#i was the child to mix dirt and berries with a stick

[yeetmythoughts]

also i really enjoy doing laundry, it’s so therapeutic it’s like clothes soup.

#i was the child to mix dirt and berries with a stick #and now i get to put clothes in a soup of soap and pine sol #two of my favorite things now #pine sol and laundry #it's so satisfying to me to just get all the dirty clothes clean #and now they get to smell like my favorite smell #aaaaaa #vent

[inkformyblood]

towards an unseen day

Day 03 of @bobadinweek prompt: Caretaking

Warnings: None

Laughter echoed down the small side tunnel, deep and rumbling through the earth like an aftershock, and Din paused, letting the sound wash over him.

His hand — still pressed to the wall — brushed over the symbol carved there, the chill of the stone settling into his bones as his bare skin traced the lines he couldn’t read but understood all the same.

There had been a strange look in Boba’s eyes when he took Din’s hand — pausing first, his gaze flickering upwards in a silent question — to place it against the symbol when he first carved it into the rock wall. He had mentioned the Kaminoans, and their fluorescent ink that the clones had quickly learned to hack into their HUD display, with a note of mournful laughter in his voice, but hadn’t said what the symbols meant. His free hand had curled through battle-signs as he spoke, so Din could guess well enough: home, safety, return.

An ache had settled into Din’s bones, and every step closer to home lightened his burden, but still he waited, his head tipped to one side as he listened. There was a second current of laughter, tumbling after the first like a shadow, high and uncoordinated. His steps were faster now, warmth flooding through his chest and he input the code as quickly as his trembling fingers would let him.

Light filled the small room, heralded in a thousand shimmering fragments from the mirrors suspended above, reflecting the scrap of sunlight that fell through the barred window. Lining one indented wall was an array of packaged ingredients but the order was disrupted by clear gaps like missing teeth in the neat rows. Across the opposite wall hung a tapestry, currents of scarlet and bronze dancing through a background of dark blue, the careful images of the constellations above Tatooine picked out amongst a stylised set of Mandalorian armour, but the figures in front captured Din’s attention utterly as he pulled his helmet off, clipping it onto his belt.

Boba was without his armour, dressed in instead in a loose linen shirt that clung to the broad curve of his shoulders and fell past his hips to his thighs, and dark trousers. The birikad across his chest had been modified with the dark green fabric tied around the ring on Boba’s shoulder to allow Grogu to watch the world around him.

The child’s hands were stretched towards the fruit laid out on the counter in front of him, already stained with the dark berry juice, and, as Din watched, a sliver rose into the air. It hung for a moment, commanded by a power Din could barely wonder at, before Boba plucked the fruit, his hands stained with purple smudges and threw it into his mouth.

“Patoo!” Grogu demanded, his ears twitching, but his darkening mood passed in an instant as Boba ducked his head to smooth a kiss over his forehead, tapping the curve of one ear carefully.

“Later, kid. Save some for your buir.”

Boba tipped his head, his grin broadening as he caught Din’s gaze, and picked the knife back up. Grogu babbled, waving a hand towards one of the bowls before twisting to peer up at Boba.

“Yeah, that’s the next one. Good job.”

Din’s chest felt too full, too warm, barely able to breathe for fear of disrupting the scene in front of him. He had never imagined that he would have a life close to this. The closest he got to imagining his future was a shapeless plan to provide as best as he could for the foundlings and his covert. His usual grace had abandoned him as he stumbled forward, resting his hand on the table as the expected aches and pains made themselves known, radiating down his spine and legs.

Grogu turned with a shriek of delight, his eyes bright and reached from the pouch, almost over balancing to try and reach Din sooner. He caught the child, scooping him up to press their foreheads together. The scent of tart berries clung to him, mixing with the comforting warmth of blue milk and the herbs that were mixed into the laundry to keep them fresh.

“Missed you, womp rat.”

This close to Boba, he could sense rather than see the grin that spilled across his face, but Din moved up to kiss him before it could reach fruition. The scars on Boba’s lips, ridged against Din’s oversensitive skin made a shiver roll down his spine, the action mirrored as his beard scratched against Boba’s cheeks. Din broke away, shifting to press his forehead to Boba’s, Grogu cooing in the crook of his arm in satisfaction. The slight pressure of the Force against the back of his head made Din pause, but Boba was already moving to blindly tap his finger against Grogu’s cheek in gentle admonishment.

“We’ve got the memo, kid. Don’t need any outside help here.”

Din chuckled, reflexively trying to stifle the noise at Grogu’s disgruntled whine, and gently rocked all three of them, his free hand slipping to rest on Boba’s waist. The shape of a modified blaster, carefully hidden beneath the loose fabric made him pause, his laughter breaking free once again.

“Could hear you coming down the tunnels. But can’t get complacent.” Boba’s words were grave and tinged with bitterness, and Din nodded, careful to not break their connection.

This small room attached to both of their chambers and Grogu’s room had become a sanctuary of sorts. The shelves held ingredients suitable for long term storage in case they needed to shelter, and next to the door lay the familiar shapes of their grab bags. Grogu’s had been a new addition — a small brown knapsack, contrived to have as many pockets as possible — and Din knew some of them were already filled with the snacks he enjoyed, and that the kitchen staff kept slipping to him when Din and Boba pretended not to notice.

“How was the job?” Boba stepped away with one final gentle kiss, squeezing Din’s hand around his waist before he picked up the knife again. He picked up the bowl Grogu had indicated earlier and removed one of the yellow fruit from within. It’s skin was tough and ridged, and Boba anchored it on the board before working on piercing the knife through it.

“Well as could be expected at first. The traps and countermeasures he had set up against the Imperials were well-made, and just as effective against me.”

Din felt Boba’s worry rumble through him as if he was back on the ship, the rthymic sticky sound of the knife blade pausing as he looked him over. Grogu babbled, patting his chest plate, his brow furrowed in concentration. “I managed. That’s why you pay me well.”

Boba scoffed, and Din knew that his plans for the evening had just changed. The palace boasted an impressive set of heated baths in its depths, and Din had been looking forward to sinking into them. Boba wouldn’t rest until he catalogued every new wound and every purpling bruise.

Din let his thoughts wander for a moment, lingering on the warm steam that seemed to stick to the skin and the press of Boba’s hands — the callouses so like his own, rough but a sign of skill and training that made his head swim — against the ache that had settled in the curve of his shoulders and the fresh wound wrapped around his thigh. His gaze drifted to Boba’s, taking in the knowing grin on his face.

“Later,” he promised, an eyebrow raised as he inclined his chin towards Grogu curled into Din’s arms.

Din’s answering blush was immediate, feeling as if he had scorched his skin with his flamethrower, the heat spreading down his neck and across his chest. “He took some convincing but the information you gave me is still good.”

⁂

The blaster shot cracked against the wall just above Din’s head, the heat leaving a burning line across the edge of his beskar. He bit back a curse even as a grin, wide and unrestrained, slipped across his face.

His approach to the small encampment had been slow, a careful waltz around the concealed jagged traps that lined the walls of the ravine — all carefully at head-height for the average human and designed to be deadly. Their make was familiar, the twisted knots at the top arranged in a pattern that almost looked like a hand gesture. Boba tied knots for his snares the exact same way.

The intelligence he had managed to gather independently of Boba’s thriving informant network hadn’t proven to be of much use. A sea of closed mouths and gazes that turned away the moment they could, as impenetrable as any wall, greeted him at the small bar next to the single spaceport. The man had clearly managed to win their loyalty, something that seemed to be a reoccurring thread with these missions.

He was skilled with a blaster, proving it with another shot, curved through a modified barrel to try and draw Din out of hiding. Din went with the motion, catching the shot on his vambrace and directing it harmlessly into the dirt, and he ran towards the next outcrop, hearing the clicks and whirs of the blaster reloading echoe clearly.

“Kark off, Imp!” The man’s shout was clear, rage clear through every word, and Din watched the flicker of the shadow move, elongated through the setting sun. “I’m not joining your karking plot so you can shove it up your arse!”

“Boba Fett sent me!” Din called. A bubble of laughter settled in his chest, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth, but he pushed it down. There would be time later.

Siblings, wherever they were found, held a note of similarity between them, and Boba and his many brothers were no different to Din and his covert.

The face that appeared in the small gap of the overhanging rock, barely visible theough Din’s visor, was similar enough to Boba that he could chart the similarities: the same unhinged grin, the same dark eyes and the same way of assessing the situation, his gaze focused like a sniper’s guide. But the clone had a shock of dark curls shot through with grey, grown wild after being cut back for so long and hanging at uneven lengths, and faint tattoos around his eyes, pale lines tracing around two large ovals like a Togruta’s markings.

“Boba? My ori’vod’ika sent you?” His voice in sharp contrast to the ringing shout before was quiet and pensive before his jaw closed with a snap and the rifle was drawn to his shoulder once more. “Talk faster.”

“Remember Docking Bay Seven!” Silence greeted Din’s call, as it had everytime before. Boba had shared many parts of his childhood on Kamino with Din from the small quarters he shared with his father to some of the training missions he undertook with the other clones but there was a wealth of adventures and occurrences that he couldn’t speak of.

Din understood. He couldn’t put into words the time he spent with Paz, the hours of meaningless conversations or the spark that had bloomed between them on their first meeting, tipping his face back to stare into the half-finished tattoos that ran over the other boys face like lightning strikes. But that phrase… it meant something precious to the clones Din had managed to retrieve from their bolt holes.

The clone above him laughed, wild and unrestrained. “Bob’ika has done well for himself then! Word of advice, your armour reflects sunlight like a signal flare. I saw you coming yesterday.”

“But you didn’t run.”

The man swung himself down, the muscles in his arms flexing in a deliberate display of power and control. When he stepped closer, it was a swagger, confident and sure of himself. “I am still a soldier, not matter what happened. I don’t run from a fight.”

“None of the information mentioned a name or a signifier,” Din began, and the man’s eyes widened for a moment, old surprise still fresh and burning. “What would you like to be called?”

“You retrieve many clones for our Boba?” The man’s gaze slipped over him, lingering on the mud horn on his pauldron and taking in the careful free space waiting for Boba’s mark. His grin was worn with melancholy, and his hand moved to touch the fanged necklace corded around his throat before brushing against the dotted lines tattooed across his cheek as it circled his eyes.

“Enough. There’s a compound on Tatooine many of them stay at. Some travel.”

“Tatooine?” Laughter rumbled through him, a burst of humour several of the other clones had displayed and Din couldn’t begin to wonder at. “Of course it is.

“Call me Alpha-17. That’s the name I chose for myself before all this.”

⁂

Boba hummed as Din finished recounting his mission, pausing to tap the blade along the board, now slick with a pale green juice.

“Alpha-17 helped train the younger clones after the trainers focused their attentions more on the speciality tracks. The Alpha class was one of the few that my buir hand-trained.”

Boba reached over, a piece of dripping fruit cradled in his palm, and Grogu plucked it carefully, his claws piercing slightly into the exposed flesh. The juice ran over his arms, glistening trails darkening the fabric of his robe, but Din’s attention was captured by Boba. He had raised his palm to his mouth, pale liquid spilling down his chin, and heat bloomed in Din’s belly, immediate and severe.

What he had left out of his recounting was the question he placed to Alpha-17 as they travelled. Food had been important to the covert, and learning a new recipe and perfecting it was considered the first true step towards a formal proposal.

The man had laughed, immediately plucking Din’s intentions from his careful questions, and answered as honestly as he could remember. Jango’s food was sacred to Boba, each remembered meal a sacrifice and a prayer, the kitchen made holy by his devoted attention, so Din worked at reconstruction, following the thread as devoutly as he would a bounty.

Boba paused, stretching out to draw Din down to kiss him once more, his mouth sweet and sticky, and Din marvelled at the life they had made and the possibility of what came next, each carving out a place for the other to shelter.

#bobadinweek2021 #BobaDin #the mandalorian #Star Wars #din Djarin #boba fett #grogu djarin #my writing

[teacupfullofstars]

I was such a feral child. Childhood memories include:

Eating clover from the front yard because it had this nice sour taste to it. 

Mixing mud, birdseed, berries, pods off trees, flow petals, leaves, and other stuff then leaving it as an offering, to what? I don’t know.

Me and some neighbor kids cleared some space out in the middle of a huge bush and made a “house” out of it. We found like things left out on the curb and dragged them in there to make a furnished hideout for us. 

Bringing flowers, sticks, rocks, and stuff I’ve found laying around home. 

Hiding in the bushes with toys and pretending to be like a fairy selling her goods.

Playing in a giant field for hours pretending it was everything from the sea to a mountain.

Trying to hang from trees like a sloth or bat. 

Walking through the forest and swamp lands for hours at a time.

Rolling down hills despite every time I did I got a rash.

There was a part of our parking lot that used to flood (before they “fixed” it) every time it rained. There was a tree there too so leafs would be all in the puddle too. I would take off my shoes and drag my feet though the water and push them into a corner and make them into a nest like thing and then I would pretend to be a pre historic dino bird. 

I spent hours outside walking, riding bike, star watching, and fishing (i wasn’t any good at that) mostly by my self. 

Every time I played with other kids I wanted to be an animal or mythical beast. My go to was birds, horses, shapeshifters, and fairies. 

I ate tones of plants (i knew where safe) on my trips. The one park saw I found a wild raspberry bush and I was eating off of it when I came back they had killed it. I was pissed. 

Being out past midnight was my favorite. (also taught me how to doge cops)

Boy did I eat a lot of snow. 

Hills of snow and where my kingdom and I ruled them. 

I would go outside in like any weather if my mother let me.

Shoes? What are those? 

I ate grass, I ate dirt, I ate a bee. (Pre dead)

I terrorized fireflies I caught them ALL THE TIME

I’d dig for toads and worms all the time. I knew where they hide. 

Running around the side of the river picking up frogs. I caught the same bull frog twice I knew it was him because he only had one eye.

I learned to screech like a raptor and howl like a wolf. 

I knew most of the bug and animal sounds around. 

You better believe I poked at dead things.

If I could pick it up, I did. 

If I couldn't be outside, I watched/listened/read anything about nature, cryptids, or paranormal. 

I also used to eat dog treats. They smelled good.

#feral #cryptidcore #ghostcore #paranormalcore #forestcore #naturecore #gardencore #faecore #fairycore #mosscore #mysterycore #dirtcore #frogcore #goblincore #og

[ariparri]

Just made a few aesthetics/moodboards whatever they're called for Coby, my version of Jacob, and my MCs amortentia. I put them all in the order from oldest to youngest for each game.

Hogwarts Mystery

Coby McQuaid

Log Cabin | Honey | Smoke | Kiwi Cream Cheese Toast

The kiwi cream cheese toast is something Coby loves to eat for breakfast. Every morning he'll make some for himself. The log cabin scent is the home he now lives in. After being freed from the portrait and hunting down R, he finally settles down and moved in to a cabin of his own. The smoke scent comes from sparklers he used to light up when he was younger. He has a fond memory of him with a little Veruca and Carson where he lit up some sparklers and watched them run around with them. The honey scent is from when he adds honey to his kiwi toast, his tea or sometimes uses it for his skin's appearance. He believes the honey can help stop wrinkles from forming and make him look young.

Carson Ivey

Violin Wood/Music Sheets | Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins | Paint | Hot Chocolate

As a child, Carson took violin lessons. He takes pride in his violin skills and would sometimes play it in the Ravenclaw dorm. The muffins are snacks his mother would always make for breakfast. Every time Carson feels homesick, he'll write to his mom and she'll send him a basket of muffins for him. Carson loves hot chocolate, especially when it's his mother's special recipe. He prefers hot chocolate over coffee and tea. While paint is one of the scents you can smell for his amortentia, it's not because he's great at art, it's because it's used for some of his pranks. Paint and glitter are a common element to his pranks, especially on Talbott and Chester.

Veruca McQuaid

Ginger Lemon Tea | Autumn Leaves | Mixed Berries | Carnation Flowers

Veruca has a cup of ginger lemon tea a day. She actually started drinking it at the start of 5th year after telling Rowan she never really cared to try tea. After drinking it for a couple of days, she started drinking it every day after that. Autumn is Veruca's favorite season, she loves to walk through a pathway of trees as the leaves fall around her. Mixed berries are Veruca's favorite fruits, she loves pastries and other treats with mixed berries as the filling (i.e. mixed berry tarts, mixed berry parfaits, and mixed berry trifles). Veruca's favorite flowers are carnations, and when Diego spent an entire week trying to give her the right flower until the end, her love for them grew even more.

Magic Awakened

Marisol Caplan

Marigolds | Books/Book Pages | Cinnamon | Oranges

While she's sometimes represented by sun flowers, marigolds are part of Marisol's amortentia. They are also the flowers of her birth month, October. Marisol is always seen with a book or somewhere that has books. She loves to read, she has her own mini library in her room of the Caplan Residence. The scent of cinnamon is from the cinnamon scented candles and the cinnamon sticks she uses to stir her tea. Sometimes she uses them for her baths as the cinnamon can remove toxins from the body and act as a natural disinfectant that can cleanse the body. It can also help invigorate the person's spirit and elevate their mood. Oranges are fruit she often loves to eat.

Calum Karasu-Ivey

Cello Wood & Music Sheets | Snuggle Fabric Softener | Baked Ziti | Pine/Pinecones

Like his father, Calum started taking music lessons at a young age and learned how to play the cello. He's quite fond of the instrument and would practice every now and then. The fabric softener is always used for his clothes and bed sheets. He refused to uses any other kind except Snuggle. The pine scent in his amortentia started when Raylene gave him a pinecone when she was still a toddler. Calum won't admit to it, but he still has that pinecone in a small box in his room. And the baked ziti is obviously a dish he loves to eat.

Carina Caplan

Violets | Chocolate Chip Banana Bread | Ocean Breeze | Vanilla Beans

Similar to her older sister where she's often represented by sun flowers from both their parents, Carina's first scent in her amortentia are violets. The flower of her birth month, February. Chocolate chip banana bread is her favorite snack. She's not particularly picky on how it's made but she does often point out how it's not as good as the one her father makes. Now although she loves going out to the beach, the ocean breeze scent in her amortentia is actually the shampoo she uses. And the vanilla bean scent is her lotion.

Isa Skyes

Coconut Oil | The Beach | Smoke and Fire | Freshly Cut Grass

As an islander, Isa spends a lot of time at the beach, it makes one of the scents in her amortentia. She's also a pretty active girl, and is outside everyday. Having so many siblings she's often rolling around in the grass with a few of them. The smoke and fire is from all the barbecues Isa had for parties. She often helps with the barbecue rather than decorating. The coconut oil scent is from when she uses the oil to moisturize her skin.

Raylene Karasu-Ivey

Donuts | Wood Shavings | Mint | Balloon Flowers

Raylene's favorite snack are donuts. She would always be seen munching on one while she's crafting some new toy or invention. The wood shavings are from when she's crafting a new toy or invention. The mint scent in her amortentia are the mint essential oil she uses while crafting to try and drown out the wood shavings. It's also from the mint baths she takes whenever she wants an invigorating and stress free soak. The balloon flower scent is from the balloon flowers she got for her birthday. Her father used to make a flower crown out of them for her on her birthday.

Caden Saunders

Dirt | Dove Mandarin & Tiare Flower Body Wash | Rain | Warheads

Caden loves to play outside during rainy days, so rain is one of the scents in his amortentia. Dirt also comes to play as he loves to spend most of his time outside and play in the dirt. He's a very active and rough boy. The Dove body wash is another scent. Since he has two moms, most of the hygiene products he uses are feminine. He doesn't mind of course, he actually loves the smell of the body wash he uses so his moms would always send him a bottle or two while he's at Hogwarts. And the warheads are his favorite candies, his favorite are the blue ones.

Hogwarts Legacy

Avis Ni Conraoi

Ink and Parchment Paper | Lavender | Lily of the Valley | Forests

The ink and parchment paper scent in Avis' amortentia comes from all the poetry she writes, as well as the music sheets for her flute and harp. The lily scent is from her favorite flowers, lily of the valley. It's also the flower of her birth month. Avis is more in touch with nature as she finds it to be more magical than the magic around her in Hogwarts, the scent of forests comes from this. The lavender is from the essential oil she used to help her relax. She mainly uses this when she's playing one of her instruments or writing poetry.

#carson ivey #veruca mcquaid #coby mcquaid #marisol ivey #calum ivey #carina caplan #isa skyes #raylene ivey #caden saunders #avis ni conraoi #amortentia #amortentia aesthetics #amortentia moodboards #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery mc #hphm #hphm mc #harry potter magic awakened mc #harry potter magic awakened #hpma #hpma mc #magic awakened #magic awakened mc #harry potter hogwarts legacy #hphl #hogwarts legacy

[bi-outta-cordonia]

Hileni and Gwarin

Deviating from the shippy stuff to try and figure out what’s going on in my Blades MC’s head. 

Blades of Light and Shadow. F!elf!MC (Ashala Venralei). Mostly PG. 

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

Her childhood has always been a series of strange recollections. Or rather, she was always a strange child with even stranger parents and she knew this even then.

Riverbend was a quiet place with little to offer the world around it. It was no booming city center, no port town, and no mystical temples stood close enough to draw in adventurers (save for the one, apparently). By all accounts, Riverbend was an ordinary town that housed a most unordinary family. The market never lacked for goods and the townspeople hustled through daily chores every day. Familiar faces caught up where there were empty spaces in the streets and, in those very spaces, was where the gossip would spread.

Three elves—a mother, father, and their little daughter.

They knew the town and the town knew them. Wouldn’t cause them any trouble so long as the law found no trouble, but the humes knew better. Both the parents drew eyes wherever they went.

The father was Gwarin, a healer and surgeon of sorts. People felt more at ease with him because he spoke at least. His demeanor lacked in warmth like the wife but healing was a calling to him and everyone trusted him for that reason alone. The sick never stayed sick long and his concoctions all tasted bitter.

Hileni was the mother and no one knew what that woman did for a living. Every so often, she’d wander around the town looking for nothing in particular it seemed. People did their best to avoid her. She would walk the town in circles for hours on end and she was known to mutter to herself. She was just painfully odd.

And then there was the baby. Ashala the child was a blank canvas then, grasping at everything with awkward fingers and always marching barefoot through the thick trees surrounding the small cottage her parents made into a home. Even then, she seldom spoke. Her little feet always had cuts and she remembered dirt stains constantly marking the edges of every article of clothing she owned. The farmwives in town used to pull their children physically away from her when she came. The doctor and his odd wife’s child—they did much but they held little favor amongst the town.

The humes all lived down the path next to the Brightwood and her parents preferred it that way. Being away meant being surrounded by the quiet—all the trees, the flowing rivers, the wind rippling through pristine sheets hanging on clothing lines. It was the perfect breeding ground for the sort of work her parents would put upon her as soon as she mastered walking and talking. And it turned out they had much to teach her.

Her father would take her combing through mushroom patches and lake beds searching for herbs—if she was a good girl that didn’t stray as she was prone to, he would let her help him make the medicines he sold in town. Gwarin was a quiet man but his voice would cut through silence like a crack of thunder and it lingered for long moments.

“Like this, bloom,” he would say and he would deftly take a pinch of every herb laid before them. His hands were somewhat slender and his fingers a little too long. He’d take the pestle to the mortar and crush every ingredient until it was fine dust. “Never too hard. Pastes are for cuts and deep wounds. Powders are for tonics.”

He’d look at her and she remembered his vacant face. His face always seemed strangely empty, as if he had never learned how to show happiness, sadness, and everything in between.

She’d take the pestle in one hand and the mortar in the other, closely examining both. They’d make more powders and tonics until her the dryness cracked her hands. Her father would nod curtly.

“We’ll teach you, bloom,” he’d say. “We’ll teach you.”

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

She’d dread the days she had to spend time with her mother.

Hileni Venralei was a woman that seemed too stern and aloof for the trappings of motherhood. Staring at her mother’s passive face was a constant throughout her childhood. Every day the lessons grew harder and the consequences of her failures grew more severe. Wrong answers when she was younger were met with heavy sighs and alternative explanations. When Ashala came into her magic, wrong answers meant that she would learn from the terrible pain.

Her mother was the one with the markings. They were stark white and shined when it was dark around her. She remembered trading blow after blow, getting back up only to be slammed back down again. Hileni was vicious and mean when she taught her daughter magic.

“Failure can’t be tolerated, bloom,” her mother would say. Ashala would struggled back to her feet and her mother would simply stare. Most days she’d hit her with more magic until it was physically impossible for her to move. Some days, Hileni would be a mother for one moment and leave her without another word. Those days, Ashala slept outside, never once moving from her spot.

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

There were days when Hileni was more like a mother. It was a dish she called lekmede, which was smoked fish, speckled rice soaked in what little butter they had in the house, all flanked with sour berries and steamed vegetables. Hileni made her help every single time.

“Bloom, stir the rice so it doesn’t stick.”

“Crush the herbs, bloom.”

“Bloom, turn the fish—the yeast, the yeast…”

Whenever Ashala heard the word “yeast,” she would almost forget she hated being near her mother sometimes.

Hileni possessed many quirks but her bread making skills had to have been legendary in Ashala’s young mind. Buttery flakes paired with the sweetest jams or perfectly risen rolls drizzled with a light frosting—Hileni could work two forms of magic it seemed.

“Come here.”

Ashala would scamper over, dragging a stool behind her to stand on. Hileni always started with the dough because her hands were much stronger. She’d shape it into a mound and work a hole into it. When she was done, she’d place an egg in Ashala’s hands.

“For every life, there is Light. We take from it and it gives to us for a price,” her mother would always say. Ashala tapped the egg three times on the counter and carefully pried the shells back so the yolk and egg white fell directly in the center of the mound. “When we pull from the world, we truly pull at the Light that comes from within. It moves when we move, it shapes as we bid it.”

Hileni’s hands were like her father’s—a bit large with too slender fingers yet…

Her mother would cover her hands and help her shape the dough. Press it, mold it, mix it all together and she’d feel every cut—

Every odd bend—

Every strangely shaped bone within her mother’s hands.

“Power rests within everything, bloom.” Her mother’s voice was always haunting, crawling into the chasm between her ears and lingered the way a spider lingers in a corner if left unattended. Her brow would sweat and her heart would quiver. Hileni would grab her hands then and stop their molding of the dough. “You will learn. I swear to you, you will learn.”

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

The constellations were when she realized they were preparing her for something.

Gwarin and Hileni spent more time teaching her practically, the same way a priest would teach an acolyte or a teacher would a pupil. Her failures netted her the same result—heavy sighs and an agitated father repeating himself, or magically charged cuts across her skin from a mother that only pushed her even harder with every passing year. Rare was the day she didn’t find herself isolated in the forest when her lessons were done. They’d leave her be, disappointment marring their features and shared expressions revealing all she needed to know—

Progress was moving far too slowly.

“She won’t be ready in time,” her mother said. Every night it was the same conversation—the same hushed whispers and the same ruthless assessment. “Vadiir will not go smoothly if she—”

“Hush.” Her father held hope it seemed, although he’d never state it outright. “Keep pushing. Ancient blood flows through those veins…alights in those eyes. Her time will come. Just be patient.”

Quiet. Without seeing she knew her mother’s face would shift full of the same apprehension and doubt from the poor progress made earlier during the lessons.

“As you wish.”

Months passed and her progress improved albeit by small margins. Her magic didn’t waver anymore against her mother. Some parts rage and hurt pushed her through those moments, maybe even the thought that she could inflict a spell upon her mother helped. Her skills with medicines, poisons, and potions became more potent. Some of her father’s patients would heal from her work and he trusted her enough to make batches without supervision. History, literature, flitting between the little they knew of the old tongue and the many languages that made up the greater body of Morella—

Every day was a new day and she dreaded them as much as she valued them.

“Look there, bloom.” They never had a day of respite. Rest came only when it was time to move on to the next day or when her little body was too weak to stand. That night was different.

Ashala followed her mother’s finger tracing patterns in the sky.

“Myyori. A wandering maiden searching for the eternal fruit,” her father explained. “She walks to atone for the crime she committed—treason in exchange for a wish. A great evil granted it to her and now she remains forever branded in the sky. ”

“What was her wish?” Ashala asked.

Her father said nothing at first. “Your books tell four versions of the story.”

Her mother laid a gentle hand on her head and directed her towards another pattern.

“Luminiese and Sabien, the twin trees. Brothers bonded through shared roots and shattered when one absorbed the corruption of a great evil,” her mother said. Ashala followed the pattern of the trunks, the strong roots, and the canopies of both brothers. “One gave his life to protect the other. Your books tell three versions of this story.”

It was the same with every pattern they pointed out and every story they told—there it was and here are the amount of times the story was always different. It made little sense to her. A story should be known at its roots. Why would it change?

“A story should be known, shouldn’t it?” she asked, face pinching. “Why tell so many different ones? I don’t get it.”

“Each is an old tale, bloom. Most of them existed before any of us were born,” her father answered. His face changed then, something somber flashing in his eyes as he looked at his child. “These are the relics of our people…all that remains of an empire that spanned the whole of Morella.”

She knew. They were the remnants of the Old Kingdom—thousands of years of magic and power held in the hands of elvenkind. There were scholars and priests, warriors and merchants, and it was a sight to behold at the height of its prime. The humes don’t like speaking on it. “Flat-eared vultures” is what they’d say about the elves, that the hand fate dealt them was deserved. The weak prospered and the survivors reaped the rewards of what was left after the war ended. The world continued along its path and the elves barricaded themselves inside a mountain.

“It’s important that you know these stories,” her mother said. Her fingers dug into Ashala’s hair then. She’d part the hair in pieces and weave the white curls in tight braids that hugged her scalp. “We owe you this and we will provide it. It’s your birthright.”

Ashala sat listening to the other stories quietly, her little mind too young to comprehend the weight of her parents words. Her mother’s cuts still healed on her arms and her father’s disappointed face hangs over her.

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

Hileni is the one she understood the least.

It was supposed to be a normal day of hard work and unforgiving lessons. She did not know the hardest one she’d learn had yet to come.

On the day she would learn the hardest lesson yet, her father spent the entire morning asking her questions. Musings on the stars and moon, potion ingredients and the properties of each, wars, battle tactics, poetry, music—his brow was dotted with sweat and his eyes focused on anything but her.

Then her mother poked her head around the threshold.

And he looked at her.

She stared right back at him, her expression grim but her eyes showed resolve.

“Come,” he father urged, tugging her by the hand.

The two of them led her outside well beyond the house and into the forest. Every step forward submerged her deep into darkness. Within the depths, sounds called out to her. Whispers at first but the words were unclear. Her footsteps grew more hesitant but her father’s grip only tightened. When they finally stopped, she knew everything was going to change.

Her father led her to the center and what she saw terrified her to the core. Black markings covered the ground in a circular pattern and within the circle were other strange designs she didn’t recognize. A language she could recognize but not speak filled the spaces in between.

“You must shed your unnatural trappings,” he father said. He turned away while she undressed. He walked a distance away though his head bowed and his breath hitched when her mother’s power seeped into the oppressive air around them.

“Lie down,” she said, taking a shaky breath of her own.

The grass was wet and sticky on her skin. Panic overwhelmed her but she remembered the comfort and truth of the Light. Her eyes closed and her power pulled from the trees, the air, and the ground. Each point of power funneled through her with ease. Her mother caressed her face and shared a bit of the magic flowing in her. It was strange to experience this sort of warmth from her mother.

“Fear is good, bloom. Fear means you understand what comes next will change you forever.” Her heart sped and breathing became harder. Even still, her mother’s magic held her. “The marks on me were bestowed in this way. These are your birthright, your legacy, and the legacy of our people.”

“Mamae!” she cried, jerking hard. It felt like vines wrapping around her wrists and ankles, pinning her to the ground in a painful grip. Ashala’s eyes opened and the circle was glowing. In the distance, her father stood with both hands clasped over his mouth and tears threatening to fall. When she met her mother’s gaze again, she knew this would be the most painful experience she would ever know.

“You are brave and powerful. You are the vanguard of our history and a seeker of all. We have endured so you would one day be ready to face your trial.”

Ashala screamed then. Her eyes followed the path down and it couldn’t be possible—

But it was. It was a branch weaving around her leg, its jagged pieces scraping all along her skin. For a moment she thought it would carve her flesh. Instead, it burrowed deep under the skin and spread through her body.

And she screamed.

“Ours is a history marred with death and betrayal. Ours is a burden of pain and understanding we must wear.”

Burning. Her flesh was burning from the inside out, the branch weaving through her and ripping at skin, muscle, and bone. Searing, scorching, inferno burning inside her body and she begged her mother to stop. She begged her father to stop her mother. She begged the moon and stars to strike them both dead so she might be spared.

Her mother’s hands only held tighter.

“We call it the vadiir. It is you and me, your grandparents and the parents that raised them. It is the greatest gift we can give to you. You will understand one day, bloom. You will.”

The screams faded as her voice grew bloody and hoarse. Soon there was nothing but pain and burning.

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

She couldn’t move for seven days and seven nights. Her flesh smelled of burned and rotting meat.

She wished her parents were dead.

She wished her life was different.

She wanted to know what they did to her.

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

She saw the white marks two months after they were branded onto her skin. A life bound to bed meant she faced her parents even when she didn’t want to see them. The lessons never stopped and their patience never wore down even when she refused to cooperate some days. They must have decided that she could hate them so long as she learned.

When the bandages came off, she didn’t know who it was staring back at her in the mirror. Careful patterns, loops and swirls, dots forming pictures she recognized the moment she saw them—

Myyori.

And Luminiese and Sabien.

Every story they told her of the stars she now wore on her body.

She stared at this face she couldn’t recognize, shaking and crying while her parents watched on from the threshold.

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

Her parents were complicated people, perhaps she even hated them. Hileni and Gwarin were strange people.

Ashala looks down at the open journal in her hands, years of scrawl covering the pages top to bottom. All the years of her tutelage and their strangeness still haunts her to this day. She closes the journal and tucks it into her pack.

Dawn is just beyond the horizon.

#playchoices #choices #blades of light and shadow #bolas #choices: stories you play #choices: bolas

[eurydice-khthonios]

Wilderness

It is the month before he leaves for the first time, and he has taken them into the forest to gather herbs. The sunlight filters in through the gaps between trees and makes patterns on the foliage beneath their feet. The day is as warm as his chest feels, filled with an endearment for the human being before him. Carefully trying to cut bunches of wolfsbane with the knife he’d supplied them for the day’s outing. They would hang them up later, and let them dry before storing them or they would distill them to sprinkle around the shop to deter vermin. 

He sits against the trunk of a tree with his eyes closed, or mostly closed. They’ve asked to take the lead. To have a go at doing everything themselves rather than have him hovering over them. He obliged. They were no longer the shaking fawn they had once seemed to be. Now instead they had an inner light, the fire for independence mixed with memories that were more smoke than tangible things to recall. He could only give them what had already been theirs. 

He pretends he isn’t watching as they scamper back towards him. The same skip in their step that they’d had when the two had met all those years ago. He opens one eye the slightest bit as they hit the ground on their knees next to him. Crashing against his shoulder and holding their fists stuffed with herbs and wolfsbane in front of his face.

“Asra! Did you bring enough jars for us to put these in?” They’re beaming and it’s contagious. He can see their pride radiating out of them. They were proud to have done something without his supervision, proud to not have to be watched like a child. For him, it was restorative. Not restoring himself, but healing them. For them to regain parts of themselves, whether they knew it or not, made his heart swell in his chest. 

“Hm? Well, let’s see shall we?” He digs into the pack at his side. Pulling out a jar for each of the herbs and flowers they’ve cut for them to take back home. He sits up properly, laying the jars out, open, on the ground in front of them. Together they begin to sort out the thick bouquet of various plant life they’d gathered and put them into the jars. 

Two jars of sage and rosemary, a half jar of saffron, thyme and parsley. One full jar of basil and sumac each. One and a half for the wolfsbane. There is wild onions and various berries thrown into other jars to be sorted out later.

He reaches for the next flower they’ve gathered, bringing the next jar closer to him to put it in before he pauses. Looking closer at it. It’s pretty, that’s for sure. But certainly not on their list or with any real value for alchemy or medicine.

“Ah, did you forget what--”

“No!” They interrupt quickly, for a moment looking embarrassed then regaining their composure just as quick. His concern, along with his curiousity, is piqued. “I, well, those are for you. Since you’ve done so much for me.” They scratch at the side of their face, dirt smearing on their cheek from their fingertips. He laughs, and tucks the flower behind their ear. Their grin returning when his joviality returns. 

He would do anything to protect that grin. He would ask the world itself, nature in all it’s glory, to be merciful. To not do as it must and be gentle around them, for them. If he could rearrange the world, it would be that much softer for them so that their happiness could never come into jeopardy. 

“That’s very sweet of you.” He hums, turning his head to allow them to thread a few flowers into his hair. It is a warm moment, a fond one. 

It is three weeks until he leaves for the first time and he has taken them to a field to practice their magic, to use it. 

But first, he watches them from atop of a hill as they run through the long grass. Outside of the city’s walls and noise. The world is lit up with gold. He turns his face up towards the sky, closes his eyes, and smiles at the sun. Feeling the light warm his skin. 

He hears their footsteps come towards him at the same fast pace they’d run from him at. He opens his eyes and looks down just in time to see their face, full of joy and reckless abandon, before they tackle him to the ground with their arms around his waist. 

They are laughing, he is laughing. His own arms coming around to hug them as they lay on the ground. He loved them, and once they loved him. But he has always been their friend first and foremost, and he is more than glad to sink into these moments with them.  They are wearing a tunic they’d gotten from a client as repayment for a particularly expensive salve. It is soft, silky. He squeezes them before he lets them go. Standing up once they have run out of the energy to laugh and helps them up.

That day they light up the sky with a second sun made of various spells and magic. They make the wind and set fire to the air. Their control impeccable for one who remembers so little. He tells them he is proud, that they are so strong and so talented. That their hard work is paying off. He tells them this and does not mention the slight red in the whites of their eyes. Though his heart lurches every time for many different reasons. The plague is gone, he reminds himself, so why have they been crying then?

It is a week before he leaves, and it is raining. They are sitting near the window, having of helped him push the bed towards it, with a hot cup of tea in their hands. Though by now they have seen the rain so many times, they never fail to be amazed or captivated by it. 

“It’s like,” They would always start when he asks, “I know I must have been someone, before I lost everything and all that, so I just want to appreciate these little things, y’know? Just in case I didn’t before.”

You did, he wants to tell them as he sits next to them on the bed. Faust unravelling from him and wrapping around their shoulders. You loved the rain and the sun, you danced in both and it loved you as much as you loved it. He wants to say it. So instead he bumps their shoulder with his own and asks them if they’d been practicing their magical theory. They stick their tongue out at him and they fall into a comfortable silence. Watching the rain as it goes from a drizzle to something far heavier with harsh hale crashing against the glass pane. Lightning strikes the world around them.

He knew that if they wanted to, they would walk out into the storm and trust it to never hurt them. He knows this, because he knows them better than they know themselves. 

“Wet!” Says Faust, tightening that little bit around them. Tongue flicking out to ghost over their cheek. They grin, looking to him.

“I’m going to catch a storm one of these days, just you wait. I’ll put it in a jar, just for you.” 

It is the night after he left the first time and he is lonely. 

He is not lonely in the sense that he enjoys it. Being able to enjoy his own company, the ability to be okay without others around, has always been innate. But after so long with someone by his side, before the plague and after, when someone relied on him, it feels unusual.  Right now, he cannot enjoy his own company as it is. 

He lies down at his camp. The beast asleep, and Faust hunting down mice and small rats to eat. He closes his eyes, and he dreams. 

When he dreams, he thinks of sunlight and flowers. Of magical lights and lightning trapped in jars. He thinks of soft clothes and softer hair, of warm skin and the simple joy of laughter shared with another person. 

When he dreams he smiles. And in a city a few hundred miles away from where he is, the subject of his dreams sits on their shared bed and looks out the window with a jar in their hands. Waiting for the biggest storm to trap in a tiny jar so he would have reason to not leave again.

It does not storm while he is away, and the second time he leaves, they wait for the storm. The third time, the fourth, the tenth and the thirtieth. The storm is never where they need it to be.

#asra the magician #the arcana #the arcana game #asra #this was going ot be eos but like #just project ur apprentice in here idc

[mortaljin]

Meadows Bonus Scene 3: The Rock

Word Count: 6.9k Warnings: Cursing, drinking, implied fairy “miscarriage.”  Genre: Fairy!au. Slightest angst, mainly fluff and drunken Jimin’s shinanigans. Pairing: Fairy!Hoseok x Female Reader

A/N: Thus, the Meadows Bonus Scene Trilogy as reached its end. This is the last little bit of my beloved Meadows series, and I thank you all for sticking with me this long. I think this is the last fic installment I will write for Meadows, but I know there will be questions to be asked when you finish reading. So! I will write a headcanon post (if prompted) to complement this part. 

If you are new to the meadows series, welcome! Unlike the smut oneshot, you do need to read the series to be able to understand this. Otherwise, you will be lost regarding the dynamics of this universe.

Enjoy, and thank you xx

Masterlist | Meadows Series Masterlist

A rock.

A simple white rock rolled back and forth in the palm of your wet, shaking hand, and you shut your palm in fear of it falling.

It was perfectly round and smooth, not a single blemish in sight. No jelly-bean curve, nor cupid’s bow top. This rock was a perfect, white ball.

You lifted yourself from the ground next to the wastebasket and shuffled your weak body over to the washbasin. Clogging the drain—or hole, if you will—in the giant curved leaf, you turned on the spicket and held your hand under the slow stream of water to rinse off the unfortunate contents of your stomach.

When your hand, and the obnoxiously perfect rock, was spotless you pulled the plug on the water basin and dried yourself off. Numbly, you went back to your room and sat at the edge of the bed.

Once again, the little white rock was rolling around in your palm and you were just blinking, thinking.

Because why did I just vomit up a rock?

You were curious no doubt, and considered going to the library to see if there was anything you could find on this.

I wonder if Jungkook’s human ever dealt with this.

You considered that maybe it was just an effect of being so intimate with the world of fairies.  Maybe it was the middle of June and you had been drinking so much water the minerals clumped together inside your stomach. Maybe your body was just calcifying all the magic goodness you’ve ingested from all those berries and nuts and has made you reject it in the form of a rock.

The idea made you chuckle, but it also made you crave the out of this word “trail-mix” you’ve started hoarding. It didn’t take you long to stand from the bed and make your way over to the dresser where the top drawer was specifically designed for snacks.

You placed the rock on the dresser, and opened the drawer to pull out some of the berries and nuts. While munching on them, you gazed at the rock and looked at it curiously.

The rock began to roll to the other side of the dresser top and stopped right at the base of a flower pot. Attributing the movement to the shifting weight from one foot to another, you gazed at it for a moment longer without question.

Slowly, your eyes moved upward; time began working at half speed as your eyes scanned up the green stem of the flower.

You examined the singular leaf before peering into the center of a bright red flower with thirty petals on it. A warm feeling bloomed on the left side of your chest as you thought of your handsome very king and the love that started from a singular. White.

Seed.

The sound of nuts bouncing against a wooden floor echoed throughout the room, but the sound fell on deaf ears as you came to a surreal realization.

“JUNG FUCKING HOSEOK COME HERE. RIGHT. NOW!”

~~~~~~

“So, what do we do now?”

You were staring at an “empty” flower pot full of wet dirt while Hoseok paced back and forth around the room.

“Well, we’re not going to tell anyone. That’s for sure.”

Whipping around, you stared at him with a dumbfounded look on your face, “why the fuck not? Hoseok, we might be having a child and you don’t want to say anything? To anyone?”

“Dandelion,” he sighed. Hoseok fluttered over to you, toes barely grazing the floor as he spread his wings ever so slightly. “I want to tell the entire world that we’ve possibly created the first human-fairy hybrid but…”

You frowned, looking away from him.

“I just don’t want to get the entire village excited in case we’re wrong. I don’t want you to get excited in case we’re wrong.”

He tried to pull you into a hug, but you stubbornly evaded it by plopping down onto the bed. With a groan, Hoseok followed suit and only then did you let him wrap his arms around you. Bright red wings wrapped around you, and almost instantly you felt a little better about the situation.

“It’s not fair that you can do that,” you whispered when he pressed a soft kiss to your shoulder. “What if I wanted to be angry sometimes?”

“You know I don’t use this against you, and you also know that it doesn’t work when you’re that pissed off. Remember that time when Taehyung—”

“Don’t.” You groaned at the memory and pressed a dramatic hand to your heart. “How the fuck does one fairy, of all creatures, kill an entire garden of potted plants?”

Hoseok chuckled with you, and you sighed in contentment.

“But really, what are we going to do? What if it really is…”

He hummed, thinking. “We’ll have a little one that’s half you and half me—” A grimace occurred when he said this “—Then we’re going to be the parents you’ve always wanted us to be.”

“And if not?”

Your voice was uneven, already scared of the contrasting scenario.

“Then… we’ll take it from there. Maybe we can adopt an orphaned elf… or… some kittens?’

Hoseok looked at you with a sheepish smile, and your heart swelled with adoration. It never failed that he would always try to compromise with you; to give your impossible wants and desires a chance to actually be possible… right up to parenthood.

“Okay,” you acquiesced.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Let’s just… take this one day at a time.”

The fairy king nodded, a wide smile covering his face as a little gust of wind rustled the items in the room. You placed your hand on one of his wings, signaling that he needed to be careful. He stared at you lovingly for a minute before you cleared your throat.

“So, um, are we going to plant this?”

Hoseok’s eyes grew wide as he jumped to his feet, frantically searching around the room.

“Uh, UH. Fuck. Um.” You followed him out of the bedroom, and found him searching through a closet.

Already surrounded by pots, you watched in amusement as Hoseok searched through the storage closet for the perfect thing to place the hope-to-be-human-fairy seed.

“Why are all of our flower pots so big?”

Smirking, you walked over to where he was crouched on the ground. Careful to not knock over any of the clay, glass, or plaster pots, you leaned over to pat Hoseok on the back.

“It’s not my fault your flower is so big.”

Hoseok went rigid for a moment, but his wings twitched ever so slightly. Turning his head to the side he glared at you, “Y/N, baby. Please don’t try to turn me on right now; we have important matters at hand.”

You laughed when the serious look on his face broke, “sorry, couldn’t help it. Why do you need a flower pot? I thought you told me that people don’t move their flowers into containers of sorts until they’re older.”

“Well yes,” he said, standing to face you. “But this is a little different. I don’t know how safe it would be to plant this outside.”

“I—” You stopped for a moment, considering. “Do you think we should visit the Mother Tree and see if she has any guidance for us?”

He smiled, kissing your cheek.

“Sometimes I think you’re a better fairy than I am.”

~~~~~~

The air was warm as it whistled past your ear, and you were grateful to have worn shorts and not a skirt to venture out in today.

After years of being the human queen of the fairies, it would be assumed that you were used to it. But perhaps, you never will be. Even when little Luna clumsily flies up to you shouting ma-jesty, for the umpteenth day in a row since she heard her father say your majesty, you are still in awe of the world around you.

Luna holds a special place in your heart, and not simply because she is the daughter of one of your closest friends.

“Luna, come back here!”

You laughed as you welcomed the little orange fairy, who bloomed from a beautiful bird of paradise, into your arms.

“It’s alright Taehyung, you know I don’t mind.

You see, Luna was the offspring of Taehyung’s grey—borderline white—Agapanthus, and Charlotte’s yellow Daffodil. She is a bundle of joy and is the first fairy you’ve ever witnessed be born.

Bloomed I should say.

“Luna, baby. Leave the queen to her business.”

To say that you still hated Charlotte would be a stretch of the truth. She still had one of those personalities that would always clash with yours, but… she was an alright girl at the very least. Gone was the immature high school trope she lived her life by, and in her place was a mature woman that loved the people close to her.

You gazed over at Luna, who was leaping back and forth between Taehyung and Charlotte, with an amused expression on your face. Hoseok glanced over at you and he chuckled, knowing exactly what you were thinking.

It wasn’t until Taehyung flew into her life that Charlotte realized that love knew no bounds; not gender, not age, and certainly not species. How he was the one to thaw out her heart is beyond you, but you were happy either way.

The two sent you on your way with well wishes, and Luna plucked a blossom from the low-branch of nearby tree for you.

“Luna is so fucking cute,” you groaned when you had walked far enough away from the little ears. “Could you imagine how cute our kid would be if we—”

“I heard the word kid,” a voice came from above and you looked up to see Namjoon fluttering down and a nosediving Park Jimin not far behind him.

“Namjoof—” Your greeting was cut short by Jimin pulling up too late, which in turn caused a dogpile of three fairies and a human to happen right in the center of the village.

The four of you laughed, but you became frantic as you tried to push yourself up off the ground. You felt your pockets, but the little pouch you were holding the seed in, was nowhere to be found.

“Y/N, did you drop this?”

You spun around to see Jimin holding the satin baggie in one hand, and beginning to undo the ties with the other.

“Jimin no!” You shouted as you lunged forward, causing all three fairies to look at you oddly

Reaching for the pouch was meant to be easy, simple. You could come up with an excuse, and be on your way.

But Jimin is an ass.

He pulled the pouch out of your grasp, holding it high in the air. Thankfully Jimin wasn’t that tall, so the pouch was still within reach.

Until he decided to play dirty.

Namjoon had flown to the pink fairy’s side, trying to peer into the pouch as well. Frustration bubbled in your chest, and you were both pissed and scared.

Hoseok was looking on at the interaction hunched over in laughter. You shot him a glare and gestured up to the two men in the air.

He visibly gulped, and cleared his throat, “Jimin, give the pouch back.”

The king’s request came just in time, as Jimin had only just unraveled the pouch. But, he was at a standstill in the air as he contemplated whether the request came as his friend or as is king.

“Park Jimin.” Gritting your teeth, you held your hand out for the pouch. “Give it to me right. Now.”

Finally realizing you were gravely serious about the pouch, he acquiesced and flew to the ground.

“Y/N?” The pink fairy spoke low, almost concerned over your reaction.

You slumped, the weight of the secret already hanging over your head. “Just go, Jimin. I… I’ll explain another day.”

He nodded, grabbing Namjoon by the arm and flying off together. A pointed look was shot in Hoseok’s direction, and he nodded in understanding; walking towards the Mother Tree wasn’t an option right now.

So, instead, you flew.

~~~~~~

You wondered if the Mother Tree ever changed; if she ever went through cycles like the fairies she presides over.

When you walked into the clearing an instant wave of calm fell over you; Hoseok’s natural reaction was to outstretch his wings and fly to the base of the tree. A giggle tumbled from your lips at his giddiness, but you could never tell if it came from his inherent, childlike personality, or if it was from a fairy meeting its maker.

Nonetheless, you took your time to be able to glance around the clearing.

There was a small ring of dandelions in the center of the area, and an eerie feeling rose in your stomach. It had been years since that fateful night, but the memory was still there.

Always.

The loss of Hoseok’s mother was something that took ages to work through; a period of grief that Hoseok—and his unsuspecting father, reincarnated a month or so later—had to work through alone.

You had feared that the previous king would hate you, but it was quite the contrary. Once things had begun to emotionally resolve, he opened up again. Though you were still weary when he took you aside and spoke to you without listening ears.

“Y/N, dear, come?”

You followed the king’s beckoning with a worried nod of your head. He led you outside and held his hand out for you. Only with a gentle smile and prompting did you decide to take it. As fairies do, he flew the two of you towards the Mother Tree and landed on the soft grass of the clearing.

The king took a few steps towards the center before crouching. You watched as he plucked some things from the ground, and realized they were weeds when he tossed them to the side.

“Tell me, child. Why do you think I’ve brought you here, of all places?”

Standing there, you glanced at the circle and chose to remain silent.

“She will come again, though it is uncertain how long it will take.”

You opened your mouth to speak, but he held a hand up to show that he wasn’t done talking.

“Though she has a cursed soul, she spent more years being the epitome of good than she had evil. So, she will come back, and I can only hope that my soul can find her in that lifetime.

“This could have been prevented if it were not for jealousy, anger—all human emotions—that have not been seen in our world for some time.”

You chewed your bottom lip, hanging your head in shame; guilt crept into your conscious and you felt like crumbling.

“Without these troublesome emotions you humans possess, our village would never have never known what it really means to love.”

The king was smiling at you softly when your gazes met.

“Us fairies are quite simple creatures; we fly, be merry, and get ‘married.’ It is in our nature to be gentle creatures, more often than not, But, we tend to lack… appreciation… of the good in us.”

The king then turned away from the center and faced the Mother Tree, a solemn look on his face when he did so.

“Y/N.”

You jumped at the sound of his voice after the breath of silence.

“I never want to see the Black Dahlia again. And to make that possible, I think it is time for a new generation of love to bloom amongst the fairies.”

“W-what,” you began with a stutter. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” he said when the Mother Tree began to rustle, “that perhaps it is time that the fairies are ruled by a fairy king and a human queen.”

Now, a few years later, you stood in the same spot where Hoseok’s father told you of his plans to relinquish the throne to his son. It brought a smile to your face, and you clutched the pouch tightly in your hand as you walked towards a waiting Hoseok.

“Are you ready?”

With a nod of your head, you knelt next to him. It was an odd experience, calling forth the spirit of the fairies. But, you made due.

“As long as the wind still blows, and the sun still rises, my heart will be yours.” Hoseok began.

“From this life until the next, my heart will be yours.” And you ended the beckoning while the roots of the tree rumbled around you.

When the Mother Tree “spoke” to you, it was as if an aura shielded you from onlookers. Though, you knew there were none; it was a general rule of thumb not to eavesdrop on a meeting with the spirit of the fairies.

“We come to you once again in a time of counsel,” Hoseok started, gazing up the bark of the tree.

“As you know, I am merely a human,” you took over for Hoseok. “Yet, we come to you in regards to an offspring.”

The air stilled around you, and the wilderness grew quiet. Hoseok sent a weary glance your way before he looked around nervously.

“Take it out of the pouch, Y/N” His voice came in the form of a hushed whisper.

Scared to break the aura surrounding you, the seed was taken from the pouch silently. You bowed your head in respect before carrying on with your intentions.

“We want to know—is there a—how do we—”

You sighed in frustration, not sure how to formally ask this question. Whining when you felt defeated, you decided to just let it all out.

“ThisShowedUpInMyVomitAndWeWantToKnowIfItsABaby.”

Hoseok couldn’t help but laugh when he barely caught the exasperated breath that was released after the long string of words. A giggle tumbled from your lips as if you were a child sitting at the back of the classroom, laughing while the teacher lectured.

Silence was pulled from your mouths when the still air grew wild around your secluded haven. The seed was held tightly in your hands, supposedly protected from the strong gusts of wind.

There was a sudden pull, almost magnetic, that your hand was desperately trying to follow. You gasped, realizing the seed was trying to escape your iron-grip.

And you tried, you really tried to hold on. But nevertheless, seed won.

The moment that it left your hand, the winds disappeared as if they had never begun. Cautiously, you reached forward so as not to shift the soil and cause the seed to roll away.

It was to your horror that the white seed sank into the ground and vanished before your eyes, as if the loose soil reached up to take it away. The dirt shimmered, and it would have looked like a scene out of a Disney movie if you weren’t seeing it with your very own eyes.

Blankly, you looked towards Hoseok who seemed to be just as confused as you were. He reached forward, moving the dirt around with his fingers tips; no matter how much he dug into the soil, there was no sign of that little white seed.

“Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

The question was asked under your breath, and Hoseok could not have heard it without being who he is. His large hand enveloped yours, and you felt his squeeze it tenderly.

“I suppose we’ll find out in three months.”

~~~~~~

Every day for three months, any fairy in the village could see you sitting at the base of the Mother Tree. Either you were alone or with Hoseok, but every afternoon you were right there.

The first time Hoseok found you there, back propped up against the rough bark, you were mumbling something to yourself.

“It was almost creepy,” he had teased when he recounted the smile that tugged at the edges of your mouth.

“I was talking to our child, you know,” you had replied in mock defense.

That little interaction was what gave Hoseok cause to sit you down once more, reminding you not to get your hopes up too high. But he really didn’t have to be the one to tell you that.

Any time your heart sped up with the slightest hint of excitement, it was instantly brought down to earth by reality. Deep down you knew that this was a zero to none chance of this actually happening but… you resigned yourself to staying confident.

If I can deal with the last five years of my life, I can deal with the grief of not having a human-fairy hybrid baby.

You knew you’d be alright; just the thought of Hoseok being willing to “adopt” comforted you.

And so, when you and Hoseok walked hand in hand—around the outskirts of town—towards the Mother Tree, you were filled with a mixed feeling of hope and despair.

Stepping into the clearing, it was actually Hoseok that was slow to follow. In three months, he barely gave his two cents on the whole ordeal. This made you think that he really believed nothing would come from this.

But when you his still form tugged you backward, you turned to see a trembling man lost in his doubts.

“H-Hoseok?”

Shock riddled your features as you took notice of the way his bottom lip stuck out ever so slightly, and how his eyes were squeezed shut in anguish.

“What if nothing’s happened?”

“Then…” you began, stopping to pull him into a hug. “Then we adopt a little, orphaned elf and love that child with all that we are and be the parents we always wanted to be.”

You felt the single drop of a tear that collected in his eyes fall to your shoulder, and you heard him sniffle out a laugh.

“Okay,” he murmured into your hair, straightening up and putting on the bravest face he could muster.

It broke your heart to see Hoseok—a man who had felt more pain than any fairy in history—look more distraught than you had ever seen him the years that you’ve known him.

But, he had a brave disposition and always trusted you, through thick and thin. That’s why, when he took your hand and led you towards the Mother Tree, you couldn’t help but feel the smallest, most pleasant tingle in your shoulder.

If you didn’t know any better, you would have been convinced that the air temperature dropped around you. But, you knew that—unless it was time for its “scheduled” rain cycle—the fairy world stuck to its regular seventyish degree weather.

You shivered involuntarily anyway.

“Fuck,” Hoseok cursed under his breath, standing still next to you.

Tears threatened to fall, no doubt. The weight of the world fell on your heart and tried to crush it.

There was nothing where you hoped a little blossom would reside.

“Let’s go home, Hoseok.”

~~~~~~

The Mother Tree was shunned, for lack of a better word. Not in a hostile sense, of course. No, you didn’t call a strike against the spirit, nor did you curse her.

You just… made it a blatant point not to visit.

For roughly six months, the fairy world was displayed in very dull colors; as if the LCD on a computer was distorted and malfunctioning.

For the first three months, you still woke up every day, smiling to see Hoseok by your side. Until of course, December rolled around, and it was time to say goodbye.

You rarely felt the pang of ache in your heart when saying farewell to your fairy lover for three months; it was a part of life you had grown accustomed to, even excitable to see another red petal appear on his flower each year.

This reincarnation cycle was the hardest one you had ever dealt with; the shattered hope was forgotten momentarily until you saw Hoseok’s flowerpot in the window-sill or saw little Luna in the village. Not having him there to comfort you was becoming unbearable

But as you always did, you held on to the smallest sliver of hope that you could, so long as it existed. Whenever you felt the sadness creep back up, you thought about Hoseok’s final reassuring words.

“Why are you cryin’, dandelion?”

A choked laugh left your mouth at Hoseok’s purposeful rhyme.

“I’m just going to miss you so much,” you gently cried into his shoulder.

He tried to laugh at what he thought was an exaggerated temper tantrum—one you pulled every year—but when you an actual sob wrecked your chest, he swallowed deeply and grimaced.

“Hey,” he muttered into your ear when he pulled you into his chest. “It’s the same three months it has been for years; I’ll be back before you know it. Maybe we can go see Mark when I come home, okay? It’s going to be okay, you are going to be okay.”

Laying in bed, you lifted a hand to swipe at the lone tear that was falling from your eye. Then, with a groan, you rolled over to see the sun peeking out from behind leafy curtains and you knew it was time to start getting out of bed before one in the afternoon.

With that in mind, you took a look at your watch on the nightstand and sighed in relief to find it was only eleven. The momentary breath of calm was replaced with slight panic when your eye caught sight of the calendar you had tacked on the wall—via command strips, of course; Hoseok would cry if you had stuck a nail in his house.

Hoseok comes back tomorrow!

Normally, this would have been a cause for joy and not panic but… you’ve neglected your duties and are way behind on arranging for the feast. So, you threw on some slightly nicer clothes than you usually wore—disregarding any makeup, jewelry, and even your crown that is normal to your attire—and sprinted towards the throne room.

The room was buzzing, fluttering, with fairies, and they all paused in their current tasks to turn in your direction.

“Hi—Hello—good morning—you look nice today, Yoonji—”

You had no time for their usual formalities, and merely mustered up simple greeting to the ones you passed. Instead, you went straight towards the thrones.

Upon closer notice, Park Jimin was standing front and center, glaring at you.

I’m so fucked.

The pink fairy gave you a pointed glare and rolled his eyes when you gave him a sheepish grin. He huffed, turning away from you while ticking things off of the device he was holding.

“Jimin is there—”

“Can you place that a little higher?” Jimin called out to the fairies in the air trying to stretch garlands of flowers across the ceiling, “can you make it arch a little more?”

You waited until he finished his request before trying to speak again, “it looks really nice in—”

“Have we collected enough lightning bugs to illuminate the room for the last hour once the sun goes down?”

A “yes, Jimin!” could be heard from the corner, and he nodded in satisfaction before thumbing away at the screen.

“Can we please—”

“Park Jimin,” you griped, taking the device away from him. “I gave you this stupid tablet, you can’t use it as a means to ignore me!”

After sighing in compliance, he turned his full attention towards you. It was obvious he was waiting for you to say something, surely expecting you to apologize for not helping with the preparations.

Like you always do. Every year.

When Jimin realized you wouldn’t speak first, he decided to do so for you.

“How are you today, your majesty?”

Your shoulders sank at his snarky remark and your eyes fell to the ground in shame. It was shitty of you, telling Jimin that you needed a break for a while and then literally never leaving your room except when necessary.

It was shitty to force more responsibility on him even when he has to stand in place of Hoseok while he’s away.

“Y/N,” he relented, softening at the pained look on your face. “Why have you been like this? Is it because Hoseok’s gone? We’ve been doing this for years, if you were lonely then you should have—”

You shook your head, signaling that it wasn’t that.

“Jimin, I—” You tried to begin, but you were stuck on the right words. “If we’re going to talk, we need to do so now. Before I change my mind and crawl back into my hole.”

The pink fairy, your absolute best friend, squinted his piercing eyes at you before he popped off. Again.

“If I was a worse person, I’d wish my reincarnation cycle hadn’t shifted so that I could ignore you for three months too… but… of course.”

He turned then, calling an end to the set up for the moment. The fairies convened for a moment, agreeing to gather later in the evening. They filed out one by one, and you waited until the last fairy’s blue wings shimmered out of sight before turning to Jimin.

To waste time, you took smaller steps than necessary towards the thrones. You hesitated for a moment when deciding where you would sit.

Taking comfort in Hoseok’s seat, you broke protocol just this once.

“If anyone besides Hoseok or I saw you sitting there, you’d give a fairy the first heart attack in history,” he chuckled before lounging across your own.

“And if anyone besides me saw you sitting in my seat, they’d clip your wings,” you threw back with a sneer. “Do fairies even have hearts?”

“Yes, sort of—” Jimin stopped himself before he could let you open that can of worms. “Stop procrastinating. Start talking.”

Twiddling your thumbs, your eyes moved across the ground—your lap, your shoes, anything—so you could figure out where to begin.

“Last summer I was… sick… quite often,” you began, voice unsteady. “And we went to the doctor, who couldn’t find anything wrong with me, of course. Even made me get a pregnancy test, which Hoseok and I thought was comical…”

Jimin hummed.

“Well, the doctor told me to try changing my diet; I was throwing up a lot you see. So he suggested less of this type of food, more of this. So, I had to stop eating so many berries and more nuts because of the sugar in one and the protein in the other and—”

Y/N, you’re rambling.

“I digress,” you said with a wave of your hand. “Well, after a week or two of still throwing up every single morning, there was one day when I discovered something in the wastebasket.”

Jimin knew how to be silly, he knew how to be funny at the right time to help ease some stress. He knew you so well and that was why he was your best friend after all that’s occurred since he entered your life.

The goofy fairy had leaned forward dramatically, acting like he was on the edge of seat as he listened, “did you discover a hidden treasure in the wastebasket?”

Of course, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes, “no,” you said with a laugh. “anyway, I reached in and pulled it out—”

“EW.”

“Anyway,” you emphasized when he grimaced at the idea of you reaching into the trashcan. “Cleaned the thing off, and it was a rock. That I threw up. Well I thought it was a rock, but things started to click into place and we came to the realization that it was a—”

“Seed! Y/N this is amazing! You are the first human that has ever—wait.” He paused his outburst, realizing you weren’t overflowing with joy with him. “Why aren’t you happy right now?”

The calm collection you felt had washed away almost as quickly as it had come; you felt embarrassed, alone even when you talked about this misfortune.

You could even feel tears brimming in your eyes when you thought about how weird it must be to be so upset about something like this.

But Jimin wouldn’t have it; like Hoseok, he takes full advantage of those little shimmery flecks of goodness that he can rain down upon you to make you feel better.

Sometimes it’s annoying. Right now, you’re grateful.

When the calming action had taken effect, you were able to start again.

“We weren’t sure what to do.” Your breath was barely above a whisper, but you knew Jimin could manage. “But we planted it, and hoped that in three months we would come back to find a little one but… Every day, I sat there with it waiting for it to bloom but it never did. It’s been six months now, tomorrow being nine since it was planted, but ever since Hoseok left I just c-couldn’t.”

His face fell, understanding the meaning by the vague words; you couldn’t exactly tell his expression because it was blurred by more tears that were spilling again.

Jimin pulled you into his arms, up from the throne and rocked you back and forth. Those pink wings encased you, and the fairy had nothing but kind words for you.

“It’s gonna be okay, Y/N. Hoseok will be home tomorrow, and I’ll be here for you just the same.”

~~~~~~

You made your way towards the ballroom at the same as you always do on this day, but your reasons for being happy were a little bit different than in years past.

Of course, it was always with great excitement that you welcomed your fairy lover back into the world. But, this time it wasn’t because you were happy that he wasn’t stuck in a seed anymore.

It was because you were allotting yourself a point in your life to be selfish, to wish for what is going to be best for you. And right now, that was the little ball of sunshine with bright red hair, wings, and a beautiful smile.

Nonetheless, you were growing impatient. The clock on your phone screen said ten minutes, the face of your watch said twelve. You weren’t sure which one was correct, but you were annoyed either.

“It’s like I’m having a temper tantrum,” you muttered to yourself, eyes squeezing shut in frustration.”

“What else are you humans supposed to do?”

The voice from behind and its sarcastic remark startled you, but only for a minute when you turned around in shock

“What the fuck?”

In all his glory, the king of the fairies was standing in front of you with a shit eating grin stretching from ear to ear. He was stunning, he is always stunning right after reincarnation. There’s always a slightly brighter glow to his cheeks, and the color of his wings always shimmered that much more.

“Well,” Hoseok rolled his eyes, “hello to you too, dandelion.”

He pulled you into his chest once he had taken the stride—leap is a better word—to stand near you.

One of your favorite things about Hoseok is, and always has been, how he hugs with his entire being. Brief hugs are rare, even when things are hostile between the two of you.

Though it was something you found so strange at first, you can’t imagine Hoseok hugging you without wrapping both red wings all the way around your back.

It hit you then, and you realized why you actually shouldn’t be surprised that Hoseok appeared ‘earlier’ than usual.

“I forgot a-about day-daylight savings t-time again, didn’t I?” Your question was hindered by both tears and laughter.

The moment that Hoseok laughed along with you was when you realized you had nothing to worry about. Not right now, anyway.

Even when life felt as if it was too much, Jung Hoseok would appear out of nowhere to remind you that it wasn’t; that he’d be right there through it all

“I figured you would be planning this moment to the second, dandelion. Jimin told me you haven’t been feeling well, that’s why I decided to mingle first before coming to find you.”

You settled in silence for a beat before pulling away from him and out of the warmth of his grasp. Sighing, you laced your fingers with his and tugged him towards the door.

“I know… it’s just been difficult this time around. Ask Jimin, he’ll understand how MIA I’ve gone.”

Hoseok frowned, pulling you back a little bit, “Y/N, I think it’s time we tell everyone. Well not everyone, just people like Jimin, Taehyung, and Namjoon.”

Nodding you replied, “I’ve already told Jimin. But I think you’re right. After we sit down and talk to Jimin a little bit more, we can tell the other boys the situation too.”

Hoseok agreed, tight-lipped and firm but he gave your hand a reassuring squeeze before you continued through the door to play your role in the king’s reincarnation banquet.

Thankfully, the red-haired fairy had taken your hour of absence in stride and conversed with a great majority of the attendants (which was all of the fairies, of course). Once you had entered, though, you could see Jimin immediately sigh a breath of relief.

It was on evenings like this, when the village had cause for celebration—though, that was still quite often, given the nature of fairies—that you felt the most at peace. As the fairies drank their special elixirs, or damnation in a cup as your human liver would probably call it, you could sit back and sip on your own glass of wine and enjoy the merriment.

Of course, something was still off, and many fairies that approached you in greeting had commented so.

“Just feeling a little bit ill,” you would tell them when they’d react to your sullen face.

Eventually you had “lied” to just the right person, Namjoon and Taehyung, to be exact, and soon you were saying goodbye after only a short time of socializing.

Though, the night of talking wasn’t over with, and you had flagged Jimin down as you were leaving. The poor fairy was in the midst of trying to impress a group of women, to which he protested when you dragged his half-sober self from embarrassing himself.

“Jimin, you never drink!”

Hoseok playfully scolded the younger as the two of you watched in amazement as Jimin brushed up against the walls one too many times.

Once you had gotten outdoors though, Jimin was free to laugh and barrel roll through the air as he pleased.

Turning to Hoseok with an amused smile on your face, you laughed, “I want what he had.”

“Hell no,” he replied shortly, much to your disappointment. “Though, we should probably wait until he sobers up to have that conversation with him.”

“Conversation with who?”

Jimin landed right in front of you only teetering a little bit when his feet touched the ground.

“That important stuff we talked about yesterday, there’s more things we’d both like to say about it.”

The drunken fairy hummed, face changing when he realized what you had meant.

“Oh, right. I can dig it up for you if you haven’t done so already.”

“What are you going on about?”

“Wouldn’t be s’great as a reminder, you know? Having it sitting in one of your pots, Y/N.”

Hoseok intervened, an eyebrow already quirked. “We didn’t plant it in a pot, Jimin?”

“Oh. Well, then where’d it go?”

You dragged your hand down your face, and groaned.

“We didn’t plant it ourselves. It just kind of sunk into the ground and disappeared. Remember when I told you we went to the Mother Tree for guidance?”

Jimin teetered for a moment, tongue poking the inside of his cheek in inebriated contemplation, “and I thought you said nothing came of it?”

“No, it didn’t, Jimin.” Hoseok huffed in irritation.

“Then why s’there such a pretty new flower at the base of the Mother Tree?”

“WHAT?”

Simultaneously, both you and Hoseok answered the question in a flurry of confusion. The two of you stared at one another, before glancing back at a very puzzled Jimin.

“Yeah today there was a—”

But you didn’t hear anything as you and Hoseok raced towards the Tree. Had you not been panicking to find out what Jimin’s drunken confession meant, you would have told Hoseok not to fly so hard.

When your feet touched the ground, however, your thoughts immediately led you through the clearing.

You could feel a change in the atmosphere the moment you were within the direct vicinity of the Mother Tree. Yet, nothing could prepare you for the change your life was about to welcome.

“My gods,” Hoseok whispered, coming to your side.

Eyes opened for the first time the moment his hand grazed your shoulder in comfort. A tingling sensation ran through your soul-mark, and you watched in amazement as two different colored eyes stared back at you.

For in the soft center of a large dandelion was a beautiful, little fairy with bright golden wings to match. 

#networkbangtan #kpopwonderlandtag #btsguild #bangtan bookclub #Jung Hoseok #Hoseok au #Hoseok fluff #Hoseok series #Park Jimin #Kim Namjoon #Kim Taehyung #Min Yoongi #Jeon Jungkook #Kim Seokjin

[worstfruit]

NORI’DUN HUMAN SUBRACE

the next race i have most mapped out are the northerly human clan: a subrace of very tall, heavy set and muscular humans who reside in the moorlands alongside goblins and orcs. While orcs are mostly nomadic, these barbaric humans sort of bridge the gap between the endless bogs and the more varied mountain range that borders the kingdom’s edge. They often act as a trade mediator between the goblins and orcs, but also will live amongst and intermingle with the two races.

they call themselves the Nori’dun (bastard mix of the little gaelic i know paired with icelandic (or olde english depending which sounds cooler lol) which i know nothing about!), common folk to the south hardly know they exist but those who do refer to them as the North Folk, Norfole, or Nawfelv. 

their society is matriarchal, with a head mother leading small clans who exist in settlements that pepper the moors at the mountain’s feet. the great mother choses a small group of esteemed individuals to act as her council, and this group travels from one settlement to another, spreading news and diffusing ideas. They act as merchants as well as bards and scholars, and report back to their home establishment bringing back goods and valuable knowledge. this council tends to be the only literate individuals, but even then their writing system is simplistic and much like the goblin written language, focuses primarily on identifying items and their quantity for trade purposes. many of the symbols used to denote trade don’t have a spoken equivalent, and common nori people have no use or even knowledge of this system. they do make use of pictogrographs, though there is hardly a commonality between tribes and most images rely on rudimentary depictions of humans or animals, and are mostly created for art or entertainment. 

nori people live in pueblo-like buildings crafted out of a brick called ‘vergs’, made of peat, peat moss, gravel, and guano. the mixture is shaped into blocks and fired, then stacked into long, rectangular modules and set with a slit like mud/clay type mortar, and then finally covered in a thin limestone paste gathered from within the mountains. Once the paste fills any gaps and sets, the structure is often painted using natural dyes and pigments such as soot and charcoal, animal bloods, fats, or waste, berries, local roots, vegetables, and plants such as lichen or moss, and various soils such as clay, lime, or peat. The outer architecture also utilizes bits of stone or petrified woods to border door frames or window holes in a peg like fashion, and painted designs (differing from tribe to tribe) tend to use simple lines, borders, or geometric figures surrounding entrances and exists. the interiors are similarly overlaid with lime but usually not painted like the outside of the homes. the arrangement centers around an elongated room dedicated to cooking and eating; there is usually a large fire pit surrounded by seating in the center of these rooms-- like so: 

not the best example but still gives you an idea of the CENTRAL room layout. additional modules are merged, called ‘ryms’ for sleeping quarters, storage, or religious purposes. minecraft doesnt lend much to decor but there would be shelves and cabinets, baskets and even counter like constructs with hollowed innards for food and wares storage. the top chimney like openings are outfitted with stones in place of the fence I used, and during heavy storms they are covered dried and stretched animal skins. otherwise the water collects in the central fire pit and drains out of through a small and simplistic network of clay enforced tunnels that run under and down from the house. the pits are not as deep as depicted, and the houses are built on a foundation of dirt and rocks that elevate the fire pit just enough for these tiny pipes to run downards. 

nori make use of the limited supply of wood for structural reinforcement and decor in important settlement buildings such as the clan’s meeting hall, temple, great hall, or the great mother’s home. decor ranges from dyed and painted animal hides, woven linen tapestries, wreaths, dried and hollowed gourds, animal bones, weaponry, metal work, baskets, and pottery. many of these items tend to serve a purpose as well, be it practical for storage, fighting, or ritualistic in nature.

most settlements include the aforementioned buildings as well as a smithy or forge, grain and meat storage, as well as more basic, temporary structures called ‘jaels’-- made of sticks, animal bones, dried hides, and moss in the form of forest tent/lean to shapes. these are used for vendors to set up shop outside their homes if need be, or simply to offer animals and travelers shelter during the night or a storm.

the nori keep small herds of domesticated cats, dogs, rats, birds, rabbits, foxes, badgers, insects, and even deer. they use these animals as both pets and food and keep them outside in various shelters, generally only one household will produce an animal product and offer it to the rest of the settlement through barter. they also hunt larger herds of native animal such as bears, wolves, and allegedly even the occasional mammoth if they live far enough north. since settlements typically run under 100 people, farming is also done by single households who offer their goods to others: berries, roots, gourds and squashes, latuca genus wildflowers and greens, legumes/trefoil, lichen, moss, ferns, and mushrooms. nori also trade all of these goods to orcs and goblins and very rarely dwarves or travelers from the south.

despite not being united by one great mother, the nori people seem to share a very unified religion, one which incorporates the worship of storms, moreso than an individual deity or even element. melanism, though not common enough to be considered typical, is frequent enough within this gene pool that most communities have one or two individuals with the gene who are revered as storm prophets and lead religious activities within the settlement. if a melanistic nori is not present, or is otherwise unfit or unwilling to take on this role, a different woman will be selected based of magical ability. in some settlements there are many melanistic people who have little or no clerical affiliation, in others there are no melanistic people. it should be noted that either gender can take on this role, but only a non-melanistic woman is allowed otherwise. these individuals often specialize in storm barbianism or storm sorcery of some form and seem genetically predisposed to have an ability with some form of elemental magic, be it classified as divine or unholy within the borders of the empire. the gene can be inherited but also seems to be carried passively by enough individuals that it can pop up unexpectedly or not be passed down through having a mellanistic parent. like twins or multiples, it is seen as a sign of exceptionalism and highly revered.  

individual family units tend to be headed by a matriarch, her sisters, cousins, or offspring (according to age), and so forth. a great grandmother, grandmother, or mother may take this role, or in some cases, an aunt or eldest cousin, taking on the role of hunter and warrior. men tend to the earth and domesticated animal, deal with trade and bartering/distribution of their household goods, and settlement building/infrastructure. there are exceptions, when men hunt, fight, or even lead households, and vice versa, wherein women see fit to raising crops, animals, and overseeing the riches of a house. all elder members of a house are expected to aid in child rearing regardless of gender. 

tomorrow i will try and divulge further into their dress, music, war practices, trade goods and crafts, and other facets of culture but i am still developing this race! i think the idea of placing humans as the barbarians in a fantasy setting is interesting, as opposed to delegating it to greenskins and having that culture marked as negative through implication! i also wanted to try my hand at conceptualizing 1) humans who get along with the races painted as lesser and violent, 2) melding different tidbits of cultures that interest me in a respectful but also uh...unique? way so that im not making trolls and going LOL THEYRE JAMAICAN or some shit. i.e. pueblos, hakas, celtic tribes, pacific islander skin art traditions, etc! it needs a lot of work but, yknow im just posting it here for my own reference and having fun with it!

[the-miss-lv]

WIP Gramander fic ‘Offering‘

Here’s a peek at a short gramander smut fic I’m working on. Warnings for Percival being a monster/creature and Newt his human lover as well as mentioned past underage.

Newt woke body warm and nose cold. He snuggled himself deeper into his blanket furs and pressed closer to Theseus for his body heat. The cottage was quiet but the light of the morning was beginning to show, letting Newt see around the room that was their home. His parents were sleeping in their bed on the other side of the fire. The embers still glowing faintly. It wasn’t far enough into autumn that they needed to keep the fire all night for the heat.

Shivering at the cold air on his cheeks, Newt snuggled down into his bedding a bit more, enjoy the moment of calm comfort before he sighed and got up. With care not to lift the furs and let out the heat that would give Theseus a chill, Newt slipped from the bedding. His clothing were in between the furs they used as blankets and nice and warm. He wore a under shirt and leggins already but the added layer were nice and warm. His socks hung by the fire and were also nice and heated as he dressed and did his boots up for the day. Without making a sound to wake anyone, Newt slipped out of the room and out of the house. The rest of the village was still asleep as well, the sun not peeking yet, only just showing the barest hint of waking for the day.

Newt would have a bit of time to himself.

He walked along the forest path, brisk morning air making him shiver a bit. His breath visible in puffs as he left the trail and began off to the north. With practised easy he meandered through the forest, knowing the unseen paths since he was a boy. He stopped to pick a few ripe plants and tuck them into his bag, collecting what the village could use with care not to strip and kill the plants.

“Good morning,” he greeted the deer he passed and he smiled up at the birds as the woke for their day as well.

Many people found the forest daunting, dangerous and deadly.

Newt had never seen it as such, always feeling welcomed among the trees. If anything, it was the village were he felt the most awkward, never fitting in. Newt walked along a fallen log and mused that he was far more fair footed out in the forest then he ever felt on the flat stone of the village.

A branch snapped and Newt paused, looking to his right to see a large elk lifting it’s great head, mouth full of grass as it chewed contently. Most would statle to see a human but this one knew Newt and so remained where it was, eating as it watched Newt wave and continue passed.

It made him feel a bit guilty, when the hunters found no game in the area and Newt knew there was many. But the animals trusted Newt as well, not to harm them or bring harm upon them either. The village ate well enough anyway.

The Graves saw to that. His great skull and horns symbol carved into the stone in the middle of the village. So all that came through knew which god they worshipped. Graves was a local god and not a great mighty one that might forget them among the hundreds of thousands who honored. But that also meant no great miracles would come to them. The village was content with the balance, they had to work hard but no cruel times fell on them either. Game remained in the area even if it did thin at times, the harvest always grew but was sometimes less than previous years. A balance. A give or take but one that left them able to survive each season.  

The Graves way.

Newt heard the crunch of leaves, something large and looked up, finding nothing.

Smiling, he closed his eyes and reached out, letting something in him guide each step. Something unseen and unexplained. Faith his mum called it. Magic Theseus supposed. The unknown his dad decided.

Newt’s fingers found warm fur and he stepped closer hurriedly, burying his face into the heat and sighing as the autumn chill left his bones.

Percival huffed out, amused as Newt snuggled into his side.

“Hello,” Newt breathed, opening his eyes slowly and letting the focus come as it pleased. Percival could be hard to see. His ilk were very mysterious, one of the many creatures of the land that were more in the realm of the gods than mortals. Magical.

Percival came into view gradually he looked very beastly today like a over sized mix between a bear and wolf with a bit of almost human added. But he often changed a bit, sometimes more human and other days more a beast. The only thing consistent about him was the large set of antlers on his head, all pointed and gleaming sharply. Perhaps if Newt hadn’t met him as a child he’d be more afraid of Percival, with his long claws and predator gaze. His great hulking body and mix of flesh and fur, a monstrous beast that would certainly scare the wits of the village. But to Newt he was merely Percival, a dear friend. A creature who followed him since he was a boy and had let him home a few times when he had grown lost or it had become late into the night.

“I was hoping I would find you today, the village is getting busy with preparations for the fall harvest festival and I won’t be able to visit much soon.”

Newt smiled and unhappily gave up Percival’s body heat to step back. It seemed to linger however, keeping him warm and the chill away from him.

“How have you been? Is the forest fairing well?” Newt asked lightly, walking along the forest with care not disturb the young trees growing from the dirt. Percival rumbled in reply, never speaking a word in all the years Newt knew him. But his gaze was keen and aware, he knew what Newt was saying, even if he never answered beyond rumbles and growls.

Newt walked the path to the river as he did each morning, stopping to pick berries were they were ready. He popped a few into his mouth and licked the juices on his lips. The sun was rising now, warming the air as morning dew gleaming in the light. It made the forest that much more gorgeous and it always stole Newt’s breath away.

“I think autumn is my favorite season, I love them all but there something about the end of summer that seems so perfect,” Newt rambled easily. “The weather is perfect, not too hot or too cold, just enough of both. Everything is finally ready to eat and the land is so pretty,” he smiled up at the trees, eager to see the yellows and red emerge.

Percival huffed at his side, not agreeing or disagreeing.

Feeling content with the world, Newt arrived at the point in the river he liked best. A nice narrow break with grass so fish had a tendency to linger. A great old tree that had fallen long ago provide a walkway for Newt to venture along the water’s edge and spear fish.

“Are you hungry?” Newt asked, sometimes Percival took fish offering and other times he refused. The great beast looked away, more keen on the shoreline then the fish so likely not interested in eating.

Quicker than usual, Newt caught two nice sized fish and sat on the shore to gut them. Birds landing around him to gobble up the guts he discarded eagerly. Newt whistled with them, singing soft songs together as he worked and let them take what he wouldn’t eat. Some sat on his shoulder, contend to take his body heat while a few more adventurous ones inspected his bag, knowing there were berries inside it.

“I might not be able to come out as much for a bit, with the festival preparation beginning, it’s my first proper time attending you see. I’ve only just come of age,” Newt explained to the gathered creatures but mostly Percival, who laid beside them all napping lightly. His eyes slid open and gaze turning to Newt. It was always a bit startling, to feel the weight of his eyes on him. Like a big old bear sizing Newt up and wondering if he would make a good snack. But Percival wasn’t like that. He’d have eaten Newt long ago if so.

“I’m excited a bit, Theseus has been going for a few years and talks of it lots. But Theseus has favor with Graves so it makes sense that he would have fun.”

Each year of the festival, the god would pass through the village and marked his favored family with a fresh kill, a deer that would feed the family well. Theseus was a excellent hunter and very fair about it, never going after deer with babies or setting cruel snares. The god Graves was a hunter himself and he liked Theseus enough to show favor. Each morning Newt’s family woke to a deer outside their door, the only in the village to win such a honor. It was a very good thing, as it meant the god would assist the whole village and look after them all. Theseus was very well liked because he helped keep them all safe. Newt was very proud of his big brother and eager to see the celebration to the god. The children of the village went to bed when the light faded but the adults stayed up much later and danced and shared drinks and happiness. Newt hoped he would be included, but Theseus had always made sure he was so Newt felt confident he would enjoy the festival.

“I hope it goes well,” Newt admitted softly, a part of him hoping that this step into adulthood would help him make closer bonds with the villagers. They weren’t cold or cruel to him, but Newt had always felt a bit different from them. Never able to find his place among them as easily as Theseus always had, able to charm anyone it felt like.

Percival got up and padded over to Newt, nuzzling his ace lightly and Newt smiled in return.

“I can’t, I’ve got to get back early today,” he explained gently as he pushed the beast away and stood up, hanging his fish on the end of a stick with a bit of rope to be able to carry them home without out smearing fish all over his clothing.

Percival huffed again, following Newt and his from shifting so seamlessly, becoming more human looking as he grumbled at Newt in displasure.

“I’m sorry, I really so have to be home, I promised to help mum gather flowers today,” he divulged. He received a more louder grumble and the beast pushed up at Newt’s back, making him stumble a bit.  

“Percival!” Newt scolded without true heat, his face flushing as the monster nuzzled at his shoulder eagerly. Human-like hands curled on his hip, holding them in place as Percival pulled Newt’s backside into his lap and humped at him. He was upright now, walking like a man but more like a bear than a person, those huge antler looming over Newt.

“I p-promised,” he protested and Percival made a soothing sound in reply, really not caring where Newt was supposed to be.

“What will happen if I offend Graves and he leaves my village? Then we’ll all perish and who will you hump then?”

Newt let his bag and the fish slip from his hold however, feeling his body being stirred up with each lazy thrust against his backside. He could feel the length of Percival growing thick and eager.  

Another reason Newt was odd, he thought. This perverse hunger inside him, not for women but for men, for beastly monsters in the forest even. Percival was the only one to ever do this sort of thing with Newt. The beast pushing him down and Newt went with a breathy sound. His knees hitting the grass as he knelt down on his hands and knees, long dangerous claws careful as they pulled his leggins and under things down around his knees. The cool morning air on his skin and then the heat of breath.

Newt wasn’t sure how old he was when this began, back when sex first began to interest him he supposed. Percival had been his friend since Newt was a toddler, seeing him over his mother's shoulder, peeking at the beast no one else saw. Newt had grown up running wild in the forest, safe in Percival’s shadow. Nothing ill ever came for him, no predator beast ever looked at Newt when such a huge monster loomed over him. He had spent lazy summers laying on Percival’s back when he was mostly a beast, lumbering along as Newt rode him and felt the sun warm his back, the musky scent of Percival’s fur soothing.  

At some point growing up Newt had begun to feel sexual want, hips rolling against his palm as he touched himself. He shared a bed with Theseus, always had to keep warm and to stay safe. So Newt couldn't fumble at night, he’d die of embarrassment if Theseus woke and found out. The only time he had away from other people was in the forest and so before long he was settled under the trees, hand in his pants exploring.

Graves was a known for fertility as well so such things were encouraged, to be sexual and enjoy the sensations of the body. It would have been fine if Percival didn't take notice of it all. Always so nosy about things, shoving his face to see what Newt was doing. He was a great looming creature and Newt couldn’t over power him, so when Percival wanted to see something, he got to see. Newt ended up without his leggins multiple times, being licked and explored, that wet hot tongue doing things to him he never knew he could feel. Newt always a bit dazed afterward, his knees wobbling a bit.   

He had grown up that way, Percival taking what he wanted and Newt always breathless after, dripping his own seed. It wasn’t common to prefer the same gender, it meant less children and wasn’t approved of. Newt would struggle to be allowed to marry another man and the idea of taking home a monster to his parents was ridiculous. He had supposed that meant he might never marry, that he might spend his whole life with a secret beast lover. There was a old lady in the village who never married. She was talented with herbs however and so allowed to be odd. If Newt could learn a skill well enough, he might be allowed as she was.

“P-Percy,” Newt whined out, the first wet lap of a tongue his skin making him shiver. It felt so dirty and wrong, to be touched there but something about it also very so very good. It made the hunger in Newt’s belly twist up and his own cock go hard and needy.

Each wet slurping sound made him whimper, the feel of the hot breath on his skin and then that long lap made Newt clutch at the grass. His hips rocked of their own intent, Newt panting as Percival worked, got Newt’s lust so riled up he was gasping out and shoving back. Feeling Percival's long monster tongue press at his hole, wanting to invade Newt’s body. Pushing intently as he closed his eyes tight and focused on that feeling. His hole fluttering as he felt the sloppy kisses against it.

Newt felt Percival pull back a touch and then his long tongue lapped at Newts hanging cock. Percival lifted Newt’s weight easily, his knees lifting off the grass as Percival held him by the hips so he could reach as he pleased without bending down so far. He licked at Newt’s cock, catching the stray drips from the tip and making it throb even harder with the wet lapping.

“Percy,” he whined out, far too loud in the calm forest as he shivered and spilled his seed. The monster was ready for it, licking it all up before it could fall the grass. He leisurely cleaned Newt after, grooming him more then teasing it felt like as Newt gasped for his breath. Newt was set back down onto his hands and knees and he wasn’t surprised when Percival was over his back.

“I really do have to go home,” Newt whispered meekly, face feeling hot and red as the monster over him nuzzled his ear and licked at Newt’s neck. He felt the heat of Percival’s long thick cock brushing over Newt’s thighs, His leggings tangled at his knees still. He leaned forward a bit, pressing his thighs together as Percival arranged himself over Newt’s slight body. Pressing so he could rut his cock against Newt’s thighs. The length already dripping and wet making a mess.  

Feeling so dizzily eager, Newt tried to ignore his spent cock wanting another round. They could go back and forth four or fives times some days. But Newt couldn’t waste time. Still, it would be far too rude to let himself spill and not return the favor. So Newt laid plaint and willing, his body rocked with each lunge of Percival’s powerful form. His cock moving back and forth between Newt’s thighs as he pressed them together, feeling that fat length sliding back and forth.

Percival licked at his ear and the side of his face, scenting his hair and grooming and he rumbled approvingly. Wet sounds filled the air, the thump each time Perceval pressed down, his fur growing wet at his lap and feeling so dirtily wrong and oh so good.

Newt let out soft sounds, rythmic to the each motion. As Percival’s pace increased so did Newt’s moans. The beast going faster now, pumping hard and Newt could feel the slick on his thighs increasing. Percival produced a great deal of seed, often dripping a great deal during sexual acts and coming a big mess as well. Newt could feel and hear the lewd slaps, his skin soaked now. Whimpering as Percival huffed in his ear and fucked his thighs relentlessly Newt could feel himself getting hard and throbbing so fast. The way Percival was pounding against him so stimulating, making him want more, the burn of being filled up.

Newt wanted to be fucked.

They had done so many things together, but Percival had never tried to penetrate Newt, always content between his thighs.

Crying out, he felt Percival began to swell up and puse tellingly. He clenched his thighs at the monster over him growled out and lunged as far as he could, the tip poking out under Newt as it spilled. Newt shover a hand under his belly and cupped the head, the pulse if come into his palm falling to the grass as Newt yanked his shirt higher up to avoid messing it. He didn't have time to wash it in the river.

Percival’s seed overflowed against his palm, dripping down between his fingers, warm enough to be almost hot. Thick and sticky ad percvial snarled out and Newt’s hips rocked on their own, his own cock dragging against the wet grass, everything slicked with Percival’s seed and the slide enough to make him spill a second time. Newt whimpered out, Percival’s tongue on his neck as he shivered and slumped to the ground.  

He let Percival groom him a bit, lazily licking at Newt's skin and hair affectionately. But once Newt feel like he could, he began to wiggle out from under his beastly lover. Percival grumbled but let him, pulling up so Newt could roll to the side and avoid getting the puddle of seed on his leggins. There was bit of course, there always was, but not so much he couldn't wipe it away. His one hand already dripping messily.

With a fond sigh, Newt went about cleaning himself up, getting his leggings back up and going to the river shore to clean himself up as best as he could. Percival followed him lazily, relaxed now that he’d gotten a go at Newt.

“There you go,” Newt told him, going to his side and reaching over to drop a kiss to Percival’s head lightly. “Don’t be all mopy with me when I take a bit to come around again, I really do have to help out with the festival,” he explained gently.

Newt retrieved his bag, glad to see he still had fish and no one had come and stolen them while he was preoccupied.

“Wish me luck? I do really hope this goes well,” Newt called, waving to Percival who remained at the river’s edge as Newt headed back to the village.

It went as Newt expected it would, not great but not horrid either. He didn’t make any new friendships but people were nice to him. He stayed but his family's side mostly, helping Theseus clean his kills and his father gather wheat in the field for the harvest. He helped his mother pick flowers and herbs to dry, working to create a strong offering to add to the village winter storage. Newt was another hand helping but he didn’t bring the same way Theseus did when he caught rabbit after rabbit and a larger deer. They butchered the beasts and put the meat in pickling jars and dried out other cuts to save for the depth of winter. Newt’s father helped grow the wheat and his mother knew her herbs and where to find them. Newt was better at that, knowing where in the forest to find the more rare ones, some even his mother hadn’t know of. Perhaps he could make his worth in that.

Newt woke each morning with his family and worked with who ever needed help that day, right until it was dark and time to sleep. The nights began to grow more colder and they kept the fires burning later. Newt ate bread and bits of meat for lunch during breaks in the fields with his father. He couldn’t work the scythe as well but he was decent at gathering the wheat and tying it into neat bundles. Other days he followed Theseus on the hunt and felt a bit bad for seeing beast more than he ever admitted too.

“It’s not a bad thing, to have mercy in you,” Theseus told him kindly when the took a break and cleaned rabbits by the river.

Newt tried to look confused but Theseus knew him too well for it.

“Your eyes always dart when you see something, but then you hesitate to reveal whatever creature you saw,” Theseus explained. “I use to think you were distracted but now I can see your gaze is far more sharp than you ever admit. You notice more in the winter when we've had bad hunts and need to meat more I realized.”

“Thee,” Newt felt guilt swell in his chest, glancing at the other hunters who were out of earshot.

“It’s ok Newt, to have mercy. The Graves is fond of the forest you know, not just hunting and killing, but life as well, creatures and their natures. You know?” Theseus smiled reassuringly and Newt felt a great swell of affection for his elder sibling. Theseus had always been kind to Newt, doting on him when other siblings in the village fought far more.

“I’m a bit relieved really, you’ve got a really good shot with a bow Newt, if you aimed more to kill you’d probably be far better a hunter than me, then where would I be?” Theseus grinned and Newt felt himself return it.

“You've the favor of the Graves, you'd still be very useful for that alone,” Newt offered.

“I suppose but…” Theseus huffed. “That’s different, I don’t feel like I actually do anything really. I’ve never understood it. To have the favor of someone I’ve never even seen.”

Newt blinked, frowning a bit and glancing at the people not listening to them. Ill talk of the god was very frowned upon.

“Not that I’m not very grateful,” Theseus added quickly, glancing around as if the great god might be lurking around somewhere. “I just don’t understand why he likes me or how to make sure I’m doing what he wants. The elders say I’m doing just fine, but I feel like I should try more.”

Newt bit his lip to hold in all the questions that wanted to pour forth.

“But you see him don’t you? Turing the night festival?”

Theseus nodded his head slowly.

“It’s hard to explain, you don't look at him.”

Newt nodded his head eagerly. Children weren't allowed to the night festival or the offering ceremony. The adults didn’t speak of it either beyond what you were to do. Keep your head down and offer thanks. Looking upon a god enraged them and they would kill you on the spot if you dared to glance up. Some said people couldn’t look at a god without aging into dust immediately. It sounded terrifying and utterly exhilarating.  

“He’s never shown me any attention or anything, he just pauses at our family and seemed to look at us. Then he walks to the altar and takes what he wants and then leaves. It's over in a  few minutes.”

Newt took the information carefully, turning it over in his head.

“No one sees him bring in the favor he gives?”

Graves always brought a deer, shot with a single arrow mark and always right in the head, a instant and painless death. It would appear at their doorstep every morning. Newt could hear the shuffle every time, coming awake but never once daring to open his eyes, heart pounding in fear every time.

Theseus shook his head.

“Everyone gets drunk and stumbles home, some people see it if they stay up all night but no one's ever seen him deliver it.”

Newt chewed his lip and considered keeping quiet. But the ‘thump thump’ of the gods footsteps would echo in his chest every time, the sound of breath like a great beast and the sound of the deer on the doorstep burned into his memory over the years, since he was a boy. Newt had always thought everyone could hear it but never spoke of it.

“You’ve never… heard anything?” Newt whispered meekly and Theseus blinked at him, staring a moment.

“You’ve heard him?” He asked, his eyes going wide in a way that told Newt he shouldn’t have said anything.

The other hunters called them, ready to move on and Newt went hastily feeling his brother’s gaze on him the entire time. Newt avoiding being alone with Theseus after that and his brother left him be, but when he looked at Newt, his gaze was different, trying to place something it felt like.

“You helped with the honey last year,” Theseus mentioned over dinner the next night, Newt looking up at him. He chewed his meat and nodded his head in positive.

“And the flower wreaths the year before, and the jars of rabbit stew before that?”

“A bit, I help with lots of things though,” Newt replied with a bit of a confused frown.

“I know, it’s just, I was thinking and everything Graves takes from the altar you’ve helped with, as far back as I can recall.”

Both of their parents looked up sharply, staring at Theseus.

Newt flushed and looked down at his plate, wishing his brother wouldn’t do this to him. Put such thoughts into his head. Newt wasn’t special, he was just Newt. He had no real skills, why would a god want him of all people?

“But you’re the better hunter,” Newt pointed out. “You’ve the one the village likes best and much better at everything than I am.”

“That’s not true,” their mum huffed, reaching out pat Newt’s arm affectionately.

“We’ve all skills and strengths of our own. Enough of this talk, you’ll bring discord on us,” she warned and they both nodded. Newt sent an apologetic thought to the Graves god, hoping he took no offense. Newt would be very grateful if for some reason the god did indeed favor Newt but was also content to let it be Theseus. He only wanted the village to be happy and safe.  

Thankfully, Theseus kept his thoughts on the matter to himself after that and never said anything to anyone else. No one stared at Newt or mutter about him, just ignoring him as he always had been. Drifting through the village at ease, used to being left alone. He missed his morning walks and having time to visit the depths of the forests. It felt like it had been far too long since he saw Percival, since his body had that sort of relief.

But the festival was tonight and once it was over Newt would have time to himself again. For now he remained dedicated to his family and village.

It seemed both too fast and too slow for the night to come. The village spent the day in a celebration, ending daily duties early to share in a large feast. Music played and children ran wild in the square, a good cheer shared by all. Theseus kept Newt close as usual, making a point to include him in conversations and others followed suit, willing to talk with Newt to please Theseus. Still, it was nice to make light chatter with the people he had grown up around. Newt sipped the mead given to him and looked over the square, his heart content and happy to see everyone else enjoying themselves. This was his home after all, and Newt just wanted to see it do well and flourish.  

#fanfic #gramander #percival graves #newt scamander #wip

[bijuewled]

Charmed: Chapter 8

A/N: And here’s another chapter! I hope you guys enjoy Natsu and Lucy’s encounter in the Fairy Tail annual battle of the sexes! The results of the games will be at the end of this chapter. Who do you think will win? And who has the flag? All will be answered at the end of this chapter! Enjoy the nalu!

Note: The area where Gray and Juvia had their face off is down the road from where Natsu is in this chapter, like a mile down the road by the river, hope that helps give some perspective!

And there’s a scene with Gray and Juvia in this chapter that happens as Natsu finds Lucy!

Read all parts here

You can also read it here on ff.net

Word Count: 11,689

Rating: M (language and themes)

Summary: As the days grew older, they grew closer; closer than they could’ve ever imagined. And as an innate power forces itself upon Lucy, she becomes a piece of a destiny that would be beyond her control; for the one who bears the mark of gold is charmed with the power to destroy everything..and to begin everything anew.

                                        Chapter Eight: Down and Dirty

                                                           o-o-o

“I know you’re here.”

Natsu’s eyes narrowed as if he were solving a math equation, staring down the numbers before waiting for the answer to jump out at him, not because he didn’t know how to solve said equation, but because he needed to see the bigger picture before he could submit his answer. Then again, he’d never taken a math test in his life, let alone written anything down on a piece of paper. Igneel had learned that Natsu’s tactile approach on everyday demeanors also applied to teaching the kid math through pebbles and twigs, and sometimes even berries he’d pluck off of bushes and pop right into Natsu’s mouth as a reward. Even Makarov never sat Natsu down and made him take written tests like the others, knowing he’d just get bored and set his paper on fire.

No, he prefered a more hands on approach to handling the problems that faced him, or rather, the problems that currently hid from him.

Natsu grinned as he stared as the restless body of water in front of him. His eyes traced the waves enthusiastically as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Never in his life had Natsu been so genuinely excited about water.

“Ne, Natsu?” Happy chirped next to him, frowning down at the water, cautiously keeping his paws away from the parts of the cobblestone path that were a dark gray shade from being damp. “We’ve been here for a while now...don’t you think that we would’ve found Lucy by now?”

Natsu looked down at his blue partner beside his feet before bending down and scratching him softly between his ears. “If it were anyone but Lucy, I’d agree with you Buddy.” Natsu told him, his eyes scanning the water slowly.

Everything had clicked when he ran into Bixslow and Freed, of course it wasn’t Juvia who soaked them to the brim with a giant wave. That wasn’t true to her style anyway, and if it were her, she would’ve sent the two swimming into the next town, not purposely of course. He knew just as well that Lucy had the capacity to do the same, but she wouldn’t do that to anyone in Fairy Tail, other than himself maybe. And it was absolutely uncanny of the blonde to help out a teammate in need, like helping Lisanna escape from Natsu’s teammates so that they could keep one of their own in the game.

“I know you’re here Lucy!” Natsu grinned, raising his right arm and swiftly brushing his fingers through his spiky pink locks, the heat of the dying sun locked onto his hair and spreading across his palm.

The water released a metallic smell that filled Natsu’s nose, leaving an unappealing taste on his tongue. He’d always resented walking next to this part of the river, and he could put all the blame on the smell alone; the perfect spot for many to throw jewel coins into the river and make useless wishes for future love or more money, which seemed so counterproductive to Natsu since the dummies were throwing money away to wish for more money. He couldn’t fathom what sense that made to anyone, with all the money that was glittering below the slow rushing water he could buy himself an exotic pet, like a lizard that breathed fire or even a five course meal that could satisfy him for days. Lucy, however, had scoffed at his statements of the wasteful money at first, believing in the fun of making wishes and throwing the coins in the water when the two of them had stopped for a snack at the bakery near the famous money wasting spot once after a job. Natsu wasn’t a huge sweet tooth, but the owner of the bakery enjoyed whenever Natsu came by ever since he’d scared off a man trying to rob the place once upon a time. He was so appreciative that he’d even developed a special recipe for cake that involved hot sauce mixed into the butter cream frosting and hot tamale candies baked into the batter. Natsu had told her she was nuts, nuttier than the chunks of almonds that were baked into the slice of cake that sat on her plate. She’d rolled her eyes at him, and looked out towards a couple holding hands and throwing multiple coins in the river. Natsu openly smirked at her when her eyes soon began to narrow, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance as another couple began to throw multiple coins into the water, followed by one small child taking an entire coin purse and turning it over so that her coins fell into the water with a giant splash, exclaiming to her mother that she’d have extra luck in making her wish come true if she used more coins. Lucy swallowed harshly, closing her eyes and reaching for her cup of tea.

Later that night, Natsu had knocked on her window and the two exchanged silent eye contact through the glass for a good ten seconds, before Lucy reached down to open it for him.

“I’ll get my coat.”

They hadn’t stopped sifting through the dirt caked on the bottom of the river until they’d picked out every coin they could find. Lucy had contracted a bad cold after their night of coin diving, but she’d treated herself by buying a new sweater with the jewel she’d acquired.

Natsu smirked at the memory, glancing down at the new coins that shone beneath the water as he walked by. They’d have to have another dive session soon.

Natsu stopped in his tracks, the thought of the water rushing through his mind and turning the wheels in his head. He bit down on his cheek inside his mouth, tasting even more of the scents of the coins before an idea burned brightly into his mind, a grin spreading across his face slowly.

“Happy,” Natsu began kneeling down onto the ground and looking to his partner “I’m gonna need ya to fly up high for me.”

The Exceed frowned at the Dragon Slayer “Huh?” he chirped “What for?”

Natsu laughed, stretching his right hand over the water next to him as he felt the fabric of his pants near his knee dampen. Images of a soaking wet Freed and Bixslow swam through his mind as his fingers inched closer to the water below. The liquid danced teasingly beneath his palm as Lucy’s face sparkled its way into his psyche next, making him grin mischievously as he felt the blood in his veins begin to simmer, shooting down into his hand. A slight steam began to rise up from the top of the water, tickling his skin as it left small drops of water to cling onto his muscles.

The dragonslayer grinned. “It’s gonna get hot.”

Happy sprouted his wings and let himself levitate a few feet above the water, eagerly waiting for Natsu to give him the signal to increase his height.

If Lucy wasn’t gonna come out of her watery hiding spot, he’d just have to make her. Plain and simple.

But then again, it was never that way with the two of them.

“Na-” Happy could barely exclaim before water spurted out from the river at lightning speed, directly at the Exceed. Natsu’s ears were filled with mixed sounds of rushing water and Happy’s cry of surprise as he watched his blue friend be launched across the golden sky, his little voice growing fainter and fainter as the jet of water rained down upon Natsu, dampening his hair and making it stick down flat to his temples.

“Happy!” Natsu exclaimed, motioning to hop up from his kneeling position before something cold and wet wrapped itself around his right arm, slamming him back onto the cobblestones, a sharp pain shooting up his knee. He gritted his teeth as he saw the water wrap around his arm like a vice, squeezing his arm tightly and leaving it numb. His eyes widened as he felt it pull him more and more into the river, the force immensely strong, as if a weight were on the other side. He growled a low growl of frustration, as the water had made its way up and above his elbow and clamped down onto his shoulder. He fought the liquid, pressing his feet onto the cobblestones and straining to stand up straight.

“Damn it!” he cursed to himself as he struggled to make a fist with his submerged hand. He felt the muscles in his arm strain as he saw small bubbles beginning to fill the water around his arm. He gritted his teeth even harder as steam began to rise from his arm, sweat dripping down his temple as he struggled to figure out why the water hadn’t evaporated away.

However, he didn’t have much time to dwindle on that fact, as his ears picked up on the sound of another jet of water shooting out of the river and this time, wrapping itself around his torso and neck. He coughed violently as the water hardened around him like a vice, and before he could even blink, he was swept off of the cobblestones and was dragged into the cold water, bubbles rushing into his vision and filling his ears. He grimaced as he tasted the metallic undertones of the water, a few coins lightly slapping his calves as he opened his blazing eyes to see nothing but dark blue depth up ahead.

Not bad he thought to himself briefly before his lungs suddenly were able to take in oxygen, his head breaking the surface of the water. He panted slightly as he felt his arms stiffen against his sides, the water around him feeling sort of like the jelly Mira spread on his toast at the guild.

“Sorry for the roughness.” a familiar voice apologized to him as he swiftly directed his attention towards it, eyes blurred and irritated from the water. “But I can’t have you evaporating the river on me like that.”

Lucy always had a certain way of showing everybody up, and he couldn’t understand how she did it each and every time. Whether it was opening the front doors of the guild and swinging her hips slightly as she walked in or even when she brushed her hair behind her shoulders as she doused a piece of paper with words from her pen, she always managed to stand out.  

And seeing her in that moment was no exception.

She was like a fairy, balancing atop the rushing water as if it were solid ground, small droplets of water floating around her arms and legs. Her peach skin was almost tinted a darker orange with the sunset, making her blonde hair appear extra gold; it swished behind her shoulders in the wind, the red tie in her hair moving along with it.

She looked out into the distance with an embarrassed grin. “I’ll have to get Happy some really delicious fish after this. I didn’t mean to send him flying to the next town.”

Natsu spit some water out of his mouth and grinned at her. “What? And I don’t get an apology?”

Lucy’s eyes met his, and her sheepish grin turned into a confident one. She had a familiar twinkle in her eyes. “You’ve had this coming to you for a while now.”

“Tsk.” he shook his head. “I’m hurt.”

Natsu looked her up and down, her attire completely changed from the similar uniform look the girls’ team had donned. It wasn’t like he’d never seen her like this before, in fact it was the same outfit she’d produced in his memory of refilling the lake at the park. His eyes traced the long black zig-zagged line across her chest, the yellow and green straps of her bikini top overlapping them on her collarbone. The only difference that he could spot in her appearance was the suspicious red flag tucked into the side of her skirt. But yet, he felt that there was something else he was missing, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“You’re not getting this from me.” she locked eyes with him as he looked up at her, her fingertips brushing the fabric lightly. “Not if I, nor the sun, has anything to say about it.”

She took a step towards him, ripples of water spreading out in lethargic circles as her slow gait brought her closer and closer to Natsu. He narrowed his eyes as she looked down on him with the utmost satisfaction. It added a small blush to her cheeks, brightening up her complexion a little, almost the same shade as the small amounts of pink painted across the sherbert sky. Hell, it even made her eyes more pronounced, bringing out that exciting spark that ignited her pupils whenever she was determined to do something.

He’d secretly always liked that spark. It reminded him of why she was his partner, why they picked each other.

He felt his mouth curl upwards in a smirk, and she stopped in her footsteps, frowning skeptically as he felt the water pressure around him tighten. This only made him chuckle softly, watching as his partner stared him down with a sour suspicion painted all over her face.

“It’s a good thing that I don’t give a crap about what the sun has to say.” he told her as-a-matter-of-factly.

He felt a delicious and familiar power boil through his veins, rushing down into his toes and fingertips. When he felt the bubbles begin to pop on his skin, his smirk transformed into a wide grin as he watched Lucy’s eyes widen in horror.

“Now I’m really fired up.”

And in just a flash, the river would be as well.

o-o-o

Lucy felt the heat on her face before she could even process what was about to happen. Her lips parted slightly, though her voice would not yield to her desire to use it as she watched the bubbles form rapidly around Natsu, popping like popcorn. The water around them began to stir uneasily, splashing against her feet and hitting her exposed skin where her sandals didn’t cover her completely. Her stomach dropped when she realized that the water was extremely warm, almost hot.

She looked into Natsu’s mischevous eyes, and her stomach dropped to her feet.

She’d wasted too much time.

A sudden roaring of boiling water filled her ears as hot steam blew all around her, stinging her eyes and making them water, making her gasp in surprise. Losing her footing, she fell backwards onto her butt, her Aquarius Stardress allowing her to remain above the water rather than falling into it. It took only a few more seconds before she felt herself sinking into the mud and stones that lingered below the once full river. She watched in horror as the steam continued to billow around her, frizzing up the ends of her hair and making sweat drip down her temples. She bit down on the inside of her cheek in frustration. What else did she expect from Natsu? He’d pulled a stunt like this before afterall, so she didn’t understand what logic in her brain told her that she would be able to hold him with her constricting currents. She glanced upwards at the sky, squinting through the steam. She could at least be relieved that Happy was out of the picture for the moment, the poor exceed probably draped over a tree branch with the wind knocked out of him, she’d make sure to give her apologies to the cat the next time she saw him.

The mud beneath her began to suction her more securely into its surface, and she grunted as she plunged her feet into the ground and clenched her fists, pushing herself up out of the mud, her fingers brushing against some coins as she did so. She let out an annoyed tsk as she wiped the mud off of her hands and onto her legs, shuddering as she tried to convince herself that she was at that spa in Bellea and the mud was just a moisturizing mask that would make her skin glisten.

She gritted her teeth and swiped off a piece of mud from her cheek and she looked ahead of her, the steam still billowing around her, shielding Natsu from her vision, and her from Natsu’s she soon came to realize.

This might be my only chance to turn things around she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and let her Stardress fade from her body with a swift flash of glitter. She reached upwards and tightened her ponytail, paying no mind to the small bits of mudd she felt caked onto her hair, it was the least of her worries.

Her fingers brushed against the sturdy keys attached to her hip, and she swiftly drew one from the keyring, her eyes quickly sweeping over the symbol on the top of it, confirming to herself that it was the key she needed.

She held it out in front of her, and poured her magic into the metal, the satisfactional feeling of a connection being made filling her body.

“Open.” she whispered.

This was her last shot, and there was no way she’d mess this up.

o-o-o

Natsu grinned to himself as the steam around him rose up towards the sky, the wind blowing the vapor away from the river that once existed around him. He laughed to himself, patting himself on the back for wiping out the water around him as if it were a mere puddle. He’d have to ask Lucy and Juvia to refill the river once the game was over, a favor to the winner from the losing team.

Natsu ran his hand through his ruffled-up hair, and grinned once he began to see a female silhouette begin to form up ahead, the curves all too familiar to him.

“And I thought you knew me by now!” Natsu called out to her in a taunting matter, his left hand clenched into a fist and resting on his hip, his other hand up hear his face, his thumb pointed at himself, the rest of his fingers in a fist. “Water can’t stop this dragon slayer!”

The steam was almost fully cleared, and Natsu finally caught a glimpse of his opponent.

She’d gone through another outfit change, her bikini top and skirt had been exchanged for a bodysuit and half sleeve look, coattails jutting out from her curved hips. She stood with her legs planted firmly on the ground-in the mud no less-her long, blonde ponytail draped over her right shoulder, and right below the tip of her hair was the infamous piece of red fabric he sought after.

“You may be right.” he heard her speak clearly, smirking as she lazily flipped her hair over her shoulder. “So maybe it’s time I leveled the playing field.”

It was then that Natsu realized that she wasn’t alone, another shadow stood right next to her at attention, ready to attack. Natsu zoned in on the pointed ears and long neck, and he immediately knew who was next to Lucy.

He watched as she held out her hand, and with a small flash, a bow and arrow materialized into the air and landed perfectly into her outstretched hand, her fingers wrapping around the weapon confidently. As swiftly as the weapon arrived, she pointed it towards him, her fingers wrapped around the tail of the arrow and string, completely in charge.

Natsu grinned at her, huffing in satisfaction. “It’s been a while, Sagittarius!”

“Moshimoshi!” the spirit beside the blonde nodded to the dragon slayer. “Natsu-dono.”

He held a similar stance to his master’s, bow aimed and ready to fire. The sight of the two of them almost set him on edge, sending excited chills down his spine as Lucy flashed him with a confident grin.

“A little too muddy don’t you think?” Natsu asked aloud, directing his question towards Lucy, looking her up and down. “Wouldn’t want someone’s hooves to slip out from under them.”

“You just worry about your own hooves, ‘kay?” Lucy fired back at him, shooting a nod towards the horse next to her. “We’ve gotten pretty steady on our feet.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Natsu nodded, grinning as he clenched his hands into fists, orange sparks of baby flames flying out from his skin, the warmth of the fire egging him on and increasing his adrenaline, the battle before him sure to be an exciting and thrilling one.

They stared each other down for a solid three seconds before the sparks ignited.

“Bring it on.” he taunted, his leg muscles twitching.

She smiled at him and aligned her arrow with her target, her fingers steady.

“Oh, I intend to.”

And she sent her arrow flying.

o-o-o

In the duration of his whole life, there was only one time that Elfman had ever felt an immense amount of fear. It was years ago, after he’d regained consciousness from the beast magic invading his brain seeing his little sister bleeding and dying on the ground, the rocks around her bright red and wet from the rain. The fear that he had killed his sister, that his innocent little Lisanna was dying because of his actions pounded through his body. And to make matters worse, this had all been too painfully true. Which is why ever since she’d returned to them, he swore he’d never let fear overtake him ever again, swearing to himself that he’d push away the fear and take control.

And it was because of this promise to himself that he now stood outside of the bakery with a pained look on his face, walking down the steps in a lethargic manner with a piece of cake sitting perfectly on a plate.

He kept his eyes on the manly pink frosting as he felt the blazing stare of his teammates on him. He didn’t dare look up from his dessert.

“She...gave me cake.” was all he said to them, to which they groaned collectively.

They had a long way to go.

o-o-o

Natsu’s eyes widened as he watched Lucy switch the trajectory of her aim within a second’s notice, her response to him lunging at her all of a sudden. Natsu was able to catch a glimpse of her fired up eyes before his vision suddenly turned dark. A cold and damp substance smacked him right in the face, the feeling travelling across his arms and legs and permeating throughout his neck. He tasted earth and grime on his tongue, his face scrunching up with the metallic taste. He brought his arm up and swiped it across his face, clearing his vision for only a few seconds before he watched Sagittarius release his arrow, pointed at the ground like Lucy had moments before. He released the arrow, and Natsu’s vision was once again darkened by damp and cold black.

Lucy certainly knew how to use her surroundings to her advantage. Natsu silently praised her for using the mud around them, it almost made him smile as he thought back to the person he once thought Lucy was, back when they went on their first mission together. Back then, she complained over a snowstorm and hid in that Grandfather Clock looking spirit of hers. And now looking at her-well with what vision he had through the mud-she was getting down and dirty with the elements. It excited him, amusing him even.

His sharp hearing heard Lucy pull back on her bow once more, and he swiftly jumped backwards as he wiped the mud away from his eyes once more. The wet earth splattered onto his legs but he’d managed to dodge the brunt force of it.

Gotta stop her from shooting he thought to himself. He glanced down at the section of ground he was about to land on, and with a snap of his fingers he sent his fire blazing down on to the ground. The mudd succumbed to his flames, and turned hard and cracked. He landed atop of it smoothly, the dried pieces of mudd breaking off and hitting his ankles. With no extra second to spare, he launched himself towards Lucy.

Surprise filled her eyes as she took a half a step backwards as Natsu’s hand reached out towards her, adrenaline filling his body with the anticipation of victory.

However, that spirit completely left his body when he felt a hand grab onto his ankle and pull him down. He gasped in surprise as his stomach hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him as he gritted his teeth.

“What in the hell-” he said aloud before he turned towards the hand, meeting a pair of sapphire blue eyes piercing into his.

“Nice, Virgo!” Lucy exclaimed confidently, triggering a nod from the celestial being.

She was covered in mud, her pink hair matted up with the stuff, her usually neat dress adorned with the wet earth. She was in a similar position as Natsu, sprawled out on her stomach drenched in mud.

“Thank you, Princess.” the maid saidly plainly.

Natsu smirked at his partner, watching as she smiled back at him mockingly, swiping a piece of mud off of her cheek. “So we’re playing dirty now, huh?”

Lucy crossed her muddy arms. “Nothing dirty about it. It’s my magic, and last time I was concerned you’re the one who decided to play dirty.” she told him, gesturing towards the muddy ground around him. “I was looking forward to a mud bath from the spa, but this isn’t what I had in mind.”

Lucy watched Natsu as he laughed, propping himself up onto his elbows. “Sorry to say you won’t be making it to the spa. But the guys and I will be sure to tell you all about it!” he laughed. “This is the closest you’ll get to a mud bath.” his eyes swept around them, talking about the mud before he returned his look to the blonde.

Lucy closed her eyes in annoyance and huffed. “You boys are too dense to fully appreciate that spa. And this?” she gentured around her. “You call this a treatment?”

“I call this a pleasurable punishment.” Virgo chimed in, making Lucy sigh in exasperation. “Though it seems that Natsu-san wishes to get down and dirty with you.”

Natsu choked, coughing up the rough air in his lungs as Virgo’s words reached his ears. His throat felt dry as his eyes widened, to which he awkwardly glanced off to the side. Virgo had said some racy stuff in the past, that’s for sure, but her choice of words this time around made the fire in Natsu’s body heat up his face to a light pink. He glanced back at Virgo slowly, sweat beading on his temples as she looked right back at him innocently.

“Well, is it not true?” she asked him, looking from Natsu to Lucy.

“V-Virgo!” Lucy stuttered, her face glowing bright red. Her fingers around her bow shook uncomfortably.

“Is there not mud around us?”

Natsu and Lucy exhaled shakily, both of them releasing the uncomfortable stiffness to their bodies. Sure, that was his intention after all, in a matter of terms. He purposely didn’t dry up the ground below the water all the way completely, hoping he could use the mudd to his advantage to make it harder to move for Lucy, though he had no idea that she’d turn the tables on him and use the mud to her own advantage instead. Not to say that he didn’t think that there was a possibility that Lucy would have a plan up her sleeve, she wouldn’t be the person he knew if this were the case. She was smart, unyielding.

Natsu glanced up at the sky. He gritted his teeth as he realized that his time was almost up.

“You’re right,” he began, bringing his palms together. His words caught Lucy’s full attention, she tightened her grip on her bow, bracing herself for Natsu’s next move. His eyes swept down to the mud beneath him, then back at Lucy. He saw her eyes widen, and he knew that she knew what he was about to do.

“So, let’s change that.”

Screw the mud. Time to make things work in his favor.

His hands ignited, and he shoved them into the ground.

o-o-o

Juvia and Gray stopped in their tracks, halting their conversation as they watched the water in the river beside them begin to sizzle, steam billowing upwards to the sky. It reminded Gray of a hot tub, though hot tubs usually didn’t lose water as they heated up.

Juvia’s hair began to frizz up as she and Gray exchanged puzzled looks. Gray felt his face heat up from the steam, making him extremely uncomfortable as sweat pooled around his temples.

“What on earthland…” Juvia said as she watched the last of the water bubble down into the ground, creating streaks of mud in between the old cobblestones beneath the river. “What could be-”

She cut herself off as Gray shot her a look, and she immediately knew the answer.

“Natsu.” They both repeated in unison.

o-o-o

“Virgo!” Lucy shouted, throwing her bow out before her as it vanished with a flash.

“Understood!”

Natsu felt Virgo’s grip on him vanish. His ears picked up the sound of digging, and Virgo’s scent was suddenly dulled from his senses. No matter, he had work to do.

His flames worked almost immediately, spreading across the ground at a rapid pace and drying up the sticky mud, turning it into crust. He pushed against the ground and sprung upwards, running after his flames towards Lucy.

“Time to end this!” he exclaimed, giving everything he had in his stride. He watched as Lucy jumped backwards a little, her eyes darting to the ground and the fire that raced towards her.

The ground began to shake slightly, which Natsu picked up almost instantly. And with a sudden crack, he watched as a muddy figure popped out of the soft ground, an area his fire had not yet touched.

“Now!” Lucy exclaimed as she dashed forwards, leaping a few feet up off of the ground. Natsu’s eyes widened as the muddy figure, who he had quickly realized was Virgo, knelt down to the ground and held out her cupped palms. Her hands caught Lucy’s foot, and she sent the blonde flying up into the air. Natsu stopped in his tracks as Virgo winked in his direction and disappeared with a sparkling flash, right before his fire swept over the ground where she was standing.

Another flash of light caught Natsu’s attention, and he looked up to watch Lucy’s body engulfed in glitter.  He watched as the tails of her top melted away and when the light faded, she was wearing a new black and red outfit. She almost looked like a ninja.

“Sand Barrage!” she called out, throwing her palms together. A huge burst of sand spun in the air from her efforts, creating a sort of twister. The twister broke apart into four parts, and they shot out all around her, slamming into Natsu’s flames and effectively putting them out.

She landed atop of her hand, a little unsteadily Natsu noticed, her feet sinking into the huge layer of sand ungracefully. She grunted softly, but didn’t have time to focus on the ground as Natsu used his fire in his palms to shoot himself towards Lucy. She whirled around with wide eyes as she watched Natsu’s hand approach her waist, his fingertips inches from tagging her. She cried out in surprise, and Natsu was yet again met with darkness. He felt the sand invade his eyes and hair, falling into his eyelashes as he shook his head.

“No fair!” he exclaimed. “Ya don’t see me trying to shoot fire in your face!”

“That’s because if you ever did, you would never see the sun again!” she exclaimed furiously.

Natsu shook the sand away from his eyes only to see Lucy engulfed in light once more, changing back into her Aquarius Stardress. Without skipping a beat, she threw her hands down onto the ground and shot a heavy stream of water everywhere, dampening the sand. She heard Natsu’s advance, and her head shot upwards as she dodged his hand once more.

The two continued this dance of theirs for the next few minutes, Lucy dodging Natsu’s tag attempts and Natsu bending backwards to avoid Lucy’s lips, the mage trying her best to plant a kiss on him.

The ground around them had become nothing short of a disaster. Lucy’s water attack had made the ground soggy and almost impossible to walk or run smoothly on. Their scuffling hadn’t helped the situation either, mixing the wet sand with the dry dirt, which was mud again.

The final time that Natsu dodged her mouth, Lucy glared at him, angry fire brewing in her eyes.

“Get over here already!” she exclaimed, lunging for him once more, only slipping on her own feet and landing face first into the sandy-mud mixture.

Natsu burst into laughter as Lucy raised her head to glare at him, nothing but her eyes visible from under the tan and brown sludge. Her glare made him laugh even harder, making his muscles ache.

“You TOTALLY deserved that!” he exclaimed with glee, his laughter growing as Lucy’s attempt to scramble to her feet ended in her slipping back onto the ground. The agitated look on her face amused him as he made his way over to her to end the game, still laughing at an obnoxious volume.

That is, until he himself slipped in the mud and sand.

He fell face-first for the second time that day, and this time he heard Lucy’s laughter ring in the air.

“Karma!” She exclaimed “Doesn’t feel so hot, does it?!”

“Yeah, Yeah.” Natsu rolled his eyes. “Hilarious.” He propped himself up onto his elbows once more that day, and balanced on one of them to point at his partner. “I’m getting that flag from you! Even if I-”

He halted his speech, his lips parted from his unfinished speech. He stared at Lucy long and hard, making sure that his eyes weren’t tricking him. This made Lucy frown at him with confusion, obviously not seeing what he was currently observing.

“What?” she asked him, blinking slowly. “Is there something in my hair?” she patted her head worryingly, eyes darting around frantically.

“Where’s the flag?”

“Huh?” she frowned at him, her brown eyes big and naive. “What are you talking about?”

Natsu grunted as he hoisted himself up off of the ground onto his knees. “Your flag is gone.”

Lucy blinked at him slowly, and Natsu stared right back at her evenly, unwavering. She was leaning on her side, her left side of her body supporting her weight in the mud. Her key holder was exposed, some of her keys poking through prominently.  

Her face slowly melted into an annoyed one, eyes narrowing.

“Nice try.” she said dryly. “You want me to look away so that I won’t see you coming towards me. That’s the oldest trick in the book, bud.”

“Luce, I’m dead serious.” Natsu countered, his eyes sweeping around them frantically, searching for any sign of something red. “Where is it?”

“Natsu, stop.” Lucy rolled her eyes, reaching for her hip. “I know for a fact that it’s right-”

She stopped talking as her fingertips only touched the green silk of her skirt. Her eyes widened as she slowly glanced down to find that Natsu was right. The flag was gone.

“What?!” Lucy exclaimed, releasing her magic and transforming back into her original outfit of her red t-shirt and black shorts. She patted her side down frantically, lifting her red shirt to see if it had sunk beneath the fabric.

“Hmph.” Natsu huffed. “I’d say I told you so but-”

“Oh shut it!” Lucy fired back, panic rising in her features as she hoisted herself up onto her knees, digging her hands into the earth around her. She threw clumps of sand and mud around her, digging till she reached stone. “No, No, NO!” she cried out.

“This is all your fault!” Natsu exclaimed as he copied her action, digging with all his might.

“My fault?!” Lucy exclaimed, grabbing a handful of mud and launching it in Natsu’s direction. “You’re the one who came at me like a mad man!” The mud ball hit Natsu square in the chest, which did not please him in the least bit. “And furthermore-”

Lucy’s eyes widened as she focused on something behind Natsu, a glimmer of something he couldn’t identify at first sparking in her eyes for the briefest moment. He frowned at her, until it dawned on him to turn around and follow her gaze.

There it was, sticking out of the ground like a newly grown flower. The red poked out of the ground ever so slightly, teasing the two of them.

Natsu looked back at Lucy, who met his gaze with her horrified one.

He smirked mischievously, and he took off running, laughing like a crazy person.

“No!” he heard Lucy exclaim, her breath heavy as she stumbled to her feet, slipping a few times before she dashed after Natsu, head outstretched.

The sky turned darker, signaling that the sun was ready to set.

Natsu cursed as he slipped once more, twisting his leg slightly. This sent him down back into the mud and sand. His scarf was heavy and wet against his neck, sticking onto his lips.

His ears picked up Lucy’s footsteps, and a competitive anger rose in his body.

The orange of the sky began to fade to black.

Enough was enough.

His eyes blazed with determination, and just seconds before the sunset was swallowed up by the dark of night, he launched himself up from the ground and wrapped his arms around Lucy’s waist, making her emit a startled shriek. They landed roughly in the mud, Natsu rolling on top if her and grabbing her wrists, pinning her tightly to the ground.

She stared up at him with her widened brown eyes, her chest rising and falling in perfect sync with his own. His drenched scarf fell halfway onto her chest, her ponytail sprawled out below him.  He looked down at her, studying her face while he caught his breath, grinning from ear to ear at his late-coming victory. His breath made her baby hairs shake, and her own tickled the tip of his nose, which sent exciting chills down his cold back.

“I.” he breathed out “win.” he said with a final breath.

Lucy continued to stare up at him, saying nothing.

Natsu grinned cockily down at his partner as she sank further down into the wet earth. “Too shocked to speak? I get it. But I did warn you that I’d win didn’t I?”

Then, she began to giggle softly, throwing Natsu off guard completely. Her eyes closed, a happy blush dusting her cheeks.

Natsu frowned down at her. Had losing made her lose it? Had the mud gotten to her brain or something?

“What are you-GAH!” he began to ask her, until he let out a surprised yelp.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, sending confused shock directly to his beating heart.

Her familiar brown eyes were gone, and in their place were a pair of beady black ones with stark white pupils. Her lips curled upwards into a startling smile.

“Piri Piri!”

Natsu’s eyes widened in shock, his mouth hanging open as the girl beneath him flashed him one last smile before he was surrounded in a puff of smoke, his hands sinking back into the earth where he once held her wrists.

The smoke faded, and Gemini blinked up at Natsu innocently.

“Y-You…” he started to say, stammering off into silence.

“Good job, Gemini.” he heard a familiar voice praise the spirit. Her feet sloshed in the earth near him, and he felt her standing above him. “You’re free to go.”

“Piri Piri!” Gemini chanted once more before vanishing in a glittery veil. Natsu continued to stare down at the earth for a few more seconds before he turned his head to look up at the real Lucy, who was flashing him a victorious smile.

o-o-o

Lucy was concerned that she had thrown Natsu into a bad state of shock, watching as he glanced up at her, down at the ground, then back up at her. The charade continued for a couple of minutes before he finally spoke. She had to choke down several fits of laughter.

“When did you…” he asked her, pointing down at the ground to gesture to the Lucy imposter who he had pinned down just seconds ago. His brow furrowed in confusion, looking up at Lucy for the answer that wouldn’t come. She just stared at him, inspecting his face until she saw that it finally dawned on him.

“The steam.” he said aloud, clarification ringing through his voice.

Lucy nodded. “Have to admit that without you drying up the river, you probably would’ve won.” she told him, looking down at the red flag in her hands. “It’s a handy technique really, it’s helped me so much in the past year.”

Natsu remained on the ground, which unsettled Lucy a little. Was he really that discouraged that he didn’t tag her on time? If anything, neither of them had achieved their goal really. She hadn’t even gotten close to plating a kiss on his cheek, she felt like a lovestruck pre-schooler chasing after a boy who believed that every female on the planet had cooties. She frowned down at his back, reaching out to lay her palm on him to offer comfort.

“We should probably-”

Natsu suddenly lunged himself at her, grabbing her waist like he’d done to Gemini, and pulling her down onto the ground, Lucy squeaking in surprise. She felt the mud around her cushion the blow of her landing, the stuff tangling up in her hair. Her back became ten degrees cooler as the sand and mud pressed against her back. She even felt some splashes of the stuff against her cheeks and thighs.

The boy above her had a different aura than the one she had tried to comfort just seconds ago. This Natsu was smiling down at her brightly, laughing with amusement. She’d never been more confused in her life.

“What are you-”

“That was amazing!” he exclaimed excitedly as she looked up at him in shock. “I mean, wow! I never even realized what was going on! Using your spirits to fling you up in the air, and even using those fancy Star Dress things of yours all by yourself!”

A faint blush began to invade her cheeks, cancelling out the cold mud against her skin. The stars had began to come out now, and they twinkled around Natsu’s head in a cosmic dance. She watched the stars and her partner with awe, her heart beating to an unfamiliar tred. His features were lit so brightly, his exciting words almost blending into the beauty of the night sky as she just let him hover over her body, being okay with not being able to move for the moment.

Something shifted in Natsu’s face, and while she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, she realized in that moment that she didn’t want to look away.

“You...really are amazing, Lucy.”

He said it as if it were the most simple thing in the world.

Lucy’s heart pounded in her chest as the words repeated in her head, the sounds turning into ink-blotted text that swam tauntingly before her eyes, text she’d written herself from her novel.

You’re amazing

Breaking the silence between the two of them, Lucy dug her fingers into the mud and swiftly swatched it all upon Natsu’s cheek. She smirked as he glared down at her, bits and pieces of the mud dripping onto Lucy’s chest.

“This look becomes you.”

“Shut up.”

o-o-o

Happy sat perched on Natsu’s muddy shoulder as he and Lucy made their trek back to the guild. Natsu absentmindedly scratched the exceed in between his ears, the poor thing still wet from Lucy’s water attack. There weren’t any hard feelings between the two of them of course, after Lucy promptly told Happy that she’d make him a fish dinner the moment she saw him.

Everyone had slowly made their way back to the guild once the sun had set for good. However, Natsu could easily say that Lucy and himself looked the most messed up out of everyone else. Sure, there was mussed up hair with leaves caught in it, and sweat gleaming on skin, but when the two of them approached everyone else, the stares that they’d received made Natsu feel as though he were naked. Lucy huffed beside him, running her fingers through her ponytail to loosen the dried up mud.

Then again, he might’ve reconsidered him and Lucy’s appearance after catching a glimpse of Levy and Gajeel coming into view. He saw their matted up hair and sweaty faces, which he paid no mind to until he noticed that Gajeel’s belt was wrapped around his waist inside out, his stomach peeking out from his wrinkled up shirt. Levy hadn’t looked much better, with her headband almost falling off of her head and her shirt also rolled up, Natsu slowly began to piece the picture together.

His nose caught a strange scent, and he only had to glance over towards Wendy to figure out the source of the scent. Her eyes were wide and her face was pale, looking absolutely flustered as her stare fell down to the ground.

Natsu grinned. He’d have to confirm something with Gajeel later on.

Natsu and Lucy approached Gray and Juvia, who looked them up and down slowly. Gray raised his eyebrows at Natsu, while Juvia silently giggled to herself.

“Do I wanna know?” Gray asked, lifting up a styrofoam cup to his lips to gulp down the sloshing water inside of it, glistening with ice cubes that he undoubtedly created himself.

Natsu smirked, wrapping his arm around Lucy and pulling her into his side embrace, making her emit a surprised yelp. “We know how to rough it up in a competition!” he exclaimed. He glanced at the wet tips of Gray’s hair. “And what, you two just got your hair a little wet and did some slip and slide?”

Juvia immediately looked off to the side, her face glowing bright red. Gray coughed on his water, hacking up the liquid as Natsu and Lucy looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.

“What’s gotten you two so-” Natsu began before Juvia lunged forward and grabbed Lucy’s arm, prying her free from Natsu’s hold.

“Wh-Juvia?” Lucy asked in surprise before the water mage tugged her off to the right.

“C-Come with me Lucy-san!” Juvia exclaimed awkwardly as the girls left Natsu and Gray by themselves, watching them run over to Lisanna and Erza. The girls gathered in a tight circle, their faces hidden from any nosy eavesdroppers. Faint chatter erupted from the small crowd, but Natsu honestly wasn’t the least bit interested in what they had to say, for the most part anyway.

Girls were too weird.

“Alright, kids!” a booming voice rang out over everyone, who immediately ceased their conversations to turn towards the voice with excitement in their eyes, while some members looked sullen, knowing all too well that their defeat was to be announced.

Everyone made space for Makarov to walk, pooling around the guild master and making him the center of attention. “As usual, these games always bring dear joy to my heart. Nothing beats watching everyone do their absolute best to win!” He took a pregnant pause, allowing everyone to absorb his words before he grinned from ear to ear. “That, and gloating rights.”

Collective laughter and eyerolls spread among the guild members, signaling the desire for their master to get down to business, to which he didn’t disappoint.

“Now, I want both teams to line up single file, girls and boys.”

The circle around Makarov dispersed, teammates joining up with teammates shoulder to shoulder. The effort only took about a minute or so, and then the girls were facing the boys, all of them in a neat and parallel line.

Mira began to giggle to herself, and leaned over to whisper something in Erza’s ear. Contrary to last time, Natsu tuned in his ears to catch what she had said to Erza, who had smirked and nodded her head after listening to Mira’s words.

“We already know that our team won. Why drag it out and give the boys some false hope, huh?”

Natsu heard Gajeel grunt in annoyance beside him, Natsu realizing that he wasn’t the only one snooping on the girls’ conversation.

Makarov cleared his throat. “Now then,” he began, looking to his right towards the female team. “I would like all the female members who have been tagged before sundown to please get out of line and stand off to the side.”

Natsu and the guys watched as Kinana, Laki, Mira, Wendy, Evergreen, Bisca, and Cana all left their places in line to obey Makarov’s order. The girls left in line moved closer together to fill the gaps made by their teammates.

“And likewise gentlemen.” Makarov nodded to the men. “If you’ve been kissed by one of the girls before sunset, please leave the line and join this group over here.”

Now it was the girls’ turn to watch the line of guys shrink. Jet, Droy, Romeo, Bixslow, Freed, Elfman, and even Gajeel left the line. Gajeel had a visible storm cloud over his head, slightly sulking as he joined the group off to the side.

Natsu immediately pointed at the Iron Dragon Slayer and burst out in mocking laughter. “This is too good!” he exclaimed, laughing even harder “Way to go Levy!”

“Shut it!” Gajeel yelled back at Natsu, steam rising out of his head as he muttered something under his breath, which of course Natsu was able to pick up on.

“Still worth it.” he’d said, and quickly took a glance at Levy before adjusting his belt slightly. Natsu followed his gaze to find that Levy’s face began to glow bright red as she grabbed fistfulls of her shirt.

“Levy-chan?” Lucy had whispered to her friend, who began to awkwardly laugh it off and told her it was nothing.

Natsu looked back at Gajeel, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

Alright Gajeel, now I definitely see what’s going on.

“Now everyone!’ Makarov exclaimed, looking left and right at the members who still stood in the untouched line. “Congratulate yourselves on a job well done! You all were able to shine today, living up to the Fairy Tail name!”

On the girl’s side stood Lucy, Levy, Juvia, Erza, Lisanna, and Charle. They all met eyes with the boys across from them. Natsu, Gray, Laxus, Alzack, Happy, Loke, and Lily all equally stared back at them.

“If only I were able to tag Charle!” Happy said aloud. “Or even better, that she would have kissed me to get me out of the game!”

Charle rolled her eyes. “Seems it wasn’t meant to be, Tom Cat.”

Gray smirked. “Nothing I didn’t expect from the girls.”

“Absolutely.” Natsu agreed, crossing his arms. “Even though we totally dominated over them today.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “As if.”

Erza nodded, agreeing with the blonde. “Try the other way around boys.”

Makarov held his hand up for silence to ensue once more.

“Now for the results!” he announced as his eyes landed on each of the winning members on both teams standing before him before he continued. “If I understand correctly, the correct flag has not yet been confiscated, at least to my knowledge.” he turned to the boys. “Can I assume that this fact is correct.”

Natsu swallowed dry air as he and his teammates exchanged questionable glances, each of them looking hopelessly at the flags still tucked into the winner’s hips. The proud looks on the girls’ faces didn’t help their case either.

“...No.” Loke was the one to speak first. “At least, I haven’t captured it.” he looked at his teammates with a hopeless grin. “I think we’ve screwed up in that department.”

“Way to rub salt in the wound.” Gray muttered under his breath.

“I see.” Makarov replied. He glanced over all the faces of the men for a few seconds before sighing to himself. “I tell you kids all the time that chasing after a woman who doesn’t wish to be chased is frowned upon, and yet the one time it’s acceptable, you don’t pull through.”

A collective amount of groans spread throughout the crowd.

Makarov waited for everyone to silence themselves before he spoke once more. “Tell you what,” he began, taking a quick glance at the girls, who then began to frown to each other. “I’ll make you all a deal.”

The chatter began once more, softly this time, waiting for Makarov to say his peace.

He sighed as he extended his arm towards the girls. “Well, since these girls are the only ones who haven’t gotten tagged, it’s obvious that the flag is with one of them. If you boys can correctly pick who has the real flag, then I’ll make sure all of us get a nice trip to the spa!”

“What?!” everyone exclaimed, some more jubilent than others.

Makarov shrugged. “Eh, I’m feeling generous.”

The winning team of men began to laugh with joy, Natsu’s excitement rising from his core as he saw the sour faces that the girls put on, rolling their eyes at each other and taking swift glances towards the boys while whispering in each other’s ears. The horrified look on Lucy’s face amused Natsu to the highest degree. “Oh, it’s over now!” he exclaimed, high fiving his teammates. “We’ve got this down!”

The girls all looked into the eyes of the boys before them, their arms crossed defiantly.

It was Erza who spoke next.

“Let them try.” she said, glancing at her girls with a confident smile on her face. She flipped her scarlet hair over her shoulders and glanced over at the boys with a condescending smile. “They still won’t win.”

“Oh?” Laxus sneered. “Wanna bet?”

“Absolutely!” Mira exclaimed from the sidelines. She flashed a thumbs up. “There’s no way that they can win!”

Natsu and the others were too caught up in their glee to listen to anything the girls were saying to bring them down. This was it, this was their chance to win once and for all.

“You only get one chance.” Makarov informed them. “So choose wisely. It has to be a unanimous decision from the whole team, so all of you over there can join your team to decide on your choice.”

The boy’s team all gathered together before their options, muttering to each other in a low volume as to not let the girls hear their conversation.

“Well?” Loke asked the guys around him, glancing over to their competition. “Who are we going with?”

“It’s not Juvia.” Gray informed them. “She showed me her flag when our sparring was over and done with.”

“Not Levy either.” Gajeel said, nodding his head confidently. “Her flag’s blank. Didn’t see our crest on it when she tied it o-”

He cut himself off as everyone immediately began to stare immensely at Gajeel, who began to choke on his words, coughing as if to deflect the words that he was about to spew. His eyes cautiously darted around his teammates, and with a low growl of aggression, he hastily finished his sentence “It ain’t her. Moving on.”

Natsu grinned. Oh, he was so gonna have some fun with this.

“Okay, well, what about the rest of them?” Loke asked everyone, his strategically calm voice filling their ears. “Do we have any solid proof or any suggestions as to who could have it?” Loke turned to Natsu. “You were the one to find Lucy. Did you happen to see anything?”

Natsu frowned before shaking his head. “The flag got lost in the mud around us for a few minutes, but I wasn’t able to tag her before the sun set. Besides, when she went to pick up her flag it was covered in mud. I didn’t see the Fairy Tail Crest.”

Loke nodded. “Alright. Anyone else?”

Freed and Bixslow frowned to each other. “We saw the flag on Lisanna’s hip before we were ambushed.”

“Erza...bakery…” Elfman muttered in shame.

“We’re going about this wrong.” Laxus said gruffly, catching everyone’s attention. “We can’t fully go off of what our eyes did or didn’t see. We gotta get into their heads, think like them a little.”

The boys digested Laxus’s words for a minute, each of them deep in their own thoughts trying to solve the riddle before them.

“Well? Any ideas?” Laxus asked them, frowning to himself.

“It can’t be Charle.”

Everyone turned their attention to Happy. He held his paws together calmly, a look of concentration on his face. “My beloved is smart, and she can dodge attacks pretty quickly.” He glanced over towards the white feline and his eyes stopped on the red piece of fabric tied at the end of her tail. “But she wouldn’t take on that responsibility.”

“What makes you say that?” Gray asked him.

Natsu felt something touch his calf, and he looked down to see Happy looking up at him confidently, his paw touching Natsu’s skin. “She had someone she wanted to look after.” Happy said, obviously referring to Charle and Wendy’s partnership.

Natsu smiled and ruffled Happy’s fur affectionately. “Damn right, Little Buddy.”

“Alright, So Juvia, Levy, and Charle are definitely out.” Gray reported. “So that means it’s between Lucy, Lisanna, and Erza.”

A small bit of laughter filled the air, and everyone turned their heads to the source.

Their choices of females stood calmly before them, their faces looking all too smug as they smiled at the boys haughtily, copying Erza’s confidence in that they thought they couldn’t outsmart them.

The girls who’d been tagged were giggling softly, covering their mouths to try to muffle their laughter.

Natsu made eye contact with Lucy, and in response, she smiled coyly at him. Her eyes swam with a secretive glitter, and it set Natsu’s spine on a competitive edge.

She was mocking him.

o-o-o

Lucy’s stomach danced with butterflies as she smiled cockily at Natsu, the glare he shot back at her making her giddy with competition.

The flag was still safe and sound, there was no way they’d figure it out.

She watched as the crowd of boys broke apart, their faces serious and bodies stiff. Lucy took a swift glance to her left and right, her teammates confidently standing their ground like she was.

“Well then, have you made your decision?” Makarov asked, to which the boys nodded slowly.

It was Loke who stepped forward, raised his right arm, and pointed at their choice.

o-o-o

Natsu had an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Their choice...it was too easy.

She blinked at Loke slowly, frowning in the direction of his finger.

“Oh?” Makarov questioned. “What’s the logic behind this choice?”

Loke adjusted his sunglasses cooly. “It seemed like the obvious choice.”

The pit refused to leave Natsu’s stomach as he was convinced that they’d made the wrong choice. It had seemed so perfect at the moment, even he himself had been so convinced at the time that they’d made the right choice.

And as soon as Loke pointed to one of the girls, Natsu knew that they screwed up.

“She’s the only one that none of us would’ve gone for.”

“She’s stealthy enough to not give up anything.”

“She looked too proud eating that piece of cake!”

“It’s her!”

“It has to be!”

She smiled at them through her scarlet hair, and with another smug grin, she whipped her flag off of her hip and held it out in front of her in all its glory.

It was blank.

The boy’s jaws dropped to the ground in astonishment as the girls cheered and laughed, celebrating their victory.

Erza walked over to Loke, who stood there in a stunned silence as she flung her flag playfully over his face.

“Better luck in the next games.” she told him sweetly. “We told you that we’d outsmarted you.”

“But…” Gray frowned, pointed at Erza and then directed his attention to the gleeful group of girls who still held unopened flags on her hips. “Who has the right flag then?”

The girls laughed once more, making Gajeel burst out in an annoyed grunt, telling them to quit their act.

“Yeah!” Elfman exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. “Stop laughing and man up!”

Erza’s gaze went from Loke to Elfman, who instantly took a step backwards, still shaken up from their encounter in the bakery.

“Man up?”

Everyone turned to a pouting Levy, who rolled her eyes and untied her flag from her hip. She held it up for the guild to see, the blank red square shining in the moonlight.

“Let’s get something straight here.” she began, her pout turning into a sly smile. “Manning up isn’t something that we plan on doing. Ever.”

It was then that Juvia stepped forward next to Levy, and held her blank flag up with her right arm.

“You see, why would Juvia and her teammates have to man up when we’re fine being the strong women that we are?” She said proudly, as Lucy stepped up next to her. The blonde flashed everyone a confident smile as she untied her flag and held it out in front of her.

“We’ve managed to take all of you down with just a small piece of fabric.” she told them proudly.

Her flag was also blank.

“So why would we man up when our womanly vibes were enough to win?” Lisanna chirped, flashing her blank flag in the air.

Everyone was silent, their eyes wide as they digested the girls’ words.

“Th-Then that means…”

All eyes went down to Charle, Happy’s eyes bulging out of his head.

But, she turned her nose up at all of them, bringing her tail down towards her front paws to swiftly pull off the red tie on her tail. “Hmph.” she closed her eyes, unfolding her flag and holding it out for everyone to see. “As if we’d resort to stooping to become a bunch of tomcats.”

The blank surface was blinding against the moonlight.

“What?!” multiple voices exclaimed, pointing at the blank flags that the girls proudly held out before them, frustration filling their voices and bodies.

“Cheaters!” Bixslow exclaimed, putting his hands on his head as if he were about to fall over. “How in the hell is this a fair win when none of ya don’t even have the right flag?!”

“Cheaters! Cheaters!” his babies chanted angrily above his head.

“That’s a new low, even for you guys!” Gray exclaimed, crossing his arms. “What gives?!”

“How dare you accuse Juvia of cheating!” The water mage exclaimed. “Juvia and her team would never cheat!”

“Get your facts straight!” Erza retorted. “It’s so obvious the sun has gotten to all of your brains!”

Everyone began to yell at everyone, bickering loudly.

Makarov’s voice boomed out loudly, telling everyone to cease their yelling at once.

Makarov looked at each of the members a second at a time before sighing to himself, calming down his voice.

Natsu, however, remained oddly silent.

He usually was the first one to jump into a tiff like the one that happened moments ago, however there was still something eating at him. His eyes danced on the flags in each of the girls’ hands, trying to figure out what it was exactly that they were missing.

A certain puzzle piece that wouldn’t fit...a math equation that was missing a variable….an optical illusion….

“The girls have not committed any cheating of any sort.”

He looked over each girl quickly, his eyes scanning their bodies until they landed on something that he’d previously overlooked, something that he didn’t even think to consider.

An illusion…

Natsu’s eyes widened suddenly, drowning the accusations of his teammates and the proud laughter of the girls as he suddenly put his mind to work.

It wasn’t that they were missing a piece of the puzzle, but that they were just looking at it from a different angle, paying more attention to certain pieces than others.

Paying no mind to the piece that really mattered.

“How?” Gray asked aloud to which more laughter erupted from the girls as the sound of footsteps filled Natsu’s ears.

“It’s because you’re unable to think like a woman.”

Everyone turned towards the person who decided to walk forward into the blank space between both teams. Her blonde ponytail swished gracefully behind her as she smiled to herself softly.

Natsu watched as she tucked in her muddy flag into the side of her shorts.

His stomach sank to his feet as he watched her hands slowly move from her hip and raise themselves up to her ponytail, grabbing onto her blonde locks as if to tighten the red tie that held her hair together.

She made eye contact with Natsu once more, and when his eyes widened in understanding, she flashed him a cocky smile.

“It’s time that you all…”

Her hands grabbed onto the red tie in her hair and she swiftly undid the knot, setting her hair free to fall and cascade over her shoulders in a blonde waterfall. The wind picked up as she did so, making her hair sweep over her brown eyes. Her intoxicating scent filled Natsu’s senses and she slowly unrolled her red hair tie, releasing it from its roll and holding it up for everyone to see.

The Fairy Tail Guild Crest shone brightly in the moonlight, every male member into a stunned stupor.

And with relish, she finished her sentence.

“...opened your eyes.”

Nobody spoke.

That is, until somebody did.

“Are you FUCKIN’ KIDDIN’ ME?!”

#nalu #nalu fic #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #FINALLY

[samanthapagesof]

Ep. 1 Nightshade: Atropa Belladonna

The crisp cool air covering her like a wool blanket, scratching the layers of goosebumps consuming every inch of her body. Her heart pulsating so loud, her ears felt as if they are about to burst. The slight shake in her hands as she watches the young girl, Cecilia, sitting in front of her grind, and smash these vivid purple berries into a paste. She was using a mortar and pestle made from the stone of the sea, a gift Livia’s dear friend sent to what seemed like a lifetime ago. The day Livia opened it Cecilia was speechless and a single tear fell from her beautiful evergreen eye. The connection between Cecilia and that mortar and pestle seemed odd to Livia. Yet, she told Cecilia that she was allowed to use the mortar and pestle for her potions and poisons as long as Livia was never on the receiving end of one of the poisons. The girl sprinkled a small amount of magic into the paste and hummed an enchanting melody. 

The empress could remember when Augustus brought Cecilia to her, she was a beautiful young skittish girl whose skin was kissed by the star in the sky. Barely 14 years old, she had dirt beneath her fingernails and twigs and leaves sticking out from her light almost white yellow hair. When the slaves tried to clean her she demanded they save the mess of foliage from her clothes and hair so she may make a proper wreath to honor “the goddess”. 

It was then she received her first lashing the child’s back was an open wound for weeks, dripping with pus and oozing a vile odor that from time to time Livia, out of pity, would rub a poultice mixed with herbs and mud on her back to soothe the pain. A trick she was taught by Cecilia. An odd child, who even though she was forced to endure constant punishments, she never wavered in her beliefs, and this was a quality respected by the Empress. 

 “I can’t quite remember where it was Augustus brought her to me from, somewhere along the sea, north from us I believe, or was it south? I’m not sure. Although from the stories I’ve heard it was quite a beautiful place. ” Livia thought to herself. 

It was quite graceful how she is able to squish the berry and not get a single drop of juice on her. Instead, her body works as if designed to do just this. The empress sat in admiration of her ward, acknowledging the intelligence Cecilia held between those ears of hers, Tiberius was quite taken with her when she first arrived. He demanded she spend every waking moment with him and that he was going to marry her as soon as they came of age. The poor boy had no way to prepare for her rejection. She responded to his marriage proposal with a swift kick to the shin and a declaration that no person can have her, that she belongs to the earth, and the spirit of the moon. 

Cecilia added more herbs to her concoction and continued to hum an enchanting tune

That day so long ago was filled with sadness beyond the pain of having Tiberius’ heart broken. Even with Livia’s protection, she was not above disrespecting the Emperor and his wishes and those of his son. This was the day everything changed. Including Livia’s perspective of her husband, yet didn’t change the opinion she had of her son. As punishment for denying a man of power Cecilia was beaten bloody and exiled from Rome. To return meant death. 

Now, years later the two women sit across each other as opposites, it is Livia who sought out Cecilia and begged her help. 

“Fetch me that satchel from the horse Cecilia, I fear I may forget something if I don't pack it away correctly. It is of the utmost importance no one knows we were here, a single trace can be disastrous to what must be the future.” Livia shakingly spoke. 

“I do my own bidding now Livia, fetch your own satchel. For it is you who has a monster to fear not I.” Cecilia snapped.  

“Fine, child. Misbehave like always.” Livia responded and rose to retrieve the basket from the horses. She turned from Cecilia, took a few steps and turned to look back at what was once like a daughter to her. Cecilia, still meddling away, pauses to push up her sleeves to reveal deep pink scars around her wrists, a reminder of the time she spent under the empress. Livia shudders at the sight of her dark history and continues to the horses. 

A few steps to walk over the roots to where both their mares stood tied to the leaning tower of an Oaktree. It’s roots sprouted from all over the ground. Twisting and turning, design patterns like lace but bulky and rigid. The sky was rose and lavender mixed with orange as the sun sank from the sky and the stars began to shine. Standing under the painted sky, Livia caught herself in memory or rather a stream of memories, each about the same event but saved from over a period of 50 years. 

Augustus is her second husband, and Tiberius was a result of her first marriage. In later years Augustus adopted Tiberius and it was then she knew his fate was set. He was the spitting image of a demi-god and it would be at Tiberius's word that the world would be one under the emperor Tiberius. The seas would roar in honor of such a definitive leader and at his sword, each enemy would fall and be used to pave the way to the heavens to which she and her son would sit together and rule all. It was no secret that the emperor was one with specific tastes, ones specifically for young, beautiful girls. Over the years Livia grew to live with her husband's constant infidelity because their marriage was never really one based on love but instead mutual respect, it was a partnership. 

As the years rolled on the partnership began to waver when rumors about Livia's intent were questionable. She has always fought for the welfare of her son, his future was her future and he is destined for greatness. But members of the elite, too felt their champions in life were worth more than the plate they were served. The doubt in Livia started with the sudden death of Claudius Marcellus, Augusts nephew, considering his very mysterious death now meant one less possible successor for the line to be emperor. Then the mysterious deaths of Augustus's exiled son, two young boys Gaius, and Lucius. Their deaths were ruled by illness. Something quite peculiar considering the recent visit from a representative of Livia. 

This memory is something she holds as a sacred testament to their partnership and commitment. An overall representation of what she and the emperor were to one another. She taps the forehead of her mare and grabs a brown leather satchel from behind the saddle and returns to Cecilia. Who had finished preparing the poultice Livia had requested. 

Cecilia packed away the items and pulled a fig from the tree above where they were sitting, she grabbed a small wooden spoon from her pocket and spoke “To take advantage of the potency in these berries you must not touch it with bare hands, take a wooden spoon and cover the item with a thin layer of the poultice. Once it makes contact with the skin it will take an hour to kill. If the monster you seek to end, should have a small yet recent open wound it will take mere minutes to stop the heart. 

“Oh, Cecilia, how the world has changed for both you and me, what I wouldn’t give to go back and rewrite the past and change the decisions I have made.” Livia looked up to the sky with tears falling from her chin. 

“The past is set and all we can do is move into the future, Livia. There was a time for tears but not anymore. Pull yourself together and finish the task you have set out to do. In addition, this is the last time you will see me. I can no longer be tied to you, and the path you have chosen. I wish you no ill will and will mention you in my whispers to the goddesses. 

Cecilia mounted her mare and rode off into the darkness. Livia sat alone, allowing the silence to fuel one last look on that memory she once held so dear. Then she to mounted her horse and rode back to the emperor. 

She hung the brown leather satchel next to the door of her chamber. Across the garden beneath her, she could see right into Augustus’s chamber. It had been years since they shared a bed together. 

Most nights he kept the windows shut, out of respect for Livia. She only ever asked him to never force her to see his deplorable acts and in that request, her willful ignorance could shield her from heartache. She stood at the opening starring up to the night sky filled with little sprinkles of light, the evening air washing over her. No one was there and she stood staring into emptiness. Her mind filled with worry as she started considering what choices lead her to this point, and even a sliver of doubt in her plan had crept its way into her mind. And to what seemed like fate that on this night she could see directly into the room, where once no one stood, Augustus now stood in the embrace of a woman, the stewardess of the kitchen in fact. She was entrusted with preparing his meals, because according to him “She is the only one who knows what he wants.” Entangled with the stewardess he stops and his eyes meet Livias. It was like in that moment he felt a sliver of guilt and he just stared at her, and she back at him. A few moments pass and the stewardess notices his pause, Augustus then walks forwards and shuts the window. Staring at the now sealed window, Livia felt any kindness in her slip away as she put her hand to her lips and blew a kiss to her husband and went to bed. 

The next morning Livia awoke to find Augustus sitting at the end of her bed, dressed in his robe with her cloak sitting next to him, he took a deep breath and spoke, “I must apologize for the unfortunate events you witnessed last night. I have warned the guards about keeping my windows shut. But it seems they were preoccupied last night with drinks and women.” Livia forces a smile and comforts him “I understand that mistakes can happen, my dear, let us just move past this mishap and continue on our day. I assume you are ready for our outing?” “Yes my love, I am ready. I will meet you at the horses” Augustus’s rose and left her room, but not before he could turn around and smile at Livia, that smile that used to make her weak in the knees. A smile that promised partnership and companionship. “Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Tiberius is said to return within two days’ time. We received word from him this morning.” A jolt of joy made Livia jump out of bed and exclaim “that is wonderful, it has been too long since I have seen my dear son. Oh, how I have missed him so. I ache for him to be in my arms again.” Augustus smiled and nodded then left her room. 

Now dressed and ready to join Augustus, Livia puts the brown leather satchel over her shoulder, takes a deep breath, and is joined by her handmaids. The group of women walks down to the stables where Augustus is sitting on his stallion, with a hand extended to guide Livia upon her mare. The two ride along a familiar path, for the majority of the ride Augustus, spoke of news of the world and messages he had received in the morning about potential dangers from across the sea. But Livia kept her eyes forward with the occasional nod to acknowledge her listening. But the only thing in her mind was Tiberius and his return to her. How she longed to hear his voice, run her finger through his hair, and feel whole again. Tiberius is the other half of her heart and without him, she is half alive. 

They arrive at the leaning tower of an oak tree, its roots sprouting from the ground twisting and turning like lace but rigid. She dismounts her mare as he does from his stallion. The pair walk along the roots, to sit beneath an overflowing fig tree, together they sit beneath it letting the sun wash over them like a warm wave of water. The satchel still tightly around her shoulder she leans over to Augustus and asks “My dear, it seems I have forgotten my water pouch, could you retrieve it from the left side of my saddle?” “Sure, I will be right back” Augustus responds. With his back to her, he walks through the roots on the ground and nearly trips. They two share a laugh at his un-coordination. He turns his back to her again. 

She quickly and quietly removes the poultice from her bag and the small wooden spoon and carefully layers two figs hanging above her. Then puts the items back in the satchel and tightens it around her shoulder once again. Augustus walks back over and stands above her, looking down. He hands her, the water pouch and winces in pain, he exclaims “Ow, something pricked me.” He put his right finger to his lips and sucked on the open wound. “It seems you are in need of a new water pouch. We will have one made when we return. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” 

He moved to sit next to her again. Instead, he is interrupted, “August my sweet, I believe I see the finest fruit of them all, look to your right next to her head. Don’t those figs look just perfect? I must have them. Here put them in the basket.” He reaches up and pulls the two-pieces of fruit from the branch next to him, one with his right-hand one with his left, and drops the fruit in the basket. He sits down next to her and leans his head back and closes his eyes. Livia stared at him, remembering all of the years and hours they spend under this very tree. Picking figs was an agreed outing the two refused to miss. It was the time they were free from judgmental eyes and could be themselves.

A few minutes passed and his eyes spring open and his body began to spasm uncontrollably. He looks to his dear wife and begs for help, but instead, she brushes his hair behind its ears and she leans down to whisper in his ear, “Oh my sweet Augustus, the emperor, the legend, the man, who believed to be untouchable. My love, go rest easy now. For it is time for the true emperor to take land and sea to rule as one. Tiberius is the future and destiny.” Augustus in his dying breath says “Live mindful of our wedlock, Livia and farewell" and he died as he kissed her cheek. She sat staring down at him, shut his eyes, and was filled with relief. Tiberius is to return and she is no longer tied to the man who stood in the way of her and her son's density. She gently kissed his cheek and laid on the grass next to him, blanketed with warmth from the summer sun she started to hum a familiar melody and dreamt of the future to come. 

#Atropa belladonna #Deadly Nigthshade

[theimaginesyouneveraskedfor]

Watch Out Below (24)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23

Amid you grief, you had fallen into a dreamless sleep and to your dismay, you awoke to the faded blue walls of your teen years. Along the cornflower scape were faded outlines of posters you had hung there long ago and the same dresser with the missing knob sat below the single window. You rolled over awkwardly onto your back, your plastered leg making it difficult, and sighed into the morning light. Your head was still bending against the notion that it had all been but a fever dream.

You closed your eyes and summoned the faces of those you had lost to consciousness. Fili’s smile shone across your eyelids and Thorin’s dark hair hung sleekly over his shoulders among the others you had met in your fantasies. It was as if you could have reached out and touched them but upon opening your eyes, they dissolved into the nothing they were. You groaned loudly and pushed yourself up, sitting on the edge of the bed as you stared dully at the set of crutches against the wall.

It was as if that listless grumble had alerted your mother who appeared shortly and bade you come down for breakfast. Your stomach gurgled but not in hunger and you tried to bring forth the sharp pain which had last seared your middle back on Ravenhill. Dispirited that all you felt was the discomfort of your cast, you took the crutches and rose with stunted movements. Reluctantly, you made your way from the room and walked the hobbled, aimless steps to the dining room.

You ate in silence across from your mother who could do little more than ask after your health and admire the reality that you were awake. You focused on your plate, pushing your food around more than eating, and exhaled darkly at the table. Looking up at your mother’s sudden silence from her doting, you frowned deeper at her disappointment, though you were certain yours was greater.

“Mum,” You forced out as you dropped your fork, “When can I start…living again? My job and--”

“Oh, honey, not for a while,” She answered with concern, “You barely just woke up and already you want to go back to work?”

“What else am I to do?” You were desperate for anything to distract you from your grief, “I don’t want to sit in the house all day and just…linger.”

“Well, what do you want to do, Y/N?” She asked gently.

Go back, you thought but only issued a glum shrug in return.

“I’m sorry to say it, hun,” She attempted a smile but your lack of response stifled it, “But with that leg, there’s not much you can do.”

“I can still walk,” You offered weakly, “Maybe not far or very quickly…”

“Dear, the doctor said you should rest,” She advised kindly but her caring manner was only irritating you further, “Maybe if we take the chair, we can go to the mall.”

“The mall?” You sighed, “I’m not in high school anymore.”

“I know, but we could just look around, maybe get something to eat,” She was trying and the worry which creased her features stabbed you with guilt, “Or whatever you want to do.”

“No, we can go to the mall,” You accepted apologetically, “I’m sorry, Mum. I’m just…different, now.”

“I know,” She reached out across the table to touch your hand, “It’s just going to take some time. How about you go get dressed and I’ll clean all this up?”

“Sure, Mum,” You pulled your hand away and took your crutches from the empty chair beside you, “It might take me a while, though.”

“Take as long as you need,” She smiled warmly and you pivoted yourself away with the crutches, hiding the tears rising in your eyes. What was wrong with you?

The mall was little better than you remembered it. Your mother pushed you as you were relegated to the wheelchair in appeasement of her endless worry and you watched the people pass by with disillusioned eyes. The mannequins in overpriced garments and the shoppers joyously digging through sale racks made you yearn for the simplicity of Middle Earth. What was a fashionable dress compared to a Mountain home?

It wasn’t real. That was what you kept telling yourself and yet you could not shake the fabricated life. In the middle of a crowded mall with your plastered leg and fragile mind, you felt more displaced than ever before. You had never been one to fit seamlessly in but now you felt as if you were not even of the same race.

“Mum,” You breathed through your gloom, “I want to go home. I can’t be here.”

“We just got here, dear,” She stopped and rounded your chair to look at you, tilting her head in sympathy, “Alright…but let me buy you a smoothie on the way home. You barely touched your breakfast.”

“Fine,” You crossed your arms like the child she was treating you as and she went back around to steer the handles of your chair, “If you insist.”

“What has gotten into you?” It lacked any true reproach, instead she sounded rather amused, “You’ve always been stubborn but it seems the fall has only added to that.”

“Stubborn?’ You raised a brow, “Not really, not compared to…”

Thorin, you frowned and shook your head, “Not that stubborn, Mum.” Your voice brightened for a moment.

“Good,” She sounded reassured as she guided you through the stray shoppers, “At least I know you’re not totally miserable.”

Not totally, you thought, and recalled how Fili had kept you from utter despair when Thorin has distrusted you so. When you had been bound hand and foot because he thought you would kill his company in their sleep. Wouldn’t they laugh now? You in a chair with a useless leg. But they couldn’t laugh because they were all in your head.

You chuckled and your mother gave a heartened titter as the tarmac of the parking lot jostled your chair harshly. You held onto the arms until you reached the car and let her help you into the front seat, your mind sinking as you found your thoughts back in that other world.

The road blurred as your mother began to drive and you only shook yourself from your self-pity as she entered another plaza. Your chest seized and you clutched her arm, your head whirling as you ached to be anywhere else but there. You should have stayed asleep. 

“Mum,” You said louder than intended, “Why don’t you run in and get the smoothies? You know how they never get drive through right.”

“Are you sure dear?” She asked as she stopped her car at the entrance and you returned an eager nod.

“Please, I need a moment to myself,” You lied and your heart began to pound with the scheme forming in your mind, “Just roll down a window and leave the radio on.”

“Um, okay,” She looked at you with a puzzled smile and turned into the parking lot, pulling into a space, “You’ve got your phone, right?  Text me--”

“Mum, please,” You waved away her concern and she put the car in park, grabbing her purse before hesitantly opening her door, “Mixed berry with chia seed, please and thank you.”

“Of course,” She left the keys in the ignition and stepped out, looking back one last time before closing the door.

Watching her walk away and disappearing inside the smoothie shack, you smirked and were sure you wore an expression reminiscent of Kili. Awkwardly, you lifted yourself with your arms and forced your good leg underneath you in a semi-crouch, angling your cast over the console and onto the driver’s seat. Letting the weight guide you forward, you slid yourself awkwardly into the seat and set your hands on the wheel.

Turning the engine, you re-adjusted your legs, touching both pedals with your good foot and shifted the car out of park, praying you could manage with one leg. Reversing out of the spot, you turned and drove by the front of the shop just as your mother exited and she watched with shock as you floored the gas and tore out of the lot. Your instinct guided you though your cast made it harder to drive than expected. 

At last, you drove up the decline which led towards the forest and you turned off the car, staring up into the trees. You shoved the keys into your pocket and used the door to help yourself out, standing on one foot on the uneven ground. Hopping awkwardly forward, you found a stick tall enough to lean on and set your sights on the treeline.

Despite it all having been in your head, you felt as though you had taken much more perilous roads and drew on your time with Thorin to drive yourself forward. Slowly and painfully you reached the forest and leaned heavily against a tree, panting with the excess of maneuvering around your injured leg. You searched for the path you had taken the last time and, ever unskilled at direction, you chose one and continued on.

Twisting and turning, grabbing a second stick for support, changing paths and retracing your steps more than once, you finally stumbled upon a familiar sight. Certain that you had managed to find the right track, you dragged your cast through the twigs and dirt and nearly gasped as you saw the drop off just ahead of you. With a smile and sigh of relief, you fell back onto your rear against a tall oak and stared up into the sky, tears burning your eyes. There was no going back but the familiar place gave you peace.

You closed your eyes and leaned your head against the tree, catching your breath as the sounds of the forest overtook your senses. Birds chirped and squirrels scurried through leaves but among the breeze and chatter, you swore you could hear voices. Opening your eyes, you glanced around but saw no one and the voices could not be traced in any one direction. There was more than one, deep but distant, and no words could be discerned.

Your attention was drawn to the edge of the drop off and you looked perilously towards the empty air. The sky was a soft shade of pink and the sun dulled among the pastel clouds. Grabbing onto the bark of the tree, you forced yourself to your feet and paced your breath decisively as you were urged forward by some unknown force. A short distance from the edge, you paused and smiled, closing your eyes as dreams of Middle Earth swirled through your head.

Opening your eyes, you lifted your chin and hopped forward as quick as you could, ignoring the painful reverberations in your leg before launching yourself off the cliff.

#watch out below #part 24 #Thorin Oakenshield #fili #the company #the hobbit #series #fic

[writingevil]

A Circle part 2

Part One

By Evil

Amelia stared at the girls mark with mixed emotions. Thya continued to undress and Amelia looked away to not seem rude. After a few minutes the water around her stirred. Thya looked at her worried and embarrassed.

“I was born with it. My camp made me cover it in order to keep bad spirits away.” She said. 

“It’s strange but beautiful.” Amelia said softly. “You should be proud of it.”

“Oddities are not something to be proud of. If I had been born to a marked woman she would have smothered me.” 

“But you weren’t. You were born to a loving mother who loves you no matter what shape you have.” Amelia rested her hand on the girls bare shoulder. “Be proud.”

“Hilla has given me the option to choose whether or not I cover. I think it will be easier to cover to avoid the people who don’t think as openly as you do.”

Amelia nodded. “If that is your choice then you may bathe with me whenever you like. I could even allow you and your family to come to the river with me. It is farther so no one from camp uses it.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Amelia.” Thya said shyly.

“While we wash we should discuss what our tasks will be.” Amelia said seriously beginning to wash the dirt from her arms. “Tomorrow I will wake you at dawn and we will walk to the city. We will paint rectangles on our arms and begin to sneak meat and bread and whatever else we think the camp may need.”

“I’ve done such things before. You may be shocked at what I am able to steal. Don’t underestimate me.” Thya responded dunking her head into the water and beginning to rinse her long flowing hair.

“Your covering won’t be questioned. Their are a few religious women that wear it that way in order to preserve modesty.” Amelia said and Thya nodded. 

They finished cleaning themselves and dried off. Amelia tried to keep her eyes from traveling down the beautiful girls body. She awkwardly cleared her throat and looked towards the sky finding the Orion constellation that she was fond of. She smiled and recalled the story Hilla had told her. 

Orion was a hunter and killed one of Artemis’ sacred deer. The goddess of the moon in a rage of fury turned Orion, himself, into a deer. He was killed by his own hunting dogs. Amelia liked how it told a tale of respect for the gods. She supposed now she was Orion, stealing from others. 

The next day she crawled out of her tent and was greeted by a fully dressed Thya. The two grabbed a handful of berries and a flask of water to share through the day. Amelia bound her chest down and put on some of the male clothes so that if people asked she could claim to be Thya’s husband. Her hair had always been sheared short out of convenience. They began their journey toward the city stopping to carefully paint the rectangles. They wandered through the city. Thya stole the change purse of a rhombus so the two of them could actually pay for most of the food. Amelia saw Thya staring at a bottle of clear liquid.

“Whats that?” She whispered in Thya’s ear. 

Thya was startled. “It’s nothing. It’s just a bottle of alcohol. Our old medicine woman kept a bottle to give to mothers during the birthing process and to clean her tools.”

“Shyra doesn’t have any of that. She uses only herbal methods. It’s healthier for the babies.”

Thya nodded and took Amelia’s hand. “We should head out soon. But grab a basket from the weaver by the edge of the city. It will look normal the next time we come.”

Amelia grabbed a basket and paid for it with her remaining coins. The weaver was very thankful. She was a rectangle with a deformed leg. Amelia smiled to the woman before taking Thya’s hand and heading out of the city. They continued holding hands. Both of them scared of what it entailed but neither wanted to let go. Thya was the one to pull away as they entered camp. They dropped of the food and the woman cooed over the flour they’d been able to buy. Thya went to her family and Amelia went to Cal.

Cal was in the middle of treating one of the children with a scraped knee. He looked up at her and flashed a quick half smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Thya sat in the corner of the large med tent until her friend sent the child away. 

“How’d it go?” Cal asked wiping his hands clean.

“Really well, Thya knows what she’s doing.” Amelia said. “Will you be helping Shyra with the birth?”

“Yes. In the words of Shyra I ‘need to get over it and steal myself because one day I’ll have to do it all on my own’. She always talks like she’s going to die tomorrow.” Cal said rolling his eyes.

“Yeah.” An awkward silence fell over the two.

“I’m going to miss him.” Cal said softly.

“Me too. He was like our brother.”

Cal blushed. “He was a very different thing for me.”

Amelia turned to her embarrassed friend, “You two...”

“It wasn’t serious. Just the occasional kiss and moonlit walk.” Cal said looking at his hands.

“And neither of you told me?” She said before realizing. “I thought Opus was shagging Francis?”

Cal’s face changed to one of fury. “He never told me. I caught them together one night and he just claimed what we had was nothing, just petty fun.”

“I should have hit him harder.”

“I’ll still miss that rotten bastard.” Cal said.

“Sometimes you have to end something even if it breaks your heart.” Amelia said. 

Cal nodded. “So the new girl?”

“Yeah, she’s really ...” Amelia trailed off and Cal smirked.

“Alluring? Interesting? Beautiful?” He suggested playfully.

“Piss off.” Amelia smiled.

“What’s with the head covering?” 

“Just modesty. A woman at her old camp taught her 3how to tie and she believes it protects her from evil.”

Cal nodded and shrugged. “To each their own. Send someone when dinners ready.” He laid on the woven rug on the ground. 

Amelia made her way to the men and women cooking and began to help one of the women make dumplings. It was a delicacy she and most of the others had never had before but now they had the four to make them. The entire camp had two milk cows and five chickens some rhombus donated to them. The eggs would some times be added into soups because there was never enough for everyone to get a satisfying portion. 

She brought a large bowl of the dumplings and meat to Thya’s mother.

“There’s no need to thank me. You should rest as much as possible.” Amelia said and the woman gave her a tired but thankful smile.

Amelia returned grabbing herself and Cal smaller bowls. She dropped his off with minimum teasing and sat next to Thya and her family for dinner. Amelia was tackled by one of the small children.

“Darwin?” She guessed. The small boy giggled and climbed off her before sitting next to her.

“Miss. Amelia? Who are these people?” The boy asked her quietly.

“They just traveled here. This is Thya, her brother Lance and her pregnant mother...” Amelia trailed off.

“Grace.” The woman smiled.

“You’re a kid like me!” Darwin said pointing at Lance who nodded.

“Excellent observation there, squirt.” Amelia teased.

“You know one day I’m gonna be taller than you!” Darwin said sticking out his tongue. 

“Is that before or after you get married to Yani?” Amelia smiled.

“Ew girls are gross! I’m going to live alone!”

“I’m gross?” Amelia said pretending to be hurt.

“Not you.”

“Thanks, shorty. Go back to your father and help clean the dishes. Take Lance with you.”

As the child ran away Amelia turned to the mother daughter duo. “His mother died during the labor of his twin sister. He was the only one who made it. His sister was a ghost child.” The women nodded somberly.

Ghost children were children that were born dead, whether they were early or not. Whenever the camp had a ghost child born everyone pitched in to help the family grieve. The men would gather around a bonfire where the body of the child would burn and they would sit until dawn singing a hollow tune. The children made leaf toys that were thrown in the fire so the child had something to play with. The women slept altogether and stared at the stars. Amelia remembered tying the tiny doll made of twigs and dried grass. She remembered watching it burn and hoping the spirit of the child enjoyed playing with it.

Thya spoke up, “There was the birth of a ghost child at our old camp. Our custom had the entire camp singing into the night.”

“I’m sure the child’s spirit appreciated it.” Amelia said softly resting her hand on top of the other girls.

Thya nodded her covering shifting and moving along with the movement. The group ate dinner quietly and Amelia was the first to leave heading to get a verbal list of items from one of the elder woman that knew what could easily be made. She eventually fell asleep to the smell of burning wood and the feeling of hard earth on her back.

The days bled into each other. Amelia became closer with Thya as they continued working together. They brought back enough food that some days they didn’t have to go out. Those days they stayed behind and helped a few women with laundry or planting as the camp had begun to try farming and gathering it’s own food from that. One day as Amelia and Thya were heading back from the city, Lance came sprinting down the path.

“Ma’s in labor!!” He shouted repeatedly. 

Thya dropped the baskets she was carrying and sprinted past him, holding her covering so it didn’t blow off. Amelia scooped up her baskets and walked back to camp with the boy. 

Camp was silent except for the screams and shouting coming from Shyra’s tent. Amelia kept Lance occupied. She watched him and Darwin play together but she kept glancing at the tent. She prayed to her ancestors that everything would go okay.

Come nightfall Thya walked out of the tent holding a small baby wrapped in a blanket. Tears ran down her face. Amelia’s breath caught fearing the babe was a Ghost Child. Then the baby let out a tiny wail. Tears continued to flow down Thya’s face. 

Amelia strode towards the girl. “What’s wrong?”

“It- she- We- Look!” Thya pushed the child into Amelia’s arms.

The baby squirmed and cried. “She’s fine, Thya.”

“Look at her arm!”

Amelia gently picked up the flabby arm and saw the small clear square on the child’s skin. The breath was knocked out of her.

The peacemakers searched the camp once a year for any babies of rank. They would steal the baby and give it to a family in the city. Thya’s sister would be stolen from her family.

Part 3

#writing #fantasy #gay #alternate universe

[woodchucksfirelogs-blog]

Family Hiking Tips

1. Dress for Success.  Layers, layers, layers.  Make sure that you take a light weight jacket and rain clothes—aside from the wet weather, they can also be great wind breaking clothing.  Don’t forget hats and gloves— even summer mornings can be chilly.

Be sure to try on any new hiking boots for comfort and fit before you go.  No open-toed footwear, and avoid cotton socks (they're slow to dry and are prone to causing blisters).  If you’re hiking near water, you may want shoes that are sturdy, but can get wet.  Or if you’re hiking near mud or on a long hike, you’ll want to wear socks with a good pair of hiking shoes.

2. Be prepared.  Always get kids involved with the preparation process by having them look at maps and choose a trail, choosing their clothing and packing their own daypack with their snacks, water, a non-electronic toy, their emergency whistle, rain jacket, compass and maybe even a mini first-aid kit with colorful kid bandages.  Be sure to show them how to use their gear in case of emergency.  

Be diligent about having everything ready to go long before it is time to walk out the door.  The day of the hike needs to be just that—the day you go hiking.  

3. What to pack:

Sunglasses & Hat

Sunscreen & Lip balm

Basic first-aid kit, plus extra bandages, cleansing wipes and athletic tap

Trail and area map

Compass

Water—Let your kids help prepare by filling water bottles

Snacks—trail mix, nuts, dried fruits, gummy candies, M&M's, string cheese

Camera

Headlamp/flashlight—kids like cool gear and being like mom and dad

Knife

Binoculars

Identification book or fold-up identification card for flowers, birds, trees or plants

Wet wipes or tissues

Safety whistles (and teach them what they are for and when to use them)

Spray bottle—on hot days a nice mist feels refreshing

Extra pair of shoes and clothes—leave in the car and change into after your hike.  Chances are you’re going to get your hiking shoes wet or muddy, and it’s always a possibility someone can fall.

4. Keep it easy & feature-friendly.  For at least the first few times, select a hike that isn’t too long or too strenuous—a gentle mile will allow even the youngest hiker to say, "I walked the whole way!"  (Most younger children can handle a two-mile hike.)  

Picking a trail that has some features—a lake, stream, waterfall, fallen trees, etc. will keep kids occupied and give them a goal to reach.  And remember, it’s about the journey not the destination.  If your child is more interested in getting down on his or her hands and knees to explore, then that’s the experience for the day—there’ll always be a next time.

5. Find a good stick.  You’ll be finding a lot of fun things, but the first thing to find is a good stick.  It can be used for so many things—a walking stick, poking into streams to check deepness, sword fighting, pointing at things far away, etc.

6. Plan frequent energy stops.  Hiking requires a lot of energy and energy-sapped kids often equal cranky kids.  Keep your child happy and motivated by taking numerous small breaks for fluid and food.  Chances are, by the time they’ve had a snack, they’ll be eager to continue.  

7. Make it fun!  The key to hike success is to keep the kids motivated and having fun—so why not combine the two?  Create games that you and your children can play out on the trail.  

Let your child invite a friend—he/she will have more fun, and be less likely to complain or get bored.

Follow the Leader—give everyone, even the youngest trail-goers, a turn as the hike leader.

Have them look for signs of wildlife (scat, bird holes in trees, fur) or count wildflower species.

Organize a scavenger hunt and have them find things that are bumpy, smelly, small, big, wet, green…the list goes on!  

Pick a letter then try to find as many things on the hike that start with that letter.  

Geocaching can be a fun activity as kids get really excited about the idea of finding a treasure.

Two-way radios make it more like play than like taking a walk.

Have kids find a twig in the shape of a certain letter, or find a leaf with 5 fingers, or find 3 different kinds or colors of berries.  They can hunt as a team or a competition between the kids on who could find something first.

Put duct tape on inside out and have them collect small items to attach to the tape—instant jewelry!

8. Positive reinforcement.  This is something parents excel at and it shouldn’t be left at the trailhead.  When hiking, go overboard in telling your child how well they are doing, how strong they look and how fast they are—even if they aren’t. Kids need to hear that they are doing an awesome job, especially if it’s their first time out on the trail.

9. Leave no trace.  Kids are future stewards of our public lands, so we might as well begin teaching them how to take care of those spectacular wild places at a young age. When out on a hike, make sure all of your trash is collected—a large zip-top bag works well—just remember: “pack it in, pack it out”.  To further reinforce this idea, you could also take a small garbage bag and have the kids pick up any litter they see on the way back to the car.  While taking breaks, make sure to examine the area and see that everything is in its place.  For example, if your child dug a hole with a stick, cover it up again before you leave.

10. Hike often!  Start a family tradition of going hiking one or more times a month. Kids love the sense of adventure and doing something new.  There’s a wide range of trails, terrain and sights for children to behold.  With kids spending a good chunk of their time indoors during the week, hiking on the weekend is a perfect way to get them outside – be it an urban park or wilderness area trail.

Tips for Toddlers

Early walkers (12 to 24 months) usually like to wander rather than hike, so prepare yourself for

it.  You may cover little to no distance at all and spend a lot of time examining rocks, dirt,

bushes and sticks.

Your little one will inevitably tire on a hike, so wear a child-carrier backpack to carry him when

he does.  Get your child used to the pack by wearing it (and him) around the house and doing chores like vacuuming.  That way, when it's time to hike he's already accustomed to the experience.  

Don’t be afraid to stop and let your child out of the carrier and enjoy the touch and  feel of the outdoors for themselves now and then.  They need to stretch their legs, too.  When using a child carrier, take time to be doubly sure that your pre-hiker is comfortable.  Baby's pants will inevitably creep up from ankle to knee leaving bare legs exposed, so make sure you put sunscreen on their legs and a first layer on in cool weather.

Tips for Pre-teens

For ages 8 to 14, let the kids bring toys, headphones or electronic playthings to help get them

adjusted from popular society to woods culture.  They'll drop that stuff as they move along, or

maybe they won't.  They'll decide their own schedule and manner for embracing the outdoors.

Either way, you got them outside, didn't you?

Get a map of the area and go over it with your pre-teen before you go and while you're on the

trail.  Do your research and grab a book to see what wildlife you may discover or read about the  

history of the area.  Your kids feel more connected to your outing if they learn something.

#hiking tips #trailaddict #explore #adventures #make memories #havefun #get outside #black hills sd #play outside #get dirty #tread lightly #stewardship #family fun #hiking #play hard #Woodchucks firelogs #south dakota #america the beautiful #hikeitbaby

[theforkedspoon]

Almond Butter and Jam Muffins with Streusel Topping

These Almond Butter and Jam Muffins are the new weekend essential (ps- kids love them!)

I made these muffins last month just before we left for Oregon. I kept reading things like "...pack water and food. complete gridlock..."

(oh, sorry. just in case I'm confusing you, I'm referring to our trip to Oregon to see the solar eclipse)

Anywho, we needed supplies (translation- this was my opportunity to pack junk food). Of course, to balance out all the not-so-healthy snacks, I had to bring at least one homemade food. When it comes to road trips, muffins are one of the best things to pack and take along (assuming, of course, that you're not planning on leaving them in a car when it's 100 degrees outside).

In the past, it has been hit or miss with my muffins and my child. He would love them right out of the oven, but 10 minutes later and it's like you just fed him dirt. I've never understood this, personally, but I'm the muffin lover in the house and always keep our freezer stocked with at least a bag of one kind or another.

Well, to my surprise, my child loved these. Even two days later, he happily chowed down on a muffin while drinking an apple juice (because coffee for the parents means apple juice for the kiddo). And, what makes no sense at all is that he doesn't even like almond butter (or peanut butter- I know, how could he be my child?!). 

But the kid loves his jam. He is a definite jam man.

So, my advice? Don't skimp on the jam if you really love jam. I, on the other hand, love everything that went into these bad boys, so I loved every last part.

Are you also a muffin lover? You may enjoy these recipes-

Blackberry and Orange Muffins with Dark Chocolate Healthy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins Super Berry Chia Muffins

Almond Butter and Jam Muffins with Streusel Topping

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 22-25 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Yield: 18-20 muffins Category: Bread + Muffins + Scones, Breakfast, Healthy, Kid Approved!, Vegetarian Recipe inspired by Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil or butter, melted 1/2 cup granulated sugar or honey 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup plain greek yogurt 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup white whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup chopped almonds 2/3 cup creamy almond butter Raspberry or Strawberry Jam

For the oat streusel: 1 cup old fashioned oats 3 tablespoons all purpose flour 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon sugar 5 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 20 muffin tins with paper liners and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a separate, large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, honey or sugar, vanilla, buttermilk, greek yogurt, and eggs until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and fold together until just combined.

Gently fold the almond butter and chopped almonds into the batter and just barely mix (more swirling, less mixing).

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin tins (my yield was 20 muffins) and use a small spoon or teaspoon to create an indent or well in the middle of the muffin, one at a time. Scoop a small bit of jam into each well (approx. 1 1/2 teaspoons each muffin).

Prepare the streusel by combining the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium mixing bowl. and the butter and use your fingers to mix the butter with the dry ingredients until fully combined and the mixture starts to clump together.

Sprinkle the topping over each muffin and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

#Buttermilk #Greek Yogurt #eggs #All Purpose Flour #whole wheat flour #almonds #Almond Butter #Jam #Old Fashioned Oats #sugar #butter