Does leopard still have 3 lives in her final battle? Or was that changed?
Yep. I think she drowned her once, then Leopardstar lunges up refreshed, and she gets the upper paw on Mistyfoot with 2 lives to go.
(MAYBE tw gore, but I really did try to be tasteful about a head being smashed on a rock.)
On her back, splashing and thrashing furiously against Leopardstar's claws dunking her head under, Mistyfoot glimpses a wave breaking just over the tip of a stone-blue rock. Her only chance.
With a surge of power, her claws sink into her leader's golden shoulder and they tumble and roll to the right. Before the tyrant even realizes what's happening, she's yanked up, and then whipped backwards with a wet CRUNCH
And then again
And again
And again, until Mistyfoot can't even make out what's left of her leader anymore. All she can see is that it's a red, brown, and yellow blur, because her eyes burning with salty tears and her whole body is trembling.
She drops the corpse onto the stone and it slides into the water, lifelessly. After a moment it spasms aimlessly one last time, like an insect does after its head is bitten off, unlike the deliberate, agonized throes of Tigerstar suffering through his doomed lives. And then it's still.
There's only the tranquil sound of bubbling water, and Mistyfoot's frenzied panting. Her pounding heart makes it hard to hear either.
The blood is carried off by the shallow water in scarlet swirls, but the lake runs pale red as if it's washing it away. Some were aware of this prophecy, but Mistyfoot was not.
It isn't closure to her, or a fulfillment of divine decree. It's just blood that should be on her paws, slicked away by the complicit river. She wished it could feel like it's over, but she's smart enough to know the truth. Has been through enough terrible events like this to understand what comes next.
Her body will move foward. Her mind will need to consider her deputy. Her paw will come down on code-defying cats like Blackclaw and Greenflower. But her heart will stay here, next to the remains of Leopardstar, the same way another piece of it remains at Stonefur's side across space and time.
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Obedience
The first chance she had to escape, Dani took it. Vlad had become sloppy since imposing the obedience curse onto her. According to him, he had to test the cursed leather cuff bracelet before using it on Danny.
He'd run tests to see how long the curse was in place after taking the bracelet off. Made sure that his plan would work. He'd found the curse lasted about 2 minutes after taking the cuff off. They'd both found out that the person wearing the cuff wasn't able to take it off no matter how hard they tried.
The only reason she'd been able to leave is because Vlad had told her that as soon as she saw Danny she was to put it on him and tell him to go to him. Told her not to tell anyone about the curse. He hadn't counted on her leaving Amity Park to find someone else to help her. There were tons of heroes that would be willing to help her get the damn thing off.
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You Left Me Scars Through Memories (Tangled in my DNA) - Prologue
"I love you so much," Stephanie Harrington says, reaching out a hand to tuck some hair behind his ear. It's more an excuse to touch than to clear his face of hair. It's at a length now that will result in the tucked hair falling back into his face with barely a shake of his head.
Steve blinks up at her from where he's sat in her lap, his face far too serious for a toddler just a few hours shy of three years old.
"Your life is going to be so difficult and it's my fault. I'm so sorry," she whispers, sweeping him into a hug. He snuggles into her embrace instantly and it brings tears to her eyes. He should hate her for what she's done. Perhaps he will, once he's older and can understand what she's apologizing for.
"I'm going to tell you a story," she settles back into the chair, a big plush thing that she sits in every night to read a bedtime story to Steve, or tries too anyway. He's at the age where he's wiggly and full of energy until he drops.
"Once upon a time, there was a man and a woman. Husband and wife. And they loved each other very much," she starts, running one hand up and down on her baby's back, soothing, "and they wanted nothing more than to have a child.
"But try as they might, no child would come to them. And soon resentment began to grow. The wife, convinced that having a child would remove the resentment, set off to make a bargain with a witch, said to live deep in the woods.
"She told her husband she was going to visit her family so as not to arouse suspicion. Consorting with witches wasn't something that was done, you see."
This is the longest Steve has sat still in her lap in months. She thinks he might be asleep but continues the story anyway.
"It took her almost three weeks to find the witch, deep in the woods. Upon arrival, the witch had tried to turn away the wife. But the wife was persistent. 'Please,' she begged the witch, 'if we can have a child then my husband will love me again.'
"The witch was not moved by this plea. 'You would bring a child into a loveless marriage?' and the wife argued that once they had a child, their marriage would no longer be loveless. The witch disagreed but the wife would not be deterred.
"'What would you give up to have this child?' the witch asked after being pestered by the wife for almost a week. And the wife had said anything.
"'Anything is dangerous,' the witch said. 'I can give you the means to have a child, but the universe will decide the price.' And so, the wife agreed, and the witch pressed a folded piece of parchment into the wife's hand.
"When she finally returned home, she had been gone for eight long weeks. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, they say, and husband and wife reunited. Still, the wife waited three more months before preforming the ritual the witch had pressed into her palm.
"Soon, they had a child, a daughter. But with her arrival came the universe's price. A life blessing is not an easy thing to give, and the price for life is the highest to pay. Free Will was that price. And when the daughter turned three, she learned her daughter also paid the price. Her daughter, and her daughter's daughter, and her daughter's daughter's son. Forever more. The wife, now mother, was angry to learn this. Why should her child have to suffer for her own sins?
"She told her husband what she had done. She had to, you see, because how else could he be expected to raise a child that would do everything you told her to? Words would need to be picked carefully.
"It was years later before the mother could track the witch down again, to demand the witch undo the curse. 'I made the bargain, why must my child also suffer the consequences?'
"'You said anything,' the witch responded, 'and I told you that was dangerous. It was foolish of you to think your actions would not affect others. All actions do.'
"The mother said, 'can it not be undone?' and the witch said, 'All curses can be broken.' When the mother asked how, the witch just looked at her and said, 'go away, and do not seek me again.' And the mother had no choice but to obey."
Steve still has not stirred on her lap and when she looks down, she can see he is asleep. Even if Steve had stayed awake for the whole story, she knows she'll have to retell it to him when he's older. When he'll remember all of it. Perhaps she should write it down, too, just in case.
"You see, Steve, what was supposed to be a blessing became a curse. One of obedience. People will tell you to do things and you will be compelled to obey. You will become someone you will never truly know, because anyone can make you anything," she says as she stands and places Steve in his bed. "But don't worry. Mommy will teach you how to trick and cheat the curse as much as you can."
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Alhaitham steps into the kitchen and snags Kaveh’s coffee, not because he can’t get his own—the coffee maker is really only a couple feet away—but because it’s far more entertaining watching Kaveh splutter in annoyance.
“Stop stealing my coffee,” Kaveh grumbles blearily, blond hair askew, and Alhaitham’s about to roll his eyes and keep sipping at it anyway, maybe offer a scathing remark about his roommate’s typical unkemptness in the morning, but—
Instead, he finds himself saying, “okay,” his body moving to set the coffee down without any conscious input on his part.
He’s not the only one surprised. Kaveh blinks at the coffee, then squints at Alhaitham. “Are you alright? You’re being awfully compliant today. That’s not like you.”
“I’m fine,” Alhaitham says distractedly, trying to figure out what just happened.
“Hm. If you say so.”
-
By the end of the morning, Alhaitham has concluded two things.
One: he's under a compulsion to obey any command given to him, whether the speaker intended for it to be an order or not.
And two: he can’t tell anyone about his condition. Not intentionally, anyway. He’s tried, with Kaveh, because as much as they bicker, there’s no one Alhaitham trusts more. He’d opened his mouth and his words lodged in his throat, unable or unwilling to escape. He’d tried to write it out, but his muscles locked, refusing to let him.
Kaveh's just going to have to figure it out himself, he supposes. It shouldn't be too hard.
Figuring out how this happened and how to resolve it on the other hand...
Well. This is going to be a headache and a half, Alhaitham can already tell.
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Whump Prompt #1130
Submitted by @dollopheadedmerlin - thanks!
Whumpee is put under some sort of obedience spell (potion, curse, drug, etc.) And is used against their team to do horrible things. When rescued, they are unable to undo the effects, having them remain obedient to every command. After undoing commands that hinder the whumpee ("you are to sleep when you please" to counter "you shall only sleep when I tell you to" for example) the whumpee still drones around like they have tasks to keep track of.
When asked why they don't feel more free, whumpee admits that even neutral commands meant to fee them of obedience plague their mind, as they are just as obligated to follow them as they are harmless ones, leaving them in a dazed state most of the time, unable to think normally.
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Fucking Lettenhove series
The Viscount de Fucking Lettenhove
rated M, 55k, finished
Something (or someone) has killed the Viscount de Lettenhove and is picking off his heirs. Convinced to intervene by a cryptic message, Jaskier takes Geralt back to his childhood home. Now they have to untangle an ancient prophesy, forbidden magic, secrets and sibling rivalries to solve the murders before it's Jaskier's turn on the chopping block.
The Seventh Son
rated M, 72k, finished
Someone (or something) has killed the Viscount de Lettenhove and is picking off his heirs. When his first love and sister-in-law asks for his help, Jaskier returns home with Geralt to solve the mystery. There are a couple of problems, foremost among them: according to an ancient prophecy, Jaskier's the killer.
A retelling of The Viscount de Fucking Lettenhove from Jaskier's perspective.
All the Rot
rated M, unfinished
The alleged killer has been caught, but the more answers Jaskier and Geralt get the more questions they have. Was the killer acting alone? How did they disguise themselves? Will the prophecy be completed? And what is Yennefer doing on the doorstep?
A direct sequel to The Viscount de Fucking Lettenhove
In This Garden There's No Feeling
rated M, unfinished
They say that when the seventh son of the Viscount de Lettenhove was born his mother dipped her finger into a potion of obedience and let him suckle it. He would drink that potion every day for the first fifteen years of his life.
The story of how Julian Alfred Pankratz became Jaskier the bard.
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if you mean us, that is fully my intension. if you mean Saitel, that's who I intend to ask, if possible. if you mean someone else, I'm afraid I may be missing something. I don't know that Jupel would go so far as calling sheirself an ally, and the only other one I can think of with-
...
the only angel who cares that much whether the court or it's members survive is- but you couldn't mean Oppy, so-
...ally. are you suggesting trying to end the curse again?
No. I'm suggesting we specifically use the mortals with ready access to even direct conversation with the gods themselves.
No offense intended, of course.
-Duke Valefar.
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