#even if he wasn't particularly close to those apprentices

[squidaped-oyt]

If you try to resist Duncan recruiting you into the Wardens as a Circle mage, Irving has some interesting dialogue about how the Circle isn’t the place for you and that you have a rare talent that shouldn’t be squandered.

Gwyn absolutely doesn’t fight his recruitment because he has some self preservation instinct, but that’s a big part of the reason Irving was trying so hard to get him out of the tower and into the Wardens. Watching a once-in-a-generation magical prodigy start vibrating with anxiety and despair because he’ll never actually be able to test himself or do anything meaningful with all that talent, except maybe entertain some bored nobles as a court enchanter, is also a disaster waiting to happen and Irving knows it; better to seize the opportunity to get him out as soon as it presents himself.

[octopiys]

I've been rewatching HTTYD and of course I had to combine my two interests

John MacTavish (27) is a native to the village, most recognized for his shaved sides and long mohawk. He's the village blacksmith, with an affinity for crafting new weapons, large ones that counter even a dragon's fireball.

Once when he was a teenager, he got his hands on a craftsman's items, and decided that he needed some of it to slick down a part of one of his contraptions. It exploded, as those kinds of things do, into a mass of bubbles and sweet scents, earning him the nickname of Soap.

John Price(37) is a trainer. He was an older viking whose battle seemed all but over when a dragon took his arm. He was still the same, just more experienced, and 10 years older.

He's had a few apprentices, his most recent being a younger man named Kyle Garrick(28), or commonly referred to as Gaz. If you ever ask why he's called that, Price will mutter something about it being "need to know", and he'll sick a particularly nasty dragon on you the next time you train with him.

There's a common pattern amongst Price's protégés.

Most of the times they're outcasts, alone. Gaz's parents were killed in a dragon attack when he was a child, but he didn't consider himself alone. He had plenty of friends, of course he did, there's Soap...-

No but totally, he was fine. He's fought dragons! Sure, he hasn't killed any yet, and sure, Price has saved his ass more than once, but he's come out unscathed!

Most of the time.

But Price's most famous protégé, or shall I even say very close ally, was the Lieutenant: Simon Riley

From the stories, Simon Riley was a man who fought dragons like no other. They both learned from each other, Price and Riley. He was a beast of blades and man, they slayed more dragons together than the entire village combined.

It would be a lie if I said that the two boys didn't look up to him, a lie if Price didn't see Riley in each of them.

It would be an even bigger lie if he hoped they didn't turn out like him, either.

Neither Gaz, nor Soap had ever met Simon Riley.

He was killed in one of the worst dragon attacks the village had seen in its entire 300 years of history.

They descended from the heavens, flying warriors sent from hell, carting off men and cattle, snapping them up in powerful jaws and flame. Price was one of those men, it was how he lost his arm. He was also the only one to survive a personal attack of that scale.

Riley had thrown everything he had to save Price. There were tricks he had up his sleeves, some that not even Price had known, that he used to get the Captain back when even he thought he was done for.

All they knew was that Simon Riley had been killed that night in place of John Price.

Those parts of the stories were left untold.

It wasn't a sensitive subject, but Price had a tendency to shatter the glass he was holding if someone asked one too many times.

It had been ten years since Riley's disappearance. His name was inscribed on the village memorial in the square, a remembrance statue to all the greatest warriors in the village's history.

It was a particularly late night when Price had let Gaz go early, as the dragon tournament was coming up, and he wanted the man to get some rest. That's how both Gaz and Soap were out by the bluffs overlooking the ocean. It was hidden through a mile of brush and trees, but tonight was one of the first clear nights since the winter, and they were excited to see the stars.

It wasn't until stars had started blinking out, half the sky was black, that they realized something was wrong.

"Dragons...." Gaz breathed suddenly, as mouths began to light up, hundreds of feet in the air above them. "It's dragons!"

Gaz pulled Soap to his feet and they began running like their lives depended on it, which in this case, it did.

Their lungs were already sore, their voices hoarse as they shouted to a few men on the outskirts.

"Swarm! Swarm!"

Vikings readied their weapons, and minutes later, the beasts shot overhead. Flashes of red, blue, greens, and yellow, silver glinting unnaturally in the moonlight.

There had been rumors about dragon riders. Those who had tamed the beasts, or maybe found a common ground with them.

There was nothing more dangerous than a man-tamed dragon.

"It's Kingfish!" Someone down the hill had shouted, and Gaz's blood ran cold.

There were whispers about a man they called Kingfish, one who hid in the shadows with armies of the scaled monsters, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting villages and pillage them for himself. No one knew his real name, where he came from, or where the nest was. But everyone knew that once Kingfish set his sights on a village, they were as good as dead.

They saw Price leave his house, half armored, but a fire in his eyes as he heaved his Warhammer behind him, disappearing behind the body of a massive dragon that was scaling the watchtower down by the water.

"Soap! C'mon!" Kyle shouted, dragging his friend down the hill. The Blacksmith paused at his shop window, pulling a few weapons away from the sill and into his arms. They kept running. Soap passed an axe to Gaz, and they ran first to a house that was lit aflame. A few people were tossing buckets of water, while a woman pulled arrows at a Whispering Death.

Farther away, they heard the crunch and splintering of wood, and Gaz looked over in horror to see the watchtower fall, both the dragon and Price going with it.

"No!" He had screamed, all but dropping his axe as he started running like mad down towards the docks. "Captain!"

"Gaz!" Soap was shouting behind him as a trebuchet fired, throwing a large stone at some dragon above him. "Gaz, look out!"

Large, leathery wings kicked up a storm of dust around him as he was tackled to the ground, rocks digging into his knees and elbows as he fought to get the beast's claws out of his shoulders. It pressed his face into the dirt as he struggled to fight against it. It cut through his shirt, digging straight into his skin. He cried out, fighting against it, but his movement was impaired, he wasn't able to swing his axe around to-

The dragon opened its mouth and screamed, the shriek going directly to his ear drums, and springing the worst headache he'd ever had, his head felt like it was going to explode, he couldn't feel his shoulders. Gaz squeezed his eyes shut, praying to Odin to make it stop, make it-

A dagger sunk directly in between two of its center scales, shocking the dragon into dropping him as it turned on its next enemy. Someone was shouting, but Gaz couldn't get his eyes to focus enough on the figure.

They were waving wildly at the dragon, now weaponless, and shouting for its attention. The dragon cocked its head to the side and stepped over Gaz, who was struggling to stand to his feel, his whole equilibrium thrown off from the noise.

And he glimpsed the the mohawk just behind the scales as the dragon lunged forward, grasping Soap in his claws and shooting off into the air.

"No!! Soap!!" Gaz shouted, chasing after the dragon as it flew. He could just see the outline of Soap, struggling, screaming as the claws pierced his leather armor, sinking into his chest. He was too high, and there was nothing Gaz could do, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't try. He shoved past people, ran through fights, passing the dark clad enemies of Kingfish's men, all while shouting for his friend, never once taking his eyes off the Whispering Death that was slowly growing smaller and smaller in the night sky.

An arrow pierced his shoulder and he cried out, stumbling, but he kept going forward, ducking behind a house. "Soap! Soap!"

A fireball exploded the wall next to him and he hit the wall hard, his consciousness leaving him before he even realized what had happened.

Soap was helpless as he squirmed, gasps being torn from his chest with the leather apron that fell away into the ocean below. He was gonna die, this was it. He couldn't see the island anymore, but he wasn't giving up. And yet this wyrm of a Whisper wouldn't let up, only shrieked until the pounding behind his eyes made him too lightheaded...

He wasn't sure what was happening when he woke up from a faint, but he sure as he'll knew he shouldn't be plummeting to death, rocketing towards the sea below him in a free fall. "Och! Shi-i-i-ite!" He flung himself onto his stomach, spreading his arms and legs apart to catch the air. His braid had come loose, whistling around his ears as the moonlit waves approached him too quickly.

Something else snatched him up like he was free prey and he shouted out again, the wounds on his chest screaming from the strain. His hands scrabbled at the beast's nails that wrapped around both his shoulders, carrying him like he was precious cargo. This was a different dragon, unfortunately for him. It was red, from what he could see, with long claws and a pale underbelly. There were antennae like appendages that dropped off the sides of its head, fading from red to orange to yellow towards the end, like leaves in autumn. But what jarred him the most was the straps of a saddle that tucked underneath its belly, and wrapped up the sides. There were a few ropes attached to the tail and- oh fuck he was falling again.

"No no no no-!" He shouted, flailing in the free air, before he hit something hard beneath him. But he wasnt.... dead...? No, he was sitting-

He was sitting on a dragon.

There was a man who sat in front of him, blond hair peaking out of his hood and helmet. Most of the helmet covered his face, save for the dark brown eyes glaring at him from behind it. In the darkness, the moon light shone off of the raised texture of pale skin that Soap could see, before smoothing off. He'd seen scars like those around the village, but only rarely. People like him never usually survived dragon's fire.

This person wasn't wearing black like Kingfish's men were. Instead, he was wrapped in a camouflage of browns, greens and furs, similarly to the dragon. He was tense, his shoulders bunched up as he glared at Soap, radiating a dark, or in other words, mysteriously powerful energy.

It occurred to him, then, that he wasn't staring at just a dragon rider.

And it occurred to him, then, that they had been wrong.

This.... this was Lieutenant Simon Riley.

[east-side-militia]

Millennium headcanons: Their parents and life growing up

Since yes I do have thoughts on that tw for multiple counts of unhealthy to abusive parenting, patricide and matricide, fratricide and talk of nazism (without endorsement)

The major: Inspired by his Coyote backstory but not so similiar. Was raised by his mother, who was part of the early national socialist political scene, before it rose to power. Unfortunately, she died when he was around 12 years old. Max was taken under the wing of one of his mom's "friends" from the political circle, but wasn't particularly close to him. His closeness to the "higher-ups" of the nazis would fortunately grant him some privileges later on in life.

The doctor: Was raised as the only child of a middle class family. His parents were people driven purely by logic and void of emotion, which led to them verbally and occassionally physically abusing him under the guise of "motivating him". This greatly impacted Av's mental state, and his own parenting style later on. He would eventually be unable to take it and would sign up to fight in the first world war, still as a teenager, just to get away from them.

The captain: Grew up in a small village, circa the middle ages. I imagine his childhood was more or less normal and happy. He was the oldest of many siblings, and to this day sees some of them in Schrodinger. When he was of age, he left home to pursue finding a job. He still misses his family, and hopes they lived an easier life than him.

Rip Van Winkle: Was the youngest of three sisters (inspired by a fairytale trope). I headcanon her family is descended or related to a knight bloodline, and was quite wealthy. Not aristocratic but definitely upper-class. Because she took after her father way more than her sisters, she was daddy's girl, but her relationship with her mother was more difficult, especially as puberty settled in. She also had a turbulent relationship with her sisters, because they sided more with her mother and viewed her as the "rebellious, delusional airhead" of the family. Her ultimate "rebellion" would be when her father helped her secure a job as an SS officer.

Zorin Blitz: Was abducted as a baby by a witch. The witch would call herself Zorin's mother, and would raise her as her apprentice, along with several other girls in a middle of nowhere rural area. Her environment growing up would be extremely "kill or be killed" and she would watch her "sisters", those who weren't strong enough to keep up, die one by one. She realized that eventually, it would only be one of them who would survive, and she would have to make sure it would be her. So she started strenghtening herself, deceiving, lying to the others, pitting them against each other, and killing them off herself until she stood alone. She killed her "mother", freeing herself from her control, and went to pursue something better.

Schrodinger: Was created in a test tube, as the ultimate weapon against Alucard (haha get it. hellsing ultimate). In his younger years, he was isolated from the rest of Millennium, even kept as a secret to most, and raised primarily by Dok. When he was eventually let around the other members of Mill was coincidentally around the time his "unruly" phase kicked in, which sent Dok spiralling and essentially flip-flop between blaming himself and blaming everyone else for "corrupting" him, when all it essentially was was a normal phase for a child. Schro never had friends his age, only adults, so he would have a hard time communicating to other teenagers, I imagine.

Tubalcain Alhambra: If there's one thing I'm clueless about it's the state of Brazil circa the first half of the 20th century. But I like to think he was born into some-semi influential family (perhaps one who owned establishments like hotels, casinos, etc.), and grew up a socialite. Maybe he's not even brazilian by origin, his name sounds more middle eastern than anything to me, maybe he just happens to reside there. He probably has the skills resources to control the government and the media at least to some level. Probably to the level that they don't care about his family housing literal nazi refugees on their property. Yes that is my headcanon. Tubalcain was Millennium's landlord and you won't convince me otherwise.

The Valentine Brothers: They aren't biological brothers, but their parents were both single with a kid and got together, so they're step-siblings (valentinecest still sucks stfu). Both of their parents were absolutely terrible, terrible enough for the brothers to set their house on fire when Luke was 18 and Jan was 15, to make the authorities think they died along with their parents, and go pursue a life of crime instead.

[wc-wild-rewrite]

So, Swiftpaw won the story poll, which means i get to deep dive into my story for him. This is subject to change, as i havent finalized the plot past arc 2.

Anyway, under the cut bc it got long

Theres no change to his parentage in this rewrite, still the eldest son of Goldenflower and some loner, one difference is that he isn't a single litter. His sibling, Lynxshine, is here too.

Named after the bird and not the trait, Swiftkit was, in fact, fastest kitten in the nursery, with constantly abundant energy and a bad habit of saying unintentionally hilarious stuff and accidentally insulting other cats. He and two of his denmates, Bracken and Thorn, often played rough and competed with eachother in camp races and mossball, but their collective energy often got one of them, or someone else, hurt or disgruntled.

There were two cats he liked playing with the most that werent in the den, though. Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw. Yes, you heard me.

Ravenpaw was fantastic with kits, he and his denmates loved to sit around and listen to the tom tell wild stories of battles and historic leaders. But that stuff was of the far past, Tigerclaw offered more recent stories, ones that other cats- even his mother- could confirm and add onto. Tigerclaw had a soft spot for kits, you see, so he played with them in the times when he wasnt brooding or plotting his next move. Not wildly, not even particularly well, but the kits loved to play with him.

Anyway, swiftpaw.

As an apprentice, he learnt to manage his energy a bit better, especially under the mentorship of formerly-batshit-kitten Longtail. Unfortunately, this was still in Longtail's asshole Tiger supporter era, so Swift ended up getting kind of pushy towards the other apprentices. He and Thorn developed a rivarly that never really stopped, but as apprentices, it wasn't too friendly. At the end of the day, though, he got along well enough with his denmates. When his littermate came out as a Half-tom (demiboy), he was his number one supporter.

It was around the start of his apprenticeship that Tigerclaw and Goldenflower became mates and, unfortunately, Swiftpaw started to look up to him, as the brave, strong warrior Thunderclan thought he was. He idolized him, even, like his mentor did, and his mentor before that. He quickly started bragging that his dad was deputy, that his dad was the brave warrior that avenged the old deputy and killed the horrible Oakheart.

When Cinderpaw got hit, and Darksong moved to Thunderclan to train her, he picked fights with any cat that would so much as look at either cat wrong. Thankfully, a lot of the senior warriors seemed oddly calm about Darksong, and once Yellowfang started snapping at those who made remarks too, he calmed down mostly. He did, however, get in trouble for nearly clawing another apprentice's ear off at a gathering for such a comment, though. It was less of a "that wasn't right" punishment and more of a "your right but we cant let you get away with violence" punishment

He got increasingly snappy with other clan patrols when he came across them, a bi-product of his step-father's manipulation. After all, he was a strong warrior that protected his clan, of course he wouldn't be friends with other clans.

And then, of course, Tigerclaw was outed for his plan. And his world came crashing down. His father, the father of his soon-to-be-born siblings, was not only a fraud, but a murderer. He had not only killed the former deputy, but Swiftpaw's own uncle, Lionheart. Who was also the father of his denmates. For a while, he became very avoidant with them, too ashamed of his former praise to look them in the eyes. Eventually, Brightpaw calmed him down, and told him nobody was mad at him. He hadn't killed Lionheart, Tigerclaw had.

Unfortunately, not every cat saw it that way, and some of the other cats- the elders particularly- started whispering about him and his behaviour, about how he acted like Tigerclaw, how close he was with him, even pointing out similarities in pelt and body, despite them not being blood.

This was at the same time as his younger siblings were born- Bramble, Tawny, Snow, and Mistle. And you bet that all of them were viewed in a bad way. But this made Swiftpaw worse. Unlike his littermate, who isolated himself from the glaring cats, or his sister, who went and joined Shadowclan, Swift got angry. He got angry, and defense, and wildly protective of his siblings.

When a fire swept through the territory, Swift gathered his siblings and herded them out. But he didn't get Bramble, who had hid from the noise of the scramble to get out. When Swift discovered Yellowfang, his brother's mentor, died because Fireheart had gone back for Bramblekit, it only worsened things.

But that wasn't the last of it. Mistlekit would fall dangerously ill with Greencough in the same moon that Snowkit got snatched by the hawk. He and Bracken chased the hawk until it went past the thunderpath, and he nearly got ran over trying to go after it, only saved by a quick acting Brackenfur. He was sure his baby brother was dead, he was only a few moons old, he couldn't possibly survive a hawk like that. But, thanks to a certain Shadowclan warrior, his brother was saved, if very injured. This didn't stop him from blaming himself for it, like Brackenfur did. If he had been faster, if he had saw the hawk, if he had been watching his brother instead of his sister-

And then Bluestar refused to make him a warrior. That was, essentially, his breaking point. He was held back for moons, his mentor said he was ready, and yet the disobediant tom that was Cloudpaw was allowed to get his warrior name.

He overheard from one of the elders a way that thunderclan used to give out warrior names. Back in tigerclaw's time and before, they used to have to perform something big to prove their loyalty. Swiftpaw remembered hearing about the dog in Sunningrocks, and immediately went to tell the other apprentices. They refused to go with him, knowing it was dangerous, even when Thornpaw too was annoyed at being held back even longer. But he was deadset, he had always been stubborn, but his emotions had been pulled taught by the last few moons, and Brightpaw knew it. So they went off to Sunningrocks.

I don't think i need to describe what followed.

When he awoke, he was covered in bandages, several days later, with his brother reapplying some of them. Brightpaw laid beside him, even more injured than he was. And he realised he almost got her killed. Almost. She had woken before him, but not by long. Bluestar entered the den, giving them a dying apprentice ceremony, naming them Losthope and Dogbite respectively.

And then he discovered his leg had been broken beyond repair. Not enough for removal, but very broken. When he eventually recovered enough to stand, he found he couldn't move his foot at all. Alongside that, he had permenantly lost a few teeth, which messed with his speech, and had some nasty chronic pain. His brother called him a miracle. He had scarring all over his neck, his stomach had clearly been ripped open to some amount, and yet he was alive with far less lasting damage then he should've had.

Lynx, Cinder, Bracken, and Thorn helped him and Bright through their physical therapy. His younger siblings, all healthy by that point, and his mother supported them through it all. He was still angry at being named Dogbite, but it had been a wake up call for him. His rash, angry behaviour, trying to be 'the best', had nearly gotten him and his friend killed.

When Firestar became leader, he was almost called Swiftwing, but wanted to match with Brightheart. And so, he became Swiftheart.

He changed after that, quite significantly. He stopped being so aggressive, he started to unlearn the toxic behaviour Tigerclaw had taught him, and he started being friendlier to other clans. He fought against Tigerclan fiercly, and ended up meeting Gorseflame.

At first, they began talking at gatherings and border patrols, but then they started meeting up, staying behind after gatherings, sneaking out of camp. By the time The New Prophecy happens, he's in love with Gorseflame. They keep it secret, shockingly effectively, mostly thanks to Lynxpaw and Darksong, both of whom were aware of it.

He participated in the Great Journey, and got even closer to Gorseflame during it, becoming mates with him by the time The Power Of Six (Arc 3) came around.

This is where the plot and his involvement gets a tad blurry, but overall he survives the Great Battle, makes the second Great Journey to the new-new territories, and, once cross-clan mates became allowed, had a litter of kits with Gorseflame, with some surrogate help from a Windclan molly.

He became a respected warrior, admired for his bravery and determination.

His kits became Nighthop, Dawnsplash, and Dayshine, with Dawnsplash living in Windclan.

He witnessed the deaths of Bramble, Lynx, and Snow, but was outlived by Mistle.

At the end of Arc 4.5, he notices his vision is going, and rather quickly, one eye more than the other. He didn't know wether to blame this on his old injuries, or a family thing.

Eventually, though, he was sent out with Sandstorm and Alderpaw, and maybe some others, to bring Bloodclan to the territories, and gave his life to let them escape from a pack of dogs.

As he died, he wasn't angry at dying to a dog. He was an elder by that point, he knew Gorse and their kits would be distraught, but he knew Brightheart wasn't expecting him to come back alive. He had done everything he wanted.

He had even taken the dogs down with him, only succumbing to his injuries as he tried to walk and catch up with his clanmates.

In the end, Alderpaw and the others found his body, under a tree, surrounded by the bodies of dogs, on their way back to the clan, and carried him all the way back, alongside Sandstorm's body, and buried him on home territory, with a speech done by his siblings, kits, and mate.

Brightheart was the last to give a speech.

[thunderboltfire]

Valentine's Day loredump, pt. 1:

Igna & Argo

"And You? What are You exactly, her brother? Her lover?

Worse, I'm her shieldflank."

These two come as a bundle! They probably constitute the most annoying slowburn out of my OCs. It's simultaneously the easiest and the most complicated situation. Also, it's sort of hard to explain their situation without spoiling a relatively large part of their story and as a result it's horribly long, so the rest is under the cut!

@rayless-reblogs @kaldurcalm

Background:

Igna and Argo meet fairly early in the story. They're in a rather similar situation, both are apprentice Wanderers and pretty quickly it turns out that both of their masters won't be coming back from wherever they were last seen. As the Wanderers has called for all of their knights and apprentices to gather (a bad omen on its own) they've joined forces on their way to the nearest outpost. It's a pretty standard choice, Wanderers usually travel in twos or even threes if the situation is particularly dire.

Their several weeks long journey has seen its end at the Vale of Haergard - which came to be the place of the first open battle of an already brewing Invasion. The very same battle in which Theria's company got almost completely obliterated, and the same one from which Argo has carried out a mangled face. At this occasion, he pretty much owed his life to Igna's fast thinking, because she managed to get him on her horse and out of the immediate heat. Maybe even twice over, due to the fact that if she didn't manage to get him a special sort of sutures and medicine, the wounds would never close.

It constituted a debt of life, which Argo repaid by organising a rescue party when two months later due to a chain of unlucky events Igna got captured and imprisoned by Yrreth of Zvaerit. He managed to leverage the fact that Igna had spellbreaker talents in order to get enough resources in an endeavor which many would consider hopeless, but it paid off. The major downside of it was however that the Covenant's intelligence now knew she's a spellbreaker - and would utilise it. After finishing their apprenticeship together with many other 'orphaned' apprentices, which were as a whole dubbed 'Kestrels', they both ended up drafted into a wizard hunting team - together with Theria and Haart, with Daen as the leader of the group.

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

So what is really going on between those two?

They enjoy each others' company in a friendly way and spend a lot of time together, and it's pretty obvious they care about each other a lot. However, for a very long time their relationship was pretty much just friendship, despite a lot of people assuming otherwise. They were considered each others' shieldflanks, and introduced each other as such (shieldflank is an informal title regarding two Wanderer knights accompanying each other in journey, supposed to cover each others' backs). The two got pretty good at dancing around the topic of the nature of their relationship, denying anything inappropriate and deflecting from it whenever it was raised, which of course didn't do anything to change people's assumptions.

Because while the level of trust between them could mean a strictly familial or friendly relation, the somewhat careful respect between the two and the discomfort around the entire discussion suggested that there is something else going on.

In fact, Igna has harbored a crush on Argo, but first she wasn't willing to admit it even to herself, and then she decided that she wasn't going to pursue it. First, it would be sort-of inapropriate. She wasn't sure if there's even a rule that two Wanderers shouldn't get together but considering her own father was a Wanderer and his relationship with her mother was quite difficult, she was pretty sure that the relationship between two Wanderers would be an even worse idea. To add to it, there wasn't many female Wanderers at all. There was not many female knights either. She didn't set the precedent, but she was still an outlier, and the weight of expectations made her extra careful about her conduct. She was afraid that if she'll let herself act as a woman first and not as a Wanderer first, it may compromise the calling she worked hard to fulfill. The job wasn't really built for maintaining long-term relatioships anyway, and during the Invasion, it had a terribly high mortality rate. She was pretty sure that should she and Argo be together, one of them would inevitably hurt the other, even unintentionally.

The second issue, was that she thought Argo wasn't really interested. One of the social rules among elven nobility which was supposed to ensure the security of their bloodline was a pretty strict celibacy until marriage, and from Igna's observation it wasn't looking like Argo was intending to break it. She had too much to lose if she messed it up, which is why having no experience in the area, she was too afraid to try. She pretty much assumed that if she'll ignore the attraction, it will sooner or later go away.

It didn't go away, but she lived with it.

Argo wasn't going to make the first move, and for a few reasons. After Igna was rescued from inprisonment she was in a pretty rough physical and emotional state, and Argo thought that she probably needs some space. He also felt quite guilty for revealing that she is a spellbreaker - even if he had to do it or she'd still be Yrreth's prisoner, the consequences directly caused her a lot of trouble. Unlike Igna, he wasn't too concerned with whether it would be possible for two Wanderers to be together, however during his last visit at home he's got an explicit reminder from his father not to do anything stupid. He wasn't going to listen to his parents indefinitely, and not in every aspect, but it definitely acted as an added pressure.

On the surface level, he's had a much more relaxed approach to the whole matter than Igna - if the romantic relationship was going to happen, he would be fairly open to it. Igna wasn't just anyone, he trusted her above all and has known her for a time which wasn't extremely long, but it was extremely eventful. On the deeper level, he's got a host of self-worth and self-image issues, which made him quite sure he generally isn't a good party, and most probably not for Igna. So far she seemed to keep anybody who even suggested courting her at a safe distance, so it seemed like a pretty clear signal she isn't looking for a relationship in general. Besides, he was convinced he would surely notice if she liked him in this way. Except despite his general perceptiveness, he wasn't the best at deciphering social cues and subtext (the fact that he's raised in a different culture only made this stronger), which made him rather oblivious. From what he knew, Igna was generally direct and she wasn't afraid to voice her opinion, so he thought that if she truly was interested in him, she'd just admit it.

She, of course, didn't do it.

Over three years fellow Kestrels had badgered him into a few half-hearted efforts to court someone else, but in general neither party was satisfied with them. Sometimes it just wasn't a good match, otherwise it was obvious that something prevents Argo from getting really involved, and soon his friends stopped trying to match him with anyone. He concluded that it just wasn't his thing. He was a Wanderer after all, so maybe it was for the best.

The whole situation was looked upon with rising disbelief by Theria and Haart. Especially Theria, with a vastly different outlook on these matters couldn't believe that the two are content to fester in an unresolved situation, in which Igna set up her judgement against her heart and Argo denied anything, all while still acting with a stupid level of devotion towards her. However, as stubborn as Igna was, all that Theria's remarks did was embarass her. She couldn't convince her that confessing her feelings was a good idea. It was like an extended game of chicken, except instead of pride both sides were afraid of breaking what they already have.

It took for an entire unit to be disbanded and for Igna to be sent to a mission she wasn't supposed to come back from for something to change. From a few words (which, of course didn't truly matter since she was supposed to die anyway), everything else followed like an avalanche of events, which culminated in her trying to stop a spell which by all the laws of magic shouldn't be possible to be broken in the usual manner.

It would have its consequences, of course. But she decided the slim chance of survival was worth the price of a potential failure.

[thewastedones]

THE WASTED ONES - CHARACTER OVERVIEW.

brightpaw.

apprentice of rustclan.

she/blood, demiromantic unlabelled aplatonic.

playful and loyal, but also vengeful. blood hides her anger well, but it feels like a volcano inside of her. she seems like she might enjoy swimming in the future.

brightpaw feels indebted to rainpaw because he was the reason she was allowed into rustclan. this manifests in her bringing prey to the tom and insisting on patrolling with him often, to make sure nothing happens to him. their clanmates are certain that she has feelings for him, but they couldn't be more wrong- blood isn't even particularly fond of the cat, but feels a sense of duty.

she was raised in heathclan, but when her parents were brutally killed by a rogue named jackal a moon ago, an incident which also left her scarred, she spiraled. she was obsessed with finding this cat and bringing him to justice. she spent a moon in the medicine den and had to relearn how to walk, and as soon as she was released, she left the clan. brightpaw couldn't deal with the way her clanmates looked at her- like she was broken and fragile.

brightpaw often engages in goofy activities like splashing in puddles and catching bugs. she convinces herself that she only does those things to pass the time until she can enact revenge on her parent's murderer- not believing that she is allowed to do things simply because she enjoys them.

brightpaw is mentored by centipedestar.

brightpaw wasn't too close to her distant mother, tigerbounce, but she adored her father jaylight.

[talonslockau]

Fire and Ice - Chapter 21

Chapter 20 || Index || Chapter 22

It had been a quarter-moon since Firepaw had received his punishment, and he was falling into a comfortable routine. He got up with the dawn patrols to go hunting for Yellowfang's breakfast. Once she had been taken care of, including clearing her dirty bedding, it was off to hunt for the Shadowclan elders and clear out their bedding as well, often while listening to their sneering taunts. Then he hunted for the Thunderclan elders and queens. After all of that, if it wasn't yet sunhigh, he had the opportunity to hunt for himself.

After sunhigh, it was typically time for a patrol or training with Tinyfrost. His mentor, thankfully, was being merciful with him, often letting him off of training early to hunt for all of the elders and Yellowfang. Those were the better days, because they gave him time to hunt his own dinner before he went to bed to start it all over again.

He was hungry and tired most days, but he wasn't allowed to complain about it. Sometimes, the other apprentices lightened his workload by hunting for the elders first, but they hadn't spoken to him since their argument. He was glad for the silence; he wasn't sure he could handle listening to them gloat about their own training sessions at the moment.

It was just before sunhigh when Firepaw returned from one of many hunts of the day, bearing a squirrel for Yellowfang and a mouse for himself. He felt he had earned this midday meal, even if some in the Clan would rather watch him starve.

"This is for you." He told the former Shadowclan healer as he dropped the squirrel at her paws. All around them, the Clan was assembling to share tongues, including the other apprentices. He ignored them, choosing to take a spot close to the healer's den that had become almost habitual by now. He was close enough to hear Yellowfang, should she have need of him, but far enough away that he got solitude from the rest of camp. None of the others bothered to disturb him, and at the moment, he quite liked it that way.

The day was particularly nice, being warm enough to enjoy the shade, but cool enough to enjoy the sun as well. Even Yellowfang had left the healer's den to enjoy the sunlight, with Spottedleaf sitting beside her with her own freshkill.

As he took his spot and watched the two healers, he realized they weren't merely gossiping, but arguing. He angled his ears forward, hoping to catch their words.

"You're still a healer, aren't you?" Spottedleaf's soft voice reached him first. "Surely Starclan wouldn't mind what Clan you're in and welcome you all the same."

"I said I'm not going." He could see the gray molly's face scrunch up more than usual into a furious scowl. "I'm no longer Shadowclan's healer. I don't have a spot at the Moonstone."

"But that's not true!" The mottled tortoiseshell gasped, her ears angled towards the temperamental healer in what he could only assume was surprise. "What about Wetnose? Surely he'll want to see that you're okay!"

Yellowfang huffed and looked away. "Then you can tell him yourself. I'm staying here tonight, and that's final."

Spottedleaf tilted her head at the other healer. Even though Firepaw couldn't see her face, he could imagine her frowning at her companion, or perhaps studying her quizzically. "But-"

"No buts! I'm not going." Yellowfang snapped, gesturing towards her broken leg. "And even if I wanted to go, I'm not limping the whole way just to check in with Starclan! They can handle a half-moon without my sultry voice." The old molly chuckled gratingly at her own joke.

"You could still…" He could see the tortoiseshell's sides heave as she let out a large sigh. "Fine. I'll go without you."

He could only assume the two were talking about the healer's meeting at the Moonstone that Dewpaw had mentioned in training, a time that seemed eons ago now. She had made it sound like a great honor, though he supposed going twice a moon would diminish the mystique of it. He couldn't blame Yellowfang for wanting to skip out on it just this once.

He turned his attention away from the two healers to look over camp. Even as he watched, he could feel the absence of two of the Clan's most valuable members. Bluestar and Whitestorm had left the day before to visit the Moonstone, taking with them one of the Shadowclan elders. While Firepaw was thankful not to have to hunt for the missing elder, he could tell the camp was anxiously awaiting the return of their leader.

He had to wonder how much that had to do with the Shadowclan elder that had joined them, and how much had to do with the ever-looming threat of Riverclan. Though there hadn't been any battles since Redtail's death, hostilities still simmered between the two Clans. As eager as he was to prove himself in battle, Firepaw knew he had a long way to go before he was ready to fight such bloodthirsty warriors.

He bit down into his mouse, doing his best to relish it. It was much harder to enjoy the flavor these days, however. It didn't taste nearly as savory as it had the first time he had bit into it, over a moon ago by this point. It tasted blander and drier than it ever had before, but he didn't know why.

A commotion from camp interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to see Bluestar was already ascending the Highrock. Whitestorm stood at the entrance, his brow furrowed as he watched his leader take her spot above the Clan. He seemed worried and on edge, emotions he had never seen from the tom before.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey assembled beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Bluestar called, her eyes blazing as her gaze swept over camp. She didn't need to, as most of the camp was already joining them. Reluctant as he was, Firepaw followed them.

"What happened?" He heard Mousefur ask, but she was quickly shushed by Tigerclaw, who was looking upwards with a frown as well. He seemed as troubled by the sudden rush of their leader as everyone else.

"Thunderclan." Bluestar rasped, breathing heavily as she looked down on her warriors. "I bring terrible news. Whitestorm, Nightpelt and I traveled into Windclan territory to reach the Moonstone." Her words were heavy as she looked at each cat. "All we smelled was Shadowclan."

Gasps of shock filled the air. "What do you mean, Bluestar?" Halftail called out from where the elders were assembled. "Has Shadowclan taken their border with us?"

"Not just their border." The silver molly replied grimly as she looked at the brown tabby. "Every tree we came across was marked by Shadowclan. Even when we journeyed into their heartland, there was no sign of a Windclan patrol."

There was silence at her words. Each cat stared at each other as they tried to process what that might mean.

"Windclan cannot possibly have been chased out of their entire territory." Patchpelt spoke up now. "Shadowclan could never have the strength to get rid of entire Clans!"

"I do not know for certain." Bluestar admitted. "We searched as long as we could before turning back. We found signs of a battle, with a great deal of blood and fur, but no bodies from either side. I, too, find it hard to believe that one of the great Clans could be driven out without heavy resistance."

"Why now?" One-eye asked almost pleadingly. "The Clans have lived on our territories for generations, far longer than any being has been alive. What reason does Shadowclan have to upset the natural order?"

"I do not know. We did not want to risk visiting the Moonstone while a Shadowclan battle patrol was in the area." Bluestar sighed as she looked out over the Clans. "What I do know is that Brokenstar is proving to be more dangerous than we had expected. If he was behind this, it serves only to prove how far he has left the warrior code."

"What about the Shadowclan elders? Or Yellowfang, for that matter?" Darkstripe turned his burning gaze towards the healers that sat near Firepaw. "Surely they may have the answers!"

"Healers cannot interfere between the Clans, Darkstripe." Spottedleaf spoke up from beside the accused molly. "Even if she were to know, she couldn't betray Starclan like that."

"Nightpelt was also shocked by it." Bluestar looked Darkstripe in the eye briefly before looking away. "He seemed genuine. He told me that Shadowclan had been raiding Windclan in retaliation for Raggedstar's death, but that he couldn't see them going as far as to drive out the entire Clan. Such an action goes against everything we fight for."

"Brokenstar goes against everything we fight for." Halftail growled. "First with the elders, now this. How could he dishonor the lives Starclan granted him?"

"I do not know." Bluestar sighed wearily, her shoulders slumping at the thought. "But I do know that Thunderclan must be prepared. We are the next logical target, should Shadowclan be bold enough to continue this dark path." She looked over the Clan that was already nodding below, steeling herself as she stood above them. "The Shadowclan elders have already pledged to help us in any way they can, even if it means fighting their former Clanmates. Should we somehow be driven from our camp, we will fall back to join them."

Firepaw could see some in the Clan shifting uncomfortably at the mere thought of leaving their ancestral home. Before today, such a thought would have been impossible. Now, however, it was a very real threat. He could only imagine what would happen if Shadowclan breached the brambles, just as the fox had.

"Our perimeter was reinforced recently, but I want another layer added. More defense will make it harder for us to be driven out." She gestured to Quickflash with her tail. "In addition, we will be sending out patrols to the Shadowclan border four times a day, including twice nightly. Shadowclan will not be catching us by surprise."

He could see the warriors wincing at such a proposal. Many of them were already stretched thin between Riverclan and Shadowclan; such a rigorous schedule would leave little time for rest. Still, no one could argue with the necessity of it.

"Even though it is only newleaf, I want a store of freshkill created. If we are attacked, we will be able to stay within camp and hold them off. I refuse to let Thunderclan be an easy target." Her fiery words seemed to light a spark in the rest of the Clan, and they started to sit up taller. "Lastly, no cat is to leave camp without at least one other warrior with them, and kits are forbidden to leave camp at all."

Given Snowkit was the only kit, and he was only now beginning to leave the nursery, he had doubts that it would affect the Clan significantly. Still, it had to be said in case any other kits were born, though none of the queens had announced anything yet. More alarming was the announcement that no cat would be able to go anywhere alone, but he had to admit it made sense. They could be ambushed all too easily by a patrol if they were alone.

"I want the council to meet me in my den to discuss further plans. Otherwise, you are dismissed." With that, she leaped off the stone, not hesitating a moment as she pushed her way past the curtain of lichen into her den.

Quickflash followed after her swiftly, followed shortly after by Whitestorm, Tigerclaw, Patchpelt, and Dappleshine. For a moment, he wondered if that was everyone, before the rest of the mentors made their way into the den. He considered what might make one part of this 'council', but when he turned to ask Graypaw about it, he realized all too quickly that he was alone.

As he returned to his mouse, he realized how much quieter the camp was. Part of that, he supposed, was due to half of the warriors being in Bluestar's den, but he could tell that those remaining were whispering in hushed tones to each other. The calamity of Windclan being driven out had put a damper on everyone's spirits. More than that, a specter of danger now loomed over all of them. Until the Gathering, which seemed eons away now, they would have to wonder at Shadowclan's motives and worry that they might be next.

A small part of him was glad to see the rest of camp as miserable as him, but he knew better than that. Before, the danger had been a single fox preying on a lone apprentice or two; now, the threat was that they would lose everything at a moment's notice. Even though he was torn internally, the thought of losing Thunderclan entirely was almost too much to bear. As long as he remained in Thunderclan, he would fight to the death for it. That, he was sure of.

[catsofwillowclan]

Mark of a Mentor

"Oakshade and Mossyrush take a late night patrol out of camp to watch the sun rise."

After Dustypaw's apprentice ceremony, Oakshade feels listless, and Mossyshade thinks he knows what might help.

---

It had only been a few hours since Dustypaw's ceremony, but luckily the boy seemed a bit more comfortable with the clan's attention by the end of it all than he had at the start, running around with the other apprentices and causing havoc around the great fire as the adults talked and drank elderberry wine.

There had been so many congratulations from every side... to Oakshade it felt like the attention would never end or give her a chance to breathe. She nodded and said thank you to the wishes of good luck, the offers of advice and enthusiasm, and the few well-placed works of advice from the other older warriors. But as confident as she tried to seem for them, it was still only her first apprentice -back home, it would have been seen as a monumental step in her warrior path to guide another along their own. Here, it seemed to unremarkable, as if it were just another expectation... the idea of it being that simple sat poorly with her.

---

It's been hours since that initial celebration, and an hour more since the weary, now-snoring apprentices were ushered to the apprentices den by Lilacspeck. The fire is burning low, the moon sinking down towards the horizon, and most of the revelers have since gone to bed. Only Quiverpelt was still awake, tending the ritual fire until daybreak, the crackle of popping logs occasionally punctuating the late-night-early-morning quiet.

Oakshade sighs and leans against a nearby tree, thumb rubbing the old smooth wood absently. She's so lost in her own thoughts, her own feeling of listlessness at the new chapter she's stepping foot into, that the gentle tap on her shoulder almost goes unnoticed - almost. She's far too skilled a warrior for that. She turns to see Mossyrush's familiar face, glowing red-gold with what's left of the firelight, and his familiar hands holding a small wrapped bundle in a basket.

"It was a big night for you," he starts, quietly. "You'll do well as a mentor."

He'd already offered his good luck congratulations at the end of the ceremony, but this was different. Deeper. It was from a place far beyond the willow boughs, where the heather grew between boulders and Starclan swam in crystal-clear lake pools.

"Thank you. That means a lot, from you," she says, genuinely. Mossyrush just shrugs.

"Well, it's true. Dustypaw couldn't ask for a better one, and you'll learn be an excellent guide."

The two sit in the comfortable quiet of pre-dawn with those words for a moment, breathing in the cold spring evening air. The stars shiver a little, like they can feel the last of winter's chill in the wind. Somewhere an owl makes its lonely cry, hollow through the night.

"Oakshade," Mossyrush says after a while, and Oakshade inclines her head to him in acknowledgement. "We may not be in Tarnclan anymore, but I brought a kit with me today, for your marks. If you'd still like to do them." He lifts the small basket, the bundle inside clearly stained with smudges of ink and dye.

Oakshade exhales. With the rush of things, she hadn't even thought to plan a time to do them. It wasn't their clan, after all, she had to remind herself. They did things differently here. There was no built-in time for something like a marking ceremony here like there were back home... no time for a new mentor to sit with their whole new role to the clan.

It's what she'd been missing, and Mossyrush knew it.

She smiles and nods. "I would, very much."

---

It doesn't take long to make it from the ceremony grounds to the Great Willow Tree itself - they're close together for a reason, after all. The Willow has a particularly potent connection to Starclan, which makes it the perfect place to do something like this.

Mossyrush and Oakshade don't speak much during the walk over. Oakshade tries to keep her mind on her markings, pondering what kind of design Mossyrush might do with so little time to prepare, and what kind of a mentor it makes her if she didn't even plan on having her mentor marks done in the first place.

It's funny, she thinks to herself as she steps over a particularly large root, how going to a different place with different people and different customs can make you feel so disconnected from your home, even when you wear your commitment to it like a mantle on your shoulders. Even when there were others there with the same expectations inked into theirs.

The lake under the willow was calm and serene, smooth as glass like the tarns back home. It reflected the stars almost perfectly, a whole second sky below their feet with its own tiny sliver of silvery moon suspended like magic. It was... nostalgic, save for the waving of the Great Willow's boughs overhead and the smell of bogwood instead of peat moss. Oakshade inhales deeply, and hears Mossyrush do the same.

"Feeling alright?" he says from behind her. She sighs.

"Better than most of tonight, actually."

Mossyrush hums. "Well, that's good to hear."

She stands on the edge of the water while Mossyrush lays out his tools, the gentle clatter of the bone needles and grinding of the ink pigments combined with the gentle lapping of water on her feet soothing her mind somewhat already.

Eventually she makes her way over to the spot Mossyrush has chosen by the willow - a hollow of the large roots close to the trunk, one root looped up in a high arc that makes a comfortable back rest for her to lay her head against. His tools are laid out of a woven rush mat, stained with ink from past marks he'd performed before leaving Tarnclan all those months ago.

"I'm going to apologize in advance for getting stiff hands," Mossyrush says as Oakshade lays back against the roots, letting her head lay on the rolled up bag for his kit. "I haven't done this in a few months. But if I cramp, I'll work through it, so don't worry."

Oakshade snorts. "If I'm worried about anyone with this, it's me."

When the man looks doubtful she says, "I mean it! I haven't been marked in dozens of moons, and we have nothing to smoke for the pain. Just you, me, and the elderberry wine... it'll be a wonder if I don't pass out."

That gets a laugh now. Mossyrush smiles despite himself, reaching for a small cloth to wipe down his hands as Oakshade settles in with a grin.

"Seriously though, Oakshade. You feel alright to do this? We can always wait and do it another time, if you're feeling rocky. See if Quiverpelt has anything we can use. I just wanted to offer now, since it felt the most... appropriate, I suppose."

Oakshade shakes her head. "No, no... no. I want to do it now. I... I don't think I would feel right, teaching Dustypaw without having earned my marks."

"Very true," he says, setting aside his cloth and picking up the ink bowl and a fine needle.

"In that case, how about we get started?"

---

Oakshade gets lost in her head.

Wether it's the overindulgence in elderberry wine, the lack of ceremony herbs to dull the pain, the tension she's been stewing in all day, or Starclan sending her visions from beyond, her mind goes into a state she's only been in once before.

Things feel hazy and soft, blurry like a second world has been layered on top.

She sees flickers of things out of the corner of her eye, in the lake, hears voices she doesn't recognize in between Mossyrush's prayers to Starclan and words of encouragement.

At one point she thinks she sees a pale young boy watching them in the branches of the willow, his hair full of stars and his eyes the same blue as the glaciers in the mountains back home.

Most of the hours they spend beneath that tree are a wispy memory.

By the time the sun rises early in the morning, fingers of orange and gold peeking over the horizon and bleeding through the glass-smooth sky on the lake, Oakshade's marks are complete.

Mossyrush gives a loud sigh as he leans back from making the final line. His hands are visibly shaking, like he said they might, but despite what must have been great strain he never faltered once. Oakshade can feel her own body shaking too, from the pain and adrenaline in equal measure, and can't fathom how he's keeping it together.

"...May the stars watch you and guide your path, and all the paths you guide in turn," he says, finally, after laying his tools back on their rush mat to be cleaned.

"May I do my duty to them well," she returns, and opens her eyes.

Part of her can't bear to see them yet for fear of what she might think - not that she might hate it, but that she might not be ready to become the person staring back at her. But another, louder part of her knows she already has, and she needs to see her reflection to really understand who that might be.

She tries to push herself up but stumbles, her knees and legs stiff from sitting so long without moving. Mossyrush catches her arm and helps her up instead, letting her lean on his shoulder as she steadies herself on her feet.

"...Thank you," she says, her voice hoarse from being quiet for so long.

"Take it easy," he says back, as she leans her weight back into her own two legs and keeps walking towards the water. "Don't hurt yourself."

"I'll be fine."

Oakshade raises an eyebrow, but doesn't argue - this part is for her to do, however fast or slow she wants to do it. Usually they would be in a ceremonial space, with a bowl of ritual water to cleanse her face and see her reflection in, but with the ritual so short notice they don't have anything like that right now.

Just the willow lake, it's surface growing more and more bright as the sun begins to rise.

They make their way to the lake's edge, Oakshade only hesitating a moment before letting her feet slip into the ice-cold clear water and the soft mud below. She gasps grits her teeth against the cold, clutching on to Mossyrush's tense arm as her legs try to give out again, but she won't let them. Step after step they wade deeper, until she's up to her knees in the lake and able to stand on her own.

"Don't catch a cold either, Oakshade," Mossyrush warns, stopping her from going any deeper. "Quiverpelt will have me doing gathering for a week if you catch a cold because of something I suggested." Oakshade snorts.

"I won't," she says, but her chattering teeth say otherwise. "Can you help me wash my face?"

"Only if you promise to get right back to camp afterwards," Mossyrush says, but he's already dampening a cloth to wipe across her face, hands practiced and gentle against the raw skin.

Oakshade exhales shakily as the cold water stings her new marks, but says nothing as Mossyrush pushes her hair back and pats her brows dry.

"...I can go back to the Willow, if you want to look by yourself."

"You can stay," she says, opening her eyes shakily to look at Mossyrush's worried face, "I might fall on my way back if you don't - joking, joking." She clarifies as a look of genuine concern flashes across the mans face.

And then, she looks down.

The marks on her brow are like a crown of leaves. They blend with her own apprentice marks like a mask, swirling gracefully between one and the other until it's unclear where one starts and the other begins. The color match is almost flawless, the work pristine. Despite her hair having already been peppered with silver and grey, it's like she finally looks her age... it's shocking, in the best way. In a way that she can finally feel like a mentor with.

She feels something welling up inside her, almost an indescribable fullness, before her knees try to give out again and Mossyrush catches her by the shoulders.

"Okay, normally I'd let you process this longer, but not in a lake like this. Let's get you back to camp," he whispers, not wanting to interrupt her thought, but he stops whatever he's about to say next when he sees Oakshade's expression.

She glances up at him and looks about a half a second away from crying, her green eyes big and shiny like the lake water.

"Thank you," she says. Her voice is stronger than it's been all night. "Thank you. This, you... this means a lot, Mossyrush. I don't know if you know how much, but-"

"I do," he says, and he means it. "I did this for many, many warriors back in Tarnclan, and I know. It's... important. And I didn't want you to not have that for yourself just because you were far away from home."

Oakshade sniffles - though wether from the chill from the water, or the genuine emotion, she'll probably never say.

"Thank you."

"...now. Can I get you out of this lake? It might be emotional, but you also need to be healthy to heal, and Quiverpelt'll kill me if I let you catch a cold doing this."

Oakshade blinks, her brain re-registering where they are and what time it is.

"Oh. Right, yes. We should get out of the lake. And do the things."

Mossyrush laughs. "Yes, the things. Like ointments for your face. And sleeping," he emphasizes, holding up a hand against the light and looking towards where the sun is shining from its early morning point along the horizon. "Is it alright if I carry you back up?"

"Oh, my hero," Oakshade says sarcastically, looping her arm over Mossyrush's shoulder and letting Mossyrush scoop her up - which, to be fair, is nothing for someone his height - and wade through the water, back to shore and the waiting, watchful boughs of the Great Willow as Starclan's watchful eyes fade away into the pale blue of the early morning sky.

[sabelowl]

(loong one)

"We've been letting that sit for days," Lilia gasps, rushing to and fro to assess the damage. "It was for the children's medicine." The sparkly spilled contents of the crushed herb glitter on the table, on the surrounding floor, and on Alcone and Achard, particularly in their hair. Alcone, with his dark indigo hair, looks even more like a mage, inactive or not. Lilia stifles a giggle and rights one of the baskets that previously held the herb, covering her amusement with a sigh. Achard rights the other basket, feeling embarrassed. "Something smells good, is it the herb?" Alcone casually remarks, just as the door to the herb garden house opens to let in a blur of purple-gray---the fast approaching figure of Mira. All she takes in is the boys with guilt on their faces and Lilia standing trying to clear away a mess on one of her fresh herb tables. "What did you two do?" Mira demands, her suspicious gaze mostly on Alcone. He folds his hands behind his back. "Notice anything different, Mira?" he asks smoothly with a tiny motion of leaning forward. "There's an interesting smell in the air," Mira admits, stepping closer to the three. She inspects the sparkling pale pink contents Lilia is scooping back into two tall vase-shaped baskets. "It's this herb," Lilia explains, unable to keep from sending a smile towards the boys. This does not go unnoticed. Mira is about to bark out another question when she realizes the good smell doesn't go away after Lilia closes both of the baskets, securing the sparkling herb again. "Those baskets were made to suppress the smell of strong herbs, right?" Achard nudges Alcone. "We should go wash up," the apprentice court musician whispers, but Alcone shakes his head with a familiar mischievous smirk appearing on his face. Lilia nods. "It smells really good," Mira mutters to herself. She turns towards the boys and frowns. "Alcone, is it me or is your hair even more…um, magical than before?" "What ever do you mean, Mira?" Alcone asks, hand reaching up to his dark indigo hair as if self-conscious. "I mean it's…shiny. It wasn't like that before, was it not?" Lilia stifles another giggle behind Mira. "And you too, Achard." The boy jumps. Mira figures it out. "They spilled the herb in their hair. How did this happen, Lilia?" The apprentice court herbalist shakes her head, her smile widening. "I just don't know." "You were using these to make children want to consume medicines more, correct?" When Lilia nods, Mira goes on, "Perhaps you might think of making it into some sort of hair gel as well." Alcone can't contain himself anymore; he bursts out laughing. It spreads to the other three until the four apprentices have to hold on to each other to avoid falling to the floor. "Go wash up, you two," Mira cries, shoving the boys away. They exchange lasting smirks with each other before dashing away to the door. "They didn't look too bad," Lilia remarks quietly. Mira casts a sidelong glance in her direction, gives one last giggle, and leaves as well.

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

It's Just a Movie - The Sequel: Part 10 (Poly!Lost Boys x Fem!Reader)

<- Previous Chapter Next Chapter ->

Warnings: graphic minor character death, graphic violence, vampire typical violence, blood/gore implied and described, fear, anxiety, implied mind tricks

Word Count: 2.5k

When his stake missed, the hunter felt his heart drop. 

He was just an apprentice, one that'd been instructed to stay behind. He'd been watching you for as long as Billy Idol and Fabio left. At first, it was out of concern. They, as in his group, knew what the pair you hung around with were, and they'd been studying them for weeks. In fact, because of you, their crew was making a move tonight. The second they saw two of them leave, only two, a silent decision had been made in their group. It was now or never. An opportunity like this one was rare, and they weren't going to pass it up, but one of them had to stay behind. Him , to be exact.

He figured that you were a potential victim. That you were a harmless civilian, and that you'd be in danger. It was their duty to protect people like you. Well, that's what they told him. That, and he wasn't trained enough to follow yet. He figured he'd protect you for the night, wait for the rest of your boyfriend's to leave. If he was able to get you alone, maybe he could even save your life. But, it was only when he saw you crush the railing that he realized you were danger. And, a wrench in their plan. Suddenly, four vampires became five, and he didn't like those odds as much. And you were a girl.

As you ran to the boardwalk, he fumbled for his field journal. He was trying to find the chapter, only to realize that he was losing you in the dark. 

"Shit, shit-" He muttered to himself, and he chased after you before you could completely disappear.

He tried to read and follow you at the same time, keeping more than a safe distance, and he tripped over his own feet when he finally found the page. The sand muffled his fall, and he pulled the book back to him. He read it, practically sprawled out on the ground as he muttered the words to himself.

"Females of the species," He glanced up at your figure in the distance. You were barely a sight in the dark, with your silhouette barely visible against the reflection of the sea. He contemplated getting up, finding a place further down the shore. But, he quickly blamed the fact that maybe it was more strategic to stay on the ground as the reason why he couldn't bring his knees to lift him up. His finger traced the words as he read, "Thought to be larger in size," He glanced up, but, at this distance, he couldn't tell. "Less socially aggressive, but equally as blood-thirsty as the rest of their species." And he couldn't help his gulp. He continued to read. "While there are heads to each coven, female covens notably have more egalitarian- Skip the politics." He told himself that there wasn't time for this, and silently promised his mentor that he'd read it later. "All vampires seem to follow the same sexual segregation found in vampire bats, but female vampires are particularly known for this. Solitary mates may be found- blah, blah, blah." His eyes skimmed until he found what he thought he was looking for. "Similar hunting practices, but female covens have been the only ones to display the hunting tactic of," His brow furrowed and his shoulders clenched as he read, "Solitary hunters kidnapping prey for the group to eat." And the young apprentice nearly felt like he was going to be sick. There was more to read, but he didn't bother. He closed the book and shoved it into his coat. 

As far as he was concerned, you were exactly what they'd been missing. Maybe that's why the rest of your coven didn't feed regularly.

He rolled into his back, reaching for the foldable crossbow he kept stashed in his backpack. He prepped it, glancing back at you to make sure you didn't move. He took out his cannister of holy water and stuck it in his pocket, before he ditched his bag altogether. He told himself,

"I should've known." He said to himself as he rolled back into his stomach. "I always thought vampires looked like lions anyways." He whispered, and slowly he began his crawl closer. "Probably hunting for the others- Well, not anymore." It took him over a minute to even get within reasonable distance. He stopped probably a few feet farther than he should, but it wouldn't matter. His crossbow was for long-distance hunting anyways. Slowly, he lifted himself to his knees, and lifted his weapon. Sure, maybe he should've just told his mentor. Maybe he should've ran the second he realized you were a vampire. And, maybe, he shouldn't have stalked you at all. But, he was here, and he knew bringing his mentor your head was going to be exactly what he needed to finally start taking him seriously. He'd probably only have one shot, so he had to make this count. Even if you didn't know he was there, he couldn't imagine you'd give him time to prep another stake.

But, that didn't stop the shock of fear going down his spine the second you laughed and sighed. It was such a sudden change from how still you'd been, and, well, he panicked. As you began to speak and turn, he shot. In his sudden panic, he aimed for the head instead of the heart.

And missed. 

***

Before you could even realize what was going on, there was screaming. Maybe he'd tried to run, tried to go for another stake, but it didn't matter. Loud, guttural, pained screaming. It filled your ears, accompanied by the sounds of tearing flesh, before they were silenced by a sickening snap. Then, it was just the sound of gulping.

You stared, unable to rip your eyes away. You'd grabbed the stake, like plucking a flower out of a field instead of a projectile meant for your head. You hadn't even really meant to do it, but now you held it to your chest as you watched a group of girls rip a guy to pieces. As you watched them feed.

Your throat ached at the sight, at the smell, but fear and shock kept your feet planted where they were. The wind had been blowing from the west, so the only thing you smelled was the sea salt. Not the hunter behind you, or the vampires hanging overhead. You'd been blind, been deaf, to the predators surrounding you. You'd been stalked and you hadn't even noticed. That realization was enough to ruin your appetite.

You could only imagine what the boys- what David would say. The second you thought of him, you reached for him. Inside your head, you practically screamed his name. You pushed so hard through the fog that you were sure you flooded it. And, you were sure the fear in your mind bled into your eyes when one of them finally looked at you.

You took a step back, shocked by the sudden eye contact, and the sound of sifting sand was enough to grab all of their attention. They weren't foolish, like you were. Not even noticing the hunter behind you. Their heads snapped towards you, and, in a blink, their faces faded back to human ones. 

You felt like you couldn't breathe as one of them slowly rose to her feet. Even as the voices of your boys filled your head, you could barely bring yourself to focus on them. 

Your eyes, now trained for the dark, watched as she wiped the blood from her face, as she stood to her full height. What's wrong? Her eyes were big and brown, no longer the yellow they'd been when she first looked at you. Where are you? Her hair was long and brown, tumbling over her shoulders. What happened? And she- Well, she was familiar to say the least. Are you hurt? If you weren't frozen from fright, if there wasn't a flood of thoughts that weren't your own filling your head, you would've laughed. 

In front of you was Sloane from Ferris Bueller. Or, well, the actress. Despite your fear, you wondered for a moment how Joel had swung that.

Even so, you stared at her as she came close. You tried to focus, scared to think of anything that wasn't of the girl in front of you. You reminded yourself that this wasn't her, that this wasn't nice-girl Sloane. That this was- Well, whatever her name was. A vampire. And, from what you could guess, the villain of this movie. 

The other coven. You thought, projecting it as loud as you could. At this moment, it was all you could to think to spare, all you could think that was safe.

She stopped only a bit away, her hands raised as if you were a wild dog. As if you were the one about to bite. After a moment, she smiled and slowly lowered her hands. You heard a rustle, and your eyes flicked to behind her. The other girls had gotten up, and they crowded eachother. Five of them total, each of them more familiar than you thought they'd be. In fact, was that - But, you didn't have any time to finish that thought before you realized not-Sloane was reaching out to touch you. You froze, and her voice was as soothing as it'd been on the screen as she said,

"He didn't knick you, did he?" She said, and you made the mistake of looking into her eyes. They were magnetic. So much so that you let her hand ghost your ear before you pulled away. It was only an inch, but you saw her eyes catch the movement. She paused, her smile fading. Quietly, you said,

"No," You paused. "He missed." And you watched her smile return. Your eyes flicked to the other girls behind her out of instinct, something telling you not to forget about them. They still stood off to the side, but they were closer than before. Their expressions left you clueless, and silently you tried to place each of their faces. After a moment, your eyes flicked back to her. Warily, you asked, "Who are you?" 

"I'm Mina." She said, giving her name easily. Then, she asked, "Who are you?" Copying the way you asked. Almost in a way that was cute. You gave her your name, watched the way she flipped her hair as she looked over her shoulder, and the girls closed whatever distance was left. Silently, you prayed the boys would get here fast. 

"You're fresh. Your heart's still beating." One of the girls commented as she practically hung off another's shoulder, a smile on her face as she said it. You were sure those words probably made it beat faster out of pure anxiety. And, as she did, you finally placed her face. She was one of the heathers, the yellow one if you remembered correctly. Either way, the way she smiled and the blood at the corner of her mouth made it look like she wanted to eat you alive. Was she meaning to be this creepy?

You must've made a face because you watched as the girl she was hanging off of, a brunette you knew was in one of Kiefers other movies, laughed softly. You even watched as the two other girls, both curly haired brunettes, gave eachother a look. And, while you knew the taller, the tallest of the group actually, was from Flashdance, you couldn't exactly place the last. But, whatever they thought was funny was cut off by the girl closest to you. She leaned closer and whispered,

"Ignore them." She said, and the look she gave you was akin to one you imagine she'd give an old friend. For some reason, it made you feel calm. It made you forget that the rest of the girls hadn't introduced themselves, and almost forget them entirely as she continued, "Are you alone?" She asked. If you were honest, you didn't know what answer would help you. You didn't know how long they'd stalked you- It made you falter when you reminded yourself that. There was something about Mina, something that made you forget that little detail. So, you decided on the truth.

"No." The vague truth, at least. You watched as she stared at you, as she tilted her head. She gave you a smile, almost one that was amused, before she glanced back at the others. And that glance- you didn't know why but it made more spill from your lips. "The rest of my coven is feeding." You supplied, and it was half-true. Really, you didn't know what happened. That caught her attention back to you.

"Leaving you to fend for yourself?" She said, and you didn't like what it implied. Your boys- They weren't neglecting you. There'd been an emergency. You almost found those words spilling out of your mouth, before you stopped yourself. You clamped your mouth shut. She didn't need to know about that. There was something about her, something about her eyes that made you want to spill every thought that came to your head. It took you a moment to remember that even mind tricks worked on vampires, and you decided that perhaps keeping your mouth shut was your best bet. When you didn't take the bait, she pursed her lips for a moment. Finally, she filled the silence with, "Maybe they should keep a better eye on you. Lots of," She paused to glance back at the body behind her as if to gesture to it. "Bad elements." She finished, and her words hung in the air.

You stared at her then, but your eyes were quick to flick away from her hypnotizing eyes. You looked at her purple jacket, lined with chains and metal pins. At her black pants and black vest-like top. When you got down to her black boots, you wet your lips when you realized you wouldn't be able to avoid her face any longer. But, just as you went to look up, you heard the sound of someone flying. Someones flying.

All six of your heads lifted at the sound, and only a moment passed before Mina said,

"Looks like you don't need us anymore." And you broke your eyes from the skyline to fix them on her instead. She followed suit, and, even if you felt like you shouldn't, you met her eyes. There was almost satisfaction in them when you did.

"Thank you," You started. "For stepping in." You said, and you found that you meant it. You didn't, and now never would have to, know what would've happened if they hadn't. You watched another brilliant smile cross her lips. Only, this time, you almost wanted to describe it as genuine. 

"Our pleasure." She said, and then she was glancing back at the others. You quickly guessed they didn't plan on sticking around to meet the boys. "See you around." Mina said, and the others were quick to follow. The only one that hesitated was the shortest of the group. She cast you a long look, and you furrowed your brows as you stared at her. Tan skin, dark eyes, dark curls- She was familiar, but not like the others. Like you'd actually known her at one point. By the time the boys set foot on the sand, she had left.

And, you didn't realize you were still gripping the stake until you let it fall from your hands.

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ scenario: connor losing his mind when you're hurt and charging into the fight recklessly.

♡ pairing: connor kent ( superboy ) x fem! reader

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / i'm sorry but i'm living for these angst to fluff moments rn especially bc i rewatched reign of the superman and forgot how much i loved connor in it.

Connor watched as you were completely slumped on the side of the building, no longer clear headed and struggling to stay awake. what was supposed to be a clean and easy mission turned out to be more than what the league expected.

he had requested for back up and while they were already trying to fight off the thugs that were attacking Connor, he could still see that you were fighting to stay alive and he had no idea if you were even going to come out of this fight alive.

"what the fuck?" Connor whispered, seeing you now slumped on the ground. he turned to the person who attacked you, eyes fully red with no intention of holding back. Clark could sense his song was a second away from committing murder as he saw Connor charge into the heart of the battle with no game plan, just murder.

"SUPERBOY NO!"

+

you waved shyly to the group of league members as you hid behind Wonder Woman. you were new to the scene of sidekicks and had no idea how to even introduce yourself without sounding like a complete idiot.

"woah new girl!" you heard a male voice say as you stood in your place petrified. you had no idea who it was as Diana had yet to individually introduce you to everyone, "i call dibs!" you heard the same voice say.

Diana turned to you before grabbing the boy who was charging towards you by the head and tossed him back to Superman, "she's not up for 'dibs' Superboy. she's my newest apprentice and you will treat her as such," she threatened.

you giggled behind her as a few of the sidekicks introduced themselves. you knew them as the Young Justice team and although you weren't formally with the team, you figured Diana was training you to become apart of them in the future.

"( your hero name ), this is Superboy," Wonder Woman said, "he associated to the Super family," she explained as he pushed up his dark circled glasses and flicked his hair back, "pleasure is all mine," he muttered, shaking your hand.

you returned a tiny smile before she continued to introduce you to Robin and Impulse. you noticed how Superboy kept his eyes on you. you had no idea if it was because he liked you or he disliked you but every time you turned to look at him, he was already staring at you.

after introductions and the cliche 'your real identity is sacred' conversation ended, Diana felt it was for your own good to get used to your new 'teammates'. she wanted you to make sure you weren't uncomfortable around any of the YJ team even if that included Superboy.

"so, what do you like to do for fun?" Wonder Girl asked, sitting down next to you and handing you a bowl of popcorn. you shrugged, "uh, not much. I like to watch tv and read for the most part. no one really invites me to do things with them," you admitted, scratching the back of your head.

she laughed, putting her arm around you, "well that ends today! we should all do something fun! how about we go to the county fair? doesn't that sound fun?" she asked. you shrugged, not really opposed to the idea, "I call all the rides with ( your hero name )!" Jinny replied.

you smiled, following her and Wonder Girl out the door as Robin, Impulse, and Superboy followed behind you. Robin looked at him, "you like her don't you?" he asked, already calculating the minute Connor had fallen in love with you.

"well she's apart of the team, i'd like to hope we'd all like her," he replied as Robin shook his head, "no, you get what i mean by that," Robin pressed as he could see Connor's face fall with realization. he didn't reply but he could tell what he was tell Connor's real answer through his face.

as they arrived to the fair, they all booked it to the first food stand they saw. Robin offering to pay for everyone being Bruce Wayne's son had its benefits. you ordered a simple coffee as you didn't want Robin to spend too much on everyone.

"what ride should we all get on first?" Jinny asked excitedly. you pointed to the tallest ride, it was one of those high rides that sat two people at the top and had them spinning around, "oh I can't do that. it's way too scary," both Keli and Jinny said.

Superboy smiled at you, "I'm down if you are," he said as he grabbed two tickets from the worker, "cool," you replied as the two of you walked to the line, sweat already building up from nervousness.

once they sat the two of you and made sure you were both buckled in, you stared at Superboy nervously as the ride started up and pulled you up before immediately starting to spin. you stared at Superboy, screaming for you life. you unintentionally grabbed his arms, not realizing you were holding onto him as you continued to yell.

Superboy chuckled, finding your reaction cute.

+

after the months passed and you finally grew closer to everyone on the team, you were particularly close with Jinny and Superboy. you and Jinny shared a lot of common interests as she showed you how to shoot a gun and Superboy...well, everyone could tell the two of you were just seconds away from actually dating.

you walked into the YJ lair, sipping on hot chocolates with Jinny as the weather was turning cold. she was cracking some cringe dad jokes, trying to make you laugh as you tried to contain from choking on the hot chocolate.

"hey, where we yall at?" Keli asked. you turned to Jinny before giggling, "just doing a few errands we had to run before I had patrol with Superboy," you said, not really clarifying on what you both were actually doing.

although everyone could see how much you liked Connor, Connor himself thought you had a thing with Jinny. he knew she was particularly close with you and felt as though he was practically competing with her for your attention.

"do you have my phone?" you asked Jinny as she dug into her pocket and handed it to you. you grabbed your phone before quickly snatching her hat and putting it on, "yee-haw," you giggled into the mirror as Jinny started chasing you down the halls.

as you turned a corner, you bumped into Superboy and fell flat on your ass, "oh, I'm sorry Superboy, I didn't see you there," you groaned as Jinny grabbed her had and put it back on her, "you've yee'd your last haw," she said, making you laugh harshly.

Superboy's eye couldn't help but twitch as he gave you his hand, "ready for patrol?" he asked sternly. you looked to Jinny who crept away from the angry Kryptonian and left you to deal with him, "yeah, let me just freshen up again and I'll meet you outside," you murmured, going into the bathroom.

you quickly used the bathroom before checking if you had everything. you opened the door and walked into the lair's common area. Connor had yet to drop the angry attitude and everyone was eerily silent as you walked in. he grabbed you by the arm and practically rushed you out the door.

"weird," Jinny told Robin as he shrugged, "what isn't weird about him," he replied making everyone laugh.

patrol started extremely awkward. you hadn't felt this weird since you first started on the team and you had no idea what was wrong with Superboy since he wasn't telling you.

the two of you walked on top of roof, scanning the empty roads before you turned to look at him, "what's up? you seem bothered," you asked him as you both sat on the ledge, "seriously? you seem annoyed at me or something so at the very least you can try and tell me what's wrong," you pressured again.

he looked at you with eyes of determination before grabbing you by the collar of the shirt and pulling you into a very heated kiss. you were taken back by surprise but let him continue to kiss you. a part of yelled at Connor pulled you close but another part of him was still screaming at him that you still could've liked Jinny.

"I had to do that before Jinny officially took you away from me," your eyes fluttered in confusion, "uh, what do you mean by 'take you away from me'?" you asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

Connor sighed in frustration, "I see the way you're around Jinny and figured that she likes you and vice versa," he finally admitted as he stood up, not wanting to hear your response. you quickly stood up and grabbed him by the wrist, "hey wait," you said.

he stared at you, "I'm really not in the mood to get rejected ( your hero name )," he ran his fingers through his hair annoyed. you shook your head, "I don't like Jinny nor does she like me. we're just really close friends Superboy," you whispered, bringing him into another kiss.

this time, he was the one taken back but he melted into the kiss, all his negative emotions washing away as you continued to kiss him. he wrapped his arms around your waist as you him in closer by the neck. Connor was definitely not expecting this tonight.

"so does this mean that we're like....together together?" you asked playfully shy. Connor let out a laugh before lacing your hands together, "clearly. I can't let Jinny steal you away from me," he jokingly replied.

+

Connor ran to the three different henchmen as his strength was to the point of killing, not caring if he died in the process. he was recklessly dodging bullets, knowing they wouldn't do anything to him. he grabbed the first man and threw him against a wall as it collapsed around him. Connor only hoping that it did enough damage to unalive him.

the second one he managed to choke him out enough to the point where he passed out but that wasn't enough for him. you were on the brink of death and if he had to see you die, he was going to make sure the men who possibly killed you got what they deserved.

"SUPERBOY!" he heard his father scream again. Connor paid no attention to him as he grabbed the third henchman and slammed him to the ground, throwing punches left and right, "listen to me," Clark screamed at him.

he could see the tears coming down Connor's face as anger, fear, and sadness clouded his mind, "this is not you! pull out of it!" he yelled, shaking Connor's shoulder, "you're about to kill this man. I get that you're angry but you don't get anything out of hurting him. all you get it consequences and your girlfriend needs you right now more than ever!" he continued.

Connor finally shook himself out of his trance as he heard his dad telling him to go to you. Connor nodded and ran to you, seeing you unconscious and hardly breathing, "I'm taking her to the hospital," he yelled to Batman before hauling your body into his arms and flying towards the nearest hospital.

once he finally reached the emergency doors, he shoved everyone out of his way and to the front desk, "she needs help...NOW!" he yelled to the poor receptionist. the girl jumped up from fear but nodded and screamed for a bed and a few doctors.

the doctor asked Connor to place you on the bed before the doctor told him that he could follow them inside. a part of Connor wanted to straight up move the doctor to follow you into the OR but he knew that he'd get into more trouble with his dad and the MPD if he hurt anyone else.

for what felt like hours, he was waiting inside of the room they had told him you'd be in once you got out of surgery. he had already gotten the lecture from his dad about the consequences he would've gotten if he actually managed to kill the three men earlier.

"she's going to make it," the doctor told Connor as he walked into the room while they adjusted you to the bed. Connor nodded, "she'll be out of duty for months. she sustained a lot of injuries to her body that'll take weeks to recover and she got a nasty concussion so you'll need to play doctor for the next few weeks to make sure she's okay," he explained.

Connor nodded as the doctor told him that you should be waking up within the next few hours. Connor adjusted himself on the seat and got comfortable as he had no intentions of leaving your side until you were awake and ready to leave the hospital.

you woke up a few hours later, your body killing you from all over as you saw balloons all around the room. you knew you had landed in the hospital but you had no idea how long you were asleep or in a coma even. you turned to see Connor passed out next to you, his body slumped awkwardly.

"Kon, Kon wake up!" you whispered, shaking him softly. Connor jumped up in a fright as he immediately realized you were awake, "how do you feel? are you okay? do you need anything?" he immediately asked as you couldn't help but laugh at his frantic attitude.

"Connor, I'm okay, I promise," you whispered as you brought him in for a kiss, "my body just hurts and i'm still kinda tired," you murmured as Connor nodded. you managed to wiggle yourself enough to make space for him, "babe, it looks like you haven't slept in days."

"I had to make sure you were okay so i haven't exactly slept in a while," he admitted sheepishly. you shook your head, "you're too much sometimes," you giggled as you put your head on his shoulder, "but you love me regardless," he replied.

this was the first time the L word had came up in the relationship, "yeah, I guess I do but now you need to sleep," you said as you closed your eyes and felt Connor pull you closer to him, "I love you too by the way," you whispered, giving him another kiss on his partially exposed chest.

[clone-bar-79s]

Something that has been bugging me more recently has been the Council's decision to make Ahsoka, Anakin's padawan. Yoda intervened to help Anakin become more responsible and simply put, an adult. Now, while the decision may have been good for Anakin, who I believe needed a padawan as chaotic as him, I don't think it was the best decision for Ahsoka.

From the moment Ahsoka arrives, you can see she is a younger version of Anakin, who has been instantly nicknamed 'Snips' by Anakin of all people. Her confidence and open nature is what draws Anakin in and warms him to the concept of having a padawan at all. There is no doubt that Anakin helped her grow as a fighter and was a great Master to her, but there is a lot required of a Jedi Knight. A lot of which Anakin lacked and why he fell to the dark side.

So, we know that the Council has had reservations regarding Anakin and his emotional temperament, and assigning him a hyper-active apprentice made some sense. He would have been forced to calm her down, practice patience, and even learn to apply those principles to himself. It's a sensible way to help another person improve and it was a good effort on the Council's part.

But what about Ahsoka? We see Anakin explain to her in multiple situations why she needs to be calmer. But its never the way Obi Wan or Plo-Koon would have encouraged. After her outburst in the Malevolence arc, Anakin makes a show in front of the Jedi Masters to ask her to hold her tongue, but immediately takes it back when he says she wasn't supposed to have screamed it out the way she did. Instead he supports her outburst and only explains that she should have handled the situation better and that her emotions were valid.

I think if Obi Wan or Plo Koon would have been given the chance, they could have talked things out with her and explained the pitfalls of fear and encouraged her to trust in the Force, after which they would set out on their rescue mission anyways. They wouldn't have dismissed her fears altogether, but its the constant reminder to remain calm and one with the Force that isn't always Anakin's first response.

I particularly think Ahsoka's reaction to being framed for the Temple bombing would have been very different had she practiced being calm and detached. Yes, Ahsoka was only 16, and that's a real dumb age for all human beings, but her actions are completely un-Jedi like. She has been told for the past 16 years to control her emotions, so how could she snap like that? She gave in to her fears and let herself fall victim to Barriss' trap, instead of working things out with the Jedi council. In fact, the moment she sees the keycard outside her cell, she is sure that its Anakin who is helping her breakout. Ahsoka has no reason to suspect that she will not be cleared of all the wrongful charges, but still fears the worst. Because Anakin too would take the wrongful imprisonment personally.

Obi Wan reminds Anakin in one of the unaired episodes that Ahsoka let her emotions get in the way and was abrupt in her decision to leave the Jedi Order. He is right! The Jedis are encouraged not to make easy decisions lightly, let alone something so huge! When Qui-Gon is asked to join the Council, Depa Billaba mentions how it is encouraged for Jedis to meditate on their decision before they accept what seems obvious. Why is Ahsoka not aware of this? Why does Ahsoka not practice even the tiniest bit of patience???

Even when she returns for the Siege of Mandalore, she is so angry and frustrated at Obi Wan for not immediately setting aside everything to help out another entire planet. Yes, the Chancellor was missing and this high priority target had to be rescued, but how could she ignore the Separatist army that Grievous had brought along to Coruscant?!? Her reaction closely mimics Anakin when anyone doesn't see his side. His outburst at Luminara for accepting the Padawan's death. His outburst at Plo-Koon who simply asked him to trust his padawan. HIs outburst at Obi Wan who had been assigned a mission in the Rako Hardeen arc. In each of these situations Anakin doesn't see the other person's side. He may come to terms with it after a while, but initially reacts harshly and abruptly.

Instead of talking things out, he simply gets angry at the people around him and that was the last thing an impressionable, over-active, cocky, teenager needed when she was supposed to be on path to becoming a Jedi of all things.

I think Yoda's involvement in Ahsoka's assignment to Obi Wan screwed things up for Ahsoka. They paid attention to what Anakin needed, and completely ignored if it was the best thing for the 14-year old.

[imatechbummerliketomholland]

A Holland brunch is not a Holland brunch without a twist - S.H

hello there! This is my first request. I hope you all will like it, i want to say thank you to the beautiful and lovely @petersasteria, without her, my text would be such a mess. Word count: 1489 Warning: mention of car accident, a little angst. But it's fluffy at the end! Pairing : sam holland Request: yes! ღღღ

Since the pandemic, the Holland family could count on their fingers the times they were all together, in full. When it wasn't Sam who was in Scotland, it was Tom who had a filming project, often accompanied by Harry. And when Harry couldn't go with Tom, he had his own life, his own plans. Tom's birthday was therefore a good excuse for a family reunion. As Sam's girlfriend for a few months, you haven't had a chance to meet everyone yet. However, you were not unknown in the eyes of the family. Although discreet about his personal life, which you fully understood, Sam had left some clues on his social media, about you and your romantic relationship with him.

The man had taken a long time to get into this relationship. You were college friends. You attempted a move that he had initially refused the first time. Sam just wanted to live out his last days as a culinary student, finish his internship at this lavish hotel that he hoped would end up hiring him, and enjoy a few beers with friends. Having a love interest was, therefore, not in his priorities. But a simple evening changed his perspective. The rest is history.

Your schedule had not allowed you to go to London at the same time as Sam. Your boyfriend was already with his family the day before yesterday and you had only just arrived at the Airbnb you had rented— despite Sam's protests that you stay at his parents' or Tom's-. You liked your independence. Plus, you found it a bit opportunistic to stay with your boyfriend's family when they didn't officially know you.

On this Sunday morning, you put on an outfit that you felt comfortable in and that was still good enough for a family meal. You grabbed the keys to your rental car, quickly texted your boyfriend: "on my way. See you soon, babe". Then you're directed to the address Sam sent you.

☙♥❧

On the Holland side, Sam put his phone back in his pocket and put his glasses on his nose. He was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt, a small miracle since the last time he actually put one on was for the shoot of Roses for Lily. But he had wanted to please you and hoped you would enjoy the effort. Harry was setting the table and Nikki walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron.

"So, sweetheart?"

"She's on her way. She shouldn't be late."

Nikki gave him a big smile. She had had the opportunity to speak to you once or twice on the phone, when Sam asked you to pick up when he was busy. She already found you so sweet and kind, she couldn't wait to meet you in person.

☙♥❧

You weren't particularly dangerous behind the wheel, but you had to admit you were a little over the speed limit. Yet you have been extremely careful. You were a few yards from the Hollands' residential area. You were on the A308 London Road when a driver left you right of way at the Station Road intersection. The impact was pretty harsh and you were pretty shaken up. When the paramedics arrived, they asked you who the emergency contact person was. And although they were your parents, you gave Sam's number. He was the closest after all.

☙♥❧

At Holland’s place, several minutes have passed without hearing from you. Sam was really starting to wonder what you were doing. It was sunny, maybe there was more traffic than usual? But the answer to his questions fell when his phone buzzed again in his pocket. The name of the caller indicated that it was you. But, when he picked up, a male voice stunned him. His face instantly paled as he took in the information. Harry immediately noticed the condition of his twin. And as soon as the apprentice cook hung up, Harry put a hand on his shoulder, looking worried.

"What is it, mate?"

"I need to go to Kingston Hospital now."

Nikki's eyes, who was not far from her sons, widened in shock. What had happened then?

"What? What's going on honey?" she asked

"y/n was in a car accident. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to go."

"Don't be stupid Sam, we're coming with you." Tom said, grabbing his keys.

Tom did this for a number of reasons: one, because he wasn't planning on letting his little brother drive in this state of shock; and two, y/n was, in a way, part of the family. Once you bond with a Holland boy, expect to be bonded with the rest of the group, even if it's only been a few months, and even if you haven't met them yet. You had a connection to them and you were important to Sam.

☙♥❧

You were now in a hospital bed with a slight bruise on your head and your arm in a cast. You really didn't expect to end up here on a Sunday over brunch time. What you even less expected was seeing your boyfriend tumble into the emergency room with a supportive platoon behind him. The whole family was there, or almost, after all, pets weren't allowed in the hospitals, so Tessa Holland was the little forgotten one in the procession. Sam walked over to you and inspected you from every angle, as if he were a doctor.

"You’re alright, love?"

You didn't know if you were still in shock from the accident or if it was the embarrassment to find yourself in the hospital in front of your boyfriend's whole family. But you just nodded. Sam then kissed your forehead under the tender gaze of those close to him.

“I have to say,” Harry began, "That for a first impression, you typed in a gigantic way."

It immediately relaxed the atmosphere. You let out a chuckle as Sam glared at his twin in a disapproving way. Tom, smirking, decided it was an honor to add a layer.

"You know, there were many other ways than getting a plaster to ask me for an autograph" joked the actor.

Dom held the bridge of his nose, cursing a little while muttering under his breath, "Such a movie star." Sam moaned as he hugged you while the others laughed, finding themselves extremely funny. You, yourself, found this rather a picturesque situation and let out several laughs. Nikki shakes her head, resigned to the idea that she raised such idiots. She walked over to you, flicking the back of Harry's head and giving Tom a disapproving look. Harry frowned, noticing the difference between him and his brother.

"We know who’s the favorite child." he said ironically.

The redhead turned to her son and gave one last look, a warning look. Sometimes you have to learn to be more serious. Plus, Nikki hated it when her kids implied that she loved one more than the other. She loved them equally and did anything to make them happy. The curly boy raised his hands in redemption as his mother finally turned to you.

"Nice to meet you my dear. You scared us pretty much." She finally said.

"Nice to meet you too, mrs. Holland. I'm sorry I ruined the brunch."

"Oh please, darling, call me Nikki. And you haven't ruined anything at all. A Holland brunch without a twist isn't a brunch." she joked, trying to make you as comfortable as possible.

You gave her a smile as the doctor who had been taking care of you walked into the room. He looked at the crowd in the room with a puzzled look.

"Okay, I didn't know we had a famous person here."

Tom opened his mouth and Sam interrupted him unprecedentedly

"Don't even dare to make that joke or I swear I'm going back to Scotland straight away!"

The rest of the family laughed at the exchange. The doctor then asked to clear the room and only Sam stayed with you.

"So from the x-rays and the pretty cast you already have. I can tell you that you don't have anything too bad considering the car crash. You can go home, just check for any symptoms of concussion. I'm leaving some papers here to sign and return to reception and you can go. "

You thanked the doctor. When he left the room, you turned your gaze to Sam.

"I'm so sorry I ruined this brunch."

"Hey ... you didn't. As my mom told you, brunch at the Holland's without a twist is not brunch."

"I know, but—"

" Furthermore..." Sam interrupted you

"What?" You asked

"I told you they would love you ..."

You couldn't help but offer a loving smile to Sam. He puts his lips gently on yours and you kiss him back. What had you done to deserve such a perfect boyfriend?

"I love you, Sam Holland."

"And me, even more."

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

(writerkat) Maybe it's just me, but tbh while Fung feels like he cares for Omi a lot, it also kinda feels like he maybe purposefully keeps himself a bit distant from him? Or at the very least he's hesitant to be too openly familial. Fung is a good mentor and master, but perhaps overcompensates in trying to not let his attachment cloud his judgment in Omi's training. Like in the second episode. Omi is upset because the other three got a Shen Gong Wu that he won in the first ever Showdown. Logically, Omi has been training for combat longer than the other three, so it makes sense to give them each a magical weapon to help them defend themselves. Omi even says this himself later in the episode. But in the moment, does Fung explain this? Nope. He just goes "One for Clay, one for Kimiko, one for Raimundo and... None for Omi. If you want one you gotta go wrestle it from the clutches of evil yourself."

I noticed that, too! It's fascinating!

In practice there's this professional amount of distance put between them in their already pretty minimal interactions.

At best, they're about as close as any Fung is with any of the apprentices, and at worst, it comes off as if Omi and Fung have a less personal bond than that. It's pretty rare that Fung shows slight physical affection, and even rarer that it's aimed at Omi.

Fung is nigh unreadable and can probably be considered the most stoic character in the series, so it's hard to say what he thinks or wants. He's not a very warm person. He clearly cares about Omi, but he doesn't show it in a way that Omi very readily picks up on it.

But from Omi's end, he clearly wishes he was closer and had a more personal bond with Fung. And failing that, he at least wants to be the best student in Fung's eyes, so he tries too hard to impress him. Fung is very unreceptive to both those wishes, though. It ends up making their relationship feel very... one-sided, in a way? And he sort of just grows more distant to Omi as the series goes on, particularly in contrast to the other dragons-in-training who Fung gets a bit more informal with at times.

Although it's established in the pilot Fung brought in the other dragons to teach Omi and help Omi grow, comes off like Fung himself feels stiff and awkward around Omi. Like you said, I think Fung overcompensates in an effort to be unbiased. He's far quicker to discipline Omi than he is to show him open affection.

Omi admires and cares so much about Fung that Fung is arguable the biggest driving force and most important person in Omi's eyes, bar none. Omi gets irrational and more emotional than usual when it comes to Master Fung.

For example, in Chameleon, Omi knows Kimiko well enough to be suspicious of the fake Chameleon bot, follows it all the way to the vault to catch it in the act... then is immediately convinced to drop his suspicions by the Chameleon bot pretending to be Fung and telling Omi he needs more rest.

No, I think you are a young monk who has worked very, very hard, and needs his rest.

Thank you, Master Fung.

Omi even leaves with a big cheesy grin and a spring in his step, because it apparently made him really happy to hear that from Fung. He was following a shapeshifter here, but he forgot all about logic for a moment, because he was too ecstatic.

It also shows in how much Omi freaks out when Master Fung was put in danger, like when Dojo swallowed him or when he got trapped in the Yin-Yang dimension. Omi gets so emotional that he becomes reckless at times like that. He wasn't willing to slow down and think about his options in Judging Omi because Omi wanted to save Master Fung as soon as possible.

And it sort of stands out that at no point after that arc do Omi and Fung really talk about it. Omi starts to mention to Fung that Omi feels like he doesn't feel worthy of being a monk or being at the temple and that he'd be willing to forego a promotion to sort out his emotions first, but then everyone gets promoted and the issue seems dropped. Omi still seems uncertain that he belongs at the temple anymore at all until the end of Omi Town.

Omi tries very hard to overcompensate himself and act strong and independent, because Fung wants him to be a strong, independent monk, but sometimes it's pretty clear that all Omi wants is to cry in Fung's arms and be treated like a kid.

[azems-familiar]

SWTOR characters masterlist (new and improved!)

so i know i already have one of these, but it wasn't exactly up to date with some changes i've made to characters, and i made it before starting my novelization, plus i have an entirely new canon with another person to talk about. so without further ado:

canon: start a war (with @ipreferfiction)

Lia Vhoss, Jedi Battlemaster + Commander of the Eternal Alliance

(more pictures to come as i get more)

Lia is my Jedi Knight and was Satele Shan's padawan from a young age. she's 21 at the start of the class story and along with her close friend and all-but-outright-stated queerplatonic partner J'lima (ipreferfiction's knight), she's thrust into the role of saving the galaxy time and time again. she begins a romantic relationship with Kira after Voss, takes Tau Idair as her padawan, and faces down Vitiate and Revan on Yavin and Ziost. she and J'lima are both captured by Arcann in the Eternal Empire's attack on the galaxy, but only Lia is possessed and locked in carbonite; when she's finally freed, she takes up the mantle of commander of the Alliance (and also starts a relationship with Lana, though there's a l o t of complications going on there). she's my beloved and probably could be considered, along with J'lima, to be the main character of start a war, although the rest of the cast is important as well.

Vreila Lanar, Jedi Master + Jedi High Councilor

Vreila is my Jedi Consular but is not the Barsen'thor in start a war the oldest of our combined pantheon, Vreila is the only one who outright remembers the Sacking of Coruscant: she was eleven years old and studying at the Coruscant Temple when the Sacking occurred and barely escaped with her life. Fifteen years later, she's a proud Jedi knight, formerly Syo Bakarn's padawan, and one of the most promising new diplomats in the Order. the resurgence of an ancient Sith plague nearly destroys her first assignment on Alderaan, but after she recovers, the Jedi Council places her with the Rift Alliance, first to keep the peace, then later to hunt down the Children of the Emperor. Vreila quietly marries Felix Iresso in a non-legally-binding ceremony shortly before the Eternal Empire attacks, and it isn't until after Felix is taken as a POW that she realizes she's pregnant. She and her by then four year old son end up on Odessen as a Republic emissary to the Alliance, in the hopes that the former Battlemaster now Commander will be willing to hunt down the Republic and Imperial POWs Zakuul still hasn't released custody of.

Kal'vaela Corrin, Commander of Blackout Squad

Kal is the youngest member of Havoc Squad. Ord Mantell is not her first deployment with them, but it is her last; she follows Tavus and her squadmates to the Empire without a second thought and joins in on the Imperial reorganization of Havoc Squad into Blackout Squad. when Tavus and Fuse begin to doubt their decision, Kal, not wanting the rest of her squad to get caught up in their disloyalty and seeing a chance to get a command of her own, comes up with a plan to frame them as conspiring with the Republic. after her plan succeeds and she's given command of Blackout, she turns her gaze towards destroying the Empire's enemies - and recruiting her ex-girlfriend and now commander of Havoc, Itharil Enaran, to the Empire where she belongs, as well as converting the undercover SIS agent Jonas Balker. when Itharil finally switches sides, she brings former Sergeant Jaxo and Aric Jorgan with her, and yes they end up in the most complicated horrible person polycule you have ever seen. we had to make a diagram for it

i'm not kidding. there's a diagram.

Vyl Kivan

Vyl my utter beloved. he's the youngest character in our combined canon, at seventeen when the class story starts - oh, and he's also trans. born into slavery on Ryloth then sold to a semi-powerful Sith family on Dromund Kaas, he's sixteen when his Force-sensitivity and powerful Force empathy are discovered, and after a year of training from his master, he's sent to Korriban in the place of her son, who is completely Force-blind. he's taken as an apprentice by Darth Baras for his impressive power and the ease by which he's manipulated, but treated as little more than a tool due to how he refuses to use the Dark Side of the Force no matter how he's pushed, and will only kill if it's a last resort. he learns to lie to Baras' face to protect himself as he frequently leaves targets alive, as he sends Nomen Karr back to the Jedi to heal and takes Jaesa as his apprentice, although really he's learning from her just as much as she is from him. he ends up being made the Wrath for similar reasons for why Baras took him in the first place. after some difficulty on Ilum and elsewhere in the galaxy, Vyl ends up defecting to the Republic and specifically the Jedi on Yavin after encouragement from Theron (his partner) and Master Orgus Din. he's one of the Alliance's founding members during the five-year gap and he and Theron end up bringing a very much alive Thexan Tirall into their relationship during the war with Zakuul.

Avaanla Ki, Darth Aedis + Sith Empress + Master of the Revanites

Avaanla was taken into slavery at a young age and ended up in a brothel for several years. raised and trained as a dancer, with a pleasure slave's brand on her wrist, her Force breakthrough occurs when she's fourteen years old, when she ends up killing a man for touching her. this becomes a not-uncommon occurrence over the next few years until she's finally purchased by a Sith who bargains training in exchange for work. at twenty, she's sent to Korriban, and she trains there for a while until stumbling upon a secret she wasn't supposed to find while exploring the tombs on a trial. she's saved by Darth Thanaton, who ends up taking her as an apprentice, and who enlists her in his desire to bring down Vitiate. after a mission on Dromund Kaas for another Sith, Avaanla finds herself hunting down the shadowy Revanite Master herself and taking the woman's place, and even breaks Revan free from Maelstrom Prison herself, in the goal of enlisting the powerful woman's help to take down the Emperor (and put herself in his place, of course - what's a Sith without ambition?). in pursuit of those goals, she ends up taking over the Sphere of Mysteries, gaining a seat on the Dark Council and an in to the Emperor's greatest secrets. after Thanaton's exile following his loss to Jana Vassi (newly crowned Darth Nox) in a Kaggath, Avaanla's plans are somewhat hampered, and after Darth Arkous goes rogue with a great deal of the Revanites she's forced into showing her hand early - but after it's all said and done, with Marr's disappearance, Avaanla finds herself taking the Sith throne after all, sharing it with Jana. she ends up in a polyamorous relationship with Jana and Andronikos, eventually.

Averr'iis'aloh, Cipher Eight + Legate + Keeper

Averr'iis'aloh, also known as Riisa, grew up on Csilla and joined the Csilla Secret Police at the age of fourteen. she was partnered with Tharel'elshe'reth (who later becomes Cipher Nine) and the two of them grew close (eventually starting a romantic relationship). when the two of them were in their early twenties, they stumbled upon an artifact on the Chiss world of Copero that the Empire didn't want being known - this was caused directly by Riisa's latent Force-sensitivity (just enough to get her into trouble). she and Elshe'reth were sent, reluctantly, to the Empire to join Imperial Intelligence, and the two of them worked as Ciphers to bring down Jadus and the Eagle's terror network. sent alone to infiltrate a particularly dangerous SIS spy ring, Riisa becomes drawn in to the way the Republic treats their agents, and takes the Legate role on in truth, partly driven by a complicated falling-out she has with Elshe'reth during this time. an ill-advised fling with Aristocra Saganu leaves her with a daughter (Miurani'var'ieth, Nivari) that she sends to be raised on Csilla, and Riisa ends up throwing herself fully into her role as a double agent for the Republic, getting named Keeper of Imperial Intelligence after she manages to bring down Dread Master Styrak. it isn't until sometime after the Eternal Alliance settles in as the major power in the galaxy that her deception is discovered and she's broken out of the Empire by Elshe'reth herself (now an agent for the Alliance). the two of them do, after much difficulty, end up back together and raising a family together.

[bxllafanficc]

¡Skate/sing your hearts out! (Yuri Plizetsky x reader)

(part five)

Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four. Masterlist

Summary: After last year's cancellation of Figure Skating Grand Prix, Yuri Plisetsky finds himself unable to bring out his inner skater after a year of doing nothing but enjoy life like a regular teenager. That's when you enter the picture; We Are Voice Grand Awards's currently hottest competitive vocalist come first place two years in a row. Just like the other competitors of Grand Prix, it turns out that Victor and Yuuri faces the same issue. With an arrangement between Victor and Yakov, they agree to travel to Japan and hire you as a mutual coach for Yuri and Yuuri to help bring back the emotion into their performances like before, maybe even more intense than ever. Yuri however, who's never experienced issues with his coaches before, for some reason finds this one particularly difficult to coexist along with in their (reasonably) odd partnership. Warnings: none

*Yuri's POV*

(One week later)

He groaned, still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes even after breakfast. The sun was annoyingly bright today and the crowds chatting along the streets became a loud buzzing in his ears. They walk along shore at a smaller street where the typical fisherman has been standing, even years from now since Yuri saw him last. With a face mask up to his eyes and his hoodie up, it also came to be exceedingly hot underneath his disguise. Sweaty again.

In front of him walked Yuuri and Victor, sheering for him to hurry up meanwhile Victor snapped some photos behind his head on him and (Y/n). 'A selfie to remember' he said. Though the sour face of (Y/n) was far from something anyone would like to remember. Terrifying.

Right. Why? Yuri didn't exactly hit it off at its peak this morning with (Y/n) as his roommate. The cold shoulder hitting him like a slap in the face grew even larger every time he tried talk her back to normal state. A 'what's the matter with you? Stop being a drag!' Wasn't gonna get him an answer so far. Though, Yuri found himself surprised that he even made an effort into talking with her in this mood. One week with her and he's already softening up? Not great. He can't treat her as if she isn't a stranger to him, nice or not. Even if she always came at the late ending hours of his practicing at the rink and greeted him with a late snack after training. Star-shaped apple slices and a smoothie. He found it weird the first time and he still does. Every morning and every late evening because Yakov happened to mention that apples were Yuri's favorite fruit.

And this morning? Maybe he could actually admit that he screwed up. It probably could've gone better if he hadn't stolen Magnolia from her... Long story short, she was asleep with the cat in her arms and Yuri sneaked out a makeshift toy to lure him over. (Y/n) quickly noticed that Yuri was now the person cuddling the cat and she tried to call him over for his morning brush with a happy chirping sound. But Yuri had held Magnolia still when he tried to go until the cat was like 'meh whatevs' and went back to sleep in Yuri's arms. He knew now afterwards that it was already a little bit much to hold the cat back but the worst part wasn't past yet. No. The worst part was when he said 'He wants to be with me, not you, you clingy hag' and 'Maybe if you weren't so stubborn and tacky all the time he would be sprinting to you this moment instead of cuddling with his savior.' When she hadn't responded well to his words some unknown force told him to push it harder. So kept on pushing at her limits with spiteful manners and comments. He can't really understand why he'd said that now afterwards. All that came out meanwhile Yuri was still half asleep from past day's exhaustion, and he hadn't yet realized that he probably should filter the way he talk to his coach, nonetheless the,, he wouldn't say idol,, but- Nonetheless the acquaintance she is. Though he couldn't stand her. How itching and irritated he felt whenever she made her own sour looks. Isn't she supposed to be happy sunshine or what? Just get over it already, it was just an insult anyway.

But it was clear that (Y/n) took the insult to heart and has been doing so since then. At breakfast, he had received a bowl of starshaped cut apples put down harshly in front of him at the table. That along with blueberry pancakes. Why she was the one making breakfast, he didn't understand. But it had certainly not been unbearable to eat. No the opposite really. The entire Katsuki household was there along with them and everyone had been gulping it down like starved hounds. But the thing really throwing Yuri off was the fact that his appleslices were the only ones being but into starshapes. Just that she took the extra time even though or because she was upset at him?

Yuri gazed at the girl's direction as he thought of the event. 'So very unnecessary' he thought. Was it some twisted joke he didn't quite get or a revenge he didn't see coming? Because except for the apples, she had been totally snappy with him since they left for the unknown adventure Victor had described it as. And she wouldn't really have made that extra effort out of kindness judging on her mood today.

(Y/n) was very keen not to glance at him just one bit this morning since that breakfast. And when Yuri made a huge deal out of it afterwards, Victor had took him aside and whispered into his ear; 'There will come days where she won't put up with your bullshit anymore and today seems like such a situation. I don't know what you did to cause that reaction because it's quite rare. But I recommend you lay off and let her cool down on her own.' His words had been a sense of advise with a hint of bitterness in it.

Just minutes later he had gathered us four and announced that he would be taking them all somewhere to cleanse our minds and gather our thoughts. He hadn't really understood why all four would go there but that's when (Y/n) decided it was time to announce a pretty important details she almost withheld from him until now. Apparently the entire reason they chose to do this whole coaching in Japan was because she had taken Yuuri as her apprentice as well. It all seemed relevant of course. Why else would Yuri be here right now and not with her back in Russia? But it made him feel uneasy and let down for some stupid reason. Why she apparently thought it was much more important to teach Yuuri than him since they were in Japan right now. He's always gotta be the favorite even though Yuri won gold and proved himself to be better than the piglet. Victor already chose him. And clearly (Y/n) did too. But she made him believe that she came here only to coach him.

He didn't understand anything. He didn't want her coaching, didn't want to hear anything she had to say. She wasn't a real coach even. He certainly didn't want to share a room with her and he didn't want to feel relieved at the sight of her at the rink yesterday, coming to his rescue like that. He just wanted her to stop talking so much but now he couldn't stand the silence she was giving him.

Couldn't she just get her shit together?

"Ta-daaa! We're here!" Victor's shout made Yuri snap back to reality at the beat of a second. It took him a moment to understand the building the man was waving towards but soon he remembered the experiences he had there.

"No- nonono! I'm not going through that hellish session again. No damned waterfalls and no hitting me with a stick!" Yuri turned on his heels but was grabbed by the collar of his neck by a pouting Victor. (Y/n) who was clearly new to the subject gave Yuuri a hesitant look but Victor wasn't going down.

"Come on, it will be great for everyone. And I promise no hitting this time!"

'This time.' He didn't believe it one bit. He knew it was just an attempt to get him through the doors. Once in, no turning back. But if there was going to be hitting, he was secretly hoping that it would not be (Y/n) as the one doing it.

"Still no. There's no way you're getting me through those doors! Never am I ever standing under a waterfall again!"

...

The rapid flow of the water forcibly threatening to push him forwards was as cold as he remembered it. Screw the hitting with sticks, this just felt like someone rapidly slapping him across the back over and over. At least the water could've been warm. What was the deal with that anyway? He knew exactly why going here was kept a secret from him. They would never have caught him if he knew before. Now Yuri is standing in the middle, unable to escape. A quiet but intimidating (Y/n) who hasn't spoken up for hours and Yuuri who seems to actually be taking this whole thing seriously. Then there's the big question. Where is Little blondie Rasputin in the picture. The answer is right in front of him in a corner of the other side of the room. In a bubble bath taking it easy. He said that he'd be making sure we'd concentrate on opening up our minds and he'd tell us if he noticed otherwise. Yuri believed none of it. He just doesn't want to be here himself. Cause why was (Y/n) doing it if both the coaches aren't in on it. She's already in touch with herself and doesn't need it. Part of him guesses that she was participating on her own terms for some reason.

'This isn't working. I'm literally standing here thinking about everything and anything until time passes!' He thought. And...

He made the mistake of looking to his right. (Y/n) was standing close beside him with closed eyes. He was going to close his eyes as well but then he noticed how soft her skin looked. Like, all the wrinkles caused by her constant grumpy face were flattened out. Her mouth hung low and her lips were slightly parted. That made him notice her slow breathing making her chest rise and fall in a nice rhythm. Even though the water hitting his scalp shouted angrily in his ears, he was somehow able to here her melodic breathing. She was doing this the right way. And she looked completely relaxed. Almost asleep.

He kept on listening to her breathing and prayed that she wouldn't open her eyes right this moment. If so, she'd probably have realized right away how long exactly he had been staring at her.

He brushed it off and adverted his gaze, closed his eyes shut. It wasn't anything more than that. He had to get to know her at some point and her striking eyes were always too intimidating for him. He would always look away to feel less stripped of his soul in front of her. It was almost the first time he really could study her features up close, and without her knowing. (D-Did that sound weird-? anyway.)

He couldn't see her anymore but her light breath could still be heard. A part of it made Yuri think of music when he listened to it. He'll focus on that. Mach the breathing to his own.

Everything she did held a steady rhythm to it, unintentionally probably. The music was so much more than just the beautiful voice she had, but it consumed her entire being. Maybe that's why it felt so real on stage.

Does he have to let the skating consume him too? What if he loses control of what he's doing? Starts doing a different choreography or hits the wall again? What would happen if he just let go?

"I think we're done for today. Great job guys! You too Yuri!"

Well, he would never find out because he could never let that happen. Ever. If he doesn't hold control, then what does he have.

Yuuri and (Y/n) came back to reality and stepped out of the fall. Yuri followed short behind and watched the droplets of water running down the back of the girl in front of him. Her shoulders were much less tense than before they begun their session.

'If she thinks she's her to help me let go of all control and fly off the surface of the earth, then I'm sorry. For your coaching will have been in vain.'

...

Yuri was the last one out of the showers and was alone in the locker room as the piglet had already finished before him. He put one the clothes he came in since he came unprepared and set off to the main entrance. To his surprise, he found (Y/n) leaned against a nearby wall just outside the path leading the separate changing rooms apart. 'She's been waiting for me?' She still looks stern but this time Yuri's directly hit in the face by it. She's not ignoring him anymore. Her eyes are as piercing as always but not with excitement or content as usual. Yuri has to turn his head. The feeling's too much.

He walks beside her this time as well. Not a few feet behind like the way they came here.

Victor's tall back was seen outside the building through the glass doors and the two of them headed out. Yuuri was there too but they weren't alone. A large crowd of screaming teenagers as well as adults were swooning over the two skaters. Reporters and journalists were at the front struggling to ask the pair questions meanwhile guards from the center nearby held them all back. At the corner of his eye (Y/n) was turning slightly pale of the sudden screams that roared as they arrived together. As soon as Yuri was noticed the same reaction came for the second time and he joined in on the surprise. His first instinct was to run and hope none in the crowd ran faster than him. But is seemed like (Y/n) sensed his intentions before he did. A firm and calming hand was placed upon his head and as what- a warning? A threat? He looked at her and she smiled. Not to him, but to the crowd.

"Is that (Y/n) and Yuri Plisetsky?"

"Yes! But why are they in Japan? And together?"

"Aww look! They look so cute together!"

A couple pictures were taken of the two of them and Yuri was as stunned by the girl's hand as well as her warm presence towards her fans. He was even too caught up to snap her hand away.

"How long have you known each other?"

"Yuri YURI! What were you doing in there with the Aubade duchess of (nationality)?" Duchess? Right. One of her many titles created by her fan base. It's pretty funny. Why a duchess? Why not a queen or an empress? Yuri wasn't the one to complain though. He was called the Russian punk.

"(Y/n), any reason you're in Japan? Any hot news you'd like to share with us?" The woman asking leaned over the fighting arms of the guard and winked playfully at the two of them. He saw (Y/n) getting visibly  uncomfortable at the suggestive question and she stuttered, trying to come up with something smooth and contained for the reporter to use in her article. Yuri was just pissed off at how rudely this woman got all up in their private life like that. He felt like it had been put upon (Y/n) as her responsibility alone to answer that and that just made him angrier.

But the back of the tall Russian male hiding him from camera views stopped the salty defensive words he almost spit out.

"Of course! It's about time to announce anyway. On the behalf of myself and Yakov Feltsman, we're proud to announce that (Y/n) (l/n) will spend her time in Japan as coach for our competing skaters; Yuri Plisetsky and Yuuri Katsuki, in their preparations for this year's Grand Prix senior division!" Victor's worlds were happily announced to the audience and the next moment all hell of a screaming mess broke loose. The reporters rushed sideways to call their firms about the news and the guards almost failed to hold the fighting fans at bay. It all was a mess already. It went from being super private and secretive to Victor dropping the act without warning and soon the whole world would know in just a couple of minutes.

Shit.

A/N; Aaand another chapter! I have so fun writing these and it's almost like therapy session for me too:') no waterfalls though. It seems like Yuri's starting to warm up to (Y/n) right? Well... Baby steps;) What do you think will happen in next chapter? Let me know what you think!