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orbdotexe · 1 month

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Under pressure and request from both Osiris and Shin Malphur, Drifter seeks out the Young Wolf early in their exile. He's not sure he'd say it went well, but it certainly could've gone much, much worse. And hey; Shin was right, new friends are new friends. Alternatively: Two rogue Guardians play horse plinko with each other before agreeing to an exchange of favors.

I finally did it- A Questionably Fortunate Encounter's rewrite. I have no idea how I got the motivation to finish this, it wasn't even half done when I picked it back up, but here it is in time for TFE's (concept's) 2nd birthday! I am significantly happier with this than the original, you have no idea. It wasn't even a thousand words and now it's like 20 words from being 2k, and overall? Everything just has more character + an extra page of interaction and the end note being from Ghost instead of Drifter. and being accurate to more story details! I kept a lot of the parts i thought were funny tho, if moved them around-

[old ver. ao3] --- [new ver. ao3]

The Sundial. A ballsy idea from a mad warlock.

Knocking a few times on the side, he can’t help the chills down his spine at the whispers ringing in his ears. “If you short-circuit the universe, you’re on your own.” He snips, his already uneasy grin wavering.

“If I make a mistake here, you might cease to exist,” the old Warlock says simply, though there’s a questioning edge to it.

Drifter only shrugs. “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.”

Osiris squints at him as Drifter moves around the machine, checking the stability. “We haven’t talked about payment.”

Drifter’s grin smooths out some, sly now. “If you live through this little experiment, you can be sure I’ll be back to collect.”

A simple ‘hm’ is the only response he gets for a few seconds, before Osiris starts again.

“There’s a Guardian you should meet.”

“Yeah, yeah, so I’ve heard. Some bigshot—Can’t wait.”

"Drifter."

—

The Warlock and that old Hunter had their points—The Young Wolf needed people on their side, and it's not like Drifter couldn't use the opportunity. He figured, if worst comes to worst, just say Osiris sent him. It seemed the best bet; he heard the two of them had been on good terms, and Osiris wouldn’t have sent him without reason.

This was, regardless, a horrible idea.

Which was very quickly weighing him down as he waited just inside their most recent hideout; a willing, sitting duck in the path of a hellhound. Then again, Shin would be waiting for him, just the same, to see if he really went through with it. A rock and a hard place, if both were unmovable walls.

—

Eventually, the Kingbreaker did show up—and they looked pissed—but they didn't seem to quite notice him, yet.

Their Ghost, on the other hand, had stopped at the door, and was switching between glaring at him, and watching its Guardian. It was a bare hope, but he almost prayed for the Little Light to let the Guardian notice him by themself—for what good it would do.

Drifter had to admit, though, they looked like Hell—In both the shit way and the eternal punishment way—And he'd quite like to keep them from being his punishment, thanks.

They were never in the same place for long, constantly tapping their fingers or wringing their hands. He'd almost call it a nervous habit; if the jerky, almost corpse-twitching movements didn't make him feel like they'd pounce on him at any given moment. It gave the distinct impression of a Taken, a fact he took no comfort in. He had told Shin they would be unpredictable, but recordings didn’t capture just how much.

The Guardian’s posture was rather slumped, in spite of their twitchiness, but he was rather certain he was a pinch taller than them; though it could be their hunch. That dead-eyed and bone-deep tiredness that seeped off of them… The Guardian stumbled whenever they walked, off-balance. Injured, maybe.

They looked as unstable on their feet as he imagined they were mentally.

He rapped his fingers on the tabletop he was leaning against, a slight knot in his stomach building on the question of ‘How to get their attention without getting pinned as a threat?’

Questionably fortunate enough, and probably should’ve been expected; the tapping made them pause, and he'd almost compare the frozen movement to their namesake freezing to listen. They nearly looked like they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't be, or as if a sudden red dot (or dozen) had appeared on their chest.

The Young Wolf then snapped to look at him, eyes narrowed and hand beginning to raise to their sword. Their Ghost noticed, and took it as a sign to speak up; "What do you think you’re doing here? Who are you?" For being the Ghost of an exile, its voice was strikingly uptight. Drifter had expected an edge to the voice, but not for it to be pedant.

"Mind your business, Ghost," he drawled. Their head jolted up a fraction. "Just want a talk with your Guardian, is all-"

Their Ghost flicked back a bit, only to be replaced by its Guardian stepping up close to him. Well… he got their attention, at least.

His gut twisted in knots as the seconds passed like that—far, far too close for comfort. "How about we just… back up for a moment, yeah? Think this all through?" Like he hadn’t. He should have told that Warlock and Shin to shove their requests back down their throats.

The Guardian tilted their head, the action more unnerving than anything else, reminding Drifter of a certain other Hunter, and he was unsure if it was an acknowledgement or a threat. They refused to look anywhere but his eyes, and he swore they leaned a bit closer.

He raises his hands to push them back a bit, but thinks better of touching them. He opts to just slide back a bit, instead– except they match his step. He does not take another one. That definitely wasn't good.

"I'll ask again: Who are you?" The Ghost hovers over its Guardian’s shoulder as they tilt their head to allow it to take the center of Drifter’s vision. Their dynamic is clear, but he tries to focus on them.

"Your old man Osiris didn't mention me?” Drifter tries to say, “I’m hurt–”

"You will be hurt–" the Ghost starts, just as the Guardian grips his collar. There’s a moment the Drifter is almost certain they were going to slam him into the wall.

"Alright, alright—” he tries to interrupt, “Just back up.”

It takes them a moment, and a couple glances between him and the Ghost, but they do back up, if not letting go of his collar. He tries to quietly let out the breath he’d been holding, nerves a bit strung. Their emotions are as on-a-dime as he thought. Damn this plan. The Ghost eyes him expectantly.

"You can call me Drifter; I run a little… operation outta the Tower." Their face somehow pulls even further in a grimace. “Now, I know how that sounds, but I’m not working with the Vanguard—Trust. Wouldn’t be here if I was: Heard about your… dislike of ‘em.”

He gives them a grin when they don’t make another move, though not optimistic. Watching every little change in their expression doesn’t give him much hope, either, given the hard line in their brow now.

"That old Phoenix of yours pointed me your way, and I figured we both could make use of the others'... skills. I've got the connections, and you've guts enough to attack your own–”

The Drifter hardly has time to blink before his back is against the wall again, this time with a knife to his throat, sharp eyes glaring down at him—So it's like that. Osiris might've downplayed the sore spot; Drifter can’t even get away with a tease. He’s good at pushing buttons, but their reservations broke immediately.

He counts by the seconds as the Young Wolf silently dares him to say it again.

While he decidedly opts not to and tries to think of a way to de-escalate his mistake, he has… an inane thought: They’re taller than him… Not by too much, but the thought gives him an idea potentially worse than even the meeting itself was; something mischievous glinting in his eye and, as an added bonus, giving the Guardian pause.

"...Kinky." Feeling their hold loosen somewhat and seeing their brow twitch, Drifter pushes the joke with a sly grin and a cant to the side. “I didn’t realize you swung like that, Killer…”

Drifter’s eyes flick towards the Ghost at the undoubtably horrified, near-static chiming it makes as it rapidly recoils. “Are you… trying to flirt your way out of this–”

The Guardian’s expression seems of someone entirely bewildered by a puzzle in front of them. As they loosened their hold in what he could only assume was disbelief, Drifter had to stop himself from laughing—in relief, at the absurdity, or at their reaction.

“Nahh… Just seizing an opportunity, you’d understand,” he says, as nonchalantly as he can manage. There’s a moment of silence, the Guardian and their Ghost both searching his face, and it's everything he can do not to break—Either into a sweat or into a fit of laughter.

"...what the hell is wrong with you?" is the only response he got from the Ghost, the top fold of its shell covering half its eye. Drifter can only assume it's meant to be a mimicry of a dead-stare.

"Many things!” He gives a toothy grin that splits his face as he chuckles, “Next question."

The Ghost makes a show of rolling its eye, while the Guardian still looks like their mind has shattered, eyes seeming to search the wall through him for answers. The Ghost seems to take notice of its Guardian’s… inoperable state, and pipes up again, terse, “So what do you want?”

He’s really going to have to cut a deal with the Ghost, instead, isn’t he? As Drifter slowly tugs the Guardian’s hand from his collar—which they thankfully do not resist—he gives the Ghost the greasiest side-eye he can manage. “Well, as I was saying before your Guardian interrupted me,” it mimics narrowing its eye as he speaks. “I hear you two need friends, and, well, I’m always looking for more of those.”

“Just get to the point,” the Ghost pushes, tone flat. The Guardian seems to only vaguely be paying attention.

“Them and I could both use the support, so I suggest an… exchange.”

“An exchange? What is that– You mean, glimmer?” The Ghost interrupts itself with flicking its shell around itself and letting out a short chirr. “Information? We have nothing you’d want in that.”

“Nah, I don’t want any of that. If anything, I’m offering—You two just gotta do some favors for me in return. How’s that sound?” At the mention of favors, the Guardian refocuses; eyes widening some before narrowing and scanning him in search of some catch. “Just a job or two; you scratch my back, I scratch yours, yeah? Nothing you wouldn’t already do, of course.”

At the skeptical, almost blank looks from both of them, Drifter’s grin tightens some. “Favor for favor make sense to you?” He’s tempted to ask if they’ve got cotton in their ears. The pair take a long glance at each other, and he can only see the slight twitching in both’s expressions.

“...And how do we know we can trust you?” Finally comes an answer, again from the Ghost, but one that’s more assuring than it probably should be.

“Your old man asked me here, didn’t I say? I wouldn't risk this without a good word.” That, or without Shin over his shoulder. He turns his eye back to its Guardian and offers them a hand, “So, whaddya say? Give it a shot, hotshot?”

The Ghost trills in some semblance of worry as the Guardian cautiously eyes him and his hand, body canted away from him, before hesitantly taking his hand. Their hold is slight and feels like they would rather writhe away from him, but they hold just long enough to shake his hand.

“Heyy, don’t be like that, now. Friends take care of friends, yeah? Trust.” The Guardian grimaces at his words. Maybe that odd adage of insects had a bit more truth to it than he realized.

They’re more scared of you than you are of them?

—

Hours later, the Drifter far gone, and his Guardian was still kind of distracted. Honestly, Ghost would be lying if he said he wasn’t mind-broke by that as well. Who, in any sane state of mind, would do any of that? Sneak into an ill exile’s hideout, startle and piss them off, and then try to make a deal?

And why did it… actually work?

Ghost must be losing it.

#idk the pacing might be slightly off still in some places but i like it!#i could hardly stand to read the old version anymore so being able to compare them side by side? im not very easy on myself about these #things but. DAMN ive gotten a lot better huh #i would probably delete the old ver but. idk people might like something in there that i didnt put in this ver so itll stay up #the forsaken exile #destiny 2 #anyway yeah im very asleep as this is being posted bc i scheduled it for the minute discord says that message was originally sent #so like. 5:54am. and i dont have to get up at that time tomorrow so im... just not lmao #god. ive been brainrotting about an exile timeline for Destiny for two years...#i am actually ill i think. NOT sane behavior #but hey! i wouldve never gotten back into writing after not touching it since like. early middle school or smth (?? honestly dont remember)#if not for this AU. beloved #im not sure words can describe how important this thing is to me. aaaaaaaaaaaaa #eepy and getting sappy now. time to shut up!!!#anyway yeah Shin knew (or. thought he knew. its *Shin*) Drifter would get attached. the old snake fell for #the oldest trick in the book (forced exposure -> eventually friendly)#(Shin did not consider that thats not really how that works but thats okay)#i feel i should clarify. bc there isnt really much of a way to tell-- Osiris talks to Drifter first. and THEN Shin talks to him.#we be havin canon lore problems now huh...

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aaronymous9 · 1 year

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The WOF Love Interest slander has made me think about it. What would be my ideal love interests for each Wings of Fire protagonist?

Clay - Keep him without a solid one, he can have minor flings but honestly I like how the books kept him single and made it pretty clear Peril’s crush was one-sided. I don’t personally headcanon him as aromantic or anything I just think him not having a love interest is more useful and interesting to the character dynamics and the story than having one would be.

Tsunami - As I have previously stated, pathetic malewife ( gender-neutral as usual for the bisexual queen ) or equally as tough dragon who has a soft spot for Tsunami and she has one for them. I like how Riptide is the first person Tsunami meets but not in the way the books portray it, it shouldn’t just be “first male of the same tribe as her now they are dating” I feel “this was the first person I felt I could relate to on all the things I never knew why I did and you taught me so much but never used me for being a princess or forced me to be a certain way thank you”

Glory - Okay girlboss and her hitman bodyguard is cute, kinda reminds me of Yor and Loid Forger in a way but also the age gap has to go Tui how’d you fuck up the timeline that bad 😭😭 I don’t actually like how Deathbringer is written either I kinda would want more of a serious to outsiders but playful slowburn when alone with eachother. I feel like Glory wouldn’t actually get with anyone until she’s an adult because she would be so focused on her career BUT GOD GET A MAN OR A WOMAN OR WHATEVER IDC WHO IS YOUR AGE PLEASE DONT MESS UP THE TIMELINE AND IMPLY STRANGE AGE GAPS IT RUINS SHIPS

Starflight - Tbh… I love him and Fatespeaker nerdy quiet boyfriend and his bundle of energy nerdy girlfriend, just crank it up to 11 I want more I don’t care if she’s annoying it’s fun I just wish they did more with it it was so cute :(

Sunny - The aromantic queen.

Moonwatcher - Everytime I heard her worrying about “oh gosh oh me should I choose the nice funny guy who is nothing but kind to me or the nasty racist man who keeps telling me who hates me because I’m a nightwing” makes me want to rip my hair out. If you can’t tell love triangles are often poorly written and both choices are not equal. Solution: Give Qibli more apparent flaws and maybe don’t make Winter dragon racist it makes the bad boy character a lot less of a bad boy and more of “why are you giving this man the time of day Moon he hates you” energy. That was a rant and a half but basically balance it out more and in the end I don’t want her to decide. She can have some romance drama on the side but I feel like she could never choose, or she could go poly or open relationship but who knows. If I could throw Qibli and Winter in the love interest trash bin I would give Moon a quiet gf with an interesting backstory or something like that, someone who doesn’t have a bombardment of thoughts and is calm and peaceful and Moon can just chill with her. Or honestly if Arc 2 wanted to focus on plot more, discard love interest for Moon until Arc 3.

Winter and Qibli - Stated before. Honestly would prefer if Winter didn’t have a love interest at all and worked through his own issues with his friends where as I’m a little more open to Moon and Qibli personally I’m not the biggest fan. I think Qibli is another character like Clay that I can’t see any story reasons to actually give a love interest until after Arc 2.

Peril - Realize she doesn’t need Clay to love her to be worth anything and slowly come to realize to learn to love herself, maybe she gets to be with someone as an adult but after lots of healing and being able to separate her worth as a person from a partner’s love. <3

Turtle - I like how he has a crush on Kinkajou and how Anemone kind of ruins it but I don’t want it to go anywhere and I want he and Kinkajou to have more discussions about it and for them eventually decide not to get together. Or something like that I can’t really see Turtle with anyone but I liked that storyline.

Blue and Cricket: I actually really enjoy this ship and I want them to be happy, make it less sudden though Tui I stg they went way too fast but I do enjoy pathetic little boy x nerdy girl it is a very cute dynamic and made arc 3 tolerable in the first half for me.

Sundew: No complaints. Willow is amazing, I just wish she had more of a role in the story.

Snowfall: I think she and Lynx are cute but they do also work as friends, I don’t think she needs a love interest. Single girlboss.

Luna: I like Luna and Swordtail a lot actually Arc 3 had pretty good romance for Wings of Fire standards, I just wish it was fleshed out more before Luna’s POV book. Her thoughts and memories of Swordtail also made her book tolerable I’m ngl the plot was lacking but Luna and her awesome thoughts and mind and memories was super cool!!

I could also include the humans, the winglet characters and Darkstalker but I don’t want too!! Fuck the humans I hate them!!! Also I acknowledge I didn’t include any MLM ships in here at all but that’s kind of just because most male characters have pretty solid ships already which are primarily straight, which is sad that there isn’t a lot of LGBT rep in Wings of Fire besides Sundew x Willow and side characters Pineapple x Jambou(? He is so irrelevant I forgot his name help 😭 ) and arguably Sky/Peril. Maybe after Winter works through his angst he can get an emo boyfriend that would be my heart and soul.

#aaronymous ramblings #wof #wings of fire #i say im not into shipping but thats just because theres not actually a lot of good ships in things i like #and when i see a charavter usually i think of the most canon version of rhem in my mind which usually includes their horrible chemistry witg #basic love interest number five #but I am a proud enjoyer of romance comedy anime and im inserting tropes into wings of fire #spy x family komi cant communicate kazuya sama love is war tomo chan is a girl and so on #shame theyre all straight well honestly theyre all bisexuals thats my headcanon #pov me when my wings of fire post tags turn into anime posting #anyways make more good cheesy comedy romance about bisexual mlw or to spice it up just any comedy non offensive mlm wlw or hopefully #nbl literally anyone WHERE ARE MY NON BINARY ROMANCE ANIMES #Spongebob cryinf gif that is heavily edited is me rn

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