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tagedeszorns · 2 years

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Pretty Word Bearers: Burias Drak'shal, the Icon Bearer of Dark Apostle Jarulek's host.

For @relax-and-read-on some nice quotes from the Word Bearer's Omnibus by Anthony Reynolds. The relationship of Marduk and Burias is so precious. So repressed yet so beautiful. Keep in mind - it's always from one or the other's view (tinted red from Marduk's POV, blue for Burias and default text colour for auctorial narration) and as such it's really telling, how often affectionate speech is used, how playful some interactions are.

(waaaaay too much text incoming, but I already left so much out)

The next in line was Burias, the warrior’s vicious, handsome face framed by his slick, black hair. He dropped to his knees before Marduk, an aspect of the ceremony that Kol Badar had been unable or unwilling to perform in his bulky Terminator armour.

-------

‘Is it time already, Burias?’ asked the powerful voice of Marduk, the First Acolyte, from behind the curtain. ‘It is, First Acolyte,’ Burias replied. He could just make out the shadowy form of his master behind the beaded curtain, a large, dark silhouette kneeling within the slightly raised small room beyond. ‘A shame. I was experiencing some most lucid dream visions. Most enlightening,’ said the voice. ‘Come closer, Burias.’

-------

‘Sometimes I think you should lead the sermons, such a golden tongue you have,’ said Marduk. The shadow of the holy warrior rose to its feet and rolled its shoulders, loosening muscles that had been immobile for long hours of prayer and meditation. He angled his neck from side to side, producing cracking sounds, and turned around. With an imperious sweep of a gauntleted hand, the First Acolyte brushed the beaded skull curtain aside and stepped down into the room. Burias instantly lowered his gaze respectfully. Coiling smoke followed in Marduk’s wake, and Burias could taste the dry, acrid incense in the back of his throat.

-------

Eyes downcast, he saw that the Imaginos had fled. He could feel the closeness of the First Acolyte: the charged air, the electric taste of the gods that hung upon him. Truly, he was chosen of the gods, and Burias relished the sensation. ‘You can look up now, Burias, your reverential obeisance has been witnessed,’ said Marduk, a sarcastic tone tingeing his words. Burias raised his gaze to meet his master’s flinty, cold eyes. ‘Have I angered you, First Acolyte?’ Marduk laughed, a harsh, barking sound. ‘Anger me? But you are always so careful with your displays of respect. How could you have possibly angered me, Burias?’ Marduk held Burias’s gaze, dark humour in his eyes. ‘No, you have not angered me, my friend,’ he said, turning away. ‘My mind is… occupied. The dream visions are coming to me more frequently since leaving the Maelstrom, the closer we draw to the planet of the great enemy.’ ‘Your power grows, First Acolyte,’ said Burias, looking at Marduk’s strong profile, his skin so pale it was translucent. ‘And yours with it, my champion,’ Marduk growled. Burias grinned ferally. ‘That it does.’

-------

‘And how is Drak’shal today?’ asked Marduk, looking deep into Burias’s lupine eyes. ‘Quiet. But I can feel he is… hungry.’ Marduk laughed. ‘Drak’shal is always hungry. It is his nature. But I am glad he is not strong today; today is no time for him to come to the fore. Keep him in check. His time will come soon enough.’ ‘I look forward to it. He so likes to kill.’ ‘Yes, he does, and he does it very well. But come now, we must not keep the Dark Apostle waiting.’ The pair left the sanctum, Burias leading the First Acolyte in silence, the icon held out before him, reverentially clasped in both hands.

-------

Marduk smiled, exposing his sharp teeth as the Deathclaw drop-pod hurtled down through the atmosphere of Tanakreg. The First Acolyte felt savage joy as the g-forces pulled at him. Burias grinned back at him like some feral beast from across the other side of the plummeting attack transport.

-------

‘Burias-Drak’shal,’ said Marduk quietly, and the daemon warrior looked up, snarling. His entire body trembling, Burias-Drak’shal stepped back and dropped into a half-crouch, staring hungrily at the humans.

-------

‘We cannot leave this place without the Dark Apostle,’ Kol Badar said, at last. ‘He is dead!’ snarled Marduk. ‘Then we must bear his holy body back to Sicarus,’ roared Kol Badar, his grip around Marduk’s neck tightening. Burias-Drak’shal hissed and grasped Kol Badar’s arm, his claws digging deep, cutting into the thick armour. Their strength was evenly matched. ‘You would dare put hands upon me,’ Kol Badar growled. Burias-Drak’shal snarled, digging his talons in deeper, blood pooling around them and flowing over the Coryphaus’s sacred Terminator armour.

-------

Where Kol Badar was all brute power and smouldering anger, Burias walked with a warrior’s subtle grace, his movements relaxed and fluid. He was wolf-lean and darkly handsome, his full head of pitch black, waist-length hair oiled and scented. His pale face encapsulated all the noble bearing of his heritage, and it was said that he resembled Lorgar, before he had ascended to daemonhood. Burias was the epitome of the warrior ideal: a consummate, balanced warrior. His body was as proud and strong as his faith, and though he was young in comparison to Kol Badar, he had been blooded in battle across a thousand worlds. He was quick to smile, though there was a lingering, dangerous intensity in his wide eyes, just a hint of the power lurking within, straining to be released. Burias was one of the possessed, and though he kept the daemon Drak’shal at bay with sheer force of will, he willingly gave way to the beast once the fires of battle were met, and the results were invariably bloody.

-------

Marduk realised that his control over the daemon was growing. Often the possessed would become little more than screaming wretches, their will enslaved to one of the myriad entities that inhabited the warp, but Burias’s mastery over Drak’shal was almost complete. Again, Burias let Drak’shal begin to rear within him, and his hand blurred into daemonic talons, before he reasserted his dominance and pushed the daemon back within him. Feeling Marduk’s gaze upon him, Burias’s eyes flicked up, and he winked at the First Acolyte.

-------

Burias was leaning casually against a wall, drinking from a bottle that had had its neck smashed off. His mouth and chin were covered in blood, and a man lay shivering on the floor before him. The icon bearer drained the fiery liquid from the bottle and smiled at Marduk, wiping his mouth with the back of one hand. ‘Stand to attention when your seniors are present, warrior,’ barked Kol Badar, the vox-amplifiers built into his quad-tusked helmet making his voice even more of an animalistic growl than usual. Making no attempt to hurry, Burias languidly rose from his slouch and tossed the empty bottle away. It shattered on the floor. ‘Consumption of all but necessary sustenance is a sin that leads to weakness, icon bearer,’ snapped Marduk. ‘You will submit yourself to three months of fasting and flagellation once we return to the Infidus Diabolus.’ ‘I am duly castigated, my master,’ said Burias, bowing his head in a show of obeisance and mock remorse. Marduk’s eyes narrowed. Burias held a hand out to Kol Badar. ‘My icon?’ he said.

-------

‘The Lacrimosa has always been a favourite of yours, hasn’t it, brother?’ asked Burias. Marduk smiled. Alone amongst all the warriors of the Host, he tolerated Burias referring to him as brother, in honour of the blood-oaths that the pair had sworn aeons past, when they were both idealistic young pups, freshly blooded in battle. Nevertheless, Marduk allowed the icon bearer the honour only when they were alone, or out of earshot of the other warrior brothers of the Host, for such familiarity was unfavourable, especially now that he was certain that his ambitions of becoming Dark Apostle were fated to be, at last, fulfilled.

-------

Kol Badar stamped towards them, and the cordial companionship between Marduk and Burias evaporated. At once, they were no longer long-time friends and blood brothers; now they were once again First Acolyte and icon bearer.

-------

Burias sat at the controls of the craft, looking ludicrously large hunched over the dials and levers that controlled the pitch, speed, depth, direction and roll of the submersible. It was a simple control system akin to that of a shuttle, and he had little trouble becoming familiar with it. He grinned like a madman as he discovered the controls of the exterior robotic arms, and in the view-screen Marduk could see the massive power-claw snapping, and the huge drill spinning, creating a small whirlpool of turbulence. ‘Burias, it is not a toy,’ said Marduk. The submersible struck one of the underside legs of the mining facility, and Burias looked around at Marduk guiltily. ‘Sorry,’ he said, and stopped fooling around with the robotic arms to concentrate on piloting the craft.

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Okay, these are way too many quotes, but I love the interaction between those two so much!

All quotes from the Word Bearer's Omnibus by Anthony Reynolds.

#Warhammer #Word Bearers #First Acolyte #Marduk #Burias Drak'shal #Chaos Undivided #Marduk does not like alcohol #Chaos Space Marines #Horus Heresy #Possessed #Gal Vorbak

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scaredbisexual · 3 years

Text

Shells| Sirius Black

Pairings: Sirius Black x OC, Remus Lupin x OC, Lily Evans x James Potter

Words: 1199

Warnings: Foul language (as alwasy, lovelies)

Summary: "Platform 9 and ¾ was not unusually loud. There were young wizards and witches running around, greeting their friends, saying goodbye to their parents and so on, and so forth. Maisie wasn't really in the mood to observe someone else's happiness. She was more than ready to wallow in her self-pity during the whole train ride to Hogwarts, listen to some music and read a sappy novel, thank you very much."

Where Maisie Hoggan is a friendless, boyfriendless Gryffindor that needs some friends. The Marauders come to her rescue with Syrius Black at the forefront.#1 How it all started

Introduction or Where it all started

___________

„Oh, that little piece of shit, don’t even think about him anymore Maisie, I mean it”, she heard through the phone. A very irritated and loud feminine voice continued to shout profanities under the address of nobody else but Gregory Wittens, Ravenclaw’s Quidditch team’s captain and Maisie’s boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend for two months then.

He’s been quite a good boyfriend, to be honest. She loved him, or at least she thought so, wasn’t so sure anymore about that actually. Well, it was all complicated, they dated for about three years, were inseparable, two peas in a pod, but then came their 5th year and something changed. His smile, always so shiny and full when directed at her, suddenly stopped meeting his eyes, he had more and more Quidditch practices, even though others did not seem to have to train as much. He started making up excuses, taking up new hobbies- I mean, the boy took up running in the morning, just to be able to get away from Maisie. A bit alarming, remembering that he hated jogging with his whole being, but she just shrugged it off as a way of coping with stress. After all they were getting older, more mature, having much more stuff to do, yadda yadda.

She was living in her little bubble, doing homework, hanging out with their shared friends, spending her nights in the library, never even doubting Greg’s alibis. And what a fool she was, huh?

One day, really close to the end of their 5th year, she chose not to go to the library at the same time she would always do that. Instead, a walk seemed to be a perfectly good idea. She walked and walked, listening to her favourite playlist, looking at the nature that surrounded her. It was all so beautiful, the birds, the trees, her boyfriend kissing another girl.

So yeah, that’s how it all went down, her Greg with some blonde, perfect witch with big boobs. Nice.

And there she was, talking about this for the 100th time, if not more, with the only friend that was still by her side. Clementine Green, the sole purpose of her life during that particular time. The girl that woke her up every day, listened to every little detail, lulled her to sleep and then did it all over again, sometimes multiple times a day if it was needed. What a shame that Clem was a Muggle, a girl with no magic abilities whatsoever, just her good friend ever since they were 5. All other friends, and she used to have quite a few, turned their backs on her after The Breakup, taking Greg’s side, even though she was obviously the victim.

“Well yeah, I know, but you know. He’s everywhere in this school, I bet I’m going to be seeing him every time I step into a classroom.”

“Then flip him off from me, please.” Clem answered. You could hear traffic sounds from her side, she clearly was using a phone booth. ‘That’s nice of her’ though Maisie. Not only did she find some time in her schedule to actually call her, she also remembered about Maisie going away to a “Boarding School in Scottland”-a little white lie- where she would for sure meet mister Douche Wittens.

“Yeah, okay. Listen, I got to go, the train will leave without me soon.” Maisie answered, playing with the phone’s cord. It was true, she was still on the Muggle side of London’s train station and the clock was ticking behind her, reminding the girl she was only minutes away from the most lonely and miserable year in Hogwarts.

“Sure, love you girl, write me, will you? And please, for God’s sake, make some new friends. Don’t be the weird lonely girl that walks around talking to herself.”

“Aye, aye Captain, will do.”

The girls said their goodbyes and she hung up, sighing deeply, and moving slowly but surely towards the gap between platforms 9 and 10.

The platform 9 and ¾ was not unusually loud. There were young wizards and witches running around, greeting their friends, saying goodbye to their parents and so on, and so forth. Maisie wasn’t really in the mood to observe someone else’s happiness. She was more than ready to wallow in her self-pity during the whole train ride to Hogwarts, listen to some music and read a sappy novel, thank you very much.

She was on her way to enter one of the compartments, when she bumped into somebody. She shook her head and started apologising, but before she could finish saying “Shit, sorry”, she recognised the person. Of course she did, she would recognise those sandy curls from the other side of England. The same went with his beautiful, deep blue eyes and a cheeky smile.

“Actually, not that sorry, bye.” She muttered, pushing past her ex-boyfriend. She cursed the platform, her parents for having her, Hogwarts because that’s where she met Greg, and everything else she could think about, in her head of course, and ran away before the boy could say something. She chose the first open compartment and was met by the sight of three people talking together animatedly, laughing, and eating some Muggle candy. She could do that, they seemed to be friendly.

“Hi, fancy adding one person to your conversation?” she asked, trying to sound the nicest she could.

“Oh, um…” on of the two boys sitting there said, more like uttered, nervously looking at his friends. “Sure.” He answered, not getting any negative feedback. He had curly, dark brown hair and was wearing an old, worn jacket with stiches here and there. “Name’s Remus, hi.”

“Maisie, nice to meet you.” Making friends was easy, she could do it, yeah, she just needed to talk with them about something she had the faintest idea about and get them to like her. Easy peasy. “And what are your names?”

A really pretty, ginger-haired girl with piercing green eyes and a whole lot of freckles smiled at her and extended her arm towards Maisie.

“Lily, and that guy is James, but I wouldn’t pay him too much attention if I were you, not worth it.” She said, smiling in a way that told Maisie she was joking. The boy she introduced was sleeping like a rock, hugging himself and snoring softly and Maisie chuckled.

“Well, seems like a real snore.” The girls giggled. Remus rolled his eyes and cracked half a smile.

“Damn, another one with dad humour, I like you, Maisie.” They laughed once again and started talking about this and that. She got to know that they all were from Gryffindor, just like she herself, and were in her year. Great news for Maisie. She patted herself on the back for picking the right place to start looking for new friends.

The rest of the train ride was incredibly nice, they all chatted and binged on some gummy bears and chocolate. Eventually James woke up and was a little bit startled to see her there, but quickly shook the initial shock off and joined the conversation.

This year didn’t have to be that bad for her, did it?

#sirius black #sirius black x oc #sirius black fluff #sirius black fanfiction #james potter #peter pettigrew #lily evans #marlene mckinnon #the marauders #marauders era #harry potter #remus lupin #hogwarts

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attackradish · 4 years

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What is your top 100 favorite plants?

Fool. You underestimate me.

TOP 100 FAVORITE PLANTS (in no particular order)

Hydrangeas

Victoria water lilies

Other water lilies that are smaller and can be grown in medium-sized terracotta pots.

Cattails

Horsetails

Miner’s lettuce (not actually lettuce)

Ponderosa Pine

Douglass Pine

Blue Spruce

Bromeliads

Fig trees

Coconut palms

Jasmine

Lavender

Sage

Plumeria

Paper Birch

Bottlebrush tree

Wisteria

Jacaranda tree

Tea Roses

Prairie roses

Lupine

Glacier lily

Shooting Star flower

Indian paintbrush

Lilac

Dahlia

Cosmos

Hollyhock

Orchids (yes that’s essentially like saying “bushes” but there’s so many kinds and I like them all)

Tulips (I’m half Dutch and it shows)

Irises

Hyacinths

Water Hyacinth

Duckweed

Daffodils

Crocuses

Daisies

Buffalo grass

Raspberries

Blackcaps (Rubus occidentalis, not the bird)

Ferns

Snow berries

Hibiscus (I had a hyperfixation over these when I was young)

Grapes

Oregon grapes (not actually a kind of grape)

Carrots

Snap peas

Sweet peas

Eucalyptus trees

Lemon trees

Mango tree (for the sole reason that they produce mangoes)

Ranier cherries

Black cherries

Sakura tree (VERY different from the eating cherries)

Zinnias

Honeysuckle (the orange kind from Montana)

Snapdragons

Baobab trees

Juniper

Peach trees (gorgeous leaves)

Rhododendrons

Dandelion

Corpse lily

Rafflesia

Venus Flytrap

Trillium

Butterwort

Bleeding hearts

Whatever plant with those small circular leaves that covered the teapot in Ratatouille and is also AMAZING in every piece of garden art I’ve seen

Clovers

St. John’s wort

Day lilies

Tiger lilies

Arizona Sun

Sunflower

Black-eyed susan

Prickly pear

Joshua tree

Barrel cactus

Saguaro cactus

Columbines

Air plants (yes all of them)

Succulents (all of these too. The whole classification)

Banana tree

Mariposa lily

White Campion (the seed pods are SO fun to crush)

Birch

Aspen

Tamarack

Papyrus reed

Cacao tree

Apple tree (Granny Smith are the best apples to eat raw and none of you can convince me otherwise. Red delicious tend to be the worst. Too powdery)

Vine maple

Sugar maple

Japanese maple (gorgeous leaves that look VERY QUESTIONABLE if drawn alone. I fell in love with these trees BEFORE I knew what marijuana was so don’t @ me)

Pineapple (strange plant. I saw a tiny bright orange pineapple on someone porch and have adored them ever since. Also the fruit is good)

Cranberry bushes

Bamboo

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muttball · 1 year

Photo

Big Leaf Lupine

#big leaf lupine #blue-pod lupine #lupinus polyphyllus #invasive plants #garden plants #wild flowers #flower photography #muttball

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rjalker · 4 years

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Monarch butterflies:

Common Milkweed--tall, VERY fragrant white to grey-purple flowers, spreading, easy to clone from rhizome cuttings, not so easy from stem cutting. Big seed pods that contain aproximately 60 seeds. Some baby plants from seed flower in first year, others don’t, but that might be because the one is in a pot and the other is in the ground. Attracts bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, ladybugs, aphids, moths, beetles, and?? pincer bugs????? who liked to sleep(???) in the unopened flower buds????? Should be staked or supported in some way if you’re expecting strong winds.

Butterfly milkweed--short (so far), not noticably fragrant bright orange or yellow(mutation?) flowers, long slender seed pods, have not attempted to clone yet.

Whorled milkweed--NO idea how tall it gets the plant is still a baby, haven’t gotten flowers yet but they are supposed to be white, don’t know if they’re fragrant, tiny needle like leaves, RIDICULOUSLY easy to clone by taking a cutting, pulling off lower leaves, and literally just sticking it in dirt and watering it. No idea what the seed pods look like.

Swamp Milkweed--medium height so far, but it’s still a baby, supposed to have purple-red flowers but they aren’t open yet so we’ll see, narrow leaves on little sort of S shaped stems, no idea what the seed pods look like, started a cutting in water and another in dirt, not much activity.

======

Karner blue butterflies:

Lupine--giant hand-shaped leaves, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh the ones I bought from walmart have all died completely except one which is now really starting to die, tall spikes of pink or purple/blue flowers, haven’t seen any seed pods or otherwise forming?? not sure how you would go about cloning it except MAYBE root division?? I don’t know, I’m guessing.

======

Black Swallowtail butterflies:

Carrots--obviously edible, the caterpillars eat the leaves. Can you clone a carrot? I don’t know. Flowers and seeds form in second year. Will the carrot regrow its leaves after caterpillars eat them all? I would guess so.

Dill--no idea the seeds I planted did not grow, could probably be cloned in water, no idea.

#Randomness #Rjalker trains its gardening skill

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the-lupine-sojourner · 5 years

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Sarada, Princess of the Saiyans [’Season’ 1 Episode 3]

Hi! Sorry it’s been a while since I posted this, but uh here’s the next chapter of Sarada’s insertion! :)

Here’s a Link to the first chapter, and Here’s a Link to the second chapter, for anyone who wants to catch up. I’ll be making a masterlist for each ‘season’ (aka each 25 episodes Sarada is involved in), and I’ll be adding that link when I make that list.

Anyway, let’s get to the story!

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

The next thing I was aware of was a huge jolting crash. I barely stop myself from going headfirst into the computer. I hold my neck, already feeling a bit of whiplash. Blearily, I reach for the latch to get out. Guess we’d arrived.

“Alien!” Someone screams as we exit the pod. I groan, rubbing my neck. I glare up at the edge of the crater and see several gathered locals, all peering down at us, most with fear, some with curiosity. I roll my shoulders out as I hear Vegeta and Nappa exit their pods.

“My neck is killing me.” Nappa groans.

“Yeah, think I got slight whiplash from the landing. It’ll fade.” I reply. Smirking, I float up, pleased to see Vegeta and Nappa joining me moments later, to panicked murmurs and outcries among the crowd. We land on the other side of the crater from the crowd, scanning the surroundings briefly and taking in Earth. Really not much here.

No wonder it was so low on the rankings.

“So what should we do with these gawking fools?” Nappa asks.

“We might want to ask them about the Dragonballs.” I point out. “If the dragonballs can do what Kakarot’s ally from the recording says they can, they most likely are a treasure known to all.”

“A good deduction, Sarada.” Vegeta praises, “However. If the dragonballs are as powerful as the ally says they are, wouldn’t it be wiser to keep it secret?” He counters. “After all, a powerful artifact like that should be closely guarded, right? Wouldn’t want it falling into the wrong hands.” He smirks, crossing his arms. I shrug and cross my arms, as well.

“You make a good point there, Vegeta.”

“Can I blow them up?” Nappa interjects. “They bother me.” I feel my eye twitch subtly. I didn’t want to kill anyone I didn’t have to, but if Vegeta says Nappa can, I don’t want to dig my grave by objecting.

“Oh...I don’t know.” Vegeta says, still smirking. “Why don’t you decide for once?” I feel sorry for these earthlings. They won’t know what hit them.

“Heh. Really?” Nappa asks. “Thanks, Vegeta. This is gonna be a lot of fun for me!” I move closer to Vegeta to give Nappa a bit more room and watch as he prepares to attack.

“Don’t mention it.” Vegeta replies, chuckling. Nappa laughs, gathering energy in his hand and releasing it in a wave that comes up from underground, decimating the surrounding area in an impressively large radius. The wave increases and I imagine it could be seen from out in space. As it dies down, I view the aftermath.

It was a painfully familiar picture. A rather large crater, crumbling city on it’s edges.

A few burnt shoes here, maybe a child’s toy there, glass shards glittering like uncovered jewels in the sunlight.

All a grotesque picture of the life I’ve led alongside my brother and Nappa, who’s laughing at the sheer destruction he’d wrought. “Do you think I was trying too hard to impress them, you two?” He asks coyly. We float above where we’d been standing.

I sigh. “There isn’t anyone left to impress, Nappa.” I point out.

“I should have known better than to let you have any fun. I’m beginning to think we should have followed Sarada’s advice and asked them about the dragonballs. But,” He cuts off Nappa’s apology, “if my hunch is correct, they wouldn’t have known. Besides, no point squabbling over it now.”

“Yeah, c’mon; a little destruction won’t affect the sale price of this planet.” Nappa adds.

“We’re here for the Dragonballs, Nappa.” I retort. “Not necessarily to prep it for selling, although that could excuse our presence here against orders.”

“We’re here for the wish only. I don’t give a damn about orders.” Vegeta cuts in, and then turns to Nappa. “You do remember the wish, right Nappa?” Nappa flinches a little.

“Well...yeah. We were gonna wish for...immortality, weren’t we?” Vegeta’s frown deepens.

“Good, and we need all seven balls. Now, let me ask you; what if one of the balls happened to be in the city you just destroyed?” Nappa deflates completely.

“Uh...I’m sorry. I guess I just forgot about that, huh?” I sigh.

“Look, Vegeta’s theory about them being hidden and well-guarded makes a lot of sense. More than likely, no one would hide something of that value in a city like this. But don’t destroy anything that big again, alright?” Vegeta nods in agreement and Nappa licks his lips.

“Alright.”

“Now let’s all forget about it. What’s done cannot be undone.” Vegeta says. “First, we need to find out who has the highest power level. He’ll be the one who took down Radditz.” Almost simultaneously, we click our scouters and the beeping fills the silence.

“Huh?” Nappa gasps after a few moments. “More than half a dozen people on this planet have power levels over a thousand! How is that possible?” I frown.

“I don’t know.”

“How should I know?” Vegeta snaps, cutting over whatever else I was about to say.

“Maybe they’ve been preparing for us.” I suggest. “Radditz did say we were coming.” Vegeta scoffs.

“Lucky guess. For all he knew, we had our scouters turned off and didn’t hear a thing he said. That fool was an embarrassment.” He then clicks his scouter. “Now, we need to find the biggest power level.” He orders, redirecting us back to the task at hand. Vegeta scans one hemisphere and Nappa and I take the other. Almost immediately, we find the two largest power levels, almost equal to each other.

“Just found two of them!” Nappa reports.

“They definitely have the highest fighting powers on the planet.” I confirm. Vegeta turns, smirking excitedly.

“Really? Good, then. This may be interesting after all.” Nappa grunts in agreement and we take off, flying towards it as fast as we could.

“Heh. Amazing.” Nappa notes, “This planet’s weak gravity makes me feel like a kid again. I’m invincible!” I grin. It did make me feel rather giddy. I remember the first time I went into the training chamber with Vegeta and experienced increased gravity. We were only in there an hour, but when I came out, it was like I had wings. Everything was so much lighter.

Those were the days…before Frieza started assigning us missions.

Before we lost whatever innocence we had.

Vegeta simply keeps flying. “Don’t fall behind, Nappa.” I caution, keeping my voice even, but I worried what would happen if one of us screwed up. There’s no telling with Vegeta sometimes.

He is my brother, but even so, he pushes me harder than anyone, expecting great things. He says it’s because he sees my potential, but I think it’s just because I’m his blood and he doesn’t want to be embarrassed by his sister failing.

I shake myself and keep flying. Nappa stops clowning around, stays with us, and we continue in silence. Within the next few minutes, we arrive, and I must say…

Not what I was expecting.

One of the figures is nothing more than a child, wearing some kind of baggy purple clothing, probably the Earth equivalent of our training outfits.

The new figure, one with the second lowest power level, but not by much, is bald, wearing an orange and blue outfit somewhat like the other two, recognizable as yet another version of Earth’s training outfits.

The largest figure is green and- -wait...he’s a Namekian? I’ve heard of them, sure, but I’d never been this close to one. He wears a similar outfit to the boy’s, all but confirming it was some kind of training uniform. He scowls at us as the others subtly begin to tremble. It was clear the Namekian was the strongest, and had the most experience. Plus, with him being a Namekian, according to intel I’d heard, he should almost certainly know about the Dragonballs and probably even where they are.

All we had to do was get that information out of him. Hopefully without destroying too much of the planet or killing too many people.

Nappa laughs, drawing me from my thoughts. “So, one more joined ‘em.” He muses. “What’dyah suppose these three are doing out in the middle of nowhere?” We slowly descend as Nappa’s talking, and I scoff.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask rhetorically.

“They were waiting for us.” Vegeta chuckles. “Yes, I’m sure of it.” Waiting for us in the middle of a wasteland was actually a smart move.

The further the fight is from civilization, the less they had to worry about collateral damage.

That means they intended to fight like hell.

I find I can respect that, even if it was fruitless. Our power levels were simply too high for even the Namekian to defeat. Even Nappa could easily get rid of them.

“Whoa, this is it! It’s really happening!” The bald one whimpers, shaking even as he assumes a fighting stance. “So. These are the Saiyans.” I smirk. “Can you feel those power levels?!” I blink, all smugness gone. ‘Feel’ power levels? That was a new one. Was it possible to sense power levels without a scouter? How interesting. “They’re even stronger than I imagined!” The shaking becomes more visible, fear evident in both the boy and the bald one’s eyes. “What’re we gonna do, guys?” As the bald man speaks, we descend. Then we land.

“So, we meet at last.” Vegeta muses, arms crossed and expression extremely smug. Nappa chuckles and I find myself almost rooting for our opponents. They were fighting to protect their planet, and I respect their tenacity, despite their outward fear.

“The pleasure’s mine.” The Namekian growls in response, and I blink.

“Vegeta, he’s the ally Kakarot found to retrieve his kid. This Namekian is the one who killed Radditz.” I whisper, moving subtly closer to my brother.

Regardless of if heard me, the Namekian continues. “I’m only gonna say this once; leave this planet! This is your first and last chance to get out of this alive.”

“You’re right, sister.” Vegeta muses aloud, his smirk widening. “He is the one who defeated Radditz one year ago. I recognize his voice” The Namekian blinks.

“...My voice?” He asks, almost to himself. I nod.

“Didn’t Radditz tell you?” I ask rhetorically, tapping my scouter. “Our scouters also work as communicators. We heard everything that was said while Raditz was here.” I explain, crossing my arms and smirking. If I had to fight, I had to. This Namekian, however, might be very interesting to deal with. I wonder how much experience he has and just what he plans to do.

“Wait, you said the green one was from Namek, right?” Nappa asks, ending my train of thought. I turn to reply to Nappa, but Vegeta beats me to it.

“Yes, he’s from Namek, alright.” He says. “No wonder Radditz had such a hard time with him and Kakarot.” I nod.

“That, and Radditz was an idiot.” I add. Vegeta chuckles.

“That, too.” Something strange happens in the Namekian’s face. It’s almost as if he were shocked to hear that he was a Namekian. As if he didn’t already know that. He mumbles something, then appears to be wrestling with the information.

“Piccolo, I didn’t know you were from space.” The bald one muses in slight shock to the now trembling Namekian. ‘Piccolo’ (if that’s his name) appeared mad now, ready to fight. “Course, it makes sense.” The short bald one continues.

“You didn’t know?” Vegeta asks condescendingly. “Well, what a surprise!” His tone then turns amused. “Surely, you must have suspected something before now.” He continues. “The green skin and pointy ears are a dead giveaway, don’t you think?”

“Not to mention the antennas coming from your forehead.” I add. Honestly, it was surprising he didn’t already figure it out, but stranger things have happened, I suppose. “Now, you were the one who told Radditz about the Dragonballs. So tell us; where are they?” I demand. If I played this right, we might not have to kill everyone. If this Namekian is smart, he’ll tell us and we’ll be on our way to immortality. The bald one pales.

“B-but, no one knows where they are! Not for a whole year!” He protests. I raise a brow.

“What?” I snap. Before the human can reply, Nappa cuts in.

“That’s enough. We know the balls are down here.” He growls. “Make no mistake; we will find them. With you alive or with you dead; it’s your decision. Tell us where they are, or you will all be killed.”

The Namekian, Piccolo, smiles. “I wanna thank you.” I raise a brow. What? “Because of you, I now know I come from the planet Namek. But this is my planet now, and no one is going to tell me what to do with it!” I gotta hand it to Piccolo: He’s very brave. However...

“I admire your bravery, but it’s futile.” I retort. “We’re far stronger than that fool, Radditz. You won’t win.” I warn, hands forming fists and eyes narrowing. “Now tell us where the Dragonballs are!” If we really had to fight, I had no choice but to go all out, no matter how much I didn’t want to kill these fighters.

“Back off!” Piccolo barks. “We’re not here to bow to your demands! We’re here to fight!” He gets into a stance. “So go ahead and do whatever it is you came here to do!” before anyone can do anything, there’s a buzzing sound and an approaching wind, then odd hovering vehicles appear. Before they do anything, Nappa shoots one down. I know better than to protest. Anything I said would probably be viewed as weak and soft.

The two earthlings get into stances as the flying vehicles retreat.

“I don’t think they’re going to tell us where the Dragonballs are, Nappa.” Vegeta muses wryly.

“Wanna bet?” Nappa replies, smirking. “Alright! Let’s see how strong you really are!” He clicks the scouter. “The kid’s at 1000.” He reports. I blink. Really? Impressive for an earthling that young. “The Namek’s at 1400, and the midget is at 1100.” I narrow my eyes in resignation. Too bad, though. They just don’t compare to us. Nappa scoffs. “You fools! Do you really think you can beat us with such puny power levels?” I refrain from pointing out that Nappa didn’t stand far above them, choosing to just watch.

“Hey, Nappa, Sarada! Take your scouter off!” Vegeta suddenly orders. I do, glad to be rid of the thing. I never liked it except that it let me keep in contact with Vegeta. That’s the only reason I keep this thing around.

“What?” Nappa asks, despite reaching for his scouter as Vegeta and I remove ours.

“It seems they know how to concentrate their energy and raise their power levels.” Vegeta explains, dropping his scouter to the ground. “These figures are most unreliable.” It takes a second, but Nappa understands quickly, taking his scouter off.

“Hey, right. Good call.” Nappa replies, and his scouter hits the ground seconds later. “Now I remember that pathetic loser Radditz let himself be fooled by all their power readings.” Piccolo realizes we’re about to start fighting and warns his allies to be ready.

“Wait, Piccolo, if they’re stronger than radditz, and Goku isn’t here, then how do you expect to defeat them with just us?” The bald earthling asks. In response, Piccolo says nothing, gritting his teeth. Likely, he knew this battle wouldn’t end well, but was willing to fight anyway. I find a measure of respect in that. The bald one then gets back into a ready position, looking nervous but ready to fight. Again, I can respect their bravery, despite knowing it would lead to their demise. “Oh well, guys. Let’s just do it!” The poor earthling has no idea what we’re capable of, does he? He’ll learn soon enough.

Vegeta then gets a look that says he has an idea. “Nappa, I believe it’s time to have a little fun with them.” he muses. I raise a brow.

“How?” I ask. Vegeta just turns to Nappa.

“Get those Saibamen out. There should be six of them left. They’ll do.” I snort.

“Really? They’re as strong as Radditz. These earthlings might overpower them.” I point out, voice too low for the earthlings and Namekian to hear. Or so I thought. I didn’t notice Piccolo narrow his eyes in my direction.

“Nonsense. They barely handled Radditz. The Saibamen will be fine.” Vegeta replies and I sigh.

“Alright then.”

“Yer too much!” Nappa laughs. “You really know how to have fun.” Yeah, because watching a 6-on-3 battle sounds like a good time. I knew this opinion would be mocked and might get me into trouble, however, so I keep it inside as Nappa begins rooting in his armor for the Saibamen.

“I don’t see any men.” The little boy points out, brow raised in confusion.

“You will in a second.” I reply, smirking. I had to keep up the act, but I was concerned about this boy being in a battle such as this. After all, at his age (or at least, the age I thought he was; probably somewhere around 5 years old) I was still just sparring with instructors and Vegeta. I hadn’t been in an actual battle yet. Granted, I was going on assignments with Vegeta just a year later, but this was a literal child that was about to clobbered by a Saibaman. I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch the whole thing.

Our opponents watch as Nappa fishes the vial out, and sure enough, there are six, as Nappa notes aloud. “Maybe these Saibamen can persuade them to tell us where the Dragonballs are, huh Nappa?” Vegeta asks, smirking. Nappa laughs.

“Oh, I think they can arrange that.” Nappa replies, using his finger to make six holes in the ground and putting the seeds inside, covering the holes, then pouring the weird liquid that made them grow on the patch of ground the seeds were in. it seeps into the ground and I almost sigh. This would not be pretty, would it?

“Uh….okay...what’re they doing?” I overhear the bald earthling ask rhetorically.

“I think we’re about to find out.” Piccolo replies grimly.

“There.” Nappa says, tossing the Saibamen container aside, watching the patch as we wait for them to grow and come out. It doesn’t take more than a few moments, Vegeta and Nappa chuckling as the little aliens pop out of the ground. I always found them ugly and fairly useless aside from training partners when I was younger. This was not how I wanted to spend my time on Earth, but if Vegeta says it’s what we’re doing, there’s no real arguing with him.

“Well...at least...they’re shorter than I am.” The bald one (I really should learn their names.) mumbles nervously as the Saibamen set their eyes on him and his allies.

“And you’ll die with your sense of humor intact.” I retort, chuckling. “You won’t live long enough to lose it.” As I say this, the Saibamen leap out and run in circles around the group, chuckling and grunting evilly and generally intimidating our opponents. They then proceed to wreck a few of the surrounding outcroppings to show off their skills and power. It seems to work.

If these people thought the Saibamen were bad...this battle will be over with all too soon, and we likely won’t learn anything about the Dragonballs.

“They’re brainless, crazy monsters!” The bald midget cries. The Saibamen return to us and I shake my head.

“Not quite brainless, but not truly autonomous, either.” I reply. “More like, very obedient henchmen that are actually decently powerful.” He gulps, but remains in a fighting stance.

“This should be a pretty good matchup.” Vegeta muses. “These Saibamen seem spunky.”

“I’ll take the two on the left.” The short adult calls.

“I’ll take the two in the middle. The other two are yours, Gohan.” Ah. So Gohan is the boy’s name. To his credit, the boy deepens his stance, determination in his face. I wonder…

The other earthling mentioned that someone named ‘Goku’ was on his way, but obviously not here yet. Gohan...Goku...hmmm...I’ll bet Gohan is the son that was kidnapped a year ago by Radditz. Which means, Goku could be Kakarot. I’d have to review the recording to confirm, but...I think I remember that mixup in the names.

“Okay.” Gohan replies, cutting my train of thought off. The air grows tense as the battle nears the start.

I for one am curious how this will play out. The Saibamen were around Radditz’s power level, so unless the Namekian and his friends have trained and raised their levels a decent amount, I doubt this fight will last long.

Despite knowing he’s against us, I almost want to protect Gohan. He’s too young to be fighting in real battles, even if he has a rather impressive power level for his age.

There’s just something about him that makes me want to make sure he’s okay.

But I know I can’t show this outwardly, so all I can do is watch and hope Piccolo and the other earthling protect him if things get bad, which they more than likely are.

After all, their power levels just weren’t comparable to ours and I seriously doubt they can match the Saibamen, either. I hate watching uneven matches like this. But I don’t really have a choice, so I prepare myself mentally.

This might get bloody.

These chapters will only be as long as the episodes go, so I cover what the episode covers, okay? I hope you guys are liking this story so far! I know I’m having a lot of fun writing it.

Okay, time skip info! Um, I think it’s about another 5-6 months, then maybe ten minutes after the Saiyans land til the meeting of Piccolo, Gohan, Krillan, Vegeta, Sarada, and Nappa.

The power levels of the Saiyans haven’t changed, so Sarada is still around 17500 or so. Now, Nappa mentioned the power levels of Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillan, so I don’t have to put it here.

Anyway, hope you are looking forward to the next chapter! :)

#Fanfiction #Dragonball z #DBZ #OC Insertion Series #OC #Original Character #Original Female Character #OC/Canon #Sarada (My OC)#Piccolo #Vegeta #Goku #Bulma #Piccolo/Sarada #Piccolo/OC #Vegebul #Gochi #Vegeta/Bulma #Goku/Chichi

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theunredeemable · 5 years

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Stealing the Rich

Chapter two: Dark Awakenings! Art work done by the wonderful @spicybon

Weiss watched the others in the boarding pod carefully. The former crew of The Silent Breeze , those that had accepted the pirates’ offer, were sitting far away from her, nervous about the three pirates that stood near her, trying to avoid catching their eye. No doubt some of there were second-guessing their decision, Weiss thought. Not that she could blame them, feeling nervous herself. Throwing their lot in with pirates, especially those as infamous as the Sun Dragoons, was not a choice they could go back on. She felt her heart sink upon realizing that she wouldn't be welcomed back in her home, and then it sank further realizing that home wouldn't have welcomed her back anyway. A bright flash from the void caught her attention.

Everyone looked out the hatch viewport. The pirates looked on stoically as the other occupants looked in shock as The Silent Breeze was racked with silent explosions.

Yang watched as the trade ship was crippled further by the detonations racing through the interior. She knew that the crew that stayed behind would be safe, gathered into the cargo bay or already shooting off into space in escape pods. Her eyes moved on from the derelict, and onto the other boarding pods, taking count of those that had left, and those that were still extracting themselves. Nodding to herself, she turned away from the view port and pressed her hand to the bio-panel connected to the pilot's door. As it slid open she paused to take a look the shell-shocked woman, frowning.

Looking back to her compatriots, she let out a very quiet series of whistles that only the two Faunus could hear. The Rabbit Faunus looked over to her, then to Weiss, nodding in response. Her orders subtly given and received, Yang entered the pilot's cabin, carefully lowering herself down into the co-pilot's seat. The pilot herself was focused on guiding the pod back home, gently nodding to the music stuck in her head. Remaining silent, she offered Yang a quick smile, then focused back on her task. Chuckling to herself, the blonde reached to the control console, opening up a channel between the two ships. “This is Yang aboard the Steel Parasol, to the New Dawn. Prepare the welcome mat for new family members and warm up those engines. We're heading back to Beacon.”

Static answered her at first while the message was scrambled and sent to her ship. A safety measure designed to ensure that no one they didn't want hearing the message could understand it. A few seconds later the static cleared to allow through a response. “Aye Captain. Was it a good haul this time?” The voice was joyful in its response.

“It was certainly...an interesting one.” Yang looked back to the door for a moment, before opening a holographic data-slate, swiping through the reports inside. “Teams Vixen, Phoenix, and Lupine all report the acquisition of more Lien, as well as a few new volunteers. Coco sent a report saying that she found new experimental Schnee blueprints. Tempest found more parts, Siren more food, and I think I may have stolen a Schnee.”

More temporary static filled the air as the message transmitted. “I'm sorry, the signal must have glitched. Did you say a Schnee?”

“It wasn't a glitch Penny. We found a bona fide Schnee. White hair, blue eyes, everything.”

“I thought we didn't deal with hostages.”

“We don't Penny, and I don't intend on ever starting.” Yang looked back to the door as she spoke, thinking of the poor girl. “She was a hostage I think? Definitely a bad situation though. She asked me to help.”

“Curious.” The voice fell silent as the cabin was filled with static. Yang waited for a response, before the voice cut in again. “I must evaluate this information. I'll open the hanger bay now, and engines will be prepared to jump within twenty minutes.”

“Thank you Penny. See you soon.” Clicking off the communicator, Yang leant back into the chair with a sigh, hand unconsciously rubbing her right elbow. She looked down at the injured appendage with a frown, before sighing. The pilot watched her out of the corner of her eye, tilting her head in a questioning manner. Yang smiled softly and shrugged. “I'm fine Neo, still not used to it I guess.” Neo nodded, frowning, but focused on piloting her vessel home.

Back in the main cabin, Weiss was slowly withdrawing further into herself, holding herself as she tried to ignore the crushing uncertainty of her future, as well as the former crew of The Silent Breeze . She barely even noticed the figure sitting down next to her, only noticing when they placed their coat over her shoulders. The scent of cinnamon hit her nose, and the warmth of the coat helped combat the cold she felt inside. Looking up to find the one responsible, she found herself staring into warm hazel eyes and a soft, kind smile. “T-thank you, Miss...?”

“Velvet. Just Velvet, no miss. And don't worry. You're safe now. We'll make sure to look after you and protect you.”

Weiss stared deeply into those kind eyes, seeking any sign of deception on the Faunus's part. “Is that a promise you can keep?” She found herself becoming dangerously lost in those eyes, for instead of deception she saw a deep-seated warmth and intelligence. She felt her heart flutter and frowned at the notion.

“Of course, I promise you that I won't let anything bad happen to you?”

Weiss felt herself relax at the promise, and quietly repeated. “Anything?” Velvet nodded her affirmation, and Weiss let out a sigh of relief. In that moment she felt all the stress and weariness of the past three weeks catch up to her at once. With a yawn her eyes slowly fell shut, even as she was speaking. “g-good. I'll....I'll hold you to that.” her unconscious form slid sideways and into Velvet's arms as the Faunus made sure to catch her. After making sure the the Schnee wasn't in danger, and simply asleep, Velvet looked up at her partner with an amused smile.

“Isn't she adorable, Blake?”

“Hmm. I won't deny that she is, but we have to be careful, Cinnamon. She is a Schnee after all.”

Velvet pouted and looked down at the sleeping woman in her arms, careful to not wake her up or drop her. “But Midnight....I don't think she's like the others. There's a kindness to her. She asked me to protect her.” Blake couldn't help but frown at that, thinking over the possible meanings to such a request, while Velvet continued to look at Weiss, before looking back up to her partner. “Can we keep her?”

“She's not a pet, Velvs.”

“You know that's not what I meant.” Velvet said in a sing-song voice.

Blake sighed with a fond smile and shook her head. “I know, but I'm not sure if so soon after being abducted-”

“Saved!”

“...Ok, saved, by pirates is such a good idea to invite someone in.” Both fell silent as the door slid open again, Yang standing in the frame. “News, Captain?”

“Neo's pulling us in. How's our guest?” She looked over to Velvet and Weiss, quirking an eyebrow. “Asleep I see...and in the arms of Velvet. Is so soon appropriate, when you just met?”

Velvet stuck her tongue out at the two of them. “She just passed out, looks like everything caught up with her.” Velvet looked down at her again with a soft frown. “I wonder why she was on that ship. It didn't seem willing.”

Yang stood in silence, before sighing and running her hand through her hair. “When we touch down take her someplace safe that she can sleep. I've got to see to the welcoming committee.” Velvet and Blake nodded, with both of them looking at each other in silent communication. Before long Blake let out a quiet, fond sigh.

“Fine. We'll keep her in our quarters for the time being. Just until we find her her own.”

Static filled the compartment, before being replaced by the voice of Penny. “All boarding pods please proceed to your usual docking stations, and welcome home.” The occupants looked out the viewport and saw The Silent Breeze disappear behind large metal doors. A few seconds later and the vessel jostled lightly as it touched down on the landing deck. With a hiss of steam, the hatch slowly opened, and the occupants slowly and tentatively exited. A few of them gasped in wonder at the size of the hangar, having never set foot aboard a battle cruiser before. Others gasped upon seeing how many crewmen were stationed in this single part of the ship, as well as the rusty metal girders that made up the floor. The voice chimed throughout the hanger bay again. “Hello, and salutations new family members! I know many of you will be confused, but do not fear. Please exit the boarding pods, and our captain will soon address you all!”

“Well that's my cue. Look after her you too.” Blake and Velvet nodded, the cat Faunus carefully picking up the unconscious woman and cradling her in her arms. Yang watched the two make their way through the controlled mayhem of her crew working, admiring the way they moved like water over pebbles. Smiling, she made her own way through the crowd of former trade ship crew, and up onto a platform prepared for such occasions. Looking out over them she did a quick head count, making it to be that twenty men and women had accepted the offer to join them. Clearing her throat to get all their attention, she threw her arms open wide in welcome. “Welcome to the New Dawn ! I hope that in time that some of you will come to think of it as home, and I hope that you do think of it now as a new chance at life.

“I know you'll have heard the tales and seen the holo-vids about us, about the Vale expanse. That we're pirates. That we're filthy, backwards, and cruel. That the Atlas government took one look at us and called us a waste of resources. But I'm here to tell you that was a lie. In truth, they ran away. They ran, because we would not bow to them. They ran, because we fought tooth and nail for every world. Are we pirates? Yes! I won't lie to you. But we don't steal from just anyone. We steal from the oppressors. From the SDC, from the Atlesian Military, from the Mistrali Regime.

“There are many factions of us, but we, the Sun Dragoons, belong to Beacon, and we have a strict code of rules that we expect you to follow. We are not cruel. We steal, but we do not kill unless necessary or to prevent further cruelty. We steal from the rich, not the poor. Not for profit, but to provide to those who cannot provide to themselves.” She paused for a moment and shrugged slightly with a laugh. “And a little bit a profit. We all need to make Lien right?

“But above all, We are free. We are responsible for our own mistakes, and we are family.” She stopped to look out amongst the crowd, still smiling. She took note of the faces. Some seemed already swayed by her words, soft smiles and looks of relief. Others were on the verge of being convinced, but were still suspicious. “But don't just take my word for it. You'll see when we arrive at Beacon. For now though, rest, eat. We'll assign all of you temporary quarters so you can get some sleep.” Jumping down from the platform, she made her way back through the crowd. They parted before her in an effort not to hinder her progress as she made her way to the elevator at the far end of the hanger.

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

Weiss slowly woke up, stretching her limbs and yawning. Sitting up in the bed she looked around the unfamiliar room with a frown. It didn't look anything like her room on The Silent Breeze . For one it was far more lived-in. Two bookshelves occupied the far wall of the quarters, lined with various novels and histories from what she could see from the bed. Slowly standing up she felt the cold metal of the floor on her feet. Looking for her shoes, she found them carefully placed next to the bed. Slipping them back on she began to properly explore the room she found herself in.

She couldn't but help but notice the lingering scent of cinnamon in the air, mingling with the sticks of incense someone had left burning. Continuing to walk around she found where it had been left, an ornate holder sitting on a small counter connected to a small built in kitchen. The kitchen itself was simple and stocked with long-lasting preserved foods, intended to keep the occupants of the quarters fed for long journeys. Moving away from the kitchen area Weiss inspected the books on the shelves, and couldn't help but smile at the disparity between the two. One was full of older books, high fantasy and fairy tales from across the galaxy, as well as a full shelf dedicated to romance novels. The other held cook books, travel guides and photo albums, and a small shelf dedicated to fiction.

Turning away she cast a glance over the room again to take in the rest of the surroundings. A mocha-coloured love chair occupied part of the room, facing a large screen that had been set into the wall. Humming to herself Weiss dragged her hand across the back of the chair, feeling the fabric beneath her fingers and looked around the room one final time, noting the two doorways, one near the bed she had just vacated, the other opposite the kitchen. “Whose room am I in?” Pondering aloud, she sat down at the edge of the seat, waiting for an answer to make itself apparent.

She didn't have long to wait as one of the doors slid open with a beep, giving Weiss a quick glimpse of the corridor outside before the view was blocked by Velvet entering. “Oh, you're awake! How do you feel?” Velvet rushed inside and sat next to Weiss, taking her hands into her own. Blake followed shortly into the room, but instead made her way over to the kitchen.

“Um, I'm feeling fine. How did I get in here? Last I remember...”

“You passed out after we talked in the boarding pod. You must have been exhausted.”

Weiss frowned and looked at the hands holding hers, trying to remember through the fog of sleep. “I was. I...Father.” Her frown deepened as she almost scowled as the word left her tongue. “He was punishing me.”

“Punishing you for what?” Blake asked, looking over to the two women on the chair from the kitchen, still suspicious of the Schnee scion.

“I had begun to question his methods... about how he was treating Faunus and his shady business deals. Next thing I knew I was being sent far away...to Argus Augmentics.”

“Why there?”

Weiss's shoulders dropped as she remembered the taunts of Gole and Mercury. “He was selling me.” She missed the looks of surprise on the two Faunus' faces, and the expressions of horror they gave each other as she continued speaking. “He made me think I was going there to broker a deal. But, I was the deal. Test out new cybernetics on me, I think take away my free will or brainwash me. I don't know. But... I can't ever go home.” Tears welled up in her eyes as reality hit home, and fell silent as she was once again taken into Velvet's arms, and clung on tight as the woman tried to soothe her.

“I promised you that I'd protect you. That isn't home anymore. This is, if you want it to be.” Velvet looked up to Blake with a sad look in her eyes, ears twitching in silent communication. Blake nodded, and started to rummage around in one of the lower cabinets, pulling out a tea set. As she prepared to make some tea for the three of them, Velvet gently rubbed Weiss's back soothingly as the young woman silently cried.

A few minutes later, Weiss pulled away from the hug, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't cry, not for him.”

Velvet shook her head in disagreement. “No, you're right to cry. Though he's a monster, he is...was, your father. And he betrayed you.”

Weiss looked down at her hands again, clenching them into fists as her sorrow turned into a defiance. “Where am I anyway?”

“In our quarters aboard the New Dawn .” Blake gently placed a cup of tea into Weiss's hands as she answered, passing another one to Velvet as she opened up a hidden compartment. Pulling out a fold-out chair, she sat down with the other two after getting her own tea. “Being the left and right hands of the captain comes with certain perks.”

“Such as the second largest quarters in the ship.” Velvet chimed in with a beaming smile. Weiss couldn't help but smile softly in return, optimism radiating off the Faunus. “We should probably introduce ourselves properly. I'm Velvet Scarlatina, Second Officer of the Sun Dragoons. My partner here is Blake Belladonna, the First Officer.”

Weiss gently sipped her tea before responding. “I'm Weiss. I guess, just Weiss now.”

“Well, just Weiss. You can stay with us.” Velvet smiled kindly, warmth radiating from her. Blake looked at her partner lovingly, nodding in agreement.

A new voice chimed in, from over hidden speakers. “We are now exiting the jump. Would Blake and Velvet please report to the bridge before the next jump.”

Blake sighed and took out a small communicator from her pocket. “Yes Penny, we'll be right there.” Clicking it off and placing it back into her pocket, she stood up and placed her mostly full cup of tea down onto a side table. “Please make yourself at home. The shower's through the other door if you need it.”

“Thank you. I think I might use it, but I don't have any clothes.”

“Borrow some of mine. We should get going Velvs.” Blake smiled kindly at Weiss, gesturing for Velvet to follow as she made her way out of the room. Velvet quickly stood up to join her, waving goodbye to Weiss as she went.

As the door slid shut, Weiss looked around the room one final time, before finishing off her tea and going into the bathroom. Inside was a large room with eggshell blue tiling. Smiling at the surprisingly innocent colour choice for pirates, Weiss fully entered the room, undressing as she went. Turning on the water, she waited until it was hot until fully stepping into the shower. Turning her face up into the stream and closing her eyes, she let it cascade over her and wash away her worries. For the first time in perhaps her entire life, she felt safe.

The water soothed her bruised body and hurting soul. As she relaxed, she never even felt the intricate swirls that covered her back begin to thrum with energy, casting a soft blue glow.

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

Deep in the bowels of the New Dawn , something began to stir. Long had it slept in the metal behemoth, hibernating as it waited for its choice meal to make itself known. It knew not the passage of time, for it was far too old and far too alien to consider such concepts. It sniffed the stale air that surrounded it, and growled lowly.

Dark red eyes opened up in the darkness, glowing with malice. Food had finally arrived.

#stealing the rich #rwby #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #Blake Belladonna #velvet scarlatina #black velvet #blake/velvet #neopolitian (rwby)#penny rwby

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inevitablesurrender · 3 years

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Suggested drinking game: take a big swig every time you unintentionally come across someone telling a band with roots in punk/post-punk to stop being so political.

...Moving away from bitterness, I cannot overstate how strange it feels to live somewhere with neighbors who seem legitimately friendly and helpful. Like. What is this? This is like on TV. This can’t be real. ...Anyway, got overwhelming recommendations for both mulch and stone from one place literally down the main street and around the corner, so we’ll check that out next week. The only stuff we managed to find this week was alarmingly expensive and wet. Wet wood chips in a plastic bag from who the fuck knows how long ago seem, you know. Not... great.

Also! We were offered a red haven peach tree sapling for free. With the obvious downside being that we’re getting it for free because it didn’t come out of hibernation in the spring. Concerning, sure, but there’s no sign of root rot or disease and it’s clearly still alive, so..? Worth a shot. We dug a hole and now we have some lovely sticks in the side yard.

Gonna get that... cleaned up eventually. There’s also a bare spot directly to the right of it that’s free real estate open to planting since we finally got rid of the bricks where the fire pit used to be. We’ll see what winds up there.

A couple more outside-y pictures under the cut.

The blue crab plants and lupine are going strong, but the dahlias... someone fucking had it out for the dahlias. One’s still technically there in the top left corner, but... Next year I’ll either have to get them to the flowering stage inside or in a more protected location. We’ll see.

The yarrow is in front, I swear, the camera just decided not to pick up the orange and red because fuck me I guess. The columbine seed pods are behind that, and then one of our vibrant fuchsia flowering bushes. It is a truly delightfully violent color. Shame all the fuck you flowers are out back, but they’ll be blooming soon too.

#yammering #yammering with pictures

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cannawitchcreations · 7 years

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Magickal Folk Names for Herbs

Having knowledge of herbs and plants (either magically or medicinally) during the Middle Ages, often was reason enough to accuse a woman of being a "witch,” so there is no doubt some of the country folk at the time took these herbal folk names literal. Chances are, these names were used merely as descriptors to help remember them easier. Most plants were given names descriptive of their uses and others were given names for something they generally resembled. Spells written by witches in ancient times were often written with such descriptors, which personally i believe to be a form of secret coding.

Here is a small list of “witchy” herb names (most of these are already floating around the community) that you can use in your craft when you create your spells. This list could be a great addition to any Grimoire and i hope you find them as useful as i do.

Enjoy ~~~ Cannawitch

Plants

Aaron's Rod - Goldenrod or mullein stalk Absinthe - Wormwood Adder's Fork - Adder's Tongue Fern or Bistort Adder's Tongue - Dog's Tooth Violet (or Adder's Tongue Fern Ague root - Unicorn root Alison - Sweet Alyssum Angel Food, Archangel - Angelica Angel's Trumpet - Datura Ass's Ear - colt's foot or comfrey Ass's Foot, Bull's Foot - colt's foot Auld Man's Bells, Old man's bells - wood hyacinth, Hyacinthoides hispanica

Bad Man's/Devil's Oatmeal/Porridge - hemlock Bad Man's/Devil's Plaything - Yarrow Bastard - false Dittany Bat flower - tacca Bat's Wing - Holly leaf Bat's Wool - moss (which moss?) Bear's Foot - Lady's Mantle Bear's Grape Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Bear Paw - ramsons Allium ursinum or the root of male fern Dryopteris Felix-mas Bear weed - Yerba Santa Eriodictyon californicum Beard of a Monk - Chicory Beggar's Lice - Hound's tongue Beggar's Buttons - Burdock Bird's Eye - Speedwell Veronica officinalis Bird's Foot - Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum (Also bird's foot violet and bird's foot trefoil) Bird's Nest - carrot, Indian pipe Bishop's Wort, Bishop's Elder - Wood betony Stachys betonica Bitter Grass - Ague Root Aletris Farinosa Black Sampson - Echinacea Blazing Star - liatris Blind Eyes - Poppy Blood from a head - Lupine * Blood from a shoulder - Bear's breech * Blood of a Goose - Sap from a mulberry * Morus nigra Blood of an Eye - Tamarisk gall * (probably the tannin extracted from) Blood of Ares - purslane * Blood of Hephaestus - wormwood * Blood of Hestia - Chamomile * Blood - sap of the elder or bloodwort Bloody butcher - Valerian Bloody Fingers - Foxglove Blue Bottle - Bachelor's buttons Boy's Love, Lad's Love: Southernwood Brain Thief - Mandrake Bone of an Ibis - buckthorn * I am not sure if this is Rhamnus cathartica or sea buckthorn Hippophae spp If I can find a recipe containing this, I will know for sure by comparing its purpose to their very different qualities Bread and Cheese - Hawthorn Bride of the Meadow - meadowsweet Bull's Blood - beet or horehound Burning bush - false dittany, also a modern name for species of Euonymus Cow's Horn - Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum Bride of the Sun - calendula Brown Dragon - wake robin Buttons - tansy

Calf's snout - Snapdragon Candlemas Maiden - snowdrop Candlewick - mullein, the flower stalk Capon's Tail - valerian Carpenter's Herb - bugleweed Lycopus europaeus Carpenter's Square - knotted figwort Carpenter's weed - Yarrow Cat - catnip Cat's foot - white balsam, black cohosh, ground ivy Cat's herb - valerian Chameleon star - bromeliad Cheeses - marsh mallow Chocolate flower - wild geranium (I don't buy it) Christ's eye - wild clary Salvia verbenaca Christ's ladder - centaury Christ's spear - adder's tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum Church steeple - Agrimony Clear eye - clary sage Cleavers - bedstraw Click - goosegrass Clot - great mullien Cocklebur - Agrimony Cock's comb - amaranth Colt's Tail - fleabane Crane's bill - wild geranium Crow's foot - wild geranium, or wood anemone bulbous buttercup (verified) Crowdy kit - figwort Cuckoo's bread - common plantago Cucumber tree - magnolia Cuddy's lungs - great mullein Crown for a king - wormwood

Dagger flower - blue flag Daphne - bay laurel Dead man's bells foxglove Death angel - fly agaric Amanita Muscaria Death cap - fly agaric Amanita Muscaria Death flower - Yarrow Death's Herb - Belladonna Delight of the Eye - rowan Devil Plant - basil Devil's Apple - Mayapple or Mandrake Devil's beard - houseleek Devil's bit - false unicorn root Devil's cherries Belladonna berries Devil's plaything - yarrow Devil's dung - asafoetida Devil's ear - wakerobin Devil's eye - henbane or periwinkle Devil's flower - bachelor's buttons Devil's fuge - mistletoe Devil's guts - dodder Devil's herb - belladonna Devil's milk - celandine Devil's nettle - yarrow Devil's Shoestring: Various varieties of vibernum, esp Black Haw, cramp bark, hobblebush Dew of the Sea - Rosemary Dog Berry - wild rose hips Dog's mouth - snap dragon Dog's tongue - hound's tongue Dove's foot - wild geranium Dragon - tarragon Dragon Flower - blue flag (really, wild iris? not an arum or a Antirrhinum?) Dragon wort - bistort Dragon's blood - calamus

Eagle - ramsons Allium ursinum Earth apple - potato Earth smoke- fumitory Elf's wort - Elecampane Enchanter's plant - vervain Englishman's fruit/ White man's foot - common plantain Everlasting friendship - goosegrass Eye root - goldenseal

Fairy smoke - Indian pipe Fairy fingers - foxglove Fat from a Head - spurge * Felon herb - Mugwort Five fingers - cinquefoil Fox's Clote - burdock Frog's foot - bulbous buttercup From the belly - Earth-apple. * potato?? Did the writers know about potatoes? When was pgm written? From the foot - houseleek * From the loins - chamomile *

Goat's foot - morning glory Goat's Horn - Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum God's hair - hart's tongue fern Golden's star - avens Gosling's wing - goosegrass Graveyard dust - mullein (and sometimes it's just graveyard dust)

Hag's taper - mullien stalk Hagthorn - hawthorn Hair of Venus - Maidenhair fern Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed * Hare's beard - mullein Hawk's Heart, Old Woman - Wormwood Artemisia absinthium crown or seed head * Hind's tongue - hart's tongue fern Holy herb - yerba santa Holy rope - hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum Horse tongue - hart's tongue fern Hundred eyes - periwinkle

Innocence - bluets

Jacob's Staff - Great Mullein Joy of the Mountain - Marjoram Jupiter's Staff - Great Mullein

King's Crown: Black Haw vibernum Knight's Milfoil - Yarrow Kronos' Blood - sap of Cedar *

Lady's glove - foxglove Lamb's ears - betony but more likely lamb's ear Stachys byzantina Lion's Hair - The extra little roots that stick out of the turnip bulb or the base leaves Brassica rapa * Lion's tooth - dandelion Little dragon - tarragon Love in idleness - pansy Love Lies Bleeding - amaranth (Not so ancient, a modern ornamental variant) Love Leaves - burdock Love man - goosegrass Love Parsley - lovage Love root - orris root

Maiden's Ruin - Southernwood Man's Bile - Turnip Juice * Man's Health - Ginseng Master of the Woods - Woodruff May Lily - Lily of the Valley May Rose - Black Haw viburnum May - Black Haw viburnum Maypops - Passion Flower Mistress of the Night - Tuberose Mutton Chops - Goosegrass

Nose Bleed - Yarrow

Old Man's Flannel - Great Mullein Old Man's Pepper - Yarrow Old-Maid's-Nightcap - Wild Geranium

Password - primrose Peter's Staff - Great Mullein Poor Man's Treacle - Garlic Priest's Crown - Dandelion leaves

Queen of the Meadow Root - Gravelroot Queen of the Meadow - Meadowsweet Queen of the Night - Vanilla Cactus

Rats and Mice - Hound's tongue Ram's horn - valerian Ring a Bells - bluebell Robin run in the grass - goosegrass

Scaldhead - blackberry Seed of Horus - horehound See bright - Clary sage Semen of Ammon - Houseleek * Semen of Ares - Clover * Semen of Helios - White Hellebore * Semen of Hephaistos - Fleabane * Semen of Herakles - arugula * Semen of Hermes - Dill * Seven Year's Love Yarrow Shameface - Wild Geranium Shepherd's Heart - Shepherd's Purse Silver Bells - Black Haw viburnum Snake Root - black cohosh Soapwort - Comfrey or Daisy or maybe Soapwort Sorcerer's Violet - Periwinkle Sparrow's Tongue - Knotweed St. John's Herb - Hemp Agrimony St. John's Plant - Mugwort Star Flower - Borage Star of the Earth - Avens Starweed - Chickweed Sweethearts - Goosegrass Swine's Snout - Dandelion leaves

Tail of a Pig - Leopard's bane * Tanner's bark - toadflax Tartar root - ginseng Tears of a Hamadryas Baboon - Dill Juice * Thousand weed - yarrow Thunder plant - houseleek Titan's Blood - Wild Lettuce Lactuca virosa * Torches - mullein flower stalk

Unicorn's horn - unicorn root or false unicorn root Urine - dandelion or maybe urine

Wax dolls - fumitory Weasel - rue Weasel snout - yellow archangel Winter wood - wild cinnamon Canella alba White - ox eye daisy Witch's Asprin - white willow bark (this is ancient?) Witch's brier - wild brier rose hips Wolf claw - club moss Wolf's foot - bugleweed Wolf's milk - euphorbia Woodpecker - herbLpeony Worm fern- male fern Dryopteris Felix-mas

Yerba Santa Maria - epazote

Plant Parts/Body Parts

Blood - Sap or juice Eye - The disc of a composite flower, or a seed Foot - Leaf Guts - Roots, stalks, tangly bits Hair - Very stringy roots (sometimes silk or tangly stems) Head - Flower head or seed head Tail - Stem Tongue - Petal, sometimes stigma Toes - leaf or bud Paw - sometimes bud, usually leaf Privates - Seed pod Worm - stringy roots Wool - Moss

Minerals

A Snake's Ball of Thread - soapstone * Blood of a Snake - hematite * Crocodile Dung - Soil from Ethiopia * A Physician's bone - sandstone *

Animal Parts

A Snake's Head - A leech * Blood of a Hyrax - A rock badger, * small weasel-like/rodent-like (but actually neither) creature native to Africa and the Middle East Blood of a Hamadryas Baboon - Blood of a spotted gecko * Bull's semen - the egg of a blister beetle * Lion Semen - Human semen * Kronos' Spice - Pig Milk *

* From Ecloga ex Papyris Magicis: Liber I, V, xxvi

More Sources for verification -

Galen - De succedaneis, Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, v 19

Paulus Aegineta, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum IX/2 vII

Dioscorides De Materia Medica

Witchipedia

Lady Raven

Tryskelion

#cannawitch #CannawitchCreations #magic gardens #magick #Herbal Medicine #herbal magick #folk magic #grimoire #green witch #witches of tumblr #witchblr #cannabis witch #kitchen witch #witches cupboard

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harbourstarwilling-blog · 6 years

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The Marauders and the Hollow Hill: Dumbledore’s Plan (4)

Remus didn't want to put his book away. As the train whistled and shrieked louder than ever, found that his stomach was twisting with nervousness. His shoulder seemed to agree with the pang - his shoulder ached - but then again, his shoulder always ached.

He was tempted to pull down his shirt and glance at it, hoping halfheartedly that he would see nothing there, just smooth skin, like there should be. But he knew there wasn't. His left shoulder was practically mauled; three deep gashes right down to the bone, torn flesh and popping veins. It seemed to bleed regularly - once a month. At the full moon.

Remus frowned as his shoulder twinged a bit more. It always seemed to when he was nervous.

Sirius, meanwhile, was staring out the window, a combination of eagerness and edginess etched on his face. "We'd better get our robes on," he said, his lips pursing. "Ah. I've gone and left mine in the other compartment."

"Mine's in my trunk - in the middle of the corridor," James muttered, almost embarrassed.

Remus heard himself laugh. "How'd you do that?"

"It was Sirius's fault!" James prompted.

"Was not!"

"I'll change here," Remus said quickly, trying to look as casual as he could. But Sirius and James just shrugged and wished him farewell as they left the compartment, slamming the door shut firmly behind him. Remus watched them leave, then practically collapsed, sighing with relief. He was glad he had been acquainted with some of the boys in his year, he really was, but... it scared him that they had been so friendly. Shouldn't they be frightened of him, shouldn't they shrink back with fear?

They don't know, Remus thought sadly. And he couldn't let them know. Not ever.

Slowly, he got to his feet, hissing with pain as he rolled his sore shoulder. It wasn't agreeing with him, not like it ever did. It ached and burned, feeling as it always did - like it was going to fall off. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to examine the windows of the compartment facing the hall. Thank God they had shades. He yanked them down with unnecessary force, causing them to snap and fall to the floor; he repaired them with a wave of his wand. To be honest, he felt odd, having to wave a wooden stick in order to do magic. Remus had grown up around magic, of course, but his father refused to use his wand, as they were living like Muggles. Remus, however had used "extraordinary magic," Dumbledore had said, well beyond the Ordinary Wizarding Level since he was three. Both wandless and non-verbally. Dumbledore was very impressed.

"Wonderful!" he remembered Dumbledore exclaiming, watching as Remus lit his father's cigarette from across the room. "But of course, once you know the incantation, the spell will be stronger, you know..."

Remus, in turn, was very impressed by Dumbledore. He had come all the way from... wherever he came from, just to see Remus and personally give him his Hogwarts letter! Remus recalled flushing with pride. He had felt like he was meeting a celebrity.

"Well, I am on a Chocolate Frog card..." Dumbledore had started, winking.

Remus turned round now, tugging his robes out of his duffel bag. They were remarkably shabby and ancient; his parents hadn't bothered to hide the fact that they couldn't afford new ones. But Remus was honored to wear these to Hogwarts. They had been his father's when he had gone to school there. But he had been bigger than Remus was. And by a lot, Remus thought as he pulled on the robes. Yes, he had been about the same height, because length wasn't a problem. The sleeves, however... They hung about two inches below his hand - he had to roll them up three times. But Remus wasn't bothered much by this. After all, they hid the scars and cuts crossing over his wrists and hands.

There wasn't a mirror in the the compartment, and Remus was grateful. He hated looking at his reflection. His mother always told him what a handsome little boy he was, but he never had believed her. His blonde hair, always scruffy and rumpled, hung in misshapen curls around his face, and his face was just as scarred as his hands - perhaps worse. There were long, unhealed scratches that rode along his cheekbones, which stood out unnaturally far. And his eyes - to him, at least - were the worst of all. They were the features he despised, because they... in a way... revealed him...

They were abnormally large, and grey, a deep grey. His mother always said that she saw bits of blue in them. But flecks of bright amber stood out in them, not noticeable at first. But as the day of the full moon approached...

Remus shoved his Muggle clothes back into his bag and strode out of the compartment, trying not to wince as his shoulder twinged. The last full moon had been his worst yet...

Screaming. Scratching. Heavy thuds and bangs. Howls. Blood.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

He kept his head down as he passed the other compartments, as he didn't want to draw attention to himself. He didn't want anyone to look at him, he didn't want anyone to come near him. If they were smart, they would know already, the symptoms were too obvious. September 1st was only a week after the full moon, and Remus was still struggling to recover from the torturous night, shackled to a cabinet, all alone in a tiny, dug-out basement.

He shuddered just thinking about it.

The train screamed again, its whistle shrieking like an irritated banshee. Hastily, Remus left the Hogwarts Express, the scarlet, smoke-bellowing steam engine. But he had entered, quite unknowingly, into a large pod of very confused first years. They clumped together, practically frozen, staring up at the other students leaving the train, leaving the platform -

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

A giant of a man was standing a few feet away from Remus, with a wild matted mane of dark hair and bright, beetle-black eyes under bushy brown eyebrows. From the looks of it, he seemed to wear a huge, weather-beaten old coat, and carried a lantern about as big as Remus. Some girls standing behind Remus squealed with fright. The man just chuckled. "No need ter be frightened!" he laughed. "I'm Hagrid - Keeper o' Keys and Grounds here at Hogwarts. Now you'll want ter follow me - we'll be leavin' for the boats in a few..." His voice faded as he pulled out a rusty pocket-watch that was more square than it was round. "That's them! Let's go," Hagrid declared, and, raising the lantern a bit higher, descended from the platform and headed towards what looked like a dock. The first years obeyed, but ruefully. For a moment, there was just the sound of robes swishing through grass and wind whistling through hair. Then the almost haunting noise of water lapping the shore...

"Aright, head in, no more than four to a boat!" Hagrid bellowed; the first years jumped and swarmed the rickety old boats tied up beside the dock. Remus glanced around nervously for a nearly-empty boat, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirius and James already seated in one, beckoning. Well, James was flailing more than beckoning, but still.

Suddenly, he felt a hand slap his shoulder - a hand the size of a dustbin lid. Remus almost fell over. Startled, he turned round to see Hagrid standing there, somehow managing to look both fascinated and concerned at the same time. "Yer Remus, aren't ya?" he asked, in an unusually gentle voice.

"Y-yes," Remus squeaked, staring up at him. True, he was very large and rather intimidating, but there was a flicker of kindness in his beetle-black eyes.

"I've heard 'bout ya."

Remus nearly choked on his own tongue.

How did he know? How could he possibly know? Remus tried to relax himself. He hid his panicked expression with a mask of calm. "What?" His voice was still shaky.

"I know what ya are."

Oh, no. Oh, no. Here it comes, Remus thought, with the all-too familiar feeling of oncoming dread. This giant of a man had discovered his secret. Now Remus was going to be forced to leave the school no doubt... his mother would be so disappointed... she had believed he'd finally found a place where he could learn and make friends... at Hogwarts...

This had to be a new record. Hagrid had found out his secret in five seconds flat.

Remus felt himself sag with disappointment. "I'll go now," he muttered, turning round against the sea of first-years. Behind him, Hagrid made a strange sound in his throat as he whipped Remus around again, almost sending him straight into the water.

"Hold on ther'! Yer not goin'! I just... well-" Hagrid paused awkwardly, then said hurriedly, "If yer ever are lonely, ya know, feel free to come on down and have a cup 'o tea."

As Hagrid turned away, Remus frowned at his retreating back. So... he wasn't going to be sent away? But... he knew! Hagrid knew!

The whole staff must know, Remus thought painfully, and something like fear jumped in the pit of his stomach. But the man... he didn't seem to be scared of Remus at all. It was almost like he was pleased. In fact, when he had just invited Remus to tea... there was something like understanding in his voice.

"Come on, budge up, make a space!" Hagrid bellowed at some frightened-looking first years, who quickly cleared a path for him as he made his way towards his own boat. Remus, surprisingly, found himself smiling after him.

At that moment, someone smashed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. The dock, scratched and wooden as it was, scraped Remus's hands even worse. He winced as he felt new wounds rip the old ones open, blood slowly running down between his fingers.

"Move it, runt!" A thick-necked, muscley boy sneered. He and his cronies, each one just as big as he was (or bigger), pushed themselves forwards, shoving other first-years out of the way. No one stood up to them - that is, until they came face to face with a very short girl with thick red hair and bright green, almond-shaped eyes. Even from his place on the ground, Remus could see that freckles dotted her thin face. He recognized her... she was the girl who had been crying in his, James, and Sirius's compartment.

The girl didn't move. A stubborn look of resilience was on her face; it didn't twitch a bit. The girl behind her, however, looked very frightened. She tugged on the girl's arm, her straight brown hair flapping limply around her face. "Leave him be, Lily, he's not worth it!" she cried desperately. But the red-haired girl stood her ground.

The boy who had pushed Remus over (obviously the leader) got a sick, twisted smile on his face that made Remus's stomach turn. "Look lads, here's a catch!" he laughed, flicking a stray hair out of Lily's face, leaning in close. Immediately, Lily shrieked and did the first thing that came to mind - she slapped him. He was sent flying backwards.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed. The boy snarled - his hand went into his robes for his wand and brandished at Lily. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then -

"Flipendo!" he shouted. There was a loud bang, and all of a sudden, Lily was gone, and there was a loud splash. It all happened in seconds - Lily had fallen into the lake.

"LILY!" The boy with greasy-hair and a hooked nose (Snivellus? Er... Severus) dashed to the edge of the dock, peering down into the depths. James, Remus could hear, wasn't worried at all. In fact, he was laughing.

"What's the matter, Snivellus?" James called loudly. "Have you lost your girlfriend?"

"I expect she's gone to go out with the giant squid - I would, rather than go out with you," hollered Sirius, roaring with laughter.

Wiping his bloodied hands on his robes, Remus pushed himself to his feet and went to stand beside Severus, who was staring down at the water anxiously.

"What do you want?" Severus murmured angrily; he sounded both furious and panicky.

Remus was silent for a moment. But suddenly, someone spoke on the other side of Remus.

"Er... isn't someone going to go get her?"

Remus turned. A second boy was standing off to his left, staring up at Remus expectedly. He was wider than Remus, and about a head shorter, but his small, watery eyes were wide and eager, in a way.

Severus heard him. Embarrassed, he lowered his head and muttered something about not being able to swim. Remus ogled him. "You can't swim?" He was honestly surprised. Even his parents had managed to find time to teach Remus how to swim; he remembered being confused and asking his mother why it was so important.

"It's an essential part of childhood!" she had replied playfully, slapping him with a dish towel. That had been one of the better years. They didn't have to move away for the best part of six months.

The boy on Remus's left ran a hand through his thick pale hair. "I can't swim either," he said pointedly.

By now, Severus was practically hopping up and down. "Someone has to get her, she's going to drown!" he screamed.

Finally, Hagrid glanced over at them. "What's goin' on here?" he grumbled, lumbering towards them.

"Lily's fallen in the lake - " Severus started.

"I'm getting her, sir," Remus heard himself state. Calmly, he pulled off of his robes, still wearing his loose white T-shirt and brown slacks underneath. He stepped out of his worn but warm sneakers - the cold wind ruffled his hair and bit his nose, causing his arms to erupt with goosebumps.

Severus eyed the scars on Remus's arms warily. "What happened?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing.

Thankfully, Remus was used to people asking about his scars, that is, if they ever saw them. "I have a cat," he said convincingly, and with that, dived straight into the lake.

He regretted it the moment he'd done it. The water was absolutely freezing - his hands and feet were completely numb. He couldn't even feel his own face. The blood in his veins seemed to have turned to ice.

Focus! Remus told himself firmly. He had to find Lily, and fast. He didn't have much time; either he would run out of air, or she would. He suspected the latter, as she had been underwater longer than he had. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

But Remus was in luck. Far, far below, he noticed a flash of red hair. It was her! But she was very pale, she wasn't moving, and her lips were blue. She floated lifelessly, her eyes closed and her mouth slack.

She was unconscious. That was never good. Furtively, he swam towards her and seized both her arms, dragging her behind him in a tow. As quickly as he could, Remus turned towards the surface of the lake and paddled upwards. At first, he had thought that this would be much slowly, as he was not able to use his hands because he was carrying Lily, but in fact, Remus found himself swimming faster than he normally would've been able. Bemused, he turned to look behind him, and was startled to see a huge, sucker-covered tentacle gently pushing Lily and Remus forwards, moving them along. Remus had heard rumors of a giant squid in the lake near Hogwarts, but he would have never believed it to be true…

Splash! He broke the water's surface, panting and choking and gasping for air. Lily, however, remained limp and lifeless, like a rag doll.

"Get outta the way!" roared Hagrid, who had seemed to take charge at last. One-armed, he tugged Remus and Lily out of the way. While Remus tumbled clumsily onto the dock, Severus hurried forwards.

"Will she be alright?" he yelled anxiously. Nearby, James and Sirius sniggered.

Hagrid didn't answer; he merely reached inside his moleskin coat and whipped out a large pink umbrella - he pointed it at Lily - she coughed - water came gushing out of her mouth -

"LILY!" Severus leapt forwards, rushing to her side. "Lily! Lily, are you alright?" Remus watched as Lily furtively flushed a bright pink, obviously embarrassed. But she clutched Severus's arm for support as she struggled to stand.

Hagrid, meanwhile, glared angrily at the boy who had jinxed Lily. "And I'll report ya later," he was saying. "I'll make sure to have a word with yer Head o' House once yer Sorted." At this, the boy's stubborn expression flickered; Remus chuckled a little as he reached down to retrieve his robes. No doubt the boy was frightened about the Sorting. He had probably heard that each first year had to battle a mountain troll in order to be Sorted. But Remus knew better. Dumbledore and his father had filled him in.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, right on the place where he had been bitten. Instinctively, he jerked away, almost falling over, only to see the girl with the red hair standing there with wide eyes. Now she was wrapped in Hagrid's jacket, looking very small in the oversized coat. She was frowning slightly, staring down at Remus with those big green eyes.

Remus might've thought she was pretty if he wasn't so scared. "What?" he asked. His shoulder burned.

To Remus's surprise, her frown melted right off her face. "Thanks," she murmured, her gaze dropping. "For saving me, I mean."

Remus laughed a bit and stooped down to pick up his robes. "That's alright. It's these robes, isn't it? They're so heavy; it's impossible to swim in them, am I right?"

It took her a moment to realize that he was sparing her from embarrassment. "Oh…" She took on a serious expression. "Yes. Well."

"Yes," Remus repeated, lips pursed.

"Yes," she said again, trying her best to keep a straight face. Then, at the exact same time, they burst out laughing - she looked quite strange, flapping her arms in the too-long sleeves of Hagrid's moleskin coat. She smiled at him, extending a freckled hand. "I'm Lily. Lily Evans."

He saw himself grasp her hand and shake it warmly. "Hullo, Lily. I'm Remus."

"Remus what?" she asked jokingly.

"Lupin," he said, grinning. He noticed how small her freckled hand was in his pale, scarred one.

Just then, he heard James shout nearby. "Oy, Remus! Are you coming over here, or are you going to get married?"

Remus noticed Lily wrinkle her nose and depart for a separate boat with Severus while Remus headed over to Sirius and James; James's glasses were broken and Sirius had obviously been hit with a Tickling Charm. He was bent over, shoulders shaking with laughter.

Remus came over. "What happened."

"What happened?" James asked angrily, fingering his broken glasses. "Sirius is a prat, that's what."

"Finite," Remus muttered with a wave of his wand, pointing it at Sirius. He ran a hand wearily through his hair. "Something tells me I'm going to regret being friends with you two."

Sirius sat upright, grinning like a crazy person. "Nah," he said convincingly, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes. "Come on, get in, we'll be leaving in a second."

Remus stumbled into the boat and seated himself between James and Sirius ("So you won't kill each other," he told them.). It was hard to believe that the boats were magical; they were extremely rickety and looked like they might fall apart any second.

"Excuse me," someone murmured behind them. "Is there any - I mean, could I sit with you?" A boy stood there, the same boy who had spoken to Remus earlier. Quite short. Pale, blonde hair. Small watery eyes.

Remus smiled. "Sure." He watched as the boy clambered into the boat with them. "What's your name?"

"Peter," the boy said, returning Remus's smile. "Peter Pettigrew. Yours?"

James grabbed Peter's hand and shook it with both of his. "Pleasure to meet you, good sir. My name, which is much better than yours, by the way, is Sirius, after one of the stars in the noble constellation Canis Major-"

"I don't sound like that!" Sirius yelled, roughly shoving James, who was still talking.

"... and, if I might add, is the most admired constellation in the entire universe-"

Peter glanced at Remus. "Are they always like this?" he asked unnecessarily.

"Yes," Remus groaned.

Peter's grin widened, and he laughed a little. "Then we'll have to put up with them together, won't we? At least, for the time being."

Remus laughed too, a bit unnerved that everyone was being so friendly. But, as Peter had said before, he could enjoy himself… for the time being…

"I'm Remus," he said with an air of finality. "That's James, and he's Sirius, if you haven't figured that out already."

Peter smiled, Sirius grinned, and James chuckled. Remus leaned back, resting his hands on his knees. Perhaps this friendship would last longer than customary - for him, at least…

Hogwarts loomed over them. To Remus it seemed quite solitary, a huge, dark thing hidden in a shimmering cloud of mist, almost like it was waiting to be discovered. But despite looking cold and gloomy, the small windows and holes dotted around the castle's pointed towers glowed cheerfully, welcoming them to the magical school.

Remus had a sudden thought. I belong here.

Sirius, meanwhile, was complaining.

"I'm freezing," he muttered, folding his arms over his chest. "Could do with a hot water bottle right now, eh?"

Remus turned to him. "At least you didn't fall in the lake," he replied, just then realizing how cold he was. His teeth were chattering.

Peter grinned at him. "Blimey, looks like you just swallowed a whole box full of Ice Mice! Don't worry-" he added hastily, after seeing Remus's unamused expression. "I'm sure someone will dry you off before the Sorting."

They were interrupted by a loud knocking; Hagrid was pounding on a great door at least four times taller than he was. He banged three times on the huge oak door, and on the third time, it opened. A tall, severe-looking witch stood there, with spectacles perched on her nose and a black pointed hat sitting atop her head. "Yes, come in," she said, and the first years trickled inside, gazing around in awe at the entrance hall. The tall witch led them towards a second door, just as large as the first. She motioned for them to halt, and looked around at them with an expression that suggested extreme impatience.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said shortly. "I am Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, and it is my duty to inform you about the Sorting. Hogwarts is divided into four houses - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin (she paused dramatically after each one). Each House has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and I assure you, there is no "best House" or anything of the sort."

James snorted obviously; McGonagall glared at him. "Your House is to be like your family ("I hope it's not like my family," Sirius murmured.). And here at Hogwarts, we have a points system. Each triumph you achieve will gain your house points; any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House cup, which is a great honour."

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Sirius lean over towards James. "Five Galleons I can get more detentions than you by the end of the year."

"You're on," James said, his face oddly slack.

Peter frowned at them. "But you don't want to lose points, you want to get points! Didn't you just hear-"

"Yeah, but what fun is that?" Sirius said, grinning.

McGonagall cracked the door open and peeked through the crevice. Then closed it, smiling slightly. "We are ready for you now," she announced. Throwing open the door, she marched forwards, the awed first years trailing behind her.

What a sight. A gigantic, enormous room, ten times bigger than Remus's entire house stretched out before him. On the tiled marble floor stood four long wooden tables, each one seating several hundred students, and each one decorated differently. The one farthest to Remus's left was bedecked in green, then bronze, then blue, then red. Candles hovered above, shedding light upon the hall, illuminating the enchanted ceiling which appeared to look like a starry sky. The students seated at the tables, all different ages, whooped and cheered as the first years approached the front of the room, where a lone stool sat. Resting atop it was a very old, very wrinkled-looking hat.

Most of the first years stared up at McGonagall in surprise, and she stared back down at them. "Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." Right on cue, an elderly man rose from the main table and glided towards the podium set feet behind the stool with the hat. Remus recognized him immediately. It was Albus Dumbledore, no mistake.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. " I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the Forbidden Forest is strictly…" He smiled. "... forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch-" He signaled towards a very ragged, very grumpy looking man clutching an equally testy-looking cat. " -would like express his feelings about the behavior of students past curfew. Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you this, as most of the words he uses are inappropriate. But as a matter of fact, I found the whole situation extremely amusing-" Dumbledore broke off, his eyes twinkling. "Thank you."

James watched as Dumbledore descended from the podium. "Is he always like that?" he asked. He sounded a bit worried.

"Yes," Remus said immediately. "Yes, he is."

Peter opened his mouth to reply, but abruptly, a burst of song was heard from the front of the hall. A large rip in the rim had opened widely, almost making the hat appear like it had a mouth - apparently it did, because it was singing gaily now perched atop the stool.

There once were two wizards

Two witches there were too

They brought themselves together

And made a magic school.

Each founder's goals were different

As was how they achieved their ends.

Born was Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,

Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

The lion's house is Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart

Ravenclaw is for the clever ones, the logical, the smart

The badger claims the loyal, the friendly and the true

While Slytherin takes the cunning, no matter what you do.

This is my job, my work, you see

To Sort you, through thick and thin

And with these four Houses noble

Let the Sorting now begin!

Tentatively, the first years applauded, while the rest of the school cheered loudly. The hat, in response, bowed, then went back to looking like it was supposed to look like - an old hat. Remus was quite unnerved. Dumbledore had informed him about the Sorting Hat, of course, but it was still a hat. It wasn't supposed to talk.

McGonagall came forward again clutching a long piece of parchment; this time, she snatched up the hat and held both the hat and the parchment aloft. "When I call your name, you will come forth. I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your Houses." Casually, she glanced down at the list. "Albright, Priscilla!"

A very frightened little girl went to go sit down on the stool; McGonagall neatly place the hat on her head and stood back. For a few moments, everything was still. Remus watched the girl closely. Her mouth was moving, but her eyes were tightly closed. It looked like she was talking to herself. But suddenly, the hat sitting atop her head twitched.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted. The girl smiled, obviously relieved, and went to sit down at the table clad in bronze. The students seated there shook her hand and patted her on the back, welcoming her to their House.

McGonagall peered through her square spectacles at the parchment before her. "Black, Sirius!"

Beside Remus, Sirius paled visibly and slowly made his way towards the Sorting Hat. James watched him go, frowning.

Peter noticed. "Did you know he was a Black?" he whispered.

"No," Remus and James said at the same time. Even Remus had heard of the Blacks; his father had often raved angrily about them. They were pure-blood obsessed, snotty, and extremely disrespectful to anyone who wasn't a pure-blooded witch or wizard. The Blacks were horrible, terrible people. At least, that was what his father had said.

"What?" James said hoarsely, staring after Sirius. "He can't be a Black; the Blacks are evil!" Apparently, James's parents had filled him in too.

Sirius slid awkwardly onto the stool, now looking as white as a sheet. Peter watched him, one eyebrow raised. "He doesn't look -" He paused. "Well, he isn't nasty, is he? Like a Black?"

James shook his head. "No." Then said darkly, "But he might turn out to be."

McGonagall set the Sorting Hat on Sirius's smooth black hair and swiftly stepped backwards. An argument had seemed to erupt between Sirius and the Hat: Sirius had his eyes screwed shut and has murmuring something very fast; the Sorting Hat was muttering audibly, though Remus couldn't make it out. Finally, the Hat nodded. It's rim opened wide-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Suddenly, the hall was very silent. Frantic whispering broke out among the four tables, while the one farthest to the right, decorated in red, exploded with hollers of triumph. Sirius's grin couldn't have been wider as he descended from the stool and dashed towards the Gryffindor table. He took his seat quickly and waved at James, who seemed to have forgotten that Sirius was even related to the Blacks.

"He's gotten into Gryffindor! Well done, mate!" James called from across the hall; Sirius gave him the thumbs-up.

"He must have swallowed those Every Flavor Beans after all," Remus added, smirking.

Meanwhile, the Sorting continued.

"Braithwaite, Noah!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Barclay, Olivia!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Calveley, Ava!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The first Slytherin. But the applause remained as loud as ever; the mass of green sitting at the table farthest to the left cheered the loudest. Remus watched Ava hop off the stool and go join the Slytherin table. He wondered whether or not she knew about Slytherin's notorious reputation.

"Dolan, Harper!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Evans, Lily!"

Lily flashed a wide smile at Remus and practically sprinted up towards the Sorting Hat; she wasn't wearing Hagrid's coat anymore and she seemed almost dry, though her hair still looked a little damp.

The hat barely touched her dark-red hair. "GRYFFINDOR!" it announced. Lily grinned as the whole hall exploded with applause.

"Garrad, Logan!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Halliday, Sebastian!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Kilbee, Addison!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lupin, Remus!"

Remus's heart leapt up into his throat. His turn, already? His gaze locked onto the Sorting Hat, sitting there helplessly atop the tall wooden stool. Now that it was his turn… he was scared. He didn't want to be Sorted. What if he was Sorted into Slytherin?

Your House doesn't define who you are, Remus told himself defiantly, and advanced towards the front of the hall. It was then when he noticed that something odd had happened. All the wizards and witches seated at the staff table had swiveled round towards him, craning their necks and squinting, attempting to get a good glimpse of him. One tiny wizard with a shock of white hair was practically hopping up and down, trying to see. Remus felt himself go red. The whole teaching staff knew. Worriedly, he caught Dumbledore's eye; he just nodded and winked. Swallowing hard, he stepped up towards the Sorting Hat and clambered up onto it. Wringing his hands in his lap, Remus felt McGonagall place the hat on his head. It was so large it slipped down until it covered his eyes.

"Ah," the hat said immediately; Remus almost jumped. The hat was speaking to him! "Well, well, well. This is a first."

Remus didn't know what to say. "You know -"

"Of course I know," the hat snorted. "I can see inside your head, how else am I supposed to Sort you?"

Remus said nothing. He was embarrassed that he had been outspoken by a hat.

"Cleverness, lots of it, I see… Very talented for your age, but… hmm, not there, no… ah, there's something there, I see it, so perhaps… yes…

Remus's hands grew sweatier and sweatier in his lap. He gripped his wrist so hard his whole hand turned white.

"Good luck," the hat muttered suddenly, in a very different tone of voice. "You'll need it."

"Wait," Remus started. What did the Sorting Hat mean? Was it trying to warn him? "Wait what - ?"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat proclaimed. Remus heard himself gasp with relief; he had been Sorted into the same House as Sirius and Lily! At that very moment, Sirius stood up at the Gryffindor table and, putting two fingers in his mouth, whistled. Lily stood up too, clapping and beaming.

Remus went to go sit beside Sirius, who had recalled a solemn demeanor. "Did the Sorting Hat say anything to you?"

Sirius paused for about a minute before answering. "Nah."

"You're a bad liar," Remus pointed out, turning back towards the Sorting.

"Mann, Lucas!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Am not," Sirius shot back loudly.

"Shh!" Lily scolded, applauding as Meadowes, Dorcas and McKimmon, Marlene both joined the Gryffindor table. They seated themselves next to Lily, who promptly struck up conversation.

"Nesbitt, Carter!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Ottley, Scarlett!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

Peter squirmed uncomfortably on the stool as the Sorting Hat was set atop his head. A full three minutes passed before the hat finally reached a conclusion.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Thus Peter joined them at the Gryffindor table.

"Potter, James!" James, now visibly pale, strode forwards. Only a few seconds later -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"YES!" James shouted, pumping his fist. He dashed over to the Gryffindor table and smashed himself between Remus and Sirius. "I knew it, I knew it, I just knew it!"

"Snape, Severus!"

The hunched, bat-like boy Remus had seen in their compartment loped forward. The Sorting Hat was placed on his greasy black hair.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"No surprise there," Remus heard James mutter.

Peter grinned at them all from across the table. "Fantastic, isn't it?" he asked Remus, watching as Spack, Craven was Sorted into Ravenclaw. "We all know each other, and we've all been Sorted into Gryffindor. It's like fate, eh?"

"HO!" James said loudly before Remus could answer. "There's a looker - see her, Sirius?"

They all looked. St. Claire, Celia had just walked up to be Sorted, and McGonagall was now placing the Sorting Hat upon her blonde curly head. James was right, she was very pretty. Red lips and sapphire eyes that seemed to glimmer brightly, like two stars.

James spoke first. "She's mine."

"Is not!" Sirius objected.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat burst out. James swore under his breath as he watched the girl smile happily and flounce over to sit at the Ravenclaw table.

The Sorting quickly passed after that, and after Vance, Emmeline was Sorted into Gryffindor, Dumbledore returned to his place behind the podium once again. He was smiling broadly.

"If you are all as famished as I am," he started, winking. "There is no more need for words. Let the feast - begin!" With this word, he lifted his arms into the air; suddenly, all four House tables were groaning under what seemed like pounds and pounds of food. Whole roast turkeys sat on platters, soups and stews simmered in silver tureens, fruit, vegetables, all kinds of crisps, pitchers and jugs of sparkling drink… Remus felt his mouth fall open. He'd never seen this much food in his entire life.

James, Peter, and Sirius, meanwhile, were cheerfully helping themselves.

"I can't believe it - I wasn't Sorted into Slytherin!" Sirius shouted triumphantly, helping himself to onion stew. "I can't wait to see what Mother and Father will say-"

"Congratulations, mate," James said, a very odd look on his face. Remus caught his eye; he was still pondering Sirius's pure-blood relatives, Remus could tell.

Peter, however, had noticed nothing, and had dived into the small mound of potatoes heaped on his plate. Remus watched him for a smile, slightly amused, but in the end decided to take a bit of soup and what he thought was a peach. He scanned the hall. Everyone, unsurprisingly, was helping themselves to food and drink. Snape was looking around at the table with wonder, just like Remus. Celia had made friends almost immediately at the Ravenclaw table; she turned to look over her shoulder, caught his gaze, and smiled. Remus felt himself blush and dropped his peach into his soup.

The feast vanished and desserts appeared. Remus abandoned his soup-soaked peach and took a sponge cake. "What do you think happens after we're done?" he asked the others, taking a bite.

James waved one airy hand, the other being covered in treacle tart. "My dad said that we follow our House prefects to the Common Rooms, then our dormitories. Five to a room, I think he said?"

Remus could feel his smile vanish. Dormitories. He would be sharing a room with four other boys for the rest of the school year, no doubt through his entire time at Hogwarts. Remus's mind raced… he wasn't sure he could keep his secret if things were kept like this…

Mouth still full of food, Peter leaned across the table towards Sirius. "Oy, who's that?" he asked, nodding at the back wall. A pale girl with wavy brown hair stood there, still dressed in her Muggle apparel and looking distinctly out of place. "She's looks a bit old to still be going to Hogwarts, doesn't she?"

James turned. "Andromeda!" he said brightly, waving. She saw him and waved back.

"That's 'cause she is," Sirius murmured, somewhat cross. "My cousin - Dumbledore sent her a message along with my Hogwarts letter - urgent, apparently." He stabbed a baked potato with his fork. "I think he wants her help with something."

So Sirius disapproved. Remus didn't know why. He might've been protective of her, but she was well older than he was. Perhaps Sirius had a grudge against Dumbledore…

"Alright, that's the time!" A very tall, big-eared boy called near the end of the table. He stood, and the rest of the Gryffindors stood with him; Peter, James, Sirius and Remus all stumbled to their feet. "Gryffindor first-years, follow me! The rest of you - well, you know where you're going!" The hall echoed with laughter as three-fourths of them departed.

The big-eared boy spoke again. "My name is Liam, Liam Haverstock. I'm one of your House prefects, and I'll be showing you your dormitories along with the Gryffindor Common Room, where you'll be spending most of your time."

"Told you," James hissed elbowing Sirius in the stomach. Sirius hit him.

"Right then, follow me!" Liam announced, and promptly turned on his heel, leading them quickly towards a spiral staircase. The gaggle of first-years noisily followed, but Remus felt a warm, long-fingered hand tug on his shoulder and spin him around. Professor Dumbledore stood there, smiling once again.

"Do you mind, Mr. Lupin?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

"Not at all," Remus began, a bit confused. Peter, James, and Sirius were as well. But Remus shoved them forwards, muttering out of the corner of his mouth, "It's fine," and followed Dumbledore up a different spiral staircase, made of marble and decorated elaborately with decorative carvings. Suddenly, the staircase seemed to lurch, Remus toppled over, and everything shifted, everything seemed to be moving, everything was spinning - !

"Professor!" Remus shouted, panicked.

Dumbledore was still standing beside Remus, hands folded in front of him. "Not to worry," he replied calmly. "It's just the staircases, they like to move. We'll be there in a moment."

Moving staircases and talking hats! Remus couldn't believe it.

After ascending another moving staircase, Dumbledore and Remus found themselves standing before a rather ugly gargoyle in front of a blank wall. No other students were in sight.

Dumbledore leaned forwards as if to speak to the gargoyle. "Pear drop," he said, very slowly and clearly.

"Correct," the gargoyle muttered hoarsely, and, to Remus's astonishment, shifted aside to reveal a huge oaken door. Dumbledore pushed open the door without hesitating and marched inside.

"Come in, Mr. Lupin. This is my office."

"Your office…" Remus strode inside after him; the door shut by itself - very gently, but he could hear the resounding click! that seemed to echo all around him. Dumbledore's office, was, in fact, very large and circular, and was no doubt one of the most fascinating rooms Remus had ever been in. It was a beautiful place, with gold-trimmed portraits on the walls and a floor made of marble. It was also full of odd little sounds. Many curious silver objects sat on short, flat tables, whirring and spinning and emitting puffs of smoke, each one shaped differently. Tucked in the corner was an enormous claw-footed desk, made out of a wood that looked very expensive. On that desk lay a large piece of parchment, obviously written upon earlier that day.

Dumbledore was standing in the center of the room, watching Remus very closely. "Do you know why you're here, Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes," Remus said immediately. "Er… actually, no. Well…" He paused embarrassedly. "I have an idea." His secret. His… condition.

"You are correct," Dumbledore said without questioning Remus further.

At that moment, the oaken door sprang open again and two women hurried inside - one, tall, and dressed all in white and carrying something heavy in her pocket, the other, dumpy, with flyaway grey hair and a patched, frayed hat. There was also an excessive amount of dirt under her fingernails.

"Ah, Poppy, Pomona!" Dumbledore said, smiling cheerfully. "I was just speaking to Mr. Lupin here-"

Both women's pleasant expression's melted, and they gazed at Remus rather sadly. He felt himself frown.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "This is Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Lupin - the Head Nurse here at Hogwarts - and this is Professor Sprout, your Herbology Instructor. These are the people who will be helping you with your transformations during the school year."

Remus's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. "What?"

"Oh, don't worry." Dumbledore took on a more serious tone. "You won't be transforming inside the school." Silently, he crossed the room and turned to face an open window; he motioned for Remus to come closer. "You see here?"

Remus looked. The fogged glass and the misted grounds made it hard to see anything, but he managed to make out a huge, looming shape nearby. He could see roots about as thick as his own body, a mammoth trunk, and branches that were twisted, but looked surprisingly limber.

Remus frowned. "It's a tree."

"But not just any tree!" Professor Sprout piped up eagerly. "That's a Whomping Willow."

"A Whomping - ?"

"Willow," Dumbledore finished, yanking the curtains shut, blocking the tree from view. "It was planted solely for you, Mr. Lupin. On the evening of the full moon, Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey will lead you out of the school and towards the Whomping Willow."

"The tree will react, of course, it's in its nature-" Professor Sprout began again.

"Er - how, exactly?" Remus asked nervously.

Madam Pomfrey frowned over at Sprout. "It's called "whomping" for a reason," she murmured; Remus gulped.

"Professor Sprout has devised a way to calm the tree momentarily. When she has, Madam Pomfrey will lead you down into a tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow," Dumbledore continued, locking eyes with Remus. "She will lead you into a shack in a small village near here - Don't worry, it will be perfectly safe," he added, when Remus opened his mouth. "We've taken all the necessary precautions."

Remus could feel himself getting warmer and warmer. He had never heard a plan where so many things could go wrong. What if they didn't get to the tree in time? What if Sprout couldn't calm the Whomping Willow? What if He broke out of the shack and attacked someone? Remus shuddered. He could barely think about it.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, was steering Remus towards the door. "It's late, you ought to get off to bed," he said coolly. "Gryffindor, yes? The password, I believe, is 'Dictum Factum'... true, very true indeed…" And just like that, Remus found himself on the opposite side of the office door, standing there, startled and quite confused.

He headed up the next staircase in a dreamy state; it took him a while to realize that he actually didn't know where he was going. And he didn't until a portrait of an irritating monk screamed at him and gave him directions, demanding that he stop clumping up and down the stairs like an elephant. Flushed and sweaty, Remus finally arrived at the so-called Gryffindor Common Room entrance - a framed painting of a Fat Lady. She frowned down at him, her brown acrylic eyes narrowing.

"Password?" she demanded.

Remus was breathless; he had ran up and down several stairs. "Wha - oh, yeah, Di- Dictum Factum."

The portrait swung open and Remus rushed inside. How late was he? Late enough, apparently, because the Common Room was completely empty. The squashy, red armchairs were bare, and the fire in the fireplace had gone out - it was still smoking. Remus found the whole situation rather sad.

At that moment, Sirius came sliding down something out of nowhere; a banister of a staircase, leading up to somewhere Remus couldn't see. Sirius, of course, wasn't looking where he was going, and didn't bother to slow down. He fell right on top of Remus.

"OOMPH!"

Sirius glanced down. "Oh, there you are. We were wondering where you'd gone to."

"So was I," Remus muttered, pushing Sirius off him and getting to his feet. "Is this the Common Room? Do you know where my dormitory is? Who are my roommates?" He did his best not to sound anxious while asking all these questions, but he knew he failed miserably. Sirius, thankfully, did not seem to notice. His face lit up like a beacon.

"OH! Yeah, I know who your roommates are. In fact, they're the best people ever, and… oh, oh, there's this one guy who's really good-looking, and I think his name is Sirius - !"

Remus groaned. "Are you kidding me?"

Sirius frowned. "No! I swear, he's really good-looking!"

Remus found himself smirking. "Fine. Let me guess - I'm sharing a dormitory with you, James, and Peter?"

"Yep."

Remus counted on his fingers. "Then… who's the other one? Didn't James say that there were five to a dormitory?"

Sirius's grin, if possible, got even wider. "That's the best part! See, James was right, there are five to a dormitory. But the thing is - we got the very last room, and that one only has space for four…"

"I'm not going to survive the first semester," Remus murmured, beginning to ascend the winding staircase leading to his dormitory. It was, in Sirius's case, a joke, but Remus meant it literally as well. He was already friends with the four boys in his dormitory… no doubt they would tell everything about themselves… no secrets, no lies…

Remus swallowed. He just had to make sure they didn't find out his biggest secret of all.

#jamespotter #siriusblack #remuslupin #peterpettigrew #lilyevans #severussnape #mmkierkegaard #hollowhill #thelastcompartment #themarauders #maraudersnovels

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