#and the resounding thought is oh! it's like folklore!

[whiskeyswifty]

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[javisjeanjacket]

Exile - (poe dameron x fem!reader)

Folklore Series Part 1 /4

A/N: who doesn’t love a bit of yearning in the evening?? this one is inspired by Taylor Swift’s new song, ‘Exile’. If I used your gif or photo in my collage, let me know and I will add your tag! :)

Warnings: cursing, yearning, alcohol reference, poe dameron is in it so there should be a thirst warning as well

Word count: 2K

"Excellent work, the First Order's work on light speed tracking will be extremely valuable if we can crack their hextacryption. Go ahead and return to base." Leia's voice crackled over the holodisplay. 

"General, I thought I was assigned to Coruscant permanently." You said, your eyebrows pursed in concern.

Leia chuckled. "I wish we had the money to keep you there permanently. Come back to base and the team will decide where your next deployment will be. May the Force be with you." The gray-haired woman bowed her head and the holodisplay vanished. 

You stuffed the holoprojector in your back pocket as your chest tightened. You blinked several times, trying to force your emotions to sort themselves out. 

Speeders, cargo ships, and public transports zoomed outside your tiny hotel room viewport. For a moment, it struck you how every one of those creatures in every one of those vehicles had a life as rich and flawed as your own. 

Your mind wandered to Poe Dameron; lost somewhere in the stars so very far away from you. Your fingers absentmindedly grazed over the top of your wrist and for a fleeting moment, you were able to convince yourself it was Poe's hand on your skin. 

The communicator on the nightstand beeped, pulling you from your delusion, and resounded, "Transport arriving at 21:04." 

Taking a steadying breath, you looked once more over the hotel room that had become your home during your work on the city planet. Your mind filled with memories of nights not too long past; how your body had curled into the thin sheets and how violently your fingers had clenched the pillow tucked to your chest. Flashes of nightmares zipped through your mind as did the many nights spent with your heart drowning in tears and alcohol. 

A deep loneliness washed over you, pushing your heart to jump and yelp against your rib cage. 

Your eyes felt heavy and hot tears pricked at the sides of them as you began to gather your clothes from the small closet in the corner of the room. Haphazardly stuffing them in your rucksack, your mind did not have to work hard to envelop you completely. 

Ripped from some hiding spot deep within, the memory of Poe's hand on your back sending shivers across your skin, now spun on display in the front of your thoughts. His smile beaming in the sunlight. How soft his lips were on your cheek every morning, the sweet must of your bodies intertwined. The wave of his hair curling away from his face. The fire in his eyes and in his footsteps. 

The feelings still living inside of you for Poe Dameron; so long harbored and so long neglected, moved with a fury to invigorate your feeble heart. Beating against your chest, the muscle threatened to shatter all over again. 

Reality reminded you of the last time you had seen the pilot; the red rings around his deep brown eyes and his hand tracing his lips, frustrated. How hot the fire inside your chest had burned, how utterly defeated you had felt. How the feeling of your words, heavy as stones in your mouth, still filled you with regret. 

The way his face had twisted in pain, how taken aback he was. Poe, for as much as you loved him, could never seem to hear you out. In his mind, he felt that he could make things the way he wanted them to be, just by his sheer will and determination. To him, Poe Dameron was the end all, be all of his own destiny. And, to an extent, he was right, but when it came to other people he struggled with the notion that to have them in his life, it meant he actually had to have them in his life. 

You dropped your head to your chest and wiped a warbling tear from your eye.

One of your favorite shirts wrapped around your hand; absentmindedly you had strangled it. 

You stuffed the shirt into your bulging bag and zipped it closed.

Taking a deep breath, you flicked your eyes to the clock on your bedside table. 

'21:03' It displayed. Swallowing against a dry throat, you picked your rucksack up from the floor and left your hotel room, the lock clicking firmly behind you. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn't know what you expected to feel, coming back to Base after months away, but it wasn't this. 

You sat upright in the pilot's chair of your ship, your back straight against the cushion behind you and your knees pushed tightly together. Nausea rose in the back of your throat and you had to force it back down. 

The Resistance Base came into view and your heart leapt from your chest and into your hands. Your fingertips seemed to glow, drunk on a cocktail of adrenaline and anxiety. Your own words echoed around your mind, 'I think that it's best if you just leave me alone.' 'When I'm with you, I can't stop myself from trying to pretend that I don't feel the way I do.' 

'Do I still feel that way?' You interrupted yourself.

Mindlessly, your fingers began to prep the landing sequence.

'I'll have to see him. I can be civil. I'm sure I was just being dramatic.'  Your eyes settled over the Resistance flight techs moseying in your direction, half hoping to recognize a face on one of them.

Taking a deep breath and hurrying through the ship to gather your things, you met the landing dock as it lowered to the ground beneath you. You nodded a greeting and smiled softly to the techs hurrying towards your ship, asking if you needed fuel or repairs. 

A familiar astromech droid's beeping pulled your attention to your shin. 

You smiled broadly at the little orange and white ball droid, squealing as you bent down to rub his sides. "BB-8!" You exclaimed. "Oh, I missed you buddy!" 

The droid moved back and forth excitedly and beeped rapidly, firing off a story just too important not to tell you. 

You nodded, fully unaware of what he was saying, but happy to see him so happy nonetheless. The droid finished his spewing and began to whir back to the compound, towards the one person you did not want to see, you assumed. 

"BB-8!" You called, not wanting to hurt the little droid's feelings by abandoning him. "I'm going to find Leia."

The droid's visual receptor widened and then narrowed. His system was processing why you didn’t choose the most logical thing to do after being away from Poe for so many months. 

You smiled gently at the droid and headed towards the bustling Base entrance. Resistance members hurried past you, chatting to each other, pointing harshly with eyebrows furrowed, and others laughing heartily. 

The path through the D'Qar Base was easy and memorized, your boots clacking on the metallic floor below steadily. You shouldered your rucksack closer to you and squeezed through the frantic hallway. Nerves wrapped their hands around your stomach, flipping it over and over again. Your eyes scanned the hordes of people, unconsciously searching for the face of the Resistance's most valuable pilot. You made your way into the war room where you spotted Leia's heather gray hair hovering over a holodisplay table. Close by though, a familiar black mop of unruly curls moved from one side of the room to the other. His voice carried through the din and his finger pointed to something on the holodisplay. 

Suddenly, your legs were planted where you stood. You could feel them tremble and your breathing hitch on it's way out. Half of you screamed, 'Run! Run!' and the other half felt as if it would never move again.

'Well, I can't very well run away now, people have seen me.'

Taking several short breaths in, you moved your gaze from Poe to Leia. Setting your shoulders back and sticking your chin out defiantly, you moved through the clusters of Resistance intel officers to General Organa. 

She and Poe both had their backs to you, Poe still explaining his thoughts.

"General Organa." You said, your chest out proudly.

Leia turned to face you and her features softened.

At the sound of your voice, Poe whipped around from the star chart in front of him and his mouth gaped slightly. 

You could feel how hot his gaze burned on your face, but you dared not to meet his eyes and satisfy him. 

Leia greeted you and ran her hands up your forearms. "I'm so glad you're back safely. The intel you brought us was invaluable."

You smiled at her as your thoughts began to pound against your skull, 'Look at him, look at him, look at him.' 

"Thank you, Leia." You answered. 

"Poe," Leia began and turned to your ex-boyfriend.

Anxiety rose up in your chest and your eyes moved back and forth between the two of them frantically.

"Will you make sure your friend here makes it to her quarters alright? I can finish up here without you." She looked between the two of you with a knowing look on her face.

"Oh, General, that's not-" You began.

Leia held up a jewel-clad hand. "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about." 

Your eyes finally met Poe's and you could almost feel yourself tripping into them again.

Poe's face was set, his curiosity now turned to steeliness. He pulled his eyes from yours and looked down at his boots. His hands rested on his hips underneath his flightsuit, and the tension in his shoulders seemed to snap it's fangs at you. He looked up at you again, his chest beating shallowly, and then turned to walk down the corridor you had entered through. His frustration trailed after him, bouncing and wailing like a child pouting. 

You clutched the strap of your bag and kept your head down, your eyes following the up and down of Poe's scuffed boots through the hallway. 

He turned and lead you down a darkened corridor, and as well as you could remember, it was no longer used because of the unsafe door panel wiring.

Your eyebrows scrunched and you could feel a shudder in your chest as you realized why he had brought you this way. The best pilot in the Resistance wanted closure. 

Poe's lean body turned around to face you. His bottom lip tucked into his mouth and his eyes scanned the hallway behind you, his senses heightened by the surprise of seeing you. 

"Look," He began, his arms crossed over his chest. His voice was just as you remembered it. Just as you had heard it so many times before. 

A burning desire to hear your name in his mouth again, to hear him shape you with his tongue, rose in your chest. 

"We gotta talk about what happened. If you're gonna be here, I need to know how to be around you." His dark eyes had an unrelenting hold on yours. In the dim light of the hallway, shadows played across his face, painting him in darkness almost overwhelming. 

"I don't know what you want me to say." You choked out. A muscle behind your eye twitched. 

"Do you want me to not talk to you and avoid you in the halls or what? What do you want?" Poe's voice was laced with frustration. You could sense a deep melancholy in him and the anger guarding it carefully.

"No, Poe, I-" You sighed and tucked your shaking hands into your back pockets. "You don't have to do that." 

"Then, what?" He spat. His arms flung outwards to emphasize the end of his question. He was trying to keep his voice quiet but his passion kept pushing him upwards. 

"Why don't you tell me what you want." You said, his frustration frustrating you.

Poe chuckled indignantly. "What I want? What do I want?" He took a step back and turned from you. "Do you even remember what we were like?" 

You gritted your teeth as you blinked hot tears away from your eyes. Of course, you remembered. The secret dates off-planet, the way he would run to wherever you were to give you a goodbye kiss before leaving on mission, no matter how quickly he needed to take off. How could you forget?

"I remember everything." You whispered. 

Poe's face scanned over yours, searching for what you meant to say. His jaw set and his chest heaved shallowly. His head tilted to the side, looking at you. The skin around his eyes softened. 

"Then...what happened?" He asked tenderly. 

"I ...I loved you every day we were together." You admitted. The words nestled for so many months in your heart now taking off and flying on their own.

"It was real for me, whatever we were. But..." You shook your head, your eyes keeping Poe's hostage. "I don't think it was for you." 

Poe reached a shaking hand out to touch your face. His skin kissed your cheek and your eyes shut involuntarily, a relief you didn't know you needed. "I never could read your mind, could I?" He chuckled lightly. 

One side of your face turned upwards and your throat burned at the tears yanking at your eyes. 

His thumb wandered to graze down your chin and then to rest around your jaw. "I missed you every day we were apart. I pretended like I didn't but...you never gave me a warning sign. I never understood what happened." His eyes fell to your lips and his body seemed to freeze in place there. 

You shook your head and pulled yourself out of his ensnaring grasp. "Poe, I gave you every sign that I could. I told you every day, a million little times, that I was going to leave. You just didn't want to hear me."

The pilot sighed heavily and his eyes watered. "Can we just...try again? Do you," He sighed again and looked back up to your eyes. "Do you still feel the same way about me?"

You pulled your top lip into your mouth and drug it across your teeth, the pain a welcome release of the mounting pressure inside you. "We've both seen this Holofilm before, and neither of us liked the ending. It's time to let go." The harshness of your own words ripped your throat to shreds, but you kept your lips firmly shut. 

"And what if I can't let go?" Poe asked, his tone clipping at the end of his unspoken deceleration. His body moved closer to yours and his wide palm reached to hold the small of your back.

Looking up into Poe’s hazel eyes and feeling his muscles tensing around your body again sent a wave of light-headedness through your mind.

"I think I can find my quarters on my own, Commander. Thank you for your help." Your voice broke as you pushed yourself out of Poe's grasp and headed towards the women's sleeping quarters. You kept your eyes trained on the ground below as you tainted it with hot tears, plopping and splashing against the cool metal of the Resistance base floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~

What did you think? I really hope you enjoyed reading my work. Just your liking / re-blogging it means a lot. If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts! Tell me what you think via my ask box or a comment always warms my heart!! Thank you again for reading!

Need more reading material? You can visit my Masterlist for more Poe Dameron content, as well as my other works.

Want to be kept in the loop? Let me know so I can put your handle in my taglist form. Right now, I’m writing for Poe Dameron, Din Djarin, and Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia, but I have plans to expand my SW character list, and eventually add in my favorites from the MCU as well.

Thanks again for reading! Sending love! -hai

[chocobroness]

Boom, CMC one-shot. (Also warnings: minors drinking a bit of alcohol)

—

There was a loud BOOM!

It shook the ground some. Ignis didn’t spare a second as he proceeded to drop flat into the ground. Narrowly avoiding the flying glass shards of the windows in front of him.

An attack was surely possible. But after 3 years of this routine, it became habit to differentiate between what was an attack and what was someone’s antics. So reacting, assessing and responding to it in a matter of seconds became as natural as breathing.

Didn’t mean he enjoyed it.

After waiting for the floor to stop shaking, he stood and brushed the dirt off his clothes. Nodding to the others passing by, he made his way to the garage.

“What have I told you about detonating bombs within the citadel?” Was the first thing out of his mouth as he entered the room.

As those words were spoken. He stepped to the side. Dodging the baseball that was thrown at his face. He saw the look of glee and amused surprise on the room’s occupant’s face before they exploded into a puff of smoke.

Ignis simply watching as they collected themselves from the ensuing coughing fit.

“Crap, I wanted to have some more fun." Ignis made a soft noise.

“You two seem to have become a lot more ‘affectionate since you found out I won’t allow you to hit me, hm?"

Brushing off the dirt on her sweater, Silas gave a toothy grin. "It's just our way of showing love."

Ignis shook his head. “Noctis has asked everyone to his room for dinner.”

Silas raised an eyebrow. “Already? Time flies by.”

Ignis chuckled at that, Silas joint in with laughter of her own when a box to her left fell over. A small body tumbled out with a surprised cry giving way to glee.

"I wanna go again!”

“Can’t Valentina, boss is calling.”

“Aw Bull.”

Rolling his eyes, Ignis watched as the young girls flew backwards as a resounding boom was made from the mixed bomb powder. slamming into the ground a few feet from him.

Valentia picked herself up and gave her head a shake. Silas joined her with a rolled her eyes.

"Let’s go. Not like this place will be clean anytime soon.” Valentina snorted, crossing her arms.

“Bet he’s sleeping while you’re here.” The answering sigh was enough to bring out giggles from the girls.

“Don’t worry Iggy, if he’s sleeping, I know what will wake him up.”

C/C/C/C

“BOSS! GET UP!"

With a voice of a million sirens suddenly cutting through the evening air, Noctis wasn’t the only one holding his hands to his ears in a futile attempt to blot out the noise. When it slowly cut off, everyone turned their head to the cause of the siren call.

“Silas, why did you have Amata be so loud?” Noctis yawned as Silas shrugged in response. Rubbing his eyes. He looked at everyone in the room.

"What time did I fall asleep last night?"

“You’ve only been asleep for 30 minutes.” Ava replied lazily, busy with the stuff bear one of the younger kids asked her to fix.

Noct let out a whine and curled back up into a ball. “Ugh, so little sleep.” Valentina decided to then throw a small pebble at him in response. Gladiolus, who had just entered the room, proceeded to chew her out.

Which then resulted in a screaming matching between the two.

Amata shook her head in defeat as Silas laughed besides her and cheered on Valentina.

Gaius made himself known as he walked up to Ignis.

“He sleeps too much.” Was the first thing he mumbled.

The second was, “Too loud.”

Followed by, “What’s for dinner?”

Noctis managed to answer his question when he gained everyone’s attention and called for the food to be brought in.

After a moment to bring everyone down from the sudden spike of adrenaline. Things started to go more smoothly.

C/C/C/C

"-and then that poor child got involved and I'm not sure how she got a hold of my bonesaw but that's when things went down the waste bin.

Ignis watched as the soul of Ms. Castro slowly dissociated from her mortal shell as Amata spoke. she was smiling vapidly, though it was obvious her mind was feverishly trying to ignore the graphic details of some of Ms. Eshmun’s more...’stubborn’ patients.

All he knew of the story she was talking about was that she had woken up to the sound of screaming, a chainsaw hitting something and the smell of blood. Then, both Gladiolus and Gaius had come crashing through her wall after setting off one of Ms. Drusus’ bombs. Her struggling patient in their arms and then her memory just sort of cut off from there.

Now they were all in Noct’s room after finally putting her patient back into her room.

Gladiolus’ face was a bruised mess while Gaius was scorched all over his body, but she had made sure it was all just superficial before they arrived so no one was concerned. Ignis knew Noctis was glad the three were bonding and there was no need to delve further than his happiness.

Kaiser had left to the kitchens before the nonsense had begun. the shenanigans having forced him to abandon the others lest he be caught up in them.

They didn’t blame him seeing as they would have done the same given the chance.

So would he for that matter.

Instead, Ignis focused more on Noctis. Watching as he and Prompto gushed over the bundles of joy in their laps. Umbra and Pryna were barking and yipping softly. pressing into their stomachs, trying to get as much pets and scratches as they could.

Noctis squealed and squished the growing pup into his chest.

"You’re so cute Umbra!!” Prompto looked over at Noctis with a frown.

"Hey, Tiny is cute too!” Noctis looked back and nodded seriously.

"Yes, yes she is," Noctis concurred, watching as Pryna let out a pleased yip as she was happily engulfed in Prompto’s arms.

“Hey guys. I got a question.” Everyone turned to Silas, who had snapped out of her daze.

She nodded towards Noctis. “We already know what you did.” She looked back at the others. “did everyone else have something to do with their folks during the holidays?”

The room was so silent, Ignis would have almost thought that the noise a moment ago was his imagination.

It was not a topic that was taboo per say.

But mostly it was hard to talk about one’s family when one missed them.

Silas was, however, a very curious girl so she decided to help the conversation along but throwing in her piece.

“I mean, my mom and dad would go to this guy in little Galahd and he would make these sleds that always lasted for a few days and they would put them through the ringer.” She moved her hands around, trying to describe what it was like. “Like, they would do so many stunts with them and record it all. They would then gather friends and watch it together.”

She looked around at the group.

“Have you guys done anything like that?”

"Hmm...Sorta," They looked to Ava, who shrugged. She took a bite from her plate and continued with her stitch work.

“We cut our own tree and tied Ribbons to it to hope for a healthy year.” She sipped her mug of coffee and grimaced. "Valentina, did you spike the grounds again?" That set everyone to inspect their cups.

“Damnit Drusus!”

“It wasn’t me!”

“Might I remind you that we are still underage. Adults gone or not.”

“Bad Valentina!”

“IT WASN’T ME.”

“Cute defense, still guilty.” Gladio and Kaiser had to hold Valentina back before she launched over the table and tackled a grinning Noctis.

“And why are you still drinking the coffee Ms. Varius?”

Ava didn’t even blinked as she responded. “Because I’m not gonna waste coffee just because there’s a little bit of alcohol. I drank wine with my family on many occasions so this isn’t new.”

She looked at him directly. “Problem?"

Ignis felt like he should have one but he looked into his mug and dipped a finger. He then licked it and looked upwards thoughtfully.

Gladiolus took a swig himself and shrugged. "Got a bit of a kick to it."

"Nice buzz," Gaius echoed.

"What did I say about drinking these things while we’re so young?” Amata berated them. She couldn't blame the group though. And didn’t continue to push it when they shrugged back at her.

After doing so many things that pushed their heads to the very brink. It wasn’t often they touched the adult drinks but sometimes they grabbed a glass of it because something so uncommon shocked them back to their senses. It was stupid and dangerous but they all trusted Valentina to be careful.

trust was all they had most days.

“Back to my question folks!” Silas gained back their attention with a clap of her hands. She then proceeded to point at Kaiser.

“What did you do with your folks?” Kaiser actually took the time to think about it.

“Well, dad was less busy during the holidays so he would make this wonderful smelling but dreadful tasting fruit cake. We would then throw it in the fire place and let the house fill with the wonderful scent while we bought pizza and watched musicals together.” Kaiser smiled softly as he remembered.

“Ooh, that sounds fun.” Valentina jumped in. “But my family was awesome! Dad would get me and my siblings and he would get a bunch of fireworks, and go to the junkyard and set them off while mom cooked this yummy stew!”

“Gaius?�� Amata looked at her friend curiously.

Gaius blinked and shrugged helplessly.

“Read old folklore together...Wove new traditions from the old ones...Made spice cider...and burned papers with written wishes.”

“Wow....that was the longest thing I ever heard you say.”

“Valentina!”

“It’s true!”

“What about you Eshmun?” Amata pointed at herself at the sudden attention.

“O-oh, well we just stayed home and watched movies.”

“Sounds normal.” Silas stated, Amata shrugging with a blush.

“Prompto?” He just shrugged and continued to pet Pryna. Noctis laid his head on Prompto’s shoulders in a form a comfort. it seemed to help as a smile emerged on the blonde’s face.

“ I spent the day with my uncle, nothing more.” Ignis said, focusing on his meal.

Gladio rubbed his chin. “Don’t really remember much traditions for that but we just watched random movies on tv and that was it.”

The meal was continued in silence but it was a thoughtful one rather than an awkward one.

Noctis broke that silence near the end of the meal.

“We can make our own tradition...”

“King you gotta make more sense then that.” Ava said with a raised eyebrow.

“What I mean is, why don’t we make new traditions for everyone?” He kept himself focused on Umbra’s fur.

“We’ve been hard at work for so long and things are started to even out a bit...” he shrugged.

“I thought maybe we can do something special now and then to keep the kids spirits up when times are tough.”

This, is what made Ignis so honored to follow Noctis. How, despite his obvious discomfort when pushing his boundaries, he always wants to help everyone under his care. To put their joys before his own. To save their health and happiness before his own life.

So wonderous yet self-destructive. Ignis had so much work to do to keep him safe when he let his guard down.

And a quick look at Gladiolus proved he wasn’t the only who thought so.

“What should we do?” Kaiser asked curiously, playing with his hair.

“Fireworks!” Valentina automatically suggested. And was as quickly turned down as usual.

“We can come up with traditional foods?” Amata suggested. “Just pay attention to any allergies!”

“We can find some movies at the store?”

“Yeah!”

“I still say we light something up.”

“Shut up Drusus.”

“Make me Amicitia.”

Ignis smiled as the meal came to a chaotic close.

He already enjoyed the traditions he had made for himself after this new life began.

Watching this group of children become better leaders was always a sight to see.

But watching as they regain their fading childhood joy at such simple things always made the difficulties of the coming year worth the struggle.

Ignis rested his head in his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. Allowing himself to engage in his favorite tradition during this time of year.

And he let the joyful voices lull him into a brief but comforting rest.

—

Merry Christmas folks! (And please reblog)

[fatefulfaerie]

Cursed

Happy Halloween everyone!! Here’s my contribution to the one of the best days of the year, a little oneshot. Well, littlish.

Link ran along the forest meadow with panting, heavy breaths.

He was late, terribly late, the rest of the Kokiri nowhere to be found as he leapt stone to stone across the small river.

Saria had even warned him the night before not to sleep in too late, Link assuring her that his excitement would wake him up bright and early.

But she was right, as always, Link securing his floppy green cap to his head at the thought.

A bright clearing was soon before him, the reflection of fireflies and forest fairies alike sparkling in his youthful, blue eyes as his pacing slowed.

It was the annual festival, where the Kokiri gathered to celebrate another year of joy and prosperity in their peaceful forest, another year of the Great Deku Tree’s protection. And the end of the festival, of course, was when Kokiris would receive their guardian fairies, the Great Deku Tree’s gift to his children.

Last year was the first year that Link was old enough to participate, yet a sickness made him bedridden, much to the delight of Mido.

So now, as he looked at the scene, he was captivated by it all, the ethereal lights of the forest, the upturned smiles on everyone’s faces as they gathered to sit on various cut logs in front of the Deku Tree.

Link couldn’t help but smile, too.

He had made it. He would finally get his own fairy.

Well, at least he thought he would.

“Well, look who decided to show up,” he heard Mido say, Links’ attention pulled to his snide smirk.

“Don’t pay attention to him,” Saria said.

Link hadn’t even noticed that Saria had approached him, but smiled even bigger when he saw his friend beside him.

“Come on,” she said as she took his hand, leading him to the group, “you’ve only missed the opening ceremony, next is story-time.”

Saria stopped at the front row of logs, letting go of Links’ hand to cross her arms and glare at Mido.

There seemed to be staring contest between them, Link looking back and forth between Saria and Mido before Mido rolled his eyes with a perturbed,

“Fine,” hopping to the empty seat next to him.

Saria motioned to where Mido was for Link to sit there instead, Saria sitting next to him as he did.

Link was more than happy to sit next to Saria, but of course he got sat next to Mido.

At least, he had to remind himself, he wasn’t sick in bed. That was probably worse.

Probably.

“You know,” Mido started teasingly, “it’s usually a scary story. I didn’t think you’d have the guts to show up, Link.”

Link looked to Saria expectantly, as if for clarification.

“The Deku Tree usually tells us a story from old legends and myths, folklore, really,” Saria said, before stealing a glare at Mido, “sometimes they are scary.”

Saria changed her focus to Link once more to add,

“But even then, Link, I think that you are the most courageous person I know.”

Link smiled at her, Mido inhaling to dispute that fact when the Great Deku Tree cleared his throat loudly.

Small ramblings and whisperings of the Kokiri were silenced completely, all of them focused intently on the Great Deku Tree, anticipating the deep tones to come.

“Once upon a time,” he started, “in a far, far away land from this, there echoed dark tales of an ancient relic. Wicked, obscene, and villainous, its’ origin remaining harrowingly unknown even to this age, it was said to be the greatest culmination of evil power to ever exist. Just one touch wouldst seep away the life from its’ holder, bringing death and destruction to all around them until inevitably, the same fate befell upon them. This relic was known as Majora’s Mask.”

Link didn’t know what was happening to him as his hands balled to fists, something washing over him he’d never felt.

Panic?

The story had barely started, he couldn’t be scared now, he wasn’t.

There was no danger in this peaceful clearing, there couldn’t be. And, according to the Great Deku Tree, there never had been.

Ever, he had said, with a finality to it that told Link that he dare not question him.

So he never did.

The Great Deku Tree obviously didn’t notice Links’ minute reaction of fear, continuing with his story nonetheless,

“The mask, somehow, was imbued with a great and terrible power of temptation, drawing in its’ victims further and further into its’ spell until it became them, their darkest desires, their very manifestation of impulsion. For, thou must see, the reason why it was thus known as the greatest culmination of evil power was because of its’ uncanny ability to bring out the evil from within. Majora’s Mask hadst the unholy power to turn someone completely inside-out. In a figurative sense, of course, but inside-out nonetheless. And believe me, the literal would have been far more preferable. It killed without restraint, did unthinkable things in monstrous ways. At the hands of its’ wearer it accomplished its’ malfeasance. It is said that even celestial bodies themselves could not withstand the immense power it manifested. There was no parallel to the raw evil it was capable of. Like a child learning to grow, the evil within us is curious and Majora’s Mask was an aid to give it the penultimate chance to stretch its’ legs, cry out, and be heard louder than ever before. It is the unrestrained exploration of the darkest corners of our minds, our souls, our hearts. It dost not only cause danger and destruction. It is danger and destruction.”

Link was breathing heavily now. If he wasn’t panicked before, he surely was now, bringing his head down into his hands before his fingers clutched hopelessly around his blonde hair, the fabric of his hat.

“A mask dost many things,” continued the Deku Tree, “but primarily it serves an opportunity to conceal oneself from the world around them, to put on a different face, one that can be completely opposite from the one underneath. Majora’s Mask was said to do the same, only the face that is shown is one of purely malicious intent, from deep within the wearer. Burning eyes of rage, protruding spikes that portend the causation of pain, and small unseeable holes in its’ center. To keep the wearer alive, breathing, screaming, yelling in anguish. It fed on that anguish. The mask was alive, and yet somehow, preyed on the hidden immorality within all of us. There is a mask to be afeared within the tale, but really the one we must fear, the most of all, is ourselves. There is an evil in wait within all of our souls, lurking. And this world wouldst remain as peaceful as this forest if Majora’s Mask was the only thing able to release it.”

The deep voice stopped, Link barely hearing the murmurs of Kokiri as they got up from their chairs.

“I think that’s the scariest one yet,” Mido said casually, a resounding echo once it reached Links’ ears.

“Link? Are you okay?” was the next thing he heard, sitting back up and finding Saria’s supportive blue eyes when he felt her touch on his shoulder.

Her expression melted when she saw the panic in his eyes, Mido standing up and muttering the words,

“Big baby.”

“Link…” Saria said, keeping her eyes locked in his, making sure to make her voice as calm as possible, “it’s just a story…it’s not real.”

“But I saw it, Saria,” insisted Link.

“You saw what?” she asked innocently.

“The mask,” Link implored.

Saria sighed and smiled.

“You and your wide imagination,” she said.

“But Saria,” he tried desperately, “I…”

He wasn’t sure exactly how to phrase it, wanting so much to make her understand his panic before suddenly, as if waking up from a nightmare, he realized how silly it was.

It was only a story after all.

“Never mind, you’re right,” he said with a sigh of relief, “I’m not sure what came over me.”

It was a rather big weight lifted off his shoulders to know that he was worried fixedly on nothing.

But oh, it was so much easier, to merely believe it a story.

He forgot it quickly, haunted by many other things as the years went by, saving the land outside Kokiri from the infamous Gerudo thief.

But that story never left him, manifesting itself quickly when he started to truly fall apart.

[awkwardplantwrites]

Finding Magic Chapter Four

Posting early this week! 

Chapter 4: 2090 words / Reading time: 10 minutes

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action

Find the chapter on wattpad (Bippick is my wattpad username)

New to the story? Missed some updates? Find all the chapters here on tumblr

(Artwork by @pe-ersona ~ Reblogs and comments are appreciated :D )

When Renato woke up the next morning, Pepi wasn't sitting by the door. Renato drew the curtains open and looked out the window. People pitched coloured tents in the town center, they hung triangles on strings between buildings, and children (or small people?) dressed in costumes of creatures he recognized from his folklore books. Someone knocked at the door.

"Come in," Renato said, rubbing his eyes.

Helaine walked in holding a hot drink that steamed. "Brought you a hangover cure. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, surprisingly. I don't even have a headache."

Helaine rolled her eyes and tutted. "To be young... Okay, in that case, this is a thank you for finding Rizze."

"Thank you. Or you're welcome? I would've brought him back even if you didn't serve me beverages." He took the drink from her and blew over the top, the liquid rippled. "You're ten years older than me, aren't you? Thirty-three is still young."

"A lot can change in ten years," she mused and sat on the bed. "For example, I travelled here from Bhārat as a merchant, selling my family's spices. Fell in love with a beautiful girl. Found myself at home in this town. Had an argument with my family that spanned hundreds of letters when I told them I wouldn't return. Opened a spice shop. Closed it. Re-opened and began selling flowers. Met a duo with outrageous ideas who pulled them off without a hitch. Earned a headache after a night of celebration..." Helaine grimaced and took a sip from her cup.

"What a wonderful way to spend ten years. Though last night was hardly without a hitch, we nearly got caught. Rizze kept scratching me on the way back too," Renato trailed off. "I think there's something going on with Pepi. He was cheerful last night, but it felt forced. Normally he waits until I wake up to wander off, but..." He gestured to the empty chair. "I'm not sure if I should ask him about it. Pepi's good at talking without saying much of anything at all."

"Kater is similar, I know how you feel."

"Don't you find it frustrating? How can you get along with someone who's like that? I feel like he's lying to me by not telling me the whole truth."

Taking another sip, Helaine was quiet as she thought. "It can be tiresome, having a relationship with someone who avoids issues when you'd rather confront them, get it over with. Kater gets so concerned about hurting my feelings."

Helaine pushed up her glasses. "Sometimes she avoids problems because she's indecisive, and would rather figure it out herself before giving me an answer. It's about trust. Sharing secrets means there's a chance the other person will learn the truth and never speak to them again. Or they'll think differently of that person for the rest of time. It's a vulnerable place to be. And it's not an unfounded fear, as no-one can predict the future."

"Try telling that to Pepi. He visited a diviner the other day."

"Kater tries to read her palms. She's convinced she'll die young because her'health line is shorter than average,'" Helaine chuckled. "You're a nice boy, I reckon Pepi trusts you but isn't ready to take down his emotional barriers. It's like a shield for him. He respects you too much and doesn't want to bother you."

Renato frowned. "Too much?"

"He's your squire, right?" Renato nodded. "That's not quite equal to a knight, is it? Especially not one chosen by a god." She scrunched her nose. "What does that mean exactly? How are you different from regular magic users?"

"Me spells are more powerful, and I'm able to use more magic than the average person. I can speak to Lidion if I stare long enough at some water. It's not all that special. Gives me a lot more work to do though."

"You're doing a great job. No-one would think you're ill," she remarked.

Renato blinked in surprise. "Apart from you, somehow."

"I like to pick up on the little things. They matter the most." Helaine smiled.

Nodding, Renato turned to look out the window again. "What's happening outside?"

Helaine peered out the window. "It's Spirt's Eve already? Oh, Kater will be in a hurry to set up decorations today. She's always leaving these things to the last minute."

"What's Spirit's Eve?"

Searching Renato's eyes, Helaine scrunched her nose. "It's a holiday, where we celebrate the lives of people who lived, and walk amongst beings and creatures from folklore."

"It looks exciting. We don't have holidays in Llantry."

"You celebrate nothing? You don't even have one day to share a feast? Or a day of rest?"

As Renato shrugged and shook his head, Kater's voice resounded through the Inn while she yelled.

"I'm telling you, I've met no one of the sort! Get out of my establishment!"

Pepi appeared at the door, poking his head through the crack. "I may have, uh, tipped off the folk at the manor about our location last night by accident. We should go."

Kater screamed downstairs. A glass smashed.

"Preferably now," Pepi added

Helaine rushed out the room. Renato threw his blanket to the side of the bed. He got dressed, brushing Pepi off when he tried to help, and told him to find a way out instead. Pepi left with Finlay trailing behind him, pulsing black and red light.

Renato stuffed his night clothes into his bag, taking out his pocket mirror for a moment to fix his hair. Pepi opened the door again.

"There's a patch of straw outside the hallway window," Pepi told Renato. "We have to jump, there's no other way out."

Wanting to protest, Renato opened his mouth, but closed it again when he realized he didn't have time to argue. The sound of shouting spurred him on. He clutched his bag to his chest and followed Pepi to the window. When it was his turn to jump, he sent a short prayer to Lidion, hoped he wouldn't break anything a healer couldn't fix, and leapt onto the straw. He landed with a roll and limped to the wagon, peeking at the front entrance of the Inn where Kater kept the Wakefield knights occupied. A man wearing an apron turned at the sound of their horse neighing, which Pepi tried to calm down, and he pointed in their direction.

"That's them! Hurry, before they get away!"

Renato tumbled into the back of the wagon, Pepi climbed into the jockey box and tugged at the reins.

"Bye Kater, Helaine! Nice meeting you for the first time, again!" Pepi yelled. "We'll come back someday. Save me some ale!"

Renato also called out a goodbye, waving from the rear of the wagon, then ducked down when the Wakefield knights started bombing them with spells. The wagon swerved, Pepi tried to dodge the spells and the tents on the street.

"Sorry!" Pepi shouted. "That pumpkin looked swell, carve another masterpiece, kid!"

Renato watched as the knights found a wagon of their own. "Pepi, they'll catch up soon, what do we do?"

"I don't know! You're the hero, figure something out, I'm driving!"

Searching for any tools, Renato noticed children hitting colourful horses with wooden sticks, which exploded with treats after being beaten. He grabbed the next one he found, snatching it off the string as children wailed. Ripping the horse apart, it revealed rock-solid cinnamon buns. Renato threw them at the knights chasing them.

"Are these supposed to be edible?" he cried.

They turned a sharp corner, and Renato lost his grip on the shredded treat filled horse, while Pepi struggled to steady the real horse. Renato watched the corner they'd passed, and a smile formed on his lips. They'd lost their chasers!

That smile vanished when the knights also turned the corner, using magic to propel their wagon to go faster.

"Stopcheating!" Renato made a face at the other wagon.

"Wha- are you a child?!" A knight he recognized from the previous night, who'd invited him to play Bone Crowns, shouted at him. "Stop your vehicle this instant!"

"I thought we were buddies!" Renato narrowly avoided being struck by another spell. "You said I was more fun than regular Larry, and I am! But I won't be if you try to kill me!"

"This isn't a game, you dunce!"

"It is so, now let me win!" Renato grabbed a flower basket, apologized to Helaine in his head, and threw it at the wagon. It hit a knight in the face. "Fifty points to me."

For a second they faltered, but they grew faster, eventually overtaking them. The knights banged the wagon into the side of theirs, tearing at the cover with daggers. Renato yelped and tried to stay on the safe side. Then Pepi cried out, and Renato saw they caught him in a magic rope that tied itself around his wrist. Their cart veered out of control. Renato raced over to the jockey box, yanking at the rope, which flew from the apron man's grasp. Unfortunately, that end of the rope tied itself around Renato's wrist, tying the two of them together. He scrambled for the reins with one hand and screamed with every ounce of energy in his body.

"LIDION, I NEED YOU! PLEASE!"

With a great gust of wind, Lidion answered his prayer; the wind slowed the other wagon down to a halt; the wheels snapped in half, rendering the knights immobile. For the first time in months, Renato laughed. It became hysterical, and he clutched his stomach when he saw the knights still trying to shoot spells at them as they rode away.

Then a ticking grenade landed inside the wagon and it wasn't funny anymore.

"Jump, Pepi!"

"I have to unharness the horse!"

"No time!" Renato pushed Pepi to the road.

The horse screeched in fear, racing on ahead with no-one to guide it. Lying on the road, Pepi and Renato shielded their eyes as the wagon exploded. A sharp, loud buzzing filled their ears. Pepi looked like he was shouting, but Renato couldn't hear his words. Looking back, he noticed the knights followed them on foot. He pulled Pepi up with the hand tied to him and ran past the wagon.

Pepi tried to go back for the horse but Renato had a firm grip on his hand and heaved the other man away from the scene. Glancing back at the knights, he saw they'd stopped running, standing at the outskirts of town where a sign stood, thanking them for visiting. He blew a raspberry at Wakefield and continued dragging Pepi as fast and far as they could go.

As Renato's hearing returned to normal, he noticed both their panting and slowed to a halt, shoving off his bag, collapsing alongside Pepi onto the grass. How far had they ran from Wakefield? He didn't know. It didn't matter as long as they were safe. He couldn't gather the strength to see where they lay. All he knew was: it was raining, the surrounding trees stood taller than any he'd ever seen, and Pepi's hand was warm in his.

"Pepi," he gasped. "Why didn't we take a boat?"

"... Shit. Wait, no, I can justify this! Uh... Do you know anyone who has a boat?" Finlay darted around Pepi, flashing a purple light.

"Well, no," Renato replied.

"Neither do I."

"We could have asked someone who has a boat though," Renato noted. "I don't think your reasoning covers up this plot hole or my wounded pride enough."

"In that case," Pepi breathed. "They enchanted the water around Adhur. See, Adhur's a low floating island. One too many ships bumped into it. So they cast a spell that meant no-one can sail near Adhur," Pepi explained. "Sailors get confused and go around it. The island has griffins that pick up people from the mainland."

Renato sighed. "Could've got a boat somewhere close to Adhur though."

"I get seasick?" Finlay began to turn orange. "Finlay stop giving me away, you're supposed to catch other people's lies not mine," Pepi whispered.

"Okay, and I'm afraid of large bodies of water. So that's why we couldn't sail. That makes a logical argument. I can sleep soundly knowing the plot makes sense."

"We could be sailors in another universe, another story." Pepi squeezed his hand.

Renato laced their fingers. "In another universe I'd be Rizze, sleeping all day in a sunny spot of The Ugly Snail."

Renato and Pepi wheezed with weak laughter, resting where they lay.

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