#elven glory and stuff my guys

[atrxxxie]

My Dragon Age OC, Yara

the BITCH has arrived

Yara is a runway slave from Tevinter and she might seem harmless with all her stick-like arms and legs and flirty attitude but... Be careful around her, my guys, she's nuts ahahah She was gifted with somniari abilities that kinda drove her slightly crazy (or was it the abuse from her magister master? uh nevermind) But she's fun i promise!

I'm going to post A LOT about her actually.... she's my favourite daughter

[saelwen]

Lost in Middle-Earth

Thranduil x reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Summary: Y/n finds herself falling asleep after watching all the Lord of the rings movie on Friday night, tired after a week of studying and working. What will happen when she finds herself in the middle of a forest with orcs running after her  

Warnings: None only Thranduil being a sassy bitch

Words:1,836

A/n : First of all I want to say thank you to everyone who like it this story! I really appreciate the support. You guys are awesome.

(Thranduil P.O.V)

I was sitting on my throne, waiting for Mithrandir to came in. I put my hand on my face, letting a sigh fall from my lips. What on the Valar it’s going on?! First there's a Human yelling that she is from another world and know Mithrandir appears of know where, saying that someone has arrive to Middle-Earth. This is crazy, so much had happened to me this millennium, the death of my wife, my son leaving me for seek adventure after the battle of the five armies and now this. If this little human right, why is she here?  

The sound of doors opening interrupted my thoughts, I look up and see Mithrandir walk to the throne. I sit more straight, lifting my head high, “What is it this time, Mithrandir?” I said with a bored voice, “King Thranduil. I’ve come here to talk about a certain human that you found in your forest.” I sigh and shake my head “The human that was found in my forest it has lost her mind. Maybe the poison that the orc’s dagger had corrupted her, I wouldn’t be surprised since edain are so fragile and weak.” Mithrandir looks to me with a confused face “What do you mean she have lost her mind? What exactly it she saying?” I lift my right hand and start playing with the rings on my fingers “When she woke up, she looked confused and afraid but when I ask her which village that was she from, she said ‘I’m not from this world’. Tell me Mithrandir, do you believe her?” he looks down, seeming lost in thoughts. He begins murmuring something under his breath, “She might be right...The Valar had send me a message saying that Eru himself have send a special human from another realm to Middle-Earth. I think she was sent to help since the One Ring have been found.” with this information I stand up “How was this possible? How Sauron have managed find the One Ring?” I said with panic in voice “The hobbit that was charge of bring the ring to Rivendell was found by the Nazgul's but a ranger succeed to bring him there.” a hobbit? Who would let a hobbit take the One Ring to Rivendell? “King Thranduil if you don’t mind, could I have a word with this human?” I think for a while, how could this human had been sent by Eru? I nod in approval and I tell the guards to bring the human.

(Y/n P.O.V)

The sound of the cell door opening woke me up, I look up and see an elf barging in “W..What’s happening?” I said with a weak voice. The elf grabs me by the arm and force me to stand up “The King wish to see you.” oh shit where we go again, the guard took me out of the cell and lead me to the throne room. During the trip there, I notice how beautiful this place is. The huge pillars decorate with beautiful elven symbols, the bridges were so elegant like I never seen in my life. I was so captivated with the place that didn't notice that we have arrive.

The big doors open and the guard lead me over where the throne was it. There sitting was of course Thranduil, in all of his glory, with an arrogant smirk. The guard throw me and I fall on my knees in front of the throne, a little cry falls from my lips as my body it still hurts from all the stuff have happen to me. Suddenly I feel a comforting warm hand on my back, I look up and see an old man offering me his hand, I took it and whisper a small thank you. He gives me a warm smile, making his skin wrinkles in the corners of his mouth, as I stand up, I took a good look at him, he is wearing a grey robe with a pointy grey hat, he has long dirty grey hair and a long beard. Wait...This is Gandalf!! I try calm down my inner fangirl. Jesus I can’t believe that Gandalf it’s right in front of me, “Hello young one.”  he said with a calm voice “I hope you are feeling better.” I nod “Hello Gandalf The Grey. I could be better if the elvenking haven’t throw into a dungeon.” last words I said with venom as I look to Thranduil, who was now with a frown on his face, as for Gandalf, his face was priceless, his mouth was haging open and his eyes were wide open, I would laugh my ass out but that would make me look like a crazy woman. Gandalf gives a little cough, “I’m sorry My Lady but how do you know my name?” ohhhh right... fuck how I'm going to say that Middle-Earth is fiction story in my world? “Ahh well you see I'm from another world and in there Middle-Earth is just a story. Don’t ask me how I got here because I don’t know. All I know is that I woke up in the middle of a forest, attacked by an orc and then woke up again here. Please you have to believe me!” I plead to him, I hear Thranduil groan and almost feel him rolling his eyes, Christ I hate him, “Calm down child...i believe you.” at this I feel my body relax from happiness “You do?” he nods “Yes...If you know so much about our world, then you understand the dangers that live in it.” he said with a serious voice, I nod, feeling a bit afraid now that I think of all the creatures that live here. “Ok then. King Thranduil I need you take this lovely lady as your guest a while I go find more answers about this...strange event.” Thranduil makes a weird face “Why do I have to taker in? Take her to rivendell or something.” wow what a charming King, I roll my eyes and cross my arms “I don’t need to be protect by greedy king, I can go to the near village or something.” if look could kill, I would be dead right now, the look that Thranduil is giving me was cold and angry, “No...ahhh I'm sorry what's your name, My Lady?” Gandalf ask with a guilty voice, “My name is Y/n.” he nods “Okay Y/n, you can’t go wonder around Middle-Earth, it’s too dangerous for a human like you. Here it’s the safest place for you right now.” I huff and nod, I know that I'm being childish but I can’t stand that sassy king, I'm certain that he is going my live here difficult. Gandalf bow to him and then turns to me “Hope you have a lovely day Y/n.” then he closes the distance between us and whisper in my ear “And good luck with him, I think he needs someone like you.” with that he leaves with a small smile. I stand there with a shocked face. Very funny Gandalf. Thranduil lift up from his throne and walk towards me, “Listen well woman, I don’t want you walking around on my kingdom, you only leave your room with my guards and you will always accompany me on dinner. Am I clear?” I sigh, I've known that this would happen, he would never let me alone, walking around in his kingdom, “Yes, your highness.” I said sarcastically “Good. Tauriel will show you to your new room.” as he said that a beautiful woman enters the room, waiting for me by the door. I nod and walk towards her, thinking of what hell did I get myself into?!

(Thranduil P.O.V)

I had to control my anger when Mithrandir said the human had to stay here. Why in the hell she has to stay here? What if she is a danger to my kingdom? If something happens it will Mithrandir fault.

Watching Y/n leaving the room, I notice how small she is, her h/c makes a beautiful contrast with her soft s/c skin, with those big e/c eyes. She is definitely one of the most beautiful human I’ve seen in my life, she almost looks like an elf. I shake my head, what happen to me? I’ve never been attracted to another woman since my wife died. Ahhh I have to get those thoughts out of my head. I leave the throne room to my bedroom.

I enter in my bedroom and close the door with all my strength, making a loud sound. I take my robe and throw it to bed, I put my crown on the small table and go fill a cup of wine, drowning my stress and rage that this human has caused.

(Y/n P.O.V)

Tauriel show me my room and tell me that she will get me when the it’s dinner time and with that she leaves me alone in my new room.  

I look around me, seeing that the room was HUGE, almost the same size of my small apartment. The room was lovely decorated, the theme color was green forest and a light brown. There is a king size bed with soft green blankets, in the other corner of the room was a huge wardrobe, I walk there and open it, a gasp escapes from my lips as I see that it’s fills of beautiful dresses, am I supposed to wear this? Well I wouldn’t mind it. Closing the wardrobe, I walk to the small balcony, there I could see almost all Mirkwood land, if I've got my phone here, I would take some awesome photos. I sit on the chair and take a deep breath, why am I here? Did anyone back home miss me? I bet that b/f/n is freaking out. I close my eyes, letting all my body melt into the chair. Well I have some time until dinner, so I just might sleep a little. Letting sleep take over me, I could hear all the live in the forest, like I was the animals themselves. I fall asleep cuddling to a soft pillow on the chair, forgetting all the crazy stuff it had happen in those two days.

Hey everyone!!! Here is part 2. Hope you like it!! I’m sorry if the some grammatical error, english it’s not my first language and I have dyslexia so be kind 😊 This series will be slow burn for not jump all the action all the sudden, it will have smut so be warned. Thanks for all the support and good feedback. Feel free to tell me what you think!! XOXO

Taglist: @icarus-fell-in-spring @tigereyesf @yes-captainstark @llama2264 @bowtothewitch @aeryntheofficial 

[leiyahime]

Advent 2018: Day 07 - Crutches/lost

Another chapter on the more fun side. I didn’t know how to fit the challenges in a story so this little parody happened. Have fun

Day 07: Crutches/lost

 The party travelled through the land on a top secret mission to save their world and every other world in this universe with enemies on their heels.

 There was Keith the village boy who had been thrown out of his normal life – if they could trust his words. No one had ever seen his village.

He had met his first companion, the half-elven paladin Shiro, a kind of luckless warrior, somewhere out in the wild. Shiro himself was on a quest for honour and glory and as everyone knew, simple farm boys on journeys often promised to become the heroes of their time.  A bit later they picked up the too clever for her own good dwarf Pidge and the mediocre mage Hunk who in fact were on the trace of some underground danger threatening the whole universe. So the four ended up together because Keith couldn’t bear the thought of their world being destroyed. He seemed like a lone wolf but in his heart burned a strong fire of justice! And under Shiro’s more or less strict training he finally learned to wield a sword without stabbing himself or ridding himself of a finger.

 The group journeyed on: Through forests and plains and mountains and moors. They met different kinds of people and slowly found out more about their mysterious enemy who went by the name of Zarkon and his dubious goals. And they picked up the thievish werewolf Lance who proved himself to be good in picking locks and eavesdropping on important people. And for his loyalty he only wanted a few ear rubs and food from the group. Keith would never admit it, but he liked travelling with his new friends. This was so much better than his old life.  Until one day...They were in the middle of a large forest when...

 “Whhaaaat’s this?” Pidge asked. She had just found a mysterious treasure box of which many had been hidden in their world and provided them with armour, weapons, health potions and many, many other useful items. No one knew where these boxes came from. But when she opened this one she found...

 “Looks like a pair of crutches...” Keith deadpanned.

 “You don’t say wise guy!” Pidge snarled back. “Not even of worth, right Lance?” She held out the sticks to the werewolf who sniffed on them and then shook his head. If they were of any worth he’d know it. “We’ll leave them here. Our inventory is already overly full.”

 “But what if one of us suddenly breaks a leg?” Hunk chimed in. “Then they could use the crutches...”

 “Or you could just heal them? You have magic? We have potions? No problem, no need for more stuff than necessary. Or do you want to carry them with you until with much misfortune someone happens to break a leg?” Pidge turned around and stomped away. The others looked at each other, shrugged and followed her. Thank god her legs were short and Shiro was not the worst tracker (Not the best either but it was enough) and they had soon caught up to her so that they could continue their way. Until...

 “Does anyone know where we are?” Keith asked. The forest had become darker and that was not only because the sun was about to set.

 “I thought you did? You are our leader!” Lance said and leaned his head to the side.

 “Haaah? Since when? I’m just a guy on an adventure! You two are the ones with the bad guys we want to defeat! I have literally no sense of directions!”

 “But you acted like our leader since I got to you! And you smell of importance!” Lance chimed in.

 “I don’t!” Keith rebutted harshly and walked on, until Shiro stopped him.

 “Keith! We need to be careful. We seemed to have lost our way. We must not get separated.”

 “At once this Paladin says something of worth...” Pidge said. “We need to get out of here. And then find a village so that we can learn where we are... My god, is it that hard?”

 “Apparently,” Hunk said and mention in one direction. “I think we should go that way.”

 “And why?”

  “My gut-feeling. And you know my gut is always right!” Hunk slapped his tummy with a hand.

 “I don’t wanna trust any gut...  Let’s rest here for the night and go on tomorrow.”

 And that’s what they did.

The next morning they continued their way and went through the forest for another three days until they finally found their way out. And after they left the woods Keith grew awfully quiet. Even more than usual. Shiro put his arm around his waist (No, Pidge told herself, don’t get mad at them for getting together without telling anyone!) to ask if he was alright.

 He just nodded and led the way. He seemed to know the area.

 On their way they met a magnificent carriage in front of an inn. And Keith paled. They had wanted to stay the night there. “There’s another one not too far away. Let’s rest there...” he proposed.

 “And why’s that?” Pidge asked.

 “Because I say so! You want me to be your leader against my will so do what I say!” Keith snapped and turned around... and bumped into someone so that he fell on his butt.

 Instantly Shiro was at his side to protect him from any harm and helped him up.

 “Keith? Your Highness? Is it really you? And what are you wearing? That’s not appropriate for someone in your position!!”

 “Hello Coran, Bye Coran. We’re on our way to save the world, s don’t stop us. Say hi to father from me. In case he’s interested I’m fine!”

 “I am interested!” A tall man wearing the finest clothes and a crown appeared. “Why did you run away, son?”

 Keith sighed. “Because I’m done. This is who I am: An adventurer. I wanna be out here and not in there,” he vaguely waved his hand in the direction of the royal palace they had passed just yesterday.

 “You should have said something instead of slipping away. I wouldn’t have kept you from it.”

 Keith looked at the man – apparently the king – in shock. “You wouldn’t?

 “Of course not When I was your age I went on adventures as well. Or how did you think I met your mother? The Galra realm isn’t close by...”

 “I... forget it... So we can continue our journey?”

 “Tonight you’ll rest here and tell me about your adventures and how you managed to get your hands on such a beautiful man!” the king replied and motioned to Shiro who had protectively put his arm around him.

 “So...” Pidge chimed in. You are the prince?”

 Keith shrugged. “I don’t care of a title. I am who I am and I am how you know me. “

 “You... bastard!” the dwarf cursed.

 “My prince!” Shiro fell to his knees. “I will protect you at all cost!”

 “You already do and now stand up... nothing changes...” Keith rolled his eyes and waited expectantly.

 When Shiro had stood up again, they entered the guesthouse.

 “Hello Gentlemen...” Keith turned his head and looked at an old woman at the first table at the door. “This old woman needs help walking home. You don’t happen to have a pair of crutches on you?”

 Pidge screamed in despair.

[avengers-nextgen]

The Year Between VII

Traveling was always hard. One would finally settle in one place only to move on, and while it allowed avenues for exploring-it grew tiring. At first, Piper was more than happy with the arrangements. Nice plane, nice food, nice people, and of course the recognition wasn’t bad.

She was finally having her work acknowledged rather than doing school projects or keeping things locked up in the lab. The papers were more than happy to scoop up the information, but with the glory came the tiring work.

Meetings did little to hold her attention, and it was a good thing Gen was with her through it all because she actually remembered what the hell was going on. Half the time Piper just asked for the run down version from her friend and found it was much more entertaining.

During one particular meeting, Piper had busied herself with a rubic’s cube. She knew the formula, and she knew how to solve it, but it was hilarious watching everyone else try to focus. When she grew bored of that she began to play with the pens. It was moments like that, that reminded everyone how young Piper really was.

She was charismatic on stage for presentations, adept at press conferences, and charming during interviews. Still, there was something lacking. It’d have been much more of a success had she been able to celebrate it with her family.

Piper checked up on them from time to time, she called her parents every night, and she found Enzo’s emails funny enough to indulge in them. But away from the cameras or the media Piper was just tired. She lounged around in pajamas all day, didn’t bother doing much of anything really, and had way too many naps.

Currently, Piper was laying upside down on the couch with her legs propped up on the back and her hair sprawling into the floor.

“Channeling your inner bat,” Gen remarked as she tossed one of Piper’s shoes at their owner, “you left this one in the bathroom.”

“Oh darn, I always forget something after showering.” Piper sighed and regarded the shoe now resting next to her head. “Stupid shoe.”

“It’s just a lost sole.” The pun was horrible but it was enough to make Piper laugh.

“So, what’s the upcoming schedule?” Piper frowned. “How bad is it?”

“Actually, you’re in luck. I just got off the phone and as it turns out-they already have someone for the job.”

“How is that lucky?” Piper snorted. “I was replaced.”

“It’s lucky because you have two days to yourself before we fly out to Texas. So you can stop moping and live a little.” Gen plopped down onto the couch next to Piper and whacked her on the stomach. Groaning, Piper rolled onto the floor before sitting up. Her hair was a mess, her face was bright red, and her expression of betrayal looked ridiculous.

“I don’t mope,” Piper insisted. “I think.”

“If that’s what you want to call it. Point is, the vibrant Piper Stark has become a gloomy little couch potato and it sucks ass.” Gen held up her hands as if what she’d said wasn’t her own words. “You gotta get out of this funk.”

“There’s nothing too do. Literally, the rules were that I stayed in this hotel so I don’t get taken or kidnapped or robbed or some crazy shit.” Piper spluttered trying to blow a strand of hair out of her face. “I am not going to find fun like Cinderella did and clean this place.”

“You’re so dramatic it’s ridiculous.” Gen gave her friend a mocking look of pity. “You have a big brain. Use it. What can you do in this big old penthouse? I can think of exactly thirty two and a half ideas.”

Piper sighed and contemplated Gen’s words seriously for a moment. “Well, Alex and I would sometimes wear socks and do a dance party. Some of the others would join in. One time James fell on his face and got a bloody nose! It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. One moment he was jamming out to Journey and the next he was crying.”

“You were a cynical child.”

“I was...still am actually.” Piper winked. “Shoes off.”

“On it already.” Gen promised as she kicked off her shoes.

“What music are we going with?” Piper asked walking over to the speaker system equipped with ‘The world’s best surround sound!’.

“Anything you want. I honestly don’t care-actually that’s not true-I hate country music. Don’t play that.” Piper nodded and flicked through the channels in search of a song she actually liked, and hadn’t heard a trillion times.

“Bingo.” Piper pumped her fist in excitement. “Nothing like that dramatic Celine Dione for Titanic. Dumbest movie I’ve ever seen. Get ready for the best acting of the century.” Piper’s eyes lit up with a mischievous look.

— — —

And that was what started it all. The two recreated the most iconic movie scenes of the century. From Piper laying on the coffee table yelling ‘I’ll never let go Jack!’ to Gen impersonating Robin Williams in Jumanji.

“This was the best idea I’ve ever had!” Piper wheezed as Gen held up a sock.

“I’m a free elf!”

“You’re welcome you elven turd!” Piper threw another sock at the girl.

“That’s not in the movie!” Gen scolded, playfully whacking Piper with a pillow.

After completing all of the Harry Potter cinematic moments worth caring about Piper concluded the mess with the classic: Footloose.

“Kevin Bacon is in everything,” Gen remarked.

“That’s because everyone loves bacon. So, you put bacon on everything and in everything.” Piper’s logic was extremely hard to argue with. She was certain Thalia would’ve agreed with her whether she knew Kevin Bacon was an actual person or not. “Bottom line...I’m tired.”

“Already?”

“What do you mean already? We’ve done at least twenty movies! I do not have the stamina of Orion or Alex or James or-to be honest-anyone really.” Piper admitted. She’d never really thought about it but she was the most out of shape in the group. “Holy shit I have to work out more.”

“You are one character Piper, that’s for sure.” Gen laughed, resting her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

“So I’ve been told.”

“But you really miss your family don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Piper nodded, “don’t you miss yours?”

“Eh,” Gen shrugged.

“What’s that mean?” People frowned, finally straightening from her bent over position.

“Nothing, just that my parents love their work more than me.” Gen shrugged. “Why else would I be all over the country?”

“Because they let you?”

“Nah, gives them the lab to themselves. For people who always wanted a science daughter they kind of regretted it. You’re pretty lucky with your dad and all.” Gen smiled happily. “He’s really cool. You guys share pretty much everything.”

“Well, yeah...he’s my dad. He’s supposed to-“ Piper didn’t finish what she was going to say. “Do they not even talk about normal stuff?”

“Nope.” Gen shook her head as if it were a normal thing for parents to do. “Just work stuff. They get bored when I talk about school. Or personal stuff...really just anything they don’t find interesting.”

“That sucks,” Piper breathed, “I’m sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be. My counselor’s taught me some stuff. She’s really cool. And that’s why I’m so chill all the time. No use in getting worked up over everything you know?” For someone who was Piper’s best friend, Piper was surprised she didn’t know this aspect of the other girl’s life. “This was fun though. Definitely going to do this again if you’re down for it.”

“Uh, yeah...” Piper nodded, “yeah I wouldn’t mind. It was fun.”

— — —

Then everything went completely off the rails. Piper woke up at three in the morning still tired, and completely panicking. She remembered everything that had happened and it hit her like a truck. “I am exactly like my father.”

One night stands seemed to run in the family as it turned out. Piper concluded that it was all probably Alex’s fault. She spent too much time with the squishy hearted girl and it had led to this. This feeling of sadness for a friend that turns into one hell of an evening.

The conversation the previous night hadn’t ended as briefly as either wanted. They’d spent some time talking about deep rooted childhood issues. Where one moment Gen was talking about her eighth birthday and the next they were kissing. Sure, it was foggy in Piper’s memory, but she coldly grassland why she hadn’t stopped. She could have. But she didn’t. Now, her clothes were in a chaotic halo on the floor and she was very aware of the chill in the air.

Shortly after recollecting the events, Piper’s first instinct was to yell and probably cry. Then she contemplated calling her parents. Her dad wasn’t an option, he would probably just congratulate her. That was not the needed response at the moment. Her mom would just freak out so that wasn’t an option either. Piper ended up calling the very person she was trying to despise: Alex.

“Piper? It’s like one in the morning here. What’s the issue. Please tell me you didn’t drink ten cups of coffee again?” Alex sounded half asleep and dead to the world.

“This is a bit worse than ten cups of coffee.”

“Okay, I’m listening now.” That seemed to wake Alex up.

Once the conversation was over Piper was too tired to even think. She decided the best course of action was just to go back to sleep, and sort it all out in the morning. That was almost a worse idea because Piper found out she didn’t quite mind what had happened, and frankly-she was fucking confused!

[la-knight]

For the writing 1, 2, 7

1: Describe the plot of your current WIPs in a single sentence each.

Ohmigawd…that’s hard…okay, let me make a list real quick.

The 12th Camellia: an autistic queer Mormon girl has to rescue her sister when her sister ends up trapped in their favorite VR MMO; Six of Crows meets Sword Art Online.

Bare Not Your Heel to the Coward’s Arrow: world-hopping fanfic to fix all the dumb shit that happens in CW’s Arrow

A Little Black Book and a Little Black Dress: World-hopping fanfic to fix all the dumb shit that happens in The Blacklist

Blow Northerne Wynde: a queer autistic woc Mormon girl and her sentient starship get hurled through a wormhole that takes her back to our time, followed by alien invaders who have seeded Earth with sleeping kaiju they intend to wake up to exterminate us; Pacific Rim meets Outlander, sort of.

The Edge of Darkest Devotion: Sequel to a finished fanfic about Loki’s motivation/redemption/character journey in Thor 1, Avengers 1, and afterward.

Empress of Ice and Oceans: Hades and Persephone, but using Yoruban and Russian mythology and starring two black leads.

Eidolon: If Romeo & Juliet were both Batman-esque vigilantes working for the Crown when the ghost of a homicidal necromancer and Jack the Ripper attack magical AU London.

Facets of Snow and Frost: World-hopping fanfic to fix all the dumb shit that happens in the MCU/MTCU.

Glass: industrialized magical urban fantasy version of Alice in Wonderland with a lot of gay poc kids fighting against the ridiculousness of a prophecy that says the female lead is going to be the dark ruler that will plunge the magical world into a new Dark Age.

Hallows: A genderfluid goddex tells the story of how they were kidnapped and forced to fight as a magical gladiator, then was blackmailed into betraying their home when they fell in love and their wife was used as a hostage against them (they’re telling their sister while rotting in a prison cell, but the sister doesn’t know if she believes them).

House of Gears: Teenage Jewish Cinderella’s little sister is kidnapped by the bogeyman, so she must crash a steampunk monsters’ ball with the help of her former not-so-imaginary friends (including a genderfluid Princex Charming/Sleeping Beauty and a lesbian fairy godsister) to get the sister back.

In the Dark of the Night and the Hour of the Wolf: Redemption fic for Hela from Thor Ragnarok (female villains almost never get the redemption fanservice male villains do). Ties into “Edge of Darkest Devotion.”

King or Captain, Sinner or Saint: World-hopping fanfic redeem Killmonger, ties into Facets.

The Lightning Bleeds Scarlet and Gold: World-hopping fanfic to fix all the dumb shit that happens in CW’s Flash (like Magenta losing her powers, Iris and Barry taking so long to get together, Barry’s dad dying, stuff like that). Ties into Bare Not Your Heel.

Once in the Winter’s Tide: Fanfic set between Winter Soldier and Civil War that ties X-Men, Blade, Spider-Man, and other things into the MCU, starring Bucky and a mutant woman with 4 kids and a dangerous secret. Ties into “Darkest Devotion.”

Once Upon a Time: Redemption fanfic for Nuada Silverlance, the villain from Hellboy 2.

A Palace of Ink and Stardust: Autistic woc Mormon girl falls in love with a changeling at her school and has to come to grips with being bisexual and Mormon (cute wlw fluff all around, with magic).

The Silver Princess: A bi Mormon healer’s apprentice falls in love with an Elven princess and the princess’s twin brother, while all three of them have to deal with a war brewing between humans and fae. All the queer poc rep.

Snow White, Blood Red: World-hopping fanfic to fix all the dumb shit that happens in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, starring an autistic woc, a trans woc, and their gay best guy friend.

Yes, I have ADD. No, that’s not a joke.

2: Do you have anything published? If so, where? 

I’ve published several short stories and a poem. I’ve self-published my first two books, but they were heavily whitewashed at the insistence of the agents who originally repped them and I didn’t realize at the time how problematic that was (although I knew it was annoying af) so I’m rereleasing them fully restored to their original poc (and for the most part queer) glory when I have the time. 

As for my short stories, you can find my latest in the anthology Tomorrow’s Cthulhu, on my Patreon, or in the anthology New Legends: Caster - Castle - Creature.

7: What was the first novel you ever tried to write? If you’ve never tried to write a novel, then what was the first story you ever wrote?

The first story I ever wrote was in crayon when I was 4. It was a fanfic about how the Red Ranger fell in love with Rita Repulsa’s daughter (who was NOT the daughter of Lord Zed, so he was her stepdad) and while she was…like…wicked, you know, bad temper and chaotic neutral type, like Wade Wilson level morals, she hated being evil because it was too much work and she was lazy and she just wanted to date the Red Ranger because he was hot and nice to her.

The first NOVEL I ever wrote, I was 8 or 9, it took me an entire school year, and I wrote it by hand. It was called Catrina and Stephen: How an American Girl Became Princess of Monaco, and it was basically the adventures of this random girl who, on the eve of her 17th birthday, bought tickets through a magazine (I don’t know…) to the Coronation-and-Find-a-Bride Ball of Prince Stephen of Monaco, and her parents paid to fly her to Monte Carlo (in the middle of her senior year…for some reason) and the prince was like 19 and they met and fell in love a la Cinderella at the ball and got married literally the next day and had all these weird adventures and like, I shit you not, 35 kids (lots of triplets and quadruplets and I think a few quints).

I worked on it every day, in school, for bellwork. We got a writing prompt every morning and I always found a way to incorporate the prompt into the next chapter of my book. So literally one chapter might be them going to the grocery store and having to shop “like poor people” and the next chapter an evil scientist shrinks them down and they have to create a fort out of toothpicks and lincoln logs to protect themselves from a tarantula and rats, then in the next chapter they might scout an expedition to fucking Pluto and meet some eldritch alien horrors, but one of them fell in love with one of the kids (also being a kid, so cute “that’s my girlfriend” child love) and it became a star-crossed lovers thing that gets resolved by the UN. It was wild shit. 

By the end of the year it filled 6 composition notebooks, had over 150 chapters, and ended with Catrina and Stephen dying and the alien and princess taking over the Earth and forming an intergalactic empire or something, but it was cool because basically it was just, everyone can do whatever except bomb each other or torture people.

[spacemomalex]

fuck my guys, it’s been a while since I did literally anything related to writing. But here you folks go! Some Alistair POV because I love him and he makes me sad.

Friendly reminder that this is a drabble (maybe series of) thing that I’m oing relating back to my “canon” origins verse. This snippit is from not long after Zayn became a warden and was sent to ostagar. Though unlike the game, he arrives a little earlier than the eve of the final battle and gets himself situated in camp.

“Oh don’t look now, trouble’s on the way.” 

Alistair watched with fascination as Zayn’s face cycled through the stages of grief. Normally, he was the one dreading time spent in the presence of his perfect, too-pretty princely half brother. (Okay so he was more of a king, and he was a decent man sometimes. But it still irked Alistair.) To his relief and delight, the fast elven friend he made in Zayne Surana, was just as annoyed by Cailan as he was.

Unfortunately for them both, Cailan seemed every bit as interested in being friendly to the only person in Ostagar that was willing and capable of graceful backhands, or blunt honest, or (Alistair’s personal favorite) exasperated sass of how wrong everyone was doing everything and exactly how to fix it. It was so annoying that they shared an interest in the same man, but the good king was unable to take a hint and realize that Zayn preferred spending time with him instead.

“If I have to listen Loghain bitch about this later...” Alistair hid a snicker under a cough.

As fascinating as Zayn was to them, and many of the wardens, and the elves, Loghain and Zayn despised each other. They avoided each other like plague ridden rats, and when forced to share breathing room, they tended to spend more time snapping at the other’s battle plans than actually planning. With Loghain questioning him at every turn, and Zayn happily stabbing holes in Loghain’s in return. Truly, they loved to hate.

As for Cailan, he sought out Zayn’s company whenever he had the chance. Dragging him to his meetings, having him talk to the various different parties in the war camp (for Zayn was, in fact, incredibly persuasive when he wanted to be). Annoying both Loghain and Alistair for, well, not similar reasons, but annoying them all the same.

“Ho friend! Good day to you wardens!” And there he was, in all in royal regal glory. 

“Cailan.” Another thing Alistair liked about Zayn, he only ever graciously nodded his head in greeting. Like equals. He never deferred to the king, despite being an elven mage. Alistair internally applauded him for doing what he couldn’t.

“A fine day for-”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries yes? What miserable task do you want me to do this time? We,” Zayn said, propping a hand on his elegant hip and jerking his head in Alistair’s general direction. “Were going to go eat.”

“Just to talk with such pleasant company as yourself.” Cailan offered one of those heart melting smiles that had most women sighing for days over his rugged good looks and warm kingly aura. Yet only made Zayn grunt in annoyance.

That was the other weird thing. Alistair couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but Cailan constantly complimented him too. On his shoulder-length braids, or the blue of his eyes, even once said he had the voice of a bard when he managed to sway a squabbling Templar and mage into a compromise. Alistair thought Cailan must be losing his grip- who even compliments someone on their voice?

“No really what do you want?”

“No really, just to talk.”

Zayne was squinting, suspicious. And rightly so! Alistair believed. 

“Oh, alright. There were some plans I wanted to discuss with you. Preferably alone.” 

“Ugh. I knew it.”

Still, in these past few months he had come to know Zayn. The man was as honorable as they came. Regardless of how trivial the matter, his friend would reach out to try and fix the problem to the best of his considerable abilities. 

So Alistair isn’t the least bit surprised as Zayn turned to him with an ever suffering, apologetic, look and said. “I’ll join you later?”

“If he keeps you up past your bedtime, leave him to the Loghain’s tender mercies. Then mine, cause seriously, who’s going to count how many bread loafs I can stuff in my mouth without you there?” 

“I know! The tragedy of it all!” Alistair grinned as he pointedly ignored Cailan’s pout in favor of his friend’s bright cackle.

Had anyone asked, Alistair would have told them he’d rather let the dogs slobber on him again for six weeks straight than be king. He still felt that way. Down to his very core. A king had to be responsible for everyone. He wouldn’t wish that kind of horrible fate on anyone. But, though he told himself he wouldn’t, he turned to sneak a glance as they walked away. Zayn was every bit as regal, every bit as self confident as the king. Like he belonged in a position of power and, by the Maker, he was good at it.

Not wanting to be king didn’t do anything to make him feel any better about finding himself left behind by powerful men again.

[p-artsypants]

320 State Street- (8) July 16, 2016

A03 | FF.Net

Previous

—

The drinking song in the last chapter is a slightly re-written translation of ‘Fela Igjen’, by Alexander Rybak. I don’t know why I forgot to put that in the author’s notes on the last chapter…(maybe because I wrote the chapter at 2am in the middle of a party…)

—

“So this lady comes up to the counter and starts putting her stuff up. It was like, spray paint and caulk and sandpaper…stuff like that.” Astrid sat at a table in Hiccup’s basement. Heather, Fishlegs, and Eret listened and waited for Hiccup. “I was halfway through typing in her items when I noticed the guy before me had left his coffee on the counter.”

“People are lazy.” Fishleg’s shrugged.

“Ah, but that’s not worst part! The woman saw where I was looking, reached over, grabbed the coffee and finished it off.”

“She didn’t!” Heather objected.

“I swear to god, she did!”

“That’s the nastiest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Alright guys,” Hiccup stated, coming into the room. He balanced a laptop in one hand and had a broad selection of snacks in the other. “My mom has two hours free and she’s going to join us.”

“Join us? But she’s in…” Astrid sentence got cut short as Hiccup placed the laptop on the table.

Valka Haddock, a beautiful and wise mother showed on the screen. She smiled. “So you’re Astrid? Hiccup’s told me a lot about you!”

Said boy in reply blushed. “Soooo does everyone have their character sheets?”

Everyone nodded, except Astrid.

Fishlegs organized his notes then held a blank sheet of paper out to Astrid. “So, since you’ve never played before, you’ll need to make your character.”

“Okay.”

“What do you want to be? Human? Elf? Gnome?” Hiccup looked pointedly at Heather.

“Well…what do we have?”

Hiccup spoke in a deep Scottish voice, one which Astrid recognized as the voice he used to imitate his dad. “I am Sho’gath the mighty, son of Ogro’Sherk, and wielder of axes.” Then he used his regular voice. “I’m a true neutral Orc.”

“Okay, what does ‘true neutral’ mean?”

“It’s an alignment. Lawful Good all the way down to Chaotic Evil. It just determines what kind of decisions you’re going to make. Are you always going to do the right thing and follow the rules, or are you going to mess everything up?”

“Oh, I get it.” She nodded.

“I’m a beautiful elven ranger. And I’m Neutral good.” Eret explained, holding up a scribble of a blonde woman.

Valka spoke from the computer, “I’m Magro Thiadim, a gentle giant.”

“I’m a dashing rogue named Cazriel, and I have an monkey companion named Steve the Well Trained.” Fishlegs frowned right after, "but since I'm leading the campaign, you won't get to see me in action."

Then Heather finished, “I’m a 200 year old mage that looks like a 15 year old boy, and I’m mute, illiterate, and eat rocks.”

“You must be fun to play with.” Astrid laughed.

“She’s not.” Everyone else responded.

“Well, now I have a lot of options. Can I be anything?”

“Basically.”

“I want to be an Angel.”

Fishlegs and Hiccup looked at each other, seemingly having a unspoken conversation. “Well, you could…but it’s really hard to play as one.” Fishlegs finally admitted. “Might I suggest a paladin?”

“Depends, what’s a paladin?”  

“Do you know anything about Dungeons and Dragons?!” He asked snippily.

She replied, just as snippily. “I know only nerds play it.”

“Guess you’re a nerd now,” Hiccup shrugged.  

“You’re damn straight.”

“Darn. Darn straight.” He corrected.

“Okay, well a Paladin is a holy knight. They get a animal to mount that they share an empathic link with. But they can only be Lawful Good. So they always have to do the right thing.”

Astrid shrugged. “Doesn’t sound too far from real life. I’ll do it.” Then she snapped her fingers. “My mount can be a giant bird! It’ll grasp onto my shoulders and carry me.”

“What kind of bird?” Asked Hiccup. “Are you just going to make it Stormfly?”

“No, I can be a little creative.” She laughed. “I’ll make it a potoo.”

The table went quiet. “What’s a potoo?”

She pulled out her phone and went to Google. “It’s this bird that’s really derpy, it looks like a living muppet.”

She found a picture and held it up. Sure enough, the bird did look like a living muppet. It had big yellow eyes that bugged out on either sides of it’s head.

“That’s terrifying.” Hiccup cringed.

“His name is Gary.”

“Your character?”

“No, my bird.” She stated it like it was obvious. “I still have to think of a name for my character.”

“Well,” Fishlegs began, looking at his notes. “How about Hiccup helps her set up her character while I set the scene.”

“Okay.”

He cleared his throat and spoke to the rest of the group. “You arrive at the Western dock of the town of Kolasiet. One ship leaves every third morning and returns every third night. To the South, there is a huge hill. In front of you, there are houses, a tavern, a trader who does business inside the tavern, a blacksmith, a church, a jail, and an elder who acts as a healer and a seer.

“To the North, there is an ornate, beautiful manor on the hill. It’s large and spectacular, but not as grand as the castle.

“To the East, there is a large castle up on the mountain. It is covered with ivy and there are lights in the windows. The castle is in ill repair, but looks habited. There’s a huge rose maze around the outside and heavy iron gates at the base of the hill.”

“Good start.” Eret commented. “I’ll go into town.”

Valka and Heather followed.

“People you talk to are pretty down trodden and poor, tell you to go to the Tavern.”

“To the Tavern then!”

“Okay,” announced Astrid. “I have my character. Now how do I play the game?”

Fishlegs groaned.

Hiccup explained, “it’s a roleplaying game. The DM, Fishlegs, will tell the story and you move your character within the story to finish it.”

“Okay…” she followed so far.

“As an example,” Fishlegs stated, “say you’re in the woods and there are trees all around you, except for a cave. Where do you want to go?”

“Well, to the cave. Seeing as it’s basically the only place to go.”

“Alright, inside the cave is a pile of bones.”

“Lovely.”

“On top of the bones, theres a dead carcass of a mystical being called a beholder. You see something sparkling in it’s eye.”

“I want to look at the sparkling thing.”

Fishlegs smiled. “You have found beauty in the eye of the beholder.”

Astrid scrunched up her nose. “Well, it’s been fun, but I’m leaving.”

“No! Wait! Don’t leave! It was a joke!!!” He begged.

—

The group had entered the tavern, where they met up with a paladin with a bird mount. Everyone else in the tavern was just as sad and pathetic as the people outside. Maybe even more so, since they were drunk of their asses. Only the trader, Joe, was in a cheerful mood. No doubt hopeful that he’d get some actual business. Joe admitted that he’d been in the town three days, and couldn’t wait to get out. Whatever was effecting these people was very serious and if the group of rag-tag fighter’s knew better, they’d leave soon too. They bought several drinks and items and talked to the bartender. A goat looking man with a mustache down hanging down to his nipples.

—

“Gobber?”

“Gobber.”

—

“Several months ago, we were prosperous. The castle was inhabited by a beautiful and kind fairy. She had magnificence gossamer wings and hair that shone in the sun like gold. Daily, she’d come into our town and grace us with her humble presence. She was also very wealthy, more wealthy then even the mayor, but she was generous and gave gold to whoever needed it, but always with the warning, ‘do not take what is not given to you’. But then…one day, the sky turned gray and all the gold that was given to us from the fairy, turned to coal. Great for heating our homes, mind you, but we were left nearly desolate. The mayor spread what wealth he could, but he was also depleted of his riches.  An unknown disease spread over the people and took lives. Where once riches flowed, now only sadness like a sprinkler of agony. I’m sure if our gold was restored to us, there would be a handsome reward to those responsible.”

At the word ‘reward’ the group prepared to do what it took to restore the town to it’s glory.

And so the group explored the town, talking to various people, including the mayor, elder, healer, and some guards.

Finally, they snuck up to the castle gate.

Two gargoyles sat on the top of the gate, watching them as they approached.

“Halt! Who goes there?” One asked.

The massive orc, with the same amount to tact as brains, spoke, “I am Sho’gath the Mighty and you will let me in this gate!”

“We do not let outsiders in, you do not have the key.”

—

Astrid snarled. “Well, then what are we supposed to do? Everyone we talked to made it seem like the Castle was the place to go!” She crossed her arms. “This game is dumb.”

Hiccup chuckled. “It’s supposed to be a challenge. Or else we’d finish it in an hour.”

Astrid checked the time on her phone. An hour and a half had passed, and they were no where near done. “How long is it supposed to take?”

“Two to three weeks, depending.” Fishlegs shrugged.

“You do realize I have a life and a job, right?”

“Relax”, charmed Heather. “We play three to four hours at a time.”

Astrid rubbed her temples. “I’ve played monopoly games shorter than this.”

—

A Paladin, Orc, Mage, Giant, and an Elf sneak into a jail.

Sounds like a joke right?

The guards proved to be a challenge, but the Orc did most of the work. Each one of the prisoners were interviewed, some being more impactful then the rest. The gentle giant, Magro Thiadim, was fiercely disturbed by what a shady man had to say to him. And so he left the town, and wandered onto the beach.

—

It was then that the game reached it’s second hour, and Valka had to leave.

The rest of the team had no plans for the rest of the day. Astrid was now invested.

—

The last prisoner they interviewed was a young woman. She had black hair, yellow eyes and a sickly complexion.  She explained that she was once the fairy in the castle, but she was ambushed one day and her wings were ripped off. Now the castle belonged to the evil that stole her wings and if the town was to go back to normal, they had to get her wings back.

The fairy gave the group a vile of her blood as the key to get in the gate.

—

“Okay, before we storm the castle, does anyone need to take a break?”

“Yes!”

Hiccup stood, picking up his glass. “Can I get anyone something to drink?”

“I’m going to need a hard drink to get through the rest of this.” Laughed Eret.

“Me too!” Joined Heather.

Astrid stood as well, “I’ll come with you Hiccup. I’m getting a leg cramp.”

The rest of the group started chatting about some TV show Astrid hadn’t had the time to see yet as she followed him upstairs.

“So…you like this kind of stuff?”

“What?”

“The…lord of the rings, fantasy stuff.”

“Yeah, it’s okay. I really really like dragons though.”

“Dragons, huh?”

“Yeah, if I could. I’d have a pet dragon. I’d have twenty.”

She laughed. “You couldn’t live here in a wooden house then.”

He chuckled along with her. “No, I guess I couldn’t.”

“But an Orc though? I would never have expected Sho’gath to be your character.”

Hiccup snorted. “He’s a joke character, don’t read too far into it. I made myself true neutral so I could do whatever I wanted. We’re fighting an army of zombies to save an orphanage? If there’s a reward involved, I’ll do it. But if there’s a bank next door, you better believe I’m robbing it.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Exactly. I’d never do that in real life, it’s just fun to pretend.”

Toothless lazily basked in the sun on his back. Stormfly burrowed into his tummy fur. The duo walked past and gave their respected pets pats and scratches, then headed to the kitchen.

“Are you having a fun time?”

“Hm?”

“You seemed kind of annoyed when we started…if you aren’t having fun then—“

She slammed her hand down on the table. “I’m having a great time!”

He jumped.

“Look, it wasn’t really my cup of tea at first, but I’m really enjoying myself now. Honestly.” She made her way over to the fridge and pulled out two beers. “But to be frank…look, I don’t want to dump my burdens on you…”

He leaned against the counter. “I’m always happy to be an ear for you. You…don’t have it easy. I can’t imagine being on my own without the help of at least one parent. And taking care of one, no less.”

“I’ve gotten used to it.” She smirked. “Anyway…I don’t have a lot of friends. I didn’t really keep in contact with the ones from High School and I didn’t make a lot of friends at Yale…So, I really appreciate you inviting me to these things. It’s nice to kick back with friends, you know?”

“Actually,” he smiled. “Fishlegs was the one who extended the invitation to you. He thought you might like the story he was planning.”

“Huh. Well, that son of a gun.”

“But, you’re always welcome to come over, whenever you want. I like you, Astrid.”

“I like you too, Hiccup.”

—

After a maze of living shrubs filled with man eating flowers and sentient statues, the orc, paladin, elf, and mage finally arrived at the castle door. With the fairy’s blood, the door opened to them easily.

Though evil lurked in the walls, the group spread out and searched the castle. Some found weapons, others, spells. But the paladin was the one who found the first journal entry.

“I arrived in the town of Kolasiet. It’s quiet, but teeming with life and untapped wealth. Everything seems so bountiful, great food, happy people. It’s almost amazing that there are not more people here. I ventured up to the castle, where lush Roses grew around the entrance. Though, as I approached them, the roses came to life and barred my entry. I sat on the bridge and waited for someone to come by, and sure enough, a beautiful fairy with red, silken wings fluttered toward me. I had never seen a fairy before, but she was awfully nice. She has invited me to stay in the castle with her, seeing my interest in the architecture. I believe I will enjoy my stay.”

—

“So, who wrote the journal?”

“That’s part of the puzzle!” Explained Fishlegs. “You have to figure out who wrote it and why.”

She sighed. “Is this part of the main quest? Or is this a side thing that we get to do?”

“Well…it’s kind of crucial to know what happened, but you don’t need it to beat the dungeon.”

She looked at her phone. They had been playing for four hours now. “How many floors do we have left?”

“Besides this one, two.”

Her head connected with the table.

—

In the study, the elf found the next journal entry.

“Nearly as soon as I got inside, I started sketching what I could. My hands have never worked that fast. I’m sure the Fairy had never see someone so frantic. She loaned me her study, with the promise that I would make better use of it than her. The Library is one room over and has more books then I had ever seen in my life. I could travel until the day I die, and still not learn as much as I would from those books. The Fairy, Aster, she calls herself, seems to enjoy my company. I presented my inventions and their functions and she was delighted, though I believe she didn’t care for the flying machines, since she has such magnificent wings. I might just stay here instead of returning home to Lunesti. I’m sure father would love that. Four years is a long time to be away. I often wonder if they get my letters, they never write me back. I digress. I’m in an enchanted castle!”

—

“Aster?” Astrid deadpanned. “Really?”

“It means ‘star,’ for your information!” Fishlegs defended. “Besides, I starting writing this before I knew you. So it’s not intentional.”

“Fair enough.”

Another hour passed and Astrid’s phone died.

—

On the stairs to the third floor, it was the mage this time that found a piece of paper.

—

Fishlegs passed the notecard to Heather, who in turn gave it to Astrid.

“Wait, why do I get it?”

“Because I can’t read!” Heather stated. “Remember?”

Astrid scoffed and read out loud.  

“My dearest Aster,

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you I have to leave. I have gotten word that my hometown has been destroyed. I must go and find out for myself. I wanted to tell you in person, but I am a coward. Leaving here is hard enough. I have a strange regard to you, which there is a chain connected to both of our ribs, and with distance the chain will pull and I would take to bleeding inwardly. I will take nothing with me but the key you lent me, with the promise to bring it back soon. Hopefully, I can sustain these wounds long enough to pay my respects. You have often said you do not receive gifts from others, so I leave you with my greatest possession: My heart. Nowhere will feel like home without you. I love you, Aster, most earnestly.

Your faithful friend,

Henry.”

Everyone paused to look at Fishlegs.

“What? Henry is a good name!”

Astrid looked smugly over to Hiccup and sang, “Someone’s in love with a fairy!”

“You had to use my name, Fish?”

“For the sake of the integrity of the game, yes, I did.”

Hiccup chuckled awkwardly, and looked at his phone. “Well, it’s 9 o’clock and there’s one more floor left. Are we pulling an all nighter?”

Something clicked in the back of Astrid’s mind. “Wait…I think I was supposed to do something ate 8…”

“Was it feed Stormfly? Because you already did…”

“No, it wasn’t that.” She furrowed her brow in thought. “Oh god, what was it?”

Suddenly, she stood, knocking the chair away from her with a clatter. “I was supposed to meet Scott!!”

Henry gasped too as he stood. “We’ll finish this up next week! You get going!”

“Thanks for understanding! See you guys later!” She nearly ran to the door. “Oh, and Fishlegs. Thanks for letting me join! I had too much fun!”

—

Astrid sped home. Traffic laws be damned, she lived twenty-five minutes away from Hiccup. But she made it in fifteen. She’d never be this lucky again.

She hopped out of her jeep and hurried to the door. “I’m home!” She called to her roommate. “But just for a second, then I’m leaving again!”

She burst into her room and turned on the light, then jumped a mile high.

Scott was sitting on her bed, glowering with a white hot rage.

“What-how—I thought—!” She stammered. She had practiced what she was going to say to him, but they all flew out her ears at the sight of him.

“You didn’t answer my texts or my calls.” He stated.

“My phone died.” She fished it out of her pocket and held it out to him as proof. “I swear to God that I didn’t mean to ditch you. I was at a friend’s house and we were playing Dungeons and Dragons and—“

He laughed. That was a good sign, right? “You were playing what?”

“Dungeons and Dragons…” She repeated, quietly.

The anger was still there, but he looked embarrass as he stood. “You’re telling me…that you left me alone in that restaurant, by myself, because you were playing that…that stupid, weird game? Are you serious?!”

“Scott, I swear I didn’t mean to do that to you!”

“I can’t believe you!” He shouted, startling her. “Do you know how humiliating that was? I waited there for an hour, and you never showed! People kept looking over at me an whispering. It was horrible, Astrid!”

Astrid reddened slightly, hating the feeling of being in the wrong. But she was also a fighter, and in this situation, it wasn’t really a good trait to have. Her nose flared. “Now you know how I feel.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

She raised her head defiantly to meet his eyes. “You heard me. You’ve done this kind of shit to me before. But there are times I’ve waited more than an hour for you to show up.”

He ground his teeth. “Me not showing up is different, Astrid!”

“And how is that?”

“I’m very busy! I don’t have a lot of time to spare for you! Sometimes, things happen, and I hate having my time wasted!”

She poked his chest, “And you think I enjoy sitting around waiting for you?!” Her hands clenched into a fist as her anger mounted. Honestly, this argument was a long time coming. “You are the most conceited, oblivious, self-centered—“

His fist connecting with her face hurt more then she could fathom. Sure, he was strong. But never before had he hit her. Violence was something she sensed in him, but she never imagined he’d resort to it.

“You don’t get to speak to me like that, Astrid!” He shouted, his voice hurting her throbbing head.

She in turn clenched her fist and wound up, preparing to fight back.

But she didn’t.

Scott wasn’t the type to just take a punch. They’d volley back and forth until someone was unconscious. It had to end with her, so she took a deep breath and let her anger go.

And it was hard.

“You hit me.” She stated, plainly.

“You deserved it!” He shot back. “I will not stand here and have you yell and berate me with this is your goddamn fault.”

Again, she kept her anger at bay. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m sorry I was late.” It felt like poison in her mouth as she spoke.

Hearing her apology, Scott’s rage began to subside. Without her fight, he had nothing to feed on and began to cool down. “I…” He looked away from her, “I’m sorry I hit you. You…didn’t deserve it.” It sounded like he didn’t entirely believe it. But she’d accept it.

“It won’t happen again,” she offered a smile.

“It won’t happen again,” he agreed. He swallowed thickly and shook his head. “Uh…I should probably go before…well, I’m still kind of hurt…”

“Okay. Maybe it’s for the best.” She sighed a shaky breath. “Drive safe.”

“Yeah…put some ice on that.” He shouldered past her and went to the door. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later,” she assured, half-heartedly.

Maybe when later came, he’d realize how stupid and awful he was and really apologize.

It would be nice, but it wasn’t realistic.

—

The paladin ascended to the top floor alone. Waiting in the audience chamber, was a werewolf, huge and black.

The knight raised her sword to defend herself, while the beast roared in anguish.

She ran full force, blade at the ready, and delivered a blow to the heart.

What the paladin didn’t know, was that the werewolf was an enemy she was never supposed to fight alone. It grabbed her by the legs in one hand, and her arms in the other.

With little effort, she was ripped in half.