#he like. Merged w his death and rose again

[enderspawn]

something something scott dying in a pile of gold and rising with guilded wings and shimmering skin

#he like. Merged w his death and rose again #alsmp #mcyt #smajor #og post #lived a life alone and angry then when killed he rose with the gold he perished on with this. divine intervention to give him another chance #to right the wrongs he faced and get justice #idk man I just think it’s Neat. dying in gold vs being revived wreathed in gold

[imaginefan]

I Promise *Part 2*

Derek Hale X Reader 

Word Count: 2443

Requested: @bellabadacadabra​ @zestygingergirl​

Request: Hi! I was just wondering if you ever made a part 2 for the “I Promise” fic w derek x stilinski sister? I loved it a lot and just liked to know if you did and could share it with me? If not that’s totally fine as well :)) loved ur writing! AND This was amazing! You are a talented writer! I would love to read a second part!

*Part 1*

You couldn't believe that it had happened, the one thing that you worried about, you'd thought about it so many times, you thought about how you would feel but you never thought about what you were going to do when it all happened, you'd only been with Derek for a little while but death was a real threat for the both of you. Now that it had actually happened now that Derek was dead you honestly didn't know what to do with yourself, you were happy that you had some time alone considering your brother was off on some school thing and Allison was worried about Scott and dragged Lydia with her so that they could keep an eye on them.

You had gone back to Derek's apartment, you had intended to get some of your things assuming that eventually, the building was going to be repossessed once Derek was reported dead and Cora decided that she didn't want to stay but the moment that you got there you walked over to the bed and everything still smelled like him, it was still his loft and the memories that you had they were made there, you were crying before you knew what was happening and you curled in on yourself, the door to the loft opened "Sorry Cora I'll go you probably-" You stopped talking the moment that you looked up and you saw Derek leaning against the doorway, you looked at him and for a second you didn't believe that he was there but there he gave a breathy laugh. "Do I look that bad?" He asked. "They told me that you were dead." You said and he nodded attempting to take a step forward but not getting too far before he fell forward, his leg buckling underneath him, you rushed forward, you took a deep breath before attempting to touch him, when your hands came into contact with his shoulder you were quick to help him up and get him onto the sofa once he was there you stood up "give me a second, I'll be right back." "Where are you going?" He asked. "To get the med box." You answered walking off. "I don't have-" "I stashed one here after I started staying here with you, you guys might not need it but I do sometimes, I just never thought that I would have used it on you." You mumbled the last part more to yourself as you opened the box and took out the disinfectant, Derek reached out a hand to you and wrapped his hand around your wrist to try and stop you. "Then don't waste it." He frowned and you took in a deep breath before looking at him. "Please just let me do something."  You pleaded and while he could feel that he was already getting better just being with you, he understood that you could see him healing yet and that probably alarmed you a little bit, so he let go and watched your shaky hands rip his already destroyed shirt off and start to clean the wounds. "I'm going to be okay, baby." He promised after a few minutes of silence. "I know." You muttered and he lifted your chin to make you look at him. "I don't think that you do." He said as he guided you closer to his face and pressed a kiss to your lips "Baby I promise we’re going to be okay."

So you probably should have seen this coming, the moment that the twins grabbed you, you knew that the Alpha pack were going after Derek "so what's the plan today hostage situation? Secret break-in? Frontal assault with a twist?" You asked as Kali glared at you. "Shut up!" She warned and you smirked. "Now why would I do that, you need me alive for your plan to work now don’t you ?" You asked. "I don't need you conscious." She answered as she gave a nod and you felt a sharp pain in the back of your head.

You gasped when you woke up, you looked around and frowned, you recognised this place "it's okay, they're gone." You jumped before registering that it was Derek that was talking to you. "What did they want?" You asked as you slowly turned to face him, finding that he was sitting on the bed facing away from you, he was looking at his hands. "What happened?" "Boyd is dead." He answered. "How?" You asked. "I...Killed him." He answered shakily and while you knew that wasn't the whole story you would have to ask someone else for that, this was something that he believed and you needed to be there for him. "Because of them?" You asked. "They want me to join them and filling him gave me a taste of the power that I could get from killing the rest of my pack." He explained. "Do you want to?" You asked. "No." He answered through gritted teeth, you gently reached out touching his shoulder "that doesn't matter I'm still a killer." "Really?" You asked as you got up on your knees before running your hands down his shoulders and arms before your hands slotted into his the same way that they always had "no, not the hands of a killer." "What?" He asked. "My hands still fit perfectly with yours and so you can't be a killer." You answered you knew that it was a childish statement, a stupid one but for some reason, you being dead set on believing that he was no a killer was enough to get him to relax into you and while there were no other words said but you both managed to get a little sleep that night.

You finally got Derek to start teaching you how to fight considering everything that had happened unfortunately things had gone to crap so quickly, it went from everyone being safe to everyone in danger and alone, your Dad had been kidnapped along with Scott's Mum and Allison's Dad, Derek wasn't an Alpha anymore and you were waving your boyfriend off as he tried to get his sister to safety "I'll be back as soon as she's settled." He promised. "Take your time, make sure that your sister is safe, don't come back until you're sure." You warned him as you pressed a kiss to his lips "I'll wait for you here." "Be careful, text me let me know that you're okay." He ordered and you nodded. "I will now go... Hurry before they stop you." You said softly as you gestured towards the car, he pressed a kiss to your lips and then another to your forehead and then walked towards the car that Peter and Cora were in. You turned and went back into the loft where Ethan and Lydia were waiting. "They're gone." "You don't seem too sad about that," Lydia smirked and you rolled your eyes. "They're safer far away from here." you shrugged. "Where are they?" Kali asked and you jumped as you looked behind you. "You should know." You answered with a shrug. "When I ask he said he had werewolf things to do, probably howling at the moon or running through some network of underground tunnels." She growled and turned to Lydia and Ethan. "Where are they?" She asked again, Lydia gave the same kind of sarcastic response and Aiden decided to stick up for her this time, just when you thought that it was going to get violent Jennifer literally fell through the ceiling. Ethan grabbed Lydia and you jumped out of the way. The fight that ensued was pretty epic and you were rather happy that you didn't have to deal with any one of them just yet but there it came to standoff between Kali and Jennifer. "That's right Kali look at me, do you know what it takes to look like this? To look normal?" Jennifer asked. "I don't care," Kali answered. "It takes power, Power like this." She answered as she rose the glass from the floor around her feet and it floated up and pointed at her. "I should've..." Kali stopped almost as if she was thinking about what she was going to say "I should have killed you!" The glass threw right at her and stabbed her in the face, chest and arms. The twins got up again and this time they had managed to merge but she had them down in no time at all. "What is it the coach likes to say, the bigger they are..." She trails and you glared at her but she turned to you first lifting another one of the pieces of glass. "What do you want from us?" Lydia asked. "I want you to do what you do best, I want you to scream." She answered, "of course if you don't I'll kill your friend." "Lydia don't you dare." You warned, "she wants Derek to come back if you scream he will, you can't." Jennifer rolled her eyes and flicked her hand the glass finding its way into your arm. Lydia gave out a small scream and Jennifer smirked. "Sorry but I need something more than that." She sighed, you don't know what happened but Lydia did scream and gritted your teeth.

Cora and Derek were back far too quickly for your liking and Derek's eyes moved to you at the smell of blood "Are you okay?" He asked walking towards you but Jenifer stepped in front of you. "You don't want to talk to me? I did all of this for you." She answered and you looked at her and frowned. "You did all of this for me?" Derek asked. "For us... For anyone who's been their victim." She answered as you gestured for Cora to check on Lydia. "I saved you once, stop talking to me like a politician, stop trying to convince me of your cause," Derek yelled, he was getting frustrated. He wanted to get to you and make sure that you were okay. "Fine, I'll convince you of someone else's, Her's and Scott's." She pointed at you briefly as you shuffled yourself trying hard not to move your arm. "You can save Scott's mother, her father." "How?" Derek asked. "I need a guardian and that's a role that can be filled by the three parents that I was forced to take or by you." She answered as she walked towards him, your eyes widened as you looked at her, you didn't know what to do, this could all mean that you never see him again. "I can't help you, I'm not even an Alpha anymore!" Derek explained. "I just need you to get Deucalion in the right place at the right time." She answered. "You just killed three of them on your own, what do you need me for?" Derek asked. "You haven't seen him at his strongest, I have." She answered. "And if he's got Scott with him then I don't stand a chance unless I have you." She explained. "Derek, don't trust her," Cora warned but his eyes moved to you for a second. "I have the eclipse in my favour, the moon is only going to be in the Earth's umbral shadow for 15 minutes that's the extent of my window there's no decision to struggle with just help me kill him and the others live, just help me." She answered and you could tell that she was desperate. "Fine but let me talk to (Y/N) first." He answered and Jennifer sighed before stepping aside, he was in front of you before you had a second to think "Hey look at me, look at me what happened?" He asked. "You shouldn't have agreed." You muttered your eyes rolling up to the ceiling as you tried not to cry. "Answer me." He ordered and you frowned, you looked at him remembering his previous question. "It's just some glass I'll be fine." You answered and he looked at your arms, his eyes widened. "You need to get this treated. I promise you I'll be okay, I'll come back to you." You watched him leave with Jennifer and Cora took charge after that helping Lydia up before coming over to you and helping you up but you all turned at the sound of the twins separating behind you. "They're still alive," Lydia said softly. After this discovery you all managed to get them to Deaton's in the hopes that he could help them and after he had done everything that he could he turned to treat your wound which was an easy stitch-up.

It felt like hours when your phone finally rang "Hello?" You asked. "(Y/N) are you okay where are you?" Stiles asked. "I'm fine, I'm with Cora and Lydia at Deaton's Clinic." You answered, "what about you, are you and Dad okay?" "We're fine, Scott's coming to get us." He answered. "Okay, I'll see you at home then." You said before hanging up the phone.

After properly explaining everything to your Dad you finally able to go up to your room and relax but when you opened your bedroom door you were faced with Derek sitting on your bed, you smiled as you walked overthrowing your arms around his shoulders and then hissing immediately, Derek pulled away adjusting you so that you were sitting in his lap with his arms wrapped around you "I thought you would have been with Cora tonight." You said softly. "I wanted to come and see you because she still wants to go back, I'll have to take her back myself and I said we can go as soon as possible." He answered pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "So I won't be seeing you for a while." You said and you felt him nod. "Well then be careful okay." "I'm not going anywhere yet, we have the rest of the night." He shuffled as he spoke moving you both to a more comfortable position. "I just don't think that I can keep my eyes open." You answered and he smiled softly. "I just want to be here with you, you can sleep if you want, I promise that I'll be here when you wake up." He answered. "There it is again." You mumbled. "Hm?" He hummed glancing down to see your eyes were closed, his hand lifted to your arm where he took some of the pain from the wound allowing you to relax properly. "The promise." You mumbled quietly moving your head to press a kiss on his shoulder where your head rested before actually falling asleep.

Requests and general question!

#teen wolf #teen wolf imagines #teen wolf one shot #derek hale #derek hale one shot #derek hale imagine #imagine #oneshot #one shot #reader insert

[jimmythegirl]

what’s in it for me?

Chapter 2 of Ion Turbine 

part 1

Din Djarin x Reader 

Summary: Force sensitive reader and Din cross paths.... its a real slow burn y’all 

Warnings: violence , mentions of slavery, no smut now but later on

Author note: I just wanna say thank y’all so much for all the love chapter 1 got. Holy smokes, it really means the world to me. Also, sorry there wasn’t too much Daddy Din in this but next chapter is gonna be saturated with him dw. 

..

When the world came back into focus you felt cold metal around you. As you came to you realized you were on the ground, your body was aching. Had you been hit? Did you fight something or someone? The mandalorian stood feet away from you, holding his blaster in one hand, the small green child guarded behind him. 

“Get up and get out.” He demanded, moving closer, extending his blaster out as if to warn you.

You slowly pushed yourself up the wall for support before trying to hobble down the ship’s ramp. He moved up just inches behind you, the blaster pressed against the back of your neck. The touch of its icy metal sent a chill down your spine. 

“It-it,” You began softly, looking back at the green child, “has a gift you know.”

The next moment your knees slammed against the rough metal of the ramp, ripping up your skin. Your wrist tried to take the impact but instead leaving you with bloody palms 

“Who sent you?!” He kneeled onto your back, the metal plate on his knee digging into your spine.

“N-no one sent me?” You choked out, your face pressed against the ground. 

You could feel the blaster pressing into your skull even harder. You scanned your surroundings looking for anything that might give you a slight chance at making it out alive. You could see a large crate back in the ship and hoped that you had enough strength in you to move it. 

You closed your eyes, tuning out everything. The demands of the man above you. The birds beginning to wake. The wind blowing through the branches of trees. Everything.  

Your arms were currently pinned under your body but you did your best to extend your fingers towards the crate. Pulling on everything in you to move it. You hadn’t used your ability in a long time but this was life or death and you knew you had it in you. You could feel the energy shift as the crate began to pull towards you. You honed in on that feeling and gave every last thing you had. Finally, the crate hurled towards you colliding with the mandalorian and throwing him off you.

He quickly got back to his feet but he did not try to hurt you again. He just stood there. As if in complete disbelief, looking back at the child who  just looked at him innocently. You laid still on the dirty ground, trying to regain the energy to move.

“Did you-?” 

You nodded, doing your best to sit back up. He disappeared into the ship, reappearing moments later with bacta spray. 

“Give me your hands.”

You did as he said, watching quietly as he carefully sprayed your hands and knees. Your cheeks flushed as he helped you to your feet. You could see the beginning of morning peek through the trees. Your stomach dropped as you realized the amount of trouble you would be in back at the shop for being gone all night. 

Once again you glanced back at the green child, trying to determine what to do. It seemed so foolish to walk away from another one like you, but you had to remember why you were here. You came to this planet for a reason. To this village for a reason.

 You looked at the man in armor and then once again to the child as if to ask for permission. He gave a nod and you slowly approached the little green creature who cooed softly. Not wanting to end up on the floor again you opted out of picking it up and instead went to rub the top of its head. 

The moment the two of you touched you could feel a force around you, connecting the two of you. The dizzy feeling was gone, replaced instead by something entirely different. This felt stronger, like your life force was merged to the little green one’s, creating something powerful.

“Are there more of you?” The modulated voice said, breaking you out of your connection.

“What?” 

“With these powers, are there more that have them?”

“I have heard stories...but.” You walked back towards him. You looked towards the sky, seeing the shift in colors, “Shit, I have to go.” You hurried down the ramp quickly, collecting your things onto the cart.

“What?” He followed after you.

“I need to get back before my boss wakes up.”  You began to haul yourself into the woods, as he quickly followed after you.

“Wait, I need your help.”

You stopped. He needed your help? The mandalorian needed help from the girl he almost just killed?

“You what?” You let out a sarcastic laugh.

“With the kid I mean. I’ve been trying to find where he belongs and you might be a start.”

“We aren’t even close to the same species, you do realize that right?” You finally turned to face him, arms crossed across your chest.

“He needs someone like him.”

You looked down to your boots, debating it. Anything would be better than your current living/work situation now, you knew that. But you worried about joining this man you knew nothing about, who just tried to kill you. 

“What’s in it for me, huh?”

“I’ll pay, I’ve got plenty of credits.”

“Hmm, no, I don’t have any use for those.” You dropped the handle to your cart, slowly walking closer to him, “Are you getting off this planet anytime soon?”

“As soon as you’d like.”

“Teach me to fight and you have yourself a deal.” You pushed your arm out towards him as he did the same, grasping your hand in agreement. 

“Be here by midday.” 

“Yes, sir!” You said before heading off back towards the village, cart behind you. The anxiety and adrenaline filling your veins.

..

As you slowly made your way back up to your room above the shop your ears were met with angry beeps. 

“Shhhhhh! You’re gonna wake the whole house up!” You half whispered half yelled at the droid who was ferociously bumping into your leg as some form of punishment, “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone so long.” You grabbed a bag and began to haphazardly throw things in, “We have to leave, ok lil bud, I can explain everything on the way.” There were only confused beeps that time, “Don’t worry ‘bout it.” 

You rummaged through your shelf, grabbing all your books. You knew you were bound to forget something but as long as you had these you could get through floating through space with the galaxy's most dangerous bounty hunter. 

Once your bag was packed you snuck out to the refresher to wash up. Then threw some clothes back on and your hair back up in it’s usual style before heading down the hall to your room. 

You stopped right before you stepped inside. Someone was in there, you felt it. At this point, your boss should’ve been opening up the shop for the day, so who was in your room? You took a few small steps closer before your eyes were met with the end of a blaster.

“Where were you plannin’ on runnin’ off to eh?” Your boss said, your packed bag in his unoccupied hand. 

“I’m not going an-anywhere sir. I was just...just packing up some things to sell.” 

“Ahh sell is it?” He smiled a practically toothless grin, “That why you were gone all night?”

You could feel the blood drain from your face. He began to shove you towards a back room in the house with nothing in it but a cage. 

“Get in.” He laughed, and you did as you were told. He sat on a stool opposite the cage, the blaster still aimed at you. Honestly, how many times in one day can a girl have a blaster pointed at her?

“Don’t you think all of this is a bit of an overreaction, Nahdonnis, sir? All I did was pack a bag.”

“This is about more than that bag.” He walked up to the bars of the cage, “This is about you not understandin’ that I own you.” His dirty nails dug into your cheeks, the smell of his breath enveloping you and causing your stomach to churn, “Ahhhhaha but you’re gonn’ make me enough credits for one of those new speeder bikes aren’t you, pretty girl?” You felt sick, really sick now.

“W-what?”

“You heard me.” His hand slipped from your face to your neck, “So don’t go usin’ those mind power.” He hobbled back to his stool.

You nodded. Tears threatened your eyes as you came to terms with what was happening. You weren’t going to make it to the meeting with the mandalorian. You would have to leave soon and you were stuck in a cage about to be sold. 

You sunk to the floor, accepting your fate. The exhaustion of a sleepless night and emotional morning getting to you as you curled up on the limited floor space available. You knew that once you were sold the possibility of no sleep was a real threat so you allowed yourself to doze off.

..

When you woke again your eyes shot open, you could hear something loud happening down in the shop but you weren’t sure what. Although it wasn’t unusual for customers to get rowdy so you didn’t think much of it and judging by your boss, with his hands down his pants, he didn’t either. 

You couldn’t exactly tell what time it was but the windows that were boarded up had streams of bright light coming in that were not yet orange like that from the evening suns. It made your heart sink to know that the mandalorian probably already left. That your one chance to get out of this life was probably not even on this planet anymore. You thought about the little green child as well. How the mandalorian said he needed your help. Your heart yearned to help that little baby.

Suddenly there were shots heard downstairs. You quickly sat up. Your boss grabbed his blaster, eyeing the door as the house grew suspiciously quiet. The only thing you could hear was the heartbeat in your ears. 

You could sense someone else was nearby. One person. Just outside the door. 

The door flew off its hinge, your boss quickly standing as he held out his blaster with shaky hands. You slowly rose to your feet, confused as the mandalorian walked inside. 

@halefirewarrior​ @sinnamon-bunn​ @lustriix​ @thisgirlcanstrut​ @lizajane3​ @lavenderl3mons​ @talesfromtheguild​ @way-too-addicted-to-anime​ @fioccodineveautunnale​ @frantheseer​ @cheekygeek05​ @weirdowithnobeardo​

Wanna be added to the tag list? Lemme know 💕 Please let me know if I missed you as well! 

~Jimmy

#the mandalorian #mandalorian #star wars #ion turbine #pedro pascal #din djarin #the mandalorian x reader #din djaren x reader #the mandalorian smut #din jarin #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal smut #mando and baby yoda #mando x oc #mando #mandalorian x y/n #javier pena #javier pena x reader #narcos #star wars fanfiction

[hellzeldagirlsfanfic]

The Cost of the Throne Chapter 6

[Pervious] * [Next] * [First]

The death of Joe had caused a massive riot across Ckville.

The people of Ckville were tried of nobles of their city getting away with everything and Joe’s death had been the last straw.

The people gathered at the entrance of the noble quarter, screaming, shouting and demanding to be let in. They wanted Lord Kay and his men to be responsible for the death of the young soldier and the other injustices that Lord Kay had committed. Soon the gathering became violent.

The guards’ of the noble quarter started to attack the people hoping that it would disperse but that only lead to deaths of more people. And those deaths lead to the people fighting back.

The fighting had been going on for a month now.

The hospitals in Ckville are neutral ground. So many citizens would flock to the hospital for protection from the violence and destruction outside on the streets.

And like previous riots, Saint Mirajane was swamped with many patients with severe injuries and limbs that needed to amputate. Along with families taking shelter, every available nurse was called in to help.

To add to the mayhem Vilho hadn’t returned from the capital yet. It was most likely that he was being kept outside the city walls until the riots had clam down. Meaning that (Y/N) was still in charge.

Even with Viji help the patients just kept coming. Nearly all the beds were filled.

Her and Viji managed to get a break during a quiet moment in the riots.

“Vilho must be going crazy outside the walls,” Viji said.

“You can say that again,” (Y/N) sighed into her cup of tea. “I wish he was here so one of us could sleep,” She complained with a yawn.

The two of them were drawn away from their conversation by a loud noise coming from Viji’s office. The two women looked into the office to see Viji’s husband trying to entertain their hyper-act daughter. Viji sighed at her family.

(Y/N) smiled at the small family before downing the rest of her tea.

“Why don’t you spend some time with your family whilst it’s quiet,” (Y/N) told her.

“Are you sure?” Viji asked.

“Yeah,” She answered. “I’ll get Debbie to get you if happens. Though you’ll probably hear it before someone comes to get you,” (Y/N) said.

The month of riots had made (Y/N) forget her worries about Vergil and the marriage as her mind was more focus on her patients.

*** A few more days pass with an influx of patients that filled the rest of the hospital beds. (Y/N) and Viji had to work through the nights to make sure that every patient that came in during those few days was taken care off.

When the two doctors were finished it was a quiet period during the riots.

“(Y/N), go and take a nap,” Viji told her.

“What!?” (Y/N) gasped. “I can’t do that! We still have to go around and do the rounds,” She said.

“You did yourself the another when you gave me some time with my family,” Viji told her. “Any way you need it. You hadn’t slept much during this riot and you weren’t sleeping well before the riot so, you definitely need it,” She said walking away to start doing the round herself.

(Y/N) was left standing in the hallway by herself. She sighed then run a hand through her (dirty) hair.

‘I guess she right,’ She thought as she made her way to her office.

(Y/N) threw herself onto the old couch crammed into the corner of her tiny office. Soon as her head hit the couch’s arm she was fast asleep.

A scream pierced through the hospital.

‘What’s going on?’ She question.

The (H/C) shook her head to get rid of her dizziness. Once it was gone (Y/N) dashed out of her office.

It sounded like the scream came from the entrance hall.

When she got to the large hall she could see the citizens and patients were backing away from a small group of people not far from the front door.

The group consisted of men dressed expensive and refine armour and what looked a uniform underneath. The men were brandishing their weapons. These men were most likely hired by a noble to cause trouble. But to attack hospital!

As (Y/N) weaved through the crowd she spotted a familiar face in the middle of those men.

Anger filled her vein as she pushed her to the front.

“Dante!” (Y/N) yelled. “What the earth are you doing…” She started to yell but faded away when she got a good look at the looked at the man in the middle of the intruder.

He had the same face as Dante along with the same pure hair and steely blue eyes. But this man was completely different from her friend. He was clean-shaven and his hair slick back. The clothing that he was wearing were expensive and superior to anything that the nobles in Ckville would wear.

‘An outsider,’ She realised. “Who do you think you are!? Walking into a hospital branding your weapons!” She yelled at them as moved closer.

The man surrounding him raised their weapons as she drew closer, protecting the handsome white man in the centre.

The man’s steely blue stared right at her, giving her an uncomfortable feeling. A feeling she that she had felt once before in the dark and lonely tunnels of the Cedar Labyrinth, outside the king’s office as he told his advisors the fate he had planned for her.

“(Y/N)!” She heard Viji yelled from the crowd behind her.

The doctor turned her head to search for her colleague taking a step back. When she did a hand gripped her upper arm. (Y/N) snapped her head back to see that the white-haired man was gripping her arm.

“Let go of me!” She demanded.

The man didn’t let go but pulled her closer to him. His guard removed their weapons to let her closer to him as possible.

(Y/N) tried to get out of his grip but it was too strong.

(Y/N) could only think up of one plan to get herself free. So using her free arm she slapped the man across his face with the back of her hand. The shock allowed her to free her captured arm. (Y/N) made sure to put some distance between her and the men.

“Your Majesty,” The guards all gasped.

‘Your Majesty…’

Her body froze at those words.

It was him; The man who plans to end her life that she worked so hard for.

The man with the white was Son of Sparda.

The half-demon who wanted to marry her for power.

Vergil.

“(Y/N)!” Viji called to her when she finally got through the crowd.

“I’m sorry Viji,” She whispered. “I’ll be leaving you in charge of the hospital,” She informed the other doctor.

“What!?” Viji exclaimed.

She watched as (Y/N) raised one of her arms. Her fingers were straight with her thumb tucked into her palm. The younger doctor poured her magic into her arm and then into her hand. When there was enough magic gathered she’d fired a shoot at Vergil.

(Y/N) didn’t stay to see if the shot hit him as she merged into the crowd of fleeing patients and citizens. She could hear a guard yelling for her capture. She darted down a hallway to the back the hospital and into the room where they stored the dead bodies, waiting for families to collect them. The room had a small door so the bodies could be discreetly removed, the perfect way for her to escape the hospital.

Once out of the hospital (Y/N) quickly moved into the filthy back-streets of Ckville. Her mind was making a list of things that she needed to do in the next couple of minutes so she could escape the city safety.

‘I got to get to the boarding house and get the money,’ She thought. ‘Then I should leave the city through the sewers, that would be for the best,’ She decided.

As she moved fast though the back-streets to the boarding house or she would of if the guards that Vergil had brought with him didn’t get in her way.

“Stop right there Lady Rozeningale!” One of them shouted at her.

“Lady,” (Y/N) snarled. “I get to be called Lady now that your kind plans to marry and not the bastard of Rose-Griffiths,” She snapped at them.

They seemed to be taken back by her comment. They seemed to be uncomfortable about comment maybe because of the content or because she was swearing. Using their discomfort (Y/N) shoot a spell that would only knock out the men. Once the guards were down (Y/N) resume her back to the boarding house.

“And it’s Doctor,” She corrected the guard.

She entered the boarding house by using the rear entrance. The building was eerily silent. She had never been in the boarding house during a riot.

‘Everyone probably sheltering,’ She thought as walked through the loud and clutter hallway.

(Y/N) climbed the stairs that lead up to the second floor, where her room was located. She carefully opened the door and looked into the room to see if anyone was in there. No one, the room was just as she left a month ago.

She swiftly opened then closed it behind her. She made her to her bookcase and push it so she could get. To the money, hidden under the floorboard. She threw the box into a bag and grabbed a cloak.

When she turned around her heart nearly stopped.

Vergil was standing in-between her and the door.

‘When did he entered!?’ (Y/N)’s mind screamed.

There was no way he entered from the door, it was old and need a good oiling.

Her eyes moved from stoic face to his leather bond hands. Clucked in his left hand was a sword, the Yamato, a powerful devil arm that the half-demon had inherited from his father. He probably won’t use it on her hopefully but it was still frightening to have such a blade nearby.

(Y/N) examined the room behind the king. The door was the obvious way out but there was also a window in the other wall behind him. The window led straight to the streets below. She would need to good distract if she was going to made break for the window.

“Whatever you’re thinking I suggest you forget. Just come quietly,” He told her. His voice sounded familiar somehow, it was baritone, clam and sent shivers down her spine.

“I’m sorry but you’re not mother,” She shot back. “And I don’t bow anyone, especially the king of Quebel!” She snarled as she shot another spell towards him.

This spell was slightly different than the one she threw at him earlier. It was mixed pure mana canon and her natural fire abilities. She shot towards the door, she aimed it at the wall next to the door. When the spell hit the wall it causing a large amount of smoke as the flame ate away the wall.

‘I’m sorry Mrs Hudson,’ She apologised to her landlord.

The smoke was thick and black, successfully shielding (Y/N) from Vergil’s eyes. Once the smoke had filled the room (Y/N) cast an illusion spell to trick Vergil that she was making a mad dash to the hole she made in the wall. It seemed to work as she sees his shadow move in the direction of the illusion. Then she made her mad dash to the window brushing against the half-demon on the way. (Y/N) crushing through the window onto a stall on the streets below.

The woman let out a groan as she picked herself from the floor. She stumbling to the alleyway near the boarding house.

(Y/N) scrambled to the nearest entrance to the sewer. She closed the sewer entrance behind then dropped down to the darkness under her.

Once she got her bearing and summoned a light source (her trusty old lamp) the (H/C) started made her way out of Ckville. Her home of fourteen years, the city that gave her a chance to live her life the way she wanted and the place that teach her some much about life.

(Y/N) tried and fail not to cry. She wiped her tears as she left her happy life behind.

The fleeing woman lifted her lamp a bit higher for its light to hit the figure dressed in blue.

A scream was let out by the woman as she got a look of the man that was chasing her. She dropped her lamp as he draws closer to her whilst she moved further away from him.

Vergil stopped once his feet met the still lit lamp. The orange light illuminated his furious face.

‘How!?’ (Y/N)’s mind screamed again. ‘How did he know I was down here!?’ She shrieked in her mind.

“Enough with this cat and mouse game!” He shouted at her.

The angry filled her veins.

“No!!” She screamed back. “I will not allow anyone but myself to control my life!” She added on.

The angry in her veins flowed into her hand. Flames erupted from her hands. (Y/N) threw endlessly steamed of flames at Vergil. Harsh breaths left (Y/N)’s lips at she finished fiery assault on the Dark Slayer. He was nowhere in sight, not even a charted body. Had she destroyed every inch of him?

She stepped closer to the area where she had last sited the Son of Sparda.

“It’s time to end this game,” Vergil whispered from behind her.

(Y/N) didn’t have a moment to move an inch as a sharp pain travelled through her neck. The tiny flame in her lamp disappeared as she faded from the world.

*** That was the first thing (Y/N) notice when she regained consciousness. The next things she noticed that she laying on her right side which was laying on a very comfortable surface and she a little bit warm. Her (E/C) eyes open onto a dark pair of legs. She followed those legs up until she met a handsome face. (E/C) met blue.

At first, she thought it was Dante but then her memories returned from before she lost consciousness.

She bolted up. She could hear her heart in the ears.

They stayed still, staring at each other like predator and prey.

She knew that was in a carriage heading out of Prildo Ira heading towards Quebel.

She didn’t know how long they were staring at each other before she lunges towards the carriage door. Her attempted fail as Vergil wrapped his arms around her waist.

“No!!!” She screamed at him.

(Y/N) struggled against her captor with no success. Her struggle only led to Vergil restraining her efficiently. He had gotten ahold of her wrist across them over her body restricting her movement.

“Let me!” (Y/N) demanded as she tried to wriggle free of Vergil’s hold.

She tried to activate her magic but not a single ounce of mana came to her to aid. This lead to more panic in her system. Had they sealed her magic?

The man behind her, stayed quiet as he let the woman in his arms use up all of her energy.

“Let me…,” She begged as she felt her hope waining. “Please…,” She whispered as tears started to fall from her (E/C) eyes.

But nothing left white hair man’s lips as the woman in his arms lend forwards, she began to sob.

(Y/N) hated it. She felt like she was a child again powerless and weak, sitting the darkness of Cedar Labyrinth unable to change her own fate herself. And everything she had done since she left that darkness of Cedar Labyrinth. It was all for nothing, all training and leaving to be dragged back to where it started.

She cried herself to sleep in the arms of the man who was taking her away from the life she’d loved.

Vergil waited until he could hear her soft breaths.

He pulled her back to his chest letting of her wrist once she laying on it. He then turned her on his lap so she was on sitting sideward. He rests (H/C)’s head in the nook of her neck and supported her head with his left hand. Vergil reached in dark embroidery coat and pulled handkerchief. He wiped her tear-stained cheeks then wiped her nose. Once done he placed a kiss on her head.

Vergil looked down at (Y/N)’s face and the dark bags under her eyes. He noticed them earlier when he had laid her down in carriage but didn’t notice how dark they were. She also was stupidly easy to carry so he took a peek under surcoat and tunic, she unhealthy thin, it wasn’t too bad that you could see her ribs but it nearly there. Not to mention that she smelt bad.

Vergil sighed.

“It’s going to take a lot of work to make you into a queen that history will remember,” He mumbled as he placed another kiss on her forehead.

#devil may cry #vergil x reader #devil may cry vergil #dmc vergil #dmc vergil x reader #dmc #vergil x you

[milkbreadtoast]

Hey so! I’ve been wanting to share one of my Kurama(yu yu hakusho) headcanons for a while, but have been too lazy(and scared) to put it into words and share it w/ my followers ahah. But i’m finally gonna share it..! This is one of my headcanons that’s most crucial to how I interpret his character... and I want to preface this with saying that everyone has a different interpretation of a character, and that’s ok; u don’t have to agree. Interpretations can feel very personal sometimes...this one means a lot to me personally haha. Anyway, here goes: (BIG SPOILER WARNING!!!)

Basically... I think the current Kurama, “Shuichi” Kurama with the red hair, is LITERALLY a different person than he was in the past, due to the unique way he escaped death by merging with the unborn child of a human woman, and that his current personality makes a lot of sense if you think of him... as a fusion, in a sense... kinda like a Steven Universe fusion(not exactly, but hear me out)...

The present day Kurama is shown to be a really different person than the legendary thief Yoko Kurama. This difference becomes starkly apparent when the Yoko Kurama of the past makes his appearances in the dark tournament, and he’s very sadistic, cruel... very different from the Kurama shown until then. 

Although the current Kurama has the same memories and consciousness, intelligence, etc. and is still fully “Kurama”, and a 1000+ year old demon, he also seems to act...like a normal teenage boy. He giggles, jokes around, cares a lot about his friends, and of course, loves his human mother... 

Hiei describes Kurama in an internal monologue in ep 47, and it’s very interesting...

Kurama also describes himself in this way, in the same ep:

Although not in the manga, Kurama also says this in ep 108:

When Kurama talks about how he’s changed since being reborn, and how he’s become a different person...  I think... it's more than just a change of heart. He's literally a different person, because his soul merged with that of the boy who would have been born as Minamino Shuichi.

And moreover, Kurama himself seems to be aware of this? in the way he describes himself...the whole “we’re merged,” “while I am Kurama, I am also Minamino Shuichi,” “no longer the same Kurama that I used to be”... And perhaps most convincingly, in this line he delivers in “Two Shots”: 

Specifically describing himself as having a “human side”, despite also explaining to Yusuke in his introduction that he is fully a demon, despite his human appearance. 

Given his wisdom and intelligence, retained from his past as Yoko Kurama, this--his self-identity--is surely something he’s thought hard about over the years, and this is the conclusion he’s come to... Even though he is classified as a demon, this is the way he describes himself... as a fusion of sorts, as being part “human”... (and Hiei’s description is mostly likely influenced from what Kurama has told him, along with his own understanding of Kurama). 

The current Kurama shows a profound duality, and it makes him such a fascinating character... in certain moments, he shows a coldness, a brutality, a willingness to take lives, and wisdom and intelligence that certainly goes far beyond his human years. Yet... stuff like how he giggles and jokes, and how he outsmarted Kaito by making a funny face... to me, this is something new... something unique to his current self...something the old Yoko Kurama wouldn’t do. 

The way Kurama acts in the present day...  the way he's 100% a demon, yet distinctly...human... makes so much sense if you think of him as being like a fusion?? When “he merged with the body of the human who would have been born as Minamino Shuichi”, I think their souls also merged. (edit: This also makes sense if you consider that in his severely wounded state, Yoko Kurama was essentially reduced to a bare soul, disembodied and dying--If this fusion between his dying spirit and this fresh, living human soul did not take place, he would not have survived. The unborn baby is not yet conscious, so Kurama’s concsiousness took over completely, but the fusion still occurred...)

Kurama is still Kurama-- but there’s something added, something more.  I think the human who would have been born as Shuichi would have been a very gentle person... so some of that got absorbed into Kurama's soul when they merged... and so his current, softer personality is not JUST a cruel demon who got touched by human kindness and had a change of heart... but a fusion of the original yoko’s personality, and the personality of the human boy he merged with. He did have a change of heart, but this was facilitated by him gaining... a new capacity for feelings? in a sense? due to this fusion. 

This interpretation I have of him... it makes me feel so much for him...b/c even tho he's...not the same person anymore, he still has the same memories and consciousness; he both is, and isn't, the same person.  I think it probably contributes to the guilt and self hatred he feels on some level, which is evident in what he tells Yusuke in the beginning...

It’s true that he said he tried many times to leave throughout his life, to return to his previous life in the demon realm, but it’s also true that he was never able to. His mother’s smile, her sacrifice for him, her genuine warmth and love for him... it moved him, and he decided to stay, and to protect her and the things precious to him now. And I argue that the “human” side of him, the result of a fusion of souls, enhanced his capacity to be moved, weakened his resolve to return to his past life...

When other yokai accuse him of "going soft"... that's not quite what happened...it is, in some ways, but not the full story. Although he is still the ancient, 1000+ year old demon Kurama, and retains all his memories and sense of self... there is still a part of him, a new part, that really IS as young as he looks... one that is gentle, empathetic, kind, and constantly haunted by his past.

In some ways, this added layer of softness can be seen as a fallibility, an exploitable weakness... how convenient, for the cruel and merciless, cold and calculating thief to become “soft”... a soft point, a weak point, where there was only hardness before. But,

Kurama himself believes it is a strength. Although I do think he harbors some level of hidden self hatred, he doesn’t hate this side of himself. In fact, he embraces it, is proud of it, and will fight to protect what he has now with his life on the line. He has found people and things he wants to protect... he’s come to see the beauty of the human world around him, even the mundane... he’s come to see the beauty and power in something as simple and fragile as a rose. 

And the important people in Kurama’s life(e.g. Hiei), unlike the yokai who jeer and mock him, also see this part of him as a strength and not a weakness, and accept him as who he is today. 

Kurama has a war in his heart... and this inner conflict and duality makes so much sense with the fusion interpretation. Itsuki makes this observation:

“affection” and “carnage”... two sides of himself, at war... consistent with his past life of violence and cruelty, and the gentle human soul he merged with that literally made him a different person...  But again he’s still “Kurama”; he’s 100% yokai, not a human, and he remembers everything.

This headcanon of mine is why it doesn’t really feel right to me when I see people joke that Kurama’s just an old guy hanging out with a bunch of kids (like that steve buscemi meme lol). Again, in my interpretation... in some ways he IS just a teenage boy... even though he’s 1000+... which is why it makes sense that he genuinely enjoys having friends his “own age”... it’s more than just a facade of pretending to be a kid, I think. 

And I mean...just look at him. HE...... IS BABIE 🥺🥺🥺

TL;DR I see the current Kurama as literally being a fusion of souls, literally “not the same Kurama” as before, and this colors the way I interpret him haha,,,

.............................

OK THIS POST IS ALREADY LONG AS ASS, WHY NOT MAKE IT EVEN LONGER BC THERE’S SMTH ELSE i WANTED TO POINT OUT

This might be unique to the anime, but it fits in nicely with my headcanon... In the original Japanese cast, Kurama(as Shuichi) is voiced by Megumi Ogata, and the Yoko Kurama of the past is voiced by Shigeru Nakahara (i.e., when he appears in the dark tournament, and in subsequent flashbacks to Kurama’s past). However, when Kurama transforms into his yoko form on his own in the Chapter Black arc, not by the influence of the potion that literally turns back time...he keeps his Megumi Ogata voice even in that form... whereas in flashbacks he's consistently voiced by Shigeru Nakahara.  ITS A REALLY NICE TOUCH....and it confirms what he says when he's like i haven't actually reverted back, my body just transformed due to my heightened yoki.

And not only his voice, he even looks different... his yoko form is given a slightly different design in Chapter Black arc. In the dark tournament, his outfit is sleeveless, he has frayed eyebrows, and his ears are smooth. 

In black chapters... for some reason they started giving him sleeves

and more solid eyebrows...

and raggety ears? vs smooth

(SO CUTE I LOVE THEM...) 

These differences are shown in this production note from the anime, indicating that this was a conscious design choice in the anime: 

(I can’t read the text, but I see that episode #90 is specified in the right pic, which is the ep Kurama transforms into his yoko form in Black Chapters)

Anyway, these are very subtle details, but to me they’re another indicator that even in his yoko form he's not the same Kurama as he was before...!

OK THAT WAS LONG AF BUT I’M DONE NOW I THINK......... enjoy these kuramas before u go ^_^

#fluffprattle #yu yu hakusho #kurama #holy shit that was long #i am so sorry #ANYWAY.......... #i dont even know if this was comprehensible or not HITS SEND #KURAMA I WOULD FUCKIGN DIE FOR U

[breaking-shadows]

Breaking Shadows

Chapter 2

The angel left promising he would return soon. He left me alone, with my grandmother very much alive and her soul intact. 

I looked at the cuckoo clock mounted on the wall. It had been intricately carved to tell the story of Hansel and Gretel. Creepy, for a witch. The devious children who ate a witch out of house and home and then murdered her for all her generosity. 

The hands read nearly four-fifteen. 

I imagined sinking into the soft mattress of my bed and curling up in the duvet, but if that happened, I’d be there for the duration. I fell asleep on the sofa, wrapped in a dressing gown, to the low hum of the TV. 

The light of breaking dawn woke me before half six.

“Officers attended the scene in Cullfield, a suburb of New York City...”

I peeled open an eyelid. The TV continued to play to itself, showing American-looking police standing by a strip of bright yellow tape. 

“...the whole town was found massacred in what eyewitnesses have described as a bloodbath.”

Bolting upright, I grappled for the remote to turn the volume up, heart hammering against my ribcage. 

“Police have appealed for witnesses and urge neighbouring towns to be vigilant. We’ll have more on this breaking story as the information comes through. Now, here’s the news wherever you are.” The opening credits rolled for the local news. 

Footsteps sounded on the floorboards above. Gran was up. She must be feeling better. I switched off the TV and raced upstairs. 

“Gran!” I called. “Gran!”

I caught her leaving my room, eyes puffy and red-ringed, skin grey. The soft grey curls framing her face were wild. She gave a gasp, sucking the air from the room and fell back against the door. 

My feet stalled on the top step. “Are you okay?”

Her mouth bobbed struggling to form words that wouldn’t come. 

“Gran?” 

“Oh my – Riley!” she crossed the few steps between us and wrapped me in her arms, the scent of lavender triggering a dormant headache. One of her hands went to my hair, pulling my head towards her shoulder. Over and over she whispered my name.

Then she pushed me away, holding me at arm’s length. Withered hands cupped my face, her thumbs making downward strokes with her thumbs. She laughed through her tears. 

“What did you want me for?”

“Are we not going to talk about this?”

Gran released my face to wipe her wet cheeks with the back of her hand, sniffing away the tears as though they’d never been. “There’s nothing to talk about, Riley. I’m  tired, I must not have recovered as much as I’d thought.”

I wanted to tell her she’d be fine, that the illness wouldn’t be rearing its ugly head again, but then she’d want to know why. Even I wasn’t proud about how I’d gone about it, but seeing Gran like this again, well enough to be on her feet or nearly tumbling from them… I’d made the right choice. 

“Once more then, what did you want me for?”

What did I want her for? “The news. On the news, there’s something about a massacre in a town on the outskirts of New York. From the sounds of it, it seems like the whole town. I didn’t know if it merited checking out. It could be a coven.”

Gran looked thoughtful. “It’s possible. I have a meeting with our coven this morning, I will raise it, contact other covens there. Even if it wasn’t a coven, something like that may require investigation. Can you remember the name of the place?”

“No, I can’t. But it must be all over the news.”

A weak smile crossed Gran’s face, the one she gave me when I wasn’t being helpful. 

“Do you need me to come?”

“Ha! Don’t think you’re getting out of your studies that easily. Talking about school, unless you get a move on, you’re going to be late.”

“Fine. Am I still okay to go out tonight?”

Gran cupped my face in her hands. “Of course, of course. Go Riley, and live.”

I took a swig from the bottle in my hand, grimacing at the bitter taste. The shaped glass knocked against my teeth. Something had been off with Gran. Yes, she’d been ill, so ill I’d made a deal with a servant of death to save her soul. But still – 

“God Riley. You’re quiet. You’re here now, you might as well enjoy it.” Kat knelt on the blanket beside me. 

I could smell it as soon as Kat sat down, the stench of stale smoke burning my nostrils. “Please tell me you haven’t been smoking,” I coughed, wafting the fumes away with my hand. 

“Of course, I haven’t,” she said before diving into her bag. She plucked out a shocking pink aerosol can and sprayed it all over herself with a few squirts in the air for good measure. “Simon insists he won’t stop though, so until Channing Tatum becomes available, I’m sticking with him. Anyway, back to you, what’s up?”

I balanced the almost full bottle in the grass, the contents settling uneasily in my stomach. Once again, it would be easier to tell the truth. Although confessing to be a witch would throw up more questions than answers for Kat, and Gran would surely kill me for divulging our secrets. 

“I told you earlier I was tired, I didn’t sleep well.” Striking a deal with an angel in the early hours of the morning proved to be more time-consuming that I’d originally planned. 

“You’re seventeen,” Kat yawned. “You should be able to stay up all night and not feel its effects. But if you’re feeling shit, why don’t we find something to put a smile on your face? Where’s Will?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t seen him for a while. The last time I did, he was fighting his way to the front of the crowd.” I bobbed my head towards the fifty-deep crowd who were dancing and swaying in ways unsuited to the heavy metal band rocking it out on stage. 

Kat had spent weeks talking about this clandestine festival. She’d had to sneak out under the hooked nose of her strict mother, and I felt guilty for spoiling it. Now, with my ears ringing because of the constant din, I wished I’d stuck to the lie I’d tried after lunch. My boyfriend had barely looked at me, never mind spent any time with me, and I found myself disturbed by fleeting thoughts of the angel in Will’s absence. 

Smoke gathered, seeping into my pores choking my lungs. Makeshift fire pits sprang up everywhere in the clearing in the middle of Derwent Woods. Uneasiness prickled my skin. As a water witch, fire put me on edge, and probably affected me more than any of the nemocanes in attendance. Nemocanes were non-witches, those without power. 

“Do you want to go find him?” Kat tilted her head and fluttered her fake eyelashes. 

I’d known her long enough to know she wasn’t asking and before I knew it, Kat had pulled me to my feet. “Come on, let’s see if we can get Will to put a smile on your face. If anyone can, I’m sure it’s him.”

We delved deeper through the crowd, ducking, and weaving through twisting bodies and flailing arms, some of which smacked me straight in the face. The stench was almost unbearable, cheap perfume, the musty smell of beer all mixed in with sweat and smoke. 

“I can’t see them, can you?”

“They’ve got to be here somewhere,” said Kat. She craned her neck to scan the crowd. “Tell you what, if you go to the right, I’ll go this way, and we’ll send the other a text if we find them. Okay? Great.”

“Kat, wait!” But the mass of bodies had already swallowed my friend, bottles of alcohol raised in the air, the crowd singing as loud as their voices would let them. 

Fighting my way in the direction Kat told me to go, I was confronted by one unfamiliar face after another. They swam before my eyes and merged into one continuous blur. Heat rose in my face. Sweat coated my forehead, droplets running down the length of my neck. I tugged at the stiff collar of my denim jacket, but the more I did, the more it closed around my neck like a vice.

More limbs struck.

The fire was overwhelming.

I fought for air. 

My hand raced around my neck in a frantic motion. The contents of dancing bottles dripped down onto my hair and face. Gran would think I’d drank a brewery. 

I forced my way to the back of the crowd, pushing through people as though they were water and I was desperate for the shore. Breaking out into the open, I inhaled as much fresh air as I could, letting the space subdue the rising panic within. 

The constant roar of the band was the only reminder of where I was and the only thing stopping me from falling to my knees and making a spectacle of myself before most of the year twelve and thirteens. 

A glint of white flashed through the trees ahead.

Then another.

My blood turned to stone. 

Then a hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I spun, blood throbbing.

“Where have you been?”

“Nowhere.”

I looked back towards the treeline. 

“You okay? Riley?” Kat’s voice was muffled and far away. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

“I’m not sure I haven’t,” I mumbled. 

“What? Doesn’t matter. Come on, I’ve found the boys.” Grabbing hold of my wrist, Kat pulled me through the crowd where I couldn’t help but look back.

Ghosts – a definite possibility and harmless in most cases. Demon – more likely and more deadly. I looked around at all those gathered. Shit, so many. It would be a bloodbath. 

“Here they are,” Kat thrust me forward. 

Will and Simon had worked their way right to the front. Lyrics flew from their mouths delivered out of tune between swigs of beer. As soon as Will’s eyes found mine, he stumbled to me with a lopsided grin on his handsome face. I felt a pang in my stomach as another face popped into my head.

Mentally, I told it to piss off. 

“W-w-where have you been?” he slurred. His hands were all over my back, moving lower and lower. Will leaned in read to place a kiss on my lips. Reaching back, I stopped his hands travelling further but welcomed the kiss I’d waited all night for. 

Despite tasting that wretched alcohol, my heart leapt. Worries of dangers lurking beyond the trees evaporated. I’d probably imagined it anyway. Reaching up, I ran my hand through his short dirty-blond hair. 

“We need more time together,” he said, lips pressing against my ear. “Alone.”

I tensed. The meaning was as clear as ringing bells and set in my insides like concrete. I plastered a smile on my face. After all, it was what I wanted, wasn’t it? Having pined for him for the last four years with not one sign I was even on his radar, I was determined to make the most of being his. 

Somewhere, screams pierced the deafening music. 

“What was that?” Will asked, pulling away. 

I ignored him. With my body as still as stone, I looked to see what had caused panic to roll through the crowd. People fled in all directions, frantic limbs flying. I’d stood still long enough to feel the loss of Will’s body heat and watch him leave to join the dispersing group. 

Nausea surged when I realised they were running away from the treeline where I thought I’d glimpsed something other. 

Shit. 

The music cut off and a loud crash sounded as the musicians abandoned their instruments. 

“Will? Kat? I spun on the spot desperately trying to find my friends. I battled against the onslaught of bodies, the only one going towards what made everyone else flee. 

The screaming was terrible. It punctured my mind until I couldn’t think straight.  A tall blur of blond hair and white t-shirt barged my shoulder and knocked me to the ground, not bothering to stop. I hissed at the sharp pain in my hands. Lifting them from the grassy field, thick blood trickled from a jagged wound across my palm. The fragmented remains of a glass bottle lay hidden in the glass coated in my blood. Black in the moonlight, the droplets slid down my hand and into the grass. 

Shadows emerged from the trees, the stark darkness of the woods bleeding into the clearing. They moved in quick, sharp jerks barely touching the ground with their stick-like limbs. The only creatures I had ever seen scurry like that were spiders. 

Demons. But what kind, I didn’t know, had never encountered them in any of my witch studies. My pulse drummed in my ears as all other sounds died. They drew closer, the pale white of their skin stretching over thin, sharp bones like a translucent film. Two pointed pincers bulged out of the side of their head and around the front of their faces. Fire danced in their feline-like eyes. 

The only one left in the clearing, I pushed myself back onto my feet. Only me and a dozen of these things. I grimaced at the throbbing in my hand, and took calculated steps towards the demons, taking care not to trip over the abandoned debris strewn over the grass. 

There were seconds left before they reached me. Would flooding the clearing work? Should I send out a jet of water to blast them back? Quick. Decide. 

“Are you going to make a half-arsed attempt to get away or just let them kill you?”

I whirled on the familiar voice to find the angel standing there. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Saving you.”

The untamed black hair grazed his shoulders. He held my gaze steady and sure, his lips slightly parted. Something registered on his face and a darkness bloomed in his widening eyes burning with such intensity that the night sky with all its stars and wonders paled in comparison. 

I blinked the image of him away and clicked my tongue. “Save yourself.” With that, I sent three demons skittling with a low jet of water. 

“There’s too many of them, we’ll never make it. Come on,” Rafe reached back and grabbed my wrist to pull me with him.

Not that I wanted to admit it, but he was right. We barrelled across the grass heading for the stage. My much shorter legs struggled to keep up with his longer strides. Even in frantic escape mode, Rafe moved with grace while all my energy was spent trying to stay upright. 

He glanced over his shoulder. “They’re gaining on us. Hurry!”

“Can’t you sprout your wings and fly us out of here?”

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I’ll explain if we survive this.” 

I groaned as he increased his speed dragging me with him, my thighs and calves burning. 

“I need to get to the coven.”

Each penetrating stab reverberated across the ground, and the closer they got, the more their screeched pierced my ear drums. Rafe stopped when we reached a black and silver motorcycle propped up by a short leg at the side of the stage. 

“Hop on,” he said, throwing his leg over. With a kick of his boot, the leg flicked up and the engine roared into life. He looked at me once more. “What are you waiting for?”

“There isn’t a helmet,” I hesitated. 

Dark amusement flickered in his eyes. “Seriously? We’re getting chased by demons who I know want to kill us and you’re worried about where the helmet is.”

I could have explained. I could have told him why the sheer thought of getting on that bike was giving me palpitations and shortening my breath. But I didn’t.

“Safety first,” was all I said. 

“Get on the bike, Riley.”

I stopped myself throwing up. “If we die now, I’m betting it’s down to a lack of safety equipment and not shiny demons with excellent cheekbones.” I hitched up my long skirt and jumped on. At first, I didn’t know where to place my hands and settled on the thin strip of leather between us. 

“Here,” he reached round, grabbed both my hands, and pulled them around his waist. My injured hang stung. My chest crashed into the solid wall of his back.

“I need you to hold on,” he shouted over the noise of the engine. 

Gripping tighter, I brushed the contours of his stomach muscles. Heat bloomed on my cheeks and I was thankful he couldn’t see the fire in my face.

We sped away and the creatures gave chase. 

“Head for Valestone,” I called. “We’ll be safe there.”

Rafe drove straight into the forest. I wondered if he hoped the trees would act as an obstacle to slow the creatures down. Derwent Forest was thick and known for the dense canopy capable of blocking most rays. Especially now, as midnight fast approached, everywhere was black except for the small distance illuminated by the bike’s headlamp and the smouldering fires left in the clearing. 

“Do you know what those things are?”

“Arachna demons. Half human and half spider. All of them female.”

“They can’t be.”

“Female or demons? Hang on!” he steered left, avoiding a row of tree trunks. The bike weaved in and out of trees effortlessly navigating root laden paths as though he’d driven this way a thousand times. 

Daring to look back, my loose hair lashed my face like gilded whips. Somehow, my faux daisy headband stayed in place. A good thing for Rafe because if it flew off, I’d make him go back for it. Demons be damned. 

“They’re getting closer!”

“They can’t move that quick. These are new ones emerging from the undergrowth.”

My head snapped back to him. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“None of this is about making you feel better,” he called back, swerving again. 

We hit an emerging root. My hands wrapped tighter around him to stop myself from falling off, but he jumped the bike and landed them back on the ground on the other side. 

“You okay back there?”

“Yes,” I said into the rushing wind. It whistled as it sailed by my ear.

A volcano of dirt and greenery erupted ahead. Rafe jammed on the brakes and skidded, landing at an angle. Two white pincers grappled out of the ground. He paused for a beat before flying off in the direction we faced.  

“Not much further now,” he called back. 

In the distance, the shadows of the forest faded paling to navy blue and lighter still as we neared the edge of the forest. I felt easier knowing we would soon be out. I’d have to wake my grandmother and summon the coven to deal with the demons – Arachna, Rafe called them. How strange I’d never heard of them before. 

We broke out of the boundary of the forest and slammed into the village. The closed lichgate of our village’s Norman church lay ahead, the church on our right, silhouetted against the sky. The interior was nothing more than an illusion created for any tourists making their way to Valestone or visitors from nearby towns. Witches in our coven could see through the magic veil like it was a splash of oil in a puddle. 

I gave a little yelp as Rafe spun the bike, landing parallel to the forest with the church behind us. He twisted the key and the noise died. 

“Well that’s something new,” he stared up at the sky, scanning across the span of the village. 

Following his gaze, I smiled, knowing what had piqued his interest. “It’s a protection dome for the coven. Powered by the High Witch.” When I spoke, my head felt like it was submerged in water, my words muffled, and ears blocked. 

And still the creatures came, their skin shining like a pearl in the moonlight.

“Here they come.”

One creature placed a pincer across the boundary marked by a row of uniform trees. As soon as they did, electric flashes surged up the offending limb until it covered the whole demon. It crackled, steam rising high before its body went limp and slumped to the ground, lifeless. Two other demons scurried up to the dead body, trying to nudge it alive with a pincer but when it didn’t move, they retreated in a hurry taking the whole horde with them.

“Nothing that intends harm can enter.”

“Impressive. I might need a word with your High Witch.”

I dismounted; my attention fixed on the smouldering mass of flesh. “I’m not so sure about that,” I said absently. “A servant of death seeking her out about a protection dome might freak her out.”

“Point taken.”

I turned to smile at Rafe. “Nice bike.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and threw his leg over the motorcycle to stand next to me. 

“Yeah, it’s not mine. Some idiot left it next to the stage with keys in the ignition. An idiot I’m very grateful to, but I’m just going to leave it here. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes. I’m going to wake my grandmother with the wonderful news that half of the neighbouring town have witnessed and were nearly eaten by demons. Some possibly eaten if I don’t get a move on.” I studied the gash across my palm, flecks of dried blood formed a boundary around the open wound. 

“Are you hurt?”

I snatched it away, hiding it by my side. “Just a little scratch.”

“Show me.”

“I said it’s fine.”

Rafe sighed and held an upturned hand. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation in my mind and before I knew it, he was cradling my hand in his almost reverently as he ran a calloused finger tip down my palm. 

My breath bated. He smelled of soap. Clean, like rolling in freshly washed linen. I couldn’t look at his face. 

“When you get home, I want you to properly clean the wound.”

“My Gran will have a poultice of witch hazel leaves and bark. She’ll sort it.” I would have sworn I saw a ghost of a smile on his lips. 

“And I’ll come back tomorrow to heal it when I have my powers back.”

My head snapped up. “What do you mean? Is that why you couldn’t fly? Have you lost your powers?”

“So many questions, little witch.”

I cocked my head to one side silently demanding answers. 

“Angels are given a day off, if you will, every ten thousand souls they collect. Today is mine, but you live the day as a mortal. No powers, no wings.”

“You had a day off and you decided to creep around a teenage party? Not that you look much older than we do…”

At that, Rafe chucked. “Get going, or someone is going to find themselves at the mercy of an Arachna demon.”

“I need my hand back.”

A hint of colour stained his cheeks, but he dropped my hand as though the contact burned him. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Rafe nodded in reply. 

I kicked my legs into gear. I made it to the end of the lane before the urge to look back became too much. He should’ve gone, but he was still there, lounging against the stolen bike, watching. 

It took everything I had to move away. 

Chapter 1

#breaking shadows #wip #mywip #young adult #witches #ANGELOFDEATH #rafe #riley

[tomasorban]

An Australian legend about the creation of the world and the Mother Goddess

Creation of all things in existence in this world takes place owing to the Feminine Principle. I got convinced of this over again when I accidentally encountered the book Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines by W. Ramsay Smith. To be more precise, an assistant in a book shop offered me this book, assuring me it was indeed an interesting source worth reading.

Living far from the seaboard, in places difficult of access for colonisers, a part of aboriginal Australians preserved ancient legends about the creation of the world and shared them with a pure heart, a good man who via his book now helps us look at the creation from a different, southern viewpoint:

THE STORY OF THE CREATION

This story of the creation of the world was told to the book author by a Karraru woman from the western coast of South Australia. She was then 65 years old and fluently spoke her native language. Her name sounds quite euphoniously – Cardinnilla, which means a “cheerful rivulet swiftly running to the mighty and boundless ocean in order to merge with it”.

“The voice of the Great Spirit spake unto Bajjara and Arna in a dream, and said, “Go forth and tell this story, for I have chosen you as my messengers.” This is the story:

There was a great darkness which covered all space. This darkness was silent and still, and in it the earth dwelt cold and lifeless. Upon the surface of the earth were mountains with lofty peaks. There were also hills and valleys and plains, and deep caves and caverns. In these caves there were forms of life, but they were unconscious of their surroundings. There was no wind, not even a gentle breeze.

For a long, long time an awful, deathlike stillness pervaded everything. Within this darkness and stillness of the earth there slept a beautiful young goddess. [In this story the sun is of feminine gender and is called by the following names: the Sun Goddess, the Young Goddess, the Mother, the Mother Goddess, the Sun Mother, the Mother Sun, the Mother Sun Goddess, the Great Sun Mother, the Goddess of Light, and the Goddess of Light and Life. The moon here is also of feminine gender and is considered to be the ruler of the night. The moon and the masculine morning star gave birth to the human race. After death people turn into stars in the sky.] One day the Great Father Spirit whispered gently to her, “You have slept and fulfilled my will. Now awake and go forth and give life to the universe and to everything therein. Do all as I command you. First awaken the grass, then the plants, and then the trees. After you have covered the face of the earth with grass, plants, and trees you will bring forth insects and fish, reptiles and lizards, snakes, birds, and animals. Then rest until all things that you have created shall have developed so as to fulfil the purpose for which they have come to the earth. Nothing shall come forth that is not for the benefit of other parts of the creation.”

The Young Goddess took a great breath that caused the still atmosphere to vibrate, and she said to the Great Father Spirit that she was ready to do his bidding. She opened her eyes, and her whole being appeared to be flooded with light. Darkness disappeared before her. She looked abroad on the earth, and saw how empty it was. She looked beneath the earth, and she saw a tiny speck. Then from out of the distance she came toward the earth, swifter than a meteor. She alighted very gently, as if she feared to disturb the many living things that were upon it and beneath it. She made her home on the Nullarbor Plain [this looks and sounds like a local name, but perhaps it is a derivative of the Latin word that means “no trees”], and soon her influence began to be felt upon the cold life of earth.

From her home on the plain she set out on a journey, and continued on a western course until she came back to her starting point in the east. As she walked the grass, the shrubs, and the trees sprang up in her footprints. Then she turned north, and walked straight on in that direction until she passed to the south and came back to her starting point. She repeated these journeys round the earth until it was completely covered with vegetation. Then she rested from her labours, and made for herself a home on the Nullarbor Plain, and thus the Sun Goddess, the Mother, and the giant trees and vegetation all lived together in peace.

All at once the Sun Goddess heard a voice commanding her to go forth into the caverns of the earth and to bring forth life. She set out, taking warmth and brightness with her, into the dark, cold regions of the world. The spirits from beneath the earth cried out, “O Mother, why have you disturbed us? We have ruled over this part of the earth for millions of years.” The Mother Sun Goddess stayed beneath the earth for one whole day, exploring all parts, and shedding her brightness on everything. Then there came forth from the earth swarms of beautiful insects. They were of all colours, sizes, and shapes; and they began flitting from bush to bush and blending their colours with everything, and making the earth still more beautiful. Then the Mother Sun rested.

She continued resting in order that the insects might adapt themselves to their new condition of living. Then she rode in her chariot of light, and visited the mountain tops to behold the glory that covered the face of the earth. After this she rose upon a mighty wind that carried her to every part of the earth in an instant of time. Upon this same wind she returned to her home in the Plain of Nullarbor. She rested for a time that would be equal to two sunrises. But at this stage of creation there was no setting of the sun. She shone continually during an eternal day, and there was no darkness except within the bowels of the earth. After resting, the Sun Goddess visited another cave or abyss. She looked down into its depth, and her radiant face shone with love, and drove the darkness away before her presence. She stepped down to the dark, cold, lifeless bottom. The solid ice there melted before her presence. Then she came forth, and went back to her home on the Nullarbor Plain. From out of this abyss there came forth snakes and lizard forms without legs, which crept upon their bellies upon the surface of the earth. A river also came forth from out of this cavern, and wended its way through a valley, and in the water of this river there were fish of all kinds, great and small.

Then the Sun Mother came and beheld her work, and saw that it was good. She commanded that the new life that she had created should be everywhere harmonious. The Sun Goddess again visited the mountain top, and saw the trees, shrubs, grass, butterflies, beetles, snakes, and lizards, and the dry land and the water, and she was satisfied with her work. Again the wind came and bore her round on a visit to all corners of the earth, and brought her back to her home on the Plain of Nullarbor. There she rested for some time before resuming her work of creating.

When the Mother Goddess next went forth she was accompanied by insects, snakes, and lizards, who venerated her, and wished to see her create life from the next cavern. Once again the darkness of the cavern was driven out by her brightness as she descended to the bottom. All along the ledges and the bottom were the spirit forms of birds and animals. The Mother Goddess came out of the abyss, and the mighty wind again acted as her chariot, and took her back to her home on the Plain of Nullarbor. Some days after her visit to the cavern there came out of it birds in great numbers and colours. Then there came out animals of all shapes, sizes, and colours. These came straight to the Mother Goddess and looked upon her glory. They went away contented, and glad to be alive. The Sun Goddess rested a while. She saw that the Father of All Spirits was satisfied with all that has had created.

Then the Sun Mother commanded that the earth should be subject to short periods of seasonal changes. She ordained that first, for a certain length of time, there should be a hot period, and then that there should be a cold period; but that there should not be any extremes of heat and cold as would harm any of the creatures or the vegetation upon the earth. The Sun Mother said that this heat and cold should be felt throughout the various parts of the earth. From the very hottest parts the heat should gradually grow less and less until they became quite cold. Light and darkness were also to visit the earth, and were to succeed each other.

At the beginning of spring the Sun Mother called the insects, the reptiles, the birds, and the animals together, and a great multitude came from the north, the birthplace and the home of the north wind. Other great multitudes came from the south, the abode of the south wind; and from the west, the birthplace of the west wind. The greatest numbers came from the east, the royal palace, the cradle of the sunshine and sunbeams. When they all had assembled, the Sun Mother spoke in a soft and gentle voice to the animals, the birds, the reptiles, and the insects. She said, “Listen, O children; I am your foster mother. The Great Father Spirit has given me power to take you from the earth. My work on earth is completed, and now I go to a higher sphere, where I shall be your light and life. When I go I shall give you another being who shall govern you. You shall be his servants, and he shall be your lord and ruler. You all in part shall be changed. Your bodies shall go back into the earth, and that life that I called forth and that the Great Father Spirit gave you shall no longer dwell in form on the earth. It shall be transferred into those regions near my abode, and shall shine and be a guide to those who come after you. Your abode will be in the Spirit Land. But this shall not be until you have lived and followed the desires of your own hearts, and have reached a condition in which you are prepared to meet this change. And now I leave you.”

Suddenly the Sun Mother rose from the earth, and soared up and up into the great heights. All the animals, the birds, the reptiles, and the lizards watched with fearful eyes the departure of the Goddess of Light and Life. As they stood gazing the face of the earth became dark, and they were all sore afraid of this strange happening. It filled them with fear and sadness, and when the darkness became greater they ceased their crying, thinking that the Mother Sun had forsaken them, and thus they remained until they saw the dawn in the east. Then they watched and were puzzled to see the gradual appearance of light behind them. They spoke among themselves, and said, “Did we not see the Mother Sun go to the west, and what is this we see coming from the east?” They all stood facing the Sun Mother as she rose smiling upon them out of the eastern sky. They stood, rooted to the ground, watching the behaviour of their beloved Sun Goddess.

She did not remain still, but seemed to be continually moving on her journey toward the west. Suddenly it dawned upon them that this meant that the radiant smile of the Mother Sun Goddess would always be followed by a period of darkness, and that it was intended that the period of darkness should be a time of rest. So they all ran hither and thither, seeking shelter in the dense forests by burrowing in the ground or resting on the boughs of trees. The flowers that had opened to the bright sun closed up and went to sleep. The wattle blossoms still kept awake all through the silent night. They wished to preserve their form and colour in darkness as in daylight. The water spirit of the little streamlet loved the brightness of the sunshine so much that it rose and rose far beyond mortal vision. It wept and wept so bitterly in its efforts to reach the brightness that it became exhausted with grief, and it came back to earth and rested upon the trees, the bushes, and the grass in beautiful, sparkling dewdrops.

When dawn appeared in the eastern sky, the birds were the first to behold the herald of the coming of the Mother Sun. They became so excited that some began to twitter and chirp, while others were so filled with joy that they laughed and laughed, and others sang a joyful song of praise. When the Mother Sun peeped up in the eastern sky the dewdrops rose up skyward, anxious to meet and accompany the Sun Mother. And this became the beginning of morning and night. All things living understood the plans of the Great Sun Mother.

After a great many years had gone by, the animals and the birds began to weary. They were dissatisfied with their state of being. Some of the animals began to weep because they could not fly life the birds. The fishes became dissatisfied because they lived too much in the water. They felt that they would like to have a share in the beautiful sunshine, so they wept and wept, and pined away because they could not be animals, birds, or reptiles. The insects shared in the discontent, and some of them too began to pine away, while others slept and slept, and refused to eat or to enjoy life.

Then the Sun Mother came back to the earth, gathered them all together, and said, “O children of the earth, have I not brought you forth from the womb of the earth? Have I not shone upon your shapeless forms and breathed life into them? O dissatisfied beings, I have given you life and the right to choose for yourselves. Do as you think best, but you shall all repent of the choice you make.”

All the animals, the birds, the reptiles, the insects, and the fishes chose as they severally desired. Oh, what funny creatures some of them were – the kangaroo, the frilled lizards, the bats of all types, the pelican with its big bill, the platypus, the flying fox, the stupid-looking old wombat, and the frog that grew to maturity in such a strange fashion! First of all it came forth from the spawn, all belly and tail, then gradually it developed legs peeping out from where the body and the tail joined; after a while the tail shrank and the body became well developed, four legs appeared, and then the frog was complete.

The mouse family of the bats wished to be birds; so now the bat is able to fly, although it cannot grow feathers. The seal, not satisfied with being able to roam round the forests and hills, wished to live as it does today. The owl wept most bitterly for large and bright eyes, capable of seeing in the dark; it was given its wish, but it is unable to see in the daylight; so, during the day, it hides in a cave or in a hollow tree, because it cannot bear the glare and brightness. The owl is not able to look into the face of the Sun Mother. The koala thought it a shame to be in possession of a brush or tail, and he wished to be rid of the beautiful tail that was the envy and admiration of all the animals, so the tail died off, and now the poor koala looks shy when in the company of the dingo, who prides himself on his beautiful tail, and wags it proudly when he meets dogs or other animals. See, also, how some of the insect tribe have had their desired fulfilled. Some resemble bits of bark of trees, or twigs, or dried sticks.

This heterogeneous creation shows what can be brought about by discontent and foolish desire. When the Sun Mother saw that such strange beings would cause a difference between her and the children of the earth, she said, “I will send unto you a part of myself, O children of the earth. My heart’s desire shall come to you before I visit you tomorrow.” So next morning, when the animals, the birds, the reptiles, and the insects arose, they saw the bright morning star rising out of the eastern sky and setting on the Nullarbor Plain. There the animals, the birds, and the reptiles congregated about him, but he did not speak to them. He sat with his eyes fixed on the east. When the Mother Sun rose she said, “I have given to you a son of the Spirit World, but he shall be one of you.” Then she said to the bright morning star, “O my son, rule thou here, and I shall send you a friend. Watch, and when I dip beyond the western sky and darkness covers all the earth you will see a bright form coming out of the western sky. This is the Lady of the Night, who will help you to shine, and will share with you the joys of light.”

And so it came to pass that when the Goddess of Light, the Sun Mother, rode on her chariot of light across the sky, and passed over to the west, and darkness drew her veil across the sky, the promised visitor came and shed her silvery light upon the earth. Thus was the moon born at the will of the Sun Goddess. The moon descended to the earth and became the wife of the morning star, and they brought forth children. These children dwelt and multiplied in the form of the human race. When they died they passed on to take their place in the sky in the form of stars.

The aboriginals say that the stars are the children of the sons and daughters of the morning star and the lady moon, who were created by the Sun Goddess. Bajjara and Arna, the prophets of the Spirit World, said, “You, my children, shall remember to whom you owe your birth, and you shall not seek to change your state like the animals, the birds, the reptiles, the insects, and the fishes. Remember, also, that you are superior to the creatures, and that you and your children and your children’s children will all return to the Great All Father, the Eternal Spirit.”

#aboriginal #aborigines #religion #mythology #cosmology #mother goddess #divine feminine

[claybefree]

Excerpt- Mule Skinner Blues

The man guided Kit up the trail until it merged within a hair's breadth of treeline next to the tracks, running like that until it met the railyard. The two lines coming in from the outskirts split and branched into a multitude of tracks like veins of a leaf stem spreading across acres of junctions and ballast rock.. The trail there was halted abruptly by a wall of chain link, complete with a man sized hole in it. Not far was what must have been a dead line as along it’s back were parked huge lengths of what Kit guessed to be track laying equipment, low slung, enveloped with clumps of Queen Anne’s lace and left to rot away. Hulking wrecks with a rainbow of multicolored patina, years of different owners individual paint schemes peeling away over one another. Red and yellow gave way to yellow and orange which gave way to blue, with the deep burgundy of Lord Rust presiding over all. 

“Okay, Hobo 101 meets under that barge there,” the thin man said. 

“What, underneath?”

“Yeah, don’t worry it ain’t goin anywhere.” he said with a grin. “It’s a Sunday so there ain’t that much personnel but if you see a white truck a comin’ you better coon it, quick.”

In response to Kit’s confused look he said “Here, allow me to demonstrate.”

Hustling through the hole in the fence, he started off across the sparse grass hunched almost to squatting, hands just above the ground as if he were about to drop to all fours. A sneaky kind of lope, Kit decided, that looked almost exactly like a racoon. 

The weeds were almost four foot tall and clustered thickly so that once underneath, they were well concealed.  Kit crawled up next to the thin man and lay across the rails, the smell of creosote impregnated timbers all around. They peered out through a multitude of top heavy stalks each bearing a small continent of impossibly intricate white flowers waving gently in the breeze. 

“Okay, so if you run across a worker that wants to talk, it’s probably safe. Most of these guys work a twelve hour shift, so bullshitting with a hobo is a fun way to burn time. Plus you might find out something useful. You’ll know a bull if you run across one, they usually cuss and yell. There’s this one red-faced old drunk who works here, means as hell. If you see him my recommendation is you haul ass.”

As they were talking, the rumbling in the earth beneath them grew to where it filled the air around them and a locomotive rolled out from between the lines of freight heading towards them. Kit resisted the urge to wave at the engineer. The thin man paused, waiting for the building fury of diesel fumes and machine grumble to pass them. A rogue’s gallery of battle scarred boxcars followed behind as the train picked up speed heading into the wild heart of forest just outside the yard.

“So the mainline he’s on is headed East, besides he’s local. You need a mountain train. The line on the other side goes North. That’s the one you want. At some point he’ll make a left, hopefully, at which point you’ll be on the mighty Highline. Ride that til you can’t anymore. It stops at the Pacific ocean. Think you can manage that?”

“I think I can.” Kit chuckled. 

Rows of oil cars rumbled past, black as pitch with streaks of pitch spilling down the sides from the lid. Then a number of boxcars, pale sun-faded yellow with black doors slid open. Red company emblem a flying “W” tucked in amid a riot of graffiti, brash hieroglyphs that might have been slurs in purple and green.   

“Now if you wind up on a boxcar, make sure you jam the door open, so you don’t accidentally wind up locked inside. Also, I wouldn’t recommend riding topside of a trash bin or a coal car, you’ll freeze to death.”

“Freeze? Ain’t it August?” Kit said, “What month is it anyway?”

“Don’t matter where you’re going, friend.” He smiled. “You do got a jacket in that rig, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay- so the ideal is that type car right there, a grainer,” he gestured at the silver and grey walled construct rolling past, it’s box battered and slightly concave from too many years being in service. Black iron trucks and wheels spinning diligently away underneath.  “You’ll want the ass end of things, shetler wise, under that triangular edge. Not the side where the mechanics are located, mind you, the brakes and such, there’s no real estate there. Oh and make sure it’s got a porch. Otherwise you’ll have to ride suicide which is not nearly as fun as it sounds.”  

“Growing up on a farm so I learned early on how to behave myself around heavy equipment.”

“That’s pretty comforting, actually. Oh yeah, see those three bolts on the wheels? If they’re going to fast to count, then the train is moving too fast to catch. When you go for it, make sure you get both hands on the thing before you haul your shit aboard. If it pulls out of your hand it’s going too fast and you’ll need to ditch it into the rocks. Ballast rash ain’t no fun but I think you understand the importance of not winding up under the trucks.”

“Imagine that’d put a hitch in your giddy-up.” Kit said.

Noticing the grim turn of his mouth, the thin man said, “I know this is a lot to take in but be careful, don’t die and you’ll be a gentleman of the yards in no time.” and slapped his shoulder.

“No chance in talking you into coming with me is there?”

“And take the chance of watching you get chewed into hamburger? Sorry but no.” he laughed. “Besides, I got to stay here and mind Screwdriver. At least until he realizes his lady love ain’t coming back anytime soon, and then probably a week or so after that. Maybe I’ll talk him into going home to the farm. Hopefully you won’t have to wait long. Just do me a favor and don’t start drinking until you’ve successfully boarded your ride, okay?”

“Will do.” 

“See you on down the line, Kit-By-the-Way.” and with a smile he doffed his floppy hat, scrambled out from under the car and was gone into the treeline. 

 In the end, it took no time at all. Hidden away from the heat of the day, he dozed until awoken by the familiar rumbling that sounded like the end of all things. The engine passed in a blaze of orange and yellow, gleaming bright as a sun in the afternoon light. He picked a grain car and made for it straight away, making sure not to linger in the sight line along the locomotive’s edge, the only hitch being almost getting decapitated by the skeleton frame of an empty lumber rack. The beast was going slow enough to catch with ease, and as luck would have it, the porch was enclosed in a steel case with a large circle cut into it that he could squeeze into. Once inside, the diamond plate steel of the floor was clean and spacious, a fresh coat of battleship grey. There were even half a half dozen comic books left by another traveller. Spider-man versus the Rhino. Black Panther. He crawled inside his enclave of welded steel and made himself hidden and comfortable.

Just as the thin man said it would, the train slowly thundered out the yard and made a hard left, heading North, at which point it stopped entirely. Fearing he would be discovered, Kit remained sequestered and read his comic books. After an hour of this he ate a can of ravioli, raw, slurping cold meat sauce from his fingers.  During the second hour he ventured outside to pee into the rock between the cars and then quickly hid himself away again, even though he was completely enveloped entirely by forest and had seen not a soul since they’d left the yard. He developed a welcome case of the stares and let his gaze drift across the lines of the coupling he was told not to cross, even mimicking the shape of it with his two hands, cupped one inside the other. He watched the way the ladder on the car across from his rose, battered and worn, to the top edge, and convinced himself he didn’t need to climb it.  Still the train sat motionless with not even an occasional tremor to indicate shunting yet for this or that. Finally, with nothing else to do, he broke into the handle of Jack he had hidden away in the depths of his bag, having endured the nagging weight of it for what seemed like an eternity.

“Well, the old guy didn’t say nothing about drinking after I got on the train, which I did manage to do. Seems like time to celebrate to me.”  He would have to portion it out if he could, as he had no idea how far it was to California. Tipping it back, the burn in his throat and consequently his stomach was like a lover’s embrace. Everything immediately softened, the colors of the woods brightened, the filth covering everything fell away and the world didn’t seem so big and scary. 

Eventually he heard a series of bangs from far away as the engine began to pull the train along it’s chain length to move out, a clamor that echoed well into the woods and back towards town. His turn came and he was thrown back into the hole, the slack jerked taught, and the great assembly of steel and iron and rust began to roll. Naturally he took another shot to celebrate his departure. 

It occurred to him that unlike the tractors he’d grown up riding, this was more a moving city as it was a piece of equipment. It was not a smooth ride, which surprised him, and there was always a sound of metal creaking somewhere. As they gained speed, and the woods parted and they spilled out onto another limitless ocean of wheat fields, he realized that everything left in his mind would shortly be pushed out by it. The train would consume his entire existence, there was no arguing with it, the train was terrible and absolute. 

Presently the woods surrendered to wheat fields spreading away from both sides of the train. Off to his left the sun fell below the racing clouds, setting the whole thing alight into a golden blaze that threatened to consume him. A conflagration of yellow and orange set to consume the prairies. The train, picking up even more speed, rocked him like a child.

“Sadie-girl, I sure wish you could see this,” he said quietly. 

The engineer poured on more speed such as to send them flying through towns and countryside. It sounded like a mile up the track from him but Kit could hear him laying on the horn as they roared through each crossing. Towns that seemed only to be out there to harvest wheat, maybe they were able to muster a downtown, sometimes just a convergence of a road and rail, with few houses thrown in just to indicate a population. Occasionally there was a water tower or a fallen down depot giving a name to the place to be noted and then immediately forgotten. Monolith grain elevators stood vigil, rising windowless out of the landscape, clapboarded in faded black or white or grey, an architecture completely foreign to him. As dark fell and the train picked up more speed, he became drunk and yelled at it all, incoherent, raging against his own insignificance.     

Morning found him under his leather jacket, body inside the hole and head on his boots as a pillow on the perforated steel walkway outside, woken by a light rain or cloud vapor accumulating on his face. In a literal fog, his waking gaze followed the rail, polished to a mirror finish and passing smoothly beneath him like a pair of silvery ribbons. The pace of the locomotive seemed to not have abated in the least, and he figured he must have caught the famed hotshot he was looking for. He sat up. The softness of the fog obscured the morning, but as near as he could tell the sun was off behind them. They must have turned West somewhere in the night, and his friend was right, he was freezing. 

No coffee to be had, he rummaged around the pile he’d made to sleep under until he found the bottle of Jack, on it’s lower third, and took a three finger belt. The mist cleared enough to reveal a martian landscape. They were in the mountains sure enough. Maybe it was the hangover, maybe just being unfamiliar, but everything looked jagged and angular and desolate. Tall aspens, he gathered, maybe doug fir. Pines of every kind. The only familiar thing was the rail flying beneath him, it’s gauge holy and absolute, punctuated with a million crossties.  

“Sadie, I don’t particularly care for all this ponderosa bullshit, no ma’am,” and pulled again on the bottle in his lap. “Too many pines, rocks and dust. Not enough green. I feel like I might dry up and blow away as it is.”  He stood up and stretched, swaying slightly due as much to the train as the fact he was not at all sober. He threw his jacket over his shoulders and clutched the bottle by the throat for good measure. Didn’t want it getting away from him. 

At this point the engine up the line let loose with a blast from its horn, sending ghosts of echoes to fill the canyons. 

“Ah yes, good morning to you too, Captain!” Kit shouted back. “You heavy handed sonofabitch!”

Suddenly the earth fell away into a chasm that must have been a thousand feet deep, the floor of it buried in the fog and unseen. He grabbed onto the ladder mounted to the outside corner of the grain car. “Holy shit. I guess that’s what all the noise was about.” 

The trestle was immense, a miraculous web of cross bracing filling the valley in what amounted to a straight line through the air yet neither side had a rail or walkway. It occurred to him to just let go and fall away into the clouds. The rocks or river or whatever below waiting would hold him close until the vultures and wolves and whatever else came to claim him, and he could belong to the forest from then on. Listening to the pines whispering, the occasional train whistle, coyotes crying, perhaps he could become a whisper in that valley himself. 

Instead the locomotive pulled him across the abyss to the other side before he had formed a proper mind to leap. He sat down hard, thumbed off the top and pulled on the Jack once again. There was a bag of beef jerky stashed somewhere he’d considered for breakfast, but decided against it. 

“Hey Sadie, wake up and come look at this,” he yelled over his shoulder. “Purple mountains majesty and all that.” For a moment it seemed the same shade as the lavender she had left on the dash of the Toronado. Delicate purple flowers windswept from the open window and perched on a skin of turquoise leather.  Maybe they should have stayed in the farmhouse, he thought. 

He lamented the he never showed her the network of rabbit tunnels crisscrossing the yard, long mounds of soft earth stretching this way and that between the house and the barn. He decided he would hang on just in case he ever saw her again so he could describe this to her. The soft earth with rabbits hidden beneath, the ground yielding underfoot oddly comforting. He drank a little more and thought these things and in this way passed into California. 

[ama-darav]

I came back to this hellshite to get back into writing. I haven’t really focused on doing pieces and drabbles since my car accident almost 2 years ago. My brain was hella injured and I stopped processing words and writing like I used to; things are different. I was browsing through my old writing and some of my old posts on this blog and it felt like an entirely different person wrote them? I’m definitely not. THAT PERSON anymore lolol.

Anywhozles, the first piece that I’ve done in years is this backstory piece for a DND-based text campaign. I have a pretty unique character for the setting that merges the two ideas that the DM had (a harsh environment with tribal-minimalistic survivors) and the dwarven community that lives below it. That inspired this little know-it-all sass monster named Taerel, who is a mixture of both cultures.

This piece is a backstory piece for Taerel, exploring the world where he’s from along with adding mystery and a possible exploration quest in the area. It’s a first hand witness account for a hunt. like “we know about the legend, we witnessed it. It’s there and we can do something about it or do more research into the subject” kinda deal.

Expect to see more pieces in the next couple of days because I am really gonna kick my own ass into writing. I miss my muse and I want them back.

Length: 2,750+

"You know I can't leave this hunt much longer, my love." Taerel could remember his mother speaking directly to his father. He was a child then, no older than eight or nine, and like most children he had been preoccupied. His father had carved him a wooden figurine of a Dwarven soldier, and it had been his favorite toy. However, the last time they had come to their summer cabin in the Nevinai valley, he had left the toy and had not realized it until they were many, many miles away to the south, bed up in their winter dens. Now he was reuinited with his forgotten friend, and there was many a distraction to be had. Through the haze of his blissfulness, he hadn't remembered the sharp worry in his father's voice.

"Yes. but it's too early, a'ne." Ihmer said, clearly keeping his voice even and hushed for the sake of Taerel. He rarely used his wife's language, and Taerel noted that the elven words sounded so strange out of a man with such a thick accent. Tae wouldn't learn until much later in his life that Ihmer Valtor only used his mother’s words when he was playing his final hand. In an argument, The Glacial Elf language was a pleading gesture, to really emphasize that Valtor shouldn't be waved off. And Taerel could only recall instances such as this that his father had resorted to begging.

"Nonsense, Valtor. You and the boy will be fine while I hunt. The herd only uses this pass to the north of here once. At the start of the season. If you want to eat for the rest of the said season, I need to do this. If I put it off they will all be gone, and I will have to track further out and be gone longer. Look. If you're concerned that something might happen, I'll take Kovai and leave Korai here. She'll protect you." The Elven woman said firmly.

The memory of Fel'assari brought Taerel physical pain. His mother was strikingly beautiful at nearly 7 feet in height. She was as lean as a weeping tree, her skin as pale as a freshly fallen snow. Her hair had just started to turn an ashen grey, the ends already burned black by the changing of the seasons. It was nearly spring, and Assari bore the signs in her long mane of hair.

It was one of the rare times his mother wasn't already in her gear for the day. She was in a slim pair of doeskin slacks, and a haltered cut of skin to cover her chest. Although, admittedly, there was nothing to cover as there was no meat on Fel'assari's bones at all.  He remembered the way her Tornaavas, or her story, stretched across her skin in white spidery lines. Each one of Fel'assari's people when they reached the age of ten were sat down; then the clan's story were marked across their face. It started with just the clan's history. but. Eventually as the young elf grew the clan would add the young elf’s personal stories to their body. And soon enough the elf would be able to recount their life's tales by looking at how their body had changed over the years. Taerel remembered that his mother's story was intricate, scrawled down the lengths of her arms and her back. Her stories held the detailing all of the heroic things she had done, and there was a child-like desire burning within as Taerel wanted his own stories to reflect hers.

The memory of Ihmer's sigh broke Taerel's mesmerized trance on the memory his mother. He remembered looking upon from the toy in his hands to the concerned look on his father's face. Ihmer Valtor was a stern man, with a thick red beard and a round nose like a cherry. He had grey eyes like clouds, and a bald, shiny head like a coin. Ordinarily Ihmer's face was plastered with laughs and smiles. This was usually because Taerel had said something funny [often in mimcry of said man] or being alive just brought joy to him. There was fear there, and even as young as he was, Taerel could sense it. Reluctantly, Ihmer agreed for his wife to leave them.

The rest of the day played on without event. Both Taerel and Ihmer had chores to do. The two spent the day gathering herbs and other useful materials from the surrounding hills, and scavenging enough wood to stock the smoke house rack. There was nothing out of the ordinary about that day. Just one of the many lessons that there was always something to be done during the day. And, of course, Tae had happily followed his father along to help.

It wasn't until the night had come that things became unsettling. The first event occured after the meal was over, when the night settled in and a blizzard with it. It wasn't uncommon for snow to fall in the beginnings of the growing season. Plants in Nevinter were made hardy for a reason.

The snow whipped and the winds howled in the cold and the darkness, and Taerel had finally settled against Korai for the night. Korai was always the same in Taerel's memories. His mother's two large direwolf companions never seemed to change. Out of the two sisters, Korai was more mature and experienced. She slowly took in the world and was hard to startle... while her sister Kovai was the opposite. She was a reckless one and didn't have a thought in her head. His mother had a story of how she had rescued the two young dire wolves in her youth, and now the two wolves stayed at her side like family. However, this wasn't the time to recant that tale.

The young Taerel had just nestled into a comfortable spot on Korai, a caribou skin blanket wrapped around him. He still had his soldier in his hands and he was singing to it quietly as the fire flickered in the distance. His father was sitting in a makeshift chair by the fire with a book in his hands. The fire was nearly out, and the whole room was cast into darkness. Taerel did not struggle to see in the darkness. He could see the objects in the room clearly. Although they were now devoid of color and shadows, everything was still easy to see.

Everything in the house was quiet and peaceful, save for a few crackling embers. Sleep claimed the young Taerel, and he fell asleep against Korai.

Taerel wasn't sure how long he was asleep against Korai, but he awoke to the sensation of her growling. He could feel the sound reverberating through her skin, humming through his. "Papa." Taerel cried out, clearly alarmed that Korai was growling. The dwarf in the chair stirred. He had fallen asleep where he had been sitting, his book plastered across his face. The fire had since gone out, and there was a definitive chill in the room. Taerel pulled his blankets closer to him, pulling closer to Korai. Korai adjusted the two of them, not pushing the young child off of her back just yet but getting ready to stand up and lunge if necessary.

Then the two of them heard what Korai was hearing. Someone was screaming for help. It was a dull shriek at first, a woman's voice carrying on the wind. However, with each passing moment the voice carried on closer to the cabin. The winds outside had begun to pick up, and there was a harsh groan of air  and snow against the logs of the cabin. It felt like the storm outside was challenging the cabin, daring it to fall down.

Korai's growls grew more intense as the voice got closer the cabin. The two of them could now make out what the woman was saying.

"Help me, please. You have to let me in. I'm going to freeze to death. Please. I'm dying. My hands... My hands are... " The woman was begging, hysterical with tears and pain. You could hear the sobs grow closer and closer to the door.

Ihmer did not rise from his chair, he stood watching the door with a bewildered look upon his face. Then the banging started. It was the sound of a woman, desperately clawing at the door. It groaned and shuddered in it's frame, violently shaking as the banging continued.

"Please. Let me inside. Please." The voice pleaded again, shrill and full of agony. The sobbing continued, full of tears and terror. The sound of the woman made Tae's blood run cold.

Ihmer finally rose from the chair, however. He dared not near approach the door. Instinctively, he walked over to his son and hoisted him up off of Korai. Taerel was nearly taller than his father now, but despite his height he was still very skinny. Years of being toted around by either of his parents meant he instinctively wrapped around his father, dragging the blanket around both of them to keep them from the cold.

Ihmer rose a finger to his lips, a clear indication that he wanted Taerel to remain very quiet. The two of them then sat in the middle of the cabin on the floor. Korai wrapped herself around them, resting on her haunches ready for the moment hell was going to break loose.

After almost an hour of weeping and calling out, the woman outside had stopped her efforts. There was nothing now, even though the wind ripping outside had not subsided. Ihmer dared not to move, his eyes locked on the door. Taerel could feel his father's heart racing in his chest, and the young man felt uneasy. He had never seen his father so afraid before. He for one was just grateful that the woman had finally stopped. Maybe she had died?

No sooner than Taerel had felt the relief of the quiet wash over him that something else happened. His blood turned to icewater, and he felt his heart seize in his chest. It was like a bottom falling out of a barrel as a wicked laughter filled the air outside of the cabin and seeping in. It was a shrill, inhuman sound, like metal on ice. Taerel's hair stood on end and he whimpered reflexively. It finally clicked in his mind what was going on and the worst fear he had ever felt in his life had set in. They were being visited by an Ice hag.

Taerel closed his eyes as he could feel the tears welling up at his cheeks. He leaned into his father, who reflexively pulled the small boy closer. He didn't want to remember the words, but they came piercing into his mind as sure as the screeching outside.

'Mama, why must we leave here in the winter? Why do we move around so much?'

'Because my sweet son, The Frosthell changes as the seasons do. The Valley isn't safe when the snow comes.'

'Why?'

'Well. When I was just a girl, your age. My father told me a story of a group of humans who had come to settle in this land. They stayed in our little valley. The summer was good and plentiful, but they did not know how to prepare for the winter. Before long the early snows came, and the humans were unprepared.

Many froze to death in their little huts, and many starved to death. All that was said to have survived the coming of the cold was a single woman, and she did so by eating the others. By eating the flesh of her friends, her lover, and her children she transformed into a creature of darkness and cold. The hag she had become survived the winter, but her soul was lost forever in the process.

Now It is safe to live here in the valley during the months that it doesn't snow, but if you see the signs of winter coming you best move on. During the first snows of the year, she comes out from her hiding in the valley and she checks all the settlements to see if any remain. If she were to ever suspect that someone was inside, she'll pound at the door trying to get you to let her in. If that ever happens, Taerel, put the fire out and stay very quiet like nobody is home. It is said that if she catches you inside she'll tear the house down around you and eat you. Never let her in, Taerel.'

His mother's words echoed in his heart like a dagger. He wrapped himself around his father tightly, and sat stewing in his own fear. He dared not make another sound.

The laughing outside increased as the house shook violently in the wind. The bones of the house shook around them as the ice hag continued her onslaught. They could hear scratching and tearing, the house around them taking a beating. Both father and son stayed motionless for hours on the floor, each locked in a palpable fear for their lives.

It wasn't until the first light of dawn broke through the trees that the sounds of the hag had finally subsided. The laughter faded first, receding into the deep woods not far away from their house. Then the wind let up and everything faded into an uncomfortable silence.

Ihmer moved from his spot on the ground when Korai sprung from her hiding spot and bolted to the door, pressing a paw against it. Ihmer hesitantly opened the door, letting the dire wolf out into the snow. Taerel rose from his spot on the floor, instinctively moving to his father's side. He could see hesitation in his father's movements, but he mirrored. and slowly the two of them were standing outside, staring at the cabin.

The hag had done some hefty damage. Long clawmarks had been cut through the heavy logs, oozing with red with blood and ice. The markings had continued along the exterior of the hut as the witch had tried to find a way to bust through to the inside.

The worst part of all this carnage was the front door. It was plastered with blood and ice. Clearly and distinctly, one could make out  the shape of a person hunched down against it as the snow piled around. There were clear signs of human nails scratching at the door near the bottom, but as they rose higher up you could see them progressively start to shift into something inhuman.

The defining feature was three distinct claw marks  embedded into the door, with fresh blood dripping out of them.

With a sinking feeling, Taerel guessed what they were for. Three was the number of living occupants in the house. Three was the number of people she was going to eat. His heart was broken. He didn't want to get eaten by an ice hag.

It didn't take Ihmer long to act. The two of them had spent the day gathering what they could of their things and repacking them into the sleds they used to move around. They took anything that was useful: tools, clothing, oils and things that were tradeable... but they had to leave much behind, like the furniture that Ihmer had built.

When the Sun reached it's highest point in the sky, Taerel watched his father light a final fire in their home in the Nevinai. It didn't take long for the house to catch completely ablaze.

The sight of his favorite place burning brought physical pain to Taerel. Without realizing it, the young man began to cry. Sobbing at the sight of his happiest memories going up in flames, he shook uncontrollably. It was like watching someone he loved die. All the times he spent fishing in the rivers, playing with Kovai in the trees. The meals. The stories. The games. All of it was going up in flames.

....The worst part was? Without needing to explain it, Taerel already knew why. The claw marks in the door were a curse. Every single snow the hag would return to that house, without fail. If someone else were to try and use it for shelter, they would be put at risk by his families' errors. It was the unspoken law of the Frosthell that something had to be done about it, and the simplest way to rid the world of the hag's mark was to destroy what she had marked. He hated this place now. He hated the woman that had become the hag. He hated that this was just another part of his life here in the cold.

Soon. He and his father moved on, making clear tracks to an old cabin they knew of that existed some distance outside of the valley. They would move on from this spot, never to return.

Every now and again though, the memory returns to the deepest parts of Taerel's mind on a cold night. A black reminder that the world he knew the best was ceaselessly cruel.

#my writing #original #kicking this off by submitting this piece to the ages #lol #taerel

[maximus-bruin]

Event One: Ambrosia

tw: blood, abuse, suicide mention, death, rape, self-harm, drowning, burning I. Principia 

Maximus sat with his back against the wall, watching carefully as he was handed his golden chalice. The young man eyed the contents of the drink carefully, swirling it around as he listened to the offered proposal. He wasn’t exactly sure if he was going to drink just yet. Being more observant and cautious, he was unsure if this was the best move. Just to save for any side effects that happened, other than the aforementioned pain and immense suffering. All parts of it spoke of poison to him, but at the same time, he wasn’t exactly sure there was much left for him. Hopes of returning home while he was stuck in Norway seemed unlikely, and it was either play along with this or suffer something probably worse. Still, the prospect of this being covered as poison and possibly killing him didn’t exactly calm him in the slightest. 

Staring at the liquid in the chalice, only illuminated briefly by the candles in the hall, Maximus steeled his nerves and drank away, letting the cool liquid slip past his lips and down his throat. It was mildly sweet to him, not overpowering or bitter. For something that was supposed to have such horrible effects, it wasn’t bad tasting at all. He drank it all in one go, not bothering to prolong it any longer. If this meant that he was done and could go back to sleep, then he’d much rather do that, instead of sitting around and waiting to see what other lectures he was about to receive. Whether or not he lived to see tomorrow, Maximus figured he’d find out the next morning. 

II. Semper Fideles 

There was this funny thought that kept running through his mind, the thing about if a tree falls in a forest but no one hears it, did it really fall? But replace all that with screaming, and that was how he felt. And what were they doing, but just staring at him. Letting it happen. Holding torches and walking up as a crowd to throw in onto his pyre. The young man thrashed at the vines that dug into his skin, but he was tied up tight, a point that was taken very clearly. Prickly points caused little rivulets of blood to trail down his skin, but it didn’t stop him from trying. Tied against the post as he heard their low, arcane chanting. But they were people that he knew. People he went to school with, teachers, neighbors. Mouths were covered, and yet it felt like they were drowning out his scream and pleas for help. And still, the fire grew closer. 

It was licking at his toes now, and Maximus was trying his best to not be another reenactment of the witch trials. But all he heard was the thumping bass of their chanting. Cast him out. Cast him out. What did they nickname in high school again? Right, the Outcast. Fitting. He wasn’t the conventional pretty boy or the athletic boy or even the indie boy. He was the poor boy that got bussed in early mornings, lived off hand-outs and worked in his spare time. Not the richy rich or even the middle class. And if they saw him now, drinking chalices and having hallucinations like this, maybe they were right to burn him at the stake. Was he a witch? Going insane? The fire grew higher, continuing to consume his legs with this all-consuming hellfire. Tears streamed down his face as his voice grew hoarse with his screams. The pain was unbearable, slow and painful, yet searing hot and inflammatory all the same. He wished, as it rose up to his chest, the tips of the flames encroaching his neck, that it happened all at once. A flash fire, or even the grease fires he’d seen before at work. Nothing like this. This… was pain. Agony he was unfamiliar with. And Maximus’ eyes closed for his last, he thought. 

III. Vero 

He awoke with a start, clutching at the blanket that laid over his body. A dream. Nightmare. That was… reassuring, Maximus supposed. It felt so… realistic though. The way his skin felt heated, the way the burns were almost traceable on his body, even if they weren’t there. Glancing over, he saw that the candle by his beside had burned out, and perhaps the hot wax had dripped onto his hand. That must have been what woke him up. Rubbing his head, the dark-headed boy chuckled softly to himself. Right. Ambrosia. Poison. Sure. Just to be sure this wasn’t some other dream and such, he pinched himself hard on the back of his hand. You know, the whole pain to wake you up, to make sure it was real. And sure enough, it hurt like hell. Ouch. Worth it, he supposed as he adjusted his bed to sleep once more. But there was soft voice, this calling. It sounded like… “Mom?” 

Climbing out of his cot, Maximus walked over to the closet, where the sound was emanating from. As he popped it open, he met the gaze of one of his earliest crushes. Someone who he adored, who he couldn’t ever bring himself to tell that he loved, because how could he. But the sounds they made, they felt like his mother calling out to him. Asking him for help, yet at the same time, reassuring him that things were fine. His mother’s voice, but his love’s face. It should have clicked for him, but it didn’t. As the young man reached down to help them up from the floor of the closet, the other person grabbed his wrist. Tight. Too tight, in fact, where he heard his bone practically crack. Crying out, the dark-haired boy fell to his knees, trying to dull the pain of the broken bone. 

Useless, it hissed, shoving him down onto the wooden flooring. With a grunt, Maximus reached up towards the other with his other hand, watching in horror as it gripped his wrist with a clawed grasp. The creature wore a face so familiar to him, so recognizable that he wanted to trust it. But the eyes, those beady black eyes almost glowed in the darkness of his room as it pried away his hold. “W-Wait…” he stammered, but it slammed the closet door shut on him. And there he was in complete darkness, feeling the walls of the closet slowly compress and move in on him. At first he was sprawled on the ground, and the next instant, his limbs were pressing into his chest as the closet boxed him up. The clustering pain, the enclosed space was encroaching him, forcing him into more and more uncomfortable positions. Trying to push back against the trap, he knew he was fighting a losing battle from the moment it began to close on him. Maximus began tumbling, as if his box was falling down an endless flight of stairs. One bump after another, bouncing him continuously away into the dark void below that seemed to swallow him whole. 

IV. Corpus 

The water he splashed on his face seemed to jolt him, washing away the remnants of such a horrid dream. Maximus shivered, the cold water enough to keep him going he thought. He scrubbed his face, trying to rub down the weariness that seemed to seep out from his skin. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five fingers on the left, good. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five fingers on the right. Not a dream. He counted his fingers over again, just to be sure. Double check his work, right? The nightmares were excessive at this point. It was getting too much, blending together in a way where he wasn’t even sure anymore if he was asleep or awake anymore. But he learned about this trick. This should work. This was reality. 

And as if to prove him wrong, the walls around him began to shake, and Maximus began sliding. It was as if the whole place began to turn, rotated on a wheel. The walls slowly merging and blending together, until he was rolling around in this tube. There was nothing for him to grasp, everything around him crashing down and tumbling just like him. Maximus gasped, trying to avoid begin crushed while making it to the end of the curved hallway. Just to stop the spinning for a second, to grab onto the edge and hang if he had to. Pushing his way through, the young demigod lunged forward, fingers grasping tightly to the edge that seemed to drop off into darkness. What happened to the world he knew? To the water that he was just splashing on his face? But the rumbling failed to cease. In fact, it only got louder. Maximus’ face paled as he saw an enormous head rising before him, bloodshot eyes all too familiar. That face, that sneering expression. It carried so much weight behind it. Power that he had difficulty overcoming, a control that seemed to have a hold over him. It spoke of lust, of anger, of that… man. Every bit of him was just so familiar, so realistic, it was hard to believe he was even here. Maximus had thought he had gotten away. 

Suddenly, the tube began spinning quicker, shifting and morphing into a sphere. The edge he once grasped melted away, and Maximus was tumbling head over heels once more. It was like he was in this snow globe of horror, that face imprinted everywhere he saw. And he could hear it too, with his large hands clasping either side of the globe. You’re so perfect. So pretty. Don’t worry; I’ll make you feel good. You’re mine. All mine. Forever. 

V. Hereditas 

Bursting out of that room, the young man shut the door behind him tightly. His chest was heaving, eyes widened in fear. He needed this to be over, he wanted it all to stop. He needed a break, just to breathe. Sliding down the door, Maximus reached into his pocket, clutching onto his keepsake. It was a trick his mother had told him her family passed down through the generations. Some object that kept you grounded, and if you focused on it long enough, all dreams faded away. Knowing it like the back of his hand, Maximus traced the small outlines of the leather keychain, the end of it a feather. The mini dreamcatcher was his only father’s gift to him, or so his mom had said. He never knew him, so the young man could only take what his mother said at face value. 

And all around him, there was just one resounding click. Like the hand of a clock, but it was. amplified through all-surrounding loudspeakers. Doors appeared all around, shooting down the infinite hallway. The click sounded urgent, demanding. As if trying to force him away from one room to the next. That or an impending monster, clicking its way down the hallway towards him. Not eager to test that last theory out, Maximus opened up the following door, his keepsake still in hand. And there he was, an exact copy of him. Hand where hand was, face mimicking the same movements. He stared on in fascination, because it was just a mirror. That was it. Except mirror reflections didn’t move on their own. It didn’t reach down and grab the knife that was so conveniently there and slice away at his wrists. Maximus staggered back in surprise, watching in horror as blood began to trickle out of his own reflection’s wrists. It was so frightening that he dropped his own keepsake. He could feel something drip down onto his own fingers, and when glancing down, the dark-haired man was greeted with the sight of his own wrists bleeding. Except he didn’t do that. His reflection did that. Not him, not him, not him. He could only do what he did best, which was run. And so, the young man fled the horrifying specter, bursting into another room. The resounding click rang throughout the space as the door opened, just as insistent as the last time. 

And there he was. Hanging. Rope around neck, dangling like a slab of meat he had seen so often in the back freeze of the diner. Eyes unflinching as they held his gaze. There was a tightness around Maximus’ neck unlike anything he had felt before. Gasping for breath, the young man pushed on, one door after another. Drowning. Click. Pills. Click. Falling from a height that left him with a sickening crunch and blood splatter. Click. It was one death after another, and it was too much for him. The rooms were endless, just visions of how he could kill himself if he wanted. Oddly enough, the clicks felt rhythmical, controlled in a way that dictated he remain in each room for a certain amount of time. Just enough to witness the death happen, and to have it happen to him in turn. Perhaps this was the poison that he feared for so long, bubbling up inside of him and spilling out as he lay on the ground, struggling to reach the handle for the next door, as if, by some sheer dumb amount of hope, the next one would be his escape. 

VI. Offero 

He wasn’t sure if he slept at all. The way his body was covered in a sheen cover of sweat, the way his feet crunched against the cold, frost-covered leaves. It was a wonder he was even alive. Why the fuck did he have to come here, of all places? In the winter? So much for the holidays; his feet were so numbed and yet so pained, Maximus was certain he had frostbite. There was no way he wouldn’t. He didn’t even know where he was, only staring out over some lake, where the waters lapped at the shoreline. He would’ve appreciated the beauty if he wasn’t huddled against the side of a tree, arms wrapped around his bare chest as he tried to cover himself and warm himself. Maximus wasn’t sure at what point in the night he had scratched himself, if he did, but there was no way to tell for sure with the dried and frozen blood on his fingertips and the claw marks on his chest. From the way his back stung, he could tell he went berserk there. 

The worst part about this, despite being too cold to really move with what little willpower he had left, was that Maximus wasn’t even sure he was still awake or if he was dreaming. All the tricks he thought he knew, about pinching yourself, counting the number of fingers you had, testing out some mental object that he had traced with such explicit detail, all of those tricks failed. So this, to him, was no less a nightmare. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. He whimpered softly, suddenly feeling the world spin underneath him. And the young man was leaning over, retching again and again with his insides suddenly coming outside of him. There were voices, voices that he wasn’t sure if they were stuck inside his mind or actually voices around him. Could he trust the voices? More tricks and troubles coming his way. His eyes fluttered weakly as he saw a trail of torches cutting through, making its way closer and closer to him. For now, he’d stay here. The pain in his head, the tattered shirt around him, the way the snow could envelop his toes and fingers and numb what he was feeling, even if it was just a dream… Maximus figured he’d just stay a little longer, letting the feeling wash over him and lull him to sleep. Who knew you could sleep in a dream? Just for a little bit; he needed the rest.

#gsevent #tw: blood #tw: abuse #tw: death #tw: suicide mention #tw: rape #tw: self-harm #tw: drowning #tw: burning #event: ambrosia #self para

[shewolfofficial]

Levi x Traitor!Reader

 A/N: I finally got another idea for the traitor reader scenario thing lmao 

Summary: You work in the Survey Corps and you are sided with Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt. What happens when Levi and the others find out and try corner you?

Warning: Cursing, Slight Angst, Violence 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were out shopping in wall Rose, at the markets shopping for groceries and to also clear your mind from recent events. Smiling to the cashier as you handed them the money due you paid them, got your bag of stuff and walked off.

// Flashback \\

You watched hopelessly as your dear friend Annie tried to quickly climb the wall in her titan form, silently wanting to go over and help her escape from most likely death.’’She’s heading up the wall!’’ Jean calls out ‘’She’s trying to escape’’ Hanji adds as you watch Eren cling to her legs. You wanted to help Annie but if you were to transform you would blow away your position, plus you are surrounded by highly trained soldiers. Annie kicked Eren off her but Eren took off one of her legs in the process, falling to the ground clutching her leg ‘’no, no no! We can’t let her get away!’’ Armin panicked as you stood there in silence.

You watched Mikasa fly off ‘’I won't let her!’’ she shouted heading up towards the large figure, Mikasa relentlessly slices off Annie’s fingers ending up in her hurtling to the ground. ‘’She got her!’’ Hanji cried out making you pale slightly, feeling a presence behind you looking over your shoulder seeing your boyfriend Levi with his 3DM Gear walking down the rooftop towards you and Hanji.’’Erwi-’’ Levi was cut off when a vicious roar erupted, Eren, in his titan form darted past the group as he pounced on Annie. 

Teeth razor sharp he started hitting her and ended up ripping one of her arms off, slowly lowering his jaws to her nape ‘’Uh! Oh no he’s going to devour her whole!’’ Hanji cried out ‘’Eren back off!’’ Jean shouted to him ‘’Eren! Get off of her!’’ You screamed at him in anger. Eren ignored everyone's calls and ripped open her nape staring down at Annie. 

She was crying.

‘‘Huh? What’s he doing?’‘ Hanji asked leaning forward before bright blue light appeared, coving your face with your arm you watched on. ‘‘They’re merging?!’‘ Armin asked in shock ‘‘wait what!?’‘ you said in surprise. Eren roared trying to get away as Annie encased herself in a crystal slowly. ‘‘Stop it Eren!’‘ Mikasa called out to him dropping to the ground, Levi shot off towards the two titans and simply sliced Eren out ‘‘It’s not a good idea to eat our key evidence, you idiot’‘ Levi said to the younger boy who hanged out of the titan carcass. 

This was it

Annie lost.

// End of Flashback \\

Walking through the streets of wall Rose you hummed quietly to yourself until something grabbed your wrist and pulled you into a dark alley. Yelping you turned to face Levi ‘’w-what was that for!? Why are you here? And most important why are you stalking me Levi?’’ you shrieked in an annoyed tone, Levi shook his head ‘’come back to HQ Y/N it’s dangerous out here’’ Levi stared into your eyes as your eyebrows furrowed.

 ‘’No it's not dangerous, Levi what’s up with you?’’ you asked looking to your boyfriend who had glanced behind you. ‘’Oi Levi?’’ you say, he clicks his tongue ‘’Y/N go back to HQ now’’ you could tell he was losing his patience at something.. but what?? ‘’Why? you’re telling me to go back for no reason, jeez chill.. you’re acting possessive’’ you roll your eyes getting annoyed at the male. Sensing a presence behind you-you turned facing Hanji who was frowning towards you. Raising an eyebrow both ends of the alleyway had been blocked off by your boyfriend and your best friend. 

‘’Guys what the hell are you doing? You’re acting all weird’’ you say as panic slowly builds up in your chest ’have they found out? No they would have killed me by now....’ you think ‘’Oh don’t worry Y/N there’s no need to be scared now..’’ Hanji couldn’t help but giggle making your eyes widen ‘’Hanji what the fuck you’re scaring me..’’ you say towards the woman who was approaching you, feeling a hand on your shoulder you jumped ‘’Come back Y/N no need to be afraid of us’’ Levi said into your ear. Backing up you looked to both of them ‘’guys what the fuck? you’re acting strange I think you two need to see a doctor’’ you succeed at not stuttering as Levi stares at you. 

‘‘Y/N~ Why so scared? We’re only your friends~’‘ Hanji purred appearing by your side ‘‘we know about you and Annie~’‘ she whispered into your ear making you flinch, eyes widened you quickly made space between yourself and them. Levi looked like he was holding something under his cape, of course he was, undoing the cape he wore he 3DM Gear. 

‘‘What! What the fuck!?’‘ you shrieked in terror as they began running towards you, instinctively you cut yourself causing a large blast of heat and wind. Muscle and flesh began to build up around your form as your titan appeared, standing up above the buildings your adrenaline kicked in as you took off the opposite way.

‘‘Get her!’‘ you hear Hanji yell from behind you, looking over your shoulder you see your friends speeding towards you led by Levi who wore a betrayed expression. Swiftly turning around a corner the civilians cried out as you stomped and destroyed buildings. Grabbing onto the side of one, you threw it down from behind you slowing your friends down. Bulleting full speed through the streets you dodged, swerved and squished soldiers and scouts who tried stopping you.

Without noticing you ran into a trap, wires from all directions pierced your tender flesh raising your arms you crystallized them and covered your nape. ‘’We got her! Woohoo!’’ Hanji cheered landing on the roof next to you, feeling something land on your head you watched as Levi hung in front of your face frowning at you ‘’Do you know how many soldiers you killed? Do you? Did you even think about anything when you and your friend slaughtered my team?’’ Levi growled at you. ‘’we were forced..’’ were the only words that came out of your titan's mouth, silence filled the area as everyone watched you. Landing your eyes on Levi’s smaller figure he held onto a strand of your H/C hair that hung in front of your face. ‘’why are you after Eren?’’ Levi continued raising his blade to your eye. You stayed silent watching his blade inch slowly closer to your pupil ‘’wouldn’t want to ruin your gorgeous eyes now would we Y/N... Then again it’s the least we could do to you..’’ Levi said lowly watching your expression change to a worried one.

Feeling another tug of hair your eyes flickered to where it came from, Armin stared right back you. ‘’I think I know why she killed your squad’’ he said as he watched your pupils dilate, Levi didn’t take his orbs off you ‘’she was jealous... she always has been’’ Armin smirked seeing your eye twitch lightly ‘’She was always jealous of Petra... the way you two were always so close.. It drove Y/N up the wall until she took it upon herself to murder the sweet girl’’ Armin’s smirk grew bigger watching you grow more agitated ‘’we hated each other’’ your form croaked to the blonde who nodded his head. Levi stared at you in silence, you killed his squad, you killed Petra? One of his best soldiers because you were jealous? Because you hated her? 

Armin continued mentally torturing you ‘’Y/N would come to me to vent, she hated the thought of Petra liking you, she hated the thought of the possibility of you two getting together she hated the connection you had with Petra’’ this caused you to growl shaking your head, Levi drew his blade closer to your eye ‘’don’t do it Y/N I know you’re fond of making wild ideas... don’t do it’’ Levi warned, you settled down for a few seconds before abruptly kicking yourself free, Levi dropped from you in case you tried to squish him or Armin.

Snapping your head to the right you caught a soldier who was frozen from fear, slamming your hand down you ended them in an instant then took off again. ‘That fucking blonde bastard is going to pay for that’ you thought menacingly, feeling skin tear you look to your leg seeing Levi cut through it, swiftly reaching down you managed to catch him in a tight hold raising him to your face you watched Levi’s eyes widen ‘’Y/N what the fuck are you doing!?’’ he cursed at you. ‘’Forgive me’’ you tell the raven-haired male, breaking his gear in your hand you drop him on a rooftop as you speed by.

‘‘Eren transform!’‘ you hear Hanji command from afar, not soon after you hear a loud roar, adrenaline getting worse your speed gets faster, seeing the large wall getting closer and closer you jumped off the side of a building propelling yourself up to the wall. Hardening the skin of your entire hands you hastily climbed up it, feeling Eren cling to your legs you harden both your legs and forcefully kick him off saving both your lower limbs. 

‘‘She’s getting away!’‘ Jean screeches watching you climb the wall in a panic, hearing wires zip towards you-you see Mikasa furiously try to cut away at your hands, snapping your head at the direction you snap her in between your jaws. Gently putting pressure on her before you spit her out watching her hurtle towards the ground. ‘‘Mikasa!’‘ Armin cries to his friend. 

Finally reaching the top of the wall you pull yourself up swatting at the trainee’s and soldiers who buzzed around you like flies. Eventually squishing them all you looked back to your friends kneeling before sitting up slightly looking off towards the sunset, swinging a leg over the wall you edge yourself over the top before a voice calls out to you. Eyes darting over to whoever it came from you see Levi stand on the wall beside you looking up. ‘’Are you really going to leave me?’’ he asks, looking to his set of blades he had none, only gas. He looked up to you hopelessly ‘’Y/N stop this... we can forget about everything just fucking drop this’’ he shouted up to you, shaking your head you lowered a gentle hand down to him, softly rubbing the top of his hair as a tear rolled down your cheek ‘’I love you’’ you say before swinging the other leg over and dropping to the ground making it shake slightly. Looking back up you notice Levi looked down to you as you slowly started to run off to the sunset tears rolling down your face.

You would see Levi again...

You would make sure of it....

#levi #Levi Ackerman #captain levi #Levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #captain levi x reader #x reader #aot #snk #shingkei no kyojin #Attack On Titan #TitanShifter!Reader #Titan Shifter #fanfic #fanfiction

[kandyrezi]

nothing but a heartache;

fandom: wadanohara and the great blue sea

characters/pairings: tsuribari/stella

summary: “tsuribari wondered why his chest ached painfully everytime he thought of or looked at the pretty yet sullen starfish girl.” | word count: 2.9k

warnings: mentions of death and drowning.

from a prompt: muse feels a sharp pain in their chest every time they think of their lover (or someone/thing they love)

///

tsuribari has held great distaste for a lot of things the more time that he’s been forced spend around the various people and the sea creatures who aimlessly floated around him, sprouting nothing but nonsense - as if they were mocking him. the annoying noisy places that surrounded him, no matter where he was, the buzzing at the back of his head never seemed to cease. how thickheaded everyone could be, how no one took his words seriously or dismissed him as some insignificant being, how no one appreciated a bit of silence every now and then - or better yet, just not talk at all, sew their mouths shut if he could.

(annoyances. annoyances. annoyances. nothing but.)

he chooses to sit in one of the more secluded areas of the red sea, the wooden building firm against his back as rotting seaweed grew from the sandy ground and engulfed the corners of the decaying white building, until it would inevitably vanish completely and leave nothing behind after a decennial or so. just like everything else in this sea.

stella gently leans her head against his shoulder whilst holding her knees close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her ankles. he notices her occasionally peering at the text inside the book he was reading to her (of two children kidnapped by a cannibalistic witch living in a house constructed of cookies, sweets, and other confectionery), otherwise keeping her gaze on her feet, or away from him, at the very least as to not bother him too much. whilst normally not being too keen on physical contact - even if he barely feels anything - he’d made an exception for one person.

the only one, really, he thinks.

“bookworm, bookworm, i finally get the pun, mwhee-hee! why do you always have your nose stuck in a book, worm?”

tsuribari stops reading out-loud mid-sentence, gaze hardening and fingertips gripping the edges of the cover a bit too harshly. of course sheep, of everyone, had to come taunt him and disturb the peace, yet nothing he’s not used to already. the starfish girl next to him fortunately doesn’t appear deterred in the slightest at the intrusion and continues making herself comfortable against him. the blond boy can only sigh, lowering the book only ever so slightly, barely giving them a glance.

“could you leave? you’re distracting me.”

he thinks they try too hard, no childish insult could aggravate him more than he already was at everything.

well, just about everything.

- : - : - : - : - : -

as long as he could remember, the pretty starfish - equally as apparitional and so unfeeling - girl had been alongside him, ever since when he drowned in the blue-coated sea and she’d been the first to find him. he remembered it vividly. he hated the memory, yet refused to let go of it. he’d woken up in an unknown place, everything had been swimming in front of him, both figuratively and in a very literal sense. a place so unlike of where he had never been to previously.

he could only deduce the fact he was indeed underwater, bleak and cold, something painful piercing through his head that kept him from moving on his own. there was blood in the corners of his vision, small indefinite amounts of it falling in front of him, then immediately merging with the water as it faded into minuscule drops off into the distance – upon letting his fingers graze across his scalp, brushing against something smooth and metallic that was merged with his skin, blood oozing around it as his fingers became coated in it. he flinched from the pain, his breathing felt odd and uneven – he could still breathe, but just barely.

as he began to wiggle his way around, something had moved in the distance, towards him, closer. he saw the tail slowly moving back and forth behind the sea creature, taunting its presence. his uneven breathing grew worse and his lungs felt on fire, he tried to run away, move in any way, but his feet would not allow him to. the figure in the distant grew, the nearer it swam towards him. seaweed tangled around his thighs, keeping him in place even tighter.

the blood flowing from his forehead was no doubt fresh bait for the hungry fish. the young worm boy’s panicking only grew worse at the realization, what he could only imagine being either due to lack of air or extreme anxiety caused by shock, causing him to subconsciously close his eyes and pass out.

(fear.)

it had been quiet when his eyelids slowly opened and he woke again. staring up into the beaming sunlight bathing in the tides of the sea from up above, as the blurred objects merged into a clear image, he realized he was in an entirely different area. coral plants in magenta and leaves bigger than him from earthly-colored plants circled around him as he tried to properly inspect his surroundings while groggily sitting up. still underwater unfortunately, he dully noted. there was now solid ground underneath his feet, rather rocky and not very comfortable to lay on, he decided as he rose onto his knees.

whilst inspecting, he saw that he wasn’t entirely on his own anymore, when he looked at a girl young as himself, in brunette twin-tails held in place with golden starfish and a purple uniform with a skirt, staring back at him. in wonder, perhaps, much like himself.

he sunk his fingers into his knees to stop them from shaking relentlessly. dark irises trailed back and forth, unsure what to focus his attention on with a million inquires running through his head.

“w-who are you?”

the young girl looked away timidly, instead choosing to fiddle with the hem of her skirt for a little while.

when she finally introduced herself as ‘stella’, she spoke so quietly, he tried to tune out the hammering of his heart beating against his chest, instead trying to focus on the sound of her voice. the starfish girl still refused to meet his eyes, not quite sure if she should say anything else.

it was silent between the two for about a minute.

“i took you to a safe place… away from… them.”

her voice was hoarse when she tried to speak at first, like she’s not used to doing so for long periods of time.

his fear subdued when she did though, if only by a little bit. the heart in his chest was still beating rapidly and unevenly (feeling a slight tinge of discomfort, but he felt grateful to be alive, nonetheless). he tried to reach his hand on atop of his forehead. a smooth, metallic item was still impaled through his skull and blood was still leaking from around it, though not as severely as before. thinking about it like that made him grimace, nearly becoming woozy.

after only a moment of hesitation, did he finally decide to give her his own name.

“i’m... tsuribari.”

a couple more minutes passed by in silence, only the sounds of underwater plants swaying left and right, leaves brushing against one another ringing in his ears.

“...i’ve been alone for... a while.” stella explained, though not offering much insight.

but tsuribari thought there wasn’t much of a need to. despite having preferred to spend most of his time in solitude, he knew what made others tick when he learned to observe them from afar.

“i don’t know how i got here... either.” he responded with a worry of his own.

abandoned. just like him.

he had a feeling he wouldn’t be returning home anytime soon. wherever home was anymore and if it even existed.

“...i’m scared.” tsuribari confessed with a slight quiver in his voice.

she didn’t know how to respond. comfort was a foreign concept to the starfish. stella did the only thing she could think of and slowly extended her hand towards his own, gently brushing against his fingers and grasped them, intertwining them together. his nerves had calmed down by then as he allowed her to hold his hand, no longer did he feel the suffocating agony of his throat being tightened from fright. at least he had something - or someone - to confide in.

she almost understood him the same way that he did, expressing her distress and gloom with no needed words, her solemn expression and gestures spoke for themselves.

(fear. reluctant acceptance.)

fingers intertwined as they wandered, stepping on the glistening roads made of rocks, keeping the other from falling down and bonding over the mutual feeling of being thrown away and discarded. he took in the waves of the sea now that the threat of being eaten alive wasn’t looming over him. the waves did seem to get harsher the longer they spent time out there. on land, it would have reminded him of an incoming storm (he held her hand a little tighter, just to be secure). it was a fairly secluded area where nobody would wander to without a reason.

there wasn’t a single fish in sight, other than the occasional whale shark or some other potential predator, when stella had made sure to pull the both of them out of its sight, behind a boulder of rocks big as themselves for cover.

stella told him of the war between the daughters of the sea king for their rightful place as the throne’s next princess, and tsuribari listened with intent. one of them, princess mikotsu, was on the verge of losing and it was only a question of time when the sea would split between the two sisters.

“that... seems unfair.”

stella hummed, in quiet agreement, the boy assumed.

“where will you be going, then?” he decided to ask.

“...the rightful princess.”

tsuribari could only assume that he would have to make his own judgment when the time came for it.

stella appeared just a little less taciturn when talking about something else besides herself, so tsuribari thought of asking her to tell more stories of the kingdom and its residents (a culture he hadn’t even been aware of back on land), and if they were heading somewhere at all.

they came to a sudden halt when - with hardly any warning signs - tsuribari’s legs gave out from underneath him, causing him to collapse and letting his hand slip from her own. his heart was beating rapidly once again, whereas before it was discomforting at worst, this time it felt as if his chest was going to burst at any second. panic welled up inside of him again, not understanding what was wrong with him.

dying. he was dying slowly, agonizing with the pain he was in, he came to the realization as tears threatened to prickle at the corners of his eyes.

blood seeped across his face from the wound of the hook stuck in his forehead, gradually beginning to pool around his eyes, which he could barely keep open. he saw stella kneeling by him, holding onto the sleeves of his shirt, trying to stop him from writhing and shaking.

the waves of the sea still hadn’t calmed down.

he felt cold. so very cold.

“i d-don’t want you to die. please… w-we’ll find help.” stella’s voice quivered. it was the most emotion he’d heard in her voice so far.

he just wished it’d been a different emotion.

(fear. reluctant acceptance. indifference. then...)

he felt his heart stop beating, one last time. it was painful, but he was glad she was the one he was looking at as the last thing before he’d passed out.

he didn’t need to be afraid.

- : - : - : - : - : -

“how cute, the two of you. if only old would let me lean against him, but he just gets mad everytime i touch him, mwheehee~” sheep grins.

tsuribari lifts the book again high enough on purpose to block his vision from the ammonite.

“redirect your infatuation problems towards someone who actually cares.”

it seems to work, when he hears them humming slightly and finally leaving, but not before throwing some more remarks his way.

“how stingy. i won’t interrupt the young lovers’ alone time then~”

he doesn’t much (not in the slightest) like their mocking tone of voice as they said it.

tsuribari sighs quietly.

it’s tranquil again for the time being, as much as it could be in the sea, just between him and his companion. not a lot has changed between the two of them, he thinks, with the exception stella has been noticeably more quiet than before in the blue sea, even towards him. he didn’t mind it however, those types of people were indeed rare. even if her solemn expressions and gestures meant little else to most others, he could read them like a book, her hatred and contempt for this world, much like--

much li--

--his train of thought is interrupted when he feels a weird jolt of pain go directly through where his beating heart is supposed to be. he flinches at the unexpected sting and shifted around a bit in discomfort.

as far he knows, he is supposed to be dead - to put bluntly - and not feel anything, as any corpse should not. maybe it were just some strange side effects that happened after a while of being deceased. it’s been somewhat of a long time, while he’s lost count of the years, he should still know. but he’s felt nothing but dullness all this time, so it would be strange now.

his mind momentarily wanders, and thinks about whether or not anyone else - particularly stella, the starfish still dozing off next to him - felt the same--

--and the same annoying heartache is there again, making him grimace. he places a hand on his chest. he could not even describe it, it felt like very regular pain, like a stomachache. unexpectedly harsh at first, lasting for mere moments then fading off.

“…what’s wrong?” stella asks tiredly after a long pause of silence. he must’ve been ‘acting’ so strange it even woke and drove her to speak. he was reading to her before, up until it seemed she wasn’t listening anymore and had dozed off.

- : - : - : - : - : -

when he had woken up again, there wasn’t anymore pain in his chest.

it was dark, echoing sounds of howling in the distance. he tried to adjust his vision to see what was supposed to be in front of him, though it didn’t seem to accomplish much. only an odd, unprecedented sight continued to stare back. whereas before the gentle radiance of sunlight had gleamed upon him, he couldn’t spot anything remotely resembling something that would be classed as natural light and the blue waves of the sea blending together.

red.

he saw the crimson-colored remains of what might have been the sea he was in previously. everything felt murkier. looking around, he almost began panicking again, when he spotted the familiar sight of his friend. his only friend.

in relief, he began pacing towards her - before stopping abruptly.

whereas before she seemed more timid and struck with grief, he saw something completely new mixed in this time around. lethargy. she seemed to not be bothered in the slightest by their situation.

he deciding to adjust and follow her lead.

even though stella hadn’t given him any particular description of the two potential heiresses of the throne, there was still something peculiar about the fish hovering in the distance, the familiar forlorn look of someone who had been discarded and thrown away - yet she was determined to not let that deter her, the air of excessive importance and bloodthirst for vengeance hung heavily around her.

her eye had been scratched out and the red-rimmed wilts under her eyes suggested she’d been crying heavily.

yet it was still the princess who had... saved him?

he frowned deeply at the fishhook still embedded inside his skull, a dull throbbing around his gaping wound still present. still.

was it really worth living the way he did though, he wondered briefly. would it have simply been better if he had died strung pathetically around that rope, his body being ripped apart by a shark with teeth sharper than a knife. would it have been better to have felt pain only for a few seconds, then passed away quietly, than to continue living in a way that felt like he was stuck between limbo and the afterlife. maybe then, the sea wouldn’t feel so cold, nor his skin so numb.

stella decided to quietly approach him herself, trying to reach and grasp his hand.

except he shook her off this time, instead choosing to look back with a dull, bored look at a new gaze standing in front of him.

he didn’t look whether or not that had hurt her at all. it didn’t matter at that point. he was the one who was hurting the most after all (aside from the princess maybe, from the looks of it).

a pair of ruby-red eyes belonging to a white shark, gazing at him with a knowing, sadistic smile.

(fear. reluctant acceptance. indifference. then antipathy.)

“welcome to the sea of death, little one.”

- : - : - : - : - : -

“…nothing. forget about it.” he says in a bored voice as usual - there’s a tinge of irritation in it than how he normally spoke. would it have been directed towards anybody else, they likely wouldn’t have noticed, but he wonders if stella did. choosing not to even look at her, as he gripped his shirt and tugged at it, hiding the torturous twinge at the center.

the boy tries to shut off his mind for now and focus on his book instead, as he turns away with his entire body, with his back now facing her, not bearing the burden of seeing her crestfallen expression. he doesn’t want to feel the same pain again that he did when he’d woken in the sea and died for the first time all those years ago.

why did he have to suffer, when the others deserved it so much more.

#mogeko #funamusea #watgbs #tsuribari (watgbs) #stella (watgbs) #tsuritella #okegom #dsp #deep-sea prisoner #oounabara to wadanohara #ficlets #tsuribari #stella #wadanohara #sea of death #this is one of my longer fics... #and yes it's also a rewrite of one of my older ones... #gif credit to bandeau on wattpad

[nayrusfountain]

Under the Moonless Sky

It was late. The distant melody of the Clock Town bells had long since echoed the coming of night, urging the Terminian denizens to retire into their welcoming homes. And yet to Mikau and many other night going Zoras, it signifies the time roam in the covers of the night. Their time to swim...To go to work. To play and chase the neon waves...

Their time to properly worship their Divine Mother.

Being nocturnal, the fin bladed Zora stalked the nightly beaches, his clawed flippers sinking into the cushiony, soft sand. The chirps of crickets rang cheerfully on the palm trees, and the faint song of a lone wolf sang mournfully into the night. Fireflies flash their gentle glow around him, hoping to attract a potential mate with their light display. And sea turtles emerged from the sea to lay their eggs. Mikau loves the night. While humans have a natural fear of what lurks in its darkness, Mikau and many other nocturnal Zoras see it as a time of mystical beauty and harmony.

The starry heavens twiddle and danced far above him, their star dust sprinkling into the illuminating ocean. The constellations of Zoran spirits and Gods litter over the sea and beyond, watching over their Zoran children of Termina. The ocean waves gently crash onto the white, sandy shoreline of Great Bay, the frothy foam sizzling as it retreated back into the ocean. Blue lights bloom from the surfing waves, with Zoras crashing through its watery barrier and spreading the neon glow soaring into the air. They launched at the glittering blues with their mouths open and teeth gleaming, and upon closer inspection, are revealed to be firefly squids. Mikau had already eaten some before arriving to the beach, and merely glance at his hungry fellows with mild interest. He had however stared worryingly at the cosmic Terminian skies.

Normally, there would be two Terminian Moons visible in the heavens, each one belonging to their respective Gods. The Hylian Moon of the mythical Fierce Deity watch proudly from his divine sky throne, watching over his Hylian subjects.

Nayru's Moon, however, is nowhere in sight.

Concern, Mikau try not to think much of it, but the absence of his people's Lunar Deity is cause for worry. Such a thing never befell the Zoras before, and he honestly doesn't know how to cope with the bizarre situation. Nayru meant everything to his race, from myths to the very culture his society thrives on, she is what kept the Zoras together as a family. Even the concept of courting with mates are reliant on her guidance; their holy Mother acting as a priest that permanently merge the lover’s souls into one entity. 

He continued on his way, stroking the weary turtles in reassurance as they drag themselves onto shore.The reptile closed their eyes in comfort at the Zora’s soothing touch. Occasionally he’ll help a few individual that appears to be struggling to make way for a decent nest in the crowding beach, carry them to a more private spot and guarding them from annoying predators who dare messes with the life giving balance being bestow upon by his favorite animal. 

Suddenly, a soothing tone echo in the night, drowning out the sounds of crickets and dulling the waves. Mikau perked and listen, toning in to the song coming from up ahead the beach. It was gentle, calm, and familiar. He followed the song, recognizing it all to well. Someone's singing the song of the Zoran Goddess, perhaps trying to bring out her Moon from hiding. Mikau approach the Beavers' Waterfall, and set his sights on an elegant Hylian woman singing by the shoreline, strumming her harp as she pour her heart out to ocean. Her voice captivated the Zoran Hero, and he watch with awe as sang Nayru's Song. The Zora approach, and watch her preform in the night. She wore a regal blue dress, a golden necklace with a moon pendant and the Zora's Sapphire on her mid section. Her blue hair ripple and rose like the waves, and her voice is purer than any mortal could ever have. Mikau was simply entrance by her beauty. Normally he would've run back into the ocean at the sight of a stranger, but this woman felt different. He felt like he truly know her for a long time.

She finished her song, and look over to the curious Zora with eyes bluer then the ocean itself. They were the color of sapphires, just like his own. Her body gave off a heavenly warm glow, and her eyes were kind and wise. Mikau's eyes grew wide, suddenly gaining the realization of who this mysterious person might be.

"Are you...our Divine Mother?"

The mysterious woman nodded in the Zora's direction, her sapphire orbs resembling the lunar pearls rumored to litter the sacred Moon's surface. Her ears suddenly flutter, and upon closer inspection, Mikau saw that they were tiny blue fins flapping like small wings. Her blue nails are unusually sharp to be that of a regular Hylian, almost resembling Zoran claws. And when she smiled, the snowy Zora saw small canines among her otherwise normal human teeth.

The woman approach the shark like Zora calmly. Mikau remain where he stands, caught in a trancelike state as the blue haired being approached him. In any other situation, Mikau would've lengthen his fins as a warning to potential dangers, swaying his arms slowly and glaring intently as his colorful patches glowed bright red. His Zoran Hero breed are naturally weary of strangers, especially humans. His past experiences with people from land had its ups and downs, and usually he'll sulk away at the sight of unfamiliar faces.

But this person...It's almost like she has the very essence of the Goddess of Wisdom herself.

"Your time in this world will be numbered with great challenges, my child," the woman suddenly said, her motherly smile turning into that of a sad one. Her voice was angelic yet eerie, otherworldly even. It reverberated and echo across the Bay and beyond the sea, suddenly alerting the sensitive Terminian Zoras of a supernatural presence. They darted off, spooked by the ghostly voice as they dive into the safety of the inky depths. The firefly squids they were preying on relax and let the waves carry them, relief overriding their systems.

Mikau shiver at her divine, godly voice, his fins twitching and tail stiff. He had however regain his composure and blink in confusion at her words.

"W-what do you mean...?"

The female stare up to the starry skies, her eyes twinkling. The Zoran Hero follow her gaze, noting she had directed her sights on the Fierce Deity's Moon. The Hylian God of War seems to be staring down at him, his lunar body seemingly dimmer than he originally thought. Mikau never paid much attention to the particular God beforehand, knowing his guardianship is for the Hylians rather than the Zoras. As such, while still respected by the Zoras, they generally don't worship him.

But this time, the God is directing his gaze to him. Mikau could feel the Deity's cold stare piercing into his soul, and a chill spiked up his spine.

The woman continue staring at the sky, her eyes swirling into shimmering whirlpools. Mikau watch her eyes closely and carefully, and through their watery, glassy gaze, a brief vision of the heavens shone through. Starry images of deceased Zoras swam with grace in her vision, and the Godly constellations of Nayru's divine children seems to react with urgency, standing in between the souls and the mortal world protectively.

"The Goddess of Time came to me in a vision," the female finally reply. "A great yet impossible task will befall you and two others across the land."

"Impossible? But I fought many foes before, milady," Mikau stated with a flexing of his muscles. "I have protected the ocean from many threats with my very life, and served you well. What could possibly be such a challenge that it'll prove 'impossible?'"

"I cannot reveal much, but I will tell you this. One day a young Hylian child from an alternate world of our own will be bestowed upon Termina. When the time is right, your fates will intertwine, and that alone will mean the difference between life or death. Your strengths will become one. Your souls will connect. This will be your ultimate test, one that'll decide the fate of the world."

"The world huh?" Mikau murmur to himself. He thought the situation over, letting the information seep into his conscience. "I don't understand. How would a Hylian child help me in my task?"

"You'll understand when the time comes," the woman said, her body beginning to dissolve into sprinkling star dust. Mikau grew alert, reaching out for the mystical being. But one look into her eyes stopped him in his tracks.

The blues expanded entirely, turning the once Hylian-like eyes into Zoran eyes. Two great, purple fins grew from her ears and reposition themselves on the top of her head, like a pair of sails. Her liquid hair solidified and turn into a long, finned tail. Her dress evaporated and in turn an elegant Zoran body were revealed. Fins draped from her sides and ankles, and two large, purple bladed pectoral fins span out of a running line of jagged blades and tower and draped on both arms. Her fists were also armed with smaller dagger like fins as well as her shoulders.

The more she dissolves, the more her Zoran features revealed itself. Mikau watch in astonishment as the divine being disappears in a starry mist. The winds of Farore picked up the twinkling particles and cast it away to the heavens. A moment of cloudiness ensures in an particular area in the sky, and when they departed, Nayru's Moon shone proudly over the seas once again. Mikau watch as the Goddess of Wisdom accompany the Fierce Deity, their Moons brimming with confidence.

Despite the uncertainty of the situation in the unknown future, Mikau couldn't help but smile at Lunar Deities, their confidence rubbing off of him. The gentle breeze blew at his fins from the sea, and the Zora decided to retire for the night, making his way back to Zora Hall where his band is currently staying for the month. He doesn't know what to expect exactly...

But when the time of his great task comes, he'll be ready to once again Termina well.

And hopefully, so will the little Hylian.

Just a little story I did a long time ago for a Amino challenge. Hope you like it. 

#legend of zelda #mikau #nayru

[orbemnews]

John J. Sweeney, Crusading Labor Leader, Is Dead at 86 John J. Sweeney, a New York union researcher who climbed to the pinnacle of the American labor movement in the 1990s, leading the A.F.L-C.I.O. for 14 years through an era of fading union membership but rising political influence, died on Monday at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 86. Carolyn Bobb, an A.F.L.-C.I.O. spokeswoman, confirmed the death. She did not specify the cause. As president, from 1995 to 2009, of the nation’s largest labor federation — 56 unions with 10 million members near the end of his tenure — Mr. Sweeney flexed labor’s political muscle with thousands of volunteers and helped elect Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008. Over the years, he also helped elect Democrats to seats in Congress, to governorships and to state legislatures across the country. His tougher task, a quest to reinvigorate and diversify the faltering labor movement itself, had the weight of history pushing against him. For decades in the 20th century, labor had not welcomed women, African-Americans, Latinos or Asian-Americans, often engaging in blatantly discriminatory tactics to preserve the dominance of white men in the workplace. Substantial but uneven gains had been achieved since the civil rights era of the 1960s, when unions began removing “whites only” clauses from their constitutions and bylaws. But Mr. Sweeney, still facing lopsided demographics, plotted a sea change. He crusaded to bring women and minorities into the fold, often in leadership posts; made alliances with civil rights groups, students, college professors and the clergy; and championed low-wage workers, shifting away from the A.F.L-C.I.O’s traditional emphasis on protecting the best-paid union jobs. In Mr. Sweeney’s campaign for the federation presidency, his running mate, for the newly created post of executive vice president, was Linda Chavez-Thompson, a Texas sharecropper’s daughter. She was the first minority group member ever elected to organized labor’s top executive ranks. The 1995 balloting itself was unique: It was the first contested election in the history of the federation, which had been created in 1955 by a merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations after a long estrangement. A signature Sweeney initiative encouraged the recruitment of thousands of immigrants to his unions. Many members had long been hostile to undocumented workers, accusing them of stealing union jobs and dragging down wage scales. Mr. Sweeney rebuked such talk as discriminatory and called for justice that included better treatment for underpaid immigrants and a path to citizenship for those in the United States illegally. Critics contended that Mr. Sweeney’s policies were locked in a liberal past, deploying mid-20th century civil rights and blue-collar union strategies to organize 21st century workers with internet skills. Mr. Sweeney rejected that claim, just as he had rebuffed corporations that moved jobs overseas and denounced the hostilities that many young white-collar workers voiced toward old-line unions. In a labor movement that had been declining since 1979, when union membership peaked at 21 million, Mr. Sweeney prodded his constituent unions to greatly increase spending on organizing. He often said that his first priority was to reverse the long slide and substantially expand labor’s rank-and-file. But by 2009, when he stepped down, his vision of a dramatic unionization surge comparable to those of the late-Depression 1930s and the postwar ’40s had failed to materialize. In fact, overall union membership in America had fallen on his watch to about 12 percent from 15 percent of the workforce, a trend that has since continued, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Based on the optimism that supporters of the labor movement felt in 1995 when he was elected, I think it’s hard not to be disappointed with the results,” Richard W. Hurd, a professor of labor relations at Cornell University, told The New York Times in 2009. “How much of that you can trace back to John Sweeney is a whole other question.” In a departing interview with The Times in his Washington office — looking across Lafayette Park to the White House, where he had conferred with President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s and with Mr. Obama more recently — Mr. Sweeney spoke optimistically in the face of the Great Recession, which had been underway for more than a year and had already forced thousands of layoffs, further winnowing union ranks. “I think the recession is going to drive people to the conclusion that they can’t resolve their problems by themselves, and they have to look to organizing,” he said. And, noting that his father had been a unionized New York City bus driver, he drew a lesson from childhood. “Because of the union, my father got things like vacation days or a raise in wages,” he said. “But my mother, who worked as a domestic, had nobody. It taught me from a young age the difference between workers who are organized and workers who were by themselves.” John Joseph Sweeney was born in the Bronx on May 5, 1934, to James and Agnes Sweeney, Irish-Catholic immigrants whose struggles in America had shaped John’s social perceptions from an early age. The boy had accompanied his father to many union meetings, where he learned of class and workplace inequalities and of union efforts to improve wages and working conditions. He attended St. Barnabas Elementary School and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx in 1952. Coming of age, he resolved to find a future in organized labor. He worked as a gravedigger and building porter (and joined his first union) to pay his way through Iona College, a Catholic school in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1956. He worked briefly as a clerk for IBM but took a sharp pay cut to become a researcher for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in Manhattan. He met Thomas R. Donahue, a union rep for the Building Service Employees International Union, Local 32B, who persuaded him in 1960 to join his union as a contract director. Mr. Sweeney would face Mr. Donahue in a run for labor’s top job 35 years later. In 1962, Mr. Sweeney married Maureen Power, a schoolteacher. She survives him, along with their children, John Jr. and Patricia Sweeney; two sisters, Cathy Hammill and Peggy King; and a granddaughter. The building employees union was one of the most progressive of its day, representing 40,000 porters, doormen and maintenance workers in 5,000 commercial and residential buildings in New York City. Its contracts guaranteed pay raises, medical coverage, college scholarships for members’ children and requirements that employers hire and promote workers without regard to race, creed or color. Mr. Sweeney rose through the ranks, and in 1976 was elected president of Local 32B of the renamed Service Employees International Union. Soon his 45,000 members struck thousands of buildings for 17 days and won major wage and benefit increases. He later merged Local 32B with Local 32J, representing janitors, and in 1979 struck again for contract improvements. In 1980, he was elected president of the 625,000-member national S.E.I.U. and, moving his base to Washington, began merging with unions of public employees and workers in office jobs, health care and food services. He pushed for stronger federal laws for health and safety, and spent heavily to organize new members. By 1995, he represented 1.1 million union members and was a national power in the labor movement. Labor was at a crossroads. Years of rank-and-file frustration with Lane Kirkland, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. since 1979, boiled over in a revolt of union presidents in 1995. Mr. Kirkland, whose internationalist vision of labor had made him a hero to Poland’s Solidarity movement but had left him unmoved, even hostile, to proposed reforms for unions at home, was forced to resign. The 1995 election pitted Mr. Sweeney against Mr. Donahue, his old friend from Local 32B, who had risen to secretary-treasurer of the federation and was Mr. Kirkland’s heir apparent. But Mr. Donahue’s ties to Mr. Kirkland forced him to defend the status quo, and Mr. Sweeney’s progressive calls for growth and change won the presidency with 57 percent of the delegates, representing 7.2 million members. He was re-elected to four more terms of two to four years each, the last time in 2005, when he broke a pledge not to remain in office beyond age 70. He retired in 2009, at 75, and was succeeded by Richard L. Trumka, his longtime secretary-treasurer and a former president of the United Mine Workers. In a statement posted on the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s website on Monday, Mr. Trumka said of Mr. Sweeney: “He was guided into unionism by his Catholic faith, and not a single day passed by when he didn’t put the needs of working people first. John viewed his leadership as a spiritual calling, a divine act of solidarity in a world plagued by distance and division.” Mr. Sweeney wrote a memoir, “Looking Back, Moving Forward: My Life in the American Labor Movement” (2017), and was the co-author of two books: “America Needs a Raise: Fighting for Economic Security and Social Justice” (1996, with David Kusnet) and “Solutions for the New Workforce: Policies for a New Social Contract” (1989, with Karen Nussbaum). In 2010, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. “He revitalized the American labor movement,” Mr. Obama said at a White House ceremony, “emphasizing union organizing and social justice, and was a powerful advocate for America’s workers.” Alex Traub contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #Crusading #Dead #John #Labor #leader #Sweeney

[britbrodcast]

Friday The 13th Pt.2

I  was given this idea by @the-laarmy for a part 2 (and 3) of this fic, I’m so so so sorry for forgetting the TW on the first part of this series, I forgot to copy them down. It was a really stupid move.

Tags: @fandomsandanythingelse @pattonscardigan @silly-aesthetic-me @lackingroman @prinxiety-logicality-ss @sakurahayasaki @cefmua56 @princeyandanxiety @prinxietytrash @what-even-is-thiss @here-to-vent @kitsuneprideleader @01001100-01010011 @nerd-in-space @prplzorua

aNYWAYS! Warnings: Mentions of hanging, mentions of death, nightmares, knives, people panicking, suffocation, the Shadow, blood, gore.

I lope ya like it! I didn’t have enough of the fic written to post all of it so Part 3 will be posted on Halloween!

(Logic POV)

The mind is a beautiful yet terrifying thing, dreams are a mixture of both. Some nights like tonight a wondrous thing happens, a lucid dream. I close my eyes and change my surroundings.

A small park is now surrounding me, leaves crunching under my feet at every step I take. A flock of geese fly overhead. Around me children and dogs play. An elderly man feeds the geese using crumbs of bread nearby.

I walk over to the man and sit next to him. He smiles and hands me a piece of bread. I take it and feed the birds with him. The moment was peaceful, the elderly man turned towards me and spoke, “You are in grave danger smart one, the dreamscape is scared for your well being.”

I continued feeding the birds, “How͞ am ̕I ̀i͠ņ d̛ange̴r? ́No̵thi̶ng ćan ̡t̸o̡uch̢ m̀e̡ ̡b͜es̷i̴d͘es ͏t͡he ơt̨he͞r͡ ͝T́r̴ait͞ş.”̴

The man shook his head. “Old friend, that is simply not true.”

I stopped throwing crumbs and turned to face the old man,“̴I’̸m͘ p̵osi̴tive̶ I͞ ̛h̴áv̡èn̢’̢t s̕een your̵ f̡ac̶e b̵e̵f̛o͝r̶e, h͢ow ͟ar͞e ̵w͝e̵ f͜ŗíe͟n̢d́s ̀i̸f͝ ̶w҉e̴ have̷ ne͏v͏er met?”͞

The man smiled, and spoke, “No, I wouldn’t expect you to remember me,” The man's smile grew and he changed before my eyes, “after all,” said the shadow next to me, their smile seemed to radiate cold, “most people don’t remember their killer after their deaths.”

The shadow conjured a knife out of thin air and threw it at a children at play sign, the point of the blade was lodged firmly in the metal pole holding up the sign, where the head of the printed on metal child used to be was the blade, black tar was now flowing from its tip and quickly inveloping the sign, it spread and raced towards me, I started to run but I was too slow the tar had engulfed my legs and moments later covered my mouth.

I panicked, I usually don’t need to breathe unless I’m panicked or remind myself to do so, I had closed my mouth but the tar was finding other ways to enter my lungs, I could feel the black substance travel up my nose and force it’s way into my lungs, removing the air that I desperately needed, The world was already black from the tar that was covering my eyes, the inky substance getting hotter and hotter, I screamed through the inky mass of death and it immediately slithered down my throat.

the tar was now filling the giant hole that my killer The Shadow had seared through my entire being, the tar seemed to fill every pore in my body, I screamed and screamed. everything hurt, my eyes were scorched, the black hell was pulling and twisting and contorting and oh my god the pain please make it stop everything hurts why I can’t breathe, I’m dying again is this hell? I think its is pain pain pain. can’t breathe I hurt. what is happening my mind is jumbled, hurting, searing searing searing scorching burning flesh dissolving pain oh god why please make this stop.

A voice was yelling in the distance, “L͝og̶an! ̀Lơga͢n!̛ ̴Wa͝ke u͏p͜!͏”

I woke to Morality shaking my shoulders and jumping on my bed, “C'm͟o̷n̢ ͞Lo! ҉T̡hom̀as͢ ̵w̢a͝nţe͟d ̵t͠o ͠s͞ee us͠ ͠t̀oday̷!”

I almost jumped out of my skin, yes that can happen and it’s never a good experience.Cold envelops you and everything seems to be burning at the same time. I shook off the events of the night, it was only a dream. it was only a dream IT WAS only a dREAm nothing can harm me i’m intangibLe.

I jumped back into my bed for the cold was starting to take effect, I mumble into my pillow,”Wha͢t̢'s t͠he̵ t͡i̵m͟e҉?̕

“͏Ten̸ ̴‘o cl̶oçk҉.͢”̷

I grudgingly left the warm embrace of my blankets, I grabbed my glasses and followed Morality through the door, I didn't bother shutting it for it was already closed, The weird thing about intangibility is that sometimes it just doesn’t work, you can attempt to walk through a wall and instead run face first into it.

I drifted towards the direction of the commons and Morality headed towards Anxiety’s room. When I entered I could see the balcony proudly displayed, the blood still on the wall and carpet.This was the place when I last saw Roman alive, and when I say that I mean-

“G̸OOD͠ ̡M̸O҉͞͏R̀́NIN̢͠G̸ MÝ ͏F͠É͡L̨L҉O̶̢͟W̨ S͢I̸D̀E̶͢S̷̵͞!̸͢”̀ ̧͏

 -That he’s still annoying as ever. 

I glanced towards his voice, Prince stood in front of the same banister where he was found dead and multiple weapons piercing his flesh, a giant cut shaped like a crown in his chest.

Prince stood not alive but definitely still kicking, he shouted to me, “H͏EY LO I̢ FO͜UND̡ ͘Á NÈW T͜R̸ICK͠!͠!҉”͢ He jumped from the top of the banister which was at least twenty feet in the air.

This didn't frighten me since we were already dead and falling from great heights only effect is for a minute or two but we heal quite fast, guessing from how quickly Anxiety’s arm healed after it was trapped in the idea rejection chute, (we don't know what's in there but when we discard an idea in there the sounds of grinding, blades slicing, and electricity are heard.) Virgil’s arm looked as if it was put through a wood chipper, it healed in a few minutes, the destroyed pieces of arm magically reappearing in its proper place.

Instead of Prince falling to the ground and breaking a few dozen bones his legs changed, they merged and changed into a form of tail, Prince gave a laugh triumph and flew towards the ceiling and did a backflip in mid air.

I stood frozen in shock and I mean that quite literally, my skin and being turned to ice but vanished as soon as it arrived.

“W-ẃe͡ c͡an ́f̷ly?!̶”̷ I was truly surprised, we have the ability of intangibility, invisibility, and the pain of not being able to touch or talk to living people without recording equiptment, and the ability to eat. I still don’t know where the food I eat goes after I consume it since I lost my stomach from the weird shadow, Stop that, I thought, It was just a dream. I watched the royal trait zoomed around the commons, I repeated my question since Prince was too busy doing backflips to hear me the first time.

Prince giggled “I̸ ̧gueşs͏ so,̵ ͞I f̕irs͡t ̨f͘ou̷n͢d out ̵wh͞e̷n ͏I fe͝l͡l̡ o҉f̷f ̢onę ͞of̸ ͏t͟he ̢h̡i̛g͢h͘ ̧to̢w͝er͜s i҉n͏ ́t͘he͢ M̢i͏nd pal͠ace,͢ ̕I̶ wa̶nt͜ed ̴to͏ st͟o͠p̧ ̴a̕n̵d I̕ ̴did͡,̸ ̵i̢n͝ ͏ḿid air͏.̀”

I frowned, ͞“s͝o͡ he̷íg̴hts c͜a͞use̸d y̧ou͏r͘ a͜b̡i̛lity o̷f f҉l͘i̷ght?̸”̶

Prince shook his head,“̕N͞ah͠,̸ ̧I͢ ͢t͟hink i͏t͝’s̀ pa͟nic.”

I was about to ask how he came to the conclusion when Morality came through the door with Virgil piggybacking/ trying his best to not hit his head on the door frame  

“h͞éy͘ L̛-̴R̸̛O̕͏M̸̀͟A̛͟͞҉N̢͢͝͡ ͏҉̷́G҉͏E̡͜T͏̵͡͝͝ ̛̛͘͞͡B̴̕͢͢͞A̛̕C҉̵̛͠K͢͞ ͏̸͟Ǫ̶́̕͠N̷̵̸ ̴̧́͏T̨̢͟H̕҉̧͘Ę̴ ̧̧͘F̸̸̡̛̛Ļ̵̵O҉̵̶̶͢O̵̴̡͡R̀҉ ̀͝T̵͜͢H͘͠͡I̕҉̶S͝҉ ̧͝I̸̛͜͟͡N̛̛S̴̨͜͟҉T̵̵̛͡À̴̷̧̡Ǹ͝T̢̢̨͟!҉̛͜”͏̧͏ ҉̨͟

Prince and I winced and covered our now ringing ears, “S͘o̸r̨r͝y̨ ̀D̢a̵d͜.̡” ̕

The Royal Side floated back down to earth and Anxiety flew off Morality's shoulders and landed next to me. ̕"Śup͞.͢"

I blinked,  “I͟ w͢a͢s̴ unawa̧re͘ t̀h̢at ͜you ̨po͡sses͡ ͝t҉h҉e ͝a͢b̷i̧lity ̸of f̛l̶i͟g̨ht a͏s͟ ̡w̶el̨l.͝” Anxiety smirked,  “͡I̧ a͠m̛ ̷a͡wa̸ŗe of̷ ̕th̵i̢s͢ fac̢t̡, d͘o ̷y̵ou͞ ҉w͢a̷n̡t̴ t̕ó t҉e͠l̶ĺ ̧m̴e sơmethin̨g͡ ͜t̢ḩat͟ ̨I do̴n’t kno̷w͏?”

I glanced at Prince, “So̸ ͠th̕i͏s ìs̡ w͞hy͝ you c̨a͟me ̧t̨o t͡h̶e ̢c̶o̷n̢ćĺusìon ͢o͞f͠ p͟an̡ic̢ ͢c͟ausíng flight?͠”̡

Prince nodded, Mor ushered us to the kitchen for a breakfast but before we could do so I felt a tugging sensation, Thomas was summoning us.

I rose up from my normal spot next to the stairwell and so did the other sides. Thomas noticed me and smiled, I returned the gesture. “̨G͟ŕe͝etings͏ T͏h̷o͜ma҉s ́how ҉may ̴we b̨e ͟o͠f a͝śs̷ís̛tance̷?” ͏

Thank the mind Thomas had his recording equipment since Prince forgot to bring the tape recorder.

̢“Hey ki͡dd͜o̷!” “Ǵ̕̕͟͏Ò̵͘̕O͏̴̨͞͝D̨҉̛͠ ̛҉͞M̴̢̀͜͜O҉̴R͏̕͟N̷̶̡͡͝I̶̢͘N̷͢͝G̴͢͠!̴̧̕” ̕“͢oW͟ mÝ ͏e͟ArS!͞”̷ ̸

Thomas announced his problem, “Last night something weird happened, I had a random spike of fear but it wasn’t from Virgil.”

 it took all of my resolve to not panic, I never had a nightmare where Thomas would also experience my emotions, “͟W͘h̶o do̷ y͡ou t̷h͠in͝k c͜aused͘ th̨is… f̕it̢ ̧o͠f̛ f̛rigḩt͠?”

“Well,” Thomas said, “It isn’t Morality since it’s never been this severe when he’s felt panicked and I can only feel Prince’s fear if it’s something to do with heartbreak, and something really weird happened, everything seemed to hurt, and for around an hour and a half afterwards I could see this weird shadow thing out of the corner of my eye, it kept on waving at me and it was creepy as all heck.”

The Sides froze. “W͜ha-͡what d͡i͢d ̷you j̸us͘t ͞say̧?” Morality asked,

“A giant flood of rational fear?”

Morality shook his head, "a҉f͟ter th̢at̛.́"

“That I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye for an hour and a half?”

"ye̛a ̡th̷at."

My thoughts were racing, “Is it the shadow I saw in my dream? It can’t be a coincidence, but it must be. Oh god what is it planning? What are they going to do? What a-”

“Logan” I couldn’t distinguish who the voice’s source was but it snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Lo̢, ́a͞r͏e͟ y͟o̴u͞ a̷l̵rig̸h͢t͏?̨ Y̸o͜u̢ ́w̸er͏è-” “ohmygodyourefloating.” That last voice was definitely Thomas, I opened my eyes and sure enough my feet were a few feet off the floor, I usually float and so do the others but my feet were always a few inches off the ground but this reached a completely different level. I decided to test my theory and I attempted to walk towards Virgil, I then noticed I couldn’t. My confusion increased when I attempted to move my legs and they would not respond, I looked down and found the problem; I didn’t have legs, replacing my normal legs and feet was a ghostly tail that seemed to move from a nonexistent breeze I leaned towards Thomas and to my surprise it worked.

I drifted over to Thomas, and held out my hand, he took it and pulled me back down to earth, as soon as my feet were near the floor my tail un fused and changed back into my normal legs.

“͡M̛ý ́apólo͝gíes, I ͏wa̴s̨ ńot͜ expectin͠g for͠ ̧m҉y̶ ̡t̶h̸o͘ugh͞t͘s ͜to̡ ͡t̢a̴ke f̴li͡g̛ht.”

Thomas smirked, I too was proud of my pun but his look  of concern still remained, “Are you alright Lo? You were flickering from pre death to death, I frowned, pre death is what we called the form we were in when we look normal and not mutilated, death was what we looked like when we well, died. “I͝ Jùst had a҉ ͜b̧a̡d̴ dre҉am͠ ̸la̢s̴t̵ ni͢gh͜t,͘ ̷t͠hat͜’͠s ̕a̢l̕l.” I said, hopefully they won’t-“Wh҉at̡ ́w̸a̸s t̨h̨e d҉re̸a͟m͟?” shit.

I sighed, I might as well be honest to them. I explained my dream to them and when I ended my story a silence spread which blanketed anything in the room. I hate silences, especally long painful ones so I spoke again,̶“D̛oes ͟an̡yone ͢k͘now w͢h͝y͏ so̢m͞e̕t̛h̡iǹg͝ ͞o̴f ͝t̸h̸e ̶sor̕t̴ ̡would҉ occu͘r͟? T͟hi͡ś i̵şn͞’t ͢a̷ ̀norma͟l̵ th҉ing tha̴t wou̧l͏d ́h҉a͝p̀p̀e͏ņ.͏”̡  

Prince nodded,“̷I̶-͟I͏ ̸t̴h҉ink we҉ ҉s̵hóu͏ld dis̢c͡uss ͞this iń t͡he ͜m͝i̛nd̨ palacȩ,̢ ̷T҉h̴ơmàs ̡w̵ou͡ļd̷ ́y͠o͘u min̕d͜ ҉adven̕tur̴iǹg w͞i͟t̀h͜ us͡ ͝to ͞sol̢vȩ ̀t͡h͟is͠ m҉y̧s̨t͢er͠y?”̛ ̕

̴“G͡reat̴.̵” I muttered ̨“I’̡m s͘t͝artin̵g t̛o̡ r̴u͞b ̶o͟ff ͏on͞ ̧R͝o͜m͢án̛.͡”

I felt myself sinking down, my body dissolving starting from my feet and ending at my head. We appeared in a new mind palace, I haven’t ventured into one since the old one we created for the Growing Up video.

When we appeared in the mind palace all of us were confused, “Well,” Thomas said as he looked around, “this is an odd choice of decor but it’ll do.”  

It truly was, everything was different tones of black, corridors and doors seemed to extend from every angle, random staircases and dropoffs on the floor appeared and vanished, the walls seemed to glisten and shift as if they were alive

“̨Th͜om͟a͟s,̕ I h̡ate҉ to͝ ̕b͟r̸e͠ak̸ it̶ to y̕o͘u̢ bu͢t d̶id́n̴’͜t ͜c̕reat͞e t͠hi͏s.͞”̀ Roman looked at all of us accusingly but no one claimed the creation of the weird room.

“i  DiD.” my heart dropped, I knew that voice, and it came from a very recent dream……

#angst #horror #series #friday the 13th #sander sides #thomassanders #ghost!au

[vanilla107]

Masterpiece Part 8

Okay, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been so freaking patient with this fanfiction. I know it has been months and school has killed me in more ways than one. I only have a week left of holidays so I'll try to update again soon but no promises! To my usual NathChlo army, you guys know who you are and make writing this fanfiction ten times more enjoyable to write.

I know I missed out on NathChlo week last month because of exams and I was so upset that I didn't get to take part in it, but seeing the comments from people saying that this was recommended for them to read during that week made my day!

Loads of love and hugs vanilla107 xoxo

Masterlist for Masterpiece: https://vanilla107.tumblr.com/post/162975990025/masterpiece-masterlist

***************************************************************************************************** Chloe swallowed nervously as she covered her eyes with her hands. "Nath...I don't think this is a good idea." He chuckled and gently nudged her on her back, signaling her to walk forward. "Just trust me. I'm not leading you to your death, I promise." "That's what every murder says to the victim before they kill them," mumbled Chloe.

They were only a few blocks away from the ‘surprise’ Nathanaël had planned for her and quite frankly, Chloe was a little nervous. She liked being able to leave work early. She liked that she could (sort of) cook and she liked spending time with Nathanaël.

Maybe too much, a nagging voice whispered in her mind.Chloe clenched her jaw and Nathanaël looked at her, concerned.

“Chloe, I’m right behind you. I promise you won’t get hurt,” he said soothingly.

She shook her head and took a breath. “I’m alright ,today was just a hectic day. Y’know, grumpy customers,” she lied as she took her first steps forward down the street with Nathanaël leading her to the surprise.

Nathanaël was right about it being cold and Chloe was grateful that her turtleneck managed to keep some of the cold at bay. She huddled closer to the lilac knitting and walked a few more steps until she felt Nathanaël’s hand gently put pressure on her shoulder, signaling her to stop walking.

Chloe heard Nathanaël exchange a few words with someone and soon she sensed that they must've walked through a door because the temperature rose to a comfortable warmth. After a few more steps she felt her foot hit a step.

There was a tense silence before Chloe, in a low threatening voice, said,"No." "Yes." "You CAN'T expect me to walk up a staircase blind, Nathanaël!" "It's only one staircase, it's not that steep and besides, I'm right behind you aren't I?" Chloe sighed and took a shaky breath as she slowly started to walk up the stairs. She could feel Nathanaël's hand lightly on her shoulder as she walked. Chloe let out a sigh of relief when she got to the top. "We're almost there, Chloe. Just a few more steps." Nathanaël's breath tickled her ear and she felt weird tingly sensations up her spine. She wasn't used to him being so close to him. After taking a few turns, Nathanaël put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped. "You can open your eyes now." "This better of been worth it, Nathanaël Kurtzberg because that staircase- Woah..." Chloe's mouth shut and her eyes widened. Staring at her was a gallery of Nathanaël's artwork, all lined up in a row, colour bursting from the canvases. Chloe took a step forward and her eyes getting lost in each painting, taking her time to admire each one. The biggest painting was in the middle and Chloe swallowed uneasily when she saw it. 'Rage' was the reason Nathanaël became so famous and that same painting was staring back at her. Chloe could see the anger and frustration in the sharp strokes of black, burgundy and red. The colours merged in the middle to form a black silhouette of a boy with a single white tear running down his face and his mouth opening to scream. Chloe had only ever seen 'Rage' in newspapers or on tv but seeing it up close was a whole new experience. She walked towards it and tried to keep her voice from trembling. "It's amazing." Nathanaël heard the tremble in her voice and took a step towards her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't want to make you sad. I want you to see what I've done. 'Rage' got me started and look at that one-" Nathanaël pointed to a smaller canvas which had curly  soft lines in charcoal that got thicker and thicker. "-recognize it?" Chloe took a step towards the canvas and Nathanaël’s hand left her shoulder. Chloe cocked her head to the side and her eyes widened in surprise. "Is that...my bracelet that my dad gave me in high school?" Nathanaël nodded,"Yes." "But that was years ago! Why would you draw it?" Chloe asked incredulously as she turned to face him. Nathanaël smiled and she felt her stomach do a little flip. "I still liked the design so I decided to draw it." Chloe let her eyes wander to each art work. On her right was a painting of a girl with pink hair roller blading down a street lined with orange autumn leaves. Next to that painting, the smallest canvas, done in pastel, a small blonde and a tall raven-haired girl sitting at a cafe. "Hey, That's Alix, right? And Rose and Juleka!" Nathanaël nodded ,a smile on his face. "That's them, alright."

Chloe inspected every single artwork with critique and nodded thoughtfully as she recognized them mediums he used.

“I like that you don’t stick with just one medium,” she commented and the red-head artist was shocked for a few moments.

“What? You didn’t expect me to know art lingo, did you?” Chloe teased and she smiled when she saw the slight redness on the tips of his ears.

“N-No! It’s just that I didn’t....Okay, fine! I didn’t expect you to know,” Nathanaël admitted bashfully.

“Daddy always had these artists come over and paint a new portrait of him every year. I got interested in the process and one of the artists taught me a thing or two regarding mediums, canvases, types of pencils and techniques on shading. I never got the hang of drawing or painting but I love seeing the process and results. Like here you-”

Nathanaël was speechless.

Here, he’d thought that Chloe had been an absolute talentless hag who didn’t know how to appreciate art in high school but...she actually understood some forms of art?

“Nathanaël? Earth to Nathanaël!”He snapped out of his daydream and focused on the blonde that was looking mildly annoyed.

“W-what? I’m sorry I zoned out for a second.”

“I was explaining how I liked how you used the natural light to get the shading-” “-I can't believe you knew all this in high school and you still criticized me about my art! Why?” Nathanaël blurted out.

Chloe rolled her eyes as if it was obvious and gave him a look as if to say, ‘seriously?’

“Well, how else was I supposed to talk to you? I guess I was too...I don’t know, jealous of your work? I only thought about myself, Nathanaël. I thought I could paint but that turned out to be a failure. And even though your art was magnificent, I could never say it! I had already bullied you to a point where even if I did say that your art was amazing, you probably would’ve disregarded my comment anyway.”

Nathanaël thought for a moment and then nodded. “Okay, you have a point,” he chuckled before looking at his watch and looked surprised.

“Oh, it’s quite late...since my work is here I asked the manager if they would allow someone in after hours. There’s a little cafe downstairs. You want something to eat?”

Chloe grinned and nodded. The two walked down the stairs in comfortable silence.

“So, this is my one month anniversary surprise? Damn, you are one cheap ‘boyfriend’,” Chloe snorted as they walked to the cafe and Nathanaël smirked.

“What makes you think the surprise is over, love? And I must say that the blush in your cheeks compliments the lilac of your turtleneck,” he teased.

Chloe felt her stomach squeeze and she knew her cheeks must’ve gone an even brighter shade of red.

“You’re such a little shit, Nathanaël Kurtzberg! And stop calling me ‘love’!” she groaned and Nathanaël laughed.

“I thought you liked being complimented, you have been complimented your whole life, right?”

That was true.

Being the mayor's’ daughter meant that people had sucked-up to her and always said the most sickeningly sweet words and she was used to that. But Nathanaël complimenting her was something else.

He meant those words and she knew it.

It felt genuine.

“Yeah...I have...but it’s different being complimented by someone I hurt,” she lied smoothly and thankfully, Nathanaël didn’t seem to notice as they stopped at the tiny but cosy cafe’.

The cafe had shades of dark brown and tan furniture. The scent of coffee and chai sent Chloe’s senses into heaven and she sighed.

They took a seat and ordered their food. There was no one else in the cafe except them and the waitress.

“So why did Gabriella ask about me this morning?” Nathanaël asked as he sipped his matcha green tea.

Chloe shrugged her shoulders as she stirred her vanilla latte.

“I think she must’ve seen you as you left and asked Mr. Shelley. She feels entitled to know everything and that’s why she was such a pest. I suppose you saying that you’re my boyfriend also peaked her interest. She probably didn’t think I was even capable of getting one,” Chloe grumbled.

“Well, you seemed to put her in her place this afternoon,” Nathanaël wiggled his eyebrows.

“What were those words again? ‘Nathanaël Kurtzberg is the sweetest, kindest and most hottest guy I know. He is extremely talented and he is so attractive I might die! Did I mention that he would make an amazing stripper?’” Nathanaël said in a high-pitched voice. 

Chloe choked on her latte and Nathanaël burst out laughing.

“I do NOT sound like that Kurtzberg! And those are NOT the words I said!” she growled which only made him laugh even harder.

The waitress arrived with their food and Chloe forgot about Nathanaël’s teasing for the moment.

“Hmmm,” she mumbled as she ate her panini.

“Y’know, you work at a restaurant, Chloe. Don’t you like the food there?”

“Filter coffee and greasy eggs got nothing on a vanilla latte and a grilled turkey and pesto panini,” Chloe stated as she finished her panini before spotting a flyer on one of the notice boards.

She walked closer to get a better look and smiled. “Oh, I didn’t realize that you were having your own gallery showing in a few weeks,” Chloe said as she looked at the flyer advertising his work.

Nathanaël ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I didn’t want many people to know. None of the newspapers know. Only me and the gallery and now you. One of the staff here must've put up that flyer today. Obviously, I’ll be inviting other people but I don’t want to be hounded by the paparazzi again.”

Chloe picked up a trace of bitterness in Nathanaël’s tone and walked back to the table.

“Well, it’s going to be great. I know it. You probably have started paintings for this show right?”

Nathanaël nodded as he finished the last of his panini and paid for the food.

“C’mon then. Let’s go home and you can finish them. I have work tomorrow so I got to go sleep...ugh...stupid Gabriella and Mr Shelley,” she muttered and Nathanaël laughed.

They exited the warm cafe and Chloe didn’t realize how much the temperature had dropped. As they walked home, the cold was biting at her into her bones and she was a shivering mess.

“Here,” Nathanaël murmured as he took off his jacket and laid it on her shoulders. She felt warm instantly and sighed as the cold melted away.

“Thank you,” she replied softly as they continued to walk.

They spoke about art and Nathanaël was impressed with how much she actually knew. Chloe, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by the impact she had on Nathanaël’s artwork.

Sure, ‘Rage’ was a scream of how her torment made him feel and the other one was just a materialistic object...which did make her feel like crap but she was happy that Nathanaël found a release for his anger. They finally made it back to the apartment and Nathanaël walked Chloe to her door.

“Thank you for showing me your work, Nathanaël. And I’ll never repeat this again...and if I hear it from someone else...you are dead….but your art is fantastic. Some of the best detail I’ve ever seen.” Chloe grinned.

The redhead chuckled and smiled. “I’m happy I got to show you. Goodnight Chloe.”

“Goodnight.” Chloe unlocked her apartment door and gasped.

“Chloe? Is everything okay?” Nathanaël asked.

“Yeah, everything is okay...it’s just freaking cold...my window doesn’t close properly so it’s basically a freezer in here,” Chloe shivered as she walked over to her window and tried to close it.

Nathanaël followed her into her apartment and tried to help her close her window.

“Chloe, it’s no use. Your window won’t close and if we try any harder, it will break,” Nathanaël said as he looked at the wood indentations on his hands.

“Whatever. I’ve suffered through worse and it’s just a little wind...I’ll be fine-!”

At that moment, the sky crackled and it started to rain. Chloe looked out of her window in disbelief.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she swore as droplets started to wet her windowsill and floor.

“That’s it. I’m so done. I get that karma is a bitch but seriously?” Chloe paced up and down her apartment. “Why. Why can’t I have one night of peace?”Chloe tried closing her window again but failed and continued to vent.“Today was going so well! And then this-,” she points to the window, “-has to happen!”

Nathanaël looked at the furious blonde and chuckled.

“Why are you laughing! Do you like seeing me hate the world?” Chloe glared.

Nathanaël grinned and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Well, I was going to offer if you wanted to sleepover at my place tonight but...I do enjoy watching you hate the world.”

Chloe froze and stared at him, not really knowing how to respond. Nathanaël smiled before turning around and walking to her door. He stopped and turned his head so that he could see her.

“You’ll freeze to death...or get hypothermia...or become a literal ice queen...but get your pajamas and your toiletries. I’ll get someone to fix your window later this week.”

Without another word, he walked out of her apartment.

Chloe stared at the empty doorway, dumbstruck. Had Nathanaël just offered to let her stay at his place again? She didn’t ponder on the thought when she felt the icy cold rain hit her back and she quickly gathered her toiletries and changed into her pajamas.

She brushed her teeth and pulled out her blonde ponytail so that it fell into golden waves around her shoulders. Chloe locked her apartment door and ran across to Nathanaël’s apartment and knocked.

“-Damn Chloe, I didn’t know you were capable of changing so fast-” Nathanaël said as he opened the door but was immediately shoved aside.

He looked at the blonde in shock as she ran to his bedroom and jumped under the covers. Chloe waited for her body heat to warm up the duvet and heard a laugh.

“Wow, Chloe. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you ran that fast.”

“Shut up,” she murmured and she heard another laugh.

There was silence before she heard him mutter, “Dammit.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked from under the covers.

“I forgot to pick up my extra blankets from the dry cleaners today so I don’t have a blanket to sleep on the couch-”

“Sleep here, then.”

Chloe had no idea where the courage say that came from. She had just asked Nathanaël to sleep in the same bed as her.

“You sure? I don’t want-”

“Nathanaël, this is your bed. I don’t mind...as long as you’re not a cuddler,” she warned as she peeked her head up from under the covers to look at him with a warning look but cocked her head to the side.

“Nathanaël? Hello?” she asked and snapped the artist out of his daydream.

“I’ve never seen your hair down before...it just took my by surprise.” he said carefully as he took in her long golden locks cascading down her face.

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. “Working at a restaurant and long hair do not mix at all, so I opt for a ponytail and during high school, I was the only one who wore a ponytail so I kept that style.”

Nathanaël nodded, still transfixed on how her hair flowed from her head to her shoulders. He quickly grabbed his pajamas and went to the bathroom, changed and brushed his teeth, to avoid staring at her for too long.

She looks beautiful, he thought as he yawned and finished brushing his teeth. Nathanaël walked back to the bedroom before stopping and chuckling. Chloe was already asleep, her breathing soft and her halo of hair framing her face.

Nathanaël never thought he’d compare Chloe Bourgeois to an angel but she looked...angelic.

He switched off the light and carefully maneuvered himself so that he didn’t touch her while sliding into his side of the bed. Once under the covers he could just make out Chloe’s figure in the dark.

“Goodnight Chloe. Sweet dreams,” he whispered before relaxing and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Chloe was still awake as he fell asleep and she quietly lifted herself up and looked at Nathanaël. He was facing her and his eyes were closed.

“Goodnight Nathanaël. Thank you for everything. Sweet dreams,” she whispered before planting a kiss on his forehead.

With her heart racing, Chloe fell asleep and dreamed of panini’s, paintings and the red-head boy ,who she was slowly starting to develop feelings for. 

#nathchlo #nathanaël #chloe bourgeois #ml fanfiction #miraculous ladybug #fluff #masterpiece #jojowrites #vanilla107 writes