#he kicked my water bottle off a bridge lol

[bitchsister]

i need more of bucky punishing curtie for being a brat, maybe throw in some other mota characters like dickie or something? curtie flirting with his college friend to make a very busy bucky jealous cause he's not getting enough attention/sex lol

Pt. 2 from anon: a continuation from my ask abt more bucky punishing curt, what if this time bucky asks gale to do it for him instead, like he dictates everything, and gale may or may not be reluctant at first but succumb to his own horniness in the end 😈

Once again I had to force myself not to write 5 chapters of this.

Summer Project on Ao3

🚩Don’t read if you’re not down with: spanking, daddy is used once, sharing, kinda poly?

special mentions:

Anonymous asked:

thinking about curtbucky (or curtbuckygale) and spanking. that’s all!

Anonymous asked:

Ohhhhh we need more of Curt’s punishments omgggg

“And you saw Pompeii?” Gale asked, sat at their usual spot in Bucky’s study, Curt lounging near his window seat as he flipped through a magazine, still looking jet lagged a week later with a European tan.

“Mhm.” Curt nodded slowly, his eyes peeking over at Gale from behind the magazine in his lap, his calf resting against the top of his bent knee, slouched against a decorative pillow. “Turned ‘em poor guys into ceramics.”

Bucky practically choked, spluttering coffee onto the case papers in front of him, groaning when he wiped the mess away with his sleeve. “Curtis.” He murmured, “Jesus.”

Gale smirked, leaning back in his chair as he eyed the two of them with his hands clasped over his abdomen, one leg crossed over the other.

“What?” Curt piped up, brows furrowed at Bucky. “Is it too soon, or somethin’?” He waved a hand at John and shook his head before turning his attention back to the magazine he flipped through, “Be forreal.”

Curt had been spending more time in the study with them lately because it seemed these days it was the only way he’d see Bucky awake, or at the very least, not half asleep .

He understood, but that was because he had to.

He supported Bucky, but he’d been feeling a little unimportant

Eventually, Gale and Bucky had taken a break from their papers for cigarettes and coffee in the garden while Curt laid on a lounger by the pool, talking loudly on FaceTime with one of his campus friends called Rosie.

It wasn’t until Curt propped his phone up against his big clunky water bottle covered in stickers that Bucky had turned to watch, his sights narrowed in behind his sunglasses.

“Thought Rosie was a girl.” Gale murmured, hearing a man’s voice on the other end of the line from the phone Curt had been showing off his swim trunks in front of, and his tan line by pulling them down below his hip bones.

“Me too.” Bucky huffed through the puff of smoke he blew into the sky like some kind of fuming dragon.

You like ‘em?

Oh, shut up, Rosie.

Nah, nah. You got better ones than me!

Oh, fuckin’ stop.

Gales eyes darted around anxiously as he fought the incessant urge to chew his nails to the bone — Curt was up to no good, and Bucky was on his case like the goddamn ambulance chaser he used to be fresh out of law school.

“Are we seeing the same thing?” Bucky asked the ether, his sunglasses lowered on the bridge of his nose as he watched — Gale hardly wanted to answer, but even he would admit he was almost impressed by Curt’s ballsiness.

“I think so.”

Curt was giggling, kicking his feet, belly laughing, speaking through fingertips he chewed on, just playing coy.

“You gonna do somethin’?” Gale whispered, eyeing Bucky who always kept his composure, though through the years Gale had been able to pick up on his few little tells that indicated he was seething or just plain fed up.

“Mm,” Bucky held his cigarette between his teeth. “No. But you will.”

“What?”

“Well, I can’t always be the one keeping ‘em in check.” Bucky grinned, though every word he uttered was laden with some serious venom that Gale was afraid to touch, but he’d already been bitten. “He’s being bad, isn’t he?”

Gale rolled his neck, unsure of exactly what to say next, but still he spoke. “He’s being a brat. What’s new, John? He’s a diva.” He wiggled in his chair, leaning back further in it to force his body to relax. “We all know this.”

Bucky straightened his back and whistled to get Curt’s attention. “Hey!” he called, watching Curt snap upright to peek his head over a rose bush near the pool.

“What?”

“C’mere.” Bucky’s tone was ridged and it seemed Curt knew exactly what that meant.

Gotta go, Rosie.

No, no, no. We’re still on for tomorrow.

Yeah, five is fine.

Eventually, Curt lazily strode over to the table beneath the cabana and plucked a few strawberries from the center, sucking the juice from them until they were nothing but tiny green nubs. “What?” He asked again, his lips tugged into a smirk.

“What are you guys doing tomorrow?” Bucky asked casually, eyeing Curt up and down like a snake ready to strike a baby bird from its nest. “Big plans?”

Curt rolled his eyes and draped himself over Gale, slotting his bottom between his thighs and wrapping his arms around his shoulders, like he’d save him from the onslaught. “We’re working on our project, Bucky.” He reached up to push Gales blonde hair away from his eyes, watching him melt when he did.

“Summer project, hm?”

Curt’s cheeks turned red, his nose buried in Gales neck.

Curt was loyal to Bucky. And he always would be. But Rosie seemed fun, and at the very least enjoyed giving Curt some attention when Bucky was too busy to look at him in swim trunks, and Gale was right there beside him with his nose in paperwork most days.

Bucky eyed Gale who’d instinctively wrapped his arms around Curt’s little body to hold him closer, his chin resting on his warm shoulder. “He’s lying to us now, Gale.” He clicked his tongue. “That’s not what good boys do, hm?”

Gale had gone quiet like he was protecting a puppy who’d eaten their case files from a harsh scolding, lips tugged into a straight line when he sighed through his nose.

Bucky had realized that after their trip he’d been spending far more time with Gale in his study than anywhere else with Curt — but he’d made it clear to him that their time away would mean he’d have to play catch up once they got back home.

Neither of them seemed to realize it would be so much, though.

“It’s summer. I’m so bored.” Curt sighed heavily and turned in Gales lap so he was facing Bucky, “You’ve hardly looked at me in a week.” He then turned his head to look at Gale. “Both of you.”

Well, that was a twist of the knife.

Gale and Bucky locked eyes for a moment, the papers in front of them long forgotten now with a needy and deserving Curtis in front of them. Bucky remembered how much Curt liked the spanking he got when he was bent over the leather seats of their rental Audi, the one Bucky had such a horrendous time parting with on their last day of vacation.

“You want some attention, Curt?” Bucky stubbed his cigarette out in an ashtray, his sunglasses pushed up into his brown curls as he watched Curtis feverishly nod his head, body wiggling against the lump already forming in Gales denim.

“Bend over for Galey, then.”

Gales cheeks immediately went pink, his blue eyes going round once he saw Curt immediately scramble to obey, so very giddy to be the center of attention again — so much so, he’d completely forgotten about Rosie’s existence.

Bucky rose a brow at Gale when he didn’t make any moves, frozen in place instead with his hands picking at his hangnails in his lap. “Pull his trunks down, Cleven.” He murmured, rising to circle the table and stand behind Gale who sat nervously. “Don’t be a pussy.” He leant down and whispered in his ear. “He can smell fear.”

Gale reached forward eventually and pulled Curt’s tight trunks down to his ankles where they were almost immediately kicked away, thighs spread apart a few inches and his back curved to perk his ass up at Gale who could hardly believe his eyes.

He knew eventually they’d need to have a talk.

One that would make his heart flutter and his eye twitch, but one that would be needed, nonetheless.

What am I?

What is this ?

What are we?

Is it anything?

Fuck.

“He lied to us, remember?” Bucky leaned over the cushioned patio chair, palms flattening over Gales heaving chest to soothe him before he reached forward and landed a heavy handed crack over Curt’s ass, a little jump and a big moan squeezed out of him.

“Ow.” Curt whimpered, laying his head over the table he was bent over. “Y’ain’t gonna spank me, are you, Galey?” He planted his feet even further apart, cheeks spread enough to put himself on display. “You won’t hurt me, will you?”

Bucky nipped at Gales ear before he whispered again, “Don’t let ‘em get in your head.” He knew exactly the little game Curt was playing and how it’d effect Gale, who walked around ant hills because they worked so hard on them, or scooped spiders into glasses and took them outside because it’s not their fault they came to the wrong place at the wrong time. “C’mon, Cleven. Show ‘em he’s your boy, too.”

Gale swallowed the lump in his throat, his fingers tingling and his cock throbbing against layers of cotton and denim restriction that felt more like a raging fire burning in his loins — he wanted to use his tongue, his lips, his fingers, so unfamiliar with the prospect of giving pleasure through pain.

He rose his hand eventually, smacking his hand down over the same pink handprint Bucky had left on Curt’s skin who giggled into his hands, “Gonna have to try harder than that if you’re gonna teach me a lesson, Gale.” He grabbed a strawberry and shoved it into his mouth, murmuring around it. “Light work.”

He yawned.

He fucking yawned.

That must have struck a chord because Gale was reaching out again to reposition Curt’s hips just right, trying his hand once more over the welt that was forming on Curt’s right cheek that stung that time, a hiss sucked through his teeth when he jumped again at the radiating heat that climbed up his back and surged through his spine. “Ouch, Galey.” He whined, sporting a fake pout through the smirk covered in strawberry juice.

Then came another.

And another.

Harder and harder each time.

Eventually, Gale was panting, pulling Curt closer by his hips and pressing kisses to the bottom of his spine while he whimpered and whined, reaching backward for a hand that Bucky had given him to hold. “All eyes on you, baby.” He murmured as he reached forward to touch the warm welts on his cheeks. “This what you wanted?”

Curt nodded, blinking away the tears in his eyes as he rocked his hips against the table he laid over, his cock pressed between the cloth draped over it and his belly. “Yes, Daddy. Yes.” He was still panting, still so so whiney.

“Galey is so nice to you, darlin’. He’s kissing you all better.”

[lilypixels]

...............all of them.....?

It took me an hr to do this....🥲💀

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Teacupsss

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Lollipops

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Uhhh cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

Probably quiet and smart lol I did my school work and was friendly with everyone so I was a favorite and heard all the nice things 🙈

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

I kinda like bottles more but like the glass ones with the caps that could slice your fingers-

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

I’m for all but sports lol

7. earbuds or headphones?

Earbuds

8. movies or tv shows?

Shows cause I’m the type to watch an hr long episode vs hr long movie idk why but I’m rarely in mood for them

12. name of your favorite playlist?

Drop the beat (ie songs that are upbeat and I like most)

13. lanyard or key ring?

Hmm...I guess lanyard?

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Skittles or twizzlers

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

I had lots I had to read in school but only ever finished a handful lol my favorite I think was maybe Macbeth? I would say Odyssey but I don’t think we read the full thing cause I remember being disappointed about something like that...

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

Sitting with my legs bent up in seat with me in some way

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

Converse and some nice but cheap sneakers from Walmart

18. ideal weather?

Not too hot, not too cold, mild like before/after a rain (most the time), idc if it’s raining or sunny but as long as temp is comfortable I’m fine

19. sleeping position?

On my side most often

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

Phone and notebook

21. obsession from childhood?

Oh gosh uhhh I guess my like of dolls maybe? Or obsession with anything ✨unexplained✨ like ghosts, aliens, cryptids, etc

22. role model?

Kim Namjoon lol just kidding (sorta)

23. strange habits?

Ok I know I have some and my friends would be more than happy to point them all out but hm let me think...idk if these count as habits but I’ll never place a mirror facing a bed (this is more superstitious I guess than habit,,,) I can’t stand my food touching, if I have a tray like in cafeteria I have a certain spot for everything and uh my mind just went blank-

24. favorite crystal?

Moonstone, lapis lazuli, and I feel obligated to say garnet cause it’s my birthstone

25. first song you remember hearing?

Circle of Life maybe who knows xD

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Walk or clean,,I’m more active and about with warm/nice weather

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

...stay inside where it’s warm

28. five songs to describe you?

Not this again😭 uhhh idk you tell me ajdbd

29. best way to bond with you?

Indulge me when I go off about things I like or learn 😔✊ I know I’ll talk your ear off and I’m sorry but know I don’t often talk about these things with people so once I start it’s hard to stop,,and it makes me really happy when people do listen to me about these things and send me related items every so often or even look into it themselves to learn more 🥺

30. places that you find sacred?

For some reason this feels like a trick question...um cemeteries and anything with ages of history I guess

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

Oof do I really have a true outfit?? I have shoes for this which are just black platform sneakers I call stomping shoes

32. top five favorite vines?

I never,,,watched these,,,

33. most used phrase in your phone?

“Yes”...?

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

State Farm and McDonald’s, always

35. average time you fall asleep?

10-11...usually...

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

Uhhh that one with the ginger dude (I think it was someone’s yearbook photo??) I don’t remember much else about the meme but it was on ifunny, or whatever the app was, a lot

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Suitcase

38. lemonade or tea?

Easy, tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

...neither

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

Dude these questions really testing my brain power here- for senior prank someone put cereal in some bathroom sinks I think

41. last person you texted?

My mom

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

I’m gonna say jacket since I wear those often

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

Hoodie or cardigan

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Fantasy

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

Usually whatever shirt I’m wearing that day and some pj/lounge pants 🤷

47. favorite type of cheese?

Mozzarella

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

I-what kind of question is this? How does one even answer this?

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

What comes around goes around lol (yes I’m a heavy believer of karma)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

Lol who knows, probably something dumb me and my siblings were doing or something we watched cause there’s been plenty times of that xD

51. current stresses?

Homework vs free time e-e

52. favorite font?

I like the gothic looking ones but it’s usually not practical to use so idk

53. what is the current state of your hands?

My hands...? They’re fine ??

54. what did you learn from your first job?

How to care for babies and little kids, how to put on a diaper lol

56. favorite tradition?

I can’t remember a particular one off hand but I’m trying to start few new ones like decorating cookies for Halloween uwu

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Uhhhhh like personally or...? Cause we’ve overcome homelessness before, um finishing assignments idk😭 oh maybe bullying?? That’s all I can think of since I still struggle with a lot,,

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

Alright let’s do thisss: creativity (mostly in writing sense), I can bake/cook, I have amazing organization skills and many work places have used that lol (bonus is I don’t mind, I actually really enjoy it, very peaceful), surprisingly good balance all things considered, I’m a quick learner

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“I’m too tired for this.”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

Good question good question🤔 I don’t think I’d last in any of them/have a terrible side character role so 💀

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

“Life’s too short to hold grudges.”

62. seven characters you relate to?

Dude this is gonna get embarrassing I can feel it🤠

Itaru, Iori, Sogo, Belle, Simeon (obey me), Nozaki (he’s clueless about romance irl and doesn’t know when someone has a crush on him yet can write romance well enough and yeah it’s me lol), and uhh Swindler/Ordinary Person in Akudama Drive (still can’t believe no one really has names in that anime but the way she gets wrapped in everything felt like something that’d happen to me lol)

63. five songs that would play in your club?

Like nightclub...? I’m skipping this ajdbd

64. favorite website from your childhood?

Probably the Barbie site, me and my sister played all the dress up games almost daily istg

65. any permanent scars?

Appendectomy scars and then looks like I have one on a toe but it’s possible it still might heal...

66. favorite flower(s)?

Nightshade, foxglove, baby’s breath, bellflowers, roses

67. good luck charms?

I don’t think I have any...

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

Lemon

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Let me think...I read something once about flowers having ears(?) but like not ear ears just something about having a part that picks up sound waves

70. left or right handed?

Right

71. least favorite pattern?

Lolll animal print I think

72. worst subject?

Physics...the worst science

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

6...?

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

I don’t remember, it probably happened when i was 6. I do remember losing one of my front teeth during my birthday one year and I was happy since the tooth had been loose for some time xD

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

Chips I guess or just like fried in skillet

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

A succulent probably

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

Neither ew

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

They are both about equally terrible

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Earth

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

Fireflies

82. pc or console?

I am on pc side now

83. writing or drawing?

Writing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

Podcasts I guess

84. barbie or polly pocket?

Barbie

85. fairy tales or mythology?

Mythology, it’s too fun and chaotic lol

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Hm...cupcakes

87. your greatest fear?

Uh,,,I don’t have many fears but I guess one would be falling from a great height? So I would get scared of crossing a bridge and it collapsing or riding a plane and it falling easily

88. your greatest wish?

World peace🥲

89. who would you put before everyone else?

My mom maybe...?

90. luckiest mistake?

I honestly don’t remember but something I do remember is I out semicolon instead of period and turned out to be correct grammar lol

91. boxes or bags?

Boxes

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

Sunlight or fairy lights, I don’t require much either way and prefer more natural lighting

93. nicknames?

Lassie, twinkle toes, Ash, poody butt (by 3 yr old I sometimes watch and play with lol he means it affectionately; I call him monkey butt and it’s catching on slowly instead)

94. favorite season?

Starting to be fall just a little more but I like transition times most

95. favorite app on your phone?

Let’s go with twitter

96. desktop background?

It is a moriarty and gang pic

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

2: mine and my moms

98. favorite historical era?

Ooo tough one but I’ll say renaissance as some of the coolest things came from that time

[chilligyu]

info: im jaebum/reader, teen+, strangers to lovers au genre: soft angst, romance | word ct: 5.1k warnings: suggestive themes summary: for years, jaebum tried to forget the woman who broke his heart. little did he know that she wasn’t so easily forgotten, and that her face would haunt him at every turn. note: so I started this three years ago after listening to got7′s face for the first time and I’ve been editing it and forgetting it ever since. lol maybe someone will enjoy it

“Jaebum, I’m sorry.”

Okay.

“I really am.”

Okay.

“Please understand—”

Okay.

“Jae? Don’t just stand there.”

Okay.

“Please—please say something!”

Like what?

Jaebum didn’t know what she expected him to say, not after that. After she ripped out his heart.

“I don’t love you anymore, Jaebum. I’m sorry.”

She just stood there in the doorway, bag in hand, waiting for his response with tears in her eyes. He knew she was trying to stay strong, he could see her lip trembling as she held it between her teeth. How long would she wait there? How long would she bat her eyelashes at him innocently waiting for him to make it all okay? What did she even want from him? Forgiveness? Reassurance? Did she think that somehow an apology would make their breakup hurt any less?

“Goodbye, Seohyun.” He forced out through clenched teeth. “Thanks for everything.”

“Wait—Jaebum—!”

Closing the door on both her and their three year relationship, Jaebum couldn’t remember what he did next. He couldn’t remember clawing every photograph off the walls, he couldn’t remember how his fingers stung as they dug into the plaster. He couldn’t recall pulling every plate from their cabinets, he couldn’t recall how his feet bled when he stepped on the broken porcelain. He couldn’t recollect how much he hated the man who stared at him in the mirror, he couldn’t recollect how his fist destroyed the glass and how it finally reflected how he felt inside.

“I don’t love you anymore, Jaebum. I’m sorry.”

That was over a year ago. And it felt like an eternity to him. Looking at himself now, suit neatly pressed, shoes freshly shined, he didn’t see any semblance of the man from that night. After he destroyed everything that reminded him of her, as he saw the pictures of happier times reduced to embers in the fireplace, he made himself a promise. He swore that he would never let anyone ruin him so completely ever again. Steeling his heart and caging it in ice, he wouldn’t even give them the chance.

Never again.

“Jae?” Jinyoung inquired, knuckles rasping against Jaebum’s door. “We’re heading out for drinks, want to come with?”

He didn’t even look up from the reports he was filing. “Can’t. I’m busy.”

Jinyoung crossed his arms. “Shocker. You’re always busy.”

“That comes with being the boss.” Jaebum countered easily.

Rolling his eyes, Jinyoung leaned against the doorframe. “C’mon, Jae, just pretend you’re a regular guy and not an office robot for a couple of hours. Would it hurt to have a little fun?”

“Maybe. Socializing is against my programming.” Jaebum teased in a robot voice. “I cannot acquiesce to your request.”

“Dammit Jae.” Jinyoung sighed in disbelief. “Your humor is wasted in this tiny little room. Go out with us. Free yourself from the confines of this dastardly place. One night with the guys isn’t going to kill you. And if it does, I’ll buy lunch for a week. Scouts honor.”

Jaebum snickered quietly. “Alright, if it gets you to shut up I’ll go out for a couple of hours.”

“And do a couple of shots?” Jinyoung pressed hopefully.

“Don’t push your luck, Jin.” Jaebum chastised him, leering over his glasses. “I’ll have a glass of wine and that’s it.”

“I’ll take it.” Jinyoung shrugged. “We’re leaving in ten minutes. You want to catch a ride with me?”

Pursing his lips, Jaebum shook his head. “I’ve got to turn these in before I go. I’ll meet you there if you text me the address.”

Jinyoung narrowed his eyes at his friend suspiciously. “I swear to God, Jae, if you flake on us I’m going to come back here and kick your sorry ass.”

“Like you could take me.” Jaebum smirked. “Just go, I’ll be there soon. Promise.”

Jinyoung didn’t relent, his head dragging as he headed towards his own office. “I’ve got my eyes on you, Im Jaebum. You’re not going to fool me.”

“I’m not trying to fool you.” Jaebum informed him. “But if you keep bothering me I’m going to magically find a stack of financial statements that need to be filed. And who better to file them than my good buddy Park Jinyoung—”

“See you there!” Jinyoung interrupted, dashing down the hall like his heels were on fire. “I’ll text you!”

Chuckling at the expense of his friend, Jaebum leaned back in his chair and tapped his pen against his leg. He couldn’t remember the last time he went out just to go out. It had been too long since he was desperate for the numbing sensation of alcohol pulsing through his veins to simply function normally. The last time he could remember drinking he couldn’t recall anything that happened after. Not until he woke up in some woman’s bed that he didn’t bother to learn the name of. He wanted to feel bad, or at least some part of him did. Because she wasn’t the first, and she most certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Not tonight. He decided. Not this time.

When his phone lit up, a text message from Jinyoung waiting for him impatiently, Jaebum quickly got to work. As much as he tried to keep his stoic face in front of his friend, he needed to get out of the office. If he had to read another poorly written report littered with inaccuracies and spelling errors, he was going to lose his mind. Jinyoung’s offer could not have come soon enough.

By the time he was done, the sun was already starting to set. Cursing underneath his breath, Jaebum grabbed his coat and bolted out the door. Opting to take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, he checked the bus schedule while tugging on his gloves. Jinyoung had already been at the bar much longer than he’d like, meaning that Jaebum wasn’t going to get out of the night unscathed. Lucky for him he was always prepared for such occasions. The bottle of aspirin in his desk drawer and him were about to be fast friends.

“Jae!” Jinyoung screamed through the phone. “Where are you!”

Jaebum groaned loudly as he made it out to the street. “I’m sorry, I’m still at the office. But I’m leaving now, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“You better be!” Jinyoung continued. “Because I’ll—I’ll kick your ass if you’re not!”

“Shut up Jinyoung, you’re drunk.” He muttered, ending the call and stuffing his phone in his pocket.

Wrapping his scarf around his neck, Jaebum walked briskly to the bus station just down the block. Instantly regretting turning down Jinyoung’s offer for a ride when the cold winter air pelted his skin. Opening his eyes even the slightest caused his eyes to water, each step he took sent a chill down his spine, frost nipped at the tips of his ears, he could barely stand it.

As he waited less than patiently, Jaebum found himself watching the people that passed him. An elderly woman wearing a mismatched set of mittens, a small dog in a boorish sweater jogging along beside her. Two school boys fussing over a handheld video game, laughing jovially despite their harsh words. A young couple walking hand in hand, their eyes filled with affection and warmth, leaving Jaebum with a foul taste in his mouth.

“I don’t love you anymore, Jaebum. I’m sorry.”

Lighting a cigarette, he did his best not to think about Seohyun. About how she left him on a night just like this. How each kiss on her eager lips tasted like lies. How her brown eyes hollowed out his very soul. And how each promise she made cut him like knives. Jaebum had been trying to erase her from his life for a whole year. But no matter how much he drank, or how many women he kissed, he could still taste her on his tongue.

Even cigarettes do nothing to mask her taste. He mused, inhaling deeply and savoring the tobacco that filled his lungs.

When the bus pulled up to the curb, Jaebum dropped his unfinished cigarette in the street. Sighing, he tapped his foot impatiently as the doors opened and people spilled out onto the sidewalk. He had completely forgotten how cramped public transport could get during the winter. Another reason why he hated the desolate season. And Jinyoung’s persistent drunken text messages and calls weren’t helping his rapidly souring mood.

“What is it now, Jinyoung?” Jaebum exasperated, getting on the bus and swiping his card.

“Do you know that fish cake shop by the bar?” Jinyoung asked sluggishly. “The one that I really really like?”

Jaebum pinched the bridge of his nose as he found a seat at the back of the bus. “No, I do not. But I take it you want me to stop there?”

“Yeeeesss.” He dragged out. “I’m dying for a good fish cake.”

Sometimes I wonder how we’re friends. “Alright, fine, I’ll get you your stupid fish cake. How far away from the bar is the shop?”

“Not far at all!” Jinyoung exclaimed. “Just down the street a ways, you can’t miss it! Thanks Jae! You’re the best!”

Beep beep beep.

Pocketing his phone, Jaebum did his best not to let the night get away from him. He had to keep reminding himself that all of his problems could easily be solved with the bottle of scotch that was waiting at the bar. Jinyoung owed him, and getting free drinks out of him while he was drunk was an easy task for Jaebum. All of that was worth the annoying errands that his best friend was infamous for sending him on.

There’s a scotch on the rocks waiting for you. He told himself over and over again. Do it for the scotch. Scotch can get you through anything.

“Now approaching, Namdaemun Market. Thank you for choosing Seoul Public Transportation, have a nice day.”

As the bus rolled to a complete stop, Jaebum quickly stood and waited for the doors to open. Shouldering past the new borders, he apologized quietly, thankful to finally be off the cramped bus and back out on the street. Even if it was a bit colder than he remembered. Shivering, he pulled his lapel taught over his face, scanning his surroundings for the fish cake shop he was supposed to visit. What he found instead was a ghost from his past. A ghost with hair as black as the hole she gouged into his chest.

Seohyun? He swallowed nervously, his palms sweating despite the brisk December air. Is it really her? Please—please tell me that I’m seeing things.

It had to be her, he knew it deep down inside. He knew by the way his heart stopped, how his stomach sank, that it couldn’t be anyone else. But—his mind wasn’t so easily convinced. How could it be her? How could Lee Seohyun be standing right in front of him? Just as beautiful as the day she ripped out his heart without a care in the world. Waiting outside an electronics kiosk, a lollipop stick protruding from her perfect cherry red lips and a guitar slung over her shoulder as if—

A guitar? Jaebum questioned. Since when does Seohyun know how to—

Realization dawned on Jaebum almost instantly. His eyes were playing tricks on him, like they had so many times before. It wasn’t Seohyun, it would never be Seohyun. No matter how much a small miniscule part of him still wanted her back in his arms, she never would be his. The woman before him was simply his projection of something he would never have. Underneath his breath, Jaebum cursed himself for being hung up on her after all this time.

Still, his gaze didn’t waver as he watched the Seohyun look alike walk down the street. The resemblance was uncanny, had he been intoxicated he would’ve surely mistaken her for Seohyun. She even walked like her. The way her hips swayed—Jaebum couldn’t bring himself to look away. She was beautiful, breathtaking, mysterious, entrancing, the same dangerous formula that Jaebum became addicted to so easily.

For a brief moment, he couldn’t find the differences between them. From the way her dark hair fell languidly over her shoulders, the way her lips twitched into a hesitant smile, how her eyes glistened with a palpable passion. It was almost as if he was looking at a direct reflection of a memory. One he would’ve preferred to remain lost to time.

I need to get to this fish cake shop. Jaebum reminded himself. More importantly, I need to get the hell out of here.

Gathering his runaway thoughts, he started down the busy street, doing his best to avoid the mysterious woman. She was a reminder that he couldn’t afford to fall back into the hole that Seohyun cast him into. The man that loved Seohyun wasn’t one that Jaebum admired. In fact, he was a man that Jaebum tried time and time again to erase. And, until that exact moment, he thought he was doing a fair job of it.

“Get your fish cakes here! Best around!”

Jaebum’s ears perked up at the shouting vendor, appreciating the distraction more than he cared to admit. Besides, his head was in a complete haze ever since he spotted that woman. He wouldn’t have been able to find the shop on his own even if he ran right into the door. Which he practically did. The control Seohyun still had over him terrified him to no end. And he had only seen a woman who looked like her, it wasn’t even her. He shuttered to imagine what would’ve happened if she was really there. Whispering in his ear, her hands gliding up his body, the curves of her body beneath him—

“Jaebum…”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Jaebum willed her husky voice away. The shivers that travelled down his spine—he had to ignore them. He had to get away from her. Ducking into the shop, he quickly purchased the fish cakes and left without a word to the clerk. He feared his own voice, feared how it would betray him. The only thing that mattered to him was getting to the bar and as far away from her as possible.

Without really paying attention to where he was going, Jaebum shouldered past someone and sent them stumbling backwards. Unconsciously, he reached out to steady them, taking hold of their wrist and pulling them in close to him before realizing who it was. It was her. Her. Her slender wrists were within his grasp, her dark eyes looked up at him in surprise, and coherent thought evaded him.

“Thanks!” She exhaled, running a hand through her hair. “I really should look where I’m going.”

At that close distance she looked even more like Seohyun. Jaebum didn’t think it was physically possible, but the proof was right in front of him. The scent of her perfume filled his senses, taking him back to a time when her fragrance was the only thing between them. He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, he tried to respond, he tried to say anything that could distract himself from her lips. Her perfectly shaped cherry red lips…

Brushing her hair over her shoulder, she offered him a dangerous look. “Not much of a talker, are you?”

Jaebum never made it to the bar that night.

He woke up the next morning tangled in sheets that weren’t his own. Lying beside him was the woman who unknowingly unravelled every effort he had made to forget about Seohyun. She made him painfully aware that his previous beliefs were nothing more than optimistic delusions. Jaebum hadn’t moved past her, not even in the slightest. He wasn’t sure if he ever would.

As was customary after every one night stand he stumbled into, he quickly pulled his clothes back on and quietly left her apartment without bothering to wake her. He called for a taxi, pointedly ignoring all of the angry texts and numerous voicemails left by Jinyoung as he made his way home. Jaebum wasn’t in the mood to explain himself. Ironically enough, all he wanted to do was drink. He settled for a silent ride through the city that was supposed to save him from himself, but he was beyond saving.

Days passed and he couldn’t shake the memory of Seohyun’s lookalike beneath him. She was a rarity, an anomaly that wandered into his life without any sort of warning. And as easily as she traipsed through his thoughts, she was gone. Frankly that was his own fault, he did it for his own good but it didn’t matter to him. He wanted her, he wanted more, his body ached for her in a way that was all too familiar. He sat at his desk, fists clenched in rage, hating himself for falling back into his old ways. All he wanted was a life without Seohyun, he wasn’t sure it was possible anymore.

At first, he was determined to stay away from her. He willed his thoughts and memories to the back of his mind, trying to get on with his life once more. But it wasn’t so simple. He found himself back on that street corner without realizing how he got there just a few nights later. Diligently looking for the cherry red lips that stained his own and drove him wild.

He would always find his way back to her.

“Did you miss me?”

She came up beside him with a coy smirk, she already knew his answer.

“Still not much of a talker, are you?”

Soon after they would wind up in bed again, as it was slowly becoming their routine. Jaebum had never felt more connected to a complete stranger, someone who could’ve easily gone through life without ever meeting him. He had Seohyun back, in some way. Like a ghost from the past letting him have one last glance at what could’ve been. He could’ve been happy, he was happy. Now he didn’t know what he was. All he knew was her because that was all he wanted to know. And he wanted to know more. 

On the first day he learned her lips, on the second day he learned her name.

On the third day she learned his.

“Jae...” She breathed beneath him, desperate for him as he was for her. “Please…”

He loved how she said his name. It pained him that he couldn’t say hers.

“Jae.” She tested on her tongue. “You called me Seohyun again.”

He watched absentmindedly as her delicate fingers dusted over his skin, offering nothing more than a quiet, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She mused. “I just need to know, someone you’re running from or running to?”

“I don’t love you anymore, Jaebum. I’m sorry.”

“Both.”

She visibly winced at his honesty. “Well, I hope I can help with that a little.”

And she did. Her lips pressed against his jaw as her hand slid down his abdomen, he hissed in response and took her in his arms. She was—magic. The second his mind would be occupied by thoughts of Seohyun she would pull him in with her own hypnotic gaze, letting him forget about the woman that brought them together in the first place. It didn’t last for long, but the reprieve was appreciated nevertheless.

On the fourth day he called her Seohyun again. The fifth day was the same.

On the sixth day he said her name and she smiled.

He lost track of the days after that.

The moment their relationship stopped being casual and became something more wasn’t entirely obvious to Jaebum. One day he simply woke up and instead of hoping to see her again soon he decided that soon wasn’t enough. They started to see each other every single day, some of those days didn’t end up in bed either. Maybe that’s when he noticed that she was more to him than he originally intended. Maybe that’s when he knew he was doomed to be in love with Seohyun for the rest of his life. Forever seeking her out in the woman he had hoped would make him forget.

One morning when she was gathering her things, giving Jaebum the space he had so foolishly convinced himself he needed, he asked her to stay. So she stayed. He couldn’t ever remember things with Seohyun being so simple. Seohyun was a woman that made Jaebum fight for every inch, beg for every moment, he was addicted to her and didn’t realize how quickly she was killing him. While he didn’t want to admit it, the moment she left him was probably the kindest thing she had ever done.

But she was perfect and he still loved her.

He hated himself, as he spent more time with her and could only see Seohyun in her eyes, he hated himself. He had hoped that they would separate, that he would see her for her and not for the woman he hated and loved all at once. Because she was perfect just as Seohyun was, all he had to do was wait for the inevitable. Either he would get fed up with her or she would realize the truth. She would learn that she was a replacement for someone that wasn’t worth replacing. Someone he evidently couldn’t let go.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind.” She whispered, dusting her fingers over his arm. “Do you want to talk about it?”

What hurt him most, was that she loved him. She loved him. Not some version of him that only existed as a ghost in her mind, as a lie she couldn’t give up. She loved him for exactly who he was. A man who looked at her and saw another, who reached for her everyday, who was haunted by a touch that was forever ingrained in his skin. He was disgusted by the man she loved, by himself. But if he ever told her the truth, he knew it would break her heart.

Break her like Seohyun destroyed him.

And then she would be gone.

So he would continue to lie to her, betray her no matter how much his own words tore him up inside. A sensation that was all too familiar, one he knew better than most after knowing Seohyun for as long as he did. Ironically, he was just like her. Selfish to the very end. 

“I’m alright.” He lied easily as always.

Except she wasn’t convinced, not in the slightest. She had never been convinced of his lies, he could tell just by looking at her that she was enduring his facade as much as he was. Pretending to be fooled so they could continue in blissful ignorance. Because she knew his heart better than even he did, a heart that had long since been locked away. Because she loved him despite everything that he was. And everything that he wasn’t.

It was close to their anniversary when he decided that enough was enough. She had introduced him to her friends, her parents, and he had done the same. Their lives had become intertwined to a point that severing their ties could only result in a catastrophic mess. He had to come clean, he had to put his heart at ease and end the nightmare he almost believed was a dream. He had to let Seohyun go, he had to let her go. Once and for all he had to free himself from her grasp and break a heart that belonged to a woman whose only mistake was running into a man in a fish cake shop.

“I don’t love you anymore, Jaebum. I’m sorry.”

His heart ached as he thought about that day, hated how much his own actions would soon imitate that very moment. Looking at someone who loved you with everything that they had and telling them that it was all over. That you never loved them. That everything was a lie. That you were nothing but a monster.

God I need a drink.

So to put a bit of distance between them, to gather his thoughts, he went to the bar that technically started it all. He ordered his usual drink, he pretended to watch a game that didn’t interest him, and he sat in silence as the moments ticked by. Every now and again the bartender would try to strike up a conversation, but after being ignored for the fifth time he finally gave up. Jaebum wasn’t in the mood to pretend to be a decent human being, it was taking every concerted effort he could afford to keep himself from falling apart at the seams.

And despite the fact that he had been sitting at the bar with two fingers of scotch in front of him for nearly an hour, he had yet to take a single sip. He kept swirling it in his hand instead, using it more as a distraction from his rampant thoughts than a means to soothe his agitated nerves. As much as he wanted to get the whole ordeal over with, he couldn’t get drunk. He had been selfish enough in the past year, he had to endure the next few hours sober because she deserved more than what she was given. She deserved more respect than he had ever offered her. And he deserved the misery he was destined for.

Once a couple of hours had passed, he decided it was time to face her. She would be starting dinner soon and he didn’t want her to waste her time. Not when he was going to be effectively kicking her out of his life forever. With a sigh, he put on his jacket to leave and pushed his untouched drink back towards the bartender. Then, a young woman took a seat beside him.

“Why don’t you let me join you for a drink?” She hummed seductively. “You’re looking a little stressed.”

 For fucks sake. “Thanks, but no thanks.” He returned without looking at her. “I’ve got better things to do.”

Apparently she wasn’t giving up so easily. “Is that anyway to talk to a pretty girl like me?”

Glancing at her, he wasn’t impressed. “Sorry, but I have somewhere I need to be. Drink by yourself if you’re so inclined.”

As he stood to leave, she took a firm grasp of his arm. “Jaebum? Are you seriously going to ignore me? Are you really that cruel?”

He rolled his eyes at her continued pathetic attempts. “You even learned my name, wow. How long have you been watching me?”

Turning back to look at her, he realized there was something familiar about her. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. But that didn’t matter to him.

“Seriously, I’m not on the market.” He persisted. “Good day.”

“Jaebum!” She shouted in disbelief. “Do you seriously not recognize me? We dated for three fucking years, I feel like I’m owed more than a cold shoulder. Or are you the complete asshole you’ve always been?”

A chill ran down his spine.

“Don’t just stand there!”

No… it—it can’t be… that voice... 

“Say something!”

Seohyun?

Realization dawned on him, stomach acid rose in his throat. It had to be her, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind after hearing her say that. Those words, nearly those exact words were seared into his soul ages ago. That voice berated him for years. There was no way he would ever mistake that voice for anyone else. But—she didn’t look like the Seohyun he remembered. The mere sight of her didn’t drive him mad, he didn’t have to fight back the urge to throw himself at her feet. She was Seohyun without the best and the worst parts of her.

She wasn’t the woman he loved.

Not anymore.

“Wow…” He exhaled with a smile. “You’ve really changed, haven’t you.”

Which, now that the initial shock had worn off, he realized that she was the exact same. Painfully so. Her nails were freshly manicured, her hair and makeup were set perfectly in place, her clothes were fresh off the runway, she was Seohyun in every sense of the word. Perfectly plucked from time and placed in front of him. She was everything he thought he loved. Before he learned what love really looked like. And god it didn’t look like her.

“And you haven’t changed at all.” She huffed. “Still the rude asshole I dumped forever ago. I can’t believe I doubted myself for a second there, spotting you across the bar made it seem like the good old times. But I really made the right call, didn’t I?”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “You really did. Goodbye, Seohyun. Thanks for everything.”

She scoffed as he left. “Yeah, whatever.”

After that, Jaebum didn’t hesitate. He took off running for the bus stop, desperate to get home to a woman that he had loved for a whole year and just didn’t know it. He had been so sure that the love he felt for her was just a projection, that she only reminded him of Seohyun so that was the only reason he loved her. Never in all his life had he been happier to be wrong.

I love her… He chanted in his head, over and over again. I love her!

Once he got home, he burst through the door and stopped immediately when he saw her standing there. How had he never noticed before? She was beautiful, she was perfect, she was the woman he loved with his whole heart and he was a fool for not knowing sooner. She made him laugh, she made him smile, she made him forget about Seohyun a hundred times and even wiped her from his heart forever. And he was the idiot who thought it was all a lie.

“What’s wrong, Jaebum?” She asked innocently. “Is something on your mind?”

“Yes.” He confirmed easily, approaching her slowly and taking her hands in his. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, a lot of soul searching this past year, trying to make sense of my feelings for you. And I think I finally know what my brain has been telling me since the very beginning.”

There was a nervous glint to her eyes, but she played along. “What would that be?”

“That I love you.” He smiled. “I love you for being you and no one else.”

Those words, those simple words that wouldn’t make any sense to someone else, made her face light up like a fireworks display. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest, overwhelmed with a feeling he knew all too well. For the first time in four years, Jaebum could breathe. A huge weight had lifted from his shoulders, the ghost of Seohyun was finally gone. He was free.

“I love you too…” She mumbled. “I’ve loved you for so long…”

“I know.” He whispered gently, tilting her chin up and kissing her gently. “And I will thank you everyday for waiting for me.”

[marvelslut16]

I Promise

Pairing: Stanley Uris x Bowers!Reader (young) 

Request/synopsis: “Hi! If you’re still writing Stanley Uris, could you write a little childhood piece taking place during the first movie where the reader is one of the bullies’ little sister and hates what her brother and his friends are doing to the losers and starts to hanging out with them and the boys make fun of Stan because it’s obvious that he likes her and one day they’re walking and end up on the kissing bridge and he just starts rambling to her about something he saw and she interrupts him by kissing him”

Word count: 4,390 I think I got carried away

Warnings: Swearing. Mentions of attempted murder? Use of the term flamer, it means flamboyant gay, Stan is called that by Patrick in the books. Mentions a lewd act that happens in the book as well. Violence from a brother. Bullying. Some angst? Pennywise, that should definitely be a warning lmao.  Blood/gore/violence, typical for the IT fandom. Sort of mentions character death.

A/N: Sorry if this wasn’t exactly what you wanted, I tried to do this request justice (since it was my first! Thank you to the anon that asked for it!) but I definitely took it on an angsty ride lol. I definitely focused more on Henry and the time in the sewers than I originally planned.  Sorry this took so long as well, I wasn’t sure how to fit all of my ideas together. I really like how this turned out, but it’s also like two in the morning so there could be typos. 

Do you like being Henry's little sister? Of course not. Siblings or not, Henry treats you like shit too, at least he has the decency to keep it behind closed doors. On top of that, everyone avoids you, expecting you to be just like your brother or Greta. Greta is relatively nice to you, or as nice as demon spawn can be, she never makes fun of you or bullies you, she even tries to include you in her shit. Thinking, like everyone, that Henry actually likes you; and this way she can make a good impression and he can finally ask her out. 

You walk out of the front doors of the school on the last day to see your lovely brother and his idiot friends teasing Stan and his group of friends, stealing the curly-haired boys kippah. Richie, being his typical self, starts screaming and insulting Henry, making him angrier. Henry takes said anger out on Stan, pushing him to the ground and pulling his leg back to kick the smaller boy in the side. 

“Hey!” you scream and rush over to the scene, before you can realize what you're doing. 

“Come to defend your boyfriend?” your brother sneers before laughing like a lunatic. 

“Back off Henry,” you glare at him, stepping between him and Stan. You can hear the poor boy behind you struggling to stand up.

“Or what?” Henry leans in, face inches from yours. He has never made his dislike for you public, even his friends are shocked by his actions. “You gonna run home and tell Dad?”

“Tempting,” you push him away from your face, mindful that your father is on duty somewhere in the ocean of students. As he’s distracted by the shove, you yank the kippah free from his grasp. “You want them, you go through me.”

“That can be arranged,” he grits his teeth, gesturing for his friends to grab you. 

They look shocked for a second, before Belch wraps his large arms around your middle to hold you back. Your brother smirks at you as he advances on Stan, preparing to punch him. Your pleas for him to stop advancing on the loser’s, as they’re dubbed, fall on deaf ears. 

“Let go of me you creep!” you yell at Belch, before slamming your foot down on his. He lets go of you before bouncing around in pain, like a stupid cartoon character. You run between Henry and the Losers, but not before he can shove Richie to the ground. “Go home Henry,” you shove his chest again. 

“You can’t make me,” he flips open his switchblade as he advances on you. The rest of the world seems to still and all you can think is will Henry really hurt you? You hear the muffled cries from the boys behind you get louder with each step your brother takes towards you.

“What’s going on here?” your dad's voice cuts through the haze, Henry backs off and hides his knife before Dad can see. 

“I was just offering her a ride home,” Henry scowls as he turns to your father.

“And I was telling him that I was going to go hang out with my friends,” you use your thumb to point at the boys behind you. Your Dad eyes them wearily before ultimately coming to the conclusion that they’re a harmless group of nerds. He nods at you and sends Henry a small glare that if you blink you’ll miss before heading back the way he came. 

“Watch yourself,” Henry warns before making his way to Belch’s car, friends in tow. You let out a sigh as they drive away, shoulders slumping as your adrenaline wears off.

“I think this belongs to you,” you smile at Stan, handing him his kippah.

“Thanks,” he breathes, he looks like he wants to continue speaking but no words come out. As he grabs the kippah from you, his fingers brush against yours and a blush creeps up his cheeks. You grin at how adorable he is. 

“Are you guys okay?” you glance between him and Richie. Stan just nods and Richie rolls his eyes at the doe eyed look his friend is giving you. 

“I’d say we didn’t need your help, but Stan the man here certainly liked being your damsel in distress,” Richie smacks a hand on Stan’s shoulder and laughs, you soon join in. Stan smacks the boy with the glasses harder than you think anyone realized he could. “Ow, that fucking hurt” Richie whines, rubbing his arm and sulking off to Eddie. 

“D-do y-y-you wan-nt to go-o to the qu-qu-quarry wi-with us?” Bill asks and Richie smirks at the idea.

“I should go before Henry gets even more mad,” you play with the hem of your shirt. “But thank you for asking.”

“Please,” Richie clasps his hands and blinks dramatically at you, sticking his bottom lip out in an over dramatic pout. 

“Why not?” you grin at the losers, but at Stan the most. 

--

Over the following weeks you grow closer to the boys; Bev, Mike, and Ben too when they join the losers club. One day the eight of you are at the quarry trying to ignore the whole killer clown thing. Stan looks nervous about jumping into the water, even though you’ve seen him do it multiple times already. So you decide to grab his hand and pull him down with you withput warning. He lets out a high pitched screech that you almost can’t hear over the wind whipping past you. 

Once you and Stan, the last two to jump down, break the water's surface Richie grabs Eddie repeatedly screaming the word chicken and shaking the smaller boy. Bev grabs Ben’s hand to which he grins at. Richie and Bill share a look before the stuttering boy wades over to you. 

“W-w-will you b-be my par-pa-partner?” Bill smiles at you, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight. 

“Of course!” you smile at your friend, happy that the group accepted you quickly even though you’re a Bowers. You don’t see the glare Stan is sending Bill as he pairs up with Mike. Richie smirks at the rest of the group, you and Stan oblivious to the looks they send each other and their plan to make Stan so jealous he tells you how he feels. 

--

“So Stan,” Richie sings.

“No,” Stan says, watching you and Bev ride your bikes to your house for a sleepover. Her dad was worse than normal lately and she needed an escape, and you loved the escape it created from your brother. 

“I never asked my fucking question,” the boy with the coke-bottle glasses pouts.

“Because nothing good ever comes out of your mouth,” Stan deadpans, finally turning to look at his friends. You rode past the curve at the end of the road effectively taking you out of Stan’s line of sight, so he had no reason not to look at his friends now. 

“You were holding hands with (Y/N),” Eddie speaks up from Richie’s side. “Which is just fucking disgusting! Do you know how many germs-”

 His voice is cut off when Richie slaps his hand over the smaller boy's mouth. The look of terror on the hypochondriac’s face is one that Richie won’t stop laughing at for years to come. 

“She pulled me off the ledge,” Stanley rolls his eyes, suppressing a blush as he remembers how soft and warm your hand was. “It meant nothing.”

“And big Bill doesn’t fucking stutter,” Richie rolls his brown eyes, which look like googly eyes since they’re magnified by his glasses. 

“What?” Stan asks looking at the road in front of him, not wanting his friends to see how red his face and ears are. 

“I thought we were coming up with obvious lies,” Richie shrugs. “You’ve been in fucking love with her since you two got paired up at the beginning of the damn school year.”

“Have not!” Stan tries to lie, but his face darkens three shades deeper. The red instantly gives his obvious feelings away to his smirking friends. 

“It’s that or you have rosacea,” Edidie looks up at the Jewish boy with mock innocent eyes. “Because your cheeks are bright red every time you're around her.” Stan doesn’t respond because he knows they’re right, so he just walks away from them.

--

“Do you like Stan?” Bev giggles at the sleepover. The two of you had been talking about her and Ben prior to the question. 

“Yeah,” you mumble, looking down at your hands resting in your lap. “He’s so nice, and so sweet, and so caring. Plus, he went out of his way to help me when I was confused in class this year.”

“Yeah-” you cut off the redhead. 

“And the way his curls fall in front of his eyes when he’s leaning forward, so he has to angrily huff at it to try to blow the curl away. And the way his face scrunches up all adorably when he’s concentrating on a hard problem.”

Before you can continue fawning over your friend, your door slams open. It hits the wall behind it with a loud crack, where you later find a hole in the wall the handle created. In the doorway is a pissed off Henry, steam practically shooting out of his ears. 

“I thought I told you to stay away from him and the rest of those fucking losers?” he shouts, you’re dad isn’t here to hear him. “And now I hear you talking about that damn flamer with the schools slut no less.”

“Funny that you call Stan a flamer,” you smirk at your brother as you stand from the bed, subtly stepping in front of  Bev so she’s behind you and away from your brother's wrath. “When Patrick gave you a hand job.” 

“How the fuck did you hear about that?” he slams his fist into the wall beside him, knocking off a framed photo of a bird Stan had sketched for you during the school year. 

“I saw it with my own two eyes, dumb ass,” you sneer at him. “Next time you want to get a hand job from your boyfriend, don’t do it at the dump.”

“I’m gonna kill you,” he roars, closing in on you. Bev lets out a small gasp behind you, you feel bad she has to witness this. Especially when she came here to get away from her dad.

“Go ahead, then run off to get your oral from him,” you laugh. Before Henry can do anything else, the front door opens and your dad calls for you two. You sigh in relief as your older brother storms out of your room. You and Bev never bring up what was said or what just happened. 

--

You got separated from Stan while in Neibolt, but luckily Bill was with you. The horrors you all faced in that run down house will forever haunt each and every one of you. You’re shaking slightly as Stan and you cling onto each other as the two of you walk out of that horrendous place. 

You gasp loudly and hide your face in Stan’s chest as Bill punches Richie in the face. Your body starts to shake slightly without your permission, being taken back to when Henry punched the wall a few days prior. Bev pulls you into her side as Stan and Mike help Richie up. Bill goes for Richie again, but Ben holds him back. Richie yells back in retaliation.

“Stop,” you whimper, body trembling worse. Visions of your dad and Henry yelling at each other and shoving one another flash through your mind. A memory of Henry punching the locker beside your head when you were the last two in school floats to the forefront of your mind. “Please.”

Stan immediately rushes over to you and pulls you into his chest, you don’t care if he finds out about your feelings anymore as you grip onto his striped polo. He’s an anchor in the storm of your mind. Even when Henry isn’t around, he’s still lurking in the back of your mind making sure he can hurt you. The rest of the group stops what they’re doing for a minute to glance at the two of you before walking in two separate directions. Bev gives your shoulder a reassuring squeeze as she leaves. 

“How about I walk you home? Stan offers, rubbing his hand in a calming motion on your back. 

“Can we go on a walk instead?” you ask nervously, pulling away slightly. He keeps his arms wrapped around you as he studies your face. He keeps his arm around your shoulder as you walk through the park. 

You and Stan take a seat in front of  the giant Paul Bunyan statue, soaking up the summer sun and the sounds of the birds singing. For the next several hours you and Stan lay side by side on the grass as he points out different birds and tells you about them. Your heart pounds every time your fingers brush against each other as they lay in between you. Your body and heart are aching to slip your fingers through his, but your mind is telling you no. You ultimately listen to your mind, feeling dissatisfied with yourself at the awkward wave he gives you as he drops you off at your house. 

--

The days where the losers are fighting rush by, each of them spent doing something with Stan. before you know it, it’s nearing the end of the summer and Pennywise is gone. You reluctantly take part in the blood oath, wanting to leave this town as soon as you turn eighteen and never look back. But you would do anything for your friends, even risk your life for them again. As you're hugging Bev goodbye, you can’t believe she’s really leaving, Stan comes up beside you. 

“Will you go on a walk with me?” Stan asks timidly, not meeting your eyes. The puffy bandages around his face make your heart lurch at the thought of how much pain he must have endured. 

“Sure,” you nod even though he’s staring at the ground in front of his feet. Bev gives you a smile and a slight shove in encouragement. You give her one last smile as you start off down the trail, Stan taking long strides to catch up. 

“What happens now?” Stan asks, his fingers brush against yours as you walk side by side. 

“My aunt’s moving here, so I’m staying,” you don’t turn to look at him, scared to face more disappointment. 

You stop walking when you two reach the kissing bridge, not that you expected anything to happen, but it was a nice view. You look down to see the small S inside the heart you carved earlier in the year, it sits near Richie’s R + E. You absentmindedly rub your wrist, Henry had grabbed you so hard he bruised you when he caught you with his missing switchblade. But it was worth it, in twenty or thirty years from now those markings would still be there, your own little mark on history. 

“I’m glad,” Stan says it so quietly he doesn’t think you’ll hear him, but you do. You glance up at him and immediately frown as you get a better look at the bandages wrapped around his face. It takes you back to the day in the sewers, the day he yelled at you. 

“Stan!” you scream in fear as you wade through the grey water. Your heart is pounding in your chest, this can’t be happening! You can’t lose him, not Stan. One minute he was with the group and the next he's gone. “What if IT got him?” your voice shakes in fear.

“You can’t think like that,” Richie says firmly, but you can hear the fear in his voice. 

Before you can respond you hear a scream, one eerily familiar to when you pulled Stan off the ledge at the quarry. “Stan!” you scream again as you run past your friends through the dark smelly sewers to find the curly haired boy that you care for. 

You reach the closed door at the end of the tunnel, opening the rusty metal on your own thanks to the adrenaline rush. Your friends' screams of Stanley get louder as they catch up to you. All six of you rush through the door and look for Stan in the large underground room. You walk around and come face to face with the creepy women from the painting he hates eating his face. A strangled sound somewhere between a gasp and a whimper escapes your mouth, alerting your friends that you found him. 

“What the fuck is that?” Richie asks as Eddie shines Stan’s discarded flashlight at the thing. The multiple rows of teeth finally let go of Stan and the lady looks at the lot of you.

“Get off of him!” you scream, reaching down beside you and grabbing a rusty pipe. You chuck the metal at the creature smacking it in the middle of the face, it opens its mouth and hisses at you before retreating. 

You all breathe a small sigh of release, until Pennywise peeks his head out from behind the corner. All six of you let out high pitched screams, but all you can think about is Stan’s safety not your own. As Pennywise hides behind the corner again you run and drop to your knees at Stan’s side, the rest of the boys quickly following suit. You reach out and touch his arm, muttering his name in a soft calming voice, but all he does is scream in terror. 

“Get off me!” he pushes six pairs of hands off of him as he scrambles away from you and the rest of the losers club. “You left me! You took me to Neibolt! You aren’t my friends!” 

“Stan, we were looking for you. We were so worried, I was so worried,” your hand gently touches his cheek, trying to see how much physical damage IT had caused.

“Get away from me!” he glares at you as he smacks your hand away from him. “You're no better than Henry! Worse than him! You tricked me into being your friend just so you could hurt me!”

You rip yourself away from the curly haired boy so fast you fall flat on your ass as you try to move away. You gasp and tears fill your eyes, Bill’s hand gently squeezes your shoulder. He had been with you at Neibolt, he saw that your fear was Henry. Your feelings for Stan were obvious, so the accusations made the rest of the boys angry at Stan for hurting you. Tears fall quickly from your cheeks as you stand and back away from the group. You need to get out of there, away from Stan, away from the pain. 

The rest of the losers back away from their friend and get ready to search for their favorite redhead. You all find Bev quickly, and you smirk as Ben kisses her to wake her up. Pennywise soon appears, attacking Bill first, the rest of you try to fight the clown but it doesn’t work.

“Let him go!” Bev’s plea reminds you of yours from earlier. 

“No, I’ll take him” IT shakes its head with a grin. The killer clown explains to the group how it will eat your flesh as it feasts on your fears. “I’ll take him and only him,” IT offers. 

“Leave,” Bill begs the losers.

“I’m gonna have to kill this fucking clown,” Richie complains. “Welcome to the losers club asshole!” he screams, hitting Pennywise in the face with a discarded baseball bat. 

Chaos erupts, everyone grabs for a weapon to fight the clown with. As everyone starts attacking IT with the garbage they found, IT manages to slip away. You all decide, stupidly, to split up and look for Pennywise. 

“Good morning sunshine,” Henry’s annoying voice whispers into your right ear, dialogue straight from an incident where he almost seriously injured you. “Dad’s not home.” You can hear the smirk in IT’s voice.

“This isn’t real! You aren’t Henry! You aren’t real!” you scream, the losers stop their search for the clown and watch on nervously. 

“It’s time to play sis!” IT laughs like a maniac as he walks in front of you, you're forced to stare up into IT’s eyes. Pennywise steps closer so you step back, which you do again and again. A replica of Henry’s switchblade pops open and is pointed directly at your gut. “Daddy dearest isn’t home to stop me!”

“Go through with it! Do it! Do what the real Henry never had the guts to do!” you scream at your brother- well Pennywise. He has you backed into a wall, switchblade dully pushing into you just above your navel. Your chest rising and falling rapidly as you pant, angry tears mixing with the heartbroken ones from earlier as you stare defiantly at the thing that had been after you and your friends all summer.  

IT backs away slowly, your brothers-Pennywise’s- head tilting to the side as he studies you. A grin too large to be humanly possible splits across Henry’s face, rows of teeth on display as IT laughs in delight. You see your friends inching closer to you and the clown, you make eye contact with Richie giving him a slight shake of your head. He sighs in defeat, grabbing both Stan and Eddie pulling them back, the rest of the losers halt when they realize what the trashmouth did. 

“You were easy to crack,” IT giggles loudly, shifting back into a clown. IT lifts a hand up, finger tracing your cheek down to your throat, stopping directly over your artery.   

“Take me and leave my friends alone!” you glare up at IT. 

As the clown goes to open its mouth, Ben comes out of nowhere and stabs IT right in the back. The rest of the losers start attacking IT again, the clown shifts from fear to fear in hopes of getting one of the losers to stop. It shifts to Bev’s father, so she stabs a rusty rod right down IT’s throat in order to make him go away. The clown convulses and backs away from the group. 

“That’s why you didn’t kill (Y/N) and Bev, because they weren’t afraid of you!” it’s the first time you’ve ever heard Bill not stutter. “We aren’t afraid of you. Now it’s your turn to be afraid, because you’ll starve.” IT flips itself into a hole that leads lower into the sewer system, letting go and disintegrating before Bill can whack IT with a pipe. 

You all stare in shock for a few moments before making your way out of the sewers and towards your homes. The losers all talking amongst themselves, all but you. you’re ahead of the group, wanting to put as much distance between you and Stan as you possibly can. Eddie too, he had already asked what you meant while Pennywise was still Henry. Two conversations you definitely didn’t want to have. 

“(Y/N/N)? You okay?” Stan’s distant and worried voice breaks you out of your memories. “Where were you just now?”

“I’m fine,” you lie and he can tell by the flash of pain that crosses your face. “Just thinking about the other day.”

“I didn’t mean what I said,” Stan frowns, turning away from the carvings on the wood to face you fully. “I wasn’t in the right head space-”

“It’s fine,” you murmur, fingers gently running over the S carved into the wood.

“No it isn’t,” he says firmly, you look at him with wide eyes. You weren’t expecting him to get so serious about it. “IT messed with my head, made me see things that weren’t true and I took it out on you.” 

“Stan, I get it. IT knew how to hurt us most,” you reach over and lightly wrap your hand around his in a reassuring gesture. He stares down at your joined hands for a moment, ears turning a vibrant red, before continuing with his explanation. 

“He showed me a vision of you and Bill kissing,” Stan flips his hand over and laces his fingers with yours. 

“What-” you’re eyebrows furrow as you watch his face grow from pink to red. 

“I like you, (Y/N). A lot. And when IT showed me that it broke my heart. Deep down I knew it wasn’t real, but it felt so real. I’ve liked you since the beginning of the school year, and I never had the guts to tell you. Because why would you like me? You could have any guy, how could you ever possibly want me-” you cut him off by gently pressing your lips to his. It’s a soft and fast peck, but you still pull away smiling. “What?”

“I like you too, you loser. For just as long, I was scared to say anything because of Henry,” you giggle at his shock, mouth open and eyes wide. “Close your mouth or you’ll catch flies.”

“Speaking of Henry,” Stan’s mouth snaps shut before his lips pull into a deep frown. “What did you mean back in the sewers?” You sigh, not wanting to admit it allowed. Stan pushes a strand of hair away from your face before cupping your cheek gently. 

“Henry thought I broke his Atari, so he screamed at me endlessly and threatened to kill me,” you admit softly, rage and sadness battle within Stan’s eyes as he takes in the information. “It wasn’t the first time he threatened that, but it seemed different that time. My dad had no idea, he only heard some of the yelling, which he screamed at Henry for doing. So that made Henry even more mad at me. But anyway, it turns out that it was Belch that broke it.”

“(Y/N),” Stan says softly, pulling you into his embrace. “I’ll never let anyone else hurt you.”

“Promise?” you ask hopefully, could you really finally be happy? 

“I promise,” he kisses your forehead softly. “I know this isn’t great timing, but will you be my girlfriend?”

“I’d love to,” you grin at him, gently caressing the bandages as you pull him in for another kiss.

tags: @crimson-knuckled-queen​ @rexorangecouny​

[hailbop1701]

25 Days of FicMas

December 18th prompt: Elf on a Shelf

Word Count: 1,959

Slightly To The Left...

Okay, who has an elf? I used to have one but the little bastard used to move around so he is no longer in this world lol. This was interesting to write and I sort of like what I did with it. I hope you enjoy it!

-H❤🖖

“What in the hell is that?” you turned to see John standing just behind you holding a cup of coffee, his eyes zeroed in on an object sitting on your desk. Following his gaze, you smirked, “It’s an elf, John,” you snickered. “It’s creepy. That’s what it is,” the man muttered taking a sip of his coffee. You grinned and adjusted the little creature sitting on top of a stack of old books, “Oh come on he’s not that bad,” you pouted a little. Kennex grunted into his mug, “It’s Christmas time (Y/N) not Halloween,” he said walking around so he was at his desk right across from yours. You stuck your tongue out childishly and went back to the reports you were woefully filling out, “where did you get that thing anyway?” John asked settling in to do his own reports. You tilted your head to the side frowning, “I honestly don’t know, he just sort of appeared in my Holiday stuff. I found him yesterday when I put up my decorations,” you hummed scrunching your nose and mouth in thought. “That makes it even creepier (Y/N),” John snorted with a shake of his head. You rolled your eyes and flicked the little bell on the end of the elf’s hat, “I think he’s kinda cute,” you murmured in a huff. The porcelain glass of the elf’s face glinted in the fluorescents, his green and red costume seemed dulled by age, “I hate dolls,” Kennex grumped with a slight shiver. You snorted a laugh, “aw is the big bad detective scared of itty bitty dollys?” you teased. 

John gave you a sour look not amused, “They are little vessels of pure evil,” he defended pointing a finger at you. “You would be afraid of dolls John,” Dorian laughed walking up to his partner, “shut up Dorian,” Kennex seethed picking up his coffee mug. The DRN held up his hands in surrender, “I just came to let you know that we have a case,” he said holding out the file to the grouchy man. John took the file and flicked the clear paper to life, he read through it quickly before getting to his feet. Grabbing his coat he handed the sheet back to Dorian, “great I just love getting a gruesome family murder around the holidays,” he grumbled sarcastically. You grimaced wrinkling your nose, “God I hate those,” you sighed with a sad shake of your head. John walked past his desk slipping on his coat, as he neared you he leaned down so he could whisper in your ear. “We still on for later?” he asked with a crooked smile, you smiled back, “of course, I’ll bring the takeout,” 

John squeezed your shoulder before following Dorian out the door. Looking back to your elf you cocked your head to the side again, “eh I still think you’re adorable,” you said with a shrug. You got up and rounded over to John’s desk and gathered his unfinished reports, stacking them neatly you brought them over and sat them on top of your own stack that still needed to be completed. Sighing you mutter to yourself, “I swear I better get a little something for doing this…” 

The reports took the rest of your shift with two and half extra hours tacked on. Rubbing your eyes you walked back to your desk to gather your things you noticed something was missing. Furrowing your brows you looked around the bullpen; not a soul in sight and there hasn’t been in quite a while. Cautiously you strode up to your desk; after searching every nook and cranny you placed your hands on your hips. “Where in the hell did you go little guy?” you asked pursing your lips. The sound of your cell phone broke the uneasy silence, with a sigh you picked up your phone and balanced it between your shoulder and ear, “Those creepy elves are following me around today. It’s everyone and their mother has one,” John said before you could offer a ‘hello’. Chuckling you pulled on your coat, “Are you back at your place?” you asked readjusting the phone with your now free hand. “Yeah I just got back, Dorian hitched a ride with Valerie back to the station,” you heard the sound of a car door slamming shut. You smirked, “I’ll be over soon, I’m just leaving the station myself. You want anything special for dinner?” you asked entering the elevator. John hummed, “I’m fine with whatever you get,” 

“Chinese it is. Hey, you haven’t seen my elf at all have you?” you heard John snort over the line. “Only this morning” he muttered in disgust, rolling your eyes you exited the building into the parking garage. “I can’t find him, he just disappeared,” you frowned and John laughed, “good riddance,” he said and then suddenly yelped in pain. “What the fuck…” he cursed, “what happened?” you asked concern coloring your voice as you got into your car. Shivering you started it quickly to get the heat started, “damn couch,” John’s voice was slightly muffled like he was holding his phone away from his face. “Sweetheart I got to go…” John trailed off and before you could respond he hung up. Scoffing you looked at your phone confused, “that was odd,” you mumbled. 

It took you a solid hour to get to John’s apartment, taking out your set of keys you unlocked the door and pushed it open with your hip, “John?” you called out holding dinner in one hand and your purse in the other. Walking into the entry you kicked the door shut, “John!” you groaned at his silence. Walking quickly into the kitchen the tip of your book caught a side table, cursing you set the bags down. Turning you saw John sitting on the couch staring at something sitting on the coffee table his gun in his hand, walking closer you noticed that things have been moved. It was subtle but everything had been moved slightly to the left, “What in the hell…” you trailed off as you saw your missing elf sitting politely on the coffee table. “I thought you said you haven’t seen him since this morning,” you whisper at the shoulder of the couch. “I haven’t,” John muttered eyes narrowed. 

“Then how did-” John looked at you almost accusingly making you stop mid-sentence. You laughed “It wasn’t me!” you held up your hands innocently. “It wasn’t Dorian either I already called,” John breathed getting up and rounded the couch so he could stand by you. The uneasy look he was already wearing deepened when he saw your horror, following your gaze he saw that the coffee table was now empty. “Okay nope, that’s it,” John said holstering his sidearm, he- to your shock swung you over his shoulder. He entered the kitchen grabbing the dinner bags and your purse off the counter before rushing out the already open door. “We’re staying at your place,” he growled as you pulled the door shut behind you. “I can walk you know,” you muttered dryly eyeing his ass, “You don’t get to have a say in anything for a while darlin’, you brought a demon to work,” you just rolled your eyes. “Oh okay. My bad, my demon radar must be broken. And I thought you didn’t believe in that kind of thing?” you sassed making John grumble, “well I might now!”  he set you down after stepping into the elevator eyes shifting looking for tiny shadows. The doors closed and you were soon moving back down to the lobby, “I’m sure there is an explanation for all of this,” you said warmly. Placing a hand on John’s bicep you turned him so he was facing you, his scowl melted away slightly. “You’re right, but please for my sanity no more dolls,” he pleaded.  

Your laugh was cut short when the elevator screeched a halt sending you and John to the floor. The lights flickered and everything went dark for a split second before the emergency lights flared to life, John groaned and felt around for you, “You okay?” he asked finding your leg. Grunting your response, you place your hands onto the floor and pushed up so you were leaning back against the elevator wall. “Oh I’m peachy, you alright?” you asked dryly. John pushed himself into a sitting position without removing his hand from your leg, “I could be better,” he snipped back. Sighing titled your head back so it clunked against the wall, “Well at least we have the food,” you mumbled trying to look on the bright side, “I bet that bastard elf did this,” Kennex growled. Pinching the bridge of your nose you sighed, “John the elf is a doll, it can’t hurt you,” John snorted sounding unconvinced. “ Yeah well I still hate it and it’s creepy disappearing act. I bet Rudy is fucking with us,” He muttered rummaging through the bag of Chinese; he gave you your order and set a bottle of water down by your knee. “If it was Rudy then you have to give him some credit. He got us damn good,” you snickered, John chuckled darkly “and knowing you, you’re already plotting your revenge,” he smiled at the thought of you getting back at the lonely scientist. “Oh honey, you know me so well,” you winked and took a bite of an eggroll. John shifted and scooted himself so he was shoulder to shoulder with you, finishing your eggroll you took a swig of water. “God I hope we get out of here soon,” you said tiredly John looked down at you seeing your eyes droop sleepily. Your eyes flew open when you felt yourself being pulled onto John’s lap, when you were secured he wrapped his arms around you and rested his cheek on your hair. “Get some sleep,” he whispered soothingly. 

You smiled and snuggled closer to him, “this can’t be comfortable for you,” John shrugged. Moving your head so you can look him in the eye, “John, this really can’t be comfortable for you, I can easily sleep on the floor,” you offered concerned for his leg. The man holding you scoffed a smirk on his lips, “I’ll be fine,” he reassured before placing a kiss on your forehead. You grumbled unconvinced, “First sign of pain and you tell me to get up,” you whispered seriously. “I promise,” he rolled his eyes. “Liar,” you murmured placing a chaste kiss on his lips. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The next day you and Kennex trudged into the bullpen looking worse for wear. After unceremoniously dropping your stuff onto your chair you freeze. “Well I’ll be damned,” you muttered staring at the cheeky elf sitting on top of your stack of books. “What-” John choked on his coffee when he saw the little demon. “Hey (Y/N) I have the results for that double homicide you’ve been working on-hey, awesome elf! I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid!” Rudy dropped his tablet on your desk and picked up the doll gleefully. “You’ve never seen this before Ru?” you asked gaging his reaction. Rudy hummed and looked at you curiously, “No-well when I was a wee lad but no. This is great!” he chuckled turning the elf in his hands. Laughing nervously you grab your metal trash can from the ground and plucked the elf from Rudy’s hands. You chucked the doll into the can and handed it to John who was already walking by with an old flip lighter in his hands; Rudy protested loudly, “trust me Ru, just let the little guy go,” you mumbled taking a drink of your extra strong coffee. 

Tags:

@thottiewithashotgun

@lauraaan182

@writerdee1701

@dw-writes

@marvelouslytrekking

@spenceneedsahug

[no-birdstofly]

lol i was about to prompt you vietreau “Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?” but apparently two other souls had the same beautiful thought. So how about a very different mood: vietreau 32. “I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified.” :)

an extremely loose interpretation of the prompt that...... ended up brot3. sorry! set in the same universe as this zombie au. They’re driving through the Mojave when they get a flat, because of course they are. Tommy’s already kicking the dead tire by the time Lovett and Jon climb out of the car, both of them drowsy from the heretofore steady lull of the drive. At least the dust storm has worn down.

Jon lifts up his sunglasses to roll his eyes toward Lovett. He opens the trunk, getting out the jack and a tire iron, before Lovett comes over to help him wrestle the spare out. “I, uh, don’t know how to do this,” he says, looking sideways at Lovett. “I have no idea.”

“Step aside, manliest of men, I’ve got this,” Lovett says, pushing the jack under the chassis.

“C’mon,” Tommy says, “we’re on lookout.” He pushes a handgun into Jon’s hands, and Lovett sees the almost-imperceptible stiffening of Jon’s shoulders. It must show even worse on his face because Tommy grips his shoulder reassuringly and meets Lovett’s eyes behind his back with a grim look. 

Jon hates carrying a gun, hates carrying any weapon, as far as Lovett can tell. He might’ve guessed Jon was somewhat of a pacifist, before, but weren’t they all… before? Jon can’t seem to convince themselves that the zombies aren’t people any more, that they can’t be saved. He sees the humanity in all of them, no matter how decayed and rotted they are. He still hasn’t killed one, working more as back-up to Lovett and Tommy, and thank god that hasn’t gotten one of them killed yet. It’s the reason why he has a long, twisting scar now, though. Why he had to spend a week in a repurposed old miltary hospital while Lovett and Tommy made themselves sick with worry, even after Jon woke up. Jon had run from the zombie, distracting it from Lovett, and, refusing to shoot it, he’d slipped in gore and gotten himself nearly cut in half on the remains of a burned-out car. Tommy had blown the head off the thing before it could finish the job, but Jon was already on his way to bleeding out. Lovett had thought, hoped, after all that, that Jon would be more willing to -- to do what needs to be done. Lovett’s not a violent person either, but maybe years of horror video games and movies make it easier for him to see them as what they are: undead creatures that you have to kill before they kill you.

Tommy sketches out a perimeter, even though they can see far out into the desert from here, and they lazily patrol it, keeping an eye on the dust cloud off in the distance. Lovett tries not to worry about that, or wonder what Tommy says that makes Jon throw his head back and laugh, the sound carrying over the dry earth. He has to focus on fixing this so they can get the hell out of here. They’re sitting ducks, trapped out here as night rapidly falls. The dust is picking up again when Jon wanders over. “Need any help?” Lovett shakes his head. “Tommy send you to check on me?”  Jon grins sheepishly, which is as good as a yes. His sunglasses are tucked in the neck of his t-shirt, even though he's squinting against the dust and sand flying around. Must be getting too dark to see with them on, Lovett realizes. Why didn't Jon pack his polarized ones when the world ended?“You even check that thing?” Lovett asks, tilting his chin toward the gun loose in Jon’s hand. Jon scowls. “Of course I did.” “Show me,” Lovett says, even though his attention is on the tire. “The way we taught you.” Because they had taught him, again and again, drilled it into him to check the magazine and the chamber, how to pull the slide back easier. He listens to Jon doing it, methodically, and looks up as he flicks the safety back on and tucks it into the waistband of his jeans. “Good,” he says, mostly to see Jon smile. His face is already getting dirty with dust. “You should get one of the bandanas from my bag. Make Tommy put it on you for you,” Lovett says, because that’s one thing Jon hasn’t come close to mastering for some reason. Like he’s been summoned, Tommy walks closer to them, keeping half an eye on Jon as he rifles through Lovett’s bag in the trunk, and half an eye on the encroaching storm. He opens his mouth, but Lovett beats him to it.

“I know, I know we have to go. I’m almost there,” Lovett says, and Tommy nods and does a wide circle before coming closer to them again. Circling the wagons, Lovett thinks inanely, trying to force the lug nut tighter. Lovett watches out of the corner of his eye as Tommy takes the bandana from Jon’s hands and folds it in half, carefully using it to cover Jon’s nose and mouth and tying it behind his head, adjusting the line of it in the front afterward, over the bridge of Jon’s nose, his hands gentle on Jon’s face. Lovett swallows, waiting for them to break eye contact. It takes a long time, but finally Tommy turns away, walking back out ahead on the road, shotgun over one shoulder.

Lovett watches Jon watch him, his body one long, loose line, before he turns back to Lovett and grins. Lovett can’t see his mouth, but he can tell from the lines around his eyes. From the way Jon always smiles with his whole body. “Do I look like I could rob a bank?” “Sure,” Lovett says, “you’re a regular Bonnie Parker.” “Does that make you Clyde then?” Jon asks. Lovett looks over to where he can just see Tommy through the gathering dust clouds and back to Jon. Jon’s still watching him, eyes bright and curious over the navy of the handkerchief. Lovett shrugs. “Uh, guys?” Tommy calls back, and Lovett looks up to see Tommy racing back toward them. Jon fumbles to pull his gun out of his waistband. “There’s something coming. We good to get back on the road yet?” The dust and sand are swirling so thick now that turning on the headlights will only make visibility worse, so Lovett can’t see what Tommy saw, but he trusts him. “Just about, I need a few more minutes,” Lovett says. Tommy nods, face grim, and then he yells. He’s gone, when Lovett jerks upright, vanished into the dust. Jon’s staring after him, stock-still. “Jon,” Lovett says, low. “Go. You have to go.” Jon nods, but he doesn’t move. “Jon, for the love of--” Jon glances back at him, eyes wide and scared, and barrels into the dust cloud. Lovett grits his teeth against wanting to chase after them and focuses on the car. If he doesn’t fix the car, they’re dead on the ground anyway. He has to fix the car, so they have an escape. He has to fix the car, and not think about both of them getting murdered by zombies while he crouches here in relative safety. He hears the sound of a gunshot, small caliber, from Jon’s gun, not Tommy’s, and looks up to see the muzzle flare light up the dust. He can’t make out anything but shadows in the brief light. There’s another shot, then a third. He gets the last lug nut secured and stands, tire iron in hand. He wonders if he has time to get his machete when two forms lumber out of the dust. It’s Tommy, dragging Jon beside him. Neither of them look bloody or hurt, but he can tell Jon’s shaking from here. Tommy nods at him, and Lovett’s shoulders relax. Tommy shoves Jon into the passenger seat of the car before coming to help Lovett heft the useless tire into the trunk in the hopes it can be fixed with a patch when they get back to civilization. “Is he--?” Lovett asks, but then the car door flies open and Jon stumbles out, falling to his knees in the sand as he wretches. He’s only sick once, but he heaves for a long time, his whole body flinching when Tommy lays a hand on his back. Lovett hovers, holding one of their last water bottles. When Jon looks up at them, his face is chalky from dust above where the bandana had been tied, now dirty and crumpled around his neck, and there are streaks of clean skin under his eyes. From tear tracks, Lovett realizes, Jon’s eyes red and wet. “We need to go,” Tommy says, and Lovett helps him get Jon to his feet, pulling him back to the car. Jon’s still trembling, and it’s only then that Lovett realizes Tommy has both of their guns. Lovett sits in the middle of the backseat, so he can keep a wary eye on Jon, who’s crumpled against the passenger side door, hands tight around the water bottle. He’s staring off into the distance, breathing hard through his mouth. Tommy starts the car and pulls back on the road, swerving neatly around a dead zombie some fifty feet along. Jon recoils when he sees it, slamming his eyes shut. Tommy reaches over to lay a hand on his shoulder, gripping him hard, and Lovett trusts his instincts and reaches forward, too, resting his hand on the back of Jon’s neck. He can feel the sweat there, and the tensed muscles. “Jon,” Tommy says lowly, “you saved my life.” Jon hiccups in a breath. “I-- I killed him, I--” “You saved my life,” Tommy says again, bracingly, and he repeats it over and over until Jon nods, silently agreeing, until Tommy can put both hands back on the wheel. “I was. I was so scared,” Jon croaks out. “I’m scared all the fucking time, but I couldn’t. It couldn’t take you, Tom. It can’t have you.” He looks over his shoulder at Lovett. “Either of you,” he adds, firmly. He settles into Lovett’s hold, tipping his head back against the headrest, and Lovett lets himself rub his thumb soothingly up and down the side of Jon’s neck as he relaxes.

“Alyssa said we could stay awhile,” Lovett says softly, after Jon’s dropped off and when he can just make out the lights of Vegas on the horizon. Or, well. What lights are left, for the casinos that have been able to keep them on. The ones repurposed by enterprising survivors, like Alyssa.

"Yeah, she did,” Tommy agrees, looking at him in the rearview mirror for a second.

"She's putting us up in the penthouse. Can you imagine? All we had to do to live in the lap of luxury is survive the apocalypse.” Tommy rolls his eyes; Lovett can just see it in the mirror. “Don’t use the ‘A’ word.”

“It has two bedrooms,” Lovett soldiers on, “but maybe we just, uh. Maybe we just use one?” “One king bed?” Tommy jokes, and Lovett laughs. It feels good to laugh today, even if it wakes Jon up. “Oh,” Jon says, sitting up. Lovett lets his hand fall away, but Jon reaches back for him without looking. “We’re there?” “Just about, yeah,” Lovett says, unable to keep the smile off his face as Jon looks back and forth between them, his fingers laced with Lovett’s.“Did you ask him, Tommy?” “Ask me what?” Lovett interrupts, before Tommy can speak. “Alyssa said we can take one of the penthouses, so--” he breaks off when Lovett starts laughing. “Yeah,” Lovett says, sharing a sly grin with Tommy in the mirror. “Yeah, he asked me.” “You know we’re scared all the time, too, right?” Tommy says. “Try fucking terrifed,” Lovett adds. Jon ducks his head. “I know, it’s just--” “We know, Jon,” Lovett says, squeezing Jon’s hand in his. “Trust us.” 

[badwolf-in-the-impala]

~Whiskey Lullaby~

~Chapter 9~

||Previous Chapter||

Image Credit: Me. Pictures not mine obviously, but the collage is.

Rating: Mature/18+

Warnings: Alcohol and drug abuse, violence, suggested sexual/physical abuse, kidnapping, sexual content, angst.

Chapter Warnings: Explosion, blood, angst, cat fight ((is that a thing?)) Idk but a certain somebody gets punched lol

A/N: Sorry it’s been a while guys...I suck these days. I’ve had an insane case of writers block that has been kicking my ass. A reminder that Tawni, introduced last chapter is portrayed by the lovely @jacksonroth, who has  her own SOA fic that is going to a cross over with this one! So hop on over and check out ‘This Charming Life’ and show her some love! Also as always, a huge thank you to her for saving my ass from writers block! Enjoy!

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Teagan rolled up to the auto store and got her part quickly, damn near hauled ass back to the garage, giddy as all hell to get started on her car. But when she rolled back into the lot, she saw Juice and Tawni had beaten her back, hiding behind the van as they talked...a little too close for Chibs’ taste, most likely. Teagan smirked to herself and got out of the truck, giving a short, sharp whistle to get Tawni’s attention. Tawni jumped and turned, giving a sigh, thankful it wasn’t Chibs. Tegan snickered as she approached the two.

“Well, well. Don’t we look cozy.” She teased. Tawni smirked and shrugged.

“We’re just talking.” Tawni said, batting her eyelashes in a fake innocence. Teagan laughed and wiggled her way between them as she said, “Then you wouldn’t mind if I just-Excuse me-Slip in here.”

Teagan sighed as she leaned against the van, looking between Tawni and Juice, who had taken two steps back. Teagan winked at him and said, “Good call, Juicy. Always gotta leave room for Jesus.”

“Oh, Christ, Teage.” Tawni laughed, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. Teagan snickered as Juice rubbed the back of his head and mumbled, “Um, I’m gonna bring the rest of these bags in.”

Juice tried to grab as many of the bags from the van as he could, taking his time to walk back and put them away, hoping Teagan would be gone by then.

“God, Teagan, you are so much worse than when we were kids.” Tawni teased, grabbing the rest of the bags, passing some off to Teagan, since she insisted on crashing her party. Teagan simply shrugged her shoulders and walked with her as they headed to the clubhouse.

“What can I say? It’s a gift.” She said. Tawni laughed and shook her head as they headed to the kitchen.

“Do you remember how to make this?” Tawni asked, pulling out the big chili pot and setting it on the stove.

“Tawn, baby, I love you, but do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been here?” Teagan asked, unloading the bags. Tawni giggled and gave a shrug, grabbing a box of chicken stock and pouring it in.

“True. But you don’t just forget Gran’s Hangover Stew.” Tawni said. Teagan hopped up onto the counter after clearing a place for her to sit. She plucked an apple from one of the bags and bit into it.

“Right, so, can we talk?” Teagan asked. Tawni glanced at her, confused, as she started chopping up veggies.

“About?” Tawni prodded. Teagan smirked and pushed her hip with her foot, lightly. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Tawni. Don’t play dumb. I’ve always been better at it than you.”

A blush spread across Tawni’s cheeks as she tried to hide her smile. Teagan laughed and gave a small wiggle, glad to see her best friend so happy about it.

“I knew it. Alright, hun, spill. How long have you and Juice been hot for each other?” She asked, taking another bite of her apple.

“Jesus, Teagan!” Tawni said, giving her a look. “First of all, I didn't even know he liked me. Second...We’re not exactly hot for each other. We just really get along and we like each other.”

Teagan groaned and said, “Come on, Tawni! I’ve been gone for 12 years. You’ve got to give me something better than that!”

“Teagan, aren’t we a little old to swap sex stories?” Tawni asked.

“Hardly.” Teagan snorted with a roll of her eyes as she hopped down off of the counter. “But mark my words, I’ll get it out of you sooner or later...or maybe I’ll drag it out of Juicey boy?” She added with a devious smirk. Dodging the carrot that Tawni hurled at her face as she leveled a glare in her direction.

“You wouldn’t dare?!”

“Maybe...maybe not.” Teagan shrugged. “But for the time being, I believe I have a date with a bottle of Jack and an engine that needs unboxing.” She wiggled her eyebrows, giggling as she watched Tawni’s face scrunch up at the mention of alcohol so soon.

“I feel sorry for your liver.” She groaned.

“You wouldn’t be the first.” Teagan shrugged. “Call me when the soups ready, yeah?”

Not bothering to wait for an answer she turned and all but skipped out the back door where she found her engine crate had been unloaded and neatly placed inside the storage unit beside her car. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she shook her head, glancing over to where Opie and Chibs stood, unloading a Van from the bed of the tow truck. Chibs throwing her a grin as he finished unhooking all the chains from the vehicle, securing them back to the flatbed and giving Opie the signal he was all good to pull away and park the truck.

Meanwhile, everyone else had slowly begun to gather around the tables that sat outside the clubhouse, laughing and sharing a few drinks as another day of work came to a close. That was when Gemma caught her attention, waving her over from across the lot where she sat with Tara and Abel. Teagan didn’t think twice as she clicked off the lights inside the unit and rolled the door down before turning to cross the lot. She had waited this long for her engine, waiting one more day to unbox and get started wouldn’t hurt...especially when things seemed to be looking up for a change.

The slow steady thud of her boots against the pavement filled the air as she walked, turning to steal another glance at Chibs who now sat in the driver's seat of the Van, she tried to hide the smile that tugged at her lips as her eyes fell back to the ground; hands in her pockets. It was then that a distinctive click sounded and a sharp, high pitched tone filled the air.

Time almost seemed to slow down, Teagan barely having enough time to glance up as she heard Chibs yell before she was suddenly knocked off her feet by the concussive force created by the unexpected explosion. Her ears rang loudly and the world seemed as though it were on a tilt as she tried to get to her feet. Screams falling on deaf ears at the horrific sight that now lay before them as she stumbled forward to where Chibs lie unconscious on the pavement, blood slowly beginning to pool beneath his head as she and Jax collapsed beside him.

Jax’s voice sounded so distance in all the chaos as he shouted for Tara; Teagan reaching out to stop him from moving Chibs as she approached and began searching for any sign of a pulse. Sirens began to wail in the distance, approaching fast, and suddenly she was being pulled away by a strong pair of arms as paramedics rushed into view.

Whoever was holding onto her suddenly caught an elbow to the face as she screamed to be let go, struggling against the strong grasp that kept her firmly rooted to the spot where they stood, watching as Chibs was loaded onto the stretcher and put into the waiting ambulance.

“Jesus Christ, Teage! Calm the fuck down!” Tig ground out through clenched teeth as he tightened his grip on his sister. “Stop.Struggling.”

It was at the exact moment that world seemed to suddenly slam back into motion. The ringing in her ears almost deafening now as her head started to spin, that all to familiar tightness gripping at her chest as she struggled to catch a breath. Suddenly gasping for air like a fish thrown out of water as the edges of her vision began to blur...

“Woah, hey?! Tara!?” Tig called out as Teagan’s legs suddenly gave way out from underneath her. Everything fading away as the world suddenly went black.

~

When Teagan finally came to everything was quiet, save for the steady pounding in her head that made her groan as she pressed a hand to her forehead. That was the first time she noticed the blood that was matted against her hairline and dried to her skin above her left temple. Her whole body ached as she pushed herself up onto her elbows, taking in her surroundings as she squinted against the dimness of the room.

“Shit…” She whispered to herself as she sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, now fully aware of where exactly she was. St. Thomas. Which meant that as much as she so desperately hoped for the images that seemed to play on a loop in her mind to be nothing more than a nightmare; that they weren’t.

Sliding off the bed carefully she shivered as her bare feet hit the cold floor, and after a few minutes of searching she was finally able to locate her boots. Pulling them on before opening the door to her room.

“Oh good, you’re alive.” Gemma stated from the chair that beside the door. The sound of her voice startling Teagan almost half to death as she jumped and spun towards her, hands clutching her chest as she doubled over.

“Jesus, Gem.” She breathed out. “You’re gonna kill me one of these days.”

“Guess it’s a good thing you don’t have heart problems then.” Gemma replied dryly, a small smirk tugging at her lips as she stood and placed a hand on Teagan’s shoulder as she stood up straight, swaying a little bit as wave of dizziness washed over her. Gemma frowned.

“You shouldn’t be outta bed yet.”

“I’m fine, Gem.” Teagan dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand. “Probably just need something to eat…”

“Mhm...tell that to the Doc.” Gemma replied while pointing behind her. Teagan turning to find Tara approaching with a stern expression.

“You shouldn’t be up yet.” She stated, pointing at the chair in which Gemma had been sitting in a minute ago. “Now.” Tara added in a stern tone when Teagan didn’t budge.

“I assumed I was fine, given I wasn’t hooked up to anything.” Teagan sighed as she took a seat, giving an eye roll as she watched Tara pull the light pen out of her coat pocket and ordered her to look straight ahead.

“Aside from the concussion and the panic attack you had; yeah, you’re fine. But you need rest.” Tara replied, returning the light pen to her pocket and placing a hand on her hip. “You’re lucky Tig had a hold of you, else the concussion you sustained from the blast could’ve been a lot more serious.”

Teagan nodded but remained quiet as she stared at the floor, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of her neck, which ached like a Mother, leaving Gemma and Tara to briefly share a concerned glance before she looked back up.

“How is he?” Teagan cleared her throat quietly as she continued to stare at the floor.

“Critical…but stable.” Tara replied. “The force of the explosion and his head hitting the ground caused a cranial bleed...they’re doing surgery to relieve the pressure.”

“But he’s going to be ok?” Teagan added quietly.

“He’s not out of the woods yet...but best case scenario, yes. Filip should be alright.” Tara tried to reassure softly without getting her hopes up too much, as he wasn’t quite out of the woods yet.

Teagan gave an understanding nod before drawing in a deep breath and rising out of the chair slowly. “I’m gonna, um...step outside for a bit...get some air.”

“Want some company?” Gemma called after Teagan as she started down the hall, but Teagan ignored the question and kept walking until she had disappeared from sight. Making her way through the maze of halls until she finally found the reception area and exit.

Stepping out into the cool evening air she walked a little ways down from the main door before leaning against the brick wall, fishing around in her pockets for her pack of smokes and lighter; sparking one up and inhaling deeply as she closed her eyes. Leaning her head back as she savored the much need rush of nicotine before letting the smoke trail past her lips slowly as she became immersed in her own thoughts, starting to regret her choice of returning back to Charming in the first place. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter.

It seemed as though it had been one thing after another since her arrival. Except now it was somebody else’s life at stake, not just her own, and even worse? It was someone she was slowly beginning to care about quite a bit. Even after she swore that she would never become involved with another one of the Sons. Not ever. So many promises that she had made to herself years ago.

Letting out a sigh she took another drag from her cigarette and opened her eyes, the sound of the automatic doors opening catching her attention as several nurses walked out, chatting casually as they passed by. But out of the corner of her eye she could see one more person walking out. Turning her head towards the entrance of the hospital, Teagan saw Tawni approaching her where she stood, propped against the wall. Tawni was wrapped up in a SAMCRO hoodie that was two sizes too big for her; arms hugging it tightly around her body as she walked.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Tawni asked as she snatched the cigarette out of Teagan’s hand, taking a couple drags off of it before stamping the last of it out. She looked exhausted and her brows were pulled together tightly with worry.

“Tara said I was fine. I just...needed some air.” Teagan shrugged lightly, even though her eyes told a different story as she glanced back towards the door.

“Hospitals never were your thing.” Tawni added with a frown. “You don’t have to stay.”

“I’ll be alright. Besides, I wanna be here.” Teagan dismissed the comment, eyes fixed on the sidewalk as she kicked a small rock with the toe of her boot. Ignoring the intense gaze from beside her that felt as though it were about to melt through her skull.

“But not for me though, right? You’re staying because of my Uncle.” Tawni shot back in a harsh and unforgiving tone. The look on her face sending a twinge of guilt through Teagan as she looked up at her, briefly confused before the realization of what she was saying hit her.

“Come on, Tawn, not now.” Teagan rolled her eyes as she pushed herself away from the wall and made to move past her best friend, only to find her steps matched as Tawni blocked her path. Planting a hand against her chest and pushing her back to stop her. “Seriously Tawni, what the hell?!”

“I dunno, why don’t ye tell me, Teagan!” Tawni snapped back, the faintest hint of her accent coming out as her temper started to slip through. “Cause it seems to me there’s somethin’ y’er not tellin’ me!”

“Tawn--”

“Don’t ‘Tawn’, me!” She bit back, taking a step forward.

“Seriously Tawni, now really isn’t the time to have this conversation…” Teagan tried to reply calmly, even though she could feel her own temper rising to the surface.

“And what conversation is tha’?!” Tawni snapped. “The conversation where ye tell me tha’ y’er fucking m’Goddamn Uncle? Is tha’ the conversation y’er referrin’ to?!”

“Excuse me?” Teagan huffed. “First of all, I’m not fucking anybody--”

“Stop fuckin’ lyin’ to my face, Teage!” Tawni, nearly screamed; the action taking Teagan by surprise and causing her to take a step back as she stared at her best friend in shock.

“I fuckin’ saw it with my own eyes, ok?! How ye fuckin’ reacted when the paramedics we’re tryin’ta take Filip away in the ambulance! Ye punched y’er fuckin’ brother in the Goddamn face for Christs sake, Teagan; and yet ye have the balls to stand there an’ tell me there’s nothin’ goin’ on between the two of ye?! Bull.Fuckin’.Shite” Tawni took a few steps back and ran a hand through her dark hair in frustration as she turned away, trying to hide the tears that had built and threatened to spill down her cheeks in anger.

“I’m sorry, Tawn. But I swear, there’s nothing--” Teagan spoke softly, all the anger in her voice from before replaced by a tone of guilt as she tried to give an explanation before being cut off.

“Save y’er fuckin’ apologies.” Tawni spat as she angrily swiped away a few stray tears that had slipped out, with the sleeve of her hoodie. “I thought ye were my fuckin’ friend...but as it turns out, y’er still jus’ the same backstabbin’ whore ye were twelve fuckin’ years ago!”

“Oh, I’m the whore?!” Teagan gave a bitter laugh as she got in Tawni’s face. “Well at least I’m not fucking another Member behind my Uncle’s back.” She had barely finished her sentence before Tawni’s fist was connecting with her jaw and she was suddenly on the ground, hand pressed to the left side of her face as she tried to regain her bearings as she watched her friend storm back towards the entrance.

“Go fuck y’erself!” Tawni yelled just before disappearing through the front doors of the hospital. Leaving Teagan on the sidewalk, alone with her thoughts as she attempted to figure out where the hell she was going wrong in her life…

‘Not being honest with your best friend, for starters.’

But that was the obvious one.

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As always, if you would like to be added to the Taglist, just let me know!

TAGLIST: @jacksonroth @cole-winchester @stacie-marie-bloom @journeyrose @penny4yourthot @rosepetalsandfandoms

[rallis-fatalis]

The Dragon Slayer

Uncovering the mysteries of the ancient past is not for the faint of heart. One could uncover secrets best left hidden and dig up that which should remain buried. When Adam and Rallis are given the opportunity to investigate the origin of dragons, a series of events that would shake humanity and dragonkind to its core unfolds. Allegiances will be questioned, war will begin, and the world will burn. When the past rears its ugly head to take control of the future, nothing will ever be the same again.

HOLY SHIT. Ok so this a story I've been slowly piecing together for so long I've lost track of time. I’m amazed it even got finished tbh. I didn't want to split this into parts, it didn't feel right to, so sorry for this giant text wall lol. Anyway, I hope anyone who reads enjoys the trip of the most important turning point of Rallis’ life.

Today was a big day! A momentous day even! Ginormous! So big it dwarfed the whole world! Well, okay, maybe not that big, but it was still pretty big! Rallis the blue dragon was sprinting along the dirt road leading away from Corsair Cove to the unknown to the west. Her verdant friend and adventuring companion Adam trailed behind, rolling his eyes at her antics with a smile. She was all but backflipping down the road, kicking up dirt and grass as she flipped, skipped, and chattered excitedly.

"Can you believe it?!" Rallis shouted up ahead as she leapt up to a low hanging tree branch and flipped over it in excitement, cape nearly getting tangled. "We're finally gonna be Myth Guild members!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Adam called after her. "We have to do their quest first and then be accepted. We could even do what they want and not find the outcome worthy enough of allowing us to join. It might take a few tries, so nothing is set in stone just yet."

"That's lame!" Rallis complained. "We worked so hard to get here and doing the paperwork is such a pain! I don't want to do it again!"

"You didn't even do it the first time," he retorted. Rallis shot him a pouty glare and the man just rolled his eyes. "I always do the paperwork."

"You write better."

"Then practice your penmanship!"

"Writing sucks! Also, four fingers by the way!" She held up her hands as evidence. "Human writing hurts! They should let me finger paint my reports!"

The two playfully bickered down the road, through the woods, and up to the western coast. The path all but vanished, not many wandering this far west, and in the distance a large moss covered stone structure grew, seated atop its own personal island. A basic rope bridge connected the mainland to the island, a guard tower and fallen stones of the same mossy rock framing the path. Rallis smiled as the moss squished under her feet, playfully stomping in the soft stuff. Adam grabbed her and pushed her across the bridge.

"This is kind of important," he told her. "Can you maybe act serious for two seconds? Try to make a good first impression please."

"I always make a good first impression!" Rallis argued as she placed a fistful of moss on her head like a crown. Adam sighed and brushed it off, placing it in her hands instead.  Rallis squished her moss happily as they walked across the bridge and up to the first person they saw. They were a dark skinned man in brown functional but also nice looking adventure gear with a fringed white and blue trimmed cape. He had a staff that held a book at the top that seemed to be as old and greying as he was. Despite his white beard and older appearance, he easily looked like he could fend off anyone he didn't desire to come closer.

"Greetings, adventurers," he called out to Adam and Rallis as they approached. "Welcome to the Myths' Guild. How may I assist you today?"

"My name is Green Kananga and this is Rallis Fatalis. We're from the Legends' Guild and are looking for the guildmaster," Adam said as he unfurled a document. "We are here to become members."

"Well, you've found the guildmaster! My name is Alec Kincade. Let me see what you have there." The man took the paper and looked it over before slamming his staff down, startling the two. He pulled the book loose and stored the paper inside. "So you're the two I've been hearing about! Nice to finally put a face to the name. You've been causing quite a stir here, you know. Two small fish wanting to join? Two adventurers so early in their careers? It's not unheard of but it's not common either. Some think I'm wasting my time entertaining the idea of you two joining. They think you haven't the experience."

"We'll prove them wrong!" Rallis piped up. "We can do anything!"

The guildmaster chuckled. "Spirited, aren't you! I've heard things about you, Rallis Fatalis. You're just as interesting in person." He flipped through his book again. "The Myths' Guild is for those who wish to uncover the lost secrets of the world and investigate the myths of the lands to see what may be hidden within them. If you are so exuberant to do 'anything,' then I have a quest for you."

He handed them both a series of papers from his book and continued as they looked them over. "There is a man from Varrock who wishes to investigate the myths of the dragons. Considering your backgrounds, I thought this task suitable."

Adam read over the papers, Rallis opting to listen to the explanation instead. "Of course," Adam told him. "We would be honored to, Master Kincade."

"I'm glad. I have already told him about you and that you were coming. Good to see my intuition on your initiative was not incorrect."

Adam smiled as he said goodbye, glad it had gone smoothly and that they had made a lasting impression and a good one at that. He motioned for Rallis to follow but she instead walked up to guildmaster and handed him the ball of moss she was playing with, practically slam dunking it in his hands. She grinned wide at him. "Your guild has very nice moss! Very soft!" She spun around with a smile and skipped along the bridge to the mainland. Needless to say, her partner was appalled.

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The paperwork Kincade had given them told them to go to the bar on Musa Point to find their man, a member of the Varrock digsite and museum. That's where they would find the beginning of their quest. "I hope this researcher guy is nice," Rallis said as she pocketed the purple necklace she used to get to the island with. Adam pocketed his own necklace as well, kindly given to him for fast travel, and leaned up against a tree for a moment as the world spun. "Woozy?" she asked.

"Yeah," he slurred slowly. "Hard to get used to this..." He pushed off the tree. "We're taking a boat next time. Not your magic teleporting jewelry."

Rallis pouted. "Maybe if I wanted to move at a snail's pace, sure! You'll get used to it."

"Maybe I wanted to move slowly so I could have more time to lecture you on WHY YOU SHOULDN'T HAND THE LEADER OF THE MYTHS' GUILD OLD DIRTY MOSS!"

"He should be happy with it! It means the plants in his guild are super healthy!"

"There are so many better ways to say that than handing him a pile of moss, oh my god Rallis."

While Adam moaned and complained about her idiocy, Rallis skipped ahead, ignoring him. The two made their way through the banana plantation to the bar. They entered the banana and booze scented hut and looked around. There were only two people seated at the bar this hot afternoon, a piratey looking fellow downing a second bottle of rum and a more cleaned and proper man sipping a glass of water, heavy pack on the seat next to him. Rallis nudged Adam in the side. "Digsite gear," she muttered, pointing to the man with the water. His pack had rope and excavation tools poking out. "That must be our guy."

Adam walked over and cleared his throat. "Excuse me. Are you Dallas Jones?"

The man spun around to face him. "Indeed I am! Who might you be?"

"My name is Green Kananga," he greeted. "And this is Rallis Fatalis." Rallis waved hello. "We've come on behalf of the Myths' Guild.

The man's jaw dropped. He shakily stood from his seat and pushed passed Adam to greet Rallis standing behind him. He looked her up and down, wide eyed and mouth agape. "What are you?" he asked incredulously.

Rallis' ears drooped but she didn't break face. 'We're going to work together, please don't make fun of me,' she worriedly thought. "I'm a blue dragon," she replied.

She didn't get another word in as Dallas giggled like a school girl and excitedly hopped in place. "Oh my goodness an actual talking dragon!" he all but squealed. "This is incredible! How do you do dear? My name is Dallas Jones, Varrock's resident dragon expert!" He enthusiastically shook her hand, marveling at the claws ripping through ice blue gloves. "What a pleasure, what a pleasure!" The man was starting to get odd looks from the bartender and customer but he could not care less.

Rallis' face started to turn bright red from the attention. She gave him a toothy grin and looked over to her partner who couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. Dallas pulled out a small notebook and pencil from his pocket in haste. "This is so incredible," he continued to gush. "It's not every day you meet a talking dragon! Oh I have so many questions!"

Adam put a hand on the man's shoulder, grabbing his attention. "As do we, so how about we answer them one at a time? I'll start. What would you like us to do?"

Dallas embarrassedly put away his notebook. "Yes, of course. I am researching Crandor and Elvarg and the history it holds." Rallis' interest was piqued. Those were names she hadn't heard in a while. "I would like to learn as much information as I can about Elvarg here, as well as its history and the history of the dragon race as a whole. I take it you've heard of it? The dragon I mean."

"I was the one who killed her so yes," Rallis muttered. "And she. Elvarg is a she not an it."

"Oh, my apologies," he said sincerely. "Wait, you're the hero of Crandor?!"

Rallis sullenly nodded. She didn't consider herself a hero for that. Dallas was gushing however. "Amazing! To think I was being sent not just experts in the field, but also the hero of Crandor!"

Adam steered Dallas back on track. "My apologies," the researcher said. "I'm just so excited! I was informed that of the two people being sent to assist me, one was a warrior with a background in excavation and the other was a fellow dragon expert. I see that information was not misleading!" Dallas pulled out a map and unfolded it. It detailed the northern half of Karamja as well as Crandor. He pointed to the Karamja volcano. "With Elvarg dead, we have the opportunity to research the island and her lair without fear. We first must make our way here to get to her lair," he explained. "There are many ferocious beasts wandering about so I'll need your help," he addressed Adam. "And we could very likely be heading to other dangerous locales. That shouldn't be much of a problem, yes?"

"Not a bit," Adam replied, cocky. "It's just some demons down there. Nothing I can't handle."

"Flex harder why don't you?" Rallis said as she playfully swatted his arm.

"Great!" Dallas exclaimed as he strapped on his pack. "Shall we start walking then? And I would love to ask you some questions on the way, if that isn't too much trouble," he practically begged Rallis.

Rallis started to turn red again and bashfully scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you like."

Dallas wouldn't shut up during their journey to Elvarg's lair. He all but begrudgingly and vaguely motioned them in the right direction while he pestered Rallis with a slew of questions about dragons. How long do they live? Are all of them naturally violent like Elvarg? Do they come in different shapes and sizes? And a whole grand list of other quandaries. It was honestly a bit taxing to be interrogated like this, and they hadn't even really begun their adventure yet. Adam listened in a bit, curious, but ultimately focused on the trek and getting to their destination safely.

Sneaking through secret corridors and demon lairs landed them inside the abandoned home of Elvarg. Old scorch marks, burnt bones, and blood speckled the scene, untouched over the years of neglect. Elvarg's now rotted corpse lay in the middle of the room, a skeleton stripped clean. Rallis balled her fists and looked away. She didn't want to look at her first failure, even if others considered her a hero for killing the beast.

Adam clapped his hands together. "Alright! So why are we here?"

"Elvarg's attack on Crandor is a bit of an anomaly," Dallas began. "We're here to figure out why."

"What makes it an anomaly?" Adam asked.

Dallas smiled, as if happy to have someone care enough to finally listen to him and ask questions back. "Well for starters, Elvarg is a green dragon. Green dragons are very community oriented and generally live in sizable prides. So why was she alone?"

Rallis thought about that for a moment. What he said was true. All the green dragons she knew in the Wilderness were part of large groups and stuck together like family.

"I thought dragons were territorial," Adam said. "Maybe she was too territorial to be around others."

"A good guess but still an incorrect one." Dallas paced the room as he continued. "Most dragons only attack if something enters their territory, as you are implying. But Elvarg went beyond her boundaries, flying far out to sea to attack, and repeatedly too. That's not being territorial, that's being aggressive."

"On top of that, there's no real record of how Elvarg arrived on Crandor," he continued. "All the stories I've heard and read say the same thing, that she just appeared one day. Some stories point to her being awoken from within the mountain but if that's true, where did she come from? And why did she not destroy the Crandorians when they first arrived if she had been here this whole time? So many questions, you see!" He motioned around the cavern the dragon in question used to call home. "Something here must point us in the right direction! We just have to find it!"

Adam and Rallis nodded and got to work, exploring anything and everything in hopes of finding something of interest. Dallas flipped over rocks and examined the stalagmites for clues while Rallis searched through piles of bones. Adam was examining Elvarg's skeleton, hoping something would pop out suspiciously.

"Leave her alone, Adam," Rallis told him with a hint of sadness. "There's not going to be any clues on her. Let her rest."

He left the dead dragon alone and joined his partner. "You never told me you were the one who killed Elvarg."

"It never exactly came up." Rallis examined a suspicious looking bone before tossing it with a huff. "It's how I got into the Champions' Guild, and I don't like to talk about it." She tossed a skull away. "Trust me when I say you won't find any clues on her. I was up close and personal enough to tell you that much."

Adam gave a thoughtful hum and left to examine a human skeleton and a scorch mark on the wall. The scorch mark left behind the familiar silhouette of a man. "Poor guy," Adam said as he flipped over the rusting silver shield next to the corpse.

"That's why you always bring an antifire shield around dragons," Rallis chimed in.

Adam examined the skeleton further but there was nothing of interest there. He placed a hand on the smooth rocky wall and walked around the room, fingers trailing along the stone. As he continued his meandering, his hand grazed something bumpy, something very different feeling from the smooth grainy rock that made up the rest of the wall. He followed the wall back to the bumpy segment and gave it a good look over. The bumpy patch was the same color as the rest of the wall, even had a similar grainy feel too, but it looked and felt off upon closer inspection. He tapped the wall with the back of his hand and bits came away in a cloud of dust, leaving a minuscule hole behind.

Adam pulled his crossbow out and slammed the wooden end into the wall, a great deal more sediment giving way in a cloud of brown powder. The others turned to him with the sound of the bang and came over.

"What do you got?" Rallis asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "You wouldn't happen to have a pickaxe or something on you, would you Dallas?"

The man shuffled through his pack and pulled out a small pickaxe-like tool. "Just this rock pick if that helps."

"That's great, thanks. You may want to stand back a bit. This stuff crumbles into dust pretty easily it seems." Dallas and Rallis stepped back. Adam swung at the wall with the rock pick, chunks falling away into piles of sandy granules. After a few swings more, the wall completely collapsed, leaving a large hole leading into darkness. Adam handed back the rock pick. "Guess we found your clue."

Instead of being unnerved by the shadowy depths of the unknown, Dallas strode through the hole with a smile. "Let's see what awaits us then!"

Despite Dallas' confidence, he quickly realized he couldn't see a thing. Wherever this hole led to it was pitch black. Only Rallis could make out the shapes in the dark. The rock tunnel opened out into a larger room filled with strange looking things that even with the light Rallis wouldn't have been able to make out. "Stay here," she whispered to the two as she walked farther inside. There were things hanging from the walls that seemed like unlit torches. With a few fire runes and a simple spell, the room was lit, Rallis brushing the now powdered runes off her hands. It was much easier to see the room and its contents now. It was a small grey drab place, a literal hole in the wall. It was tiled with grey stones with an imprint like that of a compass rose, patterns fading away with age. Sat in the center was a large tank of liquid that sunk into the earth. A diagram and foreign looking notes were drawn and written on a board at its front. Shelves lined the shadowy grey walls and displayed a myriad of colored tubes and vials, their bursts of color a stark contrast to the grey around them. Some of them even had specimens inside, an eye here, a talon there, among other more unspeakable things. A table with some odd piece of machinery was near the tank, many candles melted onto its exterior. Whoever was here seemed to have worked here a lot.

"What is this place?" Dallas said in awe.

Adam picked up a vial off the table before grimacing and setting it back down. "It looks like some kind of laboratory."

Rallis didn't know why, but the thought of that made her blood run cold.

Dallas continued to look around in awe. "If that's true... Could this mean...?"

"Mean what?" Adam asked.

Dallas walked over to the tank and placed his hand on the note riddled board. "There are ancient tales that tell of the origin of dragons," he began, enamored. "They say dragons were created by a powerful race of creatures known as the dragonkin."

The word echoed throughout the room with a heavy meaning. Rallis suddenly felt horribly afraid to be in this room, the word creating a kind of imperceptible dread.

"Dragonkin?" Adam questioned. "Hmm, I've heard of them. Friend of mine, Bob, he had me chasing around some information about them."

"As have I," Rallis whispered. But she couldn't place where she had heard the word. Maybe Adam had said something once? Or a book maybe? Either way, the word made her skin crawl with fear.

"I would hope so!" Dallas proclaimed. "They terrorized the world for years in the Fourth Age, maybe even earlier. There isn't much information on the topic unfortunately, what with how old the events are."

"Well hopefully we'll be the ones to find something!" Adam said with a smile, his thirst for adventure making him excited. If there was a possibility of uncovering tales and truths of the ancient past here, he was all over it.

"We just might be!" Dallas said, enthusiasm and excitement rubbing off on him as well. "Let's see what we can find!"

Adam and Dallas got to work exploring every nook and cranny with vigor. They noted every device, every tool, every shard of glass and speck of dirt. It was all very thrilling. Rallis looked around as well but with a much more subdued demeanor. She spent a long time looking at the tank of liquid, reading the notes on the board. They were similar to the ones on Fossil Island, scientific and not written in Common.

'Are the places connected?' she thought. Looking closer, some of the machinery certainly looked similar to the stuff on the island, though considerably less broken. Rallis took some of the notes on the board for herself, as well as any she found on the shelves or table.

Dallas was eyeing up something between the wall and the tank. It was an oddly colored egg shaped object about the size of an average person. There were a few, most hardened and petrified with age. But this one, he was shocked to find, was much more smooth, silky almost. He ran his hand down the egg and it began to shake. The man gasped and stepped back. "Come quick you two! Look!"

Adam stood by the man and watched curiously. "The fact that anything could be alive down here..."

Rallis came over and gave the thing a sniff. At once, it set off alarm bells. She growled and unfurled her whip. The others were shocked. "Rallis what the hell are you doing?!" Adam yelled.

"Bad thing!" Rallis hissed.

The top of the egg melted away in a pile of goo and out jumped a horrid creature. It skittered closer to the trio like a spider and had the tail of a scorpion. Its mouth was circular and filled with twisted fangs, like a hole full of fish hooks. Small bulbs grew on its spine, almost like little mushrooms. It looked the three over before deciding to throw itself at Dallas with a squeal. Rallis grabbed the creature by the tail before it could grab hold of the man with its nasty teeth. She hurled it to the floor, bouncing from the force, before slashing it in two with her whip. The creature squealed before bleeding out a pool of disgusting reeking green. She flicked the green goo off her whip with a grimace.

Dallas stared at the dragon, wide eyed. "Wh-What was that?"

"Bad thing," Rallis said matter of factly as if that explained everything. "Takes a host and kills or mutates them. Bad thing."

He tried not to gag at the green blood continuing to spread across the floor. "Thank you for saving me then. I hope the others don't have those inside as well!" He pointed to the other eggs nearby. "Maybe we should hurry this up. Did either of you find anything?"

Rallis held out one of the papers she found on the board for him to see. He gave her a confused glance, unable to read the notes. "Lithkren," she said. "We go to Lithkren now."

"What's Lithkren?" Adam questioned.

"It's an island," Dallas explained. "It's part of the chain of islands Fossil Island is a part of. You know, the island the museum is exploring and investigating the wyverns that live there." They nodded. Both of them knew it well. "That makes sense! The machinery in here does have a striking resemblance to that of the contents of the settlement to the north. Come, we should go!"

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

Getting to the island was an argument in itself. Adam wanted to take a series of boats while Rallis flashed a gold pendant with a ruby in the center. Shouts of "no more magic jewelry" and "no snail boats" clashed in a verbal duel. Dallas couldn't help but suppress a snort at their antics.

"Which is faster?" he asked.

"Mine obviously!" Rallis proudly held up her pendant.

"Then let's do that one. No offense, Kananga."

Adam groaned, not ready for the sickening feeling of teleportation magic again. But he was outnumbered two to one. Rallis tossed him a pendant and stuck out her tongue before rubbing the gem and vanishing. The other two did the same, soon finding themselves in the house on the hill on Fossil Island.

Adam staggered over to a wall upon phasing into existence and tried his best not to hurl, while Dallas was so dizzy he fell to the floor right on his butt. Thankfully he didn't take it as badly as Adam. "This little thing is intense!" Dallas exclaimed as he looked around the room from his spot on the floor. "But damned incredible. We're actually on the island?"

"Yup!" Rallis chirped and helped the man up. "You can smell the ocean, can't you?"

He poked his head outside and sure enough, they were in the house on the hill north of the camp on Fossil Island. "Wow... that sure is something!"

He handed the necklace back but Rallis shook her head. "Keep it. I've got plenty more. You humans are so silly! It's like enchanted jewelry is new to you!" She put the necklace around his neck and smiled. "It looks good on you too!" Dallas' face started to turn a similar shade of red to his new ruby necklace at the comment.

Adam groaned and shuffled over. "I'm going to sit outside for a minute and get rid of this nausea." He shot Rallis a half hearted scowl to which she responded with a cheeky grin. "Holler if you need anything!"

Adam slumped over on the steps and the two were left alone in the quiet. "So... What now?" Dallas asked. "You said to go to Lithkren, so what now? No one knows where it is, just that it exists. None of the recovered documents tell of its location."

"Those papers I found, it said the key to another lab is here on this island," she told him. "A lab on Lithkren. Somewhere here is a map to get there and a key to open the lab."

"You read all that on those papers on Crandor?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, see?" Rallis pulled out the papers and showed him.

He shook his head. "Sorry, I don't read... that." He didn't know what to call the language other than 'that.'

Rallis laughed and pointed to the words on the paper. "Well here it says Lithkren, that you can see. Right next to it it says map. You see? Then it says--"

Rallis gave him a quick run through of the paper, man getting more excited by each word. The dragon found it funny how happy he grew over every new word. Even the researchers who frequented the island she tried to teach weren't this eager to learn. He could have spent all day learning the language, but they had things to do. Rallis herded him downstairs to get looking for something like a map or a key.

"Thank you for your help," he told her as he dug through boxes in the basement they now stood in. "And for teaching me. It's nice having someone take me seriously for a change!"

"You're welcome! Always happy to help!"

"Where did you learn to read that? I've never met anyone who could, though I suppose I've never asked the right dragon!"

He chuckled at his comment but Rallis frowned at it. 'Where' did she learn to read that? Well she didn't know. She just knew she could. Certainly no human taught her. She thought back and no, her parents didn't teach her either. She just knew how to read the language.

'Wait, what is that language even called anyway?' She just knew it as the language of the masters and she didn't know how she knew.

Her silence made her companion concerned. "Hey, you alright?"

Rallis shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, sorry. Did you find anything?"

Dallas pulled himself out of a box and held up a few stone tiles with different designs on them. "These. They look like the tile in the center of the room." He tossed them to Rallis who looked them over and held them up to the singular tile embedded in the floor in the center of the room. They certainly seemed to be part of a set. "The floor looks like a grid, and the piece inside it looks like the island we're on. See how it's shaped? Maybe the tiles build a map!"

"Maybe it could lead us to Lithkren!" Rallis said excitedly, but her ears soon drooped. "Most of the pieces are missing though. There's only about five here and this grid is huge."

"It seems so. I didn't find any more than these. Maybe they're around the building?"

Rallis nodded. "I'll have a look around with Adam and see if I can find any pieces. We'll bring them to you and you can build it!"

"Sounds like a plan!"

Rallis ran back upstairs and told Adam the plan, hefting him off the steps for a treasure hunt. Slowly but surely, they gathered the pieces. Some were wedged between rocks, some fell down the cliff side and teetered dangerously close to the water, some were stored in chests in the house, and some were hidden under brambly bushes around the base of the structure. The two came back with piles of tiles in their arms and spiked bits of brambles sticking out of their clothing. The three got to work on building the map, though Dallas did most of it.

After scanning the grid over one last time, Dallas nodded his approval. "I do believe we've done it! Yes, we should be able to find Lithkren now. Look here." He pointed to a large nearby island with a similar symbol on it that adorned most of the house they stood in, the compass rose from before. "That has to be it."

"Now we just need a way to get there," Adam said. "Do you think the museum can help us?"

"The museum?" Dallas scoffed. "No that won't work, any requisition of museum resources requires a mountain of paperwork and we simply don't have the time."

Rallis snorted and muttered something about having a dragon steal a boat again, grabbing Adam's attention. He shot her a side glare and would be sure to ask her about that later.

"Don't we have time, though?" Adam asked. It's not like they were in a rush.

"Of course not!" Dallas shouted. "Besides, I've spent years working towards this and I'm tired of waiting. It's time to discover the truth!"

"Alright, so what do we do instead?"

Dallas thought about the steps. "Well we still need a boat, that's for sure. Find a dwarf named Jardric, he should be somewhere on the island, probably around the camp. He's an old friend who owes me a favour. He should be able to get a boat for us." He pulled out a notebook and pencil. "While you're doing that, I'm going to make a copy of this map."

They nodded and went off in search of a dwarf. With a short walk, they were back in the main camp. Just as Dallas said, there was a dwarf nearby, panning for something in the waters by the docked boats.

Rallis tapped him on the shoulder. "Hello there."

"Are you Jardric?" Adam asked.

The dwarf huffed and put his panning tray down. "That I am. What can I do for you?"

"We're working with Dallas Jones on a research project," Adam explained. "We're investigating the destruction of Crandor. We need a boat to get to one of the nearby islands. Dallas said you could help us."

Jardric scowled and crossed his arms. "Did he now? Looking to cash in on that favour I bet. Once a boatman always a boatman, innit?" He grumbled some more. "I'm afraid I can't help you. All the boats around here are owned by the museum and they won't just let you take them. Of course, Dallas works with the museum and he could easily put in a request for one. He's not a fan of waiting around though."

"So I've noticed," Adam groaned. "What else can we do?"

The dwarf thought about it for a moment. "Well I suppose you could always build your own. If the island isn't far you'll only need a small rowboat. Mind you, you'll want to be quite good at building things unless you fancy a trip to the bottom of the ocean."

Rallis grinned and bounced on the sand. "I can build stuff!"

Jardric looked at her dubiously. "If you say so. I'll be checking it when you're done."

Rallis huffed at the comment and ran off to grab everything she needed, immediately setting to work. She was going to be focused for a while so Adam figure he might as well keep Dallas company. By the time the sun was about to set, the three of them had come down to see her progress. She was finishing up with her project and it was a surprisingly decent looking rowboat, though certainly small. Rallis stood proudly next to her little boat, puffing her chest out. "I told you I can build stuff!"

Jardric gave it an inspection, investigating everything down to the damn near microscopic level, before giving it a nod of approval. "Yeah, and not bad either! Sorry for the doubt. It's actually kind of sad you can build one from scratch faster than it takes to borrow one from the museum."

Dallas excitedly hopped over to the boat. "This is it! This is our chance to finally find some answers! To finally find out the truth behind Elvarg. Are you ready to go?"

"We're going to leave now?" Adam questioned. "But its nearly nightfall!"

"There's no time to waste! We'll get there before dark, it's not that far. The longer we dilly dally here the more dangerous it gets. Come on, let's go!" He started to shove the boat off the sand and into the water, reluctant help from the others speeding up the process. Within a few rushed minutes, the four were out to sea on their way to Lithkren with Dallas leading the way. Rallis and Adam struck up conversation with Jardric to pass the time, filling him in on why they were doing this and the whole quest with the Myths' Guild. The dwarf shook his head, muttering something about crazy adventurers and their loony expeditions.

It was nightfall when they landed, only the stars lighting their way. The moon was hidden tonight, casting the world in shadow. Rallis had little trouble seeing in the dark, but the same couldn't be said for her companions. She helped them out and led them along, leading them to the heart of the island. They couldn't make out much but they could identify large menacing buildings near the center of the island. Rallis led them up the stairs of one structure and to the safety inside. It was darker inside without the starlight, and there were more hazards indoors with the way it was trashed. Containers, broken glass, shards of metal, and more covered the floor. She told everyone to watch their step as she led them down a set of stairs and into a basement.

There wasn't a single speck of light down below, and it was honestly quite unnerving. Rallis gave the air a sniff and followed a smell. She reached a torch held against the wall and felt it. It would light. "Hey Adam, can I have your lighter?"

"Sure." He held out his lighter to the darkness and felt a hand take it. She flicked a spark into the torch and gave her companions sight. She tossed his lighter back, took down the torch, and started lighting the rest she could find with it.

"Why don't you just breathe fire on them?" Dallas asked as he stepped closer to the light and out of the darkness. "Wouldn't it be faster?"

"Can't," Rallis replied as she lit another torch. "Don't breathe fire. Or anything actually."

"Oh. I'm sorry, that must have been rude then." Rallis shrugged. It was what it was. "Here, let me help you then!" He snagged the torch she just lit and ran off, lighting the next room down.

Rallis smiled. 'What a sweet man. I'm glad we got assigned to someone so nice.' Rallis overheard Adam and Jardric talking about how overly excitable he was and Rallis couldn't help but laugh. He was but that would just make the adventure all the more fun! They continued to chatter about archery next, Adam noticing he had a crossbow. Jardric admired the green man's crossbow as well. Rallis rolled her eyes and wandered around the room, taking in what little sights there were.

A startled cry echoed from the next room over, setting Adam and Rallis into fight mode. Hands on their weapons, they bolted down the stairs to the next room, now lit with torch fire, and found Dallas staring around the room in awe. Nothing else was down here, the two put their weapons away.

"Don't cry out like that unless you're in trouble, especially on foreign soil at night in the pitch dark," Adam berated.

"Sorry," he said with a look like that of a puppy caught chewing on something he shouldn't. "I just couldn't help it! Look at this place!"

He motioned around them like a ringleader showing off his troupe. The floor was littered with skeletons, but Dallas didn't seem to mind. Jardric shivered and stayed back. There was rubble from a fight ages past and marks all over the walls, magic, sword, and anything in between stamping their place in the history here. On the far wall of the room, perfectly centered, was the most intriguing item of interest.

"Well those are some big doors," Adam understated. They were huge! They reached the ceiling and were wide enough to shove a house through. Two huge now lit braziers framed them, giving them an ominous glow.

"Look at them," Dallas bounced excitedly. "Look at the markings on them."

"Dragons!" Rallis chirped. There were two grand red serpents, one posted on each door. They opened their mouths to the sky and coiled around a circular hole.

"Exactly," Dallas nodded. "This is it. This has to be the place."

"Shall we go in?" Jardric asked, wanting to get away from the skeletons.

Dallas shook his head. "We can't. I already tried but the doors are sealed. There's a circular indentation in the middle, maybe it's a keyhole." He turned to Rallis. "The one those papers you found spoke about, perhaps?"

Rallis nodded. That was only logical. This really was the place the papers spoke of then.

"Well a keyhole isn't much good if there isn't a key!" Adam said with a stretch. "We should look around and see if there's any clues nearby."

"Search what?" Jardric complained. "There's only skeletons!"

"There's more things upstairs too," Dallas reminded him and got to work looking for clues.

Jardric groaned and waved his hand. "Forget this, I'm just the boatman. I'll be sleeping in the boat while you all dig through corpses. Call me when you actually need me." Rallis helped lead him back to the boat while he complained about 'you crazy adventurer types.'

Adam began rummaging through the skeletons, poking through their armour and any packs or satchels that weren't fully destroyed. This adventure had a lot more corpse looting than he would have liked. He actually found something soon enough, a beaten withering journal hidden in a threadbare pouch. It was hard to flip through, the paper nearly disintegrating in his hands from age. He tried his best to read it without turning it into a puff of ash.

"What do you have there?" Dallas asked.

"An old diary it seems," Adam said as he carefully flipped through the pages with him. "It's hard to read, but it mentioned a battle that took place here involving Robert the Strong."

"Robert the Strong?! He spent most of his life fighting the dragonkin!" Dallas grew excited over all the possibilities of what this could mean. "The dragon motif on the door, the mention of Robert the Strong and dragonkin... Does this mean it's true? Did they really create the dragons?" He sighed when he realized they had hit a dead end with this line of thought. "I guess we'll never know though. Robert the Strong is gone. He died centuries ago. We've reached a dead end."

"Not necessarily," Adam smiled knowingly. "Robert the Strong might not be as dead as you think."

"What do you mean?"

"He's alive. He's been reincarnated as a cat named Bob, that friend of mine I mentioned that taught me about the dragonkin in the first place."

Dallas looked at him like he had snorted zygomite spores and told him dwarves could fly. "...Just think once before you speak please."

"I'm serious! Why would I lie about this? You were literally just talking to a dragon that could talk back but a cat that used to be human is where you draw the line?"

"Alright, alright!" Dallas held his hands up in defence. "I'm not entirely convinced but if you're telling the truth, how can a cat help us?"

'I bet you'd believe it if it came out of Rallis' mouth,' he thought snarkily. "I have an amulet that lets me talk to cats. I can just ask him for answers."

Dallas shot him another look like he didn't believe the man, but played along anyway. "Okay... You go find your cat. I'm going to keep looking around and try to process all this weirdness."

Adam left the researcher behind and trekked through the dark to find Rallis on her way back. He told her the plan, they said goodbye to their boatman, and with more dreaded magical jewelry they were on their merry way. Bob liked to hang out in Burthorpe so that's where they would start looking. But it was late, it had been a long day, and another dose of teleportation nausea had Adam all but begging for sleep. The two crashed at the inn and slept the exciting day off.

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

The next morning, Adam led Rallis to a house where two cats were purring and being cute in the sun. Rallis had to restrain herself from running up to the two black cats and petting them and cooing. Adam introduced her to his cat friend Bob and Bob's girlfriend Neite. Rallis couldn't help but tell Neite how pretty she was, and if a cat could blush she certainly was.

"So Adam. How's things?" Bob meowed. "This doesn't entirely seem like a social visit."

"Not bad, and you would be right. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"I guess that depends on what it is."

"It has to do with who you were before, Robert the Strong." The cat already didn't like the path this conversation was taking. "Long story, I'll keep it brief. We found an old dungeon with a large set of doors in it. There was a skeleton nearby with a diary that mentioned Robert the Strong. We need to know what you know about this."

Bob shook his head. "I'm sorry Adam, but I don't have any memories of Robert the Strong. It was only when the Sphinx hypnotized me that we learnt who I really was and I don't even remember that."

"Hmmm. That is problematic."

"Why not go see her again?" Rallis butted in. "If it worked once, maybe it'll work again."

Adam nodded. "We should try. Would you be willing to help us, Bob?"

Neite started to complain about her boyfriend leaving with these adventurers, but he assured her he would be back soon. He'd even bring her a desert souvenir! After much hissing and pouting, she conceded. With that, they made their way to Sophanem. Adam joked about how Rallis didn't have magic jewelry this time, but she assured him she did. It just didn't work for more than one person. She got them to Nardah with fancy fangled necklaces and after that it was just a carpet ride away. He'd like to say he was getting used to her teleporting shenanigans, but after nearly puking on the carpet ride right after, his stomach was inclined to disagree.

Adam staggered off the carpet at Sophanem's entrance, sick as a dog. Rallis hopped off happily holding onto the cat, not wanting his paws to be burnt from the hot sand. It took all her willpower to not rub her face against the cat's. She couldn't help it! He was such a soft and good kitty! They found the sphinx napping in the city, enjoying the sun, and much in nature with a cat cared not that people approached her. Only when Bob approached her did she deign to lift her head.

"Hello Bob, hello friends of cats. What is it you desire today?" They took turns describing the events leading up to this point and what they needed, sphinx listening intently. She thought to herself a moment and frowned. "You wish to see that which he can not remember," she said. "Unfortunately I will be of no use to you. I can only make him see that which he remembers, not that which has been blocked and buried. I can't enter someone's mind and pull these things out."

"So we came out here for nothing?" Adam groaned.

The attitude of the group visibly soured. The sphinx took pity on them, a rare occurrence indeed. "I may not help you with your task at hand, but maybe this will provide use in the future." Her eyes glowed as did the amulet of catspeak around Adam's neck and it burst in a shower of light. Before he could process what had happened, she purred and settled back down. "You needn't have that collar anymore. You may speak freely. My gift to you."

Adam didn't understand until he heard Bob speak, thanking the sphinx for such a gift and bowing, and realized he could understand the cat without the necklace. He bowed and thanked her as well. When they were out of earshot, he complained again. "I have no idea what to do now. This was kind of a waste of time."

"Not entirely," Rallis said thoughtfully. "Something she said got me thinking. Maybe we can make him see what he's forgotten, but with a different kind of magic. Ever been to Lunar Isle?"

Adam nodded. "A good few times now. It's certainly an... interesting place." He recalled the odd obsession with floating everyone there seemed to have. The people, the potted plants, the damn teapot that poured hot tea in his lap. Maybe it was because he wasn't magically inclined but the place was certainly a bit out there. "What are you getting at?"

"They've got a unique kind of magic there, one that lets you see into a person. Their thoughts, their dreams, their deepest fears and desires... their memories no matter how hidden. It might be worth a shot."

"Oh, you mean dream magic. Do you think it will work?"

Rallis nodded. "I do. And we've also got no other leads."

"You're right. It's quite the journey from here though." Rallis grinned mischievously. "There's no way you have a piece of jewelry for teleports there!"

"Jewelry, no! Teleport, yes. You'll have to bear with me though. This one's a bit difficult."

She motioned for him and Bob to stand away from her just a bit and ready themselves. Luckily with Adam having gone to the Isle before, Rallis could teleport him there without complication. The mages of the Isle were beyond skilled, keeping anyone they didn't want there out, even if you could teleport there. It would have been a problem if her companion wasn't welcome, and she was sure they wouldn't mind a cat. Rallis wished she was half as good a mage as the people on the Isle, but she'd take what ability she had.

With a great deal of focus, Rallis managed to get them to their destination. The desert fizzled out of existence and was replaced by snow and flowers and the cold air of the north. Rallis threw her hands up victoriously as she became a solid fixture in the snow. "Woohoo! I did it! Never teleported a group before!"

"And it shows."

Rallis faced the voice to find the oneiromancer floating nearby, arms outstretched as if waiting to catch something. Rallis was about to ask what she meant but screaming and cat howling cut her off. Bob came falling down from the sky, landing in the woman's waiting arms. The poor cat was horrified, fur on end and claws out. Next came Adam, hurdling from the sky into the snow below. He landed in a pile of fluff with a flop and disappeared.

Rallis smiled worriedly. "Sorry guys." She helped Adam out of the snow, an uprooted blue flower sitting in a small pile of the stuff atop his head. He scowled at her as if to say 'never again.'

The oneiromancer pet the scared cat in her arms, calming him down. "Hello Bob."

"H-Hello, Lady Celeste," he meowed.

"You know each other?" Rallis asked, curious. "And you can understand him?"

"We go way back, and it's not hard with a bit of magic. It's no more odd than you learning from your own feline roommate." Rallis nodded. This was true indeed. She put the cat down. "Now what can I do for you today?"

"Aw, not gonna read our minds and find out?" Rallis played.

"I try not to with that one here," Celeste said and pointed to Adam. His face grew red in shame and turned away. "So what is it you need?"

"We need to unlock memories hidden in that one," Rallis pointed to the cat by Celeste's feet. "We figured a shared dream would work."

"I don't see why that wouldn't work, even if he is a cat. You've done this enough times to do it on your own?"

Rallis' ears shot up. Was that permission to do this unsupervised? She had always been told to never do dream magic without a master watching. She nodded her head with a smile. "Yes ma'am!" She started sprinting up to town. "Come on guys!" she shouted, not waiting for them to follow.

"Someone's excited," Adam chuckled.

"She's been practicing magic here for a while under supervision," the oneiromancer explained. "It's about time she gets to do it by herself. She knows what she's doing."

"You seem like good friends."

"Hm, I suppose so. She doesn't think lewd thoughts about me which is nice." She shot the man a glare to which he turned away with an apologetic mumble. "She's a good person. Though... something is off about her, something is wrong, but I can't explain what. I can't help but feel something terrible will happen one day, both to her and because of her."

"What do you mean?" he asked, but she was leaving, floating away to her post at the astral altar.

Bob pawed at his leg. "We should catch up."

Adam muttered a shaky yeah and ran ahead, cat in tow.

Rallis was excitedly putting together potions and a brazier when they arrived. The dream hall was ready for a ritual, potions for each of them on the table and an appropriately cat dish sized version for Bob on the floor. The brazier was filled and coated with some kind of oil that made the room smell great, like flowers and sugar. Rallis proudly displayed her work and got on with the instructions.

"Alright! I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, this is gonna suck! A lot! Or at least it will most likely suck a lot." She marched along the room like a sergeant giving a lecture. "Whenever someone's memories are blocked like yours, they're blocked for a reason. In the dreamscape, that reason is given physical form and must be destroyed. It can be something as small as a rat or as big as a city. You don't know until you go in. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, Rallis, sir!" Adam pretended and snickered.

She laughed along and swatted his arm. She then kneeled down to Bob and pat him on the head. "This is gonna hurt you the most. We won't do this until you're ready."

The cat gave her a determined nod. "I'm ready."

She hopped back up and grabbed her potion and lit a match. "Alright then! Drink your potion and get comfy on the floor you two! It's time for a nap!" The three slammed back their drinks and laid down. Rallis tossed the match into the brazier and once the first spark lit, they were down and out for the count.

The world before them as they woke was a bright pastel pink and purple, speckles of starlight shimmering in the floor and in the depths of infinite inky blackness all around them. A similarly pastel book floated on a pedestal behind them, presumably the book containing all of Bob's memories, though this time they were here for things not written in the book. It was a sight both Adam and Rallis had seen before, though the latter had many more times. Bob was shaking awake as well, looking around in awe of the weird new world. It made him dizzy, the endless abyss beneath them likely not helping. As he woke, a figure flickered into existence. It was another cat, only this one was white and almost spectral. It greeted them kindly.

"Hello," it said with a purr.

"Who are you?" Bob asked as he tiptoed over.

"I am Not Bob."

"Well yes, I am Bob. So of course you would not be Bob. So who are you?"

"As I say, I am Not Bob."

The cat threw Rallis a confused look. She gave him a thumbs up and a smile telling him to just go with it.

"Alright... 'Not Bob,' why are you here? What do I do?"

The white cat flicked its tail, asking them to follow. The trio did so. It led them down the strip of bright pastel land to a barrier, warping the air around it with magic. "You are here for answers from another life," Not Bob said. "I am here to guide. Here, this barrier is the divide between your lives. Right now you are Bob the cat, but over there you are Robert the Strong. If you wish to regain your self, pass."

Bob turned to his companions as if looking for approval. They both gave him encouraging gestures and motioned him to go forward. "You have to take the first step," Rallis said. "But we'll be right behind you."

The cat took a timid step forward, then another, and another, until he was across the barrier. Adam and Rallis joined him right after. Across the barrier were statues of cats at each corner of the square arena they now stood in. Other than that, it was barren.

Not Bob's voice echoed around them. "What you remember here will remain here so long as the divide exists. Shatter it, become whole again."

A spectre walked out from behind one of the cat statues. It was a man, an archer, with a sturdy looking bow and lilac tipped arrows that reeked of poison. Bob staggered back at the sight. "That's... me!"

"Really?" Adam asked. "Pictured you as more of a swordsman to be honest." The spectre of Robert the Strong readied an arrow their way. "He doesn't seem too happy to see us."

"Begone foul beast!" he shouted and shot an arrow straight for Rallis' head. She ducked with a yelp.

"Nope! Just me! This might be a dream but those arrows smell like poison. I'd rather not be struck by one today. Would you be a dear and handle this, Adam?"

She blinked at him innocently and the man just rolled his eyes. "Fine. Watch Bob then."

"Can do!" She scooped the cat up and ducked behind a statue right as another arrow whizzed by.

"Sorry," Bob apologized. "He... I didn't like dragons much back then. Or anything related to them."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

"You dare hide foul beast?!" Robert shouted. "Let's see you hide from this!"

He shot an arrow of light into the sky and down rained pins and needles of starlight on the statue they hid behind. Rallis rolled out of the way with Bob in her arms, howling as some of the light arrows stabbed through her tail and into the ground, pinning her in place. He aimed another shot at the now in the open dragon, but a bolt shot the arrow out of his hand before he could fire. The spectre swirled around angrily to find Adam with his crossbow drawn. Robert pulled back his bow and fired at Adam, missing by the barest breath. Adam fired back, a sloppy shot, it hit the spectre in the leg. Robert fell to his knees.

Rallis was free now, the light arrows vanishing. "Kill him, Adam! It's just a ghost, it's okay!"

Adam grit his teeth and pulled back another bolt. He wasn't used to killing anymore, even if it was a figment of imagination. It went against what he stood for and it was hard to go against what was now ingrained in him. He aimed at Robert's head and the spectre looked at him, heartbroken.

"You would go against me now, Aivas? After all we've been through? The enemy is right there!" He pointed where Rallis was only a moment ago only to find she was gone. Like a flash of lightning, she was at his throat with her fangs, crunching through spectral armour and bone. Robert froze and shattered into pieces before disappearing into starlight.

Rallis righted herself and went back to where she put down Bob. "That was surprisingly easy! Would've been easier if you didn't let him hit me though."

The man looked ashamed. "I'm sorry... I just..."

She picked up Bob and went back to headbutt her friend in the arm. "I know you sweet sap. Lucky this is just a dream then, hm?"

Bob was squirming in her arms and hissing. "I... I remember! Lithkren... dragonkin... the vault! HIM!"

The arena started to shake, the statues started to crack, the world around them started to crumble. The stars flickering in the void of sky petered out, the shadows themselves coming alive. Something slammed down onto the crumbling pastel arena, two huge clawed hands made of inky blackness. A monstrous head with beady red eyes glared down at them and roared. Two wings flared out overhead, casting the plane in shadow.

"I thought it was too easy!" Rallis yelled over the noise as she tried to keep her footing on the shaking breaking arena. "Be careful!"

Adam took out his crossbow and Rallis her whip, ready to fight the monster. The beast lowered its head to the cat and laughed, a hollow dreadful sound.

"RoBeRt!" it growled. "I sHoUlD hAvE kNoWn!"

The arena crumbled away, but they did not fall. Instead, the ground beneath them changed, becoming grey tiles. Jagged walls cropped up, blocking any means of escape. Two overturned braziers spilled fire onto the arena, blaze doing nothing to illuminate the shadowy beast. The plane turned into a replica of the basement on Lithkren, only this one was warped and evil.

"WaKiNg Me WiLl Be YoUr EnD! YoU aRe ToO lAtE tO sToP mE!"

"Then go back to sleep!" Adam snapped as he shot a bolt into the monster's eye. The shot vanished into dust before it could make contact.

"YoU wIlL nOt StOp Me HuMaN. I hAvE mOrE iMpOrTaNt ThInGs To Do."

"Yeah, like dying!" Rallis rushed forward to drag her whip down the shadow beast's arm, but it didn't even seem to feel it.

"YoU'd LiKe ThAt. BuT nO, iT iS yOu WhO wIlL dIe ToDaY!"

The beast launched a ball of fire at Adam, a spell so large and powerful it could have been the sun! There was nowhere to run, nothing to hide behind! Adam held up his arms and took the spell full force, yelling as he was thrown against the wall with a smack. He slumped against the floor unconscious before winking out of existence.

"Adam!" Rallis screamed, but he was already gone.

The beast turned its attention to Rallis and burned her alive as well, force of the spell throwing her aside like a toy. She rolled along the ground, wall stopping her as she smacked into it. Bob was in the way of the beast now, hissing at it furiously. "Leave them alone!"

Rallis couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, passing out to the sight of Bob and four other figures of light swarming the beast to cut it down.

The dragon woke with a fright, launching up from the floor with her fangs and claws bared. Adam jumped back from her ferality. "Calm down, Rallis! Jeez!" Rallis blinked the fury out of her eyes and looked around. They were back on Lunar Isle, safe and cozy in the dream hall. Adam had Bob in his lap, petting the twitching mewling cat in his sleep. He looked like he was having a nightmare.

Rallis gave the feline a sympathetic frown. "Poor thing." She sat next to them. "I hope it worked even though we didn't win."

Adam nodded. "What even was that thing?"

"I don't know," she admitted defeat. "In that world, your fears and insecurities can take on many different shapes and sizes. But that one was rough, nothing I've seen before." For a few minutes more, Bob twitched in his sleep, fighting the monster in his dreams, until he slowly stopped moving and opened his eyes. "Hey kitty cat," Rallis purred. "You okay?"

"Y-Yes," he started shakily. "Yes, I'm alright." He stretched and shook his fur out. "I would very much like to not do that again."

"Do you remember now?" Adam asked.

"I do... I do! Yes, in this dungeon you spoke of, I fought a dragonkin there with my friends from back when I was human. We cornered him in a room with massive doors with dragons on them, the vault. He had already killed so many there and we went to stop it once and for all."

Bob leapt off Adam's lap and paced as he continued. "We fought him tooth and nail, giving him everything we had. He burned Aivas alive and nearly did the same for the rest of us. Oh Aivas how could I forget you..." He shook his head and continued. "We thought we killed him. I struck the final blow and there was a light and he was nowhere to be seen, not even a corpse. All that was left behind was a key, a crimson circular key."

The two perked up and glanced at each other. That certainly had their interest.

"Camorra wanted to open the vault, but I said no. The dragonkin spoke of a weapon in there, so it was best to destroy the key and hide the pieces. We split it in four and hid each one, never telling the others where their pieces were so that no one, dragonkin, human, or otherwise would ever open the doors and release the monster inside."

"So even you don't know where the other pieces are?" Adam sighed.

Bob shook his head. "No, not exactly. Camorra went west by boat, far beyond the main continent. I hid mine on an abandoned dragonkin fortress north west of Relleka and in a guarded Karamjan temple in the Kharazi Jungle. I don't know what Tristan did with his but he lived in Avarrocka, oh I mean Varrock, so maybe someone knowledgeable about the history there could have a clue."

The two grinned at the new information. "Thank you so much!" Rallis said. "This helps us more than you could imagine. Now maybe we can find that key!"

"You don't mean to open the vault, do you?" Bob fretted. "The dragonkin may be dead, but their influence is very much alive. I worry what lies in that vault may still alive and ready to kill."

"After hundreds to thousands of years? There's no way! Whatever is in there will be long dead," Adam proclaimed. He could see the hesitation all over his friend's face however. "We're just opening it for science, for history! Nothing will be there, don't worry. It's probably just another abandoned laboratory."

Bob still wasn't entirely convinced. "I would like to be there when you open the vault then, if you don't mind. I want to see for myself. Until then, I'll be returning home with Neite."

"Of course," Adam nodded. "Let us take you home as well. It's the least we can do."

By the time they returned Bob home and made it back to Lithkren to update Jardric and Dallas, another day had passed. They all made their way back to Fossil Island to have a proper place to rest before continuing the journey tomorrow. Jardric stayed on Fossil Island to get back to work while Dallas investigated the house on the hill more, Adam and Rallis wanting them to be in a more easily accessible place to catch up with than Lithkren across the sea. By morning, Adam and Rallis were geared and ready to begin their key hunting adventure.

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

Days had passed. In those days, they had obtained three pieces, the one from Karamja, the one from the west which turned out to be hidden in House Shayzien, and the one with the clue in Varrock which led them all the way to Morytania. Rallis and Adam now walked the path to Relleka on their way to get the final piece of the key necessary to continue their quest and open the door in Lithkren's basement.

"If this one is anything like the others, it shouldn't be that bad," Adam said as he fiddled with the key pieces.

"Shouldn't be that bad? Yeah maybe because the one stuck digging up all of the Morytanian forest was me while you flirted with Grimro!" Rallis piped up.

Adam waved his hand. "I was not flirting! Besides we got the piece, didn't we? That's what matters."

"And who had to disarm the traps in the temple because someone is too goody good to learn how to?"

"Hey! Rude! Sorry I never bothered to learn a thieving skill!"

"And who had to solve the puzzle in the crypt full of the undead alone because someone had to go and touch the obviously boobytrapped artifact?!"

"In my defense, it was an artifact that eventually needed to be moved! How was I supposed to know moving it one way would set off a teleportation trap?"

Rallis shook her head. "You complain at me and Peg about being thieves but those skills came in handy, didn't they?!" Adam said nothing. He was not about to condone thievery even if it did help them obtain half the key they needed.

Rallis grumbled sourly until the familiar sight of Relleka came into view. It put a bounce in her step and a smile on her face and the man was curiously wondering why. Once they neared, she all but ran into town, companion trailing along behind and shouting for her to slow down. Some people were waving hello and smiling at her, he realized, and she smiled and waved back. 'She's been here before, then. But you don't get that familiar after one visit.'

One person grinned and waved at her, a bowman with a hunter's cloak. "Oi, Denkir, so you're visiting again?"

"Yeah!" Rallis said, slowing down to talk and allowing Adam to catch up.

The bow,an laughed. "He's been rather put out as of late. He'll be excited to know you're here."

"Where is he?" Rallis questioned, bouncing in place.

They waved her off. "Keep running lass, you know where you're going."

She started her sprint once again, Adam on her trail. "Who are they talking about?" he called to her but she ignored him. She turned a corner, grinning and laughing, and leapt at the first person she saw.

"Olaf!"

The person turned and had a hardly a moment to register the blue dragon jumping at them before they came tumbling to the ground, said dragon giggling and hugging them. Adam rounded the corner, out of breath, to find his companion tackling another man to the ground with laughter. "Rallis what are you do--?!"

The man laughed in return and hugged her back as best he could from the ground. "Rallis! Oh you've certainly snuck up on me this time! And here I thought I was getting better at predicting your sneak attacks."

She rolled off him and smiled, helping him up. "I even gave you a warning!" She rest her head against his chest with a smile and a purr as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I suppose you did," he chuckled. Adam awkwardly cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. Rallis pulled away to face her friend. "Hi Adam! Have you ever met my friend? This is Olaf and he's a musician!"

The man stepped forward and held a hand out. "Greetings! A friend of Rallis' is a friend of mine. Olaf Ceolsen, local bard. It's nice to meet you."

Adam shook his hand. "Likewise. Green Kananga of the Legends' Guild. Otherwise known as Adam by some bouncy blue dragons." Rallis smiled at the mention of her. "By that greeting, I'm surprised she's never spoke about you! I didn't even know she's been here before."

"Oh yeah I come here a lot!" she exclaimed. "I love visiting Olaf! He's the best!"

She grabbed onto his arm with a smile. "It's always a pleasure when you visit," he said.

Adam narrowed his eyes at them being all close and giggly, thinking. '"Friends," huh? I wonder.' He'd seen the way she acted around a few of her friends, and outside of a greeting hug he'd never seen her tackle a person and purr and get so close. A devious smirk crossed his face. 'Ohhh I wonder indeed!'

"You seem a bit familiar," Olaf said to him. "And I'm wondering if it's from the stories she's told me of you or not. Have you been here before?"

"Maybe once or twice," he shrugged. "Not often really. Wait she tells stories about me?"

"Well yeah!" Rallis piped up. "I always talk about my friends! And we've gone on cool adventures so why not share the tales?"

He was flattered she spoke of him even when he wasn't around, but that got him thinking. If this Olaf guy was a friend of hers he imagined she would bring him up at least once in a conversation as she just said. 'Unless he's not a friend~' he thought impishly.

"I gotta talk to Brundt," she told the bard. "I just wanted to see you first."

"I can walk with you to him," he said a little too eagerly. "If you want," he added on hastily.

She smiled and pulled him along. "Ok! C'mon then!"

The two walked ahead, chattering and catching up, smiling and laughing along the way. Adam stayed back and followed them at a distance, watching them from afar. He noticed they were holding hands and couldn't hide his curious devious smile. 'You're not just friends with him, are you Rallis? Oh I am so getting to the bottom of this!'

Rallis cheerfully bounded into the Longhall with her companions and bounced right up to the Chieftain like she owned the place. "Hi Brundt!" she chirped.

The giant of a man smiled down at her. "Greetings Denkir. Welcome back! How are things?"

"They're super great!" she cheered. "My friend and I, that's him, are on a super cool adventure!" She pointed to Adam and he nervously waved hello to the man. The chieftain smiled and waved back. "Our adventure takes us here next! Well not right here but near here. I was wondering if you knew anything about a fortress on an island to the north west."

Brundt grumbled thoughtfully. "I do. We call it Ungael, and it is a very dangerous place. A deadly beast calls that island home and remains undefeated. We've stopped sending warriors as most do not return alive and it appears the beast can not leave anyway. It's as much a prison as an island. You intend to go there?"

Rallis nodded. "Yes. It's really important!"

"I will not stop you then. Do you intend to slay the beast?"

Rallis ducked her head. "I'd rather not. Only if I have to. Do you know what it is?"

He shook his head. "I do not. Those that came back dare not speak of it. It is a beast that can not die, they said, and breathes the fury of fire. Shields do nothing to stop the beast's magic, they burn to a crisp as do the warrior behind them."

Rallis thought for a moment. She thought she may know exactly what kind of beast was there then, and if she was right she most certainly would not kill it. She thanked the Chieftain and continued to chat with him about how things have changed since she was last here. Adam in the meanwhile stood back with her bard 'friend.'

"So... Rallis come here often?"

"Indeed," the bard smiled. "Every day here is more bright with her. She breathes life into this dull town."

"How long have you known her?"

"A good few years now," Olaf thought on it. "She tries to visit every month. Time does fly."

"She get along with everyone?" Adam asked.

"Mostly. Some will simply never accept outsiders as one of our own, but she's widely appreciated for the most part."

"Hmm. Good. Glad to see she's got friends that aren't just us." Olaf gave him a questioning look. "Ah! She just doesn't talk about many human friends is all. I was starting to worry it was just me and Peg. I'm happy I was wrong."

Olaf chuckled. "You care for her a lot, don't you? She talks about you and a young girl often. I can see why. I'm also glad she has someone who can actually watch her back and isn't stuck here."

Adam decided to change the topic. "So are you Rallis' friend or are you like her bo--?"

Rallis bounced over with an excited chirp before they could continue. "Brundt told me all about the last piece we need," she told Adam and explained everything she heard. He frowned at the explanation. He wasn't expecting a monster fight as part of this scavenger hunt, but he supposed anything was possible.

"I'll also be doing this one alone," she told him.

"What? No way! If there's a monster on that island I'm most certainly not letting you go alone!"

"That 'monster' is a dragon," she told him. "Unlike you, I can speak Wyvernic. I'll talk to it and figure out where the key is. Having a human there might scare it."

"Talk, fight, or otherwise, I'm not letting you go alone," he replied. "It's dangerous! And not just because of the dragon. It's cold. We both know you're not good with that."

"Then it's a good thing I can borrow a cloak, now isn't it? You're not going, Adam. You're just not. I don't want to scare the thing and make it attack." Her head drooped. "I don't want another Elvarg."

Adam groaned and relented. "Fine, I'll stay here. You better stay safe though."

"I will," she promised. "I'll see you when I get back."

With snow gear from Olaf and a boat from Torfinn, Rallis made her way to Ungael. It grew colder and colder the farther she went. She shivered as she drew closer, huddling under a fur lined coat and blanket as she sailed. By the time she reached the island, she was stiff and freezing, body trying its best to shut down and force her to sleep. She pushed the feeling away as best she could and hopped out of the boat, movement sluggish and painful.

The island was a frozen jagged mess of ice. The ground was nothing but deep snow with icicles poking through. The snow was incredibly deep and untouched. It was obvious no one had been here in ages. Rallis hiked through the snow, ground tilting upwards as she went. It was only a small hill but with all the snow it felt like trekking a mountain. As she went, walls of sharp jagged ice barred her in on either side, creating a corridor of thick frozen crystal. It cut her off from the rest of the world, even the sky became hard to see. Soon she reached the top of the hill, snow buried rocks creating a barrier between the icicles. Beyond that lay a pit surrounded by the wall of ice. Something big was down there, covered in snow and unmoving.

Rallis hopped over the rocks and slipped into the pit with a yelp, tumbling along the icy path and smacking against the frozen trail hard, landing in a heap in the snow. She hissed and shivered as she shook the snow off and clutched her head, now aching from the slip on the ice. She moved toward the hulking snow covered mass in front of her and tripped once more in the deep dunes of frozen fluff. Rallis whined and huddled under the cloak as she sat on the snow.

"This place is horrible!" she complained. "So cold and painful..."

A groan bounced off the icy walls and the snow covered mass in front of her shuddered. With a roar and a shake, a monster broke free, flaring its wings and acting huge and menacing. It was a giant blue dragon, rotting and beaten as if it were a piece of old meat left out to spoil. Bone ripped through scales all over its body, on its snout to reveal jagged sharp fangs, its skull where an eye was missing and bone and blackened rotten flesh poked through, holes and scars dotted both its wings, segments of its tail were held together by scraps of flesh, and worst of all its chest was ripped open and its entire left leg missing. The beast glowed with undead magic, eye and presumably unbeating heart glowing blue with magic and fury. The dragon roared at Rallis and stomped forward, wing used as a makeshift leg.

Rallis' ears drooped as she gasped at the sight of the monster. "Oh you poor thing!" she cried. "Who did this to you?"

She stepped closer and it roared again.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry, I am an intruder. But that's not important right now! What's important is you're hurt! Please, stay still and let me help."

Now thoroughly confused, the dragon stopped roaring and settled for hissing defensively. Who was this strange visitor who could speak his language and fretted over a stranger?

As she came closer, the dragon hissed and threatened to blow her back with a ball of fire. "Please don't!" Rallis pleaded. "I promise I just want to help." She bowed to the dragon, hoping it would realize she was no threat. He was still wary but allowed her to approach. She looked over his wounds and winced. Any exposed flesh was blackened with frostbite and zombification. "You're undead?" she muttered to herself. She brought her hand to where his leg should be and he growled and snapped. "I'm sorry! I was just looking! Are you okay? What's your name?"

The dragon growled something, this time a little less harshly.

"Vorkath? Well nice to meet you, Vorkath! My name is Rallis! Are you sure you're okay? Here, let's get this snow off you."

She brushed the remaining snow off his wings and face and back, Vorkath keeping an eye on her the whole time. He didn't understand what was happening, who this was, or why they were acting this way and not attacking, but this intruder didn't seem to be bad. He still stood on guard though. The other dragons he had the misfortune of meeting before were violent beasts that fought anything that moved, including him. This weird blue dragon was small, however. If he needed to, he could easily kill her.

All the snow she could reach was gone, Rallis nodded her approval. "There we go! I bet that's better. Snow is no good for dragons. Though I guess if you're undead it doesn't really matter." It grumbled in retort, saying how his condition made him unable to feel. "That's true!" Rallis replied. "But I think I'd still rather be alive and face the cold."

Vorkath grumbled, a 'why are you here', to Rallis.

"I'm looking for a piece of something," she told him. "It's red and round on one side but like a corner on the other. Like a slice of pizza!"

He didn't know what pizza was but if this intruder was looking for something, it would likely be in the lab. And no one was to set foot in there besides his master. He told Rallis as much.

Rallis pouted. "But I really need to get this," she told him. "It's very important. Is it because your hoard is in there? Because if so, I totally understand!"

Vorkath shook his head. It wasn't a hoard, though that would be lovely.

"Your master's home?" Rallis questioned. "Well considering how covered in snow you were, I don't think they've been here for quite a while. What if I promise not to touch anything else? Would that be okay?"

The dragon thought for a moment. Whatever this weird small dragon thing was, it was certainly not violent, not like the humans that had come before that he had been commanded to fight off. He doubted she would destroy the place like the humans wanted to. There was also the matter of what she was. He couldn't quite place it, but something about her made it seem like letting her into the place he was guarding was an okay thing to do. She smelled like his master, but also not. Maybe she knew him?

He lowered his head and looked her in the eye with a growl. What he asked left Rallis confused. "What do you mean 'who made me?' No one did! Well I guess my parents did, whoever they are. Why?"

Vorkath shook his head and moved aside. Why he was disobeying orders, he didn't know. But it felt like the right thing to do. His master would surely be furious, but what more could they do to him that he had not already felt?

Rallis smiled. "Thanks, friend. I promise I'll be careful. And here, I can't do much but..." She pulled out a fistful of runes and let them crumble into a spell. Vorkath glowed in a green light for a moment before it faded away. He didn't know what it was, but it made him feel great, better than he'd felt in years! He stretched and sighed happily. Rallis on the other hand now looked exhausted. "That's all I can do for now, but I promise I'll visit again. I know it gets hard to be alone like this. Bye Vorkath." She waved goodbye and hiked up the icy trail behind the dragon and out of the frozen icy pit. Vorkath opted to simply lay back down and fade away once more, magical glow vanishing into the snow.

As Rallis hiked up the path, a blackened snow covered structure came into view. From what she could see, it had the same style as the odd building on Fossil Island and Lithkren, but this one was much taller and also led underground. Its spire had begun to crumble into ruin, but the way inside was still intact. She hauled open the door leading into the earth and crawled inside.

Inside was dark and silent, ominous and eerie. Rallis' eyes adjusted to the dark as she closed the door behind her, ancient metal creaking with age. It was much warmer inside thankfully, but not by much. She shook the snow and cold off and cautiously walked farther in. It smelled old and odd inside, a mix of the same old stale smell one would find in any room closed off from the world long enough as well as something sharp and sour. It made Rallis gag.

Something crunched underfoot, many bits of something sharp and hard. She pulled her foot away to find shards of glass. They created a trail toward something atop a kind of scaffold. The metal frame of a glass container spilled shards onto the floor below, piling up with something else crunchy but much more fragile. Rallis picked up one of the bigger bits, a kind of flattened dome shape, and it crumbled in her hand. Curious, she poked her head over the lip of the scaffold to look in the shattered glass box. A great deal of goo, now hardened with age, crusted over the remains of an eggshell, and a big one at that. Rallis shuddered and backed away, not having the nerve to look inside.

The more she explored, the more disturbing things she found. She stayed away from piles of shattered glass, too scared to find something she would rather not see inside. In one corner, the skeleton of a dragon was chained to the floor, an odd mushroom-like growth twining through its bones. She turned away only to find a shelf lined with specimen jars full of different kinds of mushrooms and body parts. The color drained from her face as she ran away. She smacked into a wall of glass, not looking where she was going and running in a panic. She rubbed her snout with a groan and glared at the glass wall only to freeze. It wasn't a wall, it was a tank, and inside floated a warped blue dragon, frozen roaring in agony forever. It was sickly looking, bones close to ripping through skin, but every jagged claw, every tooth, every spine, they were so sharp just looking at them could cut! For once, Rallis was glad the beast was dead. It looked like it had suffered, but at least not anymore now.

She closed her eyes and moved on, unable to continue looking at the workshop of horrors. 'Where is this key piece?' she thought. 'I just want to leave.'

Hidden away behind a rusted shut gate were a pile of chests, very much like the ones that held the notes and map tiles on Fossil Island. 'That's promising.' With help from the old rusted opening mechanism and a vicious yank, the gate opened. Rallis smiled victoriously and popped open one of the chests. Inside were the key piece she was looking for as well as an actual key. It was made with mithril and dragon bone, as well as small bits and pieces of other metals. The bone made her shiver but she pocketed it anyway. There was another chest nearby. She popped it open and nosed through its contents. There were sealed jars of odd kinds of mushrooms she dare not touch after seeing the skeleton covered in them, as well as a pile of notes shoved away. They weren't written in Common and seemed to be some kind of log or journal entries. Rallis skimmed them over and pocketed them. It caught her attention and not in a good way, but she didn't want to read them here, not now. She wanted out of this horrid bunker and off this freezing island. Certain she had found everything she needed, she made her way back to the surface and to the boat to head to Relleka.

Adam and Rallis spent the night in Relleka upon her return, Olaf graciously allowing them both to stay at his place. Rallis curled up by the fire and snuggled with the man under some blankets. Adam sat at a table nearby and laughed to himself. ''Friends.' Yeah right.' He didn't say anything but he thought it was adorable, though maybe he was the smallest bit jealous. Mostly he was just laughing at their antics and how his dragon friend fell for a silly human bard of all people.

The night grew on and eventually everyone fell asleep. Adam was given a tower of blankets to sleep with on the floor next to the dwindling fire so he would grow neither cold nor uncomfortable, while Rallis slept with her friend in bed. He could make a good deal of dirty jokes with that but knowing her, they'd go right over her head. Despite the fact that he was tired and quite comfortable, Adam couldn't find it in him to sleep, instead thinking under his blanket mountain on the floor. Their adventure sure was starting to turn into something else. He hoped by the end of their excursion they could become members of the Myths' Guild. He really did. It felt like they were finally starting to reach the end of the adventure.

The shuffling of covers and pitter patters of feet graced his ears. One of them had woken up. Adam rolled over to see who it was and found Rallis quietly pulling up a seat at the table and rummaging through one of her bags. She looked worried, scared even, and glanced around the room with paranoia. Adam closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep when she looked his way, opening them again when he was sure she wasn't looking. Confident she wasn't being watched, Rallis pulled out a stack of old crumbling papers and started to read. Adam couldn't make them out from his spot on the floor in the darkness, but he was sure she didn't have those before. He watched her read and read, gaze focused and thoughtful. She read faster as she neared the last few papers until she physically pulled away from the last sheet, eyes wide with fear. She looked around once more before putting the papers away and clutching her shaking head. She buried her face in her arms and rested her head on the table, shuddering over what she just read, before regaining her composure enough to go back to bed. Neither of them got more than a wink of sleep that night, Rallis too scared and Adam's thoughts now racing with the possible things she could have read and wondering how he would bring it up.

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

The next morning, they said goodbye and their host wished them safe travels. Rallis promised she'd be back soon and nearly nuzzled him goodbye. Adam could not wait to tell Peg about this revelation. As they left the town, Rallis turned west and started to make her way toward the lighthouse, which is when Adam realized he had no idea where they were going.  "Hey, uh, aren't we going back to the island now? We have the key."

"Nuh-uh. The key is broken. We gotta fix it first."

Right. Can't very well put a broken key in a lock. "So where are we going then?"

Rallis fished out another key from one of her bags, this one more appropriately shaped instead of a red disc broken into quarters. "I found this on Ungael. It's made with mithril and dragon bone. I have a hunch I'll find what I'm looking for in Baxtorian Falls."

Adam wasn't entirely sure how any of that went together so she explained. "If you leap into the Falls a certain way, you end up in an ancient cavern full of old dragons, I mean from ages ago. One of those dragons are mithril dragons, dragons with mithril scales. A key made out of dragon bone and mithril must open something there. And I found it with the final key piece for the vault so maybe it can be welded together there."

"Makes sense. You sure it'll be there though?"

"No but it's my best guess." She pulled out his ruby necklace. "Why don't you wait on the island for me and get everyone together? If I'm right, we can just head straight back to Lithkren afterwards."

Adam took the necklace. "Sure. Sounds good. Stay safe!"

Rallis snorted. "They're dragons, I'll be fine." With a rub of the necklace, Adam winked out of existence and Rallis made her way to the Falls.

Rallis sloshed soggily through the underground caverns of Baxtorian Falls, dripping from the dive to get inside. She should have taken off her cape. It was so cold and heavy when wet. She grumbled as she climbed the rocks in the cavern and up to the mithril dragon resting grounds. Despite what she said to Adam, she actually didn't get along that well with the dragons here. The greens were far too vicious and the mithrils had a snobby temper about them. One such mithril was in front of her now, growling at her and threatening to attack. Rallis bowed low and gave it respect.

"I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you could help me." It snorted derisively. Rallis held out the mithril bone key. "I found this on my travels and assumed it could open something here. Would I be correct?"

The dragon gave it a sniff and walked away, motioning for her to follow with its tail. It led her to a locked door made of similar materials to the key. Rallis tried the lock and it was a perfect fit. She thanked the dragon profusely and ran inside. It was a small damp room, musty smelling and cold. A large orb sat in the center, held in place by something designed like a dragon's paw. Three skeletal dragon heads hung from the ceiling, maws directed toward the orb. Rallis gave one a look over and found a pit for a fire to be placed in. All three had it. They must be made to be lit. Rallis tentatively sparked a fire spell at one to see if it would do anything, and the flame actually gathered in the pit to activate the machinery in the head, but not for long, the flame was too weak. Confident it wouldn't break, Rallis engulfed the three heads in fire, each head giving a satisfying whir and click as they activated the orb in the center, flames flickering in its core. At once, the ground grew warmer and lava shot out from the orb and through tubing into the earth. Rallis followed the lava tubes out the room, down the rocks, through the cavern, up carved steps, and into the walls before it let out into a giant metal forge, spat out by three metal wyvern heads.

Something about the lava here was different from your average volcanic goop. It had a magical presence about it. Surely this was the place to reforge the key. Rallis carefully got to work welding the four pieces together and she soon had a perfect disc of orichalcum. It was a heavy thing, its significance giving it just as much weight as its physical mass. With a flash of a pendant, Rallis was back on Fossil Island, eager to share her findings. Adam had brought Bob along while Rallis was gone and caught everyone up with their findings. Next thing she knew, Adam, Rallis, Dallas, Bob, and Jardric were geared up aboard their row boat ready to unearth the mysteries of the dragonkin.

Jardric stayed with the boat when they landed, saying that if something went wrong, he'd be ready for them to escape in no time. Dallas nearly wrenched the key from Rallis' hands and ran ahead like an excited schoolgirl off to see her boyfriend. Rallis ran after him while Adam and Bob took their time. Bob couldn't help but look around the island and shudder, horrible memories of the place coming back. But he wanted to be here, and he'd be damned if some old flashbacks would scare him away now.

The four found themselves at the door to the vault once more, key in hand. "After all this time and effort, we may finally learn the truth that has been hidden for hundreds of years," Dallas said in awe. "We may be the first people to set foot in this place!"

"Just beware of what may be inside," Bob warned. Adam and Rallis nodded, ready for the possibility of a fight. On their signal, Dallas placed the key in the hole and stood back as the door unlocked itself and opened wide. The group cautiously stepped inside, eager but wary of the secrets they'd find.

As they set foot inside, they gasped at the sheer enormity of the place. The Lithkren vault was huge. The doors may have given a hint to its size but they were definitely not expecting something the size of a whole other castle down here, probably even bigger. Dallas, Bob, Adam, and Rallis slowly wandered through, amazed. In front of them stretched a long corridor littered with broken and decaying equipment on either side. Charts and notes were drawn on boards or pinned to the walls, odd drawings labeled with even weirder notes. More things seemed to be broken as they went, shattered glass coating the floor, sparks from broken machinery flickering overhead, broken cases and chambers discarded by the wayside. Dallas was admiring everything like a kid in a candy store, excitedly taking note of the drawings and labels and machinery. He ran on ahead with Bob, leaving Adam and Rallis behind. Rallis was all but tiptoeing along at a snail's pace, taking everything in with as much interest as Dallas but definitely not the same amount of excitement.

"You okay?" Adam asked, slowing down to walk alongside her.

"This place... it feels wrong. Really wrong." She shivered. "And it feels like I've been here but I know that's not true." She shuffled over to a tipped over case and looked inside, immediately recoiling and wishing she hadn't. There was a warped and discolored broken dragon egg inside, a malformed hatchling drowned in liquid. This place was already worse than Ungael. "I want to leave," she whined.

Adam grabbed her hand and tugged her along. "Let's let Dallas see what he wants to see and then we'll be on our way. It'll be fine, come on."

They continued walking down the hall, keeping an eye out for Dallas and Bob. They soon found them in a huge room the corridor opened out into. There were discarded stone boxes and broken materials and equipment stacked in every available space, even more elaborate charts and drawings plastered on the walls. Dallas was giddily looking at the centerpiece of the room, a massive tank full of some kind of liquid. The thing was the size of a small lake! Or at least it seemed to be as it disappeared into the earth below, obscuring its true size.

Dallas waved the two over. "Come see this!"

They wandered over and gasped, horrified. What was inside was the head of an utterly massive dragon, its body vanishing into the murky watery depths below. Just the thing's head was the size of an average dragon, so how big was the rest of it? Dallas pressed up against the glass, trying his hardest to see more. "That is one big dragon! I can't believe there's still a specimen here so perfectly preserved like this!"

Rallis staggered back, eyes wide. Her hand went to her throat, she felt like she was choking, drowning. Flashes of being stuck underwater, smashing through glass, monsters looming overhead all flashed through her mind. She tried to shake the panic off but it just grew worse. Adam put a hand on her back and shot her a concerned look. She shook her head as she watched the dragon in the tank. "That thing isn't dead," she whispered. "It's asleep, it's waiting, it's going to wake up." She grabbed her friend by the arms and looked him in the eye, horrified. "Adam, someone is here!"

Even Bob was worriedly pacing back and forth, watching the dragon in the tank. "This isn't right," he meowed. "We've made a mistake. We need to leave now!" Rallis was right there with him, ready to grab Dallas and go. Before any of them could move into action, footsteps echoed down the hall, coming closer and closer. A chuckle followed.

"Magnificent, isn't he? His name is Galvek. In our tongue it means..."

A monster came into view, standing taller than any of them. It smirked down at them.

"Fate."

The monster was certainly odd looking, like both a bird and a dragon, or a wyvern and a human. Its red and gold trimmed robe covered its presumably horrifyingly warped body, trailing along the floor behind it.

Bob's fur stood on end and he hissed at the beast. "You! I remember you. Zorgoth." He spat out its name.

"Hello Robert," it smiled. "You've had quite the makeover."

"You should be dead," the cat continued.

The monster shrugged, it's wings weirdly moving with the action. "We dragonkin are not as flimsy as you. I'm afraid you failed."

At the mention of the word dragonkin, Rallis stiffened and took a step back, almost hiding behind her much bigger friend. "Dragonkin..." she muttered under her breath, but still echoing in the room.

Zorgoth looked over the other three guests, as if just noticing they were there. "My, you're an odd looking vorkath," he told Rallis.

"Vorkath?" she asked, confused.

"A vorkath that doesn't even know it's a vorkath," he mused. "How amusing. It means you're a failure, though I wonder whose failure you are." He continued to look her over as if examining an antique. "You don't look like one of mine, but I've made so many and forgotten just as much, I wouldn't even know. You do look familiar though." He added the last part quietly.

Before she could ask anything else, Dallas had intruded. "Um, excuse me! Hello there, dragonkin!" he started. Zorgoth hardly paid him any mind. "I'm Dallas Jones," he continued. "And I came here for answers! I want to know the truth about Elvarg, about Crandor."

Rallis and Adam motioned to him as if to say this wasn't the time for that, but he didn't listen.

Zorgoth squinted. "Elvarg? Crandor? These names mean nothing to me."

"Elvarg was a dragon who attacked an island by the name of Crandor," Adam explained. "We found a lab hidden in her lair. We followed the clues and it led us here, to you."

Zorgoth thought for a moment. "Island lair... Ah, the volcano. Green, great deal of aggression but no power, another vorkath." He tested out the dragon's name. "Elvarg..." He scoffed. "You gave her a name. I never bothered, she was nothing."

"She was not nothing!" Rallis snapped. "She was scared and confused and lost. You abandoned her! She was something and you left her there to rot!"

Zorgoth couldn't help but laugh. "A vorkath caring about other vorkath! My, you're quite the laughable mess, aren't you? All that matters is perfection and the advancement of science. There is no place for compassion here."

Bob cut in before Rallis could snap back. "How are you even here, Zorgoth?"

"Well," he began. "After your failed attempt on my life, I realized that we were starting to lose the war against your kind. We needed to turn the tide. We needed a new weapon. We moved on. We tried various other methods, all ending in disappointment. In the end we came here, our largest facility yet. Here we began work on what would become our masterpiece."

Bob looked confused. "But we made sure to kill everything before we left. Nothing was left alive."

"Galvek..." Rallis whispered.

"Precisely," he said with a smirk. "You may have killed all our creations yet, but that just left us with the parts and materials to build something new. You locked me down here so I got to work on my greatest creation yet, biding my time for the day I could fight back and reclaim what is rightfully ours." He stepped closer to the tank to admire his creation. "He really is magnificent, you know. True perfection. He has power that no other dragon has. The power to influence minds of other dragons."

Rallis' heart nearly stopped. That wasn't possible. That wasn't right! She was grabbing Adam's hand for dear life and hadn't noticed, claws starting to dig into his skin. He pulled her away from the dragonkin and its monster and pried her hand off to wrap an arm around her before letting her grab it again. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Zorgoth raised his arms victoriously at the tank. "Through him, an army will be raised. One that will annihilate humanity!"

"Why?!" Dallas exclaimed.

Zorgoth glared at him. "'Why?' Your kind attacked us, tried to destroy us. You took away our homes, our people. We were expected to stand by and watch? Humanity is a disease. You have just unleashed the cure."

Rallis tried to step even farther away from the dragonkin, only accomplishing pressing closer to her friend, and this time not because she was scared of the beasts' power, but because she found herself understanding their motives and was horrified that she did. She'd wished death upon a great many people who tried killing her, her friends, her family, and was even the one who put those thoughts into action. She'd killed or otherwise horribly maimed a great deal of people, and really it wasn't a very different thought process to Zorgoth's. And that scared her.

Adam rested his other hand on the hilt of his sword. "Do you really think we're letting you leave this place?"

"I don't think you have a choice. Let me show you." Zorgoth threw his arms up and his eyes flashed gold for a moment. "AWAKEN!"

The dragon in the tank's eyes flashed open as the beast started to stir. It lifted its head from the tank, vile liquid dribbling out of its mouth and rolling off its body. The room shook with its movements, glass of the tank shattering, piping creaking and collapsing, rocks crumbling from the ceiling. The mere act of the dragon moving was threatening to cave the place in!

"We need to leave now!" Bob cried.

"Way ahead of you!" Adam shouted back as he started to run, Rallis right behind.

Galvek slithered out of the tank and over to his master who snapped a command at him. Galvek opened his mouth and shot forth a massive ball of dragonfire, barely missing Adam and Rallis by inches, but landing its mark on Dallas.

"No!" Rallis cried, but the man was nothing but a pile of charred brittle bones. Galvek readied another fireball, this time aimed at Bob. Adam scooped the cat up and rolled out of the way of the oncoming blaze. They sprinted out of the vault like bats out of hell, bumping into Jardric along the way.

"Bloody hell's goin on?!" he shouted. "The whole island is shaking!"

"Just run!" Adam snapped as he dove through the massive vault doors.

Before Jardric could turn tail, Galvek and Zorgoth were in front of him. Galvek readied to burn the dwarf to ashes, but was instead met with a well placed crossbow bolt to the mouth, causing the dragon to stop his attack. Zorgoth flinched as well, hand going to his jaw. "YOU DARE!" The dragonkin waved his hand and threw the dwarf aside with magic, barreling him into a pile of discarded stone crates.

Zorgoth then turned his attention to the vault doors. "Release us!"

Galvek blasted the doors open and off their hinges, great stone slabs cracking and crumbling away. The two slithered into the open area of Lithkren's basement, looking for an exit. Zorgoth pointed to the ceiling and Galvek blasted his way through, flying into the sky and taking his master with him.

The shaking stopped, the room wasn't going to cave in, and all was unnervingly quiet after the tumultuous uproar the dragon caused. Adam and Rallis stared at the hole in the roof the dragon had just flown through, former still holding onto the cat like a safety blanket. Jardric stumbled through, head in one hand and crossbow in the other. "Gods that hurt," he grumbled. "What just happened?"

Bob sighed. "It looks like we may have a slight problem on our hands."

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The group ran outside to find a speck of red slithering through the sky, heading west. They caught Jardric up on the way and the dwarf suggested speaking with the King of Varrock. If there was going to be a war, he had one of the largest armies in the lands. They should seek his help. It was as good a plan as any, and with that they made their way back to Fossil Island to warn everyone and then back to Varrock.

The last thing King Roald expected that day was a ground shattering earthquake and thunder in the cloudless sunny sky, but alas here he was staggering from the aftermath of the cacophony and watching with horror as colorful specks of all shapes and sizes took to the skies and headed west, illuminating the sky with a vengeful blaze. He was also not expecting three filthy gross smelling commoners with their mangy cat to run into his throne room hollering about dragons soon after. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, he recognized two of them.

He groaned and pointed a finger at Rallis. "Now is not the time to harass my wife about her fruit tree!"

"What? No! That's not why I'm here! Though I'd love some white fruit if you have extra."

She licked her lips, completely forgetting the mission at hand for a moment. Adam stepped forward. "Your Majesty, we need to speak with you about dragons."

"If you mean the dragons that have been spotted flying around, we're well aware. I have my best people investigating this and we will make sure the citizens are safe. Now be on your way." He didn't want them in his presence for much longer. He had things more important to take care of than entertaining unwashed adventurers.

"But we know what they're doing!" Rallis piped up.

Roald looked at them unbelievingly. "You do?"

"Yes." Adam began to explain. "There is a dragonkin named Zorgoth who has managed to bring the dragons under his control. He is forming an army which he intends to use to wipe out humanity."

"A dragonkin?!" the King sputtered. "That's preposterous! Do you take me for a fool? The dragonkin have been dead for hundreds of years."

"I know it sounds crazy but you have to believe us. Why else would the dragons be acting odd?" Rallis nodded in agreement.

Roald didn't seem convinced, but he had nothing else to go off of. As infuriating as these two were at times, he couldn't deny they were a helpful pair (when they weren't stealing from the garden or causing trouble with the Guard over a bounty). "I'm curious as to how you know this information, but I can wait for an explanation. You've been a friend to Varrock in the past, I'll listen to what you have to say. What would you have us do?"

"You need to gather your soldiers," Jardric said. "We need to destroy this threat before it destroys us!" The King wasn't too keen on listening to this commoner he did not know, but with Adam and Rallis backing him up in agreement, he would entertain the thought. The three explained more in detail just what the threat was and how powerful even one dragon was, and now there were thousands overhead. It was war or death.

Roald thought it over, debating in his head, but ultimately relented. It would be war.

His advisor started to fret. "My lord, do you know what this means? Think of the ramifications! The paperwork, the funds, the chaos, the--!"

"Yes I know what it means! Be quiet Aeonisig! We have more to worry about than some silly backlog! Would you rather the dragons burn it all with your home?" He addressed the group once more. "I will make the necessary preparations. In the meantime you will visit King Lathas, Chieftain Brundt, and Sir Amik Varze. Tell them to come to Varrock to discuss the dragon threat."

Aeonisig recoiled at the idea. "But my lord! The Fremennik! They're savages!"

Rallis hissed at him for the comment to which he yelped and stepped back.

"For Saradomin's sake! They have ships and they have soldiers! We need them on our side!" Roald argued back.

"I'm not sure if we want King Lathas on our side," Adam growled, knowing all too well what a monster that man was.

"You as well?" the King snapped. "With this kind of insubordination you would think I wasn't King! Put your petty disagreements aside and look at the bigger picture. We must all work together if we are to survive."

Everyone hung their head in silence, realizing he was right. Petty squabbles like these wouldn't get them any closer to winning.

"Anyway you should get moving. Time is not on our side. While you're gone I'll have Aeonisig reach out to some other people as well. We need all the help we can get."

Adam and Rallis nodded. They ran off, mission in hand. While Adam went to convince Sir Amik and King Lathas, Rallis went north back to Relleka. The sky was filled with swarming colorful specks, dragons roaring and lighting the sky as they flew north. Everywhere they went, there were dragons overhead and screaming people below. Rallis barged through the entrance of Relleka and slammed open the doors of the Longhall. They were in the middle of a meeting, Chieftain Brundt and all the council members.

"Brundt! Sorry! This is important!" She panted every word.

A surly councilman snarled at the dragon and pointed to the ceiling. "This family reunion your doing?" Olaf shot him a look to tell him to shut up.

"Rallis. I'd like to not draw conclusions, but do you have anything to do with this?" the Chieftain asked. "Those dragons are headed to Ungael and you were just there."

She bowed her head to the Chieftain. "I'm sorry, but I do, as do several others. Those dragons, they're being controlled by a monster. They're going to start a war. The King of Varrock needs your help."

The party started to mutter about helping outlanders but Brundt came to a swift conclusion. "If it's a war they want, it's a war they'll get. We may have never sided with outlanders before, but there's always a first time for everything!" Some of the council members began to argue. "Besides, this isn't something we can do alone." That shut them up. "I will go with you," he told Rallis. He faced everyone else. "And you will all prepare everyone able bodied to fight! Understand?!"

The group shouted ayes and began to plan. Olaf ran over to Rallis before she left. "I knew you said you'd be back soon, but I wasn't expecting this! What is going on?"

Brundt shouted for her from outside the Longhall, already prepared to leave. "I'll tell you later, I promise. Please stay safe. They're willing to kill everyone."

He hugged her goodbye. "You're part of that everyone. You stay safe too."

With that, she ran off, leading Brundt to Varrock. By now, Adam would be done. Now the ball could truly get rolling.

Adam, Rallis, Jardric, and Bob were all invited to the meeting in Varrock to listen and provide input on just what exactly the threat was. Rallis was surprised at how many people she knew in the room. She hadn't realized how many people she knew were such bigwigs! Seated in a private conference hall were King Roald of Varrock, King Lathas of Ardougne, Sir Amik Varze of Falador, Chieftain Brundt of Relleka, Lady Celeste the oneiromancer of Lunar Isle, King Arthur of Camelot, Captain Denulth of Burthorpe, Lady Achiettes of the Heroes' Guild, and the famed mage Dionysius. It seemed nearly every part of the continent was represented. Aeonisig stood near the back to take notes and Adam, Rallis, Jardric, and Bob stood off to the side. They were so beyond tired, having not rested at all today and still filthy and exhausted from their run in with Zorgoth and Galvek.

Tensions were high with everyone in the same room. There was a great deal of hatred between some of the rulers. Adam hated Lathas, Lathas hated Arthur, Brundt and Celeste were most certainly not on friendly terms, and with the dragons flying overhead, more than a few people were watching Rallis warily.

"Thank you all for coming," Roald began. "As I'm sure you are aware, we are facing one of the greatest threats ever seen in our time."

"And one with an easy solution," Lathas said. "We need to take the dragons head on, meet them and fight!"

"That may not be wise," Arthur said.

Lathas snapped back before he could continue. "And what would the great King Arthur do? Cower in fear as the dragons annihilate everyone around you?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying! I'm just thinking ahead. Wooden boats over open sea against fire breathing monsters. Does that sound like a good combination to you?"

Brundt growled at the offense to his fleet but said nothing.

"I take no joy in it but that may be our only option here," Roald said. "If even half of what history says is true, the dragonkin are merciless." Jardric nodded to that. They certainly were and he'd felt it firsthand. "If we don't meet them at sea, they will burn down cities, all of them."

"Then we need a good formation for the inevitability we burn at sea," Achiettes said. "One that ensures minimal casualties."

The group discussed formations and plans, who would go where and all that goes with such talk. Rallis didn't much care for it but Adam listened in intently, giving his advice here and there. They discussed and planned for everything, every step right down to the potions, for what they would need for an assault against an army of dragons. Once they finished, everyone gave a satisfied hum of approval, ready to get things underway and prepare their men. All except one.

"I hate to rain on the parade, but I do have to ask something," Sir Amik said. Everyone gave him their full attention. "This commanding dragon, you said he can control other dragons, correct?"

"That's right," Rallis said. "They wouldn't do such horrid things otherwise!"

The knight would take that with a grain of salt. "And I suppose you intend to go on this expedition, don't you?" he asked her.

"Well yeah! I only, you know, FOUND AND WARNED YOU ALL OF THE DRAGON! Of course I'm going!"

"Then allow me to bring up a concern of mine." He folded his hands and addressed the conference. "If this beast can control dragons as you say, make them do such unspeakable things that even you claim is uncharacteristic, who is to say the same will not happen to you, a fellow dragon?"

The room grew deathly silent. That was something everyone seemed to overlook.

"Now wait just a second!" Rallis snapped. "Unlike you all, I've already been face to face with Galvek. If he wanted to control me he would have already!"

"I can vouch," Adam rushed. "I was there and nothing of the sort happened. She was perfectly fine." Even Bob meowed in agreement, but the group didn't seem swayed.

"Just because they didn't that once doesn't mean they can't," Roald said. "They could always try again, and out on the battlefield is a much more dangerous place to find your soldiers switching sides."

Most in attendance seemed to agree. The room was filled with 'don't let her come' and 'she should be locked up until it's over' and 'keep that monster well away from my men.' A few of her friends at the table looked at her sympathetically but didn't know what to do. Their vouching would likely not help with all the animosity from the rest of the group.

"I'm not a monster!" Rallis shouted. "I'm going and you won't stop me! I have a job to do!"

"Oh yes, your little guild entry exam," Lathas snarked. "We've all heard about it from your dwarf friend here. The lives of our soldiers are more important than your silly title and prestige."

"That isn't why I want to go!" Sure, the mission was important for their careers, but this was well beyond that now. No, now it was personal. That monster killed her friend, controlled others, and was ready to destroy the world for Guthix's sake! She had to stop them, she had to do her part! And that part was NOT sitting on the sidelines! There was also the fact that Zorgoth knew things about her, he knew what she was. His own notes on Ungael even hinted at it, and she wanted to find out what he knew before she murdered him. "Listen, I'm going to go whether you like it or not! Now do I need to sneak aboard a ship or can we do this nicely?"

The leaders began to fret once more until Brundt stood from his seat. "I trust her. I believe she has what it takes." He grinned at her. "And she's damn strong too! It would be a shame if we left such talent to waste!"

The oneiromancer rose as well. "She may be the only one capable of doing this. But I suppose that is to be seen. Either way, it's important she goes. And... I trust her too."

Denulth stood at attention as well. "The kid may not listen all the time, and she may think she's better than she is, but I know damn well she can handle this. If not, then maybe my training didn't do anything and I won't have that!"

Dionysius remained in his seat and waved the royalty in disagreement off. "Oh let her go. You wouldn't want to see the lengths she'll go to to come otherwise."

The word of those four was promising, but still not enough to sway the kings. "I'm sorry but it's not going to ha--."

Adam slammed his hand on the table. "Then I'll watch after her!" The entire room was shocked at his outburst, giving him their full attention. "I'll stay with her the whole time, from beginning to end. I'll make sure nothing happens, and if anything does it will be on my head and mine alone."

Rallis looked at him like he was crazy. That was a weighty promise he was about to make. "Adam..."

"You don't have the stomach, boy," Lathas sneered. "You couldn't kill a friend if it came down to it."

"You think I haven't had to before?" he snarled. Rallis didn't know if that was true or not, but it sure was convincing. "And with me there it shouldn't even have to come to that. I will take full responsibility for everything she does, and I mean everything."

Roald sighed and thought about it. He didn't really care about the opinion of an overzealous adventurer, but he did care about pushing away possible strong allies. Who would he be losing if he said she couldn't come? A pair of strong mages he could easily be without, Denulth and the Burthorpe soldiers which weren't many though they were skilled, and...

'Damn it, if I say no I could lose the Fremennik fleet.'

That was a resource he was sorely in need of, one he couldn't risk. If he did agree, at least he could also have a scapegoat for things that went wrong as cruel as that sounded. It was risky but the alternative was riskier. He sighed defeat. "Fine. Your dragon friend may come, but only on the condition you set. Every action's consequences will be placed upon you."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Thank you."

They finished up their discussion and left to begin preparations. Roald stopped next to Adam on his way out and whispered in his ear as the others were leaving. "I hope you've read up on what constitutes the death penalty here, because that's whose jurisdiction you're under. Don't forget it."

The man stiffened at the comment but shook the threat off. Unlike the kings, he actually had faith in Rallis. He believed she would be fine, and that even if she did lose her way, she would come back. He had to believe, for her sake as well as his.

Rallis smacked him on the arm hard with a scowl. "Adam you're an idiot!"

He rubbed at his arm. "What the hell was that for?! I got you to go, didn't I?"

"At the cost of your own safety! How could you be so reckless? What if something happens?! I don't want you to be punished because of me!"

"Are you going to join their side?" he asked seriously. "Are you going to stab me in the back?"

Rallis was appalled at the question. "Of course not! I would never!"

"Then what's the problem? I have faith in you, now put some in yourself." He pat the top of her head. "You'll be fine. Everything will. So don't worry."

Everyone had exited the room save for Adam, Rallis, and Bob. The cat stopped them before they could leave. "Rallis," he meowed. "You intend to fight Zorgoth don't you?" He said more than asked.

Rallis nodded. "I do. I feel like I need to."

"Which means you'll be with her against the most dangerous pair of beasts in recent history," he directed at Adam. The man nodded. He supposed he would be, not that he would have it any other way. "Then I feel I should tell you. I noticed something on Lithkren when we confronted them for the first time. You can't hurt dragonkin, trust me I know now. I thought I had killed Zorgoth but apparently I didn't even leave a lasting impression!" He hissed. "But I noticed something when that dwarf Jardric shot Galvek. It hurt Zorgoth too. I think they may be connected, kill the dragon and the kin will fall."

"Good eye," Adam complimented. "At least we'll only have to really worry about one of them then."

"Don't underestimate that dragon," Bob warned. "Zorgoth had centuries to perfect it. I fear it may wield powers far beyond what I've ever seen. I'll be sure to watch and warn you and help however I can."

"Wait, you're coming?" Adam asked.

"I am. I can't fight anymore, but maybe I can be useful in some other way. Much of this is my fault and it's only right that I help put things right. Now let's get going."

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

Preparations took days, far too long for anyone's taste, but it was what it was. When the big day arrived, Relleka was flooded with soldiers from every kingdom and a war fleet large enough to scare the ocean itself away, or so they hoped. Rallis made sure her kids and roommate back home would be fine before she left and spent the remaining days preparing and holing up at Olaf's place, watching as more soldiers arrived every day. She didn't tell him about the risks involved with her going, she didn't want to worry him, but with the way everyone looked at her both scared and furious it was easy to tell something was up.

But she never told him, and he never asked. And he didn't try to stop her, as much as he didn't want her to go. "You better come back safely," Olaf told her the day she was to leave. "Don't go getting yourself hurt again."

"I won't." She hugged him one last time. "Once this is all over, we should go on another picnic."

"That would be lovely. I'll be waiting."

Rallis ran off with the rest of the soldiers and found her tall green friend before vanishing amidst the crowd. The bard watched as the armies pulled out to sea and waited until they were long gone, just dots on the horizon. He couldn't help but feel like something wasn't quite right, like something terrible was about to happen. He just hoped he was wrong.

Rallis watched the shore disappear until nothing was left but ocean. It didn't feel real yet, that they were finally on their way to fight Zorgoth and Galvek. The dragons must be on their way to land soon, it had been days since they escaped the confines of the Lithkren vault. And yet despite the very real threat of hellfire from above on the other end of the ocean, the sea was peaceful and quiet, nothing but the waves and steady chorus of rowing.

The waiting made her sick. It made her think and her thoughts made her panic, which was the last thing she needed before the fight. She was nervous and sad and angry, a terrible combination for right before a battle. She had already polished her shield, wyvern spirit trapped inside glad for the bath, sharpened the metal claw coverings on her feet, and checked, rechecked, and triple checked her rune pouch and own personal supplies for the fight. It wasn't enough though, opting to count the ship's potions and supplies to occupy herself as the rowing above deck drowned out the more noisy thoughts in her head. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her until the owner placed a hand on her shoulder. She nearly dropped the antifire she was holding from the scare, but it was just her friend.

"Don't scare me like that, Adam!"

"Sorry. Thought you heard me coming." He noticed her shaking. She tried to hide it by moving and doing things but it was still obvious. He put a hand over her shaking one and pried the potion from her fingers. "Put that down. You're shaking like a leaf, you're going to drop it." Rallis whined as she put it back. "You nervous?"

She sniffled. "Horrified. I don't want the dragons to die, and I don't want anyone else to be killed either. But both are going to happen, aren't they?"

He wasn't going to lie to her. That would be cruel. "Yes. They are."

She sniffled again, shaking even more. "They already killed Dallas and ruined the lives of others. I don't want anyone else to get killed!"

"That's why we need to do our best," Adam said. "That's why we need to take down Zorgoth as soon as possible. The better we are at our jobs, the less people will die. The less dragons too."

Rallis nodded with another sniffle. "Okay. I'm sorry. I'm just scared. I don't want to... to become... o-one of--!" She started to cry, unable to get the sentence out, so she stopped trying to. She grabbed her friend's hand like a life line, claws digging into his gloves. She was really freaked out about something, and he had suspicions as to what.

"Become one of what?" he whispered.

She choked on a sob and shouted at him. "ONE OF THEM! What if everyone was right? What if Galvek forces me over to the other side? I don't want to hurt anyone, Adam!"

"You won't. You'll be okay," he soothed. "I won't let that happen, and I'll be with you the whole time. You don't have to worry, you're going to be fine." His words didn't stop her worries. "I have every bit of faith in you that you're strong enough to fight it. You're not a monster after all, you're a good person. And good people don't turn around and attack their friends and family. I'm not the only one who has faith in you either, but now you have to believe in yourself."

She sniffled and whined an 'okay' before rubbing the tears off her face with her sleeve. Adam thought the issue was resolved but apparently not, dragon gripping his glove tighter. "Adam," she whispered. "I know you don't kill people."

"That's right. There's always another way."

"What about dragons? Would you kill a dragon?" She looked up at him, a red eyed mess. "Would you kill me?"

He wasn't ready for that question, not from her. He stared back at her in shock, reeling from the question. He knew what he said at the meeting, but he said what they wanted to hear. He didn't know if he could actually go through with it. After all, like he always preached, there was always another way. But for this... was there?

"I..."

The ship shook with a boom and threw the two to the ground with a yelp. Angry panicked shouting followed by bellowing roars greeted them next. Adam hauled her up and ran. "Let's go!"

The deck was a panicked shouting mess. People were on fire, a hole was blasted through one of the sails and burning, and the sky was swarmed with dragons. The beasts flew by like angry hornets, roaring and smashing into the ships to send them sinking. Others turned the fleet into firewood. A piercing shriek split the air from the ship over as a knight roasted alive in his armor, jumping overboard to put the flames out only to sink to the bottom of the ocean. A huge metallic dragon landed on another ship nearby and snapped three men in its jaws before taking flight and torching the boat and people on it to ash.

Rallis covered her mouth in horror. "This is... beyond horrible!"

Adam pulled out his crossbow and held his shield up to the sky. "We're next. Take cover!"

A red dragon with shredded wings and a bolt in its left eye torched the sail of their boat, burning mast finally falling with a groan and crushing people underneath. It circled around and landed with a snarl, spraying fire every which way. Adam shot the beast in the neck with a bolt, but it was like it didn't feel it. It didn't even care! The dragon turned its attention to a man running its way, sword in hand. He dodged a ball of fire expertly before slamming the sword deep into its throat. It howled and sputtered, sinking to its knees. The sword began to melt and drip onto the boat, turning to liquid from the beast's built up fire. The red dragon roared and let loose one last blast of dragons breath, liquid flame pouring out of the hole in its neck as it died. The blast hurtled right toward the man who had slain it, no way to protect himself. He threw up his arms in a futile attempt to defend himself, but the blast never came.

Rallis shielded him, wyvern faced shield absorbing the fire to spit out later. The man quietly thanked her to which she ripped an orange shield off a burning corpse and slammed it in his arms. "I don't care if they call you 'The Deathless,' Koschei. Use this! Otherwise you will die."

The boat shuddered and began to splinter and crack. It was beginning to split and sink! Rallis waved Adam over to the front of the boat and away from the dragon he was fending off. Rallis leapt off the boat and onto the floating wreckage below, balancing perfectly on the sinking burning pieces of ship. She scurried across the ocean like a cat, leaping to the next platform on all fours and sinking her claws into the wood. Adam slammed Koschei on the back encouragingly. "Let's go! Hope you aren't heavy!" He jumped down below, following Rallis at a much slower and careful pace, having to take his size and lack of agility into account. He'd rather not sink into the sea today! Though thankfully he wasn't weighed down by heavy armor and knew how to swim.

Koschei eyed the water worriedly before following them. It was a safer bet that waiting for the boat to sink.

Rallis, Adam, and Koschei scaled the wreckage of the fleet like parkour masters, leaping onto other boats from below to defend those fighting back on the other ships. The three came to the rescue of many, including those who attended the meeting in Varrock. They downed a pair of vicious metal dragons with the help of Celeste and Achiettes who were stranded on their burning ship. Adam gave the Hero a wink which earned him a groan.

Rallis looked around the now smoke filled burning ocean for Galvek and Zorgoth but couldn't spot them. The place was a massacre of conflagration and she could hardly see beyond a few feet. "Do you know where Zorgoth is?" she asked the oneiromancer. "We need to reach him and stop this before it gets even worse."

The woman peered through the smoke for a moment before pointing into the gray distance. "You will find him there. They are watching from the head of the fleet. Go now, you have friends in danger."

"Thank you!" Rallis shouted before leaping off the boat and continuing her parkour trek. Adam was growing tired just from the perilous leaping and balancing alone. He didn't know how Rallis was so good at it. Koschei stayed behind to help the two women reach the head of the fleet a safer way than leaping across the water, as one of them was held down by metal armor.

Rallis heard the mangled screams of human and dragon alike all around her, watching burning men and mangled dragons fall into the waters below. She whined and went faster. The sooner she got to Zorgoth, the sooner this would all end!

Playing leapfrog in the smoke landed them in a graveyard of ships at the head of the fleet. One of the largest boats had another huge ship crashed into it, creating an L shape, and two other large boats were parked alongside the base of the L to form a giant deck to stand upon. Brutal looking dragons were slashing and hissing at a group of fights on the giant makeshift deck, knocking one soldier into the water only to have three more take his place. Brundt was at the head of the fight with his warriors, smashing his hammer into the skull of a blue dragon, while Dionysius stood behind the line casting magic into the mouths of the dragons before they could burn them alive, dousing the fires with a painful sizzle. Zorgoth and Galvek stood at the head of the boat, framed by Ungael and more dragons flying forth in the background. They laughed and smiled from their perch as they watched the fight unfold, like spectators admiring a sport. Bob was aboard the ship too, howling as he made his way passed the fighting dragons and up to Zorgoth and Galvek.

Rallis scaled the side of the boat, swinging up the anchor and slamming down on the head of a black dragon as it threatened to turn the Chieftain into a crispy snack. She muzzled the beast with her whip and held tight as it struggled. Brundt in turn slammed the beast over the head with his hammer, dazing it. Rallis let go right as Adam jumped aboard to slam his sword into its skull, beast falling dead to the floor with a thud.

Rallis pointed toward the head of the boat farther away. "Bob went that way! Stop him!"

Adam nodded and ran. Rallis continued to fight side by side her friends, holding down the fort until reinforcements arrived. Adam sprinted after his feline friend, soon coming face to face with the dragonkin and its pet. Bob didn't know what he was going to do, but he was furious and he'd be damned if he didn't do something!

"Zorgoth!" he howled. "You will pay for this!"

The dragonkin looked down at him and laughed. "They brought you along? How amusing. As if you could do anything."

Bob hissed. "I can still claw your eyes out!"

Zorgoth huffed at the comment. "You're the last one who could dare stand in my way. You've been a thorn in my side this long, but now it is time to be rid of you for good." Galvek readied a ball of fire. "So long, pest!"

The serpent launched the fireball straight for the cat, but right as it would have made contact, it exploded in a shower of flame and sparks as it hit a bright orange shield. Bob looked up to find his friend Adam, shield up and burnt. Zorgoth and Galvek snarled at the interruption.

"I thought you said you weren't going to fight," Adam hissed as he waved the flames off his shield and rose. That blast was painful, it damn near rattled every bone in his body. "What happened to that plan?"

Bob growled. "Yes well, quite frankly, he pissed me off."

Adam chuckled. "How about you leave the eye clawing to us and you tell us what to do?"

"Fine. And thank you."

"Don't mention it." Adam pointed a bolt at Zorgoth. "I don't really appreciate you trying to kill my friend!"

The dragonkin scowled at the man like an appraiser disgusted with the quality of the work. "Don't speak to me you disgusting human. I had enough of your chattering before."

Galvek opened its mouth in a roar and Bob spoke up. "Dragonfire incoming!"

Adam threw his shield up in the nick of time as a ball of fire blasted off his shield. "Thanks!"

"Another one, brace yourself!"

The challenge of predicting and reacting continued on while Rallis fended off the onslaught of dragons boats over. Brundt shoved her away as another dragon fell. "Go! Help your friend! We're fine now!"

Rallis ran over without another word and slid right next to Adam and Bob. Zorgoth hummed disdainfully. "Now the vorkath joins us. What a show. I will waste my time with you no longer."

On cue, two metal dragons landed from overhead, a green one and a blue one. "That's an adamant and a runite!" Bob shouted. "They're some of his strongest. Be careful!"

Zorgoth ignored them and surveyed his army from his perch, commanding like a king. Galvek was more interested in the show at hand, smiling as he watched the metal dragons split the warriors apart and force them into 1-v-1s. When not commanding for his master, he threw in a fireball of his own into the mix, throwing the two way off guard. It made him snicker watching the insects flail about.

The adamant dragon hissed at Rallis and reared its head back. "Rallis! Poison! Move!" Bob shouted at her. The green scaled dragon spat globs of sickly green goop on the deck where she just stood, missing by a hair. She waved the cat a thanks. "Not done yet!" he meowed. "It lights it on fire! The fumes are toxic! Keep away!" Sure enough, the dragon did just that. With the advanced warning, Rallis was able to slip away and sneak behind the dragon, climbing onto its back and jam her rapier between its plated shoulders. The dragon bucked and roared, trying to throw her off, but she held fast. Galvek hissed at the little dragon causing such a scene and launched a fireball at her.

"Dodge!" Bob shouted. Rallis yanked her sword out and rolled off the dragon to fall hard onto the floor. Galvek's blast of fire hit the adamant dragon square in the back, burning its wings to cinders and melting the metal scales clean off. It howled and gurgled as it melted into a bubbling mess. Some of its melted hide stuck to her armored claws and she nearly hurled from the sight, trying to shake it off.

Adam meanwhile was sparring with the runite. He was toe to toe with it, slashing at its face and claws when it tried to bite down or swipe at him. He shoved the flames away with his shield, but he wasn't making much progress with his poking and defending. Suddenly, the dragon stepped back and started to hiss and shudder oddly. He saw it as an opening and went to strike.

"Adam, no!" Bob howled. "Back up! It can spit an electric charge and stun you!"

The man backed up and realized his mistake with barely a second to spare. Electricity sprayed across the deck, sparking across the wood and in the air, exploding into sparks of dragonfire on contact with the sea spray. The last minute dodge and force of the exploding lightning sent Adam flying, landing harshly on the deck next to the dragon. Galvek took his chance while the man was down and shot a blast of dragons breath where he lay.

"Move, Adam!"

He couldn't, he wasn't fast enough, instead throwing up his shield and hiding behind it with his back to the floor. The blast slammed against his shield and squished him against the floorboards. He grit his teeth and stayed firm, not budging an inch lest he be roasted alive. The enchantment of the shield kicked in and popped the fireball in a shower of embers. Adam breathed a sigh of relief and let his arm fall to the side. 'That was way too close!'

Galvek roared in anger at his failed murder attempt. Zorgoth barked something at him to which the serpent smiled and slithered away, vanishing into the sea below.

Adam staggered up and faced the now furious runite dragon. His shield sizzled oddly, speckles of Galvek's fire burning the paint off. It was starting to weaken and lose its defensive capabilities. Adam started to panic. Being shieldless against an army of dragons was the last thing he wanted. He wasn't entirely sure what else to do against the dragon facing him down either. His sword didn't even seem to scratch its defenses, and his bolts would just bounce off with nothing soft to sink into.

Before the dragon had a chance to strike, it shrieked and reared back on its hind legs. It swished its tail around to find Rallis, teeth locked down on the end of its tail. The dragon screamed and howled as it tried to fling the pest off but she held fast.

"The mouth!" Bob commanded. "Shoot its mouth!"

Adam pulled out his crossbow and aimed. With the way the dragon was flailing its head about, it wouldn't be an easy shot. The runite slammed its tail down hard with a screech, knocking Rallis loose. It swiped the stunned dragon with its bleeding tail, sending her flying across the boat to slam into the side. Still on its hind legs, it shuddered and leaned back and aimed at Rallis.

'The lightning again! I don't think so!'

He aimed at the dragon's mouth, waiting for the perfect moment. Bob meowed worriedly. "Adam..."

The electricity flowed in its mouth, glowing brighter and brighter. The dragon cracked its jaw wider and readied itself. 'Now!' He fired the bolt into its mouth and expertly hit its mark. The dragon roared in surprise as the lightning exploded in its face and down its throat, cooking it from the inside. It slammed on the deck, dead. Adam sprinted over to his dazed companion across the deck, helping her to her feet and shaking the blow to the head off. Bob breathed a sigh of relief they were alright and that the dragons were dealt with.

A wicked laugh greeted them. The three turned their heads to find Zorgoth laughing at them. He wasn't mad they had just taken down two of his best dragons?

"You're a good commander, Robert, I'll give you that!" Zorgoth shouted from his perch between laughs. "You alone were the reason I nearly failed that day. You're the last one who can predict my every move. But I can have that no longer."

His eyes flashed gold and out of the sea flew Galvek, fire trailing out of his mouth. It all happened so fast. The serpent let loose an inferno, burning the feline to a crisp, and swept the ash away with a flood of water alongside the two dead dragons before slithering back to his master's side like nothing had happened. Adam and Rallis stared in horror as their friend was gone in the blink of an eye, nothing more than soot now floating on the waves.

Zorgoth laughed. "Finally. That pest is gone. He's caused me enough trouble as it is."

Neither of them could believe it. He was right there! They were taking orders from him not a minute ago! Adam let go of Rallis and roared, leveling his crossbow at the dragonkin. "ZORGOTH! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Rallis unfurled her whip and snarled at the dragonkin, too angry to cry. "You die here! For everyone you've killed, for the lives you've ruined, I will make sure you fall here today!"

"As if I would fail now," the dragonkin said dismissively, not at all interested in the rambling of a human and a vorkath. "This has been centuries in the making. A band of weak little humans and their floating wooden toys and pointed sticks would be the last thing to stop me. It's not even a thought worth entertaining really."

Galvek smiled as he coiled around his master, eager to continue on with the destruction. Zorgoth grinned. "I think I'd like to see you burn like your pet cat!"

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" Adam snapped as he let his bolt loose. The dragon smacked it away with a flick of his tail before retaliating with a raging inferno leaping from its mouth. Before she could even shout 'move,' Rallis was shoving him out of the way, missing being barbecued alive by a breath. She stomped closer to the two and growled.

"Stop it and go home!" she shouted at them. "You're accomplishing nothing from this but sending these dragons to die! Just stop and go home and live there!"

Zorgoth glared at her. "Who do you think you are, vorkath, commanding things of me that unruly tone? If you were one of mine, I would have kil--"

Galvek slid his tail across the dragonkin's wings to halt his rant and grab his attention. He said something to which Zorgoth snorted and muttered "be my guest." Galvek slithered over to Rallis, who took up a defensive stance in response. Adam ran over with his crossbow drawn, ready to fight the beast. Galvek roared at the man and swept him back with a wave of his hand as ocean water leapt over the boat's edge and pushed him back, nearly throwing him over the side.

"Adam!" Rallis turned to run over and help but was stopped by a long red tail turning her back around to face the serpent.

"You don't want to be here, do you?" he asked.

"No, I don't!" she shouted. "I don't want anyone to be here! I don't want to see my family and friends hurt!"

"And who might that be?" Galvek questioned as he slithered closer. "Your friends and family I mean."

Rallis was a bit put off by the question, not sure what the dragon was getting at. "I've got lots of people like that, even people here right now. There's Dionysius and Denulth and Celeste and Brundt and the man you just so rudely washed away!"

"What about your family?" he hissed. "They were blue dragons, correct? A mother and two brothers and a black dragon father. Hmm, deceased, what a shame. Wonder what killed him." Galvek feigned surprise and covered his mouth in mock shock. "Oh dear, it was a pack of humans! With their dreadful weapons and unquenchable thirst for blood! How ironic the black armored humans killed the black armored dragon."

Rallis took a step back in shock. "How do you know this?"

He coiled in closer on her, closing her off from the rest of the world. He was her sole focus. "I know everything about you. I see everything, even things you can't but want to. I see your real family being murdered by humans, your friends being skinned for armor, your adopted father sacrificing himself to save your mother and three children, all those cruel humans chasing you with swords and poison. Tragic really, the violence of that species. But that's how they are. They only care about themselves you know."

"But my friends..." she retorted. "I have human friends!"

Galvek sneered. "A druid that rescued you for only his own gains! A librarian that thought you'd make an interesting study! A scientist who sent you to die in a foreign land! A bard that only wants you as a songbird! An adventurer who has your friends' heads mounted on his wall! They aren't your friends! They aren't your family! We are!"

Rallis shook her head. "You're wrong! I care about them and they care about me!"

"'Care?!'" Galvek laughed. "Oh please. You feign caring about these lesser beings. But I can see inside you, the emotions you try to hide from yourself. I see the unbridled rage of a monster in your heart, begging to be let out. You want to release it too but you won't admit it." Rallis tried to ignore his words, push him away, but some part of her was falling under his influence and dying to do whatever he asked. "Admit it, little dragon. You don't need these humans and they don't need you. Just give in to your rage, your animosity, your nature. Just give in!"

Galvek's eyes flashed for a moment as he slithered back over to his master, leaving Rallis to stand alone, frozen and staring ahead at nothing. Adam had collected himself and sprinted back over, coughing up water and leaving puddles behind as he ran. "Rallis!" he tried to grab her attention. She didn't budge, just stared at seemingly nothing. "Rallis?" He grabbed her by the shoulder when she suddenly collapsed, eyes rolling shut and body smacking the wooden floorboards. "Rallis?!" He shook her roughly. "Get up! GET UP!" Galvek and Zorgoth snickered at the front of the boat, watching the pathetic whining of the man. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he yelled as he stood and pointed another bolt at them.

"Nothing, really," Zorgoth said. "Just made her realize what's truly important."

"What?"

Something scraped the floor behind him. Adam spun around to see Rallis up again, but she was oddly hunched over like she was sick, eyes closed in pain. "Rallis, what's wrong?" he asked. Rallis' grip on her whip tightened as she slowly shook her head and hissed. Zorgoth snapped and her eyes flew open, dark and cold and monstrous. In the blink of an eye, Rallis screeched and lashed her whip down the man's chest, frost and blood leaving a shallow but painful gash behind. Adam gasped and stepped back quickly, hissing at the sharp needles of ice digging into his skin. She took another step closer to the man and roared, whip lashing as angrily as her tail as she craved nothing more than seeing these monsters killing her friends dead.

Adam held his ground. "Rallis, what's wrong?! Snap out of it!"

"Don't even bother," Zorgoth laughed. "She's seen the correct path. She's ours now."

Adam felt his blood run cold and it wasn't because of the icy whip. 'No... no no no NO! Rallis, why?'

A blast of magic struck Galvek across the face. He shrieked in anger as he pawed the pain away. The two hadn't been paying attention and hadn't noticed the rest of the humans were no longer occupied, dead dragons piled on the deck much farther away and slipping over the side to sink into the sea. The largest remaining force of humans were present and ready to fight, weapons drawn and magic at the ready. Zorgoth growled and stomped in anger. "KILL THEM ALL!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, metal dragons of every color landed on the boat deck, ready to fight. Galvek growled something at Rallis and with that, Rallis was leading the dragons on an attack against the people she'd come with.

"No, wait, Rallis stop!" Adam yelled as she ran at them, but she did not listen. She roared as she commanded an iron and steel dragon to split the humans into smaller more manageable groups and a runite and adamant dragon to rain poison and lightning down from above. Two knights ran forward, swords at the ready to kill their former companion. They all knew it was a possibility she would lose her mind out here, and they knew just as well that she would be killed for it with no hesitation. Adam saw the men running forward and tried to stop them.

"Don't attack her! She isn't herself!"

They ignored him and lashed out at her, but they were far too slow and predictable. Rallis easily dodged out of the way and leapt onto one of the knights, digging her claws into his armour before crunching his neck in her jaws, metal, skin, and all. The other knight lunged at her but soon met the same fate, body limply falling to the ground as she spat blood out of her mouth. She faced Adam now, blood and drool dripping from her mouth. He took a shaky breath as he pointed his crossbow at her, diamond tipped bolt glinting menacingly. "Rallis don't make me do this!" he shouted with the most brave face he could put on. In reality, he was horrified. Not because she'd just chewed through armour and neck like it was nothing, but because he was coming to the realization that he might have to fight his friend. Or worse.

He shook the thought out of his head. She took another step closer and readied to leap at him. "Rallis, don't! Snap out of it, I know you can!"

The iron and steel dragons were down now, most of the team left to focus on the adamant and runite in the sky. Some knights and Fremennik had run over, arms at the ready. A warrior brandished his axe and stepped forward. Adam quickly stopped him with a glare. "Do not," he growled each word. More antsy fighters stepped forward, Rallis glancing over all of them as if deciding the order in which to pick them off.

Adam turned and roared at them all. "STAND DOWN, NOW!" Some stepped back, wary of the man's temper, but still some stepped forward. One threateningly pointed his sword at Rallis, and as she was about to run to meet and kill him, Adam smashed his antidragon shield over his head, sending him staggering back. "I said stand down! She's my problem, not yours. If anyone is going to kill her, it's me!" He nearly choked out the end, dreading that possibility more than anything. The ragtag group of knights and Fremennik begrudgingly backed away, watching him and the dragon lady at a distance and continuing to assist however they could here or elsewhere.

Galvek and Zorgoth were watching the scene unfold from their safe perch. "This is rather entertaining, I must say," Zorgoth told his companion. "If you do end up controlling that vorkath well enough maybe I'll fix her. She seems to have some promise."

"More than you know," Galvek replied. "Watch this."

Adam had crawled as close as he was willing to get to his mind controlled friend, shield up just in case. "Rallis, please, listen. You're not right, they're telling you what to do. You've got to snap out of it!"

Suddenly, she lowered her weapon and shield, confusedly tilting her head. Adam sighed in relief. Maybe he was finally getting through to her! That thought immediately vanished when she smiled as she coiled up her whip and held out her now free hands. With a flick of her wrist, she set the floorboards ablaze. Adam yelped as he jolted back from the flames. Rallis smiled sadistically as she called forth ice with the other hand, jagged teeth ripping through the floor to slice anything in its path.

Zorgoth grinned at the display. "Ice and fire!" he exclaimed. "How interesting! Now I really would like to get my hands on her after this is over." Galvek happily continued controlling the small dragon as he forced her to set the ship and its people ablaze before skewering them with ice. Her eyes started to glow blue alongside their monstrous black sheen. Her claws flashed blue with every spell, as if weaving them from nothing but her fingertips.

Rallis howled with sadistic laughter as she made Adam stagger back, dodging and weaving around the growing inferno and spontaneous blades of ice. Room to run was disappearing and fast, and Rallis couldn't help but smile at how fun it was to make the man dance however she like. Many of those standing or fighting nearby were melted or frozen alive, charred corpses or bodies speared through by ice covering the boat. They all tried to run, finding nowhere to go and meeting a magical malevolent demise. As he dodged between the bodies and magic, Adam was pushed farther and farther away from Rallis and closer to the hellstorm of poison and lightning falling from the sky from the nearby fight with the adamant and runite dragons. Rallis waved her hand to send shards of ice barreling his way. Adam held up his shield in hopes of blocking the magic, but nothing made impact. The shattering of ice graced his ears as a large bearded man with an equally large hammer had stepped in and crushed the ice before it could even make contact.

The man smiled at Adam. "You alright?"

'Chieftain Brundt!' He nodded. "Yeah, thanks!"

The Chieftain sighed as he saw Rallis roar angrily at the two men, walking closer. "So she fell under its spell," he muttered. "Damn it all."

"She can snap out of it!" Adam pleaded. "I know she can!"

Brundt hefted his hammer over his shoulder. "I hope you're right. I rather like her. One of the happier things to wander through as of late. We won't get anywhere while she's over there, though." He grinned wide. "Let's knock some sense into her."

Adam nodded and smiled too. It was good to know he was fighting alongside someone whose first instinct wasn't to kill her. Rallis cast fire and ice at them as they ran toward her, hoping to slow them down. Despite their size, the two weaved through the onslaught masterfully. Brundt was on her now with Adam close behind. The Chieftain swung his hammer down at her, but he was far too slow to hit something as fast and small as her. He shattered the wood underfoot instead and quickly found himself thrown from his hammer. The man rolled with a grunt as Rallis barreled into him, managing to pin him to the ground. She opened wide to rip open the man's throat but was met with an arm instead. It was all Brundt could do to stave off the jaws of death. She was surprisingly strong for something so little. He couldn't even throw her off without ripping his arm off. Rallis crunched down in frustration as the man cried out in pain, arm completely shattered. She brought her claws up to rake them down his face but was abruptly and painfully tackled off her prey, rolling across the ground as something large and heavy grabbed onto her and tried to hold her down.

She looked up to see Adam holding her down as best he could. She screeched as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, back claws trying to gut him open like a fish. "Rallis, stop! Remember who we are, who you are! Don't let them do this to you!"

He soon heard hissing and it wasn't from her. He looked down to her shield to see the mouth of it open and glow blue. 'SHIT!' He quickly rolled off her and into a combat stance, sword and shield at the ready. The shield's blast of wyvern ice barely missed him. Rallis pulled out her sword as well, a long deadly rapier. They circled each other, each waiting for an opening. She found one first, darting forward, sword extended. Adam pulled up his shield and it bounced harmlessly to the side. He swiped back in retaliation, missing spectacularly as she slid away. They continued like this for a few blows more, Adam buying time for a pair of soldiers to help Brundt to safety. Rallis spun around and clawed at Adam's shield with her free hand, grabbing it and biting down on it, serrated teeth easily chewing away at the now stripped flimsy metal. She spat the orange and silver chunk out as she wrenched the rest of it from his hand, clawing wildly like a beast gone mad. Adam raised his sword in defence as she tried biting down again, teeth horribly scraping across the orichalcum. Adam pushed her back with his sword and pulled back to strike just as Rallis was. They both lunged forward to stab the other, but Adam faltered at the last moment, stabbing at air and taking a rapier to his side. He gasped in pain as Rallis pushed the sword in deeper, growling victoriously. It hurt like a bitch and it was all he could do to not fall to the ground in the moment, but if he did that he'd surely end up dead.

He could have stabbed her in the back then and there. She was right in front of him, easily open to an attack, but he didn't strike. Instead, he let his sword go and grabbed ahold of her, as best an embrace as he could with her still holding her sword in place. "Y'know," he hissed through gritted teeth and pain. "I don't think I could ever hurt you. I couldn't hurt my friend. Not you."

Rallis faltered in her animosity for a moment, looking at him confusedly. Humans weren't friends, so what was he saying? Why wasn't he attacking her?

"I don't know what they did to make you do this, but I need you to come back," he continued. "Please Rallis."

She grumbled and groaned. "No... you'll kill us all... My family... my friends... you'll kill them."

"What are we then, if not family?" he tried. "Who is your real family? Who raised you? Who stayed by your side? Who helped you learn about the world? Was it those two?"

She shook her head, trying to shoo away the voice telling her to kill him. "No..."

"Who is it then?"

The malicious voice in her head spoke up. "DOESN'T MATTER!" she snarled and drove the sword in deeper. Adam gasped and wobbled, trying not to fall. "Humans kill us! Now we kill you! All of you... ALL... should die!"

"This isn't you," Adam continued in a pained whisper. "I know you and this isn't it. You're so much better than this. You can break free! Show me you can!" He held her tighter. 'I will not let them take you from me! Not you too!' Rallis started to hiss and snarl, both at the man and herself, as if fighting a war only she could see and hear. The hand on the hilt of her rapier started to shake as if deciding whether to run him through or help him. "Please Rallis," he tried one last time. "Come back to the people that love you."

The fog in her head started to clear, the screeching murderous voice in her head fading away, her eyes losing the dark monstrous sheen, and she started to cry. She pulled the rapier out of his side and let it fall to the floor, Adam nearly going with it. She was balling into his shirt now, coming to realization with everything she just did. "I-I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't... No no no no I can't...!" She broke off into a nonsensical mess of tears and apologies. He didn't say anything, just stood there with her.

Galvek huffed at the display. "What a shame. You could've been something great. But now I suppose you'll continue to do nothing but waste your life away with humans that don't even like you."

"You shut up!" Rallis snapped, startling Adam. "You made me hurt people! You made me hurt my friend! I'm going to kill you!"

"You were made to hurt people!" Zorgoth yelled. "We simply enabled you to do as you were meant to. But enough of this idiocy! I see you are hopeless, a vorkath indeed, and I have moved on from playing these games. You say you want to kill me? Let's see you try!"

Galvek hurled a massive ball of fire their way, Rallis throwing up her shield at the last second. The force pushed the two back, sending them careening to the floor. Adam gasped in pain, the stab wound in his side making his vision blur for a moment. "Stay away from them," Rallis commanded. "You can't fight them like this." She ran off before she could hear his retort.

Rallis sprinted forward at lightning speed, whip trailing behind her as she dodged blasts of fire from Galvek. Nothing hit her, even Zorgoth was taken aback. She was a bolt of fury and snarls, running to where Galvek lay coiled at the front of the boat. With a screech, Rallis leapt onto the dragon and slashed her whip across his chest, leaving a trail of icy crystals behind. Galvek howled and swatted her away like a fly. Rallis landed with an ungraceful thud nearby, collecting herself and readying to strike once more.

"I think not!" Galvek roared as he turned to the sky. Fire trailed from his mouth as he rained hellfire onto the arena in front of him. Molten balls of fire splattered onto the ground, eating away at the wood and setting the deck ablaze. Not wanting the fire to spread, Rallis held her shield out and called forth its power of ice, hoping to put it out. But as the ice touched the molten pile, it exploded, globs of molten muck and jagged shards of rocky shrapnel flying in every direction. Rallis yelped as the shrapnel came her way, unable to get her shield up in time. Spines of flaming rock ripped through her sleeve and embedded themselves in her arm. Before she could even pull the spines out, Galvek let loose another ball of fire, throwing her hard against the side of the boat and near another pile of quaking fire and rock waiting to explode. Rallis threw her shield up just in time for the pile to explode, flaming shards stabbing themselves into the boat and her leg.

Galvek slithered closer, fire dribbling from his mouth and onto the deck below. The whole arena was a sea of conflagration on the ocean. Burning wood over an endless pit of water was not a good combination. Rallis pulled the spines out of her leg and rose, ready to try again. "Getting tired already, vorkath?" the serpent teased. "I knew you were a failure but I expected more."

Rallis shrieked in anger and flicked the blood dripping onto her whip away. Her shield even seemed angry, crunching a spine caught in its mouth. She launched herself at the serpent, but he knew where she was going to step before she even got there. With a swipe of his tail, Rallis was thrown back, the force causing something to snap with a crack, she didn't know what. Breathing hurt all of a sudden, but so did standing and moving her arm. She couldn't bring herself to care about the new sprouting pain. Galvek laughed as he readied another fireball to crisp the fumbling dragon with. As his mouth glowed with fire, something sharp shot through the sky and into his maw, ripping a hole through his cheek, blood and embers trailing down his chin in a molten mess.

The dragon howled and turned away, grabbing at his bleeding mouth. Rallis spun around to find Adam with his crossbow pointed at the serpent, another bolt already being loaded. He grit his teeth in pain with every step he took, blood soaking through his top and down his side, but he toughed through it. He fired another bolt at Galvek, this one finding itself deep in his back between his shoulder blades. Now thoroughly enraged and pained, Galvek flew out of range to sulk by his master, also now staggering from the pain he shared with his pet.

Adam held out a hand to Rallis to help her up. "You alright?"

She nodded and took the help. "You're not though," she said as she finally took the spines out of her arm. "You shouldn't be here, not after I gave you that," she pointed to the blood seeping through his shirt.

"I'll be fine," he told her, but she looked unconvinced. "Rallis it's going to take a lot more than that to keep me away from this fight. We've come this far together, now we finish this together."

Rallis smiled. She was thankful he was standing by her for this despite everything. But she would be sure to lecture him on his stubbornness later. "Thank you," she said. "But please be careful."

"You too." Galvek roared in the distance and made his way to the edge of the boat. "Now let's go!"

Galvek had slithered off the boat, now floating coiled in midair and out of melee range of his two assailants. That didn't matter to Adam however, bolt prepared to fire in his crossbow. Galvek hissed and swished his tail at them before he could fire. A strong wind kicked up, growing harsher by the second. The gem in Galvek's chest glowed a bright white, shining brighter and brighter as the wind grew stronger. Rallis nudged Adam and pointed to the gem and the man nodded, aiming to fire. As he let the bolt loose, however, the wind simply knocked it away. The two could feel themselves being pushed back now too, feet sliding backwards along the boat.

'If a crossbow can't reach him, there's no way my shield will either!' Rallis thought with dread. 'What do we do?!'

The gem in Galvek's chest flickered red for just a moment before turning white again as the serpent launched more fire into the sky to crash onto the boat.

"Start running!" Rallis yelled over the wind and dove out of the way of a falling ball of fire. The two dodged and weaved through the onslaught, but the wind was harsh and making things ten times more difficult. Rallis snarled at a ball of fire that landed so close it singed her tail. 'You want to use magic, Galvek?! Well I can too!'

Rallis roared and stomped against the wind toward the edge of the boat. She concentrated on what she did before, when Galvek controlled her and allowed her to use magic without runes like a real dragon. With a shudder and a hiss, her eyes glowed blue, her claws grew icy, her entire being illuminated in a pale blue aura. She screeched monstrously, high pitched and deafening, and formed a spear of ice in her hand. Galvek was shocked. He knew she physically could do magic like that, he had controlled her and showed her how to after all, but he didn't think she would remember how to without his help!

Rallis shot the jagged frozen spear at the dragon, cutting through the wind with ease, and slamming right into his chest. It exploded in a spray of crystal, and for a moment the wind stopped, Galvek brushing the attack off. Without warning, Rallis sprinted across the boat toward the dragon, leapt off the side, and latched onto his tail with her whip. Its deadly spines bit into his scales like fangs, and the frost crawling up his tail didn't feel any more comforting.

Galvek flicked his tail back and forth trying to shake her off. Instead, Rallis sank her claws into his skin, one hand and two feet digging into him while the other hand held the whip now scraping him. He growled and thrashed in the air as she climbed up his tail and onto his back to rest on the back of his neck.

"You filthy insect, get off me!"

Rallis replied by wrapping the whip around his neck and pulling, cutting into her hand as well as his throat. Galvek grabbed at the frozen spines cutting into his neck, large talons awkwardly clawing at the weapon. Rallis wrapped the bladed end around her arm, enchanted razor sharp edges slicing into her arm. But she didn't care. It was holding Galvek back and that was all that mattered.

Now no longer buffeted by the wind, Adam had an easy clear shot at the serpent. Galvek was so occupied with Rallis he hadn't noticed the archer readying his bow. Even Zorgoth hadn't been watching him, instead observing Rallis for some way his pet could throw her off. It was a perfect chance.

Adam aimed and fired, bolt landing right in the center of the serpent's chest with a crack as it damaged the gem it found purchase in. Galvek roared and flailed at the pain before crashing onto the boat. Rallis was thrown off with a yelp, losing her whip and tumbling hard onto the deck. Everything hurt, but overall she was fine, staggering up as Galvek did.

Galvek pulled the bolt out of his chest with a whine and snapped the thing in two. "That this little stick would hurt so much... You will pay for that!" Galvek roared at Adam and slammed his paw down where the man just stood, dodging out of the way in an instant. With another roar, the gem in Galvek's chest shimmered a cracked blue, and the serpent pulled his hand back toward him. The sound of rushing water drowned out any other sound as the ocean happily leapt onto the boat, putting out the remaining fires and sweeping Adam and Rallis away.

The water came and came, flowing around the serpent as it crashed onto the boat from every angle. The two coughed and sputtered as the unceasing waves of ocean threatened to either sweep them off the boat or drown them on it, neither of which were desirable options. As the water did its best to drown Adam, Galvek turned his attention to Rallis. "Let's see how you like being strangled!" he hissed menacingly.

Rallis could feel her whip float by in the water, weaving its way around her like a snake. Galvek twirled his fingers like a puppeteer, weaving the water around her whip and wrapping it around her neck tight. Rallis gasped, sucking in water instead of air as her whip tightened around her neck and dragged her under the flood still crashing onto the boat. She clawed at her weapon, edges tearing the palms of her gloves to shreds. It tore into her scarf and neck as it tightened around her. Rallis started to panic. She'd had her throat ripped open once before and she did not want that to happen again, especially not with her own weapon of all things.

The more panicked she grew, the brighter blue she glowed. She squeezed her eyes shut as the whip wrapped around so tightly she couldn't even breathe in water. Galvek laughed as he watched her start to die, gradually going limp in the water. But the glow continued to grow and grow, until it became so bright it made the water shimmer magically. At once, Rallis' eyes shot open, that same ethereal blue, and the water around her froze and shattered into a rain of snow and shards. Her whip fell away and she hacked and coughed up the water, finally being able to breathe again.

Galvek was in shock. "You--! You shouldn't know how to do that! How, after one time, are you able to do this?! You're just a vorkath! A VORKATH!"

Rallis ignored him and froze and shattered the remaining water on the boat, freeing Adam in a pile of powder and ice shards. The man coughed up seawater as he rose, now soaked and freezing as well as bloody. He could barely stand anymore, but thankfully Galvek's attention wasn't on him.

The serpent howled in anger and called forth the ocean from both sides of the boat, but before they could even crash down, Rallis froze them solid and broke them into blades of ice and launched them at Galvek. He screeched and writhed in pain as he was pelted from all sides with frozen knives. His gem cracked more as he collapsed to the floor in a panting bleeding mess.

As the serpent went down, so did Rallis. Blood trickled out of her mouth as the glow around her faded. She couldn't tell if it was a broken rib or whatever else but her chest burned and hurt like mad. She could hardly breathe let alone stand! She coughed up a pool of blood and threatened to collapse.

Galvek smiled. "That power has a cost, vorkath. It is because you are weak!" He regained his composure and coiled upright on the deck. "I have no weakness! I have no cost! My power has no limits!" The gem on his chest glowed green, and with that he raised his hands. The boat shuddered beneath them as massive waves rocked it side to side. Out of the ocean floated heavy glassy rocks from deep on the ocean floor. They swirled around the serpent like angry hornets waiting to strike. He readied one to strike only to find a bolt shoot into the back of his hand. Galvek spun around and roared. Adam stood shakily with his crossbow drawn, another bolt already nocked and ready to go.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU AND YOUR TOY, HUMAN!"

Galvek launched a rock at Adam who artfully dodged out of the way. The rock left a hole in the boat instead of in him. He fired another bolt at the serpent, this one finding purchase in his neck. The serpent hissed and flinched and fired another rock at him. Adam ducked out of the way, rock flying harmlessly over the boat and back into the ocean. Adam fired again, this one going deep into the dragon's shoulder. Galvek roared and launched another rock, and another, and another, creating an inescapable prison around the man. Adam didn't realize until it was too late, until he had nowhere else to run. Galvek grinned as he launched a rock at the man and finally hit his mark. It smacked Adam in the head and threw him backwards, crossbow skittering across the floor away from him.

"Adam!" Rallis screamed as she tripped over to him only to be stopped by a swipe of Galvek's tail sending her sideways.

"Both of you have caused me enough trouble today," Galvek sneered before smiling wickedly. "But now I win. You can watch your friend die before I kill you!" He turned his gaze to Adam bleeding and dazed on the ground.

'No! Leave him alone!' Rallis tried to scream, but she couldn't. She was just so tired. Galvek slithered closer. 'Stop! STOP!' She dragged herself closer and stopped when she felt her hand touch something that wasn't the ship deck. She looked under her to find Adam's crossbow, diamond bolt nocked and ready to go. She swiftly picked it up and stood, legs threatening to give way. Having his crossbow was the stroke of luck that could save their lives right now! But she didn't know how to use the thing! She was a terrible shot! She had used one maybe a couple times in Armadyl's Eyrie but that was just to get around!

'No, there was one other time,' she remembered. 'Adam showed both of us how to use one in the woods that day! I never hit the target though...'

Galvek slunk closer to Adam, still dazed on the ground. The serpent opened his mouth wide to burn the man to ash.

'It doesn't matter how it turned out then, I have to do this now!' Rallis tried to remember everything from that day in the woods when Adam had shown her and Peg how to fire a crossbow. She stood how she thought she was supposed to, readied the bow and pulled back the bolt, and aimed, this time away from her snout so it wouldn't bounce back and hit her. She steadied herself and put her finger on the trigger.

"HEY, GALVEK!"

Both the serpent and dragonkin turned to her with a glare, the latter's visage of fury quickly changing to one of horror. The diamond tipped bolt glowed blue with magic, as did Rallis' whole body. With a screech she let the bolt fly, a tail of blue light trailing behind. The bolt ripped right through Galvek's chest with an explosion of light and magic, shattering the gem in his chest alongside his heart.

"NOOO!!!" Zorgoth screamed as his greatest creation howled and flailed. His roars were earth shattering, deafening anyone near. His tail thrashed against the deck of the boat, slamming holes wherever he struck. He clawed at his chest, as if trying to pull the pain out and stop the bleeding. His movements soon began to slow, his roaring and thrashing diminishing to crying whimpers and twitching. With a final strangled cry, the mighty serpent's head fell to the floor with a thud, the beast finally dead.

Zorgoth howled in anger as he saw his most prized possession fall, the beast he had spent centuries creating, gone. His legs gave out from under him as he felt all his energy leave him. He tried to choke back the pain as he fell to his hands and knees, the pain of loss and crossbow bolt settling in his chest.

Rallis walked over and stood menacingly over the defeated dragonkin, giant beast hunched on the ground at her mercy. He could hardly move, breath labored and limbs heavy. It took every last bit of energy he had to look at Rallis and speak.

"So... you won," Zorgoth rasped. "Such... a shame..." He glanced at his fallen creation and almost seemed as if he were about to cry.

"You could have lived," Rallis said with a scowl. "Both of you. You could have continued with your work. You could have moved on with your life. You could have lived for every one of your kind that died. But instead..."

"I won't be talked down to... by a vorkath!" He wheezed and sunk lower to the ground.

Rallis went nose to nose with him and snarled. "You will be talked down, broken down, and taken down by a vorkath. You can die knowing everything you consider weak, lesser, failures, destroyed your plans and killed you."

Zorgoth laughed a horrible gurgle of a laugh, ending in a strangled cough. "You tried telling us you weren't a monster, a killer. But look at you now!" Blood trailed out of his mouth as he continued to laugh. "You were made to be a killer! And you will never escape that!"

Rallis snarled at the comment, but held herself back for a moment longer. "You will tell me something else before you die," she growled to his face. "The blue dragons you made on Ungael, was I one of them?"

"Like I said before... I don't remember." He started to choke on blood. "But with that power, that bloodlust... I certainly hope you are!" He started to wheeze as he laughed. "You will destroy the world in my stead!"

Rallis had heard enough, and with a flick of her wrist set the dragonkin ablaze. His strangled screeching was quickly silenced as his body erupted in a blaze of fiery blue glory until only a charred skeleton remained. That was it. Everything was over now. It was really good and done. She turned around to find Adam still trying to right himself from the blow to the head Galvek gave him. Rallis ran over and sat him up, looking him over as people started to congregate near them and the dead dragon.

Rallis brushed the hair off her partner's forehead, matted and sticky with blood. It was starting to trickle into his eyes, one forced shut from swelling as well as blood. She tore off one of her mostly shredded gloves and wiped some of the blood away. Adam pushed her hand away. "I'm fine," he slurred tiredly. "Is just a rock! Jus a rock..." He started to fall forward. "My head hurts."

"I know, I'm sorry, just hang in there!" Rallis pressed the glove against his still bleeding forehead and tried to lift him up to get help, but she was just so tired she couldn't do it. She saw more blood seep through his top, the wound she gave him bleeding far more profusely now after the strain of the fight against Galvek.

Adam's other eye started to close. "Hey Rallis," he mumbled. "You did good. I knew... you could do it." And with that he passed out.

With how tired she was, Rallis could barely hold him up. The people nearby were simply taking the scene in and staying away from Rallis, worried she might still be thirsty for human blood. "Don't just stand there, help me!" she snapped at a group of gawking knights. "He's hurt really bad and needs help now!"

Warily, they made their way over, quickly taking the man with them. Rallis could only hope it was to a healer or place to rest and get fixed up. She could feel her own exhaustion start to set in now as well, the adrenaline wearing off. The glow of magic surrounding her disappeared and her strength with it. At once, the pain set in, all the wounds from the fight and a horrible feeling of sharp pain in her chest, like something was ripping her apart from the inside. Before she could even call for help, Rallis found herself hitting the floor, unconscious.

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

Soft. She was laying on something soft. It wasn't the hard burnt wood that made up the deck of the ship. It was something much softer, and maybe a bit scratchy. Opening her eyes was a struggle, she wanted to sleep. She groaned and glanced around. She was right, she wasn't on the ground outside, but rather on a crummy cot in a room with other people sound asleep.

Rallis blinked the sleep away and looked at her arm. It was wrapped in bandages, already beginning to stain red. Her leg was wrapped the same way. The bandages may have covered her wounds, but everything still hurt, especially her chest. Either something was broken or a demon was trying to rip her open from the inside. Or both. Groggily, she hopped off the cot and stumbled to the floor, legs not ready for adventure. She crawled over to the corner of the room and was happy to find her things resting against the wall. Her shield was protectively guarding her weapons and almost seemed to perk up upon seeing her awaken.

Rallis pet the shield's head. "Hey Fimbul," she whispered. The shield glowed happily.

She finally stood off the floor, wobbly from exhaustion and the rocking of the boat. With awkward footing, Rallis quietly left the room of sleeping people, leaving her shield to continue standing guard.

It was dark and quiet outside the room, the only sound being the creaking of the boat as it moved. Rallis snuck around, peeking into every room she found, but most were void of anything of interest. One room she peeked into had a familiar face though. Rallis' ears perked up as she saw a tall blonde woman in white robes, still perfectly clean even after the battle.

"Celeste!" Rallis smiled and sauntered over.

The dream mage lifted her head tiredly at her guest. "Oh, hello Rallis. Good to see you awake now." Her voice was as tired and strained as her demeanor. She looked like she needed sleep. "I wouldn't mind some of that actually," the woman yawned. Rallis' ears shot up and then drooped at her comment. "Sorry, force of habit. Your thoughts are always just so loud I can't help it."

"Why not sleep then? Seems like everyone else is."

"I was worried about some things," the oneiromancer said. "One of those things seems to have woken up however."

"You were worried about me?" Rallis asked.

Celeste nodded. "Something was off about you when you were carried in. It's hard to describe. One moment all seemed normal, but then the next it was like you were trying to cast magic in your sleep. I don't know how else to describe it. Unconsciously and magically volatile I suppose. It would seem everything is fine now though."

It was a bit of an odd story but weirder had happened today. "Anything else happen?" Rallis asked. "And are Adam and Brundt okay?"

"Some arguments and general bickering, but it's been mostly quiet. No celebration, no fights. Everyone is too exhausted and depressed and angry When the dragonkin fell, the other dragons flew home. No one else was harmed after that. As for those two, like a broken arm would ever stop Brundt." Rallis chuckled at that. He seemed like the kind of guy who could have both his arms and legs cut off and still threaten to bite you. "As for your friend, I believe I actually saw him up and about not too long ago. Though he did look rather tired. Maybe check the infirmary down that way. Just be careful." She pointed out the door and farther into the ship.

"Thanks Celeste," Rallis said as she left. "And get some sleep!"

As Rallis made her way to the makeshift infirmary, she could feel the air grow tense with hatred and pain. It made her scales itch, the vibe of the room making her shiver. People were complaining inside, angered whispers and the occasional shout echoing out to where she stood. Rallis stood outside the room by the entrance to listen in unseen.

"More of us would be coming home if it weren't for that scaled bitch!"

"I can't believe I considered her one of us..."

"She's the reason some of us are in here getting bandaged! Or worse, the reason some of us are dead!"

The whole room was abuzz with the talk of her being a traitor, a monster, a beast to be put down. It wouldn't matter how much she apologized, how horrible she felt, she had still sided with the enemy and killed people.

Rallis peeked her head into the makeshift infirmary, glancing at all the wounded soldiers. Some were unconscious, horribly burnt by dragonfire, while others were sporting gashes, bites, and broken bones of various kinds. There were only a few people helping out and they looked just as overworked and exhausted as those who were wounded. They looked like they needed assistance.

"Excuse me," Rallis squeaked out quietly from her hiding spot at the entrance. "Do you need some help?"

All eyes turned to her and soon the derision started.

"Don't you dare let that thing in here!" one man panicked, trying to scramble away but unsuccessful with his broken leg. Others muttered in agreement and added slurs on top.

"Get the hell out of here, you damn devil!" one man shouted as he threw one of his boots at her. Rallis flinched back as it bounced harmlessly off the nearby wall. Her ears drooped as she gave the man a shameful glance. "You better be gone once we land in Relleka, 'Denkir'," the man continued. "You aren't one of us anymore, traitor."

"I just want to help!" she tried, but no one would hear it.

"Great help you did!" one man shouted. "My mate can't even walk because of you! You melted his god damn leg off!"

"You killed my best friend!" another man called from his bed. "Tore him open with your filthy magic! I can still feel the ice..." He shivered and grabbed his arm. It was frozen and blackened in some places, like he had frostbite.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone!" she cried. "And I don't want to now! I just want to help!"

"You want to help so badly?" a one eyed Fremennik next to her growled. "Jump into the ocean and stay there. Rot at the bottom of the sea with your beloved dragon friends."

A chorus of "ayes" cheered to that. More slurs were thrown her way, the unofficial medics too tired to care to stop them. Rallis bowed her head and shuffled away, breaking into a run and sniffling once she was out of earshot. She ran above deck, people moving out of her path with a fearful gasp as if she was out to get them next. She soon found some crates and barrels crowding a nook of the boat and hid behind them. Now no one would find her unless they were really looking, and she doubted anyone would want to find her unless it was to throw her overboard.

No one else was up here, she could hear it. No footsteps, no whispers, no spreading rumors, just the ocean and her sniffling. Rallis curled into a ball and started to tear up and whine, thinking about how horribly she screwed up. She'd killed people, good people, that had no reason to die. She attacked the person that welcomed her into what was really her home away from home. She had even stabbed her closest friend and was happy she had! She'd let that monster get in her head and play with her like a toy. Her claws dug into her arms just thinking about it. She should've been stronger! She was better than that, she wasn't a mindless puppet to be commanded by someone else. Why did she listen to them? Why did she fall prey to their words? Why did she give them even a single thread of doubt to grab onto and manipulate?

Her sniffles and quiet whines turned into full blown sobbing, frustration and guilt beating her desire to sulk in peace. Her crying and racing thoughts blocked out the footsteps growing closer. She hadn't noticed someone was near until they crouched in front of her. She lifted her head from her arms just enough to see who it was before hiding again. "Ahhhnnnhmm..." she tried, but what was supposed to be her visitor's name really just came out as a strangled whine. She had just been thinking about her friend, about how horrible she felt for attacking him, and yet here he was sat down in front of her looking for a way to comfort her.

"That's certainly a unique way of saying my name!" Adam laughed, hoping she'd laugh too. She didn't. He sighed and gently pat her on the head as she continued to cry. "Hey, it's alright. You don't need to cry anymore. It's over now."

She shook her head and whined. "No it's not," she mumbled. "Everyone hates me now. I messed up and now everyone wants me dead!" She started to hiccup now from all the sobbing, shuddering and shaking as she went on.

Adam scooted a bit closer and rubbed her unhurt arm. "That's not true," he told her. "Some people might be mad right now but not everyone hates you, and certainly not everyone wants you dead. That's ridiculous! I certainly don't hate you."

She poked her head out a bit, watching her companion flash her a small smile. He had a bandage around his head, she noticed, matching the one covering his side. Galvek must have hit him in the head a bit harder than she thought.

"If I was better, you wouldn't be hurt," she said, motioning to the wound in his side.

Adam shrugged. "It happens. No need to beat yourself up over it. Just need to learn and move on."

He was being awfully nonchalant about all this and it was throwing Rallis for a loop. "Why aren't you mad? Why are you still being nice to me?"

"Why would I be mad?" he questioned. "You saved the day! You took down Galvek! Should I be mad because you lost your way before that? Should I point my sword at you in fear you'll kill me next? Tell me, do you want to kill the people on this ship?"

"What, no!" she exclaimed. What a ludicrous idea! "I never wanted to hurt anyone!"

"There you go!" he proclaimed. "That's why I'm not mad, because you didn't want to do it. You aren't bad and you never were. You fought back when they controlled you, you fought back to save people. You may have slipped into their grasp for a moment but you didn't let it stay that way." She sniffled and rubbed the tears out of her eyes, sitting up a bit more. "You're who you always have been and nothing today changed that. I know you did your best and that you'll continue to do so. I know you're good." He had to believe that for himself just as much as for her, otherwise who was to say he was still a good person after the incident with Iban.

Rallis fell onto her friend then, grabbing him in a hug and pressing her face into his chest. Adam sat there awkwardly for a moment, slowly and stiffly returning the gesture. He quickly relaxed however, letting her lean into him and calm down. Soon she was no longer sniffling or crying, just quietly leaning up against him.

"Thanks," she whispered. "For everything."

"Nah, I didn't do anything," he replied. "Honestly, I should be thanking you." She tilted her head, confused. "Well first for saving the day, but also for fighting back. I was scared you know, when they took you over. I didn't know what would happen. But I hoped you would break free, I hoped you would snap out of it. I needed to know you could. And you did. It might be odd to say but I needed that, to see that, to know people can come back."

She didn't know what to do with that, but her friend was happier because of it and that was all that mattered. With that, she squirmed into a more comfortable position for the both of them, opting to sit half next to him half on him as they both leaned against one of the large crates. "You should go to bed, you know," he told her. "It's been a long day and a lot happened."

Rallis vehemently shook her head. "I've been sleeping this whole time and I don't want to go down there with everyone. They'll yell at me and be mean and..." She fidgeted and looked down in her lap. "And I don't want to be left alone..." She felt dumb saying that but she really didn't want to be left alone in a room where everyone wanted to hate her.

"I can always go down there with you," he told her, but she didn't seem too thrilled about the idea. "Or we can stay up here until you're ready."

"That would be nice," she said. Adam let himself sink against the crate and get comfortable and Rallis let her head fall against his shoulder. He wrapped and arm around her waist and she smiled, tail coiling around him as well. She felt a lot better now, knowing that her friend wasn't mad and was willing to stay with her until she felt better. 'Thank you for not hating me.'

Time passed. Rallis watched the stars flicker in the night sky, admiring their beauty, and listened to the waves rock the boat. It was making her rather sleepy, and she thought maybe it was time to go to bed even if she had to face more derision. She pawed her friend's leg. "Adam?"

He didn't respond. She looked up at him to find him fast asleep, soft snoring starting up. Rallis smiled to herself and lay her head back where it was before, eyes slowly drooping shut. 'Guess it's time for everyone to sleep...'

And sleep she did.

Someone was patrolling the deck late into the night, unable to sleep presumably. All was silent except for their quiet footsteps drowned out by the waves. They walked the perimeter, looking for nothing in particular, and stopped at a pile of crates and barrels. There were two people fast asleep, partially hidden behind some of the boxes. The person thought about waking them and having them move down below, but ultimately decided against it. They disappeared below deck, reappearing with a thick warm blanket. They draped it over the two and walked away, wandering about elsewhere. Rallis cracked an eye open to see the person walk away and smiled, snuggling under the blanket. "Thanks, Koschei," she muttered before falling back asleep.

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

The ships pulled into port the following day, battle scarred and ready to break, much like the people on board. Groups of impatient worried people huddled around the Relleka docks, watching and waiting for a person of interest to depart and eagerly watching the ships take turns offloading people. Once such person was a girl cloaked in all black. She bounced on her feet impatiently as people shuffled off the ships. She watched like a hawk, hoping to spot a familiar flash of green and blue. The state the disembarking people were in made her increasingly nervous. So many people were bandaged and bloody, staggering out with empty stares. Others had to be all but carried out, unable to walk on their own.

'Well there's no way Adam or Rallis would get hurt like that!' she told herself. 'They actually know what they're doing!' The longer she stood there waiting however, the more worried she grew.

A splash of green made its way off the ship and onto land and the girl couldn't stop herself from running forward. She sprinted over as fast as she could and threw her arms out. "Kananga!"

Adam turned to the sound of his name and was met with someone slamming into him with a thud. The man winced and gasped in pain, not prepared for the sudden pressure on his wound. He looked down to find a familiar black clothed girl hugging him tightly. He smiled and ruffled her hair. "Hey Peg."

The girl pulled away and looked up at him, nearly in tears. "I was worried, you know! People were saying you all burned at sea and that the dragons won!"

"Don't listen to rumors, Peg. They lead to nothing but trouble. We're okay as you can see."

"Okay is putting it nicely," another voice muttered.

Rallis was standing next to them now, looking around nervously. Peg grabbed onto Rallis in a hug at the sight of her which Rallis returned with a purr. "I'm glad you guys are back."

"How did you even know we were here?" Adam asked.

"What, are you kidding?" Peg said in shock. "There's rumors about you all the way back in Varrock! The brave warriors sent to fight dragons on the ocean. With some asking around I learned a certain green man and blue dragon were tagging along too."

"If tagging along meant leading the fight then sure, we tagged along," Adam scoffed.

"It's nice to see you here in any case," Rallis said as she broke the hug. The movement made her hiss, having moved her arm the wrong way. Now that the greetings were over, Peg got a good look at them. Adam had bandages wrapped around his head and his shirt was soaked with blood, while Rallis' right arm was wrapped and stained, as was her left leg. They both looked beyond exhausted, like they were ready to fall over at any moment.

"Jeez, what happened to you guys? You look like shit."

"Feel it too," Adam groaned. "We'll tell you later. We've got some stuff to do first." He gave the kid one last ruffle of her hair and shuffled down to a group of people.

Peg frowned in disappointment. "We'll tell you later, I promise," Rallis told her with a tired smile before joining Adam. She was limping, Peg noticed, trying not to put pressure on her bandaged leg.

The rumors of the warriors at sea sent to fight the dragons came floating back into Peg's head, how they were either all dead or horribly wounded. From what she had seen of everyone disembarking and now her two friends, she was starting to think maybe there was some truth to those rumors after all.

'Just what happened to you out there?'

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

The first order of business was to unload everything from the ships and keep one as a makeshift infirmary. Relleka was only so big and could only hold so many people, injured or otherwise. Those able to leave did so, getting out of the way and wanting nothing more than to go home after the messy affair this was. A few hours had passed since landing, worried people and gawkers alike slowly dissipating. Rallis helped unload supplies with Peg and Adam despite the pain and harsh looks from everyone else. They both had to sit down soon however, still in a bit too much pain. Peg fretted but didn't try to show her worry. She wasn't soft after all! And neither were her friends!

After a bit of rest, Adam was called over by Brundt, arm now in a sling and bags under his eye from lack of sleep. Rallis didn't even bother to ask what was going on, far too tired to care. Peg sat with her and asked about their adventure, though it seemed the dragon didn't want to talk about it much. She'd never seen them this broken before, physically or emotionally. It was jarring to say the least, and downright painful to watch. Peg decided to keep her company another way and talked about what happened while they were gone, all the while facing sneers and scowls from soldier after soldier.

Adam walked with Brundt into the Longhall. "You look better," he told the Chieftain. "The arm alright?"

"Yeah, yeah it's fine. It'll heal soon enough. You look like crap though."

Adam couldn't help but smile. "Feel it too."

Brundt nodded with a groan as he sat at the head of a large table inside the hall. "I never got to thank you for your help. You saved my life out there and I won't forget that."

Adam nodded. He didn't have anything else to say on that. He was just doing what anyone else would. More people slowly started to trickle into the hall, twelve more in total. They took their seats at the table. "What's going on?" Adam asked the man.

"A meeting," he grumbled. "To decide what's next. Considering the circumstances, I feel you should be here."

Circumstances. Right. He had almost forgotten. He faced down one threat only to be thrown into the path of another. Everything Rallis had done was on his head and soon he would have to pay for it. "And you don't want Rallis here?"

Brundt shook his head. "No. That would not be wise."

The council was quickly seated and accounted for. Even with hours of rest between landing and the meeting, those present who were in the battle were haggard and exhausted and a great deal angry. The other council members were already hearing tales and growing furious with them. The Chieftain quieted his council, ready to discuss, while Adam stepped back to stand against the wall. As long as he remained silent he could stay, and he would need to listen well to build a case for himself and Rallis back in Varrock. Some eyed him warily, already disliking the notion of an outlander listening in, but this time that feeling was tenfold with his association to Rallis.

Some started to murmur complaints about his presence, to which Brundt hushed them immediately. "He has my permission to stay and you will ignore him during the meeting. He will not speak, just listen. Am I understood?" The council gave halfhearted "ayes" while Adam simply nodded. "Well if there are no more complaints, we will begin." No one objected.

There was a lot of 'what now' discussion, mostly sorting out their own losses of ships, warriors, supplies, etc. There was also talk of dealing with the remaining islands and whatever they might hold, but the notion was abandoned quickly. The islands were all  beyond the vast stretches of the Wilderness and there wasn't even confirmation of anything there as dangerous as Zorgoth and Galvek. There was no point in wasting what little manpower and resources they had left to go galavanting across the sea like that.

"There is the matter of the island closer to home," someone called out. "The dragon still rests on Ungael and could attack!"

Some muttered in agreement. It was a good point. Brundt, however, shook his head. "No, I will not lose any more men to a dragon today. We fought near Ungael. If the beast wished to fight us, it would have, but as it stood it did not attack. It has been trapped on that cursed island for centuries and will continue to be so. If it could leave it would have. It is no threat unless approached, so we will not approach."

Sound logic. Despite their desire to kill anything related to the monster that attacked them on the ocean, they agreed to leave it be. One council member was not pleased about this however, voicing his anger on a similar matter. "Maybe that dragon isn't the one we should be looking at then," a surly man piped up. He looked violent and sounded just as harsh. "There's another dragon equally as menacing, isn't there?"

A few nods and murmurs of agreement followed the statement. Adam tensed by the wall. He didn't like where this was going. "Aye! That blue bitch sent dragons on us! Killed my friends! Melted right in front of me!" More angry shouts followed, hushed by a one handed slam on the table and an even louder shout.

"Enough!" Brundt barked. "I understand your concerns. I was there too. I faced her as well as you've noticed. So instead of fighting about it, how about stating what exactly it is you want done."

"Kill the bitch!" the surly man shouted.

"Absolutely not!" another man shouted back, slamming his hands on the table. He was one of the only people Adam recognized in the room, Rallis' bard 'friend.' "She does not deserve death for what she did, Sortur! Hold your tongue!"

"Peace, Olaf," Brundt calmed him. "Death will not be a choice," he informed Sortur. "There has been enough of that lately."

"Then banish her," Sortur snapped. "She attacked us! She is not one of us. She has no right to ever set foot here again after what she did!"

"Everyone makes mistakes," Olaf told him. "You should know plenty about that!" The man did not like what the bard was insinuating. "Just because she made a mistake doesn't mean she shouldn't be forgiven. From what I've heard if it weren't for her, the enemy leader might not be dead. That surely counts for something!"

"Oh and what would you know, you useless bard? You weren't there, you didn't see what we saw, experience what we experienced. We went about slaying dragons but you go about laying them! You have no right to speak here!"

Brundt slammed his good hand on the table with an angry shout, silencing all. "That is enough! I will hear no more idiotic bickering! We will come to a solution to this now."

He turned to the bard with a much less harsher tone. "Olaf, I know she means a great deal to you, more to you than anyone else here. But you must understand that she went against her word, her friends, her family, and betrayed us all. You must understand that she sided with the enemy and fought to kill us."

Brundt turned away before Olaf could retort. "And you, Sortur, understand that without her a lot less of us would have made it home today. She landed the finishing blow on their leader, not us."

"Then whose side is she truly on, Chieftain?" Sortur replied. "Because by that sling around your arm, I'd say not ours."

"And by the fact that I'm still alive, I'd say ours." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I thank you all for your input and I have come to a decision. Rallis will be allowed to stay and any "treason" forgiven. She was a victim of circumstance, that's all." He turned to Adam hanging by the wall. "And she will also have amnesty here should your leaders find reason to want her punished unjustly."

"I'll be making sure they don't. But thank you." It put him at ease a bit, but at this point he was just as worried for himself when he would eventually have to report back to Roald.

Brundt addressed the council once more. "Is that all?" No one said anything more, but the room was filled with a tension and everyone felt ready to snap. "If that is all, we will dismiss."

The group sourly disbanded, more grumbles and complaints than anything. Brundt walked over to Adam by the wall and said something a bit more quietly. "That offer for protection extends to you as well," he said. "In case your idiotic King can't think straight with that crown on so tightly."

"That could cause a conflict of interest, you know," Adam warned. "I don't want to cause even more trouble."

"Bah! Like I care! If your ruler is too stupid to tell the difference between a traitor and a hero, I may just have to have a word with him! Either way, you will both have my support should anything else go awry."

Adam thanked the man. He might just need that guarantee. Brundt stomped off with a groan. Before Adam could follow suit, he was cornered by the surly councilman. "You and your scaled beast better leave soon, outlander. Your kind isn't welcome here and neither is hers, no matter what the Chieftain says."

"I'll keep that in mind," Adam replied. He was about to ignore the man and leave when Sortur stepped in front of him.

"I hope you do. She nearly murdered half the people here because of you. She should have never come but you just had to bring her along."

That stung a bit, it was his mistake after all. But Adam wasn't about to give the man any sort of satisfaction. "In case you haven't noticed, I was also nearly murdered by her. She tried to run me through, freeze my face off, and skewer me with ice. And yet I can still forgive and trust her. Why can't you, I wonder?"

Sortur growled and threatened to beat him, but an angry voice stopped him. "Leave, Sortur! Now!"

The man turned around to find Olaf glaring at him, furious. He threw up his hands mockingly. "Oh no, I've angered the bard! I better leave before he makes my ears bleed with a song!" He growled at the bard. "You're a lost cause, dragon fucker. You have no right to be on this council." With that, he stomped off.

"Sorry about that," Olaf said to Adam. "He can lose him temper quickly."

"It's fine. And thank you for sticking up for her like that. I'm glad to know she has someone here that will still stand by her even after all this."

"I would," he said. "And always will. Even if no one else does."

The two parted ways and Adam went out to find Peg chatting with Rallis, the latter seeming to be too scared to answer whatever Peg was asking. He stopped before reaching them, however, intrigued by a conversation he overheard. Hidden partially out of view, three men were discussing something. A knight of Varrock, Ardougne, and Falador were looking over a map a Fremennik man handed them before running off. He couldn't hear much, but what he did hear wasn't good. He rushed over to Rallis and Peg.

"Rallis!" Adam grabbed her attention. "I need to talk to you." She started to walk over, Peg following at her heels. "Sorry Peg, but just Rallis." The girl pouted but after convincing left them alone. Adam didn't want her to hear should she accidentally tell someone the information he was about to share with Rallis. "They're planning to kill the dragon on Ungael," he told her when he was sure no one else could hear.

"WHAT?!" she roared. "They can't! He's not evil, I swear! The Fremennik have no reason to fight him!"

"No, it wasn't the Fremennik," Adam informed her. "Knights from the other kingdoms were looking into the route back to Ungael. I overheard them talking about gearing up and sending a team to the island to kill the beast for good."

"They can't do that!" Rallis wailed. "I need to stop them!"

"They're likely going to bring that news back to the cities. There's no way you can stop three kingdoms worth of armies, Rallis. Not by yourself."

"Not here," she told him. "On Ungael. I'll chase them away before they can do anything. Three kingdoms worth of armies can't fit on that island at once. I can stop them. That means I need to go, now!"

"Rallis, no! You just got back! You can't seriously be thinking of going back already, especially as you are. You're wounded! It's not a short trip and there's so much that could go wrong!"

She stamped her foot, adamant. "I need to go now. I can get ahead of everyone else and prepare if I leave now. I have to go, Adam. I will protect him. I've failed enough people as it is, I don't want to fail him too."

The man sighed. There was no deterring her. "Fine. But don't rush off just yet! If they really are going to tell others about the dragon, there will be people coming for weeks. You need to prepare."

Rallis nodded. "I will. You go to the Myths' Guild without me. I need to get ready."

"Alright," Adam nodded. "Please be safe out there."

"I will. You be safe going back to the Guild too. And with everything else." With that, Rallis ran off to prepare, leaving Adam in the dust. He hoped this wasn't going to be the last time they saw each other. They were both headed into the lion's den, or dragon's den as it were, with a chance of not coming out alive. Adam shook the thought out of his head. After all this, the gallows and some overzealous dragon killers would the last thing to kill them. He caught back up with Peg and led her out the town. He had a long journey back to the guild, he ought to get started.

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

Peg had walked alongside her friend mostly in silence until they reached the bridge to cross the river out of Fremennik territory. She looked around for something but didn't find it. "Rallis isn't going to join us?" she finally spoke up.

Adam hesitated. "No... no she's got some stuff to do first. I'm going on ahead."

He sounded off to Peg, way off. "You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

She didn't believe that for a second. "Well you sound like shit. Sad mopey shit."

"Well day after day of going on wild goose chases, fighting in a war, and playing politics will do that!" he snapped. She flinched back from his outburst. "I'm sorry," he said. "It all just took a lot out of me, out of both of us."

Peg tried to lighten the mood a bit. "So I heard! Can't believe big ol' Kananga passed out from a little scrape in his side!" She jokingly backhanded him in the stomach and the man keeled over with a sharp gasp. He grabbed at his side as he fell to his knees and tried to breathe through the pain. Peg covered her mouth as she held back a look of horror. "Oh my god I'm so sorry! I thought you were kidding or it wasn't that bad."

"I damn near fell over... when you hugged me," he winced between breaths. "What made you think it wasn't that bad?!"

Peg looked ashamed. "I'm sorry... it's just... you don't get hurt. Not like that anyway. I thought you were joking around again."

Adam regained enough composure to stand back up, Peg helping him. The man sighed before rolling up his shirt to reveal a bloody layer of bandages. "Well this time I did." He covered the wound back up and continued to walk, much slower than before and with a wince in every step.

"How... did it happen?" Peg whispered. "A dragon claw you or something?"

He sighed and looked at the ground. "In a sense..." He didn't want to tell the story, not to anyone. But considering it was Peg he felt she had the right to know everything that happened, even the things he certainly wouldn't be putting in his report. "Rallis did it."

Peg slowly started to laugh, nervous and unbelieving. "Rallis? Our Rallis? Yeah right! She would never hurt you, don't mess with me like that."

"I'm serious Peg!" he snapped, startling the girl. "Sorry. But it's true. She stabbed me after breaking Brundt's arm and killing a group of our soldiers." Peg shook her head, horrified, wanting to believe it wasn't true. "Let me tell you everything, from the top."

As the two walked, Adam talked. Peg stayed quiet, listening intently. Normally she butted in his stories with jokes or questions or only half listened, but for this she was all ears. He told her everything, she didn't deserve to have any of this be secret. When he was done, all was quiet. They walked in silence for a while before Peg broke it.

"When is Rallis coming back?"

"I don't know Peg. She's got a lot to think about right now."

"Are... are you going to be okay?"

The kid was genuinely worried. First the hugging and now fretting over him? It was weird seeing her openly show she cared, but it was also nice. They both knew she did but liked to hide the way she felt. "Yeah I'll be fine," he smiled and ruffled her hair.

She quietly brushed it back in place with her hand. "...Is Rallis going to be okay?"

Adam bit his tongue. "Yeah," he lied. "Yeah she'll be fine too. Don't worry."

Peg sullenly nodded and said no more. Adam wanted to believe that himself but part of him didn't think it was true. The adventure was hard on everyone involved, even himself. But Rallis? She saw friends on both sides die, even killed some herself. She'd been possessed, manipulated, and seen some truly horrible things. He didn't ask but he saw her reading some old notes after coming back from Ungael with a piece of the key, and she had acted oddly ever since. Something scared her and the lab on Lithkren seemed to just make things worse. And now damn near every human involved in this whole escapade hated her, and rumors would surely be spreading soon. She was in for an unpleasant surprise when she came back, though he didn't imagine she was having a great time now, preparing to scare away everyone from Ungael. She had the roughest go of things and it wasn't going to get any easier.

'Everything will be fine,' he told himself. 'It has to be. It has to...'

They made their way to the Myths' Guild eventually, some of the rumors preceding them. Adam quickly put them to rest and informed Kincade of the situation. He thought the whole ordeal over. It was quite unique, that was for sure. But he treated it the same as any other case in the end, write up the report and submit it and wait. Adam thanked him for his understanding and readied to leave when the bark of a dog stopped him. Peg smiled and bent down to pet it and noticed something in its mouth. She pulled out a thick slobber covered ball of moss with a grimace and dropped it to the floor, dog happily scooping it back up.

"Sorry, that's my dog," Kincade said as he called his dog back to his side. The dog was very happy with its moss ball. "She seems to like you." He pulled the moss ball out of the dog's mouth and smiled knowingly at Adam. "When you do see Rallis again, whenever that may be, tell her my dog very much loves her mossy gift and that she should come see the other types of plants we have too."

Adam couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. "'When,' huh? Not 'if?'"

"When. I know you'll both be back. It's just a matter of when." He waved them off and threw the ball for the dog to chase. "I suggest you get writing! You've quite a story to tell."

Adam walked off with Peg and couldn't help but find it all funny. He supposed the guildmaster was right. If they had survived the dragon apocalypse, there was no way he would be going down to some moronic politics when he got back to Varrock. And Rallis wouldn't fall to some dumb headstrong hunters either. Yeah, things no matter how bleak looking would turn out fine! They had faced worse now!

Peg noticed his small smile and overall change in demeanor. "You seem to be doing better now."

"Yeah well, nothing is quite so intimidating after you go toe to toe with a world ending monster. Whatever Roald threatens me with won't be something I can't refute. Really all that's left is writing up the--." Peg gave him an odd glance, wondering why he cut himself off. Adam stamped his foot down. "Really, Rallis?!" he shouted to the sky. "You left me to write up and file the letter of introduction and every other damned piece of paperwork, and now you shirk the final write up duties onto me too?! Oh I am having a word with that dragon when she gets back!"

Peg laughed under her hood. He just returned from his most dangerous excursion yet, sent himself into a panic he may never see his friend again, and dreaded the inevitable punishment from King Roald that could spell his death, and yet here he was complaining about writing up an essay. That was the Adam Peg knew, and it made her think things would be alright too. "Oh!" Adam remembered. "By the way! You'll never guess what I learned about Rallis!" Adam started to snicker and Peg was all ears. "When I was in Relleka, I found out something. Did you know she has a boyfriend?" Peg screamed as they continued the conversation and set off for Varrock to finish the job.

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

Rallis arrived on Ungael long before anyone else, giving her ample time to prepare. She could set up traps, learn the terrain, figure out every nook and cranny that would give her an advantage. Vorkath was awake and stomping about, angrily roaring and scratching at the icy walls of his prison. He heard footsteps crunch in the snow and whirled around to find the little blue dragon he had met earlier, only this time he was none too pleased.

The dragon roared and stomped, ready to kill her where she stood. Rallis held her hands up. "No! I'm not here to fight! Listen, I know a lot has gone on, a lot right off your shore even, but it's not over yet." He roared and snapped at her. "Please listen!" she shouted. "Humans are on their way here to kill you as we speak! I came to protect you."

The dragon snarled at the insult. Like it would need any help from such a small weak creature.

"You don't understand. KINGDOMS of people are coming if they can make it. They aren't satisfied with Zorgoth's head, they want yours too!"

That made him reel a bit. His master was dead?

The dragon sat in the snow, confused. Rallis walked as close as she dared and knelt in front of him. "A lot has happened, Vorki. If you'll listen, I have a lot to tell you." The dragon looked at her and whined, wanting an explanation. "Alright. I'll tell you everything, okay? We need to be alert for intruders too, but I'll tell you everything." She gripped her pouch where the notes from every laboratory were tucked away. "It all starts with your sister named Elvarg..."

[weallfalldownfornegan]

Bubbles - Negan Drabble - Negan x OC

Summary: PRE-APOCALYPSE - Rose thinks Negan needs to find a way to relax. Her favorite way to do so was always a nice, hot bubble bath.

Author’s Note: This was also for a writing challenge, which is basically why it would have nothing to do with a story plot and is just basically porn. I hate this one now. Hope you guys don’t. Lol.

Warnings: Language, some lil smut that includes DADDY KINK, boom. I know. It’s my favorite too.

Words: 2,537

Tag List: @negans-network

Any GIF usage is not my own. I use what Tumblr searches for the aesthetic. Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future drabbles! Negan x Rose full summary and Master List here.

“Rose,” Negan said when he entered the kitchen. It sounded like something between a genuine greeting and frustrated surprise.

“You didn’t see my car,” she observed, loading the last dish from the sink into the dishwasher.

Negan’s hand went to his forehead as he pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes. “Nope,” he sighed. “I didn’t.” When he looked back up, his expression was apologetic. He glanced around the kitchen. “You cleaned up.” Indeed, the empty beer bottles had been cleared from the tables and counters between the kitchen and the dining room. The dishes were done, and she had also vacuumed the carpets and taken out the garbage.

Rose nodded, leaning against the counter. “I meant to get to your bathroom and maybe the laundry before you got home.”

 “You don’t have to do that,” he said quickly. “Seriously.”

 “I know,” she tapped her fingers against the edge of the counter, smiling softly. “But this place would be disgusting if I didn’t. You guys thought about downsizing?”

 Negan came further into the kitchen. He took off his suit jacket and laid it onto one of the chairs at the breakfast bar. “Lucy’s not leaving this house,” he said, “and neither am I.”

 “Fair enough,” Rose replied. “I’m hungry. You?”

 “Fucking starving,” he said, loosening his tie before moving around the counter toward her. Negan pushed up against her until Rose was pinned between him and the counter. “What are you in the mood for?” He lowered his voice, and tilted his head down toward hers. His hands traveled up her hips until they were pushing up the edges of her tank top.

 Rose moved her hands up and down his arms. “Something cheap and greasy,” she practically whined at him, gently kissing his lips repeatedly in between her words. “Pizza?” she whispered.

 She felt the smirk grow on his lips before he pulled away. “High class gal, you are,” he teased.

 Rose scoffed and shoved him away, hitting his shoulders gently as he turned from her. “Go. Order. It,” she demanded as Negan chuckled his way over to the phone. “I don’t care what you put on it.”

 “Except not a single vegetable,” he said, picking up the cordless landline as Rose went to the fridge to look for any beer that might be left.

 “See? You know what to do,” she smiled over her shoulder.

 He called. They waited, and then ate, and then they talked. Rose talked, mostly. A lot of what she said made him laugh.

 “You look tired,” she observed of him after a few hours had passed. “And you’re quiet.”

 Negan gave her a look before he admitted, “Long fucking week. The stress of being an adult, Doll.”

 Rose rolled her eyes so hard it was almost painful whenever he brought up the subject of age. “I get it. You’re old.”

 “That’s not what I fucking said,” he retorted, his eyebrows raised, causing her to giggle.

 They were sitting on the sofa together, and Rose had her legs draped over his knees for the longest time while he ran his hands over them. She sat up after he spoke and moved to straddle his lap. He leaned back to let her lean into him until her face was inches from his. “I know,” she whispered, her eyes staring into his. “I think you just need to relax.”

 And she stole his beer bottle from him before Negan even realized it, and crawled from his lap and out of the living room before he could even jump up from the couch. “And me relaxing involves you taking my fucking beer?” he called up the stairs when he had heard her footsteps go up them.

 “It involves it, yes!” she called, and it came from his bedroom. Negan sighed and stalked up the stairs, clearly wondering what she was up to before he pushed the door open and looked to see her standing in the bathroom.

 “You did get to it,” he noticed. Grime from the faucet had been wiped away. She had cleaned the toilet and the shower, and he knew because he could still smell the scent of the cleaner. Even the counter had been cleared off, and the towels had been replaced. “Liar.”

 Rose was sitting on the counter smiling at him innocently, and she shrugged her shoulders. “Bathtubs are more fun to use when you know they’re clean.”

 Negan turned to look at the glorious architecture of the house’s master bathroom. The tub was a large square that started in the corner and protruded out into the middle of the room. It was complete with a rising floor that curved to the shape of the body and Jacuzzi jets on the sides. “Wouldn’t know—never used it. Built it for Lucy’s mom.”

 This made Rose momentarily lose her edge. She handed him back the half-full beer bottle. “Well, that sure kills the mood I was going for,” the color began to noticeably rise in her cheeks. She tried to ignore it.

 Taking a full swig of the beer and then putting it down on the counter, Negan smirked and drew away from Rose and crossed to the tub. She watched as he bent down and turned the faucet, monitoring the temperature of the water until he deemed it satisfactory. Then he pulled the drain shut so the tub started to fill before returning to where Rose sat on the counter. He pulled her by her waist until she was standing again. “I would love to see you use it,” he said in a low voice, playfully and apologetically. There was never a good time to bring up an ex.

 A smile formed gradually onto Rose’s face as the meaning behind his words struck her. She glanced between him and the filling tub several times before conceding to the idea. “I need just a couple more things first,” she whispered before pulling away from him. Rose left his room to go into Lucille’s bathroom, where she knew she had a ton of good bath products stashed. When she came back in, she noticed Negan had dimmed the lights. She didn’t even know the lights in his bathroom could be dimmed. Grinning mischievously to herself, she tossed a dose or two of bubble bath into the tub and a couple of what looked like mini, puffed-up hearts.

 Upon seeing Negan’s face, Rose laughed and shrugged. “No bath is complete without bubbles, and the hearts are dissolving oil beads that make your skin all soft and smooth.” She moved in front of him and draped her arms around his neck. She tilted her head to the side and batted her eyelashes at him, “Don’t you like the idea of me all oiled up and wet for you?”

 The double entendre struck Negan hard, just as she had hoped. He turned her around so that her back was to him and held her close to him, gripping her arms slightly behind her back with his lips against her ear. “You better fucking deliver if you’re gonna be making suggestions like that.”

 He planted a kiss on her neck, and Rose giggled. She pressed her backside into him, earning a mild groan and a smack to the side of her ass. Negan then pulled at the edges of her tank top, until it came over her head and was discarded on the floor. He turned her around again, and they kissed while he unhooked her bra. He kept his mouth on hers until Rose’s chest was heaving while she panted for lost breath, and then he pulled her hair back to force her to open up her neck to him. He kissed it, and sucked on it while undoing the button on her jeans. After the zipper was undone, he let go of her and let her back away slightly. “Get the rest.”

 Rose smiled at him, and backed away a bit more. Negan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter to watch her. Rose tucked her thumbs into the edge of her jeans, and she gently swayed her hips as she pushed them all the way down to the floor. Carefully stepping out of them, she kicked them to the side with her other clothes and was left in a pair of pink lace panties. “What a pretty ass you have,” Negan noted, his teeth gleaming at her as he grinned from ear to ear.

 The tub was almost full. Rose moved over to the edge of it and dipped her hand into it. It was hot, but not uncomfortably so. She pulled at the edge of her panties with her index finger, teasing him by playing with it for a bit until he was staring at her so intensely that she thought he might start foaming at the mouth. What would really drive him over the edge right now?

 Rose abandoned the panties, swiftly removing them and tossing them aside before she stepped into the water. It instantly gave her goosebumps at how quickly it warmed her legs, all the way up to her knees. The bubbles had formed into neat little mountains, and she knelt down in the center of the tub with her back to Negan. For a moment, she just looked over her shoulder at him as the tips of her long blonde hair fell into the water and then stuck delicately to her skin. “Thank you, Daddy,” she finally answered, before leaning forward so that her elbows rested on the edge of the tub. Her ass perked up out of the water as she stood partially back up. “Do you think my pussy’s pretty too?”

 She knew he could it peeking out between her thighs and waiting for him. Rose turned herself around, though, and hid herself underneath the water again, coming to the edge closest to Negan. She brought her hands up to her chest and began to play with her breasts, massaging them and her nipples until they were hard and she was wanting more.

 Meanwhile, Negan looked ready to drop to his knees at the sight in front of him. But he didn’t. He wouldn’t. Instead, he crossed over to the tub in a record number of strides and shut off the water. The sudden silence was striking, but Rose got over it quickly with Negan standing over her. He tilted her chin up with his fingers to have her look at him. “Daddy thinks your pussy is fucking gorgeous,” he replied, and Rose grinned. He let go of her chin and motioned his hand in a circle. “Turn around,” he ordered, and she did. Rose turned her head to see Negan kneel down onto the floor. He started undoing the cuffs of his sleeve and rolled it up to his elbow. He went to do the other one, but Rose intervened. She brought his hand over her shoulder so she could do it, and then rolled the fabric up. When she was done, she brought his hand to her chest, and let him touch her.

 Negan positioned himself so that he had one hand around her neck, and the other he dipped into the water toward her hip. Rose gave him control and let him tilt her head toward him so he could kiss her deeply. Her lips parted. So did his. “Spread your legs,” he spoke against her lips, and Rose adjusted in the water so her legs were open and her hips were tilted forward and up to give him easier access.

 Her legs twitched when his fingertips found her clit. He groaned in satisfaction while he played with her, gently rubbing and pinching it. The entire time, they kissed, but she had to pull away as a gasp for air mixed with a moan. Her body jerked, but Negan held her still, grasping her neck and jaw harder to keep her from looking away from him. She looked into his eyes and moaned for him.

 “Negan,” she breathed, bringing her hands up to grasp at his arms and the fabric of his sleeves, whatever she could reach. He kissed her jawline, and let her mewl and whine while he pushed his middle and ring fingers inside of her. He pushed them in and out, creating what friction he could in the water and then moving them to brush against her g-spot until her thighs were quivering.

 “You like that, princess? You like the way Daddy plays with you?”

 He went back to rubbing her clit, and Rose tried to answer him before his grip tightened slightly on her throat. The hints of a smirk pulled at her lips. They had never attempted this kind of kink before. Every sexual encounter had been fairly basic. She loved this.  “Yes,” she gasped. “Yes, Daddy!”

 “Fucking right, you do,” he growled while he pushed his fingers inside her again. Rose hips moved slightly with his rhythm. His voice sent a chill down her spine, even in the hot water. She had never had someone turn her on so much. He kissed her again, and Rose moaned into his lips and fidgeted underneath his grip. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She threw her head back against Negan’s shoulder when she had to catch her breath again, and just kept moaning while he worked her clit. “You’re going to fucking cum for me, baby, right? You’re going to cum for me.”

 “I’m going to,” Rose nodded her head and stared at the ceiling through hooded eyelids. “I’m going to cum,” she repeated, as if she were in a hypnotic trance.

 Negan gripped her jaw again and tore her away from the ceiling. Now she was looking into his eyes again. Soon her body was tilting forward, and she was clenching her fists against the fabric of his shirt and trying not to clench her legs closed due to the oversensitivity to him so relentlessly getting her off. Rose’s eyes squeezed shut, and her moans elevated in pitch while her pleasure peaked. Her body twitched as Negan rubbed her clit through her orgasm, until she was begging him to stop because she couldn’t take it anymore.

 “Good girl,” he said, giving her that delicious smirk of his. Rose turned as he brought his hands up out of the water and cupped his face in her hands while she kissed him deeply. He returned it before going to stand up straight. Rose’s breathing was still recovering. She noticed that when he stood up, his dick was so hard she could see it perfectly through his pants. “You were right, Baby, that was pretty fucking relaxing.”

 Biting her bottom lip to hide a grin, Rose brought her hand up to his groin. She gently brushed her hand against his erection. “So,” she started, “Daddy’s turn?”

 Negan uttered a low grumble of a chuckle. For a moment, she thought he might turn her down for the night, despite how much he clearly wanted to continue. But her eyes lit up with excitement as he reached for the buckle of his belt, and started to unclasp it. “Daddy’s turn.”

[softboywriting]

Treat You Better // Werewolf!Shawn

A/N: Someone mentioned wanting more werewolf shawn and somehow this happened. Enjoy! ♥

TW. This fic includes parts that include violence and fighting, blood.

The lights of the bowling alley are too bright for the headache you have pounding away at the back of your skull. It’s 5pm and you’ve just woken up about an hour ago to come to your friend Aly’s birthday party. The night before you’d stayed up until almost 6am with your boyfriend drinking and watching movies. You hadn’t wanted to stay up so late, and you definitely hadn’t wanted to drink that much. But it was Troy’s turn to pick the date night and you didn’t want to start a fight again so you just went along with it. Now you were regretting it though. The sound of your friends cheering and laughing as someone threw a gutterball was literally the most grating noise ever. You loved them all. You did. But did they have to be so goddamn loud?

Shawn sits down at the little table across from you and leans back in his chair, hands in his hoodie pocket. He was a weird one. He was always with you and your friends but never seemed actually that interested in anything the group was doing. He primarily only spoke with Geoff and when provoked to join in activities, got a little snippy. You’re pretty sure he dated Ashley for a month or two but it didn’t go anywhere. You’re not sure when or how he came to be ‘part of the gang’ but he was and no one seemed to mind that he just kind of lurked in the background. No one but you. You noticed him the first time Geoff brought Shawn along to the Harrendorf Pier during the Oktoberfest carnival they had down there every year. Shawn was hard to miss, being nearly as big and tall and Geoff. Much more attractive in your opinion but that was because Geoff was like a brother to you and you would have more attraction to a tree than you would to Geoff.

Your attraction to Shawn was undeniable. He was always sweet on you even when he looked downright annoyed with everyone. Shawn always kept his tone light and soft when he spoke with you. It was something you loved but never mentioned to anyone else. It was obvious he liked you too. But you had Troy...and you weren’t going to try and make a move on Shawn when you were in a relationship. Shawn obviously wasn’t going to do that either.

“They’re loud huh?” Shawn says quietly and you lift your head off the table to look at him.

“It’s a birthday party. They’re going to be loud,” you grumble and Shawn actually cracks a small smile.

“Can I ask why you aren’t drinking?” He looks to the half empty can of Pepsi sitting by your arm. “Seems odd you aren’t joining in the festivities.”

You groan and lay your head on your arms on the table once more. The thought of drinking made you wanna curl up and die. You’d rather take a shot of nyquil and go the fuck to sleep. “Bad night,” you say, opting not to go into too much detail about your ‘date night’ with Troy.

Shawn shifts in his chair and you glance up to see he’s gotten up and left. Typical Shawn. Start a conversation and then just wander off. You close your eyes and try to ignore the increasing laughter from your friends. Just as you find a moment of peace, something is set down on the table and you sit up to see what it was. At the end of the table is a bottle of water and two aspirin. You can see Shawn walking away from your table and over to Geoff.

Fast forward to three hours later and most of your friends are too drunk to be bowling anymore. They mention heading to a bar down the street for karaoke and shots. You say you’re going to head home. No one seems to notice you hadn’t been drinking and partying with them. For once you’re thankful not to have been included.

The minute you step out into the cool air outside the bowling alley, your phone rings. It’s Troy. He’s most likely just woken up and is wondering where you went. He was so needy when he was hung over. You press answer and bring the phone up to your ear. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Where’d you go?” he asks, no groans into the phone. Needy. Not what you wanna deal with. The aspirin helped but only enough for you to manage to get through the party. There wasn’t enough aspirin in the world for you to deal with Troy right now.

“Aly’s party? I told you about it yesterday.” You look back as someone comes out of the doors to the bowling alley. It’s Shawn.

“Can you come over? I need you,” Troy says and you just roll your eyes. No, he didn’t need you. He wanted his dick sucked and you weren’t in the mood. “Please, baby?”

“No,Troy,” you take a few steps down the stairs in front of the building and lower your voice so Shawn can’t hear you. “I’m not coming over. I need to go take a nap.”

“What? Are you still hung over? You’re such a lightweight.”

Your cheeks flare up in anger. How dare he call you a lightweight. You could hold your alcohol just as well as anyone, but when you were taking copious amounts of shots, you got a little fucked up. “I’m not a lightweight. I am just not used to being forced to take shots until six in the fucking morning, Troy.”

“I didn’t force you to do shit. You took those shots because you wanted to.”

Shawn comes down the steps and leans against the guard rail, eyeing you curiously as you start to pace out of frustration. “You know damn well if I didn’t drink with you, you’d get all pissed off and then date night would have been ruined.”

“Whatever, it was fun.”

“Yeah sure.”

“Are fucking coming over or what?” Troy asks and you cannot believe he actually thinks you’re going to possibly want to be in his presence right now.

You pinch the bridge of your nose and take a deep breath. “No. I am not coming over. I am going home and I’m going to bed. Good night.” Troy hangs up without so much as a goodbye and you pocket your phone, looking over at Shawn who was obviously listening in. “It’s rude to eavesdrop y’know,” you snip at him and he just shrugs.

“Can I tell you something, friend to friend?” Shawn asks, pushing away from the railing and walking over to you.

“Friend to friend?”

“Whatever, I’m telling you anyway. Your boyfriend sounds like a piece of shit.”

Your eyes widen and your jaw drops. Did he really just say that? “You’re hardly in a position to judge my boyfriend. Mind your business, Shawn.” You have no idea why you’re defending Troy. He was kind of shitty sometimes and he did have a crap attitude when he wasn’t getting his way.

Shawn stuffs his hands in his pocket and shrugs again. “I’m just saying you could do better.”

“Jesus fucking christ, good night Shawn,” you huff and start walking down the street to head home.

By the time you reach the street leading up to your house, you can’t shake the feeling that you’re being watched. You put your keys between your fingers and walk up the path to your front door. Turning, you see a very large dog sitting at the gate to your yard. It’s massive, has dark fur and nearly blends in with the darkened street. It has to be about the size of a malamute if not a hair bigger. It’s more wolf like than dog. You put your key in the front door and keep your eye on it.

Once inside, you lock the door and peek out the window. The dog-wolf has turned and is walking away down the street. Odd. You’d never seen it around before and you knew almost everyone’s dogs in the neighborhood, considering there weren’t very many. You flip on the porch light for Ashley when she gets home from partying with Aly and your friends.

You flip on the light to your bathroom and leans against the sink, looking at yourself in the mirror. You looked like death warmed over. No makeup. Hungover. Sleep deprived. How the hell did no one but Shawn notice you weren’t yourself. You turn the sink faucet on and wait for it to get warm as you run a hand through your hair. Shawn...his words were still stuck in your head. “You could do better.”

Could you though? Troy was your first boyfriend in four years. Like, actual steady boyfriend who went on dates with you and stuff. You wet a rag and start wiping down your face. Troy was difficult sometimes. Most of the time. He wasn’t a very good boyfriend and now you think about it, he really only liked to drink and have sex. The sex wasn’t even that good. Maybe it was time to end things with Troy. You couldn’t see it going anywhere and you definitely weren’t happy with him. You sigh and shut the water off, toweling your face dry as your phone chimes on the counter beside you.

Shawn M: you get home ok?

yes fine

Shawn M: is ashley home yet

no. still with aly

Shawn M: okay get some sleep

that’s the plan lol

thanks for the aspirin at the party btw

Shawn M: anytime

You put the phone down on your bedside table and get changed into your pajamas. You go through your normal bedtime routine of making your bed, getting water and double checking the doors are all locked. It’s when you’re standing in the kitchen filling your water bottle that you hear footsteps on the porch. The wood was old and cracked when anyone stepped on it so you figure it might just be a raccoon or something snooping around for some food. You cap your bottle and go to take a look outside and see if you needed to shoo away some critters. What you find though is the shape of a person moving past your front window. It’s too big to be Ashley and it’s too early for her to be back from the bar.

You creep back away from the front windows and hurry up the stairs to your bedroom. You grab your phone and call Troy. No answer. Of course not. You fumble with the phone, hands shaking in fear as there is a loud banging noise coming from the front door. You scroll through your contacts, knowing most of your friends wouldn’t be answering their phone right now. You click Shawn’s name and hold the phone up to your ear.

“Hello?” Shawn’s voice asks sleepily.

“Shawn, thank god. Sorry I’m calling you so late. I know this is weird and out of the blue and it’s totally not your problem at all but-” you flinch and let out a stifled scream, the front door sounds like it’s been kicked in. “but there’s someone in my house and-”

“Someone’s in your house?” Shawn asks, voice concerned. You can hear him shuffling around, probably getting out of bed. “Hang up and call the cops. I’ll be over in a minute.”

You hang up and dial the emergency number. A woman on the other end answers and asks for your emergency. “Someone is in my house. I-I don’t know who.”

“What is your location?”

“3314 Northpine Road,” you take a deep breath and sit behind the end of your dresser. “I-I have a friend coming over too. If the cops show up he’s uh...really tall....brown hair...um,” you rack your brain to describe Shawn but you can’t seem to think of anything else.

“Baby? Are you here?” Troy’s voice comes through your locked bedroom door. His voice is so slurred it makes your blood run cold.

“Ma’am? Is someone there?”

“Yes,” you whisper shakily, “it’s my boyfriend, Troy Hagen. I think he’s drunk.”

“I have a unit on the way to your location right now. Please stay on the phone with me.”

“Baby?!” Troy yells drunkenly, slamming his fist on the door and you squeak in fear. “Wake up!”

“Go away, Troy!” you shout.

“C’mon baby I just need- what the fuck? When did you get a dog?” Troy’s weight hits the door and you peek out from behind your dresser. You can see the shadow of his feet under the door. “Call off your fucking dog!”

“What dog?!!” you yell and he shakes your door handle viciously. You can hear loud growling from the other side of the door and Troy yelling at it to back off. Troy shoves his weight back against the door and it busts open, causing him to tumble into the room and land on his back. Through the door you can see the wolf-dog that was outside your gate earlier. It’s growling and snarling, stalking toward Troy. “Stop! Stop!” you drop your phone, accidentally hanging up on the emergency operator and hurry across the room to Troy.

The wolf-dog stops where it is in the doorway and you help Troy to his feet. “Stupid fuckin’ mutt, get out of here!” Troy yells and you flinch. It growls at him but backs off to go down the hall. “Who’s fucking dog is that?”

“I have no idea. I saw it outside earlier, I really don’t know who-”

Troy grabs your hair roughly and you let out a cry. “You think you need a fucking dog to protect you now huh? Am I not good enough?!”

“Troy! That doesn’t even make sense! You’re drunk, let go of me!” you shout as you push against his chest. He keeps hold of your hair and you punch him in the chest but he’s not letting go. “Stop! Let go!”

“Why wouldn’t you-”

A flash of dark brown fur crosses your vision and Troy’s hand slips from your hair as he is tackled to the floor by the wolf-dog. It’s got Troy’s arm in his mouth and Troy is screaming. You back up out into the hall, looking over to your right where a cop is making his way up the stairs, gun drawn.

Everything becomes a blur as the cop enters the room and the wolf-dog back off of Troy. Another cop comes to your side and asks if you’re alright. They ask if the dog is yours. Without hesitation you say yes. If you hadn’t, you don’t know what might happen to it. It was only trying to protect you. The cops escort Troy out and you can’t believe whats happened as you give a statement and the cops leave the house.

When you go back upstairs you find Shawn sitting on your bed in only a pair of your sweatpants that are very obviously too small. His face is bloody. You grab onto the door frame as you literally stumble back in surprise. “What the fuck is going on, Shawn? How are you in my house? Why are you bloody? Why are you-”

Shawn wipes his face with the back of his hand. “I’m a werewolf. Didn’t Geoff tell you?”

“You...I- you...” you look between him and the stairwell in the hall. “You’re the big ass dog?!”

“Wolf,” he corrects, standing up and walking past you and into the bathroom across from your bedroom. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

You follow him into the bathroom and watch as he nonchalantly wipes Troy’s blood off his face. “Shawn.”

“What?”

“You bit my boyfriend, you...you ripped open his fucking arm with your teeth!”

Shawn looks at you in the reflection of the mirror and says, “Is he really still your boyfriend?”

“That is hardly the pressing issue here!” You stalk up to him and snatch the washcloth from his hand and he turns to look at you, leaning against the sink oh so casually. “Why would you do that?! Why wouldn’t you just come in like...like this!” you gesture to his half naked body.

“You said someone was breaking into your house and I ran over and shifted outside. What’s more threatening, this,” he sweeps a hand down himself, “or a huge ass wolf?”

You laugh in disbelief. “Shawn you’re fucking huge. You’re what like 200lbs of muscle on a giant frame. No one is going to want to fight you like this.”

Shawn rolls his eyes and walks around you to go back into your room. You follow and he takes a seat on your bed. “Listen, I know it seems insane what I did, but I was just protecting my own. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m really protective of you in particular and-”

“Your own?” you ask, cutting him off.

“My pack? My family?”

“I’m not your f-”

Shawn stands up and you step back against your dresser, intimidated by his height all of a sudden. “You, Aly, Ashley, Brian, Geoff, Andrew...you’re all my pack. I know you’re not a werewolf like Geoff and I, so you don’t really understand. But there is a reason I’m always quiet, always watching everyone else have fun. I’m observing and keeping on my toes in the event something happens.”

“O-oh...I didn’t know. I always just thought you were kind of weird to be honest.”

Shawn chuckles softly. “Maybe I am but it keeps you all safe and honestly, I’ve wanted to do that to Troy since you first brought him around.”

You let out a little gasp. “Shawn!”

“He’s a piece of shit. You know it, I know it. Shit, tonight when you showed up hungover and miserable to the party, I knew something happened with him. You seemed down, upset, stressed.”

You cross your arms and look down. He wasn’t wrong. You had felt all those things when you arrived at the bowling alley. You look away from Shawn and swallow hard as you say, “When you said I deserve better, did you mean you?”

This seems to shock Shawn into a momentary silence. He steps closer to you, fully invading your personal space and looks down at you. “If I did?” he asks in a low voice.

“Would you treat me better?” you find yourself asking. Your brain was going a thousand miles a minute. Only hours ago Troy was still your boyfriend, your shitty shitty boyfriend. Now, standing in front of you was a half naked Shawn on the verge of spilling his guts to you. Shawn had never been mean to you, never snipped at you like he did the other from time to time. He had only been sweet to you in the times you spoke with him. Hell, he’d technically walked you home tonight even though he was in his wolf form. You’re not sure if you want to start a new relationship...but Shawn...something about Shawn felt warm and whole. You were feeling things you never dreamed of feeling with Troy. Standing here with Shawn felt like everything was going to be okay, like everything was right.

“I’d treat you like a princess,” he whispers and you let out a little chuckle. He chuckles too and bring his hand up to your face and tilts your chin up. “If I’m reading this wrong, tell me now.”

“You’re not.”

Shawn leans down and places a soft kiss against your lips. Suddenly it feels like electricity running through you, coursing through your veins and kickstarting your heart. Your cheeks flush and you find your hands instinctively going to his back. He pulls back to gauge your reaction. “Not exactly how I pictured our first kiss.”

“So you picture it a lot then?” you say as you tangle your fingers into his hair and pull him down for for a second kiss.

He steps back, hands now on your hips and he falls back on your bed, bring you with him. “I picture a lot of things with you.”  

[canaryatlaw]

alright. it’s 9 pm here. I’m obviously trying to get to bed early since I have to wake up at 5:30 am and go take the fucking bar exam. Predictably, I’m a ball of nerves right now. But I’ll be fine, I always am. I’m good at tests, it’s easy for me to recall information, and though essays always give me anxiety initially once I get there and start writing them I actually like them, and tomorrow is all essays. 10 of them total. 1 where they give you a whole packet including law in the jurisdiction and write your analysis totally from that, which will probably be the best one for me. Then there are 3 Illinois specific essays and 6 multistate essays. it’s a lot. but anyway, today. I did get up when my alarm went off at 10 because I didn’t want to sleep in too long and not be able to fall asleep tonight. I had decided I would skip showering this morning and shower tonight so I wouldn’t have to shower tomorrow morning, but upon waking up I found I really wanted to shower, so I did, and now it’s night and I really want to shower again lol but I won’t and I’ll do it after I get back tomorrow. So, woke up, showered, made oatmeal which only resulted in one kitchen disaster (I was trying to get the brown sugar to go into the pot a little at a time but then it shifted and all of my brown sugar was now liquified in my pot, so that was fun) and was looking on my computer for stuff when I saw an email from the health insurance company that does our prescriptions, upon which I remembered oh fuck, I need to call my doctors office like today and get this figured out. Basically, I was at the doctor like two weeks ago, and they gave me the prescriptions, which I mailed onto the health insurance company I referenced above, but they haven’t sent me the meds yet, and I’m running out of one of them, and I was set to run out Wednesday afternoon, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about that until like, Wednesday evening, so I needed to call my doctor’s office and ask them to call in an emergency supply for like two days, and like, I love my psychiatrist so much he’s great and I wouldn’t trade him for the world, but god I have his receptionist staff so much. Whenever I call for anything it turns into such a production, at least this time they didn’t tell me he can’t call in prescriptions to Illinois like he does every time I call, but they had me call the insurance company to find out when the meds would get to me so they could then give me enough of the meds, and the insurance company people said it’s set to come on Wednesday in the mail but like if that didn’t happen I would’ve been screwed so they called in like 2 days emergency supply of it but I don’t actually take it at the dosage he prescribes so I have more than 2 days worth lol but I don’t expect to need to use them, I’m just glad I’m covered. but yeah, I did other things around the house and started getting ready for a bit, then took an uber to target that was somehow like $2 because of some promotion they were running, and grabbed the prescription plus some candy because I needed candy to bring with me here. I have pretzels and potato chips, various candies, granola bars, and these microwave muffin things that has the dry mix in a little cup and you add water and microwave it and it’s like this awesome chocolate muffin, which are super good except you have to be really careful to get all of the mix wet or at the bottom it gets grainy and really gross but otherwise it’s good lol. I also have some of the Starbucks via refresher packs that I’m gonna add to a water bottle tonight and stick it in the fridge so it’ll be good to go in the morning because that’s my method of getting caffeine, which will obviously be much needed. I ubered back from target but it took forever to get to me which was obnoxious, but oh well. I continued getting ready and eventually didn’t have much else to do, so I just kinda hung out for a bit. The school bar people told us not to study today because we wouldn’t remember anything anyway, but like, I know that’s not true for me lol so I did a little. The hotel didn’t have check in till 4 so I was basically just killing time at this point. When we eventually got there I got yet another uber, but I put it on pool and nobody ended up joining so I only paid $10 for the same ride I would’ve had to pay $24 for (#winning). The hotel is kinda small, but it’s nice, the bigger hotel that’s actually at one of the test sites (not the one I got assigned to regardless) but all their rooms were booked because I had to book late since we didn’t know which bar I was taking for like, fucking ever. But yeah, I checked in, easy enough, came upstairs and settled in a bit, figured out how to get the wifi to work and turned on the tv then subsequently broke the tv and had to figure out how to make it work again. I ordered pizza from the same chain place I normally get it from except this was different and I didn’t really like it very much, idk what the difference was but it just wasn’t doing it for me, plus my tongue was being really obnoxiously sensitive so I really couldn’t eat anything other than like, the crust, so that was also irritating. But I sat here on my computer and looked over the mini-outline book (and by mini I mean some of them are like 70 pages). It’s funny to look over the secured transactions material, because at the end of the semester I already had the bar books and used them to study because they had a comprehensive summary of everything I needed to learn, I actually printed one and brought it with me to the test (which was open book, obviously) and it was very helpful and I somehow got an A- in that class that I had no idea what was going on in for a solid 5/6ths of the semester, and when I listened to that lecture yesterday I retained a good amount of it, so I was happy about that. But I went through the ancillary subject outlines that were generally more like 20 pages, so much more manageable, and made sure I had all my mnemonics down, including the one for the hearsay exceptions which is like, 20 letters long lol. I then did go over the Illinois distinction section for the main subjects, because if I get an essay on one of those in the Illinois part I obviously have to answer under Illinois law. I watched the office on comedy central while doing all of this because I couldn’t find the channel guide and the office is always a solid choice. It’s funny to see Ellie Kemper as Erin because she looks so little there as compared to how she is on Kimmy Schmidt now. but those were very entertaining. So I got to the end of the outlines, turned off the tv, took my pills so there would be a little time for the more sleep causing ones to kick in, then started writing this, and now here we are. I have a lot of mixed feelings about everything going on tomorrow. I know I’m smart, that’s never been in question, I’m just worried I didn’t spend enough time preparing and I feel ill-equipped, because it’s just so much information....like you could get a question on the lesson from one day of class, for all of your classes, for three years. it’s a massive amount of information. I’ve also been acutely aware of just how alone I am. My brother never moved out, so he was with my parents every step of the way through this, but I chose to stay out here and do it myself because that’s always been who I am, the independent one who can’t wait to get out into the world. And I’m here, but it gets lonely some times, especially being that I’m super-extroverted so not being around people for this whole studying period was not doing well for me (one of many reasons I was all to eager to get ice cream whenever Jess wanted to). Even now, it’s just me here. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a hotel room completely by myself before, except for that awful night when I got stranded overnight in Philadelphia and had to go to that awful creepy hotel where I didn’t sleep a wink, just stayed up reading, because I did not feel safe at all (and I was only 19) but obviously this is a very different situation. And I mean, I am more or less a proper adult now, I’m 26, which feels like ages older than 25, because now I’m in my late 20s, and I don’t know how I feel about all of that. I mean, these are all choices I made, and they’re not ones I regret, not at this point at least. It would’ve been nice to have someone here with me, but I made the decision to leave those people in New York and come out here and do it myself, and I am doing it. I want my legal career to be about the things I did, the prestige I brought to my name, not following in the shadows of my dad and brother, I want that name to be known for me and what I’ve done, what I will do. And I know I can do it. Got all the way through law school, this is just one more hurdle I gotta jump over before I can actually be a full blown lawyer. I don’t know if my parents are gonna come for the swearing in, it hasn’t come up yet, I mean it would be nice to have them there just because I would feel very, very lonely if I was all by myself surrounded by people who had their families there with them.....because they didn’t move halfway across the country from their families. Sigh, I know I’m rambling at this point. Just a lot on my mind. But tomorrow I’m going to wake up confident and ready to crush this test, because I know I can do it, I KNOW I can, and I will, and I’m going to be a total kickass lawyer who is instrumental in instituting reforms in the child welfare system that will increase adoptions, decrease foster kids getting bounced between homes, better prevent kids from being brought into foster care when it is preventable by providing parents with the right resources, better support to keep foster teens in high school and bridge them into college (the college rate for foster care kids is something dismal like 2%, not even exaggerating), decrease the number of children in residential facilities who do not really need to be there, increase the number of foster homes nationwide, provide resources for the teenage mothers in the system so they don’t end up having their child taken from them and continue perpetuating the cycle, and so many more, I could go on all day about all the things I’m going to change. And I’m going to do it. I know I can, so I will. 

Just you wait. 

Goodnight babes. If you want to send prayers/good vibes/whatever my way for tomorrow, it’d be much appreciated. Thank you. ❤️

[twenty-nothing]

OneHundredSeventyTwo

Middle name? Helene

Favorite color(s)? Pink, mint and dark grey

What college do you want to/or are attending? I got a degree from a community college about 2 hours away and going to be attending another community college closer to me for another degree shortly

What do you want to/are you majoring in? I have a degree in accounting and am going back for Surgical Technology

Democrat/republican/other? I’m not sure

Birthday month? July

Do you dress according to your mood? Yes and the weather lol

Tomboy/girlie girl Girlie Girl

Are you good at doing hair/make up? Yes, I went to cosmetology school

Do you wear glasses? Sometimes, I mostly wear contacts now

Can you drive? Yes

Are you shy? I’m shy and reserved when I first meet someone, but not anymore once I warm up to them

Are you always worried or stressed about something? Basically, I am always tightly wound

Tell me about your dream wedding. Simple, elegant, small, fall wedding

Do you like to sing? When I am by myself

Do you like to write poetry? I haven’t written poetry in several years. I liked doing it when I was younger

Can you swim? Yeah

Do you like the pool or the ocean? Both

Do you hate water in your face?

Eh kinda

Do you hold grudges? Yes

Are you/have you ever been in love? I have, yes

Do you/did you ever sleep with a teddy bear? If so who gave it to you? I’m sure I did, don’t really remember though.

Are you a very random person? I guess so?

What do you do when you’re nervous? I fidget and I’m generally restless and get sweaty

Do you love making new friends? It’s hard for me to make friends but yeah, I’m usually happy when I manage to get close to someone thanks to some divine miracle lmao

Do you like the twilight series? No

Favorite animal? Not sure

Do you have any pets? Yes, one

What would you name your daughter? Angela or Lily

^ your son? Paul

What length hair do you like in a guy & why? I like the short hair

Do you have friends who are shorter than you? Yeah I believe Lisa is shorter than I am

When you get mad do you cry? Sometimes

Would you ever consider modeling? No

What color eyes do you wish you had? I love my green eyes

Silver/gold jewelry? Silver

Do you always wear jewelry? Yes, when I go out I at least have my Japser necklace on

Are you afraid of needles? Eh, a little

How many kids do you want? One

Long/short nails? In the middle

Do you like wearing hats? Not at all. I got bullied over my ears in middle school and hats make them stick out more so I haven’t worn a hat on my own since middle school.

Do you love taking pics? Sure

Do you sunburn easily? Yes

Does mall Santa Clauses or Easter bunnies freak you out? Kinda

Do you prefer to call a person or wait for them to call you? Call me so I don’t feel like I am bugging them

Are you scared of crossing bridges? Not really

Do you have a short attention…oh squirrel…span? No

Do you hate sitting in silence but get irritated if someone talks too much? I’m fine with silence, unless it’s awkward. I only don’t like when people talk too much if I don’t like them lol

Has anyone ever called you baby or hun? Yeah

What’s your favorite kind of chocolate? Dark chocolate

Would you consider yourself clumsy? Not really

Do you hate using public restrooms? Not really, I just don’t think about it too much lol

Do you like when a guy picks you up in his arms? Yes

Ever bought ice cream from an ice cream truck? Hell yeah

Do you hate Chihuahuas? No

Has a teacher ever made you hate your favorite subject? No

Do you like hairless cats? Nooooooo

Did you ever cry at school?

Of course lol

Have you ever had a poem or story published? No

If you had/have a kid would you ever let them get a tattoo? Sure, if I thought they were old enough to get one

What’s your favorite thing to have for dinner? Pasta

Would you ever paint your walls red? Not red red but like a burgundy, yes

Have you ever licked a pole? No

Has your hand ever gotten slammed in a car door? Nope

Are you allergic to grass? Yes

Do you love guinea pigs? Not really lol

Do you prefer to write on chalkboards or white boards?   White board

What is the worst thing you ever did that got you grounded? I have no idea

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?   I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now

What would you do if your best girlfriend said she was lesbian? Support her

Have you ever been chased by a snake? No. Sounds terrifying

Where do you wanna work? I’m kind of lost right now so I am not sure.

Is there something you tell yourself you’re going to do but never do? Lose the weight

Has a teacher ever called you an idiot? I don’t think so

What awards have you won? I dont know

Do you get nervous eating in front of people? Yes

Would you consider yourself good at taking care of kids? Yeah I would

How old would a guy have to be before you wouldn’t date them? About 35 right now

Be honest, have you ever tried weed? Yes, makes me sick

Has anyone ever broken up with you with a note? Yes

Have you walked into a wall? Yeah

Do you have sensitive teeth? YES, it is annoying

Do you sleep with a fan on? Yes

When you hear sirens, do you get afraid its someone you know? Nope

Do you often get nosebleeds in the winter? Eh, not lately

What’s a word you use to substitute for a cuss word? I never substitute lol

What was the worst thing you ever did to get detention/suspended? Some kid would not stop kicking my seat even after telling him to stop so I stabbed his leg with my pencil lmfao, Saturday detention

Have you ever suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder? Yes, after a car accident

Have you tried crackle nail polish? Yes, it’s pretty cool

Do you enjoy the “i love you more” argument? Eh

Do you like the color yellow? Sure

Trees are awesome! Yes? Sure

Do you suffer from nasal allergies? Yes

Marrying your cousin. Yay or nay? Nay, what the fuck

Are you distracted by anything shiny at the moment? Ooo shiny!! Nope

Has your parents ever called you names? As a joke

Have you ever seen a cat have a hairball? No, but I’ve seen cats throw up

Have you ever had a tooth pulled? Oh yeah

Do you still watch tom and jerry? No

Do you use your hairbrush as a microphone? I have before lol

What’s your usual morning routine? Get up, take Jasper out, take a shower, get dressed, get stuff together and leave

Do you ever get bored with something so you’re unable to finish it? I actually do that a lot

Do you wanna redecorate your room? Nah. 

Have you ever worn black to someone’s house & left covered in fur? Oh yeah

What would I expect to find under your bed? My scale and other random things

If i were to walk into your room, would i be able to see the floor? Yes

What is something you did when you were a kid that you still enjoy?

Reading

Has anyone ever said they would love you forever, was it true? Yes, wasn’t true. I bet he said that to his other bitches too

Do you watch America’s Got Talent? Nope

Do you ever sit and look at old photo albums & recall memories? Yeah

Do you watch onision on YouTube, if not you should he’s hilarious. No?

Don’t you just hate taking showers in the winter? Omg YESSSS, it makes me even colder no matter how hot the water is. Half your body is always cold

Do you say “epic fail” a lot? Not really, I used to

How personal does a question have to be so that you wont answer? Well, I won’t answer questions that ask me my last name, my address, the city I live in or schools I went to.

Do you ever feel like sometimes you have short term memory loss? I do know I have memory problems.

What if a stranger came up to you yelled BATMAN & ran away? I’d say what the fuck??

What’s your favorite kind of pudding? Chocolate

Did you ever run over something with a lawn mower? I’ve never used a lawn mower.

When someone says don’t look do you look? I’ll try and look with my eyes but not my head if it makes sense lol

Have you ever played spin the bottle? No

Did you ever have a cat that was obsessed with shoes? No, none of my cats growing up were

I believe i can fly! Ever jump off things & try to fly? No fucking way

What was your first Halloween costume? Bunny

Ever have chicken pox? I’m sure

Did you eat your Wheaties this morning ? What was for breakfast? Nothing was for breakfast lol

[blkpnkwriting]

bad for you

part i. / part ii. / part iii.

bad!girl Rosé x Reader

Warnings: swearing, mentions of drug use, mentions of violence, blood, and injury

Word count: 5,499

     “Fuuuck.”

    Light slatted through the blinds of your bedroom. You think it’s your bedroom.

    Cracking your eyes, you groaned again, the feeble morning light still too strong for your sensitive eyes. Yup, it was your bedroom. Which was strange because you couldn’t remember how you got there. Why did you feel so gross?

    Rolling in your sheets, you blinked at the Tylenol sat on your nightstand beside a bottled water. For a moment, you couldn’t understand how it got there. Then it slowly dawned on you.

    Rosé.

    You sat up quickly, flinching at the onslaught of pain in your head. But you wanted to know if she was still there, in your apartment. With you. A scan around the room proved she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. You popped a couple Tylenol and chugged some water before getting up and heading into your small living room.

    Where she couldn’t be found.

    That's okay, you reasoned. It was probably for the best anyway. Last night was a mess and it was guaranteed that you made a fool of yourself. Now you’d never be able to see her again, not after that. They probably noted that you didn’t quite fit in with their people, couldn’t handle your liquor like they could, just generally wasn’t what they expected. At least, that’s what you thought about it. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Now you had to pick up the pieces of your heart you felt chipping away at the thought of not seeing her again.

    What a horrible first... and last date.

    You sunk into your couch cushions, sighing with relief at knowing you had the day off and could recuperate from your hangover in peace. Sipping your water, you turned on the TV for something to occupy your mind, distract you from your embarrassment, and surfed the channels before that too bored you.

    A chime from your bedroom resulted in yet another groan. You pinched the bridge of your nose as you stood up, skulking into the room and grabbing the damned device.

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘

    It felt like you were going to fall down. It was as though your hangover dissipated... it hadn’t, but you were so ecstatic that you could forget about it. A smile spread across your cheeks, and you opened your phone to the text message.

    There was already several messages waiting for you, and you swore under your breath when you realized just how late in the day you slept in. No wonder she tried multiple times to get a hold of you.

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     ur key is hidden behind ur apartment plate btw sleep well!!!

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     i dont wanna be THAT girl but can u text me when u wake up???

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     ok but seriously r u alive

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     i know where u live & if u dont text me back soon im coming over

    That was the most recent message, and as much as you wanted her to come back, to apologize for everything last, and to maybe play up the hangover so she could cuddle you, you didn’t want to trouble her.

    You     Yeah yeah I’m awake but definitely not kicking

    You sat back down on your couch with much more enthusiasm than you had just a couple minutes ago. Legs balled up under you, you waited for the next message. It came quickly.

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     u shouldnt try to drink as much as me next time 😉

    You     Nice contact name btw, really captures your character

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     actually i put my number in & u told me it was boring so i had to put some emojis on

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     u legit forced me

    You     I regret nothing

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     thats surprising

    Oh god, she was mentioning last night. You picked at the collar of your shirt --- which you don’t remember changing into --- and hid your sheepish smile as you continued typing.

    You     Yeah... about that

    You     I’m sorry about... anything that I did, really. I was really drunk

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     dont be!!! you were hilarious actually & i had a great time

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     especially when u put ur hands down my skirt 😉

    You stared down at the words on your screen and felt the color drain from your face. You did what? Now that you thought about it, you remembered the stumbling idiot you were as she dragged you out the back of the bar, how she piled you onto her motorcycle, and how even though you leaned against her back with all your weight, she still wanted to you hold onto her.

    And yes, you did put your hands down her skirt. She grabbed your arms to make sure you would hold on and you took the initiative to warm your hands in the space beneath the waistband of her skirt and whatever shorts she had underneath.

    This time, you did smack your forehead for real, and then regretted the action as it sent a agonizing pulse through your skull. The hangover was still there alright.

    You     Wow. I went right for the money, didn’t I? 🙈

    You     And after how you nice you’ve been. I didn’t properly thank you for the drinks last night. I mean... you did pay for them, right???

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     lisa paid for them lol were friends with the owner & jennie was pissed that she blew like 200 last night on free shit

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     besides that dont mention it 😘

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     thank u for letting me treat u right

    The text had you halting again. It was such a strange thing to say. Again, you thought about how she reacted to your compliments and how she seemed to brush them off, like she didn’t know how to respond at all. Like no one told her how beautiful she was enough. Now this? She was thanking you for letting her be nice to you.

    It made you sad all over again. There was something you didn’t know about Rosé and it was important. But you had gotten this far, and you knew one thing for certain.

    You were hooked and there was no going back.

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     ur different

    You didn’t have much of a chance to respond, but there she was already texting again.

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     i sound totally weird saying this but ur different & i like that

    rosè 😈 🚬 😘     ur not like anyone ive met before

    There wasn’t a whole lot you could respond with, and if you could, you would just send her the blush you felt spreading up your neck and across your cheeks. So she did like you. The same way you like her. It wasn’t all in your head, a game some pretty and free-spirited girl was trying to play on you.

    You     I could say the same for you, Rosé

    Rosé never responded after her last series of messages.

    It worried you at first, but you rationalized that she had other things to do with her life, and as much as you wanted to spend all your time with her, she couldn’t do the same. In fact, you didn’t know what she did with her spare time. You knew she loved her motorcycle, and probably ripped around on it a lot, but she had to have some way to pay for the gas and upkeep. Not to mention her rough group of friends to keep in control. It was like she was their logic or something. That, or she didn’t quite fit in. Which you didn’t mind, because it meant you didn’t have to worry about her getting arrested or getting in a bar brawl.

    You spoke too soon, however.

    Another boring day sat behind the register with only a small fan to keep company turned south when Lisa entered. Apparently, she didn’t have a motorcycle of her own or else you would have at least expected one of them to come waltzing in after the rambunctious noise.

    At first, you were excited to see her. But then your smile faltered, and any joke you had prepared on the tip of your tongue was quickly dissolved.

    A nasty cut split her lip just above her labret piercing and gone was her usual hyper demeanor. She did grace you with a small smile at least as she stepped up to the counter, but then she was leaning on the glass display, holding her face in her hands with a low, drawn-out groan of discontentment.

    “Lisa, are you okay?” you asked, concern lining your voice. She lifted her head and you could properly see her lip. It was totally busted, but didn’t look too bad on her as far as attraction went. Sort of fit the rogue role you pinned her with. Probably still hurt like a bitch, though.

    “Could be worse,” she muttered. A finger with chipped pink nail polish traced a lotto ticket underneath. “Could be better. A fight broke out at the bar a couple nights ago. Pretty dicey shit.”

    “What happened?” you pressed. You didn’t want to outright ask about Rosé, but that was really what you were trying to get at. It could have something to do with the reason why she hadn’t texted you back. Which you seriously hoped wasn’t true.

    “Gang rivalries,” she digressed, leaning on one elbow to scan the mostly empty store before facing you again, as if it wasn’t supposed to be talked about in public. “It’s usually okay when they’re in the bar at the same time, but there were a few too many drinks that night and shit was said, blah blah blah. It got out of hand fast, and some dude wanted to grab one of my bottles to make a fuckin’ shank --- like he was still in prison or somethin’. I wouldn’t have it, he got mad at me, started grabbing at me, actually ripped my favorite shirt --- asshole. But... uhm. Rosé stood up to him...”

    Dread filled your stomach. It had to be written all over your face because Lisa reached out and took your hand, in a way that was much less flirtatious than in the past. 

     “Don’t worry about her. She’s okay. Just banged up a little, but Jisoo has been taking care of her. Trust Jisoo, she’s a good one, a close friend of ours. Doesn’t involve herself with all that shit, just so happens to hang around Jennie a lot. A lot.” There was a flash of the old Lisa you had seen at the bar in the way she winked at the innuendo, and even though you didn’t know either of the girls she spoke about, you still giggled at the gossip.

    “I’m just picking up some cigarettes for Rosie,” Lisa said, back to business. She let go of your hand, which was nice. You didn’t want to have to reject her again. Instead, she twisted her piercing a little as habit, then flinched at the pain, as it appeared to be swollen since she got hit in the mouth. “She didn’t want me to come here and bother you about it, but I thought you should know anyway.”

    “Thank you, Lisa. Seriously,” you replied, nodding your earnesty. You knew where to look now to grab her Luckies from the compartments, but you stilled before handing them over. A market sat to the side, and you took it without questioning it. On the back of one of the packs, you stole a second to write a quick message.

    Get better soon... I miss you.

    You tried to slide them across the counter for Lisa to have on the house just like she had done for you, but she refused. Unfurling your fingers, she forced a couple bills into your hand and then snatched the cigarettes before you could do anything else, jumping away with a cackle. She blew a kiss at you and you rolled your eyes, then she was out the door. It didn’t seem like there was much that could destroy that girl’s spirit completely.

    There was no way you were going to be able to stop thinking about Rosé, though. Somewhere. Hurt. Laid up to rest. And then hopefully smiling when she finds your message on her cigarettes.

    “Sir, I really can’t stay!”

    Your boss actually stamped his foot like a toddler. And he was an older man, divorced and all.

    “I have no one else willing to cover the shift, so you’re going to have to!” he insisted. He glanced at a small watch on his wrist like he was in a time crunch, and then waved at you. “It’s extra pay, you shouldn’t be complaining.”

    “It’s a double shift,” you tried to explain. You were up bright and early and now you were tired, how hard was that to understand? “I have other plans. I actually have a life outside this job.”

    “Well, if you want to keep this job, you’re going to stay,” he deadpanned. The argument was coming to a close and you were on the losing side. Fucking dickhead.

    “Just put... that other guy on. It’s not like he does anything anyway, since all he does is sit on his phone here.”

    “Y/N, I’m not going to do anything,” your boss spat, sliding his wallet into a pocket, preparing to leave. “You’re going to stay if you want your paycheck. Now, I have to go ---”

    You wanted to scream at him. He had you pulling ridiculous hours ever since you started working here some odd months ago. You were the only capable employee of this shitty convenience store, and the owner was never even around to take care of it himself, case in point. Was it really even worth all this trouble? There was a time you would have taken the punishment without a fight. Before, there wasn’t even a life to speak of. This would have been your whole life. But you didn’t want that anymore, and truth be told, you didn’t want this job either.

    “You know what?” you snapped, bringing back the owner’s attention. There was a displeased expression on his face, like he’d rather be anywhere else. That wasn’t going to happen. “I fucking quit. You can take your stupid, ugly ---” you yanked the polo over your head, leaving you in a thin camisole, and threw it at him. “Shove it up your ass! Maybe you’ll even fit it over that big head of yours that’s stuck up there too, and wear it!!”

    The rush of adrenaline had you feeling all flighty, but the look on the guy’s face was everything to you and you certainly didn’t want to miss even a second of it. He remained there, frozen, mouth agape. You prided yourself in this feat and felt more coming to the surface.

    “That’s enough,” a voice said in your ear. Fingers curled around the crook of your elbow, pulling you away. 

    You knew who it was before you even had to look.

    Outside, you swore in an exhale, kicking the ground as you walked to the black motorcycle waiting for you both. There went your last paycheck, and now you were wondering how you were going to pay for rent. You were about to swing over the back of the motorcycle when Rosé stopped you again, turning you to face her.

    “Are you okay?” she asked, genuine concern in her voice and in the way she ducked her face in front of you to garner your attention. You were beyond relieved to see Rosé, even more so without a scratch from what you could see, but you were seething with frustration. Her hands ran up and down the sides of your arms in a soothing manner, her palms smooth. After a moment, she brought a hand to lift your chin up, meeting her eyes. “Hey, talk to me.”

    “I’m fine, he didn’t do anything,” you muttered. The want to push her hand away from your face was present, but at the same time, you reveled in the fact she was showing so much affection. You really should be asking about how she felt after her fight, but she seemed far more focused on other things.

    “Let’s get you out of here,” she said, reaching over to grab the spare helmet that was beginning to feel more and more like yours. “I know just the place, don’t worry. Just enjoy the ride, let it clear your head.”

    You wordlessly took the helmet and clambered on behind her. Inside the store, you could see the owner arguing on his cellphone, arms gesturing around and in the air. It made you smile knowing you put him in a pinch just as willingly as he was going to throw you under the bus. Served him right. He looked up just as Rosé revved the bike, a vicious noise echoing in the lot, and you knew he could hear it. You waved, and he flipped you off, but you were already peeling off the cement.

    The ride was a blur. You rested the side of your helmet against the back of Rosé’s jacket, listening to the way it chattered against the studs embroided on this particular garment she wore today. It felt way more natural than the first ride did, and you didn’t even mind the fact that your hands were laced around her middle, resting just below her navel, a throwback to that drunken night. Every once in awhile, her hand would drop and cup the outside of your knee, pressing you close like she was hugging you while she drove. You enjoyed the gesture, but did nothing to return it. You saw the scenery change without processing it. All you were thinking about, so grateful about, was that you were holding Rosé again. After what felt like weeks that were just days, you were so ready to see her again. It had been too long.

    You blinked and you had no idea where you were. Rosé slowed your ride, weaving up a small unkempt track, dense woods surrounding you. It was only afternoon but it felt more like dusk here. A canopy stretched out overhead, casting shafts of sunlight sporadically upon the rocky road. Abruptly, Rosé swerved off to the side, rolling to a stop behind some brush.

    “What are we doing here?” you asked after removing your helmet.

    Rosé slid off her seat, helping you down, and then took off her headgear. She did the same routine of fixing her hair and adjusting the ripped shorts she wore today, then answered you. “I brought you to my favorite place.”

    You glanced around at nowhere in particular. The woods?

    The puzzlement was written all over your face, and Rosé giggled. It was adorable enough to bring a smile to your face for the first time since she showed up, and you continued to look at her timidly excited expression as she took your hand and began to lead you through the foliage. After a few steps, you realized there was the faintest of paths, probably worn by Rosé herself. She didn’t say anything else, crooked smile in place. You were content just holding her hand for the first time, walking through the emerald trees. It was scenic, for sure. The sound of birds chirping, echoing through the vast space, the shuffle of leaves underfoot, a crack of a fallen branch. There was no one else around, just the two of you. The sudden realization had a spark igniting in your stomach, and you let your hair fall around your face to curtain your flushed cheeks.

    The random appearance of an abandoned tennis court was totally unanticipated.

    Nature had claimed it back for the wild. Vines tangled in the chainlinks, dirt and debris darkening the previous green texture of the court. The net was slashed rather than stolen, hanging limp at their respective posts. The singular umpire chair had been knocked to its side, splintered and covered in cobwebs. It was obvious that it had been long forgotten.

    Except by Rosé. You could see as you approached the fence a section on one end of the court where someone had brought a broom and had cleared away a spot for a blanket. There was no doubt that she had planned this, for you or simply for herself.

    “Where are we?” you whispered. For some reason, it felt like you had to.

    “An abandoned development,” Rosé spoke. She brought you to a portion of the fence that had been cut and pried away. The thought of a delinquent Rosé showing up with a set of bolt cutters was oddly appealing. “Someone intended to build a luxury condominium out here, away from the bustle of the city, but it fell through a long time ago. I don’t know much else, but it’s been here since I can remember. It’s my favorite place to go to escape... everything.”

    The way she finished had you casting a curious glance in her direction, but she didn’t bother meeting your eyes this time. There was that feeling that she was hiding something again, like she knew everything about you but refused to tell you anything about her. For once, it pecked at your heart, making you a bit angry.

    Of course you couldn’t stay angry at her for long, and it dissipated the second she brought you to the blanket and motioned for you to sit. The blanket had to be cleaned regularly because it felt so plush underneath your hands as you folded onto it. Rosé joined you once you were comfortable, stretching out those long legs of hers and reclining back on her hands, sighing deeply. Her eyes fluttered closed and you were given the opportunity to just gaze at her. She was so stunningly beautiful, and you wondered briefly how you ever ended up with her.

    “I figured you could use this place too,” she whispered without opening her eyes. She looked so peaceful, and she was right. It was so quiet out here, save the natural sounds of the woods providing ambiance. You laid down on your back, arms tucked under your head, and gazed up at the sky. Despite having been overgrown, the trees hadn’t grown close enough yet to construct their canopy. There was the gentle warmth of the sun stretching to reach you in your little cove. It would be growing dark in a couple hours, and you mused about what Rosé would come up with to give you light.

    “Are you feeling well?” she asked, interrupting you daydreaming. You nodded, no words needed. Above you, she smiled, turning her attention down to you. “You looked lost for a second. I guess you like it here.”

    “I do,” you admitted, eyes shifting to her lips, then her eyes. “Are you okay? I haven’t seen you for like, a week.”

    At that she chuckled, looking away again, out to the distance. “Yeah, it’s all good. Just got involved with that dumb shit again. Like usual with those guys.” A finger poked you in the ribs, evoking a laugh. “I got your message --- thank you.”

    “I was worried,” you confessed. You didn’t want to hide how you felt when it came to hearing about how she was hurt. “Lisa said it was nasty.”

    “Could’ve been worse.” Rosé shrugged. It was something they both said to you now. Just another casual occurrence apparently. “You never know what’s going to happen there. Tensions have been high recently, what with a lot of the gang members falling apart. Loyalty doesn’t mean much to people these days.” There was a pause and you swore you saw something flit across her features. “It means everything to me.”

    “That’s because you’re a good person,” you stated, sitting up onto your forearms to garner her attention. All you got was a jagged swallow, as though what you said didn’t sit well with her. “You know that, right?”

    Rosé looked at you suddenly, and before you could ask about the tears in her eyes, she was gasping out, “Am I really?”

    “Why not?” you countered, the need to justify boiling in your chest. “You’ve been nothing short of... fuck, just amazing to me. I couldn’t care less about the people you hang around or any of that other shit. You’re a good person, Rosé.” You said it like you were trying to drill it into her head.

    The red-blonde blinked back her tears, swallowing again, avoiding your gaze. She took a moment to breathe. “You don’t know what I’ve done.”

    “I don’t need to!” You sat up the rest of the way, twisting to face her properly. Still, she didn’t meet your eyes. She was looking somewhere else beside you to keep from losing her composure. “I may not have known you for long, and I may not know a lot about your life, but I know how I feel when I’m around you. I trust you. You can tell me all about you, what you’ve done, what you plan to do, but whatever you say won’t change that simple fact.”

    When Rosé looked at you again, it was with that look. That look, a concoction of amusement, surprise, and puzzlement --- like she had you all spelled out in her head and you suddenly jumbled it all up. That look she gave you when you told her you didn’t like her smoking instead of keeping the opinion to yourself. That look when your facade gave a moment and she got to see that shy persona hidden away under the confidence you built with shaking hands. That look...

    It was cut off by a bitter laugh, shoulders sinking, glancing at the sky.

    “I have great parents,” Rosé started. It was your turn to be surprised, eyes widening a moment. “They’ve never done me wrong, but after everything I’ve done, I feel like I fall short of their expectations. Like I’ve failed them. They tried to give me the best life I could have, encouraged me to do well in my studies and with singing.” That was a neat little fact to tuck away. “It just seems like life has a different plan for me, no matter what they wanted. I guess I’m really easy to frame, put the blame on. It only got bad at the end of high school, and I started getting in fights with kids because they thought they were hot shit and would pick on people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. I have a soft spot for those people, like it’s ingrained in me to protect them. But of course, it made me look like the aggressor, and I would get in trouble for all of it.

    “I’ve been arrested once, for aggravated assault. I can own up to that. But since that one time, I’ve vowed to stay out of jail. It wasn’t so bad, I was only in for about a month, and then had to do community service and pay a fuckton of fines. But I didn’t want to be known for that, someone people are scared of being around because I might fuck them up or something... I don’t know. I’ve never gone out of my way to hurt someone if they didn’t deserve it in the first place.”

    It felt like there was more she was going to say but she stopped, and you were left in the silence to muddle over all she had just told you. It was a very brief overview, but it was more than you ever thought you’d know about her. Despite it, there was no sense of danger being around her. Rosé would never touch you like that.

    “Oh,” she perked up. “I don’t do drugs. I mean, I’ve smoked pot in the past, but all I have nowadays are cigs. That’s for the others, not my style. I have my hands full of blood, not drugs.” Then she laughed, shaking her head, blonde hair highlighted by the low sunrays wisping around her face. “That sounded really bad.”

    “I like it.” You hadn’t expected that to come out exactly, but it was true. And it was part of you speaking your feelings, not cowering behind your own thoughts. Rosé lifted her face, eyes shining, and offered you a weak smile. She sniffled and wiped at her nose, such a soft gesture in comparison to the story she had told you. You knew that wasn’t who she was beneath the leather and metal and smoke.

    “Well, after it was all said and done, my parents didn’t and I didn’t like disappointing them. So I left. I didn’t want that on them, to deal with a daughter like this. I moved out here, falling easily into the wrong crowd. The only person who really kept me afloat was Jennie.”

    “Jennie, the bar owner?” you interrupted.

    “Yeah, random, I know,” she chuckled. “I was looking for work and Jennie was the only person who didn’t immediately turn me out on my ass by one look at my record. But she didn’t have any real openings for me. So she made me her financial supervisor.”

    “Whoa,” you breathed in astonishment.

    “Yeah, I’m really good at numbers and stuff like that. With so much on her hands, owning just about the only bar that houses the roughest and rowdiest, she thought I could help her out with some side work, and that way, it would keep me out of trouble. She saw potential in me. And it really worked out. I’m often busy with her business and it’s a great job. She also really did need the help, so she’s happy I’m around. I’ve been with her for a while now. I met Lisa and Jisoo through her, the only girls --- the only friends --- I’m ever around a lot.

    “Don’t get me wrong, they bring around their own drama. Especially Lisa. That girl’s a fucking whirlwind. You know she was there that night at the store?”

    “She was?” You could hardly remember anything about that night besides Rosé. When you thought about it, it was always that first impression of the hardened girl walking through the doors and stealing your heart that you remembered.

    Then you faltered.

    Rosé really has stolen your heart, and you weren’t even privy to this obvious fact.

    “Yeah, she walked in with me, remember?” Rosé tried to jog your memory, laughing lightly, unaware of the revelation you were going through. “She told me you were staring and I---”

    In retrospect, you would never understand what came over you then.

    The kiss was so sudden that you both never expected it. Your heart hammered in your chest so loud, it was all you could hear right before you dove in. It was messy, unsaid words catching between your mouths, teeth crashing against each other’s, and you almost tumbled against her when your hand slipped off the material of her jacket on her shoulder. But it only served to throw your hand on top of hers on the blanket, and as soon as she registered what you were doing, her fingers laced with yours and a hand clasped the back of your head, holding you against her lips.

    The kiss became something else. It was so much and not enough and everything you dreamt. The world fell away around you and all that remained was Rosé’s lips, that faint taste of smoke on them, how soft her skin felt against your cheek, between your fingers, how she tangled up your hair. And her moan that just escaped? You swore you sank further into her.

    All this time you entertained your feelings for this bad girl.

    But you didn’t know you would fall in love with Rosé instead.

    When you opened your eyes again, it was nearly dark. Fading light in the colors of melting cotton candy tinted the horizon. The air was cool but you remained warm, blushing at how close you two had become on the blanket. One of Rosé’s legs had slid between your own, her entire body angled for you. You took a deep breath, the first to reach the depths of your lungs. Every kiss stole a little more air from you, leaving you dizzied. Adrenaline streaming through your veins acted like a drug that numbed anything that wasn’t Rosé.

    There was so much that Rosé wanted to say, you could see it in her eyes. Nothing came forth and you knew the feeling of having it jammed in your throat, unable to say a word. The only thing she gave you was a smile, a genuine, unadulterated smile, and you knew there was one thing that you wanted to say to her.

    “Rosé...” you whispered, feeling weightless. “I---”

♡ part iii.

[pnwtrailrunner]

Sunday April 22, 2018 Skyline 25K

You know something crazy is going on when I consciously make the decision to get up at 4:45 in the morning on a Sunday. It’s my first race of the year and I’m a bit nervous. The Yakima Skyline Rim 25K was my dream race last year but I had to drop out due to a calf injury that continued to nag me for the better part of 2017. Today I’m feeling healthy and super excited to get out there and finally run this thing. There’s no exaggeration when I say that this race looks gorgeous! I have a bunch of time to kill so I get dressed and head over to the Starbucks before the family wakes up.

We arrived in Ellensburg yesterday and had dinner with our niece Christy who attends college here. I was trying my best to stick to my normal diet and the best thing I could find on the menu was a brat and some Cheddar Beer soup. Sticking to my low carb diet was important because I didn't want to throw any of my routines off. During dinner, I stepped away for a few minutes to have a phone chat with my coach. I am kind of new to running, so being able to go over a game plan with a coach is invaluable. I’ve only been with him for a month but I already feel like I know so much more than last year. He reminded me to be consistent with my pacing and use this race as a way to learn for my next several races. After dinner, we drove out to the race site to make sure we knew where we were going. The last thing I needed in the morning was to get lost and be late to the race. We were only a few hours outside of Seattle but the short drive out to the race site was like being in a different state. We saw giant rolling hills, rocky cliffs, a beautiful winding river and almost zero trees. It’s a complete 180 from forests of the side of the mountain we are from. This place looks like it’s right out of an old western movie. I could imagine herds of Buffalo or wild horses running through here at one time. It’s really beautiful. 

The sun is coming up and it's time to get ready for the day. Starbucks was great but I’m going to hit up the Red Lion’s breakfast buffet and have few eggs and bacon before leaving for the race. Bib pickup is 7:30-8:50 so I have some time. I check back in with the family after breakfast and they're ready to go. We leave the hotel a little later than I wanted and arrive at the race location around 8:15. I have my 32oz of required water and my photo ID ready to go so that I can pick up my bib. I look at my watch and see that I only have around 20 minutes until the pre-race briefing at 8:50. I hurry back to the car to pack my vest and get dressed. I'm feeling a bit rushed now but I make it to the briefing with a few minutes to spare. James gives us the lowdown of the race with an unsettling warning about rattlesnakes. What?!?! There were snake sightings on Friday but they were gone by the Saturday Race. He let us know that if we do get bit, it is important to not to get your heart rate up. Knowing what I know now about the terrain, there is no way that would have been possible. This is one of the most remote locations I have ever been. If you got bit and were somehow able to get cell service, they would have to airlift you out.

There are close to 200 runners in the small starting area and James starts us off at 9 am on the dot. We run through the parking lot and circle around to the suspension bridge that goes over the river. We cross over in a single file line to keep it from bouncing and swinging, but it doesn't help. The river below was moving pretty fast and it would suck to fall in I thought. I start moving through the winding single track trail trying to avoid rolling an ankle on the rocks. I'm going a bit slower than I had planned but I remind myself not to go out too strong. I want to conserve a much energy as possible. At about a mile in I start to regret wearing a jacket and gloves. So much for overpreparation. Careful not to stop and hold up the group, I take off my extra layers while continuing to climb. I shove them in my pack and keep moving. The trail finally opened up to the several miles of uphill climbing that lay ahead. It looked very difficult and from where I was standing I couldn't even see the worst part.

I keep a pretty steady/slow pace for the first mile. But the course was so open that I could see all the runners a mile ahead of me and it made me want to move faster. I increased my speed a little bit and passed a few people. None of us were going very fast up this thing but It gave me the opportunity to test the calf muscle. It had been giving me problems leading up to the race and this seemed like as good a time as any to test it out. It felt great! I passed when I could and kept moving. As I reached the top of this massive climb I could finally see flat trails.

The next few miles were spent on an old rocky dirt road that ran along the top of the hills. It gave us a 360-degree view of the beautiful landscape and a view of Mt Rainier that most people will never see. It was amazing. I had my iPhone out snapping photos for pretty much this entire section. We moved through a couple of small uphill and downhill sections but nothing major. I was starting to get my legs back after the after the long uphill and started to pick up the pace bit. Careful to not roll an ankle on a giant lava rock I pushed on. As I arrived at Doug McKeever's middle of nowhere aid station, I was feeling good. So far I had only gone through half a vile of olive oil and half a bottle of water. I said hi to Doug, used the restroom(the front of his truck) and refilled my water bottle. As I started down the trail Doug said that we were 1.8 steep miles from the full aid station/turnaround. He wasn’t joking! From where I was standing I could see where the aid station would be and had no idea how I was going to make it back up. At this point, all the elite runners were heading back up the single track trail. It became a game of chicken with the other runners coming up the hill. One of the other runners coming up the hill looked like he had fallen and cut his face and neck up on something. I was going to do my best to not have that happen to me.

It was getting a little warmer out now and my body was starting to fatigue. I hadn’t run more than 8 miles in a training run this year and I was just now reaching that point. I was chitchatting with another runner who had run this race before which helped the time pass and take my mind off the pain. He seemed to know every runner that was coming up the hill towards us which was pretty awesome. We were coming to the last downhill before the turnaround and it looked treacherous. I’m guessing it was close to a 65-70% grade. If I were the only runner out here it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But with the people coming up the hill and the people behind me going down the hill at crazy speed, it was a bit scary. Pretty much everyone slowed down to a walking pace or used their hands to make it down this thing safely.

I arrived at the Rosa Creek aid station a few minutes later proud of the fact that I didn’t roll down that last hill. I hung out there for a few minutes admiring how awesome the volunteers were. Their excitement somehow got me pumped up to get back out on the course and take on that uphill climb. I grabbed a pickle, refilled my water bottles and headed back to kick the hill’s butt. After my first step, the aid station excitement was gone and I was moving at like zero miles an hour. Lol! I tried my best to not look up at what was ahead of me. Every person I talked to kept saying one foot in front of the other and keep moving. So that’s what I did. My legs were exhausted but felt strong. The calf pain I was having leading up to the race hadn’t been a problem all day long so I decided to push a little harder. I increased my pace a bit and moved past a few people. I saw Glen again and tried to put on a good face for my photo. I’m pretty sure I looked like death though. I figured I only had another mile until Doug’s aid station but it felt like it might as well have been 20 miles. Why does this 25K feel harder than the 50K I did last year? Just as my mind started to go to dark places I could finally see the aid station. Sure, it was up a hill but at least I could see it. I eventually reached the aid station and refilled my water. I brought my own food so I was quickly on my way. I downed a few pieces of salami and a handful of macadamia nuts as I headed up the next climb. The salami had become a bit to warm so I decided to stick to the nuts and olive oil until the end of the race. I only had around 5 miles to go until I'd be on the line for pizza anyway.

Everyone was pretty spread out now and not as chatty. I ran with a woman for a while but we didn’t say a word to each other. I'm not sure where she found the energy, but at one point she decided to take off and leave me in her dust. I was by myself again. Now would have been a good time for some upbeat music or a good podcast. But because of the Rattlesnake threat, I left my AirPods in the car. I could hardly move at this point. I was happy they weren’t cramping like they did in my last race, but my quads were finished. With no music and quads that were already done with the race and ready for a pizza break, I was ready to sit down and take a break. Then I saw them. Spectators! These people hiked all the way up that hill to cheer us on and it was exactly what I needed. The motivation of shame:) If I sat down in front of spectators I would look like a weirdo. So I kept moving and finished the last few feet of the climb. I was at the final section of the race now. I looked down and saw the almost 2-2.5mile downhill to the finish that lay ahead of me and it looked difficult! I wondered if my legs could even handle it.  I stopped, regained my thoughts, snapped a picture and started down the hill.

I’ve never felt the fear of losing a toenail until this downhill. My toes were being pushed so far into the front of my shoe that I thought the front of my shoes were going to explode open. I tried running down the hill with my feet landing sideways on the trail but it didn't help. It just made my quads hurt more. At one point I lost my concentration and started moving a bit too fast and almost lost my balance. At the last second, I caught myself before tumbling down and rolling over a bunch of hikers. At this point, I decided it would be safer to walk the rest of the steep section and shoot for running the last mile and a half. If nothing else, I wanted to walk away injury free from this thing. With about a mile left in the course, I was back in the canyon running the narrow and rocky trails. I could feel hotspots forming on the arches of my feet and every step I took felt more painful than the last. I could hear another running coming up behind me so I pulled off to the side and let him pass. It gave me chance to take a breather and adjust my shoes. I was also happy to have another runner to pace myself off of. As we got to the bottom of the canyon we met up with two other runners that were in front of us. We all went under the overpass together and then crossed the suspension bridge. The bridge was even more difficult to cross without all the other runners on it. Maybe it was just my tired legs. It felt like trying to walk across a bouncy castle with a bunch of kids jumping on it after I had just finished doing 200 squats. After crossing over we were back in the parking lot with what was probably less than a half mile to go.

I had almost nothing in my tank. I could smell the pizza but it might as well have been 5 miles away. I looked at my watch and it said 3:41 pm. I figured a finish time of 3:45 sounded like a good number to shoot for. So with what little energy I had left, I started to run. I passed the guy who a few minutes earlier ran by me in the canyon and then moved by other two guys that were ahead of us. I didn’t care what place I ended up in, I was just using these runners as a friendly competition to stay upright and keep moving. I wanted to see my daughter. I wanted to see my wife. I wanted pizza in my mouth! I could see the finish line just up and over a small hill ahead of me. I managed to stay upright, cross the finish line and shake the Race Director’s hand. I did it! It wasn’t the perfect performance but I did what I needed to do. I found my family and gave them some love before getting in line for some pizza.

The Yakima Skyline Rim 25K was a very difficult race but I am so happy I was able to run it this year. It was beautiful and challenging. It's basically everything you want in a trail race. The people that operate Rainshadow Running are very cool and put on amazing events. If you ever decide to run a trail race or have already run a bunch of them, check out Rainshadow. You’ll be happy you did.

Not sure what’s up next. Either the Red Devil 50K in June or The Volcanic 50K in August.