#it's one of trust and loyalty that get battered and shaken but never falls

[lucysnowe]

Happy Holidays! 

This is my @toa-secret-santa gift for @actuallyadroid! Since you asked for “Usurna being regal,” I wrote her a bit of an origin story. Read it below or an ao3 here. I hope you enjoy it! 

“Rise, Usurna, Queen of the Krubera.”

Her mother had never had much patience for whelps. Usurna remembered a legion of tutors in diplomacy, languages, the arts of geology, and even some dabbling in Troll magic, but perhaps the clearest moments were when her mother summoned Usurna to her private caves.

Even centuries later, Usurna would always remember how her mother exuded regality. It was something she constantly tried to emulate. The long robes of Ancient Troll society had long gone out of favor among most tribes, most Trolls preferring the simpler garb of short kilts or tunics made of crude leather. She couldn’t imagine why. She thought she cut a dashing figure in her flowing robes, made of a soft material, what humans called silk, pilfered from the human’s own stock (Usurna believed—no, knew, that humans were inferior in every way. But she could admit their soft fabrics had their own beauty). After all, she’d learned from the best how a Queen dresses herself.

She rarely saw her mother in her childhood, so the times she was allowed to even be in the Troll Queen’s presence were special occasions. Tense, but special. Her mother’s presence tended to leave her mesmerized, to the point she was too absorbed in admiring her mother to hear her lessons.

“Usurna, are you listening to me?” Her mother asked, her accent a crisp reflection of High Trollish, the language preferred by all royals.

“Yes, Mother.”

“I bear a great burden, my daughter. One day, that burden will fall to you. We are the Krubera. We act on their behalf; we represent them in Troll society, to those outsiders that do not have the strength to travel to our deepest caves. The Krubera are only as strong as its rulers are.”

“Vangaar says that strength is tempered by humility.” She said, recalling the words of one of her tutors.

“Remind me to dismiss Vangaar, because if he says that, then he is a fool. Strength, Usurna, is the absence of weakness. All vulnerabilities must be hidden, so that no one, be they enemy or ally, can ever take advantage of you.”

Her mother’s words echoed in Usurna’s mind as she heard the clapping of hundreds of Krubera around her. Barely 400, and here she was, at her own coronation. All the wisdom her mother possessed, gone. Killed defending her Tribe from Gumm-Gumm raiders. Rumor spread that Lord Gunmar himself was the one who delivered the killing blow. A rumor Usurna started herself. Frankly, she had no idea who’d slain her mother, but she couldn’t have her mother’s reputation sullied because she’d gotten herself offed by some random foot soldier.

Coronations were a rare enough occasion that the festivities were meant to last at least a week. Usurna tired of them after about an hour. She’d never been much for large crowds, and it wasn’t as though she was doing much celebrating herself. She’d mostly sat to the sides as emissaries from various Troll tribes brought her gifts. Most Trolls couldn’t go to the depths of the Krubera caverns, so they’d held the festival in one of their highest caverns. Still, she could see the caves taking their toll on some of the Trolls; a Conundrum diplomat near her looked nauseated. Good. Let them see they could never hope to infiltrate her home.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the appearance of her guards. “My lady, Gumm-Gumms! A whole squadron approach!”

How dare he? First he kills her mother, and now Gunmar has the audacity to invade her home at her coronation. How could she recover from these twin blows to her dignity as a sovereign?

Already she could see civilian Trolls fleeing. “Fear not. We will show them the might of the Krubera. Guards! Ready yourselves!”

She silently reviewed her combat training to herself. She didn’t care much for fighting, but she’d enjoying sitting in on her mother’s generals’ strategy meetings. This dress wouldn’t do for a battle, unfortunately. She hoped she didn’t ruin it.

From the reaction of her guards and the other Trolls, she’d expected the caves to be flooded with Gumm-Gumms, so she was shocked to see that it was in truth only a group of five. She couldn’t be sure that more didn’t lurk elsewhere, but still—her guards had clearly overreacted.

“We bring a gift. From the Underlord.” The faceless Gumm-Gumm soldier that led the group spoke directly to her. She could make out no distinguishing characteristic beneath their armor. It was unnerving to see these enemies so close, but she clasped her hands to stop them from shaking.

What she hadn’t noticed before was that the Gumm-Gumm actually held a bundle in their arms, something wrapped in a cheap fabric. The soldier made a big show of tossing it to the ground, the fabric flouncing as though it was the silk she wore. What was in the bundle clattered as though it was made of metal—

There, on the ground, sat her mother’s armor.

With no delay, her guards rounded up the Gumm-Gumms and had them summarily executed. Knowing what she did about the Underlord, the lives of a few of his soldiers meant very little to him. Perhaps he’d even intended for them to die in her caves. Still, it felt good to watch them die.

***

The soldiers in front of her were battered and dirty. Usurna had a feeling she knew what news they brought.

“There were more Gumm-Gumms than we anticipated, your Highness. We were able to fight them off—but barely. Most of my soldiers lie dead in the caverns.”

This new defeat left her fuming. Had she been able to speak her mind, she would have called him what he was: a pathetic coward. But she didn’t dare show how frustrated she was. How scared.

“Go back to your soldiers, General. Get as many healers as you can find and scour the battlecaves for any soldiers still living. We’ll discuss further strategy at the council meeting this evening.”

He nodded and turned to go. His mate waited for him, the couple’s whelp in her arms. Usurna forgot the child’s name, despite officiating its Naming Ceremony. She did so for the children of most high-ranking Krubera, but since new whelps were born so infrequently she rarely had cause to. Urgamont, maybe? Her General lifted the whelp gently, touched its forehead to his. Usurna frowned. Ever since his whelp’s birth, her General had been distracted. She thought back to her mother, who’d never allowed any affection for her daughter to cloud her judgment or interfere with her role as Queen. This General had been an appointment from her mother’s era—for the first time, she questioned her mother’s choices. Perhaps he’d been loyal as a young, childless Troll, but now she wondered: just where did his loyalties lie?

With a huff, Usurna walked (“Never run, Usurna, a Queen never lets others think you’re in a hurry) back to her private chambers. She let out a shaky breath. Something else breathed behind her. She turned, face-to-face with the Underlord himself.

“Your warriors suffered greatly today, your Highness.”

Decades of fighting against him, but Usurna had never been so close to Gunmar in her life. He towered over her, his long horns threatening to brush against the top of the caves. How had he gotten in here?

“To what do I owe the pleasure, my Lord? How rare it is for guests to come unannounced to my rooms.”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries. I despise them.” He breathed in her face, hot and rancid. “Your army is dwindling. My Gumm-Gumm soldiers will obliterate them soon enough. You and your Tribe will fall by my sword. I offer an alternative scenario.”

“How generous of you.”

“Pledge your loyalty to me and all the Krubera with the Gumm-Gumms. The Krubera are mighty, but on their own are no match for my soldiers. But together, we could be invincible. I will even allow you to keep your sovereignty, as you rule beneath me.”

She would be lying if she said she’d never considered surrendering to Gunmar. What he said was true—the Krubera’s defeat was imminent, and if the Krubera, with their extraordinary physical prowess and strategically significant isolation, couldn’t protect themselves from Gunmar, what Troll tribes could? This was a losing battle, and perhaps it would be for the best if the Krubera joined the winning side. Especially with such a tempting offer, one that happened to keep her in (relative) power. But—

“But the Krubera would never surrender to you, my Lord. We are a willful group, you see, and if I allied with you after your armies have wrecked such devastation, it would only breed unrest and division. But—

She thought once again of her General, his whelp in his arms. Where did her Tribe’s loyalties lie, if she was so sure they would rebel against her decisions as Queen? How would she look, still so new to her role as Queen, what would her legacy be, if she surrendered to the enemy mere decades into her reign? The memory of her mother still lingered in most Krubera’s minds, as it did hers. She must remember her mother’s strength, embody her mother’s strength, to gain the respect of her Tribe. She needed a plan. There must be a way to motivate her Tribe, keep them under her sway, while still garnering the favor (and protection) of the Underlord.

“You want Krubera soldiers? Fine. You want my loyalty? Fine. But I will not reveal my allegiances to my Tribe until the time is right. Until they believe it is a lost cause, that you are truly the future and hope of all Trolls. Until they trust me unconditionally. It may be a while, but we have nothing but time. In the meantime, you will stage a raid on the Krubera. We will bravely but narrowly fight you off. But not before you’ve kidnapped our whelps and most impressionable youths. Train them, put them at the end of that blasted Decimaar blade I’ve heard so much about, do whatever you will, and they will obey you. I will use my Troll’s anger and desperation against them, to sway them to your side, until the time comes they will all join you willingly on the battlefield.”

***

“My citizens,” she began, surrounded by hundreds of concerned faces, “we have suffered terrible losses today. But we have not been defeated. The battle is not lost. We still have our strength. That strength can never be taken away, by Gunmar or any other Troll in the Earth. If we double down on our efforts, fight back harder and stronger than we ever have, we will defeat our enemies—conquer them and demonstrate that we are the superior Tribe.”

“But to win, we must make sacrifices. We must put aside our own desires and allegiances for the greater good. It is only when we are united under a common goal—under one leader— that we will have any chance of defeating the evil at our threshold. I hope that I have acted as a Queen must: to serve and direct the good of the Krubera. As my mother did before me. And I will continue to serve you until the evil is vanquished!”

A few trolls cheered, until her General stepped up. “Your words are wise, my Queen. We will fight with strength and courage. For the Krubera! For Aarghaumont! For Usurna, Queen of the Krubera!”

[ourbloodlinesendhere]

Guess who’s made a fan-house for FE3H? It’s me! I did!

Welcome to the Roseate Wolves, a house for transfer students from all over the world. I took a lot of the locations in FE3H that haven’t been fleshed out and slapped some headcanons onto them, as well as some fun cameos of other kingdoms featured in the Fire Emblem series. Is there any chance that these places all exist in the same universe? Probably not! But I don’t care.

Now, if you’re interested, I’ll drop some rambling below the cut:

(Warning: It’s very, very long and very, very rambly.)

I’ll be talking about what this house would be like if it were actually in the game!

For starters, since we only have three professors including Byleth, either Seteth or Jeritza would be the fourth professor. I’m leaning towards Jeritza for this because iirc some characters do mention that he was considered for Byleth’s position. It just makes his disappearance a little awkward, but oh well. I imagine he would default to teaching the Black Eagles for every route where Byleth isn’t (for obvious reasons) and after he poofs, maybe Seteth steps in and just makes Edelgard hate the church even more.

Anyways, let’s talk about the actual route and it’s characters, not just the setup.

With the other three routes, I’ve noticed that the house leaders warm up to you pretty quickly. This makes sense for their characters and the situation, but I’d like to imagine for a moment a route in which the leader blatantly does not like or trust Byleth at all until later in Part 1. Aren is cold and somewhat brooding, hesitant to trust and avoidant of social situations. Really, he’s only the house leader due to the insistence of his grandmother, otherwise he would never have wanted the task. When push comes to shove, he’s a brilliant tactician and a good leader, but he’s not sociable in the slightest.

During the conflicts with Lonato, the Western Church, Miklan, and other pre-timeskip Fodlan problems, there’s a persistent theme of “Why are we helping? We don’t live here, it shouldn’t be our problem” which settles over the group. More kindhearted folks such as Julia and Ragnar are less blatant about this, but there is just this general feeling of reluctance.

Now, for Edelgard’s reveal, we have a little reveal of our own. Sreng is a small kingdom with a shaky structure at best, and a low population. The only thing that has kept its sovereignty from Faerghus has been a secret it has kept for a long time. Within the various factions that make up its population, beast blood runs through their veins. Not all Srengese have this (making the trait somewhat similar to Crests in Fodlan) but for those that do, they have the power to shapeshift.

Aren, Liara, and Ragnar are all shape-shifters. Underneath his hood, Aren has wolf-like ears (like Keaton’s in Fates), as does Liara (hidden under her hair, like how... certain someones in FE3H hide their own funny ears), and Ragnar’s horns aren’t actually a feature of his helmet. Beast-shifters in Sreng are known as Orthrus. Aren is a wolf Orthrus, Liara is a snow leopard Orthrus, and Ragnar is a mutated, horned black vulture Orthrus. (He has small, malformed wings hidden under his coat. Imagine how uncomfortable he must be)

There is also the fact that Sreng lacks access to Beaststones. Their beast forms are massive and extremely powerful, but volatile. Orthrus often lose themselves in their transformation, and after battle they often need to be subdued by their allies. Without a beast form to help control their shifted selves, the three Orthrus were strictly forbidden from shifting when away from home, even when their own lives are in danger. Not just to protect Sreng’s secret; also to protect themselves and others from their beast forms.

Edelgard, as the Flame Emperor, attacks Byleth. At this point, Aren has grown very close to his professor, but still struggles in showing it. In an expression of his care for Byleth at last, he breaks the rules he was given and transforms into his Orthrus form. Gameplay-wise, he’s like a demonic beast, with four tiles in his hit-box and even an extra health bar. However, he’s an allied unit with purposefully flawed AI. He will rush right into battle without a thought, and him falling is the lose condition for the map (even on casual mode).

After the battle, with no enemies in sight and wild emotions coursing through his bestial mind, Aren goes on a rampage through the throne room as Rhea is horrified. Once the sacred site is thoroughly destroyed, Byleth finally calms him down, and he shakily reverts to his human form.

Once that map is completed, the Srengese students have had their cover completely blown, and it doesn’t take long for Liara and Ragnar to be exposed as well. They plead with Rhea to keep their secret, but she is enraged at the damage to the room and the throne, and exiles all three of them. They have to leave by that night, and she makes no promises about their secret.

Byleth meets with them in the night, and the rest of the Wolves do as well in order to say goodbye. Surprisingly, Flayn appears, having snuck away from Seteth and Rhea. She offers the Orthrus three beast-stones, unlocking the Orthrus class for them. Thank you Flayn! Wonder how she got those, almost like she knows a thing or two about- I mean, what

This will alter their beast forms to be smaller and a bit less powerful, but allows them full control over themselves when shifted. Now they play exactly like Taguel in Awakening, except they stay in beast form whenever the beast-stone is equipped, not at the start of each battle.

Flayn can’t help them any more though, since she’s ultimately loyal to Rhea and Seteth. For the remaining time until the time-skip, they’re not available for use in your party. If for some reason you’re playing classic mode like some kind of masochist and both Liara and Ragnar are out of your party, they’ll still appear in these cutscenes. However, next moon you’ll be informed that their injuries slowed them down and Knights of Seiros caught them, killing them. Ouch!

The battle of Garreg Mach is a different story. With their loyalty to the church shaken, but with no desire to join up with Edelgard, Byleth and the Wolves are trapped between two clashing armies. The goal of the map is to get your students to safety, through a harrowing path riddled with enemy soldiers attacking anyone in sight. Any students from the other houses you didn’t recruit will be enemy units! But they don’t perma-die when you defeat them here, since lots of them will appear again post-timeskip. When Rhea starts wrecking shop, Byleth hurries all the students ahead, fighting off anyone who comes for them. But they gets yeeted off of the cliff anyways.

Now, I hope to design some post-timeskip designs soon, but until then, just picture that everyone’s a little battered. Fodlan closed its borders to prevent foreign reinforcements from coming in and deserters from leaving, so all of the Wolves have become trapped in the midst of a war. Only small exceptions occur for the purpose of paralogues and such (like if you had recruited Bernadetta and Petra, their paralogue happens the same.) but overall, nobody can go home. Also, Sreng has been strong-armed into fighting for the Empire! Lovely. If Liara and Ragnar are alive, you’ll need to face them in battle and recruit them there, Tharja/Gaius-style.

But where’s Aren? He didn’t return home, actually. He laid low, and upon hearing Garreg Mach fell, he searched desperately for Byleth to find them. He eventually holed himself up in the ruins of Garreg Mach, chasing out anyone who tried to come for it. Essentially like how timeskip Dimitri was, but less murder-y and more just. constantly terrified and lashing out. He became paranoid and desperate, and eventually abandoned his beaststone to remain in full Orthrus form.

When Byleth finds him, he’s fully shifted and tries to attack them. However, upon recognizing his professor, he backs down and manages to return to his human form. His beaststone lays on the floor, now having been attached crudely to a necklace. Byleth puts it back on him, and he regains control of himself.

His personality has become erratic and anxious, even more untrusting than before, but he’s instantly dependent on Byleth and clings to them with uncomfortable desperation. When the other Wolves arrive, he is cold to them, even to Liara, and becomes possessive of Byleth.

The post-timeskip era starts out with the Wolves feeling trapped and simply trying to stay alive, turning Garreg Mach into a sort of hideout for other refugees who wish to escape the fighting. However, after getting to know the suffering of the Fodlan people, the theme shifts to one of empathy. Just because something isn’t our problem, and doesn’t affect our people, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t act when innocents are suffering. Faerghus and Adrestia are at each other’s throats, and the Alliance is getting trampled, but the neutral land of Garreg Mach houses a growing force of fighters looking to put a stop to the war.

Aren’s arc post-timeskip involves him eventually leaning away from Byleth as a crutch, and standing stronger on his own. He learns to trust others regularly, and forms a deep bond with all of the Wolves, reconnecting with Liara again. 

Now as for how the route ends... who knows ! ;) I just might write something for this house, so you’ll just have to wait and see.

If people are interested, I’ll also go into more detail about the individual characters! Because this whole thing here was very Aren-centric with cameos from Liara and Ragnar.

[whereisvanderwood]

Blue Angel.

Yona of the Dawn | Akatsuki no Yona

Shinah x Reader - Comfort

My Yona of the Dawn x Reader List for more one-shots! Check it out!

The fog was thick, and made everyone shiver in its ominous presence as it blotted out the entire world around them.

"Yun, w-where are we going exactly?" the princess chattered, seeing nothing but the cloud they walked through.

"I'm p-pretty sure we're meant t-to be going this way."

"Pretty sure? What does that mean?" the ex-general replied, a lot of his trust in Yun going down at a significant rate.

"It means that I can't see anything, s-so I have no idea where w-we are going. Just make sure no-one gets s-separated." Huddling together the closest they could, they kept on moving forward, taking a turn every now and then. Having lost the map further back when the fog had started coming in, Yun and the group were travelling in directions based on gut feeling.

"Hey... what's that over there?" (Y/N) pointed out as they began to move closer towards the shadowy figure. Once close enough, it was a pile of weaponry and resources.

"That's strange. Why are there weapons here? The resources look like they came from merchants, but I doubt they would've had weapons with them..."

"Ambushed, perhaps? This would be the perfect spot for something like that," Jeaha spoke up.

"You're not wrong. But if it was an ambush, why would the attackers leave their weapons and the resources behind?"

"Maybe... it wasn't people that attacked...?" Everyone felt a shiver down their spines at (Y/N)'s theory, and their veins turned icy cold at the idea of some monster lurking around in the cloud. For all they knew, it could be watching them right now from a distance, or could be right in front of them.

They slowly started walking again, and everyone was told to never separate from someone else, and were given pairs. Hak was with Yona, Jeaha with Yun, Kija with Zeno, and Shinah with (Y/N). No matter what, no pair was to separate from one another, even if the group had been broken apart somehow.

Branches snapped from all sides, and with everyone turning their heads at the same time no-one knew which way was straight anymore. Zeno stood in front of everyone with his arms spread wide, and the other dragon warriors watched all sides as they stuck close together in a circle. Leaves rustled in the trees all around them, and the wind even had a whistle accompanying its cold touch. The fog around them moved in a circular motion, but never dissipated in the slightest.

(Y/N), wishing she hadn't come up with the idea that there was something else in these woods, unnervingly quivered. Shinah took one look at her face and changed his position to be in front of her, his hand on his sword's hilt and ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

Unexpectedly, the commotion all died down at once and everything reverted back to its silent state. All of their ears were sensitive to listen to any kind of noise, but there was nothing to listen to. Their mouths remained closed, even afraid to breath too loud. It was hushed, but not in a peaceful way.

"...Let's keep moving-" Something jumped out from the mist and latched its teeth onto Zeno's arm, bowling his entire body over onto the ground where they wrestled.

"Zeno!!" everyone exclaimed, pure terror tattooed onto their faces. It was some kind of animal that looked like a wolf, but was uglier. Jeaha using his dragon's leg, kicked off the canine with slight struggle. The yellow dragon's arm now had huge bite marks pouring with blood, and yet he stood to his feet resuming his guarding stance to protect his friends.

"Z-Zeno, you're injured! What are you doing!?" Yun yelled, everyone else bewildered by his determination. Before anyone else could say a word, the creature's allies began their own attack on each member. Hak furiously swung his spear like it was his last day of living, and the dragon warriors did all they could to protect those who could not fight. Yun kept his head low as well as Yona, but there wasn't enough space for (Y/N) to hide herself.

"Th-There's too many! I can't hold them off any longer!" Kija yelled over the barking and growling of the beasts.

"We need to split up!"

"What!? We can't! We'll lose each other-"

"It's the best chance we have, Yun," Hak determinedly replied. "Everyone stick with your partner and don't lose them," he yelled as he grabbed tightly onto Yona's hand. "On three. One... Two... Three!"

Each pair split off into a direction different from everyone else's, and each pair had only one hound chasing after them. Shinah grabbed a hold of (Y/N) instantly, and ran past his enemy. Suddenly the ground became steep, and the two began to tumble down with no control. The blue dragon held his partner close to him, doing his best to shield her as they continued their seemingly endless fall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Her eyelids battered open as she felt the familiar sensation of dripping rain from above. As her eyes fully opened, the first thing she saw was the sky, despite its blueness being wholly blotted out by dark, looming clouds overhead. The rain drops became more frequent, and so she hurriedly crawled over to a nearby oak tree with plenty of shade. (Y/N) had dizzy spells as she had moved too quickly from the ground.

As she tried to recall why she was on the ground in the first place, she remembered the most important part. "Sh-Shinah," she breathed out as she reminded herself. "Shinah!! Shinah, where are you!?" Her weak voice echoed throughout the forest standing before her in silence. She and Shinah must've found their way out of the cloud, for fog was no longer obscuring her clear line of vision, yet somehow ended up separating.

She leaned against the log of the tree, staring into the grey abyss above as her eyes had a far-off look in them, the rain continuing to pour ever harder. Recalling what had just happened only moments ago, her heart was shaken at the feeling of experiencing something so terrifying. The sight of Zeno's arm with marks of teeth that had pierced through, the view of blood from the beasts that were being cut down covering the entire ground around them, she had never seen so much gore in one place in her life before.

Her stomach churned and instantly became nauseous thinking about it all, and she covered her mouth to stop herself from throwing up. (Y/N) took deep breaths to calm herself down, giving her the chance to think clearly and logically about what she was to do now. But where she was, it was cold, wet and lacking in hopeful sunlight.

"I need to move..." she spoke in an attempt to motivate herself. "...or else those dogs might come after me." As her heart skipped a beat at the thought, she stood to her feet, and staggered through the dormant trees of the timberland.

As time passed, time became a distant memory and was unknown. Looking up for at least the hundredth time within the hour, trying to find where the sun might have disappeared off to, she sighed in hopelessness. Yun wasn't here, and she didn't have his knowledge in how to survive with basic skills. Starting a fire, the best place for shelter, how to find water or plants for food, it all escaped her mind like dust in the wind.

She didn't have Jeaha's flirtatious remarks to annoy her, Kija's loyalty to his friends to comfort her, Zeno's sunshine to brighten her mood, or even Hak and Yona's bickering to make her feel like she was part of a crazy family. But what she missed most was Shinah's warm touch to tell her she was safe. There was nothing left, not even her 'partner.'

It was as though with every step she took, the trees began to grow taller and subtly morph into a different kind of form. The shadows on the ground grew larger, the silhouettes of the tree branches mimicking spears pointed directly at her physical form. The sun finally reappeared from behind the clouds, however it was quickly disappearing once more behind the skyline to mark the troubled day's end. And all at once, it was like everything had slipped through her grasp in such a short amount of time.

"Yun... Yona..." she began to unknowingly whine in desperation. "Where are you guys...?" (Y/N)'s footwear becoming worn from the rocky surface she treaded on, she could feel painful cuts and blisters with every exhausted step she took. "Shinah..." At her own words tears pricked the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall as a way of telling her to give up.

And that was what she did.

Her knees instantly stinging with impact of sharp rocks, she held in breaths to silence her own cries for help. She was lost in all ways possible. Such hopelessness blocked her from what the truth was, but she had always felt like that since joining the group. Each person had their own unique attributes to give in order to help, but she had nothing to contribute. A poor upbringing in her childhood years, living in a rustic village like hundreds of other unfortunate souls, what was there to learn or gain in such circumstances?

The skies had finally decided to show mercy on the poor girl, for the rain had finally let up and moved on to another part of the kingdom. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, yet she remained idle in her place on the ground. Wearily rotating her head from left to right, she found a grotto deep enough to fit herself inside.

One hand and leg after the other, she crawled over to the shelter, and huddled herself in the smallest ball she could make herself into. Darker, and darker, the night made itself into a chasm of evil waiting to strike when the time was right. Her eyes finally closed after much resistance, no longer able to fight against the temptation of escaping through her subconscious.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"(Y/N)..."

"(Y/N)...?"

A voice reverberated through (Y/N)'s subconscious, alluring her to fall into an ever deeper slumber. It was calm, and brought instant peace to her overwhelmed mind. It was warmth from the campfires her and her friends would always sit close to each night, and it brought tremendous comfort to her shaking heart.

"(Y/N)..."

Her heavy eyes opened slightly, and the world she was hiding from was suddenly all a blur. But something seemed out of place as a much bigger blur stood in front of her, swirling around and mixing with all the other colours she could make out. She was convinced she was still in a dream state as the blurs became abstract paintings. Awed by its wonder, she reached out towards it, and was surprisingly met with the touch of a warm hand holding her own.

Still unable to make out what exactly she had encountered in this subconscious world of hers, she felt herself crawling out of the hole, the hand tightly holding on as it guided her out of the dark. Once out in the open, the figure continued to walk backwards as they travelled through more swirling colours. It was as though someone of a much greater power had put this made-up world in slow motion, enhancing everything she could feel as her and the stranger treaded on cotton-like ground.

She knew it could only be a dream, but the trance she was in led her to believe it was an angel that had come to be her salvation. The heavens must've taken pity on her as they watched her suffer and plead for help, and sent down one of their finest. She could feel her hair flowing like lily pads following a river's course, and suddenly she felt all pain disappear as everything stood still.

The colours were of darker tones, but the figure in front of her shone brighter than moonlight. Her second hand reached out, greedy for more of this incredible feeling she was experiencing, and again a second hand willingly held on. The warm touch travelled through her blood, warming her cold body up instantly. As they continued to walk further into the mass of colours, her vision became sharper and could define certain silhouettes around her.

Trees, animals watching in the distance, and shortly the angel in front of her became crystal clear. His blue attire, the unusual mask that covered his eyes, and the gentleness of his expression. Her eyes opened further more as the image became real and no longer a dream to her. She smiled, and his tensed up body from concern visibly relaxed as he knew she was okay now.

"Shinah... is that really you?"

"Yeah..." The blue dragon halted his steps when (Y/N) practically jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he embraced back. "Sorry... for losing you..."

"I already forgave you. I just missed you." As she was still tired from her ordeals, she began to sway with the wind's flow. Shinah quickly caught her, lifting her up bridal style as her head lay against his warm beating chest. As the voices of their friends were in earshot, he gently kissed her forehead as she was lulled back peacefully into dreamland, and rescued by her angel.

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