#the first 1%

[twistedteatime]

Howling Witch Teaser 1

A/N: I'm at 82k and not done yet, but I feel like sharing a smidge. So I thought I'd give a teaser just over the first 1% of what I have so far. Keep in mind it's not really edited and subject to revision. (Also: if you notice a word that doesn't fit, like a he where a the should be or something like that: It's my keyboard. It's not the best. Let me know if you find any and I'll fix it.)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC (3rd person POV)

Word Count: 861

Warnings: Talk of canon violent events? Nothing else that I can really think of. Not yet at least.

Masterlist (You'll find the main info post link there)

Cedar. No, not quite. The conifers of the Timber were far too tall to be cedar, but their scent was closer to it than the massive redwoods they resembled. At least at the bottom. Their tufts at the top more closely resembled the dense firs of what had once been home.

They cast a comfortable shade over the forest floor covered in a thick carpet of moss and fern. Their limbs and branches blocked out the sun enough she didn’t need the sunglasses perched on top of her head pulled down over her eyes, but not so much that the ferns couldn’t grow. Just enough.

Birds nested and flittered about in the branches overhead. Their songs distant due to the height they resided in. Deer meandered through the ferns, looking at her warily as they chewed vegetation. They knew she was a predator, but they also knew she wasn’t hunting them.

She wasn’t there for that.

She was wasn’t there to hunt or to chase. She never was with this patch of Timber. Others, yes, but this one…no. This one was special.

The atmosphere weighed differently. It had a comfortable heaviness to it. The same kind an understanding mother’s hug had when it came close to crushing with care, warmth, and safety. Knowing it was needed.

It made the memories rattle against their bars in her mind. She was tempted to let them out. Yet the crunching of footsteps far too heavy to be a deer and the scent of another predator approaching stopped her.

“What is it Tanis?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the tall, well-built, and muscular male that stood before her.

He was calm yet tense. At the ready. Bright amber eyes serious instead of playful as was their usual.

“We just got word. They’re bringing him out.”

“Where?”

“The States. DC.”

“When?”

“Twenty-four hours.”

“Where’s Ruun?” she asked, locking the cages tighter.

“He’s in a conference call with Leadership. Your presence is requested. They’re expecting potential problems.” He answered and continued, “Maggie says she’s got something in The Eye about Insight, too. This could be it.”

“Rogers?”

“He’s the expected problem.”

She nodded and turned to start walking out, “Tell Ruun to triple my fees then get packed. Full. Tac, two suits, whole kit.”

“Alright. Other orders?” he asked and she nodded.

“I may regret it but tell Maggie to do the same. Ruun will stay in my stead.” She added and he nodded with a shrug of his brows.

“I really hope you don’t mean to put me at the mercy of Maggie flying something.” He said and she looked at him.

“I don’t mean to, but we’ll need her.”

“Anyone else?”

“Light detail, just you two with me. Heavier detail in reserve. We’ll need it for the aftermath…however it goes.” She answered and he nodded, listening as she detailed what to expect as they left the calm comfort of the Timber, lowering her sunglasses onto her face to block out the stinging of the sun.

It was time for her to hunt.

************

“I know who killed Fury.”

That one sentence had stopped Steve long enough to listen. The Winter Soldier. An assassin with over two dozen credited hits over the past 50 years. A ghost story, yet what she said next made something in him squirm.

More than he already was.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from trying to track him down…it’s that whenever he appears…she follows soon after.” Natasha said and Steve looked at her, eyes narrowed in confusion.

“She?”

“Like I said…he’s a ghost story, but her…she’s something different. Something the intelligence community doesn’t want to acknowledge. Him? Most don’t believe he exists. Her? They don’t want to.” Natasha continued, glancing out the door before continued, “They call her The Howling Witch. She’s not human, Steve…not anymore. Rumors are that she used to be but she isn’t now. Some say she’s been active longer than he has, that her focus was on wiping out entire facilities but that it all changed around the same time he started cropping up. Some intelligence exists about her…but when I found it…it was wiped before I could even get through most of it.”

“That sounds like she’s important.” Steve said and Natasha nodded, “Does she show up to finish what he starts or to stop it?”

“Bit of both from what I saw…but if you ask me…I think she’s hunting him.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. All I got to see on those files was her codename, hit count, a huge block of black in the abilities and powers section, and a lot of fill in the blank descriptions of her encounters with him.” Natasha answered as she looked at Steve, “She’s definitely got sniper training…but as good of a shot as they say she is…she’s never shot at him to take him out. The reports always said she shot down those he was with…and they said she always shows up when he does…and she’s always gone when he is.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not but maybe we can get some answers by finding out what The Winter Soldier wants.”

*******

Masterlist (You'll find the main info post link there)

[yuttikkele]

hey gamers I’ve started watching star trek does anyone else see the romantic tension between captain kirk and mr. spock

[doubtspirit]

Knowledge Wins - Public Library Books are Free, American Library Association (1918)

[samipekoe]

when you realize

[lunathrix]

im a firm believer that little hornet was an absolute menace

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

bumblebees first day out of sublevel 50

[nenoname]

hunting down a specific image but finding miscellaneous storyboards/some cut panels from the stan comic story instead

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: 2x08 - “Killing is a Cycle”

[hinamie]

quick megumi style study

[ozymandien]

chef with a silver earring

[lazylittledragon]

dndads s1 you're so special to me

[kosmicprlz]

such fleeting moments on the surface

[almondcroissantsandink]

they slayed at the sake of my sanity i'm afraid

[inkskinned]

i hate to say it because i'm neurodivergent and a chronic-pain-haver but like... sometimes stuff is going to be hard and that's okay.

it's okay if you don't understand something the first few times it's explained to you. it's okay if you have to google every word in a sentence. it's okay if you need to spend a few hours learning the context behind a complicated situation. it's okay if you need to read something, think about it, and then come back to re-read it.

i get it. giving up is easier, and we are all broken down and also broke as hell. nobody has the time, nobody has the fucking energy. that is how they win, though. that is why you feel this way. it is so much easier, and that is why you must resist the impetus to shut down. fight through the desire you've been taught to "tl;dr".

embrace when a book is confusing for you. accept not all media will be transparent and glittery and in the genre you love. question why you need everything to be lily-white and soft. i get it. i also sometimes choose the escapism, the fantasy-romance. there's no shame in that. but every day i still try to make myself think about something, to actually process and challenge myself. it is hard, often, because of my neurodivergence. but i fight that urge, because i think it's fucking important.

especially right now. the more they convince you not to think, the easier it will be to feed you misinformation. the more we accept a message without criticism, the more power they will have over that message. the more you choose convenience, the more they will make propaganda convenient to you.

[sreppub]

jason is not immune to cat snuggles, even when the cat is his dad who he’s mad at

(continuation of my somewhat cracky cat bruce au)

[froopa-coopa]

i mean that could have gone worse