#they need her to open the door to the temple to the sacred tree

[affinitystoryblog]

thinking about penelope...

[roselyn-writing]

Please ignore last submitted post >_<

Kaui erron hanzo liu and kung lao happily married with a babe on the way when the reader is killed (assasinated or revenge killing)

A/N: Sorry for keeping you waiting! Here’s the angsty you asked for, I hope you like it <3

Tw: mentions of blood, death, grief, dismemberment.

Kuai Liang ❄️

Kuai Liang and His wife were strolling down in a snowy forest. Both were laughing, both were enjoying their time in this forest.

“What do you think of this forest?” She asked him.

“It is as gorgeous as you,” Kuai Liang cooed.

“Awwww~” She expressed, “Thank you for your sweet words,”

Kuai Liang only giggled in response to his wife's comment, Kuai Liang always tells himself that he is lucky to marry such a delicate, beautiful woman as his wife.

He would be damned if anything happens to her and he will lose himself and his mind if such a thing happens to her.

Kuai used to see himself as a flawed man until she came into his life and changed the way he sees himself. Now he sees himself as normal human being.

His wife walking towards a frozen tree. She expressed her fascination for it, but Kuai was thinking about something else. He is thinking about when they will finish the trip so they can return to the temple safely, To do stuff in their bedroom.

Then the unexpected happens, an armed man with a dagger came out of nowhere and stabbed his wife in the throat, Leaving a bloody mess on the white snow-covered ground...

He didn’t stand there frozen, he immediately takes action and killed the guy who stabbed his wife brutally, He killed him by performing his signature fatality “Spine Rip”

Kuai Liang grabbed the guy’s neck and tears out his spine and skull, The guy cried in pain as he witnessed his skull and spine being torn, then Kuai Liang formed an ice spike impaling his torn spine and skull on the ice spike.

After that Kuai rushed to his wife he knew that she is dying it is too late...

“Honey… I.. uh... I love you so much..” she murmured to him.

These were the final words of his wife. Then her glistening orbs dimmed, meaning, she is no longer alive.

“No… No…. NOOOOO” Kuai Liang cried, “No... Please... Please come back! I need you in my life!”

He shouts from the top of his lungs, He doesn’t care if people heard him. He just wants to express his sadness for his dead wife…

He gently caressed his wife's cheeks he hopes that he gains a reaction from from her but she is already a goner. He kissed her cold lips in a desperate attempt to wake her up like the fairytale the sleeping beauty.

He carried his wife's dead body with a sad face and the tears dampens his beard and face. He carried her weak, dead body near the Lin Kuei temple. Then he went to the sacred cemetery of the dead lin kuei members.

He made a tombstone for her and gently buried her there. She looks peaceful and innocent. He shed the final tears of sadness and grief.

He vowed he would never love again. Kuai Liang goes to investigate this man and who could want to hurt him? He will find out and they will know that revenge is best served cold.

Erron Black 🤠

Erron and his wife were sitting in a tavern, eating and drinking happily. Erron loves his wife so much and he will do anything for her.

“I wanna learn use the gun!” His wife said, “I wanna be a badass like you!”

Erron only laughed in response to her, he knew that carrying a gun is dangerous and require a responsibility.

“Sure thing,” He muttered underneath his mask.

All of a sudden, the tavern door kicked open, and a group of warriors armed with spears and helmets came.

“We are here for a man called Erron Black” their leader stated.

“He isn’t here,” the owner of the tavern answered.

The people are scared, Erron’s wife is scared too, But Erron, as the brash man he is, He quickly shots those warriors, he got most of them but not all of them.

The people hid under the tables and counters to avoid getting shot. Erron skilfully killed all of them but only their leader remains.

Their leader laughed as he grabbed Erron’s wife by her hair, She cried in pain as he pulled her hair.

“Ouch leave me alone!” Erron’s wife cried

“As you wish!” He muttered as he plunged his spear into her heart killing her in the process.

This shocked Erron but Erron didn’t back down, Erron engaged in the fight with this warrior. Erron used his sand bombs and acid bombs, giving him the upper hand to win and put a bullet into his skull for killing his wife.

“I’m so sorry.” Erron apologized, as he kissed the lips of his dead wife.

Hanzo Hasashi 🔥

Hanzo and his wife sitting in the fire gardens, Enjoying the garden and the tea.

“The garden is so beautiful and peaceful~” His wife started.

“Yes, It is my firefly~” Hanzo answered, “But my love~ you are more beautiful than the garden,”

His wife giggled, then she brushed a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

Hanzo is so infatuated with her; One can tell easily that she captured his heart and mind.

“Hanzo~ can you sing for me using your Shamisen? Please?” His wife requested, “I love your singing~”

Hanzo blushed madly at this and he nodded, Hanzo brought his Shamisen and started to sing a traditional Japanese song. Which His wife loves so much.

His wife was listening to him and started to shake her head with the rhythm, she enjoys his singing so much that she didn’t notice a hired assassin lurking behind the orange trees.

Hanzo didn’t notice either because he was singing and enjoying his wife's reaction.

The assassin had jumped in the air and thrown a shuriken into his wife's neck he had hit an artery.

His wife cried in pain she hold her slit throat in a desperate attempt to stop her bleeding but the damage is already done.

Hanzo quickly took action, Hanzo had thrown his infamous kunai into the assassin's eyes then he pulled his kunai with such force that he yanked the assassin. Hanzo didn’t let the assassin recover and soon Hanzo did his fatality on him.

Hanzo throws his spear into the assassin’s chest and starts overheating it. He flips over the assassin’s head and dives into the ground, vertically wrapping the blazing chain around the assassin. As he emerges back from the ground in front of the assassin, Hanzo snaps the chain like a whip, vertically bisecting the assassin’s body.

Then he rushed to his dying wife. “Please hang in there!” Hanzo pleaded, and he sobbed uncontrollably.

“Honey.. no m-matter... I love you..” She murmured.

After hearing those words and his wife is dead, he shouts at the top of his lungs.

His tears stream like a river as reminisces every memory of him and his wife sweet or bitter memories alike. It happens again his second wife is dead.

He holds his wife's dead body, as he brushes kisses into her delicate, cold skin. In a bitter effort to wake her up from her sleep.

“No… Nooooo!” Hanzo Cried, “Please! please.. tell me that I’m dreaming!”

Hanzo carried his wife's dead body and buried her in the fire garden. He knows that the fire garden is her favourite place. So, he buried her there.

“I love you... and... I will miss you..” Hanzo sobbed.

Then Hanzo goes to investigate this assassin, he will find out who destroyed his happiness and he will make them pay for it!

Liu Kang 🐉

Liu and his wife were walking on the street. They just finished eating dinner in a local Chinese diner, Both of them were talking and enjoying the atmosphere. Then all of a sudden a car collided with his wife's body. Liu immediately goes to see his wife, she was injured badly she is bleeding like a river, and she is losing too much blood.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see her!” The man apologized, “I was looking at the phone! I’m sorry!”

“Looking at your phone while driving?” Liu Kang seethed at him, he is furious at this man.

Still, the man's useless attempts to calm Liu Kang were futile in calming Liu Kang.

Liu Kang punches the man in the face with his fire abilities empowering him, and the man's head rolled on the ground.

Liu Kang carried his wife and rushed to the nearest hospital in hopes that he can save her.

It all came crashing down on him when he saw the Doctor's face. Liu knows body language and the Doctor’s face tells him that she didn’t make it.

When the Doctor left Liu Kang cried silently, he wiped all the streaming tears from wetting his face.

He remembers Raiden words all heroes suffer from tragic accidents and such.

Liu Kang started to think of dark thoughts to avenge his wife and his destroyed happiness.

He is scared of himself, how can such a bright and pacifist person like himself thinks of such thoughts.. the answer is grief. Grief makes people do terrible stuff.

Raiden comes to him and helps him to calm down, he offers him some new training to calm himself and his aching soul.

Kung Lao 🥟

Kung Lao and his wife were at a picnic. Both of them started to eat and drink juice. At first, things are fine, but now, it isn’t.

“It is lovely isn’t it?” His wife started.

“Yes, it is my love~” Kung Lao answered.

Suddenly a masked man came and shoot Kung Lao’s wife in the head, her head exploded brutally, and Blood and brain matter are scattered all around. It all happens so quickly, he couldn’t process anything, but he took action immediately for his sake.

Kung Lao shouts in pain as he used his sharp hat to chop the masked man who killed his wife. He chopped his head, his abdomen, and the hand that killed his wife.

“DAMN YOU!” Kung Lao shouted.

Neither the man nor his wife said anything, they just died quietly. In his wife's case, it hurts the most, because she died quietly with a smile on her face, Just like she didn’t know anything. And that’s why it hurts him the most.

“DAMN IT! DAMN, EVERYTHING!” Kung Lao cursed.

Out of anger, out of pain for his broken heart and pain, anyone would excuse him for what had happened to him...

He had buried his wife in her favourite place. That is her garden in her backyard.

“I love you so much... and... I will never forget you!” He sobbed.

I hope you like this angsty chapter! Don’t be shy to ask more! Like and comments are appreciated 🖤🖤🖤🖤

[therrerium-valkryonia]

Eldest Tree

The Guards of the Temple between all of the nine realms let Lilith a Elder Warrior inside the brigde to all realms because of the powers and magic with the mastery she has over had made her especially useful to help everyone of all the sacred lands "Wow I thought I'd wouldn't be let in but this is beautiful isn't it honey" As she let her hand caress her pregnant belly massaging it from the top to the underside and reached for her pussy caressing against it "You'll be here soon~ " And the ground shook beneath them as it cracked open with a light as the door closed and Tygdrasson Tree glowed as sent her to Valia- nthiem outside the temple as she walked across the green grass she held up her belly looking up as her ice-white hair was let down she look over behind her and saw the bright sun shining over through forest brushed over and saw a large and beautiful field and ran through the grassy lands and stops quickly bending over hugging her taut belly tight as a large powerful contraction "Hnngghhh!! A- aaahhhh! Oof, Wow your feisty today aren't ya?" Since she was an Elder Warrior, a powerful and intellingent race of all beautiful, powerful, smart and strong, four winged warriors she was endurant.

She massaged her belly and strolled down the fields in her iridescent roman armor as she had glanced at a ruin and went for a look she safely climbed through the rocks and pillars when all of the sudden she gets cramps in her pussy then falls to her knees as she gets hit with the worst contraction that she has had all in the morning, "Ahhh!! O- Gaaahhhh!! Ooooohhohohoho!! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Fuuckk!!" And had felt a very different pressure build up in her canal as it was strange her water hasn't broken yet but she persists and walks off she walks to find a old and overgrown statue of Athena "Wow this is really pretty and it was sadly destroyed, well that how it is I guess." And walks off while looking around she finds a pillar with engravings and suddenly falls to the floor, she hand braced the ground she held her belly as a huge pain hit contraction hit her hard, "AAAAArrghhhh!!! Aaahhhhhh!!! Oh *Huffing* Haaaaahhhhh!! Owwww!" And slowly got up and returned to Tygdrasson by walking as she didn't have the energy for flight and had entered as the tree glowed blasting her to a Val- aheim she held her belly and opened her wings to stop the fall but the wind sent her down on her belly and she slowly got up but the pain had kept her down as her baby tore through the sac brekaing her waters and the contractions and pains became strong and constant as she had pushed out of painful need "*Pained breathing* Arghh!! GAAAHHHHH!!! *Huffing* GAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" And the baby began crowning to a full circle and stretching her wide leaking fluids down her very thick thighs as she rocked her hips she placed a hand on her belly as her breath became steamy she began crying, "O- FF-uck! OH GODDDD!! S- SHE'S COMING SOMEBODY HELLPPP!!!" But no one came as she bore down in a hellish pain.

She laid her forearm on the ground laying her head against it and taking a steamy sticky deep breath then released a loud pained scream her skin drenched, tightly clenched was her fist as the baby pushed out and drooped it's head dangling between her legs as she bore with a screech "I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMOR- *Gasp* GYAAAAHHHHH!!! *Huff* cc- come on pleas- e" She crawled to a rock and letting the child slide itself out with every movement and she tried pulling heself up but the baby started to fall out and put her back on her knees leaning against the rock spreading her legs as she bore down "GYAARRRGGHHH!!! GAAAAHHHHH!!! OH GOD!! PLEEEASE!! GAAAHHHHHHH!!!" She felt the burn as the neck and shoulders released and gushed fluids everywhere and she pulled up the viking skirt and bore down really hard clenching her teeth together as the chest came put fast as she held the baby and began pullling it out and she dripped tears down her face grunting along with one more push the baby "Hnnggghhh!! M- Gyaaahhhhhh!!" And she pulled her head back holding the baby and pulling it out as her snow skin dripped in sweat and her ocean blue eyes let out tears it felt like she was in slow motion until the baby wailed and she held it to her chest cradling the young girl she named Edith feeding the child by pulling down the light iridesecent titanium plates and her leather robe off tired let her head fall back to the side as the guard came to her rescue waking her up alarmed but then very relieved that she was in safe hands.

[shivunin]

micro story prompts: 36 for arianwen, 27 for salshira, 1 for maria

Thank you!! <3 I am especially pleased with the first one c:

(Micro Story prompts)

Charm (Arianwen) 

“We do not need to open the conversation with violence,” Zevran murmured as they approached the cramped little house. 

Arianwen, who was already holding a knife in each hand, cast him a look. 

“We could try charm,” he suggested, and gestured to the house. “They may yet tell us what we wish to know; you could always save the knives for later.” 

“Sure,” Wen huffed, sheathing one blade and reaching for the door, “charm.”

Several minutes later, they stood on the porch of the small house, both of them dripping with blood. Wen wiped her face on her sleeve and cocked an eyebrow at Zevran. 

“Do not say it,” he told her, flicking viscera from his leather armor and grimacing. 

“I thought you were charming,” she told him, and pulled a cloth from her pocket to begin cleaning her knives. 

Profane (Salshira)

Salshira had snuck into this place as part of the staff—they’d looked askance at her vallaslin, but hadn’t asked anything aloud—and at last she’d found herself inside the Chantry’s grand Conclave. There were humans who’d say that just her presence in their sacred temple was a profane act in and of itself. They’d been happy enough when she was there to sweep up after the grand folk and empty their chamber pots, but the second they identified her as an interloper it would all be over for her. Nothing for it; she’d have to leave this closet eventually, or she’d miss precisely the sort of thing she’d attended to see. 

As she stepped into the hallway, the distant echo of a cry for help reached for her. 

“Please—someone, help me!” 

A woman; an Orlesian, from the accent. Salshira was running at once, the hallway blurring beneath her feet. The heavy double door resisted her efforts to open it. When they swung open at last, what she saw was—was—

profane. 

Starry (Maria)

“Are you still awake?” 

Fenris turned his head and looked at Hawke, who was picking her way through the small circle of bedrolls. He’d positioned himself at the end nearest the path, his back to the cliff behind their little camp. For a moment, Maria was only a silhouette against the starry sky, vast and looming beyond them.  

“No,” he told her. Hawke snorted a quiet laugh and settled herself next to him on the fallen tree. 

“Silly question,” she said. Fenris hummed in response and lifted his arm so she could settle herself against him. 

“Someone must keep watch,” he told her, not without regret. “I will join you when I am done.”

Maria sighed, but tilted her chin up anyway. In the moment before he kissed her, Fenris saw the scattered jewels of the night sky reflected in her dark eyes. 

Between her eyes and the night sky, he found the former far lovelier.

[songsofubiquity]

Promotion

Giselle Murkran, 771

Her heart skipped a beat as she met her own eyes in the brilliant bronze reflection of the enormous pendulum. Those lips parted in an effortless pout, intentional gaze embellished by her long shining eyelashes, it was all picturesque, as her father once put it. Just how she liked it. Her eyes traveled over the sacred artifact as she feigned a casual attitude, altogether too aware of the resounding silence of her father’s office.

Something has been different recently.

Giselle hadn’t been able to put her finger on it, but the way his gaze had lingered on her during yesterday’s convene, eyebrows furrowed in calculation, had stuck in her mind and set her pacing her chambers for hours last night. Now was the time, she knew, that he would tell her...something. Perhaps not everything, but something. All she had to do was wait.

She set one delicate foot after another, circling the artifact and making her way to the balcony. Sunlight smothered her face from its zenith in the cloudless sky, but the breeze swept up from below, whisking away her sweat before it could bead on her forehead. Here, in the center of Phoebe, looking over the town from the highest man-made vantage point in the valley, was where she’d needed to be all along. The mundanity of everyday life in the temple had no effect on that, she reminded herself. Part of the mandate of Phoebus, after all, was waiting for the moment to make the correct move, in accordance with the heavens. 

And so, all that morning Giselle had waited for this moment. Morning meditation had been uneventfully routine, as was breakfast. She’d then scribed up to the two-thirds mark on the Arachnae scroll, staying dutifully focused on the task as her father held audience with the commoners. Witnessing his poise with the people always gave her a surge of pride and determination. The two of them were always holding it together, reliable to the extreme, their work ethic always overshadowing their personal shortcomings. At least together, they could be honest, relax, and be weak, mortal fools. She hoped they weren’t tiring him out too much.

Giselle halted her foot’s incessant tapping, feeling the buzz linger in her leg. Squeezing her eyes shut against the panorama of the town, she took a deep, labored inhale before huffing the air between her lips, releasing the tension in her face and shoulders. Everything was okay. Her father would explain, just as soon as he arrived. Giselle relaxed her eyes open and drifted over the town again, mentally traveling up the mountain where the air was brisk and clear, and the trees made countless nondescript nooks where one could stand, looking up at the sky as the sunlight filtered down.

The latch boomed and she jumped, her only warning before a fraction of a second later the door behind her swung open, heralding familiar heavy footsteps and a familiar heavy sigh. “Giselle, my apologies.” Her father had arrived, but her tension remained in the room. A highly inconsiderate third-wheel, if she said so herself.

She turned and smiled graciously at him, the pendulum swinging between them. “Take your time. I can tell that recent business has made you scattered.”

Needing no invitation, he sat at his table where Giselle had set up a cup and a flagon of fine wine, and poured it for himself. He took long, voracious gulps before lifting it gently from his lips, letting the cup linger beneath his carefully waxed mustache as he inhaled the aroma and let his stress fall from his shoulders.

Giselle didn’t approach, casting her gaze back over the town with her hands clasped behind her back as he conducted his ritual.

“Thank you for the wine, doll.” 

When he finally spoke and she looked in his direction again, her father was giving her that gentle, grateful smile, and she instinctively returned it, feeling her worries lessen in an instant. “It’s no trouble. I thought the Verstadt would put you at ease.”

He leaned forward against the table and gave her a cheeky wink. “That’s my little sommelier. You know my tastes better than I do.” Finally, he motioned for her to take the other seat. “Now for the business I called you for, though these meetings rarely feel so serious.”

Giselle gave him a light laugh as she sat across from him, lacing her fingers together as she propped her elbows on the round table. “I’ve a feeling you have something exciting to tell.”

Her father smirked. “Now, I don’t count my chickens before they hatch, but you’ll like the news, too. It’s very promising. You and I both agree that Phoebe’s economic upturn is bound to keep swelling, given our neighbors don’t bring down their petty wrath.”

He paused for a reaction, and Giselle let out another chuckle and nodded for him to continue.

“It’s nigh time we reached further afield with our trading alliances. And this new prospect may offer us some tactical advantages should our rivalry become, well, less than friendly.”

This was no laughing matter anymore, as Giselle knew exactly what he was implying. Their “rivalry” was more of a deep ideological and economic feud, and they were perpetually on the edge of all-out war with the den in the mountains. While Phoebe certainly had the upper hand by measure of numbers and organizational power, the conflict not four years prior had left its scars in the town, and their people lived in fear of the phantoms in the woods. 

Her father continued, holding solemn eye contact. “As of today, we are sending with the caravan a friendly message to Melia, and an invitation to the adventuring guild. You, doll, will be their host should they accept the invitation, so we must have you prepared.”

Giselle’s breath escaped her, only for a second. Her presence at church convenes had been gradually more frequently requested over the last several months, and she’d been asked to weigh in on many an initiative she’d had no part in forming, so this new responsibility wasn’t a complete surprise. Her heart pounded. She tightened her fingers, clasping her hands together and lowering them towards her father. “Melia… I’m afraid I’m not familiar.”

Her father smiled benevolently, and Giselle’s face flushed. She looked away, watching the pendulum swing beside them as he spoke. “Ah…I forget that your geographic education is…lacking.” He gestured off at the horizon. “It’s east of here, several weeks’ travel by caravan. We will have you initiated on their customs and culture, so don’t you worry. Besides, your natural charm will surely make up for any mistakes you might make.”

She must have still looked uncertain, because he continued with a tinge of worry.

“Now, doll, have a little faith in yourself. I know that you can do this. We chose you for a reason, after all. Most of us find this sort of research dry as bone, but you can sing your way into anyone’s heart with just a little context. Is there something we didn’t consider?” She felt his gentle gaze piercing into her.

“No, it’s just that this is such an important alliance. I know that in all probability, I won’t mess it up, but, well, we both know there’s no sure thing in this world.” Nerves of this magnitude felt alien. She’d never thought that she’d rise to this level within the church. At this rate, could she reach Arch-Solaria by the end of winter? It still felt absurd, considering her youth, but the possibility was pacing circles in the back of her mind.

Her father reached out and laid his fingers over her clasped hands. “You have this. Do you feel the sun on your skin? You are in your rightful place.” His eyes bored through her. “Yes, there’s no sure thing in this world, but the will of Phoebus is absolute. Don’t let your flame waver. You’re stronger than that.”

She finally met his gaze again and let out a breath as she smiled, hesitating only a little before speaking. “Thank you, Father. I know, but the reminder is always welcome.”

He smiled back, and she felt the tension in the room lessen. “Jaya has been gathering resources for you to review. He will be at his post for the rest of today, so you may head to the library now, or anytime before supper if you have other urgent tasks remaining.”

She shook her head. “No, now is a good time.” She unfolded her hands underneath his and gently grasped his fingers, lifting them to press a kiss on his knuckles. “Thank you, Father. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were pulling strings for me, but I know this is a genuine opportunity.”

Her father chuckled. “I’m glad you know your worth. It’s very apparent to us all.”

On her way out of the chamber, the walls shimmering with golden reflections behind her, she caught her reflection in the bronze plate around the door handle. Rosy rouged cheeks, shining brow. With determination in her eyes, perhaps a bit more than warranted, she strode over the threshold, letting the heavy door fall behind her.

[sparkraptor]

Edenica, more than fifty years ago:

(It wasn’t supposed to be like this) Ellis thought. The lush planet’s soft purple night was lit up with the garish colours of fire and energy weapon discharge, and the ground rumbled from explosions like it might heave up in an earthquake and swallow all of them.

He had chosen this home site when he’d first been accepted as an apprentice at the Temple of Duras. A storied career designing the most delicate Beasts to delight and protect the populace of the Empire, and before that years as a food engineer to ensure her people would never starve had finally led him to the greatest offer any Bioengineer could hope – a residency with the Maesters of Duras, the ones who birthed Guardians.

Mira had been excited to move to Edenica, with its deep forests and emerald oceans, the glittering Imperial Summer Palace and its parks to visit.

He’d loved the work, even enjoyed working with the Dominion strangers there at the behest of Gerardus Malion, the first outsider to have somehow wedged his way into the temple. And the Dominion engineers had made some very good points. Ellis might not ever become a maester, and if he did, he would be nearly dead of old age when he did. The Empire, for all it’s glitter and glory, for all that even her lowest social classes still had plenty of food and good shelter, had a rigid caste structure – even if he became a Maester, his daughter Erin would never be above their current status – and worse, would never be over the stigma carried by her mother- half-Marach.

The Dominion was different, they said. Equal opportunities for everyone to be wealthy and powerful, and even a reformed Dolani Pirate could be a Senator. And the technology for creating Guardians, they said – it would help so many people across the Galaxy. The synths being created at Malion’s other facilities paled in comparison to the Primes they were creating here, despite the Maester’s complaints. Imagine how much better the could be?

And so he’d helped them. Helped Malion get access to the Sacred Records. Before the Maesters had driven them out and blown the wing to hell. But he’d gotten his promotion, his recognition. His own lab.

Nearby, another explosion shook the night. Marach combat frames vs. Solarae Augments vs. Dominion troops and he didn’t know who was fighting who at this point.

Worse. So much worse, Mira’s grandparents and cousins had come for what was supposed to have been a historic celebration- The wedding of Crown Prince Teran and Siera, the heir of the Marach High Technologist. Her *Marach* grandparents and cousins. It was supposed to be the start of a new era under the Dominion’s benign eyes.

Mira and Erin were in the basement, hiding with them, terrified. But alive, at least. He could use his position to…

The sudden storm that rolled across the valley startled him – columns of neon-blue lightning crashing down to earth as wind and rain and clouds fouled the skies. Ellis stared out the window at the trees thrashing in the wind. Edenica didn’t get storms this time of the year, and never like this.

A Guardian.

There were only two Guardians he knew of on-world at the moment who were strong enough to shift weather patterns. Selen and Auric. Both of whom attended the Royal family. Both of whom…

He almost didn’t hear the pounding on his door over the hail that began to crash against the villa, and heart racing he opened it, the wind slamming into him as a towering figure wrapped in rags staggered in and collapsed on the floor, curling protectively around a shivering bundle in his arms.

“Ellis Farmer, I need your assistance.” The voice was many, echoing. A Guardian’s voice. Carefully, Ellis pulled back the hood, and found himself staring at Auric’s ruined face. His long white hair was soaked with rain and iridescent blood, and it seemed like half his head was gone, a mess of delicate golden threads and unnaturally twined bone, a part of his glowing cortex revealed. “You told me where you lived…. At my last maintenance. She must. She. She. She must get offworld. Please.”

Auric twitched, trying to offer the bundle to Ellis. The child within had soft brown skin and wild dark curls, and despite everything, she desperately reached back to the Guardian. Around her neck was a sigil, gleaming in the lightning.

“MIRA!” Ellis shouted, and his wife came scrambling up from the basement.

“Princess Tara.” She breathed, tears welling in her eyes that immediately widened as she saw Auric, his one leg spasming in the trail of rainwater and blood on the floor. “Oh Sola.”

“I. I. I. Had planned. Had. Shuttle. At park station beyond your ho. Home. I cannot. Cannot. Fly. But.” Auric pulled himself up, his remaining eye bright and glowing crystal blue. “Take her. Find the Marach. She. She must. Go home. I can hold the storm a little longer to co. cover. To cover. To cover your escape.”

“But. I can’t. I’m not…” Ellis started. But Mira had already taken the child, barking orders to her family. “Mira?”

“The Guardian sacrificed itself to bring her here, Ellis! We can get off Edenica before we’re killed too!”

“But I can keep us…” Ellis trailed off. “No. You’re right. Gather everyone up and get to the car, get to that shuttle before he loses the storm.”

Mira rocked the child as Erin hugged her leg. “You sound like you’re not coming.” She said as her cousins began to help her Grandparents.

Ellis looked down at Auric. “I have to help him. I have to atone for what I’ve done.”

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 5

Through a Glass, Darkly

Welcome back to the Temple of the Earth Defiant where the girls and their magical horses (and one pony!) have found refuge from the strange, twisted, fae creatures that have been chasing them. The statue of Asha Hammerheart that Ost animated last episode is still alive and wrecking house on the remaining harpies and beasts that are foolish enough to keep fighting and the rest soon get the hint and flee. 

Ost does some healing (boosted by the ambient Hallow effect of the temple which gives everyone a short rest) and then, seeing the damage to the temple caused by erosion, starts using Mending to fix things up. Her friends help out too with Sam and Yelle being most effective--Sam by repairing water damage and Yelle by creating tree cover and other druid-y tricks. But of course, we can’t overlook Katja’s crucial addition of carving “A Horse is a Home” into one of the walls of this sacred temple. 

Anyway, the girls are nesting super hard, the horses are having their scrapbooking reviewing club (an insane thing that was established last episode) and then Sam asks a question. Did y’all mention something about a photo of me going viral? Everyone’s like yeah, but don’t worry, you looked super hot. That’s not the part Sam was worried about. What she’s worried about and what all the girls except Zelda don’t really seem to know is that Sam doesn’t really have a social media presence. So like, 180k and climbing views (as decided by a dice roll) isn’t really what she wants. She scrolls through the comments really quick and sees that they’re not awful but one person is like, “Hey that girl looks a lot like that character from that old show”. Which Sam doesn’t love. She says that she’s fine but also that, even without an Insight check, she’s obviously not. 

Sam kind of looks to Zelda to bail her out and Zelda is like, “Hey, I’m gonna delete this video.” The other girls follow suit, even though they don’t quite know what’s happening. When they have to split up to investigate, Sam has Zelda kind of bail her out again and they split up to go check a nest outside--Zelda waving off Danielle when she wants to go with. Ant and Yelle decide to check out a cache of some treasure they saw earlier and Ost and Katja stay with the horses to keep fixing the temple up. Penny initially goes with Ant and Yelle but rushes back to be with Ost and Kat when Ost discovers a hidden lock while she’s fixing a wall.

So, the girls are split up, let’s run all these scenes.

Antiope and Yelle

Ant and Yelle go see the pile of treasure (near the statue of dwarven paladin Yvonna) which they learn is like a “take a penny leave a penny” situation for weapons and items. They were left by adventures who were similarly chased here and you can take what you need as long as you leave something to help others. Like, “Oh no I only have an ice sword and I need flaming arrows.” It doesn’t have to be equivalent exchange, you just need to leave something useful.

In this space, Yelle feels a weird melancholy and like they’re within the watch of something vast and powerful. She tries to check for TK’s presence but rolls low. Antiope leaves her Kalvaxus killing shortsword and takes some really nice, white feather fledged arrows with mirror tips and an ax Kat wants as a present for her dad. Danielle takes a bandolier of potions (3 healing and 2 mystery I believe) and leaves a bunch of mushrooms. Some of them are psychedelic and Ant takes one because this is probably a good time to be high, right?

It’s not messing with her competence obviously though because she rolls a 25 on Primeval Awareness and gets a weird sense, like something is closing in on this place. And like something very powerful is bleeding, which combined with the chaos of the mountains might explain the weird harpies and the cat/dogs. But she’s high so she explains this is a very spacey, stoner way. Probably a good thing she’s with Yelle.

Sam and Zelda

Sam can fly and Zelda can basically walk vertically with her goat legs so they check out the nest. Well, ostensibly that’s what they’re doing. Really they’re just having a heart to heart. Sam thanks Zelda for saving her ass and apologizes profusely for being so short with her. Zelda gives her a huge mid-air hug and says it’s not a big deal because she knows Sam is just lashing out because she’s hurting but Sam says it’s not a good enough excuse and she’s truly sorry. It’s been her coping mechanism for so long but she doesn’t want to be that way. She tells Zelda that the Everpetals are divorcing and that she’s living alone and Zelda says that any one of the girls would be happy to have her stay with them. Sam further explains that this is a big part of the reason she’s been so broken up about the possibility of their group splitting up and Zelda immediately takes out her crystal and texts her “I’m in” in the thread, breaking Sam again. 

Since they’re in heart to heart mode, Sam tells her that she talked to her bio-mom and an agent and she’s not sure what to do. Zelda says that she’s gonna be spectacular no matter what she does and she doesn’t have to do any of them but it’s cool doors are opening for her but also Antiope and Penny are gonna be PISSED that she’s out here making side plans after she gave them so much shit for theirs. Lol, well it’s a nice moment in the meantime and we cut to…

Penny, Ost, and Katja 

While Penny is lockpicking (and also trying to teach one of the horses to lockpick because sure) Katja and Ost go talk to the statue of Asha Hammerheart. It seems to be animated with at least some level of her true consciousness from beyond the grave and that she can kind of woge into her statue when she wants, which is cool. She’s been there for like 250 years so that’s a lot of history to see. 

Ost is maybe the most polite we’ve ever seen her talking to Asha (at least to begin with lol) and they ask her about TK. Asha says she saw TK show up 12 years ago but she never left, at least not through the front door. And then about 2 years ago (right around when they were in the crystals) that’s when the harpy queen showed up. At first they were normal and then they started mutating. Also, recently, Korra (one of the other statues/heroes) saw a woman in the mountains--not TK. 

Ost then takes a page from the book of one St. Kristen Applebees and asks, “Hey. What’s the deal with our god? He never talks to us, does he just suck?” Asha--who has never talked to him even though she’s a martyred hero and literally in dwarf heaven makes some excuses for the guy but Katja scoffs at them. “If people wanna take care of you, they do.” Ost then straight up asks if Logran Soulforger is even real which sets Asha off but Ost isn’t mad AT her, she’s mad FOR her. You go and do all this cool shit to the point where you have this cool ass statue, you fully DIE for him and he doesn’t even say hi? With a 21 Persuasion check, Asha admits that yeah, she would have liked some recognition. She decides she’s gonna go do some talking to some people and leaves after getting Ost’s number but before they can ask more about the woman Korra saw (who they think is Charity). 

OK, that’s all the small group stuff! Everyone comes back as Penny finishes up with the lock and they go down into this room that’s full of polished, precious stones. This is probably where people who were upkeeping the temple stayed. While everyone else is going down, Sam feels some powerful magical pull--much like her episode 1 Lightning Lure--calling her from the top of the stairs so she goes back up. We’ll get back to her in a bit. 

Penny rolls a high check to clock what’s going on down here. First off, she finds flintlock bullets and airship uniform scraps which makes it seem like there was a battle here involving some airship guys from the Baronies. Which is not just the place of origin of Riz’s imaginary Romance Partner. It’s a cluster of nations known for high rates of monarchical turnover and renaissance style intrigue. I’m picturing just a nation of [REDACTED]s from Crown of Candy. 

With all of this stuff, Penny finds an emblem of a billionaire airship mogul named Lord Talcidimir Tallbreeze who is a friend of her dad’s. Yelle is immediately like FUCK billionaires which isn’t plot relevant but it’s nice to know she’s always on brand. 

Oh also, Penny just casually finds the Legendarium so that’s neat. 

To be safe, Ost casts Protection from Energy on Ant (who is the one who knows how to use it) and brings out her Spirit Guardian (who is a combo of her mom, nona, and Asha, with her dad’s rings). Ant checks it out and sees that there are currently no A, B, or C quests in all of Spyre. While Penny cross references the bylaws to see if there’s a way to get around this, Yelle does some druid BS that I still do not understand to use the crystals in the cave to jailbreak this super powerful magical Artifact so they can just have copies on their crystals. While that’s happening, let’s check on Sam. 

Sam goes back up the staircase where she sees Ending who doesn’t look menacing at all, just extremely sad. She’s looking out the mouth of the cave and, when she turns, Sam can see she’s crying blood. 

“What’s wrong?” asks Sam, the acid-tongued but good-hearted. “Can I help you?”

With a 25 Persuasion check to get her to talk, Ending apologizes for scaring her and her friends before. She didn’t mean to. She sometimes forgets that her very nature can be frightening and dangerous to others. She says that when she escaped, she tried to rejoin her sisters but found their mirrors shattered and them gone. Sam thought they escaped but that doesn’t make sense to Ending. If they had, why wouldn’t they have freed her as well?

Sam asks who her sisters were and we finally get true names for Ending and her sisters:

Chrona, Terra, Pyrria, Nira, Zefira, Anima, and herself, Talura (which is what I’ll be calling her now that we know). Talura is the baby, the youngest. Sam realizes she’s talking about the Eidolons and Talura seems surprised and a bit pleased that Sam recognizes them. 

Sam asks if she can hug her and Talura hugs her tightly in a very cold embrace that doesn’t hurt. Downstairs, she hears her friends (Penny specifically) freaking about about the lack of quests but she doesn’t break the hug. 

“My own sisters are struggling right now but I’m gonna stay with you because you don’t know where yours are. But maybe we can find them.”

Talura clocks that the way that Sam is being is her true nature, not the bitchiness she often uses as a shield. Then she starts to talk about her history. That she and her sisters were sealed away when the gods were done with them (Sam can relate to being used and set aside) and the only way out was death. Talura has been crying and looking for her sisters to no avail. Her tears of blood leaking seems to be what caused the monsters to mutate which is in line with what Yelle and Ant were sensing. 

Talura doesn’t think anything could have destroyed her sisters so she’s very confused. Sam offers Talura her Mirror of the Past because it almost knocked out Sam to get god-tier information but Talura presumably won’t have that problem. Talura offers her a boon in exchange for this great kindness but Sam says she doesn’t need any quid pro quo. “This is just because you’re hurting.”

Talura is supremely touched and still wants to do something for her new...friend? Sam accepts the title and says that what she needs is some help on her GED quest. Once she explains what she means, Talura again recognizes Aguefort and is like, Oh, you need a quest? I can totally help with that! As we learned earlier, these guys are kinda genie connected so it’s not super surprising when Talura very happily goes full your wish is my command.

Downstairs, a Class A quest suddenly appears in Spyre on the screen. 

Back upstairs, Talura says that it’s been too long since she got to grant a wish and seems really happy about it. Sam gives her the mirror so she can check what happened to her sisters but when she does, she totally flips out and gets super angry--not at Sam, just at whatever she’s looking at. She can hardly believe it. Sam tries to figure out what’s wrong but she just gets super big and then disappears into a puff of smoke, leaving Sam's mirror on the ground, covered in frost. 

Downstairs, the Class A quest expands across the entire globe and then the Legendarium cracks. Ost’s spirit guardian disappears because of alarm bells ringing in the afterlife. And the girls learn that a Class A quest is a quest that affects the whole MULTIVERSE. Yikes!

So anyway, they girls go upstairs to check on Sam (on a bear that Penny makes because sure) and they see that something clearly just happened with Sam. Yelle asks if she’s good and Sam is like yeahhhh I don’t think ANYONE is good right now. Sam seems like she’s about to cry and Antiope instantly forgets all the petty bullshit going on between them and rushes to make sure she’s not hurt. 

Sam gives the girls a rundown of what happened and Yelle concretely puts together what I said earlier about Talura’s tears messing with nature. 

Sam wants to check her mirror to see what Talura saw and Brennan says she can do it the safe way with risk of failure of the surefire way with risk of personal harm. She, of course, picks door 2 and rolls a 13 on her con save which means she rises into the air like Storm from X-Men, eyes wide, and then instantly passes out and goes into shock. Antiope is there to catch her as she does. 

Also, she looks SUPER hot while falling on a 31. Honestly, it’s a shame she doesn’t allow herself a social media presence. 

Anyway, we’ll get to what she sees in a bit. Yelle and Ant make sure she’s OK (she is, but the has to be knocked out for this or she won’t be able to handle it). 

Penny tells them what she knows about each Eidolon from her earlier research which is what element each goes with:

Chrona: Time (Related to astral and elemental planes) 

Terra: Earth

Pyrria: Fire

Nira: Water

Zefira: Air

Anima: Life

Talura: Death 

They also talk about TK never leaving via the front door and all this airship stuff being around. Maybe she left out the top of the mountain on an airship? Katja has the hookup with this Tal guy (she’s met him when she was younger) so they decide they need to check it out once Sam is good. 

The girls fix the Legendarium and Ost, when she goes to pray for her spells for the night, doesn’t pray to her usual god. She prays to Asha. And not only does she get her spells, she also gets a new one--Commune. 

And now let’s get to what Sam is seeing in her Vision Coma. 

She was told by Talura that the only way out of the mirrors given to them by the gods was death. And what Talura saw that drove her to do whatever multiverse threatening thing that she did was every one of her sisters walking out of their mirrors and choosing death. I will specifically highlight that the oldest sister leaves almost immediately with a small, “Oh,” of realization and Anima, the closest sister to her seems terrified before coming to a joyful realization and leaving.

And that’s the end of the episode! Join us next week when apparently there is talk of a masquerade ball?????? Brennan, you shouldn’t have!   

Superlatives 

Sam: Most Likely to Accidently Snag a Brand Deal

Did you guys ever read the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche? Where Psyche was born so hot that it was basically a curse and she was miserable because she was so hot that Aphrodite hated her? That’s Sam. She is incapable of almost dying in a non-aesthetic way. It’s like a Pantene commercial every time. This is my favorite running gag.

Random Thoughts

Man, I have so many feelings about Sam. She’s such a BITCH in so many ways but it’s so obvious that she has a good heart. Every time she has an opportunity to be nice with no gain--helping Lola find her dog, magically turning the pages for the horses during book club, fully refusing a boon from Talura--she does. And I’m glad she gave Zelda such a sincere apology and didn’t let the extenuating circumstances absolve her because she said some pretty uncalled for things. But at her core she’s so kind and I want only good things for her. 

Also those of you who know me from my FH recaps know I’m a messy bitch for sister stuff so Talura and Sam both referring to the other maidens as her sister had me dead. You can tell when something in this show is f’ing me up when I just start directly quoting instead of paraphrasing. 

Katja being richer than Helio but having no idea what any of the brands Ost is mentioning are is peak comedy.  

As is Ant’s response to the take and penny leave a penny translation from Ost, “No, Penny didn’t come with us.”

Ost: I get service in the afterlife.

You could really tell which of the players watched Sophomore Year because the Baronies came up and all of them went into fight or flight immediately. 

Very Elsa vibes from Sam during the top of the scene with Talura. (Sam is, of course, a better sister but we simply do not have time to get into my feelings on Frozen 2 right now).

I was wondering why this season was called just “The Seven” when it dropped initially. Like, was it snappier? Did they not want to use the word “maiden”? But they still call themselves the Seven Maidens in the show so it’s probably not that. Now I’m wondering if it’s just to parallel the 7 of them w/ the 7 Eidolons. 

So it seems clear based on the reactions of the first and sixth sisters that they didn’t just “go gently into that good night” as Ant would say and ditch Talura. It seems like they figured something out. Also Brennan isn’t really a “and then they all died, the end” kind of DM, you know? Credit to my friend @camwritery for getting here before I did but the gods said the only way out was death and she is death so you know? Those def seem like puzzle pieces that go together. 

The only crit rolled this episode is a 1 by Penny which she gets to reroll as a halfling. 

[grandpadaruk]

Ocarina of Time Rewrite

The Deku Tree, and Jabu Jabu were cursed by Demise.

Jabu Jabu is presumed to be under the weather for no reason.

And I think the Deku Tree's line would instead be, "Now...listen carefully...An old and great power afflicted me with the curse. It will soon take the shape of a man from the desert. You must prevent this power from taking this...the Kokiri Emerald…" in place of the canon dialogue.

Similarly Dodongos started to greatly increase in the cavern because of Demise's Influence, similar to the surge of monster numbers we see in BOTW, making it unsafe for Gorons to get their food so they closed it off to keep the infestation at bay.

See how none of this is Ganondorf's fault?

Ganondorf's tribe was afflicted with famine, and disease so he traveled to Hyrule to make allies so his tribe could survive (DESPITE Hyrule and the Gerudos history. His tribe was cut off from other Gerudo so they couldn't go to them for help. He was very desperate). He slowly became influenced by Demise's Curse the longer he spent in Hyrule Castle- because I believe the curse's focal point is beneath the castle, where Demise was once sealed. Demise's Curse only truly took control when; The Sacred Realm was opened and the Triforce split, and Ganondorf was given the Triforce of Power (Demise's piece of the Triforce).

Also, whatever Ganondorf's Coup thing that caused Impa and Zelda to run out of Castletown? Yeah no. Zelda gets the vision that she needs to leave the castle for her safety and stay hidden. Impa trusts her, and they stop by Link to drop off the Ocarina of Time.

When Link opens the entrance to the sacred realm, Ganondorf is there because Demise's influence is becoming stronger and basically puppeteers him to the Temple of Time to regain the power it needs to take over Ganondorf's body.

Post 7 year nap, Demise- in the form of Ganondorf does the shit he did. Link, Zelda and the Seven Sages defeat Demise, and Zelda sends Link back once the curse was broken for the meantime, to prevent Demise's curse rising in the first place.

He's sent back after he is told by the Deku Tree to go to Hyrule Castle but before he meets Zelda. He gives Zelda the Kokiri Emerald to keep safe, while catching her up to what happens if the Door of Time is opened. Then, afterwards Link goes to Ganondorf, gives him a warning to leave Hyrule Castle but he’s arrested by the Hylian Guard for treason. Link tries to protest but he is a child- and his accounts of “Ganondorf” causing mayhem (As told by Zelda) contradict his supposed innocence.

He helps out the Gorons, Zora and Nabooru, again, not taking the spirit stones with him but instead telling them to protect them fiercely. Nabooru isn't kidnapped, thanks to Link dealing with Koume and Kotake early. He gives her the silver gauntlets and informs her of what has happened (mildly breaks down because he couldn’t stop them from arresting Ganondorf). Nabooru and her tribe leave further into the desert to evade the Hylian Soldiers and search for help among the other Gerudo for their tribe's afflictions.

Then Link starts to get ready to look for Navi, Zelda gives him the Ocarina of Time for him to keep safe in return. He gives Saria the fairy ocarina back and sets off with Epona- who he bought from Talon (His wallet just defies time itself ig).

Then Majora's Mask happens.

[saphirered]

Hey! I hope you’re doing well. You’re writing is always great and I get excited when I see you’ve posted something new. Would you consider writing a little something with platonic Caduceus and reader where they have similar personalities and interests, but different backgrounds? Maybe the reader doesn’t have any family to speak of? I’m open to any character class or race :) thank you!

I’m doing well. I’m glad you like my writing and thank you. It’s really nice to hear people get excited when I post new things. I never expected people to like it at all 🙈.  I hope you like the way this one turned out 😘

You were typical city folk. Born and raised in the heights of civilisation; the pride and joy of the Law Bearer Erathis herself. Raised at the temple of the Raven Queen as a foundling the clergy were the only parental figures you knew and they were hardly parents. Your relationship with them is less of a parent-child dynamic. They were your caretakers and supported which is more than a lot of people can say but you missed out on parental pride, love and the ability to confide in someone in such a way. You missed out on the relation with siblings. No running around the hallways of the temple, no secrets between just you and them, no protective older sibling or a younger one that gets away with everything. You had no weird aunt or uncle to tell you ridiculous stories or take you on adventures every so often like the books you’d read as a child. 

Your childhood never bothered you because it was good and happy, just in a different way. You found a mother figure in the Matron. You’d get dreams sometimes, waking up with a single black feather on your pillow. She gave you an appreciation of all things living. Death is a sacred thing but it’s the life that counts. You made it your goal to nourish that what needs a little extra attention and preserve what can be saved before its time, conforming to the natural order. The Matron of Ravens taught you death is just as sacred as life and so you valued it and vowed to upkeep her commandments and preserve that natural order of life and death. 

As a child you spent much time within the public parks and gardens. You had an affinity unrivalled. Making flowers blossom in spring and keeping the branches and roots healthy during the colder months, curing diseases, healing ailments as well as returning to the earth what once came from it upon the passing. When you were old enough these habits carried over to ‘living things’; a term you had to disagree with because all that grows lives. You became part of the clergy and continued your life within the temple of the Raven Queen. 

You were never confined to the temple life. Your work took you far and wide, your expertise wanted by the many. You had tended to the ailments of kings as you had commoner, treating no different. You had tended to the pristine gardens of royalty as you had the fields of a farmer. In the eyes of the natural order all lives are equal in the end and so you treated them in life. 

When a group of strangers came knocking at your door looking for an expert you were surprised by the colourful bunch on your doorstep but heard them out regardless. You were faced with the story of a cursed forest, a sanctuary of the natural order to be disturbed, a family missing and a new one found. A story of beacons of endless stars, possibilities and souls of the preserved to be reborn, conflict, war and death. Stories of salvation, resurrection, a fight to preserve the natural order and save the lives of the many. Stories far and wide yet to be told.

You were needed. Your expertise was needed and when a raven landed on your windowsill staring at you, studying you and awaiting your response you knew it was time to leave behind the life you knew and venture into a strange new world of adventure and the unknown. How could you turn them down? Your help was needed and while the venture might be a bit longer and much riskier than your usual ones, the task remained the same. You’d travel with the Mighty Nein for a while and aid them for however long they needed you. 

You grew to love the Mighty Nein like the family you never had but you have to say from the very beginning you felt a natural gravitation towards the colourful firbolg, a radiance akin to that of the life you vowed to preserve. Caduceus did not hide he felt a same sort of gravitation towards you. The two of you were often paired together on watches or went out together to stock up on supplies for the road, spell components and the likes. The two of you while at first glance are day and night, as your respective deities are when compared, but those who look closer know you are in a way, one and the same. 

You’re sitting on the jungle floor eyes closed listening to the nocturnal critters make their way through, searching for food, hunting and finding their hideouts, burrows and nests before the sun rises and morning comes. A smile on your face, as you take everything in over the soft snoring and slight twisting and turning of some of the Nein. You hear someone sitting down next to you. 

“Good morning.” You say peaking through one eye seeing the pink haired firbolg cup of tea in hand. The two of you had always been and probably always will be the early risers of the group. Old habits? Perhaps so.

“Ah, it is, isn’t it?” He offers you a cup of tea. You take it with a quick thanks blowing away the steam and cool it down a little before you take a sip. A good cup of tea never fails to wake you up properly. 

“How are you feeling? Getting closer to where the Wild Mother has been sending you?” The two of you look out seeing the first light barely bleed through the trees. Caduceus waits a little before speaking, contemplating his answer. His brow furrows. 

“I’m unsure.” Caduceus mentally retreats just a little bit, watching his expression you can see the thoughts rush through his head. You know he worries for his family and how you might find them. A lot is unsure at these times. You can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst but you have faith. 

“You’re worried, for your family. For what might have become of them?” He gives you a bit of a smile and nods. It’s clear Caduceus hasn’t directly been faced with the notion of mortality in this sense close to home whereas in any other situation he’d be fine. 

“I’ve been waiting to see them for a long time. While I trust the Wild Mother’s path, I can’t help but find myself doubting if they are well.” You try to find a way to best approach his concerns and ease his mind. The words of comfort either of you would offer to those coming into your respective places of worship do not apply to this situation nor would they be particularly helpful. You’re not dealing with the dead, just the possibility of death of loved ones. 

“You trust her path and you believe she’s at your side?” You ask deep in thought as a light breeze rushes through out of nowhere. The Wild Mother must be listening. Caduceus relaxes a bit more knowing she’s there. Despite what some may think, the breeze may just tell you what you need to know.

“Yes. I believe so.” He smiles watching the leaves blow, the breeze being carried away into the distance of the early morning jungle, a couple of birds scattering as it comes along. 

You take a moment, close your eyes and reach out your senses sending a little prayer to the Raven Queen. You’re met with a sense of warmth, a soft cawing of a raven flying away and a small light in the darkness. 

“Then they’ll be alright in the end. I don’t sense my Matron’s presence in relation to you. You’ll be reunited with your family once more.” You interpret the signs she shows you. While they might not be a certainty you have faith she would not let you down.

“That’s nice.” You return to staring into the jungle in comfortable silence for a while. 

“What do you miss the most? About home and your family I mean.” You ask a bit out of the blue but you couldn’t help yourself wondering with everything drawing closer and the uncertainty of how you’ll find the Stone family, and what you’ll encounter there. 

“Old habits. The people. The simplicity of life. I’d say the piece and quiet but that wouldn’t be entirely true. Just different kind of noise. You know what I mean.” Caduceus reminisces, dopey smile returning at the memory of his family. You’ve heard some of the tales of his shenanigans when it comes to his siblings. He’s confided in you and you vowed to keep those a secret. Who knew Caduceus could be quite the prankster?

“I don’t actually. I never had a family like yours. The Mighty Nein is the closest I’ve ever gotten to the meaning of a family.” You look over to the sleeping shapes. You wouldn’t trade them for the world but can’t deny it’s still not the same. The others can attest to that. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I apologise if I offended you.” You smile at him. You’d stated before you loved your found ‘family’, the clergy but they were never your real family. It just hadn’t come up your dynamic with them was not the same as a more typical even dysfunctional family. 

“It’s quite alright. I never knew my birth family. I knew the clergy at my temple and that’s alright. I always wondered what it would be like to have parents to confide in, siblings to spend time with, perhaps even share interests with and people who love me unconditionally, people like me but also not. Do you get what I mean?” Caduceus nods in agreement and thinks for a second.

“I understand. Though you might come to take back the part about wanting to spend more time with siblings. They’ll grow on you like ivy in places you don’t want it.” He laughs a little and you join him. 

“They can’t be that bad.” You joke the both of you laughing as quietly as you can trying not to wake the others up. 

“I’d love to meet your family. From what you’ve told they’re wonderful.” 

“They are, in their own ways but don’t tell Calliope I said that.” Caduceus bumps your shoulder and you bump back finishing the last of your tea. You’ve heard enough tales of Calliope to know you better not tell her or she might never let Caduceus forget he admitted it so openly to someone else outside of the family. 

“I’m sure they’d like you too. If you wanted to you could come back to the Blooming Grove with us one day. Clarabelle always wanted another sibling. She thinks Calliope is a bit too stoic. The two of you would make great friends.” Caduceus finishes his tea and you’re a little taken aback. You look for any kind of jest. He must be joking right?

“You’re serious?” Caduceus laughs a little at your reaction. 

“Unless you don’t want to. I think you’ll fit in right along. Our ancestor used to be a champion of the Raven Queen. She might appreciate the return of a new Clay. Not by blood but by heart.” You recall the story he once told about the champions Stone, Dust and Clay of the Matron. You feel a pull in your heart out of nowhere and swear you hear a raven’s caw in the back of your mind. She’d be satisfied. 

“I’d like that very much if they’ll have me.” With Caduceus reassurance his family would very much like you and get along with you you’d see where this would go. Perhaps you would become an unofficial Clay. Your friends are just your chosen family after all so why should it be different? 

You’ll see where your path leads and you’ll stick with Caduceus until either of you grow tired of each other. Not that either of you see that happen. You’ve grown thick as thieves to the point where you could call yourselves siblings. If the two of you claiming yourselves siblings extends into his family then you’d love nothing more. 

A place. A purpose. A home. You’ll have to put the world back into tune first but once the Matron and the Mother call you both home you’ll stick to the path until homeward bound you both be. Both of you lost in thought come to the same conclusion. Caduceus pours the both of you some new tea, cooling it down a bit you both take a sip.

“That’s nice.” You say in unison watching the nocturnal critters go to sleep and the early risers come out and go about their daily business. 

[affinitystoryblog]

🎽, 👜, and 🦁 for Penelope?

🎽 What kind of clothes and shoes does your OC typically wear? Is there a particular fashion or reason behind why they choose those clothes?

i actually have a pinterest board full of her fashion!!

just some examples of her aesthetic. she's a fairy so of COURSE i gave her fairycore fashion lolol. i do want to keep her tiny like a traditional fairy, so some of the doll clothes in here work rly well. here's a link to the board itself! https://www.pinterest.com/mikoriinm/penelope/

👜 What are the items that your OC typically carries in their pockets or bag? Does your OC have any items that have special or personal meaning?

so this one is kind of hard to answer because she's...well, a tiny fairy haha this does make me think a bit about her powers tho, like maybe she's able to summon certain things she needs? lore wise, the ancient fairies protected and nourished the sacred tree, they have elemental powers. penelope's character arc is gonna be her awakening these powers in herself so she can open the door to the temple where the sacred tree lies. so uh...yeah i did not answer this question because she does not carry a bag lolol

🦁 Does your OC follow a moral code? Have they ever broken it, or been challenged by it?

oooo a rly good one!

so, penelope's character is very peppy, cheerful and innocent. i think i might change her backstory (which was only thought about in passing anyway) to fit this personality, and i do have ideas. but because of her innocence, her moral code is kinda "everyone is kind if you are kind to them" so she always tries to learn and understand even though she doesnt rly know what its like to experience the whole range of emotions. she's not emotionless, but she was stuck in The Inbetween with Asmund for thousands of years as the only fairy in existence, so she kinda only has asmund to go off of hahaha

i definitely want her to be challenged by her own faith in people that may not be there, like Demetria. because even tho penelope is a major character in book 2 and demetria isnt necessarily the villain for book 2, i still wanna do stuff with her because she's awesome and has So much potential as a villain.

OC ask meme

[blackjacktheboss]

“Are you warm enough?”

this super got away from me and I did not proofread so please keep any typos you find your yourself lmao 

Percy sticks two logs into the fire and takes his seat next to Annabeth, wrapping his arm around her. “Are you warm enough?”

She nudges him as she laughs. “For the millionth time, yes. I’m fine!”

“I still think you should go to bed,” he says, despite the fact that he is pulling her closer to him. He places a kiss on her cheek. “I can finish tonight’s watch by myself.”

“I’m not leaving you alone on the solstice,” she says as a shiver runs through her. She tilts her head up. “Besides, the stars are far too beautiful.”

Percy follows her gaze and smiles at the millions of speckles of light that mark the night sky. “None as beautiful as you.”

“For a man who was chosen at birth to take a sacred oath and live his life in isolation, you are quite the romantic.”

“Do you wish me less romantic?” Percy asks, his eyes tracing Annabeth’s silhouette.

Annabeth turns to look at him and lightly shakes her head. “No. I wish you exactly as you are.”

Percy smiles, but as he leans in to kiss her, the trees just in front of them begin to rustle.

He jumps to his feet and draws his sword, which had been resting at his side, and slowly  walks around the fire towards the noise. He hears the sounds of Annabeth taking out her dagger behind him and takes a calming breath, reminding himself this is what he has been training for since he was twelve years old.

“Remember,” he says over his shoulder.

“No getting stabbed, I know,” Annabeth drones, and he can practically hear her rolling her eyes.

“I was going to say protect the Temple at all costs.”

“Oh,” she says. “Right.”

“But also, do not get stabbed again.”

The rustling in the trees grows louder and as Percy readies his stance, a small figure stumbles out of the forest.

They wear a brown cloak covered in multicolored patches, and it has a hood that hangs over the top of their face. A wrinkled hand rests atop a gnarled cane and a satchel is slung across their front, though from Percy’s view it looks empty.

“Hello, young man,” they say in a rickety voice. They pull back their hood and reveal the face of an old woman with kind chestnut eyes and thin brown hair that is pinned back. “Might you have some water and spare food for a weary traveler?”

Percy stares at her from a moment, a small voice in the back of his mind whispering something about her that he can’t quite make out.

“Young man?” she repeats.”

Percy shakes his head and puts his sword away, standing tall. “Of course we do. Please, miss, join us at our fire.”

She sits against a log, putting her diagonal from Annabeth who watches her skeptically while Percy goes to fetch the food and water.

“I bear no ill will, child,” the old woman says, holding her hands close to the fire.

“What brings you out into the woods all by yourself?” Annabeth asks, wrapping herself back up in the blanket.

The old woman sighs and rubs her hands together. “The solstice is a magical time. One never knows what one may find if one is only willing to look for it.”

Percy returns with a pail of spring water which he places next to the woman, and a bag full of food that he hands her. “Hopefully this is enough food to last you through your travels.”

“You are too kind, my son.”

“Not at all,” he says with a smile. “Do you have a canteen you can fill?”

The old woman sips from the ladle in the pail and shakes her head.

“I can fashion you one before you go,” Percy says. “One must always travel with water.”

“What gods do you worship that you would show an old stranger such kindness?” the woman asks as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Annabeth asks pointedly, clearly suspicious of the stranger.

“I await no reward, if that’s what you’re asking,” he answers. “In this life or the next. I simply extend the kindness I would hope to be shown.”

The old woman winks at Annabeth. “You have found yourself a good man.”

Annabeth blushes despite herself. “Of the highest order.”

Percy scrunches his nose up at her before turning back to the traveler. “You may stay as long as you like, as our guest, but I must warn you this part of the woods can be quite dangerous. It may be best for you to leave as soon as you have had your fill of food and drink.”

The old woman smiles as she pulls a loaf of bread from the bag and breaks it open. She places one half to her nose and inhales deeply before tossing it right into the fire. “As long as I walk under the gaze of the moon, no mortal man may harm me.”

“What luck,” Annabeth says facetiously and Percy nudges her with his shoulder.  

The woman laughs. “It is good for a woman in this world to protect herself with wit and anger. Some days, those will be the only things on her side. No one knows that quite like you, Annabeth.”

Annabeth and Percy’s bodies tense in unison, and Percy’s hand slowly moves towards the hilt of his sword.

“Didn’t you hear me?” she says, not looking up at either of them. “No mortal weapon shall harm me while I walk under the light of my sister’s moon.”

“Your… sister’s… moon?” Percy repeats slowly.

“Do not fear me, Percy. It is in my name you hold this vigil, after all,” the woman says, looking Percy in the eye.

Percy’s mind flashes back to the night of his twelfth birthday, when the priests arrived at his village to begin his training. They sat at this very fire, and when Percy looked into the flames, the same eyes he sees now were the very eyes that stared back at him then.

“Lady Hestia,” he says, his voice barely audible over the crackle of the fire.

Hestia smiles, childlike and bright as her wrinkles and the exhaustion evident in her body melt away. Her cloak remains the same, save for the multicolored patches all seem to have a golden sheen to them in the light. She sits up straight and stretches towards the sky. “I am so proud to have a champion with such a kind heart,” she says happily. “And that he has a companion as equally skeptical. Balance is so important in these matters.”

Annabeth blinks slowly as she tries to process what is happening in front of her. “I was rude… to a goddess.”

Hestia waves Annabeth’s concerns away. “I am not nearly as tempestuous as my sisters, dear girl. As I said before, I bear no ill will. In fact, I have been watching you two for quite some time.”

Percy and Annabeth look at each other, and both begin to turn red.

“Not like that,” the goddess assures them. “I mean I have been evaluating to see if you both are ready for what must be done. While I do wish there were more time, events have already begun to unfold that I’m afraid put as at a bit of a disadvantage.”

Percy looks to Hestia, then Annabeth, and back again. “Lady Hestia, I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I bring you two a quest,” she whispers.

Annabeth’s eyes light up at the word quest and she places her hand on Percy’s knee. “What kind of quest, Lady Hestia?”

“The dangerous kind,” the goddess whispers back.

Percy shakes his head. “I took a vow, Lady Hestia.”

“One you have already broken, my child,” she says with a pointed look between the couple. “Many times over.”

Percy blushes again, closing his eyes to refocus. “I am not to leave the hallowed grounds that mark the entrance to your temple. I must not leave, in retreat or in pursuit of enemies, no matter the circumstances. I may not see my mother’s face again until my watch has ended. I must live here, with nothing but the company of the marble doors and I must never, ever enter your Temple or I will face an unimaginable punishment in the Underworld. I have trained since  I was twelve and held this post since I was sixteen. Even with Annabeth here, and the life I dream of having with her, I have protected this place as I swore to do all those years ago. I have given up my life in your service, Lady Hestia, and now you would ask me to forsake all of that?”

Hestia looks at him, her expression blank. “Yes.”

“I can’t,” he says plainly.

“Percy, my priests are all dead,” she says, her eyes suddenly full of sadness. “Everyone who had a hand in training you, slaughtered by the forces that would add your body to the pile without a second thought. I do not wish that fate for you.”

Percy looks to Annabeth as panic rises in him. “You have to go,” he says.

“I’m not leaving you,” Annabeth answers. “We leave together or not at all.”

“Annabeth-”

“If you tell me one more time that you took the vow and I didn’t, I will kill you myself. I will not leave you, Lady Hestia as my witness.”

“I do not ask this lightly,” Hestia says. “But I do ask it.”

Hestia steps forward then, and places her hands on either side of Percy’s face, and his eyes flutter shut. Percy feels his face grow warm as he has visions of himself as a little boy hugging his mom, and again as a grown man. He sees himself building Annabeth a house by the sea, the one she has described to him a million times over, and in that house he sees him and Annabeth having a wedding, and children, and so much happiness he could burst. He sees them all near the sea, dancing in its waves as the sun glows above them, and he feels a peace that he has never felt before settle over him.

When he opens his eyes, he feels the tears that are running down his face.

“That is a beautiful life you have dreamed, Percy,” Hestia says. “Hearth and home are what keep us anchored in the storm of the world. You have pledged yourself to me, and even now you honor my name. But if you do not take up this task, I am afraid you will die here, also in my name, having lived a muted life. And dear hero, please hear me when I say I do not wish that for you.”

“Percy,” Annabeth says, and he feels her hand slip into his and squeeze. “Whatever you decide, I am with you.”

Percy squeezes her hand back. “Until the end?”

“In this life and the next.”

Percy turns back to the goddess and swallows hard, his hand still squeezing Annabeth’s. “Tell us what you need us to do.”

[beybladefanfictions]

Beyblade One-Shot: Constellations

(Author’s Note: Yeah, this is really random. I got this idea of Ryuga and Kenta looking at constellations together and thought it would make a cute one-shot. This takes place in my fanfiction’s continuity after what is currently the newest Ryuga x King chapter: A Departing Battle, but this was written recently while those chapters are a month old now. This isn’t needed to understand anything going on there but I thought it was cute so I’m publishing it on its own. Anyways, enjoy!)

Ryuga’s POV

The night sky glistened through the treetops above Ryuga as he made his way through the familiar forest. A cool night breeze blew his white jacket back and forth. A peaceful aura surrounded him. The only sound was the slight ruffling of the leaves and Ryuga’s footsteps.

Ryuga suddenly stopped. Around him, the trees parted, allowing him to see the stars in all their glory. Without those irksome city lights, the stars glowed much brighter, like specks of gemstones, and more colours glowed around them. Ryuga had a contempt for big cities. They were generally loud and packed and their light tainted this beautiful night sky.

A new sound suddenly filled the air. Footsteps.

“Ryuga?”

“Hm?” Ryuga looked over his shoulder. Kenta was walking toward him, holding out a flashlight.

“I figured you’d be here,” Kenta replied, lowering the flashlight as he went to stand beside him. “What are you doing out after dark?”

“Getting fresh air…” Before Kenta could reply, Ryuga added, “Calm down, your parents know where I am.”

“You told them?”

“Mhm.” Ryuga nodded.

“Okay…” Kenta muttered to himself. “Good…” As Kenta texted his parents, Ryuga looked back up at the sky.

“Are you… looking at the stars?”

Ryuga looked away. “…maybe.”

He’d never told anyone about this appreciation of his. It probably seemed strange for someone like him to appreciate something like this.

Kenta smiled. “Do you know any of the constellations?”

“Just Draco,” Ryuga replied, with a shrug.

He had to admit he didn’t really see the point in assigning shapes to stars that were in reality, billions of kilometres away from each other. Why not just appreciate their beauty for what it was? There was no point in assigning silly stories to all of them. Still, Ryuga obviously knew about Draco, the constellation his bey, L-Drago, was based on. He could even see it now. The head was a small triangle and the body was the long twisting line of stars behind it, as if it were twisting its body around the way an Asian dragon would.

“Not even Sagittarius?” Kenta asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sagittarius?” Ryuga froze. That’s right: Sagittarius was a summer constellation as well. He scanned the sky. However, he didn’t even have a basic idea of what the constellation was supposed to look like.

Kenta chuckled. “It’s right there.” He pointed at the night sky, forming some complex shape with his finger as if tracing the stars.

Ryuga tilted his head to the side. “Can you be more specific?”

“Here…” Kenta sat down on the ground. Ryuga sat next to him without a second thought. “Right there.” He pointed again. “That open triangle part is the legs.” He moved his finger up. “That long line is the body. Then that part is the arm and the part that goes out in the three directions is the bow.” Kenta held his hands out like he was holding a bow.

“Looks like a bunch of dots to me,” Ryuga grunted, his eyes narrowed.

Kenta shrugged. “Madoka showed me that one in Koma Village,” he informed, gazing at him with a smile. “Since then, I’ve been really interested in constellations. During the World Tournament, when I was left at home…” There was a pang of sadness in his voice at those words. “I started studying them since I had so much time. I can name most of the major ones.”

“How do you remember all that?” Ryuga asked, admittedly a little stunned. 

“Well almost all of them have Beyblades based on them,” Kenta explained, looking back at the sky. “So I remember that way. Like right there…” He pointed at a cluster of stars that formed a triangle. “That’s Aquila, like Tsubasa’s Earth Eagle. I remember that because the corners of the triangle look a bit like wings and that one can be the head.”

Ryuga gazed at his friend silently. *Is this where these constellations came from? The mind of a child?*

“Seems like a stretch,” Ryuga replied with a shrug.

“Oh, come on, Ryuga,” Kenta nudged Ryuga’s shoulder. “You have no imagination.”

Ryuga rolled his eyes. “What are the rest of these?” he asked, laying down in the grass.

Kenta laid down as well. “Well…” He searched the sky for a few moments. “There’s part of Aquarius. It’s a little harder to see in July but you can see the tail part.” Kenta trailed his finger over the stars as if he were drawing a line on top of them to connect them.

Ryuga looked away. Aquarius… it was the constellation of the bey, Aquario. The one blader Ryuga knew with an Aquario bey was Hikaru. Guilt pricked his heart.

“Ooh!” Kenta perked up. “There’s Cygnus! The swan constellation.” Kenta gazed at Ryuga with a smile. “Fun story about that one, Yuki and Gingka told me how that constellation helped them find one of the Legendary Bladers by pointing the way into a temple.”

Ryuga raised an eyebrow. “A constellation did that?”

Kenta nodded. “Yeah, there were these rock pillars in front of it, right? And to open the door to the temple, Yuki had to fire his bey through the pillars with holes, forming the shape of the Cygnus constellation.” Kenta sighed, lying back down. “I wish I could’ve been there to see that.”

Ryuga’s jaw clenched. “No, you don’t.”

“Huh?” Kenta sat up again, tilting his head to the side.

Ryuga looked away, surprised at the jealousy that had suddenly pricked him like a needle.

“If you’d stayed with them, you never would have been friends with me,” Ryuga grunted, his fingers digging into the dirt.

Although Ryuga still somewhat resented how soft Kenta had made him, the idea of them never being friends made him feel sick.

“Right…” Kenta put his arms around Ryuga in a small hug. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I’m glad I followed you, and I’m glad we’re friends. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Ryuga relaxed a bit. Kenta let go of him after a few moments, looking back at the sky.

“Um…” He gazed at the sky for a few moments in silence, as if searching for something to talk about. “There’s Pegasus…” He pointed to it.

“Pegasus? In Summer?” Ryuga was stunned. He was sure Pegasus was an Autumn constellation. Wasn’t that the reason Gingka was picked as a Legendary Blader?

“Yeah, you can see it as early as July,” Kenta answered with a nod. “That square is the body, those two lines are the legs, and that curved one is the neck and head.”

“Where are the wings?” Ryuga grunted, annoyance slipping into his tone. “That’s the whole point of Pegasus.”

Kenta shrugged. “Maybe this Pegasus doesn’t need wings to fly, like your L-Drago.”

“Pegasus means winged horse.”

Kenta smirked. “And dragon means winged lizard.”

“No, it doesn’t!” Ryuga blazed with indignation. How dare someone call his L-Drago a mere lizard?!

Kenta giggled into his hand. “According to America, it does.”

“Well, we’re not in America.”

*Thankfully,* Ryuga bit back the word as he remembered King, who had recently returned to America. He looked away, his heart aching.

“Anyways…” Kenta looked back up, pointing at the sky. “And there’s…” He suddenly froze, his eyes going wide.

Concern swept over Ryuga. “What? What is it?”

“S-Serpent…” Ryuga’s heart skipped a beat. “Er- Serpens. The… the snake constellation.” Kenta was suddenly shivering. He turned away, rolling over onto his side.

“Kenta?” Ryuga scooted closer.

His friend wasn’t meeting his gaze. Ryuga knew exactly what Kenta was remembering and that same memory made Ryuga’s blood boil. He opened his mouth to speak.

“I…” Kenta’s voice was weak. “I know I defeated Reiji and everything but…” He wrapped his arms around himself. “He still freaks me out. So many bad memories…”

Ryuga put his arms around Kenta, pulling him into a hug.

“I know,” Ryuga’s voice was soft. “It scared me too.”

Kenta looked up at him. “But you said yourself he can’t do a thing to you.”

“It wasn’t myself I was worried about,” Ryuga replied, pulling Kenta into his chest. “It was you being hurt.”

Kenta returned the hug, letting out a small sob. After a few long breaths, Kenta let go, shuffling away to gaze at the ground. Ryuga froze for a moment. He needed to get Kenta’s mind off that battle…

“What’s that one?” Ryuga nodded in the direction of a zigzag formation of stars.

Kenta glanced at it. “Oh… that’s Cassiopeia… I… don’t really know anyone with a bey like that.”

“Cassiopeia…” Ryuga dipped his head. “The queen from Greek mythology.”

“You know Greek Mythology?” Kenta asked, turning to him.

Ryuga shrugged. “A little. Cassiopeia boasted about… something so Poseidon turned her into a sea monster.”

Kenta raised an eyebrow. “Well, that seems like an overreaction.”

“Everything in Greek mythology was an overreaction to something. Zeus sees anyone? Has… kids with them. Poseidon loses a duel? Curses the city into a drought. Hades sees a pretty girl? Kidnaps her. Athena sees a woman in her sacred temple? Curses her to be a Gorgon. It’s ridiculous.”

“What’s a Gorgon?”

“It’s what Medusa was.”

Kenta flinched. “Wait, Medusa was cursed to be like that?” Ryuga nodded. “Oh…” He looked away. “That makes me feel a little bad for her.”

Ryuga nodded in agreement. He and Kenta looked back at the sky.

“You can’t see all of it but there’s Libra.” Kenta pointed at another cluster of stars, near the edge of the glade. “It kinda looks like a diamond during this time actually.”

Ryuga could see that. He stayed silent as Kenta pointed out more constellations.

“There’s Capricornus, it looks a bit like a goat’s head. And Scorpius…” He moved his finger back and forth in a line. “You can see the stinger. Oh! And of course Hercules, the hero from the Greek myths.” Kenta glanced at him. “Know anything about him?”

Ryuga shrugged. “Just that Hera hated his guts.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. The Gods were all jerks. Besides Artemis. She was unproblematic.” *And awesome,* Ryuga thought to himself. 

Kenta raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t she hate men or something?”

Ryuga nodded slowly. “Completely unproblematic.” He couldn’t stop himself from cracking a smile at that.

“Ryuga… you’re-you’re a boy…”

Ryuga chuckled. “Boys are the worst.”

“Ryuga, you’re gay.”

Ryuga glanced at his friend with a smile. “Then surely I know better than anyone?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Ryuga and Kenta both chuckled.

Then Kenta let out a yawn. “We should start heading home,” he replied, standing up. “It’s getting late.”

Ryuga nodded, standing up as well. The two of them walked back to the house in silence.

[kylo-hen]

Super Bloom Part 2

A/N: A lot of you guys seemed to like the first part and I don’t think I ever really intended on it being just a one-shot! Here’s part 2, let me know what you guys think and if you have any feedback! I would love to talk to you about Kylo, or any Adam character in general. Thanks!

Kylo Ren X Reader (Intergalactic Soulmate Au)

Summary: So Kylo Ren is your soulmate, but there is so much you don’t know about him yet.

Warnings: Still mostly Fluffy, a little angst if you look hard enough. Soulmate irrationality. Hopefully in the next installment we start to find smut!

    The soft sweet breeze that blew just for the blossoms in the temple lulled me into a calm, and eventually between the sound of Kylo’s heartbeat reverberating in his chest and the comforting lull in the conversation, I fell asleep. I was only awoken by the subtle movements of the man that lay beneath me. Refuting his movements from the comforting position I burrowed into his chest for comfort.

  “My apologies sweet girl,” His rich voice swept over my senses with the name that bubbled deep inside me, in places I’ve never before felt, “I can’t feel my arm anymore.” He muttered.

   “We can’t have that, now can we?” I teased, sitting up to get another look at him, “How would you be able to protect me with one arm?” I goaded at his ego, anticipating a remark back on his skill, or maybe a jest on his health. Neither prepared me for the sweet rush of red that flooded his cheeks at my remark.

  “We can’t,” He adjusted his position, “but I will always protect you.” He looked so intensely into my eyes and I could feel the truth in the statement. For the first time in my life, I felt absolutely safe, there was someone there for my well-being. For the first time. A small smile appeared on his face which brought me out of my thoughts, “what going on in your head sweet girl?” He tucked my hair back once again.

  I hesitated to tell him my feelings, not wanting to show how inexperienced I was in the world of romance, or even just vulnerability. The only problem being him, his soft, expressive eyes make me want to spill my darkest secrets. They make me want to be better for him, to soften the exterior that had calloused from my loneliness. Divulge all of the melodic thoughts that danced in my brain while I locked myself away in the library, or all of the dark intruders late at night after everyone was asleep, or the private profound paradoxes that meddled into my consciousness. He was the other piece of my soul that found me in the vast galaxy, there should be no secrets, nor would there be.

  “I have been alone for all my life,” I confessed to him, he looked surprised, yet pleased, “I have spent every year in the company of others, but been completely alone, and now?” I placed both my hands on his cheeks, cradling his face. His eyes shut, comfort washing over his features as I spoke, “Now I am whole, and I have never felt safer in my life.”

  His eyes crept open, blinking back a mystery that lurked, “I would never let anything happen to you.” He connected our lips tentatively. I pushed back, allowing for the passion to tickle into our bones with every fervent push forward. His hands roamed once more and one landed in my hair, which locked us together, the other made its home on my back. The heat between us grew, his tongue prodding at my lip, which startled me. He pulled away again with a smirk, knowing my experience couldn’t allow me to go farther right now, at least not in the sacred grove that is.

  “I wish we could lay beneath these trees forever,” He murmured softly below the wind, “But you wanted to change before dinner, and I have to finish my duties here.” He sat us up slowly, not to startle our senses by disrupting our blood flow. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his torso in protest.

  “I thought you were in charge of everything, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want.” I pointed out in hopes he would let us lay under the sweet billowing trees for just a while longer. He merely chuckled at my thinly veiled attempts to stay.

  “The only way to stay the supreme leader of the galaxy is by respecting the other planets when they’re complying.” He explained to me, and I only pouted, knowing he was right. “I can only use force and fear for so long before the galaxy sours.”

  “Are you a benevolent leader?” I asked coyly.

  “No,” he answered immediately, “Benevolence is for fools.” He explained, retreating into his shell somewhat. His features hardened and his eyes glazed to the past, his past, once more. I retreated, like him, away from the subject in hopes I didn’t make him too uncomfortable with the question.

  I would like to know the man my soul has wound itself around a million times over, but simply that may lie waiting for the sake of our trust. I trust that he would not hurt me, I trust his ability of self-control that he has shown me, and I trust our souls to communicate that may not be visible to those around us. There is a storm brewing in this man’s chest, a dark windy cyclone circling his heart and I am now at the very center of it. Yet, I wish to be nowhere else than right here with him.

  “Let us go then,” I said after some time still spent lounging in the light of our connection. “You’re right, I need to make myself presentable.” I groaned, not wanting to delve into the wide world of appropriate fashion. Some women studied the arts of fashion and exciting dress wear. I have spent most of my life in dresses for my sisters, and the other portion dressed like my father. There was the only security that I would not worry about what Kylo expects me to wear, as I am dressed casually today. I only hope he doesn’t expect me to own long lavish garments that took hours to construct in a distant galaxy. I am a woman of simple means.

  “You would look presentable in anything sweet girl,” He murmured comfortingly, “For you, set the tone of every room you enter.” His words washed over me like a light warm blanket fresh from the sun. He knew exactly the worries that troubled my head and how to quell them. But I couldn’t relish in it for too long as Kylo wrapped his arms tightly around me to bring us both to standing.

  Once I was on the ground, with my footing even and back to normal I gazed up at him. The sun shone from behind him and the trees, which he was slightly crouched under because of his towering height. His eyes searched for mine and when they met, he smiled lightly, allowing for his cheeks to wrinkle up endearingly. His face had such a capacity for pain for anguish, but also the bright burn of happiness. I smiled in return, reaching up to him to kiss the smile off his face. He allowed it, returning it even, with no hesitation or remorse.

  Only then did he take my hand in his, guiding me from the sacred grove and into the temple once again. We were met with the sight of his six brooding guards, standing stock still ready at any moment to take down a threat. There were also two elders sitting on the far side of the room in meditation, calmly awaiting what I can only imagine was divine intervention. I had never been one for meditation, nor one for the stillness of the mind. I allowed the free flow of thoughts to come and go as the pleased ripping through my mind at imaginary lightspeed.

  “Vicrul, Cardo,” Kylo commanded in ease of menacing power over his men, “Accompany her to her home.” He ordered once the two guards stood before him. He took a step closer, “If anything is to happen to her, it will be on your heads.” He instructed with the precision of a thousand knives slicing through the air and into their target. “Return her here before sundown for the feast.”

  With his last instruction directed at the guards, he swiftly turned to me. His hands at my shoulders endearingly as he took in the sight of me once more. “Go get ready, and bring your things for an overnight stay on my ship.” He all but asked. “I would like to begin acquainting you with my lifestyle.” His hands tilting my head up to make it easier for him to kiss me again. Once that moment had passed, however, it was back to the chaos of the market streets accompanied by the two other strangers protecting me.

  I learned very quickly that they were not talkative people. They were silent killers, intimidating in every sense of the word, and never in my life had a walk from the center of town been so quick. People moved away and stared, most of them knowing me my whole life, horrified for what the possible consequences I had created for myself. But no one dared to stop us or ask if I was alright, and if they did, I do not doubt that the two guards would slaughter them onsite per Kylo’s request.

  So, with my head held high, I diligently swept the streets towards the home I had lived in all my life.

  Once I arrived, Cardo and Vicrul of which I did not yet know the difference, murmured between themselves. The guard that carried the thick blaster attached to his left arm remained outside the door, and the other, the one from before with the long-curved blade, stayed by my side as I walked through the threshold.

  My mother, who sat sewing in our sitting area shot up anxiously at the sound of approaching footsteps. Her small plump frame was somewhat relieved to see me but it was short-lived when she saw the guard tailing me from behind. She abandoned her small sewing project and wiped her hand on her small apron, anxiously pushing away her fizzed-out hair.

  “Oh Hatchlette,” she sighed out as she rushed to give me a big hug, “Your father and I have been worried sick all day.” She swayed me side to side, fending off an onslaught of tears. There was a gruff noise from behind me, the guard was not amused. “Are you alright?” she held my face in her hands looking for signs of distress.

  “No, mama.” I said bashfully, “I’m perfectly safe and healthy.” I reassured her moving into the sitting room farther, the guard shadowing me as I moved deeper into my home. “Where’s father?”

  My mother only sighed as she moved into the kitchen to fill up a kettle with water, beginning to make tea for the guard in our presence. I found it quite endearing, the thought of a big brooding lethal guard like this having tea with my mother. “He is in the back, tending to the garden.” My mother said somberly, as my father only weeds the gardens when he is under great stress. I can’t even imagine what he has been thinking about as I lounge in bliss with Kylo. A rush of guilt began to eat at my heart from the inside out at the thought of making my father worry.

  “I should let him know I’m alright but,” I turned to the guard behind me, “you should probably stay in here.” I felt bad for telling him what to do, but I don’t think my father would be more reassured by the brooding presence of Kylo’s men. My mother returned to the room looking between myself and the man shadowing me. “While I speak with father, do you still have Sennica’s nice dress?” I asked, knowing well Sennica had left it for me once I found my soulmate. It was the of the few dresses Anya was never allowed to touch. It was made for Sennica but now it was just mine, and for the first time in years the dusty thing would have its use.

  “Of course, Hatchlette,” she spoke confidently with her endearment slipping off the tongue easily as it had since I was a child, “Go tend to your father, I’ll make tea for our guest.” Ever the host my mother moved to the kitchen once more to make tea for the guard to have him comfortable. I moved outside, half expecting the shadow to continue his protection there, but surprised when I saw him politely sitting in a chair near the middle of the room. I knew Kylo would have probably been angry for his new relaxation, but it was something I appreciated, as I knew this would be the most peaceful route.

  I opened the door that leads me outside, and as soon as I had stepped out, I could hear the frustrated sounds of my father weeding in the garden. He was too entranced to notice my newfound presence, only focused on the task he adopted to ease his mind.

  “If you’re not careful, you’ll pull up the entire garden.” At the sound of my teasing, he shot his gaze to me, ceasing his activity immediately. He stood rushing to pull me into a hug, similarly to my mother only a few minutes earlier.

  “Oh, my little bud,” He comforted himself with my presence and his hands tremored as the hug faded, “I’m so sorry.” At his apology I stilled, becoming unnerved.

  “What could you have to be sorry about father?” I asked plainly, as I had no foreseeable cause of his guilt. I found my soulmate, I have been having a wonderful day, it’s been incredible.

  “I should have never let you go with that awful man,” His hands gripped at my arms tightly, and I became uncomfortable under his gaze. I moved away from him allowing the metaphoric and physical distance to grow heavy, “I cannot imagine the horrors you have witnessed.” He assumed so much, so much about the man who possessed a tenderness that I had never seen displayed on this planet. No soul had existed as deep and as wide as Kylo’s soul, and it was mine to keep, mine to protect.

  “No, don’t say that,” I defended against his accusations, “I have had the most wonderful day father.” The light in my chest returned as I recounted the tender kisses and soft words exchanged under the sway of the blossoms overhead. “Please, don’t say that,” I begged softly for his approval.

  “You don’t know, little bud, I have kept the darkness from you for so long.” He persisted moving towards me once again, trying and failing to have me see his views. He didn’t need to understand why my soul was made for Kylo, why we belonged side by side, but he could never make me change my mind.  “There is so much you do not know, about him, the empires, the wars!” he emphasized.

  “Then let me learn it from him!” I interrupted, no longer allowing him to decide for me. “I have been chosen for him, father! For this life, I will live at his side.” I began to retreat inside, not wanting to indulge him in more fruitless arguments, “I chose that willingly now, and no one else can make that choice for me.” I hoped that would help him, I hoped he wouldn’t hate me, or judge me, or think I was just some stupid girl following him blindly. I am not blinded by love, but love has allowed me to remove my blinders. I can see him truly for more than just what he shows others. I don’t know why he has been chosen for me yet but I am thankful. My father’s disappointment would break my heart, but Kylo’s absence would crush my soul. I reached the door back inside and turned back to look at my father, “Do not make me choose between my family and my soul.” Then I went inside and left my father to think of his words with the weeds pulled from the garden.

  Inside the house, I found my mother laying out the dress I had requested while speaking with the guard, that was sat, quite prettily, in a seat drinking tea. I would have to applaud Kylo on the manners instilled in this man. It was not expected of him to entertain my mother in the way he has. 

  “Hatchlette?” My mother called out for me when she heard the door shut, “Is that you?”

  “Yes Mama, it’s me,” I spoke softly, walking into the room and focusing on the dress she had hanging near the small staircase. It was a cream color with blue vines of flowers on it. There was soft lace on some of the edges and it made me feel soft, dainty. I can still remember when my mother brought it home for Sennica to wear to meet Patrik’s family. It was such a good luck charm that she hadn’t the heart to take it with her when she left. She saw the way my eyes widened like the moon and sparkled like the stars when I saw it. She knew that if anyone would do the dress it’s justice it was me, and for the first time since leaving her body it would be put to use again.

  “Sennica will be thrilled.” My mother came from behind me and spoke soothingly. Her chin rested easily on my shoulder, looking over at the dress. “Shall we braid some of the wildflowers in your hair?” She offered, knowing I used to ask for it on every special occasion I could find as a child. “I think it would be a nice homage to your home as you leave it behind.” She said without making me feel guilty. She knew this was the natural way of my life, the way it’s meant to be. Yet, she couldn’t find it in herself to be anything but kind, to be anything but her true self.

  “Yes, yes we should,” I confirmed, turning to face her once again. She suddenly looked much wiser than her years before her as she took in my features with pride, “What are you doing Mama?”

  “I’m admiring my work,” its an old joke she had made maybe a thousand times, and yet she managed a chuckled from both of us, “We will miss you when you are gone, but you have always been too large for this tiny planet.” Her encouraging words quelled the fire of fear and doubt that my father had lit outside. I knew at that moment that I needed to blaze ahead, no doubts, no fears, only love and light. There is beauty in the new chapter, there is love, there is respect. With that, I climbed the stairs to a bedroom I had lived in my whole life. A room once home to three, then only two, down to one, and soon it will be empty. It will be ready to start anew, as I am.

  My mother and I had to work diligently to get me ready, having squandered most of my day with Kylo, the sunset was fast approaching. The braids my mother made had small bits of white and blue wildflowers, that matched the dress, woven into it for effect. She helped me gather some things to stay with Kylo for the night, and she even smeared some colored creams of her own on my face to fix some of my blemishes.

  When fighting against the time was nearly up, and my appearance much more graceful than before, I could hardly recognize myself. I was beautiful, and I could hardly wait for Kylo to see me like this, finally presentable for the man I wanted. As I descended the stairwell with my mother the living room was tense, as my father sat opposite the guard that had now abandoned the teacup in place for his blade. My mother only sighed and I made my way towards the side of the room with the exit.

  “Wait!” My father called out, “No goodbyes?” He asked solemnly and for some reason, it sparked an irritable fire in me.

   “I will see you tomorrow, I am only gone for the night.” I snapped back, harsher than I intended. “I only hope this time will help you see things from my point of view,” I suggested at the man, stubborn like myself, sitting across the room. The guard now stationed to my right began to move me out the door.

  “I could only suggest the same for you little bud.” My father bit back, always one to get the last word. It only spurred me further out the door, where the second guard stood watch. The satchel I carried was taken from me by the one stationed outside, to alleviate the stress put on my shoulders. I wondered if that was part of the training, or if he had been trying to suck up to Kylo through me. It didn’t matter, because I was glad to have them flank me on either side, intimidating the masses out of the way of us. The walk was just as fast, if not faster, than the one earlier in the evening.

  Once we made it to the temple, the large doors opened and the smell of the feast lingered on each of our senses. The men diligently helped me up the small steps as I adjusted to the small heel on my shoes that had slowed my pace. I would have to notify Kylo of their dedication to not only my comfort but my wellbeing. I hoped they were handsomely compensated for their troubles.

  The guard’s dedication mattered until the sight of the guest of honor came into view. He was faced away from me, speaking with an elder about an old portrait that hung in the large room where the feast was held. He was pensive, stiff, commanding, everything about him sent a shiver up my spine. He had kept his helmet removed out of respect for the temple. He only turned when the sound of the door shutting behind us reverberated throughout the room.

   When Kylo did turn, his eyes landed on me first, all trepidation and anger from my father’s actions, or my own insecurities melted away. His brown eyes softened, his normally pouted lips upturned in glee, his hands immediately unclenched from his side. All conversations he had ceased, as the guards and elders found entertainment with one another and Kylo moved towards me. His hand outstretched reaching for mine, as he asked the silent question, Will you come with me?

  And there is no hesitation as I lay my hand in his palm. I met his gaze head-on and answered the unasked question the only way I knew possible, Yes.

[blankdblank]

Durin Sitting Pt 6

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 -

So I got some questions about how this story would have gone so here’s the finished plotlines that I originally had to finish off this series. Hope you like it. :D

...

Things had never been better. And with three naked Durins inside the cage the elder Wolves eyed Fili, Kili and Ori in their dart from the cage that the confused Dis sat outside of with finger on the tape to the book you had been reading them and eyes fixed on her sons’ backs. Not since they were small boys did they miss a shift and not without additional stress and confusion to the week as they sat downstairs just in case they would shift again. Simply listening to the book while their mother sat down in the chair brought for her, refusing to leave them no matter how far along she may be with their baby siblings. She knew, their father and grandparents knew how terrifying the first missed change after lessons had gone.

While they were forced to shift once a month tips on Wolf mastering had been asked in each family outing and evenings in to fold you into the clan even more. Again methods seemed to vary from how the Elders had mastered their Wolves yet on your second time sitting for the Wolves a blackout from a storm had the cage opened and that was your opening. For the first time the scent of earth, grass and everything green and in between enveloped each of the Wolves who raced on frantic paws to soak in the wilds around them. Just hints of white fur on the ends of your tail were spotted through every swivel of their heads to sniff and search all they could.

For whatever they could have imagined their Wolves would do to wake up on their beds in an open cage to dirt on their bodies inside the clearly mopped basement to the fail of the cameras there were no answers to what happened. By scents alone ignoring the dirt they had all been outside and had they been in that form they could feel the urge to shift their tails in glee and bound around to the group flashes of memories of discoveries on the land. It was a start, and on the second night Thrain was there to watch the oddly content Wolves who continued to chatter on about all they would double check upon their next weather aided escape. Their Wolves were more than just calming and had grown excited rather than agitated and all of their lives around the nightly changes improved in the relief of it all.

Things had never been better. At least until three words were whispered tearily after the fifth public official outing amongst the clan had just barely begun, “Oh no, Mom.” For charity an auction was to be held in a lavish event hall in a notorious architectural marvel of a sky scraper and turned away to keep from weeping openly in public your body turned to face Thorin’s chest. Over your head his eyes locked with his father’s for a silent agreement and back he stepped with arm around your back.

Lowly he hummed post press of a kiss to your temple, “Let’s get you back to bed.” Just in and now out again back to the hotel suite for the both of you that Thorin had called ahead to have food delivered and in the back of the car he kept you close to his side humming, “Adad will ensure we bring her home for you.” The quiet continuous tears from you was his only marker that you were still lost in the painful discovery and sea of memories with the woman killed for sport and draped on the wall for praise to the ego of the hunter and owner of her pelt.

Not until you got to the bed and there was no one else in ear shot did you speak the most painful words he’d expected to never hear you say, “When we get home I need you to leave me alone.”

To a knee at your feet he collapsed with hands that cradled yours on your lap with tearful eyes locked on yours, “Please let me help you with this. Don’t push me away. Don’t abandon us out of pain.”

The next tear down your cheek that fell to his hand drew his gaze that snapped up again to your saying, “You don’t understand.”

“Explain it to me.”

“I, can’t,” you managed to crack out in the scrunch of your face, “There are rights. You can’t be there. None of you.”

His lips parted in a sliver of relief that you weren’t ending your relationship with him, “How long do you need?”

Another set of tears fell as you squeaked back, “Three weeks.”

He wet his lips and inched closer to your lower legs asking, “And that is no contact? Or can I call or text you?”

“It has to be complete silence outside of my clan.”

“But,” he shook his head and said as empathetically as possible, “I know clan laws are strict, but you would be alone, for three weeks to face this.”

Softly you sniffled and said, “My uncle messaged, he will be home when I get back.”

“That is good,” he sighed out and lifted your hands to press your curled fingers to his lips in the drop of more tears.

Squeaks crackled in your voice through saying, “I ruined your evening.”

Again he shook his head, “You ruined nothing. Adad will handle the evening without me easily. Would a bath help?” Dinner, a long soak in his arms came before the tuck of you into bed to sleep in his arms while he laid awake in turmoil for the forced three week break and over your head he watched Dwalin ease the door open to peek inside.

Hushedly he shared that the pelt was purchased and the purchase card with information on it with who the hunter was along with the former owner, carefully it was being loaded up to be shipped to your address and

Hushedly he shared that the pelt was purchased and the purchase card with information on it with who the hunter was along with the former owner, carefully it was being loaded up to be shipped to your address and then slipped out again with a pained glance to your blotchy tearstained face rested on Thorin’s shoulder. He would hold you as long as possible and keep a hand on your leg all through the breakfast that a weak smile of a mask was held to not spoil the full mood of the trip. One toast from the clan and again you were held, this time by several of the clan who shared they would be with you in this however required and long after when you were granted time to be with them again.

.

Three weeks. At the masked gates the car stopped to your warning while the enchantment on your land had again barred visitors with no view of your home at all in its own mirage enforced wall of open fields swaying on the breeze. Regrettably a warm lingering goodbye kiss was trailed by a tight embrace. Deeply Thorin inhaled to fight a sniffle to keep you from crying again and his hands left your hips on a mission of their own. From around his neck the chain with a pair of rings he had recently begun to wear was removed and eased over your head and underneath your curls. “I want you to borrow this.”

Wide and full of tears your eyes met his in a pained but curious silent plea of what they meant to the loss of your voice. Lowly he rumbled as he drew your long braid from under the chain, “I can’t explain these yet. But I’m here.” He said with a gentle press on the rings now seated above your heart. “Until I can hold you again, I’m here.” You nodded and simply closed your eyes to lean into his chest for a final hug before bags were lifted and between two colorful soap rainbows of curtains the gate and house was viewed then vanished again from sight. Against the car you saw him in a stare laced in tears imagining that he could watch your walk up to the door until you were safe inside.

He didn’t see the bags drop however or your run and crash into the chest and arms of your uncle beyond at ease to have you with him again. Time did not help, distance did not make the heart grow fonder it made them burn and bleed and post crack of the nailed lid to the crate being opened as you should onto the floor you fell, fingers clutched into the fur now woven around your body in a decades ached for mock embrace from the woman who carried you. Tears and pain. Three weeks of sacred rights were to be carried out and the glimmering tears melted into the pelt that a wind coursed through rippling its fur and gave life to its shape to melt around the cosmic cloud of a polar bear that in its own glee folded around your now curled body lost to a fit of tears.

She could not be here in her other shape but as a bear you were granted time and by sun and moonlight this was how you could say goodbye. Until the final week. Until the blood and the bonfire. Mud, pots of it, to sacred words that made the earth tremble to the sinister glow from the bare skin on yourself and uncle. Blood had been shed and now payment was due, mud once brown ran blood red in each cakey slide of hands to coat your torso’s and arms in sacred runes, symbols and streaks to the polar bear’s roars now joined by those of your animal shaped ancestors. Deep into the earth the curse spread like roots of an unseen tree aimed direct for the skyscraper and dozens of mansions in a country far away. Sharp and sudden the pelt was torn from your mother’s cosmic form and in the eruption of flames it was gone to seal the curse of vengeance and justice to the instant drop of all the mud from your flesh that left you naked and cold with eyes still locked on hers in the few moments you had left until she was called away. Just a tap of foreheads and three tears and she was gone again.

.

Across the table to a silent break for tea your uncle smirked in notice of the rings on the chain now rested on the table from around your neck those rights had forbidden speech outside of the sacred words or those to your mother’s soul until she had passed on. “Who gifted you those markers?”

Up your eyes snapped to his with another tear that fell down to your newly added baggy shirt that you had taken from Thorin’s bag on the way back from your last trip that pooled on top of your crossed legs. “The necklace is Thorin’s. He couldn’t come or speak to me so he said I could borrow it.”

His smirk deepened, “He must love you very deeply to have been wearing clan markers.”

That had your eyes drop in a lift of the rings that since his wearing them always seemed blurry and hard for your eyes to bring to focus to know what markers your fingers felt in slides across them. “Is that what they are? I can’t see what’s on them. Pesky eyes won’t focus on them.”

Lowly he chuckled and said, “No, Wolves are very careful in their tokens for Mates.”

“Wol-,” in a look up you gasped in a sudden realization. The distance between the Wolves and the Durins and why the clan was never around when you were required to sit for the pack. “They’re Wolves! That, how did I not see that?! Right in front of my face down to the pack using their own names.”

He chuckled again, “Do they? When I trained Thrain and his daughter to master their Wolves they both chose different names in their Wolf form. How have you been bonding to yours? I am far more intimidating you must be making ample progress at your size.”

“I’ve been reading to them. They have a cage they lock them in at night.”

That had him huff, “I told them not to keep the cage. Old habits I suppose. Good choice something morbid or depressing to hone their focus for hidden meanings I would presume. Have you taken them out yet?”

“Once. Power went out. We’ve gotten a good but through Little Dorritt.”

“Lovely choice. And that run should have worked wonders.”

“They seemed pleased, beyond pleased really like they’d never seen the woods before.”

“Can’t imagine they would have. Wolf clans are quite protective of their young and don’t wish to harm anyone or risk a chance to.”

“No way to live.” You said in another glance to the rings on the chain you now knew were his way to build up the courage or rights to ask you to become a member of his clan. To change the subject from a heart racing topic of such a serious step with the stunningly adoring man that you’d yet to trade firm loving sentiments with yet you asked about the torn patch of earth beside the cottage you’d noticed since your return home. “What happened to that torn patch? That is not part of the rights.”

“No,” he said with a clear of his throat to your glance at the new burned in trail of stars that sat between your index finger and thumb on the back of your hand to match the diamond trail along the arch of your right foot from your father’s funeral rights. “I tore up the foundations for your new cottage.”

“Oh, you want me to move...” escaped your lips in a pained murmur that brought his equally star scarred hand to fold over yours rested on the table.

“No, I don’t. This home will become rather crowded soon enough.”

“Because of Thorin?”

Again he chuckled and answered, “My friend Luna agreed to be my surrogate decades past,” you nodded, “And since her Mate passed last season she has reached her last heat and agreed it was time to aid in my cubs. We will have twin cubs by next spring.”

“Oh that’s such good news!” You replied with a wide smile that spread his.

“So you will be requiring your own home seeing as the Wolf has made himself at hone by the scent of things. You may bear more of the clientele while I mind the cubs. And mine will grant you ample practice for when your own cubs arrive.”

“We are too soon for cubs.” You retaliated only deepening his grin.

“Three weeks without his Mate and that may change drastically. I have cleared some trees we can begin on the cottage in the morning. Have the whole thing completed by month’s end.”

The week came in handy and tucked in the back of the barn you smirked at the hoard of supplies he had been gathering on his travels just for this. Animals all in joint efforts to a common goal and the porch and exterior of the home were built up. A plumber had been arranged for the following week along with a group of friends who would lay the tile and carpet where it was wanted as in your sleepless nights doors and shutters for the windows were carved by you to Beorn’s glass blowing hut being lit up to make all the door handles you could ever make use of.

 *

12:01 am : Off to the zoo today but I hope your day goes well. :)

Wide eyed the beyond pissed boyfriend of yours who had been experiencing rage fueled shifts after each half day at work that had him on his back inside the cage turned his head to the lit up phone laid just on the other side of the bars. Right away he popped up to your ring tone and rushed to a knee on the ground to snatch the device up and plop back with a creeping grin to your first contact. Onto his lap he dropped the phone to run his hands over his face and through his hair. Every muscle in the hunch flexed and stretched to a joint release of pressure of all had been kept inside for weeks now where his Mate was suffering and outside of his aid as he had not built up the nerve to secure your bond as one of his clan. A move that would have joined him into your clan as well had you accepted. A move he couldn’t force to simply hold you while you mourned.

Self loathing for the lack of that step and internal lashes to his mental self had backed his Wolf into a corner and to the slightest trouble at work had him nearly tearing out into full fury mode with fangs tail and all for everyone to see until his clan had calmed him down. So half days were mandatory and in his own funk he had banished himself to sleep down here in the cage. Where he belonged, without you he was just an animal, a furious heartbroken animal who simply wanted his Mate, his true love there were so very many signs that he could very well die if the fates destined you to part.

Head back up he inhaled and got to typing, “How are you?”

“I think I broke my toe.” That had him pause a moment as for the puzzling response until you added, “I walked into the tile stack.”

“Tile stack?” He muttered and typed in a try to recall what you could be referencing in that house.

“My uncle and I have begun to build me my own cottage. Plumbers come today.”

“Why do you want your own cottage?” He asked with a twinge of hope in his chest it could be for privacy for the both of you or a possible dwelling for the both of you he might be invited to move into one day should he live up to any test you grant him.

“My uncle found a surrogate he will have twins by next spring. Wished for me to have my own space as to not be crowded out of the cottage.” Vague, but a possible hint to a logical invitation that and the former grump grinning at his phone. “How are you?”

Sore, broken, hollow, left with a crater right where you would fit in his arms and heart on top of the obvious rage that threatened to roast him from the inside out had he not heard from you. “I’m in the cage” he sent then added, “without you.”

“I never meant to hurt you,” you responded now knowing how deeply you had effected the love of your life clearly in a struggle against the control of his Wolf, now tougher than ever in the week of the full moon.

“I don’t blame you. Adad has been hounding me to gain control for decades now and I have been digging my heels in refusals.” He paused then asked, “How are you? When do you get off work?”

“Headed in about ten minutes. Be back by noon. They need a night feeder for an expecting Wolf.”

“Can I come for lunch? Adad has me on half days.”

“The walls will be dropped when you arrive.” That had him smile and wish you well today and turn to curl up on his cot to get some sleep still clutching his link to you to do so just in case you changed your mind and wished to talk more so he wouldn’t miss a moment.

 *

‘More on the devastating phenomena that has wiped what was imagined to be an endless family that reached back to the beginnings of Middle Earth off the map after this break.’ Impenetrable roots had torn through hundreds of homes and had brought a sky scraper to the ground with every living member of a historic clan being taken with them in the apparent sinkholes that ate every ounce of their homes and those inside except for innocent guests who were able to scramble out of the dirt to safety from other lines. None of them had the answer, save for one elderly Man, the keeper of records of Gondor and aid to their King Arathorn who spoke the words none dared to admit, ‘This was not the first time those who are known to cross the Ruun and their kin have been erased and eaten by the earth.’

Nonsense, no one had the strength or stomach to say that as the world of Men reeled in reminder of old magic that had since been shielded from them and lurked in every shadow, under every bed and inside every fable they adored and absorbed since childhood. This has happened before and had never been explained beyond the same symbol on a rock to be found in the center of every memorial site left unbuildable after each devastating attack.

A rock with a single drop of a blood red something in the center of it and nothing else. A warning. That all those clans with known hunters of great beasts had been wiped out of existence. They may not believe in Fairies or that Vampires or even Trolls and Goblins existed yet while they dressed as werewolves and skin changers for annual festivals no one dared to try and impersonate or search out the Ruun. Not a one. They were not to be questioned or harmed or there would be devastation to pay. The Men as usual would face a break of caution and then be back to their careless ways in no time. While each magical being laid their respects and under the light of the first moon since the attack filled baskets to lit lantern boats they set loose loaded with fireflies and small carved tokens that now was littered on ribbons strung throughout your flowering tree branches all through your property to light your nightly work in the sea of fireflies admiring their new home. Tokens not for those killed on the collapses but for the unknown Guardian they all mourned the precious soul taken without reason by such cruel beings they were forced to live amongst.

 *

“Morning,” Thorin said in taking his seat at the table that turned everyone’s head to his pleasant mood.

Vili, “Well don’t you seem downright chipper. Who are you and why are you wearing Thorin?” Answered by a sharp exhale by his brother in law in taking a piece of toast.

Dis, “Especially after you almost bit me yesterday when I tried to give you lunch through the bars.”

Thorin gave her a playful glare in return for hers proving he was miles beyond where he had sunken to without his Mate. “What you get for putting your fingers inside a cage with a wild animal.” He accented with a fake snap of his teeth at her across the table that had her roll her eyes.

Dwalin, “Spill.”

Thorin grinned saying, “Jaqi texted me just after midnight.”

Thrain, “Oh how is the dear one?”

Thorin lowered his mug of coffee from a sip and answered, “Good it would appear. Though possibly with a broken toe. Her and her uncle have been building her a second cottage on their land it would appear. He has obtained a surrogate and conceived twins.”

“And?” Everyone asked at the same time deepening his grin.

“There seemed to be a hint of an invitation in the future.”

Thrain, “Well that is simply marvelous. I am proud for you son. When are you seeing her?”

“Today,” he sighed out, “She accepted a night feeder spot and was off to work shortly after we spoke but will be home by noon and accepted my request to drop by.”

Fili and Kili asked, “Are you going to propose?”

Glares were sent their way and Kili pointed to him saying, “Hey! He’s been looking like death for days now! He needs to get hitched before his fur falls out and he’ll be left to gumming the wedding cake when he finally gets around to it.”

Thorin rolled his eyes and said, “I will offer my marker, just offer, give her time to consider all that entails. Even though she may be building this matter in clans is delicate at the time.”

“She loves you how could she refuse?” Fili said in another slice of his food.

To himself Thorin chuckled and murmured, “She’s told me in so many silent ways. Still, patience.”

.

Fiery and passionate was how he wanted to greet you when he entered your cottage porch. How did he find you instead? In the kitchen while he stood face to face with a massive naked man freshly turned from his bear form with free hand clutching the kilt that once their handshake was through was tied on around his waist to make the newly arrived guest welcome. Into the couch he settled across from your uncle and the pair of them spoke in what grew to be a friendly banter upon the mention of Thorin’s awe for the hives, blooms and orchard.

Pie in hand to the couch you moved and against Thorin’s side sunk in a sideways lean sharing the dessert by use of the spare fork on the plate. All the while his other arm kept you against his side with pure joy in his heart to your every nestle and nuzzle closer. Plumbers however took your now furrow browed uncle from his chair in their arrival down the driveway. “Enjoy your rest little one, I will wrangle this task into shape.”

Soon as the door between you closed Thorin tilted his head down to ask you, “Are you sore still? Your foot?”

“Not broken. Just bruised.”

“Not what I asked.” He said with a reach for your curled legs to lay them over his lap. “I’ll rub your legs and feet. Extra careful on the toes.”

“Are you okay?” You asked in his next glance your way when he’d taken hold of one of your feet.

With a nod he replied in a sweet smile your way, “I am with you, how could I not be?”

You didn’t have and answer and simply turned your head to look around the house while his gaze was focused on your legs and feet to avoid the numerous olive bruises lingering from your hard work on the cottage. Up to your knees his hands moved along with his body that inched closer to not cause pain by pulling you closer instead. Out of the small bundle of flowers you’d pulled from the window that Tuki had kept flying into and nearly ended up knocking into your breakfast a single purple and yellow daylily was lifted. Right behind his ear a sliver of his brushed back hair that a grin eased across his lips at the braid you worked there to hold the flower behind his ear.

“You know I love you right?” You asked a hair above a whisper.

Instantly his eyes lifted and in a smooth move he turned your legs off his lap to twist and slide you onto his lap mid loving kiss to relax back into the back of the couch. Warmly his hand cupped your cheek to linger there until its dip to trail along your neck to the slide of your hands up his chest and onto his shoulders. Around the back of your neck underneath your hair his fingers found the chain clasp there he unhooked and caught it with his other hand in its drop to your lap. The moment his lips left yours tenderly his nose stroked yours on both sides between gentle taps of his forehead to yours. “So very much so, my darling love.” For a blurry check your eyes opened to his multicolored blob of a face with glimmers of stunning blue from his own timid check.

Again his hand moved to cup that same cheek in his shift back to get a clear view so he could say, “The moon pales in comparison to the beauty of your soul. From the moment I first saw you I knew we were kindred souls and destined to be one, or had dared to dream such heavenly things as a love such as yours. Even the words don’t seem enough, I love you in such a deeper feeling than love. These past three weeks, burned, to not be there for you. And I understand, I do. I wished to say it then. Merely I didn’t wish to add stress to the moment.”

“How could you stress me? Doesn’t sound possible at all.”

That had him smirk and circle his fingers around the rings in his palm to find yours he brought forward. “I wished, for so long, to share my feelings and intensions. My clan has strict rights of their own and I would wish to offer you myself. And this, if you aren’t familiar with our laws is not a proposal of marriage, this is so very much more. A joining of clans, I will be yours and you mine, we will be whole in and out of our clans a part of the both of them.” Hastily he wet his lips, “And there will be another proposal later, but this is a devotion of our beings.” Into your palm on the hand he eased down from his shoulder he pressed the ring into your palm he folded around it. “I am offering you myself. And please take time, as much as you need. And when you are ready you place it on your index finger. As much time as you need.”

Down your eyes sank to the ring now focused and clear. The edges wavy around the knot bodies ended at wolf heads aimed at one another mid howl etched into the mithril band with each gap filled in by shimmering emeralds and small onyx stones to fill the swooped lines around the face to fill in the eyes, cheeks and ears. “It’s beautiful. Must have been expensive.”

Lowly he chuckled and said, “We are all gifted upon adulthood the rings for our Mates. It is yours, always has been.” Again you looked at the ring and simply slipped it on your finger that won you a warm kiss the both of you lingered in until the cuddled embrace with his forehead pressed to yours. Lost for words the now beaming puddle of hearts could only let out a breathy chuckle to your blind addition of his ring to his finger behind your back.

(Just imagine the gaps in the design have gems not metal.)

.

Two days later, the Durins had insisted you take another couple weeks off to ensure you were settled again as per the usual bereavement leave their company. The absence held the technical label that had those in the lower levels with access to trigger the fetching of a card that was handed around to be signed along with a fruit and chocolate arrangement. The zoo however treasured your situation at home and used it to their advantage and that of their latest rescue, a silver fox pup that had to be kept separate from the others due to its overly playful nature and size twice of the barely weaned litter that had arrived inside their mother the month before it had. The fox had been dropped off and was pleased to have bunnies and puppies and the hounds to play with safely in your haven of a property.

Evening however came to a cusp and while Beorn was a town over to confirm the order of tubs he had chosen from a craftsman he was good friends with who made them by hand to sit perfectly inside the raised platform around the tub to give you that sunken feel you loved without burying it in the ground as the house was on a solid stone platform that joined with Beorn’s. All greatly expanding the bunny haven that was underneath your home. Sinks had already been made and delivered long ago and the craftsman was pleased to repay the clan that had kept his baby girls safe with charms and pheromone diluting tonics for decades now and had handed over the first for his young grandchild to continue the important friendship.

A third stroll through your floored, piped and wired home you imagined the walls being plastered and smoothed into the mix of mint and indigo shades around the peach kitchen with each room settled to utilize the sunlight and views around your home with the pantries settled in the dead on view of Beorn’s cottage to keep from spoiling someone of any views of your heaven. While his was a single floor yours was two stories to grant you a higher view in all directions from the undecided rooms on that floor with a wrap around balcony that gave you tons of arches and pillars for more climbing flowers and vines to make their way up to the turf roof to help insulate the place no matter the weather. Already like his home you could picture the shaggy grasses and vines that from certain angles vanished into the scenery like your own tiny Hobbit Holes to form a hill of its own and it made you proud to have helped raise it up yourself.

Chimneys lit up to welcome the sunset would just finish it off right for the first night in and to another stroke of your finger across the ring from Thorin obviously a sunken armchair matching yours would be settled with him in it. But that was a discussion far off even with the ring. Taking trips and sleep overs were one thing but to move in together and to be honest you’ve been anxious to have the place to yourself to break it in and warm it up to visitors.

A phone call split into your daydream and from your palm against the bicep on the opposite arm your hold broke with a grin to the expected contact from Thorin surely freshly returned home after a busy meeting across town. “Hey handsome, meeting go well?”

“You said you could handle the Wolves without a cage right? Were you joking?” The stress in his voice evident and parted your lips.

“No, I was serious. What’s happened?” You asked shifting weight from one foot to another.

“We got stuck in traffic and the moon’s rising soon and it wants out, I need your help.”

“Alright, do you need me to come over?”

“No, we’re nearly at your house.”

“I’ll see you when you get here.” From your empty cottage to your uncles you strolled with phone hung up to make yourself some tea. “Nearly,” you sighed, “How far away is nearly?”

The wolf whistle from Tuki outside alerted you to the cars that had come down the driveway. Three sips was all you had gotten and you set the mug down to head to the door that once opened revealed Thorin in the front of the line of young Durins who strolled in at your step aside. “Are we alone?” Thorin asked in the tug on his tie to begin the process of stripping naked.

“My uncle’s at a craftsman for my tubs. Just me and the fox pup the zoo asked me to watch for them.”

Outside the sky had darkened entirely with hints of the soon to rise moon and from that you turned back to the now nearly naked bunch that had organized their layers on top of the coffee table with shoes tucked underneath it. “I am sorry. I wouldn’t do this unless it was absolutely necessary. You can control it, you are certain?” Thorin asked with eyes fixed on yours in a pained plea and hope that you were being truthful and he wouldn’t end up attacking you by mistake and sealing you to painful shifts out of your usual form that like other shifters who had been mauled were unable to ever turn to their natural form again and often were disowned and cast out to be adopted by their attackers for decades of repairing the damage to make them feel welcome and secure in their new reality.

He didn’t let you answer and didn’t have much of a choice to the jaw dropping split of his collarbone. Tightly you clenched your lips and up your fingers curled against your lips withholding your urge to cry in the painful ripple of bones and muscles adjusting underneath the layers of fur that grew over the bodies of the silver eyed Wolves that all looked you over. In their midst the young brothers who stood with hands over their groins and sheepish glances your way, Fili broke the silence by saying, “This makes three moons now.”

“You haven’t changed in three moons?” You asked and he shook his head, “Well that’s a plus.”

Kili said, “To an extent. Still, I guess we can get dressed if you like. Don’t want to over run you.”

That had you smirk and say, “If you would like to shift on your own you are welcome to. You’re quite docile even if you don’t believe it.”

The pair glanced at one another and drew in deep breaths with eyes that shut in a means to shift on their own only to flinch at your move closer with hands raised to cup a side of their necks to guide their heads straighter. A few subtle tips and the brothers both melted into their other forms, one with bright blue eyes ringed in silver and the other with hazel ringed in silver for a stunning first where the duo were fully in-tune with their Wolves. “Not bad for your first try,” you said to the pair who eyed their silver eyed relatives who once they had circled you to sniff then begin a search through the house to inspect your dwelling.

Another sip of tea was necessary and a few later Thorin had found you with a curious once over and rise up a bit on his back feet to sniff the cup you had drank from. Dwalin, Ori and Nori were next to lift up and sniff the mug settled onto the counter to Thorin asking, “Where is the bear?”

“My uncle is at a friend’s house.”

“Hmm,” Nori said in a turn of his head.

Ori asked, “What is that smell?” Inching closer to the half door with the top folded back granting a view to the yard.

“Well that’s a bit of a loaded question, we have bee hives and an orchard and gardens and even more animals in the forest and a stream with fish that I can catch for your supper.”

Dwalin, “We are free to run here?”

“If you like. Just don’t eat anything but the fish if you can help it.” You said in the turn of the knob in your hand to open the door for the pack.

Thorin however did not move and asked with a puff of his chest clearly showing off the ring he’d removed to set on the chain still around his neck that he refused to remove. “Will you be running with us again?” He asked gruffly in a foot shifting request with eyes fully on you as if the Wolf was willing to beg if necessary.

“Sure. I can show you around.” To the living room you strolled and added your things to theirs until you reached your ring and Thorin’s eyes from over the back of the couch with a ring of blue in the center of the silver drew attention right away and had you turn to fetch a spare bit of ribbon you made a necklace that the ring was hung around your neck. The sight alone of the ring there even in your change had his tail wag in a deep knowing that the pair of you were bound. Around the couch to his side you trotted and joined on the path to the now parted Wolves who giddily got to exploring on each pathway in the new lands. Miles of new things and a stop to fish where Fili kept hold of your necklace to ensure it wouldn’t be lost you dove to catch and toss the fish up onto shore until each Wolf had their own pair of fish they carried back once you wiggled the necklace on again post drying shake.

Once home on the deck by the grill you lit up, shifted back in the apron hung by the door each fish was cleaned and deboned for the Wolves that ate every bit of the meat and organs you warmed up for them in the process of burning the scales, bones and heads. Against his try to nudge one of his fish your way Thorin huffed and ate the offering only once he saw that once you’d gone inside a dinner of your own was fixed up to be eaten in their joint plop on the ground around you to his place seated, chin on the table to speak with you. From apron to the discarded clothes again you changed and closed the doors eventually freshening up to climb onto your bed the pack joined you on. Sunrise soon enough came and to grumbled the Durins’ set alarms on their phones awakening naked in bed, except for Ori, Fili and Kili still in Wolf form who in the groggy squints of their relatives through a stubborn huff at your body’s try to remain asleep.

Torn between not waking you with hands on your hip and back from the doorway Beorn’s voice turned their heads to the Wolf trapped trio in their waking stretches on top of their sections of the bed. “Morning, I have breakfast ready you must be hungry.” In a glance over the trio that bounded off the bed and trotted closer to him he crouched saying, “Ah, look at you halfway to control already.” Hushedly in a rumble he gave them tips and the trio were soon on a stroll to the living room. Up he stood and smirked in his turn to leave Thorin for a few more moments of cuddles.

Nice and sweet on your cheek he pressed his lips and hummed, “Stay in bed my love. I will come by later.” Again he kissed your cheek in his ease off the bed afterwards he turned to ensure your contently purring self was covered up once again without his body to warm you in his absence.

Beorn in the kitchen once again dressed Thorin joined them with ring slid on his finger to complete his full look and flashed him a quick grin. “We got stuck in traffic.”

Beorn shook his head, “No explanation necessary. You are always welcome. Little One’s efforts are certainly paying off with the young ones in your pack. And do not let that dampen your moods where efforts are concerned each Wolf has their own stride.”

Ori asked, “All she had done was sit with us and read, how is this possible?”

Kili, “And that run, we ran once before last night.”

Beorn chuckled answering, “Trust. Trust in her, yourselves and your Wolf. Methods vary, and freedom upon occasion can work wonders. Explore new surroundings outside of a cage and the Wolves grow stronger and you with them.”

Dwalin, “So, if cubs were raised out of a cage then by adulthood,”

Beorn shook his head, “Cubs are different. Teens and older only or they won’t understand the complexities of it all.”

 .

Soon enough they were off to work and had shared what Ori, Fili and Kili had shared on what had occurred in the night. Baby steps had been taken of control where their Wolves had been growing stronger and bolder by the month. This generation would be stronger and more certain of themselves and their own magnificent prowess. Yet Thorin for all his admirable pride sat timidly and walked as if on eggshells with daily checks on your new home that was now being plastered and soon to be painted led up to a weekend of furniture shopping. Baby steps would complete your home and get him one step closer to the question that would require his grandmother’s ring his parents had gladly given him just for that purpose.

All the same he smiled to the internal reminder from his Wolf of the sight of your Tiger form with paired rings hung around your necks. Together you would build a future that one day would be shared, one day with adorable children of your own with question of what sort of animal forms they could hold. Questions, plans and daydreams all started with an offer for lunch. Down the driveway he drove with a bag of food and some wine with smile spreading to the sight of you in shorts and t shirt splattered with stains from plaster and stains for the molding. A wide smile spread across your face just warming his heart instantly to the dance of stray curls that swayed across your face on the breeze. Once parked out he climbed just basking in the scents of the honey hives and orchards with distant echoes of the future, the first fire you would light here that he would love to cuddle up with you to enjoy, evenings in, late sunlit mornings, and the giggles and footfalls of children to come.

All –

@himoverflowers​​, @theincaprincess​​, @aspiringtranslator​​, @thegreyberet​​, @patanghill17​​, @jesgisborne​​, @curvestrology​​, @alishlieb​​, @jogregor​​, @armitageadoration​​, @fizzyxcustard​​, @lilith15000​​, @marvels-ghost​​, @catthefearless​​, @imjusthereforthereads​​, @c-s-stars​​, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore​​, @mariannetora​​, @shes-a-killer-kween​, @ggbbhehe4455, @xxbyimm​

Hobbit/LotR – @abiwim​, @jotink78​, @pastelhexmaniac

x Thorin – @evyiione​, @deepestfirefun​, @queenoferebor​

[findswoman]

20 First Lines

Thanks to the excellent @tarisilmarwen for tagging me in the following really cool fanfic tag game, which is a completely new one on me:

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories.  See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

For this, I’m going with the last 20 stories I posted on AO3, which are not necessarily the 20 I wrote most recently—some of them are older stories that just weren’t posted on AO3 before. So, here we go!

1. The Book of Gand, Part the Second: The Findsman’s Apprentice (Star Wars)

The first glimmers of morning twilight sifted through the golden mists hovering around the ancient mountains of the pocket colony of R’Kalýma.

2. The Book of Gand, Part the FIrst: The Findsman’s Son (Star Wars)

Far on the outskirts of charted space, the mist-shrouded planet of Gand orbits an uncharted star.

3. Mending Things; or, The Seamstress of Massassi Base (Star Wars with connections to Rogue One)

Things are always astir here at Massassi Base, day and night.

4. Sure Looks Strange to Me (Star Wars: Rebels)

It was a warm, lazy late afternoon on the plains of Atollon, and Captain Garazeb Orrelios relaxed in the big chair at his hideaway outside Chopper Base.

5. Sixth Time’s the Charm (Star Wars: Rebels)

Kanan needed to think this over.

6. Jedi Is as Jedi Does (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy)

The twin suns lolled in a late-afternoon sky as Finn, carrying a thick, ancient tome under his arm, approached the front door of the white-walled homestead and rang the door-chime.

7. Our Big Fat Lasat Wedding (Star Wars: Rebels, pre-series)

Dusty winds whirled and screamed across the hills and cliffs of Lasan’s northern continent, scouring the rocks and sending trees and shrubs flying.

8. Long, Lonely Time (Star Wars: Rebels, post-series)

Zeb was a very physical sort.

9. Till the Shades Lengthen (Star Wars)

They were all asleep.

10. Stand Together on the High Places (Star Wars: Rebels, post-series)

Sounds of celebration filled Massassi Base.

11. Righteous Indignation of a Hutt Betrayed (Star Wars)

He didn’t understand what he’d done to her, but he would by the time she was finished.

(A word about this one: this story was written for a first-line challenge, so this is actually the first line of a pre-existing book that I was given and then had to write a story around. I don’t remember which book it was, however, so if anyone out there knows, please feel free to tell me!)

12. Shaman, Traveler, Oracle: Journal of an Exile of Lasan (Star Wars: Rebels-ish)

The sunrise over the cliffs was most magnificent this morning.

13. Learn From It (Fatherly Advice for a Sith) (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, pre-game)

If you happened to see someone in a trenchcoat and wool cap coming up the front steps of the Sith stronghold on Korriban one dark and stormy night, that would have been me.

14. What She Saw (Star Wars)

In N’xid, the smallest and poorest of the pocket colonies that loom from the mists of Gand, there was a cottage.

15. In Your Vault, In Your Mists, In Your Song (Star Wars)

In the twilight, when Te’el-Viire-Gand sinks to its sleep in mists of red, purple, and gray, Trynfor goes down to your vault—Isthien, Flower of Gand, Sacred Healer.

16. Hoses, Masks, and Canisters (Star Wars)

“Now, your respirators, please, and turn this way, if you will.”

17. Between the Porch and the Altar (Star Wars)

In the Great Temple of Gand, which floated serenely on its own pocket colony above the north pole of that eternally mysterious gas giant, all was desolate, mournful, uncertain.

18. The Chronomaker and the Findsman (Star Wars)

In N’xid, the smallest and humblest of the pocket colonies that loom from the mists of Gand, there lived a chronomaker of the Breather subspecies.

19. Graceful as Water (Star Wars)

Chieftain’s daughter!

20. Sai-perimetry at Gleebaloola’s, You Bet! (Star Wars)

The insurance offices of Norrwin Mun were situated in a rather ordinary office complex in the CoCo Town district of Imperial City.

So, gosh, this is really neat to see! From this, it looks like I swing toward either (a) long-winded descriptions of setting and/or atmospheric conditions (in fact, I seem to have two describing the same made-up-by-me Gand pocket colony, which says something, I’m sure), or (b) short, punchy, single-clause openers. Not seeing a lot of beginning with dialogue, for whatever reason, though that may be just this particular sample.

After seeing Tari’s list and trying this myself, I’m extra curious to see what the results will look like for other folks! Per the rules, I’ll tag ten writers I know, but really, anyone out there is more than welcome to try.

@jadelotusflower @thatginchygal @lasatfat @runrundoyourstuff @fontainebleau22 @rendar-writes @apollonkondric @sassygirl579 @independence1776 @roninreverie @gondalsqueen

[lia-jones]

Growing Together - Chapter Two - No Monkey Business

Victor was awakened by the soft rays of morning sunshine that entered their bedroom through the huge windows. It had been a while since he had slept so long and so much. Since they arrived in  Bali three days ago, they had done nothing but sleep, eat, explore their intimacy and take the occasional dive in the swimming pool. They hadn't even unpacked, since there was no need for clothes. The only thing Victor would put on would be his robe, when he opened the door to the bellhop that brought their meals. During the past few days it was just them and their naked bodies, drowning in their senses, drinking from their love and lust.

If someone told Victor a year ago that he would spend a great part of a week in the nude, disregarding work and doing nothing but having sex and recharging for more sex, he would think they were insane. But if he was to be truly honest, he didn't mind the current situation at all. In fact, he wondered if they could replicate it back at home, maybe one day a week. He had everything he needed and truly enjoyed: good wine, good food, extraordinary weather, and Andrea in his arms, undistracted from the ordeals of the world. Past him would think he would have died of boredom, just laying around doing nothing, but he happily spent his time counting her eyelashes while she slept, or running his fingers gently over her soft skin, making her sigh in her slumber.

Victor was amazed at how much one can discover when sharing stillness with a loved one. They spent nights talking about the most varied things, telling stories of their lives before the other, laughing, drinking and playing, or simply enjoying the view holding hands, sharing a smile or a stolen glance, as they heard the ocean waves crash in the distance. Bali had been an excellent choice for a honeymoon destination. Nature brought in them the peace to fully focus on each other, and they had all the privacy in the world, acting on their hearts contentment.

He rolled over in bed, trying to find her warmth, only to find her place empty. Victor found it rather odd that he hadn’t awakened when she left; he had always been a light sleeper, and his protective instinct would jolt him awake if Andrea moved a little bit out of the ordinary. That's how Victor realized how peaceful he had been for these few days: he was becoming a heavy sleeper. Lifting his head a bit, he looked around through the tulle curtains on the bed, trying to find his loved one. The sound of water splashing outside made him look in that direction, and there he found her, in all her naked glory, swimming in their private infinity pool. That was all the motivation he needed to peel himself off the bed.

"Well, good morning, handsome." She swam to the edge of the pool, noticing him arrive.

"I missed you in bed." He kneeled in front of her, lowering his head for a kiss.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you. You were sleeping so soundly." Her hand ran across his naked chest, the coolness of the water making him shiver slightly.

“You’re wet.” He complained. “I’m going to order breakfast, are you in the mood for something in particular?”

“Just that awesome coffee.” She relaxed her body in the water, making it float. “The rest is up to you.”

“Do a few more laps.” He teased, leaving with a kiss on her forehead. “That’s not a bathtub, you know.”

He couldn’t hear clearly what she said, but he still chuckled, picturing how cute she must have looked all riled up due to his nagging. He ordered a full breakfast with the thing he knew she liked, pancakes, sunny side up eggs, and the local fruits.

“Do you want to go to the monkey cemetery today?” Andrea asked as she happily ate her breakfast.

“Sanctuary.” Victor corrected.

“God, why do I keep saying that?” She sipped her coffee. “Weird.”

“I’m starting to fear for the monkeys.” He joked.

“You’re hilarious.” She threw him a napkin that he easily avoided, chuckling. “I was reading about it earlier, it sounds really mystical. They have three temples of worship there, including one for Shiva. It’s too bad we can’t get in.”

“Since when do you care for Hindu religion?” Victor frowned. “Or any religion at all? Or Shiva?”

“Do you want to go or not?” She pressed, unwilling to reveal her reasons.

“Get ready.” He got up. “I’m asking the resort for a tour guide.”

The tour guide dropped them by the two large stones statues at the entrance of the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest, but not before making some important recommendations: never look the monkeys in the eye as they may become aggressive, avoid sudden movements if the monkey goes to one’s lap, and never try to pry things out of the monkey’s hands, even if its a personal item. However, Andrea didn’t care much about the monkeys, her interest focused more on the religious culture of the place, and Victor allowed himself to relax a little, knowing that his wife wasn’t interested in trying to pet them.

They walked into the deep of the Forest for a while, monkeys jumping from tree to tree over their heads, until they reached the temple of Shiva. Andrea, who had been extremely talkative the whole time, grew unexpectedly quiet, lost in thought. She sat on a rock, her gaze lost on that temple, as Victor sat in front of her, rummaging his backpack for a water bottle.

“Care to explain the sudden fascination with Shiva?” He asked, uncapping and handing her the bottle.

“Shiva is the god of destruction and renovation.” She simply stated, like it was self-explanatory.

“So?” Victor frowned, annoyed at how vague Andrea could be sometimes.

“Two years ago, I was a completely different person than I am now. I was a fragile woman, recovering from abuse, trying to find my place and purpose in this life. Daniel did more than beat me, he beat me down. He left me for dead, helpless and hopeless. Look where I am now. I am strong and assertive. I built myself a career, got married. I don’t fear life any more.” She paused, turning her gaze from the temple to her husband. “If you knew that some specific god might have aided in such a transformation, wouldn’t you want to thank him?”

“So now you believe in Shiva?”

“I believe that I have changed, for the better. I believe there was indeed a transformation, a renovation of sorts. And I am thankful. To whoever I should be thankful for.” She took a swig of her water, lost in thought again.

“Don’t be too hasty giving all the credit to Shiva. In all fairness, you always had those qualities.” Victor offered with a smile. “Perhaps only now you see them in yourself.”

Immediately, Victor felt something tug the back of his polo, making him freeze. Something was climbing his back. It didn’t take long for him to figure out it was a monkey.

“Don’t move.” Andrea whispered with a smile, watching him closely. “I think you made a new friend.”

Much to Victor’s dismay, this monkey did not come alone. Soon enough, he had three monkeys trying to climb him, tugging the fabric of his pants and his polo, trying to find some food.

“Wow, look at that!” She laughed. “It’s like you are covered in monkey catnip!”

Victor sighed, exasperated.

“Don’t ask me how this happens.” He tilted his head back, trying to avoid getting a monkey’s ass rubbing on his face. “Same happens with cats, I can’t figure out why.” Victor motioned to get up in an attempt to make them leave, but Andrea stopped him.

“No, wait.” She reached for her phone in the pocket of her cargo shorts. “Let me take a picture. I just need to turn this on.”

Victor waited patiently for her to turn on the device, shuddering when the monkey that rested on his shoulder inserted the tip of his tail into his ear.

“You have ten seconds before I get up and shake them off.” Victor warned, disgusted.

But apparently, Andrea was not worried about the picture anymore. She paled slightly, tapping furiously on the screen.

“I have fifteen text messages from Olive asking me to call her back.” She looked at him. “What do you think she wants?”

Before Victor had the chance to answer, one of the monkeys decided that Andrea’s phone was far more interesting than his lap and jumped to the spot next to her, trying to take the phone from her hand.

“What are you doing? No.” She frowned at the cub, taking the phone back absentmindedly. “You can’t have this, it’s not yours.”

Victor’s heart stopped for a moment, expecting a reaction from the animal, but none came. The little monkey scurried away and Victor sighed, getting up slowly, his careful eyes on the monkeys jumping to the ground.

“Put that thing away.” He softly scolded. “You really need to mind your actions he-”

“Aaaaahhh!” Andrea screamed in pain, and Victor turned to her. Apparently, that little monkey’s mother was nearby and jumped from behind her, sinking her teeth in Andrea’s shoulder.

“Don’t move!” Victor ran to her, taking a closer look at her injury, which was now bleeding profusely. “Wait. Let me wash it.”

He emptied the remainder of water in his bottle on Andrea’s shoulder, but to little effect to her wound, that kept stubbornly oozing blood.

“We need to get you to the infirmary.” He stated, frantic, taking Andrea in his arms and bolting to the exit, where the infirmary was located.

“Victor, I can walk! You can put me down, it’s not that bad!” He heard her call.

Even though Victor could hear her voice, he was in no condition to listen. His own heartbeat pounded heavily on his ears as he ran, his mind reeling as he furiously pondered the setbacks and possible solutions of the situation he was facing.

They had received inoculation before the trip, but he foolishly forgot to confirm if rabies was included in the pack, leaving it all in his physician’s hands. There was no way to guarantee that the monkey wasn’t infected, with that or some other disease. Untreated, rabies could kill someone in merely weeks, and Bali was a third world country, with an extremely poor healthcare system, so a vaccine could well not be readily available. And even if Andrea wasn’t infected with rabies, the wound was deep enough and the bleeding considerably profuse to hint damage at a major artery, taking mere minutes for Andrea to bleed to death, which rose the exact same problem as before: they were not in Loveland, where the best doctors were just a phone call away. He would have to get a plane as soon as possible to fly them back, at the risk of becoming a widower right on their honeymoon.

“Victor! Andrea!” He heard the tour guide running towards. “Shit, she got bit?”

“She needs help, she’s bleeding a lot!” Victor took a quick look at her shoulder and back, now drenched with blood, dripping to his arm.

“Come, get in the car, I know a clinic nearby where she can get treated.” The guide led them to the jeep, opening the front passenger door. Victor sat Andrea as the guide opened a water bottle, pouring more water on her wound. He sighed in relief. At least the bleeding had finally stopped.

“See?” He heard his wife’s gentle voice. “I’m ok, it’s not even bleeding anymore. Relax.”

Without a word, and despite Andrea’s protests, Victor unceremoniously transferred her to the back seat and sat beside her, a protective hand around her waist, his other pressing on her wound with some cloth the guide provided, as his lips rested on her temple, wishing it would bring her some comfort. As for him, he would relax when he saw his wife completely safe from harm.

Andrea talked to him the whole way to the clinic, trying to calm him down, but nothing could quiet his worried mind. They weren’t supposed to leave the hotel, maybe only for the occasional stroll, but never take a car and drive for an hour towards the forest. Bali was indeed a paradise, and they went there to enjoy some of the culture, but their intent was to relax, not to venture away.

The clinic looked nice and clean, although very far from Victor’s standards. The doctor carefully analyzed the bite mark, disinfecting it properly. The doctor concluded the wound itself was not dangerous, and certainly not as deep as it looked, and administered a vaccine for rabies. In less than ten minutes they were back in the car, with the recommendation for a lot of rest and fluids, since the vaccine would apparently do more danger than the bite. However, even after the doctor had deemed Andrea would heal properly in the next couple of days, Victor would not be satisfied until the resort physician examined her too.

By the time the doctor left their room with the very same recommendations, Andrea was exhausted. And Victor was worried. And furious.

“I told you it was not that bad.” Andrea tried to appease him, as she laid down on their bed, him sitting beside her. “You were worried for nothing.”

Victor scoffed, but didn’t say a word. He felt the roaring fire of anger inside him, and he was trying his best to keep it in.

“Are you upset?” She spoke again, reaching for his arm. He got up, avoiding her touch. “Victor…”

“I should’ve known better and just stayed in.” He shook his head, feeling his ears grow warmer. “I should’ve known you’d be reckless and do something foolish.”

“Wait.” Her voice was slightly angry, taking offense at his words. “How is this my fault?”

“We had clear instructions.” Victor turned to her and lifted his hand, enumerating the instructions with a show of fingers. “Not to make sudden movements, not to take things from the monkeys, not to make eye contact. You disrespected all three!” His voice became slightly more aggressive, and part of him felt bad for it, but she had been careless. She needed to hear it. “You risked your life out there, and the only reason we are here now is because you got lucky! And for what , Andrea? To read some texts you shouldn’t even be reading in the first place? It’s our honeymoon! Can’t you let go of work even now?”

Victor braced for her angry comeback, but the comeback never came. She simply looked at him with sad eyes, and dove deeper under the comforter.

“You are right, I am sorry, I got distracted.” Her voice was weak and defeated, and that hurt Victor more than any furious retort. “I didn’t reply to any of the texts, and I don’t intend to. I’m sorry I ruined our honeymoon.”

That last sentence was the final slap, the one that ended the discussion. Victor was still furious, but now he was the target of his own rage. At a loss for words, he simply left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving her to rest.

Of course she didn’t mean to get hurt. She was startled by the large incoming of messages, and forgot her surroundings. Besides, one can never predict behavior towards a wild animal. She acted out of instinct.

Regretfully, Victor had been extremely unforgiving towards her. It was rather incomprehensible how he was usually so good and putting aside his feelings when making decisions, while with Andrea he simply couldn’t do it. His heart spoke louder every time, jumbling his thoughts and clouding his judgment, and no matter how hard he would try, it would always get the best of him. Victor sighed and poured himself some whiskey from the bar, hoping it would relax him and clear his mind. Sadly, it was to no avail. The only thing that could soothe him was to know Andrea did not resent him.

After a while, he decided to order dinner, making sure he included his wife’s favorite dishes. After the food arrived and he set the table, he went to the room to wake her up, touching her forehead gently to check her temperature. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at him sleepily, a neutral expression on her face, instead of the loving one she had for him. Although she didn’t seem to be angry, she was probably still upset.

“Dinner is served.” His hand rested softly on her shoulder, assessing her reaction. “Does it still hurt?”

“No, I mean, It’s a bit tender, but... I’m alright.” She answered with a soft voice, her tone indicating she was open for communication. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Andrea got up slowly with his loving hand helping her. He looked into her eyes, the ones that always gave him so much comfort. Without much thought, Victor pulled her into a hug, his silent apology. She hugged him back, leaning her head on his chest.

“Andrea…” He needed to apologize for being so rude. If only there were words that matched his feelings. He simply couldn’t find them.

“I know the man I married.” She smiled at him. “He may be sometimes harsh, and despite his rational ways, he can blow things way out of proportion, but I know he has a good heart, and he means well. I know he loves me and he cares.” She softly brushed his bangs with her fingers. “And I love and care for him too.”

Victor smiled at the love of his life, finally allowing himself to relax. She was safe, and she was his. And it dawned on him that’s exactly what a happy marriage is supposed to be like. Not perfect, but loving, even when one of them shows his ugly side.

“Maybe the monkeys heard me call that place a cemetery, and thought I wanted to kill them all.” She turned to him with a smirk. “They are not taking any monkey business.”

Victor glared at her, unamused.

“Too soon?” She grimaced.

“I’m the one who almost had a heart attack with your monkey business.” He pulled her closer. “So, yes, too soon.”

Victor held Andrea tenderly, feeling grateful for having her safe in his arms. He wondered if there were any deities watching for her at the moment she was hurt and thanked them for the protection. Just in case.