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ikranwings · 2 years

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WHATS MEANT TO BE

Chapter one: first meeting

Song for the book:

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Navi is in blue

Authors note: I hope you guys enjoy! I haven’t written anything like this in years and I’m really worried about it. please enjoy and I hope you guys like it ❤️❤️

After I post this I have to head to bed it’s like 5:30 am but I had to get this out

I feel like the first chapters short but it will def get longer.

Warnings: mild swearing, talk of wounds?

Dedication: I don’t normally do a dedication but for the first chapter I am! I just want to take the time to thank @milknhonies . For hyping me up in the comments when all I did was tease the hell out of everyone looking forward to this XD. I appreciate you and I thank you so much for encouraging me ❤️

Miles had flown off in defeat after his war with the Sullys and metkyina clan. The mans own son wouldn't even join him after saving his life. As much as he tried to deny the kid as his own he couldn't. Sure Spider had come from the human version of himself so he wasn't technically his own blood so to speak. However he still felt some sort of responsibility towards him, his only family he technically had left had chosen to leave him and return back to the Sullys. His only choice now was to retreat on his Ikran. Even in his injured state the man knew sticking around here was not the safest option.

His plan was to head back to the base of operations, heal up and hope they would send him back out there to finish the job.Would the general blame everything on him? Revenge was the reason he was created, revenge was the only meaning he had in his life now. Surely there wasn't anything else that could be out there for the man now could there? They had to let him continue this mission, there was nothing else out there for him at least that’s what he thought.

Miles was tired, exhausted from the fight that had ensued not long ago. The man needed to rest, after inhaling all that water and nearly drowning amongst other injuries he needed to relax. Pushing himself further would only cause harm to himself in the long run especially if he were to lose consciousness while flying his Ikran back. There was only one choice he could make at this point, he had to land and make camp for the night and hope he was well enough to make flight early on the next morning. Landing and regrouping his thoughts was the smart thing to do, revenge wouldn't be possible if he was dead that was for damn sure.

Landing was the last thing he remembered. Sliding himself off of his Ikran after separating the bond and splaying himself flat on his back on a grassy plain. An open area he had briefly scanned before landing. It looked clear prior so he was almost positive he wouldn't be disturbed while he rested for a few minutes before he was to set up camp. He was only going to close his eyes for a few minutes, just a few minutes in order to hopefully replenish some energy. All he needed was a few minutes…

—---------

The next moment his eyes snapped open, what felt like minutes had actually been hours and a strange Navi woman was kneeling beside him,was she trying to cause harm? Or was she assessing his injuries? No, he wouldn't take that chance. Not this time around that was for sure. In an instant he had forced himself up and shoved her over, using what little strength he had in him to pin the woman before him down to the ground. Making it impossible for her to move as he used his legs to pin her own, there was no telling if she was going to thrash against him and he wanted to cover all basis. Especially since he didn't want to be kicked or knocked upside the head, Miles was sick of being knocked around for one day. Still the woman below him struggled trying to pull herself free from his grasp.

“ Lonu vrrtep! (Let go of me! Now demon!) She hissed still trying to shove him off despite the fact he had a hold of both of her wrists. She spoke a language he didn't understand or rather barely did as his son had begun teaching him prior and never finished. Still he wished he learned more than he had for moments just like this one. “ What do you want huh?! Come out to kill me have you? Well it won't be easy!“ Intimidation Was his tactic, that sort of thing always seem to work when he was trying to scare someone off. The Navi woman below him merrily hissed in return still trying to find some form of leverage in order to shove miles off of her.

“ off! Now! “ English? The navi woman before him could speak english? Sure he knew many could from the school The Rda had provided for them all those years ago, but that was just for the forest Na’vi. At least thats what it had been to his knowledge at the time, there was a possibility of more he had no clue of. His human self never bothered to take in that sort of information however. Found it pointless to teach these people that sort of thing as they never listened to reason. Always in the way of the end goal, trying to protect some stupid and meaningless tree in his opinion.

The distraction gave the Na’vi female the chance to take the upper hand away from Miles. His grip on her had loosened and given her the chance to pull an arm free and shove him forward with enough force that had him plopping back into a sitting position. Hands set behind him in order to keep himself from going all the way down.

“ Skxawng, you are hurt.. I was helping. “ the woman was pointing to his face, dried blood under his nose, a cut along his cheek and a smaller one on his forehead. She was only trying to clean him up as she had found him there laying on the ground seemingly unconscious. His Ikran had been nowhere in sit only some giant horse like creature he hadn't bothered to learn about in his past life or even present. The Na’vi woman had come across him and immediately attempted to help him out. Not something he was use to and still something he was skeptical about.

Miles arms seemed to falter in support, despite his burst of energy when pinning her down he was still weaker than what he would have liked to be. His little outburst had taken alot out of him and the woman before him seemed to notice that. Slowly she stood from her place on the ground, ensuring the man before her could still see her as she moved. Being able to see the person trying to help you at all times definitely would help her case. Stepping back to her pa'l(direhorse) she reached a hand into a pack she had situated on the back of the creature. Retrieving a small bowl, a handmade cantinee of sorts, a small cloth? and something Miles couldn't quite make out wrapped up in a small pouch.

Sitting beside him once again she laid her belongings on the ground in front of them. Carefully she poured some of the water into the small bowl, intent on wiping away the blood from under his nose and around his cuts in order to assess what she needed to do. Dipping the rag into the small bowl she attempted to press it to his face only for her arm to be swatted away instantly by the injured man’s hand. Really he was just making it difficult for her to help him out. Really his behavior was comparable to a child throwing a tantrum for absolutely no reason aside from the fact that they didn't want to follow what an adult was trying to teach them or help them.

Rolling her eyes proceeded to try again, dipping the cloth once more before squeezing the excess water out of it before pressing it just under the man's nose in order to wipe away the blood. It was working until… Smack. Miles had once again swatted her hand away in frustration.

“ Stop that! “ She hissed immediately smacking his arm in return, if he wasn't going to listen she would act with the same attitude he was giving her. “ You are no baby.. Do not act like one… I am helping, not hurting.“ instead of trying again she sat there, arms crossed with damp cloth still in hand waiting for him to just give in. The Navi woman wasn’t going to give him any other option aside from that. He was going to accept her help and it was just something Miles was going to have to deal with. “ alright fine damn it! “ A low growl slipped past his lips, had he been in perfect condition he would have shoved the woman away and taken off. “ Why are you so damn insistent anyway helping a damn stranger.. not real smart I’d say. “ Perhaps he could use this to his advantage in some way. Only time would tell really.

At first the Navi woman was quiet, mulling over the question or rather statement he had presented her with. In her heart she had a reason, albeit a very personal reason but a big one nonetheless. “ no one left behind. '' Uncrossing her arms she proceeded to gently press the damp cloth to his face, this time with no resistance “ if you wanted to do harm you had chances. “She had spoken up once more while slowly pressing the damp cloth around each cut upon his face until the areas were mainly free of the dried blood that had caked itself there during whatever journey he may have had. Fresh blood trickled down from the gash along his face which led her to assume that it had been deeper than the one on his forehead.

A huff left Miles as he rolled his eyes, he didn't like how right she was about the situation he was in and yet there was still nothing he could do about that, “ Youre just lucky, most don't speak to me that way and live. '' Miles tried to seem threatening in some way, he had a reputation to keep up after all. Not that the woman before him knew exactly who he was or what he had done. Intimidation clearly didn't work as she rolled her eyes at him only moving to dump out the small bowl of water in order to refill it. She then opened the pouch that had previously been set on the ground before them to reveal some sort of powder. Only taking some of it out and placing it in the small bowl along with a small amount of water in order to mix it together into a salve. Making just enough to cover the cuts he had on his face and to stop what little bleeding he may have.

“ This will keep it clean and help to heal, no infection. “ She didn't really give him a chance to say no as her fingers had dipped into the bowl to collect the substance and run it along his cheek and forehead where it was needed. The second this strange substance touched his skin he recoiled, the stinging sensation was not something he expected.

“ Oh and it will hurt a bit… “ Her warning came after the fact and he was not too happy about that. Really it just annoyed the absolute hell out of the man and yet the woman before him had a smile on her face, “ The hell was that for?! “ he practically roared, she should not find this amusing because he sure as hell didn't.

“ Tam tam( there there ) , That was for your threats. “ If he was going to be a pain in the ass about her helping him then the least she could do was give him a taste of his own medicine so to speak. The navi woman smiled once more, wiping away any excess of the substance that wasn’t adherent to any of his wounds. If it wasn't clear to her before it certainly was now. The man before her was completely alone and on his own, in need of a home or at the very least a place to be for a little while.

Miles rolled his eyes, did this woman really not warn him just out of sheer spite? Was she using this as her own form of payback since all he’s done from the moment he opened his eyes was snap and swat at her as if she where a fly on the wall? This woman had absolutely no fear of him and for some reason it thoroughly shocked the man. Not that he would admit that to her or anyone in the moment however it did get him thinking. Quaritch was but a small part to the RDA not many would know of him or his face. Or rather his human face that is. Even now this Navi woman before him didn’t know who he was aside from The very clear fact she had more than likely realized that he was different. An avatar built by the sky people for some reason or another.If he really wanted to he could sell it as if he had defected from the humans and run off seeking shelter. Find his way into a clan and learn their ways before using said information to bring it back to the general. Perhaps even use what he could get against the sullys and finally claim the one thing he had set out to do since he had woken up.

“ That’s my bad.. I’ve been on edge since I left the sky people… You got a name? “ Of corse she had a name, what an absolutely foolish question for him to ask. “ hm.. Tst-xo? “ Miles tried to use what little knowledge he remembered from his son, from the kid he had ride along with him from nearly the very beginning. Spider was his name and in all truth he wished he listened to him more. Wished he took in more knowledge of this language so he wouldn’t be so god awful at it as he was now.

The woman before him merely shook her head, his pronunciation was absolutely horrible to say the least. It would definitely need some work if he where to try and speak full coherent sentences. The running he spoke of was something she had chalked his injuries up to be from. Had he fled and gotten hurt in thr process of it all? There was really no way for her to know the truth in his words. “ it’s Tstxo.. “ The woman before him was quick to correct him, couldn’t have him going around saying the wrong thing after all. “.. Yes I have a name… Tilor‘atan te säsilpey Oare’yuey‘ite. “

Miles looked bewildered, it was entirely a mouthful and even he wasn’t sure he could say it all at once. How the fuck did they go around with these long ass names and not mess anything up in the process. It was beyond him, surely they had to go by nicknames or something. There has to be something else he could say instead, “ You got a nickname I could call you instead huh? “

“ You can call me Tilor… shorter, easier for you. “ she nodded in confirmation only. It was clear to her this man, this dreamwalker before her didn’t know the language all to well. Really he didn’t know a thing at all aside from what she assumed to be a few broken words. Still she watched him smile now that he had a simpler name to call her.

“ well then Tilor… I’m Miles. “

Taglist

@drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

@peachymemoriess

@blossom618

@bitchykittenconnoisseur

@mrs-sullys-blog

#avatar 2 #avatar #avatar quaritch #avatar: the way of water #avatar the way of water #miles quaritch #navi quaritch #jake sully #miles quaritch smut #ikran #recom miles quaritch #miles quaritch x oc #miles quaritch fic #navi miles quaritch #colonel miles quaritch #What is meant to be #Tilor #Youtube

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dirtytransmasc · 2 years

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Is Spider human body dying? If that’s the case then mama Neytrir and the rest of the fam would then feel like getting the boy an avatar is there only option to save him. And when it’s finally made they befo wouldn’t wast time to get him into the avatar body. But image when he wakes up and he’s just really out of it( he’s kinda just a little bit drunk at first). While everyone is crying for joy and Neytiri just takes him into her arms while Jake holds his hands while moving his hair out of his face, while everyone else is just either crying for joy for just partying.

meanwhile Spiders just like: o m g IM BLUE AND TALL.

(I apologize in advance, I got really technical and drawn out, cause autism or something, lol)

spiders body was left too weak and damaged after such a traumatic injury (they tend to use bigger guns with bigger bullets on the na'vi, so it was a lot for such a tiny body), the amount of blood loss, and the after effects of such an injury (infection, organ function complications, etc.). there was little chance he would wake up and his body, more specifically his mind, didn't take well to being in a coma. some people can 'fade' as a result of being in a coma, and more specifically, being locked in an unconscious body out of their control. this can cause both mental and physical shutdown, which would be devastating to watch, as little can be done for it besides putting him on more and more forms of life support. (don't mind me, I hyperfixated on medicine for years, I know too much)

so the rush to make spider an avatar would be kinda hectic because they're trying to beat the ever-ticking countdown before spider has shut down past the point that he could be placed into an avatar safely, let alone, pass through the eye of Eywa. aside from getting eh actual materials to make an avatar, there's the grow time itself; assuming it takes 3-5 years (they say 3 years ship time 5 years earth time, I'm not physics smart, I don't know what that means) to grow an avatar to around 20ish years old, it would take 2 or 3 to grow one around spider's age. that's 2 or 3 year they barely have, let alone the time to gether materials.

so to say that the sully's are an emotional wreck is an understatement. neytiri has to face that fact this could all be for nothing. the danger her family pus themselves through, raiding the RDA, moving materials, tracking labs and transits; the time, effort, and supplies taken from the scientists that still remained on their side; the stress she was putting herself and her kids through. it could all be for nothing, she may still lose her child, her baby.

jake, and subsequently neteyam and lo'ak putting themselves through hell on raids, all while stressing about their child. having to pick between being out in the field or being home; being in the field gives them a better chance of bring home the materials they need, but they have to give up what might be the last little bit of time they have with their son/brother. stay home, and they guarantee his demise. no father nor brother should ever have to make that choice.

kiri and tuk have to watch both their brother and mother fade away, withering. they know that if he does die, they won't just be losing him, they'll be losing her as well.

all in all, its a rough time, for all of them. years knowing spider is stuck just beyond a hazy wall out of their reach, knowing that they might have been too late from the start, watching all the little moving parts come together and praying that it all ends well.

and finally, by the grace of Eywa, the avatar is complete; its young, they didn't want to risk pushing spider any farther, so its only 13/14ish but its more then enough for them, and they assume spider won't be too miffed about it.

the transfer was stressful, his brain activity was good, but max and norm are not the best when it comes to whispering, so they all get a nice loud and clear message that there's still a chance for it all to go wrong in a split second. they watch with bitten lips and trembling hands grasping to one another (they use the avatar pods the first time round, cause y'know, taking a person in a coma, underwater, to use the spirit tree... not the best idea, especially when you don't know exactly what's gonna happen). but as soon as the machine starts going and no one's voice gets particularly anxious as they bark instructions and information at one another, it feels like the weight it lifting off their shoulders, and when the sounds stop and the na'vi body on the other side of the glass window starts shifting its like they can all breath again, they have their boy back, their baby.

then its only a matter of keeping neytiri back long enough for the science pukes to do what they need to, which is completely unsuccessful. then theirs a chorus of moaning and groaning from the kids as neytiri and jake are allowed to be with spider as he wakes up and they're not ("it's just a safety concern" max, probably. "well you can stick your 'safety concern' up my a-" tuk, probably, she's a big girl now).

its definitly a lot on spider, he's been stuck in his own head for like, 4 or 5 years, now he's in a whole new, blue, body. he comes into the world hearing his mother's cries and feeling his dads hands practically holding him together. its nice, even if he has no idea what's happening.

neytiri pets at his hair and lets her fingers run over his features, kissing his forehead and holding onto his hand as he started to weakly wiggle his fingers; reminding jake of his first time waking up. jake was too busy feeling his sons unaided breath going in and out of his chest where his palm rested, feeling a heart beating stronger than it had in years, watching his eyes flutter as he adjusted to the light. such little things felt like blessings.

eventually spiders able to figure everything out enough to just let a breathy little "oh shit" out, earning a laugh from his dad. he hears his mom smack him, laughs a little himself, he missed this. then that hits him, it must have been a long time since... since he almost died, his family's probably been waiting on him for a while, his mama's been waiting for him.

he's clumsy like a newborn baby, but he turns to where he's pretty sure his mom is sitting, curling into her as she wraps him in her arms. she missed this, feeling him move under her arms, not lying against her still and lifeless. this was nice, this was good, this was right.

and after a while of laying against his mama he hears movement, and talking, so much talking. he's barely even awake but he knows that all his siblings have gathered around him. his dad's attempt to fend them from smothering him fail; he's got tuk in his lap, kiri wrapped around his shoulders, both of his brothers were close by, lo'ak at the end of the bed, neteyam at the head with his hand in spider's hair.

he feels loved and it feels fucking fantastic, he's been getting bits and pieces of his family's affections over eywa only knows how long, so to be touched and loved on and talked to, it feels great. he soaked it all up, letting it bring him fully into his body.

as his sight and hearing clear up he finally gets a good look at his family; neteyam is all grown up and a carbon copy of their mama, lo'ak looked just like jake too, tuk was almost all grown up, he missed so much of her childhood, and kiri looked like grace, full of piss and vinegar yet so beautiful, one with the great mother and nature and him, his heart. his siblings had changed so much, in all fairness he had too, but he felt like he had been robbed of so much, they had been robbed of him.

he looked to his parents, the white strands in his mother's hair, tattling on the stress she was trying to hide with her bright smiles. jakes eyes were tired, his face held more lines in it, and his shoulders sagged.

they'd been through enough, him, his family, his people, so he was going to take this new body and new chance at life with stride and pray that eywa would be good to them.

"I'm fucking blue motherfuckers," he announced, finally pulling himself up to sit, getting his brothers all riled up and a tired shake of the head from kiri.

"yeah your fucking blue, now relax before you upset norm and max, mama might kill them if they try and take away visitation rights." kiri scolds, gently of course.

he mocked a yeah yeah, attempting to flick his tail at her, with no avail.

"hey dad, is this what it felt like when you first used your avatar? all mushy and weird." he turns to look at jake, completely and blissfully unaware of the bomb he's about to drop on jake.

"yeah kiddo, but you break it in a bit and it feels normal," he looked... happy, but sad.

dad

oh, fuck... thats the first time jake had heard him say that since that day.

"wanna take it for a spin kid? with your mama's permission of course..." his eyes anxiously scanned his mates face, clearly trying to distract both of them from the mental trip they just went on.

he felt his mom wrap around him tighter, hissing a bit before relenting, "10 minutes jake, or so help me," the threat rumbled low in her core, she would have her baby returned to her in 10 minutes or the only person who could protect jake was Eywa herself.

"got it, come on kid, up on your feet," jake ordered in that stupid fake military voice he'd used since they were kids, holding out a hand, pulling spider to his brand new feet with ease.

his siblings jumped up to follow, kiri and tuk dragging their mother along, and for the first time ever, he went outside and breathed the air of his people without a mask or pain, he could trot along with his siblings, and his senses were razor sharp.

his mother stayed close, keeping a hand in his hair, guiding him with her tail as if he truly was a newborn. her smiles was worth it though, bright and relieved as she watched her children and mate finally finding peace. his siblings dancing around him, lo'ak and tuk in particular while neteyam and kiri watch on feigning disappointment.

he could get used to this, he will get used to this.

#I almost wrote this whole thing and then my computer died and I want to scream #but anywho #spider socorro #miles socorro #miles spider socorro #spider te suli tsyeyk'itan #neytiri #jake sully #sully kids #sully family #kiri sully #tuk sully #neteyam sully #lo'ak sully #avatar the way of water #avatar 2

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dailycharacteroption · 1 month

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Book Review: Pathfinder 1E Core Rule Book

And so we begin something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time: Book Reviews!

In this special, I’ll be taking a look through various Pathfinder and Starfinder books that I own and generally talk about Their content, their artwork, and other things that offer pros and cons about them.

And what better way to start than with the Pathfinder core rulebook!

Ah yes, the storied ancient times of 2008. I had just graduated high school and was getting into community college. Before that point, Pathfinder had already been writing adventures for 3.5 D&D as a strange and controversial ploy to tap into the market of RPG gamers that had rejected 4th Ed. However, they had no intention of stopping there, starting with their Core Rulebook, which took the info in the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide of D&D 3.5 and revised it in preparation for the launch of their very own system and products.

What was tricky about this was that some things, such as summoning spells, had to be designed for a book that was technically not out yet: the Pathfinder Bestiary, so the writers had to figure out what monsters were going to be in the Bestiary but not be shared with the Monster Manual counterpart (which is why the 3.5 PHB has all the different sizes of giant spider/centipede/scorpion on them whereas Pathfinder did not, for example).

All in all, this was the effective launch of a new product off the bones of an old one, which really hadn’t been done to this scale before, pushing the limits of what was outlined by the OGL. It was rare, fun, and exciting times, and nobody can claim that Paizo didn’t succeed in that regard.

But let’s get down to it with the actual content of the book!

Now, it’s going to be literally impossible to list the content of the book without comparing it to the D&D work it was based on, so I’m not going to even try there, but first off, compiling the Player’s Handbook and DMG into one book was a good move on Paizo’s part, for while it made for a hefty volume, it was still less expensive to prospective GMs than the PHB/DMG/MM combo of D&D.

Inside, the actual content works hard to refine the formula of 3.5, developing a design philosophy that rewards the player for sticking with things instead of punishing them for diversifying. Favored classes are now picked by the player on start with no restrictions, and said favored classes reward you with bonuses rather than reducing skill points.

Speaking of which, skill ranks are no longer super costly for going outside your class skills, and while you get numerically less, they reward much more, giving bonuses for the class skills as well. Furthermore, the skills themselves are consolidated, with several being merged into one skill (such as Spot, Listen, and Search all being Perception now)

Furthermore, Classes had all been refined as well. Pathfinder introduced new versions of old abilities, such as making certain class abilities available for a number or rounds per day instead of daily uses of variable value that then run out, such as barbarian rages and bardic performances. Meanwhile, clerics gained the vastly superior channel energy, and if they actually wanted turning/rebuking undead in their arsenal, there were feats for it, and the system for doing so was simplified compared to the frankly absurd original system. And then there were quality of life tweaks like giving druids, paladins, and rangers options for not having animal companions (and making companions much more clear-cut), barbarian rage powers, rogue talents, and the like, and of course, giving sorcerers bloodlines to really help diversify them. (Not to mention giving sorcerers and wizards better hit dice so they don’t keep dying at first level.)

Meanwhile, while feats remain a core part of the system, they made little tweaks to old favorites and added important new options, including something as simple as “have another rogue talent” or “have more rage rounds per day”.

And spells! The spells in the Core Rulebook are pretty much all lifted from the PHB, but their design aesthetic was shifted, with save or die spells dealing massive damage instead of instant death (protecting player characters and monsters alike), while the polymorphing spells were much more balanced: adding set abilities at certain levels instead of just letting you become anything and potentially break the game with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Monster Manual, alongside other quality additions.

And moving on from the player-centric options, the GM stuff is somewhat stripped-down, but still very important, ranging from advice about how to build encounters to NPCs as well as general environmental rules and the like, all very fun and important stuff.

Throughout the book, the art also really helps convey the aesthetics and vibe of the world of Pathfinder, with not just primary Pathfinder artist Wayne Reynolds, but a dozen or so other artists as well. Additionally, the art helped bring to life the example “iconic” characters that became the stand-in representation of typical members of each class. Admittedly, a lot of this art is borrowed from the 3.5 books that came before it, but we’ll forgive that. It was their first book of an entirely new system, and that borrowed art was pretty dang good.

Additionally, each chapter sports an opening with a few paragraphs describing the scene of the chapter splash art, which really conveyed that the iconic heroes depicted therein were, you know, characters with personality, not just example art. Which I feel is an important thing when trying to depict a game where players are meant to bring their own characters to life. (I should note that Seltyiel, the iconic eldritch knight, and later magus, was the only one of the prestige classes to be considered a true iconic with his own lore, while the others were only just character art. Probably because he was specifically F. Wes Schneider’s baby).

Overall, the core rulebook has a lot going for it. It took everything we already knew from 3.5 and refined it to be less forcing players to build their characters in certain ways via punishment, and more rewarding them for choosing to build their characters a certain way, while also balancing and changing assumptions about certain feats, spells, magic items, and even the underpinning of how XP was awarded and NPCs were built. Not to mention all the effort to make it seem like the underpinning of a living world through the art and descriptions (name one thing about Pelor in D&D other than his domain list and the fact he’s a neutral good sun god. I dare you).

Now, that isn’t to say that it’s all peachy keen, though. In their efforts to make the core book mostly setting neutral, the core book fails to give more than a few paragraphs about the planes, which is fair, they were still hashing out their cosmology at the time. Additionally, a lot of the book’s novelty at the time was based on the changes that it had made to various otherwise familiar things. Some of that impact is lost if Pathfinder is the first RPG you pick up, and for all it’s simplifications, Pathfinder remains a very crunchy game with a lot of moving parts (I still get new players that struggle parsing the fact that “natural armor” is an entirely separate bonus and not a specific type of armor bonus), all of which can make it much more intimidating to get into compared to 5e (i.e., the one thing that 5e has over either edition of Pathfinder.)

And I think that will do for today. If there is any final thoughts I have, it’s that for it’s humble beginnings as a new system which was little more than a revision of an older one, the core rulebook was, and remains, an important lynchpin of the system (the core book being important? Shocking.), but as we do more of these reviews, we’ll also see how other books shaped the system and the lore. Look forward to more this week and in the future!

#pathfinder #book review #core rule book

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sinsiriuslyemo · 5 months

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For the #100 NSFW/Smut Dialogue Prompts, could you please do number 52 with Doctor Zachary Smith from the 1998 version of Lost In Space?

Thank you in advance

2060

When you agreed to allow Dr Zachary Smith onto the SS Phalanx, you had no idea what you were getting yourself into.

After the return of the Robinsons, Major West and Jupiter II, the United World Governments had ordered the production of ten exploratory ships to begin charting more of the galaxy in deep space. The idea was that it would help ensure safe travels for any future expeditions using warp speed. A few months later, you were the youngest woman in UWG history to be named Captain of a midsize exploratory ship: the SS Phalanx — arguably the best day of your life — until your commanding officer informed you that Dr Zachary Smith would be joining your crew as the ship’s doctor. At first you thought he might be joking, but it didn’t take long to realize that he was far from joking. Apparently the traitor doctor had negotiated a plea — save his life from the infectious spider bite on his back, and he would forever be in debt to the UWG. Of course, he was a liar, manipulator and opportunist. There was no way he could be trusted on a fighter ship nor could he be trusted to even run a lab on-planet. The only other options were to either send him to Lastrites, a prison planet where most criminals were abandoned, or to assign him a post on an exploratory ship, a low stakes assignment where he would have little to nonexistent opportunity for sabotage.

The initial decision was to send him to Lastrites, but apparently Professor Robinson had talked the higher ups out of it. Something about him being manipulative and intelligent enough to gather support among the other prisoners, build or hijack a vessel and attack Alpha Prime. The smarter decision was to keep the doctor under close watch.

You had reluctantly agreed, while inside you were fuming. You’d worked your entire life — busted your ass in basic training — to be assigned Captain of one of the new exploratory ships, and yet you were being made to play fucking babysitter?! What was worse was that Dr Smith was arrogant, selfish and one of the most obnoxious men you’d ever met. Not even his good looks made dealing with him on any level worth it.

Regardless, you had been given a direct order from your superior, there was no choice in the matter.

“Entering sector 12b, Captain,” your navigator announced.

“We’ve been charting new galaxies for two months,” your pilot groaned to himself.

“Well, that’s part of our job, Stevenson. The whole point of exploratory ships isn’t just to discover new planets, it’s also to map out more of the galaxy and make space travel more efficient so that what happened to Jupiter II doesn’t happen again,” you replied, shifting to a more comfortable position in your chair.

“With all due respect, maybe having the guy who caused that incident on our ship isn’t the best way to do that, Sir,” Stevenson replied.

“Not my call. As far as the UWG is concerned, Dr Smith is far too dangerous to be left to his own devices on a prison planet.”

“So they put him on our crew?” your security officer asked.

“Well, that’s why we have you, Callister,” you answered, smirking over at her. “Unlike the robot on Jupiter II, you have no operating systems which can be tampered with.”

“Sometimes I wonder if he even has morals at all,” Stevenson mused as his fingers busied themselves logging their traveled distance. “I mean, apparently the kid said he did technically save him once while they were stranded on Priplanus but was it out of moral instinct or did he do that because he knew it was in his best interest?”

“Who knows,” your navigator replied, pushing the button on the console that took panoramic photographs of the surrounding stars and constellations. “Maybe when they sucked the spiders out of him, they managed to suck the evil out too.”

“I wouldn't be so sure,” Stevenson mumbled.

“Captain, I’m getting a transmission from an unknown planet in the Zeta Centauri system,” Callister said, turning to look at you with her eyes lit up. “It says, ‘Is anyone out there?’”

You grinned as a bubble of excitement fluttered in your belly, and pressed the com button that would allow you to address the entire ship at once, telling them to prepare all stations for first contact.

This was it — the reason you enlisted in the Universal World Governments to begin with. Ever since you were a child, you had dreamed about getting to go out into space and explore new worlds, and now it was finally happening. There was just one last thing you needed to take care of before joining the landing party in the shutter hangar.

You turned to your first officer sitting in the chair beside yours. “Take the com? I need to have a chat with our doctor and make sure he knows what's expected of him.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Standing, you left the bridge and made your way down to the med bay, where you expected to find Dr Smith.

You had done your best to maintain a professional niceness with him at first despite the fact that you didn’t trust him as far as you could throw him, something he seemed to pick up on no matter how well you tried to hide it. In spite of being given a second chance of sorts, his bitterness at being ‘demoted’ and assigned to an exploratory ship was palpable and he never missed an opportunity to suggest he was better than his station. If you were being honest, he was likely right, but that hadn’t been enough to simply forget the damage he’d caused. He was lucky to be alive, let alone the head Doctor on any vessel.

As you turned a corner, the med bay doors slid open when you approached. You walked to the office in the corner of the room and found Dr Smith sitting at his desk, seemingly in the middle of paperwork.

“Doctor, I’m not sure if you heard the announcement, but we need all hands prepping stations for first contact. You’ll be a member of the landing par —”

“Yes, yes, I heard you,” he replied, waving a dismissive hand without once looking up at you.

“And yet, your team hasn’t begun to prep the med bay.”

“You’re blaming me for their incompetence?” he asked, finally looking at you.

“As their commanding officer, it’s your job to —”

“I know what my job is, Captain.”

You arched a brow at him. “Do you? Because it seems for the last year that you’ve been on this crew your time has been consumed with sulking like a spoiled child who had his candy taken from him.” You took a step closer to his desk until the edge was barely pressed into the legs of your trousers. “May I remind you, Doctor, that the United World Governments would’ve been in their right to send you to Lastrites for what you did on Jupiter II. As far as I’m concerned, you’re only here due to their willingness to have mercy.” You put a little more bass in your voice. “Now get up and instruct your team to prepare for first contact. I expect you to be in the shuttle hangar in five minutes.”

The corner of his lips curled into an amused smirk as he looked you over. “Very well, Captain.”

Turning on your heel, you left his office and went back to the bridge. “Callister, have you had a response yet?”

“Nothing yet, Captain. It appears the message has been on a running loop for the last twenty years. Harold was able to pinpoint where the signal was broadcasting from.”

Nodding, you reclaimed your chair and gave the order to your pilot to proceed to your destination.

The planet was a solid tan with slightly darker veins weaving all around it. There didn’t appear to be any form of life at all at first glance, something your chief scientist confirmed. After first double checking with your chief scientist that the planet had breathable air and gravity, you collected your first officer, second officer, and chief of security, leaving your chief engineer in command until you got back. As the four of you made your way to the shuttle hangar, your first officer leaned toward you.

“Everything go okay with Smith?”

You let out a sigh. “It’s incredible how he acts as if he didn’t try to assassinate an entire family and cause their ship to be stranded on a barren planet. If it weren’t for that little boy vouching for him, he’d be rotting away on Lastrites.”

“So it went smoothly,” she teased.

“If by ‘smoothly’ you mean I ripped him a new asshole and walked out; yeah, it went smoothly.”

Walking into the hangar, you were pleased to see Dr Smith already waiting there with his gear. He tipped his head at you and your first officer. “Captain. Commander.”

“Doctor,” you replied, walking past him into the shuttle. Once the five of you were buckled in, you took the shuttle down to the surface of the nearly barren planet.

“Might I ask why we’re even bothering to come down here when there is seemingly nothing to see?” Dr Smith asked.

“Oh come on, Zac,” your first officer said playfully. “I thought you’d like getting off the ship for a bit.”

“My name is Zachary, thank you very much,” he muttered to himself.

“Harold says there’s a small area of plants growing here,” you said, checking your portable navigation device. “Besides, we already know someone was here once. It’d be good to try to find out what happened.” You turned to look at him. “Any ideas, Doctor?”

Smith held your gaze for a moment before he looked around at the vast desert-like surface around them. “Well, assuming there was in fact life here, and not just someone that was stranded, my guess would be a lack of rain over a prolonged period, possibly coupled with a lack of other resources. No rain led to severe water shortages, which would lead to drought, crop failures and, of course, economic collapse. They might have been able to survive for sometime, but without the storms and rains, life would cease to exist.”

“But Harold said there was plant life here. How can that be if there’s been no rain?” your second officer asked as you held up your navigation device, turning in place to find which direction the small patch of plant life was.

“Maybe they had water reserves that they thought would last until they got help?”

“I imagine so, though it certainly would have run out before the plant life that is apparently growing here,” Smith replied.

“It’s this way,” you said, pocketing your device. “Keep your eyes open. I doubt we’ll find much that we wouldn’t have seen on the scanner, but you never know.”

The five of you began to walk through the dry, sandy desert until you came to a massive hill. Without much fanfare, you began to climb, your crew following behind, all except one.

“I think I’ll just wait for you down here then!” Smith called out, one hand over his eyebrows to shield the sun above.

“No, you won’t,” you replied, looking back down at him. “Start climbing or we’ll be taking one less person back onto the Phalanx.”

Smith grimaced, stepping forward and pausing for a moment before he too began to climb up the sand hill. You waited for him as the rest of your party continued their journey up, glaring at him as he reached you.

“We could’ve gone around,” he complained, passing you with great effort.

“And it would’ve taken us longer,” you answered. “Look at it this way; at least you’re getting in some exercise.”

He scoffed exhaustedly, grunting as he pulled himself up the hill. “I can think of much better things to be doing for cardio than this, Captain.”

You didn’t respond, only glancing up at him as you continued your climb behind him while trying not to look at his ass. For as much as you couldn’t stand Dr Smith in many ways, you could admit he was an attractive man. In fact, it was only when he opened his mouth and spoke that your attraction to him dimmed. Still, you weren’t about to give him any sort of upperhand by telling him that you thought he was handsome.

By the time you reached the top, you were all sweating profusely, each of you taking long gulps from your respective water cans as you took in the view. There was sandy terrain and other sand hills for miles, except for one vibrant green patch not far from where you were. It was a relief to not have to encounter anymore sand hills to reach it, and the five of you set off toward it, having to slide down on your bottoms after the hill became too steep.

“Well, I’ve got my workout in for the day,” Callister said with heavy breaths as you all reached the bottom.

“How is this even possible?” your first officer asked, taking a few steps towards the greenery.

There were some plants that normally grew in the desert; Prickly Pears, Desert Willows, Pindo Palms and others, but some were trees and plants that weren’t in any registry — likely plants that were native to the planet. But without water?

“As I said, these plants might have very well begun to grow after the society was eradicated. It’s possible this planet has seen some rain in the past few years, though clearly not enough to replenish the entire planet quite yet,” Dr Smith said, wiping beads of sweat from the back of his neck with a handkerchief. “It’s quite extraordinary actually. Most plants, without a water source, will die within a week, some after a few months. In this environment, I would expect the latter. The root will survive for quite a while afterward, but it will decompose over time. These clearly didn’t despite the dry heat and no rain for who knows how long — at least a decade though quite possibly longer. I’d like to take some samples back with us for testing.”

You nodded to him, reaching for your earpiece. “Harold, there’s nothing here. Just a bunch of plants and trees. Can you check for thermal signatures below the surface? I wonder if some people tried to go underground, away from the heat when it became too much.”

“Certainly, Captain.” you heard over your com.

Dr Smith was beginning to gather samples of all the plants, going from one to the other. He was approaching a smaller plant with what appeared to be bright yellow six-petal flowers, and went to cut one off but the stem wouldn’t give beneath the sheer blades. He tried again and again, with no luck. Finally, apparently fed up with trying, he instead took hold of the plant’s base and ripped it from the soil, blinking several times as the dirt beneath kicked up slightly. Sneezing twice, he gave a sniff and pulled out a sealant from his bag, wrapping it around the root, which had come out in his efforts.

Callister and your second officer were checking the perimeter of the green patch for any sources of water or indication of recent rain while your first officer took samples of the sand to take back to the ship.

“Captain, it appears you’re correct. About forty-seven feet South West from your current position, there are two distinct thermal signatures.”

“Can you tell if they’re human?”

“Negative. I would advise you to proceed with caution.”

“Copy that,” you answered, feeling a pair of eyes on you. When you looked up, Dr Smith was staring back at you, his gaze slowly lowering over your frame, as if he was taking you in. “You alright there, Doc?” you asked, slightly dipping your head to bring his eyes back to yours, all while ignoring the shiver that was trickling down your spine.

Smith cleared his throat, nodding curtly. “Just fine, Captain. Thank you.” He took a deep breath before he gestured to his backpack. “I’d like to get these back to the ship as soon as possible, so could we hurry it along?”

Rolling your eyes as Callister and Briggs came back, you nodded to them. “Anything?”

“Nothing that we could see,” Briggs answered. “Though there were some damp patches of ground on the North side of the greenery. It looks like a drying puddle, but no water left. Must’ve rained a few days ago, maybe a week.”

“It’s like the planet wiped out existing life to make way for new life,” your first officer mused, almost to herself.

“You say that like the planet is sentient,” you replied with a smirk.

“Well, no, obviously it’s not, but… it’s just interesting.”

“Harold said there are two thermal signatures less than fifty feet from here to the South West.”

“Human?” Callister asked.

“Unclear. But if there are people down there, we should bring them back to the Phalanx with us. Maybe we can give them some supplies or just drop them off at the next habitable planet. Callister, you mind taking the front?” you asked, earning a nod of affirmation from her. “Great, Briggs, you and Halster fall in behind us, and Doc?” You looked to find Dr Smith staring at your body again with what you could swear was a lustful look in his eyes. “Dr Smith,” you said again more firmly.

His eyes snapped up to yours in shock.

“You’ll walk between me and Halster, copy?”

He swallowed, nodding once.

“Alright, let’s move.”

The sun seemed to be getting closer to the planet, making the air drier and hotter than even the hottest summer you’d experienced back on Alpha Prime. Your skin was beginning to become pink with the beginnings of a sunburn, and for a moment you hoped the Dr had managed to find some aloe that you could use once you got back to the shuttle. Drinking from your water can, you couldn’t help but feel Smith’s eyes on you as the five of you trekked through the sandy expanse of the desert planet until your navigation device began to beep.

“It should be here,” you mumbled, looking around at the ground, but seeing nothing that stood out. Kicking some sand aside, you started to look for a latch, a lever, anything really to indicate an underground structure of some kind.

“Captain,” Callister whisper-yelled, waving you over and pointing down at the ground once you looked up at her.

Taking out your gun, you set it to stun and pointed it to the latch that was peeking out from beneath the sand. Slowly, Callister turned the handle, unlocking the latch with a thunderous snap, and carefully tugged it open.

“This is Captain YFN of the SS Phalanx! Is there anyone down there?” you called out.

“We’re here!”

The distant voice was accompanied by scurrying footsteps that grew in volume as they got closer to the opening. Your trigger finger relaxed, hands lowering slightly as a skinny man dressed in what looked like a burlap sack appeared beneath the open latch.

“Are either of you hurt?” you asked.

“My partner — she’s unconscious! Please!” he answered.

Glancing at Callister, you nodded once and looked back at the man. “Come on up, my security officer will go and get her.”

You could feel a pair of eyes behind you, staring so hard that it felt as though flames were licking every inch of your skin, even beneath your clothes. Looking over your shoulder, you found Dr Smith, his face and neck glistening with sweat as he appeared to undress you with his eyes. Heat bloomed on your cheeks, a shiver crackling down your frame as his stare met yours and held it.

Your first officer and the man were talking but their words were muffled by the intense staring contest you and the doctor were engaged in. It wasn’t until one of them touched your shoulder that you tore your eyes away from Dr Smith’s and looked to see Callister climbing up the ladder with an unconscious woman on her back. Your first officer and the man helped pull her out so that your security chief could climb out.

“She’s breathing, but her pulse is weak,” Callister said as she closed the hatch back up.

“Let’s get her back to the ship,” you replied.

It was another thirty minutes before you were finally back on the Phalanx, and it seemed Dr Smith was slowly going back to his normal, obnoxious self as he and Callister moved the unconscious woman to sick bay, while you and your first officer spoke with the man. Azile was his name, he had apparently been a scientist on the planet you and your party had just left.

He and his partner Dr. Shay had anticipated the drought just weeks before the last rainfall. According to him, they had tried to warn people, but their government refused to heed their warnings. They had built an underground shelter and put out a distress signal, hoping to reach someone before their civilization died of exposure and dehydration, but had heard nothing until the Phalanx answered their call.

“I was sure we would be dead in a matter of weeks if not days,” he said as a nurse checked him over. “We got little rain just last month, and it helped us stay alive a while longer than we would have, but by then everything else had died.”

“There was an area not far from where your bunker was. Plant life is beginning to grow back, but it’ll be years before it gets big enough to rebuild any form of civilization,” you said.

Azile’s eyes lowered, the corners of his lips drooping. “I expect you are correct.”

Glancing at your first officer, you said, “You’re welcome to both stay aboard the Phalanx. We can take you to the nearest UGW station, where they can help you get settled elsewhere.”

Azile cut his eyes to you. “You mean leave Copulas?”

“Is that the name of your planet?”

“Yes! And we cannot leave. It is our home —”

“I understand it may be difficult to —”

“I beg your pardon, Captain, but it is not so simple,” Azile said. “Unless you can take us somewhere where Flaming Blooms grow, we cannot survive anywhere but Copulas.”

“Flaming Blooms?” you asked, wondering if that was the name of the plant that Dr Smith had taken from the plant area of the planet.

“Yes. They grow year round, and are an essential part of our ecosystem. Dr Shay is more knowledgeable of the science behind it than I am, but I do know that without it to permeate the atmosphere, we will die.”

“What is it?” your first officer asked.

“Bright yellow Turnera Diffusa.”

Your first officer gave you a sideways glance, prompting you to clarify, “Flowers. Dr Smith collected a sample of one.”

“It keeps our air safe to breathe. It is also what allows us to procreate year round,” Azile replied.

“Captain?”

Looking over your shoulder, you looked back at Dr Smith, who looked more like his usual self.

“Dr Shay is awake,” he said. “She’s asking for Azile.”

“I’m all finished here,” the nurse said. “He’s cleared to go.”

Nodding to the nurse, you gave Azile a tight smile. “We can take you to see her.”

After leaving Azile with Dr Shay, you turned to your first officer and Dr Smith.

“What do you think? We can’t just leave them here, right?”

“Not now anyway,” your first officer replied. “There’s no telling how long it’ll take for the planet to become habitable again. They could be in that bunker for years.”

You turned to Dr Smith as if to ask for his input.

“It may be possible to leave them with something that could accelerate the plant-growth,” he said, his eyes lingering for a moment on the two rescued scientists. “I’d like to perform some tests on the samples I brought back first.”

“They said that the flower you brought back keeps their air breathable,” you replied. “Start there.”

“Perhaps you can leave the science to myself and the other scientists, Captain,” he snarked.

“Good to see you back to your usual charming self, Doctor,” you quipped back.

The corner of his lips twitched, as though he’d had an urge to smile but stopped himself. Without another word, he turned and left in the direction of his lab.

You had contacted the UWG immediately after returning to the bridge, explaining the situation and informing them that you would be remaining in orbit for a few hours while the two Copulians recovered enough to return to their planet. You were authorized to leave them with enough supplies to accelerate the plant growth and begin rebuilding their ecosystem. Just as you were wondering how they would be able to rebuild their society, Harold informed you of three other heat signatures detected below the planet’s surface. In the end, six more Copulians had been rescued.

It had only been an hour since you’d left Dr Smith to his testing when his voice sounded in your ear piece.

“Captain.”

“Everything alright, Doctor?”

“I’ve found something that you may want to have a look at,” he answered.

“Copy that,” you said, looking at your first officer.

“Go ahead, I’ve got the bridge,” she said with a nod.

Nodding back, you stood and began to make your way to the lab, where you found Dr Smith leaned over the plant that Azile had identified as a Flaming Bloom. He glanced up at you, looking you over before returning his attention to the flower in front of him.

“The other plant life seem to be nutrients, likely what they ate when the planet was fully functioning. This one, however, as you… so eloquently put, indeed is what allows the inhabitants to breathe the air.”

“How is it that we were able to breathe even though there was so little of it?” you asked.

“I wondered the same thing, and so I ordered some blood samples and scans from our visitors and ran some tests. It seems that though their biological make-up is similar to our own, they differ in one area greatly. Their lungs have a sort of additional glan, which I believe stores the particles that emit from this particular flower. If they spend too much time without it, their lungs would collapse.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

He arched a brow up at you. “While their lungs have the ability to filter and store the particles from this flower, our lungs do not have the gland necessary to do the same. If we breathe too much of it, it enters directly into our bloodstream and triggers a response from the central nervous system, specifically the hypothalamus.”

“English, please.”

“The hormone control center,” he replied. “It governs desires, lubrication, and arousal.”

Your brows shot up above your eyes. That certainly explained why Dr Smith had been looking at you the way he had back on the planet. “Azile mentioned something about it being how they’re able to procreate.”

“Fascinating,” he mumbled to himself. “I wonder if any of them would be willing to stay and provide additional data for me to study.”

“You mean become your lab rat?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn't put it so crudely, Captain. I’m sure the UWG would be delighted to know more about this new species as much as I would.”

“Maybe you could ask them if they’ve done any research themselves then,” you replied. “I’m sure they don’t differ very much from humans in that regard.”

His upper lip curled briefly into a snarl that was gone before it even fully formed. “I suppose that would suffice. In the meantime,” he turned back to the flower and began to try and remove the bud, “I can continue to run tests on this sample to determine what else it may be —”

A small poof of pollen floated into the air as the bulb was removed, wafting under his nose and causing him to sneeze several times. He screwed his eyes shut and quickly shook his head before he moved it onto a petri dish.

“What else it may be capable of,” he said, sniffling once.

“Alright then,” you answered, a slight dizzy spell coming over you as the pollen particles drifted toward where you were standing. You took a breath to steady yourself just before a shiver ran over your frame, heat building beneath your collar.

Your mind kept telling you to go back to the bridge, but your feet would not cooperate, keeping you planted in place as the heat beneath your collar spread to your chest. Your nipples hardened under your uniform as Dr Smith turned to face you with that look in his eyes again.

“What is it?” you asked as a tingle began to bloom inside you. Your heart pounded in your ears, drowning out much of anything happening outside the lab, and air thickened around you.

“Captain,” he said breathlessly, taking a few cautious steps toward you. “It seems as though I’ve… inhaled the pollen. Perhaps it’s best that you return to the bridge for the time being.”

“I can’t.”

“You…”

“I think I may have breathed some in, too,” you replied, your voice nearly unrecognizable.

As much as you had managed to ignore your attraction to him before, now it was all you could see. The contrast between the brightness of his eyes and the darkness of his closely cropped hair, and the way his goatee framed his lips made you still. As he took another couple of steps toward you, your heart quickened, a flutter of what must have been butterfly’s wings blooming in your belly. Despite your attempts to avoid doing so, your eyes lowered to drink him in, pausing when they fell below his belt at the bulge that was forming there.

“I insist that you go back to the bridge,” he said, his voice a bit more husky than before. His eyes still lingered on your body as he continued to move toward you, and he slowly licked his lips as he came to stand toe to toe with you, swallowing thickly. “Immediately, before I… Well, I’m just not entirely sure that I’m able to control myself at the moment.”

Your chest was visibly rising and falling with every deep breath that you took. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea for me to be around other crew members while under the influence of this…” His scent suddenly overpowered your sensibilities, drawing you closer to him until your chest and his were but a hair's breadth apart. “How do we fix this, Doctor?”

His gaze flickered down to your lips, the pulse in his neck throbbing visibly. “Well, considering that these particles are what allow the Copulians to procreate, I might hypothesize that coitus would remedy the effects.”

“So if we were to fuck, we’d be back to normal,” you replied, the heat beneath your collar slowly beginning to cool.

“That or… we simply wait until our bodies burn it off. For you that may be only a few moments. I, unfortunately, inhaled quite a bit more than I did while we were rescuing the Copulians. It may therefore remain in my system for a longer period.”

You could feel the overwhelming lust leaving your system, still a small amount lingered, stoking the fire in the pit of your stomach that burned hotter with every moment that passed. You realized that although you always pretended otherwise, your attraction for the doctor was beginning to seep through, clouding the annoyance you harbored for him. His eyes really were breathtaking. If he hadn’t been such an arrogant prick, you might’ve slept with him a long time ago.

“Well, I can’t exactly leave you in this state,” you said, the butterfly wings in your belly still fluttering insistently. It might’ve been the pollen particles that had broken through your stubbornness, but now that your attraction to him had tasted oxygen, it refused to be put back into a box.

“Well then… perhaps… won’t you help me? Please?” His hands were balled into fists and seemed to be resisting the urge he had to touch you.

As the corner of your lips curled up on one side, you broke the touch barrier, winding your arms around his neck and bringing him flush against you and your lips pressed to his. He moaned into your kiss, his large hands holding you to him by the waist as he tilted his head and pushed you up against the wall behind you. You could feel his erection pressed hard against your hip and arched your lower back to push back against it while your hands busied themselves with unzipping the front of his jacket.

“There’s no bed in the lab,” he mumbled against your lips.

“Who cares? Just fuck me, Doc,” you answered, pushing his jacket off his shoulders and tugging on his shirt next.

He seemed just as desperate to rid you of your clothes and a few flurried moments later, you were both topless, with your pants down to your knees. His head dipped to encase a hard nipple in his mouth, one hand massaging the other between two fingers. Groaning, you arched toward him, one hand holding his head to your chest while the other slowly reached between you to wrap your hand around his erection.

Turning you to face the wall, he reached between your legs and groaned against your neck when he felt your slippery folds.

“Fuck!” he hissed against your neck.

“Yes, Doctor,” you groaned, rocking back against his hot erection. “Please.”

You whimpered when his fingers left you, gasping loudly when you felt the head of his cock sliding through your slit, looking for your entrance. Mewling when he pressed against it, you held your breath as he pushed into you, moaning in an exhale as he slid fully inside. He groaned when his hips met your ass, leaning against you until his lips brushed over your ear.

“Call me Zachary,” he whispered.

“Oh Zachary,” you sighed as he pulled back slowly before pushing back in.

He groaned in your ear, his hips building up to a steady pace while his hands moved to grab your hips, pulling you to him. His hips clapped against your ass, growing louder and louder as his thrusts became more insistent, demanding. This wasn’t about exploring the undeniable attraction between the two of you, this was about getting off, as quickly as possible.

The thought made your muscles tighten around him as a tingle swelled between your legs. You moaned helplessly, the side of your face slowly leaning against the wall in front of you as your eyes closed and your hips arched back. The cold, solid surface on your cheek did little to cool your burning skin, and sent a shiver down to your nipples. Fingers curling against the wall, you scratched against the surface as your breaths fell in time with each snap of his hips. His thick cock stimulated every inch of your tunnel, exciting the various nerve endings and driving you toward an orgasm quicker than you anticipated. Your walls pulsing around him again, you whined as he sunk all the way inside you, pressing forward until your hips moved toward the wall. You tried to spread your feet further apart, but your pants — still around knees — wouldn’t allow it, making the ache in your pussy build more.

“Captain, you feel so good,” he purred in your ear, earning another moan from you.

“Y/N,” you replied weakly, tilting your head toward his. “You need to hurry, I have to get back to the bridge.”

He groaned in his throat as his hands slid up your ribcage to massage your breasts. “I would love nothing more than to take my sweet time with you, Y/N.”

He gently pinched and twisted your nipples as he nibbled on your earlobe, his hips grinding against your ass.

“Later,” you answered, trying to rock your hips back against him.

Grunting in your ear, he moved his hands back to your waist, using his leverage to move you hard and fast on him. The new pace sparked more nerve endings inside you, quickly building you up toward the edge as a firm, staccato clap joined the sounds of heavy breathing and throaty moans. Flattening your hands on the wall, you tried to keep yourself in place, hoping that in doing so it would allow for his thrusts to hit you harder and send you over the edge. The tingles that had spread to your clit finally reached its peak, and you held your breath in anticipation.

One of his hands left your waist and found your hardened nub, rubbing tight circles over it. You gasped, your muscles throbbing with the orgasm that washed over you.

“Oh yes, Y/N!” he groaned, quickening his pace and following you into release.

He thrust through his orgasm, continuing to stimulate both of you as your tunnel milked his cock. With one final push all the way to the hilt, he panted against your ear, his fingers still on your clit while his erection kept his spend inside you. Your pussy still hugged him, as if trying to squeeze every last drop out of him. If it had been up to you, you would’ve stayed exactly as you were, pressed against each other with his long, thick cock deep inside you for much longer. But after a few blissful moments of riding the aftershocks of release, reality began to set back in. Your muscles squeezed him defiantly at the thought of you needing to get back to work.

Opening your eyes, you savored the feeling of him filling you completely a bit longer before whispering, “I should get back to the bridge.”

He nodded against your shoulder, his heavy breaths warm against your skin as his finger grazed your clit one last time, earning a gasp. His cock slowly retreated, making you whimper at the loss as your muscles engaged, trying to keep his release inside you while you bent slightly to pull your pants back up. Turning toward him as you both got redressed, you stared at each other, still catching your respective breaths. Where before, the sight of him annoyed you to no end, now you wanted nothing more than to spend the next several hours mapping the span of his body, of which you’d only seen so much of.

“Obviously, you’re not to breathe a word of this to anyone, Doctor,” you said, trying to regain some semblance of authority.

The smirk that appeared on his lips didn’t help. “Of course, Captain.”

“And use a mask if you’re going to continue running tests on that flower,” you added, tugging at the hem of your jacket after you’d zipped it up.

“Yes, certainly,” he replied with a single nod.

You turned to leave the lab when he stopped you with a hand on your elbow.

“Um…”

Turning back to face him, he stepped up to you and pulled you into a firm kiss, humming against your lips before he pulled his head back to look at you.

“Permission to visit your quarters this evening, Captain?”

You arched a brow though it did little hide the lust in your eyes. Swallowing thickly, you gave a curt nod and cleared your throat. “That would be fine if you prefer to give me the latest update on your testing, Doct—”

“Oh come off it, Y/N,” he interrupted gently, the backs of his fingers sliding against your cheek affectionately. “I know you felt what I felt just then. I want you again without having the need to rush.” His fingers grazed down your neck, his eyes following the movements before coming back to look into yours. There was a warmth in them that you never imagined you would see in Dr Zachary Smith, and yet there it was, gentle and sincere.

Not knowing what to say, you rocked forward and kissed him, humming against his lips when he cradled your face in both hands and kissed you back. Reluctantly pulling away, you silently nodded.

You took a small step back, breaking your contact. “I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Yes, Captain,” he answered, one corner of his lips slightly curled up.

You turned and left the lab, running a hand through your hair as you made your way back to the bridge. When you were back sitting in the Captain's chair was when you felt the evidence of what had just happened dripping onto the seat of your panties, and you smiled to yourself.

*request from this NSFW prompt list

#lost in space #dr zachary smith #gary oldman #fanfic #there are some elements from the orville universe #i had way too much fun writing this #thank you the request!

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aquaquadrant · 1 year

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Thinking about what kinds of foods Timmy and Tango could reasonably have access to: As well as rotten flesh and spider eyes, a mob farm set up for player kills would also occasionally drop carrots and potatoes. In addition, it would occasionally spawn chicken jockeys. If they have access to moss and moss-replaceable-blocks, they would also have access to wheat and seeds (so chicken + eggs eventually), plus sticks for fishing rods, and if they had access to any water sources that means fish

OHHH… this is so fun to think about. there’s a lot of little nuances to hels that make survival difficult (ramble incoming)

so a mob farm would be a great source of food- if a player can gather enough resources and space to build one, and it’s left undisturbed long enough to actually be used. for tango and timmy, who can’t stay in one place for very long, it’s not really an option.

in fact, for most of hels, mob farms are a tall order. lots of hels players will grief one as soon as they see it; it’s like an anarchy server that way. the only way to make one is to be part of a relatively structured community that enforces rules on its citizens, such as new helington, or to go so far into the wilds of hels that no one else disturbs you (and i’m talking like, HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of blocks away from spawn).

water is a bit tricky. hels isn’t the nether in that water still exists and can be placed down, but natural sources of water are scarce. rivers and lakes tend to be lava more often than not, and oceans are extremely rare. but hels players can fish from them! tango and timmy have fish in the little drabble i did. the issue is that in hels, fish will not spawn in an artificially-created water source. so if you filled a bunch of buckets up with water and made an artificial pond somewhere else, it wouldn’t spawn fish. this makes the few oceans a hotspot for activity, which is quite dangerous (as tango and timmy found out).

now, crops. crops can technically grow in hels, like in the nether, but they don’t grow very well. the soil has a tendency to revert back to dirt and even with water nearby, growth is extremely slow. hels is a pretty hostile environment to plants (all the grass and trees are kinda brown and wilted, except for crimson and warped forests which thrive). it’s more complicated than tilling some dirt next to water; in order to create the right conditions for crops to grow, you need a well-controlled greenhouse- which again, isn’t an option for many players.

building off that, grass has an extremely rare chance of dropping seeds when broken, due to the poor nutritional value of the dirt. beetroot is basically extinct (not that it’s a huge loss). moss is a great source for those who can find some, but- unsurprisingly- lush caves are rare, too. tango and timmy certainly haven’t come across one.

and finally, the animal problem. you know how in the life series, the players would kill all the animals on day one, and then no more animals would ever spawn? i think it has something to do with chunk loading, and that applies in hels, too. there are so many players in hels (it’s an infinite world that gains new players frequently and no one ever really leaves) so the chunks clustered around spawn are always being loaded by someone. players have to go to very distant unloaded chunks to find animals, and it’s risky to bring any back; there’s a high chance of them being killed by fire, lava, fall damage, hostile mobs, and even other players out of spite- if they can’t be easily stolen.

CHICKEN JOCKEYS. SMART. if you have a player-kill mob farm operated by someone actually paying attention, you could successfully extract the chicken and, after a few eggs are laid, have a proper chicken farm. i’m sure new helington has one of those set up, as does any other community that’s able to have a mob farm.

in a nutshell, i’m sure there are a few successful farms (mob, crop, and animal) located way, waaaaaay out there in hels, created by players that fled to the less populated chunks. but for the majority of the population, who are more concentrated around the spawn chunks, the options are limited to hostile mob drops (cause hostile mobs still spawn everywhere) or having a secure food supply from someone powerful in an organized community (ie. new helington gets its main food supply from hels!vintage beef, who works with alisker in return for protection for his cow herd).

PHEW. thanks for the chance to ramble B)

#hels to pay au #HTP worldbuilding #you might be thinking ‘wow a lot of this seems unnecessarily difficult- like hels was designed this way just to be mean’#and you would be right

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soraviie · 1 year

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At some point in this new life of yours, you've slipped into a parallel dimension where everything looks like as you know it but doesn't act like it. Because how come you're walking side by side with the love of your life and the air is shrouded by a frigid silence. How come, out of all the people in the world, it is the wall-like bodyguard, Kwang-min, that is urging you to talk?

"Sir, perhaps you should listen _____________ out?" he suggests, trailing slightly behind as he escorts you both back to the car.

"If ___________ wants to say something, they can tell me so much themselves."

His answer by now is nothing short of expected but still you can't concel the flinch that comes hearing the sharpness of his tone. Naturally, receiving such a curt reply Kwang -min, the teddy bear of a man and your most favourite of all the Jimin's bodyguards turns to you, expectant. But...Jimin started it.

"Please, tell Mr Park that I have nothing to say to him. I'd find a spider infested wall crack a more pleasurable company than I do of him."

From the corner of the eye, you can see how unkindly Jimin's eyes glimmer underneath the neon-lit streets. His jaw is ticked and he stalks forward, clearly mad out of his mind. Admittedly, calling him with such distant title outside of bedroom activities was a low blow. Still, you've grown obstinate about this whole thing and every single interaction with this annoying, aggravating, extremely complicated man has been grating your nerves to a pulp.

"They said—"

"I heard," Jimin interrupts with an irate hiss. "Thank you, Kwang-min."

Even the well-meaning bodyguard gives up.

Nearing the SUV you weigh on your options. Spending another intensely silent ride with Jimin at the end of a tiresome night of pretending everything to be alright was exhausting already to think of, so when he grabs the handle of the door, you linger back, letting Kwang-min run into you.

"Are you alright?" he asks you concerned but you brush his anxiety away, easily faking a smile. You've been doing a lot of those.

"Just fine. I think I'll take the taxi instead."

Immediately, sweat makes fine beads on top of the poor man's forehead. You know as well as he while he's technically employed as Jimin's bodyguard, Jimin himself would personally chew off his head if anything should happen to you. Or at least he would have. Now...with a sad feeling washing over you, you fully realize that now you're not so certain anymore.

"That's not safe," his mouth makes a diplomatic suggestion while the eyes plead. You know that look.

Years back, in the right dimension if you will, he used to give you that look as you came bouncing back home from your "unsupervised dates with yourself" a.k.a. you broke Jimin's rules of not going out without a bodyguard. When the news broke of him dating, it was a massacre, not a literal one thankfully, and he'd been worried sick about you. You don't know what Jimin told Kwang-min that one time he'd caught you sneaking back home with a lollipop in between teeth and clearly with no bodyguard in sight but since then the kind-hearted giant had lived in sheer terror. Regardless that after marrying Jimin, the public had calmed down a bit, you were more than certain they would rejoice hearing that there were problems in the paradise. That there was a possibility of your husband not loving you anymore.

"I'll manage," you shrug, fiddling carelessly with the ends of your thin jacket. A bit cold for the night but it looked the best. Tonight the duty called and you had to hold your husband's hand and smile for the cameras. Some kind of movie premiere not that you gave a fuck. If only they knew you'd both go back home and head straight into your separate bedrooms, not exchanging a single word between here and there.

Needless to say, it'd been deathly quiet in your home.

"Please consider," poor Kwang-min looks close to tears but you really can't stand any more of this anger.

"No, I—"

"____________ get in the fucking car or help me God," Jimin suddenly growls, the decisive wrath in his tone cutting any and all debates you could have had. A moment passes where both of you simply glare at each other but in the end, begrudgingly but still, you relent.

As expected — silence.

Listlessly, you gaze out of the tinted window until a sneeze rips out of you.

"Bless you," comes your husband's quiet greeting and you nod in acknowledgment of it. Koreans didn't typically use "bless you" but you suppose after all these years of being together, something has rubbed off on him and as nothing follows this small interruption of the ongoing cold war, you disregard the small phrase being anything else other than force of habit he'd picked up from you.

You close the doors to your bedroom with a deeply miserable sigh, sensing an itch at the back of your throat. Just what you needed. When the tepid knock trembles your door, you're in the middle of trying to get the zipper open at your back and occupied by the task, you forget to tell him to fuck off.

"Come in."

Changed into his homewear, Jimin slides in, holding a steaming mug. Your favourite mug in fact. Though his expression remains impassive you can smell the concontion he's holding in his hand. Honey, ginger, lemon. A medicine for an oncoming cold.

Wordlessly, he sets it down onto the nearby desk.

"Thanks," you bid, suddenly meek.

"Do you need help with that?" he croaks, suspiciously raspy, pointing at where your fingers still try to reach for the damn zipper.

You nod and turn your back to him, every nerve in your body jolting with repeated flashes of anticipation. It was some new-age blouse your stylist had thrust onto you. The woman was nuts and you never met her outside those times where you had to make a public appearance but in this moment you praised her choice of clothing. Just the faintest of brushes of Jimin's fingers has you reeling, wholly grasping how isolating the dragged out fight had been for these past two weeks. You hear him suck in a breath as inch by inch your back is revealed. As if you hadn't fucked raw every other day.

"Done," he coughs awkwardly, taking a step back and you hold the shirt so that it doesn't slip away entirely.

"Thank you."

In the low light his eyes catalogue through a variety of emotions. It's so much to consider, too much and you see him swallow, gaze flickering unsurely all over your face. In the end he settles on simply wishing good night.

"Love you," he adds, in the still moment between where the door is open and shut, half-glacing at you over his shoulder.

yeah I kind of outsold with this one

#bts x reader #bts angst #bts drabbles #bts drabble #jimin angst #jimin x reader #jimin x you #jimin x y/n #file/picture series/jimin #jimin scenarios #bts scenarios #jimin drabble

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ttrpg-smash-pass-vs · 6 months

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So, this isn't actually the Dybbuk's real form. They're demons that possess corpses, the real form looks like a sort of jellyfish. Below is a 3e depiction, which is kinda cheating but it's all I've got. They're telepathic jellyfish demons that love making people scared or nauseous. They try to spend all thier time in the prettiest corpses they can find, entirely so they can freak people out by mutilating it (then fixing it up to do it again).

Maybe "violence" or "gore" was a bit strong of a tag, but it was the best of the options I know. Being here for minotaur and spiders and tentacle monsters doesn't necessarily mean you're here for this....Ok I guess if you're here for tentacle monsters this technically counts, but whatever.

#cw gore #cw body horror #cw mutilation #dybbuk #dnd #dnd5e #DnD 5e #d&d #smash or pass #5e #monsters of the multiverse #mpmm

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biitchcakes · 5 months

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Ideas for a FALLOUT verse :

i'm gonna ramble here but i wanna get What I'm Thinking out.

OPTION 1 :

Jessica's Fallout story is very similar to how her life starts now ⸺ only, instead of Hydra that's employed her parents, it's the Institute. Researchers in genetics that would be very interested in some Big Brain Biologists like the Drews. Perhaps they're wanted for their research into irradiated spiders ( we don't see any mutated spiders iirc?? so like, maybe they survived pretty unaffected, stayed normal, and maybe that's why they're being researched on? 🤷‍♀️ ), or perhaps not and they're just normal biologists and one of them is more than willing to use their daughter as a genetic guinea pig.

She's poked and prodded at as a child, perhaps even still while she's developing within the womb. She's got a slight immunity to radiation ( decently so, but not entirely safe from it as i'm not looking to Ghoulify the gal ).

Does this make her some sort of mutant by Fallout standards? Just lacking the FEV? Something instead of the FEV, really. I suppose, sorta kinda. And I might touch on that.

OPTION 2 :

I mean, I mean, look at Fallout 4's main storyline and look at what's happening to her in her comics right now ⸺ her son is abducted by an evil organisation, goes on a wild hunt and stops at nothing to find him. ( Replaying the game rn with her as a character, and every time she sadly says something like "I need to find my son, they've abducted my boy" it's a GUT PUNCH ⸺ TOO REAL RN )

I'd make her married to someone random, and I'd rename Shaun to Gerry.

If I go this route, a more Fallout 4-esque story not a one for one, I'm gonna work her being a detective for Nick Valentine in there somehow. I can't not do that. Everything else is so perfect already, how can I leave that out too? ( in his Raggedy Ass Columbo Jacket and all <3 )

Either way, some KEY THINGS I wanna hit:

She's a bounty hunter.

Her weapons of choice? Modified biker gloves charged with fusion cells, looks like lil electrified balls firing as she uses them. As well as a pistol fitted with a laser attachment that she's affectionately named her Venom Blaster. ( Think Pew Pew from FO:NV. ) I was gonna go with knuckle dusters but I like the biker gloves more. Suits her. Plus that means she's got some sort of range on them like she would her real venom blasts. How do they work technically? I'll get there.

In lieu of her pheromones, she's got high as all hell charisma. Could charm the dew right off a honeysuckle. And, if possible, some way to work in the Black Widow perk from New Vegas, 3 & 4.

She'll be younger than she is now ⸺ instead of being typically 28 - 32, I'm taking her down to 24 - 28.

There's a brief, and I mean very brief, period of time in the comics where she smokes. I'm bringing that back for this verse. Pay her in caps, or depending on the job, a pack of smokes. If you wanna gain some points toward her good side, bring her a pack out of the blue.

Still from London, but her parents move to the States at some point before the bomb.

#idk been tossing around things in The Old Noggin #maybe i'll have multiple verses *who's to say*#*who's gonna stop me even*#if u read this - what a champ u are #bless u thank u 😘#i might reblog this with more ideas later #( o o c . )

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blooming-violets · 1 year

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Creature Like Me || Chapter Three: All Kinds of Gray

[TASM Peter Parker!Werewolf AU]

Summary: Kraven and his guild of hunters have been tracking and quelling the werewolf population for centuries. The time has come for Aylin to complete her first solo hunt to prove herself to the guild. It was supposed to be simple. One wolf, one death, one victory. She never expected to end up with a secret hostage on her hands.

Chapter Three Warnings: disturbing depiction of young captured woman, forced female nudity, mention of torture, mention of a deceased father and older brother

[link to chapter index]

“Welcome to your new sanctuary.”

Peter carefully walked around the abandoned 70’s camper. It had sat parked in the depths of the forest about 5 miles from Aylin’s home off a dirt service road. The road hadn’t been used in years thanks to a few fallen trees. Her car was parked at the top of the road and the two of them had made the slow walk down the overgrown path in silence.

A creek trickled behind the forgotten vehicle and emptied out into a quiet pond. It was hot and stuffy inside, the air feeling muggy in her throat, and sweat beading up on her forehead. A gnat buzzed in her ear which she lazily swatted at.

“You can open the windows if you want,” she offered. “They don’t open up very wide but any air flow will be better than nothing.”

Peter nodded, giving her a timid look, “Is-uh-is this yours? I mean, is this where you live?”

Aylin smiled, finding his questions humorous, “No. This is not where I live. You are not allowed to be where I live. My poor mother would have a heart attack if she saw a werewolf enter our home.” She gave a sigh and slid into the moth eaten, yellow plaid dinette booth. She motioned for Peter to sit across the table from her. In another world, they would have resembled nothing more than two people on a camping trip. “My dad bought this camper for us when I turned 16. I think it was supposed to be my birthday present but also something for the family. We-” She hesitated, quickly adding. “-never ended up using it. I parked it here a few years ago and used it as my own personal getaway from everyone. No one but me knows that it’s here. It should be safe.”

“It smells like you in here,” he whispered.

Aylin frowned. All she could smell was the forest after a night of heavy rain wafting in through the open door. It was one of her favorite scents. It brought the comfort of home.

“Well, like I said, I’m the only person who ever uses it. There’s a bed in the back. It’s comfier than it looks. Pillows and blankets are there, too. You might want to give them a shake outside to scare off any spiders.” She thought about what else she could add to the conversation. “It no longer runs so don’t even try to get it started. Some mice moved into the engine and chewed up a bunch of stuff. But I like to sit in the passenger seat with the window down, stare out at the pond, and listen to the forest talk to me.”

Peter’s eyes drifted to the front of the camper, scanning through the dirt streaked windshield. A soft, peaceful smile rested on his lips.

“It’s perfect,” he sighed. “Anything is better than staring at a dark wall.”

“So, about that,” Aylin chewed on the calloused, hard skin around her thumbnail. “You’re not a prisoner here. I mean, technically you could leave at any point. I’m not going to chain you in or anything. But, if you do choose to sneak away, you better be careful. These forests are crawling with hunters. They will find you and it won’t be a pleasant death. You’re in their territory now. You saw the drive out here. There’s nothing around for miles apart from the Silver Colts. If you stay here, though, I can keep you safe. I can feed you and make sure no one heads out in this direction. You can live out the rest of your days in relative comfort, admiring the view, and eating nice food until I have what I need. I’d say it’s the better option of the two but that’s for you to decide.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Peter said as if it should have been obvious. He was sticking with her. His mind was made up.

She gave a steady nod, “Good. There’s no bathroom in here but you’re an uncivilized animal so I’m sure you’re used to going outside.” There was a sharp edge of prejudice to her tone.

Peter flinched at that but stayed silent with his eyes locked on the skinny table between them. He would not bite the hand that fed him.

“I have some books in the cabinet beside the bed you can read if you get bored. If you can even read. Uh, there’s an old rope hammock down by the pond. It’s always a gamble if it’ll still hold your weight or not but it's a nice spot to relax if the camper gets too hot. As of last year, there were no leeches in the water so feel free to use it as a way to clean yourself and cool down. I’ll bring you food once a day. Probably around the evening or early mornings. Whichever I can manage. Today you’ll have to go hungry because I know I won’t be able to leave tonight once I return back to the guild.”

He gave a nonchalant shrug, “Used to it.”

“And no making fires! That’s basically signaling to everyone around exactly where you are. Just stay calm, relax, sleep, go pick some wild blueberries, roll in the dirt…I don’t know what you dogs like to do. I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t wander too far.” She should probably attempt to be nicer so he’d be more likely to stay. “Please.”

He smirked at the grumble she made after. Like being kind to a werewolf was the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.

“I’ll be here,” he promised.

“Oh, thank the sun, you’ve returned!”

Her mother, Nesrin, leaped from her spot on the couch. She had been dozing off with a half knitted scarf in her lap. She would only ever knit when she needed to soothe an anxious mind. Her wooden knitting needles bounced off the hardwood floor and rolled after her as she ran towards her daughter. She hadn’t properly slept since Aylin left.

Seeing her beloved mother after everything she went through nearly brought her to her knees. Aylin crumbled into her warm embrace. She felt like she was five years old again and searching for her mother’s comfort after a scraped knee. The pressing defeat of failure in her task finally came crashing down around her. Without the heart, she had no proof of her kill. She wouldn’t be able to complete the ritual.

“I think I messed up,” she tried to hold the tears back but her voice was thick with sadness.“ I couldn’t get the heart. It all went wrong. There was no time. Sergei is going to be upset. I couldn’t finish what I started.”

“Hush,” Nesrin soothed her. “Don’t mind that now. None of that matters. All is well. You are alive. You are home and in my arms. Come in. Take off your jacket. Are you hurt?”

Aylin sniffled, reluctantly pulling back from the hug, and wiping her eyes, “No. I’m okay. I’m not hurt. Just a failure.”

“No child of mine is a failure,” Nesrin scolded.

They both knew once Sergei caught wind that she had returned, she would get no time to rest. Her mother, with her thick, long raven colored hair, the hair that Aylin knew so well, ushered her into the house. Not even time could steal the rich color from her locks. Aylin admired the way stray pieces flailed out behind her when she walked like she was creating her own breeze wherever she went. She was happy to finally be home.

“My lips are sealed, Linny. No one will get their hands on you until I’ve deemed it time. I’m going to draw you a bath. I’ll wash your hair just like I used to and you can tell me everything that happened. After that, I am going to tuck you into bed and you are going to nap. Only after that will I allow anyone to know of your return.” She gave her daughter a light swat against the bum, urging her towards the bathroom.

She couldn’t help but smile. Leave it to her mother to try and put Sergei in his place.

“Alright, alright,” Aylin laughed. Her mood was already changing. Nesrin had that effect on people. She was the sun to Aylin’s moon. “I’m going.” She turned around, walking backwards, with a glint of excitement in her eyes. “Guess what? I killed two wolves yesterday. Two of them! The whole pack unexpectedly showed up and tried to rip me apart but I got out. I survived. Even if I didn’t get what I went there for.”

Her mother gasped in horror, placing a hand over the golden sun pendant dangling on a delicate chain around her neck. It was an old Christmas gift from Aylin’s father. Nesrin never took it off.

“You are going to be the death of me, child. Come into the bathroom and tell me all about it.”

“Our mighty huntress has returned from her first solo battle!”

Sergei’s voice boomed out over the crowd. He stood on top of a wooden platform in the middle of their small town square. A large bonfire roared in front of him. Warm orange glowed over his face, creating a dance of shadows and light to give him a hellish, demonic look. He looked massive up there. Powerful. Almost godlike.

The guild members stood in a wide circle around the fire as they watched their fearless leader. Tables had been set up off to the side with drinks and food. The live band silenced their instruments to allow Sergei to speak. A party was always thrown after a trainees first hunt, if they survived, that is. It was a right of passage. A celebrated sacred honor. Their traditions date back centuries.

After her nap and a home cooked meal, Sergei was alerted to her return. He spent the rest of the afternoon one on one with her, going over every detail of her hunt. He wasn’t as disappointed as she thought he would be about the lack of heart. In fact, he seemed to be the complete opposite. Almost as if he was glad she failed. When she mentioned the whole pack suddenly showing up, he insisted that she had done the correct thing in getting out of there. She told him everything exactly how it happened…minus the existence of Peter. She had surveyed the camp, stalked Sierra down, severed her spine, watched her turn, then took her life. The sound of her gun shot must have alerted the pack to the danger. They came running. She had just enough time to get back to her car, killing another wolf as a distraction, and managed to escape. She spent the night at a motel to get some sleep before returning home. That was it. The entire story. Most of it, anyway.

“Did you manage to see anything else while you were there?” He had asked. “Did you find any of their secrets? Did you have time to look around? What did you find?” His questions were backed with an impassioned, deliberate intent. She thought of Peter and wondered if Sergei knew more than he was letting on.

“No,” she lied. “Nothing at all. There was nothing else there. It was just an old camp.”

Sergei had clasped his heavy hand on her back and gave a booming laugh. It had a hollow sound to it and she got the impression he was putting on a show to mask his disappointment. He had expected her to find something important at Eagle Peak.

Or someone.

He gave her two hours to herself before the party would begin. During that time, Nesrin had plaited a thick, single fishtail braid down her daughters back and tied a black bow to the end. She tugged out a few strands in the front, giving them a loose curl to help frame her face. Aylin chose to wear a simple, black midi dress that hung down to her mid calf and sat snuggly around her waist. She paired it with a gray cardigan and her favorite chunky, black platform boots. They made her seem taller and helped downplay the outfit to be more casual.

“I wish you’d try wearing some color for once,” Nesrin huffed as she looked over Aylin’s appearance. “The black darkens your beautiful eyes. It takes away some of their light.”

“I’m still in mourning,” she replied with a dull voice.

Her mother rolled her eyes, “That was five years ago, Lin. The dressing like you’re in mourning period is over. Are you sure you don’t want to borrow one of my sweaters? I have that beautiful deep red one. It would just pop against your skin. Or the yellow. Oh, you know how I love that yellow one.”

Aylin rubbed her fingers over her temple. The party was already giving her a headache and they hadn’t even left yet. She hated crowds. Even the idea of them was enough to bring one on.

“I’m positive.” She wondered what Peter was doing right now. She sort of missed his company. He was quiet. She enjoyed that quality about a person.

“I’ll bring the red one just in case you change your mind!”

Now, as Sergei stood on the stage, Aylin surveyed the crowd around her. Her mother, standing next to her, still clasped the red sweater tight in her arms as if her daughter would suddenly change her mind. She looked from face to face, person to person. These were the people she knew all her life. Their guild had their own school. She wasn’t allowed to attend a public one. They rarely ever went into the nearest town unless it was absolutely necessary. The more secretive their guild was, the easier their existence. Their job was to stay quiet, out of sight, and take care of the werewolves. If someone breaks the rules, they’re thrown out. Either their family disowns them or they disappear with them. The people who leave never return. If she was caught with Peter, she would be thrown out. Her mother would come with her, that she knew. Nesrin would never leave her daughter’s side. But the guilt of forcing her mother to leave their community would eat her alive. This was what they knew. These were their people. Their family.

Sergei was still speaking. He loved to hear himself talk.

“From the moment I welcomed Samuel as my second in command, I knew the Silver Colts were in for a successful year.”

Aylin’s stomach dropped at the mention of her father. Sergei rarely brought him up anymore. Her mother’s back straightened, her head held high, and her hand clasped around the necklace. She was trying to appear stronger than she felt.

“He proved time and time again to be a dedicated hunter and a loyal friend. My best friend. But, more than that, he was a dedicated and loyal husband and father.” Sergei turned to where they were standing to speak directly to them. He placed a hand over his heart and showed his sorrow on his face. Maybe it was the flickering of the bonfire messing with the lighting, or maybe she was still exhausted from her hunt, but Aylin swore his sadness didn’t reach his eyes. It felt more like he was putting on a show than speaking from the heart about his fallen friend. It was the same feeling she got when he was asking her about the hunt. Something felt off. “I know Samuel would have been so proud to be standing on this stage tonight to honor his daughter. I still remember how he held back tears the night he got to honor Emir. Both of them, gone too soon.”

Her cheek twitched as she locked her jaw. Her teeth ground together in annoyance. She glanced over at her mother who was now openly weeping. Five years and the pain still felt as raw as it ever had. They were still in mourning. No amount of time could change that. The mere mention of her father and brother could send Nesrin into hysterics. She hated that Sergei even brought them up. Her mother was trying to be strong in front of the crowd but Aylin could see her resolve starting to fail.

His eyes settled on Aylin. They bore into her with a strangely profound stare. She felt as if he was trying to peel back her tightly guarded layers and read her mind. His gaze made her uncomfortable like she was standing naked in front of a crowd. He knew something she didn’t.

“Tonight, in place of those we have lost, I will honor young Aylin as the newest huntress to the Silver Colt Guild!”

The people erupted into loud cheers. The sudden sound made her flinch. Her headache intensified. She felt dizzy. Her mother gave her a tiny shove, pushing her towards the stage. That was her cue to start moving. She took a deep breath and made her way up to stand next to Sergei. He completely dwarfed her when she stood beside him. It felt like every time she saw him, he got a little taller, and gained more muscle.

He grasped tightly onto her hand and held it up to more applause and hollers from the rowdy crowd. Sergei let the noise wash over them, basking in the cheers as if they were meant for only him, and then settled everyone back down

“Now, tonight’s ritual will go a little differently. When I spoke to Aylin this afternoon, she gave me a detailed report of what happened yesterday. To put it plainly, she was ambushed. Those vile creatures knew she was coming and they sacrificed one of their own for a chance to tear apart one of ours! As she was trying to cut out the heart from her slain foe, the pack surrounded her.”

A slew of horrified cries followed.

“Poor Aylin had unknowingly walked straight into their trap and we were the ones who sent her there! They have no morals. They do not care if one of their own must be sacrificed as long as they get to draw blood. Our blood! But, even though she was surrounded, Aylin did not fret, for she had her father’s blood running through her veins and no more of their families blood needed to be spilled at the hands of the beast!” His voice boomed. It echoed off the forest trees as his enthusiasm grew. He had everyone gripped by the throat and hanging on his every word. Everyone except one. “She fought her way out! She slaughtered two more of those foul creatures and managed to escape by a hair! Three slain wolves on her first hunt. She is the true definition of what we stand for! She is the true leader of our tomorrow!”

Her stomach ached. He was exaggerating the truth to make it sound more daring and risky than it had been. He made it seem like the wolves had planned the entire attack like they knew she was coming before she even arrived. It was a calculated move to push his guild’s hatred in the right direction and it was all a lie. He was lying straight to these people’s faces without a hint of fabrication in his voice. Like it was the easiest thing in the world. Like he had been doing it his entire life. She had never seen him from this angle before. She felt like she was getting a sneak peek at the slimy, barnacle ridden underside of a mighty ship. She kept her eyes staring straight ahead. She would not question him. Not here. Not now.

“Our traditions and rituals state that the successful hunter must toss the heart of their first kill into the blazes of the fire. But Aylin does not have what we need.” He paused, a smirk peeking out from under his untamed beard, as he held his breath for a dramatic beat. He was a showman putting on the performance of his life. “Luckily, I intend to make things right. She deserves to finish the ritual. She deserves to rip the heart from her slain beast!”

It was then that Aylin’s resolve fell. She looked up at Sergei with confusion. There was no way anyone would have been able to travel all the way to Eagle Peak Camp to retrieve Sierra. There was no way her body would still even be there. Surely, her pack would have moved her and Lorina by now. They never left them where they fell. They had their own rituals of dealing with their dead. There was a reason why the public never stumbled upon bodies of giant wolves.

Sergei gave her a wink, lowering his voice just for her, “Don’t look so frightened child. I have another wolf for you. Another heart to pry from its chest. Show these people you are Samuel’s daughter. Show them you are Emir’s sister. Show them what you are capable of.” He motioned behind him with a wide, swinging arm. “Calypso, my beautiful wife! Bring out the beast!”

Her heart leaped into her throat and she spun around to see where Sergei was pointing. Her eyes scanned through the dark, searching for the face of who she was terrified to see. Calypso pushed a tall metal cage on wheels out in front of the stage. It was covered with a thick blanket to hide whoever was inside. The cage was big enough to fit a human, not a werewolf. Whoever was in there was stuck in human form. She bet the bars were lined with silver to keep the prisoner from breaking free.

Her heart was racing. She could feel the panic rising. Had they found Peter? He was only five miles out. He was close enough that his capture could be possible. If they found him, if they knew she had brought him, she would be banished. Was this all a show to shame her in front of her family? She stared at the blanket covering the cage, trying to mentally will it to fall so she could see who was locked up, and dreading finding her friend on the other side.

They were not friends.

Calypso fanned out her wild, unruly mane of thick hair over her shoulders. Her bralette, made of a light tan werewolf pelt, hardly covered her large chest. Her tightly toned stomach was on display as her wide hips swayed with each step. She knew the men were all staring at her and she was soaking it up. She loved the attention as much as Sergei. Maybe even more.

“Cal, my love,” he motioned down to his wife. “Would you do the honors?”

She flashed him a dazzling white smile. Her teeth were sharper than average. Aylin often wondered if she filed them into points.

She gripped onto the blanket as Aylin held her breath, terrified of who she was going to see. With a flashy flick of his wrist, Calypso tossed the blanket aside. The crowd burst into angry, insulting jeers towards the unveiled prisoner.

Relief and horror flooded her all at once.

It wasn’t Peter.

He was safe. She was safe. They didn’t know about him.

In his place, however, was a young woman. Aylin hesitated to even refer to her as a woman. She looked no older than 19. She was stripped naked. Her dignity ripped from her body to leave her vulnerable like it was done with the sole intent to shame her. She was smaller in size and huddled up in the corner of the cage. Her eyes were filled with fear. Her body trembled in fright. She almost resembled Peter in weight, being severely malnourished. She held the same look, too. The one that screamed of someone who had been tortured for longer than their body could handle. Someone weak and broken. This girl was no threat to them. She would put up no fight.

Sergei did another one of his booming laughs as he soaked in the sights before him. Someone in the crowd threw a half empty beer bottle at the cage. It shattered, spraying glass and beer all over the poor girl.

That’s how Aylin viewed her. A girl. Not a wolf. Not an enemy. A scared, young girl. Aylin’s eyes sought out her mother in the crowd. Nesrin had vanished into a dark shadow under a tall pine tree. She was clutching onto her necklace, a frown etched into her wrinkled face, and shaking her head. She didn’t like this anymore than her daughter. Her mother wasn’t a hunter. She was just the widow of one.

Sergei slid a long dagger out from his belt loop. It was curved into the shape of a claw. He thrust it into Aylin’s hand and shoved her down the steps towards the caged girl. His hand stayed tightly on the back of her neck, keeping her from looking anywhere but at the cage.

“What do you say, Colts?” He addressed the crowd. “Are you ready to see how Aylin takes after her father? Are you ready to see if she has what it takes to be a leader?”

They cheered and whooped and hollered. The band was banging on their instruments. This was nothing more than entertainment to them. The noise was too much. Too loud. She felt sick.

“Who is she?” She whispered to Sergei. “Where did she come from? What did she do?”

He chuckled, “It doesn’t matter. She didn’t do anything. She’s a wolf and wolf’s deserve to have their hearts ripped from their chest! There is no humanity in her. She’s nothing but a repugnant beast. She has no soul. Go on! Show me that you belong here.”

He took a step back, joining the crowd circling around her and the cage. It occurred to her that they weren’t going to release the girl. She wasn’t going to get a fair fight. She wasn’t going to get a chance to defend herself. Aylin was meant to murder her through the bars. Human to human, not hunter to beast.

She slowly walked up to the cage and peered through the bars. From up close, the girl looked even worse. She had been a prisoner of someone, marks of torture speckled her skin as unspoken words of her time in captivity, and Aylin had a sinking feeling it wasn’t at the hands of another wolf.

“Who are you?” Aylin whispered to her.

The girl turned her head, glaring at her with whatever strength she could muster, and spit directly in her face. Her action only served to rile up the crowd further. They were calling for her death, begging for it to be drawn out slowly and painfully. They wanted to watch her suffer.

Aylin wiped the glob of saliva from her cheek. Unlike her peers, it did not anger her. It only made her sad. A cornered animal, with all her defenses ripped from her, using the only fighting tactic she had left to try and mask her fear. It could have so easily been Peter inside this cage. This was her punishment for lying to Sergei. A punishment for taking Peter. Whether or not he knew of her misdeeds, something had changed in the air. He knew more than he let on. He knew that she was weak.

The young girl’s emerald eyes faded into Peter’s soft, honey hues the longer Aylin stared at her.

The dagger fell from her hands.

She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t. Not like this. She refused to kill someone not in their wolf form.

Aylin turned on her heels, elbowing her way through the crowd, and making a direct line for her house on the outskirts of their town. She blocked out the sounds of the disappointed crowd. She blocked out the sounds of Sergei calling after her. She blocked out the screams of the girl as someone else finished what she couldn’t even start.

She blocked it all out as her swift gait eventually turned into a full sprint, forcing herself as quickly and as far, away from the caged girl as her body would allow.

“Peter?”

The camper was dark and quiet.

She had run home but knew that she could not stay. Sergei would surely follow. Her mother would be asking questions. They would each demand a different kind of answer and she had none to give them. She couldn’t stare her inevitable failure in the face. Running was easier. Hiding was simple. She packed a bag and left on foot. Cars were for people who didn’t let down their entire family. Failures deserved to walk the five miles through the dense forest, in the pitch black, to her sanctuary.

The only safe place she knew of that still felt like home.

She pushed her way into the back room, anticipating Peter to be asleep on the bed, only to find it empty and untouched.

Her heart sank.

He wasn’t here. The camper was empty.

Of course he wasn’t here.

Why would she ever expect him to stay?

He had lied to her. Everyone lies. Herself, included. Everything is one big show. A giant performance to better achieve one’s own desires.

She had freed him from his chains, brought him to safety, and he had told her what she wanted to hear until he was left alone. Why would she ever believe that he would sit around and let her kill him after she was done interrogating him? She was a fool to believe such a thing. Werewolves couldn’t be trusted but, she was finding, neither could her guild. Sergei had set her up. She wasn’t entirely sure how but he knew there was supposed to be something in that camp. Something he wanted to get his hands on.

And the only thing she saw of value was Peter. Who was now gone.

She wondered if Sergei knew the pact would be close by. She wondered if he really had willingly sent her into a trap or if he even expected her to come back alive. “They have no morals. They do not care if one of their own must be sacrificed as long as they get to draw blood.” That was what he said about the wolves but she now wondered if he was referring to something else. She had the strangest sense that she had been used as bait.

She was starting to ask a lot of questions. Questions she had no answers to. Questions that only lead to more questions.

Aylin kicked open the camper door more violently than she intended. She stalked out into the night, filling her lungs with the familiar forest air. Her chest felt tight. Anger, anxiety, annoyance, and confusion all gripped at her throat.

But it was the disappointment tinged with sadness that worried her the most.

The absence of Peter caused her more inner turmoil than what had happened at her “party”. She shouldn’t be this upset to lose a werewolf. She should be relieved that he was no longer in her care. He wouldn’t have to be something to worry about anymore.

And, still, she felt the weight of his absence like a sinking stone of sadness.

She followed the creek down to the pond. She was hoping to see the moon shining through the canopy and reflecting off the still water. It was one of her favorite sights. The moon and her forest brought her a comfort that not even her mother could compete with. Seeing the moon would make her feel better.

As she pushed her way between two overgrown bushes, she stopped short. Instead of the moon, she saw something else.

There, fast asleep on the old rope hammock, was Peter.

She was afraid to blink, terrified that if she let him out of her sight for even just a second, he would disappear from her life again. She didn’t want him to disappear. She didn’t want him to go. She didn’t want him dead.

There was something about him that endeared to her closed off heart. He had a tender soul. A quiet softness. Like a light, summer breeze on a lazily evening. It was silly to think such things about a werewolf but it was how she felt. Seeing that young girl in the cage was too much. Her entire life she believed she was on the right side of history. She was helping to save the public. A silent protector of the world. But murdering a defenseless, naked teenager locked in a cage was not right. It was not a heroic act. Killing her would have saved no one.

Aylin was no hero. Not a mighty huntress or a future leader.

She was scared and sad and confused. She craved the wisdom of her father, the strength of her brother, and the safety of her mother. She craved whatever strange comfort Peter was starting to bring. She wanted to understand him, to unravel him like a mystery, until she found all the answers she sought out.

She wanted to be his friend.

That was it.

That was all that she wanted. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Friends.

He hadn’t left her. He hadn’t lied. She felt she could trust someone she met hours ago, someone who was supposed to be her enemy, more than the person she had known her entire life.

As she moved closer, she could see streaks of dried tears carving a path down his cheeks. His long lashes were wet and clumped together. He breathed quietly through parted lips. His arm rested under his head as a makeshift pillow. She could make out the strength of his muscles under his skin. Not even nearly starving to death could steal them away, it seemed. The mystery of the wolves clouded her thoughts. They were the Silver Colts sworn enemies and, yet, they hardly knew anything about them.

Despite his dried tears, Peter looked peaceful as he slept.

He didn’t look like a monster. He looked like a man. Just like the wolf in the cage only looked like a scared girl.

Maybe they were wrong. Maybe werewolves weren’t as terrible as they thought.

And then she remembered her father and brother.

They had been torn apart by a wolf on a hunt. Their bodies had been so mutilated, Sergei refused to let her mother and her see them. They died at the hands of someone like Peter.

She didn’t know what to think anymore. Two days ago her world was black and white. Good and bad. Heroes and villains. Today, it was all kinds of gray.

Aylin took a step back away from Peter, hoping to let him rest without bothering him, when her boot crunched down on a stick. The snapping of wood caused Peter’s eyes to shoot open, wide with fear. He sat up too suddenly. The hammock rocked violently under him. He tried to catch his balance but it was too late. The hammock flipped over and he was thrown onto the ground. His sleepy body splayed out over the dirt, bits of leaves clinging to messy hair.

She tried not to laugh. She really did. But she couldn’t stop it.

Her laughter filled the quiet, night air. It lightened the chaos of her mind and soothed her anxious soul.

Peter scrambled to his feet, his face blushed scarlet, and shook the leaves from his hair.

“Why are you here?” He asked, voice caked with sleep. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She steadied her laughter with a deep breath, “I brought you some food.”

“You said you wouldn’t be able to until tomorrow.” He looked up at the sky, the moon telling him it was only around midnight. “Why are you out so late?”

Most of the humor she had still tumbling around inside of her dried up at the memories of earlier. She swallowed, giving a shrug, “Couldn’t sleep. Come inside. I brought dolmas.” She made her way back to the camper with Peter falling in step behind her.

“What’s that?”

She raised her brows in shock and glanced over her shoulder to look at him, “You’ve been missing out, wolfboy. This one is a mixture of rice, meat, and herbs stuffed into a grape leaf. You’ll love it. My mom made them this afternoon. She’s the best cook in our guild.”

She wondered what her mother was thinking right now. She had left without seeing her. Without saying goodbye. It wasn’t the first time she had run away without leaving a note. Nesrin was probably used to it.

Aylin held the door open for Peter, “After you.”

He gave her a gentle smile, nodding his head in thanks.

“I also brought you some clothes. Clothes and food. See? I’m a wonderful host.”

Her brother’s old clothes. It wasn’t like he would need them anymore.

She slid into the seat across from him and pulled a tupperware of food out the bag she left on the table. She happily watched as Peter ripped it open and carefully examined the contents. He only lasted a few seconds before digging in. His eyes widened and then closed, savoring his mouthful. It was strange to watch a werewolf enjoy her mother’s cooking. She felt a sense of pride. She wondered if her mom would like Peter as much as she was starting to.

Aylin had no clue what tomorrow would hold for her. Sergei wouldn’t be pleased. Her mother would have questions. She was witnessed refusing to kill a wolf in front of her entire guild. It wasn’t going to be easy. She didn’t want to think about it. Instead, she would focus on tonight.

Tonight, she would watch Peter eat his fill of dolmas.

Then, she would try to sleep.

Today, right now, this is what she chose to focus on. That was all that mattered.

Tomorrow was tomorrow for a reason.

[Chapter Four]

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