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javistg · 3 years

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A Second Chance CH 3.

It’s been almost two years since I posted Chapter 2 but Chapter 3 is finally ready!

I want to dedicate this chapter to @mega-aulover, @567inpanem, @katnissdoesnotfollowback, @hutchhitched, @justajjfan, @thegirlfromoverthepond, @booksrockmyface, @albinokittens300, @animekpopxx, @alliswell21, @alwayseverlark, @nightlock-1989, @katnissmeowverdeen, @mandelion82, @norbertsmom, @rosegardeninwinter, @everybirdfellsilent, @thelettersfromnoone, @mrspeetamellark, @taylerwrites, @ameliaodair, @everlark-always, @emilia206 and everyone else who joined this year’s @everlarkficexchange.

Thank you all for bringing inspiration back into my inbox, for reminding me of how fun it is to create something and to share it with this wonderful fandom.

Also, @theeverlarkingmoose this chapter is for you. Your words of encouragement made me want to go back and re-read what I had written. Everything started falling in place after that ❤️

Based on prompt 110: A time travel AU: Katniss from Mockingjay, (any part of the book, it's up to you), winds up back the day before her sister's first reaping. What does she do now that she knows what's coming? Now that she knows how Peeta feels about her, and she knows how desperately she needs him, and what they could share? What on earth could she, or should she, even do/change? And what is she should lose it all again? [submitted by @wingletblackbird For EFE 2019]

To read from the beginning, you can go to AO3 or FF.net

CHAPTER 3.

The tribute train speeds along, silently hovering over the tracks on its way to the Capitol.

Alone in her compartment, Katniss cries. The hope and joy from the previous day are gone. Sorrow and defeat fill her heart as she sits on the bed.

Clutching a bag full of frosted cookies against her chest, she tries to come to terms with the fact that the unthinkable has happened again.

Covering her eyes from the glaring summer sun, an effervescent Effie Trinket walked onto the stage and pulled Prim's name out of a giant glass bowl.

For the second time in her life, Katniss stepped forward and volunteered to take her sister's place.

The crowd parted to let her through. Prim cried. Gale carried her away.

A silent District 12 saluted their tribute. Haymitch interrupted the proceedings with his drunken antics, and a rattled Effie called out Peeta's name.

After finishing the Treaty of Treason, the mayor prompted the tributes to shake hands.

Sorrow, pain, and an unexpected dash of hope danced in Peeta's eyes as he looked straight at her and gently squeezed her hand. Comforted by the gesture she no longer confused with a nervous spasm, Katniss squeezed back.

The goodbyes at the Justice Building were just as bad as she remembered them.

Katniss had thought it would be easier. She had imagined that knowing she had a real shot at coming back would help her be more convincing, more generous.

She wanted to be kinder to her mother --who had already proven she was strong enough to keep on going while Katniss was away-- and to leave her sister with a sense of certainty, with a bit of hope to cling to.

But, as soon as Prim started crying, Katniss's fears took over, and her resolutions melted as quickly as a blanket of snow.

In the end, history repeated itself, and Katniss used up most of her time going over all the practical stuff Prim and her mother needed to know. Right before the Peacekeepers barged in, the three Everdeen women hugged and promised, once again, that they would try their best.

Once her family left, Mr. Mellark delivered his cookies. The baker was just as quiet this time around, but Katniss didn't mind. Instead of fretting over his intentions, she was grateful for his generosity and kindness.

The door opened again, and Madge came in like a whirlwind, holding out the mockingjay pin and talking about district tokens.

"I'll bring it back," Katniss promised as her friend leaned in to fix the bird to her dress.

Madge kissed her friend's cheek. "I'm counting on that."

Madge had barely left the room when Gale walked in.

His eyes were dark and stormy, but when he opened his arms, she walked straight into them.

Their breakfast that morning hadn't been as pleasant as the one she remembered. Instead of joking around and talking about escaping into the woods, Gale had been surly and quiet.

To Katniss's relief, he hadn't mentioned Peeta or her stroll around the Meadow the previous afternoon. It didn't matter. His contribution to the meal, a day-old tesserae grain roll that could have only come from the Hob, spoke louder than any words ever could.

Gale Hawthorne hadn't been in the mood to stop by the bakery that morning.

"Listen," he said, stepping away from their embrace to look at her face. "Getting a knife should be pretty easy, but you've got to get your hands on a bow. That's your best chance."

Katniss smiled. There he was, her friend, her partner, the man who was willing to put his own feelings aside, like he'd done in Thirteen, to help and support her.

No matter what, Gale had her back. Even if he wasn't thrilled with her right now, he would keep her family safe.

"You know how to kill," Gale insisted as they discussed strategies.

"Not people," she muttered.

"How different can it be, really?" A grim remark uttered in a moment of despair. She had never liked it but, after surviving two arenas, it made her furious.

"It's incredibly different!" Katniss yelled. Anger and dread danced in her veins as she remembered where she was headed to. "I'd be killing a person, Gale! A person! I'd be erasing their thoughts, their dreams, their—,"

"Listen," Gale grabbed her by the shoulders, "Catnip, you can't think that way. Not in the arena. You need to remember, only one comes out, right?"

Only one. The words were oddly familiar. Numb, Katniss nodded.

"Say it,” he pressed.

"They have to have a victor," Katniss whispered. Looking up into Gale's silver eyes, she repeated, "Only one comes out."

"That's it, and you can be the one. You can be the one who comes home, back to Prim, back to your mother. Because that's all that matters, right? They are all that matters."

"Right."

Pulling her back into his arms, Gale lowered his head to her ear and whispered, "You can do this, Katniss. Just… promise me, you won't let anyone distract you."

Anyone. He meant Peeta, of course. But Peeta wasn’t a distraction, he was her mission.

Clinging to his embrace to soak up his warmth, she promised, “I won’t.”

A Peacekeeper walked in.

Always the nonconformist, Gale asked for more time. He was granted none.

"Don't let them starve!" Katniss cried out, panicked, as her friend was escorted out of the room.

"I won't!" Gale vowed. "You know I won't!"

XXXXX

By the time Effie comes to collect her for supper, Katniss's tears have dried up.

Resigned to her fate, Katniss follows her escort through the narrow, rocking corridor into the dining room where Peeta sits, waiting for them.

At the sight of him, Katniss's breath hitches. This is the Peeta she knows best. Capitol clothes, winning smile, and a touch of… heartbreak in his eyes.

That wasn't there earlier, Katniss thinks. What happened? As Peeta's eyes flit away, she suddenly remembers. His mother.

Yes, Mrs. Mellark just told her youngest son that he's not good enough to come back from the arena.

She wants to run to his side, to wrap her arms around him, press a kiss on his forehead, and soothe his pain away.

She wishes with all her heart that she could tell him that the Witch and her bitterness don't matter, but she can't. Instead, she bites her lip, takes the empty chair by his side, and waits for Effie to start giving instructions.

The supper comes in courses. The starter, a thick carrot soup, is followed by a green salad.

Katniss is reaching for the platter with the lamb chops and mashed potatoes when Peeta leans into her side and casually says, "So… when you said you'd be at the back…"

Surprised, Katniss glances back at him. The teasing glint in his eyes brings a smile to her lips. "I guess I meant the front," she says, stabbing a lamb chop with her fork and dropping it on her plate. With a coy shrug, she adds, "I confuse them sometimes."

Peeta's retort is interrupted by Effie's shrill voice. "Oh! Are you two friends?"

Katniss freezes, but Peeta quickly comes to her rescue. "Not really," he says, ladling a dollop of mashed potatoes on his plate, "we go to school together, that's all."

Effie takes this news with a polite nod. Just as they're about to finish the main course, she speaks again. "At least, you two have decent manners," she says. "The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion."

Katniss narrows her eyes. Over the last couple of years, she's come to appreciate Effie, but her comment still disgusts her. So, once again, she makes a point of eating the rest of her meal with her fingers and wiping her hands on the tablecloth when she's done.

Bewildered, Effie straightens up in her chair, pursing her pink lips in shocked disapproval.

Good, Katniss thinks with a satisfied smirk. Things are just as they should be.

XXXXX

Katniss's first day in the Capitol is almost an exact replica of her previous one.

Her prep team scrubs and strips every inch of her body, removing all her hair and leaving her like a plucked bird, ready for roasting.

Later, when Cinna walks into the room, Katniss rolls her hands into tight fists and, somehow, manages to stop herself from lunging into his arms.

XXXXX

The carriage ride around the City Circle is a huge success.

While Portia is busy extinguishing the last of the artificial flames, Katniss reluctantly lets go of Peeta's hand.

"Thanks for keeping hold of me," says Peeta massaging his hand, "I was getting a little shaky there."

"It didn't show," Katniss tells him. "I'm sure no one noticed."

"I'm sure they didn't notice anything but you," he replies, looking boldly into her eyes, "You should wear flames more often. They suit you."

Then, he does it again. He flashes her that smile, the one she knows he saves just for her, genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness.

Warmth rushes through her, and she bites her lip to keep from smiling too widely. She used to feel so vulnerable whenever this happened --like Peeta was in control, and she couldn't trust herself around him-- but she knows better now. Peeta's not trying to manipulate her, he's just paying her a compliment, and he's damned good at it!

No warning bells go off. No thoughts of hidden agendas, or strategies, or games cross Katniss's mind. Only joy and affection propel her as she stands on tiptoe and kisses his cheek, right on his bruise.

XXXXX

When Katniss notices the red-headed Avox at the dinner table later that night, she doesn't even flinch.

With watchful eyes, she follows the girl's movements and tries not to think about Darius —or the way he looked at her the last time they saw each other in that same room.

Taking a bite of her cake, Katniss glances back at Peeta and wonders —just for an instant— if he ever saw what Effie called the "matching set" while Snow kept him captive.

The thought is too painful to even consider, so she stops poking at it and goes back to the conversation around the table.

Later, as she lies in bed looking at images of a slow trickling stream projected on her wall, she silently berates herself for her silence. Her original reaction hadn't really hurt anyone, but it had led to Peeta covering for her and showing her the rooftop garden.

She longs to go there now. It's the only place where she can breathe, and she's sure Peeta's there already, looking down unto the Capitol skyline. But how can she join him when no one in this timeline has shown her the way?

The answer is so simple it makes her laugh. The terrace isn't exactly hidden, and Peeta knows she's an illegal hunter who sneaks under an electrified fence every day. He won't question her if she says she just stumbled upon it while exploring the apartment.

Katniss steps into the cool, windy evening air. Twelve floors down, the Capitol twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. It's a familiar sight by now, but it still fills her with wonder.

Peeta's already there, standing by the railing at the edge of the roof. His eyes widen when he sees her approach.

"How did you find this place?" Katniss asks, trying her best to sound surprised.

"Cinna showed me," Peeta says. "You?"

"I did some exploring."

Katniss reaches his side, and they both turn to look out onto the skyline.

"You can practically see the whole city," Peeta says.

They stand there for a few minutes, enjoying the show of flickering lights, listening to the wind chimes behind them and the noises from the city below.

They're standing so close together that she can feel the warmth radiating off of him. A little closer and I would smell his scent, she thinks, hoping she could wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his shirt.

"A penny for your thoughts," Peeta asks.

Startled out of her reverie, Katniss laughs, "A penny? Is that the going rate in town?"

Peeta shrugs. "I guess. It's just something my grandmother used to say."

She's heard this before, back on their victory tour, but she still asks, "Which grandmother?"

"Grandma Mellark. She had tons of sayings, one for every occasion. She died when I was ten, but I still remember some of them." After a short pause, he asks, "How about you? Do you remember your grandparents?"

"No. I never met them."

Peeta turns towards her. The earnest curiosity dancing in his eyes tugs at her heart. "Never?"

Katniss shakes her head. "I know my mother's parents ran the apothecary up until a few years ago, but we never went there. I might have seen them on the street, but…"

"And on your father's side?"

"They both died before I was born. I don't know much about them, just that they knew a lot about plants and that my grandmother loved music. My dad used to say that she could remember any song after only hearing it once and that she had a beautiful voice."

Peeta's hushed words are almost lost in the din of the wind chimes, but they reach her all the same. "Just like yours."

She's about to contradict him but, when she looks up, her mind goes blank. Peeta's looking back at her with a tenderness and warmth that still haunts her dreams.

“I don’t sing,” she hears herself say.

"But you used to,” Peeta says, “back when we were little.”

It's almost like being back in the cave. Her skin tingles, her heart soars.

Flustered, Katniss asks, "You remember that?"

Peeta looks away. His cheeks turn beet red as he softly admits, "I do."

Her heart's hammering madly against her rib cage now.

For an instant, she thinks he's going to tell her the story again, the one about their first day of school and the teacher asking her to sing; but he does no such thing.

Keeping his eyes on the horizon, Peeta straightens up and pushes himself away from her and the railing.

Disappointed, Katniss turns away.

Deep down, she's also relieved. As much as she wants to regain the closeness she once shared with Peeta, she knows they're not ready yet.

Unlike her, Peeta doesn't know what their future holds. He likes her well enough, but they're training for the Games. He still needs to keep his distance from his district partner.

Satisfied that she's done plenty for one night, Katniss stretches her arms over her head and fakes a yawn. "We should get some rest," she says.

"Yeah. Tomorrow's going to be a big, big, big day!"

Katniss laughs. Peeta's impersonation of their escort has always been pitch-perfect.

They climb the stairs together. When they reach the corridor that leads up to their rooms, Peeta whispers, "Good night, Katniss."

The words wrap around her heart, soothing her like no morphling ever did. She's still savoring them when she whispers back, "Good night, Peeta."

XXXXX

It's a little before ten when Katniss and Peeta step out of the elevator and into the Training Center. The other tributes are already there gathered in a circle around Atala, the head trainer.

As soon as the tall woman starts to talk, Katniss tunes her out. She's heard the little speech twice already. She doesn't need to listen to it again.

Beside her, Peeta lets out a small sigh.

He's frustrated, Katniss thinks. She considers reaching out to squeeze his hand but stops herself, knowing that Peeta probably won’t welcome the gesture right now.

She can’t blame him, not after the morning they've had.

The discussion over their individual skills at breakfast had been slightly less contentious this time around, but not by much.

After mentioning Katniss’s abilities, Peeta had still brought up his mother's hurtful parting words.

Katniss had been less cagey. She had managed to keep the bread incident out of the conversation, but Peeta's comment about the effect she had on people had —once again— raised her hackles. Not because she had felt insulted, lile the first time, but because she’d been reminded of everything she’d lost.

As she saw the old Peeta willing to give his life for her, she couldn’t help but think of the other version of him; the version she had left behind in District 13. That Peeta hated her. He had gone through hell and back to be with her and now he wanted her dead.

Who knows? She bitterly told herself after Haymitch dismissed them. Maybe this magical effect of mine doesn't last very long. Maybe, one day, the whole country will wake up and hate me too.

XXXXX

While Atala reads down the list of the skill stations, Katniss can't keep her eyes from flitting around the room.

Marvel. Clove. Cato. Fox-face. Thresh. Rue.

Her chest tightens. These are the faces that haunt her dreams. The voices that echo in her nightmares.

Katniss bites her lip to keep from screaming. Her palms are clammy, her heart is racing, but she doesn't move an inch.

This is the hardest thing she's had to do so far, and she needs to get it right. She can't let the others see her distress.

Slowly averting her eyes, she reminds herself, My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me, but I came back.

Katniss breathes. In. Out. In. Out.

Her heart rate is almost back to normal when she finishes. I came back to make Snow pay.

She's still lost in her thoughts when Peeta nudges her arm and makes her jump.

His expression is sober. "Where would you like to start?"

Katniss looks around at the Career Tributes who are already showing off, clearly trying to intimidate the field. Then at the others, the underfed, the incompetent, shakily having their first lessons with a knife or an ax.

"Suppose we tie some knots," she says.

"Right you are," says Peeta.

XXXXX

They spend their morning trying out different skills.

Now that she knows what type of arena awaits her, Katniss realizes that the stations are full of clues. The kinds of ropes they use at the knot-tying class. The mud, clay, and berry juices available in the camouflage section. They all seem so obvious now that she knows they'll be going to a forest.

When they reach the medicinal plants' section, Katniss stops short. The last time she was here, she practically skipped it, but she's on a different mission now, so she walks in and makes sure Peeta follows.

A big screen shows pictures of plants with a brief description underneath.

Katniss flips through the crisp images until she finds what she's looking for: the leaves Rue used to treat her.

"These are great!" she enthusiastically tells Peeta. "They fight off infection, bring down swelling, and numb the pain. They're handy when you've been stung by insects or bees. You have to chew them up into a pulp and spit them on top of your wound."

Peeta wrinkles his nose. "Spit them?"

"Yeah," Katniss confirms, "Otherwise, you won't release their properties. My mother would use other methods, but…" Lowering her voice, she adds, "Sometimes you don't have a lot of options when you're out in the woods."

Apparently satisfied with her answer, Peeta nods. After glancing around to make sure no one is listening, he whispers, "Have you been stung many times?"

"Only twice," Katniss admits, "I immediately pulled the stingers out and put the leaves on top. It wasn't so bad."

Peeta's eyes are locked on the screen as he says, "Maybe I should stuff my pockets with these if I ever find any in the arena. You know? Just in case."

"It won't hurt," Katniss agrees, holding on to the hope that he will do just that.

XXXXX

On the second night of her training, Katniss decides to go back to the rooftop.

Peeta is already there. He's sitting on a bench by the flower beds with a sketchpad propped up against his bent knee. The little bundle of pencils she gave him back in District Twelve rests by his side.

She can tell he's distracted, so she clears her throat to make her presence known.

"Hey!" Peeta calls out. He looks tired, but his smile is sweet and welcoming.

"Mind if I join you?" she asks.

Peeta pats the empty seat next to him, and Katniss walks over.

A small sigh escapes her as she sits down. Her daytime routine hasn't been as tiring this time around, but she's still beat.

"Nice pad," she says.

"It's Portia's," Peeta runs his fingers along the edge of the paper in a reverent caress. "She said I could borrow it."

Anticipating her next question, Peeta tilts the pad in her direction.

Katniss gasps. The angle of the image is one she cannot place, but there's no doubt in her mind, Peeta has painted her woods.

Reaching for the corner of the pad so as not to smudge his drawing, she asks, "Where is this?"

"It's the view from my house."

Katniss narrows her eyes, the bakery is in the center of town, but Peeta hasn't included any buildings in his picture. "Your house?"

"There's an attic that we use for storage. I like to go up there sometimes. It's higher than most buildings in the district, so you get to see all the way out into the woods."

Katniss stares at the drawing and tells herself not to cry, but it's not easy. Not when Prim and District Twelve are so far away, not when Peeta is opening up to her in ways he never did before.

"Do you like it?" Peeta asks.

The nervous tremor in his voice tugs at her heart; she reaches for his arm and gives him a reassuring squeeze. "Of course I do! Peeta, it's extraordinary! Prim's right. You're very talented."

Peeta shakes his head and accepts the compliment with a quiet, "Thank you."

Letting go of him, Katniss settles in her seat, resting her back against the wall and stretching her legs. Nodding to his pad, she says, "Go on. Don't let me interrupt."

Peeta starts drawing again.

Katniss watches, mesmerized, as his hand dances over the paper, making the blank page bloom with delicate strokes of color.

They stay like that for a while, side by side on the bench, wrapped in peaceful silence, enjoying each other's presence and silently wishing for more time.

XXXXX

As soon as the anthem is over, Katniss makes a beeline out of the Training Center lobby and onto the elevator bank. Moving swiftly, she veers into a car that does not contain Peeta.

The crowd slows the entourages of stylists and mentors and chaperones. Soon, Katniss finds herself alone with only other tributes for company. No one speaks.

The elevator stops to deposit four tributes before she's alone. One quick breath is all she has time for before the doors open on the twelfth floor.

Peeta has only just stepped from his car when she slams her palms into his chest and pushes him towards the wall.

Peeta loses his balance, but the wall breaks his fall. A few inches away from him, an ugly urn filled with fake flowers stands on its pedestal, untouched.

With Peeta safely out of harm's way, Katniss grabs the urn and smashes it on the floor, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces.

Good, she thinks as she takes a step back, I've always hated the damned thing.

"What was that for?" Peeta says, aghast.

"You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!" Katniss yells at him.

Before Peeta can say anything, the elevators open, and the whole crew is there, Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia.

"What's going on?" says Effie, a note of hysteria in her voice as she notices the broken urn and Peeta slumped form against the wall. "Did you trip?”

"No," says Peeta pushing himself off the wall to straighten up, "Katniss broke it after she shoved me."

Haymitch turns on Katniss. "Shoved him?"

"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Katniss answers, "Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?"

"It was my idea," Peeta cuts in. "Haymitch just helped me with it."

The hurt in his eyes guts her, but she can't back down now. This is how she reacted the first time around, and as hard as it is, she knows she has to stick with it.

"Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!" she yells.

"You are a fool," Haymitch says in disgust. "Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own."

"He made me look weak!" Katniss says.

"He made you look desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" says Haymitch.

"But we're not star-crossed lovers!" she says.

Haymitch grabs her shoulders and pins her against the wall. "Who cares? It's all a big show. It's all how you're perceived…"

As Haymitch prattles on about sponsors, Katniss tunes out. She doesn't need to be convinced of anything. She already knows their strategy is the right one.

As soon as Cinna steps into the conversation, Katniss softens. "I should have been told, so I didn't look so stupid," she grumbles.

"No, your reaction was perfect. If you'd known, it wouldn't have read as real," says Portia.

"She's just worried about her boyfriend," says Peeta gruffly, eyes locked on the shattered urn.

Katniss fixes him with a deadly glare. "I don't have a boyfriend."

"Whatever," says Peeta. "But I bet he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it. Besides, you didn't say you loved me. So what does it matter?"

As the words sink in, an old familiar darkness envelops her. This, right here, is what has caused so much pain between them.

Even after all this time and everything they've been through, she has never been able to tell Peeta how she feels about him. Just as she's never told Gale that he's nothing more than a dear friend.

This silence, this reticence, has hurt Peeta over and over again. It's the reason why he pushed her away after their first Game and why President Snow was able to twist his mind and convince him that she was a mutt programmed to kill him.

I need to do better, she thinks. This time around, I need to do more.

Feeling all eyes on her, Katniss turns to Cinna and asks, "After he said he loved me, did you think I could be in love with him, too?"

"I did," says Portia. "The way you avoided looking at the cameras, the blush."

The others chime in, agreeing.

"You're golden, sweetheart," Haymitch adds. "You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block."

Worried that she's going to burst out in tears, she forces herself to acknowledge Peeta. "I'm sorry I shoved you."

"Doesn't matter," he shrugs. "The urn got it worse."

Portia and Cinna's goodnatured laughter diffuses the remaining tension.

"Come on, let's eat," says Haymitch directing everyone towards the delicious smells wafting in from the dining room.

XXXXX

The roof is not lit at night, but as soon as her bare feet reach its tiled surface, she sees his silhouette, black against the lights that shine endlessly in the Capitol.

There's quite a commotion going on down in the streets, music and singing and car horns. Katniss knows she could slip away now without Peeta noticing her; he wouldn't hear her over the din, but that's not what she wants.

Her feet move soundlessly across the tiles. She's only a yard behind him when she says, "You should be getting some sleep."

Peeta starts but doesn't turn, just gives his head a slight shake. "I didn't want to miss the party. It's for us, after all."

She comes up beside him and leans over the edge of the rail. The wide streets are full of dancing people. Squinting to get a better look at them, she asks, "Are they in costumes?"

"Who could tell? With all the crazy clothes they wear here." Turning to her, he asks, "Couldn't sleep, either?"

"Couldn't turn my mind off," she says.

"Thinking about your family?"

"Not exactly," she admits a bit guiltily. After going through two arenas, she's not as worried about Prim and her mother as she once was. She knows they can cope without her. "All I can do is wonder about tomorrow. Which is pointless, of course."

Facing him, she says, "I really am sorry about before."

"It doesn't matter, Katniss," Peeta says.

"I was just upset that you would share something private like that…"

Peeta nods. "I know."

"And, also… I just don't get it. I mean, why would you give me an advantage like that? You're going to need sponsors too, you know?"

Peeta shakes his head. "It won't make a difference. I've never been a contender in these Games. Not really."

Katniss reaches for his hand. "Peeta, that's no way to be thinking."

"Why not? It's true." With the gentlest of touches, Peeta runs his fingers over the back of Katniss's hand. "My best hope is to not disgrace myself and . . ." he hesitates.

With a small squeeze, she silently encourages him to continue.

"I don't know how to say it exactly," Peeta finally says. "Only . . . I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?"

Katniss swallows thickly.

Once upon a time, she stood there and told him that she didn't understand and —most importantly— that she didn't care. But she's a different person now. She knows exactly what he means and why it matters.

Although she knows what he's getting at, she still needs him to complete his thought. Shyly, she asks, "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?"

"No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to . . . to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games," says Peeta.

Her chest tightens at his words. Being back in that moment with him reminds her of everything that’s gone wrong in her life.

Before her mind can wander back into the dark recesses of her pain, she says, "The thing is, Peeta, you're not. None of us are. That's how the Games work."

"OK, but within that framework, there's still you, there's still me," he insists. "Don't you see?"

Katniss nods. She sees, she knows, she understands. What's more, she still can't believe she was ever so blind.

She inches closer to him so he can hear her over the ruckus of the city and the wind chimes.

In her mind, she repeats the little speech she's prepared for this moment. Every year they throw us in an arena and tell us to kill each other, and we do it. But there's a part, deep inside of us, that they don't own, a part that refuses to be pushed around and that will stand up and say, "enough, this is a line I won't cross."

But, once she opens her mouth, the words that slip from her lips are quite different, "I don't have a boyfriend."

Peeta blinks. Once. Twice. "What?"

Katniss bursts out laughing. "I'm sorry, I just…" Bewildered, she covers her face to hide her embarrassment and silently reprimand herself for losing her focus.

With a shake of her head, she straightens up. Her earnest eyes meet Peeta's. "I get what you're saying. They are forcing us to fight for our lives, but they don't get to decide how we go about it, right? We do. At the end of the day, it's up to us. We choose who to attack and who to help, when to face danger and when to hide. "

Peeta nods. "Right." Looking out into the sprawling city, he adds, "I just hope I can make the right choices, you know?"

Katniss sighs. “Yeah, me too.”

Leaning against the railing, Peeta tilts his head to look at her. The playful glint in his eyes is something she hasn't seen in a very long time. "So, you don't have a boyfriend."

Katniss shakes her head, chuckling at the absurdity of the topic.

"What about the guy who took your sister away at the reaping?"

"That's Gale."

"Uh-huh," Peeta's head bobs up and down as he nods. "And Gale is…"

Katniss looks up at him. He's so open, so pure, right now that all her thoughts about plans and strategies melt away. "He's just a friend," she says.

Peeta's smile forms slowly, warm and genuine, a little flirty even. It makes her whole body tingle. "Just a friend, huh? Does he know that?"

Katniss's jaw goes slack. Back in the day, she would have answered with a resounding "yes, of course, he does" but, that answer doesn't really fit the situation. She knows that now. So, instead of throwing her righteous indignation at him, she asks, "What do you mean?"

Peeta shrugs. "I don't know. It's just… I thought you had something with him."

Genuinely intrigued, she asks, "Why?"

"Um," Peeta fills his lungs with crisp Capitol air. As he pushes it out, he says, "You seem to spend a lot of time together. Whenever I see you around town, you're either with him or with Prim. I used to think he was your cousin or something. You favor each other. But then... there was the look."

Katniss frowns. "The look?"

"Yeah." Peeta's shy smile makes another appearance. "He kept glaring at me the other day when we met up by the Meadow." The shocked expression on her face makes him chuckle. "I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"Well," Katniss reaches for the end of her messy braid and begins twisting it around her finger. "I wasn't focusing on him."

Peeta's lips part, but no words come out.

Blushing, Katniss turns to face the city again. "Gale and I hunt together. Our families are close. That's it."

Peeta's gentle touch on her elbow gets her attention. Kind, soft eyes gaze straight into hers when he says, "You know, Katniss, what I said earlier—,"

Impulsively, she leans forward and kisses him, stopping his words.

It takes Peeta half a second to react. In one fluid move, he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her to him.

His lips meld with hers in a slow, sweet dance.

After months of pain and sorrow, Katniss finally feels joy. Closing her eyes, she forgets the world and kisses him with abandon.

Peeta's free hand makes its way to the back of her head, where he buries his fingers in her hair to keep her there, rooted in his arms, anchored to him.

Elated, Katniss hums her approval.

This kiss is like the cave and the beach all rolled into one. It's like every happy moment they've ever shared together, every smile, every touch. It's like coming home after a long day, like finding her soul.

That familiar stirring inside her chest, warm and curious, comes back to life. It fills her entire being with want and need, pushing her to explore more. Blindly, she follows.

Holding on to his broad shoulders, Katniss pulls him even closer, pressing herself against his chest until she can feel his heartbeat, strong and steady, beating against her own.

Smiling, Peeta begins raining kisses over her cheeks, her nose, her forehead.

Her skin tingles. Her pulse races. Her heart soars.

I'll keep you safe, she promises, holding on to him like she did back at the beach, back when they were surrounded by mutts and enemies and lies.

With one long sigh, Peeta finally pulls away, pressing his forehead to hers while they both catch their breaths.

In that brief moment of glorious harmony only one thought goes through her mind. Peeta. Every heartbeat is like a reminder. He's back, he's here, he's mine.

Glancing up, she finds his eyes, dark and dazed, and she knows. Whatever this is, Peeta feels it too. He always has.

"Katniss—,"

"No," she interrupts again, placing her fingers on his lips to quiet him. She hates what she's about to do, but she doesn't have a choice.

She takes a step away from him and immediately feels lost. "You have a plan for tomorrow, right?"

Peeta's face falls at the sudden reminder of why they're there. He nods.

Reaching forward, Katniss brushes the hair back from his forehead in one last tender caress. "That's what you need to focus on, OK? Just think about—,"

"Staying alive?" Peeta finishes, a crooked grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Katniss cups his cheek. "Exactly." Her heart skips a beat when he leans into her touch, but she still insists, "This doesn't change anything that happens tomorrow, Peeta. It can't."

"I know," he says, covering her hand with his and pressing a kiss to her palm. "It just changes everything that's happened until today."

Katniss bites her lip and nods. Peeta's right. Even for her, things are dramatically different now. There's so much more at stake. She knows where they stand, and she's no longer running away from him and the things he makes her feel.

Rising to the tips of her toes, she kisses him one last time. "See you tomorrow," she says.

Then, she walks away.

#things i write #A second Chance #Everlark fan fiction #time travel AU

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xiyao-feels · 3 years

Note

jin ling for the ask meme! 🙏👀

-Technically a Fairy fun fact, but: Fair is waist-high/half the size of a person!

-JL has seen both his uncles go night-hunting; at least before seeing LWJ fight at Yi City, he thought they were the best cultivators in the world.

-Since childhood, JL lived part of the time at Jinlintai and part of the time at Lotus Pier.*

-JGY gave Fairy to him when Fairy was still a puppy and JL was only a few years old.

*As you can see below, ER has when he was a child, but MDZS Translation has since he was small and in this case I favour the MDZS Translation.

Fairy's size and fur colour, ch. 20:

Exiled Rebels:

As he turned around to look, a black-haired spiritual dog of waist height went out of a corner, dashing straight at him. The cries of fear on the street came closer and closer, louder and louder, “A mad dog’s on the loose!”

MDZS Translation:

Turning his head, he saw a black-maned spirit dog half the height of a man swing around the corner and bound directly toward him. Along the street, the cries of fear grew louder and louder and nearer and nearer. “A vicious cur’s on the loose!”

JL on his uncles, ch. 38:

Exiled Rebels:

He had seen Jiang Cheng and Jin GuangYao go on night-hunts and kill beasts, which made him think that his two uncles were the two most powerful cultivators in the entire world.

MDZS Translation:

He had seen Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao in action during night hunts beheading monsters, and thought his uncles were the two most powerful cultivators in the world.

JL having grown up in both Jinlintai and Lotus Pier, ch 38:

Exiled Rebels:

When Jin Ling was young, he was brought up by two sects. He lived at the LanlingJin Sect’s Jinlin Tower half the time, and the YunmengJiang Sect’s Lotus Pier the other half, so he should be carrying belongings from both sects.

MDZS Translation:

Jin Ling had been raised by both clans since he was small. He would live at the Lanling Jin Clan’s Jinlin Terrace for a while, then live at the Yunmeng Jiang Clan’s Lotus Pier.

Fairy and JL's age when he receives Fairy, ch 110:

Exiled Rebels:

Fairy was waiting anxiously outside for his master, barking a couple of times. Hearing the barks, Jin Ling suddenly remembered that when Fairy was still a clumsy little puppy that couldn’t even reach his knees, Jin GuangYao was the one who brought it over.

Back then, he was only a few years old. [...]

#also he is VERY GOOD and VERY SMART and OBSERVANT and COMPETENT and QUICK #and I love him very much

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notthatiwilleverwriteit · 4 years

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I don't think we will ever get to see a verbal love confessions from either mo or tian. Mo is a tsundere so he will never confess, but i feel like tian will show his love for mo with actions, i have a feeling that in the future they will have a only physical relationship because they wouldn't confess their feelings and then it will develop into a proper relationship with time. What do you think?

Good evening, dear anon-san!

“I don’t think we will ever get to see a verbal love confessions from either mo or tian.”

It kind of depends on what you mean by “verbal confession” but in short, I would doubt too that we will ever get one. And to be honest, I don’t have a major problem with it. In fact, I’d find it quite out of character, especially in Mo Guan Shan’s case. I know readers find confessions in fiction satisfying because they’re so often the climax of a story but I’ve actually come to find more satisfaction and reward in the gradual progress demonstrated by little details. So much so that the subtlety has even become my most favorite aspect of Tianshan. I love how their feelings are more or less between the lines and expressed through their actions. Also as a writer, that’s totally my jam and aesthetics.

Still, all that being said, I can’t deny I sometimes wish we would get…more. But I try to remind myself that getting enough and getting too much is a fine line to tread. As a fic author, while tossing in my lovey-dovey withdrawls I’ve sometimes crossed that line with Tianshan and it’s just felt so wrong.

“Mo is a tsundere so he will never confess”

As I already mentioned, I doubt we will get to see a verbal confession by MGS which is mostly due to his 110% pure tsundere nature. I don’t know if it’s because I’m such a tsundere myself in real life but I find that kind of endearing and can relate to it. I wouldn’t go as far as saying I’m incapable of verbalizing my feelings at all but my stronger suit would definitely be demonstrating them via little things and actions. Then again, one of my greatest fears in relationships is that my S/O doesn’t feel loved and cared for enough that way. People can’t read thoughts after all and often crave for verbal confirmation and reassurance.

But even if there probably won’t be a grand confession, it doesn’t mean MGS can’t have feelings for HT. At this point in the story, I do think it’s still way too early to say he’s in love with HT but there have definitely been developments of MGS warming up to him and being increasingly conscious of him (ch. 233, 243, 254, 273, and 283):

It’s crumbs, it’s subtle, and it’s slow, but more importantly it’s true to MGS’s character and accumulating. MGS can be frustratingly reluctant but on the other hand, he puts a lot of thought into it when he feels ready to progress. We tsunderes might not excel at verbalizing our feelings but they run deep and true nevertheless. Whatever HT is building with MGS is developing slowly but eventually, their romantic relationship will stand on a solid foundation. MGS won’t forget him even when he shows up every once in a while.

“but i feel like tian will show his love for mo with actions“

I’m glad you mentioned HT as well because I’ve actually been wondering about this side of his character lately. He’s very action-oriented and forward but could he actually confess his feelings out loud in a serious way? By “serious” I mean without the devil horns or the mischevious smirk or being too pushy and physical?

Because oftentimes I feel like his feelings are right there but they’re hidden under the possibility that his words could be taken as a joke or him trying to rile up MGS. Case in point (ch. 305):

I’ve mentioned that moment briefly in one of my earlier answers and said that I think HT was being serious in his own way. It’s clear to us by now that he’s afraid of losing MGS but at the same time, isn’t really open or clear about it. Instead, he tends to act out before admitting what’s bugging him. Even with the earrings, he hides his plea of sorts behind a somewhat playful question. And I think HT might even occasionally sneak those little moments in on purpose because he knows he can “get away with them” since MGS is so quick to rise to the bait and miss HT being honest and open.

In a way, I think HT is well aware of what a vulnerable feeling love is and goes over the top with his advances in a possessive and overbearing way or makes them into a provocative joke that riles MGS up. That kind of love can be quite one-sided and unbalanced. By “one-sided” and “unbalanced” I mean that MGS is the only one having to bare himself and allow himself to be put in a vulnerable position. HT cares for MGS and doesn’t want to lose him but at the same time, that kind of protector-protected dynamics creates a distance and isn’t sustainable in a long run.

Now, before you go back to what I said earlier about Tianshan being built on a strong foundation, allow me to add that HT has also gone through some great character development. He still views himself very much as the savior, but there have been more and more occasions when he’s shown his vulnerable and insecure sides (ch. 255, 260, 291, and 297):

That last panel especially was a big step. By listing things he admires in MGS he effectively revealed what he hates about himself and is insecure about. And to top it all off, he put himself in a vulnerable position by going as far as asking MGS to not reject and abandon him even if he’s not worthy of someone like MGS.

There’s one panel that I’ve always been wondering when it comes to HT showing his love and affection without the devil horns or even being too pushy (ch. 284):

True, he’s not exactly asking for MGS’s consent but that touch still seems vastly different than his usual moves. He’s not joking around, pushing MGS down by force, or doing it to get a reaction out of MGS. I think the panel might even reflect what HT’s vulnerable kind of love could be like. It’s forward but not overbearing, there’s a possessive scrape of teeth in there but it doesn’t hurt and the touch is as soft as MGS’s nape. Interestingly, though, it also seems like HT is yet again hiding his face from MGS.

I think HT is currently finding it easier to give than to receive love and hesitant to ask for it. But once he figures those things out, I don’t see why he couldn’t very well confess his feeling out loud.

“i have a feeling that in the future they will have a only physical relationship because they wouldn’t confess their feelings and then it will develop into a proper relationship with time”

Interesting. I see it working in a completely opposite way. Perhaps it’s because there seems to be a difference in how much significance we put on the confession. I don’t really consider it as important that there should be a verbal confession. Nor do I think it’s only then that they can start being in a relationship and move on to things like sex.

More importantly, though, I find it very unlikely that MGS would start a physical relationship with someone without first gaining serious feelings for them. Of course, the relationship could (and probably would) continue to deepen with a physical aspect added into the mix, but I feel like he’d definitely have to be sure of his and the other party’s feelings before getting physical.

I see HT more capable of having casual relationships if MGS wasn’t a part of his life but I doubt he’d want something like that with MGS. Jumping to things like sex before their relationship is solid enough would defeat the character development he’s gone through as he fell in love with MGS and won him over. He would have not only gained MGS’s trust but also become confident in himself and comfortable enough to let MGS so close. He could joke about sex but would also want to make sure it’s what MGS wants and that he’s aware of what having sex with him will mean and the weight it will carry in their relationship. I see him viewing sex as a seal of sorts.

But then again, this kind of fictional relationship dynamics appeals to me so my bias could be too strong.

In any case, it’s still fun to imagine what a Tianshan confession would be like. Personally, I would love to see the same kind of confident MGS as we saw when he asked HT for the studs. And who knows, maybe OX will give us one someday, with a Tianshan twist. After all, there were times when we thought we would never get even this far!

Thank you for your interesting and challenging question, dear anon-san!

#tianshan #19 days #he tian #mo guan shan #answered ask

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isshinene · 5 years

Text

Betting on Love Ch. 10: What It Means

I finally finished something in my life... amazing XD

Fun fact: I say the write the word “eye” 110 times in the entire fic... I use their eyes to describe things too much.

Continue on Fanfiction.net / AO3

#isshiki satoshi #satoshi isshiki #kinokuni nene #nene kinokuni #shokugeki no soma #isshinene #isshikuni #isshiki x kinokuni #isshiki x nene #food wars #一色慧 #紀ノ国寧々 #食戟のソーマ #betting on love #fanfiction

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manifestoonmoralmanlove · 5 years

Text

Gormless Ch. 13 – Everything’s awful but lesbians are in fact REAL

A well-meaning friend gave me a book series that is hilariously bad. The first book was Souless and my riffs were entitled brainless. This second book is entitled Changless and these riff are then gormless.

I mean to say I have entitled them gormless! Not that my riffs are dumb, and the effort I spend on them stupid since I’m the only one who enjoys them. HAHA!

The story is SUPPOSED TO be about how a badass lady wearing a rad-looking carriage dress hits baddies with her umbrella and bangs her hot werewolf husband. In reality it’s mostly poor attempts at being witty, flirty, and superior.

For the last book check out the brainless tag.

If you want the TL;DR version but want to read these new riffs anyway?

This story is set in supernatural Victorian steampunk England. Alexia is our NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS protag. She is a soulless, which means she’s able to negate the abilities of vampires and werewolves by touching them. She’s recently married a big oaf, named Lord Connel Maccon. He’s the manchild in charge of the supernatural police with a zillion dollars and he’s totes super hot too ok. Their relationship is mostly arguments about how Maccon can’t tell her fucking anything. Alexia has also recently become head of ~Soulless affairs~ in Queen Victoria’s government. She has a dumb friend named Ivy, a gay vampire friend named Akeldama, a family who’s evil because they do the same shit as her but while being blonde, and most importantly Alexia is better than everyone cause…cause.

Last time on Gormless:

Turns out a preserved corpse of a Soulless person that the Kingair pack stole from Egypt is causing the humanization problem. However somebody is after that coprse, and knocked LeFoux and Lord Maccon unconscious. Alexia gonna have to fix everything herself HURMPH!

Chapter 13 – Everything’s awful but lesbians are in fact REAL

Wowzers! Here’s the climax chapter. It won’t be the height of tension, but it will be the height of my irritated confusion. My apologies for length, it was a long chapter, and full of a lot of bullshit. LET’S GO!

We get a rare good moment where Alexia looks at the passed out Maccon and worries about him. She makes a cute note about how his eyelashes are super long and once when she commented that she was jealous of his long eyelashes he tickled her neck with them. This will be the last genuinely good thing in this chapter.

Alexia goes to a recently woken up LeFoux. LeFoux is all distraught, and there’s a bullshit line about how being upset made her look slightly more feminine and Alexia, “Didn’t know if she liked that.”

CAUSE SADNESS IS A WOMAN DISEASE AND ALEXIA ONLY CARES WHAT LEVEL OF CURRENT FUCKIBLITY YOU ARE! THE LEVEL OF EGOMANIA ON THIS BITCH!

LeFoux is like, “Hey don’t be mad at the woman who shot me and your husband. She didn’t ~mean~ it.”

YES TURNS OUT THE BIG BAD OF THIS BOOK SERIES I FUCKING CALLED BACK IN CHAPTER 4 OF THE LAST BOOK! It was Angelique! GOSH WHAT A FUCKING TWIST! YOU KNOW THE CHARACTER WHO, AT THE END OF THE LAST BOOK WAS DESCRIBED IN TEXT AS A BLATANT SPY! Yet the entirety of this book Alexia thinks its LeFoux and goes so far as to think she’s faking being shot? She turns out of the room and all the werewolves are sleeping and instead of…I DON’T KNOW letting them know she’s identified the attacker? She just huffs that she must do everything herself.

GOD STUPIDITY AND A POINTLESS MARTYR COMPLEX IS REALLY FUCKING HOT! ALSO I’M GLAD THAT EVERY SINGLE WEREWOLF FELT COMFORTABLE FALLING ASLEEP WITH AN ACTIVE SHOOTER IN THEIR CASTLE THAT WAS EVEN ABLE TO PUT DOWN THEIR FORMER ALPHA!

So Alexia goes to the room where the mummy is, but Angelique is not there. So instead of disposing of the body that Angelique is clearly after, she’s runs up to the Aethongrapher room. Angelique is there and shoves her aside to escape the room. So they go back to the mummy room, and Angelique is trying to drag the body out of there. Alexia goes to shoot some of her sleepy darts at Angelique but just as she’s about to Ivy shows up to stand in front of Alexia and whine that Alexia is being callous to her. But as I have described before, this is not Ivy’s fault. Ivy’s kink is inconvenient timing. Blithering obtusely in front of a weapon while the bad guy gets away makes her CUM. The TV hasn’t been invented yet so she can’t stand in front of it during a crucial part of a show/game. SHE HAS TO FIND SOME WAY TO GET OFF!

DO YOU WANT THIS WOMAN TO NEVER ORGASM!?

Despite that Alexia is able to catch up to Angelique and knocks her unconscious with a hefty umbrella swing. She takes the mummy outside, and dissolves it using the acid function on her umbrella. I mean, I was hoping she’d go whole hog and it would come to life and fight them but WELP guess that would be stupid fun and we’re only allowed one of those things in this book and it ain’t fun. When the corpse is just about pudding, Alexia goes back in and hears Ivy scream.

OH NO!

We take a break from this regularly scheduled programming to swap over to Biffy, Channing, and Lyall at the Westminster Hive. Biffy apparently snuck in and broke their Aethonographer. This is just to let us all know that the message Angelique tried to send before didn’t get through. I mean targeting the Aethongrapher only, doesn’t make any sense AT ALL from their perspective and honestly you could have written the entire thing out to tighten up the story. But like I guess it was real important to have that bit where Alexia has to try 2 rooms to find Angelique.

FUCK ME RUNNING!

So Ivy screamed because a woken up Angelique puts a knife to Ivy’s throat and is leading her up the stairs. All the werewolves are there as well as Tunstell. Tunstell gets out the magic gun, which by the way they start calling the ‘tun tun’ which makes a lot of sense and is totes keeping it tense. Shouldn’t it be the tun gun? WHATEVER!

They go up to a room and Angelique makes Ivy open a window. Meanwhile Tunstell tries to sneak around the side while Alexia tries to distract her. By the way this is the first time we hear that Tunstell is apparently a big dude. I had totally assumed that since he was described as a meek servant/actor coated in freckles that he was a 5’5” adorable waif boy who weighs 110 lbs on a good day. I’m glad you waited till now to tell us that. After a bit of a scuffle Tunstell wrestles the knife away, saves Ivy, and Angelique tumbles to her death out the window. The gun is never shot and Chekov leaps out to die on the cold hard Scottish earth like Angelique.

Apparently there was a rope ladder leading down that window that Angelique was really hoping she’d be able to escape down, with the knife to the throat of a hostage? OKAY THEN! When Angelique woke up, why didn’t she just try to make a break for it, to avoid being persecuted by the supernatural police? What was the point of the hostage thing? Why did she have this rope ladder prepared?

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST BOOK! IT’S NOT GOOD ACTION IF THE ENTIRETY OF IT FALLS APART LIKE A BISCUIT IN TEA WHEN YOU ASK LITERALLY ANY QUESTION REGARDING IT!

You know what would have been a thousand times better? If Alexia goes to question a recently recovered Angelique, and Angelique in a panic puts a knife to a dipshit Ivy’s throat by a window. Angelique demands to be given the body. Alexia explains that she destroyed it. Angelique at first doesn’t want to believe it but eventually concedes. Saying something along the lines of, “…If I can’t deliver the body…then…then they’ll kill me…” The people there try to reassure her that they can protect her. However in Angelique’s stunned grief she slips from the window, Tunstell is able to grab Ivy but not Angelique. Was it an accident? Did she want to die on her own terms? WE’LL NEVER KNOW? The chapter ends where the crowd goes to check on her and Angelique is FOR SURE dead. LeFoux seeing the shattered body of her former lover, clutches Alexia and wails.

BUT NOPE IN FACT THIS HAPPENS NEXT!

So Alexia is the only one to go check the body. Angelique is in fact dead, but turns into a ghost. Angelique tells Alexia to perform the exorcism, which means kill her for real real. Alexia wants questions answered first. Angelique says she’ll answer 10, Alexia agrees to this.

So like…why are you going to respect her wishes now? Doesn’t she need to be persecuted under the law, or have proof of the Hive’s wrongdoing? You maybe want to give LeFoux a chance to talk to her, since she was obviously really upset and protective of her before? GUESS NOT!

Angelique, before the questioning is revealed to have done this whole task for the immortality, since she previously and is still working with the Westminster hive. She is GIVEN immortality in the form of being a ghost and is immediately like NOPE I’D RATHER DIE. HUHHHH? MAYBE IT’S NOT IDEAL VAMPIRE THING BUT REALLY?

GOD WHATEVER IT JUST GETS WORSE ANYWAY!

Angelique says that it wasn’t her who tried to break into her bag or poison her. Alexia asks if LeFoux is trying to kill her, Angelique says probably not cause you’d already be dead. AND LIKE WE ESTABLISHED THIS EXACT ANSWER TO THIS SAME QUESTION BEFORE. WHY ARE YOU WASTING YOUR QUESTIONS YOU COMPLETE IMBECILE!

It’s revealed that Quensel, the kid LeFoux was taking poor care of before, is Angelique’s son. Angelique was trying to hide the fact she had a son from the vampires cause the vampires won’t turn her if she has any family. Apparently LeFoux, was trying to get Angelique to take care of her son and to stop the vampire biz by threatening to tell the Vampires about her son. That didn’t work apparently. We also confirm that yes, SHOCK OF SHOCK, Angelique and LeFoux used to be an item for many years. So we have this OH SO DELIGHTFUL paragraph:

“Alexia had seen something of the kind in her father’s collection, but she had never imagined it might be based on anything more than masculine wistfulness or performances put on to titillate a John’s palate. That two women might do such things voluntarily with one another and do so with some degree of romantic love. Was that possible?”

(Irritated Stare with the phrase [stares in gay judgement])

You’re 26 years fucking old, you’re well aware that gay men exist, LeFoux has been hitting on her blatantly this entire book and has been pretty much screaming how much of a lesbian she is. Like you can have Alexia in bi-denial, sure, but for her not to even realize two girls can have sex and romance at one another outside of men JACKING IT!? FUCKING WOW! I want to be clear and say that there is a myth that Queen Victoria didn’t think lesbians were real when she was enforcing the no homosexuality laws. TO BE CLEAR THAT IS A MYTH! PEOPLE IN VICTORIAN TIMES KNEW LESBIANS WEREN’T JUST A MALE CREATED HORNY MYTH LIKE HOW WOMEN LOVE THE TASTE OF JIZZ, YOU THICK-HEADED TWIT!

The last questions that Alexia asks basically are, “Is it possible for women to love each other?” and “You’re a cold bitch aren’t you?” QUEEN PICKED TOP INVESTIGATOR HERE! She then FOR REAL kills Angelique. Also I’m glad she didn’t ask Angelique what they were planning on doing with the humanization corpse, because that mystery is probably what the entirety of the 3rd book is about.

So we head back in the castle to try to wrap this all up, and boy is it pointlessly messy. I’m going to recount the items in order, so you TOO can realize what a clusterfuck this is.

Alexia tells LeFoux that Angelique is dead which makes LeFoux cry. Alexia has a normal human response to seeing a woman she likes grieving.

“Lady Maccon envied her skill of crying with aplomb. She herself went all over splotchy, but Madame Lefoux seemed to be able to execute the emotional state with minimal fuss.”

By performing some pretty sweet mental gymnastics to make it about herself. CONGRATULATIONS! She does later say that the scene was painfully sad…but…your first thought, and the one you dedicate more than a sentence to is… “I wish I could cry as hot as she could?” MOTHER OF FUCK LADY!

Maccon takes Alexia aside and explains that LeFoux and he are besties despite not interacting with her at all this entire book. He told his BFF4EVAH to keep an eye on Alexia. Don’t know why he would have lied about this? Maybe Alexia would have felt patronized? Alexia was attacked 5 times last book and needed to be saved 3 of those times. There’s nothing wrong with that ratio, but there’s also nothing wrong with wanting to have back up if you’re in a dangerous profession. Besides that the two both love science and gadgets, and if he couldn’t predict that LeFoux would awaken his wife’s bisexuality too, it seems silly to lie to her about it.

But my pity for Alexia runs dry again when, upon hearing Maccon and LeFoux are buds…she accuses Maccon of sleeping with LeFoux. And it’s like…

(Honestly, you people, and by that I mean straight people…are ridiculous.)

If Alexia is bi, it don’t matter she’s still in denial and acting like a straight up straighty.

You just found out that lesbians are real and that LeFoux is one of them, and YOU were the one to almost cheat on him with her, and you ACCUSE HIM? Are you FOR REAL!? I mean this is just a set up for Alexia to realize SOME MORE that lesbians are real. I’m glad I’m reading one of those books where everything needs to be explained 5 times.

Alexia brings up the fact that Angelique turned into a ghost but exorcised her right away without considering if literally anybody else wanted to talk to her INCLUDING THE LONG-TERM –EX-GIRLFRIEND WHO WAS RAISING HER KID. LeFoux is rightly upset at this and Alexia retorts with

“There’s no need to wallow.”

Now even Lord Maccon steps in like, “THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, SHE’S RIGHTLY UPSET!” To which Aleixa points out OH SO RIGHTLY that LeFoux didn’t want to be girlfriends with Angelique again, so like…it makes no sense why she’d want to have some parting words or care about her living or dying.

THEN THIS TRANSITION SHEESH VERBATIM:

Lord Maccon looked at his wife appreciatively. “Good Lord, woman, how could you have possibly known that?”

“Well” – Lady Maccon grinned – “Madame Lefoux here did play a bit of the coquette with me while we were traveling. I do not think she was entirely shamming.”

I’m sorry what? We already established that LeFoux is a vagatrian and had a relationship with Angelique. Is she saying the fact she was flirted with PROOF that LeFoux is not in a relationship? Alexia, you were flirting back and you’re married. This is not a brilliant deduction. We only have this transition so that Alexia can brag about almost BUT NOT ACTUALLY cheating on her husband. And like…it’s one thing to take the piss out of him because he’s irrationally jealous. However Alexia herself was like REALLY, REALLY irrationally jealous a second ago and it’s not really irrational since Alexia might have had sex with her if she came to the conclusion earlier that girls can like other girls. SoOOoOOoOOoo great!

We continue to have pissing contests. Maccon is mad that Alexia never told him she was almost poisoned, even though you’d THINK Tunstell would have brought that up to him since he’s his servant and he was the one actually poisoned. LeFoux admits she was looking around for Alexia’s bag and that she wanted the humanization weapon too. However she wants it NOT because she’s in the Hypocras club, but in the Organization of the Brass Octopus (OBO.) The Organization of the Brass Octopus is a secret group of Scientists that is working to curb the power of Supernaturals and that the Hypocras Club was a ~militant branch~ of the OBO. Alexia is bothered that Maccon didn’t tell her about OBO, since YANNO Alexia spent half the book thinking that her crush LeFoux wanted to genocide people like her husband. Which yanno REALLY STOPPED HER FROM A LOT THERE! Alexia tries to ask more questions about OBO and Maccon just answers them all with, “But it’s a secret!”

Really love that Maccon gets super mad when Alexia doesn’t talk to him, but when she asks questions he huffs and won’t tell her. You could maybe argue that since it’s a secret society thing that Maccon shouldn’t tell her. He was sworn to secrecy or some shit. But like also…a branch of this club nearly killed them both… and she’s in charge of the entire English government’s Supernatural balance system….Maybe it’s okay for her to know a little about a powerful organization in that country that’s supposed to do the same thing?

WHATEVER!

We end with LeFoux admitting she was LOOKING FOR Alexia’s bag but never went through it or messed up her room to find it. Alexia for once has a normal reaction which boils down to, “FUCK THIS SHIT!” and storms out. CAUSE WHY BRING UP SHE WAS LOOKING FOR IT AT ALL? That is pointlessly confusing.

So below I made a little chart with how easily it could have been to make this conversation flow better. Even if you want to keep in jealousy pissing contest which is also an EVEN WOMEN WOULD SEX ME STUPID HUSBAND!

I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about editing books…but I feel as if either the editors gave this a soft touch. It seems like a simple fix that could have tightened it up and made it an easier read.

Say something nice Faps:

It was technically a climax

They technically tried to wrap things up

It has been acknowledged that yes LESBIANS ARE REAL

I did genuinely like Alexia having a vulnerable moment looking upon her knocked out husband and feeling protective of him.

#gormless #senseless #riffs #riffing

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mikotyzini · 6 years

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What Defines Us - Ch. 18

Hey everyone! First, I wanted to thank all of you for the tremendous response to this story. It really means so much to me! Here’s a link to this chapter on ff.net.

For announcements, Bumblebee Week starts Monday, but I’ll be posting an intro chapter tomorrow. Keep an eye out for that and follow @bmblbweek for lots of Bumblebee! People on my patreon are getting the entire story tomorrow, but I’ll have a chapter a day for the entire week for you guys!

Also, next chapter of RCR tomorrow.

On to the story!

Today was the day. Today was the day. After months and months of training and getting beaten up by Blake and Yang, followed by more training and more beatdowns, the day was finally here!

Hunt day! Or, more accurately, hunt night!

It felt like trampolines had been glued to her feet - that’s how pumped up she was about today. Tonight. Time didn’t matter - it was right now!

“Jeez Ruby - are you excited or what?” Yang asked with a chuckle, walking hand-in-hand with Blake as they trailed Ruby across the airship landing pad.

“Just a little bit!” she exclaimed, jumping once to prove her point.

Was she excited? How could she not be excited? They were about to go on an official hunt! Into the forest - beyond the city walls. There’d be no protection out there except what they could provide themselves with their weapons. There’d be beasts of Grimm in all shapes and sizes. They could be attacked, ambushed, trapped - the possibilities were practically endless. And she couldn’t be more thrilled about it!

Of course, a small part of her was nervous. She wanted to know whether or not this was what she was meant to do, and if she could even do it. Could she be a huntress? Could she keep herself alive?

Most importantly, she didn’t want to let anyone down - especially not Yang or Blake, who’d both put so much time and energy into helping her train. That’s why she was going to try extra hard today. No matter what they were up against, she was going to do everything to 110% of her ability.

Right now they were walking - a little too slowly - across the landing pad towards an airship that was already waiting for them. The engines were fired up - the propellers twirling faster than the eye could see while a loud whirrrrr-ing noise filled the air.

“And Weiss is already here!” Ruby shouted over the sound, pointing out the girl waiting by the lowered gate to the ship.

Jeez, Weiss was always super timely - unlike Yang, who seemed to dawdle just because.

“Well I’ll be…” Yang muttered to herself, but Ruby didn’t pay her sister any attention. Instead, she raced over to greet their fourth person on this journey.

On the way, she nearly tripped and fell over her own feet, but managed to catch herself at the last second - just in time to pull Weiss into a big hug that caught her by surprise. But, after initially stiffening, Weiss relaxed and awkwardly patted one hand on Ruby’s back.

It was like she didn’t know how to hug properly!

Determined to set a good example, Ruby squeezed Weiss closer and nearly lifted her feet off of the ground. Enthusiastic - it was an enthusiastic hug!

Was it weird that Ruby really liked hugging Weiss? They’d only done it like twice now, but each time had been really nice. It felt like Weiss fit well in Ruby’s arms - although that was really strange to think about. But it was true! Ruby’s arms wrapped around Weiss justttt right.

Well, not just right. It actually felt like Weiss was a little small - like she should be a bit bigger and that would be perfect. Like, a little less skinny?

Come to think of it, Weiss did look awfully thin...she definitely needed more ice cream. But who didn’t?

“Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed after releasing Weiss from the expert level hug. “Are you excited??”

Even though Weiss smiled, she didn’t look half as enthusiastic as Ruby currently felt.

“‘Excited’ might be stretching the truth a bit…”

“But you’re ready?”

Nodding, Weiss lightly tapped her fingers against Myrtenaster, the weapon hanging at her side and glinting under the lights of the airship station. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The answer made Ruby beam - but what wasn’t making her happy today? The birds, the sun, the dumb emergency flares Yang had shoved into Ruby’s pockets ‘just in case’ - everything was awesome. But there was something extra awesome about Weiss being here - something that made this day even better than Ruby dreamed it would be. Not only was she going on a hunt with Yang and Blake, but Weiss was coming with them. Four was a better number than three. Plus, now Ruby wouldn’t the third wheel - she and Weiss would be the third wheels together!

“Surprised to see you here,” Yang commented as she and Blake finally caught up.

“I made a promise,” Weiss replied, only briefly meeting Yang’s gaze before turning to Ruby with a small smile. “And I wanted to keep it.”

Ruby beamed at the response, which made her heart feel all happy and warm. Weiss had promised to be here, and Ruby hadn’t doubted her for a second.

Quickly growing tired of waiting outside, Ruby looked at her sister for permission to run up the super-inviting ramp. Receiving a nod, she grinned and raced into the ship with Blake, Yang, and Weiss in tow. Her boots clanked loudly up the metal walkway before the incline suddenly flattened out into a rather empty cargo hold. There was a row of seats on each wall of the ship, but other than that there wasn’t much besides a pilot sitting up front checking panels filled with rows and rows of lights and switches.

What would happen if he pushed all the buttons at once? Was that a thing? Would the ship overheat and spontaneously combust? Would it shoot into the air and teleport to another dimension?

Picking one side of the ship - the left side, because left was best - Ruby stowed Crescent Rose underneath one of the seats and sat down. Yang and Blake sat across from her, while Weiss picked the seat right next to her. The excellent choice of chair positioning made her grin.

It wasn’t like Weiss had to sit there, but the fact that she still did made Ruby feel like the cool kid in class. And Ruby had hardly ever (actually, never) been the cool kid in class.

“Team RWBY - ready to go?”

“Team Ruby-Schnee!” Ruby corrected the pilot before giggling at the name. Yang smiled across at her before turning towards the cockpit.

“We’re set - whenever you’re ready,” her sister instructed the man. Yang then motioned for Ruby to put on her seat belt, which she obediently did. Safety first!

“Ruby Schnee…” Weiss mumbled to herself while mimicking Ruby’s actions.

“Oh yeah! Didn’t want to leave you out of the team name!”

“Thank you. It...has a nice ring to it.”

The two of them shared smiles - although, Weiss’ looked more sad than happy. Ruby was going to ask about it, but suddenly her stomach dropped when the ship lifted into the air and shot away from the station.

They were on their way!

“Are you nervous?” Blake directed across the cabin to Weiss. Curious, Ruby glanced over just as Weiss’ knee stopped bouncing up and down.

“Just...anxious, I guess.”

“Don’t worry!” Ruby quipped from Weiss’ side. “Blake and Yang are the best in the business! You’ll be safe with them!”

Grinning at the compliment, Yang sent Ruby a wink and thumbs up. But Weiss looked less than relieved - her knee started bouncing again, but the motion was far less noticeable this time.

“Ok, Ruby - listen to me,” Yang said, leaning forward so Ruby could hear her clearly. “You never know what might be out there, but you engage Beowolves only. Anything bigger, you wait for Blake and I to hit it first. You got it?”

Ruby nodded her head, but Yang raised an eyebrow - letting Ruby know that a verbal response was expected.

“Got it!” Ruby acknowledged with another nod. Satisfied with the answer, Yang leaned back in her seat.

“Good, then why don’t you brief us on the mission.”

“What?”

“Tell us what we’re supposed to do,” Yang elaborated with a wave of her hand. “You read the docs, right?”

“Oh, right,” Ruby replied. This was a test to see how prepared she was. Fortunately, unlike every other class she’d ever taken in school, she’d actually studied for this!

“Uh, well, basically there’s an abandoned research facility in the forest that they think contains important information. We’re supposed to check the chairman’s office on the 10th floor. We’ll be dropped off on the roof, take the stairwell down five flights of stairs, find his office and find the information. We only know it was called Project Scorpio, so anything we find with that name we should take with us or scan if we have time. We’ll have ten minutes and then the ship will meet us back on the rooftop for pick up.”

“And if something goes wrong?”

This was why she’d memorized all the maps that came with the hunt information!

The ship wasn’t going to stick around waiting for them - it was going to return to the nearest station at the edge of Vale and come back for them later. This would minimize the pilot’s risk of running into Nevermores.

If they couldn’t make it to the rooftop in ten minutes -

“It’ll take five minutes to get another ship to us,” Ruby answered. The first pilot wouldn’t wait or turn around - a second airship would be dispatched for them instead. Safety, safety, safety! These airships weren’t exactly outfitted for battle - they were more like big, floating ducks waiting for a Grimm to pluck them out of the sky.

“What if we can’t make it back to the roof?” Yang asked.

At first, Ruby wanted to ask why they wouldn’t be able to make it to the roof when they’d just used the stairs to get into the building. If they’d run down five flights of stairs, couldn’t they just as easily run back up them?

But they were planning for the worst case scenario - it was like a fun game of ‘what could go horribly wrong?’ What if the top of the building was suddenly lopped off by an incredibly big Grimm? Or a random ship carrying wet cement had a spill that filled the staircase? Or an asteroid hit the building and somehow only destroyed the top five floors while leaving everything else intact?

“The secondary pick up is the fountain!” Ruby answered confidently.

“And the third?”

The question made her brow furrow as she looked over the map image in her mind.

“I didn’t see a third evac point…”

“Exactly,” Yang responded with a nod. “If the second pick up doesn’t work, we’re hoofing it back to Vale. Which will suck in the dark. But why are we going at night?”

This was an easy one.

“Two reasons,” Ruby began. “One, the facility is in range of a Nevermore ‘nesting’ site, so flying this close during the day would be pretty dangerous. Two, Grimm tend to be more spread out at night, but clumped up during the day. No one knows why, but ya, that’s what they do.”

When Yang looked impressed by the quick answer, Ruby grinned with success. For one of her birthdays, Yang had given her a book on different species of Grimm and, for the longest time, it had been her favorite thing to read. It definitely hadn’t made her any more popular at school, but she’d learned a boatload of valuable information! Like anatomical breakdowns on the species of Grimm that had been researched, theories on their existence, known battle tactics, and their general behavioral tendencies. Basically, all super useful stuff. That’s why she’d committed it to memory!

“Why would they have a facility out here? Why not set up downtown like all the other companies?”

Apparently, Yang had a lot of questions about this hunt - but these were all questions Ruby should be asking, not the other way around!

Still, she tried to think of an answer. Downtown would obviously be way nicer, and safer, and...well, Ruby had never heard of any companies set up outside the walls. That was basically suicide. So why would anyone do it? Because they were insane?

“I...they didn’t say…”

“I know, I’m asking you,” Yang replied with a grin. “Why out here?”

Biting her lip, Ruby struggled to come up with an explanation. She’d memorized every bit of information on the pages Yang had given her, but nowhere did it mentioned the purpose of a facility in the first place. Glancing at Weiss, who motioned that it was up to Ruby to answer, Ruby gave up and shook her head.

“I dunno...the view?” she joked, gesturing out one of the small windows at the expanse of treetops that were hardly visible in the darkness. Yang laughed at the answer, but it was Blake who spoke next.

“They were doing research on Grimm.”

“On Grimm?” Ruby gasped in surprise. “For what??”

“They were trying to find an easier way to destroy Grimm,” Blake explained. “Preferably by isolating a weakness that could be exploited chemically. They thought they could safeguard the facility...obviously that was an incorrect assumption.”

“That’s why it couldn’t be built in Vale,” Yang added. “Can you imagine how upset people would be if they learned Grimm were being trucked into the city? Research or not - no one wants Grimm inside the walls.”

The explanation made a lot of sense, even though it was a crazy idea to build a research facility in the forest. There were exactly zero instances of that working out as planned.

Before Yang could ask another question, Weiss gently nudged Ruby’s shoulder and nodded towards the window. When Ruby leaned closer, she could see the vague outlines of moonlit buildings coming into view.

The research facility was actually a massive compound surrounded by thick walls that had once been sturdy, but were now broken and crumbling. From the look of it, something quite large had torn the concrete apart and created gaping holes in the outer defenses. When Ruby pointed out one of the holes through the window, Weiss nodded.

“Not so secure anymore…” she whispered.

It had probably once been a pretty nice place. There were smaller buildings - that might have been built for housing - sitting along wide roads that had street signs and everything. A courtyard connected everything together with a tall fountain in the very center - their emergency exit if things went sideways. Their current destination was set off to one side of the compound - a tall building that towered out of the darkness. The moon glinted off the glass covering the outside, which was also broken in many places.

No wonder this place had been overrun - Nevermores could spot this spire from miles away. Defending it would cost a fortune and require a private army. Even with walls that were twice as high and an entire fleet of Atlesians, Ruby could pick out glaring weaknesses in the darkness.

This entire place had been a dumb idea.

“The workers lived here?” she asked, turning towards her sister and Blake. After Blake nodded, Ruby looked out of the window as the ship headed towards the tall building. If the workers had lived here when the place was overrun…

“Did they make it out?” she asked.

“Some. Not all.”

Biting her lip at Blake’s honest answer, Ruby nodded in understanding. It would be difficult to mass evacuate a facility like this because there weren’t many obvious pick up points besides the fountain. And, even though they weren’t far from the edge of Vale, it would still take a few minutes to get enough airships out here. A few minutes when Grimm were bursting through the walls was a few minutes too many...

Her stomach dropped again as the ship began to climb out of the relative safety of the treeline towards the top of the building. Her nerves, which had been pretty mellow up to this point, suddenly came roaring into existence.

This was it - they were here.

It was only seconds later that they reached altitude and the door of the transport dropped open - the wind rushing in making her eyes instantly water. From their current position, they were looking down at the rooftop of a building, which was only just illuminated by the soft moonlight.

“Looks like there’s a big pack of ‘wolves about a mile from here!” the pilot shouted to them over the loud droning of the engines spilling through the open doorway. “Keep it quiet and they should move on.”

“Got it!” Yang shouted back to the man before giving him a thumbs up.

Grabbing onto her necklace, Ruby briefly closed her eyes and wished that this would go well - that they would all make it out of here safe and sound. There wasn’t time to do anything more because Yang was already unbuckling her seatbelt - Blake and Weiss following suit. Ruby quickly followed their lead before jumping up and grabbing Crescent Rose from under her seat.

“Here we go!” Yang yelled over the engines before motioning Ruby to follow.

If she had butterflies, they were instantly replaced by pure adrenaline when she watched her sister run forward and jump out of the transport like it was nothing. After staring into the darkness for a second in awe of her sister’s fearlessness, Ruby was gently nudged forward. Looking over one shoulder, she caught Blake’s eyes - and Blake nodded for Ruby to jump out next.

This was the moment she’d been training for. This was the moment she’d spent so many painful hours training for. She hadn’t thought it would start by jumping out of the back of an airship, but this just made it even better.

Shooting a quick grin at Weiss - who was looking a little apprehensive at what was to come - Ruby took a deep breath and jogged several steps forward. Picking up speed and refusing to hesitate or overthink the action, she coiled her muscles and leaped out into the night sky.

For one amazing moment, it felt like she might hang there forever - floating on the breeze like a leaf or a snowflake - but gravity swiftly grabbed hold of her and dropped her to the gravel-covered rooftop like a rock. Keeping her feet underneath her, she landed in a crouch that was decently quiet considering she hadn’t thought to practice jumping out of an airship before.

Straightening up, she spotted Yang by the entrance to the building, but before heading over looked up as Weiss dropped to the rooftop beside her. Weiss landed in a crouch, just like Ruby, before standing up and lightly shaking her long ponytail. Blake appeared immediately after, her own arrival dead quiet compared to Ruby’s.

The airship pulled away and quickly disappeared - leaving them alone in nearly complete darkness on the rooftop, their only light coming from the partially hidden moon in the sky. Without the sound of the engines, it was suddenly quiet - almost alarmingly so.

“Orient yourself,” Blake said quietly. Caught off guard by the instruction, Ruby spun around and tried to figure out where she was. The moon was behind her, so that meant…

“North?” she asked, pointing in a direction and looking to Blake for confirmation. With a quick nod, Blake led them over to Yang at the doorway.

“You’re doing great,” Weiss whispered to Ruby as they jogged after Blake. The words made Ruby really happy, but when she glanced over she noticed that Weiss had her hands clenched into tight fists - almost as if she was trying to keep them from trembling.

“Are you ok?” Ruby asked, but Weiss waved the question off and motioned for Ruby to focus on Yang as they regrouped at the door.

“Ten minutes,” Yang whispered, tapping the communication device strapped around her wrist where a countdown was displayed in bright green numbers. “Gotta hurry.”

Taking a deep breath and nodding to Blake, Yang pulled the door open with a quick, loud pop of the lock giving way.

The silence left behind by the airship, which had felt deafening at first, seemed to have disappeared. As her ears adjusted, Ruby could hear more and more sounds - and it sounded like the entire forest was moving around them. It was nothing like the sleepy, nighttime streets of Vale. There, the crickets and trees were quiet as whispers. Out here - far from the city - the leaves were rustling so loudly it was hard to believe the noise was the result of the wind alone. But when Ruby turned towards the trees, she found nothing but darkened shapes swaying in the steady breeze.

This was the sound of a nighttime forest, alive in its own way.

Feeling a warm hand press her forward, she followed Blake through the doorway with Yang on her heels and Weiss bringing up the rear.

If it was hard to see outside, then entering the stairwell was like becoming completely blind. There wasn’t even a glimmer of moonlight to provide guidance, so Ruby had no idea how Blake was running down the steps without falling on her face. Thankfully, Yang lit up a light when they were all inside, shining it over Ruby’s shoulders so she could follow Blake down flights and flights of stairs. Their shadows bounced eerily off the walls, moving in fast, disjointed motions, while there was no sound except for their feet hitting concrete, their clothes rustling, and their breathing growing a little heavier.

After reading the hunt information, Ruby felt like she had a good grasp on where they were headed, but Blake was moving so confidently it was as if she’d actually been here before. Had Blake done more research on the schematics of the building? Like found an actual blueprint of the offices? Because that was a good idea that Ruby totally should’ve thought of.

The four of them raced down the staircases before coming to a door with a large number ten painted beside it. The tenth floor. Hardly breaking stride, Blake quickly pried the door open and shot inside with Ruby directly behind, her eyes scanning the room as they entered.

The entire floor was open - a gigantic space with desks and chairs cluttered across much of it. Along one wall ran a set of what looked like miniature laboratories - complete with fancy-looking machines tucked behind thick glass walls and heavy security doors. Some of the labs had been completely destroyed by some unknown force - the walls pulverized and machines laying in ruin.

Squeezing through a set of desks on the path Blake was setting for them, Ruby tried to ignore the dark stains on the walls and floors whenever Yang’s flashlight jumped over them. Those were probably just the result of some science experiment, or a trick the darkness was playing on her, not...anything else…

They were making a straight line from the staircase to the opposite side of the building, where she could make out a set of offices. As they jogged in that direction, she made sure to sweep her eyes around the extent of the room looking for potential hazards. If there was any benefit to being in a building made of glass, it was that they had 360 degrees of visibility - which was worth basically nothing since the only thing she could see outside was black night and dark trees.

Approaching the row of square offices, Blake broke into a run to check the nameplates hanging outside the relatively intact glass rooms.

“This is it,” she said, tapping the name and slipping inside one of the offices.

“Ruby, watch the door,” Yang directed while Blake and Weiss both set to work rapidly opening and closing the filing cabinets lining the office walls in search of what they were after. Weiss was holding her own light now and using it to scan the folders, while Blake operated in the darkness without a second thought. Yang glanced at her watch for the time before heading over to the windows and looking in all directions for any danger.

Watch the door. It wasn’t the most glamorous of duties, but Ruby was still going to give it her all! Although, she probably didn’t need to stand right in front of the door since the entire office was basically a fish bowl, but she did as she’d been told while watching her partners out of the corner of her eye. Not that she could see much in the low light. If only she had Blake’s vision...

“I found the year,” Weiss announced quietly and Blake rushed over to that cabinet to help Weiss search.

The fact that they were whispering only made the darkness creepier. Like, if they were speaking in normal voices this would feel more like they were just robbing some building - that wouldn’t be too scary. Whispering was what you did when you were hiding from something, but what were they hiding from?

Ruby’s gaze drifted away from the office and back to the lifeless floor they’d just run across. Whatever had happened here couldn’t have been good. From the outlines of toppled chairs and desks turned on their sides, it looked like everyone had left in a very big hurry.

While looking at a desk that was completely upside down, her eyes caught a glimpse of something that was out of place - at least, strange enough to catch her attention. It was nothing more than a glint near the staircase they’d used to get here, but it was definitely something.

Squinting her eyes, she tried to see what it was. With her pathetic human eyes she saw absolutely nothing, but her gut told her to keep looking - so did the prickling feeling of the hairs rising on her arms and back of her neck.

“Yang,” she whispered towards her sister, not breaking her gaze away from the doorway. When her sister didn’t respond, she glanced away for a split second to find Yang was helping the other two search through files.

“Yang!” she hissed louder, finally getting Yang’s attention. “I think there’s something -”

Turning back to the doorway, Ruby froze and her blood ran cold when she realized what the glint had been.

Claws.

Now visible above those giant claws were glowing red eyes - lots and lots of glowing red eyes.

“We have company,” she whispered, unfolding Crescent Rose and staring at the Grimm collecting at the far end of the building. From this distance, she could just barely make out their hulking black outlines as they crawled out of the stairwell. More of them were creeping along the ground and pulling themselves over the destroyed desks, their claws scraping and scratching against the wood. All were approaching slowly, hesitantly, waiting to grow in number before attacking.

Heart pounding, her body was preparing itself for battle - muscles tensing and breaths slowing to a controlled, steady pace. She squeezed Thorn around Crescent Rose, feeling the glove tightly clutch her weapon before releasing.

She was ready, but they weren’t being attacked yet. They still had time. They could still complete the mission.

“It has to be here somewhere!” Blake whispered in exasperation. “If it’s not here, then -”

Blake didn’t finish that thought before Ruby heard a muffled groan. “There’s a safe under the desk. It has to be in here.”

“Can you open it?” Yang asked, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ruby and only briefly turning back to the office behind them.

“With enough time, maybe!” Blake whispered back, her voice slightly muted from under the desk.

“I could just pull the door off its hinges?” Yang offered, flexing her fingers in preparation.

“Sweetie - as much as I admire your ability to rip apart pieces of metal, sometimes people have already taken that into consideration!”

Glancing at Ruby, Yang gave a small shrug before turning her full attention to the approaching Grimm. She was tense, but also at ease - although Ruby couldn't tell if that was just for her sake or not.

“What do we do?” she asked, watching the red eyes inch closer and closer. Raising her fists, Yang calmly checked the shotgun shells in her gauntlets.

“What do you think we should do?”

Right now really didn’t seem like the time for a teaching moment, but it didn’t seem like the time to complain either.

As the intensity increased, Ruby’s brain sped through scenarios at warp speed. She needed to relax and recall what she’d studied - examine the terrain, locate exits, evaluate the enemy, make a decision.

“We...wait for them to make the first move. Try to funnel them through the door to slow them down and give Blake more time.”

While Ruby spoke, Yang barely tilted her chin in acceptance of the plan. Ruby watched the Grimm and imagined the room behind them with the other two huntresses still searching. That was a good start to an exit strategy, but -

“But then...how do we get out?” she whispered. “Fight through them to the staircase?”

There was no response from Yang while she waited for Ruby to puzzle it out, which would’ve been a lot easier to do if she wasn’t pumping with adrenaline. But think - think, Ruby Rose. There were always two exits in any situation - the one you used to get in and the one you hadn’t yet created to get out.

Finally, it dawned on her.

“The windows -”

Never turning her eyes away from the Grimm, Yang nodded in silent agreement.

Was it safe to wait that long though? Yang wouldn’t let them stay if it wasn’t safe, right?

There was no time to second guess anything now. The plan was set and they were waiting - hoping that the Grimm would put off their assault until Blake and Weiss were successful.

Ruby could now see that they were facing Beowolves, and a lot of them. The creatures were creeping on all fours through the jumbled maze of furniture, close enough that she could vividly make out red designs on eerie white skulls.

Flexing Thorn, she gripped the handle of Crescent Rose tightly - finding reassurance and confidence in how her glove locked together with her weapon.

“We don’t have much time…” Yang whispered out of the side of her mouth.

“Weiss, I need your help,” Ruby heard Blake say.

Another sound caught Ruby’s attention then - a strange scratching noise that seemed to come from all directions. Not turning her head, but flicking her eyes to the side, she found that there were more Beowolves climbing up the side of the building.

Still, Yang stood her ground at the doorway, and Ruby did the same. The Beowolves were too close to risk turning around again - close enough that Ruby could hear their creepy, raspy breathing and smell the overwhelming odor of old garbage.

She’d never been this close to a Grimm before, but she didn’t feel afraid. Even though these creatures were bent upon her destruction, she was surprisingly at peace with the situation. Sure, her heart was pounding, but it was from adrenaline, not fear.

And the adrenaline was building...because she knew that any second the attack would come…

“You ready?” Yang whispered, nudging Ruby’s elbow. Before Ruby could reply, she heard what sounded like ice cracking.

“Got it!” Blake shouted.

Blake’s voice broke whatever barrier had been keeping the Beowolves at bay, sending them all charging forward at once. As snarls filled the air, Yang grabbed Ruby by the arm and spun her around. Her feet were running before she even thought to tell them to, and two shotgun blasts went off before the sound of shattering glass filled her ears. When her sister pulled her out of the office window, Ruby closed her eyes right before the shards hit her face.

The next second they were falling - the glass tumbling with them to the ground. Ruby opened her eyes to the howls of Beowolves plummeting off the building with them, thankfully far enough away to not be an immediate threat.

The free fall only lasted a couple seconds before she spun and planted her feet underneath her, hitting the ground with a soft thud that sent impact shooting through her feet and knees. Shards of glass rained down on her head and shoulders before she was up and chasing after Yang, briefly turning to make sure Blake and Weiss were already up and running too. Sparing a glance up at the office where they’d just been, she found the building was covered in Beowolves, many that had just noticed their escape and were headed back down to pursue them.

“Secondary pick up!” Yang shouted while pressing a button on her watch that turned the numbers from green to yellow.

“How long?” Weiss yelled from behind Ruby as the four of them tore through the streets towards the fountain.

“Three minutes.”

Weiss muttered something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like a swear word, but Ruby couldn’t hear very well over the howling of Beowolves and the pounding of her heart in her chest.

“We can hold them,” Blake huffed from Ruby’s other side, before straining her legs and pulling in front of both Ruby and Yang to lead the way.

The moon had come out from behind the clouds, illuminating the empty streets far more brightly than when they’d arrived several minutes ago, but Ruby still had no idea where they were going. She’d memorized the map, but it hadn’t been very detailed when it came to the streets. Thankfully, they were following Blake’s lead...and it seemed like Blake knew exactly where she was going.

Flashes of movement caught Ruby’s eye in every direction, but she never saw the sources. There wasn’t time to double check for enemies, as she was too busy focusing on keeping her feet moving, staying upright, and breathing properly in order to conserve as much energy as possible.

The buildings abruptly fell away when they rushed into the large, open square with the fountain standing in the middle. Their feet didn’t stop running until they’d reached the partially destroyed construct - its foundation was cracked, and chunks of stone were missing from the sculpture on top.

“Ruby, you still have the flare I gave you?” Yang asked as they turned away from the fountain towards the edge of the courtyard - the courtyard that was quickly filling with Grimm.

Fumbling in her pocket, Ruby pulled out the flare and peeled off the top. These were special flares - very powerful, very bright. She’d given Yang such a hard time about bringing them along, but obviously her sister had known best.

“Ok, we each get one quad of the square,” Yang instructed calmly, sliding to Ruby’s left while Blake took up position to Ruby’s right. “Call out if you need help. Ready...light ‘em up!”

Pulling the tab, Ruby threw the flare as far as she could towards the edge of the town square, briefly shielding her eyes to prevent herself from being blinded by the bright light. After dropping her arm and opening her eyes, she found a swarm of Beowolves in front of her.

The creatures howled at the suddenly bright area and charged.

The sound of rapid bullets was followed by the flares bursting into a shower of sparks as the Grimm stepped over them, causing many of the creatures to scatter in every which direction in surprise - but it only caused a slight pause in their rush.

Ruby’s muscles tensed in anticipation as the Beowolves raced towards her - three across in the first row. They were bigger than she’d expected them to be, with their wiry limbs giving them a far greater reach than she’d expected. Taking that into consideration, she’d have to attack sooner than she thought she would. Which was right about….now.

Blitzing forward, she swept through the first three with one long swing of Crescent Rose. The Beowolves immediately disintegrated into black ash, letting her know she’d gotten quick kills, but there were already more to take their place.

Making sure her back was always to the monument, Ruby vaguely heard the sound of shotgun blasts to her left and glimpsed rapid shadow clones to her right. But more than that, she heard the cries and growls of Grimm - lots of them. And the more they howled - the more noise they made - the more other Grimm in the area would show up to the party.

Lopping the heads off of two Beowolves with a quick back-forth combo, she then drew back Crescent Rose and flung the weapon into a large crowd that had formed in front of her. Three managed to escape, but four more fell as she immediately summoned Crescent Rose back to her. Catching the weapon while racing towards the survivors of the group, she beheaded them the instant Thorn latched onto the weapon.

Skidding to a stop, she found that a vertical line of six had appeared. Was she fast enough? Her semblance shot her forward, drawing a line through the Beowolves before planting Crescent Rose in the ground, leaving the weapon behind and sending herself flying back to the center of the courtyard. While she was still in transit, she summoned her weapon after her - allowing it to plow through two more Grimm before catching it when she finally stopped, and immediately using it to destroy three more Grimm in three easy, swift blows.

Big, lanky, but surprisingly easy to kill. Their lack of armor provided zero resistance to Crescent Rose and, unlike Blake and Yang, their ability to dodge or deflect was basically nonexistent. Plus, they weren’t very smart. It was almost like fighting against some pillows - which wasn’t very fair to pillows.

Five more, six more Beowolves disappeared before her ears picked up something different. There were the howls of Grimm, the cries and growls and roars and scratching of claws tearing across the street, but a new noise had just been added to the mix.

It sounded like a something was pounding its way through the streets, sending tremors through the ground. Clearing out a patch of Grimm as she turned towards the source of the noise, her eyes widened when a full-sized Death Stalker charged into the square, shoving over the remnants of a small building while doing so.

She’d seen pictures and videos before, but nothing could have prepared her for the real deal.

It was huge. Like...gargantuan huge. Its rows of tiny legs managed to move it surprisingly fast, while pincers the size of a small car made a terrifying loud clacking sound when they snapped together. The stinger, glowing dangerously yellow and towering over the courtyard, swayed back and forth - ready and willing to snap forward in an instant.

Nothing but Beowolves - that’s what Yang had said. But the Death Stalker was in Ruby’s quadrant...and it was charging straight towards her.

“Ruby, don’t!” she heard Yang yell just as she’d begun spooling up her semblance for a potential attack. Obediently waiting, she prepared herself to dive out of the way when Blake or Yang showed up. Which would hopefully be soon, cuz it was getting rather close...

But it wasn’t Blake or Yang who showed up to help. Instead, it was a giant, ghostly soldier who suddenly appeared - at least twelve feet tall and carrying a sword Ruby could never dream of picking up. One swing of that sword cleared out a group of at least ten Beowolves before the soldier rushed the Death Stalker without hesitation. Ruby watched in stunned awe as, right before reaching the Grimm, the soldier split into two - two massive soldiers converging on a single Grimm that now looked pretty puny in comparison.

“Oh holy Grimm. Blake - get Weiss’ back!” she heard Yang yell from behind her. Ruby briefly turned around and found that Weiss was following the soldier’s movements intently, while Blake slid over to maintain positioning behind her.

The Death Stalker struck first with its stinger - lashing out like a bolt of lightning. One soldier deflected the attack with his sword while the second fearlessly grabbed the stinger in one hand. Before the Grimm could react, the first soldier’s sword seamlessly swung back around and separated the stinger from the creature in one powerful blow. Rearing up in anger, the Death Stalker managed to clasp one of its powerful pincers around the second soldier’s legs, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he dropped the stinger to the ground and used both hands to plunge his sword down through the plating on the creature’s back - one, two, three, four times until the Grimm stilled.

As the great Death Stalker disintegrated, the soldier still clasped in its claw also disappeared from view. A pack of Beowolves was descending on the remaining soldier - who swung his sword in a giant loop and took out six in one easy blow. But there were twice as many to replace them - the air filling with more and more howls of anger.

“Ruby! We need you to create a perimeter! Hold them back!”

Slicing through two more Beowolves who’d skirted around the giant soldiers, Ruby risked a glance towards her sister.

“Create a perimeter? How?”

“Your semblance!”

Oh. Duh. That would work, wouldn’t it?

Calling upon her semblance, Ruby raced forward like a shot out of a cannon, sweeping through a line of Beowolves as she did so. Skidding to a stop and turning right, she took off again - running fast. With Crescent Rose extended to her left, held firmly within Thorn’s grasp, she caught any Grimm in her path while making sure to duck or dodge any attacks swung her way. The first circle she completed was tight and close to her partners, but the second she pushed further out and ran even harder.

It was really awesome. The first few lines of Beowolves fell like timber, not even slowing down as they ran into her blade of destruction. By the time she made it through four or five circles, the remaining Grimm got a little smarter - they started trying to back up and jump over her instead of running straight through, their intent obvious from the tightening, bunching muscles in their legs.

If she wanted to keep them back, she needed to go faster. Fast enough that even if one jumped, she’d complete a full circle and be back in time to snatch it from the air.

Her legs and lungs were beginning to scream as she pushed herself harder than she’d ever pushed herself before. There was a veritable snowstorm of rose petals kicking up around her, but she pushed onward. Her energy was rapidly depleting, but there was also something new at the very edge of her grasp - a level of speed she’d yet to experience. If she tried a little harder, she could reach it -

A loud pop suddenly echoed through her head. Confused, she kept running for several laps until she realized that something was wrong. Slowing down, she looked around in surprise.

Everything had stopped. Not completely, but the world was now moving in slower than slow motion - even though she was still moving like normal. Beowolves were frozen in time, some of them just starting to open their jaws to howl, some stretching their arms forward in an attempt to grab her where she’d once been.

Looking back, her companions were still collected around the fountain, with an airship just beginning to appear over their heads. Yang was mid-punch, about to take out a Beowolf in a single blow. Blake was doing a slow somersault in mid-air, while Gambol rained bullets down on a group of three Grimm. Weiss had Myrtenaster aimed towards another Beowolf, shimmering blue lights collecting at the end of her weapon.

Two more Death Stalkers had appeared on either side of the square, the buildings they’d just crashed through toppling in freeze frame. The remaining giant soldier was swinging his massive sword through a crowd of Grimm, moving a millimeter at a time.

“Ok…” Ruby whispered to herself, finding that she was breathless and growing more exhausted while she wasn’t even moving.

She had no idea what was going on - she was clearly using an abundance of energy without realizing it - but she wasn’t going to waste an opportunity like this just because it didn’t make sense.

Grasping onto whatever feeling increased her fatigue, figuring that’s what was keeping her in this state, she dashed around as quickly as possible - cutting through all of the Beowolves and putting several hundred rapid stabs into each Death Stalker, right in their weak point underneath a gap in the plating.

Yang had said ‘nothing but Beowolves,’ but she hadn’t mentioned anything about frozen Death Stalkers…

The more Ruby moved, the more exhausted she grew and the heavier her head began to feel. It wasn’t even thirty seconds that she was in this weird time freeze state before her mind couldn’t keep up with it anymore, and everything started to unravel. When time began speeding up, she headed towards Yang - knowing that they’d be jetting away on the ship soon.

Everything was moving faster and faster with each passing moment - like everything had been frozen but was now rapidly catching up to real time. If the feeling she’d grabbed onto was like a string, it was pulling out of her hands and she had absolutely no energy left to hang onto it. Another pop sounded in her mind when it disappeared and everything suddenly jumped from 50% to full speed.

Not expecting the rapid time shift, she might have face planted on the ground. Apparently, it was a little difficult to jog while time warped back to normal...

“Ruby!”

Yang was rushing forward to help, but Ruby pushed herself to her feet and ran to her sister while their ship dropped in from the sky. There was an odd moment of silence that caused her to turn around right as a giant black cloud swept into the air - the result of her not-so-hard work.

For that single second, the square was nearly clear of Grimm.

“What did you…?” Yang began to ask while staring at the sudden emptiness, only to grab Ruby’s arm and pull her along instead. “Help Weiss into the ship.”

More Grimm were already arriving. A spotlight suddenly shone down from above, followed closely by the loud whirring of engines and wind rushing down into the clearing. Looking up, Ruby found the airship hovering over the fountain waiting to pick them up. Wasting no time, she ran over and wrapped one arm around Weiss’ waist. Weiss seemed completely spent, so Ruby lifted her off her feet and carried her up the fountain. It helped that Weiss was super light or that Ruby was super strong. One of those.

The door to the ship was lowered and Blake was already waiting there - motioning them to move faster while Yang was fending off the Grimm from behind them, shotgun blasts repeatedly echoing through the air. When Ruby reached Blake, the two of them together lifted Weiss into the back of the transport before jumping in themselves.

“Lift off!” Blake shouted to the pilot, who immediately pulled the ship into the air while Blake threw Gambol Shroud from the open doorway, one hand grasping a handle in the transport while the other strained in swinging Yang aboard. Yang immediately pressed a round green button inside the ship and the ramp lifted and closed, causing a sudden sucking sound of air before it sealed shut and everything grew quiet.

All four of them were out of breath, and Ruby could feel an underlying layer of exhaustion in her semblance, but it really felt like she could keep going for hours more. She wanted to keep going - she wanted to fight more!

“That was so awesome!!!” she exclaimed, spinning around in a circle and tossing Crescent Rose onto the floor of the ship, only to summon the weapon back into her hand a second later.

Her companions all gave her varying degrees of smiles - Yang’s by far the largest.

“Yang! You’re so freaking good!” Ruby said, rushing over to check over Ember Celica for any damage. Satisfied that the gauntlets held up, she ran to Blake next. “And Blake! Those clones of yours were like whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Everywhere!”

After Blake gave her a small smile, Ruby turned to Weiss.

“Weiss! What the heck were those giant soldier dudes?? Holy crapoly were they ever cool! I mean - did you see him take out like fifteen Beowolves with one swing?” Ruby pretended like she was wielding a giant sword and swung it through the air like he had, letting go and shielding her eyes from the pretend sun while imaginary Grimm went flying over the buildings. “That had to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“I’m...glad you like him...” Weiss murmured, looking moderately embarrassed by Ruby’s words.

“Is he the same every time? What’s his name?” Ruby asked as a million other questions came to mind. “He looks like a...Chester. Or Renaldo. Maybe a…a...what’s another guy name??”

“Ronnie?” Blake suggested, the name making Ruby burst into giggles.

“Ronnie! That’s so perfect! Like, ‘oh hey, wanna meet my friend Ronnie?’ It sounds so safe, and then in stomps this huge freaking giant!”

When she was really excited, she talked a lot. Like now. When she noticed that she was doing it again, she could normally force herself to cut it out. Like now. Cut it out! But she couldn’t. Her skin was practically vibrating with electricity right now!

“You ladies know how to draw quite the crowd!” the pilot yelled back to them from the cockpit.

“You know we’re the life of the party!” Yang replied with a grin, before sitting back in her seat and letting out a big sigh. “Well...that didn’t exactly go as planned.”

Rolling her eyes, Blake leaned into Yang’s side. “Does it ever?”

”What did you get, anyway?” Ruby asked. Reaching into a nearly invisible pocket, Blake pulled out a tiny memory drive.

“I hope it’s what we were looking for,” she answered, flipping the device over in her hand.

Clenching her fist in success, Ruby turned back to Weiss - only to find that she had closed her eyes and was leaning her head back against the headrest. The sight instantly calmed Ruby down...because something about Weiss’ posture made her worried.

Stowing Crescent Rose under one of the seats, Ruby finally sat down.

“Weiss,” she said as softly as she could. Clear blue eyes opened and found hers - sending a tiny tremor through her chest. “Are you feeling ok?”

“Yes, just...tired...” Weiss replied, giving Ruby what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile, but really wasn’t. “You did really well…”

The words should’ve made Ruby really happy, but she was still concerned. Glancing across the ship, she found that Yang was watching Weiss thoughtfully while Blake whispered in her ear. After Blake finished speaking, Yang nodded and looked away.

If neither of them were super concerned, maybe Ruby didn’t need to be, but it seemed like Weiss wasn’t feeling very well. Whenever Ruby felt crappy, it made her feel better when Yang would hold her hand or rub her shoulder. Maybe Weiss would feel the same?

Hesitantly, Ruby reached over and took one of Weiss’ hands in her own. Weiss’ eyes flew open and she stared at Ruby for a second in confusion, but when Ruby smiled, Weiss smiled in return before closing her eyes and letting out a soft, content sigh.

The reaction made Ruby sigh in relief. Leaning back in her seat with Weiss’ hand held in her lap, she thought about how...delicate...Weiss’ hands were. And soft, but also strong from using Myrtenaster so much. There were some hidden calluses - built up over time - that Ruby could feel underneath her fingertips.

With her free hand, Ruby lightly traced the back of Weiss’ hand - from Weiss’ wrist to the tips of her fingers and back again. Feeling someone watching her, Ruby looked up and met Blake’s eyes - but Blake merely smiled before turning to the side and placing a soft kiss to the top of Yang’s head. Even though it would only be a few extra minutes to the airship station closest to their home, Yang was already conked out and sleeping with her head on Blake’s shoulder.

The energy in the ship dwindled quickly as adrenaline faded to relief. Ruby could feel the effect taking place in her own body - her muscles unwinding and her heartbeat slowing to a more normal pace. A few minutes ago, she’d been charged with electricity - now, she felt...sleepy.

While the ship sped through the sky, Ruby focused her attention on the girl sitting beside her. Without leaning forward she couldn’t tell if Weiss was sleeping or not, but Weiss never moved her hand from its position gently curled around Ruby’s. It was a nice feeling - holding Weiss’ hand. It was actually kind of funny because Ruby had meant to comfort Weiss with the gesture, but it ended up comforting herself as well. Mutually beneficial...

Still tracing the back of Weiss’ hand, Ruby leaned close enough that her arm was pressed against Weiss’ side. They always seemed to crank the air up in airships, so it was kind of cold - and she didn’t want Weiss to be cold. Pleasantly surprised when Weiss made no effort to move away, Ruby settled in and enjoyed the warmth they were able to share.

This was also nice. After the whirlwind of activity they’d just sprinted through, it was nice to relax, decompress, and just...be here together. For each other. The four of them - Blake with Yang, Weiss with Ruby. It almost made her wish that the flight home would last a little longer...

As her own adrenaline wore off, it felt like sandbags were trying to weigh her eyes shut. Her body was winding down and trying to put her to sleep, but her mind was still racing with so many questions. Like how had the Grimm found them so quickly? How had Blake broken into the safe? What would’ve happened if the second evac point hadn’t worked and they’d had to ‘hoof it’ back to Vale? Would the Grimm have pursued them all the way to the walls?

And, most importantly, when could they do this again? Because she wanted to do it again. Like right away. Or at least, as soon as Weiss felt better.

#RWBY #White Rose #Weiss Schnee #Ruby Rose #What Defines Us

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deadlydollies13 · 6 years

Text

The Potion Master’s Grace ch. 26

School continued slowly; Quidditch tryouts were over and soon the season would begin; Professor Maes’ class remained as an escape; the Accio Coffee Cafe continued its business without raising any attention to Umbridge.

Maes had moved some instruments to the cafe and often the room was filled with music being played by the students. When Grace wasn’t at the counter taking orders and making drinks, she was in the corner on a stool playing her violin. Even Cas and Merlin had found a comfortable niche inside the secret cafe.

“Why do you have that ‘perplexed’ look on your face?” Grace asked one morning as she prepared Severus’ coffee, which he took black. Or, as Luna termed the drink on the menu, “Coffee as Black as Snape’s Soul.”

“I’ve completely lost it. The students don’t fear me anymore, thanks to you,” Severus replied. He looked around the room and a few sixth years smiled and waved, “Good morning, Professor,” and Severus, almost automatically, gave a very slight smile and replied, “Good morning.”

“It’s because you’re ‘pleasant’ right back to them.”

“Again, it’s your fault!”

“Mhm,” she handed him his cup and pulled off her apron. “Rose, can you take over?”

“Sure!” Rose got up from her spot on the sofa that was awfully close to Charlie to take over Grace��s spot behind the counter with Rolf.

Grace followed her father to a table and they sat across from each other. Severus eyed Grace’s nails tapping on the tabletop and leg bobbing before asking, “How many cups of coffee did you have before I even got here?”

“Three,” she held up three fingers as if Severus couldn’t understand her.

“Have you tried decaf?”

“Ew, no! I need the caffeine, or else I’m never going to get through Umbridge’s class!” Not actually getting up to practice the spells they were learning about proved to make a very long and boring class.

“At least it’s Friday and the Quidditch match is tomorrow. Are you ready?”

“Pfft! Of course, I’m ready! We’re gonna destroy Slytherin!” Being the team captain this year, she had made sure her team was training 110% every practice so that when the game came, they’d play at 150%! But, in the end, it was all just for fun. She had friends on the Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff teams and they all decided that Quidditch wouldn’t come between them.

“Who am I going to cheer for tomorrow?” Severus smirked.

“Your daughter!” Grace kicked his shin under the table. “I mean, you can still cheer for Draco, but only Draco.”

“If the other Slytherin students see me cheering for Ravenclaw, I may regain my title as the most hated teacher.”

“You couldn’t even give Umbitch a run for her money. Hey, where’s Phoebe?”

“Infirmary. Students are starting to get sick with the flu season and all.”

Grace nodded, “How’d you get that cut on your hand?”

Severus stiffened at the question, pulling his hand off the table and on his lap to hide it, “What is this, twenty questions?”

Grace’s leg stopped bobbing and she stared at her father, “Where’d you get the cut, dad?”

“From a potion, Grace. I was working on a potion and I must have messed up.”

“You’re lying. You rarely mess up and you make a face when you’re lying to me and it’s only to me and only when you’re lying so why are you lying?”

“Grace, we should be getting to the Great Hall before Dolores sees we’re absent,” he completely changed the subject and rose from his seat. “I’ll see you there or in class.”

Severus exited the cafe, his robes flowing behind him. Grace sat at the table, annoyed and curious, but she had bigger things to worry about: she had to get through DADA.

Grace made it through DADA, save for the few times her body tried to get her to sleep as her head nodded off, but she awoke with a jolt every time before Umbridge could see. Even though it was Friday, and professors rarely assigned homework on the weekends as they too would like to enjoy the weekend and not dwell on the fact that they’d return Monday with dozens of parchment to grade, Umbridge, of course, assigned a 2-foot long essay on the Patronus charm. Of course, the essay had to be done with only the knowledge from the textbook and not by actually learning it.

In Professor Maes’ class, after Arithmancy, Grace finally could actually speak with Draco. “Have you decided on a school yet?”

“Not yet,” he took the seat next to her’s. “I’ve got it narrowed down, but I don’t want to get my hopes up for just one in case I don’t get in.”

“No reason why you shouldn’t get into all of them. You’re top of your class! They’d be lucky to have you!” she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek, leaving a light pink mark from her lipstick.

Draco’s cheeks soon matched the color of the sheer mark, “Thanks, love. Are you excited for this afternoon?”

“Yes, I just hope everything runs smoothly,” it was going to be the first day that Remus Lupin would be smuggled into Hogwarts into the cafe in order to teach some select students practical DADA. Everyone in Maes’ class would be there: Grace, Draco, Luna, Rolf, Alfie, Rose, Charlie, Baylee, and Sammy. From there, they spread the word to only those who could be trusted. Grace didn’t expect a large outcome. “Say, do you know the Patronus charm?”

Draco shook his head, “No, even with Lupin, it’s not something they teach. I mean, we learn about it, but it’s something we basically have to teach ourselves how to do.”

Grace “mhm’d” and went back to looking at her sheet music for the song that Maes had assigned.

The nine students from Maes’ class stood around in a circle along with a few other students they had recruited.

“Where is he?” Charlie asked, looking at his phone.

“He’ll be here,” Grace answered.

“He’s sneaking into a high-security castle, Finny. It’s probably hard!” Luna added.

A few minutes later, the tall man with shaggy blonde hair and scars that was Remus Lupin walked into the Room of Requirement, “Good afternoon, everyone.”

The older students who had Lupin as a professor before were excited to see him but the First Years were perplexed on how this man was ever a teacher there.

Remus stood in the middle of the circle with his hands in his pockets, “For those of you that don’t know me, I am R. J. Lupin. For those that I have taught before, it’s good to see you all again.” He smiled, pivoting on his feet to greet everyone. “Since I am no longer your professor, I don’t really care what you call me. Professor; Lupin; Remus; I- Charlie Ackerman get that smirk off your face I will hex you. You can call me Professor.” Charlie snorted but nevertheless kept his mouth shut. “I will be teaching you practical Defense spells, charms, hexes, and whatnot. This information is crucial to pass your O.W.L.s and will only help you once you graduate from Hogwarts. But, these lessons must remain a secret as we all know the Pink Toad who teaches you now has nothing better to do than make your lives miserable and much harder than they need to be.” That earned a collective chuckle from the students. “Now, does anyone have any questions?”

Draco raised his hand, “How did you sneak into Hogwarts?”

“That is also completely secretive, Mr. Malfoy. Anyone else?” No one raised their hands. “Alright then, what are you currently learning in DADA?”

“The Patronus charm,” Rose spoke up.

“Ah. You see, the Patronus charm is rather difficult to teach to a large group like this because it isn’t just about how you wave your wand or how you say it. To produce a Patronus, you have to think of your happiest memory, and sometimes, there are those that can never produce one,” Remus looked around at some disappointed faces. “But, if it means so much to you, I can certainly help lead you in the right direction.”

The students were spread out across the room with their wands ready. Baylee, who was at the front closest to Remus, raised her hand, “Professor Lupin, what’s your Patronus?”

“It’s uh… a wolf.” Everyone looked to Remus excitedly, asking— begging— him to produce his Patronus, stating they couldn’t possibly do it correctly themselves if they didn’t see it done first. He finally gave in and pointing his wand out in front of him, said, “Expecto Patronum!” and a silver shadow burst from his wand, almost like a floating stream of water. From the stream grew a large figure that turned into a full-sized wolf that sprinted around Remus before disappearing like smoke.

Everyone stood gaping in awe at what they just saw. “Now,” Remus said, “the Patronus charm is a very high-level charm, and I don’t expect anyone to get it on the first try. It can be very tiring, so it’s okay to take a break. But, you mustn’t give up, and you must keep your memory strong!”

The room echoed with the incantation that soon began to sound increasingly frustrated. Every now and then, someone would produce the smallest bit of silver shadow and shriek with excitement. Remus walked around the room to help everyone individually, spending most of his time with Baylee, who couldn’t see if she was making progress or not.

“What are you thinking of?” Grace asked Luna, who was a few feet away from her.

“It’s not a particular moment, but I’m thinking of my mom,” she answered, a sweet, reminiscent smile on her face. “What about you?”

“My birthday, when Severus adopted me. It was the best day of my life,” Grace’s smile was huge.

“That’s a good one,” both girls went back to work, focusing hard on their memories. Soon enough, the silver bursts coming from their wands got larger and larger.

Grace’s mind began to go further than just her birthday, but every happy memory she had with Severus played through her mind all at once. A sort of tightness started in her chest; an overwhelming warmth that traveled from her heart to her throat where her breath got caught in the midst of what she could only call pure happiness and love. “Expecto Patronum!” the silver stream shot out of her wand and at the end of it formed a large figure, something on four legs. It ran around Grace and she could finally make it out to be a husky. Though not as large and clear as Lupin’s it was certainly a good start.

When the husky faded away, the room erupted in an applause. Lupin walked over to clap a hand on Grace’s shoulder, “Excellent, Grace. Why don’t you take a break and help your friends before they get too frustrated?”

So Grace walked around and helped her friends firstly, relax enough to focus, and secondly, cheer them on. After more practice, she watched as her friends cast their Patronuses (Patroni?) and the room filled with silver animals. Luna’s was a rabbit that hopped around her head. Alfie’s peacock Patronus spread its magnificent feathers for everyone. Charlie conjured a quick little mink while Rose cast an energetic basset hound. Rolf’s was a pouncing ragdoll cat, which Luna squealed over how cute it was. Baylee, though she couldn’t see it for herself, cast a hedgehog, which Remus described to her and she giggled in response. Sammy, though unexpectedly, but at the same time, expectedly, cast a unicorn Patronus, which Remus said was an uncommon result, but they all agreed it fit her perfectly.

That just left Draco, fuming in the corner because he had yet to get the Patronus charm to work for him. Grace walked over and slipped her hand in Draco’s free hand.

“You need to relax, Dray.”

“What if I can never produce one?” he looked down at his hand in his hand.

“Nonsense. You’re just so impatient. Maybe your memory isn’t strong enough?”

“I don’t have many happy memories,” he looked at her, “not many truly happy ones.”

She gave him a small smile before standing on her toes to kiss his cheek, “I’m sure you have some. You’ve just gotta think.”

Draco’s shoulders relaxed and he stared at the floor, trying to concentrate, “All right, I’ve got it.”

Grace took a step back to give him room and watched her boyfriend take a few tries at it before finally, something twinkled in Draco’s eyes, and he cast something enormous. The initial bright light that came with the charm was almost too much for anyone to see what it was. Over Draco’s head, with wings and a tail and everything, was a dragon. Mind you, it was most likely the size of a baby dragon, but still a bloody dragon!

Draco stood there with a smirk on his face whilst everyone else was speechless. A few feet away, Rolf called out, “That’s because it’s your bloody name, you pompous git!”

Draco broke out in laughter, losing his focus and causing his Patronus to melt away, “Shut up, yours is a cat!” The class joined the two in laughter.

They continued to cast their Patroni, sometimes at one another’s to see how they would react. After they had tired themselves out, Remus pulled out a journal filled with notes on what their Patronus meant. They were sorted by alphabetical order, so they started with B for Rose’s Basset Hound.

“Well, they’re from France,” Rose read. “They’re loyal and affectionate, they crave companionship, have a sense of humor, and are playful.” She looked very pleased with that explanation. On the sides of the explanations were some names Remus must have jotted down of people who had that Patronus, so Rose wrote her name in pretty cursive next to it.

Next was D, so the book was passed to Draco, “Ambitious and dominate. Dragons are assertive, unafraid to take risks and like to live by their own rules.” Next, to him, Grace made an agreeable hum. “They’re fierce fighters, leaders, and will stand up for what’s right and always up for a challenge.”

“And it’s your full name,” Rolf added.

“And it’s my full name,” Draco repeated as he wrote Dragon “Draco” Malfoy next to the passage.

While Grace was glancing at the pages in Draco’s hand, the Doe Patronus caught her eye, “Wait, can I see that?” She took the book and had a closer look and saw Lily Evans and Severus Snape’s name in the margin. Doe’s are protective of their loved ones, she read, and are caring and nurturing. They are gentle, but strong in determination, with high levels of sensitivity and intuition. The doe battles life’s challenges with the utmost grace and vigilance. Grace was taken aback; sure the description may have matched Lily, who was a mother and had died to try to save her child, but could Severus Snape really be described as that?

“What’s wrong, Grace?” Alfie asked.

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” Grace flipped to H. “Ready for your’s Baylee?” She nodded. “Hedgehogs are cute and lovable and thrive on giving and receiving love. They are upfront with their affection but can be anxious and cautious, often worrying about their own safety and others. Others must approach them with care and precision because of their sharp spikes.”

“Hedgehogs are pretty cute,” Baylee smiled. “And it makes sense. What about your’s?”

Grace flipped the page over to Husky, “Fast, energetic, and athletic.”

“Already it’s wrong,” Luna teased.

“Shut up,” Grace nudged her and continued. “And adorably cute. See? I’m fucking adorable. They are lovable and cuddly, and a ball of energy ready to prove themselves. Nothing holds them back. But, despite their natural talent, they don’t strut and brag. They would rather hang out with friends than show off. Awww, I like mine!”

“I think it’s all pseudo,” Charlie said as he took the book and flipped to M. “I don’t even know what a Mink is!”

“It almost looks like an otter,” Lupin answered.

“Oh, okay. It says they’re very territorial and resourceful. They’re very protective, keen-eyed, and quick-witted. I don’t know, does that sound like me?”

“It forgot to mention how full of yourself you are,” Alfie took the journal after Charlie signed his name and turned to P. “Peacocks use their feathers to attract mates and also look intimidating to threats. They are easily irritated, but fierce and gorgeous,” he gave a satisfied “hm” and grinned.

Charlie, in a mocking tone, said, “And they like to be the center of attention.”

“You’re not wrong,” Alfie signed his name and handed the book to Rolf who flipped a few pages to R.

He quickly glanced over the passage and blushed, “Ragdoll Cats are the sweetest cats; they are cuddly and want to be loved. They are playful, loyal, sweet, and charming. They are filled with joy and happiness.”

The group gave a collective “Aww” and Luna rested her head on Rolf’s shoulder, “I think it fits you perfectly!”

Rolf, now even more red in the face, handed it to Sammy, who eagerly opened to U, where Unicorn was the only Patronus, “The Unicorn is a very rare Patronus. Unicorns are often associated with women and thus has an affinity for female casters,” she smiled wide at this statement. “Unicorn blood can be used to keep people alive. The Unicorn, with its majestic, mighty horn, could easily charge an attacker. I think that’s perfect!”

Finally, Luna had the book and flipped to the last section which was W, “Wild Rabbits may seem more of a predator, but in Patronus form, make their attacker look rather ridiculous. They will throw themselves into the fray and create a barrier. Though small, they will never back down from a challenge. They are full of drive and passion.”

The rest of the hour before dinner was spent comparing everyone’s Patronus and arguing which one was better or which one best fit the witch or wizard. Grace scanned through the journal to see who else’s Patronus she could read up on. Like, Dumbledore’s was a Phoenix, which made sense because of Fawkes. Sirius Black’s was an Irish Wolfhound, loyal and fierce and aggressive, but total sweethearts. Phoebe’s was a Pheasant, which is noble and symbolizes virtue and refinement. They are proud, but follow etiquette and care greatly for family and comfort. But she kept going back to the Doe, reading over the explanation and then staring at Severus’ name next to Lily’s, thinking how much a coincidence it was they had the same Patronus and how Severus even had a Doe in the first place.

As the group started to file out, Remus called Grace back, “I saw how confused you looked when you read about the Doe.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I guess I just thought he’d had something different. I’m not sure what, but, yeah.”

“I think it matches Severus quite well. Maybe not by his behavior over the past few years… Or during his final years at school. But, when he and Lily were friends, it made a lot of sense, and how he is now, how he is with you, it’s very clear.”

Grace nodded, “Can you pick your Patronus? Like, will it to be something specific?”

“No, it just happens.”

“Did he get the same Patronus as Lily because he loved her?”

“I sometimes believe that,” he started packing up his things. “Oh, and one more thing, Grace?”

She stopped before opening the door, “Yes?”

“Good luck tomorrow. I know you’ll do great. But, still, it would be nice to see Ravenclaw win the Quidditch cup. Plus, Sirius and I will be there, I’ve been telling him about how you play and he’s very excited to see it in action, no pressure.”

Grace smiled widely, “No, none at all. Thanks, Remus, for everything! I’ll see you both tomorrow, and I won’t tell dad Sirius is coming. It can be a surprise.” She new how much they didn’t like each other, so it would at least be an interesting afternoon.

Remus followed her out the door, Grace going towards the Great Hall, and Lupin walking towards whatever secret passage he used to get into the school. In the Great Hall, Dolores Umbridge sat at the teacher’s table, clad in all pink as usual, and none the wiser.

#the potion masters grace #severus snape #luna lovegood #draco malfoy #original character #original character x draco malfoy #grace mcclivert

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tayegi · 7 years

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I feel like all those misogyny anons are young girls or if not they shouldn't even blame everything on the OC????? Literally. All. Of. Them. Are. Doing . The. Same. Thing. It's a whole messy relationship. Don't blame one character when the others are doing the exact same shit!!!!

All the beautiful messages I received are under the cut ^^

But I just really REALLY wanted to thank everyone for sending me such wonderful asks. Right when I was about to lose faith in humanity, you guys came out of nowhere to restore my faith. I really REALLY appreciate it. I was srsly even considering deleting Equilibrium because I refuse to let this disgusting misogyny spread, but now I realize those misogynists are thankfully just the vocal minority.

I really REALLY appreciate this, guys. You always know what to say to make me feel better when I’m at the cusp of giving up. I LOVE YOU

Anonymous said:BRUUHHHH shit just got real in equilibrium. Seeing the development of the story, I knew it was gonna come crashing down soon but damn. This story is so interesting and I really enjoy reading stories with very flawed characters. JK was really pissing me off like he's so damn controlling and it's amazing how people don't see equal fault in all three of them and point fingers at the girl???? Like wtf what story are y'all reading cause last time I checked they were all using each other lmao

Anonymous said:wtf??? how is oc manipulative and a bitch??? can't they that jk is the bitch here?? like he's so selfish and conniving and omg I'm just so angry after that update. not at you because damn girl you can write but like ahhh why wont he just let her touch jm like I just wanna Hug her tbh. I hope she finds the right man. u go girl!!Anonymous said:Omg I come back to this nonsense? I hope you don't let this affect you too much. I don't get why women are always blamed. If anything as I was reading I felt bad for the OC the most honestly. Shes insecure because she got bullied when she was younger and then this angel Jimin comes and he's nice to her and she gets attached. Jungkook takes advantage of the situation so it works out in his favor. For 6 months he was the only one who knew what was really going on.

Anonymous said:Wow I was so surprised to see that people were angry with the OC She is so pitiful and desperate Plus Jungkook's actions are so sick he knows she doesn't love him but he knows she won't leave him because of Jimin so even in this situation he is still using Jimin to manipulate the OC They are all so fucked up

Anonymous said:Really hope all the shitty misogyny doesn't put you off after how hard you've worked! please remember theres shitloads of us who really do appreciate your work and as much as people don't openly voice it, we're still all here in the background, internally voicing our opposition to the minority that obviously don't see the wealth in your work x so fuck them and do your shit because you want to! it's annoying that some aren't understanding it in the way they should but just know the rest of us dox

Anonymous said:I think the problem is not that the OC is women. The problem is that the readers are narrow-minded fans that blindly favor there idols.. U kno, when the bias also clearly did smth wrong but they only blame the other side... Tsk tsk. But the thing that I'm worried is that the story probably won't have an happy ending :c I know it's not ok but I want to OC has a new start with Jungkook (I am sorry Jimin!) or she would be sick of this relationship& too hurt& move out and be a roommate with Tae

Anonymous said:Hey, please don't regret the story cause of some of these mysogynistic idiots. I mean ofc if it makes you uncomfortable to write it then do whats best for you. But i love this story because of the complex nature of this messed up relationship, and your amazing writing. I love how you present selfishness in all three of them. The good and bad in them. You write in shades of grey instead of black and white and its truly amazing. Anyway i hope i didnt say something wrong i just love your work.

Anonymous said:Thank you for standing up in what you believe in. It's one thing for males to be misogynists (which is still HORRIBLY WRONG, fuck them) but for females to behave like one too? It's just disappointing. Us women get enough shit everyday as it is. We should be empowering each other instead of looking at each other as threats BLEEGH! Anyway I loved the latest chapter of equilibrium and pretty much everything you've written.... 🤗

aloneandlovingit said:I appreciate you so much for always calling out these misogynistic people for their shit. Whenever something goes wrong in a relationship it's always the woman who is blamed and the man is made to be a victim even if they're both in the wrong. The worst part is that these anons are probably young girls who were brought up to think this way and this just perpetuates the culture of women being against women and it needs to stop! Anyway I loved the new chapter as always and I love you 😘

Anonymous said:Why and how are people talking shit about the oc???? Wtf.. Equilibrium's so well thought and well structured, people in love do stupid shit, get over it. Jk is being fucking selfish and emotionally using them both, and if people wanna blame someone, blame the right guy. I really rope that the oc get out of this mess, cause girl u don't deserve all this bull shit. and fuck all this misogynist people +

Anonymous said:I'm so shook. I'm leaving this ask to let you know that the majority of the female population all over the world is still NOT on the mysogynous side! Girls, read carefully before you speak! Lu has written everything not only beautifully/intriguingly but also in a crystal clear manner (come on, you don't actually need to interpret things, make a list of who's done what and you'll see that each character is just as manipulative and opportunistic as the other)! Cheers Lu, this is a masterpiece.

Anonymous said:I can't believe people are saying the OC is a bitch?? what about jungkook who proposed this relationship for "fun" and had motives??? and jimin who only likes jungkook and shuts the OC out??? i've been wanting to rip jimin's throat out since he entered the fic

Anonymous said:I could be missing something, but I don't understand the outrage towards the OC when she is just desperate to hold on to the first person who treated her like a real person. That is why I think she is 'attached' to Jimin. The same goes for Jungkook being 'in love' with the OC since she is the first person to ask him a 'meaningful' question that wasn't superficial (coffee shop convo). My heart hurts for the OC because she has to fight so hard for Jimin's attention when she deserves better.

Anonymous said:I seriously can't see how these people are so blind. It was obvious that they were all using each other before and in the latest update Jungkook basically said he never cared about Jimin. How did they miss that? And Jimin rejected the OC until Jungkook proposed they all date. Wow. P.S. I had a feeling Jungkook would be the first one to break. Love your writing and don't let these people ruin Equilibrium for you.

Anonymous said:I almost feel bad for the anons who feel the need to antagonize the OC so much... But it actually fucking hurts. To think that every time that both men and women are in the wrong the woman is the one punished 110% of the time... Ugh I'm so sorry that this had to open our eyes to all the brainwashed idiots out there still perpetuating such hard-lined misogyny. But keep in mind that there are still lots of people who don't stand for this shit and never will, stay strong and love you!!!! 💖💖💖

Anonymous said:Equilibrium is one of my favs and it so upsetting to see people turn the story into something else because they are too blind to see their precious oppas do anything wrong.

Anonymous said:Are people serious? Its so obvious that jungkook and jimin are doing the exact same thing as the oc. Jungkook is only in the relationship for the oc. Jimin is only in it for jungkook. How can you blame the oc for being manipulative but not fault them

Anonymous said:but notice how no one is going "aw poor jimin jungkook tried to abandon him thank god the oc is caring and didn't run away with him" 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 ppl are unbelievable. I'm so sorry this is the reaction ch 10 is receiving lu. pls don't let it discourage you. use your voice and the fact that a lot of ppl read the fic to EDUCATE AND TEACH YOUNG WOMEN. stopping now won't accomplish anything. I think you have enough influence with your writing to get something across to these young women and help them

Anonymous said:I want to tell you that equilibrium is honestly so beautiful & your writing is really amazing. I've only recently discovered you but I am upset I didn't find you before! As for the main character & the boys: HELLO THEY ALL PLAYED EACH OTHER FOR THEIR OWN REASONS!!!! Like why is everyone mad at the OC when each character was in the relationship just to be with the one they liked? Anyways the last part with Jungkook & the OC in the hallway is so nicely written! I hope you have a nice day! 💙😄

Anonymous said:I can't believe the amount of ppl mad at the oc rn when jungkook was literally doing the same thing??? so was jimin???? they were ALL playing each other, dont ppl understand that?! that's the whole point of this fic, y/n is in love with jimin, jimin is in love with jungkook, jungkook is in love with y/n. It's all just one big love triangle and they're all lying to each other by being in this relationship. I'm sorry ppl aren't getting that, but pls don't let that discourage you from writing it :(

Anonymous said:*reads the asks saying rude things about the Equilibrium OC* :/ *sighs* Why are people only focusing on the OC??? Jungkook is just as bad, and really no one wants to be with everyone in that relationship. :/ The OC wants Jimin, Jimin wants Jungkook, Jungkook wants to OC. Putting all the blame on the OC is just stupid. :/ I'm sorry you're having to deal with those anons. I wasn't around for what you were saying about In Bloom, but I can see how similar stuff to this would put you off of it. :/

Anonymous said:reads other anon messages - sighs - guys... look below the surface before you immediately judge the narrator. JK doesn't deserve sympathy--he's using Jimin to get to Y/N, Jimin is using Y/N to get to JK, and Y/N is using JK to get to Jimin. No one's innocent of this. In addition, the way he just roped Y/N into giving him exclusivity wasn't exactly fair or unproblematic... So they're all guilty, and the drama's so gooooodddd

Anonymous said:Thank you for the update. I haven't read it yet but in really excited about it!!! I'm really sorry about all of these random rude misogynist ppl who just came out of the blue tho.

#equilibrium #beautiful ppl #save for later #so i can read and reread #my heart is warmed by the beautiful ppl in the world #FUCK MISOGYNY #it feels so good to know that you guys won't stand for it either <3 #the world does have hope #anon #lu answers

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