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poorrichardslegacy · 4 years

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Kacxa Week 2020 Day 2 - Late Night Adventures

The Melmachian Defense

SUMMARY: His family asleep, Keith sits alone with his thoughts. He is bothered by his daughter’s reaction to the story Soran told them about their parents first visit to the planet. Acxa joins him, knowing her husband is upset. To cheer him up they sneak away for what they think is a safe midnight stroll to reflect and talk. It proves to be anything but the romantic interlude they were hoping for.

NOTE: This is my entry for Day 2 of Kacxa Week 2020, and it is Part 3 of a 3-part Return to Braylar IV story line.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26834671

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Acxa/Keith (Voltron) Characters: Acxa (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Keith's Wolf (Voltron), Original Galran Character(s) Additional Tags: Family Bonding, Meet the Family, Kacxa Week 2020, Family, Family Drama, Teenage Drama, Teenagers

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Kogane Campsite, Braylar IV

Keith sits quietly at the entrance to the cave, alone with his thoughts.

He looks out at the night sky, thinking back to the last time he was here, at night, staring out into the darkness. Back then, Acxa was lying on a bed of straw covered with blankets, fighting off the effects of Hyena poisoning. Narti had just arrived on the planet and, thinking Keith had taken advantage of Acxa in her debilitated state, got into a brief fight that only ended when Sonai wolves backed Narti into a corner. Later that night, Soran emerged from the cave to warn him that a storm was coming.1

He sits here, 23 decaphoebs later, staring out into the same inky darkness that is nighttime on Braylar IV. This time, there is no storm coming. This time, his family sleeps peacefully in comfortable sleeping bags behind him.

His family. The last time he was here, a family was the furthest thing from his mind. Now, somehow, he is both the husband to the prettiest woman in the universe (his opinion) and father to two beautiful, independent, and frequently rambunctious girls.

Just as before, someone emerges from the cave to join him. This time it is Acxa, come to check on her husband.

“Hey you. What’s wrong?” She sits next to him, takes his hand, and brings it to her lips.

He squeezes her hand in return. “Hey…nothing’s wrong, I just couldn’t sleep. I came here to look at the stars.”

Acxa stares up at the night sky. “And you expect me to believe that? Keith, it’s a cloudy night, there are no stars out. I’ll ask my question again. What’s wrong?”

He leans back against one of the boulders at the cave entrance and exhales deeply. “The girls’ reaction to Soran’s story tonight…they must think their father is a real jerk.”

“Keith…they think no such thing. Why would you say that?”

“Oh, let’s see. How about ‘Not exactly good boyfriend behavior’, and a sarcastic ‘wow Dad that was really romantic’ for starters.”

“Oh, for the love of…THAT’s what’s bothering you? Keith they are teenagers! Of course, they are going to think their parents are the stupidest and most awkward people in the universe! That, biologically speaking, is what happens with teenagers in every known species! They’ll grow out of it and they’ll see just how cool their incredibly awesome mother and father really are!”

Realizing that emo Keith has settled over her husband and that he is not likely to snap out of his funk on his own, she stands and grabs his hand. “Come on.”

Keith protests meekly as his wife hauls him to his feet. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go for a walk by that lake we passed on the way here. It’s not that far away. The clouds are breaking, and I want to see what it looks like under the two moons of this planet. Especially since the last time I was here you called me, what was the term you used…loopy?” She grabs him by the arm, pulls him close, and nuzzles his earlobe with her nose. “Besides…I need some alone time with my husband.”

“Hmm…I like how you think, woman. Bring your blaster pistol, just in case. I know the Hyenas are supposed to be gone, but you never know.”

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

As they leave the campsite and head down the path leading to the lake, two pair of eyes follow their progress down the hillside.

“I don’t know, Mireya. Going to the lake this time of night doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.”

“Yeah. I think we need to tell Cosmo where they are going.”

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Lakeshore, Just Below the Kogane Campsite

Keith and Acxa arrive on the lakeshore and are immediately blown away by the sight of two moons shimmering on the water. The walk hand-in-hand down the beach for a quarter mile before Keith slips his arm around Acxa’s waist and pulls her close.

Stopping, they put their foreheads together and stare longingly into each other’s eyes.

“Credit for your thoughts, love.”

“Oh, I don’t know if you can handle my thoughts right now my dear.”

She purrs softly, tracing the scar on his cheek, and speaks in a low, sultry voice. “I can handle anything you bring my way, Mr. Kogane. That includes you and your thoughts. Try me.”

Their moods change in an instant as a rustling in the woods causes them to freeze. “Keith…what kind of animals are on the prowl at night on this planet?”

“The bad kind.”

They peer into the underbrush, their eyes adjusting to the ambient light of the area. Four sets of yellow eyes peer back at them.

“Keith, are they what I think they are?”

“Yeah. Hyenas.”

“Pistols or swords?”

Keith vividly remembers what happened the last time they were in close quarters combat with the Hyenas. “Pistols first. Don’t let them get too close.”

He quickly scans the area looking for a close defensive position. Finding none, he tells her to do the only thing they can do. “Move to that little spit of land sticking into the lake. The water is deep. They can’t surround us there.”

Keith and Acxa move towards the spit but are cut off as the Hyenas emerge from the forest, slowly surrounding them. Like they did 23 decaphoebs earlier, Keith and Acxa go back to back to defend against the Hyena attack.

Sensing an easy kill, the Hyena’s charge their position and get the shock of their lives. Their easy prey is ready for them.

Keith and Acxa swiftly land blaster pistol shots on all four of the hyenas. The Hyenas withdraw and, while stung by the shots from the pistols, they are by no means seriously injured by them.

“This isn’t working. We need to draw swords.”

Taking advantage of the temporary disorganization in the Hyena’s attack, they reach the spit and put the deep-water lake to their backs, so that the Hyena’s cannot surround them again.

Assessing their position and the attack tendencies of their enemies, a thought strikes Acxa. “Keith, did your mother teach you the Melmachian defensive technique?”

Keith smiles. “Yeah, one of the first ones she taught me. A bit suicidal, don’t you think? This isn’t a game of Gorblonthian Checkers we’re playing here.”

“Look wise guy, do you want to have any chance of seeing your daughters finish growing up? We’ve only got one shot at this.” She shoots him a quick glance and a wink. “You ready, Paladin?”

“Oh, yeah. Let’s do this!”

Still stinging from the blaster pistol wounds, the Hyenas charge their position and immediately run into a problem. The Hyenas are so large and the spit of land so narrow that only two can reach Keith and Acxa at a time.

The pair swing their Blades in unison, stopping the first two Hyenas charging at them in their tracks. As the wounded Hyenas struggle to scamper backwards and get away, they stumble over the ones behind them.

“ACXA NOW!”

Taking advantage of the Hyena’s temporary confusion, Keith and Acxa charge towards the retreating animals. Nimbly clambering up the flanks of the wounded Hyenas before the startled animals realize what they are doing, they hurl themselves into the air and in mid somersault land solid Blade blows across the backs of the third and fourth Hyenas.

As the four wounded animals fall back to regroup, Keith and Acxa do the same and make their way back onto the narrow spit of land.

“I think it might have worked.”

Keith casts his gaze towards the snarling and drooling Hyenas. “Actually I think we just pissed them off. They don’t look happy.”

Before the wounded and now incredibly angry Hyenas can mount another charge, five bright flashes of light erupt in front of them. Their eyes clearing as their night vision returns, the Hyenas four wounded Hyenas find themselves confronted by five exceptionally large Sonai Dire Wolf males

A sixth Sonai Dire Wolf, Corima, appears. On her back are Keith and Acxa’s daughters Mireya and Cataleya.

The Sonai males growl and bare their fangs at the wounded Hyenas. After some pawing of the ground and a back-and-forth exchange of growls and snarls, the Hyenas retreat into the forest.

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

Cosmo quickly approaches Keith and Acxa as the males stand watch on the forest trails leading to the beach

“Are you two ok?”

“Yes, we’re fine. Sorry, Cosmo. When you told us the Hyenas had moved on, we thought it would be safe to come down here.”

“Yes Keith, but what I should have also told you is that they test our defenses every now and then. You two just happened to go for a stroll during one of their tests. When Mireya and Cataleya told us where you were, I knew there would be trouble. We got here as soon as I could round up some help. So…would you mind telling me why you two are down here in the first place?”

Keith and Acxa both visibly blush as they exchange awkward glances. Keith turns back to Cosmo to respond, but the crafty alpha male already has the answer to his question.

“Never mind, let me guess.” He sniffs the air, then looks disapprovingly at the pair. “Two people, alone by the lake, on a moonlit night. No need to tell me why you are here, I can smell the pheromones on you both. Great stars you two!”

Corima strides up to them, and not a moment too soon as far as Acxa is concerned. “Apologies, Acxa. Your pups told us where you and Keith were going. After they told Cosmo and I, they insisted on coming to help and make sure you were ok.”

“I see.”

Acxa looks sternly at her daughters.

“Your father and I will deal with you two back at the campsite.”

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

Kogane Campsite, Braylar IV

“So, you eavesdropped on a private conversation between your mother and I?”

The girls look down at the ground, dejectedly. “Sorry Dad. We heard you and Mom talking. You sounded upset. We wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“So, what did you hear?”

Cataleya hesitates before shyly looking at her mother to answer her question. “Pretty much everything.”

Acxa buries her face in her hand in embarrassment as Keith crosses his arms. “I see.”

“Dad, I know you’re not happy with us for listening in. We’re sorry for violating your privacy. But…if we hadn’t…I don’t want to think about might have happened to you and Mom.”

Acxa crosses her arms and looks to her husband. “She has a point, Keith.”

“Yes, she does. Ok. I think that’s enough excitement for one night. Let’s all try to get some sleep.”

As the girls slink off towards their sleeping bags, they stop and turn back to face their parents.

“For the record Dad, Cataleya and I don’t think you or Mom are jerks, or the stupidest people in the universe. What you and Mom did tonight… wanting to be alone together and taking a romantic moonlit walk on a lakeshore…that was cool. Not giving a crap about the killer Hyenas on the prowl…ok, sorry, that was stupid. But then using a suicidal Blade of Marmora defensive tactic to fight them off…that was quiznacking awesome!”

“Yeah. Mom, Dad, you guys are pretty special.”

Keith and Acxa rush forward and pull the girls in for a group hug. Acxa’s eyes fill as she kisses each of her daughters on their foreheads.

“You two are pretty special as well.”

END NOTES: The full story of Keith and Acxa’s first visit to Braylar IV, when they were still on opposite sides, is found in Chapter 11 of Return of the Prince (Chapter title is Cry of the Wolf)

In the story yu’ve just read the Kacxa daughters are 16 years old. They are entering what I call the Mark Twain years. According to my father, Mark Twain supposedly related the following anecdote to a friend. “When I was 16 years old, I thought my father was the dumbest man on the planet. When I turned 21, I was amazed at how much he learned in 5 years.”

In my experience with my own father, I have to say Mark Twain was right. Dad, this one is for you.

#kacxaweek2020 #kacxa fic #vld kacxa #keith x acxa #kacxa #vld acxa #vld keith

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sir-quack-alot · 6 years

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Final Fantasy: Cross Dimension

Strifehart

I was editing my lil book and am just enjoying a few of the moments lol, here is Cloud and Squall/ Leon first meeting!

Moving his body, he pressed against the abandoned bike so to rest his weight on metal mec, closing his eyes to enjoy the slight breeze of the far-out wasteland. Something about this place reminded him of home... About a certain mission he once did.

He was so relaxed that when the sound of another cycle hit his ears, the wind pressure of it already hit him making him jolt in surprise. Sterling silver briefly met with goggled-over blue and he froze at that moment with bewilderment when footsteps were heard approaching.

Turning towards the sound he saw three wild animals, all bigger than himself. They looked a lot like a cross breed between a hyena and wolf, other features included but those two being the most prominent ones.

Their attention was obviously on the blonde biker but quickly shifted to him as he was unmoving. Reading his stance he prepared to take them on.

The first he dodged, catching the front heals as it flew overhead. The second, he cut clean in half... But when the third came near, he prepared to repeat what he did to the second when a huge sword cut in front and did the work for him. The rider from before jumping down.

The blonde took his goggles off and begun to walk towards him when Squall turned his back.

He wanted to ignore the rider and just leave now, but a noise had caught his attention making him shift away from his bike.

There, only ten feet away stood the now crippled creature, whimpering in pain. Feeling slight guilt and pity he walked to it.

Placing his hands over its eyes he tried to calm it down... Then, quickly ended its life. Even if they are just creatures, he will still show some sort of respect in ending their life.

When Leonhart turned back to walk to his bike the blonde from before was now hovering over him and he jumped, tripping over the body when he felt strong arms grip his waist and balance him back up.

Stormy Grey opened wide in mild shock before a light blush coated him and he pushed away, walking towards his mec.

Cloud, "you know I didn't just stop my bike and parked near you to be ignored?" He heard the other speak, catching his attention.

Squall vaguely looked back and shrugged mounting his own ride. "And that's my business, because?" He dragged out. He could hear crunched footsteps before a gloved hand grasped the handle of his ride.

Cloud, "because I want to know why you're in my clothes." Came the somewhat growled argument.

Blank grey's looked at him then down at his slightly loose outfit, fingers grasping the shirt and lifting it up. "What? want me to strip in the desert? I didn't take them if you want to know. It was given." He rebutted back, and it seemed this wasn't the comeback the other wanted.

Cloud, "wow, you really are shit when it comes to conversations. How is Tifa able to deal with you?"

Squall, "Easy I don't give her abandonment issues." He fought back forgetting to clip his own tongue... But he had to admit, the expression on the other was priceless.

Leonhart had no time to waste getting more 'acquainted' with this blonde though and decided to shrug him off driving the bike up and then 360ing around to drive towards Yuffie and the crew.

He gave a single glance to the blonde before trying to race right past him. Little did he expect to be jolted as the blonde caught the front of his bike with one hand, giving a coy smile.

Glaring in disbelief, Squall saw the blonde begin to reach out for him and flipped back and out of reach. "Don't you have a vanishing act to keep to?" He asked, obviously annoyed, seeing the blonde shrug.

Cloud, "what about you, weren't you just trying to do that to me?" Was the simple response given and the brunet had to laugh, the sound dry.

Squall, "Whatever." Crossing his arms the brunet let his glare settle. "Let go of my bike, If I take too long a hyperactive ninja will never let me hear the end of it." He deadpanned, indirectly referring to Yuffie.

The blonde male smirked. "Yeah, Yuffie tends to be too much sometimes." Strife had somewhat conceded, showing he knew about who the boy referred too. Which did not really surprise the brunet.

Squall, "then let go of the bike." He quickly added afterward, and the blonde laughed more clearly this time, walking closer to the brunet instead.

Squall, not trusting the blonde, pulled out his gunblade and watched as bright blues trailed the blade down. Then, before he knew it, the blonde pulled out his own oversized sword and slammed his weapon into the surface.

Leonhart froze, looking at the far too close giants' blade, locking onto the crater it made in the ground then sneered. He stared silently at the embedded blades a second before shooting a fireball at the other, the blonde jumping back. Cloud seemed generally surprised by the use of magic as it was not usual one would switch between the two in his time period. Mage or warrior... This was different?

Squall realized the man's befuddlement and decided to make use of it. He constantly had to fight with the odds against him, so in order to adapt, Leonhart had made himself unpredictable. Quick and fluent. something this solder would soon find out.

Observing the solder carefully, Squall saw the blonde come forth, swinging down with all his power, the wind behind it nearly overpowering as he flipped away from Cloud and to the side.

Leonhart swung back the second blow, both blades clashing then disbursing and then again. The two continued at it for a while, Squall changing from defense to offense in quick succession, the other mirroring with more force and strength vs his speed and agility.

Leonhart could feel exhaustion begin to tether at the end of his subconscious and decided to junction Sheva, coating the blade and body of the other with her icy touch. The attempt was meant to just slow the super soldier down just long enough for him to reach the bike.

He heard the vague "really!?" and let out a small laugh.

Squall, "really."

Starting the bike up he zoomed out hearing curses escape the other and he couldn't help but feel amused... But if one thing was for sure.

If that was the Cloud he heard of. The blonde he was compared to. He was going to see him back home sooner or later... And that meant, a lot of problems in the near future.

#Final Fantasy #final fantasy 8 #final fantasy viii #final fantasy vii #strifehart #cloud x leon #Cloud x Squall #uke squall(in future)#first meeting #fighting #bikes

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deathknight · 6 years

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Do ppl really pay for commissions in wow golf cuz I'm dying trying to farm that hyena mount

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jester-junk · 6 years

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The Alliance Reputation mounts are a joke in BfA, really. The Horde gets dinosaurs, spiders and hyenas (hold me) and the Alliance gets... wow... horses...and...gryphons... because we don’t have any.... ...If Alliance were a spice, they’d be flour.

Soooo looking forward to playing my troll and getting all those tasty Horde mounts.

#soooo lazy blizzard #come on #BfA experience #horde #alliance #reputation mounts

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foxofthedesert · 6 years

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RQ OUaT FF | OGA: Ch. 20

Chapter 20 – A Journey Interrupted

Now halfway between the idyllic lake and the outskirts of the sprawling forest they have been venturing through, Regina can still feel waves pure frustration wafting from Snow. For just a moment, Regina had let down her guard, allowing Snow nearly bypass her defenses than she had in a very long time – not since that last futile attempt to persuade Regina to drop their feud rather than be executed. To sneak so close to victory only to have it snatched away at the last second had to be a kick in the teeth from a bucking stallion. Imagining the metaphor as reality makes Regina smile.

Maybe she won’t be so quick to take a mile when given an inch, she thinks, then immediately dismisses the possibility as highly unlikely. Snow has yet to learn when to give up on anyone or anything, especially Regina, therefore asking her to now seems as rational as asking ice to not be cold. Frankly there seems more chance of hot ice than Snow giving up on mending their broken relationship.

“We’re almost there,” she yells over the clap of Lucas’s hooves upon the golden thoroughfare. When Snow’s grumpy grunt of acknowledgement is not followed up by a snarky comment, Regina settles back in for the rest of the ride, content to revel in the petty amusement her companion’s discontent inspires.

No more is said for quite some time. Minutes pass by as if seconds and then an hour as if half that. Lucas makes good time upon the Yellow Brick Road, having really hit his stride upon the increasingly smooth surface, which is owed both to the forest starting to thin and their encroaching proximity to the capitol. For that reason, they emerge into a wide, rolling plain just in time to catch the nethermost rim of the sun dip down below the inverted earthen bowl that conceals it each and every night. Regina reins in Lucas to momentarily enjoy the breathtaking panoramic view.

In the near distance, the Emerald City is nestled within a crescent valley encircled on three sides by a towering mountain range that eclipses anything to be found in the Enchanted Forest. Tall jade spires jut into the air like tapering fingers raised in greeting to those who have just broken free from the oppressive darkness of the forest. An enormous wall dotted with siege towers encircles the entire city, so vast and high as to defy the imagination. Meanwhile the Yellow Brick Road, which snakes a sinuous path through a lowland dotted with hedgerows and modest copses of oaks and cottonwood trees, slithers ever onward until terminating at the great gate towers buttressing the central portion of the wall. As long as Regina lives, she will never forget this moment and how tiny and insignificant she felt in the face of such magnificent splendor.

“Wow,” Snow says, equally awestruck. “That’s a really big city.”

Regina chuckles. “You have a gift for understatement, dear. But yes, it is quite impressive is it not?”

She feels rather than sees Snow’s answering nod as her eyes settle upon the great domed palace situated at the center of the Citadel’s massive commons. Her heart speeds up and her muscles flex in anticipation. Their target is at last in sight. Somewhere within those walls they will either find a map detailing the exact location of the Grove they are seeking or else ferret out someone who has been there. And then they can get on with the business of saving Red.

A jubilant smile spreads across her lips as she makes to spur Lucas on toward their next objective on this all-important quest. But just before she kicks, Snow gasps and tightens her arms reflexively tighten around Regina’s waist. She cranes her neck to the limit to see what’s wrong only to find Snow staring out to the right. Regina follows her companion’s eyes and echoes the surprise she heard moments ago upon glimpsing a line of horsemen approaching their flank. Soldiers in chainmail and tabards of green and gold with longswords at their hips. Regina curses herself. In her exuberance at being so near to the Emerald City, she had failed to spy out their surroundings upon exiting the forest.

For a split second she considers spurring Lucas onward and racing the mounted squad to the gates of the city but dismisses the idea as impractical. Not only is Lucas unaccustomed to such lengthy gallops and is unsuited to the task of outpacing military-bred horses, fleeing now will attract the sort of unwanted attention they have been trying to avoid. Her actions back in the village with Darion withstanding, stealth is by far the preferable approach to entering the city without prompting any suspicion. If they do not face these men here and now, either to explain their presence in a satisfactory manner or dispose of them by other means, they will be chased all the way to the gates. In which case their journey would come to an abrupt end. Regina is powerful. Powerful enough to take this squad without breaking a sweat. But the garrison housed within the Citadel is another matter entirely. In other words, there is no choice but to stay and handle the situation whatever it takes.

“I’m going to try and talk us out of this,” Regina tells Snow as they watch the handful of men dismount thirty yards or so away then begin to approach on foot. “But if I can’t, be ready to fight.”

“Alright,” Snow replies, tension radiating from her frame as she slips her arms from around Regina’s waist. “Just try to be nice this time.”

Regina plasters on a politicking grin. “I was nice last time.” She then fixates on the soldiers before Snow can say another word and guides Lucas to turn toward them. “Greetings, gentlemen. My name is Regina and my companion here is called Snow. We’re here to visit family in the Emerald City.” The swiftly conjured lie flows as naturally as honey from the comb.

The squad leader deliberately locks on to their weapons as he and his men form a perpendicular line to them. “Visiting family in the city armed to the teeth? I find that interesting.”

A man of middle age, the captain is of average height and is well built with long, flowing raven locks and a neatly trimmed beard. Fox-like eyes peak out from beneath thick brows, clever eyes that are adept at spotting untruths if Regina is any reliable judge. His expression conveys a cynicism that is unlikely to be swayed with words alone. As subtly as she can, she starts gathering magic at her fingertips.

“You shouldn’t,” she answers. “Our weapons are merely for our protection. Surely you understand there are many dangers out there for two women far from home and traveling alone.”

The captain rests his hand on the pommel of his sword. “Of course. Then again, my men and I patrol this area daily and I’ve had this post going on a decade. Never seen you two before today. That makes me inclined to be suspicious. Surely you understand.”

Regina grits her teeth at having her words so casually tossed back into her face. Mastering her emotions, she nods a concession. “Certainly. You have a job to do and you are doing it well from where I sit. As for your other concern, you wouldn’t have ever seen us before. Our relatives only recently moved to the City. This is our first visit.”

The captain’s dark brows arch with unconcealed interest. “Oh? Where are you from then?”

“A little backwash village to the south far away from here. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”

“Ah! What a pleasant coincidence.” The captain’s expression melts into a smarmy, reptilian smile. “I also hail from the south and know every hamlet between here and Quadling Country. What’s the name of your village? I might even have visited during my youthful adventures.”

With every word, Regina feels the noose tightening around their necks. She’s talked herself into a corner now and knows she probably won’t be able to wiggle out without giving them away. Though their intentions being sussed out is probably a mere formality now. The captain clearly has already taken their measure with great accuracy. All that remains is for someone to make the first move.

“Unlikely,” she says, using her peripheral vision to watch for any hint of movement from the other men lined up before them. “As I said, it’s a nowhere village several miles west of the Green Lake. Not many come through our parts. Which is the reason our relatives relocated.”

“Hmmm. As of two years ago, there were no villages west of Green Lake. I think you’re lying. That said, I’m a reasonable man. Tell me why you’re really here and I might just be persuaded to let you go.”

Regina is also good at spotting lies, and that is as surely one as those she has been spouting. She also does not need an interpreter to translate the greedy way she and Snow are now being eyed by the captain or the rest of his men. Their mouths are practically watering like a pack of starving hyenas who fortuitously stumbled across two fresh doe carcasses. There will be no convincing these men to let them go without purchasing their silence with gold or their bodies, and neither of those options are up for discussion. Only one avenue of escape remains.

“Somehow I doubt that,” she says, a spell already formulating in the back of her mind. “However, in the interest of expedience, I’ll tell you why we’re here.”

“Regina...”

Regina cuts off Snow’s objection by reaching back and grasping her arm tightly. “Quiet now. Remember what I said? We’ll be going with option number two.” Although Snow returns the grip on her arm with as much force as she can muster, she obeys Regina by surreptitiously sliding her left hand down to grasp at her sword only to stiffen upon remembrance that she’d loaned it to Jefferson. Not rubbing Snow’s nose in the stink of that foolish decision will be very difficult for Regina should they survive this encounter.

To the Captain, she then says, “Forgive the interruption. Where was I? Oh, yes. I was about to tell you that I’m here to kill that green-skinned bitch you call a ruler.”

Widening eyes and the flinching muscles of a forearm grasping a sword handle provide Regina all the impetus she needs. Without warning, she summons a fireball and lobs it at the Captain, only for him to swerve out of the way at the last second. His men scatter like rats shouting at the top of their lungs, “Sorceress! Sorceress! She’s gonna roast us all!” Only his iron will in the form of sternly barked commands corrals them before they scamper away, leaving him to Regina’s mercy.

While this is happening, Snow deftly rolls off of Lucas, slides her bow off her shoulders, nocks her first arrow, and takes up position at Lucas’s wide rear flank. Regina joins her companion on the ground, albeit wedged between Lucas and Snow and their foes. As the soldiers begin to charge over the thirty yards separating them, she unsheathes her sword in preparation for combat. When the squad is halfway across, a breath of air gusts past her cheek, preceded by the thwap of a bowstring against leather bracers. An arrow lodges into the eye of the man to the Captain’s left. Five heartbeats later, another thwap and the man at the Captain’s right falls with an arrow shaft through his throat.

Two down, four to go. Save some for me, Snow, Regina thinks, sneer in place as she tightens her grip on her sword.

One more assailant dies before Regina enters the fray, the leftmost man who takes Snow’s final arrow to the temple. He drops like a felled log to the enraged cries of his comrades. And then surge at Regina, who grins as the rush of combat descends upon her. Springing forward, she meets them a few feet in front of Lucas. The men now flanking the Captain advance on her first, hoping to corral her and then push her back until Lucas’s massive bulk is hemming her in so that they can finish her off much more easily.

Fat chance of that. I’d rather die on the attack than be transformed into a human sieve.

Needing to take the initiative, she remembers the advice of her old fencing instructor. A veteran of many wars, he used to regale Regina with tales of his battlefield exploits as he put her through the paces with a grueling intensity she would later learn to appreciate. Normally, as per her parents’ instruction, he only focused on the mano a mano engagements typical of fencing competitions, but there were exceptions. In addition to being hyper-competitive Regina is a curious soul by nature, so she kept imploring him for massed combat training until he eventually caved to her stubbornness. His first lesson included roping in a couple of stable hands that were decent swordsmen to teach her several methods to overcome disadvantageous odds. The one she came to prefer was striking out immediately and aggressively at the most formidable opponent in the hopes that eliminating them would demoralize the others, thus creating holes in their defenses via rage or fear or rendering them ineffective altogether when her attentions turned to them after the main target was down.

Utilizing that tactic is a giant risk, but it’s one I have to take. Regina grits her teeth as dreadful resolve spurs her forward. In a matter of seconds, she will either have dispatched her enemies or she will be dead. And that’s just the sort of high pressure, zero margin for error environment she was bred and painstakingly prepared to thrive in.

Ducking under a swiping blade as she closes in, she rolls forward head over hell, pops back up on her feet agile as a cat, and cuts through the Captain’s lagging defenses before his men can even respond to her unexpected offensive. Two parries of sideswipes, one block of an overhead swing, and a sidestep of a slash at his gut are all the veteran soldier can muster before Regina neatly skirts his clumsy, rushed reply and slides her blade into the left side of his chest. After a choked groan, he falls backward to the ground with a great thud.

Everything stops for several heartbeats. Regina surveying her kill with prideful satisfaction and the remaining soldiers looking on in shocked dismay. Then a voice in the back of her head starts screaming that the fight isn’t over yet. Turning back toward the two men left standing, she levels them with an inviting smile.

“Who’s next?” she says, then assumes her favorite pose, knees slightly bent, sword arm at a ninety degree angle over her head with her other arm extended out.

And then something unexpected happens. The two men glance at one another, a frenzied conversation taking place in the midst of the tense silence. One of them cuts eyes back toward the forest, the other nods, and a split second later they are both sprinting away as fast as their feet can carry them.

Ordinarily, Regina might have let them go. But this mission being what it is means she cannot afford to leave survivors of this encounter to potentially spread news of what has happened back to the city. Back to Zelena. That can’t happen. Red’s life depends upon it.

The men are barely away when Regina casts a spell that binds the legs of one, sending him careening forward into the dirt. The other she spears through the spine with her sword in one clean toss, a skill she has always been rather proud of. He falls in a heap of jellied limbs then goes still. With the final remaining opponent disabled, Regina takes her sweet time fetching her sword out of the back of the man she skewered and then saunters over to the remaining victim waiting to be dispatched.

“She’ll stop you,” the man says, eyes wild with terror and rage.

Regina smiles confidently, all teeth and no quarter. “I don’t think she will. You’ve seen what I can do. I’m her equal in magic and no one here is my equal with the blade.”

“You haven’t met Jilly yet.”

Regina’s brow quirks up. “Who?”

“The most dangerous and beautiful woman in the realm. She’s killed more men than anybody but the Witch since she came here. Best with the sword, too,” the man boasts, clearly believing his assertion.

She has never heard of such a person, which is not that surprising seeing as she knows next to nothing about Oz except what little her prior research and her experience to date traveling through this strange world has yielded. Not that it would matter if she had anyway. Whoever should oppose the mission to save Red will meet the same fate as these men. Be it Zelena or this Jilly character.

“Not anymore, she’s not,” she says. “And I’d wager her kill count pales in comparison with mine.” That old, familiar streak of malice creeps outside of its container then, and as Snow lingers hesitantly behind her shoulder, she strides up into the soldier’s personal space. “When the Witch came to my realm, cursed my wife and killed our friend, she awakened a monster that has been sleeping for a very long time. Well, she’s awake now. Awake and thirsty for blood. So I do hope I come across this Jilly person while I’m here. I’d love to add another trophy to my already impressive collection, which is about to grow by one.”

Just as the man opens up his mouth to reply, Regina flicks her wrist, a grotesque sneer twisting her lips, and spears her razor sharp blade upward through the soft tissue of the man’s underjaw. Eyes blowing wide, he gurgles helplessly as blood gushes from the wound. Upon encountering the expected resistance of bone at the top of his mouth, she pushes harder until she feels his palate give way to inevitability. And then the blade slides home into gelatinous gray matter. She watches with grim satisfaction as her victim’s eyes glossify, he twitches a time or two, and then goes limp as a ragdoll. To prevent herself from being knocked over along with him, she swiftly slides her sword free then gives him a helpful shove backward. The ground thuds with the impact of the sixth man to be relieved of the pains of life in as many minutes.

“Regina...why? He was helpless!”

The disgust evident in that question is enough to provoke Regina’s fury. She swirls on Snow, blade dripping blood, eyes flashing with an animus that refuses to abate after the excitement of the kill.

“Don’t you dare question my methods. If I had let him go, he would’ve run to the first village, saddled a horse, and rode straight for the City. And then what would have become of our quest? I could not permit that to happen. I did what I had to do, just as I warned you I would before we departed.” When Snow does not respond, appearing far too terrified, she glances around at the bodies strewn about the field and realizes they cannot afford to leave them there. Discovery would surely sound an alarm that might end their expedition prematurely. “Now, help me dispose of these bodies.”

Snow gapes at her a heartbeat before squawking out her reply. “How are we supposed to do that? Last I checked we don’t have any shovels.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Regina glimpses the line of trees and shrubs announcing the forests end. A fantastic plan then pops into her mind. “Who said anything about burying them? There’s a perfectly good forest nearby teeming with all sorts of creatures, many of whom I’m sure are quite famished. We’ll simply load the bodies up on Lucas here and deliver them a hearty meal.”

For a second it looks like Snow might object to the callous but efficient plan, but then she catches Regina’s glare and wisely thinks better of it. “Fine. Let’s get this over with and be on our way.”

“I couldn’t agree more, dear,” Regina says, smiling, and then they go about the unwholesome business at hand.

The process of dragging six bodies over to Lucas, hoisting them with great difficulty up and over his back two per load so that they are draped over him like fleshy blankets, and then guiding Lucas back into the fringes of the forest where they quickly unload them takes far longer than Regina would have preferred. But Snow does not complain any more and they get the job done, so she is rather happy with the results. By the time they are done, the sun has nearly disappeared, leaving them little time with which to complete the journey to the Emerald City. While would be more prudent to camp out in the forest for the night and wait until dawn to resume the journey, Regina is uninterested in prudence.

They set out back down the Yellow Brick road immediately after making their last deposit within the forest. As Regina spurs Lucas into a steady trot, she offers an earnest prayer to any gods that may be listening that the rest of the ride prove uneventful. And for once, miracle of all miracles, they actually listen.

It takes another two hours and change for them to reach the outskirts of the Emerald City on horseback. The ride is accomplished in total silence, for which Regina is eternally grateful. Any more of Snow’s uppity lip and she’d have seriously contemplated unseating her with Lucas at full gallop.

Once right outside the city gates, they find an available hitching post where Regina carefully ties Lucas. Before leaving him, she casts wards over him just in case. She can’t have any harm coming to the beautiful creature who is fast burrowing into her heart.

With their transportation secure, they spend another half-hour attempting to infiltrate the loosely guarded entrances. Night has fallen in earnest, so only a skeleton crew is left to man the posts at each lofty gate within the city’s impressive siege walls. After much frustration, they are finally able to slip through by feigning they belong to a party of bedraggled merchants. Regina aids the disguise by magically altering their clothes to appear more dirty and crude. The road-weary group are filtering into the city to sell their wares when the markets open on the morrow at dawn, which is drawing much nearer than Regina would have preferred. Already the faintest hints of red and orange can be seen over the horizon. They must hurry if they’re to use the cover of night to slip inside the castle.

Once through the gates, they immediately make their way toward the palace from whence Zelena has long ruled Oz unopposed. As they arrive at a row of bronze statues nearby a large courtyard surrounding the Palace, Regina spots their hired hand awaiting them.

Darion is nonchalantly leaning back against a depiction of a stout, bearded human man clutching the hand of a tall, lithe faerie woman with pointed ears that curve slightly backward rather than straight up as those of the elves. Each holds a bejeweled eagle scepter in the outer hand, arms extended toward the sky. The engraving on the pedestal is barely visible with the low light of the many wrought-iron lamps lining the street. It reads:

KING PASTORIA AND QUEEN LURLINE

VICTORS OVER THE DARK ELVES AND VANQUISHERS OF THE BEAST FOREVER

MAY THEIR REIGN BE PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS

“I've done as you asked,” Darion says in lieu of greeting, arresting Regina’s attention from the marvelous statue. “The Witch departed hours ago. Now, release me from my oath and pay me what I’m owed.”

Regina appraises him slowly, pleased that he squirms uncomfortably under her gaze. “Not until you've done one last thing,” she says, no quarter to be found in her tone. “Is there a way in to the palace we can use to avoid detection? Zelena may be gone but I'm sure she has alerted her servants and guards to be on the lookout for us.”

Darion narrows his eyes, looking like he wishes to refuse. His resolve wavers under Regina's relentless glare. “There is a way,” he sighs. “A servant’s entrance to the east is attached to the scullery. Maids and guards are almost constantly milling in and out of it at every hour. This late, it will not be heavily guarded. Most of the garrison is either asleep or on patrol about the city or outside the walls.”

She hums her assent, then taps her chin a few times. “What about once we're inside?”

“Go through the scullery. It will take you into the main hallway,” Darion replies succinctly. “Follow that north through a series of corridors that will eventually lead to the Royal chambers. That is where the Witch has taken up residence. If there are any maps of the Grove, you will find them in her chambers. You will know them when you see them.”

Satisfied she has the information that she needs, Regina gives him a condescending smile. “Thank you, Darion,” she drawls. “Your help has been most appreciated.” She produces a sizable pouch of gold from her belt, his promised payment, and then tosses it to him before waving off into the distance. “Scurry away now like the rat you are. I release you.”

Darion makes a noise of offense as he catches the pouch, but does not comment as he pushes off from the wall. He sulks off into the city beyond, his reward jingling with every step.

“Do you think that was wise? Letting him go?” Snow asks, seeming apprehensive.

Regina looks at her with unveiled surprise. “Would you have rather I killed him?”

Snow's eyes grow wide. “No! Absolutely not! I just...” she sighs and scrubs her forehead. “I worry about whether he will find the nearest patrol and report us.”

“He won't,” Regina assures her with a secretive smile. “When I waved in his direction just now, I cast a spell on him that will block his memory for at least three hours. It should be taking effect right about now and will buy us enough time to do what we must and get out.”

While Snow looks a tiny bit sick at Regina possessing that kind of power and the ability to use it without being detected, mainly she appears relieved. “Well, that's a relief,” she breathes, and Regina smiles internally at her accurate diagnosis of Snow's moods. “Let's get on with it, then. I don't want to be around when that spell wears off.”

“A splendid idea,” Regina chirps, and then moves away from the shop and tentatively toward the large, open courtyard which is not even obstructed by so much a single tree.

Because of how risky it is to cross, even at night, she decides to circle around the palace along the edges of the developed section of the city which would normally be alive with bustling activity in the daylight. What few nocturnal citizens prowl the streets are either ambivalent to the presence of two strange women or ignore them altogether. That their presence here is unremarkable indicates that Zelena has not instituted any sort of curfew, which works in their favor. To further blend in and deflect suspicion, she takes Snow's hand, much to the surprise of her diminutive companion.

As she leads them around the circular outskirts of the commercial portion of the city, Regina explains herself to Snow out of the corner of her mouth. “Act like we're relatives traveling together. It didn’t fool the soldiers but it should work well enough here.”

“Got it,” Snow nods curtly. When they pass by a middle aged woman flanked by two hawk-nosed men who peer at them curiously, Snow elbows Regina and points to one of the towers rising up above the Palace. “Look, cousin,” she says with exaggerated excitement, “the tips of the towers are like glowing emerald onions!”

“So they are, cousin,” Regina replies, smiling down at Snow, and it turns more appreciative when she notices the woman give them a welcoming smile of her own before passing by. She winks at Snow, in good spirits. “Well done.”

“Thank you,” Snow beams, but her joy is short lived when she turns and spots something in the near distance. She indicates toward it discreetly. “Look. It's the scullery.”

Regina follows the direction of Snow's finger and sees that they have rounded the palace to a portion containing a door that is currently closed. She recognizes it as the scullery door by the maid that comes out a second later carrying a large basket, presumably to pick up supplies ahead of another long day of grueling labor or perhaps a load of laundry from some important citizen who is afforded the privilege of the highly skilled Palace staff caring for their linens. The woman, in her overconfidence born of routine, leaves the door propped open. It is an opening Regina cannot allow to pass by without seizing it.

She takes a quick look around, and when she sees that there are even fewer people out and about in this section of the city, she tugs Snow by the hand and all but drags her across the courtyard. By the time they step through a servant entrance left open by the careless maid, the sun has inched over the horizon so that it casts a faint orange onto the pavement and buildings of the still brilliantly shining city.

Once inside, she whispers at Snow, “Stay close. I can conceal us with my magic, but it works best at proximity.” Snow nods and shuffles up to Regina's side. Summoning her power, Regina casts a spell that slightly alters their visages and transforms their clothing into the garb similar to that worn by the scullery maid she’d seen exit just moments before.

“Come,” she then instructs, pushing away from the wall, “we've no time to dawdle.”

To further sell their disguise, she pilfers an empty linen basket, and then maneuvers through the scullery into an abandoned hallway. The lack of servants milling about is worrying, but Regina does not allow that unfortunate detail to deter her. Waving Snow on behind her, she steps out and makes her way down the northernmost hallway. Thankfully her lucks holds true, and after rounding several corners, they arrive at what appears to be the royal wing of the palace. It is a far cry from what she had expected given the grandeur of the Emerald City.

The hallway belonging to the Royal Family of Oz is permeated in shadow, quite unlike other corridors which are at lit by candlelight and seem regularly polished and cared for in spite of the current occupant, and appears strangely dead considering it is made of brick and mortar and wood and metals which do not live. Nevertheless it is dreary and sorrowful as if having been sucked dry of what scant expressiveness belongs to such inanimate materials. There was once a time Regina's own wing of the Dark Palace had resembled this mournful hallway. As with everything else in her life and kingdom, Red has breathed new life into the castle, in the process banishing many of the shadows Regina cast over it during her precipitous descent into madness. This hallway reminds her of that dark era that she has unkindly dubbed The Dark Days. It is disturbing in a way that makes her aware of just how hopeless she'd once been and how she might again be should the mission fail.

With reinvigorated determination, she squares her shoulders and begins her search with Snow following close behind. It takes inspecting nearly every room along the corridor before Regina sticks her head inside the last chambers and spots the ostentatious green and black décor. She knows in an instant she's in the right place.

After a preparatory breath, she slips in through the door and then shuts it behind her once Snow joins her inside. Turning toward a nearby sconce, Regina snaps her fingers, and it comes to life, bathing the room in a soft orange glow. Her purpose for infiltrating Zelena's chambers is to find something, anything that could provide a clue as to her sister's plans or perhaps give an insight any potential weaknesses. But before she can even begin the search, she sees something glinting in the corner of the room, something large and green and shrouded in shadows.

“Zelena,” she growls, her magic flaring to life on instinct. She reflexively raises her hand to summon a fireball and wastes no time in launching it in the direction of her sister.

#once upon a time fanfic #fanfic #red queen ouat #regina x ruby #regina x red #featuring snow white #and Regina getting to flex her muscles with the sword

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rangerrange · 6 years

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Did you see that the Rep mounts in WoW for Horde are like a Hyena, a spider, many flavors of dino. And the Alliance fucking gets 4 different colors of horse like yes take that Alliance

AW MAN NOT YET that’s so.... satisfying though. Horde does always seem to get some damn good mounts!

#jutsei

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moonlost · 6 years

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A couple of days ago, the Brother Unit asked me if I was going to be picking World of Warcraft up again once BfA launches. It was a question I had to mull over. I mean, a week ago my answer would have been a furious spitting of the word no as I stomped around the room like an enraged potato-monster yelling about how they ruined my favourite canon character. But some days to settle gave me the chance to wash the salt out of those metaphorical wounds. The answer is still no, but for a few more reasons than just nerd rage.

I’m still bitter about the AU mag’har and draenei and how they’ve been treated, for all the same reasons I ranted about and reposted. But, I can admit that there are some interesting ideas to be had with it. Ideas I have my doubts Blizzard will explore, but for my own characters? A zealous crusader Kyali seeking to purge away all the corruption that nearly tore her family and her culture apart is delicious, as is a Zaruuk who was broken down by a Naaru to purge any fel corruption inherited from his father. I can just see this husk of who he was, aglow with holy energy to fight unquestioningly for his Naaru masters. A man finally fully accepted by his people, but who had to pay for that acceptance with his soul. I also wonder if there are splintered groups of draenei trying to fight back against this new crusade. Do the rangari attempt to hide away orc families from the burning flames of their kin? What about Nobundo? Does he still feel the call of Draenor’s elementals? There are stories there, is all I’m saying. And interesting things happening with the main storyline as well. But with that all said, I just don’t have a desire right now to play the game. Some of it is just my personal salt, I cannot lie. But a lot is just a need to take a break from warcraft. I’ve been enjoying my time away from the game. A lot of my close friends have moved on, joining them in Guild Wars 2 has been incredibly rewarding. I have never minded playing my MMOs solo, but being actively engaged with my friends again has been wonderful - be it roleplaying, running dungeons or showing off our whatever outfits we’ve worked out. I’ve also been working my artistic muscles a bit more as of late, along with just doing more varied work and activities in general. There’s been a lot less pressure to keep up with some imaginary grind and I’ve been appreciating that a lot. WoW has been a big part of my life for a long time, and I fully expect to return to the game eventually. I’d especially love to try and get more active in the roleplaying communities, there are s o many rad people with equally rad characters. Plus I have a mighty need for one of those hyena mounts. But not right now. I hope that when the expansion hits, everyone playing has a fun time and doesn’t have issues with lag or whatever other server nonsense happens. In the meantime, I’m gonna keep trucking with my charr lady. Hoping to get some short stories about her written!

#Moonlost Blogging Nonsense #long post #warcraft thoughts #ramblings #That and I really want to play as a wicker druid okay #and I want to do more with Illorwyn #one fucking day I'll finish up that story of him in Icecrown #ADD and anxiety meds are my creative bane

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susiron · 6 years

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sapphiresteelshield

I made it my mission to get a yeenyboi for my hunter to ride before i started to level her <3

Omg it’s funny that you say that, cause I literally did the exact same thing with my hunter, Ron, ahaha

She’s the first WoW character I made (tho she did not become my main), and my favorite pet for her has been a hyena named Kenny that I tamed years ago when I only had a starter edition account (I finally got the full game a bit into Legion)

Now Kenny is her secondary pet that stays in the front of the stable roster so he always comes when I call a pet out, and she brings three hyenas with her that I swap between

The black one is named Quiver, the yellow and brown hyena is Dune, and the silver girl is Gnoll <3

The mount, Freya, is the big bad bitch leader of the little pack ; U ;

#annoying wolf noises #sapphiresteelshield #hyenas #warcraft #world of warcraft #my screenshots #susi and wow

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revisitingbuffy · 5 years

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S1 Ep 6: The Pack

Plot Summary: Xander and several other students are possessed by the spirit of a demonic breed of hyenas that wreak havoc at the high school.

Sarah Thoughts:

Cute tiny piggy mascot! I’m sad he’ll be eaten. I love piglets.

Cute nice Mr. Flutie! I’m sad he’ll be eaten. I love nice principals.

Regular gym classes get postponed when it rains? Very southern California of them.

Dodgeball with jungle music?

Slow walk with spin-off-version-of-Audioslave music? Cheesy.

Writing

First Xander-centric episode. Greeeeaaaat.

Okay, so we go a little sideways with the “High School is Hell” metaphor and we have demon hyenas possessing a bunch of dickhead bully kids (plus Xander, who was primed for it!). They’re already terrorists. And Xander is a straight up dick, rather than a “funny” dick, with the hyena possession. Sooooo whoooo caaaaaares.

HOW DARE XANDER HURT WILLOW. DEMON XANDER NONTHELESS.

Quippy Quips

Buffy on hyenas: “They are the shmos of the animal kingdom”

Feminism - Yay!

First time seeing Buffy train! Woo!

Buffy calls what Xander did to her (while possessed) “federal sexual assault”. So that’s nice!

That’s not Feminism, Joss!!!

Willow loves Xander now? Ugh. Why. NO. Last 5 episodes they were just friends! She even asks Xander “Did I do something?” when they discover his weird behavior (from the hyenas!). Lord. I know that this is a potential arc for Willow to grow a backbone - she stands up to him later when he’s locked in a cage and doesn’t fall for his seduction - but still. Xander?

Xander Creep Factor: 10 out of 5 Eww’s

While possessed, Xander tries to rape Buffy.

“You like your men mean, right? Dangerous and mean. Like Angel.” As he pins her down. “Do you know long I’ve waited for you to stop pretending we’re not attracted” Also: "The more I scare you, the better you smell”

“He tried his hand at federal sexual assault” Buffy says after knocking him out. Well, don’t hate Spike for trying to rape Buffy in season 6 if you’re also not gonna remember this nugget either.

And then he tries to seduce Willow and play with her feelings to get free from the cage Buffy stuffs him in (we’ll see a lot of that cage with Oz later on).

And THEN when he is de-possessed, he asks the girls if he did anything else “embarrassing” besides eat a pig, and THEY DON’T DISCUSS THIS AT ALL.

And I guess that’d be okay (maybe they want to let him off the hook and not have him take the blame for something “he” didn’t do?) if it wasn’t revealed that HE REMEMBERED ALL OF IT. And Giles knows this too (”your secret dies with me”) and all Xander replies with is “shoot me, stuff me, mount me”. And we don’t know what he means by that. Probably not “wow I can’t believe i manipulated and tried to seduce my best friend and try to rape my new friend”.

Overall rating: 1 out 5 stakes

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 5 years

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Winner’s Curse Ch. 9

Note: Thanks to @edream93 for her help in looking over the new OC I introduce here and helping to keep some originality.

For the past few days the small group had traversed the jungle since its unknown terrain covered miles around the coast of the island. Always stopping for a couple of hours so Calix and Jordan could repair a hole they found and to eat or to hide whenever pirates or other sea dwellers came to the small strip of sand to scour for washed up weapons, kelp or bits of soggy, half-eaten food.

It was their third day on the road and they all walked in silence to the cliffs, pushing back leaves and occasionally cutting the overgrown roots that cut into the upward path to Skull Mountain.

Jordan had no idea what the others were thinking, but her nervousness over their lack of detailed planning and the fact that Jay did not seem so familiar with the jungle territory as he claimed to be, dissipated to a dull nagging in the back of her mind thanks to the past few nights of no sleep.

They felt that they covered most of the shoreline, but Jay said it would be best to make sure they fixed all the holes, and the best way to see the barrier was on the ledge of the aptly named Skull Mountain.

Skull Mountain was the mountain ledges connected to the volcano of the Isle, and ironically did not possess any skull-shaped rock formation. It had been displaced since Chernabog had chosen it as his resting place. The imposing figure created an image of a stone dark angel since he had stayed immovable since the creation of the Isle 20 years ago. He never unfurled his wings once during those long years which led to numerous speculations and bets as to when he would wake up.

Claude Frollo always ranted that Chernabog would arise when Judgement Day came bringing death and the volcano’s eruption. Sheriff Nottingham said that Chernabog was already awake, what else caused all the thunderstorms around the Isle? Jay personally believed that Chernabog had the right idea to be asleep since the Isle would be boring for the demon if he couldn’t wreck havoc on the Auradonians.

Fortunate for them, Jay was taking them to one of the small cliff ledges near the end of the mountain crest, far from Chernabog’s cliff where the smoke drifted wispily from the edge of the volcano.

“It’s not gonna erupt.” Jay dismissed Aziz’s curious question about the sign of smoke, “It’s like Chernabog, it doesn’t do a thing.”

When Jordan had first saw the imposing view of the cliffs and some rather shoddy, abandoned sculpture work on its side, her first thought had been "Why would villains find time to try to carve skulls in the side of the mountain?"

Now after three days smothered in muggy heat and mosquito bites, and up close to the cliff, all she could think was, "Finally! What I would give for a flying carpet so I would never have to walk again."

By the time they had reached the foot of the cliff, all but Jay were too tired to do the 10 foot climb to the cave ledge and Jordan felt like it would be foolish to wish for them to go up so they decide to sleep there at the foot of the cave.

For the past few nights, Jordan had found it difficult to sleep on the cold, hard, sludgy ground especially when she kept swatting away ants and flies that seemed to determine to use her as a pillow, but today whether it was a combination of heat and tiredness or simply adaptation, she fell asleep immediately.

It was deep dreamless sleep, utterly blissful.....until she was hit on the head. "What the hell?" Jordan yelled summoning pink sparks to web and crackle between her fingers even as she squinted at the bright sunlight that blinded her not-quite opened eyes.

"Get up." Jay said with far too much enthusiasm in the morning. "We're climbing so we can get a better view of the Isle. We’re doing it today with no delay."

Jordan forced herself to fully open her eyes and stumbled to standing position without a snarky comment on his corny rhymes, to study the cliff she was being forced to climb. Seeing the impracticality of her dress for mountain climbing, Jordan transformed her outfit to a black leather Lara Croft style shirt and shorts. Jay and Aziz had thrown themselves onto the mountainside, climbing steadily and skillfully while Calix gripped one piece of rock and promptly slid down to his ass.

"I really didn't think this would involve physical labor." Calix muttered, darkly glaring at the cliff and the two boys who were apparently racing each other to the top.

Jordan saved any cranky agreement she had to focus her energies on climbing the impossible mount. The rocks cut into her hands and were more slippery than they seemed—with every few steps up, she slid back down.

This went on for a while until Jordan gave up. Calix had managed to secure his footing and was climbing past her, her arms were burning and she could feel the sweat drip down her neck. She was over it so she used her magic to transport herself up where Aziz was grinning at her inferior physical skill.

“Wow, using magic already. What happened to saving your energy for when we really need it?” Aziz teased.

Jordan gave him a withering glare and looked around the cave. It was large near the front and seemed to narrow as she walked towards the back where Jay was until she saw that it was narrow enough to be a tunnel.

Calix apparently had made his way up too since he stealthily sneaked up behind her to place his chin on her shoulder and stare in Jay’s direction.

“What are you looking at?” Aziz asked giving voice to what Jordan was thinking. She could tell it was a tunnel, but it was too dark for her to see anything beyond it. Yet Jay was staring intently at it and gently patting at the ground and throwing small stones ahead of him.

“I’m trying to remember if they are booby traps here.” Jay answered.

“No. No no no.” Jordan moved to block the entrance of the tunnel. “I don’t care about whatever is or could be in there. We’re just here to fix the barrier and defeat the Coven. No side trips.”

“Not even to find ancient treasure beyond your wildest dreams?” Jay said, not looking at her but still looking down the tunnel with a faraway glint in his eye.

“Pfft I’M the only ancient treasure beyond anyone’s wildest dreams here. Let’s go.” Jordan said, forcibly hoisting him to his feet and pushing him back to the entrance of the cave.

She glanced back at the tunnel, trying to glimpse beyond the darkness, trying to feel some magical energy that would signal there was something there. Faintly, she felt a buzz between her fingers that began to travel up her arms to her throat. It felt like a claw scratching at her palate and grit crunching between her teeth.

There was something magical there. Magical and dangerous.

So she lied to Jay, “If there was some ancient treasure, I would sense it. I sense a draft of cold wind, and the smell of rust so your “awesome” treasure might be a broken sword. Nothing worth exploring that tunnel.”

Jay raised an eyebrow at her, “Sure there isn’t. But fine, if you want to be a coward about it and not try to get an artifact that could help us..”

He was seriously trying to goad her into finding whatever the thing is? This was unbelievable. There entire world was at stake, and Jay still harbored his kleptomaniac tendency to go impulsively after any treasure, just to look at that shimmering gold. If he could be even more obvious that he wanted to-

Calix cut into her thoughts, pointing, “I see a few holes we missed at the southwestern side, right there.”

Jordan ignored Jay’s stubborn stance in front of the tunnel and went to stand between Calix and Aziz. If he wanted to get that gold, fine. She wasn’t going to stop him. A part of her knew that being a leader probably meant keeping track of your team, but she didn’t want to stay around and say something she would regret like how she thought he sounded like his father.

Calix was right, she could see the shimmering edges of the invisible barrier that gave s view of the ocean beyond compared to the blurry, shifting image of the ocean from the rest of unbroken barrier.

“Makes sense since that’s close to the bridge to Auradon. Right, Jay?” Jordan said, directing Jay’s attention away from staring at the tunnel behind him.

“Uh yeah.” Jay squinted at the horizon.

“Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!” Came a cry from the jungle. Vultures came flying out from the towering tree across from them, but she couldn’t see any other animal move.

The boys immediately grabbed their weapons into a defensive stance while Calix and Jordan’s magic began to crackle from their fingers.

The cry didn’t sound like an animal. It lacked the guttural wildness. It was too controlled, and too frighteningly close.

The call shifted direction seemingly coming from their left side, and it began to vary its sound. “Aaaaay-oh. Aaaaaaay-oh. Ayiyiyiyi!”

“Ahhhhhooooooohhhhhh" the yell shouted again and Jordan pulled out a dagger for extra protection.

"Show yourself!" Jay yelled out.

A large, motionless body dropped to their feet with a thud, sliding slightly to leave a trail of blood. The four teens jumped back with a scream, another figure swung in and kicked Jay into the group making them all fall down like dominoes. The figure grabbed the weapons that Jordan and Aziz accidentally dropped and threw it over the cliff.

Jay managed to get up first causing the figure to aim a high-kicked at his throat. Jay ducked which seemed to be the figure's intention for as he ducked low, she grabbed the shafrahs he loosely held in hands and threw it with the rest of the weaponry.

"Hey, you!" Calix shouted, right hand raised to cast a spell.

The attacker looked toward Calix, pounced ontop of him and pulled him into an arm lock until they heard a crack before stepping away to stand at the entrance next to the motionless body which Jordan now recognized was a dead hyena. All of them froze, breathing heavily, looking at each other to make the next move.

Standing in the light, Jordan could see their attacker was a slender, statuesque young girl about their age. She had dark skin and white hair pulled up into a messy bun that indicated she was probably of Atlantean origin, yet her brown eyes were nothing like she had seen before. Her pupils were dilated to slits similar to an angry cat.

The girl's outfit was bare essentials with a sleeveless, midriff-bearing hyena fur top that left little imagination of the cleavage that was beneath, and showed off a toned stomach that Jordan bet most mortals would envy.

Her black wrapped skirt with a shredded hem looked like it was made out of tent fabric, but the bulky material was compensated with its shortness that allowed one to see the girl’s legs for days.

The one distressing detail that marred the outfit was the splotches of dried brown blood and fresh red stains, and the top had animal canines hanging to the bottom like one would do with fringe beads

"I am Ranavalalona." The girl announced with a lilting accent, pulling out a small spear that she had apparently strapped to her back, "What are you doing in my territory?"

Jordan looked at the boys from the corner of her eyes. They all looked dazed and slightly dreamy even Calix, still rubbing his limp wrist, was leering at the girl that hurt him.

She supposed she could see the appeal since this Ranava-whatshername had the whole jungle princess thing going on with the fur bikini and swinging on vines, but Jordan personally couldn't go for a girl who wore animal teeth as accessories.

"Well?" Ranavalalona took another step towards them, pointing the spear right at Aziz’s heart.

Jordan saw red. The phrase was cliche and overdone, but that was all she could see at the moment. The possibility of Aziz’s red, oh-too-mortal blood spilled on this moss-strewn cliff. Years of built-up, familial protectiveness fueled her anger already boiling against this intruder for threatening him. Her mind snapped into narrow focus on the girl’s neck, ready to have her spine ripped out at the snap of her fingers. If she dared-

"Lala!" Jay spoke up for them.

“It’s Ranavala-ugh never mind you’ll just butcher it.” Lala said under her breath but Jay continued his happy greetings as if she had stayed silent, "You've grown up so much!"

Lala didn't move her spear away from its intended aim, but she did turn her head to give Jay a wary “Are you kidding me?" look that was too casual for the tense atmosphere at hand.

"Jay. Last time we met, you were 15 and I was 13, and I was as tall as your chin. I haven't changed that much."

Jordan would bet that Lala’s height wasn’t the growth that Jay was referring to, but refrained from commenting on Jay's need to flirt with everyone. Not as long as it distracted this girl from spearing Aziz if he made the wrong move.

Lala addressed her question again to Jay, "What are you doing here?"

"My friends and I were having a little field trip. I wanted to show them how real people fight, spears and animals and blood, all that stuff. So we took a little nap at your cave and we were just leaving." Jay smiled charmingly yet Lala looked unimpressed.

"Unoccupied cave he said. Unoccupied my ass." Jordan could hear Aziz hiss under his breath while staring longingly at the jungle girl.

"Cute answer. Tell me the truth or I will let you go on the condition that your friends go back to their kingdom as corpses." Lala said. The threat slipped past Jordan’’s mind as she finally deciphered that the lilting accent Lala had was a faint British accent.

This just made her wonder even more which villain could she possibly be the daughter of?

An Atlantean with a British accent that lived in the jungle?

"You can try, but that girl you're threatening to stab is a genie. She can't die. Broken wrist there is Circe's son, and Aziz, okay, Aziz could probably get killed, but he's Aladdin's son so that would be a really bad decision on your part if you kill Agrabah's prince." Jay said, slowly edging his way to Lala's side, "We're here on a mission to stop the Coven which I know your mom is a part of. But I have a more interesting proposition if you join us to defeat her."

Lala's offensive stance didn't waver, yet her eyes lost their suspicious cat slits and became much more open and curious.

At that moment, Jordan was close enough to see a faint scar that looked like an animal claw had trailed it's claws on Lala's right thigh though it became hidden when it circled to the back of her leg. Another potential scar was visible as puncture wounds on both of her shoulders; dozens of small tree/animal scratches on her legs and arms and blue bruises were beginning to bloom on her ribs.

Jordan felt her heart tug with pity for this girl. She wasn't an attacker, she was defending herself like all the other Isle kids. Jay had been ruthless in tourney as he had been trained to be in his life, often quoting the Isle’s unofficial philosophy of “Kill or be killed” which must apply all the more to someone who spent her hours in the jungle.

Once more a sick guilty feeling gnawed in Jordan’s stomach. This all laid at the fault of Auradon. The so-called good kings and queens who protected their kingdoms by allowing villain to live separate and raise their children in this violent-ridden hovel.

Lala curtly nodded for Jay to continue talking, letting a bang come loose and cover the bloody mark near her left temple.

"I’m guessing La is the same as always.” Jay began.

Oooh her mother was Queen La. that explained everything! And it was so obvious too. La. La. Lala.

Queen La was such a minor villain who had only fought Tarzan though that it was easy to forget she existed. Just like no one outside of Agrabah would know of Abis Mal or Mozonroth, much less their repeated attacks against the royal family.

“Queen La.” Lala automatically corrected.

“Fine, I bet Queen La is the same as always, right? She’s immortal so she plans to never give up her throne in Opal or whatever and has no plans for you to take over as heir or for you to do anything.” Jay said.

“It’s Opar, and no, I’m never going to rule anything. I quote,” Lala thickened her British accent, “Ranavalalona, don’t be delusional. If you’re slow enough to allow Sabor to scratch you, think of how much worse it would be if you got into a fight with me. Besides, if I had to choose an heir, it would the children I’ll have with Tarzan. Not you.” And then she talks about having sex with Tarzan, and their perfect children and reigning again and on and on.”

“If you join us, you might have a chance to do something of your own. You could rule Opar. You could be queen.” Jay urged, pumping more enthusiasm in the conversation then was present in Lala’s face.

“Jay,” Jordan murmured warningly, she knew he was trying to lure Lala with appealing things if she helped them, but she certainly did not want to be the one to break it to her that no way in hell would anyone in Auradon would give her a kingdom or let her be queen.

“If what you say is true..” Lala challenged, “How are you going to do it? I doubt the king would obey your whim so easily, and even a thief like you can’t steal a kingdom.”

“We have a genie. Duh. I mean technically they don’t since it’s “degrading” but-“ Jay explained.

A loud buzzing sound deafened the rest of Jay’s words and Jordan felt faint. She could already feel the phantom hands groping and caressing, leaving goosebumps and streaks of heat-searing pain. Her throat constricted as her thoughts wildly chased one another, jumbling into a mess.

He was offering wishes, he was offering her, being sold without any regard to what she wanted. What did she expect. She was a genie, this was what she was born to do. Grant wishes and serve others whether she liked it or not.

Jordan felt the rise of bile breaking past the lump but forced herself to focus on keeping it down. That helped to alleviate her flashbacks a bit to return to the cold reality that the thief and warrior were still bargaining over her.

“4 wishes. One for each intruder.”

“That’s not how genie magic works. It’s three wishes for one master and that’s only if..” Jay corrected.

“I don’t care about your mythologies. I want the four wishes.” Lala glared, holding out her hand as if she expected Jay to physically hand her the wishes.

“Fine.” Jay said, holding out his hand for a shake to seal the deal. Lala gingerly shook his hand before flipping him over with a scowl, “I believe it is best left unsaid what I’ll do if you break your deal.”

Jordan’s breath caught in her throat again when she felt a reassuring squeeze of her hand.

Aziz whispered under his breath in arabic, “Nothing’s going to happen. He’s lying. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

The “I won’t let that happen” was left unsaid but it was understood.

“I know.” Jordan tried to go for light-heartedness, “When have you ever known me to do something I didn’t want to do.”

The affectionate moment between them was rudely interrupted when Lala shoved Jay into Aziz and walked towards the tunnel, “Let’s get started. I will lead you to the castle so you can do whatever it is you need to.”

“Not now.” Calix contested, “We have to fix the holes in the barrier.”

Jordan took a deep breath and cleared her throat so her voice wouldn’t come out as shaky as it would have a minute ago, “He’s right. We’re fixing the barrier first so the Coven doesn’t have an escape, and for that we’ll have to travel there.”

“Or transport yourself there. Show off your powers.” Lala suggested, eyeing Jordan in a way that reminded her of when Rajah saw a delectable piece of meat.

Jordan stiffened and plastered a fake smile despite the growing pit in her stomach at the thought of Lala observing her powers so she could best make her choice, “That is a good idea. But it would take too much energy for me to transport all of us so two of you would have to stay behind like you and-and..”

“I’ll stay behind.” Jay volunteered, punching Lala on the arm, “We can catch up.”

“Don’t be friendly to me. It’s weird.” Lala hissed, punching his arm in return.

“I’ll stay behind with both of them.” Aziz added, leveling a suspicious glare specifically at Jay which Jay matched, “Three’s better than one.”

“Fine.” Jordan snapped her fingers and took herself and Calix to the southwestern side before they needed to interfere with a brawl. They were almost grown up, they could handle themselves.

They worked in silence, Calix muttering Greek incantations under his breath as he wielded his crystal wand and Jordan stretched her pink magic like a giant band-aid over the holes.

Calix broke the comfortable silence with a nervous cough, “Uh I-I well um, I know we don’t usually talk about her feelings. But- if you could. Only if you want. I’ll listen. You seemed pretty freaked out back there when Jay offered-”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” Jordan snapped, not sounding as breezy as she would have liked to have sounded. “I mean..uh I appreciate your offer and I will come to you. Just..we have bigger things to worry about so repressing my fears seems to be the best option.”

‘Yeah.” Calix nodded curtly and they went back to work in silence for the next five minutes.

Once the two stepped back to observe that the translucent barrier was whole, Jordan said softly, “If you ever need to talk about your mom. I’ll listen too.” Calix nodded at the ground, “Thanks, but I think repressing my feelings seems to be the best option for now.”

Jordan nodded understandingly even though an uncharacteristic part of her suddenly wanted to know everything Calix was thinking about this situation despite the possibility of tears and ugly crying. Calix had been oddly silent the whole trip, not cracking jokes and it frankly unnerved her. But she knew Calix was like herself. If he wanted to deny anything was happening, he would do it stubbornly until it backfired on him. Usually in the form of a drinking binge with Dionysus or some other half-hearted coping mechanism.

She just hoped he would cope with it until the time came.

Jordan reached out and gave Calix a reassuring hand squeeze, hoping he would feel less alone like whenever Aziz did it with her. Calix didn’t look at her, but squeezed more tightly as with their hands intertwined Jordan snapped her fingers to return to the cliff ledge.

They were greeted with the sight of Aziz, Jay and Lala sitting cross-legged in a small circle. Jay and Aziz were fighting in English with a mix of Arabic that Aziz kept adding since they all knew Jay wasn’t fluent in his father’s tongue which Jay angrily reacted to, thinking Aziz was cursing him out and he retorted likewise.

Lala sat between them, skinning her hyena, shaking her head with the annoyance of someone dealing with two irate children.

“Guys. Let’s get going.” Jordan clapped to get their attention, ignoring the scowls the two shot at each other. She didn’t know what they were arguing about and she didn’t want to hear at this moment. They had a mission to do, and she hoped the two would be mature enough to bottle it for a more convenient time.

Despite some grumbling under their breath, Jay and Aziz didn’t seem up to any childish avoidance or silent treatment as they gathered the weapons that Calix levitated from the ground and walked to the cave entrance.

Lala slung her hyena over shoulder and pulled a stray charred stick of wood that was on a small woodpile next to the tunnel entrance. It took a couple of tries, scraping it against the moist cave walls, but she alighted it and motioned for them to go single-file before her.

Jordan felt suspicious as to the reason why Lala was behind them, blocking any route to escape, instead of in front but she didn’t see any argument that wouldn’t lead to Lala potentially getting offended and losing her help.

The tunnel was pitch black save for the light of the torch and the hotness of the jungle heat gave way to the icy freeze of the inner mountain where water droplets abounded on the cave’s ragged walls.

It had started out high enough for Jay to walk comfortable at his full height but as they ventured father inward, they all had to bend down to a crawl on their hands and knees, and forgo the torch flame since the width space narrowed to that of an air vent. The gravel dug into Jordan’s skin and hands and she was sure she was going to come out looking like she spent her time in a chimney with the way the broken bits of cave wall crumbled around her.

They were silent during this trek, taking in their limited surroundings and silently wondering how much longer it would take, the only sound being the constant drip of water and Lala’s steady inhales and exhales.

Abruptly, their crawl stopped at the sound of rushing water and Jordan felt Calix nose smash uncomfortably against her butt while she narrowly avoided crashing into Aziz’s by pressing her cheek to the wall.

“Why are you stopping?” Lala harshly demanded, unexpectedly sounding breathless “Move!” “I can’t. There’s no ground, there’s a waterfall.” Jay protested at the front of the line.

“MOVE.”

“I-”

“You jump. It’s just water. MOVE!” Lala yelled frustratedly, scraping her nails against the walls, “Move, damnit. Do you want to be stuck here.”

Jay hesitated for a second and then dove out followed by Aziz shouting “Geronimo!”

Jordan approached the end of the tunnel and looked out to be splashed in the face by an icy spray of water. The hole they were coming out of was positioned directly next to a waterfall which fed into a large lake encompassing the high-ceiling cavern with walls of cave-man like stick drawings dotted by random flourishes of moss and vines that had thrived in the mountain’s crevices. It reminded Jordan a bit of the ancient Kuzcotopian temples hidden inside mountain caves, and wondered if this used to be the site of one.

She didn’t have to wonder long for she felt an insistent push of Calix bumping into her thanks to Lala’s prodding.

Jordan reluctantly looked down at the 20 foot drop into cold water. She wished there was a way to get to the left side of the cavern where there was a thin strip of bare land that had a small campfire.

The word ‘wish’ reminded her of her idiocy. Always forgetting that she was a genie even when an hour ago she had been painfully aware of the fact.

“MO-”

Lala’s command faded away with the sound of the waterfall as she magically transported herself to the strip of land where Jay and Aziz was swimming towards.

Jordan heard the splash of Calix taking the dive and saw Lala sitting comfortably at the holes edge, hyena still slung over her shoulder and the charred wood in her mouth. She reached to the right side of the hole where there was a scrap of vines and moss growing in the crevice. She pulled at a vine and swung gracefully to one of the rocks jutting out in the middle of the lake. She walked to shore on a path of rocks and sandbars that were hidden beneath the water but were enough to keep her dry from the ankles up.

“You couldn’t have told us about the vine?” Jay rolled his eyes as he shook his wet hair and clothes like a dog.

“None of you know how to swing on a vine.” Lala responded in a tone that made evident her disgust on their lack of vine-swinging knowledge.

“So is this the-” Calix began to ask when Lala interrupted, “No, of course not. It’s Maleficent’s castle. I may be helping you, but I want to eat my lunch first so sit down and make a fire.”

They all looked at each other and sat down obediently to make the fire. They had no idea where they were so their only choice was to trust this girl and do what she wanted for the time being even though Jordan secretly bemoaned the time they were probably wasting.

Calix and Jordan had been about to put on a fire with the use of their magic but Jay jumped in with a show of demonstration in his wilderness survival know-how.

Lala silently but generously cut up the hyena pieces for each of them, only speaking to inform them that they could safely eat the meat once the fire had made the edges of the skin a nice pink color.

After Jay showed off his fire-making skills, Aziz bragged about the time he had gotten lost in the desert and survived three days on his followed by Jay’s story of fighting a crocodile and even Calix joined in the boasting reccounting a harrowing hangover where he ended up in Troy with no memory of the past week and the journey he took to find out what the hell he did.

Jordan had heard these stories before so zoned out and looked around. The place was pretty bare since the lake covered most of the ground area. There were small cliff juts on the right walls so she guessed that was how people had managed to draw their cave paintings.

On the strip of land, there were two fur blankets by the wall with spears and knives placed nearby. There were a few dartboards tacked up bearing numerous holes from what looked like constant target practice use by large pricks than darts.

Lala slipped away from them to go to the faded orange blanket of what looked like to be tiger fur and began digging diligently until she took out a book and a red jewel, shaped like a hand-sized crystal ball.

Jordan poked at Calix to stop his story and pointed at Lala whose back was turned toward them as she read her book.

The dusty grit and scratchy throat feeling returned and suddenly Jordan knew that this must have been the dangerous magical artifact that she had sensed.

Almost ceremonially with her back still turned to them, Lala took off her top, fully displaying the scratches and puncture marks that ran down her back, some still bright red and shiny with wet blood. Lala took the jewel and rubbed it on her back and shoulders, making the red ball lose it’s shiny luster, now that it was covered with the deep crimson of her blood.

Jordan wished she could creep closer to hear if Lala was saying any incantations but knew that to creep closer would probably alert the jungle girl that she had an audience and then they wouldn’t know what the jewel was capable of.

It was no matter since Lala began to chant, slightly in musical key but mainly in the low voice of a priest evoking the will of the gods.

“Take this blood

Strengthen its endurance.

Break this earthly cycle

Set the spirit free.

Spill it before fire

And heal unto me.

Please heal unto me.”

Before their very eyes, the marks on Lala’s began to shrink of blood, thin to faint lines and close up, healing her to smooth, untouched skin as if she had never been in a vicious fight.

Lala put her top back on and hopped up to face them, holding the jewel and book in her hand, staring at them knowingly even though they tried to look as if they were still intently eating or were mesmerized looking at the fire.

“You should know if you want to spy and act like you’re not doing it. You shouldn’t suddenly all stop talking.” Lala said matter of factly, tying up her belongings in the tiger fur blanket that she converted to a sling-on bag.

“Your mom gave her the jewel?” Jay whistled, looking impressed and a little...jealous? Jordan wondered if he was thinking of his own magic roots and that maybe if he had stayed on the Isle this long, he would have been able to learn how to wield his father’s snake staff.

Lala shrugged, pursing her lips like she wasn’t going to talk but then she shrugged again, “It was from my mom’s leopard staff. She decided to create a better, less breakable jewel and I… I just wanted to see if I could do the priestess stuff she did. You have to admit,” She thrust her bare left shoulder, free of claw marks, “It’s helpful.”

No one made any comment about the matter and devoted to finishing the surprisingly tasty yet chewy meat. Jordan observed that the scar that Lala possessed on her thigh still remained and secretly mused on why Lala decided to skip that mark.

After they finished their meal, Lala jumped up again, and began to push away a plaster that covered another tunnel entrance.

“This way to the castle.” Lala announced.

#winner’s curse #my fanfic #my fanfiction #disney descendants #jay #aziz #jordan #calix #lala #my ocs #ocs #chapter nine

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