#and like my apprentices could be doing other stuff while the water just turned to salt

[mesmoe-rizing]

U know what id do if i was a fancy pants wizard with my own wizard tower and the ability to take on apprentices?

Id teach them basic shit like Teleport and. Then have them teleport to the nearest sea/ocean and have them gather saltwater, boil that shit down into salt, and sell that everywhere.

Id be a salt god wizard

The saltiest wizard that ever been seen

[laismoura-art]

How about some avatar au for your atla fan heart.

Mortal Kombat avatar au with our ocs.

🌊🪨The avatar au 🔥🌪

Water tribe:

It's obviously the lin kuei but with bi-han being more of the master at water bending and kuai liang, Lisa making fun of him while he's practicing the other students.

Bi-han: what type of whining is this!? Back in my day we trained in the cold winter's at night and no matter how cold it got I never stopped training.

Lisa: yea you just cried and begged father to let you in-

Bi-han: YOUR CATCHING FISH TONIGHT!!

Kuai liang: I need jasmine tea, for this..

Earth kingdom:

The Edenians, special forces , harumi and Johnny and kenshi from the earth nation it's all out order and chaos maybe the umgadi could be like the dai lee.

Harumi: has the war really stopped in ba sing se?

Kenshi: I don't know if it's pretty peaceful there. Tanya do you know anything about it?

Tanya:*visibly sweating* um maybe..

Sindel:*the tea is exceptionally good today. I hope no fire nation are here.

*two fire nation run aways: yea.. It's fire nation free. Would you like some moon cakes with that?

Sindel: oh you know me so well.

Fire nation:

The netherrealm, suchin and the shirai ryu together being in the fire nation except they aren't demon's and such. The avatar is to be from the fire nation in the avatar cycle. People are expecting asmodeus to be the avatar and this got hatsune banished and settled with hanzo hasashi in the earth kingdom.

Asmodeus: make way for the avatar fire Lord people the strongest in the world

Sareena: is he always this much full of himself.

Jatakaa: careful you might get banished.

Suchin: ARE YOU ALWAYS THIS FULL OF YOURSELF!?

hatsune: hey master i made you some tea.

Hanzo: *drinks tea and spits it out* Ugh this tea is nothing but hot leaf juice!!

Hatsune: master hansi that's what all tea is..

Hanzo: how could my own apprentice say something like that!?

Air nomads:

The white lotus plus Raiden and fujin in the air nomads. Liu kang is a, fire nation adopted by raiden and learning air bending not knowing he is the actual avatar. Kung Lao is a air nation prodigy like Liu kang but kung Lao is, hoping to go through greater lengths and be the best air bending master in the world.

Kung Lao: geez I hope asmodeus isn't the avatar.

Liu kang: yea it's not like he'll cause a war if he isn't.

Kung Lao: say what would happen if you became the avatar?

Liu kang: I won't be the avatar and besides I am not that responsible he monk raiden never let's me feed the baby bisons.

Kung Lao: true, want to play air ball?

Liu kang: sure!!

Later

Liu kang:*avatar state after some shit asmodeus did*

Kung Lao:.... The world is either in peace or doomed....

Yoo Dragon!!! This looks sooo cool!!! :O 💖💖💖

Sorry it took me a while to reply, I actually wanted to gather and develop some ideas that came to mind! And it turned out ENOURMOUS!

So I hope you enjoy:

💦For the Water Tribe:

I was wondering, since this is the Lin Kuei, I imagine the previous chief was involved in some pretty shady stuff, imagine he even made a deal with the fire nation at some point in an attempt to hold some of his remaining power? Imagine if he even sent some of his men to war to fight by the Fire Nation? Of course his plans backfire (literally, lol) and he ends up dead and Bi-Han ends up as the new chief!

I imagine that after years of shitty decisions from the chief, this Water Tribe ended up a mess and on the brink of destruction, so Bi-Han took it upon himself to make things right and return the Tribe to its previous glory!

The only problem is: He is the youngest chief they ever had and he is painfully inexperienced! So he is hardly taken seriously. He also doesn't trust the elders of his Tribe, given how they didn't do much to prevent the previous chief to mess up, so he relies on the youth, his twin siblings and friends, Hydro, Cyrax and Smoke (he's still deciding if Sektor can be trusted, as he is related to the previous grandmaster)

Though Kuai and Lisa often tease Bi-Han (as siblings do) they are his big supporters and do everything they can to be good advisors! Bi-Han is happy to have them around, even if he has to hear a joke or two at his expense...

🌿For the Earth Kingdom:

I like that Harumi is part of the Earth Kingdom, and you know she's my flower girl, so I was thinking: What if she was originally a waterbender from the Swamp?

Imagine, she was born in the swamp and learned to waterbend the flora around her, when she grew up she wanted to leave to explore the world (or at least the Earth kingdom, she was particularly curious about Omashu and Ba Sing Se (surely none of these cities will disappoint her… lol))

Imagine if people sometimes mistake her for the Avatar cause she is a waterbender born in the Earth Kingdom, lol!

Also, I LOVED the idea of the Umgadi being the Dai Lee!

Imagine this: Li Mei was once a Dai Lee soldier who got promoted and then learned what the Dai Lee was actually like (means to conspire against the kingdom and manipulate the royal family) Li Mei couldn't stand to be part of it and tried to leave, reveal the truth, only to be taken to the Lake Laogai. It was years ago and now her memory is coming back, but she still struggles to show everyone the truth.

Lucky for her she's not alone! The young earthbender Tanya was promoted just as she was and upon finding out the truth, she also could not stand to be part of it (it also helped her decision the fact that she is secretly dating the Kingdom's elder princess, Millena), but instead of trying to expose the truth, she tries to stop the Dai Lee from the inside with the help of a few trusted teammates and Li Mei as their coordinator. Together, they will bring the Dai Lee down!

🔥For the Fire Nation:

Damn, your girl Hatsune just can't catch a break when it comes to her shitty brother, can she?

Well, at least she's with Hanzo! I imagine Hanzo was once a soldier, one really mean and scary, maybe? the type that would almost burn the Earth Kingdom's capital to the ground? But pulled back after say... a family tragedy?

So now he seeks a more peaceful life for himself, hidden in the Earth Kingdom and taking care of this fellow Fire Nation girl who was just so wronged by her own family? 

I wonder if Suchin is so confident in talking shit about Asmodeus cause she knows she's one of his top girls and the moment she leaves his side he will get killed! (Little he knows, Suchin and the girls would rather get the job done themselves, lol)

🍃For the Air Nomads:

Ok, I absolutely ADORED the idea of the Avatar being from a Nation but being raised in another one! Cause it's such a fun concept, like, Liu is raised by the Air Nomads and is taught to live by the air nomads beliefs and the first attempt at bending from him will be at air bending, and as the Avatar he WILL succeed, so just imagine how it would be for this kid who is a airbender through and through who will one day find out not only that he's the Avatar but also a firebender by birth! That would be a WHOLE LOT to take!

Through the dialogues I can see that Liu already knows he's a firebender and Avatar, but I wonder how he found out. The idea of this coming as a shock and a big reveal is just soooo cool!

Also makes me wonder when did Raiden learned all this, if he knew from the start, if he had some suspicions as Liu was growing up, or if he found out just as Liu did (My bet i on the second one)

PS: I love that whenever there's an Avatar x MK AU, Liu is ALWAYS the Avatar!🤭 I think it's suiting for the "Chosen One", lmao!

[firestorm09890]

Kingdom Hearts: Nobody Anatomy, Physiology, Psychology, Ontology??? headcanons

saw people talking about more monstrous Nobodies a bit ago (okay it was a long while ago at this point, this has been in drafts for ages) and that reminded me to share some of my thoughts. it spiraled kind of out of control and now this post is ridiculously long. three parts: the physical side, the less physical side, and other thoughts. most of it’s under the cut. enjoy

The physical side

All of these apply to ALL Nobodies, not just the funny squiggly ones.

Alrighty, here’s my proposal: Nobodies don’t have any internal organs. Even the ones that retain their human form. They may look and act like they’ve got regular human body processes, but I like to think that it’s just a hollow imitation. This is why every single Nobody has an absolutely snatched waist

So they’d lack both their metaphysical hearts and their real hearts!

The Organization was founded by a bunch of researchers who got into this mess via unethical human experimentation so you know they tried to pin down the specifics of Nobody biology early on, but every time they tried to use any medical equipment it would come up empty or just straight up not work. And then none of them were willing to get vivisected for the cause lmao

I think the greater Nobodies (human-shaped ones) are made up of the same weird, rubbery flexible stuff that lesser Nobodies are, but just don’t have that flexibility because hey! They’ve got a human form to maintain! They may seem human, but on a biological level, they’re closer to the squiggly guys than an actual human. This is why it’s possible for Xemnas to turn greater Nobodies into Dusks. We never see him do it, but I doubt it’s an empty threat. I don’t think there were any other greater Nobodies in the Organization in the past, but he’s probably transformed one of the specialized Nobodies, like a Dancer or Dragoon, into one of the lowest-ranked ones, like Dusks or Creepers or something.

All Nobodies have the Nobody sigil somewhere on them. For lesser Nobodies it’s easily visible, but for greater Nobodies, it’s on their backs, and since they’re always wearing those coats, no one ever sees it.

If a Nobody is cut, they don’t bleed- instead, little wisps of darkness leak out of the wound, like what happens in the Org’s death animations but on a smaller scale. They can heal faster than regular humans thanks to ✨something something darkness and nothingness✨.

Though Nobodies are supposedly shunned by both light and darkness, they are more aligned with dark than light. Any Nobody can wield light, not just Roxas (as shown by Zexion in Chain of Memories), but it takes great difficulty. However, they can wield darkness with ease.

Nobodies do need to sleep as regularly as humans, but can last much longer without food or water. Rest? Yes! Nutrience? Unimportant

They have no body heat- that’s a corpse, baby!!! That does bring up some questions about thermoregulation. I don’t feel like thinking about it tbh. There’s lots of questions in this vein: can Nobodies get drunk? I think they probably can’t. In 358/2 Days, Demyx says “Wait, training!? That sounds like work, which means sweating. Which is gross.” and that... complicates things! I could chalk it up to how a lot of people in Organization XIII have a tendency to keep acting like they’re humans and nothing’s changed, even though it has.

Nobodies are “born” in any world in the Realm Between. Roxas first appeared in Twilight Town, but some might have shown up by Castle Oblivion, or even the Mysterious Tower (god bless). Showing up in The World That Never Was is probably the most common.

The less physical side

It’s quite an unlikely coincidence that every apprentice of Ansem the Wise had a standout, super strong heart that allowed them to retain their human forms as Nobodies. I think it had something to do with being stabbed by a keyblade, not just their wills alone. That would also align with 9-12 being tied to a keyblade legacy. A strong will is important, yes, but you only get to be human-looking if there was a keyblade involved.

In a Nobody, the most important part of this will is the will to live. Should that ever wane, they Nobody will begin to destabilize, and eventually, they will return to nothingness.

Nobodies have hearts, and they do not have hearts. They have feelings, and they do not have feelings. It’s like the observer effect in quantum mechanics. Anyone who can sense hearts or feelings or whatever will not be able to sense anything from a Nobody, no matter how far along in development that heart may be, reinforcing the belief that yeah there’s nothing there. But there is... and also there isn’t. Both statements are true. A friend described it as “Schrödinger’s Feelings” and it’s the most accurate “Schrodinger’s ____” joke I’ve ever seen made. Someone else described it as depression which is also accurate (source: i’ve had depression). There are bouts of emotion occasionally, but those emotions are dulled (and usually negative) and most of the time there’s only suffocating apathy.

There is some truth to the statement that Nobodies’ feelings are simply recreations of what they might’ve felt back when they had hearts, but it’s also bogus. Memories are important to the makeup of a Nobody, but that statement is often used as an excuse that covers up the reality that there was a feeling there. It’s very easy to lie to yourself when there’s mostly data supporting your argument and any evidence against is less common and easily disputed by “logic” like this.

The most prominent “feelings” in Nobodies are an intense sense of longing and dissatisfaction. For some, the longing is for a heart, but for others it is aimless. That was the idea behind all the Nobodies having little hobbies like cooking and puzzles and reading magazines in the manga. They’re trying to fill that void with anything they can.

In one of the novels, Demyx, #1 proponent of the idea that Nobodies do have hearts actually, gives us this:

I play and play, but I can’t make a satisfying sound.

In truth, I know I won’t be satisfied in all eternity.

If you don’t have a heart, there’s no such thing as satisfaction.

You don’t even think you want to be satisfied.

And yeah, the novels aren’t canon, but it’s still interesting to see and think about. Nothing you do is good enough to fill that emptiness, but you can barely bring yourself to care about it anyway. Yep, depression!

Nobodies are prone to a high amount of introspection. It’s an inherited trait all Nobodies share- if you manage to survive past humanity in a bizarre fucked up state like this, you’re naturally going to be thinking about it. However, they’re all also incredibly bad at it, and generally do a horrible job at self-reflection. This is just an unfortunate coincidence

A Nobody can regrow a heart if they make connections, and are seen and acknowledged by others. Pretty sure that’s just canon. HOWEVER, Nobodies cannot help each other grow hearts- this is why none of the Organization regrew hearts after 10 years of being around each other, and despite connections within the group. 0+0 is still 0, after all. That’s what makes the policy of going undetected on missions so insidious. They’re never allowed the chance to regrow a heart. I’ve already talked about it somewhere else, but this is why Roxas grows a heart so fast- he ignores that rule, for the most part. Axel’s interactions with Sora are also what kickstarts his heart growth.

Hypothetically, since someone doesn’t have to remember a memory for Castle Oblivion to draw on it, the mechanics with the cards and the rooms could have been used to help Xemnas recall his past- considering how much time he spent talking to Aqua’s armor, I think that’s something he might’ve been interested in. HOWEVER! Since the Twilight Town card came from the memories on the other side of Sora’s heart, I propose that the properties of Castle Oblivion would have no effect on Nobodies. RIP.

Other thoughts

I’m not saying Ansem the Wise and Yensid were right about Nobodies! I do think they’re different from humans on a fundamental level, but demonizing them is Not Cool

On the idea that Nobodies aren’t meant to exist: Well. Just like before it’s total bogus bc the main perpetrators of that idea were either bigoted about it or liars or both but I think it’s a little more complicated than “everyone is flat wrong about this”. Nobodies are essentially naturally-occurring byproducts of Heartless. Most Nobodies (or, at least, the lesser ones, based on that one cutscene in kh2 where hearts rain down on The World That Never Was and we see a bunch of Dusks grasping for them) seem to have a drive to reclaim the heart they’ve lost- if reclaimed, that would mean they wouldn’t be a Nobody anymore. Creatures born in worlds of neither light nor darkness, created only through the destruction of another and only some of the time, who don’t even want to exist like this themselves... that’s what “Nobodies aren’t meant to exist” means to me, I think. BEAR IN MIND “MEANT” IS NOT THE SAME AS “DESERVE”

And then! There’s Nobodies who defy that! Or, uh, Nobody, singular. Roxas goes “bro I don’t care I want to exist as I am” and he does that (Naminé... didn’t really seem to share that opinion, if I’m remembering correctly. Probably because DiZ hammered it into her head that she didn’t deserve to exist). I wish we had seen something like that from one of the regular Nobodies- why should recompletion and/or regaining a heart be the ideal? Why do they have to die again in order to be “right”? It just further perpetuates that idea DiZ and Yensid pushed in kh2: Nobodies are Wrong and shouldn’t be around. Unless you’re special like Roxas or Naminé in which case it’s okay. But for everyone else it’s recomplete or bust... anyway this is a tangent I did not mean to go on with this post-

I think it’s interesting, how they’re made of nothingness and their existence is “nonexistent”. Nothingness is, as an element, something, as opposed to true nothing, which is the absence of anything. Nonexistence implies existence. It’s like how in math, sometimes an answer to a problem will be DNE-- that’s Nobodies, and “nothingness”. “Does not exist”, but in writing the answer, it does exist, as a nonexistent entity. As opposed to just... not having a math problem at all, and therefore not having a place to write a solution. That is true nothingness- all the Nobodies of people whose hearts weren’t strong enough to create Nobodies fall under this category. They don’t exist for real. Nothing as something vs nothing as nothing- ah fuck I just realized this is the second time I’ve used a math analogy for kingdom hearts. shit

in conclusion

that’s all of it. probably. i like nobodies a whole lot. now that i’m thinking about it i should’ve made this multiple posts instead of one huge one. if you read all of this you earn my undying love

[chennnington]

Phew I just got home for the day and popped open tumblr to see a lot of people already asked you so many questions, so I will try not repeat :)

3, 7, 17 (this question is me enabling you lmao I love your lore), 22, 27, 38

Thank you so much! And well, you might've enabled me a bit too much XD Sorry for taking so long!

Ask game here

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

You mean apart from the fact that I hibernate for 11 months a year to daydream plots, lore, characters and everything else without ever writing anything down and then vomiting out an entire novel within a month? Cause that’s pretty cursed I think :D

During NaNoWriMo I usually just sit down after work, since I often work from home now that means switching from laptop 1 to laptop 2 on the other table and not getting up until I hit my daily word goal. I might do a bit of exercise in between laptops though :D Oh, and I often buy a bottle of my favorite liqueur before November starts and pour myself one glass for each writing session. And when I take too long to reach my word goal, I also eat dinner in front of my laptop while writing. So far I haven’t created any messes yet :D

So the cursed elements are too much screen time with less than optimal posture, writing most of my novels under the influence of alcohol and touching my keyboard with greasy fingers XD 

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

Lately your support and excitement have been so amazing, so thank you for that! <3 Apart from that I love writing fast-paced fight scenes with tons of blood and writing all those jokes. Re-reading older stuff and laughing about my own jokes that I forgot about is nice as well :D 

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Oh shit, what have you done? :D

I don’t even know where to start. Wait, you like mages, so let’s start with mages in Catria. So not everyone has magic abilities, in fact they’re pretty rare. There’s two slightly different ways to have magic, one is hereditary, so when there’s been a mage in the past few generations, the other is awakened, when someone just randomly develops abilities without any known cases in the family. Inherited magic is always the same type, for example if your grandma was a water mage, you’ll be a water mage too. Hereditary magic is a bit weaker than awakened magic, but easier to control. Awakened magic is random, you could turn out to be a fire or water or healing mage or whatever. Awakened magic is stronger than hereditary magic, but also harder to control.

All types of mages are strongly advised to seek out the nearest mage association to get proper training. Trying to control your magic yourself can work, but it’s dangerous and you might die :D And for the Catrian monarchs it’s practical to have all potential mages connected in their association, it can’t hurt to have a bit of control over them. The training starts at the association’s academy, while mages are rather rare, they can usually find the right type of teacher for any apprentice mage who might show up. Some classes consist of only a single pupil though. After they master the basics in theory and practice there’s an exam, after that the adepts are encouraged to go on their adept journey where they travel the lands to work on their magic in new surroundings, find new knowledge or maybe even a new master to train them. After their return and when reaching a certain age, they can take another exam to become full-fledged master mages. Fun fact: Lithurio thought the mission with Andreine might be his adept journey, but if a grumpy assassin tells you on day 1 of your journey that he’ll chop your hands off if he sees any flames near it, practising your magic might not be the best idea. So the only things he learns are swear words in more than one language, high treason and that he hates fighting :D 

The uses of magic are pretty diverse. Many kinds of mages have the potential to be dangerous fighters, but you’re just as likely to find for example a water mage work in an agricultural surrounding to improve the watering of the fields. Many also go into research to figure out better uses for magic to improve the lives of the population. Or they delve deeper in the history of magic, cause it used to be way stronger and common than it is now. If they can figure out what happened, they might be able to discover those lost secrets.

Lithurio is going in that direction btw. He’s an awakened fire mage but he figures out in novel 1 that fighting definitely isn’t his thing. Maybe he’ll go into teaching too. 

In Mezkian the mage situation is a bit more complicated cause Mezkian as a whole is more… complicated at the moment. It used to be a united realm, but after a ton of war it now consists of dozens of small principalities, each with their own dukes who all do what they want and occasionally invade their neighbors to increase their own power. Not a great place for some fancy mage academy. In fact, not a great place for anyone except the dukes and some mercenaries who can make coin pretty easily. So if you grow up in Mezkian, aren’t rich and privileged and discover a magical ability, you probably have other priorities than trying to train it. If you’re really lucky you may find someone who can show you a few things, maybe you manage to practise by yourself and not die, but not many are able to make the journey south to Catria to join the association in Ibragas. 

The situation in Istrion isn’t much better because of all the religious mess, but at least Istrion still has a capital with a mage association, it doesn’t have the monopoly that the one in Ibragas has though. So if you find out you have abilities someone will be like “yeah I know a guy who could teach you some stuff”. 

Oh, and the reason it’s so dangerous to try to teach yourself to use magic is that it’s very difficult for inexperienced mages to know their limits. They have a limited amount of magic energy that they use to conjure or control or whatever, but also to protect themselves. Going beyond these limits either leads to lethal exhaustion or, if you’re unlucky, your magic kills you. If you’re a fire mage, your fire burns you, if you’re a water mage you’ll dry out cause your magic energy tries to use your body moisture and draws it out of your body, wind mages may just explode cause they mess up the air pressure around them and so on. So you gotta learn how to tell when you should better stop doing magic until your magic energy is restored a few days later. Unfortunately you gotta go close to your limit if you wanna improve, or you’ll be lighting candles, do that prank where you give someone an electric shock when they shake your hand, or be a human squirt gun forever instead of being badass. Still nice for party tricks though. 

Also I think it’s funny how not just healing mages can help treat injured people. Fire mages can cauterize wounds, water mages can make sure blood stays inside the body and keeps flowing, lighting mages can use their shocks like a defibrillator - but maybe only let mages near you who know what they’re doing. A lot could go wrong otherwise. 

Alright, let’s leave the mages alone for now before anyone gets killed and move to Gao once again. The peninsula is located in the Southwest of Catria, it’s nice and idyllic and warm enough to go swimming in the ocean all year. If you’re not a wimp or just used to it like the Gao-ka, who spend a lot of time in the water. Or on the water, when they sail to go fishing. 

They’re mostly self-reliant, but they also trade with the mainland. They usually prefer to stay amongst themselves though and they have a strong sense of community. If you take on the tides every day, you gotta have someone to watch your back, I guess. Someone’s boat gets damaged? Everyone helps fix it and the sailor can help work on someone else’s boat until repairs are finished. Someone dies at sea? Everyone makes sure their family is looked after and has everything they need. Gao isn’t too densely populated, the peninsula can’t support an unlimited amount of people. There are several small towns, more like settlements, the biggest one is Torao Gai that could probably be seen as the capital. It’s more of a village though.

Since they usually stay on Gao (unless they go trade), most people won’t even recognize a Gao-ka as Gao-ka unless they look like a walking stereotype with traditional garbs and holding a fish. In Andreine’s case people usually assume he’s from Southern Istrion.

Speaking of Andreine, Gao-ka are usually peace-loving and not exactly fighters. They don’t have a military and law enforcement is pretty much some guys and gals with sticks. It’s not like they’d have a lot to do, it’s almost as if people don’t commit crimes if their community respects them and cares for them. Weird. 

If there’s trouble, both parties come together and try to find a solution that everyone agrees with. That’s one of the main jobs of the Amna, she’s the eldest and the person who comes closest to being the ruler of Gao. Her position is mostly symbolic and ceremonial though. Also, don’t drink her homemade schnaps unless you enjoy suffering.

At some point in history some Catrian monarch sent some soldiers to Gao to check it out. They received a friendly greeting, an invitation to eat with them and figured out that the peninsula didn’t have any interesting natural resources, wasn’t good for farming or building much on it and there were also no good spots for their big, awkward ships. So instead of conquering Gao and claiming it for their monarch, they just left eventually. They did like the food though, even though it was quite unusual to them. 

There’s always a lot to do on Gao, so kids help out early. Those who are too small hang out together and probably play in the water somewhere near the divers while an older child or an adult watches them. And no worries, drowning is extremely uncommon, those kids learn to swim before they can walk. In fact, children aren’t named until they can swim, though admittedly the definition of “swimming” can vary cause some parents can’t wait to name their little ones. There’s a big party after the naming ceremony after all! So if you drop your toddler in the water and they don’t sink immediately and make some kind of movement, congrats, you have a swimmer now! 

But they learn to swim properly soon enough, pretty much all Gao-ka are excellent swimmers and can also hold their breath for a long time. Their underwater vision is great too. 

Kids usually get two first names that are based on those of the parents. For example, Andreine Surino Cerva is the son of Andrak and Suriani. If he was a girl, his first name would be based on his mother’s and the second on his father’s. Same-sex parents have to toss a coin I guess. And trans kids have an easy time picking their name. 

Oh and by the way, last names aren’t exactly last names, they’re just the names of the area a family lives in. There’s a bunch of Cerva families apart from Andreine’s, cause that’s what the part of town is called. Like Leonardo da Vinci :D

And tbh it doesn’t matter too much. The nuclear family is a thing, but most houses have room for additional people from around town who’ll most likely show up unannounced every now and then cause they were in the area or have business there, so they’ll just stay for a few days. A big part of life happens outside anyway. 

Oh, speaking of houses, most of them are relatively simple huts, most of them, especially those near the water, are raised on poles to prevent flooding. The area below the huts is used as storage, or you can just chill in the shade or work there.

Wait, I mentioned divers before and then got distracted. But apart from fishing, diving is also important. You find tons of useful stuff down there after all, from oysters to pen shells that you get sea silk from to seaweeds and all kinds of critters. So by default pretty much all Gao-ka will find a certain amount of pearls during their life. They’re a big deal, every Gao-ka wears their own pearls around their neck. Kids will obviously only have very few, but the older you get, the more pearls you add to your collection. The Amna wears three rows of pearls, and more pearls equal a better social standing. Maybe that’s one reason why Andreine doesn’t like the idea of returning to Gao. He left when he was 11 and only had three pearls by then. For an adult that’s pretty pathetic he thinks. Let’s give him more credit by saying it may be unusual, but understandable in his case.

You can also give pearls away, ideally only a single one though, cause it’s reserved for your heart-person. Like a soulmate, but it doesn’t have to be romantic or anything. Giving a pearl to someone is a big deal. So haha imagine not living on Gao anymore and giving your to someone who’s not a Gao-ka and has no idea what it means and is like “oh nice, thanks” and nothing else. Wait, is that the sound of Andreine sobbing in the distance? Nah, must’ve been the wind :)

There’s also other special occasions where someone may be gifted pearls, but they’ll have to do something really outstanding like save a bunch of lives and be a hero. Then the Amna sends everyone diving and all the pearls they can find go to the hero cause they’re now everyone’s favorite person. You can tell these pearls apart from the hero’s normal pearls because the knots between the individual pearls are different. They consist of three parts and symbolize two hands laid on the heart, a gesture of gratitude and respect.

There’s also a rite of passage connected to the necklace of a Gao-ka too. Roughly between the ages of 10 and 14, a child is encouraged to catch their first catch. It’s the first time they sail out by themselves. But it’s not the usual fishing trip with nets and going after small fish, you’ll want something bigger. There’s a big species of fish that only gets targeted during these first catches, they reach up to 10 feet in length and I’m sure they have a name, but since I’m so well-organized I can’t find it anymore :D there are different approaches to catch one of those big guys, older Gao-ka may give the kid some advice, but ultimately they have to do it by themselves. For many Gao-ka that’s the most martial thing they ever do and ideally they return with a big catch which means big beach party and loads of food! The child has proven they can handle stuff alone. They’re not adults yet of course, but they get more responsibility, can sail out alone (though most parents try to limit that if possible, it is dangerous after all).

The kid then gets a pendant for their necklace. It’s made from fishbone and shaped like a fish, through the quality of the craftsmanship varies. The oldest son gets his father’s pendant, the oldest daughter the mother’s. (Same-sex parents flip another coin). The younger children get a newly crafted one, made from the bones of their own fish. And then the kids wear it either for their whole life or until they have children themselves. So if you meet a Gao-ka couple, you just have to look at their necks to see if they have kids.

Since I mentioned the knots earlier, I should mention that the Gao-ka have a rudimentary type of knot writing. It’s not developed enough to write entire texts, but it’s used to knot blessings into the hem of fishing nets or signify different meanings in the necklaces and stuff like that. Written language isn’t much of a thing on Gao though, knowledge is passed on orally, important events are commemorated in songs that follow a certain structure or in artwork.

I think I gotta stop myself here, cause maybe I should actually start talking about assassins in the lore dump about my novel series about assassins XD

It all started cause one woman hated group projects. Said woman was called Sadrina and she lived about 400 years ago. She was a soldier in the Catrian royal guard (a rather big group project, so to say) and over time it turned out that open battle and that whole honor stuff wasn’t her thing, she preferred more discreet approaches and working alone when someone had to disappear, evidence for crimes had to be secured and whatnot. And she was good at that, so at some point the reigning monarch figured out that her approach, despite not too legal, was interesting. So eventually they just decided to legalize it and gave Sadrina permission to form her own group of like-minded people. Initially said group was supposed to be a part of the Catrian military, but Sadrina successfully argued that more independence and maybe not hanging out and training around the guards’ barracks would help keep the secret organization more secret.

The success of the Sadrinian Order was immense, so over the years they were able to gain more and more independence, started taking contracts from people outside the royal family (as long as it’s for the greater good and the citizens of Catria - that can of course be interpreted rather freely) and grew into the current assassin order everyone knows and loathes :D They never completely cut ties with the Catrian monarchy, it would’ve been dumb for both sides, cause the order was and still is a government-funded organization and they need that money so they can provide their services to everyone and not just rich people. Cause it’d obviously suck if only rich people had access to those services - better let them know they’re not off limit so they behave :)

So the order gets their money from the monarchs, in return the monarchs stated that the royal family and other high-ranking government members are off limits, that contracts given by them have top priority and go to the most skilled members and that all activity of the order must be in the interest of Catria and its people. Which, again, is obviously a very loose definition and sometimes leads to confusion, especially among the guards nowadays: the order and its doings are legal, but murder is a crime. And even though every assassin will carry a document signed by the leader of the order that proves their current actions are an official (and thus legal), collateral damage happens. Sometimes other people who weren’t targets die, sometimes you gotta break into places which is also not too legal - so in the end it depends on the mood of the guard who witnesses the assassin’s doings (or their general opinion of the order). That’s why assassins are great at running away.

In Istrion things are easier. Both Istrion and Mezkian countries used to have their own assassin orders after they saw how well it worked for the Catrian rulers, but they were never as big and successful as the Catrian order. About 50 years ago the one in Istrion was disbanded and outlawed when king Sebald started his whole “progress” stuff. And while the Catrian order sometimes takes contracts in Istrion when they have the means, they gotta be careful cause assassins get killed on sight over there. Isn’t progress amazing?

Mezkian in its divided state couldn’t support an assassin order anymore at some point. Sometimes freelancers show up, but since they gotta earn their own money, most people can’t afford them, so the Catrian order it is! No matter how divided Mezkian is, most people in power agree that having foreigners come to your country to kill your people is uncool. Which means illegal. Though maybe you can secretly hire them to get rid of some other ruler who annoys you? :)

So, if you want assassins, you gotta train them, right? So let’s take a look at that. New apprentices are found by just looking around or hearing about some dude/gal who shows promise. You’ll want someone who’s not too old, usually in their late teens, but knows how to wield some kind of weapon and isn’t overly pacifist. They should’ve killed before so you know they have the guts to actualy do it. The order’s informant network is usually pretty reliable, and since the order isn’t illegal, potential new members can just openly talk about how it would be cool to be an assassin in a crowded tavern and then wait. Though you might get beaten up cause there are tons of people who don’t like assassins :D

So since the order is rather quick to hire new apprentices, they need a way to make sure they won’t betray the order. They achieve that by not training them at the headquarter that’s allegedly hidden somewhere in the Catrian mountains deep in the forest, but at other locations. That’s one of the reasons why the assassin order runs some farms. They’re far away from other buildings and located in the flatlands, so you can easily watch out for intruders (who’ll just find a normal farm with a surprisingly high number of farm hands). So the apprentices who need more physical fitness do the hard manual farm labor (the crops they grow help feed the hungry assassins at the headquarter btw and the order’S horses are kept there too) and everyone gets basic lessons in assassin stuff. Since one of the order’s specialities is it’s flexibility and most apprentices have some kind of fighting background, you wanna embrace the skills and talents they already have, nurture them and turn them into something useful.

 It’s not as fun as it sounds, depending on the style of the instructor (and the leader of the order) training can be gruelling and may include casualities. Once the instructor deems someone good and also trustworthy enough, they contact the headquarter and the leader comes over to test the apprentice. That’s even less fun and usually includes getting beaten up by an experienced assassin who arrived with the leader. Survivors who pass are finally taken to the headquarter. Congrats, now you’re back at the bottom of the food chain! You were among the strongest at the apprentice farm, but now you get beaten up on a regular basis in more advanced and interesting ways again! At least the farm labor is over. Though maybe that’s not a good thing. 

At the headquarter, training continues, in an advanced and interesting (and sometimes lethal) way. They have better equipment and more potential instructors there, at the farms they only have stuff that can be hidden quickly in case of unexpected visitors, while the headquarter has means to ensure unexpected visitors aren’t a thing.

The order’s flexibility shows here too. There are some fixed lessons, experienced assassins who aren’t on a contract are strongly advised to attend them too, cause training is important and having more sparring partners is great too. But many lessons are more like “XYZ learned some funky stuff, if you’re interested, meet them at 3pm next week and they’ll demonstrate”. Those things don’t even have to be fight related, some alchemy, psychology, anatomy, sneaking or climbing, knowledge about history and politics etc. doesn’t hurt either. SInce there’s hardly any time when everyone is at the headquarter, cause you obviously want your members to do their job instead of just lounging around, the order actually has something like a bulletin board with current information, training offers/queries and all kinds of other stuff. It also has a pin for each member so they can mark whether they’re at the headquarter or away on a contract (or dead). 

During their training at the headquarter, an apprentice might get the chance to join an assassin on a mission, but only to watch. But usually that privilege is limited to the aspirants - they’re advanced apprentices who are considered for promotion to full-fledged assassins. The leader has a close eye on an aspirant and once they deem them good enough, it’s time for the final test that includes the bloodstone. It sounds cooler than it is, it’s literally just some fist-sized stone that happens to be reddish and a bit translucent. It has been in the order for centuries now. For the final test, the bloodstone is given to an experienced assassin the leader chooses. The aspirant is then told that the bloodstone is in the game - their task is to get it and bring it back to the leader. There’s usually a time limit or two weeks, the aspirant has no idea which assassin has the stone (there are hints though) and the person who has the stone may just leave the headquarter and disappear. So the aspirant has to track them down and then figure out how to get the stone. The possibilities are endless! Nobody is allowed to help the aspirant and killing and maiming isn’t allowed, but accidents happen. Broken bones, cuts and stab wounds often happen on both sides though.

If the aspirant manages to get the bloodstone and returns it to the leader within the deadline, they’re promoted to first-rank assassins. There are eight ranks, you mainly get promoted by successfully fulfilling contracts but there are other conditions too. A higher rank means more privileges, but mainly more responsibility, you’ll be expected to teach the apprentices more on top of your regular contracts and stuff like that. 

A newly promoted first rank assassin may get their first contract alone immediately, obviously an easier one. Or the leader may decide to send them on a mission with an experienced assassin who mentors them a bit, but lets them do stuff by themselves too. Oh, and though in general assassins get sent on missions alone, contracts for two or more assassins do exist. The leader decides who’s the best for each contract.

Yay nice, I meant to only focus on the training, but I happened to include some more stuff :D I think I should stop here. According to Google Docs this answer is 4,161 words long now and it’s super understandable if you didn’t read all of it :D 

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

Ugh, not organized at all. I hardly write anything down, if I ever hit my head and suffer from amnesia I won’t be able to continue writing I guess :D

I write in Google Docs and tbh I might’ve lost the overview over the different documents. There’s of course one for each novel, but also a NaNoWriMo version for each novel that includes just what I write during NaNoWriMo so I won’t accidentally manipulate my word count. Then there’s documents with deleted scenes that I edited out, also an edited version of novel 1 and a few others. I also have a collection of scenes or dialogue bits somewhere, probably in one of the documents where it doesn’t belong. 

Apart from Google Docs I also use the notes app on my phone sometimes, but only for really important stuff like potential names or things I really don’t wanna forget. But then again, recently I rediscovered an older note with a list of potential names that I had completely forgotten about, so writing down isn’t a guarantee that I’ll remember something XD

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

For novel 1 it was Jaheel. When he first appeared, I had already spent more than a year with Andreine. Plus, most of the stuff after that was still written from Andreine’s perspective, so getting Jaheel right while still considering Andreine’s emotions and opinion of him wasn’t easy. And isn’t. Andreine is definitely an unreliable narrator in this regard :D 

For novel 2 it’s Sadrina. Not the one I mentioned who founded the assassin order 400 years ago, but a young girl who happens to share her name for a reason that was once plot relevant but isn’t anymore :D I find balancing her a bit difficult. On one hand she completed her assassin training and earned the title, on the other hand she’s still a 17-year-old girl on her first contract. A contract that should’ve gone to someone more experienced. I mean sure, she has Andreine with her to mentor her, but that in itself is less than ideal :D So she can’t be too incompetent, but also not too badass. She currently cries a lot, but tbh same^^

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

I think this is pretty identical to #3 :D

Also, not writing anything for months and then randonly infodumping 4k words is pretty sus.

I read that cats tend to see us as huge, incompetent kittens. That’s why they baby-talk to us and bring us dead mics cause we’re too stupid to hunt. If cats bring you living prey, that’s actually a compliment cause they consider you capable of hunting and killing it yourself (at 3am under the bed. yay.)

My boy Iker used to sleep curled around my head every night and groomed my hair, apparently that’s a sign he accepted me into his family and also wanted to protect me at night. He was the sweetest baby. To stay on topic, here he is as an assassin! That’s my old shower curtain, I gave it to him cause he loved it. It rustles and you can hide underneath it!

[masonkohler]

The Years Between: Reflection

It was getting to be summer now the year after I started rebuilding the old family farm. The folks from Moonbrook stuck around after the buildings were raised. Some even brought their families and put together their own little houses out by the fields. Funny how I went to Moonbrook when I was a kid for my apprenticeship from these very fields, and now old timers from town are coming out here for a new start. I’m watching them now from the window tending to their own plots, some coming together to plow and sow in the main fields, like some kind of community.

Yeah, it’s surreal to me too, even after the same sort of thing happened in Redridge with the Bastion’s estate. While the Scourge was running rampant, where else could people go after Lakeshire? We had walls, defenses; I got some turned into a regular militia, the rest found ways to ply old trades on the grounds, and they all got to get back to some kind of life.

Apparently some of the ones staying out on the homestead now have heard of me. A few recognize me from years and years ago, when I was just the apprentice smith in town. Some know my name from friends or family in the Westfall Brigade. All of them heard about the new township in Redridge. I didn’t ask for any of this, for anyone looking to me like some kind of example. 

Honestly, I’d just expected to fix up the house, maybe see if my folks wanted to come back home and help, I don’t know, grow some food and offer food and shelter to those who’ve been needing it out here. I didn’t even start organizing any such thing, and yet here they all came anyway. They just needed someone to give them a chance I suppose. I didn’t need all the whispered tall tales, though. Some about Redridge, some about other stuff.

So, right, we’ve got the stories about how the Bastion founded a home for refugees. I made them their weapons too, but some fool got it in their head to start going on about how their weapons were unbreakable or somesuch because the master smith’s forge was blessed by spirits of fire.

I mean, they’re not wrong about the fire spirits. But I personally have seen one of the spears snap. Granted, the fella using it didn’t use it proper, but now I’m just getting off on rabbit trails.

Heard at least one older gentleman - I think the one I see patching his roof across the field now, actually - say their protector - that’d be me, I suppose - sometimes leaps off into the sky and communes with the heroes of old. That one is patently ridiculous. There aren’t any mortal human spirits in Skyhold after all. If I was talking with ancient heroes, I’d have gone and found some in the Shadowlands. I would have been interested in finding that ancestor of mine, the Giantslayer, but that just wasn’t in the cards. In fact, it’s probably better that story isn’t true.

Hasn’t stopped younger ones - the brother and sister who set up on the east side of the fields with their herb garden and chickens, I’m thinking specifically - from whispering that I’m some kind of actual hero. They claim they saw me mowing down demons when the Legion came to Westfall, and while I won’t deny I did do my fair share, the exaggeration is a little much.

I take another swig of my ale. It’s watered down from what I’d like, but someone’s gotta make sure everyone can get a drink when they want it, and if not me, then who? I make sure we all get what we need from merchants passing by, I make sure the gnolls stay away when I hear them barking in the hills, and...

I set down the mug and sigh. The liquid inside sloshes, and I catch a glimpse of my reflection. I look tired. I’ve got some gray in my beard. I drag a hand through my hair. The ends are getting split and it’s rightly dry as hay. If not me, then who, I remind myself, and blink the image of that tired man in the drink away. It doesn’t help, not really.

Any good I’ve done here - and these folks with their shelter, food, safety, and even some sort of folk hero they’re making me sound like - it’s still empty. Lonely. Ma and Da settled down in Elwynn after everything, and are enjoying the green in their twilight years; my sisters’ tailoring business is successful enough to have a storefront in the City, and they weren’t thrilled at the idea of living back in the sticks. Andrew would’ve come with me, I know. But he’s been gone for years now. Everyone else I’d been close to, too, we’ve all gone their separate ways. No old friends, no old lovers, no one just popping by to say hello unless they need help, need safety, need the Mason that’s a hero. Not like old Westfall, not like home.

Well, damn it all. I said before you couldn’t go home again, knew how right I was, but didn’t realize what it could do to a man who tried.

Whatever else I was thinking, the whole thing got derailed by a knock on the door. It was quiet, unassuming, not like the hammering of that soldier a while back.

When I opened the door, dragging myself up and putting on my best host smile - my best host mask, it felt like - the man standing there was a pretty plain fella too. I mean, aside from the scar on his brow.

He looks tired, like me, and scared. Suddenly, the weight started coming off my shoulders and I feel my back straighten up. I remember the Defias, the fear they exploited, the burning and the violence, Westfall’s descent into barrenness and poverty, and I remember why I’m here.

If not me, then who?

“Mr. Foster, I’m assuming? Get in here before someone sees, and let’s get you taken care of.”

( @arcanist-starweaver​ for Violet Bastion mention! )

[palialaina]

Wild ride?

Wild ride.

Where do I even begin...?

Oh, I know. Let's start with the fucking heart attack Reth tried to give me! I need to tell Lark to smack their boy upside the head for me a few times because I swear, this incident took years off my life.

So, okay. I've known Reth's been doing Flow-stuff smuggling, and I knew that technically, it was illegal, but he was doing it for Tish's sake, so keep her healthy with that hairpin and all.

And then the idiot nearly gets caught!

Seriously, Majiri are so bad at this sort of thing, oh my god.

Anyways, he told me that Eshe had confiscated a package that had Tish's very illegal treatment in it (I will murder him), and asked me to help figure out a way to get it back. He is so lucky I like him, and also so lucky that it took me until now to get mad, because I would have y e l l e d.

But like, I'm surprised he didn't think of Kenyatta himself. She's always down to fuck with her mother (and is actually in the process of making me do that so she can finish becoming Chayne's apprentice.), so asking her to steal from her mother was like giving a toddler sweets and a noisemaker.

Suffice it to say, she stole it, laughed at me about it when she gave me the package, and then told me to tell Reth that he was absolutely nuts. I have not done that yet. I will do that if he comes around. He did give me an old soup pot of his, saying it was his lucky pot, and like...

It needs a bath before I put anything in it.

Kenyatta herself is having me stall Eshe for her, by dragging out party preparations for her path declaration. Majiri traditions apparently had a lot of steps for becoming an official apprentice to someone like Chayne, so I'm having to drag this out a lot. Lucky for her, not hard, because I can't make the things Eshe wants, so I have to hope Tish might have them in her shop.

I wish I could ask Tish directly, but she's still pretty shaken about the whole... 'discovering Reth's in debt to a cartel because of her' thing. And I know if she asks why I will spill the fact that I need these to pay back Kenyatta for stealing the package for me to give to Reth.

So we're just... we're not going there. Nope.

Personal news is no less chaostic; I broke Hassian's brain the other day. I didn't mean to, but like...

Okay. So. I've been bugging him to actually help me with this hunting stuff for a while. I am no one's idea of an ideal hunter (I'm getting better, but like...), and I just want to at least be able to hit the target more than I miss. Arrows are hard to make!

So I finally convinced him, and we went to his grove where he has targest set up. He had me working on my stance, and how I hold the bow and draw it, to the point of coming up and actually... yanno, touching me. I don't think he thought of it as anything more than being a hands on instructor, and I didn't mind until I kinda of sort of turned to ask him a question and...

um.

well, he was close enough that it was actually kind of a kiss. And apparently it wasn't a very good kiss (because it was an accident!) so he decided to give me an actual one.

So there was that.

After... that, I decided it would be a good idea to go and try to find some iron so both of us could have some breathing space, and uh...

That ended poorly.

Kind of how Lark got injured, actually... I had their letter (and one from Orion too about the Maji Market), but I put them down to work on something and when I turned around a bratty thieving chappa had them. So those are gone. But anyways, Lark's glider got damaged, and they fell down a hole and got a nasty sprain, and had to be rescued by Hassian (thank goodness Hassian knew where they were...).

Me? The boards had water damage and I was... distracted. So, we kinda fell down the same hole. I was also found by Hassian, fortunately. Well. Sort of fortunately. I think he used Tau to track me, and he was so cranky about needing to help me back up. Nothing's broken, but he gave me a piggyback to Chayne's, and loomed until Chayne said I would need a sling for a few days, and should go home to rest.

I am entirely anticipating too many visitors, because I bet Hassian will tell Sifuu, who'll tell anyone at the inn in the evenings, and then Chayne will probably also tell Dad. It's just a strained elbow! I'm fine!

...okay, maybe not fine, but It's really not that bad.

Hassian complained about the humans he knows and sort-of-likes being absolute klutzes even as he got me home and made sure I didn't actually need anything. I'm a little concerned that someone's going to show up with a pot of Reth's lettuce soup (please no, something with actual flavor thanks), and goodness only know what Jel's reaction is going to be.

At least it was my off hand...

[cullens-babe]

Rise of Bloom Lavellan

Chapter 3: Dareth Shiral

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

WARNING: Mentions of child death

If that doesn't bother you, then continue on. I also proofread this, but sorry if I missed something and it's off!

.

"Keeper, can we go to the lake nearby?"

Brialle and Jahel stood in front of their keeper and waited for an answer.

Deshanna was standing in front of her tent, about to enter for her lesson with her apprentice, but stopped and turned around. She kneeled down to their level and tilted her head. "Why do you want to go?"

Jahel looked at the ground slightly embarrassed, so his sister answered for him. "We just wanted to go swim. It looks like a nice day today, and we've finished our lessons. Our parents said we could go if you said yes!"

Deshanna looked behind the kids and saw their parents by their tent, nodding. She looked back at the kids and sighed. "You may, but you cannot be long. Understand?"

The twins nodded excitedly. "I'll make sure we're not there for long! We'll be back before sun down!" Brialle told her.

They both ran past her and others as they exited their camp and went towards the lake.

Jahel tried to run ahead of Brialle, but she gripped his hand tightly, making him walk at her pace. "You're not getting away from me! Last time you ran ahead, you almost tripped and got hurt." She looked over at him and gave him a stern look.

He pulled at her hand and scoffed. "I won't run that fast! I'll be fine," he argued.

"No! You're under my watch and I'm not letting you go."

He sighed with annoyance and continued their walk with no argument. He knew he wouldn't win against her wits and attitude.

Once the lake was in their sight, she stopped and let his hand go. "You can go now, but don't swim too far!"

He tilted his head with confusion. "Aren't you swimming with me?"

She looked out towards the water and shook her head. "I don't feel like getting soaked today. I just came to watch you and pick some flowers." She loved to pick flowers and the lake always had beautiful flowers around it. It was one of the main reasons she went there.

He crossed his arms and sighed. "But that's boring! You should join me!"

"Jahel-"

He held his hands together and pouted. "Please?! Just for a little while!"

After a few moments of looking at his puppy eyes, she sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll join you. But not for too long."

He jumped up with victory and grabbed her hand. The two ran into the lake and yelped at the cold feeling of the water. They ran deep enough to where their feet couldn't touch the ground anymore.

"Why did you really want to come here?" Brialle asked Jahel, who was floating on his back.

He looked over at her and smiled. "To take a break. We've both been busy with the training and stuff, so why not take a small break?"

She moved to float on her back and stared up at the sky. "We could've done that at the clan, so why here?"

"You like the flowers, right? I at first thought of you just picking the flowers, but it's been forever since you've swam with me, so I really wanted you to."

She looked over at him and smiled. "When did you become sappy? I thought you were supposed to be intimidating and strong."

He rolled his eyes and looked back up at the sky. "I can be both of those and caring." He went silent after that and so did his sister. They both floated and enjoyed the sound of nature and the beautiful sky above them.

However, Jahel got bored and got off his back and began to keep himself above water again. "Why don't we play a game?"

Brialle got off her back as well and tilted her head. "What kind of game can we play?"

He bit his lip as he thought. "Why don't we do some hide and seek?"

"How would we do that?"

"Well, you close your eyes like normal, count to twenty, and I go find some place to hide in the water. But you cannot open your eyes as you look for me."

"What? How's that fair?"

"I will splash water or call your name and you have to follow my voice!"

She thought for a moment but eventually nodded. "That sounds pretty fun! Who's hiding first?"

"Me, duh," he said with a big smile.

Brialle turned around and placed her hands over her eyes. "Start hiding! I'm about to count!" She heard him make a splash sound, so she started to count. She counted all the way to twenty and opened her eyes. "Ready or not, here I come!" She turned around and looked for orange hair, but saw none.

She took in a deep breath and plunged herself under water. She looked for feet or any signs of a person, but she didn't see any. The lake was clear blue, so it should've been easy, but he was nowhere to be found. She went back up to the surface, took in a deep breath, and went back underwater. She began to swim further out into the lake.

She still didn't see him after a few more feet, so she went back to the surface and wiped the hair away from her face. "Jahel? Where are you?!" This is where he would've made a sound or anything, but she heard nothing. "Maybe he's just underwater and can't hear me," she told herself. She waited for another minute and called out. "Jahel! Please make a noise!" But once again, there was no response.

Her heart dropped and she instantly began to search faster. She took in a deep breath and plunged herself under the water, ready to look for him for real. She didn't know which direction to go in, so she decided to go back near the shallow end of the lake, but he wasn't there. She kept looking around there until she felt too much pain in her chest. She went back to the surface and took in another deep breath.

She swam further out into the lake and started on the left side. She swam and swam, and she finally saw him. He was in the middle of the lake, farther than they originally were, and was floating on his back. She surged towards him and grabbed onto him as she went to the surface.

"Jahel! Don't scare me like that! Where were you?" She shook him, but instantly realized he didn't respond, and she noticed he wasn't breathing.

She looked towards the direction of their camp and shouted. "Help! Please! Jahel's not breathing!" Her voice echoed out into the forest around them and she hoped that someone heard her.

She moved in front of him and placed one arm on his chest, pulling him close to her, and began to swim with the other arm. "H-Hold on, Jahel. You'll be okay," she told him. Her breath came quicker and she struggled to swim because of his weight, but she continued.

She continued to shout between her breaths, but screamed when she felt arms pull her away from her brother.

"No! Let me go!" She squirmed and struggled against the person, but stopped when she heard their voice.

"Stop, Brialle! It's me!"

She looked up to see her father move the hair from her face and look in front of them. Brialle's gaze followed and she saw one of the hunters pick up Jahel, and carry him.

Her father began to swim and pull her along, and made sure she was tight in his grip. "It's going to be okay."

She barely heard his words as she stared at her brother. She couldn't believe this happened, she couldn't believe she let him swim away, she couldn't believe she let this happen. Her breath continued to come quickly and her vision became blurry. She heard the hunter call out to her father, but her world went dark before anything else happened.

.

"Why can't I see her?! I'm her mother!"

Brialle awoke to the sound of a woman's voice. She was yelling and she sounded nearby. She opened her eyes and saw a woman kneeling by her side. She turned her head to look over and saw a healer.

"Oh, you're awake! How do you feel?" She placed a hand against Brialle's forehead and looked towards the tent entrance. "She's awake!"

It took her a moment, but Brialle remembered what happened. She sat up quickly and ignored the pain that pounded in her head. "Where's Jahel?" She immediately coughed and rubbed her throat.

"Drink first," the healer said. She had a cup of water and handed it to her. She watched as Brialle drank the water quickly, and took it when she was done. She placed a hand on her shoulder and helped Brialle lay down. "Please, wait here." She stood up and exited the tent.

She shivered and her head panged for a moment. She usually followed directions, but she disobeyed this time. She slowly sat up and got herself up. Her head was dizzy, but she still stood up. She slowly walked over to the tent flap and exited.

"Brialle!"

She looked over to see her mother move past the healer and run towards her. She hugged her tightly and kissed her head. "Oh my gods, you're okay!" Dina shouted with relief.

Brialle hugged her mother tightly and shut her eyes tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Apology after apology came out of her mouth.

Dina kneeled to her level and wiped her cheeks. "It's not your fault, my dear."

Brialle looked behind her mother and saw a hunter and a healer exit a tent together, neither looked happy. She noticed the hunter was the one who carried Jahel from the lake, and she gasped. She pulled away from her mother and ran over to him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. "What happened to Jahel?!"

The hunter looked down at her with a sad look and shook his head. "You need to rest. You've worn out your body." He tried to pull away from her, but she tightened her grip.

"I won't leave! Tell me where he is!" She yelled and immediately coughed.

The hunter looked over to her mother and motioned his head to the tent beside him. He saw Dina wipe her eyes and nod sadly. The man led Brialle into the tent to see her father kneeling beside Jahel who lied on a blanket. He let her go and walked out of the tent, giving her a moment with her father.

She ran to her fathers side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?" She looked at Jahel and saw how pale he looked. She reached out and grabbed his hand and gasped when she felt no warmth. He was cold and his chest didn't rise no matter how long she stared at him.

"Jahel...?" she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Brialle, but he can't answer." Salem looked over at her and pulled her to his side and laid his forehead against the side of her head.

Her heart dropped once again and she let out a sob and others followed. She hid her face against her fathers chest and cried until she felt a hand rub her back. She pulled away from her father to see her mother beside her.

She hiccupped and sniffled before she spoke. "I'm sorry." She looked towards her father. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed out. She hugged her mother tightly and hid her face against her chest. "It's all my fault! It's all mine!"

Dina's arms tightened and she whispered in her ear. "Don't ever say that, dear. None of this is your fault," she comforted.

Salem wrapped an arm around Brialle and his other around Dina, and pulled them close. They stayed together for a few minutes before they couldn't be there anymore. If they stayed longer, they would never stop crying.

Dina and Salem helped Brialle up and both held a hand as they left the tent. She knew he wasn't there, but before the flaps closed, she looked behind her to see her brother still motionless. It only confirmed the fact that he was no longer there.

Her brother was no longer there.

.

It was only supposed to be a trip to the lake, something which they did normally. But sadly it ended terribly and it shook the entire clan. However, no one was as affected as Brialle herself. Her best friend was gone and no longer with her, yet she still felt him nearby. Others told her it was grief and said that as long as she remembered him, then he would always be with her, but it was far from the truth.

.

Brialle opened her eyes to see a Halla face right in front of her. She gasped and immediately sat up. She looked around to find herself in the Halla pen.

"Wasn't I in our tent?" She questioned herself. "We were sleeping, so how did I get out here?" She stood up and looked around to see the clan.

Every thing was the same, but there were no people.

"Keeper? Mom? Dad?" She called out but no one replied.

It was day time, the sun was high in the sky, and every thing looked so normal, but it wasn't. She felt off.

"Brialle," a voice called out.

She recognized the voice immediately and looked around quickly. "Jahel?!" She stood still, held her breath, and waited for another response.

"I'm right here!" he called out again.

She left the pen and ran to her family's tent. She opened it and saw no one there. "Where else would you be?"

"Behind you," he said.

She turned around and saw him. Jahel stood a few feet in front of her. He didn't look pale anymore, his chest rose and fell, and he actually spoke again. She moved a few steps closer, but stopped when the situation suck in.

"I'm here, sister," he said in a gentle voice.

"H-How are you here? You died," she forced out. She felt tears well up in her eyes at the reminder, but it was true. It would've been impossible for him to be there with her, but there he was.

"It was all a nightmare. I'm truly here with you."

She shook her head as her tears fell. "No! You're not here!"

He took a few steps closer and nodded. "But why would you see me here?"

She looked around. "Where even is here? This can't be our clan! There's no one here!" She argued.

He took a few steps closer. "This is our clan, everyone is just busy. It's happened before," he said gently.

He was in front of her now, and he stretched out his hand and smiled. "I'm here, sister," he said. His voice no longer was normal, it echoed and sounded darker.

She was tempted to grab his hand, to let herself believe he was there with her, but he wasn't. She shook her head and took a step backwards. "I don't know who you are, but you're not him," she said. Her voice was wobbly with fear.

His smiled faltered for a moment, but he recovered and took a step forward. "But I am here! Why won't you believe me?" He questioned her with slight anger.

She took another step backward and yelped when she tripped on a piece of wood. She fell backwards and through the tent flaps. She hit the ground hard and looked up through the opened flaps to see 'Jahel' still standing there with a smile. However, now his smiled widened to show too many teeth, and it sent a shiver through her.

"Why couldn't you just take my hand? It would've made this so much easier!" 'Jahel''s look turned from happy to angry in a second. He smiled creepily before taking another step forward. "Now, it'll only take a second," he whispered.

He lunged forward and she pulled her legs to her chest, covered her head with her arms, and hid her face with her knees. "NO," she screamed.

"NO!" another voice shouted.

Suddenly, there was a demonic scream of pain, and then silence. She waited for pain, but there was none. No scratch, no stab, nothing at all. She opened one eye to see no one there anymore. She leaned up and opened the tent flaps to see no Jahel there at all.

She exited the tent and walked to where she stood before. She looked around and saw no one, and she let out a breath of relief. "So, he really wasn't here...." she said softly. "But where am I? Is this really what I think it is?"

She wasn't a mage, but she heard about magic from books she read and knowledge her parents shared. The fade was something the mages could visit, and it was similar to the situation she was in.

"B-Brialle? Are you okay?"

She screamed and turned around quickly to see Jahel exit the tent she was just in. He had a worried look on his face and held his hands out in front of him, doing his best to not make her afraid.

"It's just me! I-I'm not going to hurt you!" he said.

She took a step backwards and shook her head. "No! You did try to hurt me! You're not Jahel!" she said with anger. She couldn't believe someone would dare take her brother's form to manipulate her.

"Brialle, I didn't hurt you! I stopped the demon from hurting you!" He took a step forward and kept his hands in front of him.

"You're lying!" She then gasped as she remembered where he came from. "How did you get in the tent? Were you waiting to hurt me?!"

He shook his head quickly. "No! Why would I hurt you? Brialle, believe me! I don't know how I'm here," he said gently.

She saw tears well up in his eyes and her vision became blurry as hers did the same. "No, you're not him. You know exactly how you got here," she said with her voice shaking from sadness. There was no longer fear there, only grief surrounded her.

He took a few steps further. "I'm not here to hurt you. Believe me, please," he said. He blinked and the tears fell from his eyes.

Her tears fell as well and she sobbed. She couldn't fight him anymore, she couldn't keep going. It was dangerous, but he wasn't a threat. He didn't lunge, he didn't creep her out, and she felt safe. She didn't feel like she was in danger anymore. She felt a familiar comfort and she let herself go.

She ran forward and hugged him as tight as she could, and he did the same. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and they both wept.

"Jahel, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault," Brialle sobbed out.

"No, it's not your fault. It's mine," he said.

They stopped talking and only hugged each other tightly. After a few minutes, they pulled away and wiped their own tears.

"H-How are you here?" Brialle asked.

Jahel shrugged with a huff. "I don't know. I'm just...here," he answered with hesitation. He was just as confused as she was.

She tried to ask another question, but the area around them began to slowly shake and she felt her grip on him slowly fade.

"I'm waking up! I have to go!"

His grip tightened on her. "No, not yet!"

"I'm sorry, Jahel." She squeezed his hand tightly. "Don't leave me. S-Stay here! I'll be back."

"I don't think that's how it works," he said with a small laugh.

She shook her head. "I don't care! Just stay-".

She gasped as she woke up. She sat up and looked around to see the inside of her tent. She looked to her side to see only her parents asleep in their shared bedroll. Her brother truly was no longer there, yet she saw him.

"Was it all just a dream?" she whispered with disbelief.

"I'm still here, Brialle!"

She gasped as she heard Jahel's voice echo in her head. "H-How are you here?" she whispered.

"I don't know, but I'm not gone! I'm still with you! I can see you and every thing around you," he said with excitement. He didn't understand the situation, but he couldn't help his happiness. He didn't have to truly say goodbye to the people he cared about. He was still there, thanks to Brialle.

She laughed softly. "Thank you. For not leaving me."

It was silent for a moment, but he eventually spoke. "How could I ever leave my best friend?"

.

.

This was so difficult to write but I love this and I love Brialle and Jahel. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and I'll get to working on the next chapter soon!

[lexosaurus]

Going Angst Week 2021: Family/Friends

Read: [1: Birth] [2: Instinct]

Continuation of the No One Knows AU plotline.

---

Everything had changed since the accident. The biological differences were obvious. He glowed, his hair inverted, his eyes turned green, he had ectoplasm running through his veins, he was cold, he didn’t need to breathe as much in human form—the list went on. 

But the psychological ones were easily more terrifying.

And nothing scared him more than the way his friends and family were treating him as of late.

He knew that deep down he would never be able to match the way he acted when he was fully human. But that didn’t mean that his heart didn’t skip a beat every time someone shot him a worried glance, every time someone asked if he was alright, every time he caught himself doing something wrong. 

He wasn’t human anymore. He wasn’t even sure what he was now, and Vlad seemed to have too much fun emotionally torturing him to give him a straight answer.

“You up for a movie tonight?” Tucker asked, leaning across Danny’s desk. 

“Hell yeah,” Sam said. “My house?”

“Oh, you know me too well. What do you think, dude?”

Danny realized that both teens were looking to him for an answer.

He wanted to stay home. Hanging out with either of them meant there was a chance they would see him slip up, and he couldn’t have that.

“Sure.” He hoped his voice didn’t sound too pained.

“Perfect!” Tucker clasped a hand down on his shoulder.

Danny tried not to duck away.

“So we’ll go to Sam’s after dinner. I can bring snacks. Anything you want in particular?”

The thought of eating anything was nauseating. “No. I’m fine.”

“Alright, I’ll just bring the usual then.”

But Danny should have known that something was up. After all, it had been a while since they’d done a movie night. And lately, Sam and Tucker had been acting...oddly. 

Well, that was nothing new. Danny thought that as time went on, they’d forgive him for being a bit jumpier than usual and everything would go back to normal. 

Except, of course, it didn’t.

The past few weeks had been especially hard. It seemed like they constantly had something to say, but never did. The worried glances had only increased, and the silent conversations seemed to only grow.

Danny had been trying his best to act normal, act human, but it seemed like the more he tried, the worse they’d get.

So of course, in between the first movie and second, the elephant in the room finally stomped all over Danny’s metaphorical floor.

“Hey, Danny.” Sam glanced over at Tucker. A moment passed between the two before Sam nodded and turned back to Danny. “We really need to talk to you.”

Dread pooled in his stomach. He knew exactly where this was going. “I can start the next movie if you want?”

“No, Danny. Listen, can you just sit down for a second?”

His ghostly instincts were begging him to run, but his human side forced him to sit down.

“Listen, we know that...well, Jazz told us about the lab accident.”

Danny could have sworn his heart stopped beating.

“She said it was pretty serious? And she was surprised that you hadn’t told us?” Sam fidgeted with her black rings. “We didn’t say anything to you because we wanted you to be the ones to confide in us.”

“That and we didn’t want you to get upset that we were talking to Jazz about you,” Tucker interjected.

“Right, and Jazz only told us because she was worried. And honestly? We’re really worried too.”

Any oxygen left in Danny’s body was sucked out of his throat like a vacuum.

They’d found out. They knew the truth, they knew he was a freak of nature half ghost and they were going to out him, they were going to tell his parents, they’d tell the school counselor, and Danny would have no one and he’d have to run away to become Vlad’s apprentice and he’d change, he’d be corrupted, he wouldn’t make it out alive.

“I’m just wondering why you didn’t say anything?” Sam asked, her violent eyes brimming with concern.

“I…” Danny’s mouth felt like it was lined with cotton. He tried to swallow, but it was like swallowing sand. “I didn’t want you to worry is all.”

“Yeah, and we get that,” Tucker said carefully. “But, I mean, we’re your best friends. And dude, you’ve been...well…”

At Tucker’s helpless glance, Sam took over. “You just have been acting really off lately.”

“Sorry.”

“No!” Sam nearly leapt out of her seat. “Danny, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. I mean, hell, if I nearly died in a lab accident I’d be acting off too. It just, you know, it explains a lot. It must have been really terrifying.”

Danny didn’t trust himself to say anything. 

How much of his personality had shifted because of Phantom, and how much had shifted because of the accident? Were his ghostly instincts really creeping up that much into his human form? 

Would he ever be the same again?

Did they know?

“Is there anything you wanna talk about?”

“We’re all ears, dude.”

He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t say a word. Not without outing himself as Phantom, and that was bound to backfire on him in the worst way possible.

Oh god, he was acting too suspicious. He needed to save this.

“I’m good.”

There was a beat of silence.

Sam leaned forward. “Danny...I don’t mean to sound like Jazz, but bottling stuff up isn’t—”

“I’m fine!” Danny snapped. “I didn’t say anything and I’m sorry, but you know it’s not every day like you’re nearly electrocuted to death in your parents’ ghost portal.”

“Is that what happened?” Sam’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my god, Danny.”

“Holy shit,” Tucker agreed.

Danny threw his arms out. “Ta da! I survived, I’m fine. Nothing to talk about.”

“Danny, I—”

“No.” His tone was final. “Drop it, seriously.”

Another beat of silence passed, and then Sam finally sighed. “Fine, but I’m telling you as your friend that if you ever need anything, we’re here for you.”

He wished he could have trusted those words. But he knew they were nothing more than a farce.

It would have been cruel to hold onto false hope.

Still, he tried to smile. “Thanks.”

Even though he knew he hadn’t fooled anyone.

---

Maddie’s POV

Maddie watched her son from across the kitchen table, just as she’d done every night for the past several weeks. Quietly, as inconspicuous as possible, always watching.

Ever since the lab accident, he’d been….different. Jack hadn’t noticed, but to Maddie the changes were far too obvious. The dropped spoons, the flash of green behind his eyes, his limbs losing visibility without him even noticing, their ecto-inventions that always seemed to go off around him.

One day, she even saw him walk through his bedroom door.

At first, she thought it was just a simple case of possession. But there were telltale signs of possession, one’s that Jack, for all his enthusiasm, always failed to take into account.

Sure, Danny’s eyes flashed green every so often, but most of the time they were blue. Human blue.

And then there was his personality. In cases of possession, the ghost would be completely controlling the body. But in Danny’s case, he was still very obviously Danny. Still the sweet boy she always knew him to be, but he was just...different. Jumpier. Scared.

Like he knew he was living a lie.

And then, just a few weeks after Danny’s run in with the portal, a new ghost appeared. 

Of course, Maddie didn’t make the connection at first. The ghost was obviously new, and didn’t seem to have a grasp on its powers. Its fighting was laughable, its ectoblasts nearly always missed, and it seemed to constantly forget about its core powers.

Not to mention, its hair was white. Danny had black hair.

But then the ghost gave itself a name: Danny Phantom. And that was when Maddie decided to take a second look at it.

It was Danny’s height and build, its voice sounded similar to Danny’s, it seemed to know all of Danny’s classmates, it used a Fenton thermos, it wore a hazmat suit that looked eerily similar to the ones in their basement closet—not to mention that Danny’s hazmat suit had gone missing recently.

On its own, one small correlation didn’t mean anything. But when the little similarities kept piling up, then Maddie had to draw some sort of conclusion.

Just what was the conclusion though?

The Danny across the table had gone to school like any other human child, he’d eaten his meals like anyone else, he’d hung out with his human friends, he talked with his human family. On paper, he seemed normal.

Human.

But his grades were in a downwards spiral, Jazz had expressed concern about him and his friends, he’d been breaking curfew, and there were times when she’d peak into his room at night to find him gone.

He could have been just experiencing trauma from the accident. Maybe he was rebelling. There were so many explanations for his behavior that didn’t involve ghosts.

But then he’d do something ghostly or a weapon would beep around him or Phantom would fly nearby, and her red flags would be raised once again.

Maddie learned long ago to trust her red flags.

The Danny across the table took a bite of his salad, and his face immediately scrunched up.

Maddie felt sick.

He swallowed, and Maddie could see his eyes watering. “Is there something wrong with the lettuce, Mom?” 

She feigned innocence. “Hmm?”

“I don’t know,” he prodded a carrot on his plate. “Something just seems off.”

“Tastes fine to me,” Maddie said. “I just bought this lettuce today. Jazz, is yours okay?”

“Yeah,” she said.

Maddie suppressed a grin. She could always count on her “facts and research only” daughter.

“It could be the dressing? I used a new brand tonight. It’s healthier than the other stuff.” 

That, or it was the small amount of blood blossoms she’d blended into the vinaigrette. 

“Maybe.”

But it couldn’t end here. She needed to know. She was a scientist, she had to see the experiment through.

“Eat the rest of your salad, honey. I’ll buy the other brand tomorrow, okay?”

Danny carefully put another forkful of salad into his mouth. He gave a small wince, but swallowed. 

“Good boy,” she said. “I have fudge in the fridge for when you’re done.”

“Oh, fudge?” Jack exclaimed. He shoveled the rest of his salad into his mouth. With a mouth full of food, he said, “Thanks, Mads! You’re the best!”

“You’re welcome sweetie!”

Jazz made a face. “Gross, Dad.”

Jack laughed and bantered back at his daughter, but Maddie had already tuned out of the conversation. Her only focus was on Danny, whose face was now just too flushed to be healthy. Still, he forced himself to eat.

There was just no question. No doubt about it.

No matter how Maddie looked at it, this was proof enough.

Danny Fenton wasn’t human. The portal hadn’t nearly killed him, it probably did kill him. And now here he was, pretending to still be a part of the family while using Phantom to distract them from the fact that he was a ghost.

It was a truly elaborate ploy. And if Maddie was anyone else, his plans probably would have worked.

But she was Maddie Fenton. She had a PhD in ectobiology. She’d been researching ghosts for twenty years.

Dinner ended, and the children went upstairs to do homework. Although, if Maddie looked, she was sure Danny wouldn’t actually be in his room. And if she went outside, like she’d done in nights past, there was no doubt she’d see Phantom soaring through the skies.

But she knew. She knew. She knew.

She slipped a white business card out of her jacket pocket, grabbed her cell off the counter, went into her bedroom, and dialed the number. 

It rang once, then twice, then stopped. A deep voice sounded from the other line. “Maddie Fenton? I figured I’d be hearing back from you. Have you made your decision?” 

“Yes.” Her voice was mechanical, as if she’d only called about a malfunctioning weapon. “I have. I agree to the partnership.”

“Excellent. And the terms are to your liking?”

“Yes.”

“Understood. We’ll be in touch tomorrow to sign the official contract. Will your husband be involved in this, or are you working alone?”

Maddie closed her eyes. “The contract will be for my name only.”

“All right, then. We’ll talk tomorrow. You won’t regret this.” 

“I know.”

---

<previous / next>

[grandinventor]

Honestly the hypocrisy regarding Sokolov and Jindosh has always made me go ???? Because “Jindosh assisted the coup, he’s made terrible inventions.” K…what exactly did Sokolov do that was so different?? He EXPERIMENTED on people.

Right! Like yes, Jindosh is bad and Sokolov is old enough to start having regrets and trying to correct himself (but he is ~20 years older than Jindosh) but he was also...bad. (I have to put it under the cut it got Long)

For the record Sokolov: - experimented on people (for the Plague sure, but that's what we know of and he wasn't exactly nice about it, he had them locked behind a wall of light) - did some kind of vague disgusting rituals to summon the Outsider - Delilah did not like the implied sexual relationship she had with him when she was 20 or so years younger and had no way to climb from her bad life but being his "apprentice". - drove Roseburrow to suicide after he turned his benign inventions that brought prosperity to the Empire into military grade weapons that were used to oppress the people. - those include the guns and weapons, walls of light, arc pylons, arc mines and tallboys. - invented an electric chair used to torture the workers at Rothwild Slaughterhouse so they won't form a union (and said electric chair is lethal too). - invented a machine to electrify the whales and keep them alive for long so their whale oil can be harvested (this whole whale thing is very much implied to be Bad for the overall world state in the first game). - is a master at whale vivisection, you know cutting them open alive. - did assist Hiram and sided with him until we literally had to threaten and bribe him to help us did everyone forget this? - did invent a lot of the useful whale oil systems that did help the Isles go into the new era of technology but the majority of those can be attributed to Roseburrow himself. - found the cure for the Plague with Piero.

And speaking of Natural Philosophers, there is also Piero who has a far smaller list of shit but he: - was generally a creep and was creeping and peeping on Callista who is like 20 years younger than him (not that her being older would make it better). - has this very interesting and not at all concerning and fucked up audiograph:

- found the cure for the Plague with Sokolov - made Corvo's mask and the Heart for what's worth.

On the other hand Jindosh has a very similar list because he:

- tried to do or did some experiment on his peers that almost landed him in jail. - uses prisoners the Duke gives him to test his Clockwork Soldiers. - has used his electroshock machine on some baker (can't defend you here king). - has let people die in his house, by his house but in his defense he does tell you at the door that you shouldn't go in or you will die, which goes for most houses of nobles and important people anyway. - has dissected those that have died or were nearly dead in his house. - killed a cat when he was a kid so he can dissect it (people are so touchy on this one, all Natural Philosophers dissect animals, it's not the serial killer material y'all thought it is but you tried). - did not invent any weapons but the Clockwork Soldiers, however improved Sokolov's military designs to give Karnaca and Serkonos their own walls of light, arc pylons, audiographs and other devices so they won't have to import from Gristol. - invented a lot of harmless and GOOD stuff like the silvergraph (he was gonna make movies! and just having photography available to everyone is such an improvement to society), the carriage system in Karnaca and also he uses hydraulic systems as in hydropower to power his house instead of whale oil which is pretty nice given the shortage and the cruel methods of producing it. Also I think his company makes a lot of heating/cooling and ventilation systems too. - has made a replica of the Heart at the Academy. - made a machine that drank sea water and made sounds that drove people to tears (in high chaos it's a toy made of cat bones that worked on whale oil but it drove a girl to madness). - was expelled from the Academy for undisclosed reasons that are described as "a little accident" in "The Return of Daud."

And also to add, dissection is like a perfectly normal thing at the Academy, at least in the first game. I don't know why dissection and animal dissection was made such a big deal in the world of Dishonored, like yeah its morbid for us, but we don't operate on the same in-world morality.

So like in conclusion from all I listed, Jindosh was just as bad as Sokolov, or rather Sokolov was just as bad as Jindosh. Piero is also a shithead but he decided to die so he isn't my problem now, but both are just...bad scientist men trope. They both suck. The only difference is that Dishonored 2 decided to go with the spin that old Sokolov realized he was bad and tried to run away from it and make up for his sins while Jindosh is the dangerous, mentally ill coded """psychopath""" who loves killing and will never change or become good just so Sokolov can get the moral high ground. And after making sure they drive the point home that Jindosh is mentally ill crazy and mad inventor with no empathy who will kill for fun, they then had us lobotomize him. And then despite the people working on his level asking for a 3rd option where we don't harm him, creative direction said no and they realized his non-lethal was just a bunch of shock value crap, so they made his "canonical" fate to die. And like...all of this could be avoided if they didn't use Jindosh as a leverage to try and retcon or sugarcoat Sokolov's crimes and acknowledged both suck but they are fun characters.

I am sorry this got long, I am very passionate on the subject because Jindosh's non-lethal is one of the few things in fiction that upset me and this is coming from someone who love Jindosh AND also likes Sokolov a lot as a character despite all of his flaws. So it's not just me hating on Sokolov, I wish this arc was written better between them because the potential was there. Jindosh had so much potential as a character and they just threw all that good voice acting and amazing level design for nothing.

[the-last-kenobi]

Oh my gosh, are you taking new promtps? If you are and if you want to write this, may I request "Setting a broken bone" with Qui-Gon and padawan Obi? But only if you have the time to write and like this particular prompt. And, of course, if you are still taking prompts. Thank you!

Yay!! Love getting your requests! 🤍 And stars do I love writing these two. I am a complete sucker. Did I go completely overboard on this one? Yes. Yes I did.

I’m not kidding this was way longer than I intended.

(Note for anyone who is interested in making a request: I already have prompts for Tampering with Food/Drink and Public Execution/Torture.)

—

On Florrum, they crashed.

Their ship had reached its intended destination, but their sublight engines malfunctioned as they entered orbit, and there was the clang of metal and a cloud of dust after the fall.

Qui-Gon emerged first, his boots thudding in the hard desert, his blue eyes scanning the horizon cautiously even as he stretched out his senses into the Force. When he was sure, he turned back and proffered his hand into the crooked opening of the broken door, and Obi-Wan leaned into the light, squinting as if the light were blinding.

Qui-Gon frowned and raised his other hand, and though his young Padawan made a noise of protest, he plucked the boy out from the ruined ship and lowered him gently to stand beside him. Obi-Wan shifted slightly, leaning his head toward his Master, and Qui-Gon raised his arm higher, concealing his Padawan from view beneath his billowing sleeve. “Hold on,” he said quietly. “We’ll find shelter.”

“Skalder,” said Obi-Wan, and the hint of red beneath his hair turned into a small trickle down the side of his face.

“What?” Qui-Gon asked him.

The boy stiffened, clinging to his robes in an effort to stay upright. One pale hand emerged from his Master’s shielding arms and gestured into the distance. “Range hills,” he said softly. “Skalder. Can cross the geyser plains safely with…with them.”

Qui-Gon looked, and saw in the middle distance a range of low rises, and moving around them, large lumbering creatures with their heads down low, sniffing out flora to eat. “Skalder,” he repeated. “How do you know this?”

Looking down, he caught a glimpse of a pale face and the flicker of a grin. “I read, Master.”

Qui-Gon laughed and drew his arm higher again, hiding the boy’s concussion-pained eyes from the flat sunlight.

That afternoon, Obi-Wan tied his sash around his eyes and raised himself onto a skalder’s back, blind physically but trusting in the Force, and gestured for his Master to follow suit. The skalder lowed and grunted, but after a few moments of unsteady swaying, the entire herd began to move across the plains. Geysers shot up all around them, but not once did they come close to touching the creatures or the two Jedi.

“Instinct,” said Obi-Wan, his blindfolded eyes gazing ahead into the setting sun.

Qui-Gon watched his Padawan carefully, but Obi-Wan seemed perfectly at ease as he was, as if riding an unfamiliar creature over deserts and sulfuric geysers without the aid of his eyesight was only to be expected in the course of life.

“Let me check your head,” he said.

Obi-Wan did not turn. “It’s fine,” he answered. “I know what I’m doing. Resting my eyes is already helping.”

When they settled in a rock formation with a crevice almost large enough to be considered a cave, Obi-Wan settled himself down in the opening, facing away from their fire, his still-covered eyes towards the night.

Qui-Gon woke two hours after they had lain down to sleep and reached a hand towards the boy’s shoulder, but before he could make contact Obi-Wan spoke, still gazing sightlessly out over Florrum. “I’ve already checked. I’m still fine. Thank you, Master.”

On Akiva, they were led astray into the jungles and abandoned for dead by their so-called guide.

Qui-Gon studied their surroundings, pressing a hand to the moist, auburn bark of the tree beside him, closing his eyes and listening. The Force hummed back at him, so rich and alive in this place that was teeming with natural life, a clean energy untainted even by the cruelty of the people who had deceived them. There were other, kinder people here who still needed their help. They must make it through the jungle.

Qui-Gon’s eyes flew open as a loud rustling crash disturbed his meditation— he blinked at the sight of Obi-Wan, fifteen and scrawny and ridiculous, standing before him with a thoughtful expression as he studied the creature in his hands.

“Obi-Wan,” he said, startled. “Did you kill it?”

The boy looked up at him. “I did, yes. Fenglas are easily startled but they make for good eating. Many of the natives consider them their primary source of sustenance. There is also fruit, but not here. Closer to one of the rivers, there are trees.” He glanced around them with a humored expression, still holding his hunted prize. “Well. The right trees.”

The amusement faded as he caught his Master’s eye again. “Did I…? I’m sorry, I should have asked what you thought first. I was only thinking, the guide stole our bags, all our rations and supplies.”

Qui-Gon lifted a hand to still the rambling explanation, and Obi-Wan dropped his gaze, chastised and red-faced. “Very well, Padawan,” Qui-Gon said after a moment. “You found a problem and then a solution, which is good. But you would do well to consult me first before you hunt for food in unknown territory.”

“It’s not unknown,” said Obi-Wan, and he began gathering dry wood for a fire.

They ate in silence. The jungle creature was not luxury dining, but it was hearty and full of rather more meat than the thing had seemed to have, and had a savory tang that smelled like the wood they had cooked it over.

Qui-Gon rose to douse the fire, but Obi-Wan stopped him quickly with a hand on his shoulder. “The smoke will help protect us,” he said, as if that explained anything, and then he reached into his left boot and pulled out a small folded something that he held up and shook loose. It was fabric — no, a fine mesh netting, so fine that the small bundle turned out to be several square meters of the stuff. The Padawan swirled it through the air and then let it fall, sliding himself onto the ground where he had lain his folded cloak. The net settled over him like a strange sort of shroud.

Qui-Gon stared, bewildered, and Obi-Wan lifted the edge of the netting and gestured to him. “Move your cloak closer, Master, so we can both fit underneath.”

“But why?” Qui-Gon asked.

A crease appeared between the boy’s brows. “The ya-ya flies, Master. They’re venomous. You’re full-grown and healthy so they’d only really make you sick, but it’s better to be safe. The smoke and the net will keep them away.”

Qui-Gon slid beneath the net, his makeshift bed a few inches from Obi-Wan’s. “Did our guide give you this?”

“No,” said Obi-Wan. “I brought it just in case. I’m glad there wasn’t room in my pack, or it would be stolen and we wouldn’t have it at all anyway.”

“What do the natives do about the flies?” Qui-Gon asked next, studying the boy’s features as they flickered in the firelight. He looked unbearably young, still, but tired.

Obi-Wan breathed for a moment, staring upwards through the film of the net at the jungle all around them. “They keep fires burning, sometimes with oils that kill the flies,” he said. “And they weave nets to cover their beds.” He turned his eyes to his Master and added, “If we hunt enough tomorrow, we may be able to trade for another net. Or just maize.”

“The crop they grow here,” Qui-Gon recalled.

His Padawan nodded. “When we find the nearest river, we can collect water in my pouch. It should hold liquid for awhile.”

“And if the water isn’t clean?”

Obi-Wan shrugged. “If we can’t reach civilization in time, the risk of unclean water will have to do.”

On Arkanis, it drizzled 60% of the time. On another 39%, it rained in torrential downpours that would have flooded the streets and drowned the population had they not long ago learned to control the water flow, to build stronger than the rain.

And every so often, just once in a long while, the sun came out and lit up the planet in warmth and golden hue.

But it had not been one of those days when Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi had arrived to mediate on export negotiations. Rain had fallen so heavily from the skies that it felt more like swimming than walking — a sensation that turned from hyperbole into frightening reality when the supports beneath a walking bridge gave way.

Qui-Gon reached out and took hold of a screaming entrepreneur, dragging him safely to stable ground.

Obi-Wan slipped and plunged into the waters seething below and did not climb back up.

“Where do the water ways go from here?” Qui-Gon demanded over the roar of the storm. “Where do they go?”

“Out to sea!” the businessman cried back, a look of pained sympathy on his face. “There’s too much water moving too quickly, nobody could swim in that!”

Qui-Gon gazed down into the thundering rivers below, imagining the crushing weight they must bring, the incalculable strength of the waters, and felt the first slivers of grief begin to gouge into his heart like shards of broken glass.

Of all the things to lose the boy to — rain. Or, that he, the Master, had not been aware enough of their surroundings, or that he had reached for the civilian instead of the boy.

Qui-Gon’s eyes burned in the lash of the storm, but he hurried to his feet and shepherded the others inside to warmth and safety. They were immediately bombarded by a rescue team that passed them by to begin repairing the bridge, and by people offering them warm drinks and soft towels and dry clothing. Qui-Gon helped the others first, and then himself, the movements mechanical.

The next few hours passed in a daze. The negotiations were postponed as the city dealt with the crisis, and Qui-Gon was politely escorted to his rooms — the rooms with two beds, where he ought to have been with his apprentice, safe and dry and alive. But Obi-Wan, he thought, the truth slicing into him slowly, a delicate and perfect cut of a knife, had drowned hours ago. Tossed about in water that raged fifteen meters deep, funneled from all over the city and then out, out to the sea. A pale, fragile figure trapped inside. Suffocated. Qui-Gon covered his eyes with one hand and sank onto his bed. He did not remember climbing beneath the sheets, but he woke the next morning tangled in them, still exhausted.

The next day he dragged himself through the opening discussions, his words as sharp and his gaze as penetrating as ever, but his mind constantly distracted by the memory of the boy falling into the water. Obi-Wan had screamed, he remembered that now, although he wished he didn’t. Then he had tumbled in the air, trying to control his descent, and entered the water feet first.

For the following two days, that same image played over and over in his mind, and yet in those two days he still oversaw the mission, and departed the table on his last evening with a mingling feeling of both quiet satisfaction and unrelenting shame. The mission. The boy. The negotiations. His boy.

Hardly able to breathe, the Jedi Master wheeled around and marched up to the nearest aide. “I need to stay another week,” he said. “Please. To be sure.”

The aide concealed her pitying expression flawlessly, but her presence in the Force was brimming with it and he did not want it. He waited just long enough to hear his request confirmed and then fled.

For three days he stayed in the city, exploring the now much calmer waterways, talking to the mechanics and attendants that kept an eye on the entire system. All of them apologized, but no boy had been seen in the waters that night, and no body had been found on the shore.

“It’s been a while since we’ve lost someone to the floods,” one attendant said heavily. “And it’s been even longer since someone has survived that. I’m sorry, Jedi.”

Qui-Gon walked slowly back to his rooms late that night, his shoulders slightly slumped, the only visible sign of his defeat. The idea of staying another night in the half-empty room and then departing for Coruscant alone was unbearable, horrific.

A turbolift chimed, and the door opened.

Qui-Gon froze.

Obi-Wan emerged from the lift, dripping rain water and carrying all of his clothes except for his cloak, which seemed to be missing, and his trousers, which he was still wearing. The boy searched the room for a moment with tired, puffy eyes, and then he saw Qui-Gon.

“You’re still here,” he said, in disbelief. “You’re still here.”

Qui-Gon didn’t answer. In three strides he had covered the space between them and pulled the boy close, feeling cold water beginning to settle into his own clothing. He only held Obi-Wan tighter, dropping his chin to rest on the damp hair, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to remember how to speak and breathe.

“Obi-Wan,” he said, in a strangled voice. “Obi-Wan, where have you been? I thought— oh, Padawan, where in the galaxy have you been?”

The boy made a small sound of surprise at the fierce embrace, but he didn’t pull away. “I was in the tunnels, Master. I’m sorry.”

“The tunnels?” Qui-Gon asked blankly.

Obi-Wan nodded against his chest. “There are older waterways beneath the current ones. They’re sealed off, but you can open them if you really try. I knew what to do when I fell into the water; I got rid of my cloak and boots, and I floated as best I could and let my feet face forward. I crashed into a support beam, and I couldn’t climb up and out, and I kept falling asleep holding onto it and just trying to keep my head above water.”

Obi-Wan paused and yawned hugely. “So I swam down, using the pillar as a buffer. It wasn’t easy. I nearly messed it up. But I got down there and found an old access hatch, just like I’d hoped, so I climbed into the old tunnels. And then I got trapped in there, and I’ve been trying to find my way out ever since.”

Before Qui-Gon could even begin to process all of this madness, the boy added, almost as an afterthought, “I had no idea I’d find you. I heard the negotiations ended last week, and knew you must have left.”

Qui-Gon’s arms tightened around Obi-Wan’s small frame. “Not without you,” he said, the words coming out shuddering on an exhale. “I wanted to be sure.”

“Oh,” said Obi-Wan. “I’m sorry.”

On Baraan-Fa, they fell from a roof, flung over the edge by the force of an explosion.

Debris rained around them, cracking sickeningly on the ground, and Qui-Gon crouched over his apprentice, shielding him with his body and shielding both of them with the Force. Obi-Wan’s presence in the Force brushed against his, bright but somewhat timid, a newborn flame still learning just how far it could spread.

The din ceased, and they raised their heads slowly. The building was burning, the top of it utterly demolished, and people were beginning to flood the streets, screaming, bleeding, calling for help and offering assistance to one another. Sirens wailed.

Obi-Wan waited for his Master to stand up and turn towards the chaos before he climbed to his feet, and in this way, focused on the tragedy blossoming around them, Qui-Gon did not notice the way the boy swayed on his feet, white to the lips.

He did, however, notice when he turned around to give the boy instructions and found him gone.

For a moment, irrational fear swept over him — images of debris striking flesh and unfriendly hands dragging the boy away swarmed through him.

But these unlikely possibilities were firmly swept aside like the pestering insects they were; the Jedi Master closed his eyes for a moment to center himself, and found to his faint surprise that Obi-Wan was only just around the corner. He followed what his senses were telling him, and scanned the next alleyway carefully, searching.

There. Concealed in a crumbling alcove, half-hidden by a fallen support beam and clouds of dust. A small red-haired figure was struggling with something, his back braced against the wall, head bowed.

A small whimper reached Qui-Gon’s ears.

Obi-Wan’s hands shifted, and through the haze and debris, the unnatural angle of his left leg became visible, and the position of the boy’s hands and the look of pained determination on his young face suddenly made sense.

“Obi-Wan!” Qui-Gon said sharply. He was already moving by the time the boy’s head jerked up to stare at him, his hands still clenched around his leg.

“Master?” asked the boy. “What are you doing here?”

Qui-Gon stopped beside him, dropping to a kneeling position to avoid cracking his head on the crumbling ceiling. “I would ask you the same, but I think I know exactly what you’re doing. So, a new question — why are you here?”

Obi-Wan blinked. “Is that… not often the same thing?” Sweat glistened on his brow, even through the layer of smoke and grime.

“Not usually,” replied the Master. “For instance, I know that what you are doing is setting your broken leg. I would like to know why, however, you did not tell me you were injured, and why your first solution was to set the bone by yourself.”

The blue-green eyes blinked rapidly. There were flakes of stone dust clinging to the eyelashes, and tears rose up unbidden as the eyes began to sting. “I… there was a bombing, Master. Somebody has to help, and that somebody is usually us. I hurt my leg, so I doubled back to fix it while you went on ahead.”

“And did it occur to you that I would prefer to see you taken care of first?”

A bewildered expression clouded the boy’s face. “I… we’re in the middle of an emergency.”

“Exactly.” Qui-Gon gently raised his hands and settled them over the boy’s much smaller ones, easing them away from the damaged leg. “And I cannot focus if you’re inexplicably missing, or suffering alone on a broken limb.”

“But I can fix it!” Obi-Wan insisted. “I know how. I’ve done it before, many times!”

Qui-Gon’s hands, still holding Obi-Wan’s, tightened their grip. His voice, however, remained steady. “Oh? Do you go breaking limbs on every mission we’ve been on and gone through the healing process without my noticing?”

Obi-Wan’s gaze slid from his. A look of mingled shame and wariness crossed his pale features, and the Master noted that it was not the first time he had seen this expression on the boy. He had certainly seen it on Arkanis, on Akiva, on Florrum. And other times and places, too — this look of mingled guilt and mistrust.

“No,” Obi-Wan mumbled. “I broke bones a few times on Melida/Daan. Broken bones were common. I learned how to set my own and other people’s pretty quickly. And I’m grateful,” he added quickly, as if worried he would be interrupted or reprimanded. “It’s a valuable skill.”

Qui-Gon was silent for a long moment.

“Yes, it is,” he said eventually. “Like memorizing waterways on a planet known for flooding, or practicing how to survive falling into fast-moving waters. Or, perhaps, like preparing defenses against mildly venomous insects, or learning how to hunt creatures you’ve never seen before. Or navigate a desert full of geysers.”

The boy did not seem to see a connection. He stared down at his kneeling Master, his hands still trapped gently in his teacher’s, and said nothing.

“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said softly. “I am not going to leave you.”

The Padawan’s brow furrowed. Still he said nothing.

“Melida/Daan was not an experience you should ever have had,” the Master continued gently. “You have developed many skills as a Padawan, and I do not deny that learning to set broken bones is one of them. But I think you also learned something that you should never have been taught, and now I must unteach it.”

“What is it, Master?” Obi-Wan asked. His back slid a few inches down the rough wall as his good leg began to collapse beneath him, and Qui-Gon released the boy’s hands to catch him around the waist and under one arm, keeping his broken leg off the ground.

“You learned to handle everything on your own,” said the Master, walking them both slowly back out into the sunlight. “To expect yourself to do things alone, for fear of slowing others down.”

They reached a flat pavement stone free of debris, and Qui-Gon set the boy down gently, careful of the injured leg, watching as Obi-Wan clenched his jaw against the pain. He knelt down beside him again and put one hand at the boy’s back, encouraging him to sit upright, leaning on his palms.

“But you’re part of a team, Obi-Wan. And more than that, you are my student. You are not expected to do everything alone, or care for all of your injuries without assistance, or prepare to survive alone on a strange planet.”

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to protest, but Qui-Gon shook his head and raised a finger to silence him.

“Listen to me, Obi-Wan. There will be times when we are separated, that is true. And there is broken trust between us. But Padawan, please understand me when I say this— I will never leave you, and I will always help you.”

Obi-Wan stared at him, tears and dust still clinging to his eyelashes, breath shuddering with pain and perhaps the threat of tears. His Master smiled slightly, running a hand up and down the boy’s back as if to soothe an illness, and for a few moments they simply stayed that way, waiting.

“Master?” Obi-Wan said quietly. “Can you help me with my leg?”

Qui-Gon nodded. He placed his hands gently where they needed to go, his expression calm. “Hold on to my shoulder, Padawan. When I set your leg, I want you to squeeze my arm as tightly as you can.”

“But that will hurt you,” the boy protested.

Qui-Gon’s lips quirked in a slight smile. “As I said, Obi-Wan, we are a team. Now. Hold on as tightly as you can. I’ve got you.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes flickered from the broken leg to his Master’s patient, open expression.

He smiled. “I know, Master.”

fin.

[crab-instruments]

Dust in the Wind Part 8 (tbb)

Master <Part 7 Part 9>

Pairing: Hunter x Secret Jedi! Reader (GN)

Rating and warning: General audience, panic/stress (minimal)

Words: 1.5k

a/n: haha well we don't have time to unpack all that finale, so here's an update of this instead. Fresh off the press and yeeted to tumblr. I'm thinking the next update will have some cool stuff. I hope.

Image credit in the notes

When your eyes opened, you laid there for a bit, taking in the events of yesterday and what some sleep had done to clear the mind. You must have slept well, not even remembering the dreams you had or stirring when others got up, as only Hunter and you were left in the bunks. This was based on assumption by reaching out using the Force, at least, as you hadn’t moved an inch yet.

Being with the Batch had made it easy to settle back into your ‘old life’ or maybe just who you really were, a force user. You were becoming more comfortable, but if you were being honest with yourself, that was a scary thought. It would make leaving so much harder.

You slowly started to move, careful to keep quiet, putting your feet on the cold metal floor. The ship buzzed and hummed through your feet, accentuating the dull pain in your muscles, but the pain had an odd nostalgic feel, something you would be used to after a mission.

Echo, Crosshair, and Wrecker were all out in the main cabin as you approached, all still sleepy, though the sniper was better at hiding it.

Echo handed you a cup and you presumed he said something along the lines of ‘mornin’ but your brain was still fuzzy, not used to the amount of sleep you got. You looked at the contents of the cup; caf that had a stale smell to it and enough water to have your reflection look back at you. Still, you drank it all in one go and then turned to back to the Clone who gave it to you. “Thank you, that was the worst caf I’ve ever had, and I’ve never been more grateful for it.”

Echo chuckled; a small smirk spread across his face. “I see you slept well. Surprised to see Sarg still in bed.” You cocked your head, not sure what he was getting at.

“He is usually up first, not able to sleep when people start waking up,” Wrecker filled in.

“It might have something to do with having more people sleeping comfortably,” Tech had walked from the cockpit. “He has said that when there’s more resting heartbeats around him, he is calmer. He was worried about Maxis so possibly having them closer helped him relax.” Tech had kept his voice even when speaking, but it still felt like there was a hint of something.

“What are you—”

“I came back here to let you know we will be landing soon, and someone should wake Hunter.” He turned around before you could address what you wanted.

Echo had grabbed another cup of caf and handed it out for you to take. “Maxis, would you mind? I have a few other things to do and you’re closer.” You squinted your eyes in skepticism at the Clone for a moment, before taking the cup and walking back to the bunks, making a mental note to corner those two and figure out what they were scheming.

Once you crossed the threshold of the room, you slowed down in front of where Hunter was laying. He had fallen asleep on his stomach, his arms under his pillow, and his face turned away from the wall. No bandana in his hair, you could see how thick his locks are, almost a little envious. Really, it suited him, and he knew it. You lowered yourself to the floor, taking a moment to just study his sleeping face. So calm and handsome, in this state you couldn’t see how much the war had taken its toll on him. It was something you could get used to—

“Mesh’la, staring is impolite.” You would never… ever… admit what his sleepy morning voice did to you in that moment. His voice startled you, sloshing some caf onto the floor. He hadn’t yet opened his eyes when he addressed you, but they stared straight through you now.

Say something! “Um… sorry, I didn’t mean… We just… We’re going to be landing soon.” Smooth, about as smooth as this caf.

Hunter chuckled, amused at the effect he had on you in that moment. Slowly he sat up, swinging his legs carefully over the side of the bunk. You had stood up and took a step back to give him space but were still more or less frozen.

“Is… one of those cups for me? Or do you just really enjoy the dirt caf…”

“Oh, right.” You held out the cup, certainly not loving every second he touched your hand. Holy kriff, you needed to get a grip on your life, or you were going to lose your mind. “Uhm, I’ll just…” you looked back to the doorway but then back at him. “Wait, mesh’la?”

A look of surprise took over Hunter’s face for a hot second before a smile took its place. He shook his head, and responded, “It’s Mando’a, I’ll have to teach you some day.” He stood up and walked past you to the main cabin, obviously still avoiding giving a real answer.

“But that doesn’t… what does it mean?” Hunter had already weaved his way through the ship, leaving you wondering. Maybe I’ll ask Tech about the best way to learn a new language.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Under the ship, you checked and cleaned the landing gear. It had seen better days and probably hadn’t even been washed since the Republic. You worked meticulously, finally able to show more of what you could do now that you didn’t have the possibility of needing a quick escape. The soreness that swam through your muscles sang loudly while you focused, it was clear you needed a break.

Two shadows, one much larger than the other, closed in on the area. Omega didn’t need to crouch all that much as she approached, Wrecker waiting by the side of the ship. “Hey Maxis, you should take a break. Wrecker and I were about to go get our Mantell Mix. It’s a tradition, we get some after every mission.”

You stopped working for a moment. “I didn’t really… I wasn’t a part of the mission. But—”

“You protected the ship from four troopers, I’d say that’s enough to get some Mix.” Wrecker said, with a bit of pride.

“Ah yeah, I guess. Let me put this piece back on and we can go.”

Crawling out from the ship, you wiped the dirt of your pants. Something about Ord Mantell always stuck to you though, but that was a part of its charm. Or that’s what you say to convince yourself. You had explored the market a bit, to pick up supplies and replacements for maintenance, but never really experienced it.

As Omega led the way, you asked, “what exactly is Mantell Mix?”

“Only the best treat in the entire galaxy,” Omega looked back at you, very excited.

“Well, when you mostly have rations, anything would be a treat. Very low bar. I think I’m more concerned about the name, Mantell Mix. A mix of what? Grime and overpriced goods?”

“I think adventure and a hint of sweetness is more like it.”

You chuckled. “Always good at the positive spin, Omega. That’s a good quality.” She beamed.

Once the food was acquired, you could only eat so much of it before deciding that Omega had lied about the ‘hint of sweetness’. But you did your best to show gratitude in being included.

The three of you decided to wander around the open-air shops. You ended up looking at some unrefined gems on display. Not something you would usually stop to look at, but something about the display caught your attention. A crystal, somewhat clear but had a red hue, stuck out.

“See something you like?”

“What… is this?” You pointed to the crystal. “And where did you get it?”

“Ahh, I’m not sure. I travel and trade quite a bit, unfortunately, and don’t remember much about every piece. But if it is to your liking, you should have a closer look.” The owner had a creepy facial expression, you were unsure if they were trying to just sell the item or if they had other motives. But what other motives could they have?

You reached for the crystal but could only hold it for a second due to the extreme pain and pressure you felt from it. Another force echo. Luckily, you pushed yourself out of it quick, only getting a brief glimpse of the horrible feeling, but it stuck to you, sitting heavy on your shoulders. A reminder of the past.

It was a kyber crystal, a synthetic one specifically. This one had been used by a Sith or an apprentice of one, having such a dark and evil aura around the force echo. It made you sick and scared. Suddenly, it felt like all eyes were on you, walls closing in. Fear crept into your mind.

“I’m s-sorry, I have to-… to go.” You swiftly made your way back to the Marauder, leaving Omega and Wrecker behind. The corner you hid in after your fight with the troopers felt like the perfect fit for you at that moment. You curled up in a ball as tightly as you could and hummed to yourself.

It took a while, but everyone made their way back and Hunter was discussing about their next mission that would take place in a few rotations.

Part 9

________________________________________________________________

Notes:

Mando'a: I assume if you're reading this, you know, but here's a link anyway.

Synthetic Lightsaber/Kyber crystal: One of my favorite things I learned about lightsabers is that the Sith used synthetic crystals and synthetic crystals are normally red, leading to the Sith having mostly red lightsabers. I don't know if that's still considered canon anymore, but for me it is. Image credit

Tag List: @rintheemolion @xxspqcebunsxx @salamidraws @lokigirlszendaya

If you want to be added to the tag list, just ask in the most convenient way for you or by faxing me a picture of a crab

[tedisnotdead]

The water flow stopped, and Andrew sighed, picking up the towel. He looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes scanning across the plain chest and stopping before his view reached his elbows.

"Andrew?" a voice called from the other side of the door, startling him. Andrew took a quick breath, closing his eyes before sighing, reminding himself of where he was. Renee's bathroom. Allison was downstairs, probably preparing baby Seth to stand in the crowd with her. "Nicky just left me your clothes. Do you want me to leave them in the spare room for you?"

"Yess." Andrew replied, looking down and pulling his boxers on. "I'll be out in a second." He reached for the armbands, pulling them on and tucking his thumb into the holes before walking out.

Betsy, Nicky and Erik were changing at home. They didn't need the preparation like the twins did, they wouldn't get picked. Jesse was safe too, wrapped up between his dads but next year he wouldn't. Next year he would be up there, and Andrew couldn't save him. Andrew had already felt the guilt of the six years he missed protecting his cousin and the four years he missed with his brother.

When they were united two years ago, it was a shock to everyone around them. Andrew had been in Betsy's care his entire life before then, with help from Renee for a few years during his more rebellious phase. When Renee started her fighting lessons twelve years ago, he was one of the firsts to sign up. Eight years after Andrew signed up, another Andrew signed up. Renee knew it wasn't him. And she mentioned it to Betsy, who connected the fourteen-year olds and since took them both in, alongside their cousin. A year later, Nicky introduced his boyfriend and his son to the family, and they were welcomed with open arms.

Betsy took two-week-old Andrew in from the day she saw him left on the side of the work field, wrapped in only a blanket. She took him home, where eight-year-old Renee was waiting. She hadn't been ditched like Andrew, she has been unfortunately orphaned by a factory malfunction and lost her mother at only six.  

Renee and Andrew grew up alongside each other, but when she left for the games at age thirteen, they knew they would never be the same. Renee came back a victor, that's when she started her fighting lessons. Betsy advised against it but saw her development and let her work. When Andrew questioned her why she let her fight after she had won, Betsy reminded him Renee had won for a reason.

That's when he met Wymack. David Wymack, the winner of the forty-third Hunger Games. David Wymack, the man who relied on the pain of tattoos to give him a mental escape from the pain that the Games had caused him. The same David Wymack who took Jean Moreau out of Betsy's care less than a week after she took him in.  

"Just because Jean was taken in by the Wymacks, it doesn't mean that you're not wanted." Betsy would always say. She would say the same thing every time she took one kid into her home and then they were taken in by a family a few days after. "You are just as valid. You are just as special. You just need to wait for your special time to shine."

Eight years passed and Aaron appeared. They united, Nicky was introduced, and Betsy took them all in. Betsy introduced them to Wymack, who introduced them to his kids and the Boyds. Befriending the entire of the Victors Village was a kick in the guts to Andrew. A reminder how he wasn't special, how he was basically nothing in comparison to some people.

Jean remembered him though. Jean made him feel special way. Not a romantic or sexual thing. Andrew knew those. Well, he knew sexual. He knew from all the hook-ups behind the factories, he knew from the nights he stayed at Roland's, a classmate in Renee's fighting class, and experimented with things. He knew from the start he was gay, but never said it out loud. He wasn't too confident when it came to romantic feelings however, but he had an idea.  

Jean Moreau-Wymack was his first and only friend. Renee accepted this, seeing how they're bond was more sibling like than friends. Jean joined him on the tree searched. Andrew taught him to climb quick, how to spot the nests quickly, how to remove both wasp and birds safely. In return, Jean baked him sweet goods. The banana breads and cakes and muffins rolled through the door daily, Jean delivering them every morning with a small smile. Occasionally, Jean would bake with exotic flavors that David Wymack brought back from his annual visits to the Capitol.

With all the time Andrew had started spending Jean, Aaron began spending it with the other child in the Wymack household. Kevin Wymack-Day. David's biological child from a woman he didn't meet again after their one-night stand.

When Kayleigh, Kevin's mother, passed Kevin had been put in the custody of David. Jean, Kayleigh's other child, had been given to Betsy to be cared for. David hunted him down and took him in, not having the heart to separate the kids.

Aaron and Kevin clicked the second they met. Both being insufferable, obsessive assholes in Andrew's opinion (and Jean's, but that was one of the secrets between the two that were shared in the tops of trees over a muffin each). Aaron's obsession laying in the profession of David's wife, Abby Wymack. One of the best doctors in District 7. Since Aaron became closer with her, he became more obsessed over the profession and soon, if he survived the final reaping, would become her apprentice. Kevin's obsession laid in a Capitol sport, Exy. Whenever his father visited the Capitol for the games, he would bring back his son merchandise of his favorite teams. David had a friend in the Capitol who recorded every game so he could take them home and Kevin could watch them.

Andrew reached the spare room and froze before remembering where he was. Renee's house. Aaron was at the Wymacks', using their shower like Andrew was using Renee's. He knew the only reason was to see Kevin, and 'secretly' say goodbye and good luck in their own special way.

Their attraction to each other was not unknown, practically everyone knew. But it was obvious they were waiting until Aaron's last reaping, until today, to make anything exclusive. As long as they snuck out of the Victors Village before anyone began to head to the town center, no one would notice the luxurious treatment the twins were getting.

The clothes were spread out, waiting on the spare room bed. Nicky's old black, short sleeved button up shirt and a pair of Erik's old, tight fit, wash jeans. A pair of old boots that Betsy had managed to afford where on the floor, with a pair of Allison's bright pink socks laying neatly in the neck of the boot.  

"You'll need to be ready in a few minutes Andrew." Renee's voice filtered through the door again. "The ceremony starts in an hour. People begin to move soon." Her footsteps echoed down the corridor as she left and Andrew looked at the clothes, sighing.

◒◓◒◓◒

Andrew stepped out, seeing Kevin and Aaron talking through a gap in the curtains. He sat back, waiting silently and watched them argue.  

"They're horrible." Jean mumbled, sitting next to Andrew on the wall, leaving a large enough space for Capitol's largest man to sit between them. "Kevin kicked me out so I couldn't hear. I think they're talking about their latest hook-up." He took a bite from a muffin, leaving one on the wall beside Andrew. "It was at ours while we were climbing. I think they think we're fucking."

"How disappointed will they be when they find out we don't fuck; we talk shit about them and stuff our faces with shit." Andrew mumbled and Jean giggled, taking another bite. "Truth for a truth?" Jean nodded. "I'm nervous."

"That's well justified." Jean said. "Your name is at the highest chance it's ever been, and ever will be. But some people do sadly have their names in there more than you. So, the chance it being you is low. And the chance it's Aaron is even lower, since your name is still in there from the past years of tesserae. "Jean sighed. "I'm gay. I think." Jean mumbled before looking over.

"Want another round?" Andrew asked and Jean stopped before nodding. He took another bite of his muffin, looking forward again. "I'm gay too." Andrew said, picking his muffin up. "I've known for a few years."

"I have a crush on Jeremy." Jean said. Andrew turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "The baker's son. I used to talk to him a lot when I lived with Kayleigh. She would let me pick up her weekly orders from the bakery and I would pay them with grain and milk. I used to talk to Jeremy every Sunday, and that's why I like baking. Because I like Jeremy. "

Andrew looked back through the window, seeing them still talking. Aaron seemed more angry than usual during their 'conversations'. "You should offer to work there." Andrew suggested. "You could see him more."

Jean laughed, looking down before taking the final bite. "I could, but who would you hang out with then? You haven't got any other friends." "I have Jesse." Andrew said, taking a bite. "This is good. What flavor is it?"

"It's another new one from the Capitol called Palmetto. It's basically a super sweet blood orange." Jean said. "And Jesse doesn't count. He's got school you know."

"I'll teach him then." Andrew argued, his eyes following Jean as the older boy got up and started pacing. "I remember all my lessons. I could teach him with no struggle." Jean snorted, looking up. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Kicked out remember?" Jean mumbled, looking back at Andrew. Andrew shrugged, taking another bite from his muffin and Jean laughed. "I should. Aaron seems to be done in the shower, so if I go straight up Kev probably won't care." Andrew nodded, taking another bite quickly. "I need to, don't I?" Andrew nodded again. "I'll see you after. Good luck Andrew." Jean turned to walk back.

"Jean." Andrew said and he stopped, turning. "If I get picked, don't be nervous to say goodbye."

Jean knew that was Andrew asking him to come. But Andrew didn't like asking. Andrew didn't want to ask, say the word please. It wasn't how Andrew worked, and Jean knew that. He never questioned why, but he knew that. He never pressed any questions when it came to Andrew, because Andrew never did the same to him. He never questioned the scars on his cheek or the roughness of his hands or the burn marks that Jean turned up with.

"I will." Jean said, smiling gently. "I hope you enjoyed the muffin! If I do need to visit you, I'll bring one along. A parting gift." He laughed before walking inside.

Andrew watched the door for a few seconds after it closed before moving his glance to the gap in the curtains. Their argument went on for a few more minutes until Aaron looked out the window. Andrew raised an eyebrow and Aaron sighed, turning back to Kevin and saying something before leaving.

"Trouble in paradise?" Andrew muttered when Aaron reached his side.

"Shut up." Aaron muttered, already towards the village entrance.

He was dressed in a tight red shirt, it looked like Kevin's with the way it was too tight around his waist but loose around the arms, and a pair of trousers which were too torn to belong to a victor, and the style choice only pointed to Nicky. Too tight around the thighs with baggy bottoms. Just how Erik liked it.

"He just wanted to wish me good luck and I wanted to thank him, or tell him to thank his dad, for letting me use their shower."

"Wish you good luck with a massive smooch." Andrew said, walking after him.

"As if you and Jean weren't doing the same." Aaron muttered, scowling at him.

"Jean was actually just telling me about his crush. I got a name and everything. It was glorious." Andrew said. As Aaron went to ask, Andrew continued, "But I will not be saying anything about the mystery person. It was in our game, and I never tell secrets from our game."

"You're stupid shitty 'Truth for a truth' game?" Aaron asked and Andrew nodded. "I don't know why you two play that. It's not even a game, its talking. Like normal people do. You and Jean are weird."

"I think Jean is smarter than you when it comes to most things." Andrew mumbled, pushing the gate at the end of the pathway open. Nicky looked up through the window, smiling when he saw the twins. "If him being weird is the consequence of that, I don't think he minds.  

"Fucking weirdo." Aaron muttered, pushing past. Nicky immediately fussed over him, asking where the shirt he left out was. Erik moved closer to Andrew, holding Jesse in his arms.

"I have missed you." Erik said.  

"Jesse." Andrew called and the young boy looked over. "Want to hug?" Jesse nodded excitedly. Erik squatted down, letting Jesse run over. But just before he reached Andrew, he slowed down and then calmly wrapped his arms around Andrew's waist. "Oh Andrew, you look amazing." Nicky whispered. "I wish Betsy could see you before the ceremony, but she's already gone to get the other kids ready." He stood up, smiling. "You both look amazing. And we are going to get through this, and we are going to come home and be calm and happy."

His smile faltered for a second, but he plastered it back on before Aaron could notice. Erik and Andrew did, but both decided to stay quiet, knowing he was trying his hardest.

"Andrew, are you sure you don't want to move to a factory job with me and Aaron? You could watch the games."

"I'm fine being a clearer." Andrew mumbled. "I get good pay and I only have to talk to Jean. I see no flaws."

"But you can't watch the games." Nicky said.

"Erik doesn't like to watch the games. Neither do I." Andrew said, looking down at Jesse, who had buried his face in Andrew's side. "I am happy getting the updates from you over dinner."

Nicky went to say something, but Erik stepped forward and whispered into his ear. Nicky sighed, looking at him. Erik pecked his lips softly.

"We should get going, though," Andrew said, pushing Jesse back lightly and holding his hand out. Jesse smiled widely, taking his hand and holding tightly, as if his life depended on it.

The walk to the town center was mostly fully of Nicky's nervous rambling, with Erik and Aaron occasionally responding. But Andrew ignored them and chose to focus on the small tune Jesse was humming, squeezing his hand along to the beat.

When they reached the town center, Erik picked Jesse back up. Jesse waved to Andrew sadly before his dad carried him off, holding Nicky's hand. They passed the peacekeepers and stood in the crowd beside Jean and Kevin. Andrew took off down the silent path, leading them to the identification tables.

He could see over the peacekeepers' shoulders, David, Matt and Renee lined up along the back of the stage, with their escort, Kathy Ferdinand, standing in front of them. She was talking animatedly to them, with her big blonde hair and eyes practically painted with pink. The skin-tight pink leather dress clung to her to an uncomfortably revealing extent where Andrew had to look away.

"Next." The peacekeeper said and Andrew looked up, seeing Aaron's whole-body flinch. "Go through. Next."

Andrew stepped forward, holding his hand forward. The peacekeeper grabbed his wrist roughly, tugging it forward and pricking the end of his finger. They then pressed it to the paper, scanned it and let him through.

Andrew rushed through, pushing through all the crowds to find his brother. Aaron was waiting nervously, wringing his wrists. Andrew pushed through the crowd until he ended up besides his brother, waiting silently.

"What if we get picked?" Aaron whispered, looking at his brother. Andrew shrugged, keeping his eyes focused on the stage. "Andrew I'm serious." he said before his voice was drowned out by Kathy tapping the microphone.

"Welcome, welcome." she said, smiling at everyone.

The neon yellow contacts she wore made everyone unsettled, but she continued, her cat-like eyes scanning the crowd.

"Welcome to the fifty seventh Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor." She smirked, looking across to the group of people who weren't being reaped, taunting them. "Now, the time has come for us to select one courageous young man and women for the honor of representing district seven in this year's Hunger Games." She stopped for a second, smiling. "As usual, ladies first."

She shuffled across the stage in her overly tight dress and waved her hand over the bowl. A hand skimmed Andrew's wrist and he looked down, seeing Aaron's beside his, the knuckles brushing the black cloth. Andrew slid his hand into his brothers as Kathy waddled back to the microphone.

"Marissa Goodman." Kathy read out, looking across the crowd. People were stepped aside two sections before the twins.

Sixteen years old, Andrew told himself. The girl stepped forward, dressed in a light green dress which skimmed her knees and her hair tied into a tight ponytail.

"Come on up dear, don't be afraid." Four peacekeepers surrounded her, leading her up to the stage. Marissa slowly walked up, and Kathy enthusiastically welcomed her. "And now the boys."

Aaron's grip tightened on his hand as she reached the glass bowl. Kathy smiled, waving her hand around the top before diving in and pulling out one white slip. She slowly shuffled back to the microphone and leant close, undoing the slip slowly. She smirked before reading, "Aaron Michael Minyard."

"I volunteer as tribute." Andrew looked down before he even had acknowledged the words come out of his mouth. He looked back up, seeing everyone staring at him. Aaron was looking at him with tearful eyes.

"Not Andrew." he whispered, but Andrew pushed past. "No. Andrew stop!" he shouted, following him through. Andrew took his place in between the peacekeepers but was dragged back violently. "I won't let you do this." Aaron shouted.

"I volunteer." Andrew repeated, making direct eye contact with Aaron. Aaron shook his head, his mouth opening and closing until the first tear rolled down his cheek and his grip on Andrew's arm loosened.  

Aaron was pulled back quickly, and Andrew recognized the hand around his twin's shoulders immediately. Jean pulled Aaron back, avoiding Andrew's eye. Andrew turned around and followed the peacekeepers down the aisle. Renee was staring at him, shocked, from the back of the stage. Matt's eyes were filled with tears, while Wymack's jaw was clenched.  

Andrew didn't remember as far back as to when he was four, but he knew Wymack's story.

Wymack had trained as hard as he could after losing a close friend to the games when he was twelve. When David turned eighteen, he volunteered himself before the name was even called out. His reasoning was to save one more helpless kid from being killed in his district. This caused him to become a fan favorite in the Capitol, and a respected citizen in the district. In every shop, I have had a discount. Everyone smiled at him in the streets. Everyone welcomed him into their homes and invited him round for dinner.

Every year, when the victors returned, all three of the victors visited the houses of the fallen tributes to mourn with them for one night. They supplied the family with the food for the night and left them all the leftovers. It was a tradition started by Wymack, but when Renee won the forty-fourth Hunger Games, she joined in. And when Matt won the fifty-first Hunger Games, he became the final part of the trio.

Andrew was snapped out of his thoughts when he reached the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the stage. He made eye contact with Renee, who smiled gently at him. He sighed before walking up.

"A volunteer!" Kathy cried, holding her hand out to showcase Andrew's arrival. "Now, what's your name young man?"

"Andrew Joseph Minyard." Andrew said, looking forward.

Jean was finally looking at him, his face contorted with fear. Nicky was beside him, crying into Erik's shoulder. Erik was staring at Andrew in fear while Jesse sobbed, bundled in Betsy's arms. Aaron was crying, while being held back by Kevin.  

"Oh, and was that your brother I picked?" Kathy asked, smiling widely.

"Yes, my twin brother." Andrew answered, trying to keep his voice monotone.

"How lovely." Kathy said before turning to the crowd again. "Here we are. Our tributes from district seven!" She started clapping, but everyone stayed silent.

Jean brought three fingers up to his lips before raising them above his head. Slowly, everyone around him began to do the same, the gesture spreading among the crowd. A single tear rolled down Jean's scarred cheek and Andrew took a deep breath before bringing three fingers to his own lips then raising them above his head.

"Happy Hunger Games!" Kathy cried, "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

They turned away, Kathy leading them both to the door at the back. Andrew flinched away from her touch, overtaking Marissa and pushing himself into the corridor.

"Andrew." Renee said, walking up to him.

"Not." Andrew spat out through gritted teeth.

He would not let himself cry; he would not let himself cry.

"We can talk on the train. I want to say goodbye to them."

[silver-renjun]

Cafe 7 Dream: Jisung

Word count: 3,354

Warnings: violence, stabbing 

Read the prologue before reading this!  

You were at the cafe and there was no work for you to do. The dreamies were handling everything on their own, so there was no use for you at the cafe. Bored, you just stared at the boys as they made orders. You wanted to help out, but you knew that disrupting them could mess up their whole flow and cost them a lot of money. Chenle reminded you of that many, many times before. 

The only one that didn’t seem busy was Jisung. He was lounging around, staring at the boys mindlessly, just like you. Jisung caught your eye. It wasn’t usual that you saw him behind the counter. He almost always stayed in the back room, “keeping inventory”. You were suspicious of him. There was no way the cafe had so much stuff that Jisung had to be in the back room all the time. You could tell by the way that Jisung stuttered that he was hiding something back there. Then again, Jisung always stuttered when he talked to you.

Jisung didn’t stay in your vision for long. After a few minutes, he slipped back into the back room. Your curiosity was getting the best of you. You knew that Jisung would be upset if you sneaked in, but you just had to know what was back there. You looked around at the other dreamies. They were all preoccupied, making it the perfect opportunity for you to sneak into the back. You took your chance and creeped into the room.

You were not prepared for what you saw. All of the walls were covered in rows of shelves, each lined with countless bottles. The bottles contained all sorts of liquids, some of which were neon colors. At the center of the room, there was a table set up with beakers and tubes. You were in awe of what looked like a lab behind the cafe. You were going to sneak back out, but Jisung head popped up from behind the table. 

“y/n! What are, uh, you doing here?” Jisung stuttered with a nervous smile. The boy had two bottles with pink liquid in his hands. He tried to hide them behind his back, but had already noticed them.

“Jisung? What is this place? What is all this stuff?” you asked, reaching out to grab a bottle.

“No!” Jisung shouted, causing you to flinch. “Don’t touch anything in here, okay?” He placed the bottles down on the table and held his forehead. “What am I going to do?” he muttered to himself.

“First, you’re going to explain to me what this all is.”

“Okay, so, uh, you know how people love coming to our cafe,” Jisung said while playing with his fingers. “It’s because of this stuff.”

“You’re drugging people?”

“No! No! That’s not it! It’s just that, uh, you’re really not going to believe me.”

“Try me,”  you replied, putting your hands on your hips.

“I’m a wizard, so I make potions. We put love potions in the cafe food so that people will love our cafe.” Jisung noticed your confused face. “If you don’t believe me you can try for yourself.”

You walked over to where Jisung was standing. He quickly grabbed another bottle from under the table and placed it on the table.

“Experience the potion yourself. When it’s effects wear off, I’ll tell you exactly what happened to you without you even telling me anything.” 

You grabbed the potion from the table and drank it. Before you could place the bottle back down, you were transported to another world. You were in a forest and it was snowing. There were 7 little boys running around, screaming in joy as they played a game of tag. Your heart warmed at the precious sight of the dreamies when they were young. You were about to take a step closer, but everything began to fade. You found yourself back in the room with Jisung. 

“You saw your childhood, right? The most precious memory that you’ve ever experienced.” Jisung said. You nodded, not having the heart to say that you saw otherwise.

“It’s an original potion that I made. It took months to develop perfectly,” Jisung said as he returned the bottle to it’s original place. 

Jisung worked on the potion for months, but it seemed like he only tested it on himself. The potion wasn’t the user’s most precious memory, it was Jisung’s. Even though you didn’t see the right image, you were convinced Jisung was telling the truth about magic.  

“What about the other guys?”

“So Mark and Jaemin, they’re normal people. Kind of like you, but more magically aware. Haechan, he hasn’t gained his powers yet. And then Jeno, he’s a water spirit.”

“Makes sense,” you replied. 

“And then Chenle, well, uh,” Jisung began to stutter again. “He’s like super rich and his family is like a super big deal, so he’s not really allowed to tell his powers. Not even to me,” he said, pretending to be disappointed.

“Of course he wouldn’t tell you! You’d blabber it all out!” you joked.

“I don’t blabber any secrets!” Jisung said, trying to defend himself. “And Renjun trusted me with his vision about you so ha!”

“Renjun had a vision about me?” you said raising your eyebrow.

“Shoot,” Jisung said, slapping his forehead. “I’ll just let him explain it.”

Jisung walked back into the front of the cafe and you followed behind him. Renjun was standing behind the counter with the other boys, trying to put up a poster on the wall.

“So Renjun, what’s this about a vision you had?” you asked with your arms crossed.

“Dude, I told you Jisung wouldn’t be able to keep a secret,” Jeno said, laughing. Renjun shook his head in disappointment before looking at you. 

“y/n, do you believe in magic?” Renjun asked.

“You can skip the explanation. I saw everything Jisung had in the back.”

“Okay, so I’m an oracle, so I can see into the future. And I saw your future, and it’s not looking too good. You’re probably going to get attacked,” Renjun said casually, as if it were nothing.  

“Before you get worried y/n, it’s really no big deal. Renjun’s never had an accurate vision before. It’s not like this one’s going to come true,” Chenle said.

“And he was on the floor of a frat house when it came to him, so I wouldn’t worry too much,” Mark added. Renjun slapped Mark on the arm for adding that detail.

“Oh wow, for a second I thought I was going to be special,” you said sarcastically, pretending to be disappointed.

“Don’t worry y/n, I’ll protect you,” Jisung said, joining in on your sarcasm. He threw his arm around your shoulder, rubbed your head, and said, “you’re all safe now y/n.”

The boys laughed and then went back to work. Jisung walked back into the back room, and you followed him, since you had nothing better to do. 

“Hey Jisung, why don’t you give me so potions lessons?” you said. You found a stool in the corner of the room and pulled it up to the table. “It would be good practice for you, too.”

“Who said I needed practice?” Jisung replied. You turned around and got up from the stool, ready to walk out the door. “Hey, wait! I’ll do it!”

You sat back down on the stool and watched Jisung. He started pulling out liquids and dried plants from under the table. There were far too many thing coming out from under the small table, but you figured that magical storage was very efficient.

 “The first lesson is an antidote potion,” Jisung said. He placed in front of you various dried plants, seeds, and a dark green liquid.

“Can’t we start with the love potion,” you complained.

“If you’re trying to seduce someone, you won’t be learning it here,” Jisung said with a smile. “And the antidote potion is the best place to start anyways. If you mess up any other potion, it could kill you. It’s always important to know how to make an antidote.” Jisung handed you a mortar and pestle.

“I have to grind this by hand?” you groaned.

“Unless you have magical abilities, you’d better get used to grinding everything in there. Any questions so far?”

“What is all this stuff?” you asked as you grinded all the dry ingredients.

“Actually, I’m not really sure. I kind of just know the stuff I need. I use my intuition.”

“Oh that’s just great,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“It’s not like it matters anyways. You’re doing a great job,” Jisung said with a smile. “Now it’s time to add the blue liquid. Don’t ask me what it is, I wasn’t paying attention when I learned it.”

You poured the blue liquid in and began to mix it. 

“So what else do you do Jisung? There’s more to being a wizard than just potions, right?”

“Well, potions are my specialty. I can make them back here when I’m alone. There’s nobody yelling at me or telling me to hurry up when I make potions, so it’s pretty therapeutic. I can do spells too, but those take a lot of patience to learn, especially if you try to do them mentally. Spells are so much more pressure.”

“Oh,” you said, looking down at what you had made. “I’m sorry I disturbed your private time.” 

“Nah, it’s no big deal. I like you y/n. I mean, uh, I like being around you.” Jisung quickly went under the desk to get a bottle for you potion, but he was really just trying to avoid eye contact with you. His face was burning up. After Jisung got up, he poured your potion into a bottle and sealed it. He grabbed a permanent marker and wrote on the bottle.

“y/n’s antidote potion,” Jisung said with a smile. “I’ll be sure to make good use out of this.”

“I think the cafe is closing up right now,” you told Jisung. The commotion you could hear between Renjun and Haechan was an obvious sign that it was time for you to leave. 

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow y/n,” Jisung replied, waving you off as you walked towards the door. “Or do you prefer apprentice?” 

“I’d go by any name if it meant I could spend time with you,” you said. You were shocked at your own words. You had no idea where that came from. You hurried out before Jisung could question you on your reply.

You spent all your shifts with Jisung. Every day, Jisung had a new set of herbs for you to grind and bottle. You were worried the Chenle might be upset that you weren’t working, but he just smiled and pushed you into the back with Jisung.

“So what are we learning today, Jisung?” you asked as you pulled up the stool.

“Love potions,” Jisung said with a smile.

“You’re finally teaching me how you drug the people in the cafe,” you said teasingly.

“I don’t drug people, y/n. It’s magic. There’s a difference,” Jisung explained. “And were just doing a basic love potion today. Nothing complicated like falling in love with a building.” 

You chucked at Jisung’s response.

“Hey, you have no idea how hard that was for me! You try making people love the cafe when the employees are moody magical beings!” Jisung complained as he grabbed the ingredients for the love potions. He placed an assortment of dried herbs and seeds on the table.

“So what’s the plan here?” you asked.

“You can just take whatever you like. Love potions are based on personal preference. There’s really no wrong answer,” Jisung said as he handed you the mortar and pestle. “Oh wait! I forgot the most important ingredient!”

You watched as Jisung pulled out a bottle with a red liquid inside.

“You can taste it, it’s nothing weird, I promise,” Jisung said as he handed the bottle over to you.

You dipped your finger inside and tasted the mysterious liquid.

“This is tomato juice!” you said with wide eyes. “Your secret ingredient is tomato juice?”

“It’s for the aesthetics. It gives the potion a nice color. And my secret ingredient isn’t tomato juice. I use hot sauce. Tomato juice is a beginner’s ingredient.”

“Hot sauce is not aesthetic Jisung,” you said with a laugh.

“It’s more aesthetic than blood.” Jisung noticed the confused look on your face. “It’s an old practice,” he explained.

You spent the rest of your shift putting together a love potion. Jisung had been right about how difficult it was. Selecting your own ingredients took careful deliberation. You wanted your first love potion to be perfect. After a while, you had put together your first love potion.

“Wow, that looks really good, y/n,” Jisung said with admiration. “Can I try it? You can try mine too.”

“What’s going to happen when we taste it?” you asked. 

“These are pretty weak potions anyways. We’re probably just going to see our crush. It’ll be a basic sensation. It’ll be something you already know.” 

“Let’s do it then,” you said. 

You and Jisung exchanged bottles and took a sip from the potions. You closed your eyes and waited for the potion to settle in. When you opened your eyes again, you were in the same place.

“Nothing happened, Jisung. Did we make them wrong or what?” you asked.

“No y/n. We made them perfectly,” Jisung replied. 

You watched as Jisung crinkled up his nose at what he had just said. You took a second to process what he meant. 

“So that means we, uh,” you started to say. You couldn’t verbalize the next part. 

“Yep,” Jisung said while looking down. Despite liking each other, you and Jisung were highly embarassed by the situation.

“So, um, uh,” you stuttered, trying to find something to say to Jisung.

“Do you want to date me?” Jisung babbled.  

“Yes.” You kept your hands busy with all the ingredients on the table. You still felt too awkward to make eye contact with Jisung. He felt the same way about you. 

“We should head out now,” Jisung said. You followed him out towards the front of the cafe.

The other boys immediately noticed that Jisung was blushing when you two walked out. Neither you nor Jisung were making eye contact with any of them.

“What’s up with you two? Did you two make out in the back or what?” Jaemin said with a smirk.

“No way, Jisung’s too much of a wimp to do that,” Mark replied.

“The probably kissed by accident or something,” Jeno said.

“How do you accidentally kiss someone?” Chenle asked.

“It’s a classic trick Chenle. y/n probably fell on Jisung and-” Renjun started.

“That’s not what happened!” Everyone was shocked by Jisung’s sudden confidence, even Jisung himself. “We’re, uh, dating each other now. That’s all,” Jisung said in a quiet voice.

The dreamies erupted in screams. Haechan started slapping Jisung on the back.

“Look at you, all grown up,” Haechan said with awe. “Be careful back there. The two of you alone in that dark room, it could get wild, Jisung.”

After dating for a while, the teasing subdued from the dreamies. There was always the occasional joke about your potions mixing, but it was expected from the boys. You and Jisung became much more comfortable with one another.

The day of the cafe event had finally rolled around. You didn’t pay much attention to it after Renjun had mentioned it to you, but apparently it was a very big deal to the dreamies. They would be in the presence of a lot more magic than they were used to, so they spending a lot of extra time at the cafe. You tagged along, hoping to help them in any way possible. It had been a long time since you actually contributed to the cafe and not just sit in the back with your boyfriend.

“Hey y/n, can you help me and Jisung in the back right now?” Haechan said.

You followed Haechan into the back room. He locked the door behind you, which was odd. Jisung never did that before. Before you could ask him why he did that, Haechan lunged towards you. He pinned you to the ground and you started to scream.

“Don’t scream y/n, or you’ll end up like your boyfriend over there,” Haechan said with a menacing grin. Haechan turned your head to the side so you could see Jisung. He was sitting in the corner tied up with rope. His mouth was covered with tape.

“What are you doing?” you cried.

“Good question, y/n. You’re just so smart, aren’t you?” Haechan said as he tied up your arms. “You skip lectures so you can go take little potion lessons from your boyfriend. How cute.”

“This is about the lectures? Oh my gosh Haechan, I promise I-” Haechan placed his hand over your mouth.

“Don’t make me tape that beautiful mouth up.” Haechan got to work on tying up your feet. “And it’s something much more different, dear. You see with this high magical energy in the air, I’m at an urge to awaken my powers.”

Haechan stood up and grabbed a knife from the table.

“And there happens to be one potion that’ll do the trick. Your precious boyfriend already started making it. Now I just need the final ingredient,” Haechan said as he leaned over you. “Your blood.”

Haechan pulled the blade through your arms. Blood started to leak out onto your shirt, but you had already passed out. Haechan collected the blood and placed it into the bottle with the other ingredients. He started to take a sip when the bottle shattered. Haechan was enraged. He turned around to see Jisung, who had broken free. 

“You think you can stop me?” Haechan screamed.

Haechan tried to take a step forward, but he had become paralyzed. Jisung was mumbling a spell to himself. Even though he was focusing all his energy on restraining Haechan, Jisung could only think of you. He hurried over to the shelves and grabbed the first healing potion he could find. He opened the bottle and poured the whole thing down your throat. 

“Jisung!” was the first thing you said when you woke up. Jisung was too busy mumbling spells to reply to you. You looked over at the bottle Jisung had given you. It was the first potion you had made. You picked up the bottle and at the same time, Jisung stopped mumbling and pulled you into a hug. You felt warm in his embrace, but you became worried.

“What about Haechan?” you asked as you pulled away from the hug.

“He’s in paralysis. His body is transforming right now, so he’s especially dangerous. I put a spell on him so he won’t hurt us right now.”

You had no words for how grateful you were. You pulled him into a hug again.

“y/n, I’m really sorry I couldn’t protect you. You got hurt because of me. I should have never even started making that-”

You put your finger over his lips. You didn’t want the moment to be ruined. There would be a lot of explaining and apologizing to be done, but at that moment you just wanted to be in the arms of your boyfriend. 

Select another route

[ketchupqueenboiiii]

Young Justice

A/N: Some cursing and poorly written fight scene. I will be making this a multichap fic, reposting it to its own work. Also name is a WIP.

@maribat-2k20

Whoosh.

Thump.

Clank-Clunk.

Repeat.

Happy Harbor doesn't make her very happy. But it doesn't make her that sad either. No different than New York City. But at least her Mama was there. The mother-daughter duo had made amends and Audrey invited Chloe to live with her in the city. It was nice, until Chloe got antsy. She itched to get out there and fight. But New York wasn't her turf and there were no bad guys to battle. Chloe also wasn't too keen on going to school in New York.

She was completely fine with video calling her Mari-bug, thank you very much. But even Mari saw that she needed to get back into the game.

"Bee, you can't have your only interaction being with your over-worked butler, your work-acholic mother, and your ex in Tibet." Mari's voice was hoarse from being out of breathe.

"You're just phrasing it weird. You're my best friend more than my ex. And Jean-Paul is not over-worked. He has off on Wednesdays and Sundays." Chloe responded flippantly and continued to file her nails on her sofa, which was placed right in front of the 85 inch flat screen mounted the wall of her room. She had linked her phone to the screen and webcam so she had a good view of her friend.

Mari gave her a unimpressed look while drying her head. She wore a pink sleeveless workout shirt with red flower designs sewn in and matching capris. She was also bald now. A guardian-in-training thing, Chloe was told when she first got the frantic call with the news. Her clothing choice was impressive since she lives in a temple in the mountains. Surrounded by snow.

"Chloe, you're lonely and you miss Sabrina. I can feel it from here." The pink clad girl said, before taking a sip from her matching water bottle.

"I'm not lonely, I have those trainers I practice with and I talk to Felix every now-" Chloe argued. But then was interrupted by her friend.

"You know, I think you should go to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. And use Pollen and Stompp." She smiled as she cut off Chloe, tilting her head to the side with a content look on her face.

What. Chloe thought, head turning so fast to the screen she should have gotten whiplash.

"You should go. My instincts tell me that your gonna find something there. And as a Guardian-in-training, my instinct is usually right." Apparently Chloe said that thought out loud.

"Mari, I can't just leave. Mama has work in the city-" Chloe tried.

"Stop with the excuses, Chlo. Audrey has a headquarters in Happy Harbor, so she could just move her work there." Damn her preparedness and reasoning. Chloe stayed silent as she glared at her friend, even though it hasn't had an effect on Mari since they were ten-year-olds.

"And lucky for you, I already called Audrey to confirm it and she agrees that it's a good idea." Mari does a little dance, smirking with a wiggle of her shoulders and eyebrows. Fucking dammit, Mari-bug.

"I'll give it a chance." Chloe grumbles, a little peeved.

"Then get packing, honeybee, 'cause your leaving in three days."

Sometimes Chloe can't believe she still listens to her Bug's crazy plans.

~

Running across the roof tops in the middle of town. How inconspicuous. Was Mari trying to get her captured?

Now Chloe just felt stupid. She opened the screen of her top and prepared to arrange for another call with Mari when she felt a shift in the air. Someone was approaching, but she couldn't see anyone there. That wouldn't mean much though, since she had experience with invisible enemies.

Enemies, really? Even in death, you show her no respect. Sabrina should have-

Opponents. Invisible opponents. Chloe steadied her breath and banished the thoughts for another time. Faking ignorance, she tapped randomly on her top's screen.

The invisible entity came closer. And closer. Just a little closer. Almost within reach.

She grabbed a horn from her headset that doubled as a weapon and swung at the mysterious invisible person in one smooth motion. She grinned in satisfaction when she felt it hit something and heard it yelp in surprise. Or pain. Either was good.

Chloe looked over in time to see a green-skinned red-head girl lying on the ground, clearly disoriented by her surprise attack. Chloe's smile fell a bit when she envisioned a different red-head in her place, one much more familiar, thought only for a moment.

A memory of her faults and another thing that she lost.

She was quickly thrown out of her spiral when she saw two boys fall from out of a random place in the sky. Her instinct was to catch them and moved to do so before she saw the insignias on their chests.

"M'gann!" They yelled, probably because of the girl on the ground. Also, ever heard of code names?

Both boys wore a different emblem on their chests. After focusing on them, she recognized them to be the ones worn by the Superman and the Flash. So they must be their sidekick squad. The girl was probably Martian Manhunter's apprentice, since green skin and invisibility.

The boy with the Superman logo glared at her as a red and yellow blur came at her. The Flash's sidekick probably. And damn did whatever he did to her stomach sting.

Good thing she's an expert on stings. Her inner Adrikins was beside themselves laughing while every other part of her wanted to shake her head in exasperation.

Fighting a speedster was like fighting blind. Not something she particularly excelled at. All she could do was dodge as best as she could, which meant getting hit every eighth strike.

Chloe planted her feet and recalled everything Mari had told her during her probation and training period. Mari may not have been properly trained then, but she learned the ropes fast enough to teach everyone else;

"Every team's bound to have some variation of these core members. You need to be able to identify them. The heavy-hitter.

Probably Super-kid. For her, sometimes it was Adrien and others it was Rose using Stompp.

The strategist.

Redhead One or Redhead Two? Definitely not. Speedy over their just ran up to her and kept whooping her, it didn't seem like he had any other objective. And Mari, duh.

The one light on their feet.

Redhead Flash, obviously.

With the power of subjection, you must incapacitate the biggest threat. To you, the people, a team member, or the entire mission.

Looks like Redhead Flash is getting stung today. Serves him right, that hit was gonna bruise.

"Venom." She thinks, and thrusting her stinger-armed hand into where she predicted the boy would be. And she's right he comes to a complete stop, and, to her amusement, the momentum of his running caused him to face plant into the ground with a crack. His wrist probably, since a venom kept you from intentionally moving but allows movement by external forces.

Namely gravity and the concrete of the rooftop.

"Kid!" Exclaimed a young voice, probably from the figure falling from where the Redhead Flash and Super-kid fell from.

Super-kid helped up Redhead One and turned back to glare at Chloe again. She just smirked and armed herself with a top in her left hand and a horn in the other. To be honest, it look like an escrima stick.

A silent challenge hung in the air, each daring the other to move first. Though it actually gave her time to think up a plan. The most practical thing would be to jump off the side of the building, making it look like a retreat and then swing in to take him from behind. Yeah, that should work.

Chloe made a scene of contemplating fighting and running away, narrowing her eyes in thought. She ran to the edge of the roof top and jumped, briefly loosing herself to the nostalgia. Of the wind in her face and the adrenaline in her veins. It's been way too long since the last time she felt felt them.

She threw her top at the ledge of the roof, willing it to change into a grapple and swung her legs routinely. After doing this exact maneuver countless times before, she instinctively moved with just the right amount of force at just the right time. They used to call it the 'Mari Go Round', named after the girl who taught her the tact and the American nickname for a carrousel. Also because the swing takes you in a full circle.

Chloe straightened her legs in preparation to slam into his back, hopefully pushing him of the side of the building or at least give him some kind of injury with her heels. But he turned at the last minute and smacked her out of the air with his forearm. The bruise forming on her leg tells her that he has both super strength and invulnerability, since normal human strength wouldn't have sent so far and normal human arms would have broken if they tried to pull that trick.

The newest guest started throwing stuff at her. So Chloe quickly rose and jumped to the next building. She needed time to think.

Chloe wasn't here to fight the heroes, she here because Mari told she'd find something here. Maybe a lost miraculous, or guardian artifact. Or maybe someone-

"Boo." The young voice happily said, followed by giggles.

"Merde!" She shrieked, throwing one of her own boomerang weapons at the voice. Her eyebrows furrowed when she heard the unsatisfying noise of them imbedding themselves in the concrete.

She heard a fwuop and whoosh noise from the sidekick squad's direction, directly behind her. Not a good move on her part. She turned her head to see a net and inch from her face, leaving no room or time for escape.  She hit the ground with a thud, unable to get up due to the weight of the net. It likely was made for non-human threats. Not that Chloe wasn't human, but she was magically enhanced and that made her a lot stronger than one.

She felt hands pick her up and set her into a kneeling position, unknowingly giving her an  advantage. She quickly broke off the heel of her boot and hid it in her hand. They surrounded her, but were weirdly silent. They made faces at each other, like one would to convey emotion into words.

Redhead One tried to touch her forehead, and Chloe definitely wasn't having that. She summersaulted backwards into Super-kid, successfully knocking him down and allowing her to cut some of the net with the sharp side of her heel. Her legs were free now, and as she multi-tasked cutting the rest of the net, and dodging what ever the new guy was throwing at her and the now flying Redhead One, she ran and jumped as safely as she could.

Who was she trying to kid, that's what she'd tell Mari when this was over. Literally none of the stuff she does is safe.

Chloe landed on a roof top the one they fought on and she was so close to  getting the stupid weighted-net off her. As she finished cutting the last bit of the net and she reached for her top, she was bound again. This time by a... rope? Something like her weapon, just it was without a top or yoyo at the end and was... gold.

Oh, fuck.

[sonoftatooine]

Whumpay 2021

DAY 31: ALT DAY - SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Shaak Ti

Summary: When Anakin makes the decision to go and save Palpatine from Mace Windu, his lack of sleep over the past week chooses the worst possible moment to catch up with him. Shaak Ti attempts to intervene.

***

It was said that the Force, in the hands of a competent Jedi, could do many things. It was also said—with greater and greater frequency over the course of the war—that in the hands of Anakin Skywalker, it could do the impossible. Right now, however, Anakin himself was of the opinion that this was a bold-faced lie, for the one thing he could not make it do, as he staggered unsteadily yet imperturbably toward the main doors of the Jedi Temple, was have it chase away the fog that was threatening to take over his over-tired mind and send him spiralling into the deep, impenetrable darkness of forced rest. He had been fighting it for days, drawing on the Force to fend off sleep as he searched desperately for a solution to save his wife from the awful fate that plagued his dreams whenever he tried to rest. And now, only now, when he was so close to finding the solution that the Jedi had denied him, when a moment's delay meant that he could lose that knowledge for ever, did his reserves finally run out, and the ability to stay awake and moving start to slip through his durasteel grip like sand.

Sand. Sand. His head felt like it was full of sand. Scratchy and grainy, lodged in unlikely places, disrupting all the whirring mechanisms that governed his thoughts. He'd had the same problem with Threepio when he was building him, without his coverings to protect him from the ravages of Tatooine, and he'd spent hours cleaning the stuff out of his servos just as he had with Watto's junk at the shop. He wanted to shake his head to dislodge it, but nothing he did made it—

He had been so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that he barely realised when he collided full on with a tall, slim figure standing directly in front of the door. The world swam before as one of the frequent waves of dizziness overcame him, and he felt strong, slim fingers circling about the flesh of his biceps to keep him upright. Dazed, he blinked, trying to chase away the strange blur that had overtaken his vision, and the smudge of red and white and purple before him coalesced into the face of Jedi Master Shaak Ti. Her hairless brows were drawn into a frown, and she looked very concerned.

“Anakin,” she said. “Are you alright? Where are you going?”

Anakin wished he could dislodge the sand from his brain, but his thoughts wouldn't come coherently, and all he could force out from his lips was a garbled, “the Chancellor— I need—”

Shaak Ti's frown deepened.

“The Chancellor?,” she asked. “But the Masters have already gone to confront him. You need not worry—the situation is already in hand.”

Anakin could only shake his head wordlessly, immediately wishing that he hadn't as his vision swam once again at the sudden movement. She didn't understand. The situation wasn't in hand because Windu might kill Palpatine who was the only one who knew how to save Padmé and he couldn't let Padmé die, he couldn't live without her -

“Shaak Ti,” he gasped out. “Get out of my way.”

He had to get to the door, had to— If he could just get to the door— He tried to pull out of her grasp, but Shaak Ti held on, the press of her fingers on his arms gentle yet firm.

“The Temple is sealed,” she reminded him. “The door is code-locked.”

Oh. Yes. They were expecting retaliation from Palpatine should the Masters fail. Windu had put Shaak Ti in charge of the Temple's defence as a precautionary measure when he had ordered Anakin to wait like a good little Jedi in the Council Chambers while he marched off to kill the man who had always been kind to him, had lied to him, had been the only one to offer to help him save Padmé— But what did it matter? He was a Jedi himself. He had the codes, and Shaak Ti couldn't keep him here when he needed to go—

“And you're in the way of the pad” he snapped.

He jerked back, and this time, he managed break free, but the force of the movement had unbalanced him, bringing on another alarming wave of faintness. His vision blurred, the world spun, his head throbbing painfully with exhaustion and hunger and fear. Hands shot out to catch him once again, and he pitched forward, forced to lean against Shaak Ti to keep his knees from buckling.

“You're not well, Anakin,” the Jedi Master's soft voice spoke somewhere in the vicinity of his ear, but despite how close she was, she sounded distant, muffled, as if she were talking over a bad comm connection. “You should be in the Halls of Healing.”

“I— No. I can't—,” Anakin stammered desperately. He couldn't afford distractions, not with Padmé's life on the line. He had to get to Palpatine now, before Windu— “I'm fine,” he added, trying to push himself back upright again. “I need to go—”

Shaak Ti shook her head.

“What can you possibly do?,” she asked. “Master Windu and the others will handle it. You have done your duty. Let yourself rest.”

Yes, Windu will handle it, Anakin wanted to shout. That's precisely the problem. Padmé was going to die because he couldn't get away, because he couldn't get there on time. His head swam again, and to his horror, he felt tears of fear and frustration pricking at his eyes.

“You don't understand!,” he babbled. How could she understand? How could he explain it to her after he had broken the Code so badly? “There's no time. I have go! I have to do something! I can't just—”

“Anakin, please,” Shaak Ti cut across him. She looked deeply worried. “Let me take you to the healers. You are in no state to be fighting battles against a Sith Lord. You will get yourself killed.”

Anakin shook his head.

“He...he won't kill me,” he murmured, more to himself than to her. “He wants—”

Realising exactly what it is he was about to say, Anakin cut himself off abruptly. He wants me as his apprentice, he thought. That's the price of Padmé's life. My life in service so she and the baby can live. He knew this deeply, instinctively, with all the knowledge of the little boy on Tatooine who had spent his life at the mercy of his masters, even though the part of him that wanted to think not of the Chancellor's lies but of their long friendship tried to tell him that there wouldn't be a price for his help. He couldn't tell Shaak Ti that. Couldn't tell her that, as much as the prospect alarmed him, there was a tiny spark in him beneath the furious insistence that all he wanted was to make sure that Palpatine wasn't killed that was actually considering it. Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face, however, for a look of severe alarm found its way into Shaak Ti's violet eyes.

“He wants what?,” she said, and there was a note of urgency in her tone that he had never heard from her before—usually, she was the very epitome of Jedi calm. “Anakin, what does he want. What has he told you—?”

But before she could demand anything further of him, and before he could even begin to think about evading her questions, four lights blinked out of existence, and the Force screamed. Both Anakin and Shaak Ti staggered under the weight of it.

“What—?” Anakin gasps. He knew those lights. Windu. Fisto. Kolar. Tiin. Where were they? They couldn't just be gone. They couldn't be— There had been four of them and only one of Palpatine. He couldn't have—

“It cannot be,” Shaak Ti breathed, her eyes wide with horror. “Four Jedi Masters... How could he have—?”

She shook herself, as if she could rid herself of fear the way an akk dog did water after a swim.

“We must see to the Temple's defences. I fear he will come for us next, and without—”

But she never got to finish, as Anakin took advantage of her distraction to dart around her towards the keypad. Another wave of dizziness overcame him, and he nearly crumpled in a heap on the floor, but he flung out an arm to break his fall. Bracing his right arm against the wall, he raised his trembling flesh hand to the pad, intent on typing in his code. If only he could stop it from shaking so violently, let alone shift the sand in his head to remember what the damned code was—

A hand circled around his wrist, and he froze.

“Anakin, no,” Shaak Ti said sternly, even as her voice shook at the feeling in the Force of four Jedi Masters dead. “I cannot let you go to him. Whatever he wants with you, it will bring you nothing but harm.”

Harm. Harm. Palpatine had harmed Windu and the others. Had killed them. He should want to kill him, as he had for one short moment in the man's office when he revealed to him that he was the Sith Lord behind the war. Did he want to kill him now? No, he needed him to save Padmé. He needed that knowledge, that power. Who cared if it harmed him as long as it helped her? A small voice in his head whispered to him that if Sidious had the power to defeat four Jedi alone, then surely being able to save Padmé would be nothing by comparison. Oh Force, he felt sick.

“Please,” he begged, appalled to hear his voice tremble and break as he spoke. He wanted to cry, wanted to rest, to fall asleep in Padmé's arms knowing that she was safe, that he would no longer be plagued by dreams of her death and that he wouldn't have to turn to the Sith Lord that had just killed four Jedi Masters for help. But he couldn't have any of that. All he had was one possible way to save her life that Shaak Ti wouldn't let him take. “Please, it's not me, it's— She's going to die! Padmé's going to die and I have to...”

Shaak Ti's eyes widened in sudden realisation, but he could barely see her through the blackness that was encroaching on his vision. She tilted sideways or—no, he tilted sideways, tumbling to the floor and what was that? Was the door opening? Had she opened the door? No, it was someone coming in—many someones with heavy booted feet and blue and white armour and weapons pointed—

There was a click of many weapons being primed, a shout, the snap-hiss of a lightsaber being ignited, and then the darkness consumed him amid a hurricane of blaster fire.

[aprxl-showers]

klance x pirates of the caribbean

bc apparently when i'm upset i listen to newsies live and think up weird klance aus

in my head this could go one of two ways:

keith and lance as will and elizabeth

keith and lance as jack and will (i'll explain later)

a lot more under the cut bc i got a bit carried away...

if it follows the canon love story i picture lance as will and keith as elizabeth. (i could see it the other way around bc keith could be the orphan pirate boy but i’ve written too much to go back now).

when they were young, keith was on a ship with his father and he spots lance on a piece of driftwood. they save him ofc and keith spots a jewel necklace around lance's neck. he takes it and later has it fused in the hilt of his mother's knife that is now his.

keith hates being the governor's son with a passion. he hates the formality of it and how restrictive it is. lance is the weaponsmaster's apprentice (that's how he gets good with a gun) and he is always under appreciated! give this guy some recignition!

anyway, he has been silently pining for keith for ages. little does he know, keith kind of likes him too. a lot of mutual pining has been going on for longer than either can recall.

anyhoo, pirates invade the town and kidnap keith. he puts up a fight but in the end he's outnumbered and taken aboard the ship as leverage. he says his surname is mcclain bc it's on his mind. wink wonk. captain of the evil pirates is zarkon and when the pirates who kidnapped keith hand him the knife he realises it is the jewel that can break their spell. since keith uses lance's surname, he also thinks it is keith's blood they need to finish the ritual since lance's family are the one's who sent the jewel away with lance. but it's not. obvs.

lance, after saving a baby, watches keith get taken in horror and tries to call out but is knocked out before he can act. once he's awake he hears that there's a pirate who was caught in the dungeon. that's allura. yes, eccentric captain allura is a choice i am making.

lance manages to break her out of jail, thinking she is one of the evil pirates and he can persuade her to help him. she is not but decides to help him anyway in an attempt to retrieve her ship 'the voltron' from zarkon. the two of them go off on a quest to save keith.

meanwhile, hunk and pidge are guarding keith. they are new recruits to zarkon's crew after their other crew threw pidge out when they discovered she was a girl (silly pirate superstitions). hunk went with her. they are easily persuaded to help keith bc zarkon's a meanie and promise that they'll help him out when they make it to land.

lance and allura arrive on an island and find coran who is allura's closest friend and ally. shiro is also there. he has a peg arm (is that a thing? idk it's a weird mechanism but it does the trick). coran explains that the ship keith is on is cursed and they will be going to the mysterious isle of daibazaal to break the curse.

they get there and watch zarkon attempt to break the curse using the jewel (which he pried out of the blade) and keith's blood. nah, it don't work. they still turn into creepy looking skeletons in the moonlight. damn. he threatens keith and then all hell breaks loose bc lance shoots him. it would have definitely killed zarkon but he can't die bc... the whole undead thing, and in doing so all lance does is reveal their position. they fight a bit, as you do. keith gets hold of a sword and kills three evil pirates in about five seconds. lance falls a little bit in love with him.

in the midst of the battle, lance makes a deal with zarkon that he will stay if keith and the others can go (this now includes hunk and pidge bc they helped keith get free). lance is stripped of visible weapons and zarkon agrees to break the curse immediately. lance cuts his hand and drops the jewel into the chest.

then he grabs keith's jewel-less knife from where it lies beside the chest. zarkon, distracted, doesn't notice until the blade is buried in his gut. he dies. keith and the rest act immediately and kill any other pirates who don't surrender. keith kills an evil pirate about to shoot lance.

they return keith in exchange for allura, coran, shiro, pidge, hunk and lance's pardon. keith expresses his wish not to be governor in the future and allura invites them on 'the voltron' ship with her since she reclaimed it from zarkon. keith and lance then have a moment where they thank each other for saving each other's life. keith thanks lance for coming after him and lance confesses. it's all very sappy and they kiss for ages.

OR

lance is still will. i stand by everything i said about him in the previous version. his parents caused the curse to endure and sent him off. but instead of keith finding him, it's allura. she's the governor's (in this case, alfor's) daughter. she takes the jewel and keeps it as a necklace. lance and allura are more like besties but they're not really allowed to see each other because of their differing classes.

keith arrives and escapes the navy. hides in weaponsmaster’s shop. lance tries to fight him but he’s not as good with a sword as he is with a gun. lots of sassy banter where lance is tryna be noble and keith doesn’t care for it.

anyway, we sort of know what happens. allura gets kidnapped and uses lance's surname bc they had a conversation beforehand. lance stresses, hears about a pirate they captured, assumes it's one of the evil ones he can persuade to help him.

but instead he gets keith who he met earlier. in the time they’ve been apart he’s got himself landed in the dungeon. and he’s notoriously one of the most stubborn, grumy pirate captains in all the seven seas.

he's overall unimpressed with lance as a person and with his plan, only agreeing when he realises he might be able to get his ship, this time called 'the red lion', back. lance decides he's going to prove himself to keith. he doesn't know why he's so offended by a pirate's opinion but he just is. hmmm...

they pick up shiro and coran, pidge and hunk promise to help allura out yada yada yada and they start making their way towards the island.

they run into lotor and his crew (acxa, ezor, zethrid etc) who are unrelated to zarkon and that whole... thing but they're your typical pirates and they want their stuff. which is annoying af bc allura is missing and they have somewhere to be thank you very much.

they put up a good fight. lance has plenty of opportunities to impress keith with his pistol skills. consider keith very impressed and mildly enamoured. but he doesn't do feelings so he stuffs them down inside him as you do. they win and move on. afterwards keith asks lance where he learned those moves and lance tells him stories of his time in the weaponsmaster's workshop. they bond.

they get to the island and find allura. they fight and keith and lance save each other's backs too many times to count. lance has a revelation (inconveniently mid battle) that he actually really likes this. this is fun. this is exciting.

then keith fucks up. he says that he'll hand lance over if zarkon gives him his ship back. lance is fucking fuming and feeling very betrayed and hurt bc he actually felt like he was getting somewhere with keith. keith gets what he deserves though bc zarkon dumps him and allura on an island and takes lance away.

while they're on the island allura knocks some sense into him regarding his life generally and lance specifically. she tells him loads of cute lance-as-a-teenager stories and keith feels awful. he helps her light a signal fire using some rum he has on his person.

they spot the ship alfor sent to find allura. they persuade them to go to where lance and the rest of the crew is. keith tries to act like he's on zarkon's side when they get back to the cave and then he takes one of the cursed jewels so he's now immortal. aha! while this is happening allura has infiltrated zarkon's ship, 'the red lion', so shiro, coran, pidge and hunk can be freed.

allura then frees lance from where they were keeping him in the hull. lance runs to where keith is. they share a look. keith cuts his hand and throws the jewel to lance who does the same and drops it into the water. the curse is broken. keith goes to grab zarkon's sword so he can kill him but zarkon grabs him by the throat. lance shoots zarkon in the side before keith can pass out. he runs to keith who has collapsed. keith apologises and thanks him and promises not to betray him again. lance laughs, says he better not and helps him up.

they return allura safely in exchange for their pardon. keith asks lance to join the crew of 'the red lion' and gives him loads of reasons that are really just disguised compliments. safe to say lance kisses him senseless and they run away together, sailing off into the sunset. bc. klance. there's got to be a sunset somewhere.

hope you liked my what-were-meant-to-be-headcanons-but-just-became-plot-summaries!! i promise i’ll post some general pirate voltron headcanons unrelated to this au at some point. i wrote a pirate au piece for klance au month on my ao3 so some might be related to that?

if you want to send asks or whatever that would be cool - even if they're just random ideas for the au or changes/additions to the plot. i also might write little snippets for this at some point (i’ll tag them under ‘kl potc au’ like this post) bc i'm suddenly crazy invested so if you have any scenes from this you want (from version 1 or 2 or any scene in the plethora of potc movies) send a message and i'll probably get around to it :))