#yes i am a returning warrior cats kid

[valfeathers]

what have i been doing in my inactivity? pondering getting an ao3 invite and falling deep into hyperfixations never before seen by mankind.

[bonefall]

Is Sandgorse still abusive in BB? If so does he still save Sparrow? Idk I think it'd be a neat thing for Talltail to brood on and move past once realizing the truth. Like just because your abuser did a "Good Thing tm" doesn't mean you have to forgive them or that all of a sudden it excuses their past a tion towards you.

Or did you remove this plot beat entirely? If so I don't blame you :P

Weird that Tumblr search isn't giving me all the stuff I tagged :/ hopefully after finals are done I can compile a 1st draft/The Story So Far for the rework of Tallstar’s Revenge

It's now called TALLSTAR’S COLLAPSE. It is actually a story I am rewriting with tragedy in mind. It's about Talltail fleeing WindClan with his starcrossed lover, Sparrow, only to eventually be drawn back to it where he becomes a perpetuator of all the things that made him leave.

To answer your question; Yes, and. Sandgorse is abusive and there's a LOT of nuance to this situation. I'm not sure if he still saves "Sparrow" though because I have waaaay more of a point in mind with Tallstar’s tumultuous relationship to him.

Summary of changes,

Tallstar's Collapse

Sparrow is the Clanmew name Jake takes when his group interacts with WindClan. His first language is actually a dialect of Townmew!

(Also Firestar has no known father in BB)

His group is nomadic. They go from place to place trading goods. I need a name for both them and their cultural "cluster" but in my head, Jake's family is the Algernauts because Algernon is the current leader

It's important the Algernauts are extremely endearing because leaving them is VERY painful

(and something i want to frame as the wrong choice for tallstar, emotionally)

WindClan is in a very sensitive period of its history. Before Tallstar was born, Heatherstar began the Mothermouth Moorland War, to take a very large parcel of land from ShadowClan. A good 1/5th of it.

Naturally this is a huge project and incredibly ambitious. Sacrifices Must Be Made

The sacrifice she has chosen to make is the death of tunneling. Because she's smothering it.

Tunneling is PEACEFUL, defensive at best. You can't dig them in a floodplain, they would be useless for holding the Mothermouth Moorland territory

Tallkit is born into a terrible position. Son of the head tunneler, mother in a terrible depression, and Heatherstar trying to pry a wedge between the "future" and the "past"

Im also planning to change his name. He was born Slowworm-Kit, which has a connotation of cleverness in Clanmew. To bully him, Shrewpaw calls him Wormtail, because Slowworms drop their tails if pulled. It means "you will get trapped in a cave-in, and when they pull your tail, it'll fall off"

But it doesn't translate well into English... so I'm not sure what his Heatherstar-given warrior name would be. Wormwing or Wormleap maybe, like he "defied fate" to become a wonderful moor-runner...

Or maybe the prefix is Drop? Droptail as the mean bully name and Dropflight as the warrior name...

Anyway, when he returns, Heatherstar welcomes back the extra claws and honors the lesson he learned with "Talltale." In Clanmew this is "Story-travelled," his leader name meaning "Tale-star."

Anyway. Back to the cat drama

Talltail (name pending) is in a tight spot. I kind of want to show everyone being a victim except Heatherstar herself, who has all the power in this situation.

Not that it excuses anyone

Sandgorse is watching something he loves dying, an ancient tradition passed down for generations. He is trying to force his son into a position he shouldn't HAVE to occupy, but his child is the one thing he might have any control over

(Until Tall breaks it ofc)

Tallpaw was just a kid. He needed to take out his bullying and the stress on something, and that was usually his mother and the concept of tunneling

Palebird has been completely neglected by her mate as he focuses on the person he WANTS his kid to be. She NAMED a Fading Kit, a serious social taboo, and even the support of the nursery and Woolytail can't pull her out before Tall's kithood is over

Heatherstar is using Tallpaw as a political pawn and Tallpaw is too young and hurt to realize it. He was given to her sister, Dawnstripe, and endlessly praised for his skill and talent in a time where he NEEDED positive feedback

Which is making his relationships with his parents worse

All the while, there's VIOLENCE. Regular raids and counterstrikes. Cats die and get injured, and it only escalates as Tall gets older and Cedarstar is reaching the end of his lives, hoping to end the conflict before then

And in all this chaos and uncertainty, there comes Sparrow.

Just a trader and an honored guest, there's been lots of these nomadic visitors since the time of Windstar herself, but they've become quite rare.

When Sandgorse dies suddenly in that collapse (TITLE DROP) Talltail has the push he finally needs. It's too much. He can't process this

Sparrow begs him to leave with them, they don't even need to confront anyone, just come!

IF IT SUCKS HIT DA BRICKS

I have tons of really nice little things planned for this part of the story. It's several chapters of Talltail being free.

He engages in the funeral rites of Wee Hen, asking if he may sit vigil for her. His new family is honored to allow it, Reena even tries to do it too and falls asleep

(Little sister energy)

They meet all sorts of people and go to many places. Talltail learns that the world is vast, and there's an endless amount of knowledge out here.

It all starts crashing down when him and Jake find a litter of abandoned kittens, and become parents.

They're a few moons old.. around the same age as his halfsibs back home.

It starts bringing back memories. He wonders how they're doing. If they made a nice grave for Sandgorse...

The sudden longing for his own mother strikes him like lightning.

For the first time in eons, he feels GUILT over leaving. He thought it was over-- he's living his own life now!

But what if they're hurt? What if there was a battle and he couldn't help? What if his mentor died and he didn't even know?

What kind of a horrible son doesn't even say goodbye?

The problems that made him leave seem so small now, and the homesickness is like acid leaking from his stomach, dissolving his guts and leaving him hollow

He's raising kits who will never know what it means to earn a title, or have a permanent home, or--

(Any of the other things he should have learned don't have meaning outside of clan culture. Things they wouldn't miss.)

He cherishes the memories he makes here, raising children with his mate, but something turns inside of Talltail. Like the groaning ache of a hundred stones on top of a decaying mineshaft

The REAL collapse is this. An existential crisis Talltail can't escape from.

And eventually, it comes tumbling down with one last, horrible nightmare.

In his dream, he came home only to find the sandy camp abandoned, the dens decrepit, full of musty scent and cobwebs.

Sandgorse was there. And they talked.

His dad was gruff as always, disappointed. But he didn't say anything the real Sandgorse would say.

The nightmare said, "You really did turn out like me. We both left your mother when she needed us. Turned our backs on our leader. And now we're both dead to WindClan."

Tall wakes up crying. Jake is there to comfort him, but the conversation they have is sad.

Jake tries to tell him that's all not true, and even if it WAS his dad, his dad sucked and would only say that to hurt him!

But... Tall can't believe it. Jake's right but also wrong. He IS all those horrible things.

And...... how can jake ever Understand? He does not know the Bonds of a Clan cat

(thought terminating cliche. Outsiders Cant Understand Our Bonds.)

He stays a few more days, but that nightmare was the end. And everyone sees the change.

The kits are apprentice-aged. He stayed until they would be old enough to keep up with the Algernauts.

And he says goodbye. He won't ever leave without saying goodbye ever again.

Jake says it doesn't have to be goodbye, he'll always love him, and they can visit! They can see each other again!

And Tall says yes. That this isn't the end. It's... see you later, my love.

(...but they both know how violent it's getting between Wind and Shadow. It isn't safe to visit.)

It is the end. But neither can admit it.

But after Tall is a fair distance away, one of his kits tackles him.

POSSIBLY Post-Tallstar's Collapse

Not sure if I'd put these in a novella or still make it part of it, but these are all directly related to the fallout of Tallstar's Collapse

Most likely is that there would be overlap between this and Brokenstar's Cataclysm, so the same events would be seen in different perspectives.

The kit's name is Fly. Tall has to wait for him to catch his breath and stop crying before they can talk.

Fly already lost parents before. He says he knows he can't make his dads stay together, "But PLEASE, papa, let me choose where I go this time!"

How could he say no? How could he send his son away after a plea like that?

He told him it would be hard. That he would be trained. That there would be dangerous fights.

Fly didn't care, he said he could be strong. He could do anything he needed to.

So... Tall took him to WindClan, where he became Flypaw. He became the warrior he promised he would be.

And Tall didn't notice how much the kid was changing until it was too late. Flytail took to it as if he was Clanborn-- but had to work twice as hard, fight thrice as viciously.

Though Talltail was graced with an Honor Title and open arms, he'd adopted his greatest rival.

Fly and Tall started competing for deputyship as soon as they finished training apprentices; Heatherstar had a fondness for the two of them.

In the end, Talltail won the spot by springing into action and saving Heatherstar's young nephew, a little golden tabby, from an adder.

Flytail continued as one of the more aggressive warriors in the Clan, surviving increasingly violent and bitter battles, until it came to a head in Heatherstar's Last Stand.

Her final battle as an old leader was a gruesome, definitive curbstomp in the last strategic point ShadowClan held above Carrionplace.

One of the losses was Lizardstripe-- neck snapped in Flytail's jaws.

Runningnose, and by extension, the oak-tree to his long-shadow, Brokentail, remembered this. Especially when Runningnose's father Mudfoot collapsed later that year.

As Talltail took leadership from the dying Heatherstar, a familiar regretful guilt wormed into his belly.

His son Flytail stood with a bloody mouth, eyes wet with sorrow, looking down at the leader Talltail once loved almost as much. Appreciating her sacrifice.

(secretly he didnt choose Deadfoot as his deputy just for his honor title or the battle move he invented... he chose him because there was a shocked, sorrowful look in his eyes at the fallen shadowclan cat. Sympathy seems more honorable in this moment.)

Tallstar is a wise leader... but his fatal flaw is naivety. How could he think he'd bring his son into WindClan, and not see the boy grow into a ferocious Warrior?

And naivety is what he displayed when he offered Raggedstar a peace deal. WindClan would keep the land, but they would pay a small tax of rabbits over the winter.

It was unprecedented. It was merciful. It was stupid.

When the winter was over, what would stop them from pushing further south?

Would they trade back the frogs and the flax, come summer?

On the blood and bones of so many warriors? As if giving up was ever an option?

Brokentail killed his father to prevent him from taking the deal, and reawakened Ripplestar's War Tactics.

BURN the peat. KILL the prey. OFFENSE is defense. A dead warrior is 10 less claws. A dead apprentice is 1 less warrior.

Stolen kittens are 1 more warrior on your own side.

Tallstar paid the ultimate price for letting Flytail follow him home that day. On the night of the massacre, Flytail went down fighting alongside a mate and a daughter. Dogpiled by Tangleburr and her squadron in revenge for Lizardstripe and Mudfoot.

Tallstar's granddaughter Stoneclaw, made a warrior and sitting for her vigil on that night, was the sole survivor of the little family.

The event stopped her from speaking again, like she's still sitting vigil.

Tallstar is a character who almost broke free of the control of the Clans. For a brief moment of his life, he was free.

He thought maybe he could change things a little, protect his Clanmates from the battles by being part of them, have the Mothermouth Moorland and protect the peace at the same time. But you CAN'T.

You can't fix broken systems without fundamentally changing them. He thought he could be a nice warlord and that would work on the Clan whose territory he had inherited. Power acts through people just as much as they act through power.

And that's Tallstar. He who travels the world, yet is never able to go far enough. Always falling just a little short of the point, believing that love and mercy is enough while blissfully ignorant of the pressures of pride and power.

Into this role, as a successor to this leader, Onestar is unwillingly thrust.

[wc-confessions]

Sorry but for how long are people gonna keep buying horrendous overpriced official Warriors slop? The current team clearly doesn’t put even a modicum of effort into this franchise in any way, shape, or form and at this rate it’s never gonna get better. Don’t get me wrong I’ve loved this fandom ever since childhood but goddamn the quality deterioration. The plushies are nearly 40 usd (way more if international) for freakish looking bulldog-esque creatures with copy paste designs that look as if they got ran over by a lawn mower. The new Warriors Ultimate Guide is chock FULL of so many errors it doesn’t even look as if they bothered to edit it (my personal favorites being reused art for Tree from Tree’s Roots being used as Mothwing’s portrait, reused art from Mothwing’s Secret being used as Rootspring’s portrait, Bluestar being listed as a white cat + several other obvious description mistakes, completely erasing both Briarlight and Jagged Peak’s disabilities, etc). So so so so SO MUCH INCEST it’s insane. Even for cats, how on earth is shit like HeatherBreeze and IvyFern being so directly related acceptable? These are ex main characters or semi relevant background characters for god’s sake. Not to mention countless continuity errors, characters constantly changing personalities on a dime cause plot, horrendous forced ‘romances’ which feel unfocused at the best of times and actively detrimental to the story at worst, abuse apologia, extreme ableism, the list can go on. I know it sounds like I’m being harsh here, I am, but that’s cause I WANT these books to be better. Yes they’re for children/YA audiences but that isn’t an excuse since nearly any other book series aimed towards kids are higher quality in both story and the care put towards them. People act shocked these books are garbage but why wouldn’t they be when it’s obvious people are gonna keep shelling out hundreds for below abysmal content. Only thing with a glimmer of potential is the new Into the Wild graphic novel thats coming out, but honestly seeing that sort of dedication and charm made it more obvious how weak every other piece of recent content is from a quality standpoint. Notice how the best canon content nowadays is made by people who are actually fans of this series who got hired? The redeeming part of these books have always been the amazing community, and I’ve derived so much more joy from commissioning artists and supporting their content which is filled with an actual passion for Warriors instead of a heartless corporate nostalgia machine. Haven’t spent a dime on this series since 2016 and don’t plan to until they get their act together, which they won’t from the looks of it. Rant over, just feeling frustrated with how quickly people will excuse the issues in this franchise to lick up mediocre slop despite how little it cares for them in return.

[seth-burroughs]

mdarc chapter 1 rewatch part 4 let's goooooo gamersss

halara is here. "i have no obligation to help others, but i work sincerely according to the payment i receive" "to believe in another is the shallowest concept one can uphold" yes halara as you should. striking them with the npd hammer

ok so i stopped doing this for like a week or two because lammergeiers swarmed my apartment and started tearing out my bones and eating them in front of me. really sad story. anyway i heard seth literally appears just next scene aint that something huh

watching the sidequests needless to say yomi brain is very uncomfortable rn

seh

why the fuck did he bring flowers. somebody make a 40 paragraph essay on why he showed up with a fucking bouquette at his house

i missed the jp pronunciation of their names. sezu barozu. yomi herusumairu. suwaro electro. halara nightomero

everybody else in the game either has some sort of odd unusual name combos and then theres seth burroughs of the british isles

awkward and bitter exes forced to look at each other for the first time since the divorce in which yakou took the kids and then lost them at castorama shortly after

i might have been joking but why the fuck do they talk like exes. hey what the fuck is this scene

return of the megaphone. i forgot he has a megaphone because my memory is comparable to the warrior cats writing team

that was the loudest crunchiest fucking sigh i ever heard i am wheezing. everybody stop whatever youre doing go search for the jp dub mdarc playthrough of this scene you need to listen to this shit

i love seth's shit eating grin. i wish for nothing more than to smash his skull against the wall repeatedly in a romantic sense

"this flower... its beautiful, isnt it?" there is something deeply wrong with you. find jesus

i cannot with this fucking exchange. i cannot. i cannot. this is fucked. seth is a fucked up character. i am so fucking scared. wiki help me

this laugh is so fucked up too. also through this entire conversation i feel like a child that is forced to witness their parents fighting in the living room

bye seth that was an ethereal experience and i will now go to sleep aware that i am from this moment on apparently sexually attracted to all Makoto, Fake Zilch, Martina and Seth now and I got no idea on what to do about it to be honest i shall uhh make up a strategy in my bed gettinh all cozy and shit or something

My biggest accomplishment of today was to stand up for a few minutes to get zoomies then resume being too tired to function

[death-in-a-handbasket]

guess what? It’s time for more Ayatsuji Yukito HCs!

he’s a picky eater

he’s a deep sleeper, you could throw a pillow at him and he would roll over.

if his cats are sleeping on his bed he will sleep on the couch or the floor

his favourite movie is the cat returns

his eyes are really sensitive

he doesn’t do anything to his skin and it’s just naturally perfect or he has a 20 step skincare routine.

He probably has high heels

He like sweet things over salty and savoury but won’t admit it to anyone (he doesn’t like sweet drinks as much)

he has an uncomfortable knowledge of neurotoxin and poison like more then one person can and should know

he has a really good memory for the creepiest things

I feel like he has broad eating habits in the sense that I think he on occasion eats really weird shit but gets picky in that he can’t stand other things??? something something sensory stuff ruined it the taste did not Taste

I feel like he waffles in the weird in between of hard to wake and infinitely twitchy, like either you poke him and he just opens his eyes completely lucid or he’s deep in some muddled nightmare and you could drop a bomb and he won’t wake until his brain lets him

also yes of course you don’t move the cats that’s against the law

ALSO I LOVE THE CAT RETURNS. I was a warriors kid I am never immune to kitty meow meow

Yes his eyes are sensitive they’re so pale I am convinced he doesn’t stand a chance when it’s sunny out (this is why he got them glasses on 24/7) and honestly me too king I am so fucking blind, got 20/20 vision but not when it’s daylight <3

I have a feeling it’s the former. flawless skin and he don’t even do shit to it, but I’m betting my left asscheek that chuuya is the one with the skincare routine because kouyou decided she didn’t want her pseudo son looking fucking ugly

of COURSE this man has high heels dawg

do you SEE this shit dude, this man has to have the cuntiest heels ever bro

Oh I definitely imagine he loves stuff sweet, he puts brown sugar in his shit and his first words to Tsujimura after being MIA were telling her not to eat the tea cakes, this man likes his sweet shit and I would pay money to see him and Ranpo interact

ALSO FUCK YEAH POISON KNOWLEDGE LETSGOOOO of COURSE he’s got the memory for the creepiest shit this is his arena, I bet you’ll be studying something and he’ll telling you much of that substance it would take to kill you. just off the top of his head. bro is so weird I love that shit for him

[wildstar25]

I am ask about your warrior of light.

I will ask for no other information as I know nothing else and will assume the rest from your answers.

Favorite color?

If estinien and alphinaud were hanging off a cliff above tautaru infested waters, which would they save from their unrulely demise?

What is their Scion head pat priority (least needed to pat to most needed)

One aetherite is free, which?

What flavor of sauce would they put on chicken wings (any flavor)

Would they keep bees?

What reason would they most likely bite someone?

How long would they survive on a deserted island (assuming there is proper materials to survive you just need the survival skills)

Is this a cool cat?

Answer wisely my friend

These are.... fantastic questions!! o(*°▽°*)o

Favorite color? Dalamud Red! She's always got a bit of red in her outfits!

If estinien and alphinaud were hanging off a cliff above tautaru infested waters, which would they save from their unrulely demise? Arsay would run to Alphinaud without a second thought. She might poke fun at him for whatever he did to earn Tataru's wrath, but his safety is the number one priority. Plus bullying Estinien is very fun. She trusts he can manage to get himself out of any mess he put himself in at this point.

What is their Scion head pat priority (least needed to pat to most needed) In order: C/B tier scions (Hoary and the like), Tataru, Krile, Estinien, Thancred, Urianger (he'd be higher on the list but she couldn't reach him), Lyse, Y'shtola, G'raha, Arsay (yes she put herself on the list. please give her head pats), Ryne (Arsay still considers her a scion family member), Alphinaud, Alisaie

One aetherite is free, which? Limsa! It has been my return point since I started the game and never changed it. In terms of in character reasons: It's the closest place in Eorzea to Arsay's home, its where her guild buddies are, it's where her grand company is, who her free company is set up with, and it's a port town with ships, ferries, and airships to anywhere she'd feasibly need to go to! Arsay is really not a big fan of teleporting directly to an aetherite if she doesn't have to; she much prefers taking the scenic (and cheaper) route!

What flavor of sauce would they put on chicken wings (any flavor) HMMM Arsay would probably eat any flavour, especially if its something she's never had before..... but if she could choose herself.... maybe something like a hot honey mustard? Something tangy, spicy, and sweet!

Would they keep bees? Arsay would not keep bees. Not because she wouldn't like to, but because she'd worry that her adventuring lifestyle would directly impact the level of care the bees receive.

What reason would they most likely bite someone? Got too excited while messing around and had to chomp U.U'' unfortunate since her fangs are quite sharp.

How long would they survive on a deserted island (assuming there is proper materials to survive you just need the survival skills) Arsay grew up on an island and spent a lot of time as a kid going off on her own, so she could probably survive indefinitely. She knows exactly one healing spell so as long as she doesn't completely fuck herself up, she wouldnt have to worry about cuts or infections. Though Arsay's not the best at crafting... but could probably get away with what skills she has now and get better as time goes on! She's very resilient and will not give up!! The only thing that would really get to her is being alone for a long period of time. She could manage for a week or so by herself but the loneliness would catch up to her. Her carbuncle could keep her company, but she'd miss talking to her friends.

Is this a cool cat? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. 1000/10.

Thank you for asking all those question!! It was so fun to answer!

[worldismyne]

The Longest Sleepover: Ch 3

Summary: The first year of school did not go as planned for Harv and he’s never felt more alone. That is, until a loud kid from the saga studies course decides they’re best friends now.

(Year 1 AU, Harv deals with homophobia, Finn is oblivious.)

Series: Warrior U

Pairing: HarvFinn

Rating: T

Ao3 Link

Now that Finn could enjoy the comforts of home, he was flourishing. There really was nothing quite like turning heads with his loud attire or the amount of money he chose to spend. Especially when he could rub someone else's nose in it. It was for that reason that Finn had chosen to invite Shad and Beatus over for afternoon tea right when his impulse purchases were said to arrive. He was going to make those classmates of his rue the day they ever suggested he was overexaggerating his lavish lifestyle.

"As you can see," Finn said as he sipped from a gold rimmed cup, "being a bard is a passion of mine, rather than a necessity. I could have a position in the court, but making music is what calls to me. Like any real artist, I just couldn't stay away." He waited like a wild cat stalking its prey to see what beads of jealousy he could squeeze out of the self-important bards.

"No, I totally get you, being an astronomer was not nearly as fulfilling as learning about music." Shad agreed with a shrug. Finn had to suppress the urge to throw the tea set on the ground. "Doesn't all this stuff make it hard to talk to people though? Most of the best stories are spread through folk songs."

"I told you, I'm a people person, I'm friends with everyone." Finn laughed as he fidgeted with the cup. Neither of his fellow bards looked jealous at all.

"Feels like you're overcompensating." Beatus shrugged as he munched on a scone.

"I am not!" Finn shouted. He slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "I'll have you know, you're lucky I had time to see you at all. What would I even have to compensate for?"

"I dunno." Beatus rolled his eyes. "Something." Just as Finn was ready to crawl across the table to grab him by the shirt, his mother popped her head in.

"Phone for you dear." She said. Finn relaxed a little. Who on earth would be calling him? Perhaps there was something wrong with his shipment of perfumes, they were running late. Finn snatched up the golden can phone.

"Hello?" Finn took a cursory glance at his fellow bards. Immediately his eyes lit up when he heard who was on the other line. "Harv!" He then covered the mouthpiece and leaned towards his friends. "You both remember Harv, my new best friend?" He returned his attention to the phone call. "Yes, how are you? I wasn't expecting you to call back so soon... No, no it's fine, a delight really. You couldn't have called at a better time... Well, I don't see why not. If you come a little earlier, we could do something in town as well..." Finn paused, his overexaggerated act slipped a bit. "I have other people over at the moment, but if you don't mind... Yes, that should be fine. See you soon." As soon as Harv hung up, Finn slammed down the phone with zeal. "That was Harv."

"We know." Beatus said with a sigh. There were no more blueberry scones.

"He had so much fun hanging out with me yesterday that he wants to do it again tonight." Finn leaned back in his chair with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Well, that's great Finn," Shad said, "but as we mentioned before, we really just came to drop off your stuff. So, we should be going." He was trying to be nice, but it was clear he really could care less. "You have fun with your new friend though."

"Best friend." Finn emphasized, still acting as if he'd won. After all, he didn't have people calling his house looking for them. The two continued to collect their things. Finn opened the door and there was Harv with an overstuffed satchel bag. His eyes were still puffy from earlier in the day, though one would have to look closely. "That was fast."

"Sorry." Harv shuffled to the side as the other bards filed out. When they looked at his bag curiously, he glared at them. "Can I come in?"

"Of course, you can Harvey." Finn said loud enough for the other bards to hear. "You're always welcome here." As soon as the two were inside, Finn slammed the door shut and leaned on it for support and let out an exhausted sigh. "You're a lifesaver Harv, really. I think I'm starting to lose my edge." Harv couldn't help but gape at the lavish tea set and tower of tiny pastries. "See, that was the reaction I was expecting. They just raided the thing like starving racoons. No appreciation of the aesthetic whatsoever."

"May I have one?" Harv had thought they were tiny decorations at first, not food.

"Have as many as you'd like." Finn sat back down, loading up another cup with excessive amounts of sugar and creme. Tea was best when you didn't have to taste it in his opinion.

"How long am I allowed to stay?" Harv asked quietly. Finn registered the size of the bag Harv packed. Peasants traditionally didn't have much, yet he packed enough for two nights in Finn's estimation.

"Well, you already said you were staying the night." Finn shrugged. Harv's shoulders went up and he avoided making eye contact.

"How many nights?"

"I... I'm not sure." Finn said. Harv continued to look away. "The knights sometimes have these little training missions they go on. They're always so proud of themselves, all their dumb little inside jokes. It's not exactly a sleepover, but..." Finn clapped his hands together and startled the would-be warrior. "We could break their record!" Harv looked up at him, a little color returning to his cheeks as Finn spoke. "Yeah, we could have the longest sleepover ever. Last time they were training in the mountains for five or six days, we could double that easy."

"Really!?" Harv straightened up in his chair. "I could stay that long?"

"Sure." Finn smiled. "What are friends for?"

Twelve days was more than Harv could have hoped to ask for, he knew he should feel grateful, but all he could feel was uneasy. It wasn't enough time to save up money given hardly anyone in town would hire him without telling his parents where he was. If he was clever, he could work some odd jobs around the castle under a pseudonym, but that would only work if he could get some time alone. Which at this point, seemed highly unlikely as Finn excitably scribbled in a tiny calendar all the things they'd do on their 'longest sleepover ever'. Quite a few of them involved going into town.

"Didn't you already go out today?" Harv nervously shifted as he saw a third shipment of excess arrive at the doorstep.

"Oh that, most of that is for mother's garden, I just had them wrap it nicely to make those two... reconsider how they treated me." Finn closed up his little book. "It's not the same as going shopping with someone. Besides, I imagine you'll need something to wear for the opera."

"The what?" Harv had only caught brief glimpses into Finn's thought process while he made the tiny checklist of things to do. Many of them were things Harv had rarely heard of or that only nobles attended. Yet, Finn seemed to think Harv could read minds as he squeezed Harv's bicep.

"How many boxes do you think you can carry?" Finn asked. Harv pulled his arm back. "I was thinking we could hit at least five stores, but that would only cover the necessities. If we want to bring home anything fun, someone will need to carry it." Finn fluttered his lashes sweetly and Harv couldn't find the strength to object. "Well don't just stand there, come on!" Finn grabbed him by the wrist and half-dragged him out of the house.

-

Town square at mid-day was a labor of humiliation for Harv, more so than it had in the past six months. Before he would dodge looks of polite pity or put up with being outright ignored, it made errands difficult but not impossible. With Finn at his side, he could sense people glaring, judging him every time the blond bard got too close to him or casually touched him. Finn was none the wiser as he excitedly pointed at displays or dragged Harv to the nearest sale. An hour in it was clear Harv was just a pack mule to his companion, but people still gave them looks.

Finn dragged him to the tailor's guild to have Harv fitted for a suit. Something that was obviously outside of Harv's price range or social status. A stout woman greeted them in the main lobby with a sugary sweet smile.

"It'll be about forty-five minutes before someone will be available to do the measurements, sorry." She said. No one was waiting ahead of them. Harv started to look towards the door, wishing to be far away from prying eyes.

"I want to talk to Emet." Finn rolled his eyes.

"As I said, we're very busy." The woman smiled again.

"Yes." Finn snapped. "I can see that. But Emet has personally designed all of my mother Leenan's gowns, I'd like to speak with her now please." At the mention of the witch's name, the woman's face paled. "Emet will tell us whether she's too busy; we have no need for the rest of you." The older woman scurried upstairs. "Sorry about that Harv, this happens sometimes. New people, am I right?" Finn glared at some staff members that were loitering in the wings, they scurried off to get back to work. Harv couldn't tell if Finn just didn't know or didn't care that they had been asked to leave. Either way, it didn't seem to matter, he was still getting what he wanted. Even if it was through fear. A young girl with wild hair peered over the banister and snapped her fingers. "That's her. Don't worry Harv, you're in good hands."

They ran up the stairs and into Emet's office, if you could call it that, since it clearly was her room. There was a row of fabric swatches hanging from the wall and a book of patterns to flip through on her desk. She picked up the applique she had been embroidering before they came.

"How many times have I told you to call instead of coming in, Finn." Emet rolled her eyes. "You don't need to manhandle the samples every time. What is it this time."

"It's not for me, it's for him." Finn gestured to Harv who was having a hard time finding an appropriate place to sit. "My friends' tastes run on the more... rugged side, nothing ready-made has quite captured it. I figured since you're always complaining about sewing dresses, you'd love to make something more adventurous in nature. Though I will need something suitable for nobility in the mix." Emet nodded and pulled out a stack of papers from a hidden drawer in the desk.

"I keep half." Was all she asked for, for payment. " Alright you, come over here so I can measure..." She looked up and froze. "Harv?"

"Do I know you?" Harv asked, she relaxed immediately.

"Nope, just wagered a guess." She said and collected her tape measure and pin cushion. "Out of the room Finn."

"What!?" Finn turned from the sample wall he had been fondling. "Why do I have to leave?"

"A man deserves his privacy. I don't think Harv here would take kindly to you knowing exactly how big his butt is." Emet crossed her arms and waited for Finn to stomp out of the room like a little kid. Harv looked everywhere else, feeling his face grow warm. "It'll take a week for your half to be ready. Do you think you can keep him entertained that long?"

"What do you mean?" Harv said. Emet was looking up at him, her arms still crossed and waiting.

"Finn," she says "he doesn't bring his friends out in public to show off to people often. Do you think you can keep it up long enough for me to finish the suits? I mean, if something happens, I can always deliver them to your home." Harv flinched. "Well?"

"I don't like what you're insinuating." Harv said. This seemed to be an acceptable answer as Emet grabbed him by the wrist and roughly started measuring the length of his arm. "And what do you mean showing off?"

"The boxes." Emet tilted her head toward the leaning tower of Finn's indulgences. "Finn did the same thing at those places too, yeah? Saying you were friends?"

"Well... yeah, so?" Harv shifted a little.

"Finn likes to brag about things, a lot." Emet said as she rolled her eyes. "He likes to think he has the best of everything: clothes, talent, and now you I guess." She shook her head. "No one's been able to put up with it longer than a day. More power to you if you can." She finished scribbling down her numbers and handed Harv the stack of designs. "Pick ones you like before Finn thinks about something that would look 'better'." As Harv flipped through the pages his shoulders sank. Fur, leather armors, and heavy tunics; it was all things a warrior was expected to wear. He heard Emet crack her knuckles. "What's wrong with them?"

"They're nice, I just don't think- armors should go to people who'll use them." He just couldn't picture himself in those kinds of clothes anymore.

"It's just clothes." Emet snatched back the pile. "You want these or what Finn picks out? Those are your options."

"Whatever's fine." Harv looked tiredly at Emet. "Is that all you need us for?"

"Yeah..." Emet folded up the designs and carefully put them away. Harv collected up the boxes and exited the room. Finn, who had been sitting on the floor outside, jumped to his feet.

"How did it go?" Finn asked. "No wait, what colors did you pick? We'll have to coordinate your accessories accordingly."

"Finn, I don't know…" Harv felt the weight of the stares more than the boxes in his arms.

"Alright, you don't have to know the exact shade, but a color family at least." Finn hopped down the stairs and waited for Harv to follow. "Warm or cool colors? You'll give me that at least, won't you?"

"Browns and blacks, I guess." Harv shrugged.

"Then silver should be fine." Finn exited the tailors guild as soon as Harv made it down to the lobby.

"Silver?" Harv gripped the boxes tight. "You mean like the color right?" Harv walked backwards against the front door into the street. Finn was already a block ahead of him. "Finn!? Wait up."

[lossie92]

Looking for Home - META

Here it is, guys!

I actually come up with headcanons and make notes for all my stories, but I’ve only recently started to write them down in more detail.

Also, yes, I'm crazy enough that all character names have meanings. Even if I only mention this or that OC in passing, you better believe that I spent at least fifteen minutes deciding on a good name for them 🙈 

Either way, this is the first time I’ve ever shared my notes with any audience and I hope you’ll like it 😊

Please bear in mind that everything under the cut can be considered a ❗spoiler❗, so if you haven’t read Looking for Home yet, I would highly recommend doing that before checking out the META.

I wouldn’t want to spoil the story for you 😅

WARNINGS: discussion of sex and mental health issues, implied/referenced self-harm, swearing, implied/referenced underage relationship (both parties are consenting and they are also considered adults in this universe)

-

Nakano: Meaning ‘warrior’. Madara was returning from a short mission when he heard something and decided to investigate. He found a cat, little more than a kitten really, holding onto a piece of drift wood in a particularly perilous section of the Naka River. She was bleeding, missing one ear and clearly terrified as she desperately fought for her life. He managed to save her and brought her home with him. The cat was a bit skittish at the beginning, but now she absolutely worships the ground Madara and Tobirama walk on. She really fucking hates everyone else though.

If you are interested in how she looks, imagine the below, but with one ear.

Yes, that’s one very angry-looking maine coon 😂

Kameko: Meaning 'tortoise child'. Tortoises actually symbolise longevity in Japan (and most of East Asian, as far as I know) and Madara's grandmother is rather old by the standards of the era at sixty-something. I am pretty sure it is mentioned somewhere in canon that shinobi used to die like flies during the Warring States Period and not many of them made it past thirty. So yeah, pretty sure she is considered immortal at this point.

She is Tajima’s mother and she had to basically raise Madara and Izuna after their mom died when they were still young teens (it happened during the year following Madara’s meetings with Hashirama, so he was around fourteen). She took it very seriously and showered her grandsons with affection and love at every turn, which is the reason why both of them are somewhat well-adjusted despite growing up half-orphaned in a war-torn country.

Jin: Meaning ‘tender’. She’s Madara’s and Izuna’s only first cousin that’s still alive and also Kagami’s mom. She is a force of nature, this one. Everyone underestimates her, because she just seems so innocent and sweet, but if you get on her bad side, you better run. The mark of friendship with her is when she starts teasing and joking around. She definitely considers herself to be Tobirama’s buddy now.

Nobutama: From Nobu meaning ‘faith’ or ‘trust’ and adding the -tama/-rama suffix typical in male Senju names. Coming up with this name was hard, y’all.

He is an only child and was conceived very early on into Mito’s and Hashirama’s marriage. They were married very young too, around fifteen-sixteen, which I assume would have been considered normal at the time (it would have definitely been normal in feudal Japan). I mean, most of the ninja seemed to die around thirty, so they had to procreate sometime before that, you know?

He is a very kind, sweet kid, but a little bit on the dense side. Looks like Hashirama did at his age, but with Mito’s pretty red hair.

Hitomi: Meaning ‘pupil of the eye’/ ‘wisdom and intellect’ (depending on kanji). She’s the Uchiha clan healer and ophthalmologist, and Hikaku’s mother. Yes, I did name an eye doctor after a part of a literal eye and I’m very proud of myself.

I headcanon that the Uchiha specialize in treating eye conditions. There is no way they have been struggling with blindness and impaired vision for centuries and haven’t found a way to counteract them. It would make no sense.

Of course Madara noticed Tobirama squinting at things and how the man would develop these killer headaches if he read for too long quite early into their marriage. He knows what it looks like when people have poor vision, so he took Tobirama to see Hitomi at some point and that’s how our fave Senju ended up with glasses. And yes, Tobirama’s poor vision is the result of albinism. All hail the albino Tobirama headcanon, am I right?

Eichi: Meaning ‘wisdom’. Since the guy ends up insulting the entire female population of Konoha in one sentence, I don’t think we can attribute much wisdom to him though. Izuna had the right idea when he called this dude an idiot. It makes the name even funnier, in my opinion.

Masukagami: Meaning ‘The Clear Mirror’. It’s an actual historical tale, the last book in a four-part series, believed to have been compiled during the Northern and Southern Court period in Japan. Since Madara enjoys history and non-fiction in general, I thought it would make for a nice gift, especially if it was a fancier edition or something. I will include his reaction to receiving it in the sequel, don’t worry.

How Kamako-obaa found out about Tobirama’s abysmal eating habits: Madara did in fact snitch on Tobirama under the guise of his regular bitching about everything under the sun. That man is vicious AF when he tries to take care of his precious people and let’s face it: Tobirama in this verse needs a fucking minder to keep him functional. The reason he did it was of course to make sure his grandmother would be vigilant enough to notice if his idiot spouse reverted back to thinking paperwork and science were more important than basic bodily functions the moment Madara left the village. As evidenced in the story, he was right to do so and he has absolutely no regrets.

The lack of Hashirama in this story: A lot of madatobi stories feature Hashirama as the matchmaker figure or at least a driving force that pushes the main characters into realizing their feelings for each other in some way. Don’t get me wrong, I love these tropes! They’re great! However, I wanted to do something different. That’s why it’s Kameko-obaa, Jin, Mito, Touka, Izuna, and even Kagami a little tiny bit who are responsible for not-so-gently pushing Tobirama in the right direction.

My personal favourite is Mito’s quiet understanding and support. In a way, she has the most in common with Tobirama in this universe – they are both very private people, they value logic and are very intellectual, and had been married off for the sake of politics, just to name a few. I also feel like Tobirama would definitely see her as an older sister and would be more willing to come to her for help instead of asking Touka who, while well-meaning, is probably also not the most gentle or patient.

Madara being responsible for foreign affairs: I know, I know. Sounds crazy, right? Here me out, though! Madara has been shown to have an awful temper, yes, but we are also led to believe that most of it might have been Zetsu’s influence. Besides, I think he would have been very different at home or when he was working compared to his battle persona. Kinda hard to work when you’re pumped on adrenaline and borderline feral, you know? I also think it would be hilarious if the reason he was good at politics was that people were scared of him and he knew it and used it to his advantage. He wouldn’t even have to do much! Just be there and act all calm, but menacing at the same time, and people would proceed to lose their proverbial shit, because they are sure he is plotting their deaths or something like that if he has been too quiet for too long. The funniest thing is nobody realizes that this is going on and they are just all quietly impressed with his diplomatic skills. Madara doubtlessly finds it very amusing.

Madara and his teas: In my head Madara has a bit of a tea obsession (well, he has my own tea obsession, but amplified, but that’s neither here nor there). He has a collection of different tea leaves, dried fruits and herbs, etc. and he uses them to make his own blends. Sometimes they’re definitely a miss, but quite often he ends up with a very good and unique tea as a result. He also likes to spend some extra money on pre-made blends if they’re good quality and from a reliable supplier. Tobirama, as mentioned, really appreciates the tea, but his skills at making it are virtually nonexistent. He had been known to burn very expensive tea leaves by accident. That’s why Madara doesn’t trust him with the tea cupboard.

Also, the tea Madara prepares at the end is the blue pea tea. Look it up, that shit is fascinating!

Madara acting as a househusband: This is not necessarily because he is actually trying to fill that role consciously. In this universe, he definitely exhibits some obsessive-compulsive behaviours (e.g. cleaning the house until it’s spotless, keeping things in order and getting stressed if they’re not, being almost unreasonably snippy when someone moves things from their ‘rightful place’, etc.). Experiencing trauma can trigger things like that, although it is not the only reason why people clean, of course. He also suffers from depression to some extent, though I think this can be said about the majority of characters in Naruto.

Tobirama isn’t aware why Madara acts this way and doesn’t really understand it, but he accommodates him nevertheless.

Tobirama’s panic attack: As you might have noticed, there is something going on with Tobirama behind the scenes. I will explore it in more detail in the sequel, but this is basically a leftover from his less than ideal childhood (you can read more about my headcanon for this HERE) and a result of trauma. Also, depression and some form of an anxiety disorder, because these are always fun to experience 🤦‍♀️

He taught himself that pain could bring him out of an episode and that’s what he has been using for years to deal with them. It works, but it’s a form of self-harm and not a healthy tactic at all. He is very bad a recognizing and processing his own feelings as well. Like, really bad. Then once he gets on with the uptake, he blurts them out. That’s mostly why he panicked in this situation – he knew that now that the love for Madara was realized, he was at a risk of just saying it randomly and he was terrified of Madara’s reaction.

Madara’s and Tobirama’s marriage: Offering Tobirama as a spouse for Madara was supposed to be an insult. As mentioned in the story, the Senju Elders were convinced it would spark the conflict anew, because Tobirama is a man and wouldn’t be able to give Madara heirs. The joke’s on them though, because the Uchiha clan is chill as a cucumber about same-sex marriage and couldn’t really care less. They are maybe a little bit shocked and wary of Tobirama as the prospective bride, but they roll with it in the end. Madara is actually kind of happy about it. Yes, he doesn’t really like Tobirama and doesn’t really trust him all that much either, but at the same time he knows his gay ass could have ended up married to a woman, so, you know, all in all it’s not that bad of a deal. Plus, he has eyes and, if nothing else, Tobirama is at least very to look at 🤭

It goes without saying, I think, but just in case that wasn’t clear: there was no wedding night and the two of them have been sleeping in separate rooms for this entire time.

Tobirama’s and Madara’s sexuality: As mentioned above, I see Madara as being gay in this story and someone quite experienced and sure of his own sexuality as well. He was encouraged to be careful, but also explore his options and experiment, and that’s basically what he did.

Tobirama, on the other hand, has only kissed someone once out of curiosity (that it just so happened to be a boy isn’t really all that relevant). He wasn’t really interested in finding out more about sex afterwards, very much convinced it wasn’t really for him. I see him as someone on the ace spectrum here, probably demisexual, so yeah, friendship and an emotional connection overall would have made him attracted to Madara more than looks ever could. The fact that Madara is the type of stupid pretty that makes everyone notice his attractiveness almost immediately is its own thing.

Seals and fuinjutsu: I think that the application of sealing in Naruto wasn’t explored to its full potential. As a group of techniques it seems the most versatile of them all, to be honest. You can seal anything and make any number of things work through sealing. I mean, you can even seal jutsu! Come on, if that’s not the coolest thing, I don’t know what else is!

There are so many things you can use seals for and it’s really exciting to come up with some everyday non-military uses for them. My take on them may not be canon-compliant, but I don’t really care.

The heat-preserving seals are used mostly for food, but they can also be useful for keeping an optimal temperature of any number of things. They are not meant to be used on humans or any living organisms though, just inanimate objects and such, because they can interfere with the organism’s natural temperature and cause a heatstroke in humans.

The sealing embroidery is a specialty of Yuki no Kuni. In a lot of stories I’ve read, Konoha seems to come up with every new invention and I thought it would be nice to give other countries something of their own as well. It made sense why people from the Land of Snow would develop a way to keep themselves warm that didn’t involve donning on layers upon layers of clothing.

Also, chakra influencing one’s body temperature should have been noticed and documented by people who are primarily affected by it. Tobirama, who is from a clan of predominately Doton users, would likely have little contact with people who are as proficient with Suiton as he is and thus wouldn’t have been able to link his penchant for being cold with it.

Hanten jackets: These are great. If you can get your hands on one, please do. They are really warm and cosy, and most of them are made from cotton, so they are very breathable as well. They are considered casual clothing, unlike haori which is part of formal wear. The one Madara got for Tobirama was handmade and the stitching was done with silk chakra-infused thread. It is also reversible – one side is plain black with the Senju and Uchiha clan mons in red right under the collar and the other is the indigo blue waves with silver seals embroidery. This is kind of how I imagined it looks like:

The houses in Konoha: Most of them are traditional Japanese-style buildings. I’m sorry, but my brain cannot process Founders Era characters using a stove and sleeping in regular beds at home if the story isn’t set in Modern AU, so here we are: irori, shoji screens, zabuton, and all that jazz.

Traditional Japanese houses are really well engineered though. They may seem old-timely and outdated, but they’re really not. I would highly recommend looking up some blueprints and generally any info about their construction you can find. They are great and very beautiful.

I also think that the architecture we are familiar with from the original series would have become more mainstream and popular around the time Hiruzen became the Hokage as more and more foreigners arrived and settled in Konoha, sort of mimicking the modernization of Japan in a way.

-

There is more, but I’ll make a separate post for it when I publish the sequel. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story before it’s even fully written 😉

[evienyx]

DSMP Citizens POV 7: The Lonesome Vessel

DSMPsona created by anon

- - -

DSMP Citizen POV Masterlist

DSMPsona Submission Rules

- - -

Before the L'Manburg Revolution, Iris had never really bothered with combat. She'd taken her physical education classes at school as a kid, had done a few extra sword-training classes as a teenager when her mother put her into them, but other than that, there wasn't really anything.

When the Revolution happened, though, Iris, who had already joined up with the rebellion when it was just starting out, took up arms at General Wilbur Soot's call and went out to the battle field, her heart pounding and blade sharp.

As she stepped onto the battlefield, entering into her first bout of combat with one of Dream's soldiers, something within her changed. Voices chanted in her head, screaming their desire to be appeased, one that could only be fulfilled by the spilling of blood.

Death, Death, Death!

Blood, Blood, Blood!

Blood for the Blood God!

Iris roared and slashed wildly at whoever she saw. Power thrummed in her veins, blood splashing across her armor and voices screaming in her ears as it did.

A soldier in L'Manburg colors ran past her. The voices screamed even louder, and Iris thrust her sword forward.

A moment later, she was lying in the medical tent that had been set up at the edge of the battlefield. Curtains shielded her from the rest of the tent. Her mind was deafeningly silent.

Iris realized that her limbs were restrained, her armor and weapons gone. Her throat was dry and her head pounded.

After a few minutes, the curtain pulled back, and a man in a medical coat peeked inside.

"You're awake?"

Iris locked gazes with him and nodded.

The doctor glanced outside before giving her a nod of his own and closing the curtain. She was alone again.

About ten more minutes passed before the curtain opened again and General Soot stepped inside.

"Sir," Iris said, trying to sit up before remembering the restraints.

"Iris," Soot replied, sounding even more exhausted than he looked. "How are you feeling?"

She swallowed. Her throat hurt, and when she spoke, it was hoarse, as if she had screamed at a concert all night. "Tired." She scrunched her nose. "My arms hurt."

Soot's lips formed into a thinner line and he nodded. "Yes, well, you were swinging that sword quite a bit."

Iris furrowed her brow. "What're you talking about?"

The general sighed. "I was afraid of that." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before meeting her gaze. "What do you remember about the battle?"

"Uh, nothing, really. I... fought a few people, I think, and then I guess I must've been knocked unconscious."

Soot's eyes were hard, but sad. "You were not. You lasted through the whole battle."

"What happened, then?"

Soot was silent.

Iris narrowed her eyes and pressed on. "What happened?"

"You were like a machine, Iris," Soot explained. "No one... No one could quite describe it. You cut down every person in your path, whether they were enemy or ally." Iris's heart sank and her blood ran cold. "Can you remember anything else? I need to know."

"Uh..." Iris wracked her brain for answers, but her head was still pounding, aching from the screams of the voices in her mind. "I mean... There were... voices. Voices, in my head? They... They wanted me to kill people."

Soot, as if his attention hadn't already been completely on her, leaned in, his eyes widening just a bit. "Voices?" She nodded. He grabbed her by the forearms, turning her toward him a bit more, despite the restraints digging into her flesh as he did so. "What did they say? Do you remember what they said?"

"Uh..." Iris nodded shakily, her heart pounding in her chest. "Yeah. They... They talked about the, er, the Blood God? Like what people always call Technoblade, you know, the famous warrior?"

Soot's eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment before he leaned back and nodded. "Yes, I know." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Iris... I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you. I think that we have every reason to believe that you are a vessel of the Blood God."

A chill ran down her spine. "What... What does that-"

"People often believe that Technoblade is a vessel of the Blood God, as well. He is not. He is the chosen of the Blood God. Those voices you heard while you were fighting? He hears those all the time, screaming for blood, and apparently being rather annoying as well."

Despite the bombshell being dropped on her, Iris managed to focus on his words and ask, "How do you know all this stuff about Technoblade?"

"Lived with him for years," Soot said, waving his hand around. "Not important. What is important is this: Controlling the desires of the Blood God that are within you is going to be difficult. Many go mad trying to fight against them. As you are simply a vessel, those voices will only come out when you are actively in combat, but they will never go away. If you plan to continue to fight, you must learn to live with them. We cannot have a repeat of the last battle, where you kill many of our own troops, as well."

Iris swallowed and nodded. "I'll do better next time, sir."

Soot cracked a smile, the bags more apparent than ever. "I'm sure of it."

During the next battle, Iris held her weapon in her hand, slashed at the first enemy soldier that she encountered, and then found herself restrained in the medical tent once more, President Soot standing over her with eyes even more sunken than the day before.

Iris felt tears spring to her eyes and shoved her head back into the pillow beneath her.

"You'll always have a home here," General President Soot told her after the Revolution ended, L'Manburg gained independence, and Iris had decided to pack up and leave. "Regardless of what happened on the battlefield, you still fought for this country. No one blames you for what happened." He paused and released a sigh. "The Blood God is as ruthless with its Vessels as it is with us mortals."

Iris huffed. "You don't need to tell me twice." Her thoughts fell to the voices, screaming in her mind.

Death, Death, Death!

Blood, Blood, Blood!

Blood for the Blood God!

She shuddered and glanced up at President Soot. "I need to leave. As long as I am here, people are in danger. The voices showed up the moment I picked up a weapon. If something were to happen, there would be nothing I could do, nothing anyone could do." She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "It's better this way."

President Soot was silent for a moment before nodding solemnly. "That's what I thought you'd say. Still, should you ever wish to return, the gates of L'Manburg will open wide to those who fought for them to stay standing."

Iris cracked a smile and nodded. President Soot returned the gesture before stepping out of the tent that she had been staying in. Iris tied the sack that held all the things she couldn't fit in her inventory and set off. She made a quick pit stop at the Pet Sanctuary, an underground bunker that had held the pets of all L'Manburg soldiers during the war, keeping them safe and protected from both battle and Sapnap, who was both their enemy and infamous for killing pets.

Iris grabbed her cat, Tabi, and pulled an empty beehive from her inventory to allow her bee, Honeycomb, to travel in safety and comfort. Finally, she set off, her fingers tightly wound in a lead attached to Tabi's collar, Honeycomb's hive tucked into her inventory. Iris gave a final wave to the soldiers standing guard at the L'Manburg walls and began to walk.

After fifteen minutes, she was at the top of a hill, looking down over the independent land of L'Manburg. Already, there were more people than had been during the Revolution, people from the Greater SMP and other servers having begun to move in.

After another half-hour, L'Manburg was barely visible in the distance.

Fifteen more minutes after that, and it was gone completely.

Reaching the edge of the charted land on her map, Iris pulled a boat from her inventory, setting it up while Tabi investigated a small patch of wildflowers growing nearby. Iris picked up her cat and plopped the animal between her legs as she sat down in the boat. Making sure she had everything, Iris used a stick to push off from the shore and set off into the ocean.

She followed the coast, mostly. Eventually, she reached a grassy plain that seemed to stretch on for as far as her eye could see. As the sun began to set, she finally pulled up onto a small beach just outside of a coastal village. She stored her boat, held Tabi's lead in her hand, and set off into the village.

The town was small enough that they didn't have an inn, but a farmer and his wife were nice enough to allow her to bunk in the barn for the night to avoid the monsters, and Iris fell asleep to the sound of an Iron Golem guard pummeling a zombie into dust.

Another day of boating passed before Iris settled on a small clearing a little ways into a spruce forest island to call her new home. Tabi's lead tied around a tree, she quickly set to work making a small tent to stay in while she worked on a more permanent home. A few weeks passed, but she was rather satisfied with her work as she took down the tent and spent her first official night in her new cottage. Tabi curled up on her chest, Honeycomb resting in her hive in the small garden she had made, Iris fell asleep to the sounds of rustling leaves, flickering torches, and distant waves crashing against a rocky shore.

Iris would spend a lot of her time exploring, after that, hopping across nearby islands. She constructed an Iron Golem to guard her clearing after a hoard of mobs appeared during the first night and she had been forced to hide under the floorboards and be as silent as possible until day arrived and they burned in the light of the sun. She refused to pick up a weapon again. The voices still stung in her mind (Blood for the Blood God!), and she didn't know what would happen if they took over again. She didn't want to know what would happen if the only thing for them to hurt were Tabi and Honeycomb.

The islands nearby varied in terms of what they had on them. Some were barren, others sported lush forests. One had a ravine so long and deep it almost cut the island itself in half. At one point, she arrived at a point that she had thought was an island, but was actually large enough to be considered mainland, stretching so far that she had to spend the night at a village after she realized that she didn't have enough time to get home before dark.

Iris mapped out the nearby islands, as well as the mainland, and explored them enough that she eventually didn't even need a map to explore them anymore. She knew them like the back of her hand.

That was why, when a small hut popped up in the stretch of plains on the coast of the mainland, she was confused. It was night, then, and she was making her way to the nearby village to stay in the inn. This was too interesting to pass up investigating, though, and Iris snuck over and leaned against one of the hut walls, straining to hear what was happening inside.

"-and I have no idea why he did it, because wasn't the whole point that there's-"

"Someone's listening."

"...What?"

"Someone's listening."

"What are you talking about?"

"Through the wall. Right here. Someone's listening." There was a beat of silence, and then a rush of cold air that made the hairs on the back of Iris's neck stand up, and then she was face-to-face with eyes void of anything but inky darkness, set into the grayed-out version of a familiar face. Bright blue teartracks seemed stained on the colorless skin.

"Hello," an echoed voice that almost exactly matched President Soot's said. "Who are you?"

Iris yelped and fell back, barely catching herself against the hut before she hit the ground.

"Ghostbur? Who is it?"

TommyInnit (VP Tommy, she remembered people had started to call him) asked, stepping around the corner of the hut to join the two of them.

"VP Tommy?" She blurted out. "What are you doing here?"

VP Tommy furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? I was exiled. What are you doing here?"

"I...I live around here! And, what do you mean you were exiled? And why does President Soot look like that? And why did you call him Ghostbur?"

"That's who I am!" The spectral form of the leader of L'Manburg said cheerily. He reached out a translucent hand. "Ghostbur, nice to meet you!"

"We've met," Iris said, still reaching out to shake his hand anyway. His skin was freezing cold, and she though that if she pressed a bit more, her hand would simply slide right through his own.

"He has memory loss," VP Tommy said. "Only remembers the happy things from when he was alive. None of the bad stuff."

"What happened to him? When did he die?"

"A while ago," VP Tommy said, looking rather confused at her lack of knowledge but still managing to glare at her throughout. "How is it you know who both of us are but not what happened to..." His throat bobbed and he glanced away, falling silent.

"I fought in the L'Manburg Revolution," Iris explained. "At least, I did for a bit until President Soot-" She gestured at the grinning ghost- "and I realized that I was a Vessel for the Blood God. I can't control myself whenever I pick up a weapon, and so I moved out here to keep from hurting anyone."

VP Tommy leaned back a bit, his eyes widening. "You're a Vessel of the Blood God?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit hoarse. She nodded. His eyes flicked over her. "You're... You don't have any weapons on you, do you?"

Iris ignored the fact that she had already said that she didn't in favor of shaking her head and raising her hands a bit. "Nope. Nothing. I haven't touched a weapon since the Revolution."

"How do you defend from mobs then?" He asked, his brow scrunching as he crossed his arms.

"I'm normally home before night. If not, I make sure I'm close enough to a village to stay there. At home, everything's lit up, and I even have an Iron Golem to make sure that any stray monsters can be taken down without me having to do anything." She offered the gentlest smile she could. "You don't need to worry about me."

VP Tommy was quiet for a moment before releasing a forced laugh. "Ha, I wasn't worried! I'm never worried! I'm Big Man TommyInnit, I don't get worried about anything!"

Iris raised an eyebrow but she nodded. "Of course. I never would've thought otherwise."

VP Tommy wrinkled his nose and looked to the ground. A moment later, she heard him muffling a yawn.

"Well," Iris said loudly, stretching her arms toward the sky, "I think it's about time that I head off to the village and get settled in for the night. I'm exhausted." She saluted lazily. "Good night, VP Tommy."

"Uh, yeah. 'Night." He didn't return the gesture, but he glanced at Ghostbur, who was fiddling with what looked like a handful of blue and clearly not paying attention to the conversation whatsoever. "C'mon, Ghostbur."

The spirit of the president looked up abruptly, turning from VP Tommy to Iris. "Oh, are you leaving already?" She nodded. He gave her a smile. "Good night, then! I hope next time I get to find out your name!"

Before she could say anything, he had slid through the hut's wall and was gone. VP Tommy stood there for a moment more before disappearing inside as well. Iris hitched up the straps of her bag on her shoulders, checked her inventory, and set off for the village at the edge of the plains. She didn't want to be out in the dark for too long.

The next morning, Iris left the village inn an hour before noon, her bag and inventory stuffed full of ore that she had purchased from the blacksmith.

As she walked through the plains, she stumbled across a figure riding by on a horse. The two of them stopped and stared at one another.

"Uh, hello," Iris said, raising a hand in greeting. "Haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm not from around here," the figure, a piglin hybrid, from the look of it, said gruffly. "Was just visiting an... old friend."

Iris nodded. "Cool. Well, if you're ever in the area again, the village back by the forest edge has incredible potato bread."

The hybrid's eyes lit up a bit. "Really?" She nodded. "I'll have to check it out, then." He observed her for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

She cracked a smile. "Just a lonesome wanderer, trying to live a peaceful life."

He nodded. "I can respect that. As long as you're not with any sort of government."

She shook her head. "I used to be a part of L'Manburg, but I left right after the Revolution. I... didn't want to be a part of that anymore. Now, it's just me and my pets."

The hybrid hummed, his gaze flicking over her and seeming to notice that she had no weapons. "All right, then." He gave her a nod. "Stay safe, fellow wanderer."

She grinned and returned the gesture. "And you as well." He patted the horse on its flank, and a moment later, they were gone.

Continuing across the plains, Iris came back across the hut that VP Tommy was living in. She thought the ore in her bag and wondered if the teenager, who was apparently exiled (though she didn't know why) would want it.

Iris knocked on the door. There was a beat of silence. Then, the door swung open, and she was met with the face of VP Tommy, eyes red and face blotchy. He sniffed, rubbed at his nose, and scowled at her. "What do you want, bitch?"

Ignoring his aggression, Iris offered a smile and said, "I come bearing gifts."

Though he complained, VP Tommy did agree to take the ores from her, shoving them into his furnace along with some coal that he had apparently gotten that morning. Then, with his eyes narrowed and mouth twisted into a frown, he offered her a porkchop.

Iris started to visit him more and more, after that. She brought Tabi to the village's healer when the cat got sick one day, and that evening showed her pet to VP Tommy on the way home.

"This is Tabi," she said, holding out the cat to the teenager. VP Tommy stared at the cat with raised eyebrows. "Go on, take her. She loves being pet behind the ears."

VP Tommy took the cat in his arms, holding it with a surprising amount of caution. He reached forward and scratched slowly behind Tabi's ear. The cat purred and leaned into the touch. VP Tommy's eyes flew up to meet Iris's as his jaw dropped, and she couldn't help but let out a laugh at his reaction.

Over the time that she visited him, Iris watched as VP Tommy (My name is Tommy, shithead, he insisted after she called him by his old title to his face) deteriorated. His laughs were more forced. His face was more sunken, his hair grew limp, and his the light in his eyes dimmed, the bright blue seeming to fade into a cool gray. Still, he would grin every time she showed up, and would bounce on the balls of his feet as he told her about what he had done since her last visit.

"Ranboo came to visit me," he said one day. "He showed up after Schlatt and Wilbur died and L'Manburg was rebuilt. He's cool, even though he's kind of a pussy."

"Does anyone else come to visit?" She asked, poking at the fire that he had made when the sun began to set.

"Well, Dream is here all the time," he said, but she already knew that. About a week after she started visiting regularly, he had all-but-demanded that she only visit at night, because Dream was there in the daylight and didn't really like when he had other visitors there. "Mexican Dream came here one time, too, but..." Tommy sniffed. "He, uh, he died."

"Oh," Iris said. "I'm sorry."

On certain days, she would let Tommy ramble to her about his problems. He would complain about the 16th of November, about the election from months ago, about his exile from weeks prior. Other days, he would tour her around the things he was building.

"This is Logstedshire," he said, spreading his arms wide. "Ghostbur helped me build it, before he..." His smile faltered. "Before he... left."

She said nothing more, simply pointed at a random building and asked about it. Tommy took the change of topic gratefully and began to ramble on about the mining expedition he had gone on to get the materials.

One day, when Iris was on the way to the village past Logshedshire to trade before she visited Tommy that evening, she looked up from storing away her boat to see the Nether portal just outside of Tommy's home glimmering with particles, the distinct look of a portal that someone had just used.

Iris was confused for a moment, because she was sure that Tommy didn't use his portal anymore, not after the failed beach party (which he had requested she didn't attend, since he didn't think that Dream would like knowing that Tommy was talking with someone he didn't know. Iris still felt bad, though, after hearing about the disaster that befell the party that her teenager friend had been so very excited about).

Then, she looked up and her eyes fell on a tower of mismatched materials, stretching toward the sky. Her stomach dropped, and, ignoring her previous plans, she scrambled up the beach and sprinted toward Logstedshire.

The area was completely destroyed, decimated by what had to be TNT. The tower she had seen started near the pit, reaching to brush against low-hanging clouds in the expanse of sky above. Tommy was nowhere to be seen.

Nearby, Iris abruptly noticed, President Tubbo stood looking up at the tower, shaking his head desperately with tears streaking down his face. "Surely not, surely not," he said lowly, his voice hoarse.

Iris's heart skipped a beat. For the first time since the Revolution, her mind was flooded with voices, screaming, roaring in her ears. She didn't care what they were saying, though, instead covering her mouth with her hands, taking in a painful breath, and beginning to sob.

President Tubbo turned to look at her, just now noticing her presence. He reached a hand out and opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't give him a chance to, instead choosing to turn on her heel and run back to the coastline, tears streaming from her eyes and all plans of heading to the village forgotten. She hopped in her boat and set off in the direction of her home island, her salty tears falling from her cheeks and joining the ocean waters below.

Iris stumbled into her cottage, Tabi moving toward her and rubbing against her leg as she collapsed into a chair, shoving her face into her hands. Her cat's fur stopped brushing against her skin, and a few moments later, a buzzing sound met her ears. She opened her eyes to see Tabi hopping from the windowsill as Honeycomb flew inside, the window wide open behind the two pets. The bee settled on her shoulder, snuggling against Iris's neck and buzzing gently, while Tabi leaped to her lap and curled up there.

Iris pet her cat with a shaking hand and tried to ignore the screaming voices growing louder and louder in her mind.

That evening, she grabbed a pack that she knew had two twin blades stored away inside of it and set off for a nearby island, one covered in a forest so dense that inside of it, you couldn't see the sky. Mobs were there even in the day time, and at night, it was more stuffed with monsters than a dungeon was.

On the edge of the island, Iris watched as a zombie lumbered toward her.

Blood! Blood!

Blood for the Blood God!

Kill it! Kill it!

Finally! Blood!

Everyone shut up, she's gonna do it!

She better!

Blood! Blood! Blood for the Blood God!

Ignoring the 'banter' going on between the voices in her head, the Vessel of the Blood God dropped the pack on the ground, pulled the twin blades from within, and let the voices take over, jumping forward and slashing at the monster in front of her. The voices cheered as blood splashed across her skin, and as her gaze fell on a skeleton near the tree line, she leaped toward it and felt her control over her body fall away.

She woke to the daylight, her cheek pressed against the warm sand of the beach. She heard the waves lapping at the shore. The twin blades she had used rested nearby. Her mind was silent, though the elation of the voices as she sliced through monsters was still very apparent. Iris sat up, grabbed the bag she had abandoned the night before, and scooped the blades inside, careful not to touch it. She then slipped into the boat and set off, leaving the island behind as she headed home.

Halfway there, she felt an alert on her communicator. Glancing down at it, she choked on a breath as her eyes landed on 'TommyInnit' in her messages lighting up. Taking in a deep breath, she clicked on the name and was greeted by a new chat message from her friend.

TommyInnit: Hey, bitch. I realized that Dream is an even Bigger Bitch Boy than I thought. He blew up Logstedshire and I ran away after he left. I'm with Technoblade, now.

TommyInnit: you were real poggers. I'll pay you back for that ore eventually.

Iris sniffed and wiped at her eyes, which were beginning to sting. She swallowed, her throat aching, and grabbed the oars resting on the sides of the boat, starting to paddle back home.

(Later that day, she would return to Logstedshire and root through the rubble for three days straight, searching for any remaining things of Tommy's that she could find.

She found a few photos buried under rocks, at one point. After the first one she touched crumbled to dust immediately, she took pictures of any she found before trying to pick them up. She found a few books that Tommy must have bought from the village. Nothing else really seemed like it would be valuable. Then, though, on her last day of searching, she broke apart a collapsed wall and saw a piece of fabric lying underneath.

She reached forward and carefully picked up the beanie lying on the ground, so covered in dust that it looked gray rather than maroon.

"This was his beanie," Tommy had said. "He had two of these. Phil has the one that he was wearing when he died. He gave this one to me right before we went to fight Manburg."

Iris's fingers tightened around the beanie, and she tucked it safely into a spare spot in her inventory before immediately heading off to the village to use their public Ender chest to put the beanie inside of.

The next time she saw TommyInnit, she would give it back to him. Afterall, he deserved to have the beanie. It was his brother's, wasn't it?

The sun was beginning to set, then.

Iris swallowed down a lump in her throat as phantom voices whispered in her mind and moved faster over the plains, focusing on making her way to the inn before nightfall and trying to ignore the murmurs in her ear asking for blood.)

[emilia3546]

Hard Work - Nessian - part 2

Part 1

*****

Nesta woke the next morning with Cassian's wing draped over her, she shifted slightly in his arms to face him, still sleeping, holding her tightly against his chest. She sighed and snuggled into him, allowing his comforting scent to surround her before she wriggled away to bathe and dress.

He frowned as she returned to their bedroom,

"Wait for me?"

"Yeah, alright, but get a move on." She threw a pillow across the bed, laughing as he allowed her to hit him with it, and collapsed down again, "Cass! We gotta go, you prick."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he yelped as she threw yet another pillow at him, chasing him across the room to the bathroom.

The training pitch was empty when they arrived, and Nesta shivered in the cold, jogging a few steps on the spot as Cassian set up an obstacle course behind her, denying any assistance, claiming that she'd just get familiar with it. Once he was finished, he threw up a shield around it, the red glow hiding it from sight so Nesta and the others could warm up but still not be able to see it. She rolled her eyes at him as she launched into a jog, glad to be able to move, to shake off the cold of the morning, the sun had barely crested over the horizon, its rosy glow only starting to shoot across the sky.

Cassian joined her after he had finished setting up the pitch for the day, and they fell into their routine, a comfortable silence falling across the pitch, while they tested the course, with Cassian timing to see how she had improved, allowing himself a chuckle each time she fell in to the mud. She glared each time, but joined him on the ground after finishing, walking back and forth, stretching out again, calm, serene, that is until the kids arrived, racing to get there first.

"You didn't tell me it was the kids first thing." Nesta muttered under her breath, shoving Cassian gently as he shrugged,

"I forgot."

"Liar." She hissed, grinning as one of the younger girls ran up to her, demanding her daily hug. Nesta swept her into the air, spinning around, "Soon you're going be able to pick me up." She laughed as she set the little girl down, "You've gotten so big since I last saw you."

"I'm taller than my brother now." She announced proudly, giving Nesta a wide grin,

"Show him who's boss then." She nodded quickly before running back to the group, and Nesta caught Cassian watching them, smiling softly, thoughtfully, before he shook himself and returned to the lesson.

Nesta sat down on a bench to watch, unable to teach them any more, they'd had more training than she had, but she could offer encouragement when they started up again. She grinned as she watched Cassian walking them through the steps of a new strike and how to defend against it, but stiffened at the feel of a hand clamping down on her shoulder and the sound of a blade being drawn,

"You really need to stay by his side, someday you're going to get in trouble." The same voice as yesterday hissed next to her ear,

"Perhaps, but not today." She smiled, and gripped the wrist on her shoulder, twisting hard as she stood up, a sense of satisfaction filling her at his bark of pain, he angled a dagger towards her and leaped over the bench to block her escape back to the group,

"You'll pay for that, bitch."

"Uh-huh." Nesta swayed to the side, avoiding his rushed attack, hardly needing to move to send him stumbling past her. She stepped aside again, this time landing an elbow between his wings, sending him sprawling forwards into the mud. He spat as he leaped back to his feet, snarling at her. She just smiled, and waved, "Did you want something? You're a bit early today." He snarled again, lunging forwards, but this time when she dodged him, she gripped the wrist of the hand holding the dagger, and flipped him, using his own momentum against him. When he looked up from the floor, she waved the dagger tauntingly in front of him, "Was this yours? Guess not." She threw the dagger aside, the point thudding perfectly into the center of a practice target. "Did you seriously think Cass would leave me on my own if I couldn't defend myself, he might be a prick, but he's not a fool, and nor am I."

More older warriors were arriving now, and seeing one of their own, covered in mud, at the feet of a female, a female with little training, who stepped aside and planted a foot between his shoulder-blades as he surged forwards, making him slam face-first into the mud again.

Nesta smiled and stepped away, leaving his friends to drag him away and see if he was okay. Cassian finished his lesson, and sent the youngsters on their way home, crossing to where Nesta was stood, tilting her chin up to check that she was unharmed. He smirked when she rolled her eyes,

"I suppose he should have known better than to take on a plains-cat alone. He quickly kissed her forehead before stalking over to where the male was coming round, blinking to clear his vision, and trying to back away, but falling on his ass again.

"General, I-"

"Shut up." He did, fear filling his eyes as Cassian approached, "I would suggest never attacking my mate again, unless you want to deal with me, and I promise I will be a lot less understanding than her. If I have anything to do with it, you won't be walking home, in fact, you won't be walking for a long time." The male inched away, still on the floor, glancing around for his friends, but finding no support, "Try treating females like people, understood?"

"Yes, sir." He lowered his gaze, desperate to get away from Cassian's attention, and sighed when he turned back to Nesta, leaving him far behind.

Cassian draped an arm over Nesta's shoulders when he reached her,

"I think we've made enough of a scene for one day."

"Oh no you don't, you're not just going to pretend that didn't just happen."

"What?"

"Mate. Since when was that a thing?"

"Since now. Like, right now."

"You're an idiot." She chuckled, "Has to make a scene out of it, huh? You couldn't wait to finish training and tell me first?"

"First? Does that mean you want it?"

"Of course it does, what do think we've been doing the past month?"

"Fucking?"

"Well, yes, but no, not just that," she paused, trying to find the words, but just pressed against his side, wrapping an arm around his waist, resorting to touch to communicate how she felt,

"Yeah, I love you too." He whispered, kissing the top of her head as they walked off the pitch together.

[yyxy-seph]

Post Insane! Sephiroth X Black girl! Reader

𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓈𝒾𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓈 pt.1

Part 2

Part 3

Warning: SUPER fucking cheesy! And I’m a relatively new FFVII fan so some of my wordings might be kind of weird. But if you want more content like this from me, just hit the heart!

Also, I’ve changed some of the events in the storyline. Avalanche hasn’t attacked Shinra just yet! But Sephiroth has already had his insane streak.

Context: Zack & Cloud set Y/N up on a blind date w/ Seph! Here, we will discover an interesting history between Seph and the reader as well as witness their adorable date!

————-

“Y/N, come here.” Zack ordered once more. I let out another sigh of frustration at how he had set me up on a blind date with no warning.

He said that he was tired of watching me worry over the thought of not being able to find a fine man, get married, and have kids as a SOLDIER.

So he set me up on a blind date with a tiny bit of input from Cloud. I know right? As if he really cares about stuff like this. But Cloud has been acting really strange about it and it kinda upsets me how they’re making plans without my input.

Before I left the SOLDIER territory, Cloud showed up just to tease me. On my way out he said “He’ll never be just a memory to you, you love him too much.”

What does that even mean? He also said that this guy I’d be meeting is a pretty, popular ex- SOLDIER.

Zack told me not to lift one finger in preparation for the date since he was planning it all. He even picked my outfit.

A little black dress with a turtleneck, low slit in the front, and cinched waist. It also had silver buttons and bows along the back. The heels were probably the most interesting part though.

They were gladiator-style, thigh-high sandals with a chunky heel. But, they weren’t just ordinary heels. They had a shuriken intruding in the back that could also be used during battle. How stylish!

I gotta give it to Zack. He could be a part-time stylist. He even called the shoes “cute and dangerous”.

He entered my view with his regular gleam in his eyes.

“I think you’ll really like this guy. He’s just your type-badass, first-class...well, former SOLDIER, long hair, certainly committed, and kinda fucking crazy-“

“I’m not sure if that description helped much for my worries.” I cut him off.

He laughed nervously but continued, reassuring me it’d be ok.

“But no really, you’re just his type too! Pretty, curvy, great fighter, determined. He really likes bad girls, and to me, you’re pretty damn bad on the field. You can fight your ass off! Proves why you’re first-class!”

A smile spread across my face.

“That’s very sweet of you, Zack. That’s why you’re my best friend!”

He beamed in return. “No problem. But one more thing before you go in.” He said more seriously.

“Okay...”

“If he goes bat-shit crazy again and tries to hurt you, yell for me as loud as you can. Promise me.”

“Again?? And I can handle myself, Zack.”

“I know you can! Just promise me.” He said, holding my hands and tightening his grip.

“Fine. I promise.”

“Now go blow his mind with those mako-infused eyes!”

I chuckled at his words and went into the room, one step at a time in my heels.

It was a restaurant. The walls were painted the vermillion shade of red. Black stripes were also painted in certain spots, accentuating a romantic vibe.

“Where is he, where is he?” I asked myself with each step. I was starting to get nervous. All those years of fighting off countless enemies and this is what has me the most anxious and uncomfortable.

Just then, I spotted a man sitting by himself as if he was waiting on someone to join. He had silver locks from what I could see but his head was turned to the kitchen of the restaurant so his face remained mysterious.

I sat down on the empty seat in front of him, curious to meet this man.

He turned his head swiftly, to the sound of me placing my hands on the glass table.

“Hey- SEPHIROTH??”

His cutely shaped lips rose in attraction.

“Hello, princess.” He responded.

I was completely and utterly shocked. Sephiroth, the best warrior in Shinra. The guy who lost his mind and caused the Nibelheim incident. The guy who is somehow still good looking to me even after all the fucked up shit he did. The silver haired man of my dreams who broke my heart when I was younger.

Even though we’ve had little to do with each other in the past, he still meant a lot to me until he faded from my mind. That is, after he went insane.

He liked me, I liked him. It was evident. We were young and in the SOLDIER program. He took up my mental space rather than training. I liked him that much. But he was more focused on his training and never considered dating. He just thought I was a pretty face and that we’d be nothing more.

He worked his way up to first class through his amazing fighting ability while I stayed behind due to my lack of interest. Fighting was just a thing to do. It was never too important to me.

The night before the Nibelheim incident, we shared a kiss. He snuck to my dorm out of curiosity (and desperation due to his previous conversation with Genesis), it seemed. He said, “ if we were to have a relationship, I need to have a good fighter and a good kisser. If you fail at one thing, you must perfect the other. Otherwise, we never know what could be.”

I sat up on my bed and pressed my lips against his. He leaned in more, deepening it. Soon, we were making out. Until, we weren’t.

He just left after that. No words were spoken. He just slid on his coat and left.

The next night, he’d lost his mind. And once the word had spread that this happened, my heart was instantly broken.

I thought things like, ‘Why would he do such a thing?’, ‘He didn’t love me.’, ‘I would’ve been there for him through all this chaos’, ‘He just played with my emotions and used me’, ‘He didn’t like the kiss’, and so on.

With my new wound, I decided to nurture it by taking my frustrations out during training. I trained as hard as I could, making my way up to first class. Everyone was shocked, especially Cloud. He thought he’d never see the day that I took training seriously.

But here I am. And now I’m in front of my past love, Sephiroth, who never seemed to care about me and... now does? Why did Zack set me up like this?

“I-I can’t believe I’m on this date with you right now.” I admitted with crossed arms and growing hatred.

His green cat-like eyes sparkled under the florescent lights. “Sure, you can’t. But you are. And there’s no turning back now.”

“Oh, yes there is.” I shot back while getting up.

He leaned forward over the table and laid his hand on top of mine, grasping it in his clutch. “I left you...and I’m sorry for that, but I’m not letting you leave.”

He flashed another attractive glare while more of his long hair fell over his shoulder, revealing once more that it was him.

Uh, I hate myself for still thinking he’s handsome.

“Why should I stay?” I asked, half-way giving in already.

“Because I won’t hurt you like I did before.”

I sighed, still being disappointed.

“Tuh, it’s only a matter of time before you’re blowing my head off or impaling me with your masamune.”

“Baby, I would never, never you.” He stated with promising eyes.

The nickname caught me off guard, making me fall a bit more for him.

“Just sit down and I’ll tell you everything. I swear. The truth and nothing but.”

I gazed down at his hand, still caressing mine, and back up at his green eyes.

I can’t believe I’m giving into this.

“Start talking.”

He began while I sat back down.

“I never meant to hurt you, really. I just didn’t intend to be in a relationship at that time or do the things I did the next night.”

“Why did you get my hopes up that night then?” I questioned, still being defensive.

“I-I just c-couldn’t control myself. I didn’t know how I felt about you. But now I do.”

“And now I’m supposed to sit here and take you back just like that? What about how I feel?” I replied and continued.

“Will you be able to control yourself if I piss you off one day, or is that the old Seph?” How do I know you’re telling me the truth and not just using me again?”

“Y/N, I don’t expect you to believe me or take me back but just hear me out.”

“I’m waiting...”

“The night I found out the entirety of my origins, I just couldn’t deal. I’d been lied to my whole life so far and had a deep feel for anger and assassination. I hated Shinra, I hated everything. My mind had gone elsewhere and that wasn’t me. I’ve calmed down and found the real reason for my existence. And that’s being a great SOLDIER, saving the planet, being the fine man you wanted, and giving you the world.”

Not gonna lie, his words were really touching. I could see the sincerity in him. But I still wasn’t ready to give in just yet.

“It’s that easy?” I asked.

“It’s only that easy if you show me the way. I need you. I want you.”

More silence and confliction rolled through me as I started realizing he might be telling the truth.

[bonefall]

I was never able to really get a feel for Leafpool's personality in the books, especially since she's always contrasted with Squirrelflight who has a pretty consistent personality (at least for Warriors standards). She's kind of like Hollyleaf where they change her personality depending on what they want to happen in the plot I think. How do you approach writing her? I'm really fond of your Spottedleaf, so I was wonder if Leafpool has any fun quirks like her.

[ID: Leafpool from Warrior Cats. She is chunky, has a mane, and green eyes. Her stripes are horizontal.]

I approach Leafpool as being VERY tired. Her life is characterized as never really being in control of her own fate, being punished for any simple pleasures she takes tenfold, so I write her as becoming very defeatist. Poor girl.

Because Leafpool is never in REAL control, somehow, it gives her this air that she's in total control. You can't scare her. StarClan can tell her that her kids are cursed, Hollyleaf can tell her to kill herself, Bramblestar can jump in front of her and snarl, she's never more than briefly phased. "Yeah sure this may as well happen."

In a way, she's almost the total opposite of Jayfeather, who never met a rule he wasn't willing to punch. It is interesting that each one of the Three has a unique relationship to the fate that chains up Leafpool.

Allows herself to love Mothpaw... war breaks out and Moth has to return to RiverClan.

Tries to warn Squilf about Brambleclaw in spite of StarClan wanting them to be together, first fight with her sister ever.

Runs off with Crowfeather, returns home to find out her mentor died before she could say goodbye.

Gives birth, allows Squilf to take them, eventually gets threatened by Hollyleaf.

(side note: i am considering leafpool's name being an honor title, with her old name being Leafstripe, and Squirrelpaw failing two assessments just like Nightheart)

But a big change in my rewrite is that the dramatic scenes that aren't consistent with that resigned sorrow go to Crowfeather. He's a complete and utter ham. Leafpool isn't out here trying to name Hollykit 'Crowkit' or confessing her unwavering love for him in front of his wife and child, THAT is Crowfeather making an ass of HIMSELF in front of that wife and child lmao.

Leaf's feelings are more complicated and repressed. Hard life.

On the bright side though, there ARE changes from canon so that the Clan has more nuanced feelings about her instead of her whole life being a nonstop beatdown.

Most of ThunderClan, which heavily leans Fire Alone, agrees that Leafpool did the right thing by giving her kits to Squilf to invoke the Queen's Rights. Sure she lapsed, but Fire Alone cats are softer on the Cleric's Vow in general.

Bramblestar demoting her in Cruel Season has a VERY mixed reception. It's Leafpool!! Leafpool Moonpool!!!

Her death many years later in the Sister Raid actually tanks Bramblestar's reputation. It was seen as cruel, pointless, and avoidable, and they lost a very popular and experienced Cleric.

(side note again: still considering how the 'unclear sign' plot beat is going to go in my rewrite, because i cannot imagine jayfeather not just lying about that. "yeah yeah yeah they said yes bramblestar, im supposed to heal this cat obviously. move.")

Misc Design Stuff:

She's got a mane that you can see on Dovewing too, since Dove is Leaf's grandchild now.

Like Sandstorm, uncle Longtail, and grandpaw Runningwind, Leafpool's stripes are horizontal.

I'm still doing research into what she has specifically, but Bonefall Leafpool is intersex. Those are stud jowls.

Considering the cat version of PCOS because it explains a lot; weight gain, a receding hairline that could be shared with Lionblaze, the jowls as a facial hair parallel, difficult pregnancy, etc.

Still doing my research though.

And lastly, Mothpool is endgame in this Rewrite. They can never be together officially, but it's about the yearning. It's about finding freedom with your escapist fantasy partner or being in shackles with your true love. She chose the CHAINS.

[xtrippydragonx]

About Me

Why am I doING THIS FUCK HOW DO YOU WRITE THESE

Uhhh sup, y’all can call my Casey or Rex. I’m 21 (birthday is May 29th), a woman, and I like to draw and play vidya gamez. I’m also autistic so if I ever seem awkward in an interaction, that’s probably why lmao. Most of my blog consists of the stuff you’d typically expect on a tumblr blog; funny posts and fandom stuff. It is also worth noting that as I am an adult, this blog will occasionally contain content with adult themes.

This blog is basically just for my niche interests/hyperfixations and random shit. On this blog, you’ll find (almost exclusively reblogged) content for the following:

Corpse Bride (I’m most known for this hyperfixation)

Popee the Performer

Pokèmon

Doki Doki Literature Club (Yuri IS best girl and I WILL fight you in a Denny’s parking lot over this)

Breath of the Wild (Yes my favorite champion is Mipha, no I am not ok)

Danganronpa (mostly V3 but sometimes the other games as well)

Warrior Cats (Runningnose is my favorite character)

Minecraft

Left 4 Dead

Criminal minds

Here’s some other things I’m interested in but either haven’t really had a chance to dive into, or aren’t hyperfixations:

Kid Icarus: Uprising

Tales From Moominvalley (I’m also somewhat interested in The Moomins Return!)

Beastars

ENA

Payday (the second game, specifically)

Bojack Horseman

The Walten Files

Harmony and Horror

Five Nights at Freddy’s

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

SCP Foundation

Sally Face

Poppy Playtime (wanna be clear that no, I do not support the creators morally and have no plans to support them financially- but the game is cool and the talent that the devs put into it is worth acknowledging!)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (I’ve only watched the anime tho so I’m currently clueless abt anything past Stone Ocean lmao)

The Blacklist

One Piece (RIP Ryunosuke ;-; I promise that’s not a spoiler lmao)

Zombieland Saga

My ask box is always open! Whether you wish to discuss theories or opinions about a shared fandom, get to know me better, or anything else, you’re always welcome to send something my way! I love and am honored when people are interested in my ramblings, so never worry that you’re bothering me or anything, I promise you’re not.

Sometimes you’ll occasionally see some random tags on a post I’ve rebloged. This is a guide to what they mean!

‘Favs’: my favorite posts! Sometimes they’re fandom related, sometimes I just think they’re funny.

‘S.I’: stands for “self indulgent”, it’s basically a tag of me being thirsty for fictional characters (mostly Victor Van Dort). Fair warning, a good portion of it is NSFW because I have brain rot and need to be banished to the shadow realm bc horny jail isn’t enough for me anymore.

‘Answered asks’: every ask I’ve answered, compiled under a tag for your convenience! If you’re interested in my thoughts/opinions/theories/etc about corpse bride, this tag is a good place to start.

‘Might come in handy’: things that I want to save incase I need them later. Mostly drawing references/tutorials, but there’s some other things scattered about this tag as well.

‘Vent tag’: A tag where I can reblog posts with ideas or feelings I strongly relate to; I tag all my negative reblog posts with this. It will likely contain themes of depression, anxiety, trauma, suicidal ideation, etc. If this sort of content is a trigger, I would recommend blacklisting this tag.

‘A hot original on tungle dot hellsite’: all of the posts that I’ve made! This tag is a WIP so bear with me lol.

Also, please note that I am only human, and, again, autistic. This means that I may sometimes say or do the wrong thing. If I do this, it is probably because of human error, rather than malice. Please assume this is the case and let me know so I can correct my mistake. I try to make sure I don’t reblog from anyone sketchy but sometimes I can’t find a post anywhere else so if that occurs, reblogging does NOT equal endorsement here!!

Whelp, that’s about all I can think of for now. I’ll probably update this post as time goes on! Thanks a lot for reading; I hope you enjoy your visit to my little corner of the internet! Stay as long as you need, traveler /ᐠ๑•ω•ᐟ\ฅ

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain:  Chapter 611:  Fellowship:  Part III/III

Yang watched Jaune absolutely devoure the food in front of him. "Look at you go." she said.

"Do you know how much energy it takes to regenerate?" he asked, then paused, holding the bowl in front of his face. A the room was filled with a pregnant silence that lasted for nearly a minute.

"Yes." Yang simply said, followed by another palpable pause, "Do you know what got me off my ass to take care of myself?" she asked, but Jaune just stared at her with the bowl in front of his face. He eventually shook his head barely enough to be perceptable. "You and Ruby." Jaune sucked in his noodles, quickly chewed and then swallowed them.

"I, what?" Jaune asked.

"You were the one who forced me to get off my ass." Yang said, "For the most part, dad just let me pout."

"And..." Jaune asked, "that's... bad?"

"Wait?" Weiss accusingly asked.

"You pout?" Blake asked him.

"Like... all the time?" Jaune asked. "I kind of thought that was obvious, but I guess not."

"Come on." Blake stated, "If you were sad all the time, Ruby would probably use a Petal Burst tackle."

Ruby started shifting back and forth quite visibly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Ruby?.." Jaune asked.

"Oh... I mean... kind of... Okay, yes, I DO want to Petal Burst tackle you whenever you get sad, but, I kind of figured you would get mad... or something... I mean, why does Nora get to ride on you like a backpack but not me?!"

"She what?" Weiss asked.

"Oh?," Jaune asked, "Nora has like ridiculously good long range vision."

"And why doesn't she just... float up?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, psht." Nora stated, "I have a teensy problem of not always coming back. I mean, Jaune practically has me on a leash, but not in like in a fun way. But riding on his back IS really fun?"

Ruby quickly stood up and vigorously pointed at Nora with a foot on the table. "Oh, yeah!?" Ruby asked, "Well, I PROBABLY WOULDN'T COME BACK EITHER IF I COULD FLY LIKE YOU CAN!" Ruby then put her feet on the table, "So there!" She then turned her head to see Weiss glaring at her furiously. "What?" Ruby asked.

"Really?" Weiss asked, "I don't mean to seem Weissy, but, SHOES - ON THE TABLE?!"

"Easy, Ice Queen," Yang stated, "don't blow your stack."

"I'll show you blowing my stack," Weiss said to her, and a Glyph appeared beneath Yang. The Glyph pulled the chair out from under her, causing her to collapse on the ground.

"DID YOU REALLY JUST DO THAT?!" Yang asked, and then a beat passed before she started laughing out loud. Ruby and Nora quickly joined her. Weiss and Blake simply smiled and breathed in deep. "Good one, Linnet." Yang said to her. "Classic."

"Indeed?" Weiss asked.

"Sorry," Jaune stated, "I kind of lost our place. The conversation just seems to be... jumping around... a bit..."

"I thought you had like seven sisters?" Yang asked.

"And I learned to just sit here quietly," Jaune stated, "when the conversation jumps all over the place. Where were we?"

"Nora just suggested you put her and Ruby in leashes." Blake stated, and this caused Weiss to let out a loud, bellowing scoff, following by a few huffs.

"We do have a tendancy to run away." Nora added.

"Well, yeah." Ruby said, still pointing at Nora.

"You can run away together." Yang added.

Blake looked over at Ren, "Not worried about that?" Blake asked.

"I believe I will follow my leader's example." Ren stated.

"Meaning what?" Weiss asked.

"Discretion," Ren voiced, "is often the best part of valour."

"But charging in head first," Nora added, "is still pretty cool."

"I know!" Ruby added.

"I'm all for an angry headbutt." Yang added, "But we can't leave Jaune behind."

"I'm getting used to fighting from the outside." Jaune voiced.

"And that... means?.." Oscar asked.

"Easy, buddy." Jaune stated, "I am by far the slowest one here."

"Oh, pfft." Nora stated, "It's not like you're stupid."

"I mean... literally..." Jaune voiced, "I'm like the only one here who doesn't have some great mobility skill. The only way for me to get from point A to point B is to walk."

"Unless you want to get rockets or something." Yang stated. "I could recommend a guy."

"I mean," Jaune voiced, "I have a view of the conflict from the outside. It's a disavantage, but also an advantage. I'm learning to contribute what I can, when I can."

"And he took out as many Goliaths as Qrow did." Ren stated.

RWBY then quickly looked at him and stared.

"Well, that's one way to let the cat out of the bag." Qrow added. He then stared at Blake until she turned and their eyes met, and this caused Yang to start snickering.

"To prevent this from slipping out of control," Aurora voiced, "Jaune and Ren needed funding for the rings, and Qrow suggested they go on a Hunt."

"Without us?!" Yang asked.

"That does kind of support the secret part of it." Ren continued.

"Okay, yeah, but..." Yang said, and then leaned towards Jaune, looking him square in the eyes. Jaune gave her a stronger gaze in return, and put his hand into the centre.

"After what happened," Jaune stated, "none of us are safe, no matter where we are. Whatever we do, we do as a team."

"And Jaune is our FEARLESS LEADER!" Nora shouted, as she put her hand in his his.

"I was thinking more of a brotherhood." Jaune stated.

"Like a knightly order?" Blake asked.

"Uh... I guess?" Jaune asked.

"Then," Ren continued, "as our Chapter Master." and put his hand in.

Jaune fretted as he looked at him.

"Oh, I'm in!" Ruby shouted, and put her hand in, before pulling it away, "wait, aren't I our leader, too?!"

"Our figurehead." Ren stated, causing Blake to snicker.

"Wait, that was a joke?" Yang asked.

"Perhaps?" Ren said with a smile.

"Less talk, more hands." Nora said, causing Yang to laugh out loud.

"But I'm a leader, too!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Of course you are." Jaune said, looking her in her eyes. Quickly, she nervously looked away.

"A lance?" Ren asked.

"Would that make Ruby a Baronette?" Blake asked.

"I suppose." Ren stated, "Along with making Jaune a Baron."

"Wait..." Jaune voiced.

"And I suppose," Ren continued, "we would be his honour guard."

"Wait..." Jaune repeated.

"No time to wait, Leader." Nora said to him, and looked the others in the eyes.

"Wait!" Jaune said louder, and everyone quieted down, "Ruby tells us where to go. I decide how we get there. That make sense?"

"Indeed." Ren stated, and Blake put her hand in, too.

"So, I'm a leader?" Ruby asked.

"Nope." Jaune said to her with a smile. She stared into his eyes for a moment before putting her hand in.

"And just why?," Weiss asked, as she put her hand in, "does that make you two so happy?"

"It's a secret." Jaune and Ruby said at the same time. Ruby then looked around, realized she was the only one who's hand wasn't in the middle 'Wait,' Ruby thought to herself, 'when did Yang put her hand in?' Ruby shook her head and put her hand in as well, only to have Aurora and Ilia join. Qrow silently sauntered over and put his hand in. Oscar then looked between everyone.

"Should... I put my hand in?" he asked, and everyone looked at everyone else's face. When Jaune was satistifed that no one else was going to answer, her turned to look at Oscar,

"That's between you an Oz." Jaune stated. "I guess we've never pointed it out, as far as we're concerned, we don't think you have any obligation."

"I mean, like," Nora said, "obviously we want Professor Ozpin to help us, right?"

"Well, yeah..." Jaune voiced.

"I'm..." Oscar stated, "I'm..." he tried once again and he put his hand in, "I want to help. At least what I can. I know I'm not a warrior yet."

"I wasn't that long ago, either." Jaune stated. "It's been a year and a half since I started at Beacon."

"And, before that?" Oscar asked, and Jaune just shrugged.

"Wait?" Blake asked, "You... didn't go to a combat school?"

"Nope." Jaune stated.

"You... didn't learn to fight outside of the kingdoms?" she continued.

"I didn't know what Aura was until Pyrrha taught me." Jaune stated.

"And, when was that?" Weiss asked.

"Oh?" Jaune asked, and let out an extremely disturbing laugh followed by a sigh. "After..." he barely voiced, "I fell..."

"Fell where?" Yang asked.

"Into the Emerald Forest..." Jaune nervously stated.

"THE WHAT?!" RWBY all collectively asked. Oscar, Ilia, and Aurora all sat in stunned silence. Qrow simply looked on with what almost looked like a smile. A great shadow flew over them, and Qrow walked up to the patio.

"You kids are going to want to see this." Qrow stated. He stepped aside as everyone filed out and looked up, only to see an Atlasian airfleet.

[and-the-world-is-quiet-here]

Of stormy nights and sorrows

The night was dark and stormy. Of course all nights in Gotham were dark and stormy, but this one seemed to be particularly vengeful, pummeling the ground with strong whips of water, and throwing saplings like ragdolls. Causing chaos in homeless shelters as vagabonds scrambled for a place with walls and windows. The rain was so great that it had caused all the usual suspects to run for shelter, emptying the streets faster than black bats glare ever could - Cass was just a little jealous. But no crime meant no vigilantes, and dad would never put his kids out in a hurricane just to save some cats in trees. 

“But father, you can’t be serious! Rain should be no match for a warrior of my caliber!” Cass didn’t understand the words but she could feel the insult behind them. 

Jason started in too, desperate to get out of the manor “Yeah b we’ll be fine! You can’t keep us here anyway! I am a grown ass adult” 

Dad grunted, his standard response for any kind of disobedience. 

Turning his back to the 11 owlish eyes boring holes into his head, he went back to sorting the batarangs tutting as he did. 

Then there was silence, it was long and she didn’t like it. Too long, too quiet for too long, something bad was going to happen, she could tell. She shifted uneasily on her perch, preparing to move at the first sign of trouble. She did want another argument there had been to many already. 

It was oppressive. 

Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. And oh! Steph finally broke, she had been expecting it (steph may as well have been screaming her intention) but the loud noise still startled her 

“Oh my god Bruce! Will you speak in sentences for once in your goddamn life!” 

Bruce-dad tensed unnoticeably and she watched him with a closer eye from her nest on the banister. He prepared himself as if to give a speech, but only managed to spit out “Its cold, and nobodys out there anyway. The last thing we need is one of you getting sick.” 

Silence, silence that stretched out miserably and then…. “I’m gonna go play among us, anyone want to join?” 

“Oh my god Duke read the room”  

“Oh shut up duke some of us are actually are actually used to not spending the night scaring the crap out of our neighbors and work 9-5 like a normal person” 

Huh she thought neighbor…neghibor…“Ne-i-gh-b-or” she mouthed the word, (And what a word), neighbor she concluded must mean criminal.

 In her distraction her siblings had disappeared and she shifted uneasily. She had let her walls down too far, and lost track of her family. That would need to be amended. 

Now, the two loneliest residents were left to brood in silence--plus one of course, when those two were alone it was always with a hidden plus one. 

Dad still leaned over the table, gripping it with both hands like his life depended on it. 

He was worried, that much was obvious to anyone, It was all over  his face. 

But Cass knew better than to take it at face value, she examined other parts too. Everyone relied on faces too much she thought, when they really didn’t tell you that much. It was better to look at muscle; muscle, skin, and bone, they tell you the whole story. 

He was worried, but it was more than that. He was….scared, his whole body screamed “PROTECT!” as if he had tooo…he had tooo… oh what was it he had to .. yes! He had to shield them! He had to shield them, his body yelled “PROTECT!” He stood like he was the last person between evil and family. 

What a silly thought! He didn’t need to worry, she would always stand between evil and family. 

“tt” 

Dad sighed, “Father while I understand your decision to preserve the health of your soldiers, it should go without being said that I will be joining you tonight” 

Dad’s nostrils flared, his arms tensed, and his feet shifted into a wider stance - a fighting stance. 

Oh no, bad, bad, bad, bad. Dad…no…Batman slammed the batarang on the table, and turned to Damian, 

“And why? Why is that Damian? Why do you constantly have to put yourself into danger just to prove your worth? You are not a soldier! You have never been a soldier! Your siblings are not soldiers!" Batman took a step forward pointing his finger towards Damian. 

“YOU are an angry CHILD and if I was anyone else, you would be in bed by now. But I don’t make you. I LET you be robin, because I thought it would be good for you, But maybe I shouldn’t have” 

Dad sighed and turned back to the table. The tension left his shoulders, and he slumped. He was more “SAD!” then angry, he was hurt and the “PROTECT!” crumbled into "Regret!", Cass looked the other way. 

Dad was calming down but Damian was just getting started, he let out an angry shriek. 

Flashes of a memory danced across his face, dimming his eyes,, setting his mouth, and furrowing his brow until he was a mirror of Dad,but one filled by “SAD!“ not “PROTECT!” “You underestimate me father, I am the heir to the dragon. I have already received more training then Brown ever will! I wield a sword better than Thomas can! Yet you insist on keeping these deadweights around despite their worthlessness!” 

 She inched closer, bad, this was bad, it was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, ba-“SLAM!” 

Dad dropped the Batarang and whirled around, murder in his eyes. 

“No, no, you don’t get to speak about your siblings that way! You are not better than them! NO ONE is better than them! Stephanie could lift you over her head like you were nothing! Duke saves dozens of people everyday, no, you don’t get to speak about them that way. They earned their place here!” 

Damian was scared now. He curled in on himself, radiating sadness. 

“Get out!” Dad grit out in the silence 

“GET OUT NOW!” 

then the sound of fleeting footstep and a depressed sigh. 

She came out of the shadows, she had hid long enough. She let her feet touch the ground just long enough to let it be known that she was there and left, leaving a whisper of a touch on the shoulders of her father, and a simple string of signs pressed into her fathers back 

“Not mad at little brother, mad at the people who made him that way.” A sorrow comfort but a comfort nonetheless.

She bade her time and lied in wait, it would be no use to comfort him now when he was still upset. So instead she made use of her freedom, wandering the halls in search of her siblings, changing day clothes into pajamas, tinkering and going through her positions. 

When at last she deemed it time, she made her way over to the vent. It lifted easily off the wall, the screws that held it there having long since been removed. Even easier though, was climbing into it, the vents were from the original part of the manor-meaning they were huge and someone as small as Cass had no trouble fitting in them. What was a struggle though, was stealth, she found after many tries that walking on the palms of her hands worked best. So that was how Cass moved, arriving steadily in a vertical shaft that required only 2 quick bounds to clear. 

She landed elegantly as all ways, and nearly looked to Cain for approval before she remembered that she was not there, that she was safe. Well, as safe as you can be perched precariously on a loose rafter in a 300 year old attic. 

Quietly, she padded along and picked up the sniveling mess that was Damian and made her way back to sanctuary. He would sleep through it, she had made sure of it, a journey through the vents would be bumpy and she was sure he would not want to be seen in the hallway like this. 

Cass dumped him in the middle of her rug and returned back to her tinkering waiting for him to awaken. 

It took twenty minutes for him to stir, and in the meantime she was treated to the sounds of war and horror sprouting from the mouth of a child. 

When he finally did wake up, he was angry. “Where the hell am I Cain?” 

He looked around bewilderedly before considering her; she knew he was afraid of her. She was the only fighter he had ever been taught to respect “the one who was all” A myth, a monster, a begrudged ally, but not a sister, never a sister. This was yet another thing she had to fix.<br />

She becond him forward with her hand, keeping her eyes carefully on her working hands. He approached cautiously and sat

“Cain” 

“little brother”

“I am not your brother" 

“and I am not a Cain” it was a stalemate neither would relent so she switched topics 

“Come help” 

“And why would I? I owe you nothing.” she paused 

“Because you are tired, but you will fight sleep. Come little brother, help”

 “tt fine” 

He scooted closer, sitting barley a foot away from her now. For the first time, he looked at the diorama, and she, him. The display was sprawling, an exact replica of Wayne manor and its grounds, scaled down to size. It was placed on a low custom fit dining table, one barley the height of a Japanese tea table (similar to one Cass could remember from her childhood). The house wasn’t finished of course, that would be no fun if it was finished; and while some would say it was “good enough” (like Babs when she wanted Cass to spend her time reading or writing) she would not compromise, it had to be perfect. 

“What would you like to build little brother” Damian paused and she saw fear flash across his face. Ahh so decisions scared him, she could work with that 

“How about we do the menagerie”  

“why?” 

“Its not done and you know it best” Damian scrunched his brown frustrated at not being understood 

“No why come and get me? Why build this? And if you care for it so much why let me help you?” 

She turned to him, in her stupor she had neglected to look at him and she cursed herself for it. She stumbled, she had to do something, but she was lost at what to do, he needed words, she had none of those. He needed signs, she had many but it felt like not enough. So instead she settled for a hug and found she herself satisfied with it 

“I love my little brother even if he does not love me, I am hurt and he is hurting so we will hurt together.” She paused and took a steadying silent breath, closing her eyes, and retreating back into herself. 

“I came here, and the world was big and loud. Too much too quickly. I was expected to talk to understand the way they communicate. Their language. But no one tried to understand mine. I know bodies not words. You came here and you knew words, but you did not know bodies. No one acknowledged that. You struggle, you have no Babs, so I will be your Babs.” 

They were crying now. His body was racked with sobs, and he was taking deep shuddering breaths, giving in he fell into another hug, crying loudly into her shoulder. 

He cried for his mother, he cried for the sister and cousin he lost, he cried for the pain he caused his new family, the hatred they felt towards him, and the pain he felt, most of all he cried for the world he had lost and his place in it. 

When he finally stopped, he was empty, a husk of the great Al Ghul heir remained, sniveling in the arms of a bastard child. He had been fractured, chipped away at every day, until even the pieces he held most dear fell away leaving a sad small child. 

Finally she broke the silence holding his face in between his hands “When my world was too big, I made it small, and that way my monsters seemed smaller. They all have ways of dealing with their monsters, they lock them in caves and they lock them in their hearts. It doesn’t work. Don’t do it. Little brother, we must instead find a way to make your world small”

[blackypanther9]

Part 64 - Another Dimension…

The metal footsteps were accompanied with some words. But it sounded like gibberish… Not really a language. Soon there appeared a little group of 5 people, dressed in armor only.

“What are these ?”, Loki asked you in a whispering tone.

“I am not sure… Give me a second…”, you whispered back, trying to remember.

What ? How else do you think you stayed sane by all these Dimensions, Universes, Timelines and other Existences, all these damn years ?

“What do you mean ? Don’t you know them ?”

“Loki…I have other problems. Like…not going insane by all the different Existences and Timelines, that I have to take care of. My brain is deleting or hiding these memories and I will only get them back when I am in the said Dimension. Now give it a damn minute, okay ?”, you whisper – huffed out annoyed.

“Sorry… But that sounds pretty brutal…”

“A small price to keep your Sanity…”

The dressed people were blue, had yellow glowing eyes and a bit of yellow here and there on their armor. Their face was shadowed in utter darkness and not to see. Their helmets had almost the same horns as the Einherjar’s helmets had.

Then it came back like a flash. You smirked and turned to Loki fully.

“I know where we are. This is, in the normal world, aka. your Dimension, in Midgard a Video Game called ‘Mini Ninjas’.”

“So we are in a Game ?”

“No. This one is real. I said in your Dimension on Midgard it would be a Game. But we are INSIDE this Dimension and for that it is more real than you think. This one has a long history and we are still on war against the Ninja… This one is not a child friendly one.”

“Child friendly ?”

“They made that Video Game for little kids and for that very harmless. No blood, no gore, nothing.”

“Oh.”

“Yup.”

“And here it is different ?”

“Pretty much.”, you said, shrugging your shoulders.

You then threw a rock at a tree opposite you and one of them yelled something gibberishly and ran there, alarming the others and they also ran over.

"Who is the bigger one ?"

"That is the leader of the group. He is a Captain."

"Oh...So the highest rang ?"

"No. The highest rang would be the Master, who is the "Evil" Samurai Warrior. And his right hand is the General."

"Who is the General ?"

You were very silent at that.

"Me.", you then said.

Loki stared at you in shock.

"Then why are we still up here ?"

"Just give it a minute, will you ?", you hissed.

Soon they returned to marching up the way.

You climbed down with Loki after that and stood behind them.

“I am not making us known, because you are a Human here. No Magic, nothing. They just react to their own kind and hate Humans. Get it ?”

“Why though ?”

“Because, in this Existence, these Samurai are nothing, but animals, that got made stronger.”

“How…?”

“The Samurai Warrior has Magic, called the Kugi Magic. It is very old Magic. And used wrongly the whole world gets into chaos. Too many Humans killed our kinds just for the fur or something else. My kind is gone… I am the last one of them here. A Tiger, with black fur and white stripes. They killed my family just for the fur… I am the only survivor. Many of us suffered the same, just not being threatened to be extinguished. Still…we were desperate and helpless. And then HE came and gave us a stronger body. But after a few hits…we transform back to what we were before. Just animals. We try to avoid it.”

Loki stared at you.

“That is deep…”, Loki said.

“I know. But that is why we hate Humans.”

“Wow…”

You only nodded but then froze. Loki looked at you worried.

“What is it ?”, he asked.

“Turn around.”, you said.

Loki turned around and now saw the same thing you saw. The Samurai spotted you and stalked closer to you.

“Well shit…”, you cursed.

“Shall we run ?”

“Nope.”

You were suddenly engulfed in light and then were a black Samurai, with yellow glowing eyes and yellow parts on your black armor.

(I know not the best, but hey !)

You were a bit bigger than the Captain and as the Samurai saw you in your Samurai form, they stopped and stared.

“General ?”, the Captain and the other 4 little Samurai asked.

Loki just heard gibberish, you didn’t. You understood them.

“What is it, Captain ?”, you taunted.

“Who is that Human ?”, one of the smaller ones asked and pointed at Loki.

“That is Loki. He is not from this Dimension. We need to talk to the Samurai Warrior. We search something and maybe he can help us.”

“Are you sure he is safe ?”, the next from the smaller ones asked in distrust.

You looked at the second little Samurai.

“I am sure. He hates hunting and killing animals. Since he was a kid he hated it.”

“And he wasn’t lying ?”, the third asked.

“He wasn’t. I know when he lies. I am friends with him since we were children in his Dimension.”

“I guess we should trust him. The General never lied before. He is clean.”, the forth said.

“I agree.”, the Captain said.

Soon the other three also agreed. You turned to Loki.

“What have you talked about ?”, he asked.

You transformed back and looked at him.

“They trust you, doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you want. We will go to the Samurai Warrior. It will be a long journey, so buckle up.”

“How long will the journey be ?”, he asked.

“Long. We are halfway through, but we will need a few more days to be there.”

Loki gulped.

“That is a bit long, don’t you think ?”

“In your world just passed 1 minute…”, you deadpanned.

He stared.

“Wait, WHAT ?!”

“Time works differently everywhere.”, you said shrugging your shoulders.

“That is all you can say to that ?!”, Loki screamed in shock.

“What else do you expect of me, Loki ? I work with all of this for many, many, many Millennia.” , you said bored.

Loki stared at you in utter shock.

“I am not disturbed anymore…”, you said and then went to the team of 5 Samurai.

Loki was rooted to place and stared at the trees in utter shock. How many years did you have this burden already ?

That was the only question Loki had in his head. How long are you burdened with this already ?

“You coming, Loki ?”, you called.

As Loki turned around he saw that the group of 5 and you were already leaving. Loki fastly ran next to you.

“Are they accompanying us ?”, he asked you.

“Yes they are. It is their responsibility to get us there, safely.”

“You sure they won’t kill me ?”, Loki asked you scared.

One of the little Samurai turned around and gibberishly said something to Loki. It sounded angered.

As it was done, Loki looked to you.

“What did they say ?”

“If you don’t shut up and accuse them of bad things, he will gladly kill you.”, you answered him.

Loki stared at the little Samurai.

“I am sorry, if I angered you with my words.”, Loki said.

Again gibberish.

“Whatever, dumbass.”, you said, chuckling.

Loki stared at you in shock and then at the little Samurai that turned back around and marched with the rest again.

“Harsh. Little, but very mean…”, Loki whispered into your ear.

You laughed.

“Typical little Samurai. They always have a big mouth and are pretty fearless, while the Captain is a scared – y cat. As soon as he has just one of his group left he is already running away from the enemy and screams for help like a little girl.”, you said laughing.

Loki looks at you and then at the Captain that looked down in shame for a minute.

“Why was he created like that ?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be, but something went wrong and the Samurai Warrior can’t fix it anymore.”, you explained, shrugging your shoulders.

Part 65

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