Gonna bundle these two questions! (ALSO SPICY AT THE BOTTOM)
Sakura had one 'relationship' and that was/is with Aren Uzumaki.
Some backstory:
On their way back from Chiyo's, Saeko, Enji and Sakura were unable to port back in Tea Country- as the civil war came into full effect, and an embargo was placed on all the major ports in an attempt to cripple trade/starve out the big trading cities/ take control of the capital (which was on the coast).
For a few weeks, Sakura and Co. were prisoners on an enemy ship that captured the previous Daimyo's niece, Unami (now heir apparent, given that the rest of her family was murdered).
On their way towards the capital (for a nice public execution), they were boarded by famed Pirate Captain/Smuggler Aren Uzumaki of The Last Sparrow- who took them aboard along with the rest of the spoils.
As the enemy closed all the ports, Sakura realized they would never make it to land for the foreseeable future and offered her services as a healer for the duration of the war in exchange for Saeko, Enji's, and Unami's safety.
Furthermore, Enji helped Unami cut a deal with Aren, in which he was promised legitimacy and exclusive trading contracts with the South under her future rule. Thus, the Last Sparrow became the Command Center for the Civil War for the next eight months.
During that time, Sakura healed, fought, and hassled Aren into teaching her basic strategy, war, and bureaucracy - something the Captain (and Unami) realized she had a good head for. (Sakura would later serve as Unami's consul after the war).
As for Aren, he is extremely intelligent, shrewd, and a powerful fuinjutsu specialist. He's a respected captain and only chose the pirate/smuggler life after the decimation of the Uzumaki clan. When Konoha didn't come to their aid in time during the third war, Aren swore never to be beholden to a shinobi village and took to the seas, denouncing shinobi-hood.
Sakura approached Aren and asked to spend the night with him on the eve of the last battle, and had an on-again, off-again relationship after the war. Aren's first love was the sea, and Sakura never wanted to be second (or third) place in anyone's life ever again, so while they aren't in any official relationship, they do find themselves in each other's arms when they cross paths.
(fun fact, Aren calls Sakura 'Wildflower')
When Kankuro was poisoned, The Last Sparrow (legal now!!!) had fortuitously docked at one of Fire Country's port cities. So they could take that to Suna and cut a week off their travel time.
Kakashi was surprised to see that Aren and Sakura knew each other.
He was very unpleasantly surprised to see HOW well they knew each other. He spent a full week seething- as he watched some sleazy Icha-icha knock-off pirate Lothario take advantage of Sakura.
Once again, thank you so much for the lovely words and all the support for this AU!
SPICY UNDER CUT.
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Fun fact: Imrahil of Dol Amroth is only ever described in LOTR as Denethor and Faramir's "kinsman", with no distinction ever made between how he's related to Denethor vs to Faramir. It's only later, when Faramir briefly thinks of his long-dead mother, that she is called "Finduilas of Amroth" and we can deduce that the family connection was likely between Denethor's wife and Imrahil, making him an in-law of Denethor but blood relative of Faramir. We're still not told exactly how Imrahil and Finduilas were related, though.
I always had the impression of a certain degree of tension between Imrahil and Denethor, and also of Imrahil being particularly concerned for Faramir, but his exact relationships with them are quite vague in the narrative. A lot of the names, dates, and family connections among the members of the house of Dol Amroth that we now accept as a matter of course are mainly from a separate document published in Peoples of Middle-earth that explains the most probable origin story for the house of Dol Amroth and has an attached family tree. IIRC the entire existence of Faramir and Éowyn's son Elboron is based on his inclusion in the Dol Amroth family tree in POME and he's never referenced in LOTR (and possibly not in anything else, actually?).
Tolkien definitely did imagine Imrahil and Finduilas as siblings regardless (e.g. I think he mentions it when observing that Denethor's natural beardlessness as an Elrosian Dúnadan would be reinforced in Boromir and Faramir by their additional Elvish heritage through Imrahil's sister), but he didn't actually say it in LOTR.
I do think it's important, though, because it's with this later information that Imrahil taking charge of Faramir's fallen body is conclusively revealed to not be simply a prince rescuing a vague "kinsman" of political/military importance, but specifically a man carrying his dead sister's last surviving child from a battlefield.
(No wonder he and Éomer bonded so much, honestly!)
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a homecoming | koret swan
Do you want to read all my FFXIV prompts? You can do that here! The master document also contains any misc. notes and information. 🌊
HORIZON: the line at which the earth's surface and the sky appear to meet. for example, the sun rose above the horizon.
A calloused hand thumbed the familiar notch of the king spoke; an irony of primals, a living metaphor for the concept of a ship of theseus, and the source of Koret Swan’s contemplation.
When was a ship no longer a ship? When all its parts were reforged—when its captain was replaced or displaced? A familiar groove affixed to unfamiliar bronze, barely in her hand before she had to hand it over.
Yet, as she stood in that familiar place against an unfamiliar backdrop, it felt like a homecoming.
“I do not mind the excuse for a holiday,” teased a familiar voice from behind. The captain rolled her eye (did it have the same effect as the plural? She supposed it didn’t matter—supposed he’d understand it all the same) and canted her head back to look at her first mate, ever stuffy in his fitted coat with curly-black hair mussed from the breeze.
“You’re fucking stupid,” she answered in turn, prompting Robince to laugh. He watched as the Wolfsbane went over its final checks: supplies for the voyage, people to account for, tallies to be counted. He’d be busier than he ever was, handing over his own captaincy for the voyage, but she’d accept no other vessel—no other crew. They’d gone to a hundred ‘new’ places, why would this new world be any different?
It did not. A ship was still a ship, a woman was still a leader, and the sea still an abyss.
When the signal was given he stood to point, rapt attention given to the deck and the men and women under their charge. They looked to him and awaited his signal—awaited her permission and her initiation.
“By your leave then, Madame,” he said, glancing at her for just a second. His lips pulled upwards, a smile to match her confident smirk. “You know which way to go?”
“Yeah.” Her thumb passed the notch one final time before she turned the wheel, feeling the rudder shudder beneath them. “To that horizon.”
Robince’s voice was loud and strong, cutting over the din.
“You heard the captain, men! To that horizon!”
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To The Surface
Vessel always finds himself plagued by nightmares around the anniversary of his death. Even though he won't ask for comfort, choosing instead to suffer in silence, II takes notice, taking it upon himself to watch over him through the night.
II always has and always will protect Vessel, even if it means breaking one of their sacred rules.
Word Count: 855
a/n: It is implied here that Vessel and II knew each other prior to becoming vessels for Sleep. For a little context here, each member has died and been resurrected by Sleep, meaning Vessel's suicide attempt was successful. This is my first non-silly foray into writing for Sleep Token, it's just a little something I wrote last night, but feedback is greatly appreciated🖤
AO3
He was drowning again.
The water was prying at his lips, taunting his nostrils, begging him to give in, to slip away. He knew it was easier not to fight it, to let his body sink to the bottom and succumb to the darkness.
He began to part his lips, the water clawing its way in when he heard it, so faint he swore he had imagined it. Then he heard it again, louder, clearer.
His name.
He hadn’t heard it in so long, so long he had almost forgotten it entirely. It belonged to the face beneath his mask, the face he tried so desperately to forget. The face he concealed by his mask.
The familiar voice cut through the water, wrapping itself around his torso and dragging him to the surface, his name echoing through his mind as he broke through to the air above…
Vessel gasped, shooting up in what he could vaguely recognize as his bed, sending someone toppling off the side onto the floor below. His chest heaved as he blinked furiously, trying to gain awareness of his surroundings. Tears spilled down his cheeks as sobs racked his body.
Then he heard it again, the same voice from his dream, whispering his name. A gentle hand came to his shoulder accompanied by another soft utterance of his name as he trembled, a pair of warm arms wrapping around him.
II kneeled on the bed beside Vessel and pulled him into his chest, letting him bury his face in his neck, rubbing soothing circles on his back as he sobbed. His nightmares had been getting worse recently, and II was starting to seriously worry about him. He knew that Vessel was often too embarrassed to come to any of them for comfort, even after all they’d been through together. So for the past two weeks he’d been setting alarms throughout the night to come check on him and make sure he was safe. Tonight, when he peeked into his bedroom, the sight of Vessel thrashing against the covers had sent him into a panic. He tried waking him, but nothing seemed to be able to snap him out of it.
II knew he shouldn’t have done it, knew Sleep would likely be angry with him even if Vessel forgave him for using his true name. They were no longer the men they were, only vessels for Sleep, they had no name. But one look at the anguish on Vessel’s face pulled it from his lips involuntarily, a desperate attempt to help him.
And it worked.
They stayed like that for the better part of an hour wrapped in each other, the room silent except for the heart wrenching sounds coming from deep within Vessel’s chest. Finally, Vessel tugged his face away from II’s neck, blinking away the tears as he sniffled. II brought his hand up to cup Vessel’s face, gently rubbing his thumb against his cheek.
“You said my name,” Vessel croaked. “You really shouldn’t do that.”
“I tried not to. But you… you wouldn’t wake up.” II whispered, the concern evident in his voice. Vessel sighed, his eyes falling closed as he leaned his forehead against II’s shoulder.
“They’re getting bad again.” He said after a moment of silence.
“Are they all the same?” II asked. Vessel had told him once about the nightmares that plagued him around this time of year. Vessel nodded as he pulled away again, his eyes falling to his trembling hands.
“But this one was…” Vessel trailed off, swallowing thickly. II gently took his hands, offering a reassuring squeeze. “Normally it’s silent, I’m just alone in this… nothingness. But this time, I could hear something. I could hear you.”
“Me?”
“I could hear you calling my name, and it felt like you were pulling me out of it. Like you were… saving me.” Vessel confessed, bringing his gaze back up to meet II’s eyes.
The vulnerable look in Vessel’s eyes snatched the words from his throat, he was already a man of few words even in less emotionally charged situations. So instead of speaking, he just wrapped his arms around Vessel’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug, clutching him tightly against his body. II felt Vessel’s arms wrap around his middle, the tension in his body slowly melting away as he let himself relish in II’s comforting embrace.
“I’m always going to save you.” II mumbled, holding back tears of his own. Vessel began to pull away, and II reluctantly released him.
“Would you stay with me? Just tonight?” He asked quietly, his lip quivering, and II immediately nodded.
“Of course.”
They laid facing each other, II’s hand running along Vessel’s side as they spoke in hushed whispers about nothing at all until Vessel’s eyes began to flutter closed. II smiled to himself as he watched his face relax as a peaceful slumber overtook him. He lifted his hand to brush the hair from his face, saying a silent prayer to Sleep to protect him from the darkness this time. He still laid awake until the sun rose though, just to make sure.
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i think, and this may just be my zekrom bias speaking, that if someone wants to experience the full value of bw's story it's better to play through white first. black has the issue of coming off as very dismissive towards plasma's legitimate and well-founded claims that pokemon abuse DOES occur (and it does! from the kanto games' marowak to bw2's liepard there's instances where it's put in the spotlight, so it certainly does happen)... by assigning the protagonist to truth, it feels pretty evident that n's beliefs are "wrong", and the game just seems to brush any questioning aside.
on the other hand, white giving n the hero of truth role means we're basically forced to think about what that means for the relationship of people and pokemon at large. to translate a point n makes in chargestone cave: if you allow people to coexist with pokemon, even if the majority of trainers treat them well, there will always be someone somewhere out there who abuses or neglects them instead. are we okay with that? should those pokemon still be allowed to suffer, just because what they experience is an outlier to the general rule? while not outright stated, zekrom's association with hope and the strive for the ideal suggests that we don't brush off these facts, but instead take them into consideration, and aim to change the world based off of them... like how in bw2 society in unova puts a lot more emphasis on the bond between people and pokemon, and on pokemon as equals (see: iris's dialogue before entering your team info the hall of fame).
i think black version has its own unique avenues to explore, but on the surface level, it's a much more cut and dry, "no, you're just wrong", type of story that kind of makes you work harder to fit it into bw's overall theming of "the world's not black and white, there's not a singular objective right or wrong perspective."
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