#currently going through the gold n silver arc

[justtrashperson]

guess who's been reading the adventures manga

+original image below

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] To Save A Brother

 He has the other half.  Darkness's fingers brushed across the medallion that hung around his neck.  He wanted to duel this person.  He could sense other things as well - this carrier of a Spirit Gate Key was a powerful Firestarter as well as -  he frowned, taking one more step forward.  Perhaps being closer would tell him if he read this correctly.

Oh.  He was.  It wasn't something he'd expected, not here and not now.  Darkness did not like this.  The bearer of the Gentle Darkness, here and now?  That would make for an excellent duel without a doubt, but it would stand a risk of awakening the power itself should it still sleep.  He didn't want to take the chance on facing his old adversary without being properly prepared.

A movement in the shadows caught his attention.  Someone walked towards the dorm building - Osiris Red, he knew from the memories of his current host - though it didn't seem that this person belonged there.  They wore a blue uniform, and though he was too far away to see the tab on their collar, another part of him whispered strongly that they too were a Firestarter.  Perhaps not quite as strong as the one who wore the other half of the medallion, but still quite strong.

His host twitched harder inside of him.  Darkness took a better look at this new person as they came closer to the dorm.  He had access to all of memories of his host and it took a few moments to click.

Well.  It seemed that this was the sister of his host.  How interesting.  He'd been aware that his host had a sister, who was a Firestarter, but he'd never thought that he would encounter said sister on this mission.  He considered for a few moments, then made up his mind.

Power stretched outward, encircling both the girl and those in the building who he could sense as being awake.  There were only four of those, and one of them was the other Key Carrier who wore the half-medallion.  Once he disposed o the girl, Darkness, decided, he would duel that one as well.  If they knew one another, then seeing her defeated would dishearten him and give him a better chance to win without awakening the other Darkness.

Not to mention, he just couldn't resist the urge to cause despair and heartache no matter what.  The thought of doing so to his host and his host's sister at the same time was far too tempting to resist.

Asuka had been on her way to talk to Juudai, worried that he would be the first one targeted by the Seven Stars.  After all, he was an Osiris Red, and while he'd proven his talents more than once over the last handful of months, these strange evil duelists might not be aware of that.  She fidgeted with the Key that hung around her neck, wondering again what it would be like to duel in one of these Duels of Darkness.  She'd heard they weren't the sort of duel that Duel Academia had all the time, but she wasn't certain of what they would be like.

The circle of dark energy engulfed her without warning.  She'd barely even reached Juudai's door when it swept over her and into the room beyond.  When she could see again, she stood on a silvery disk, and she wasn't where she'd been before.  It took a moment to grasp where that was - at the volcano.  Right over the lava, in fact. 

"Asuka!"  She jerked her head around to see Juudai, Shou-kun, Hayato-kun, and Theodis-san a distance away, also on a disk like hers, but theirs was more enclosed.  The Healer Cat sniffed around, tail lashing, clearly uncomfortable without solid ground underneath her.

She started to take a step towards them.  But before she could, lava leapt up all around, arching in graceful smooth arcs over the shining disk beneath her feet.  The lava shaped itself into something that resembled dragons, roaring fiercely before they splashed into one another and out of the lava there stepped a new figure.  He stood taller than Asuka, with brown hair tinged by the light of the lava. 

Most of his face was hidden behind a black mask that resembled a dragon's features.  Around his neck there hung a medallion similar to the one Juudai had taken to wearing after their experience in that other world.

"You're one of the Seven Stars,"  Asuka declared, staring at this stranger. He smiled - it wasn't a smile that fit on his features.  What little Asuka could see told her that he should smile freely and happily.  This near-smirk wasn't his at all. 

"I am Darkness,"  he introduced himself with a tiny nod of his head.  "And you are one of the Keepers of the Keys.  I challenge you to a duel."  Before she could answer, he raised one hand, and a card flickered into existence there.  "The loser will have their soul sealed into this card."

Asuka tensed herself at once.  She'd not thought that she would be one of the first challenged.  But she'd been entrusted with this key and she refused to let it go without a fight.

"If that's what you want, then I'll fight you!"  Asuka declared. She glanced once again to where her friends stood surrounded by lava.  "But when I win, I want my friends released!"

Darkness chuckled, a very low, dark, smooth sound.  It didn't fit him any more than the smirk did.  "Of course.  But the question is, can you win fast enough?"

No sooner had he asked that then Shou yelped, and Asuka looked in time to see him pulling his hand away from the lava.  It didn't look as if he'd been more than mildly scorched but she could tell Juudai was the only one who might be enjoying the heat.  She squared up her shoulders - time to fight.

"I will take the first turn,"  Darkness declared, shuffling his deck.  Asuka got ready.  This wouldn't be an easy duel at all.  "I summon Spear Dragon, in attack mode, and set one card face-down."  Spear Dragon appeared, mostly brilliant blue wings and a long sharp beak, pointed towards her.  "Turn end.  Do make this interesting, Tenjoin Asuka."

How does he know my name?  She hadn't mentioned it.  Perhaps they all somehow knew the Key-Keepers?  She didn't have time to worry about it now.  Instead, she drew her first hand and checked it out.  She could work with this.

"I summon Cyber Gymnatics!"  Before her there appeared one of her favorite monsters, clad in a tight-fitting black outfit, well-muscled, and long blonde hair.  She didn't have the highest attack but what she had to make up for it was her effect.  "I activate her affect by discarding one card from my hand.  I can destroy one face-up attack position monster my opponent controls - in this case, Spear Dragon!"

Cyber Gymnatics leaped upward and spun towards the far side of the field, slamming one foot hard against Spear Dragon's neck.  The dragon let loose a cry of pain before vanishing in a spray of light.  Asuka wasn't done yet, though. 

"Now that you don't have any defenses, Cyber Gymnatics attacks you directly!"  Once again her monster leaped forward, and this time slashed her hand directly into Darkness, who barely flinched back.  He chuckled as the attack ended and Cyber Gymnatics returned to Asuka's side of the field.

"Is that all you're going to do?"  He asked.  Asuka didn't like the way that he smiled. 

"I set one card face down and end my turn,"  she said.  Whatever he tried on his turn, she'd be able to handle it.  This wasn't as terrifying as she'd feared it might be.

But Darkness quickly disabused her of that.  "I activate Call of the Living Dead, summoning Spear Dragon back from my graveyard!"  Once again Spear Dragon appeared before him.  Asuka tensed even more; he could have done that earlier and prevented all damage to himself if he had.  What did he have in mind? 

"Next, I summon Mirage Dragon!"  The second dragon appeared there now, this one a half-see through creature of gold scales and silver hair.  "While Mirage Dragon is on the field, you cannot activate trap cards during the battle phase."

Asuka's eyes widened and she took a step back.  Her eyes fell to her face-down card - Double Passe.  If she couldn't activate that, then she would have to revise her strategy and fast. 

Darkness laughed.  It scraped against her soul, like a sound that she knew should be pleasant and yet it had been warped beyond all understanding.  "Are you afraid?  Do you understand that you're going to lose now?"

"Don't listen to him!"  Theodis snapped, voice rising above the sound of the lava.  "You haven't lost yet!"

"She's right!"  Juudai agreed wholeheartedly.  "You can take this guy, Asuka!  We all believe in you!"

Shou nodded, casting repeated nervous glances to the lava.  Juudai had slipped himself in the front of the little group, one hand resting on Theodis' head, staring at the duel displayed before them, as if he weren't surrounded by boiling lava.  Asuka wondered for a heartbeat if he could hear the voices of the lava.  Any Firestarter could hear the voice of fire, but lava was another thing altogether.  She knew she wasn't that strong, but Juudai wasn't a normal Firestarter at all.

She shook her head to clear it, focusing back on what was happening before her.  Darkness wasn't finished at all.

"Battle!"  Darkness declared, pointing towards her.  "Spear Dragon, take out Cyber Gymnatics!  Spear Crash!" 

At once the blue dragon surged forward with a mighty flap of its wings and stabbed that long sharp beak right into Cyber Gymnatics' heart.  Asuka screamed as pain racked her, flowering outward from her own heart.  She didn't fall but only by sheer stubbornness.  Slowly she shook her head again, trying to think instead of just suffering.

"Wh-what was that?"  She murmured.  Darkness chuckled. 

"This is a Duel of Darkness.  The pain of your monsters - that's your pain too.  You'll feel every bit of damage done in this duel.  And so will I, of course."  Darkness waved one hand casually.  "But I think you'll not enjoy it the way that I do."

Had he felt this when she'd attacked him directly?  He hadn't acted like he did.  Was he lying about that?  Asuka couldn't even begin to guess right now and had no time to think it over. Not when Darkness hadn't finished his Battle Phase.

"Mirage Dragon!  Attack her directly!  Mirage Crush!"  Forward it surged, claws raking her from head to toe.  Asuka screamed, falling back again, dropping down to one knee as her life points dropped to thirteen hundred.  She almost expected to see blood when she looked down at herself, and only when that didn't happen did she remember that to some extent, these were still holograms.  They weren't solid - yet she'd felt the weight of the claw sinking into her flesh and ripping through her.

"If you want to surrender,"  Darkness told her, "then I will take your Key and seal your soul into this card.  The pain will end.  You'll know nothing, ever again."

Asuka's eyes narrowed.  Slowly she pushed herself to her feet, swaying ever so lightly as she did.  She'd never heard the voice of the lava, but the fire it sparked called to her.  The volcano had always been friendly to the Firestarters of Duel Academia and now wasn't any different.  She could also hear the voices of her friends, Juudai and Theodis, Shou and Hayato, demanding to know if she was all right, encouraging her to keep on going.

For his sake,  she told herself.  I can't find my brother if I don't keep on going.  If I lose this fight, I'll never see him again.  She'd waited too long, searched too long.  She wasn't going to let that happen.

She glanced towards Darkness, and thought she caught a glimpse of brown eyes behind the mask.  The light of the lava made her uncertain of what she saw, but - was it?  Fubuki wasn't the only person with brown hair and brown eyes in the world.  But he did play a dragon deck.  It had been a long time since she'd seen her brother duel, so she couldn't be certain.  But - she pressed her lips together.

"Is that all you've got?"

Darkness laughed, and the heat around him rose, to the point even she noticed it.  That was wrong by itself; Fubuki was a Healer, not a Firestarter.  This heat felt wrong.  Not like a Shadow Flame; but something else altogether. Asuka had no names for it, but she knew wrong when it presented itself to her. "Turn end.  Do your best."  Darkness taunted her.  Asuka fully intended to.

She drew her card for the turn and relaxed a fraction.  She had cards enough to deal with the situation but this would make it that much easier.

"All right, Darkness, you'll see just what my best is!  I activate Cyclone, targeting your Call of the Living Dead!  When that goes to the graveyard, it takes Spear Dragon with it!"  And that removed the strongest monster from Darkness's side of the field.  All she needed now was a way to get rid of Mirage Dragon - and she had that already in her hand.

"Now, I summon Cyber TuTu!"  Before her there appeared the low-level ballerina, who spun into place delicately and fiercely, regarding the dragon before her without a scrap of fear. 

Darkness chuckled as he regarded her.  "She's not very powerful, is she?  I don't think my dragon has anything to fear from her."

"No, your dragon doesn't,"  Asuka agreed, allowing herself a grin.  "But you might.  I'm not attacking with Cyber TuTu.  She's not here on the stage for long.  I brought her out in order to call someone else!"  She flicked out another card.  "By the effect of Prima Light, I sacrifice Cyber Tutu!  Cyber Prima, dance on in!"

A tight silver bodysuit covered her new monster, along with golden hoops that hovered at her hips, and smaller ones in the form of bracelets at her shoulders and wrists.  A fall of silver-white hair gleamed bright in the lava-light, and she stood fiercely in front of Asuka, ready for battle.

"Cyber Prima!  Take out Mirage Dragon!"  This wouldn't cause nearly as much damage as she would have liked, but even seven hundred was better than nothing.  She couldn't guess yet what his ace card might be but the sooner she finished this duel the better.  If she kept feeling the same damage that her monsters did, then she wasn't sure of how much more she could take.

Mirage Dragon vanished in a puff of sparkles as Cyber Prima slammed into him, Darkness's life points dropping down to twenty-five hundred.  Still a long way to go, but Asuka believed she could do it.

Darkness brushed it off easily though as she set her last card face down and ended her turn.  "You're not that bad.  I might almost regret finishing you off - but probably not."  He regarded her thoughtfully before he drew his own next card and then pointed towards her.  "Do you hear the cries of those dragons that you've destroyed?  They shriek from the graveyard, demanding vengeance for their passing!"

"You're getting into this a little much,"  Asuka muttered.  She'd never been fond of those who were too over-dramatic in duels.  Spirits or no spirits - and she hadn't made up her mind on that - it was still a game.  Though a very deadly one right now.

But Darkness continued as if she'd not said a thing.  "You will suffer for what you've done! The souls of the dragons demand it!  Now it begins!  I summon Black Dragon's Chick!" 

In front of him there now appeared a large red egg, From the egg there burst a small dragon, not quite small enough to hold in one's hands. It glared at her and Cyber Prima, hissing in anger as it did.  Darkness wasted no further time.

"I send Black Dragon's Chick to the graveyard and summon Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hand!" 

The chick explode into light and that light coalesced into a gigantic dragon, sleek and black of scale, with sharp red eyes that peered as her as if she were the source of all it hated in the cosmos.  Asuka's attention shifted from the dragon to Darkness's mask and back again.

It's the same.  He's wearing the Red Eyes Black Dragon Mask.  Something else clicked.  She couldn't see his face properly still, not with the mask there, and the shadows cast by the lava made it even more difficult to be sure.  But the more she listened to his voice and the more she stared at him, the more certain Asuka became.  She wasn't sure at all of how or why, but - but she'd done it.

She'd found her brother.  Now she just needed to find a way to find him inside of whatever it was that used his body.  She didn't know how this Darkness entity did it, but he wore her brother like a suit, and that wasn't going to happen any longer if she had anything to say about it.

"Your dragon only has a hundred more points than Cyber Prima,"  she pointed out.  "That's hardly anything at all."

"Oh, you're quite right on that."   All around Darkness, shadows cast by the lava stirred and twisted and rose upward, dancing in a frenzy that sent chills down Asuka's spine.  "Therefore, I send Red-Eyes Black Dragon to the graveyard to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" 

The shadows converged on the great black dragon, wrapping all around it and blocking it from sight.  When they pulled away, the dragon looked larger, but slimmer, with a sense of intelligence that Asuka didn't find reassuring in the slightest. 

"Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon draws power from every dragon that's been sent to the graveyard," Darkness declared.  "With Spear Dragon, Mirage Dragon, Black Dragon's Chick, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon, that makes his attack 3,600!"  He regarded her carefully.  This strike would finish her, taking her last thirteen hundred life points in one fell swoop. "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack!  Bring me the victory with Darkness Giga Flame!"

"Not so fast!"  Asuka declared, gasping the words out as quickly as she could.  "I activate my traps!  Spirit Barrier prevents me from taking damage at all, and Doble Passe allows me to make this attack on my monster a direct attack on me - and then I can directly attack you with Cyber Prima! Go! Closing Reverence!"

Even as Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon blasted a stream of intense black fire at her, Cyber Prima leaped over the flames, dodging them gracefully, and landed in front of Darkness, striking at him with all of her might. Darkness fell back a step himself, his life points dropping to a mere two hundred, and he snarled, eyes flashing like red coals.

"You won't do that again next turn,"  he promised. Asuka knew he was right.  Doble Passe would go to the graveyard at the end of this turn.  Spirit Barrier would remain, being a Continuous Trap, but it required her to have a monster on the field.  If he could destroy Cyber Prima, then she would have no defense whatsoever. 

If this were her brother - if he used Fubuki's deck - then she knew that in that deck rested cards that could either destroy Cyber Prima, destroy Spirit Barrier, or inflict effect damage, which Spirit Barrier wouldn't negate. 

He wasn't done with her now.  Two more cards remained in his hand.  He tugged out one of them.  "I activate Fire Dragon's Blazing Bullet, and choose the effect of dealing eight hundred points of damage to my opponent!"

Asuka had time to think of how petty this was before fire engulfed her.  Firestarters weren't burned by fire, no matter how weak they were, and she'd always been one of the strongest.  For the first time in her life, she knew what it felt like to burn, and not in that glorious way that Firestarters did.  She screamed, falling face forward, trembling from head to foot.

Firestarter.  Firestarter.  Another voice whispered to her.  She flinched at first, but then others joined in.

"Asuka!  Asuka!  Stand up!  You can do this!" 

"Yeah!  You've got this!  He's only got two hundred left!" 

"Idiots."  That voice cut over the other ones.  "She's lost already.  All she has to do is stop breathing.  Then I will duel you, Yuuki Juudai."

Slowly Asuka's head cleared.  She dragged in a breath.  The fires called.  She glanced over to where her friends were and saw that whatever it was that protected them from the lava had drawn backwards. They'd not fallen in yet but it wasn't that far away.  So she needed to finish this.  She needed - she didn't know what she needed.  All that she could think of right now was to win, to overcome that dragon and destroy those last two hundred life points.  But Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon had thirty-six hundred - even with Cyber Blader, she had nothing that could top that.

Wait - wait.  One card. One hope. 

"So you don't want to peacefully lay down and die?"  Darkness taunted her as she swayed to her feet, small flames of her own beginning to dance around her.  "I'm going to extinguish those fires of yours!"

"My fire will cut through your shadows to what lies beneath, Darkness!"  Asuka shot back.  "All I need is one card to finish you off!"

"Try your best!" 

Asuka drew her card.  "I activate Pot of Greed, and draw two more cards!"  She knew how slim her odds were, but if she were going to go down, then she'd go down fighting every step of the way.  She smiled at the sight of her two new cards - exactly what she needed.

Juudai always thanked his deck when he got a good draw.  Asuka wondered if she should start doing the same thing.

"I summon Cyber Petit Angel! When this card is successfully summoned, I can add Machine Angel Ritual from my deck to my hand!"

She'd only recently added Ritual monsters to her deck.  Perhaps this was why she'd wanted to do so.  Regardless, it was time.  Cyber Petit Angel wiggled little metallic wings and the card she needed appeared in her hand from the deck.  She moved on; better to get this done before Darkness could counter her.

"I activate Machine Angel Ritual!  By tributing Cyber Prima and Cyber Petit Angel, I Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Dakini!"

A tall armored woman spun into existence before her, blue-skinned and red-haired, with armor of gold.  The top two of her four arms held swords while the bottom two held a long staff.  "When Cyber Angel Dakini is summoned, then you select and destroy one of your monsters."  Asuka smiled a thin-lipped smile.  "And you only have one monster."

Darkness jerked in surprise as Dakini struck his mighty Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon with her staff, and it exploded into a pile of scales and dust that faded away a breath later.  She could see his eyes widen as he understood what was about to happen.  Asuka didn't give him time to fear it.

"Cyber Angel Dakini!  Direct attack!"

At once Dakini leaped forward again, this time swiping both of her swords across him.  His life points drained away entirely, and he fell, screaming, the card that he'd declared would hold her soul on her defeat now glowing ever so softly.  Asuka wasn't sure how she stayed on her feet, but she tottered towards him, even as light flared up around them.  When that light cleared, they weren't over the volcano anymore, but on the side of it.  Her flamelets faded away and she collapsed next to the black-clad body.

"Asuka!  Asuka!"  Ryou hurried closer, Misawa and Professor Chronos with him.  Juudai, Shou, Hayato, and Thordis hurried as well, coming to check on her.  She didn't care; she was fine.  But she pulled the body into her arms, noticing vaguely that he still breathed.  She slipped the mask off of his face, hardly able to think or breathe right now, especially as she saw that it was Fubuki, it was her brother, he lay there unconscious, but alive.  Tears coursed down her cheeks and she didn't care.  She'd held those back far too long over the last two years.

Slowly she looked up at Ryou, the only other person who might understand how she felt right now. "It's him,"  she whispered.  "It's Fubuki.  That other soul - Darkness - it's gone now."  She could see the card discarded to one side.  There was Darkness, staring back at them through the chains. Maybe 'gone' wasn't the right word, but it would do.

Asuka closed her eyes and let herself slump forward, her mind going dark and restful.  This time when she woke up, Fubuki would be there, and she could get answers on what happened, how he'd vanished and why he'd vanished, where he'd been all this time, and why he worked for these people wanting powerful and evil cards. 

She'd done it.  She'd saved her brother.

The End

Notes: Okay, let's face it. Asuka was robbed when it came to her search for Fubuki. All it really did for her in canon was get her kidnapped by Titan (an event I can assure you didn't happen in this AU), and then after that she just kinda floats around uselessly in the plot. She wasn't even allowed to be the one to set Fubuki free. No, that had to take second place to Juudai and his eternal need for fun duels! Not this time, though. Also, I mainly set this in my Healer/Firestarter AU for the grins and giggles. This might not be the best duel but I think it works.

Lastly, I sorted out this duel and wrote it all today. The idea has floated in my head for ages and it just slammed in that this would be perfect for today's prompt, even though I had my other fic ready anyway. Meh, ideas.

[highsviolets]

like real people do, chapter one: obi-wan x handmaiden!reader

summary: in which you and obi-wan stumble into each other’s acquaintance through accidents of honor and pleasure

word count: 3k-ish

cw: brief, brief allusion to body dysmorphia in first paragraph after part one (a). 

A/N: WOW it’s finally here!!! my handmaiden x obi fic!! my first multi chapter!!  anon you are so patient. thank you for bearing with me as i developed this concept and finally got words onto paper. This lil chapter takes place at the beginning of AOTC and sets the scene for all sorts of shenanigans. pls be gentle folkx i am v nervous i hope you love these idiots honorable humans as much as i do. 

*if this is your gif pls lmk!* 

like real people do, a fic by corellians-only 

prologue

Glamor. Satin. Hapan wine and curtseys and a diplomatic accent polishing over your country roots and the knife strapped to your thigh and a propensity to linger in shadows. This is your life, as handmaiden to Senator Padmé Amidala. This is your duty.

Grime. Sweat. Clone armies and custom armour and a commission muddling the balance of peace and deep-rooted affection and unwavering devotion to the Jedi Order. This is Obi-wan’s life, as High General of the Republic. This is his duty.

You meet before the chaos erupts, though, before it spills over the senate security and the temple’s walls and starts incinerating the foundations of life itself.

You meet before the chaos erupts, but your acquaintance is tangled with its aching tendrils. You do not see each other, at first. So many things are in the way. But slowly, gently, acquaintance forms into friend forms into companion forms into lover over cups of tea and night watches and snatched moments of vulnerability in a world that is determined to wrest your soul from your body. Armor and silk and robes are stripped away; duties that once swathed you tightly become more gentle. When you are together it is just you and him, but when you are in the world you are handmaiden and he is general.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves: let us go back to the beginning, when the wholeness was yet separate. Let us go back to the beginning, and meet ourselves anew. Let us go back to the beginning, where everything divines its purpose.

part one (a)

Shimmersilk voile glistens as you turn in the mirror. The tender glow of artificial sun lamps is enraptured by the diaphanous weave, and its metallic threads gleam under such ministrations. It’s a dress that drips with regality. A sense of noblesse oblige seems to ooze from every swish of the cape flowing from your cap sleeves, and you sigh. The act is heavy, and the cape grumbles as your shoulders heave with the motion. Brilliant flickers of gold and silver mock you as you continue to shift from side to side, scrutinizing your body from each angle. Another sigh leaves escapes through your nose, but this one is softer, gentler, more like the gossamer that now encloses you — more like the woman you been trained to be. You will never be as petite or slight as the Senator, but that, you observe, wrangling to adjust one final hairpin into your headpiece, was never quite the point. Your job is to stand in for her ladyship: not to assume her person.

The offending hairpin proves obstinate. You surrender to the cause and submit yourself to an evening of faint wisps of curled hair framing your face. Wisps of hair are too spontaneous. You must be crisp, but it is not about what you want — not in these petty, mundane expressions of living.  

While you have been doing battle a figure has entered the room. It’s one of the Senator’s new Jedi protectors, if the robes are any indication. Without fanfare he approaches you and plucks the pin from your fingers, like he is intimately acquainted with such things and communes with them on a daily basis. Gentle fingers — though, the bruised knuckles tell you they are not immune to struggling against life’s grip — smooth the hair at the crown of your head before he slips the pin into its rightful place, nudging into the golden circlet now held secure. The sleeve of his robe caresses your cheek, obscuring your vision, and you feel with your , rather than see, all of this occur.

“All of this” happens without sound, without breathing almost, as though the two of you have entered a vacuum that warps both space and time and sound.

The man takes a step back and paints himself with an apologetic smile, clasping his hands together in the privacy of his robe and offering you a half-bow.

“I apologize for the liberty, your ladyship.” The Jedi’s voice is precise. “I do hope I wasn’t too forward.” He announces every syllable, acknowledges every idiosyncratic whimsy, each grammatical proclamation.

You meet his gaze in the mirror, and despite the shadows casting about, you can detect the openness, the earnestness of his gaze. He holds no tension in his face, or anywhere else in his body, for that matter. It has been a long while since you have seen someone so at peace. Perhaps, hidden under the cloak, his fingers are grasping at themselves, trying to be rid of the vestiges of forbidden touches.

A half-smile graces your painted lips and you incline your head. The movement cuts but a short arc in the air’s currents, just as you have been taught. “It is no matter.” You toy with the idea of letting him continue to believe you are Padmé, the thought careening through your mind like a model airspeeder run amok. You let the thought crash. It is above you to engage in such petty games, you decide. Padmé would not do it, and it is your job to act as she does. Besides, the Jedi would know, wouldn’t he? Can’t they read minds with the Force? That’s what fisherman in your village used to say when you would let your feet dangle off the docks and graze the surface of the water and watch the boats come in with the day’s catch.

So you turn, then, the cape twisting behind you, and address him face-to-face. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Master Jedi.” You gesture to your twinkling gown. “I am not the Senator.” You catch the tail end of his frown as you avert your gaze, fixating on some unseen object just out of sight. “I am but one of her ladyship’s handmaidens.” You hear the clipped tone of your voice, the way every word is measured like cups of flour, like the yards of fabric for this dress, and you think you hate it, but you cannot tell.

“Oh, I am sorry.” The apology is sincere and bookmarked with amusement, and he rocks back on his heels. It seems he is laughing at his own mistake. “I must however, inquire after the whereabouts of her ladyship. The council has requested that my padawan and I escort her to this evening’s function.” The Jedi’s hands drop to his sides and the robes that shield them follow.

“I’m afraid the Senator has already departed,” you say, making for the exit. The Jedi matches your stride. “She left with another Jedi some twenty standard minutes ago. I presume it was your padawan, Master Jedi?”

“Blast!” he murmurs, but you hear his swearing and duck your head to hide your grin. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes again, throwing a glance your way. “I’m afraid my padawan has a mind of his own.”

“I think the Senator and your padawan will get along famously, then,” you remark wryly. You have reached the landing pad and are about to bid him a good evening when he climbs into the shuttle and extends a hand to guide you.

“May I be of assistance?”

Skin meets skin for the second time that evening. At this rate you will be more acquainted with his body than your own, and as you sense his muscles grow taut when you shift your weight to board, an unfamiliar sensation embeds itself among the metallic threads. It feels like when you have to receive the Chancellor when Padmé is away on business, or when you act as decoy traveling to and from Theed, but more subtle, more inviting.

“Thank you, Master Jedi.” Skin breathes on skin for one, two heartbeats and then the contact withers and he drops your hand.

A silence nestles over the two of you as the pilot races you over to the function. It persists as he helps you exit the shuttle and delicately rearranges your cape, ensuring the shimmersilk is matches the beams of fractured stars.

Obi-wan does not know why he does this; he does not understand why he feels the nudging of the Force to offer his arm like he is a chivalrous courtier, but he obeys. It is his duty to obey the will of the Force, so he does.

part one (b)

The function teems with lifeforms, and each one spars for attention. They are wrapped in chiffon and decked in damask robes and fine crystals compete for light so they can shine that much brighter. It’s some gala ostensibly designed to raise credits for a struggling cause, and it is like all the rest. A pathetic excuse for most Senators to say they are dedicated to more than greed.

To you, it reeks of Coruscanti power; to him, it stinks of politics.

The Jedi Master spots the Senator and her Jedi protector before you do, and he steers you in their directly, swiftly sidestepping curious glances and intoxicated beings. You manage to snag a glass of something from a passing tray.

He bows again, deeply. His hair seems to blend in with the crowd — it is copper and gold and refined.

“My lady,” he intones, and his voice sparkles like the gem-encrusted champagne flute in Padmé’s hand.

“It’s lovely to see you again, Master Kenobi.” She looks up at the gangly teenager by her side. Rich chocolate and licorice colored robes complement the Senator’s wine-colored gown. It’s a striking image, despite the youth’s awkwardness, here in the blurry illumination of the cavernous room.  

Padmé breaks into a full smile as she spots you lingering at Kenobi’s side. “I see you’ve met my handmaiden.”

“I suppose I have,” he says, examining you anew, “although I’m afraid introductions got swept away in the excitement.”

You think he sounds as unaffected by “the excitement" as one could possibly be, and the duplicity gnaws on your gentility.

You sip while Padmé sweeps together strands of lore about your service, about your loyalty, about your selflessness. The beverage is sweet and sparkling, rather like your gown, and like your dress, it feels sticky and cloying and altogether fake for something that tries so hard to be real. But you smile and nod and once more his skin melts into yours as he shakes your hand.

“The honor,” he says in that voice colored with melody, “is all mine.” You look into his cerulean eyes and wish, dimly, in that part of your brain untouched by starlight, that he had said pleasure.

Padmé’s eyes flicker between you and him, but the moment has passed. She pulls you away, citing the need for diplomatic business and brushes aside her escorts with a firmness she seems to have possessed since birth.

The pair of you wander through the crowd. You are always one step behind, always letting her be the first person they see. She is wearing her favorite designer tonight, and you wonder, taking another sip as she holds court with Bail Organa, why she has commissioned such a work of art for tonight’s event.

Like yourself, the Senator has opted for airy materials matched with splendor. And yet, her garb lacks your ethereality: the deep burgundy smacks of something firmly rooted in rich soil even as you strain heavenward. Tulle and satin are artfully draped over her lithe form, and beaded crystals cover her from head to toe. An open back reveals creamy skin. More than one being in the hall has dragged their eyes over the Senator’s body, straining to glimpse more, more, more, in the dim light.

The Senator pays them no mind. When she concludes her business with Organa, she refreshes her glass, and yours, and tucks you in her side. You begin to walk. It is an aimless thing, but not purposeful — now is when you see who is here, and who is not, who is watching, who pretends to look away, and who slips out unnoticed.

“How did you meet Master Kenobi?” you ask.

“Oh, it was years ago.” Padmé drinks. “I was still Queen at the time.”

“And?” Back in those days, she had retained at least a dozen of Naboo’s finest young women. Now, it’s just you and few others.

“And that was when we met,” she announces. “He’s very famous, you know. So is his padawan, Anakin Skywalker. They’ve protected at least half the galaxy.”

Confusion contorts your features, carving rivers in your forehead. “I’ve never heard of them.”

Padmé laughs, but the expression is faint, almost undetectable. Senators do not typically jest with their bodyguards. “That’s because you think anyone who reports on the Jedi is a gossip-mongering snob and you refuse to read anything about them.” She squeezes your arm and drops her voice to a whisper. “Don’t know know they’re the ones who write all the good stuff?”

“All…the good stuff,” you echo, voice flat and uncomprehending.

Padmé simply rolls her eyes and resume her stride. “They’re in charge of my security now, with Captain Typho. I expect that you’ll be working closing with Master Kenobi. Please help him fulfill his mandate from the Council in anyway you can.”

The mere suggestion of working with that man twists your insides. It’s the same feeling from earlier, swirling and basing into unease. Work with a Jedi? A famous one? The ache anxiety you are used to. It is familiar and it is your unwelcome companion but you have made peace with each other. This — this is something new. This is a grinding jaw and a drawbridge heart and hot and cold dueling for dominance in your stomach and something so strangely akin to anger. You drink more champagne to mask the disconcerting sensation.

part one (c)

The Senator is being pulled away, now, to a group of prominent Senators to discuss the new child labor protection regulations. She does her job and you do yours, melting into the shadows, embracing them, keeping eyes on all those who gather near to your mistress.

Master Kenobi’s sudden appearance at your side does not surprise you, though perhaps it should.

“Are you quite sure you’re able to keep watch on her ladyship from this distance?” His words are no longer melodic. They come to your ears dry and flinty, the way rocks feel without the rain to abate their constancy.

“Quite.” You fail to elaborate because there is simply nothing more to say.

“Your disguise is quite effective. You must pass along my compliments to Captain Typho and the rest of the security team.” He tries again, but you refuse to be endeared. He is stubborn, just like you — he resists being broken down by your cool acidity.

“Thank you, Master Kenobi.” You finally meet his gaze. “I was worried it would be too intricate, but the Senator assured me I had selected the perfect piece. It’s just enough like her for people to not look twice.”

“You engineered this?” Master Kenobi’s body is static, but his face swells with vivacity. A minuscule gesture to the left, an arching eyebrow, a corner of his mouth quirks upwards, ascending to meet his eyes.

“It’s my job,” you return, but the pH of your tone has neutralized somewhat. You are uncomfortable, so you try to tease him. “Maybe one day I can show you how to use all the weapons I have under this gown, and you will believe I can do my job.”

You regret the tawdry joke immediately when he shifts and looks away. “I’m sorry I’ve offended you, my lady.” Master Kenobi analyzes you, then the Senator, and sighs heavily. “I see you have everything well in hand. I shall bid you good evening, then, my lady.” He bows and exits in a boiling mass of robes, his padawan not far behind. Anakin Skywalker lingers on the threshold, gazing into the crowd, eyes frantic, but his Master beckons and he follows obediently.

part one (d)

It is not until early morning, during that brief moment between night and dawn, that you are able to think clearly about the strange feeling gurgling in your chest.

You think of Master Kenobi and his sentimental hair and the caramel of his accent. You wonder about his hands grazing yours, how your fingers curled so naturally around his, the ghost of fingertips in your hair. You consider his attempts at gallantry, at his fealty to his duty, to Padmé embrace of his presence and her lavish praise.

And you ask yourself what would it have been like, if he were just a boy, and you were just a girl, and maybe if he had danced with you he could have respected you more, and maybe if you had been less defensive he would have been more contrite, and you laugh at yourself.

Silly girl, you think as sleep nibbles at your vision. Those are not our kind of dreams.

tbc.

[xenoredux]

The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 1: The Birth

Alright, first part of the GNG rewrite aaaaayyy! As with the last rewrite, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each. 

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Firearms, various kinds of physical trauma, injuries to people and animals, the deaths of people and animals, search and rescue missions, self harm, animal and child abuse, and just a whole lotta spilled blood. Basically if any form of violence upsets you, it’d be a good idea not to read ahead

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

THIS ALSO MARKS THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANIME SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY GNG LMAO enjoy

In the year 198somethingidk in the forests of Japan, a white Akita Inu named Shiro ("white") is tailing behind an unusually large Ussuri brown bear dubbed "Akakabuto" ( "red helmet") by the nearby village's populace due to the unusual red tuft of fur trailing down his back. Shiro is followed by his owner, a crotchety old fart named Gohei Takeda, renowned bear hunter and the world's least called out animal abuser (hint: this will become relevant later.)

Before the old man can take aim with his rifle, however, the shadowy mass from the winter darkness barrels towards him. As the dog tries to leap to his owner's defense, Akakabuto smacks off a good portion of Grandpa Point-n-Shooty's face, sending a severed human ear flying into a bloodied patch of snow. Shiro takes this as an invitation to do his best impersonation of Lassie and dives at the monstrous beast, grasping hard atop his muzzle to avoid his claws. From a nearby hill, a small red puppy watches the horror unfold.

While Shiro baits the bear, as is his job as a bear-dog, Gohei fires a bullet into the massive animal's right eye. The eyeball bursts in the bear's skull, but it also stops the bullet from traveling through his brain, instead lodging it into his grey matter and jostling around his nerve centers and pituitary gland. Understandably pissed at Gohei taking the shot, Akakabuto swipes madly at him until both himself and the dog stumble blindly off the edge of a cliff, resulting in what is surmised to be their deaths. Gohei faints in a snowbank, his vision running red with blood, as the unseen red puppy runs back to civilization to bring help.

Five years pass. Gohei continues to raise, train, and hunt with Akitas, but now it's for more then the sake of bringing home bear skins. He believes Akakabuto is still alive, and he wants revenge. The massive scar on the left side of his face is explanation enough for anyone to understand why. He continues to explore the forest near his home, now aided by several new dogs, including one of Shiro's sons, a powerful red Akita named Riki ("power" or "strength") and the same puppy who had saved Gohei's life all those years ago.

Riki has comfortably begun filling his father's shoes, enough so that he's established a reputation as one of the best bear-dogs in Japan. With a title like that, it wasn't long before Riki had been mated to an equally powerful and very pretty red brindle Akita named Fuji, and the buns he'd so kindly plopped into her oven were fit to enter the bakery of life and this analogy sucks

Fuji is not Gohei's dog. She belongs to the Fujiwaras, a neighboring nuclear family who own and operate a ski resort in the mountains. Daisuke Fujiwara, a young boy with a heart of gold and a nose of snot, has been tending to his dog during her pregnancy, and she's finally delivered what is universally understood as The Best Thing Ever: a litter of roly poly puppies! Daisuke is especially taken with the smallest of the babies, a handsome silver brindle boy, because Daisuke is a stuck up dog fancier who believes silver brindles, or Tora-Ges ("tiger striped") make the best hunting dogs. He ever-so-creatively dubs the puppy Gin ("silver") and decides the infant will do him proud someday.

But all is not well in Skiiertown. Gohei's hunt of Akakabuto isn't just motivated by vengeance. The village mayor is currently trailing behind Gohei and his dogs, discussing how the town needs money from tourists and that Akakabuto's alleged presence would surely make some of them go "yeah, no" and leave. Gohei doesn't care about the economy, but he does care that a man named Genji from the neighboring town has been mauled under """mysterious""" circumstances.

As the two oldies argue about which is more important, money or human lives, Riki scents and points out the mutilated remains of two wayward tourists, a young man and his girlfriend. He also runs defensively to Gohei's side, snarling wildly. Everyone looks around, confused. Suddenly, a flash of black and red drops from the tree branches above onto the men and dogs. As the men's screams and dogs' cries fill the air, so does a fountain of their blood.

Soon after, forest rangers in helicopters are dispatched to locate and rescue the missing persons and - if they can manage it, no pressure at all - kill the illusive demon bear before he slaughters more innocents. Daisuke watches the helicopters pass overhead and leaps onto his snowmobile, incapable of not getting involved in anything.

He makes a beeline for Gohei's now abandoned camping tent. Finding it empty, he's about to drive off elsewhere when paramedics emerge from the wall of trees beside him. The mayor, bloodied and broken, is being carried on a stretcher. Daisuke runs up to him and asks what happened to Gohei and Riki, to which he's met with a simple "Akakabuto" as the man slips from consciousness.

Daisuke rushes back home to break the news to Fuji and her puppies about what happened to their doghusband and dogdad. Daisuke holds Gin close and insists Riki can't die until he's seen his shiny Pokemon of a son, to which Gin, being literally like a day old, merely whimpers and wiggles. Gazing misty eyed at the puppy, Daisuke changes his mind. Gohei can't be dead. Riki can't be dead. No mere bear could kill a man like Gohei or a dog like Riki.

Ten days pass. Neither Riki nor Gohei's bodies have been found, but the bodies of Gohei's other dogs, Riki's eldest son Aka ("red") and friend Don, have been located by lodge personnel. The animals were mauled so severely that everyone begins giving up the ghost on this whole "finding Gohei alive" business. Besides that, the cacophanic cries from Akakabuto have frightened everyone into leaving the forest, afraid of becoming the next victims. The bear is greatly distressed - his brain damage leaves him unable to rest for more then an hour at a time, let alone hibernate, and being awake during winter is disorienting him. He runs madly around the forest, roaring and swinging his massive claws at anything that moves and also most things that don't.

While the bear plods around wreaking havoc in the night, Daisuke is dreaming. He dreams of the old man and his dog languishing somewhere in the woods, starving to skeletal husks. He dreams that Gohei, in an act of desperation, raises his gun barrel to Riki's head. The old coot, overcome with hunger pangs and a desperation to survive, murmurs an apology to his dog, explaining a dude's gotta eat. He fires off a shot in Riki's skull, killing his closest companion, before tearing savagely into the dog's flesh with his bear hands. And I do mean bear hands, as Gohei begins to turn into Akakabuto, ripping the dog's flesh, then the Earth itself to pieces.

Daisuke awakens beside a sleeping Fuji a moment later. He's absolutely covered in sweat. He laments on how fucked up his dream was as he reaches out and caresses first Fuji, then Riki's puppies, praying that at least the first half of his dream, the half in which Gohei and Riki are still alive, is true.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Daisuke's subconscious, Gohei and Riki are in fact still alive! The two managed to struggle into a ravine just out of the bear's reach, and they've been holed up ever since. Riki's back has been shredded badly, and Gohei's right leg has been broken, mauled, and rendered useless. Gohei has begun to get sick of sitting on his ass incapable of doing anything, and with an ominous glint in his eye, raises the hatchet he had been carrying in his pack above Riki's head, murmuring something about home cooking...

In a twisted, eerie parallel to Daisuke's dream, the old man brings the weapon down, but not on the petrified dog in his lap. Instead, he's sliced through his own injured leg! Having severed the useless limb from the knee down, Gohei demands Riki eat his flesh, regain his energy, and seek help at the village just as he did when he was a youngster. Riki is understandably not for this, and his resistance in the form of wailing and vomiting is loud enough to catch the attention of the red helmeted hellspawn himself. In an effort to protect his even-more-fucked-up-now owner, Riki does indeed gather the last of his energy to throw himself at the bear.

Daisuke's dad begins leading a patrol back into the forest, saying that even if they're dead, Gohei and his dog's bodies can't be left to stink up the woods. Daisuke cuddles a quickly growing Gin as he asks to go, but he's told to stay home with the puppies. After all, Fuji is coming with the crew to find her doghusband and his owner's corpses.

Diasuke pouts for the 5 minutes it takes the men to be entirely out of sight before shoving Gin into his coat and plopping himself into the seat of his snowmobile, once again refusing to be left out of the excitement. Meanwhile, Riki continues his dual with Akakabuto, experiencing the slicing and dicing of a lifetime at the hands of the fiend.

The battle between bear and dog rages on, and fresh blood from both animals spatters the fresh fallen snow. Daisuke, having vroomed on over, catches sight of this historic event from atop a hill, and without a second thought begins driving down towards the bear. He tells Gin to have a look at his father, and once Gin realizes that his dad isn't the big red bear, he's awed at his old man's strength and resilience. This thought is interrupted by Daisuke screaming a one liner and driving over an incline, sending the snowmobile flying right into the bear's face. Daisuke and Gin both bail from the vehicle, and Gin tumbles out of Daisuke's jacket.

Akakabuto appropriately gathers his bearings before lunging at Daisuke, pissed off that a child has bitchslapped him with a small car. Diasuke screams for help as a bloodied, super manly arm yoinks him quickly into the ravine. It's (obviously) Gohei! He's (as we've established) still alive, and frankly very surprised to see Daisuke here! But Riki's still in unsafe territory outside, as is...

Gin! The puppy has tumbled into the bear's path, and he's too slow and uncoordinated to run to safety. Thankfully, Riki has already thrown himself at Akakabuto to save the little lad he's only just met. Daisuke and Gohei watch helplessly as the dual continues, as does a spellbound Gin.

Riki manages to break away from Akakabuto and snag up his son, but the lack of food and the constant stress on his body have taken everything out of him, and he collapses to the forest floor, Gin clutched in his teeth. Daisuke and Gohei call out to him, encourage him to come just a bit further, begging him to save himself and his son, but he just can't do it, even with the knowledge of the puppy's lineage in mind.

In a final heroic act, Riki works every muscle he's got one last time to leap forward just enough so he can yeet his son into the ravine. His effort works, and Gin finds himself safely landing in Daisuke's trembling arms, but it's too late for Riki. As the dog gazes helplessly at his master, his friend, and his child, Akakabuto delivers a final blow to his side. The red bear sends the red dog tumbling off a nearby cliff, and Riki disappears into the black snowy depths below, followed by a trail of blood and Gohei's cries of anguish.

Pissed beyond words, Gohei drags himself out of the ravine, hatchet clenched in his fist. He's just about to tell Akakabuto to 1v1 him scrub, but then everyone hears something. It's the search party come to call, all armed with guns and thermoses of hot cocoa. Akakabuto takes one look at all those shiny boom sticks and high tails it, leaving a madly wailing Gohei behind.

Daisuke emerges from the hole with Gin in his arms, much to his own father's surprise. As the men gather to take the boy, puppy, and old man to safety, Gohei drags himself to the cliffside and weeps openly for the loss of his beloved dog and closest friend.

In a short while, Gohei finds himself on a stretcher all his own. He congratulates Fuji on her litter and Daisuke on his silver brindle puppy, assuring him that Gin will make a fine bear-dog someday. Diasuke is understandably feeling glum as Gohei is carted off to hospital, but he's emboldened by the old man's words, as is his puppy. Gin is too young to speak or even truly understand what's happened, but he knows something lifechanging has taken place.

Several weeks pass. Gin and his siblings grow larger, large enough for Daisuke to initiate training them for their futures as hunting dogs. The boy has masterminded only the most exhausting, trying test of ability for the young animals today: cross a snowy field to get to him. While his siblings flop through the ice like suffocating fish, Gin's intuitive sense of laziness takes him onto the clean-driven road, where he easily makes his way into Daisuke's admiring arms. Daisuke decides that Gin is a veritable puppy prodigy, and he refuses to ever let him go.

Before he can heap more praise onto the puppy, here comes Shinji, one of Diasuke's classmates and closest non-canine friend. Shinji comes bearing news: Gohei has left the hospital at long last. Not because the doctor cleared him to, but because the impatient inpatient insisted he couldn't wait around with his thumb up his ass (or up the wound in his leg) any longer. Akakabuto has only continued to terrorize and traumatize the village folk and their visitors.

This doesn't surprise Daisuke, who is, at anything, glad that someone still has the gumption to do something about That Asshole In The Woods. Gumption doesn't benefit everyone, insists Shinji. Given Gin's a silver brindle and demonstrably the most protagonist-y out of the whole litter, Gohei will surely come to take him someday. He's Riki's son, after all, and now that Riki is gone, someone will have to fill his pawprints.

Daisuke is preemptively heartbroken, remembering back to the first time he saw the elderly man come back into town with his dogs. Gohei had taken a blunt stick and smacked Don around with it for some unknown insolence that transpired during their last hunt. The memory sends Daisuke's stomach and emotions reeling, and he clings to Gin.

Or perhaps his heartbreak was not so preemptive, because Gohei began chugging along towards the ski lodge the moment he left the hospital parking lot. The old man barges in on the boys' conversation and snags Gin up by the scruff of his little neck. Diasuke's dad notices the commotion and busts into it, telling Gohei the doctor demanded he get 6 months more bedrest. Gohei ignores him, instead striking Gin across the face for no reason but to test how pussy the puppy is. This only causes Gin to begin chewing in anger on the old man's fingers, to which the weirdass only grins.

Daisuke isn't happy about his dog being slapped out of nowhere, but Gohei insists it proves Gin's got a fighting spirit, an inherent gameness. Not like those worthless siblings of his, who Gohei proves aren't worthy of being mentioned outside of the first arc ever again by bopping them both in the face as well. To a chorus of squealing, crying puppies, Gohei leaves, carrying Gin away.

As Daisuke cries after Gohei not to kill the dog, the old man carries the puppy out of sight. Gohei takes the puplet to his cabin, showcasing his collection of bear skulls and animal hides. He leans back from his crutches and informs Gin that he'll be trained in much the same way his father was.

Gin doesn't understand what this means until Gohei picks up a stick and starts beating the everloving shit out of him. Daisuke seems to have had a hunch this would happen, because he's followed Gohei home, and the moment he sees what he's doing to Gin, he's even more pissed then the last time he lost a game of Fortnite.

Diasuke can't keep himself from whining about "animal abuse" and how "it's not good to beat infants" and other special snowflakery, to which Gohei responds by deadass picking up his rifle. He reaches down towards the battered Gin, lifts him up beside the barrel, and fires off a shot into an ancient bear skull on one of his shelves, shattering it to splinters. The gun is so GODDAMN LOUD that Daisuke falls back from the noise, and yet the tiny Gin doesn't even flinch. He seems more mystified by the gun then scared of it, a level of comfort that Gohei remarks Riki took a year of training to achieve.

Gohei says that Daisuke can leave whenever he'd like, because this dog is too suited for the job for him to ever surrender him. Daisuke unhappily ceases arguing, but he insists on staying and watching Gin train, to which Gohei just shrugs dismissively.

The next morning, Daisuke awakens in Gohei's cabin to the sound of Gin's whimpering. He rushes outside to find Gohei trying to forcefeed Gin bear flesh, a strong smelling meat with the world's most uninviting texture. When Daisuke tries to interfere, Gohei punches the 10 year old squarely in the jaw, making it ludicrously hard for the audience to appreciate his presence. Gohei insists he's doing this to get Gin acquainted with the enemy's scent and prove to him his will to live, but all Daisuke hears is "wah wah wah me like torture children".

At suppertime that day, Gohei offers Daisuke some of the soup he's made. Daisuke says he refuses to eat until Gin does. Gin has yet to have eaten any bear meat, and Gohei refuses to back down and feed him anything else. Instead, Gohei supplements Daisuke's meal for a story about a dog he owned long before Gin was born.

The dog was a Tosa Inu named Rikiou ("king of power"), and he never knew fear, common sense, or self preservation. The first bear he ever encountered was too big for him to fight off, and, unwilling to back down for even a moment, it killed him. His head was crushed like a grape. Daisuke wavers on what this story means, but he assumes it means that if Gin wants to survive, he'll take the most logical route to do so, and that his aversion to bear meat will likely grant him more respect for bears' power in future. Gohei had no moral in mind tbh. He just likes rambling about his dogs (okay relatable)

The next morning, Daisuke decides he's done watching his puppy's samurai-training and goes home. He's back only long enough to greet his parents when everyone hears a scratching at the window. It's Gin! He followed Daisuke back home! Daisuke takes this as a sign that Gin would rather live with him then with Gohei, but he doesn't receive a chance to make this so.

Gohei comes up from behind the puppy and gives him a swift bop in the side with one of his crutches. He then snags a rope around the little pooch's neck. Gin wails miserably as the old timer takes him back to his cabin for another day of bruising and starving.

Three days later, Daisuke comes to call on Gohei once again, mostly to make sure Gin isn't dead yet. Gin isn't dead, but he IS super weak. Gohei states that the little bugger has stubbornly refused bear flesh for the past few days, which means he's had nothing to eat in nearly a week. Daisuke is at the end of his rope with this insolent boomer and starts kicking and stomping the bear meat around the room.

He straight up tells Gohei to fight him if he doesn't like it when he notices the old man looking past him towards Gin. When Daisuke turns, he realizes that Gin is finally, FINALLY eating! Now that the bear meat's been stomped on, it's soft enough for the little dude to sink his baby teeth into.

Several months pass. One day, Diasuke and Shinji are piddlefarting around town. The two become enraptured with the guns inside a weapons shop. Daisuke thinks out loud about how Akakabuto could easily be defeated if the guy who went after him had a rifle as powerful as these. His train of thought is interrupted by a man and his dog, a German Shepherd, entering the store. The man orders his dog to wait outside, and the animal follows his command with no hesitation.

The boys go to have a better look at the pooch, a young, handsome dog in a brown collar. The dog gazes boredly at the two. Shinji is impressed with the dog's obedience, but since he's neither an Akita nor a brindle, Daisuke couldn't care less.

Tired of gawking at a stranger's dog, the two head back to Gohei's place to peep what Gin's up to. "He's up to eating," Gohei basically says. But what he actually meant was "he's up to learning how to swim without breathing so he can eat the bear meat I've put at the bottom of a water basin". Which, by the way, is what Gin's doing. In fact, Gin will continue doing this exercise of his twice a day every day for several weeks, growing in muscle mass and understanding of how to not die via water inhalation.

In the meantime, Gohei sorta zones out while hovering over Gin's personal swimming pool. He mutters something about Riki training just like this to the boys, to which Shinji politely excuses himself and runs home. God forbid he stay behind to hear an old man ramble.

Daisuke, on the other hand, is a nerd who is intrigued by the knowledge Gohei possesses. He asks what it was like hunting with Riki, to which Gohei chuffs and turns away. He doesn't go into detail about his dog - he's still in mourning - but he does detail what it's like to hunt bears. It's all math and muscle memory, he says, much to Daisuke's disbelief.

Gohei asserts that the simplest way to kill a bear is to abide by The Centre Line Rule, a theory among bear hunters that states that all of a bear's weakest points are down the middle of its body when it's standing erect. Fire a shot off into a bear's chest or gut or forehead from dead center, and you'll learn why it's called "dead" center. Daisuke doesn't know if he believes the boomer, but he rolls the idea around in his head as he watches Gin collect his soggy rations.

After a bit of time passes, Gohei comes to visit Daisuke. He brings little Gin along with him. At first, Gin's siblings are very happy to see him. They rush towards him to play, cheering about how their brother has returned, and he instantly kicks their asses. Gin's siblings are no longer very happy to see him. They run to their mother's side for comfort as Gin comes to a heel at Gohei's leg in an insanely powerful flex on momma's boys everywhere.

Daisuke asks the old hunter what he's doing poking around these here parts, and after scolding him for speaking like a cowboy, Gohei invites him along to watch Gin's first hunting trip. Obviously since something's happening, Daisuke MUST be included.

The three head out to a river gorge nearby to blast some ducks outta the sky. Gohei is taking his sweetass time with aiming and firing, which is very uncharacteristic of him. It soon becomes obvious why, though. As soon as he manages to snipe a bird outta the air, he allows it to fall into the ravine below before commanding Gin to go in after it.

Gin is still too full of vim and vigor to be afraid, so he leaps into the foaming snake of water below, his basin training finally showing some use. From somewhere nearby, a man's voice can be heard barking commands in English, which I cannot transcribe here because I don't speak English.

As Gin braves the rapids, a familiar silhouette also comes down into the gorge. It's another dog, and Daisuke recognizes it! It's the pompous German Shepherd from the weapons shop, and before you can learn how to properly pronounce "nagareboshi", he's snagged Gin's bird up and started making off with it!

Daisuke shouts obscenities at the thieving bastard as Gin follows behind him. For the first time, Gin begins to speak to another dog, though all the humans hear is adorable yipping. Gin tells the dog to let go of his master's kill. The dog makes like he's going to say something sarcastic back, but his mouth is too full to speak.

Instead, the dog continues to bolt, finishing his sprint by climbing to the top of the cliffside and leaping to the other side of the ravine. Little Gin tries to follow suit, but his anime protag powers haven't truly kicked in yet, and instead he ends up missing the mark and tumbling back down into the water below. The shepherd snorts in smug amusement before scampering away.

Gin, Gohei, and Daisuke pack up and start heading home. Gohei is visibly annoyed at the loss of the kill. Even Gin looks forlorn about it. Just as Daisuke begins trying to soothe the two of them, a Jeep drives past. Sitting proudly in the backseat is a dog - the German Shepherd from before! Daisuke and Gin both call out to the thief to return their kill, and the man driving the Jeep stops and gets out to meet them.

Daisuke recognizes the man from the gun shop, but only Gohei knows his name. The young man is called Hidetoshi Sekiguchi, and he's the son of the village mayor, the man who was attacked by Akakabuto alongside Gohei.

Hidetoshi apologizes for the inconvenience regarding the bird, but assures them that it was his kill all along. He tosses the bird's carcass to Daisuke to prove it. The bird's head is missing, clearly having been blasted off its feathery shoulders by the force of a bullet. That bullet came from the shiny, new, powerful-looking rifle Hidetoshi had just purchased.

The young man is a doctor by trade but a hunter at heart, and he's come all the way back from the UK with this new gun and his faithful hunting dog John to kill the bear that mauled his father. Gohei tries to tell Hidetoshi that all the fancy equipment and stuck up canines in the world aren't enough to kill that bear, to which Hidetoshi just patronizingly grins and drives away.

As Hidetoshi and John drive out of sight, Daisuke and Gohei begin heading home. Gin trails a little behind, both spellbound by John's achievement and poise as well as frustrated by his stolen victory. He swears to himself that if he ever sees the GSD again, he won't lose to him once more. He scrunches up his little baby face in determination before following behind the others.

A couple more weeks pass generally uneventfully. Gin continues his training and keeps growing rapidly. Daisuke has tried to keep himself involved in Gin's upbringing, but he's been cooped up inside for a few days now. A blizzard combined with the constant looming threat of Akakabuto makes his parents uncomfy with letting him lollygag around in the woods. So tonight he's chillin' inside with his folks when suddenly they hear an erratic banging at the door. Fuji gets up and snarls, looking more scared then aggressive.

Suddenly, the door flies open and its glass windows, frosted from the cold, shatter. A man tumbles headlong into the living room. A large, bloody gash on the side of his head oozes all over the new rug, horrifying the family for both altruistic and materialistic reasons. Daisuke's father runs to the man's side, trying to keep him awake, while his mother runs to call an ambulance.

The man begins gibbering through bloodied teeth about a monster with a red mane and how his friends and son are still in danger. Daisuke's dad sends his son off to retrieve Gohei, which Daisuke does without skipping a beat because oh my god something he can be involved in, SCORE.

Treading through the snow on his shiny new prosthetic leg, Gohei allows Gin to lead he and Daisuke back to the man. Gohei recognizes him immediately - he's an old hunting buddy, a renowned bear hunter named Shigematsu. Gohei catches the attention of the languishing lad just long enough to see recognition in his eyes before Shigematsu succumbs to his injuries, dying on Daisuke's floor.

Gohei knows he can't stand idly by while Shigematsu's crew are at risk, so he gathers his rifle and his dog and heads out the door. As they leave, Gin looks over his shoulder for an instant at his mother. Fuji gazes longingly at her son as he exits the house. Daisuke and his father follow behind Gohei and head off to gather the same dudes who have been wandering around in the forest looking for bear attack victims for the past several months at this point.

As the group enters the woods, they come across an unexpected sight. It's Hidetoshi and John. Word spread quickly through the village about the man dying from a bear attack, and Hidetoshi wants a chance to fire a few bullets into Akakabuto's ass to make up for his suffering. He joins the men in their hike to Shigematsu's cabin, much to Gin's dismay. Gin still isn't very fond of the callous asshole of a shepherd he's forced to walk beside. John sneers at him, fully aware of how bothersome his presence is.

Meanwhile at Shigematsu's cabin, his remaining friends are trembling and sweating, guns in hand. They know the bear is lurking just outside the cabin somewhere, having a merry little picnic of any men who tried to escape. They inch against the wall only to find it crumbling behind them. A gigantic bear with a red trail of fur down its back roars and swings its mighty paws at the men, shattering their skulls upon impact. Their screams ring through the winter air, entangling with the buzzing of the wind.

By the time the group reaches the cabin, the bear is wandering outside. Gin takes one look at it and leaps into action, ready to be the bear-hound he was meant to be, before tumbling into a snowdrift he can't wiggle out of. John makes fun of the stoopid newb xDDD before using his longer, less silly legs to bumrush the big boogieman of a bear. He snarls and snaps at the predator's face, swiftly dodging his swaying claws.

Gin finally manages to free himself from his strongest enemy yet, the snow, and follows John's example. Only he uses a different source of inspiration for his moves: the memory of his father clinging desperately to the upper side of the bear's snout.

It's already been seen that Gin isn't very agile yet, and the bear takes full advantage of this by smacking him away as if batting at a silver striped fly, sending the puppy squealing into the snow, embarrassed but otherwise unharmed. Daisuke rushes to make sure Gin is alright. The men all open fire on the bear, but the fierce blizzard winds prevent them from getting a good hit on him.

The bear makes a break for it only to be distracted by John. Hidetoshi takes aim while his pet busies the big boy and fires his rifle off square in the animal's chest. The unsteady teddy stumbles with a wail of pain, rolling back into the snow.

As the bear tries to get up once again, Hidetoshi lets loose another bullet into the animal's left eye, finally sending it to bear hell where it belongs. In a moment of catharsis, he lets fly a few more bullets into the dead animal's skull, images of his father's mauled corpse dancing in traumatic fashion around his head. Everyone is still for a moment.

Hidetoshi is about to say something about honor and family or whatever when Gohei interrupts the celebration by pointing out that this animal cannot be Akakabuto. Buty Boy has no right eye, whereas this unlucky fucker had two before getting blown away. Everyone gapes. The striking resemblance the animal has to Akakabuto can only mean one thing: the tyrant has been getting laid, passing his powerful and dangerous genes onto a new generation. A feeling of intense terror spreads through the crowd, and about 50 feet away, a single, glassy eye shimmers in the darkness.

The dogs are shaken from their own stupor by the scent of something wicked this way coming. John and Gin snarl at the large black mass watching the crowd, and the men look to see the forest's resident bastard glaring at them. Akakabuto stares spitefully at the men, taking in all of their scents and faces. His gaze also falls first on the German Shepherd, then on the little silver ball of fur beside it. He can't pinpoint why, but the upstart (pupstart?) looks and smells incredibly familiar.

Furious at the sight of his father's murderer, Gin tries to run towards the hulking mountain of bear. Daisuke snags him up before he can run very far, though, and he settles with barking obscenities at the enemy instead.

Again everyone fires, but it's too late. Akakabuto is wicked fast and not nearly as dumb as his offspring, so he's already gotten the hell outta dodge. Hidetoshi swears out loud, blueballed by fate once again. Gohei tells everyone they'd best go home. Nobody who'd wander into the forest to find that bear at night could make it back out alive, not even him in his golden days.

Everyone begins the chilling, chilly hike to the village. Daisuke sulks coldly in more ways then one, distracted from where he's going by his own dark thoughts about the bear that's been ruining everyone's lives. Because of his lack of focus, the boy takes a nasty fall into a sinkhole the snow covered up, and he finds himself screaming, flailing, and falling into a break in the mountain.

Everyone cries out to him, grabbing at him, but soon he's out of sight. Daisuke shuts up for the first time in his life when his head strikes a rock and knocks him unconscious. He tumbles onto a cliff overhang before truly entering the Earth's core, crumpling into a helpless heap.

All the men are losing their minds over what to do, especially Daddy Daisuke upon realizing the hole is too big for any of the men to squeeze into. Everyone's flipping shit except for Gin, who is gazing longingly into the hole, and Gohei, who is gazing thoughtfully at Gin. The old man has an Aha! moment and throws open his pack to retrieve a rope, which he then firmly secures on Gin's collar.

Everyone stops freaking and asks what he's doing. He rolls his eyes as if it's the most obvious thing in the world - he's sending Gin down to drag Daisuke back up, DUH!

With no better options, the crew send the puppy into the pit. Gin's a pretty clever kid, so he understands his mission well enough. He's lucky, too, and finds Daisuke quickly. He tries to lick the child's face to awaken him, but it doesn't work. Daisuke's alive, but he's out cold. There's no hope of him climbing out himself. So maybe, just maybe...

Gin thinks fast and literally runs circles around the unconscious kid, wrapping the rope tightly around his torso and under his armpits. After a few turns of Ring Around The Search And Rescue Victim, the doglet gives a tug on the rope and a bark up through the tunnel. Nothing happens for a sec sans the sound of unintelligible, excitable speech, but then Gin gets some feedback. The men understood, and they're pulling the rope up.

To keep things really secure, tiny Gin is forced to clench his jaws around the rope and support Daisuke's weight with his neck. His collar digs into the baby fat around his neck, drawing blood, but he refuses to let go of his buddy.

The men give one last hard yoink and pull both of the youngsters out of the sinkhole. Daisuke's dad cradles his child to his chest, announcing that the kid is unconscious but still alive. Everyone cheers while Hidetoshi cradles little Gin, who is also fading from consciousness from exhaustion, to his own chest. Hidetoshi wipes some of the blood from Gin's neck as John watches. John's eyes soften for probably the first time in his life as he sees how Gin has still refused to release the rope. Is this what it's like to be humbled?

Daisuke's eyes slowly flutter open, which elicits another cheer from the emotional crowd. His dad hugs him tightly, gushing tearfully about his son's survival and the little dog's bravery. Upon hearing Diasuke's exhausted response back, Gin's own eyes shoot open and he leaps from Hidetoshi's arms into Daisuke's. He licks the boy's face eagerly, clearing it of the tears that have streamed from it.

Gohei comes to Daisuke's side, his eyes even softer then John's. He reaches down and lifts the puppy up just inches from his face. Gin's tiny tongue flicks out to lick the end of the senior's nose. Gohei brings the dog child to his chest and gives him a gentle hug and a pet on the head. Everyone looks on in disbelief. As long as any of them have known him, Gohei has never pet any of his dogs, let alone hug them. Gohei hands Gin back to Daisuke, allowing the child to hold the puppy close.

As everyone gets ready to head home once more, Daisuke declares his eternal devotion to the silver brindle dog, appreciative of his friendship and forever convinced of his bravery.

----------

End of episode 1, the episode with what’s likely the most non-dog child beating in the series!!! Hope you “””enjoyed””” it!!!

Episode 2: The Invasion

[starswornoaths]

A Gift of Thanks and Mystery

So this is an incredibly late story that was inspired by this post (and this is the english translated one, special shoutout to @haillenarte for the translation!) that popped into my head and I only just managed to haul out of the draft it’s been stuck in since March. Bleh.

Summary: Serella receives a gift. She only wishes she knew who to thank for it.

or:

Someone forcibly take this pairing from my hands I am clearly doing n o t h i n g with it.

“How do you deal with this cold all the time?” Uthengentle whined as he bundled his cloak tighter around himself.

“You’re here almost as much as I am,” Serella said distractedly as she examined what was left of a trunk that had fallen in the middle of the Highlands. “I do the same thing you do: I dress warmly.” “But not as warmly as I do!” Uthengentle pressed, gesturing at his sister’s side. “I’m sitting here bundled head to toe, and you’re just wearing a godsdamned sweater.” “I guess I just don’t feel it.” She answered airily before swinging her hatchet and hacking off a log of lumber to use. “How much more of this do you think you’ll need?” “I dunno, let me look over the haul.” He grumbled, shuffling over to the bundle of wood currently gathered atop a blanket to keep it as dry as possible. “You know, I worry for you.” Her brother spoke up, his arms crossed as he hunched in on himself to protect against the harsh, blustering winds of the Highlands. “Seriously, you don’t even wear a hat. Half the time you don’t cover your chest well enough from the cold.” He tutted at the pointed at her. “You’re like to catch your death one of these days.” “I helped slay Nidhogg,” she protested, pausing in tying off her newly gathered lumber to wave a hand dismissively. “A little cold won’t kill me.” “Oh come on, Ellie,” Uthengentle stomped his boot to emphasize his exasperation. “At least let me buy you a scarf or summat!” “Why?” “Because Twelve know you have enough neck that needs covering while you’re out ‘ere!” He stuck his tongue out. “My neck isn’t that long—“ She began to protest with a glower when she faintly picked up a squeaky voice in the distance. “Wait—did you hear that?” Uthengentle quieted, tilting his head and straining his hearing to try and pick up anything other than the whistling of the gusts of wind. Eventually, the voice grew loud enough he could pick up on it. “Serella Arcbane?” The squeaky voice called with sudden clarity. The Arcbane siblings jumped in alarm as a moogle seemingly popped out of the blizzard to float beside them, his already white fur nearly blending in with the snow around him.   “That would be me.” Serella said once she’d recovered from the start. “Oh, thank goodness I found you, kupo!” The moogle sighed in obvious relief, already rummaging in his overstuffed mail bag. “When you’re not out on delivery runs, you’re almost impossible to track down, kupo!” “You deliver mail?” Uthengentle asked Serella with a raised brow. “On occasion.” She answered cooly. “In my spare time.” “What spare time?!” He asked, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. “You have a package for me?” Serella asked the moogle, ignoring her brother’s question — and subsequent indignant sputtering. “Here you are!” He exclaimed, producing a fairly wide but slim box and handing it to her. “Thank you,” She said, eyeing the parcel. “Who is this from?” Truly, nothing stood out about the box—a perfectly normal, slim square box, the kind one might expect from a fancy clothing shop, if she had to guess at what it looked like under the brown parcel wrapping and twine—and that piqued her curiosity, for she was not expecting any mail at all. “Ah, I’m afraid the sender requested to remain anonymous, ma’am!” The moogle said. “I’d tell you anyway, but he tipped me in good wine.” “Ever the reliably loyal alcoholic.” Serella grumbled before handing him a sum of gil as a tip. “Here, a tip from me as well for coming all the way out here.” “My thanks, kupo!” The moogle gave a salute before disappearing. That, of course, left the Arcbane siblings to stare in curiosity at the mysterious parcel in Serella’s hands.

“Well, then…” Uthengentle spoke up in the silence. “That was unexpected.”

“…I worry it’s an explosive.” Serella admitted, staring down at the suspiciously nondescript package.

“I mean, you do have enough enemies.” Her brother noted, plucking the package from her hands and giving it a careful sniff. “Hmm...don’t smell any explosive powder...”

She watched, horrified, as he brought it to his ear and tilted it slowly.

“What are you doing?!” She exclaimed, hands outstretched to try and stop him.

“Seeing if it’s a bomb, idiot.” He said flatly, looking at her like she was the fool while he continued to lightly shake the box. After a moment he nodded to himself and handed it back to her. “I don’t think it is, though—too light for explosives, and all I’m hearing in there is something soft.” He frowned. “Fabric, maybe. Or paper of some kind.”

“How reassuring.” She sighed, exasperated. “For we would otherwise be dead.”

“Risk and reward, sister mine.” He answered airily with a broad grin. “Risk and reward.”

“A yes.” She said, rolling her eyes thoroughly. “The motto of fools.”

He stuck his tongue out but did not retort. She took a moment to examine the package herself, turning it over in her hands to try and see if there were any markings or telltale signs that she could recognize but finding nothing.

“So,” Uthengentle drawled after another moment, leaning closer to his sister with an expectant look.

“What?” She asked, tearing her gaze from inspecting the package to look at him. When he continued to stare at her expectantly she blanched. “No. I’m not opening it here.”

“To Foundation, then!” Her brother exclaimed, already strolling over to his chocobo.

“Why are you so excited?” Serella asked even as she followed him toward her own feathered friend. “And didn’t you need this shit for something?”

“Ehh, you got plenty.” He said with a dismissive hand wave as he swiftly mounted his bird. “And if I need more, we can come back when we won’t be stuck in a blizzard.” He pointed to her mysterious parcel. “As for why I’m excited: we have a mystery! A puzzle I get to crack! I want to know what it is!”

“I see.” Serella pursed her lips but did not argue as she tied her bundles of gathered wood and materials to the back of her saddle. Pulling her travelling cloak out from her pack and draping it over herself, she walked over to the front of her faithful friend. “Hey there, Ullr.” She greeted her bird, giving him scritches just under his chin. “How’s about we get you back in the stables with some nice fresh hay, alright?”

Ullr let out a happy ‘wark!’ and fluffed out his feathers in eager anticipation for his rest. With an affectionate pat to his side, she mounted her faithful companion and followed her brother back home.

By the time they made it past the Arc of the Worthy and into the city proper to stable their chocobos, they felt the cold and the wet seep into their boots, their cloaks, and made haste for the Forgotten Knight.

“Right then,” Uthengentle said, his eyes gleaming with eager anticipation. “Now are you gonna open it?”

“Gods, it’s like we’re kids at Starlight all over again.” Serella grumbled, shooting him a mildly irritable look that had no true venom behind it. “I’m liable to just open it when I’m in a room by myself and never tell you what it is.”

“Rude.” Uthengentle grumbled into his mug of spiced wine but did not press her further for fear of her doing exactly that.

After tossing him one last half annoyed glance, she tugged at the twine holding the brown parcel paper together, and gasped quietly at the warm brown box hidden within.

It was a richly dyed wooden box with intricate gold detailing painted along every side, the kind typically associated with a boutique or a higher end—and more expensive—type of store. Tied with a golden ribbon to keep it shut, there was also a card tucked within the ribbon, with her name written in delicate, swooping cursive.

Uthengentle whistled low, impressed.

“What’s the card say?” He asked as she slid it out from under the ribbon.

“It says,” Serella trailed off as she turned the small note over. “’From the bottom of my heart, thank you.’” He watched her eyes scan further down the card. “And it’s signed—“

She paused, her cheeks instantly coloring.

“Wasn’t it anonymous?” Uthengentle asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Still is,” Serella replied, clearing her throat. “But it’s signed, ‘Someone who Loves You,’ so—“

“So probably wouldn’t have been a bomb, then.”

“With some of my friends, I’d still not rule it out.” Serella said airily to try and cover her flustering.

“You think a friend writes that they’re someone that loves you?”

“I would, were I giving a friend a gift in secret.” Serella said simply, shrugging. “I love all kinds of people, Uthen. Love isn’t just romantic.”

“True, true,” He conceded. “Well, go on, then.” He said, gesturing toward the box. “Open it!”

She did so, setting the lid down and looking at the beige tissue paper that padded the box with open curiosity. She lightly pushed it away, her fingers brushing against the softest fabric she had ever felt. Pleased with what her fingers had found, she carefully pulled at the fabric to reveal it.

It was a scarf, she realized with a start. Deep blue and warm and lovely, with an intricate silver pin to hold it in place, where she to wear it.

“Oh…” She cooed softly, her fingers carefully tracing over the pin, the fabric, her gaze transfixed.

“Ah,” Uthengentle said with a knowing grin. “So do you know who it’s from now?”

“I know who I hope it’s from.” Serella glared at him from through her lashes. “But I make no assumptions—“

“It was probably Aymeric—“

“You—you don’t know that!” She retorted, her face aflame. “What evidence do you even have?!” When he opened his mouth she held up a finger. “And no, the scarf being blue is not good enough—not everything that’s blue has got to do with him!”

Uthengentle closed his mouth, but looked no less smug as he grinned at her.

“It’s clearly from a ritzy place.” Uthengentle said conversationally, leaning his head into his hand. “And whoever bought it has good taste—that fleece is pricier than most things I’ve made.”

“You could have bought it, for all I know.” Serella said, her glare never wavering. “You were just ranting to me about how I needed to wear a scarf, if nothing else—“

“Flattered as I am that you would think I’d pick out something so nice,” he sighed and gestured toward the gift with his mug. “I couldn’t even afford to look at that in a store window right now.”

“…You’re broke from buying crafting materials again, aren’t you.” It was not a question.

“Dead broke.” Uthengentle confirmed with a nod.

“I was wondering why you’d asked me for logs and branches so suddenly.” Serella mused, rolling her eyes even as she carefully laid out the scarf to better look at.

“Yeah” he trailed off, looking up at her “…you’re paying for the drinks, aye?”

“I presumed as much.” Serella sighed, defeated.

“Oh thank the gods.” Uthengentle let out the air in his lungs in a relieved whoosh that made the candle on the table flicker— and promptly ordered a second mug.

She shook her head, even as she smiled down at her gift and picked it up again, carefully draping it over her neck. It was a large scarf, long enough that she could double it around her neck and still leave it comfortable and loose.

“Oh, now you want to wear a scarf?” Uthengentle grumbled, taking another drink of his wine.

“Seems a waste not to.” She noted as she settled her cloak upon her shoulders, her new scarf peeking out from under it. “It was a thoughtful gift.”

He couldn’t rightly argue the point—and really, he was just glad she was wearing something to cover her neck in this cold—so he simply drained his mug again and followed her to return their mugs and pay their tab.

“We aren’t hunkering down for the night?” Uthengentle asked curiously when she led them outside, rather than to speak to the innkeeper.

“I promised Lord Edmont we’d be back tonight.” She explained, leading them out into the courtyard and the cold. “He asked after us for dinner, and I figured you can’t turn down food.”

“You’d be right!” Uthengentle exclaimed with a wide smile. “Why I’d—“ a familiar coat of blue—and an accompanying one of silver— caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. “Well, well,” his grin turned playful. “Sers Aymeric and Lucia,” he greeted them as they walked.

“Ah,” Lucia smiled wryly. “I fear my premonition of trouble approaching was correct, Lord Commander.”

“Perhaps,” Aymeric said agreeably, a smile upon his face. “But I daresay this particular brand of trouble is welcome.”

“Well, I’d certainly hope so.” Serella said with a laugh, turning to face them as they all stopped walking in the square.

When she did, Aymeric’s gaze dropped to the scarf around her neck, and for a split second, his eyes widened and his lips parted in surprise.

“That scarf—“ Aymeric floundered for a moment before clearing his throat. “—looks new.”

Uthengentle narrowed his eyes at him.

“Oh, this?” Serella said, lightly touching the fabric. “Yeah, just got delivered to me today. Not too long ago, in fact.” She smiled. “I like it greatly.”

“It suits you.” Aymeric said, his smile turning impossibly soft.

“Well,” Serella scuffed her boot against the cobblestone, her expression almost bashful. “Blue is far more your color, if I’m being honest.”

“I daresay ‘tis a color we could share.” Aymeric chuckled.

“…Our color, then.” Serella said with a broad smile and a nod.

“I quite like that.” Aymeric said, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

Uthengentle made a quiet retching noise. Lucia made a faint scoff of disgust.

“We’d best be off,” Serella said, her blush only worsening as her own words sunk into her skull. “Wouldn’t want to keep you two from planning the treaty ceremony — and Lord Edmont is expecting us.”

“A good day to you both, then.” Lucia bade them farewell with a tilt of her head. Once the Arcbane siblings had waved goodbye and hurried up the stairs to the Pillars, she turned to the Lord Commander. He suddenly seemed very preoccupied with something down the steps to Foundation, as he refused to meet her stare. “You could not have signed it as anything less conspicuous?”

For his part, Aymeric stood silent for just long enough that Lucia wondered if he would even acknowledge that she’d asked, but—

“I knew not what else to sign.” He admitted quietly. “She...deserves to know that she is,” Lucia saw the flush on his cheeks darken before he turned his head away. “That she is loved.”

“...Does she not also deserve to know whom she is loved by?” Lucia asked.

“She is loved by many.” Aymeric answered immediately. “And in almost as many ways.” He spared a sidelong glance at his First Commander. “Is it truly so awful that she be reminded of all of it?”

“I suppose not.” Lucia conceded. “Still, is it truly so awful that she know she is loved by you?”

“...Perhaps not.” He said haltingly. “...And...perhaps she will. Soon.”

Lucia was beginning to doubt that very much, but still, she hoped. For both their sakes.

And hers, really— there was only so much more of their mutual pining that her patience would tolerate before just outing them to each other. It was getting a touch ridiculous.

[alteredphoenix]

Kintsugi [tentative title](WIP #2)(Excerpt)

A/N: A snippet of the drabble, since it’s pretty much intended to be a small piece looking into a moment of time a’la the Kingsmourne cinematic.

I’m also considering changing the title of the drabble. Kintsugi means ‘golden joinery” in Japanese; it’s also known as kintsukuroi, meaning ‘golden repair’. Regardless of meaning, it is, to quote Wikipedia, ‘the art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e [a Japanese lacquer decoration method] technique.  As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.’

As fascinating as kintsugi is, and upon further reflection, I don’t think it’s the proper word to use for this story. Anduin and Arthas are narrative parallels, and it should be no surprise that Arthas is regarded as the most well-regarded characters in Warcraft mythos whose arc was peak writing from his introduction in WC3 to his fall in WotLK. However, Anduin is to showcase what Arthas could have been had he not fallen to the obsession at stopping the Scourge born from his despair at inciting the Culling of Stratholme. Also, this story is from Uther’s POV, not Anduin’s - and perhaps a case can be made to redirect how it can be about Anduin, his mind merging in that brief moment when the blow on the Archon is landed, his body operating on Domination magic.

To call it Kintsugi might still be appropriate, as Uther acknowledges the judgment he passed onto Arthas in Afterlives was not justice but vengeance, and this evocative of the change in his current character arc. However, it’s still yet to be seen what exactly has become of Arthas since that cinematic; it’s very possible he is the crystal that resides in Kingsmourne. Then again, he may very well not be, and is elsewhere. I’d like to say calling it mushin would be better, as it revolves around the concepts of ‘the acceptance of change and fate as aspects of human life’; however, mushin also involves ‘non-attachment’, to be free from negative emotions such as fear or anger: one of those states of being (anger) that Uther isn’t removed from when he casts Arthas into the Maw. Therefore, a closer approximation to what I aim for in the drabble would be to call it mono no aware (a term meaning, ‘the pathos of everything’, being aware of the transcience of things), or something close to it; it needn’t be a Japanese term of aestheticism.

So for now I leave the title as tentative, and come to a conclusion as to what it should be called prior to posting.

TL;DR: Here’s a snippet of a WIP I’m working on. Also here’s a rant on how I think the title might require a change but I’m still sitting on it. Also if you managed to get through that mini-rant, congrats! lol

-

He [Anduin] looks so much like him [Arthas].

He [Uther] imagines this is what he would’ve looked like if he had lived to become King of Lordaeron, if the nightmares of the Wars had never existed. He could see it now, clear in his mind’s eye: the young prince, a boy become a man, walking down the aisle between the pews packed with nobles from across the Eastern Kingdoms, rose petals fluttering from the teeming balconies, toward the entourage that awaited him beside the throne that had seated the men and women of House Menethil descended from Lordain in ages past. He would have been among them, watching him approach, and pride would swell beneath his breast in knowing that he had a hand in forging the path that would lead his kingdom, his nation, to a most glorious and prosperous future. That his knowledge would one day pass on to his prince’s—his king’s—progeny, and then to their progeny, and so on and so forth, and that this would spread far and wide to nearby Dalaran in the west to Stormwind all the way south of the continent to Kul Tiras across the sea where it was expected and hoped for that House Menethil and House Proudmoore would forge a bond that would be unbreakable and undeniable.

Uther pauses, as does the Ascended taking the rearguard. He does not see the one of him keep going, yet if he had paid little more attention to his surroundings he would watch him take a few more steps, stop, and turn around.

“Sir? Is something wrong?”

He doesn’t think so. He doesn’t feel like it there is anything wrong.

[englishbad]

The Reverse World: Chapter 1

The Reverse World (AO3 | FF.net) Status: In Progress Rating: T Main Characters: Odd Jobs & Shinsengumi Word Count: 1140 Summary: Kondo, Hijikata, and Okita wake up in the Odd Jobs home without a clue what has happened to them. After some investigating, they find the Odd Jobs trio in the Shinsengumi uniform patrolling the streets. Gintama-AU. Disclaimer: Gintama is the intellectual property of Sorachi Hideaki, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to Sorachi Hideaki are the intellectual property of Sabichu (a.k.a Englishbad)

Author's Notes: This is extension of my Nightmare/AU fic for OkiKagu Month for 2016 from the very beginning. Implied OkiKagu relationship, but this will be more of a general genre than romance. If you can’t wait for the second chapter of this fic, go ahead and read that, changes will be made!

Extra Lesson 1: Banging Your Head Twice Doesn't Make Things Normal Again

“Huh? Where am I?” Okita opened his eyes, “This isn’t my room.” He heard snoring, following the sound to his right.

He heard a gasp behind him. “What is this? Where am I?” It was Hijikata, woke up in a shock. He was sleeping on the desk.

The loud snore continued. It was Kondo on the opposite side of the sofa.

“Kondo-san, wake up.” Okita called out to him with a lazy tone.

The older man flipped to his side, “A few more minutes.”

Okita looked at his surroundings, a small living room and workspace, and a closet.

“Is this the Odd Jobs?” Okita thinking out-loud. He examined his arms, legs and the rest of the body, as Hijikata followed suit for his own. Wearing off-duty clothes and everything else seemed fine, but still something was out of place.

“Hijikata-san, do you have any clue why we’re here?” The flaxen haired man asked.

“Beats me.” Searching for a cigarette in his sleeves with no avail. “I don’t think we’d ever spend time with those people drinking in their own home.” He opened all the drawers of the desk finding nothing. He slammed the desk with his fists in frustration. The frame behind him fell.

“Slay evil immediately.” Hijikata read picking the sign up. He hung it back on the wall. The slogan was oddly familiar to him, a quick reminder of the Odd Jobs Code he set up as the temporary president of the company.  

The two searched the Odd Jobs home for more clues. Looking through the business log, Hijikata skimmed all the names and work that the Odd Jobs have done in the past. Familiar names, but never was directly involved with them. Again, nothing out of the ordinary.

Hijikata and Okita looked at each other, agreeing they haven’t changed in appearance. They checked themselves at the mirror. It was them all right, not someone else in another person’s body, it was just their normal selves.

Kondo finally awoke, stretching, “I haven’t slept so well in a long time!”

“While you were asleep, we were trying to figure out what the hell is going on here!” Hijikata face palmed. “I need my nicotine now.” Getting impatient, he walked over to the door, putting on his sandals, all too instinctively. He just knew it was his pair.

“Maybe it is a good idea to see if the outside world has changed.” Okita suggested, slipping into his own pair of sandals.

Both exited.

“Hey, don’t leave me here!” Kondo quickly put on his own sandals to catch up with them. He reached them, staring at the sign in front of the building.

“T-This can’t be happening…” Hijikata said with a tremble in his voice.

“Odd Jobs, Roshigumi…” Okita read.

“This is just an elaborate prank!” Kondo said laughing. “I’m sure the rest if the men are in the whole thing, let’s go home and give them our laughs.”

-

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” Kamiyama responded.

Hijikata and Kondo bawled onto the ground, sobbing. Okita deadpanned, watching them smack their heads onto the earth.

“How can this happen to us? All of our hard work, reduced to nothing!” Kondo pounded his fist onto the ground. “This has to be some misunderstanding. Our lives are with the Shinsengumi, we are the Shinsengumi.”

“My apologies, sir. Open recruitment will be next year. We will be more than willing to take your applications early if you like. Your loyalty displayed today will not be forgotten.” Kamiyama saluted to the men.

Okita sighed in annoyance, “I’m not going through this again.” He stepped a little closer to the solider, face-to-face “Where are your superiors? We want to talk to them.”

Kamiyama was taken back, “They’re currently away from the compound. They will return shortly. If you are need assistance with anything else, please notify the police. We are unable to help you under these circumstances. As we are a special police force for the Bakufu.”

“You’re useless as usual.” Okita crossed his arms.

“I-I beg your pardon?” Kamiyama raised his voice to the younger man.

“Hah? You should rethink your tone of voice before you speak to me again.” It was instinct for him to go on full captain mode on him, the sadistic look in his eyes made the man tremble and sweat. Okita narrowed his eyes at him, before turning away, “Tch, this is a waste of time.”

Okita dragged Kondo and Hijikata away from the home and work place they once knew.

Kondo wiped away his tears, as Hijikata calmed down with a cigarette in his mouth walking along side Okita to Odd Jobs.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Okita asked.

“I suppose we continue on as the members of the…Odd Jobs.” Hijikata cringed on the last part. “Until we figure out this mess.”

“We haven’t seen the original Odd Jobs members yet. Perhaps they’re stuck in our situation as well. We should look for them. They might have a clue to what’s going on.”

“It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream.” Kondo whacked his head against a pillar; his head was already bloody from the first few bangs.

“What the hell are you doing? Bashing your head is just going to give you a concussion!” Hijikata yelled at the man.

“I just want to home to lay on Otae-san’s lap. This is getting too much for me.” Kondo confessed.

“It’s only been a few hours! Plus that’s just a fantasy, you were nowhere at that level of comfort with her even at home!”

They heard heavy footsteps resound.

It felt like time slowed down upon the presence of these figures passing by.

They felt their heart beat faster as they felt them walk closer.

A young woman with gorgeous vermillion hair tossed her hair to the side as the gold tassel rang from her hair ornament. She wore a form fitting black and gold Shinsengumi uniform, similar to a certain former Mimawarigumi vice-captain, with a purple parasol above her head, carrying a sword to her side.

Next to her, a young man with a strong confident aura with black hair in a medium cut in a modified Shinsengumi uniform, a long coat, double breasted lapel, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, wearing arm protectors, and glasses strolled along with her carrying two swords on his hip.

“Hey, you’re walking too fast.” A man with silver-permed hair said.

The two stopped turning back, waiting for him.

He was more lax than the other two. He was in a normal Shinsengumi commander’s uniform, jacket tied to his waist and his sleeves rolled up with a real sword on his left.

Hijikata, Kondo, and Okita looked at the original Odd Job members in shock as they walked on by.

“N-No way…” Three said in unison.

Notes: You might remember when Gintoki and Toshirou switched bodies for the Soul Switch Arc, that Toshi recreated order for the Odd Jobs with his own Code for them to follow. The saying, “Slay evil immediately” is a real slogan that the real Shinsengumi used during that time and has been referenced in Gintama, and other historical samurai fiction such as Rurouni Kenshin.

The Roshigumi (浪士組, meaning "the ronin squad"), is the original group name before finalizing members of became Shinsengumi. Gintama universe is different, where Matsudaira and Isaburo, created a police force in Edo to counteract the growing problem of the revived Jouishishi called the Roushigumi. The Roushigumi had brought down crime and became popular over the next few days until it was decided that they would be in charge of protecting the Hitotsubashi head and his son Hitotsubashi Nobu. Unbeknownst to them, they were meant to be the scapegoats of the father and son's assassination conducted by Tokugawa Sada and carried out by the Tenshouin Naraku. Isaburo created a plan that not only saved the father and son, but also helped increased the standing of the Roushigumi. This lead to the Roushigumi becoming an official police force and Kondo changing their name to the Shinsengumi. [Wikipedia and Gintama Wikia]

Kamiyama is a squad member the First Division of the Shinsengumi. Remember Okita stabbed his ass with a short sword? Yeah, that’s him.

Also, just to make the reading more enjoyable, listen to the Gintama Soundtrack OST 2 – Track 06 -  Tabemono no Suki Kirai Ooi Nin wa Ningen no Suki Kirai mo Ooi when they see The Odd Jobs Trio in Shinsengumi uniforms. :D

This story got very complicated as I did more research and did an outline. It seems like it’ll be more than 20 chapters long (lol…). It feels almost a re-write of the entire series, which was not my intention, but for flow and I’ll see how much patience I have. And not everything will he historically accurate nor as canon as Gintama. Give me some leeway here. Oh, I just realized the notes ended up taking more space than the actual story…