#skie writes something

[astranite]

Blue Skies

@edutainer2022 @janetm74 That whump prompt? Well, I wrote more. (Not what I had planned on doing, and it is definitely past my bed time that I finished this, but hey, what happens, happens.)

This was initially in its first part here, as a fill of a whump prompt by @fern-writes-whump. But this is now a part two and I’m putting it all here together for completeness sake. 

I’ll stick this up on AO3, but not right now. (Link goes here)

Scott and Gordon. Whump. Hurt/comfort. Bereznik. Mostly about trauma (There’s a happy ending.)

Warnings: Injuries. Violence. Panic attacks. PTSD. Somewhat graphic but I wouldn’t say particularly bad? (Just tell me if I can warn things better.)

-----

Scott’s hands shook, one wrapped white knuckled around his holstered gun, the other balled into a fist by his side.

Bare desert surrounded him, scoured by relentless winds.

Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck, despite the heat. He shivered. The endless heat rippled above the ground, refracted light warping his sight.

He put one boot in front of the other, step after step. It didn’t matter how much his legs wanted to fold beneath him. Weak knees begging to give in and fall kneeling on the sand.

He kept going.

Scott missed his IR blues. This uniform fit the same, except it was dusty camouflage. His belt held ammunition clips, not rescue equipment. Or maybe it was. This had to be a rescue, Scott couldn’t face anything else.

A gust of wind stroked over his cheeks and Scott flinched. His saliva was tacky in his mouth as he swallowed. He could taste the sand.

When his radio hissed with static, Scott’s breath hitched. It resolved into Kayo’s voice, running through last positions. Approach by stealth. Scott snapped out a crisp military, “Acknowledged.” He hoped his sister would miss how hard it was to get out a single word without his voice breaking.

He marched on.

It loomed in the distance. The compound walls were stone, a single story high. It was made of the same rock as everything else here.

Scott hadn’t remembered that.

The paramilitary base was stout, sprawling, and as unassuming as any other settlement around here.

In Scott’s head it had loomed dark against the sands, rock the same colour as congealed bl--- as rust.

He still swore it was large enough to block out the sun.

All familiar, too familiar. He smelt blood and bitter fear. Scott stumbled to a halt. Something ran down his face, leaving a warm trail. He swiped his hand across his cheek.

His fingers came away damp and salty, but not red, they weren’t red. It was only sweat. The day was hot, he was sweaty, that was all.

The blood and fear were tricks of his mind.

(It didn’t matter for months that was all he could smell.)

Gritty rock, solid beneath his feet was real. The rest wasn’t, not now, not anymore.

The others had argued against Scott coming. Virgil had lain a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with soft, soft eyes. His brother would forgive him if Scott sat this one out. But Scott could never forgive himself. He knew the terrain best. He’d been there. Every crack of that place was carved into his bones. He was the tactical advantage.

Scott tore his eyes away for as long as he could. He stared up at the searing blue sky, desperately hoping for the light and the colour to sink into his skin. The sky’s promise of freedom if only he could reach it.

He took a step, then another. He just kept taking them.

(Kept taking the hits, even when there was no way he could stand it any longer.)

Every instinct told him to get the hell out of here. Turn back, flee, like the spooked animal he was. Scott ducked his head and ignored them like he had all the other warning signs in his life.

Bereznik. The place he’d swore to never set foot in again.

(On dark days, he still saw it in his dreams. Those were the ones his feet pounded the island tracks, before the sun even rose. When he ran until his muscles trembled with exhaustion and nothing else.)

(He dreamt of the island while he was there. Of blue skies, blue skies, his blue skies. He woke crying and desperately wiped the tears away because he couldn’t given them any more reasons.)

(Afterwards, he’d been wrenched awake more times than he could count to his brothers bursting into his room. They’d say they heard him screaming in his sleep.)

Bereznik. The place he’d spent years of his life trying to out run, out climb, out fly.

Because he couldn’t go back.

He had to. For his little brother.

He kept walking because Gordon was in there. His sunshine little brother who loved life itself with all the joy of the sea meeting the shore.

He couldn’t let them turn him into Scott.

He couldn’t.

He kept walking.

-----

Gordon took Scott’s spare side arm as he handed it to him, checked it over expertly, and followed Scott out of hell.

(The way Gordon never hesitated when he had to shoot would haunt Scott forever.)

They escaped that place. Running over shifting sands towards a stealth-hidden One. The kilometres left to go beneath their feet. Gordon’s stony, set face. Scott’s own heartbeat throbbing in his ears.

He kept going.

Gave into every instinct to flee he’d pushed down before, now he had his brother back.

His and Gordon’s breaths came in pants, out of time with each other and their dull footsteps on the sands.

The sun beat down on them, shadows stark, rippling, wavering, urging them on.

Scott stumbled on a rock, lurching, the desert coming up fast towards him, until Gordon caught his arm. Gordon who he was meant to be rescuing.

No time to fall, no time to stop. He didn't think he could even if he wanted to. He’d be crawling through the sands, dragging his body over the rocks, bleeding out before he stopped.

Dizzying adrenaline surged through his veins. Scott couldn’t tell the difference between fear and freedom any longer. They were the same, his heart pumping for further, faster, higher.

The sky closed in on them, holding them close, pulling them away from the sand.

They were alone in the desert. Pursued by enemies. Alone.

(The same alone of falling from the sky in a perfectly controlled dive, his hands the only ones on his ‘bird.)

(Or the same alone as trapped in a cell, where the thick walls blocked every sound.)

(They were both running from that place now.)

Clouds of dust were kicked up by their boots, eddying and swirling. The wind tossed what it wanted across the desert without a care in the world, picking up the sand and scarce plant life alike. Erasing foot prints like they were never there.

(Like it was all a bad dream. Too many times when he was there, Scott’s mind had taken him home. To his brothers around him, and the old farmhouse. To mum’s musical laugh accompanying the piano. Dad’s hands on Scott’s as he showed him how to fly, before he could even reach the foot pedals. He’d curl up in the big bed with his family around him, because it was just a nightmare.)

(Waking up was worse than anything his capturers could do to him.)

He and Gordon kept running. They hung onto each other, gripping far too tight, running together.

Running, running, running.

They climbed into One, pulling each other up. Scott’s hands fell to the controls, as blindly and as easily as breathing.

Gordon buckled himself into the passenger’s seat. The sound of his brother shouting, “Go, go, go, go go!” washed over Scott’s ears.

Something inside him was still screaming.

The Thunderbird’s engines thrummed at fever pitch, burning up in seconds.

Grounded landing shifted to VTOL, shifted to flight.

And Scott out flew them all.

His one grace, the one thing he couldn’t ever fail at. The only reason he was still alive, in too many ways.

Blue, his blue, swallowed them up.

Enemy planes were blips on his radar, dark specks beyond his windscreen. Then they were flashes of red and debris tumbling towards the ground. In his element, they never stood a chance.

That place, Bereznik was a tiny rectangle blot against a sea of beige from the air, not even able to touch the sky.

(Not able to touch him up here. Not able to take his brothers.)

It merged with the desert sands, blurring into the dust left behind them.

All was searing sunlight. The bright burned everything else away.

(Gordon had show him the sun, afterwards. Dragged Scott out of his room and out of his head, down to the beach. They lay on the sand, fine yellow sand, as the sun shone on them, soaking into their bones. Scott was drowning in blue, blue, blue in the way he loved, the way he’d lost and forgotten.)

The world opened up for him and all he had to do was fly.

As soon as he reached friendly skies, Scott switched to the autopilot. He got up from his seat and walked the length of Thunderbird One, to where Gordon was crouched by a locker, digging for a first aid kit.

Then, for Scott, the sky came crashing closed.

His legs gave way and his knees hit the metal flooring with a crack. He never felt it. Scott’s eyes were on Gordon, staring at the bruises on his face, the blood crusted on his upper lip.

They’d taken his brother. And they’d hurt him.

Scott made to say anything, anything at all, but he only managed a tiny croak.

He was frozen, kneeling on the floor, chest heaving.

(He fell to the floor, too weak to get up.)

He wasn't a fighter, everyone got that wrong about him. Commander of the IR was an act. He wasn't strong like his father, no matter how much he wanted to be. Scott was just pathetic and terrified.

(How quickly he’d learnt to keep his head down and his mouth shut, meekly following orders.)

Virgil knew, because of course he knew, Scott could never keep anything from him. John figured it out, so Scott didn't have to tell him.

(Screaming until his throat was raw. He’d promised himself he wouldn't make a sound and give them the satisfaction, but it just hurt too much.)

The little ones could never know. Not Alan and Gordon. He couldn't let that place touch them.

(Sobbing on the ground, just lying there because he was so, so tired.)

But Gordon was in front of him, black eye on the way to swelling closed.

(His arm cradled to his middle, and he was pretty sure it was broken with how it throbbed, but there wasn't anything he could do about it except hope the pain went way.)

Gordon’s lips were moving, he was saying something, Scott couldn't make out what he was saying.

(Blurry figures dragged him to his feet and he couldn’t stop them.)

Gently, gently, Gordon wrapped his arms around Scott.

Solid and warm and real and right here.

Scott choked out a gasping sob. Then another. Until he was just crying his eyes out between desperate gulps for air.

The edges of his sight went black and Scott swayed, clutching at Gordon’s torn uniform. There was no yellow baldric, somehow it was missing. Gordon held him tighter, still ever so gentle, until Scott was leaning on him for support.

Scott shut his eyes, and hid his face at Gordon’s shoulder.

He’d see who Scott really was and then it would be far too late for anything at all.

All Scott could do was pretend it wouldn't happen.

(Blankly watching trails of red make their way over his skin. He knew it was blood. It was his blood and he just didn't care anymore.)

(He could never escape the smell of blood and bitter fear that clung to him.)

He couldn’t pull away, not from Gordon, not from his little brother.

(Helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless.)

(Wrapping his arms around himself, desperately wishing they were his brothers. Knowing they weren’t and glad of it. This place could have him, he didn’t care anymore as long as the others were alright.)

But slowly, ever so slowly, the world filtered back in. Gordon was still there. He held Scott, rubbing a hand up and down his back. His breaths were deep and steady, clashing with Scott’s ragged ones. He’d been hyperventilating? Worn IR blue filled Scott’s vision when he tentatively opened his eyes, his eyelids gummed up with tears. Scott’s head swum, woozy from panic and lack of oxygen.

“We’re okay. I’m okay. I’ve got you Scotty, you’re okay.” Gordon’s babbling words came through, familiar, familiar in the way that meant he was safe.

Scott managed a small noise, a whimper when he thought Gordon was pulling away.

Gordon’s arms tightened, and Scott could breathe again.

“Shhh, shhh. I just wanna check on you. I’m not going to go anywhere.”

Reluctantly Scott let Gordon move until they could look each other in the face, still nearly nose to nose. He managed to avoid Gordon’s eyes.

Gordon’s glanced away, tugging at Scott’s hand a couple of times. Scott allowed him to, he trusted Gordon.

A small blue hologram appeared from his wrist comm, as Gordon activated it.

“Why the hell did you cut comms?!” John’s voice sliced the air, sharp and worried.

“He’s okay, Johnny,” Gordon answered, “We’re both a bit worse for wear, but everything is fine.”

John didn’t rise to the nickname. Instead he let out a relieved noise, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. The same sound he always made when he was scared for his brothers and finally got news they were alright.

Something passed between John and Gordon. Scott let it fly over his head, too tired to parse out the meaning.

“I can handle this. Just be there when we get home,” Gordon said, then signed off the call.

When Gordon let go of his hand, Scott let it fall limply into his lap.

He stared at their knees, his own in beige camouflage, Gordon’s in his wetsuit, both coated in desert dust.

“I’m sorry,” Scott blurted out. He took a shaky breath.

Gordon’s voice was steady, but tears glinted in the corners of his eyes. “You came for me. That’s all that matters.”

“You were there.” His voice cracked in the middle.

“I’m okay though. It’s just a few bruises, and you got me out.”

Scott reached for the first aid kit sitting on the floor beside them. There wasn’t anything he could do about the rest right now, but this was something he could do.

Gordon let him wipe away the blood from his face, along with the worst of the dirt. He turned his head with Scott’s gentle fingers on his chin. Neither of them commented on how Scott’s hands trembled ever so slightly.

(Cleaning up Gordon’s scrapes was the same, no matter how many years it had been since Scott had lifted Gordon up onto the kitchen bench because he was too short to hop up by himself, and applied fish bandaids to grazed knees.)

At home they could put an ice pack on the bruises. The dark circles beneath Gordon’s eyes could only be solved by sleep, safe with everyone on the island. It would probably help the worried crinkle between his brows too.

Gordon sagged in exaustion, now leaning on Scott. They rested on each other, half against the storage lockers.

Scott helped Gordon out of the top half of his wetsuit, wanting to check up on the cut beneath the tear in his uniform. Gordon wriggled his shoulders and body free, but kept his arms inside the sleeves. He winced when Scott dabbed antiseptic at the thin cut that stretched from collar bone to part way down his chest.

He gave Scott a big, shiny grin that didn’t reach his eyes. Blood started to ooze from the tiny split in his lower lip, caused by Gordon’s chapped lips and trying to smile for Scott.

Gently, Scott wiped it away.

He clenched slightly bloodied gauze in his fist, putting himself together enough to ask, “What happened, Gordon?”

Because no one came out of there okay. Gordon was avoiding the hurt, at the same time as he was trying to protect Scott from it. And what Scott needed most right now was to be able to be a big brother and help Gordon.

“Scotty, I’m okay. They mostly didn't hurt me. It was three days, they had you for months.” Gordon attempted to reassure him or maybe himself, by just telling himself he was fine.

Months. Scott could rattle off the exact timings from his after action report.

He didn’t remember much.

Mostly the snippets that he could put together were from the early days.

(Name, rank, serial number. Name, rank, serial number. Name, rank, serial number.)

(Setting his own dislocated shoulder by crashing into the walls, grunting and gasping. Because he knew he couldn't leave it like that, but it hurt worse than what they’d done and there were tears streaming down his face. Over and over, vision whiting out, until it grated back into position.)

(Gnawing hunger in his stomach, head pounding from dehydration. He wasn't sure when they last gave him a meal. Or when, or whether they would again.)

Later, everything blurred together.

(Darkness closing in.)

(He’d do anything just to see a glimpse of sky.)

(For his family to hold him close one last time.)

(Just to make the pain stop.)

What had they done to Gordon?

Three days was enough.

(They’d learnt how to tear Scott apart in minutes.)

Scott reached out to touch Gordon’s arm but he flinched away.

“I’m here Gordon. No matter how bad it is,” He said, to the second youngest of his little brothers. And he would be here, no matter how long it took for both of them.

Hesitantly, Gordon peeled away the rest of his wetsuit, hissing in pain, revealing his wrists. In amongst Gordon’s old hydrofoil scars, now only raised pink lines, his wrists were covered in red marks, his skin raw and torn. Some cut deep enough to be oozing blood.

Injuries Scott knew only came from desperately thrashing against restraints.

“Gordy.”

Gordon whispered, “They said they had you. That they’d hurt you again, like before.” His little brother sounded far too young.

Scott gathered him up in his arms. Hot tears ran down his face, he was crying again. They both were. Gordon was shakily sobbing against his chest.

They clung to each other.

Bereznik had taken something from both of them. Something had broken, cracked right down the centre. Scott still didn’t know whether it could ever be completely fixed.

But they had each other. They had their brothers, their family.

Neither of them were okay right now, but one day they would be at least a bit better. In the same way the clouds parted after the monsoon rains on the island, their blue skies would come again. They’d still have scars but the sunlight would reach Gordon’s ocean and Scott would fly.

Scott held onto Gordon, and Gordon held onto Scott for the rest of the way home.

Until Thunderbird One was in her hanger and they were both standing on the steady floor. Until the rest of their brothers, Virgil, Alan, John, all came up to hold onto them too.

[thatfailedpokemontrainer]

Pelipper mail!

[Oh! It's a letter from Polaris!]

“Dear Sprite, Beedrill, and Tari

So so so sorry this letter is late. We finally resolved the Walrein situation. Unfortunately…well, the pod will only accept Wallace as the leader of their pod, so I’m going to have to leave him to stay at the shelter. He’ll be fine, he was getting bored at the house, but I’m sure he’ll miss his daily Beedrill inspections. Skie got it in xer head that I should do an interview on the main sanctuary account while I’m in town, so it looks like its going to be another week. My work never stops it seems! Ah well.

Sprite: ….I’m going to be honest Sprite, I’m not exactly delighted by that news. You. Told Kittsu to leave and she did. That’s not great! That’s super not great actually! Just- fucking dist Sprite. I’m not. mad. A smidge frustrated but not mad.

….I hope your outing was fun, and that you feel better soon. Make sure youre drinking water and eating regular meals and getting enough sleep. Please take care of yourself, bubs.

Beedrill: Your support in my caring for Bird means everything to me Beedrill. This week she got to pet more Spheals and ride (very safely) on a snowmobile. She says it was very loud but a bit cool. Matcha has been banned, but she does enjoy mochi.

As for service pokemon. The main reason for keeping service pokemon and battling pokemon separate, is specifically in the case of medical alert and task pokemon. For example, if Orion was a battler and I was battling with him, if I started having problems with my heart, he would be too distracted by the battle and wouldn’t be able to alert me to sit and calm down, or fetch my medicine. Or if I had a panic attach while he was battling, he may not notice and be able to task to help me out of it. That’s the main reason for not having a pokemon do both. It’s possible to have a service pokemon also be able to battle, but it’s a bit frowned upon for those reasons. It really depends on what tasks the pokemon will be trained to do to help you out. If you’d like, it’s something we can discuss at length when I get home. I would be happy to train a service pokemon for you if that was something you wanted.

Tari: Glad that Corro is keeping Jester in check haha. And I’m especially happy to hear that you and Delta have made up! Good job kicking its ass at air hockey, much respect. I used to be quite good at air hockey in my college days…perhaps we should battle it out to see who’s the best when I come home, yeah? I appreciate your thanks, but it is unneeded. You are always welcome in my home Tari, no matter what.

Lots of love for you not kids

-Polaris and Bird”

[A letter is returned, later than usual]

Hello Professor. I was glad when your letter arrived, Sprite had got it in his head that something bad had happened to you and we both enjoyed this letter. I will miss Wallace, Admittedly, I do wish I had some of his DNA and a small laboratory to study him and come to my own conclusion on weather he was a dual typed pokemon, or a fraud. I hope he finds peace at the sanctuary. In your next letter I would like to know how bird is doing, as not hearing from her directly has made me rather on edge. Could you please include an excerpt from her in the next letter. Tell her she doesn't need to write in cursive, or use code name, just something, even a drawing would be good. I will think over the service pokemon thing. Theres nothing wrong with me to a diagnosable extent. I don't think giving a service pokemon out to someone who doesn't need one would be the best course of action. Maybe a normal pokemon would do just fine. I have been hanging out more with your green haired friend. It's interesting. I have a couple more observations, but i'll spesify them when I have more evidence to back them up.

----

Hi proffesor :o

I've got a gift for youuuuuu when you come back!! I won you some stuff at the arcade- we spent all of our tickets on it but I think it will be worth it

Also what are your fav colours, I've been bracelet making recently and feel like making something for you and sprite, based on one of its favourite songss~

And also I am the reneinging champion of air hockey, but thats just because everyones too scared to take me on since i keep hitting peoples fingers.

Have a good week proffesor. Hear from you soon. Beedrill

Tari

Sprite.

[elisaenglish]

“Wearing nothing but snakeskin boots, I blazed a footpath, the first radical road out of that old kingdom toward a new unknown. When I came to those great flaming gates of burning gold, I stood alone in terror at the threshold between Paradise and Earth. There I heard a mysterious echo: my own voice singing to me from across the forbidden side. I shook awake— at once alive in a blaze of green fire.

Let it be known: I did not fall from grace.

I leapt to freedom.”

-Ansel Elkins, Autobiography of Eve-

My wonder as to seasons in the light may not chime with yours. This should not surprise you. Nor do I think that sophistry alone can explain the apocryphal thread that anchors her to me, and her to your subconscious. She was, so I am. That’s how it goes. That’s how it feels. That’s how it is, lest you stoop to static lines or circumvention; stoicism wrapped like it’s a whole new package—and it’s really fucking not.

Glance here, gaze back. Look already. After all, the out means nothing if you don’t have the in. Psychological strata feeds the philosophical deep, and nothing happens in a vacuum. Take a minute, work your way around that one. Then breathe.

Oh, and don’t fetishise your adverbs. What matters, matters—it needs no validation. And yes, if you’re perched there on a different page, you’ll likely want to wait it out. But, God, to ask: What’s the point? Who’s the point? One me, one you, a collective we, an ulterior voice? Or passion? I hear it’s what we live for. But does it make you want to come, as myth dissolves to truth?

Sex, desire, rebellion. Even the list beats like a pulse. Then there’s the conceptual diversity of fall, falling, fallen... And of course, its reversal. Not that a suffix denied was ever the plan. Yet, as Milton writes in Paradise Lost, it is our core humanity—to be separate but united, apart and a part in simultaneity, simply to be, loved in hopeful paradox or at least to hover there in maybes.

Recounting the first moments of her life, for example, Milton’s Eve is alive with awe:

“That day I oft remember, when from sleep I first awak’t, and found my self repos’d Under a shade on flours, much wondring where And what I was, whence thither brought, and how. Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound Of waters issu’d from a Cave and spread Into a liquid Plain, then stood unmov’d Pure as th’ expanse of Heav’n; I thither went With unexperienc’t thought, and laid me downe On the green bank, to look into the cleer Smooth Lake, that to me seem’d another Skie.”

Here, at the sensual apex of birth, images commingle and bathe us in an overwhelming liquidity. In direct antithesis to the virulent vanity so frequently used to mischaracterise her literal genesis, she is unaware that the reflection in the water is her own. Instead, she explains:

“As I bent down to look, just opposite, A Shape within the wat’ry gleam appeer’d Bending to look on me, I started back, It started back, but pleas’d I soon return’d, Pleas’d it return’d as soon with answering looks Of sympathie and love.”

Innocence lingers in the childlike gesture; this visual cat-and-mouse with the surface flicker she identifies only as her nature produces genuine fascination—not via a remote eye but with a cohesive perception of self and other. Something neither objective nor subjective but, rather, both. This mirroring process possesses of itself a charming veneer and, albeit flawed, speaks of connection with the decorative substance of her surroundings. However, soon filtered through the divine perspective of paternal authority, she becomes transformed, distorted—the archetypal sinner ripe for an allegorical picking:

                                   “there I had fixt Mine eyes till now, and pin’d with vain desire, Had not a voice thus warn’d me, What thou seest, What there thou seest fair Creature is thy self, With thee it came and goes: but follow me, And I will bring thee where no shadow staies Thy coming, and thy soft imbraces, hee Whose image thou art, him thou shall enjoy Inseparablie thine, to him shalt beare Multitudes like thy self, and thence be call’d Mother of human Race: what could I doe, But follow strait, invisibly thus led? Till I espi’d thee, fair indeed and tall, Under a Platan, yet methought less faire, Less winning soft, less amiablie milde, Then that smooth wat’ry image; back I turn’d.”

Framed in this way, she sees herself in retrospect, a narcissist forced to obey this godly call despite her abject longings. In his mouth, her aesthetic form is subverted to a “shadow” and, hence, she is stripped of agency, ordered to bear Adam’s primordial everything, without fear, without question. Even in language, she must be an echo of his discourse, a stagnant facsimile of his ideas alone. Rather to be alone, one is inclined to feel. Rather anything than this.

As for him, Adam cries:

                                             “Return fair Eve, Whom fli’st thou? whom thou fli’st, of him thou art, His flesh, his bone; to give thee being I lent Out of my side to thee, neerest my heart Substantial Life, to have thee by my side Henceforth an individual solace dear; Part of my Soul I seek thee, and thee claim My other half.”

Thus unfolds his uncritical stance, solidified and maintained in the essence of his dominion yet as weak as the unformed clay from which he was reputedly forged to rule. Eve, in her turn, is a lost thing. Autonomy hangs in the peripherals of memory but cannot transfigure itself from abstract to singularity whilst his foundational condition must, by decree, invalidate hers.

Not that she rejects him; there’s no tangible reference to refusal. In fact, she accepts their interrelatedness, recalls his “gentle hand” and “[h]ow beauty is excell’d by manly grace/ And wisdom, which alone is truly fair.” Some might even call this love, here complicit on a precipice surrendered of its right to be unshackled.

Unchatteled, perchance?

And so with Eve, we discern the seed that asks as much, demands those raw permissions just to burn. But not with him so much as a spell of sole potential:

                                                     “with eyes Of conjugal attraction unreprov’d, And meek surrender, half imbracing lean’d On our first Father, half her swelling Breast Naked met his.”

Sexual only so far as a fraction of the whole, his only so deep as a cursory caress purports to know one’s flesh, she is artfully detached. Still, yearning pervades her cognitive fervour—the sacred interior surfaced, this time, “half” in dream. At night, liberated from Adam’s mediating presence, she marvels at her Edenic idyll:

“With this her solemn Bird and this fair Moon, And these the Gemms of Heav’n, her starrie train: But neither breath of Morn when she ascends With charm of earliest Birds, nor rising Sun On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, floure, Glistring with dew, nor fragrance after showers, Nor grateful Evening mild, nor silent Night With this her solemn Bird, nor walk by Moon, Or glittering Starr-light without thee is sweet. But wherfore all night long shine these, for whom This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes?”

Vivid, vital, imagination roams this landscape that in slumber may be hers—discrete from him, unbridled. Subject to the female gaze—or, more broadly, to that of an individual unencumbered by blind faith or fealty—nature shines in harmony with an experiential wealth defined by independence. Concomitant with her own desires, she henceforth evolves.

Of course, a less forgiving interpretation might classify this—and her dream in its entirety—as a crude gateway to darkness, division. Even she weeps at first, fearing both the sheer possibility and prospective isolation of her solitude. Consequently, she returns to the bower with Adam seated protectively “[at] the door,” though it can be but a temporary retreat when her intimate communion with “bud and bloom” exemplifies a deeper drive for sovereign selfhood and the natural complements of the extrinsic realm.

As Milton writes:

“Was I to have never parted from thy side? As good have grown there still a liveless Rib.”

What, and what of me?—she exclaims. The rudimentary extension of him as her no longer holds despite the grief of a fractured union. Can she be blamed, excoriated for such? Is this not so much the devil in the details as a human set to live as if by heart? Fallible, perhaps—but true. And not unfelt, just preferred. Counter to senses long deprived and any masculine equivocations to their impoverished worth.

And yes, you can argue that none of this comes to pass without Satan’s machinations. But weak wills be damned. If Eve’s condemned to wear this anachronistic albatross around her neck, it will be by her choice not that of the petulant serpent beneath. She fled a dyadic construct, after all—fuck ladening her with more of the symbolic same, either then or in perpetuity.

Instead, Milton highlights distinctions as a prevailing theme and it is Satan’s precise appeal to them that forms the principal seduction. As he asserts:

“In this enclosure wild, these Beasts among, Beholders rude, and shallow to discerne Half what in thee is fair, one man except, Who sees thee? (and what is one?) who shouldst be seen A Goddess among Gods, ador’d and serv’d By Angels numberless, thy daily Train.”

Hence it seeps from innate psyche to elemental being, fecundity thrust through her own stricken blood and eased into a servile state no more. Is it vanity? Lust? Superficially, perhaps. But right there at its seeded crux, that apple proffers “reason”.

Still, once consumed, knowledge brings renewed remorse. Eve’s lament that “I extinct/ A death to think,” compels her to veer back to Adam for:

“So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life.”

Recognised at last, affection swells. And Adam, for his part, emulates her in quite the same devotional vein:

“So forcible within my heart I feel The Bond of Nature draw me to my owne, My own in thee, for what thou art is mine; Our State cannot be sever’d, we are one, One Flesh; to loose thee were to loose my self.”

Fusion, however, is not to be. Once rent, they are sentenced to be exiled forth. Nonetheless, Milton presents Eve as resolved in her constituent parts. An otherness unbound, sapience to displace shame, poised for extrapolation. In feminist terms, she is a sin transposed, piety in pursuit of self, the “narrow circuit” to be gone.

Does that make her like me, in me? Does it hell, or maybe heaven—who knows? Hermeneutics has its place, but honestly? She bequeaths an inheritance either way. Epistemologically, existentially. Unleashed from the standard tropes, pretensions. Free, and so because...

She thought—and fielded us tenacity to question.

[skiewrites]

Commissions (Open!)

Hey guys! My commissions are currently Open!

I can write for any genre of fics, be that fluff, angst or even crack depending on your mood, though I personally enjoy writing angst and crack. I write for many fandoms, which will be listed below.

I am also open to almost all ships, but there’s a couple I will not write personally. That is not to dunk on your ship per say, I am probably just uncomfortable writing it.

You can find out what my style of writing is like on my Ao3, and I am more than happy to give a preview of your idea up to 200 words before payment.

Price List:

1000 words - £6 (2 coffees)

2000 words - £12 (4 coffees)

3000 words - £18 (6 coffees)

4000 words - £24 (8 coffees)

(Please note that there are upper and lower boundaries on all of the word counts. Please ask if you would like to know/want to have more clarity on this!)

If you would like more words, then just shoot me a message and we’ll talk in depth of what you would like, as that would go beyond one-shot territory and would require more time to outline and editing.

Additional Pricing:

Fandom I’m not familiar with (see below) - £3 (1 coffee) extra

Extreme content (torture/abuse) - £3 (1 coffee) extra

Not published onto Ao3 - £3 (1 coffee) extra

Smut - 50% extra

Things I will not write:

Vore, Incest, Bestiality, Paedophilia

Ocs (Nothing wrong with them, I just can’t write them)

I hold the right to refuse any commissions without having to explain why other than saying that it makes me uncomfortable. That being said, I’m pretty open to most things, so if you have any questions, just send me a message!

Fandoms:

Linked Universe

Legend of Zelda

Harry Potter

Percy Jackson

Fullmetel Alchemist

MCU

Tokyo Ghoul

Voltron

[yuvon-writes-letters]

[Strangely, this letter seems to be oddly blank, but soon, the audible sound of coughing is heard from somewhere]

Hey! It’s Walker! Recording this audio message to stick it in a letter!

I know it’s been a long long while, and yeah, that’s kinda our fault.

We’ve kind of been trying to rebuild slowly, and it’s a struggle for me since I have to build everything, and also hide the damages from the land-lord through magic… yeah, not fun, I’m still really tired right now..

Rai’s been busy too, work is piling up again, and he’s trying to figure out how to use the knife, along with other things, so there’s that.

And hey, Skie’s coming back soon, she’s got a break and is able to come back, so there’s that as well.

That’s the whole status update, now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta close this out, magically recording is tiring now..

(Sam here, apologies for not being active here for awhile, real life kicked me in the ass, but I think I’ll be ok for now :)) )

[There's occasionally a very faint yellow glimmer over some of the words.]

(I, personally, would not recommend inspecting the glimmer further.)

Hey, Walker!

First things first, I'm glad you and Rai are alright. If tired. I've honestly been worried about everyone, so it's good to hear from you. Don't worry about not writing, I absolutely get it. Sorry for not writing for a while either, I apparently messed up my wrist a bit in that cave too :/

And Anima isn't around right now, said something about being busy for a while, (maybe has something to do with that death he mentioned?) so I'm stuck with good old-fashioned wrist braces til I recover more. Sigh.

Second things second: Did I hear you right? Rai still has the knife?

That... explains a lot. But why exactly? Is there still danger over there? Is everything actually okay or are you just saying that? Anything I can help with?

Also, glad to hear that Skie's going to be back :)

Alright, I got some researching to do, but I'll write to all of you later :)

—Yu

(The letter tucks itself in the paper clip with the others.)

(Hey, Sam :D No worries, just glad to have you back :) Glad things are okay for you now.)

[lutrain2020]

Meet the Creator!

Introducing: @skiewrites​, or Skie!

Commissions: Not currently open, but possible in the future!

Social Media:  https://skiewrites.tumblr.com/

            https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skiewrites/pseuds/Skiewrites

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

So I go by Skie (pronounced sky, not ski), and I'm currently doing a Maths Degree!!!!! I own about 20 furbies and I love writing angst. If you ever want a picture of my furbies just ask, I'm always happy to share them (:

What got you into writing?

I've been writing and uploading fanfics since I was 13, so I can't remember exactly why I decided it was a good idea, but I think I just wanted to share my thoughts to everyone.

What's your favorite part of the writing process?

That moment when you come up with the perfect idea, that explains your plot lines and is like the final piece of the puzzle, slotting into place like it belongs there and you wonder why you never thought of it before then. That or world building. I never know what's going to happen next, but I can give you culture references and why the villagers act the way they do!

What's your least favorite part of the writing process?

Proof reading, I think.

Whats your favorite type of scene to write? 

The scenes where I'm able to project my own feelings and experiences. I always find these to be the easiest to write, but also the most heart wrenching to read back and edit, and if there's one thing I enjoy, it would be causing my readers pain (:

What's the hardest for you to write?

Stories an ounce of angst in it. I can do it, but it's so hard!!! I don't know how other writers do it, let alone as well as they do! It blows me away every single time.

What fandoms do you enjoy writing for?

Honestly, I've written for so many fandoms at this point that it's ridiculous. Outside of LU, I'm currently working on Percy Jackson, and I do have recent WIP’s for grishaverse and Marvel, but I have done a lot of Voltron and Tokyo Ghoul in the past!

What's the work you are most proud of?

My favorite one-shot (i know it's 20k shhhhh) is this Voltron one 

My favorite completed multi-chapter one is this Tokyo Ghoul one 

My favorite WIP is my hp/lu series 

Is there a specific scene you are particularly proud of?

So many scenes! How to choose... Probably any of the scenes from the fics mentioned above, not because of the scenes themselves, but because of the people who helped me write those scenes and the thoughts that we shared.

Is there something you had to work through that forced you to grow as a writer?

Learning how to write a proper outline and the difference between a first draft and a final piece is very hard to do, and to do it continuously, but once you get into the habit of doing it, you'll find your standard of writing going up so much. Well worth the effort to work through.

Do you have any fics inspired by real life stories?

Maybe not the actual plots of my fics, but things like panic attacks, dissociation, internalized homophobia and such topic are written from personal experience, which is probably what makes them so easy and hard to write at the same time, and always leave a deep impact on me when I reread them.

Where do you post your finished works?

I always try to post updates to my tumblr, but Ao3 is the best way to find my most recent uploads

[exodusmc]

Always

Genre: Angst, 1800s au(-ish, it’s set in that time), merman au, slight fluff

Words: 3807

Paring: Merman Seokjin x villigar reader

Warning!: Major character death, blood, mentions of forced marriage, impalement

a/n: I have been gone for a little while but I have been writing alot, a whole series with Baekhyun, it’s just I want to finish the one with Jongdae and I haven’t had the inspiration for it, but I’m trying to get it out. :)

Gif is not mine 

“NO!”your throat felt raw as you screamed through tears. The night was lit up with flames and quivering with roars of anger. 

You tried to fight the hands holding you back, hair falling out from its updo, all so you could see him, save him from the sharp metal and burning fires. They deemed him as a monster, something which shouldn't exist, but you loved him.

“P-please..”sobs echoed around you and through a small gap between all the bodies could you see him, his beautiful eyes filled with sorrow. 

-

The moon sailed over the blue skie, summer warmth still lingering around you. Your lemon colored dress was hiked up to your knees, feet dipped in the calm stream separating green fields. Where you sat, on the wooden dock, were you hidden, grass and vegetation growing so tall it covered you. Beside you were a basket filled with different flowers you had found walking from home. Your mother had said it was time for you to find a husband but all the boys in your village weren't what you looked for. They were plain and smiled to every girl walking by. It wasn't what you wanted, no, you wanted someone who lit up the sky with his eyes or danced over clouds when he simply walked the many gravel roads. You wouldn't find someone like that were you lived, far from the cities and their beautiful people.

A sigh escaped your lips, back landing on the deck while your skirt puffed around you. In your hand was a purple flower twirling against the ever darkening sky, so pretty and soft in the blooming world. You were not paying attention to anything around you but the flower and the stars igniting in the sky, so when the water surface broke were you completely calm. 

The man watched you with curious eyes, following the way your fingers danced in the sky. He had seen you often down by the stream and all your smiles had captured his gaze. You shone and he wanted to know you but he was something else, not what you were, and he was scared to frighten you with the tail keeping him forever in the water. 

-

The sun was hot over your head, hair tight in the bun your mother made you wear every day. You were supposed to be in the village, selling eggs, but after an hour were you slipping away, leaving your older sister flirting with a boy. Here by the water were you happier, basking in the quiet and the stories you could create, fairy tales dancing across clouds and flying like butterflies. A giddy chuckle escaped you, a sound his pointy ears caught. He loved the lightness of your giggle, slowly swimming closer, the closest he had ever gotten. Black hair hid behind reed, gazing at your figure laying down. A small smile played on his lips, fin slowly making him get closer again. But suddenly were you sitting up, grinning, but tensed when your bright orbs landed on him. You gasped, eyes trailing the shimmering tail changing between light blue and lavender. He panicked, disappearing under the water just as your lips parted to speak. 

What was that? It couldn't have been a human but he had the face of a man, lips plump with dark eyebrows farming his face, raven hair wet. It had been his eyes, lilac mixing with silver, and the flicker of the fine breaking the surface to catch light. You searched for him, tried to find whoever had come to you, curious but not scared. 

   Later that night were you walking the path down to the water again, road only lit by the moon, but you felt fine, grass stroking your fingertips. The man like creature hadn't left your mind ever since you saw him, making it so you couldn't concentrate on anything but the arches of his eyes. He was captivating, he was all the colors of a rainbow while your life was grey, even in the beautiful summer world. 

His back was broad, skin seemed to be shimmering in the moonlight where he sat on the deck. He hadn't noticed you yet, leaving you gazing over his wide shoulders, the slight point to his ears. Where legs should have been was a tail, playing with water and moon drops. 

Your steps were muffled by grass but he still managed to hear you walking when you got close. The man like creature turned fast, eyes wide as he watched you looking at him. He seemed so scared of you, like you would kill him, when all you wanted was to talk. You saw how he was about to jump down from the dock, panic made you call out to him.

“Wait!”stumbling forward, you were sure you would see an empty and clam stream where he had landed to escape, but you were wrong. In the middle of it all was he, watching you with watchful orbs. 

“Who are you?”the question hung thick around you, him sinking further down into the water. His jaw was covered, lilac eyes having thin pupils. 

“S-Seokjin…”his voice was lighter than you thought, carried through the air like a bird’s song. 

“Seokjin?..My name is Y/n, it’s nice to meet you!”you smiled to him, shoes landing beside you as you sat down, water cradling your legs which he watched before glancing back at his fin. 

“..It’s nice to meet you too..”he swam closer but stayed far enough away so you couldn't touch him, only followed the moonlight as it played with his hair.

“So..what are you?”leaning forward, you grinned down at him. This time weren't your hair up, instead free to move around your face. It looked soft to Jin, hugging your jaw. 

“A merman..”your face widened, orbs skaning over his tail. A merman? You had only heard one story about them, the creatures who sang and killed, but he didn't look like the scaly things with sharp teeth you thought they would be.

“Really?..wow..”with your last words did everything fall silent, just the two of you watching the other, listening to the soft hum of an insect. 

Jin let himself relax, glad to finally make his existence known without fear of being killed or hunted down, you were fine with him, smiling softly with shoulders draped in soft blues. He wanted to touch you, feel the warmth humans always wore, the sun having blessed their skin to be beautiful. But time had gone by fast and you could see the moon slowly climbing down the sky to rest once again, its pearl light no longer lingering over Jin’s night hair.

“..I should go..”there was disappointment in his heart at you words but understanding as well. You couldn't stay forever, no matter how much he wanted you to. He wanted to know about your world and what made you smile so wide everytime you got to the water, to his world.”..But maybe I can come back tomorrow? Will you be here then?”

Would he? He wasn't sure, scared for other humans, however, the want to see you again when the sun kissed you, overpowered his rationality. So Jin nodded, wet hair dripping with water which trickled down until they came home to the stream. That’s when you got a glimpse of some gills on his neck, a lighter scar like look to them.They still didn't change his beauty and the way he never dulled, lilac eyes shining even in the purgatory between day and night.

“Goodnight then Seokjin, I hope I meet you again..”

“Goodnight Y/n, rest well..”

-

Summer brought warmth and a growth to your land as it went on, flowers blooming on the side of the stream you walked almost everyday. Jin swam slowly in the water, watching you with lilac eyes as you grinned happily. He had been taken by you the second he saw you but was completely out of reach from rescuing when you smiled his way. Never had he felt so alive and not alone in the deep blue. 

Grass tickled over your legs, let you easily see the whites, oranges and yellows. The flowers were soft in your grasp, fingers moving to intertwine them with each other until a crown laid steady in your palm, the king’s crown of your story. Birds sang in the sky, created a melody you could listen to forever, while Jin could watch you enjoying yourself forever. You may be human and he may be a merman but he still felt the deepest of feeling for you, a twisting storm of butterflies and black holes. 

Light fell around you, clothed your whole body while nature seemed have given you some of its beauty with healthy hair and the angels of your cheeks. Seokjin had never seen a human who could rival his charm but maybe it was your smile, a smile like the moon with orbs like the stars. Your fingers moved softly over petals and his felt the chills of water, he could never forget how different you two were. 

But so you turned to him, smiling widely, eyes sparkling like  the pearls on the ocean floor. In your hands was a flower crown, neatly braided with different colors flowing through. Standing by the edge of the water, you leaned forward, motioning for Seokjin to come closer. He listened, watched how close you stood to his world but still stopping on your side. The crown was dropped on his head, yellow and white contrasting his black hair with the beauty of night and dusk. It looked good on him, lilac eyes glancing up at the small specks of life on land. If only you could be with him like others could with their love.

-

You spent most of your days by the stream, close to him but never touching, like there was a wall between you two, a wall which would appear when you tried to reach for him, to feel. Jin felt it too, the hunger to hold your warmth, but he was content just seeing you, hear your voice drift through the air on soft butterfly wings. You hadn't been back at night since the first time you saw him because it felt too intimate, like the night was a time which every line blurred and how you could do everything you wanted, dance the dance of danger and want. Maybe you were scared in some sense but even if you knew it would hurt you in the end, couldn't you stop seeing him.

Seokjin smiled lightly as you rambled about your older sister and mother, your hair down, over time had you stopped tying it up in favor to feel the wind through it. He watched with glee, felt light when his arms rested close to your blue covered legs. You didn't look at him, didn't see the emotions in his orbs as he laid his cheek och his hands, but it didn't matter to Jin. 

“I hope she doesn't bring another man tomorrow…”a huff left your pretty lips, back landing with a thud against the deck, while he laughed at you pout, fin flicking under the surface as a feeling of darkness grew in him with your words.

“You’ll find the right one someday…”your head turned to watch Seokjin with his bright eyes and the soft purple-ish tones playing over his cheekbones. His voice sent you high in the sky and you couldn't help but to think you already found the one.

   That night were you sprinting back, skirt tangling between your legs as tears threatened to fall down the curve of your eyelashes. Your mother wanted you to be married next year and she said that you couldn't choose anymore, there had been too many rejections from your side. So you couldn't stay inside those walls which crushed your story and made you see what your life was supposed to be. All you need was Seokjin and his smile, the soft arch of his lips and the half moons his eyes became. 

Jin turned fast when he heard the rushed footsteps but the tension in his shoulders disappeared as you came into view. A smile spread over his face until the shimmering of tears in your eyes caught his gaze, the light quiver of your lips.

“Y/n? What’s wrong?”you wanted to hug him, throw yourself in his arms and hope he could make everything right, but stopped just shy of an inch from him.”Y/n?”

Sitting down by his side, Jin felt his hands tremble, unsure if he should touch you and comfort you. You were so close however, never stepped over the line, hands drying the stray tear which got away. 

“N-no!”he didn't like how hurt your voice was, the giddy tones you always had gone, replaced with a song of sorrow.”S-she never listen to me! Only see me as an nuisance!”

Jin watched you with big eyes, the way your orbs slowly turned empty. You had told him about your mother and how she wanted you to marry, all the while he couldn't help but feel as if you should stay by his side. There was a desperation in your skin to feel him the more you thought about your life, how an end seemed close, running its sharp edge down your spine, you just had to feel him once. 

His skin was cold, the night holding him close, but Jin felt sparks as your cheek rested against his shoulder. You were warm, still dancing with the sun. The boundary had been overstepped, a line which could never be drawn again. You had known it since you saw him that night, how when it was dark was your world no longer dull but filled with lilac and blues of him. 

“I don't want to marry any of them..”his hair tickled over your forehead, your eyes trailing his intertwined fingers.”I want to be with you..”

Seokjin watched you, felt your breath tickled his lips. Your chin rested on his shoulder, your words so soft but clear as the water he was born from. Never had he wanted to kiss you as much as he did now, all loneliness being burned away by your orbs. 

“Me too…”but he couldn't kiss you, not yet, maybe never, so he turned his gaze from you, staring at the moving grass and trying his best to not see the disappointment in your fluttering eyes. 

“Will you stay here?”a small nod was all he could give you in this moment, focusing so hard to not give in to the desire your warmth made him feel.

“I’ll stay for you..”and unfortunately would that seal his fate. 

-

The sun shone over your head as your legs were covered by water. Jin sat by your side, not touching you. Summer was slowly walking to its end, days turning shorter and colder, something which scared you. Everything was falling out of your hands and Jin started to notice the hollowing of your bright eyes. He didn't like it, didn't like the fact that he pushed you away all those nights ago, when you needed him. 

Jumping down, water splashed up in your face. He grinned as you raised an eyebrow, fin flicking behind him. All he wanted was to see your smile, hear your laugh again, and he was rewarded with a small twitch to your lip. So Jin pushed on, splashing water at you until you were almost soaked, a whole hearted giggle slipping through your mouth. Seokjin was playful, lighting up your mood, and you felt the energy come back, brighten up your eyes.

The water reached up over your waist, surprised colouring his face as you swam to him, hair turning wet. You pushed water at him, splashing just like he did. It led to a war between you two, water flying everywhere as laughs flew high in the sky. Lightness came back into your soul, like the summer would never end, so you sailed through the soft blue until you came close enough to touch him, stroke your fingers over his arms. You danced with each other, grinning with a breathless tone. Sometimes would he disappear, mop of black hair turning to streams of changing silver. Jin would come up behind you, elect a shirke of surprise from you and the slip away again as you tried to catch the movement of him. It was hard, his skin slippery and shining only when the sun graced over it, but you could feel him once, the light touch of scales again your shin. He tried to get up behind you again, waiting to make you jump, however, turning you found yourself standing face to face with the beauty he was. Eyes were shimmering and lips looked soft, his forehead exposed while water dripped down from the pushed back hair. 

Staring at him, while your arms hung onto his wide shoulders, made your heart run, spread its wings and leap until it would never land again. He was close, you were close, a slight move and you would finally taste the mouth which made you laugh, your life less dull. You wanted to connect with him, let him feel the hopeless love you had for him with something more than the ordinary. When Seokjin didn't move from you, lips opening in anticipation, were you kissing him. Sparks grew over your skin, hair standing over your whole body as his hands came to rest on your waist. He was an anchor in the storm growing in your stomach, something safe and now familiar. He was what you wanted to have forever and the fevery way he kissed you back told you felt the same. You chased the loneliness away from his heart, made him feel warm even when his body didn't need it. You were air and the feeling of belonging somewhere. The intensity of your emotions made you feel drunk, a deepths theratheing to swallow you whole if it weren't for his steady hands holding you close. 

But you were human and had to breathe, so you parted from his velvet lips, panting as a dark purple hue rose over his skin. In his eyes were questions mirroring yours however you were to scared to ask them yet because your truth was all but what you wanted them to be, so you closed your eyes from it, basked in his arms. 

“I don't want you to leave..”he spoke, sounding breathless like your inne words. Fingers came to stroke over your cheeks, drying tears you didn't realize fell.”I don't want to leave you..”

“But do we have a choice?”

-

You smiled as politely as you could, unsure eyes traveling down the village boy your mother had invited to your home. He seemed nice but was a dull factory compared to the blooming nature and roaring ocean of Seokjin. The boy did his best to catch your interest, showing of his arms and telling stories of what he achieved, his personality boring you with the over the top person he tried to be. The whole day was slow and painfully so, the awkwardness of your mother cooing at him at his every word having made you shut down. In your head had you and Seokjin been the ones sitting by your table. The whole ordeal become so boring you sneaked away, heart beating wildly as you made your way down to the stream, unforntally unaware of the small smile your mother had sent the boy when she said to go after you. Doom was looming over you and if you only hadn't been so love struck, maybe thing would have turned out differently.

The village boy watched with wide eyes as you leaned in to steal a kiss from Seokjin, terro clouding dark orbs as he saw the fin shining from the sun. Stumbling back, the boy would destroy your whole world, screaming for the men and women that an evil beats, a monster, was by the stream, polluting everything. You should have been more careful, you should have controlled yourself more because now was everything wrong, death holding its hand over his black locks.

-

You couldn't sleep, an awful feeling of disaster kept you from falling into calmness. The world seemed eerily quiet the more you listened, like it was grieving. With panic drumming in your heart were you running down the path to him, sky filled with clouds as rain fell from your eyes, soul broken beyond repair.  

“NO!”your throat felt raw as you screamed through tears. The night was lit up with flames and quivering with roars of anger. 

You tried to fight the hands holding you back, hair falling out from its updo, all so you could see him, save him from the sharp metal and burning fires. They deemed him as a monster, something which shouldn't exist, but you loved him.

“P-please..”sobs echoed around you and through a small gap between all the bodies could you see him, his beautiful eyes filled with sorrow. 

Seokjin trashed in their hold, fin bleeding as well as his arms. He struggled, trying to get to you but it was all in vain, too many were holding him down, piercing his beautiful skin with iron. Blood was everywhere, draining his face of colour. Someone screamed and you realized it was you when your voice died abruptly in your throat. Everyone turned quiet around you, their roars gone as a metal pole stood out of Seokjin’s heaving chest. They impaled him, they killed him. You wanted to scream more, throw up everything you had every eaten, but only managed to crawl to him. His beautiful eyes dulled slowly, blood dripping from the side of his mouth, mixing with the tears you cried.

“P-p..please do-don't lea-leave me-e…”cradling his head, you pleaded to anything willing to listen, trembling while he watched you with a heavy withering heart. Even in his dying moments didn't he want you to be sad, a slow dull ache of anger at himself forming when he realized your hurt was because of him.

“I-I’m s-so so sorr-sorry..”you felt everything crash, your own heart slowing down with his. If he left this world, so would you but you had to say one last thing. He was pale and his chest had stopped moving, there was only a small spark left in Jin’s eyes, letting you know he was still listening to your quivering voice.

“I love you..”

And you do, even when he never got to say it back, cold and dead in your arms because of you, would you always love him. 

[loz-big-bang]

Do you need to have an outline for your work? Is there an alternative? I only ask because I feel uncomfortable writing with an outline

Hey Nonnie!

When it comes to the submission, an outline is used for the match ups with betas and artists so they know where you’re going with your fic and if that’s something they want to work with. However, that doesn’t mean you have to follow it in your own writing, and you don’t even need to stick with it if you decide to go in another direction with your plot. 

The outline that we ask for will be a very detailed summary of what will happen in your fic, but we will be asking for more details surrounding your fic, like, for example, main characters, pairings (if any), rating and any warnings so that the artists and beta readers are able to make the best decision possible.

I hope that answers your question Nonnie. If you have any more questions, feel free to send another ask :D

Mod Skie. 

[chiefladylightyay]

RWBY AU

In Which Love Transcends Time and possibly space

Part one of the Mythos as it were, if that’s not your thing go read something else.

Shout-out to @blake-just-blake for giving me the inspiration to write this travesty.

 And also the original idea, kinda.

In the beginning the four Dragons arrive from another realm, exiled for reasons unknown.

Their names, though none will know, were

Andracca, The Great Black One, oldest and ostensibly most powerful.

Reirsyphys, The Gentle-hearted, sister of Andracca.

Skie, The Blue One of Arrogance, he who lingers.

Errier, The Fierce, she who comes first, fastest of all.

  The four travel through the Great Void, in search of others like them, but find none. After a lengthy debate, the four set about creating the world of Remnant, intent on ruling it as Gods.

 Andracca, flexing his incredible power, creates the globe to his liking.

Reirsyphys, true to her gentle nature, adjusts Andracca’s globe so it may support life.

Errier, with speed unrivaled, makes all the winds, from the gentlest breeze to typhoons and hurricanes without equal.

Skie creates the Skies and the Moon, intending to dwell there.

Andracca creates the deeps of the sea, and everything that is unknown.

 Reirsyphys breathes life into the world of remnant, to the great annoyance of Andracca who desired to do so himself.

 Andracca, in response to the abundant life created by his sister, creates the Grimm.

Seeing the devastation brought by the Grimm, Andracca and Reirsyphys create humanity, possessed of gifts of knowledge, creation, destruction and choice, humans truly are the mightiest of all living beings. With their magic, humans keep the grimm at bay.

  Down on Remnant a young lord rescues a princess from a group of raiders, acquiring fame, fortune, and glory. They fall in love, and eventually have a baby girl whom they name Salem.

Salem is a happy child, curious about the world, and mighty in the art of magic. One day, she meets Ozma, the man who would become her lover. The two quickly hit it off, begin courting, and eventually get married.

After a long life together, hunting grimm, Ozma unfortunately falls in battle.

 Devastated by the loss of her love, Salem asks a boon of Skie, the only dragon who actually visits Remnant in dragon form. Skie, pleased with the arrogance shown by Salem, brings her to the other dragons. This marks the first and only time a mortal has ever ridden a dragon.

 Brought before the Dragons, Salem asks them to bring her dead love Ozma back to life.

Reirsyphys is quick to agree, wanting to ease Salem’s pain.

Andracca thinks for what to Salem feels like an eternity before he speaks. What he said to Salem that day, only Salem knows.

Regardless, Salem did get her wish. And she will continue to get her wish, so long as the world of Remnant remains.

For Salem and Ozma are forever bound together through the love they shared in life, and bonds of such power, are unbreakable.

 Even to the likes of godlike Dragons.

[wlwhc]

Anonymous said: what about a raven x reader, where the reader is the only one helping Raven fixed the ship before praimfaia , and due to this, the reader has to do a lot of work. Idk I just want some angsty but fluffy at the end

(A/N): I’m sorry that I’m writing things after ages, I’m pretty busy latetly, and writer’s block is killing me. Also, this is pure shit, sorry :(

Warning: swearing

Words: 3494

Gifs are not mine, I found them on google. Credits to whoever made them

Being one of the only mechanics and engineer on earth , it is a pretty big deal. Sinclair made sure that you knew everything you need to know to fix the whole ship in case that he died, and thanks to your brain, you were able to study both things at the same time, earning a nice reputation among the young and old people of Arkadia.

Even though you are a mechanic and engineer, for the 100, you’re just one of the sky people, useless. They have Raven, the zero-g mechanic and Sinclair , your boss. It was pretty hard for you to make them listen to you, specially Raven, that girl didn’t accept anybody’s help.

They didn’t care about your theories and ideas to fix the ship, or better ways to fix the cars, no no , they made you hunt, and work on the plants, sometimes even the med-bay and you didn’t even know how to treat a small cut.

Luckily, Sinclair remembered your presence on the Ark and ask for your help on a project, a project that you had to end in a week and you finished it in three days. That made the cocky 100 interested on you, specially the grumpy Mechanic.

Before you could even protest, Sinclair had put you to work with Raven. Since she’s pretty ..aggressive sometimes, you decided to become mute, in order to prevent her to throw something at you. The days went by, only making a sound when you needed her to give you something. Truth be told, Raven was getting crazy with all the silence.

She thought that you were too shy to even make a human sound, so she tried to get a little closer to you, on her own way of course.

She started giving you harder works, works that she would finish in a week,in an attempt to make your talk or ask her for help. But you somehow manage to finished them in three days, how? she didn’t know, but she was really impressed, in fact, she begin to talk about you with her friends out of the nowhere, even Abby was getting tired of it.

You didn’t mind the extra work, it keep you occupied and you also knew you were helping them and giving Raven a few hours of sleep. Your stay in her workshop had provide you with a special view, it let you see the sweet side of Raven, she wasn’t always so aggressive and grumpy, she was also kind, funny af and really caring. She may think that you didn’t notice , but you did notice everytime she would leave cups of warm water for you to drink, or small portions of food, and let’s not forget the times where she would put her jacket over you when you fell asleep on the workshop. Small details that took a tone of importance in your heart, it made you feel a little bit less alone, like someone actually care about you.

You do not have a family, your family died long ago when a flu attack one of the districts, leaving you alone. Sinclair was the one taking you under his wing and basically raise you, at least until you could look out for yourself. So when you arrive to the ground, and everyone was getting reunited with their child and family, you were one of the few standing awkwardly on a side, looking at the skie with glassy eyes.

Knowing that someone cares about you made your heart a little bit warmer, Raven didn’t know about this, she barely knew you, the only things that she knows is that you’re incredibly smart, shy and cute. That are the things she knows, and she wanted to change that.

The next day you went to work, you found Clarke giving orders to a very grumpy Raven, the blonde didn’t seem to let the mechanic breath, so you step in.

“I can do that” You said softly, hoping that they heard you.

“No offense hmm…” You rolled your eyes when Clarke didn’t seem to remember your name. Raven smirk at this.

“Y/N” You said at her, a little bit harsher that you planned

“oh yeah, Y/N, I don’t think you would be able to fix this, that’s why I need Raven to do it! , we don’t have much time”

“why would I not be able to do it? as far as I’m concerned I already fix half of the ship by myself while you were ordering Raven to fix your gun” Raven was trying not to laugh at Clarke’s face, the blonde was surprised.

“I-I needed it my g-”

“there's a group of people, in the armory, that are more than capable to fix your stupid gun, in this workshop there’s only Raven and me, we are the only ones with the enough IQ to fix this damn ship, and here you are, ordering Raven to fix...what exactly?” You asked Raven, which she answer you smiling.

“a radio”

“a fucking radio, we already did 20 of those for fucks sake!” You said exasperatedly. Clarke looks at Raven, but the mechanic only nods at your words, knowing that you were saying the truth.

“okay fine! I’ll ask Monty!”

“Oh that’s not necessary, gimme” You said, and Raven gave you the Radio, you could feel Clarke’s glare on you but you didn’t pay attention, you open the radio and a minute later, the little device came back to life.

“if it wasn’t such a big deal, then you should-”

“I’m trying to make a point here, Raven has enough things to worried about, if you have any other stupid and unnecessary job for her, send it to me, I can handle it” Clarke left after sending you another glare. You walk to your table and begin to work again. Raven walked to you, the same smile still hanging on her face.

“you made the princess pretty mad” She said.

“she’s really annoying sometimes” You said, focus on your work.

“you shouldn't have done that, now you’re going to have more work-”

“Sinclair told me to keep an eye on you, she was giving you too much work, I can handle it” You said, not daring to look to her, afraid that she may see through your lie, which she did. The smile on her face got bigger.

“Sinclair? Sinclair told you that?” Raven said, in a playful tone, already knowing that Sinclair would never do that, he knows she can take care of herself.

“yep”  Raven didn’t push it further and got back to work, with the sweet taste of knowing that you cared about her.

Since that day, your relationship with the mechanic grew. It started with little talks, Raven was the one initiating those, a few jokes and sometimes she would even drag you to take a drink with her. You met the rest of her friends, Clarke had grown on you and somehow ended up as your friend too. Things were just getting better each day.

Until you realize how pink and soft Raven’s lips look, or how sweet the color of her eyes are, how tanned and smooth her skin is, or how fast your heart would pump when she was near you. That’s when you realize that you were screwed, Raven only sees you as a friend, she would never understand your feelings, she is very important to you, just the thought of losing her made your heart tremble. If you only knew that Raven’s heart begun to beat at your own pace since you step into her workshop. That she finds your shyness the cutest thing on earth, that every time you bite your lip out of frustration she has to leave the room, that she knows how much you hate being yelled at, and every time you defend her she can feel those stupid butterflies having a party on her stomach. If you only knew, how much she needs you by her side, that without you on that workshop she can’t properly function, that the nights without you by her side, are getting colder and darker. She needs you, and she’s going to get you.

It wasn’t till you got seriously hurt when Raven spit the beans.

It was a hectic week, you had a lot of work, and a lot of pressure on your shoulder knowing that the acid rain was going to get here in any minute. Raven and you didn’t have many volunteers, many of the sky people were getting drunk and just lazing around, waiting for their deaths, leaving you and Raven to do all the work.

“ahg! I forgot that I need to weld the ceiling-”

“I can do that, you should go and take some rest” You said to Raven, grabbing the welding machine and the helmet. Raven had dark bags under her eyes, the girl needs some sleep.

“no no it’s fine I have to fix-”

“Raven go get some sleep, I can do it, please” How can she say no to that face? She gave you a tired glare and sighs deeply.

“just 30 minutes” She said, walking to the bed in the workshop. You turned around and find her already sleeping.

Already outside, you climb the ship, put on your mask and begin to weld. The task was taking you longer than you thought, the sun was shining bright, it was pretty hot outside, plus welding while climbing the ship’s roof wasn’t easy. The sun was started to make you a little bit dizzy, that and the fact that you didn’t have the time to sleep yesterday and you didn’t eat very well.

“how much time had she been there?” Clarke asked Bellamy, that was currently helping around. The Blake boy had been secretly watching you, since you almost fall a few times, and the worst that could happen, is losing one of their mechanics and engineers.

“Too long, a few hours I think, it was pretty early when she got up there, she almost fell a few times, it seems that the ship is more broken than we thought” Bellamy said to Clarke, the blonde was worrying more about you than the ship. Raven may not notice, but Clarke knows that every time Raven is asleep, you would take her jobs so the mechanic can rest a little longer.

“she needs to get down, it’s pretty hot down here, I can’t imagine up there”

“hey! Y/N! Get down here! Take a break!” Bellamy screams at you. You turn to look at him. The height difference making you feel vertigo.

“I almost finished!” You said, putting the mask on again and securing the ropes around your waist, making Bellamy sigh, he has to deal not only with Raven, but with you too now, great.

“fine, I’m going up there and-”

“guys have you seen Y/N? I told her only 30 minutes!” Raven said walking to the pair, rubbing her eyes, she was glad to sleep a few hours but that also means that she had to do her work faster.

“she’s up there, fixing the ship” Bellamy said to the mechanic

“That’s my job!” Raven exclaim.

“yeah well she actually did all your jobs” Clarke said with a smirk on her face

“she hasn’t gone down, and I’m pretty sure she didn’t take water with her, she’s under the sun, it’s pretty hot, she could faint” Clarke said, now with a more serious tone. Raven huff at this, you could be such a smart person for some things, but for other things, like taking care of yourself, you are very stupid.

“Hey! Y/N get down or I’ll kick your ass!” Raven screamed

“I said I’m almost done!” You answer her, Raven send a look to Bellamy, and he sighed.

“I’ll go get her” He started walking to the ladder but stopped when you talked.

“I finished! I’m going down!” You take off the helmet, the air was getting thinner, and you could feel your hands shake a little. You took a deep breath and begin to feel the dizziness from earlier returned.

“everything okay Y/N?” Bellamy asked, seeing you not move.

“u-uh...yeah!” You said shaking your head a little, trying to get rid of the dizziness, but your hand was beginning to feel a little bit numb, you drop the welding machine, and grabbed your head, a big headache was making you wince.

Raven and Clarke noticed this and begin to freak out.

“Bell go get here!”

“she’s going to faint!”

Bellamy got quickly on the ladder, climbing as faster as he could, while you were starting to lose consciousness.

“Y/N! hold on!”

Right were you everything went black, Bellamy caught you.

“I got you, I got you Y/N” He secured you on his arm, making sure that the rope around your waist was okay, and slowly climb down the ladder with you on his arms.

Once he got you down, Clarke was fast on checking your symptoms, while Raven was trying her hardest not to freak out.

“is she okay? Clarke is she okay?!”

“yeah, she’s probably dehydrated, we should take her to my mom” Bellamy didn’t need another word, he began to take you to the med-bay.

“she has a heat stroke, she will need to stay here for today” Abby said applying a piece of cloth with cold water on your forehead, Raven was the only one in the room beside Abby, Clarke had to go, same as Bellamy.

“is she going to be okay? did you che-”

“she’s going to be fine” Abby said, grabbing Raven’s hands. The Doctor knew about Raven’s feelings, not that Raven had told her, but Abby knew. Raven took a seat beside your bed, stroking your hair,

“when are you going to tell her sweetheart?”

“tell her what?”

“that you love her”

“I-I don’t-Abby what the hell?”

“Clarke lost her chance to say those three words to Lexa, she will always regret that, that knife will always be stuck on her chest, I don’t want you to get through the same-”

“what if she doesn't feel the same uh?-”

“for being such a smart kid, you're being really stupid right now, tomorrow she may not be here, tell her” Abby said.

“I’ll go get more cold water, she needs to hydrate and lower her temperature”. She said, leaving the room.

Abby’s words were ringing inside Raven’s head, maybe she was right, maybe , just maybe, you felt the same, but if you didn’t, then she would end up with a broken heart, and that’s something she can’t fix no matter how hard she tries.

Raven had spent the day by your side, helping Abby applied cold water so your temperature can go down, the mechanic was getting impatient, she needs you to wake up, she already had prepared a whole speech!

“ow crap” Raven heard you and turned her gaze to you, finding you waking up. Abby walked to you.

“Hey there, how are you feeling?” She said, checking on you

“like shit” You said, wincing when Abby used her flashlight to see if you were lucid.

“She’s lucid, You scared us, you had a heat stroke, you need to hydrate, so drink a lot of water and stay in bed for the day okay?”

“I can’t stay here, I have to go back to work” You said trying to get up, but Raven’s hand stopped you.

“Yeah, you’re not doing that, you’re staying here” You tried to get up anyway, making the mechanic sigh.

“Y/N I swear to god!”

“we have work to do!”

“you’re staying here!”

“You two stop!” Abby walked to you, sending a look of “calm down” to Raven.

“looked at me Y/N” You said what she orders. “I’m going to let you go to the workshop, I know that there’s a bed there, you’re going to stay in that bed, and drink a lot of water okay? no alcohol, no welding the roof, nothing that would require a lot of work okay? you’re going to take a break every 20 minutes” Abby’s tone was very motherly, it somehow made you behave. You nod at her, not daring to disobey her.

“she’s all yours Raven” Abby said, leaving you alone with the Zero-g Mechanic.

“you’re really stupid you know that?” Raven said glaring at you.

“that’s my charm”

“you should stay here-”

“Raven-”

“no! just hear me out, you should stay here, Clarke already told me that you finished all my work, you shouldn’t have-”

“I wanted to, you needed to rest-”You sit up on the bed, your legs hanging on the bed, and Raven was standing between your legs.

“Yeah, but you also need to rest! I care about you” Raven said,  resting her hands on your shoulders.

“Well, I care about you too! you don’t sleep and barely eat sometimes” You said, making Raven scoff.

“You do the same!-ahg just...you need to take care of yourself”

“I do-” You said looking everywhere but at her, she was pretty close to you.

“No Y/N, you don’t do that, you’re busy taking care of me and I don’t need that, I’m a big girl I can take care of myself” Raven said, grabbing your face by your chin with her skinny fingers, your eyes met yours, making you shiver a little.

“It is a crime to take care of you?” Raven smiled at your words.

“no is not...I care about you too...I would be devastated if something happens to you” She got a little bit closer to you, it was too much for you to handle, you are going to kiss her if she doesn’t back away and that’s not going to end up very nice.

“what have you done with Raven? I want her back” You said, turning your head to the side. Raven smiled at this, finding your shyness really cute.

“Promise me you will take care of yourself” Raven grabbed your face on her hands, her thumbs softly rubbing your cheeks. Your heart was jumping out of your chest, and when you looked at her worried gaze, you knew you were going to screw this up.

“I will...if you do the same” You said, trying so hard not to kiss her.

“I will” Raven said, surprising you when she began to lean in, her lips only a few centimeters away from yours.

“w-what are-” Your voice got trapped between Raven’s soft lips. She was kissing you, Raven Reyes was kissing you. It took you a few seconds , but when you finally realize what was going on, you returned the kiss, every fiber of your body not wanting to let her go, Raven didn’t want that either, her hands somehow ended up below your shirt, her fingers wandering on our skin, making you shiver.

“Hey Raven how’s-Oh crap…”

“Seriously Griffin?!” You tried not to laugh but you couldn’t help it.

“now I know that she’s fine, she’s more than fine~” Clarke said raising her eyebrows and smirking.

“fuck off Clarke!” Raven said, shoving Clarke out of the room.

“I’ll tell my mom!” she said making Raven rolled her eyes. Once she manages to close the door, she turned around smiling at you, and slowly walked to you, positioning herself between your legs once again.

“Where we were?” She said with a playful smirk on her face, already feeling confident. You didn’t slap her so, that’s something right?

“remember that I need to rest and I can’t do anything that would require too much work” You said, with the same playful tone.

“oh you won’t even have to move” She said, burying her face in your neck, leaving little pecks on it, making you tickle.

“Raven-” You said, chuckling lightly

“I can do all the work~” She said, her hands sneaking under your shirt once again.

“We’re in the med-bay-” you said, grabbing her face with your hands. Her playful smirk change with a serious face

“okay...let’s go to the workshop-” She said, making you chuckled

“no Raven-”

“what about my room?” This time she raised her eyebrows and later lower them, making send her a playful glare.

“I’m kidding~...am I?”

“...idiot” You said, putting your hands on her waist, she wrapped her arms around your neck, smiling softly at you.

“...your idiot...if you want of course” She said, getting a little shy.

“..I do want that” You said, this time you were the one leaning in, capturing her lips with yours.

You didn’t know if it was because of the heat stroke, but right now, your heart is warmer than ever.

Shittiest end, I know, and I’m sorry :(

[stupendouslyblue]

Wild Sky:  Raid in the Casino 1

The lights were flashing. The sounds of a few coins coming out of gambling machines, along with the cries of people losing their pay check made for MJ’s Royal Casino to be an overwhelming place. Tonight was a card tournament.

They were all sitting around a circular table. Almost everyone within the casino was watching this match. The group was playing a game that would be foreign looking to most people; it involved a set of numbers and monster runes. Whoever could draw a dragon and 150 runes would be considered the winner. Purple runes were considered the best ones to have. It was a game that required one to be a step ahead of their opponents for runes could be stolen.

The crowd’s eyes fell upon a young woman with strange blue hair named Skye Jungbluth. She sat with her legs crossed upon the chair she was sitting on. She looked like she was having a lot of fun, compared to the other two players. Her yellow goggles obscured the glitter of mischievous in her eyes. She looked at the other players, trying to figure out what their next moves would be.

“These chumps are all rookies. Gotta watch out for the loser in the suit, he looks like the type that could pull a comeback. Blondie is about to fold. She’s got a nervous jitters to her form. So once she’s out, I just need to draw a purple stone, Awesome. Soon I’ll win enough cash to cover the costs of getting my airship even more streamlined. Really, this is all just child’s play.” Skie thought to herself.

“I’ll draw.” She then pressed a holographic button and a blue rune was dropped.

“Hmm, well, I’ll just have to swap 5 blues for one more purple~” Skie said with a big dumb smile on her face.

The mustached man that sat across from her pressed the escape button. He was out of the game. It wasn’t the person she thought would fold first but one less opponent, the better. That just left the blond haired woman, wearing a regal sky blue and white ruffled shirt and khaki trousers. She looked very stubborn.

The woman then whispered something into the dealer’s ear. He nodded. Skie paid little attention at first. Skie was actually here, waiting to get an answer from her partners Mel and Aryeh. She had joined this game to distract the patrons and staff of the casino in order to get clues about the whereabouts of a target. It seemed that her brother couldn’t use his elite coppers to find this person, so he hired his little sister to do the job. If she could play if, the trio would be paid by the government a handsome reward.

“Miss Jungbluth, I’ve already asked you more than once not to wear your goggles while playing this game. The other players find it to be unsettling. If I have to do ask one more time, you will be removed from this game and forfeit all the money you have placed down.” The dealer said.

Skye grumbled as she lifted upon her googles. Upon doing so, it revealed that she had yellow cat-like irises. This was a fact that she wanted to keep to herself. As she figured, some of the crowd began to murmur.

“She’s one of those See—ers!” The blond woman named Aysha said, trying to distract from the fact that she was going to lose this next hand. “That’s cheating! They can read people’s emotions.”

“Eh? No, I ain’t.” Skie said, “Just had an accident when I was a kid. Nothin’ to write home about, lady.”

“Prove it!” Aysha said. “Everyone knows that anyone with yellow eyes is connected to that witch that caused the world war!”

“You’re makin’ an ass out of yourself. I don’t gotta prove anythin’ to you. Rane, that witch you’re talkin’ about has been gone for decades; before, I was even born.” Skie said. “Just play the bloody game. I can beat ya with skill alone~”

“H-hmph, the nerve of a girl like you! You should learn to respect people higher in class than you.” Aysha huffed.

In such settings, Skie would often play up a punk girl attitude. It seemed to work, since Aysha stopped bugging her once the dealer gave the blond an irritated glare. Though, the room was tense. The two girls had managed to outlast all of the middle aged men that made up the majority of contestants. The both of them disliked each other with a passion. So the insults and snarky banter between the two made this match more interesting in the long run. Though, it was easy to tell that Aysha was starting to crack.

Aysha then slapped down a card that was labelled with a large number. Skie in return slapped down a card that had a dragon that looked slightly like a “G,” along with five purple runes. This meant that she won the game.

The blond growled and then reached into her pocket and drew out a semiautomatic pistol. The people in the crowd then gasped. Skie just stared at the blond with a bored expression.

“Y-You….You’ve done nothing but mock me this entire match! I should have just blasted your brains all over the floor several rounds ago!” The blonde growled.

“Oh. Knowing me, I probably would have done the same in your shoes. I’m quite an asshole, ain’t it?” Skie said, while yawning.

“STOP MOCKING ME!” The blond growled.

Skie had everyone right where she wanted them. For the most part. Well enough so that Aryeh could do his job, that's what was important here.

His task was to seek out their target and direct his team's attention to them. Easier said than done. For the moment, he was trying to blend in with the crowds, acting as a guest rather than one of Skie's allies. The downside was that he wasn't allowed to dress as glamorous as he'd like to, since he didn't want to be attracting much attention. Even so, that didn't stop him from spending a good twenty minutes on what outfit he wanted to wear for this operation. A collared navy blue shirt suited him nicely, with the buttons undone down his chest to expose a white undershirt, and blue pants to match. Twirling around two fingers was a white fedora with navy ribbon around it, tied into a neat little bow; his own personal touch. There was an assortment of colors he liked adding to this hat.

Casually he walked wherever he was allowed, stopping every so often to watch the tournament so as to not look too suspicious. The handsome young man made a fluid motion that returned the fedora to his head, sitting nicely upon the styled pink hair. "Boy, things are getting intense out there, aren't they?" he asked the woman who was next to him, his voice velvety with a pitch that indicated he'd be singing tenor in a choir. She at first didn't realize she was being spoken to, seeming to blush upon apologizing for her delayed response, but only blushed darker as she met eyes with the lovely looking man. Ary could do more than wink at her, turning his head to watch the game once more.

He did not envy Skie in the slightest for having to deal with this whiny blond. Privately he smirked, taking satisfaction in watching the spunky young woman put the competitor in her place.

Meanwhile, Mel Rogero was on standby, watching silently from behind Skie. As her bodyguard, he wouldn't be straying far from her. He, in fact, held no interest in this tournament whatsoever. The focused expression suggested he cared only about looking out for her safety. With perfect posture, he was posed in a professional manner, wearing a neutral expression so no one would be able to guess what he was thinking about. Yet, there he stood with a warm, welcoming presence that made others feel like they could trust him immediately.

Just enough attention was subtracted from his duties so he could acknowledge the winning card Skie presented. The smile he made at this was short lived as he watched the cocky competitor withdraw a weapon with intention to shoot. At least, he was pretty sure that was the plan. This lady looked crazy enough to do it!

"Goddamn sore losers," Aryeh muttered, having to back away from his spot so he could do a more thorough scoping of the area. With the situation getting more heated, he needed to find their target more swiftly. All while thinking of a long string of curse words, because this fairly relaxed job was quickly turning into a far more pressing matter. Good things weren't meant to last, he supposed.

Mel, of course, was quick to intervene. The handgun wouldn't be pointed at Skie for long, not while he was here. In the blink of an eye, the twilight faye was on the move. Cards went flying in scattered directions upon his arrival, his cape whipping in an unintentional flourish. A gloved hand went out to strike at the threat's wrist, his palm pressing down forcefully while his digits squeezed. Though he maintained a calm expression, his eyes lit with a fire that warned he really shouldn't be pushed to do anything worse than this. He kept the menacing eye contact between himself and Skie's attacker, the slightest growl coming from him as she squealed out in pain from her wrist getting nearly broken. The agony forced her to drop the gun, her sore wrist getting immediately rubbed by her good hand while she glared at Mel.

"A pity that someone of such high class would stoop so low," he commented with a click of his tongue, his haunting voice seeming soft yet stern. The technical pacifist withdrew his hand to wrap it around the hilt of his sword, just daring this woman to try her luck with Skie again. The cards weren't in her favor and it was unlikely that a fight would be as well.

With her wrist nearly broken, Aysha dropped the pistol. Her eyes widened and soon she ran off. The crowd had more or less fled the area as well, even though the game had been won. The sight of Mel in action caused several people to run off. Someone with that much skill was most likely a member of Unit Zero. Unit Zero was a team of elite warriors assigned to protect various sectors of the port city of Zeledin.

Skie looked on bored at the whole affair. She knew that Mel was going to be there to help her out, if anything was going to happen. Skie then wiped her finger under the card table. She had been picking her nose while Mel had taken care of the threat. She quickly made sure he didn’t see her doing so.

“Weird. I never knew that people of her tribe could be aggressors.” Skie muttered.

She then stood up and stretched. Skie once again yawned before snapping her goggles back over her yellow eyes. The woman walked over to the teller and held out her hand.

“Just give me the chip and I’ll be out of your way. Nothing at this casino is that much of a challenge anymore.” She said impolitely.

“That’s because you know the systems too well, Jungbluth. You’re lucky that Lady Rogero doesn’t bar you from using this establishment any longer.” The teller said, begrudgingly dropping a pink coin with a picture of a somewhat plump woman with black hair on it.

“Your sister is really letting herself go.” Skie then spoke to Mel. “Not that I can view her any other way. Hahahahhhh.”

She then pressed a button on the side of her goggles and a screen opened up. A list of faces popped up. Using her irises, she moved the list up and down, until she came across the face of Aryeh. She pressed the button again, sending a lightly buzzing alarm on Aryeh’s wristwatch.

“Hey Pinko.” Skie said. “What’s the 401? Just give me a jingle and I’ll catch up with you.”

[lesfemmesfollesbooks]

BARED contributor news & updates

MANDEM - We received a grant for our disability poetics painting series "Hypermobility" here. 

Susan Jamison - I will be having a solo exhibition at Chroma Projects in Charlottesville, VA in April, 2017.

Maryann Corbett - My fourth book, Street View, will be published by Able Muse Press in the summer of 2017.

Jehanne Dubrow - My sixth book, Dots & Dashes, won the Crab Orchard Review Open Competition Poetry Prize and will be published by Southern Illinois University Press in August 2017.

Sally Bliumis-Dunn - My poem, "Heart" will be read by Stuart Kestenbaum, Maine's Poe Laureate on Maine public radio's program called, "Poems from Here."

Chuka Susan Chesney - Three of my poems have been accepted into two zines and an event in Michigan. My poem "Marilyn's Pose" and a painting I created of Marilyn Monroe will be published together in Issue #4 of Inklette zine. My poem "My Last Meal" and my painting "Cake at the Wake" will be published in the upcoming "Buried"-themed issue of Claudius Speaks. My poem "California Jane and Mr. Rochester" will be included in the Poetry Leaves Outdoor Poetry Exhibition in Waterford, Michigan. 

Judy Kronenfeld - My fourth collection of poetry, BIRD FLYING through the BANQUET, comes out from FutureCycle Press by March 20th, 2017.

Catherine Arra - My third chapbook, Tales of Intrigue & Plumage was accepted for publication by FutureCycle Press on December 25, 2016. Fall release expected.

Susan Rich - I've published poems in all 50 states and 1 district

Margo Taft Stever - CavanKerry Press has accepted my second full length collection, CRACKED PIANO, for publication in 2019.

Shirley J. Brewer - My third book of poetry, Bistro in Another Realm, is forthcoming in late spring, early summer, 2017, from Main Street Rag Press.

ALICIA OSTRIKER - New collection of poems next February: WAITING FOR THE LIGHT, University of Pittsburgh Press. Includes a suite of poems on New York City, my original hometown, where I now am again at last a citizen.

Alexis Rhone Fancher - My poem, "When I turned fourteen, my mother's sister took me to lunch and said:" was published in The Best American Poetry 2016.

Amy Small-McKinney - My second full-length book of poems, Walking Toward Cranes, won the Kithara Book Prize 2016 and is forthcoming from Glass Lyre Press. It is due to be released end of January- beginning of February, 2017.

Lorene Delany-Ullman - In coloration with Jody Servon, our photography and prose poem project, Saved: Objects of the Dead, will be exhibited at Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC in 2017.

Rebecca Foust - My short story, "Something Blue," won the 2015 American Literary Review fiction prize and was nominated for a Pushcart in 2016. Jane Hirshfeld chose "Iconostasis" for the 2015 Jame Hearst Poetry Prize and nominated it for a pushcart in 2016. New poems are in Arroyo Review, Massachusetts Review, North American Review, and 32 Poems. I'm teaching the Sonnet workshop at West Chester Poetry Conference in 2017.

Diane Lockward - My book The Crafty Poet II: A Portable Workshop was published in Sept 2016. In October 2016 I started Terrapin Books, a small press for poetry books.

bonnie stufflebeam - My novelette "The Orangery" just appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies 

Trish Hopkinson - I have a chapbook entitled "Footnote" forthcoming from Lithic Press in 2017. 

Julie Danho - In 2016, I received a $25,000 MacColl Johnson Fellowship to support the completion of my book manuscript: 

Lana Hechtman Ayers - My poem the The Moon's Answer was published as a handmade, illustrated book by Anita K. Boyle of Egress Studio Press.

Ann Bracken - My second collection of poems, No Barking in the Hallways: Poems from the Classroom, was published by New Academia Publishing, Scarith Imprint, in January, 2017.

Natalie Voelker - I'm collaborating with Reyes Padilla on a large scale mural installation titled "La Joya 2017" for the Harwood Art Center that goes up the first week in March. Composed of 6 24 foot panels, the piece explores the lives of women and girls that attended the Harwood Girls School in the 1930s. 

mary beth smith - I won the Peter Honegger Best One-Act Play award for KEEP A-BREAST, a play that offers insight to my bizarre experiences surviving breast cancer. KEEP A-BREAST was performed in The Firehouse Center for the Arts 2014 New Works Festival in Newburyport, MA, during which I received the Honegger award.

Sarah Ann Winn - My first book won the Barrow Street Book Prize, and will be published by Barrow Street Press in October 2017.

Erin M. Bertram - I have three chapbooks forthcoming: "from The Vanishing of Camille Claudel" (Seven Kitchens Press); "Relief Map" (C&R Press, a winner of the 2016 Summer Tide Pool Chapbook Competition); and "Gender/Genre" (Red Bird Chapbooks). I also have a poem forthcoming in "Tupelo Quarterly" entitled "There Is a Wilderness, There Will Always Be." And I have an upcoming artist residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences in March 2017.

Carine Topal - "Tattooed," my poetry collection about the Holocaust, written in the voices of the victims, perpetrators, and the survivors, was chosen by Kelly Cherry, and won the 2015 Palettes & Quills 4th Annual Poetry Contest.

Jane Otto - I recently joined Poetry Society of America as a Board member

Joy Ladin - My eighth collection, Fireworks in the Graveyard, is due out this year from Headmistress Press.

Sue Ellen Thompson - My fifth book, THEY, is out and available on Amazon.com.

Melissa Balmain - Light (the journal of light verse I edit) has a wonderful new issue coming out in early Feb. '17 (and another due in early Aug. '17)

Francesca Bell - Red Hen Press will publish my first book in early 2019.

Meg Eden - My debut novel "Post-High School Reality Quest" is coming out in June! 

Barbara Rockman - Askew Journal recently nominated my poem, "Ladder of Bone Rungs," for a Pushcart Prize. My second collection of poetry, "Cleave and Splinter" is forthcoming form University of New Mexico Press.

Sarah A. Chavez - I have work in the recently released anthology, IMANIMAN Anthology: A Call to Poets to Reflect on Gloria Anzaldúa and Transformative/Transgressive Borders. 

Andrea Potos - I was just awarded the William Stafford Prize for Poetry from Rosebud Magazine.

Anne Harding Woodworth - See the animation of poems from my chapbook, The Last Gun.

Becky Breed - Our book "Writing tin Community: Say Goodbye to Writer's Block and Transform Your Life" is available for sale

Tara Betts - Just released my second poetry collection BREAK THE HABIT and co-edited THE BEIGING OF AMERICA, which will be released in Spring 2017.

Julie Brooks Barbour - My second full-length collection, Haunted City, is now available from Kelsay Books

Alyse Knorr - My new book Mega-City Redux, which contains the poems featured in BARED, launches at AWP 2017.

Lesléa Newman - My newest poetry collection, I CARRY MY MOTHER (Headmistress Press) which explores a daughter's journey through her mother's illness and death and how she carries on without her received a Golden Crown Literary Society Award ("Goldie") and was named a "Must Read" title by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

Jackie Fox - My most recent news is having two of my poems accepted in Yellow Chair Review's pop culture issue.

Janet Ruth Heller - My poem "Flamboyance" was published by the online literary journal Persimmon Tree (Winter 2017).

Laura E. Davis - I'm starting a new interview series on my blog Dear Outer Space about the intersection of art and activism. I'm actively seeking people to participate!

KC Trommer - I'll be reading at three events in NYC in April.

Cathy Sarkowsky - Please see my website 

[thatfailedpokemontrainer]

Pelipper mail!

[Oh! It's a letter from Polaris!]

"Dear Sprite, and most definitely everyone else this time.

We miss you bunches too.

I promise I’ve never felt unappreciated bubs. I enjoy making sure everyone is taken care of, and the cooking. Are you doing okay? The sleeping a lot is usually not a great sign…

Make sure you teens go out and have some fun while I’m gone too okay? You don’t need to stay cooped up in the house.

You don’t have to write me back if it hurts, but I do really appreciate hearing back from you.

Beedrill: That’s super fair! I have been making absolutely sure that Bird wants to do things before I take her with me. Today she met a baby Spheal and she was very excited about that. We are taking things slow and gentle and careful. She tried matcha ice cream and did not like it because it “tastes like grass”, but I am very excited because this is the first time she told me that she disliked something! She will be in bed by 8:30 and with the lights on. It’s a good thing I brought a sleeping mask.

Tari: Hello hi!! I’m glad that you’re having a good time :) And I’m happy that my room is comfy and nice haha. Don’t worry too much about keeping it clean, it’s a bit…chaotic in there most of the time anyways, between Cobbler being himself and Jester’s offerings…OH. IF YOU SEE ANY PINK BITS AND BAUBLES ON THE FLOOR DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY. There is a pink basket on my dresser, put them in there. They’re probably offerings from Jester and he gets very very upset if you throw them away on accident. I’m glad that you think you and Del are salvageable. I’m not going to push you to forgive it. It put your its and your lives at risk several times when it could have been avoidable and I am still a bit upset at it for that. Just because I love Del doesn’t mean that I’m not absolutely on your side.

Kittsu: That is very silly. Ember baffles and amuses me once more. Oh! Right, there are water-type jelly treats in the fridge. You should try giving some to Aeries, I think she would like them. All I ask is that you stay safe.

Sprite: I feel like I should clarify that I didn’t intend to make you think that you needed to take care of everything. Even I couldn’t take care of everything in the house on my own, that’s a lot of work. As long as everyone is alive and uninjured, and the house is not a smoking trash heap I will be happy. Don’t forget that Vivianne is still home, and she can help you with anything else that you need while I’m gone. ALSO! A thought! Instead of handwriting your letters because they hurt you, you can always type up and print your portion of the letter and attach it instead.

I love you all lots and lots and I’m hoping to be able to come home later next week

Polaris (and Bird :))"

[A few photos are attached. One of Bird patting a very pleased-looking Spheal, another of Bird holding a cone of green ice cream looking a bit disgusted, and a final one of...Polaris talking to Skie? That one seems to have been taken by Bird.]

[A letter was sent back. This time most of it was typed.]

Hi Polaris.

I messed up. I want to be honest with you here i just.

Need to tell you how much I fucked up.

Kittsu was starting to talk to Mari. And Mari was being a better friend then I could ever be to her. I freaked out. Bad. I felt like she was going to leave me- everything was happening all at once.

I told Kittsu to leave and she went home.

I've tried talking to her since. But she just. Dislikes herself more than she likes me. 'ts like talking to a wall.

...

Tari's been staying over less. And beedrill's been avoiding me since. I don't know what to do.

I'm sorry I couldn't handle being alone. I thought I was better than this.

...

Me, Beedrill and Tari are going out tommorow. 'ts gonna be good.

We'll be good, don't cut your trip short.

... 'll let everyone respond from here.

I am glad you're caring for her. She likes you. Your support and love for her is incomparable to the morsels I am able to provide. I have been wondering about service pokemon lately. I know you want to keep service pokemon and battling pokemon seperate but would it be possible for a pokemon to be both? Hm. I want to be better than this. There is much to think about. -Beedrill

Oh HIYA Proffesor!! Yeah- the little gremlin has been sleeping on your floor, scratching and whining and stuff- Luckily Corro keeps him off of the bed :3. And me and Delta made up! It took me to the arcade to play air hocky today!! I won 6 matches out of 10 ^^. I'm staying a bit at both houses rn, but ye!! Thank you for your generosity.

Tired. Might go back to bed.

Love.

Sprite

Beedrill.

Tari xoxo

[skiewrites]

it’s all downhill from here - Chapter Three

Fandom: Legend of Zelda, Linked Universe, Harry Potter (very loosely)

Rating: Teens and Up

Warnings: Some blood

Summary:

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year is supposed to be one filled with excitement and mischief for every student at Hogwarts, even the first and second years who aren’t allowed to go down to the village.

Except of course, the group of heroes are involved, and nothing goes right for them.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111011/chapters/55296445

As soon as the shack was in sight, Legend found the closest tree stump and sat down, crossing his arms and ignoring Wild and Hyrule’s shouts of excitement, Warrior’s side glances as he kept an eye on their friends to make sure they didn’t get themselves killed, and the way that the wind whistled a familiar song into his ears to comfort him.

 A childish mind will turn to noble ambition,

Young love will become deep affection.

Time passes, people move... Like a river's flow, it never ends...

 In the past seven years I've watch you heroes grow

And now I have nothing left to say

Except that it's dangerous to go alone.

 The hat’s words echoed back in Legend’s mind, something that had been a recurring thing in the past month.

Every year the sorting hat would tell a prophecy of the school year to come. That was just how it was. Normally, it would predict if it was going to be a good year for the students, if there was going to be a dramatic scandal or an exciting event that people should keen an eye out for.

But things just couldn’t be normal for anyone who had the name Link, could it? Instead of any of those sorts of predictions, the hat gave them warning of an impending war against the Demon God and barely enough clues to survive until the next year.

And just when they needed the hat the most, when they needed the most guidance that they have ever needed in their lives (because goddess forbid that his mother helps out in any way, shape, or form) it just turns around and tells them that there is nothing left to say. How stupid! And he thought that the hat calling him a dreamer in first year was bad, this is the worst thing it has ever said in its entire existence.

He hated it because it was no help to him, but he hated it more because it knew. It knew that he was planning to run off during the Hogwarts year, when everyone was busy with their schoolwork and their social groups and their petty teenage problems. It knew that he was going to feel too restless, too useless, sat at Hogwarts learning spells he already knew and theory that was pointless at this point.

Except that it’s dangerous to go alone.

But he couldn’t stay. He needed to find the shrine maidens, he needed to find the shrines. Sure, they had found some of them, but not all of them, not enough. Demise was not going to wait around until the hero he was destined to fight finished his education, in fact, if he was Demise, the earlier he picked his fight the better, as that would increase his chances of winning, which made staying around an even worse idea.

If they stuck around, he might attack the castle, and for as much as he did not agree with his mother and some of his sisters, he has hurt them enough times. Legend wouldn’t stand for any more of it.

“C’mon Legend! Stop being a sourpuss and explore with us! You’re really good at finding things,” Hyrule called to him, and Legend rolled his eyes.

“If you were looking for something then you should have brought Sky along. I’ve heard that Hufflepuff are very good finders,” Legend said as he stood up and joined Hyrule with whatever he was looking for. Wild and Warriors were edging each other to get closer and closer to the Shrieking Shack, egging each other on, and Legend didn’t want anything to do with their stupidity. There was no way that it was haunted, but on the off chance that it was, Legend wanted to stay away from it. He was so over ghosts.

“But then it’s no fun if he’s able to find something straight away,” Hyrule said, before giving a small smile to Legend, “Besides, you’re better at knowing if something will be useful later on or not, if we do find anything that is.” Legend let out a sigh as he followed Hyrule deeper into the woods but making sure that Warriors and Wild were within their sight, not wanting to get lost with Hyrule in the forest.

“What are we looking for anyways?” Legend asked, frowning when Hyrule looked away from him, seemingly looking at the ground for animal tracks.

“Something called a Blupee.”

“What the hell is a Blupee?” Legend asked as Hyrule dragged him deeper into the woods, which made Legend weary. Any deeper and they would be in the Forbidden Forest, and while it was not as dangerous as the Lost Woods, they were still dangerous enough for Legend to be weary of the steps he takes and have a hand ready to grab his wand. He was not about to die to a octorock because Hyrule was more focused on a creature that might not even exist.

“It looks like a blue glowing rabbit but it has a weird owl face and like six eyes.” Hyrule explained as he pulled Legend into a crouch and

“A glowing blue rabbit?” Legend asked, unimpressed, but he still couldn’t help the smile that came to his face when Hyrule got excited and began to explain how Wild had said that he had spotted them when he had gone into the forest last year and how they were supposed to be good luck.

Legend listened to his rant uninterrupted for almost five minutes before Hyule inexplicitly cuts himself off, before digging into his bad, breaking the silence that he had spent to long trying to create.

“What’s wrong?” Legend asked as Hyrule opened a small book.

“We need to get back to the others. They’re in trouble.”

“Who’s Zant?” Wind asked, trying to look underneath the table to be dragged back up Four while Twilight fiddled with the tablecloth so that it would hide his legs properly while still giving him a view of the bar. Zant was still talking with the barmaid, and they seemed to be having a very deep conversation.

“You know the person who just walked in? He’s currently talking to the woman behind the bar, but don’t make it obvious that you’re looking.” The background noise seemed to fade away at Twilight’s words as he captivated the rest of the table, the two younger boys now having their full attention on Twilight.

“The weirdo with pale skin, red hair and an awful choice in cloth- Ouch, why did you kick me!?” Wind exclaimed, his voice breaking as Four’s foot connected with his shin.

“Any louder and you’re gonna give him a free invite to come over,” Four muttered, his book still open on the table but now completely abandoned.

“That’s the person who’s currently in charge of the Twili,” Twilight whispered, grimacing as his voice carried further than he planned.

“I thought Midna was working on that?” Four asked as he flipped a page in his book, though if anyone who actually looked at him would notice that his focus was more on the wand that laid out on his lap.

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Okay, but why are you hiding underneath a table?” It was easy with how Wind fit in with the group to forget how young he was, and how he completely missed sharing the school with Zant and the utter chaos that Twilight and Midna brought to the school in their first year. To be fair, Four was also not at the school at the time, but that boy seemed to be able to find out anything on anyone and it brought fear to Twilight that Zant could only wish to do.

"Because he's also working for Demise, and I may have ruined some pretty big plans in first year. According to Midna, he still holds a grudge." Twilight said, his legs beginning to burn slightly at how he was crouching underneath the table. He desperately wanted to just stand up and stretch, or even turn into a wolf, but he knew that his wolf form would not fit underneath the table and the second that Zant saw him there would be trouble. They had all agreed earlier this week that they wouldn't cause any funny business today, that they would try and have a normal day. Was that too much for them to ask for?

"Oh... This is bad." Wind said as he stuffed some of his sweets into his mouth as he looked above Four's bent head, before swallowing hard and whispering "I should have just stayed up at the castle."

"Yeah you should have," Four grumbled, "But you would be complaining about missing out on the action if you had, so this does save us from listening to your complaining later."

"Okay, so what's the plan? What do we do?" Wind asked.

"Pretend that I'm not currently hiding underneath the table, but you guys should probably have your wands ready, just in case." Twilight instructed, ignoring the fact that Four had had his wand out in his lap ever since Twilight decided to dive down underneath the table. "Do not attack unless he starts it," he added on, mainly for Wind, who was always a bit too trigger happy for Twilight's comfort.

"Uh..."

"Uh?" Twilight asked, not liking the way that Four gripped his wand tighter and the sudden shakiness in Wind's leg.

"I hope you’re comfortable underneath that table, because he's making his way over." Four answered as he decided to put his book into his bag and pull out a small book and a self-inking quill. “Wind, leave the talking to me okay.” The other boy nodded.  

They lulled into a heavy silence as they allowed the noise of the pub wash over them, the people around them seemingly unaware of growing situation in the background. Twilight's legs were now burning, and he had to hold back his impulse to just jump up from underneath the booth and just attack Zant straight up. But he knew if he did, not only would he get into trouble with his professors, but he would never hear the end of Legend and Warrior's rant about 'reckless Gryffindors'. He held his breath as he spotted some boots came into his vision, stopping only a couple of feet away from his hiding spot, but that was still too close to Four and WInd.

"I don't suppose any of you would know where Link is?" Zant's raspy voice was barely noticeable over the volume, but it still managed to rattle against Twilight's eardrums.

“Which one?" Four asked as he completely ignoring Zant as he continued on with his writing. Why he decided now was a good time to be writing an essay or whatever Twilight wouldn't know. The Ravenclaw always managed to confuse him, just as he thought he knew him as well.

"'Which one?'"

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, probably not because by the looks of you it's been years since you were at Hogwarts, but there are at least a couple of Link’s at the school. Last I checked there was, like, five? But that’s when I decided to give up counting, and that was a couple years ago, so who knows how many there are now.” Four said nonchalantly, his quill scratching loudly against his parchment, and mixed in with Wind's continuous chewing, it made Twilight's ears grate.

What was Four doing?

"Well, I'm sure you know the Link I'm looking for, after all, the lovely barmaid did point me at your direction." It was hard to hear Zant over Four's writing, almost impossible, as with every word Zant said the louder the quill against the parchment became. Twilight frowned as he placed a hand on Wind's leg, trying to calm the younger down.

"I really don't, it's just the pair of us, and we don’t really answer to Link," Four said, still not looking at Zant. Wind nodded vigorously with the statement.

"I was told that there were three of you," Zant needed to leave. There was only so long Twilight was willing to wait before he decided to just try and make a run for it. He did want to be able to feel his legs tomorrow.

"There's not. Even if there was another one of us, I doubt that he would be able to help find this 'Link', especially since you haven't told us which Link you're looking for," Wind joined in, surprising everyone at his sudden contribution, but maybe the amount of sugar had finally calmed the Hufflepuff's nerves.

"You're looking for a Link? Maybe I'll be able to help?" Never before had Twilight been relieved hear Time's voice. If Time was here, it meant that he could distract Zant long enough for him to escape and hide, or maybe if he was lucky he would be able to convince Zant to leave peacefully. But he got a feeling that neither of those things would happen.

"Oh. Link. Long time no see," Was it just Twilight or was the background noise beginning to dim around them? Nevertheless, Twilight crouched lower, his wand now held loosely in his hand as he prepared to make an escape, a number of curses on his lips, just in case, watching people's legs and wondering which way out he was going to have to make.

"Now that you've found Link, can you leave? I've got work to do," Four muttered as he somehow began to write louder. Twilight was going to snap that quill by the end of this.

"He's not the right Link and you know it!" Zant shouted, and the sound of the pub went completely silent.

"One last chance. Tell me where Link is!" Waiting it out was clearly not going to work, and Twilight hated that he couldn’t assess the situation properly, his view of the bar and Zant’s feet giving him no hints as to what he should do next.

"Put your wand down, and maybe we'll talk," Sky replied, and yeah, that made sense as to why the building was acting like a silencing charm had been placed on them.

"Ava-"

"Locomotor Mortis!" Twilight shouted as he started off in a run, briefly seeing Time and Sky's surprise on his face as he dashed out of the pub, ducking as he ran through the door and grimacing as he watched a red spell hit the door frame next to him. He felt bad for completely abandoning the others in the pub, but he still had the shadow crystal around his neck, like he promised Midna he didn't let it out of his sight. As soon as he was on the street he didn't have time to think about where he would go next as he took in the scene around him. It seemed that the people that Zant had brought with him had taken Zant trying to throw a spell, or being cursed himself, as a sign to start an attack on Hogsmeade.

Along with Twili throwing spells at students, teachers and civilian alike, there were a group of bokoblins and a moblin on the edge of the villiage, but it seemed that the rest of their group were on the case, having come across the group of monsters on their way back from the shrieking shack. Which made no sense because he swore the Shrieking Shack was almost a mile away from the village, so there was no way that they would have known or heard about the attack unless they were warned ahead of time or they had decided to head back early, and having Hyrule and Wild in that group made the latter option very unlikely. Despite this fact, Twilight ran up the monsters and started his own volley of attacks, because Wild was still very reckless and often left his back open. They were going to have to sort that out soon if Wild wanted to continue to fight with them.

"Oh hey Twilight!" Wild smiled at him before taking a quick look around at what they were dealing with. Most of the Twili were being fought against the teachers and some of the elder students, Linkle was always terrifying to watch fight after all, but it seemed that everyone had silently agreed to let the Links fight the monsters that had appeared out of nowhere. Because why not, Twilight guessed it was sometime to do with the display that they put on last year when the monsters attacked the castle, but that was never a good excuse.

Twilight threw up a shield as he ran up to Warriors, while Wind legged it to the closest tree, climbing it with speed that Twilight knew that he would never be able to find in another wizard or witch. Legend and Hyrule were just a distance away, but were completely surrounded by lightning and ice, so Twilight was going to leave them to whatever they were doing, elemental magic was never his strong suit.

"Heard Zant was looking for you!" Warriors grinned as he continued his volley of spells, a mix of controlled flames and precise cuts, leaving Twilight to cast shield after shield as the horde of bokoblins continued to try and break through them with their clubs and broken swords. Spelled clubs and broken swords. They shouldn't be able to go through his shields as fast as they were.

"How did you hear about that?" Twilight asked.

"Some weird book that Hyrule and Four have. Can send messages or something."

"Convenient." Twilight muttered as he and Warrior's managed to get through the horde of bokoblins just as Legend and Hyrule finished with their light show, the last of the stragglers being taken down by Wild in his tree, leaving only the moblin to deal with.

"How are we doing this?" Legend asked as he and Hyrule ran to meet up with the other two, making sure to dodge the moblin's swinging spear. Warriors went to speak, he was the person who could come up with the best plan in the least amount of time, but before he could say anything, the moblin took another look at them before turning around and going back to the village.

“What the hell?” Hyrule said. “I’ve never seen a moblin walk away from a fight like that before.”

“What are we waiting for? We need to go after it!” Legend growled as he started running after it, leaving the others to have to chase him.

“Maybe if we’re lucky I can take a couple of stabs at Zant before he disappears,” Warriors muttered

“Not if I get there first,” Wild said, his smile looking was too feral looking to sit comfortably with Twilight, especially knowing Wild’s nature to just explode things.

“No explosions Wild,” Twilight muttered as they finally met up with Legend and the moblin. Taking a second to take in the situation, Legend frowned at how little progress he had made on the mobin whiek the others had cought up with them. That wasn’t him putting Legend down, in fact, if anyone has the most experience in the group with fighting monsters, Legend would be the first person in Twilight’s mind.

But even with his ice rod in hand, the moblin was being difficult to kill. It was not surprising to struggle against thirty bokoblins, even if they did fall to one swipe of a want, but moblins, while much bigger and stronger than bokoblins, could easily be taken on in a group of three or even four if the person knew what they were doing. And yet, it seemed that no matter what Legend threw at the monster, nothing seemed to be hitting it.

Twilight only just managed to get to the younger Slytherin in time to throw up a shield to save his stomach from being pieced from here’s spear.

“Do you have a death wish? We can help you if you just let us you know,” Twilight moaned as he started to throw piercing curses at the moblin while Legend held on the defensive.

“Would you shut it? I’ve already got Warriors on my case, go look after Wild,” Legend replid, using his ice rod to freeze the floor underneath the moblin, but it didn’t seem to be having an effect on the monster like Legend planned, as it decided to slip and go through the pub’s wall.

Inside the building that Twilight had escaped from looked more of a mess than the rest of the attacked village, tables overturned and chairs tossed to the side, and now that there was a nice big hole in the wall, the people trapped in the building were able to escape, including a frazzled Wind and a nice cut on his forehead and a calm Four, his book still in his hand and his quill thankfully snapped into two pieces. Sky and Time were holding up pretty well against Zant, but they could not hold his attention as the Twili spotted him.

Zant wasn’t able to properly react to seeing Twilight however, as everything was thrown into a blaze.

“What did I say about explosions!” Twilight screamed as he threw up a shield for him Wind and Four.

“I’ll say sorry when the explosion doesn’t save your life!” Wild yelled back as he summoned his bow, shooting towards the moblin’s feet and giving Warriors the opening he needed to finally attack the moblin’s head, leaving it to roll on the floor for a hot second before it quickly rotted before their eyes, leaving a mess of black blood.

Twilight turned back towards Time and Sky, only to see the person that they had been fighting had disappeared.

Hogsmeade was now oddly silent. Uncomfortably so. What was supposed to be a fun day for the students was ruined by the group of Links and their awful ability to attract trouble.

“Why is it, that whenever something happens, I always find you boys in the centre of it all?” The group turned to see their transfiguration teacher. Impa had a small cut on her cheek and was covered in dust, not doubt from Wild’s earlier explosion, but the glare that struck into everyone’s soul was much scarier than the battle that had just taken place. It was weird to think that such an old woman would be able to put up such a fight, but after the display she pulled off last year, well, it was easy to say that no one in their group would be underestimating her any time soon.

“Trust me, I found myself asking that question every single day,” Four replied, getting an agreement from the rest of the group.

“Hmm. Well, from what I could gather, you boys were also the ones who sustained the most injuries, the worst I’ve heard was a broken bone from Groose, but I guess that’s what happens when you all run head first into danger,” She said as she watched Wild pass a potion to Twilight and Hyrule mending the deep gash that Warriors sustained before Twilight had reached him, before turning to Wind.

“You best get back to the castle before I see you Outset. The detention I’ll set if I catch you outside the castle walls without permission can be quite harsh, I’m sure the others can tell you all about their past experiences with it.” She stated before turning away from the group to talk to one of the villagers about how best to fix the village.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wind asked before receiving a light blow to the head from Twilight.

“You’re a second year, you’re not supposed to be in Hogsmeade remember!” Twilight reminded him, his arms crossed in a way that was supposed to be a parent, but no one in their group had a proper parental figure in their life, but it was hard for Wind to take him seriously when he knew about the things that t he rest of the group had gotten into when they were his age.

“Oh yeah, I’ll meet you guys back at the castle then!” Wind said as he scampered off, but not before Hyrule handed him a potion with strict instructions to drink it and make sure he made it back to the castle safely.

“They’re getting braver,” Warriors noted as they watched Wind run into the crowd of confused and scared students.  

“Getting stronger more like. I don’t know about you guys, but I can normally take on a couple of moblins by myself without breaking a sweat, but it took half of us working together to even take down one,” Legend pointed out.

“They all had black blood, like the ones during the summer,” Four muttered as he took a closer inspection of the ground, scooping up some of the blood into an empty vial and placing it into his robe’s pocket.  

“That would be the malice, which only shows that Demise is growing stronger,” Wild said.

“That’s nothing new. He’s been growing stronger since most of us were learning to walk.” Sky muttered, his experience from the year previously coming to his mind.

“But he’s never been strong enough to help monsters to this extent before.” Twilight said.

“It’s not just the monsters. Don’t get me wrong, Zant is stupid, but not stupid enough to attack Twilight in public if he didn’t think he was going to get away with killing him.” Time added.

“If they’re going to target Twilight, who’s not to say that another one of us is next?” Hyrule said as he crossed his arms. “We’re very lucky that no one was hurt badly today, but can we say that for next time.”

“Then time is of the essence. We cannot continue to let this happen.”

“And what are we going to do? We can’t do anything while we’re suck at Hogwarts! We’ll be sitting cucoos!” Legend almost screamed at Warriors, the others jumping back in surprise at the sudden emotion from the boy. However, Warriors only smiled down at his housemate.

“Who said anything about staying at Hogwarts?”

[skiewrites]

Warnings: Mentions/References to Suicide and Self-Harming, Major Character Death

Summary: At the end of the Last Olympian, Kronos curses Percy with his final breath, to live the same fate he did, to only be able to die by his own hands.

Written for the @pjo-hoo-bigbang

(links to the art peices will be edited in when they've been uploaded)

[skiewrites]

it’s all downhill from here - Chapter Two

Fandom: Legend of Zelda, Linked Universe, Harry Potter (very loosely)

Rating: Teens and Up

Warnings: Some blood

Summary:

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year is supposed to be one filled with excitement and mischief for every student at Hogwarts, even the first and second years who aren’t allowed to go down to the village.

Except of course, the group of heroes are involved, and nothing goes right for them.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111011/chapters/55296445

“Hyrule! Did you get us lost again!” Legend shouted at the person who was now leading the group, frowning when Hyrule shook his head.

“No, I swear it’s this way,” Hyrule said as he pointed in a seemingly random direction, before frowning and turning around, pointing in a completely different direction. “Tell a lie, it’s this way. C’mon.” he said as he ran ahead, Wild close on his heels and Warriors trailing behind.

“We’ve been walking for way too long. We should have been there by now” Legend moaned as he reluctantly followed the group. Warriors waited for a second so he could walk with Legend.

“Have you ever been there bunny boy?” He asked as he messed up the younger boy’s hair.

“No, but-”

“Then what would you know about the direction? For all you know we are going the right way and you’re just being a big baby about it.” Warriors laughed.

“So, you know the way to the shrieking shack?”

“Yep.”

“Are we going the right way?

“Not in the slightest.” Warriors replied with good cheer, which only made Legend even more mad, causing him to stop in his step to look at the elder in disbelief.

“Are you fucking serious Warriors? Now we’re lost in the middle of Goddess know where. I really should have gone with the others.”

“Hush you. We’re not lost, I know where we are, but the others want to explore, they’ll get there in their own time. If we go too far off-course, I’ll point them in the right direction.” Warriors said without a care in the world. “Anyway, I need to talk to you about something.” Legend frowned at that

“So, you lied about the Shrieking Shack being haunted just so you could talk to me? You could have just said you wanted to talk without lying about something you know.”

“Oh no, the shrieking shack is haunted, and weird things have happened to students that have tried to get close to the house, but it was just an easy way to get you alone.”

“It’s not like we’re actually alone though,” Legend pointed at the other two boys, who were now trying to climb a tree to see if they could find the shrieking shack so they knew which way to go, giggling each time one of them fell out of the tree. Little did they know that there was a tree that was perfect to climb right next to them.

“They’re not listening to us, and quite honestly, they don’t care what we’re talking about right now, they’re very focused on their task,” Warriors replied as they watched the branch that Hyrule was stood on snap, leaving the boy to fall back to the ground. Luckily for him, it was not very high up, but it did leave Wild in a fit of giggles and Hyrule covered in mud.

“What did you want to talk about then?” Legend asked, hoping to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

“You know what the hat was on about at the beginning of the year don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.” Legend was quick to respond, but perhaps too quickly if the look on warrior’s face was anything to go by. “He didn’t say anything but waffle this year, nothing that we can use to help us this year like previous years, if you could even call it help in the first place.”

“I don’t know, the look on your face said otherwise,” Warriors said, before crossing his arms in front of himself while Wild and Hyrule screamed excitedly about something in the background, of which Legend ignored. “You’re not thinking of running off any time soon, are you?”

“Of course not, I’m not stupid, the hat said it would be dangerous to go alone,” Legend replied hotly.

“Hmm. So, any particular reason why you have your bag packed, ready to go at a moment’s notice?” Warriors asked, causing all the breath in Legend’s lungs to disappear.

How did he know about that?

Before he could even think of a lie to tell Warriors, the others interrupted him.

“It’s this way!” Wild pointed to the pair before he and Hyrule set of running.

“I guess we should go after them before something bad happens, though they are going the right way for once,” Warriors said as he moved to catch up with the younger boys, but not without telling Legend one last thing, “If you’re worried about something, or feel like we should leave, then talk to me, or someone else in the group, before rushing off and doing your own thing. You’re not the only hero here, remember?”

Legend followed along in silence.

The Happy Mask Store was just as creepy as Time remembered.

The walls were still covered in masks, each of them staring into the very depths of Time’s soul, but he recognised none of them from his previous trips to the shop, which left him to wonder on how many the Happy Mask Man actually had in his collection, and to wonder how many of them he actually sold, or if he just gave them away to people who were in desperate need of them like he was back in his first year.

The ones that he was given were still sat at the bottom of his chest back in his dorm, except for one that rested in his bag, weighing him down during their entire trip. He had debated bringing it along with him, seeing as he would not have much use for such a mask in what was considered a safe environment, but after what happened over the summer he found himself saying ‘just in case’ a lot more than he was happy with. He had tried to give them back to the Happy Mask Man, but the guy refused, saying that he should keep a hold of them for when he wanted to trade one for another, or when he did have a use for them again.

If Time had the choice, he would never have to see a single mask again for the rest of his life, let alone use one.

But, they did have their uses, even if he didn’t like them.

Other than the masks that lined the walls, the Happy Mask Shop was barren. There was no other decoration for the customers, if he ever got any, to look at while they waited for the Happy Mask Salesman to come back from where he went, no windows to let in any natural light and no sign as to where the Happy Mask Salesman had disappeared off to, and when he would be back.

“Man, this sure is creepy,” Sky said as he took a closer look at one of the masks that was at his eye level. It was bright yellow with small pointed ears at the top, similar to a rabbit, with the ends carefully painted in black. There was no holes in the mask, making it impossible to see or speak or even breath out of, and if Time didn’t know how the masks worked he would of wondered why someone would by a mask like this, for on the surface it seemed that the mask could only be worn for a couple of minutes before having to be taken off again so that the user could breath. The face painted onto it was rather cute though, closed eyes that looked rather happy and an adorable nose that had been glued on. Time looked below the mask at the plaque to see if to could give an insight to what it was or what it did, but only got a name for it.

The Keaton Mask.

“Ah, are you interested in that one, Link? We can always do a trade, you know this,” Time tightened his jaw as he quickly turned around, not surprised to find the Happy Mask Man standing behind him, though Sky was, jumping kin surprise at the voice as his hand went for his wand, though Time stopped him from pulling it out completely and hexing the man. Magic never reacted very well when it came to masks.

“Not today, we’re here for something else,” Time said.

“Oh really! Whatever can I do to help a hero?” The man gushed, his smile growing larger on his face.

“I’m sure that you have been following the news about the impending war?” Time asked the man, who smiled back.

“Well, if you believe if Rumour Mill, there is no war going on!” the Happy Mask Salesman gave a delightful cheer at the news, leaving Time to roll his eyes. Over the last couple of years, the Rumour Mill had only inconvenienced the group, from telling lies about their adventures, spreading false information about the dangers in the world and outright denying the upcoming war. They tried to tell people that monster attacks were the lowest they’ve ever been and not at an all time high, pass off blood moons as a natural occurrence and that demons did not exist at all.

It was a shame that most of the population was happy to agree with the paper than think for themselves.

“And if you don’t believe the Rumour Mill?” Time questioned.

“Well, if you don’t believe the Rumour Mill, all you have to go off is the whispers,” The Happy Mask Salesman

“Whispers?” Sky muttered under his breath to Time, but the Happy Mask Salesman perked up at Sky joining the conversation.

“Why yes! Many things talk in this world, Hero of the Sky. Why just the other day a Sheikah Stone was telling me an interesting fact about things hidden underneath a well.” The Happy Mask Salesman paused for a second, as if knowing that Sky was about to interrupt him.

“But that’s not what we’re asking for-”

“Underneath a well?” Time asked, cutting Sky off in a fashion that was most unlike him.

“It was a marvellous piece of information, sounds right up your alley Link!” The smile did not fall from the Happy Mask Salesman, “But like Link said, that was not the real reason why you’re here, is it Link?”

“It’s not what was asked.” Time agreed.

“It is not, but I can say that the well in question is known by a professor, though what professor I could not say, they all look the same after a while,” The Happy Mask Salesman let out a laugh, though Sky wasn’t quite sure what the joke was supposed to be.

“You heroes should head back to the others soon, I believe that they will need you more than you need me,” the strange man said, before looking back at Time. “I believe you should trade masks, Link. The one you currently have on you will be no use to you I’m afraid, but I have one that will help you out if you so desire.”

“If you think that would be best,” Time agreed with the man, and dug through his bag to take out a mask that defiantly looked like it deserved to be in this shop. It had a roughly carved round head, but unlike the Keaton mask there was parts cut out of it for someone’s eyes and mouth. There was something about it though, that gave it an aura of terror. The happy Mask Salesman didn’t seem to feel this aura, and snatched it right out of Time’s hands, though he was happy to see it go.

“Now this is a mask I haven’t seen in years! Why, you must have been ten when I gave this to you.” The Happy Mask Salesman held the mask up to the light to further inspect it, and he nodded when it passed his inspection.

“Eleven.” Time corrected.

“Yes yes, now just wait here while I look for the mask I have in mind. It was created for you especially Link, so I’m sure you will enjoy it,” The Happy Mask Salesman went around the counter and to the back of the store, leaving Sky and Time alone.

“You actually use these masks?” Time nodded at question.

“Anyone can use the masks, but I wouldn’t recommend, as they’re quite uncomfortable. However, they can be quite useful in the right situation. though, some are more hassle than their worth,” Time replied.

“How do you even see out of some of them?”

Silence echoed around them for a minute before Time replied.

“I… don’t actually know.” Time said, stumped, which confused Sky even more. He had been using them since he was eleven, meaning that he had been using them for almost about seven years now, and he never thought to question how they work even once?

“Here it is!” The Happy Mask Salesman was back, and happier than ever it seemed, his smile cutting across his face, creating a wide trench where every single one of his pearly white teeth could be seen and counted, if Sky ever had the desire to do so.

“I call this beauty the Mask of Truth, and it is one of my greatest inventions. You will find this invaluable in the months to come.” He said, before moving his head to the side, as if thinking really hard about something, his smile faltering for a second before coming back with full force.

“I believe it’s time for you heroes to go, you are needed elsewhere now. But please! Do drop in when you have the time in the new year.” The two Hogwarts students blinked and found themselves outside of the store and on the door in front of them hung a sign.

Closed. Come back when you’ve found the Truth.

“That’s not terrifying in the slightest,” Sky said.

“You get used to it,” Time replied. “Let’s go and find the others.”

Four had gotten his book, Wind had gotten his sweets, and now it was time for Twilight to get his drink.

They had managed to get a booth that they could see the door, and therefore their friends when they decide to meet up with the group, but close enough to the roaring fire that the chill of the October day was able to leave their bones. The alehouse was as lively as ever, students filling most of the tables, but Twilight could spot the occasional group of locals that mutter underneath their breath about the latest gossip or the newest headline on the Rumour Mill, and there’s a group of teachers complaining about one thing or another.

It’s a sight that Twilight was familiar with. This was the fourth year that he had been able to visit Hogsmeade, and while the pub was not his favourite place, he could not argue with the somehow nostalgic feeling that the pub gave off. Sure, he had nothing like this back in his village, the only alehouse being an inn filled with the occasional traveller and men who had finished their work for the day, but something about it screamed security, something about the fire roaring in the background filled him with warmth only being at home could do and the children giggling in the background brought up memories of chasing after the forest children when he was young enough to believe in them.

Then why did everything feel like it was about to fall apart at any moment?

“You feel it too?” Twilight looked at Wind, who was looking though the jellybeans that he had brought, frowning slightly at a lime green one before popping it into his mouth, his face scrunching up in surprise and disgust at the taste. Next to him Four was already deep into his book.

“It’s like everyone’s pretending that the moon isn’t going to fall tomorrow when they all can see it’s smiling face staring at them,” Twilight said.

“That’s oddly specific,” Four said without looking up from his book.

“So, when Time talks about fighting the moon it’s a joke but when I mention it is ‘specific’?” Twilight asked before taking a large sip of his drink. While Noble Pursuit was his favourite in the summer, there was nothing that beat a warm ale when winter was approaching their doorstep.

“There is no way that Time has fought the moon,” Four said with total conviction, like a sane person would be if they has not in fact watched Time fight the Moon, as he quickly scribbled a small note in the margins of his new book in pencil.

“Wait, Time has fought the moon?” Wind asked with childlike wonder, and Twilight was suddenly reminded that this kid was twelve. Twilight couldn’t remember what he was like at twelve, though he was sure that Time would happily remind him if he asked, but he could never remember being that carefree at that age, not after his ‘adventure’ with Midna the summer before his second year.

“You’ll have to ask him,” Twilight said with a smile, much to Four’s annoyance. Four started to speak up again, probably listing every single reason why having a fight with the moon is impossible, the door to the alehouse swung open, catching Twilight’s attention. He had hoped it was one of the others, as he was sure that they would help back him up in his claim, only to rifle Four up a little bit more.

It wasn’t one of the others, but it was someone who recognised.

Diving underneath the table, Twilight could only hope that Four and Wind’s shout of surprise wasn’t enough to catch the

“What the fuck Twi-”

“Shhhh!” Twilight hushed, cutting Four off. “Don’t look under the table, just pretend I’m not here,”

“What, Why?” Wind asked.

“It’s Zant!”

“Fuck.”