#cody worried about the crystal

[yunamiudon]

The crystal 💎✨🌟💫

(I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since I painted this! ↓)

[subbing-for-clones]

The Defective Jedi

Chapter 1

Word count: 2.2k

Trigger Warnings: None really, just some fighting

Every day you tried to forget and yet almost every night you remembered. Wandering through the crystal caves of Ilum was horribly cold and felt so lonely. You were never particularly strong with the force but you always felt it. That connection between all things living and the energy it permeated, but when you entered the cave you felt, nothing. Why did you feel nothing?

You heard the other younglings yipping in happiness and laughing in triumph as one by one they found their kyber crystals and still, nothing called for you. Time was running out before the entrance became a wall of ice with no escape and even as a child you accepted defeat before you accepted death. You were the last to leave and the only one who was left empty handed. You would remember the disappointed look of Master Yoda forever, his eyes turned to the snow beneath his feet with a pained look before he looked back up at you.

It wasn’t long after that you were sent back home to Lothal. You had taken your parents pride and sullied it with failure and you don’t think they ever forgave you for it. It was true, you had failed before you even really got started. Your connection to the force just wasn’t strong enough to be a Jedi.

Still, you refused to let the connection go. You spent your formative years practicing the techniques you were able to learn in your short time studying under the jedi. Hours meditating every rotation searching for that warmth. You did find it; you could still feel it and so you taught yourself as much as you could.

Once you were able to venture out on your own you left Lothal and your parents’ resentment behind. Never really setting up a home; you joined a bounty hunter’s guild instead and used your abilities to become a fairly prolific hunter. It was during these years that all hell broke lose as war erupted all over the galaxy.

Only one year in and it wasn’t looking good. Hundreds of Jedi had fallen to the separatist forces and they needed help. This was when a desperate plea rang across the galaxy for the aid of anyone with force sensitive capabilities to come and join the fight for the republic. Whether it was out of the desire to help or need to prove yourself to the ones who threw you out you weren’t sure; still you answered their call.

You were tested and trained in a group of others with similar stories to your own under several rotating Jedi. At the end of your training, you were assigned to be exactly what you already were; a fighter. You were assigned to various squads as aid and back up; using your intuition, strategy skills and your fighting expertise on the battle field with the clones. You’d never hold a rank above a grunt but you didn’t care. Every victory was a curse on the Jedi for giving you up.

After months of rotating between battalions you were about to receive your permanent assignment. Clone Force 99, a rag tag team of four, apparently defective, clones. The irony didn’t escape you.

“Why are we getting a Jedi?” Hunter asked the hologram of Cody. The others standing back but still in view of the commander.

“She’s not a Jedi, she’s one of the force sensitives the Jedi asked to join the cause. She doesn’t hold rank over you, you’re still in charge.”

“I don’t like it.” Sneered Crosshair.

“Well, you don’t have much of a choice. The higher ups want these people sprinkled out through all the squads in case of a Sith attack. The Jedi worry about them rising up with the appearance of a few and quite frankly, no clone stands a chance agianst them. They can wipe out battalions.”

“When is she joining and for how long?” The Sergent was growing impatient and didn’t like the idea of a new member being added to their group.

“She’s waiting on Kamino for you now so you’ll meet her upon arrival, she’ll be with you until the war is over or until she runs as fast as she can away from you.” The commander had a small smirk on his face that Hunter mirrored. The idea of sending a Jedi, or whatever, running amused him.

            Once they touched down on Kamino three out of the four were sightly on edge with the exception or Wrecker who seemed rather excited. He was generally the most welcoming. The worry melted away as soon as they laid eyes on you. You really didn’t look like a Jedi at all. You looked like an operative. Instead of a robe you wore black armor and in the place of a lightsaber at your hip, you had a blaster and a large curved vibro-blade.

Crosshair couldn’t help but eye you up and down the armor looked good on you. You took each of them in once you took your helmet off and introduced yourself to your new companions, a dance you’ve done before. Wrecker was kind enough to grab the two crates of your belongings and load them onto the ship. There wasn’t much time for pleasantries before you received your first mission. You were to extract data from an outpost on Teth and upload it straight to Cody. Information about prisoners of war and where they were being held was your main objective. Anything else was an added bonus. You all loaded onto the ship after eating a hearty meal in the cafeteria.

In the back of the ship next to the bunks you unpacked a few things from your crates.

“Whatchya got there?” Wrecker asked excitedly.

“Ill eat a loth cat before I sleep in GAR issued blankets.” He laughed heartily at your response and left you to continue. You didn’t have any photos to hang or many personal items at all for that matter but that’s how you’ve lived for the last few years anyway.

            Once you were finished you made your way to the common area where the clones were discussing strategy. Quietly you took the empty seat between Tech and Crosshair. The outpost was situated in the middle of the jungle. Intel reported minimal guards as it wasn’t a main base but still enough that you all decided stealth was your best option.

            Once the plan had been formulated they all looked at you expectedly.

“What is it?” you asked.

“So why didn’t you become a Jedi?” Tech asked outright, Hunter elbowed him but didn’t faze the goggled soldier.

“I tried but, well they decided I wasn’t strong enough. I’m closer to the force than most people but not close enough to be a Jedi.”

“You’re defective like us!” Wrecker shouted with glee, earning an elbow from Hunter as well. You actually laughed a bit.

“Yeah, you could say that. I’ve used my abilities as a bounty hunter since I left Lothal until I joined the GAR.”

            Crosshair watched you out of the corner of his eye. You really weren’t what they thought you would be at all. You weren’t a religious zealot you were just someone trying to find their way in the galaxy like the rest of them. He admired that, the honesty too. You weren’t trying to be something you’re not.

            That night in hyperspace you tossed and turned in your new bunk. Nightmares from close calls on a hunt filled your mind. You were often reminded of the times you came close to getting killed before a mission. Eventually you gave up and made your way toward the cockpit. You enjoyed meditating under the blue streaking lights. You were surprised to see that someone had beat you to it. The lithe handsome sniper sat in the pilot’s chair cleaning his fire puncher and mouthing a tooth pick.

            He looked up at you slightly taken aback by your appearance. Quickly he composed himself and half waved his arm at the other seat as a silent invitation.

“Sorry for intruding, I just couldn’t sleep.”

“You’re not.”

You were starting to like the way words seemed to slither off his tongue. You nodded a thanks to him and turned to watch the stars soaring by at light speed. Both you sat in silence for a few minutes before he opened and shut his mouth, wanting to ask you something but Cross wasn’t sure if it was out of turn.

He mentally shrugged and asked, “So why did you join the GAR?”

“Is one part brave three parts fool a believable answer?”

“I doubt you’re a fool.”

“Well, we’ll see if you keep that opinion,” you chuckled and earned an upturn of the corner of his mouth.

“Honestly? I found it ironic that the Jedi needed our help now. I don’t hold too much resentment agianst them but I do want to prove myself as valuable. Besides, things make sense out here.”

“How so?” He turned in his chair to face you and put his rifle down for a moment. You glanced at him and shrugged your shoulders.

“There’s no confusion right now. We fight agianst Separatists and clankers. I’m sure there are good people on those planets but this is the side I chose to fight for so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Crosshair digested your words and offered “We didn’t get a choice.”

“If you did, what would you be doing?”

“That’s a difficult question to answer, I’ve never let myself be hypothetical like that before because there isn’t a choice. I.. We’re property of the GAR just like my rifle and this ship. Don’t tell Tech that though, it’s his ship in his mind.”

You giggled a bit at that and nodded your head in understanding.

“I spent so much time hunting and fighting bounties that this just seemed like a natural course of action. I can’t see myself doing anything else instead now.”

Crosshair picked up his fire puncher again and resumed cleaning it. You watched him for a while before turning back to the lights and closing your eyes. You reached out through the force trying to feel the Purgill you swore you heard. What you didn’t sense was Crosshair watching you intently.

            You were going over the mission plan one last time while Tech was putting down the ship a few clicks away from the objective point. The jungle terrain was difficult to get through but not too much of a problem. The closer you got the more the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. Cross left your group close to the outpost to climb one of the giant trees for a better vantage point.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” you whispered to the Sergent.

He nodded in response, seemingly sensing something as well. The post was supposed to be guarded by droids with a few officers scattered throughout but something was off. No perimeter defense and no guards posted outside. Your group made their way around to a side door shown on the schematics and while Tech was overriding security, you Hunter and Wrecker kept watch. You could Feel Crosshair’s eyes on you and it gave you an overwhelming sense of security knowing he was watching over you.

            Three droids were posted on the inside of the door and as soon as you were in Wrecker crushed one agianst the wall, Hunter stabbed one in the chest and you took the last one’s head off with your long viroblade. Quickly you dashed in and made your way through the base looking for a data port. Tech found one on a lower level and plugged in, searching the database until he found what he needed.  

“It seems there are around fifty clones being held captive for questioning on a moon in the outer rim. There are also schematics for the spider droids here…” Tech prattled on interesting things he was downloading until Hunter shushed him and signaled for him to hurry up. That’s when the alarm sounded.

“We gotta go, now.” You stated with certainty. Trusting your instinct the boys packed up and started running back up to the way out. Once the door was insight, a wall of droids emerged and started firing at you. You fell back around a corner and started shooting them with your blaster looking for a weak point in the wall.

“Wrecker throw a smoke grenade,” Hunter barked.

“On it!” Wrecker tossed two creating a large fog that allowed you to step out, you reached out your hand and with a little struggle, used the force to loosen a wall panel until it flew into the side of the droid squad, pinning them to the opposite wall.

“HA HA NICE!” Wrecker shouted.

The four of you ran like hell out of the outpost to find several fallen droids, courtesy of the reliable sniper.

Once the five of you were back on the ship and Tech was taking off Wrecker was excitedly telling Crosshair how you threw a wall at a bunch of droids, taking out ten in one go. There seemed to be an impressed glint in his eye.

“That was good work back there,” Hunter told you sincerely. You smiled and thanked him, watching as the data was sent through encryption straight to Cody to do with as he saw fit.

Your first mission with the squad, a success you exchanged a smile with the sniper and sat in your victory.

[imaginatorcreates]

The Train to Somewhere

28 July 2023 — 02 August 2023

Summary: A journey to the closest city seems like a simple thing. Just pack your bags, buy a one-way ticket, and board the right train. However, something deep within you summons a different route, and alongside it, an experience of a lifetime.

Word Count: ~7.1k words

Author's Notes: This is an experimental piece, but it's one that I find to be very dear to me. Featuring a character I made a long time ago, but never really found a place to put them. It's written in 2nd person POV, A.K.A. "you". However, for those of you who are worried that it's written to be like a "y/n", I promise you that you can Ctrl+F and see no use of such term in the fic. You can interpret it to be such if you wish it so, and I wouldn't mind it.

I would like to thank @isleofair and someone else IRL💕 for helping me beta read this! The tenses in here tripped me up a bit and some of the description in here needed to be nailed to brass tacks to keep this train on the rails and not floating in space, ha ha ha!

Oh! Music! I suggest Underground by Cody Fry, and a little tune I made (tune 25, All Aboard!). Of course, you can also listen to most other music, but these two are very train-like.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Also available on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49087417

The train station is busy, as it always is during the rush hour. Beings shuffle to and fro, suitcase wheels clattering on the ground. Briefcases and bags are slung over shoulders and backs, and hands grasp handles tight.

Some beings grumble about the lack of magic in the city, saying how smoke- and steam-powered machinery are inefficient in comparison. From that alone, it’s clear that they aren’t from around here. If it isn’t clear from their words, then it’s seen through how they carry themselves. Their hands are light and fast as they wave them in an effort to cast spells, their fingers bending in complex shapes. Sometimes, they reach for a focus. But every single time, their spells emerge weak and, in the more amateur ones, sputter out as the city refuses to let natural magic flourish here.

“It’s the blasted ley lines!” someone proclaims. “This damn city is too far from them to allow us to properly engage in magic!”

“No, I bet it’s the large deposit of magical ore and crystals located beneath the city!” someone else counters. “Those are sucking up all our magic and storing it for themselves!”

In all entirety, no one really knows.

Most of the citizens of the city are content with just that. Not knowing why magic doesn’t work in their home. It is a natural part of everyday life here, so why bother to change it?

Clearly, this does not stop the outsiders from grumbling.

The prevalent scent of smoke wafts through the air and clings onto the clothing of everyone that passes through the train station. Steam hisses as trains start and stop, a shrill whistle accompanying them. Beings yell and toss words around, trying to be heard over everyone else, but especially the machines. Vendors try their luck to sell small snacks and nicknacks, with some more successful than others as smug smiles and annoyed sneers are exchanged.

The section where the trains pull into the station are always at least a few degrees warmer than the surrounding weather, especially as trains arrive. Despite this, a chilly autumn wind blows through and bites through your brown coat. Whoever designed this station found great pleasure in making people wait for their trains to pull in outside, away from the interior of where tickets are sold.

You shiver and pull your coat closer to your body as you lightly kick at your suitcase. It wasn’t a strong kick by any means, just enough to lightly nudge the suitcase forward a little. However, you underestimate the will of your suitcase to stay standing as it rolls over a small bump on the floor of the platform and tips forward, insistent to fall over and alert everyone waiting for the train that you can’t keep your suitcase still.

You reach for the upright handle and grab it before it completes its dastardly plan. You softly click your tongue at the prevented disaster and let out a sigh as the station clock chimes top of the hour. The trains boast to run “on time”, every ten minutes from the start of the hour, or every half hour for longer journeys. However, everyone who lives in this city knows that there is always a predictable delay that never lasts more than five minutes. Said delay makes the outsiders grumble louder and curse at their inability to simply teleport to their next destination, and makes everyone who overhears them roll their eyes when they’re certain they’re not being watched.

The next few minutes pass by slowly. You keep an eye on the clock, and alternate between watching your surroundings and watching for your train to pull in. Beings around you do the same, some of them sporting a small and portable clock in their pockets that they pull out and watch instead of the big station clock. Others chat amongst themselves or sooth impatient children lest they start to wreak havoc.

You can tell which beings are taking a shorter trip, and which ones are going to be train-hopping across the country. Briefcases usually imply shorter business trips within the city, where taking the train is easier than walking between the various sections. Backpacks are a coin toss, and suitcases like what you have imply a longer journey.

What you have in mind, can it be classified as such? A longer journey, that is. You don’t even have an end destination in mind; just a one-way ticket to the nearest city, one that is better built near a ley line and better for magic casters and their crafts.

You are not a magic caster. No one in your immediate family is a magic caster. Now, you won’t say the same for extended family, but there is a reason why you aren’t sure. They are extended family, not immediate family, and whatever goes on beyond the immediate scope goes over your head.

Three minutes pass. As the second hand of the train station clock passes twelve, a shrill whistle startles you out of your thoughts. You turn your attention to the tracks and watch as a train with several cars pulls into the station. It is a little on the older side, yet sturdy. Its silver coat of paint perfectly highlights black bolts and other screws that keep the train together. A single, bright light shines out the front of it and steam billows from the train, creating thick clouds around itself and the station platform as it screeches to a halt. The whistle blows once again and the doors open.

There are either multiple workers inside the train, or this is one of those experimental ones where the machinery allows multiple doors to open and close at once.

You grab your suitcase and walk towards the train. The wheels rattle on the bumpy caution stripe and your suitcase wheels briefly catch on the gap between the train platform and the train’s interior. You pick up your suitcase and move it over the gap. Your shoes and the suitcase wheels touch the floor of the train’s polished wooden interior and it hits you how different this train is from others that you have ridden in the past.

This train car does not have the standard seats in neat rows that you are used to when boarding passenger cars. Instead, this specific passenger car is divided into small rooms with a slim hallway. Glass covers envelop flickering light bulbs as if mimicking lanterns on the walls of the hallway. The doors to the rooms have a small window with frosted glass, so any efforts to peek inside the rooms are fruitless. Your ticket is for a long journey, so maybe this is an unforeseen upgrade. If it is, you’re grateful for it.

You know the assigned number, so you locate your room with ease and slide open the door. Within your room, two lights briefly flicker. Your assigned room is located in a sleeper car, as one of the seats is already converted into a bed. The sheets are folded and have a diamond-pattern on them with a slightly raised texture to them. The pillow is plump and cold. A small light with a switch is near the head of the bed, and the light is currently off. Across from the bed is a cushioned seat with the same diamond pattern on the sheets, though not as textured. You can safely assume that if you unfold this seat as well, a second bed will be revealed. Above both ends of the room are wire racks to store luggage.

You remove a few things from your suitcase and set them on your seat before you hoist it up onto the wire racks using the seat to support your knees. The window is currently blocked off with a shade, and despite your best efforts, the chain that one uses to raise the shade is stuck. You don’t want to pay extra for breaking something in here that isn’t yours, so you suck it up and decide to spend the next several hours with no scenery to watch.

You take your seat and tug on the metal chain a little bit more. It’s one of those confusing ones, the one with small metal orbs interlocked with more metal in between them. The one with a special latch that keeps the ends locked together, but when one bends the latch a little bit too much, the locking gap widens too much and it becomes useless.

The whistle blows and the train lurches forward. The wheels chug rhythmically and the power of it sends small vibrations through the floor up your feet and through your body. You raise your feet off the ground for a second, think a little, then kick off your shoes. You nudge them against the wall with your feet and adjust your seating position so you can lounge atop the seat. You are traveling alone, and no one seems to be assigned to your room, so you might as well take advantage of the space to yourself.

You look at a few of your removed items: a notepad and pen, some books, and some snacks. You push your snacks aside and pick up a book instead. It’s one of your favorites, so you’ve already read it front to back several times. However, it’s a classic, and your favorite for a reason.

You open it up and start to read, already falling into the story crafted by the author. The immersion isn’t as amazing as when you first read it, but immersion is immersion.

You only manage to read the first chapter when a knock on your door easily takes you out of your engagement with the book. 

“Conductor!” an androgynous voice says through the closed door. “I’m here to punch your ticket!”

You give a short shout to hold on a moment. You close your book and kick on your shoes before you slide open the door.

Now, you’re not easily surprised. You’ve had your startles, but your surprised moments are few and far in between.

But standing in front of you is a surprise: a non-organic being.

The being stands at around average height, maybe just a tad under it. Sheets of metal cover the being like skin, or at least that’s what you can surmise based on what you can see from the rolled-up sleeves of the being’s white button-down. You can spot some thick metal cables and wires on the inside of the being’s elbow, but whether that continues in the being’s upper arm or if the “metal skin” makes a reappearance is unknown. You can almost see the hinges on the elbow joint as the inorganic being tips its conductor hat at you, reaches into the pocket of its navy vest, and pulls out a small hole punch.

“Ticket?”

The voice emerges from a speaker placed where a mouth should be.

You nod, almost embarrassed to be caught staring at the being. Will it interpret your staring as curiosity or as a lack of courtesy? You push that question to the back of your mind as you reach into your coat pocket and give the being your ticket.

The being takes your ticket and flips it around as if quickly skimming it. The aperture of its eyes shrinks slightly. “This is not the ticket I’m looking for.”

“What?” you say. “That can’t be true. I bought that ticket and it was given its first punch when I entered the station platform.” You point to the initial punch on the ticket.

The being tuts. “I said what I mean. This is not the ticket I’m looking for.”

Your face starts to heat up and your pitch raises a little. “I checked the train and the time. This is the train I was to board!”

“Yes, that’s true,” the being says, “but have you, perhaps, checked your other pockets?” It tilts its head slightly at you. If it had a proper face, you might think it was trying to stifle a smile at you.

You entertain it and check your other pockets. You dip your head down a little to hide your quickly reddening face, and spot the being wearing what you think is a navy skirt that ends at just above the ankles.

Oh. So…the being identifies as…female?

As if your mind just couldn’t handle all the surprises this train was throwing at you, you gain another surprise. In a pocket located on the inside of your coat, you feel a small, smooth piece of paper. You slowly pull it out and look at it. It’s the same size as your actual train ticket, but the texture is slightly different. It’s smoother and less likely to crease, almost as if there’s such a thing as paper silk. It’s slightly shiny and reflective as well, and the word “IRONHORSE” is printed on both sides. The word overlays a simplified image of the train you’re riding alongside a simple border with curled corners.

On one of the corners, you see two lines of words that cause your confusion around this situation to grow.

Departure: Today

Arrival: ???

“Ah! That’s the ticket I’m looking for!” the being exclaims. It — she? — holds out a gloved hand.

You give it to the being and watch as it punches a hole next to your departure date. It hands it back to you and you see that ‘Today’ now says an exact date and time.

“Well, enjoy your trip,” the inorganic being says as it tips its hat again and closes the door of your room with a soft click. You can still see its head through the small frosted glass window, the aperture of its eyes widening and the light in them dimming a little before it turns and walks away down the hall.

You stand there for a few moments, the strange ticket still in your hands. If your grip was any looser on the ticket, it might slip away and slide underneath the door. While it’s an easy fix to simply open the door and grab your ticket if it ever happens, the prospect of facing the conductor again after your…less than stellar first encounter isn’t something that you’re particularly looking forward to.

You look at your ticket again. It screams “IRONHORSE” back at you. It screams its odd departure and arrival date. It doesn’t bite your fingers like the train ticket to your original train, so you stuff it back into the pocket where you found it before it decides to fly out of your grasp.

Oh. Your original train.

This isn’t your train, surprise ticket be damned.

You rush towards the door of your room and slide it open. If you were lucky, you might be able to catch the strange conductor in between its rounds of punching tickets.

You stick your head out and swivel it from side to side. Lo and behold, the strange conductor is stepping out of a different room and sliding the door shut. It turns towards you and its camera-like eyes adjust upon seeing you. “Hello again!” it calls out to you with a small wave as it pockets its hole punch. “Is something the matter?”

You pull out both of your tickets as you approach the inorganic conductor, holding one in each of your hands to better compare them. “This isn’t my train,” you say, almost shoving the tickets in the face(?) of the conductor. “You need to drop me off at the next available station and let me switch to my actual train!”

The conductor takes a step back and takes your tickets in its gloved hands. Its eyes adjust as it looks at both tickets, flipping them both over and reading the small print on each of them. It hands them both back to you and shakes its head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Dread fills you. It’s heavy and settles into your stomach before firing at all of your nerves. You paid for your train ticket, you should be able to get your money’s worth and arrive at your intended destination without another major hitch! “Why?” you ask. “Why can’t you do that?”

A whirring noise that you remember hearing when the conductor first entered your room slowly grows louder. The conductor shakes its head again. “This train doesn’t have any other stops for the next several hours.”

“What?” you slowly exhale. Your city is the biggest hub of trains traveling in and out of it. The closest city to here is not more than an hour away. “You’re pulling my leg.”

The conductor’s eyes briefly glance at your legs before returning to hold your gaze. “I assure you, I’m not. Literally, or metaphorically.” It gives you what you can only imagine to be a sympathetic look before it says, “Now, whether this train travels faster to your intended destination all depends on you.” One of its hands reaches up and lightly pokes you in the chest. Even through the gloves it wears and through your own layers, it is a cold and hard poke.

“Up to me?” you scoff as you push the conductor’s hand back. “Isn’t it up to the railroad engineer?”

“There is no engineer on board.”

Your mouth dries. Your eyes narrow at it and you shuffle back a little. “Excuse you?” you ask in disbelief after you swallow.

“I wish to be excused.”

“This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not making a joke.”

The train isn’t equipped with the emergency escape hammer. Whenever you travel, you always see at least one per train car that beings use to crack the corners of the window to escape just in case. Your eyes scan your surroundings. The windows in the hallway where you and the conductor stand all have their shades down, with the mechanism to pull them up and down being controlled with a metal chain.

You hope that these shades are less finicky than the one in your room.

You suddenly grab one and yank downwards with all your strength.

The train shudders and starts to wobble. It creaks and a whistle blows. You gasp and keep your grip on the metal chain as the train tips from side to side. Your weight pulls more on the metal chain and the whistle continues to blow.

“Excuse me for this!” the conductor exclaims as it reaches for you and steadies you. Its stance is wide as it sways against the unexpected tilts of the train and it pulls you a bit closer to itself. One hand remains on your back as it gently pries your fingers off the metal chain and gently caresses the wall of the train.

Slowly, the train stabilizes its route. The whistle cuts off and the creaks quiet down. The conductor slowly releases its embrace and backs away from you, one of its hands still caressing the wall of the train. Its attention is focused on the train, so it doesn’t seem to notice your flustered expression or your mouth sounding out your favorite curse words.

“How are we still on the tracks?” you ask after you sufficiently collected yourself. “I’m pretty sure that we should’ve derailed back there.”

The conductor turns its gaze back to you. It seems…mad at you. Not so much so that you felt like you’re in any physical danger, but enough to feel like you’re about to take on a scolding. “You hurt Ironhorse,” it says with a steady intonation.

“The — the train?” you exclaim. Your voice raises as you point an accusatory finger at the conductor. “We nearly got derailed — we could’ve died! And your main concern is — !”

The conductor’s eyes narrow at you and the whirring noise escalates. It dawns on you that what you’re hearing are the fans of the conductor, working harder to cool it down and causing some of its clothing to flutter slightly.

You drop your finger.

The conductor’s speaker crackles as it says, “You hurt Ironhorse. You hurt the train. You hurt my friend.” Its free hand curls into a fist and it holds your gaze, the only noise coming from the rhythmic chugging of the train and the conductor’s fans.

After a few moments, the conductor’s speaker crackles again and it shakes its head. “You can’t leave this train,” it says to you before it removes its hand from the wall of the train. “Ironhorse, raise the shades. An image speaks more than words for now.”

A lighter, almost breathier whistle seems to answer the conductor before all the blinds in the hallway simultaneously raise. From the corner of your eye, you expect to see greenery. Maybe hills or a distant mountain.

Dark blues capture your attention. You turn your full attention to the scene outside the window and feel your heart stutter for a few moments. Outside the window isn’t greenery or even mountains. Instead the train chugs past a chunk of rock as it floats past you. An endless sea of darkness broken only by vast expanses of colorful clouds. Bright stars seem so close to the touch as the train curves around them, and a flash passes by in your vision.

Make a wish, you childishly think.

A shooting star. In the darkness. In the darkness all around you. Floating rocks.

You’re in space.

You feel your breath grow heavy, almost as if you only now realize that oxygen is important and where you are, there’s an obvious lack of it. You back away from the window and you take a few forced breaths through your mouth. Your back hits a shut door and you glance at the conductor out of the corner of your eye.

It places a gloved hand onto a window and looks at the scenery with what you can only describe to be whimsy. You think if you had the guts to peer closer, you might see something akin to sparkles in its eyes.

The conductor tilts its head to glance back at you and you quickly turn away. Your warming and reddening face at being caught seems to give away your guilt, because the conductor says nothing before it enters a room, the door shutting with a click behind it.

You’re left standing there with nothing but a racing mind, a blushing face, and the passing scenery. You opt to admire the scenery for a little longer to calm yourself down before reentering your own room. As you close the door behind you, you hear a metallic rattle and turn to see the shade over your window slowly raise. After the full window is exposed, the shade stops moving and a small creek echoes through your assigned room.

“Thank you…um, Ironhorse,” you say. The concept of thanking what you can only assume to be the train is foreign to you, and the word feels heavy on your tongue as you say it aloud. However, a creak in response to your words makes you chuckle to yourself.

“That’s your name, I’m assuming?” you ask as you sit back down on your seat where your items sat unattended.

Another creak.

“It’s a nice name.” You kick your shoes back off and return to your lounging position. As you open your book, you crane your neck to look outside. You continue to pass what you can guess are stars and galaxies and space rocks as Ironhorse chugs along a path that only it knows. “Do you ever get lost out here?”

Two creeks.

Okay, you can make a safe guess that one means yes and two means no.

“Do you travel here often?”

Three creeks.

“So, you take a different route each time?”

Three creeks again.

You feel as if you’re not getting anywhere with this route of questioning. You change topics to something that bothers you. “Did I hurt you badly earlier?”

Two creeks. A negative.

You let out a breath. “That’s good.” You close your book and let silence fill the air for a few minutes. “I’m sorry for that. Do you forgive me?”

One creek.

“Okay.” You open your book and try to focus on the printed words on the pages again. However, your mind keeps drifting to the scenery outside. That combined with the steady thump of the train and the late time of your departure causes you to keep startling yourself awake as your head keeps tilting too far to one side or when your foot twitches and suddenly you feel as if you’re falling.

Maybe you need a quick nap.

You close your book and leave it on the seat next to your other things. You nudge your shoes to the premade bed with your feet and sit on the mattress. You let out a soft sigh as the mattress is so much softer than you expect. You roll over and rest your head on the pillow. Five minutes, you promise yourself. Five minutes and you’ll get back up, you lie to yourself.

Your eyes flutter shut and you’re out faster than a light.

(In your drowsy state, as you stir and partially wake up, you find the room darker. Someone has turned off the lights. It wasn’t you.)

(A different time, in the dark of the room, you hear quiet fans whirr and pages slowly flip. You squint your eyes open a little and see someone sitting on the seat across from you, reading your books. The light from its eyes is dimmed so as not to disturb you. As you shift to a better sleeping position, you catch the being briefly glance up at you before returning its gaze back to the pages.)

Many, many “five minutes” later — how many hours did you sleep for? — you awaken. It’s still dark outside, and it’s still dark inside your room. You stretch and lay in bed for a few more minutes. Waking up from a comfortable bed is never easy.

As you clear the foggines of sleep from your head, you turn your head and see the conductor sitting in the seat across from you. Its head is leaned against the open window and your books are placed back where you last found them. Its hat is askew on its head and blocks a direct view to its face. Its arms are crossed against its chest and its legs are positioned in such a way that you can see that it’s wearing wide pants, not a skirt.

Oh. Oops.

You shake off your mistake and put your shoes back on. You fix the bed a little and quietly approach the conductor. Its shoulders don’t rise and fall like living beings do, so you can’t rely on that to know if it's asleep.

(Do beings like it even sleep?)

The fans are barely running, so you assume that it doesn’t need those right now. You gingerly reach out and nudge the hat so it sits properly on its head. Now that you’re looking closer at the being, you notice that its eyes have a built-in lens cover activated.

One of the covers opens and an eye light flickers on.

You barely stifle a gasp of surprise as you stumble back. “Augh!” The back of your knees hit the bed and you end up sitting atop the bed that you just remade.

The conductor slowly shifts its position and appears to fully wake up. The fans start whirring a bit louder again as the being bends all of its limbs around. Well, you don’t expect the being to stretch like you do lest it dislocates a limb or pops a bolt off, but it’s still odd to see this fully mechanical being go through the motions of waking up.

“Hello,” it says to you as it stands up and fixes its hat. “I hope you’ll forgive me for occupying the same room as yourself.” It clicks on the lights in your room.

You slowly shake your head. “Not at all. You…feel asleep?” you ask, despite your hesitation over the proper terms to use.

“For lack of better terms, yes,” it says. It looks out the window and gently taps the walls of the train. “Did you sleep well?”

You give a silent nod.

“Good.”

Silence befalls the two of you for a while, broken only by the train traveling along and the conductor’s fans. You scurry over to grab your things and move them onto the bed. You eye your snacks, then quickly glance at the conductor. Would it be rude to eat in front of someone who can’t?

You decide to not test your theory.

Silence.

Then —

“Is this punishment?” you ask.

The conductor turns towards you and tilts its head a little. “Punishment?”

“Am I stuck on this train forever?”

A pause. Then, the speaker crackles softly as the conductor laughs. Its shoulders shake and its eyelights glow brightly. It quickly notices you staring at it and taps its throat. “Forgive me for my outburst,” it chuckles, “but no. You’re not stuck here forever.”

You let out a sigh of relief.

“That is, unless you want to stay here forever.”

And your mind starts to race again.

The conductor raises its hands. “And I’m not threatening you, I promise.” It takes a step towards you and crouches a little so the two of you are on equal eye level. “If you choose to leave, whenever that may be, then you’re free to do so. But, if you choose to stay here, then you’ll most likely be here forever.” It straightens back up to its full height and looks back out the window. “I speak from experience.”

“But, you’re — ”

“Not alive?” The conductor’s speaker crackles. “I guarantee that I’ve heard that statement thrown at me many times. And every single time, I give the same rebuttal.” It turns its full attention back to you and places a hand over its chest. “What makes you think that I am not afraid of dying?”

The topic of death is always a taboo one. Beings don’t like talking about it. If one does, then one works around death, and therefore beings don’t like talking with them either. Necromancers, those who are brought back from the dead, and those who stick around beyond the grave are subject to side-eyes and whispers.

However, there’s no escape from this conversation with the conductor, who looks at you with such a gaze as if it was baring its soul to you with that question. Its hand, previously flat over its chest, starts to curl inwards as its fingers bend, almost as if grasping at something.

“Are you afraid of dying?” you ask back. Sure, it might be rude to simply fire the question back, but your clear answers of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ might be met with skepticism.

“Not exactly dying in a traditional sense as if you, but no longer existing.” The conductor gradually drops its hand back to its side. “I’ve been with Ironhorse for so long that my crystal battery has most likely gone past its natural limits. If I were to step outside, how would time work with me? Would the years catch up with me? Or would it be like I had blinked away for a millisecond?

“Besides,” the conductor adds as it lightly hits its head against the wall of the train, “Ironhorse would be lonely.”

The train creaks and a whistle blows.

The conductor’s speaker crackles again as it taps the walls in jest. “Now, don’t be getting all sentimental back on me, Ironhorse! You and I both know that you would miss me too if I decide to leave.”

The door to your room opens a crack and shuts with force.

“Touché Ironhorse.”

You watch the interaction between the two mechanical beings with curiosity and a hint of nostalgia. It’s as if you’re invited to a family gathering and you see two members catch up with each other, bouncing off words and gestures in some language that you don’t understand but whose meaning is still conveyed clearly.

“Sorry for assuming otherwise then,” you answer. “You’re just…so different, and this entire situation is so off-putting at first. If I’m honest, then this is still off-putting, like it’s all a dream.” You rub your head and murmur, “Is this a dream?”

“No,” the conductor whispers. “I promise this isn’t a dream. This is dream-like, but it’s real.”

“Then why am I here if not for a dream?”

“That’s a question that I cannot answer.” The conductor reaches forward and gently taps your forehead with a gloved finger. It’s still cold and hard. “However, you called for this train for a reason. May it be loneliness, being adrift in life, anger at the world, melancholy, or some other emotion that I cannot fathom. But you called for this train, and I cannot let you leave it until you figure out why you did.”

“What of the world outside?” you ask back. “You said that you exist outside of time.”

“I exist outside of time, as does Ironhorse. You do not. Whenever you step out of this train, you will find yourself exactly where you need to be.” The conductor gives you a reassuring nod and removes its hat before backing up to give you a bow. “I have danced this dance and played this game with many others before you, and I will do the same with many others after you. All will come to a rightful end.”

The conductor raises itself back to an upright stance and turns to leave you alone in your room. It opens the door and takes a step outside before pausing. It turns its attention back to you and says, “I find it nice to collect my thoughts in the observation car. Would you like to join me?” It holds out a hand for you to take. “The view is spectacular tonight. I believe there’s an upcoming meteor shower soon, and we’ll be passing by a galaxy as it occurs.”

You think about the offer. You look out the window, then to your books and notepad. “If it’ll help me get off this train sooner, then why not.” You grab your notepad and pen and take the conductor’s hand.

Its hand gently closes around your own, as if it was afraid of crushing yours. It allows you to walk outside of your room before Ironhorse slides the door shut. The two of you walk down the hallway in silence, the doors to the next car opening and shutting as you pass through. There’s no discernible gap between the two cars, and you’re thankful for that. Still, you hold your breath when you pass.

The two of you walk through an empty passenger car. The seats appear to be cushioned and covered with red velvet. The seats face inwards with poles and straps hanging from the ceiling if anyone wishes to travel standing up. Wire racks sit empty above the seats, and windows line the walls. Warm lights enveloped in the same glass design line the walls of the car, chasing away most of the darkness that the otherwise empty car might grasp onto. The space landscape continues to pass by as the two of you walk down the hall of the empty passenger car.

The two of you enter the observation car. The observation car is nothing but a large, mostly empty area with windows everywhere protecting you from the lack of oxygen outside. A glass dome pokes out as the ceiling. Above you are millions of stars against the black expanse of space. Stairs twist around columns to reach a second floor, and as you look down at the floor where you currently stand, you realize that even the floor is patterned to reflect the outside views. There are a few lights on the corners of the room, but otherwise the only light comes from the stars outside.

The conductor lets go of your hand and slowly walks to the center of the car. It spins around like a dancer for a moment. Its loose pants flare out around its legs like a skirt, and if you squint your eyes and just imagine, you can see a face with a wide grin of enjoyment plastered on.

You slowly approach it and it stops its spontaneous movement. “I apologize for that,” it says, its fans whirring. “I am sometimes overcome with moments of…oh, how do I describe it?” The speaker crackles for a moment before it says, “For lack of better terms, feelings of being alive. Whimsy, even.” Its eyes adjust as it looks up towards the ceiling. “It’s such a feeling and I wish to capture it in a jar sometimes.”

A bubble of laughter forms in your chest and travels up your throat before bursting out of your mouth. The entire situation feels so lighthearted in comparison to the heavier conversation earlier. But you laugh because your own chest feels lighter. Lighter than when you first boarded the train. It feels the lightest that it has been for a while now. “You’re such an oddity,” you say as you calm down from your outburst.

The conductor’s fans whirr louder and it gives you a side eye. “Excuse my bluntness, but hush you!”

You shake your head and look up. Streaks of light start to dash by the dome, starting off slow but gradually increasing in number until they start rushing by the dozens. As Ironhorse chugs along, the backdrop of an array of colors starts to appear. Greens and purples, then yellows and reds. Then, everything else in between and out of the spectrum. You let in a soft breath. Your eyes stay glued to the view as it continues to treat you with a spectacular show that you never imagine yourself viewing.

After what feels like hours, after you shift your position to lay on the ground so as not to make your neck sore, the light show fades away. It’s dark again, and only the whirring of fans and the thump of the train are any indication that you didn’t fall asleep at some point.

“Have you checked your ticket lately?” the conductor asks you. It is sitting next to you and looking down at you.

You shake your head and reach into your inner coat pocket to grab the soft ticket. The departure date remains the same, but the arrival date reads something different:

Arrival: 15 minutes

“Fifteen minutes?” you repeat, as if you don’t understand what it’s saying to you. “I’m leaving in fifteen minutes?”

The conductor nods. “Something in you thinks that your journey on this train is enough now.” It stands up and holds out a hand to help you to your feet, which you take. “I’m not sure what happened to enact that change within you, but I’m glad that you figured it out.”

You look at your ticket again. The time changes to 14 minutes now. “But, this is such a nice place.”

“You’re free to stay,” the conductor says a little too quickly. “You’ll be giving up your old life, but in exchange, you can stay with Ironhorse and me.” The fans whirr a bit louder and it taps on its throat. “Sorry. I was a bit hasty there.”

“You get lonely, don’t you?” you say.

The conductor averts its gaze from your own. The aperture grows smaller and its eye light dims a little. Its fingers flex in and out as it whispers, “Company is always lovely, but fleeting.”

You look at your ticket. 12 minutes.

“I…will think about it,” you say. “I need to pack my things and get ready.” You excuse yourself from the conversation and rush back to your room. You take your time packing, if only to artificially elongate the time you have on the train. You make the bed and look around at your surroundings.

Your ticket now reads six minutes.

You step out of your room and find the conductor waiting for you. You shut the door with your suitcase in tow and the two of you watch the scenery go by in silence. Your special ticket is tight in your grasp.

Two minutes.

The shades lower to cover the windows and soon, the sound of people start to fill your hearing again. The train’s speed starts to slow. You turn to the conductor. “Name!” you exclaim. “I don’t even have that! And how do I even find you two again? This was such an experience and — !”

“When you need us, we’ll be there,” the conductor says to you. It places its hands on your shoulders and its eye lights glow brightly. “This isn’t a forever farewell. More like a ‘see you later’, alright?” It takes your notepad and pen and writes something down on it before flipping the page and handing the objects back to you. “It’s more of a manufacturing title, but it’s a name I’m proud of nonetheless.”

The train slows to a halt and a whistle shrilly blows. You give the conductor your ticket. A single punch and it’s handed back to you. The doors open and all you see is steam obscuring your vision.

“See you later,” the conductor says.

“See you later,” you repeat back.

You step through the door of Ironhorse and the steam envelops you for a moment. When it clears, you find yourself in a different station than the one you first left in. You’re in the station you’re supposed to be in, and it’s mid-morning. The sun is higher above the horizon as it peeks through the clouds. This station buzzes with magic as spells are freely cast and the influence of machinery is but the station itself and the trains that visit. You pull out your other ticket and find that all the right holes are punched.

“Thank — !” You turn around and there’s no train behind you. No Ironhorse. No conductor waving farewell to you.

A dream?

Your face falls. Oh.

No, it can’t be a dream, right?

You flip through your notepad and see handwriting you don’t recognize.

AT-1225 & Ironhorse thank you for the journey.

You chuckle to yourself. “AT-1225? When you said it was a manufacturing title, I didn’t think you’d mean literally.” You pocket your notepad and pen and check your special ticket one last time. Underneath the departure and arrival dates and times, a new line is there:

Estimated Next Departure: ???

You pocket that alongside your notepad and stand at the station for a few moments. The air is tangible here, and the clouds block the sky. But, until next time. Until you see them again, you’ll wait.

A train whistles as it pulls into the station. You tighten your grip on the handle of your suitcase and start walking out.

Another journey awaits.

[jthedrake]

Total drama island but the cast is replaced with creepypasta characters.

Cast

Alice Jackson (the daydreamer)- Basically it’s a combination of her and her zero personality. She much prefers to be alone in her own little world and hates to be bothered. But other than that tho she can be decently friendly enough.

Benjamin “Ben” Blake (the gamer)- A boy that loves to play video games, especially Nintendo games. He often dress as his favorite video game character link. He’s often rather childish and mischievous but overall a good dude.

Cody (the scientist)- A very curious boy that loves to explore the world around him. If something catches his attention he will constantly search the ins and outs of it. While odd, is a chill person.

Crystal Lux (the social butterfly)- A friendly outgoing girl who is very calm and friendly. She loves talking with people and is a very popular person. Often calms down her brother from his outbursts and is the only one who can do so.

Diana Clark (the recluse)- She’s a person who seeks moral value and makes sure to do the right thing. Is rather awkward to be around as this the first time she’s out of her house since her mother divorced her father. Her mother signed her up for the show for her to get some social interaction.

Heather Marshall (the mom friend)- While she may look cold and unfriendly, if you interact with her enough you’ll learn she’s the exact opposite. She’s a pretty nice person that heavily cares about her team and tries her best to make sure everyone comes out mostly unscathed. She’s a big worry watt but would never admit it.

Helen Otis (the painter)- An antisocial and pretty quiet kid to the point that some could claim he couldn’t talk. He spends his time sketching and painting, heck he’s actually partially excited at the location as it could help improve his landscaping. He can be helpful but will only help if it benefits him.

Issac (the narcissist)- Issac is mainly just a jerk. He looks down upon everyone and considers himself superior. He’s a very rude person that often will do anything to bring a rise out of people, which often gets him in trouble at best or beat up at worst. Most unpopular person here.

Jack (the glutton)- A guy who often is a rather unmotivated fella unless you were to present him with food. He can be a rather snarky boy and due to this most don’t like him that much, but he’s not one to actively get someone. He’s kinda like a cynical version of Owen.

Jane richardson (the goth)- She can seem like a jerk, but only will be one if you deserve it. She often pulls of a confident and tough as nails persona but she can be a sweetheart at times if you get through to her. She really hates Jeff as he unnerves her and their last encounter hadn’t been all that well. Tho she is mostly easy to work with, her dislike of Jeff can sometimes cloud her judgement.

Jason (the attention seeker)- A very extravagant boy who always comes out to look his best. He’s a definitive show off tho more often the not people mock. He’s also known to be rather flirty however most people are off put by his advances. Loves toys and has a multitude of them that he loves to show off.

Jeff Hodek (the troublemaker)- Jeff, while not a murder, is still definitely a lunatic. He’s a chaotic guy who loves into getting a multitude of hijinks and causing trouble either to save himself from elimination or just for his own amusement. Often stays with Liu most of the time as Liu doesn’t trust Jeff on his own.

Jill (the clown)- Jill, as a clown, loves to be entertaining. She often is seen joking around and having fun and is always the optimist. She’s friendly but her demeanor can sometimes be overbearing to the point where it can be annoying, but rarely she will ever notice or at least acknowledge it.

Kate (the survivalist)- Kate is a very one set minded individual. She often follows only one plan and never deviates which can make her a difficult person to work with. She’s very skilled at camping and surviving and prepared for anything the world throws at her.

Liu Hodek (the peacemaker)- He’s basically the closest Jeff has to a moral compass. Despite being the younger of the two hodek brothers, he’s often the more mature of the two and tries to keep a cool head. Despite what he tells himself, he can be pretty brave and reliable when the time calls upon it. He often tries to defend Jeff’s actions but even he knows when Jeff takes things too far.

Lucille “Lulu” Greatfeild (the bookworm)- a nice girl that could probably live in a library. She often has a multitude of books and her favorites are She’s prefers to isolate herself, so to boost her social game, her father signed her up for the show.

Natalie (the perfectionist)- She’s one to constantly make sure everything goes perfectly. She mainly signed up for total drama to finally have a one up on her brother as her parents claim he’s perfect in every way and should be more like him when he’s a massive bully. Has a prized watch that is very special to her as it was a gift from a deceased friend and is very protective of it.

Nathan Lux (the hothead)- He’s a rather antisocial kid and the only reason he came was that his sister wanted to. He is know to have pretty angry outbursts over rather petty things and his sister is the only one who can calm him down. While he cares heavily for his sister, he can sometimes be jealous to how people easily like her.

Rachel Downs (the mastermind)- A schemer that is here to win. She’s often quite cold and often analyzes her opponents so she can push them in the direction she wants them in. Often rather cold both in and out of game but does like those that challenge her or help her a lot.

Vailly Evans (the sweetheart)- A lovely girl that is often described as very pretty and beautiful. While she often smiles and says thanks, she can sometimes be uncomfortable when people say how pretty she is due to her last boyfriend experience wasn’t all that great.

Wilson (the baseball star)- While not the most responsible guy out there, he’s rather endearing and charismatic. He’s friendly but very blunt and is difficult to sway if he disagrees on something. He’s not really all that smart but makes up for it with his big heart, even if he finds trouble using it from time to time.

William burton (the friendly fellow)- A nice guy who barely has any friends. Due to this he can kinda do anything for his friends. He can unfortunately be rather easily manipulated and pressured to do things for a friend so he’s rather easily vulnerable.

Here are the teams

Screaming gophers- Lulu, William, Kate, Nathan, Rachel, Helen, Alice, Issac, Crystal, Jason, Jill

Killer bass- Cody, Natalie, Jack, Jane, Jeff, Heather, Liu, Diana, Wilson, Vailly, Ben

Notes

-None of them are murderers in this au, they are mostly normal teenagers. The ages range from 15-17 years old, the only exception is Ben who is 14 years old.

-The main villain in island is Rachel, the main villain of action will be Jason.

-Our two world tour debuts are John (the puppeteer) our main villain, very manipulative bastard. And our other debut will be Nina (the superfan), basically a Jeff fan girl so obsessed with him to the point where she scares him but will eventually get over it.

- The three main ships I have planned so far are Heather x Wilson, Diana x Helen and Liu x Vailly but more could come if I can think of other interesting pairs.

- I am also going to make art of them, Already did Jeff and Liu. Two down, twenty to go. (pained) yay.

[dumfanting]

Same Heart ch 14: The Bad Batch

AO3 Link

Rating: M mature

Warnings: description of injury

Word Count: 3259

This is another chapter I wrote by accident! Honest, I only meant to jot down some notes but I blinked and four hours had passed and this was written. Another happy accident I suppose!

F! Reader/ Echo (and Fives)

A long time has passed between your last conversation with Kix and where you are now.

You are aboard the Marauder, the ship used by Clone Force 99, and currently traveling through hyperspace. You’re in your bunk, and the curtain is drawn. A short time ago, when you had heard the transmission from Cody in which he said that he and Rex needed The Batch for a mission, your heart sank into your gut. You had tried to look calm and unaffected as you excused yourself into the bunks, but the glance Hunter had shot you made it clear that he knew something was wrong. Thankfully he hadn’t followed you right away, instead needing to respond to Cody.

In the semi-darkness of your curtained off bunk, you slip the glowing stone, which you’ve still never taken off except for showering, out from its hiding place under your under armor. The metal wires you had used to wrap the crystal into a pendant have tarnished and become slightly misshapen, but you ignore this and instead watch the purple-blue colors it projects onto the durasteel wall, trying to calm yourself down. You’ve been with the batch for a while now, and although the rest are typically understanding, Crosshair, the sniper, would jump at the opportunity to see you rattled and try to provoke you. You don’t know what his problem is with you, but you won’t give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you. Not today. It takes some time, but you are eventually able to slow your breathing back to normal.

After a few minutes, the stone has done its job, and so you tuck it back into your under armor against your chest and out of sight. You draw your bunks' privacy curtain back and swing your legs out, accidentally kicking someone in the process. You quickly get to your feet and mumble an apology before trying to walk past them. Hunter, because of course it’s Hunter, firmly grips your shoulder and stops you from moving any farther. He says your name.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, a touch of concern peeking out from his gruff expression. You sigh; there is no point lying to him, he can always tell by your heartbeat or hormones if you were being dishonest. Although, you may be able to evade the question.

“I’ll be fine Sarge, it’s nothing for you to worry about,” you say, trying to stay casual. No luck. He frowns at you, releases your shoulder and closes the door to the bunk area.

“You’re a part of this team now, whether you believe it or not, so if something is bothering you it’s going to bother me,” he says, stern but not uncaring, and watching you carefully. You sigh again and sit back down onto your bunk. You hold your head in your hands and take a second to gather your thoughts before speaking.

“Sorry, Hunter. You think I’d know by now that nothing gets past you,” you say, chuckling a little. Hunter's expression softens, which encourages you to continue. “It’s just that I haven’t seen any of the regs, apart from Cody, in a very long time, especially Rex.”

“Is there a problem between you two?” Hunter asks, frowning again.

“No, not really,” you say as you shift your eyes away from him.

“Not really?” Hunter says skeptically.

“It’s just that…” you trail off before pausing to take a deep breath. “I’ve never told you the real reason I took this job, have I?”

Hunter shakes his head.

“Well, you already know that I was a medic for the regs first, but I’d gotten, um, intimately close with two who died. Killed in action,” you say as you unconsciously roll up your left sleeve and idly rub your thumb along the domino tattoo on your forearm. You’d gotten it a few weeks after taking this assignment with the guys, but the ink is still sharp and clear. Five dots on the upper half, three dots on the lower, in black and white ink with a few bright green highlights.

“Is that what that’s about?” Hunter asks, gesturing to your arm.

“Yeah. They called themselves the Domino Squad. They were the only two left from their batch. Then just the one, then, well,” you say, pausing to clear the growing lump out of your throat.

“I didn’t expect to wind up with the second man, but we were both grieving over the first and it just kinda happened,” you continue with a sad, wistful smile. Hunter nods and waits for you to keep speaking. “I’d see their faces everywhere I looked. When a man died in the field and I wasn’t able to save him, it was like losing them all over again, and I tried for so long to fight through it, but I-“ you say, talking quickly and on the verge of losing your composure.

Before that happens, Hunter holds up a hand and reminds you to breathe. Once you have, you speak again; “I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to leave, but then Kix told me about this squad. Said you might be just the thing I needed. I think he was right. You’re so… different,” you say quietly. Understanding crosses Hunter’s features, and after a pointed look from him and a nod from you, he moves and sits beside you. He says your name.

“I can’t imagine what that must have been like, I’m sorry,” he says. You kind of shrug and say it wasn’t his fault. After a second, he speaks again. “Alright, so I understand all that, but what does it have to do with Rex?” he asks. You take a moment to compose yourself again, willing away the grief and anger you always feel when remembering this.

“He watched the second man die. We have very different opinions on why it happened. I haven’t seen him since F-“ you stop yourself, then clear your throat. “Since that day,” you finish. “So you could say there’s some baggage.” You get to your feet and pull your sleeve back down. “But,” you say, back to business, “I won’t let my personal feelings get in the way of the mission, sir,” you say as Hunter also stands back up. Without waiting for him to say anything else, you open the bunk area door and head towards the cockpit. Hunter follows, and Tech announces after a few quiet minutes that they will be leaving hyperspace shortly. You return to your bunk, alone, and strap your upper kit back on.

Due to an extremely rare miscalculation by Tech, the Marauder is unable to properly reduce speed before landing. The ship barely manages not to crash onto the air strip where you all have been summoned, instead screeching to a halt on its landing gear, thanks to the excess momentum. As people scatter out of the way outside, inside the ship, Wrecker hoots and hollers as you all finally come to a stop. The stop is abrupt, and hard, so you’re glad everyone has helmets on, otherwise their smacked heads would have to be treated, delaying whatever this mission is.

Despite the ringing in your ears, you can faintly hear Rex and Cody speaking from outside of the ship, and when the hatch is opened, your hands start to tremble, ever so slightly. You catch Hunter glance at you, but you just shrug and he leads everyone out of the ship. Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker follow, and you’re able to disembark unnoticed, thanks to everyone being distracted by how loud, and large, to be frank, Wrecker is.

Hunter and Cody grip each other’s forearms with a firm nod, and then Hunter introduces the squad to the others nearby. As he does, they each remove their helmets. “You may already know our medic,” he says, looking back at you before saying your name. You can see the surprise on Rex’s face, and hesitate briefly before also taking off your own helmet. Kix and Jesse are standing a little ways behind him, and Jesse looks just as startled as Rex does. Kix meanwhile, nods at you and you return the gesture, trying to calm your pounding heart.

The squad takes a minute or two to somewhat brag about the mission from Yalbec Prime you all had just completed, and you watch, amused, from the back of the group, before a gunship arrives, obviously waiting to take you all elsewhere. You slip your helmet back on and climb into the ship, thanking Wrecker as he gives you a small boost to do so.

A good chunk of time has passed within the gunship in silence. You half expect Kix or Jesse or maybe even Rex to approach you, but when that doesn't happen, you can’t decide if you feel relieved or slightly annoyed. You are fully annoyed however, when you catch Crosshair staring down his nose at Jesse. The sniper makes a snarky comment about how you all don’t usually work with ‘regs’, and you step forward to stop the fight you sense coming after he flicks a toothpick into Jesse's chest, but Cody does that for you by getting everyone’s attention and distracting them with the mission briefing.

He details how this is going to be an information retrieval operation, with the target being a Separatist cyber center. Rex then steps in to briefly outline his suspicions that the Separatists are somehow using his own plans and attacks against him. Getting the needed information from the cyber center will either confirm or disprove his suspicions.

Just as the ship prepares for landing, it’s suddenly shot down, sending it careening toward the ground. If the landing in the Marauder earlier was rough, this crash put that to shame. Once the smoke begins to clear, you follow the others out of the wreckage, coughing as you do. You glance behind you once you’re outside and see that the cockpit has been obliterated, taking the clone pilot with it, and you grit your teeth, cursing. You don’t have any time to think about this further, however, as Kix is shouting that Cody has been trapped under the destroyed ship. Adrenaline starts to pump into your veins and you quickly make your way over to the rest of the group. Wrecker has lifted the entire ship off of the downed Commander, then he throws it to one side just before retrieving him, walking away as what’s left of the ship explodes.

Once Wrecker sets Cody onto the ground, you run over to him, right next to Kix, and begin scanning him for injuries. There’s a sizable gash across his forehead that’s bleeding freely, and Kix’s scan reveals that Cody has internal injuries. Just as you turn to take your medpack off of your back, you hear the sudden sound of blaster fire. Whether it was the explosion or the ship being shot down that drew attention to you all was irrelevant; a battalion of droids was quickly approaching, and shooting without pause. Hunter comms directly into your helmet and tells you to stay with the Commander, he and the rest of the squad would handle this.

You catch Kix’s attention and shout that you both need to get Cody out of there as more blaster bolts begin to fly overhead. The two of you are able to carry him to a somewhat sheltered spot near the sidewall of the gorge you had crashed into. Kix holds Cody’s head and neck as stable as he can, while you quickly dig through your medpack to get what you needed for the cut on his forehead. As you work, a stray bolt screeches past you, forcing you to draw your own blaster and fire back. You take out the droid that had been shooting at the three of you, and about three more behind it, then quickly focus back on finishing the stitching of Cody’s wound. “Since when can you shoot like that?” Kix says incredulously. You’re now applying a bacta patch to a smaller cut on Cody’s cheek, so you don’t hear this or see his dropped jaw.

Now that you have done all that you can for Cody, you tell Kix to stay where he is and rush over to where Rex and Jesse are watching Clone Force 99 do what they do best. You keep your blaster at the ready, fully prepared to shoot any of the droids that get too close, but you don't need to bother. Hunter throws electro-pulse grenades into the air, and Crosshair shoots them down into the approaching throng, where the resulting explosion deactivates many of the droids. After they take out the majority of the regular droids this way, you can see larger, spider-like machines approaching and scream out a warning to the squad. Wrecker moves a large piece of the crashed ship’s hull that he was using as a shield for the others out of the way, and the four of them split off to individually attack.

You glance over at Rex and Jesse and can’t help but smirk. You didn’t need to see their faces to know they were gawking. The three of you watch as the remaining droids are destroyed, then you jog halfway over as they are returning, and immediately look them over for injuries. Of course, there are none, but you’d be damned if you didn’t check and something slipped by you. Not again. Hunter and Tech don’t really acknowledge what you're doing, and Crosshair shrugs you off. Before you can get a good look at Wrecker, he laughs loudly and announces that there isn’t a scratch on him. He’s not wrong, so you clap his shoulder a few times, barely able to reach it, then run back to Cody and Kix, who has managed to stabilize Cody enough that he can walk, with the two of you assisting. The three of you return to where the others are, and Hunter says that you all need to keep moving, as there are bound to be more clankers headed your way.

The gunship had crashed just before the sun began to set, so when you all finally stop to make camp for the night, it has been dark for a few hours. You’ve been glued to Cody’s side the entire time the group was walking, but Kix insisted you both take a break and eat something, so you reluctantly joined the others around the fire, leaving Cody with Rex for the time being.

There’s a somewhat tense silence as you quickly eat the ration bar you kept in one of your pockets. You’re sitting a little ways off on your own, but not too far from the others. Hunter sits down next to you, asking how you’re doing. You take a swig from your canteen before you respond, needing a second to think.

“I’m… okay. For now. Being able to focus on Cody has helped. I guess the scar on his face is different enough that treating him isn’t bothering me,” you say with a shrug.

“I saw you take out a few of those stray droids back there, your aim is getting better,” he says after nodding.

“Tell him that,” you say sarcastically, jerking your head toward Crosshair, who said something neither of you can hear, which starts another fight. Hunter shakes his head and stands just as Wrecker lifts Jesse into the air, Tech awkwardly telling everyone to stop while standing off to the side.

Hunter makes his way over and breaks it up before things get out of hand. As he does, you get to your feet and meet Kix where he’s been watching everything. “How’s he holding up?” you ask, looking over at Cody. Before Kix can answer you, Rex stands and walks quickly back to the head of the group, getting everyone’s attention.

“Kix,” he says, “I’ve called in an evac for Cody, go with him.” Kix nods once, then walks over to Cody, who is barely able to sit up. After a moment of thought, Rex says your name, getting your attention, and tells you to go with Kix.

“Respectfully sir, no,” you say, taking Rex by surprise. “I don’t think it’s wise to leave you all without a medic,” you say, explaining yourself.

“My knowledge should be sufficient in your absence,” Tech says, looking over at you. You’re about to speak again when Crosshair cuts you off.

“We were fine without you before, we don’t need you here,” he says with a smirk. Hunter turns to say something to Crosshair, but you hold up your hands, stopping him. You look back at Rex, who still seems taken aback by all of this, and tell him that you’ll go with Kix, if that’s his order. He nods at you, and you walk over to Kix and Cody, barely able to keep your fisted hands from trembling as you go.

“What’s his problem?” Kix asks, obviously irritated, as you stand by.

“He’s an asshole,” you say flippantly, and the subject is dropped.

After another hour or so, the medical evacuation shuttle arrives. Once Cody is properly stabilized, and the shuttle takes off, Kix tells you that there isn’t much more that can be done for him. You make your way to an empty seat and sit back with a groan, worn out from the long day. A familiar, deep voice calls your name, as as you glance around you’re surprised to see that Bortuse is on board.

“What are you doing here?” you both ask in unison. Bortuse sits next to you and laughs, the deep rumble making you feel nostalgic, and you can’t help but smile at him. You really have missed the guy.

“I’m posted at Anaxes for now, and was told to accompany the shuttle for a pick up,” he explains. He takes a moment to look you up and down. As he does, you realize just how much time has passed when you also look him over. His Montrals have grown a fair bit longer, and the medium blue of their stripes has darkened to a deep sapphire color. He looks tired, like everyone does lately, but appears to be in good spirits. Sitting next to him in your red and black armor, which is a drastic change from the tunic and leggings you wore back on Coruscant, you’re acutely aware of how much you’ve changed too.

“How has the reassignment been?” Bortuse asks softly. As he does, you notice that Kix has been sitting on his other side, passively listening to everything you’ve said. You know what Bortuse is really asking, and can’t help but sigh softly.

“I’m doing better. It helps, not having to see their ghosts all day everyday. But it’s still hard. When I can’t sleep at night, my mind always goes back to them,” you say quietly. With a few quick movements, you remove your gauntlet and roll up your under armor sleeve on your left arm, showing them the domino tattoo. “They’ve never left. They probably never will,” you say quietly before putting everything back into place.

“We’ve missed having you around, you know,” Kix says softly.

Bortuse nods. “You really were one of our best,” he says. “Have you thought about coming back?” he asks.

Kix leans forward enough to look at you when you respond.

“I have,” you admit. “But as tough as the squad can be, I truly feel like I’m supposed to be with them. Maybe it’s the will of the Force or something, I can’t really explain it,” you say. Before either of them can say anything else, an announcement over the PA speakers tells everyone that the ship is coming back down for a landing, abruptly ending the conversation.

Taglist: @kaminocasey @grievouus @madameminor @zoeykallus @wolveria @jennamelinda12 @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @whore4rex

To be added to or removed from this list, simply reply to this post.

[thelullabyer12]

Hidden in the Sand

We were playing in the sand

Clones stuck together. They trained and slept and fought and ate together. They bickered and forgave, they feared and protected. They trusted their own and they trusted their batch. They especially trusted their batch. Who else could protect them?

And you found a little band

Fox loved his batch. Even the little CT that Cody took under his wing. Even when he and Wolffe argued nonstop. Even when Cody mother henned them all. Even when Ponds and Bly kept him up at night with their nerdy conversations long after lights out. Even when the blond mutie crawled into his sleeping pod. Especially when the blond mutie crawled into his sleeping pod.

You told me you fell in love with it

Fox loved Rex. Even when he knew that Rex was his replacement. Even as he trained the little blond so he wouldn’t be decommissioned. Even as his batch doted on the scared boy. How could Fox hate Rex’ika? How could he hate his little brother?

Hadn't gone as I planned

He never expected to be in the Corusaunt Guard. Much less a Marshall Commander. It didn’t feel real. If he had known that he would lose his batch, he never would have left Kamino. He wanted to stay with his brothers. He missed them. 

When you had to bid adieu

He got a hug from all of his brothers the day they left to join their respective generals. They were all excited. Fox was not. His hands still shook from Geonosis. As awful as the blood and dirt in his mouth tasted, he would rather be on the front lines with his brothers. Where he belonged. 

Said you'd never love anew

Rex held him longer. Their buckets were pressed together so hard it bordered on pain but it grounded Fox. He remembered in crystal clarity Rex’s shaky whispers. Thank you. For what, Fox wasn’t exactly sure. The extra training? Shielding Rex from the cold stares of the Kaminoans? The gentle comforts that no one would expect from a soldier? Perhaps it all. A brother’s duty. 

I wondered if I could hold it

It was interesting, being in Corusaunt. Brothers came here when they were on leave but Fox was always on duty. Always wanted off this Force forsaken planet. Fox walked the edge of the bottomless pit and patrolled the lower levels that housed the damned. Top side was golden lights and nights with no darkness. People on the lower levels would tear each other to pieces for a  scrap of the feast the Senate took for granted. Fox protected them. He wished he could throw them down and listen to their screams fade away. 

And fall in love with it too

He saw children playing. Some in finer clothes, some with dirt under chipped nails. He saw them look past species or class. He saw them chase each other and laugh. He saw his brothers playing in them. He didn’t see the fear that was always present. He saw children. He saw their futures. He saw them not worry about dying on a battlefield. He envied them, these little children. He hated them for having what he didn’t. 

You told me to buy a pony

Perhaps he shouldn’t hate the civvies. Sure, they benefitted from his brother’s deaths. Sure, they hated his brothers and believed themselves better than them. Sure, they lived lives that the soldiers of the GAR could only dream of. Sure, he resented them. They had so much and what were clones left with? What little they had they had to fight for. What they wanted more than anything, they fought for, knowing that they could never have it. 

But all I wanted was you

~~~

as you can see, i am simply writing about whatever song catches my fancy

“Hidden in the Sand” by Tally Hall

Masterlist

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/thelullabyer12/686907751015809024?source=share

[candykamikun]

Hii!!! Kikuo Anon is back!

Thank you so much for the other requests you made for me! I really appreciate it, your a very nice person and a great writer!! so on with the request!

Could I request all the CreepyPastas with a reader who has a Malice Mizer Personality??

Thank you :D

HIIIIIIII HOW ARE YOU ??? You're welcome haha it's my job my dear! Aww it's normal to be Nice ! ;) i wan't to be a great mom/dad later so uh yuh ! AND TYSM IT'S SO NICE

Nda : sorry it's very short.. and not very good

Warning : some UHM.. NOT NICE WORDS

CREEPYPASTA WITH A S/O WHO HAS GACKT'S PERSONNALITY (from Malice Mizer)

You were quietly listening to music, your earphones in your ears when you left your room, having finished cleaning it. You took a bag, putting away the things that were important and useful to me before going down the stairs quietly. In the living room a little further was BEN playing Mario Kart and a few meters further the front door.

Ben wouldn't tell you anything, would he? He doesn't care, does he? The worry went away as quickly as a draft in summer when you passed behind the sofa to access the exit.

"Are you going for a night walk?" The fact that he spoke very suddenly made you jump. "Uhmm.. yeah." "I'm coming, I have nothing else to do and then a few others also came out." He turned off the TV, took his switch which was right next to him and got up to join you To tell the truth, the short distance you did was pure silence, at least not entirely.

"What are you listening to ?" You lowered the sound of your headphones "Yes?" "You listen ?" "My time to shine - Dreams come True." "I like it! It's a good group!" "Oh really ?" "Yeah, the singer has a pretty simple voice." Without looking ahead, you suddenly got a tree in your face. BEN really wasn't shy to laugh about it, of course. And that's how Brian showed up, coming out of a tree top. "Haha, are you okay at least?" "Ouch.. Yeah, I'm fine.."

He took you by the hand to help you climb the big tree, at the very top there was a very big cabin, held in the air with four trees quite close together. "It's not a villa, but it's better than outside!" Pointed out Liu discreetly, he offers you a smile that you return to him on your face before landing on the ground followed by Ben. "It's a little dark though.." complained Jane before you pulled a pretty candle out of your bag, taking the lighter and lighting it to help, you had two, two skeleton-shaped candles.

And so you see the room a little more clearly. Ej in a corner, a little apart to listen, Toby looking out the window of the cabin, Virus very close to him, Masky sitting near the entrance and especially far from Toby, Smile Dog near Jeff who is at your left, Jane further to your right, Liu across from you sitting on a table and Nina next to him, swinging her feet happily.

"So no one can sleep, right?" "Other than the absent, well none of us can sleep a wink.." sighed Cody who looked tired. "Jeff has ruined eyelids so..good." you notice "Why aren't we all equal when it comes to sleep? Jeff, burn everyone's eyelids, so we'll all be the same!" Nina always had forbidden words. "Don't give him bad ideas!" Jane retorted, visibly displeased. "Shall we calm down? If you want I have some crystals to give you." While Liu was still trying to work things out.

Jeff's eyes widened even more at everyone's amazement "[Y/N].." "Yeah..?" "Between you and…" you peek under the floor, between you and Jane to see a Cockroach. Jane doesn't react while you let out an ardent cry that echoes throughout the forest.

"FUCK THIS SHIT !"

[kkbarksdale]

Day 3- St. John

Monday, May 1st, 2023

Today was the day to officially headover to St. John! We were really looking forward to this because we had heard that St. John was even more beautiful than St. Thomas. Cody and I were pretty well rested from our early nights, however the hot Caribbean sun was starting to wear us out a little. We decided that the 11 am car ferry would be best, and we would be coming back on the 6:15 pm car ferry to St. Thomas. We both were slightly worried that it wouldn’t be enough time on St. John but 8:30am was too early of a start for our days so far. We started our day with our routine of walking to Lattes in Paradise, and working out. I have yet to mention that Cody also enjoyed a morning ritual of jumping in our pool. It’s worth the mention as Cody really really enjoyed doing this every single day. Once we were ready for the day, we ventured down the hill to Redhook to partake in some shopping before our 11am ferry ride. We went to the local Caribean Surf Co shop where we chatted with some local friends. Cody made them laugh, go figure. I decided that I wanted to get all of the girls coming to our wedding some beachy bracelets! I enjoyed picking out bracelet bundles for all of the girls. We also shipped off our postcards to the states and met a really nice lady in the post office. She gave us some lovely marriage advice- do not have bad days on the same day. If he is having a bad day, let him. We were very touched by her warm hearted advice to us. We still had plenty of time to kill, so we crossed the street to the other shopping strip. We wandered in a couple stores and I ended up purchasing a wide brimmed beach hat because my forehead was getting so burnt from the Caribbean sun. We made our way back to our car where we found a big, orange, aggressive towing sticker on our back window. Cody and I both panicked that we were going to followed and towed, or ticketed. It gave us so much stress for about 30 minutes until google assisted us with realizing that the sticker was just a threat. Nothing more. Now off to St. John!

We waited for the car ferry for quite some time, as we were early to load. The car ferry was a cool experience! I finally had to let Cody drive the Jeep because you had to back up onto the boat. I think he enjoyed me asking him to finally drive around. Once we arrived to St. John, we took off to our furthest destination of Cinnamon Bay! We were pretty instantly blown away by just how beautiful St. John was. Everyone was right- St. John was somehow more beautiful than St. Thomas. Since it is a protected National Park, it was undeveloped and felt like driving through a jungle. The water was a more torquise blue, and somehow more crystal clear. The people we encountered on St. John were also more friendly. Not to mention, the roads were so much nicer as well. No massive potholes to dodge every foot. Cody was really looking forward to snorkeling, so we rented snorkeling gear for the day. We found an almost shady spot along the edge of the beach and made camp for the day. Our soft plan was to go to Cinnamon Bay and then back track to Trunk Bay. 

Upon getting into the water, we saw a big barracuda! Honestly, I was freaked out by it but it was cool to see such a big predatory fish right by your legs. We decided that we wanted to go ahead and scope out snorkeling! The rental girl said that there was an airplane wing, lots of wild life such as turtles, and also a reef along the beach. Cody and I saw many cute, colorful fish and coral. We snorkeled quite a ways down the beach and proceeded to get pretty worn out after about only 1 hour. When we came back to our spot on the beach, our neighbors suggested that we go over to Maho Beach as that is where all of the sea turtles will be due to the grassy bottom. Cody and I were interested but hesitant to go over to Maho because we rented our gear from Cinnamon Bay. We spent quite some time hanging out on Cinnamon Bay and watching a big group of locals having fun in the water. After a couple of hours in the sun, we impulsively decided it was time for a change of scenery and opted to head out to Maho Beach! We only had about an hour left with our snorkel gear, and about 3 hours before we had to head to the car ferry. 

Maho Beach was so cute! They had so many little food trucks, and the beach was very crowded much like all of the beaches on St. John. We quickly hopped in the water to make the most of our time left with the snorkel gear. Cody and I hit the ground running and scoping out sea life. We didn’t see much at first, but after some time, the animals started popping up. First we saw a small stingray! Cody was freaked out by the sting ray, as he thought it was blowing sand up at him. He ended up seeing another one as well but I unfortunately missed it due to my excitement for looking for turtles. Just when I thought we may not find any turles, we stumbled upon the biggest turtle we saw during our entire trip. He was probably at least 3 feet wide and long. He had 2 bottom feeding sharks attached to him. He was in about only chest deep water. He was so cool! I was shocked at how big he was! Cody and I were the only ones around him too, no one else had discovered him in that area yet. While we were enjoying the sight of him, we heard some people nearby us exclaiming that they had a little turtle near them! We rushed over to see a small little guy. He was so white and clean compared to all of te other turtles we saw on our trip. Satisified that we had found 2 turtles, we then exited the water and went to turn our snorkel gear back in before 4pm. 

We still had 2 hours to kill so we headed over to Trunk Bay to end our day there. Unfortunately at Trunk Bay, all of their amenities were closed when we got there but that was okay with us. We had done all of the things we wanted to do so far that day. Trunk was so beautiful and is St. John’s most busy beach! Trunk Bay actually has a snorkeling trail. We would love to check that out next time we visit the islands. After many hours on the beach and in the sun, Cody and I mainly just relaxed at Trunk Bay. We did watch a woman get bullied and attacked by sea gulls though, a sight that I will never forget. She was eating a container of food, when sea gulls started barating her. She eventually got scared, ran away, and dropped her food. Probably 30 sea gulls were flocking at her. I know she was scared to death but it was so funny. 

This was about the extent of our day! We rode home on the car ferry and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset on the water. We grabbed a quick salad dinner at the local grocery store Moe’s. We swam in the pool and called it an early night again. We needed a good night’s rest because we had such a long day on St. John. It was one for the books! We decided that we would always be staying at St. John in the future due to how nice it was! 

[shadowycheesecakedragon]

Favorite Disney Songs Tag Meme

Rules: List your favorite song from every film in the Disney Animated Conon and tag at least one person. Parts of the score and deleted songs are allowed so long as they're included on the film's soundtrack album. Two-way ties are also allowed. Feel free to leave blanks if you haven't seen every movie in the canon, haven't listened to the soundtrack(s) recently, or are undecided. Try to complete the list, but don't force yourself. Be honest. Get creative. Have fun! 😉 

Notes: This tag meme was inspired by a YouTube playlist I made. It has all the songs I listed below, some runners-up, and more. I've been feeling down lately, so I'm writing this to spark positivity in myself and others the best way I know how. Hopefully, it works! 

Entries with forward slashes are not separate songs. They are distinct parts of one long track on the albums they come from. (My pick for "Hunchback" is an easy example.)        

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs -- The Silly Song (The Dwarfs' Yodel Song)

Pinocchio -- Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)

Fantasia -- The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Dumbo -- When I See an Elephant Fly

Bambi -- Little April Shower

Saludos Amigos --

The Three Caballeros -- The Three Caballeros

Make Mine Music --

Fun and Fancy Free -- I’m a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow

Melody Time --

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad -- The Headless Horseman

Cinderella -- Little Dressmakers / The Work Song / Scavenger Hunt / A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes / The Dress / My Beads / Escape to the Garden

Alice in Wonderland -- The Mad Tea Party / The Unbirthday Song / Twinkle Twinkle / Clean Cup Move Down / Mad Watch

Peter Pan -- You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!

Lady and the Tramp -- In the Doghouse / The Rat Returns / Falsely Accused / We've Got to Stop That Wagon / Trusty's Sacrifice

Sleeping Beauty -- Skumps (Drinking Song) / The Royal Argument

101 Dalmatians --Dalmatian Plantation / Finale

The Sword in the Stone -- Higitus Figitus

The Jungle Book -- I Wan'na Be Like You

The Aristocats -- Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat

Robin Hood -- Oo-De-Lally

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh -- Winnie the Pooh

The Rescuers -- The Journey

The Fox and the Hound -- Main Title

The Black Cauldron -- End Credits 

The Great Mouse Detective --

Oliver & Company -- Why Should I Worry?

The Little Mermaid -- Under the Sea

The Rescuers Down Under -- Main Title (Tied with Cody's Flight)

Beauty and the Beast -- Belle

Aladdin -- Friend Like Me

The Lion King -- Be Prepared

Pocahontas -- Farewell (Tied with Colors of the Wind - End Title)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame -- Heaven's Light / Hellfire

Hercules -- I Won't Say (I'm In Love)

Mulan -- I'll Make a Man Out of You

Tarzan -- Son of Man (Tied with Trashin' the Camp)

Fantasia 2000 --

Dinosaur -- The Egg Travels

The Emperor's New Groove -- Snuff Out the Light (Yzma's Song)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire -- The Crystal Chamber

Lilo & Stitch -- He Mele No Lilo (Tied with Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride)

Treasure Planet --

Brother Bear -- Transformation

Home on the Range --

Chicken Little --

Meet the Robinsons --

Bolt --

The Princess and the Frog -- Friends on the Other Side

Tangled -- Kingdom Dance

Winnie the Pooh -- Everything is Honey

Wreck-It Ralph --

Frozen -- Let It Go

Big Hero 6 --

Zootopia -- Try Everything

Moana -- Where You Are

Ralph Breaks the Internet --

Frozen II -- Into the Unknown

Raya and the Last Dragon --

Encanto -- We Don't Talk About Bruno

Strange World -- 

Wish --  

And there you have it! I’ll tag @descendant-of-truth. Happy listing. 😊  

[cloudylady]

Ghost poke 'Pe Suea' to buy Sane with wings

Manchester United have approached Bayern Munich to inquire about the signing of former Manchester City player Leroy Sane.

"Red Devils" have to face  บาคาร่าออนไลน์ disappointment in the pursuit of targets throughout the summer, especially Anthony Wing Ajax team. That led them to contact the German champions. with the hope of bringing Sane to Old Trafford

It is believed that the German giant Ready to release Sane at a reasonable price Although the stars of the German national team There will be 3 years left on the contract.

Aside from the 26-year-old, United have also been linked with attacking players, including Michael Olise (Crystal Palace), Cody Gapo (PSV), Pedro Neto (Wolves). and Arnaut Danyuma (Villarreal)

The management of United Not worried about the player's past playing for Manchester City, feeling he would be a great signing.

Ten Hag will lead the club to play in the Premier League opener today (Sunday) against Brighton.

[phoenixyfriend]

The Family Tree is... a Disaster

Takes place in the TCW Leverage AU. It does contain a few deviations, namely that the narrative ended up shifting Plo's role in Ahsoka's life, and Ventress's role overall.

This is mostly just dialogue where I outline the fuckery that is the disaster lineage family tree, not actual fic. It stemmed from my incessant need to justify "25yo Obi-Wan somehow got custody of 9yo Anakin without Shmi dying."

Warnings for: canon character death (modernized), canon violence (modernized), and references to Nazis and white supremacists (Palpatine collects WWII weaponry as a parallel to his canon display of Sith artifacts in his office as chancellor, and Ahsoka thinks it's sketchy)

----

"Okay," Cody says, setting down a glass of whiskey as he drops into the seat across the table. "What the hell is your family tree like?"

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow, and continues cleaning off the definitely-not-stolen crystal komodo dragon he'd won in today's job. "I beg your pardon?"

"You and Skywalker," Cody says, gesturing between Obi-Wan, who is just sitting there minding his own business, and Anakin, who is across the closed-for-tonight bar and doing something inadvisable on the pool table. "You've said he was your brother, and mentioned raising him, which, sure, I'm over twenty years older than my youngest brother, people take over parenting roles all the time. But you have different last names, have mentioned stepfamilies that the other doesn't have, reference things as 'your aunt, not mine,' and I am just getting... very confused. I figured it was personal and I could leave well enough alone, but considering your older brother almost shot us today--"

"Okay, Xanatos is not my brother," Obi-Wan immediately says. "Just. I just have to stop you right there. Xanatos was a student of my father's for a time, but I promise he's not family. Nobody except maybe Komari would consider him even close, and she doesn't count since she's in prison for life and the farthest thing from stable."

Cody gestures. "That, Obi-Wan. That's what I'm talking about. I don't even know who Komari is."

Obi-Wan purses his lips in a failed attempt to not smile. "Do you actually want the explanation? It's long and unnecessarily complicated."

"So's mine," Cody snorts. Obi-Wan waits, patient and pleasant, and is rewarded when Cody sighs. "Please."

"Of course, my dear. To answer your first question, though, Anakin is my half-brother." With a smile, Obi-Wan digs a piece of paper and a pen from his briefcase. "So, center of the chain: me, my father Qui-Gon, my grandfather Yan, and my great-grandfather Yoda. With me so far?"

"Easy enough. Do you have to go back that far?"

"Great-grandfather Yoda is still alive and regularly escaping the old folks' home to terrorize younger relatives, so yes," Obi-Wan says. "Given that you may just meet a tiny, meddling relative of mine when he's bored, we do in fact have to go back that far."

"...how old is he?"

"We don't know for sure. A hundred and eight-ish is the best guess." Obi-Wan shrugs. "It's not a huge deal, mostly he likes bothering Anakin these days. Anyway, grandfather. Yan Dooku. Inherited a minory duchy from his maternal grandfather decades back. Mostly hangs around there because he's on terrorist watchlists in the States."

"Oh, lovely."

Obi-Wan grins. "Trust me, it gets worse. Anyway, grandfather never actually married, but spent most of his time with his 'best friend' Sifo Dyas, who died about a decade back."

"Gay?"

"Well, we know that now, but they got together in the seventies, and this was back when they were both working government jobs, so, you know. It happens."

"Good to know," Cody says. "So, Yoda's kid is Yan, who inherited a title and land from a maternal relative, and had a life partner but never married. With you so far."

"All of Yan's kids were adopted," Obi-Wan continues, sketching out the first branch away from the Yan/Sifo partnership. "Rael was actually grandfather's cousin, maternally, and ended up in his custody after getting orphaned at five. These days, he does most of the stewardship duties at the Serenno Duchy. His daughter Nim is teaching military history at a university in Germany."

Cody nods. "Uncle number one is named Rael, technically your dad's cousin, has a daughter. Got it."

"About a decade after Rael, they adopted my father, Qui-Gon. He and grandfather fought, frequently, but they did care for each other. My father was a botanist, did bio-engineering. We'll get back to him later, because he's where things get complicated." Obi-Wan made sure to leave room around the name. "Just a few years older than me was--is--Komari Vosa. She is... serving a life sentence. I think she fought Jango once."

"She fought my father?"

"To the best of my knowledge, they both almost died, yes," Obi-Wan says. "She's in maximum security these days. She was an assassin. I'll get a call if she breaks out, and I'll let you know along with everyone else."

"Bad news auntie, got it."

"Last adoption, sort of, is Ventress," Obi-Wan finishes off. "A few years younger than me, is technically grandfather's personal assistant and does secretarial work and the like, but we all know he's planning to leave as much of the inheritance to her as he is to the rest of us. She's aggressive and unpleasant, but she takes care of him and hasn't actually threatened to kill any of us yet, so that's fine."

"How'd she join?" Cody asks.

"Ky Narec was a friend of Qui-Gon's; Ventress was his daughter. Ky died a few years after Qui-Gon did, and Ventress was a mess, after." Obi-Wan shrugs and scratches that connection into the little sketch of a family tree as well. "Grandfather offered her a job until she got herself back together, and then she just kind of... stuck around."

"Youngest aunt, more of a cousin." Cody summarizes. "Now we go back to your father?"

"Qui-Gon Jinn was a man of many skills," Obi-Wan says drily. "Adequate birth control was not one of them."

It's almost a pity that Cody wasn't drinking anything, because going by the way he chokes, Obi-Wan's pretty sure the spit take would have been spectacular.

"I'm sorry," Cody says. "Can you repeat that?"

"I was an accident," Obi-Wan says, not even bothering to hide his smile. "So was Anakin."

"So that sounds like... a story."

"It is," Obi-Wan confirms. "My biological mother has never been in the picture. They had a fling, she wasn't sure if she'd want to abort or give me up, just that she wasn't ready to be a parent, and Qui-Gon volunteered to take full custody so she could go back to her life after the birth. I've never met her, but I kept her family name. You can consider her irrelevant beyond that."

Cody nods.

"So, when I was about a year old, Qui-Gon reconnects with an old flame, they get married two years later. Step-mother number one is Tahl. Lovely woman, I absolutely adored her, and she had a daughter, my stepsister, Bant Eerin."

"I met her, right?" Cody asks.

"Yes, she was the doctor who patched up my bullet wound a few months ago," Obi-Wan says. "With the giant glasses that make her look a little fish-eyed."

"She was nice."

"She is," Obi-Wan agrees. "At any rate, that was our family for a while, and then Tahl died when I was fourteen. Bant wanted to go to a magnet school for medical studies, and Qui-Gon's grief was... not optimal for taking care of multiple teenagers, shall we say, so Bant moved in with her paternal uncle, Kit Fisto, and Kit's son Nahdar. He's a marine biologist, incredibly friendly, and has no idea of any of the rest of my side of the family's questionable activities. If you ever meet him, you will pretend that we are a legal firm with a team of security consultants."

Cody raises a brow. Obi-Wan despairs. "Best you could do?"

"We're not that likely to run into him." Obi-Wan draws out a new line. "So, Qui-Gon deals poorly with grief. This is also around the time that Xanatos came around to ruin our lives a little. He was a very rich and unpleasant man, but he's dead as of four hours ago, so you don't have to worry about him. Or his son."

"His son?"

"Anakin handled that," Obi-Wan says. "Thoroughly. Granta Omega is no longer an issue. He's not dead, but... well. Anakin has his ways. Er--I should probably mention Feemor; he was my father's assistant at the university for a long time. Anakin and I still call him our uncle."

"Also a person to avoid mentioning criminal activity to?" Cody prompts.

"Well... no, but only because I don't think he'd care. The man is, forgive me, more of a 'walking sweatervest' than I am. He's a very bland and unassuming man. He once described himself as the background character of the soap opera that is my family's existence."

"Sounds like a charmer."

"Oh, he's very kind and clever, and witty as well. I adore him, and he really is family. He's just also very, very normal. Not boring, but..." Obi-Wan trails off and shrugs helplessly. "He's an editor for an agricultural research journal. Also not someone I anticipate us running into."

"Noted."

"Right, so, Qui-Gon dealing poorly with his grief didn't involve much drinking, but there were a few months of him trying to... lose himself in the pleasures of the flesh?" Obi-Wan tries, and then deflates at the look on Cody's face. "He was slagging around. Shmi got pregnant with Anakin, who was born when I was sixteen. Shared custody at first, Qui-Gon got him weekends and every other holiday, that sort of thing, and then they got married because they actually did like each other well enough, and it was easier on the taxes."

"So Shmi is stepmother number two."

"Shmi is stepmother number two, yes." Obi-Wan sketches in Anakin and Shmi. "About nine and a half years after Anakin was born, Shmi and Qui-Gon were in a car accident with... well, it later turned out it wasn't an accident, there was a hitman called Maul involved, he's actually Ventress's second cousin or something, I don't know. Grandfather handled most of that problem. Qui-Gon died, Shmi was in intensive care, and I got custody of Anakin as his nearest adult relative. We weren't very close before that, because I was off at university by the time he was old enough to form memories, but that changed once he started living with me. I more or less raised him as a single parent from that point."

"This is why he jokes that you're like a father to him."

"Precisely," Obi-Wan says. "Shmi took about a year to recover enough to move again, and grandfather covered the costs. She still had to live with a dedicated carer and attend daily physical therapy. At that physical therapy, she met Cliegg Lars, whose son Owen was also a patient there. They hit it off, and three years later, they married. When Anakin refers to his stepfamily he's talking about the Lars out in Nevada."

"Nevada?"

"They have a farm. A very, very normal one. We don't drag them into our activities, unless we have an at-risk person who needs a safe house." Obi-Wan pauses, and then decides this really needs to be stressed. "This is important to me and Anakin, that we don't get them involved unless there's absolutely no other choice. Shmi's been through a lot, and the Lars are busy enough running the farm."

"Works for me," Cody says. "We've got enough safe houses that it shouldn't be an issue. I'm guessing this story doesn't end there, though."

Obi-Wan grimaces. "My own love life has been... a bit of a mess."

"I already know about Kryze, at least."

There's that. "I was temporarily engaged to a friend, Siri Tachi, shortly after high school. We were in a relationship, but this was mostly something done to appease a relative of hers that was getting overbearing to the point of absurdity, and she couldn't just cut them off. We broke off the engagement after the relative passed, and we're still friends."

He notes that down, then adds the other embarrassment of his early years. "First marriage was actually a drunken joke between myself and my best friend when we were in college. We got it annulled a few months later because we just didn't have time to drop by the courthouse before then, and he's actually engaged to Asajj now."

"Asajj?" Cody asks, watching in fascination as Obi-Wan tries to mark in both his own short marriage and the newer, long-term engagement without crossing any lines. He settles for just writing the name twice and including an asterisk with 'this is the same person.'

"Ventress," Obi-Wan clarifies. "Yeah, Quinlan's a fun guy. His little sister, Aayla, treats Anakin like a beloved younger cousin."

"Are they also off-limits for criminal activity?"

"No, Aayla's the one that taught Ahsoka how to vent-crawl," Obi-Wan says. "And I'm pretty sure Quinlan has contacts in every major government branch, criminal organization, and Fortune 500 company on the planet. I reach out to them regularly."

"Resources, then."

Obi-Wan nods. "Some time later, I married Satine. We had a son; you've met Korkie. We split due to incompatibility a year and change before Qui-Gon's death. Satine doesn't engage in criminal activity, but Bo-Katan is..."

"I've met Bo-Katan. I know what she's like, Obi. You don't have to explain."

"She works with Maul sometimes."

"...the man who killed your father?"

"Yes. It's all very stupid and convoluted." Obi-Wan still writes her in. "So, that's them. Korkie goes to boarding school, and I try not to involve him in anything. Anakin and Ahsoka like to teach him self-defense and the like, but Satine is adamant that he stay unaware of my less legal dealings until he's an adult."

Cody shrugs. "Makes sense. Is that every--wait, no, Skywalker's married."

Obi-Wan grins. "Yes, and Padme's got twins on the way."

"I was there when he told us," Cody says drily. "He was very loud about it. Okay, how does Ahsoka fit in?"

"Hold on, I forgot Beru," Obi-Wan mutters. "Owen's fiancee. Same rules as the Lars. Okay, you asked about Ahsoka. Right. So. Um."

He dithers. Cody waits for him, and then Obi-Wan just gives up. "Ahsoka, dear, would you like to explain how you joined the family, so to speak?"

Ahsoka looks up from whatever she and the boys are doing--there are multiple beer glasses and straws and duct tape involved, and Obi-Wan doesn't really want to know--and then flips off the table and over to Obi-Wan and Cody. She looks over the family tree chart, and then says, "Oooh, did you tell him about the cult?"

"You were in a cult?" Cody demands.

"No, Komari was. She was head priestess or something. I dunno, it's why she's in prison and stuff."

"I did not tell him about the cult," Obi-Wan mutters, already regretting this. "The Bando Gora aren't a problem anymore. I've already gotten to explaining how you and Anakin know each other."

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, steals his pen, and starts sketching in around Quinlan's name, over by Asajj since Obi-Wan's section is too crowded. "Okay, so, Quinlan's adopted. His dad is Tholme, and Tholme's dad is Plo Koon. Plo Koon is good friends with my Auntie, Shaak Ti, who raised me. They live next door to each other, out in the country, and I'd play in his yard a lot, because he had puppies, and he took me to visit his bees. Whenever Auntie needed a babysitter, she asked Quinlan or Aayla to do it since she knew and trusted them, and Aayla needed pocket money."

"This is so unnecessarily complicated," Cody mutters.

"It is!" Ahsoka chirps. Her grin is far too sharp. "So, this one time, Aayla was watching me when I was fourteen, and she was just helping me with my physics homework. BAM, the door slams open, and in stumbled Skyguy with his arm missing. I've never met him before, and my first introduction is him shortly after he's gotten an unplanned amputation."

Anakin, on the other side of the room, giggles. Obi-Wan just sighs. The Fett brothers appear to be in the land of 'horrified fascination.'

Ahsoka revels in it. "There's blood everywhere, I'm screaming, Aayla's panicking, Anakin's halfway to unconscious and insisting we can't call the hospital, and nobody can get Obi-Wan on the phone. Quinlan's in another country, and Auntie Shaak and Uncle Plo are at a movie, so they've both got their cellphones off. Tholme was faking his death at that point to get away from an incident with the Irish Mob, so we didn't even try him."

"What the actual fuck," Rex breathes.

Ahsoka continues with relish. "We get Bant to pick up, and she's there an hour later with Padme, because Padme knows how to drive the way Skyguy does, and the entire drive there is just Auntie Bant on speakerphone telling Aayla how to stop the bleeding and get him stabilized while Padme's screaming at traffic at the top of her lungs."

"I owe Aayla a fruit basket," Anakin muses aloud. "The anniversary of her saving my life is coming up, it's warranted."

"Five years, baby!" Ahsoka crows. She fist-pumps.

Obi-Wan just drops his head into his hands. "You're killing me, children."

Anakin shrugs, grinning. "You know, I think Fett Senior might have been involved in that fight."

"My shitty dad cut off your arm?" Rex demands.

"No, I think he was busy fighting the Interpol guy," Anakin says. "But he was definitely there. I think. Blood loss kinda got to me after a bit, but I'm pretty sure Jango Fett was there, and also Boba might've been hiding in the getaway car?"

"I need another glass," Cody mutters. He doesn't stand up, though.

"Wait," Rex says. "So who cut off your arm?"

Anakin shrugs with an unsure noise. "Someone tried to convince me it was Grandpa Yan, but he was in the middle of a court case in Italy for some kind of parole violation when it happened, so he had an alibi."

"...did he actually violate parole?" Cody asks, and Obi-Wan thinks he looks like he doesn't know if he actually wants an answer.

Ahsoka shrugs. So does Anakin. Obi-Wan carefully looks at a spot behind Cody, and doesn't explain anything about wine tastings used as covers for illicit arms deals.

"The arm?" Rex prompts, sounding a little desperate to get back to the question he likely thinks is the most important.

"I still say it was Skeevy Sheev," Ahsoka chimes in.

"It wasn't Palpatine," Anakin snaps.

"Your creepy older friend who took you to operas and gives you fancy gifts and knows way too much about swords who was conveniently there to talk to the police and cover for you so you didn't get arrested for getting in the middle of a gang war in the first place, yes," Ahsoka says, dropping into a chair and sighing dramatically. "The guy who definitely hasn't been trying to convince you for a year and change that your wife is cheating on you with your older brother."

"Ahsoka!"

"What? He is."

"Anakin," Rex says, "your life sounds like a trainwreck."

"I'm not going to assume a frail, elderly man cut my arm off!" Anakin protests. "Even if he wanted to, he doesn't exactly have the muscle for it!"

"Grandfather's older," Obi-Wan points out, even though he knows it won't help. "And he definitely still could."

"Ha!" Ahsoka shouts.

"He could have hired someone?" Cody suggests. "Doesn't need to do it himself, if he has enough money."

Obi-Wan has a sneaking suspicion that Cody is deliberately stirring the pot as revenge for Anakin sending him eighty-seven cat memes inside an hour during last night's dinner.

"You all suck," Anakin declares. "Also, what the hell do you mean 'knows way too much about swords,' Ahsoka? You know way too much about swords!"

"Yeah, but I'm like ninety-percent sure that his antiques are Prussian and mid-century German military officer dress uniform relics, and pairing that with the Nazi pistols he's got on display--"

"He's just a history buff! And his family's German, of course he prioritizes that region, it's not like he doesn't have Russian or French or English antiques in there too, it's all sides of the war and--"

"I'm just saying he's almost definitely sending me sketchy glances like he thinks I'm planning to steal the silver on the three occasions you've had me with you when you stop by, and I'm pretty sure it's got less to do with my criminal record and more to do with me being, you know, not white."

Anakin looks ready to blow, so Obi-Wan interrupts. "Ahsoka, you were explaining how Anakin passing out on Aayla and scaring us all half to death led to your friendship?"

Ahsoka blinks at him, and then sticks her tongue out at Anakin and turns back to the chart. "So basically, Skyguy had to recuperate in Uncle Plo's living room for a week or two, and I kept showing up to bother him because he was bored and nobody would give him a laptop for 'security reasons,' because he had to lay low and stuff. He made me help him sketch out designs for a prosthesis and do all the writing for the math he had to do for the 3D printer, and we got to chatting."

Ahsoka hops up and back onto a table, legs swinging below her. "I decided he was cool and started following him around while he was getting used to only having one hand, mostly because I was bored. He showed me how to hotwire a car, and explained the best places to put a bug if you were looking to make it sneaky, and he picked my pocket to show off so many times when he was walking around Uncle Plo's house that I made him teach me that, too. And, uh, then Aayla found out and they got into a shouting match about it and decided they both needed to teach me parkour so I could get out of any mess I got myself into, since I was obviously going to follow them into a life of crime."

"And you did," Anakin says, far too proudly. "You're the best thief in this half of the country."

"Only because Aayla moved out east."

Anakin rolls his eyes and pulls Ahsoka into his side, digging his knuckles into her skull. "Best thief! You are the best thief! Be proud of yourself!"

"Let go!"

"Never!"

Obi-Wan sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead. "Children, please."

"You're not my dad," Ahsoka growls out at him. "Skyguy, I'm going to bite you!"

"Good luck, the only arm you can access is the one that's going to break your teeth."

Ahsoka shrieks in outrage and stomps on Anakin's instep.

It's almost funny, for all that Obi-Wan's seen it play out a million times before, but the really interesting part is seeing Rex's look of fond dismay.

Obi-Wan thinks he might be adding a branch out to the Fetts soon. He's not actually sure if Rex is interested in Anakin or Ahsoka, and he's smack dab between them in age, so that's not a help either, but... well. The expression is familiar enough.

"Please tell me you don't match-make," Cody mutters to him.

"No, I plan to let the pieces fall where they will," Obi-Wan responds, just as low, and far more amused. "I'm simply trying to predict where those landings are to be."

Cody looks at him, and then back at the roughhousing trio, and sighs heavily. "You know, I really didn't think that you technically being minor royalty was going to be the least convoluted thing in your story, Obi-Wan."

He laughs, because it's true. "I'm first in line to inherit the title, since Rael denounced his claim. Nim isn't interested, and Qui-Gon's dead, so... I'm next."

Cody makes a face. "Delightful. I'm guessing that's not a connection we can safely make use of."

"No more than the Kryze or Naberries, I'm afraid." Obi-Wan claps him on the shoulder. "Chin up, I've plenty others in the metaphorical rolodex, all far less legitimate and far more amenable to work with our little outfit."

"Rolodex, really?" Cody snorts. "You're not that old."

Obi-Wan smiles winningly. "You don't know how old I am, Cody. All my IDs are fake."

"Anakin's twenty-four, and you're sixteen years older than him, going by the story you just told me," Cody points out. "I do know how to do basic math, Obi-Wan."

"I had to try," Obi-Wan admits. "I threw a lot of information at you all at once; I'd hoped you missed some of the ages in there."

"I have eight brothers," Cody scoffs. "And literally dozens of cousins, plus niblings, uncles, aunts, and so on. I have experience on this."

"If I asked you to list of the age of every single relative you have, you'd be able to do it?"

"Do you want me to draw a chart? I can draw a chart."

Obi-Wan can't help but laugh. "I'd be delighted, my dear."

Cody rolls his eyes, but Obi-Wan thinks--it's hard to tell in the dimmed lights of the closed bar--that there's a hint of a blush on the man's face. Obi-Wan lets himself slouch to the side, drops his head to rest on one fist, indolent debauchery in every line of his body. Cody does his best to ignore him, but Obi-Wan knows how to smile lazily and blink slowly and draw a man in.

(The whole 'indolent debauchery in every line of his body' phrasing is Anakin's, from back when he was a teenager trying to read highbrow literature to impress a cute girl... and to come up with new insults for his older brother.)

"So," Cody says, with a cough meant to somehow distract Obi-Wan from whatever's showing on the man's face. "Why, uh, why is your grandfather on terrorist watchlists?"

"Well, he didn't initially do anything," Obi-Wan says. "He was just a gay man who didn't hide it quite well enough, and had too much money and too white a face for someone to just call the cops on a faulty report. The Red Scare was technically over by that point, I think, but if a few people made suggestions that he was more loyal to the country that gave him a noble title than to the United States... he received a few warnings, of course, and it could have all blown over..."

"But?"

"But my grandfather is not a man to do things by halves, and instead decided that if the government was to list him as a threat, then he would oblige and make himself a threat," Obi-Wan finishes. "Living up to their labels, rolling with the assumptions, whatever you'd like to call it. It all irked him, and so he made some incredibly questionable decisions to make the government's lives harder. Some weren't bad, like donating to anti-war foundations that were protesting the Gulf War and the interventions in Yugoslavia, that sort of thing, and some were... nobody really looks well on gunrunning, you know."

"For fuck's sake..."

"Indeed," Obi-Wan chuckles. "Ironically, he has minimal opinion on the optimal form of economics, for all that virulent xenophobia and the remnants of anti-communism were involved in the whole mess. He just wanted to create problems for the people that were causing him problems."

Cody shakes his head. "I want to judge that, but you've met my father."

"Jango Fett is, indeed, also not a man to do things by halves," Obi-Wan agrees, attempting to nod gravely but breaking into a smile at the end. "That man is absurd."

"At least he's not dragging Boba into it anymore," Cody mutters. He drags over the fresh sheet of paper and pen that Obi-Wan offers him. "Okay, right, let's start with Jaster..."

[unholy-t-rin-ity]

Blog Masterpost

Reblogged

~Comics~

Omega copies her brothers

Tech and Crosshair insult eachother

Hey clanker!

Crosshair is protective of tech

Crosshair has oral fixation

Obiwan crying in spanish

Obiwan falling on cody

Drunk Obiwan

This is why jango didn’t fucking love you

Obiwan fell down a mountain

TBB doing haka

Supervising fox’s breakdown

Fox radio broadcast

Echo misusing scomp link

Don’t leave anakin unsupervised

I loved you

Fives fighting Ahsoka

Fives found a bug

Commanders went out drinking

Croissants found a lightsaber

Bly has a competance kink

Calling Cody dad

crosshair moment of weakness

Obiwan sits like he’s posessed

Clones are good bois

Space hooters

Tech being neurodivergent

Wolffe avenge you

Tech can’t see shit

Tech swearing

Don’t name the twi’lek child

plo koon being Dad

Jedi leave their robes around, clones have fun

~Text posts~

AZI in rice

Cody the WIFI boy

Scared Wolffe

TBB season 2 hopes

Sexy obi wan costume

Obiwan tries to quit the order

C3PO is impressivly annoying

501st incorrect quotes 3

Echo one inch taller

Imperial march playing from another room

501st incorrect quotes 2

tbb incorrect quotes 1

tbb incorrect quotes 8

tbb group chat fuck word

Wolffe whos this clown

Din and space dogs

Wolffe hates anakin

TBB incorrect quotes 6

The entire fandom to crosshair

Limited vocabulary

Tbb incorrect quotes 5

echo 501st brain activated

tbb incorrect quotes 3

Trooper cottontail

Fives barcode on thigh

tbb incorrect quotes 7

Anakin starts hearing background music

501st incorrect quotes 1

tbb incorrect quotes 4

tbb incorrect quotes 2

oddly specific star wars headcannons

Fox seduces the chancellor

Hunter is short, tech holds on hip

Tup recording documentary

barracks on fire

goodnight kisses

Obiwan is gay confirmed

What was really said

Day one seminar on how to command clone troopers

palpatine’s fourth zoom meeting

501st don’t get the joke

IG-11 and boba fett

Not all men

Greef Karga

Fox’s ct number is 1010

501st headcannons

Humorous scenes from the book

about the 104th wolfpack

How to write smut

Why tech’s armor is lighter

how tech got his name

tbb tag yourself

Wolffe being a mood

Clone wars how do you like your coffee

If fives met the bad batch

Plo is clone dad

Clones what non-military career do you think youd be good at

O66 if their chips were secretly removed

Clone wars ‘bloopers’

Palps made a shiny cry

You ignorant slut

~Memes~

Hunter selling echo

Caleb kicking crosshair

Tech is angry cat

TBB fuck tier list

Star wars fuck tier list

TBB and omega as text posts

How to negotiate a higher salary

Fox in VR

On all levels except physical I am a wolf

Fives didn’t connect shit

Rex and fives relationship in one still

Two bagels

TBB madagascar penguins

the senate meeting was cancelled croissants

Wrecker as text posts

Omega as text posts

Hunter as text posts

Crosshair as text posts

Crosshair as text posts 2

Tech-st posts

Echo as text posts

Right on schedule

They’re just dancing don’t worry about it

tbb as quotes from the office

regs as quotes from the office

Anakin becomes a problem

Look at all the fucks I don’t give, anakin

Clone troopers as memes

Inhibitor chip removal at claire’s

murder is okay art

TBB spoilers without context

Starwars characters as mulaney quotes

Tech is bigfoot

Tbb as bird memes

Hands are for echo

Fives careless whisper

~Gifs~

angry cute echo

Tech and Omega

Tech in blacks

Crosshair doesn’t miss but CT-9904 does

I won’t leave you, not this time

Rex is a good listener

Tech is a confident nerd

Wrecker the gentleman

Echo needs a hug

Where is my grumpy grump

Tech panics over info

We were brothers once

TBB 1.14

Crosshair in battle simulation

This reg we like

Tech in clone wars

Clones with real face

Every named clone trooper so far

Cody and obi like meercats

Crosshair smile

Crosshair tbb

Echo watching Rex

~Art~

Echo in the sun

Echo and tech

Bad batch back together

Bad batch in civvies

Tech and Wrecker

A wild tech appears

Tech and Echo fixing stuff

Badass Obiwan and Cody

Cody in suit

Echo and Fives

Clone trooper armour

79s

Hunter and Crosshair

Drinking coffee

Loth cats and wolfpack

Tech

Wolffe and Plo

Cody

Wolffe is ready to kill C3PO

Trooper shenanigans

Ahsoka and Obiwan

Neon Rex

Rex

~Photos/ Screenshots~

Hot Echo

Tech smiling

Echo is Majestic

Angry sexy hunter

Wolffe’s legendary eye roll

TBB barracks

Crosshair icons

Rex dad joke

~Fics~

returning from the dead is easier said than done

Rex kissing reader without thinking in front of people

Stress relief

Tech Savvy

The coffee house

Keep your captains close

Random tech headcannon

Omega and Cross and Lothcats

Bad batch headcannons

Mama wolffe

Routine affection

Talk about it

Soft echo headcannons

Mistletoe mishaps

Unexpected kiss

TBB game night headcannons

flirting with clone troopers

Deaf crosshair headcannons

Tech x reader

Echo and pop

Fives misusing protection crystals

Clones giving bad relationship advice

Don’t give five’s vodka

The TILF awards

Clone dad’s and the weird/creepy things their kids say

Annual jedi council holiday party

Anakin’s hand

Wolffe’s eye

Coming out to mando

Helping wolffe shave

SW characters watching shrek

put your clothes on fives and echo

Echo good baker, fives good chef

Echo’s missing blasters

Get the captain to rest

Night before thanksgiving poem

~Fake texts~

Commanders accidentally texting you

TBB fake texts

How tbb would react to you wanting a baby

~Other??~

idfk1

idfk2

SW writing resources

[azurecanary]

That's it. I'm out. I was going to pirate this movie out of respect to Arden, but I'm not even going to do that now. I was so excited about this movie after i finished the show at the start of the year, but this past week has lowered my expectations so hard in such a short span of time. I remember being so excited when I heard the cast list released followed by a small spike of worry not seeing Arden or Cody on the list. But now hearing that they would only offer Arden fifty percent less than Holland, Shelley and Crystal (whose character was not only poorly written, but also dead for three seasons), AND that they're just going to replace her like that! Even if they told me that Cody was returning and that Thiam would be canon, I still wouldn't be able to enjoy the movie. At the very least, the ONLY way I'll watch that movie is so I know the basic plot that I can use in a fix it fic (if I ever get around to writing it), and I sure as hell won't enjoy watching it. Even if three of my favourite characters are in this movie, I won't be able to enjoy it knowing the shit they're pulling with Arden and her character.

[aboardthehavocmarauder]

Beautiful Mischief [Pt. 3]

Bad Batch x Reader • Angst/Fluff/NSFW (yknow the whole deal) • Mechanic [hidden Jedi] ! Reader • Female reader

Fall on your knees, sweet girl

Sweet girl...

——

“SHES A FUCKING JEDI”

“And how the fuck would you know that?”

“HER PETITE FUCKING ASS CANT TAKE DOWN A TREE IN A SINGLE PUNCH”

“You think she used the force?”

“She did! Don’t believe me?! Wait till the next incident”

Y/N frowns outside the cockpit hearing Cross talk about what he saw with Hunter and Tech. She straightens up when Echo came into the common area seeing the angered look on her face. He didn’t say a word. They stood in the silence and Y/N felt overwhelmed all of a sudden causing her to leave the room, before he could reach—-

“Don’t touch her Echo. We don’t know what she’s capable of” Tech states witnessing what just happened as Echo gave him a worried look.

——

“You’re taking on a Padawan? You know what Anakin turned out to be. You think you’ll produce a normal one?”

“They are Anakin’s age now. Not a child. I believe I can train them to be the best”

“A little late to find a force sensitive being”

“I didn’t find her, she found me”

“I trust you Obi Wan. But—“

Don’t be surprised by the hardships

——

Wrecker finds himself in the storage compartment looking for extra ration bars in their food supply when he saw Y/N sitting on the ground propped up against her crate staring at the ceiling.

“Hey?” He tilts his head confused seeing the redness in her eyes and swollen cheeks. “Hey Y/N...what’s wrong?” He decided to sit with her waiting for her to respond and if she didn’t, he would’ve stayed as a comfort.

“I’m a monster Wrecker”

“What? I don’t think so”

“Crosshair does, he’s telling everybody what he saw in the forest. Just another monster in this galaxy full of darkness”

“Okay now that’s a lot of talk. I’m going to need context”

“He didn’t tell you? None of your brothers did?”

“Honestly I ignore what most of them say” Wrecker laughs as he handed her a ration bar seeing her take the offer.

“I worked on your ship for a year before you decided to add me on this journey with you all. Then it’s been six months and as much as you’re all close with one another...I don’t think I’ll ever been looked at normally ever again”

“Y/N...from the time with the scar thing. Scars are scars. It was stupid of us to push you to tell us what happened. As for this recent thing. Speaking for myself, I don’t care what you are. You’re Y/N. A badass mechanic that knows a lot more than we expected. And if shit changes. Who gives a fuck? Imma still like you for you. Besides. Half of my face is a scar and I don’t give a fuck” Wrecker smiles hearing her laugh a little, feeling better.

——

“Two lightsabers? Ha! This will work nicely for you young apprentice”

Y/N stares with grey covered eyes standing still like a solider as the dathomirian receives the kyber crystals for the hilts before handing the new and improved sabers to his mindless slave.

“You’ll receive a new look. Keep you hidden away from the so called Jedi you used to call your family. Little do they know your parents died and adoptive sister left. Or you left her. I’ve always wondered why you did so”

“I wanted to become a Jedi, Odious...” Y/N says groggily before freeing when he started to force choke her. “I’m sorry sir...”

“Mmm. Are you truly, sweet girl?” He smirks pushing her against the wall and keeping her there like a wall ornament. “We don’t want you to remember to good old days...we need information and you will kill for it if it deems necessary” Odious laughs squeezing his hold hearing her choke. “You will kill if they won’t expose their secrets. We will take down the Jedi council”

Soon Y/N dropped on her side feeling the cold ground turn into a cold surrounding. Feeling like death was crawling in but she quickly stood to their feet seeing Odious’s accomplices approach her to start the appearance change.

No one said it was pain-free

——

Returning to Coruscant, Y/N thought she was being dropped off but Hunter assured her it was for Echo to receive some simplicity with his brothers in blue.

Even the clones need to go back to their home.

“You coming?”

“No”

“But come on. The mess hall will have more of those ration bars you like” Wrecker adds as Y/N stayed glued to her seat feeling a weight grow in her chest when she sensed him. “Y/N?”

“I can’t Wrecker...I know we’ll be here for three days but I’m safe here”

“Well you know where we’ll be” He smiles being the last stepping off the ramp as it closed behind him.

But it didn’t take until nightfall for Y/N to step out and take a look at something that over came their thoughts.

——

“You’ll be staying”

“No Obi-Wan”

“Y/N you’ve come so far. Why give up training now?”

“Your master was a grey-Jedi because he didn’t believe in the rules the council had held accountable on us all. I can’t live in a cult that doesn’t want me to seek out for more in my life”

“But you can—“

“I’m not becoming a whore of the Jedi council all because I can fuck every man that steps into the facility. I want to fall in love. I want to be free. Free from my personal burdens. Reunite with my sister. Go home. I won’t be corrupted Obi Wan. You can keep your tabs on me if you like. But I cannot be here”

“Y/N. Please”

“Take a look behind you Obi Wan, and what do you see?”

Obi Wan turns around to look at the city of Coruscant erupt in colors and volumes of plenty. He was about to say something but when he turned around.

She was gone

——

And now she’s returned

Y/N stepped into the quarters she stayed in during her time there. The nostalgia started to hit when the familiar feeling returned.

“Leave”

“Y/N—“

“Leave me alone” She frowns clenching her fists. “You shouldn’t have come out of whatever corner you were in”

“Y/N it took courage for you to come back inside this place. Please just let me spe—“

Obi Wan suddenly hit the wall outside of her room as she stepped out quickly leaving.

“General I heard—“ Cody stopped talking seeing Y/N and his General on the floor, triggering him to take out his weapon. “You stay right there”

“Don’t hurt him Y/N”

“I’m not a monster like you Kenobi” Y/N frowns lifting her hands and before Cody could even do anything, she booked it in the other direction.

“What the—“ Cody started chasing after her as Obi Wan quickly gets on his feet following in suit after the two.

Having no obstacle in the way made it easy, until Cody called in reinforcements from Rex and a few more from the 501st.

“This—“

“It’s Y/N. Why would Cody—“

“Cody explain?!”

“Cody stand down for maker’s sake” Obi Wan states. “You can’t just—“

“They—“

“NO” He snaps as the distress in his voice made Cody finally stop thinks but the actions still confused his brothers. “Now leave. All of you. Except Y/N”

As the sun sets on today

We’ll never know about tomorrow

——

“General Kenobi. New information has come up”

“What about this time Cody?”

“About fugitive x. You said to dig up anything on them and we got something”

Obi Wan turns to Cody seeing the information on the datapad and taking it, leaving to process this all.

Fugitive X

Name: Y/F/N Y/L/N

Found in the streets of the black market wielding duel lightsabers. Nothing life threatening. But they were found with a kyber crystal that was floating around in the market.

“This...isn’t giving me anything...” Cody frowns flipping through the pictures and finding the video from one of the street cameras of them taking out a knife and suddenly—-

Fuck

——

“Why didn’t you come back once you escaped?”

“Why would I?”

“What do you mean...”

“Just because you had spies in my life to keep tabs on me. Doesn’t mean they saw everything. You......” Y/N stops talking as she brings her knees to her chest staring out in the scenery as Obi Wan sheds his robe to be comfortable around her just enough. “You...you lost your master. Imagine that pain, but with your humanity, sanity...”

“Y/N, what happened?”

“A lot...”

A lot that nobody knows

Until now

[swbumblebee]

General Kenobi had been very, VERY smug when he returned to the gunship (leaping onto the still extended ramp in mid-air, of course. Dramatic bastard.) twirling Mauls unlit double lightsaber. Bloody and bruised and generally a bit worse for wear, but very smug.

 Cody couldn’t help but smile at the troops infectious cheering (despite the familiar mix of exasperation and relief) watching his General’s face flush at the attention, contradicting his cocky bow.

Resuming his characteristically confident gait, the Jedi Master brushed off concerned questions and requests to visit medical as usual, (“A few bumps and scrapes that’s all Commander, I’m quite fine I assure you.”) and just about managed to hide his limp as they rendezvoused with the rest of the mission group on the Negotiator.

Cody smiled conspiratorially with Rex as General Kenobi was mobbed by Skywalker and Tano, practically vibrating with excitement at sight of the new weapon.

 “Master Obi-Wan can I have a go?”

 “Wow Master Drallig is going to flip his lid!”

 “I know! You should’ve seen Maul’s face”

 Their Jedi were such children sometimes.

 ---

 That was three days ago. And it turns out, three days in the company of a Sith lightsaber did…Things, to their resident Jedi.

Cody’s General had once told him that Jedi loved Kyber crystals. They were surrounded by them in the temple and a Kyber crystal was supposed to bring out the very best in its Jedi.

Well, if a Jedi crystal helped them be the best they could be then Cody surmised, based on the scene in front of him, that a Sith crystal did the exact opposite.

He stared in shock at the only three occupants of the room he had just unwittingly strolled into, each surprising and unnerving him in their own unique way;

General Skywalker was biting his lip, glancing worriedly at his companions and fidgeting his hands like a nervous youngling. A far cry from the Hero with No Fear.

Commander Tano was grumbling angrily to herself, spitting quiet words with unusual venom as she kicked a chair back underneath a table, glaring around as if the Universe itself had pissed her off. Contrasting jarringly with the happy flippant teenager he’d seen trailing around after Rex.

General Kenobi was a similar juxtaposition to his usual self, and it alarmed Cody the most to see his larger-than-life, Force-of-nature General sitting with his head in his hands staring at the table with an almost comically miserable look on his face.

Cody didn’t quite know weather to advance or retreat.

“I feel awful” General Kenobi groaned. “Everything hurts” he moaned, staring pathetically into space with big sad eyes.

Cody had a genuine fear that his Jedi had been possessed by a spirit of some kind.

“Master you’ve got to look after yourself!” Skywalker looked at him anxiously, biting his nails. “You know maybe, maybe I should put trackers in your sabers, I’d know where you are, both of you, all the time then” he said determinedly.

His Master ignored him, simply sinking down to rest his head on the table.

“I’m so tired. I wish Dooku and his cronies would just fuck off for a while” he muttered. Cody felt his mouth drop open. He could count the times he’d heard his classy General swear on all the fingers of one elbow.

Tano rolled her eyes, glaring at both of them and slamming her mug down with a disparaging noise, completely devoid of respect.

 She looked between them both angrily. General Skywalker looked back, nibbling his lip again.

“Do you think Rex is OK? I haven’t heard from him in a few hours.” He said, and then made as if to stand up “Maybe I’ll call him, check in” he offered with faux lightness.

Commander Tano rolled her eyes.

“For Force sake, Skyguy stop worrying Rex is fine!” she snapped, pulling him back down and directing her ire at her Grand Master. “And what’s up with you?” she demanded.

“I’m knackered.” Came the short answer “my back hurts because I’m a thousand years old and I’ve had a headache for as long as I can remember” he informed her flatly, still staring into space with large glassy eyes. “I give up, I just want to go to bed.”

Tano had absolutely no sympathy.

“Yeah well, you can’t” she huffed.  

Skwalker reached across the table and clutched at his mentor’s hand.

“You’ll be fine Master. Hey maybe we should just all go somewhere” he suggested, a hint of desperation in his voice. “You, me, Snips, Padme, Rex” he said excitedly “we can just find somewhere safe and stick together and wait this whole thing out.”

Cody didn’t spare any time thinking about his omission from the list of people Skywalker considered his. He was too busy deciding if he was more alarmed by the young General’s willingness to completely abandon his duties or General Kenobi’s seemingly debilitating lack of strength and this willingness to just give up.

 "Master Obi-Wan, your beard is too long would you kriffing fix it please or get rid of it?”

Then again, Commander Tano’s seemingly blinding anger could be a real problem.

"I need it to look older, but sometimes it makes my face hot." came the miserable reply.

“No don’t change Master”

Cody backed away slowly, a once might a cage full of angry Nexu.

 He wondered who to get in touch with about dangerous artifact disposal at the Jedi temple. Did they have a bomb squad? They're going to need it.

[obiwander]

“I have never blamed you.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi x f!Padawan!Reader (Platonic)

Summary: Obi-Wan reflects on Order 66.

Warnings: Descriptions of wounds.

Word count: 1,452

The dry air of Tattooine reminds him of Utapau.

Obi-Wan returned to the landing where the 212th was gathered, and he grinned in relief at seeing you unscathed. Your padawan braid rested upon your shoulder as you turned to face him. The battle with Grevious had left him exhausted, yet there was still much to do—the war wasn’t over yet. Your eyes were filled with teasing amusement as you handed him his lightsaber before imitating the phrase you had heard many times over,

“This weapon is your life, don’t ever lose it,” he smiled, and watched as you hesitantly climbed into the saddle of your shimmering varactyl. It barked with impatience, and your face contorted into nervousness.

“Don’t worry, young one. The cliffs aren’t as steep as they seem,” Obi-Wan had always been good at reading why you were anxious, or afraid ever since you were assigned to him after your master’s death during the first months of the Clone Wars. “If you fall, I will always catch you. You know this,” he turned his varactyl, and gave Cody a couple of words, before starting off towards the cliff face. Your sweaty palms urged your beast forwards, and it lurched ahead. Your stomach turned, and your thighs were tense where they squeezed the saddle. Focusing on your master’s back, you tried to not look down to your right—where the drop seemed impossibly high. Blaster fire echoed throughout the canyon, and the sound of a cannon cut through the air.

Suddenly, wind filled your ears and you couldn’t breathe. And then you were gone.

Obi-Wan had broken through the surface of the pool, and began to frantically look around. In his panic, he failed to notice how the bright turquoise was becoming stained with red. He swam towards the shallower parts before climbing to his feet. A flash of tan caught his eye and he stumbled towards a cluster of rocks to his left. Obi-Wan had called your name, and went to reach for your shoulder when he noticed how the water around your head was spreading red. The air smelled of iron, and he could taste it upon his tongue. Obi-wan’s hand shook as he kneeled in the water, and pulled your body into his lap. He turned your face towards him, and a startled sob left his lips.

The back of your skull was smashed in, and blood rushed from the fatal wound. A couple of ribs gave into his touch, and he recoiled in shock. Tears began to gather, and Obi-Wan softly rubbed his thumb across your cheek before closing your directionless eyes. The whirr of scout droids told him that his time was up. He needed to leave. Obi-Wan rushed to unclasp the necklace that your late master had given you, and to take your lightsaber along with the small but thick, well-loved book about the galaxy’s foliage from your belt. He leaned forwards and pressed his lips against your forehead, letting those grief-filled tears fall, and reluctantly left your body in the rocky shallows of one of Utapau’s pools.

Obi-Wan slid his thumb over a smooth part on the hilt of your lightsaber, and remembered how your cheek had felt warm to the touch, but devoid of life. He had never activated your beloved weapon, yet every time he brought it out of the ornate box that it sat in, his finger always hovered above the button. Your Kyber crystal was one of a kind—it only trusted those whom it deemed worthy enough to wield it. Not many were able to ignite it. He didn’t believe that it would activate for him—the one who had killed the person it deemed the most worthy to wield it out of generations of Jedi that had ultimately passed through that same path in the caves of Illum. Obi-Wan thought back to the first time that you had fended off two destroyers all by yourself, the brilliance of your blade painting the nearby walls of the alleyway with neon light, and his heart filled with somber pride.

That had been…Maker—around twelve years prior. He didn’t know if you had made it into the large expanse of the Force without trouble. Qui-Gon had mentioned during the first time he spoke with Obi-Wan that you were most likely stuck in that same limbo that he had been for almost two decades.

“She’s tired, Obi-Wan. She is struggling to stay conscious, but she wants to rest.” You had, ultimately, given into the comfort of the Force, and Qui-Gon hadn’t felt a whisper of your presence since a couple of long moments after you had passed. When Obi-Wan had asked his master what it was like to be in that state, Qui-Gon gave him a description that plagued him. “It’s like trying to stay awake when you are drugged with large amounts of bacta. You want to stay awake, you want to see the faces of those you love, but your eyelids become heavier and heavier until your eyes roll back and you fall asleep. Because she died tragically, and because she died at the hands of those she trusted and cared about, her consciousness will be ravaged by dark visions until she succumbs to that deep slumber.”

Obi-Wan remembered that he had mentioned in past conversations how time works differently in the Force. What felt like a couple of seconds to him on Utapau probably felt like years to your tired soul.

During his time on Tattooine, Obi-Wan had never felt any trace of you in the Force. Guilt weighed heavy on his shoulders, and he often pulled that ornate box out, and looked at your lightsaber, or watched how the small circle pendant of hammered silver metal swung from the chain. He sometimes opened up the thick booklet that you always had stored in that pouch on your belt, and opened to the middle of it—listening to the way the pages crinkled with water damage and the spine cracked due to the glue aging. When Obi-Wan would thumb through the pages, he would occasionally find pressed leaves or flowers that had been taped in next to the corresponding plant shown on the page. He studied the way that the yellow t’iil—a flower native to Alderaan, had lost its bright color over the years.

The biting air that had rushed down from the mountains picked up into a breeze to blow across the fields of Alderaan. Anakin had been complaining about the cold, and Obi-Wan was beginning to get fed up with it when he heard Ahsoka call your name. Looking over to where you were perched upon a rock, with your back to him, he watched as she ran over to you, occasionally jumping over something hiding in the tall grass. In her hand was a yellow flower that Obi-Wan had seen sprouting from nearby grasses. She offered it to you, and he watched as you turned to take it with a smile on your face. Ahsoka leaned over your shoulder as you quickly flipped through the small book until you reached Alderaan, and while he couldn’t make out what you were saying exactly, Obi-Wan could make out the passion in your voice, and the focus in your Force signature.

Obi-Wan knew he was going to die if he boarded that ship with Luke. He was ready to die, and all of the lessons that Qui-Gon had led him through had prepared him for that moment of limbo between the physical aspects of the Force, and consciousness inside of it when his body will become pure energy. As far as he knew, you were still asleep—training for becoming a Force ghost didn’t really start until you had been a knight for a couple of years. It was a journey that a Jedi Knight needed to teach themselves. There was a good chance that you would never wake up, and the Force would cradle you forever.

One last time, he told himself. The ornate box was beside Obi-Wan, and he held your carefully crafted lightsaber in his right hand. His thumb hovered over the button, and he let out a breath, and pushed down. The blade sprang to life, that concentrated Force humming with glee. He stared at the blade, not caring how it created floating copies that followed wherever he looked. The Kyber crystal within hummed with a message, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes to listen.

I have never blamed you. And I never will.

For the first time in twenty years, Obi-Wan felt the brush of your Force signature, and he allowed himself to let go of the heavy grief that had plagued him for so long.

For soon, he would see you again.

***