#yeah obviously i am extremely extremely angry because the library is going to HURT over some itty bitty baby-minded people

[welcometohighwater]

EVERY TIME i try to explain how read across america choosing to step back from its heavy association with dr. suess while still respectfully acknowledging his impact on fostering literacy in children (and many schools following suit after thoughtful consideration) is fundamentally different from governmental officials (oh, say, governors or senators or whatever) DEMANDING that public libraries remove books from their collections, have administration resign, or otherwise no longer receive funding—

[emy-loves-you]

Sanders Sides AU-gust Day 18: Bodyguard

When Logan signed up to be the bodyguard of a wealthy (and questionable) man’s son, he thought it would be an easy job. Just sit in the background and make sure the kid doesn’t get killed. He didn’t expect the kid to be his age. Or flirty. Or dating his ex. Logan POV, eventual Analogince with parental Moxiety

Day 17 | Masterlist | Day 19

Logan sighed as he twirled the ballpoint pen between his fingers. He was sitting in the middle of a cafe, filling out a crossword puzzle. He took a sip of his chamomile tea and bit back a grimace. It was exceedingly bitter; the coffee shop he normally went to served much better drinks. But he wasn’t here because of the drinks. He briefly looked up from his crossword to quietly observe the real reason he was here. On the other side of the cafe, scrolling through his phone while he sipped on an iced coffee, sat Virgil Tempest Sanders, son of Patton Sanders and heir of Sanders Financing.

Logan thought back to everything leading up to this moment. Before this, Logan was commonly hired to take out corrupt politicians and gang leaders. So when he got a call from Patton Sanders to be a bodyguard, he was shocked to say the least. Patton Sanders was seen as the epitome of goodwill; he frequently donated to charity, has never spoken ill will towards anyone, and always had a smile on his face. So it was extremely odd for him to contact an assassin who was frequently hired by much more sinister individuals. But apparently Logan’s skills impressed Mr. Sanders enough to provide Logan a more permanent (and well-paying) job.

The job was simple: shadow his son any time he was out of the house. Virgil was kept on an extremely short leash after he was ‘kidnapped’ 5 years ago. He was only gone for a few months, but it was enough to essentially put him on house arrest. Virgil was only allowed to be out of the house between 10 AM and 5 PM. Mr. Sanders paid Logan to watch Virgil during these hours. When Logan had first learned about the job, he’d nearly scoffed in disbelief. He didn’t want to be babysitting a child! But after hearing about what wages he’d earn, Logan quickly changed his tune.

It was also shocking to learn that Logan actually wasn’t babysitting a child. Virgil was 23 years old; shockingly close to Logan’s own age. The age surprised him for several reasons. First of all, why was Virgil kept on such a short leash at 23 years old? Sure, he was kidnapped for a few months (which Logan doubted was an actual kidnapping. It was more likely that Virgil ran away) but that still didn’t warrant such restrictions for an adult. Second of all, Virgil still looked like a teenager. He had an extremely youthful face, with large brown eyes hidden beneath an oversized purple hoodie. He was actually quite attractive, almost as attractive as-

Logan figuratively shook the thought away, attempting to focus on the crossword puzzle. There were a few words that he was stuck on, but he was most likely going to stay here for a while. One of the perks to this job was that Virgil only tended to go to four places: this cafe, the local library, a small music store on the other side of town, and the local park. Still, Logan had been following this pattern with Virgil for the past two months. A small part of Logan, the part that smiled slightly when he managed to shoot someone directly between the eyes, wished that something would happen to spice things up-

“Amir.”

Logan looked up and was surprised to see Virgil leaning over his shoulder, staring at the crossword puzzle. “What?”

Virgil smirked. “‘First name that can mean ‘prince.’’” He took the ballpoint pen from Logan’s hand, which he had been lightly nibbling on. Logan bit back a gasp as Virgil deliberately ran the pen against Logan’s bottom lip before using it to write ‘AMIR’ on the crossword.

Logan examined the paper and was surprised to see that it was the correct answer. He blushed as he turned back to Virgil, who had a smug look in his eyes. “Th-Thank you, Mr…?”

Virgil smiled, settling down in the seat across from Logan. “Call me Tempest. And you are?”

Logan smiled at the use of Virgil’s last name. He felt like he should at least reciprocate. “Adstrum.”

Virgil smirked. “Glory. Immortality.” He gives Logan a once-over before practically purring. “Divinity.”

Logan blushed at the implications. “I’m sure my parents meant ‘star’ when they named me.”

Virgil laughed before his expression darkened. “So, how much is he paying you?”

Logan put on a faux-innocent expression, but on the inside it felt like his blood had turned to ice. Mr. Sanders specifically said that Virgil couldn’t know about Logan unless absolutely necessary. Logan thought he’d been subtle and inconspicuous. “Who is paying me, exactly?”

Virgil sighed. “My father. Look, you almost fooled me at first. If I wasn’t always watching my back, you would’ve fooled me. But nobody ever visits this cafe because their coffee’s shit.” He gestured to Logan’s tea. “And I’m guessing the tea is too judging by how much you face screws up when you drink it. You could’ve been just a regular customer, but I’ve seen you at the library and the park, and I don’t doubt that you were at the record store too. And the people around here get really gossipy, so I knew that you were only here on the days that I showed up.” He leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his face. “So I’ll ask again: how much is he paying you?”

Logan looked him in the eye before sighing. “Too much to say no.” He carefully folded up his crossword puzzle. “Though I’m quite uncertain as to why this job exists in the first place. You obviously have no intention on running away again-”

“Running away?” Logan looked up to see Virgil confused and slightly angry. But Logan had dealt with enough people to see the acting for what it really was. “I was kidnapped and held against my will!”

Logan scoffed. “Kidnapped?” He straightened his tie as he spoke. “You disappeared in the middle of the night from a building whose security rivals the White House. There was no sign of struggle, nor was there a ransom note. Either your kidnapper was an extremely intelligent individual who wanted more than just money from Mr. Sanders, or you left on your own free will. And judging by my observations and personal experience, I’m inclined to believe the latter.”

Virgil stared for another moment before laughing. “Well, would you look at that! You’ve got a brain to match your bark. And I assume you bite, too. Because there’s no way you’re some random civilian. So, what’s your real job?”

Logan coughed. “I must admit, I’m not used to having my job description be, ‘keep client alive. ’”

Virgil blinked, and Logan suddenly felt like he’d said something wrong. “You stressed the word alive. ” Now it was Logan’s turn to blink. “You wouldn’t need to stress it unless there was something specific about keeping them alive.” His eyes suddenly lit up. “Are you an assassin?!”

Logan blushed. “Essentially. But now I am your bodyguard.”

Virgil vibrated in his seat. “How many people have you killed? Do you usually kill good people or bad people? Or does it only depend on the money? I wouldn’t blame you for that. The economy sucks.”

Logan chuckled. “I mainly target corrupt politicians and gang leaders. I turn down any jobs that involve families or children.”

Virgil mouthed the words ‘corrupt politicians and gang leaders’ before gasping. “Do you know Logan Croft?”

Logan blinked. “How do you know that name?”

Virgil gasped again, stars in his eyes. “Are you Logan Croft?” Logan decided to nod his head. Virgil already knew about his job, and his father was paying Logan. It wouldn’t hurt to give out his name, just this once. “Oh my gosh, you’re the guy who killed Jacob Smith four years ago! How did you do it? They say he was impenetrable behind his gang and-” Suddenly his phone ringed. “One moment, please.” He pressed the phone up to his ear, and Logan could hear his boss’ muffled voice on the other end, though he couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Hey, Dad. Yeah, I’m at a cafe. Yeah, I can come home for lunch. See you then. Bye.” He turned back to Logan with a grimace. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go. Maybe we can have a full conversation next time?”

Logan nodded. “I ask that you don’t tell Mr. Sanders about our conversation, or that you know about having a bodyguard. I’m afraid he might fire me if you do.” Or expose me to the world.

Virgil nodded. “Of course!” He stood there awkwardly for a moment. “Well, you know where I am… see ya, bye!” And with that, Virgil walked out of the cafe. Logan waited a few minutes before following. It was just to make sure that Virgil got home safe. It was part of his job, after all. It wasn’t because he found Virgil interesting and funny and cute-

Logan frowned, shaking away the thought. He would not get attached to Virgil. It would only serve as a cruel reminder of Roman. Roman and Logan had met in middle school and dated for several years. But Roman had fallen in love with another man a few years ago. And while Logan is polyamorous, it was dangerous enough to be attached to one civilian. So, they broke up on friendly terms. Logan had never felt so… empty, after leaving Roman. It had felt like Roman had taken Logan’s ability to be happy. Logan hadn’t fully smiled or laughed since their breakup…

Except for today, when he’d talked to Virgil. Virgil reminded Logan of Roman. He was charismatic, sarcastic, and funny. And with every butterfly that formed in Logan’s belly, a new knife stabbed him through the heart. Being with Virgil would only remind Logan of what he could no longer have with Roman. So, Logan would keep his distance (even if he could no longer do so literally).

---------------------------------------------------

When Virgil got home that day, he had a brief lunch with his father before retreating to his room for the day. Once he got there, he immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket and started texting his boyfriend.

V- (3:05 PM) Hey, your ex’s name was Logan Adsrum Croft, wasn’t it?

R- (3:06 PM) Yeah, why?

V- (3:06 PM) Guess who my hot new bodyguard is ;)

[ladyloveandjustice]

Shadow of the Batgirl: A review type thing

I just read the graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux, which reimagines the superhero origin of Cassandra Cain.

It was overall good and EXTREMELY cute! If you want an awesome story about a teenage assassin running away from her shitty dad and finding a neat library, a community of cool ladies and the hero within herself, AND WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT THAT, definitely get this! 

It’s a standalone Batgirl story completely accessible to all and with none of the weird baggage and the complicated continuity of the regular Batman universe! it’s appropriate for younger teens but still a good read for adults, the art’s colorful and great, it’s packed to the brim with joy and hope.

And on top of all that, it gives a great character who’s been traditionally horribly neglected by mainstream comics for some reason (*cough its because she’s not white cough*) a spotlight and a chance to shine (and get written by an Asian American author for once!)! This also features one of my other faves, who had her disability and adult identity erased in the main universe, but not in this comic, hurray!

SO YEAH, if you like superheroes at all, highly recommend this!

NOW for a more detailed review, calling on all my expertise as a Cassandra Cain superfan and going into pros and cons. This’ll be long, but I’ll do it as a list to break it down.

Let’s start with the good stuff, there’s a lot of it:

- This story takes place in world where Barbara Gordon as Oracle (and former Batgirl) and Cassandra Cain as Batgirl exist, but Batman and The Killing Joke do not appear to. That is honestly transcendentally great to finally see this as an officially realized concept, Batgirl allowed to stand on its own as a legacy of powerful women, with all history of these characters being victimized for the sake of manpain erased. I am elated.

-The art was adorable, the designs were great, the clothes and Cass’s costumes were super cute, the setting was vibrant.

-Jackie was a really fun character and mentor figure for Cass. Loved her snark and how she and Babs basically become Cass’s two Moms and an awesome team in their own right. The relationships in this were just heartwarming. Loved the range of characters in general.

-Cass basically lived in a library aka my life dream. I mean, she did it because she was homeless and on the run from her assassin father, but like.

-Cassandra FINALLY knows her own race, (she’s half-Chinese) and gets to have a goddamn connection and basic feelings about it (Jackie bringing up what the bat means to Chinese culture), etc, god it should not have taken this long for this to happen.

(And it’s really important to have a version of Cass’s story where, y’know, the positive inspirational figures in her life include other Asian people, they aren’t just white people. it wasn’t until I read this it fully dawned on me how screwed up it is she never had that before.)

-For the first time in her entire existence, Cassandra Cain got to be in a canon romance that wasn’t fucking awful, can you believe it. Her love interest Erik was adorable, and him being a budding romance writer was an especially sweet touch- and I think there’s an implication/hint his dad’s the Bronze Tiger? Which is really cute Easter Egg for Cass fans, considering she had a strong friendship with the dude in her original series!

-The idea of Cass liking to draw and expressing herself through art is really fun and fitting. Her being visually focused, it makes a lot of sense.

-Cass extending her body language ability to sort of being able to guess at people’s underlying emotional problems from how they carry themselves is a really neat idea- it could have been implemented a little more smoothly but I like the concept.

-Cass going after the “evil-doers” in the library after becoming a hero was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Deserves to be framed. I love what a huge nerd Cass got to be in this.

-The comic understood that core of Cass’s character is compassion and empathy, that how she reaches out for people, refuses to harm, and really believes in people and embodies change, rebirth, hope. THAT’S IT, THAT’S MY GIRL, THAT’S MY HERO..

-I’ve read a ton of comics with Barbara Gordon and this is the first one I’ve come across where she discussed her relationship with her mother having any sort of influence on her interests and personality, she isn’t even the main character of this and her mother matters more in it than every other comic I’ve read with her combined how sad is that

-I liked Babs just casually making gadgets and stuff all the time, and loved that she expressed she honestly preferred doing this and that was why she was giving Batgirl to Cass. MADE ME WANT TO SCREAM FUCK YOU DC ALL OVER AGAIN.

-Compared to the original Cass Batgirl comics, this story is obviously more accessible as a standalone, but it’s also just overall more appropriate for a wider range of ages since the darker elements of Cass’s story are way toned down. I was a young teenager when I read Cass’s series and was fine, but there are young teenagers that DON’T want like, graphic onscreen deaths in their comics, so it’s good there’s a lighter Cass story for them. It was just a really sweet, affirming story.

Now for some cons, none of them damning:

The romance was cute, but wish it’d had room to breathe. Ideally, it didn���t need to be happening alongside Cass’s origin, I think it would have been better if it was just hinted at and then was allowed to fully play out as an after-she-became-Batgirl thing, but I can get that Kuhn didn’t know if this would get a sequel and there were probably a lot of good reasons she wanted to include it.

-I think this came from Kuhn being used to writing as a YA author rather than doing comics, but it was weird to read a Cass comic with so much narration and the way it was used really detracted from the potential power of the story. We’re told through Cass’s super chatty narration she’s not a normal teen, she TELLS US that she barely knows how to read and speak and TELLS US she’s better at reading body language-but we never get a sense of this, not even at the beginning, because the story doesn’t trust the reader to take in the visuals without narration, and then she’s able to talk like a normal teen pretty much right off the bat.

 I’m okay with Cass becoming a chatty girl, and her voice in this comic was fun- I know “silent Asian” has a lot baggage and Cass’s original character leaned into some stereotypes- but the first chapter/part would been far more powerful if it had her world be a little more silent and fully emphasized the visual, for her interactions with people and words be garbled and confusing, and if it gave us more of a sense of the world she comes from and how her perception of things differs from the average person. Cass’s original debut and the beginning of her original series did a really good job giving us a sense of this, and took great advantage of comics as a visual medium, and I missed that.

-Cass learns to read and talk SUPER EASILY and it just comes off as unbelievable. I do like the idea of her camping at a library, eavesdropping, and teaching herself, but I would have liked to see her actually struggle like a person would. Moreover, while I know the presentation of it was very flawed, Cass basically had a learning/language disability in the original series. I was kind of hoping this comic would lean into that, and actually give a more realistic and nuanced representation of that kind of disability (it could have been presented as something she always had that was exacerbated by how she was raised, not caused by it!).

 Honestly, I think her romance with Erik would have been far more interesting and meaningful and tied in better if she’d actually struggled to read, maybe even discovered she was dyslexic and couldn’t quite read the same way he could. That could have been a source of development between them.

-David Cain’s a super flat as a character in this comic, he doesn’t have much presence, menacing or otherwise, and Cass’s complicated feelings and relationship with him is not nearly as painful as they were in her original series.This is partly because there wasn’t a lot of a space for it though, and that’s fine.

-Overall, the main thing that hurts the story is that we don’t see all that much of what Cass’s life was like as an assassin, and her life with David Cain was like. It’s harder to invest in Cass’s transformation into a hero when we don’t really have a sense of who she was before,it’s hard to appreciate her breaking free when we can’t get a sense of what kind of cage she was even in. How much language DID she know? How much of the world was she exposed to? What was she really deprived of? I hope if there’s a sequel we can see more of this.

-Babs isn’t the main character of course, so this isn’t a real complaint, but I did miss her cynical and angry edge. She’s pretty much just a chipper nerd with no sign of her own baggage in this, and it makes her relationship with Cass less interesting. It’s implied that her “accident” did affect her and she just managed to work through a lot of it before she met Cass, but I missed the element of their relationship where they both were hurting from losing  “the world they knew” and working through it together, sometimes clashing, etc.

-I read one of Sarah Kuhn’s YA novels in anticipation of this, and while I’m relieved this is better about it than her first book was (I expected it to be, writers improve, I definitely know how messy a first book is) there’s still some cringe-y ideas of how “average” teens talk creeping in, occasional clunky pacing etc.

But all in all? It was a really nice little story that did a lot of cool things, and I really want a sequel and want more of this version of Cass and her universe. As someone who was driven away from DC comics in part because of how badly they treated Cass, Oracle and the Batgirl legacy. it’s really like a salve on old wounds.

[stilinskishit]

Too Long (A Stiles Stilinski Fanfic) - Chapter 13

**First couple of posts have a different title but I changed it because I didn’t like it :)**

Summary: Teen Wolf with a female main character alongside Scott and Stiles? Here it is. Ramie McCall is Scott’s twin sister and best friends with both her twin and Stiles. The trio’s friendship means the world to all three of them, so what happens when there are more than friend type of feelings present?

Tags: @multi-madison​​ @purple286 @multifandxm353​ @bralessandflawless @5secondsofmoxley

A/N: Before reading this, please take the time to utilize the link below and sign some petitions and donate if you can! It’ll only take a few minutes :) Also, I start working full time again this week, so it will be harder for me to find time to write, but I will do my best! Had to add in snapback Stiles for this chapter because I just love him in a hat so much. 

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

MASTERLIST

Chapter 13 - Snapback

Season 2, Episode 6, 7 + 8

When Stiles and Ramie made it back to the woods to take their shift watching Jackson that night, they only found a sleeping Scott and Allison, and an empty prison van. Stiles was pissed, but Ramie couldn’t help but giggle at the fact that they found Scott and Allison naked together. However, with Jackson gone, Stiles decided he needed to tell his Dad the truth about everything, so they could make sure Jackson didn’t kill anymore people. However, when Scott and Stiles went to tell Noah the truth, they were only met with Jackson being at the police station, with his parents.

This led to Jackson filing a restraining order against Scott and Stiles. Ramie wasn’t sure why he left her out of the kidnapping story, but she was thankful she wasn’t in trouble with the police like her brother and best friend. Melissa was extremely mad at Scott, but Scott played if off like he was upset about their Dad never being around, so he got out of her angry wrath pretty easily. The next day at school Allison and Ramie met Scott and Stiles in the library to let them know what Lydia had translated for them from the beastiary. Ramie and Allison hid on one side of a library stack while Scott and Stiles stood on the other side, Allison handing the tablet through and empty space with no books.

Stiles and Ramie hadn’t talked about their fight the night before. However, things definitely weren’t normal between the two of them. Ramie was still upset about what Stiles had said and Stiles seemed like he wanted to say something to her, but kept quiet instead.

“What’d you tell her?” Scott asked Allison when she mentioned Lydia being confused about what she was translating.

“I told her we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures,” Allison said, not looking towards Scott and Stiles and pretending to be talking to just Ramie, who let out a snicker.

“I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures,” Stiles’ voice came from the other side of the shelf.

“Oh… great,” Allison said, sending Ramie a smirk. Stiles smiled at first then it faded when he realized everyone was holding back a laugh. Ramie rolled her eyes. Of course Allison knew about her previous crush on Stiles, but she was with Isaac now, so she wasn’t sure why Allison was still giving her looks like that.

“So does this say how to find out who’s controlling him?” Scott changed the subject.

“No, not really. But Stiles was right about the murders,” Ramie said, giving Stiles a quick glance. He exclaimed a small “yes” and clenched his fist. “It calls the kanima a weapon of vengeance. There’s a story about a South American priest who uses the kanima to execute murders in his village.”

“See? Maybe it’s not that bad,” Stiles said.

“Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to,” Allison finished Ramie’s story from before.

“All bad, all very very bad,” Stiles shook his head. Ramie let out a small breath of air, almost a laugh and Stiles’ eyes shot to hers. He looked like he might smile for a second, but she looked away before he got the chance.

“The thing is, the kanima is actually supposed to be,” Allison paused, a teacher returning a book at the end of the stack they were in. Ramie nodded slightly when she was gone, letting Allison know it was okay to continue. “A werewolf. But it can’t be-“

“Until it resolves that in its past that manifest it,” Scott finished, reading from the tablet.

“Okay if that means Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy I could’ve told you that myself,” Stiles deadpanned.

“You got that right,” Ramie agreed. “Maybe it has something to do with his parents, his real parents.”

“Yeah, does anyone know what actually happened to them?” Scott asked.

“Lydia might,” Stiles said instantly, and Ramie fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“But what if she doesn’t,” Scott looked at Stiles.

“Well he doesn’t have a restraining order against me so I’ll ask him myself,” Allison said, putting the book she was pretending to look at back on the shelf.

“What should I do?” Scott asked.

“You have a makeup exam,” Ramie told him, sounding a lot like their mother. Scott looked at Stiles, who tilted his head, agreeing with Ramie.

“Promise me you’ll go,” Allison said, grabbing Scott’s hand through the stacks. Ramie watched as Stiles looked away awkwardly.

“If he does anything you run as fast as you can away from him,” Scott said protectively.

“I know how to take care of myself,” Allison told him.

“Allison if you get hurt while I’m taking care of some stupid test someone’s going to have to take care of me,” Scott said quickly. Ramie made eye contact with Stiles and pointed at him. Stiles pointed to himself and shook his head, pointing back at her. Allison snickered at them and Scott glared. “If he does anything weird, bizarre, anything-“

“Anything evil,” Stiles said suddenly, sticking his head through the hole in the stacks. Ramie put a hand on his face, shoving him back as he groaned. He flailed and nearly dropped the book he was holding, looking around to see if anyone saw him.

“She’ll be fine,” Ramie told the two boys.

…

Ramie didn’t have any classes with Scott, Stiles or Allison for the rest of the day, but Allison texted her towards the end of the day saying that she couldn’t bring her home anymore because somehow they had all gotten detention. Allison said it was a long story that she would explain later. Ramie was waiting outside for Lydia to get a ride with instead, when she saw Derek pull up to get Isaac. After thinking on it for a minute, Ramie walked over to his car, leaning in the window.

“I still need to be trained,” she told him. He raised his eyebrows. “I thought you hated me,” he asked, smirk clear on his face.

“I do,” Ramie sighed. “But now we have hunters and werewolves and kanimas and who knows what else, I need to be able to protect myself."

“Get in,” Derek said simply. Ramie huffed, just as Isaac made it to the car.

“Ramie, what are you-“

“Just get in you two, before an Argent or your brother sees,” Derek said, and the two teens listened.

Ramie spent the afternoon training with Isaac and Derek. Derek went much harder with Isaac, obviously, trying to get him better at fighting and controlling his shift. He continued hand to hand stuff with Ramie, and definitely forgot she was completely human a few times, leaving her with some intense scrapes and bruises. Derek was in the middle of telling her for the third time that they should take a break when they heard yelling from a distance.

“Derek!” Ramie recognized the voice as her brother. She looked around for something to wipe off her bloody fists, but Scott, Stiles and Erica came into view too soon. Scott was running and carrying Erica, who looked like she was seizing, and Stiles was following close behind. Ramie watched as Stiles and Scott exchanged a glance when they noticed her there. Derek ran forward, grabbing Erica from Scott’s arms.

“What the hell happened?” he asked, placing Erica on the ground.

“Jackson,” Scott said, stepping behind Erica to hold her up.

“Is she dying?” Isaac asked, moving closer.

“She might,” Derek said grabbing her arm. “Which is why this is gonna hurt.”

Derek grabbed Erica’s arm, breaking it to trigger the healing process. He then sunk his claws into her arm, to get the kanima venom out. Erica screamed and Ramie stepped back, clinging to Isaac’s arm. After a minute, Erica passed out. Derek said she was okay, just exhausted from what her body went through. He laid her on the couch and told Isaac to keep an eye on her. Scott, Stiles and Ramie followed Derek into a corner away from the other two.

“So you know who it is,” Scott said to Derek.

“Jackson.”

“I’m gonna help you stop him, as part of your pack.” Scott said. “If you want me in, fine, but we’re doing this my way. He won’t die. We’ll catch him, not kill him.”

“Fine,” Derek sighed. Scott was quiet for a minute, then spoke up again.

“And whatever it is you’re doing here with my sister, stop.” Ramie went to speak but Derek cut her off.

“You’re her brother, not her father.”

“Yeah well their father is a piece of shit so,” Stiles butted in, stepping closer to Derek.

“Both of you relax,” Ramie said, glaring at Scott and Stiles. “Derek has been helping me for months now, since you got turned Scott. He’s been teaching me how to fight, how to defend myself. I can’t be caught in the middle of all of this completely helpless. I came to him and asked for help. And Isaac has nowhere else to be, so if I want to see him I have to come here anyways.”

Scott and Stiles started talking at the same time.

“I’m not letting you try to fight against anyone.”

“You’re still dating him?” Ramie held up a hand to silence them both.

“You can’t always protect me Scott, there are going to be times where I need to be able to fend for myself. And I’d rather know how to defend myself so I can at least have a fighting chance,” she said, arms crossed over her chest. She pointed at Stiles “And you need to relax about Isaac. If Scott can sit here and tell Derek he’ll be part of his pack then I can date Issac. I don’t know why it matters so much to you anyways. Go worry about Lydia.”

Ramie turned and walked back over to Issac before anyone could say anything more.

…

Later that night, Ramie found herself tagging along with Scott to go see Deaton’s to try and figure out how they were going to trap Jackson without killing him. Stiles had called Scott and told them that his Dad had figured out that all of the kanima’s victims were the same age and all in Harris’ class when they were in high school. He couldn’t yet figure out where Isaac’s dad came into the mix, but they did find out that Isaac’s brother, who had died in combat, would’ve been the same age as the rest of the victims if he was still alive. But they still couldn’t figure out who was controlling Jackson.

“What’s he doing here?” Scott nodded his head towards Isaac as Derek walked through the front door of the vet clinic. Isaac rolled his eyes and grabbed Ramie’s waist, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“I need him,” Derek said, walking past Scott.

“I don’t trust him,” Scott said plainly. Ramie glared at her brother.

“Yeah well, he doesn’t trust you either,” Isaac said, playing off the fact that Scott was acting like he wasn’t right there.

“You know what, Derek doesn’t care,” Derek looked between the two boys. Ramie scoffed and leaned onto Isaac’s side, who had sat down on Deaton’s desk, an arm wrapping lazily around her waist. “Now where’s the vet, is he going to help us or not?”

“That depends,” Deaton said from the doorway. “Jackson, are we going to kill him, or save him?”

“Kill him,”  Derek said, at the same time Scott said, “Save him.”

“Save him,” Scott said again, glaring at Derek. Derek rolled his eyes, following Deaton further into the clinic. Scott, Ramie and Isaac followed, gathering around the examination table as Deaton placed a wooden box on top of it, filled with small jars with various symbols on the lids. Isaac reached his hand out to grab at one of them, but Derek grabbed his wrist before he had the chance.

“Watch what you touch,” Derek told him, giving the younger boy an annoyed look. Scott scoffed next to Ramie and she elbowed him in the ribs.

“So,” Isaac leaned down, putting his elbows on the table and looking up a Deaton. “What are you, some kind of witch?”

“No, I’m a veterinarian,” Deaton said simply. Isaac nodded curtly and stepped back. Ramie sat herself up on the counter behind the table and Isaac leaned next to her, his arm resting on her thigh as Deaton continued. “I don’t see anything here that’s going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin.”

“We’re open to suggestions,” Derek said.

“What about an effective offense,” Isaac suggested, but Derek cut him off quickly, not looking back towards his beta.

“We already tried, I nearly took his head off, and Argent emptied an entire clip into it. This thing just gets back up.”

“Has it shown any weaknesses?” Deaton asked.

“It can’t swim,” Ramie said, remembering what Stiles had told her about he and Derek’s incident in the pool with the kanima. “But Jackson is the captain of the swim team.”

“Essentially you’re trying to catch two people,” Deaton said. “A puppet, and a puppeteer. One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife, do we know why?”

“I don’t think Jackson could do it,” Scott said after a second of silence. “His mother died pregnant too. I think he couldn’t let the same thing happen to someone else.”

“How do you know it’s not part of the rules,” Isaac asked, looking up from his hand, which had been absentmindedly drawing shapes on Ramie’s thigh. “The kanima kills murders. If Jackson killed the wife the baby would’ve died too.”

“Does that mean your father was a murder?” Scott asked, turning back to look at Isaac, who shrugged.

“Wouldn’t surprise me if he was.”

“Hold on, the book says they’re bonded, right?” Deaton cut in. “What if the fear of water doesn’t come from Jackson, but comes from whoever is controlling him? What if something that affects the kanima also affects it’s master?”

“Meaning what,” Isaac deadpanned.

“Meaning we can catch them,” Ramie said, and Deaton nodded. “Both of them.”

…

Deaton helped them come up with a plan that night, which they relayed to everyone else involved by the next day. They planned on using ketamine to take out Jackson at the rave that everyone was going to. Stiles and Ramie, being the only humans in the group, were to spread mountain ash around the whole club that the rave was at, so that not only would Jackson be trapped inside, but they would also trap whoever was controlling it.

“How did you even get tickets to this thing,” Ramie asked as she, Scott and Stiles pulled into the rave the next night.

“Your psychotic boyfriend beat some kids up for them,” Stiles mumbled. He was unusually quiet the whole ride there.

“Not very nice of you to call him psychotic when he got the tickets for you,” Ramie shot back. She heard Stiles huff from the front seat before getting out of the car. Scott suddenly took off into the club, saying something about Allison, leaving Stiles and Ramie alone.

“This plan sucks,” Stiles sighed, throwing the bags of mountain ash at the ground angrily.  Ramie was quiet for a minute, leaning against the jeep.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking towards Stiles, who pulled the snapback off his head, rubbing a hand over his buzzcut before placing it back on, backwards like before. Ramie thought about how if she still had a crush on Stiles, the snapback would’ve been extremely attractive. She also thought that her acknowledging that it was extremely attractive could be a slight problem. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

“I’m fine,” Stiles huffed, picking up the bags off the ground. “Let’s just do this.”

Ramie walked next to Stiles as he let the mountain ash out of his hand slowly, making a trail behind them. He still hadn’t said another word since she asked him if he was okay.

“Sti, come on,” Ramie said, not being able to take his silence any longer. “Most of the time I have to beg you to stop talking and now I feel like I have to beg you to say anything. What’s going on?”

Stiles let out a sigh, and Ramie continued.

“You’re my best friend Stiles, you can tell me.” Stiles glanced up at her, his golden brown eyes meeting hers. She could see sadness in his eyes.

“My Dad got fired,” he said after a second. Ramie’s eyes widened.

“Wh- why? Stiles, why didn’t you say anything?” Ramie stammered, taken aback.

“Doesn’t look good for the Sheriff’s son to have a restraining order against him. And there’s too much is going on, I didn’t want to burden anyone right now,” he shrugged, not looking at her. She stopped walking and grabbed his arm so he would stop as well.

“Mieczyslaw Stilinski look at me right now,” Ramie said sternly. Stiles stopped, looking at her after a second. “You are never a burden to me. I always want to hear what you have to say.”

Stiles’ eyes softened. Ramie could swear it almost looked like he was about to cry. He looked away, looking down at the mountain ash in his hand.

“Raim,” he said quietly. “We have a problem.”

Ramie looked down at the mountain ash in his hand, and the distance they had left. There was no way they could make it.

“Remember what Deaton told us?” Ramie said after a minute.  “When he gave us the mountain ash he said we have to believe it was going to work.”

“It’s not going to work, there’s not enough,” Stiles stammered, his hands beginning to shake.

“Hey, Stiles,” Ramie grabbed his hands, holding them steady. His eyes met hers. “You can do this. You always make things work, Sti. You can do this.”

Stiles nodded, shakily, not taking his eyes off hers. She slowly dropped his hands, realizing she was still holding them.

“Just look at me,” she said, beginning to walk again. “I know you can do this. You’re the smartest person I know Stiles. You’ll make this work.”

She looked down for a second, and Stiles did too. They had made it back to where they started, the mountain ash making a full circle around the club.

“I did it,” Stiles said slowly, looking up at Ramie.

“You did it!” She yelled. Stiles jumped forward, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

“We did it!” He said, spinning her around in a circle. They both laughed, and Stiles set her down slowly, his arms still wrapped around her.

“We should uh,” Stiles stuttered, dropping his arms. “Go check on things inside.”

Ramie nodded and followed after the boy in the flannel, her cheeks feeling hot.

…

Ramie followed Stiles though the back entrance to the club, down a hall to the room where Isaac and Erica were supposed to be keeping Jackson. Stiles pushed opened the door and Erica lunged towards them, Stiles jumping back and nearly taking out Ramie.

“Woah woah woah, it’s just us!” Stiles put his hands up, and Erica took a step back. “Freaks.” Stiles mumbled as they entered the room and Ramie followed, closing the door behind them. Jackson was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, looking like he was out cold.

“Is he okay?” Ramie asked as Isaac stepped towards Jackson.

“Well, let’s find out,” Isaac held up his hand, putting out his claws. He reached towards him, but before he could get close Jackson, eyes still closed, grabbed Isaac’s arm, twisting it in a way that definitely caused something to break. Ramie moved forward to grab him but Stiles grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. Isaac yanked his arm away from Jackson, groaning and leaning against the wall, holding his wrist. Ramie went over to him, wincing at the sight of his mangled arm.

“Alright, no one does anything like that again,” Stiles pointed at Erica and Isaac as the latter snapped his own arm back into place, groaning as it healed.

“The ketamine was supposed to put him out,” Isaac groaned as Ramie rubbed his back.

“Yeah well apparently this is all we’re going to get,” Stiles pointed towards Jackson.

“So let’s just hope whoever is controlling him showed up tonight,” Ramie added. Stiles looked over at her with Isaac, looking slightly concerned for a second. Before anyone could say anything else, a voice came from Jackson. It wasn’t his normal voice, it sounded almost robotic.

“I’m here,” he said, his eyes now open. “I’m right here with you.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Jackson, then looked at everyone else, who was just as lost as he was. He slowly stepped forward, squatting down in front of him.

“Stiles, be careful,” Ramie said, stepping behind him. Stiles held up a hand, cutting her off.

“Jackson is that you?”

“Us, we’re all here,” Jackson said simply. Stiles turned, looking at Ramie, who shrugged, at a loss.

“Are you the one killing people?” Stiles asked.

“We are the ones killing murderers,” Jackson said back.

“So all the people you’ve killed so far,” Ramie started.

“They deserved it,” Jackson cut her off.

“We’ve got a little rule book that says you only go after murderers,” Stiles said.

“Anything can break if enough pressure’s applied,” Jackson deadpanned.

“A fucking riddle?” Isaac said from behind them. Ramie and Stiles shushed him at the same time, and he held his hands up defensively.

“So all the people you killed are murderers,” Ramie clarified.

“All,” Jackson’s robotic voice said. “Each. Every. One.”

“Who did they murder?” Stiles asked.

“Me, they murdered me,” Jackson said, his hand slowly moving. Ramie noticed immediately.

“Stiles,” she grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back, away from Jackson.

“Okay, alright more ketamine, the man needs ketamine, come on,” Stiles stammered.

“We don’t have any more,” Isaac said, holding up the empty vial. Stiles eyes closed slowly, hanging his head.

“You used the whole bottle?” He turned his head to Isaac, who raised his shoulders sheepishly. Ramie hit both of them on the arms, as Jackson stood up slowly, then screeched at them.

“Okay, out, everybody out,” Stiles pushed Ramie towards the door, all of them running out it. Isaac slammed it shut, leaning against it with Stiles and Erica. “Find something to put in front of the door.”

Ramie turned to look for something, but it was too late. Jackson, or kanima Jackson burst straight through the wall, running away from them. Stiles took off after him, Ramie close behind. They lost him somewhere along the way as he jumped up into the ceiling, but Stiles continued to run outside, to see if he had made it out there somehow. As they made it out there Derek ran up, meeting them on the other side of the mountain ash.

“Hey, so we kind of lost Jackson but,” Stiles stopped as Isaac and Erica walked out of the club, unable to pass the line of mountain ash. “Ohmygod it’s working! We did it!”

Ramie grinned at Stiles for a second, until Derek grabbed his arm.

“Scott,” Derek murmured.

“Nope, I’m Stiles,” Stiles grinned.

“Break it,” Derek pointed to the mountain ash, ignoring Stiles’ joke.

“What, no!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Scotts dying!” Derek nearly yelled.

“What? How do you know that?” Ramie asked, stepping towards Derek.

“Ohmygod, Ramie, I just know, break it,” Derek yelled. Stiles reached down, brushing a section of the mountain ash away and Derek took off into the club, leaving Ramie and Stiles confused on the sidewalk.

[hellofromthe-otter-slide]

A Soft Ending (My Love)

We’ve reached the end of this series, but never fear! I’m a bit attached to this little series (even if Noelle Stevenson completely blew up my theory with season three. It’s whatever, Noelle. I’m not hurt at all). If you have anything you’d like to see me write in this series, let me know.

Enjoy!

Read on AO3.

~

Catra wakes up feeling warm, the sun coming through a crack in the blinds helping to warm up the nighttime air, and she snuggles back under the covers. Without looking at any sort of clock, she knows it’s early, way too early to be up, and yet Adora is already out of bed and pulling on training clothes.

Catra groans. “Why do you have to go train now?” she whines, though she would never admit it.

Through her barely-cracked lids Catra can see Adora smile. “You know,” Adora says softly, “You’re cute first thing in the morning.”

Catra flops onto her back and rolls her eyes, “You would be cuter here in bed with me.”

Adora sits on the edge of the bed and scratches just behind Catra’s ear, and she’s too tired to fight off the purr. “You could come train with me.”

“Or I could go jump off a cliff.”

Adora laughs, “It’s not torture.”

Catra starts tugging on Adora’s shirt to try and get her to stay. “You’ve been training too much lately.”

And she has. With Bright Moon preparing for a final battle against the Horde and the Princess Alliance meeting more and more often, Adora has essentially been training whenever she isn’t in a meeting. Catra tried getting Adora to take a break or focus on something else, but Adora refused ever time, repeating over and over again that if she doesn’t train, if she isn’t ready, then Hordak will win.

It’s the same argument that Catra knows Adora is about to use, so just as Adora opens her mouth to say it, Catra cuts her off. “If you keep training like this, you’re going to burn out, and then Hordak really is going to defeat you.”

“That’s blunt.”

“It’s honest.”

“I just—” Adora struggles for some way to explain it.

“I know,” Catra says, untangling her fingers from Adora’s shirt so that she can hold Adora’s hand.

Catra isn’t dumb. Catra knows the responsibilities Adora has as She-Ra. She knows how many people are depending on Adora to lead Bright Moon and the Rebellion to victory. She knows how many expectations sit on Adora’s shoulders and how much Adora worries about it.

“One more hour,” Catra tries to convince her, “And then I’ll let you go train.”

Adora looks like she wants to say no.

“Come on,” Catra tugs on Adora’s hand, “I was up ridiculously late last night helping C’yra with trade agreements, and all I want is one more quiet hour in bed with my girlfriend.”

Adora finally starts letting Catra pull her back to bed. “I think I can manage one more hour.”

“I’ll try not to make it too hard on you,” Catra jokes as she wraps an arm around Adora’s waist and settles herself against Adora’s chest.

Catra falls back into a half sleep while Adora’s runs her fingers through Catra’s hair.

~*~

Catra watches Adora train with the older Magicats from the side of the training grounds, her tail flicking with barely-contained frustration.

Adora started getting restless towards the end of their extra hour in bed, and Catra couldn’t convince her to take a longer break. She left the room before Catra even finished getting ready, and now she’s annoyed, because Adora is obviously exhausted with too much on her plate, but she refuses to take care of herself.

“You’re up early,” Catra hears from behind her, and she turns to see C’yra walking up to her, “I figured you would try to get some sleep.”

“I did,” Catra says, crossing her arms and trying her hardest to keep her tail from giving herself away.

C’yra notices. “You seem happy,” she says sarcastically.

“I’m fine.”

C’yra nods and hums, “Whatever you say, kitten.”

Catra turns from her mother to watch Adora again, and her annoyance just grows.

“She’s impressive,” C’yra muses, “Even without She-Ra, she can take down an enemy twice her size.”

Just as C’yra says it, Adora pins the Magicat she’s sparring with.

“She’s working herself to death,” Catra says, trying her hardest not to sound angry, because she isn’t.

Or she shouldn’t be.

“There’s a lot of pressure on her right now.”

“That doesn’t mean she should forget she’s a person and not a super soldier,” Catra digs her claws into her palm, trying so hard to stay calm and keep her voice level, even if she has to grit her teeth, “She’s either in a war meeting or training, and I’m not sure how much she even sleeps right now.”

“You’re worried about her.”

“Of course I am!” Catra snaps and immediately squeezes her eyes shut. She feels gentle fingers unravel her own so that her claws aren’t digging into her skin anymore, and when she opens her eyes, C’yra looks more worried than Catra has ever seen her.

“Go to the library, kitten,” she says gently, “Find something to read and take some time to yourself.”

“I need to get Adora to take a break.”

“You need to take care of yourself too,” C’yra lets Catra go, “The quiet will help.”

With on final look at Adora, Catra leaves the castle’s training grounds and heads to the library, and just walking in seems to take away some of her stress. The smell of books and the silence feel comforting in a way she never imagined it could, and she finds herself walking through the huge stacks, avoiding any rows where she can see scholars milling about.

She finds a quiet corner and sits down with a random book she pulls off of the shelf behind her, and she has a few moments of uninterrupted silence before her reading is interrupted by Felix coming towards her.

“I’m fine,” she says before he even has a chance to say anything.

“I was only going to ask how the book was so far,” he says, stopping beside her and scanning the shelves like he was only coming to her solitary corner to find something. Catra can tell it’s just an act, though, mostly because Felix rarely pulled anything from the Healing Sciences section.

“Did Mom ask you to come check on me?”

“No,” Felix pulls out a book and pretends to read the back, “She just mentioned that you were worrying over Adora.”

Catra sighs, “Is it really so wrong to be?”

Felix takes that as his cue to stop acting, so he puts the book back and sits on the floor beside her. “Of course it isn’t,” Felix assures her, “It just shows that you care, but you’re letting it take a lot out of you too.”

Catra sets her book aside and pulls her knees up to her chest, her tail wrapping around herself protectively.

“I barely see her anymore,” Catra whispers, “I mean, we see each other in meetings and in the few minutes before and after, but I thought getting her to come to Half Moon would mean she would actually take some time away from it all.”

“Have you told her how much you miss her?”

Catra pauses before saying a soft, “No.”

“You could try.”

“I’m not adding guilt onto the extreme pile of responsibilities Adora feels like she has to handle alone.”

“Then tell her she doesn’t have to handle them alone,” Felix says, getting up from the floor, “Now come on, I know you’re young, but I’m not, and I’d rather sit at a table.”

Catra grabs her book and follows, thinking over Felix’s words.

~*~

Catra sees Adora at lunch, and she barely gets a moment to say anything to her, let alone tell Adora that she misses her, before Adora gives her a quick kiss and says that she has to get back to Bright Moon for meetings with the royal guards.

Catra can't even say goodbye before Adora runs off to Swift Wind.

~*~

Catra is just walking out of a meeting with some of Bright Moon’s higher ranking soldiers when Glimmer appears in front of her in a burst of light and sparkles, grabs onto her, and teleports them away.

Catra rips her arm from Glimmer’s grip when they get to wherever she teleported them. “Sparkles, what the—”

“Adora collapsed,” Glimmer cuts her off.

“What?” Catra starts to feel frantic, “What happened?”

“She was sparring with a few soldiers,” Glimmer explains, “Apparently she fainted mid-spar.”

Catra looks around them and notices that they’re right in front of the infirmary door.

“You can go in,” Glimmer says before Catra can ask, “I’m going to go find Bow.”

And then Glimmer is gone in a burst of glitter.

The infirmary is quiet when Catra walks in, and finding Adora is easy, because she’s in the only bed occupied, a healer standing over her. The healer, one of the fauns who live in the villages surrounding Bright Moon’s castle, smiles at her.

“She’s fine,” he tells Catra, “All she needs is rest.”

“She hasn’t been getting a lot of that lately.”

“That’s why she collapsed,” he explains, “Without enough rest, her current overly-rigorous schedule just became too much for her, even with She-Ra’s strength.”

Catra nods, and the healer takes that as his cue to leave, and Catra is thankful as she sits on the edge of the infirmary bed and grabs onto Adora’s hand. She hears Glimmer and Bow come in, both of them asking the healer questions before sitting down in seats on either side of the bed.

“How are we supposed to get her to actually take a break?” Bow asks quietly so that he doesn’t wake Adora up.

“She’s going to fight any attempts we make,” Glimmer says, and Catra fights rolling her eyes and giving a sarcastic, “No shit.”

“How’d did inviting her to Half Moon work?” Bow asks Catra.

“She ended up spending most of the day training with the other warriors,” Catra says, “Every time I suggested taking a break and doing something else, she fought it.”

“We could try Mystacor,” Glimmer suggests.

“That didn’t work very well the first time,” Bow reminds her.

“Well yeah, but this time there’s no Shadow Weaver,” Glimmer says, and Catra feels just the slightest twinge at the name, even months after Shadow Weaver's death, “There won't be anyone to mess with her head, and she can actually relax.”

"Yeah," Bow draws out, his way of saying no, before politely saying, "Maybe we should think of something else."

They discuss a few other options, anything that might possibly get Adora to just slow down, but nothing seems to be good enough to work, and Catra is about to suggest tying her to a bed when Adora starts to stir, her hand squeezing Catra's.

Adora groans and tries to push herself up, and without thinking, Catra pushes her right back down and keeps pressure on her shoulder.

Bow gets up quickly and puts a gently hand on Adora’s other shoulder. “Take it easy,” he says gently, but Catra hears the littlest bit of force in his tone.

“I’m fine,” Adora argues but her voice is weak and groggy, and Catra feels her push up against her hand again, but Adora isn’t strong enough at that moment.

The fact that that was even true worries Catra.

“Adora,” Glimmer stands up and hovers a hand over Adora’s arm.

“I’m fine,” Adora insists, and she still tries fighting Catra and Bow’s hold, but she’s unsuccessful.

“No, you’re not,” Catra says and pushes Adora down with just enough strength that Adora slumps into the bed. She knows Glimmer and Bow will sugarcoat everything and try and be gentle, but she won't.

She feels Adora move under her hand and almost growls.

“Stop fighting.”

“Let me up.”

“No.”

Catra notices Glimmer and Bow back away from them.

Adora tries to swipe at Catra’s wrist, but with the mix of waking up and the exhaustion that made her collapse in the first place, she barely moves Catra, and Catra lets go of Adora’s hand and shoulder to grab Adora’s wrists to stop her from fighting.

“Catra—” Adora says, and Catra knows that it’s supposed to sound like a warning, but Adora’s voice is barely there, and Catra can see the energy draining out of her quickly.

“Adora, stop,” Catra says softly, “You’re exhausted.”

“I need—”

“To rest,” Catra cuts Adora off, “You collapsed while training and you need to rest.”

“But—”

Catra hisses unintentionally, all of the frustration that has been building up over weeks and weeks of this slipping out without her permission. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”

There are a few whispered words, soft footsteps, and the sound of a door opening and closing. Catra’s ear twitches just so, listening to Glimmer and Bow retreat out of the infirmary and she’s thankful, because she doesn’t know how much longer she can keep her feelings in, and she refuses to show any sort of vulnerability in front of them.

They’ll get their chance to get through to Adora after she’s done.

Adora hasn’t answered, and Catra frustration boils over.

“No, really,” she says, her voice dripping in anger and sarcasm, “I want to know, because at this rate, we might as well send Hordak a letter saying, ‘Congrats! You did it! She-Ra literally worked herself to death, so you’ve defeated her!’”

“Catra—” Adora says, her voice so small, but Catra can’t stop.

“I’ve tried everything,” Catra lets go of Adora’s wrists, refusing to accidentally dig her nails into Adora’s skin, “Glimmer and Bow have tried everything. Even Swift Wind has tried to get you to take a break, and nothing has worked. You keep training and going from meeting to meeting with no break, and I’m just expected to stand by and let you exhaust yourself because you’re She-Ra, and the Rebellion needs She-Ra.”

Catra takes a deep breath, and some of the anger dissipates.

“You’re She-Ra, but you’re Adora too, and I’m not sure how much more your body can take. I’m not sure how much more I can take.”

Adora grabs Catra’s hand but Catra pulls away and stands up from the bed, putting some distance between her and Adora.

Because she knows that when it comes to Adora, she’ll crumble under even one sorry, no matter how ingenuine, and she’s allowed to be upset, especially when her girlfriend ignores her in favor of harming herself.

“Just,” Catra looks down and over to the door and anywhere that isn’t Adora, “Get some rest. Please.”

And then Catra leaves quickly, breezing by Glimmer and Bow waiting outside.

~*~

Catra sees Scorpia stroll through the trees, and she knows Scorpia knows exactly where she is. She knows Scorpia will whistle and pretend like she’s on a nice stroll through the Whispering Woods, and she knows that Scorpia will sit against the trunk of the tree that Catra always climbs up because it’s the tallest one she can find.

Scorpia leans her head against the bark and looks up. “Hey, Wildcat.”

“Hey,” Catra says back, her fingers running over the soft leaves that feel almost unreal, and Catra guesses it has to do with the magic within the woods.

Scorpia takes a moment before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Catra thunks her head back against the trunk and looks past leaves to the pale blue sky. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“I could go get a blanket from the castle,” Scorpia says, and Catra looks down to see her smiling, “I know it’s not the uncomfortable scratchy blue blankets we know and love, but maybe the added softness will help force it out of you.”

Catra smiles back. Scorpia has been gone so long leading Bright Moon's soldiers in taking back small villages conquered by Horde forces, and she didn’t realize until now just how much she missed her best friend.

“I don’t think the blanket will be necessary, Scorp.”

Catra sees Scorpia light up, and she knows it’s the nickname. Catra used it once accidentally, and Scorpia had looked at her surprised. After Catra asked a confused, “What?” Scorpia said, “Nothing. It, just, it makes me feel like I’m actually your best friend,” so Catra has been trying her hardest to use the nickname more.

Because Scorpia is her best friend, and Catra can do this one thing that makes Scorpia feel appreciated, even if she does it with an eye roll.

Scorpia knows that Catra never means it anyways.

“So?” Scorpia asks, her head quirking just so.

“It’s just,” Catra pulls her legs to her chest and hugs them tightly, her tail wrapping around her.

She’s never been good with feelings. She’d rather forget they exist completely, but she knows that she needs to get better, she needs to be more open, if only with a select few, so she tries to voice her thoughts.

“Adora collapsed, and she’s fine, but not really,” Catra says quickly, her eyes closing so that she can’t see Scorpia watching her, “I can’t get her to rest, and she’s working herself to death, and I’m so worried because what if it’s something worse next time?”

“Have you talked to Adora about this?”

Catra rests her chin on her arms and remembers Felix asking the same thing just a week ago.

“Sort of,” Catra says quietly, “I just got so angry and frustrated when she woke up and tried getting out of bed, and I didn’t say anything correctly.”

Scorpia stands up and Catra watches her climb the few low, sturdy branches. She settles herself on one a few feet off the ground and makes herself comfortable before looking back up at Catra.

“From what I understand, explaining it in anger never really works.”

Catra groans, “I didn’t mean to, but she kept insisting she was fine and that she needed to get up and I didn’t mean to snap, but I love her and I’m afraid that if she keeps going on like this, something is going to happen to her.”

Scorpia doesn’t say anything, and Catra notices an amused smile pulling at her lips.

“What?” Catra asks, her voice not nearly as harsh as she wants it to be.

“You love her, huh?”

Catra goes red. She didn’t mean to say that out loud and definitely not to Scorpia. She had planned to never say it, to keep it to herself, because it wasn’t something new to her.

She has loved Adora since they were little kids, and she knows Adora knew that growing up, but they never said it. They showed it through small affections and teasing words and sharing their bunk, and that was always enough.

“No,” Catra says quickly, but Scorpia’s amused smile doesn’t go away, and Catra knows that Scorpia isn’t convinced, so she adds, “Shut up.”

“So, you haven’t told Adora?”

Catra’s ears flatten against her head, “I didn’t mean to tell you. Do you really think I’ve told Adora?”

“You might think about it.”

Catra knows that Scorpia is right, but she doesn’t really want to talk about it anymore, so instead, she stretches out so that she’s lying across the branch and says, “What have you been up to?”

“Oh!” Scorpia says excitedly, “Wildcat, taking back the villages is so much fun! None of the Horde soldiers expect to see me there, and by the time they realize who they’re up against, I’ve already taken the village back and—”

Catra lets Scorpia tell her every story she has, and she gives little hums to let Scorpia know she’s listening to every word.

By the time they head back to the castle, the sun is setting, painting the sky is oranges and reds and pinks, and Catra feels just the slightest bit better.

~*~

Adora finds Catra a few days later in Bright Moon’s library. Catra is in a back corner where she knows no one else goes, her usual table covered in books open to different pages and a notebook with haphazard notes scrawled into it.

Adora takes a moment at the end of the stacks to just watch Catra flip a few more pages, her tail swaying gently and her ears twitching just so, before quietly saying, “I thought you would’ve gone back to Half Moon by now.”

“Horde soldiers have been spotted along Half Moon’s northern border,” Catra says, not even looking up from her book, but Adora can tell that Catra has stopped reading, “I’ve had to sit in meetings trying to get Bright Moon to send soldiers just in case anything happens.”

“They haven’t said yes?”

Catra stops flipping through pages but she doesn’t look up. “There aren’t any soldiers to spare.”

Adora nods, but she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t know what to say. She can still see Catra leave the infirmary three days ago, still remembers how much it hurt that Catra wouldn’t look at her, and she knew what she wanted to say then.

She has no idea what to say now.

So, she just stands there, and Catra doesn’t move either.

After a few moments of silence, Catra asks, “Are you going to just awkwardly stay there, or can I get back to what I was doing?”

Adora takes a chance and asks, “Can I join you?”

Catra looks up, and Adora can’t quite read Catra’s expression. It looks kind of surprised but also apprehensive, and Adora isn’t sure she blames Catra for that.

“Don’t you need to train?” Catra asks, her voice on the edge of harsh.

“No, I, uh,” Adora doesn’t know what to do with her hands, so her fingers start to twist together, “I’ve been told I need to take a break.”

“You haven’t listened to that before.”

“I know,” Adora says softly, “But I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you before.”

Catra looks genuinely surprised now, like she never expected Adora to admit that so readily, and Adora wonders just how long she went without realizing how affected Catra was by her actions.

“That’s not an apology,” Catra says, her voice losing any edge it had before.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” Adora says, “Can I sit?”

Catra puts down her pencil and slides over on the bench, and Adora takes that as an invitation to sit beside her, but she makes sure there’s space between them, remembering Catra pulling away from her in the infirmary.

“I’m so sorry, Catra,” Adora starts, and her fingers start to wring and twist again, usually so used to having something, someone, to hold onto, “I’m sorry that I hurt you. I know the training was too much, and we never saw each other, and I didn’t even think about it. All I could focus on was me, and I’m so sorry that I’m so selfish.”

“Hey,” Catra says softly, and she scoots closer, one hand resting on top of Adora’s and the other reaching up to cup Adora’s face, “You’re not selfish.”

“I am,” Adora insists, “I—”

“You’re not,” Catra cuts Adora off, “I know the expectations everyone puts on you. You’re She-Ra, and with the Horde edging towards their endgame, everyone expects you to lead the army and destroy Hordak for good, and I wasn’t angry because of that.” Catra starts running her thumb along Adora’s cheek, her tail coming up to wrap around Adora’s wrist like when they were kids, “I was angry, because you weren’t taking care of yourself. You never had a moment to slow down, and you collapsed, Adora.”

“I know,” Adora leans into the touch and closes her eyes.

She didn’t realize before how long it had been since her and Catra were this close, but now that Catra is here and being so affectionate, Adora doesn’t understand how she went without this.

“I missed you,” Adora whispers, unsure of what response she’ll get in return.

“I missed you too,” Catra whispers back, and Adora opens her eyes to see Catra giving her that soft little smile that she saves just for Adora.

“Do you forgive me?” Adora asks, her voice so small and afraid that Catra might say no.

“Will you actually take breaks so that you don't exhaust yourself?”

Adora shakes her head yes.

“Then yes,” Catra says, “I forgive you.”

Adora smiles and leans forward, pulling Catra into a soft, short kiss.

“When did you get so good at talking about your feelings?” Adora asks her when they pull apart.

Catra shrugs, “You get wrapped up in blankets often enough and you realize that just saying what you mean is an easier fate.”

Adora’s eyebrows push together in confusion, and Catra giggles quietly.

“Scorpia,” Catra says in explanation.

“Makes sense,” Adora says, “That bad?”

“You remember those Horde-issued blankets,” Catra jokingly shudders, “Being wrapped in one is a fate worse than death.”

“Maybe we can win by wrapping up every Horde soldier in their blankets,” Adora muses, clearing a small part of the table to she can rest her head on her arms, her body still exhausted even after being released from the infirmary.

Catra goes back to flipping through pages and taking notes, but her tail wraps around Adora’s thigh. “Using their own torture against them would be a sort of poetic justice.”

Adora hums her response and Catra looks over to see Adora slowly starting to fall asleep.

When Adora wakes up, her head is in Catra’s lap, Catra’s fingers running through her hair absentmindedly as Catra reads the book in front of her, and Adora goes back to sleep, a small smile on her lips.

~*~

The reports start flooding in, each spy within the Horde’s ranks confirming the same thing over and over again.

Horde forces have started moving out of the Fright Zone and are setting up on the other side of the Whispering Woods, preparing for battle.

Small factions have set up camp in Horde territories surrounding each kingdom, waiting for the signal.

Even Hordak himself has been spotted among the soldiers at the Whispering Woods camp.

The Rebellion knows that can only mean one thing.

They begin by evacuating any village in the Horde’s line of fire, each princess offering their kingdom as refugee camps. Catra spends days helping the villagers around Half Moon find beds, even giving up her own so that they can have somewhere safe to sleep. She knows Adora, Bow, and Glimmer are doing the same at Bright Moon, hundreds of villagers fleeing there in the hopes of finding solace.

Then, the Princess Alliance starts meeting more and more, discussing tactics and placement of princesses when the Horde finally makes their move. There are arguments for the princesses to stay and defend Bright Moon, arguments for each princess to return to protect their kingdoms, and, surprisingly it’s Catra who speaks up.

“The Princess Alliance is stronger together than apart,” she says, looking at everyone around the table, “We all need to be here.”

“What happens when the Horde camps surrounding our kingdoms attack?” Frosta asks angrily.

“Keep someone trusted in charge and hope that you’ve trained your armies well,” Catra says simply, and even though there’s more arguing after that, in the end, they agree with Catra, each deciding to stay and defend Bright Moon.

The message that the Horde plans to attack the next day is short, just one sentence, but it spurs nonstop movement from the Rebellion. Soldiers are moved around, some kept in Bright Moon and others sent to the other kingdoms in the Alliance, reinforcements start flooding, everyone offering their best fighters to the final battle.

When the Magicat reinforcements arrive, Catra notices C’yra and Felix among them, and she’s quick to argue.

“Half Moon needs their king and queen,” Catra says as the rest of the Magicats walk up to Bright Moon castle, ready to find their quarters and rest before the chaos.

“No,” C’yra says, “Half Moon needs for their queen and king to be right here fighting beside their princess.”

“What if something happens?”

“We do have an army, you know,” Felix says, his voice teasing, “They’ve been rearing for a battle since the Horde attacked after we resettled.”

“This isn’t funny,” Catra argues, “I know there aren’t enough warriors to send reinforcements here and protect Half Moon.”

“Bright Moon soldiers showed up to assist our warriors,” C’yra starts to walk by Catra into the castle, “And everyone agreed that this is where Felix and I needed to be, not fighting the pathetic amount of Horde soldiers camped out right outside our kingdom.”

“It’s almost insulting,” Felix jokes as he follows C’yra, “It’s like they think we wouldn’t be a threat.”

“I’m still not okay with this,” Catra says as she follows them in.

“Good thing it isn’t your choice, kitten.” C’yra smirks at Catra over her shoulder, and she laughs a bit when Catra rolls her eyes in response.

Catra spends part of the day with her parents, filling them in on everything happening around Bright Moon and all of the preparations the Rebellion has undergone to hopefully ensure a win.

She only leaves when C’yra and Felix tell her to go and spend some time with her friends, claiming they want to meet with Angella before there’s no chance to.

Catra spends the rest of her day with Scorpia and Entrapta. They’re in Entrapta’s lab, Catra laid out on her back while Entrapta works on some wiring, and Scorpia fills the silence with stories and musings and ideas for things they can all do together once the Horde is defeated.

Catra can barely imagine what her life will be like without the Horde.

If we even win, she thinks, refusing to say it out loud and possibly ruin Scorpia’s positive attitude.

When Catra gets back to her room, Adora is sat on her bed looking so small and scared.

“I’ve been with Bow and Glimmer all day, but I—” she pauses for just a second, “I want to spend the rest of my time alone with you.”

It’s not late enough to go to sleep yet, but they are snuggled up in bed in minutes, Catra holding Adora against her tightly, and they’re quiet for a few moments, the sound of trees rustling filling the room though Catra’s open window.

“I’m scared,” Adora admits against the short fur of Catra’s throat, “What if I’m not enough? What if She-Ra isn’t enough?”

“You are,” Catra says without any hesitation, because she knows she’s right. She knows that even without She-Ra, Adora would be strong enough to take on Hordak.

“What is we lose?” Adora asks desperately, “What if it’s all my fault?”

Catra pulls away so that she can look Adora in the eyes as she says, “You are not alone out there. You’ve got the whole Princess Alliance backing you up, and even more importantly, you have me. You look out for me and I look out for you, right? Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”

Adora still looks afraid, but she smiles as Catra says her own words back to her. “You promise?” she asks, partly because it’s what comes next and partly because she needs the reassurance.

Catra smiles and thinks about how much these words hurt not so long ago.

Now, they’re just as comforting as they were back then.

“I promise,” Catra whispers and brushes a piece of Adora’s hair from her face before pulling Adora to her and kissing her.

This kiss feels so much different than all of their other ones. It’s hurried and hard, like they’re both afraid that this may be the last time they can be with one another like this. Catra tries not to think about how true that fact might be. She pushes away thoughts of Adora losing to Hordak, of something happening to her, and kisses Adora even harder, holding her as close as possible and refusing to think about anything else.

Right now, it’s just Catra and Adora.

There are no final battles, no bleak possibilities, no threats.

There are only desperate kisses, wandering hands, and the soft rustling of leaves.

Later, as the moon rise on Etheria's starless sky, Adora and Catra fall asleep tangled up in one another, Adora running her fingers over Catra’s spine and Catra’s soft purring filling the deep silence of the room.

~*~

The final battle doesn’t happen like Catra expects it to. She expects Hordak to keep fighting, even when it’s obvious the Rebellion has the clear advantage. She expects Adora to lead the charge as She-Ra, and Catra expects to always be at her side, keeping her safe against Horde soldiers and high-tech bots.

She knows she’s going to lose people, but she can’t think of that mid-fight, focusing instead on her claws sinking into metal and ripping as she destroys bot after bot alongside the other Magicats.

She doesn’t expect to watch C’yra go down, though, but she doesn’t think before running over to her, fending off anyone attempting to finish the Magicat queen off until help arrives.

The rest of the battle is a blur after a few healers pull C’yra off the field and Catra is left watching them go, feeling more helpless than she’s felt in a long time. Catra remembers rejoining the fight. She remembers keeping Adora safe as she faces off against Hordak, his villainous speech barely audible over the sound of swords clashing, blasters exploding, and robots whirring.

She remembers glowing orange as the Princess Alliance becomes a united force against the Horde’s army.

And she remembers the moment Hordak falls, She-Ra’s sword held under his chin, and his begrudging surrender.

It all seems to go by in a blur even though the battle takes almost a full day, and Catra remembers it all, but after Hordak is defeated, after the Horde soldiers lay down their arms, after She-Ra shifts back into Adora, war-beaten but altogether okay, Catra runs from the field up to the tents set up right outside Bright Moon castle.

Healers rush around, trying their hardest to help everyone, and none of them even notice Catra looking around frantically. One eyes Catra’s wounds, the cut above her brow dripping blood down her face and the deep gashes along her arms and sides, but she doesn’t say anything. She deems Catra's wounds less serious than anyone around her and moves on to another patient.

C’yra is situated in a back corner, a healer working over her, and Catra can see, even from the entrance, that it’s bad. The wounds are still bleeding despite having happened a few hours before, and the healer has a worried look on his face, like he isn’t sure how to stop it.

“Catra?”

Catra feels a soft hand on her shoulder, and she still jumps, still turns with the claws up, ready to fight, but it’s only Felix looking bruised and beaten.

“She’s—” Catra can’t get it out. She can’t say the words, can’t think of the possibility that C’yra might—

“She’s been through worse,” Felix says, opening his arms up to Catra, and she hugs him and holds tight.

She just got her parents back, and she can't help being afraid that she might lose one of them now.

Felix whispers little reassurances to Catra, but nothing seems to help. She just keeps seeing C’yra falling in battle. All she can see is the blood spilling from the deep gash, and Catra squeezes her eyes shut, hoping that she can fight the images off.

She doesn’t know how long it is before Adora comes to the healers’ tent, She-Ra’s sword still glowing from the battle.

Adora comes over to her before anyone else, and Catra thinks that she should tell Adora to go. She needs to go help the healers, but Catra can’t say it. She just grabs onto Adora and holds tight, fighting off the tears in her eyes.

Adora doesn’t say anything. She just holds Catra until the healer comes over and gives them an update.

The wound was deep, and it took a lot of healing even to close it up, and that wasn't the only damage her body sustained from the fight.

C’yra is stable, but she probably won’t wake up for a while.

Her heart is still beating. She’s still breathing.

She’s alive, Catra keeps repeating to herself, even as the healer leaves them to help others, and she doesn’t know what to do.

She wants to stay and wait for C’yra to wake up, but she knows she’s needed around the castle to help in the aftermath.

“Go,” Felix says softly, like he can read Catra’s mind, “I’ll stay with her, and I’ll have someone come get you if she wakes up, okay?”

Catra nods, and she watches Felix go over to C’yra’s corner and sit on the edge of her cot, his hand grabbing hers without thinking.

“Hey,” Adora says as she reaches out and brushes a bit of Catra’s wild hair out of her face, “I can come with you.”

“No,” Catra says quickly, “They need She-Ra here.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Adora whispers, and Catra feels the same.

Despite everything, despite having just survived the final battle and C’yra lying unconscious in an infirmary cot, all Catra really wants to do is forget responsibilities and find somewhere quiet where her and Adora can just be together.

But they can’t.

“Tonight, okay?” Catra says, “It’ll just be you and me tonight.”

Adora nods and starts to walk from cot to cot, asking healers what they need from her.

Catra watches her for a few minutes before leaving the tent, looking over her shoulder to check on C’yra one last time.

~*~

Catra and Adora don’t get their night alone like Catra promised. Adora spends hours in the healers’ tent as She-Ra, trying her hardest to save everyone and moving on when she can’t, the weight of each one sitting heavily.

Catra finds herself in front of Angella and Castaspella, arguing a case for the Horde soldiers stolen as children and forced into Hordak’s ranks with no other choice. She talks about her own experiences growing up, how she didn’t even know what her species was called, that she had a family and an entire people outside of the Horde cadets that she never knew about.

“Most of them had no choice,” Catra explains, Scorpia and Entrapta behind her as support, “Their people were either completely eradicated or they were taken as leverage, and none of them got the same chance to escape or defect like we did.”

“Some of them honestly believe in the Horde’s ideals,” Castaspella says, looking weary of the three previous-Horde soldiers stood right in front of her.

“Most of them don’t. They just didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

After hours of back and forth, it’s decided that every Horde soldier will be given the chance to reject the Horde’s ideals, and any who don’t will be jailed and given a trial before the Sorcerer’s Council in Mystacor. All ranking officers wouldn’t be given a choice.

By the time Catra and Adora were done with their responsibilities for the night, they just found a bed wherever they could and fell asleep apart, their last thought of each other.

~*~

News from the Rebellion’s kingdoms start to arrive in the morning, and for the most part it’s good.

For the most part, the Rebellion’s forces were able to fight off the small encampments, and there were very few injured and even fewer deaths.

Catra reads the letter from Pisica on her own off in the Whispering Woods between talking to Horde soldiers and discussing trial proceedings for the ones who still remained loyal to Hordak. It’s the first break she’s gotten all day, her first moments alone since before the battle started, and she enjoys the silence and hopes that no one comes to find her for a bit.

“There were minimal casualties,” Pisica writes, “We underestimated the soldiers stationed outside of Half Moon, though. They were stronger than we assumed, but there wasn’t much damage to Half Moon.”

Pisica sounds formal and direct in her writing, so different from what Catra is used to, and she sees why Pisica’s writing seems so off.

At the bottom of the letter is a list of those who lost their lives protecting Half Moon.

Alonzo’s name is at the top of the list.

“No,” she repeats over and over again, the words really sinking in, and Catra can’t stop the tears from spilling over.

She cries for Alonzo and the other Magicats who died in battle.

She cries because C’yra still hasn’t woken up.

She cries because the stress of the final battle and everything leading up to it finally dissolves.

She cries because it’s over and they won, but it doesn’t feel like it.

Catra hears the sound of feet against soft earth, and she curls up in a ball and hopes that whoever it is doesn’t find her.

Gentle hands wrap around Catra’s wrists and pull her hands from her face, and through her tears she sees Adora with deep bags under her eyes and She-Ra’s sword nowhere to be found.

“He’s dead,” Catra chokes out, “Alonzo’s dead.” It’s all my fault, Catra doesn’t say out loud, He asked me to train him, to help him get better, and it wasn’t enough to keep him safe.

Catra thinks of Alonzo sitting across from her on Beast Island insisting that she teach him. She thinks of his determination, his want to best Catra, even though he never did.

Catra’s tears turn into choking sobs, and Adora holds her close, not saying anything because she knows nothing will really help. All the words and reassurances in the world wouldn’t bring Alonzo back.

It feels like hours before Catra’s sobs quiet down to soft tears, and Adora picks her up and cradles Catra against her as she walks back to the castle.

They fall asleep together, Adora holding Catra in the safety of Adora’s room, and every time either one of them wakes up from a nightmare, the other is there to hold them close and help them fall back asleep.

~*~

The next day, Catra and the other Magicats return to Half Moon to be present for the funerals of those who fell in battle.

In C'yra and Felix's absence, Catra says the Magicat blessing for the dead, the words coming out almost mechanically, and she feels numb as the family members of the fallen light each pyre, the fires burning strong and bright.

~*~

Catra splits her time between Half Moon and Bright Moon in the week following the battle, and she keeps herself as busy as possible to keep her mind off of the fact that C’yra still hasn’t woken up.

Finding work isn’t an issue. When she’s at Half Moon, her time is spent filling in for C’yra, helping Magicats with their concerns and assisting in the few repairs that need to get done, and when she’s at Bright Moon, she’s in meetings and sitting among the Princess Alliance through the trials of Horde officers and loyal soldiers.

The few moments she gets with Adora are fleeting, both of them drowning under their responsibilities, and each one gets shorter and shorter as the week goes on.

She’s just leaving Adora’s room after their only moments together all day when a healer runs up to her.

“Princess Catra,” he says, his words coming out in puffs, “It’s Queen C’yra. She’s awake.”

She shoves past him without thinking, instantly forgetting the meeting she was supposed to go to.

The infirmary is clear on the other side of the castle, and she’s breathing hard as she comes up to the door and pushes it open, narrowly missing one of the healers on the other side. She mumbles a quick apology and rushes to the back corner where she knows C'yra is.

Felix smiles at her as she runs up, and he puts his hands up to stop her. “Calm down, sweetheart,” he says, voice soft and comforting.

“The healer told me—”

“Hey, kitten.”

C’yra’s voice is weak, and when Catra turns to her, C’yra’s eyes are drooping closed, but she has the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“Come here,” C’yra reaches her hand out to Catra, and Catra doesn’t hesitate. She takes her mother’s hand and sits on the edge of the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Catra asks.

“Horrible,” C’yra breathes out and winces.

“But alive,” Catra says, “Which means I can tell you how dumb it was that you didn’t stay at Half Moon.”

C’yra rolls her eyes, and even with her slower movements and sluggishness, Catra can see the fondness in C’yra’s watered-down sarcasm. “So I see that you’re the mother now.”

“I’m glad almost dying didn’t take away your sense of humor,” Catra rolls her eyes too, but beneath it, she’s so unbelievably relieved. C’yra is here, awake and making jokes, and Catra almost lost her, almost lost all of this.

Felix sits on the other side of the bed and runs his fingers through C’yra hair. “I don't know why I didn't expect this."

They talk for a bit, Catra updating C’yra on the things she’s missed around Half Moon and the aftermath of the final battle, straying away from anything too heavy for all of their sakes, and Catra starts to feel part of the heaviness on her heart start to lift.

Everything isn’t okay, not really. The Magicats who lost their lives still weigh heavily on Catra, and her nightmares have been getting worse, older ones of Shadow Weaver mingling with new ones of Adora or C'yra dying and the Rebellion losing the war. Catra is exhausted and all of her responsibilities are overwhelming, but one thing, no matter how small, is finally right.

C'yra is awake. She's still injured, still healing, but she'll be okay.

Catra didn’t lose anything else.

A healer comes by, and he has a sleeping drought for C’yra to take.

“But she just woke up,” Catra says quickly, fear spiking.

“Don’t worry,” the healer smiles in a way that he thinks in comforting, but it doesn't work on Catra, “Sleeping helps her body to heal.”

Catra doesn’t believe him, even though she doesn’t have a reason to think he’s lying.

I’m just scared, Catra thinks, trying her best to logic through her panic, I know I’m scared, but what if something goes wrong? What if sleeping isn’t good? What if, what if, what if?

“Kitten,” C’yra barely nudges Catra, “It’s going to be fine.”

“I’m almost lost you,” Catra whispers, “I just got you back, and then I saw you go down during the battle, and I just—”

Catra doesn’t know how to put all of these feeling, the sadness and emptiness, the overwhelming need to be a good princess and queen for the Magicats right now, the expectations put on her and the fear that she won’t measure up.

“I’m alive, Catra,” C’yra says, her voice sounding stronger than it has since she woke up, “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Felix reaches over and gently ruffles Catra’s hair. “Neither of us are going anywhere.”

Their words are comforting enough that Catra takes a deep breath and nods, the spiraling thought not fully going away but just enough that they don't overwhelm her.

She stays in the infirmary until C’yra falls asleep again and Felix kindly kicks her out, telling her that C’yra wouldn’t want her to just wait around, so Catra begrudgingly leaves and climbs her way up to the castle’s roof to be alone for just a moment before someone needs her again.

~*~

She’s in the final battle again, Catra fighting her way through soldiers and bots alike, and she doesn’t know where she’s trying to go. She can’t see anyone else from the Rebellion, no princesses or Bright Moon guards or Magicats anywhere near her, but she knows she needs to keep fighting. She needs to get through.

So, she fights. She strikes down soldiers with ease and uses her claws to tear through bots, and she keeps going and going until she sees where she’s going.

It’s Hordak standing tall, a satisfied smile on his face, and he has Adora, a sword held to her throat.

“Hello, Force Captain,” Hordak says, “Have you come to see my victory?”

“Let her go,” Catra growls, ready to lunge.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Hordak says with a small tsk, and the blade presses closer to Adora’s throat, small beads of blood building up around the steel.

“Catra,” Adora says, the eyes wide and filled with fear, “Catra, please.”

“I’ll save you,” Catra tells her desperately.

“I wouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” Hordak says, and in one quick movement, the sword slices through Adora and she slumps at Hordak’s feet.

“No!”

Catra shoots forward, her breathing sporadic and heavy and her claws digging into her palms, drawing blood.

She feels arms snake around her waist, and she tries to fight, but she hears a soft, “It’s me,” whispered against her ears, and she stops.

“You’re safe,” Adora whispers, “You’re not there anymore.” The arms around Catra’s waist tighten, and usually it would be enough to calm Catra down, but it doesn’t work. She just keeps seeing Adora dead, Adora dying, Adora captured.

“Open your eyes, Catra.”

Catra doesn’t even realize her eyes are closed, and when she opens them, her eyes take a few moments to adjust.

They’re in Adora’s room in Bright Moon, the three moons casting just enough light into the room that Catra’s heightened sight can make out the shapes perfectly. There’s the waterfall in the corner making soft dripping sounds and the table beside Adora’s bed where She-Ra’s sword sits in grabbing distance, and it’s not a battlefield filled with enemies.

I’m not there, Catra chants silently to herself, Adora’s safe. I’m safe. We won. I’m not there. I’m not there. I’m not there.

“Hey,” Catra feels Adora press a few kisses against her shoulder, “I’m here.”

Catra relaxes against Adora, her eyes drooping closed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Adora asks, so soft and gentle.

Catra nods no.

“Okay,” one of Adora’s hands slips under Catra’s shirt to run along the short fur of Catra’s stomach, “What do you need?”

“This,” Catra says, her voice barely there, “Just this.”

Adora kisses the back of Catra’s neck, “Okay.”

Catra isn’t sure how long they stay like that, but as she starts to drift off, Adora moves them a bit, and Catra falls back asleep against Adora’s chest, her heartbeat loud against Catra’s ear.

~*~

Hordak’s trial is the last, and it goes by quickly.

His numerous crimes are listed, and it doesn’t take long for the Sorcerers’ Council to reach a verdict.

Adora grabs Catra’s hand and squeezes hard, and Catra squeezes back equally as nervous.

Lifetime imprisonment in a solitary cell.

As a pair of Bright Moon guards take Hordak from the room, Catra watches him go and thinks about how powerful Hordak used to seem. She admired him and needed his validation so desperately that she was willing to do anything to get it, even if it meant destroying herself and everyone around her.

But now? Hordak seems small, stripped of all of his armor and strength and power, and Catra feels satisfied as she catches his eye as he passes by the Princess Alliance, smirking at him to say, I don’t need your validation anymore.

The doors slam behind him, and Adora and Catra let out the breath they were holding in and smile at each other.

“Lifetime imprisonment,” Adora says happily as the rest of the Alliance starts to get up from their chairs.

“Solitary too,” Catra feels giddy for the first time since Adora stole that skiff and invited her along, “We’ll never have to see him again.”

“The Horde is gone,” Adora breathes out, and Catra hears the other things underneath those words.

No one will ever be raised like we were ever again.

Children won’t be taken from their families.

No one will be forced to fight in a war their taught to believe is just.

“Yeah,” Catra whispers, “It is.”

~*~

Catra walks into C’yra’s office and immediately glares at her mother, who is currently trying to pull herself from her wheelchair in order to reach a book.

“I will tie you down to that chair.”

C’yra growls, low and frustrated, and she sinks back into the chair. “I can’t reach anything in this damn thing.”

Catra comes over and reaches up just so to grab the book that C’yra was trying to get. “I’ll get Entrapta to make you something.”

“Can she make me something that’ll make my body heal itself faster?” C’yra asks, taking the book from Catra and wheeling herself back over to her desk.

Catra sits across from her, “It’s only been two months.”

“I know,” C’yra sighs, “I know this will take time, but I’m a warrior, kitten. I really don't like having to ask someone for help for everything I want to do.”

“You’ve gotten pretty good at rolling yourself around, though.”

C’yra glares, but Catra just smirks in return.

“You think you’re very funny, kitten.”

“Oh, I don’t think, I know,” Catra says and leans back in her seat, a cocky smirk in place.

C’yra rolls her eyes but smiles fondly, and then asks, “Did you need something, or did Felix send you here to check on me when I kicked him out?”

“Can’t I just want to come spend time with my mother?”

“Not willingly.”

Catra laughs, “I’m glad you maintain your humor in this trying time.”

“It’s all I have.”

“That’s dramatic.”

C’yra smiles, and Catra smiles back, happy to see C'yra more like herself than she has been since she was released from the infirmary and brought back to Half Moon.

“Anything exciting happening in Bright Moon?” C’yra asks, and Catra shrugs.

“Not really,” Catra leans her head back and looks up at the ceiling, “It’s just meeting after meeting, and when we’re not in a meeting, I don’t even get to see anyone. Adora’s even busier than me, and Scorpia is out helping the previous Horde soldiers adjust to their non-soldier life. Even Entrapta is out in the Fright Zone trying to clear the smog and reverse the environmental effects.”

“Post-war is a busy time.”

“I know. I just,” Catra sighs, “I miss everyone.”

Because Catra’s looking up at the ceiling, she doesn’t see C’yra’s smirk.

“Especially your girlfriend.”

Catra scoffs, “Shut up.”

“I’m not wrong.”

“Okay,” Catra stands up quickly, “I didn't come here to be teased. I think it’s Dad’s turn to watch you again.”

“I knew you two had a schedule,” C'yra jokingly accused.

“He planned it.”

“It’s probably color-coded.”

“Of course it is.”

C’yra nods her head with a smile, and Catra smiles too.

“I’m happy you’re getting better,” Catra says genuinely after a few moments, and C’yra’s smile turns soft and warm.

“It’ll take a bit more than Hordak’s second-rate army to keep me down.”

Catra goes to the door, and right before she reaches for the handle, she turns and says, “I love you, Mom.”

C’yra’s eyes go wide, and even Catra is a little surprised at herself. She’s never really told anyone she loved them, and she tries to stay away from the feeling as much as possible, because she always thought that love would make her weak and vulnerable, but she’s starting to learn that there’s nothing wrong with loving and being loved in return, and that the people she loves deserve to hear that she loves them.

“I love you too, kitten,” C’yra says softly, her eyes looking watery, and shoos Catra’s out of her office before Catra can see happy tears falling.

Catra wipes a few of her own away as she starts to make her way to the training grounds.

~*~

Six months after the Second Battle of Bright Moon

Catra wakes up to the sun filtering into her room, the light warming her fur, and she feels nails scratch gently just behind her ear, the action drawing out low purrs.

“Morning,” Adora says softly and presses a few kisses against Catra’s forehead.

Catra nuzzles against Adora’s neck and purrs louder, and she feels Adora giggle.

“That tickles,” Adora breathes, and Catra does it just to hear Adora’s cute giggles again before pressing lazy kisses up Adora’s throat.

“Morning,” Catra murmurs against Adora’s jaw, and Adora’s fingers thread through Catra’s hair and bring her up so that they’re kissing soft and slow, because for the first time in six months, they have time to go slow.

There are no meetings to attend, no crises to resolve, no urgent responsibilities begging their attention.

For the first time in six months, the Princess of Half Moon and She-Ra get to just be Catra and Adora, alone in the peaceful quiet of Catra’s room in Half Moon with no worries of being disturbed.

“Hey, Catra?” Adora asks softly against Catra’s lips.

“Yeah?”

“I want to stay here with you all day.”

Catra smiles, “I think that can be arranged.”

And then they’re kissing again, soft and slow turning to heated and passionate, everything else forgotten.

Tomorrow they will have to return to reality, because there’s still people to help and things to repair. The world isn’t completely fixed, even if it is on its way.

But today, it’s just the two of them, happy and content and alone together.

[justanotherwinchester69]

Love, Castiel

Request: Nada. I stayed up until midnight writing an outline of this story so I wouldn’t forget it.

Pairing: Castiel x Reader

Word Count: 3021

Warnings: Language, thoughts/attempted attempt of suicide

A/N: Lemme just say, I hope you like this and I’m sorry it’s been so looooooong since I wrote!

  “Hey Y/N. I’m going out to the store. Want me to pick anything up for you?” Cas said, popping into your shared bedroom.

“Well, maybe those mini Cadbury eggs. The ones I always get around Easter!” You replied, smiling, and completely unsuspecting.

“Alright. I’ll see you in a few. Have Sam and Dean called yet? They were on their way back a few hours ago.”

“No, but I’ll tell you if they do. See you later!” You waved, going back to your book. If only you had known then.

Now, Cas was stumbling into the bunker, trying to avoid you at all costs. Of course, a wounded angel isn’t that hard to see, nor hard to hear. You come running out of the bedroom and over to Cas. “What happened?” You ask, frantically trying to stop the bleeding. Truthfully, there wasn’t that much, but anytime someone other than you got hurt, the amount of blood multiplied by twelve.

“I’m fine, Y/N, really. I just need to clean them up.”

“Cas, they aren’t healing, meaning these had to have been made by an angel blade. What happened?”

“Demons,” He groaned out, you putting some peroxide on a particularly nasty cut.

“You can’t even go to the store without getting attacked,” You curse.

“About that-“ Cas began, but was interrupted.

“Hey Y/N! Cas, looks like those demons really got you!” Dean exclaims. “Maybe you and Y/N need us to come on hunts with you after all!”

“A hunt?” You ask, suddenly extremely angry.

“Y/N, I-“

“You didn’t take Y/N on the hunt?” Sam asks, setting down a bag.

“Take me on it? He didn’t even tell me about it, instead blatantly lying about it,” You growl.

Sam and Dean look at each other before leaving you two alone in the library.

“Y/N, I’m so-“

“What? You’re sorry? You lied to me about this!” You yell, throwing your hands in the air.

“Well, I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t so reckless!” He spits back, glaring.

“You didn’t even tell me you were going on a hunt! You lied and said you were heading out to the store! The store!”

“You would’ve insisted on coming with had I had told you!”

“Obviously you needed it!” You gesture towards his cuts.

“What, so I bring you along to take the hits instead? Because that’s real smart,” He snarls.

“And going alone was?” You growl, flaring your nostrils.

“Well, it’s better than bringing you along just so you can jump right in the way of a knife or a bullet!”

“Fuck you, Cas!” You yell, causing his eyes to widen in surprise, but then narrow in anger. “I can’t even trust you right now! You lied to me about a hunt! What else are you lying about?”

“Like you haven’t lied about where you’ve went,” He spits.

“No, I haven’t. Not to you, Cas. If I said I was going to the store, I went to the god damn store!”

“Yeah, and when you go on a hunt you’re bound to get hurt!”

“I can make my own decisions, Castiel. It’s my fucking life and if I want to go on a hunt, that’s my choice!” You snarl.

“Well, I’m sorry if I’m trying to protect you,” He shouts, kicking a chair.

“Protect me? You lied to me! What if you were to have died? Your lie almost cost you your life Castiel. I’m sorry if I’m reckless, but going on that hunt alone was as well, so stop being a hypocritical ass!”

“Hypocritical? You want to talk about hypocritical? Lies you’ve told Sam and Dean have almost cost you your life!” He growls, shoving his finger in your chest.

“Oh! So we’re going there! That was my fucking choice and you know it! So how about you go to fucking Hell!” You scream, storming off to the bedroom.

“Oh I did, honey! I dragged your ass out of there!” He yells after you. You kick the door, yelling in frustration at the memory of your time in Hell with Dean. And then, that night comes to you. You sit down on your bed, tears flooding your eyes. You see Cas’s trench coat and you grab it, curling up with it as the floodgates open.

“Hey guys! I’m going out. Do you need anything?” You asked, keeping your emotions under control.

“Where are you going?” Dean asked, turning to look at you. You quickly came up with a lie.

“Um, I have a date!” You smiled weakly.

“A date? I thought you were-“ Sam started, but you cut him off.

“I am, but I need to get over him Sammy,” You whispered, more towards yourself than to them.

“Well, have fun on your date!” Dean said, waving. “Should we expect you back tonight?” He asked with a wink.

“If things go right, then no,” You winked back. They had no idea of the meaning behind those words.

You left, walking for miles, until you found it. You sat down, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, fits clenching and unclenching in your lap. You tossed a rock over the edge and counted how long it took. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, splash! Seven seconds. It really was a long way down. You think back to everything you’ve been feeling. The anger, the sadness, and the overwhelming surge of feeling like a mistake.

You thought back to your last hunt when you had been the cause of the witch’s escape. You thought back to the time before that when you accidently shot Dean in the shoulder. And the time before that when Sam had to carry you out of the warehouse because you got knocked out trying to stop a demon from hurting Castiel. You thought back to every hunt and all you saw was you messing up and letting the people you cared about get hurt. You let the tears stream down your face as the thoughts to jump off urged you to stand up and just… go.

You went to scoot of the edge when you heard his voice. “I knew I could find you hear.”

You turned around, looking at the angel you loved so much. “Cas,” You whispered.

“I remember you telling me how much you loved the place,” He said, sitting down next to you. You watched in silence as he grabbed your hand in his, and looked up. “You said how relaxing it was, especially during the night, when you could see all the stars. You then went on to tell me how much the stars meant to you.” He looked at you, and wiped the tears off your cheeks. “Have I ever told you about the creation of the creation of the stars?”

“No,” You whispered, looking up to the sky, upset that you let him see you cry.

“Gabriel and I made them. I felt really special, you know? My big brother and I doing something so important. He told me that he chose me to help him because I was different, my point of view was. He told me that our Father recommended my help, because the stars would mean something more to me one day, something more than just stars. I didn’t know what he meant, until not too long ago.”

“Why do they mean so much to you now?” You asked, smiling softly at his recollection.

“Because they mean something to someone very important to me,” He whispered, wrapping his free arm around your waist, pulling you into his side. “I love you, Y/N. I know I haven’t showed it, but I’m scared of my emotions. As an angel, they hit me hard, and my fear of losing you hit harder.”

More tears began to fall, and he pulled you tighter to him. “How’d you know?” You asked, voice breaking. He held up the note you sat on your bed, knowing the boys would check there in the morning. “Oh,” You whispered, looking down.

“I went to tell you everything and instead of seeing you on your bed, I saw this. I asked the boys where you went and when they said you went on a date…” He trailed off. “Please come back with me. You may not think so, but we would miss you, I would miss you, more than words can express.” You looked up, seeing tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” You cried, looking down. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I just-. I can barely even wake up in the morning, Cas. I don’t feel like I can do anything anymore. What if I mess up again and it costs someone their life? I just couldn’t live with that. I can’t live with that.”

“You won’t have to, not alone at least. Please just come back. Please?” He begged. “I’m not sure I could live with myself if you didn’t.” He lifted your chin and looked into your eyes. “Please, Y/N?”

“Okay,” You whispered. He pulled you into a hug, and for once, you felt everything go away. All the pain, all the hurt. Everything.

You wouldn’t tell him, but the only thing you want at the moment is him to be there, not his coat. You look over at the alarm clock. 5:32 pm. You sigh, realizing you have been crying for over an hour. You sit up when you hear paper rustling from by the door. Looking over, you saw a folded note sticking out from underneath the door. You walk over and pick it up, sitting on your bed to read it.

My dearest Y/N,

You probably want to be left alone, so I won’t go in there. I asked Dean and Sam how to apologize and Sam came up with the idea to write these letters to you. I don’t know if you’ll like them, but I wanted to do something. I hate it when you’re upset, and I hate it even more when I’m the cause.

I am so very sorry, Y/N. I know I shouldn’t have lied to you nor yelled at you like I did. You have every right to be upset, but I wish you weren’t and I wish I could take it all back. You mean the world to me. I shouldn’t have said the things I did, nor brought up the things in the past. It was so very wrong of me. Please forgive me. I love you Y/N.

Love,

               Castiel.

You sit there, tears welling up in your eyes. You smile, sadly, loving his handwriting. You want so badly to forgive him but you couldn’t let it go, no matter how bad you wanted him to be right next to you. Instead of running to find him, you lay back down, curling up with his trench coat. About twenty minutes later, you hear the same rustling sound, and turn to see another letter. You go grab it and sit down to read it.

My Dearest Y/N,

I wanted to let you know that I made dinner. I don’t know if it tastes good or not, all I can taste are the molecules, but if it doesn’t I can make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I remember those as highly satisfactory. We are the only ones in the bunker. You don’t have to come get anything if you don’t want to, but it’s there if you want. Now, for the more important part.

Y/N, I love you so much. You might not believe me currently, but I do. The way your h/l, h/c hair flows so perfectly, and even after you wake up. I love the way your eyes light up when you see a child, and the way those children love you. Your smile when around them is beautiful. I love the way you sing in the shower when you think nobody is there.

I love how your e/c eyes sparkle when Sam and Dean make up from a fight. I love how you help them make up. I love how you seem to lighten up any room you are in. I love how you try your hardest in everything you do. I love how you try to atone for your mistakes. I love how you admit when you’re wrong. I love how you’ll stand up for yourself. I love how stubborn you are, even if it’s against me.

I love how you care about everyone close to you. I love how you go out of your way to make someone’s day, even if that means you skip your turn on movie night. I love the way your eyes and nose crinkle when you laugh. I love the blush that colors your cheeks when I complement you, like they probably are now.

I love you.

Love,

               Castiel.

You sat there, blush still coloring your cheeks, which only caused you to blush more, knowing that Castiel knew you so well. You felt like you should go to the kitchen, go hug Cas, tell him you were sorry for everything, that you overreacted, and so much more. Maybe it was sheer stubbornness, or maybe it was trepidation, but you just curl back into a ball and cry some more.

You pull out your phone, trying to sooth yourself with some music. Hoping Dean isn’t around, you play your recording of him singing Lynard Skynard’s “Simple Man”. You smile, remembering how long it took you to convince him to teach you how to play it on guitar, especially hearing him play it. He’s the one playing on the recording, but at the time, you were watching, learning.

You almost jump when you hear another letter come through. You smile to yourself, realizing how much you wanted another letter. You stand up, wiping a stray tear, and pick up the letter. Sitting down on the bed, you begin to read the letter, tears continuing to fall. Is it even humanly possible to cry this much?

My dearest Y/N,

I don’t know if you’ve read the first or second letter I wrote, and if you didn’t, this one won’t be read either. If you are reading this, I want to continue saying how sorry I am. I know I shouldn’t have lied to you and I am so sorry. I just love you so much.

If you’re cuddling my trench coat, like you usually do when I forget my coat in there, then look in my pocket. The first two things should be pictures I had Sam print for me. There should be the one of us by the lake we went to on the anniversary of our first year of dating. The other is a picture I took when you weren’t paying attention. You were so beautiful that I couldn’t resist.

The third thing should be my cell phone. If you turn it on, the first thing you should be is my background. It’s the picture you sent me when I told you how much I wished I could be there to kiss you goodnight and hold you all night long. I keep it there for whenever I’m away.

Y/N, I love you more than any words could ever express. I’m sorry that I hurt you, and I know I was being hypocritical, but I just can’t bare seeing you in danger. Yes, I know being a Hunter means you’ll always be in danger, but sometimes the dangers you are in are unnecessary. I love you too much to lose you, Y/N.

Love,

               Castiel

You sit there, stunned. You look at the pictures again, smiling at the one of you two by the lake. You can almost hear the laughter from Cas as you jumped off the dock, dragging him with you. You can almost feel him dragging you under the water as payback for splashing water in his face. You can almost see the smile on his face when you laid on his chest, staring at the stars. You jump up, running to the door. You’re shocked to see Cas standing there, fist raised to knock on the door.

“Cas, I’m sorry!” You blurt out, wrapping you’re arms around him. You smile, feeling his arms wrap around you too.

“Why would you be sorry?”

“I’m sorry that I put myself in danger that you deem unnecessary. But to me? It’s more than necessary. Cas, it’s vital!” He goes to interrupt you, but you put your hand up. “Let me finish. You can ask the boys. I’m not always so reckless. Most of the time I have to stitch them up. But when you come around? I lose every thought. When you hunt with us, I have to protect you Cas.

“And I know. I know you can protect yourself, but every time I see a blade come towards you, instinct kicks in. I have to stop that blade, even if it means I get hurt. I can’t let something hurt you, I just can’t. I can’t lose you Cas,” You whisper. “If I did, I don’t know what I would do.

“I would be nothing without you Cas. Sure, the boys are always there for me, but you were the one who found me, teetering on the edge of an abyss, my demons trying to lure me over the edge. You were the one thing that gave me light. Gave me hope and the will to live. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let something take that –you- away from me, even if it costs me my whole life, because Cas? You are my whole life,” You finish, finally letting the tears stream down.

“Why do you think I hate you throwing yourself into danger?” Cas whispers, kissing your head.

“I’m sorry,” You whisper again.

“It’s okay Y/N, its okay,” He smiles, hugging you tighter.

“I love you, angel.”

“I love you too, my little human,” Cas smirks. You both burst out laughing, remembering the first time you called him angel, and Cas, unversed in the art of pet-names, called you human in confusion.

And every once in a while, Cas would write you another letter.

[khrow-shinku]

The Great War S11

D&D 5e Campaign

The Great War

 Session 11

 Our heroes get ejected out of the rook fortress once the time is up. The party makes their way back to town where something strange has happened and there are guards and people lining the streets. Turns out something had happened at the temple and orphanage. Everyone goes to check on the orphanage only to meet someone not from their realm who happens to be a part of Angra’s guild and is the new secretary of the orphanage. They also find  out some of the children were injured but are doing better. They exit the building only to find M.A.W., Tinkerman’s bear,  surrounded by guards who are all sitting in a circle around it protecting it. The party then heads to the council building and are led inside by guards where the summit meeting is still going on (apparently this shit lasts for like a month). It is there that everyone in the room turns and stares at Tinkerman.

Tinkerman noticing all the eyes are on him speaks up, “Ok, why is everyone looking at me? I was told that there was news for us so what is going on?” The speaker who is running the meeting and is from Tinkerman’s empire informs him that it has been discovered that many of the officials in the government of his country were corrupt, in fact all of them were, that were higher rank than him. Seems as though their god let everyone get emotions and control over these emotions. In doing so it enlightened everyone in the country to their leaders' corruption, they had been overcome by greed and already dismantled the one in charge of the country who built the warforged and his apprentice. For this they were all dismantled, meaning Tinkerman who is the only one left of office who can build and create their kind is now the single most important person in their empire and as such is now their ruler, and is in charge of the Clockwork Empire. Tinkerman is taken back by this but accepts his duty and vows to do everything he can for his people.

The party then notices that the spider queen no longer has her illusion up and everyone can see her for what she is. Rin leans down and asks the queen of Dustreodan what was going on, why was her illusion spell down? That is when she informs everyone that they knew all along that the queen of Crecia was a spider creature. JJJ, visibly shocked by this realization, is taken back and stumbles into a guard that was standing next to the wall.  JJJ explains that well as long as you aren’t evil… I am still a little creeped out that you are a spider, no offense my lady, it is just I have a deep fear of spiders. The queen chuckles and says “Oh it is quite alright my dear knight. I was aware of your fear. That along with the recent troubling encounters your party has had is why I had cloaked myself before although it seems some of you were able to see straight through that, which is impressive.” JJJ studders, “Kn-n-n-night? I’m a knight?” His queen nods explains that yes he was indeed a knight, her people had looked into his family records and found out he is linked to royalty in the kingdom and as such is a Knight of Crecia.” JJJ kneels to his queen and says how honored he is to be a knight. The party congratulates him on his new rank.(HAH, hey dm nice touch, he is now Sir John like in robin hood. He is a toilet HAHAHA. Yeah yeah I know it would go by his last name and be Sir Joel but come on it is still funny.) 

Tinkerman then asks about the guards in town and the temple and orphanage, to which the party is informed that a radical group had attacked both locations. As soon as Tinkerman had his answer Rin butted in, “Hold up a min. Ok I get that everyone else here might know you were this spider creature but you had a strong reaction to finding out about Ara's possible brother and I am pretty sure you could tell I could see through your illusion. Then right after we left here and was back at the tavern we were attacked by a bunch of minions that looked like miniature versions of you. Not you specifically, but your species of creature. Explain that huh? Kind of a coincidence with that timing right.” The queen let out a heavy sigh and agreed it did make her look suspicious but it wasn’t her. There is another faction of her race in her kingdom who are in favor of this war starting and are actively helping to start it. Rin nodded and agreed that was fair enough and sound logic so she apologized for being suspicious and dropped it. It is at this time that Rin notices everyone looking at her kind of curious about the radical change to her looks in a matter of just a few days while Tinkerman updates the leaders on what they found out about in that cave and that it had disappeared, and how they met an archdemon who was not evil and had informed them the same that the talkative tarrasque they had met twice before had informed them, that it appears that whoever is trying to start this war is trying to recruit demons and other creatures from that realm. However apparently most want nothing to do with him and do not want this war to happen either. So Tinkerman asks that when they see an extremely powerful creature like that, that they first try diplomacy as it seems that it will be effective. That is when Rin chimes in and says yeah, speaking of creatures from the darker planes, turns out I’m part abyssal from my grandfather's side on my mortal mother’s side. The archdemon we met was nice enough to fill me with info on the ancestry of demons and abyssal and educate me about the part of me I knew nothing about. The thing is I have no clue who my grandfather is and my celestial mother only told me to blame my grandpa for these new features. So again please be nice to the ones we have assumed were evil for all these years. It really seems they are possibly victims of this situation as much as our world is. It is at this time that a random sheet of paper poofs into Rin’s hands.  The note reads: “Your mortal mother was half celestial, half moon elf. Your grandfather is TIMEless.” Rin slowly reads the words out loud as the gears in her head starts turning as she tries to connect the dots. Her grandfather's name can not be mentioned as no one has yet to say his name, everyone refuses to say it so obviously it is a taboo.  The emphasis on the word time, the strange things that have happened around the party. Rin lets out an audible gasp as she puts it together. “My grandfather is the controller of time.” It all makes sense now, she remembered reading about it in the books in the royal library back home. The Time Lord is never named, he exists outside of time and is the keeper of time and not even celestials are allowed to speak his name. However Rin wasn’t given much time to let this soak in as they heard a loud thunderclap come from outside the building. The party ran outside to see what it was and before they could get out of the building there was another thunderclap, this one so loud it shook the whole building.

The party exits the building to find a smoldering crater in the middle of town. Upon investigating it the  party finds a piece of chest armor made with celestial steel with a cut down the center of it and a piece of fabric that is darker than black clung to it.. Paul who recognizes it rushes over to grab it while tinkerman is examining it. As soon the rogue touches it, it turns into a black stone. The armor they found seems to harm anyone who touches it until Rin touches it.It doesn’t hurt her, instead it magically melds itself onto her skin phasing through her other armor and repairing itself. Tinkerman notices on the shoulder of the armor is his personal signature that no one can replicate because it has its own special magic attached to it. The only problem is, Tinkerman has never worked with celestial steel before or ever made such armor. So where or when, did this armor come from? Tinkerman pondered. The party is then teleported to the shadow realm where they see a familiar face.

The party is greeted by Vivec who tells them they have arrived in the shadow realm, a day before a dramatic event that happened in the past of the nameless rogue known as Paul. Vivec also explained that we were brought here to stop it from happening. The party followed the rogue who was the only one who knew the land, as he led them to the capital city. On their way to the capital they were jumped by some warriors who were a part of the army that had laid waste to Paul’s family in the past. Rin gets angry at them for having bigger tits than her, as after the enlightening that the archdemon gave her on all things demon and sexual, she realized people prefer bigger tits and now is convinced her tits are why men and women don’t approach her. After defeating these warriors Paul chopped off their heads and put their heads on spikes and laid their bodies below them on the ground with their shield covering, then Wade pops out and ties the shields on the poles to expose the bodies for further humiliation after catching a dagger that Paul had thrown at him. They make their way to the capital where they are stopped by guards. However once Paul shows them the stone and they instantly place their heads on the ground before him. Paul asks them to escort the party to the castle. Once they arrive at the castle again the royal guard question these actions and again are brought to humility when they see the stone and realize who he is. This time Paul asks for the king. The guard shows them to the king where Paul shows the king who he really is by having the king summon his son. They then go out into another room to have a conversation. When they return Paul announces his name is Ka’ar (no wonder he never gave anyone his name, how the hell do you even pronounce that? Car? What is he the crow? For his sake I hope not,  the last pale guy who used that name died young.) He then announces that he is staying to assist his family in their escape. The party chose to join him in this endeavor. Ka’ar orders the guards to give the party comfortable rooms to sleep within the castle walls and that the party is to be given the best of everything, even the equipment that is in the castle. Tinkerman was granted access to the library of the king of the shadow realm. Tinkerman sets himself to learning the languages of the shadow realm, which are Netherese and Shadow Speak. As the rest of the party go to the rooms provided to them with a heavy guard in the hall to protect them from any wrongdoing in the night.

[teamkaiforever]

Little Gilbert

(requested by anon) Kai Parker x Reader word count : 4 461 summary : Reader is Elena’s little sister and the Salvatore’s are over protective of her. Kai ends up staying at the Salvatore’s over night and sneaks into her room. *gif by jake-riley keep reading after the cut😉 ____________________

Y/N’s life had gotten complicated the past few years. When her older sister Elena had met Stefan , Y/N had still been in her third year of high school. Both Stefan and Damon had taken a liking to her and over time had become like family to her - like she had two older brothers. After Elena had burned down their house , Y/N had moved in with the Salvatores. Problem was they were super over protective of her. If anyone even dared to get too close to her , things would get ugly for that person. Once a classmate , her friend Jake , had come over so they can work on a project and he had played a prank on her - sneaking up from behind to scare her - and she had screamed. Damon , who had been at the kitchen in that moment making her her favourite snack , rushed to the living room and nearly choked her friend before even bothering to listen to what had happened. Stefan was the same - almost , he listened first before trying to hurt anyone. Y/N loved them and appreciated having two guarding angels at all times but sometimes things were getting a little out of control. Their over protectiveness was starting to suffocate her. Whenever a boy showed up to take her on a date , one of them would tag along and even though the Salvatore wouldn’t sit with them , it didn’t matter much because they could still hear and see everything. Elena was the only one who could get them to back off a little but that never lasted too long.

* * * Y/N walked downstairs heading into the kitchen, her ponytail and white polca dot ribbon flapping behind her. She was wearing a black tshirt with print (the logo of her favourite band) and gray skinny jeans along with her favourite ankle high black converses. “Hey sis.” she smiled at Elena. “And big brother.” she winked at Damon. Her eyes drifted towards the cupcakes on the kitchen counter and just as she was about to grab one , her eyes fell on a stranger sitting on the kitchen table. He had blue eyes ,brown hair , perfect angel like features and was holding a cupcake , his fingers covered with frosting. The boy glanced at her , then at Elena and Damon. “You have a little sister?” asked the boy. “Wait. Who’s sister is she? And …where have you kept her hidden until now?” Y/N took one of the cupcakes , taking a bite which resulted in cupcake frosting getting on her nose. Elena wiped it away with her thumb , giving her little sister a warning look. Damon glanced between Kai and Y/N , who obviously were curious about each other by the way they were starring at one another. Kai had gotten up , shortening the distance between him and Y/N. He was smiling widely , outstretching his hand for her to shake as a hello. “Hi. I’m Kai …and you are ?” “Littlest Gilbert.” she laughed. “I’m Y/N , Elena’s little sister, well cousin.” “A human.” muttered Kai to himself. “Didn’t think those existed in Mystic Falls with all the supernatural population. I see you like cupcakes as much as me. Hey maybe we can go out sometime - there is this bakery near the town square -” “OKAY , slow down big brother.” said Damon pulling Kai away from Y/N. “You are not allowed anywhere near her. Got it? She is off limits.” “Why not ?” wondered Y/N. “Because he is the one who shot an arrow through Bonnie’s stomach and he is the reason she is all alone in the Prison World right now.” said Elena pushing her sister out of the kitchen door. Y/N got free and ran back towards Kai and the cupcakes. Elena’s little sister looked at Kai , head to toe , curiousity burning in her eyes. “He doesn’t seem dangerous.” she said. “He seems .. cute and cuddly.” Kai laughed under his breath. “I think she likes me.” “No , no , no.” said Damon. “No one here likes any body. Y/N , go to your room before things get ugly for mr. charming right here.” Elena grabbed Y/N and started pushing her towards the door again. “Fine, fine. I’m going. See you around Kai.” “Yeah. See you around.” he replied with a wistful look in his eyes. Damon was starring at him , his arms folded in his chest. “What ?” “If you touch her , you lose your head or heart. Or both.” threatened Damon. “Damon !” exclaimed Elena. “Don’t threaten him. He said he’d help us get Bonnie back. That gives him a pass. At least this time…” Elena kissed Damon on the cheek while Kai was glancing between them and the door , hoping that maybe Y/N would pop her head through there. “You two together is still totally revolting to me.” sighed Kai. “Alright , where is that stupid Ascendant ?”

* * *

A FEW MONTHS LATER

Y/N walked into the Salvatore’s , her phone in her hands as she kept texting her friends. Elena had convinced Stefan and Damon not to hover over her that day , so she can spend it with her friends before their graduation in a few days. The Salvatores’ overprotective attitude really was getting out of control lately. Y/N took a few steps into the living room and left her bag on the sofa hearing voices coming from the library. Whoever had come for a visit didn’t appear to be wanted. For a moment she hessitated , but in the end curiousity won over and she headed straight towards the loud voices ignoring the fact Stefan and Damon would be angry as hell if she put herself in any kind of danger.

“I just need a place to crash.” “No.” “One night.” insisted Kai. “Don’t think your house was my first choice. Look I know we don’t get along , specially after that wedding fiasco , for which I am very sorry by the way. What Bonnie did hurt me and I snapped. It’s not like you two haven’t screwed up majorly at some point in your life.” Stefan folded his hands , nodding and rolling his eyes listening to Kai. Last thing he and his brother wanted was Kai spending the night over , specially with Y/N being in the house. Kai had been dangerous before he turned into a heretic and now who knew what he’d do if he got upset. None of them were willing to risk it. “I am trying to be better.” added Kai. “Please ? See how nice I am ? I even said ‘please’.” “You are not not staying.” argued Damon.

* * *

Kai laid in his bed with his hands behind his head listening in to what was happening downstairs. He knew he wasn’t wanted and decided to play nice because of Y/N. At the moment Elena was trying to convice her to stay away from Kai to which Y/N seemed to reply with only MMMHMMMSS and nods. Stefan and Damon pitched in too , trying to make her hate him. Kai really hoped they wouldn’t succed.

“Well , I’m going to bed.” said Y/N suddenly , interrupting her sister and the Salvatore’s lecture about Kai. “Okay.” said Elena , hugging her goodnight and Stefan and Damon demanded they walk her to her room. She protested but there was no talking them out of it. They walked upstairs , a Salvatore on each side and headed down the left hallway. “There. I’m safe and sound in my room.” said Y/N sounding a little annoyed. “Could you cool it down a bit ? I’m starting to feel … a little suffocated.” “Our house , our rules.” said Damon , kissing her forehead. “Sweet dreams.” Stefan gave her an one arm hug and followed his brother downstairs to talk to Elena. Y/N closed the door and sighed. “ ‘Our house , our rules.’ ” she muttered. “I wonder what would happen if I move into the tree house outside. Probably the squirrels will have an opinion about it. ‘Oh but where will we store our nuts for the winter?’ Absolutely ridiculous… ”

Kai tried to suppress a laugh. He knew the Salvatore’s must suspect he has a thing for Y/N. It wasn’t possible for him not to have one. Out of everyone in the group , she seemed the only one ready to listen to him talk and talk , accepting him just how he is , with all the good and the bad. Not once he had heard her judge him or see that look everyone else was giving him. No. Y/N was different. Around 2AM when everyone else appeared to have fallen asleep , he got up quickly , taking out a medium sized cartoon box out of his backpack and walked quietly to the door. Kai opened it and popped his head down the hall looking both ways before going out and carefully closing it behind him. He tried figuring out where Y/N’s room would be and with his luck , the Salvatores had probably decided to give him the room furtherest away from hers. It appeared to be the most logical thing to him.

Kai reached the end of the hallway and placed his hand on the doorknob , slowly and quietly twisting it before taking a peek inside. “Bingo.” he whispered smiling , walking in a second later. Y/N had curled up on her bed , the covers pushed away due the heat. Her window was opened and Kai wondered what Stefan and Damon would say if they found out. He sat on her bed leaving the box next to him and brushed his fingers against her cheek. Y/N looked so cute in her sleep , her nose twitching like a little bunny’s. Kai placed his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming and tried waking her up. It took him a few minutes but finally her eyes opened. “Hey hey. Its me.” said Kai smiling. “Please don’t scream. Sorry for waking you up , I just wanted to talk to you. I’ll remove my hand now , okay? ” Y/N nodded and he took his hand off her mouth. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she wondered , running her fingers through her hair as she sat in her bed. “You know what my two bodyguards would do if they find you here.” “Let them try.” said Kai a little amused. “I’m a heretic now. Perhaps if I was only a puny vampire or a witch they would be able to but not anymore. Now , close your eyes. I have a surprise for you.” Y/N squeezed her eyes shut and Kai placed the box in her hands. Her eyes lit up when she saw the cupcakes inside and she patted the spot next to her on the bed and Kai climbed up next to her. “Thought you might like those.” “Like ? I love those !” she smiled. “Thank you.” Y/N took one of the cupcakes , swiping her finger around the frosting before tapping his nose , trying hard not to laugh at his expression. Kai was looking at her wide eyes gleaming in the dim light and his mouth was open in surprise. He wiped the frosting with his thumb , licking it right after. “You think you are so cute , don’t you?” he said amused. Y/N only winked at him. Yep. Beyond cute , actually. he thought. “Want some ?” she asked , letting him take a bite off the cupcake she was holding. “So… What did you want to talk about ?” “Nothing really.” he answered. “I just wanted to surprise you and get to spend some time with you. It appears during the day that can hardly happen specially with Stefan and Damon hovering over you the entire time..” “Yeah …” “Why are they so overprotective of you?” he wondered , looking nervously at his hands. “Are you … um … are you dating Stefan or something? He seemed way too eager to get you away from me.” Y/N stared at him for a moment and then started laughing. Kai looked at her confused. “What ? Whats so funny?” wondered Kai. “Do I still have frosting on my nose ? I thought I wiped all of it out.” “Stefan is not my boyfriend. He is Elena’s ex and … one of my closest friends.” she said wiping some frosting off Kai’s face. He really had missed a smudge. “More like an older brother actually. They both are. Stefan and Damon I mean.” “So … you don’t have a boyfriend?” asked Kai with a hopeful note in his voice. Y/N shook her head looking at him. Why would he ask her that question? And why did she feel her cheeks flush and her heart race ? “I don’t know if they said 'thank you’ but … Thank you for not linking my sister to Bonnie. With Jeremy gone , I really don’t know what I would’ve done without her around.” Kai gave her a small smile. Y/N had been the reason why he hadn’t gone through with it. Part of him knew that if he wants her to be his friend , there was no way for him to screw over her sister like that. She never would’ve forgiven him for this. He still wondered how Y/N had that much power over him considering they’d barely spent a few days together since they met. Kai reached for one of the chocolate cupcakes , swiping some of the chocolate frosting with his finger , licking it right after. “So where is that tree house?” he wondered. “I’ve been here a lot of times but no one had ever mentioned it. Must be pretty cool if you want to move there.” Y/N smiled, of course he had heard her comment. A few years ago she and her brother , Jeremy , had build a tree house in the woods. Pretty much no one knew about its existance , but her and her siblings and quite possibly Stefan and Damon. It wasn’t as big for her to move in there but it was a nice escape from reality every now and then. “It’s a little deeper in the woods. We can go there tomorrow , if you want.” she said hopefully. “I would love to.” smiled Kai , taking another cupcake. He looked at it for a moment , then glanced at Y/N. “Hey , Y/N?” “Yeah?” she looked up and Kai smashed the cupcake against her nose. “Payback’s fun.” he laughed at her startled / amused expression and quickly pulled out his phone to take a picture. “This is going on Instagram. And Snapchat… and Facebook.” Y/N wiped away the frosting from her face , wiping her hands clean on Kai’s face. “Whoops. Sorry.” she said pretending to be really sorry , looking inncently in his eyes. “I think you have a little … something right there.” she motioned at his face. “OH you are so going to get it for this one.” he threatened , purple black veins showing under his eyes as he rolled on top of her and started tickling her like crazy. Kai loved seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. Somehow it made him smile and laugh too. Happy , thats how Y/N made him feel. “S-stop.” she laughed trying to push him off her. “Not a chance.” he laughed , only slowing down for a moment before continuing to tickle her. Kai couldn’t help but notice how her eyes sparkled in the darkness , even more when their eyes met. Both their laughs were echoing in the house but none of them seemed to care about that. “Having fun?” said Damon , making Kai turn around and stop tickling Y/N. “Get off her now before I tear your arms off.” Y/N kept laughing , trying to catch her breath. Her eyes had started to water a little but she could still see the Salvatores trying to drag Kai away. Quickly she got up grabbing Kai’s hand , pulling him towards her. “Stop it you two.” she said running her fingers through her hair. “He wasn’t hurting me or anything. I’m perfectly fine. We were just laughing and eating cupcakes. Can’t I do that with my friend ?” “You-” said Stefan. “- are not allowed to have boys in your room. Specially not him.” “I wouldn’t hurt her. I’d die before doing that or letting anyone else try.” interrupted Kai sitting back on her bed. Y/N had called him her friend which was more than he had ever expected. “Y/N is my friend , … maybe my only friend. I like spending time around her and she appears to feel the same. If she tells me to leave , I will. No questions asked.” Stefan glared at Kai while Damon balled his hands into fists , clenching his jaw trying hard not to strangle Kai then and there. “Consider it an early graduation present.” she said with a smile , glancing at Kai who was sitting on her bed , his elbows resting on his knees while holding his head in his hands. He was looking at them with curious look on his face and a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You can leave the door open if you want , but he is staying.” “Wide open.” said Damon. “I might take it off its hinges just in case that twirp gets any ideas.” “Ha.Ha.Ha.” “Don’t you dare -” “Out. Both of you.” said Y/N. “Please.” Stefan and Damon left pointing at their ears letting them know they’d be listening in , leaving the door wide open. Y/N tossed herself on the bed next to Kai. A groan of frustration coming out of her lips. “Sorry about them.” she muttered. “They are driving me insane.” “Don’t be.” he said rubbing her back in slow circles. “They care about you. Wish I had someone like that in my life.” Y/N got up , snuggling closer to Kai. He sighed , wrapping his arms around her. “How can’t you see it?” she wondered smiling. “You already do.” “Who?” “Me , dummy.” she started to laugh. Kai looked at her a little surprised. Y/N’s eyes were fixed on his and he could hear her heart racing. He brushed his palm against her cheek , tapping her nose right after. Hearing her say that had made something inside him shift a little. “I care about you too.” he said quietly.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

Y/N woke up in her bed around 7AM and quickly got dressed , heading straight for Kai’s room. It was the only room in the hallway opposite from her room that hadn’t had the door closed. He was looking at something on his phone and quickly looked up seeing her stand barely 2 metres away fully dressed and smiling at him. Y/N pressed her index finger to her lips and took his hand pulling him off the bed. “Out the window.” she whispered , wrapping Kai’s arms around her. Kai laughed in her ear for a moment and both of them jumped outside.

Y/N and Kai walked through the woods for about 20 minutes until they reached one of the few oak trees. Between the branches , hidden , was a small tree house. It had tiny windows and a small porch - large enough for two maybe three people to sit on. “Come on.” she said with a smile , pulling one of the branches letting a rope ladder fall down. Kai watched Y/N climb up and then went after her. By the time he had reached the top , she was already sitting on the makeshift porch with her feet dangling off it. He sat next to her and followed her gaze. “If you squint your eyes really really hard you can see the boarding house from here.” He looked at her squeezing her eyes and starting to laugh in a moment. Y/N turned towards him and their eyes meeting for a second. A sigh left her lips and her gaze dropped to her hands. Something had sparked between them last night and again just a moment ago. Kai brushed his palm against her cheek making her look up at him again. He could hear her heart racing and breathing turn shallow the closer to her he got. It had been the same the night before. In the end they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms and when Kai had woken up around 6AM , he had left her room before any of the Salvatore’s saw them. He was sure they’d freak out. Weirdly he didn’t care what they’d do to him. He was worried what punishment they might come up with for her. “Your friends would kill me for what I’m about to do.” he whispered leaning in towards her and unless he was imagining it , she was leaning in towards him too. “But I don’t care.” “W-why not?” she asked , trying hard to concentrate and calm her breathing with no luck. Kai’s blue eyes were piercing into hers , drawing her in and a couple dozen butterflies were flapping their wings in her stomach. “Because I would’ve gotten to kiss you..” he said pressing his lips against hers for moment , making her heart beat so fast as if trying to leap out of her chest. “ At least once.” he said smiling. Y/N stared at him , a smile starting to show on her face. Kai smiled back at her lightly brushing his nose against hers and just as she was about to kiss him - “Well , you are right about the kill part.” said Stefan. Y/N and Kai looked down seeing Stefan standing there , his hands folded on his chest. He looked mad. Really mad. She couldn’t remember the last time he was shaking from anger like that with his vampirism showing at the same time. “You are not going to touch him.” she said feeling more confident than ever. “And why is that?” “Because - ” said Y/N taking Kai’s hand. “- killing him would mean ripping my heart out.”

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