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skyloftian-nutcase · 1 year

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@silvercaptain24 I saw that you were having a meh day, so have some Warriors content. :)

Numbers - Adoption AU!

"Three x squared plus five x minus seven?"

Warriors squinted at the problem and groaned. He hated polynomials. Scratch that, he hated math in general.

Staring at the problem wasn't solving it, though, so he'd better get to it.

Of course, that implied that he knew what in the world he was doing. Sighing heavily, he glanced around the library and felt unbelievably alone all of a sudden. Grabbing his phone, he started texting Twilight to see if he was available for help and then stopped himself. He didn't want to be a bother.

"Wars?"

Turning, Warriors caught sight of Sky, backpack slung over one shoulder, head cocked to the side. He smiled when he caught his eye.

"Hey," Sky greeted. "What are you up to?"

"Math," Warriors said with such disdain it made his friend grimace for him.

"Ugh," Sky commented. "Need some help?"

Warriors bit back an immediate dismissal and admitted defeat. "...Yeah."

Sky plopped down beside him. "Okay! What is it?"

"Polynomials."

Sky grimaced again. "Oof. Those suck."

"You any good at them."

"Not really," he answered sheepishly before adding, "But we'll figure them out together!"

...

Muzzled - LU canon

Warriors coughed a little as he choked on saliva. The gag that was in his mouth was so tight and shoved so far back he nearly threw up several times, his tongue shoved harshly and uncomfortably down. He growled when his captor glanced at him, but he knew better than to make a fuss. He had to gather information and save his energy for when he saw a chance for escape.

"He is pretty handsome," one of the captors said, smiling. "Sure we can't keep him?"

The other rolled her eyes. "Stay focused, moron."

Warriors felt his skin crawl at the expression the first one was giving him. He looked away.

A noise caught everyone's attention, and Warriors flinched when the first captor fell with an arrow to the shoulder. A blast of magical energy tore through the room, freezing everyone around him. The captain pulled his legs, bound at the ankles, closer to his chest, wondering if one of the others had managed to find him but too wary to really hope for a rescue.

Legend walked into his line of vision, and he visibly melted in relief.

"There you are," the veteran said as he jogged over, immediately cutting through Warriors' bonds with a dagger. "You okay?"

Warriors coughed and spat on the ground, getting the taste of the cloth out of his mouth. Huffing, he shakily got to his feet, brushing himself off. "Took you long enough."

Legend's eyes narrowed in annoyance, eyebrow raised. He opened his mouth to snark back, to bring normalcy to what had just happened, when his eyes lingered too long on Warriors' hands, and the captain realized they were shaking. He crossed his arms to hide them.

The veteran's face softened, and his hand hovered over Warriors' back. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Warriors hung his head, nodding. When they reached camp, it was apparent the others were still out looking for him as the area was devoid of people and weapons alike, but had sleeping supplies scattered around the place. Legend guided the captain to his own bedroll and made some tea.

When the veteran hero held out a cup of warm tea for Warriors to take, the captain held it with both hands to ensure he didn't spill anything.

"Did they hurt you?" Legend asked quietly, a dangerous energy in his low tone.

"No," Warriors answered quietly. He tried to give a reassuring smile after a sip of tea. "I'm okay, Vet. I promise."

Sighing, Legend grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Warriors' shoulders, alongside his scarf. "Yeah, sure. You will be."

...

Cloth - Burrito bros!

It had been a brief battle, but difficult enough. Ambushes were hardly ever easy to fight against, especially when the group was already so split up.

Warriors sat in the corner, scarf in hand as he practically wilted looking at how torn the fabric was. Legend or Wild could probably fix it, once they managed to find each other.

Or once Wild took the mask off. That, of course, would imply that someone would let him.

The captain honestly didn't have the energy in him to argue with the cursed deity who was hovering just outside of reach, still on edge from the fight. Wild had snatched the mask out of curiosity before the group had been split up, and when things started looking dire as Warriors had been nearly impaled through his leg, he'd thrown it on quickly.

But never mind his leg, his scarf was in worse shape. And as silly as it was, it hurt his heart to see it. He'd been injured countless times, but this item was precious to him.

The Fierce Deity let out a measured breath as he finally deemed the perimeter safe. Approaching the captain, he said, "Let me see your injury."

Warriors knew better than to argue. He leaned back against the tree, wincing as he stretched his leg out for the deity to see. He kept the scarf clutched firmly in his hands.

Fierce, hair much longer now that Wild was the host, bent over and grumbled as he brushed the locks out of his face, tucking them behind his ears. Then he grabbed for the scarf.

Warriors hissed, "Don't you dare use this a bandage."

"The cloth is already torn, little soldier. You need something to stop the bleeding."

"Here," Sky piped up as he approached. He held out one of his pairs of trousers. "The legs out to be long enough to use as a pressure bandage if needed."

Warriors shook his head. "Sky, no, we don't need to mess up your clothes."

"The pants or the scarf," Fierce said with finality. "Choose."

Sky pushed the trousers in Fierce's face. "These."

Warriors wilted further in defeat as the deity took the clothing and started to wrap his leg with it after cleaning the wound. Warriors hissed every movement, grimacing.

"Why is it every time this happens, we're out of potions and fairies," he complained under his breath before gasping in pain again.

Sky pulled out his sailcloth, wrapping it around the captain. He didn't bother trying to pull the scarf out of Warriors' iron grip. The sailcloth hung over the captain loosely, he shivered a little and smiled in thanks at his friend, before both of them yelped as they were tightly wrapped in the cloth together.

"Hey!" Warriors protested as Fierce bundled them up.

"Don't attempt to protest," Fierce casually tossed back, tying the ends of the cloth together. "You both need rest."

Sky laughed. "Well, you heard him. Grandpa Fierce will keep watch."

A gentle smile crossed Fierce's face, and he pat both of them on the cheeks. "Of course I will."

...

Quiet - Silent Realm story! From the 'fierce deity goes missing and they enter a silent realm to find him' story

This Silent Realm was beyond bizarre. Warriors had traipsed across many worlds, but never one as eerie and magical as this one. The air had an aura of otherness to it, like he was a foreigner in a strange land, like he'd just been born and was discovering the world anew.

"So we're sure that Gramps is here somewhere?" Warriors asked

"Well... not entirely, but pretty sure," Sky answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a running theory."

Warriors glanced around nervously. "It's too quiet here."

"You get used to it," Sky replied with a smile. "What you don't want to hear is--"

Sky stopped dead in his tracks, making the captain nearly walk into him. When he was about to ask what was wrong, Sky held up a hand to silence him.

Jingling. He heard jingling, or... chimes? Bells? Something of that nature.

Warriors glanced at Sky curiously and then saw some lights glowing up ahead, he furrowed his brow, trying to focus on what it was when Sky abruptly yanked him behind a bush, covering his mouth as he yelped.

"What is it?" he whispered.

"Watchers," Sky hissed. "If they see us they'll alert the guardians. We need to figure a way around them."

The captain nodded. He still didn't know what guardians were, but based on how Sky spoke about them, he probably didn't want to find out. The pair carefully peered over the top of the bush, examining the area ahead, when something caught Warriors' eye.

Something... something looked off about the water. He swore he saw a person. Edging a little closer without making himself too visible, Warriors felt his breath get sucked out of him.

The person was himself. A younger version of himself, with his cap and less worn face, with Hyrule’s banner emblazoned on his armor.

It was him from the war.

As if in a trance, Warriors slowly reached for the silvery watery with the oh so familiar face on it when a hand snatched him from behind. He yelled out, his scarf hastily stuffed into his mouth to silence it.

When he landed on something soft, he looked up to see he was splayed out on Sky’s lap with the younger knight watching him in a panic.

“Don’t touch the water.” Sky warned.

Warriors let out a shaky breath, resting on Sky for a moment. This place was insane.

#writing #lu warriors #sorry this took so long to write work’s been steady!#lu legend #lu sky #fierce dadity

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iamthecomet · 1 year

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Ghoulette anon here. Could I request a fic where Cumulus does acts of service as her love language, but then Cirrus and Sunshine flip the script and take care of her and dote on her instead for a change? Can be NSFW.

WOMEN.

Cumulus never sits down, not for longer than ten minutes. Even when they all drag her into a pile for a movie, she is up whenever anyone needs something. The second someone starts to shiver, she's the one getting a blanket. She makes the popcorn, she gets drink refills. She smiles the whole time she does it. To Cirrus, whose love language lies somewhere closer to physical touch, it seems exhausting. All of this work, and so little reward for it. It's pervasive, impacting every part of her life. When they fall into bed she directs all of her energy onto her partners. Doting on them, dragging soft fingers over their skin until their backs bow, their knees buckle, they sob. She is unwilling to let herself be taken care of until everyone else has had their fair share. Cirrus knows that Cumulus loves it. That she isn't tired, or burnt out, or left wanting. That this is the way she loves them, by taking care of them. But that doesn't mean it doesn't make her chest ache a little. It doesn't mean she doesn't want to return the favor. She catches Sunshine's eye over breakfast and Cumulus hands them both a mug of tea and presses her plush lips to the corners of theirs in turn. She hold Sunshine's amber gaze and then darts her eyes over to Cumulus' form, now busy cleaning up after breakfast. Humming to herself in that immaculate soprano.

Sunshine's mouth breaks out into a toothy grin, one that might seem predatory if Cirrus didn't know how soft she actually is. "Hey, Lus. Let Cir do the dishes. I need your help with something," Sunshine pushes away from the counter and crosses the room to curl her arm around Cumulus' waist. She presses her lips into Cumulus' white blond curls.

Sunshine's grip tightens and she tugs. "C'mon. I want to show you something."

"In a minute, Sunny. I just need to--"

Cirrus squeezes in on the other side. She reaches into the soapy water and extracts Cumulus' hands one by one. "You don't need to. I'll do it. Go play with Sunny." They catch eyes over the top of Cumulus' head again. Sunshine's smile only spreads deeper. She winks, and steers Cumulus away. Talking into her hair about something really cool she's been watching Cumulus to see. "You can only really see it this time of day," Sunshine rambles as they leave the room, her voice light, bubbly. Cumulus' laugh carries back to Cirrus as they get further away.

Cirrus looks down at the dishes and sighs, plunging her hands into the scalding water. It takes half an hour to get the dishes washed. She leaves them in the dish drainer for someone else to put away when they finally drag themselves out of bed. She wipes her wet hands off on her thighs and heads to find her girls. She doesn't have to look hard. She can hear Cumulus as soon as she steps into the hallway that houses the ghoul bedrooms. High breathy noises spilling out from behind Sunshine's door. Cirrus doesn't knock. She pushes the door open. She finds Cumulus, naked and splayed on Sunshine's bed. Sunshine's shirt is unbuttoned, but other than that she's fully clothed, cradling Cumulus between her legs. Those white blonde curls splayed out over Sunshine's shoulder, as Sunshine works her mouth over Cumulu's neck and jaw.

Sunshine's fingers work through Cumulus' folds. She's on full display. Thighs damp with slick. Cirrus can see the tremble in her thighs from here.

Cirrus' mouth goes dry.

Cumulus has one hand tangled in Sunshine's hair. The other wrapped around Sunshine's wrist.

Cirrus watches the tendons in Sunshine's arm work.

Cumulus' back bows off the bed.

"You started without me," Cirrus says, already breathless. Sunshine raises her head, smiling widely at her, as Cumulus writhes beneath her fingers. "Did you really expect me to wait?" Sunshine asks softly.

Cumulus' eyes crack open, cerulean blue, already glassy as she looks at Cirrus. She opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but all that comes out is a choked moan.

"It's ok, Lus," Sunshine purrs against the side of her head. Her fingers slip down to sink inside and Cumulus' eyes flutter closed again. "We're gonna take such good care of you, isn't that right, Cir?"

Cirrus rakes her eyes over Cumulus' form one more time, mouth dry, suddenly ravenous to bury her face between Cumulus' legs and drink from her like she's the only source of water on earth.

"Yeah," Cirrus says, crossing the room to climb onto the bed and kneel between Cumulus' legs. She runs her hands down each thigh, feeling the tremors in them. "Gonna worship you the way you deserve."

#comet writes #ficlet #request #ghoulette anon #cirrus / sunshine / cumulus #cirrus ghoulette #cumulus ghoulette #sunshine ghoulette #ghost fan fic #femslash february #ghost fan fiction #the band ghost fan fiction #nameless ghoul fan fiction #unedited

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goldenavenger02 · 1 year

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everything you lose is a step you take

But it was Azula and as soon as she mentioned it with the crazed look in her eyes that showed that her mental state was unstable, he should have known that his little sister would do what she had always done. Play dirty.

(Zuko recovers from being struck by actual lightning)

An Agni Kai was one of the possibilities that Zuko had considered when he asked Katara to accompany him to the fight against Azula, but he had also expected her to play fair.

So when her hands were full of lightning and her gaze shifted towards Katara, Zuko knew what he had to do and he rushed to shield Katara from the blast that would have surely ended her life.

It happened in a flash; a light blue, fiery, painful flash.

His body convulsed harshly as the lightning made its way through him and he could have sworn he heard Azula mock him by saying, "Zu Zu, you don't look so good."

After that, he couldn't hold himself up anymore and was forced to focus on his harsh breathing as he heard Azula and Katara fight for what felt like hours; until he heard rushed footsteps and was slowly maneuvered onto his back before a soft coolness quenched the fire in his chest

He finally managed to open his eyes to see Katara, eyebrows knit tightly with concentration as she held the water over his wound before looking at his eyes. It was only then that he managed to voice his thanks in a whisper.

Zuko watched as Katara's eyes filled with tears that quickly spilled onto the ground as she responded. "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

As Azula continued to scream and spit fire, he let Katara pull him to his feet, the fire in his chest still blazing but not as hot as she held onto his shoulders.

"We should get you inside. I need to get a better look at your wound." Katara insisted as the guards came out of the shadows to take Azula away, but Zuko shook his head and turned to them.

"Don't lock her in the prison tower. Send her to a place where they can help her."

"Oh, Zu Zu, still too weak to lock me up." Azula sneered between her disturbed screams as she was taken away, leaving Katara and Zuko in the still-flaming courtyard. He focused on ignoring her words, that he knew that he was giving her the best option possible but it still made his chest ache and burn harder to the point where he could feel sweat start to form at his brow.

That was when he turned to Katara, only for her figure to be distorted, that he remembered this distinct feeling. He had felt in Ba Sing Se as he was falling ill just before he had lost consciousness and he could see that Katara was saying something but all that came out was muffled noise.

"I don't feel good…" he managed to moan before his feet fell from under him and his vision went black.

…

For the first time in Iroh's adult life, he felt like he could breathe freely. His brother had been stopped, the one-hundred-year war was over…and he was on the right side of history. 'If only you could have seen this, Lu Ten.'

Helping rebuild Ba Sing Se was going to take a long time, maybe even years to fully restore it, but as he watched members of all four nations band together to do so, he had hope that it would be just as beautiful when it was finished, if not more so.

Even when his mind brought back the worry about Zuko and his friends, minus Aang who had been to them first with Ozai unconscious and no longer able to bend, he forced it to go away. Aang had stopped The Fire Lord, so the others had to be victorious as well.

At least that's what he was telling himself for the first day as he joined the rebuilding effort, starting with his tea shop in the heart of downtown.

It wasn't until the midday break for food and his teapot of jasmine had started to steep, that one of the fire soldiers approached him with a scroll in hand and an apologetic look on his face that Iroh had last seen when he lost Lu Ten.

"Are you alright, soldier? I have a pot of steeping jasmine tea if you would like to sit with me." He explained while his heart pounded and his thoughts flooded with every bad scenario that could have happened in the capital, all centered on his nephew.

"I'm afraid not, I'm busy delivering messages to and from the fire nation, but that's why I came here. I have a message from Katara for you."

"Go ahead." Iroh swallowed nervously, trying to keep his face stoic as the man unrolled the scroll and began to read.

"The fight against Azula resulted in victory and she is currently being taken care of in the Fire Nation Prison Hospital. Suki, Toph, and the other Kyoshi warriors have started the rebuilding efforts with the civilians with Sokka acting as a supervisor due to a broken leg. The win did not come easy for us, however, and Zuko is very injured. I'm doing my best to heal him, but due to the severity of his condition, it was recommended that I send for you in between sessions. He had not regained consciousness since fainting shortly after the fight and he has started to develop a fever. I can only assume that he will continue to deteriorate before he starts to recover. I hope this message finds you well, Katara."

Iroh was already on his feet before the customary closing of the water tribes. "When do you leave for the capital?"

"After we've grabbed some food and the rest of the letters to the capital."

Iroh nodded as he started making a mental checklist of what he had in Ba Sing Se while asking. "Do you have room for one more?"

…

No matter how hard Katara tried, she couldn't break through the fever that was rampaging through Zuko's body. From healing with one hand and wiping off his forehead with the other to focusing directly on the fever for a full session rather than the lightning wound, it seemed as though nothing was working.

As she slowly tried to repair internal damage, the heat from the wound and his skin passed onto her, making her stomach ache and her brow sweat profusely, but she couldn't stop until she had to. 'I can't let him die, not now.'

Her throat was parched and she was running out of clean water for bending by the time Sokka hobbled into the room with a crutch under his arm and a glass of water in his hand.

"I can't use that for bending." She told her older brother as she soothed yet another internal burn.

"It's not for him, it's for you. Drink."

Katara stopped bending with her left hand to take the water and drank it in one gulp, letting the coolness soothe her parched throat before passing the glass back to Sokka and continuing to work on trying to repair what she could.

"How bad?"

"It's internal burns. Healing them is hard because fire benders are warm so they can only be soothed. Between that and his fever…" she stopped healing with her right hand to wipe down Zuko's warm forehead, feeling the skin twitch under her soft hand when the cloth went over the top of his scar, "I sent for Iroh in Ba Sing Se yesterday morning. I'm hoping that he has a better solution."

"Why don't you let me take a shift? You need food and sleep."

"Because you're not a bender."

"I can sponge a sweaty forehead, thank you very much." Sokka pretended to take mock offense and Katara knew it, but the exhaustion had spread to her bones and she couldn't remember the last time she ate something, so she went along with it.

"You'll get me if something happens?"

"You have my word." Sokka insisted and that was enough for Katara to rise from her chair and set off on a mission to find food and a soft bed, all while trying her hardest to ignore the fact that she should still be working on healing Zuko.

…

The messengers arrived at the capital as nightfall was settling onto the city and the second day of rebuilding was winding down with a meal before everyone went to their temporary housing. But as soon as Iroh dismounted from his ostrich horse, he was immediately stopped by one of the Kyoshi warriors.

"General Iroh," The teenager nodded before bowing to him and he didn't have the heart to correct her, so he bowed back to her, "My name is Suki. Sokka told me that you would be arriving at nightfall and asked for me to escort you to the infirmary."

"Thank you, dear." He nodded before following her to the palace.

The ground of the courtyard was scorched by fire and lightning and the structures weren't much better in terms of damage. He knew that this was where the battle between his niece and nephew had taken place and as they passed every charred structure his heart ached as he tried to picture just how violent the fight had been.

When they walked inside, however, aside from a shattered mirror the interior was untouched. Down to the snarling portraits of Ozai glaring down at those who made their way into the palace walls. He knew that in the coming days, they would be taken down but for now, he avoided their judgemental looks.

They finally arrived at the infirmary, passing the rooms that held injured soldiers and civilians from the battle until they arrived at the large doors that were made from melded iron that only held members of the fire lord's family. Suki reached her hand forward and delivered three hard knocks to the doors before they opened, but Iroh couldn't wait for another second and rushed towards his nephew.

His nephew, who was still unconscious but his brow was twisted in agony, who had beads of sweat falling from his temples due to the rising fever, and who had a sickeningly large lightning wound that cascaded over his chest but led to a hole of torn, infected skin in the middle.

"Oh, Zuko…" he muttered under his breath as he pushed his hair out of his eyes, his fingers lingering on his hot forehead, "you did well. But the fight is not over yet."

He didn't even register Suki's departure until he heard a different voice greet him that he knew belonged to the water bender who had sent for him in the first place.

"Katara," he offered her a brief but grateful smile while turning his head before he asked, "what have you done so far?"

"I've been trying to heal the internal injuries first to heal the infection, but due to his fever and his body heat, all I can do is soothe the burns. I've also been trying to get his fever down so I have a better chance of healing the wounds, but it hasn't budged. I think it's only gotten higher."

"I know he's still unconscious, but we need to find a way to get some water into him. He's dehydrated, which is only making things worse," Iroh explained as he ran the cool washcloth over his nephew's forehead, "Zuko has always been prone to illness, even as a child. It'll take him a while to shake this but he will as soon as we can get him healed enough to awaken."

"I'll go get more water." Katara nodded and rose from her spot towards the iron doors as Iroh called out after her.

"Bring me my teapot and the brown box beside it," when she gave him a nod of confirmation before the doors closed behind her, he turned back to his unconscious nephew and wiped at his forehead again, knowing that the boy couldn't hear him, "you always did hate that tea. But it does wonders for infection."

…

Zuko's face burned.

The world was dark, his stomach was twisting harshly with nausea and his face was searing hot. If he moved, he likely was going to be violently sick, but at the same time, he felt the urge to open his eyes and take in his surroundings.

'Zu Zu, you don't look so good.'

The haunting echo of Azula's voice was enough for him to open his eyes, expecting to see her sneering over his body with a triumphant grin because she had won the Agni Kai. All that he saw was a dim light filling the room and the moon outside of the window.

He was inside. The battle was over. He was in the infirmary that he had been in so many times as a child after fights with Azula. That was a relieving sign because it meant that he had won…hopefully.

"Easy, Zuko," a voice soothed softly as he managed to turn his head to see Katara hovering over him with a soft smile, "you don't want to hurt yourself more."

"We won?" He managed to choke out, his throat as dry and hot as his face, but the nod from the water bender was enough to make speaking worth it. But when he tried to take a chance to shift his position in the bed, that's when he felt it.

The unmistakable hot, searing pain of a lightning strike right in his torso forced him to turn himself over in order not to retch onto Katara. As he continued to vomit, sending more pain into his chest, he felt two cooling hands on his stomach that finally started to lessen the pain.

"I'm sorry." He coughed as he rolled onto his back once again and realized that it was Katara who was trying to heal his stomach.

"It's okay, I should have warned you. Azula did a lot of damage and it's going to take you a while to get back on your feet." Katara explained slowly and softly as she removed her hands from him.

"Just how much?" He questioned as his body started to shake violently.

"You have a pretty bad infection that's making healing the wounds near impossible," she explained as she reached over and slowly pressed a cold cloth to his forehead, stopping the shaking, "your uncle is working on some sort of tea to combat it, but it's going to be a bit till you can stomach much of anything."

"Where are the others?"

"Toph, Suki, and Sokka are working on helping rebuild both the Capital and Ba Sing Se. Aang has been pitching in when he can, but he's been meeting with other nation leaders nearly every day to start planning on how to move forward. Your uncle has been meeting with other fire nation officials to remove the Ozai loyalists and to resume the throne temporarily."

"Temporarily?" Zuko's head was beginning to ache as the pillow under him tried to lure him back to sleep and his face continued to burn with a renewed fire behind it.

"Until you've recovered enough for your coronation."

"Right," Zuko nodded, although every fiber in his being was telling him just how much he didn't want or deserve to be the new fire lord, "right, that makes sense."

"You should go back to sleep. You'll probably feel better in the morning." She insisted as she pressed a cooling hand to his face and began to quench the fire on it.

"What about you?" He asked as he closed his eyes and tried to let the coolness lull him back to sleep. But before it welcomed him with open arms, he heard her voice answer with a shakiness that made him concerned.

"I have a few more healing sessions to do."

…

He hadn't been asleep for long when a soft hand gently squeezed his shoulder and he managed to open his eyes. Even though it had been cleaned up, Zuko didn't dare move for fear of vomiting once again. But he adjusted his gaze and couldn't help but smile despite the pain when he saw his uncle smiling back at him.

"Hey, uncle." He rasped while blinking a few times to clear his vision, trying to see better in the dim light.

"Zuko, I didn't expect you to be awake so soon," his uncle stopped to press something cold against his forehead, "you're still very ill. But, you're awake now, so you must be starting to turn a corner."

But instead of having some sort of comment to add to his uncle's statement, the memory of how shaky and tired Katara had sounded before he fell asleep came back; he couldn't figure out why it scared him so much but it made him unsettled enough for him to ask, "how's Katara?"

His uncle was silent for what felt like hours; although it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, it was enough to worry Zuko for that time until Iroh finally spoke, but his answer wasn't the reassurance that he was hoping for.

"She's putting up a strong front, getting up every few hours to continue to try and heal your wounds. But as soon as you're out of the woods, I guarantee that she is going to crumble without her worry and adrenaline."

Something about Katara being weak, tired, and unable to defend herself nearly made Zuko sick to his stomach and he knew that if it was Aang, Toph, or Sokka, he'd feel the same way. But he wouldn't be making himself more ill over it, surely not.

'Do I…like Katara?' he wondered briefly, but he shook it away just as fast as it came, 'No. She's just my friend. My friend who is running herself dry on my behalf.'

"We should get some tea into you before you fall asleep," Iroh interrupted his thoughts as he stood and Zuko grimaced at the idea of the nasty tea that Iroh made whenever he fell ill, even though it always ended up helping him feel better; and he knew that his uncle saw the grimace because he offered Zuko a sympathetic smile before walking through the iron doors, "the sooner you drink it, the sooner we can convince Katara to get some real sleep."

Those were the words that convinced Zuko to comply with the gross herbal remedy because even if she was just a friend, helping her made Zuko feel good. Like he could do the right thing.

…

It was weird for Katara to continue with the healing sessions once Zuko was awake. Even though she was glad that he had finally opened his eyes and that the infection was slowly but surely fading, the way he looked at her with what she could only describe as worry was starting to get annoying.

She was the one who was supposed to be worried about him. He had been the one to risk his life and almost end it by taking the lightning meant for her, he was the one whose body was struggling to comply with her healing the wounds inside of him. So why in the world was he concerned about her?

"You can at least speak to me," Katara finally said as she tried to once again knit together the tearing despite Zuko gritting his teeth as she did, "instead of just staring at me like that."

"Like what?" He questioned through his teeth, fighting back the pain as she pulled the skin together.

"You're worried about me and you won't tell me why, you just keep staring," she explained as she moved to the large burn in the center of his torso, feeling his muscles visibly loosen under her water-covered palms, "so I need you to tell me why, so I can focus."

The room was quiet aside from the soft slosh of water from her healing and she began to wonder if she had stunned Zuko into silence with her shaking hands until he spoke up, his voice weak from pain and exhaustion.

"Because you look awful, Katara. You haven't slept for more than a few hours in days. You barely eat, you hardly drink," he stopped to take a shaky breath and she couldn't help but notice that his left arm snaked around his torso where she had just been bringing the damaged skin back together, "and I'm pretty sure that it's making the healing less effective."

He wasn't wrong. Sokka had pointed out her eye bags during breakfast where she could barely touch her food due to her worry. She was worried about the future and how she didn't know where she fit into it. She was worried about Aang who was a thirteen-year-old boy by himself in meetings with people who could easily take advantage of his kindness and age.

And most of all, she was worried about Zuko; the future fire lord who was just now starting to heal, who had been so hurt just a few days ago that she sent for Iroh in case he had to make final goodbyes, that almost convinced her to pull Aang away from his work because their friend was on death's doorstep. Even though he was making small strides towards his recovery now, Katara was still worried that one misstep was going to send him right back to when he first lost consciousness and she doubted that he could bring himself back from that a second time.

"That doesn't mean I should stop," she insisted as she covered her palms once again and tried her hardest to focus on the wound despite the shaking in her hands, "not when you're still so injured."

"Katara," he moved forward and gripped her wrist, shocking her with how tight it was but she knew that it was to get her attention and not out of malice, "if you keep healing me while you're like this, there's a large chance you'll do more harm than good to the both of us."

Katara sighed because she knew that he was right. Shaking hands only could make mistakes while steady hands were the ones that healed and fought, she knew that from her own experience. Even though her fears pulled on her heart, she knew that she needed a break that was longer than a few hours.

So she bent the water off of her palms and into the bucket she had placed by his bedside before putting her hands together and offering him a bow of respect that she knew he would protest against before speaking.

"I will return by the next sunrise."

And with that, she stood up slowly and made her way out of the iron doors to make her way back to her room, keeping an eye on the sundial in the hall as she walked.

…

Zuko managed to push himself up to rest against his propped-up pillows without throwing up from the shocks of pain radiating through his body. He never thought he'd be so thankful to see the sun, even if it was from the infirmary window.

The warmth felt good on his feverish skin and he could feel strength in his body that had been missing through all of the healing sessions he had endured; even with his chest aching as he breathed from the wounds, he felt like himself again.

So when a knock on the iron doors interrupted it, he had to fight back the urge to yell at whoever was behind them and instead, called out for them to come in, expecting to see Suki, Iroh, or even a very exhausted but stubborn Katara.

But when the doors opened to reveal Aang, still in his traditional air nomad colors of orange and yellow and holding his staff in his right hand, Zuko couldn't stop his happiness from escaping his lips with a cheer as the thirteen-year-old nearly crushed him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're awake," Aang muttered from where he had firmly pressed his face against Zuko's light red robes that were common for infirmary patients, "I was here for a while, helping them with Ozai, but you look so much better when you're awake."

Zuko chuckled at Aang's rambling while holding the small Avatar to his chest, making sure that the boy knew that he was alive and was on his way to recovery before he finally made his request that he knew would be best for his strength in the long run.

"Can you help me walk to the window?"

He expected a protest of concern, but Aang just wordlessly nodded before letting go of him so he could offer his hand out. Zuko took it firmly and slowly pulled himself to his feet, his legs starting to shake immediately with the unfamiliarity.

"Here, take this," Aang offered out his staff, which Zuko wrapped his hand around tightly to stop the shaking in his legs, "it's good for balance."

"Thanks, Aang." Zuko nodded and slowly made his way to his goal, holding onto his friend with his left arm and the staff with his right until they finally made it to the window, the sun shining on him as it began to set behind the mountains that lined the edge of the fire nation.

"Do you want a chair?" Aang asked softly, but Zuko shook his head. The sun made him stronger, smarter, and faster. If he wanted to, he could let go of both Aang and the staff, but he didn't as a symbol of their friendship and his respect for his friend.

"Do you remember when I was teaching you how to firebend, and I would wake you up in time to meditate as the sun came up?" He waited until Aang gave him a nod of confirmation before continuing, "waterbenders grow strong with the moon, but firebenders, we grow strong with the sun. It amplifies our powers. I'm hoping that the feeling of sunlight on my skin.-"

"Will help you heal." Aang finished and Zuko nodded before turning his eyes back to the soft orange coming from the sky, feeling his adrenaline start to go down with the sun and an ache starting to form in the pit of his stomach.

He gripped harder onto the staff as his head started to pound with fever and he could have sworn Aang had said something, but his mouth was dry and he felt way too hot like the room was closing in on him.

He didn't know if it was a mercy or not when his vision finally went black even though it was accompanied by Aang's terrified scream.

…

Katara didn't think she could wake up to anything more terrifying than Aang's scream. He was just now thirteen, younger than all of them except for Toph, and his scream sounded so much younger than he was.

'Screw the sunrise.' She told herself as she hurried towards the infirmary, tightening her sash on the way and bracing herself to see the wildest of nightmares behind the iron doors.

What she had been thinking didn't even begin to shine a light on the sight of Aang struggling to drag Zuko back to his bed with tears rolling down his face.

"What happened?" She demanded as she rushed over to help support the teen's weight, looking over to see Suki with a lack of Kyoshi make-up standing in the hallway and ready to do what was needed, "go get clean water"

"He wanted to be in the sun," Aang choked out while they pulled Zuko into the bed and Katara started to use the reserve of fresh water from her flask to figure out where he had strained himself, "he said that it would help him heal."

Katara sighed as she started to piece back together the strained skin because Aang wasn't incorrect. The sun did strengthen firebenders just like the moon was helping her hands to stay steady as she scanned Zuko's body, but the fact that he was up without her knowledge like he had waited for her to be gone to make the request, made her blood boil.

'I'm his healer, for Pete's sake. If he wants to get up, I should know about it.'

"H-he's gonna be okay, right?" Aang's voice shook with tears and it tugged at Katara's heart as she once again remembered just how young he was, "I didn't want him to get hurt, I just wanted to help."

"I'll know when Suki brings me more water," she explained as she once again soothed the harsh burns that were scattered across his torso and started to work on the bruised shoulder that was likely from the fall, "but he strained himself too much, that's all. He didn't set himself too far back."

"Oh, thank goodness," Aang muttered as his head went to his hands, and it finally hit Katara at just how exhausted he looked. His eyes had dark circles similar to her own and his body sagged unnaturally.

"You should get some rest. You have a few meetings in the morning before you head out again," She explained softly as the doors opened again and Suki set the bucket of water down next to Katara's feet, "he's going to be okay."

"You'll get some sleep too, right?" Aang asked as he stood up slowly, "I'm not the only one who has been working non-stop."

Katara bit her lip for a moment as she pressed more water to the wounds, trying to bring down Zuko's rising fever once again, but she plastered on a fake smile for Aang, who was the last person she wanted to worry about Zuko's well-being.

"Yeah, I'll head to bed as soon as this session is over."

She cursed herself out internally for the lie as soon as Aang walked out of the heavy iron doors, knowing fully well that she had zero plans of going back to sleep when there was work to be done.

…

Regaining consciousness for a second time was almost harder than the first time. The first time, his bones hadn't ached and his burns hadn't been sore; but now Zuko was waking up to both and it was absolute agony.

"Don't move," a voice warned and the anger laced within it made him realize that it was a very upset Katara before he even had a chance to open his eyes, "or I'll have Suki chi-block you."

"Sorry." He managed to cough while opening his eyes, immediately greeted by her glare.

"You could have at least asked Aang for a chair. You're still running a fever and your wounds are still infected."

'Right,' he remembered as Katara's hands roamed his body with expertise, 'I asked Aang to help me to the window.'

"Thought it would help."

"Well, now you're staying here unless I'm around," Katara explained while coating her hands in freshwater, "your uncle can't be fire lord forever."

"Is that the only reason you're healing me?" Zuko snapped even as her hands soothed the harsh burning in his chest, "so I can assume the stupid throne?"

"Did I say that?" She snapped back, her voice just as fiery as his even though he could swear that he heard it quiver, "maybe I care about you, Zuko. Maybe seeing Azula strike you and leave you for dead was one of the worst things I've ever seen and maybe I haven't been able to explain that to you because every time I try, your self-hatred and stubbornness get in the way."

He was stunned by her words as her hands still went about trying to heal his body. 'I know that I care about her, but…she feels the same way?'

"Katara, I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"You have hurt me," she shook her head as she bent the dirty water into the bucket before starting to make her way toward the iron doors, "and you're just too blind to see it."

"Katara," he called out to her, but the heavy slam of the doors just solidified one thing to him; he was too late and he was alone.

Well, at least for a few hours until Iron emerged with breakfast and a still steaming teapot that must have just been taken off the stove. As Zuko managed to eat some of the food and drink some of the tea, he finally let out his feelings for the water bender to his uncle that had been weighing on him since he joined their crew.

"I just don't know what to do, uncle," Zuko finished as he sipped on the tea, "it feels like every time I speak to her, she finds a reason to be upset with me."

"Well, for starters, you can finish your tea."

Zuko couldn't help but smirk at the predictability of the beginning of his uncle's response as he continued to sip at it slowly.

"If you love Katara, more than you have loved before, " Iroh stopped to lay a cold cloth on the back of Zuko's neck and he let out a shudder of relief at the cool but calming sensation, "you will figure it out."

"That's not helpful."

"I can't give you answers I don't have, nephew," His uncle smiled for a brief moment before gently pressing on the cloth, squeezing some of the water onto his neck, "but, you're a smart boy. You'll figure it out."

"I don't even know how to talk to her about this when all she does is worry about me." Zuko sighed while looking down into the empty cup as if he was hoping to find an answer in it.

"You'll have to find that answer on your own," Iroh spoke while gently taking the empty teacup before using two fingers to tilt Zuko's gaze upward so their eyes were in direct contact, "but I know you will."

'I hope you're right, uncle.'

…

The days continued to pass slowly now that Katara refused to be around him aside from the healing sessions which grew less and less frequent as he continued to heal and regained his strength. While Zuko was thankful that he was getting closer to being himself again, it brought forth a new wave of anxiety.

'I'm going to be the fire lord, and the others are going to leave,' Aang had already come and gone like the wind as soon as he saw that Zuko was okay from his fall, but the others had their duties to attend to that were not in the fire nation. Even his uncle was ready to settle in Ba Sing Se, 'Katara is going to leave.'

He struggled with the knowledge that there was a high chance that Katara wasn't going to speak to him and as soon as his injuries were fully healed, she was going to be gone for good and he was going to be alone.

So when the day finally arrived for his coronation and he only required one healing session a day, he got up slowly; if there was any way that he could prolong his ascension, he was going to do it.

'I cannot follow in my father's footsteps,' he told himself as he shrugged on his white undershirt before gripping his fingers around the royal robes that hung next to his bedside, 'and I cannot lose Katara.'

He shrugged his left arm into the sleeve with little to no pain, but when he went to do the same with his right, the shock of pain from the bruise and the residual burn had him stunned to the point where he hadn't heard the door open until Katara was standing in front of him.

"Let me help you," she muttered while softly guiding his arm into his robe, "if you injure yourself now, I think Suki will have my head."

Zuko couldn't help but smile as she pulled the robe tight and tied the sash with the same level of concentration that she had healed his wounds for days, but when she looked up at him and asked if he was okay, he knew that he had to speak to her.

'Now or never.'

"Katara?" He asked softly as she went around to the back of his head and started to brush out his hair gently, most likely pulling it into a top knot for the crown.

"I'm still mad at you," she responded and he winced at the harshness of her tone, "you could have inadvertently killed yourself."

"Can you at least hear me out?" When she didn't respond but continued to style his hair, he finally spoke, "I…I wasn't sure about it for the longest time. I knew that you were my friend as much as Sokka, Toph, and Aang, but," he stopped to swallow down his nerves, "I'm in love with you, Katara. And even if you don't feel the same way, I need you to know just how sorry I am, because I can't do this without one of my best friends by my side."

The room was eerily quiet aside from the slight rustle of hair being softly pulled through a hair tie until finally, she came around to where he could see her and reached her hand up to softly press against his scarred cheek.

"You are going to be a great fire lord, Zuko. You're strong, you're kind and you're intelligent. You are everything that a leader needs to be."

The way she spoke made him terrified that she was going to walk out of that room without another word. That what she had said would be the last words he ever heard from her. That this was goodbye.

Until she cut off his anxieties by pressing her lips on his and wrapping her hands around his neck, leaving him with the only option to press his lips against hers and wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his body so he couldn't lose her.

She pulled away after a few moments and he couldn't stop himself from looking into her blue eyes which were full of happy tears as she spoke, "I would be honored to be by your side."

Zuko pulled her back into a kiss and took in the smell of saltwater that filled the air whenever Katara was around as he reassured himself once again.

'I can do this.'

#Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #fanfic #my writing #zutara #zuko #zuko x katara #katara #aang #sokka #iroh #suki #hurt/comfort #whump #angst

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triforce-of-mischief · 9 months

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fable rereads lu! part 1: february 2018 doodles

reactions, analysis, and what have you!

FOUR. BUDDY. is that black blood or did he let it sit for too long >_<

hes so soft i canttttt

based on these and what happens in sunset, i would take a chance and say that four isn't actually too upset when his secrets are shared. it seems to usually be a deliberate choice, but he still feels very guilty when he almost spills somebody else's tea

i think we should remember that wars has a fire rod that legend entrusted him with

OOOO this has gotta be the colors- i wonder which are which~

that waist tho-

canon warriors is a silly goofy arsonist !!

since doodling this I’m pretty set on 2nd choice. Sky can keep it since he actually has an established and close relationship with Fi while the others have various thoughts and conversations with her

they can all talk to fi!!! also interesting how sky threw it to hyrule, who's possibly the best swordsman after the chosen hero himself

jojo used to draw four with his hood up a lot more often, i just think hes cute :)

oh, jojo

The last panel, they [four, wind, and wolfie] are the only 3 that can see the minish.

hmm i wonder if twi can only see the minish in wolf form... probably

yes the pirate's charm and sheikah slate can facetime but don't forget that wind is the one who made it work! clever kid

i do wonder what legend's saying... also important to note is that he appears to be touching the back of his neck, a telltale sign of nervousness. sky says that legend "doesn't give a second thought about his attitude" but... maybe he does?

kdjfhgdh wars hiding in his scarf

~~~

aaand that's it for this batch! things should get more exciting once we hit the main comic!

#fable rereads lu

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chouxtranslations · 7 months

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Shizun 017 - Job at the door

The next day, Lu Yunzhen woke up feeling refreshed.

Ever since he turned down Mo Changkong’s original offer of waiting on him every morning and evening, Mo Changkong has figured out other ways to serve his Shizun. Every morning he would line up at the supermarket to buy discount eggs (a little over 2 yuan for half a kilo, limit 2 kilo per customer). It was great for making tea eggs, omlettes, scrambled eggs, and egg dumplings, the only issue is that it’s not quite enough food…

And now, Jin Yunu is here.

Mo Changkong took out an enchanted umbrella made of shade beast hide from his seed space, which can stop sun damage for creasures such as skin painting demons, so that he could do chores during the day.

Shade beasts went extinct ages ago, there aren’t many of these umbrellas left in the world…

Jin Yunu was touched to the point of tears and was ready to spill his organs, whatever Mo Changkong wanted.

Thus, Mo Changkong took him to buy eggs together, even telling Jin Yunu to switch to different skins in the washroom so he can line up a few more times….

The two of them returned home loaded with discount eggs.

Lu Yunzhen had finished washing up by then and was very happy at the harvest. After asking everyone for their opinions he went to the kitchen and made a massive batch of crepes.

Everyone was very full.

Lu Yunzhen has also left the small funk he was in the day before. It was unfortunate that he asked for little money for capturing a skin painting demon and left a lot on the table, but being a person means to be solid. He’s a stem major, how could he rely on the supernatural to make money?

The most important thing is, he thought it through.

He’s met three evil spirits in his 20 years of life, and he was only paid once! If he counted on exorcisms to make a living he’d starve even if he charged 5 figures each time!

“We can’t take wicked shortcuts, to study well is the righteous path.” The Wujian Peak sect leader announced to his disciple and servant. “I’m going to talk to my advisor to see if there’s any projects I can work on, get more experience, get a good job after I graduate, and work from 9 to 9 as a code money. A 5 figure monthly salary isn’t a dream!”

There were a few people he knew from the program who have 7 figure yearly salaries now. They’re all winners at life and it’s so inspiring!

He’s going to use his own hard working hands and lead his household to prosperity!

Mo Changkong applauded seriously, “Shizun is correct.”

Jin Yunu had lived in wealthy households and has seen extravance. He looked at the previous treasure in his hands, then the countless spirit stones in the house, and only felt confused… He felt like the sect leader had some rather strange goals… is this some special godly way of cultivating?

Mo Changkong glanced at him coldly.

Jin Yunu knew his place and didn’t dare to disagree. He immediately clapped, “That’s wonderful, sect leader! This one has benefitted so much from you wisdom it was worth 10 years of study!”

Lu Yunzhen was practically floating from all the praise.

Jin Yunu respectfully walked his sect leader and master to the school, then stayed at home to clean up, absorb some spiritual power, and light himself a little scented candle for a snack.

It was a wonderful little life.

…

Lu Yunzhen has great grades and has studied a lot of stuff on the side to help with his post graduation job hunt. He can do most types of code money jobs.

However, programming jobs are often outsourced to an outsources. By the time it gets to a student they turn into hard work for little money. Not to mention there are many monks for very little gruel, and everyone has to fight for it.

Things like app development requires time and resources, and success depends on luck.

Heh, intangible things such as luck…

Lu Yunzhen is the kind of person could get water stuck on his teeth. He gets a stomach ache every time he has a test and has been forced to be the kind of person who puts a medical kit in his backpack whenever he has an important test.

All of his advisor’s projects were already gobbled up by his upper classmen, and the few suitable jobs online were also grabbed in a blink.

Lu Yunzhen posted in his class group chat and in friend circles, saying that he wanted to take a computer related job. He was very personable and everyone happily agreed to keep an eye out for him.

2 classes passed by in a blink.

During the break, Luo Xiaopang squeezed in by Lu Yunzhen’s side and patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, you honour student. Why do you keep looking out and laughing like an idiot today?”

Lu Yunzhen replied, “I’m looking at my friend.”

Mo Changkong had followed him to school and was sitting underneath the gingko tree outside the window. He had worn a baseball cap and was playing games on Jin Yunu’s phone. Weirdly, even though he’s so eye catching no one passing by seemed to notice him.

Luo Xiaopang followed his gaze out but there was nothing underneath the tree. There were a group of cute girls practicing cheerleading on the nearby field though, they seemed very energetic.

He grinned and shoved at Lu Yunzhen, “Bro, look at your face. Do you have a crush?”

Lu Yunzhen was a face full of confusion, “What?”

Mo Changkong saw that Shizun had noticed him and walked over to explain. “Is something the matter, Shizun? I was worried about causing trouble and used a camouflage spell.”

Luo Xiaopang couldn’t see him and kept on asking. “Yunzhen, which girl are you looking at? The one in blue? Aiya, she fell.”

Lu Yunzhen didn’t know how to explain, so he just played possum.

Luo Xiaopang kept giggling.

Mo Changkong pushed down the boiling flames of jealousy and asked with an awful look, “Shizun… has someone he fancies?”

Lu Yunzhen felt his heart get hairy from the terrifying stare and immediately explained. “No.”

“No what?” Luo Xiaopang saw his bro was strangely nervous and thought he figured things out. He kept on joking around. “If you’re not looking at the girls, then are you looking at a guy? I heard from Liao xuejie that…”

There was a bunch of track and field students sweating on the sports field.

Luo Xiaopang’s joke has gone too far.

“What are you saying? Do you still want to copy my homework?!” Lu Yunzhen was so embarrassed he was getting mad. He ignored the look on Mo Changkong’s face and strongly slapped Luo XIaopang on the back of the head, scolding, “Don’t start nonsense with Liao xuejie. She draws danmei comics and is looking for material everywhere. She even started shipping the two tomcats at the school and it’s even popular online…. How could I like men?!”

Just because he doesn’t have a girlfriend it doesn’t mean he’s looking for a boyfriend!

“Zhen bro, my bad.” Luo Xiaopang immediately pleaded for mercy. “You’re as straight as steel, you only like women, and those with a tough life at that!”

Lu Yunzhen hit him two more times and then let him go. But then he turned around and saw that Mo Changkong was looking even worse. His eyes were almost filled with despair, as if he was about to eat someone in the next second…

What happened?

Lu Yunzhen was panicking, he combed over what was just said but couldn’t figure out what’s wrong. In the end he waited for Luo Xiaopang to start playing his game and quietly asked, “You… don’t like having a Shiniang?”

Mo Changkong took a deep breath, “No.”

Lu Yunzhen panicked even more, explaining, “There’s no girl I like.”

“That is fine.” Mo Changkong pushed out a terrifying smile while gritting his teeth. “I have improved myself, I won’t do bad things or hinder Shizun’s feelings anymore. Shizun can like whoever he likes, there is no need to worry about this disciple…”

Lu Yunzhen is panicking more and more.

He felt like a little frog that was being stared at by a giant python. Something bad might happen if he kept on saying the wrong answer but he thought until his head broke and couldn’t figure out what’s the right answer.

Mo Changkong noticed that his suppressed evil nature was trying to come out again, with images of the school being destroyed flashing in his brain. Again and again, he harshly pushed the thought down.

The bloody aura of the world ending demon was slowly flowing out.

Lu Yunzhen got a flash of inspiration. “Don’t worry, when I look for a partner I’ll get your approval first! If you don’t like it then I’ll be single!”

The bloody aura stopped.

The terrifying feeling of oppression disappeared like it was nothing. The sky was blue, the clouds were white, nothing happened at all…

Mo Changkong asked quietly, “That’s not appropriate, is it?”

“It’s right.” Lu Yunzhen finally understood and answered honestly. “You’re my disciple from my previous life and a member of the family. If we’re adding people to the household how could this teacher not consider your opinions?”

SIngle parents looking for relationships have to think about their children! Even more so if it’s a demon with a strange personality who’s not used to other people!

Mo Changkong was finally satisfied and went back to playing his game under the tree.

Lu Yunzhen looked at his cheerful silhouette and felt deeply once more… He probably had no chance of getting married this life…

He thought about how to explain at his grandpa’s grave that he took in a demon disciple and thus has to stay single and not get a granddaughter in law for him.

Grandpa’s a good guy, he’ll understand, right?

While he was thinking all that nonsense he heard cursing from his classmates.

“Fuck! The server died again!”

“What broken game is this?! It keeps dying!?”

“We should use the devs as human sacrifice!”

“I could program better than them with my feet!”

“...”

Lu Yunzhen rubbernecked a bit and saw that it was the game named Hero that Mo Changkong was playing the previous day. The game was well made with fun mechanics, and the beta was super hyped. A lot of classmates had been talking about it lately.

But, the backend quality didn’t match the game contents at all, with the connectivity and saving issues. The game company kept issuing maintenance notices, causing the players to curse at them.

Lu Yunzhen didn’t play games and didn’t care. He kept on looking for new jobs.

Suddenly, Long Jingtian sent him a message on wechat. “Master Lu, are you there?”

Lu Yunzhen replied, “Yes.”

Long Jingtian carefully asked, “I saw your friend circle post, it seems like you want a job involving computers?”

After the demon incident, he was scolded many times by his father. His father said that Master Lu is a hidden taoist with great morals, that meeting him was the kind of fortune that would make smoke come out of his ancestors. He had to maintain a good relationship with the master, otherwise he had no shot at a lambo.

Long Jingtian had no idea how to deal with sects, not to mention he didn’t have a phone number or address, only a weibo account. He asked his friends and everyone had the same suggestion: find another case, invite the master out, and build the relationship.

Thus, Long Jingtian spent day and night sending out the same message in dozens of groups. “Has anyone gotten hit with bad luck lately? Come find me!”

Ignoring all the joking around in the groups, everyone knows that the Long family was very rich and there was still a lot of people who wants to suck up to him. After asking for more details they looked for all sorts of ways to find an incident.

There’s power to a crowd.

In the end, they finally found it…

Long Jingtian asked, “Master, do you know about servers? I have an issue related to that.”

Lu Yunzhen was excited, “I know!”

Let it be website building, server management, code writing, bug fixing, or system security, he knew it all. Whenever there was a contest at school he always won some kind of prize. His only problem was that he had bad luck and few chances to show off. If a fuerdai like Longjingtian brought him a job that means there’s no middleman and he could make a lot! And build his reputation at that!

Long Jingtian said, “I have a middleschool classmate whose family has been making games. But the server keeps having problems and they just can’t seem to fix it. She wanted to invite Master Lu for an exorcism.”

“...”

He wanted to block this moron.

#shizun #feng yu nie

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erisenyo · 2 years

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A Third Chance (Or a First)

Got inspired to write a little Iroh POV on a post-Comet Azula, if he were involved in her recovery. Enjoy!

Iroh sets out his teapot and two of his rapidly dwindling set of cups. He precisely places the canisters of leaves and his precious supply of ginger next to them. He lays out his measuring spoons on the neat little mat he still carries from his time in the Earth Kingdom and carefully adjusts their angle until they’re oriented just right. And throughout it all, he holds his tongue.

The motions of it are ritual, rhythmic, and he paces his breathing to it where words would normally flow forth, trying to model calm as his niece seethes across the fire, straight-backed and ragged-nailed, the fire whipping and roiling along with her mood, sparks on her breath and her tawny eyes predatory in their intensity as she watches his every move.

They were having, Iroh silently laments, a good day. Or a better one at least, where his niece’s inner flame seemed more aligned to her purpose than at odds with it even if she was as sharp-edged and vicious as ever.

But then she found something in her room that reminder her of who knows what, since a quarter of the room is currently still charred and smoking and when Iroh tried to ask she—

Well. Iroh had moved her things quietly and without comment to the next door down the long hallway after that, which only seemed to make her even more full of rage. He’s learned that everything does, though, at a certain point. Like the well of fury inside her is endless, like she is a cup overfull and constantly spilling over, and his heart aches to imagine trying to contain it in a body so small, aches to imagine all the instructors and tutors who taught her to nurture and tend it like it was a fire lily in bloom and not a choking vine that grew to become something larger than herself.

And his brother…well. Iroh has learned not to mention his brother in front of Azula unless she brings it up herself, first.

So he will sit, and model calm and foundational breathing exercises, and make Azula’s favorite tea the way she likes it best. And he will hold back his words much as it pains him to let her rage in silence. Because he has learned, slow and painful as it was, that his niece likes his words far less than his nephew, which some days feels like it means all he has left to give is tea.

He does not know what he is going to do when he runs out of ginger.

He will find the path when he faces that challenge, though, he assures himself as he carefully measures just enough for a fresh pot to steep. He will find a way just as he has found the path many times before, and this need no less urgent than the others. He will not waste this third chance the Spirits have seen fit to give him, this gift that is far more than he ever thought he’d have.

But no, he chides himself, catching his thoughts. Just as Zuko was not another attempt to do better by Lu Ten, this is not a third chance. It is a first. A first chance with Azula. A chance to get it right, maybe, where he has stepped with such confidence before and stumbled.

But oh, where to begin when she is raging and powerful beyond her years, so smart and clever and beyond all else scared and furious that he can see it, enraged that Iroh knows how to recognize fear where no one else would see it on a face so like her brother’s. So like their father’s.

He thinks of Zuko’s raging, of how he would push away like he was testing how determined Iroh was to stay. Of his nephew’s need for plain speaking and how long it took Iroh to realize it, how it took having his face shoved in it when it was nearly too late for him to finally recognize how close pushing away and walking away could seem.

And he thinks of his own brother. Of Ozai’s quiet, simmering fury, of his vindictiveness and his jealousy and worse. And he cannot help but think that Azula has a right to her anger.

So Iroh will hold his tongue though it pains him not to soothe her rage. He will make her favorite tea as long as he can, what little comfort and consideration he can offer that she will accept. And he will do his best to make himself into a port in the storm of her emotions and unruly fire. Into calm seas for her to crash against and come away unhurt.

He will ask her what she needs, and he will listen to her answers and not just what he thinks she means by them. And he will extend his hand in trust before demanding that it be given to him first, even knowing he might be burned, because old men can learn new tricks, even one who spent sixty years learning about what is owed to them first and what they owed to everyone else second.

A Crown Prince expects loyalty before he gives it, even a former one.

A parent, Iroh reminds himself, can expect no such thing.

#atla #Iroh fic #Azula fic #Iroh's stumbling journey with parenting #azula recovery #Azula redemption I suppose?#The early stages that could go that way?#my writing

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luimagines · 1 year

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*walks in tiredly, offers you a mug of tea, downs my own like a shot, makes it like the Wild 100 years ago* Hey there, hope you're doing well today ^^

Probably long ask so uh, warning and apologies in advance. I'm glad the Lustrous ask was seemingly well received? XD It's just a snippet of a bigger thing, I'm writing a full thing for them when I have the time (along with a series for the Fairy Tale prompts, which I also have snippets of if anyone's interested?) which I'll post later and tag you if you're interested, plus you listened to me basically just come into your little corner of the internet and ramble about a crossover of a series you're not familiar with and LU, so it's only fair since it basically inspired me to keep going, so thank you ^^. Although, uh, Citrine/Little Link won't have a good time, apologies in advance, I blame the evil moon people. Yeah sorry he's probably going to pull a Time or Sky in the bad sense. That was an exchange from a draft of chapter 4 and English is not my first language even though I've been using it more for years, so that's likely why it's off, I apologize for that. Also I promised I'd come here and scream about how much I adore your writing of the boys (and once again, thank you for posting, great pick me up after a rough week that really does make me want to walk right into a Guardian beam, so here we go while I can even if I may need to split this in two if I hit the word limit.

Also the small family with Warriors and Wind is so wholesome, I think I went under from cavities alone (or maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, eh), please let the Link’s have parents and parental figures who stick around and don’t contribute to their trauma universe and Wind and Aryll are definitely up there in both deserving and needing it a lot, had to say I laughed at Warriors not being as thrilled by the crab as someone who makes friends with them and seagulls every time I’m near the ocean, they’re neat little fellas ^^, Poor Legend probably ain’t gonna be thrilled to find one on his clothes though, I know I wasn’t before figuring out how to keep them out, also, Reader comforting Aryll- just yes, also Wind’s grandma is the best I don’t make the rules. Sick Reader is such a mood, the boy's reactions hurt to read though it's really heartwarming how much they care, perfectly in character, 10/10, would definitly die over it again. Reader being good with a bow made me chuckle and smile because the irony of being familiar with a bow and seeing Reader and Wild excited of it reminds me of when I first picked it up, sweet and humorous and I adore it. Four getting a taste of his own medicine- *cackles hard in current Minish Cap player and Manga reader of it and Four Swords* That's what you get for your canonical flirting boy! He was as bad as Warriors and look where it got him XD Also he's so gone for Reader's Colors and Reader in general, it's sweet and just really good, I love it so much, plus the Reader’s colors have so much personality and it’s great. The Fear Room, goodness THE FEAR ROOM. I'm going to need to save it in for another ask because there are so many little details that I adore and I am a sucker for horror and it's too good- 20/10, would scare my poor dog again over my pain and elation.

Reader accidentally spilling who’s their favorite (and suffering as a result) also makes me cackle and smile a lot, it’s soft and sweet and each Link being so elated by it is literally so sweet (though Time, Wild, and Twilight literally murdered me during that segment, not a bad cause of death all things considered, but how dare all Link’s be so sweet? Like I’m already dead here, shoveled dirt into my box and everything, no need to try finishing me off), na interesting detail is how Hyrule and Legend both have the almost immediate reaction of asking why, dunno if it’s intentional or not but it’s a very neat touch, like you don’t have to elaborate but either way they’d happy if you did decide to which reflects really well with their characters. Four overreacting the second Reader takes it back (be smothe, smithy boy, specially so you don’t plot), Sky being sweet but oh so oblivious and basically killing Reader and Warriors being flattered, Wind just being triumphant in general and wanting to make Reader smile, Wild basically getting a critical hit in, Twilight and Time existing, it’s just so nice and I am soft. Plus the consistent and cackle worthy betting always makes me wheeze.

Speaking of betting, the Link’s being so gone for a tall S/O is both hilarious, consistency I greatly appreciate and a mood, plus the lines where definitely on point for sudden hilarity (“They got family?” “They took all your height” “And ours too-“ “Twilight wondering why he got none of that” absolutely sent me, great pick me up after a generally bad time existing), and all of them being soft and just so happy their S/O is in their lives and how they can show them off when meeting in each Hyrule is really wholesome, plus the consistent betting and friendly teasing which really sells how they are as close as brothers is really nice to see.

Soft Fierce Deity, honestly the main thing I can say coherently is that if the favorite scenario, and then the meeting scenarios slayed me, then this man came into my house and stole all my bones before killing me again in a good way because I am too soft, I have a really soft spot for the Fierce Deity, and the way you write for him is great and we usually don’t see much for him in any corner of the Zelda (or adjacent) Fandoms, it’s in character sure because Nintendo has a tendency of mentioning deities in Zelda or Link variants and then just refusing to elaborate, but it always makes me happy to see people write stuff for him among other things, 50/10.

How to Be a Heartbreaker delights me, always nice to see Warriors being the flustered one instead and his and Reader’s banter (and Twilight cameo) gives me life, I could probably write a small essay on why it delights me so much, but again word limit so let’s move on, maybe during another ask or something.

... Actually maybe I should save the oneshots for another individual ask, more organized that way.

Anyway, onto there’s only one bed! Also know as, Wild killing me with cackling that had my dog nuzzling me with concern and being my spirit animal all in one go, never change Wild Child, knew there was a reason you managed to bring me back to the Zelda fandom, me trying and failing not to be soft for Warriors, soldier boy deserves good things and it’s really sweet how much he cherishes reader, and me and Legend having the same trauma (aka KOHOLINT, if I could I’d fistfight the Windfish, I can’t go to the beach without a seagull being nearby and remembering Marin, specially with the friendly ones who actually come by just to stare and chirp for a while and it hurts), the fact he doesn’t want Reader to look down on him, because he doesn’t want them to leave him like how he basically lost or was left by most people in his life, the correlation with when he was stranded at sea, Reader comforting him- Just yes, bless the veteran. Flustered Reader is also my spirit animal, and cat Reader delights me to no end, thank you once more for the wonderful contente and all your work in the fandom!

Also, while the urge to nap has not yet claimed me yet (and with hopefully the Tumblr wordcount not vibe checking me), I saw an ask about Time/Mask/Sprite with a resistance leader s/o? May I raise an idea/au of this au that’s been haunting me every second when I’m not doing anything much? Resistant Leader in the pre-timeskip timeline (aka The Child Timeline) started out as a Terminan Thief, that’s why Mask didn’t run into them when first going to get the Master Sword, they haven’t left Termina yet. The first contact Mask had with them after the timeskip was when they stole his wallet as a Deku Scrub, ran from him on the second day and then vanished on the third day. After the loop starts Thief/would be Resistant Leader Reader is somehow always just there, stealing random stuff from him and generally making his life harder (he would like to know how they snatched the Bunny Hood from his head and the Gilded Sword without him noticing, please? But Thief Reader definitely ain’t going to start divulging tricks of the trade) but always vanish on the third day before he can really stop them to talk, so honestly done and just really wanting to know why someone he remembers as this really amazing, confidente and badass leader would be acting like this (because it honestly doesn’t seem in character, given they were fighting Ganon for so long and stalled him several times on his search for Link) and just really missing a friend and being tired of these loops, he manages to follow them, maybe Reader was in a spot of trouble with other thieves and couldn’t get out of it unless they stole a certain quantity of rupees or rare items, and by the final day they snap and that’s why Link doesn’t see them (maybe the Gorman Brothers? If Reader spoke out and maybe tried using one of his stolen weapons to have a go at them for attacking Cremia and Romani if they’re close, although it’s generally ambigous, maybe it could be someone from Ganon’s former band of thieves who ran to Termina, and that’s why they became a Rebellion Leader in the timeskip? They couldn’t leave, saw what Ganon was going to do to Hyurle went, “Hm. Don’t really like that!” and probably fought their way out, maybe getting other thieves to speak up and rally together as well and it just escalated?) Either way, Mask sees what’s happening and that they probably can’t get out of it alone like usual and helps them because that’s HIS friend lord darn it he hasn’t seem them in forever and thought he wouldn’t ever see them again, the first familiar face since maybe Lullaby and Malon he’s seen in a while, he isn’t leaving them behind (casually raising my headcanon of Fae possesiviness being Time’s fault in the bloodline if we want to figure out where Hyrule’s came from, because the Kokiri are basically another branch of Fae and have fairies near them), and as thanks they not only give him his items of whichever loop his in back but maybe something of their own as well to remember, and help him out with the rest of the tasks or a temple (probably by somehow getting him the dungeon item, or a few dubiously acquired potions ahead of time), but if he had to reset they get caught up in it and actually remember the previous loop, given the way they just SPRINTED through Clock Town on the first day and instead of being subtle like always to steal something, they just bowl him over in a glomp and start checking him over, breaking the pattern.

Cue a bit of panic, several explanations and either an ear pull, cursing or stealing of rupees and holding masks hostage as revenge (and the threat of leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back if he tries stopping them from helping, oh you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve done this now? And don’t want me to get hurt? Well too bad I am not letting you do this alone, News flash, technically I’ve already been hurt I’m not losing the one person who bothered to help me), and now he has an impromptu loop buddy to help him out even if it’s through questionable means after they usually deal with whichever other thief is around first. Maybe if after he defeats Majora and goes to leave he doesn’t tell Thief Reader, assuming they don’t want to come with since he’s caused them a lot of trouble and they’re technically free to do as they please now, only he can’t, because Thief Reader absconded with two more things of him: One of his earring’s, and the Fierce Deity Mask, which they are cheekily waving to show off to him atop Clocktower, the earring on their own ears. (And seriously? HOW?!) Shenanigans ensue, maybe a chase or two, and Mask acquires himself a travel companion on top of Epona, Tatl and Tael on his search for Navi.

And honestly? Chaotic and bullheaded as they are and probably something of a magpie to boot, he wouldn’t have picked anyone else. You can hold your own and you’ve been ride or die with him twice over now, if that isn’t a sign you’re sticking around he doesn’t know what is.

Or something, idk, I’m running on three hours of sleep, maybe someone with more energy can expand on this into the War of Ages later or I’ll do it myself (Wind would have the best/worse role model ever, given ya know, Pirate and really light footed, feather touched and chaotic thief, Warriors is having heart attacks every five seconds even if he has to admit that when Thief Reader is going for soldier’s who talked badly about him, Mask, Wind, Ravio or Zelda is the most hilarious thing he’s ever seen and that one time they stole Cia's staff and were going to bash her over the head, Ravio is probably side eying them the whole time or seeing a business opportunity, Artemis and them trade tips due to her Sheik alter ego and both Mask and Warriors have to drag them away from one another, the possibilities are endless). I just find the idea of the Link’s with any morally dubious, but clearly cares a lot and wouldn’t hesitate to cut or bite someone for them amusing. Gives way for some interesting dynamics, like say Twilight and cattle raider reader (aka the cowboy/wild west themed rivalry au that I will not elaborate on), or Warriors with an Assassin Reader, or Wild with a mercenary reader, the possibilities are infinite folks.

Also also, if for some reason Mask and Thief Reader got separated before LU, and they reunite as Time and Still a Thief but much closer to their Rebellion Couterpart Reader. And their reunion basically goes like that one Puss in Boots, or the Lion King one scene: Thief Reader: *Holding dagger to throat, teeth bared as they just managed to steal the Fierce Deity Mask for the 10987th time from this strange man they don’t recognize after he gave chase, pauses for a couple of seconds in disbelieving, shocked recognition, dropping the blade*... Link?

Time: *Also in fight mode and ready to kick the attacker off of him and getting the mask back, actually takes a good look at their face and pauses in shock, long dead hope suddenly burning again, hesitant* (... Reader)? Thief Reader: *Not even hesitating to throw themselves at him in a hug with a slightly teary laugh* LINK! Time: *hugging them back just as tight, still somewhat in disbelief* (Reader).

Thief Reader: *pausing as they notice the Fierce Deity’s marks, flashbacks to all the times they told Mask not to over do it on the battlefield with it because they saw how much it hurt and affected him even if the Deity is pretty chill with them, chillingly livid as they level the tone at him, you know the one, pulling at one of his ears* ...Link.

Time, Knowing he is in danger as he recognizes that tone: ... (Reader). *wisely stays silent as they smack him hard on the shoulder and starting the lecture of a lifetime, silently glad Malon also isn’t here because she’d probably join you, but also just glad you’re even here to lecture and get mad at him in the first place after so long* The Chain, watching all this drama and telepathy display go down and who just wanted their stolen stuff back: I can just imagine the sheer confusion and bewilderment as to how Time knows this seemingly random thief who stole their stuff and would have probably dipped sucessfully if not by somehow getting Wild’s Slate, the Fierce Deity Mask and almost all of Legend’s rings at the same time and why they’re arguing like an old married couple about self care of all things. Most amusing reactions probably going for Twilight, Wild, Legend, Warriors and Wind. Or something, i’m probably not making much sense.

Anyway, I’ve probably bothered you with my rambling enough for one day xD Thank you once again for all your work in the fandom, maybe I’ll have more stuff on Lustrous reader or even Vessel reader next I’m by but until then, thank you ^^.

-Signed, Just a Tired Anon on A Stroll 🐚.

Anon!!! Hello again!!

NOT MY BOY LUCKY DX NOT LITTLE LINK!!!!! WHAT DO MEAN BAD TIME LIKE TIME AND SKY?!?!?!

But also, please tag in anything. I'm so intrigued and I want more fairytale stuff. Go ahead. XD

I'm glad you like the oneshots! Please tell me more of your thoughts on the Fear Room o.o I'm not big on horror so I'm glad it got the terror across ^.^*

And Fierce Deity and How to be a Heartbreaker and other because I want to hear all your thoughts. XD

And what do you mean Twilight- wild west au- rivalry?!?!? Hello!!?!??! You can't just drop that and say you won't elaborate!!!!

But this idea with theif! Reader is a good one :D

Clearly, you put a lot of thought into it and there's just so much potential.

The boys are all awkward and shuffling in the background as Time gets scolded because they're not sued to the leader cower back like that and even then he's not even trying to defend himself at this point and they're just staring. "....Who is this person?"

"No clue, but the Old Man finally got what was coming to him."

"I feel like my parents are fighting."

"I know them..." Warrior sighs. "I guess they haven't change at all."

Multiple heads turn to look at him.

He puts his hands up. "I'm not saying anything."

#pinky replies

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