#darker headcanons

[writerof-thewoods]

Dark Regressor!Rich Goranski Headcanons

(These are also from my Ao3 account StarLite_StarBrite. They're under "My Darker Regression Headcanons" if you wanna check them out there! I just wanted to post them here because I feel like it fits better :3. This ties in with the Jeremy headcanons because I have a little story for the two of them that I'm working on. I ship these two heavily at the moment, so that's why they go together in this scenario.)

TW: for parental abuse/neglect, parent death, child abuse, and slurs (it's minor, but it's still there.)

Personally, I see him as a flip, mainly because I also hc Jeremy as a regressor & kind of put both of them together.

Being the youngest of two kids, he ate up whatever attention he got from his parents (mainly his mom) when he got the chance. 

His mom tried her best, but his brother mainly raised him until he left for college/got away from the family. She was barely an adult herself when she had both of them and since she and their dad were two kids in love, they got married at 18. 

His mother used to be an artist. She did pottery, painting, sculpting, but she mainly did still-lifes. She taught him most of the techniques she knew when he took an interest in drawing, showing him the right ways to shade and use precise motions. 

His dad wasn’t as heavy of a drinker then, but he didn’t appreciate how much time Rich spent on art. He pushed him to do more traditionally “manly” things because “he wasn’t raising some hippie fag.”

His mother grew more and more distant. Sometimes days would go by and she wouldn’t get out of bed. Things took a turn for the worst however, when she started having suicidal thoughts. She was in a loveless marriage, no one in her family talked to her anymore after she got pregnant as a teenager, and her husband started to spend less and less time at home. Usually off getting high or drunk with his friends from work. 

One day, she left. And Rich woke up with a note and a painting of the two of them on his dresser. When he got downstairs, the story of a mother of two who drove off of a cliff was all he needed to know. 

He was barely 14 when that happened. Going into freshman year, his dad started to drink more and more until he was coming into school almost every day with bruises and black eyes. 

The Squip provided a way out. An escape. And soon, he wasn’t the nerdy art-kid loser people saw him as, but an unsettling, douchey, almost-unstable bully. Or a “chill guy” as the Squip told him. 

Despite all of that though, so many nights were spent curled under his childhood blanket trying to recreate every memory of his mom until his heart hurt. 

After he leaves the hospital and makes amends with everyone, he feels so…lost. He feels lighter, his lisp is back, but his mind is elsewhere. What also weird him out about this was that he was getting closer with Jeremy. “Poor kid.” He thought. “I can’t even live with myself knowing I made him get that fucking Squip.”. He’d gotten him into this whole mess, but Jeremy surprisingly didn’t resent him for it.  “Hey, it was my decision to take it.” Jeremy shrugged before smiling. “Besides, who else am I gonna talk to about it? It’s not like the others would understand.” 

Rich smiled so wide that day. 

Those funny feelings haven’t gone away however, and he realizes through Jeremy that what he’s experiencing is just him regressing. The thing he had been punished for so many times by the robot-parasite that occupied his mind for the better half of high school. 

He honestly has no idea how to feel or what to do about it. He doesn’t know how it works, why it happens, when it happens, and so on. So, he tries to not think about it as much as he can. 

One day though, he’s sleeping over at the other boy’s house when he has a nightmare. Thoughts of his dad bursting into the room and dragging him back to the house he used to call home and his mother’s voice pleading with him “Rich? Honey, where are you? I can’t find you..where…where’d you go….” 

He’s woken up by the sound of his own cries and Jeremy kneeling down at his side. Soft whispers of “Shh, it’s okay.” and “I’ve got you” help subside his sobs. Hours pass, and the next morning he wakes up next to the slightly taller boy draping an arm around him. Not wanting to wake him up he settles into the touch and for the first time in months, he feels at peace with the war of his regression going on in his mind.

Since that day, he’s accepted that it’s a part of him and that’s okay. There’s no Squip there to condemn him, no dad to beat him out of rage and disappointment, no mom to haunt his dreams and echo in his brain (as much, but it still happens occasionally.), just Jeremy. Somehow it was the kid he used to bully stayed with him and embraced the side of him. Jeremy, someone who grew to be his best friend. Rich only hoped he didn’t break him when it was Jeremy’s moment to regress. 

[gen-toon]

[sinusoidaldysfunction]

Princess Burn. The collector.

[misc-obeyme]

Mer!MC Headcanons - Older Brothers

I said I'd write 'em, so here we are. They were getting stupidly long, so this is just the three older brothers.

The concept is that MC is a merperson from the human world who somehow found their way into the Devildom.

If people like these, then I may do the rest of the brothers.

read the younger brothers here and the side characters here

GN!mer!MC x Lucifer, Mammon, & Leviathan

Warnings: none

Lucifer

He first notices you at Diavolo's private beach. After a lot of pestering, Lucifer finally agreed to take a break there, but insisted on going alone. He's looking out across the sparkling ocean in a place where the artificial sunlight creates a soft glow. And that's when he sees you. First, just a tail, shimmering. And then the top of your head, hair and skin glistening as the ocean water drips from you. He feels your eyes on him, even though you're far out in the waves.

Lucifer stands on the shore, letting the waves trickle around his ankles. He won't go too far. He's waiting for you to come to him. He knows you will. And in the end, you do. Swimming in slow, large circles, each round bringing you closer and closer to where he waits. You're wary of him - you're from the human world and you aren't familiar with demons. But this one looks strong. When you get close enough, he smiles, completely disarming you.

And he will take the time to find out who you are and where you came from. He asks about your life in the human world, how you ended up in the Devildom. When he deems you harmless, he finds himself focusing more on how entrancing you are. The way you bob in the water, the brightness of your scales, the delicate magic that hums beneath your skin.

Lucifer comes back over and over to the private beach. The others are surprised, but they don't question it because he so rarely takes breaks. But Lucifer only wants to see you. He'll ask you if you want to come back with him. He's found a spell that will allow you to have legs. He will accept your decision either way and in the end, he knows you'll always need to return to the sea. But for now, will you take his hand, MC?

Mammon

He heard that there was a treasure chest at the bottom of one of the Devildom's many deep dark lakes. So he goes diving with an underwater breathing spell and nearly has a heart attack when he finds you instead. You hide behind a large rock, just as frightened of him, then peek around it as Mammon recovers himself. You both stare at each other for a long time, neither one feeling brave enough to come closer. But Mammon can't talk to you like this.

He swims to the surface, breaking into the Devildom air. Your head slowly rises from the water a few feet away from him. He asks you who you are. Mammon wants to know how you got here and where you're from. He's treading water as best he can, but he's losing strength. So you swim over and take it upon yourself to escort him to shore. He blushes profusely as you grab hold of his waist and use your powerful fin to propel him out of the deep water.

Mammon is dripping on the shore of the lake, just talking to you. You spend so much time chatting, he completely dries out. He finds a kindred spirit in you - shiny treasure is something you enjoy, too. And you can tell that he's interested in your tail. You get as close to the land as you dare, flopping out the end of your tail beside him. He touches it carefully, the rings on his fingers catching your eye as he moves them across your scales. You shiver at the touch.

When Mammon comes back to the lake, he finds you waiting on the shore, your tail wrapped around a large treasure chest. He falls to his knees in front of you. You lean across the chest and tell him you found what he had been looking for in the lake. He takes your hands. Don't ya know that he already found the treasure in this lake, MC? You're more precious to him than any chest. He still takes the chest, but not before he takes out the shiniest jewel to give to you, along with a promise to return.

Leviathan

It's at Siren Beach where Levi first meets you. He's there to visit Lotan, of course, but before he has a chance to say hello to his old friend, he spots you there in the water. You're immediately interested in him. Something about him makes you want to come closer. He's cautious about you, not sure what a merperson like you would be doing here at this beach.

Despite the pull he has on you, you're skittish about getting too close. But Levi doesn't wait around for you to come to him. He's concerned about you and what you're doing in Lotan's area. He takes the initiative to swim out toward you. His swimming skills impress you. The ocean is calm here, but his arms are strong and steady. He reaches you easily.

You can't help getting playful with him, swimming around him in circles before he finally manages to get you to slow down a little. He gets you to tell him who you are and where you're from. He's a little baffled about a human world merperson getting all the way out here. But he's distracted when Lotan arrives and it's clear right away that you've already befriended the great sea beast.

The three of you play together in the ocean for hours. Levi comes back to visit Lotan, but he finds himself looking forward to seeing you, too. As he gets closer to you, he starts to think you'd be better off back in your own home. He brings it up to you one day. He can find a way to bring you back to the human world. When you shut that idea down and tell him you'd rather stay in the Devildom with him and Lotan, he gets flustered. Y-you don't have to stay just for him, MC! You wrap your tail around him and pull him close so he understands why you have no plans to leave. You enjoy the way his blush deepens.

younger brothers | side characters | masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[infodumped]

god, it's brutal out here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: referenced mind control / parasites / intrusive thoughts (only in the tags) / ]

(This is just a fun “what if” so bear with me-) I know we make mention of the potential for Krang remnants to be stuck with Raph and/or Donnie, but Mikey and Leo also had a moment with the other two where a type of Krang goop was crawling beneath their skin (this being immediately after Raph broke free.)

So I raise you the potential for all four of them to have a bit of that Krang parasite on them…and for that to have unforeseen consequences.

[daydreambonsai]

you are my home

[heartfullofleeches]

Cheater Yan who flirts with others because of their darling's "jealous" tendencies and creep reader that knows what they're doing, but kidnaps and tortures their flings, allowing their Yan to live within the delusion they're doing this because they care for easy access to victims

-

Creep Darling, elbow deep in someone's organs and enjoying every second of it: You know I'm doing this because I love you - right?

Cheater Yan, absolutely smitten: Yes~.....

[pixiecactus]

i'm going to call this post book!gendrya for dummies (it's me i'm the dummy): i had always loved the parallel that gendrya share about being the third born child (we are five books in, and still to this moment we don't have another baratheon bastard introduced to us that's older than gendry, so the order for me is: mya, bella and gendry) and (if we go with the r+l=j theory, jon obviously is not ned's son... so we have robb, sansa and arya) but something that has never ocurred to me before, is that we obviously already know the plot point of "the seed is strong" and we have gendry directly telling ned how his mother used to have yellow/blond hair (this is my own headcanon, but i like to think that she had brown eyes as well) meaning that all children sired by robert baratheon shared his hair colour and eyes colour, so gendry in his colouring and looks does not resemble at all his mother and we know exactly the same thing about arya, how of all of the catelyn tully/stark's children, she's is the only one that has none of her mother's looks, she and jon had the stark look, long face and grey eyes, like her father (and jon's mother) and like all of the starks of old time (karstarks included), and meanwhile genetics in asoiaf had always been somehow really wonky if compared to how genetics work in real life, it always interested me this fact about arya, one could simply said that arya having stark's looks and colouring is to help the narrative of arya feeling like an outsider in her own family, just like jon, and to establish even more how deeply the jon/arya bond runs, even when she knows both of her parents, and it's a true-born daughter. so this post was me discovering another gendrya parallel shared between them, i don't think it's really important but hey, it's still there alright

[mars-ipan]

happy birthday you weird little freak. it's finals season so i can't afford to make a full drawing for u rn but i can at least give you your favorite thing in the world

bonus drawing + og imgs under the cut

cannot believe that crucified!komaeda is the cuntiest i've ever drawn him. call it divine inspiration

[writerof-thewoods]

Dark Regressor!Jeremy Heere Headcanons

(From my Ao3 account StarLite_StarBrite. This is mainly a sideblog/more age regression centric part of my first/main blog, 2ndStar_ontheright. We're the same person, it's just this blog is gonna be more focused on age regression/writing regarding it and nostalgic stuff that I'm too embarrassed to post to my main one xD)

TW for PTSD, nightmares, abuse, and coping with trauma. These are darker than my usual headcanons, but there'll be some more wholesome stuff later on!

Jeremy didn’t really know what regression was until about a month before he got the Squip, but the first time he recognized himself doing it was right after his parents divorced. (Usually involuntary and triggered by panic attacks/nightmares, though.)

He knows his dad loves him, but after his mom left, the roles were reversed. For the better half of his life, he had to play the dad and take care of himself. Left to pick up the pieces when all he wanted, needed, was his father, but despite all his wishing, it didn’t come until it was almost too late.

Doesn’t have a regression age because 1. He refuses to acknowledge it and 2. He suppresses it so much to the point that he ends up an anxious mess in the middle of the night.

He’s become a master at hiding it, but God, is it exhausting. 

Pre-Squip, he would ignore it and shrug it off. But, during and after, it happens much more frequently.

Has bad memories/angry feelings towards it. Especially because he’d get “punished’ (electric-shocked) by the Squip whenever he had the slightest thought about regressing. 

As much as he resents and has flashbacks/trauma from his Squip, a small part of him misses and often longs for the kind of figure he played in his life. He played that strong male figure to him that he wished his father had been. He’s ashamed to admit it, but it felt..nice. Having him in control, guiding him, paying attention to him, even though all of that was just the mask for his abuse. 

No one knows about it except for his dad, and surprisingly, Rich.

Rich, having understood what Jeremy went through, is genuinely concerned for him. 

He knows about his triggers (taking pills on their own, glitch-y screen/design effects, yelling, fighting…) and relates to him in that aspect. 

He may not completely understand the regression thing, he tries his best. Especially when it’s related to the Squip. 

And as much as he loves Michael, he has no idea how he’d explain it to him or how he’d react. He doesn’t want to risk losing their friendship over it and even though he does care about him and knows Michael’s a good friend, he just knows Michael would tease him about it. 

Even though his dad’s stepped in and started to do better, it doesn’t make the years of loneliness and isolation he had go away. He helps out the best he can though even if he doesn’t know the extent of his regression. Jeremy does still feel alone however, and sometimes it feels like it doesn’t get any better. He’s still ashamed that he does it, but at least he’s not completely on his own. 

[urpersonalpublicgalaxy]

uhm?? previous post skyrocketed in literally one night I don't know how to respond to this. hi guys!! have another one I did :3

take this while i work on new stuff to appeal to the masses

this one's definitely a little simpler in terms of lineart a little less canon in terms of design but it gets the message across when I have no idea how to not just leave a topic hanging!!

[mkstrigidae]

APWH preview snippet!

Since I'm actively trying to work on getting the next few chapters out, I thought I'd share a little future scene with some hints of Jonsa with all you lovely people! This bit is from like, a few chapters in the future bc it's the in-between that's giving me fits right now :) (Fair warning: this is unedited and subject to change! That being said, it's such a fun scene that I can't imagine ever nixing it :D)

“Does he even know that they have to avoid the press?”

“For the last time-“ Sam sighed, sounding completely exasperated, “Dickon knows what they can and can’t do- he’s got enough practice not being photographed from when our dad was the secretary. Not to mention spending time around you when that exposé on your crazy grandfather came out two years ago.”

“I just-“ Jon sighed, blowing a stray curl out of his face. “You didn’t see how freaked out she was when the press caught us at that performance in White Harbor. I thought she was going to have a full-blown panic attack.”

He was immediately derailed by Gilly plopping little Sam down in his lap and shoving a bottle into his hands.

“What’s this all about?” he raised a brow, adjusting the baby on his lap, allowing him to latch onto the cuff of his flannel shirt and start gnawing at the fabric. “You going somewhere?”

Gilly shot him a withering look, but he saw the amusement in her eyes.

“I-“ she gestured, imperiously, “Have not had time by myself to shower all week-“

“Sorry, love.” Sam winced, looking up from his pile of paperwork. “I can take a break from these-“

“Not your fault, Sam.” she waved him off. “You warned me about this conference at the beginning of the summer.” a grin played at the corners of her mouth. “Besides, it works out well- Jon needs a distraction right now from the fact that Sansa’s on a date with your extremely hot and conventionally attractive brother.”

“Hey!” Sam looked wounded, and Gilly rolled her eyes, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“You know you’re my favorite Tarly.” she wrinkled her nose. “How long have you been working on this presentation? You smell like the baby spit up on you.”

“Guess I’m next in line for showers.” Sam said, mournfully. “Unless-“

“Nope- I need my own time right now, Samwell. Did you even hear what I said about why Jon’s bent out of shape?”

Jon had known Gilly since Sam and she had met up north while the two of them were in college. Sometimes, it was hard to reconcile the timid, scared girl she had been with the woman who was currently devoting all of her remaining energy to busting his balls.

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about Sansa with my brother.” Sam snorted, shotgunning another cup of coffee next to him the way Jon was used to seeing undergrads do with jaeger shots. “I mean, this is Dickon we’re talking about. Used to bring wounded animals home to take care of them Dickon? The same guy who cried when we had movie night and Gilly and Rhae wanted to go see ‘Love, Simon’?” He shook his head. “Look, as far as guys she could be out on a date with right now go, Dickon’s kind of the best case scenario. She’ll have a nice time, and he’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

Jon blinked at him, silently turning to look up at Gilly, who rolled her eyes and sighed.

“You’re hopeless, sweetie.” she kissed him on the forehead again, wrinkling her nose. “He’s not worried that things will go wrong- he’s worried they’ll go a little too well.”

“You’ve been spending way too much time around my sister.” Jon muttered, narrowly avoiding little Sam’s grasping reach for his glasses, managing to get the baby to latch onto the bottle before he destroyed any more of Jon’s eyewear. “You even sounded like her just then.”

Sam blinked for a second, his head whipping between Jon and Gilly.“You’re jealous?” He asked, incredulously. “Of Dickon? Wait- you like Sansa?”

“Got there in the end.” Gilly sighed, affectionately patting him on the shoulder before going to shower, leaving Jon and Sam behind with four cups of coffee, one baby, and approximately five brain cells total between the two of them.

“You like her.” Sam repeated, like it was a giant revelation.

“What are we- in middle school?” Jon hissed, immediately turning his head down to smile and make faces at little Sam while he fed him, before glaring up at big Sam again. “I don’t- I mean-“

Sam was just shaking his head.“Of course you do.” he laughed. “Should have guessed- red hair and a damsel in distress? You were doomed from the outset.”

“Shut up.” Jon muttered, flushing. “It’s not like that.”

“Then why are you worrying about Dickon for fu-“ Sam glanced nervously at the baby, “-god’s sake? When Gill was meeting my family for the first time, I remember you told her not to worry- that my brother was ‘one of the best guys you know’ and ‘practically a golden retriever’.”

Jon could tell that Sam, who could not raise one eyebrow without the other, was desperately trying to do just that.

“I don’t know.” He muttered, moving little Sam to his shoulder to start burping him. “Look- I’m attracted to her, alright? It’s a fu- er, a giant disaster that I’m gonna ignore for the rest of my life.”

“Seriously?”

“Stop trying to do that with your eyebrows.” Jon complained. “It’s giving me motion sickness. And yes, seriously. I’m not even going to consider that- it’s just a stupid crush. Besides,” he sighed, rubbing little Sam’s back comfortingly, “Robb’s already dealing with enough right now with this whole Sansa situation- can’t imagine telling him I think his sister’s attractive while he’s being forced to suddenly confront all of his guilt and self loathing every time he looks at her.”

“That whole bro code thing of never dating your friend’s sisters never really made sense to me.” Sam shook his head, gulping down more coffee. “I mean, I’d be thrilled if you decided to date Talla, because I know you’d be good to her.”

“Yeah, don't think she'd quite go for that, mate.” Jon snorted, standing to bounce little Sam around gently. He was just grateful Sam hadn’t said anything else about Robb.

“Eh, wouldn’t count you out completely.” Sam shrugged, smirking. “With that hair, you’re pretty enough to be a girl- maybe that’d be enough for her.”

“You are so lucky i’m holding the baby.” Jon muttered, still bouncing little Sam, who picked that moment to spit up spectacularly down Jon’s back.

“Well, that’s three of us who’re gonna need showers now.” Sam grinned, looking thrilled as all get out that it hadn’t been him. “Wow- his aim is getting better.”

“I’m going to remind him of this when he’s a sulky teenager.” Jon grumbled, wiping spit-up off his shoulder as best he could. “Look- no gossiping with Rhae about this, please. She thinks she’s such a good clandestine agent that she doesn’t always realize that Robb is better at sniffing out her plots than she thinks.”

“Alright-“ Sam sighed, looking back down at the massive stack of paperwork in front of him. “I make no promises for Gill, though.”

“Gilly could give some of my Uncle’s colleagues at the WIA a run for their money when it comes to withstanding interrogation.” Jon snorted.

“Probably true.”

“Where did your brother take Sansa?” Still holding onto a now much happier baby with one hand, he reached down the other to take a gulp of his own coffee.

“He said something about going out towards the Tyrell Estate.” Sam shrugged. “They probably drove out there to see the gardens- he’s said it’s a good road to take his bike out on.”

Jon promptly spat out his entire sip of coffee, staining the front of his shirt as well as the back, and frightening little Sam enough that he started to cry.

“He took her on his motorcycle?”

Gilly picked that moment to reappear, completely clean and with wet hair, blinking at the scene in front of her.

Sam, who couldn’t seem to stop laughing, was desperately trying to calm down the baby, who had started wailing, while Jon’s entire front was covered in coffee and his entire back was covered in baby vomit. Not that he seemed to notice, as his face was white and he was making a series of angry looking hand gestures at her husband.

“I really can’t leave you three alone for five minutes, can I?” she sighed. “Do I even want to know?”

[narmothewraith]

I've been working at this piece for 5 hours and I didn't even noticed it so, I didn't eat and drink. Fuck hyperfocus. I hope y'all like it, just like I do :)

Hurt/comfort hug between Percy & Poseidon ❤️

Poseidon thinking about who made his son cry + payback (aka his wrath)

[thewallshaveeyes]

HOURHG I finally drew the fuckinf goat!! Some actual real headcanons I have for it:

Alternate universe version of the lamb that allowed itself to be corrupted by its crown

instead of using its crown as a tool for good

It/its pronouns and aroace

Always chooses violence

Killed its narinder out of pride. (And yes I do subscribe to the belief that its narinder is a white coyote)

Gets its followers drunk to watch them fight

Named Billie

Also some bonus doodles!!

(Not sure how sold I am on its cult fit rn but whatever. It was meant to be a contrast to the lamb's more practical outfit)

[skyward-floored]

Whumptober Day 21: Restraints, “Don’t move”

Blah blah finished this yesterday didn’t have time to put it here you know the drill. Finally the continuation to day 8! Poor Warriors and Hyrule have been stuck for a long time lol

Also this is. So long. I think it’s the longest yet. 😭

Day 8

Read on ao3

Warnings: effects of drugging, mentions of slavery/human(fairy) trafficking, very minor nonconsensual touching, a little blood, and injury

————————————————————

Warriors woke up to the floor rolling gently under his head.

He groaned, stomach rolling in time with the swaying underneath him, and cracked his eyes open, a pounding sensation taking up residence in his head. His vision took a moment to focus, but once it did, he didn’t like what he saw.

What looked like the belowdecks of a ship met him, bars blocking off any escape. Most of his view was cut off by a large stack of crates piled in front of the bars, making a temporary sort of wall, and when he moved to study it, he found he couldn’t go further then maybe a foot due to the chain fastened to his ankle.

Panic began to bite at him, and Warriors looked around more frantically, trying to remember where he was. A strange fog clouded his senses, and he winced as his head throbbed again. Had he been drugged? It felt like it.

Then his eyes landed on a figure collapsed next to him, and it all came rushing back.

“Traveler,” he gasped, and leaned over Hyrule, shaking his arm. “Traveler, hey wake up.”

It took a minute, but Hyrule eventually let out a low groan and opened his eyes, the greenish-brown color slightly milky-looking.

Hyrule blinked up at Warriors, his eyes squinted in pain as he continued to slowly wake. Then they widened in realization, and he abruptly sat up, face paling.

“Captain—!”

“Easy buddy,” Warriors said as Hyrule nearly fell over, putting a hand on his arm. “That drug was a lot, take it slow.”

Hyrule put a hand to his forehead, looking dizzy, and Warriors kept him up while he attempted to adjust. It had probably been a larger dose then was necessary for the skinny traveler, and along with the floor moving up and down below them, Hyrule wasn’t looking too great.

A voice called distantly overhead them, and Warriors glanced upward, dread pooling in his gut.

They were stuck on a ship heading who knows where, with men they didn’t know nearly enough about, and he had no clue how they were going to escape.

He’d been in some rough spots before, but this was shaping up to be one of the worst.

“Are we really on the river?” Hyrule asked, sounding a little nauseous. “They said something earlier about a river, but... the waves seem too big for that.”

“It gets wider downstream before it goes out to a bay,” Warriors explained, a small curl of dread running through him. The further downriver they got, the smaller their chance to escape.

“So... so where do you think they’re taking us?” Hyrule asked once he’d adjusted a little more, and Warriors breathed out.

“...my best guess is somewhere outside of Hyrule,” he said quietly. “Other countries are far less... strict, in regards to fairies and... slaves. In some places it’s entirely legal.”

Hyrule sank into himself a little further.

“So that’s it then. We’re going to be carted off and sold like cattle, along with a hundred or so fairies we couldn’t save,” Hyrule choked out.

His voice was thick and angry, and Warriors squeezed his shoulder. That was another problem. Neither of them was going to leave here without freeing the fairies that were also captured, but how were they supposed to do that if even they themselves couldn’t get free?

Hyrule swallowed, looking dizzy, and he closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall.

“Don’t suppose you have any ideas?” he asked in a tired voice, and Warriors made a negative noise.

“Not yet. We’ll... we’ll think of something, ‘rule. First off we should probably try and get out of these chains...”

Footsteps suddenly echoed nearby, and they both froze, glancing at each other as they approached. Warriors swallowed, and tried to look casual.

It was only a matter of time before they were visited, he supposed.

Three men walked into the cell where Warriors and Hyrule were sitting, and Warriors felt the unpleasant feeling in his chest tighten as he recognized them all as men from the tavern.

“Have a nice nap?” one smirked, and Warriors held himself back from rolling his eyes.

“What do you want with us?” he said coolly, and the one with the scarred arms stepped a bit closer.

“We’ll never pass up an opportunity to make a few extra rupees,” he replied, looking between him and Hyrule. “But we’ll be paid more depending on certain factors, and we’ve come to figure out what those factors are.”

“What, you get paid more for blonds?” Warriors snorted, and Hyrule almost smiled next to him.

The men ignored him.

“The both of you have a way with the fairies,” the man said, his heavily scarred arms crossed over his chest. Warriors felt a prick of fear for Hyrule. “Most normal folk can’t speak with them, no less have a coherent conversation.”

“If you’re talking about Proxi, anyone can understand her, she’s a navigation fairy,” Hyrule pointed out, and the man snorted.

“I know that, kid. I meant the fact that you were talking with healing fairies, and all the other ones we have. Normal Hylians can’t do that.”

“Call it a gift,” Warriors said with a casual shrug he didn’t quite feel.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Makes me wonder if in fact there’s more to you both than meets the eye.”

The other two men moved forward and grabbed Hyrule, extending his arm out and gripping him so he couldn’t move. One of them drew a knife, and Hyrule was slashed on the arm, the traveler letting out a startled cry. The man collected some of his blood in a jar, then did the same to Warriors, slashing him in the same spot and putting his in a different jar.

“Blood can show a lot about a person it turns out,” the scarred man said easily, holding up both jars. “And lucky for you gentlemen, my crew has figured out a method for finding fairy kin by blood alone.”

Hyrule paled, clutching his wrist, and the scarred man chuckled.

“Now wrap yourselves up, I don’t want my merchandise bleeding out,” he said, tossing a roll of bandages over as he turned away.

Then the three of them left, leaving Warriors and Hyrule alone as their blood dripped onto the floor.

“Captain, my... my blood, I... if it’s in the wrong hands...” Hyrule began, but Warriors cut him off.

“They just want to see which of us is fairy related,” he reassured, wondering at the flicker of panic he could see in Hyrule’s eyes, but deciding not to push. Did magic blood have properties he didn’t know about? “I don’t think they’re going to do anything else with it.”

...I hope.

“Can they tell I’m fairy just from blood?” Hyrule asked nervously, and Warriors closed his eyes.

“I don’t know. But let’s hope they can’t.”

I might not be able to protect you if they decide I’m just a liability.

Warriors leaned over and picked up the roll of bandages, and took Hyrule’s arm in his, carefully wrapping it.

“I’m sorry they captured you too,” Hyrule said quietly as he finished, drawing his knees up to his chest. “They probably wouldn’t even have gotten you if I hadn’t been there.”

“Are you kidding Traveler? If you weren’t fairy kin, then they likely would have just killed us,” Warriors said with a sigh. He sent Hyrule a wry smile. “Besides. It’s a little nice knowing it isn’t personal for once. Usually when this sort of thing happens, it’s because they think I should have given myself up to Cia, or didn’t save enough lives in the war or something.”

Hyrule smiled just a little, and began to wrap Warriors’ arm.

“And Time is out there somewhere looking for us,” Warriors said as he leaned against the wall. “We’ll just have to do what we can with what we’ve got until he shows up.”

“Figuring out where the fairies are would be a start,” Hyrule said as he finished, setting the bandages aside. “You think they’re here with us somewhere?”

“It seems likely.”

They began to discuss possible escape ideas, waiting nervously for the men to come back. Warriors knew it was only a matter of time, but talking out a small semblance of a plan was helpful at least.

He wasn’t sure how long it was until footsteps rang out nearby, but he sighed, internally bracing himself. He’d do what he could to keep them away from Hyrule, but he wasn’t sure how much he could do.

If they separate us, escaping will be even harder.

The footsteps stopped, and the men came back into their cell, grinning widely.

Not a good sign.

“It’s our lucky day,” the scarred man said, strolling back in and grinning at the two. “The gods have given us good fortune! It seems we’ve had two fairy kin dropped into our possession.”

Warriors stared, and Hyrule’s eyes went huge, looking over at Warriors in disbelief.

What?

“...You’re mistaken,” he said a bit dumbly, and the men laughed at his disbelief.

“Oh even better, this one didn’t know!” the skinny one chortled, and stared at Warriors. “Our method doesn’t make mistakes, kid. You’re fairy kin, though not as pure blooded as the other one. No doubt about it.”

Another man chuckled. “Too bad you won’t get a chance to enjoy it.”

All of them laughed, but Warriors barely registered it, mind stalling on the information that had just been dumped on him.

Fairy kin? Him?

It wasn’t possible. Their method of figuring it out, whatever it was, had to be faulty, there was no way!

Sure he was a little more magically gifted than some Hylians, but not many. Time, for example, was way more magically gifted then himself, and so was Legend, and Wind was about equal to him. But none of them were fairy kin. He could also talk to fairies he supposed, and always could, but once again, so could Time.

If it were true, wouldn’t that Great Fairy have treated him differently? Or was that why she put him in a bottle?

...What about his mother? She hadn’t had a drop of magic ability in her, and surely she would have told him? He’d never known his father, true, but... wouldn’t his mother have known? Wouldn’t Proxi have known?

Why was he finding out like this?!

A hand grabbed his face and Warriors snapped out of his thoughts, the scarred man tilting his face around and studying it.

“Oh the buyer is going to love this,” he said as Warriors pulled away with a growl, grabbing Hyrule’s chin instead and eagerly studying his face. “You think we’ll get three times as much for them as for the blues?”

Hyrule yanked his chin out of the man’s grip, and the three just laughed, greed shining in their eyes.

“Who knows? But one thing’s for sure, we’ll definitely get our money’s worth.”

“Don’t you feel any remorse for what you’re doing here?” Hyrule snapped, but the men only laughed some more, and exited the cell.

Hyrule looked at Warriors the moment they were gone, but he didn’t look back, still running words and memories over in his mind and trying to figure out if what he’d just heard had any merit to it.

Was he really?

“Warriors, I...”

“Did you know?” he asked in a strangled voice, and Hyrule immediately shook his head.

“No, I didn’t, I... I’m sorry I didn’t,” he said quietly, meeting his eyes. “Then you wouldn’t’ve had to find out like this.”

Warriors swallowed, and Hyrule put a hand on his arm.

Then Warriors took a deep breath in through his nose, then let it out, putting his out of control thoughts into a neat little box in the back of his mind. He could think through all of it later, when they were in less extreme circumstances and had time to deal with... all of it.

...Or just leave it there.

“Wait,” Hyrule said suddenly, his head shooting up, “wait, fairy kin...”

“What about it?” Warriors said, voice slightly strained.

“No, listen Wars, if those men were right and you’re part fairy then I might be able to use my fairy spell on both of us,” Hyrule spoke quickly. “Then we could get out!”

“...You have a fairy spell?” Warriors said incredulously, and Hyrule waved him off.

“Yeah, I don’t use it much because it takes up a lot of magic, but I think I have enough to use it on both of us!”

“...But if it takes up a lot of magic, using it twice might use up everything you have,” he said worriedly, studying the still-shaky traveler.

Hyrule looked a little less ill then before, but his eyes were still a little off-color, and he wobbled when he moved too quickly. Adding the effects of magic deprivation on top of that...

Hyrule smiled. “It’ll be fine. We’ll be able to get out of these chains and slip through the bars, and then... we can find the rest of the fairies, and try to get them free.”

“What if it doesn’t work on me?” Warriors pointed out, setting a hand on Hyrule’s arm. “It’s still possible they were wrong about... all that.”

“Well then I’ll go out and find the key and get you out too,” Hyrule said as he stood up, wobbling a little. “Unless you can think of a better idea?”

Warriors sighed, and stood up as well, bracing Hyrule when he wavered. He couldn’t, really. It was a good plan, albeit a bit strange, but Warriors had found that sometimes the stranger the plan, the better.

Besides, he’d certainly done weirder.

He nodded, and Hyrule took his other hand, gripping them tightly as he closed his eyes.

Just as the traveler began to glow, the floor heaved underneath them, and Warriors clutched at Hyrule’s arm, stopping them both from falling over. It happened again, and Warriors heard shouting from above as they slightly shifted course.

A resounding thud came from under their feet, and Warriors looked at the floor, raising an eyebrow.

It felt like something was ramming the boat.

“...You think that might somehow be Time’s doing?” Hyrule said with a look around, and Warriors shrugged, nearly falling over as the floor shook again.

“I hope so, or we might be in even bigger trouble,” he muttered. “Better finish your spell.”

Hyrule quickly nodded and closed his eyes again, Warriors keeping him steady as the ship lurched beneath them. A soft glow spread across his skin as Warriors watched, a vibrant, healthy green. When it reached his hands, the glow paused, then slowly trickled over to Warriors’ hands as well, changing from green to a more blue color.

A fizzy, tingling sensation began to spread through Warriors’ limbs, starting in his hands, and he held on a little tighter to Hyrule. His stomach lurched as the world abruptly spun around him, and he slammed his eyes shut.

Blood roared in his ears, magic tingling all over him as he felt the weight of the chain at his ankle abruptly disappear, an uncomfortable tightness closing around him.

He felt suddenly like he was going to throw up, and his breath stuttered, pressure building in his ears and chest to an excruciating degree.

It’s not working, it must not have worked, Hyrule—!

But as suddenly as the feeling came over him, it faded away, and Warriors felt Hyrule’s hands in his give him a squeeze as he exhaled sharply.

Warriors blinked his eyes open, and saw Hyrule grinning at him, looking tired, but somehow more vibrant than he had previously.

Warriors blinked, suddenly realizing there were two wings protruding from Hyrule’s back. Small and delicate-looking, he was reminded of a dragonfly as he admired the green shine Hyrule had taken.

“Looks like their test was right,” Hyrule said with another squeeze, releasing his hands, and Warriors realized Hyrule wasn’t the only one glowing.

He whipped his head around, and stared.

Two wings, nearly identical to Hyrule’s, had appeared on his back, a deep blue glow surrounding his body.

“It... worked?” he said a bit incredulously, staring at the delicate wings that he now had. He tried moving them, and found it surprisingly easy, and gave them a flutter, unable to believe his eyes. It was also then that he realized he and Hyrule both had shrunk down to the size of fairies as well, and he looked rapidly between him and the wings that had sprouted from his back.

Hyrule laughed at his reaction, the sound bright and tinkling. “It sure did.”

The ground gave a huge lurch under their feet, and Warriors heard an angry shout, quickly followed by more. He and Hyrule looked at the ceiling as someone cried out, then exchanged looks.

“Time to go,” Hyrule said, and jumped up into the air, flittering over to the door.

Warriors watched him fly away, then swallowed, glancing at his wings again. You guys better work.

“Captain come on! It’s instinctive, trust me!”

Warriors shot him a look, then closed his eyes and jumped like Hyrule had, rapidly beating his wings. He didn’t open them until he was sure his feet were off the ground, and when he did he let out an alarmed chime at finding himself a good four feet off the ground.

“I told ya,” Hyrule smiled, and Warriors sighed, following him to the bars and squeezing himself through.

“Yeah yeah Mr. Expert, some of us have only had wings for a literal minute,” Warriors griped as Hyrule did a little loop. “Any sign of the fairies?”

Coming out of their cell had left them with a view of mostly crates and other supplies stacked around the hold, but no distinctive glow from any fairies.

“I can feel their magic, I think... this way,” Hyrule said, and fluttered quickly to a large stack of crates, disappearing behind them. Warriors sighed and followed, having trouble keeping up with Hyrule’s rapid flying. It was a bit of a good thing he wasn’t at full strength, or he surely would have lost him.

They swerved around several piles of crates, Warriors mostly following Hyrule’s wing tips. They’d nearly made it all the way to the other side of the boat when Hyrule suddenly froze, darting behind a corner as Warriors finally caught up to him.

“What’s up?”

“Someone’s there already,” Hyrule said, voice a low chime.

Warriors frowned and poked his head around the corner, blinking in surprise at the sight that met him.

A Zora was crouched in the cramped space, the jars of fairies they’d seen in the tavern secured to the walls with rope. Several were already free, and he seemed to be talking to them, popping open yet another bottle with ease.

Warriors squinted, sure that something about him seemed familiar. He’d never seen a Zora like that, and yet...

The Zora picked up another jar, then nodded, putting a hand to his face. Warriors couldn’t muffle an alarmed chime he let out when the Zora somehow pulled it off, but then he realized he’d seen that very act before. Just not with a Zora.

...who was no longer a Zora.

“Time!” he called, and the older hero turned, eyebrows raising as Warriors and Hyrule flew out from behind the corner.

“Captain?” he asked in surprise, and Warriors landed on the hand he offered, eager for a rest.

“In the flesh,” he chimed with a wry smile as Hyrule landed as well, and Time looked between them with a more surprised look on his face then he’d seen in a long time.

“Goodness. I leave you boys alone for half a day and look what happens,” he said in amusement, and relief. “Are you two okay?”

“Hyrule used up pretty much all his magic doing this to us,” Warriors reported, ignoring the dirty look Hyrule sent him. “He also got drugged pretty bad.”

“You did too,” Hyrule huffed.

“...but aside from that, we’re fine,” Warriors assured, and Time nodded.

“I’m sorry about the wait, I got a little held up myself,” Time said, and Warriors noticed a bandage that wrapped over his leg. “Took me a bit to find out where you went so I could follow. But we’re not going anywhere now. I ran the boat aground,” he grinned.

“Of course you did,” Warriors snorted. Typical Mask. “The crew?”

“Either unconscious or fled,” Time said as he picked up another bottle, popping the cork out.

“How are you doing that? We tried back at the tavern and couldn’t budge them,” Hyrule asked in surprise, and Time showed them a small, shiny stone he had in his hand.

He tapped it to another bottle, then popped the cork out with barely any effort, the fairies inside flying out with excited squeals.

“I found the key,” Time smiled.

He moved around the room tapping the rest of the corks, and the fairies pushed themselves out of the jars, chiming and squealing with happiness as they were free to fly around again.

At Time’s urging they didn’t linger, all of the fairies who were strong enough to fly quickly leaving the hold of the ship. Soon enough the only ones that remained were the several that were too injured to fly, and the ones that stayed behind to help them.

“Should we change back and help?” Warriors asked Hyrule from where they were perched on Time’s shoulder, and the traveler scratched the back of his neck, looking a little awkward.

“Normally I’d say yes, but... changing us both took a lot of energy,” he admitted a little awkwardly. “Changing us back will too, and I... won’t be much help once that happens.”

“You’ll pass out, basically,” Warriors said wryly, and Hyrule cleared his throat.

“...probably.”

Time began carefully setting the injuried fairies inside his bag, leaving most in jars so they wouldn’t be thrown around too much. He purposefully left the corks out though, and Warriors watched as he loaded up, a familiar blue catching his eye.

Time lifted up Proxi, and she saw Warriors, jingling in surprise at his appearance, then sending him a chime that made Warriors feel surprisingly warm and safe.

He smiled just a little, and returned it.

He had a lot of questions for Proxi, but they could wait until they had time to really talk.

“That’s the last one,” Time said, gently setting a fairy in an orange color into his bag, and shutting the flap. “Now let’s get out of here.”

“Do you have our things?” Hyrule asked as they made their way to the stairs, Warriors squinting at the bright late-morning sunshine.

“Picked them up on my way in, though I’m sorry to say your scarf has an unsightly tear in it.”

Warriors groaned. “Of course it does. Why does it always—”

Hyrule let out a sudden shriek, and Warriors whipped around, something colliding with him so suddenly that stars burst into his vision.

He couldn’t register anything for a moment, a ringing noise in his ears, but when he was finally able to focus again, he felt his heartbeat triple.

He was in a jar.

He felt his breath catch, but at the sight of Hyrule next to him, he shoved aside his panic and moved to the traveler’s side. One of his wings was bent, and there was blood on his leg, his face white as he clutched at it.

“I’m okay,” Hyrule said immediately, but his voice shook, and Warriors took his hand in his.

“Don’t move,” he said sternly, then startled as two large eyes he unfortunately recognized stared at him through the glass.

“You’re not getting away that easy,” the scarred man snarled, blood trickling down his forehead. “I’m not losing all of my profit just because of two fairy brats and a changing Zora man.”

Time took a step forward from nearby, and the man hissed in anger, holding the jar containing Hyrule and Warriors over the edge of the ship.

Right over some sharp rocks.

“Don’t move or I’ll drop them,” he spat, fury in his eyes.

“You won’t,” Time said in a careful voice, easing another step forward. “They’re all you have left, you won’t risk them.”

The man’s eyes blazed. “I will. If it means I get revenge on you for ruining all of my profits for the month then so be it.”

He shook the bottle slightly and Hyrule chimed shrilly in pain, Warriors holding him more tightly.

He looked around frantically for a way out, some way to break the glass, some way to help them both, and his eyes landed on the cork above their heads.

It didn’t look like the enchanted ones.

Time and the scarred man were exchanging words again, and Warriors looked between Hyrule and the cork, a plan forming in his head.

They’d have to be quick.

“I have an idea,” he said, and Hyrule breathed in a shaky breath.

“Do what you gotta,” he said unsteadily, and Warriors quickly pulled him up into his arms, glad that the traveler wasn’t one of the bigger Links in their group.

Hyrule’s breath hitched a little, and Warriors chimed an apology, making sure he was secure before he did anything. Come on Time, stall him a bit longer...

“Get back!” the scarred man suddenly shouted, and dropped the bottle.

Time shouted and Warriors rocketed up towards the cork, shoving it as hard as he could as the jar plummeted. He gave it one last frantic shove, and he and Hyrule both popped out, right before the jar shattered on the rocks below them.

Warriors didn’t even stop to catch his breath, pulling him and Hyrule back up onto the deck where they found Time running to the edge, the scarred man lying unconscious on the deck.

“Are you two okay?” he asked, sounding out of breath, and Warriors nodded, still catching his own breath.

There was always something, wasn’t there?

“We’re... we’re okay,” Warriors breathed, and Hyrule let out a sigh of relief in his arms. “We got knocked around, but we’re... okay.”

Hyrule let out a grunt, and Warriors looked down at him, realizing he was glowing.

“Hyrule don’t you dare—!”

The glow spread to Warriors again, and his world turned topsy-turvy, that same tight feeling squeezing him, a light pain at his back, spinning rolling stretching aching—

Strong arms caught him, and Warriors stumbled, Hyrule still clutched in his arms.

“Traveler why on earth—”

Hyrule gave him a dizzy look, his face paler than before. “Easier to... heal as a Hyli...”

His eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp in Warriors’ arms, the captain nearly dropping him. Time helped him lower him to the ground, and Warriors looked down at Hyrule with a sigh.

“He could have at least warned me,” he murmured.

Time put a hand on his shoulder, and Warriors looked at him, the older hero giving him a relieved look.

“That was much too close for my taste,” he said with a squeeze, and Warriors nodded in agreement. “You’ll have to tell me all of what happened once we get out of here. I’m curious as to how exactly Hyrule turned you into a fairy.”

Warriors sighed again, and looked down at Hyrule, an exasperated, but warm feeling settling in his chest as he squeezed his limp hand.

“Yeah. Later.”