#Yellow comet cringe

[holly-fixation]

Angelic Aid: Chapter 4

Summary of this chapter: The Prince of Jenova finally showed his skills both in training and in battle, the last retaliation the Cetra can give. If it fails, the planet and their race are doomed. The Princess tries to understand the prince better, by learning the history of his planet. Maybe then he will be willing to spend 'time' with her, the deal Jenova made with the Cetra upon exchange of her warrior: her son.

Inspired by this art by @tannarys on twitter and follow up art that is absolutely adorable

Please Enjoy!

Chapter 4: War Room and War

Sephiroth woke up groggy the next morning, the pillow somewhere on the floor, his hair an absolute bird’s nest, his shirt and pants untidy, and his skin temporarily conforming to the pattern of the fabric below with soft lines imprinted on his skin, yet somehow the covers below didn’t take any damage. He forced himself to shake off the lingering thoughts of the previous night as he pressured a hand through his currently knotty hair, tearing some of the strands free of their knots. Tonight was the night, his first attack of three, and he honestly could not wait for the chance to do what he did best. It didn’t matter how many or few he killed. A massacre was not necessary. He enjoyed battle as a place to test his skills, each bout of training pushing him further for the next conquest. That’s how angels prepared. That’s what his mother taught him. 

He winced as he slammed away the memory that threatened to enter. There’d be time for that later, when he returned to his comet. His home. There was no reason for any of the emotions he felt on this planet. It was a conquest, nothing more. He was a weapon, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

The sky was even darker than when the princess woke him in the middle of the night, he noticed through a window in the hallway. The small, quiet hour before dawn broke and the light of the sun bathed the city blanketed the streets. It was absolutely earlier than most of the inhabitants of this planet roused, judging by the nearly silent atmosphere outside the small window. Not a single Cetra appeared on the streets, only the occasional cat running around for a final catch of the day, or night. 

Then there was a crash from the floor below, metallic but not sword like. He closed his eyes and exhaled in frustration, an annoyed feeling that whatever caused that sound wasn’t a threat. The same way it wasn’t last night. Before any more disturbances hit, he pushed himself out of the bed, slipped on his coat, boots, and sword, and left for the kitchen.

Maybe once he wanted to be wrong. Yet when he entered the kitchen, he proved his assumption correct.

It was a nightmare. Dishes, utensils, towels, some kind of white shells, everything was everywhere and nothing was where it was supposed to be, all surrounding the center of the storm: the princess in her pink dress, who tried to clean something black and smokey off the side of their stove. Although he entered with cat-like silence, she somehow noticed him and looked up with wide eyes, surprised, excited, and clearly fearful of the possibility of getting caught.

“Prince Sephiroth!” She lit up with the kindest smile that one cringing at their own mistake could make, slightly shying away as she offered a plate with a perfectly yellow meal. “I made you eggs?” Her words curled up from a statement to a question at her own embarrassment and the expected negating of her offer. 

He could not explain how thankful he was for the battle today, if only to get some space from this clingy little girl.

* * * 

From dawn to noon, Sephiroth spent his time both assessing and training the most viable of the Cetra sword fighters, which struck him as the biggest oxymoron. They clearly desired to learn, for the sake of themselves and their people, but only a fool would put them out into battle. Even the most talented soldier struggled to reach the peaks of the basic techniques. Their greatest downfall: they didn’t think like sword fighters. They thought like mages. Mages he could work with, sure, they know how to attack, but of the five he was tasked with training, two of them thought like healers: how far back in the battle could they stay while protecting others, how much space could they keep between them and their enemy, could they persuade them from afar. 

None of this would do.

Every hour covered two tasks simultaneously: running through basics like proper footing and slashing techniques, and that their weapons were extensions of themselves. No healer understood the importance of their staff the way a swordsman attached their soul to their blade. Only the simplest thought pierced them today: if their blade fell, they died. Guaranteed. Even though it was the simplest lesson, they needed it more than anything. The only solace in this week off his world was their skill in magic. Each soldier understood the importance of separating offensive and defensive materia, all but one offensive limited to the blade, while the few that decorated armor included barriers, healing, and the last case scenario of sealing. 

Still, he gladly took training these infants in combat over his mother’s punishment of ‘time’ with these people. Hopefully the hours he spent training them counted as his half of teaching these people his ways. Now it was back to their small war room to inform each other of the resources gained for the battle tonight. 

The same people stood at the edge of the map: Claudia Strife, Reeve Tuesti in that odd cat-like machine, the Captain, their queen, and unfortunately their tiny princess. At first, his own presence there felt unnecessary, as they talked about supplies of ethers and potions for the people and the army, ration preparations, et cetera. More and more updates and plans for situations that did not concern him in the slightest. 

“Prince Sephiroth,” the queen called, gaining his attention immediately. “Let’s discuss the plan for tonight.”

He nodded before addressing the table. “What’re the latest updates?”

“I got a friend to lend us his boat,” Claudia explained simply, before scrunching her face. “A small one. Not a lot of fuel either, but it should be enough to reach Junon’s shores and back.”

“That’s more than enough. Your healers will not stay anywhere near me at the battle,” Sephiroth stated simply. “If you move the boat here,” he pointed to the map, miles west of Junon, “It will convince them I came from the west, and not the north. They might delay their next attempt north to search for me.”

The Captain seemed to hold his tongue before adjusting his thoughts. “What…advantage does leaving you out to dry give us?”

Throughout the day, the Captain finally accepted the truth of his skills and knowledge. He welcomed that. “I can fly a minimum of twenty miles. Even when injured.” His eyes darted to the map and he pointed to a location a bit off from the battle, but invisible to the people in the port town. “It’s north, so it’s closer to here. It will keep your people out of the line of fire without negating their purpose completely.”

“How injured should they expect you?” The blonde woman asked.

He turned to her, before glancing at the captain. “Anywhere from nothing to three broken limbs. Maximum. That depends on their fire power.”

“Which sadly, we can't prepare for thanks to their mechs’ auto self-destruct at high damage.” The Captain mentioned with a disappointed hand on his forehead, frustrated at their own lack of ability to properly train for the threat. 

“It scares me how large of a window you may take,” Claudia mentioned, eyeing the angel curiously. 

“I’m only preparing you for the worst case scenario.” He met her worried blue gaze. “But from what I know of your planet, they can only break a single bone of mine with a miracle.”

“You seem extremely confident,” came the voice out of the mog suit, suspicion growing on the creature’s face.

He stared at it blankly, shoulders and arms dropping. How many times did they need him to explain his strength? “I could claim your planet on my own.” The gravity of the threat shuttered through everyone’s eyes except his own. This was not a threat. It was simply a reminder of their situation. “The largest disadvantage here is keeping people alive. Burning the base down is a lot faster and a lot easier.” His eyes hardened, the creature barely listening to his words. “The more I keep alive, the larger chance someone will stab me in the back. That’s the only reason I’m preparing for injury.”

“Your Majesty,” this time Reeve turned to the Cetra Queen, a clear new goal in his words. “I must ask, how did your people gain power over Jenova?”

Sephiroth stared daggers at the hologram, at the audacity for the accusation alone.

“We never have,” Ifalna stated simply, truthfully, allowing the angel to loosen his glare, before looking down at the map and circling the north. “This crater is proof of that.”

“The Cetra developed summoning materia they did not understand, with the goal of summoning one of your ‘gods’.” The prince explained sharply, knowing that giving the tale would silence the spy’s questioning. “When my mother appeared instead, she brought a meteor to claim this planet in retaliation. But, Her meteor, was too large. Its size was a mistake, capable of total annihilation instead of mass extinction. However, Cetra barrier spells prevented incurable damage. She was impressed by the feat, and made a deal with your people to use us as summons in dire situations. But when your materia breaks, we will claim this planet.”

The spy swallowed, even though it was only a machine controlled by a human, mimicking its user’s behavior. “...Then,” He hesitated, “did your people actually find this planet?”

He scowled at the lack of knowledge clearly portrayed before him and glanced at the queen out of the corner of his eyes. “Did you explain anything to them?”

She bit her tongue against the display of teenage attitude and took a short answer before she answered, “Prince Sephiroth, I explained the benefits and the risks of requesting help from your mother. Our entire history was not important for this decision.”

His turned sigh clearly hid a groan.

“I know the story,” the princess’s voice rang lightly, like a tiny bell. She may have thought her interruption was a request, the rest of the war room clearly believed so, but the prince only saw a challenge. This little girl, who couldn’t say his mother’s name in her presence, suddenly knew enough to quell a war room. 

Though every eye on her jabbed for silence and obedience in the young girl, Sephiroth burned his challenge in his inhuman eyes, his cat-like slits captivating her attention, giving her the slightest taste of what she felt when they first summoned him. He gave her the opportunity to share the information she claimed to have. “Enlighten us.” Not a hint of sarcasm bled through his words, for he had none to give. What was this girl truly good for? How much ‘time’?

“After Queen Jenova returned to her comet, we changed part of the white materia to not only protect the planet, but send an angel back by force if they attacked too much,” The little girl explained, folding her hands behind her back and shifting awkwardly from side to side. “Not long after, her planet-comet, also called Jenova, but spelled with dashes between the letters for some reason, flew across the sky at night. Only once, but she saw us. She knows exactly where we are, and how to move the comet to get here if needed.”

Sephiroth, though surprised, found himself nodding in confirmation at her words. However, to his frustration, the human questions only increased. 

“Hold on a minute,” The blonde woman held a hand up in wait with a confused daze on her face, the crater still on her mind. “Your mother is over two thousand years old?”

The prince and princess nodded again before he answered. “We do not age the same as your people. After twenty years, our appearances barely change with time. You may think it odd, but I assure you, it’s expected.”

“Is she the oldest on your planet?”

“Yes, but that is not why she still rules,” Aerith explained. “She’s still the strongest. And even when she wasn’t, she won anyway.”

Sephiroth closed his eyes in silent annoyance. This absolutely is not how you prepare for an attack. He hated this treatment as a walking history lesson. If this princess knew, then they all clearly had access to whatever answers they wanted if they would just pick up a book. Apparently, this annoyed look on his face silenced their historical questions for now. They returned to topics or sections of failed battle and future preparation that did not concern him, so he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the room, away from the map.

* * *

He hated those meetings, at no fault of their own. The few details that mattered to him could easily be sent on a single piece of paper, or a single message. He sighed in relief at the final dismissal. The last detail that mattered to him, and the only one after their unnecessary exposition, was the location of their vessel for departure: through the woods and past the village of archeology, which they had to avoid any kind of contact with the human residents before reaching the shore. Stealth mission. Understandable, simple, inconvenient but doable nonetheless. Still, he preferred the slightly organized war meetings over dealing with the little girl that ran towards him a minute after dismissal.

Why couldn’t he have a single moment to himself on this planet?

“Prince Sephiroth, wait!” Despite his movement slowing down, the princess still jogged after him, and eventually she kept up with his adjusted pace. “I have a quick question.”

He nearly groaned, turning to her with small contempt. “I’m not-”

“It’s not about your history,” She explained quickly, and he let out a soft sigh. “It’s about your allure.”

Allure? Why would that interest her? He never voiced the question, but his eyes reflected his curiosity. He figured she’d ask about his power, or speed, or something meaningless, or for his damn wing again.

“Why doesn’t it work?” She tilted her head.

He glared, answering after a pause, “It does work.”

“It does?”

“Yes,” He spat. “Why wouldn’t it?”

Aerith glanced away. “Well…” Her hands twitched from her own unfounded anxiety, “When we first met, it was so strong I could barely talk. But then I didn’t feel it until the meeting. Do you have to activate it?” Now her planet-green eyes met his.

He took a breath. “You felt my mother’s allure when we first met. I don’t project mine constantly.” It was true. He enjoyed the fight rather than diplomacy, but he quickly realized he gave the wrong description to the young girl. “Well,” He crunched the corner of his lip in thought, “consciously. We all have it to some level. I see it with some of the animals here, but not your people.”

“Does it feel weird when you project it?”

Why was she like this? He answered her first question, so why wasn’t this over? He grunted. “No. But I have to actively think about it. I’d rather use my energy elsewhere.”

“Where?”

“Battle. So I don’t get killed.”

“But you’re super strong?”

“And how do you think I got this strong?”

She thought for a moment, a hand on her chin before it came to her. “Not dying?”

“Not dying.”

“Ah,” She nodded in understanding, but she still wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “Where are you going now?”

He flicked his head in gesture. “That mountain. To judge the terrain from here to the shore.”

“It’s just a lot of forest. Lots of trees. It'll be really hard to see the path.”

“It can’t hurt,” he brushed her off before glancing in her direction. “Where are you supposed to be?”

“Mama said I should stay with you until dinner time,” She stated simply, innocently, tugging softly at her own dress. “So I thought I’d ask a few questions…”

“Aerith,” He stared at her, not completely lying with his answer. He was just…tired. “I’m fighting. Tonight. I need to think.”

She pursed her lips, but nodded before meeting his eyes. Then she looked down, away from the strength of his gaze. “I can be quiet, if that helps…” She sounded heartbroken. 

He felt a slight ting at her tone and sighed softly. “...Just for an hour, okay?”

Aerith nodded again, but she stayed by his side until the accursed time arrived, through the mountain and the last minute training of soldiers. She remained through the final meal before the battle. The step off to the mission. Their kind’s last and only chance to advance against humanity. Humanity did not need to die. They only needed to understand the threat they forced the Cetra to summon. Yet if they, for some reason, decided to be hopeful for a chance to win against this angel, the days of Cetra were still limited. 

* * *

The princess absolutely knew she should not be awake. The entire mission required the cover of night, which made sense for stealth. They had healing materia. They had wind materia, gods forbid they ran out of gas or time. Sephiroth was on his own for the battle itself. She knew he could handle it, judging by the fear of the planet, but she wanted them all to get back safely, uninjured. It was childish, but she was, in fact, a child. With over eight hours of sleep, because she went to bed as early as possible, she sat awake in her room, at four in the morning. 

It didn’t take long to find out her mother was awake too, a door squeaking below her and footsteps tapping along the floor. Well, shoot. Now she couldn’t leave. She reached for the book on her nightstand and adjusted toward the window above her bed. The book about angels she was more than halfway done with. Moonlight made it slightly difficult to read, but it was better than darkness. The prince always seemed annoyed by her questions, and she believed with more knowledge, she could learn more about topics he enjoyed, and less of what he considered basic. 

Time. Why Time? The angelic queen’s request baffled her little mind. The prince took more comfort in solitude than her presence, no matter how much she tried to get him to talk. The queen must have known that when she made the request. Aerith tried to make good on her end of the deal, the white materia resting in her braided hair now. No one would look for it there. Even without understanding, she kept herself busy, waiting for the seconds to tick on and everyone to come back safely. She stuck herself in her book, eyes wide and pupils blown in the dark as she absorbed all the information her little mind could take as quickly as possible. 

A knock at the door drew her out of her concentration. 

“Aerith,” Her mother’s voice rang from behind. “They’ll be back soon. Would you like to wait with me at the plaza?”

She jumped up and immediately opened the door. She nodded rapidly, and her mother tried to hide a chuckle. 

“Okay. Go and get changed. I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

Aerith couldn’t close the door fast enough, rushing out of her pajamas and into her proper dress. Her mother didn’t seem worried, so she shouldn’t be either. She practically bounced off the walls as they left through the streets, but considering the hour, she did try to be quiet. They waited on a stone half-wall, watching the roads ahead, past the homes and to the path from the forest. The soldiers had to come through here, no matter the results of the mission.

At first light, it finally happened. Laughter from outside the city, two voices, approaching at a casual but upbeat speed, exhaustion in their voices paired with…victory. 

They made it back. 

They won.

.

.

.

.

Thanks for reading!

Author’s Note: I have a few more ideas for this fic, but probably less plot and more Aeriseph to be honest. I planned on having more backstory/history questions about Jenova and company in this chapter but I (honest to God) forgot what questions I was going to ask. So if you’re interested in the lore and have any questions, feel free to leave a comment! 

And as always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

[advance-shitposting]

So guys are we going to ignore the fact that in the first AW (as far as I'm aware) game yellow comet is implied to be an ethno state.

[edgyval-archive]

╱╱╱╱╱╱ mega neopronouns + names

+ coining the term megadric

requested by literally nobody (again)

names and pronouns based on the glitch hop/vaporwave album mega by blank banshee

╱╱╱ song-title themed names

bios (bios)

malachi (my machine)

froze / freeze / froth (frozen flame)

shot (gunshots)

flora (megaflora)

ecco (ecco chamber)

holo / graff (holograffiti)

xenos (xenos)

sandy / tempus (sandclock)

ghost (hungry ghost)

web (web ring)

comet / blade (meteor blade)

june / junko (juno)

ceru (cerulean)

exos (exos)

╱╱╱ song title-themed pronouns

fro/fros/froself

fla/flame/flameself

flo/flor/florself

ec/ecs/ecself

ecco/eccos/eccosepf

holo/holos/holoself

graff/graffs/graffself

xe/xem/xemself

san/sans/sanself

clo/clos/cloself

gho/ghos/ghoself

ri/rem/remself

web/webs/webself

ring/rings/ringself

ju/jun/junself

juno/junos/junoself

ru/rus/ruself

ce/cers/cerself

xo/xos/xoself

ex/exs/exself

╱╱╱ emoji pronouns

ok these all follow the basic form of like 🐬/🐬s/🐬self so imma just group em all together to avoid repetition (+ explanations)

☄️📂🤖🐬👻🌐✨

☄️ - album artwork

📂 - files

🤖 - song "my machine"

🐬 - retro game "ecco the dolphin"

👻 - song "hungry ghost'

🌐 - web

✨ - f a n c y

+ here's an identity and flag for these pronouns, if it needs a name or anything i call it megadric. name comes from mega + driscoll (blank banshee's irl last name)

megadric refers to a gender that is connected to the album, and the aesthetics surrounding it.

⚠️ the colors here are color picked from mega's album artwork. i deliberately tried NOT to make it look like the map flag by using green and dark purple instead of yellow and white. please DO NOT compare this to the map flag!

⚠️ while the pronouns and names are not exclusive to neurodivs, the identity is. personally i am on the autism spectrum and have trouble understanding my gender because of it, and i think that my various interests help me understand it better. thanks for understanding.

dni banner by miaulogy

transcript - do not interact: zoophiles, pedos, transphobes, homophobes, hardcore stans, cringe culture, nsfw agere/petre, dsmp fans

[mangobilorian]

roll over | (gen)

Pairing: Feral & Wolffe

Genre: Fluff

Words: 2875

Summary: “Kriffing hell, I can’t deal with this,” he mutters. Out of everything the Zabrak could do to cause trouble, he chooses to become a toddler. Wolffe glares at the kid, and Feral’s eyes grow wide. Then he starts to cry.

Or: Wolffe learns his greatest weaknesses are Dathomirians, Plo Koon, and snuggles.

Wolffe trusts his general. He can’t count how many times General Koon saved his life. From fighting in the battlefield to advocating for Wolffe to stay by his side, the Jedi has been there for him like no one else—aside from his brothers. So Wolffe trusts Plo’s judgement even if he disagrees with it. But he has to put his foot down before he reaches his breaking point, and the addition of a Nightbrother to the Wolfpack is enough cause for Wolffe to slam his plastoid covered foot down with all the force of a Zillo Beast.

Plo found the boy by accident. Well… found was an understatement. The Republic had sent the 104th to Dathomir for more information about Maul and Savage. The place freaked him out more than it should have. Who can blame him? It’s said that Ventress was born on Dathomir, and anything to do with that assassin sends streaks of rage and fear through Wolffe.

Thankfully, everything went well with Mother Talzin, but as they were about to depart, Wolffe got a sinking feeling. No one could find his General—which shouldn’t have been hard since the man is a Kel Dor —and two hours later, there was still no sign of him.

Until Plo ran towards the ship with an unconscious Zabrak in his arms, Mother Talzin screaming behind him. Wolffe understood immediately, so the Wolfpack readied the ship, and they flew off before the scary witch caught them. She screamed something along the lines of, “I will curse all of you!” But Wolffe didn’t worry about that.

After providing food and basic medical needs to the Zabrak, Plo sat the Wolfpack down to explain the situation. Wolffe knew what to expect. Plo was going to tell them that he found the boy in need of help, and Plo was the only one who could provide. So Plo just had to stage a rescue for the boy and escape the witch, putting himself and his men in danger. Wolffe is only slightly miffed. The same situation occurred many times before, so what was one other rescue? But no, this Zabrak—Feral—is force sensitive . Which is great. For Plo and no one else.  

“Wolffe, this boy will remain on the ship until he recovers. Then I will train him.” Wolffe scowls. The General leans against a wall, arms crossed. He looks too relaxed, too calm for Wolffe’s liking.

“Sorry, sir, but that boy is the brother of two Sith lords. If they find out we captured him, they’ll be on our asses.” Wolffe understands Plo’s undying paternal obligation to anything and everything. But Wolffe will not let Plo’s feelings get in the way of everyone’s safety. He’s lost too much to let a passing fancy harm anyone on board.

His general sighs. “He was abused, Wolffe. His neck was crushed then healed in the most painful way possible. If Maul and Savage cared for Feral, they would have rescued him themselves. And yet, we’re the ones who did. His Force signature is confused, scared, and hurt. That boy needs help, and I will provide it. Feral will stay on this ship.” And that’s an order , Wolffe finishes in his mind. Plo doesn’t like to command his men in the same capacity as other generals. He treats everyone like his own sons. Plo’s Bros , the Wolfpack calls themselves. It’s only on rare, important occasions where the hint of an order laces Plo’s voice. Unfortunately, this seems to be one such occasion.

“Unless, of course, you are truly uncomfortable with Feral. Say the word, and I will drop Feral off at a nearby med bay.” And with that statement, Wolffe is reminded of how nice his general is. The change from order to concern almost gives Wolffe whiplash. Plo makes his own decisions and expects Wolffe to back him up, but he also holds Wolffe’s opinion to a high regard—something that Wolffe feels he hasn’t truly earned.

Clones were supposed to give their life to the Republic and the Jedi, not to be nurtured and cared for. Yet, a High Councillor chose to keep Wolffe despite his disability. Wolffe begrudgingly admits that Plo’s paternal feelings have saved his and his brothers’ lives countless times.

In an effort to make his general happy, Wolffe acquiesces. “No, it’s fine, sir. He can stay. But if he causes trouble, he’s gone.” Wolffe knows Plo is smiling at him. Despite the mask covering his face and Plo’s lack of human lips, Wolffe knows. That di’kut is probably feeling smug because he got me to cave , the commander thinks.

Plo nods at him and heads off to tend to the injured Zabrak. Wolffe takes the time to clean his armor. In the corner, Boost and Sinker play sabacc. Comet watches idly, eyes already closing. Warthog sits in the cockpit, piloting away. This , Wolff thinks, is family. And no is going to harm them under my watch.  

An hour of calm coexistence passes. Plo had poked his head in to tell Wolffe that he was going to sleep in his anti-ox chamber. Comet and Sinker slept as well while Boost joined Wolffe in repainting his armor. They always keep gray paint and brushes on board for this exact reason. Every gray line serves as a reminder of all the men he lost, all the brothers who died—not in the midst of battle but in space, at the mercy of a superweapon and picked off by hunter droids. Gray is the mourning color for Mandalorians. And Wolffe will continue mourning long after the war ends—if it does.

A loud crash reverberates along the ship walls. Wolffe bolts to his feet, Boost right behind. Another thump and Wolffe deduces that it's coming from the spare room. Where the Zabrak is.

Wolffe signals for Boost to stay put, and he marches on. He’s down to his blacks, but he has enough sense to bring a blaster. He nudges the door open, blaster raised. Plo won’t forgive me for shooting his new stray . And the door swings wide to find… nothing. The only thing out of place is a knocked-over chair. The room is dark, but he should be able to see Feral.  

But there’s no sign of the yellow Nightbrother. Wolffe lowers his blaster. Where could that Zabrak be? Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees something glow. He raises the blaster again-

A small whimper escapes from the glowing eyed thing, and Feral steps out from the shadows. Except it’s not really Feral. Instead of the slim, injured Zabrak, a small version stands in his place.

“Feral?” Wolffe sets his weapon down on a nearby desk, still eyeing the child. He slowly sets the chair upright again. The kid leans into the wall and cradles his arms to his chest. “Kriffing hell, I can’t deal with this,” he mutters. Out of everything the Zabrak could do to cause trouble, he chooses to become a toddler . Wolffe glares at the kid, and Feral’s eyes grow wide. Then he starts to cry.

Feral’s cries aren’t loud. It’s quiet like he’s trying to keep it all in. He chokes on his own tears, holding a hand to his mouth to muffle the sounds. His shoulders quietly shake, and he leans further into the wall. He’s a sad, pathetic sight. Kriff, what would Plo think about the whole situation? He’d probably coo at the kid and be happy that he now has an actual child to spoil. But Plo is sleeping, and Wolffe doesn’t want to wake him. Plo barely rests enough as it is.

Wolffe doesn’t know what to do. It’s not like he’s trained in childcare. He’s probably the commander who’s least willing to approach a child— aside from Fox who almost ran over a Senator’s kid with a speeder bike; to this day, he claims that’s it an accident but Wolffe knows better. Even the clone cadets on Kamino don’t cry often because it’s better to act tough than look weak. They were probably programmed to not cry. Besides, he looks at his little brothers and sees the best soldiers in the galaxy instead of the children they are.

Feral continues to muffle his tears, and Wolffe asks himself one question. What would Plo do? Many answers come to mind, and Wolffe picks one that won’t damage his reputation.

He crouches down to the Feral’s eye level. “I’m sorry, kid. Didn’t mean to make you sad. I’m Wolffe.” Feral wipes his eyes with a grubby, trembling hand.

“Wuff?”  The commander snorts.

“Sure.” He holds a hand out, and the boy takes it. It’s wet from his tears, and Wolffe has to stop himself from cringing. He can deal with blood but a child’s tears and snot is something he doesn’t want to touch.

“Where brother Sava?” Feral peers up at him, gripping his hand. “Wanna Sava.” Kriff. Is Feral seriously asking for Sith Lord Savage Opress right now?

“Savage isn’t here.” That’s the wrong thing to say apparently because Feral bursts into tears. Only this time, they’re loud. “Shush, shush,” Wolffe says, trying to calm the boy down. The Wolfpack is search and rescue, so Wolffe knows some things about damage control. He pats the kid’s back, and Feral stops his tears after a while. “Umm, Savage is on a mission right now. He’s not here.”

“Brother Sava coming back?”

“Yeah, later.” Wolffe resists the urge to facepalm. He shouldn’t have told little Feral that Savage would arrive. Now the kid’s hopes are up, and he’ll cry when Savage doesn’t show up. Great.

“Wuff?” He grunts at the kid. “Food?”

“Oh you’re hungry, you little demon?” Feral’s face scrunches up at the insult but doesn’t say anything. Maybe he shouldn’t call the Zabrak a demon. The self esteem of a child can be damaged at a young age which could lead to insecurities later in life. He thinks. Wolffe isn’t sure how nat-born kids work.

“Sava give food. Wuff give food too?” The beady eyes of a hungry Feral stare at him. Wolffe can take the kid in a fight with one finger, but Feral looks absolutely predatory right now. Were all Zabrak kids… this scary?

“Fine,” he says, rolling his eyes. Wolffe picks the kid up and sets him on his bed. “Don’t move or no food.” Feral nods solemnly and places his hands in his lap. What an obedient kid. Wolffe hopes he stays that way.

The commander leaves the room, keeping the door ajar. He finds a ration bar and some water in a drawer. At least Warthog didn’t eat them all . There’s enough to last a few rotations, but it would be better to stop and pick up more supplies soon. They had to rendezvous with Cody soon and provide some supplies to the planet they finished securing. With Kenobi, Skywalker, and Ahsoka, the planet is much more damaged than the locals would like. So of course the Council is sending Wolffe to clean up the di-kut jetiise mess. Just as he’s about to exit the storage, Boost walks by.

“All-clear?” Wolffe debates telling Boost about baby Feral. Boost doesn’t show any contempt like Wolffe did for the Zabrak nor does he express the same happiness as Plo.

“Yeah. Go and sleep. You need it.” Boost salutes with a grin and stalks off to his bunk. Wolffe pockets the food and heads back to Feral’s room. He finds the boy in the same spot he left him in.

“Here you go,” Wolffe says and tosses the ration bar at Feral. His little fingers struggle to open the bar. After a few moments of Feral failing at ripping the packaging, Wolffe takes it from the boy and opens it himself.

“Thank you,” Feral whispers before chomping down. At least the kid has manners. Wolffe watches Feral’s face scrunch up at the taste of the rations.

“Not good, huh.” The Zabrak shakes his head.

“Dee-li-shous.” Wolffe scoffs. There’s no way the kid actually liked that stuff. He hands the water over once the kid finishes devouring the ration bar. They sit in silence, staring at each other. Wolffe doesn’t know what to do next. He’s fed the kid, but what now? Play time? He could always make the kid run a quick training circuit like all the clone cadets, but Wolffe has a hunch that nat-borns don’t jump out of bed and do a hundred pushups for fun.

“No horns.”

“What?” Feral points at Wolffe’s forehead.

“No horns. Weird eye.” He’d think it was an insult, but Feral seems genuinely curious. Maybe it’s the first time Feral—toddler or not—has seen someone who isn’t Dathomirian. He knew the planet is a bit more primitive and closed off, but Wolffe has the feeling that the people there don’t really get out much.

“I’m a clone. We don’t have horns. And I lost my eye in a fight against Asajj Ventress,” he shrugs. The event was so long ago that he doesn’t feel pure terror at the mention of her name. Besides, ladies love the eye. Feral’s mouth opened a tiny bit in awe.

“You wa-ree-or?” The kid looks amazed.

“Yeah. I’m a warrior.” Feral acts like a shiny. Every time the 104th get new troopers, they look at Wolffe with awe and fear. Even before the loss of his eye, he had a reputation for being scary. The shinies would straighten up and become quiet whenever Wolffe was around. Especially since the exploits of his Kel Dor General were nothing short of legend. Him and Plo make quite the intimidating pair.

“Like brother Sava,” Feral grins. As if Wolffe is anything like the Sith Lord. He wonders if Feral even knew Maul existed.

“Sure.” Wolffe expects the conversation to end there, but Feral reaches out to him with a grubby hand.

“Sava tuck me in bed. Wuff tuck me too?” Wolffe can’t imagine the angry Sith tucking his little brother to sleep and singing lullabies. Kriff, Wolffe can’t see himself doing that to anyone. But Feral looks so hopeful, and Wolffe wants to avoid another cry session. Damage control and all that.

“Whatever. Lay down.” Once Feral adjusts himself on the bed, Wolffe pulls the blanket up to the kid’s chin.

“Snuggle?” Feral asks hopefully. Oh no. By the grace of Jango’s shebs , Wolffe prays he did not just hear the word ‘snuggle’ escape the little demon’s mouth. He can see his entire tower of reputation crumble from the weight of that word. Wolffe can endure long campaigns and stupid clankers. But snuggles?!

“Um, no. Sorry.” Feral’s face contorts, and Wolffe has enough experience to know that he’s about to cry. “I mean, roll over.” Feral immediately smiles, and Wolffe rolls his eyes. He looks so happy that Wolffe wants to frown just to balance the emotions in the room. The kid obliges, and Wolffe scoots in. The bed is made for one person—not one and a half. So Feral buries his head into Wolffe’s chest.

It’s uncomfortable. The kid’s stubby horns dig into his ribs, and Feral is much warmer than Wolffe would like. He briefly remembers something about Zabraks having two hearts. He glances down at the kid. Where does he have the space in that little body to contain two kriffing hearts?

Feral curls deeper into Wolffe’s chest, little huffs escaping his mouth as he finds a comfortable position.

“Nite, Wuff.” The commander strokes the back of Feral’s head. It’s awkward, but the kid doesn’t mind. He doesn’t know if anything is real at this point. A few hours ago he wanted to strand the Nightbrother on the closest backwater planet, not cuddle next to a toddler version of him. How did Savage even deal with his younger brother? Wolffe would love to see the Sith Lord snuggle Feral then promptly shoot Savage between the eyes for killing clones. Well that’s dark. Probably shouldn't think of murdering the kid’s brother while I’m snuggling him .

“Good night, Feral.” Wolffe forces his eyes to close, and he wraps an arm around the kid. Feral murmurs something and drapes a skinny arm over Wolffe’s body. He stiffens. The last time someone hugged him like this was… well Wolffe doesn’t even know. Clones gave each other side hugs and pats on the back. On Kamino, cadets would sneak into each other’s pods, but that ended for Wolffe when he went to the command track. For now, Wolffe lets himself relax and allows sleep to take him.

It’s much, much later when Wolffe wakes up to find the entirety of the Wolfpack and General Koon staring at him. With a now-adult Feral buried in his arms, snoring lightly. He’s tempted to say that it isn’t what it looks like, but he’s too damn tired. Wolffe knows Plo is grinning under his mask (at least the equivalent of a Kel Dor grin; Plo projects all the smug feelings through the Force anyway). The rest of his men look at their commander, horrified. Boost is especially scandalized. Wolffe would be too if he weren’t so sleepy. Whatever. Everyone got to rest. It’s his turn now. So Wolffe closes his eyes and drifts back into sleep.

[slash-em-up]

Delicate Harbingers: The Collector x Reader

This is dedicated to @dashinslashin and their ridiculously beautiful Collector art.

Apologies in advance this has not been edited like at all - I’ll go back and sort it out in the AM.

——————————————————————

You were definitely going to be late.

Your feet pumped up and down frantically on the pedals of your bike as you sped along the bike lane leading to the large stone building of the local Natural History museum – late, late, late… And the man probably already waiting for you would definitely not be impressed.

It had been your idea to meet at the museum for your date.

Asa, who you’d seen exactly three times prior, had raised an eyebrow at your suggestion; but let it slide – probably resigning himself to a day of looking at taxidermied elephants and geodes.

Enjoyable enough, but as an entomology fellow with the local university he probably got plenty of that every day.

You’d gotten a ‘hot tip’ from a friend who worked museum reception on the weekends that there was a pretty rare occurrence happening for a few short days – you hoped your date might just find it worthwhile.

You huffed a bit as you chained your bike to the large stand near the entryway, trying not to look like you’d nearly killed yourself to make it here.

Five minutes late. Crap.

Pulling at the pleats of your skirt, you quickly straightened your ensemble – this was a date after all, and you thought your boatneck top and linen skirt were just cute enough without being too formal for the activity.

You spotted Asa before he spotted you, and once again you were struck by how imposing a figure he cut.

Wearing kaki slacks and a denim jacket over a plain black turtleneck, he dressed like someone’s dad or nerdy brother (you hand’t quite worked up the nerve to tease him about that).

However his posture, and the way his uniquely pearlescent eyes scanned the crowd, spoke of a quiet, observant, nearly predatory nature.

You knew when you stood next to him that you’d immediately feel dwarfed by the breadth of him.

Not just tall, but well muscled and solid.

You always had trouble imagining him bent over a microscope at the lab. If he’d told you that his only source of income was the side-business he ran as a local exterminator, you wouldn’t have batted an eye.

He seemed far more suited to physical pursuits than academia; but the multiple diplomas and award certifications on his office wall at the school told a different story.

It was impossible to miss the moment he spotted you.

His gaze focused in on you like a laser, following your path up the stairs to his side.

“Sorry I’m late! They detoured the bike route around the park - apparently someone thought today was a wonderful day to hold a marathon.”

Asa glanced quickly down at his watch, making you cringe a bit; but offered you a faint smile when his eyes rose to yours.

“Not a problem. I’m glad you made it.”

He hesitated and looked a bit uncertain, bending the slightest bit forward, hands twitching at his sides.

You grinned and leaned in, completing his aborted action and pressing a quick kiss to his slightly stubbled cheek.

He held completely still as you withdrew, hardly breathing until you were fully separated.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and offered you another brief, close-lipped smile before motioning you towards the entrance with a sweeping motion.

“Actually, I had something a little different in mind.” you teased “Do you mind taking a little hike?”

Asa hesitated.

“I’m not a fan of surprises.”

“Trust me, Doctor. I think you’ll like this one.”

He huffed out what might have been a chuckle.

“Cheeky thing.”

Your grin widened.

“And yet, you still agreed to go out with me. What a masochist.”

A head tilt was the only answer you were given as he slowly began walking in the direction you’d indicated - turning back to you with an anticipatory look once he was a few yards away.

“Well? Are we going to continue my masochistic streak?”

You giggled. He had possibly the strangest sense of humor you’d ever encountered; but you couldn’t say it wasn’t growing on you.

You walked in companionable silence across the museum gardens until you came to a large covered pavilion.

A sign at the entrance proudly proclaimed ‘Butterfly House’ in bright yellow text.

Asa glanced down at you with a small spark of interest in his obsidian eyes and you quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him into the tent.

Immediately you were both hit by a light vapor coming from the misters on the ceiling – the air inside much more humid than the mild summer day you’d left at the door.

The floor of the pavilion was covered with many brightly colored flowers and bushes.

Some were easily identifiable- such as the blue bells and sunflowers – and a couple looked to be of more exotic origins.

And floating through the air seemed to be thousands of colorful, delicate butterflies.

They rose and fell like petals on the drafts supplied by the interior circulation system.

Vivid orange monarchs, iridescent blue morphos, and small green hairstreaks flitted across your path, causing you both to pause and look around in amazement.

You waved to your friend, who stood on the opposite side of the structure.

She jumped and waved in response, pointing frantically to a copse of small trees directly to your left.

You tugged at Asa, who was entranced by a glasswing setting mildly on a leaf.

“Come on!! They’re through here! I don’t know how much longer they’ve got.”

As you cleared the trees you knew you’d made the right choice for the date today.

Asa let out a shaky breath at the sight of the large winged insects soaring in between the Weinmannia trees.

“Argema mittrei-“

“- more commonly known as the comet moth.”

Walking further into the grove, Asa seemed to be trying to look everywhere- watching every bold yellow body making sloping swoops through the air – alighting on nearby branches.

“They only live for a few days once they’re hatched, so I thought it might be worthwhile to try and take you to see them. Sorry I didn’t tell you, I didn’t know you don’t like surprises.”

He turned and looked back at you. Slowly pacing back into your space.

“… I don’t mind this one so much.”

Before you knew what was happening there were a pair of plush lips pressed to yours.

You let out a squeak of surprise and Asa immediately began to withdraw – prompting you to wrap an arm around his neck and pull his mouth back to yours.

You felt his strong arm thread around your waist, pulling you even further into the embrace.

The tip of your tongue traced the seam of his lips, and this seemed to startle him enough to make him give a sharp inhale through his nose; eyes opening to meet yours as you both slowly pulled away.

You were breathing heavily again, as was he - both trying to silently gauge what the other was thinking.

The tension was broken by a pair of monarchs flitting in to the grove and alighting in Asa’s sandy brown hair.

You giggled at his expression as he tried to gently nudge the insects onto his finger.

He succeeded after several moments, and held the pair in gently cupped hands.

Smiling softy at the delicate creatures, you spoke again:

“You know, there’s a lot of superstition surrounding butterflies. If one lands on you it’s supposed to be good luck…”

Asa didn’t look up from the winged creatures, but gave a hum of acknowledgement, prompting you to continue.

“… which is kind of counter intuitive, since even more cultures believe that butterflies are the souls of the dead who haven’t passed through purgatory.”

If you’d been watching the man next to you, you would have seen him visibly jolt at your words.

“… but I like to think they’re good luck – haha, souls or not.”

You turned and watched as Asa guided the monarchs back into the air, watching them glide off with an unreadable expression.

He glanced back at you and held out his hand.

Grasping it tightly, you allowed yourself to be lead out into the sunshine of the clear May day; leaving the butterflies and their portends behind.

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer IV: Odin’s Mask

As soon as we exited the steam room, Chu Zihang stopped and leaned against the wall.

“What do you need?” I asked. I bent over, settling Ru’Yi back on my back and tying her with the wrap.

“I need water.” He gasped.

I looked around the hall and spotted the wall mounted hose. I pulled the hose out from the reel. “Hopefully, you didn’t blow the whole water main.”

I pulled the wheel to open the tap and immediately a blast water struck him directly and he had to shield himself with his arm. 

“Sorry!” I turned the wheel the other way to soften the flow.

“No, this is fine…” He picked up the hose and held it over his head until he was completely drenched.

Blood Rage and repeated use of Royal Fire raised his body temperature and increased his thirst. His took sips out of hose even though it probably tasted disgusting. 

He let the water run over his body for a few seconds and then let out a breathy chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” I asked him. I wet my hands and reached behind me to clean Ru’Yi’s dirty face.

“She… she used Blood Rage. Susie did. I didn’t think she would be able to understand that text.” 

I reached out and touched his neck with the back of my hand. “You’re really warm.”

“I’ll be okay.” He straightened up, still looking exhausted.

We heard a soft sound, like skittering feet disappearing into the distant hall. The monsters were still fleeing from us. 

Zihang glared after the sound. “We have to take those things out. Cassell’s no longer what it was. And even if it was the same… it’s shameful that they keep these things.”

He looked at me. “I want to take these things down to the lowest deck of the ship and release Royal Fire there. Burn them all.”

He was awfully weak. It was the first time he’d used his Soul Skill in months.

He grasped my chin in his hand and kissed me. His warm lips caressed mine and tears sprang to my eyes. 

“I won’t die. Don’t worry.” He murmurred.

“I don’t want to let you out of my sight again.” I sobbed.

He gently stroked the tears from my face, looking into my eyes, they were still dark but a yellow light shone in the center of his pupils. “No, Meixiu. I’m here. There’s no need to drag Ru’Yi into danger again. Go back to Lu Mingfei and Nono and protect them while I work. We have to be ready to go. If Susie’s here, Lancelot can’t be far behind.”

With one more parting kiss, he turned and ran away from me, swift like a leopard.

I hurried through the hallways, completely safe from the harassment of those monsters. My heart was beaming with joy. Chu Zihang - my Chu Zihang - was back. If we were strong before we were even stronger now. We would find who was behind this hideous Soul Skill and run him through, and then burn him to ashes!

I reached the heavy steel door, unlocked it, threw it open and was immediately knocked over by Lu Mingfei who had been pushing hard against the door to try to open it. I had to twist myself to avoid falling on Ru’Yi!

“Oh you idiot! What are you doing?!” I yelled at him.

“Sorry! Sorry! Where’s Zihang?” He helped me up off the floor. 

I gathered a sobbing Ru’Yi in my arms and rocked her back and forth looking at Lu Mingfei reproachfully. “He’s gone to kill those monsters, that’s where. But we need to be ready to leave. Susie’s here and she’s bound to bring the rest of her crew!”

“We have to find Zihang right away.” Nono walked out, looking better, but her eyes were flashing with concern.

“No, he’ll be fine!” I grinned. “Guys, his memory returned! He can use Blood Rage, and Royal Fire! He’s really back!”

“That’s… that’s amazing!” Lu Mingfei grinned. “But we still have to find him!”

“He took Odin’s mask!” Nono said, her expression grave.

My smile faded. “What does that mean…?”

“Odin’s mask has tremendous power. When he puts it on, he turns into Odin.”

My heart dropped in my chest. “Can he change back?”

“Who knows!”

My mouth closed. I felt suddenly very cold. In my life, I had met men so willing to throw their lives away. Chisei Gen, Lu Mingfei, Crow… and, until that Christmas Eve, Chu Zihang was more than willing to throw his life away for the cause of chasing dragons. But that night, I heard a different Chu Zihang, one who wanted to give up dragonslaying and live with me.

“He won’t use it. Unless he absolutely has to. He said he wouldn’t die.” I licked my lips. “He wouldn’t lie to me.”

Nono looked at me silent and serious. “I hope you’re right.”

A blast shuddered through the entire ship. I thought maybe we were being bombed or had been struck by a torpedo! The floor tilted and I shouted, backing into the wall. Panicked, I summoned a light spear and embedded it in the wall to hang on for dear life. I watched as Mingfei and Nono tumbled about, running into each other coming apart to slam into the walls.

Finally, the ship settled on its side, vibrating like it was having a seizure. A tremendous popping sound was followed by the sound of rushing water. A huge wave of frigid ocean pushed us all back into the tiny room and rapidly began to fill it. 

There was no time to think. I started cutting through the hull with my light spear. “Nono! Hold Ru’Yi above the water!”

Mingfei held on to Nono and Nono held on to my baby. My eyes burned with dragon blood and I thrust my spear up into the thick wall above me. A piece of hot metal fell into my eye and I cringed back, screaming.

“Carli!”

My head went under. The pain was unbearable. I popped back above the water and heard a voice. “Meixiu! Mingfei!”

Suddenly, the bulkhead tore open, peeling back from where I had tried to cut it. Zihang had to force it back with all his strength, shouting with the effort, his eyes a blaze of red and gold. Even with his Dragon blood high from Blood Rage, it wasn’t easy tearing through this steel plate. A hand grabbed me by the back of my collar and hauled me out of the water.

I sobbed with pain. 

“Are you alright?” His face was close to mine.

I looked at him, one hand over my eye and nodded.

Ru’Yi was next, Zihang reached down to pull her out and gave her to me. The hull was violently shaking as the weight of the crashing waves began to tear it apart.

“After I get you guys up, I have to go and find Susie.” Zihang was saying. 

“You’re going back in there?” I squeaked.

Zihang grabbed me by my arm. “I’m okay. I promised.” He said, looking me in my eyes. 

“Okay…” I said, a little stunned.

“Nono’s still hurt!” Lu Mingfei’s voice came from back inside. I could only sit stunned, wet and cold. Ru’Yi was shaking and may be suffering from hypothermia. I quickly looked around but it was impossible to stay dry and warm in the constant seaspray. I could only pray that the strength of her dragonblood would keep her alive.

“I can’t use Don’t Die on her again. It draws on the body’s own resources. If I do, she might die even if the wound heals.” Mingfei’s voice echoed from the hull.

“Okay. Let’s get her out first.” Zihang was saying, reaching down.

At this moment, a steel cable about an inch thick caught him by the neck and pulled him hard enough to break it had he not been in a state of Blood Rage.

I screamed when his face went pale from strangulation.

The massive clawed monster from before lifted Zihang to shield its face and reached up with its claws to cut his head off. It was smiling at me, reveling in our seeming helplessness. It must have seen us embrace. It must have seen the love in our eyes, because it laughed, not at Zihang, but at me.

This was revenge on me!

Behind him, it was another beast holding the steel cable and several more immortals were rising out of the sea after him!

“Nono! Quick…” Zihang gagged. “Get out of…”

An explosion of gunfire ripped up from the gap in the hull and the clawed creature was forced to drop Zihang and shield itself from the bullets. It whirled to the hole and slammed its claws down to where Mingfei and Nono were.

As soon as Zihang fell my light spear, dazzling like a comet, shot from the void and pierced the beast’s head. I held out my hand and closed my fist and the spear split into seven shining spires tearing the creature's head into chunks. Burning with rage and grief, I sent those spires after the one holding the cable and they pierced his head all at once. It fell with a limp thud.

But its hand still gipped the cable. Zihang had been pulled several feet away and now dangled off the curve of the hull. He’d stabbed Tongzi into the hull to keep himself from sliding off but the weight of the monster on the other end of the cable still constricted his throat. He pulled at it with his free hand to breath. “Get Nono out!”

I scrambled over to the gap. But both Nono and Mingfei were gone. There was only the the black water in the cabin.

I stood there with my baby in my arms, silent and still. Tears falling from my eyes. 

“Mingfei….” I whimpered.

“Nono…”

The sound of a helicopter. I looked up into the bright spotlight shining down on me. I looked over at Chu Zihang who was still struggling to breathe.

My daughter…

“Daddy?” I whispered. His voice was resounding in my mind. Louder than the helicopter, thundering like the sea.

I see you… standing on the threshold.

“It’s a terrible place…” I whimpered.

Your time is near. Do not be frightened.

“Okay…” I whispered.

I crouched down and scooted closer to Chu Zihang as the spotlight drifted from me, down to him.

“No!” He called out. His voice hoarse. “No… Meixiu! Run! Find Susie!”

I could tell he was losing strength. I wanted to tell him that they were going to kill him. But the words wouldn’t leave my throat. His struggles were becoming weaker and less frequent. It was all he could do to hang on to Tongzi.

Suddenly, someone came running. The immortals, still holding back out of fear of me, ignored her. It was Susie! She was shouting! “Stop! Don’t shoot! Don’t!” She waved her hands at the helicopter. 

She was still bloody. Her clothing was torn. But she smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Then she turned and slid down the hull to reach Zihang. 

That’s when I saw the sudden beam of a laser sight move toward him. Susie must have seen it as well, because she converted her slide into a sudden leap.

Susie’s body burst apart. Momentum still carried her and she landed directly over Zihang.

His anguish swept over me like a white hot tidal current. I fell to my knees and lifted my face, screaming it into the sky. Chu Zihang was holding her, ignoring the pain and breathlessness of the cable, rocking her back and forth like she was a baby in his arms.

For a moment, I could hear his mind, his thoughts flooding out my own. “Susie, god no… please no… no… Susie… why?”

He was going to get her. I was going to go back and get her. Why did she come? Why did this happen?

There was no further gunfire. The crew in the helicopter must have realized they had made a terrible mistake.

A huge rocket suddenly shot from the helicopter. Not at Chu Zihang and I, but at the immortals. They turned and looked at it dumbly for a second before they were hit directly, swallowed by a pillar of fire that roared upwards and felt hot even at this distance.

They were ridding the ship of their weapons. I took that to mean we would be next. The boat was still sinking and the waves had reached Zihang and Susie now. He was still holding onto her but the explosion caused a huge wave to sweep over them both. When I saw him again, Susie’s body had been pulled from his arms.

“Susie!” He called out to her.

Her body floated away in the dawn light, her white face distinct in the among the floating debris, like a lost doll.

I hadn’t heard anyone cry like this, not since the mourning of Chisei Gen at the death of Sakura Yabuki, perhaps because this was something similar. Zihang didn’t have very many close people. I remembered his laughter just minutes ago when she had learned blood rage and his smile when he told her how strong she was.

I was one of the few people he still had feelings for. And one of the few others had been Susie.

I felt his emotions suddenly shift. I knew what he was about to do. His last person left in this place was still at risk. He wasn’t about to lose me.

I lowered my head, giving my silent consent. 

I heard a collective roar. The immortals were not killed by the helicopter missile and together they raised their voices, like wolves before a hunt. A wave of scorching heat radiated from Chu Zihang. A reciting of various dragon texts resonated in the air and the immortals began to echo them.

Chu Zihang forced himself to stand against the hull of the ship, surrounded by a black and red aura. He tore the steel cable from this throat with hands that had converted into heavy claws.

The wind, that had been steadily blowing out from land, suddenly shifted direction three times in three seconds. My hair tossed about my face as I watched him, a fondness growing in my own heart.

I closed my own eyes and focused on raising my dragonblood, if not to fight, then to be in solidarity with him. He was not alone in the world. He was not a monster.

They were the monsters.

The clouds that had floated so tranquil above us gathered together, thickened and darkened. I looked up, feeling the rain on my face as they descended over us in a dense column of elemental turbulence.

I looked down at Ru’Yi who was now very still and quiet. But she was okay. She was listening. “Do you hear Daddy?” I asked her gently, stroking her hair with crystalline claws.

The ship was suddenly rocked with violent explosions and fire and smoke. They’d opened fire on him. 

However, every time it appeared a piece of shrapnel would strike us, a flash of lightning came from the cloud and incinerated it. I took a deep breath and felt my back ache as those large white feathered wings pushed through my skin from between my shoulders. 

I heard the sound of hooves on metal and felt their heavy vibration through my feet.

An eight-legged horse covered in dark armor plating emerged from the cyclone. It snorted lighting and mist from its nostrils and shook its head vigorously.

Its rider, wearing a dark blue cloak, reached down his hand to me. I took it and he lifted me to sit behind him., side saddle, like a princess. My feathered white wings trailed over the horse’s rump like a wedding train.

Together, we looked up at the darkened sky. Where our eye looked, a group of golden fireworks exploded. Those golden spears of light streamed down like meteors. The surrounding area of the sea was covered by this dense meteor shower. Only when the spears of light pierced the immortals could I see that every one was a twisted tree branch.

The spears pierced every living thing, including the helicopter in front of us, sending it deep into the waves where it exploded with a dull boom.

I looked at Zihang. He was still looking at the sky and where his one eye glowed, a lava-like trail flowed down his mask.

My consciousness faded and I felt like I was in a dream for a moment. Zihang was standing, head bowed, staring into a deep abyss. He lifted his head and looked at me and I took his hand. “Let’s go.”

When I woke up, I was standing next to him, still holding his hand and time had passed. The sun was up and we were surrounded by groups of boats and helicopters.

It was the Crane group from Crow. All they found as a derelict and disabled vessel, the floating helicopter wreckage, as well as the immortals’ shrunken, mummified corpses.

Chu Zihang, Ru’Yi, and I were the only known survivors.

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time P 11

(Disclaimer: The moss part I do NOT know is true, if you want to look it up go right ahead. Im just using it as logic on their fake planet and for the story.)

She felt sick.

The stretching fast feeling of teleporting was something she swore she never wanted to after that last incident of her zooming off into space with a tight sickly feeling, that left her crashlanding into a child's bedroom for a couple hours. But here she was again, only this time she was traveling through space in a different light. The blue-white light faded away into sparkles and allowed her to see she was laying down face up towards the endless blackness of space, but as the sparkles of light faded off she could only gasp and stare off into the quiet silence of the black.

Was this it?....Did she die and what happened before was all just a dream? Was she being taken to where ever beautiful place spirits went?

No. Couldn't have been. She was slowly falling backwards, strands of red hair slowly waving past her face as if she was underwater and slowly sinking down ever so slowly. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of thousands of stars twinkling and blinking at her good bye as she continued her decent, reflecting in her eyes as if they were the sea on a starry night. Two shooting stars stars shoot above her caught her attention when she blinked and her head followed them as they distended over her and forward. Following them Poppy's body turned along with her movements and she gasped. The-....The world! Her world! It was right there! Big, bold and wonderful! The round planet seemed to have an aura of it's own and glowed perfectly. The perfect gentle blue of the sea, the bright tan yellows of the desert. Many islands. The highest mountains surrounded by pure white clouds even looked as if she could reach out and grasp it almost. Did she sure she wasn't dead? Something whooshed over head and she looked up again to sparkling light. The two comets or shooting stars where still in front of her but much farther up ahead as they descended to the subcon planet. They were headed right for a giant strange dark, purple spot along one of the coasts as she could see, and even if they weren't on the same path, she could see from where she was slowly falling that she was headed right to that strange purple area too. It looked and gave her a different feeling compared to the rest of the planet. It looked....almost sad. Why? Well she was about to find out as she continued to free fall slowly but steadily down towards the world. She breifly wondered where her kingdom was and what happened to it for all this time but those thoughts were short lived when suddenly a giant gust of air blasted her in the face and on instinct shut her eyes and held her arms in front of her head to sheild her. She had just broken through the atmosphere of the plant and now free falling faster through the sky. Faced down towards the ground but after a moment she dared to reopen them. What came outta her was a sudden gasp of shock as panic and fear once again pulsed through her veins. She wasn't just in the wide open endless space anymore, she was falling through the sky pretty fast with white fluffy clouds whizzing by her now very fast form and she could barely open her eyes with all the wind blasting her right now. Her braid and hair whipping around wildly ultimately coming undone and becoming a red streak behind her. Making her look like a falling streak of a comment ready to strike the planet. She was taking deep breath and tumbling head over heels, her world turning that that time she tumbled down the hill as a kid. Only it went Sky n clouds then Purple land. Sky n clouds. Purple land. SKY N CLOUDS!! PURPLE LAND!! PURPLE!! BLUE!! WHITE!! PURPLE!! BLUE!! WHITE!! By this rate she would meet her doom when she hit the ground!! She slammed her eyes shut as she saw what looked like the ground and her body crashlanded into something hard making pain explode into the side of her body she slammed into what felt like wood!! WOOD definately!! Poppy knew that plant feeling anywhere. She yelled and cried out as her body slammed and tumbled into branches and other vegitation stranded on the vines. Just when she was SURE she would be made into a human pancake- SHE STOPPED!! The feeling of rope wrapped around her made her uneasy as she just kept her eyes slammed shut, shook, and breathed heavily.

Over head crows cawed and flew away sensing something bigger than her and the giant spider who might've attacked her for food immediately decided to climb up higher in the trees away from her and try to hide within the branches. With her eyes shut she didn't see the giant shadow rush past her on his way home, nor did he notice her hung above stranded by vines. She continued to breath heavily until with the confidence she was blessed with by her father, she opened one eye..... and seeing herself hung maybe three feet above the very edge of a dirty pond, she opened the other. Still breathing heavily, she blinked at the ground before wipping her head up and around. Purple. Around herself was lots of purple, dead trees, and when she looked behind her she saw what would would be called a bog. The only problem was there was enough fog surrounding her to make it where she couldn't see more than maybe ten feet away from her current position. Her body like suspected, was held up by vines most likely from the trees she crash landed into. Leaves and sticks stuck into her now long waist length hair. Her mind worried about not being able to see where exactly this bog began or ended, but after a moment she sighed. Heart beat going down. Glad she was still alive at least- SNAP!! She yelped and a moment later a loud splash echoed out as the vines finally gave under her weight and left the poor lady crashing into the swamp water. Thank peck it was only a few inches but that didn't stop her from becoming all dirty and wet from it. She quickly pushed her front from the swamp water and spat out the dirt tasting water from her mouth coughing and reaching one arm up to rub at her eyes as she use the other to crawl out from it. She didn't see the magic arm from the swamp reach out to drag her further in but stopped because 1. She was already too far close to the edge to really drag in, and 2. She was out within a few seconds anyways. The magic arm retreated from where it came from just as fast and she still didn't see it as she continued o cough and spit out the taste. Groaning and sitting upon her knees as she got her bearings and let her body have a moment from the light feeling of falling from space, pain from crash landing in trees, and now cold and wet from the water now. Once she was done getting the taste out of her mouth she stuck her tongue out in a normal 'yuck' expression and blinked around at the strange fog induced place of purple. She....She must've crash landed in some kind of bog or swamp. Either way, she was glad she wasn't dead at least.

"......Frozen to death for a thousand years loosing everything by the hands of a crazy queen turned into a monster, who then got rescued by aliens on a spaceship with a ghost father, then I fell from space into a bog and now I'm all dirty and wet while almost dying again......Can't get worse than this surely," she muttered as she shakily pushed herself on aching legs and shimmied out of whatever vines were left clinging to her. Now was not the time for sitting down and feeling sorry for her situation no matter how unbeleivable it was or how much her body ached. What she needed right now was a way out. Now what did she learn on her Dad's farm? "Let's see." She held her chin. "The planet's sun rises to the very middle of the sky when it's exactly 12 p.m. every day except in winter when days are slower and it changes to 2 p.m., so depending on where I landed on the planet it could be any time. ...And it's too foggy to determine what time zone or direction it's heading." She could pull her hair at that. Ok. THINK Poppy! The sky was a bright blue when you fell. So at most it's somewhere between a late-ish morning and early afternoon. So at most she was somewhere realtivly in the middle of a continant right?  So either way if her planet's sun was somewhere in at least the north of the sky...That would mean...She still had no idea. "UGH!! How do sailors navigate like this!?"

OK!! Obviously the fog was messing up her surroundings and even looking up proved no results as she groaned and looked around some more until she spotted it....MOSS!! OF COURSE!! WHY HADN'T SHE THOUGHT OF THAT SOONER?! MOSS USUALLY GROWS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF TREES!! Poppy instantly began looking around at these poor, poor trees. Breifly wondering why they were all so devoid of life and low and behold there it was!! A small patch of green dingy moss stuck out on one tree near the swamp water and quicker than she thought, she raced towards it and grabbed the old crusty bark where it was. Now moss didn't ALWAYS grow on the side of trees but it was the only thing she could go on at the moment and guess. She stood up slowly after inspecting it and looked in the direction it was pointing, towards the water.

"So if north is presumably in THAT direction, then south would be in the complete opposite. Which means east would be behind me and west in front." She gave a cringe look at the water again. "And considering the water seems to end there....the most likely way to avoid this water would be to go in the opposite direction." She pointed a hand in what hopefully was south. "So that way would seem the best way to get out of this creepy place."

Or at least she hoped so. Hang on a second? Wasn't she supposed to be with some kind of little alien? Where the world did they go?! She literally free fell was space to her doom for crying out loud! Was this how aliens traveled to planets?! By freefalling from their ship? She shook her head, some of the dirt and sticks falling to the ground from her tangled up mess. She had better get stepping if she wanted to find some way out of here..and get a bath. But she soon discovered it wasn't going to be that easy trudging through the weird swamp or dead forest fast. The fog was so thick it would've taken at least four of the strongest lumberjacks in the land to make so much as a dent in it. The only thing she could see were tall long slender shadows which turned out to just be more dead trees. It was strange, these trees had no life in them that's for sure...but also showed no signs of rotting away like she was sure they should've had by the looks of them. strange. The only plants that she had seen so far that were alive was the strange vines she had thankfully been caught in before hitting the ground, it was strange. Purple dirt, heavy fog, dead trees all around...Made for something out of a campfire story. She couldn't even see the any sunlight beyond this stuff. As the woman made her way through the thick fog and strange forest of dead wood, she was VERY unaware of the dangers that lurked in them. After about maybe twenty or thirty minutes of this walking she brought her arms up to start rubbing at her sides. It wasn't very warm where ever she was, and her damp clothes clinging to her weren't helping either. Maybe it would've been better if she had just stayed on that ship with that blanket....

Maybe she would've been better off not even coming to this kingdom in the first place. If she knew a crazy queen was going to-

"Miss Poppy!?"

She jumped and snapped her head around at hearing her own name being called. It sounded very soft and distant, but still loud enough to be heard faintly. Could it be someone was looking for her or was she hearing things?

"HELLO?! IS SOMEONE THERE!! I CAN SURE USE A PECKIN' HAND HERE!!," she yelled out but got no response in return for her shout.

Whatever it was, it left as soon as it came but that didn't stop her from still looking around and not paying attention to where she was going so she shouldn't have been surprised when the ground suddenly swallowed her up making her fall backwards and yell out. What swallowed her up was a large flash of white and she once again felt herself get stuck up feet in the air again. Oh pecking GREAT! What had she gotten herself into NOW?! The white sheet felt like some kind of rucksack her father used to use to sack the potatoes before charting them off to the market place. But it was a dingy white from being hidden under a layer of dirt for who knows how long, and instead of potatoes it was HER that was stuck in them. Well not on her watch! Poppy, fed up with everything at this point just gritted her teeth and began pushing against the confines of her new prison. It was tight, compact, and obviously meant to hold tightly. Whoever had made it knew EXACTLY what they were doing when making it.

"PECKING STUPID TARP THING!!" She pushed against it and it wasn't easy in the cramped space and the swaying she caused with her pushing against the sides trying to get loose. Too bad she didn't have some kind of sheers or sharp object to cut through the thick tarp thing. "LET ME OUT!! IM DONE WITH THIS PECKING SHI-"

She was shut up when she felt the whole world shake. Knocking the poor trapped woman back onto her behind within the trap, what sounded like a humungous tree cracking and falling over with the shaking made her freeze up more as a sudden feeling of dread came over her and it was backed up by the swaying of the trap. Also caused by the shaking. The panicked cawing of crows as they flew to safety amplified whatever she was feeling, blue eyes looking around wildly until they locked onto movement. SOMETHING. BIG. Was just outside the tarp. A shadown silently moved along side the outside of the tarp and her breath hitched. OK! Don't freak Poppy! It was probably just a wild animal. Like a deer or a giant bird. Oh she hoped it wasn't a bear!

SNAP!!

The woman tumbled out from the bottem of the trap and her yelp was interrupted as she face planted the dirt. Dirt and small twings sticking to her still damp self. Purple. EVERYWHERE. Suddenly dark purple. Her head raised in horror as reality itself disappeared and purple warped her view everywhere. Her red hair coming down to block her face and screw up her world veiw even more but she preferred that over the same giant shadow suddenly falling over her and the booming raspy voice behind it that turned her body back to ice.

"AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! FFFFFOOOOOOOLLLLL!!! YOU BLEW IT PUNY MORTAL!! NO ONE ENTERS MY DOMAIN AND WALKS OUT THE SAME!!" Poppy's frame began to shake as the foreboding feeling of something LARGE looming over her leaned down closer to her body. Goosebumps covered herself and the tall figure could literally hear her teeth chatter and her body shake. The fanged smile of Snatcher smiled despite himself, despite the day and a half. At least he could get a little pleasure out of seeing puny mortals shake before his might like they should be and see the fright in their eyes....Only he couldn't see her eyes, she was facing away from him. That would soon be fixed though. "You came at a very bad time, Lady. Unfortunately for you I'm not in a 'living' mood today. But tell you what, I'll grant you the honor of seeing your demise before it happens. Now. Turn. Around. And maybe I'll allow you to say some last words."

Poppy couldn't!! She just remained frozen within the dark of the shadow before her...but her body as if under some kind of spell, shaking badly, slowly turned to meet her doom. Snatcher smiled his best menacing smiled at the dirty sea of flame red hair, as the woman's arm was shaking. SLOWLY reaching up to move her hair away and he could clearly see the oh so scared blue horrified eyes and red freckles dotted along her face like rose petals blowing in the wind. But when they met....Both had opposite reactions. Poppy let a sudden inhale and loud gasp come from her throat. Feeling the blood drain from her face as the shadow blocked out any light avalible and what met her in the light's place was two round yellow eyes and a frowning mouth. She was an ant compared to him and for another time in her life, felt very very small. The entirety of the ghosts amusement and glee ABSOLUTELY disappeared once the features of the woman was shown to him. Making the ghost look like he's seen a ghost.

.......No.....NO!...NONONONONO!! This wasn't-.....N O!  The ghost's arms shook as he just stared down this woman. Yellow eyes wide and many many memories suddenly slapping him in the face as those yellow eyes saw the seen play before him as a downward spiral for him in panic and fear. A seen in a dungeon, a sobbing prince hanging from shackles as the cold crept in, one last promise escaping his lips to a Princess of Flowers. Sharp as a thorn. Hair red as roses. Blue eyes like hydrangeas. Skin as soft as petals. And always surrounded by a scent better than any lily. A final promise and good bye he made long ago with his final dying breath-

"I-Im s-so sorry, Poppy. I-...love-...you ..w-with all my heart and soul....may my soul...never....forget...that.."

"A-A-A-.......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Poppy frightfully ducked her hand back down at the unholy yell coming from the ghost and even when it stopped suddenly she didn't look up as it echoed throughout the plain of existance she was currently in.........It was like a weight was suddenly lifted from her chest and the heavy feeling of being small went away, as did the feeling of indemping doom and fright...She blinked utterly confused...and dared to look confused back over her shoulder. The....snake shadow...thing was a little ways from her facing away and having his back towards her having a moment it seemed. She guessed whatever was considered his back(she was also guessing it was male by the voice) was facing her and it's tail and two arms was sprawled on the dark purple ground holding it up as it seemed to heave and make raspy breaths. Snatcher's mind went absolutely blank and his noodle arms shook every few seconds as he gathered himself from the sudden flashback he didn't expect. Poppy gazed at him breaths heaving before looking around this strange purple place, looked as it it was some sick purple snowglobe. And began to back awa- Poppy stopped. Literally stopped as her back made contact with some kind of invisible wall she couldn't see as she tapped the palm of her hand against it a few times. Still glancing at the giant purple creature to her rig-

"You can't get out," he rasped out. Poppy jumped whirling back around to her captor as Snatcher still stared down at the purple dirt. Eyes narrowing and a frown coming over his face but he still didn't look at the petrified girl. "...WHO are you and why are you in my forest?"

Poppy's mouth was already open in fear, but at this ...thing speaking to her in her own language..Well. It was that shock that drove away the shock from being scared and make her blink at the giant thing. Only one thing could escape her mouth and she didn't mean to say it either. "Why?"

....The thing's head raised to twist around to her with that fed up expression and she shut up again. "I ask the pecking questions here fool! And I won't repeat myself either so you better fess up before I change my mind. And trust me when I say no one likes that."

She gave a shutter and curled her knees up hugging her arms. "I-I....I don't know-"

"That's NOT an answer. You got here and I want to know HOW and NOW!!" His voice shook the empty space and she ....well she scowled back at him temper at the back of her mind started to flare up a wee bit from all she's been through.

"I said I don't know! I don't know where I am and the only way I got here is by crash landing from space and falling into from rotting wood! You pecking purple jack-o-lanturn worm!!" If he was going to be her doom then so be it! She had nothing to gain or lose.

The thing seemed to almost flinch and a brief moment of surprise flashed across his face before the scowl came back. Thick country accent sounded like her- "How did you get in space?", he asked getting up and floating again staring down at her. He was easily sixteen feet.

Her brow rose. "I was rescued by a little girl-''

"Hattie," Snatcher mutter gazing off in thought. ...Woman in an apron. Those eyes snapped back to her. "What. Is. Your. Name?"

"......Poppy."

He flinched back eyes widening.....before a hum escaped him and he just...stared at her for a good long time. Neither said anything as they stared silently at each other and Poppy felt as though he was suddenly her every feature right down to staring into her very soul. And he might as well with what he mentioned earlier. Her blue eyes widened again when he floated forward, herself straining against the invisible wall as the purple reality slowly disappeared back into the foggy forest of dead trees and fog-

"Oof!"

The wall suddenly disappeared and had her landing on her back and looking up at the thing as it loomed over her again, this time reaching down and picking her up by the back of her dress and once again she was magically back in the air suspended by his arm. She got a good look up close of his face with was human-like in shape and what looked to be hair on his head and a sorta like lion mane of more purple hair around his neck and shoulders. Those narrowed eyes stared at her suspended messy self another glance before he hummed again.

"You and I are in for a very long talk to catch up."

[chill-that-ur-inmyhead]

have you been wearing homemade masks or store-bought ones?
Store bought. I do want to try homemade just never set my mind to it.

What state (or country) do you live in?
Uk womp womp

Do you call yourself stupid a lot?
Nope, not stupid per se more of a mug

When was the last time you were sick?
I had this insane bug earlier this year, 8 months ago, it was awful I felt an overwhelming sensation of sickness and then just a steady headache it was awful.

Are you listening to music right now?
Nope watching a tv crime show with my mum that I’m not too invested in but I want to keep her company.

What are you severely allergic to, if anything?
Nothing at all

Is your room a mess?
Hmmm there are things on my bed but other than that no

What is the book you are reading (or that last book you read) about?
Jane Fonda’s What Can I Do - climate change and what we can do to help the planet not go to hell in a hand basket.

Is there a Kmart in your town?
Nope

What is your newest favorite website?
Reddit has caught my attention more recently.

Do you have a headache right now?
nope

Do you have embarrassing memories of stupid things you’ve done?
Yep defo some cringe moments stored away.

What was the last video you watched on youtube?
West Side Story 2021 film trailer teaser I am excited!!

Does your stomach hurt right now?
nope

What was the last thing you cooked on the stove?
Scrambled eggs

Are you wearing socks?
Yes.

What month is your birthday, and what month would u change it to if u could?
February. I don’t mind it but I always wanted a summer birthday when I was younger so that my birthday party could be enjoyed in the sun.

Do you think it’s ok to call yourself stupid?
If the glove fits.

What color Christmas tree do you want when you have a house someday?
Green for sure

Have you ever had to use an epi pen?
nope

Do you have nice neighbors?
HAH currently they’re loud and have kids that cry all the time. But my childhood home the neighbours were chill so little column a little column b.

Do you know the names of 3 of your neighbors? (list if you can)
Yes.

What was the last thing you cooked that you burnt or cooked for too long?
Cheese toastie got a bit burnt on the edge at lunch

If you could have a car in any color, which color would you choose?
I’ve been obsessed with mustard yellow cars but my all time dream car money no object would be a black 1963 Mercury comet.

What was the last grocery store you shopped at?
Tesco

What was the last type of milk you drank?
Semi skimmed

What flavor was the last smoothie you drank?
Strawberry et banana

Do you have a Magic Bullet?
No just a normal blender

Do memories from your past come back to haunt you ?
Nope, I’ll have cringe moments but I get over them in a jiffy

Are you afraid of the dark?
I used to be and its okay now but I would say it’s entirely gone.

Have you ever hallucinated?
nope

Do you believe in angels and demons?
We all have them

Have you ever seen an angel?
nope

Have you ever seen a demon?
nope

What color was the last sweatshirt you wore?
Green

Do you plan to vote in the next election?
Yes!!

Who was president when you were born?
Tony Blair was prime minister

[spiteweaver]

previous | first | next

No.

This couldn’t be happening. No matter how real it felt, the thrum of magic in the air, the heat of sunlight on his skin, the hammering of his heart inside his chest, it couldn’t be happening. It was a terrible dream, and he would wake up from it soon, to his beautiful mate, smiling and reassuring him that all was well.

No.

No, no, no, no--

“Banrai!”

“No!”

“Banrai, stop! There’s nothing you can do for him now!”

“Let go of me!”

Banrai shifted in a flash of light, and Solaire, small even in his draconic form, could do nothing to stop him. The Ridgeback charged forward with reckless abandon, spines flared, head lowered.

Abaddon appeared before him, all glistening thistle scales and bristling obsidian fur. They collided. Abaddon held firm, his feet shifting only slightly under Banrai’s ferocious thrashing. “Do you want to die?!” he bellowed. “Do you want Dreamweaver to come home to a dead husband?!”

“Do I want them to come home to a dead son?!” Banrai replied. “That’s my son--our son! That’s our boy in there! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same for Junior! Let me go! Please, Abaddon!”

“I won’t!”

“Then you’re killing him!”

“If I let you go, I’ll be killing you as well!”

They clashed. Claws raked skin and scale. Teeth tore into thick hide. Dark blood spattered the ground. “Pull them apart!” someone cried. “For Lightweaver’s sake, pull them apart!”

Banrai went down, his fall shaking the earth beneath him. Abaddon’s foot rested upon his neck. They were both battered, missing great chunks of flesh and armor, but Abaddon more so. “You need to think rationally,” he said. “Banrai, you cannot endanger yourself. Your clan needs you. That’s what it means to be a leader.”

“What would you know?” Banrai spat. “You were a warlord. You were a coward. Your people hated you.”

Abaddon didn’t flinch. If the remark cut him deeply, it didn’t show on his face. He pressed his foot down more firmly. “You need not remind me,” he said, “I was there. Still, I learned a thing or two, both from my own mistakes and from your mate. They would never forgive me if I let you go in there.”

“I’ll never forgive you if you don’t!”

“So be it. I would rather you be alive and bitter than dead.”

A shadow passed by overhead. Abaddon glanced upward, and caught a glimpse of orchid against the pure blue of the sky. “Dreamweaver has returned,” he informed. “Don’t let them see you like this.”

Abaddon removed his foot. Slowly, his stomach churning, Banrai pulled his immense body upright. The two shared a look, fierce and charged with a maelstrom of emotions, before Banrai’s eyes softened and filled with tears. Abaddon said nothing, only pressed his cheek against his old friend’s in quiet solidarity.

Dreamweaver alighted before them. Neither was proficient at reading auras, but they could feel the panic in Dreamweaver’s, so palpable and raw was it. “What happened?” they asked. “Banrai, Abaddon--you’re both in shambles.”

“It’s nothing,” Abaddon assured. “Dreamweaver, Phantasos is inside.”

Dreamweaver stumbled, and Banrai rushed forward to support them. They fell limply against his side, heaving enormous, labored breaths as they tried to collect themself. “My--my boy--my boy is in--you let him go--you--”

“No one ‘let him,’” Abaddon said. “He went before we could stop him.”

“It’s my fault,” Banrai murmured. He nudged his mate’s neck gently, pleadingly. “It’s my fault, Dreamy. I should have been watching him. I knew he wanted to act, but I was so concerned with Crucis and the village that I--I took my eyes off of him. I should have never.”

Their gazes met. Banrai cringed. There was sorrow unlike any he had ever witnessed in his mate’s eyes. Dreamweaver reached for him, cupping his cheeks with their clawed hands. “At least,” they said, “you are safe.”

Then they were inconsolable.

“I can go in after him,” Holloway offered.

“You barely made it out the first time,” Solaire said.

“We...” Banrai clenched his jaw. “We won’t ask that of you again, Holloway. You’ve already risked your life once.”

“It’s Phantasos,” Holloway said. “He’s worth risking my life a second time.”

“I’ll go,” Dreamweaver sobbed, “please, let me go after him.”

“Absolutely not,” Abaddon said. “You are the Lightweaver’s most trusted acolyte. The Arcane element is rising over yours--and you are more in-tune with it than any of us. Even being this near to an unchecked piece of the Seat could have severe consequences.”

“However, something must be done,” Solaire conceded. “We cannot let the celestine spread any further.”

“Junior and I rounded up the Arcanites we could find,” Abaddon said. “He’s certain they can contain it, at least until Lutia can come sort it out--but getting Phantasos out is another matter entirely.”

“Why did he go in?” Holloway clucked his tongue. “Foolish boy, what does he think he’s going to do?”

“He thinks he can dispel it, I suppose,” Banrai replied. “He thinks--”

“Gods, I did this!” Dreamweaver wailed. “He thinks he’s me, is what he thinks! I have to go after him!”

“You--will--die,” Abaddon repeated. “Did I not make that clear enough for you?”

“I’m the oldest, most powerful being in this godsforsaken land!” Dreamweaver argued. “If anyone can get him out, it’s me!”

“It’s not about age and power,” Abaddon insisted, “it’s about elemental alignments! I’m no magic-worker, but even I know that! Just because you’re a damned demigod doesn’t mean you’re invincible!”

“Then who is going to save my son?!”

“Quiet.” Solaire held up a hand. “Did you lads hear that? Sounded like thunder.”

“Now there’s a storm on the way too?” Holloway groaned. “The gods of this realm are cruel, aren’t they?”

“I said it sounded like thunder,” Solaire said, “not that it was. I think--I think it came from--”

Suddenly, all around them, there was a horrible cacophony. The colony seemed to shriek in anguish as great chunks of it fell to the earth, shattering and dissipating into fine dust. Holloway gathered his wits and scrambled forward, guiding what he could of it into his jar. The crystal pulsed once, twice, thrice...

Everything went silent.

...

Light.

Warm, and golden, and full.

It bathed Observatory Hill in a chaste glow, brighter than the sun and yet somehow as soft as a candle’s flame. Dreamweaver’s magic responded to it, their eyes glowing, their hair unfurling around them as they shifted forms, mapping out distant stars and galaxies without names.

“It’s him,” they breathed. “It’s Phantasos.”

As the group watched, awe-struck with mouths agape, the pink celestine encasing the observatory turned pale yellow, the color of Dreamweaver’s magic, pulsed one final time, and shattered.

“What’s happened?” Solaire asked. “I’m blind, you know?”

“Get back!” Holloway called. “Everyone get back!”

A cloud of glittering gold shrouded the hill, forcing onlookers down to its base. Dreamweaver had to be pulled away, their shrieks ringing in their people’s ears, “He’s alive! Let me go to him, he’s alive!”

Even as the dust settled, they were screaming their son’s name.

In the silence that followed, they received a weak, wavering response.

“Dede?”

Phantasos appeared at the crest of the hill. His eyes were a swirl of nebulae and comets, his hands still glowing white hot with the power he had unleashed. Finally, Abaddon released Dreamweaver, and they raced forward, tripping, crawling at some points, in their desperation to reach their son. When they did, they hugged him to them fiercely and wept openly into his shoulder.

“You’re alive,” they croaked. “You’re alive.”

“I’m sorry, dede,” Phantasos said. “I didn’t mean to worry you, but--but you were away, and Lutia wasn’t here, and Crucis was wrapped up in crystal, and I couldn’t let the village--”

“I’m going to kill you,” Dreamweaver whispered.

“I know, dede.”

“Phantasos...” The young heir flinched at the sound of his father’s voice, and, timidly, met his gaze. Banrai did not scold him. Instead, he pressed his massive forehead to his son’s and wept as Dreamweaver did. “I’m also going to kill you,” he said.

“I know, da.”

“How did he...?” Holloway pointed to the observatory, now pristine as it once had been, though covered in a thin dusting of crystal remnants. “How...?” Then he pointed to Phantasos, mouth still hanging open. “What--in what world is he capable of--this shouldn’t be--how did he do that?!”

“He’s his parents’ son,” Abaddon said simply. “Looks like we all underestimated him.”

“Jolly good!” Solaire exclaimed. “Jolly good, boy! Fine show, I’m sorry I couldn’t bear witness to it!”

“Honestly, I...” Phantasos stared down at his own hands. “I don’t know how I did it. I don’t even know what I did. I just--I just did it.”

“That’s magic for you,” Abaddon said. “Arcanites have got it down to a science, but most of us--well, we just do whatever feels right, and it tends to work out well enough.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Dreamweaver pleaded. “I think we’ve all had enough magic for one day. Oh, my baby boy...”

“I’m all right, dede,” Phantasos said. “I feel fine. I feel really good, actually.”

“You’re going straight to Aphaster lands,” Dreamweaver informed, “and getting a thorough check-up! I won’t be able to rest until I know you’re healthy and completely in-tact!”

“Oh good.” Phantasos grinned. “I can see the Seat.”

Dreamweaver started to yell at him, call him reckless and foolish and stupid--but they were so relieved that they could see his smug little face once more that they could manage nothing but a tearful smile of their own.

[gldngrl7]

Karamel Fic: Edging Toward Synchronicity (8/8)

Author: gldngr7

Rating: Explicit

Began: March 11, 2017

Chapters: 8

 Feedback:  Encouragement and constructive criticisms are always welcome.  Flames are destroyed with my freeze breath.

 Author’s Notes:

Tagging: @mon-kai-el, @actualpuppychriswood, @pwettypwita, @contygold86, @karamelizedlove, @kelbottumbles, @starcrossed-comets, @emarasmoak, @fangirlintheforest, @ships-sailing-in-the-night, @lostin-the-desert, @somos-poeiraestelar

      And all I gave you is gone

       Tumbled like it was stone

            Thought we built a dynasty that heaven couldn't shake

                 Thought we built a dynasty like nothing ever made

   Thought we built a dynasty forever couldn't break up

         The scar I can't reverse

               When the more it heals the worse it hurts

                    Gave you every piece of me, no wonder it's missing

   Don't know how to be so close to someone so distant

--MIIA – “Dynasty”

   Chapter 8/8

For three hours they went over the designs for the suit.  Winn had seven designs in all, and together they were able to jettison some elements as impractical, too bold, or otherwise inappropriate, until the remaining ideas came together to create something both workable and aesthetic.  

 “I like the red,” Mon-El approves.

 “It offsets Kara’s blue,” Winn nods.  “I thought that would look nice,” he preens a bit.

 “It reminds me of Daxam’s red sky.”  His mind drifts back to last night’s dream and the vividness of it; the red sun over his head, the plum boscage at his fingertips.  The crunch of the dead copper-blossoms beneath his knees as his wife’s blood poured through his fingers, his son’s life ebbing away inside of her.  Mon-El’s heart races and his gorge rises.  He covers his mouth with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut in a desperate bid to keep from vomiting.

 “It does?” Winn inquires, blissfully unaware of the other’s vexation.  Mon-El plays off his nausea-induced stress as a yawn, which has Winn doing a double-take.  “Am I keeping you awake?” he snarks.  “Long night?”  Off of a stern look from Mon-El’s steel-turned eyes, Winn gulps and asks, “Too soon?”  Then, nodding, he turns back to his computer and answers his own question.  “Too soon.  I hear you.  So what do you think about the boots…?”

 “They’re a little too high,” he shrugs with one shoulder.  “I’m not a pirate.”

 “Kara’s boots are high,” Winn explains.

 “She wears a skirt,” he argues, “the aesthetic looks better.”

 “Especially with those legs,” Winn blurts, before he can stop himself. He cringes, anticipating a challenge of some sort or at least another steel-blue stare, but instead he watches out of the corner of his eye as Mon-El’s lips quirk up on one side.

 “Especially with those legs,” he echoes, his voice turning husky.

“Oh-kay,” Winn drawls, wishing he could scrub the look of blissful recollection on his friend’s face from his mind.  “So, we’ll cut the boots back to below the knee.  I’ll have them lined with Kevlar to be safe…maybe add some steel toes.”  With a look from Mon-El, Winn corrects, “Steel toes taken care of…check.”

 “I don’t see a cape in any of these designs,” Mon-El points out, hoping his voice doesn’t sound like a pout.

 “No cape,” Winn answers succinctly.  “You don’t want a cape.”

 “Of course I want a cape!”

 “Trust me, you don’t.  Kara’s cape is for aerodynamics.  It helps with drag, she takes care of the lift.  You don’t fly, so all you’ll get is drag.  Not having a cape could mean the difference between making a 15 story leap and an 18 story leap.  Cape is just going to weigh you down.”  Winn’s analysis is succinct and doesn’t leave much room for arguing.  He chuckles, “You learn to fly…I’ll build you a cape. Deal?”

 Mon-El sighs and rolls his eyes, unable to hide his disappointment. “Deal.”

 “Plus, this way all the ladies will get a better view of your ass.” Winn’s eyes widen, as Mon-El side-eyes him.  “Did I say that out loud?”  With a defensive shrug he spouts, “What?  I promised I’d make you look good…so I’m playing to your strengths!”

 It took another hour to nail down the incidentals of the red suit, deciding on a high collar of royal blue to match the Kevlar-lined boots, an asymmetrical hemline on the shirt, skin tight pants that show the dips and creases of his musculature and a yellow belt with a center medallion containing a glyph of Daxam’s sun shooting red rays of light.

 Taking measurements in the locker room was a singularly uncomfortable experience in which Winn joked about never expecting their relationship to get this close.

 Ral was there the whole time laughing at Mon-El’s discomfort.

 Heading back to the CIC after Winn said he had all he needed for the time being, Mon-El overhears an agent commenting that Dr. Danvers had arrived unexpectedly a while ago.  Hospitality on this planet demands that he stop by and pay his respects to her – but also he’s always enjoyed talking to her in the past.  She projects a motherly warmth for which Mon-El has secretly always yearned.

 “You want to be charming,” Ral reminds him, unnecessarily, “but not too charming.  Remember…the last time you saw her you were only thinking about defiling her daughter.  You weren’t actually doing it.”

 Mon-El stops in his tracks and glares pointedly at Ral, who grins widely, before walking onward.  “No one’s defiling anyone,” Mon-El says surreptitiously between clenched teeth.

 “Hmmm…I wonder if Dr. Danvers will see it that way….”  Ral torments him.  Admittedly, Mon-El has some concerns about seeing Dr. Danvers again, now that he’s mated to her adoptive daughter.  

 His gut clenches with concern, but he stays his course.  “Why do I keep you around?”

“Because I know things, Brother.  Things you’ve forgotten and don’t seem inclined to remember.  It’s right there,” Ral says, needling him.  “Right there under the surface.  So close you can feel it bubbling up.  Sometimes you think you hear the wails inside your head or see the flames in your mind’s eye.  And the smell of the blood, of charred skin and heads on fire like screaming candlesticks….”

 “Stop,” Mon-El begs.  Suddenly finding himself breathless, his heart racing, he places his hand against the smooth concrete wall and tucks his face into his arm, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.  Behind his eyelids, white and gray flash and flicker like the screaming, flickering bulbs of the intrusive cameras belonging to rabid reporters and paparazzi.  “You have to stop.”

 “On the contrary, brother, I have to continue – if that’s what it takes. Now that you’ve seen the truth, or at least part of it, you need to let the rest in.  It’s the only way to make you whole.”

 “Whole,” he echoes.  “I’m more whole here, now…with her…than I ever felt for even a single moment of my life back there.”

 “Good…that’s good.  There may come a time when you need to choose between hanging on to me and losing her, or letting go in order to have the life you want, and you’ll do well to remember that.  But that day, that loss, and everything that led up to it…the choices you made…will always be a specter over your head for as long as you refuse to give it its due. Let it in,” Ral urges.  “Feel it.  Accept the pain of it, so that you can make it a part of who you are and move on. There’s still work to be done and you can’t keep it at a distance forever.”

 “I know,” Mon-El breathes, seeing the truth of Ral’s words for the first time.  

 “Sir, are you alright?” an astute DEO employee walking by stops to ask, noticing Mon-El’s distress.  He recognizes her as one of the medical practitioners often seen in the med-bay and her lab coat identifies her as such.

 “I’m fine, thank you.  Just...” his vision flashes white and gray again ad he rubs his eyes, “a bit of a headache.”

 “Would like an escort to the med-bay?” the woman asks.

 Mon-El tosses Ral a glance and nods, “Actually, I was just on my way to see Dr. Danvers.”

 “I just saw her in the conference room, sir.  With Agent Danvers and Supergirl.”

 “Supergirl’s here?”

 “Just flew in a few minutes ago,” the agent informs him.  “Do you need help?”

 “No, I’ve got this.”  Mon-El straightens his spine, gives the woman a reassuring smile, and lies, “I’m feeling much better now, thanks.”  

 The medic regards him suspiciously for a moment before nodding and walking away.  Mon-El watches as she goes, waiting until she disappears around the corner before altering his course in the direction of the conference room.

 “You’re…not looking so good,” Ral declares.

 He doesn’t feel so good either.  It’s not anything he can pinpoint or put a finger on, like a fever or a choking cough.  It doesn’t feel like the sickness created by the Medusa virus, but rather a profound foreboding that fills his chest and spreads down his spine like the tendrils of Velestrian Rot, a black vine that burrows deep, growing out of control until it breaks apart the very thing to which its attached.  His fingers tingle and his eyes sting incessantly.

 He doesn’t mean to eavesdrop but his powers appear to be fritzing out. It occurs to him that he may be experiencing withdrawals from going more than twenty-four hours without siphoning electricity.  Ral had claimed it was becoming an addiction.  Perhaps he had been right—he usually is.  

 “Safety of others?” he overhears Kara ask, but doesn’t know to whom she speaks. Is there something brewing out there? Perhaps Cadmus is up to some new tricks? Something for which he needs to prepare.  “You want to put him back into a cell?”

 Mon-El halts in his tracks just outside the conference room.  This is interesting.  Who is she talking about?

 “Isolation,” he hears Alex say, her tone one of pacifying rationalization.  “For his own good.”

 “But in a cell,” Kara repeats. “After everything we—after everything I—put him through when he first arrived.  After Medusa?  You want to put him back in a cell like he can’t be trusted.”

 Mon-El’s heart speeds up because it sounds like they could be talking about…him.  Are they talking about him?  Talking about putting him in a cell, like when he first arrived?  After everything he’s done, how hard he’s worked to prove himself?  To prove he can be trusted?

 “Kara, he’s on the verge of a full-blown psychotic break.  It sounds like he’s fighting it for the moment, but there’s no predicting how long he has before his mind completely fractures and he can no longer tell the difference between the hallucination and reality.  And if that break happens and he experiences another flashback like the one he had last night…Kara, I know it’s painful, but locking him up really is the best for everyone.  At least until we can find a way to purge him of the hallucination.”

 “They know about me,” Ral says.  “It was only a matter of time, of course.  Especially with how close you two have been getting.  You can’t keep these things secret forever.”

 “Alex thinks they can take you away from me,” Mom-El says, a dark rage rising inside of him, a fever building that spreads up his neck and face until he can feel it burning beneath his skin.

 “Let her believe what she likes, brother.  She can’t take me away.  No one has the power to do that.”

 Mon-El tunes back in, listening for what comes next, waiting to hear Kara’s voice of reason…and hope.  He knows, without a doubt, that she believes in him.  Trusts him.  She just asked him to move into her loft with her so that she can help him deal with the nightmares and now, the flashbacks; there’s no way she going to give up on him so quickly and so easily.  She always fights for the ones she loves.

 “Okay,” Kara’s voice agrees.  “We’ll play this your way.  We’ll lock him up.”

 For the second time in his life, Mon-El’s entire world crumbles around him.  She didn’t even fight for him, didn’t come to his defense.  He had been so certain that she would, so certain that everything they’d shared had meant as much to her as it means to him.  

 They’d talked about sharing a life, about having a family, and here she is bartering all of that away because he’s…too damaged.  She’ll take everything away from him if he allows this. If he doesn’t do something, doesn’t move or take a stand, she’ll take away everything he’s earned and worked so hard for.  His job, his friends; she’ll take away Valor.

 A righteous rage mixes and swirls with the heartbreak he feels inside. He won’t be locked up.  Not again.  Not after what his father did.

 “Now you’re feeling it,” Ral exclaims.  “Let it come, Brother.”

 Mon-El shakes him off, ignoring the gnat that whispers in his ear, focusing only on the red that closes in around his vision, locking down his sight until it focuses like a laser beam, focuses on her.  Her head whips around to see him standing in the door, and her eyes widen with surprise, her eyebrows crinkling as though already preparing to tell him lies.

 “Remember when I said not to worry about the time and the place?” Ral asks. “That I would take care of it?  This seems like as good a place as any other.”

 Mon-El grits his teeth and steels his resolve.

 “Mon-El,” Kara exclaims, frightfully.  “How long have you been standing there?”

 “Long enough,” he grinds out.

 “Mon-El, you’re not—“ she tries.

 “Don’t,” he says, raising his voice and his hand.  “Just don’t.”

 “Looks like some people just don’t get the same consideration others do,” Ral needles in a practically blasé manner, sounding for all the world like he’s stoking  Mon-El’s anger to a fine rage.

 Mon-El turns on Ral, pointing a finger.  “You…shut the hell up for once!”

 Kara’s heart constricts, her throat closing as Mon-El reveals to her for the first time the depths of his psychosis.  “Mon-El,” she cries, covering her mouth with her hands.

 Dr. Danvers exchanges a look with Alex before slowly rising from her chair and inching away from him.  Alex’s eyes harden and she reaches for her belt.

 “Man’s got a point, though,” Mon-El shouts, his adrenaline surging unlike anything he’s ever felt before.  The taste of it in the back of his throat is like battery acid.  Looking at her, at this woman he fell in love with and by whom he is betrayed, he can feel the walls inside of him splintering, bursting apart like a cage outgrown by its captive.  “How long did you get, Kara?” he wonders.

 She sees him changing, breaking right in front of her and it’s everything she didn’t know she feared.  His handsome face transforms into a monstrosity a red anger, his lips turning an alarming shade of…gray?  “I don’t understand,” she shakes her head, expressing her own confusion, rather than answering his query.

 “How long did your precious adoptive family give you to grieve all that you had lost?  Did you a get a whole three months like you’ve given me?  Is this the extent of your generosity?  Did they threaten to lock you away because you were too broken to be fixed?”

 “Mon-El, we’re trying to—“

 “If you say ‘help’, Kara, so help me Rao.”  Mon-El blinks furiously, his eyes watering, unable to clear the angry red of his vision.  “I see my dead brother,” he confesses.  “I talk to him when I need to work things out, or sometimes when I just need a friend. I’m not going to be told that’s wrong by a woman who keeps a virtual construct shrine to her dead mother.”

 Kara gasps and swallows the acrid acid taste in her mouth that rises in the face of his vitriol…and his truth.  “It’s not the same,” she insists, though her tone lacks conviction.

 “Oh, I know,” he shouts, his voice grating on her heart like sandpaper. “The difference is I know that Ral is dead…in my heart.  It happened right before my eyes.  I’m not still holding on to hope.  You know what I’m also not doing?” he asks.  “I’m not going back to that cell.”

 “It’s okay,” she promises.  “I just need you to calm down.”

 “I don’t get to be angry now?  Of course,” he scoffs, “The woman I love betrays me and you still expect me to be your little lap dog.  Doing whatever you tell me, being whatever you want me to be.”

 He doesn’t know what he’s saying, where all these words are coming from. They spill from his mouth like a vomit of long buried but now unrestrained bitterness.  Just this morning, he made love to her as if she were his world and he thought she felt the same.  But now, looking at her feels like she’s just another jailer, holding the keys to his shackles.

 Tears streak down her face as her heart breaks.  She came here seeking help for him and never intended to betray him, but he would never see it that way, not in this state.  She wipes the tears from her face, looking up to see four agents approaching him from behind.

 Something slams him in the back, followed in quick succession by three more blows, one in the back of the head that brings him to his knees. Before he can gain his bearings his wrists are gathered in front of him and a pair of Nth metal cuffs are placed on them.

 A thought flashes through Mon-El’s mind, that this is not how he planned to obtain Nth metal cuffs today.  He scoffs angrily at the irony, but the thought only serves to inflame his rage, reminding him that just this morning, despite the specter of death that hung over his head, his whole world was shaping up quite nicely.

 “Alex, what did you do?” he hears Kara ask her sister.

 “I pressed my panic button,” she replies.

 “Please,” Kara begs the agents who are dragging Mon-El to his feet. “Please don’t hurt him.”  She steps forward toward Mon-El, but Alex grabs her arm to stop her.

 The agents’ mistake is pausing before attempting to place Nth shackles on his ankles.  He throws them off with ease, watching as Kara’s and Alex’s widen in surprise as two of the agent fly through the glass windows.  Despite the verbal confrontation and his clear distress, neither of them expected him to get violent.  But clearly they had underestimated his psychosis.

 Crashing through the glass, the agents fly over the balcony and forcing Kara to speed to their rescue, leaving Mon-El alone with Alex and Dr. Danvers. Hyperaware of her need to protect her mother, Alex draws her weapon and points it at Mon-El, but anticipating her move he speeds to her and tears the gun from her hand, crushing it in his fist.

 He considers throwing the chunk of metal at one of the remaining agents, but before he can decide, he’s grabbed from behind in a chokehold by an arm with which he is intimately familiar and the world is whizzing past until he and Kara are in the open atrium of the DEO’s top floor.  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she shouts, begs.

 “You already have,” he chokes, her strength crushing down on his larynx.  His red vision grays around the edges, until his father appears before him and everything goes red-hot again.  “No!” he screams.

 “You’ll do as I say,” his father declares, his own steel-gray eyes staring coldly back at him with a sneer on his full lips.  “And never forget that you are…utterly…replaceable. Did you honestly think that you were only one?”  

 Ignoring the pressure at his neck, Mon-El wrenches himself free. “I’ll kill you for what you did to me. I will never give you what you want.”

 When he shakes Kara off, she’s thrown back several feet, knocking her into the light table, both smashing it to smithereens and shocking the hell out of her at the same time as thousands of volts of electricity pass through her.

 “You will,” his father insists, a smile of victory spreading slowly across his face.  “And until you do…I think I’ll keep our dear Morgon here as collateral.  Whether or not he’s returned to you in one piece, depends entirely upon the speed with which you comply.”

 Ral drops to his knees in front of Mon-El, broken and bloodied, one eye swollen shut.  “Leave this place, Brother,” he whispers.  ‘The first chance you get…run.  Forget about me…he will never let you be free.”

 “What have you done?” Mon-El shouts, focusing his rage on his father.

 “Just a promise…with more to come.”  Waving his hand with a careless, carefree gesture, he commands, “Take him away.”

 The scene in his mind shifts again like a red swipe across his vision and Daxam is crumbling around him once more.  Ral is sprawled at his feet, his wrists and legs in chains as the room shakes and trembles.  His legs are broken, meticulously broken with great care, so as to increase initial pain and long-term suffering, but that isn’t what draws his attention this time.

 Like the chains, it is a detail he hadn’t seen before—his mind hadn’t let him see—the swaths of dried blood caked on Ral’s cheeks, stemming from the empty sockets where his eyes once were.

 “No, no, no…what he did he do?” Mon-El cries reaching down to touch his brother’s face.  “What did he do?”

 “Extracted a price,” Ral answers, as the smell of smoke and the sound of screams filter through the air.  “A price that no longer matters, it seems.”

 “He only did this because of me,” Mon-El cries.  “Because I wouldn’t give him what he wanted.”

 “Not your fault,” Ral reaches out blindly and grabs Mon-El’s collar, pulling him closer.  “Every drop of blood taken from me is a price well paid if it means this venal House finally dies with him.  Know that I regret none of it, so long as that is the outcome.”  A loud boom fills the air causing the ground to shake beneath them and Ral chuckles, despite his obvious pain.  “The gods of Val-Or side with you this day.  With both of us.”

 “How can you say that?”

 “Because this is your chance to get away from this place.  The prison doors are open.”

 “What about you?”

 “You have to leave me, I’ll only slow us both down.  You can still escape.  He took my eyes, brother,” Ral winces, blood gurgling up to his teeth, his injuries far worse than they initially appeared.  “I’ll never see my beloved Melis again – unless it’s in the afterlife.  A place I’ll be seeing sooner rather than later, if the gods are good to me once more.”

 “I won’t let you die here,” Mon-El insists.

 “You will,” Ral cough, blood and spittle spewing from his mouth.  “And you will make me one last promise.”

 Torn, a scream of heartbroken rage wells up within him, pushing its way through his clenched teeth.  His brother-in-bond is dying and there’s nothing he can do for him, but fulfill a final wish.  “What is it?” he asks.

 “Find a way,” Ral coughs again.  “After this place is gone and that old despot is dead…find a way to restore what was great about Daxam.”

 “What was great…?  I don’t understand.”

 Another boom rocks the building, chunks of the ceiling falling around them both. “There’s no time,” Ral rasps ever more weakly around horribly split lips.  “You have to go now, before you’re buried with me.  You’ll find a way,” Ral says, and Mon-El knows he isn’t talking about escaping.

 Mon-El backs away towards the cell’s only exit, reluctant to leave the only man he’s ever called friend – called family.  The only person who’s only truly loved him for him.

 Sensing his bond-brother’s reluctance, Ral’s voice softens, “I’m already a memory, brother.  Go before it’s too late.”

 Just as he reaches the doorway, he looks back just in to time to see a chunk of the stone ceiling fall and strike Ral in the head, caving in a large portion of his skull.

 It is a killing blow, he knows, instantly sparing his brother from a slow agonizing death from internal bleeding.  It is a death for which to thank the gods, but instead he feels only rage for stealing the life of the only good thing he ever had in his life. The only thing that was ever his.

 Mon-El hands fist tightly as his anger and grief wells up within him and then overflows.  “Noooooo!” he screams.

 ****

 Mon-El isn’t with them anymore, if he ever had been in the last few horrible minutes.  He’s somewhere deep inside his own fractured mind, remembering traumatic events of long ago as if they were happening for the first time – like cutting away healthy flesh to find a bloody, festering wound beneath.    Regaining her feet, struggling to overcome the effects electricity has on her, Kara manages to shake off her disorientation and move towards him just as two things happen at once.  

 “Nooooooo!” he screams, blind eyes focused on something she can’t see while his hands fist together hard enough to stress the bone.

 And then the room explodes.

 “Get down, get down!” Kara screams, as agents dive for cover under and behind any available protective surface.  Red beams of light shoot around the cavernous room cutting through everything they touch like a soldering iron.  His sudden onset heat vision is made all the more uncontrollable by the fact that his feet are hovering several inches from the ground.

 He mumbles incoherently for the most part, only the occasional phrase making sense inside the chaos he creates.  “Where is he!?” he demands.  “Where has he gone?”  His ravings continue as Kara ushers people to safety, her first priority getting them out of the line of his unintentional fire.  When the last of the agents is removed to safety she considers her options as she observes his delirious raving.  “Looking for this—“

 Taking flight, Kara shoots toward him, striking him at mid-level and pulling him down to the ground, both of them sliding across the floor until they’re buried in a wall.   The beams of red-hot heat shoot into the ceiling, which crumbles around them.  She can barely restrain him as he thrashes beneath her and she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do, but she has to end this before someone gets seriously injured.  

 It tears her heart out, the inhuman sounds he makes, as if he’s reached down into the deepest parts of himself and found his most excruciating pain, bringing it to the surface and using his own voice as its release valve.  Where is he now, she wonders?  Marinating in some hellish mind palace with no way out but death?

 Kara covers his vision beams with her hands, absorbing them and keeping them doing any more damage.

 “He’s out of control, Kara!” she hears Alex shouting.

 She knows her sister is right.  He’s out of control and out of his mind and there’s only one thing she can do. Balling her hand in a fist, she rears back and slams it in his jaw, once and then a second time, both times his head rolling right back like a ball-ended punching bag that always comes back for more.

 “Yes,” he seethes, his voice filled with hatred.  “Kill me,” he shouts, lost in a delusion she can’t understand. “Kill me now, if you can!  Your last—“

 His next words are drowned out when he turns his head, his laser beams striking the glass walls to the outdoor balcony, causing them to shatter and explode.  Thousands of tiny glass missiles spray the atrium like a glittering rain of deadly diamonds.

 “Mon-El,” she sobs, her face wet with tears. “Please?”  Kara begs, but she doesn’t know what she’s begging for, maybe praying for, other than for it to end.  Like an answer to her heartfelt but unarticulated prayer, his heat vision sputters out as he lay beneath her, as if he’s gained some measure of control.

 She punches him again, blood splattering from his noise and upper lip, which is when she realizes he hasn’t gained control of his heat vision, but has simply expended the reserves of yellow sun radiation in his cells—solar flaring—which makes him utterly vulnerable.  

 His eyes widen as his mind flares to lucidity to find Kara hovering over him, her fist coming down towards his face with alarming force.  In the instant that her fist makes contact, and pain explodes in his head, he’s certain that death awaits him.

 His last thought as darkness closes in around him is that this morning he awoke a hero, and somewhere along the line, without knowing where he mis-stepped, he became a villain.

 The End

(To be continued)

[epotter24-blog]

(Karamel)

I have never written fanfiction sorry if it sounds stupid. I don’t know if there is mistakes I wrote this at like 3 in the morning😂!

My writing is not that great sorry again it is probably cringe worthy🤣

The characters in this writing do not belong to me.However, I love supergirl.

Kara could barely sleep, in fact she hadn’t slept at all. The morning light crept through the blinds of her bedroom. Slowly the rays of the yellow sun tugged on the eyelids of a very tired kryptonian that had almost fallen asleep. Kara cringed at the thought of getting up. Even though the light refreshed her powers her brain was still on overdrive. All she could think about was last night. Words and images flooded her mind burning into to her thoughts. she tried to think about something else other than the conversation she had with Mon'el just hours ago,But she couldn’t help not thinking about it. There were many things that he said that made her heart jump, but there was one sentence that made her feel powerless; powerless in a good way like she could just melt in his arms. “It was ok that I was going to die because I had gotten to kiss you."everytime she replayed that moment in her mind she still didn’t understand how a man especially a daximite could be so caring and honest about his feelings. She decided after hitting the snooze button what felt like a hundred times,to get up and at least try to get ready to start her day. After Kara realized that snapper had given her the day off she thought about going to the deo ,but she quickly thought against it when she thought mon'EL would be there.It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him it was just she thought it would be awkward so she decided to call Alex. "Hey is everything ok,” Alex said with a hint of worry,“you don’t normally call this early.”

Kara replied with a quickly almost unsure “yeah everything,everything is uh fine. So um is anything going on at the deo?”

“No not really are u sure everthing is ok Kara?”

“Yeah, so snapper gave me an article that I have to finish by this afternoon sooo can u please cover for me I have a lot of work to do.”

“ Sure but I will call you if anything strange happens over here.”

“ will do!” Kara said with a hint of relief she didn’t like lying to her sister ,but she didn’t really want to tell her what was going on. Kara hadn’t even explained (“the kiss”)to her .“love you Alex” “Love u to Kara,” Alex said hanging up the phone.“ She could tell something was wrong but she decided it was best not to argue with her.

Sweat dripped off mon'el as he was angrily training, hitting a punching bag resembling steel. Monel was upset sure, but he was more mad than anything. He had let her slip away he thought, punching even harder until the punching bag flew acrossed the room into a concrete column. The column shattered to pieces on impact.Why did you tell her to forget about it?you should of let her talk. How could you be so stupid! Monel thought as he paced around his training area grabbing the nap of his neck. "Now she’s not even going to show up! good move monel!!!” “ everything ok?” Alex said wondering why everyone was acting so weird?

He suddenly stopped pacing and his cheeks burned red. “Yeah everything is great.” He said with an annoyed tone.

“Ok then, why is everyone in some weird mood today first Kara was acting strange and now u? Is there some sort of alien virus going around?” She said trying to lighten the room with humor.

“wait Kara was here?"monel asked a little more relaxed. "No she called me.she couldn’t come today she said something about snapper giving her a big assignment that she had to finish by tonight.”

“Huh. i thought today was her day off.” He said kind of confused.

“I did to.Ok well I’m going to go before I catch the alien disease.” Alex teased. Monel smiled and began to clean up the mess he made.

After monel cleaned his monumental mess he called Kara. no matter how many times he dialed her she still didn’t answer. “ pick up kara.” he said to himself getting more worried by the second. Finally, he decided to go to Catco where she’d was “working today.”

The elevator opened slowly. To slowly for monel. He pushed the doors open making them squeal. “Hey!” James said monel quickly walked past him with a worried look.

Monel turned around considering it was rude just to walk past without saying anything.“hey,do you know where Kara is?”

“She is probably at the deo today was her day off.” James said puzzled. “ I thought she told u.”

“She wasn’t there.”

“She might be at home I would look for her but I have a lot of work to do let me know if you find her."James said worriedly.

” ok. “ monel said feeling a little more relaxed knowing she might be at home.

Monel super sped to her apartment.he stopped at her door knocking with the strength a human would use so he didn’t break the door.

She didn’t answer and he didn’t have X-ray vision. Not thinking he kicked the door open luckily it didn’t break. He didn’t see her anywhere. ” Kara are you here.“ He said shouting! He suddenly heard something fall. It came from her room. He opened the door to her room quickly.

She must have been sleeping based on her being wrapped in a blanket on the on the floor. She fought the blanket trying to see who walked in her room shouting.

She finally got the blanket off of her going into super hero mode. ” monel what happened? is everything ok? is anyone hurt?“

” no um u weren’t at the deo or catco and no one really knew where you were. I called you like ten times. I got worried.“ He said looking imbarrassed scratching his cheek.

"Monel I can take care of myself!” She said angrily.“how did u even get in here?” She asked walking into her kitchen. she looked at her door wide open with a boot mark on the front.

“ you broke in! You can’t just break into someone’s house like that monel.” Angrily laughing and rubbing her head she calmed down a little trying to listen to what he was saying.

His cheeks were burning brighter than the red sun of krypton and daxam. He was Embarrassed and his heart was in pain “ I know Kara I know you have powers! I know you can take care of yourself! but that doesn’t mean I still don’t worry about you.look I’m sorry,but I don’t know what else to say I…..” Kara looked at him but didn’t say anything. “ Kara you already know why I get worried just forget about it and don’t worry I won’t tell Alex that you lied to her. Actually why did you lie to her?”

“ I can’t.” She replied shyly looking at the floor.

“ you can’t tell me why u lied to her? Kara what’s going on?”

“No I can’t tell you why!"she said getting frustrated.” His face looked hurt and his pain ended up making her upset and she calmed down.“ ” I um I didn’t sleep last night.i was thinking…….about what you said.“

"I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable. when u said you didn’t trust me I thought u wanted to hear the truth, I’m sorry.”

“ no I did want you to tell the truth and I guess I should to… I-um i didn’t want to forget it. I didn’t want to forget about what you said. I lied to Alex because I wanted to avoid you. I thought it would be awkward to come to the deo after what you said, but it’s more awkward now than it ever could of been.i couldn’t stop thinking about how you said my eyes looked like comets,and and that you were ok that u we’re going to die after you kissed me. I guess it just caught me off guard.”

Monel stood there frozen in thought trying to figure out what to say. “What are u saying?"he said still very confused.

” That I may have not hated the kiss and I think that’s why I couldn’t stop thinking about it.“

” so u did like it?“ He said with a smile creeping on his lips.

” I don’t know what to think monel.can we can we just talk about this tomorrow I really need to get some rest?“

” no, im not leaving this time I didn’t want to forget either! I thought you didn’t feel the same.

“I don’t.. I do I don’t know just leave.. please.”

“ fine!!” He said angrily leaving slamming the door and crushing the handle in doing so. Kara didn’t feel super anymore, she just felt like crying.

Kara went to her room and cried her self to sleep.she woke up about 3 hours later still feeling guilty. It was five o'clock and it was already getting dark,but she couldn’t take it anymore she needed to find monel. She put on her regular clothes assuming he would be at the alien bar and flew there. She walked into the front of the establishment looking for monel ,but he wasn’t there. she almost went to the deo but saw someone past out in a booth; it was monel for sure. She grabbed him and super sped back to her apartment laying him on her grayish couch.

Monel woke up in a dark room with a headache. “Where am I?"he said feeling a blanket that felt familiar. Its karas he thought to himself, how did I get here?

Suddenly, a light turned on illuminating Kara as she went to her kitchen to get a glass of water. not even noticing that monel was awake! she was wearing gray pajama pants and a lose cotton shirt.

"Hey can I have a glass.” He said as karas cup shattered into a million pieces . “ uhh!!!!! you scared me” Kara said holding her chest. “ yeah… just let me clean this up.”

She cleaned up the glass and brought him some water. “ I would have given u some aspirin but it probably wouldn’t help. She laughed giving him his drink.

” what is as-pir-in?“ he said holding his head from the excruciating headache

"nothing.” she said still laughing while sitting beside monel.

“Aren’t you going back to sleep?” monel questioned her. “ no and after that i will probably never sleep again” he laughed at the notion and drank his water while Kara turned on the tv .they sat there the rest of the night watching random old kid shows.

Monel woke up with a slight headache still,but that wasn’t what he was thinking about. The night before Kara was on the other side of the couch, but to monels surprise he woke up with Kara sleeping on his chest with his hand wrapped around her waist. Knowing she would wake up embarrassed he got up as carefully as he could trying not to wake the beautiful kryptonian. He finally managed to break free of her grasp deciding to make breakfast so she didn’t need to.

He had watched Kara make pancakes before so he thought he would give it a shot.

Kara woke up to her delight with the smell of pancakes. Realizing she Hadn’t cooked anything freaked her out. she got up look at her kitchen. The only thing that was there was two plates with stacks of pancakes on them and monel struggling to get pancake batter off his hands.

“ monel did you make these?” “ yeah you were still sleeping and I was hungry so I decided to make breakfast.” “ wow monel, thanks!do u need help with the batter?” She said gesturing to his hands, giggling.

“ actually yes sadly I have been defeated by the delicious flat bread.” He said with kind of a dorky voice. They both giggled and Kara grabbed a wet towel to help him with his messy problem.

Kara gently pulled his hands in front of her,and she began wiping away the pancake batter while monel looked at her in wonder.

“ I’m sorry.” She blurted “ for what,” monel said still staring at her. “ for telling you to leave last night you were just worried and I shouldn’t of yelled at you. ” oh that well I guess you had a right to I did kind of break in your house.“ They both laughed and looked up. Kara looked in his ocean blue eyes and couldn’t help but to close hers and lean forward.

” so are you ready to eat?“ monel interrupted not aware of what was about to happen. A frustrated kara replied with ” um y- yeah lets let’s eat.“

They both sat down and devoured their meal this time monel actually tried syrup and he liked it.

Monel looked down at his last bite and smiled ” so are you coming to training today because if y……….. “ monel I need to tell you something.” Kara dropped her fork and looked up at him with all the courage she could. “ yeah what’s going on?” “ I like you” she said “ Yeah I like you to partner.” “No….. um I possibly want to mate with you someday.” She laughed king of nervously.

She expected him to laugh to but he didn’t.

“ oh. Oh!” He said surprised “ I care about u to monel, a lot.” When he didn’t say anything Kara got up and put her plate in the sink. He got up and started helping her with the dishes to.

“ so what do we do now?” He asked, “earth is different you don’t just mate right?” He said unsure. I’m supposed to take you on a u on a uh a date right?“

” Yeah you can if you want. a date can be watching a movie,or just doing things in common you know how it works. I’m sure whin explained it to you.“ She said still focused on the dishes. At that moment they both looked eachother in the eyes and they were almost as close as they were on the couch. ” Kara Danvers will you go on a date with me.“he said very calmly. Karas voice was shaky and she felt like she couldn’t say anything so she answered his question in a different way. She closed her eyes parted her lips and leaned forward he did the same there lips touched and they began sucking gently. It started like there first kiss but it ended up being a little more passionate. Monel grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. She grabbed the nap of his neck and rubbed her other hand through his hair. When she thought they went to far she pulled away slowly! "Wow daximite save some for the first date.” she smiled, gave him a peck on the cheek,and finished cleaning the dishes with a smile that hadn’t faded.

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time Ch11 Fixing One Problem At A Time P3

(Disclaimer: The moss part I do NOT know is true, if you want to look it up go right ahead. Im just using it as logic on their fake planet and for the story.)

She felt sick.

The stretching fast feeling of teleporting was something she swore she never wanted to after that last incident of her zooming off into space with a tight sickly feeling, that left her crashlanding into a child's bedroom for a couple hours. But here she was again, only this time she was traveling through space in a different light. The blue-white light faded away into sparkles and allowed her to see she was laying down face up towards the endless blackness of space, but as the sparkles of light faded off she could only gasp and stare off into the quiet silence of the black.

Was this it?....Did she die and what happened before was all just a dream? Was she being taken to where ever beautiful place spirits went?

No. Couldn't have been. She was slowly falling backwards, strands of red hair slowly waving past her face as if she was underwater and slowly sinking down ever so slowly. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of thousands of stars twinkling and blinking at her good bye as she continued her decent, reflecting in her eyes as if they were the sea on a starry night. Two shooting stars stars shoot above her caught her attention when she blinked and her head followed them as they distended over her and forward. Following them Poppy's body turned along with her movements and she gasped. The-....The world! Her world! It was right there! Big, bold and wonderful! The round planet seemed to have an aura of it's own and glowed perfectly. The perfect gentle blue of the sea, the bright tan yellows of the desert. Many islands. The highest mountains surrounded by pure white clouds even looked as if she could reach out and grasp it almost. Did she sure she wasn't dead? Something whooshed over head and she looked up again to sparkling light. The two comets or shooting stars where still in front of her but much farther up ahead as they descended to the subcon planet. They were headed right for a giant strange dark, purple spot along one of the coasts as she could see, and even if they weren't on the same path, she could see from where she was slowly falling that she was headed right to that strange purple area too. It looked and gave her a different feeling compared to the rest of the planet. It looked....almost sad. Why? Well she was about to find out as she continued to free fall slowly but steadily down towards the world. She breifly wondered where her kingdom was and what happened to it for all this time but those thoughts were short lived when suddenly a giant gust of air blasted her in the face and on instinct shut her eyes and held her arms in front of her head to sheild her. She had just broken through the atmosphere of the plant and now free falling faster through the sky. Faced down towards the ground but after a moment she dared to reopen them. What came outta her was a sudden gasp of shock as panic and fear once again pulsed through her veins. She wasn't just in the wide open endless space anymore, she was falling through the sky pretty fast with white fluffy clouds whizzing by her now very fast form and she could barely open her eyes with all the wind blasting her right now. Her braid and hair whipping around wildly ultimately coming undone and becoming a red streak behind her. Making her look like a falling streak of a comment ready to strike the planet. She was taking deep breath and tumbling head over heels, her world turning that that time she tumbled down the hill as a kid. Only it went Sky n clouds then Purple land. Sky n clouds. Purple land. SKY N CLOUDS!! PURPLE LAND!! PURPLE!! BLUE!! WHITE!! PURPLE!! BLUE!! WHITE!! By this rate she would meet her doom when she hit the ground!! She slammed her eyes shut as she saw what looked like the ground and her body crashlanded into something hard making pain explode into the side of her body she slammed into what felt like wood!! WOOD definately!! Poppy knew that plant feeling anywhere. She yelled and cried out as her body slammed and tumbled into branches and other vegitation stranded on the vines. Just when she was SURE she would be made into a human pancake- SHE STOPPED!! The feeling of rope wrapped around her made her uneasy as she just kept her eyes slammed shut, shook, and breathed heavily.

Over head crows cawed and flew away sensing something bigger than her and the giant spider who might've attacked her for food immediately decided to climb up higher in the trees away from her and try to hide within the branches. With her eyes shut she didn't see the giant shadow rush past her on his way home, nor did he notice her hung above stranded by vines. She continued to breath heavily until with the confidence she was blessed with by her father, she opened one eye..... and seeing herself hung maybe three feet above the very edge of a dirty pond, she opened the other. Still breathing heavily, she blinked at the ground before wipping her head up and around. Purple. Around herself was lots of purple, dead trees, and when she looked behind her she saw what would would be called a bog. The only problem was there was enough fog surrounding her to make it where she couldn't see more than maybe ten feet away from her current position. Her body like suspected, was held up by vines most likely from the trees she crash landed into. Leaves and sticks stuck into her now long waist length hair. Her mind worried about not being able to see where exactly this bog began or ended, but after a moment she sighed. Heart beat going down. Glad she was still alive at least- SNAP!! She yelped and a moment later a loud splash echoed out as the vines finally gave under her weight and left the poor lady crashing into the swamp water. Thank peck it was only a few inches but that didn't stop her from becoming all dirty and wet from it. She quickly pushed her front from the swamp water and spat out the dirt tasting water from her mouth coughing and reaching one arm up to rub at her eyes as she use the other to crawl out from it. She didn't see the magic arm from the swamp reach out to drag her further in but stopped because 1. She was already too far close to the edge to really drag in, and 2. She was out within a few seconds anyways. The magic arm retreated from where it came from just as fast and she still didn't see it as she continued o cough and spit out the taste. Groaning and sitting upon her knees as she got her bearings and let her body have a moment from the light feeling of falling from space, pain from crash landing in trees, and now cold and wet from the water now. Once she was done getting the taste out of her mouth she stuck her tongue out in a normal 'yuck' expression and blinked around at the strange fog induced place of purple. She....She must've crash landed in some kind of bog or swamp. Either way, she was glad she wasn't dead at least.

"......Frozen to death for a thousand years loosing everything by the hands of a crazy queen turned into a monster, who then got rescued by aliens on a spaceship with a ghost father, then I fell from space into a bog and now I'm all dirty and wet while almost dying again......Can't get worse than this surely," she muttered as she shakily pushed herself on aching legs and shimmied out of whatever vines were left clinging to her. Now was not the time for sitting down and feeling sorry for her situation no matter how unbeleivable it was or how much her body ached. What she needed right now was a way out. Now what did she learn on her Dad's farm? "Let's see." She held her chin. "The planet's sun rises to the very middle of the sky when it's exactly 12 p.m. every day except in winter when days are slower and it changes to 2 p.m., so depending on where I landed on the planet it could be any time. ...And it's too foggy to determine what time zone or direction it's heading." She could pull her hair at that. Ok. THINK Poppy! The sky was a bright blue when you fell. So at most it's somewhere between a late-ish morning and early afternoon. So at most she was somewhere realtivly in the middle of a continant right? So either way if her planet's sun was somewhere in at least the north of the sky...That would mean...She still had no idea. "UGH!! How do sailors navigate like this!?"

OK!! Obviously the fog was messing up her surroundings and even looking up proved no results as she groaned and looked around some more until she spotted it....MOSS!! OF COURSE!! WHY HADN'T SHE THOUGHT OF THAT SOONER?! MOSS USUALLY GROWS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF TREES!! Poppy instantly began looking around at these poor, poor trees. Breifly wondering why they were all so devoid of life and low and behold there it was!! A small patch of green dingy moss stuck out on one tree near the swamp water and quicker than she thought, she raced towards it and grabbed the old crusty bark where it was. Now moss didn't ALWAYS grow on the side of trees but it was the only thing she could go on at the moment and guess. She stood up slowly after inspecting it and looked in the direction it was pointing, towards the water.

"So if north is presumably in THAT direction, then south would be in the complete opposite. Which means east would be behind me and west in front." She gave a cringe look at the water again. "And considering the water seems to end there....the most likely way to avoid this water would be to go in the opposite direction." She pointed a hand in what hopefully was south. "So that way would seem the best way to get out of this creepy place."

Or at least she hoped so. Hang on a second? Wasn't she supposed to be with some kind of little alien? Where the world did they go?! She literally free fell was space to her doom for crying out loud! Was this how aliens traveled to planets?! By freefalling from their ship? She shook her head, some of the dirt and sticks falling to the ground from her tangled up mess. She had better get stepping if she wanted to find some way out of here..and get a bath. But she soon discovered it wasn't going to be that easy trudging through the weird swamp or dead forest fast. The fog was so thick it would've taken at least four of the strongest lumberjacks in the land to make so much as a dent in it. The only thing she could see were tall long slender shadows which turned out to just be more dead trees. It was strange, these trees had no life in them that's for sure...but also showed no signs of rotting away like she was sure they should've had by the looks of them. strange. The only plants that she had seen so far that were alive was the strange vines she had thankfully been caught in before hitting the ground, it was strange. Purple dirt, heavy fog, dead trees all around...Made for something out of a campfire story. She couldn't even see the any sunlight beyond this stuff. As the woman made her way through the thick fog and strange forest of dead wood, she was VERY unaware of the dangers that lurked in them. After about maybe twenty or thirty minutes of this walking she brought her arms up to start rubbing at her sides. It wasn't very warm where ever she was, and her damp clothes clinging to her weren't helping either. Maybe it would've been better if she had just stayed on that ship with that blanket....

Maybe she would've been better off not even coming to this kingdom in the first place. If she knew a crazy queen was going to-

"Miss Poppy!?"

She jumped and snapped her head around at hearing her own name being called. It sounded very soft and distant, but still loud enough to be heard faintly. Could it be someone was looking for her or was she hearing things?

"HELLO?! IS SOMEONE THERE!! I CAN SURE USE A PECKIN' HAND HERE!!," she yelled out but got no response in return for her shout.

Whatever it was, it left as soon as it came but that didn't stop her from still looking around and not paying attention to where she was going so she shouldn't have been surprised when the ground suddenly swallowed her up making her fall backwards and yell out. What swallowed her up was a large flash of white and she once again felt herself get stuck up feet in the air again. Oh pecking GREAT! What had she gotten herself into NOW?! The white sheet felt like some kind of rucksack her father used to use to sack the potatoes before charting them off to the market place. But it was a dingy white from being hidden under a layer of dirt for who knows how long, and instead of potatoes it was HER that was stuck in them. Well not on her watch! Poppy, fed up with everything at this point just gritted her teeth and began pushing against the confines of her new prison. It was tight, compact, and obviously meant to hold tightly. Whoever had made it knew EXACTLY what they were doing when making it.

"PECKING STUPID TARP THING!!" She pushed against it and it wasn't easy in the cramped space and the swaying she caused with her pushing against the sides trying to get loose. Too bad she didn't have some kind of sheers or sharp object to cut through the thick tarp thing. "LET ME OUT!! IM DONE WITH THIS PECKING SHI-"

She was shut up when she felt the whole world shake. Knocking the poor trapped woman back onto her behind within the trap, what sounded like a humungous tree cracking and falling over with the shaking made her freeze up more as a sudden feeling of dread came over her and it was backed up by the swaying of the trap. Also caused by the shaking. The panicked cawing of crows as they flew to safety amplified whatever she was feeling, blue eyes looking around wildly until they locked onto movement. SOMETHING. BIG. Was just outside the tarp. A shadown silently moved along side the outside of the tarp and her breath hitched. OK! Don't freak Poppy! It was probably just a wild animal. Like a deer or a giant bird. Oh she hoped it wasn't a bear!

SNAP!!

The woman tumbled out from the bottem of the trap and her yelp was interrupted as she face planted the dirt. Dirt and small twings sticking to her still damp self. Purple. EVERYWHERE. Suddenly dark purple. Her head raised in horror as reality itself disappeared and purple warped her view everywhere. Her red hair coming down to block her face and screw up her world veiw even more but she preferred that over the same giant shadow suddenly falling over her and the booming raspy voice behind it that turned her body back to ice.

"AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! FFFFFOOOOOOOLLLLL!!! YOU BLEW IT PUNY MORTAL!! NO ONE ENTERS MY DOMAIN AND WALKS OUT THE SAME!!" Poppy's frame began to shake as the foreboding feeling of something LARGE looming over her leaned down closer to her body. Goosebumps covered herself and the tall figure could literally hear her teeth chatter and her body shake. The fanged smile of Snatcher smiled despite himself, despite the day and a half. At least he could get a little pleasure out of seeing puny mortals shake before his might like they should be and see the fright in their eyes....Only he couldn't see her eyes, she was facing away from him. That would soon be fixed though. "You came at a very bad time, Lady. Unfortunately for you I'm not in a 'living' mood today. But tell you what, I'll grant you the honor of seeing your demise before it happens. Now. Turn. Around. And maybe I'll allow you to say some last words."

Poppy couldn't!! She just remained frozen within the dark of the shadow before her...but her body as if under some kind of spell, shaking badly, slowly turned to meet her doom. Snatcher smiled his best menacing smiled at the dirty sea of flame red hair, as the woman's arm was shaking. SLOWLY reaching up to move her hair away and he could clearly see the oh so scared blue horrified eyes and red freckles dotted along her face like rose petals blowing in the wind. But when they met....Both had opposite reactions. Poppy let a sudden inhale and loud gasp come from her throat. Feeling the blood drain from her face as the shadow blocked out any light avalible and what met her in the light's place was two round yellow eyes and a frowning mouth. She was an ant compared to him and for another time in her life, felt very very small. The entirety of the ghosts amusement and glee ABSOLUTELY disappeared once the features of the woman was shown to him. Making the ghost look like he's seen a ghost.

.......No.....NO!...NONONONONO!! This wasn't-.....N O! The ghost's arms shook as he just stared down this woman. Yellow eyes wide and many many memories suddenly slapping him in the face as those yellow eyes saw the seen play before him as a downward spiral for him in panic and fear. A seen in a dungeon, a sobbing prince hanging from shackles as the cold crept in, one last promise escaping his lips to a Princess of Flowers. Sharp as a thorn. Hair red as roses. Blue eyes like hydrangeas. Skin as soft as petals. And always surrounded by a scent better than any lily. A final promise and good bye he made long ago with his final dying breath-

"I-Im s-so sorry, Poppy. I-...love-...you ..w-with all my heart and soul....may my soul...never....forget...that.."

"A-A-A-.......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Poppy frightfully ducked her hand back down at the unholy yell coming from the ghost and even when it stopped suddenly she didn't look up as it echoed throughout the plain of existance she was currently in.........It was like a weight was suddenly lifted from her chest and the heavy feeling of being small went away, as did the feeling of indemping doom and fright...She blinked utterly confused...and dared to look confused back over her shoulder. The....snake shadow...thing was a little ways from her facing away and having his back towards her having a moment it seemed. She guessed whatever was considered his back(she was also guessing it was male by the voice) was facing her and it's tail and two arms was sprawled on the dark purple ground holding it up as it seemed to heave and make raspy breaths. Snatcher's mind went absolutely blank and his noodle arms shook every few seconds as he gathered himself from the sudden flashback he didn't expect. Poppy gazed at him breaths heaving before looking around this strange purple place, looked as it it was some sick purple snowglobe. And began to back awa- Poppy stopped. Literally stopped as her back made contact with some kind of invisible wall she couldn't see as she tapped the palm of her hand against it a few times. Still glancing at the giant purple creature to her rig-

"You can't get out," he rasped out. Poppy jumped whirling back around to her captor as Snatcher still stared down at the purple dirt. Eyes narrowing and a frown coming over his face but he still didn't look at the petrified girl. "...WHO are you and why are you in my forest?"

Poppy's mouth was already open in fear, but at this ...thing speaking to her in her own language..Well. It was that shock that drove away the shock from being scared and make her blink at the giant thing. Only one thing could escape her mouth and she didn't mean to say it either. "Why?"

....The thing's head raised to twist around to her with that fed up expression and she shut up again. "I ask the pecking questions here fool! And I won't repeat myself either so you better fess up before I change my mind. And trust me when I say no one likes that."

She gave a shutter and curled her knees up hugging her arms. "I-I....I don't know-"

"That's NOT an answer. You got here and I want to know HOW and NOW!!" His voice shook the empty space and she ....well she scowled back at him temper at the back of her mind started to flare up a wee bit from all she's been through.

"I said I don't know! I don't know where I am and the only way I got here is by crash landing from space and falling into from rotting wood! You pecking purple jack-o-lanturn worm!!" If he was going to be her doom then so be it! She had nothing to gain or lose.

The thing seemed to almost flinch and a brief moment of surprise flashed across his face before the scowl came back. Thick country accent sounded like her- "How did you get in space?", he asked getting up and floating again staring down at her. He was easily sixteen feet.

Her brow rose. "I was rescued by a little girl-''

"Hattie," Snatcher mutter gazing off in thought. ...Woman in an apron. Those eyes snapped back to her. "What. Is. Your. Name?"

"......Poppy."

He flinched back eyes widening.....before a hum escaped him and he just...stared at her for a good long time. Neither said anything as they stared silently at each other and Poppy felt as though he was suddenly her every feature right down to staring into her very soul. And he might as well with what he mentioned earlier. Her blue eyes widened again when he floated forward, herself straining against the invisible wall as the purple reality slowly disappeared back into the foggy forest of dead trees and fog-

"Oof!"

The wall suddenly disappeared and had her landing on her back and looking up at the thing as it loomed over her again, this time reaching down and picking her up by the back of her dress and once again she was magically back in the air suspended by his arm. She got a good look up close of his face with was human-like in shape and what looked to be hair on his head and a sorta like lion mane of more purple hair around his neck and shoulders. Those narrowed eyes stared at her suspended messy self another glance before he hummed again.

"You and I are in for a very long talk to catch up."