writingrapscallion

[writingrapscallion]

Beings Suffering From Extreme Sleep Deprivation Should Not Attempt Turning To The Dark Side

There he was. Anakin Skywalker, the prize jewel of the Sith... even if he did not know it yet. Sitting in the office of his friend, the Supreme Chancellor.

All the pieces were now in place, and the only thing left to do was to reveal his identity to Skywalker and let him break down. The satisfaction that permeated the form of Sheev Palpatine was so great that he nearly forgot that his parents had named him Sheev.

But not for long. Distaste prickled up his spine. Still, they were entering the glorious morning of a Sith Empire that would never see night. Or, rather more accurately, the night would be neverending. And the metaphors would be better - he would hire (and by hire, he meant enslave) the greatest poets to compose endless lamentations for the suffering he was about to unleash.

Skywalker sat in the chair, looking listless. The nightmares Palpatine had sent had done their job well - it seemed like he had hardly slept. His thoughts were sluggish, his resistance gone, and his terror absolute. Terror for his "secret" wife, who he feared would die in childbirth.

And while the "visions" were far from genuine, oh, Palpatine intended to make sure that Padmé Amidala would.

With the death of his wife, Palpatine's control over Anakin Skywalker would be perfect. And, in ten or twenty years, thirty even, the boy would become his new vessel. After all, the plans of the Sith were measured in the millenia, and Sheev Palpatine had no intention of planting trees in whose shade younger generations might sit. No. He intended to sit there himself, chasing off the whippersnappers so they might get sunburnt. (He really needed to consult a poet.)

But the creation of his Empire was a far more immediate goal, and a very worthy stepping stone indeed. And since all it would take was a push, he had better get to administering said push.

"Dear boy, I don't think I've ever seen you look quite this... disturbed," he intoned, perfectly miming the tones of a concerned grandfather. "Not - and I am terribly sorry to bring this up, but I can't help but be concerned - not even... not even when your mother died."

There. Skywalker was an easy instrument to play. A veil of concern, a dash of "you can tell me anything." A hint of his past trauma, which so neatly (almost as if by design) connected to his current fear. Even calling attention to Skywalker's sorry state served to remind him that the structures he could depend on were now shaky and unsure, ravaged by war.

Palpatine briefly entertained himself by wondering what the boy might think of the sheer amount of planning that had been put into his fall.

"Mom?" Skywalker asked, voice groggy and wide eyes betraying his shock.

And said nothing more, just gaped at Palpatine, as if he were about to pull Shmi Skywalker out from under his robes. Idiot boy.

"I'm terribly sorry for shocking you, Anakin," Palpatine said, suffusing the room with his phony concern. "I know it must be horrible to think about, especially in these... present circumstances."

Well, he'd thrown subtlety out the viewport, but that would certainly get the job done.

Skywalker did not respond. He was blearily gazing into middle distance. And Palpatine was running out of time - Skywalker needed to fall now, before Kenobi could return from Utapau and somehow pull him back from the brink, again.

So, subtlety? Subtlety would die the same death it always died in Skywalker's presence: a sudden one.

"Actually, I've called you here on an important matter," he said, injecting some urgency into his tone - no longer a grandfather, but a concerned statesman. "I now have every reason to believe that Senator Amidala and the Delegation of Two Thousand are planning a coup."

"Huh?" Skywalker said, attempting to sit up. "Padmé's planning..."

And then his train of thought appeared to slip away again, and he resumed his vacant staring.

"Yes." Palpatine gritted out. "Padmé Amidala, your wife, is planning a coup."

"Oh. Yeah, she's good at politics," Anakin mumbled, offering Palpatine a tired smile. "I'm sure she'll do a good job."

"A coup against me." When nothing more than a "hmm" was forthcoming, Palpatine continued. "And it appears she has allied with the Jedi Council."

Skywalker suddenly stood up, ramrod straight. Finally, Palpatine thought.

"What?"

"I'm sorry you have to find out this way-"

"No, no, this is great! She's finally hanging out with my work friends! Now she'll know what it feels like!" Skywalker shook his head. "Like, it's only fair, right? I've sat through a ton of formal dinners and stuff. And Bail is okay, I guess, and Mon, and Fang Zhar is kinda funny, but... they're so boring. Treaty this, agreement that, 'what do you think, Master Jedi?'"

Skywalker started pacing. "Yeah, but who's laughing now, Padmé? I hope she tries to take them out for lunch. Then she'll get to see twelve Jedi Masters meditating to discern which restaurant the Force is pulling them towards."

He turned to Palpatine, as if to explain. "And that takes hours. You wanted lunch? Sorry, it's dinnertime and also tomorrow, and the spot they picked, which, by the way, is always the one Yoda wants,-" and, to the Sith Lord's horror, he launched into an imitation, "'mmm, great darkness I sense within the Jundland Buffet, perhaps to Stewcruiser, we should instead go', but when we finally decide to go to Stewcruiser, it's closed on Taungsday, and the whole thing starts all over again!"

And at that, Skywalker sat down with a huff.

"Indeed," Palpatine said, no longer able to keep the coldness out of his voice. "The inefficiencies of the Jedi are... vexing."

"Tell me about it," Skywalker mumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

"But rather more pressingly, they are planning a coup." Palpatine said, rather icily.

"Yeah, right," the boy said, looking a bit shamefaced. "Sorry."

"It is no matter," Palpatine replied, still eyeing the Jedi. Skywalker made no move. "What do you think about the coup?"

"Oh, yeah, uh. Like I said, I'm sure she'll do a great job. Sorry, I don't really... pay attention to politics."

Palpatine opened his mouth. And then closed it again. "A coup is a bad thing, Anakin."

"Uh-huh," Skywalker said, clearly paying no attention, and that was just about the limit of Palpatine's patience. He hadn't set the entire galaxy ablaze to be uh-huhed by the boy.

It was time to go for the throat.

"Anakin, I'm going to kill your wife." He said, enunciating every word as clearly as he could. He needed to provoke the boy into fear and anger, which would feed his guilt and shame, which would lead him to the Dark Si-

"Oh, okay. Good luck."

"What?!" He hissed. "I just threatened to kill your wife!"

"Yeah, but..." Skywalker scratched at the back of his neck. "I mean, she's been in like, twenty battles. She can handle herself."

"She is eight months pregnant!"

Skywalker actually shrugged. "The med droid said she can keep doing her usual activities for as long as she feels able. And no offence, but you're kind of... old."

"Old? I am the Lord of the Sith, young fool! I possess powers your feeble mind can't even comprehend!"

Something had gone blank in Skywalker's eyes, but Palpatine was far too angry to notice. "I orchestrated this entire war! All of this is my doing! I planned for your mother to die, I corrupted the Tuskens myself, I was behind Kenobi faking his death, beh-"

And that's about as far as he got, because a sky blue blade had just passed between the spot his head occupied and the spot that was occupied by his body, and had kindly suggested to the two that it was time to part ways.

"Chancellor, Sith Lords are a specialty at the Jundland Buffet," Anakin muttered, turning off his saber. He tried to hook it back on his belt, but apparently somebody had taken his usual hook, and the handle fell to the ground. Sighing, he called it up with the Force and shoved it into his boot for safekeeping, when a thought struck him. "No, that's not right. How did Obi-Wan say it..."

And then he commed Obi-Wan, because that seemed like the thing to do. After a long wait, a small, blue Obi-Wan appeared, looking harried. Before Anakin could compliment him on his new size and color, Obi-Wan was already talking way too fast, something about killing Grievous.

"Hey, Obi-Wan, uh. I killed the Sith, but I-"

"What?" Obi-Wan's voice had a lot of static in it. He should really get that checked out. "Sorry, Anakin, did you say you killed the Sith Lord?"

"Yeah, anyways, back when we were fighting Dooku, you said something about Sith Lords and a specialty, and, uh, is it a specialty dish somewhere? And can we go there next time the Council has lunch? I'm getting really sick of Stewcruiser."

"Anakin. When was the last time you slept?"

"Oh, uh, two weeks ago or something."

There was a heavy, staticy sigh from the other end of the comlink. "Alright, Anakin. Turn the comlink around and show me the Sith, and then I'll guide you through cleaning up the pieces of the duelling droid you dismantled this time, and - oh Force, is that the Chancellor?!"

"Uh-huh," Anakin nodded, forgetting that he wasn't in view of the receiver.

"Don't uh-huh me, Anakin! Did you kill the Supreme Chancellor?"

"Yeah, he was the Sith?" There weren't any more words coming through the comlink, so Anakin figured it was safe to continue. "He said that he orchestrated the whole war and he was the Sith. Also, for some reason, he moved out here to the desert, and that's weird, because I don't think it's gonna agree with his complexion."

There was more silence from the comlink. Anakin remembered to turn it so he was again visible to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan appeared to be frozen.

"Are you... disappointed?" Anakin asked, after a while.

"No more than the usual amount," Obi-Wan sighed. "Go take a nap."

"Oh, good," Anakin smiled. And then frowned. "Wait, what do you mean, 'the usual amount?'"

[writingrapscallion]

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I'm reblogging it just so I can find it to rewatch it later.

[writingrapscallion]

When I saw this in my feed I spent a full minute staring at it before realizing it was an ad and not some kind of insane meme.

[writingrapscallion]

Summer's End

"We have to report this!" Fire Sage Chaeryu grew more and more agitated as he spoke. "We have a duty to the Fire Lord!

"No, we have a duty to the Avatar," replied Fire Sage Glynda, the frustration in her voice rising. "We're supposed to protect the Avatar, not turn her in to be slaughtered by the Fire Lord!"

High Sage Ozpin watched silently as the two Fire Sages argued, paying little attention to the debate. Recent events had been... unusual, to say the least. The Fire Sages were tasked with discovering the identity of the Avatar when they were born into the Fire Nation, so it had come as quite a surprise when, even though the next Avatar was supposed to be an Airbender, the Fire Sages had begun to receive signs as to their identity.

Ozpin had managed to convince his fellow Fire Sages to keep secret what they had seen. After all, the Fire Lord had just ordered the slaughter of the Air Nomads in an attempt to buy himself a few extra years before the Avatar's next incarnation faced him, and the Fire Sages didn't want to raise his fears for nothing.

For weeks, the search had seemed fruitless. The signs took them to progressively less and less settled areas of the Fire Nation, and the Sages became gradually convinced that the signs were little more than a spiritual malfunction, the side effect of an Avatar spirit wrenched from its body at a young age. Then, on a small island named Patch near the eastern end of the Fire Nation, they found someone who was indisputably the Avatar. Ruby Rose.

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

When Ozpin had first disguised himself in an attempt to investigate the child, he'd not expected great things. After all, the island was Fire Nation territory, and it was hard to imagine why the Avatar would be born there. Still, a few weeks after the first signs of the Avatar's rebirth he found himself trudging up the road to Patch, disguised as an officer of the Fire Nation's tax bureau. On either side of him stood Glynda and Chaeryu, both similarly having exchanged their regular Sage outfits for the robes of a bureaucrat.

Up ahead, at the very edges of the village of Patch, was their target. Ozpin felt his pulse quicken as he saw it. It was a small, fairly plain Fire Nation house, its whitewashed walls covered by a red tile roof. The walls were covered in the soot stains common to homes with little Firebenders learning to control their power— hardly surprising, considering the fact that Fire Nation records showed that the couple living there had two young daughters. It was those same records that had led Ozpin and his companions to this house— Patch was a small place, and no children other than the younger daughter, Ruby Rose, were born in the right time frame to be the Avatar.

"Do we really have to take the trouble of disguising ourselves?" Asked Chaeryu. He was sweating through his robes. Maybe Fire Sages should be used to wearing formal outfits, but at least their regular clothes were designed to be light enough to allow the wearers to Firebend easily. As far as Ozpin could tell, these bureaucrat clothes weren't meant to let you do anything easily.

"We don't know if they suspect that their daughter is the Avatar, but if they do, who knows how they'll react if Fire Sages show up at their doorstep. Considering that the Fire Lord has been trying his best to murder the current Avatar, we would have a hard time convincing them not to run at the sight of us." Glynda held a clipboard in a hand, quickly glancing at the records fixed to it. "This is definitely the house."

As Ozpin reached out to knock on the door, it sprang open and he suddenly found himself face to face with a muscular blond who looked somewhere in his early thirties. "Can I help you?" His tone was perfectly polite, but Ozpin detected a spark of suspicion in his eyes.

"Yes, very sorry to bother you," said Glynda, "but due to a misfiling at the tax office, the property assessments of several households in this village were lost and have to be redone. The person responsible for this mistake has been disciplined, but unfortunately we still need you to answer a few questions for us. According to the most recent tax filings we could still find, you were married and had one daughter. Is that still true?"

Taiyang seemed to relax upon hearing their reasons to be present. "Not quite. We've had a second daughter since then, my darling little Ruby. Not to be rude, but how long will these questions take? I don't want to leave you standing outside for a while. particularly since the heat looks like it's taking a toll on some of you." He shot a sympathetic glance at Chaeryu, whose forehead was beaded with sweat.

"It may take more than fifteen minutes, so if it's no trouble inside may be a better idea. Is your wife home? It may be easier with both of you." Glynda glanced past Taiyang at the empty room behind him.

"Summer!" Taiyang called out. "There are some officials here to ask about our taxes!" He led them over to a table near the door. "Anyone want a drink? I can get you some water, or, if you're feeling adventurous, I have some homemade moonshine." He winked at them as he gestured to a bottle of clear liquor.

Glynda raised an eyebrow at Taiyang's words. "I assume that your still is licensed in accordance with Fire Nation law?"

Taiyang gave a slight start. "Well, you see..."

"Don't worry," said Glynda with a laugh. "Fire Nation law is forgiving on this point assuming that you only produce it for noncommercial purposes." Ozpin was rather impressed with Glynda's knowledge of Fire Nation regulations. Either she had prepared thoroughly for her role or she was supremely gifted at bluffing. "You do only produce moonshine for noncommercial purposes, right?"

Taiyang saw the lifeline and took it. "Of course. The only ones who ever drink from it are family. In all honesty, the main reason I distill it is because my family has a history of making moonshine and my brother-in-law used to spend far too much on alcohol."

"Brother-in-law, so the sibling of your wife..." Glynda made a show of checking the records, although Ozpin was sure she had them memorized by now, "Summer Rose?"

"Ah, sorry, he's not really my brother-in-law anymore," admitted Taiyang. "Qrow's my first wife's brother— stays in far better contact with me than she does, actually. The kids call him Uncle Qrow. Now, did anyone say yes on the moonshine or just water?"

Both Glynda and Chaeryu nodded at water, but Ozpin raised a hand. "I'd love some moonshine if you're offering." Now he was the one Glynda was raising an eyebrow at. "What? Can't an old man have some fun?" Glynda just shook her head and turned back to Taiyang.

Just then someone who Ozpin could only assume was Summer Rose walked in. She was a little taller than average, with long black hair and shining silver eyes. A white cloak covered her body, a slightly strange outfit in this weather but Ozpin supposed it was cooler inside.

"I didn't expect to get any more questions about taxes this year," she commented, glancing suspiciously at the disguised Sages.

"Most years, you'd be right," said Glynda, "but unfortunately someone managed to lose a substantial amount of records at our tax office, including the past several years of your property assessments. If it's no trouble, we just need to ask you a few questions."

Summer replied, something about how it was no trouble at all, but Ozpin's attention was caught by a small figure creeping out of the doorway behind Summer Rose. It was a little girl, with black hair and silver eyes much like her mother. Suddenly, she made a break for it, scampering by her mother to grasp at Ozpin's knees.

"Hello!" She said. "I'm Ruby!"

"Ruby," said Summer, "I thought that I told you to stay with Yang!"

"But I wanted to see the people!"

"It's alright, Ms. Rose. Ruby's no trouble at all. In fact, she reminds me of my granddaughter," said Ozpin with a smile. This was exactly the chance he'd been waiting for to test the girl. "Actually, is it okay if I give her something, just to make up for wasting your time like this? It was supposed to be a gift to my granddaughter, but, well, her family moved to the Earth Kingdom colonies and I won't have a chance to give it to her for a few years, so maybe it would be better if I gave it to Ruby here who'd actually enjoy it?" He reached into his bag and pulled out a clay whistle, fashioned into the shape of a turtle.

Ruby's eyes lit up as she saw it. "That's mine!"

"No, Ruby, that's the nice man's, and he's being very kind by giving it to you, so you should thank him!"

"Thank you very much!" Said Ruby.

Ozpin was lost in thought. That's mine. What did Ruby mean by that? Was that just the eagerness of a child presented with a new toy? Or maybe, just maybe, did Ruby recognize that the whistle was hers? After all, it wasn't just any toy that Ozpin had brought for her. It had belonged to Kuruk, an Avatar born into the Water Tribe more than three centuries ago. Ozpin glanced at Ruby's parents, who were thoroughly engrossed in a discussion of taxes with Glynda and Chaeryu.

Ozpin leaned over until he was eye level with Ruby. "Before I give this to you, would you like to play a game?"

"Okay Oz!"

Ozpin froze as she spoke. "What did you call me?"

"Oz. For Ozpin. Roku told me you'd be coming. He seemed to like you."

Ozpin felt his mind reeling. She... she had to be the Avatar! He'd read about this before, how sometimes young Avatars, unable to separate their past lives from their present ones, would be even more in tune with their past lives than their adult selves. Of course, to most adults Ruby's talk of Roku would sound like more than little more than an imaginary friend, but Ozpin knew better.

"What does this Roku look like?"

"He has a long white beard... oh, and a headpiece, like a little crown in the shape of a flame! He has a dragon with him too, sometimes. He calls it Fang! It's so big! Oh, and he wanted me to tell you something."

"Oh?" Ozpin felt his pulse quicken.

"He said..." Ruby pursed her lips, as if trying to remember something. "He said to tell you, 'don't trust ashes.'"

"Don't trust ashes?"

"Something like that."

Ozpin was silent for a second, contemplating the phrase. It was a riddle of some kind, he was sure. Roku was always fond of riddles. He smiled slightly as he remembered his old friend. Just then, Glynda tapped him on the shoulder.

"Time to go." She gestured to the door, where Chaeryu was waiting

"Of course." He handed the turtle to Ruby. "Be good for your parents, won't you?" He smiled up at the couple. "I expect great things from such a promising little girl. Have a good day!" He turned and left with the other Fire Sages.

Chaeryu waited until they were a ways along the path before speaking. "That woman's an Airbender."

Glynda spun to look at him. "What?'

"Didn't you wonder why she'd wear a cloak inside like that? It was to hide her tattoos. I got a glimpse of a blue arrow on her hand at one point, although I don't think she realized I did. No wonder they were nervous when we arrived."

"If that's true, then that would resolve a lot of questions," mused Glynda. "Ruby may really be the who we're looking for."

"On that front, I am certain," said Ozpin. "That girl is the Avatar."

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

Unfortunately, the next several days had been spent arguing with various members of the Fire Sages about to what to do, which led them to the present moment, where all the Fire Sages of Crescent Island were gathered to debate. All except one that is.

"Please calm down," said Ozpin, standing up to intercede between the two bickering Firebenders. "I'm sure we'll be able to come to a consensus. Anyway, we can't make a decision yet with one of our number gone. Fire Sage Cinder has gone to Imperial City to consult the scrolls of the Dragonbone Catacombs for guidance. Only when she's back can we decide this matter."

"Oh, the matter's already decided," came a voice from the door. Ozpin turned to find Cinder standing there. His heart sunk as he realized that, behind her, silhouetted in the door, were a dozen of what could only be Imperial Firebenders. "The Fire Lord knows of the Avatar."

"Cinder!" cried out Chaeryu, standing up to confront her. "I know we agree on this matter, but that wasn't your decision to make! The Fire Sages—"

His speech was cut off as, in the blink of an eye, Cinder formed a dagger out of fire and thrust it through his heart. Chaeryu let out a choked cry before collapsing. "The Fire Sages are traitors," Cinder said, turning to the rest of them, "and will receive the fate befitting traitors."

The Imperial Firebenders behind her sprung into action, and soon the room was awash with dueling flames.

"Ozpin!" Glynda battled through the crowd, making short work of a pair of Firebenders that tried to stop her. "We have to warn the Avatar!"

"Get to the door! I'll cover your back!"

Glynda turned and started to force her way towards the door of the room. Ozpin turned to keep an eye out for anyone who was following, taking out a few of the Imperial Firebenders with well-aimed blasts of fire, before he and Glynda managed to reach the door, rushing into the hallway.

"We have to take Ladon," said Ozpin, panting from exertion. "He's much faster than any Fire nation ship— you should be able to beat them to Patch."

"What do you mean, 'you?' You're coming as well." Asked Glynda, but suddenly they were out on the beach of Crescent Island and Ozpin had no time to answer. Instead, he called up into the sky.

"Ladon!"

They heard the flap of massive wings first, like the sound of distant thunder, then the dragon appeared from over the mountain, its massive body winding its way through the air. Ladon had never quite grown as big as Fang, but he still dwarfed any human, stretching more than fifty feet long from snout to tail. He quickly landed on the beach, lowering his neck for them to climb on.

"You first," said Ozpin, boosting Glynda onto the dragon's back.

"I'm not going to let you get away," said a voice from behind them, and Ozpin turned to find that Cinder had followed the pair onto the beach and was running towards them, her hands shining with fire.

"Ladon, go!" Ozpin cried out to his dragon.

"What?!" Screamed Glynda. "You have to come with us!"

"Time is of the essence. Ladon will be faster with one person than two. You have to save the Avatar! Go!"

Glynda opened her mouth to protest, but Ladon chose that moment to take flight, rocketing into the sky with the Firebender on his back. Ozpin turned to face Cinder.

"Your self-sacrifice isn't going to mean much," said Cinder. "Even a dragon can't fly fast enough to get there in time."

"Do you know how fast a truly desperate dragon can go?" Asked Ozpin. "I wouldn't want to bet against Ladon."

Cinder didn't reply, instead rushing at him with a colossal blast of flame. Ozpin deflected the blow but she followed it up with another, then another, then another. Quickly, the High Sage found himself on the retreat, unable to stand his ground against the aggressive attacker. Maybe 50 years ago Ozpin would have been able to beat Cinder, but he had gotten old. He'd still be able to teach a thing or two to any ordinary Firebender, but Cinder wasn't exactly an ordinary Firebender.

"Why did you betray us?" Asked Ozpin, staggering backwards under the pressure of another blow.

"Were you really content with this?" Said Cinder. "They called you the most powerful Firebender in the whole nation, once, and yet you're willing to be the Avatar's lapdog."

"Serving the Avatar is our duty!" Ozpin's limbs had begun to feel heavy, but he kept on fighting. If he stopped for even a second, he'd be burnt to a crisp.

"It's not my duty. It's not my destiny!" On the last word, Cinder let out her strongest blast of fire yet. Ozpin reached out his hand to deflect it but it was too much for his tired body, like trying to stop a river with your bare hands. As the flames engulfed him, one last thought passed through his mind: for once, Roku hadn't been speaking in riddles.

Don't trust ashes. It's hardly surprising that the mind of a little girl, no matter how hard she tried to remember, would change the words, altering them ever so slightly. Roku hadn't been warning Ozpin about ashes. It was Cinder. Roku had warned Ozpin, 'don't trust Cinder.'

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

Taiyang was sitting at the table, having a chat after dinner with Summer and Qrow, when suddenly someone burst through the door. He shot to his feet.

"Glynda?!" Summer cried out.

Taiyang looked closer and saw that their late night visitor was indeed the same official who had visited them several weeks before, except this time dressed in ornamental red robes rather than the plainer outfit of a bureaucrat. Taiyang realized, with a sinking feeling in his gut, that she was dressed like a Fire Sage.

"They're coming! I saw them— they're only a few minutes away! They're coming for your daughter!"

"Who's Glynda! Who's coming! What the hell did I miss!" Cried Qrow, who for once in his life was not drunk (well, maybe a little, but far less so than usual).

Glynda straightened up and looked Summer dead in the eye. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your daughter, Ruby Rose, is the Avatar." Taiyang let out a gasp as he heard this, but Glynda wasn't finished. "I'm one of the Fire Sages meant to protect the Avatar, but we were betrayed. There's an entire squadron of Imperial Firebenders down the road, and unless you want to die, we have to go. Now."

For a second, Taiyang was frozen in shock, but then he forced himself to move, rushing into the back room where Ruby and Yang were sleeping. Qrow was just behind him, and as Taiyang reached down to snatch up the closest girl to him— Yang, he realized vaguely— Qrow reached down and grabbed Ruby from the other side of the bed, scooping her into his arms. Summer was in the front room, still speaking to Glynda, and Taiyang heard her saying "get to the cliff's edge— my dragon's waiting for you," when suddenly the front of the house burst into flame.

Qrow turned towards the back door and Taiyang ran with him, ignoring everything except the need to get out of the house. There was a Firebender outside the back door, but Qrow bowled into him, barely slowing down as he knocked the Firebender over and kept running. Taiyang followed, hearing shouts behind him but not turning to look.

The next minute was a blur. There was screaming— Yang had woken at some point, thrown over Taiyang's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and the screaming up ahead made it sound like Ruby had woken too. He heard shouts— someone must have spotted them running— but he just ran faster, his legs hurting, his lungs burning, but he couldn't slow down, he wouldn't slow down. If he slowed down, they'd get him. if he slowed down, they'd get Yang. At one point, he even felt the sting of flames against his back, as if a blast of fire had managed to singe his shirt, but even that didn't give him a moment's pause. He had to get to the cliff.

Then, suddenly, there was no more land before them, just air and sea, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Taiyang let himself stop for a second, squinting into the dark air. Then, a flash of something in the night, and Taiyang, urged on by a bravery he didn't know he possessed, leaped into the air.

For a second he was weightless, suspended in the air, trapped in that brief moment before gravity turns flying into falling. All he could hear was his heartbeat. All he could feel was Yang's body pressed against him. Then claws latched onto his back, and he was pulled upwards and deposited onto the back of a dragon. A few moments later, Taiyang heard a loud grunt from behind him and found that Qrow, holding a crying Ruby, was sitting a few feet behind him. Taiyang waited, for a second, then two, then a minute. Then, as they were born aloft on dragonback and the land faded into the night, Taiyang forced himself to stop waiting. No one else was coming.

In the years to come, the question of when they had lost Summer would often haunt Taiyang. He'd been so fixed on surviving, on saving his daughters, that he'd barely paid attention to where she was. Maybe she'd never gotten out of the house, had perished in that initial blast of flame. Maybe she had gotten turned around in the dark, lost and crying out his name as he sprinted to safety. Or— and this is what Taiyang ultimately decided had happened, what he would tell his daughters had happened in the years to come when he decided they were old enough to hear the story— maybe, when they were being chased, when the Firebenders were right at their heels, when their pursuers were so close that one had even managed to burn the shirt off Taiyang's back, Summer had turned to face them. Summer had used her life to buy them the few seconds that they needed to escape.

Sometimes Taiyang would blame himself for what had happened. If he had kept track of her, if he had paid more attention to his wife than saving his own skin, then maybe Summer would still be with them. But in his heart, he knew she wouldn't want him to blame himself. This wasn't the way either of them wanted it to end— Summer surrounded by Firebenders, the last of the Air Nomads burnt to a crisp. But if her death had helped them, if by her sacrifice she had saved her daughters, maybe Summer wouldn't have been happy for it to end that way, but she would have been satisfied.

Note: this is based on the AU described here. This turned out to be a good bit longer than I expected, but I like how it turned out and I'm glad that it's the first real story I'm posting on here. Also, while Summer's gone for good, this may not be the last we'll see of either Glynda or Ozpin.

[writingrapscallion]

Twin Switcheroo

I'm sure this has been done before, but lately I've been imagining an AU where, instead of Grunkle Stan being the one to meet the twins in Gravity Falls, it's Ford.

It all starts years ago, when Stan breaks Ford's perpetual motion machine. Rather than hide what he did, Stan comes clean to Ford and the two manage to fix the machine, leading to them becoming closer. However, Stan still feels a bit betrayed when Ford leaves to go to West Coast Tech.

A few years later, things are much the same as in canon. Ford graduates with honors (as well as three doctorates) and receives a large research grant for a project of his choice. In this universe, McGucket went to West Coast Tech, so he's still friends with Ford. Stan has still become a con artist and is actually in a pretty bad situation, facing potential charges for his illegal activity. However, Stan gets a call from Ford promising to make all his legal problems disappear if he comes to work as Ford's lab assistant in his investigations of a strange town: Gravity Falls.

When Ford realizes the strangeness of Gravity Falls, he decides he needs people he can trust to help him (and he wouldn't mind having some muscle to help him with the more dangerous problems). And so, along with his old friend McGucket, he decides to ask Stan for help since in this universe they're on much better terms.

Stan quickly accepts. It feels almost too good to be true: he and his brother can finally have the adventure that they always wanted. Sure, the cryptids of Gravity Falls are often dangerous and always disturbing, but at least he's with his brother. Unfortunately, much like in canon, thinks start to go wrong.

Ford makes his deal with Bill and creates the portal. McGucket is sucked into it and goes insane, abandoning the project. Stan begins to notice that Ford is becoming more and more erratic and disturbed, and can't understand why his brother doesn't seem to trust him. Things come to a head when Ford tells Stan to leave, and take the journal as far away as possible. Understandably, Stan freaks out.

His relationship with his brother was better than in canon, but Stan still felt abandoned when Ford left for college. With Ford gone, he'd been reduced to a petty grifter, without a home or family. The past few months have been the best of his life: he has a home, plenty of adventure, and, most important of all, his brother besides him. But now Ford wants him to leave.

The two start to fight and, suddenly, the portal switches on! Except in this universe, it's not Ford who's pulled in, but Stan. Ford is devastating, realizing what he's done to his brother, and does everything in his power to try and bring him back, but unfortunately, Ford already hid two of the three journals in places even he isn't able to reach (perhaps he even wiped his memory to prevent Bill somehow forcing him to retrieve them) and without Bill's insight, he has no clue how to reactivate the portal.

Timeskip to the present day. Ford has a reputation as a brilliant but reclusive scientist. His contributions to Physics and other fields of science have allowed him to win multiple Nobel Prizes and many other awards. However, he doesn't seem to care about any of this (he states to Dipper at one point he only publishes his results to ensure a steady supply of grant money).

Ford is kind but distant with his family. He's never met Mabel or Dipper before the start of the series, but he has written to them and sends them presents for their birthdays. Dipper idolizes his uncle, and is a lot more interested in science than in the original series as a result of his aspiratons to be like his Grunkle. His correspondence with his Grunkle is overly formal and often includes stuff like descriptions of science fair projects and requests to work as a lab assistant for his Grunkle (requests that are gently denied). Ford considers Dipper to be a promising young scientist. Meanwhile, Mabel being Mabel sends him stuff like videos of herself sticking gummy worms up her nose. Ford is mildly confused but very fond of his grand-niece.

The series starts when Mabel and Dipper are sent to spend the summer at their Grunke's place. They are both very excited to meet him (Dipper a bit more than Mabel due to his hero worship of Ford). Ford is happy to see them too, and gets along well with the pair when he's with them. However, he spends most of the day in his laboratory, working on unknown experiments, and leaves the kids to play around town. Ford often sends his two lab assistants, Soos and Wendy to look after the pair. Soos and Wendy are much the same as in the actual show— although Ford could probably hire anyone he wants to work in his lab since he's a famous scientist, he doesn't want to involve anyone outside of the town for fear of attracting unwanted attention to his real work.

A few days into his time in Gravity Falls, Dipper discovers the journal hidden near the metal tree. In this universe, the journal's slightly different. Each of Ford's three lab assistant wrote their own journal, marked with their own symbol (it wouldn't be much of a mystery who wrote them if the journal had Ford's six fingers on the cover). The first book, still owned by Ford, has the standard six fingered hand and is written by him. The second one, which has fallen into Gideon's possession, is written by McGucket and has a symbol based on his glasses on the cover. Finally, the journal Dipper finds is marked with the same symbol as Grunkle Stan's fez.

The contents of the Journal are a bit different than the original. Although Stan does write about their supernatural encounters, his style is far more informal than his brother's, often making jokes or mocking comments about the creatures they encounter. Occasionally, Ford takes over to write a section when Stan can't be serious, so the journals a mix of the two of their writing. Stan jokingly refers to his brother as "Mr. Scientist" throughout the Journal, unintentionally concealing the fact that Ford's the main researcher.

A few hours after finding the Journal, Dipper speaks to Ford, suspecting that the old man is Mr. Scientist (although he doesn't mention the Journal, only his knowledge of supernatural occurences in Gravity Falls, so Ford doesn't know he has it). However, Ford feigns disbelief in the supernatural, hoping to prevent his nephew from diving too deep into the secrets of Gravity Falls.

Although Ford's performance successfully convinces Dipper that he's not the Author (AKA Mr. Scientist), Dipper is not deterred in the slightest by his Grunkle's skepticism and instead takes it as a challenge. To prove his credentials as a scientist, he's going to prove his Grunkle wrong, face down the supernatural, and bring back evidence (cue two seasons of Phineas and Ferb style antics where the evidence disappears as soon as he tries to show it to Ford).

[writingrapscallion]

Avatar Ruby AU

Idea for Avatar AU inspired by this great fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50903554/chapters/128597659

So after reading this fic, I've been having an ATLA Whiterose AU in my head for days. The setting I've been thinking of is much like the regular show— the Fire Nation's at war with the rest of the world, and Ruby must act before Sozin's Comet returns. The Air Nomad Genocide was closer to 20 years ago than 100, and was done after capturing the previous Avatar rather than to kill the next Avatar. The Fire Nation believed that, by killing the entire Air Nation then killing the Avatar, they would forever break the cycle of reincarnation since there would be no Air Nomads to inherit the Avatar Spirit. This plot was only barely stopped by the survival of one Air Nomad: Summer Rose.

Team RWBY:

Ruby Rose:

Daughter of the last surviving Air Nomad, Summer Rose, and a Fire Nation soldier, Taiyang Xiao Long.

Taiyang, who had joined up in the Fire Nation army before he truly understood what they were, had done his best to save people from the Air Nomad Genocide. However, he ended up only being able to save Summer, whom he eventually fell in love with.

When Ruby was very little, she was identified as the Avatar. However, the Fire Nation found out and attempted to kill her, leading to her mother's death and her family hiding out on Patch, a small Fire Nation Island.

One of Ruby's oldest memories is her childhood home going up in flames as Firebenders attack— this leads to her repressing her ability to bend fire before she knows that she's the Avatar and, later on, a reluctance to use fire (much like Aang in the show).

Ruby fully believes that she's an Airbender, like her mother, since Taiyang and her Uncle Qrow didn't tell her she's the Avatar

Much like in the show, Ruby's a cheerful, mischievous kid. She uses her Airbender speed to rush everywhere, although she's been reprimanded for risking her identity enough times that she doesn't use it around people.

She works as a blacksmith's apprentice to her father, and is still obsessed with weapons— Crescent Rose very much exists in this AU, although it's unfortunately not a gun.

She hopes to be a freedom fighter like her Uncle Qrow. However, for all her hatred of Fire nation imperialism, she's not got the blinding hatred of someone like Jet (or in this universe Adam). She truly hopes she can bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict (even if she's not as violence adverse as Aang).

When she's 15 years old, she accidentally unleashes her Avatar powers to save Yang and has to flee her home to avoid discovery.

Yang Xiao Long:

After Taiyang left the army but before he and Summer got together, Taiyang had a relationship with a pirate named Raven. Although she's Fire Nation by birth, Raven's Raiders are really a scourge on all four nations, preying on whoever has something they can take.

Although Taiyang initially believed Raven to be someone like him, Fire Nation by birth but taking a stand against their Nation's evils, he leaves when he realizes that she's just motivated by greed and doesn't care who she hurts.

Yang remembers a bit more about Summer than Ruby does, and hates the Fire Nation government as much as her sister. She's not quite as idealistic as her sister, and is a lot more suspicous of people they meet (especially Weiss).

Taiyang taught her his own, very physical style of Firebending, and Yang took to it like a duck to water. Her flames are even fiercer than her father's, but she lacks some of his control— nothing that would be a serious issue against an unskilled opponent, but maybe down the road...

Does several missions with her Uncle Qrow to sabotage the Fire Nation war effort (she keeps her actions secret due to her father's fears). She's just as surprised as her little sister when, after a botched missions leads to her being almost killed, Ruby enters the Avatar State to save her.

Weiss Schnee:

Although a lot of people put Weiss in the Water Tribe due to ice being her thing, it only made narrative sense to me for her to be Fire Nation (also I love Zuko and she's now basically Zuko)

She's the second of three children of the Fire Lord Jacques Schnee and Willow Schnee. Although Willow is the actual heir to the throne since her father was the Fire Lord, Jacques Schnee, a powerful merchant, managed to orchestrate a subtle palace coup after Willow's parents death to take power.

Although the Schnees are Fire Nation royalty, blue is still the main color of their outfits, since blue is the color of very hot fire. As Jacques Schnee would put it: "common flames burn red, but Schnee flames burn blue."

Weiss' parents are much like in the show, with her controlling father orchestrating her childhood while her mother became an alcoholic to deal with her loss of power.

Her older sister, Winter, ran away years ago, and although Weiss doesn't know what happened, she's told that her sister betrayed the Schnee Family and the Fire Nation. Weiss has grown resentful of her older sister, pubicly because she's a traitor but secrelty she's more mad that her sister abandoned her.

The one person Weiss has found she can truly rely on is her butler, a retired Fire Nation soldier named Klein. Although Klein was a decorated warrior, he retired from the military (partially due to his disagreement with the military's new priorities). He was chosen to be Weiss' attendant, and pretends to be simply a servant in public, although he is in truth her closest confidant, a sharp-minded old man who's unshakably loyal to Weiss (AKA ripoff Uncle Iroh).

Much like Zuko, Weiss challenges a plan that would have led to the slaughter of innocent Fire nation Troops (as well as massive civilian deaths) and is forced into an Agni Kai, realizing only too late that she's facing her father.

I think it would be interesting for Jacques to be a non-bender in this, just because ATLA villains are always mighty benders and I think it would be cool to have a non-Bending villain. For this reason, Jacques either physically beats Weiss since she refuses to fight (with some kind of monologue about how all the Firebending in the world and she's still too weak to fight him) or a proxy like Cinder fights for Jacques. This is where Weiss gets her eye scar, as well as a lot of other, less visible scars.

Although Weiss was previously a Firebending prodigy, after months of recuperation due to her injuries in the Agni Kai she's become rusty, struggling to be as good as she once was. She's continually upset by her failure to live up to, in her eyes, "basic standards," unable to even conjure her family's signature blue flame.

Once she's healed, Weiss is sent into exile until she, you guessed it, captures the Avatar. She's accompanied by Klein and an old ship she'd commandeered on what seems like a wild goose chase, until, suddenly, she sees a pillar of light.

Blake Belladonna:

I feel like Blake should have cat ears, but I don't want to figure out how the Faunus into this universe, so everyone who is a Faunus in the original show will continue to be one but it will just never be commented on.

The White Fang are a radical anti-Fire Nation group (much like Jet's Freedom Fighters in the original). Although motivated by the very real misdeeds of the Fire Nation, the White Fang has lately begun indiscriminate attacks on Fire Nation citizens and even Earth Kingdom groups it views as collaborators due to their leniency.

Blake was a member of the group until Adam, the group's leader and her lover, plotted to collapse a mine that was being used to fuel the Fire Nation war effort. When Blake realized that most of the workers who would die in the mine collapse were Earth Nation and only working there out of fear for their families, she tried to stop Adam from but he merely stated that they were collaborators who deserved what they got. Blake realized how twisted he and the group had become and decided to leave.

When Blake encounters Ruby and Yang, she suspects that they may be Fire Nation spies and joins their group, attempting to deduce their purpose (imagine how Jet thinks of Iroh & Zuko except a lot subtler). Upon realizing who they truly are, she enthusiastically volunteers to join them, believing this to be a way to truly help defeat the Fire nation.

Blake is incredibly cynical and, while not as blinded by rage as Adam, still has a deepset hatred of the Fire Nation. Meeting Yang and Ruby, friendly people raised in the Fire Nation, caused her to rethink some of her assumptions about the Fire Nation, assumptions further challenged by Weiss.

[writingrapscallion]

My Blog

The description really says it all. I like writing, and thought I'd try my hands at fics. Zahn's Thrawn books, RWBY, and Gravity Falls are the main things i'm planning on posting rn, but who knows?