#and i told her nicely to back up along w the quarter horse to give him space / stop trying to steal

[sweater-equestrian]

didnt expect to get into a very scary shoving match w our draft today but alas

[hazbinextgeneration]

Into The Casino Ch3

The usual hussle n bussle of the casino made it's way around the duo as they made their way around the place. The more taller one of the two was carefully sweeping his red eyes over the crowd searching for one certain lost pup. Or should I say horse. "Are you certain you left her here?" He gave a raised brow at the cyborg who nodded. "Yeah. She was right here-" she gestured to the floor as they walked. ''-all soak 'n wet and hungrier than Disease on a hangover." He hummed and gave another turn of his head over the ever loud herd of demons. An opportunity like this shouldn't be wasted, and he certainly wasn't about to miss out on it either. It was one thing to be a rich and powerful tyrant over a small territory, but it was a whole other thing if one had something so pure and....interesting under their hold. Considering what Cyber told him about she had said...Who just claims to be sent down against their will by a god? This was too good to just let go. He knew there was something about this situation worth investigating. He turned left and stopped- Almost causing Cyber to walk into him. She gave him a confused sideways glance just as one of those curled smiles formed on his face, and his body maneuvered to the right.

"It seems-" He smirked at the sight of the pale blonde and white mass of hair and the horn sticking up from it standing in the corner of the slot machine corner. She would've been hard to spot at first if you didn't look hard enough like he was, luckily he's always had a nack for finding grand opportunities. "I've found our little pet.~ Cyber, come along." He ordered her as he began walking straight towards the unsuspecting girl. Being the taller and owner of the casino, it was fairly easy for them to maneuver through the crowd and over towards the corner of noisy machines. She didn't seem to notice them at first as she was giving the machine closest to her a curious look at the pictures spun around again, she was probably wondering how they even worked, until her ear raised and her head turned towards them. Instantly she stood up in instinct to bolt but instead ended up just freezing on the spot when she spotted the smaller demon. Maybe it was because she recognized Cyber or the fact that 2 demons were standing between her and the exit, but she didn't move when they came to stand in front of her. Her face was frozen in a state of uncertainty and scared curiousity. "Greetings.~ Apologies for the sudden intrusion, '' He held out a red clawed hand out to her and smiled ''-but I couldn't help but find the story you told Cyber here-" He quickly nodded towards her "-very interesting." She didn't say anything and just glanced between the two.....Before a sudden look of realization came over her. Then sudden regret as she stared at him. "You...Oh my god! I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean t-to.." Her stomach sank as she realized exactly who was actually talking to her. She knew tripping up would cause later problem. She went to apologize again but he cut her off when he held up his hand. "If it's about the tail stepping incident, then you have nothing to worry about. Everyone makes mistakes. That's why we're all down here after all." He chuckled making her give a confused look before bringing his hand back to examine his red claws. "Actually I'm quite happy you did. I probably wouldn't have seen you otherwise." "If..y-you're not mad," she asked slowly shuffling back, ''-then why are you cornering me?" He raised a brow and gave her probably the most dark smirk she'd ever seen since-...Yeah. Better not bring that up. "I happen to be one to have an eye for great opportunities. And believe me when I say that I never miss a chance to better business-" "What does that have to do with me?" She backed up even more. There was no way she was going to become someone else's showpony. "I-I don't have anything on me." She gestured to her body's lack of pockets. New Plan. Make herself as less desirable as possible! "I don't have money, or anything valuable. Y-You're wasting your time-" "I think you're mistaken." He cut her off again and chuckled. "I'm not here to rob you, I'm here to offer you the chance of a lifetime.~" She stared blankly at him for what seemed like a full minute before saying the typical 'What?' he was expecting. He laughed and took a few steps towards her. "Maybe I should be more specific. You see-" An arm snaked around her and pulled her to his side as he spoke. She froze. "I usually never do this, but you are a very special exception.~ You see. I'm always on the look out for...useful and hardworking people for my business. And once I saw you..Heh. Well I knew you'd be useful to me in someway, and after what Cyber told me about your little run in with the Goddess Life-..." His smile curled at the ends as he began stepping, guiding her towards the stairs with Cyber in tow. "The Goddess of all plant life. Well that just sealed the deal for me. But what do think Ms.-...?" "A-..Amalfia," she squeaked out. She looked over her shoulder at Cyber but she just shrugged and nodded back at the taller demon. "I don't think I really know w-what you're t-talking about? W-What job?" He barked a laugh making her flinch. "Well, there's plenty of things you could do." He gazed up and rubbed two red claws together in thought. "Maid, cook, dishwasher-...Maybe a waitress? But I think I'm in need of a more....personal assistant-" "Personal assistant?" "Basically you'll be my everything and take care of things I don't have time to do. Taking care of my personal quarters and items, bringing me food- Do you know how to organize paperwork?" She was confused by this but nodded, one of the things she picked up on from being around a paper pushing father. "Excellent! I think you'll fit the role perfectly!" "So...Basically you want me as a secretary and personal house cleaner? Why wo-?" "I know this is quite out of the blue, but I assure you I pay very well.~" They finally stopped walking and stopped in front of the stairs as demons kept walking around them. "I think you would find the pay good." His arm unhooked from around her as he turned to stand in front of her. "And not just that. Three meals a day, clean clothes, a roof over your head, plenty of utensils at your disposal-...How about it?" She stood there gapping like a goldfish sputtering random squeaks and noises that sounded like almost words as the taller demon continued to stare at her. "If you have any doubts, you can ask Cyber any questions. All of my employees are satisfied with their pay." "I-I-....A-Absolutely n-" "Absolutely? Wonderful!" A hand grabbed hers as he shook her hand with that giant smile. "I assure that you'll find everything here to your delight. Cyber will show you to your new room and...Cyber." He looked behind her shoulder at the smaller demon. "Make sure she gets cleaned up and dry. Can't have my new employee coming down with the flu from that nasty rain now. Report back to me when she's all settled." The unicorn being gave them a blank look as Cyber gently grabbed her arm and began to lead her away from the taller demon. "Sure, Boss. C'mon. I have a nice room in mind for ya." ============================================= "I don't see why you had to interrupt me from my work. I thought you would have something better to do." The plant demon sighed and reached a hand up to rub his temples to rub at the already bad headache starting to form from trying to explain this situation again to her. Someone wrapped their arm around the frowning woman pulling her against his side with a purr. "Nah. He just wants some info, Honey.~ And we both know how much you love researching weird magic things." A hand pushed his face back a bit and he gave off a small growl. "That's true..." "She's not some new toy for you to dissect, Midnight." He scowled at her making his point perfectly clear. "I just want to know what I should expect from her." She gave off a huff and turned from the snake's hold to a shelf to the right. Her hand hovered over a few covers before stopping at one, pulling it out and giving it a quick look over, and blowing the dust off it. She paid no mind to the two males coughing and opened the book. Skimming through a couple pages before stopping and raising a brow. "Unicorn....Being of purity. Last known living one spotted in 1922. Rumored miracle maker with the spiraled horn on their heads which was also used by ancient medicine man and shamans to vanquish evil and ward off evil spirits. Their blood was known to be used in potions to increase their affects-" "Yes, yes," He pushed impatiently, "That's all very well. But is there any benefits for me keeping her under check." Her brow rose. "There's plenty of uses for her in here." She patted the book. "It even has a recipe for how to cook her meat to give someone immunity to fire-" "That's repulsive!" He made a disgusted face. "I don't plan on becoming a cannibal, or killing something that's worth more alive. Now what can I use to my advantage?" She groaned and looked back down to the pages. "..........Some ancient rulers were known to keep them as pets or tools for war. Their horns which were usually spiraled or curved were known to contain powerful magic similar to angelic essence which coursed through their entire being. This magic could easily be controlled by special collars but only be used if said creature was still alive and the horn was still intact to their heads." She looked back up at him. "Is this what you want?" He didn't talk for a moment and stood there. Thinking. What an opportunity.~ He smiled that dark smile of his before turning back to them. "Well. What an interesting new development.~ I think I found a more ideal purpose for our newest member.~" "Ooooh!~ Whatcha got planned Lou-y? Gonna chop off that pretty horn and use it for a paper weight?" He chuckled. "I think I have a more...useful idea in mind.~"

All characters besides Amalfia belongs to @palettepainter

[woollyslisterblog]

1834 July Saturday 26th

Much entertained by Anna Choma interview tonight which prompted me to get another daily post up. Did rather like her evidence AL of wearing/giving blue as signifying interest in the ladies. Perhaps this shade could be the modern day signifier? (Makes a change from the lavender ribbons of the nineties -showing my age again)

Q 6:50 11 ½

her bed stock’s creaked so that the people in the adjoining room being up, I put Miss W[alker]s bedding on the floor and we had a good long kiss about three quarters hour with her- packing - breakfast at 9 to after 10 - dressed -

Anne and I out at 11:40 - went to Dérogis bought Bardon’s antique costumes of the Greeks etc two volumes quarto Bailey's histoire de l’astronomie 4 volumes quarto all for 35/. and the Dusseldorf Gallery (fine old engravings) 30/. and the maps to Anacharsis 5/. and for Ann, Michelet’s abridgment of modern history (seems very good) 1 volume broché duodecimo printed at Bruxelles 4/. then little panorama of the lake 2/. and coloured print of Swiss costumes 8/. -

back at the hotel at 12 1/4 - as the carriage came to the door and off at 12:20 from the hotel des Berges - told the master of the house I was very well satisfied - then to the bank (Hentsch’s) sent up for the money for £50 two circulars exchange 25/ 25, and sat in the carriage while it was brought - got 32 napoleons the rest in silver having still Mount Blanc in my head - delayed 20 minutes - then took up the parcel of books and off from chez Dèsrogis at 12 3/4 - pass through the goodish Ville of Carouge till 1816 belonging to Savoy and capital of the district of the same name – given by the holy alliance to Geneva – at the nice enough little ville of St Julie, now capital of Carouge , at 1:40 and showed my passport to the Sardinian carabinieres who immediately and very civilly let us pass at 2:42 at Frabe said the Postillion and at Feigère according to the Douaniers and the map - the douaniers very civil - said they were obliged to examine something, but would not look into the carriage and only just peeped into one of the Imperials while we changed horses, and we were off in 12 minutes -

excellent road along the foot of the Salève, the high singular calcerous white steppy mountain we looked upon from our windows at the hotel de Berges - the Salève very fine - the Mount de Sion a French lower mountain and all green and cultivated joins the end of it and closes the ampitheatrical valley of Geneva - from the Mount de Sion very fine views of the town Hahe - out to 3:35 began the descent of Mount de Sion and turn left round the foot of the Salève, and fine view down into Savoy - everywhere shut in in the distance by high mountains - white calcerous - the hoary rugged tops of many of them white as if streaked or covered with snow - very picturesque drive -

at Cruiselles at 4:10 picturesque village at the bottom of the valley - no post horses kept here (we left the direct road too Aix and Chambery (right) just out of Saint Julien) but luckily the diligence had arrived a little while before and without stopping to bait the horses properly we were off with them in 18 minutes, driving 3 and letting the 4th follow - we could not have stopt comfortably at the auberge at Cruiselle's - from Cruiselles the white rocky mountains rather approach one and firmly back the green wooded and cultivated hills - very picturesque beautiful drive - narrow though good road - at 5:25 after crossing the little river Fier (probably in winter a large stream) over the new wooden bridge of la Caille, stopt a few minutes at the little village of la Caille to water the horses - fine white rugged mountains seemed at a little distance en face - at 5:50 to 6:00 and afterwards the fine white rugged mountains magnificent - finally standing out like mountain headlands at sea – 6:10 find beautiful magnificent descent up the hill strewed plain, and fine views of Annecy situated at the foot of Mount St Catherine qui fait partie de la chaîne des Bauges but the lake not in sight, but the Lake hid

- at 6:47 view (near) of the nice town of Annecy with its 3 or 4 churches and fine larger castle - at 6:47 first view of the picturesque little finally mountain-locked lake - at the hotel de Genève at Annecy at 7 - walked 1/4 hour along the handsome poplar and platinus shaded Ave along the shallow reedy top of the lake - finely surrounded by mountains -

dinner at 7:05 to 8 1/2 - the public salle le manger but nobody there at first and only two guests at last - man and girl (harp and she singing) came to us at dinner - sat writing in Ann’s room while she got into bed and fell asleep at 9 3/4 and wrote of yesterday and today till 11 - very fine day F 68° at 11:05 pm

[rohad93]

Magic & Monsters Ch8

Ruby stood leaning against the wall, shadowed by a pillar as the setting sun shone through the castles great windows.

She watched the guards lead the chained servant down into the dungeon. Dragging him along by the elbows and banging him into anything they could as they did. He didn’t put up any kind of fight and kept his eyes trained on the ground beneath him, even as they took him not too gently down the stone stairs.

She glanced around at the crowd of servants. The elves among the faces were stony and pensive, no doubt cursing the trouble Adam’s actions would bring them if the mumbling and side glances of the humans in the crowd were anything to go by.

Relations between humans and non-humans was usually tense at best but things were going to become strained around the castle, she had no doubt of that.

She sighed heavily through her nose and slipped through the crowd and down the hall.

There were still a few servants walking around, though most had gone to the other end of the castle to see the guilty party be drug through the halls. The air in the castle had changed. Ruby could feel it in the air.

Everyone was tense, waiting.

She turned the corner to her hall and caught Weiss walking out of her room.

“Ah, Ruby, I was just coming to look for you.” The Sorceress said. “Shall we speak in your quarters?”

Ruby nodded and Weiss followed her inside.

“I spoke to Mistress Goodwitch and the King is incredibly pleased by your quick work.” Weiss informed her, sitting herself in a chair in the corner of the room as Ruby worked at the straps of her armor.

“I didn’t do it alone. You were the one who was able to track him down through the fisstech.” She glanced at the Sorceress over her shoulder as she gently pulled the armor off her injured arm.

“True,” Weiss acknowledged, crossing her legs and frowning at the little tears in her dress from their gallop through the forest. “However he would have escaped into the forest if not for your quick thinking.” She admitted, picking at the blue material.

“What will happen to Adam?” She asked. Weiss snorted, jerking her head and making her long white ponytail sway.

“He murdered thirty people.” She stated plainly. “At daybreak he will be executed, those were the Kings orders to Oobleck.” She brushed some dirt from her sleeve. Ruby nodded.

“Unexpectedly, his majesty will be here in a week, after his current business at Signal is concluded. He plans to spend the remainder of the season in Beacon and he wishes to give you his thanks in person.”

“I’m hoping that his thanks comes with coin as well.” Ruby quipped, sitting on the edge of the bed to face the Sorceress.

“You were promised pay and you’ll have it.” She assured, standing and walking over to the closed balcony doors and gazed out at the gardens. Ruby watched her and became immediately aware that they had yet to speak about what had happened in this very room just last night. She cleared her throat nervously.

“Weiss,” She started and the Sorceress turned partially toward her, giving her her attention.

“Could we talk… about… uh, last night?” She ran a hand nervously through her hair. Weiss turned back toward the windows so Ruby couldn’t see her red face.

“W-what about it?” She tried not to trip on her words.

“It was… well, I just… I wanted to…” She tripped all over her words before stopping and taking a calming breath through her nose.

“I was… hoping that we could do more stuff together… not like stuff like last night.” She hurried to correct herself. “Not that that wouldn’t be good too. I mean like yesterday when we were talking in the library or eating together..,” She trailed off, she wanted to just slap herself.

Weiss was torn between amusement at the Witcher’s nervous babbling and her own embarrassment and regret at what she was about to say.

“Ruby,” She started slowly. “Last night… was a mistake.” She turned to face her.

“Oh,” Was the quiet reply that made Weiss’s stomach drop. Those silver eyes had slid to the floor.

“It has nothing to do with you!” She hurried to assure the Witcher that now resembled a kicked puppy.

“So… what is it then?” Ruby gazed back up at her questioningly.

“Last night… It was… nice.” She admitted. “Very nice.” She mumbled to herself but Ruby’s extraordinary hearing caught it and her stomach flipped. “I am, however, not the type for… relationships.” She turned back toward the balcony, gazing out the glass at the sun setting over the garden.

“I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that I can be… challenging.” She admitted with a grimace and that made Ruby grin.

‘No kidding…’ she thought but knew it had been heard when Weiss glared at her in the reflection of the glass. She crossed the room in a few large steps until she was standing a scant few inches behind her. The sudden proximity forcing Weiss to turn and face her.  

“I like a challenge.” She smiled, her cat like eyes locking onto Weiss’s baby blues. “I like you, Weiss.” She admitted, running a hand once more through her hair. A nervous habit she cursed even as she did it.

“You don’t know me.” The Sorceress said, looking up at the Witcher from under her eyelids.

“I know that you’re smart and witty, if a little... snarky.” She grinned at Weiss’s frown. “I also know that you’re beautiful and a powerful Sorceress.” Ruby listed making said Sorceress flush.

“But I know that that’s not much. I want to know more, if you’ll let me.” She finished.

Weiss fisted a hand into the skirt of her dress as she stared up at those silver cat like eyes.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat interested in the Witcher. She was goofy and not at all as serious as she probably should be and it was irritating but also somewhat endearing.  

Ruby’s nerves were on end and when the Sorceress took to long to answer she backtracked.

“If you don't feel the same that’s fine. I shouldn't have put all that on you.” She started to step back just for a soft, petite hand to latch onto her wrist with a steely grip, making her freeze.

“Be quiet you dolt.” Weiss snapped, her grip on the Witcher tightening. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I never said I didn’t… feel the same.” The fierceness drained from her voice. Her eyes catching hopeful silver and her stomach did a somersault against her will and they slid down to the floor, trained on Ruby’s boots.

“I… you wouldn’t be happy with me.” She mumbled, hating to admit it aloud to anyone, even to herself.

Ruby’s hand twisted in her grip, freeing herself from the hold just to slip her calloused hand back into Weiss’s softer one, making the mage look back up at her.

“Shouldn’t I get to decide whether or not I’m happy?” She smiled and Weiss turned away, flustered and aggravated by that ridiculous smile.

“Fine,” She barked making Ruby jump at the sudden declaration.

“Fine?” The Witcher repeated, blinking, confused.

“We… can try.” She squeezed the slightly larger hand in hers.

Ruby ginned stupidly and Weiss turned away, rolling her eyes but couldn’t deny the warmth that spread through her chest.

She pulled her hand out of Ruby’s and stepped around the Witcher, going toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Ruby questioned. She glanced at Ruby over her shoulder.

“Dinner will be be served soon and I will not be showing up like this.” She gestured to her dirty and ripped dress with a disdainful scowl.

‘You still look amazing to me.’ Ruby couldn’t help but think.

“Shut up…” The Sorceress gumbled before strutting out of the room.

“I didn’t even say anything…” The Witcher said, smiling to the empty room.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Early the next morning just before day break Ruby was in the stable, saddling her horse. The execution would start before to long so she needed to get going.

Zwei snorted happily as she stroked his soft nose before pulling herself into his saddle.

“I never would have pegged you for the sort of voyuer that attended public executions.” Weiss’s voice made her jump in the saddle.

“I hate them, actually.” She turned enough to see the other woman standing near Stardust’s stall. How had she snuck up on her? She could see the questioning look on the mages face.

The unspoken question was obvious.

“I… just feel like… I have to watch. I helped catch him. I just feel… responsible. I can’t explain it.” She shrugged.

“He was responsible for the death of thirty people and you feel responsible for his execution?” The disbelief in her voice was palpable.

“I know that he deserves exactly what he’s getting. I told you I can’t explain it. It’s just something I need to do. I’m surprised you’re not going.” She looked at the Sorceress quizzically.

“I’ve seen more than enough public hangings and beheadings to last a lifetime.” She drawled, bored of the subject already as she brushed her fingers through Stardusts soft gray mane.

“Are we still having lunch together when I get back?” The Witcher asked, a hopeful lilt to her voice.

Weiss glanced at her, seeming to consider the question as though they hadn’t made the plans already.

“If you return in a timely manner then I should still have time.” She replied loftily, turning back to Stardust so Ruby couldn't see the silly little smile that had crawled onto her face.

“I’ll be back soon.” She said with a nod, knowing that Weiss was still listening.

She nudged Zwei and they were off, trotting out of the stables and through the courtyard. His hooves clapping against the stones echoed across the silent estate. Most people who were heading into town to see the execution had left already to ensure the best possible view. The rest were only now crawling out of bed to start their day, unconcerned about another execution.

The sound of gently running water moving under the bridge as Ruby and Zwei trotted over made the morning seem calm and serene despite the fact that she was on her way to said execution.

Ruby hated them but public executions were treated like festivals in most small towns and villages in every kingdom. Something about potential death and blood spilling attracted people like flies.

Glancing at the trees around her she noted that a few leaves had gone from vibrant green to dull brown. Perhaps fall would be coming earlier than usual this year.

Once she was in hearing distance of the town she could make out the quiet rumbling of the large crowd in the town square where the execution would be taking place.

For the most part the streets were deserted, and the few people that she did see were heading the same direction as her. A gaggle of small children ran by her, weaving around Zwei, their dirty, bare feet slapping against the stones and their happy squeals bounced off the buildings as they vanished around the corner.

When she and Zwei rounded the corner they were at the back of a large crowd of people, but straddled atop Zwei she had a perfect view of the scaffold only about twenty yards in front of her.

She glanced around the crowd. Everyone had come out to see the execution. Humans, dwarves, and elves.

A spot of inky black caught her attention and she turned to see, standing just a few feet away from her was the the gold eyed elven servant she’d run into a couple days before; Blake.

Directing Zwei close she stopped just next to her, though she didn’t seem to notice.

Her eyes were rimmed with red as though she had been crying though not a tear was visible on her pale skin now.  

“Are you alright?” She found herself asking all of a sudden. Blake startled, something akin to fear flashed in her eyes until she saw who it was speaking to her.

“Mistress Witcher.” She nodded her head in simple greeting.

“Are you alright?” Ruby repeated her question.

She stared up at the Witcher silently for several long moments before turning back to the still empty scaffold and shrugging.

“We grew up together.” She admitted quietly at last but said nothing else.

“I’m sorry.” Ruby said.

Gold eyes whipped back up to her, wide and full of surprise.

“You’re sorry?’ The elf repeated, dumbfounded. Ruby nodded.

“He… killed thirty people...” She said quietly but with no less conviction than how anyone else disgusted and appalled by his actions would have.

“I’m not sorry that he’s getting the punishment he deserves.” Ruby explained calmly as Bake looked up at her. “I’m sorry for the pain it’s causing you.”

Blake turned, eyes once again fixed on the scaffold.

Neither of them said anything else for a long while. Truly, Ruby thought the conversation was over, until Blake’s quiet voice reached her ears.

“Thank you.”  

She was still faced away, eyes fixed on the scaffold. Ruby said nothing.

It wasn’t long after the exchange that a cart came rolling down the street, pulled by a pair of dark horses. Standing in the cart was a single guard, an official looking man wearing the colors of the kingdom and the executioner, donned in his hood and holding an axe in one hand. Standing between them, his hands bound and eyes staring straight ahead was Adam.

The guard tugged on the reigns, bringing the cart to a slow stop at the stairs to the scaffold. The guard and executioner disembarked, pulling the condemned down with them.

They walked Adam up the stairs of the scaffold following the official looking man carrying a rolled up parchment.

The crowd yelled and cheered, jeering and throwing things at the condemned man before the official raised his hands and bid them to quiet before his booming voice carried out over the crowd.

“Adam Taurus, for the conspiracy and murder of no less than thirty human citizens of Vale, you have been sentenced to death by beheading, as ordered by his royal majesty, King Ozpin of Vale!” He waved his hands at the crowd urging them to be quiet when they began to shout again. The din subsided enough for him to continue on.

“If you have any last words, speak them now or may they forever be lost!” He finished.

“Glorsann a’ Aen Seidhe!” He bellowed at the crowd with a snarl before they forced him to his knees and placed his head on the block

The crowd again began to yell and sway around them. Zwei shook his head, snorting. Ruby patted his neck soothingly and he calmed.

She looked around at the crowd and frowned. The non-humans of the crowd seemed pensive where the human stomped and cheered and goaded.

The executioner took his place beside the condemned and hefted the axe over his head. The light of the newly risen sun glinted of the sharpened steel and for a moment everything seemed almost still and than the blade fell with a whoosh and a thud. The crowd erupted into a blood fed frenzy as Adam’s disembodied head rolled across the scaffolding to the cheers of the masses.

Glancing down at Blake she saw the servant standing quiet and still, her arms wrapped around herself.

Ruby sighed and picked up Zwei’s reigns preparing to return to the castle.

She stopped though as the crowd began to shift move more frantically. People were running and moving all around her suddenly.

The screaming of the crowd had changed. It was no longer excited but terrified.

She wasn’t sure where or when but somewhere in the crowd violence had erupted. Humans were turning on the non-humans in the crowd.

She watched a group of men fall on a pair of elves, kicking and punching even after they had fallen to the ground.  

The official and one guard on the scaffold were screaming for order but their voices were drowned out by the screams and shouts as chaos erupted all around.

With a heavy thud near her a dwarf dropped dead, blood oozing out of his split skull. His still open eyes glazed over, staring out at nothing. Not a moment after the young human man with the bloody rock clenched in his fist was doubled over as an elf stuck a dagger between his ribs.  

All around her bodies and blood were falling to the ground accompanied by a concerto of screams.

Ruby’s blood ran cold as what was happening dawned on her.

“It’s a pogrom...” She said aloud.

Blake who had been standing frozen at her side whipped toward her at the word, face pale. In doing so she didn’t see the man with a club coming running toward her from behind.

Whipping up her hand she blasted the would be assailant with Aard, sending him tumbling. Blake whipped around to see him go flailing.

Zwei neighed, loudly, rising up on his back feet, almost throwing Ruby from the saddle. Holding up her hand she mumbled low words to him as she cast Axii, calming him.

Someone had added fire to this volatile mix and before she knew it the nearby cobblers shop was aflame. Bright red and yellow flames danced up the wooden walls and licked at the neighboring building, devouring everything it touched. The air was was becoming hazy as pillars of thick black smoke wafted off the buildings and into the sky.

All around them was pandamonium and she made a quick decision.

She flung herself from the saddle and grabbed Blake’s arm. The Servant flinched at the sudden contact but eased when she saw it was Ruby even though the fear in her eyes didn’t lessen.

“Go, get out of here!” She urged the other woman. “Take him and ride back to the castle, tell Oobleck what’s happening!” She instructed.

Gold eyes widened in surprise for just a moment before narrowing. Her face becoming resolute. She nodded and pulled herself onto the saddle and with a kick was galloping through the bloody streets back toward Beacon castle, people dived out of the way of the speeding horse.  

A nearby group of humans saw her send the elf away and with muffled shouts in her direction came charging at her.

She drew the steel blade from the second scabbard across her back and waited. They weren’t going to give her any choice.

Once they were in distance she struck.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Weiss fidgeted with the cuff of her powder blue dress. The thin summer material just would not lay right on arms and it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

That alone was unacceptable, but more so, she did not fidget. Yet here she was, doing so as she awaited the Witcher’s return from town as she walked through the courtyard with Oobleck.

“Hopefully with Taurus’s execution we can put all this unpleasantness behind us.” Oobleck ventured, his hands clasped behind his back as they walked down the stone paved paths together. “I’ve paid some masonry lads to come and make sure that nothing will be coming in or out of the tunnels anymore.” He assured the Sorceress who nodded.

“Good. His Majesty is sure to be pleased by that. The last thing we want is something else moving in.” She said and Oobleck nodded in silent agreement.

“Do you think he captured the beast and put it there?” Oobleck asked, turning to look at her over the tops of his spectacles. “What did Miss Rose say about the situation?”

“Ruby said that more than likely it moved in on its own. They apparently like dark, humid places like that.”

“Interesting…” Oobleck rubbed his chin thoughtfully but stopped, peering at something off in the distance. “Do you see that?” He asked suddenly, adjusting his glasses. Weiss turned toward whatever had the steward’s attention.

A cloud of black smoke was rising up into the air not to far away. Was that coming from the town?

The loud clapping hooves of a running horse made them both look as a familiar horse burst into view with an unfamiliar rider. Jerking back on the reigns Zwei reared back, neighing loudly but stopping just short of them

“Sir Oobleck!” The woman yelled seeing the castle steward. “A pogrom has erupted in town!”

Dread washed over Weiss like a waterfall as she looked back at the towering cloud of smoke coming from town.

Oobleck turned and ran into the castle, yelling for all available guardsman to march to town and restore order.

“Where’s Ruby!?” She demanded, turning on the woman in Zwei’s saddle.

“In town, she sent me back for help.”

She’d barely finished the words before Weiss whipped around and a portal roared into being.

She vanished through it before Blake could even blink.

Stepping through the portal Weiss was assaulted by heat and sounds. Shouts and screams filled her ears where before there had been quiet.     

Several buildings were ablaze as people fought in the blood filled street heedless of anything else. A dwarf with an axe hacked off a man’s legs not ten feet away.

At the rate the fires were raging the whole town would burn down before too long.  

Cupping her hands together she began to chant a spell but movement out of the corner of her eye made her jump to the side, cutting the incantation short.

A tall dark haired elf with a cutlass had swung at her, barely missing her by a hair. He circled her and he wasn’t alone, a blonde elf with a red headscarf was standing on the other side of her with a dagger poised to strike.

She wasn’t sure she would have enough time to strike both. The decision was made for her when the elf with the cutlass lunged forward, swinging. Flinging out her hand and barking a quick spell the elf was engulfed in flame. He dropped his sword, screaming as the flames ate away at him.

The elf with the dagger was coming up behind her and she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough even as she turned around.

The loud clang of metal on metal hit her ears before she was fully turned around to find Ruby, blocking the dagger’s blade with the guard of her sword. With a twist of her wrist she batted the dagger away and planted her boot squarely in the elf’s stomach, he fell hard on his back in the dirt. He glared up at the Witcher only for the tip of her sword to be leveled at him.

“Go.” She commanded, her blade glinting in the light of the fire.  

Glancing between the two briefly he grabbed the blade and shuffled to his feet, taking off into the melee taking place all around them.

“Weiss, what are you...” She started just for the Sorceress to cut her off.

“Not now. I need you to hold them off long enough for me to cast this spell.” She said and the Witcher nodded, twirling her sword.

She cupped her hands back together and began to chant, the words echoed on themselves creating a strange tinny noise as a glowing light was emitted from between her cupped hands.  

Ruby’s medallion danced across her chest at the sudden intense magic coming off Weiss as she batted away another attacker, deflecting blows and kicking them away. Unwilling to do any true harm if she could help it.

A few men tried to rush them just to be severely deterred by a a fiery blast of Igni that singed their skin and sent them running.

Weiss smashed her hands together as she shouted the last words of her spell.

“Thaesse aenye!” boomed through the street before Weiss collapsed to her knees, Ruby jumping to catch her.

Dark storm clouds suddenly bubbled to life, filling the sky above them, thick as mud and dark as midnight. They blotted out the sun, casting evening over the town.

A peal of thunder deafened them as it boomed and rumbled like a stampede of wild horses, bouncing off buildings and through their heads.  

A streak of blinding lightning arced across the sky, lighting the unnatural darkness. That was their only warning before a torrential downpour drenched everything around them.

The fires suffocated in a matter of seconds as bucket after bucket of water fell, cold and hard to the ground.

The sudden violent stormed cooled not only the now smoldering fires but the hotheads of those still fighting in the streets.

The rain persisted for several minutes, flooding the streets and washing away much of the blood that had been spilled.

Just as the clouds began to dissipate did the soldiers from the castle come marching into town, physically restraining or moving along anyone still left in the streets.

Weiss sat on her knees panting and covered in mud, her saturated hair now plastered to her face and back. That spell took more than a little magic and was extremely hard to cast correctly.

“Are you okay, Weiss?” Ruby was kneeling beside her, just as soaked and splattered in mud as Weiss as she held the Sorceress’s arm to support her if she needed it.

“Fine. I just need a moment.” She assured the worried Witcher as she felt some of her spent energy returning to her.

“That was pretty amazing.” She said after a long moment as she looked over the flooded streets and the smoldering remains of two buildings. All traces of the smoke had also vanished from the air with the sudden storm.

“You sound surprised,” Weiss huffed, causing Ruby to smile.

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t be… but knowing and seeing are two different things I guess.” She shrugged as she clamored to her feet, pulling Weiss up with her, trying not to slip in the mud they stood in.

“How many dresses are going to be ruined in just two days?” Weiss grumbled looking at the skirt of her dress saturated with mud.

Ruby glanced at the dress and did a double take.

Weiss was still inspecting the damage when something heavy and wet was being laid across her shoulders. Dark red fabric, heavy with water was being wrapped around her torso.

“Ruby, what are you doing?” Weiss demanded as the blushing Witcher wrapped her cloak around her.

“You’re um… dress... “ She started. “It’s seethrough.” She mumbled the last part.

Glancing beneath the cloak she saw that Ruby was right. The rain had plastered the paper thin material to her body like a second... transparent... skin.

“Oh…” She hugged the old red cloak tighter to her. “Thank you.” She mumbled.

“Mistress Schnee, Miss Rose!”

Turning toward the voice they saw Oobleck walking up to them quickly, splashing through the shin deep puddles and mud.

“I’m glad to see you both in one piece.” He said appraising them. “Miss Rose, what happened?”

Ruby sighed and pushed her dripping wet hair back from her face and explained everything that had happened from before the start of Adam’s execution up until she had spotted Weiss fighting the two elves from which point Weiss took over.

Oobleck sighed, shaking his head as he looked around at all the bodies still laying in the street.

“Terrible. Simply terrible.” He muttered. Ruby couldn’t agree more as she looked around and saw all the lives lost by the senseless violence.

“I will take care of things from here.” Oobleck assured them. “Please let His Majesty and Mistress Goodwitch know of this as soon as you’re able.” He turned to Weiss who nodded.

“We’ll be returning to the castle.” She said before Oobleck left to join his men in restoring order to the burned and flooded town.

Without a word Weiss opened a portal and stepped through quickly. Ruby glanced back over the damage before following.

They stepped out into the castle courtyard where all was quiet and serene. A world of difference to the town no more than a mile away but it may as well have been a continent away. Holding the red cloak tightly to her body Weiss glanced over and saw the faraway look in the Witcher’s eyes.

“You’re not hurt are you?” Weiss asked, concern tinted her voice as she scanned the Witcher for any injuries.

“No, I’m fine.” She assured, holding up her hands. “Just… tired.” She admitted with a sigh. Weiss nodded in agreement.

“I’m going to go change and let Mistress Goodwitch know what’s happened.” Weiss told her before stepping quickly up the stairs to the great doors.

Ruby nodded silently to herself, watching her disappear inside before heading to the stables.

She passed Stardust and saw Zwei standing calmly in his stall as Blake brushed his coat, his saddle had already been hung up. Her boots crunched on the hay scattered across the floor, making the servant whip around to face her. Gold eyes scanned her still dripping and sad form.

“Thank you for taking care of him.” Ruby told her, walking up to them an patting Zwei’s nose softly. He nuzzled into the touch.

“I should be thanking you.” Blake said after a quiet moment. “I don’t think I would have made it if you hadn’t sent me off. She admitted.

“It’s what any decent person would have done.” Ruby said. Blake simply nodded before walking away.

“The world is in sore need of more decent people.” She muttered under her breath as she left. The words barely audible even to Ruby.

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Zwei’s snout and sighed.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Glorsann a’ Aen Seidhe! - Glory to the people of the hill / Hill people (elves)

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Unadulterated Crack Part 5

pairings: Thorin Oakenshield X reader

warnings:  fluff?

word count: 3,959

Author’s note: dedicated to @savvythedork here is something to help you recover from your surgery!

--- Part 1 --- Part 2 --- Part 3 --- Part 4 --- Part 5 --- Part 6 --- Part 7 --- Part 8 ---

based off imagine and imagine

    As the Elvish warriors circled the company, Thorin grabbed you and pulled you behind him in a protective manner. You dramatically rolled your eyes, and patted him on the head, and said, “He means us no harm Schatz.”

    When Elrond offered the Dwarves food, and they accepted, you tapped your temple at Thorin. You thought, ’Five gold coins says I can make Elrond choke on something.’

    Thorin smirked, and mused, ’I’ll take that bet, just because I’d like to see that.’

    Thorin and your rooms were next to each other, in fact your bathrooms had those open windows, that would allow you two to speak to each other. The two of you agreed to take a bath before having a nap before bed. Unlike Thorin, there were she-elves waiting on you which made you very uncomfortable, because they were in the bath with you, physically touching your naked body. As the she elf, who said her name was Silima, touched your still dry hair and exclaimed,“Your hair is soft!”

    Caunwen, who was washing your arm, said, “Let me see.” Touching your hair. She went silent, you sensed something was going to happen. The other five She-Elves in the room touched your hair as well. They looked at each other in silence for a minute before going back to what they were doing. You mentally reached out to Thorin, who grumbled, ’I was wondering when  you were going to open up to me. I was starting to give up hope.’

 You asked, ’These lady Elves are making me uncomfortable.’

     He snorted, ’They wanted to bathe me too, but I told them to get away from me.’`

    ’They seem to really like my hair, should I be concerned?’ you mumbled.

    He sighed, ’Maybe, you never know with Elves.’

    You looked at the Elf called, Miriel, and said, “um, can I bathe myself?”

    They were reluctant to leave, but after firmly stating you wanted to be alone they left. Once they were gone you said, ’They’re gone, I am certainly not used to people insisting on bathing me.’

    Thorin shrugged, ’I was raised in Erebor as their prince, so I am used to it. I am also not afraid to tell them to, as you say, ‘Fuck off’’.’

    You grumbled, ’I often forget you were a prince, I am not used to that either.’

    ’Why are you not accustomed to me being a prince?’ He inquired.

    ‘My country doesn’t have royalty at all, so that is why I don’t really acknowledge titles like, Prince, King, Queen, Lord, or things like that. I usually ignore those titles, and treat them like I would anyone else because I don’t really know how I should act around them. I have some idea of how I should, but I refuse to kiss someone’s ass like that. I’ll be polite, but I’m not going to restrain myself just because someone thinks they’re above me.’ You explained.

    ’Then who runs your country?’ he asked.

    ’We, the people elect officials to represent us, and they vote on it.’ You sighed relaxing in the warm water.

        After the bath and the nap, the Elves returned with a dress, and insisted you where it. You refused to wear it since it had a corset, and was a color you despised. They insisted you wear a dress to dine with 'Lord’ Elrond. You instead summoned a dress  that you liked, and compromised to wear it instead. You curled your hair, and put on a matching jewelry set of diamonds and sapphires set in white gold. When you met up with Thorin he gawked, and stammered, “Why are you w -wearing that?“ 

     You shrugged, "Those Elves were downright insistent I wear a dress, and the one they brought me was not to my liking. So I compromised to wear a dress as long as it was one of mine.”

     He muttered, “You look lovely." 

     You chuckled, "Thank you, I feel very flattered. Now, we need to meet up with the others, do we not?” hooking your arm in his, and snuggly pressing your side against his. He merely nodded his head and led you to where the company waited. When they set eyes on you, jaws dropped, and some gasped audibly. You raised your eyebrow and inquired, “Something wrong?" 

    Gloin was the first to speak, he said, "You look like a goddess (Y/N).”

     You smiled and laughed, “Thank you.” nodding appreciatively.

    During the dinner with Elrond you sat beside Thorin, and waited for the perfect time to win the bet with Thorin. As Elrond lifted his goblet to his lips you said, “So Elrond, how is Aragon?” Not only did the elf lord choke, he did a spit take. You grinned in Thorin’s direction, as Elrond coughed into a napkin. When he was able to speak, he rasped, “How do you know about him, let alone his true name?”

     Gandalf sighed, “She’s from another world, she knows just about everything that is going on in this one. You get used to it after a while." 

     Elrond frowned and said, "We call him Estel, and he is fine, happy and curious as any child should be." 

    Thorin thought, ’Who is Aragorn?’       ’

Isildur’s heir, although he doesn’t know it yet.’ you replied, 'Shall we exchange the gold now, or later?’ smugly. He rolled his eyes in response. After dinner Elrond hunted you down and asked you if you would like to meet Estel. You told him you were very tired, but tomorrow you would indeed like to meet him.

    The next morning you woke up to find Thorin sitting beside you on your bed, leaning against the headboard. He was biting his thumb nail which he only did when he was angry. You groggily looked up at him and grumbled, "Good morning…Not that I mind, but why are you in here might I ask?" 

    He growled, "I caught those blasted She-Elves conspiring to cut off some of your hair in your sleep.”

     “Ah, well thank you for guarding my hair from thieves Thorin.” You yawned, and rested your head on his lap. He looked down at you, and smiled softly as he said, “Well without that long hair of yours I wouldn’t have anywhere to put a courting braid when the time comes.” combing his thick fingers through your hair.     “Indeed, that would be a~” You chuckled, when your stomach decided to interrupt you by growling loudly. You looked down at it and mumbled, “This is why we can’t have nice things." 

     Upon hearing this Thorin broke out laughing. His laugh was rich and boisterous, and loud, it was music to you. He said, "You better get dressed so we can go down to eat, I’ll be in the hall guarding the doors from thieves.” getting up, and leaving. You wore a dress again, because you had rather missed wearing dresses over the last couple of months.

    After breakfast Thorin leaned over and said, “I have a task to do, do you think you’ll be fine on your own for a while?”

     You nodded, he flashed you a brilliant smile that almost made you swoon, before getting up and leaving the table. Once he was gone, a young elf, who looked like a younger version of Elrond came up to you and said, “My father told me you wish to meet Estel, Lady (Y/N), and he has asked me to introduce you to him." 

    "Thank you very much, which one of his sons are you, Elladan or Elrohir?” you replied, standing up

.     He smiled and answered, “I am Elrohir, it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady (Y/N)”

     “The pleasure is all mine, and please call me (Y/N).”  you stated. Elrohir led you to Elrond’s private family quarters, where you spotted a young boy running along the roof.  Elrohir muttered, “He’s going to break his neck one of these days doing that.” in Elvish. He led you into the courtyard, and yelled, “Estel get down from there! You have a visitor!”

      The boy poked his head over the edge and replied, “No!”

     “Estel! I’m warning you! I will come up there if I have to!” Elrohir shouted. When the boy ignored him and disappeared from view, Elrohir sighed, “I will be right back, do not wander off please.” Then he scaled the building and disappeared from view as well.

    A moment later an elf, who looked exactly like Elrohir showed up and asked, “What do we have here? A pretty young woman all by herself in my home?” reaching out to put his hand on your shoulder

     “Touch me and I promise you will loose that arm, Elladen.” You warned. 

    You heard Elrohir yell, “She is one of Father’s guests, and she is here to see Estel!” from the rooftop. Which was shortly followed by Estel demanding to be released. Elrohir appeared with a squirming Estel over his shoulder, and be began to climb down from the roof. Once on solid ground Elrohir put Estel down and said, “(Y/N) has come a long way to see you, you will not deny her that.”    

 Estel looked at you and grumbled, “What did she come out here for, I’m just a dumb  kid." 

    You said, "You are not just a dumb kid, you are Estel. There is no one else like you in the world. You have a bright future a head of you.” manifesting a stuffed horse and handing it to him.

    As you were leaving Elladan and Elrohir asked to escort you back, and as you walked you talked with them. You and the twins ended up in the courtyard in the guest quarters joking about this and that. Little did you know Thorin lurked at the edge of the yard, holding two silver beads in his hand, with a grim look on his face.

    During dinner you noticed Thorin blocking you out of his mind, and was avoiding you. He wouldn’t even look at you. After dinner you hunted him down, you caught him stomping down the hall. You called out, “Thorin! Wait up!” He ignored you and didn’t stop. You were starting to get annoyed, you ran to him and put your hand on his shoulder, and asked, “Thorin what is wrong?”

     He knocked your hand off his shoulder, and sneered, “Nothing is wrong aren’t those Elves waiting for you?”

     He was jealous of Elladan and Elrohir? You said, “Thorin what are you talking about?”

     “Elrond’s sons, you seemed quiet chummy with them this afternoon. Laughing with them and letting them touch you.” Thorin spat.

     You sighed, “Thorin, they left an hour after we spoke earlier today. You have no reason to be jealous of them, it is not them I want to be with Thorin. You are the one I want to be with, you stupid dwarf. If I wanted to love someone so hairless I would have a child of my own, not get with an elf. Why would you even think I would leave you so willy nilly?”

    He mumbled, “I don’t know…You are a young, beautiful, smart, funny, and a wild young woman. And I…I am just an old, ugly, stupid, stern, and boring Dwarf. You need someone who can keep up with you, I am just too old to keep you happy for long." 

         You laughed, "You are none of those things Thorin.” kissing his nose.

    Thorin frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

     You said, “You are ambitious and caring, and you might not be smart as I am, but you are still more clever than you give yourself credit for. You may not be book smart like me, but that can only get me so far in your world. You have skills that have real world applications, you can light a fire with just wood, and you can catch your own food, I can’t do any of that on my own. You are not old just yet Thorin, you have a lot more life experience in this world than I do. I need that, because I’m am young, and not from your world, I need someone to help guide me through the dangers of this world that are not present in my own. Also I am impulsive, I need someone stern to anchor me and be the voice of reason. You are also patient, I am not the easiest person to work with, not even people in my world like working with me. We balance each others out Thorin, you need someone to remind you to relax and have a good time, just as much as I need someone to keep me focused. I may have met people that are funnier than you, but I’m funny and charming enough for the both of us. And Thorin I’ve got news for you, you aren’t ugly, you’re actually very attractive, and anyone that says you are, is a racist jealous jack ass who isn’t worth the effort or energy to hate. Thorin, you are also not boring at all, you’re going on a quest to slay a dragon! A FREAKING DRAGON!  You are also passionate, hardworking, focused, considerate, sweet, and so much more Thorin! If you still think you’re just some old stupid Dwarf, I’ve got news for you…You’re my old stupid Dwarf, and I wouldn’t have you any other way. I don’t tolerate other people talking about you like that, what the hell makes you think I’ll let you do it?”

     He stared at you wide eyed, after a minute he mumbled, “I’m sorry I acted out.”

     You pulled him into a hug and sighed, “Next time you feel threatened like you did, just don’t brood about it by yourself. Come over and tell me what is wrong, or something, so we can solve it together! Just don’t ignore me.”

     He said, “I want to show you something,” slightly pulling away from you, but not letting you out of his arms. You smiled and nodded your head.

    Thorin got lanterns from one of the elves, one for each of you, and he led you down a rocky out cropping. There was only like a foot and a half of walk way, and it was slippery and windy. The pitiful elvish paper lantern was ripped from your hands by the wind, which nearly blew you off the edge as well. Had you not been holding onto the rock wall to your right, you would have indeed fallen off. You cried, “Thorin! This might be a bad time to tell you this, but I’m terrified of heights!”

     Being a solidly built dwarf, he was not in danger of being thrown off the edge by the gales of wind. He turned and shouted, “Where did your lantern go!”

     You yelled, “It got blown away, and I almost did as well!”

      He hollered, “Just grab on to me, I’ll guide you, and make sure you don’t fall!” You grabbed onto his shoulders, and he wrapped his free hand behind him and pressed you against his back.

    When you reached the bottom of the cliff you saw that it was the bottom of one of the falls. You breathed, “it’s beautiful.”

     “Thanks, but this is not what I wanted to show you, come on.” He said, taking your hand and pulling you behind the water fall. There was a cave, which made you nervous and reluctant to enter. You stopped walking, not wanting to go inside. Thorin stopped, looked back at you, and beckoned, “come on, we’re so close.” gently tugging and squeezing your hand.

     You muttered, “I don’t know Thorin, caves make me a little bit nervous.”      He assured, “It’s fine, I made sure it was stable, and not dangerous. I would not bring you to a dangerous place where I know you can get hurt. If it makes you nervous you can hold on to me.”  You reluctantly allowed him to lead you into the cave. Only this time you hung onto his hand with both of yours and stuck to his side.  The cave was damp, and slippery, and cold, and dark, The lantern barley lit anything up at all, you grumbled, “I can’t see very well in this light Thorin.” as he led you through the winding passages of the cave.

      "I can see very well in this light, so don’t worry I will tell you if there is anything you should watch out for. Just trust me alright?“ Thorin said. You just grunted uncertainly in response. After about ten minutes Thorin asked, "Will you put this on?” pulling something out of his pocket. You could barely see it, but you think it was a scarf of some kind. You squinted and asked, “Why do you want me to put on a scarf?”

     “I want you to wear it was a blindfold, just for like two or three minutes. I want this to be a surprise, please.” Thorin pleaded.

     You groaned and took the scarf and tied it around your head over your eyes, and blindly groped for his hand to cling to. Instead he wrapped his arm around your hips and pulled you into his side.

    When Thorin told you that you could remove the blindfold, you happily pulled it off and were greeted with the sight of a small moon lit crevasse willed with beautiful plants and trees. There was a small pond feed by a small water fall from the top of the crevasse. On a mossy spot by the pond, and under a tree there was a picnic blanket with a bright and sturdy lantern , and a basket. You looked over at him totally speechless, he bashfully mumbled, “I was planning to take you here for dinner, but I was being stupid as you know, but I thought we could at least eat the desert I prepared for us?”

     You eagerly nodded your head, not trusting your voice not to squeal with delight. He led you over to the blanket and began to fish through the basket. He pulled out a bottle of wine, two wine glasses, plates, forks, and a small apple pie. Thorin muttered, “It’s been a while since I cooked anything myself, but I’ve never baked before. I had to have Bombur’s help, so you’ll have to forgive me if it’s not very good.”

      You felt so happy that you felt you were going to explode, or cry. You started to feel the -familiar tingling sting in your nose that usually was followed by tears. You laughed, “I’m sure it’ll be delicious,” and sniffled a little bit. 

    Thorin looked up from his work, and asked, “What is wrong, why are you crying?”

          You shook your head and said, “Nothing is wrong, this is perfect actually. I just wasn’t expecting it, and I’m just very happy.” wiping away the tears that were welling up in your eyes. You sighed, “You did all this planning, and I’m ruining it by crying.”

     He chuckled, “If you are so happy by this small gesture, that you cry tears of joy, then I’ll take it that I did a good job.” slicing up the pie, and putting generous helpings on the two plates. He added, “Anyways I know that I do not exactly look like the romantic type, so no one would blame you for being shocked, let alone believe you  if you told them that I did this. On top of that I can tell no has ever done this for you, so I thought that I ought to go all out.” As he poured the wine, then handed both the plate, and the glass to you. Thorin took the first bite of pie, he mumbled, “It’s not bad.” to himself.

     You took your first bite, and chuckled, “For your first time baking it’s very good!”

    After the both of you had had enough pie, you and Thorin leaned up against the tree, drinking the rest of the wine, and cuddling. Thorin was drinking more than you, his hand trembled slightly, and he was fidgeting nervously. After his seventh cup of wine, you put your hand on his, the one that held his glass. You purred, “Slow down, we have to climb up a rock face to get out of here, and doing it while intoxicated would be dangerous." 

    He horsely said, "Sorry, I am just nervous." 

     You leaned your head on his shoulder and asked, "About what?”

     “Well now is a better time than any.” He sighed, pulling away from you and sat on his knees in front of you, his face was pink either from the wine, or his embarrassment. He took a deep breath in and said, “Can I braid your hair?”     “Uh…Sure?” you replied with subtle uncertainty.

     He clarified, “Allow me to rephrase, can I put a courting braid in your hair?”     “OH! Of course!” You exclaimed.

    Thorin visibly relaxed, scooted closer to you, and ran his fingers through your hair. He pulled  most of it back and tied it with a ribbon. The sections he left hanging were in the same locations that his own braids were in. He spent a couple of minutes coaxing the hair to behave the way he wanted, and getting rid of a few split ends. Then he started to braid, and despite the size of his fingers, they nimbly and quickly braided the hair. When he was done he pulled out two silver beads and clipped them at the ends of the braids. He smiled at you, and asked, “Are they tight at all?”

     You grinned as you shook your head, the braid swaying with your movement. He grinned back, and kissed one of them, and said, “Good.” You  leaned in and kissed him briefly on the lips, and he leaned his forehead against yours, he chuckled, “I must admit, you look twice as good with my braids in your hair.”     You snorted, “Of course you would say that, ya’ weeb.”

      "What? Can I not appreciate the fact that everyone will know you are with me, just by sight alone?“ He mused.

     You snickered, "No, you can. It doesn’t make you and less of a nerd though. But that’s alright I kind of like it when you are dorky, it’s cute…Or should I say, A-dwarf-able!”

     He rolled his eyes while grinning like a cat, he flopped down beside you, and pulled you into him by wrapping his arm around your waist. He grumbled, “It’s getting late, and these old bones are starting to hurt from the cold. When the wine wears off we should head back.”

     You manifested a microfleece blanket, wrapped it around the two of you, and said, “Thank you Thorin." 

         "You’ll probably have to wait until we get to Erebor for more romantic gestures, we’ll be on the road and we probably won’t be able to stop now that we are hunted.” He said.

     You yawned, “It’s fine, if you did stuff like this all of the time then they wouldn’t be so special anymore.” playing with his hand.

      He hummed, “That’s true, that and it’d slow us down, and everyone would think I’ve gone crazy.”

     “Or under some spell.” You chuckled, “So you’ll have plenty of time to plan and ponder what you’ll do next.”

     He sighed, “True, that’s if we make it to Erebor." 

     "We will, have faith.” You mumbled.

      "You don’t know that, (y/n).“ he grunted.

      You said, "True, but when have I ever been wrong about this kind of thing?”  

   He huffed, “True, but as you have said, you are not omniscient.”

TAG LIST: @fictionalquintessence @life-is-righteous @life-is-righteous @wowjustwow002 @17baldwinn @jumpinmanatee   @savvythedork @savvym0use @tschrist1 @imaginesreblogged @dracsgirl

A/N: Message me (not send an ask) if you want to be put in the tag list, please it lets me keep track of everyone better. Also the next chapter is a little NSFW just a heads up

--- Part 1 --- Part 2 --- Part 3 --- Part 4 --- Part 5 --- Part 6 (here) --- Part 7 --- Part 8 ---

[leominster1941]

Leominster History - World War II and the Women’s Land Army.

Contributed by

Richard Edeson

People in story: Amelia (Mitzi) Edeson Location of story: Leominster Article ID: A2049086 Contributed on: 16 November 2003

This my Mothers Story She would love to hear from anyone who remembers her.

I joined the W L A in March 1942  I received my uniform at home, trying on the corduroy breeches was a laugh, they were laced at the knees and trying to bend my legs was difficult. There were knee length woolen stockings, brown leather shoes, cream shirts, green jumpers, a lovely three-quarter-length dark beige with white wool lining coat, beige hat, and a wide leather belt. We got the rest, wellies, overalls, big oilskin Mac's etc when we got to the hostel. My brothers worked in engineering in Leeds, they told my tearful mother they would see me safely on to the train. My destination was Leominster in Herefordshire, we had never heard of the place, never having been any further than Scarborough or Bridlington. When we arrived at the station my brothers said “there is a compartment with some more land girls in so come on”. I said my goodbyes to them and settled in my seat. We were all looking at each other, so I said “I'm going to Leominster where are you going”? We were all going to the same place, by the time we were half way there we were friends. We were met in Leominster by a smart lady with her utility van. She told us she was our clerk driver, she would be driving us to the farms where we were to do field work. We were to live in a hostel in the village of Kingsland, the hostel was a single storied Wooden building standing in a field. It was shaped like a letter T, the long part was the kitchen and common room, at the other end there was an ablution block with two baths, three showers and toilets. The dormitory was a long room with bunk beds, two wardrobes and a dressing table, War Department very utility, placed so that they made little rooms. I chose a top bunk it was strange at first, but I got used to it. We had a couple of days to get acclimatised, Miss Freeman, (Margaret) was very nice but she seemed a bit posh to us northern lasses. She took us round to meet some of the farmers who weren't too keen to have us, but we were cheap labour, and it was War times. I expect their thoughts were mixed when they saw us town girls, most of us were around five feet two inches and weighed about eight stones. They must have thought they'll not last, they were wrong we tackled all the jobs, although I expect many of us hadn't seen a spade let alone used one.

Our jobs were many and varied, hoeing oh so boring! Thistle bodging, stone picking, hay making, stacking corn, building hay and wheat ricks, loading the carts and leading the horses for the ploughing. I was leading Daisy and Blossom one day, as I was turning them at the end of the row, one of them trod on my foot. “The great big cart horse didn't heed my frantic calls, so I shouted to the ploughman, the buggers on my foot” he just laughed but he managed to move it. They were amused at us townies which made us all the more determined to show them. Spud planting and picking was a hated job especially picking in the rain, struggling to pull our feet out of that mud, some times leaving our wellies behind, dragging our buckets along and longing to be rained off. Harvesting was not lovely as some paintings would have you believe, it was very hard work in the days before the combine harvesters. The corn was cut and harvested and we followed, picked up the sheaves and stacked them, then if it rained we had to turn them and hope they would dry, then we would pitch them up onto the carts, where one of would load it. It was a skilled job if it wasn't on right the whole load would topple over. I liked that job and soon got the knack of building the corners and keeping the load straight. One day after the ropes were secured I decided to stay on top for a ride down to the farm I lay there looking up at the sky, until we reached the farmyard when the horse stumbled on the uneven bricks and I fell off. I had my pitchfolk in my hand luckily the prongs were facing away from me, had they been the other way round they would have gone through my neck. I was very very white and shaky when I was picked up and I didn't ride on top again. I also like building the Ricks. Another hated job was beet pulling, on cold frosty days, when the fork wouldn’t go into the ground. We had to try and pull them up with our frozen hands. All the jobs were back aching, we had to do muck spreading, we didn’t mind that, clean-out the cowsheds and pigsties what a pong. When it was raining we were given those jobs. Hedging and ditching, threshing what a job that was, dust and chaff everywhere, we put scarves on our heads to protect our hair but couldn't stop it going down our throats. The threshing machine was a monster it rattled and shook. It was attached to a steam engine by a big rubber band and it was dangerous, we had to be very careful. There were different jobs to be done and so we changed around, there would be two of us on the rick throwing the sheaves up to the one on the machine who cut the bands and fed the sheath into the hole hoping you wouldn't fall in and come out at the other end in bits with the chaff. Another two would be on the ground one to lift the hundred weight sacks to one side the other to remove the chaff. The man who owned it was very dark and swarthy, we called him the ace of spades, he was all right though he fancied himself with the land girls. Some time later we heard that he had had an accident on his machine and his arm had been cut off. It was a dangerous job. One day I was on that rick with my friend Gladys and we noticed that as the ricks was getting lower the men were putting wire netting round it, we asked what was that for they said “oh you'm be all right girls”. Having suffered the juvenile antics of some of the lads who had been throwing nests of baby mice at us we were suspicious so we got out of there pronto. They put the dogs in to catch the rats who had all gone to the bottom, there were 70 out of one and 80 out of the other. They hung them on the hedges and the days of us squealing at the sight of a mouse were over. When I first joined it was March and very cold as it was in April when we were taken to a farm and told to pick potatoes out of pie, we are puzzled till we found that a pie was a long pile of potatoes covered in soil. We were given buckets and told to pick out the good ones and bag them, the bad ones were very smelly.

It was my 21st birthday, as we were leaving the farmer, a gentleman one of course said to me “it’s not a very good way to spend your 21st is it”? I thought he might have given me a bob or two but he didn't. So back to the hostel a bath and dinner and then down to the Angel Inn in the village. There the RAF and the airborne glider pilots from the nearby aerodrome greeted us, we didn't have much money, so they treated us to a few drinks. I must mention about the first week we were there, my friend Vera and I went for a walk to look around. Vera was a quiet girl, she kept close to me, she thought I knew my way round. We saw this little pub and decided to go in for a Shandy. There were only a few old fellows in, “come in girls come in”, don’t have a shandy have a perry it’s made with Pears you’ll like it, we’d never heard of it, but we bought a glass each of it 4 ½ p old money. It was a bitter taste, but the old boys said, it’s good stuff girls have another, we did. When we got outside we staggered feeling drunk, when we got to the hostel we were very drunk and no one would believe we had got that way on the princely sum of 9p old money. We had very bad heads and the room was spinning round as I lay on my bunk. We heard later that it was old stuff from the bottom of the barrel, I bet those old boys were laughing their socks off for many a day.         Our warden at Kingsland was a Scot she was always saying och girls she was 50ish, Miss Irving was her name but we called her Och. She'd never ridden a bike so she asked us to teach her, after a few wobbles and falls she mastered it and was very happy, “och girls thank you”. She was a good sort and we liked her. Food was one of our main interests, living in a hostel, meant that we just had the normal rations, veg pie was often on the menu, we had one egg a week, it was usually Boiled for Sunday breakfast.  Sandwiches to take out in our Jock tins were Spam, Jam and cheese they were always dry by lunchtime and the farmers' wives were expected to give us a mug of tea if we were near the house. We would be sitting outside often in a barn or cowshed when it was cold, the Italian prisoners of war would be inside in a warm kitchen eating a good dinner, it wasn't as if they worked hard, they didn't. We didn't work in the same fields as them but they would be shouting Bella Bella and blowing kisses, they made corn dollies and they would pass them over to us. The German POW's on the other hand were surly but they were good workers.

To get back to food when we went to Leominster we always made a beeline to the fish and chip shop. I thought about Mum and Dad when one of the farm lads gave me a rabbit, I sent it home, it had to be wrapped round the middle with head and tail exposed. I had a letter from them saying don’t send any more that one was full of pellets

Herefordshire is a lovely county, all the seasons had their own beauty, I remember Dinmore Hill going into Hereford in autumn, with all the trees red and gold it was a lovely sight. Best of all in my eye was spring time, when the apple blossom is out, it really is beautiful, although I must be loyal to our own Yorkshire Dales they take some beating.

To get back to my story my friend Gladys was five foot two inches like me, sometimes just the two of us would go out on jobs. One farmer used  to go to the Home Guard and Tuesday nights so on a Wednesday morning Gladys would say, lets get him to tell us his home guard jokes and prolong us starting work so we would laugh heartily and he was flattered.. I don't think he cottoned on to us, he was a nice man, he was Welsh and he would sing as he worked. We liked working for him. Another time we were dropped off at a lonely place, we made our way to a big house with a big studded door, it was very cold and foggy. We were directed to a field a long way off, and were told to prune a field of bilberries. It was very frosty and we were high up in the clouds it was like a winter Wonderland, beautiful. We were told to prune a field of bilberries.  We didn't get any instructions on how to prune, we did our best we never found out if they had any bilberries that year. Then there was the time we were apple picking they were special apples, we had to climb a ladder put our hand under the apple if it came off easily and it was ready. There was an old man who moved the ladder for us, I went to help him, he didn't know I was behind him, so he jammed the ladder into the ground there were spikes on to hold it firm, the spike went into my foot, through my wellies (boot) and thick sock. Talk about blood sweat and tears and soil. I was taken back to the hostel and to the doctors who dressed it no tetanus injections then. I had a lot of pain and a wound that went septic I still have the scar. One of the girls had crocheted a pair of slippers, they were big so she lent them to me I couldn't get my shoe on that foot. The girls called me good deed dotty well dotty I was. The cycles we had were worse for wear, we used to cycle to Leominster it was blackout Some didn't have lamps so the one who had would lead the way, we had many a fall. One night a few of us went to Leominster with some of our Airborne Friends. I came a cropper, the ARP chaps has some hosepipes across the road I went into them and fell off. I cut my knee pretty badly, Jock my glider pilot friend took me into a pub and put a field dressing on my knee. I got some funny looks from people in the       pub, huh those land girls. You will have gathered that I was accident-       prone I still am I can fall over a feather.

When we were working in the fields, there were no toilet facilities, so to answer the call of nature, we would go behind a hedge hoping no one would see us, spending a penny, was OK. after we had undone the belt and the dungaree straps but to have a two penny one was more of a problem, we rarely had any paper so a good strong dock leaf had to do. There was always the perils of nettles, many a  nettled bum was had. Hygiene well who cared, we would be muck spreading and mucking out the cowsheds and still eat our sandwiches. We were sent to some very lonely places, we would find a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, a farm worker would live there often on his own very primitive.

We would help with the hop picking in September, we weren't allowed to pick them, the families from around would do that, we would pull the binds down for them to strip and help with the weighing.

At Kingsland our clerk driver Miss Freeman who was engaged to a RAF pilot he was so good looking. When he was on leave he would come to the hostel for her, we all thought he was lovely, he had a sports car. There we were looking through the windows sighing, she would laugh at us. When they got married, we were all invited to form a guard of honour outside the Church and to go to the reception. Her parents owned the Royal Oak Hotel so a lovely meal was provided, a very nice time was had by all.

We were lucky in a way, that we had Mr Williams, he and his wife had the local post office and he drove the village taxi, he would take us to the aerodrome to dance and bring us home. Sometimes if we had had a hard day he would listen to us grumbling and he said, “you know I went through hell in the last war, but I still look back on them as happy days and you will be in time”. He was right my land army days were happy, we worked hard but when we had done our time was our own we were young and ready to enjoy ourselves.

When we went home on leave, the trains were always crowded, the train would often stop for a long time outside Crewe station when the raids were on, when we changed trains we would go for a cup of tea, there weren’t any cups so it was in a jam jar, try drinking hot tea from a jam-jar, not good!! We were allowed a spoonful of sugar the spoon was on a string, I expect if they got pinched they would have a job replacing it. At Leeds station YMCA there were boards on the floor and weary servicemen were sleeping on them.

One Saturday in summer it was a lovely day, so six of us went cycling in Wales. The weather was hot the countryside beautiful. We took a picnic, then looked for somewhere for a drink, there was a little pub just one room, we trooped in wearing our sun tops and shorts, there were a few men in, and one behind the bar a woman who we guessed was the landlady, she looked like Queen Victoria, dressed in black from head to toe. She eyed us up and down and ordered us out, we said we only want a shandy, but we had to go. A man followed us out he said so sorry girls I’ll bring you one out here. We sat on a bench,  there was a parrot in the doorway who kept screeching pretty Polly. It was a laugh, we had a lovely day out. In summer we used to get a lovely tan and my fair hair got bleached blonde with the Sun. We cut the legs of our dungarees and wore sun tops, we got scratched legs from the hay and corn but we didn't care. The old boys enjoyed seeing as they got an eyeful but their wives weren't pleased.         Gladys hated her name, so she told her boy friends her name was Tina,  one night a Canadian pilot called for her, he asked for Tina, Och looked puzzled and was about to say, there's no Tina here, when Gladys came rushing through, “here I am” and whisked him away. She was good fun and much more a Tina than a Gladys. When we went to the village hops all dolled up, she would look round and say he's mine Mitzi the one wearing the wellies. We got on well, we had the same nature, she came from Keithley. She had a young brother and she said, when anyone came to tea he was told to only take one cake, but he always took two, so she would kick him under the table while smiling sweetly at the guests. I knew what it was like, being the only girl with three brothers, who at that time were all in the forces. Harry in the Merchant Navy an engineer officer, Ernest in the RAF aircrew and Desmond the youngest, in the Royal Engineers.  I have a photo of all of us together taken in the back garden when we were on leave we are in our uniforms, it is one that I treasure. There is a lot more I could write about my time at Kingsland. I was happy there, we didn't get much money so when another girl Marion and I were asked to go on a course to become group leaders Marion said come on, it's 10 shillings a week more, I allowed myself to be persuaded. I think I thought we would be coming back to Kingsland. We were sent to a big house, there were girls from Gloucester and Worcester, we were given talks and taking out to different farms. I remember one dairy farm of Jersey cows they were lovely their milk was like the thick cream, too rich for me. We also went to Bulmers cider factory and saw where all the cider apples ended up. One of our jobs was to pick them well we had an iron hook to shake the trees then pick them up or shovel them into sacks. To get back to the course we had to do exams, and we all passed. We went back to Kingsland after a few weeks we got a letter to say we had to take charge of a new hostel about four miles away Bircher Hall. I didn't want to leave my friends but I had to go that's what the lure of extra money does.

       Bircher Hall was a lovely place, with lots of grounds, the man who owned it lived in the front. We were in the back there was plenty of room, we had proper bedrooms and beds. There was a lodge at the end of the drive but it was empty. Our warden was called Miss Bach, she was a true lady, gentle and refined, a bit taken aback I think by all of us, these ladies had these jobs for their war work. We had a cook and two girls who did the cleaning. The land army girls were from Lancashire, most of them were new but a few came from other hostels. Our job was to show them how to go on, we were like fore women but were called group leaders, Marion could drive so she got the job as clerk driver. I haven't mentioned double summer time, when daylight seemed to go on forever it was to enable the farm workers to work long hours. We had our set hours to work so we didn't do the same as them.

Most of their younger men were in the forces, so the men who were left were older, they worked very hard. One we knew, had had an accident when he was young, with some farm equipment, he had his hand cut off, it didn't stop him from being a good worker, we used to watch him change his hook for different jobs he was a jolly man never complained.

Bircher Hall was situated six miles from Ludlow and four from Leominster we usually went to Leominster, cycling there to go dancing or the pictures and shopping.

About this time the Americans came, they were stationed in the area, the first time we saw them we thought they were all officers, their uniforms were gaberdine and they wore collar and ties very smart so different to our soldiers in their rough khaki uniforms. They were like film stars and had badges for everything, gee honey this one is for sharp shooting and so on. Our lads would say they get a medal for the one who can spit furthest, a bit of jealousy there I think, although they could have been right. The first ones to arrive were the Rangers, now they were supposed to be like our commandos, but they were not as tough. One I met came from Chicago he said “Honey when I get back I'm going to be mayor of Chicago”. When they left we went to the pictures it was a Deana Durbin, she sang, “say a prayer for the boys over there”, there was a lot of sobbing in that cinema, there were a few broken or “bent hearts”. They liked girls and were polite, it was “honey you look like a million dollars in that dress” or “baby when this war is over I'm taking you back to the States”. Oh yes you took it all with a pinch of salt, well you did if you had any sense. They brightened our lives, even Miss Bach liked them, she asked them to tea, they brought tins of food hershy choc bars, and salted peanuts and lovely cakes. They were told they mustn't eat any of the English people's rations, as we hadn't enough food for ourselves, too right. If you went into a cafe With an American GI, you got better service, they expected good service and they got it, cakes would appear, which we never saw.

We would cycle into Leominster and leave our bikes at the local fire station the fellows would look after them for us, while we went to the Dance, we wore our civvies when we went out, the GI's would say don't wear those goddam breeches honey. they liked to jitterbug, we always enjoyed ourselves, when I hear a Glenn Miller record now memories come, flooding back, one night we went to leave our bikes, the fireman said, stay here girls there’s some trouble in town we watched as US army trucks were roaring up and down the road full of MPs military police. There was fighting and shouting the trouble was between the black and white soldiers, the fireman said get a off home girls before it gets any worse. So we did cycling like mad to get away, after that they had black or white nights to stop any more trouble it was a sad state of affairs.

Three of us went out together, Vi, Marion, and three American boy friends they were Jerry, Barney and Jack. One day we went for a picnic by the river, they brought crusty bread, fried chicken and cheese and wine, I kept my wine glass for ages, I don’t think I'd ever tasted wine before. They were great guys, I wonder what became of them. These good times were of course on our time off, we worked very hard, they would say to us, “you work too hard baby, when this war is over your daddy will take you over to the States”. I wonder how many made it back after D Day, and all that followed.

My name is Amelia, and like Gladys I hated it, I was called Mitzi when I was a little, because I was always talking about Mitzi Green the girl in the our Gang films. One GI said Mitzi is that your real name, I said yes I'm Fraulien Mitzi Rockmeyer, he said “you lie more than a mattress”. we had a girl from London, Stepney, she worried about her family in the Blitz, she was called Louise, and the Americans called her Daisy Mae, she had blond hair, she said to me who's this Daisy Mae, it’s a comic strip in their papers about Hill Billies, and she is the blonde girl, Lou said and I don't know whether I like that. One job I went on with lou was to Croft Castle, to do some gardening for a Mrs Parr, her brother owned the castle which was taken over by a school, Mrs Parr lived in the lodge, we cycled up the long drive it was a lovely place there were red squirrels darting about in the trees, she wanted potatoes planting etc, there was a lot of digging to do, after a while Lou said to me, slowdown Mitzi only Fools and horses work, it was the first time I'd heard that expression,

I must mention the V jolly evenings that were arranged for us, entertainment it was called, one was a musical evening they brought some ancient records, one was little Polly Perkins from Paddington Green how we kept our faces straight I'll never know another time some players came and did an excerpt from Helen of Troy, now Helen was played by a very plain lady who was not so young, so when the hero said oh beautiful Helen the face that launched a 1000 ships someone muttered sank them more like, we fell about laughing ignorant lot that we were. Oh, the glares we got, but we couldn't help it. Then we had a very intense lady who came to talk to us about personal hygiene, on the importance of washing our hands, hair and bodies good to tell that she had never worked in the fields. And once we had a magic lantern show we used to wonder which century they thought we were in.

Some weekends Marion, VI and myself would go to Ludlow for a bit of shopping we would have our tea in the De Grays cafe it still there and we would go to a thecinema we would be waiting for the bus on cold frosty nights listening to the Church bells playing tunes.

Well, I could go on forever, I did four years in the land army and came out in December after the war was over 1945, I'd had enough and was ready for civvy street I weighed seven stone, I had a doctor's note, I had among other things a bad back, which I suffer from to this day. They were good years with good friends, I came back to Marks and Spencer and met my future husband, he had done six years service in the Royal Engineers, he used to call me his cabbage commando. I read a book recently, it was called Cinderella's of the soil, we were that all right, we didn't get any gratuity despite the fact that we had a very small wage we were given our certificate thanking us for our loyal and devoted service, signed by Queen Elizabeth later the Queen Mother we had to hand our uniforms in, I don't know what they did with them. However it's in the past given the same circumstances I would do it again even though now I have a pacemaker, arthritis in knees and hips, and aching! Aching! Back! A Edeson June 2003.

So here is a little reminder. ,   Two land army girls stood at the Golden Gates, their weary heads bent low, they asked the keeper at the gates, the way that they should go, what have you done in the world below, to gain admission here, we've worked said they, in the W L A for many a weary year, come right inside St Peter said, as he loudly rang the bell, you have had your share of hell!

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[hazbinextgeneration]

Into The Casino p3

The usual hussle n bussle of the casino made it's way around the duo as they made their way around the place. The more taller one of the two was carefully sweeping his red eyes over the crowd searching for one certain lost pup. Or should I say horse. "Are you certain you left her here?" He gave a raised brow at the cyborg who nodded. "Yeah. She was right here-" she gestured to the floor as they walked. ''-all soak 'n wet and hungrier than Disease on a hangover." He hummed and gave another turn of his head over the ever loud herd of demons. An opportunity like this shouldn't be wasted, and he certainly wasn't about to miss out on it either. It was one thing to be a rich and powerful tyrant over a small territory, but it was a whole other thing if one had something so pure and....interesting under their hold. Considering what Cyber told him about she had said...Who just claims to be sent down against their will by a god? This was too good to just let go. He knew there was something about this situation worth investigating. He turned left and stopped- Almost causing Cyber to walk into him. She gave him a confused sideways glance just as one of those curled smiles formed on his face, and his body maneuvered to the right. "It seems-" He smirked at the sight of the pale blonde and white mass of hair and the horn sticking up from it standing in the corner of the slot machine corner. She would've been hard to spot at first if you didn't look hard enough like he was, luckily he's always had a nack for finding grand opportunities. "I've found our little pet.~ Cyber, come along." He ordered her as he began walking straight towards the unsuspecting girl. Being the taller and owner of the casino, it was fairly easy for them to maneuver through the crowd and over towards the corner of noisy machines. She didn't seem to notice them at first as she was giving the machine closest to her a curious look at the pictures spun around again, she was probably wondering how they even worked, until her ear raised and her head turned towards them. Instantly she stood up in instinct to bolt but instead ended up just freezing on the spot when she spotted the smaller demon. Maybe it was because she recognized Cyber or the fact that 2 demons were standing between her and the exit, but she didn't move when they came to stand in front of her. Her face was frozen in a state of uncertainty and scared curiousity.  "Greetings.~ Apologies for the sudden intrusion, '' He held out a red clawed hand out to her and smiled ''-but I couldn't help but find the story you told Cyber here-" He quickly nodded towards her "-very interesting." She didn't say anything and just glanced between the two.....Before a sudden look of realization came over her. Then sudden regret as she stared at him. "You...Oh my god! I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean t-to.." Her stomach sank as she realized exactly who was actually talking to her. She knew tripping up would cause later problem. She went to apologize again but he cut her off when he held up his hand. "If it's about the tail stepping incident, then you have nothing to worry about. Everyone makes mistakes. That's why we're all down here after all." He chuckled making her give a confused look before bringing his hand back to examine his red claws. "Actually I'm quite happy you did. I probably wouldn't have seen you otherwise." "If..y-you're not mad," she asked slowly shuffling back, ''-then why are you cornering me?" He raised a brow and gave her probably the most dark smirk she'd ever seen since-...Yeah. Better not bring that up. "I happen to be one to have an eye for great opportunities. And believe me when I say that I never miss a chance to better business-" "What does that have to do with me?" She backed up even more. There was no way she was going to become someone else's showpony. "I-I don't have anything on me." She gestured to her body's lack of pockets. New Plan. Make herself as less desirable as possible! "I don't have money, or anything valuable. Y-You're wasting your time-" "I think you're mistaken." He cut her off again and chuckled. "I'm not here to rob you, I'm here to offer you the chance of a lifetime.~" She stared blankly at him for what seemed like a full minute before saying the typical 'What?' he was expecting. He laughed and took a few steps towards her. "Maybe I should be more specific. You see-" An arm snaked around her and pulled her to his side as he spoke. She froze. "I usually never do this, but you are a very special exception.~ You see. I'm always on the look out for...useful and hardworking people for my business. And once I saw you..Heh. Well I knew you'd be useful to me in someway, and after what Cyber told me about your little run in with the Goddess Life-..." His smile curled at the ends as he began stepping, guiding her towards the stairs with Cyber in tow. "The Goddess of all plant life. Well that just sealed the deal for me. But what do think Ms.-...?" "A-..Amalfia," she squeaked out. She looked over her shoulder at Cyber but she just shrugged and nodded back at the taller demon. "I don't think I really know w-what you're t-talking about? W-What job?" He barked a laugh making her flinch. "Well, there's plenty of things you could do." He gazed up and rubbed two red claws together in thought. "Maid, cook, dishwasher-...Maybe a waitress? But I think I'm in need of a more....personal assistant-" "Personal assistant?" "Basically you'll be my everything and take care of things I don't have time to do. Taking care of my personal quarters and items, bringing me food- Do you know how to organize paperwork?" She was confused by this but nodded, one of the things she picked up on from being around a paper pushing father. "Excellent! I think you'll fit the role perfectly!" "So...Basically you want me as a secretary and personal house cleaner? Why wo-?" "I know this is quite out of the blue, but I assure you I pay very well.~" They finally stopped walking and stopped in front of the stairs as demons kept walking around them. "I think you would find the pay good." His arm unhooked from around her as he turned to stand in front of her. "And not just that. Three meals a day, clean clothes, a roof over your head, plenty of utensils at your disposal-...How about it?" She stood there gapping like a goldfish sputtering random squeaks and noises that sounded like almost words as the taller demon continued to stare at her.  "If you have any doubts, you can ask Cyber any questions. All of my employees are satisfied with their pay." "I-I-....A-Absolutely n-" "Absolutely? Wonderful!" A hand grabbed hers as he shook her hand with that giant smile. "I assure that you'll find everything here to your delight. Cyber will show you to your new room and...Cyber." He looked behind her shoulder at the smaller demon. "Make sure she gets cleaned up and dry. Can't have my new employee coming down with the flu from that nasty rain now. Report back to me when she's all settled." The unicorn being gave them a blank look as Cyber gently grabbed her arm and began to lead her away from the taller demon. "Sure, Boss. C'mon. I have a nice room in mind for ya." ============================================= "I don't see why you had to interrupt me from my work. I thought you would have something better to do." The plant demon sighed and reached a hand up to rub his temples to rub at the already bad headache starting to form from trying to explain this situation again to her. Someone wrapped their arm around the frowning woman pulling her against his side with a purr. "Nah. He just wants some info, Honey.~ And we both know how much you love researching weird magic things." A hand pushed his face back a bit and he gave off a small growl. "That's true..." "She's not some new toy for you to dissect, Midnight." He scowled at her making his point perfectly clear. "I just want to know what I should expect from her."  She gave off a huff and turned from the snake's hold to a shelf to the right. Her hand hovered over a few covers before stopping at one, pulling it out and giving it a quick look over, and blowing the dust off it. She paid no mind to the two males coughing and opened the book. Skimming through a couple pages before stopping and raising a brow. "Unicorn....Being of purity. Last known living one spotted in 1922. Rumored miracle maker with the spiraled horn on their heads which was also used by ancient medicine man and shamans to vanquish evil and ward off evil spirits. Their blood was known to be used in potions to increase their affects-" "Yes, yes," He pushed impatiently, "That's all very well. But is there any benefits for me keeping her under check." Her brow rose. "There's plenty of uses for her in here." She patted the book. "It even has a recipe for how to cook her meat to give someone immunity to fire-" "That's repulsive!" He made a disgusted face. "I don't plan on becoming a cannibal, or killing something that's worth more alive. Now what can I use to my advantage?" She groaned and looked back down to the pages. "..........Some ancient rulers were known to keep them as pets or tools for war. Their horns which were usually spiraled or curved were known to contain powerful magic similar to angelic essence which coursed through their entire being. This magic could easily be controlled by special collars but only be used if said creature was still alive and the horn was still intact to their heads." She looked back up at him. "Is this what you want?" He didn't talk for a moment and stood there. Thinking. What an opportunity.~ He smiled that dark smile of his before turning back to them. "Well. What an interesting new development.~ I think I found a more ideal purpose for our newest member.~" "Ooooh!~ Whatcha got planned Lou-y? Gonna chop off that pretty horn and use it for a paper weight?" He chuckled. "I think I have a more...useful idea in mind.~"