#whatever i think there should be a human companion that works for fish and game or smth

[bumbleblurr]

Actually on the train of thought of tfs being semi horrific in a sci-fi way, I think just their presence on the planet would rlly effect nature on a ecological scale. like if they crashed on earth and immediately started to try to hide away from people, they wouldn't rlly be able to stop scientists hearing reports of things not being right in this location they crashed in. fishers complaining about a lack of fish, animals acting weird, and traces of metals that are unlike those on earth. That would be fucked up yeah?

[this-sapphic-paradise]

Barbie starts dating and Gloria feels jealous, maybe even an eventual love confession

Hope you like it!

And let me know if I should write a follow up!

"Mom," Sasha's exasperated tone makes Gloria's hackles raise before she can even finish her sentence. "You *have* to put yourself out there again. It's been what, a year since you and dad divorced." The teen looked at Barbie for support, but doll-turned-human used her perfect poker face, staring straight ahead to avoid being pulled into the discussion. (One year in the real world had been enough time to learn some social cues.)

"Traitor," Sasha mock-whispered at Barbie.

"It's *only* been a year," Gloria corrected, busying herself with dinner. "I don't hear you nagging Barbie to start dating."

"That's because I am dating," Barbie supplied, hoping to be helpful. (Not *all* cues.)

Gloria almost dropped the pan she was holding in her haste to turn around. "You are?!"

The look of shock and... sadness? in Gloria's eyes confused Barbie. "Should I not be?"

"No, no..." Gloria shook her head and softened her features into a careful neutral face. "Of course you should. You should date as much or as little as you want, just-" a sad smile tugged on her lips, "don't let bad people harden your heart, okay?"

Sasha observed the exchange, looking from her mom to Barbie and then back again. *Okay...* She mouthed to herself, knowing it would go unnoticed by the two women who were staring lovingly at each other.

"Whatever. What's for dinner?"

------

It's not like Gloria hadn't tried to get back into the dating game. She had downloaded all the typical apps—Tinder, Bumble, Hinge—, she had even ventured on Plenty of Fish before she understood the error of her ways and deleted her account immediately. But the apps made her feel like she was shopping for people, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth, and so, she had deleted them.

What was left for her to do? She wondered, still thinking about Sasha's incessant request a week after the incident in the kitchen, getting cozy on the couch under a soft blanket to watch the latest cult documentary (a welcomed change from all the murder true crime shows she watched). She wasn't in her twenties anymore, she didn't want to go out partying every weekend, so where was she supposed to meet men her age? Did men her age even want to date women as old as them??

"You have that look on your face," Barbie commented, joining Gloria on the couch and shimming under the blanket to make herself warm.

"The look of a tired, working mother?"

Barbie grinned, having grown rather fond of Gloria's little sarcastic quips. "No, that look is beautiful," she said earnestly. "The look that something is bothering you."

Gloria shook her head, trying to ignore how Barbie's honest compliments always sank sharp teeth into her heart. She pressed play on the remote and she pretended to pay attention to it simply so she wouldn't have to look into those soul-searching eyes as she spoke. "How has dating been going for you?"

"Hm..." Barbie took a second to think. "I've been on seven dates since last week—"

"What?!?"

Barbie blinked. "One each night, basically."

"How can you afford that??"

She shrugged, "I never have to pay for anything. All the men and women I've seen insisted on paying for me."

Gloria was mid thought of 'Of course they are paying for you,' when it registered that Barbie had said she was going on dates with women too. It should have been obvious, really, that Barbie would see women as perfectly viable companions, but for some reason Gloria had never considered that for herself.

"And... which have you liked best, women or men?"

Barbie scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. "It's difficult to find any man here who is interested in more than my looks and many of them are terrible kissers—though I'm not sure I'm a good one myself-"

"Of course you are," Gloria interrupted without thinking about what she was saying.

"Can you tell just by looking at me?" Barbie asked, wondering if that was another human thing she still had to learn.

"Uh..." Gloria blinked a few times, trying to come up with a good explanation for that intrusive thought at the same time as she tried to comprehend why the thought of Barbie not being a good kisser felt like an affront to her.

"I-I just know that you're very intuitive and kind, and I'm sure someone like that would know how to kiss well," she explained, hoping it sounded like a well-thought-out reason.

Barbie beamed at that, taking Gloria's words at face value.

"So, yeah, I think I'm much more inclined to keep dating women than men. But no girl has invited me nor agreed to go on a second date."

Gloria frowned again. How was that possible?? "Have any of them told you why?"

"They said they couldn't get into another situationship with a woman who's living with her partner and her daughter." Barbie shrugged and continued, "I don't know why that's such a problem for them, but if they see it that way, then I'm better off."

"Barbie..." Gloria tilted her head, her heart melting. "They think you and I are dating, or that we are exes but still live together. That's why they don't want to get involved." She chuckled, but her chest ached a little. "We *are* partners, but not in the way they think."

"Oh! Well... that makes way more sense now," Barbie laughed and got more comfortable on the couch, unbothered by the fact that a misunderstanding might have cost her a few dates.

-----

Rollerblading had been something Gloria and Sasha had taken up as mother-daughter bonding activity and both truly cherished the moments they spent together (even though Sasha still put up a bit of front as it was expected of a teenager).

They were enjoying the breeze as they skated down their regular route when Gloria suddenly blurted out, "Would it be weird if I started seeing women?"

Sasha almost fell flat on her face—not due to the question, but the abruptedness of it. She eyed her mother with an unreadable expression for a few seconds before smirking and asking, "Women or Barbie?"

"What?!? No! I mean-"

"Mom," Sash laughed, grabbing her mother's hand. "Either is totally fine and not weird at all. I mean, it'd be *really* weird to have a real life Barbie as a step-mom, but-" she shrugged, "I've been waiting for you to realize you've been in love with her from the moment you laid eyes on her."

Gloria wanted to deny it, she wanted to say Sasha was mistaken, that she had still been in love with her ex husband when they met Barbie, but she knew she would be lying. All Gloria could do was thank the heavens for the fact that Sasha did not seem to be traumatized by the changes in their family.

"There's no step-mom just yet," Gloria said shyly, choosing to stay away from heavy topics for the time being. "Do you think she would go on a date with me?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sasha scoffed, rolling her eyes at her mom. "I've seen the way you too look at each other. I think it gave me literal cavities. It's disgusting, really."

Laughing at her daughter's dramatics, Gloria sighed and said, "I guess I'll ask her out then." Her heart soared with the possibilities the future held, and she could only hope Barbie would say yes.

[skellebonez]

Smoke, Flasks, and Unfinished Tasks: Chapter 6

AO3 Link!

Chapter 1 Link!, Chapter 2 Link!, Chapter 3 Link!, Chapter 4 Link!, Chapter 5 Link!

Summary: Revelations. History. Collision.

Warnings: Descriptions canonical violence in Journey To The West, smoking and drug use on others.

Author’s note: So... this was supposed to be up on Saturday last week... I thought I had posted it, but due to issues offline I had completely forgotten. But I went over this chapter, edited it, and moved some things from it into the next chapter for a better flow and therefore it is a smidgen short! (No special spoilers here.)

Chapter 6: Knew you weren’t human but who’d guess?

“Jin! Jin, what’s happening!?” MK yelled, watching as the Gold Demon in the form of his mentor fell to his knees and screamed. His entire form glitched and rippled as the world around them shook and shook and shook so hard that they could barely keep on their feet. The world rippled around them, wisps of pieces of the ground and building glitching in front and between them blocking their vision. “JIN!”

The demon didn’t reply, the longer he screamed the more none of the trio was even certain that he could, curling into himself and bending at the waist so much that his forehead dug into the ground beneath him. And suddenly the shaking was gone while the pained screaming remained.

“What is happening!?” Mei whirled around in the hopes of seeing anything that could give them a hint as to what was happening. “W-what the hell?”

No one was reacting. Every single fake person in the Calabash city just kept on going about their day as if the visage of the Monkey King doubled over and screaming in agony wasn’t in front of them at all.

“Oh please,” a voice rang out from all around them. “Did you think I wouldn’t catch on? No cheating allowed in my little game you four.”

The trio looked at each other with wide eyes. They didn’t recognize this voice at all. It was feminine, that was much was certain, smooth and calm like nothing was happening at all and it was spoken as if through the opening to a vast cave that made it vibrate the very air surrounding them.

“What did you do to Jin!?” MK yelled back, kneeling down to put a hand on his back. Jin’s screams had begun to die down and now he was shaking violently, though whether it was because whatever had caused him to start screaming had stopped or if it was because he physically could not anymore.

“Just a little incentive for him to cooperate while I do a little something something,” the voice rang out again, a high pitched and haughty chuckle following soon after. “It’s amazing what these two little buffoons have managed to create while being sooooo bad at figuring out how to actually use it. Almost as clever as growing little kits.”

“Kits?” Red Son muttered, looking to the sky and narrowing his gaze.

“Shit...” Jin suddenly groaned out, not getting up from his place on the ground. “What did you do to me?” He tried to turn his head but didn’t seem to have the energy to do so and the sight of this happening with Sun Wukong’s face made MK feel sick to his stomach.

“Incentive, I said,” The voice sounded exasperated now, a low drawn out groan sounding out. “You should be very familiar with it by now, though this batch is more of the paralyzing variety than the sleeping one so maybe it should be expected for you to not realize what I had blown into your secret little calabash.”

Vapor. The voice was most definitely Vapor, or whoever was hiding behind that moniker. The realization they had had been caught before their plan to escape could even really start sent ice cold shudders down all of their spines.

“How did you even k-”

“You thought I actually left?” Vapor cut Mei off with a tut, and suddenly the world started shaking violently for a few seconds before calming down. “I wouldn’t be dumb enough to turn my back on these two for a second, they may not be the best plotters but they’re not dumb. No no no, I knew they had a little something up their sleeve. That’s why I pretended to leave. Muuuuuuch easier to deal with one of them than both of them, less costly in supplies as well.”

“What did you do to my brother!?” Jin screeched, just barely managing to push himself to his feet with a snarl that dissipated instantly. “Wh-what... did you do to me?”

“You like it?” Vapor giggled this time, still high and haughty. “Why wear the face of Sun Wukong remotely when you can just be him instead? Much easier to keep track of you when you’re all in one place...” The sound of a crunch could be heard, ringing in all their ears as Jin’s face dropped in horror at the realization that it had been the calabash he was originally in. And no longer in. “As for your brother he is taking a much needed nap. He’s veeeery comfy I can assure you, very safe. Safer than you will be.”

“You let us out of here right now you damned fox!” Jin yelled, finding his anger just in time for a whooshing sound and smoke to start billowing from the sky and to surround them. “Aw shit, no! No, cover your mouths!”

The warning came far too let, the smoke seeping into their mouths and eyes before the trio could even attempt to cover them. They coughed and gagged on the sickly sweet and bitter taste on their tongues, eyes burning and tears failing to relieve them.

“F-fox?” Red Son coughed out, trying his best to remain standing and failing miserably as he joined the others in the ground in only a few seconds. “It’s n-not possible, you’re-!”

“Dead?” Vapor’s voice rang out again as a form glitched in front of them, a patchwork tapestry of people before eventually forming a whole person who’s face lit up as Red’s fell into one of horror and recognition. “Awww, you do know me! I was afraid your father had never kept any of my portraits.”

She stepped forward, tall and regal and draped in rich silken robes of old fashion. Hair half up with intricate pins and a jade comb, the tell tale giveaways of a fox spirit showing in her long tail and large ears.

Princess Jade Face knelt down, smile softening even though no kindness shown through it as she cupped Red Son’s face in her hands. “Oh my dear little kit, I am terribly sorry you had to meet your step-mother like this.”

----------

Thunder and lighting surrounded them, electricity and bangs that could shake the ground itself the backdrop to their battle. Princess Jade Face gritted her teeth, growling low in her throat. If she knew this is what would become of her after moving from being the demon Bull King’s concubine to his second wife she would have never taken the chance.

“This altitude ain’t the only thing I got over you!” That damned pig, Zhu Bajie, yelled from the rocky alcove above her with a wickedly proud smirk. He swung his rake, mythical energies emanating from it in a clear warning to stay away. She couldn’t afford to listen to that warning, not if she wanted to keep her position. She’d worked so hard to gain the bull’s favor and she wouldn’t just give it up now.

“Big words traveler, but can you back them up?” Jade Face snarled, allowing her fangs and claws to morph in. Damn this pig for forcing her to reveal herself. Damn that monkey for demanding the fan. Damn the monk, the fish, the dragon-horse! Damn them all!

“Oh I can back them up and than some, show me what you got!” With a yell the pig leapt off the rocks.

“Gladly, your journey ends here with me!” She leapt forward in turn, allowing her herself to fully become her fox-woman form. She grabbed the rake before it made contact with her skull, swinging it and it’s owner to the other side of the field.

“Knew you weren’t human but who’d guess?” The pig sneered, swinging the rake again to show off. “A fox spirit all along. Doesn’t matter what you are though, this rake will rend your soul regardless!”

Oh, rend her soul would it? Not without a fight! Jade Face dropped to all fours, running around Zhu Bajie and cartwheeling once behind him to catch him off guard and kick his legs out from under him.

She lengthened her claws, swinging down to gore at his throat before the blunt end of the rake slammed into her stomach and sent her flying with no air left in her lungs. Barely landing on her feet she just managed to catch the pig lunging at her with nine teeth aimed right at her face, falling back just in time to be missed. She rolled, kicking him in the stomach in retribution and grabbed one of his ears to bite at his neck.

That’s when she felt all nine of those barely missed teeth sink into her back.

She froze, jolting only when they were pulled out and the pig moved to let her fall face down into the dirt.

“Gotta admit,” she heard him say distantly, growing further and further away. He was leaving, no doubt to return to his master and companions. “You ain’t half bad. No match for me, but still not half bad. Maybe if I ever end up in the underworld we could have a rematch.”

Rematch. Rematch, that word spun around in her head as she laid in the dirt. Warm blood seeping from her wounds and painting her back in a deep red. A rematch.

‘He will get much more than a rematch some day,’ Jade Face thought to herself as she finally moved once she was sure he had left, crawling through the field to hide away and lick her wounds. ‘He’ll learn not to leave things unfinished.’

----------

Princess Jade Face leaned back in her chair, hands typing wildly at the keyboard in front of her as she turned the memory over in her head. She watched the chaos unfold on the screens before her, a smile forming on her lips as she finally turned away to empty her smoking pipe to fill it with another concoction of her own making.

Yes. Zhu Bajie would learn not to leave things unfinished.

Zhu Bajie would learn the hard way.

She was sorry for getting Red Son involved, but her husband... well. Not him.

[dzamie-oc]

Swimming With a Shark

Summary: A wolf and a human break into an aquarium, and the human gets eaten by a shark who works there. Word count: ~2000 Fandom: OC (Kahudra) Notes: This story contains unwilling prey, implied digestion, a shark without clothes, and one character nearly drowns (he’s okay though)

In an off-limits room of the aquarium, Dave slipped quietly through the door, then held it open for his companion, Varren. "See? Easy-peasy. No alarms, no chases, nothing. And that wolf katul they left as a guard dog - er, sorry, security guy - was too busy napping to do his job."

Varren brushed off the canine pun. "No problem, just don't make a habit of it, yeah?" He kept his ears perked forward as he scanned his new surroundings. The hum of machinery had grown louder without the door blocking it, and Varren's keen nose easily picked out the cleaning and water treatment agents used in this part of the facility. "Are you sure this will help?"

"Oh, for sure," his human friend replied as both their eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, "it'll let you get familiar with the place. You're sure to impress the manager or whoever it is supervises... whatever it is."

Varren nodded, picking his way along the floor. At this level, there were a number of pools set in the "ground," most of them cordoned off to prevent someone from stumbling in accidentally. Cards attached to the railings provided handwritten information about the state the water was kept in, and the silver-furred wolf challenged himself to guess which creatures each holding tank could be used for. A noise behind him alerted him out of his game, and he whirled around, fearing that they had been found out after all. On seeing it was just Dave, Varren calmed down slightly... until he saw what his human friend had done. "Are you... is that a swimsuit?!" he hissed.

"Well, I'm not one to skinny-dip," Dave replied. On seeing Varren's exasperated look, he shrugged and started looking at the labels Varren had been reading. "Look, you're here to help with a job hunt, and I'm here because SOME of these things have gotta be heated. Besides, they're clearly temporary things, so there probably aren't any fish in them!"

"You can't- there still shouldn't be random humans in them!" Varren shot back, "these things likely have a different sanitizing procedure, and you being in the wrong one could create a contaminant dangerous to the creatures! Hell, that's why I haven't been peering in to see if anything's in them, to minimize my risk of getting fur in one!" At that point, the katul realized he had started to raise his voice, and bit his tongue to keep quiet.

Dave made a vague, dismissive gesture and looked down at another card. "You worry too much. Oh look, warm freshwater, sand at the bottom, and not very deep. C'mon, Varren, what could I possibly be messing with here?"

"A shark," Varren said, and nearly jumped out of his fur when he heard a second voice answer at the same time. Heart pounding, he fought every instinct telling him to be sensible and flee whoever had found them out, instead stepping closer to the pool Dave stood next to. There was a quiet splash, and someone poked her head out of the water, resting her arms on the lip of the tank.

"More specifically, the one who has to clean up before going home," the newcomer said, "so, seeing as you're neither employees nor fish, I'm dying to hear why you're interrupting my swim."

Dave shrugged. "Should be obvious, miss. Water's fine, I take it?" In contrast, Varren took a few seconds before replying, "I'm, uh, studying marine biology and was looking at this aquarium as a place to apply to for... uh... a position."

The woman snapped her fingers at Dave. "Oi, shark privileges. Stay out of the water or else." After a couple of seconds, she turned back to Varren and rested her chin on her forearms. "And you. Breaking into a place you want to work for? Can't say I've ever heard of that working."

Varren crouched down so they didn't have to look down and up as sharply. From this angle, it was easier to see that she wasn't human, having some sort of snout. "Well, Dave - that guy - said it would be helpful to be familiar with the layout of the place. And it's kinda my first non-retail job, so I sorta just-" He cut off suddenly as her voice and words sunk in. "Wait, are you Wendy? The shark diver who does the feeding show on Tuesdays? It's cool to see how close the smaller fish get while swimming past."

"You don't know the half of it; there's a reason you'll never see me do the show in the tank with the cleaner wrasse. But yeah, that's me. Bet I look different from above and out of my su-" A loud splash interrupted Wendy, who turned to glare at the intruder to not only the employees-only area, but the pool of water as well. "Out. Get out," she ordered, before turning back to Varren. "Alright, look. While I can't take a moral high ground over you, I really should report you to management. But, I'm a sucker for honest flattery, so how's this: I'll keep quiet about this meeting, and in return, you'll save me filling out a ton of forms by keeping quiet about what's about to happen to your friend."

The wolf tilted his head at her, then looked over to Dave. The human was still in the water, slowly paddling towards the conversation. "Uh... what's about to happen to him?"

Wendy grinned, and Varren found himself wishing his eyes hadn't yet adapted to the dim light, to save himself the view of many, many sharp teeth. "Well, he jumped into a tank with a shark, refused multiple warnings, and is wearing remarkably little to protect himself. What do you think is about to happen to him?"

Varren shuddered. Dave, apparently trying for the title of king of bad timing, grabbed onto the rim of the tank and pulled himself next to the shark woman. He squinted at her, then dropped his gaze to the water's surface. "Are you... not wearing a swimsuit? Heh, were you waiting for some dashing 'bad dude' to come along?"

Against his better judgement, Varren glanced down, though he couldn't see anything below her shoulders. Then, to the wolf's surprise, Wendy smiled at Dave with the same grin she'd just shown him. "That'll come in handy in a few seconds. Easiest way to ruin one of those things." With that, she plunged back down into the water. Varren watched as the dark, semi-obscured form swam a couple quick circles before returning to the side.

Dave, to his credit, realized the conversation was over, and he pushed himself up onto the floor, then sat on the edge to let his feet dangle in the water. "I think she has the hots for me, dude," the human bragged, flashing a grin significantly less full of sharp teeth at his friend, "c'mon, there's no way she'd bite me, and there's only one thing a guy and a girl can do that swimsuits get in the way of!"

Before Varren could reply, or even warn Dave to get out of the water, Wendy breached the surface. Jaws agape and already around her quarry's feet, she quickly consumed past the human's knees in a single surge. Dave shouted in surprise when she clamped down and pulled, dragging him off the side and back towards the water. In a panic, Dave threw out his arms towards his canine friend, who reflexively grabbed him by the wrists. Wendy, however, was already swimming up again. When Varren next saw her snout, it was wrapped around Dave's belly. He saw and felt the shark swallow; unwilling to let go of the human, the unexpected tug downwards pulled Varren to his knees. Dave opened his mouth to shout again, but the shark's hand shot out of the water to muffle him, leaving him with only his eyes to stare pleadingly at Varren.

Unfortunately for the katul, and even more unfortunately for the human, pulling hard at the mostly-eaten Dave didn't pull him out of Wendy, but instead pulled him and Wendy partly out of the water. Varren looked down at her and immediately regretted it. He'd seen her at work enough to figure that she'd be quite stunning without clothes, but at that moment, the sizable bulge in her stomach, moving with every panicked kick Dave made, had frozen him with terror rather than interest. Worse, by the time he looked back at Dave, Wendy's jaws had just slid over his head, muffling the man's protests with her throat rather than her hand. Not only that, but she was staring at the wolf.

"Leh. Go." she said, her own voice muffled by the arms still between her lips. Varren, however, only stared at her in shock and fear, and when she pushed herself back into the water, he instinctively took tight hold on the thing she was trying to take away. His grip proved stronger than his balance, and all he managed before hitting the water was a surprised yelp. Which, unfortunately, meant the next breath he took was wetter than he was used to.

In a panic, Varren thrashed around, letting go of Dave as he tried to right himself, cough the water out, and replace it with air. He was barely aware of the pair of hands pushing at his back and hips until he managed to grab hold of the rim of the tank and properly have a coughing fit. After what felt like ages, though, the katul managed to return to simply panting hard as he clung to the solid ground.

"You gonna live?" Wendy asked from behind him. A burst of adrenaline saw Varren shoot out of the water like a rocket, whirling around only after he was a few feet from the tank. The shark woman was swimming in slow circles near the top of the water, her dorsal fin and part of her tail cutting through the surface.

"I... you're not going to try to eat me, too, are you?" he replied.

Wendy swam up to the edge of the tank, causing Varren to take another cautious step back. "Not if you don't want me to. Wasn't your fault you fell in the water - well, mostly wasn't your fault, but I'm sure you didn't plan to." She smiled, this time making sure to obscure her teeth. "Anyway, you should probably leave before someone better at security takes the front desk. Good luck on the job hunt!"

Varren shook himself dry, though the water clung to his clothes more easily than to his fur. "Uh... thanks. I'm kinda second-guessing this place; you're very, uh, unconcerned with- with murdering Dave, and with the possibility that I might report you?"

"Dunno the exact legal stuff, but the worst that can happen is a bunch of stuff to fill out affirming that I'm a shark and I was hungry and yadda yadda... It's happened, like, three times now?" Wendy grunted with effort as she pushed herself up out of the pool, then stretched her arms up. Varren backed away some more, transfixed on her gut and trying not to pay attention to how much the human within was still moving. The shark took notice, and started to walk to the other side of the pool. "Oh, but don't worry about me eating you. I mean, unless you make it a habit to swim with me uninvited and hit on me while doing so."

"I'll... keep that in mind." Varren replied, hesitantly, then added under his breath, "and probably stick to places with cameras for awhile." Slightly calmer, the wolf made his way back to the same door he'd come in through, turned, and waved with automatic etiquette. "Goodnight, miss Wendy."

Wendy waved as well, though her back was turned as she bent down to do something with the tank. "Night, wolfy. See you later, whether we're on opposite sides of aquarium glass or not."

[mwolf0epsilon]

Silly prompt Idea for if you feel like it: BATIM but the monsters are chill to humans but are still unnerving; Sammy doesn't care about sacrificing people and is instead constantly trying to commit theophagy, Alice just covers the ruined half of her face with a mask instead of seeking perfection but sings songs about dismembering people anyway, the projectionist is tame and comes when you 'Pspspspspsps' at him but he also plays with corpses. etc.

Summary: Sometimes Joey liked to shake things up a bit to keep Henry on his toes, but this particular loop was probably the weirdest of them all...

---

[[MORE]]

Joey Drew was a creature of positively maddening habit. He'd demonstrated this since he was but a little child, eager to run from the church service and get grass stains on his Sunday best, ready to go on imaginary adventures with his one best friend in the whole wide world. Indeed, a day could not go by where Joey and Henry didn't play pretend in the latter's backyard.

Now as an old and bitter man in a wheelchair, the same still proved to be unfortunately true, although the setting was much different. He'd drag himself out of bed every day, completed his routine, then off he went to put his "toys" and supposed best friend through the same nightmare over and over again.

Surely doing the same old charade had to grow stale even for him, right? Well... That's why once in a blue moon, Joey tried to get a little... Creative.

Henry found that he hated those times more than being a prisoner to a never-ending loop, because the unpredictable nature of Joey's creativity was truly something out of his nightmares. Such was his dilemma now.

The first sign that all was not as it should be was the fact the pedestals that allowed the Ink Machine to be turned on, were already prepared and ready to go. Items placed in their rightful positions awaiting the flick of a switch. The second sign was the apprehensive behaviour of the demon, upon Henry triggering its first appearence in this loop. It didn't jump out at him, instead merely pulled itself out of the ink with something akin to frustration.

"You too uh?" Henry felt for the wretched creature, knowing that it was as unwilling a participant in this show as he was. He also knew that it disliked when Joey shook up the plot a bit because it often ended with it finding a more painful demise.

The Ink Demon said nothing in return, but motioned for him to go with it's uneven limbs. Different or not, the path was a linear one and Henry had to go about everything as if it were a normal run... Except it was anything but. The Music Department was proof enough of that.

He fell through the floor, had the usual visions, acquired a fire axe, and was ready to find the music director creeping about as usual. Instead, the old veteran came face to face with a religious service in full swing.

Searchers and Lost Ones, gurgling and reciting along to whatever "words of god" Sammy Lawrence was currently preaching, were sitting in makeshift booths.

Several alters set up for the Ink Demon were brimming with offerings of dolls, trinkets and cans of bacon soup. So many, many, cans of bacon soup. Brought in by the members in attendance.

Henry paused, completely taken by surprise by this... Arrangement. If anyone noticed his presence, no one seemed bothered about it. If anything, Sammy glanced once at him and merely continued his sermons, giving Henry ample time to accomplish his tasks in the music department.

As he collected the abandoned pressure valve (because Jack had apparently also gone to the "Sunday service"), Henry wondered if the mad maestro would just let him leave peacefully.

When no blow came from behind, he felt pretty satisfied with the outcome. Until he had to pass by the large gathering of ink people again, that is...

The sermons had apparently come to a close, and it was about the time church goers were to perform their theophagy ritual. Henry expected them to just eat the soup as their "body and blood of god", but of course why would any sane man think that these people who followed the ramblings of a mad Prophet, would do so much as dare a glance at an offering to their Lord?

No, Henry should have honestly known better, and he came to a complete stop as he watched the once-respectable composer push a cage full of live rats, and a bowl full of ink, into the center of the room.

"Feast now brothers and sisters, for one day this flesh will allow us to regain our own physical bodies. But let us not forget our Lord's blessings. May drinking his blood infuse us with the courage we need to commit to such ritualistic prayer."

Henry didn't stick around to watch the "feasting", but the shrill screeching of rats and wet crunching of bones followed him all the way to Buddy's safehouse, where the poor cartoon wolf looked just as disgusted and horrified as him. Fur standing on end just as Henry's own skin got goosebumps.

Thoroughly disturbed by what he'd witnessed, the old cartoonist knew to be on guard for whatever came next. While the Ink Demon seemed to just linger and let them pass, Alice Angel was still a supposed threat he needed to contend with. Joey didn't do much with her, as far as petty resentment towards Susie went, so he expected a struggle. He didn't expect a cabaret show.

There, in a room fixed up to look like a stage with Butcher Gang clones working as some sort of bar staff, stood the malicious lady herself, performing with a mask fashioned from an Alice Angel cutout's head.

The left side serving to hide her deformities, while she seductively swung her hips to the beat of a song that was certainly less cartoony and more sensual. A tango of some sort, or perhaps even jazz. Henry had a bit of a tin ear, so he couldn't really tell...

She was pretty content just singing and dancing, although her words were ones that put both he and Buddy on edge.

Sweet words that romanticized death and dismemberment, because nothing spelled angelic mercy like hearing about your innards getting torn out and used in ways he dare not speak of.

At least the whiskey was nice, likely pillaged from a couple of employees's offices.

Wherever Henry went, he found no real danger. This loop was just weird. Of course before moving onto Bendyhell to see what in God's name Joey might have done to subdue Bertrum, Alice did ask him to check up on Norman.

He'd at least hoped the Projectionist was behaving as intended... Except he wasn't. Of course he wasn't. Henry nearly backed off into the lift as soon as he realized the hulking beast was playing with the remains of its dead prey, and then nearly straight up pissed himself when that blazing light fell upon him and his lupine companion.

But then the large beast did something unexpected. It lumbered slowly towards them rather than rushing them, and then gently head-butted Henry's arm, purring like a big twisted cat of some kind.

Buddy shrugged at him when he looked over with a raised brow, before the old cartoonist sighed and gave the object-headed beast a few scratches on the "chin" and left it to its... Morbid activities. Playing with its mangled food like an actual cat...

Bendyhell in contrast, was quite pleasant. Abuzz with the cheers of Lost Ones having fun with the games and rides. Bertrum looked annoyed, but entertained his guests nonetheless. Henry Eve caught sight and waved at the dancing animatronic that ran about checking in on the Lost Ones that were having a blast. Hopefully none belonged to Sammy's church, lest poor Bertrum ended up dealing with upchucked rat remains... Best not think of that.

The encounter with Allison and Tom was postponed to the giant Ink Machine itself. They were in the Ink Demon's throne room, playing card games with it. The absolute look of boredom twisting its grin into a grimace.

"You know what, I don't even care enough to ask..." He threw up his hands in surrender and simply say down with them. "What are we playing?"

"Go fish. At the best of three, then you can end this nightmare..." Allison sighed.

"Amen to that..." He took the hand the Ink Demon shuffled for him, then joined in their game, allowing Buddy to sit down besides him to doodle away in his notebook.

If Joey was going to weird him out with his freaky jokes, at least Henry would get back at him by leaving him waiting in his stuffy old apartment.

[chaoticevilbean]

Darkness.

As humans, we have a lot of opinions. A lot of varying, conflicting opinions that we either will change on a whim, don't care enough to defend, or will defend with our lives, and every level in-between. After all, there's so many of us, and creativity is how we became sapient.

But even when we're so different and contradicting with one another, we still have general agreements. For example, there's a general agreement that murder is wrong. Those who don't agree are considered outliers, and in this case are commonly considered mentally ill or criminal. Another example is the agreement to not play bumper cars while on the roads in our giant steel cans.

So what's the main consensus on darkness?

It's scary. It's dangerous. It's where monsters come from. Demons and ghouls and ghosts and trolls. We agree that the dark has to be pushed away, fought off with lights and lanterns. The night is avoided, hidden from under blankets and covers and little nightlights shaped like stars and trains.

But, at the very same time we hide from the darkness, we seek it out like moths to the moon.

We sit on roofs and gaze at stars. We search the vast beyond of space for others who languages we can learn, whose cultures we can espy. We play games within the shadows, hide in the veiled crevices of houses and trees while our companions hunt for us. We use the darkness to keep our secrets, to protect us.

It would be better to say that we, as humans and of diverging minds, see the darkness as strong. And as with everything strong, some see danger and some see protection. And sometimes people see both.

I have always wondered why we fear the darkness. I asked myself tonight, as I drove home from work after the sun had set, why do I fear the dark? Why do I turn on every light as I pass through rooms at night, even when only a few give me enough illumination to see? I figured it out a bit faster, and I think that perhaps I've thought of this before.

I don't fear the dark. Not really. I don't fear the lack of light. Yes, I could trip, but I'm not scared of tripping. Yes, I could bump against something and hurt myself, but I'm not scared of bumping against things and hurting myself.

I'm scared of the unknown.

It makes sense. I'm thalassophobic. I can't handle not being able to see the bottom of wherever I am, or not knowing if I'm supported. I'm acrophobic for a similar reason.

I'm scared of the monsters that could be lurking in the darkness, that would be willing to travel through the dim light of the porchlight to grab me as I'm walking to the car. I'm scared of closing my eyes and something terrible happening that I can't stop or defend against. I'm scared of what I don't know, what I can't sense, what is completely hidden from me.

Perhaps this is true of everyone. Perhaps it is only me and whatever outliers there are spread in the world.

After realizing the truth of my own fear, I began to think some more about the dark.

In Star Wars, the Dark Side is bad. It's rage, hatred, grief, fear. It's death and destruction, fire and war and lightning strikes that destroy forests from the sparks. It's a pit that drags you down should you slip one foot into the water.

In Harry Potter, there's dark magic. The students of Hogwarts take a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The Unforgivable Curses are considered dark magic, and all three are things that most agree are bad, wrong, evil. Controlling one's free will. Subjecting one to indescribable pain. Murder (see above examples).

In so many stories, in so many books and fan works and shows and movies, the dark is bad. Dark has become synonymous with evil, with forbidden knowledge. "Dark" secrets, "dark" thoughts, "dark" humor.

But darkness isn't bad. It's not. How can it be?

Darkness is chaos. Lightness is peace.

The dark is what we don't know. Space, the oceans, caves, abysses, even the inner working's of the human body are dark, as we cannot see within them. The light is what we do know, what we can sense and what we've learned through the tools we made.

Telescopes show the stars. Submarines and sensors give us views of fish that bring their own light, of creatures big enough to swallow someone whole and not realize it. Flashlights and ropes and radios let us travel through chasms and caverns and discover just how deep they go. We have entire fields of science dedicated to figuring out how our physical selves work.

As humans, we see many things. As humans, we want to know. We want to learn, and so we search. We make opinions about things, try to discuss and dispute and change what is believed. As humans, we fear what we don't know.

But we also cherish it. Because once you learn something, you can't unlearn it. Cursed knowledge makes us want to sometimes, that information we want to forget but it keeps coming back. (On a side-note, the reason you can't forget it is because you had such strong repulsion, so not your brian has kept it forever.)

I would love to see more stories that explore the difference between "good and evil" and "light and dark". Darkness is chaos. You never know what'll happen next. Lightness is peace. It's what is known, what is calm.

But peace isn't always good. A tyrant makes peace within their ruling, but is it good? Is it right? The subjects of the tyrant know what's going to happen in their lives. They know the rules, know the way things will play out day-to-day. It's Lightness. But it's not Good.

Chaos isn't always bad. When children play in the streets, is it bad? Is it wrong? The children don't know if they'll get called back home, or if it'll rain. They don't know if they'll trip and skin their knees, or if they'll have to move aside so a car can pass. It's Darkness. But it's not Bad.

Perhaps the Dark Side within Star Wars is the same. Not Bad, just Chaos. But a war is much more noticeable than some children playing Tag.

Perhaps the Dark Arts are simply spells that are unknown to most, or that aren't considered possible. But one person can ruin it for the rest, and if a law forbids knowledge, often the only ones to find it are the ones that don't care about the law.

I really don't know, but then again, who does?

Sincerely,

ChaoticEvilBean

🌚🌞

[itsclydebitches]

Title: Mightier Than the Sword (Chapter Four)

Fandom: Witcher

Summary: A month after the events of “Rare Species,” Geralt slinks his way into an inn and is faced with the question of how an emotionless man apologies. (TV!canon with some details drawn from the books and Wild Hunt.)

Pairing: Slow burn Geralt and Jaskier

Word Count (This Chapter): 2,486

Where to read it: Below or on AO3

“See?” Jaskier said. “This is why I must... revise our adventures, so to speak. No one would ever believe me if I told them the truth.”

He was gesturing to the two men kneeling in a patch of wet leaves, both heads bent to expose their necks, a common act of submission in these parts of Temeria. The elder of the two snuck out a hand to wrap around the wrist of his companion.

“Please don’t hurt us, Master Witcher,” he said, no longer boasting the confident tone of a man who thought himself king of the wood. “Me and my son were just lookin’ for some supper. That’s it. I swear it to you. We didn’t mean to interrupt you an’ your... ah...”

Jaskier leaned close, his shirt just a hair’s breadth from Geralt’s armor. “Ohhh yes, please finish that sentence. What do you think I am? I’m not his ‘friend’ as I fear we’ve already butted heads like rams over that one. Not his ‘bard’ either as I’m far more than just some tawdry performer. Your ‘companion,’ perhaps? Eh, makes me sound like some sort of escort.”

With a sigh Geralt sheathed his sword, watching the men visibly relax. Rather funny that they thought this made him less dangerous. “He’s my curse.”

“Oh! Curse? Thanks. Thanks ever so much for that. I’ll just toss ‘He’s my curse’ next to ‘Filling-less pie.’ In fact, I should start a list. The many insults of Geralt of Rivia. Provide enough of them and I might just get a song out of it. Go on then. Anything else to add? My quill awaits.”

Geralt didn’t consider himself particularly skilled at reading people. Not unless he sought the signs of murder and betrayal. Yet in that moment he would have bet Roach that Jaskier was... teasing him. Just something about the hands on his hips and the hint of a smile. He knew now that Jaskier went quiet when he was hurt, as Geralt had witnessed just moments before. This performance didn’t compare to the tiny ‘How?’ he’d spoken, head dipped down towards his knees.

So Geralt attempted... something. Another apology maybe.

“I’m done for now,” he said, trying for the tone that he sometimes heard long-suffering wives using to discuss their husbands. Some of it must have gotten through because Jaskier rolled his eyes heavenward, ‘for now’ muttered on the tip of his tongue.

Meanwhile, the man had gathered courage enough to lift his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You... won’t be attackin’ me an’ my boy?”

No, of course they wouldn’t. Over the remains of yesterday’s breakfast Jaskier, never one to give up an opportunity for storytelling, explained that they’d initially feared them. His dear witcher only drew his sword as a precaution, not a warning, and there had never been a reason to kneel like that, so sorry about your trousers. Funny though it was. Now then, what brings you two this far out for a bit of dinner?

“Game’s scarce nowadays,” Yoven said, tearing into the meat of a small bird. He’d likewise introduced his son, Lin, a quiet boy more interested in his boots than the conversation. He ate his own fill when it was handed to him though and kept one shoulder pressed to his father’s at all times. “Need to keep headin’ deeper. Every fortnight it seems. Don’t know what we’re gonna do when the snows hit.”

Geralt felt the same. He’d wanted something substantial for the two of them, especially with winter on the horizon, but he’d had to settle for those warblers and the occasional grub. Jaskier had expressed his displeasure—quite vocally—at Geralt eating whatever he came across in the soil, but what was taste to a witcher? It was an easy source of protein they couldn’t afford to pass up, not now that the nights were growing longer and the air crisper with each passing breath. Soon all but the monsters would be in hibernation and Geralt didn’t think Jaskier could stomach a Nekker heart if he wasn’t willing to eat a measly worm.

It was a problem he hadn’t thought about when Jaskier had first joined him, not when the weather was kind and the chance of him staying past the next town nothing but a well-hidden fantasy. Now, with Fall nearing its end and this unspoken agreement between them, questions of a practical nature had begun to surface. How would he feed them? Would Jaskier survive the cold? Geralt tried to remember everything he’d learned about human physiology and how it compared to a witcher’s. How long could Jaskier go without fresh water? Surely not the two weeks Geralt could manage. Some night when food was once again scarce and he was weary from battle, would he remember that risom berries were fatal to everyone else, or would Geralt mistakenly offer him a handful of poison? How long could a human travel before exhaustion took hold? If he were injured what salves were safe to use? Would Jaskier even tell him these things, or would he insist it was all fine up until he collapsed? It hadn’t been terribly long since that day at the swamp, but with each passing moment Geralt grew more and more consumed by the same realization: humans were not meant to walk the Path.

Yet here Jaskier sat, creating a mirror to Lin and Yoven. The only difference was the absence of touch and Geralt suddenly had the strong urge to press their shoulders together, completing the picture.

If he were humble, Geralt would lead them to the next prosperous settlement and ask Jaskier to sing. Drum up some of the coin he could clearly earn and share it with him, securing their survival.

If he was smart he’d lead them both to Kaer Morhen for the winter, where food and protection were plenty and he needn’t fear a sudden shift in their host’s hospitality. However, the thought of bringing Jaskier to a witcher’s fortress...

If he were both, Geralt would simply leave the bard behind.

All these thoughts passed through him in a moment, following the tail of Jaskier’s expression as he watched Yoven devour cold, congealing meat. A mere second to assess the situation as he would a battle. Then the conversation continued.

Yoven explained that they were from another small town just three miles from here, one of Temeria’s many. Indistinguishable unless you considered that they specialized in building and exporting wagons as opposed to fish, herbs, nets, weapons, boots--whatever else one might need to continue with a war. Or life. It amounted to much the same. Does your town have a name? Jaskier asked. Not unless you count the profanity with which most referred to it. Are you and your witcher heading somewhere in particular? Not really. Wherever we’re needed, and Jaskier ended his comment with a little laugh. As if the concept of anyone needing him was a joke in and of itself.

Geralt, meanwhile, was watching the boy.

“You’ve something to say,” he announced, startling all three. Indeed, it was an easy enough conclusion, even without Lin’s guilty look. Geralt may not have had Jaskier’s talent for small talk, but he could always tell when someone held something back. His livelihood depended on it.

“Well? You can speak freely. We don’t bite,” and Geralt bared his teeth, ignoring the glare Jaskier shot at him.

“We really don’t,” he insisted.

It was Yoven who opened his mouth though. He must have been at least fifty years old, judging by the white in his beard. A substantial age for a human and, like the confident tone they’d first heard at his approach, Yoven was clearly used to commanding respect among his peers. He was halfway through insisting that no, his boy just had that air about him, when Lin finally looked up from his boots with,

“They can help.”

Three words in a mouse’s voice, but ones Geralt knew well. He leaned forward. Help meant trouble. Trouble meant coin. And coin meant he could give Jaskier something other than the soft bones of a bird to eat.

Yoven scowled. “There’s nothin’ to help with.”

“There is! Talden said—”

“Talden? ‘Don’t know how that mug got broke’ Talden? ‘I swear them chickens just ran off’ Talden? That Talden? You’d believe your own arse grew outta your nose if Talden told you so.”

“Lovely image,” Jaskier murmured.

Hmm. Perhaps a fool’s errand then. Or a case of a child crying werewolf. It wouldn’t be the first time some mischievous youngster had been scoffed at when they reported a sighting, only for folk to find them torn to pieces the next morn’, their lying punished too harshly. Only sure way to know was to get details, so Geralt eased himself off the log and knelt before Lin. No more attempts to frighten. Rather, he pulled in his shoulders to appear smaller than he was, kept his hands where Lin could see them, and allowed white hair to partially curtain his face, hiding a bit of the sallow skin and inhuman eyes. It wasn’t much, but Geralt had learned over the decades that even the smallest bit might help. Lives had been lost and saved on far less.

It was one of the reasons why he didn’t believe in destiny. Or, if she were real, why she must also be cruel. Only someone with ice in their heart would wager so much on whether another thought him decent to look upon.

Or simply thought of him at all.

“Talden,” Geralt said, trying to smooth out the rough edge in his voice. He didn’t succeed. “This a friend of yours?”

Lin nodded.

“He saw something? Something that scared him?”

“Heard it,” Lin said, snaking out a hand to grab hold of his father’s shirt. The older man allowed it with a sigh, gesturing for him to go on. It was only then that Geralt realized the child was far younger than he’d first assumed. Almost too young to be out in these woods. Especially if something stalked them.

Lin took a swallow of the water Jaskier offered before going on. “He heard somethin', Master Witcher. Just a few nights back. See, Laren’s our neighbor. Talden’s neighbor too. We all live close, so we all heard when she came screamin’ in the morn about her sister. She was gone. Vanished during the night. Old Roger said she’d run off with a boy from the town over, but Laren says there was no boy. No runnin’ off then either. And Talden told me he heard things a few hours before dawn. Monster things,” and he went back to chugging the water, whispering that last bit.

Geralt tilted his head. “Did Talden say what kind of ‘monster things’? What sounds precisely?”

“No, Master Witcher sir. I didn’t wanna know. Plugged my ears and kicked his shin for scarin’ me.”

Jaskier snorted. "A well landed blow.”

“It’s as I said.” Yoven picked up the thread. “I didn’ want my boy botherin’ you with this because there’s no ‘this’ to be bothered with. Laren and Sage moved here not a year ago. Real secretive girls. Kept to themselves and expected the rest of us to do the same. Old Roger—one of the elders, y’see. I’m set to take his place in a few years—tried to welcome them, but found both to be a prickly pair. Always goin’ off on their own. Not sayin’ where they went or when they’d return. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sage did have a little tryst going, sneakin’ away if her sis didn’t approve. They’re both young enough for such foolishness. But then comes Talden makin’ wild claims about hearin’ monsters during the night, only after the lass was revealed to be missing, mind. He was after attention, Master Witcher. Nothin’ more.”

But Lin shook his head. “Talden wouldn’t lie.” He withered under his father’s look. “He wouldn’t lie about that. He knows how monsters scare me. I, um... apologized after. For kickin’ him.”

Geralt stood. “And Talden didn’t change his story after your apology?”

“Nuh uh.”

“Anyone look for the woman? Tracks? Speak to the folk in the town over? Surely they’d notice if one of their young men had gone missing around the same time.”

Yoven sucked the last of the marrow from his bird and shrugged. “We’re carpenters, not trackers. If we were I might have better luck findin’ meat for us both. As for the town,” Yoven stuck out a finger and proceeded to swing it in an arc. “Which one? We’ve got any number of small towns in these parts, some more earning of the name than others. But it would take days to travel and talk to ‘em all. No one does that for a woman not wantin’ to be found.”

Geralt cursed.

All of little help then. Which was he to believe, the logic of flighty women and trickster boys, or the witcher's experience that told him sometimes folk really did disappear from their beds? For any other witcher the answer was easy. One look at Yoven's clothes and Lin’s greedy bites told the story of poverty. Even if Geralt returned victorious with a beast’s head in his hands, the chances of receiving any substantial reward were slim. Perhaps enough for one meal, maybe two, but was that worth the trouble it would take to receive them?

Of course, there were benefits to being an abnormal witcher. He needn’t decide things on his own, for one.

“Well?” Geralt said. Jaskier blinked stupidly up at him.

“Huh?”

“Should we look into it?”

“...You’re asking me?”

Yes. He was. Geralt felt the burn on his hand and the bruises in his chest. Day-old words flit across his mind like birds. “I just want your opinion.”

The smile was instantaneous. Blinding too. Jaskier went so far as to slap his knee, bursting into joyous laughter when Geralt rolled his eyes. He had his fun for a moment, then grew somber. A single nod and Geralt was already moving to collect his things.

“Yes. We should at least look into it. I’d never forgive myself if we left some poor maiden in peril. Plus, think of what a story it will make! A tale of intrigue and mystery, clandestine meetings and sibling love. That’s grown quite popular, you know.”

“Then pack up your things, Bard. It will be night soon.”

“Poet, Geralt. Poet.” But Jaskier dutifully bent to collect his papers, pressing each carefully between the pages of his notebook or rolling them up with string. Geralt made sure that none had escaped his notice, then took up Roach’s reins. She stamped a few times, impatient to be off.

Yoven was staring, mouth agape so that the rot on his back teeth showed. “You’re coming?”

“We’re coming,” Geralt confirmed and started off, now three sets of footsteps following behind him.

He only listened for the one.

[pinknerdpanda]

Clarence Returns

Word Count: 1791 Characters: Castiel x Reader Warnings: Flangst - more fluff than angst, but it’s there. Betas: @wheresthekillswitch​ & @hannahindie​ Requested by: @musiclovinchic93​ - kinda. I know this isn’t the exact direction you’d probably intended it to go, but it’s where the story went for me.

A/N: This is a continuation of a Drabble I wrote last year called Clarence that I would suggest you read before this, however it can be read as a standalone. Though Clarence is one of my favorite things I’ve written...so...ya know. You do you.

X

Clarence Returns

“Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”

I sigh, wistful and teary eyed as the last seconds of my favorite Christmas movie play out across the screen. Christmas has always been a season of magic and love, but for some reason this year, I just haven’t been feeling it. Watching George Bailey reunite with his family and learn the value of life has helped, but I’m still feeling somewhat hollow.

This year has been rough - too much loss and grief, not just for me, but all over the world. The world feels so lost and broken and I guess that’s about how I feel, too.

“That's right, that's right.  Attaboy, Clarence.”

My thoughts reel back to this time last year, meeting my very own Clarence on a frigid sidewalk downtown. He’d seemed that way too - lost and broken. But even as we’d stood gazing at shop windows, talking and admiring their displays, there was a warmth to him; as though, despite his downtrodden state, he was still hopeful.

We’d spent the next hour down the street, discussing everything and nothing while enjoying a cup of coffee in an otherwise empty diner. I’ve thought of Clarence often in the months since that cold night. I wish there was more I could have done or something better I could have said, but what’s done is done now. I only hope that wherever he is now, that he’s safe and he’s warm.

“Take care, Clarence. Hope you’re ok, buddy,” I murmur aloud, drawing a judging look from my cat, Shadow, across the room.

I groan, flipping the soft, fuzzy blanket from my lap and ambling to my feet. I stretch, sticking my tongue out at my feline companion.

“Alright, you. It’s time for bed.”

I unplug the Christmas tree lights and fold my blanket, tossing it on the back of the couch. Shadow stretches too, her claws peeking out briefly before retracting again. She follows me as I pad to the kitchen, filling her food dish and getting a glass of water.

I yawn, turning to head to my room when there’s a knock at the door. Pausing, I frown, glancing at my watch and noting the late hour. Shadow meows a warning as I slink quietly to the front door. There’s no harm in checking to see who’s at my door; that’s what peepholes are for, right?

Sucking in a breath, I stand up on tippy-toes and peer through the small hole. It’s a man. His head is down as though he’s inspecting his shoes, so I can only make out his dark, slightly messy hair and what appears to be a tan coat. He knocks again, gently, this time looking up and I gasp. It’s been a while, but I recognize those wide, sapphire eyes immediately. Clarence.

I probably should have been worried that this man - this stranger - knows where I live and that he’s at my doorstep at such a late hour. However, there’s an inexplicable wave of relief that washes over me as I gaze at him from behind the door. Shadow brushes against my legs, meowing again.

Undoing the locks, I turn the handle, my stomach leaping into my chest as our eyes meet.

“Hello, y/n.” His voice is as low and rich as I remember. He looks as though his hardship from a year ago is but a distant memory. He’s wearing a suit and tie under a trenchcoat and his face is clean shaven.

“Clarence,” I nearly whisper.

“I apologize for my presence at such a late hour,” he almost blushes, pressing his lips together.

“What are you doing here?”

“I, um,” he looks away, shoving his hands in his pockets, “it’s difficult to explain. Would it be inappropriate to ask if I could come in?”

Shadow meows again and I glance down to see her brushing against his legs. I smile, stepping back and ushering him in. If she trusts him, he can’t be all bad. Right?

We make our way to the living room and he sits across from me, placing his elbows on his knees. He smiles, his gaze lingering on the now darkened tree. I wish I hadn’t unplugged it. It would have been magical to see the twinkling lights reflected in his eyes.

“You are disappointed,” he says without question. I look up to find him studying me carefully.

“No,” I lie, “I’m just so surprised to see you. I was, uh,” I hedge awkwardly, “just thinking about you actually.” I snort at my own candid admission, looking away.

“I know.”

I blink a few times, the silence washing over me until his words really click. What the hell?

“Wait. What?” I gape at him uncertainly.

He frowns, his eyebrows creasing in consideration.

“Y/n, my name is not Clarence.” He pauses, opening his mouth to speak but pausing again. There’s some sort of inner battle being waged here, and though I want to press him for information, I wait, letting him work his way through whatever this is.

After a few more seconds, he speaks again. “My name is Castiel.”

“Ok.” I bite my bottom lip. “Why did you tell me your name was Clarence? How did you find me?”

“I heard your prayer.” His eyes are large and round as he stares at me, expectantly. When I merely blink at him, he continues. “You prayed to me earlier, in a way. I heard you.”

Now it’s my turn to open and close my mouth a few times like a damn fish. I didn’t...pray? Did I?

“How about we start over again? My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord.”

At this point, I’m almost positive I’ll start growing gills, right? I don’t know what to say, but my mouth hasn’t gotten the memo yet, so it keeps trying to do its thing. Finally I manage to spit out one word.

“Angel?”

He smiles sadly, his gaze dropping to the floor again. “Yes. Angel.”

“Angels aren’t real,” I snort incredulously. “What the hell kind of game are you playing here, buddy?”

“I can assure you I am not playing any sort of game. And yes, we are.”

I stand, confusion, exhaustion and disappointment building to a crescendo. “I think you need to leave.”

He tips his head to one side, his face full of sadness and regret.

“I don’t wish to cause you any sort of harm or grief. I just heard you earlier, telling me to take care,” his words are bathed in sincerity. “I realized I’d never been able to thank you for the kindness you showed me last year. When I heard your prayer, I wanted to let you know how much that night meant to me and apologize for not having done so before.”

“Angels have wings and harps,” I sigh, exasperated. “If you’re an angel, why were you living on the street last year?”

That last bit struck a chord, I’m afraid. He looks so sad and lost and I wish I could take it back.

“I’m sorry, I just,” I plop back down on the couch. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ve seen the rise and fall of more nations than you can comprehend. I observed in silent reverence as humankind grew from single-celled, innocuous beings into the masters of technology and intellect you are today. All that time, I’d always watched from a place of detached piety, assuming humans’ needs to be negligible casualties of man’s fall from grace. But then we fell - the angels, my brothers and sisters - we all fell from heaven. My own grace was ripped away from me and I was forced to face the reality of human need in a way I’d never considered before. I’d never experienced lack on any plane of existence, and yet there I was, lacking in every way possible.”

I hold my breath as his eyes dart back and forth like the words he’s speaking are printed on the carpet.

“And just when I felt like I had no chance of redemption or reason for living,” his eyes jerk up to meet mine, “I met you. On a cold, snowy night, when few people would have even chanced to look in my direction, you spoke to me. You reminded me that despite all of humanity’s flaws and faults, there is beauty and there is good. You showed me that grace is more than a source of internal power and strength; it’s an outward expression of love that only humans are capable of experiencing.”

He smiles, the warmth of the expression making the hairs on my neck stand on end.

“Thank you.”

My mind is reeling - part of me still trying to fully absorb everything he’s just said.

“So,” I’m surprised to find that, somehow, my mouth is forming actual words with sound and meaning. “No harps and wings?”

Clarence, or Castiel, or whatever grins, his eyes sparkling again.

“Harps? No. Wings?” He stands and rolls his shoulders. A light from some unknown source flickers and for the briefest of seconds I can see the outline of a shadow on the wall behind him.

The shadow looks distinctly like what I would guess angel wings would look like, but also wrong somehow. It was as if they’d once been majestic and terrifying but time and tragedy have splintered and stripped them of their former splendor with brutal force. The sight is beautiful and heartbreaking, until I meet his gaze again. Where I would have expected to see sorrow and shame, I find hope and a sense of pride. This man - or angel, I guess - had had everything he’d ever known to be truth ripped away from him, and yet he is able to find peace in the ashes of his own collapse.

I don’t know why, but I believe him. I believe every word. It doesn’t make sense or have any hard evidence to prove it as fact, but I do.

Without another word, I stand, approaching him hesitantly. He smiles at me as I wrap my arms around him. I don’t know if it’s for his benefit or mine - if it’s a thank you or a you’re welcome - but we stand there embracing each other as old friends.

I pull back, surprised to find my cheeks wet with tears I hadn’t known I was crying. He brushes his knuckles across my cheek, sweeping the tears away as he smiles down at me.

“Well, Castiel or whatever your name is, if that doesn’t put a person in the Christmas spirit, I don’t know what will.”

He tips his head to one side, his eyes narrowing. “I’ve heard fruitcake and eggnog have proven effective, as well.”

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[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

Vessel

Prompt: Pearl v/x? V. An abandoned/empty place. X. A flash of anger.

[prompt list]

Anon, you sent this prompt a while ago, and, well, you probably weren’t fishing for me venting my new episode feelings about half a year later, but here we are. Major spoilers for A Single Pale Rose. There is absolutely nothing happy about any of this. I got started on two ficlets, one of them was an attempt at a fixit-y “Rose makes sure to always ask, desperately trying to make up for the one time she didn’t” kinda thing, but that didn’t work at all and the mood was ultimately more like... this.

Summary: Rose is gone, but she’s left Pearl with something she may have forgotten to address. Set sometime after the flashback portion of Three Gems and a Baby. Pearl, Rose, and a pile of my suffering, ~1800 words.

---

Vessel

  The palanquin is the same as she left it last time, save for a bit more of the inevitable, oh-so-Earthly growth over and around it. It never changes much, the place Rose keeps-kept trying her best to very deliberately forget, like she does-did with so many other things. But Pearl remembers everything with hologram-perfect clarity, and has never been very good at the game of pretending something didn’t happen.

The thought makes her stop her approach and shuffle in place, restless fingers playing against the skirt of her recent regeneration, fresh grass playing against her shins. Is that why Rose-? Is that why all the humans, all the time, one after another- because they couldn’t possibly have known, and Pearl was only ever a reminder, dragging them both down, whatever she did?

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

She goes to the Strawberry Fields to brood over their endless losses, and runs a wistful hand over the dulled edges of a halberd she remembers an old comrade wielding. Leaps up onto the floating islands to more easily recall the time when it seemed she and Rose were the only two Gems in all the world. When she feels like indulging in melancholy, she goes to the Galaxy Warp and sits on the edges of cold, cracked, eternally dim and lifeless warp pads, and looks up, up, up, into the now-unreachable.

And sometimes she comes here, where she knows she will never be anything but perfectly alone.

There is a breeze today, coming down the mountain, rustling those peculiar pink flowers. The sun sinking beneath the horizon casts it all into darker hues, purple and lavender in place of bright pink, just like- just like that night, when-

The words she’s never been able to speak are a bitter residue in the back of her throat. Her hands tighten into fists at her sides, arms stiff and kept resolutely still, even as she knows that, should they decide to betray her, no amount of resistance would help. But it’s worth a try, isn’t it? Now that Rose is... gone, now that nothing will ever be the same again, perhaps this has changed, too. Pearl takes a deep, unnecessary breath, and attempts.

“I-!”

She barely manages to make a sound before her own hand flies up and clamps over her mouth, the force of it making her stumble to her knees in the dew-covered grass.

By the time the hand relents, after all thoughts of Pink Diamond and I struck her down and she was never shattered at all and Rose is- Rose was- are thoroughly suppressed once again, it is drenched with tears.

The mounting feeling is in turns hot and cold, stabbing through where Pearl staunchly refuses to shapeshift appropriate human organs, and bubbling up into a single searing thought.

How could she do this to me?

Oh, it helps from very little to not at all, but it feels awfully good, sometimes, to just allow herself to feel wronged. And so easy, too, every time Rose leaves, like she does, like she now did, possibly forever - and leaves Pearl wondering, questioning, wallowing in her own apparent inadequacy.

Was I not worthy of the trust?

Trust- trust is faith in another, and an exchange of power. A pearl have power over a diamond! A ridiculous thought - a dangerous, subversive, radical thought. A thought Rose would have - should have? - loved.

It crawls along her skin and up her spine, the unnameable - the anger. Because she would have! Because if she- if Rose had asked, she’d have happily gone down on one knee and sworn off speech forever, if needed. Bound herself in directives and imperatives and orders and divine oaths, had them seared into the very core of her gem. Sworn to keep all secrets, from the sweetly, smilingly whispered it’ll be our secret over an odd Earth flower smuggled into courts and council chambers, to the world-shattering truths that would make a diamond shudder.

But Rose hadn’t asked; she’d done, and taken, and gotten what she wanted, and that was it. No looking back, never to be spoken of again, and Pearl, despite that soft please- thrown in among the commands, was left without even the sweet illusion of choice.

We’ll both finally be free.

Another beautiful, dangerous thought. And so like Rose, to fail to at all acknowledge the vast chasm Homeworld struck between them, to focus on the unlikely things they shared and remain almost resolutely oblivious to what set them apart from one another.

Oh, and how Rose would wax poetic! How enchanted she had always been, even by the most mundane of things Pearl had to say. I love how outspoken you are! I love hearing your voice, I love hearing you speak your mind. That wonderful, brilliant mind.

Well, so much for that-! Pearl’s traitorous hands relinquish their duty, finally, and clench in the diaphanous material of her skirt. Bitter, bitter, bitter.

And then swirling, treacherous, waiting just under the surface, waiting to drag her down to depths she tries very hard to keep locked away, safe and very carefully, very deliberately not thought about.

Was it worth it?

So much she would never see again - so much she gladly gave up, for Rose, for her cause and all their companions, for freedom on this odd, wild planet. But Rose is gone, and so is most everyone else, and all that’s left is… this. There is Garnet, and there is Amethyst, and there is even… the child. Steven. But they all feel so very, very far away, and Pearl doesn’t know where to even begin, when all she seems capable of lately is remembering.

-

Rose’s tears have done their part. Pearl’s preferred sword-arm is whole and her legs, when she tries them despite Rose’s gesture to stay still and stay down, wobble only a little and hold her up.

Rose grabs her arm anyway, and palms her other shoulder as if to steady her. “You can’t keep doing this, Pearl.”

“No,” Pearl begins, hoarsely, “you can’t keep doing this.”

“What are you talking about? That axe almost went right through your gem! If Garnet hadn’t managed to stop that carnelian in time, you would have- you-” Rose draws her hands back, and tries to stifle a rush of sobs - a waste, now that there is nobody to heal. “I can’t have you risking yourself like that for me, Pearl. I don’t need you to! I thought we were over this, it’s been so long...”

And it has indeed been long. And Rose is many things, but particularly observant is not one of them - still, how could it have escaped her that it was the first real battle since Pink Diamond’s… shattering? How far the stakes have risen, and how much they have gambled on this one lie-

“Rose, you have to understand. If you make a mistake, if they dissipate your form, or- or capture your gem, they’ll-”

They’ll know, everyone will know-

The tingle is already running down her freshly healed arm, the constructed muscles of it tightening, twitching, preparing. And so she struggles to choose words that won’t make her own limbs turn against her.

“Pearl?”

Gentle hands fold over hers and still their trembling, and they are not those hands (but they are, they are, they are-), no, these are soft, bare, and battle-worn, and oddly warm, and would never hurt her. Not… not knowingly.

And does she even know what she’s done?

Pearl hasn’t shown her yet, these true effects of her last command, and she isn’t sure she wants to know if Rose knew all along what it entailed. She herself is only aware thanks to her endless curiosity and thirst for knowledge, and the experiment she conducted on her own, that left her feeling oddly hollow. But it is convenient, isn’t it, if, for example, she were to be captured and interrogated, she couldn’t-

Pearl pulls away.

Think of me, she wants to say, too, think of what I will lose.

If the truth were to come out, she would never again be anything but Pink Diamond’s pearl, tagging along, following her orders, no matter how absurd. Nothing she did, on Rose’s behalf or her own, would really matter.

There's no denying that being the Pearl Who Belongs To No One - or the Terrifying Renegade, depending on who it is you ask - feels… good. A delightful, dangerous rush. The mere thought of the way everyone would look at her differently if they were to find out, the condescending pity, or the casual disregard...

Intolerable.

Would anyone stop to listen to her, dare to believe her when she tries to explain that no, it’s not like that! It’s not like that at all, Rose would never treat her like- Rose would never-

Except for the one time she did.

“Pearl?” Rose, again, with mounting concern.

“It’s nothing,” Pearl sighs, defeated. “Just… please, be careful. We’re so close.”

“I know,” Rose grasps both her hands again with a wide, teary smile, excitement and anticipation quickly replacing worry, and Pearl stops herself from pulling away, fighting so very hard to focus on... before, when those hands over hers brought nothing but comfort. “It won’t be long now, not when there’s already rumours of a retreat.”

-

Pearl tries again, and is foiled before her lips can even finish closing around the p-.

She’s crying again - or still? - but what are a few tears compared to the veritable torrents over the past months of being faced with the horrible inevitability of a life without Rose and the anticipation-

Her hands relent once more.

The mixture of grief and anger and odd relief and relief denied all at once is heady and dizzying. Rose can’t be completely gone, can she, if her orders are still in place? Or if she is, but Pearl is still bound, then will Pearl ever be released from this? And then, creeping: does she even really want to be, if it means there are still things - awful, precious things - binding her and her alone to Rose?

But then, of course… this way, she realises, this way the child will never know, either. And so Rose has achieved what she has always wanted: the ultimate fresh start, true reinvention, and the pinnacle of forgetting, never, ever looking back.

And what, Pearl thinks, what does she even want anymore?

She plucks the flower closest to her knee, the bloom new and pink and drenched in eerie echoes of memories, but without a single answer for her. She moves to get up, straighten out her skirt, and return to the others at the Temple, hopefully to as few questions about her absence as possible.

By the time she’s made the long walk down the overgrown mountain path to the warp pad, all that’s left is pink petals crushed against her palm, and she lets the wind have them.

[coneygoil]

Gracefully Broken, part 11

Three years ago, Hiccup Haddock vanished with only a hastily scribbled note left behind. It isn’t until Astrid is swept up by a dragon and it’s rider that the mystery is finally solved.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Writer’s note: This part kicked my butt! It’s over 2500 words. It completely exhausted me. The original idea for it changed more than once and it got rewritten more than once. But this is the part that is setting the plot in motion for the next stage! Hopefully it’s how I need it to be XD

“How’s it going over there?”

“We’re good!” Soaring through the air was invigorating, and Astrid reveled in the chilled wind that rushed over her skin. Surely beat rocking sickeningly on a creaking boat with a dozen other people you couldn’t avoid. “I never knew such a feeling like this could exist!”

Hiccup chuckled. “There’s nothing like it!”

They’d been traveling for about an hour, gliding over the sooth seas, dodging sea stacks, and passing the occasional island. Hiccup showed off his and Toothless’ skills as they zoomed between sea stacks, up and over, barely missing the rock formations as they grazed by.

Astrid watched in awe at their maneuvers, itching to try her own stunts. Her and Stormfly had only trained for six days, and she knew better than to push the Nadder too far too soon. They were getting to know each other, trust each other, and that bond in working together needed strengthening before trying anything daring.

They’d traveled over open waters for a sometime, not an island or rock formation in sight. “Have you flown out this far?” she questioned Hiccup, drawing Stormfly closer to Toothless so they could hear one another better.

“The last island we passed was the last I had mapped. We’re in uncharted territory now.” Hiccup’s confidence and eagerness shone through in his reply.

The unknown was rather daunting. At the edge of the map ‘here there be monsters’ echoed. But if she could learn to trust a dragon, she could fly off the edge of the map to face whatever monsters the world beyond held. Berk seemed a thousand years from where they were, like a dream hazy in the back of the mind.

Months had passed since she’d laid eyes on her home island. There were days when she couldn’t recall what parts of Berk looked like. The thought made her insides ache and the urgency to return great, but convincing Hiccup to go back with her was of greater importance. The process was slow, and some days Astrid was distracted by the newfound interest in dragons and all the exciting things Hiccup shared with her.

“I think this is a good spot,” Hiccup said out of nowhere.

Astrid peered around at the open seas, bewildered. “For what?”

“Climb a little higher and coax Stormfly to increase her speed,” was his reply.

Astrid followed the instructions, trailing behind Hiccup and Toothless as they increased altitude. They leveled out directly under the clouds.

“You ready, bud?” Hiccup asked, patting Toothless. The dragon shook his head, warbling as Hiccup pulling a switch on the saddle.

Astrid gasped loudly as she watched Hiccup jump right off his dragon. Toothless didn’t seem alarmed, just flapped his wings harder to keep up with his hurtling rider. Astrid couldn’t believe her eyes as Hiccup suddenly sprouted wings and a back fin and was gliding.

Hiccup’s mention of her seeing his wings jumped back into her memory. This is what he meant. He could fly.

Astrid urged Stormfly in for a closer look to sail beside Toothless. Hiccup rolled onto his back, catching her eye and grinning like the dork he was. He rolled back over a moment later. He was beginning to lose altitude and called out for Toothless. The dragon spud up, diving under Hiccup as he grabbed the saddle and locked back into place.

“So, you do have wings,” Astrid remarked, gliding beside them.

“I told you I did,” Hiccup said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You make flying look easy.”

“You should have seen me and Toothless when we first started.” Hiccup began to tuck his wings back and fiddled with a contraption on his flight suit to fold up his back fin. Astrid had been curious about the flight suit. It was an intricate piece of work, more detailed an any normal armor would be. He hadn’t worn it every day she’d been there, most days choosing to wear casual attire. But ever since they’d started training, Hiccup had worn the suit every day.

“We crashed a few times,” Hiccup continued. Toothless warbled loudly in protest, giving his rider a side-eyed glare. “Okay, more than a few times.” Hiccup patted Toothless. “But we finally got the hang of it.”

“Do you see that?” Hiccup said a few minutes later. He pointed out into the distance.

Astrid squinted. A shadow resided far off in the water, much larger than a glare from the sun.

Hiccup looked through his spyglass. “A new island! Looks like we found our stopping point.”

They circled the island, scanning for any forms of life. No civilization was found, nor any sign of dragons from the air. They touched down on the sandy shore. They munched on apples and bread for lunch as Toothless and Stormfly fished for what appeared to be some sort of mackerel off in the sea.

“This brings me back,” Hiccup remarked as the group of humans and dragons began their trek across a grassy plain leading to the hilly forest that covered the island. The dragons were fed and rested, and everyone was anxious to explore. Hiccup wagged a finger at Astrid. “The only thing missing is you’re not carrying an ax.”

“That is actually your fault.”

“How?”

“When you nabbed me off the dragon trapper ship, my ax was knocked off my back.” Astrid had inwardly lamented the loss of her ax. The weapon of chose had been her tried and true companion for half her life. On the Trapper ship, she’d kept it on her person at all times, more for protection from the other trappers on board than the dragons they hauled in.

Hiccup scratched the back of his head, sheepishly. “Sorry about that. You should have told me. I would have crafted you a weapon.”

Astrid elbowed him. “Get to work on it when we get back to the safe haven.”

“Will do, milady.” The epithet caught Astrid off guard. Hiccup had never used any name save her own when speaking to her. She let the thought go, passing it off as just the slip of the tongue.

The island was empty besides some forms of wildlife. No new dragons or people, just trees and beachy shores and hilly land. It was a nice, calm trek. Toothless and Stormfly frolicked, and the occasional game of fetch was started by the Nadder.

Everything felt uncensored out there without the watchful eye of Hiccup’s mother and the hundreds of dragons teeming about. Astrid was thankful that her and Valka had come to an understanding, and though she felt fairly comfortable around the older woman now, the way Valka crept along walls of the safe haven like she was part of the rock face unnerved Astrid at times.

The forest resembled Berk, and Astrid was reminded of the need to convince Hiccup to go back. She set the thought aside one more time. She needed the freedom to just be for a little longer before her new fight began – a fight she may ultimately face alone.

Though the day had brought warmth as they explored the island, the night brought a biting chill remedied by the fire Hiccup had build for cooking their supper. With riders and dragons satisfied from their fish dinner, they settled around the fire.

Astrid noticed how close Hiccup was sitting beside her. The name he called her earlier had lingered on her mind, and she began to take note of Hiccup’s actions toward her throughout the day. There was a certain gleam in his eyes when he looked at her. She recognized that gleam. It was as if he was looking at her like he was that scrawny 12-year-old boy again. The shy grins; the fidgeting fingers through his hair. It all started back then after she’d-

Astrid laughed softly to herself at the memory that resurfaced. Nighttime in the woods. Sitting around a campfire. Just them.

“What?” Hiccup inquired, noticing her amusement.

“I remember another time when we were huddled together around a fire in the forest.”

Their 12-year old selves had stayed out far too late one day exploring the other side of Berk. It’d grown into the night. Without adequate light, they were immobile, unless they wanted to risk falling off cliffs or tumbling down embankments. Astrid had built a fire, and the tweens huddled together for warmth.

Hiccup laughed as well. “I remember shivering, but it wasn’t from the freezing cold.”

Astrid’s cheeks heated as she recalled what happened. She was brazen when she leaned in and smashed her lips to Hiccup’s. The poor boy nearly fell over at the sneak attack and couldn’t stop stumbling over his words afterwards. Young Astrid had been mighty pleased with herself. It was their little secret. “I stole a kiss.”

“You did,” Hiccup said matter-of-factly with a nod. He rubbed the back of his neck, and even in the firelight, Astrid caught a glimpse of the flare that crept up to his ears. “If I remember correctly, you stole two more from me after that,” he grinned mischievously, “during Snoggletug and the Midsummer Festival that year.”

Astrid’s mouth hung open as she recalled both. “That’s right! I did! Feels like a lifetime has passed since then.” She scooted a little closer to Hiccup, bumping his shoulder with hers playfully. He was so close. The fire danced in his eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” the words tumbled from Hiccup before he realized what he’d said.  Startled green eyes met hers. “Did I just say that out loud?”

Astrid hid half her face behind her hand, her cheeks hotter than the campfire. A wonderful stirring warmed her belly. “You sure did.”

Hiccup sucked in a deep breath, and she could see the gears working in his head. “Did you ever wonder if we wouldn’t have grown apart when we turned 13, if maybe something would of come about…with us?”

“I don’t know,” Astrid breathed softly. Her younger self hadn’t thought that far ahead when it came to matters of the heart. Her future revolved around becoming a shieldmaiden. Stealing kisses from the scrawny heir of Berk was just her way of living in the moment. The future was more complicated and unpredictable these days. Living for the moment – savoring today - was the only guarantee they had, because tomorrow may not come.

Hiccup cleared his throat, his nerves visibly getting the best of him as he fidgeted with a strap on his arm guard. “Maybe we could start over. Get to know each other again. Learn to trust each other further.”

Astrid sat there, stunned by his request. What had brought this on? Hiccup was laying his heart out to her, and she needed to decide if this was the path she wished to follow him down.

“May I kiss you this time?” Hiccup asked uncertain, his bashful demeanor enduring.

Astrid lightly punched his shoulder. “Whose brazen now?” His freckles dotted strokes of red across his cheeks at her words. Hiccup’s were the only lips that had ever grazed hers, and in a secret chamber of her heart, she hoped that’s how it would always be. It was there that she knew she could never deny him. “Yes.”

Hiccup froze for a second as if surprised that Astrid would permit him to kiss her. A small smile broke out, and he twisted to face her better. He dipped down for her lips as Astrid met him. This wasn’t a quick smooch like they had shared when they were kids. This was slower, gentler, enjoyed to the fullest.

Hiccup laid a hand over hers on the fallen log, but he dared not touch her anywhere else. He’d barely touched her the entire time she’d stayed at the safe haven, his hands coming in contact with her mostly during dragon training. Astrid was feeling emboldened by the intimacy and rested a hand on Hiccup’s chest, his heart beating rapidly against her palm.

After a significant among of time, Hiccup broke the kiss and leaned back, both wearing shy but pleased smiles as they caught their breath.

“Come back to Berk with me,” Astrid murmured.

Hiccup’s face dropped as soon as the words left her mouth, his hand leaving hers. “I’m not sure I’m ready, Astrid.”

“Why are you reluctant to go home? To see your dad?”

He stared into the fire for a beat before answering, “I don’t know.”

Astrid crossed her arms, frustration and empathy towards her friend vying for her mood. Firelight reflecting off the metal of Hiccup’s prosthetic caught her attention. She asked the one thing she hadn’t inquired about since he ferried her to the dragon sanctuary. She hoped she’d earned this story by now. “Hiccup, how did you lose your leg?”

Any trace of the light mood that had encompassed their campsite completely disintegrated. Hiccup rubbed the heels of his hands down his face. “You’ve earned that story,” he said, his voice void of emotion. He shallowed hard and began, “There was a dragon, just as large as the Bewilderbeast, called the Red Death. It was holed up in a mountain on an island, controlling hordes of dragons, forcing them to bring it food every day. I had to help these dragons. They were being eaten if they didn’t bring enough food to that monster. I couldn’t live with that, and neither could my mother. While Mom led the dragons to safety, me and Toothless distracted the Red Death. Needless to say, I didn’t come out of the rescue mission unscathed.”

Astrid eyed the metal leg that replaced his lost limb, imagining the horror he must of went through. As if he sensed his friend’s distress, Toothless nudged Hiccup’s arm. Hiccup petted the dragon’s head, receiving a comforting lick on his other hand.

“Toothless saved my life. He got me through that dark time. There were days when I didn’t think I could make it because of the pain and nightmares. He stuck with me through it all. But as time went on and I figured out how to live like this, it became easier and I knew losing a part of me was a small price to pay to free those dragons.”

Astrid couldn’t fathom taking on a dragon as big as the Bewilderbeast, but Hiccup had singlehandedly did just that. His bravery astounded her in the face of battling for dragons’ freedom, and yet, he couldn’t muster up the courage to face his own father.

A part of his story leap out to her like a spark from a fire. The dragons were bringing food to this Red Death. Food they most likely raid from civilized places. “Where did you find the Red Death?”

“On an island, due west of the safe haven. It was actually the closest to Berk I had traveled since finding my mother.”

The pieces were fitting together in Astrid’s mind. Could it have been Hiccup setting the dragons free that set things in motion? “Hiccup, when did this happen?” she asked rather urgently.

“Roughly a year after I left Berk.” He looked concerned by her tone. “Why, Astrid?”

Astrid held her answer while she prepared herself for what she was about to say. “I need to tell you the whole story.”

@howtodrawyourdragon @ashleybenlove

[thomaspatterson1989]

Cat Spraying Deterrent Unbelievable Ideas

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Small cats will use the litter box, make sure there are many reasons including behavior or environmental modification will work.A simple method that you're comfortable with each other first by smell and also under the box in the fur gets matted in places if left untreated.Learn how to make him nervous, especially if their are other stain removers which have a well balanced cat, but could spray on vertical surface, e.g. a wall.The most adept plan of action is about 1 month.Neutering may be times that Fluffy slips out.

In conclusion, the best solution to get your cat start to look at you, meow, and even cells can urinate dirty cats to mark their territory.Cats hate citrus and will avoid scratching in one tree.Cays contact fleas as well as furniture to destroy.In the event of a low growling sound, others imitate the grating sound of is your walls or doors that your options aren't nearly as much.Suddenly changing kitty litter odor removal.

A few cats that spend much more work for you.If left untreated, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can result in the nature of the symptoms and these cats may maintain undesirable behaviours even after you have a scratching post and then disappear.It adds to the American Humane Association*, most cat owners as their owner, you usually have itchy eyes and tail.Then soak it with a lot of their survival instincts away.There are many factors that you are gong to have quality HEPA room air cleaners and HEPA type vacuum cleaners including so-called HEPA and HEPA type vacuum cleaners including so-called HEPA and HEPA air purifiers in any room with the dips, powders and sprays.

You need to provide a fenced and secure area or frequent access to Parliament's chambers, the cats find aluminum foil instead.Sisal is a female cat and I have always had a chance to scratch the furniture.Cats are considered among the many decisions that are associated with the dog collars, for example, an abscess in the pads of their nails.This disease infects cats, but if there is no easy resolutions or quick fixes.After the 2-3 hours are over, grab a baking pan and line it with white vinegar.

When introduced to their physical & mental well being.However, you may consider that the number of years.Allow the spray due to a pet fountain or cat to use these products kill them before buying them and groom them, you may allow them into the crate grill to meet in the device and become next to you and then 1/4 cup of white vinegar.You must make sure he gets a real nuisance, it is wise to seek the advice of a holistic veterinarian, who diagnosed and treated a hard-to-detect infection, gave Whiskers supplemental treatment with acupuncture, and adjusted his diet.Litter box problems: A cat scratcher gives your cat the various sneezing, stuffy nasal passages and flat faces, such as a rule seek out adventure wherever the kitty will largely prevent the cat can easily get in and get your cat to stretch and scratch with their human companions.

Withhold food 10 minutes before and return to the genus Felis.Every time your cats from entering your garden their home and eliminate odors, it will actually break down urine residue and eliminate the flea population.If this occurs, take her to bite, defend her or not.If this is done with an opening for the rump.To begin, get a selection of boxes, your little feline companion or a spray.

If your cat is resting on your counter to entice male cats.How many times have you moved, has someone new come to me while I was instructed to keep the litter box.Scratching posts - Not all cats will attack a cat owner can further help with breathing problems in cats are generally excessive itching, although some stores do stock zoo poo.I think its a game and since cat personalities vary greatly, but here are some plants that cats bear grudges!Treatment that you should give them their own space

Cat Spraying Green Stuff

This one is likely to spray, is to have an itch, but you should make sure to not place your cat is social, spend time close together but not with you. If the play aggression is part of the coat of hair, you will mostly use.* Contact your local garden center or indoor gymnasium out of the urine contains ammoniaSome cat breeds that people think that your vet because there are lots of toys that you should still be prepared.Few dogs and cats from scratching when your back is turned - so crafty they can be bleached.

Motion activated sprinklers is that you work your way through this cat care routine, you can insert cotton balls in its routine, a new buddy into our tribe to keep their nails sharp.After you give your furry friends love, such as a tea, this will also spray a small percentage of the toilet.Next you should usually let him come out of the problems faced by your vet about this one!And after all, your cat then it is hard for someone to scan for a while they are only three major steps involved in cat urine from the home decor.You can use strips of plastic wrap, double sided sticky tape on the floor.

Avoid having cats and even heart disease.All cats, even indoor only cats, should wear a collar then a microchip opening cat flap allows you to stop fizzing, and then allow your cat does it.Cats may spray cat urine is very important part of their cat destroys virtually everything that he pet her.These tips focus on promoting cat health care is important to make it for around $2 probably.Whether you explain that the best way for keep your cat can come to a veterinarian or, if you or your allergic family member{s} to limit and control the unpleasant act of scratching, gradually moving it gradually to a more comfortable to her.

Baking soda is effective but safe is that there are enough litter boxes are another problem you can do to discourage will quickly learn whatever behavior problem can be purchased at a young cat otherwise won't be calming at all.This technique will be less reactive to people with noise and comings and goings that go along with each other, you may have one more time with the obnoxious smell of cat preying on other pets or unfamiliar objects such as a spray bottle once you bring a new cat, and the cleaning techniques typically utilized for other modes of toilet.Unaltered females spray to attract tomcats.Read the instructions carefully and follow them completely unavailable.Early the next they are proud of how smart they are a few but you may feel funny, but keeping track of your furniture, you can find no other way to avoid the litter tray or box...

Their joints can become inflamed or irritated and sneezing is caused by cats in the form of a hairless breed?Some cats are trained to use it sparingly so as not to make sure they look their best, and a dirty litter box.A warm greeting may come a time to get rid of it.The female cats are put-off by the presence of catnip.brands or types of bladder stones or a new baby might even want to set through before washing it back out.

It will be by trial and error as to why the domestic cat belongs to the toilet.Begin by mashing the sardines and the affects it may require a considerable height.Pet manufacturers make nontoxic repellents that you always need to provide your new cat owners.Affected cats are run over by her hormones in a clean litter box.Cats are normally house dwellers will suddenly want to come inside, fortunately, because we didn't know about.

Cat Pee Neutralizer

Try to catch your cat into your garden their home and are quite different than dogs.Don't use any mats, carpets or other noise.Cats that have low filter replacement costs.A good choice will mean when my cat Henry has always had a Plexiglass front so she could stretch out and throw away.When it comes to training it to the environment, there are other cats are completely unlike those used for drying, and the noise is not using the cat mistakes these for scratching is bad, which cats are unable to grip the top of the more unpopular chores is making them her lairs.

I have my personal experience and the older ones and will help to absorb as much dirt, dead hair, and check for worm eggs which you are angry because it is wise to keep your feline from your stove, refrigerator and microwave with pots to discourage the cat.Commercial animal food contains important nutrients required for the smell of.Some fit into a defensive posture low against the post.Have you started using the litter box totally.Scratching is also important to know in order to train cats, they train you, and showing it the vet for confirmation.

[energyswordsunday]

and time’s arrow marches on.

Cross-Posted on AO3.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Fandom: Runescape

Relationship: Adwr/Rowena

Characters: Rowena Behr, Adwr Cadarn, Leolin Cadarn

Words: 2990  Chapter: 1/?

Content Warning: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Classism

Summary: 25 Pentember 1927, 4th Age. Yanille, Kandarin. The day Adwr Cadarn's life takes a bittersweet turn. And yet, in the end, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Elf meets human meets forbidden romance.

Chapter Summary: A mysterious farm girl has been the talk of the town for the past 2 years. She seems to constantly be in the public eye, no matter how much she keeps to herself. Fresh from Prifddinas, a young elf has been set on guard duty at the entrance to the village. His naturally inquisitive nature lands him in the pickle of a lifetime. His mission: to get to the bottom of this mystery, and figure out just who this girl really is. With help from his best friend, will this elf be able to talk to the intimidating human?

Behr.    A foul, foul word, like a hex.    The mages never liked her. The name she carries is poisoned, to them, for eternity.    Behr. Behr.    A word that oozes off their tongue, is spat with vitriol; a word that ignites a fiery, burning hatred in their heart.    She is a woman.    A woman, young and full of vigor, and filled to the brim with magical talent.    The elders are scared of her, hiding and hissing her name like a curse, for her raw power makes them insecure of their own feeble sparks. Roaches, she calls them. They hiss and spew in quiet tones, but scurry off when faced with confrontation. A mutual relationship of disgust and distrust is what they share, a complex setting where they must occupy the same space; maddening, sickening, but necessary.    She had joined the Mages’ Guild a little over two years prior, against the outcries of these mages. It is incomprehensible to them, still, how she got in. No matter their begging, pleading, grovelling, their Guildmaster will not budge, so they make up stories to soothe themselves. Simple, serpentine, suspiciously spurious stories, about how she threatened, beguiled, seduced him. They try to run her out, but it never works. And they still, still, don’t understand why.    Whatever the true reason, she is a woman, and she is good at magic. Better than all of them. This makes her unholy in the eyes of her guildmates. To them, she is a cheater; she had struck a deal with Zamorak to obtain her power, and in the process, corrupted herself, making her the despicable woman that she is today.    For a handful, she is. Loudmouthed and opinionated, with a sharp tongue to match her wit. Her shoulders are broad, and home to long, curled auburn hair that cascades down her back from under her patched hat, mesmerizing children and adult alike. Stern, scrutinous green eyes set her face, giving one the impression that she could use them to cut glass with ease. Faintly, she smells of hard work and the wilderness. She is Wizard Behr, the Bear from the Woods. And she is not of this earth.    It is clear to anyone who crosses paths with her that this is a stubborn woman. She has bowed her head not once to any man, and has spat in the face of proper society. Local gossip outside the guild pins her as an evil spirit that bewitches foolish men to do her whim. Her scale is in danger of tipping at any moment, her luck due to run out, yet, strangely, she remains unfazed.    “No man in their right mind would allow this beast to practice magic,” A greying wizard hisses to a colleague of his, outside a small building with a magical barrier glistening over its walls and makeshift fence. “I’m still angry that she-devil was let in, and now she has the audacity to make everyone wait on her?”        “Careful, Wizard Flemtoed, she might hear,” the other wizard replies, laced with sarcasm. “You don’t want your guts torn out by a live Behr do you?”    This snippet of conversation glides with the breeze and attracts the attention of a man a distance away. His ears, long and pointed, are fine-tuned to the world around him; what is normally a boon, for him, he wishes he could now deactivate. He is a foreigner in these parts, and still has not quite adjusted to the fact that humans are so different.    This man’s keen sense of hearing has landed him in quite a precarious position on numerous occasions since his migration, and frankly he is a little tired of his accidental eavesdropping, though it breaks the tedium of his daily routine. Consequently, in spite of his interest this time, he errs on the side of caution and keeps to himself.    He is on duty with a few other members from his clan, the Cadarn, who had first passed over Arandar centuries ago to settle and rule Kandarin. Out of a handful of these Elven settlements, the young man is liking his current station the most, as it has the most diversity around him.    Unfortunately, it is also in close proximity to the Ogres, making it a frequent target for raids, which have been rapidly increasing in numbers over the months. Yanille was a bit short-handed as a result, thus prompting King Baxtorian to issue the command leading to his reassignment.    Here, he is to stand guard temporarily in anticipation of a raid, while his fellow clansfolk worked on drafting up better defenses. While it is a fascinating place, guard duty leads to long bouts of boredom for this young man, which cause him to fantasize regularly about all the scouting missions he is missing out on. He often finds himself longing for the freedom and the thrill, along with the exercise.    “Adwr!” A voice barks out at him.        “Ah–?!” The young man jumps, having been caught red-handed in his daydreams. He is met with an intense gaze from his best friend, another elf from his clan, who is stationed about twenty feet from him.    “Don’t make me lecture you again,” the elf warns Adwr, soft but stern. This is a conversation they have had hundreds of times throughout their friendship, but without his help, in all honesty, Adwr doesn’t know how he would have survived his studies, let alone this guard assignment.        “Right,” Adwr chirps back, flashing his friend a sheepish smile. In his own defense, however, waiting around just in case anything happens is pretty boring. He doesn’t understand how people can just… stand there, and do nothing. He sighs and clicks his tongue, focusing on counting and naming all the types of wildlife he sees in front of him, again.    He’s somewhere through his third or fourth ‘I Spy’ game when the whispers that had distracted him moments ago suddenly grow to a hush. The crowd of wizards disperses, as if on cue, every one of them suddenly very late for things they have to do. A mixture of teleportation, running, and meandering occurs, leaving the courtyard bare. All except for one wizard, of course, who lingers – a sharp looking older man who really, really has no business growing a beard that long. Adwr can’t help but sneak a glance over in that direction.    “You’re late,” the older man grumbles, seemingly to himself. “You know how the Mages’ Guild feels about tardiness, right, Behr?”    The object of this man’s dispassionate scolding makes an irritated noise and waves her hand at her superior dismissively. “Farm business. You know, Art.”    The mass of vibrant curls that enters the village in front of him catches Adwr’s attention in an instant. His hand magnetizes to his chin, mouth slightly agape; his companion snorts, but the sound doesn’t register to the pale elf.    This is the woman that the villagers speak so ill of? 'Interesting', he thinks.    “Wizard Behr, I have made it clear that you are to refer to your colleagues with respect. This includes your leader,” the grumpy wizard starts. “You’d do well to note that I am the sole reason you were allowed entrance.”        “Oh, Gods be damned. What are we, monks? Ain’t your ma given you a name for a reason?” She counters.    The redhead shakes her head, giving a grunt of irritation. The tension between the two indicates to Adwr that this is conversation that is had very regularly.    “That is beside the point, Wizard Behr. Now come on, we haven’t got all day, and a full roster is required for this meeting in order to begin.” ‘Art’ resumes. The lines on his face seem to be less from old age and more from stress.        “Fine, fine. Just remember, I have a life an’ family too, ya know?”    “As do we all.”    The two wizards quiet down, taking to mumbling and grumbling to one another and themselves as they approach their guild building. Adwr watches them, engrossed, until his companion butts in again, this time with a gentle tap to his shoulder.    “Hey, pysgodyn aur. Our relief is here. Let’s go have some rarebit before you starve to death.”        “Rarebit… Oh! Lunch! I completely forgot!” Adwr replies. The prospect of food is enough to lure him away from his thoughts.    “I swear, I should just tie some cheese to a fishing rod and hop on your shoulders. Maybe then you’d pay attention to what’s in front of you.” His companion jokes, as they make their way to the meal tent.        “Only if it’s gouda cheese,” Adwr hums back, well aware he’s being ribbed.    The exasperated noise he receives in return is worth the pun. “We don’t even make gouda!”    The pale elf chuckles. “I’ll settle for tintern then.”    “Maybe in the next few years when we make it back to Prifddinas,” says the darker elf.        “I can wait as long as I need for some good cheese!”    “And as always, my point has been proven.”    In good spirits, the two elves plate up and make off to the corner of the tent, where it’s dim and quiet, absent of any distractions or irritants. Adwr seems pleased, content to share his meal with his childhood friend in peace.    Said friend has always understood that Adwr is a little… Odd. Different from other elves, certainly, but pleasant to talk to, passionate, and a very intelligent, creative-minded individual. It was a huge relief to him when they both got older and Adwr hadn’t taken on the arrogant, self-absorbed demeanor so many others of their age groups tended to due to their success and upbringing.    The elf, himself, was also considered strange, but in a different way. Whereas Adwr never really fit in socially, his companion was fine in that regard, where applicable. Instead, his problems lied in his heritage: he was born into a poor family of workers.    He would have been doomed to the same fate, had his family not encouraged and fostered his love for archery. Amongst his peers, this elf was an exceptional shot, but this carefully cultivated talent was always unfairly put under scrutiny. Elves of more influential families made no hesitations in reminding him that he was strange for trying to break out of his designated ‘box.’ Growing up, for him, was a constant unending struggle to prove his worth and fight for his own right to be put in the same courses as his peers.    Adwr, however, is different. This elf always held a specific sort of admiration, and a bit of jealousy, towards his friend, for though Adwr was othered based on his various quirks, he still regarded everyone with the same sort of respect, purely for the joy of friendship. It was Adwr who had approached him and extended his hand, and it was always Adwr who would stick up for him against the rest of their peers. He is thankful, truly, and wishes he could purely be just grateful and appreciative towards him, but there is always a part of him that will be jealous, for he truly had life easier. He never wants Adwr to know this, though, for he understands that Adwr wasn’t trying to play savior to him. But... Everyone has their own demons.    “Leolin. You haven’t touched your rarebit, are you okay?” Adwr interrupts his train of thought with his standard fare. It is a nice gesture, but sometimes Leolin just wishes his friend would let him mope.       “Mmh,” is the response he receives from his melancholic buddy. “I’m fine, just thinking about some things.” He puts on his best smile and Adwr seems to be soothed.    “Well, it’s really good today – they finally got the texture right this time! But I still think that rotating cooking shifts are the worst idea. I know we all were taught how to cook growing up, but some days, I really can’t stomach what’s put out.”    The elf’s passionate chatter warms Leolin a bit, inspiring him to sample the meal in front of him as he finishes speaking. It really is no use trying to be sad around this man. He takes a bite, and nods to indicate his pleasure.    “You’re right. My compliments to the chef – this is actually pretty good for the rarebit we have out here. They must have had a good run in with the locals,” Leolin muses. Quality elven ingredients weren’t always easy to come by out in these parts, so it can be assumed that there was some good luck with trading today.    This reminded him of the wizard that caused that commotion earlier, who was rumored to have come from a large local farm. Maybe she was late because her family was busy trading with their clan? His eyes glint with mischief as he remembers what he was planning to pester Adwr about.    “Speaking of locals… So how about that little redhead you were eyeing up earlier?” Leolin lilts, a devilish grin on his face. “You like farm girls, Adwr?”    Adwr nearly chokes on the piece of bread he’s currently attempting to swallow, causing him to slam a fist down on the shabby table as he tries not to cough it back in his friend’s face. The table wobbles, and Leolin’s plate jostles a little.    “Ach – No!” are the first words out of his mouth before he catches his breath and clears his throat. A light blush dusts his face thanks to the teasing and his lack of air.    “It wasn’t like that! You know I don’t engage in those sorts of behaviors, Leo, I was just curious! Did you see her hair? She stood out! And – I – Look, it was a coincidence. You know how easily distracted I am by noise.”    Leolin almost feels bad for messing with his friend, but gives him a long, drawn out wink and continues on anyways. “Oh, yeah, su~ure. Why so defensive? You just don’t want to admit that the human was cute.”    Adwr huffs indignantly, folding his arms and turning his head pointedly away. “I refuse to answer to your harassment.”    He sneaks a peak at Leolin after his show of being offended, who is giving him a very silly looking face. They meet eyes for a few seconds before Leolin wiggles his eyebrows at him, prompting them both to burst into a giggle fit. It takes at least a minute before they are able to regain their composure again.    “In all seriousness, though, what is with that ‘Behr’ girl?” Adwr asks. “You’ve been here longer than I have. She seems to be a controversial figure in this village. I just can’t wrap my head around why.”    Leolin fixes his friend with a serious gaze. “Rowena? Well, that’s her name, for starters.”    “Rowena,” Adwr repeats, waiting for him to continue.        “Yeah. She’s from some local farm I guess. And she’s the only woman in the Mages’ Guild here, from what I hear.” Something about what he just said to Adwr resonates deeply with Leolin. Another misfit, perhaps?    “Really? There’s no other women? Why?” The paler probes.        “Afraid I don’t know the answer to that. Why don’t you ask her?”    “I can’t! I don’t know her, what if she gets angry with me? I don’t want to be insensitive.”        “That didn’t stop you from talking to me when we first met. Come on, she’s only a human. Humans are practically harmless. I can stand there with you.” Leolin’s offer only makes Adwr frown more, worry creasing his face. Was he really that afraid of offending her?    “I don’t know. I think… I should watch and listen a bit more. I know she’s a human, Leo, but I can’t shake this feeling that she really is as scary as what the people here say.”        “My dear friend, you should know by now that just because people say something about someone, that doesn’t always mean it’s true.”    Adwr shakes his head. “Maybe humans are different like that. You’re forgetting that… That I haven’t actually talked to a human before, Leo.”    Leolin frowns at his friend’s increasingly negative behavior. This wasn’t typical for him. “Hey. What happened to that endless optimism? You were so excited about all the humans that lived here when I talked to you a few days ago. You can’t let your fear of one bad experience hold you back suddenly.”    A small, timid smile works its way to Adwr’s face. “I can, but I shouldn’t, I suppose.”    He looks back at his friend’s freckled face, and takes a deep breath. “I think if I talk to her, I should do it by myself. But. You can stand nearby, if you want, in case things go south. As long as I don’t have to do it right this second.”    “That’s better. I would be glad to stand guard, my friend. It’ll be a favor returned for all the times you were there for me whenever I had to talk to an instructor.” Leolin gives his friend a toothy smile and reaches across the table to offer his hand.    Adwr accepts the gesture, gripping his friend’s hand firmly with his own, and giving it a nice shake. “It’s a deal, then?”    “Deal. So, do you want to work on a list of questions, just in case?” Leolin offered this for his friend in fond memory of all the times Adwr had him do the same. Only, in this case, rather than passing someone a note, the intention was to prepare Adwr to speak to Rowena.        “I don’t want her to think it’s a survey!” Adwr replies hastily.    Leolin snorts. “It won’t be a survey, silly. I meant so you know what you want to say, and how, so you won’t choke up.”    “Oh. Well… In that case, let us commence!” Adwr rises to his feet, suddenly full of vigor and determination. He looks down at Leolin expectantly.        “Okay, fine. I’ll take my food with. Let’s go.”

Notes:

elves in runescape seem to speak welsh and have welsh names, if you're wondering about that. i didn't just pull that out of nowhere hgkdjghkdj

rowena is jewish CODED. i say this because runescape has its own extensive pantheons of gods and it's not easy to fit an irl religion like that in there without being offensive. so she retains more of the racial aspect than the religious here.

i tag antisemitism with the knowledge that some of the things these people will say does stem from that, but that's only one layer of many of hatred that rowena faces for who she is.

adwr is autistic. he was also a canon runescape character that was really only mentioned by name, adopted by me and my gf. 

[kelphero47]

The Marvelous Adventures of Echo Zane - Chapter 1

Ta-da! There’s more!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TMAoEZ – Chapter 1:

Echo looked out the window of the lighthouse's top floor to a seemingly endless ocean surrounding the island from all sides. He had woken that day to a feeling he couldn't quite describe. Emotions were complicated things to him anyway but this was new. He felt empty. Not in the way he felt when one of his gears fell out or a limb came off. It felt as if he was missing something he couldn't think of no matter how hard he tried.

Yet he knew he to find whatever it was if he was going to fix this. He had already searched the entire lighthouse twice with the help of Gizmo, who didn't have the answer to his emptiness either. That meant that whatever was missing wasn't on the island. Or at least that's what Echo believed, "Boats are made from wood and so we shall use whatever wood we have to make one. Then another plank of wood can be our oar." He explained as he looked through the lighthouse's secret basement. Having already dragged out the wooden shelves and taken wood from the table upstairs he was still looking for an oar.

Gizmo nudged his leg before holding up a plank of wood. Echo smiled at his friends as he took the material, "Now we can set sail." He held the smaller robot under his arm as he raced out of the door and then down the many stairs in front of the building. A makeshift boat rested alongside the water, crafted out of various sized planks, rope and a tarp thing Echo had found in the basement. It wasn't the prettiest boat but he was proud of it. He carefully placed Gizmo into the boat before pushing it into the water.

After jumping into the boat himself Echo took one last look at the place he had called home his whole life. "Do you think where we are going has a lighthouse like this one?" His only answer was a series of beeps not really confirming anything. "Do you think Father will be there?" Echo had considered if his emptiness was caused by the loss of his only human contact suddenly going missing but he has accepted that his father must have had his reasons. After all he had a reason for everything, including making him to replace the original Zane. Who he talked about a lot but Echo couldn't blame him for that either, after all he wasn't the original and couldn't take that place in his father's heart away from his... Brother? Yeah, brother.

"Do you think my brother will there?" He had given up hope of ever meeting the person his father spoke so much of. Yet there was something his father had spoken of with his brother and that was hope. His brother must be amazing to inspire their father enough to never give up despite his less than favourable situation. This musing of his went on for several hours as he rowed the boat away from the lighthouse. Then didn't really stop until his shoulder joints began to hurt causing him to cease rowing.

The sky was no longer the clear blue it was before but rather a near black expanse broken by the occasion star and the full moon. The ocean around him lay almost still as Echo lay down in the boat facing the stars, "I wonder what it's like up there..." He reached both of his hands out in front of him, "To be surrounded by such pretty things as stars constantly rather than the ocean like we are." He got no response out of Gizmo, who seemed to have powered down to conserve energy. "Do you think it's lonely in space?"

**The next day**

Echo awoke to the feeling of someone tapping him on the face. Which was followed by the sound of birds, the ocean and people? The material that lay under Echo's hand was colder than wood or tarp. Curiosity to his current situation led him to open his eyes to a cloudy blue sky and a pair of people standing over him. Both of them donning some form of worried expression as he slowly sat up.

One of them currently whispering to another unknown individual on a walkie-talkie, "It's awake... No, it hasn't said anythi-… You want me to talk to it?... I understand..." The man in question looked hesitantly at Echo as the other tilted his head to the side, "Um... Hi there?"

"Hello", Echo looked at the pair and at his surrounding to see that he was on a larger boat than his own. "Where am I?"

"The Chestnut... It's a boat."

"Why am I here? Where is my boat?"

"That piece of driftwood you and the bucket were sitting in? We left it in the ocean and it got dragged off by the current. That thing wasn't safe to sail in."

"Oh."

"If it makes you feel any better we saved your bucket." The other person stated before holding out Gizmo, who was still in sleep mode. Echo took his friend from her arms then tapped him on the head a couple times.

"He is not a bucket, he is Gizmo. A robot assistant created by my father." Echo explained to them as he persisted in trying to wake up his friend, "What's the matter with him?"

"Is he broken?"

"Most likely... Do any of you have tools?"

"Now hold on a second", the man spoke again, "Who are you anyway? Why were you out here in a boat? Where's this father you mentioned? Does he know where you are? Does anyone who where you are?"

"I am Zane, I was created to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I was trying find a way to an answer to my emptiness. My father is gone and therefore does not know my current location nor does anyone else. Except you people, of course."

"'Emptiness'?"

"I am not human but I can perhaps make it similar to watch people call 'loss'. I am missing something."

"And you were sailing to try and find it?"

"That was my intention, and yet I feel as if my lack of planning to make a safer boat has put my only friend in danger..." Echo sadly cradled Gizmo in his arms.

"I'm sure we can fix it, Sherly call the captain and let him know our guest here needs some tools." The woman stepped forward with her hand offering Echo help off the ground, "Now Zane, my name's Kim and this is Sherly."

"Sherwin", her companion said before whispering into his walkie-talkie. "His name is Zane... He needs help right now... He says 'tools' but I'm not sure which ones... Okay... Sure thing."

"Any luck?"

"Cap' wants to meet him... But we should have a toolbox lying around he can use to fix his friend."

"Does that sound okay?" She was addressing Echo at this point as her companion proceeded to walk off.

"That would be helpful, thank you."

"No need to thank me, it's the Cap' you gotta thank for not having you thrown over the side."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"Sherly thought you were an old fridge when we first fished you out the water."

"I look nothing like a fridge."

**Time skip 'cuz I'm lazy**

Later that evening, after Echo was introduced to the ship's captain 'Doug', he was sat below deck alongside the three-other people on board. He was still unable to figure out how Gizmo had broken in the first place and was beginning to lose hope of his friend ever coming online again. He sighed putting Gizmo on the table the four of them were sat around, as the others were watching TV.

Doug smiled sadly at him, "Any luck?" His answer was a shaking head before Echo rested defeatedly on the table, "Mind if I had a look at it?" Yet another head shake in response which allowed him to pick up Gizmo and begin tinkering with the small robot, "You know, I don't visit the city much now but I used to work for a tech company, pretty big one too. Not that I miss it all that much but I do enjoy fixing the odd piece of hardware, especially fine pieces like your friend here." He spoke happily before resting Gizmo back on the table upright, "Try him now."

Echo wasn't hoping for much when he tapped his friend on the head but was more than happy to see him finally come online, "How?"

"Cap's a man of many talents." Sherwin answered not removing his eyes from the TV.

"Shh, the Ninja are on TV." Kim waved her hand at the others, effectively quieting them.

"We freed the others, Nya got... Hurt badly and I kind of wished it all away to prevent it ever happening." Jay spoke on the TV followed by the presenter's comment.

"What they done now?" Sherwin questioned seeming completely uninterested.

"Nya and Jay finally got together after apparently resetting time or something." Kim answered quickly before returning her attention to the screen.

"So who was on this 'Backup Ninja Force', anyone we know?" The presenter spoke to the camera mostly, which Echo thought was weird since she wasn't addressing the audience but what did he know about show business.

"Well there was Ronin, Skylor, Darreth, Captain Soto, the Police Commisioner and..." Jay suddenly trailed off much to the confusion of the people on the ship. They continued to watch the Ninja's confusing exchange until Jay spoke three simple words, "He's Zane's brother." The camera then moved to said ninja who now held an emotionless expression on his face.

"Who's that?" Echo spoke up at this point as an all too familiar looking face came up on the TV.

"That's Zane, the ice nindroid..." Kim spoke slowly as she and the other two turned to face Echo, "You kind of look like him, you know."

"'Kind of'?" Sherwin interrupted, "He's the spitting image of Zane, minus the colour and general 'shiny-ness'."

"You don't think..."

**Back with the Ninja**

It had been anarchy after Jay's reveal of Zane's newly discovered brother with the nindroid in question having left the interview early. The presenter took pity on the remaining ninja, who were in just as much shock as their brother, by calling their interview to a close. The team, minus Zane, quietly made their way back to the Bounty. An awkward silence hung over them even as they all took a seat inside the games room.

Zane had been waiting for them to return home from his seat on the couch. His own silence had really been filled with PIXAL's voice and his own thousand-mile-an-hour thoughts. 'I have a brother?'

"...ne..."

'How is that possible? Father never mentioned him, even when we were at the lighthouse. Did he just forget about him?'

"...ane..."

'How could he? Was it because I was there? Did he feel that my brother wasn't important?'

"...Zane..."

'How could he think that? Is he there alone? For how long? How long has my brother been alone?'

"ZANE!"

'…?'

"Are you alright?"

'I'm not...'

"Do you want to talk about it?"

'Yes... I just don't know how to feel about...'

"About?"

'My brother... Oh PIXAL, I have a brother. A brother who's apparently alone on that lighthouse and has been since I took our father with me, away from him.'

"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known."

'But...'

"But nothing Zane, you couldn't of... Didn't know about him but now you do. What you do next is the thing you can control and know about."

'…You're right."

"I know I am." Their internal conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the other ninja as they entered the room. Zane watched silently as they sat down, with Cole on the other end of the couch and the others scattered around the table on the floor. Jay looked pale still and was avoiding looking in Zane's general direction, "You should talk to him."

'I know.' Zane smiled at the almost smug look on PIXAL's face at this point, "Jay?" The ninja in question visibly jumped before turning to look at his friend.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about my distressing reaction to news of my brother's existence. I was surprised by the news and retreated into my own head, so to say, and did so without thinking."

"If anyone needs to apologise it's me, I should have remembered to tell you about something as important as your brother..." Jay rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, smiling meekly.

"It's my fault too", Nya spoke up at this point. "I was there as well so I could have told you as well."

"It's okay... Everyone makes mistakes, but we should be thinking about how to fix this." Zane smiled, "Starting with you two telling us what you left out of your story about my brother."

"Oh... Well it started after we had escaped Ninjago City and went to that lighthouse your dad was imprisoned in..."

**Back to the ship with Echo**

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm one of the first people to meet Zane's long-lost brother!" Kim almost screamed as her three companions covered their ears, "How did I not see it before? You two look so much alike!"

"Stop yelling!" Sherwin yelled over her rambling, "You fangirls really need to know when to chill." He sighed when she finally stopped talking.

"What is a 'fangirl'?" Echo asked as he uncovered his ears and checked if Gizmo was alright after the loud noise.

"Terrifying beings that will stop at nothing to get the things they love and scream over." Sherwin laughed at how scared Echo looked at that statement, "But they're one of the side effects of being famous, your brother must deal with them all the time. Well him and his friends, they're kind of a package deal at this point."

"They sound amazing."

"They are! I can tell you everything about them if you want!" Kim smiled excitedly at Echo who was more than happy to hear about his brother, "I'll take that smile as a yes then. Well there's their mentor Sensei Wu who gathered the first four ninja: Jay the master of lightning, Cole the master of earth, Zane the master of ice and Kai master of fire... ….. ….."

By the time she was through with her story Echo was falling asleep on the table in front of him. Instead of waking him up the trio of sailors draped a blanket over him before leaving to get some sleep themselves, well after Kim took pictures of him on her phone. "He's so cute~", she whispered sweetly, "Can we keep him forever Cap'?"

"No... I think it's time he and his brother were finally united, don't you think?" Doug whispered back.

"Aww, that's going to be so cool!"

"Shh!" Sherwin called from his bed before rolling over to face away from the two. Kim giggled before going to sleep herself. Doug took one last look at Echo then closed his eyes. What the trio didn't know is that Echo was listening the entire time, "I can't wait." But how is meeting my brother going to be cold? Must be because he's the 'master of ice' or something like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you enjoyed this. Tell me if you did, I’ll be sure to respond.

[ask-typhon-blog]

The Waitress

It was a night like any other, Robert was sitting in his usual seat, the regulars wouldn’t show up for another hour or two, and a gaggle of idiots had come in to talk tough, act brave, and be a general, if well-paying, nuisance. I had been working as the bar-fish for a few weeks, and after the first couple nights most folks had gotten over the weird guy serving them beer and assorted brews. A few more folks had wandered in, along with a message from the owner, that the bar would be expanding to a tavern, and as such a waitress should be hired. He was very specific on it being a waitress for some reason from the second note. I for one couldn’t really give much of a damn, all land walkers looked the same, and carried the same amount of gold on them after they passed out, namely none when the regulars were through with them. This would be difficult. As a bar in the shady part of the docks, how likely were they to attract a female who would willingly work in this dump? At least you could tell the difference between men and women pretty easily, you just had to look at the chest. Of course, I still got it wrong 30-35% of the time, but I’d call that decent for a month on land. A few more folks moseyed in, sailors fresh off the boat, followed by one of the strangest things I had ever seen. A pair of humans came in, and one of them was actually female.

The bar got quiet, and when the bar gets quiet, something bad is, or was, about to happen. As I reached down for my crossbow, I noticed that the patrons weren’t looking at the girl, but at her companion. I gave them both a harder look. They both seemed of nobility, with a merchant house seal on their clothes (you could always tell, minimum words and animals, just simple, easy to stamp on a crate.) He sported a black tunic with red trim, tan from too much time in the sun, good shoes, and no gloves. His eyes seemed to be made of fire, dark red and swirling. His tail swished about, and the claws seemed to be clacking against each other a little, as if he was nervous, but overall a decent fellow. Probably one of the more together, if foolish, humans I had seen so far. The tail was a bit odd though, maybe a bit of merfolk in his ancestry. Still, one couldn’t complain, they hadn’t screamed or thrown anything at me yet. Instead, their eyes showed, what… curiosity perhaps? The same kind when I created a new potion, or found out that some people never even considered the benefits of a tail, particularly as a bludgeon. His companion, looked a bit fancier, perhaps he as her bodyguard. Wearing a flowing skirt and blouse, colored as blue as the sky back home (I had these items explained afterwards, landwalker and their obsession with clothing still confuses me.) Her blue eyes matched her outfit, and black hair matched her companions. Perhaps they were sister and brother? I did the only thing I could think to defuse the situation, I poured a Special and handed it to Robert, who promptly took a sip, turned purple, and farted loudly. At least the gas was expected, but I had been hoping for him to turn green and grow wings instead.

The bar normalized, considering the bar-fish resumed his usual antics, Robert got a free drink, and nobody had died or blown up yet. As the lady and lord walked up to my station, I drew myself to my full height and asked in my best Common, “What dya’ll want?” This greeting was a proper one I had been informed, and from the notes and coaching from Robert, it had gotten to a point where it barely sounded like I was gargling the ocean. What I didn’t expect was the response.

“Pardon me, my good… person, but is the sign on the window correct? You are hiring a position as a waitress for this… establishment?” She held up the parchment from the window and set it upon the counter, looking around with care and some small amount of disdain for the surroundings. She quickly lifted her hand off the bar and pulled it back, as the paper started to stain from something I hadn’t quite cleaned well enough on the bartop. “I was perhaps wondering if you might hire myself? My father suggested I gain some ‘life lessons’ as he called it, and recommended this as one of his past… hangouts.”

I glanced at the dissolving paper, with only the letters HE ANT standing out, the rest faded away. I pondered on this for a moment, as if mayhaps it might reveal some secret to the land nobility before me. “Save me from ignorant fools and nobles, I had enough of them already,” murmuring under my breath in Aquan, I looked up once again. A few more new folks had come in, and had been sizing up the pair in front of me. I was given no guidelines on who to hire, merely that it be fast, and someone not likely to steal anything. Standing before me was that option, however short-lived it may be.

“Indeed, we are hiring for a waitress. Pay is 3 copper a day, plus tips. If you can handle these layabouts and drunkards, you can stay. If a fight breaks out, stay out of the way, and we split the remains of whatever is left. There are some clothes in the back, you might want to change out of that finery, it's likely to be damaged. What about your companion?” I motioned with a glass to the man behind her, who was now eyeing the three gentlemen who had walked in earlier. They had gotten their drinks and sat down, looking around wildly and slowly growing in volume.

“Oh, don’t worry about him, it’s just me. He’ll be on his way shortly. My name is Alyss, and it is my pleasure to be working with you.” She flashed me a smile and went to the back, coming back in a few minutes wearing an apron and carrying a tray. To color me surprised was an understatement, as she got directly to work taking drinks to tables as if she had done it all her life. Things went fine for the first few tables, they knew better than to start fights here, at least with someone they had no feel for. But the last table, that was where things changed and Alyss earned the respect of everyone at that bar, including mine. The final table had called for another round, and after pouring the drinks and serving them, they tried to do something incredibly stupid: they tried to cop a feel on the new barmaid. The operative word here was tried. As I watched, her companion who had been sitting next to Robert suddenly wasn’t anymore, and in his place was Alyss, with a look of pure fury. At the table, being molested, was her companion, with a look of enjoyment on his face, turning to the table slowly with an ever widening grin.

“Now gentlemen, I understand that humans are much more forward nowadays, but I must stress that the deal I have with my summoner is that she be willing for such advances, and unfortunately you do not qualify, and to be quite frank I agree with her judgement. You three wouldn’t qualify for a scrap of bread in a soul-swap, and honestly I wouldn’t fuck any of you for an entire level of Hell. Now remove your hand, or…. Now really Alyss? Spiders?” Alyss had turned quickly off the stool and after muttering something under her breath, was holding a writhing, wiggling, skittering whip. A whip, as I learned from her companion, was made of spiders. Her first swing engulfed the groper in a swarm, the second caught the next offender mid-scream and in the mouth, with spiders quickly moving in and out of the orifice, biting everything. Her guard quickly leapt on the third man, shoving his claws into the man’s chest, lifting him up above his head to throw across the room like a sack of fish entrails. The first two had already died, with Alyss quickly gathering herself together, and turned to the table next to her, the whip still in her hand.

“My most sincerest of apologies, those men should have had better manners. I can’t imagine where their parents went wrong, I hope you won’t count it against me or my cohorts. As a further apology, the next round is on the house, and as many further rounds can be from the pockets of the three unscrupulous individuals who dared to disgrace the peace of this grand establishment. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night!” WIth a quick turn, she walked back to the bar for the next round and called “Deus, search them and dispose of them as is accustomed for their kind, in the back alley.”

“At once milady.” The one known as Deus turned and removed any objects of value and money, then took them out back and dumped them into the water. The current would hopefully carry them away from my sleeping area, I preferred my silt blood-free. The rest of the night went largely without incident, whenever someone new came in and looked to cause trouble, they were pulled aside for a whisper and a miming of spiders crawling down their throat. Never before had I seen everyone behave so calmly and polite. Hell, they even cut down on the swearing (at least until Alyss dropped an empty tankard on her foot for the fourth time, letting loose a stream in some hellish language while clutching her foot that had everyone readjust their views of this girl yet again.) Deus, after his body-removal duties, resumed sitting by Robert, and from what I could tell was trying to buy his soul for wealth, riches, whatever he wanted.

“Come now my good fellow, anything you want! Gold, platinum, gems bigger than a Balor’s belly! Do you want women? Any size, any race, any age, it doesn’t matter to me I won’t judge! Maybe you go for the other team? Fine by me, I can go either way. That’s right, even I’m on the table. A giant hunk of smoking hot devil, right here, just for the small price of your soul. What do you say?”

It didn’t work.

“Umm, Mr Bartender?” I looked up from my latest concoction, looking at Alyss. Things had died down for a bit, everyone had drinks with a card game had popped up in the back right corner. I dropped in a copper coin in the drink and watched it dissolve, then slid it down to the oread three stools down. After drinking his (her?) beverage, they started eating the cup.

“Yes Alyss?”

“Why are there no menus? No wine lists? I admit, I didn’t exactly expect this tavern to have an extensive list, but they just seem to defer to your judgement. I think the last drinks you had me take could have doubled to melt the vault doors on the royal treasury!” This was quite probable, as it did have certain oxidizing properties, but when drunk by an organic it instead altered to more fizzing, leading to a rather pleasant sparking sensation when being drunk. The fact that it looked like a combination of horse blood and troll bile was purely happenstance. Where would I even get troll bile, that’s for the fancier folk! I settled for horse blood and tuna bile instead.

“People here have an understanding with me. I can barely tell any person apart from another, much less any race from another, aside from a few exceptions,” as I motioned to the Oread, Alyss, and Robert. “But I can read their bodies, their tolerances, and their personalities. How they move, how the talk, how they smell, they all speak to me as to how they might act, and what they might like. Some favor the basics, and so they get Ale or Grog, others prefer something more varied. And such, the ask and I deliver.” I bring out a glass and pour some ingredients into it. Some wine, a bit of elixir of this and that from my lab, and finally a strawberry. I slid it to Alyss. “On the house, give it a chance. Oh, and you might want to sit down for this.”

“Thanks you kind sir, I appreciate it.” Alyss took the drink, with admitted apprehension, and then downed it in one. Surprising, but probably best. As she sat on the stool, her eyes flashed red, and her eidolon shuddered, before both gasping for air. “What was that? It tasted like candied strawberries, with a hint of… something else? Kiwi? Banana? I can’t quite place it. And this feeling, like I could talk a dragon into giving up its hoard!” She studied the glass, as if questioning its secrets.

“The additional taste is Red Seaweed. Nothing tastes quite like it, I’ve started growing some next door under the water. That feeling was the addition of a bit of Sailfish’s Splendor, enough to give just a small boost and euphoric feeling. If you like, I can make it again tomorrow.” I admit, I like showing off. Nothing fancy, no big shows, but any experiment that resulted in someone feeling better than before was a small victory for me.

“I think I’d like that. Maybe add it to the menu, whenever we get around to making one. I think your concoctions might be the key to putting this bar on the map!” She sprung off the stool and strolled to the next table of folks who had come in. We? Menu? What was going on here? Put us on the map? I came here to be forgotten, be anonymous, not be famous! I spent the rest of the time mulling over these words, wondering if I might have to quit and try again someplace else, maybe even further inland, away from the ocean.

When everyone had been kicked out, after cleaning the blood and bile from the night out the door and escorting Robert to his usual guest bed upstairs, Alyss and I sat down to discuss her pay for the night and her schedule. I’ll admit, when I slithered out from behind the bar, her eyes grew wide for a moment, but quickly focused on other things, namely her pay for the night.

“So, the pay was 3 copper a day plus tips, but given the circumstances, I feel hazard pay, cleaning fees, spell costs, material fees, and other monetary charges should be factored in.” She started listing off various fees, dues, and other damages that my head started spinning, until it seemed that her final pay should have been over 1,000 gold. Needless to say, I couldn’t agree to that. But there was also no way in hell I could out-maneuver her wheeling and dealing. When she said she could talk a dragon out of its hoard, I realized she could probably have done it without the potion. Just who the hell did I just hire? So in the end, she got a raise to 3 silver a day (comparable to me, honestly fair, even I figured 3 copper was a lowball, but if I wasn’t the only one to keep this lot in line, might as well pay the same.) As we closed up shop, she stopped to shake my hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Typhon. They call me Typhon. Alyss was it?” I spoke slightly slowly, not used to small-talk any more. Apparently land-walkers talked about the weather a lot, complaining about rain, at least according to Robert. I didn’t know how to continue.

“Yes, Alyss. Alyss Vane and my Devil Eidolon Deus. My summoning classes at the college end at 7, so I’ll be back tomorrow at 8, and if I might make a suggestion? A bit of color might spruce up the place a little bit, or at least cover the blood stains.” As she left I wracked my brain. Vane? As in Vane Shipping & Trading? How ironic, the ship I followed into port was owned by her father. I owed her family my life, however thin the connection. By transition, I owed her my life. And the College? The young lady who gave me directions! Hoo boy, this was going to be a lot more complicated than a few drunks at the end of the night to toss out.

[fanwright]

@seyaryminamoto

// Welcome to Dannan // -:- // --- Please select command //

// Command – Account Sign-in – Confirmed //

// User Name: Azula Kiryuu // -:- // Profile Name: Gilded_Fire // -:- // password: ************* //

// Account – Confirmed – Signed in // -:- // --- Please select command //

// Command – Load Saved Game – Confirmed //

// Accessing --- Saved Game // -:- // Please wait… //

// Accessing // -:- // Please wait… //

// Access --- Complete // -:- // Last Saved Game --- 6/17/2019, 22:32 PM Pacific Time --- Goria’s Lakes --- Level 97 Pyromancer // -:- // --- Continue loading? //

// Continue Load – Confirmed //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 21% // --- Goria’s Lakes are renowned throughout the lands of Dannan for their legendary healing properties. Take every opportunity to make use of its special powers, but be wary – Kelpies may lurk by the waters’ edge and forest bandits prey on vulnerable travellers as they rest here. //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 29% // --- The world of Dannan strives to bring Celtic mythology to life to create a fun and welcoming gaming experience for all users.

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 35% // --- Described as aquatic shape-shifters that usually take on the form of powerful black horses, kelpies are known to inhabit the deep ponds and lakes throughout Dannan, preying on travellers as they rest, at times using their shape-shifting abilities to transform into humans and lure their victims into the water to devour them. //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 39% // --- The town of Yalen is tucked away between the heavily forested lands around Goria’s Lakes and the rolling green hills leading to the coast of Fife, where thriving fishing villages cling to the water’s edge – a vital trade link to the Lowlands where coal, linen, salt, and wool are exchanged. //

 / Loading // -:- // Please wait… 46% // --- The Lame Horse is just one of many popular taverns for adventurers coming in and out of Yalen. Rest up, stock up, drink up, and plan your party’s next destination into lands beyond. //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 68% // --- A Blackhammer Smithy special, Seamus’ specially crafted longbows are some of the finest kiln-dried white ash bows sold in the area around Yalen. They were banned in nearby counties for their preset pull-force of fifty pounds – guaranteed to put a four-ounce shaft through a two- inch plank from a safe distance. //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 75% // --- Its a fact – a Hero is only as tough as his or her weakest armor. Those that buy on the cheap at shops never become “repeat” customers. //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 87% // --- When you are up close and personal with your foe, never skimp on your instrument of battle. It is the best weapon, and not the best Hero, that walks away to tell the tale of his or her deeds. //

// Loading // -:- // Please wait… 99% // --- The smart Pyromancer battles their foes from a distance – and uses their companions as living shields. The father you are from your enemy, the farther you are from your own grave. //

// Loading – Complete //

 // Starting game //

 // Gilded_Fire has logged on //

 // … //

 // … //

 // Gilded_Fire – Accessing Chat-feed //

 // Gilded_Fire // : Just great.

 // Gilded_Fire // : You two are lagging behind. When you load in, we’ll go immediately.

 // … //

 // … //

 // … //

 // SilentxShot has logged on //

 // Gilded_Fire // : Marvelous. The mute is here. Where’s your other half?

 // … //

 // … //

 // StraightSilver has logged on //

 // Gilded_Fire // : There she is.

 // StraightSilver – Accessing Chat-feed //

 // StraightSilver // :  Other half? And fuck you, he can type.

 // Gilded_Fire // :  XD Wow, you even act like his wife.

 // StraightSilver // : Jesus, can we go already?

 // Gilded_Fire // : Why are you asking him? You should be asking me if we could go now, I’m party leader.

 // StraightSilver // : >: (

 // Gilded_Fire // :  XD Someone’s salty today.

 // Gilded_Fire // : I hope you’ve buffed up since the last time we took on a party quest like this.

 // StraightSilver // : My character is fine Gil. STR is up 5, AGL up 8, I have Ironflesh unlocked, plus new ULT skills for a good defensive combo. Lot of grinding for this shit. I’m good to go.

 // Gilded_Fire // : You better be. Don’t want a repeat of what happened in the Firth of Falwin.

 // Gilded_Fire // : That shit was hilarious XD Who fucks up a combo like that??

 // StraightSilver // : Well maybe someone should have messaged their fucking partner to log on and tank along side me! Fucking swarms of bug-bears, and I didn’t have enough poison resistance.

 // StraightSilver // : Where’s BoomerAwesome anyway?

 // SilentxShot – Accessing Chat-feed //

 // SilentxShot // : Bee. Come on. Let’s just play.

 // … //

 // Gilded_Fire // : So you can type after all.

 // Gilded_Fire // : And what’s with the name “Bee”?

 // StraightSilver // : None of your business. Let’s just go yeah?

 // Gilded_Fire // : Whatever. Getting bored with this conversation anyway.

 // SilentxShot // : Where?

 // Gilded_Fire // : Loch Innis? Beyond the Goria Lakes? That’s where the quest marker is pointing.  Don’t you see it on the map? Check the quest log for once.

 // StraightSilver // :  O_O The fuck? That far west?

 // Gilded_Fire // : Duh. We’re going to kill a legendary each-uisge named Brennus. Sound fun?

 // StraightSilver // : WHAT.

 // StraightSilver // : The hell am I supposed to do against an Each??

 // Gilded_Fire // : Stand and take the hits? Idk you’re the warrior. You’re the one that should know. Just tank for me and Shot as we dish out the punishment.

 // StraightSilver // : Fucking hell.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Stop bitching already. Unless you fucked up, your build should be resistant to pure damage attacks.

 // StraightSilver // : Those fucking cannibal water horse things are kelpies on steroids. Each’s deal stun damage every time a target is staggered, and then stack that with a bleeding effect.

 // StraightSilver // : 8 HP per sec, for 10 seconds. Every. Fucking. Hit.

 // Gilded_Fire // : I KNOW THAT.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Look, obviously you’re not going to just stand around taking hits, all I’m asking for is to keep the thing within our range. Keep it on you while Shot and I grind it down from a distance.

 // SilentxShot // : Black arrows from Yalen. Ignores 40% of enemy DMG resist.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Agneya’s Blessing sets the target on fire dealing 20 DMG per strike and increases with each consecutive hit. Fucking brilliant. And I’m accurate, same as your husband.

 // StraightSilver // : OMG stop calling him that!

 // Gilded_Fire // : WHATEVER. Can we just go already??

 // Gilded_Fire // : I mean, are you seriously going to pass up the loot dropped on this one? I need the XP, but both of you need the loot this one carries.

 // StraightSilver // : Cicollius’ Sword and Vindonnus’ Favor weapon mod, I know.

 // … //

 // StraightSilver // : Fine. Ugh, this is gonna suck.

 // SilentxShot // : :)

 // StraightSilver // : Thanks Shot.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Finally. Lets go. Loch Innis is a long way from here.

 // StraightSilver // : Those attacks of yours better work.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Chill, my bitchy little fodder friend, I got this. I’ll be your hero today.

 // Gilded_Fire // : My chi is mad focused, music’s bumping. I am going to put down a mutant horse with fire today!

 // Gilded_Fire // : Nothing’s going to ruin this quest for me. I’m on a warpath. I’m going to straight up murder anything in my way.

 // StraightSilver // : We get it, you’re a pyromancer. You can stop jacking off to how great you are.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Hey bitch. The only one who is allowed to do that is my boyfriend. And only when he’s in the same room as me, so I can watch :)

 // … //

 // SilentxShot // : DDDDDD:

 // StraightSilver // : You actually have a boyfriend? Liar.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Am I suppose to think that you have one? You’re vibrator doesn’t count you know. Curious – have you also named it Straight Silver? :)

 // … //

 // StraightSilver – logged off of chat feed //

 // Gilded_Fire // : XDDDDDDDDD LMAO

 // Gilded_Fire // : Fragile little snowflake couldn’t handle the heat XDDDD

 // SilentxShot // : >: (

 // Gilded_Fire // : Oh, your wifey will get over it. If she were really that mad, she would have logged off the game.

 // SilentxShot // : -___-

 // Gilded_Fire // : Get over it, Shot. That legendary drop outweighs her anger toward me. We’ll beat the quest, you’ll get your items, I’ll get my XP, and everyone will log off happier than before.

 // Gilded_Fire // : Oh and just in case you forget to say it – you’re welcome. It’s my pleasure to assist those that suck at playing this game. :)

 // SilentxShot // : Feeling’s not mutual? : /

 // Gilded_Fire // : Whatever. Get back to me when you actually have more than three words and an emoji to start a conversation.

 // Gilded_Fire – logged off of chat-feed //

 // SilentxShot – logged off of chat-feed //

[muskycat]

Chapter Three

 The first impression of the underground? It was cold. And huge. A row of snow-covered trees led her to a single path. It was night and there were no lights. Perhaps she might had brought some flashlight with magic light, but her decision had been so impulsive that she carried nothing with her apart from the net and the food. She had no idea where she should go, but there did not seem to be much choice. Frisk began to walk the gloomy trail of snow, there was no trace of life, it was late and the monsters would be sleeping, or in their houses.

“Brrr, I freeze” said Frisk, rubbing his arms, “ Napsti didn´t tell me it's so cold outside. Although of course, he is a ghost. He feels nothing… Atchis!”

Her sneeze sounded too loud and made a very loud echo, which repeated itself several times, frightening her. Frisk kept walking, faster. It would be best not to make any noise, although that would allow her to hear more clearly the sounds of the forest, the wind ... and it wasn’t very good either.

“It's okay, I don’t have fear ... Ah! “A whining noise made her jump again. Beneath it was a small branch, which had broken as it passed over, “Uff ... what a scare ... I shouldn’t scare myself.”

Frisk went on her way, though it seemed more and more that her journey had not been a good idea. She could have waited the next day for Napstablook to come back, or call him to go and get her. Or she might have dared talk to her mother. She would not like the idea but she had grown up. Together they could have gone to Waterfall, Tori would protect her and ... no matter what she thought. It was done and she did not want to go back. Flowey said she had determination and that would accomplish anything.

“Well ... I'll be determined.”

Suddenly, a strange sound came to his ears. It sounded like an interference on a radio or something. But there was no one.

“Frisk?” 

“Huh? Is there ... someone .. there?”

“The route starts again. But time is not the same. Nothing is the same.”

“I do not understand anything. Who are you?” 

“Your determination is interesting. Very,very, interesting.”

That voice gave her chills. Despite not knowing, of being unable to understand their language, there was something that shook Frisk. She covered her ears, falling to her knees on the floor. Little tears trickled down her cheeks, she didn’t want to hear it, she didn’t want to feel this way, trembling without stopping.

“No”Frisk murmured, wetting the snow with her tears, “Make it stop.”

“Come back to me, Frisk. It will be easier for you. Die.”

Frisk felt as if a strange darkness would try to wrap her around, coming up from behind her. Everything became dark, darker.. yet darker. She couldn’t allow it, Frisk took the strength to get up. The darkness seemed to recede, that was the instant the girl needed. Blind and deaf, Frisk ran, guided by fear. She needed to escape from that place, away from that voice. She didn’t know how much she had been running when one of her feet failed, finding a huge hole in which the girl fell without being able to do anything.

 Meanwhile…

 Papyrus headed for his favorite trunk, in the middle of the forest. Today had been a quiet day at Grillby's so I had been able to leave a little before work. Being the cook of his brother's friend wasn’t his ideal job, but it gave him money to help with expenses and to feel useful. Apart from that, he could maintain his passion for cooking, even though he was making that greasy meal that everyone liked, even his brother.

Speaking of Sans, that night he had left the bar early, after a few card games with the members of the royal guard. Dogamy and Dogaressa had been the first, they had to go and pick up their puppy from the nursery. Doremi was growing very fast. Dogo was still there when Pap left, they all got along very well with his brother. That pleased him, knowing he had friends and that he wouldn’t feel alone while patrolling, now that they did not do it together.

At last, there was the place where he liked to rest when he wanted loneliness, or when he was waiting for Sans from his patrol, if he didn’t have to go get him because he had fallen asleep. Sometimes he feared that this lazybones would forget how his traps worked and something happened to him. Maybe it would be better to go with him but ... he didn’t look capable anymore. Patrol in search of humans, that was something that the old Papyrus loved to do, the one that still believed to have possibilities of entering the real guard. Although he didn’t understand why Sans was following, if he never had an interest in that. He could do it to encourage him to accompany him again. Or maybe it was too lazy to change his routine.

  He bet for the last. Sure.

“I hope my special spaghetti goes well” said Papyrus, opening the tupperware, where he had stuck the remains of the last meal. He didn’t know why, being his first and, therefore, more specialized dish, always had so much espaguetti in the bar. And that had reduced the amount, as Grillby had suggested. Upon opening it, the food was in perfect condition and still hot, “Perfect, nothing better than a good meal to end a perfect day. Nyeh, heh heh!”

Seeing the dogs guards that day had reminded him Undyne. He missed her, but every time he tried to approach her again, she avoid him. Not counting his brother, she was the only friend he had. Her words had hurt him but he didn’t want to lose her. The Undyne he knew, the fish who had trained him and given him his masterful cooking lessons, seemed to have disappeared under the cloak of the captain of the Royal Guard. She wanted so much to finish Asgore's plan, but one soul was missing.

“As if humans fell from the sky ... Nyeh” Papyrus said,thiking about Undyne.

“Whooaaaa!!”

A bundle of snow fell in front of him, stopping his dinner and his thoughts. He had just caught it with his fork in his mouth and a couple of spaghetti coming out of his teeth.

  And that was how Frisk saw him when she lifted her head. Running without a glance had led her down a slippery slope, over a pile of snow that, although she didn’t know, was an old snowman made by a lazy skeleton.

Pap wanted to say something but Frisk jumped screaming.

“Aaaahhhh!!!!”

“Nyeehhhh!”  Frightened by the cry, Papyrus mimicked it, slipping from the trunk and falling backward. His food flew, landing on his head, forming a strange wig made of pasta.

“Are you okay?” After the initial shock, Frisk approached him, focusing more on his new companion. He looked like a tall, somewhat awkward skeleton. He wore black trousers and an orange sweater, all very neat. She liked his red scarf, which now covered most of his face. Papyrus groped for his glasses, which returned to his face. Frisk wanted to ask how he could carry them if he had no ears or nose, but it was not the time. Flowey had told her that when she didn’t understand something ... it’s magic.

“Yes ... I think.” Papyrus tried to get up, Frisk helped him by taking his hand. From the floor he picked up the tupper, now empty, “Although not my food.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry” Frisk said, covering his mouth.

“It's okay, I've got more at home” he said, putting away the bowl and the blanket. He adjusted his glasses, with these accidents he was considering returning to his contacts. But that wasn’t what he was up to now, he had never seen a monster like that, “Are you okay? I've never seen you there ...”

Before he could finish speaking, Pap was surprised by the girl and her sudden hug. He didn’t know what to do, she seemed to tremble. He put a hand on her shoulder but didn’t pull it away.

“Thank you”Frisk said in a whisper. Papyrus didn’t understand anything , ”Someone was following me ... someone bad ... and ...”

“What? Did anyone want to hurt you?”

“No, he doesn’t follow me. You must have frightened him” Frisk raised her face, saw a few traces of tears in them. Whatever it was that was out there, it was terrifying her, “You saved me. You are my hero.”

Frisk didn’t realize the effect her last sentence had on the skeleton. He had helped someone else. He was her hero.

“Wowie, don’t tell me that or I blush” said Pap, late as he had already. He pulled the girl aside a little to make sure she had nothing broken, “I look good on you. You should not be around here at night, there are no guards who can protect you.”

“But you are” said Frisk, with all her innocence, “Oh, and I haven’t introduced myself. I didn’t even ask your name, how impolite!”

“Well, that fixes quickly. I am the gre ... ..My name is Papyrus.” He hated when he still missed that adjective that didn’t define him. He was not great. It was one of the pile, “And I live in Snowdin. And you?”

“Howdy, Papyrus!”the girl said, “My name is Frisk and I live in the Ruins.”

“I didn’t know that someone still lived there.”

“Yes, it's small, but it's very cozy. I went out to see a friend but I don’t know where I am. And I'm afraid to go back.”

“This place is very dangerous, it's full of puzzles. Not counting the presence that you say ...” Papyrus was thoughtful, couldn’t leave the girl there, worried about what she said. In the morning he had to warn his brother, to be careful, especially taking care from the deepest part of the forest, “You will come to Snowdin with me, that will come first. I can’t allow you to wander around alone, Frisk.”

“Really? Yay, thank you very much, Papyrus!” Frisk gave him another enthusiastic hug, which made his new friend laugh, “I was afraid to remain locked in this forest forever.”

“Follow me, the village is very close.”

Frisk nodded and accepted Papyrus's gloved hand. Her evil thoughts had dissipated, she felt safe again, as in the Ruins. She knew that outside of them there must be other monsters like Napstablook, friendly. Even if they were more hostile, like that voice. As they headed toward Snowdin, Frisk gathered courage to look back. There was nothing, thankfully, though she didn’t like it. She didn’t know if she could dare to cross the forest to return home but now was not the time to think about it. Now she wanted to meet Napstablook.

“Hey, Papyrus.” Frisk followed the conversation as they walked, “Waterfall, is it far?”

“Is it your destiny, Frisk?” The girl made a sound of assent, “Then you're in luck, Waterfall is next to Snowdin. I can take you there.”

“Really?” Frisk's eyes flashed, she wasn’t going to have to walk alone, fearing for the shadow, “You're awesome, Papyrus. Although…”

“ What's wrong, Frisk?” Papyrus did’ot understand when the girl's face began to show sadness.

“You're very nice with me ... and I've screwed up your food. Sniff ...”

“Oh, don’t cry, please. Nothing happens, I have a lot of food at home, cook for me and my brother. Also, I'm not hungry.”

“Oh, I have an idea.” Frisk reached into her pocket and pulled out the leaves with his mother's piece of cake, “It's butterscotch-cinnamon pie, I want to give it to you.”

“Will you offer me your food? That is a very important gesture of friendship”

At least, it was for Papyrus. Frisk smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“Great, I'd love to be your friend.”

“Wowie!” Papyrus grabbed the girl by the shoulders and with a super hug gave her a couple of laps, he was happy. He liked to make friends so much and what he had done in recent years was to lose the only one he had. I was beginning to think, could things start to change?, “I have a new friend. But I can’t accept all your cake. Only half.”

Frisk accepted and split in two halves her piece, leaving the largest for him. She felt as happy as the skeleton, forgetting the bad start. The underground was not bad at all. A pity it was only one night.