#zephyr's paws pack

[pupsmailbox]

CROW︰BIRD ID PACK

NAMES ⌇ adreinne. aero. alouette. altair. aoife. arden. aria. arno. aster. astor. ava. avian. aviana. azure. baz. beckett. blackwell. blair. blythe. bram. branson. branwen. brielle. briggs. brooklyn. byrd. cale. callum. canary. cardinal. carlton. carrie. carrion. celeste. chaos. chirp. ciel. circe. claw. collectoresse. collectorette. colm. corbett. corbin. corrie. corva. corvid. corvus. crane. crawford. creston. crosby. cross. crow. crown. dade. daya. dove. doverie. dovesse. draco. dracoonia. draven. enda. ezio. falcon. feather. featheresse. featherette. featherine. finch. fletcher. gavin. hawk. heron. hunter. jay. jaybird. jemima. jinx. jonah. jonas. kale. koko. krow. lark. lilith. lonan. lowen. luna. maggi. maggie. magpie. masie. mavis. melody. merle. merope. midnight. minnie. morticia. nevermoresse. nevermorette. noir. noire. noiresse. noirette. nym. nyx. onyx. ophelia. orev. oriole. orpheus. ozul. paloma. phoenix. pigeon. poe. prophess. raven. ravenesse. ravenette. ravin. robin. sephora. sequoia. skye. songbird. sparrow. swan. talon. torres. trinkesse. trinkette. tweety. valerie. vega. vera. volya. whistle. wing. wingesse. wingette. wren. zephyr. ákos.

PRONOUNS ⌇ adore/adore. ae/aer. av/avi. beak/beak. bill/bill. bird/bird. black/black. ca/caw. cage/cage. caw/caw. chirp/chirp. chrip/chirp. chyr/chyr. claw/claw. cloud/cloud. collector/collector. coo/coo. corv/corv. corvid/corvid. corvus/corvid. cro/crow. crow/crow. dark/dark. dove/dove. fea/feather. feather/feather. finch/finche. flight/flight. float/float. flock/flock. fluff/fluff. fly/fly. fruit/fruit. grain/grain. hawk/hawk. hum/hum. hy/hym. jay/jay. melody/melodie. midni/midnight. murder/murder. myr/myr. nest/nest. nevermore/nevermore. night/night. owl/owl. paw/paw. peck/peck. perch/perch. plume/plume. proph/prophecy. raven/raven. reincarn/reincarnation. river/river. robin/robin. seed/seed. shy/hyr. sing/sing. sky/skie. soa/soar. soar/soar. song/song. spar/sparrow. star/star. swan/swan. talon/talon. thy/thym. trinket/trinket. tweet/tweet. ve/ve. whistle/whistle. wing/wing. 🐔 . 🐣 . 🐤 . 🐦 . 🐦‍⬛ . 🐧 . 🕊 . 🕊️ . 🖤 . 🗑️ . 🦃 . 🦅 . 🦆 . 🦉 . 🦚 . 🦜 . 🦢 .

[hampaanirvi]

Cats & liminality NPTs

— Marloi, Cattie, Limien, Lottie, Aisling, Arwen, Eowyn, Luca, Littie, mirror, Bracken, Brook, Briar, Pixie, Evander, Orion, Zephyr, Cassius, Knox, Lucien, Graves

— cat/cats, fe/feli/felir/felirs/felidself, back/room/backrooms, limi/nal/liminar/liminars/liminalself, snarl/snarl, yowl/yowl, hiss/hiss, paw/paws, paw/pads/pawpadself, step/steps, whisk/whisk, static/static, xey/xeire/xeires/xeirs/xeirself, for/lorn/forlornself, eerie/eeries, surreal/surreals, sur/real/surrealself, dead/end,

— The liminal cat, the cat wandering the liminal spaces, the not cat, the creature of the liminality, the liminal wanderer, the felid of the backrooms, the backroom stuck cat, the cat monster, the backroom cat, the disoriented felid, the disorienting felid, the not quite cat, the creature who hunts, the clawing monster, the still water searcher, the drowned creature, the forlorn one, the cat of the forlorn ruins,

Taglist: @npt-archive @id-pack-archive

Requested by 🌊🐈‍⬛ anon :3

[sinnohsiblings]

◀️◀️ for Zephyr??? 👀

There was so much excitement in the air, the Zacian pup's tail wagged wildly as he scampered down the grand white halls of the creator's palace. His father had brought him along to meet Lady Ashani for the first time. This was an exciting moment for any pup in the pack to finally meet the great creator they'd one day pledge their life and loyalty to, well at least once they were old enough to understand the meaning of that pledge.

The pattering sound of Zephys tiny paws filled the halls as he giddily picked up his pace with his father walking father ahead him with an amused smirk. The Zamazenta halting to bow down as a rift tore through the air in front of him. Zephyr paying no mind slammed into his father's back legs and the Zacien pup let out a light "oof" Shaking his head and walking between his father's legs he hid himself under his father as he peered out from under his father's shield-like mane to see who he was bowing to. The warrior Wyrm his mother had told him stories about slithered through the rift, her snake-like form melting seamlessly into a 6-legged dragon, she was so much bigger than the stories made her seem, her cream body only seemed to make her nearly white silver and sapphire blue accents gleam against the contrast of the white halls.

His tail wagged again, making thumbing noises and it slammed against his father's hind legs, Lady Galaria was as inspiring as the stories made her seem. She seemed to pay them no mind as she continued down the adjacent hall, Zephyr almost didn't notice the small green and gold mass of the calf that had nested itself on her back. "It seems Lady Galaria finally birthed her calf." He heard his father say pleasedly, "One day Zephyr you will pledge to protect our newest Lord of the Void. " "Why were they green? Mama said the lords of the void with golden metal could only have red bands. Like Ladia Galaria is silver with blue bands." "Hmm...I don't know, Zypher. Perhaps our newest lord is just someone special even amongst their own kind. Now come, Lady Ashani is waiting for us. I'm certain she will be in excellent spirits given the new arrival."

Zephyr nodded and happily trotted after his father.

[kassgender]

Can I get an ID pack for Dovewing from Warrior Cats please?

✰ DOVEWING ID PACK ; REQUESTED BY ANON

NAMES ;

— Angel , Angie , Dove , Flutter , Flit , Sera , Seraphim , Skye , Nyx , Elsa , Snow , Ingrid , Zephyr , Celeste , Isabeau , Isolde , Odalis , Odette , Luna , Reverie

PRONOUNS ;

— Ice/Ices , Paw/Paws , Betray/Betrays , Honor/Honors , Omen/Omens , Wish/Wish's , Mirage/Mirages , Sound/Sounds , Whisper/Whispers , Echo/Echos , Song/Songs , Hush/Hushes , Shh/Shh's

LABELS ;

— Fallenpridic , Moonstonething , Invernoric , Kittything , Lunarlumic , Aerocattic

TITLES ;

— The Betrayed Heir ; Pronoun who Hears every Breath ; Pronoun who Holds the Power of the Stars ; Pronoun's Gracefulness

[ghostiebeech]

Mushy May Day 3 (Cowbell centered fics): Pre-show Ritual

Hello hello.  Already day 3 damn. I think Cowbell needs more love so I am going to try to do Mushy May centered on my beloved creature Cowbell Ghoul.  I am also running out of Cowbell pics for this.  They should bring the bitch back for this tour.

Rating: Everyone - a little cursing bc Dew.

Pairings: Could be read as Cowbell/Dew, but more pack love.

Word Count: ~764

Summary: Cowbell has magic fingers. (I project through Cowbell my love of braiding people’s hair)

I did not proof read this one damn bit so if you see something weird, no you didn’t.  Enjoy!

Special thanks again to one of my favorite blogs @forlorn-crows​ for compiling the list of prompts.   

Pre/Post Show Ritual

Since the days of Papa Primo, the band ghouls have all had their different pre and post show rituals.  From Omega leading a group chant before the shows to Mist sitting alone for an hour before and after to center themselves.  Ghouls and rituals came and went, but one ritual by a certain gremlin stayed the same throughout the years.

It was known among everybody who knew them that if you had even a little length of hair on your head, Cowbell was braiding it.  Nobody knew exactly the ghoul’s obsession with braiding hair, some thought it soothed the otherwise energetic ghoul, others claimed they did it to be closer to their pack.  Needless to say, Dewdrop was often a willing participant in Cowbell’s braiding.

The second Dewdrop was summoned, long hair flowing down to their waist, a sudden screech of glee rang throughout the summoning room.  Dewdrop, disoriented from the summoning, thought nothing of it, but the other ghouls who had been around Cowbell long enough shared knowing looks.

It took a few days filled with Cowbell staring longingly at Dewdrop’s pretty hair for them to get their claws on it.  

“Why are they always staring at me, Aether?”

Aether looked up from the book he was engrossed in to see who the new water ghoul was talking about.

“Cowbell?”

Dewdrop made a little noise of acknowledgement, staring back at the other ghoul.  

“Cowbell wants your hair.”

Dewdrop almost broke his neck to look at Aether who was laughing.  The water ghoul possessively started pawing at his own hair.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“He wants to braid it, Dew.  He does it to anybody with hair long enough.”

Just then Zephyr walked by sporting a rather neat waterfall braid down both sides of their head.  

Dewdrop was stunned, but still apprehensive at the thought of somebody touching his hair.  

Aether, noticing Dewdrop’s nervousness, responded, “They won’t touch it without your consent, but I think you would look very pretty with a braid in your hair.”

With that, the bigger ghoul gave Dewdrop a quick kiss to the crown of his head and went back to reading.  

After a few minutes of contemplation, Dewdrop slowly walked over to Cowbell, still nervous.  The pair hadn’t had much time to interact yet. 

“Hi, Cowbell.”

Chirp

“Um… I noticed- well Aeth told me you braid hair?”

Happy chirp

“Would you want to braid my hair?”

Extremely pleased trill, roughly translating to “Say less”

After the first time, the braiding sessions became more and more frequent.

The activity formally became a ritual ironically at Dewdrop and Cowbell’s first ritual.  Dewdrop was having trouble keeping all of his hair in his balaclava, getting more frustrated with every try.  Before the tiny ghoul could rip the garment in half, gentle hands started working their way through the tresses.

Dewdrop let out a pleased sigh when he realized what was happening.

“Thank you.”

With skilled hands, Cowbell had the long hair in two dutch braids pinned around Dewdrop’s head in a sort of halo.  

Before every ritual, the pair could be seen backstage speaking together, or in Cowbell’s case making tiny noises that Dewdrop swore he could translate, and braiding.  

After Dewdrops transition from water to fire many things changed.  Papa changed, pack changed, outfits… 

With the new tour and lineup, it was decided that Cowbell would be better suited helping with backstage stuff, retiring from their short lived band ghoul days. The first show of the new tour with a new Papa and new ghouls was an hour away, and the newly formed fire ghoul was running around in a panic.  The rest of the new pack looked upon Dew with a mix of worry and fear.  The little ghoul looked scared and frustrated, worrying at their hair over and over again.  

“Where are they…”

Cirrus was the first to speak up, “Who are you looking for? Papa?”

“Cowbell! I need them.”  

Cirrus looked to the other ghouls in confusion.  

Aether whispered to the ghoulette, “They have a sort of… pre show ritual.  It’s pretty cute.”

Dew continued looking around restlessly, gasping when they spotted Cowbell.

Cowbell was running at Dewdrop with a hairbrush and little baggie of elastics. 

“Where the fuck have you been?! I can’t play without you.”

Cowbell gave Dewdrop a look.

“I’m serious.  I can’t do this without you.”

Cowbell gave Dewdrop a head bonk.  Dewdrop happily returned the sign of affection, grabbing Cowbell’s hand and planted a sweet kiss on the palm.

“Now let’s get this ritual started, love.” 

[drewzeitlin]

Cross Stitch Stories: The Guardian of the Frozen Peaks Part 3

Part 3: The Rivalry

The forest was still as Kael continued his pursuit, the only sound the gentle whisper of snowflakes settling on the ground. The poachers had been driven into the gorge, but the real threat—the cunning lynx named Zephyr—remained at large. The rivalry between Kael and Zephyr was an old one, steeped in battles over territory and dominance, each encounter a test of their skills and cunning.

Zephyr was a shadow in the trees, a flash of movement that kept Kael on edge. The lynx had always been a master of psychological warfare, playing on his opponent’s weaknesses with patience and precision. Today was no different. Kael felt the tension of the hunt, a game of strategy where one false move could tip the balance.

As Kael moved through the forest, he remained vigilant, his senses tuned to every sound and movement. He knew Zephyr would strike when least expected, using the poachers’ presence to his advantage. The lynx was crafty, and his motives remained a mystery, but Kael understood that they must confront each other to determine the true ruler of this domain.

Kael paused near a clearing, the snow beneath his paws untouched and pristine. It was a perfect spot for an ambush, and Kael’s instincts screamed caution. He crouched low, his body merging with the landscape, and scanned the surroundings. The silence was oppressive, the air thick with anticipation.

Then, like a ghost, Zephyr appeared, stepping into the clearing with an air of defiance. His fur was a rich tawny hue, his ears tufted and alert. The lynx’s eyes met Kael’s with a challenge that was unmistakable, a dance of rivalry and respect.

For a moment, they stood in silent appraisal, two predators locked in an ancient battle for supremacy. The poachers were forgotten; this was a contest between them, a clash of titans in a world where only the strongest prevailed.

Kael knew he had to outthink the lynx, to use his knowledge of the territory and his strength to gain the upper hand. He circled the clearing, keeping his gaze fixed on Zephyr, who mirrored his movements with predatory grace.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the distant howl of wolves, a pack roaming the edges of Kael’s territory. It was a reminder of the complex web of alliances and rivalries that defined this wilderness. The wolves respected Kael as the guardian of these lands, but their presence added another layer of complexity to the unfolding drama.

Zephyr’s ears twitched, and Kael saw an opportunity. The lynx’s attention was momentarily diverted, and Kael seized the moment to strike. He lunged forward, a blur of white against the snow, aiming to drive the lynx from the clearing.

But Zephyr was quick, his agility a match for Kael’s strength. The lynx dodged to the side, his claws raking the air where Kael had been moments before. The two predators clashed, a whirlwind of fur and fury, each trying to gain the advantage.

Their battle was fierce but brief, a test of reflexes and strategy. Kael’s power met Zephyr’s speed in a contest that left both panting, their breaths visible in the cold air. For now, it seemed, the contest was a stalemate, neither willing to yield but both wary of the other’s capabilities.

In the distance, the howl of the wolves grew louder, their voices weaving through the trees like a haunting melody. Kael knew they would not intervene unless the balance was threatened, but their presence was a reminder of the broader dynamics at play.

As Kael and Zephyr faced each other, a new sound reached their ears—the panicked cries of the poachers as they stumbled upon the wolf pack. The intruders were being herded away from the gorge, driven deeper into the wilderness by the lupine guardians of the forest.

A silent understanding passed between Kael and Zephyr. For now, their rivalry must wait. The poachers were a threat to them both, and their removal was paramount to preserving the territory’s balance.

Kael gave a low growl, acknowledging Zephyr’s cunning and signaling a temporary truce. The lynx nodded in return, his eyes still bright with the challenge yet to come.

Together, they turned toward the source of the commotion, prepared to drive the intruders from their realm once and for all. The chase was far from over, and the final reckoning with the poachers loomed on the horizon, a threat that united them in a common cause.

As Kael moved through the forest, his mind was clear, his path defined. The lynx at his side was both rival and ally, a reminder that in the wild, nothing was ever as simple as it seemed. The game of survival continued, and Kael was ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

Come back tomorrow to find out what happens.

This story was brought to you by the Cross Stitch Pattern Animals Mammals Snow Panther With Story and Audio. Not only does this design look great, but it also tells a powerful chase story, with an audio recap included. The hero of our tale, Kael, highly recommends it. For more information, visit drewzeitlin.gumroad.com/l/panther. You can see all our cross-stitch patterns at DrewZeitlin.gumroad.com This is not your great-grandmother’s cross-stitch—it’s a multi-sensory experience! And one more thing: you get to choose the price. What do you have to lose? But how much do you have to gain?

[jatlokgwo]

I HAVE A PACK!!!!! :D

[angelanimedesaray]

Wings in the Dark Chapter 4: Limelight

AN:  Ah...next chapter.  I keep finding myself thinking about/writing Wings in the Dark even though I’ve got so many other stories to keep up with, some of which are only one piece away from being done or oneshots XD

Also I apologize I keep forgetting to put Fem!Vampire!Reader, I keep getting lazy there...tagging error.

Characters:  Levi, Fem!Vampire!Reader, Erwin, Oluo, Petra, Gunther, Eld, Various BG Characters

Pairing:  (Eventual) Levi x Fem!Vampire!Reader

Warnings:  Language, Blood, Peril, Mentions of Death

Word Count:  6101

<----Previous Chapter    Masterlist    Next Chapter---->

*Reader’s POV*

Beneath you, Zephyr shifted from foot to foot, the crowding of Scouts in the street just before the gate looking disorganized, but each squad in specific places meant to make the transition once outside the walls much easier.  You knew where you were in the formation, right with the vanguard--not quite at the front though, since you were still a rookie.  Instead, you were in a message position.

Just a few horses in front of you, you could see Captain Levi and his squad, their gazes fixed forward like most of the Scouts.  Your hand fluttered briefly to your neck as you gazed up at the giant wall that was casting its shade upon most of the gathered Scouts, your heartbeat quickening as the reality of what was happening settled over you.

Decades without open air and sunlight before you managed to find the key that would allow you to walk on the surface in the sun once more.  Never before venturing outside the walls.  Now here you were, about to ride out beyond its boundaries into open, fresh air and sunlight where there was no edge where a wall or some other boundary of mankind kept you in.

As if sensing your restlessness, Zephyr pawed at the ground, antsy and ready to move forward.  The horse standing behind you at the end of a lead had been jumpy since being handed off to you, but its nerves were only getting worse between the aura you and Zephyr were radiating.  Your grip tightened on the reins, gaze fixated on that gate that you were begging to just raise already and let you shoot out into the world.

This was what you were here for.  You’d finally made it.  Now was the time to throw yourself all in for the cause.  Messenger or not, you were going to do everything you could to help.

The brick gate up ahead finally finished rumbling, and a pure white horse holding Commander Erwin Smith reared up.

“Forward!”

Your heart leapt into your throat, and it took everything inside you to wait until the people in front of you started to move forward before your heels pressed lightly into Zephyr’s hindquarters, urging the speckled grey mare forward.  Your breaths came rapidly as the brick gate approached, head tilting up on instinct as you went through the tunnel, momentarily plunged into darkness with light piercing through the end before Zephyr burst through, one set of many thundering hooves as you broke past the wall.

Green grass rolled out before you with towering trees dotting along the horizon, stretching as far as you could see, further.  The wind whipped at your hair, sun beating down on you harmlessly as you soaked in the unbridled rays, lips parted as you took a deep breath of truly free air.

This was a feeling you would never forget.  It was as if the wings upon your cape would emerge and spread wide, carrying you up into the blue sky far above and off to a land where there were no stifling walls real, social, or in your mind, no secrets and constant hiding of who you were.

Feeling eyes on you at your reaction to crossing beyond the walls for the first time, you closed your eyes briefly, the self-imposed darkness grounding you back to reality as you reminded yourself what the goal was here, what you were supposed to be doing.  You had a purpose out here, and the others couldn’t afford your distraction.

Your head lowered from its tilted back position, and your eyes opened with focus burning in your gaze, fixed forward as you leaned slightly over Zephyr’s neck.  Within a few minutes of running straight forward, the formation began to take shape, Scouts spreading out to the left and right while most of the cargo stayed in the middle.  You were one of the ones who went out to the right, falling into place at a relay point with your skittish extra horse trailing just behind Zephyr.  Off to your left, you could see Levi Squad, within eyesight but still quite a distance away and placed closer to command than you.

While everyone here had to depend upon smoke signals and their own limited sight to tell them if a Titan was approaching, you were at a unique advantage when it came to the task of spotting Titans.  You could hear them long before you could see them, but your sight was much better than the other’s here, as well.  You would be able to tell if there was a Titan approaching long before anyone else, which could drastically help the mortality rates of the Scouts if you could use your abilities.

Of course, the matter was complicated by the fact that you would have to wait until there was visual confirmation of a Titan if you didn’t want to look like you were firing flares into the sky for the hell of it, which you were certain would piss many people off very quickly.  So, you were restrained to detecting where the Titans were, and keeping track of them until they got close enough.

If it was a big enough threat, though, you would take the risk.  You would still have to wait if you wanted people to believe you, but you weren’t going to wait as long if it was something like a horde of Titans or a clustering of abnormals.

That part you had decided ahead of time.  The rest you would play by ear and see what happened, or simply play the role you had been assigned for this expedition.

*Levi’s POV*

While Levi and his squad had their duties that went with their position in the long range formation, Levi had his secondary objective to observe L/N from a distance, keeping an eye on her at least partially at all times while his squad handled much of the spotting and message relaying, Levi only giving curt orders when necessary.  They certainly wondered what was causing his distraction, but no one questioned it, especially from the serious look on his face.

He’d been watching L/N from the moment they rushed out of the gate beyond the walls, her reaction reminding him strongly of himself, Isabel, and Furlan when they’d first gone beyond the walls.

Before he could have someone snap her out of it so she was paying attention, she’d brought herself back around, snapping back to full focus on the task at hand impressively fast despite how swept away she’d been moments before.

With the more central position Levi’s squad held, they were better positioned to be sent whichever direction they might be needed if shit hit the fan, and the more protected position than the vanguard and the relay lines allowed Levi to put more of his focus on L/N without causing unnecessary risk.  No doubt that was part of the reason Erwin had arranged them the way they were for this expedition.

At first, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.  She kept her head on a swivel, fired the signal flares at the appropriate time to pass along the message to shift the direction of the formation.  However, Levi eventually began to catch the anomaly he might have overlooked if she’d been a little further away, or he’d been a little more distracted by what was going on in his position.

Her head stopped swiveling, her gaze fixing in certain directions for long stretches of time before she would fire off her flares.  At the most, her head might twitch in one direction or another, but nothing more.  The big give away, however, was the fact that he occasionally caught sight of her loading a flare into her flare gun long before the signals went off.  As if she knew it was coming.

Either she had insane intuition, or she was able to see something they couldn’t.

It was a good thing he'd noticed her focus and how she seemed to be picking up on approaching Titans before the vanguard, because it greatly effected how he reacted when she fired a shot before even the vanguard.  She went perfectly still, head turned forward right towards an outcropping of trees in the distance.  She stayed gazing in that direction for several long moments before she suddenly reached into her pack, loaded her flare gun, and fired a black smoke signal into the air.

Everyone reacted with surprise from the display, Levi included, considering no Titan could be seen, and she was not relaying a signal from the vanguard.  Immediately, the others began to grumble and complain at rookie audacity, what she thought she was doing, the usual complaints.  Levi, however, was staring hard at her back, noting how she was still staring in the same direction, thinking of how she'd been aware of every flare coming so far…

"Gunther, relay that signal."

The complaints about L/N stopped, the others looking at Levi in surprise.  "Sir…" Petra ventured to say in a cautious tone, clearly not wanting to question him but doubtful of the black flare's accuracy.  Still, Levi could hear Gunther preparing to fire the shot behind him, even as Petra continued.  "That signal is coming from nowhere, the rest of the vanguard haven't even fired anything."

"Because she's spotted something they haven't," Levi said bluntly, as behind him Gunther relayed the signal, which went down the rest of the line to Command.  Erwin’s green shot fired into the air shortly after what must have been a confusingly sudden short burst of signals.

Levi kept his gaze on L/N the entire time, except the direction change, looking for the payoff or justification for her sudden signal.  At first, he didn't think he would see it.

In the distance, within that outcropping of trees that had held her attention before and was now further away from them thanks to the direction shift she’d prompted, Levi saw something clear the treetops.  It was hard to catch at this distance, but the scattering of birds from those trees helped confirm what he was seeing.  Within a few moments, two fleshy figures of Titans burst through the treeline, one running sporadically forward and the other leaping around, both headed in the direction of the formation.

There was more distance between the formation and the abnormals, thanks to their shift, which gave them more time to respond, but they were still going to collide with the ranks.  He could see L/N coiling atop her horse, ready to leap into action if they broke past the vanguard and reached her position, eyes no doubt fixed on the incoming threats.

“Captain, should we go assist?” Petra asked from behind him.

“If they break through the vanguard ranks, yes,” Levi said, gaze sweeping over the other positions in the formation that held less skilled rookies.  He didn’t want to risk abnormal Titans colliding with the newbies, so he’d make sure they were stopped there, if the vanguard couldn’t handle them.  Instinctively, Levi tensed as the abnormals reached the front lines...and then burst right past towards L/N’s position.

Abnormal, indeed.

Oluo swore as they saw both abnormals barreling towards L/N, who was already kneeling on the saddle of her horse and waited a few seconds for the abnormals to draw a little closer.  Levi and his squad were already heading towards them before L/N leapt off her horse, one of her cables firing into the rushing Titan since it was at least keeping stably on the ground, swinging around and away from the front of the attacking Titans, firing the other higher up to try and get a quick shot in at the Titan’s nape.

The second Titan shot over the first in a leap towards L/N, forcing L/N to change direction and release her cable from the first Titan.  With a nimbleness that surprised Levi, she pushed off of the arm of the second Titan as it went by to add momentum in the direction she wanted to go, cables releasing again so she could swing between the legs of the first Titan and still avoid it’s reaching arms.

With her cables detached again, she rolled to a stop and got back onto her feet, taking a second to register her position before one of her cables sank into that first Titan's shoulder and she shot towards it again.

At that point Levi and the others were close enough to do something and had a good grasp on the situation.  At Levi's orders, Eld, Oluo, and Gunther broke off to deal with the jumping one while Levi and Petra rushed to intercept the one L/N was handling.  Levi had a pretty good idea of what she was trying to do, but expecting it to go terribly wrong, he was trying to reach her before she lost a limb. Or her head.

The Titan snapped at her as she came within biting distance, but she let loose a burst of gas at the last second to sail over its shoulder, twisting in midair as the men handling the other Titan let out an alarmed shout.

Both cables sank into the shoulder blades of the first Titan and brought her in close with her feet landed just below its nape, and she sliced neatly through, killing it in one stroke.  As she turned with the strike, the second Titan came into her view, ignoring Eld, Gunther, and Oluo entirely as it launched for her, still anchored onto the falling Titan.

The cables disengaged so she could fall back and drop out of range of its maw, feet barely missing the teeth as she dropped vertically and headfirst towards the ground.

Eld went in for a quick kill while it was fixated on L/N.

"No!"

"Wait!"

"Eld!"

At angles they could see where the Titan's attention was trained, L/N, Levi, and Perra, respectively, all shouted out for him not to go for the obvious kill. Its eyes had shifted in the direction the cable came from, towards Eld, and it swung out an arm that caught the wire.  Eld was sent careening to the ground, the jumping Titan punching toward him with jaw agape again as the now-injured man got up to right himself, cables still sliding back into place and unable to deploy yet.

Two blurs in opposite directions cut through the air at the front and back of the Titan.  Levi was at the back, slicing cleanly through the nape to kill it before it could kill Eld.  At the front and coming from the opposite direction, was L/N, slicing through arms and bottom jaw in a wide arc to render it unable to eat Eld.

As they passed each other in the air, they momentarily locked eyes, and instead of fear or anger which commonly filled the eyes of the recruits, Levi saw...exhilaration.

Considering one of his men almost got killed, she better be taking this fucking seriously.

As they both landed on the ground at opposite ends of the Titan body, Levi turned to see her already sheathing her blades and approaching Eld to make sure he was okay and help him to his feet.  Gunther and Oluo were close behind, pulling beside them as Eld was brought to his feet and Levi stalked towards them from behind.

"Are you both alright?" Gunther asked.

"That was a hell of a risky move you pulled there, rookie--your leg got cut open when you decided to jump right through its mouth!" Oluo chastised.

Levi’s gaze dropped to her leg, the large tear diagonally across her leg now clear, with bloodstains along the frayed edges of the fabric.  But the skin of her calf was unblemished save for a slightly angry red mark running parallel to the rip.

"Hm?" She asked in confusion, turning back to glance down at the offended leg before she twisted so the others could see.  "It was risky, and close, but it didn't draw blood.  Just a graze," she remarked, eyes lifting to see Levi approaching.

He was caught between angry and indifferent, with a bit of reluctantly impressed.  He couldn't exactly chastise her for endangering the others with that out in the open now, could he?  She'd been handling them alone off circumstance before they intervened, and when one of his men was in danger of dying, she'd apparently risked a leg to intervene.

It was still reckless, even if in the moment she'd deemed it necessary.  She was a rookie out here, she didn't know the full extent of her capabilities against the Titans yet.

Levi’s gaze slid momentarily to the two rapidly dissipating Titan bodies.

Or perhaps she did…

"Petra, help Eld.  Everyone, get a move on, before we're left behind," he said instead, turning back to his horse as L/N let out a sharp whistle to call her horse.  The dappled grey appeared with the spare horse in tow and still tied to the saddlehorn via the lead so it wouldn't run off.

Once he was certain everyone was mobile and Eld was being taken care of, Levi led the way for his group to rejoin the formation, L/N racing off to retake her position.

Levi’s gaze wandered back towards the pillars of steam that billowed into the air from the dead Titans.

Why had they both been so set on /her/ that they blew past everyone else?

*Reader’s POV*

"All right, we need people for the night watch, so if--"

"I'll do it," you said before he could even finish, standing up from your spot around the fire as you spoke.

All he had to say was night watch.  It was another one of the things you felt that you were the most suited for, considering you were a creature of the night.  You would do far better in darkness than anyone else around you.

After volunteering to be one of the people on night watch, you were sent up into the nearby trees to give you a better vantage point, able to gracefully find your way up onto a tree branch without issue.  Once where you were supposed to be, you took a seat, resting your head against the trunk as your gaze wandered across your surroundings, allowing your hearing to focus so it was listening for things in the distance or abnormal sounds within the vicinity of the camp.  As such, the cacophony of people speaking to one another before heading to bed faded away into a faint buzz in the back of your mind, allowing you to focus on your watch.

This also gave you a moment to reflect on your first day out in the field, and the unexpected consequence of your presence that you had discovered.  So intent on contributing to the Scouts and using your abilities to assist them, you'd forgotten some basic predatory instincts.

Out here, the Titans were at the top of the food chain.  Within the walls, it was vampires.  The Titans were mainly active in the day but quiet at night, and vampires normally thrived in the dark and could not go out in the sun--you were an exception, thanks to something you had taken from a vampire far older and more experienced than you.  There was a clear division between the two preventing them from coming into contact with each other, mostly the night and day difference and the literal wall dividing their environments.  But you had just entered their habitat, and you were well aware that a vampire could still be killed by a Titan if they got careless, or if the Titan got one lucky bite in.  As such, you didn't consider vampires at the top of the food chain when placed in the same space as Titans, but adjacent to them.

The Titans had focused on you, likely because you were an invasive, competitive predator in their lands.  You were a threat to them and their food supply, and they could not safely feed if there was a vampire in the area.

As such, if the opportunity presented itself, they were going to target you first.

Lovely.

This was new, dangerous information, and you were still deciding how to react to it.  Maybe not every Titan would completely ignore a meal in front of them if there was a vampire nearby, but today two abnormals had barged right through the vanguard to get to you.  It wasn't something you could ignore.

For a while, your watch went undisturbed, allowing you to quietly stew in your thoughts high up in the trees, before a sound broke through your filtered hearing, and your attention snapped into full focus.

Down below, hidden by the tall grass, darkness, and trees, you could make out the spread out shapes of a wolf pack stalking closer to camp, towards where some of the horses were hitched for the night.

Bold wolves.  Or perhaps they were desperate, or had yet to learn to be afraid of mankind.  Either way, you couldn't let the wolves get to the horses, the lifeline out here for the Scouts.

Quietly, since the way you wanted to handle this couldn't be seen by the other Scouts, you dropped down from the trees, crouching low to the ground and blending into darkness as you moved to intercept the wolves while they were still shrouded in darkness and the environment.  When you put yourself firmly in their path, the tension in the air shifted.

For the wolves, while they were in a pack, you were a more dangerous predator, one that they would normally avoid.  As such, the pack's attention shifted, and you let out a low snarl, red eyes flashing in the night and fangs barred as the wolves cautiously stalked closer to you.  They loosely encircled you, and you quickly tried to assess each one, looking for the alpha, the one who acted first that the rest followed.  The wolves got dangerously close before you managed to pick it out, and you spun around to face the alpha head on, making yourself look big and keeping that snarl.

It hesitated, stared at you for a few moments, and then the grey wolf leapt forward to attack. Anticipating the motion, you plucked it out of the air, arms wrapping around its furry upper body and slamming it into the ground, causing it to yelp and yip as you held it down, pinned, its throat exposed.

You held it there for several moments, making sure the rest of the pack could see the alpha had been bested before you let the wolf up, the large creature immediately taking the opportunity to run and letting out a high-pitched howl for the rest of the pack to follow as it raced away.

Composing yourself once again, you turned back to the camp, heading in the direction of the horses to make sure they were alright, several Scouts intercepting you just before you reached camp.

"We heard wolves."

"What were you doing out there?"

"I chased them off.  They were thinking about going after the horses," you assured them calmly.  "All it took was a well aimed rock and the sounds of quite a few humans from behind to chase them off," you said, explaining the yips and their sudden absence with ease.

"Right.  Back to your posts, or back to bed, whichever it is for you.  Go on," one of the senior officers commanded to get everyone to disperse again.  You didn't say anything more, feeling no need to as you instead used the ODM gear to return to your perch in the trees.

*Levi's POV*

While Levi was checking his gear to make sure it was still in peak shape for the rest of the expedition, his squad had their fireside discussion about the day's events, the topics free ranging since Levi seemed to not be paying any attention to them and was a fair distance away.

Mainly, they were talking about the display with the two abnormals.

"Did you see how they charged right through the line towards that rookie?"

"They were abnormals.  You have to stop questioning abnormals so much or you'll drive yourself mad."

"I'm more interested in that rookie.  Did you see how she handled those Titans?"

"No shitting herself or anything--perfectly calm, like she wasn't even bothered."

"It was almost like she was dancing around it for a few moments there--you could even call it graceful."

"And did you see how in sync she was with Captain Levi when they took it down? Even if it was brief?"

"It was still a risky move--she went right through its mouth!"

"That either takes a hefty set of balls, annoying levels of confidence, or sheer insanity."

"I still swear I saw her leg get cut open on those teeth."

"Clearly not. She showed us her leg, it came close and she was damn lucky or pulled it off that well. It was just the rip, the red mark, and some Titan blood."

"Still...she has to be that rookie all those rumors are about, right?"

"The ones about Captain Levi possibly letting a rookie join the squad?  Those are bullshit and you know it."

"I'm not so sure anymore, after seeing her in action.  It's not impossible.  They might wait until she's a little less green, but…"

"Captain Levi did seem a little distracted today.  And our position was right where he could see her at all times."

"So it is possible...it would be weird...and I still think they should wait until she's not so green...but I wouldn't complain."

"It'd be nice to have another girl on the squad…"

Levi stood up at that point, the group's conversation halting as Levi moved, then resuming when they realized he was walking away from the fire, not towards it.

Don't get attached, you idiots. If she's as dangerous as I think she is, she won't be around for long.

Moving further away from where his squad was chatting amongst themselves, Levi headed towards the trees where Erwin was taking at least one night shift, using his ODM gear to bring himself up to the tree branch beside the towering blond.

"I heard those abnormals caused a bit of a stir," Erwin said as Levi settled onto the branch beside him, hardly able to see one another with only faint firelight a ways behind them and moonlight mostly blocked from the trees around them.

"They barreled straight out of a treeline and through the vanguard.  Didn't give them a second thought and went right for L/N."

Erwin looked at Levi with the way he phrased that last line, like there was more to it.  "They were abnormals."

"Yeah...but even abnormals don't usually fixate on just one person.  Not to mention two abnormals at once."

Erwin turned slightly towards Levi.  "They didn't pay attention to anyone other than L/N?"

Levi shook his head.  "Not until Eld went in for a killshot on the last one.  They seemed...drawn to her."

"Interesting…" Erwin murmured, both of their attention drawn by the sound of wolves yipping and then howling, the sound getting further away.  There was a slight commotion at the edge of the camp, with L/N appearing from the darkness in the direction the howling had been and saying a few words before everyone settled back down.  She must have chased them off, then.

"There's more," Levi added, eyes following her figure as she disappeared up into the trees with ODM, apparently one of the few taking a night shift.  "This entire time, she's been picking up on Titans before anyone else sees them, even the vanguard.  She knew those abnormals were coming long before we had visual confirmation."

"That would explain the odd, lone black flare before the others started being fired," Erwin murmured, his gaze fixated in the same direction as Levi.  "Keep watching her.  We won't be out here too much longer, since we'll reach our destination tomorrow.  You can give me the rest of your observations in an official report when we get back."

"Right…" Levi muttered, turning away and heading back to the ground to admonish his squad about still being up and get them to get some rest before they talked the whole night away with their conspiracy theories.

*Reader’s POV*

When you returned from the expedition, you were surprisingly exhausted.  The Scouts had returned a few hours ago, and as soon as you were free of your duties, you headed up to the barracks so you could crawl into your bed and pass out.

While the first day had gone relatively well besides the obvious for all the horror stories about the Scouts and their expeditions, the second day had not gone so smoothly.  Even worse, when the Titans collided with the left vanguard, you couldn't do anything about it but watch Levi Squad break away as they were dispatched to go help.  You were, after all, just a messenger for the right side of the formation for this expedition.

Because of the attack on the left, the Scouts had accumulated a body count and ended up with quite a few injured.  It wasn't bad enough to cause the mission to fail, thankfully, as the Scouts still managed to reach the destination and set up supplies for future expeditions, but after a couple more incidents on the way back, a few more injured and dead were accumulated, and the Scouts were looking rough upon the return to the walls.

On the bright side, if it could be considered a bright side, you were already sitting on two solo Titan kills at the end of the expedition despite being a messenger, you made it through your first expedition, and you knew more about how you would fare against Titans and your usefulness to the cause.

Right now, that was all food for thought at a later point, as you quickly fell asleep once your head hit the pillow and you were finally given the chance to relax.

Unfortunately, it didn't feel like it lasted for very long.  You were woken up by one of your fellow new recruits attempting to get you out of bed, though a quick glance towards the windows told you it was now night--you’d been able to sleep the whole day away.  Yet you still felt groggy and tired.

"Hey, L/N.  L/N!  Get up, already.  Captain Levi wants to see you.  So get to it--last I saw him he was in the library."

*Levi's POV*

"Extraordinary reflexes, stronger than she looks, quick on her feet, calm under pressure, skilled and resourceful with the ODM gear, capable, patient, able to pick up on approaching Titans long before anyone else…" Erwin's fingers tapped lightly on top of Levi's official report of his observations about L/N, the papers sitting in front of him on his desk.  "All this time and all I can see so far are more reasons to make sure she's advantageously placed in the Scouts and used to her full potential."

Levi turned to give Erwin a disbelieving look before it fell into a scowl that was becoming quite common at these meetings between the two to discuss Y/N L/N.

"You can't tell me you're not curious about the how, that nothing about her raises questions?" Levi scoffed.  Erwin leaned forwards, fingers laced together in front of his face.

"Oh, it does.  It seems trying to find out more about L/N only raises more questions instead of providing answers, and I'm determined to start finding answers.  But I'm not talking about wanting to know how.  This started because you said you had a bad feeling about her, that her motives might be malicious.  So far, all you've given me is more material to believe her intentions are at least aligned with our own if not good, and more reasons to make sure she stays part of the Scouts, not anything to prove she's of ill intent."

Levi looked away, teeth grit.  He'd almost fallen into the same trap. Until…

"The night before the expedition, we ran into each other in the mess hall.  She'd just come back from the Underground, which I know because she still had that smell on her...as well as the smell of blood."  Levi turned to look at Erwin, gaze sharp.  "I doubt she was down there healing sick kids considering, as far as we know, the extent of her medical knowledge is the first aid she learned as part of her training."

Erwin frowned, his eyes probing as he studied Levi’s expression.  "That would have been nice to know, sooner."

"It hadn't come up, yet.  And it's not exactly something I can put in an official report."

"It's still not enough to go on, Levi."

"You don't think I know that? It's driving me mad catching these little pieces that suggest something's off about her, and then failing to get anything else.  It doesn't help that she knows I'm watching her."

Erwin sighed, leaning back in his seat with a thoughtful look, gazing down at the report on the desk.

"Go ahead and recruit her for your squad."

Surely he heard him wrong.

"I'm sorry?" Levi asked in surprise.

"Not as a fill member, not yet, anyway.  She's still too green to justify moving her to the special ops team even with how well she did on her first expedition.  Have her start as an aid for you and your squad, that way she's still in a learning and assisting position until she's more seasoned."

"And your reasoning for this is…?  What if she wants this?  Not knowing her motivations--"

"Gives us all the more reason to make this move.  As part of your squad, even as an aid, she'll be directly under your command.  You'll be able to keep a much closer eye on her, find out more about her--I'm sure your squad members will be able to find out things about her naturally on their own time.  Keeping her close is the best play right now."

Levi sighed in frustration.  Sure, he'd considered picking her for his squad already, but his suspicions had killed that desire, at least for now.  Plus, usually he got to choose if and when he added someone to his squad.  He wasn't too keen on being ordered to add her, even if Erwin had a good reason for doing it.

However, it wasn't like he was going to tell Erwin no.  He'd just have to deal with it.

Shaking his head and biting back the complaints he knew didn't mean a damn, Levi changed the subject.  Even though he didn't confirm that he would do as Erwin asked, they both knew he would.

"What about you?  Did your contacts manage to find anything?"

A frown returned to Erwin’s face.  "Like I said, more questions with very few answers."  He took a moment to open one of his desk drawers, pulling out a report and laying it next to Levi’s expedition report.  "I couldn't find a trace of her anywhere inside Wall Rose besides the last few years after she suddenly surfaced.  Even in the town she has listed as where she was born, the closest I came was a girl who shared a first name with her that died tragically over forty years ago.  Maybe it's where she got the name, considering it was a big deal in the town's history, but beyond that, nothing.  Before she appeared on the surface a few years back, she didn’t exist."

Erwkn held out the report for Levi to take.  "Her absence does, however, lend itself to your Underground theory.  Especially if you say she was in the Underground the night before the expedition.  I suggest you pursue that lead--you know the Underground better than anyone else here."

Levi hated the thought of going back down there, even if it was to find some answers.  However, he finally felt like he had something solid to pursue, and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.  He was cornering her, and he was going to pull back the façade and find out what was really happening with her no matter how hard she tried to keep it concealed.

She couldn't hide whatever it was forever.  Especially with Erwin and Levi bearing down on her as hard as they were.

Enough questions.  It was time they started getting answers. 

Next Chapter--->

Levi Tags:  @clary-quinn @humanitys-hottestsoldier @whalerus @sunny-flo @thirstyforsometea​

Wings in the Dark Tags:  @regalillegal @animeluver23 @theshylittleelfgirl @queenthorin1 @dilucs-thighs @sociallyanxiousmouse

[frenchy-and-the-sea]

34 (how they act when they're nervous) + Zephyr

I think these have gotten away from me as like. A concept. But I think this highlights the idea that, uh, Zeph drinks hard and gets distant and weird when she’s nervous pretty well, despite being, you know, long as shit.

Including the Tea Party crew, with Mira, the aasimar cleric belonging to @colonelcupquake and Fàilbhe, the faun druid belonging to @kombits! With my genasi drunk monk, Zephyr. Obviously.

3000 words.

—-

“You’ve noticed her shaking too,”said the words in Fàilbhe’s book.

He flashed it quickly Mira’s way, just long enough for her toread, then gestured to where Zephyr was sitting, cross legged and silent, aboutthirty feet away. She had taken a post by the road when they stopped to restand take their midday meal, and had neither moved nor said a word since; thelatest in a long string of oddities that had started since they set out for herfamily’s estate two days ago. Mira stole a quick glance at her back, thenturned to Fàilbhe and lowered her voice.

“A couple of times,” she whispered back. “Like she’s cold, eventhough she says she isn’t. And she keeps grabbing her flask every time ithappens. It’s probably empty by now.”

Fàilbhe shook his head, and scribbled furiously in his notebook. “Sawher steal a wineskin from my pack.”

“She what?”

Fàilbhe shrugged. “Not worried about that. Worried forher. Acting strange. Wine isn’t going to help.”

Mira frowned, and chanced another glance over her shoulder towhere Zephyr sat, picking slowly at her lunch and staring intently down thelength of the road.

“What do we do, then?” she asked softly.

“Nothing,” Fàilbhe’s book said. “Watch and wait.”

—–

The waiting lasted until halfway through Mira’s midnight watch,when she caught a shadow creeping along out of the corner of her eye.

She didn’t turn her head, but her hand went slowly to thewarhammer at her hip as the figure stole over to where Fàilbhe was curledaround Delia just outside of the light of the fire. The dog’s head rose up asit approached, and Mira heard the faintest thump-thump-thump of a tail poundinghappily against the earth. The figure froze and made a gesture that Miracouldn’t quite make out; Delia just yawned in response, then dropped her hadback onto her paws and fell promptly asleep again. In the darkness, Mira hearda soft snort, and then saw the figure duck behind Fàilbhe’s turned back andbegin rustling in something that she could not see. One of Fàilbhe’s eyes slidopen, and found Mira’s across the camp. She nodded slowly, then fixed herattention back onto the fire as the rustling stopped, and she heard the figuresteal quietly into the woodline beyond.

She counted to thirty in her head, slowly, then stood andfollowed. As she passed Fàilbhe, she heard him push upright with a sigh, andtake her place at the edge of the fire.

Zephyr was not hard to find. Even with only half a moon to lighther way, Mira spotted her silhouette tucked up in the low branches of a widecoral tree after a few minutes of walking, her unbound hair caught up in aconstant, unfelt breeze. She had another wineskin in her hand, which she wasnursing slowly as she stared up through the treetops at the darkened sky.

Mira waited for a few long moments, then stepped forward into theclearing, deliberately shuffling her feet.

“Is this why we can’t ever get you up in the morning?”

Zephyr shot upright, one hand already clenched into a fist. Herunfocused stare landed on Mira a few seconds later - a few seconds too long,Mira thought with a frown - and then narrowed.

“I thought you were supposed to be on watch,” she sneered, andtook another, longer draw off of the skin before tucking back against the tree.“So much for any of us feeling like we can sleep soundly.”

Mira felt annoyance twinge at the back of her neck. “When there’sa thief in our camp? Yes, I think you’re right.”

Zephyr paused, head cocked her way, and Mira braced herself foranother burst of anger. Instead, the genasi tugged her wineskin a littlecloser, and put her eyes everywhere but in Mira’s direction. “He wasn’tdrinking it.”

“That’s beside the point and you know it.” Zephyr mutteredsomething in a soft, airy language under her breath. “Zephyr, please.”

“‘Zephyr, please,’” she mocked, and kicked at a piece of bark sothat it scattered over Mira’s head. “Merciful gods, you sound like my mother. Ididn’t realize that I had to ask for your permission too.”

The annoyance lingering at the back of Mira’s neck suddenlyflashed to life again, bright and angry as a hornet’s nest. Zephyr turned totake another draw off of the wineskin, and without thinking, Mira surgedforward, pushed up onto the bough and plucked it neatly out of her hands.

She landed hard in the dirt, knees buckling with the impact andwith a sudden, giddy rush at what she had done. That vanished as somethingshifted in her periphery, and she turned to find Zephyr on the ground too now,and stalking forward with both fists clenched tight at her side. Her lips hadpulled back into a ferocious animal snarl, and the wind that toyed with herunbound hair suddenly seemed more tornado than gentle breeze.

Mira clutched the wineskin to her chest and took a generous stepbackwards.

“Are you going to hit me?” she asked, the words tight and spillingout in a rush that she tried to hold them as steadily as her ground. “Over wine,Zephyr? Really? Is that all it takes for you?”

For a moment, it seemed like Zephyr had been fully deafened by herfury; her fists came up in a fighting stance, one already cocked back for aswing, and Mira felt the familiar panicked rush of adrenaline that always camebefore a fight. She latched a hand around the grip of her warhammer, and bracedherself to run.

Then Zephyr stumbled, her unsteady feet not the usual conjuredsort but the brutally honest stagger of a true drunkard, and the lines of furycutting across her face suddenly fell slack. She blinked, once, twice, and thenMira watched realization pool behind blue eyes that had been steely with angernot two seconds earlier.

The next step she took was backwards, and came with a lowering ofher fists.

“I’m….” she stammered, eyes darting back and forth between thewineskin, and Mira, and the camp beyond. Then she cleared her throat, squaredher shoulders, and without another word, Zephyr turned neatly on a heel andfled back into the boughs of her tree. This time, when she tucked herselfagainst the trunk, she put her back firmly in Mira’s direction.

Fight and adrenaline fled almost immediately. Mira sagged aroundthe wineskin pressed to her chest, hoping the sound of her heartbeat didn’techo in the half-empty container. Half-empty, her mind pointed out.Zephyr’s night had been a bad one, and coping alone had been her first and onlyanswer. Mira’s stomach suddenly knotted around itself, and climbed up into herthroat.

Slowly, as movement and strength returned to her limbs, she creptover to where Zephyr had pressed herself into the long, snaking shadows of thetree. She saw blue eyes flick back to meet her, then snap away with a quicknessthat seemed to imply a sniff of disdain. Don’t bother, the motion said. ButMira still had the wineskin in her hands, and it still felt too empty by half.

She hauled herself up onto the branch beside Zephyr, leaving afull foot of empty space between them.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, settling herself over the edge sothat her legs dangled. “I wasn’t trying to upset you. I…. we’ve been worriedabout you. You’ve been acting strangely since we left the aerie, and thenFàilbhe said you were stealing the wine they gave us from his pack and I…"

She trailed off, hoping Zephyr would pick up the conversation onher own. When she continued staring forward, silent, Mira sighed and held thewineskin towards her.

“Are you afraid of going home?”

This time Zephyr looked over, a bonfire heat suddenly blazingbehind her eyes.

“I am not afraid,” she hissed. Mira recoiled, and somethingabout the motion sent the fire scattering out of Zephyr’s stare. She huffed andsank back against the tree, tucking both arms close to her chest. “Not in theway that you think, anyway.”

Mira waited for a moment, watching as Zephyr stared daggers intothe darkened woods. Then, slowly, she shuffled over, closing nearly all of thedistance between them and offering the wineskin again. Zephyr’s gaze flickedsideways, hard as iron. Then she sighed.

“My mother is a sorceress,” she said finally, plucking the wineneatly out of Mira’s outstretched hand. “A proper magical one, you see, not thehaggish sort you always read about in stories. She used to travel when she wasyounger, and that has, apparently, made her very powerful. I wouldn’t know,myself; I only saw the fruits of her labor when I found enchantments on my doorto keep me locked behind it, or when she compelled the few guards that didn’toutright dislike me to tell her how I’d gotten out that night.”

She took another deep draw of wine, and must have seen Mira’swide-eyed stare in her periphery, because she nearly lost the whole mouthful inone very undignified snort.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. She never used anything on me,as far as I can tell. I guess she still wanted me to have something remotelylike dignity left. But I…” She hesitated. “I think it will be different, if wego back. I have never left like I did last time. Certainly not for as long. Andif she decides that she would like me to stay this time, well…”

She shrugged, but any nonchalance the motion might have hadvanished with the stiffness of her shoulders. Mira just looked on, silent.Zephyr had never been quite so open before. More than that; she had neverdeigned to answer anything so directly, had never spoken about herself asanything more than deserving of the highest praise and respect, and she had certainlynever done so with such genuine worry scoring the undersides of her words.Mira briefly considered taking the wine back, but Zephyr had it clutched in herhand like a holy symbol, and she greatly preferred her fingers in their currentorientations.

“Still,” Zephyr went on, clearly trying for casual, “if we don’tget my mother’s aid, then we let the world end. So, here I am. Stealing yourwine.”

She shot Mira a sidelong look as she said it, but all of the drysmirking in the world could not hide the way her eyes drifted just a little toofar past, off into the darkness, where she didn’t have to convince anyone ofher ease. Mira felt her heart catch in her throat.

She reached out and dropped a hand onto Zephyr’s bare shoulder,which jumped like a startled cat’s.

“We won’t let anything happen to you, Zephyr,” she said firmly.“Fàilbhe and I, we’ll make sure that nothing happens to -”

“Oh, please,” Zephyr muttered, and rolled her shoulder to dislodgeMira’s hand. “What are you going to do, exactly? Storm the estate? My mother isnot some cheap conjurer, Mira. She’s stronger than you and Fàilbhe combined,and she commands the entire martial force of a city. You would have to be verypersuasive, or very lucky, to even think -”

“Then perhaps we will be lucky.”

Zephyr paused, startled out of speaking by the force in Mira’s words.Then a deadly scowl crawled across her face, and she snorted under her breath,tucking into the shadows of the tree once more.

“Of course you will.”

“We will,” Mira insisted. She scooted herself the last few inchesacross the branch, until her thigh was pressed against Zephyr’s, and she couldfeel the phantom breeze that stirred her hair. “You don’t belong locked up insome room all day. You belong out here. Up there. Up, with thesky and the sound of wind pounding in your ears. You’re like me, Zephyr!You’re one of the Winged Mother’s children. She protects that for all of us.”Mira’s smile twisted wry. “Even the ones who don’t know her yet.”

Zephyr rolled her eyes - rolled her whole head, really - andturned to Mira with a word already half-formed on her lips. Then she paused,and Mira watched as a curious series of expressions stole their way across herface, like shadows over the moon. Thoughtful turned to terrified turned to aweturned to several hundred other things at once, all in increments, like everyemotion fit just a bit too tightly to remain. Her hands, still clutched aroundthe wineskin, had gone white at the knuckles.

Eventually, she caught Mira staring, and the strange, flutteringexpression snapped closed like shutters drawn in a storm. She turned away andtook another swig off of the wineskin.

“Well,” she said after a moment, her voice soft and unsteady, “Isuppose that I can use all of the help that I can get.”

Mira smiled, more broadly than she had in the last several days, andput a hand on Zephyr’s shoulder. She snorted, but didn’t shrug it off thistime.

They sat in companionable silence for a few long minutes, takingturns staring up at the darkened sky as Zephyr slowly but steadily wore throughthe rest of the wine. As she was tipping back the last few swigs, Mira clearedher throat.

“You, ah, probably shouldn’t drink much more of that,” she saidgently. Zephyr snorted.

“I’m a big girl, Mira. I can handle it.”

“Oh, of course,” said Mira, nodding. “I’m not worried about you.It’s just, well…that’s the wine the aerie gave us, right?”

“Yes,” Zephyr said coolly. “Is that a problem?”

“Well, no. I mean, not really. It’s just that, since it’sceremonial, it’s…it’s really more of a tincture than proper wine. We temperit with certain ingredients to bring us closer to the Winged Mother, and…”

“And?” Zephyr’s eyebrow rose. “Mira, what did you temper it with?”

“Um…griffon piss.”

Zephyr’s throw sent the wineskin hurtling into the center of theclearing, sending wine scattering across the ground with a dull thud. Shewheeled, purple-faced with fury, as Mira scrambled back out of her reach,laughing almost too hard to breathe.

“I’m kidding!” she wheezed, holding out a hand. “I’m sorry! Ididn’t think you would actually believe me!”

Zephyr just stared back, her brow a collection of furrows andhard, angry lines as her gaze shot between the wineskin and the still-gigglingMira. They softened only slightly as realization took hold.

“That’s not funny,” she sneered. “You’re not funny! It’sjust…it’s disgusting, is what it is! You’re disgusting!”

Her indignance only made Mira laugh harder, and when Zephyrdropped from the tree hard enough to nearly knock Mira out of it, she took thescrapes and bruises as earned.

—–

Fàilbhe was still sitting by the ire when they stumbled back intocamp, Zephyr still storming, Mira still picking twigs out of her hair. Hiseyebrow arched as Zephyr stormed off to the far side of the camp, mutteringunder her breath. Mira just smiled and offered him a quick thumbs up behind herback. It hadn’t been her swiftest or most graceful conversation, certainly, butfew things with Zephyr ever were.

“Thanks for waiting,” she said as she stepped back into the ringof firelight, hiding a yawn behind a hand. “I can take over again.”

Fàilbhe smiled and shook his head, then pointed to her bedroll andmade a shooing gesture. She opened her mouth to protest, but he turnedpointedly back to the book in his hands.

“Fàilbhe.” The faun’s ear twitched, but he didn’t move. “Fàilbhe,c’mon.”

“Oh, let him stay if he wants,” Zephyr’s grumbling came fromsomewhere behind them, along with a dragging sound as she appeared from out ofthe darkness with her bedroll dangling from a hand. “If he would like to sit upall night being eaten alive by flies, he can certainly be my guest.”

She tossed her bedroll down beside Mira’s without a word, thencrawled inside and pulled it up to her ears. Fàilbhe did look up now, frowning,and turned to write something in his notebook.

“Zephyr,” Mira said over her shoulder as he held it out towardsher, “Fàilbhe says -”

“That I have next watch, yes,” came the muffled voice from herbedroll. “I heard his furious scribbling from over here and guessed what hemight be on about. Hold your applause, please.”

Fàilbhe gave Mira a long-suffering look, then scrawled in hisnotebook again.

“She seems to be back to normal. Good job.”

Mira hid a small laugh, and then a slightly larger yawn, behind ahand. Fàilbhe raised an eyebrow and made another, more insistent gesturetowards her bedroll, and this time, Mira didn’t have it in her to fight him.Yawning, she waved him goodnight, then staggered her way towards the sleepingfigure curled up beside her bedroll. Zephyr had made a big show of being casualabout where she had thrown her bedroll down, but the bare few inches between itand Mira’s seemed a touch too well-placed to be an accident.

Smiling to herself, Mira shucked the rest of her armor into a pilebeside her pack, then crawled gratefully inside. Her head had barely met thepillow when Zephyr’s voice hissed out of the gloom behind her.

“Mira.” Her voice was so low that for a moment, Mira was certainshe had imagined it.

“Mhm?”

“Don’t tell Fàilbhe what I told you unless things go badly,alright? He’s got enough on his mind already.”

“Mm. ‘kay.” Mira couldn’t quite conjure the energy to fight withZephyr now either. “I won’t have to, though. It’ll be okay, Zeph.”

“I know,” said the voice behind her, too small and quiet by far.Mira felt her heart suddenly pound harder in her chest as something shiftedbehind her, and muffled the last word almost entirely away.

“Thanks.”

[stormdancer]

Zephyr 37, 1330

Once the sun was up the warband packed up and moved out as usual, continuing the practiced rhythm of the long march. Though it rained early on the weather cleared again quickly, and they made good time. Though the Risen were still largely unfocused and sporadic, the wildlife was considerably more aggressive.

“You know, I like this gun, but it is not the easiest thing to carry,” Volley admitted, shifting the weight across his back again.

“Yeah, the step hits just wrong, and the bipod attachment points make it hard to keep it balanced. It just keeps wanting to catch or roll. Or both,” Gredara added, thunking an armored elbow against the steel. “It wasn’t so bad the first couple of days, but… I don’t know what changed, but this could definitely be better.”

“It’s always like that,” Shawrun pointed out. “It starts out good, all excited for a new toy, but then the troubles start. That’s why we’re doing this. They’d never find an issue like this in the training grounds. So let’s talk about how to fix that, when we break for lunch. Maybe a broader strap?”

“Actually, maybe a narrower one, but a broad shoulder pad,” Volley pondered.

“Or maybe just move the lower attachment a little bit further back, so it shifts the weight...”

Over lunch they discussed the problem further, and Shawrun made several sketches of suggested improvements, with the promise they would try some when they reached Fort Trinity, and its workshops.

“Which should be by tomorrow night, if we keep to this pace,” he said, as they packed up again. “Definitely starting to smell Orr now, when the breeze kicks up.”

“And here I thought it was just Vodtour...” Volley jibed, then grunted as he hefted the heavy weapon onto his back again.

“After this meal, maybe you should walk behind me for a while,” Vodtour countered.

“Just think of it as … ah… nasal camouflage,” Gredara said.

Shawrun dragged a paw down his muzzle. “On your paws, you smelly louts. Let’s march.”

(( The story so far... ))

(( Finally taking the excellent advice to make this more Tumblr-friendly by adding screenshottage. WIll it help? We’ll see! Also, a big shout-out to the folks who have suggested changes or asked questions - this is how the story gets better. ))