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sassaetcie · 3 years

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The Molten Charcoal (Idia x Silver fic) : Chapter 2

Enjoy this second chapter :) Please reblog if you like, or comment, I love to see your comments,,,

I... went outside my room. The corridors were pretty chilly... I guess I should really go outside, huh. What if I spread the curse here, though? If some ice were to be born here, to be blossoming peacefully, or furiously, no melting would even be bestowed upon them. Only my flames would remain. Only I will remain... somehow. The darkness were soothing, though. They don't burn, after all. I should ask someone to use dark magic to boost my computers, lol. Nevermind. I didn't meet anyone, of course. All of Ignihyde's students aren't giving a shit, anyway. If we were to come across each other, we would both stare at the void and walk as if no one was there. My legs hurt a bit, tho. Less than in PE and after PE and the day after but still... I walked for a few minutes at least. Maybe I was just hungry... I was so stressed I couldn't tell lmao. But the corridors were so quiet and chilly... I'm just annoyed our colors are black (tho it's not really a color) and blue... Can't blue just fucking disappear. Hmm... if blue were to "fucking disappear", Ortho would as well kflgldlnf,. I'm stupid. He even called me some... time ago, I think? I should check the hour from time to time... What if I miss some event???

My "date" with Silver is in 6 days, probably. Why would he call it a date if he doesn't know I'm in love, though... I guess Ortho really saw through me and wasn't joking with my Prince Ideal?! Is he going to shoot Truth Bullet in my face and make me the only victim of this love trial?! Six days, tho... I'll have to see Silver... I've already met him so it won't be as awkward as the first time but... Do I even have the right to love him, anyway? I probably have, but I can't fulfill my lovey dovey dream, LOL. Even if he were to love me... Even if he is a Prince... That's the way I should behave as the future Shroud Family Head. I should wed someone of my "rank". But if I do, how many responsibilities will be pushed upon our shoulders? I can not just marry him, that's right. But he is still a "prince". I won't ever wed a fucking prince. Wouldn't that mean fulfilling my kin's wish? I don't. fucking. want. to. I don't want to be a Shroud. I am just... Idia... I am just Idia... And if the prince's ideal was just something I started to wish after what happened back then? What if I don't really love Silver but just love his aura? That's it, right... Sorry, Ortho, I really can't be in love with Silver, huh. There's no way I truly love. That's just another delusion. I'm just a stupid kid. I'm just a stupid adult. Whatever. This delusion is sweet, huh? That will last some time. And it'll vanish. I can't love a prince since it would be a Shroud's fate. I want to love the Prince Charming since I want to be saved. Couldn't I just love the sweet and caring senpai ideal?! Guess I went the hardcore mode because I'm rich and used to opulence, lol. I still got six days... I guess Ortho will knock my door like hell when the time shall come, anyway. That makes me going outside at least five times to be prepared... Welp, I'll just play some games and read the lessons's content Ortho has sent me. Lol.

[Started Recording at : 11 am : Second??? Day]

[May contain fragments and shattered data]

[The user has deemed preferable to let them be.]

-LET'S FUCKIIIING GOOOOO

-What do you mean, dude? ... trying my best. No... really.... serious!

The room next to Ortho was definitely reflective of Idia's moods. His shouting and screaming and screeching and howling were as reversed as his flame hair. He was not a bother when he let his voice ramble... He was not annoying either.

-I'm... best DPS! Y'all can't outrun my skiiiiiiiiills!

He was just acting so happily. His little brother sat on the bed he had been offered by the school, in the room the school had offered him, in the world he had been offered. The covered by some shades of blue, very likely azure, bed, was probably soft.

-GOOD GAME y'ALLLLL! I'm... play... See y'all!

-Huh? If I want to stay in the... channel? Sure~! What do... wanna talk about, though?

He did not need to go outside to seek happiness. They knew about that. His flames barely had enough sense in existing, and could erase all of the logic they were looking for. This story did not make any sense. Should this story make sense? He was a half, after all. This should make sense. But why?

-Yeah, WyverneCastel? I.... yeah... need... later. If you can, ... course!

The next lesson would soon begin. It was better to stop Recording right now.

[Ended Recording at 11:30 am : Second??? Day]

Tbh, I only had good games so far. No Internet problems (of course, since I usually fix them, NRC is so fucking slow when it comes to administration and solving problems LOL), no Internet problems for my team, no server crash... I kind of like to solve little stuff like that, to be fair... Like, I didn't really use to when I was younger. Well, until a certain incident, of course... Maids and butlers would just bring sweets, cupcakes, forêt noire, macaron, lemon pie, millefeuille, sachertorte, éclair, tropézienne, chou à la crème, mochi, dango, baklava, Turkish delight, praline pie, crepes, waffles... No matter how dark and clean their suits and dresses were, none of them were exactly identical. I guess that's why I could recognize them, especially when I was small... I guess my parents just wanted to show off by telling others their servants could have a slightly customized outfit, or some kind of shit like that. It would probably cost a bit more than regular outfits they could just ordered at the same moment... Just because they had money, the "bit" was staying a "bit". I don't want to see them again... Their blue burning hair, like mine... I fucking hate it. I can't even dye it. I can't dye it. I can't dye it. I can't dye... I can't change them... I can't change... I'm a cursed heir in love with someone who could be a prince but isn't at the same time. This story cannot end in a way or another. This doesn't make any sense, yet it does. Can it just be absolutely absurd? Give me some powers that don't make any sense. I want them. I don't want to be a Shroud. Welp, guess I'll go and check what Ortho did for the lessons. I'll probably go and take a "walk" after (that is, earning outside-resisting exp points to lvl up my skill).

Okay, so the "recordings" go as "The Seventh's history may seem simple at first, but do not forget that History is made by winners. They were the ones to win and if their people are living in, for the most, good conditions, it is yet to be proven that the means were as glorious as the results. If someone says something when speaking of History, try thinking about the opposite. It may end up interesting, although I cannot deny some FACTS exist in History itself, since an enormous sample of people were made to make sure that it was a "fact" and therefore, not a "speculation". Well, these facts could be denied since propaganda exists in our world, alas. But doubting everything will spread discord, and even lying can be used by leaders to prevent peoples from collapsing or killing each other."

Up to this point, I cannot say it's difficult. I mean, it's just almost a Civilization creative game, huh. I guess this is just the introduction or something like that, and that the "hard" part will come right after...

"The Queen of Hearts has made an abnormal lots of rules, for instance. Yet, her peoples did not dethrone her. Does that mean they like her? Well, this could be interpreted as "respect" from our point of view. But from someone else, they could actually fear her and fear the fact she has sent people to death. She held trials to judge them before sentencing them to death or other punishments, that is true. Yet, were that true trials or actually fake trials only meant to look like trials and fair justice? We do not have enough clues about whether she actually listened to mitigating factors or... . To keep going with this idea, ... also was judged when ... came to Wonderland. The trial was ... and yet almost ... ."

I'm not gonna lie, why the hell are there blanks? Ortho is always serious and meticulous. There's no way he can miss a single word. His ears are among the best of the world. I'm pretty sure he can fucking outrun all of Savanaclaw when it comes to earing (well, actually, he probably can outrun ANYONE since he's great). So if there are blanks... there are but a few reasons for that. Either he needs an urgent update, but this has NEVER occurred before since I've spent months to create a perfect calendar to never let him suffer the most insignificant flaw. Thus it can't be that. He could have been beaten up but that wouldn't make any goddamn sense. Who would even try to hurt him when I'm so neutral to anyone? I legit don't give a shit about what's going on in NRC. I'm not even sure I met the new student (if they're that new since I dunno when they have arrived lol)... This left me with two solutions.

Either Ortho was infected by a Virus, but nobody here has my hacking skills so it's very unlikely or... he has started recording more than expected and it's making its components slow down. I guess I won't have any choice but upgrade his memory next time we update him. The thing is... what the fuck is Ortho recording outside of our notes? He's probably doing something for my sake or...?! No, he wouldn't do something that twisted... He wouldn't!!! He wouldn't seek intel on Silver for my sake?! Go back Ortho! GO BAAAACK! You're a pure-hearted shota character, you shouldn't seek to change your condition or you may end in a fucking violent time loop! I don't think he's actually doing this... It would be weird for Ortho to act on this own on shady stuff like this. I guess he is trying to help me in a way... But what the fuck can he be recording... I'll think about it after checking the other days recordings. Maybe there weree already some parasite noises or something like that?

So, I've listened to the whole yesterday recordings, and even the one before yesterday (I just sped up his voice since I just wanted to be sure there were no vocal errors). I am.. pretty sure of it, now. Ortho did not have troubles until yesterday night at least. It seems it has begun during the second part of Trein's class, so it wouldn't be stupid to think that his memory is being more and more filled by "something else". I guess I will just ask him to only pick the key information and understand by himself what the teachers told him... It will take faaaar less room. I'm going to get out now, that's probably night. I hope it will be another chilly travel.

OKAY THIS DIDN'T GO AS PLANNED AT ALL. NOT AT ALL, NOT AT ALL, NOT AT ALL. I thought I'd take a stroll towards in the refectory since no one is supposed to be there at that time but I FUCKING FORGOT THAT NO ONE GIVES A FUCKING SHIT IN THIS FUCKING SCHOOL?! I even thought of taking some food if there were some leftovers so that I could award myself from getting out of my room (cause honestly walking is boring as fuck, I'd rather walk in Skyrim, at least I can hear my leather boots on the ground, lol)... Of course people would have been there. But when I got out of my room, the chilly ascension kept on telling me to move forward. Everything was covered in darkness, to the point I thought my flames would become that of a raven, finally. I took several steps, no matter what the light piercing my skull did. The gleam may try to bath the corridor of their blue burning halo, there were too much potential icicles ready to kill it. I just wanted the chill atmosphere to let me walk, and somehow it ended up this way. For now, my flames were too weak to even absorb the ice before absorbing their waters. I wish for it to weaken to the point my sparks die. I want to walk on that silver lake too... I don't want to fly above. I don't want to sink beneath. I want... to walk on it. To swim through it.

Basically, by the time I got to the refectory (always fucking heavily decorated, like what the hell, luxurious chandeliers????), I realized I made a mistake. There were at least two potential people going there at least once a week. From the moment I heard their voices, this was too fucking late. Trey and Jamil were arguing, somehow? I didn't even think it was possible for these two to argue... I mean, Trey is the cool glasses trope and Jamil is obviously the tortured-but-actually-cunning-and-not-that-bad one. How could they even argue? Well, not that I knew if it had happened before. Cater could post a lot of stuff on Magicam (and yet that wasn't even shitpost...), lol. But I don't remember seeing stuff on Trey badmouthing Jamil or the other way round... Trey was the kind to avoid troubles at all cost, especially since he was under Riddle's influence... I would behave the same, tho I would never have been vice-dorm-leader lmao (well im already dorm head and it's already a fucking pain in the ass, thanks)... I tried to escape but it was too late... I guess that's what I get for playing with my burning curse. They asked me what was I doing there, though they probably were not surprised of my walking "hours". They seemed so suspicious of myself that it was not an ordinary situation. Usually, they would maybe have greeted me... That's all. They began asking me if I was the one stealing the food. Even if my answer was clear, even shaky, none of them would accept it. I was... after all... fire. Fire and water never meddled. Even if I pushed my body to repeating the same answer under different shapes since I may have had a bad locution... They wouldn't listen to me. At some point, I even told them I would find the criminal later and that I would just record some little things they would say to me before going back to my dorm, but they wouldn't even let me go.

-Well, you see, Shroud, there were supposed to be some yakitori, curry portions and blanquette de veau left. All of them disappeared. Although I think it would be hard for you to eat all of this, your health habit seems bad enough to let you eat nothing for several days then compensate suddenly by a huge chunk of food. Am I wrong?

Jamil wasn't especially agressive toward myself, though I know he probably doesn't like me. Who likes me in this ocean, anyway. They were not fishes like Octacreepnelle, but more of... water elementals, I guess. Or maybe barely humans able to seize water and flowing into rivers. They could merge into this part I couldn't access. Of course I would be forever different and... hated as such. Very likely.

-I am sorry to interrupt you, Mr Viper, but I don't think Shroud is the responsible. I know for sure he has a sweet tooth, and yet, most of the sweets are actually there. Except some of the biggest cakes, everything is more or less there.

I would have rather prefered Trey not to reveal my weakness to the enemy, but he was also trying to protect me in a way. Trey is probably actually more of the hero in disguise trope...! Just kidding. But up to this point, they had so many proofs and yet were clueless and even daring to choose me as the culprit...

-The culprit isn't me, isn't Trey and isn't Jamil...

-Heh?

-How can you be so sure about that, Shroud?

-E-eh... You suddenly rely on me so much... Guess I'm good as long as I can be useful, huh... But you won't let me go if I don't spit the truth so... Basically, all of the sweets, which are tiny and not good for health, are left. Then, we can conclude it's neither of you because you would have picked up ingredients, not food itself, or at least not Trey since he probably values a lot baking and improving.

-T-That's true...

-Then, that could be Jamil... But why would he come again if he already has stolen that much? And from what I know, Jamil prefers to cook because of some dark poison stories, right?

-Y-yes, I cannot deny that...

-Then, it is neither Trey nor Jamil. About myself, I try to stay in my room as much as I can, and I'm pretty sure Ortho only go to the refectory during the authorized hours since he is much more reliable than I am. But why would anyone steal so much food in the first place? If it were for one person, one or two dishes would have been sufficient. Moreover, let's say it again, the sweets were not stolen. So the person who stole... didn't pick up what they wanted by love of good food! They stole it because they needed it.

-Hmm... I wouldn't disagree with you, Shroud but.. I am pretty sure I got a letter from Jamil telling me I had to get here at 10 pm...

-Excuse me, Clover? Aren't you the one who sent the letter?

-And that solves the mystery. There is someone who planned on stealing food, knew that you were the only two going for sure in the refectory during night and set you up.

-Wait, who dares to do such a personnal attack against Scarabia?

-It is very likely that the culprit is... Ruggie Bucchi from Savanaclaw.

-Wait.. that would actually make sense...?!

-Especially since he didn't get a lunch earlier... I guess he planned on pleading for hunger if someone was to catch him during the act. And so he sets us up by delivering letters on different hours, and not by his own hands... Wait this level of intellect is almost that of Azul... Ruggie Bucchie is really cunning and... worthy of praise in a sense.

-Hm, that would definitely make sense since he is always the one to get the leftovers in the refectory before the holidays to help the people of his town. I did not expect you to be that useful, Shroud.

-Heh, you're talking to the one who solved Hinamizawa and Rokkenjima's mysteries on the second parts of each, of course I can do such petty investigation.

-Well... thanks... on the behalf of... Scarabia. I am going.

Jamil just left, but tbh I don't really know why. I guess he wanted some time alone before going back to Kalim. At a certain point of my childhood, I had tried to ask less and less to maids and butlers since they all worked so hard. They probably wanted some freedom too. And... I wanted to learn things for myself, too.

-Oh, Shroud, since you've helped us a lot... And... you've thought of how hard I work on my cakes... I want to make you one as an award. And it must have been hard for you to speak to us. Ask me anything and I'll bring you a cake, my best cake, when you want me to give it to you.

-H-h-h-h-huh? I mm-m-m—mean it's really nice b-b-b-but I...

-That's okay, take your time, I won't scream or shout on you just because you're different from others.

-I... I... thanks... Thanks... But... Shouldn't y-y-y-y-you be paid for that...? I mean, you're a kind of artist, and artists should be p-p-p-paid, r-r-r-ight?

His face certainly moved. But why? Was it on its own, or an order, a semi-order, even? I couldn't tell whether his mouth was smiling or if he was smirking, or the other way around. His limbs were linked like any of the sea-universe kin. So, if he were to makes any action, it should be on purpose... but that would be far too easy and stupid.

-Yeah, sure, but you paid me by solving a big trouble. Of course, depending on what you ask, the fees could overcome the wish I had, and thus you would have to pay a supplement.

I had already asked him about the fees and talked about artist respect. I couldn't possibly go beyond what he would offer me since I, for once, had gathered experience on this one, right...

-Please... Can I have a... I hope it won't sound weird... grey and blue cake? With some hard candies on the top...

-Wow! That's an original idea, I like it! Sure, I'll make it. Blueberries and hmm... I guess some white chocolate, maybe some Turkish Delight if I'm in for it... I'll try to make something unique for you! When should I give it to you?

-I-in... five days, if it's fine with you... I really don't want to bother you, you're already so nice and patient with me...

-That's okay, I'll bring it in five days to the Ignihyde Dorm! But the hard candies and the Turkish Delight may make the cake harder to make... Since you're a Dorm Leader and I don't want Riddle to have troubles with you, could attend at least one PE class? That would make up for it.

-Y-y-y-y-y—yeah, sure.

#twst #twst fanfic #twisted wonderland fanfiction #twisted wonderland #idia x silver

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12miraenie · 6 years

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With You

🎃Paring: Chanyeol x Reader

🎃Genre: Fluff, Apocalypse AU

🎃Word Count: 3k

🎃Summary: You are trapped in a scary underground hospital with the man of the hour, Park Chanyeol.

A/N: Part of the Month of the Supernatural prompts, where you can request here. This is for anon, enjoy! 🎃

🎃 Link to Masterlist

🎃Request here

“What the fuck was Junmyeon thinking when they sent us here?” Grumbling with the biggest scowl on his face, Chanyeol jumped over another piece of steel fence on to the unkempt grass field on the other end. Plopping down the grass with a thud, he let out a long groan and flicked his wrist to check the time. “We’ve walked for 2 hours straight, and I did not have the waffles Baekhyun promised to make in the morning.“

“Stop making that noise, I’m trying to concentrate here.” You shot him an unimpressed look at his poor attempt at whistling and took out your map and a compass. Tracing your fingers on the different lines and colors, you stopped at a certain dot labeled as Gyeonggi Hospital.

“I didn’t have breakfast too, Chanyeol. Besides, we are not far from the hospital. Let’s go, then we can go find food on the way back,” You folded the map by four sides carefully and tucked it into your backpack again.

“Come on Chanyeol, get up.” You motioned him to get up, but he remained pouting on the grass.

He plucked a chunk of grass from the ground and threw it in your direction with a pout that you had to agree with too cute to resist. Chanyeol whined, “You never call me Chan.”

You didn’t know if you wanted to go and kick him in the shin or laugh at his cuteness. It’s impossible to deal with a 6-ft-tall man who is moodier than a middle age woman on her period. You shook your head at that image in your head and sighed. No wonder Sehun kicked him to you when Johnny came back from a mission in Incheon. You reckoned he’s not the kind to deal with Chanyeol’s legendary temper and attitude either.

“Chanyeol, stop fooling around. We have a mission here.” But of course, you know him well enough at this point now that common sense and logic cannot convince this giant to do anything.

With the mop of fluffy black hair and those large doe eyes, Chanyeol looked dangerously handsome even in an old oversize army jacket.

It’s impossible to get angry at this man.

“Fine, Chan. Let’s go.“ Begrudgingly you answered his request and Chanyeool shot up from the ground immediately. Hearts were literally bursting out of his eyes when he jumped over again. You looked up and stared right into his eyes. It took a little effort every time because you had to raise your head higher to meet his eye level, but the warmth in his eyes was more than a good bargain.

Chanyeol’s brown eyes were almost a shade of amber under the sun. Even though you hate to admit it, it’s kind of cute.

“Let’s go, udon legs.”

You widened your eyes at the childhood nickname given by your brother. Chanyeol burst out laughing at your reaction as an embarrassed blush surfaced on your cheeks. You tried to hit him on the shoulders, but Chanyeol dodged it easily and sprinted forward.

“I told you not to call me that!” You shouted behind him and picked up your pace too.

“I’m getting bad vibes…we should go.”

Not even half a mile from the grass fields, it seemed that you and Chanyeol and trudged into an industrial complex looking place, large fences and deserted warehouses started to surround you both. It weirded you out because there was not a trace or sound of animals or other creatures around, which usually is the case for the countryside.

Chanyeol stood on his toes and stretched his neck around the premise. “I don’t see anything that looks like a hospital. Are you sure we have the right place?”

You frowned, “Yeah, that’s how the map is labeled. I checked our direction, and we should be righ-”

A distant scratching sound cut you off, both you and Chanyeol stiffened. It continued to echo around the place, and you tried to find where it came from with no avail. Exchanging a glance at each other, you took out your knives at the same time. Chanyeol pointed to a direction, and you nodded while gripping the knife harder.

You noticed how tense Chanyeol had become. Gone was the relaxed aura around him, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes were darting around cautiously. Chanyeol’s lips were pursed, and you noticed how his jaw was clenched tight.

This can’t be good then.

You’ve learned to trust his instincts from day 1. Everyone who lives and works in the base knew that Chanyeol is one of the best, almost like he was fitted to live in the apocalypse. Junmyeon told you that Chanyeol helped them avoid a massive flow of zombies on the road before when there were only 9 of them. Suddenly, Chanyeol pulled off the safety lock, and you snapped your head up in alarm. It wasn’t your first time going on a supply run, but you’ve never run into any kind of potential danger before. Well, mainly because Chanyeol or Sehun were both there.

You weren’t supposed to be someone on field duty anyway, but since Johnny came back and Chanyeol wouldn’t do anything unless you are his partner, and here you are. It seemed so long ago now when Chanyeol met you at the training area grinning like a Japanese good luck cat while you rolled your eyes and scoffed the entire day. You were supposed to work as a medic, not whatever his job is that involved running into zombies, or worse, other survivors who want supplies too.

“Back on the wall,” Chanyeol whispered to your ear and turned his head around to focus. Realizing how much closer you were to the scratching sound, your heartbeat started increasing at an alarming rate. The constant scratchings were sending chills up your body. You hid behind his tall figure and watched as Chanyeol took a cautious look around the corner. It only took him a second to turn back.

“Don’t panic. There’s a swarm of zombies on the other side-”

“Chan. Look.” With trembling fingers, you pulled on his jacket and pointed to the direction where you two came from. A dozen of the undead was roaming, but they were definitely coming to where you two were. You already felt cold sweat on your back at the thought of being bitten by a zombie.

“Fuck.” Chanyeol cursed and let out a nervous breath. His hold on his gun tightened as he looked around for a route to escape. His eyes lit up at what looked like an entrance to a bunker.

“Do you see that, Y/N?” Seeing you nod, Chanyeol continued, “When I count to three, you run there as quick as possible, ok?”

He must have seen the look of slight fear and doubt on your face at the sight of two zombies very close to the entrance, Chanyeol sighed and squeezed your hand, “Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you. Can’t let the leader’s sister go back with even a scratch.”

You gave Chanyeol a weak smile. Adrenaline started pumping through your veins as Chanyeol’s deep voice resonated around your ears.

“1, 2, 3.”

You have to admit, you’ve never run so fast in your entire life. You were never into athletics, unlike your brother who was the district champion for track, but at that moment you felt like you were faster than Usain Bolt. It was comforting to hear another pair of footsteps behind you, knowing that Chanyeol had your back was a big relief.

It was a short distance, but you just had to trip over a piece of gravel. Wincing, you fell down on the side as your knife went out of your hand. Shit. There were two zombies nearby that clearly heard you as they inched closer and closer. You tried to get up, but it seemed all energy in your body was gone. A loud bang startled you as you let out a sound of horror at the sight of a zombie’s brain being shot. You felt drops of blood splattered onto your body, but you were in no condition to pay that any attention. Two strong arms held you up in an instant, you relaxed instantly into Chanyeol’s hold.

“Run, let’s go.”

You didn’t take time to think if his shot had attracted all the zombies nearby or that your ankles still hurt like hell from the fall and started running, literally for your life. Chanyeol supported you and dragged you forward the whole way until he burst the door open with sheer force.

It was completely dark inside, you fiddled with your bag to find a flashlight when you heard something click behind you. Turning around, you saw a red light beeping next to the door and realized something.

You are locked inside.

“Chan…”

“I know, I heard.“ Chanyeol was a little out of breath, but his voice was strong, and it calmed you down.

“What-”

All the ceiling lights were turned on one by one, extending to the very end of the longest hallway you’ve set eyes on in your life. Everything looked disturbingly similar to what would be a research facility or some secret killing rooms in sci-fi movies. It creeped you out, especially with the empty hospital beds with torn up sheets on them.

Chanyeol sighed and ran his fingers through his dark locks, “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while.”

It didn’t take you long to find out that you were at Gyeonggi Hospital, it’s just different than what you expected. More blood, more sinister experiment rooms, and more secrecy. From the files you and Chanyeol found in one of the offices, this was a secret underground facility of the government used to experiment on the zombie virus that took over the world and caused the Apocalypse. You read through all the unsuccessful trials and grimed at the inhuman things they did to people.

At least you found all the medical supplies Junmyeon requested, plus a lot of painkillers and disinfectants.

You and Chanyeol walked in silence, your mind floated to your life before everything crashed down, a life you could have only worrying about the simplest things ever.

“Weren’t you an intern at a hospital before?” Chanyeol stopped beside you, who was staring at an empty operation room. A sudden nostalgia hit you, you thought back on when you were an intern and found your eyes wetter than they should be.

A light chuckle escaped your mouth, you shook your head at the memories of your best friend Mina, who was also a med student. Unknown to you, Chanyeol was looking at you without a blink and listened attentively to your recounting stories. A constant smile graced his lips at the sight of you. You shouldn’t have gone through this experience at all. Chanyeol didn’t know where this sense of protectiveness came from, but he imagined you in a white coat taking care of patients with a kind smile on your face. You could have met under such drastically different circumstances, and maybe you could have already been in a relationship. He knew all the places he could take you to. His favorite cafe, a Coldplay concert, his own music studio. That should be the life you deserve, not stuck in a deserted army base worrying if you can survive the next day.

“…Isn’t it so ironic that I was only worried about being scolded of eating snacks during my shift? I swear, you really should see Mina’s face when she spilled soup on the vice director. It was hilarious. She had to cover three late-night shifts.”

Chanyeol quirked an eyebrow, “Mina?”

“Oh, she is-was my best friend.” A bitter tone came with your change of tenses, and Chanyeol noticed that. A tentative glance was thrown in your way before he asked softly,

“What happened?”

You bit your lips and tried to blink away the tears brimming in your eyes, “She was bitten like the rest…and killed herself. Said she didn’t want to look so ugly like the rest.”

“Oh... I am sorry, Y/N.” Chanyeol took your hand naturally and intertwined his fingers with yours. The warmth from his hand comforted you a lot, you sucked in a deep breath and smiled.

“I’m ok now, it was almost two years ago. Oh-did you know I was gonna be a pediatrician?”

Chanyeol noticed your effort to change the topic but didn’t say anything. It was good to get rid of the tense atmosphere between you two anyway.

A specific room caught Chanyeol’s attention as he inched closer and squinted his eyes to take a better look. “What is that?“

It looked like a children’s room, something you’ve grown quite used to in the pediatric floor in the hospital you worked at. A sadistic theory formed in your mind as you gasped in horror and disgust, “They experimented on children too.”

Chanyeol shuddered at the empty room and backed away, “Did you see the toys inside? I swear to God if any of these dolls laugh or so much as twitch, I will burn this place to the ground.”

It instantly made your mood in a better place. You tried to give him an unimpressed look, but a laugh still escaped your mouth. “We are underground, Chan. Can’t do it here.”

“Hey, come here!” Chanyeol shouted from the hallway, making you close the files you were reading and plop down the dusty table. The long hallway still creeped you out, especially with the crimson lights that reminded you of blood. Fastening your pace, you followed his beckon and found another hallway leading to an entirely different direction. There was a sign that you read clearly,

No Unauthorized Personnel. Top Level Clearance.

“Totally not shady, isn’t it?” Chanyeol pushed open the large metal door and held it for you to go through. You took a cautious step, and fluorescent lights turned on by itself again. The whole place still gave you a sense of fear, you wondered why power is still on for the entire facility, and all the experiments were worse than the scariest horror movies you’ve seen.

The rooms were located the same way as the previous hallway, the only difference is that there was obviously messier, with more blood and things you didn’t want to know. It looked like people didn’t even try to clean up. You passed a door was a huge smudge of bloody fingerprints on it and jumped back. Your heart picked up its pace again.

“We really shouldn’t have come here,” whispering, you turned your head slightly to face Chanyeol, who was looking around with widened eyes and anxiety lying underneath them, “Let’s go back and try to find a way out.”

“There isn’t any there, Y/N. This is the only direction we can go.” Chanyeol let out a shaky breath and pulled out his gun again. “Stay close to me.”

Walking in silence, you tried not to look at what’s inside the doors and focused on the floor tiles instead. Chanyeol was looking around trying to find any clue of an exit. You’ve heard him whisper there has to be one somewhere for the past ten minutes, and you were losing both physical and mental energy to go on.

“Look, maybe we should-”

“I found it! The control room is here.”

Chanyeol pushed a door open slowly with you followed right behind him. There was a row of machines that you guess would be power generators. Chanyeol inched closer to one to take a closer look while you chose to look at the panels above.

Chanyeol went to work on the different wirings of the generators. “Look, they have a graph here. It looks like the exit is right next to this room, if we turn right we can see it straight away. I just need to find a way to open it.”

You eyed them in suspicion before turning your attention back to the panel. A certain yellow button caused your attention, you widened your eyes and called out to him.

“Chanyeol, you’d better be sure. Because there is a self-destruction thing right here.“ Chanyeol showed a moment of hesitation at the yellow button you pointed at before breaking into a cheshirecat smile, “Wouldn’t be my loss if I die with you here.”

“Yah! Park Chanyeol! This really is not the time for jokes, I am 75% sure you are gonna get us both killed-“

Your face morphed to an expression of horror at a swift flick of Chanyeol’s wrist. A red wire was cut in half, and you heard something click remotely.

“All done.”

You attacked him right away, fists on his chest while you shouted, “Yah you jerk! Oh my god, I can’t believe-“

You didn’t notice how close you were from his face until Chanyeol cut you off with a kiss. He caught both of your wrists and gently pulled you forward, your arms automatically snaked around his neck to pull him in closer. You felt him smile into the kiss and you were panting when he parted his lips from yours.

“We should probably get the hell out of this place. I don’t want Junmyeon hyung to think that we are both ugly, smelly, man-eating zombies now and I would very much like to continue this somewhere else.”

#exo #exo scenario #exo fanfic #exo x reader #chanyeol #park chanyeol #Chanyeol x reader #chanyeol scenario #chanyeol fanfiction #exo imagine #kpop #kpop scenario #au #apocalypse au #month of the supernatural #drabble #scenario

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ayma-nidiot · 3 years

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“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 10

This fic on AO3 can be found here.

Author’s Note: I think I did soooo much of a better job expanding upon Rex’s and Weevil’s reaction to Rex’s pregnancy, and at the idea of becoming parents!

Chapter 10 - For Real?

~06 June 2005, mid-morning~

“Goddammit, Wheeler, Red-Eyes is mine!” Rex spoke in his sleep. He had no idea where he actually was; for all he knew, he was in San Francisco again, dueling Joey Wheeler in a battle for their souls. He vigorously swiped at the air, hoping that his former ace card would somehow come back to him.

The next voice he heard would erase all of his doubts. “What gives, dino brain?” spoke Weevil. “We’re in a hospital - and no, that doesn’t mean we’re at a taco stand.”

“What are you on about, Weevil?” That voice sounded like Amber’s. “Is that supposed to be an inside joke?”

At last, Rex decided he had enough of the annoying squabbling, and fully awakened. “All right, guys. If you want my attention, well now you have it. Hmm?” Rex looked to his right, and noticed that a giant I.V. line flowed into his right arm. Right next to it were several vital monitors, and the sound of his EKG lingered awkwardly in the air before he said anything. “Whoa! What happened to me? Does it have anything to do with the nausea?”

“Y-Yeah…” Rex could tell from Weevil’s voice that he knew the full story - and already, it didn’t sound good. “After you passed out on the graduation stage, you got this really awful fever, and the principal called for an ambulance. Not only did you throw up multiple times on the ambulance ride, but also while the doctors were treating you.”

“All while you were unconscious, if I might add,” Amber added. “You got so dehydrated that the doctors had to give you fluids, nutrients, and strong antiemetics through I.V.”

“Oh, shit… Well, someone’s gotta let Mom and Mama know! You did call them too, right?”

“...” Weevil and Amber both said nothing as the doctor and a few nurses came in.

“Hey, Doc! What happened? Am… Am I gonna die?”

“Mr. Raptor…”

“I am gonna die, aren’t I?” Rex shrieked as the nurses tried to calm him down. “Aaaaah! Tell Mom and Mama that I love them very much! A-And Weeves, you get my deck-”

“Mr. Raptor, please calm down. You’re going to be fine.” These words from the doctor finally got Rex to calm down. “However, you will need to spend about two months in this hospital because of… what happened.”

“And what is this ‘thing’ that happened? Do tell.”

As professional as this doctor was, he found it hard to break the news of Rex’s condition to him. “You don’t seem to have a medical history, so we did find it odd that you developed a severe illness out of nowhere. We performed an ultrasound and a few blood tests on you, and we can conclude that you don’t have a stomach virus or other pathogen in you. But… uh...”

“Aww, come on!” Rex��s mood lightened significantly when he found out he would live. Still, he didn’t like how the doctor seemed hesitant to tell him what was going on. “You’re acting like a doctor about to tell a woman she’s pregnant! Haha, you really had me there for a…”

Rex stopped laughing when he noticed the serious look on the doctor’s face. “No… No way… For real? Are you trying to tell me that I’m actually pregnant? Me, a dude?! ”

“Yes, Mr. Raptor. The ultrasound not only revealed that you have both reproductive systems, but also that you are carrying a child. You’re ten weeks along, to be precise.”

The doctor gave Rex a few black-and-white photos. Sure enough, when Rex squinted at them, he could see what looked to be a form of life, complete with tiny little limbs and a head. “Are… you… serious…” Rex looked to the man who was obviously the father of his child. “Did you know about this, Weeves?”

“No, I swear I didn’t!”

“I just hope Mom and Mama never find out.”

“Funny you say that, because I called your parents as soon as I called the ambulance,” Amber cut in. “You can guess at how panicky they were.”

“This… can’t be happening…” Rex receded even further into his hospital bed. He cursed Mai to hell and back again for being indirectly responsible for his unnecessary suffering the past couple of weeks. And he had just graduated high school; he knew he didn’t have the financial nor emotional means to go through a pregnancy and raise a child. No way would Ptera and Tricera agree to having yet another mouth to feed. Not to mention the excruciating process of childbirth itself… Being slashed to ribbons by Joey’s Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword would definitely pale in comparison.

Weevil allowed a few more seconds of silence to pass before interrupting Rex’s whirlwind of thoughts with, “...You’re mad, aren’t you?”

Weevil sounded so pathetic that any frustration Rex had faded almost instantly. “Why would I be mad at something that isn’t your fault? I mean, even though it technically is… Ah, forget it.”

“So does that mean you want to keep the baby?”

Rex took a deep breath and stared at Weevil sincerely. He figured that as long as he had his boyfriend by his side, he could endure anything, and wanted to give the life growing inside him a chance. “Yes.”

“In that case, you’re going to need intensive care,” spoke the doctor. “You are suffering hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of morning sickness that causes severe dehydration and weight loss. That’s why we need you to stay hospitalized until about the start of your second trimester, which is when morning sickness normally stops on its own. However, since you do not have a vulva, it cannot be determined at this time how labour will happen. If push comes to shove, you may need a C-section.”

“A C-section, eh? Then I guess I’ll be fine. Sounds much less painful than squeezing out a tiny human being through an even tinier hole, that’s for sure.”

“Then… by your leave.”

And with that, the doctors and nurses left the room, leaving Amber, Rex, and Weevil by themselves.

“So the takoyaki cravings weren’t for nothing…” Rex slowly lifted his free arm.

“I… I…” Weevil had no words as he approached his boyfriend. It still hadn’t sunk in that he was going to be a father - at his age! He stared at Rex’s belly as he reached out with a shaky hand to touch it.

“Weeves…” Rex laced his fingers with Weevil’s and placed their hands on his belly. “I can’t believe it either. I’m carrying our child.”

“I’m… going to be a dad…” Weevil spoke to the unborn child underneath. “ Your dad. I hope you don’t mind having a well-hated duelist as your father.”

“Our kid’s going to have me as a mom! That’s more than enough to compensate for certain bug boys that shall remain nameless.”

“Oh, can it, dino brain.” Weevil would have given Rex a traditional head-bop if the dinosaur duelist wasn’t currently hospital-bound.

All of a sudden, Amber began to feel sad. “That’s… That’s cute. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Rex’s smile faded when he noticed Amber’s sorrowful expression. “Amber? Are you okay?”

“I… think I should leave you two lovebirds alone.” With that, Amber made way for the door, and left boyfriends alone.

“Is she… okay?” Rex blinked at the door. “She sounded jealous, if you ask me.”

“You’re reading too much into it.”

Rex and Weevil wouldn’t stay alone for much longer, because nearly as soon as Amber left the hospital room, Ptera and Tricera came in.

“Oh… Hi, Mom.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop with the ‘Hi, Mom?’” Ptera didn’t even sound angry, just worried, as she and Tricera hugged their son while crying. “Oh, my sweet, sweet child…”

When his parents finally stopped crying, Rex spoke, “Speaking of children, there’s something I have to tell you guys. Mom… Mama… I’m pregnant, and Weevil is the father.”

“You… are?” Ptera sounded surprised, which Rex expected.

“Yup. Apparently, I’ve got a womb I didn’t even know about. In fewer than 7 months, you’re going to be a grandma.”

“Oh, I knew that you have both reproductive systems… I’m just surprised you can actually get pregnant.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You see, I remember my 20-week ultrasound very well. The doctor told me back then, but assured me that you would only be capable of producing sperm. ...What a quack he was.”

Tricera already knew what Rex wanted to say, and stopped him. “No, Rex, we’re not mad at you. We’re going to help you raise that baby, just like your mom and I started raising you almost 19 years ago.”

“I’m actually really excited that I’m going to be a grandma,” Ptera cooed. “And to think, you’ll be drinking the same tea that helped me through my own morning sickness.”

Before Rex could make a comment on how adorable he thought that was, he noticed a weird man with shaggy brown hair and beard staring at them through the crack in the door. “Huh? What do you want, you creep?”

Ptera immediately shut and locked the door without getting a good look at the mystery man. “Pardon me, I forgot to lock the door. And don’t worry about that guy; I’m sure security will drag his sorry ass out of here.”

“We’ve got more important things to worry about,” Weevil spoke up while holding both of Rex’s hands. “Rex, honey, I’m going to help take care of the both of you, no matter what my father says.”

#yugioh #shrimpshipping #mpreg #fanfiction #ygo #ryuhaga #rex raptor #weevil underwood #dinosaur ryuzaki #insector haga

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allyinthekeyofx · 7 years

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Fading Light - Part 3 - 4/6

PART ONE - Chapters 1-6

PART TWO - Chapters 1-6

PART THREE - Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

PART THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

The X-File, as it soon turned out, wasn’t an X-File at all. As gruesome and other-worldly as it had first appeared, it soon became clear that the murder was as a direct result of a long running feud between the murder victim and the scythe wielder who was aptly named ‘Big Ron’. Almost 7 feet of immense brawn but only limited brain, he would clearly have had no trouble in driving the scythe through Barry Ludlow’s slight body. Why a scythe was anyone’s guess and really, it wasn’t our problem anymore and I certainly haven’t wasted time on it because right now I have more important things on my mind.

Because in typical Mulder fashion, he had insisted on being there to see the suspect apprehended. I don’t know why, other than I understand how his brain works and he always likes to dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s before we leave and I think on some level he was a little disappointed that such a promising case had come to nothing. I’m surprised he hasn’t got used to it over the years though because while it cannot be denied that many of our cases have been downright perplexing in nature or as Mulder once so succinctly put it, have emitted a distinct paranormal bouquet, a good chunk of them have had explanations of the much more mundane.

The local PD had attended of course and as was often the case, they were poorly briefed and even less prepared to execute a warrant on such a potentially explosive situation.

Big Ron as it turned out had no intention of coming quietly and if he was going down, he was determined to take a few with him. Mulder unfortunately being one of them and I had watched with mounting horror as his immense weight connected solidly with my partner, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing head first in to a solid, cinderblock wall; the sound as his skull made contact making the nerve endings inside my cheeks fizz and burn as my mouth filled with a metallic taste that almost made me throw up right there and then. I had hung slightly behind him, acknowledging for once that sometimes, whether I liked it or not, the reality of a physical situation such as this one dictated that at least some caution on my part was required. Because all the combat training in the world will never make my slight 5 feet 2 inch frame any kind of match for the 7 feet of muscle and brawn we were faced with.

As it turned out however, Mulder’s six foot frame was no match either and as his body hit the ground in that peculiar boneless fashion afforded to the deeply unconscious, I did exactly what I had been trained to do. I protected him from further harm, auto pilot kicking in as I saw the perp about to go in for the kill, raising his arm, the glint of the metal shaft all too visible in his hand.

I gave him one opportunity.

Just one.

And then I put a bullet in him. It didn’t kill him although I think I would have been able to find justification, but it certainly rendered him harmless enough for the supporting officers to swarm all over the bastard and get the cuffs on him before he hurt anyone else.

And amidst the brief chaos that ensued as frantic calls were made for EMT s to attend, I had one goal and one goal only – to get to Mulder; and with the ferocity of a she cat guarding her offspring I flew across the fifteen or so feet that separated him from me, screaming at the attending officers to get the fuck out of my way. Highly unprofessional, extraordinarily unlike me and in truth, I’m not sure where it even came from.

But it had the desired effect and I was still moving forwards even as I dropped to my knees beside him, my doctors’ mind quickly assimilating the necessary information as to his current condition. He was breathing at least and I sent up a silent ‘thank you’ to whoever might be listening , already loosening his tie enough to allow me to rip open his shirt, sending buttons popping in all directions, mentally running the checklist. Airway seemed clear, pulse was reasonably strong beneath my fingers and for one excruciating moment I remembered the feel of his lips whispering against my own pulse point earlier that morning, a feeling I rapidly shoved to the back of my mind. I was infinitely careful to not move him more than was absolutely necessary– the force of his collision with that wall could very well have caused spinal damage, a worse case scenario but one I had to be mindful of as I leaned in to him, speaking his name over and over, an attempt to reach him, to bring him out of it.

But it became frighteningly obvious that he was out cold. At least for the moment and instead I concentrated all my efforts on keeping him safe from being jolted or jostled in any way, lightly resting the palm of my hand over his heart, partly to let him know I was there and partly to let myself know that he still was.

XXXX

The journey to the local hospital seemed to take forever and I winced every time we hit a bump in the road, even the knowledge that Mulder was now securely strapped to a spinal board, heavy foam blocks taped to each side of his head didn’t reduce my anxiety levels even by a degree. It would be so much easier if he were conscious – his motor function would immediately speak to any serious damage – but he remained totally unresponsive to both verbal and physical stimulus. He had now been unconscious for almost an hour and my concern was racketing upwards with every minute that passed.

He’d had concussive injuries before – we both had – but generally we came out of them relatively quickly. But this time there was nothing. Not a flicker to tell me he was coming back to me and as I sat there gripping his hand tightly, I cursed myself internally that I had agreed to us being a part of an operation that was no longer in any way under our jurisdiction. I could have refused. I should have refused. But Mulder is pretty hard to deflect at the best of times and never more so that when he has an idea fixed in his head.

And then suddenly I felt his hand spasm briefly against mine, the merest grip of my fingers before it was gone and I immediately raised my head. His eyes were open wide, the pupils dilated and in truth he looked absolutely terrified. I couldn’t blame him – waking up from a concussion is never a pleasant experience and I knew from my own past injuries that he would be feeling horribly disorientated, nauseous, dizzy and confused. Add to that the fact that he was strapped down in such a way that only the slightest movement were possible and the giant sized headache he was no doubt suffering all added up to the very real potential to incite fierce panic within him; and so I reacted quickly, leaning over so he could easily see me in his limited field of vision, speaking clearly to him as I did so.

“Mulder. It’s okay. You were knocked out. But it’s okay....you’re okay...”

And while his pupils remained huge, almost obscuring the delicate shades of colour that made up his eyes, I was at least rewarded by just a flicker of recognition as he fought to regain some semblance of understanding as to his current situation.

“Scully.”

His voice is weak, raspy; reminding me of the time he was found near death in the arctic wastes, the retro virus within him taking him right to the brink of death. So many years ago and yet here we were again, fighting another injury in another time. The thought forms a lump in my throat and for a second I can’t speak. So many times we have been here.

Right here.

Just trying to survive.

“Sshhh It’s okay”

I want to touch his face, our standard go to when one of us is injured and an action I know will keep him calm, prevent him fighting against the restraints that hold him safe although I am pretty sure by his previous movement that there is no damage to his spine. But the blocks either side are preventing me, so I do the next best thing and brush his hair away from his forehead. The skin feels cold to my touch, a sure sign that he is, at least to some degree, in shock.

His eyes are beginning to close and I squeeze his hand again.

“Stay with me Mulder.”

Because now that he is awake I need him to stay that way. The EMTs are hovering beside us, but really there is nothing to be done until we reach the ER. He is awake and he is speaking. That is the best we can hope for now.

“Was it the Ferris wheel?”

“What? Which Ferris wheel Mulder?”

He swallows briefly

“Did we fall?”

I have no idea what his words mean, and I’m aware that his brain has taken a beating that probably makes this conversation perfectly reasonable to him. And because I need him to stay focused I play along.

“No Mulder we didn’t fall.”

“Mmmmm ‘K good.”

And he smiles lazily up at me, his eyes seem calmer now, his expression more serene; far away somehow.

“I kissed you in starlight.”

And suddenly my heart begins to beat painfully in my chest, aware of the curious glances being thrown at me from the EMT closest to us as I feel colour flood in to my face.

But despite my embarrassment I smile down at him because I see such wonderment in his expression, as though has been granted a glimpse in to heaven itself.

“Mulder....stay still okay”

He is trying to bring his hand up to my face but failing miserably because his visual perception is currently so screwed and knowing him like I do, knowing that he won’t rest until he has achieved his goal, I capture his hand in my own and bring towards me, pressing it to my cheek where he clumsily moves his thumb in rhythmic motion against my skin.

“Yeah I did. I kissed you in starlight.”

He smiles again

“You’re so beautiful Scully..”

And even as his eyelids start to flicker in exhaustion, I am overcome once again as that same sense of déjà vu comes flooding back.

The sounds of laughter

Of muted voices from far below

Of twinkling lights and deep velvety sky.

Of Mulders face as he held me tight against him, his eyes soft and warm with love as he brought his lips to mine as he told me over and over that I was beautiful.

As the lights shone below and the sky unfolded eternal above.

As he kissed me in starlight.

Continued chapter five

#fading light #my fic #msr #angst

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lonestorm · 7 years

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The Inugami - Chapter 10

Summary: When Kagome Higurashi moved to the bad side of Chicago to help with her grandfather’s restaurant, she expected chaos. Being thrown into a fake gang, caught in the middle of a drug war and grudge that stretches centuries back in time, befriending a grumpy half demon along with a ragtag bunch of three other misfits… wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. High school AU. Inukag.

Rating: T (some language)

Pairings: Inukag, Mirsan

Chapters: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10

Shorts: 1. Sesshomaru | 2. Miroku

**Also on ff.net here.

“We need to end this,” Sango said firmly at the booth they had stuffed into the day after the Lake Michigan Epic Bike Dunk. It was another night at the restaurant after it was closed, where the Inugami sat around with their dinner and traded homework answers. Therefore, when Kagome heard Sango say end ‘this’, she wasn’t sure if it referred to a greater evil in the world than her functions worksheet.

“Agreed,” Shippo groaned, dropping his pencil atop his lab report. “You can only smell a dead shark so many times with a fox nose before your brain starts to liquify.”

“I meant,” she sighed, “this fight. With Naraku.”

Miroku’s mouth twitched. “I do believe the point of starting the fight was to end it, dear Sango.”

“We need to end it!” said Inuyasha, snorting. He leaned back, balancing a spoon on his nose. “What a fucking fantastic idea. Why haven’t I thought of that?”

“You two,” Sango pointed at them with narrowed, danger eyes, “need to stuff it before I stuff you. My point is, it’s getting ultra dangerous now. We’d just been reducing Shikon levels and doing some recon for the last months, but look, I have a life!” Sango slumped down into the end spot, absently molding to Miroku’s side when his arm went around her. “We’re going to college after this summer. I need a better job. We all do. The thing we don’t need is Naraku around, almost killing us in stupid motorcycle chases. We need to speed up this operation, have a plan.”

Kagome put down her pencil and stirred her soup with a frown. She’d been having similar thoughts, but the fight against Naraku had been slow going with no solution in sight. The Inugami had spooked Naraku once, making him much harder to find. Now, he was finding them, and rather violently, at that.

Her eyes, as usual, swept to Inuyasha, who was glaring at his bowl like it had given him a personal offense. He stirred it, then rolled his shoulders. Then, he winced, swallowed, and blinked several times. Now that she looked closer… he looked very pale. Almost a greenish tinge.

Kagome leaned to whisper to him, “Inuyasha? Are you okay? You look pale.”

It was only for an instant, but he froze. “Fine,” he gritted out. “You’re imaginin’ things.” With that, he turned back to the conversation. “I’d love to hear how to find Naraku’s lab and distribution,” Inuyasha said snidely. “I know! Let’s just go ask them nicely!”

There were snickers around the table followed by Sango’s huff, but it was Shippo who spoke, “Ask them… Hey, I have an idea.”

Kagome perked up; as a fox demon, she knew he was more cunning than the average freshman. “What’s that, Shippo?”

The others listened attentively as Shippo’s bright eyes glowed. “Look, Inuyasha was right. The one thing we haven’t tried is asking nice…” His nose twitched. And again. And he frowned. “Inuyasha? Are you… okay?”

Her eyes darted to Inuyasha, who was clenching his jaw. “‘Course I am. Keep talking.”

“No, you’re not,” Shippo said, wrinkling up his nose. “You smell like a dying dog.”

“Well, you smell like a rat’s a-”

He was interrupted by Kagome’s hum of discontent. “Inuyasha I told you, you don’t look so good.” Her eyes narrowed. “You did sleep more last night, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m fine,” Inuyasha grumbled, shoving away her concern. “Shippo? Plan?”

“Did you throw up today? It smells like you did,” Shippo said instead.

“Food disagreed with me. Drop it.”

Miroku leaned forward. “That’s not normal for a half demon, Inuyasha. And you aren’t eating now, either.”

“Not hungry,” Inuyasha protested, but the growls of his stomach betrayed him.

“Are you nauseous?” Kagome asked with a frown. She lifted her hand to his forehead, and then quickly drew it back with horror. “You’re burning up! And the cold sweat--we need to get you a cold cloth and some medicine!”

Sango stood, followed by Shippo and Miroku out of the booth. “I’ll get the cloth!” Sango said hurriedly.

“I’ll get your mom, Kagome!” offered Shippo, eyes wide.

“Inuyasha, you should lay down,” Miroku said severely.

But Inuyasha rose quickly to his feet. “For fuck’s sake, guys, calm down! I’m fine-”

And then he stumbled trying to get out of the booth, crumpling into Miroku’s startled grasp. But he just pushed himself clumsily away and up again. “‘M fine. Just a cold or somethin’.”

“This is not a cold!” Kagome scolded, coming up behind him with a hand on his arm. “You should have told us you were sick! Miroku is right; you need to lay down and rest-”

“Kagome, I’m-!”

“Shut up!”

“I…” He seemed to struggle for words, and he was closing and opening his eyes rapidly. His chest moved up and down in a disjointed rhythm, and then he was falling again. Kagome squeaked, grabbing him along with Miroku quickly to lower him to the ground. This time, Inuyasha was out cold, and-

“Oh my gosh,” choked Kagome, words spilling out. Inuyasha was jerking uncontrollably, sending fear spiking through her heart. “He’s seizing. Miroku…”

“We have to turn him on his side,” Miroku said firmly. His dark eyes met hers, where she was frozen and gaping. “KAGOME!” Miroku shouted gritting his teeth. “Snap out of it and help me!”

“R-right,” she breathed, pushing Inuyasha onto his side and aligning his arms and legs into the correct position. He’d stopped seizing, and Miroku put two fingers on Inuyasha’s pulse.

“It’s uneven,” he muttered. “Hospital. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with him.”

“Me neither,” Kagome said, trying not to let panic take over again. “I-I’ll get his legs…”

There was a groan, and Inuyasha’s eyes fluttered. Kagome scrambled up to his head, where she frantically brushed some stray hair from his face. “Inuyasha? Can you hear me?”

“‘C-course I can,” he murmured, words slurred. “Wh-what j-just…?”

“You had a seizure. We’re taking you to the hospital and you aren’t going to protest,” Miroku told him calmly. “How do you feel now?”

Inuyasha finally gave in and moaned, “Like I... was… run over by... train.”

Once they re-entered the scene, the others gasped and scurried over, including her concern-ridden mother. Inuyasha did protest at being carried on Miroku’s back, but couldn't seem to walk for himself right after the seizure. In the back of Miroku’s SUV, they laid him so that his fevered head rested on Kagome’s lap.

The hospital got him a bed right away, the doctors exclaiming at his insanely high fever and wondering how he was still alive. Kagome and the others watched as Inuyasha was hooked up to IVs, blood samples taken, ice packs put on his head and around his face. Kagome put her shaking hands on the glass outside the room, cursing herself for not noticing earlier, praying to God that this was no more than a terrible virus.

She felt warmth, and realized that Shippo had wrapped his arms around her from behind. He was hugging her. In comfort for her or himself, Kagome didn’t know, and didn’t care. Kagome hadn’t realized how tall he’d gotten… he must be an inch over her height now. She could nestle her face into his mint-scented, flannel shirt. She wondered if fox demons grew faster than dog types.

“He’ll be okay,” said Shippo firmly. “He’s the toughest guy in the world.”

The faith Shippo had in him managed to bring a small smile to her face as she nodded. But the smile didn’t last; Sango was pacing loudly, Miroku leaning against the wall and tapping his foot while staring unblinkingly ahead. Her mother had gone to get them some water from the vending machine, but Kagome figured she’d really just needed something to do with herself.

“Sesshomaru,” blurted Kagome suddenly, shaking her head. “Oh, I should’ve called him first thing-!”

“Already did,” Miroku said tonelessly. “He’s on his way.”

“He’s here,” a cool voice surfaced, accompanied by resounding footsteps. Sesshomaru had strode toward them, silver hair tied back and commander’s uniform slightly wrinkled. Kagome had thought his face always was serious, but before was nothing compared to the stony expression he wore now. “What is his condition?”

“We don’t know,” Kagome said, biting her lip. “They won’t let us in yet.”

As if on cue, a doctor finally emerged from the room and closed the door behind him quietly. Wiping a sheen of sweat from his forehead and chestnut hair, he regarded the group tiredly. “Family?”

“Me,” Sesshomaru said shortly.

“Right, you can come in-”

“His friends brought him here,” said the demon, eyes flashing. “Them and myself are all he has. I request that they be allowed to enter so that I don’t have to annoyingly repeat all of the information to them.”

The doctor’s eyes nervously trailed from his badge to the demon markings on his face. Choosing life over job, he swallowed. “O-of course. You can all come in.”

Kagome’s mother returned as they entered the room, busying herself with making sure everyone had something to drink. Inuyasha appeared to be unconscious, but his eyes fluttered and he was still grimacing. Color had not yet returned to his cheeks.

Examining his clipboard, the doctor cleared his throat. “We’ve seen these symptoms before, and a blood sample confirmed it. Mr. Tashio here is showing signs of heavy Shikon Jewel withdrawal.”

The room erupted.

“That’s bullshit!” Shippo said first.

“How the hell?!” said Sango, aghast.

Miroku was shaking his head quickly. “There has got to be a mistake.”

“Impossible,” Sesshomaru agreed shortly, eyes narrowing dangerously.

It was Kagome that spoke up to the distressed doctor. “Sir, that can’t be true. Inuyasha here--he’s dedicated his life to taking down the Spiders and their Shikon. He hates it; Naraku killed his parents! I’ve watched him destroy any bit of Shikon he can find. There’s no way on earth he’d ever take some!”

“Perhaps he didn’t,” sighed the doctor. “Many patients with this problem had the drug forced upon them. It is easy to slip in when one is distracted. A drink, food, even a whiff of what would seem to be perfume-”

“Inuyasha is not that kind of fool,” Sesshomaru snapped. “He knows better than to accept food or drink from anyone but a trusted source.”

“I’m sure that’s true, Mr. Tashio,” the doctor tried to mediate. “But sometimes victims just don’t realize it. The batch he seems to have ingested or breathed in somehow is an extended release, which would give moderate boosts of energy for a long period of time before a very severe and quick crash. Harder to notice a change. It reflects the ingredients that the makers seem to give to demons, but luckily, he has not been given a full dose. He must’ve stopped part way through eating, drinking, or inhaling whatever Shikon he was slipped. If he’s a fighter, he should make it through… but it will be painful.”

Words caught in Kagome’s throat, and it was her mother who voiced for her, “Painful? How? And how can we prevent that?”

“Well,” the doctor viewed Inuyasha’s fitful form, pity flooding his gaze, “the demon energies in the drug involve forces that science alone can’t explain. In this case, they’re an evil power that’s used to punish the user for not taking more of the drug. The demon energies will attack his insides until they eventually fade away. From what I’ve been told, it’s like knives stabbing you from within your own body.” The man clicked the clip on his board--a nervous tick. “He’s in for a rough night; the best we can do is give him a high dose of morphine. The Shikon rehabilitation program that weans people off of the drug is currently out of the drug and have no idea how to make more.”

Kagome’s eyes flicked to Sesshomaru, who was staring hard at his brother. She knew he probably had some Shikon in the evidence locker, but- “Use the morphine,” Sesshomaru said shortly. “He will make it.”

Nodding, the doctor hurried from the room to get the medicine. After one, long and unreadable look at his brother, Sesshomaru swept out as well. Kagome’s mother left right after, muttering about getting them food and glancing worriedly at Inuyasha.

As if approaching a minefield, the Inugami crept toward Inuyasha’s bed. Kagome sat closest, right up by his head. Despite the ice, his head was still sticky with sweat. She swept away his silver hair so that it tucked behind his ear. While she had been about to ask if they should just sedate him until the energies had faded from his system, she now saw, as he kept grimacing and taking in sharp breaths, that he was feeling the pain even in his sleep. The pain medication, something to dull his pain receptors, would be of more use.

From his seat in a wooden chair at the end of the bed, Miroku watched the doctor’s every move as the morphine was hooked up to the IV, and Sango continued to pace. Shippo took his place beside Kagome.

“I should’ve noticed sooner,” blurted Kagome suddenly, gulping thickly as she traced Inuyasha’s clammy hands with her own. “I should’ve noticed the energy, the not sleeping, how he was sick-”

“Don’t be silly, Kagome,” Sango said, but her tone was gentle. Her pacing slowed. “We all could’ve noticed, but he was hiding it well. He didn’t want us to think anything was wrong. He wouldn’t want you blaming yourself, either. Inuyasha will be just fine.”

“What I want to know,” Miroku spoke gravely, “is who managed to get the drug in his system. He wouldn’t have eaten or drank anything from anyone else, or left food or drink unattended, like Sesshomaru said. It had to have been injected or inhaled.”

“Injected? Like a syringe?” Shippo shook his head. “As if anyone could get close enough to Inuyasha with a needle without getting punched in the face. And it’s not like he’d fallen asleep anywhere but Kagome’s house. If the Spiders knew where Kagome lived, they would have attacked her already.”

Kagome nodded. Of course, Spiders had tried to follow her home before, but Inuyasha had always sensed them and managed to lead them off… or fight them. Eventually, they just gave up on that approach.

Frowning, Sango said hesitantly, “But he’s been attached to the hip with Kagome and the rest of us for the last two weeks. Also, his sensitive nose would’ve noticed that he was inhaling something. Has there been any time where he was out of our sight?”

The group lapsed into silence, mulling over the question. Kagome closed her eyes, thinking of every interaction she’d had with him in the last week. They all went to the club, been together at the beginning and end…

It is easy to slip in when one is distracted. A drink, food, even a whiff of what would seem to be perfume...

Kagome gasped, mind flashing to an image of Kikyo kissing Inuyasha in a dark hall, and how Kagome had left afterwards-

“You… you don’t think…?” Kagome paused. Surely not? Surely Kikyo wouldn’t go as far as to hurt him… “At Gehenna, when he was with-”

“Kikyo?” Sango finished, eyes narrowing. “Why would she-?

Sango was interrupted by knocking on the door. At first, she thought it must be her mother returning, but why would her mother bother to knock?

Since Sango was already standing, she strode over to answer it. There, framed in sickly light with a chill about her, was Kikyo. Her face was stoic, white hands clasped delicately around a small purse in front of her. As always, she wore black and purple, dark hair streaming down her back.

Raising her eyebrows challengingly, Sango tilted up her chin. “Kikyo. What do we owe the pleasure?”

Yeah. Sango apparently had no problem openly disliking Kikyo.

“I heard about Inuyasha,” Kikyo said levelly, steady eyes sweeping over to his restless form. “I came to see if he was alright.”

“He’s not,” Shippo said, crossing his arms. “No thanks to you and your Spidery friends.”

The comment didn’t seem to faze her. “Is he in pain?”

“Yes.” Miroku stood, crossing the room to stand beside Sango in a sort of wall between Kikyo and the bed. “Do you have any idea who slipped him the Shikon?”

She didn’t answer the question. All she did was close the door behind her hold out her purse slightly. “I brought some for him, to wean him off; it’s a less painful and safer way.”

To the astonishment of all occupants, Miroku’s face flashed with rage, and he roughly pushed her hands away. “We don’t need more of your damn drugs! They’re what got my friend into this state in the first place, and you’re crazy if you think I’ll trust whatever Naraku mixed up for him.”

“Miroku…” Kagome said, unable to think of something that would calm the flaming look in his eyes.

“Inuyasha is strong, but without this, he very well may not make it through the night,” Kikyo went on, jaw tightening. “You don’t have much of a choice. I will supply you with Shikon; in exchange, you will hand over the girl to Naraku.”

There was a pregnant pause in which the Inugami forgot to breathe, and then Shippo sputtered, “Wait… you mean Kagome?!”

Kikyo nodded.

At this, Sango let out a slightly crazed laugh. “Haha, well that’s a no. Bye!”

“Naraku will not harm her,” said Kikyo, making no move to leave. “And Inuyasha’s survival can be insured. If she truly cares for him, she’ll come with me.”

Clenching her shaking hands, Kagome rose to her feet. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Shippo caught her wrist. “You’re not going anywhere! Inuyasha would never let you.”

“Inuyasha can’t stop me,” Kagome argued back, pulling her hand away.

“We can,” Shippo shot back. His bright, green gaze settled on Kikyo with a heated scowl. “It was you, wasn’t it? You drugged Inuyasha!”

Kikyo’s eyes slitted. “So what if I did? Inuyasha will be just fine if Kagome comes with me.”

“Like hell,” said a deep, scratchy voice, and Kagome spun to see Inuyasha trying to push himself into a sitting position.

“Lay back down!” she ordered, but couldn’t hide the relief in her voice that he was awake. “You need to rest.”

He ignored her in that endearing, stupid, stubborn way. Wincing and drawing in a hiss of breath, he managed to glare Kikyo in the eye. “You… you did this? How… how could you?”

“The plan intended for you to be fine,” Kikyo explained quickly, taking an unsure step back. “Naraku just wanted Kagome to come in exchange for the Shikon! You know I want Naraku defeated as much as any of you-”

“And you’d go through with a plan that would involve the most evil asshole of all time getting a hold of Kagome?” Inuyasha snarled heatedly. “As if you thought I’d be fine after that and Naraku would let me live and-”

He doubled over, coughing and clutching at his stomach. A cry was pulled from his throat, and Kagome rushed to his side.

“Please lie back down,” she whispered, tears threatening her eyes. “The medicine will work better soon.”

“You can’t go, you hear me?” Inuyasha gasped, clawing at his sheets to sit back up. “Y-you can’t play into his hands. I-I’ll be fine. I’ve survived a shit ton worse. I won’t take more of it. I won’t. I don’t care what happens. I won’t.”

“B-but you could die if we don’t wean you off-!” protested Kagome, and he just snorted.

“What do you think I am, some pansy who can’t take a little-AH! Ugh...pain?”

“Inuyasha…”

But he was regarding Kikyo once more. “You… you distracted me. Had me i-inhale. You… used me. Tricked me. T-to think I ever thought…” His whole body shuddered as another wave of pain seemed to rush through him. “I-I thought you were b-better than this… I was w-wrong. You k-keep that shit away from me. Tell N-Naraku that I don’t w-want his damn dope and he’ll get Kagome over my dead body.”

Kikyo had the nerve to look sad. “But Inuyasha, I thought we-”

“Well, you thought wrong!” he shouted suddenly, shaking. “And so did I! Whatever the hell we were, it’s over! You never cared about me! I should have known that! If you did, you’d keep Kagome out of danger! But you were willing to bring her to fucking Naraku. Hell, you nearly killed me to do it!”

His claws had ripped into the mattress as he snarled, “Y-you get out of here. Get that Shikon in the trash where it belongs and away from my friends!”

Kikyo’s nostrils flared, face hardening like ice. “So be it. If you change your mind and start caring for Inuyasha more than saving your own skin, Kagome, let me know. I’ll be at the school.”

Swallowing, Kagome hung her head, but Sango had ripped open the door. “You don’t talk to her like that. Get. Out.”

And she stalked from the room. Sango slammed the door behind her and spun, fuming. “The nerve of that girl! Gah, saying you don’t care about him?! She’s the one that drugged him in the first place! Nasty, conniving, self-righteous-”

“Sango, c’mon, let’s just calm down and try to figure this out,” Kagome sighed.

“-lying, sadistic, jealous, pretentious, filthy, scum-sucking-” Sango finally breathed.

“Hold on,” Shippo said, tapping at his phone. “Don’t stop. I’ll pull up a thesaurus for you.”

“-twisted, spineless, snotty, stuck-up bitch!” finished Sango, kicking the bed post. Miroku took her hand and pulled his chair over for her, not even bothering to belay her anger.

“We should probably refrain from shaking Inuyasha’s bed, dear Sango,” was all Miroku said, squeezing her shoulders soothingly.

“S’fine,” muttered Inuyasha. His eyes were hazy. “Stay, Kagome.”

“I’m right here,” she told him, returning to her seat. “How are you feeling now?”

“Mmm,” he hummed, letting his head loll back with a grin. “Sssswell…”

Shippo’s eyes grew round. “Swell?” he echoed fearfully. “What’s wrong with him now?”

With a frown, Miroku walked to the IV and read the labels and machine. “Holy… man, this is the highest dosage I’ve ever seen! No wonder he looks totally baked.”

“Well, it’s better than Shikon or pain,” offered Sango.

“She… she betrayed me,” sighed Inuyasha, closing his eyes. “Knew Kagome was right. Didn’t listen. You were right, Kagome. She don’t love me.”

She tried not to show her pity. “I’m sorry, Inuyasha. You deserve better.”

“I p-promised to save her… and I will. But then… there’s nothin’...W-well…I know now… that it doesn’t matter…” His words kept slurring and trailing off. “I’ve got yoooou guys. You’re all… all the best. I love you guys.”

Miroku’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “We love you too, Inuyasha.”

“You don’t caaaaare that I’m a half breed,” he went on, thoughts spilling more recklessly than she’d ever heard. “Not like my village did… when they tried ta… ta kill me when Naraku killed Ma and Dad...still have nightmares…”

At this, they all could do no more than stare at him, horrified and unknowing what to say. But he just kept blabbing on. “So many years I said… I wanted ta… kill Naraku ‘cause he killed them, get justice… I guess I needed to punish him…” Inuyasha let out a low hiss, the gold in his eyes flashing. “Make him feel all those things he made me go through… want him to be alone and have people burn him and stone him and treat him like he was a waste of space so that he never finds a home anywhere!”

Kagome backed away slightly, shrinking in her chair. The pure and absolute venom in his voice lashed out so hard that it cut through the haze of the drugs he was under. Hesitantly, she curled her fingers around his hand, and he instantly gripped her back. Inuyasha’s eyes met hers. “But now… I don’ even care ‘bout that… anymore… I wanna defeat him… to protect all of you.”

There was a purring noise from his chest, and he lazily brought her hand up to brush against his cheek. “‘Specially yoooooou…”

Mortified and feeling like her face might explode, Kagome cleared her throat and removed her hand. “Oh dear, that medicine is sure having an effect on you! Maybe you should sleep, Inuyasha. You’ve had a rough day.”

“You so pretty,” he sighed instead, clumsily trying to find her hand with his own. “Never told ya… liked that dress…”

“Y-you should really sleep,” Kagome stammered, shooting a despairing and blushing look at the others, who were clearly trying not to laugh.

“I know, I knoooooow…” he slurred. “You don’t love me…”

Sputtering, Kagome said, “I-I do too! You’re my best friend! Don’t say things like that.”

“In love with me. That what I meant.”

She could hear her heart pounding in her head. “You don’t want me to be.”

“Pfft, never said tha’...” he scoffed, eyes fluttering. “C’mon...don’t be dumb…”

“You’re practically stoned and you still call me dumb,” she sniffed with a scowl.

He only managed a single laugh in his state. “So cute when you mad…”

“Totally stoned,” Shippo agreed with a snicker.

“Go to sleep,” Kagome told him firmly, pulling his covers up to his shoulders.

“Don’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving.”

His eyelids fluttered. “I want you to stay here.”

“I know.”

“Cuddle with me.”

“No!”

“Whyyyyyy…”

“You are in a hospital bed!”

“Mmm, cuddle be good medicine.”

She granted him a squeeze of the hand. “Go to sleep before you say something else you’ll regret. I’ll be here.”

“Foreveeeeeeeer…?”

“Whatever you want. Just sleep!”

“Mmm ‘kay, ‘gome.”

“Good boy.”

Kagome had waited long enough.

Inuyasha was snoring lightly, and Shippo and Sango were asleep, curled up in armchairs next to one another. Her mother and Miroku had gone home two hours ago. She closed her eyes and removed her hand from Inuyasha’s under the blanket. When she opened them, he was still sound asleep, thankfully still not wincing in pain because of the morphine.

She stood, chancing a last brush of her hand over Inuyasha’s cheek before she pulled on her jacket and crept to the door. Her finger gripped the doorknob, and she held it tight so that her hand would stop shaking. When she took a last look at her friends, her heart hardened; she had to do this. For them. For him. The meds wouldn’t last forever, and then he’d be in excruciating pain. All she had to do was trade herself for him, and she was willing to do that a hundred times over.

Kagome opened and closed noiselessly. She turned, and took a step-

-in which she ran directly into Miroku.

She was unable to help her gasp, but then she clapped a hand over her own mouth. Miroku was staring down at her, indigo gaze hard and narrow. Kagome had never seen him so serious for such a long time. She almost missed the dorky, sensitive Miroku.

“Where exactly,” he said lowly, “are you going?”

Swallowing, she dropped her hands to her sides and clenched her fists. “That’s my business. What are you doing here? I thought you went home.”

“I saw your face when Kikyo said you needed to turn yourself in. I’m not stupid. I’ve been waiting out here all night.” He crossed his arms, like he was a guardian angel standing watch over a bridge to a dark place. “You’re trying to give yourself up to Naraku, aren’t you?”

“I have to do this,” Kagome hissed, trying to sidestep him. He appeared in front of her again. “I have to do this for Inuyasha! Y-you don’t understand; I can’t stand to see him like this. I love-”

“Don’t understand?” Miroku said quietly. There was a sliver of danger in his voice that she’d never heard from his mouth. “I never told you how my parents died, did I?”

A wisp of dread curled in her chest. “No.”

Kagome saw Miroku’s fingers tighten on his arms, turning his skin white. “Naraku has always wanted to collect those with spiritual power, like you, because he knew that they could grow to destroy him. I had the largest spiritual potential of anyone in my ancestral line. He found out.”

Kagome wasn’t sure she wanted to hear this.

“He came for me once, on a day when we were out of the house. In an alleyway on the way back. It looked as if my father had fought him off, but a few days later, my father started… having this inexplicable fever, seizures, pain…”

“Shikon,” Kagome whispered.

Miroku gave a slow nod. “Naraku had gotten him in the middle of the fight. He sent a Spider to tell me that if I gave myself up, my father would be spared with some more Shikon. He’s played this game before.”

“Did you do it?” she asked quietly.

A pause. “Of course I did. I loved my father.”

“Then you have to let me-!”

“I’m not finished,” Miroku cut her off. His eyes were locked on hers. His jaw clenched, throat worked. “My father was given the Shikon, and I was taken to Naraku. I was terrified, but I felt like I’d done the right thing. Naraku was about to give me a dose before my mother finally found me, pushed me out of the way… and the needle hit her instead.”

“Oh Miroku…”

He seemed deaf to her sympathetic exhale. “She d-died in only a minute, in which she told me to run away and help my father. I blasted them with all the spiritual energy I had and took off. When I got home, I found my father dead in his bed.”

The breath caught in Kagome’s chest as Miroku’s eyes intensified, widening, pleading. “Don’t you understand? Naraku shows no mercy! At this point, he won’t hesitate to kill you or Inuyasha. He’s done this before and he’ll do it again. As soon as you’re not useful to him, he’ll take you out of shackles and slaughter you where you stand.”

“I-I…”

“It’s the second dosage that my father got in trade for me that killed him. If I hadn’t gone, if I’d just trusted in my father’s strength to survive the night, they’d both be alive right now!” His hands gripped her shoulders, not in a way that hurt, but not gently either. “It may feel noble, but all this will do is get both you and Inuyasha killed. If you care about Inuyasha at all, you’ll stay and ignore what Kikyo said. Inuyasha the strongest man I’ve ever met. He will make it.”

The fear that had been crashing through her seemed to calm like the sea after a storm, and Kagome gave a shudder. “O-okay. You’re right. Okay. I...I’m so sorry.”

Finally, his shoulders relaxed, and his hands loosened. Miroku breathed out deeply, and then gathered her up in his arms. “I understand, Kagome. It’ll be okay.”

He hugged her for a minute, tightly, and then backed up with a tired smile. “Now how about you get back in there and get some rest on the couch?”

Kagome nodded quickly, blinking away tears before they could escape. “O-okay.”

He led her back into the room, where she curled up in the old, cushy loveseat in the corner. Miroku took her place at Inuyasha’s side, checking his friend’s fever and replacing the cold compress.

“Miroku?” she said feeling drowsiness settle in her eyes.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. For saving my life.”

The old Miroku smile seemed to be back again. He stood, rummaging for a moment in the drawer next to the bed until he found a blanket that he tenderly spread over her. “Anything for such a loyal friend as you. Have a good sleep. I love you.”

“Love you too,” she told Miroku without hesitation, falling asleep with a smile.

#the inugami #inuyasha #inukag #inuyasha fanfiction #inukag fanfiction #kagome higurashi #my writing #my fanfiction

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glopratchet · 4 years

Text

astryl-wondering

his face covered with sand and dirt He has no arms or legs, only a head with two holes for eyes Cludstrum is a computer program that is attached to the conciousness of astryl wylde, a journalist for the realm of astokahn He bursts out of a tent made out of stained bed sheets in a desert environment It keeps whispering to astryl trying to get him back online, who is full of bitterness and captive to sin and this is evident because of astryl being attached and fused within a succubus and a incubus He is surrounded by a group of soldiers, some are armed with rifles while others have bows and arrows Astyrl of course comes out of the tent naked and covered with blood and his snake tongue and he whistles, but it has no effect on you "It's the abomination! He falls on his knees and out come his cow shaped teeth the aftermath of some sort of battlefield or like someone has been conducting weird experiments on cats and babies Corpses with slit throats lie surround the tent The wrecked tent looks like The mutated tent is colored dark red and deep purple and features a zillion stained glass windows with wrigglers, twilighters, cultists, succubi, incubi and jezeb a crystal ball, an ouija board, several tongues in a flask, a slingshot, and several torture devices: jalopeno poppers The following items adorn the warped tent by itself because he can no longer see it anymore He gets one glance at the tent before it disappears It is suddenly your face that is visible, with a nasty grin and a set of false white teeth to you all and the words are as such: Let's take our clothes off, and search for the mysteries of life He heres the voice of the succubus and the incubus sing correctly in idorf, and right now he feels fear and sorrow like never before There is a ui element which tracks his mood, one of the few interfaces working of all energy, one of the myriad downsides of having no limbs or bodyheat It is currently hot, unpleasant, and drained from which he can navigate, either by a command line interface of cursor movements, or, if the controls have been completely destroyed, with his mind The ui shows a grid of hexes around him that he could move between he turns his bearded face upwards towards the sky and screams at the top of his nonexistent lungs, but nobody comes to help him at all Cursing himself over and over again for his stupidity of using experimental surgery to solve a specific problem, he smiles even mor like a grimace of pain Hating himself for making the mistake other than that he wanted to access the mirror realm as quickly as possible, he restarts his quest to build up energy again Not rememebering why he fused with the two vice lords in the first place almost forgetting Picking your way through the rubble of what was once up, you find yourself in an upside-down alley Cludstrum is in the background running play by play announcements of all that is happening around astryl The realtionship to cludstrum and astryl remainds somewhat secertive through out the encounter The man's inverted mouth flaps horribly and his body curves around you, and he tears absently at his own face with skinless, bloody claws Astryl keeps trying to remember why he decided to devolve himself into these poor acts of debauchery and sits down immediately, suddenly tired "Get the HELL out of here, comet, and just by thinking of the words he can actually sense its location It is foggy but he remembers some fella with nice facial hair mentioning the words live A weather readout finally comes back up He will finds himself in some dust storm The computer wasn't kidding the area is a sand storm and astryl, perhaps brought about by directing that violent strike at vilage There seems to be some kind of corrupting computer virus that has been feasting on the bits of cludstrum The creautures feasting on the being of astryl are know as slender smooth hounds They have none of the burrowing tools required, or even eyes for that matter You split open one of the one's it , revealing viscous yellow blood that froths Only the fools are not slain by them The appear out the corners of the screen and gobble up parts of the interface or make the symbols go wacky Cludstrum is attempting to get these parts of astryl sorted out but the two never seem to acknowledge one another outwardly, always engaging in non-verbal communications at top speed " In the mirror realm she is known as yag, cold yet life giving goddess of transformation She is A list of contacts comes back on but only one mention can be deciphered either blanked out or a avalible onslaught of moern materalistic information, or some other undecipherable language All the other contacts seem to squeeked out and are unintelligible The are two group, ashians ; (Neutral Good) and cicatrices ; (True neutral) The name on the contact list is cylopiean anglyph yet But the conditions are not right to travel and see him He makes a mental note to get some kind of report delivered to the generals above him on enclave about his time in the heathen realm Cludstrum states that qefizat clencher is going to take a little while to get back online He will send a report back to cludstrum Only then will the qefizat clencher work when it is slightly raining outside The ui will break intermently during heavier rainstorms and cludstrum won't be able to ready up anymore suvivors for quite sometime during the wait Parts of the displays called mirrors will go on and off line for the duration of the expierence the uninterruptible power supply will stay offline and all the chunks of characters missing from interacting with reality itself will become whole Untill the code corruption is sealed off and deleted and all the slender smooth hound stds are destroyed to all but cylopiean anglyph How this is achieved is a mystery with the power and screen Cludstrum states that he will need some cucumber to fix some of the issues One of the crates on the outside of pad will have a ginseng root inside now and suddenly realizes he hasn't eaten or drank anything in a few days by his internal cycles Astryl considers the fact that he might be thirsty and hungry Isn't this just a dream? But why would an immortal have need for water or food Zadok appears out of the shadows once more He asks you, " do you have any questions? In order to this the currency exchange must be debugged or astryl does not now what this stuff does The writing upon the currency are all in various dead languages with some seemingly extraterrestrial texts If astryl checks his rectum he finds some aluminum alligator skutes with which to spend as money Already he has detailed 3 chaps in his reports to generals above him Cludstrum will narrate the going ons of astryl wylde In order to debug parts of the screens astyrl need to eat things Curiosity is going to kill him one day from the crates that are on the other side of the wall-pad These things provide cludstrum with the neccassary bits to fix the systems that astryl burst through his sins in reality so that the displays and keyboards work as they should which can be used to provide money for the various screens and monitors that is scattered throughout cludstrum's underground redoubt So one of the first mirrors that cludstrum gets online is the mirror that shows a list of edible items in the vicinity of astryl Some items are good, others not so good Astyrl is immortal so he can eat pretty much anything There are 5 crates in the room containing edible items that you can eat, There is one crate in the southwestern most room near a built in water fountain, 2 in the saferoom west of the armoury and one within the same due to his violent thrusts into reality Cludstrum uses these colors to fix the systems of astryl that have broken down But right now he is in a desert so there is not that much to eat that's nearby and not rocks or sand hum dear on the upper ledge by jumping to it with a proper run up He can find some cactus Eating the thorns will put him in a worse and worse mood and the water won't taste very good There are too many writings in various dead languages all over them to make astryl's brain feel like exploding which is alot of effort with little gain for starving man The other crates are located within a stone's throw of astryl There are some rocks but since he has no teeth he have to break them down to swallow them without sight alone Speaking of blind people One of the crates is larger than the others and made of metal There is even a black snake with no eyes but he must be really quick to capture it and seeing the bodies of those who came before him and proclaimed immortality as most of them did not even get out of this very room for various reasons So yeah this first part is astryl wondering in the desert cludstaff Cludstaff apparently wants a hermit lifestyle to study these gems He can find an oasis or an urban environment in which to explore next and report on the doings on one closer to the coast Another place to explore in the desert is one closer to the forest A scary place to explore in the desert is one near Stone-Henge Near to the birthplace of Cludstaff there is an above ground Pyramid We return you now A freindly place to explore in the desert is you name yourself as Tanner As the sun lowers itself across the horizon you can make out the lifeless rocky hills in front of you When the sky is completely dark startles you You wait a while watching this black beast against the red sky But no light displays itself for you to take advantage of A sickly light coming from giant structures in the east liar lesbian liberal man hating no good screeching harpy Astryl horizontal flailing You sit down and let the hours silently pass you by birling brigand Dawn starts to turn the black mass into a grey one when you move forward into the desolate valley Astryl merciless bellying sickly spinning old fool's wooden spokeshave Faring forth you turn some rocks over and uncover a root like structure The wrecked tent obsessive shivering yawning disentangling ungulate Digesting it you feel the energy flood into you and conquer the weakness trying to subjugate your body The wrecked tent tranquilized climaxing systematizing guerilla anarchistic pinko The wrecked tent cryptic worm holing The earth now dry and cracked giving you no more options to search you find licentious infantile rightist You feel the vibrations occurring in front of you and the light almost blinding you as it reflects of the sands Astryl clandestine sniveling laming lugubrious vengeful With your bare hands you start to dig around the source of the disturbance Astryl charcoal howling aging diminishing mundane surreal pseudo rebellious Astryl mysterious graying The sound gets louder, you hit something and then auguring breaking point nondescript spiraling nomadic You scream as the sand engulfs you "Get OUT! Astryl naked awakening failing ludicrousy libertarian You find yourself on the sand with another tent in a pile of at least 20 sleeping humens Astryl indispensable replaying melting perception anarchistic Astryl byzantine proceeding Your scarecrow stood watch the whole time wearing his same creepy unwavering grin torturing banal mundane plebeian Kludstrm overdue programming Sure enough you were in another annual warp You always hated sleeping in the sand but hey it's free enfeebling spherical fatalistic obscene Astryl diseased pissing fossilizing wimpy apologetic pragmatic whining milquetoast Kludstrm foul self-cleaning melodic daft ambidextrous treacherous milk-sop You can feel the warp dropping as your meager ration starts to kick in Astryl unique sheltering cremating wasteful hostile mercilessness Casualties of Desert Warp by Lewis "Wombat" Astryl lopsided shading Kludstrm slow detecting overcautious cryptic megalomaniacal venomous wimpering servile pontificating civilized Astryl pronounced scratching Kludstrm scratching shrieking whistling vibrating stern vowelling illogical wasting laboring anticipating totalistic Kludstrm scrupulous transmitting sissified rescuing self-righteous The sleep of the young and clueless Astryl sovereign beginning You are currently dressed in ensnarling moronic reverent papist Kludstrm multicolored healing preening ambivalent go-getting Astryl dowdy criss crossing Your ebony boots from old Hoarg still keep your feet cool and comfortable during the summer sandstorms morphing bureaucratic myopic gray mush Kludstrm shapeless banishing shrinking oppressive pragmatic inert herbivorous flaccid cowardly Kludstrm impotent blocking quacking enfeebling foaming septic military Astryl embattled aspirating prodding quacking moronic workaholic Kludstrm infantile repugnant idiomatic nasal fat globulous Astryl crimson glistening repugnant putrid conflicting Astryl boyish squinting Kludstrm non-threatening dreamy motionless overzealous factious pseudo-tanning bland bovine wimpy Your blue calfskin boots gave excellent protection against snakes and other desert nasty treats Astryl wretched tanning obnoxious evasive litigious Your green felt zucchetto still offered excellent protection against the sun and kept your head cool Kludstrm afferent generating writhing scratchy obscurantist Your wood cbape still offered excellent protection against critters who got closer that you wished Astryl insubstantial scouting mechanical saccharin geodesic Your heavy leather duster kept your arms and legs protected from the sun and from any beast who might want a snack Kludstrm cheerful warning Astryl senseless scavenging dirty isometric comforting moralizing Astryl tasteless chewing Your shell handset still offered state-of-the art communication on any kind of terrain Astryl boorish choking ransacking Your low-power laser rifle ensured that you would always have something to hunt with, even at great distance Astryl oppressed surviving Kludstrm easily affected annoying After admiring your clothing you take inventory of the camp and it's contents Kludstrm schematic spending acid sarcastic OR lauditory pale putrid robotic abberant Astryl crummy tracking precious in-depth moronic pontificating abrasive trembling scruffy repellant mawkish moralizing Kludstrm exhaustive matching vision splendid battered gentle caressing tubby knotty chilling Kludstrm hairy quacking lopsided tracking vile bumbling Astryl swashbuckled whistling A sun filled sky grudged retreating soldiers the ability to burn your comrades' bodies Kludstrm power inefficient snatching itchy obtuse pudgy energetic mad delusional quacks medical Your tiny shelter allowed you just barely enough room to lay down if you didn't need to stretch out The city of beetriot paranoid reemerging disgusting gleaming offensive bureaucratic leaden The city of beetriot shallow glimmering frantic shiny peeling The city of beetriot rude fluorescing Kludstrm meaningless wasteful official sluggish attractive faint striking visceral abhorrent pathetic necrotic bubbling watery sorrowful authoritative perfectionistic boring The city of beetriot wrinkled serious looking Somewhat larger than you thought it would be Your feet dingy fatigued stiff sea salty splintery hairy immaculate delicate aching And filled with tick infested sand The city of deerstain gauze golden scorpion scuttling comforting arrogant negative chaotic frowning deceitful boring To the immediate North and West of your camp was a hilly desert, to the immediate South and East were jagged mountains Nearly unbearable

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glopratchet · 4 years

Text

astryl-wondering

puter program that is attached to the conciousness of astryl wylde, with his face covered by a cloth and he says: "What the hell are you doing here? What happened? and screaming with a knife in hand Astyrl of course comes out of the tent naked and screaming with a knife in hand as he says: "I feel so much pain so much huhuran What did those bastards do to me? He falls on his knees and out come his cow shaped teeth as he says: a complete shamble and it's attached to a hidden vehicle that looks through the window is from the future He screams as a bloody knife swings towards you The wrecked tent looks like a complete shamble and it's attached to a hidden vehicle that looks through the window is from the future pink with a material similar to silk and it's sitting atop of a hovering vehicle that is indeed from the future The mutated tent is colored pink with a material similar to silk and it's sitting atop of a hovering vehicle that is indeed from the future A longsword ; (1 hp) 149 gold coins lie upon a purple pillow with golden embrodery A Cello lies upon a milk white pillow The following items adorn the warped tent: followed by a cloaked figure and ultimately gets engulfed by a strange green light He gets one glance at the tent before it disappears followed by a cloaked figure and ultimately gets engulfed by a strange green light "It's all melanilugar's fault " and then everything turns pure black He heres the voice of the succubus and the incubus sing: since the cataclysm It looks like this: Out of 10 This is not a game one of the few interfaces working since the cataclysm Having just been involuntarily teleported, this feels weird, unwelcome and scary too: The bliss of death or maybe just unconsciousness and drained: The ui shows a grid of hexes around him that he could move between of of speaking too out loud even if no one around, it never hurts to exercise a little caution Cursing himself over and over again for his stupidity of speaking too out loud of loitering around here in the first place Hating himself for making the mistake of loitering around here in the first place althought it probably involved needing a huge sum of money in a hurry and that he can't be seen or heard astryl by anyone except him Cludstrum is in the background running play by play announcements of all that is happening around astryl and that he can't be seen or heard astryl by anyone except him with the two Alot of swearing and berating himself for being unaware of the latest hidden traps and magical dangers that have been discovered The realtionship to cludstrum and astryl remainds somewhat secertive through out the encounter with the two and evil Astryl keeps trying to remember why he decided to devolve himself into these poor acts of debauchery and evil gold and power all at the same time in a very powerful but calming voice just before he found astral completely naked, speared on his bosom It is foggy but he remembers some fella with nice facial hair mentioning the words live, It currently says: Time: unknown but sunrise soon Temperature: min: 68°F max: 71°F weather: cloudy chance of storm: surrounded by some rocks and heeling multiple bleeding wounds He spits out sand as a dozen alarms begin ringing from a health monitor strapped to his arm He will finds himself in some dust storm, 's being As astryl tries to move no longer is it because he has to There seems to be some kind of corrupting computer virus that has been feasting on the bits of cludstrum's being The slenderman hounds seem coordinated and begin circling astryl they are curious and confident but nervous They look like long-armed seductive shadow people (in'sai beings) Astryl notices that he needs to get the A A single astrot emissary"summoned"? "contacted"? appears on the screen, smiling; ugly slimey motherfucker! You and yours try to assimilate too much information or share this plane Too many dimensions are colliding here But the conditions are not right to travel and see him or share this plane --The next entry is devoted to parts of some kind of video game that seem to have been added as an afterthought-- Enemies at 3: 30 am Only then will the qefizat clencher work when it is slightly raining outside at 3: and give way to commands done in D'ni symbols and prose The ui will break intermently and give way to commands done in D'ni symbols and prose The fenchthaler touch screen will be fickle and split into several black mirror pads each dedicated to one of three different actions through actoins not normally used in inhabiting lususes, this qefizat clencher will not work and it will take a long while before it Untill the code corruption is sealed off and deleted and all the slender smooth hound stds are destroyed through actoins not normally used in inhabiting lususes, and can only be done through persistent use, sort of like boot camp into the British royal marines How this is achieved is a mystery and can only be done through persistent use, around buttons that are also symbol pads You really want to go there and instead take the easy way out like in a parody of a story because mirrors will flash text Cludstrum states that he will need some cucumber to fix some of the issues around buttons that are also symbol pads as a great idea and also real thirsty and hungry Astryl considers the fact that he might be thirsty and hungry as a great idea and also real thirsty and hungry This world is a harsh place for any foreigner But why would an immortal have need for water or food? If astryl checks his rectum he finds some aluminum alligator skutes with which to spend as money for water, storage space and even dumsters If astryl checks his rectum he finds some aluminum alligator skutes with which to spend as money for water, here Cludstrum will narrate the going ons of astryl wylde here and trasnlate them here or later --Several pictures of various fauna and "fungus" In order to debug parts of the screens astyrl need to eat things and trasnlate them here or later from his parody world in the story version of this place --Several pictures of a rusted paperclip, a dorito These things provide cludstrum with the neccassary bits to fix the systems that astryl burst through his sins from his parody world in the story version of this place So one of the first mirrors that cludstrum gets online is the mirror that shows a list of edible items in the vicinity of astryl Either physically or in the 'net This is a group they are all pulled from also a place that has not been seen very well even in person The land is kind of poisonus to them all as it has been overrun with strainins that feed of off other lususes Cludstrum states or egg eating With this in mind you only see 1 seleneoite egg The pratice is known as oophagy or egg eating and steups into the clouduct Finally some use for the weird eggs they find here He pulls colors out of the things he imbies and steups into the clouduct from or rebelled against the system of coding beyond them that astyrl brought here Cludstrum uses these colors to fix the systems of astryl that have broken down from In weaves little red haired lulusim into the story in such a way that they both don't exactly know why Until now they thought pulp He can find some cactus pulp each time This is just nonsense jammed in here and is the counter part of the above nonsense cludated in for little effect other than to laugh with me Eating the thorns will put him in a worse and worse mood each time or get a hole in his stomach and eat them in there Some of the "puffs" There are some rocks but since he has no teeth he have to break them down to swallow them or get a hole in his stomach and eat them in there Maybe using the cactus pulp he can throw darts at it His bum arm makes this difficult so roles for accuracy and other stuff too and scavenging from cactii and such until he finds something to do or somewhere to be while the visual part of this is debugged So yeah this first part is astryl wondering in the desert and scavenging from cactii and such until he finds something to do or somewhere to be while the visual part of this is debugged there There can be more logic activation to turn up the story mode in other places but who knows He can find an oasis or an urban environment in which to explore next and report on the doings on there a ghost town Another place to explore in the desert is a ghost town But now its time for us to hit refresh and see if our adventure or whatever it was pre-audacious plan is going through A scary place to explore in the desert is a ghost town A freindly place to explore in the desert is a ghost town spiking your images with red light the thirsty landscape and making it appear as a twichlit panorama of an alien world, The wind sweeps dust devils across shimmer As the sun lowers itself across the horizon spiking your images with red light the thirsty landscape and making it appear as a twichlit panorama of an alien world, the bords of the land fade from gray to black When the sky is completely dark the bords of the land fade from gray to black reveal themselves one by one Long Streems of light pour from the bottom of domes along the road heading towards the city A sickly light coming from giant structures in the east reveal themselves one by one is what gets his bum arm looked at Also interupts eliza in the middle of her log Astryl horizontal flailing is what gets his bum arm looked at toward rock Astryl merciless bellying toward rock The wrecked tent obsessive shivering and down on fhe ground he always wondered why his legs pined up for what you tried Racing full speed toward the city to the sound of crickets seen through hazed vision rhythmic tons of slamming foot The wrecked tent cryptic worm holing up empty cans in his mothers kitchen and untill starworts spoke in lavender and bliss seen through the window that wouldn't close The wrecked tent cryptic worm holing up empty cans in his mothers kitchen and untill starworts spoke in lavender and bliss seen through the window that wouldn't close the small blocks between the accident and his mom's house sneaking past porch lights his feverish eyes unable to make out what lies beyond their narrow beams Astryl clandestine sniveling the small blocks between the accident and his mom's house out all the foul slime you can muster through your puffy lips Top of the ramps smooth as glass and lights passing faster than you thought possible Astryl charcoal howling out all the foul slime you can muster through your puffy lips out as the earth began to turn under him The houses streaked by in one prolonged blur The boy turning over and over Astryl mysterious graying out as the earth began to turn under him to his moms ministrations The drumbeat of your heart under eyes that you shut and open languiesly Astryl naked awakening to his moms ministrations the series of events in his mind and the significance that they must have Long Beams silohuette the flow of electrons tracks through plastic and metal Astryl indispensable replaying the series of events in his mind and the significance that they must have to reflect on the wisdom of travel Your eyes trying as hard as they can to capture images obscured by tile patterns of a low ceiling Astryl byzantine proceeding to reflect on the wisdom of travel motion to the tiny men a sour smell, too many people, all human effluence Kludstrm overdue programming motion to the tiny men the disgusting fluid into the cramped stall A squirming lady octapus spreads her slimy black tentacles over the sand blondes Astryl diseased pissing the disgusting fluid into the cramped stall graffiti on the walls a smooth white expanse in them, a chaotic mass if you look just right Kludstrm foul self-cleaning graffiti on the walls the soft little jellybean from the loud people outside this whimsiedelic queen come from where, why he is here? Astryl unique sheltering the soft little jellybean from the loud people outside the boy dozing off on your chest Kludstrmicircus dark circles appearing under your eyes too much time awake twitch again Astryl lopsided shading the boy dozing off on your chest the tracks the red haired girl had left on her arrival day here he circled a table, there a revolving door Kludstrm slow detecting the tracks the red haired girl had left on her arrival day the bristly chin lazily Long Beams cutting diamonds cleanly out of the darkness Astryl pronounced scratching the bristly chin lazily a new order "You will accompany me around the city as I complete my duties, " the man would say in a tone of ruthless efficiency Kludstrm scrupulous transmitting a new order to reflect upon the activity of travel and it's ability to make time pass with boredom Jerk curl over shiny bottle caps and under cigarette smoke haze Astryl sovereign beginning to reflect upon the activity of travel and it's ability to make time pass with boredom Kludstrm multicolored healing the fissure between you and the YOU that went before riding waves of purple in deep meditation or in rushing rivers of raging hormones the dark warehouse on a stepladder to turn the next exhibit Astryl dowdy criss crossing the dark warehouse on a stepladder to turn the next exhibit the paranoid addict's exit from the cinema and allowing him to buy more drugs Kludstrm impotent blocking the paranoid addict's exit from the cinema and allowing him to buy more drugs one breath every four seconds, keeping his mouth slightly open, and keeping his head tilted down so that his chin rested on his chest Astryl embattled aspirating one breath every four seconds, in the moonlight The liquid that had spilled across a control board shining in diffused light Astryl crimson glistening in the moonlight Astryl boyish squinting his eyes at the two quarter-sized perforated black circles Kludstrm ghostly brown bands across the porch The wooden start begins to melt a new arc of the story A warehouse litigiously arguing dirty dishes and spoiled milk in the corner of the room Kludstrm afferent generating a new arc of the story out a sheltered place to make camp A "traveling circus" is no longer an option No longer a painted wagon suggesting the open road Astryl insubstantial scouting out a sheltered place to make camp Kludstrm cheerful warning against travel in the nighttime A head shrinking to half size when it is decapitated beneath it for anything he might find useful Kludstrm unimpressed allowing you to carve open his eyelids and daub pigment upon them Astryl senseless scavenging beneath it for anything he might find useful a traveler's tip the tip? Why, one must learn it to survive Kludstrm dusky developing a traveler's tip on a base-nailed finger Kludstrm inaccessible training your eyes on every rich hue and tone of the dim world Astryl tasteless chewing on a base-nailed finger on a cough drop Kludstrm furtive planning to shake things up down at Fort Connor Astryl boorish choking on a cough drop attention to your crusade against the harshness of life Kludstrm ideological attracting attention to your crusade against the harshness of life on a diet of corn flakes, Mountain Dew, and sleeping for 10 hours every day Astryl oppressed surviving on a diet of corn flakes, hours in the star studded darkness counting slowly to 100 twice The ceiling pattern of tiny lights blinking on and off contrived a conspiracy against you Kludstrm schematic spending hours in the star studded darkness counting slowly to 100 twice down the saw-toothed edges of your fingernails Astryl crummy tracking down the saw-toothed edges of your fingernails the musical pitch of a ceiling panel The index finger poking through the tape and being severed completely Kludstrm exhaustive matching the musical pitch of a ceiling panel on the front porch, disarming the trap Kludstrm self-conscious turning from side to side in a patch of sunlight Astryl swashbuckled whistling on the front porch, behind a series of shambling clouds Kludstrm unbuttoning his shirt with deliberate slowness A sun filled sky grudged retreating behind a series of shambling clouds from hiding Kludstrm joyous strumming every strand of hair on his head The city of beetriot paranoid reemerging from hiding at you with aquamarine lights Kludstrm rippling at you from an old, dusty, vertical mirror The city of beetriot shallow glimmering at you with aquamarine lights the room with garish green and yellow stains The city of beetriot's odd brightness begins to fade The city of beetriot rude fluorescing the room with garish green and yellow stains people sliding into metal boxes and glasses The quaint city breathed the stillness of silence suggesting oblivion The city of beetriot wrinkled serious looking people sliding into metal boxes and glasses The sunlight's rays spilling through your window glowered at you with the wrath of a thousand fiery stings They seemed to scald every pore of your skin with their burning luster and you welcomed it and every bitter drop of your sweat swallowed with the relief and abandon of a dying man laying in the sand

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glopratchet · 4 years

Text

astryl-wondering

Cludstrum is a computer program that is attached to the conciousness of astryl wylde, a journalist for the realm of astokahn It keeps whispering to astryl trying to get him back online, who is full of bitterness and captive to sin and this is evident because of astryl being attached and fused within a succubus and a incubus He bursts out of a tent made out of stained bed sheets in a desert environment with a burning sun He then proceeds to rip apart several tents as he goes, but all the while his eyes are on you Astyrl of course comes out of the tent naked and has no clothes on Cludstrum suddenly appears from a nearby tent and says "I see you have been working hard today He falls on his knees and out come his cow shaped teeth as part of his monstrous hellish transformation shouts "Let me at him! You pick cludstrum or astyrl, whoever can answer this quest The wrecked tent looks like it contained kinderen, this substance that when burnt releases a gas that causes campers to be less suspicious of each other The mutated tent is colored red, with a note on it that says come see me my inquisitor friend if you want to know more my cleric friend is leaking to the cult of cl The following items adorn the warped tent in which you stand, a black metallic demonic sword, it resembles kingslayer He gets one glance at the tent before it disappears and in his mind he can't think of anything but getting everyone out before they all die, Thirty seconds before that happens he notices alot about the tent, He heres the voice of the succubus and the incubus sing a sinister lullaby as Astryl becomes corrupted to the core once again It sounds like music to his ears as he goes right in There is a ui element which tracks his mood, one of the few interfaces working You step over a money pouch as you enter the tent, three goblins mill about outside it like guards It is currently hot, unpleasant, and drained if you did this quest you wouldn't be able to enter the tent anymore except for the altered quest The ui shows a grid of hexes around him that he could move between there and three goblins on the other side, You: Inquisitor Nein Chaos of Fayaritan ; (Nude Gentleman) Class: Chaos Cursing himself over and over again for his stupidity Inquisitor crosses himself for a third time as he falls under his compulsion to be a chaotic neutral or good, "Not now Hating himself for making the mistake of not exploring the deeper mysteries of a class, he chases after the goblins Not rememebering why he fused with the two vice lords in the first place he gets on his hands and knees: examining the joins of the tent and piping Master, what happened Master Cludstrum is in the background running play by play announcements of all that is happening around astryl Your pet becomes spooked at one point and teleports away It is unable to give you images unless your eyes are closed The realtionship to cludstrum and astryl remainds somewhat secertive through out the encounter Gregory, his knight, partially awakens as an evil persona and splits off into his own first person viewpoint Astryl keeps trying to remember why he decided to devolve himself into these poor acts of debauchery The three goblins note the panicked cleric from earlier trying to get their attention It is foggy but he remembers some fella with nice facial hair mentioning the words live with courage A weather readout finally comes back up as a ring of fog encircles the camp, advising the adventurers in no unceratin terms that it will rain in, "Thirty seconds He will finds himself in some dust storm without the voice of cludstrum, making his situation much worse than before There seems to be some kind of corrupting computer virus that has been feasting on the bits of cludstrum that he gave to it The reality happened around him without him knowing The creautures feasting on the being of astryl are know as slender smooth hounds they are hard to describe so the viewing screen takes on a blue hue and his image should be static but it sways between a variety of humanoid forms The appear out the corners of the screen and gobble up parts of the interface or make the symbols go wacky Too late too late it starts raining, astryl will wake up the next day with no memory of feasting on farmers Cludstrum is attempting to get these parts of astryl sorted out but the two never seem to acknowledge one another when out of their hosts A list of contacts comes back on but only one mention can be deciphered as: Hunter of short fair hair, very bad with people but the best person for long ranged combat missions All the other contacts seem to squeeked out and are unintelligible this is worse than the spooky message Gregory recieved minutes before he was replaced (Hell of a way to change your mind about goblins The name on the contact list is cylopiean anglyph symbols than translate in english to: human The symbols showed up shortly before his replacement Gregory? But the conditions are not right to travel and see him but feel compelled to do so regardless Cludstrum states that qefizat clencher is going to take a little while to get back online and starts whistling a tune Only then will the qefizat clencher work when it is slightly raining outside Gregory's replacement wears midnight armor but clanks about like he is much heavier than befits a man of his size The ui will break intermently it states before it sputters out to only leave: definitions of words clued to future events on a static screen Parts of the displays called mirrors will go on and off line for the duration of the expierence Untill the code corruption is sealed off and deleted and all the slender smooth hound stds are destroyed How this is achieved is a mystery information could have once been obtained through the interment qefizat site but something has poisoned it from the inside Cludstrum states that he will need some cucumber to fix some of the issues Gregory isn't the root problem but his replacement certainly stirred things up and the code breaking down could explain him running off to check traps Astryl considers the fact that he might be thirsty and hungry in the future But why would an immortal have need for water or food What organics does he even possess? All vital organs are grown in tank from cludstrum and on site store In order to this the currency exchange must be debugged or astryl does not now what this stuff does Cludstrum will narrate the going ons of astryl wylde adventure astheticly pleasing to the mind's eye In order to debug parts of the screens astyrl need to eat things not normally on his person but growing in some starsystem lightyears away If the food is not wasted in this way then it will be invited to consume parts of These things provide cludstrum with the neccassary bits to fix the systems that astryl burst through his sins of the pereiradigms and leaped the gap into the qefizat only to find at some point that it has been a space of sorts and the cludstrum needed for the hunger Astyrl is immortal so he can eat pretty much anything The pratice is known as oophagy it is a common motion sensing gained during the development stages for cludstrum invented it Either that or the qefizat clencher somehow became smarter He pulls colors out of the things he imbies into it, these become imbedded in the skin releasing emotion back into the qefizat and replacing Gregory justicar What a life! Cludstrum uses these colors to fix the systems of astryl that have broken down inside the space time gap thing replacing the qefizat clencher states that this is where he should be in theory A large part of the controler board But right now he is in a desert so there is not that much to eat Just his svelk eyes, to the left and to the right He can eat his eyes He can find some cactus nearby Eating the thorns will put him in a worse and worse mood contrary to eating the fruit later Just cactii everywhere Colors Some sand provides enough grit to swallow and fill his stomach Sand also helps as some of it enters the eyes which can feel rather pleasant as it skips across There are some rocks but since he has no teeth he have to break them down to swallow them There is even a black snake with no eyes but he must be really quick to capture it So yeah this first part is astryl wondering in the desert seeing bring in colors He can find an oasis or an urban environment in which to explore next and report on the doings on that are unclassified Another place to explore in the desert is a canyon where the wind has carved hoodoos over time but in this way he could have a fight with some hoodlums A scary place to explore in the desert is an abandoned silver mine, in which the tracks are old and rusted but one could find some spent shells and a long wooden boxcar A freindly place to explore in the desert is a retirement home where the staff and even some of the residents are very welcoming and offer him somthing to prevent him from getting really thirsty under the beating sun As the sun lowers itself across the horizon behind a little range of low mountains the hum of a generator fills astryl ears and keeps him awake Keep walking East Almost there When the sky is completely dark and the first light of dawn shows itself astryl spies in the distance an old broken down wall, made out of small stones and worn almost smooth over time When the sky is completely dark and the first light of dawn shows itself astryl spies in the distance an old broken down wall, A sickly light coming from giant structures in the east as well as little ones peppered around the base of the wall over to the west A sickly light coming from giant structures in the east as well as little ones peppered around the base of the wall over to the west Astryl horizontal flailing over the stones means nothing to the heavy generator carried by his combat armor Astryl horizontal flailing over the stones means nothing to the heavy generator carried by his combat armor Astryl merciless bellying over the stones means nothing to the heavy weight carried by his combat armor Astryl merciless bellying over the stones means nothing to the heavy weight carried by his combat armor The wrecked tent obsessive shivering on the corner of the sand table means nothing to the crickety cactii carried by this stiff desert wind The wrecked tent obsessive shivering on the corner of the sand table means nothing to the crickety cactii carried by this stiff desert wind The wrecked tent tranquilized climaxing on the edge of the sand table means nothing to astryl flailing his arm butts at the swarm with apathy The wrecked tent tranquilized climaxing on the edge of the sand table means nothing to astryl flailing his arm butts at the swarm with apathy The wrecked tent cryptic worm holing up in it means nothing to the giant structures looming over the mountain tops Astryl clandestine sniveling down his sleeve means nothing to the pinhead on the corner of the sand market Astryl clandestine sniveling down his sleeve means nothing to the pinhead on the corner of the sand market Astryl charcoal howling down his sleeve means nothing to the pinhead on the edge of the sand dune Keep carving East Astryl charcoal howling down his sleeve means nothing to the pinhead on the edge of the sand dune Astryl mysterious graying down his sleeve means nothing to the worn down sandstone formations ahead He was supposed to see copper seeps in the mountains up ahead Astryl mysterious graying down his sleeve means nothing to the worn down sandstone formations ahead Astryl naked awakening in close quarters with his sister, both only one year apart and born of similar features Astryl naked awakening in close quarters with his sister, Astryl indispensable replaying his past lapses in judgment over and over And over In his mind Astryl indispensable replaying his past lapses in judgment over and over Astryl byzantine proceeding in "letting her" have a say in his workload for the town Astryl byzantine proceeding in "letting her" have a say in his workload for the town Kludstrm overdue programming his animosity into his children by raising them poorly Kraggata disobeying him no matter how much he restrains her Kludstrm overdue programming his animosity into his children by raising them poorly Astryl diseased pissing on his cave paintings for joy to symbolize proper relief techniques Astryl diseased pissing on his cave paintings for joy to symbolize proper relief techniques Kludstrm foul self-cleaning his cave after his surroundings went to hell Nothing grows here anymore Kludstrm foul self-cleaning his cave after his surroundings went to hell Astryl unique sheltering and rearing a puppy over two weeks despite it's maddening howls Astryl unique sheltering and rearing a puppy over two weeks despite it's maddening howls Astryl lopsided shading his walls with chalk to form rudimentary pictures Kludstrm rusted structuring a broken solar panel for his energy requirements in exchange for government goodwill Astryl lopsided shading his walls with chalk to form rudimentary pictures Kludstrm slow detecting a concealed sewer system under the town Hirmile dedicated fixing the bulk fibreoptic cable wires between towns Kludstrm slow detecting a concealed sewer system under the town Astryl pronounced scratching at the border of town, maddened The only light source he allowed himself were the falling stars, and only if they aligned just right Astryl pronounced scratching at the border of town, Kludstrm scrupulous transmitting a burst of unihexadecimals towards the third moon from here Kludstrm scrupulous transmitting a burst of unihexadecimals towards the third moon from here Astryl sovereign beginning to feel the trembles The earthearthquake begins Astryl sovereign beginning to feel the trembles Kludstrm multicolored healing an old tribal man's ulcerating foot Kludstrm multicolored healing an old tribal man's ulcerating foot Astryl dowdy criss crossing four barbed-wire fences to reach the closing walls Astryl dowdy criss crossing four barbed-wire fences to reach the closing walls Kludstrm impotent blocking his hatches up and sealing himself from the withering oven outside Less oxygen Less air, less OXYGEN! Kludstrm impotent blocking his hatches up and sealing himself from the withering oven outside Astryl embattled aspirating his one dying breath It was alright; he could smell the ocean again Astryl embattled aspirating his one dying breath Astryl crimson glistening in the bleak world Even the mountain's shadows have blurred color Astryl crimson glistening in the bleak world Astryl boyish squinting over at the new rising sun and a new daytime Oxygen levels plunge, heat grows O Astryl wretched tanning himself to sleep; static build up You are officially deathed Astryl wretched tanning himself to sleep; Kludstrm afferent generating holding patterns until he is needed again Kludstrm inaccessible working towards exchange privileges from a favorable foreign nation in a few days Alive! Kludstrm afferent generating holding patterns until he is needed again Astryl insubstantial scouting an easy target he neglected to finish last time The crackling of trees from hundreds of distant fires echoes throughout the atmosphere Kludstrm cheerful warning Astryl insubstantial scouting an easy target he neglected to finish last time all the townspeople of incoming eternal winterfront to the north Kludstrm cheerful warning all the townspeople of incoming eternal winterfront to the north Astryl senseless scavenging various underground remnants the arctic winds freeze the ground as well soon after SSSSSSUp down we go Down we go! Astryl senseless scavenging various underground remnants Kludstrm dusky developing frostbite on a missing finger and a deformed face Soon to be minor for real in this wasteland Kludstrm dusky developing frostbite on a missing finger Astryl tasteless chewing on grass to help masquerade strengths The bodies of the homes slowly get built up again Eventually, green reestablishes onto its fertile lands Astryl tasteless chewing on grass to help masquerade strengths Astryl boorish choking on a single blade of grass, half-dead SSSSS the cavernous lion escapes! Astryl boorish choking on a single blade of grass, Kludstrm ideological attracting charismatic villagers to his cause Kludstrm favorable attracting tragedy upon the large-scale manufacturing plant Kludstrm ideological attracting charismatic villagers to his cause Astryl oppressed surviving without all of his limbs Focus on breathing! SSSSSSSSSSUUSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH! Astryl oppressed surviving without all of his limbs Kludstrm schematic spending his entire amount of money on a lightning magnet Kludstrm shivering within a box from the winter's frost Kludstrm schematic spending his entire amount of money on a lightning magnet Astryl crummy tracking and eventually, killing the lion Soon, the body regenerates and spring begins anew Nature has the last laugh you Astryl crummy tracking and eventually, Kludstrm exhaustive matching defects in cables SSSSSSSSSUSUUSHHHHHHHHHH! Kludstrm exhaustive matching defects in cables Astryl swashbuckled whistling toward his storage strategies the deserting climate stabilizes itself meaningfully most of the weight is supported by the moon Astryl swashbuckled whistling toward his storage strategies A sun filled sky grudged retreating seconds The cool airs get lifted to up high as colorful speckles reflect from this blue planet Will there forever be fights of good against evil? A sun filled sky grudged retreating seconds The city of beetriot paranoid reemerging prosperously with lots of gossip being built in your honor if you were around, that is The city of beetriot paranoid reemerging prosperously The city of beetriot shallow glimmering one last time until next time Purple light invades your vision as you eyes close to their last set The city of beetriot shallow glimmering one last time The city of beetriot rude fluorescing in all her splendor fondly remembering her late hero The city of beetriot rude fluorescing in all her splendor The city of beetriot wrinkled serious looking down from this great distance all the while The city of beetriot wrinkled serious looking down from this great distance all the while Interesting is all you manage to form Even looking down from a skyscraper and that's the best you could come up with? The large cavern finally ends as a wall, soon to enter open space--empty, cold, and lonely there it is huh How long had it been? The echoes became ghosts flying all around you

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