Tumgik
#i know i did this back when i did the routes in ch1 since i did them one at a time
northern-passage · 1 year
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how would we feel about an update that doesn’t have all of the paths available immediately? as in you could see the choice but it wouldn’t be selectable and would be marked as a wip?
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Isle Connections Ch1 Towards The Isle Of Armor
The sixth and final Installment of the Galar Soulmate Series.
You're not sure how you stayed but you did. Never again to return home. After all the game's storyline was over. Now what? Well you were hired to play babysitter yet again so it looks like you're heading off to the famous Isle of Armor. Maybe this would be a fun time with your friends! Now only if this goofball wouldn't be such a pain.
(Ok. So like I know I said that Milo's route was going to be the last installment of this series but as A very is technically a Gym Leader at the end of the events of the Isle of Armor DLC and a lot of people voted for a route of him and I said that I would write for all of the male cast of the Sword and Shield Gym Leader cast (minus Kabu) ....Yeah. I got roped into writing for this psychic goofball but I am serious when I say this is actually the last installment of this series. I won't be writing for anyone else from Sword and Shield after Avery. I do however thank everyone for all the love that you all have shown this series and I genuinely appreciate all of the support. It means a lot! Also Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone reading this first chapter.
Also vote for what kind of Pokemon from the Isle of Armor y'all want plus names.)
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This entire thing all started in March. That fateful decision that Leon made.
"Uh...What exactly is going on around here?"
It had been about a month since you arrived back in Postwick and already so many things had happened. Your Valentine's Day was great! And so was the rest of the week as the guys and Leon got to hang out with their families before he sadly had to once again take off for Wyndon again at the request of the new Chairman. Well he WAS still Champion after all. He still had a lot of responsibilities now that there was repairs going on. As for you, you got settled back into your basement room and had tried to once again (and succeeded in-) getting that job at Mr. Frederick's grocery store up the road a bit. And Mrs. L had instead started charging you a hundred dollars a month in rent instead of a hundred fifty. You suspected it was because of helping Leon but when you asked she claimed you were probably wanting to save money in order to move out once you figured out what you wanted to do again. Fair enough. If you were living in Galar now you'd need money to buy a house. The guys had been pretty chill. Usually going out to explore the fields or practice battle. Sonia had even published her book a week after you all arrived! Even making a free digital copy anyone could read on the web although you hadn't read it yet. Her publisher worked FAST! But that's not why you had woken up today. You had woken up to a whole bunch of commotion from downstairs and figured everyone was up, but when you came upstairs the strong scent of lemon and cleaning supplies hit your nose stronger than that roof piece did. And the sight of Hop wiping down one of the WALLS with a small rag certainly caught your tired brain off guard. Were you still dreaming???
"Oh uh. Good morning, Y/n!," the boy greeted your tired bed headed stare with an awkward smile. "Did I wake you up?"
"Kinda." You yawned reaching a hand up to rub your eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Oh! Spring cleaning! We do it every year once the weather's warm enough!"
"Spring cleaning?" He nodded. Oh. Makes sense. Lots of people did Spring Cleaning. You know you and your mom sure did.
"Yep! Once a year when it's Spring we clean the house literally top to bottom! But that's not the only reason why we're sprucing up the place!'' He turned back to the wall wiping it down with the biggest smile on his face. "I want everything to look it's best when Lee comes back this weekend!"
"...Say what now?"
"Lee called last night when you went to sleep! He's visiting us again this weekend and he's bringing a really special surprise for Glory! I dunno what it is yet but it's gotta be good! So today the house and then tomorrow the yard and shed! You wanna help?"
You shook your head no. "Sorry I can't. I have to work if I'm going to pay your mom that rent money for this month...But tell you what. Tell your mom to leave the basement and I'll clean that for you guys when I get back from work tonight. Ok?"
He beamed. "Yeah! That'd be a big help thanks!"
So Leon was coming that weekend huh? It'd be nice to see him again after so long. You just wondered what this 'surprise' was. Whelp you didn't have to wait long to find out that either because as he promised he showed up that weekend. The guys were pretty excited to see their big brother figure again and you'd be lying if you said you weren't excited to see him either. After all he was one of the few friends you had really. You kept your word of cleaning out the basement and downstairs bathroom for Mrs. L which she was grateful for but sadly weren't able to help much else due to your working. But it was alright. Mrs. G and the guys came over to help out and prepare things before Leon's big arrival that Saturday. And you were lucky enough to have the weekends off in order to see him. And then the day came. It was pretty early in the morning when someone bursts through the basement door startling you awake as Hop rushed down the stairs to wake you.
"Y/N!! WAKE UP WAKE UP!!"
"Huh?....What the-"
"LEON'S HERE!!", Hop excitedly called out for you from the basement stairs grinning like he had won a million dollars. "Everyone's here waiting for Mom to come back with him from the station! Come on before you miss him!"
You groaned. Oh. Right. It was THAT Saturday. "Alright. Alright. I'm up."
You groaned but did get up in order to go greet Leon. Whelp! You did want to see Leon again anyways. So you stumbled out of your sleeping back, slapped on come clothes that weren't PJs, and made yourself presentable in the bathroom before heading back up the stairs with Silver at your heels. But you were NOT prepared again for what you saw in the living room. Yes. Everyone was there. The guys, their moms, Leon's grandparents, and even Lee himself! But what you WEREN'T expecting was the extra person in the room. As soon as you had walked in someone had looked up from you at the couch and you paused seeing the much older man. And your eyes widened! NO. WAY. IT WAS KABU!! The older gym leader was sitting there in ordinary clothes right next to Leon and had looked up at you when you walked right in but paused in the doorway surprised. Kabu? Here? What in the world was one of the gym leader's doing here?
"Y/n!" You jumped when Leon smiled at you and gestured for you to come in as you stood there. "It's great to see you! Come in! You remember Kabu right?"
"Uh...Y-Yeah." You blinked before slowly walking in Silver at your heels. Still confused, you raised a hand and smiled at Kabu anyways. "Hey. Nice to see you again."
To your surprise instead of waving back the older man bowed to you. "It is an honor to meet our great champion's family and friends."
"Y-Yeah. Likewise. *ahem*....So what brings you to Postwick?"
"That's what this meeting here is all about." Leon looked back to Kabu who sat back up and looked to Gloria who you now realized was sitting across from him and Leon.
"Yes. You all must be very surprised someone like me decided to make the long journey here with Leon but rest assured that I had a purpose." His somber but calm expression met Gloria's. "You see there is a very good reason why I'm here. It is to see you." he then pointed a finger at Gloria.
Everyone looked surprised but more so Gloria who blinked and pointed at herself. "Ye came all the way from Motostoke jus' ta see ...me?" Kabu nodded but to her confusion. "But why?"
"A very good question to ask. And I have a very good answer. You see...I am in good shape for my age." ...You blinked raising a brow as he stated a ..true but very out of no where fact about him. "More than most people my age are, but as healthy as I may be it doesn't get rid of the fact that I am growing older. I have been the Fire Type Gym Leader for many years but it goes without saying I can't just keep that title forever. Like everyone there will be a time that I will decide or need to retire, but I can't as there's no one else to take over Motostoke's gym." ....He leaned forward making Gloria blink. "As with any Gym leader I study my opponents' moves, strategies, skill sets, and a slew of other variables in order to dictate their attacks. It's rare that I find a trainer who could not only beat me on her first try but in a way I wasn't expecting. Leon's judgement is something I respect highly and he wasn't wrong when he saw great potential in you Ms. Gloria."
The whole room fell silent for a moment as Gloria just..stared at him with the boys exchanging looks with each other before she spoke again. "Uh...W-Well thank ye. But what does that have ta do with anythin'?"
"It has to do with everything. Ms. Gloria if you're willing to accept my offer, and with your mother's permission of course." He nodded to Ms. G for a brief moment before turning back to her. "I would be honored to take you on and train you to become the new Fire Type Gym Leader of Motostoke."
Your. Jaw. DROPPED!! As did everyone else's besides Leon who smiled happily towards the shocked Gloria as she just sat there as kabu's words sank into everyone's heads. Kabu wanted to train HER!? As the new Fire Type Gym Leader for Motostoke!? THAT CERTAINLY WASN'T IN THE GAME!! After a moment of silence Gloria eventually sputtered out some noises that sounded like she was trying to talk gesturing her arms to him and around the room. Looking between him and Leon. Back and forth. Back and forth between the two league members before she finally let one word escape her mouth.
"WOT!?"
"Yes. Honestly with your skills and quick thinking I'm sure you'd make a great future gym leader. All you need is some guidance."
"I-I-I heard you b-b-but....WHY me!?" She gestured to herself again as if that was obvious. "I-I can't b-be a gym leader! I-I...I d-don't have the steel nerves it t-takes ta be one!"
"I thought you'd say that actually." She turned back to Leon who smiled warmly at her. "That's why I came up a plan that'd help you with your stage fright and anything else you might need improving on." With one hand Leon reached into his shirt's pocket and produced what looked like a tanish-golden colored train pass before holding it out to Gloria. "Here."
She blinked at it for a moment looking between Lee and the card before slowly taking it. "...What's this?"
"It's an exclusive Armor Pass."
"Armor Pass?," she asked him raising a brow.
He nodded with a hum. "Uh huh! With this you'll be able to directly go to the Isle of Armor station and catch one of their special taxi's to the island. That's where I trained when I first became Champion around your age. You see there's a very special dojo there with a very special teacher who specializes in training people into becoming better trainers. He's helped other people in the league before just like me. In fact he's pretty famous! You might even know about him. His name's Mustard."
You rose a brow. Mustard?? What kind of name was that?
"MUSTARD!?" You jumped hearing Hop shout eyes practically popping from his head with how wide they were in amazement. "As in like the old Champion who had the old title of Champion before he was defeated!? THAT MUSTARD!?"
Your eyes widened at Hop's words before turning to Leon who nodded. A former Champion?! No wonder Hop sounded amazed. "That's right. He's been running the dojo for years now and helps improve peoples' battling as well as themselves. I think it would be a great idea to have Gloria pay him a visit as I believe he'd be able to really help her come out of her shell. That is if she accepts Kabu's offer." He looked back to Gloria who still blinked at him. "You don't have to if you don't want to Gloria but know that you won't be in it alone."
"Yes. It's going to be hard work but that's what makes the end goal much more meaningful. But it depends on your answer."
Gloria blinked. Looked around the room at all of you. Looked at Leon. Looked at Kabu. Looked back down to the pass in her hands......Before smiling brightly like someone had just given her a brand new gym badge before looking back at Kabu! "YES!! O' course I accept ye offer! How can I not!? I just- Wow! THIS IS AMAZING!!"
A few smiles were shared even by the older man as Kabu bowed to her-
"Wait. When does she leave for the Isle of Armor?"
"Oh. Next Thursday. The train to the isle is already scheduled to arrive at noon then."
"NEXT THURSDAY!?" Everyone jumped as all of sudden Gloria shot up to her feet in panic. Hands grabbing her cheeks as a wave of fear washed over her all of a sudden. "T-THAT SOON!? I JUST- ....I NEED TA GO PACK!!" And with that she turned and fled. Silver having to literally jump out of the way as Gloria sped off out of Hop's out throwing the door open with a BANG behind her in her rush. Leaving everyone there sitting in silence...Until Mrs. G sighed.
The Isle of Armor?? Why did that sound familiar to you?...Oh well. You didn't pay it much mind but you were happy for Gloria to get such an unexpected surprise! Being trained by both a gym leader and a former champion sounds like a dream come true for someone like her. You didn't know all the details but Kabu talked for a while with Mrs. G getting Gloria's Mother's permission to train her before Leon had pulled you aside as everyone else was distracted by the sudden happy news. You were surprised when he lead you into the kitchen looking over his shoulder to make sure no one followed or was listening to him. 
It made you raise a brow. "Leon, is everything ok?" You gently pulled your arm away from the Champion. "You're acting weird, Dude."
He again looked over his shoulder back into the living room to make sure no one was listening before looking back at you with an inhale. "Actually I wanted to ask something of you and I wouldn't be asking you if it wasn't for a good reason."
Your brow rose higher as Silver waddled in following you before plopping on the floor by your legs. "It depends on what you're asking of me. What ARE you asking of me exactly?"
Leon reached a hand up to rub his neck, something you learnt that both himself and Hop had a habit of doing when nervous. "Well... I-its about Glory. I figured she'd accept the offer but there's a slight problem I'm worried about." Your crossed arms invited him to go on. "Well as you and I know Hop and Glory both have a habit of sometimes maybe running ahead when they shouldn't and ...Well...H-Hoppy's gonna be trained under Sonia's eyes and Victor's not very prone to running ahead. It's not that I don't trust Mustard but I was kinda maybe hoping that perhaps you'd agree to going along with her and making sure she was settling in ok there?"
You stared. "So...You want me to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble like I've been doing this entire time?"
"I-Ill make sure you're fully compensated for everything!," Leon assured you, "I-I would just feel better knowing that she was with someone in case she needed help. W-What do you say?"
You hummed furrowing a brow. You didn't feel like traveling again so soon after just settling down two months after an almost region ending event. You were honestly still surprised that you didn't teleport back home to your horrible mother. Then again...there really wasn't anything else you were doing right now. You were still figuring out what you wanted to do with your new life. Maybe a trip to this Isle would help. Plus spending time with Gloria sounded like fun.
You shrugged before nodding. "Sure. Why not? It might be fun."
The purple haired champion lit up before sighing in relief. "Thank you. I mean it. Thank you! I'll make it up to you I promise! I'm just happy to know that Glory is in good hands."
Quickly Mrs. L and everyone else was made aware that you'd also be able to go with Glory and Gloria seemed excited to know that you'd also be going with her. Leon making sure to also gift you the same pass as Gloria before he had to leave with Kabu. Whelp. Guess you were traveling again somewhere. But why did this Isle of Armor sound familiar to you? Oh well. You just packed up and prepared to to go traveling again. Soon Thursday rolled around and You, Hop, Victor, and Mrs. G all traveled with to the station. Gloria both giddy and nervous with a big old stuffed pack on her back. Mrs. G asking over and over again if Gloria remembered to pack everything she needed. First aid kit. Food. Clothes. A coat. Her sleeping bag. Etc. When you got to the train station Practically no one was there except for one or two other people and the station master behind the counter as usual. You did pause to look at the other two people who were dressed somewhat strangely and very colorfully waiting for the train as well. One had really BRIGHT pink hair and the other guy wore this gigantic top hat with pokeballs floating around it like some psychic pokemon. Wha- How was he doing that? Your attention was brought back to the present as the distant sounds of the evening train approaching caught everyone's attention.
"There's the train!," Mrs. G commented before grabbing Gloria by the shoulders with a look. "Are you sure you packed everything you needed?"
"Yes, Mum! For the millionth time I double checked this mornin'. I'll be fine travelin' there. Lee said he was gonna meet me at the taxi station anyways."
Mrs. G still didn't look so sure but Victor assured her. "Don't worry none, Mum. Glory's gonna be fine on her trip there. 'Sides Y/n is gonna be with 'er."
Eventually she did sigh and remove her hands from Gloria. "You're right. I just can't help but be worried about her traveling by herself. You all are growing up too fast for my liking."
"She'll be fine!," Hop said smiling widely before looking to Gloria, "You're gonna do great Glory! I know you will! You're my rival after all so you have to do your best or else I'll become a better trainer than you."
Gloria smiled back at him. "Ha! We'll see 'bout that. OH! I almost forgot! I got something for ye!" She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pokeball, holding it up to the purple haired boy. "'Ere! I had a couple a few extra o' these wee ones lying about an' I know they mean a lot ta people in a special way so I got ye one."
Hop slowly took the pokeball from her. "A pokemon? For me?" 
She nodded. "It's a rare find I had been gifted by Sonia back at Wyndon but I have no use for it. But don't see what it is til ye get home. Ok?"
Hop again blinked but smiled widely. "Wow! This is amazing Glory! Thank you." he excited turned to Victor holding up the brand new pokeball. "Hey, Vick! Look what Glory gave me!"
"You gave Hop a pokemon?"
Gloria turned to you and nodded. "I gave all me rivals an extra pokemon I got from the rotomi boxes ta show there's nay hard feelings. After all you said I shouldn't cause any bad blood between me rivals."
You smiled. "Oh ..Wow, Gloria. That was really nice of you! What did you give them if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh nothin' special really. I gave Marnie a wee purloin I found and I sent Bede a lovedisc before we went ta see you at the hospital."
You froze. .....And blinked. "Wait, wait, wait. You gave BEDE a what?!"
"This cute water pokemon I found called a lovedisc," she gushed obvliviously. "It was jus' the cutest wee thing shaped like a sweet lil heart! I figured since Bede's always wearin' pink and he has works with cute fairy type pokemon it'd be perfect! An' I gave Hop one of the extra pokeballs I had forgotten in me bag." She paused with a hum rubbing her chin. "I can't remember what pokemon it was but I'm sure Hop will love it all the same!"
You wanted to facepalm right then and there. Because as soon as the words 'I gave Bede a lovedisc' slipped out of her mouth so obliviously you knew she had once again blundered. And you had a good reason why. There was ONE specific pokemon Dex entry you specifically remembered about luvdisc-
"Its heart-shaped body makes it popular. In some places, you would give a Luvdisc to someone you love."
AND she gave one to Bede who she already flustered with accidentally making him think she was trying to gift him an applin. Great. You sighed but figured maybe Bede wouldn't know or he wouldn't think much of it since she also gifted Marnie a purrloin and Hop a....mystery pokemon you have yet to figure out. Here's hoping. The sounds of the train came further and further until with a high pitched screech it stopped right in front of you all and the station master announced it.
"The train to the Isle of Armor has arrived! Those with an Armor Pass please board the train! The train will departing in fifthteen minutes!"
"That's our cue!" Gloria said as the other two weirdly dressed people walked up to the station master. She turned back to all of you with a smile. "I guess this is good bye for now."
"Don't worry about us," you assured her smiling. "You're going to do great out there! And I'm still coming with you."
"Yeah! Glory, you'll do great!" "It's gonna be great to have a Champion brother and Gym Leader Rival!" "I'll miss you, Sweetie."
Hugs were had all around and good bye's were exchanged before Gloria a little tearfully joined the other two weirdly dressed folks in line for the train with you behind her as the station master checked their passes.
"Do you have an Armor Pass?"
"Naturally. I have made all the proper preparations which you can observe with unclouded eyes."
"Hee hee! Of course! I totally have one!"
"Then please allow me to check your passes."
You all watched as the weirdly dressed people handed their passes to the station master who proceeded to look over both behind the booth. Huh...Why did those two look familiar? Deja vu again. But you shrugged it off. Lots of different people in the pokemon world. They probably just reminded you of some you've seen before. After a moment the station master handed the two back their passes and they stepped out of the way for Gloria and yourself to walk up and also hand him your pass Leon gave you both. It was also at that moment the doors to the train opened and something came walking out of it. You turned ..and blinked as a SLOWPOKE slowly crawled it's way out of the train's doorway and into the station. It's dopey grinning face smiling at nothing as it randomly crawled into the station. Wha- What was a slowpoke doing here? Silver noticed too and chirped at it curiously gaining it's attention...or more so the food Silver held that he had been snacking on. the slowpoke peeked it's interest at that and came towards Silver making him chirp in warning backing up behind your legs holding his precious food from it's reach.
"Aw. Hey little guy." You slowly kneeled down to the pokemon who tilted it's head curiously but otherwise none threateningly at you as you kneeled down catching everyone's attention. "Where did you come from?" Of course it didn't answer you but made a happy noise when you reached out to pet it's head. CUTE!
"Oh a slowpoke!" "Hmph. To meet a slowpoke. Such a thing is simply elegant."
You paid no mind to the other two adults but the station master peeked out of his booth to see the thing before giving a groan. "Uh oh. Looks like another one's gotten on the train and ridden over from the Isle of Armor. Hey you're all pokemon trainers right?" He asked you all. "If Slowpoke blocks the ticket gate, it'll cause trouble for other customers. Slowpoke are actually really heavy. So do you think you can catch it for me?"
"I think it's just hungry," you answered back noticing the way it kept staring at Silver's food as your brave guard dog cowered away from the dopey looking teddy bear thing.
"If that case I can lead it out of the station with this." You turned to Victor who reached inside of his pocket and pulled out what looked like those granola breakfast bars that no one really liked besides him. Carefully peeling off the wrapper he exposed the granola berry mix thing and went over to the slowpoke. It was pretty easy to catch his attention as it almost immediately turned it's head to him. "C'mon boy! Ye want it? Come get it." And like magic the pokemon turned and slowly began following Victor as he made his way to back out of the station. The slowpoke slowly but surely following behind.
The station master sighed. "Thanks much! Slowpoke can be a big trouble to move sometimes." And he went back to finish giving Gloria and you your passes as Victor continued to lead the pokemon out of the station. 
"Hmmm? How interesting. I must say your catching style is quite simply elegant." "Whoa amazing! The way you're catching that slowpoke is the absolute coolest!"
Victor chuckled nervously as he continued leaving. "Are you guys getting on the train too?"
They both turned to Gloria and the pink haired lady nodded. "I'm heading to a place called the Isle of Armor! I'm gonna catch some rare pokemon and do some training!"
The blonde haired man nodded. Again HOW were those pokeballs floating around his hat?? "I've heard it's a place where one can catch rare pokemon and do lots of training."
Before Gloria could say anything else the station master turned back to the three of them. "We apologize for the wait. We have checked your Armor pass. All aboard the the train to the Isle of Armor! Mind your step when boarding. Please be aware there will also be a connection along the way."
"Okaaay!" "Understood."
The pink haired lady turned back to Gloria. "Let's hang if we meet up again, 'K? Bye bye then! See ya!"
The taller blonde man reached up to tip his hat slightly to Gloria. "Yes. Perhaps we shall meet again sometime. Well then please excuse me."
And both turned to board the train. You all watched them go before Hop hummed. "I could be wrong..But that lady looked familiar."
"You too huh?" Hop nodded and you hummed. Ok. That was strange. Hop seemed to kinda recognize them too so it's more than a deja vu affect. ...Well considering those two were in Wedgeherst Station that means they must've been from Postwick too right? You must've seen them around before and not paid them much attention beforehand. Yeah. That must've been it.
The station master ended up giving Gloria her pass and she quickly boarded the train with you and Silver behind her but she paused and looked behind her at them all....Smiling sadly and waved. You  waved too as they all waved back smiling and in Mrs. G's case crying lightly until the doors closed and the train moved. You both stood there for a long moment before you felt a jolt of the train move and you nudged her shoulder gently saying that you both should probably take your seats. She agreed so you both walked further into the train to take your seats. Huh. You didn't see the guy with the top hat or the girl with really bright pink hair anywhere. Guess they were in a different part of the train. It took a good few days and nights  of traveling by train and following the instructions Leon gave Gloria on her rotomi phone before stopping by and getting off at a station over looking an ocean. We're you supposed to travel the rest of the way by boat?
"Misses Gloria and Y/n?," a male voice called making you both look left and saw the familiar sight of a flying taxi. "You are them right?"
"Yeah!," Gloria happily answered with a smile, "Why?"
"I was assigned by the Champion to take you both to the Isle of Armor." He made a come on motion. "Climb aboard."
"Oh this is great!" Gloria beamed grabbing your arm. "We'll be there in no time!"
You groaned as she dragged you by the arm towards the taxi with Silver at your heels. Flying. WHY WAS IT ALWAYS FLYING!?
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silvertsundere · 1 year
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Silver Talks AniManga (16/04/23)
took it easy this week, so no crazy catch up like last one
things of note this week are the new pokeanime and Kill Blue, by the author of kuroko no basket
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Anime
Pokemon (2023) Ep1 - 2
I've been asking for ash to get retired for a billion years so I was STOKED when they announced that was actually gonna happen. he still didn't deserve to become champion with all the cheating he's always done but it was inevitable if he was to get taken out back. but onto better things. the new pokemon anime! it's really good! I wasn't sure about it, since pokemon has been airing for 20+ years but it felt like a breath of fresh air. the animation wasn't animation to write home about, even the fight with charizard and ceruledge looked good but it wasn't anything crazy, but it had some fancy looking scenery shots. it's strongest point was riko and sprigatito tho, their interactions are cute and endearing. anyway there's more I could say but I waited to write this til I was done with manga, cause I finished ep 2 like right when the chaps came out, so forgot some of the stuff I wanted to say, but that's the basic gist of it. it's really good, if you like pokemon you'll wanna be watching it.
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Mashle Ep2
oh hey they got to the first scene that made me go "oh maybe this can be something special after all" in the manga, still nothing impressive in terms of animation but, again, the start is p chill til it becomes a battle series so we'll see
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Jigokuraku Ep3
another good ep, still sticking very closely to the manga and nothing too special in terms of animation, but the sword fighting isn't bad also love seeing my lad gabi being such a wifeguy
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Manga
Kill Blue Ch1
fujimaki-sensei of kuroko no basket fame is back on jump! I really enjoyed robo x laserbeam when that ran some years ago (golf sports manga) but it ended up getting axed. kill blue is their newest series, based on their previous one shot with a similar name, like I mentioned in that news post some time ago. anyway, it's kinda like sakamoto and conan, a legendary assassin gets turned into a child and due to various reasons has to go back to school. the first chap was p decent, fujimaki's art is still great and the premise isn't bad so hoping for good things. hope it doesn't get stuck in the "old man goes back to school" thing and does some more stuff but I trust in fujimaki. also calling it here now that his daughter is gonna ge transfered to his class eventually, since they specifically mentioned she's around his (now reduced) age, so he'll get to interact with her and get to know her and become a better dad cause of that
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Dandadan Ch101
always funny when yukinobu just drop visuals like this outta nowhere nice chap tho, momo got a new power and we're learning a bit more about vamola before she re-enters the fray
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Saihate Quartet Ch9
they really went and made me him into an eboy huh
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Kaiju 8 Ch84
another very poggies chap bless, it's been good to see kikoru's character growth
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Pension Life Vampire Ch3
another cute chap, like usual, and keeping my yuri alarms ringing let's go
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Tokyo Underworld Ch37
not a bad chap, kinda lame jeanne just gets to walk away but at least the mcs realized there's an amogus
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Ichigoki's Under Control!! Ch19 (Finale)
MAN it's finally over, thank god, I thought shugomaru was a bad comedy, but at least it made me chuckle once, and when it learned it was gonna get axed it went wild and actually did something remotely decent, ichigoki was just bad from start to finish this is the first 1 I've ever given, and as rude as it might be, I hope the author doesn't do anything else on jump again
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The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins Ch21
just when I thought maybe it was getting better it takes another turn for the worse, not really much more to say than I just want it to end already
Fabricant 100 Ch18
hey another decent chap not bad, was expecting him to just copy the way andy uses his powers in UU but they went a different creative route so that's good, still think the series' doomed but the author has improved since the start, which is a good sign for their future stuff
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Jiangshi X Ch12
alright chap, not much to say tbh, still expecting a timeskip soon but we'll see
Witch Watch Ch105
I thought it was just gonna be a silly chap with comedian moi as the punchline, but there was actually some plot progression so that's nice
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Cipher Academy Ch20
a very good chap, the end was especially hype, maybe the medaka comeback is still on the table for nisio after all. I can only hope so
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Tenmaku Cinema Ch2
really good chap 2, himeki is very intense but she's also p goofy, which makes for a good contrast. wasn't too sure on chap 1 but yeah this'll be good, you can really feel the author's love for movies and tosh's art is sharper than ever
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Blue Box Ch97
another very good chap, it's still funny to me that the jump sports manga is actually a shoujo romance but it's really such a good blend of the two, god bless miura
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Mashle Ch152
he's back baby!!! finally time for the final showdown
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Sakamoto Days Ch115
good chap, the scene with sakamoto jumping the bridge was very pog, got to see slur's motivation too
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Undead Unluck Ch155
this is an unexpected duo but they're p funny together
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The Elusive Samurai Ch106
good lord that was an intense chap, very curious about how they're gonna get out of this. shouldn't be that much left til the manga ends either since takauji is the final boss, but it's had a good run
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Akane-banashi Ch58
another great chap, not only did we get to know seiyuu-chan's motivations, akane is also learning more about herself and her art
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4 notes · View notes
echantedtoon · 4 months
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Isle Connections Ch1 Towards The Isle Of Armor
The sixth and final Installment of the Galar Soulmate Series.
You're not sure how you stayed but you did. Never again to return home. After all the game's storyline was over. Now what? Well you were hired to play babysitter yet again so it looks like you're heading off to the famous Isle of Armor. Maybe this would be a fun time with your friends! Now only if this goofball wouldn't be such a pain.
(Ok. So like I know I said that Milo's route was going to be the last installment of this series but as A very is technically a Gym Leader at the end of the events of the Isle of Armor DLC and a lot of people voted for a route of him and I said that I would write for all of the male cast of the Sword and Shield Gym Leader cast (minus Kabu) ....Yeah. I got roped into writing for this psychic goofball but I am serious when I say this is actually the last installment of this series. I won't be writing for anyone else from Sword and Shield after Avery. I do however thank everyone for all the love that you all have shown this series and I genuinely appreciate all of the support. It means a lot! Also Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone reading this first chapter.
Also vote for what kind of Pokemon from the Isle of Armor y'all want plus names.)
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This entire thing all started in March. That fateful decision that Leon made.
"Uh...What exactly is going on around here?"
It had been about a month since you arrived back in Postwick and already so many things had happened. Your Valentine's Day was great! And so was the rest of the week as the guys and Leon got to hang out with their families before he sadly had to once again take off for Wyndon again at the request of the new Chairman. Well he WAS still Champion after all. He still had a lot of responsibilities now that there was repairs going on. As for you, you got settled back into your basement room and had tried to once again (and succeeded in-) getting that job at Mr. Frederick's grocery store up the road a bit. And Mrs. L had instead started charging you a hundred dollars a month in rent instead of a hundred fifty. You suspected it was because of helping Leon but when you asked she claimed you were probably wanting to save money in order to move out once you figured out what you wanted to do again. Fair enough. If you were living in Galar now you'd need money to buy a house. The guys had been pretty chill. Usually going out to explore the fields or practice battle. Sonia had even published her book a week after you all arrived! Even making a free digital copy anyone could read on the web although you hadn't read it yet. Her publisher worked FAST! But that's not why you had woken up today. You had woken up to a whole bunch of commotion from downstairs and figured everyone was up, but when you came upstairs the strong scent of lemon and cleaning supplies hit your nose stronger than that roof piece did. And the sight of Hop wiping down one of the WALLS with a small rag certainly caught your tired brain off guard. Were you still dreaming???
"Oh uh. Good morning, Y/n!," the boy greeted your tired bed headed stare with an awkward smile. "Did I wake you up?"
"Kinda." You yawned reaching a hand up to rub your eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Oh! Spring cleaning! We do it every year once the weather's warm enough!"
"Spring cleaning?" He nodded. Oh. Makes sense. Lots of people did Spring Cleaning. You know you and your mom sure did.
"Yep! Once a year when it's Spring we clean the house literally top to bottom! But that's not the only reason why we're sprucing up the place!'' He turned back to the wall wiping it down with the biggest smile on his face. "I want everything to look it's best when Lee comes back this weekend!"
"...Say what now?"
"Lee called last night when you went to sleep! He's visiting us again this weekend and he's bringing a really special surprise for Glory! I dunno what it is yet but it's gotta be good! So today the house and then tomorrow the yard and shed! You wanna help?"
You shook your head no. "Sorry I can't. I have to work if I'm going to pay your mom that rent money for this month...But tell you what. Tell your mom to leave the basement and I'll clean that for you guys when I get back from work tonight. Ok?"
He beamed. "Yeah! That'd be a big help thanks!"
So Leon was coming that weekend huh? It'd be nice to see him again after so long. You just wondered what this 'surprise' was. Whelp you didn't have to wait long to find out that either because as he promised he showed up that weekend. The guys were pretty excited to see their big brother figure again and you'd be lying if you said you weren't excited to see him either. After all he was one of the few friends you had really. You kept your word of cleaning out the basement and downstairs bathroom for Mrs. L which she was grateful for but sadly weren't able to help much else due to your working. But it was alright. Mrs. G and the guys came over to help out and prepare things before Leon's big arrival that Saturday. And you were lucky enough to have the weekends off in order to see him. And then the day came. It was pretty early in the morning when someone bursts through the basement door startling you awake as Hop rushed down the stairs to wake you.
"Y/N!! WAKE UP WAKE UP!!"
"Huh?....What the-"
"LEON'S HERE!!", Hop excitedly called out for you from the basement stairs grinning like he had won a million dollars. "Everyone's here waiting for Mom to come back with him from the station! Come on before you miss him!"
You groaned. Oh. Right. It was THAT Saturday. "Alright. Alright. I'm up."
You groaned but did get up in order to go greet Leon. Whelp! You did want to see Leon again anyways. So you stumbled out of your sleeping back, slapped on come clothes that weren't PJs, and made yourself presentable in the bathroom before heading back up the stairs with Silver at your heels. But you were NOT prepared again for what you saw in the living room. Yes. Everyone was there. The guys, their moms, Leon's grandparents, and even Lee himself! But what you WEREN'T expecting was the extra person in the room. As soon as you had walked in someone had looked up from you at the couch and you paused seeing the much older man. And your eyes widened! NO. WAY. IT WAS KABU!! The older gym leader was sitting there in ordinary clothes right next to Leon and had looked up at you when you walked right in but paused in the doorway surprised. Kabu? Here? What in the world was one of the gym leader's doing here?
"Y/n!" You jumped when Leon smiled at you and gestured for you to come in as you stood there. "It's great to see you! Come in! You remember Kabu right?"
"Uh...Y-Yeah." You blinked before slowly walking in Silver at your heels. Still confused, you raised a hand and smiled at Kabu anyways. "Hey. Nice to see you again."
To your surprise instead of waving back the older man bowed to you. "It is an honor to meet our great champion's family and friends."
"Y-Yeah. Likewise. *ahem*....So what brings you to Postwick?"
"That's what this meeting here is all about." Leon looked back to Kabu who sat back up and looked to Gloria who you now realized was sitting across from him and Leon.
"Yes. You all must be very surprised someone like me decided to make the long journey here with Leon but rest assured that I had a purpose." His somber but calm expression met Gloria's. "You see there is a very good reason why I'm here. It is to see you." he then pointed a finger at Gloria.
Everyone looked surprised but more so Gloria who blinked and pointed at herself. "Ye came all the way from Motostoke jus' ta see ...me?" Kabu nodded but to her confusion. "But why?"
"A very good question to ask. And I have a very good answer. You see...I am in good shape for my age." ...You blinked raising a brow as he stated a ..true but very out of no where fact about him. "More than most people my age are, but as healthy as I may be it doesn't get rid of the fact that I am growing older. I have been the Fire Type Gym Leader for many years but it goes without saying I can't just keep that title forever. Like everyone there will be a time that I will decide or need to retire, but I can't as there's no one else to take over Motostoke's gym." ....He leaned forward making Gloria blink. "As with any Gym leader I study my opponents' moves, strategies, skill sets, and a slew of other variables in order to dictate their attacks. It's rare that I find a trainer who could not only beat me on her first try but in a way I wasn't expecting. Leon's judgement is something I respect highly and he wasn't wrong when he saw great potential in you Ms. Gloria."
The whole room fell silent for a moment as Gloria just..stared at him with the boys exchanging looks with each other before she spoke again. "Uh...W-Well thank ye. But what does that have ta do with anythin'?"
"It has to do with everything. Ms. Gloria if you're willing to accept my offer, and with your mother's permission of course." He nodded to Ms. G for a brief moment before turning back to her. "I would be honored to take you on and train you to become the new Fire Type Gym Leader of Motostoke."
Your. Jaw. DROPPED!! As did everyone else's besides Leon who smiled happily towards the shocked Gloria as she just sat there as kabu's words sank into everyone's heads. Kabu wanted to train HER!? As the new Fire Type Gym Leader for Motostoke!? THAT CERTAINLY WASN'T IN THE GAME!! After a moment of silence Gloria eventually sputtered out some noises that sounded like she was trying to talk gesturing her arms to him and around the room. Looking between him and Leon. Back and forth. Back and forth between the two league members before she finally let one word escape her mouth.
"WOT!?"
"Yes. Honestly with your skills and quick thinking I'm sure you'd make a great future gym leader. All you need is some guidance."
"I-I-I heard you b-b-but....WHY me!?" She gestured to herself again as if that was obvious. "I-I can't b-be a gym leader! I-I...I d-don't have the steel nerves it t-takes ta be one!"
"I thought you'd say that actually." She turned back to Leon who smiled warmly at her. "That's why I came up a plan that'd help you with your stage fright and anything else you might need improving on." With one hand Leon reached into his shirt's pocket and produced what looked like a tanish-golden colored train pass before holding it out to Gloria. "Here."
She blinked at it for a moment looking between Lee and the card before slowly taking it. "...What's this?"
"It's an exclusive Armor Pass."
"Armor Pass?," she asked him raising a brow.
He nodded with a hum. "Uh huh! With this you'll be able to directly go to the Isle of Armor station and catch one of their special taxi's to the island. That's where I trained when I first became Champion around your age. You see there's a very special dojo there with a very special teacher who specializes in training people into becoming better trainers. He's helped other people in the league before just like me. In fact he's pretty famous! You might even know about him. His name's Mustard."
You rose a brow. Mustard?? What kind of name was that?
"MUSTARD!?" You jumped hearing Hop shout eyes practically popping from his head with how wide they were in amazement. "As in like the old Champion who had the old title of Champion before he was defeated!? THAT MUSTARD!?"
Your eyes widened at Hop's words before turning to Leon who nodded. A former Champion?! No wonder Hop sounded amazed. "That's right. He's been running the dojo for years now and helps improve peoples' battling as well as themselves. I think it would be a great idea to have Gloria pay him a visit as I believe he'd be able to really help her come out of her shell. That is if she accepts Kabu's offer." He looked back to Gloria who still blinked at him. "You don't have to if you don't want to Gloria but know that you won't be in it alone."
"Yes. It's going to be hard work but that's what makes the end goal much more meaningful. But it depends on your answer."
Gloria blinked. Looked around the room at all of you. Looked at Leon. Looked at Kabu. Looked back down to the pass in her hands......Before smiling brightly like someone had just given her a brand new gym badge before looking back at Kabu! "YES!! O' course I accept ye offer! How can I not!? I just- Wow! THIS IS AMAZING!!"
A few smiles were shared even by the older man as Kabu bowed to her-
"Wait. When does she leave for the Isle of Armor?"
"Oh. Next Thursday. The train to the isle is already scheduled to arrive at noon then."
"NEXT THURSDAY!?" Everyone jumped as all of sudden Gloria shot up to her feet in panic. Hands grabbing her cheeks as a wave of fear washed over her all of a sudden. "T-THAT SOON!? I JUST- ....I NEED TA GO PACK!!" And with that she turned and fled. Silver having to literally jump out of the way as Gloria sped off out of Hop's out throwing the door open with a BANG behind her in her rush. Leaving everyone there sitting in silence...Until Mrs. G sighed.
The Isle of Armor?? Why did that sound familiar to you?...Oh well. You didn't pay it much mind but you were happy for Gloria to get such an unexpected surprise! Being trained by both a gym leader and a former champion sounds like a dream come true for someone like her. You didn't know all the details but Kabu talked for a while with Mrs. G getting Gloria's Mother's permission to train her before Leon had pulled you aside as everyone else was distracted by the sudden happy news. You were surprised when he lead you into the kitchen looking over his shoulder to make sure no one followed or was listening to him. 
It made you raise a brow. "Leon, is everything ok?" You gently pulled your arm away from the Champion. "You're acting weird, Dude."
He again looked over his shoulder back into the living room to make sure no one was listening before looking back at you with an inhale. "Actually I wanted to ask something of you and I wouldn't be asking you if it wasn't for a good reason."
Your brow rose higher as Silver waddled in following you before plopping on the floor by your legs. "It depends on what you're asking of me. What ARE you asking of me exactly?"
Leon reached a hand up to rub his neck, something you learnt that both himself and Hop had a habit of doing when nervous. "Well... I-its about Glory. I figured she'd accept the offer but there's a slight problem I'm worried about." Your crossed arms invited him to go on. "Well as you and I know Hop and Glory both have a habit of sometimes maybe running ahead when they shouldn't and ...Well...H-Hoppy's gonna be trained under Sonia's eyes and Victor's not very prone to running ahead. It's not that I don't trust Mustard but I was kinda maybe hoping that perhaps you'd agree to going along with her and making sure she was settling in ok there?"
You stared. "So...You want me to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble like I've been doing this entire time?"
"I-Ill make sure you're fully compensated for everything!," Leon assured you, "I-I would just feel better knowing that she was with someone in case she needed help. W-What do you say?"
You hummed furrowing a brow. You didn't feel like traveling again so soon after just settling down two months after an almost region ending event. You were honestly still surprised that you didn't teleport back home to your horrible mother. Then again...there really wasn't anything else you were doing right now. You were still figuring out what you wanted to do with your new life. Maybe a trip to this Isle would help. Plus spending time with Gloria sounded like fun.
You shrugged before nodding. "Sure. Why not? It might be fun."
The purple haired champion lit up before sighing in relief. "Thank you. I mean it. Thank you! I'll make it up to you I promise! I'm just happy to know that Glory is in good hands."
Quickly Mrs. L and everyone else was made aware that you'd also be able to go with Glory and Gloria seemed excited to know that you'd also be going with her. Leon making sure to also gift you the same pass as Gloria before he had to leave with Kabu. Whelp. Guess you were traveling again somewhere. But why did this Isle of Armor sound familiar to you? Oh well. You just packed up and prepared to to go traveling again. Soon Thursday rolled around and You, Hop, Victor, and Mrs. G all traveled with to the station. Gloria both giddy and nervous with a big old stuffed pack on her back. Mrs. G asking over and over again if Gloria remembered to pack everything she needed. First aid kit. Food. Clothes. A coat. Her sleeping bag. Etc. When you got to the train station Practically no one was there except for one or two other people and the station master behind the counter as usual. You did pause to look at the other two people who were dressed somewhat strangely and very colorfully waiting for the train as well. One had really BRIGHT pink hair and the other guy wore this gigantic top hat with pokeballs floating around it like some psychic pokemon. Wha- How was he doing that? Your attention was brought back to the present as the distant sounds of the evening train approaching caught everyone's attention.
"There's the train!," Mrs. G commented before grabbing Gloria by the shoulders with a look. "Are you sure you packed everything you needed?"
"Yes, Mum! For the millionth time I double checked this mornin'. I'll be fine travelin' there. Lee said he was gonna meet me at the taxi station anyways."
Mrs. G still didn't look so sure but Victor assured her. "Don't worry none, Mum. Glory's gonna be fine on her trip there. 'Sides Y/n is gonna be with 'er."
Eventually she did sigh and remove her hands from Gloria. "You're right. I just can't help but be worried about her traveling by herself. You all are growing up too fast for my liking."
"She'll be fine!," Hop said smiling widely before looking to Gloria, "You're gonna do great Glory! I know you will! You're my rival after all so you have to do your best or else I'll become a better trainer than you."
Gloria smiled back at him. "Ha! We'll see 'bout that. OH! I almost forgot! I got something for ye!" She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pokeball, holding it up to the purple haired boy. "'Ere! I had a couple a few extra o' these wee ones lying about an' I know they mean a lot ta people in a special way so I got ye one."
Hop slowly took the pokeball from her. "A pokemon? For me?" 
She nodded. "It's a rare find I had been gifted by Sonia back at Wyndon but I have no use for it. But don't see what it is til ye get home. Ok?"
Hop again blinked but smiled widely. "Wow! This is amazing Glory! Thank you." he excited turned to Victor holding up the brand new pokeball. "Hey, Vick! Look what Glory gave me!"
"You gave Hop a pokemon?"
Gloria turned to you and nodded. "I gave all me rivals an extra pokemon I got from the rotomi boxes ta show there's nay hard feelings. After all you said I shouldn't cause any bad blood between me rivals."
You smiled. "Oh ..Wow, Gloria. That was really nice of you! What did you give them if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh nothin' special really. I gave Marnie a wee purloin I found and I sent Bede a lovedisc before we went ta see you at the hospital."
You froze. .....And blinked. "Wait, wait, wait. You gave BEDE a what?!"
"This cute water pokemon I found called a lovedisc," she gushed obvliviously. "It was jus' the cutest wee thing shaped like a sweet lil heart! I figured since Bede's always wearin' pink and he has works with cute fairy type pokemon it'd be perfect! An' I gave Hop one of the extra pokeballs I had forgotten in me bag." She paused with a hum rubbing her chin. "I can't remember what pokemon it was but I'm sure Hop will love it all the same!"
You wanted to facepalm right then and there. Because as soon as the words 'I gave Bede a lovedisc' slipped out of her mouth so obliviously you knew she had once again blundered. And you had a good reason why. There was ONE specific pokemon Dex entry you specifically remembered about luvdisc-
"Its heart-shaped body makes it popular. In some places, you would give a Luvdisc to someone you love."
AND she gave one to Bede who she already flustered with accidentally making him think she was trying to gift him an applin. Great. You sighed but figured maybe Bede wouldn't know or he wouldn't think much of it since she also gifted Marnie a purrloin and Hop a....mystery pokemon you have yet to figure out. Here's hoping. The sounds of the train came further and further until with a high pitched screech it stopped right in front of you all and the station master announced it.
"The train to the Isle of Armor has arrived! Those with an Armor Pass please board the train! The train will departing in fifthteen minutes!"
"That's our cue!" Gloria said as the other two weirdly dressed people walked up to the station master. She turned back to all of you with a smile. "I guess this is good bye for now."
"Don't worry about us," you assured her smiling. "You're going to do great out there! And I'm still coming with you."
"Yeah! Glory, you'll do great!" "It's gonna be great to have a Champion brother and Gym Leader Rival!" "I'll miss you, Sweetie."
Hugs were had all around and good bye's were exchanged before Gloria a little tearfully joined the other two weirdly dressed folks in line for the train with you behind her as the station master checked their passes.
"Do you have an Armor Pass?"
"Naturally. I have made all the proper preparations which you can observe with unclouded eyes."
"Hee hee! Of course! I totally have one!"
"Then please allow me to check your passes."
You all watched as the weirdly dressed people handed their passes to the station master who proceeded to look over both behind the booth. Huh...Why did those two look familiar? Deja vu again. But you shrugged it off. Lots of different people in the pokemon world. They probably just reminded you of some you've seen before. After a moment the station master handed the two back their passes and they stepped out of the way for Gloria and yourself to walk up and also hand him your pass Leon gave you both. It was also at that moment the doors to the train opened and something came walking out of it. You turned ..and blinked as a SLOWPOKE slowly crawled it's way out of the train's doorway and into the station. It's dopey grinning face smiling at nothing as it randomly crawled into the station. Wha- What was a slowpoke doing here? Silver noticed too and chirped at it curiously gaining it's attention...or more so the food Silver held that he had been snacking on. the slowpoke peeked it's interest at that and came towards Silver making him chirp in warning backing up behind your legs holding his precious food from it's reach.
"Aw. Hey little guy." You slowly kneeled down to the pokemon who tilted it's head curiously but otherwise none threateningly at you as you kneeled down catching everyone's attention. "Where did you come from?" Of course it didn't answer you but made a happy noise when you reached out to pet it's head. CUTE!
"Oh a slowpoke!" "Hmph. To meet a slowpoke. Such a thing is simply elegant."
You paid no mind to the other two adults but the station master peeked out of his booth to see the thing before giving a groan. "Uh oh. Looks like another one's gotten on the train and ridden over from the Isle of Armor. Hey you're all pokemon trainers right?" He asked you all. "If Slowpoke blocks the ticket gate, it'll cause trouble for other customers. Slowpoke are actually really heavy. So do you think you can catch it for me?"
"I think it's just hungry," you answered back noticing the way it kept staring at Silver's food as your brave guard dog cowered away from the dopey looking teddy bear thing.
"If that case I can lead it out of the station with this." You turned to Victor who reached inside of his pocket and pulled out what looked like those granola breakfast bars that no one really liked besides him. Carefully peeling off the wrapper he exposed the granola berry mix thing and went over to the slowpoke. It was pretty easy to catch his attention as it almost immediately turned it's head to him. "C'mon boy! Ye want it? Come get it." And like magic the pokemon turned and slowly began following Victor as he made his way to back out of the station. The slowpoke slowly but surely following behind.
The station master sighed. "Thanks much! Slowpoke can be a big trouble to move sometimes." And he went back to finish giving Gloria and you your passes as Victor continued to lead the pokemon out of the station. 
"Hmmm? How interesting. I must say your catching style is quite simply elegant." "Whoa amazing! The way you're catching that slowpoke is the absolute coolest!"
Victor chuckled nervously as he continued leaving. "Are you guys getting on the train too?"
They both turned to Gloria and the pink haired lady nodded. "I'm heading to a place called the Isle of Armor! I'm gonna catch some rare pokemon and do some training!"
The blonde haired man nodded. Again HOW were those pokeballs floating around his hat?? "I've heard it's a place where one can catch rare pokemon and do lots of training."
Before Gloria could say anything else the station master turned back to the three of them. "We apologize for the wait. We have checked your Armor pass. All aboard the the train to the Isle of Armor! Mind your step when boarding. Please be aware there will also be a connection along the way."
"Okaaay!" "Understood."
The pink haired lady turned back to Gloria. "Let's hang if we meet up again, 'K? Bye bye then! See ya!"
The taller blonde man reached up to tip his hat slightly to Gloria. "Yes. Perhaps we shall meet again sometime. Well then please excuse me."
And both turned to board the train. You all watched them go before Hop hummed. "I could be wrong..But that lady looked familiar."
"You too huh?" Hop nodded and you hummed. Ok. That was strange. Hop seemed to kinda recognize them too so it's more than a deja vu affect. ...Well considering those two were in Wedgeherst Station that means they must've been from Postwick too right? You must've seen them around before and not paid them much attention beforehand. Yeah. That must've been it.
The station master ended up giving Gloria her pass and she quickly boarded the train with you and Silver behind her but she paused and looked behind her at them all....Smiling sadly and waved. You  waved too as they all waved back smiling and in Mrs. G's case crying lightly until the doors closed and the train moved. You both stood there for a long moment before you felt a jolt of the train move and you nudged her shoulder gently saying that you both should probably take your seats. She agreed so you both walked further into the train to take your seats. Huh. You didn't see the guy with the top hat or the girl with really bright pink hair anywhere. Guess they were in a different part of the train. It took a good few days and nights  of traveling by train and following the instructions Leon gave Gloria on her rotomi phone before stopping by and getting off at a station over looking an ocean. We're you supposed to travel the rest of the way by boat?
"Misses Gloria and Y/n?," a male voice called making you both look left and saw the familiar sight of a flying taxi. "You are them right?"
"Yeah!," Gloria happily answered with a smile, "Why?"
"I was assigned by the Champion to take you both to the Isle of Armor." He made a come on motion. "Climb aboard."
"Oh this is great!" Gloria beamed grabbing your arm. "We'll be there in no time!"
You groaned as she dragged you by the arm towards the taxi with Silver at your heels. Flying. WHY WAS IT ALWAYS FLYING!?
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apexqueenie · 3 years
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The Blood King (Bakugou x Reader, Medieval AU) Ch1
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Synopsis: In fairytales, princesses like you got to marry handsome princes like your best friend Shoto, but you’re not living a fairytale. You find the harsh realities a punch to the face as you and Sho run away outside palace grounds and into the real world. But the harsh brings out the beautiful, and in your case, it took the form of the scarlet covered barbarian king, whose territory you disturbed.
A/N: This is the first long series that I’m writing, I hope you all enjoy!
Warnings: Swearing, a bit of violence (This is Bakugou lol), eventual smut (I’ll put a warning dw, totally skippable)
[Ch1]->[Ch2]->[Ch3]->[Ch4]->[Ch5]->[Ch6]
You didn’t know how much more badly a plan could go, but here you were, lost, wounded, and scared in the middle of the freaking forest, the sound of a very angry beast trailing after you. You tugged at the unconscious man on the floor, his head bleeding severely. He was losing too much blood and you couldn’t keep pulling him along without stopping the bleeding first. Your only option was to fight. How did this all start exactly? Well, it started when you decided to ditch your wedding.
***
In a daze, you pulled yourself from your slumber, rising to the sound of gentle knocks at your door. “Who’s there?” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes. 
You shivered slightly and crossed your arms, realizing that you had kicked off your blankets in your sleep. Your best handmaiden, Ochako, barged in, not even bothering to answer the question. 
“Good morning princess” she sang delightfully as she opened your large curtains, allowing the morning light to spill into the huge room. Ochako, although not being of royal blood, was a close friend of yours throughout the years. It was her job to serve you, but you loved her and treated her as your sister. 
“Chako, I told you (y/n) is fine when we’re alone” you said with a yawn.
Ochako hummed as she walked to your wardrobe, sifting through it for the perfect dress. “Ah, but you see your highness, we aren’t alone.”
Before you could question her, a familiar face peeked around the door, heterochromic eyes glancing around the room. “Hi” he says before entering the room and closing the doors behind him.
“SHO!!!” You yelled, launching yourself out of your bed to give your childhood friend a big hug. You haven’t seen him since last summer.
The both of your fathers were Kings of kingdoms who traded with one another, meeting in person once a year to discuss the details. While they both enjoyed a bit of drinking and chess, you and Shoto ran around the gardens barefooted with sticks in hand for fake swordplay. They were always about knights and dragons, and since there were only two of you, you took turns being the dragon or the knight. Princesses weren’t taught to practice swordplay, so Shoto took it upon himself to be your mentor. He taught you what he remembered from his private lessons, insisting that if you were to meet a real dragon like in your games, you would be able to fight it off. 
“But won’t you be here to protect me?” you asked, lowering your stick.
“Yeah,” he said, “but when we meet a real dragon, we’ll be protecting each other.”
Every year, you two would meet to run around the gardens, hiding from your handmaidens and butlers until meal time. Every year, you would shy a bit away from the games and start sparring for real, Sho providing the wooden swords to teach you what he’s learned from the top sword fighters across the continent. Every year your blades danced with his until the both of you could read each other’s movements with a single glance. And every year, you felt a growing affection for the boy that you were too afraid to bring up. 
The two of you talked about your home lives often, sharing stories and complaints about being “perfect” and a “role model” to your citizens. Shoto’s father constantly pushes everyone in their family to their limits, causing the Queen to go insane and burn Shoto, leaving a signature red scar on his left eye. While she was locked in the medical housing part of the castle, Shoto started to understand why his mother lost her mind and silently started to rebel against his father. Your father was similar, always correcting you and forcing you to practice perfect mannerisms. You were his first born, you were supposed to be the perfect example of what a future Queen was to be, especially for your younger siblings; the second born son barely of age to train by sword. If you were anything less, you were to be locked in your room until you had time to “reflect”, your maids unable to speak to you in fear that the King would hear and throw them in the dungeon. Your mother, being too vain to involve herself with any of her children, never saw any of you until your birthdays. She opted to drown herself in self-pampering every other day. Both of your lives were royal hell until “The Meeting”, where the both of you could forget about being perfect for a day.  
You wrapped your arms around Shoto’s neck and buried your face in the crook of his neck, the both of you clutching each other close. His body radiated its own heat, warming you more than the thin fabric of your nightdress could. You pulled away, realising he got even taller this year. 
“I missed you Sho!” you smiled.
“Likewise” he replied, slinging his sword from his back, only there was another object wrapped in silk next to it. “Did...anything interesting happen this year?” 
“Hmmm,” you pondered, walking to your vanity and grabbing a brush. “Well, Jinko is pregnant again.”
“Your mother?”
“Heh, she was never around enough to be a ‘mother’, she’s merely my birth-giver.” you snorted, combing your soft locks. 
“So, is that the fourth…?”
“Fifth.”
“Well then.”
“Yep, and as soon as she’s done pushing it out, she’ll ignore it 364 days of the year. Hell, Ocha was there more for me than my mother ever could be” you say, earning a small blush from the girl.
Shoto sighed, taking a seat on the edge of your bed and placing his sword next to him. 
“Anyways, what’s the meeting about this time?” you asked now moving onto cleaning your face.
“That’s… uh...well, I have to talk to you about something soon, but first, I brought you a gift” Sho said a bit awkwardly. He turned and handed you the silk wrapped object. You took it gently, afraid of breaking it, that was, until you unwrapped it. Your mouth dropped as you felt the silk fall off and onto the floor, completely forgotten as you held up the object in awe. In your hand was a long silver blade engraved with delicately curved patterns surrounding a single mother pearl at the center and down the blade itself. The hilt fit perfectly in your hands, the weight completely balanced. 
You were damn near about to cry. “Sho...its-”
“Get dressed so we can try it out” he smiles and hands you the sheath.
Giddily, you sheath your sword and headed to the dressing curtain where Ochako waited for you with a big smile. She seemed to have known about this whole visit because she held up a bit more of a casual dress, one that wasn’t as long as it normally would be. You never understood why you had to wear dresses as a princess, but it couldn’t be helped, you had no control over your clothing choices. Ochako however, had the power to hem the dresses for you so you could run with a bit more freedom. 
***
“Sho! I can’t believe you did this! How’d you manage to sneak this by your dad?” you ask once you are dressed. You moved to take the direct route to the gardens, but Shoto pulled you to a different route around. “Sho?”
“That’s the thing I have to talk to you about,” he said, peeking into all the rooms and hallways before entering, “I don’t want to run into anyone else right now.” He pulls you along swiftly until you reach the gardens, taking one last look around you before relaxing a bit.
“Hey, Sho, what the heck is going on?” you ask, lowering your voice.
The boy in front of you couldn’t look you in the eyes. He was worried about something, which was totally uncharacteristic of him. Trying to ease his nerves, you reach out and gently squeeze his hand, but he doesn’t respond back. Instead, he just sighs, finally about to say something.
“So...you know how we...always meet up every year?” he asks.
You nod, slightly confused at where this was going.
“Well, our fathers have been discussing…”
“Discussing what?”
“Something very.. special for next week-”
“My birthday isn’t for a couple of months”
“It’s not that-”
“Then?”
He turned his head and sighed. 
“...Discussing our marriage…” he trails off.
“Sho! Oh wow, This-this is great!” you beamed. You always thought about the day you’ll have to marry someone. Your role as a princess was to marry a prince, and become a beloved Queen to your kingdom. You dreaded that it would be for trading purposes, that you’d have to marry some pudgy old man so that your father could share more land, but you had the option to marry your best friend! Anyone would be delighted at the thought...anyone but Shoto.
Your smile quickly faded as you studied his face. He expressed a mix of guilt, awkwardness, worry, and something you haven’t seen before…was that fear?
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, still unable to look at you, “I can’t do this-”
“Is it too early still? Because it’s ok, we don’t have to-” The words stung, but you couldn’t let that get to you.
“No! No, that’s not it, it’s just that I can’t”
“You can’t what? Tell me what so I can help you.”
“I… I love you (y/n), just...not like that” he says, furrowing his eyebrows.
“What? Wait, what do you mean?” you asked, stomach dropping.
“I just mean that I, I don’t see you like that.” he said.
“So, I’m not good enough?” you shook your head.
“-No-”
You could feel the tears stinging in your eyes, “so...there’s someone else?”
He lets go of your hand to rub his arm in a nervous manner, “No, that’s not it either, I just don’t know how to explain it-”
But he was lying. You knew Shoto was a bad liar around you. It was bad enough that he couldn’t look at you, but even worse that he was taking steps away from you, slowly inching backwards in the opposite direction. He wasn’t trusting you with something and you didn’t know why, but your anger took over, and suddenly, you didn’t want to know why either.
“Well then, I’ll leave it to you to inform our fathers that this wedding won’t be happening, Todoroki.” you huffed. You saw the hurt in his face when you called him by his last name, but you could care less right now. You turned around and headed back to the castle, back to your room, and back to Ochako so you could cry in comfort. You kept your eyes trained at the ground, a silent message to all your servants to leave you alone. However, the message was left unknown to someone who didn’t live in the palace, someone like King Enji. 
You were cut off from the path to your room by the tall and heavily built man, his eyes cold and harsh staring at you from above. You stopped and immediately curtsied in respect, as you were representing your father every time you met with a leader of another kingdom. 
“Good morning, King Enji.” you said, giving him a well practiced ‘princess smile’.
He only grunted in response, nodding his head to the sword strapped to your back. “I see you received my son’s wedding gift, do you find it satisfactory?”
“Oh-the sword, right! It’s beautiful, your greatness. I am so humbly honored to receive such a gift.” you bow. You had completely forgotten it was there after what happened with Shoto. It was supposed to be a wedding gift, a sign of his love for you, but he didn’t love you like you loved him. You should be throwing this thing away, you should feel disgusted...so why did those words come out so naturally? Why did the sword feel so familiar? Hopefully Ochako could help you answer those. 
King Enji nodded in approval, motioning to some servants he had waiting out of your sight. “You have good manners, young one. Perhaps my son could learn a thing or two from you when it comes to respecting his elders.”
Two female servants took place besides you, awaiting further instructions from their King. 
“Your father has agreed to allow me to provide the dress, courtesy of the profits he helped me make last year. My servants will be taking your measurements, as well as note your likes and dislikes for the preparations.” he says before walking off.
All you could do was smile now. You couldn’t make your father look bad, even in front of servants. You continued to hold back tears as the handmaidens escorted you to your chambers.
So much for spilling your heart out to Ochako. 
***
The maidens were merciless, insisting that every measurement be as precise as possible. You tried to delay them, but your efforts were futile. They brought every bit of conversation back to the dress, and to the wedding plans you know you won’t have. Guards were installed in front to ensure no one came in or out until every inch of your body was measured to perfection. They measured your breasts and behind about five times over to ensure that “your best qualities were perfectly framed” for the wedding. Best qualities? Were you just boobs and ass for the future King? You sighed, still letting them continue their measuring. Shoto wouldn’t have cared…
No, he was Todoroki to you now, until he can give you an explanation. 
But...do you even deserve one?
As King Enji’s servants gave you a break to bring out supplies for your fitting, you walked over to the sword your “fiance” gave you, unsheathed for its glory to shine on your bed. He knew how you liked it, designing it to perfectly mirror you. He took note of everything you loved, remembering your style interests from whenever you two would talk for hours on end. You traced the flawless engravings on the blade itself, almost tearing up again. Turning the sword over, you saw the engraving on the bottom of the hilt, small, yet beautiful nonetheless. 
“Let’s protect each other from now on”
All the anger you felt before was gone, replaced by pure guilt.
He really did love you.
Just not in the way that you had hoped. 
You were being selfish, and you needed to make it right. 
Before you knew it, you were yanked back to the full length mirrors for more measurements. 
Both the measuring and interrogations lasted nearly the entire day with the servants drawing several designs and re-measuring you for each one. Of course, they didn’t accept a “that looks fine” or “this one is good'', so they continued to create new ones, each more extravagant and beautiful than the last. Evening came, and the maidens packed their materials to head back to their own kingdom. You thanked them sincerely for all their hard work and rushed off to say goodbye to Shoto until he disappeared over the hill and into the forest, like you’ve always done...except you weren’t.
You arrived to meet your father, King Enji, and Shoto in the main hall a little out of breath while they said their last goodbyes. King Enji broke his attention away from your father to give you a polite nod, acknowledging your presence. Your father noticed this and turned to give you a big hug, laughing heartily. 
“Can you believe it? You’re getting married in a week! I need to tell your mother straight away! She would be so proud.” he says, pulling strands of your hair behind your ear. 
“Yes, I believe she would” you smile. You weren’t in the mood to explain that she’d only use this as an excuse to out-fashion you on your own special day. 
Shoto hung his head in silence right next to his dad, still not making eye contact with you. You tried to pay him no mind and instead focused on building up your courage to ask something of King Enji in the politest way possible. 
When you got the chance, you squeezed out every bit of bravery left in your system to say “Erm, King Enji, is it alright if Prince Shoto stays?”, twiddling your fingers innocently.
The red headed man looked a bit taken back by the question, but he didn’t seem opposed to the idea. He snorted, waving his hand to Shoto, who stared at you with an open mouth.
“Ah, young love,” your father chuckled, and went to see his comrade out the door.
Without a second to spare, you grabbed Shoto’’s hand and led him to your room, closing the door behind you quickly. 
“(y/n), what are you doing?” he asked, watching you shove a chair underneath the handles of your doors. You had enough palace servants for today. 
You turned around and immediately threw your arms around his waist. He stood rigid with surprise before hesitantly hugging you back with a light grip. He was still confused from the fiasco earlier, but didn’t blame you.
“Sho....I’m so sorry, I should have understood.” you whispered. “I hope you could forgive me..”
He gave you a slight squeeze, “Of-course, (y/n). I’m sorry too, I-”
“Stop. You don’t need to explain anything to me. All we need to do is get this wedding cancelled.” you interrupt, looking up at him. “Also, I’m glad you didn’t say anything.” 
He looked relieved, giving you a soft smile. “Thanks, (y/n).” He pulls away from you and takes a seat on your bed next to where your blade still sat, unbothered. “But, I realized that if I were to tell my father, he’d assume it to be an insult no matter what I say, and end the friendship. with your people. Then he’d have me married off to someone else and make my life more hell than it already was. I’d rather be married to my best friend than a stranger.” he smiled.
You opened your mouth to say something, but the words escaped you. You were stumped. After all of this, it turned in your favor, but you didn’t want this anymore. 
You huffed and stood up abruptly, heading to your drawers and searching through them. 
“What are you-?” Sho trailed off, standing up with you. 
Finally, you found an assorted set of bags you use to collect things on your trips to the forest. With most of your years being devoted to molding you into a perfect queen, you haven’t used these for anything more than bringing home a pretty set of rocks in hopes that your mother would pay attention to you. Now, you were finding the biggest ones, planning to fill them with essentials to help you survive the woods. 
“We’re not going to do anything we’re forced to be into,” you said, “No matter what, our fathers won’t allow us to cancel this, but they can’t do anything if we’re not here.”
“(y/n), you’re not thinking of leaving are you?” he asked, worry apparent all over his face. 
You handed Sho a bag, staring him straight in the eye. “I’m absolutely thinking of that.” You grabbed a bag for yourself and shoved the rest back into your drawers. “We both have siblings who can inherit the throne, right? And if we disappear together and write a note saying something like “oh this is going too fast and we decided to take a break together in the mountains”- neither of our fathers could blame each other, so-”
“Hey,” Sho laid a hand on your shoulder, “we don’t have to do this. I told you, I really thought about this, and as long as it’s you, I’ll be happy-”
“No, Sho,” you said, shrugging off the hand and looking through your closet for extra clothes, “you can tell yourself that, but that’s not going to be true. I want you to be just as happy, and that’s not gonna happen if we go through with this marriage. Look, I know Ocha’s grandmother lives in a small town East of here, past the forest. If we can get there, we can rest and figure out what to do, ok?”
You looked at him for confirmation, his brows furrowed and his lips spread into a thin line. For a few seconds, he contemplated the terrible outcomes of your plan, but he knew you would just do this yourself if he didn’t come with you. 
Finally, he nodded before he could change his mind.
This probably wasn’t the smartest idea, but at least you were together.
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itskatastrophe-x · 3 years
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Unhealthy Competition (CH1) c!Punz x Reader
The enemies to lovers fic has turned into more than one chapter so fuck it more than one chapter!!! Here’s the first one :3
TRIGGER WARNINGS!!! : Blood, death, suicide, swearing
Word count : 1,540
Chapter 1 , Chapter 2
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
Competition was always your favorite thing about your job. There were two other people you had to fight with for power in the SMP constantly, and somehow you always came out on top. There were few occasions where one of the others would beat you to a kill, and you took pride in that. You had travelled to the SMP a handful of months back on a mission, and decided to stay since a lot of these people seemed wealthy, and you were right. The payout for jobs was astronomical compared to your homeland, so you stayed. You honed your skills and became the best damn mercenary they had ever had here. You had jobs to kill kings in far off kingdoms, regular townsfolk, and even take out towns. You had quickly climbed the ranks and hoarded your wealth, making a base deep in the woods away from everyone else to keep the illusion of being bottom rung. There were moments where you would come in contact with the other two mercs, sparring on those rare meetings. Other times, you would meet at a kill and have to fight for the right to take the kill. Those moments were terrifying, but almost every time you won. Most of the time it would be against the kid that went by the name Purpled. He was agile and quiet, good in the shadows and dark areas. He was a silent killer, made perfect to be an assassin. 
Even more rarely, you would have to fight the other man, Punz. He was just below you in rank, and he was more likely to steal kills. He flaunted his wealth and power and had a large plot of land in the main lands of the SMP, surrounded by tall, dark walls. He was arrogant and selfish and all he cared about was money and bragging. He loved the praise that came with the power, and that annoyed the hell out of you, so each time you beat him, you couldn’t help but to be as cocky as him, wearing a smug smirk with your axe pressed against his throat. There was one day where you were sparring with him, both covered in blood and bruises, swearing back and forth at each other, and you ended up pushing him against a tree. His head flew back against the sturdy bark, making him see stars as he went down. You took that opportunity to snatch the dumb gold chain he always wore, and before he had the chance to even stand up, you stashed it away in an ender chest and took off. You felt like that knocked him down a few pegs, but now you couldn’t sleep.
So here you are, sitting at the edge of your bed, eyes wide open in the dead of night listening to the sounds of crackling and the smell of smoke. The forest around you had been set on fire while you were asleep, and you knew it had to be Punz. Who else knew where you lived? Him, and only because he stumbled across your little lodge once trying to escape a really bad storm. It was awkward and he was angry the whole time that you had been so hospitable. And now your lodge was in danger. You packed as much as you could before the fire reached you, opened a hatch under your small house, and jumped in. You had hoped you wouldn’t have to use your escape, seeing as it went all the way to bedrock and was a dangerous route, but it had to be done. You were surrounded by fire and you knew there was no way through it. The fall lasted about ten seconds before you hit a pool of water and swam back up. The area around you was small and cramped. There were a couple chests lining the walls, brewing stands, a small emergency farm, and tunnels leading in every direction. You had spent almost every waking second to dig under everything possible. A tunnel leading to every major destination in the SMP possible. What you didn’t expect to see, though, was Punz sprinting full speed at you from the direction of L’Manburg. It took you a second to gather what was happening, but when it hit you, you climbed out of the pool and ran to a chest, pulling out a potion of invisibility, and chugging the bitter liquid. Seconds later, you were completely invisible, eliciting swearing from the man halfway to you now. 
“You pussy, get out here and fight me,” he yelled, still sprinting towards you. You snuck to the tunnel heading west, making sure to press yourself as far against the wall as you could, hoping you could just melt with the cool deepslate behind you. “I did my research, bitch,” he spat as he made it to the main room. “While you were hiding away, I was learning everything about you. You really shouldn’t have pissed me off. Do you not know how I was the top dog before you even got here? I helped put that powerful, green bastard in prison. I killed some of the most wealthy, powerful people you couldn’t even touch.” He stood there, listening, so you stopped your movement, hoping he wouldn’t hear your shallow breaths. To your surprise, he started off in the opposite direction, still yelling. “Two can play at that game,” he yelled, pulling out a potion of his own. Fear finally sank in as he disappeared. The last thing to fade was his face as he turned around and smirked. He knew. And now you were fucked. 
You took off running, weaving through the hundreds of tunnels you had dug. You had every path memorized down to the pebble just in case something like this happened, but he said about research so he must know too. You stopped at another small room and stood there for a second. “I know every movement,” his voice echoed to you. You were surrounded by his voice and it sent chills down your spine. “I told you I did research,” he said. “You fucked with the wrong merc,” his voice came from behind you. You could feel his breath against your neck and slowly, the freezing metal of a weapon came to your throat. He had you pinned and there was nothing you could do about it. You shivered at the touch of netherite and the warmth of another person behind you, unable to see anything. 
“Yknow, at first I thought it would be fun to let you keep running, but killing you right now would be a lot more fun. Sending you back to spawn while you lose everything you own. Now, give it back.” His voice was laced with anger, but somehow it was playful. You couldn’t lie to yourself, the man was hot. But you were competitors and merc life wasn’t easy. But the thought crossed your mind relentlessly about a life you could have with him. You wouldn’t dare admit it out loud. “What if I didn’t,” you retorted, keeping up the playful atmosphere. The blade dug farther into your throat, now drawing blood and bringing tears to your eyes. “Oh sweetheart, you really aren’t in the position to deny me what you stole.” Slowly, your body came back into view, the potion finally wearing off. You smirked and scoffed at him, relaxing against the blade. “Now, what kind of mercenary would I be if I admit that I lost? Why would I give up right here?” You slipped your hand into your pocket carefully, the smooth surface of gold hitting your fingers. He slowly came to your vision. His potion wearing off as well. The large netherite axe in front of you held to your throat was intimidating. The surface was scratched and chipped from years of use. It dug farther, making it hard to breathe. 
In one swift move, you wrapped your hand around the totem in your pocket and pushed against the sharp blade, effectively killing yourself. The shock on his face was the last thing you saw before things went black. Seconds later, on the floor, light rushed back and you saw the man standing over you in complete horror. You had taken him off guard and that gave you enough time to get up, set tnt down, and run off. The explosion was deafening but you kept running, zigzagging. You pulled out a lever and placed it against the wall, flipping it to reveal a secret door that blended in perfectly with the rest of the stone. You took the lever, entered the door, placed it on the other side, and closed it all in ten seconds. You ran down the hall. Up some stairs, and to a small pool of water. You pulled out your trident from your inventory and positioned yourself to fly up the small tunnel up. It took you multiple times and multiple stops to get to the surface, and the full moon greeted you happily. The woods in the distance gave off an eerie glow as they burned. You smiled, pleased with yourself, and ran off in the direction of your secret hideaway through the nether.
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swordsxsarcasm · 3 years
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MORE deltarune spoilers because i just finished playing from ch1-2 on a complete save file
ok so first things first:
1. spamton: i thought about it, looked around some more, and yknow how the butler in the queen's mansion cafe (after the fight) talks about how he built that body for a lightner? im pretty sure the lightner in question is mettaton. or, the ghost that Becomes mettaton. with spamtons final form being "spamton neo", the resemblance to mettaton neo in the geno route of undertale, and mettaton still being a ghost in deltarune, im pretty sure that mettaton had wished for a body like that, and the darkner running the cafe answered that wish by making the machine found in the basement.
2. onion-san: after two years, i finally heard onion-san's secret. or, both secrets, actually lol. so apparently onion-san has been hearing part of a song coming from deep under the water, and thinks that they'd heard the entire song before, out deep in the ocean. explicitly says that it's not a new song. they then say theyre going to investigate more and to come back tomorrow (ch3) to hear what else they'd found out. i have two theories about this, one, being that the song that onion-san is hearing is from the humans, and two, that the song is from the darkners.
the human theory is something ive been thinking on since i started replaying deltarune. im pretty sure this world is a timeline where the humans lost the war mentioned in the intro to undertale, and were sealed underground instead of the monsters as a result. the bunker is possibly the entrance to the underground, and kris somehow got out. kris's dialogue about humans seems to imply something dark, with the book about humans on the top floor of the library (accessible in ch2) having "pictures of unfamiliar humans", to which kris immediately slams the book shut. snowy and monsterkid, in ch2, down at the bunker mention that kris knows something about the bunker, and that whatever is in there is scary. this could be another entrance to the dark world (now that we know kris can open them as the knight) but it could also be the underground, where all the humans have been sealed inside of. humans also seem to be relatively unknown and somewhat of mythological creatures, with movies being made about them, and one of the npcs in the apartments asking questions to kris about if their blood hurts/where skeletons come from if humans have them inside of them.
the darkner theory is less thought out on my part, but still possible. the further underwater you go, the darker it gets. its possible that there might be an entrance to the dark world underwater, or maybe the dark world is simply part of the real world, and just unknown/hidden away. this could also tie into the bunker possibly being an entrance to the dark world, and might be the "true" entrance, but its been locked and so the worlds are separated. in ch1, (if i remember correctly) seam and the king mention how the lightners locked them away, and that the dark world wasnt always like this. ralsei also mentions that the lightners and darkners used to live side by side, almost symbiotically, with the lightners giving the darkners purpose and the darkners helping the lightners fulfill their journeys/wishes. if kris knows about it, its possible this isnt kris's first adventure in the dark world, and probably was alone the first time. i can see how that would be terrifying for anyone, let alone a child. kris probably locked the bunker so that no one else would get stuck in there/none of the darkners would come out. it could also possibly be that the "true"/"real" kris wants to release the darkners, but us as the player sealed the bunker somehow, hence why kris keeps removing our control and opening new fountains. there isnt as much to go off of with this theory as the human theory, but i think theyre both possible.
3. ok enough lore talk i have to mention it. THE DUCK. in ch1 when you make the thrash machine you can make a duck, and it sucks, and susie and lancer blow it up. the end. BUT IN CH2, ROUXLS KAARD BRINGS THE THRASH MACHINE BACK AS A BOAT. and if you played through from ch1-2 and got to customize the machine/make it into a duck, theres different text!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
AND. to make matters even better, when you fight giga-queen at the end of ch2, and the thrash machine is modified into a mecha for you to fight her in, you ALSO get a special ability if your thrash machine was a duck! i forgot to grab a screenshot, but its similar to the standard laser upgrade in the act menu, except it (supposedly) sucks. i did notice that the duck version, in addition to attacking, also heals you when you activate it? which is great. all in all, i suggest playing from ch1 so that you can get the duck thrash machine. 10/10
4. the saddest news, papyrus: even if you tell sans you'll hang out with his brother tomorrow in ch1, you still cant meet papyrus in ch2. sans says to come back when asriel comes back to town (which is a whole can of worms, because sans shouldnt know asriel yet since hes new in town. unless toriel blabbed about him while fucking befriending him) which will probably be chapter 6/7 :( i miss papyrus so much im very sad about this.
i think thats it, but then again theres so much that hasnt been explored yet. this is just my thoughts/stuff ive encountered in my playthrough. very hyped for ch3 sjkdgfksdhfhj
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pandoriasbox · 3 years
Text
Ch1 Into the Wood - Into the Wildwoods (Standard)
The large irish cob snorted as the last of the load was added to his back. Eversong looked over to where Az was finishing up and his eyes followed her as she walked over to him. Immediately his muscles relaxed as they made contact and he felt her reassurance pulse through their connection. The rider was giddy, excited but also nervous, this was the first time the pair were heading back up to Redwood Point since before the fall of Garnok. So much had changed and yet at the same time it felt like so little. The world was still turning, Az still worked as a ranger and to all those she shared her job with it was just another average day.
Az planted a gentle kiss to the soft snout of her beloved companion, opening her eyes to see his beautiful duo colored ones staring right back at her. “It won’t take long to get up there, it’s already cleared and then I can unpack all this stuff at the station.” She smiled and let him nuzzle her hand. Az had felt trepidation at the thought of going on such a long term mission without her other half but thanks in part to Rowan the stallion was allowed to accompany them. The senior ranger had pulled a few strings and with some convincing Eversong was allowed along as a packhorse so the team was able to carry extra gear and supplies for their initial expedition.
Once she was sure Eversong was ready, the redhead returned to her other equine companion Foxfire. The buckskin let out a snort and pawed at the ground as she awaited her rider. Az gave her a pat on the neck before giving her tack a once over. The trip shouldn’t be too long but it wasn’t exactly the same as going between the southern station and Dundull. Taking a deep breath she swung up into the saddle and led the two horses to join the small group gathered at the base of the road to the station.
“Alright mates, everyone good to go?” Rowan called out to the assembled rangers. A general affirmation rang out from the group. “Okay good, now Az I’d like you up front with me since you have the most experience up there out of all of us. Everyone else ride in formation as we discussed.” With that the expedition began in proper, Az trotting up to meet Rowan at the front. The group of six rangers began their journey up through the recently cleared brambles.
“So Az, you excited to head back up into Redwood? Your reports were pretty minimal but that route really helped with getting the foliage cleared.” Rowan glanced over, smiling warmly.
The redhead chuckled softly and nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a good bit but I gotta say all those rumors of Hartwood really got me interested. Thanks for getting me on the mission… and uh… thanks for letting Eversong come along.”
Rowan waved their hand dismissively. “Eh don’t worry about it, I know how much he means to you and honestly you seem to have an even stronger connection with that stallion than Foxy or any of our own. There’s something special between you two and I’d like to have that with us.”
“Ah yeah, you could definitely say that, something special I mean.” A tiny flush filled Az’s cheeks as she thought about how much deeper it went. It wasn’t every day your very soul was intertwined with another’s but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Sighing softly she let a smile bloom across her lips as she leaned forward to pet the mare she rode with her free hand. “Foxy’s a good gal though, hardy and determined… when she wants to be.” The two let out a laugh that made the mare snort and flick her ears back before returning her attention to the overgrown trail before them. The rest of the ride up the pass was mostly in silence but Az certainly didn’t mind. She enjoyed the serenity and scenery surrounding them, mindful of the precarious cliffs and rock bridge as they reached them.
--------------------------------
The station soon came into view and it looked just as worn down as the last time Az had visited it. The roofs were covered in fresh growth, there was still a broken window in the stables and the pasture fences were a mess. They had a lot of work ahead of them but she knew they could get this place looking almost as good as new. The horses were tied up to the safest part of the fence, Eversong having his packs unloaded while Rowan directed the other rangers. Az was given fence repair. The others did their best to get the rest of the station up to livable standards. She waved to Enitan as she passed through the pasture gate while he set to work fixing the door to the stable. Eversong nickered behind her and she paused to give him a gentle pet. “Hey buddy, we made it. You and Foxy did a great job.” Az grinned as he nuzzled against her and she gave him another pat. “Careful now, I got a bunch of nails on me.” She laughed softly as he snorted at her and returned to his grazing.
Much of the fencing for the paddock was old and even a few sections showed signs of mold or too severe of damage. She sighed and set to work, patching holes as she could with existing material before returning to the stable to find some spare wood. It was as she was on the last part of the fence, as far into the forest as one could get when she sensed something was amiss. She knew bears and wolves lived out here but that wasn’t what sent a prickle down her spine. All the training that Evergrey and Ydris put her through came flooding back as she straightened and stood back up. It was no simple animal that stood behind her, it was something that exuded a magic she couldn’t quite place. That only put her more on edge however.
She realized too late she had her back to the forest. Slowly, carefully she began to turn around, knowing that whatever was behind her could easily be something provoked into attacking if she showed any sign of danger to it. Her free hand tingled as her magic was just a heartbeat away. It wouldn’t be good to use it here, memories flooding back of the forest fires she caused back when she first fled to the area. She heard a shuffling of what sounded like hooves and finally she got the first glimpse of the creature from the corner of her eyes.
White caught her eye then the rest came into view and finally she stood face to face with it. Az’s heart thudded as a deer with a head as white as snow and body made of plants slowly approached her. She stood frozen in its presence, her mind reeling trying to understand what it was. She had never seen such a creature, even its antlers were made of branches and unknown blossoms sprang forth. However what struck her the most were its milky white eyes that bored into her. She didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until the creature’s head turned and it suddenly bounded away.
Coming back to reality Az realized she heard hoofbeats behind her before a whinny rang out and she blinked. Turning around she found Eversong huffing and pawing, his concern ringing clearly across their connection. The ranger hopped the fence and stood beside him, calming the large stallion just as Tiera came running after.
Once she caught her breath she sighed in relief to see the cob was safe with his owner. “Hey Az! Sorry about that, one moment he was just peacefully grazing and the next I looked up and he was gone! Don’t know how but he got the lead rope untied and booked it. Did you uh… want me to bring him back up to the stables?” The younger ranger grinned sheepishly, feeling embarrassed for letting a horse escape on her watch.
Az smiled and picked up the loose lead rope, tossing it over Eversong’s back. “Naw it’s alright, I’ll bring him back up once I’m done giving the fences a once over. Why don’t you head back and check the other horses?” Once Tiera nodded and began her way back Az scrambled up onto the bare stallion’s back. “Naughty boy, you know you’re supposed to be on your best behavior.” She whispered playfully, smiling as Eversong snorted back at her and began moving along the fence line. Az kept her eyes out for any more damage but as far as she could tell everything was as fixed as it was going to get. “Thanks though...” she said softly, “I don’t know what that was… I don’t think it was dangerous but I just… blanked there. I’ve never seen anything like it and I didn’t want to hurt it.” Eversong let out a soft nicker and Az smiled as she sensed his acknowledgement.
She knew thoughts of the white deer would keep her up that night, they filled her mind as she helped clean out the main station cabin. Eversong retired to the pasture with Foxy and the other horses; however he remained vigilant for the strange stag. Az tried her best to reassure him they were probably safe but she could feel how defensive he grew of her. Despite her own concern for him she was grateful he was here watching out for her.
Night came quickly as their work kept the rangers busy. Az soon settled down in her bunk, trying not to toss and turn as images of the deer filled her mind. Questions flitted through her thoughts such as why it had appeared to her now? Where was it from? Jorvik was certainly a magical place but thinking back to what she had sensed… that wasn’t pandoric energy in the slightest. She hummed softly and rolled to her other side. If anything it felt more like the Sleeping Widow or the Singing Yew, ancient and integral to the island rather than alien and unnatural. Yawning, she reached out through her connection to Eversong, feeling him weakly reply. The stallion was settling down to sleep as well but he returned her call.
“Can you help me sleep?” She asked, feeling his reply shortly after and a sense of calm washed over her. Soon she forgot her worries about the stag and felt the sweet embrace of sleep surrounding her.
--------------------------------
Morning came with the breaking of dawn, light filtering past the tall trees and into the grimey windows of the cabin. Az winced as the warm rays hit her face and she rolled over to avoid them. However what she couldn’t avoid was the loud alarm of one of the other ranger’s phones. Groans rose up from several of the others, Az among them as she finally gave up and moved to get out of bed. “Jeeze who’s got the crap ringtone?” She called out, rubbing at an eye.
“Ah, that’d be me, sorry I forgot to turn it off.” Astrid picked up the device, quickly silencing the blaring alarm off. The rest of the rangers stumbled out of bed, some dressing properly while others made their way to the kitchen. Az was surprised to see Rowan already at work making breakfast. The scent of bacon and eggs filled the cabin as she escaped into the bathroom before the others could hog it.
Settling down with a couple other groggy rangers at the table Rowan delivered a few finished strips of bacon to each and a couple fried eggs. “Mornin’ hope you all slept well!” Az snorted at how cheery they were, that was one thing the two didn’t share in common. Rowan was a morning person while Az was always a night owl.
“Ah about as well as one can on those old mattresses, I swear the horses are gonna get better rest.” She joked before snatching up a piece of bacon and popping it into her mouth.
“Yeah we were gonna get a few more z’s in until Astrid’s phone started blaring.” Yousef grumbled while pouring himself some juice.
“Well it’s still the work week, we can’t laze around too much up here. Lots to do after all.” Rowan smirked and tapped at the frying pan. “But I’ll let you guys sleep in on the weekends, if Astrid’s phone agrees.” They chuckled and Az couldn’t help but snort softly. “We’re gonna finish up the major repairs and cleaning today hopefully then start making plans on how we’re going to remap the Redwoods area. All of our maps are extensively out of date and any of the near complete ones have long been lost. As far as I can tell the last time they were updated was back during that Hartwood search.”
Az perked up at the mention of the mysterious ranger. “No one’s been up since then right?” She paused in her meal, looking between Rowan and Enitan who had been quiet since sitting down with her and Yousef.
Clearing his throat, Entian spoke up finally. “No, the whole area was abandoned since staff was short back then, right Rowan?” The Aussie nodded before Entian continued. “The rumors of the area being haunted didn’t really help so it kind of just fell to the wayside.”
“Haunted? Really?” Az tilted her head. “Rowan, you never mentioned that part.” Her gaze returned to the senior ranger while she took a sip of her drink.
“Ah yeah, I try not to spread those rumors to be honest, makes it harder to get a proper team together. See, we’ve been getting a decent growth in rangers over the last few years. Tiera and Astrid are a great example and given their skill sets I figured they’d be good on this mission. Of course Az you were my top pick.” They motioned at her with the spatula. “Not just because you managed to get up here on your own but you’re among our top rangers right now.”
The redhead blushed softly and smiled. “Thanks, that means a lot.” She paused, mind wandering back to yesterday with the deer. But she also couldn’t wait to start mapping out the Redwoods with Foxy and do some trail rides with Eversong off duty this weekend.
In the background of her thoughts the conversation continued. “They never found her did they?” Yousef asked.
“Nope, there’s been all sorts of strange rumors though.” Enitan started, Az tuning back into the conversation as he began talking about the famous ranger. Midway through the conversation Tiera and Astrid joined breakfast, listening to the storyteller weave the tale of Edith Octavia Hartwood. “She was a legend… one of the first rangers who stepped foot in the Redwoods and well, possibly even beyond. I think most of you by now have heard the tales of mysterious valley deeper in the mountains yes?” A chorus of mumbling agreement and nods mixed with confusion from Yousef. “Well, there’s believed to be this valley somewhere close to us past the mountain face. However no matter what no one seems to be able to get up there. Even attempts to use drones or satellite cameras all result in equipment lost or fuzzy photos. No one can explain why and so far everyone who’s tried to breach the mountain has met terrible fates. Most go missing, this station is the closest recorded settlement to where we think the valley is.” A murmuring of curiosity came from the group except for Astrid who rolled her eyes.
“Just bad luck and there’s probably some kind of weird magnetic thing up there. I’m sure it’s explainable with science.” She huffed, finishing off her meal and leaving to finish getting dressed.
Az frowned and watched her go before returning her attention to Enitan. “Please continue, I’d love to hear more.”
The fellow ranger nodded and proceeded with the rest of his tale. “Well, Edith as I said was a legend among the rangers as far as I know but at the same time she’s somewhat of an enigma. A lot of us know her for being one of the most dedicated rangers in decades but along with that dedication are rumors she might have been a bit… mad.” He took a sip of his drink before continuing. “You see, Hartwood was believed to be very passionate about protecting Mistfall and especially the Jorvik Wild Horses. Back in her day a lot more herds roamed the area, most of them seemed to be up here in the Redwoods but we even had a few herds back down in Southern Mistfall. Nowadays they’ve all but disappeared and only once in a blue moon do you see them but they’re still here. It only fueled the rumors of that secret valley further.” He waved his hand.
“Jorvik Wilds? Wait… aren’t those...” Az thought for a moment, it sounded familiar. She snapped her fingers, trying to remember. “Ah! Yeah weren’t those some of the horses that resembled primievel equines from before the Jarl’s arrival?”
“I see someone’s done their homework” Enitan joked. “But yes Az, they’re also basically a national treasure and highly protected. It’s believed Jorvik Wilds don’t just let anyone ride them, they share some of the strongest bonds with their riders and seem to choose their rider unlike most modern day horses. It’s fascinating really.”
“So… what happened to Hartwood?” Tiera piped up, leaning forward into the table now intrigued.
“Ah yes, as I said Edith was deeply interested in protecting these horses. However no one really knows what happened to her. The herds were starting to thin out in Southern Mistfall by the time she joined the rangers and during her days they all but disappeared everywhere but up in the Redwoods. She was the one responsible for the structures up here actually, right Rowan?” 
The Aussie nodded, having long since joined them and was quietly munching away at their meal while listening in. “Indeed. The cabin, the fences, there’s even an old watchtower somewhere up here that she had built. Everything was, as far as I understood, designed to blend in with the local area as much as possible. You guys think that the growth on the roofs is from time? As far as we know it seems that was one of her ideas for trying to make the structures less intrusive. Same for that old stick fence we call a paddock.” Rowan let out a small bark of laughter before leaning back in their chair and smiling. “I think she did a pretty good job though with the resources she had.”
Enitan nodded and continued. “Yeah, she got this whole place setup and running but for the most part she was the only one up here. There were a lot of staff shortages back then and as far as I’ve learned the building of Redwood Point was unfortunately more costly than they expected. It was nice for a while it seemed but over time the rangers up here dwindled until only Hartwood was left. No one realized she was missing until it was too late. She never came back down for her scheduled resupply and a small group went up to check on her. Everything looked normal but Edith was nowhere to be found. She had long since stopped contact with the southern station but usually still came by in person. No one knew when she actually disappeared so a search party went up right away. Of course as the story goes, still no sign of her and even looking through belongings didn’t leave a hint. It was as if she just up and vanished one day.”
Rowan nodded. “Yeah rumors still abound, those less superstitious think it was just wolves and she got unlucky. There was no sign of her horse either so they assumed both were lost. However those who spin tall tales tell of everything from a sasquatch to aliens. The search party scoured the entire area but there were no traces of her remains, no scraps of clothing, no horse, nothing.”
“Yeah she wasn’t the sort of person to just give up on her tasks out of the blue either. Some tried suggesting she just moved out one day but nothing in the cabin or watchtower signified that.” Enitan shrugged. “Actually I think all her belongings are still around here somewhere if the elements haven’t ruined them.”
“Uhh… you guys wouldn’t mind if I had a look up at them do you?” Az finally spoke up, her interest piqued. “I’ve been curious about Hartwood since Rowan told me about her early on in my time as a ranger.”
Rowan waved their hand. “Go ahead as long as it’s while you’re off duty. If you find anything out I’d love to hear it.” Enitan and Tiera agreed. Az grinned and the group finished off breakfast with some more cheerful chatting. The remainder of the morning was spent sorting out details regarding the last cleanup of the station for now and discussion of cartography. Az was on stable duty next and she was happy to visit Eversong and Foxfire before setting to work making the stable inhabitable again for their equine companions. Once the station was in working order again they could finally begin their real mission. Soon they would be mapping the Redwoods out all over again.
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Text
Fucks not Found
Florence
Ch1 Ghosts | Ch2 Florence | Ch3 A Matter of Seconds | Ch4 I need a Backdoor | Ch5 Die Hard | Ch6 White Flag | Ch7 Haunt the Living | Ch8 One, but not done [end]
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Who had this fucking idea?
One had refused that you got out the truck since Italy was were you lived. Apparently for Six it was okay, since he was in the car moving at 160per hour. That’s how you ended up in that stupid espresso truck Three had rented. Feet on the dash, trying to concentrate on your laptop, unfortunately Three was trying to learn Italian next to you.
“I’m gonna kill him!” You said through greeted teeth, he was shamelessly butchering your mother tongue.
“Be nice Eight.” Five chuckled over the comm. The mission was going smoothly at first, exchanging jokes with Six, Four sending pictures on the group chat from his view up there. 
Eventually everything went south real quick. It distracted you from the urge to shoot at Three.
“You hit one more person and I’m walking?” you heard Five in the comm link, your eyes widened.
“You’ve hit someone?!” you yelled at Six. 
“Grazed him really ..” he tried to convince you
“Totally smashed him, One added, 10/10!”
“Imbecille!” your Italian resurfacing when in stress.
Four scoffed in the comm link "How come she can speak Italian and you cannot?
"She's always been the better twin" Six hissed avoiding another walker
“Definitely.” Four answered in a hushed tone.  
Brushing away Four’s comment you got impatient "One, I need access to that phone!"
One growled  "Bossy, ever so bossy!"
“What did you guys do in there? Why are you covered in blood?” Six inquired, you could hear the disgust in his voice, between cursed and screeching tires, as obviously they were chased by the lawyer’s own TAC team. 
“ The head, neck, and face are very, very vascular. So it’s a lot of blood.” One vaguely tried to explain.
“Oh Eight I think they kill a mafia guy in Italy! You pressed your temples at your brother’s words. 
The lawyer’s phone needed facial recognition more specifically retina recognition… so naturally Two scooped his eye out. What a first mission!
“One for Four?”
“Yeah, go for Four.”
“ We need you.”
“ Of course you need me. I’m here.”
“Remind me, where the fuck is here?” 
“ Here here. Like, here?” Four continued, his evasive answers made you grin.
“Specificity.” One added
“ Here. Right effing here! Top of the Duomo, like we talked about. Look up. Where you going?”
“In the wrong direction. Please help them.” You sighed, Three spun his revolver your way.
“Get that thing away from my face Three!” he grimaced returning to his book
“Oh shit, coming down! Four announced… Coming up North, down on Via de ..via de ..there’s so many fucking vias in Italy!  
“Via De Cerretani.” you cleared
“Yeah, yeah” he sighed annoyed
At some point you momentarily removed your earpiece since your brother was screaming and cursing. Mammà would disapprove.
“You gotta lose that police chopper!” Four was perched on the Sagrestia Vecchia following the Alpha Romeo through Florence’s alleys.
You hacked the chopper on board cam “I have eyes, I’ll tell you when they lose you.”
“dov'è il bagno? …. dov'è il baaagno?..” Three repeated 3 TIMES, you glanced at him really annoyed, fingers itching to unsheathed.
“Buongiorno Uno” he answered at the sizzling talkie.
“Shit’s gone, we’re supper fucked, Four needs an Uber!”
“Way ahead of you, papi!” a loud bang coming from above the truck startled you.
“Buongiorno Quattro” Three started the truck.
His accent really made you cringe. Removing your feet from the dash you dip your head catching a glimpse of Four on the top on the truck.
After a few seconds, he got down and squeezed himself by the passenger window, you scout next to Three with a huff.
Gunshots, and cussing resonated in the comm link.Unconsciously biting your thumbnail, you kew your brother was a good driver but it was stressful. Four leaned in watching the chopper cam on your laptop. His blond hair falling into his eyes, you spotted brown flakes in the emerald green of his eyes. He was so close you thought your heartbeat had sync with his because you felt like adrenaline had rush in.
For a second you locked eyes, he smirked at you, immediately self aware of your agape state you nudge him away from your laptop. One was screaming at everyone in the car, Two was screaming back at him, her French accent even more pronounced. Five lost it in Spanish against Six and One. 
“Ok, the chopper lost sight on you, make the best of it little bro.”
All of sudden “Wannabe” blasted into your ear, you chuckled at your brother’s music taste, until Three announced two black suburban were tailing the green Guila Quadrifoglio. Four reloaded the grenade launcher, you eyed him apprehensive, he just smiled at you like a kid on Christmas day.
“Six fake ‘em out mate, I’m coming to you!” reaching for his skateboard behind you.
Few explosions later you urged them to make in on time at the rendez-vous point.
“You got a superhero on the squad!!” your brother praised Four, these two really got along real quick.
Focused on your next escape route aka arguing in Italian on the phone with the docker you didn’t hear the commotion in the car, the tires screeching, shattering glass.
“Whoa, shit!” Six screamed.
You gasped, feeling something was wrong, a deep pain in your chest you couldn’t explain, furrowing your brows you breathe in trying to chase it away, thinking it was the adrenaline rushing out.
Three stopped the truck at the construction site where you had to meet, him and Four got out gun’s at point.
You got out the truck a second later, your own gun in hand, still feeling weird “Ok let’s get the fuck out of my mother land bef..” you freezed, your eyes landing on the green car.
A deafening silence invaded your ears, the sound of you gun hitting the concrete resonating until your brain caught up, you understood the sudden unknown feeling. 
“NOOOOOO” you cried out running to him, feet skidding on the debris. “Come on baby brother, no, no, no, no” you cradled his face in your shaking hands, your vision blurry with tears, you pushed your forehead onto his, hands bloodied. “please, please” you begged sobbing, murmuring prayers.
 He was gone. You were unable to feel his presence, unable to feel his emotions through that unique bond twins have, you felt lost, incomplete.
 The harbor was the final way out, no one said a word as Four and One put Six in a transparent body bag.
The boat drifting away, Three came out with a bottle of booze and some pizzas, like, the fuck man pizzas right now? You denied the drink, if you were to drink you knew you were not going to stop until you black out. You sat on the edge of the stern, eyes glossy a blank expression on your face. One stood by your side, his behavior cold but uneasy.
“Here’s a toast to a kid I liked.” Three lift his glass
“Are you crying?” Two mocked him
“We didn’t even know his name.”
“We don’t know any names.”
“What was his name?” You didn’t want to say his name, you didn’t want to burst in tears just by saying his name. 
“It doesn’t matter. He was a good man.”
You didn’t expect One to say that, yes he was but in the end what did he knew about your brother.
“I thought I managed the risk. I’m sorry.” One softly concluded not looking at you
“Did you guys had anyone else...family?”
“I think you’re looking at it.” Two told her nodded your way cautiously
They all look at you gravely, please stop you screamed internally; I don’t need your pity, I need my brother.
“Risposa in Pace Fratellino” you whispered as they toss his body into the unforgiving Adriatic Sea. Here you were, the only one left of the Y/L/N family.
After giving One the last update on the phone they’d got, you went to the cabin, to steal a moment alone, cry without a bunch of strangers around. But you bumped into Four.
“Hey ..” he hesitate, searching his pocket he lifted his hand, showing the Cross necklace Six had attached to his stir.
Four didn’t know how much this cross meant to your family, and that did it, bawling you let all your sorrow out clutching at the cross.
Tears you hadn’t shed for your parents, as you try to be tough for your mother when papà disappeared, and then for your brother when mammà died. And now for him.
Carefully Four wraps his arm around your frame, offering some warmth and comfort. Something you thought you had definitely lost an hour ago. Muffling your cries in his white sweater, he held you tighter as he too felt his pain, you heard him exhale and breathe in trying to contain his own tears.
After that it was not the same with Four. Two said once that you did what she called a “transfer”. Meaning you were treating Four as your little brother, but it was definitely not like that, it was something else. Something One had prohibit.
Back at the Haunted House in the California desert, you hadn’t slept all the way ‘home’, you busied yourself packing Six stuff and bring them back in your trailer.
One was standing in the cargo plane, in front of the metal storage cabinet, in which each one of us had to store personal effects, will, things like that, if you happened to die.
He handed you Six’s key.
“Hold on to it, will you? he furrowed his eyebrows retrieving his hand, When that mission is over, I’ll open it. Well if I’m still here.”
He nodded understanding.
“I brought him into this, ...”
“… He said there was nothing he’d rather be doing with his life. That prick.” One was oddly compassionate
You shook your head trying to hold back tears, if you hadn’t hack that asshole back in your hometown, your brother wouldn’t be dead. Two’s French saying was in loop in your head, “Avec des si, on mettrait Paris en bouteille” “With Ifs, we could put Paris in a bottle.” but your guilt was still there, hanging tight.  
 Wally’s head on your thighs you couldn’t care less about his drool staining your jean, watching the nightfall on the California desert, the scolding sun giving place to the starry night, the sky virgin of light pollution you could see so much of the vault. Wally barked scaring you and made his way inside. “Ok big guy, good night.”
Passing by the empty pool you sat on one of the old lounge chairs, when you arrived it became your hangout with your brother and Four, even though it was mostly Four’s area. 
Sometimes Five would pass by on her way to the “gym cargo” as they called it. Four would settle on the edge of the bowl, while you lean on a lounge chair, your brother in the bowl tossing a tennis ball to each of you, tonight was the exception, your brother was not here, tears were, only Four didn’t stay on his side. 
He didn’t ask anything, he squished himself between you and the armrest. Wrapping his arms around your shoulders, face again his chest you sobbed. Being held by him was foreign at first, only used to your brother’s hugs since you’d left your hometown. As he brushed away your hair from your wet face, you looked at him, his mouth slightly opened, brows furrowed slightly, your hand reached for the crease between it, easing it with the pad of your index, his gaze locking with yours at your gesture. His hand brushed a last strand away, burying itself in your hair. He kissed the same spot on you, lingering, nose nudging his sharp jaw, his breath grazed your cheek. Lips hovering each other’s, there was a flash of hesitation that crossed his features, your lips closed on his before you could think. He tightened his grip on your waist, bringing you closer, your cold fingers brushing his cheek. Suddenly shame struck you.
Jerking away from him, stumbling on your two feet, you pressed the heel of your hands into your eyes. Kissing Four while mourning for your brother felt so wrong.  
“Eight..wh ?”
You cut him “If this is coming out of some misplaced sense of guilt, don’t bother.”
He opened and closed his mouth “What the.., you kissed me Eight ..!”
“I .., your voice wavered, I’m not myself right now… “ You had kissed him first, what were you trying to say, yeah he kissed back but argh the fuck was happening in your head. Avoiding his pained look you turned around, fleeing the situation.
“It’s not, just so you know, some misplaced guilt.” he watched you disappear into the night, your trailer alight few meters away.
Third chapter - A Matter of Seconds 
A/N: don’t forget to double tap if you liked it. 🙏
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northern-passage · 2 years
Note
What all are you planning for the patreon? I know art for sure, but i was wondering what else? (I dont mean for this to come off in a "art isn't enough" kind of way, but more in a "im just curious" kinda way, especially about the different tiers if any)
no worries!
i'm doing the same thing as i did before regarding tiers, where it's not necessarily tiers but just a "pay what you can" kind of thing. i'll have the same 3 tiers which were $3, $5, & $10 (USD) and all 3 tiers give you the same access to all content, the tiers are just there to offer a sliding pay scale. im honestly not comfortable taking more than $10 for a sub so i cap it at that.
besides art i'll be sharing exclusive snippets/writing. exclusive nsfw snippets, pov swaps, and scrapped scenes get shared over there. occasionally i post prompts for patrons to request to help with getting ideas for snippets. i was also doing dev logs on patreon, which i'll probably continue to do, either every week or every other week (doing it every week was kind of repetitive imo but we'll see). i also plan to still do polls over there when i can, i did a patreon poll to decide whether i did the blackwater or highfell route first back when i finished ch1 and the patrons voted for blackwater.
the biggest "reward" is early access to actual content updates, 1-2 weeks earlier than the public. obviously that's not a consistent reward tho especially since updates have been taking me longer and longer now. also all of this includes siren's call as well.
i'm really going to try and be more consistent with my patreon content with the relaunch, i have a good backlog of content right now & my plan is to make at least one post a month alongside the dev logs, either art or a snippet. ideally i want to work up to at least 2 extra posts a month (one art, one writing) but i also know the holidays are right around the corner and my job is about to eviscerate me lmfao so i'm taking it slow. and since i did struggle before with patreon i don't want to burn myself out right away, especially since i'm just now kind of recovering from recent burn out to begin with.
when i announce the relaunch next month all of this info will be in that post, too.
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queen-of-stoneharts · 3 years
Text
Star'themar - Beauty & the Wretched, ch1.
(Once a glimmering city, Silvermoon is now a haunted gloomy ruin. The Regent Lord is gone, a wretched monster roams in the Sunfury Spire's halls. Anyone, who tried to face with the monster, never returned. Many years later, an old veteran ranger wanted to get a present for one of his daughters, he was trapped. The middle one, Daenah'rys took the courage & planned to rescue his father. What she found in the spire, that was unexpected.)
[author's note: i mixed the story with the Grimm's version, along the Disney's]
***
- Girls, i'm about to leave soon! Do you want something from the market? Three girls came to their father. He was once a ranger from Silvermoon, but since the city became haunted, he retired & started to work as a merchant. Luckily he earnt enough gold to raise his three daughters & estabilish their future. The eldest girl, Cordelia spoke first. - I just would like to have a new dress! - Well... a pair of daggers would be fine. - said the youngest one, Kinvara. - The current ones are rusty, i used them for too long. - Alright, i will have them. - then he turned to the middle child, Daenah'rys. The blondie hesitated for awhile & spoke up quietly. - Uhm... i heard about a very rare book of advanced magic. I need for my studies.  Their father nodded on her wish, and left. He promised he will be home at nightfall. ***  After a long day the girls's father packed with the gifts, is finally about to go home. One problem, he couldn't grant Dannie’s request. He asked some merchants at the bazaar, but they also didn't know about that book. How will he face her at home? Would be she sad? Disappointed? Angry? Who knows.  On his way back, suddenly, the clouds darkened the sky. Strange, cuz it never happened ever in Quel'Thalas. Not even, when the curse took over Silvermoon. But he needed to find a shelter, at least, 'til the storm rages on. It was since a decade, that anyone dared to step through the gates. He had no choice. Mumbling a short pray to the Light, he ran into the city's heart. All the buildings, including the inn's doors were closed, except... he couldn't think about that.  The old Sunfury Spire. Rumor has it, a monster lives in. No one know, what kind of. But one night is not like a cataclysm, if he hides in a smaller chamber. Next of the entrance, there was an ruined chamber. It must be an old mage-chamber, seeing those books. What if that one book, what Daena wishes for so long, he might find there. After he put his pack into the corner, he looked quickly around the shelves. But nothing was found. "Where could it be?", thought for a moment. Before he realized, accidentally bumped into a table with a lot of books on & made a huge noise. The elf froze suddenly. Then footsteps were heard from above. He knew, what happens next. He started to get his things & was about to leave the chamber, but someone, or something stood in his way. His heart throbbed in his throat, as he looked up. - How did you enter into the spire? - the monster's voice was... trembling. *** -meanwhile back in the village- - He said, he'll be back at nightfall! It's almost midnight! - Daenah'rys already worried of her father. She felt, something bad happened. - Dannie, relax, maybe he took a rest at an inn, 'til the storm is gone. - Her older sister, Cordelia sat next to her. - I made some tea, it will help you calm down. - Cordi... it's lovely to you, but... - her thoughts were dizzy. - I can't do this anymore! - then she put her cloak on. - I'm going after him, and i promise, we'll be back safe and sound!  Then she stepped out into the storm. She mounted her strider & using her power, she could track his route, what led to north. A few minutes of riding, she arrived at Silvermoon's old gates. - Oh no! - gasped. Her fear just became true. Her father is in trouble. She mounted off, to check the gates closer. A lighting strung from nowhere, the strider ran away by fear. - No..no no no! Come back! - but it went far away. She just hoped, it won't get lost in the woods, then she entered the city. Using the tracking magic, she followed the clues to the Spire. So it means, her father is in there. She stepped into the castle, looking around, what if the monster is nearby. She listened quietly, maybe she can hear, even a slight footstep. Then a noise was heard from below. She had no clue, that the Spire ever had dungeons, if it has, where's the entrance? She looked around, the side chambers couldn't have a hidden passage, so, the Inner Sanctum is the only way. She was right. Under the old Orb of Translocation's platform, she noticed an open door, hidden in the wall. She went down & explored the cells. At the end of the corridor, one cell was closed. - Father? Are you here? - Dannie? You can't be here! This place is dangerous for you! - her father stepped to the door. He was in a bad shape. - How long are you in here? - For a... few hours? Doesn't matter! He will return soon, please, go home! Use your hearthstone! The young elf girl didnt listen, instead she started to pick the lock. Pity, she didn't ask Kinvara, how to do this, unlike her, Kinnie was a skilled rogue. She gave up then. - Okay, it didn't work. Hmm... and if i find something to slam the lock, i can rescu... - but before she could finish the sentence, a large shadow appeared behind her. She turned around, and she froze by the sight. It was a Wretched.
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keelywolfe · 4 years
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FIC: Side Effects ch.5 (baon)
Summary: Edge has had time to think while he’s convalescencing, but the real struggle is not going out of his mind. Lucky him, Stretch is there to help.
Tags:  Spicyhoney, Kustard, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Collars
CH1 | CH2 | CH3 | CH4
Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.
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Read it on AO3
or
Read it here!
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Edge was weary of television.
He didn’t mind it in general as entertainment. He watched it often enough curled up with Stretch in the evenings and occasionally let it play in the background as he did chores. Like anything, it was perfectly acceptable, within reason.
That was before television became his main source of entertainment.
Sitting more or less trapped on their sofa by the weaknesses of his own body, his casted foot still settled into its pillow nest, his options were frustratingly limited. He was thoroughly sick of news that he couldn’t really affect, frustrated at watching cooking shows demonstrating recipes that he couldn’t currently experiment with and likely wouldn’t have the time once he returned to a full day’s work.
(and he could barely stand the kitchen right now, still spattered with faded red paint that couldn’t be completely scrubbed away, his sanctuary tainted by the memory of kneeling on the floor with his unconscious brother in his arms)
What he wanted was a sense of normalcy. He wanted back into his carefully created routines, their designated route interrupted only by Stretch barreling into them and often through them with his cheery enthusiasm for the new.
He wanted to be back at work, confidently handling the Embassy’s affairs rather than being forced to trust it was being appropriately managed without him.
That was all bad enough, but being forced to email the director of his YMCA program that he wouldn’t be available for this week, possibly the next, was a straw very close to breaking his back along with his leg. He already gave his group less attention than he had in the past, taking on fewer duties as he spent more time with Stretch.
Something was going to have to change and he was still coming up with a decision on what.
The door opening interrupted his thoughts and Edge glanced up with shameful eagerness, his ready greeting dying on his lips as Stretch stalked in wearing an entirely different outfit than he’d left in that morning. Well, he had been grumbling about boredom, hadn’t he. He could hardly complain when the Universe chose to dump a mystery into his lap. “What happened to you?”
Stretch glared at him, the tint of orange to his gaze both a warning and an intrigue. “bruno happened to me. you’re gonna have to send someone else next time you need a special order. look at me!”
Yes, yes, Edge was definitely looking and what he saw was only a confirmation of what he already knew: Bruno was an excellent tailor.
How and why could wait, for now Edge only wanted to appreciate the view. Stretch’s new khaki trousers were fitted, the snug line falling neatly from hip to ankle and far more appealing than the track pants he normally wore. His button-up shirt hugged his ribcage, emphasizing his slimness, and exchanged his usual bright orange with a deeper shade pinstriped with brown. Even though it was untucked, instead of messy it only seemed casual, particularly with the hint of white t-shirt peeking through the opened collar, teasing at a normal concealed collarbone. His jacket was unbuttoned, acting as a frame for the scenery. Even his shoes were different, loafers instead of untied sneakers. All in all, it gave Stretch’s lanky frame an air of compact litheness that was overwhelmingly appealing.
Edge honestly didn’t care how Stretch dressed, his love for him wasn’t conditional on his fashion sense. That certainly didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy a feast when one was laid out for him.
Saliva welled in his mouth and Edge swallowed hard, ignoring the huskiness in his voice as he asked, “I take it Bruno convinced you to try on something new?”
“convinced me?” Stretch scoffed. “more like strong-armed, bribed, and blackmailed! it was either this or take the bus naked. i didn’t even have a sheet this time.”
Curiouser and curiouser. “Why would you be naked?”
“that would be because bruno stole my clothes.”
A beat passed. “I’m sorry, he what?”
“he stole them!” Stretch snarled. Sparks of fiery orange magic spangled from his fingertips and Edge struggled to keep his expression placid despite how utterly delectable Stretch looked in his temper. One broken leg was enough. “look, i don’t want to relive the experience, i’m gonna go change.”
Edge was quite sure he didn’t say anything. He was positive his expression didn’t so much as flicker, no indication whatsoever of how much he desperately wanted to protest.
But Stretch stopped halfway to the stairs, his sockets narrowing. “you want me to leave this on.”
“I’m sorry?” Edge tried for confusion, already knowing he was failing and miserably at that.
“you like it!” Stretch said accusingly.
There was a distinct possibility that his answer was going to dictate the course of the evening. Edge chose his words with the care of a one trying to decide which wire to cut on a particularly volatile bomb. “I always like you, no matter what you’re wearing...but you did already endure his tactics. It might be worth wearing a little longer, if only to see if it’s truly comfortable.”
That pointed gaze sharpened, eye lights once merely tinged orange brightening like a flame. Edge was reminded of a nature documentary, a warning that looking away from a lion might invite an attack.
Suddenly, one side of Stretch’s mouth quirked up in a languid smile, his tongue gliding briefly across his teeth. “you like it.”
That easy drawl sent a tantalizing shiver up Edge’s spine. “I do,” he confessed.
His risk proved worth it as Stretch almost prowled over to him, that rare gracefulness usually only seen when he was dancing and enhanced by those clothes as he said, husky low, “baby love, if you want me to play dress up, you only ever have to ask.”
He settled into Edge’s lap, winding long arms around him. Edge hissed through his teeth at the teasing wriggle, catching his hips to still him. Uselessly, Stretch’s smirk widened, his sockets hooded as he leaned in to brush their mouths together, pulling back before Edge could deepen it.
“oohh, what’s that i feel?” Stretch crooned. That squirm bordered on cruel, his tailbone grinding into Edge’s shorts. “i’m thinking you actually want to play undress, dontcha?”
Words escaped him. Edge was never as clever at verbal sparring as his husband was, anyway. All he could manage was a low growl, reverberating in his chest as he cupped Stretch’s chin in a rough hand, holding him still as he leaned in to take that perfectly mocking mouth.
A knock at the door stopped him a bare inch away, close enough for their breath to meet.
Stretch groaned, his head drooped. “seriously?”
“Ignore it,” Edge suggested breathlessly. He caught hold of Stretch’s hips in both hands, raising his own slightly as he lightly ground Stretch’s pelvis down against him. A low gasp came as his first answer but his second was disappointment as Stretch squirmed away, sliding to his feet.
“wow, really? who are you and what did you do with my husband,” Stretch said dryly. “sorry, babe, we ain’t hanging from the chandeliers yet.”
Edge could only watch the sway of Stretch’s hips sadly as they walked away from him, shifting his own in a vain attempt to stifle the heat settling there. His desire cooled considerably as Stretch’s voice floated from the opened door.
“hey, sans.” Stretch held an equal measure of surprise and wariness. Not entirely untoward, Sans wasn’t one to simply stop by for a visit. Whenever Sans showed up, he tended to bring along a gift of ulterior motives.
“heya, stretch,” Sans said, easily. “edge home?”
As if he didn’t already know.
Stretch snorted. “not by choice, come on in.” He held open the door and Sans strolled in, pausing to kick off his shoes at the door before Edge could loudly remind him. Stretch’s sockets widened, his gaze catching somewhere around the height of Sans’s chest. “hey, nice bling! getting some new decorations for the old place, huh?”
To Edge’s surprise, Sans’s eye lights slid towards him, almost warily. “thanks.”
Then he turned Edge’s direction and he was forced to catch his breath.
Sans was wearing a betrothal collar.
Collars served many purposes in Underfell, blatantly identifiable and allowing for little leeway when their warnings were ignored.
They were used to quantify familial relationships, status; a collar acted as a declaration. When Edge was Captain of the Snowdin guard, Red wore his collar, a statement of warning that any aggression directed at Red would be met and returned tenfold by not only Edge, but every guard in his command. Not that it had been entirely necessary, issues of HP aside, Red was more than capable of handling himself, but the statement was important.
A betrothal collar, in Red’s colors no less. Now this was an interesting development.
He did not mistake the wariness in Sans’s expression, the caution as he shuffled closer. Edge was years away from Underfell, but he doubted he would ever forget proper etiquette, not after having Red ramming it into his skull for most of his lifetime. In this case, the correct response was to ignore it. “What can I do for you?”
He didn’t think he imagined the slight tension easing in Sans’s shoulders. It was very nearly insulting; what was it he was expecting Edge to do? Challenge him to a duel? Demand to know Sans’s intentions towards his older brother’s virtue? Because that was a barn door long since opened and whatever horses left inside to run away were likely escaping into a different idiom.
Certainly Sans had issues of his own, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t appropriate for Red. Frankly, it was probably the only way a person would be appropriate for him. What Sans could give his brother was what Edge always wanted for him: a companion to keep him from being alone.
From seemingly nowhere, Sans pulled out a thick folder, offering it to Edge. “red asked me to give you this.”
“how is red doing, anyway?” Stretch shut the door, hands that were feeling for his hoodie pocket grudgingly sliding down to his trouser pockets instead.
“eh, you know red,” Sans said and there was a certain weariness in his grin that Edge understood all too well. “hangover won’t keep him down. between him and paps, i’m kinda hoping they both keep away from any whiskey behavior.”
To his credit, Stretch only nodded, offering no indication of the scene in their kitchen last night. “yeah, maybe they’ll let you call the shots for a while.”
“that’d sure lift my spirits.”
Edge only took the folder wordlessly, ignoring their version of coded speak. He was already aware Red was well. Alongside a reassuring message from Sans, he’d gotten a text from his brother in the wee hours of nothing more than a picture of a traffic light, shining green. Red indulging his sense of humor was nearly as reassuring as any message, as was this folder. Edge knew without looking what it was, flipping it open to the first page to see his brother’s incident report, written by hand in an obscure language from the Underground, the same one he forced Edge to learn as a child. “Did you read this?”
Sans scratched at the back of one leg with a sock-covered foot. “you asking if i did or if i can? cause the answer is yes.”
At his other side, Stretch leaned over his shoulder, peering down. “is that written in wingdings? holy shit, i haven’t seen that in years!”
Edge didn’t have a single qualm in flipping it closed to shield it from Stretch’s gaze. “i’m sorry, love, it’s a security briefing.”
That scowl said the state of his evening was teetering into dangerous territory again and Edge wondered sourly if he had Red to thank for it. He wouldn’t put it past him to send Sans over at right this moment simply to amuse himself.
“is it about the california?” Stretch asked, coolly. “cause, red said he’d let me know what happened.”
“he didn’t forget, either, honey bun. he did promise.” Sans plucked another report out of the air, holding it out in offering. “i won’t lie, it’s a little redacted, but he said you deserved to know what happened.”
“thanks,” Stretch said, the tightness around his mouth easing. Protest rose to Edge’s mouth as Stretch took the slimmer folder that Sans offered, left unspoken. If Red thought Stretch needed to know, then he would and nothing Edge said would change a damned thing. Especially if there were promises involved. “and don’t you start calling me that, it’s bad enough when the gremlin does.”
Sans shrugged. “can’t promise, but i’ll try. red kinda rubs off on ya, ya know?”
“yeah, no, i don’t wanna hear about you rubbing off. that why you’ve got the new accessory?”
Sans only tapped the folder with one finger. “don’t think i need to tell you that’s top secret. don’t get red into any shit blabbing, okay? not even your therapist, pretty.”
“yeah, yeah, i got it, no twitter announcements...wait, did you just call me pretty?” Stretch’s head jerked up indignantly, mouth dropping open in his outrage.
Very carefully, Edge didn’t react; he knew a distraction when he heard one.
Sans’s grin widened. “dressed like that, yeah. better’n honey bun. see you later, alligator.”
He didn’t wait for the return sentiment of the crocodile, wandering over to slide his feet into his shoes before shortcutting out.
Stretch only set aside his folder, muttering beneath his breath about gremlins and their cohorts. It turned back into a smile quickly enough as he turned to Edge, his voice a throaty purr as he said, “speaking of pretty things, think we were in the middle of something, pretty.”
And oh, it was tempting. But there was something Edge needed to do first and that report was a pointed reminder. He held up a hand as Stretch leaned in, halting him, “Wait. I’ve been thinking today. We need to talk.”
Stretch reared back, all that seduction collapsing into a lopsided smile, “welp, no good thing ever started with that. what are you cooking up and can’t it sit on a back burner for a while?”
Much as he mourned to see that desire dwindle away, Edge shook his head. “It’s important.”
Stretch’s smile wavered, fading. To Edge’s shocked horror, tears rose in the corner of his sockets and Stretch promptly came up with the very last thing Edge expected him to ever blurt out, desperately, “please don’t leave me!”
Edge only looked at him in flabbergasted surprise, watching as those tears spilled over, falling droplets dampening that new shirt. “What? Of course I’m not, why would you even think…we’re married! I promised you forever, I still have some time to give it!"
“well, don't start off with ‘we need to talk!’” Stretch snapped. “everyone knows what that means!” The flow of those tears didn’t ease and Edge took hold of him by the shoulders, giving him a gentle shake.
“I am not everyone. And nothing means more to me than you, do you understand me? Not my job, not any security reports, not even my damned kitchen. You. All right?” He couldn’t say his brother, but that was all right. Stretch would never ask for it. He pulled Stretch into a hard embrace, holding him tightly as if his arms could force away the tremor running through his husband. His husband. His.
Stretch nodded, his chin digging into Edge’s shoulder as he sniffled. “sorry, babe. i just...sorry. i know all that, i just panicked. so what…?”
“What I wanted to tell you was I scheduled a meeting with Asgore to be taken off the security roster permanently.” Stretch shifted in his arms and Edge let him go, allowing him to draw back to meet Edge’s gaze. Gently, he cupped Stretch’s face in his gloved hands, smoothing his thumbs over those angular cheekbones, wiping away dampness. “Truth be told, I should have done it a long time ago. You were right, I can’t handle being on two teams and the Embassy needs to train more Monsters to take care of security.”
“so...no more trips without me?” Stretch asked slowly.
Edge hesitated. “Love, I want to be able to promise you that, I do. But--”
“no, don’t.” Slim fingers settled over his mouth, silencing him. “it’s okay, babe. i get it.”
“Do you?” Edge couldn’t help asking. Listening to Stretch begging him not to leave had left him shaken. He couldn’t doubt Edge’s love for him, he couldn’t--
A warm mouth replaced those fingers, gently coaxing and Edge couldn’t help sighing into that soft touch. Stretch’s hand dropped to his, drawing it up, settling it over his sternum where his soul pulsed softly, its warmth seeping through.
“yeah, i do,” Stretch murmured, “wanna let me prove it?”
Some hours later, Edge was more than convinced of not only his husband’s belief in his love, but also that his new wardrobe was even better when tossed carelessly to the floor.
They were still on the sofa, Stretch sprawled out sleeping across his chest while Edge drowsily stroked the delicate place where his ribs attached to his spine when his phone caught his eye, sitting innocently on the coffee table. Reaching out, he could barely touch it with his fingertips, dragging it closer until he could pick it up.
The contact he wanted to message was the second on his list.
congratulations on your liability
For long moments there was no reply and Edge started to set his phone aside, debating on whether he wanted to sleep or persuade Stretch to wake up again when his phone lit up with an incoming message.
just jealous cause mine is in a collar
It was followed by a complicated array of punctuation that formed a picture of a middle finger.
Edge held back his smile, having no doubt that Red would be able to see it if he didn’t, and offered a middle finger of his own to whatever hidden cameras were surely in their living room. If his brother was perverse enough to be watching, that was, and there was a thought to haunt his nightmares.
His brother’s little dig wasn’t true and even if it was, Stretch’s comfort zone was the important thing. He could respect Red clinging to Underfell’s ways when it came to Sans. He didn’t need the same.
He didn’t.
Gently, he slipped a knuckle beneath Stretch’s chin, lifting it enough to steal a sleepy kiss that slowly warmed, deepening. Without looking, he tossed his phone onto the coffee table to join the unused television remotes. Tonight, he was hoping for a different kind of entertainment.
-finis-
@constantly-tired-reader made art of Stretch in his new duds! Look at him in all his sulky glory!!
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aqvarius · 4 years
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If the MC from rmd was more mature and if rmd wasn't a love choice story with less episodes, would it be better? Or is there more stuff that needs changes?
yeah i do think so! so i think they tried to emulate hlitf (and mpd maybe? i’m not familiar enough with mpd to be able to say). in thinking about rmd and its future (in response to another ask which i’m still working on bc i lost my whole essay the other day lmao), i kind of theorise that they wanted rmd to be the next Big Title with a full lineup of “ensemble cast” type characters, instructor-student type dynamic (which can then ‘progress’ to colleague level), lots of lore/backstory, potential for lots of substories. the backlash against love choice has been strong in both japanese and international fandom as far as i know so i really think that was a big hindrance in terms of drumming up success for a title that is set up to have a LOT of content. hlitf has always had a leg up bc from the start, it rode off the success of msb and the demand for more public safety content, which is why right from the very start, they tried to push crossovers with hlitf/mpd. the very first rmd substory is a takado/kirisawa crossover, and then they had that extremely gratuitous cameo in ayumu (aka voltage’s king) season 3 in both the ms AND his pov. they keep pushing these crossovers, like with the vip room event which just came to love 365. 
ANYWAY, the more i think about it, the more i’m convinced that they’re trying to emulate some of the successes of hlitf, so i find it a pretty useful point of comparison to see the things which i find are lacking in rmd. 
so yes i definitely think that i wish the rmd mc was more vulnerable and maybe more romantically inclined and just generally more emotionally mature? i’ve said i wish she made more mistakes but i when i think about it more, i do see some parallels between dr mc and hlitf season 1 mc in that they go into a new learning environment with a certain set of values that get challenged. so i am willing to acquiesce on that point i’ve made before about her errors, since i do think that her values and the choices she makes because of those values get called into question (coming off the back of reading matsunaga’s routes, i do see this happen). also i’ve said this before but just to reiterate, i do also think that there’s a tone shift in the translation that to my perception (re-?)characterises the mc as being blase which i feel comes at the expense of genuine emotional connection between the reader and the heroine. however, i do also think that this tone perception thing is very subjective bc it reads as being quite american to me which is something that (1) is foreign to me as a non-american and (2) gives me a feeling of incongruence bc i’m very aware that this is japanese media. either way, i think in a long form title, there is potential for her to grow/develop when it comes to emotional maturity and romantic development, which leads me to my second point...
ANYWAY, the biggest (writing) issue that i find with rmd is its lack of romance FOR SUCH A LONG ROUTE. generally the main point of otome games is the romantic aspect, which i find to be super lacking in a game where romance is literally right there in the title. so one of my favourite things about hlitf is that we have the whole “meeting him” route before the “falling in love” route, and that generally each season is split into two halves in which the first half feels complete as a route on its own, but its strengths in setting up plot and character/relationship development become highlighted in the second half of the season (i know i talk about this a lot but kaga’s season 2 is the PRIME example of this). hlitf’s “meeting him” stories all tend to have abysmal ratings (which.... i pretend i do not see it) because of people not getting that they’re just introducing the characters and setting up their dynamic first. because of this, we essentially get a (relatively) slow burn romance that takes 20 chapters (or in tsugaru’s case.... 60 chapters lmao, or we’ll say 30 bc he has shorter chapters) to get to fruition. 
so romance md has 30 chapters to get the job done, which SHOULD mean that there should be better pacing to get to the relationship stage, right? rmd does a similar thing to hlitf’s split routes where there’s generally one “introductory” case which introduces a moral dilemma, which then ties into a second case. in hlitf, the introductory case in ms1 serves to introduce us to the love interest’s personality and way of working as well as helping the two characters become closer by spending more time together. then it links to ms2 in that it tends to lead into wider criminal activity that may or may not be related to the love interest’s primary negative characteristics, and most importantly, the mc is instrumental in helping the LI overcome that issue (e.g. goto’s paranoia about losing colleagues/partners, kaga’s problems with internal corruption within the NPA, soma’s trust issues and devaluing of those around him, ayumu’s unrequited love). so let’s say that a full rmd route is equivalent to ms1+ms2 in hlitf. 
rmd does a very similar thing in terms of plot structure with the main difference being that the medical cases tend to align explicitly with the LIs’ traumatic pasts, where in hlitf it’s a bit more indirect (only goto and soma have had their primary vengeance arcs complete). so why does the pacing feel so off? i think that the reason for that is that there is just so little energy put into romantic development. one thing to note is that the mc has already fallen by episode 10 of ms1, i.e. halfway through the ‘full’ route. the only rmd route that i’ve read where the mc has already caught feelings at that point is hosho’s route, where she realises in chapter 15 (which is why i did write in my review that i thought the pacing was better). secondly, it’s a LOT harder in rmd to see not just the mc’s feelings developing, but the progression of the love interest’s feelings. imo this is because they basically treat her uhhhh the same from start to finish??? she runs her mouth from day one and even during very intimate conversations, so i feel like there is no sense of increasing emotional closeness - it’s more just that we (the third person reader) get to know more about the love interest’s past and i guess we see them becoming friends? rather than seeing two people growing closer with romantic attraction. contrast this with hlitf, where they were never ‘friendly’ and the relationship that starts blossoming between them was always overtly special and romantic relationship and the way in which the love interest softens for his mc is already evident by the end of ms1. this means that we get a whole 10 more chapters for this development to really take its time to get to where it needs to go. this also means that we actually see obvious burgeoning attraction (or special treatment) before we get to any sort of climax confession scene. i feel like the mc’s lack of manners/impertinence familiarity with the LIs from the very start means that it’s a lot harder to see the dynamic between the two of them changing. just compare the way that dr mc and takado talk to each other in ch1 and ch29 vs the way that hlitf mc and kaga talk to each other in ms1 ch 1 and ms2 ch 8. i would argue that the action scene in the collapsing building in takado’s chapter TWENTY SEVEN is about equivalent to the action climax scenes that happen in hlitf ms1 chapter NINE.
(oh and i also think that the whole talking about how physically beautifully they are to their faces from day one also hinders the sense of growing mutual attraction.)
another GIANT hindrance is that a lot of the key bonding moments are actually paywalled behind heart scenes so you really don’t get anything if you don’t dish out THANKS LOVE CHOICE. 
anyway, long story short is that romance md spends waaay too long and focusses way too much on plot stuff and character backstory (if you can even unlock it lmao) and leaves maybe 5% at the very end for romance rather than having a romantic element integrated throughout the story. if i were to try and compare it to hlitf again, i would say that to me, rmd routes feel like if hlitf ms1 was as it is but then there was one extra chapter at the end where it just goes straight to confession without the entirety of ms2′s development. but also like at least 2x longer. like imagine if we had ms1 and ms2 but there was no romantic engagement or indication of any romantic interest from the love interest in 20 whole chapters except you suddenly get one confession but only in the happy ending. actually matsunaga’s doctor ending literally FLOORED me like ???????? it’s literally like imagine if you only got through namba’s ms1 and half of ms2 (to that scene outside the dorms when you know what happens) and THAT’S WHERE IT ENDS LASKDJFLKSJ they finally had some early emotional awareness on the part of the mc and then they had to go and make it ENTIRELY one sided with not just zero but actually NEGATIVE romantic intention from the love interest i’m screaming 
tl;dr: my biggest problem with romance md is that it’s literally SO LONG but there’s no romance 
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chidoroki · 3 years
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Norman - 22194
March 21st is here and it’s time for yet another birthday post. I already rambled on about Emma and Ray on their special days, so now it’s finally time to complete this full-score tradition with Norman. It might not be as detailed or long as the other two, since he was absent for a good chunk of the story, but it doesn’t make him any less important! I’ll be honest now, the boy isn’t my favorite character (he doesn’t place anywhere in my top ten for this series either) so I probably missed some moments worth mentioning but I did my best to praise this child anyway!
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(spoilers for the entirety of The Promised Neverland, so if you haven’t read/completed the manga yet, consider this your first warning, because I’m once again going from start to finish with this.)
Since I want to stay consistent with the other two posts, this will focus on the manga timeline, as season 2 is, well.. it’s own thing. I’ll mention some things but don’t count on much. With that, let’s go.
- He achieves a perfect score on Grace Field’s daily tests, alongside Emma and Ray.
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- He is, without a doubt, the smartest kid the house has ever seen, as he passes each test flawlessly and has maintained a 300 average.
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- He’s a complete strategist who is capable of achieving victory (even in something simple as tag) by observing his opponents moves and analyzing their weaknesses in order to counter.
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- Knows how to pick locks. The scene from ch1 was left out but we see him doing so later on in ep02.
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- Stays relatively positive and calm after learning about the truth of the farm.
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- Even going as far as giving Emma a reassuring smile, which I think is impressive given the literal nightmare fuel they’ve just witnessed. 
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- I’m giving him half credit for suggesting the idea of there being tracking devices, since anime has him reveal this possibility while in manga it’s Emma.
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- Both of them realize what determines the shipping order and that the demons favor their brains.
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- This silly panel that I love dearly.
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- Made sure to do a sweep of the entire house beforehand to make sure their escape planning doesn’t get pick up on.
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- Figures out that Isabella only knows the children’s locations when she checks the tracker and that it can’t identify who is who.
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- Has the nerve to lie right to Isabella’s face.. not that she believes it, but still gutsy nonetheless.
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- Knowing the house probably wouldn’t have any rope, it was his idea to use the spare tablecloths.
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- Had a feeling that Ray would reveal the harsh reality of how dangerous it would be to escape with all the children, which turns out to be correct.
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- His laugh in ep02 is so precious.
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- This statement being 100% accurate.
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- Manages to convince the logical Ray, who we know now has spent many years coming up with a solid, safer escape plan, to join in and assist with their crazy and reckless plan instead. Having Ray on their side also grants them many advantages.
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- Absolutely hates to lose, which is a good mentality to have in a world where your life is a stake and your time is limited, which eventually leads him to consider every possible opportunity to stay ahead of his enemies throughout the remainder of the story.
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- Realizes that the trackers must only send out a signal upon being broken, which we found out to be true in Ray’s one-shot chapter.
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- - Him looking completely terrified in this panel.
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- He managed to catch all the Grace Field kids in a game of tag even after they received advice from Ray about how to survive longer.
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- The goddamn intimidating energy he gives off here is fantastic.
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- Despite his body being physically weak, he manages to survive and win against Krone during their game of tag.
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- Just like Ray some couple chapters ago, Norman is completely serious about this idea.
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- Suspects there’s a traitor among the kids and swiftly comes up with a plan to lure them out.
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- This panel of him “dead” from the first side story.
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- He has a feeling the spy is Ray, so he moves up the day of the escape to catch him off guard and send him into a panic.
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- Even though the anime didn’t include it, he managed to throw off Krone as well with some fake footprints to keep her off their backs.
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- Was honestly considering on leaving the spy behind while the rest of them escaped, though he doesn’t seem real happy about the idea, considering the traitor is Ray.
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- His plan on fishing out the spy was flawless as he finally calls Ray out by revealing that the information he gave about the ropes and where he hid them were fake locations.
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- Not only was Ray the first one Norman suspected, but he caught onto him way back when Krone first came to the house. All the information Ray was feeding them helped Norman come to this conclusion as well.
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- Along with Emma’s words about believing that no one in their family is truly bad, Norman refrains from cutting Ray off to allow him to become their trump card. This was a risky move itself, knowing Ray could sell both him & Emma out at any time. Norman tends to prioritize victory, so while staying alive is absolutely necessary and that could’ve been achieved without Ray (as he could’ve just used Ray then ditch him later), he still decides to make the offer as realizes that in order defeat Isabella, Ray’s full cooperation is essential.
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- Realizes that it was Ray who hid Little Bunny in the first place and lead Norman and Emma to investigate the gate that night, which leads him to believe that Ray isn’t really an enemy.
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- He’s also left handed. Yes, that’s important. Not only for later in the story but because we’re superior. I’m sorry y’all had to find out this way. 
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- This stupid, little face he makes.
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- Suspects that Ray doesn’t actually plan on escaping at all and intends to kill himself.
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- Just like Emma and Ray, Norman also recognizes and understands morse code.
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- Look at this precious child, not even angry after getting punched and knocked over. (because i certainly would be)
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- Finds Ray’s hidden supply of oil which confirms the method for his future suicide. This also helps Norman later on when he comes up with a refined escape plan by using the fire Ray plans to start.
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- Figures out Krone’s true intention about why she wants to join forces with the kids in the first place. 
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- He ends up accepting Krone’s offer anyway, because despite the large risk, any information that can snag out of her would benefit them.
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- You mad lad, look at you, taunting the bringer of death yet again while a smile on your face.
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- And he still manages to find some strength to smile while upon death’s door.
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- Not for long though, as once he’s given the chance to be alone, he finally breaks down. Having the cup overflow with water really helps demonstrate how impactful the thought of dying hit him as Norman was overcome with so many emotions that he didn’t even have the strength to hold onto the cup or his facade. It’s then he starts to feel scared and sorry for himself but away from Emma and Ray’s eyes as to not worry them.
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- His entire internal monologue as he comes to terms with his unfortunate situation and flips back to his determined “I can’t lose” attitude to help everyone else escape. Also, his theme ‘22194’ hits especially hard.
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- For someone with weak, physical abilities, he manages to climb the wall on his own.
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- Though the cliff stopped his escape, he used that opportunity to survey the surrounding area of the entire farm to rely his findings to the duo and provide them a safer escape route.
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- Completely adamant about his decision to accept his shipment in order to give the rest of his family a chance to escape. (hell, id’ be terrified right now)
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- This hug that is sure to break everyone’s hearts.
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- Quick to react to Emma’s last ditch effort and prevented her from slamming her already busted up leg into the ground.
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- Not only did he predict that Ray would start a fire to distract Isabella and on which day, he also left behind the pen and key he received from Krone along with a new, detailed plan (which he managed to come up with in only a few hours by the way) that would allow the kids to cross over the cliff.
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(post season one spoilers below. again, focusing on the manga timeline, so any new season 2 events will be mentioned sparingly.)
- Like Ray, Norman was able to figure out how the pen worked well enough to see Minerva’s message regarding B06-32.
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- Since he doesn’t show up again for quite some time post-escape, there isn’t much to talk about.. but at least I can make fun of him thanks to extra pages, like how he wouldn’t have enough strength to use a bow.
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- But hey, props to s2ep10 for actually giving us Norman shooting an arrow. He was pretty decent with it too, as he hit his target on the first try behind a darn smokescreen. The manga did show him holding a bow in ch161, but that’s it.
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- Not relevant to the actual story at all, but his smarts certainly make anything possible.
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- I’m sorry but these tiny failures of his bring me great joy.
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- Though the tests at Lambda are harder than those at Grace Field, Norman still managed to get every question correct. Every single day he was there. Even when the facility manages to increase the difficulty of the tests, he continues to pass each one with flying colors.
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- Since he noticed someone who’s right handed also takes the same tests he does, he makes an attempt to communicate with them via a Rubik’s cube. He waits patiently for five months until he finally gets a response from Vincent around Christmas 2046. 
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- Dealt with the experiments/drugs that were forced onto him and the seizures that resulted from them.
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- Even with the tight security and surveillance, he somehow acquired explosives and successfully blow up Lambda and escapes with the survivors.
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- Again, not significant to the story, but seriously dude? You just fainted and yet you still get this crazy question right effortlessly?
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(post time-skip)
- Contacts Lucas moments before the B06-32 shelter gets blown up and gives him the numeric code that eventually leads Emma’s group to the “Jaw of Lion.”
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- Destroyed numerous mass production farms since his escape from Lambda.
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- As well as save countless children from other farms and used the Paradise shelter found by Smee’s network to give them a sense of safety and taste of a normal life.
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- The darn glow-up he receives, like sweet lord child, are you sure you’re still 13??
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- - His cute, squishy cheeks though!
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- He may look like he’s in his thirties, but still has the strength of a child. (see anime? this is how strong ray’s slap should have been!)
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- Learned a great deal of demon history and gave that lengthy lesson about the demon’s genetics and how they inherit the characteristics of whatever they eat and evolve accordingly. 
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- With Emma’s wish about saving everyone and lively happily still on his mind, he thought of a safe and certain method in order to create such a future for all the children raised as food.. which ends up being complete extermination of all the demons caused by a civil war. His plan also includes ending the Ratri clan as well. How cheerful.
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- Are you surprised to learn that Norman getting tackled by the younger kids is my favorite panel of him?
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- You weak, little bean, I’m sorry I enjoy making fun of you so much.
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- Successfully forms an alliance with Lord Geelan and his clan by offering revenge on the royal family, the five regent houses, as well as the Ratri clan, thus putting Geelan in full control. In return, it would grant Norman the full release of farm children, permission to self-govern and some much needed power in terms of demon strength.
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- He knows full well that the entire alliance is a lie and both parties are only using each other, though in works in his favor, as it will send the demons to destroy each other without the lose of any human lives.
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- This absolute powerful panel that the anime decided “nah, we’re gonna change this too” because they’re cowards.
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- Narrowed down possible locations on where to find Sonju and Mujika. Sure it was with the intention of killing our demon friends but his map was accurate.
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- Survived who knows long with his seizures at level 4, and because of his severe condition, he’s completely set on following through his plan and succeeding before his time runs out.
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- Seems to enjoy blowing stuff up, such as the imperial city’s bridges to send the place into a panic and trap all the citizens.
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- Advised the Lambda crew on how to effectively fight against the queen by attacking relentlessly.
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- Let loose a poison that causes not only normal demons to degenerate, but the royal family as well, such as the five regent heads and the queen who’s name is too long and complicated for me to ever remember, who all have the cursed blood. (at least that’s how effective it was in manga, in anime it did absolutely nothing to vylk)
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- He somehow managed to learn, speak and understand the demon language, which, according to Shirai (vol16 author notes), is actually an uncommon language nowadays. (and we’ll unfortunately never know how this language actually sounds, thank anime..)
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- Do I even praise him for killing a demon and well.. all this? Sure in the anime he tried killing Vylk, but old demon was fair more innocent compared to the royal family, so I have no idea.
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- I will give season 2 some credit and say I prefer their take on the “right now you look like a small child, shaking with fear” panel.
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- But not too much credit, as they didn’t give us the full trio hug as the manga did!
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- Then again the anime did have him about to apologize to Vylk and Demon Emma for his actions, which is something, I suppose? since in ch154 he says he didn’t regret killing the queen and royals, which I guess is justified because they were the bigger problem, but oh well.
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- Might have apologized to Ayshe for killing her father? Can’t be sure but that’s the unanimous consensus in the fandom right?
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- Instantly comes up with counter moves and directions for the entire group upon hearing the enemies locations from Vincent during the GF raid.
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- I honestly can’t look at this panel anymore and not laugh about it.. because reasons.
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- He just keeps on winning. (also he looks real good here, i’ll give him that.)
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- He and everyone else are skeptical about there being no “reward,” and for rightfully so.
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- Upon learning that Emma is missing after everyone crossed over to the human world, they all adopt her optimistic attitude and swear to find her no matter where she might be.
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- After a stressful two year search, the kids finally find Emma and Norman is so overcome with emotion that he busts out into tears of joy, despite finding out that she lost her memories due to the reward. All that matters to him is that Emma was safe and happy and he accepts her just the way she is.
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And I guess.. that’s it. I’m sorry again, I know this is truly the weakest post out of the trio and I have no doubt I glanced over a whole bunch of great moments but it still had to be done! Making fun of him probably wasn’t the best thing to do on his special day either, but I assure you this child is very powerful. Who else do you know that is capable of sending an entire fandom into a panic and rage furiously by just simply showing up?
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Ah ha okay, now I’m done. In all seriousness though, this lad is great and through everything he has endured, he definitely deserves to be celebrated today, so happy birthday to our boy Norman!
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bubbleblower · 5 years
Text
Minor Details Ch 5/?
AN: Not much to say this time except thank you all for continuing to be lovely. Chat Noirs puns physically pained me to write, so I hope you enjoy them.
Ao3 Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Next
"Chat Noir!" Marinette jumped and stumbled into one of her plants, startled. "What are you doing out here? Was there an akuma?" She knew the answer was no, but she couldn't figure out why else he'd be here of all places. They were supposed to be patrolling soon.
"Oh no, nothing like that." He replied, slinking down onto her balcony. "Ladybug and I have patrol here soon and I just thought I'd swing by for a moment and say hello to my favorite civilian, if she's not too busy that is?" He tipped his head to the side, looking hopeful. Marinette smiled.
"Awe. Well hi then." Marinette paused, hesitating for a moment before asking. "I saw some of the havoc on the Ladyblog last night, are you doing okay?" Chat sighed, leaning against the railing of the balcony.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, it sucks that people feel that way about me. But it just means I need to try a little harder. And it was really nice having LB jump to my defense like that. I'm worried about her though, getting so upset like that.. I don't know if you know it, but she's the only one who can purify the butterflies. Her getting Akumatized is just about the scariest thing I can imagine." Chat Noir looked briefly terrified, which made Marinette's insides twist uncomfortably in shame.
" I'm sure she realized her mistake. Though I can't blame her, those people were really out of line. I can't imagine Ladybug without you by her side. It just wouldn't be right." Chat's smile returned, a little shy, but then he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"Actually, I couldn't help but notice when you walked out here you seemed a little stressed out yourself. Are you doing alright?" Marinette groaned a little, leaning on the railing as well.
"Yeah, sort of. I just have this guy coming over tomorrow to hang out and I'm nervous about it. I always seem to make a fool out of myself in front of him. So I came out here hoping to calm my nerves."
"Nervous huh?" Chat grinned mischeviously. "Does someone have a crush?" Marinette glared at him for a moment before smirking.
"Well I had to find someone new to lavish my affections on, since Chat Noir broke my heart!" Her voice was a mix of exaggerated woe and sarcasm, as she hammed up the moment by swooning and placing the back of her hand to her forhead in an affectation of a distressed damsel. Chat laughed out loud at the performance, responding with equal hilarity.
"Oh no! Say it isn't true. My princess hath moved on?" He clutched his chest dramatically, his face a caricature of distress.
"I'm afraid so." She said solemnly. "For how could I possibly compete with the lovely Ladybug for your heart?" Chat found himself almost literally biting his tongue at this to keep from giving himself away. Compete with Ladybug indeed. Instead he smiled softly, sincere for a moment.
"Oh I don't know, I'd say you stack up pretty well." Marinette blushed at this, startled at the change in tone. "Honestly, My Lady has turned me down so many times. Maybe I should consider moving on myself." He reached out, and toyed with the end of Marinette's pigtail, looking thoughtful. A clever grin stole over his face a moment later though. "After all you are quite the cat-ch"
For her part Marinette didn't look like she could possibly get any redder, and if her eyes got any bigger they were bound to fall out of her head, but she groaned a little at the pun out of pure reflex. Chat grinned wide, cackling internally at her reaction.
"Well Princess, unfortunately it's time for me to take my leave." He grabbed her hand, bowing low over it and kissing the back of it. "Goodnight Marinette"
A moment later he had disappeared, vaulting over the Paris skyline.
Marinette muffled a scream into her fists, collapsing hard onto the ground.
"Tikki!" She wailed, causing the kwami to appear from behind a fern. She floated over to where Marinette had buried her face in her hands, and patted the poor girl consolingly on the head.
"Tikki, he can't give up on me only to then pursue also ME"
"Well you did confess to him Marinette, after Ladybug has said no for so long it's not a surprise he'd consider looking elsewhere."
"He's NOT looking elsewhere."
"But he doesn't know that. I don't know Marinette, but you're going to be late for patrol at this rate." Marinette groaned again, letting her head thunk back against a wall.
"You don't think Bunnix would give me a 24 hour do-over do you?" The kwami shook her head sympathetically. Marinette sighed.
"Ugh. Spots on then."
"You're late." Chat Noir greeted her, as Ladybug touched down next to him on their perch atop the Eiffel tower. He was leaning casually propped up on his baton, looking for all the world as though he'd been waiting for hours, thoigh Marinette knew it had been at most 10 minutes.
"I got held up, sorry." She said, avoiding eye contact, unsure if she could keep a straight face if she didn't. "Are you ready to head out?" She saw Chat nod out of the corner of her eye, and tossed her yoyo out and lept.
It was calming, patrolling the city. Marinette felt the stress and worry of the day melt away as she lost herself in the rhythmic toss, pull, swing of her transportation. Ever so often she'd glimpse Chat as he leapt into view, but for the most part it was quiet. Almost as though she had the entire city to herself.
After about an hour they completed their route and landed once again on the tower. Ladybug was feeling far more collected, and didn't hesitate to smile at Chat when he landed.
"You've been awful quiet tonight minou." She commented, sitting down on a beam and letting her legs dangle. "Something wrong?" Chat joined her frowning slightly.
"Yes, something is definitely wrong. I can think of like 3 puns you could have put in that question. We really need to work on your sense of humor my lady." Ladybug rolled her eyes and elbowed Adrien in the side.
"My sense of humor is perfectly fine, which is why there was a lack of puns."
"Don't you mean 'purr-fectly'?" He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Ladybug grimaced playfully and then laughed.
"Seriously though, Chat. Something on your mind?" Adrien forced his smile to droop a little, and he scratched behind his ear awkwardly.
"Sort of? I don't know, it might be a little weird to talk to you about it though."
"You can tell me anything kitty, you know that."
"Well.." he started, hesitating deliberately to make himself seem reluctant. "It's about a girl." Ladybug's eyes widened in shock, and Adrien winced. Even though he knew that Marinette was Ladybug, just implying that he might have moved on made him feel awful. She cleared her throat.
"A girl?" She inquired, looking incredibly wary.
"Yeah, a girl. She's a civilian, I've saved her a couple of times, Marinette Dupain-Cheng? We've kind of become friends, and I think I might have feelings for her." He bowed his head, glancing at Ladybug. "I mean, you've turned me down in no uncertain terms, and I respect that. So I've been trying to get over you so it wouldn't affect our partnership. But it's still weird for me to acknowledge my feelings for her when ive been in love with you for so long." Ladybug, to her credit, was trying so SO hard to keep her expression neutral. Her face was bright red, and Adrien was pretty sure her eyelid was twitching. He bit his lower lip to stifle the laugh that wanted to escape.
"A civilian, Chat?" She asked, her voice wavering only slightly. "Are you sure that's safe? Aren't you worried Hawkmoth will target her to get at you?" Adrien shrugged.
"I wasn't planning on asking her out in costume. I kind of thought I might approach her as my civilian self." It was getting so difficult to not laugh when he looked at Ladybug. He was pretty sure she was about to have an aneurysm with how hard she was trying to seem nonchalant.
"Your civilian self? So you're going to do what? Orchestrate some sort of random meeting with her and try to sweep her off her feet? Some boy she's never met before?" After a deep breath to calm his urge to laugh hysterically, Adrien let himself grin.
"That's actually not a bad idea LB. Like a meet-cute out of a movie. It's the purr-fect way to break the ice. Chat-ting her up afterward should be a cinch." Ladybug's eye twitch was fully visible by now and had navigated to her eyebrows as well. Adrien took one last long look to memorize her expression and then stretched and yawned exaggeratedly. "Well it's purr-etty late my lady. Thank you for the claw-some advice. But I'm feline pretty tired and should probably bw kitten home soon." He smirked at he, standing up and offering her a hand up. She grumbled under her breath as she accepted.
"Goodnight Chat."
"Goodnight LB"
Marinette touched down heavily onto her balcony, her feet dragging as she marched across the terrace. She dropped down into her bedroom, and faceplanted onto her bed. Mumbling 'spots off' into her pillow.
Tikki appeared in a flash of pink light.
The kwami floated above Marinette's head looking kind of stunned at how fast this had all spun out of control. She knew who Chat Noir was, and he was obviously messing with her holder, but she couldn't say anything to Marinette thanks to her and Plagg's vow of silence.
"Well... that happened." She said quietly, looking up at the skylight.
Marinette screamed into her pillow.
54 notes · View notes
mdelpin · 4 years
Text
The Red Dragon - Chapter 22
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AO3 | FF.Net | Tumblr: Ch1 | Ch21 @ao3feed-gratsu​
Natsu had left the cave with no clear direction in mind. He'd just needed to get away. He'd meant what he'd said, he absolutely understood why Sting had done it, but that didn't lessen the pang of betrayal any. Sting was the only one he had trusted with his secret, it wasn't like he hadn't known what could happen.
He could almost hear his father in his head telling him there was no point in dwelling in things he couldn't do anything about, but after everything that had happened in the last few days, he wasn't capable of much else.
With nowhere else to go, he flew towards Drak Aast, trusting Atlas to get Weisslogia there on his own. Upon his arrival, he was greeted eagerly by all the dragons before getting flooded with problems that required his attention, grateful for the distraction they offered. He set to work on them, promptly ignoring Belserion's concerned expression at seeing him there at all.
By the time Atlas arrived a few days later, Natsu was on the other side of the island, mediating a dispute between the earth and rock dragons.
He spent months on the island immersing himself more and more in his duties, happy to see many dragons had already begun nesting. He was excited about the possibility of seeing plenty of hatchlings when he returned on his next visit. If they had a successful season, they might be able to bring their numbers up sooner than expected.
Natsu never stayed in any one area of the large island for long, moving along to the next one as soon as things had settled, and he had too much time to think. But no matter how much he did to try to keep himself busy, he could never escape his thoughts of Gray completely. The continuous physical ache was a consistent reminder of what he'd lost.
After entering a mating bond, a dragon needed to remain close to his mate for a full year. Any extended separation within that time was painful and to be avoided at all costs, with the intensity increasing every day. It was one of the reasons he had decided to wait when they had first confessed to each other, knowing he might have to leave at any moment.
While he was on the island, he could keep himself busy, but Natsu knew he should go home eventually. He'd only meant to be gone for a month or two, just enough time to process what had happened and accept his fate. But he could feel a pull at his bond, and he knew that it was Gray calling to him. He didn't know what to do, but he also knew he couldn't ignore it much longer.
0-0
Gray wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, taking a break from cutting wood with the saw he'd fashioned out of his ice. He had taken off Natsu's scarf so as not to get it dirty, setting it down neatly on top of his shirt. Lyon had taken off his shirt as well, the strenuous work making them both uncomfortably hot despite having set up the sawhorses by the lake.
After making sure no other nearby villages had been attacked by the black dragon, they'd set about rebuilding Talos to the best of their ability. Everyone chipped in as best they could, from the village guards all the way down to the orphans in Anna's care. Together they'd managed to get the village back into livable shape, forging a closer community along the way.
Gray noticed Erza and Juvia coming over carrying what looked to be two large picnic baskets and sat down, willing the breeze to pick up so he could cool his body without having to resort to magic. He looked forward to taking a break after a long morning spent doing construction work.
Things with Juvia had improved somewhat after that first disastrous night. He had apologized for the necklace incident, although he still didn't understand what had prompted it. It had not responded that way to anyone else. In return, she'd toned down her advances, which had made her a lot more pleasant to be around.
Lyon waved at the girls and hurried over to take the basket from Erza, taking a moment to kiss her in greeting before setting up a blanket where they stood.
Juvia kept walking towards Gray, giving the two lovers some space. She sat down next to him and smiled shyly.
"Juvia thinks Talos is beginning to look nice again," she remarked, absently grabbing some water from the lake and turning it into a cool mist she let fall on Gray, who smiled at her in appreciation.
"Thanks, it's murder out here."
Juvia nodded and stared out at the water, "It's so hard to believe how quickly everything was destroyed."
The dragon fight had ruined many buildings and caused many injuries, but miraculously no lives had been lost. Gray had been the one to suffer the most wounds, and since his memories had yet to return, he had no idea how bad they had really been.
He'd returned to the field in daylight, hoping it would trigger something, but outside of dismay at the large patches of blood splattered grass, there had been nothing.
It was a constant hum in his brain that he couldn't quiet. Where had he gone? Had he been alone? But no matter how much he thought on it, the answers still evaded him.
All he could remember for sure was that he had begun walking to Talos full of a feeling that something good was going to happen. Then he'd woken up in the field. As soon as the village repairs were done, he planned to return to the village where he'd taken that last job. Maybe if he retraced his steps, it would give him some sort of clue as to what had happened to him.
"How are the repairs to the orphanage going?" Gray asked, mostly to make conversation.
"We're almost done," Juvia assured him although her expression got a little teary. "Anna is a lovely woman, Juvia wishes there had been a place like that for her when she was younger."
"Yeah, she took care of most of my friends before they were adopted by… uhm before they were adopted." Gray caught himself before he revealed they'd been taken in by dragons, a fact that as he understood it, was not generally known.
"Are these the dragonslayers that left to fight in the war?" Juvia asked cautiously, her eyes searching his face for a reaction, suggesting she knew she was getting close to a forbidden topic.
"Yes," Gray replied and immediately opened the picnic basket to see what was inside, not wanting to invite any further discussion, but Juvia seemed to be on some sort of mission.
"And the scarf you wear belongs to your partner?"
Gray's head jerked as he heard those words, his eyes widening in panic before realizing much too late that Juvia was referring to the fact that Natsu had been his guard partner. And even as he bravely tried to answer noncommittally, he knew he'd given himself away.
"Uhm, yeah."
"Oh," Juvia remained silent for a moment, her cheeks reddening slightly as she grasped what his reaction to her innocent question meant. But then she rallied, gazing at him intently.
"Juvia is sorry for her actions, she should not have made assumptions," she grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently before letting go and smiling at him, "Juvia is sure he will return to you."
"I wish I was," Gray muttered as he absently fidgeted with his necklace.
0-0
Natsu flew home with Atlas, who had shown up to retrieve him a few days earlier. They hadn't spoken since he'd left the cave Sting and the others had been staying in, and although he could tell Altas was working hard to remain quiet, he could also see that the effort wasn't easy for him.
They slowed down as soon as he could pick out Gray's scent, and Atlas finally spoke.
"I didn't tell Igneel what happened. I will leave it up to you whether you want to do that or not."
"Thank you, it's probably best he doesn't know."
Atlas grunted, although Natsu wasn't sure if he agreed with his decision, "How are you feeling these days, Kid?"
"About as expected, I figure if I'm near him, it might be enough to help."
They arrived at the cave, and Natsu spent a few days catching Igneel up on the goings-on of the island. Each day his curiosity and need to see Gray grew incrementally until he finally gave in.
He found a perch atop their mountain where he could sit and have a clear view of the village without being seen. Natsu was relieved to see the repairs had been finished, remembering with some guilt how much damage he'd caused during his fight with Acnologia.
Throughout the day he got peeks of Anna as well as Lyon and Erza and some of the other guards he recognized from his time there. But it wasn't until the third day that he got a glimpse of Gray. He was doing his patrol sweep, a route Natsu remembered well.
He'd been expecting to feel something when he saw him, but he hadn't anticipated the overwhelming need that came over him at seeing Gray so close.
Natsu watched him eagerly at first, noticing all the small changes the last few months had wrought. All he wanted was to hear Gray’s voice and know his touch. To share his bed and feel his love. Images he'd spent months trying not to think about played in his mind, each one stealing his breath and shattering his already damaged heart further.
And as the scent of what he wanted most but could never have again filled his nostrils, he imagined that this was what hell would be like. No blazing inferno, but having his heart shattered over and over again. He steeled himself for what would surely be several months of this torture, swearing to himself that once the required time had passed, he would make his way back to Drak Aast, never to return.
0-0
Gray glanced around his apartment in the dim light of the early dawn hours, trying to make sure he had everything he needed before he left. He was getting ready to go when he was startled by a noise behind him.
"Aren't you even going to eat anything?" Lyon complained, exiting his room with his travel bag slung on his back.
"Where are you going?" Gray asked, puzzled that Lyon hadn't mentioned leaving on a job.
"Where do you think, dumbass? With you." Lyon walked into their kitchen, opening their refrigerator in search of something to eat and throwing a piece of fruit at Gray. "Or did you think I was just going to let you leave on your own?"
"How did you —?"
"Know you were going to leave?" Lyon smirked, "Erza told me you asked for leave, it didn't take much for me to figure out what you were up to. Knowing you, there were only two possible choices. You're either going to go retrace your steps, or you're going to go off in search of Natsu. Or both?"
Gray stared at his brother, and while his first inclination was to tell him he wanted to go alone, the truth was he was somewhat scared of what he might find. Having Lyon around would be a welcome distraction, not to mention his brother had always been very observant. He could be a lot of help on this journey, but more importantly, it had been a long time since they had done anything just the two of them.
But it wasn't fair, Gray had no idea where this trip was going to take him. If something happened to him, no one would miss him all that much, but if something happened to Lyon, Erza would be devastated. She'd already had too many people leave her behind, it wasn't fair to her.
"I'm not taking no for an answer," Lyon insisted, arms crossed across his chest in stubborn defiance.
"Erza?"
"Already knows I'm leaving," Lyon remained in the same posture, but the way his eyes strayed away from his face let Gray know he'd had similar thoughts.
"I don't know what's going to happen," Gray cautioned, trying to give him one last chance at an out.
Lyon sighed, putting his arms back down by his sides, "Look, I'll admit the thought has occurred to me that we might not return, but I understand you have to do this. The truth is, if something like this had happened to me, I'd want to do the same. I'm your brother, let me help you."
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."
Lyon grinned in triumph, moving forward to give him a quick hug before opening their door and stepping out into the chilly morning air, "Let' s go!"
Gray immediately followed, locking their apartment door behind them. They made their way to Gray's last confirmed location slowly, neither knowing what it was they were looking for but hoping they'd recognize it when they found it.
The first few days were filled with a lot of talks, and Gray had almost been enjoying himself, despite the lack of progress. It had been a long time since he'd gotten to spend time like this with his brother outside of a few hikes into the mountains, and he'd missed the closeness they'd shared before Lyon had begun dating Erza. Not that he minded, he felt they were right for each other.
They finally reached the town, and even after two days of asking questions of anyone who would listen, they had come away with zero answers. Gray had sort of expected that, though. After all, Erza had mentioned Lyon and Juvia had already investigated when he had gone missing.
So they began their search for Natsu and the other dragon slayers, heading towards the last location where they had heard there had been fighting. But after a week of finding nothing but destroyed scenery, Lyon had become very quiet, and Gray didn't know what to make of it. He was almost startled when Lyon finally spoke.
"When we return, I'm going to ask Erza to marry me." Lyon declared, his words filled with a strange determination that didn't quite vibe with their message.
"That's great!" Gray replied with a smile, and he meant it. He was glad things had worked out for his brother and his friend, and he refused to let his own perpetual misery mar that.
"Thanks," Lyon smiled briefly, walking alongside Gray with his hands stuffed into his pockets, once again seemingly deep in thought. He remained silent for a few more minutes before starting a line of conversation that Gray hadn't seen coming.
"It's been almost three years, Gray," Lyon began, stopping amidst a particularly charred area in the forest they were currently traveling in, "I don't think they're coming back."
Gray could only gape, his brother's words going straight through to his heart, for they were words he thought often but refused to believe.
"He's coming back, he's too stubborn not to. You said so yourself."
"I know what I said, but look around you," Lyon pointed at the remains of the once lush forest, "The things they were fighting were capable of all the destruction we've seen, they didn't stand a chance."
"You don't know that for a fact," Gray argued angrily, "All of them were more powerful than us, and their magic was meant to fight dragons."
"Then, where are they? If the war has ended, why aren't they back yet?" Lyon debated, his voice remaining collected even as Gray's began to rise. "Don't you think he would've already rushed back if he could?"
"Shut up."
"This is Natsu we're talking about here, he wouldn't keep you waiting. I think you need to accept the fact that he's never coming back."
"SHUT UP!"
"Gray —"
"If he were dead, I would know it," he felt that with every cell in his body. His bond had felt muted since he'd woken up in the field, but it was still there.
"How? That spiritual bond you talked about? It's a child's story, Gray, a pretty tale he spun when he romanced you. Things like that don't exist in real life."
"That's not true, I've felt it. I've heard Natsu in my mind since I was a child, and I've been able to reach him a few times too."
"Alright fine, let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right. When was the last time that happened?" Lyon peered at him, not needing to wait for a response when he saw the way Gray's shoulders slumped at his question.
"Look, I will be with you on this journey for as long as you need me to, but I want you to promise me that if we don't find anything, you'll give up on this," Lyon pleaded, "You need to move on, Gray. While you insist on living out this fantasy, your life is passing you by. We both know that's not what Natsu would have wanted for you."
"Stop talking about him as if he were dead!" Gray snapped, feeling angry and scared. He didn't want to listen to any of the things Lyon was saying.
"Gray —."
"Natsu is out there, and he will come back to me when he can."
He could see the pity in Lyon's eyes, but he didn't care. He refused to believe he'd never see his mate again. They continued to search for an additional week before returning home, and Lyon wisely never brought up the topic back up, but Gray could still feel the weight of his worried stares.
He ignored them, the trip had been a complete waste of his time, he hadn't retrieved any memories or found any sign of Natsu, but even so, Gray refused to give up hope. He would see him again.
0-0
Natsu woke up slowly, eyes still closed, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight and the late spring breeze as it blew in through the window and caressed his body. He whimpered, knowing this dream well. Gray would be lying beside him, their limbs tangled up in each other as they always did when they slept together.
Natsu would move his blessedly human body slowly to face his mate and just stare at the ice mage as he slept. A soft smile playing on his lips at the sight, and his heart would soar with the knowledge that they were now one. That they would spend the rest of their days fighting together and loving each other. Nothing would ever tear them apart.
But then the dream would inevitably change. Natsu's body would transform into his dragon self, causing Gray to pierce his heart with one of his ice swords, even as Natsu cried out that he was still the same. He knew the whole thing was ridiculous, Gray's swords couldn't hurt him, but that did nothing to lessen his anxiety.
Natsu waited for the dream to shift, but to his surprise, there were only the sound of a soft sigh as long fingers threaded through his hair in a way that he instantly recognized. What kind of cruel dream was this? He sniffed the air in disbelief.
How could this be? He recalled flying down to the field to reminisce on some of his earlier times with Gray. He must have fallen asleep, but when had Gray gotten here and why wasn't he freaking out? And wait, hair? What the hell was going on?
"You still can't control it when you're asleep, can you?" Gray teased him softly, his voice fond and full of craving. Natsu found himself wanting to cry in response. He'd missed Gray so much, the time they'd been apart had been agony for him both physically and mentally.
"Why didn't you come find me when you got back?" Gray continued, his fingers stopping their gentle petting and thwapping him roughly on the head. "I wouldn't have cared if you woke me up. Are you back for good?" Natsu heard the hope in Gray's voice and wished he could reassure him, but he had no idea what to say. He was in unchartered territory at the moment.
Natsu opened his eyes and was instantly accosted by a pair of deep blue eyes staring down at him, donning too many emotions for him to track. Even so, those emotions were assaulting him through their fractured bond, overwhelming him with all of Gray's worry and pain and, gods, so much love, and this time Natsu did cry. From relief, from anxiety and from a joy he hadn't felt in so long.
Maybe he was getting a second chance, perhaps it had just taken him much longer to turn back this time. If that was so, he promised himself he would never transform again, it wasn't worth it. He didn't want to move from this spot, from this moment, afraid that it would somehow break whatever this spell was that had turned him back into his human self. He looked around to see he was indeed at their field, he'd fallen asleep at the very edge of it beneath some trees that would have usually hidden his body but now afforded them some privacy.
"Hey, are you okay?" Gray fussed over him, checking him over for injuries and rediscovering scars all over Natsu's torso he didn't know he'd forgotten. Not finding any open wounds, he grabbed Natsu and enveloped him in an embrace that threatened to take Natsu's ability to breathe away, yet Natsu found he didn't care.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Gray whispered into his ear, "Lyon told me to give up hope, that if you hadn't come back yet the worst must have happened, but I knew--" Gray swallowed around the lump that was threatening to drown them both in his tears. "I knew that if you'd died, I would know."
"I told you I'd be back," Natsu managed shakily as he attempted a smile. He touched Gray's face reverently and used his thumb to gently wipe away the tears. Now that Gray was in front of him, he wasn't about to waste any time. He wanted to hoard every second he was allowed, still not daring to believe this could be permanent.
"You did," Gray agreed readily enough, releasing Natsu from his embrace before growling, "But nearly three years is a fucking long time to go without any word."
Natsu felt guilt flood him as he looked at his mate and rushed to mask it, not wanting Gray to realize anything was amiss. He still felt terrible for removing Gray's memories of their six months together, but he knew he'd done the right thing.
The knowledge that they'd been so happy before it had all been wrested away from them in such a cruel manner killed Natsu a little more each day. He didn't want that for Gray. No, it was best Gray didn't remember, he'd already suffered enough. Natsu was only thankful he'd had enough magic left to heal the worst of Gray's injuries after Acnologia's attack.
"We should go back to the village, I'm sure everyone would love to see you," Gray said, but Natsu could tell it wasn't what he really wanted, and he had no desire to see anyone else at the moment either, just Gray.
"Not yet, it's been so long, I don't want to see anyone else, I just want to be with you." He looked at Gray, eyes pleading with him.
Gray smiled at him and leaned forward to capture Natsu's lips with his own, and Natsu was embarrassed by the needy moan he heard himself utter as he returned the kiss with a desperation born of separation, but Gray only wrapped his arms around him tightly.
Natsu had yearned for this, to believe his mate still loved and wanted him. He could feel their bond healing, reforging, and that worried him a bit, but it was so hard to think when his body's desires were raging out of control. The almost constant pain he'd experienced since leaving Talos had dissipated the moment Gray kissed him.
He wanted, no, he needed to claim his mate again, and the raw urgency of that thought scared him. But Gray's hands were soon straying from the embrace, beginning to explore Natsu's body as he continued to kiss him. His touches were tentative as his hands touched every part of Natsu they could reach in this position, reminding Natsu of the first time they had made love, both of them fumbling in their desperation to join together after so much time spent apart.
Natsu's heart ached at the memory as his body responded to the familiar touches. Gray's kiss grew more demanding, and Natsu didn't want to stop, his hands already returning the touches with an urgency he couldn't deny.
"Natsu," Gray's voice dripped with desire, a heat so intense that it melted through all of Natsu's quickly dwindling resolve and caused him to moan in anticipation, "If you want me to stop, please tell me now."
Natsu shook his head, and that was enough for Gray to begin undressing him, his mouth soon following his fingers. Natsu's back arched as he felt cold lips touch his skin, the perfect complement to his heat. He went to return the favor, only to realize Gray had already lost his shirt at some point. Was Gray even wearing it when Natsu first saw him? Natsu couldn't remember, but he also didn't care as it allowed him immediate access to the broad chest he was already covering with kisses. It had been so very long since he'd been able to touch his mate in any way.
"I love you," Natsu blurted, having only been able to recite the words in his head for too long.
Gray stopped for a second and peered at him in wonder, "You've never said that to me before."
"I never got the chance to," Natsu lied, memories of all the times he'd told Gray that very thing in those six months flitting through his mind. He'd said it often, sometimes in fondness, sometimes in ecstasy and sometimes just to remind himself from within his frustration or anger, but every time it was told with the same honesty that his feelings for Gray demanded.
Gray remained still, hands no longer roaming as he seemingly absorbed Natsu's words, interiorizing them. He flashed Natsu a smile that would forever become engraved in his heart, it was beatific and full of a tenderness that Natsu knew Gray never showed anyone else.
"I love you too," Gray's words nourished Natsu's soul, healing it from all the pain he'd experienced since Acnologia had shown up on their doorstep.
"I haven't said that to anyone since my parents died," Gray sighed at the realization that he'd never even uttered those words to Ur, although he thought that she'd known all the same.
Gray kissed Natsu again, and although this kiss was tender and full of promises, it had lost none of the earlier passion. There was no going back at this point, they were too caught up in their emotions and desires to rein themselves in. They spent the next few hours exploring each other's bodies slowly and repeatedly, neither bothering to muffle their cries of ecstasy. Though at first the noises of the forest stopped at their intrusion, they soon became complicit, masking them in their chatter. That noise, in turn, lulled them into a deep sleep as both their bodies and souls had now become sated. The last thing Natsu saw before his eyes closed was the radiant glow of Gray's necklace, and he smiled, knowing it meant their bond was whole once again.
O-o
Gray awoke to find Natsu watching him, and although he couldn't quite figure out his expression, it still brought a smile to his face. He'd missed waking up with Natsu, it was something that had been snatched from him just as he'd begun to get used to it.
"See something you like?" Gray grinned at the flustered expression on his lover's face at being caught staring, thrilled he could still affect Natsu that way even after all this time. He was a bit surprised that he felt so comfortable being naked around the other, but considering what they'd just shared, perhaps it wasn't so surprising after all.
"Always," Natsu replied, his gaze adoring as he leaned towards Gray and kissed his forehead gently before moving to kiss his lips. "Good afternoon, or whatever time it is." Natsu scratched his head as he looked up at the position of the sun in the sky, trying to figure out how long they had slept for. It looked like the sun was beginning to set.
Gray took advantage of Natsu's distraction to look at his body, really look at it. It was covered in faint scars, some that looked like the wounds had been quite severe. He started to shake at their enormity, he could've lost him to any one of those wounds. Just what had Natsu been through while they were apart? Natsu noticed his gaze and tried to cover the worst of them with his arms.
"Don't," Gray scolded, "I need to see them."
"They're nothing," Natsu shrugged, but he stopped trying to hide them and remained uncomfortably still as Gray traced the scars with his fingers.
"Dragons did this?" Gray growled angrily, every scar burned into his memory, adding fuel to his hatred.
"No, most of these were done by people," Natsu said, and it was true, Acnologia had once been a human before he had devolved into whatever he was now. "Most of the dragons are gone from this world."
"People did this? I find that hard to believe," Gray retorted, unwilling to let go of his earlier assumption.
"Why? People have always killed each other. Why would war be any different?"
Gray knew there was truth to Natsu's statement, so he changed the topic, not wanting to argue so soon after joining together. "Are the others back too? They are okay, aren't they?"
"They're alive," Natsu responded, and this was true enough, " I don't think any of us can really be expected to be okay, though,"
Gray studied him, quickly recognizing a lot was hiding in that statement but not precisely grasping how to pursue it without ruining the moment further. He felt like he needed to know, he'd worked and played with the dragon slayers since his arrival in Talos. He considered them all friends, and he'd worried about them too, but maybe now was not the time to push the subject, so he began a hasty retreat.
"Do, do they look like you?" Gray asked worriedly, fingers once again tracing Natsu's scars.
Natsu shook his head. He didn't want to talk about this, about them or the war or any of his other failures. The other dragon slayers were bruised, and they were definitely not the same, but they had survived, and maybe they would choose to return someday, but even if they did, he knew things would be different. Still, he felt he had to say something.
"They've chosen to stay with their dragons for the moment, I don't know when they'll be back."
Gray hastily switched subjects, this Natsu was different than he remembered, almost fragile. He supposed that was to be expected. Gray had no idea what his mate had been through in the last three years, but he was starting to realize they'd be sorting it out for years to come. The thought was daunting, but he didn't care because that meant that Natsu was home to stay. They could finally begin to build the life they'd wanted, together.
"Are, are your dragons, okay?"
"They're alive," Natsu responded, but Gray could tell that once again, a lot was being left unsaid.
He was getting frustrated by all of Natsu's non-committal responses. Gray was trying to understand what had happened, what things Natsu had been through so that he could start the healing process, and he pushed more than he should have, "What was it like?"
"I don't really want to talk about this right now," Natsu snapped, his voice loud and angry, startling Gray. He immediately looked chagrined, and he softened his tone, "I don't want to waste whatever time we have rehashing all of that."
"Whatever time we have?" Gray looked confused and disappointed, " What do you mean by that, do you have to go back?
Natsu looked away, not knowing what to say, he had no idea how long he had, but he could already sense the change coming. Had felt it the moment he'd woken up, and no amount of trying to fight it off had made any difference. He wouldn't be able to stay in this form for much longer, and he was trying to hide his despair at the fact that he would soon have to say goodbye to the man he loved. Again. 
 If only they hadn't wasted so much time sleeping.
"Are you hungry? Cause I'm starving," Natsu got dressed and tossed Gray's clothes at him, trying to conceal the way his hands were shaking, "How about we go find a place to clean up and hunt down some food?"
"Natsu," Gray grabbed his clothes and put them on. "NATSU!" he repeated louder when Natsu seemed to be ignoring him. He grabbed Natsu by the hands and forced the fire mage to look at him. "What aren't you telling me?"
He'd expected a fight, a denial, anything but the broken look on Natsu's face, and that's when he felt it, despair so deep Gray lost his balance for a second. It was enough for Natsu to escape his grip.
"Natsu, what's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry," Natsu said as his fingers instinctively moved towards his neck, searching for the scarf he hadn't worn for years now.
It was no use, his transformation was beginning. Natsu could feel the scales start to cover his body. He was out of time. He hoped Gray could forgive him for leaving him without any answers. He tried to contain his tears, not wanting that to be the last thing Gray saw of him. "I'll always love you," he said one last time before running off into the wooded area that led away from the mountains.
"NATSU! Natsu, come back," Natsu heard Gray's yells below him as he managed to take to the skies unseen, but try as he might he couldn't ignore the deep, unmistakable hurt in his mate's voice. He'd done it again, only this time he'd managed to make things even worse.
Dammit!
Natsu flew towards his cave, hoping Atlas would know why he'd changed and if it was likely to happen again. A/N: Sorry I'm a little late with this one, I've had a lot of family obligations with the holidays. This will be the last chapter update until mid-January. I am putting this story on hiatus briefly as I need to fulfill other obligations for holiday exchanges and events. The next chapter is probably one of the most important to the story and I don't want to half-ass it because I was trying to spread myself too thin. I might switch to weekly updates for a bit once I return to try to get back on schedule. That said I hope you enjoy this one! A special thanks to @oryu404​ for their help when I was stuck! Happy Holidays to everyone, however you celebrate it, and thank you so much for helping make this year a great one for me. I love you all!
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