fight on Makuta’s level, by Makuta’s rules, and actually make it out alive. Firedracax is another hunter with a specific grudge against a species of pack predators, whose whole power is fire; This could thematically put him at odds against Makuta as another main protagonist.

There can be some discussions of industrialism vs nature, the idea that perhaps a society more removed from it isn’t necessarily better. Cities aren’t necessarily more ‘advanced’ than a nomadic society, after all. This ties into Nuoka as a former member of a tribe, who has his own defense against the prejudices of other Dark Hunters. Likewise, civilization may not be as divorced from nature as it likes to think; Society is still a part of nature and thus has a responsibility to it. 

Makuta is a challenge to human arrogance; Not literal human arrogance, these characters aren’t human. But you get what I mean. The shadows have birthed a dark creature, like the Grendel that Beowulf fought, or many other beasts sent by the gods and/or nature to punish humanity’s hubris. Makuta is the Scorpio to the Dark Hunters’ Orion. Maybe Makuta was once a hunter named Vamprah, who was cursed for his bloodlust with a form that reflected his heart, and even infects others with this transformation to create Rahi.

I like to think the Makuta of Odina resembles the Makuta Nui set from G1; A more animalistic take on Makuta that never showed up in the story but was nevertheless deemed canon. It looked bestial enough that for the Maze of Shadows game, the developers even declared it the set depiction of the Ash Bear! This can be Makuta’s true form, revealed in its final moments when light finally triumphs over its darkness, just as Nuoka manages to slay it. This beast spoken of around campfires is now just a campfire story.

I also want to consider incorporating the Rahkshi here as Makuta’s brood; Creatures who wield staffs resembling man catchers, which is a karmic reversal of man trapping beast. The Makuta Nui combiner takes some visual cues from the Rahkshi, since it’s made using pieces from Makuta; Himself resembling his ‘sons’ and vice-versa. So the Makuta of Odina can resemble a more animalistic, bestial Rahkshi, foregoing a tool for massive claws and fangs. Makuta’s visage takes cues from from the Avsa, Kraahkan, Makuta Nui, and Rahkshi.

In darkness, Makuta stalks and hunts its prey across multiple environments, apparently flying and swimming; Suggesting it DOES shapeshift, or maybe it just comes across that way in the confusion and chaos of the dark. Survivors disagree on what they saw of Makuta, who can say for sure? Other Rahi act as smaller bosses for our protagonists to build up through, and maybe reconsider their treatment of beasts, at least for Nuoka. When Makuta is slain, there’s definitely the implication that Nuoka has been motivated by his experiences to bring a change to how the Dark Hunters operate in irreverence to nature, and if necessary, stop them altogether.

[boundlesschaos]

Don't Awoo (350g Penalty) [July Mission Board]

As you brave the wilderness for more food, you hear the howl of wolves nearby. It looks like they’ve just brought down a massive buck, big enough to feed an entire pack… the hunger pangs return, gnawing at your empty stomach. When was the last time you had a proper meal? Do you have it in you to keep hunting for however many hours it takes, when there is food right here? Trying to steal from starving wolves is a big risk to take—you’ll become prey yourself if you’re not careful. But a deer that size could provide many meals to your friends and allies back in the monastery. You better act fast before the wolves devour every piece of meat. [Grants Lance +1]

In a world where magic brought light to inky darkness and heat to frozen lands, there was something fascinating about the creatures who did not have the means to cast such power. To have to turn to tooth and nail to fell their foes, to rely solely on body alone to determine their outcome...

Today, it would seem fate wasn't so kind to one. It was inevitable - the coordination performed by the wolves left little room for error. The game of hunter had ended as quickly as it began, and with their meal taken down, all the wolves had left to do was eat.

At least, that was the plan. But, as they would soon come to find, they weren't the only one in these woods. A predator would rival them, eyeing the fallen creature with intent, judging the size and make up of the creature.

Yes, this would do. As long as she was careful, she could enter, take what could and should be hers, and then be on her way. Things were not so simple, though. Just as she goes to fish a piece from the staving wolves...

She spots someone else making her way towards that same goal. She can't believe her eyes - of all the times to show up - but quickly, she finds the desire to press on. She would continue on in order take what was hers, and deny this person any right to the same.

All that was left was determining which her adversary would reach towards. Would it be their shared goal, or would she take arms against her now?

[ghostwise]

25 for the kiss prompts? <3

Wet kisses after finding refuge from the rain. 800 words

Ferelden’s rain is cold.

Ferelden’s rain is pinpricks of ice-water settling onto his skin, his hair, and seeping through his clothes. It is nothing like the rain in Antiva, which is warmer, and full of fat little drops that land on the cobbled streets in a murmur. No—Ferelden’s rain hisses over the land. It seethes.

They’ve taken refuge on an abandoned farm to the south.

Zevran watches the rain. He shivers.

Whoever lived here left in a hurry. There’s moldy stew in a pot in the kitchen, shattered dishes strewn about, and dead horses in the field—but it’s somewhere to wait out the storm, so they quickly opt to stay, packing the carts and provision into the barn, and hoping to fix up a fire and a meal in the house.

Meanwhile Zevran is gathering a few supplies from his pack, but he doesn’t want to go inside just yet. The distance between the barn and the farmhouse makes him pause and think that maybe he should wait for the rain to let up a bit.

It seems he won’t have to wait alone.

A form approaches through the curtain of rain, hazy at first, but quickly solidifying into that of Warden Mahariel. He is ghost-like and completely drenched. His hair is wet. His shirt is soaked and clinging to his arms.

Actually, the rain is a good thing. The rain is a blessing. The water cycle, the flowers, et cetera, and all of that. Thank the Maker for the rain, and may it rain every day, Zevran thinks.

He smiles as Hamal hurries under the eaves, brushing water from his face.

“Warden,” Zevran says, a bit delayed.

Hamal nods at him. He gathers up his braids and squeezes the water from them.

They have a nice rapport, he and Hamal. At least that is the impression Zevran has, ever since Hamal invited him hunting a week prior—while knowing damn well that Zevran never hunted for his food, could scarcely fire a bow, and had no interest in doing so.

No matter. He’d rightly interpreted the invitation’s motive. Now the question was whether this marked a new shift for them, or if the Warden’s curiosity had already been sated.

It’s hard to tell. He’s a quiet man.

“Couldn’t find anything,” Hamal sighs. “Land’s blighted to hell so anything we scavenge is bound to be tainted.”

“Ah,” Zevran says, not really interested in that. “So it is to be cabbage soup again?”

Hamal just smiles at him. Walking towards the cart, he waves him over wordlessly, and, though confused, Zevran follows him, drawing right up to him, close enough to be fully aware of the water still dripping from his form, and the smell of petrichor, and pine, and underneath that the soft scent of yarrow from his soap.

“There’s a granary behind the farm,” Hamal says. He pulls out a sealed clay pot, shiny with varnish. “And I have some yeast from when we passed through Redcliffe. At the very least we’ll make bread.”

He smiles at Zevran, fully pleased with himself, and Zevran cannot help but smile back.

“Good,” he says. “That is good. But you know, I am not sure we should go back just yet. It is rather rainy, and we would not want the yeast to get wet.”

Hamal hums thoughtfully. “It’s sealed.”

“Allegedly sealed,” Zevran tries. “Not to decry the no-doubt fine culinary experts of Redcliffe Village, but why risk it? I am sure the others will not mind waiting on us.”

Hamal gives it a moment of thorough consideration. Seeing Zevran’s point, he gives a mellow laugh, then closes the distance between them. Zevran is struck by a feeling he cannot attribute to memory, but which he knows intimately all the same.

And though he cannot recall it, the feeling is this: A rainy street in Rialto, an unseasonably cold winter, and a peal of thunder that scares the other children in the apartment half to death. But not him. Zevran laughs in startled surprise. He’s never heard thunder. He wants to see it for himself. He runs outside, not caring about the rain. No one has yet told him that thunder is only a sound accompanying an electric discharge during a storm, and not some tangible thing to chase down and catch. But he’ll catch it. He will.

And now the feeling is this: A barn in Ferelden during the end of the world, and a dying man leaning him up against a wooden cart and kissing him, and the taste of rainwater on his tongue. Zevran bunches up his hands in Hamal’s soaked shirt and clings to him, no longer caring if he gets wet. A rivulet of ice-cold water runs down Hamal’s nose and onto Zevran’s cheek, meeting its destination after falling miles through the saturated sky.

A low rumble of thunder sounds over the fields.

Of course, they both later catch a cold.