#no matter now astronomical the odds

[shitpostingkats]

I felt like you might be a fun person to consult! We're watching 5Ds and my watch partner is obsessed with Exodia decks and will not stop theorizing.

In a tournament like WRGP, if you pull out Exodia on the first person do you think it counts as a clean sweep?

Hangon I gotta go consult the monks who keep the 872 page mystic tome wherein the secret tournament rulings for yugioh are held.

My gut instinct is it wouldn't give you an automatic win against all three opponents, you'd have to let the enemy team have a turn in between exodia-ing. Which, in 5Ds ruleset, means if you drew all five pieces turn one:

Turn 1: Exodia in hand. Win duel against your Opponent Driver 1.

Turn 1, end phase: Opponent Driver 2 tags in for the defeated Opponent Driver 1. Whoever takes the corner first has the next turn of this "new" duel.

Turn 2: Theoretically, you could win the Turn Turn Priority (<- a name I just made up) and repeat your success against Opponent Driver 1. However, if Opponent Driver 2 takes Turn Turn Priority, they have an opportunity to cast a spell/lay down a trap that negates, removes, or otherwise bungles your exodia gambit!

Granted, the possibility of a this being a non 3TK relies on them both winning Turn Turn Priority, and having something for removal in their opening hand, but hey! If this truly is happening in the world of the anime, don't worry about the odds! Just believe in the heart of the cards and your friends and you should be fine.

~

AFTER CONSULTING AN ACTUAL YUGIOH PLAYER:

I have been informed that Exodia is not a monster effect, it is a victory condition. And, as such, it does not resolve. Meaning it is still an active effect when Opponent Driver 2 takes their place on the track, even if they win Turn Turn Priority. If the player going second has all five pieces of exodia in their hand, they win the duel before the first player enters the draw phase. There is no window for retaliating play, they just. Lose as soon as they go to draw a card.

HOWEVER

I’ve pored over the rulings history, and am unsure how a continuous victory condition would interact with the fact that in the WRGP, when a drivers life points reach zero, the duel immediately advances to the end phase and the losing driver can activate card effects in they so desire.

If Opponent Driver 1 activates a card effect in their end phase that lets them draw a card during the end phase (rather than their next draw phase) and they add a card to their hand before they officially have to tag in their teammate, and in their opening hand had four pieces of exodia, and their end phase card effect put the fifth piece into their hand before they pulled into the pit and transferred their hand to Opponent Driver 2.

Opponent Driver 2 would also start their turn with all five pieces of exodia in hand. And the duel would end in a draw!

[aberooski]

The fact that my dad isn't even going to Eras tour but he's bummed that there's only 1 Speak Now song on the actual setlist because it's his favorite album 🤭

[perfectlyoongi]

SOULMATE!YOONGI who said he was the owner of his heart and destiny. Yoongi was never a believer in destiny, the idea of a person being born destined to love seemed completely absurd to him, without any sense — he believed that people were born to live, not to love; as such, Yoongi never looked for his soulmate, saying always and every time that he would love whoever he chose, when he chose — he believed it was his own choice. “no one is born to love. we are all born to exist and love is not as important as they make us believe.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who fought against his feelings for you. Yoongi was the master of his own destiny, of his heart, he couldn't just let ancient stars and capricious gods take over his life — no; Yoongi would love who he wanted, when he wanted and he knew it wouldn't be you, someone he recently met and who impacted him in such a way that made him question his beliefs. “i can’t be with someone who makes me question everything i believe; it doesn’t make sense to be with someone who makes me change my beliefs.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who fell in love with you without wanting to. but the stars were guides, the gods were writers and the universe already knew that Yoongi would love you forever — even though he didn't want to; it was just your look, your smile, your essence that captivated Yoongi, taking him to lands unknown to him, making Yoongi walk the path of love without him even giving you the permission to send him on that journey of loving you. “i don’t know where i’m going or when i’ll get there, but something in me tells me that i will always have you by my side on this journey and that’s enough for me.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who didn't believe in soulmates until he met you. maybe the stars are right; maybe the gods are right; maybe the whole universe is right when it says that we were born to love, because as soon as Yoongi met you, and no matter how much he denied it, Yoongi knew that it was his destiny to dedicate his entire life to making you happy, to making you feel important, to loving you. “i always looked for a purpose in my life, not believing that i was only destined to create art; and now with you here, now that i met you, i realized that my purpose in life was to devote myself to you.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who believed that you met by destiny. numerical and truthful probabilities were astronomical in all the fields that involved you and Yoongi — but, by coincidence, they existed; billions of people existed at the same time as you and, against all odds, you found each other; billions of people loved at the same time as you, but you and Yoongi only loved each other — what other explanation was there for such probability other than destiny? “meeting someone like you is a unique experience, only reserved for those who are destined for you — and i swear to you that the universe itself put me in your path so i could love you.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who could only imagine a future if you were there. because he could already read the stars, he could already hear the gods, he could already feel the universe uniting you with him; you were Yoongi's soulmate and his life could only make sense with you by his side — especially because Yoongi always said that his life had only started the day he met you. “if my life began the day i met you, then it only makes sense to only be able to see a future for myself if you are by my side so i can love you forever.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who swore to move mountains and rivers to be with you. Yoongi knew that destiny took as much as it gave and he knew that too much luck was a sign of distrust, and all he thought about was the universe trying to take you away from him; but no matter how, no matter when, if your presence in Yoongi's life disappeared, he himself would face the various gods so he could have you in his arms one last time. “even if i need to burn the world to the ground to get the attention of the gods. not even if i need to destroy all human life to call upon the gods. if they take me away from you, they will regret giving me the power to love.”

[dwrogue]

Quotes from the novelisation

So the Target novelisation is out! Highly recommend it, an extremely good time that somehow gives us a ton of backstory on Rogue while also still leaving things very open for fic.

A selection of quotes I highlighted on my way through:

The Doctor being horrendously into Rogue

The Doctor was now walking in the gardens with Rogue beside him, his new favourite brooding stranger.

He looked back at Rogue, walking, brooding (of course), and had to remind himself that this was an interrogation, not a date.

Sure, the Doctor couldn’t deny, Rogue was incredibly handsome.

The Doctor was suddenly very conscious that their hands were almost touching.

Rogue grabbed the Doctor’s arm and moved him with ease to the middle of the small metal pieces. ‘Stand there.’ The bounty hunter’s strong, the Doctor thought. Confirmed.

The Doctor could already feel people starting to turn and whisper but his focus wasn’t on that. All he was thinking about was Rogue. Rogue’s hand on his shoulder, his chest. Rogue’s eyes locked with his as the pair of them turned and twirled across the floor.

More below the cut: some of these get very spoilery including for the very end of the book, so don't click if you don't want to know.

Rogue being horrendously into the Doctor

His gorgeous brown eyes beamed up at Rogue from the middle of the crowd. For the first time in a long time, Rogue felt that jolt of electricity when you meet that person. That next person who might be the one to change your life.

the main thing that impressed him was how stylish it all was. How well placed and how welcoming. Rogue had only known the Doctor for one night, but it was clear this ship was perfectly made for the person who travelled in it.

‘I know.’ Rogue smiled at the kind, brilliant, amazing man in front of him.

Rogue felt another jolt of that electricity as their arms almost touched.

He wondered how long he would have with this new and wonderful stranger, and then also why he was troubling himself with the thought at all.

He’d not been asking the Doctor for marriage, but for some simple commitment. A sign he should stay longer than this one adventure. To see those worlds he’d promised. At least for a little while. Now he couldn’t stop wondering how much of their connection was real and how much had been for show.

Socially anxious king

It was then that Rogue emotionally left his body and started panicking a good 50 feet above the scene playing out below.

‘So, have you known the Duchess long?’ It was here that Rogue hoped the Doctor was his bounty because his small talk game was not his best quality.

Usually, the imaginary conversations Rogue had with [Art] were when he was alone in the ship but in moments of crisis sometimes, he would imagine him, a life raft in a sea of social interaction nightmares.

‘Can’t I storm off alone?’ said Rogue. ‘I would rather not talk in front of this many people.’

I had to stop and compose myself for a minute

‘Don’t blame me! De Lacaille chose them! Great astronomer, bad with names.’ Then he smiled cheekily. ‘But if it’s romance you’re after? He also named those stars there the pump, the chisel and Norma.’ Okay, he was flirting now. Ruby would be furious with him if this silly side quest was what got him killed.

‘Not what I’m after,’ replied Rogue, his tone back to matter-of-fact but his face blushing a little.

["the pump"]

**

Rogue had met many dreamers and magicians in his travels. It was surprising how many had bounties on their heads; he immediately recalled quite a complicated winter with Houdini.

[...WHAT. Was this the winter after the Doctor's long hot summer?? What a year Houdini had.]

**

On the banks of the pond, the pair of them dragged themselves out. Rogue’s shirt was stuck to his body; the Doctor’s was the same. They were both drenched through. They looked at each other and laughed. ‘Okay, Ruby was right, this is a bit Mr Darcy.’

[I know the odds of this having been filmed are almost zero, nobody's letting Jonathan risk his voice jumping into a pond in Britain at night in May, but #releasetheherroncut]

**

[Rogue imagines a letter in which his dead love Art gives a potential new relationship his blessing] Please give him a hug from me and do not name a child or dog in my memory when you move in together. A cactus is fine, though. [Almost put this in 'Rogue is horrendously into him' but the 'WHEN you move in together' had me putting the book down for a second. Also that Rogue is contemplating what they should or should not name their future dog OR CHILD.]

Just pure romance

[on seeing the ship] Oh, Rogue, he thought. What happened, love?

**

Rogue just stared in awe, taking in the Doctor, all of them. ‘You’re beautiful,’ he said.

**

Rogue slowly opened his arms, and the Doctor fell into them and sobbed. ‘I’m sorry,’ Rogue said over and over.

**

Rogue looked into the Doctor’s eyes and knew that he would never stop caring. Could never stop wanting to help, to fight, to go on. That was who he was. The Doctor let go of Rogue’s hand and climbed in through the window, and Rogue did what he knew he would do for ever.

Follow him.

**

Then he stepped forward and wrapped the Doctor in his arms and kissed him. It was a soft, passionate kiss, full of promise. The moment was tender. Romantic. It was theirs.

**

As he fell, his mind had one, clear thought. Worth every second.

**

The Doctor just kept smiling, keeping his eyes on the sky. ‘At least we got to live and love together a bit. Exist.’

**

Of all the timelines they could both have inhabited, Rogue was grateful that their eyes had met on this one. What a great surprise that had been from the universe. Yes, right now, he was lonely, but time wasn’t linear, and this was his favourite thing about it. Rogue was sitting in this cave, but he was also walking with the Doctor in the garden, he was laughing with Art in the Yossarian, he was falling from a building, he was running from one memory of his life to another. All at once.

Rogue was in the Doctor’s arms, spinning around and around, for ever.

[moodymisty]

Since I remember you saying on a previous post that it would be fun for you to write. I’d like to request a konrad x gn reader.

He’s what the the people on tumblr call a “poor little meow meow”. And I’d just like to see him not only tormented by visions but also by basic human feelings of affection and attraction

[ 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖞𝕸𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖞'𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙| 𝕬𝖔3 ]

Author's Note: This was fun to write :> I hope you both enjoy. This is my first real time writing anything for Konrad.

Summary: Konrad searches for you after you refused to listen to him.

Relationships: Konrad Curze/Gn!Reader

Warnings: NIGHT LORDS CONTENT, Blood, Gore mentions, Sevatar bullies you because he can, Abuse probably, Toxic relationship based on fear but also he kinda fine tho, Predator/Prey, It's Night Lords content I don't know what else I can say

Word Count: 1395

You remember the words of Primarch Fulgrim when he’d first cast eyes on you.

‘Truly, he is utterly obsessed with you.’

You hadn't understood what he meant of it at the time. Though as time has gone by, your think back on it now and see what Fulgrim had been referring to.

Konrad speaks of you with a demented sort of worship, like you hold the only key to his ever elusive happiness. He’s obsessed with you, obedient to you, he’ll give you anything you desire no matter what it takes.

But most of all, he wants you to look at him and only him.

"There you are, little toy."

You turn and look to see a familiar set of dark blue armor, marred by smatterings of dried blood and scratches from its many years of dependable use.

You know Sevatar does this because he thinks it's demeaning to not call a superior by their proper title. Especially in a hierarchy as strict as an Astartes legion. You couldn't care less. You call him Jago anyways, and he always gives an odd little smile when you do.

You know more than likely why he's here. Konrad had attempted to summon you somewhere you refused to go- where you'd rather die than go- and now he's sending someone for you. Any other might assume that your living minutes were numbered after such a refusal towards a Primarch, though you think Konrad allows you to do so because he enjoys that you're scared.

"...Jago?"

Sevatar finds the whole thing both amusing and annoying. He has better things to do than fetch his genefather's cute little plaything. Though at least you provide enough amusement for it to be better than some of the other tasks he's been delegated over his years.

He steps into your personal space- not hard given the sheer size of the man- resting a hand on the pommel of his chainsword. He doesn’t grab for you, but you know he wants to.

"If you're not going to come when he calls," Sevatar leans over you, and you can smell the rotten flesh on his armor; See the way his eyes dart over your face. “Then you might want to just run instead and give him something fun."

You can only dare to look him in the eyes, and although he can see right through it, you attempt to not completely shatter under his gaze.

Though right as your hands start to shake Sevatar leans up and chuckles, before walking away.

The Nightfall is astronomical in size, you have no idea where you could possibly go. And getting lost could mean stumbling into Night Lords who care far less than Sevatar does about keeping their Primarch happy.

To them, they’ll taken whatever punishment put upon them if they get a chance to play with something as sweet as you, as Sevatar once said. The thought had made your throat tighten. Especially hearing his tone; That as much as you trust Sevatar- and maybe even Talos- more than the other Night Lords, he was thinking the same as them.

But you only know of a few places on the Gloriana class ship that you can get to without guidance. Konrad has been very deliberate with making sure you stay within his eyeline.

The bridge, which will be swarming with Night Lords and is more than likely where Konrad himself is. Then there is the area of the ship that serves as Konrad's private quarters. It’s familiar to you, he knows you would go there. The only other place is the small librarium that serves as a temporary placement for parchment of value being saved before returning to Nostramo.

It's largely empty. Pskyers in the legion are next to none, and only a few people keep the area from falling into any disrepair.

With Sevatar gone you instantly begin running for it, trying to make your way and avoid the eyes of anyone around.

Any large bang on the walls sounds like his boots, any scrape of machinery against metal sounds like his lightning claws. You keep looking over your shoulder every time.

When you finally reach it you don't even feel relieved; You know Konrad will find you.

You know that even if you had somehow managed to evade him for a moment Sevatar knows where you are- you'd be dumb if you hadn't noticed the feeling of his eyes on you, watching- he would just tell his genefather where you were to get his distraction concluded with faster.

You've never been particularly scared of the dark, but now it feels so enveloping. And while the unknown is terrifying, it also helps you feel small, tucked between shelves. While your heart might have relaxed from pounding against your rib cage from running, it’s still racing as your ears prick to every little sound. You touch old parchment with a fingertip, feeling rough against your skin.

You don't know how long it's been; Your stomach grumbles a bit, but it's hard to tell if it's hunger or nausea.

You can hear the door open, and the sound of boots on the floor. It makes your heart nearly stop for a moment.

You know it's him from the weight of them. You steel yourself back against a shelf and look towards the end where there's still a bit of light and can only wait.

To think, the man you think you love, who professes his obsession with you at every moment, can make you feel like this.

You imagine those moments where his black hair frames his face and his eyes aren’t nearly as dark when he looks at you, as his shadow approaches.

He finally catches sight of you, and his voice softens just a bit. Primarch voices are always so loud, especially when they yell, and he seems to always talk to you like you’re so, so gentle.

"There you are."

His cape brushes against the ground as he comes closer. He overtakes any little amount of light there is, shadowing your body in an even more darkness.

“Your hiding is cute, my love, but you know I'll always find you."

He isn’t wearing his full armor, only some cloth trousers and heavy boots leaving his upper body unclothed. You think they were the ones given to him by Fulgrim. His recent time with his brother has had a noticeable effect, though the smile he gives you is still while endearing- though perhaps that’s just you and your love for him- is still off.

He bows to get just close enough to you to grab your jaw with his right hand, but when that isn't close enough, he takes a knee.

His eyes are like voids as you look into him, his skin is perfect. The smile on his face you'd dare to call handsome of you weren't here; If he didn't have you cornered like a whimpering animal.

Why did it have to be him; Out of everyone in the galaxy, why did it have to be him that saw something in you worth loving. And why do you keep coming back for more.

That evening with Fulgrim had almost made him seem normal, and now you're back here; Back in Hell.

“Are you going to run again? Or just cry?” His fingers touch just below your eye, breaking your waterline and sending a single tear down your cheek. He leans even closer.

“You look so sweet when you cry.” His lips press against the shell of your ear.

"If you ever say his name like that again, I will make you step into that Gallery, my love."

You assume he must mean Jago. You don't know how he heard you, but you know he's obsessive, dominating, all-consuming; That you are his ever so tiny sliver of happiness he won't let go of. He's said before you are the only thing that makes his world not feel like torment, and you'd find almost romantic if it wasn't so suffocating.

His lips leave the shell of your ear and ghost over your own, as they tremble. You'd try and pull away if you weren't so trapped in him. You hate that even with how much he scares you, he has you caught like a fishhook.

"No one gets to hear you say their name but me."

[venusin-aries]

SJM made Gwyn so likable and so damn hard to hate that it has people reaching to astronomical lengths to make her villainous or -insignificant to the rest of the series- and I think that is. Fucking. Hilarious. 

Like she KNEW people were going to hate Gwyn so she decided to make it as difficult as possible and I think that is Iconic Behavior. 

I am going to laugh when Gwyn is revealed to be everything she’s projected herself to be. Which is, so far,

Kind and sweet. 

Feisty. 

Brave. 

Smart as all fucking hell. 

Charmingly irreverent. 

As beautiful as Mor and Merrill. 

A talented singer. 

Strategic and observant. 

Loyal. She’s such a good fucking friend, we should ALL be more like Gwyn. 

Resilient. 

Adaptable. 

I could go on and on.  

When Gwyn is revealed to be a good person, no matter if she’s a lightsinger or some other miscellaneous creature, and she doesn’t have to ~lure~ anyone or force someone to do something against their will (which is a really weird thing to accuse an SA victim of, call me sensitive or whatever, I don’t care she’s not real, I find it weird and gross and oddly telling of the people who came up with that theory) and her friends still adore her, I am going to laugh. my. fucking. ass off. 

Full offense, I think just having a glimpse into Gwyn’s recovery, her being willing to sacrifice herself to protect the kids, BECAUSE SHE VERY MUCH WAS READY TO DIE FOR THEM, what was going through her mind when she refused to tell the general where they went, how she feels about losing her sister in such a brutal way BECAUSE she refused to tell him, the attack that followed, her nightmares, the guilt she carries, and the aftermath of the blood rite from her point of view would be so much more interesting than anything Elriel as a whole has got going on right now. I would read an entire book about just HER.

I find her so admirable and I find it so odd people dislike her because there’s a chance her and Azriel will end up together. 

I genuinely laugh when I see how odd some takes are and how angry people get about her.

Go listen to some synth music. Go on what I call a Final Girl walk and breathe some fresh air. You’ll be okay if or when your ship does not end up together. 

[influenzalake]

'The Voices Are Getting Stronger' Yandere Damian Wayne jealousy headcanons

content warning 

- You and Damian have been dating for about 2 years now

- Damian had serious reservations about going public with your relationship, and turns out he was right 

- When your relationship was JUST right, and ONLY between the two of you, there were very few men that would contact you with romantic intentions 

- Now, that number has gone up astronomically 

- He tried his best to avoid this outcome. Time after time going out undercover, avoiding cameras and crowds, delaying any comment about his personal life

- But the media infected everything he fought so hard for like roaches

- Before, it was so much easier to get rid of those foolish males who did dare to proposition you

- A few "disappearances" there, a few "tragedies" here- those were all easy to cover up 

- But bodies in the dozens? His work was cut out for him yet there was nothing he could do

- He would be found out eventually. If not by his own bloodline than by those lousy losers at GCPD

- Damian thought he was working through his, what his family might describe as ,"difficulties" 

- They started a few months into the relationship. Voices. Doubts. Intrusive and never ending. Spitting everything he DIDNT want to hear about arguably the best thing in his life.

- He thought he was making progress, He thought they were gone. He learns the hard way they never left. 

- He's back to that place again. Surrounded by eyes. Drowning in his fears and insecurities. Where reason fails, the voices get stronger

- His father was the first to notice the change in behavior. The odd twitches, constantly looking over his shoulder (more than expected), the look of constant frustration- like he was always fighting... himself? 

- He never admitted to the full scope of what he was experiencing. And he intends to keep it that way, for good. 

- Damian feels so desperate. He's at a point in his life where excuses don't fly anymore. He's at a point in his life where certain things shouldn't get to him. 

- He wants nothing more than to shove a sword through the hearts of his competition. The rivals who disrespect your figure with their eyes. The rivals who forgo their self control and decency. The rivals who would do anything to taste you, his beloved. The filthy rivals that would eat you alive.

-      Damian is slipping, just like he used to do in the fledgling months. The feeling is familiar. Familiar, and oddly empowering. Damian feels like he can do what he needs to do in these moments. 

- He's afraid of losing you. To lose against someone lesser than him.

- For once, Damian doesn't want to hide anymore. He instead wants to embrace this inner darkness.      Consequences be damned, he'll deal with them later. 

- Right now, what matters is keeping your gentle light in his arms. 

Whatever it takes. 

[hanilessa]

aldebaran

` childe x fem!reader

` genre: romance, angst

` summary: you have long understood, that this is gravity. an inexorable, merciless force in its capabilities, acting in all studied and unknown limits of the universe. love for astronomy has played a cruel joke with you.

"there are so many stars around, but only you are my sun." you thought at every timid, fleeting glance at ajax. it lasted literally a second, no more, because he burned like a real sun in the blue sky. he shone so brightly, eclipsing everything and everyone else around with his glow. you were madly afraid of being burned by its bright rays and didn't dare to keep your eyes on him. suddenly he finds out? understand? he will burn with its fiery heat your heart trembling in a small body, like a red-hot core inside the planet.

fate is written in constellations. your constellation was the deer constellation. and the brightest star in your constellation was aldebaran, the star under which you were born. you dreamed of distant planets, of bright galaxies in the vast space, of stars. and there was one star next to you. little red-haired boy with a lovely smile on his face. he was your sun.

you and ajax were inseparable. but you lived by the stars and dreamed of studying at the faculty of astronomy. oh how many tears were shed, when you told him, that you were leaving at sumeru. and that was the starting point. this is why you lost your most beloved star in the universe.

beautiful golden-haired traveler became a black hole, that forever dragged your star into its abysses. he was your first love, and remained your love even, when you left snezhnaya and went to the sumeru's academy.

you have long understood, that this is gravity. an inexorable, merciless force in its capabilities, acting in all the studied and unknown limits of the universe. the most powerful attraction to each other of two space objects. and it seems, that your cold planet, drifting alone in the vast expanses of the universe, has finally found its star. so bright and impossibly hot, warming with its fire blazing on its surface. you were drawn to him unrealistically strongly, as if one larger star was attracting a small, weak star to itself, merging together in a bright, crazy dance of light. love for astronomy has played a cruel joke with you.

you knew – yours and his constellations were never connected, and aldebaran was forever doomed to burn alone.

"what will you do, when she leaves?" you asked, swallowing an unpleasant lump in your throat.

"i'll follow her anywhere."

and you knew, he would do it. a selfish thought swarmed inside your head.

but why didn't you follow me, when I left?

lumine was the celestial body, that you hated. she, like a powerful, big star, pulled your sun along with her, taking with her the hope for a bright, flaming and ardent love. now gravity seemed to you an insanely cruel and merciless force. dark matter swallowed you headlong, dragging you into the depths of sharp and merciless despair, as if forever blocking your access to such a warm and dear sun.

she didn't have a constellation. so why were their fates intertwined? it hurt and was at odds with all the astronomical knowledge you had received.

ajax was the sun, lumine was the moon. and together they created a solar eclipse. the moon, bordered by the rays of the sun, so mercilessly blocked your path to your sun – the solar eclipse shone with a beautiful halo of light in the dark sky, leaving your planet alone to be covered with ice and cry with eternal rains.

` a/n: you have no idea how much i love astronomy, and i am ready to write about it everywhere lmao. my knowledge is not accurate, i took all of this information from scientific videos on youtube. if you spot an mistake, please point it out. thanks for reading! ♡

[therealslimscreamer]

Yo it's ya boi again

So I saw the Dreamers are actually alive still in this au and I was wondering how that affects Hornet and Quirrel? I mean, watching your mother / mentor figure die only to find out they're not only not dead but also God now has gotta be a little bit wild right

Also, what are the Dreamers like as deities? Like, what / where do they rule over, what do they do, ect

OOOO really good question!!!

okay, so, starting with quirrel. i’ve thought abt him wayyy more to be totally transparent, and that’s partially because i feel like there’s a lot more nuance to him than with hornet purely because of his amnesia. i’ve always viewed it as something monomon did to protect him, so he wouldn’t come back to hallownest in like the height of the infection and not only get himself killed but also eliminate a layer of protection on her seal. but i don’t think she would have considered how he would feel if… you know… she lived and he remembered it all.

like, pretend with me for a moment, you’re quirrel. you’re an academic and an explorer and you’re full of whimsy, and you decide for mysterious reasons to go to this kingsom that you realize you’ve never been to before. how odd! you go check it out, and wow is it beautiful even in ruins, and even despite of the dark caverns and freaky infected zombie-bugs, and you meet your little vessel friend and help them fight this odd jellyfish creature and even though you’ve never seen it somehow you know what to do, and you go to this place and-

you remember.

and maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t that be sort of terrifying? to learn that you already lived your life once, but you didn’t remember any of it, and now that you do you just feel like… a witness? to remember laughing and smiling and talking with this person but it’s through a lens- because you don’t remember, not really, and to know they did this to you? you devoted your life to them, and they did this to you, because they thought it wouldn’t matter because they would be gone- would you not think of them as selfish? as cruel?

i think quirrel would struggle a lot with that- his current self, as he is, feeling raw and betrayed while simultaneously having to deal with his past self who cared so deeply for monomon. understanding this was the wisest course of action doesn’t make it feel any better.

hornet, conversely, never forgets her mother or anything that comes with her, and thus i feel she may be less guarded. of course, there is still overcoming the grief- of mourning someone you thought dead- and the oddness of that while herrah isnt physically here she is still alive, but would not have nearly as many grudges to hold as quirrel. plus, i think she would want to bond with her mother, and i don’t think hornet would take a second chance like this for granted.

as for what they are deities of!! fortunately i am incredibly obsessed with both hollow knight and mythology and made some rough charts a while ago:

Lurien

Epithets:

The Watcher

Three-Eyed

All-Seeing

Symbols:

Butterflies

Eyes (usually in form of charms or brooches)

Mask w/ one eye

Telescopes

Willow Tree

Patron of: Researchers, Musicians, Astronomers, Lawyers (+ City residents)

God of: Lucid Dreaming, Creativity, Arts, Law/Justice, Foresight

Herrah

Epithets:

The Beast

Noble Queen

Strong-Armed

Motherly

Symbols:

Spiders

Swords/Needles/Spears(?)

Mask w/ six eyes

Oak tree

Webs/Webbing

Patron of: warriors, rulers/monarchs, mothers (+ Deepnest residents)

Goddess of: War, Strategy, Leadership, Motherhood, Reason 

Monomon

Epithets:

The Teacher

Ever-Curious

Ambidexter

Symbols:

Jellyfish (technically Ouma ig)

Books/Papers

Mask w/ four eyes

Acid

Patron of: Scientists, Engineers, Historians, Archivists, Doctors (+ Archives)

Goddess of: Science, Architecture, Logic, Innovation

if you see parallels to greek gods. yeah its because i wrote these while studying for my mythology exam. (parallels are lurien to apollo, athena to herrah, hephaestus to monomon) i may go back and workshop these a bit but for now i’m pretty satisfied with them i think

[belethlegwen]

You are so wonderful and I hope things smooth out for you sooner rather than later. Obviously you should prioritize yourself first (god knows we all have sooo much good fic of yours to reread), but it leads me to a question I’ve been too shy to ask 👉👈 how do you feel about recursive fic about your fics/characters? Would you be ok with us sharing it with you/others, crediting you for the creation of such good characters of course? I have serious Stranding/Rescue brainworms and it’s making me want to write drabble & fluff for the first time in a long time 💕 of course it’s fine if you’d be more comfortable with me not posting it — either way, thank you soooo much for sharing this lovely world & worldbuilding & all the characters within. I will be rotating them in my head for years no matter what 🙇

Hello and good morning! Or afternoon, I'm not sure. I'm drafting this answer over a late breakfast because I got a precious day of sleeping-in and I'm still thinking deeply about it.

Firstly: I want to hug you so tight (if you were down) because this is wildly sweet and flattering, thank you so so much for reaching out at all even just about the works, but the wishes that things smooth out are highly appreciated ;-; We're looking… solid? Right now? But there's still so much up in the air and hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I won't bore you with it, it's not the reason I'm drafting this out.

ABOUT RECURSIVE WORKS [very long, read under the cut, tl:dr summary at the end]:

I would love it. I would genuinely, honestly love it, with the caveats that you laid out that proper credit would be given (thank you so much you lovely beautiful soul), that it be clarified wherever it is shared that it's based on characters/settings/storylines of the current works, but truly importantly that it would clarify that the works are actively still being written at this time.

That's my biggest hesitation, if I'm being honest. The stories are both at this time unfinished (they are all unfinished, I am a creature with heavy need to process things through writing and, quelle surprise, I am never truly finished processing anything, new shit just needs to get processed, wheeeee) and being that they're unfinished, there's a chance that any recursive work could hit on a scene/plotpoint/moment that I've already got plotted out for the future. I'm not Neil Gaiman or anything, I'm not planning to make money off of this work, so it's not my concern that you or anyone else is gonna turn around and try to sue me for stealing something or whatever-- that's not the problem. I just don't want you or anyone to feel at that point that the effort you put into something was then copied and put in the main work or something.

It's an odd situation. The odds of it actually BEING a problem I know are astronomically low, but I didn't get to where I am today without chronically overthinking everything.

I love that you have a desire to create, and I do not know who you are-- I don't know if you already have projects and characters of your own and just want to branch out with something familiar-but-new, but I want to encourage you to use this energy and focus for writing all the same. If you can put it into your own works, hell yeah, but also: yes I would be flattered if you used my dorks and their silly little worlds. It's just the concern where I'm not finished with the stories yet. I just am, again, overthinking and overworrying, likely, but if I could stop doing those things then life would presumably be easier.

I would be absolutely down for like, experimental works I believe is the best term for what I'm looking for. Characters and stories based off of my works that are wholly new. Want to write a refracted AU about Melinda and Hank in Space? Fuck yeah, yes. Though I mentioned this to Zip and they immediately told me No, We're Doing That One and we laughed about it for a hot minute, so maybe not exactly those names hahaha

I guess another question here is, if you were to put in the effort and the focus and the pride of writing something based on my characters, of a scene you had in your head, and got through the beauty and pain of creation to get it down and then put it out there, how would you feel if something similar then happened in the main work? Not the same, not based on what you did, but that similarity still there and still noticeable at least to you. Like if someone had written (before I had posted them) something similar to Melanie being involved in a Naval battle, even though I have the receipts that that arc was written in November of 2022 and only finished posting in September 2023, I don't know how they would feel to still see that like, a similar idea had been there.

On one hand, personally, I love being in the G/t community and reading other people's works when I have the spoons and focus and time to do it, because I love that something as simple as "small person falls and big person catches them" permeates the ideas so often, and what that can mean to dozens of different creators. Refracting the same light through a diamond and watching the facets all scatter it differently, etc etc. It's beautiful. It makes me happy. But that's a personal thought, and I know how deep and personal writing can be. I know how much the process of creation can mean to the individual. I don't want you to go through that, to write something beautiful even if just for yourself, and then think in some possibility later that because I did something similar I was trying to do it 'better' or whatever. It's not the case, it's never the case.

So, after chatting about this with people I love in this community (I love you Zip and Kelly <3), I think the solution is: If you want to chat with me about the like, basic bare-bones of the ideas you might have just to give me a heads up, and I can let you know if it's something that'll be in the main works soon and if I'd rather you wait on something, or if I'd go 'oh fuck yeah, go ham', I would adore to chatter away with you about it all regardless. I'd love to chatter with you about writing in general! My characters, your characters, whatever. I'm down. Please feel free to hit me up and I'll get back to you whenever I can <3

Let me know what you think! Thank you so much for the sweet message and the ask!

Cheers,

~ Belle

[TL;DR]

When it comes to recursive works I'm interested and open to them provided they're not something major/heavy I'm planning to tackle too soon in the future canon, as the works are still being written and posted. I am always down to receive DMs about writing, and would prefer to get messages about the recursive fic ideas (as vague as you'd like them to be!) just so I can give a quick yes/no on if it's something I'd rather you wait on until I can get it out myself, or whathaveyou. I don't see this being a huge problem, and if you're good for chatting then I'm positive we'll have a good time with this <3

Writing recursive fics for my existing, in-progress works means agreeing to the caveats that credit be given to me and the existing works, and clarifying when posting that the fic is not canon and the works they're referencing/possibly based on are still in progress/being written. It also means accepting that there is a chance that things tackled in your fics may be similar to things that have not yet been posted for said works.

When it comes to experimental fiction based on my characters, settings, or plot: hell yeah go full 50 Shades if you want to. File the serial numbers off of it and/or write something New Enough. It's what I did to Jonathan Swift, please feel free to do it to me hahaha.

Shortest answer: Yes, just send me a quick message first <3

[bookofmirth]

The one thing about the mask though is that the Night Court also doesn't have a right to make the decision either (and arguably shouldn't be the only ones in possession of such weapons). I see so many people saying that Nesta was being disrespectful of the IC by not consulting with them, but even if she did and they came to the conclusion to give it away, then the NC would still be in the wrong.

It opens such a big can of worms. You'd have to literally bring everyone in to make a decision including other HLs, Hybern, the leaders of the continent, etc in order to make that call even justifiable bc the NC wouldn't be the only one screwed over if things went wrong. And we all know how politics go... it'd take like a full century for things to be decided lol.

I'm also not arguing this therefore makes Nesta right to just give it up. But the matter is soo much more complex than Nesta should have talked to Rhys and Feyre first.

Oh I totally agree, that's why I never mentioned the IC specifically as being the people that Nesta should have consulted. This is a much, much bigger issue than just the Night Court's ego. It would make sense for her to consult them, considering they are the High Fae that she knows best in the world and they have a lot of world/political/magical experience, but it's not like they ever trusted her. There was also a sense of urgency when Bryce came through. But - like you said, and the reason I said it being an astronomical mistake is not a metaphor - the repercussions are much, much bigger.

I do think that including the other courts in this decision isn't likely because they are all very territorial and possessive. They all have a "my court comes first" attitude. Which... I get. They can't even get their crap together right now to face Koschei. I can't imagine the other courts learning info about other worlds and being able to come to a consensus about Made objects and how to handle Bryce wanting the mask, in a timeframe that wouldn't fuck Midgard over completely.

That's kinda beside the point of Nesta's role, but tl;dr I agree with you! I think that centering the IC and their feelings in what she did is... an odd choice, considering it's not all about them.

The whole thing feels very shoulda, coulda, woulda - but Nesta was faced with a choice, Bryce was in a hurry, and Nesta did what she did. None of the rest of them were faced with that same choice, so it's quite easy to judge Nesta after the fact.

And just to make some things clear, I have actually never been a huge Nesta fan. She's a really interesting character, but she has made me angry so many times. That fight she and Elain have in acosf, where Nesta throws Greyson in Elain's face and insinuates that Elain is to blame for their father's death? Fuck Nesta specifically in that situation.

However - Nesta has changed a lot from the beginning to acosf, through everything that happens in hofas. A lot. If I knew Nesta irl, I would not be her friend. I would honestly react the way that Mor does - I'd try to be nice, Nesta would be mean to me, and then I'd shrug and say okay fuck you too. But Nesta as a character has experienced a lot of growth and change, and while I do think that not reading hofas means acotar fans might not see that right away, I am excited for everyone to see it in the future.

With this fandom it's either the ship war or it's the IC versus Valkyries war or it's pitting the sisters against each other. Just let us have nuanced fucking takes, ffs. (not you anon, I am just ranting)

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

A wobble from Mars could be sign of dark matter

In a new study, MIT physicists propose that if most of the dark matter in the universe is made up of microscopic primordial black holes — an idea first proposed in the 1970s — then these gravitational dwarfs should zoom through our solar system at least once per decade. A flyby like this, the researchers predict, would introduce a wobble into Mars’ orbit, to a degree that today’s technology could actually detect. 

Such a detection could lend support to the idea that primordial black holes are a primary source of dark matter throughout the universe. 

“Given decades of precision telemetry, scientists know the distance between Earth and Mars to an accuracy of about 10 centimeters,” says study author David Kaiser, professor of physics and the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science at MIT. “We’re taking advantage of this highly instrumented region of space to try and look for a small effect. If we see it, that would count as a real reason to keep pursuing this delightful idea that all of dark matter consists of black holes that were spawned in less than a second after the Big Bang and have been streaming around the universe for 14 billion years.”

Kaiser and his colleagues report their findings today in the journal Physical Review D. The study’s co-authors are lead author Tung Tran ’24, who is now a graduate student at Stanford University; Sarah Geller ’12, SM ’17, PhD ’23, who is now a postdoc at the University of California at Santa Cruz; and MIT Pappalardo Fellow Benjamin Lehmann.

Beyond particles

Less than 20 percent of all physical matter is made from visible stuff, from stars and planets, to the kitchen sink. The rest is composed of dark matter, a hypothetical form of matter that is invisible across the entire electromagnetic spectrum yet is thought to pervade the universe and exert a gravitational force large enough to affect the motion of stars and galaxies. 

Physicists have erected detectors on Earth to try and spot dark matter and pin down its properties. For the most part, these experiments assume that dark matter exists as a form of exotic particle that might scatter and decay into observable particles as it passes through a given experiment. But so far, such particle-based searches have come up empty. 

In recent years, another possibility, first introduced in the 1970s, has regained traction: Rather than taking on a particle form, dark matter could exist as microscopic, primordial black holes that formed in the first moments following the Big Bang. Unlike the astrophysical black holes that form from the collapse of old stars, primordial black holes would have formed from the collapse of dense pockets of gas in the very early universe and would have scattered across the cosmos as the universe expanded and cooled. 

These primordial black holes would have collapsed an enormous amount of mass into a tiny space. The majority of these primordial black holes could be as small as a single atom and as heavy as the largest asteroids. It would be conceivable, then, that such tiny giants could exert a gravitational force that could explain at least a portion of dark matter. For the MIT team, this possibility raised an initially frivolous question.

“I think someone asked me what would happen if a primordial black hole passed through a human body,” recalls Tung, who did a quick pencil-and-paper calculation to find that if such a black hole zinged within 1 meter of a person, the force of the black hole would push the person 6 meters, or about 20 feet away in a single second. Tung also found that the odds were astronomically unlikely that a primordial black hole would pass anywhere near a person on Earth.

Their interest piqued, the researchers took Tung’s calculations a step further, to estimate how a black hole flyby might affect much larger bodies such as the Earth and the moon. 

“We extrapolated to see what would happen if a black hole flew by Earth and caused the moon to wobble by a little bit,” Tung says. “The numbers we got were not very clear. There are many other dynamics in the solar system that could act as some sort of friction to cause the wobble to dampen out.”

Close encounters

To get a clearer picture, the team generated a relatively simple simulation of the solar system that incorporates the orbits and gravitational interactions between all the planets, and some of the largest moons.  

“State-of-the-art simulations of the solar system include more than a million objects, each of which has a tiny residual effect,” Lehmann notes. “But even modeling two dozen objects in a careful simulation, we could see there was a real effect that we could dig into.”

The team worked out the rate at which a primordial black hole should pass through the solar system, based on the amount of dark matter that is estimated to reside in a given region of space and the mass of a passing black hole, which in this case, they assumed to be as massive as the largest asteroids in the solar system, consistent with other astrophysical constraints. 

“Primordial black holes do not live in the solar system. Rather, they’re streaming through the universe, doing their own thing,” says co-author Sarah Geller. “And the probability is, they’re going through the inner solar system at some angle once every 10 years or so.”

Given this rate, the researchers simulated various asteroid-mass black holes flying through the solar system, from various angles, and at velocities of about 150 miles per second. (The directions and speeds come from other studies of the distribution of dark matter throughout our galaxy.) They zeroed in on those flybys that appeared to be “close encounters,” or instances that caused some sort of effect in surrounding objects. They quickly found that any effect in the Earth or the moon was too uncertain to pin to a particular black hole. But Mars seemed to offer a clearer picture. 

The researchers found that if a primordial black hole were to pass within a few hundred million miles of Mars, the encounter would set off a “wobble,” or a slight deviation in Mars’ orbit. Within a few years of such an encounter, Mars’ orbit should shift by about a meter — an incredibly small wobble, given the planet is more than 140 million miles from Earth. And yet, this wobble could be detected by the various high-precision instruments that are monitoring Mars today. 

If such a wobble were detected in the next couple of decades, the researchers acknowledge there would still be much work needed to confirm that the push came from a passing black hole rather than a run-of-the-mill asteroid. 

“We need as much clarity as we can of the expected backgrounds, such as the typical speeds and distributions of boring space rocks, versus these primordial black holes,” Kaiser notes. “Luckily for us, astronomers have been tracking ordinary space rocks for decades as they have flown through our solar system, so we could calculate typical properties of their trajectories and begin to compare them with the very different types of paths and speeds that primordial black holes should follow.”

To help with this, the researchers are exploring the possibility of a new collaboration with a group that has extensive expertise simulating many more objects in the solar system.

“We are now working to simulate a huge number of objects, from planets to moons and rocks, and how they’re all moving over long time scales,” Geller says. “We want to inject close encounter scenarios, and look at their effects with higher precision.”

This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation, which includes an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences postdoctoral fellowship.

[feilien]

{♚ x @veitsia x}

 He had tried. He truly had. But in the end, it hadn’t been good enough, had it?

 After making his way back home, Long Zhi approached his grandfather. It had taken a lot of courage, and he’d practised his speech for days while travelling back to make sure he knew exactly what to say when confronting Xiao Dan. He’d also tried to imagine all the different, possible scenarios that could follow. The good, the bad, and everything in between.

 The one scenario he hadn’t pictured was his grandfather laughing in his face. Stop our business with the most powerful family in all of Shu Han? Are you stupid, boy? The pain and humiliation Long Zhi had felt was impossible to put into words. He’d expected many things, but not complete and utter dismissal. He tried to argue for a little while longer, tried to get his point across that what they were doing was despicable and that they were sentencing innocent people to death. People like him, no less. But he was simply told that he was still too inexperienced, too unreliable to be a leader, too soft. The discussion had ended there, and he was escorted out like a dog being dragged along by its leash.

 That night, Long Zhi lay in bed, staring at the ceiling with his heart aching like it had never ached before. If this was the legacy he was raised and trained to inherit, did he truly want it? He’d always known they weren’t exactly good people, but this… This was an empire built on blood, and he wanted no part of it. So he got back up, grabbed a bag and packed the few important personal belongings he’d managed to hide. Then he grabbed his dog, Bao, and made his way to his grandfather’s office in the dead of night. His grandfather was asleep, but he always made sure to have his office guarded by two men he trusted. Unfortunately for them, they were no match for his well-aimed knives, and shortly after dropped to the floor before he dragged them into the office and quietly closed the door.

 His anger burned bright and hot now, and he ransacked his grandfather’s office with no hesitation. Whatever could be of use was packed into his bag, the rest was thrown into a pile in the middle of the room. Once done, Long Zhi pulled out a set of matches and lit it all on fire, before disappearing into the dead of night.

 There was no guarantee that the woman he’d met just a few days prior would still be lingering at the harbour, but Long Zhi knew he had to take his chances. Before the sun had even finished rising, he was being hunted by the men he’d once considered family. And it didn’t seem as though it mattered if they brought him back dead or alive. But he managed to stay one step ahead — until he was nearly by the docks.

 Since he had Bao with him, he couldn’t just traverse the rooftops like he usually would, so he’d chosen to stick to dark and deserted alleyways instead. A mistake, as it turned out. They ambushed him, six to one, three at each exit. But Long Zhi fought, as hard and as much as he could. In the end, however, it simply wasn’t enough. Despite the six bodies now lying lifeless on the ground, he was afraid it was only a matter of time until he’d join them. During the fight, they’d managed to stab him, more than once, and there was very little he could do about it. At least… At least he’d done something to slow them down. It wasn’t enough to make up for all of the lives lost and destroyed thanks to him, but… It had to count for something, right?

 Sinking to the ground, Long Zhi grabbed his bag and slung it around Bao’s back. The odds of the contents ending up where they were supposed to end up were astronomical, but…  better than if he died with them here. “Go, Bao. Go find the boat. Go!” Pointing towards the harbour, he waited for his dog to start running, before resting his back against the wall with a heavy sigh. “I wish I could’ve done more. I’m sorry.”

[wylanwriting]

Analysis of Scaramouche and Bohemian Rhapsody’s lyrics

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see

As Scaramouche himself says, “The stars, the sky... It's all a gigantic hoax. A lie.", likely in reference to discovering that the sky in Teyvat is fake, as hinted by Dottore.

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me 

Reference to Scaramouche’s anemo vision and blasé attitude 

Mama, just killed a man Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead Mama, life had just begun But now I've gone and thrown it all away

I think this could be referring to either many of the plausible deaths he caused, or maybe even his death as a god. “Life had just begun” for him as a god and he “threw it all away.”

Mama, ooh, didn't mean to make you cry If I'm not back again this time tomorrow Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

Generally referring to his negative relationship with Raiden Ei and thinking she had abandoned him for being weak, possibly in an ironic way, telling her to “carry on” as if she even thought twice about him after ‘abandoning him’.

Too late, my time has come Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go

After being defeated by Nahida and the Traveler and gravely injured. As he says in “Wanderer: Ashes, “Once more... I have lost my heart. It hurts. My skin feels like it’s on fire.”

Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth

Entering Irmunsul to “face the truth” and attempt to erase himself.

Mama, ooh  I don't wanna die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

Spoken by him in ‘Wanderer: Ashes’: “No, in fact, I wish I’d never been born at all.”

I see a little silhouetto of a man Scaramouche, Scaramouche,-

Obviously ‘Scaramouche’ is his name given during his time at the Fauti, likely as an insult as it means “a boastful but cowardly person.” It could also refer to a type of puppet.

-will you do the Fandango?

The theme during Scaramouche’s first introduction is named “Ominous Fandango”, Also, in his profile under “Least Favorite Food” he states: “I'm no fan of Dango, or any other sticky sweets....” which is an odd way to word it, possibly intentional so it reads out “fan … Dango.” Raiden Ei, notably, is a fan of dango milk and sweets in general.

Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me

Reference to Raiden Shogun and Inazuma as a whole.

(Galileo) Galileo, (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro magnifico

Galileo was an astronomer who challenged beliefs held at the time, such as the Sun being the center of the universe rather than the Earth. This could be referring to the idea that the sky in Teyvat is fake, as hinted by Dottore. Scaramouche also proclaims himself, “The stars, the sky... It's all a gigantic hoax. A lie." It’s very possible that Scara, upon becoming a god and making contact with Irminsul, learned the true nature of Teyvat and its sky. (Credit to Scara’s wiki for pointing this out)

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me!

Raiden Ei’s demon name is Baal/Beelzebub. I think the “devil” she put aside for him may be referring to Yae Miko, who proposed to Ei that Scaramouche should be killed shortly after his birth instead of set free.

So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby! Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here

This could be about all three of his ‘betrayals.’ The line “So you think you can love me and leave me to die?” makes me think of the child who ‘betrayed him’ by dying, and ‘Just gotta get out’ could be referring to him leaving Tatarasuna to wander Inazuma.

There’s probably a lot that I missed, but this is what I took of how the lyrics correspond to his story. Again, credit to his wikipedia page for pointing out a lot of this

[secularpoet]

Call of Duty: Task Force 141 Chapter Two: No Questions

Chapter Two Song: Astronomical - SVRCINA

"I'm drawn to the unknown, where shadows hide A slave to the powers that magnetize There's something inside of me, I can't fight"

Unknown

You didn’t know where you were, but what you did know was that it wasn’t home. Gagged with a sack over your head, you would hear various language changes around you. The first time your sack was lifted was when someone was looking at you to confirm your presence. 

The second time, groggily opening your eyes with the lights pressuring you to keep your eyes closed, you found yourself facing a camera. The person who spoke affirmed your death by the end of the month, which wrapped the video up. 

All at once you’re engulfed by your emotions, but most of all you are confused and angry. You couldn’t be protected, though you didn’t resent anyone for this. Most of all, you couldn’t protect yourself, but…It’s not your fault. Calm down.

You’ve learned to feel when you should, hold back when you shouldn’t but need to, and let it out when your body is ready. Right now, you shouldn’t but you need to hold together.

After the video was recorded, they didn’t bother to cover your head again. Someone sat at a desk in the corner of the room, probably to prep the video and send it out. The one on the laptop wore a certain uniform, opposed to the other person who had what sounded like a Russian accent. He had been leaning against the wall across from you since then, eyes bore into you as if he saw through you.

You didn’t recognize him, or maybe you did? Well, you certainly will with the way he stares. “Makarov, she wants to speak with you.” Someone entered the room, but not even that broke his stare from you. Maybe he was studying you. Something was up, but without knowing who he was, you were at a loss.

“Coming.” He said, then pushed himself off the wall, eyes to the door as he made his way out.

Time passed, and when the door opened you were quickly sacked again and moved out of the room. As you tried your best to walk straight without seeing, you were distracted by the sounds around you as well. You could feel it when you were outside. As you came to a halt, you heard a familiar voice. “Lovely.” 

You couldn’t pinpoint it, but an alarm went off in your head. The voice didn’t sound present though, perhaps a video call? You felt that you knew this voice. You were pulled and pushed forward into a car and two people sat on either side of you. There was no use in a struggle, so you felt you just needed to absorb everything, no matter how much you didn’t want to sit still. 

You must’ve fallen asleep in the car, because before you knew it you were awakened by the halt of the car. Immediately, you’re being pulled out of the car and the sack was removed from your head. “From now on, behave, and you won’t suffer the way I had intended. You have someone to thank for this.” Your breath halted as you met eyes with the one called Makarov, then caught sight of the large building behind him.

“Who?” You spoke for the first time in a while, which came out croaky from the lack of hydration. “No questions, girl.” He shut you down and gestured with the nod of his head instructing for you to be taken inside.

You were taken to a bedroom, sat on the bed, rope cut from your wrists, then you were left alone. The doors were closed and locked from the outside. For a moment, you rubbed your wrists, taking in the interior of the room. It wasn’t like the white house, the aesthetic and design was very different. 

You couldn’t help but feel you knew who was behind this, but it was hard to fathom. Being you were alone, and presumably free to roam, you stood from your bed and immediately checked the large mirror beside the wardrobe closet. 

Such a mess.

Without lingering on your image long, you went to the bathroom. First thought was to drink the sink water, then strip down and get into the shower. Yes, you were captive, and this was odd hospitality for someone supposedly on death row until the end of the month, so you couldn’t help but feel maybe it was a bluff or something. Something being…sick? 

You didn’t have the energy to cry or be upset about it right now. After your shower, you checked the wardrobe. Someone had brought your clothes over to wherever you are now.

You selected something comfortable, non-restricting to your body, in case of anything. A plain black tank with black sweats. You brought the hairbrush at the vanity table to the bed and you sat in the middle, slowly brushing your hair as you were deep in thought. Tears swelled in your eyes as the overwhelming rush of frustration caught up to you, dripping onto the bed as you kept your head down.

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Author’s Note --

To be honest, I’m really winging these “filler” parts, so I apologize if anything appears boring or prolonging just like reading and gameplay sometimes gets. I just want to make sure I’m setting up certain foundations and characters and such without rushing, or just making anything seem out of place by jumping too far into scenes. I hope you guys enjoy this so far though!

[thecandywrites]

Zorroku and Peaches Part 15

The things you discover about the story when doing a rewrite, its like rediscovering a new story alltogether. So fun.

Zorroku and Peaches 

Part 15

You watched as Zorroku got all the kids ready for bed. But Zorroku was otherwise rather quiet towards you once everyone left to go home. But to hear the kids ask him how many he had faced off against in battle, you could tell that they were looking for a reason to have hope and faith that he would win when he was already facing odds against him. But Zorroku, if anything, was honest about the matter and admitted he was nervous about it. But that it was something he felt he should do and needed to be done, for honor and dignity, if not for himself, but for them and the family you all were now.

But you knew the kids would not need to ask you such questions. Because they already knew about the spite blessings, so you knew that they had confidence and faith in you at least. But at the prospect of them being the children of the house, they could now move into any number of rooms they wanted. As each one was happy that they got a huge room, all to themselves while the cubs and pups were happy to wander from room to room to be with the kids. You were grateful there were several spaces, specifically meant to mimic a small garden like meadow, where the cubs and pups could go to the bathroom and not make messy piles anywhere. You had already said your goodnights and even prayed with them before it was time to put yourself and Ori to bed while Zorroku got ready for bed himself. 

You finally slipped into bed and nursed Ori again to go to sleep but sleep eluded you as your fears grew like weeds among wheat of whether the choice to answer the challenge was the right decision and the right path you should take. And to feel the bed dip, you wondered if the kids were going to sleep with you again, but you were pleasantly surprised to see just Zorroku get into bed on the other side as you were relieved he decided to stay so close. 

“So I take it you’ll be taking defensive tactics tomorrow?” Zorroku finally ventured as he settled in and got comfortable. 

“Yeah.” You murmured quietly before he turned to look at you before he reached out to caress your cheek with his palm before you turned your head and kissed his calloused palm. 

“Worried?” He asked. 

“Not about the things I should probably be worried about though.” You answered. 

“So what are you worried about?” He asked. 

“Of the spite blessings I have, only one is only ever “on” or “awake” and working all the time. All the others are asleep and locked into a part of myself that I specifically had to have the mages and magic practicing people put into myself to keep them safely there and subdued. Once I awake them, I’m afraid of what else I’ll do while they are fully awake and active, using myself as a vessel. One of them, the strongest of them, is particularly bloodthirsty. And the more blood I spill, the stronger it becomes and the more active it becomes. All it takes is for me to kill one, then it wants to kill two more, then four more, then eight more, then 16 more and it builds until those numbers are astronomical and it’s not satisfied until itself and the vessel it inhabits, myself, is the only thing left alive. I’m terrified that it will look at this great city and want to swallow it whole and that once it kills once, it won’t stop until it kills all. And I really do not want that particular spirit to look at you or the kids and want their blood more than it wants to protect them. So you will have to be particularly careful tomorrow while you’re in that arena with me. I will try to stay in control of myself but because I may have to unlock and wake up more than one, I will be the minority, and only a vessel for the others.” 

“How do I subdue it?” Zorroku asked. 

“I will do all I can to keep that particular one asleep. The others, will be awakened with an incantation and, coincidentally, go back to sleep if either successful or I repeat the incantation to do so. But that is only if I have my senses to do so. So listen tomorrow to everything I say before the battle. And if you see I’m not myself and no longer in control of my being- say what you heard me say. But you have to make sure I’m not touching the ground or anyone else, because many of the spite blessings pull their own power from the very ground and others. It’s like I can leech their life force from them if I touch them. That’s why I wanted to use the sling with the weights, to keep me at a distance from my targets. Even though I will be most lethal with hand to hand combat. It won’t matter what weapons they try to use against me, they will fail unless I disarm them and use their own weapons against them, the moment the weapon is in my hands, it becomes whatever I need or want it to be and is how I can draw their very life from them, is through the contact of their own weapons with them." You explained.

"Really?" Zorroku murmured curiously.

"Well, as you know, all warriors have special relationships with their weapons. And one of the blessings, is there to turn their own weapons against them. Use them against themselves, whether it’s through blinding through anger or overconfidence. It’s a very emotional one, because of the emotional relationship most warriors have with their weapons, it’s powerful yet exhaustive at the same time. That’s why I chose my weapon. Because my emotional bond as a mother to them, is all the power I will need to defeat them. And while that sling seems soft and comforting, there is a lethality to a mother’s love in defending her children. That’s why that weapon will defeat them. So I’m just worried that if I kill them, especially the bitches new mates, the spite blessings will want to kill off all of their relation. It will stop at the Bitches because it’s their children that is the reason I’m fighting. But the mates, there is nothing there to protect their families from me, should their families become involved tomorrow. And if their families enter that arena to fight me, they will not leave it alive. And with as interconnected everyone is, I’m worried it will engulf everyone.” You confessed, your voice a super soft whisper as your eyes shed tears while Zorroku kept his hand over your face, using his thumb to wipe away the tears as they formed and fell. 

“Then I do promise and swear, I will make sure that no other than the challengers enter the arena.” Zorroku assured you. 

“Just know that if the last one wakes up, you are in danger of not getting out of that arena alive, that’s what I’m worried most about. Because that one is all about being the last one standing, and if that one wakes up and takes control, this place will be the epicenter and no one is safe, everyone needs to flee.” You instructed him. 

“Ok.” Zorroku agreed. 

“Is there anything else that is worrying you?” He asked. 

“How the kids are going to ever forgive me for killing off their mothers when it could have been avoided? But those bitches are forcing my hands. If they simply asked me to buy them, I would have, without a second thought or hesitation. I would have handed over my entire account over to them so that those kids never came to harm and would never have to be orphaned in order for me to adopt them. And I’m worried that they’ll grow up and think back on this moment and wonder if there was any other way. Or if they’ll hate me or resent me for it later.” You whispered as your eyes glazed with more tears. 

“No. I doubt it. Those kids love you more than they do anyone else. I’ve seen the way you are with them and the way they are with you. Bully Jr followed you all the way to the gate when you left the first time. He was fully armed when he did it too. And it was only Shuzug that held him back from trying to pull you off of my father’s horse. I don’t know if you could see him, but I could and that kid was ready to follow wherever you would go and all of his siblings would follow him too. If anything, I think they would be hurt that you didn’t do it sooner.” Zorroku reassured you. 

“So here you are, supposed to be marrying a virgin and I’m a mother of 6, well, 11 if you count the animals.” You tried to tease to chase your own tears away. 

“So?” Zorroku questioned with a shrug.

“Most of my cousins have kids Junior’s ages anyway. Adoption is more commonplace than you might think it is. Bloodline isn’t some hard and fast rule, especially around here. I’m perfectly happy with any and all children you accept as your own. I told you already, having Ori is enough. And with Junior and Fabu, I now have two sons and four daughters. That’s perfectly acceptable and respectable. I’m happy and content with that.” He reassured you. 

“But I wanted to give you more sons and daughters and have it just the three of us, at least for a little while.” You admitted. 

“It’s the three of us right now.” Zorroku pointed out as he laid on his side and just kept stroking the apple of your cheek with his thumb. 

“True. And at least I don’t have other wives and all of their kids to deal with.” You offered. 

“Nope, never.” He smiled before he leaned over his daughter to capture your mouth with his before Ori pulled off your breast to coo and shriek happily and kick her legs which got you and Zorroku to start laughing. 

“You are only ever truly happy when we’re together huh? You little stinker.” You cooed to Ori as you nuzzled her face with yours. 

“Yeah, why don’t you just come on over here.” Zorroku urged as he reached out and grasped your waist to move you to lay flush with his back and grind his erection right into your butt. 

“Fuck, how am I supposed to resist not fucking you senseless before the unification celebration?” You asked as you couldn’t resist not grinding back into him as you felt you needed him to fuck every worry and bit of anxiousness out of you. 

“Like this.” He purred into your ear to only pull his own pajama bottoms down and yours and used his fingers to spear you and open you up as you tried to keep your voice down by burying your face into his arm that was currently serving as your pillow as your pelvis ground into his touch as passion drenched your body and filled you with heedy lust and pleasure and before you knew it, your body was alighting with ecstasy and Zorroku’s big fat cock was spurting rope after rope of seed into your top as Ori was already fast asleep herself as Zorroku had already pressed your back to his front as his grip on your hips was almost bruising. But you loved it that way before his hold on you changed to him just holding you to his chest. 

“Thank you.” You sighed dreamily as you were still basking in the afterglow. 

“Thank you.” He mirrored with a chuckle before he kissed the back of your head and was content to simply hold you as you both relaxed into the other. And it wasn’t until Zorroku pulled away to take care of the soiled garments and replace your clothes before he slipped back into bed to spoon you as you were happy to have Ori in your own embrace and bosom before sleep pulled you both down. 

And in the dream, it revealed to Zorroku and yourself exactly how to defeat your challengers the next day and how neither of you would lose a single drop of blood, but would have absolute victory over your challengers. 

But as much as that dream filled you with confidence, it filled you with dread nonetheless. 

So when you woke up early, you were eager to slip out of bed, leaving Zorroku in bed with Ori and left your house to go to the jail with your purse. 

“Can I help you?” The jailor asked. 

“I would like to see Burquen, Crelle and Famire. And I need someone to witness my conversation with them, just in case it is investigated. I need more than one truthful and honest witness to this.” You requested. 

“Of course. Sign here please.” He requested before you signed your name as it appeared on your checkbook before the guard’s eyebrows rose in surprise but he didn’t say much before he brought you to where they were sleeping in a cell before he clanged his metal stick to the bars to wake them up. 

“What?!” They all snarled before they woke up only to see you there. 

“Here to come to your senses?” Burquen sneered when she openned her eyes to see you standing there. 

“No, I came to ask all of you to come to yours.” You requested. 

“Save your breath and strength, you’ll need it.” Famire spat. 

“How much?” You asked. 

“How much what?” Crelle asked. 

“How much will it take for you to withdraw the challenge, and be satisfied to simply leave me and my family alone?” You asked. 

“Your life.” Burquen seethed before you gave her a disappointed look.

“Right now, I have a balance, in my accounts, of 43,200 bricks of salt. Split three ways that’s 14,400 even between the three of you. I will write a check for cash and give it to you the moment the bank is open, I will take every square of blood money and give you its worth in cash and take the loss in its exchange fee.” You offered. 

“Why? You don’t want to leave that precious little Ori motherless?” Famire taunted. 

“No. What I want is for the children you bore to Bullard to never hate me or resent me for killing you. I never want them to look back on their memories of this moment and wonder what I could have done to not kill you off. I want them to be able to hold their heads high in pride to be who they are. I can request that you still receive their stipend from here on out. Hell, I’ll sign over my house, that’s 4 stories high with over 50 rooms- over to all of you. And the three of you can move in tonight if you wish. I’ll find a way to work off your bail money. But only if you will all sign over your rights to your children, and agree to never get within a hundred paces of them or myself or Zorroku or Ori.” You offered. 

“No deal, I’ve been waiting to kill you for 8 years. And no amount of money will be worth it for me to let go of that dream.” Burquen insisted. 

"Even when you know I will kill you first? You know about my blessings. You know that it will only take one strike from you before I strike back and when I do, it will be lethal. And it will not stop untill all of you are dead at my feet." You reminded them.

"Except we are still part of the family according to those blessings and the blessings specify that you can not raise a hand or weapon to family so such blessings are useless and you are not that strong without them. Those blessings protect us from them. So such things don't matter. All you have is all you are without them and I know I can beat that part of you to death, no problem." Burquen sneered.

"Yeah!" Her sister wives confirmed.

“Why are all of you so hell bent on killing me? What have I ever done to you to warrent this hatred?” You asked. 

“Because you stole Bully’s heart, mind and soul and love from us our entire marriage.” Burquen insisted and all you could do was shake your head as you groaned in frustration.

“You know why he loved me more than he ever loved all of you combined?” You decided to taunt right back. 

“Because your human pussy was tight enough for him?” Burquen sneered. 

“No, he and I never had sex while he was alive. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that for you to believe me. But it’s the truth. And I for one am sick and tired of saying it. But the real reason why he never loved any of you is because none of you ever really loved him. None of you were genuine and honest with him. He knew the moment you started courting him at 10, exactly what you were after. And after he gave into your advances at 11, he knew he had allowed himself to be courted away from me. His own desire for release was stronger than his love for me and it was that truth that troubled him the most. Because as adamant as he was to wait for me, the temptation for him to get a quick and fast release was too much of a temptation and he hated himself that he had a price and that price was his own selfish desires. That’s what spoiled his relationships with all of you.” You explained. 

“Because he had been in love with me since childhood and he let his own lust lead him astray. But by the time that happened, I was still way too young to know or understand or comprehend what changes he was going through. And if he had tried to use me himself, he would have hurt me and traumatized me because I was still a small child in both mind and body, heart and soul myself. But by the time I grew up to realize what was going on and what he had done and why. It killed any romantic love I had for him at the time and it never came back until he was dead and gone which is why I have thrown myself into raising his children and caring for them because I could tell all of you were milking that widowhood by Clan Chief Apparent for all it was worth from the clan to the point you abandoned you own kids and they would have hungered and thirst and been naked and dirty if it wasn't for me caring for them. Hell, they would be just as unlearned and uneducated as you were. Because all of you had always been content on your status to get what you wanted. So instead of focusing on praise and flattery you got from the clan, if you had pursued the motherhood you were blessed to have as early as you did, you would not be here and those children would know what it's like to be loved as unconditionally as they should be. As every child deserves to be from their parents and their families. But no, none of you were mature enough or grown enough or, mature enough yourselves to ever give them that.” You explained.

“And just so that you are all aware, here is the certificate his parents drew up to free me and my family. Do you see the date? It was years before any of you came into his life. I was never your servant or slave, it was why we were paid as much as we were for our work. I was there by choice because Bullard and the rest of his family were a second family to me. And as formal as our relationship had to be in public to the rest of the clan. In private, there were no secrets between us. There was candor, honesty and genuine friendship. That is why every single member of Khagra and Bula’s family always loved me and my family way more than they ever loved any of you.” You insisted. 

“So, since all of you insist on being unreasonable, all of you are forcing my hand. I will meet you on that battlefield and I will be armed with the greatest weapon a mother can ever have. It doesn’t matter what weapons or tactics you try to use against me, all of it will fail in spectacular fashion. And I have no doubts that all you have and all that hold dear, will be mine by tonight. My only hope is that the children you bore to Bullard will forgive me for ensuring their safety as I lay claim to what they always should have been, mine.” You insisted before you turned and left the prison as they continued to scream and curse at your back, but their words might as well have been silent because you didn’t bother to hear or notice them as you left with the guard to leave the prison. 

“Thank you for letting me in and allowing me to say my peace, please, let me have full faith and trust that if anyone asks, you will tell them the truth and nothing but the truth, no matter who is asking.” You offered as you handed him a full brick bill along with the other two guards who had been there to witness that conversation. 

“ Of course. And, you’re welcome.” They offered as he happily took it. 

“Just out of curiosity? What is their bail?” You asked. 

“Half a million bricks each.” The head guard answered before you whistled lowly. 

“Yikes.” You scoffed. 

“May peace be with you.” You offered as you turned to leave. 

“And with you.” He smiled as he watched you go. 

You came out of the prison just as the vendors were opening shop before you came to a place to order a large breakfast to be prepared for your family between a bakery and another restaurant as you were happy to pay the both in checks and introduce yourself. You got the breakfast to go and carried it back to your home and set the table just as Bullard’s kids were waking up and looking for you as Zorroku was at first alarmed that he awoke to find you missing from the bed only to be relieved to find you in the kitchen organizing the food you had gotten all of them for breakfast. 

“Why did you go to get breakfast, we could have helped you make it Mama.” Belinda offered as she helped you. 

“Because I didn’t want to be distracted from all of you because I need to talk to all of you.” You began. 

“What’s wrong?” Becina asked since you were using a serious and somber tone before you had everyone sit down to breakfast. 

“I left first thing this morning to go to the jail to try to talk some sense into the women who birthed all of you.” You began. 

“Did they listen?” Bully Jr. asked. 

“No. They wouldn’t even consider it. So now they are forcing my hand because they challenged me and I need to answer that challenge. But the rules of the challenge are that it is a fight to the death. And I wanted to ask for your forgiveness in advance and ask what I can do to make up for the fact that I will be forced to kill them to keep you safe from them.” You requested. 

“Nothing Mama. It will be a relief.” Fabu insisted.

“Are you sure? I really don’t want any of you to look back to this day and wonder what could have been done to avoid it. And I offered to them every physical possession I have, every cube of salt, even this house. And they would not accept it. They still insist on fighting me to the death.” You revealed as Zorroku and all of the kids all blinked in surprise. 

“Burquen has always hated you and has wanted to kill you ever since she got with my dad. It doesn’t surprise me that she would seize the first opportunity to kill you that she could.” Belinda admitted. 

“I know.” You nodded in agreement. 

“Mama, you don’t need to be forgiven for this. Dad always said that 'sometimes, there is no other choice other than to fight’. And this is one of those times. It’s ok. I promise to never hold a grudge or be resentful towards you. If anything, I’m relieved and happy that you’re able to fight for us. And I know you’re fully capable of winning this fight.” Bully Jr. insisted before his other siblings all chimed in their agreements with emphatic nods. 

“And it means a lot to us that you’d give up all of this just for us, it shows how much you love us Mama. And if anything, it just proves to me that you’re the best Mama I could ever have.” Belinda pointed out as she gestured to the house as the others nodded in agreement to that. 

“So you’re gonna help keep Daddy safe then?” Belinda asked as she looked from you to Zorroku as you couldn’t help but smile at the term of affection and smiled so happily at her. 

“Yes. If we took down a pack of wolves by working together. I don’t think the challengers have much of a chance.” Zorroku beamed. 

“And is that sling all you’re going to be using?” Bully asked. 

“Yes. All I need to do is knock their own weapons from their hands, and then I can use their own weapons against them if anything happens to the sling. One of the blessings that was transferred from Yar to me, specifically stated that anything I use as a weapon to defend myself and especially my family, will never fail and break all others. I could go in there with nothing but the clothes on my back and face off against foes that outnumber me over a thousand to one. And still be victorious. But the only thing I worry about - is the blessings becoming too apparent and evident and then warriors from here and the other cities doing everything in their power to take Zorroku’s place in my life. I fear that an orc that’s your uncle Yar’s size and with all the strength that Yar is supposed to have, will see me face off against them and think I’m his warrior goddess. And I don’t know how to teach these gifts and abilities other than to have others watch me as I use them. And I have no idea if anyone else who imitates me- will do so successfully, or if it’ll get them killed. And that’s what worries me the most is others trying to imitate what I will do today and not be successful and end up getting hurt or get themselves killed.” You admitted. 

“I sincerely doubt that would happen.” Zorroku tried to reassure you. 

“I hope you’re right.” You offered. 

You got dressed and ready for the announcement celebration, as did everyone else in your family before you went to the train that would take you to the square before you were put with other members of your family and Jaseeneh and her family too. 

“You shouldn’t have gone to the jail, you gave the impression to those bitches’ mates that you’re a coward, seeking to buy your way out of a challenge.” Jaseeneh chided you, once she invited you to sit next to her. 

“I was only trying to find a peaceable solution.” You maintained. 

“I’m aware. But for your adopted children’s honor, the only peace they will have is in your victory.” She insisted. 

“It’s looking more and more that way. Yes.” You agreed. 

“But what I fear most is the blessings that have been given to me, will fully wake up to assure my victory, only for them to wake up and use me as vessel and take over me completely, and the damage I could do to everyone in Avlar and the other cities would be unfathomable, because it’s a doubling blessing, meaning, I kill one, it will ask for two more lives after that, and then 4, then 8, then 16…” You began. 

“32, 64 and 128 and so on. Yes, I understand.” Jaseeneh nodded. 

“And with every life I take, it will grow stronger, until I am the only one left alive in the whole mountain range. Even my own family would not be safe if that were to happen. So I need you to promise, should that happen, everyone needs to go into hiding and into shelters. I can’t kill anyone if there no one present to kill in the first place.” You pleaded with her. 

“I see, so this is why you were willing to give everything you had to avoid?” Jaseeneh questioned as Drashaneh and Cilanthe shared a worried look among them as you nodded sullenly as your eyes glazed with tears again. 

“I just don’t want to lose control to that particular one. That one is the largest and strongest of them and I have paid everything I have to learn to build a secret space in myself to lock into and keep it asleep for now. But if that is awoken, there is no telling the unimaginable carnage I would unknowingly and unwitting inflict.” You confessed. 

“Then I will do all I can to assure that that particular blessing stays the way it is. or that you stay in control of it and all the others at all times.” Arob insisted. 

“I don’t know if you, alone- can. It took 5 mages to put it down to sleep last time because I was in danger of killing off all of White Rock and the surrounding clans the one time it possessed me and Yar gave me all of his strength to give me the inner strength to confine it and wrestle it into a deep sleep. To this day he can barely stand on his own feet, but is content with that sacrifice it means the rest of his family is safe from me, because it had been made for him and his strength originally.” You explained. 

“I have been consulting with every source I can. Including the ones that helped you last time. Once this challenge was claimed, I knew I had to reach out to them. I will help you keep it locked up and asleep. The others are safe to be let out for now. And I trust that Zorroku and myself will help you keep control of yourself. If need be, Ori and the other children can be used to keep your own sense of self in control, and will help you wield the other blessings like the blessings they are, and not the curses you have been made to feel about them. It will be alright. I promise, I will find a way to keep your greatest fears from being reality. I will keep you from harming anyone who is innocent.” Arob reassured you.  

“And I will not have you entering that arena with only that sling. I have weapons that have their own gifts and blessings that you can use instead of your own.” Jaseeneh insisted. 

“Grandmother, I planed on using the most wonderful of the blessingsl to disarm them and then use their own weapons against them.” You insisted. 

“And sometimes the best laid plans will go to waste. I have a special weapons just for you. That is currently being pulled out of my special vault. One that is yours from now on, I will award it to you during the announcement.” Jaseeneh insisted. 

“Please, trust us to help you.” Arob interceded. 

“As you wish.” You nodded in agreement and understanding before you heard the call go out to all the cities to meet in the main square before Khagra and his family came into the area behind the stage. 

“Is it true? That you tried to give everything you had to them?” Bula asked. 

“For Bullard’s kids to not be completely orphaned before I adopted them? Yes. I just wanted Bully Jr. and his siblings to not look back on today and hate me and resent me for what I need to do.” You confirmed. 

 “Oh Sweetheart, no. No. No one will do that.” Bula reassured you. 

“Is that all that troubles you?” Khagra asked as you shook your head no. 

“In defeating them, I will have to reveal and use the very gifts that Yar has traveled all over the continent for. And I’m just as scared of the gifts getting out of hand and then losing myself to them completely and especially, the most dangerous of them, waking up and then killing off everyone else. Let alone- of others seeing me use them and think that Zorroku is only an obstacle for them to lay claim to them- themselves. Even though we’ve done all we can to transfer them from me in the past. Or that others think that my own enhanced gifts are something that can be practiced and replicated by others and that more still will lose their lives trying to imitate what I will do today.” You murmured worriedly. 

“If any do, we will keep at a watchful distance. And be sure that none do so.” Crowthu reassured you as Khagra and Drashaneh both agreed for the same. 

“Are you really sure about this? Risking your life for her? And taking on all of them?” Kann asked Zorroku quietly off to the side while he seemed to have a kid in each arm to keep them from causing chaos by trying to put everything they could get their hands on in their mouths while Zorroku held onto Ori himself while he kept an eye on Junior as he met and began to play with Kann’s kids who had come with his cousin. 

“Remember when you asked me that, when I was about to marry Medowne?” Zorroku recalled.

“Yeah, is your answer the same now as it was then?” Kann prompted as a smile threatened to bloom on his face.  

“It is. There is much more to Bella than meets the eye. And anyone who looks at her and underestimates her or the lengths I will go to protect and care for her are gravely mistaken.” Zorroku maintained. 

“You’re facing off against three of the most desperate yet brutal warriors our clan has. Hell, all of them, if they didn’t have gambling debts, would be our greatest warriors of fame.” Kann reminded him. 

“I have seen her take down an entire pack of wolves on her own. I have seen her kill fish and haul them ashore that were too heavy even for myself to carry. She’s stronger and much more lethal than she looks- or than you or anyone here can imagine. But instead of lording that over anyone, she’s happy and content to live in peace and anonymity and is willing to give her life and everything she owns to protect those she deems worthy. Neither she, nor I have to prove anything to anyone. But the challengers are forcing our hands. So, if a fight to the death is what they want, dead is how we will make them.” Zorroku insisted evenly as Kann blinked in surprise. 

“Well then I’m glad to see you with someone that moved you to get your fighting spirit back.” Kann grinned. 

“I got them!” Kakazi bellowed when he came into the space with a sword in each hand before he came over to Jaseeneh to show her. 

“Oh thank goodness. Good. Someone please check to see if everyone is here. The time is approaching.” Drashaneh blew out a breath of relief. 

“Are these the ones?” Kakazi asked as Jaseeneh looked them over. 

“Yes. Thank you.” She smiled and nodded as she simply pulled the small swords out of their scabbards to inspect them before putting them back in. 

“I haven’t seen swords like this before.” You noted as you looked at the gentle curving angles of the blades. 

“They are very special blades from a human settlement. One strike, one kill. These swords were blessed by a dragon, to help the wielder fight with the strength and stamina of one. And since they were made especially for humans, they should be easy for you to use in your own defense. And they should work well with what you already have, if you only have the one gift you trust to use.” Jaseeneh urged you as she lent one of them over to you to look over as you were happy and relieved to be holding the handle and smiled when the hilt was a perfect size for your hands. You looked at the dragon designs on the handles, the scabbard, and engraved onto the surface of the blade. You softly shuddered when you felt the power the blade carried that your own gifts were eager to be united with. 

“Before we go any further, please, I insist on doing a grounding ceremony. I need everyone to gather around in a circle around Bella, so that she and all that is with her, knows who her friends and family are.” Arob insisted as you had to do it in several waves, with yourself, Zorroku and Ori and Bully’s kids never leaving as they all hugged you in a group hug as you simply closed your eyes as Arob introduced everyone to the sleeping gifts inside you while detaching the bitches and their mates.

It was a relief to feel the gifts accept your family, and accept Bullard’s children as your own and Zorroku as your mate and Ori as your own daughter, as if you had birthed her and the other children yourself as there was a distinction between who everyone was and how everyone was related, and how those branches spread across the clan and the other clans.

But the branched stopped abruptly at the Bitches and their chosen mates who were already arming themselves in the arena and preparing for battle. You could feel them, all the way from where you were. And you could feel their burning hatred, their blind arrogance and hungry greed.

Before a miracle seemed to happen, the blessing you had feared for the most, was the first to volunteer that those six and only those six would fall should it be let out as the other blessings were eager to offer and agree to the same. 

Inwardly, you walked towards where you had put all the blessings into cage like fortresses within yourself. 

“Can I trust all of you to keep your word? To only kill those bitches and their mates?” You questioned as you looked up at them. They had the appearance of warrior goddesses of various kinds of beings, because you were female, and thus the blessings took on your own feminine form in thier states. 

“Yes. For Orianna. For Bullard Junior, For Belinda, For Becina, For Fabu and for Caruna, yes.” The largest, and the most heavily chained and restrained one offered, in the loudest most booming voice while the others were quite small compared to her. But she was a giant among them while the one who was always with you, was like it’s own she-wolf. A red one, always at your side as you pet her head affectionately. 

“And for Zorroushku?” You questioned. 

“Especially for him. For I know that only he would ever love you enough to keep you safe from your own children, even at the cost of taking them away from you for their own protection. Just like you would want him too, should I go too far.” She answered with a proud smile. 

“Can I trust that if I unlock you, you will not hunger for more than the six?” You questioned her. 

“Yes. If you let me out, and let me consume as many or as few of them as you wish, I promise to only stop until it is just yourself and Zorroushku and what ever referees that they use to settle the battle, to stop once the six who have hate for you, will fall, I will go to sleep- peacefully.” She reassured you. 

“Fine.” You agreed before you mentally waived your hand to let the shackles unbind them and the gates to the fortresses begin to lift as they all smiled happily and begin to stretch into the various forms they liked to take. While the largest, was like a dragonborn. Her eyes bright red with blood lust and her black scales with a red sheen shimmering in the light of your mind as she stretched and readied herself for battle, her form gaining more armor by the heartbeat as she prepared to take your body over.

“Should any of you cause any harm to anyone in my family, especially those kids, I will not tolerate it. And I will not hesitate to lock you up into a fortress that even I would not have the keys to. So, when I call, answer, and when I ask, please come back to this place, for my form is limited and won't be able to sustain all of you for very long.” You offered before they came out and knelt before you and each swore their loyalty, alegience and oath to such a thing before you helped them all stand up and accepted the aggrements before you left that inner sanctum and opened your eyes.

“Are we good to go?” Zorroku asked as he was still holding your head in his hands as it felt like you suddenly began to weigh more than usual.

“Yeah, we’re good.” You smiled softly and nodded before you began to bear your own weight better and lifted your head from his hands and kissed his palms affectionately before giving Ori one last hug and kiss, wishing you coud nurse her one last time before this announcement, even though she had nursed her fill right before you left the house only a half hour before.

“It’s time, everyone has gathered.” An attendant announced. 

“Very well, let’s do this.” Jaseeneh insisted as she clasped the swords in thier scabbards tightly in her grasp so she would not drop or damage such precious pieces of weaponry.

“Wait here until you are introduced.” Drashanah insisted before everyone left except for your parents and the rest of your immediate family. Even Zorroku left, with Ori still in his arms. And Bullard’s kids left with their grandparents for this as you were left watching them climb the stairs as you felt anxious and uneasy before your breasts started to leak profusely. 

“Shit.” You gasped when you first felt it and quickly took the sling off of you to fold and stuff into your bra to soak up the milk that began to gush out of your bosom as you were just praying that the sling was enough to soak it up so you didn’t go out there with a drenched top. 

“Your milk come in?” Your mom guessed as she helped you put the egg shaped weights themselves into your jewelry you were wearing. 

“Yeah, I thought Ori ate her fill, I thought she drained me, but I guess not. Great timing too. Ori’s gonna have a fit when she gets hungry in about 2 minutes to find my breasts empty because they’ve offloaded already.” You griped. 

“It’ll be fine. Maybe that’s what the blessings need to bless you further. You said the she-wolf needs an emotional connection right? This is your emotional connection to this as your weapon. And since you have this milk by magic, maybe having it blessed with miraculous milk, it won’t dry out on you.” Your mother offered as that seemed to click in as you heard all the blessings inside you go 'yup' in unison, it was practically comical as the dragonborn was already organizing her other fellow blessings and giving orders of who needed to come out first and get into position and do what.

“Ohh.” You murmured. 

“Then soak it up.” You begged the sling’s silk. 

Meanwhile, Jaseeneh and her family were the first ones to walk out onto the stage while Crowthu and his family came out next to stand with them before Khagra and Bula and their family came out and took up a third spot on the stage.

“Attention everyone.” Drashanah announced to the gigatic crowd that had gathered in the square.

“As I’m sure you’ve heard, my mother’s and my late sister’s Vizsla's have been found, having found refuge in the Black Wolf White Rock Clan. And as thanks to Clan Chief Khagra and his Clan Chieftess Bula of that clan, they were very well cared for and looked after. And thankfully, because of the Double Vizsla Belladonna, she has discovered that Clan Chieftess Yotul of Thunder Herd Clan is sisters with Clan Chieftess Bula of the Black Wolf White Rock Clan. So that now the two are sister clans the way Thunder Herd Clan is sister clans with Mountain Blizzard." He announced as he gestured to Yotul who took Bula's hand and they lifted thier hands with thier mother's. And smiled happily as the crowd applauded and cheered.

"And in so doing, we too are sister clans with the Black Wolf White Rock Clan. And I would, on behalf of myself, and my family thank the Clan Chief and Chieftesses for protecting the Double Vizslas for the last 21 years, and in that time, Double Vizsla Oriannaregina has had a family of her own. And her four eldest children are now of age to accept their inheritances and are now of marrying age as well." He announced as the whole crowd cheered and applauded even louder.

"So we have finally come to bring the Double Vizsla’s home to Avlar. There is now going to be a unification celebration of this momentous occasion in just a couple of weeks which everyone should have gotten their invitations for already, and if not, now you know.” Drashanah announced as everyone else laughed and clapped and cheered in applause.

“Now is the moment I have waited a very long 21 years for. May I introduce to everyone- my daughter, back from her journey among the mountain valleys. Oriannaregina, and her husband Micha.” Jaseeneh began before your mother took your father’s hand and walked out onto the stage as everyone cheered and applauded as her own childhood friends cheered the loudest to see her again as she walked out and stopped to hug Khagra and Bula in thanks before she and your father joined Jaseeneh who was sitting on her special throne that had been moved to the stage as your mother knelt and kissed her mother's hand and put it to her forehead as a sign of humble submission and as a sign that Jaseeneh was more than just her mother, but her Dowager Clan Chieftess too before Jaseeneh had them rise and curtsey respectfully to Drashaneh and Cilanthe who did the same and hugged them happily.

"Do we have some shit to talk about your brother later." Cilanthe murmured to your mother who did her best to stifle her snickering laughter as even Jaseeneh laughed and reached up to hold her hand. Drashaneh was less than impressed at the jab, especially in front of the seven clans even though only his immediate family had only heard it.

“And these are her children. Her youngest twin daughters, Amaryllis and Azalea.” Jaseeneh introduced before your youngest sisters went on stage and repeated the same thing that your parents had before they knelt at your grandmother's feet and did the same before she urged them to stand up and stand with your parents off to her side. 

“And then her oldest daughters, the two female Double Viszlas of marrying age and inheriting agge. They are also a set of twins, Belladonna and Lilyanna Grace.” She said next before you and your sister walked out onto the stage as you smiled politely while your sister Lilly Grace smiled brightly and waived to the crowd while the younger men didn’t hold back their wolf whistles and bawdy catcalls which only made your own nerves rise as you looked out only for several of the more loud and enthusiastic of the crowd to meet your eye and make gestures to their friends about how big your bosom was and what they’d like to do it as you made sure to remember their faces for future reference and when they looked back over to you, to see Zorroku and the others glare down at them, had them averting their gaze from you, which for you, was a relief as you had hugged Khagra and Bula and everyone in the familiy before passing Ori who was reaching out to you but you had to decline her before Jaseeneh officially recognized and sactioned, but she was pacified with a quick kiss on the cheeks and blows into her neck to make her squeal and giggle before you had to walk over to Jaseeneh and repeat the ritual with Lilly Grace.

“And her sons, the oldest of the sets of twins, and the two male Double Vizslas of marrying and inheritance ages. Brunah and Dastrineh.” Jaseeneh finally said before your brothers came out as Dastrin gave Glasha a not so subtle wink as he passed her which made her smile and blush and even giggle while Marna had the same reaction to Brunah as Crowthu finally came to realize that that was there as he cleared his throat to get his daughter's attention only for them to look back proudly and if anything, happily. 

"As if one Double Vizsla isn't enough in this family." Crowthu muttered under his breath.

"Oh hush. If Bella is as awesome as she is, her brothers won't be anything less. If anything it's gotten them both to finish growing up and maturing themselves. Do you want them to die old maids? Or do you want to see them happily married with families of their own?" Yotul said through her smile beside him as he couldn't bring himself to answer her.

"Just keep your honor before the unification celebration ok?" He requested.

"Of course, it was never put it into question." Marnausta insisted.

"Mmmhmm." Glasha nodded before Ori started to fuss that she wasn't in your arms as that seemed to push Jaseeneh to make the announcement before she would publicly throw a fit on the stage while your bosom leaked so profusely, you were sure your top was about to start dripping, but if anything, it just ensured every inch of that sling was completely saturated.

“However, in addition to the four oldest taking proposals for the unification celebration, there is one that has already claimed motherhood. Double Vizsla Belladonna. As you all are aware, my grandson Zorroushku by my daughter Sharnarrah the Magnificent, lost his mate Medowne, this past winter in childbirth to his daughter, who named his daughter after his long awaited aunt- Oriannaregina. And when his father’s mother had a vision of my Double Vizsla’s. I knew it was time for them to come home and lay claim to their inheritances since they would be safe to do so without the threat of anyone taking their rightful inheritances from them. And in the process of Crowthu bringing Belladonna to Thunder Herd for her to discover the clan’s ties, she has since adopted Orianna, and the two have agreed to co-parent her." Jaseeneh annouced before you finally got Ori out of Zorroku's arms before Ori settled down and was finally happy and content to be held by you as you were happy to stand next to Zorroku on the stage.

"So any other who would pursue her, should know that she is already engaged to be Orianna’s mother and will be continuing to share parental rights and responsibilities with Zorroushku." She added before Zorroku finally let his arm wrap around your shoulders as you were happy to finally be with him so publically as you did the same as Ori was now bubbling with happiness to see you two so close.

"And she has also become mother to Bula’s late son’s children as well." Jaseeneh announced before Bully's kids finally came to stand with you and Zorroku as you were so happy and proud to have them with you as others in the crowd soon got the memo that you were pretty much a done deal as Bully's kids were actually a deterant, which, for you, was a relief.

"However, as I’m sure some of you had heard, there has been a challenge of Shiro Katzu from Belladonna’s own ransomers- Burquen, Famire and Crelle in regards to the very children she helped them raise, since they first tried to sell those children off to their grandparents before they too came here. But they dishonorably reneged on the sale when they found out that my Vizsla Bella wished to adopt them. So, since Belladonna is ready and willing to fight for her rights as a mother, I therefore entrust these swords, Eternal Fire and Eternal Victory to her, so that she may prove her worthiness as not just a mother, but as a capable mate in every respect.” Jaseeneh proclaimed as she handed the two swords to you that you handed Ori off back to Zorroku so you could kneel to accept the swords and took from her and put them- in their special cabbards onto the belt already around your waist before you returned to your family while Bully Jr and his siblings curiously looked at the swords.

“So, to settle this, won’t everyone make their way to the arena where the challengers are currently waiting?” Drashanah invited before he led you and Zorroku to the arena while your mom took Ori from Zorroku as he walked beside you while Drashanah showed you were Burquen, Famire and Crelle as they were with their mates, all six of them armed to the teeth and waiting as the stadium filled with people from the clans while the Clan Chiefs and their families took up special booths, while Khagra and Bula and their family tried to give you one last hug and wish for good luck. 

“It’s only six this time, no sweat. Knock em dead.” Yar urged. 

“Will do.” You smiled before you hugged Shuzug. 

“Don’t do anything stupid or get yourself killed while I’m taking care of Bully’s Bitches for good.” You insisted as you playfully pinched his nose as he laughed while he rubbed at his nose. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He grinned before they left for their booth that had been especially built for them the night before.

Leaving just you and Zorroku there to prepare for the battle, before you pulled the mother’s sling that had been folded and placed in your top to soak up the milk that had been leaking from you since the announcement, but had, just now stopped. You smiled when the undergarment wasn't wet. But the sling itself was perfectly wet, slick and perfect for what you needed it for.

You took off your skirt to reveal a pair of tan pants. Your outer outfit had a special top that conformed to your form before you took your colorful top off to reveal a matching top to the pants you had been wearing underneath- with a special lace overlay since you didn’t want such a gorgeous and magnificent outfit to become dirty or stained with blood while Zorroku simply put his own armor on but appreciated the view of you disrobing even that much while he did his best to ignore the catcalls, and wolf whistles of the crowd around him.

"She's coming home with me, she comes home with me." He whispered to himself.

"Of course I am." You cooed to him, since you had heard him over the roar of the crowd that your gifts had died down to a dull, low roar in the background so you could focus on the most important person in the arena to you, Zorroku.

"How'd you hear me?" Zorroku asked.

"Like this." You urged as you reached up to press your forehead to his to establish a mental link to you since one of the blessings you had gave you the ability to do keep your heart, mind and soul linked with his.

"Better?" You asked once you sensed the gift did the same to him.

"Much." He smiled appreciatively.

"Good." You beamed as you finished getting ready.

You used a spare tie to tie your hair up in a long braid down your back while you could appreciate that there was a line drawn down the middle of the arena that was not to be crossed before the signal. You even took off your pretty slippered shoes so you could be barefoot while most of the crowd laughed and pointed at how stupid and foolish you looked. Wearing no armor, no other weapons other than the ones you reattached to your waist while Lilly took your clothes and shoes from you to protect them from getting dirty or damaged.

“Are you sure you’re all ok with me doing this? It’s not too late.” You asked the kids one last time. 

“Yes, I’m sure. Settle this once and for all Mama.” Bully Jr. Insisted that his siblings nodded in agreement to, giving you proud and adoring smiles.

“And don’t let Daddy get hurt.” Belinda added. 

“I won’t.” You smiled before you hugged them all and kissed their cheeks lovingly from behind the barrier where you and Zorroku were getting ready before Zorroku did the same. 

“It’ll be ok. I’m stronger than I look too.” Zorroku reassured them which got you and them to giggle and laugh.

“Be good, listen to all the grandmas and aunties. We'll be right back.” You reassured them before you let your mom and your sisters walk them back to the special sitting area where Jaseeneh and her family were. 

“Do you want to watch or do you not want to see this?” Lilly asked them once she folded up your outfit and put it aside. 

“I want to watch this.” Bully Jr. insisted. 

“Are you worried about your parents?” Kann’s son, Brode asked. 

“Not worried about my mom. Worried about my dad though.” Bully admitted.

“Why?” Brode asked. 

“I know my mom won’t have trouble defeating them. But I have yet to see my dad fight yet. So I’m not sure how confident I should be in his abilities to defend himself.” Bully Jr. answered as the two folded their arms over the divider to watch this match. 

“How do you know your mom won’t have any trouble?” Brode asked curiously. 

“You’ll see.” Bully simply grinned proudly. 

"Well then you should know that of all my uncle Crowthu's sons, Zorroku is the best fighter of them all." Brode reassured him.

"Really?" Belinda and Becina asked from where they had sat down to play with the toys they had brought in their bags.

"Yup." Brode nodded which gave the girls that extra boost of reassurance.

Meanwhile, you simply sat down on the hard packed dirt of the arena and closed your eyes to pray for the god’s forgiveness for the blood you were about to spill with the two weights of the sling in each of your palms with its length hanging down into your lap. 

“It’s too late to beg for the god’s help. There is no god in the world that will save you from me!” Burquen screamed across the arena as others started to cheer and place their bets as to who was the more likely to win while you paid none of it any mind.

If anything pushed it all out of your mind. You could tell exactly where each of them stood, since you could feel their presence through the ground. They carried their weight on the balls of their feet, and were standing just on the other side of the line. And while you could feel their gaze, you could also feel their blinding anger, hate and resentment too, knowing such things would blind them to what you were going to do and how you were going to defeat them. You could also feel how Zorroku was taking a knee next to you. 

“Close your eyes, take a breath, feel the power of the world coursing up through the very ground you walk on and simply become an instrument for the god’s will.” You whispered to yourself, since that was the incantation that one of the spells that blessed you worked through as you felt that one happily walk out of the inner courtyard of your mind’s fortress, through the door to access the rest of your mind and body as it flowed into your legs to give you a swiftness in speed and help you pull power from the very earth under your body.

“Let those who mean me and my family harm, now come to harm, using their own weapons to do it. And let me protect the priceless to save it from destruction, danger and harm.” You added as you took another breath as that released yet another blessing to fully open yourself from keeping yourself closed off from the gifts as yet another seemed to come out of it’s place and enter you, sharing you to a degree with the others as your chest and arms began to feel invigorated.

“And let those who call down evil upon me, speak such evil no more. And may I answer the call with divine justice and righteousness, so that I may I hold my head up high and those that call me family do the same." You continued before you felt another go to your back.

"May I be guarded from the evil eye who would look upon me and all that is with me with the eye of greed and envy will no longer have sight in their eye, greed in their heart or mind. For in the moment their body dies, their soul also perrishes, being released from this life and onto the next, and may they find happiness and contentment that they lacked in this life, in that one. May the very ground bless me with it’s power to bring about my own victory." You finished in a whisper, barely heard or perceived, except by Zorroku who had paused his own prayer to hear yours and smiled adoringly to you as you could feel every sense you had, turn up to the highest possible.

“And may one drop of blood quench my hunger and thirst for justice, righteousness and vengence." You finished, in a voice that was both yours, yet not yours, as it was the dragon spirit saying it with you- as the largest and most dominating, and the one you had been worried, came out into the fore and it was like all the others quaked in it’s shadow as she came out of that fortress and came to rest in the fore of your mind, heart and spirit as the moment the words left the mouth as he watched as there was a rolling wave washed over you from the crown of your head down to your toes as he could have sworn he saw scales flip out onto your skin, only for a second before it appeared like your skin only a second, but it was as if it happened in slow motion for Zorroku's eyes as even your hair looked more firelike.

A shudder and a chill ran down Zorroku’s spine as he felt the very ground under him, shift, not in a bad way, but rather, as if to give him more stability and more center. 

“Don’t worry Zorroushku, I’ll make sure they don’t harm a hair of your head.” She offered to him as in only a blink, he could see her spirit around you as she turned to grin at him and give him a wink before she settled back into your form as you tried to rein her in. 

Then you took one last, long calming breath as all the blessings were anxious and eager to be put into use. You placed the weighted balls on either side of you and wiped your hands over your face, washing your mind and senses with the spirit of the gods as you did so. You openned your eyes, blinking several times as each of the blessings got to use your eyes to see your opponents as a grin hiked up the corners of your mouth before you looked over at Zorroku so that the blessings to could see him.

"Protect him." You told the blessings.

"Of course." They all answered happily before you looked back to the six on the other side of the line.

You picked up the balls and got up, as did Zorroku and dusted yourself off before you put your hands on the two spots you needed to hold this to use it as a weapon, the balls simply resting at your ankles as they hung down on either side of you. 

“So how many of them do you want?” You asked him as he could sense both your voice with almost a chorus like quality of the other blessings lending your voice an ethreal chorus timbre.

“Whichever ones you don’t want.” Zorroku answered. 

“Let me deal with the Bitches first, keep the bastards busy for me before I can deal with any who remain after I deal with them first.” You suggested. 

“Yes Ma’am.” Zorroku beamed a smile at you. 

“Ready?” Drashaneh asked before you looked to Zorroku. 

“Ready.” Zorroku confirmed. 

“Ready.” You nodded agreement as you looked at your children, seeing how each of them were smiling fondly and proudly at you and the blessings that it was them- that was the reason you fighting. To protect them. All of them.

“Then step to the line, when you hear the bell, attack.” He instructed before you walked out to the line where Burquen and her sister wives were standing where they already had their weapons drawn and aching for their blades to taste your blood. But the only blood they would taste is their own and each other’s. Not Zorroku’s and definitely not your own.

“Really? That’s what you’re fighting with? This will be the fastest victory I’ve ever gotten.” Burquen’s chosen mate sneered. 

“Perhaps.” You simply smiled knowingly, knowing his own arrogance was going to lead him to underestimate you and your seemingly unassuming weapon. 

“Ready?” The referee asked. 

“Yes.” You all said. 

“Ready your weapons.” He instructed as Burquen and her sister-wives had already been holding their weapons at the ready, which meant that their own muscles were already past their prime and were starting to wear, ahce and exhaust before they could ever be used which made you smirk smugly at them. They had failed before they ever stepped foot onto the arena, they just didn’t know it yet. 

You took a single step backward and with just a few flicks of your wrists, the weights on either end started to spin, slowly, but then picked up speed so that the whirling of the silk slicing through the air was like an engine all it’s own as the silk and it’s weight at the end was a blur and looking like you had two shields on either side of you as you could tell that Burquen and her sister wives were eager to take you on themselves. 

The bell clanged out and while your challengers gave out a warcry, you were happy to just keep smiling. 

“Bitches on me!” You called out before all three of them came to you.

With just a few controlling flicks of your wrists and arms, the sling became like a staff for you, only it was moving so fast and with such power that the moment the weights collided with their armor, with their shields, it smashed and shattered them and the impacts forced the women to back up and shed the armor since the impacts caused the metal to already start to splinter into their bodies like wood as blood was already starting to stain their bodies and clothes, while you had yet to get a single drop of blood on yourself or to even start to sweat.

You acted as if this length of silk with it’s weights was just one big staff with two balls of fire at the end because of the speed and power, were starting to heat up as the silk, did indeed, not break, nor dry out. Especially since it was still soaked with your miraculous milk that would not dissipate, but kept the silk perfectly fine and intact. You leaped up into the air as one of them had swung her sword at your feet and in one revolution of the sling with the weights, one of the weights suddenly swung into the lines of their heads, and immediately caved in each of their heads so that they all fell the way you had directed the sling to swing as they fell down dead at the same time your feet reached the ground too. 

The crowd cheered and hollered and the sling had slowed down enough from the impacts that you could easily have it wrap around your waist and bosom before twisting the two weights behind your back because you had faced off against Burquen and her sister wives as a mother. Now you were going to face off their mates as a warrior. And you were going to use their own weapons against them. 

You looked over to where they had Zorroku all but cornered and began to run over to them. 

“Behind you!” The crowd screamed at the others who were fighting with Zorroku only for them to stop and turn to see you and the look in your eyes as the dragon spirit was already out and fire seemed to flow down your hair and your eyes glowed white hot as her blood thirst had only gotten a sip from Burquen and her sisterwives and she was ravenous to swallow them whole.

You were very quickly approaching them and while you still had the swords at your sides, you had not drawn them. But just the look in your eyes, when they caught sight of you saw how your eyes were glowing, showed how much power you still had. It actually filled them with fear and dread as they all tried to flee in various directions to avoid you and leave you to fight off one of the others. The first to flee, Crelle’s mate- you went after, changing direction to follow him as there was a line of dust from your foot prints that seemed to sparkle and sizzle like sparkling fireworks.

"Woah." Brode exclaimed as he fought to not lose sight of you on the battlefield.

"That's my mom. And that's why I don't worry about her. She already has a dragon inside of her. The last time it was out, she killed off thousands of warriors who had tried to ambush our clan- specifically to get to her and to get to the blood dragon's spirit. She did it all by herself. We didn't even know they were there. But she did. And she killed them all in the cover of night. And by sunrise, it was all we could to subdue her and get her to the mages to help her get it under control again. The more dragon like she looks, the more the spirit has taken over her. It almost consumed her last time. I just hope it doesn't consume her like it did last time." Bully explained to Brode.

"Wow." Brode breathed as he just stared in awe.

Your feet moved you so fast across the ground that you might as well have had wings to fly to the poor bastard. You caught up with him before he was barely fifty paces away from where he had fled Zorroku. You ran up his body, your feet kicking his sword out of his hand in order for you to grab it from him as your next kick, used his own shield as a jump board to vault you in a backflip so you could bring his sword into position while the act of you jumping up and off of his shield and shoved him down into the ground where he got the wind knocked out of him as he fought to scramble and tried to find his feet and use his own warhammer against his own sword once you landed into position and struk him first.

And now that his sword was in your hands, you used it to hack and cut away his shield and the head of his warhammer as he was soon left with just a sliver of shield and a broken staff that once held his warhammer before he ran to where there was a stand with more weapons as he grabbed another sword to meet your strikes. And every time he tried to use fancy spins, you used the tip of his own sword to cut his armor off of him so he was left to stand there in nothing more than his underwear. He never thought in a million years that he would have to use defesnive moves instead of him having to use offensive moves to fight you and your downright brutal, direct yet clearly advanced moves you were using. The challengers felt like they had unwittingly unleashed a demon the moment the bell clanged out only moments ago.  

You took a flying leap up at him, he was still staring at you moving towards him and time seemed to slow down as you used the speed to quickly disarm him again and then only to, literally disarm him, two slices to cut his arms off and a third to cut his head off before you planted your feet on his chest to land on him. And all to drive his own sword through his still beating heart that hadn’t gotten the message the poor bastard was dead. You pinned is body down into the hardened ground with such force, the sword disappeared into his body and the ground under it until only the handle was visible when you came to stop and stood up over your latest victim on the ground. As the Blood Dragon Spirit breathed in his death, swallowing his departing life force from his body to grow and become stronger as dragon horns and a tail soon bloomed around your body as everyone soon could tell what was possessing you.

You looked up to see where the other was trying to escape the arena while the third was now fighting for his life against Zorroku who, now that he wasn’t fighting off two more opponents could really show off how fantastic of a fighter he naturally was.

But hardly anyone was looking at him or watching him except for Bully Jr and his siblings, who were cheering their little hearts out for him. But otherwise, everyone else was watching you, as you  simply stalked over the one who had tried to flee as your vision narrowed to him as your dragon like tongue began to stroke the fangs that were starting to grow as your face started to become more angular to look more like the Blood Dragon Spirit.

“I’m sorry! I had no idea! I was just greedy! I thought I could get a quick cash cow.” He confessed as you got closer and closer to him as he could not move off of the wall  and had only shrunk down into a pitiful ball and cried like the true coward he was. 

You turned slightly away from him to give him a sense that he wasn’t going to die immediately before he finally moved off of the wall where the crowd had gathered around where he had been cowering next to the gate, trying and pleading for someone to let him out and to set him free. But that would go against the rules which he damned himself for ever letting Burquen talking him into this. 

“But that didn’t stop you from looking at her daughters with desire. They are barely entering sub-adult age. So if you were already looking at them that way, it wouldn’t take long for you to start touching them that way too. And that I can not tolerate.” You leveled at him, as he could hear it now, the chorus of voices as fear bled into his eyes, especially looking at the white hot firey ones now in your eyesockets.

“I’m sorry, I’ll never do it again, just, please don’t kill me.” He begged. 

“You were the one who taunted me that I would be your quickest kill. Having second thoughts?” You taunted as you sauntered up to him while he did his best to back away from you as you simply let your hands stay loose and hang by your sides as you walked him towards the center of the arena. 

“Yes. And those thoughts are telling me that I never should have let my greed outweigh my sense. The gods are clearly with you. I was wrong to spread the false rumors about you that you were a coward. I’ll cut my own tongue out!” He readily admitted as he just continued to back away from you, afraid of what you would do next as he looked from your eyes to your various limbs, looking for signs of them about to go into action as the dragon tail behind you flicked and snaked around you, as the tip rattled like a rattlesnake.

“Hmm, and yet I doubt it would be the last time you looked at little girls the way a man should consider an attractive woman. In fact, I noticed how before you zeroed in on Burquen, how you were actually trying to flirt with her youngest sisters in law and all the young sub-adult women in both Thunder Herd and White Rock.” You challenged in a booming voice that nearly had him and the others in the audience shitting themselves. 

“Then I’ll put my own eyes out!” He cried. 

“No. Because the sexual predator on younglings- you are would still remain. So let a predator like you lose on the general population would be a crime, no matter how pathetic you make yourself look. Because the last thing I want is my daughters to grow up and have to deal with you themselves. So, now, I just get to have the pleasure of killing you with my bare hands.” You smiled wolfishly before you took a few quick steps and kicked his sword out of his hands, only to grab it yourself and used it to send into the back of the shield with so much force, it ripped his arm off of his body only for you to wrap your thighs around his head, and use your body and it’s weight and momentum to lock your lower legs behind his head and then twisted his head off of his body and rolled away as his head rolled from being released from between your legs, the same horrified look on his face before you threw the sword into his heart to pin his body down the ground and with that one, the dragon's wings bloomed out of your back as your lungs breathed in deeply as the Blood Dragon Spirit breathed in his life force to add it to her own. You walked over to the last one that was now noticing that you had killed all the others and looking more inhuman by the blink.

“Ok, kill me quick, don’t let me die at the hands and feet of a human, monster, whatever the fuck she is!” He pleaded with Zorroku who paused before using his own shield to push the man away and began to back away. 

“No, if dying by her hands is the most dishonorable thing you can think of, then I will not give you an easy way out just because you’re now, rightly scared of her because you’ve already seen what she is and what she can become, if you ganged up on me three to one and wouldn’t even give me the courtesy of fighting one or one or even two on one, I’m not going to give you a courtesy either.” Zorroku offered as he sheathed his swords and put his shield back onto his back and then his warhammer on top of that and just walked away from him. 

“Zorroushku! On the honor of your mother! Kill me before she does!” Famire’s mate screamed at Zorroku’s back just as he reached you but one look at you, you both erupted into laughter. 

“On Sharnarrah’s honor? Wow! How deep did you have to go to pull that out of your pathetic little ass?” You mocked him. 

“I would think it would be an honor to die at the hands of a Double Vizsla’s hands once you challenged her to her own rights as a mother.” Zorroku added as you were happy to take the swords that Jasseneh had gifted you and gave them to Zorroku to hold before you unwrapped the mother’s sling from around you and handed that over to him as well. So that you were truly “disarmed”. But that was only so you could unsheathe the dragon claws from your fingernails as your feet took on the form and shape of a dragon's too, your talons from your toes giving you extra traction on the hardened dirt as the talons made claw marks into the ground as your foot print was easily replaced with hers.

"Bella, you still there?" Zorroku asked.

"I haven't gone anywhere, I'm right here. Just this last one and I'll be back." You said in your own voice to him as you let him see you through the facade the Blood Dragon Spirit had put over you.

"Have fun." Zorroku grinned as he gestured to the poor fucker.

"Oh, we will." You and all the others answered with a dangerous giggle.

“I…I take it back! I swear on my mother’s life that I’ll never bring this up again, and I will give you every honor and courtesy, I’ll sign over everything I have to you. Please, just don’t kill me.” He pleaded tearfully. 

“And yet when I offered the same to Famire, she refused and I had to endure everyone mocking that I was the coward for trying to seek a peaceable solution and not to become this." You growled dangerously as you guestured to yourself . And he regretfully recalled Famire saying that this wasn't going to happen. How you weren't going to become the Dragon because the Dragon never killed off family. And that if he was family with her, she was "family" to you. So that you could not and would not become this before they could kill you.

"This is far too little, far too late.” You insisted before you drew up all the power from the ground you could and took the few quick steps and a few flaps of wings to gain speed and momentum and kicked at his sword to kick it out of his grasp to grab it mid air and then use his own chest as another jumping board to jump up and twist and flip and hover in the air so that your body was in the perfect position to move with the sword as you swipe it into place as you then used your powers to put the sword into place and fell with all the force you had gotten as he tried to put the shield over his body to block the attack, but his shield would be cut like it was made of tissue paper. You used his own sword to slice him down the middle of shield, arm, armor and body and sliced him like a saw cutting him right down the middle. And once you landed, the power left you to go back into the ground.

You rose to your full height just as he fell into two halves before you tossed his sword to rest on the ground in the middle where he once stood as the whole arena went wild.

But you weren't done, you walked out to the center of the arena with Zorroku.

"Ok, Bella, time to come back." Zorroku insisted.

"Just one last thing. Promise." The Blood Dragon offered as she held up your taloned finger to him before you stomped on the ground and the bodies of the six began to rise and then floated towards you, thier blood burning off the ground as she did several moves in the air to sling their lifeless bodies around in the air so fast, they became a blur before she brought them up to the cieling of the arena.

"You're gonna love this." You whispered to Zorroku as he watched in awe and amazement.

"So what is the one element that is present in orcs that's not in humans?" You asked him.

"What?" He asked.

"Saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate. And guess what the blessed substence is also in?" You prompted.

"What?" He asked.

"Fireworks." You answered before she had turned all their bodies into a fireworks show before the first one exploded then the others continued to light up the arena before she receded back into the fortress, taking the other gifts with her as she did so, leaving just you and Zorroku there, standing side by side, looking up at the spectacular firework show that the slain's dead bodies had provided.

"Cool!" Brode and all the other kids cheered as they watched them.

"And that's how we woke up that day. She turned them all into fireworks. It was beautiful. It lasted for at least an hour. And it brought the dawn." Bully Jr. smiled proudly as he watched the fireworks happily.

“Thanks for keeping the bastards busy so I could take care of the bitches...” You offered to Zorroku before he gathered you into his arms and dipped to kiss you. In the arena as the crowd roared even louder.

“Anything for you.” Zorroku cooed before he kissed you again as you couldn’t be happy to show every clan there exactly who you had already chosen in your mind and heart. 

“Sorry I didn’t leave anyone for you to kill.” You offered. 

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t think anyone will notice or care.” Zorroku chuckled as he stood you back up on your own feet before he laid his arm around your shoulders and the two of you fell into step as you walked back to where your family as well as his was as the fireworks continued to dazzle the crowd.

“Told you.” Bully beamed to Brode as he and his siblings were the first to leave the private box to run to meet you in the arena, now that the match was done as the attendants openned the gates and doors for them. 

“Holy fucking shit. Do you fight like that?” Kakazi asked Lilly who had picked up your clothes to hand them back to you. 

“No. Only Bella has the fighting powers. But how she got them is only a secret for her to tell. Believe me, she’s tried to give them to their original owners, but they stick to her, like a spirit to her body. And no one can get them out of her. Instead she just collects more and more of them, having other mages and witches and other magic practicing people help her hide them so that our family is not harmed from them being with her. But as you can see, she can unleash them whenever she wants. She’s the reason why White Rock has not gone to war in two years. She’s faced off entire armies by herself. She could have just as easily faced off against sixty or six hundred or six thousand, or even larger. I’m surprised she took her time with them and took them off one on one after Bully’s Bitches were put down like the dogs they were.” Lilly shrugged in explaination before she followed her new nices and nephews to get your clothes back to you along with a bowl of soapy water to help you to get cleaned up and redressed as your kids came rushing into the arena to be reunited with you in the center with Zorroku.

You were just so relieved and happy to hug and hold then and kiss them all over and tell them how much you loved them and that you’d do it all again a million times over if it meant it had the same outcome of them being safe and sound and happy as Kakazi, Kann and the others were simply looked at each other in dumbfounded awe before you got redressed and the kids were happy to sit on the ground and watch the fireworks above thier heads before it set off one last finale before you and your family bowed to the crowds to accept thier applause. Then you walked back with the kids to Jaseeneh and the rest of her family.

“That’s my Viszla.” Jaseeneh cooed to you when you had returned to her with Ori back into the mother sling on your chest, but the swords were back around your waist. 

“Now please, make sure that Zorroku is protected from any overeager and over zealous couter I may have gained in the arena.” You requested. 

“Of course, of course.” She readily agreed. 

“You really didn’t need the swords did you?” Jaseeneh chuckled. 

“It’s better to be safe than sorry, better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them.” You answered before you looked to Arob.

"And are they all back asleep?" Arob asked.

"Yes. I don't know what you did, but thank you. This is the first time I've used them and not wanted to die afterwards from exhaustion." You admitted.

"You're welcome." She smiled as she hugged you.

"Now, let's feast." Cilanthe urged you.