#of course she can pull out a massive rpg from her small bag. or course she wouldn’t be hurt by a 50 foot drop | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

donaldpepys · 3 years

Text

Ser Harys was his wife’s father, and Pycelle could be counted upon as well.

Ser Harys was his wife’s father, and Pycelle could be counted upon as well. Was last seen at his Ninth Ward home in June.. The way that it is done can be made apparent in a few words. “Stay still. “If this is his revenge, he wrongs me. It was self-defence,—it was preventing others from murdering me,—it was justifiable, it was even praiseworthy. Lie down a little,” she said as soon as we got into the room, “you’re tired, you know; it’s no joke running about so far, and it’s too much after an illness; lie down, darling, lie down. Have created 23 brands for the Future Group and some like John Miller has also been taken outside the group. haibike e mtb 2020 That I could take it really far, Sedochenkoff said in a recent phone interview. After three hours of wine and words, the priests took their leave … all but the kindly man, the waif, and the one whose face bore the marks of plague. That cracking sound again and then a scream of tortured papuci de casa din pasla wood, and suddenly the air was full of shards and splinters. The Unsullied man the walls and towers, ready for any assault. “And do you know what I was doing? I’ve been walking up and down, reciting poetry. No true neutral in Model T transmissions, Tomway notes. King’s Landing was crowded with smallfolk who’d come seeking refuge from the fighting. “Not soon enough. But thanks to the Ottawa Sun intrepid Bruce Garrioch, the outrage was shown to have extended into the corporate business world, with a spokesman from Air Canada Denis Vandal having written a letter to the NHL threatening to pull its sponsorship of the league because of what he said was the of associating pendientes bulgari precio their with events that could lead to irresponsible and dangerous accidents. Brayden Kuroda was 12th in M4.. The Jumpman logo was first introduced on the Air Jordan 3. Obviously a long vent can be bent to fit the enclosure, but that adds to the complexity of the design. 2014 was an extremely difficult adjustment for her, first and foremost, catalog cercei aur turcia because she lost her spouse of more than a half century. They will also be selling products. I’ve hurried to come to you, Natasha, to assure you of that, for I know you’re prejudiced against him, and of course that’s not your fault. I think if Stella were to come back, it would be a pretty hefty storyline. This acute virus paralyzed my right leg from waist to toe. We can get them doing that, we feel a little bit more comfortable defensively, because our kids see that every day. Gemstones glittered on the fingers of the lords and the girdles and hairnets of the ladies. (8.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg).. They would have perished soon in any case, from exposure or starvation. Brown bought the restaurant, located at 17779 Highway X, in July 2013, and he noted the original project plan was to keep one lane open on the bridge during reconstruction. Sometimes was a bit slow, I thought, but we worked pretty hard with (strength and conditioning coach) Rich (Hesketh) in the gym. The negro was also tied to a log and to the bed-post with ropes, which choked him, and he was kicked and stamped by Souther. At last, when I said that I had to go at once to Natasha’s, and that I was late, she started, and informed me that she had forgotten the chief thing. “This wounds me deeply, I will have you know,” he told them between signatures. If people choose to ruin their possessions, I don’t know what’s to be done. As defending champion, Palmer had to help Player into the green jacket.. I saw white men at work, and no slave smarting beneath the lash. But they can be a little unsightly in the middle of a nice green lawn. Johnny Hrabovsky fired a shot through traffic from the left point that was saved by Mike Rotolo. During that time, he obtained his law degree from the Southern College of Law and was licensed to practice by dolce gabanna adidași bărbații the State of Tennessee. They emerged in a brick vault thrice the size of the winesink above. I was, in fact, her secret and mysterious lover. Designer Nike AirMax are only 1 type of them, I helpful to have the environment Max 180 during this exact nike air max 2015 womens pink colorway. 2009,"The Chamber of Commerce is the business community. Above them streamed the stag-and-lion of the boy who sat upon the Iron Throne a sandalias doradas gioseppo thousand leagues away.. Air Force scored three goals in the final 3:06 of the game as the Falcons defeated Bentley, 5 1, in an Atlantic Hockey Conference game Saturday, Feb. I know that I am ruined and that I’m ruining others. "Rachael spontaneously stated it 'seemed like she was coming at me with a picture frame' and this has happened before like deja vu. In the far distance, sunlight shimmered off deep water. Interestingly enough, they were competing with themselves as the 3.2GHz 965 held the pole position up to that point. With the benefit of hindsight, you could again wish the effort had landed in izraeli kézműves ékszerek the River Market district, as once discussed, though its location by the Little Rock National Airport, air jordan aj4 if off the beaten path, had some logic. Mostly, it involves underwater scenes, though. The big white direwolf would not lie still. Clearly, the lemurs are the stars of Journey to Madagascar, which opens Saturday. Come along! We’ll have a little chat and then part for another ten years. A lot of Jelly in my arsenal. He literally “obeyed in all things” his “masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.” If his conduct exhibits the slightest departure from a literal fulfilment of this injunction of Scripture, it is in a case which must command the approbation of the most rigid casuist; for the injunction of obedience extends, of course, only to lawful commands. “My face is still the same.”. I’m an old man, ail insulted father. We are particularly saddened that Mrs. They may ask for … ah … recompense for those who lost their lives to the dragon’s wroth. Again, the Focus will turn more heads inside with its cool blue lighting, while the switchgear has a slightly higher quality feel. “I was praying,” she told the Naathi girl. According to the port, the oneil mellény Hillsboro Airport is the second busiest airport in the state. Help me, explain our present position. She was in a fever and slightly delirious. Mount St. Blake was 16 and Paige 13 when the cheques started arriving in the post. "My family was wondering when I was going to get a real job," she recalls.. Are trying to work on the relationships and trying to work together, Lehmann said. He was not a tall man, Tormund Giantsbane, but the gods had given him a broad chest and massive belly. The key clicked three times, very softly, as the kindly man turned it in a lock. Extreme weather wasn't a huge factor. In the years to come, he decided to go to medical school at the nike jean jacket University of Tennessee, where he graduated in 1955. I won't lie, I get a small pleasure from exiting the plane and walking right out the door, while everyone else has to wait and shoulder there way to their bags on the conveyor belt.

1 note · View note

velis-et-remis · 3 years

Text

Druggist’s Lament, Chapter 1

Title: Druggist’s Lament

Chapter 1, part 1 of 2

Rating: teen & up

CW// blood, injury, weapons, explosions, car crash

Summary:

Norah Laennec has traveled to this exact moment to prevent a fatal accident. However, other forces come into play, making her mission much messier.

All characters and scenarios are my original creations and do not represent real-world incidents or other works of fiction.

Words: 928

++++++++++

Six minutes to the undoing.

Nine thirty-eight p.m. on October fifteenth, nineteen fifty (XX.III). Why does it always rain on nights like this? Norah Laennec sat 20m from the pitted country lane, the car she acquired another 20m off the road. She had arrived in the DDR several dozen kilometers outside Zweite Berlin six hours earlier. Unnecessarily early, but better safe than sorry. She had swept the stretch of road for IEDs and other devices but found none. No one had been in the vicinity during that time. It might just be due to the dark and a slick road after all. Norah mused, standing and doing another scan of the surrounding landscape. The only result she had found for a death of a “Max Borchers” on this date had been attributed to “Autounfall”: car accident.

Anything could cause that.

“Borrowing” a car for her own use had been another extra precaution. I probably won’t need it, but when the target’s in a vehicle, it doesn’t hurt to have one. Besides, it’s something to keep my bag in. She fiddled with the auto-injector in her pocket. It would all be over soon.

Twenty seconds before undoing, she heard the approaching vehicle’s engine. Headlamps came around the bend. At the same time, her scans detected another life form. Norah turned around, switching to heat imaging to find the newcomer. Heart pounding, she peered into the dark.

Fifteen seconds.

There, across the road, northeast approximately 800m away, a kneeling figure beneath the trees. The small car continued to make its way forward. It would soon come between them. It was proceeding slowly, skirting potholes. The back of Norah’s mind noted, A careful driver, good considering the conditions. Having located the other life form, she toggled to night vision. As she did so, the other figure, a tall humanoid, stood erect. She was muscular and dressed in black leather. That bitch. Norah crouched, keeping her eyes on the other woman. After a moment, she began to crawl silently toward the road. The headlamps will make me a target if I’m not careful.

Ten seconds.

The figure in black knelt again, rising a moment later with a long object resting across its shoulder. Shit!

Seven seconds.

Norah darted out of the underbrush, sprinting for the oncoming car. She heard the bang and hiss and saw the flash of the RPG launch. Her shoes pounded on the sloppy road. The car continued forward. She switched back to heat vision and was able to spot the speeding grenade round. I won’t be able to beat it to the car, she thought as she continued to press on at max speed, but maybe I can—

Just as the missile reached the vehicle, Norah was within 5m and launched both her shields at maximum strength. Energy burst forth from both forearms, shredding the sleeves of her jacket before they spread out before her. The front end of the car passed through them just as the grenade went off. Norah was blinded for a minute as the energy of her shields combined with the heat and light of the explosion overwhelmed her vision settings. She was hit by the impact of both the car and the blast, tumbling head-over-heels. She came to rest before the car did, skidding upside-down before stopping at the edge of the road, its windshield and headlamps busted. Tearing her eyes away from the rumpled metal, Norah scanned the surroundings. Where is she? Bam bam bam went the racing pulse in her ears. Nothing. Where is she hiding? Scans kept concluding that the only other life form was the one in the car. Did she nix already? Didn’t she see me? Hesitating no longer, Norah pushed herself up and ran to the car.

The car had flipped. It was a mass of crushed metal. Damn these old cars. The driver’s side window was cracked but the frame was mostly intact. Norah kicked out the glass and was able to see the man inside. He had come out of his seat but fortunately had not been flung from the vehicle. He fit the profile she had received: mid-twenties, blonde, well-built –the perfect Aryan—his face was a bloody mess, and he was unconscious. Norah began to reposition him to try to pull him out of the wreckage, being careful to move the head and neck as little as possible God I hope there’s no spinal cord injuries. Once he was out of the car, she dismissed her visual assists and looked him over with the help of a pocket torch. He’s breathing and has a pulse, so there’s that at least. The most arresting injuries were the broken nose and gash across his forehead, both of which were bleeding freely. Blood was soaking into his shirt and hair. Lucky this just missed the temple, that would have done him in. she thought, working her way down. His right arm lay unnaturally Dislocated shoulder as well as a couple fractures, if I’m not mistaken. Other, less severe, cuts as well as several contusions were evident. Possible fractured ribs as well. She quickly lifted each eyelid and flashed the small beam of her torch across each eye. Left’s one’s slightly more dilated; massive concussion, of course. The rain beat down and they were both soaked. She debated a moment whether to fetch her medical bag from her vehicle or to take him down there to perform first aid. She glanced uneasily back to where his assassin had stood and did another scan.

No other life forms.

++++++++++

For Chapter 1, part 2:

https://velis-et-remis.tumblr.com/post/660419062734651394/druggists-lament-chapter-1

#ocs original characters #scifi #au #alternative history #assassin #human augmentation #human 2.0 #female doctor #female main character #time travel #multiple timelines #primum non nocere #pnn #druggist's lament #chapter 1 #ch1 #page 1

1 note · View note

argentdandelion · 4 years

Text

That One Sad Fic Where Noelle’s Dad Dies

“Noelle.” “Wha—? Kris, it’s 3:00 AM….” Noelle said, squinting at her bedazzled cell phone in the darkness. (Ever since it assassinated her actual clock, she had to adapt.) “Skip school today. Go to your dad.” “…what? Why?” “Choose a game,” Kris said, with all the concision and emotion of a very ticked-off grandma.

“Alright, Kris! I got it!” Noelle turned on a lamp and hurriedly scanned through the video game titles.

Mario Kart, Professor Layton, Grand Theft Auto…

Noelle smiled and pulled out a title. “Ah, the perfect one! Silent Hill!”

“And for the love of Dog, do not bring Cooking Mama. Sweet Angel, that will only make him die faster!”

“Oh. Right. Shouldn’t bring anything too relaxing.” Noelle put down Silent Hill and chose Dragon Blazers III.

Noelle’s ears perked up. “Did…you just say ‘die faster’?”

But Kris had abruptly hung up, like clothes in a closet.

—–

“Dad? Dad?” Noelle gently shook her father from his sleep. The lamp was on, beaming light onto his face.

Rudy blinked blearily into the intense light. “Oh dear…now I’m getting medical care from aliens.”

Noelle frowned. “Come on, Dad! You said it yourself, we’re deer monsters.”

Dimly, Rudy noticed the furniture setup was different from what he remembered. He glanced across the room: the flowers in the glass cover had been put on the small counter by the sink, leaving the angel doll dethroned and emanating an aura of rage. The Nontondo console, sitting on a bedside table, was hooked up to the hospital TV and trying to keep its relationship discreet.

Emblazoned on the TV screen were the words “Dragon Blazers III”. It was drawn in fire-coated letters, as if overcompensating for a lack of innate coolness.

Rudy yawned and looked outside. The sky was still dark. “Noelle, why are you waking me up in the middle of the night?”

“It’s not the middle of the night, Dad.” Noelle said sheepishly.

“Oh, good.”

“It’s 3:20 AM.”

Just then Rudy noticed the bags under his daughter’s eyes, her messy hair, and the few crumbs stuck to the fuzz of her lips.

“Noelle.”

“Yes, Dad?”

“Lick those lips of yours.”

Noelle stared at him awkwardly.

“You got crumbs stuck to your fuzzy lips, and I don’t think you’re going for a flavor saver.”

“Dad, a flavor savor is a soul patch, not a mustache!”

“We’re covered in fur. It’s kind of hard to tell the difference!”

Rudy laughed, before pausing thoughtfully. “Eh, it doesn’t matter much. It’s not realistic for society to expect women to constantly shave.”

“I mean, of course,” Noelle wrinkled her brow. “There’s no way anyone has the time for full body shampooing and hair removal.”

Noelle moved a tacky little chair closer to the bed (clearly intended for smaller visitors), and cringed at the squeak. Noelle smiled, and handed her father the other controller.

She yelped.“Oh! Darn! It’s a single-player game!”

“Ah, good. It’d be messy to be a player and also married.” Rudy winked.

“How’d you know it has a marriage option?” Noelle asked, befuddled. “….Never mind.”

Rudy slowly leaned over, looking at the item Noelle held. “You only got one controller? Oh, it’s fine. I can always watch. You’re much better than me at these games anyway.”

—-

“Gosh darn it, Shella.”

“Come on, Noelle! You can swear harder than that.”

Noelle blushed.

“This is the last time I’ll ever be able to see my little girl swear a blue streak.” Rudy said solemnly.

“It’s the wish of a dying man, Noelle. Now let it rip!”

“Fu–”

—-

Noelle painted the room blue as the ocean with the intensity and number of her swears…including two Rudy had never even heard before.

Noelle hunched over with an exhausted look, panting. Suddenly her cheeks bulged, and she spat out one little swear lingering in her throat.

Rudy sat in his bed, stunned at the depths of foulness to tumble out of the mouth of a sweet-natured teenage girl. “Wow, Nolle…

I am so proud of you.”

Noelle beamed, still flushed with the exhaustion of releasing sixteen years’ worth of repressed cussing. Noelle’s cheeks bulged again….only to erupt into laughter. Soon, Rudy, too, was laughing, and the room itself was filled with laughter (and swear residue).

Rudy’s ears flailed out, and with a bug-eyed look Rudy coughed out some dust.

Noelle stared at the dust smeared on her father’s hand. Rudy looked solemn. “Noelle, I think it’s time I told you the truth…”

“I’m part vacuum cleaner.”

—-

They had traveled deep into the dungeon in the bowels of the earth. Suddenly, the claustrophobic halls expanded into a greater room….

“A cutscene!”

Noelle perked her ears up and forward, leaning closer to the TV with a gamer’s hunch. She sat there for a few seconds, straining her ears, but the sound had been turned too low for that sweet, sweet cutscene music.

“Oh, darn. Wish I could hear the music.”

“Oh, Noelle, you can turn it up. The only other guy is the Warrior, and he’s delusional. Guy thinks he’s a NPC spouting foreshadowing for an incomplete game.”

Noelle adjusted the hospital TV’s buttons the old-fashioned way, as the remote was on paternity leave after irresponsibly siring tiny music players.

Atmospheric music ran through that quiet hospital room.

“You dense son of a submariner! Wither away!”

Smiles filled their vision as they enjoyed the scene together, as they witnessed the bizarre scene of characters innocently smiling while delivering scathing dialogue. Ill-advised ‘cultural translations’ for a tougher audience, Noelle thought. But I love it.

A room away, a patient quietly fumed and flailed his limbs, ranting again. Muffled as it was through the sounds of battle, and laughter, and conversation, none heard him. He shed a single manly tear through his costume.

—-

Swarms of Modiglettes tread towards them in the darkness.

Noelle tensed up with a little “eep”, and Rudy turned to his daughter’s terrified face. “What are you waitin’ for? Flare ‘em!”

Noelle shook off her fear…and decided to upgrade the spell to ZettaFlare, for good measure. The vastly over-levelled scale of the spell wrecked the swarm of Modiglettes…and the entire dungeon. The enemies soundly defeated (as well as most of the party), the scorched, half-dead remainder of the party weakly cheered.

"Creepy! Just like that angel doll!”

“Heh, you think so?” Rudy said with relief. “That thing’s a nightmarish abomination!” Rudy glanced toward that faceless angel doll on the counter top, still a little askew after all those hours beside the flowers. He felt it glaring at him judgmentally…as if wishing for his death.

Rudy noticed, just then, the petals falling from the wilting bouquet…onto that letter enclosed within.

"Kris…they’re a good kid.”

“Earlier, they told me to come visit you.” Noelle replied offhand.

Noelle had never seen her father’s brows rise higher. “Huh. That’s awfully out-of-character for them. I sure hope that isn’t a clue they know something we don’t.”

Noelle laughed nervously. “Yeah, I sure hope so! It’s….probably a sign of some turmoil or trauma that occurred off-screen. That totally happens in RPGs, so it’s not that weird.”

—-

As Noelle defeated foe after foe, progressing on her journey, she spoke less and less. The same went for her father. He reclined in his bed, his head heavy.

Noelle said nothing: not of her anxiety, not of her sadness, not of her ever-growing desire for soda and cheese chips.

“Dad? You haven’t said anything in a while. It’s getting kind of awkward. ‘Companionable silence’ is, uh…not something I’m very good at.”

“Oh, you don’t have to narrate everything,” her father said. “It’s not like you’re playing it for an Internet audience.”

“After all, video games can be…” Her father looked down before looking back at her. “an activity well-suited for urban hermits.”

—-

“THE END”, it said.

Noelle stared at the screen. “What happens next?” Noelle asked, her voice laden with tension.

“The credits screen, of course!” Rudy replied.

“No, no…I mean…what happens to the characters?” Noelle said, glancing towards the window. Her hands still clenched the controller.

“…Y’know…I like to think they all went home after beating the final boss, and had that long-awaited cake.”

“I don’t think they’ll ever get the cake,” Noelle said quietly, looking down. “They always thought they could, but then things happened no one could predict, and now they have to live a cake-free life.”

“You’re right. Come to think of it…a lot of games have cake you can’t get…” Rudy looked out into the distance, up towards the ceiling. “I suppose all they can hope for is finding joy in cupcakes, muffins and brownies. After all, it’s not like having a cake-free life stops them from finding happiness. There are a lot of caloric baked goods in the world.”

Noelle stared at her father, her eyes wet. “Are we…are we even talking about cake anymore?”

Rudy lifted an eyebrow. “It’s good advice, literal or not, and it’s straight from my supply of fatherly wisdom.”

Then, suddenly, there was a weight on Noelle’s hands, and Noelle’s eyes went wide open. Her father weakly squeezed Noelle’s hand, looking straight at her with a wan smile.

“Noelle, dear. Life stinks. But video games make life stink less. When I’m gone, game so much the WHO gives you a disorder.”

“I promise, Dad.”

Her father laid back on the bed, staring up towards the ceiling again.

“DAD OUT!” He shouted. His tongue stuck out and his eyes turned to X’s.

Tears bubbled in Noelle’s eyes. “His eyes turned to X’s…just like the video games…”

—-

It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like these, kids like Kris should be inside playing Nontondo games, but no, Kris had to go be all nice-like and visit someone whose dad had died.

Kris found Noelle standing by the window, light streaming past her silhouette in the early morning light. Kris stared at Noelle’s back in a way that definitely wasn’t creepy.

The two of them stood like two islands in a quiet ocean…but for the malfunctioning air conditioning system, which was quite terrible at imitating calming ocean waves.

Kris observed a massive snarl in Noelle’s hair. It was so big it looked like her hair had gotten pregnant. Dear sweet angel mother of Dog could she not have combed her hair a little before visiting her dying father at 3:30 AM?! Kris thought. But Kris kept quiet.

“Yo, Noelle, your hair is awful,” Kris said. Kris cringed, hurriedly adding: “Also, sorry ‘bout your dad. Obvious foreshadowed deaths are still super sad.”

Noelle spoke in a voice drained of tears, due to a quick surgery she had to improve tear evacuation in her face. Thankfully, Kris wasn’t looking at Noelle’s face.

“I suppose so,” Noelle said quietly. “But if it means I got to spend time with my dad, one last time…then it was worth it for my hair to look like it got goshdarn pregnant.”

Oh thank Dog we agree, Kris thought. Would have been awkward if I brought it up.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do next,” Noelle said, almost to herself. “Life’s…never going to go back to normal, with my dad being all corpsey.”

Kris looked at the bed. It felt empty. “It’s kind of ambiguous whether he’s a corpse or dust.”

“You don’t know…maybe we scheduled a cremation service ahead of time, ‘cause he was on his way out anyway.”

The room was quiet again, but for the annoying creak of the malfunctioning air conditioning. It sounded like a wooden ship breaking apart in a storm-tossed…No, no. Make for a more subtle metaphor, Kris told their own brain.

The moment carried on, stretching out like a lazy morning. In that unhurried moment, where a person could simply be alive, Kris lost track of time. It didn’t matter: it was either 9:27 AM or croissant o’clock.

What did Noelle see, in one of the best views in all of Hometown? The houses below? The woods beyond? Undyne arresting Snowdrake for streaking?

“Thank you, Kris,” Noelle said quietly. “Thank you for somehow knowing roughly when my dad was going to die, despite having zero medical knowledge.”

Noelle’s ears floated up. A few seconds passed. Noelle turned around, exposing her hideously enlarged tear ducts.

“OH MY DOG KRIS DO YOU HAVE TIME TRAVEL POWERS?!”

But Kris had long since bounced the joint.

—-

Everyone knew it was coming. The foreshadowing was very obvious.

Kris stood stiffly in the doorway, a sense of unease building in their various body parts.

At first, the room seemed unoccupied. Then, Kris caught a soft, high-pitched noise. Kris caught Noelle sobbing, her face concealed under a waterfall of hair. (Much like a waterfall was wet, it was also wet. But with tears.) A thought occurred to Kris, unbidden, that her hair was beautiful: long, and blond, and finely combed, and increasingly stained with tears and snot. Her arms wrapped her arms around her body.

Kris did a double-take.

“Noelle…why are you brandishing a disembodied pair of your own arms?”

Noelle coughed out her sobs and swallowed.

“These are my sorrow arms, Kris….I grow them whenever I am enduring the crushing pain of existence.”

Kris’s blank face somehow looked hesitant.

“I doubt that. I’ve never grown any sorrow arms.”

“…oh. I’m sorry, Kris,” Noelle said, a little subdued. “Growing a second pair of arms under overwhelming sorrow must be a monster-only thing.”

“I only wish…I could have played Dragon Blazers III with him.”

Kris paused, tilting their head just a fraction of an inch. “How long would it take to finish Dragon Blazers III?” It was a mundane inquiry, very similar to “Do you have croissants?” in how mundane it was.

Noelle sniffed. In a brittle voice, like a piece of plastic (the brittle kind), she said: “It’s pretty big. About eight hours, I-I think.”

“If you could finish the game with your father, would you?”

“I’d do anything for it.”

“Would you give me hair-care tips?”

“…what?”

“’Cause I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful your hair was, despite the fact it’s increasingly stained with tears and snot.”

“Kris, I am mourning my dead dad. Please read the room before asking for hair care tips.” Noelle’s arms tightened around herself. “But, yes…theoretically, I would provide hair care tips.”

“Despite that unwanted tone of voice, I’m gonna be the better person and rewind time so you can play a video game with your dad, all good Samaritan-like.” Kris said.

“…what? Rewind time?”

—-

“Yo. Red SOUL.” Kris said blankly, sashaying towards a SOUL in a birdcage.

“I need you all up inside me.” Kris said, as seductively as a teenager of unclear age could while still being legal. Kris opened up the cage and their SOUL eagerly jumped into their chest cavity.

“PSYCHE!” Kris exclaimed. “I knew you’d automatically rewind time, sucka! And I’m gonna make Noelle slightly less sad!”

#Deltarune #Kris Dreemurr #Noelle Holiday #Rudy Holiday #Kris (Deltarune)#Fanfiction #Parental Death #Death #Comedy

14 notes · View notes

prompt-master · 6 years

Photo

This story is about my two characters Zach and Iree who live in an RPG Zelda like world. Zach has lightning powers triggered by love and struggles to express himself and understand people’s emotions. Iree is a really energetic gal with a massive crush on Zach who’s powers are light that derive from fear. The two of them are in a cave in when shit goes south quick. Art by @doodles-by-noodles

Zach woke up coughing and knew he was in for a shit storm. The first thing he noticed was that his face STUNG. He lifted a hand to his cheek and hissed when he pressed against the sharp cut on him. He wiped away the blood from his finger and then noticed the second thing about his situation. It was pitch black. He couldn’t see at all.

What the fuck happened?

Then he noticed he was laying on the cold hard ground. Things were just coming to his attention in slow shallow waves. He looked around slowly, not bothering to even try and get up. He felt that sluggish feeling that came with a gross and slow wake up. His eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but he could feel cold rock underneath him. Right. He was in a cave…

He rolled his head to the other side. He was in a cave when a part of it collapsed. He looked around again, now noticing a bright yellow figure laying not too far from him. He was in a cave with-

Iree!

His eyes widened and he immedietly shot up, running to his fallen partner. She was laying on her stomach, arms sprawled limply. She didn’t look hurt but..then again he couldn’t see anything else aside from her bright ass hair. Shit. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her,

“Iree. Iree hey, wake up.”

She didn’t even stir. He shook her harder, head rolling from the force, “Iree wake up!”

Nothing. He sighed, he’d apologize for this later. He lifted up his hand and slapped Iree sharply across the face.

Now THAT got her up. Iree gasped and grabbed Zach’s arms, “What? What the fuck is going on-”

“Iree listen to me.” First things first make sure she’s not gonna die, “are you hurt? Did you hit your head? Do you remember what happened?”

Iree looked really fucking confused and slow. Maybe she did hit her head. She brought herself up on her elbows. She looked around, but when she found she couldn’t see she looked back into Zach’s deep blue eyes.

“Iree. Focus. Do you remember what happened?”

Iree nodded slowly, “Yeah. Yeah. We were uh…looking for a spell ingredient. And- uh- there was a cave in”

Zach nodded, good. So she probably was concussed. “And you’re not hurt?”

“No. I’m ok, you?”

“Just a scratch. Now listen Iree we need a light so- I need you to think of something scary ok, buddy? I’m sorry just- we need you right now Iree ok?” He tried to speak kinder than usual, she was clearly still dazed and confused. Her eyes were wide and unblinking.

She swallowed thickly and nodded. Ok. Just think of something scary she can do that. I mean they were stuck in a dark cave with assumingly no way out. That was scary. And there was a wet spot on her side that was really annoying her, it made her side feel warm and icky and it kind of-

“Oh.” Iree began to light up, surroundings becoming more clear. “Oh. I think I thought of something scary.” The light grew stronger, until the two of them could see each other clearly and the damp cave walls.

Zach watched as Iree leaned her back against the wall and lifted her arm up, revealing blood sticking from her arm to a giant gash on the side of her waist where her jumpsuit was visciously torn. Her wide, fearful eyes looked straight at Zach.

“I-…I think I AM hurt.”

“Oh shit.” Zach mumbled, watching the blood gush and stain her side. “Oh shit” this was really bad. This was fucking terrible he had no idea how long she had been bleeding out and- she could die!

That thought snapped him back to attention, “Iree give me your fucking scarf!” He got closer, hands going to her neck.

She suddenly glared at him, trying to push away, “What? No way. This was a gift from Cain-”

“Iree give me your fucking scarf right now!”

Zach never fucking yelled. Zach felt bad when the light emitted from Iree got stronger but this was life or death. She untied the scarf from her neck and handed it to him. He guided her so she was laying on her back propped against the wall, “Don’t move ok?”

He started to tightly wrap the scarf around her wound. Iree groaned miserably from both the pain and seeing the blood stains ruining her yellow scarf. She leaned against his shoulder, any time he tightened the scarf she hissed.

Trying to keep Zach from feeling guilty, she started small talk, “that…was a perfectly good scarf you know.”

“I know. We’ll worry about it after ok?”

“We’re gonna be ok you know.” She said, looking away, “Cain knows where we are. He gets worried easy.”

Zach nodded, continuing to wrap the wound, “Good thing he has earth powers…are you ok?”

Iree nodded.

Zach didn’t seem convinced though, “are you really?”

“Well it stings but, nothing I can do about that babe”

Zach rolled his eyes when she called him babe. At least there was a semblance of normalcy even in these dire situations, even if they weren’t dating.

Zach tied it up nicely and stepped backwards. It looked ok. It should holdup nicely until they got her a potion. He cringed at the blood staining his hands, and tried to wipe it off on the wall, “I’m gonna try and see if I can find an opening.”

Iree nodded, just looking worn out and exhausted. She leaned against the cold rocks, trying to get comfortable with the huge pain against her side. If she moved wrongly she only caused more pain.

Zach was inspecting the giant wall of bolders that formed with the cave in. It looked pretty solid. He was scared to take anything out in case it was a key stone. He had to be really careful about this, less he make the situation worse. Then of course there was the other option, which was go deeper into the cave and hope it leads out or something. But this wasn’t a manmade cave. And Iree wasn’t exactly in a traveling position.

Iree suddenly screamed out in pain, causing him to basically get whip lash when turned to her. She was holding her side, she had tried to get her bag which had fallen a bit away when she fell. But all she succeeded in doing was cause pain. Zach put a hand on her shoulder, frowning at the pained expression she had. She was sweaty from it, panting from between her teeth. It had to be bad.

“Are you ok”

She nodded, but didn’t do a good job convincing him. He grabbed her hand hesitantly, and she squeezed the life out of it. But it must have helped somewhat, because ever so slightly the light dimmed.

“I’m ok. I’m ok, sorry”

“What happened?”

“My bag…we might be able to call Cain”

Zach’s eyes widened, “really?”

She nodded, “look for the little yellow gem.”

Zach went to grab it but felt a tug. He looked back, Iree was blushing, holding onto his hand like her life depended on it, “Ah but…please stay…”

Zach pursed his lips, feeling sparks on the back of his neck. “I won’t, I promise. I just need to get your bag.”

She looked really hesitant to let go, her eyes showed a new vulnerable expression he wasn’t used to from the insane adventurer who went roller skating off mountains. None of them had ever been this badly hurt without a potion right there though…Actually dealing with pain? That was pretty scary when you’re not used to it.

But she ended up letting go, and just as promised he grabbed the bag and went back to holding her hand. The only problem was that Iree’s bag was bottomless. So it might take a while. He pulled out random objects like coffee makers, her giant ass war hammer, a…bike? Why did a girl with prosthetic roller skates need a bike?

He found it though. After a while. By the time he did it had taken so long that Iree’s hands had gone clammy. Her eyes looked so damn tired and her skin was pale.

Zach almost dropped the gem with how worried he got, “Iree…? Are you ok? What’s wrong?”

Iree nodded, “’m okay…” Her words were stumbling together. Her eyes starting to fall shut.

“Hey!” Zach shook her arm violently, not liking how weak her grip had gotten, “stay with me Iree you’re gonna be ok. Just- fuck stay away.”

Iree looked up at him in a daze, her mouth slightly parted.

“For me?”

That got some clarity into her eyes. She nodded with a slight sense of determination, and forced her eyes open. Sometimes Zach had to use her crush on him for good things.

He tried to call Cain through the gem, but the signal was shit. Made sense, they were in a cave. He stood up, Iree let him go this time since she was so tired, and walked towards the pile of rocks. He waved the gem around, trying to find a good spot and froze when Cain’s face suddenly projected off the gem.

“Hey Zach. Where are you guys I was just about to go looking for yo-”

“There was a cave in. We’re both trapped and Iree is badly injured we need your help now.”

Cain’s eyes widened, and Zach could see him donning his gauntlets, “shit. Ok hang tight I’ll be right there.”

“Bring healing potions and hurry” Cain hung up, and Zach felt more relaxed knowing help was on the way. Now all he had to do was comfort Iree till Cain got here.

“Did you hear that Iree? Cain is-” suddenly he was engulfed in pitch black again. It was…too sudden. Iree always gradually faded back to darkness so why-

Why did it just stop like that?

“Iree?” Zach couldn’t move, his heart was in his chest. His panicked heart beat only grew faster when she didn’t answer, “Iree this-this isn’t funny what’s wrong?”

Nothing.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

“Iree!” Zach ran over to where he left Iree, stumbling and falling onto his knees, tearing his pants. He desperatly grabbed Iree’s shoulders, holding up the gem and turning it in so it would shine a dim light over her.

He could barely breath, Iree was unconscious. Oh god Iree fainted. Was she gonna die? Is she dying?

“Iree..?” He felt a burning behind his eyes.

Zach didn’t cry. Zach wasn’t a very emotional person but. His friend was unconscious and probably dying and he didn’t know what to do.

“Iree come on i- Iree please we need a light” he grabbed her face, trying to rouse her awake again. Nothing, she didn’t move or react to anything.

“Iree! You gotta wake up Iree please!” Fuck oh fuck he was crying now, “please!!”

Nothing. He was in hysterics. He shook his head and forced himself to focus, he held her tightly and brought his head to her mouth.

Her breaths were small but they were there.

He sagged in relief, she wasn’t ok but she was alive and he’d take that over head any day.

In the darkness he held her close, “you’re gonna be ok Iree. Just hang in there. Please hang in there”

All he could do is wait until Cain found them.

#ocs #oc whump #whump #orphan squad #fanfic #again dw i will write dbh whump guys i'm sorry!!!

5 notes · View notes

guide-to-dragons-blog · 7 years

Text

1. Greet a Dragon with Respect

"Suuuummer, it's hooooooot!"

It was summer in Pine Valley, meaning that there was an annual early heatwave. It's ridiculously hot for June, which is normal but still stupid, considering how we lived next to a massive pine forest. According to Summer, pine trees grow better in wet, cold climates, except for this one obscure type that I've never bothered to remember the name of. I leave that sort of nerd thing to Summer.

"I know," she agreed, fanning herself with the book she's abandoned. That's how you know it's serious: Summer never puts down a book she likes except under extreme circumstances. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up friends with a bookworm like her. "I could ask my parents if we can go to the pool?"

"Hey, yeah! That's a great- Mmmm..." I squinted at her from under the arm shielding my eyes. Her glasses glinted in the sun. "There'll be a lot of people," I warned.

Summer frowned, crossing her legs uncomfortably. "I'll be fine. There won't be that many people." I've never exactly gotten her deal with people. She's funny and super smart, so she'd be really popular if she'd just open up. It might've also helped if I wasn't her best friend, but whatever. I digress.

"This ain't exactly Cali, dude. No one has a pool in their backyard." It gets too cold in the winter for that. "Everyone will be at the public one."

She scowled. "I hate it when you're right. I thought I was supposed to be the reasonable one here. You're supposed to be the daredevil who gets us in trouble."

"The heat's fried your brain," I teased, reaching out to poke her knee. The brunette seemed to frown harder. We got quiet again, trying to think of other ways to get out of the heat. I let my eyes drift over to the left, coming to stare at the forest looming in the distance. Hmm. Lots of tall, thick trees all bunched together in one place, which means lots of shade. Not to mention the breeze and-

I sat up quickly, startling her into dropping her book. "That's it! The lake!" I rushed into the house, grinning wildly. This had to be my best idea yet.

"The lake?" Summer echoed, running after me. Incredulously,sthe said, "You mean the lake in the middle of the off-limits woods?"

"Unless you know any other lakes around here," I chirped cheerfully, grabbing my bag and darting into the bathroom to grab a towel. I poked my head out to look at her. "Think your parents would mind if I stole one of your towels?"

"To go swimming in the off-limits lake? Yes, I think they would," she drawled, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "Really, Cascade, I know you have this whole 'daredevil' thing going on, but don't you think this is stretching it? I mean..." She shifted from mother hen to nervous wreck, glancing out the window worriedly. "Those fences are there for a reason, you know."

I stopped shoving the two towels into the bag to lean on the counter and gave her a flat stare. "What, you mean the dragons that live there?"

It was sort of a town joke/superstition. The founder, a guy named Christian Dike, came here when he was run out of his old town. He found a couple of nice people to help him make a new settlement here and thus, Pine Valley was born. However, according to some of his old journals, the nice people weren't the only ones who helped him make it. Dike claimed that somewhere in the woods was an entire lair of dragons who helped construct the place, so the woods were off-limits, apparently to give them their privacy or whatever. There were a few weirdos who believed it and either stayed away from it or went searching, but most people just stayed out because of all the wild animals likely running around.

Summer flushed and scowled at me. "You know that's not the reason! There's just too much wilderness. We could get hurt! Or worse, we could get caught!"

"...How is that worse than getting hurt?"

"Permanent records Cascade. You can't get into a good college with a criminal record!"

I sighed, walking over and grabbing her shoulders. "Summer. I know, like, seven people who have gone to that lake, and none of them have been caught. No police or anything ever goes in there, okay? Come on, it's just for an hour or something. Don't you wanna be cool?" I enticed, grinning again. I could see the struggle in her eyes. Any minute now she was gonna break.

With a long-suffering groan, her resolve disintegrated, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Alright, alright, you win! Let's go swim in the forbidden lake." She shot me a dirty look when I started dancing in celebration. "Dad was right about you. You're a terrible influence," she informed me.

I cackled, crooning, "But a fun one~ C'mon, let's go grab your suit!" She let me dance past her up the stairs, sighing loudly behind me. I looked at the pictures on the wall leading up, grinning at the little family. More than a few of them were dorky pictures of Summer and I growing up.

Summer's room was at the very end of the hall, cut off by a girlishly decorated door. Summer had been meaning to take off some of the stickers for years, but somehow it never happened (it was entirely my fault. I distracted her every time she talked about it until she just gave up). The room itself was much more mature, with bare pale blue walls save for bookshelves. She had a twin bed with a plain navy blue blanket, a white fluffy blanket, and two blue and white striped pillows. She had a nightstand at the left side with a small lamp. Her dresser was white and not very big, across the room from her door. She had a floor to ceiling bookshelf full of books, and one of the shelves was full of baubles and trinkets she adored. She also had a work desk she used to read and do any sort of work at, with a tall lamp to the right of it.

As I leafed through her drawers, I considered the old rumor. It would be pretty cool if dragons were real. When I was younger, I constantly pretended to be a dragon or to see dragons. My shelves were lined with tons of books ranging from rpg guides to stories about them. It drove my aunt and uncle crazy for a while, but at least I was easy to shop for. If there really were dragons in the forest, I wanted to meet them.

Of course, I'd come to the realization years ago that dragons and such didn't actually exist, so like all children I gave up on that dream and just thought back on them with fondness.

"I can look for my own suit, you know," Summer chimed, watching me from her bed.

"Yeah, I know, but I got up here first, so therefor I get to rifle through your drawers." I peeked at her over my shoulder, grinning evilly. "What'sa matter, Summer? Got something scandalous in here?" I teased.

Summer flushed at the taunt, scowling at me. She reached out and grabbed an empty Sprite bottle off the floor (oops, I probably left that the last time I was here) and chucked it at me as I cackled again. I turned back and grabbed the article of clothing I was looking for, tossing it at her. "There we go. Go change and we're all set!"

"Aren't you forgetting your suit, smart one?" Summer snarked, grabbing the suit as she stood up.

"Nah, I'll just go in this," I replied, gesturing to my tee-shirt and shorts. "House is too far away for walking to right now."

Summer sighed and headed for the bathroom, leaving me to myself. Humming idly, I headed downstairs, rummaging through the fridge for something to drink. They always had extra water bottles in the very bottom during summer so we could stay hydrated. It was very convenient for when we wanted to go places but it was hot out. Grabbing a pair of bottles, I hurried up the stairs, depositing them in the bag.

Summer emerged just then, an orange tee-shirt pulled on over her top and sandals on her feet. She raised an eyebrow at the bottles, clearly not having expected that I be the responsible one. I shrugged. "I had nothing else to do."

She chuckled softly, shaking her head at me. "Whatever you say, Cascade. Are we ready?"

"When you are!" I confirmed, shouldering the bag with a grin. We headed down the stairs together, a spring in my step and carefully hidden excitement in hers. As rule-oriented as Summer was, she was still my friend, and anyone crazy enough to stick with me for as long as she had needed a little bit of an adventurous streak.

It might have been my imagination, but I think it actually got hotter in the short while we had headed in. I was sweating about as soon as I stepped out. We might have started running to the trees if not for the fact that it was too hot to do more than trudge miserably down the road, wishing it was just a little bit cooler.

We couldn't reach the fence fast enough. The fence was at least eight feet high, which was definitely taller than me or Summer. It had been put up by Dike way back when to keep people out and it had stayed there, mostly because the people in town were too lazy to take it down. Nowadays it served as a deterrent to delinquents and lawbreakers, not that it did much to stop them. Maybe they should set up an electric fence instead.

"How are we gonna get over that?" Summer whispered, eyeing the metal warily.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "There's this thing that we can do called climbing, and it helps people get over things like this."

She glared at me for a moment, which I simply beamed at cheerfully, and then the look melted into the familiar pane of anxiety. "You know, maybe this is a bad idea. I mean, they have a fence and signs up for a reason, you know? Maybe there really is something big in there that we don't want to meet."

It was obvious that we weren't going to get anywhere like this, so I sighed and squared my shoulders. I took a few steps back, catching her relieved face, and planted my feet. Relief was replaced with confusion as I grabbed the straps of the bag with both hands, eyeing the top of the fence with a determined set to my jaw. Horrified realization hit her as I began to swing my arms, building up as much momentum as I could. Before she had a chance to say anything, I gave it one last swing and let it fly. The bag sailed up, up, up... and landed with a satisfying thunk on the other side of the fence.

I gave her a smug grin and swaggered back up to the fence, reaching up to grip the first few links. Summer made a sputtering noise as I hefted myself up, carefully scaling the cold obstruction. The metal dug uncomfortably into my palms and knees but I ignored it in favor of reaching the top of the wall. I was just trying to work my way over the fence when Summer finally found her wits again and yelled, "Please be careful Cascade! Falls from that height could really hurt you!"

"Summer my dear, I think you forget that I am the same person who once climbed up to your window after it rained. I'm not gonna fall," I yelled down at her, swinging my legs over so I was hanging from the top. I began to casually work my way down, smiling at her triumphantly. "See? What'd I tell you? You got nothing to worry about, I'm a natural-"

My foot slipped.

Summer screamed as I dropped the last four of five feet, landing hard on my back. I stared up at the overhanging branches, my head spinning and heart pounding. I expected to be significantly more winded and in more pain than what I was, and then I felt the squishy thing beneath me. Rolling over, I found that I'd landed on the bag, which was noticeably more compact than it had been.

"Are you okay?" Summer asked desperately, clinging hard to the fence and watching me with worry.

"Surprisingly, yes," I replied, grinning again as I reached out to pat the trusty bag. "Luckily I had this convenient bag to break my fall."

She let out a deep breath, face contorting into a mix of anger and relief. "You are so lucky that bag caught you Cascade. You could have broken something! I swear, when I get over there I'm going to throttle you! How dare you make me worry!"

"So you're coming over?" I asked impishly, grinning as she gave an irritated groan and began clumsily scaling the fence. My amusement waned a little as I watched her. It was fine when I did it, but Summer didn't have the experience that I did. It would be even easier for her to hurt herself. I couldn't stop myself from coaching her a little. "Keep your body closer to the fence. I know it's a little uncomfortable, but it'll help you hang on better."

"Cascade," she said in a mock-surprised voice, sounding out of breath already. "Are you... worried about... me? I'm a n-natural," she huffed, shaking as her hand slipped a bit. She was almost to the top.

"Ha ha, you're so funny, now stop talking and focus on where you're putting your hands. Your dad may be a doctor, but I'm not. If you crack your skull open you're toast," I threatened, subconsciously raising my hands as though to catch her.

"You know, you're.... You're not making this any easier," she huffed, pausing at the top to catch her breath. "You're actually kind of making this worse."

"I could just start making my way to the lake if that makes you feel better," I replied carelessly, reaching down to grab the bag and sling it back over my shoulder.

Her eyes grew wide, grip turning white-knuckled with terror. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed, leaning forward slightly.

I hid my evil grin and turned away, taking a few joking steps into the forest. Her dismayed squawk sent me giggling and I turned back, dropping the bag again. "I'm insulted. You look like you were actually expecting me to leave you here!" I teased, stepping back over and craning my head back to look up at her.

Summer looked like she was actually debating the benefits of throttling me once she found a way to get down. I just smiled at her sweetly and made a "come hither" motion, eager to get back on the way. The heat was sinking in once again and I wanted to get going. She sighed heavily and began descending, thankfully without any of the issues I had.

As soon as her feet touched ground she whirled around and punched my arm, which might have had more of an impact if not for the fact that it lacked any strength. I clutched my arm theatrically and wailed, "Ah, oh no! The pain, the pain! It hurts so much! I may never recover again!"

"I will hit you again, and this time it will hurt," Summer grumbled, snatching the bag and stomping into the forest ahead of me.

I laughed and hurried to catch up to her, taking the lead. I had only been to the lake once before this, but the way was clear. Other teens had left convenient little hints that you could find if you payed attention: a blue scarf tied around a tree, a carved arrow or a spray-painted picture, things like that. Summer frowned at a few of them, muttering about laws and the environment. I sighed good-naturedly, more amused with her mumbled tirade than anything else.

Walking in the forest brought a strange feeling of peace to me. Maybe it was just the massive difference in temperature now that we were in the shade, or the gentle breeze, but whatever it was, it felt really nice just to walk through here. I think Summer felt the same, because the longer we walked the quieter her complaints got. I glanced back to see that she was staring up at the trees serenely, looking right at home.

A particularly strong breeze stole my attention, bringing the scent of water our way. Grinning at Summer, I broke into a run, beckoning her to do the same. The trees stopped abruptly, fading from grass to sand. The lake stretched out into the distant set of mountains, glimmering in the summer heat.

I laughed and paused just long enough to slip off my shoes before I was charging into the water. Cold water splashed up around my legs, soaking me almost instantly. I ducked under the water, relishing in the feeling of water rushing around me. I resurfaced, turning around to see Summer standing on the bank still, watching me with a grin. "Well don't just stand there silly, come in! The water feels amazing!" I called, waving her in excitedly.

She set the bag down and pulled off the top, wading into the water hesitantly and shivering at the sudden temperature change. I rolled my eyes again-they were really getting a workout today it seemed-and swam closer, watching her with unimpressed eyes. She looked down at the water hesitantly. "This doesn't look very clean, Cascade. Is is alright to go swimming in it?"

"Of course it is. This is what we're supposed to swim in, Summer! Not those shallow pools of chlorinated water, but real, pure lake water! Filled with fish and crawdads and natural life!" I enthused, laughing as I splashed her playfully and she shied away.

"Sometimes I think you were a fish in your past life," Summer commented, finally wading in deeper than her waist. She sighed as the water flowed over her shoulders, giving me a shy grin. "You're right though, this does feel really nice."

I grinned, reaching out to pull her further into the lake. "See? Now aren't you glad that I talked you into this?"

"Yes, yes, I get it," she replied, giggling as she began to tread water. A devious look entered her eyes and she brought her hands up, slapping them into the water forcefully. I yelped, trying in vain to shield myself from her assault. She smiled evilly. "That's for the fence, Cade." "Oh, is that how it's gonna be? I hope you know what you're getting into!" I cackled, initiating the Great Splash War.

We played around for about fifteen minutes, laughing as we dunked one another. When we got tired, Summer moved back to shore to laze on her towel while I floated. I swam out into the darker parts of the lake and ducked under, swimming down as far as I could go and peering around me. The water was clearer down at the bottom, easily letting me see all the different kinds of fish and lake species. I trailed my hands through the fronds on the bottom and swam up for air.

I glanced around, noticing that I'd drifted out much farther than intended, and quickly began heading back to shore. Summer was reading yet again, lounging in the shade as she dried off. I chuckled and hurried back over, intending to rope her into a game of Marco Polo.

The day had other plans though. As soon as I had stumbled back onto land, unused to the sudden heaviness in my limbs, I heard someone yell in the direction we'd come from. I stiffened, eyes going wide as I heard them tromping through the undergrowth. The voice was older and gruff, so there was definitely no hope that it was another teenager coming to enjoy the lake on a hot summer day.

Summer looked up at me, panicked. They were awfully close now. "What should we do?" she whisper-yelled, staggering to her feet and gripping my sleeve anxiously.

"We make a run for it!" I replied, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the trees again.

"W-wait a minute, Cascade, what about the towels?" Summer yelped, trying to tug her wrist out of my grip.

I stifled a groan. "We don't have time for that right now! We gotta get out of here! We'll get them later!"

"Th-those are my mom's favorite though!"

"Permanent record Summer."

That shut her up.

Sticks and stones dug into my exposed feet, branches ripping at my hair. I growled, making a note to ask Aunt Julie for a haircut later. The man had given chase it sounded like, possibly following the sound of our less-than-graceful retreat. He kept yelling things like "get back here!" and "you're in a lot of trouble youngsters!" and "wait until your parents here about this!"

I was tiring fast, and from the way Summer kept stumbling and lagging, I figured it was the same for her. We had to change tactics somehow. Instead of running, maybe we should try hiding. My eyes narrowed as I scanned the forest for a decent nook to lose him in. I had no idea anymore where I was, only that it was much farther into the forest than most people generally went.

The was a flash of grey in the corner of my vision. I whipped my head around, quickly glancing over it. It looked like it was some kind of stone cave, relatively low to the ground, but hiding there would provide a little bit of cover. Breathing hard, I changed course and made a beeline for the cave, Summer yelping in surprise behind me. I dragged her with me into the darkness.

Unfortunately, the ground was not flat. It slanted abruptly, making a semi-steep slope. My feet slipped on a rock and suddenly I was sliding down into an even darker part of the cave, Summer tumbling after me. We landed in a stunned tangle of limbs at the bottom of the incline, breathing frantic. I glanced up, listening to the sound of heavy boots crashing through the bushes. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling Summer cling to my arm desperately.

The footsteps stopped overhead. The man cursed and I heard a loud rustle, like he was rifling through a bag or his pockets. A glowing circle of light hit the wall across from us, dancing around the dirt. The man sighed heavily and the light disappeared again as I heard the man mutter, "I'm gettin' too old for things like this..." He set off into the forest again, leaves crunching as he went.

Summer and I sat in silence until we couldn't hear him any more, at which point I began laughing maniacally, not caring that the cackling echoed down the cave. Summer didn't seem to share my hysterics, clutching her heart and breathing heavily. She looked like her whole life was flashing before her eyes. When she recovered, she smacked my arm, only succeeding in making me laugh harder. "Cascade! This isn't funny! We were almost caught!" she hissed, glaring at me furiously. "Would you please stop laughing already?"

"I-I'm sorry," I choked out, not sorry at all. "I-I... I just- I can't believe that h-happened." Summer continued to stew in silence, arms crossed, while I got my breathing back under control, sighing deeply. I brushed a tear from my eye. "Whew, man, that was a rush!"

"I am never letting you talk me into anything ever again," Summer stated hotly, gesturing wildly with her arms. "Look at us! We're disgusting! And trespassing! If that man had put just a little more effort into his search, we would have been toast."

I glanced down at myself thoughtfully. I was coated in dirt and still dripping lake water, twigs and leaves clung to my clothes, and my hair was a helpless mess of tangles and weeds. I noticed for the first time that my feet hurt pretty badly and my legs were scraped up. "Hmm. Maybe next time we should pack an extra set of clothes."

"No Cascade, you will not pack an extra set of clothes, because there will not be a next time! There will never be a next time because it's illegal and dangerous and-" Her tirade stopped abruptly, eyes going wide as she peered into the cave. Her voice dropped several levels as she whispered, "Did you hear that?"

"I couldn't hear anything over the sound of you yelling at me," I replied drily, frowning at her. "Really, Summer, you need to lighten up. Worrying is bad fo-"

She clapped a hand over my mouth. "Shh! Listen!"

I gave her an exasperated glare but did as I was told, listening to the silence in the cave. It took a moment, but I was suddenly aware of a strange noise, like something was dragging along the walls. The weird noise was accompanied by an eerie rattling, like someone had taken a handful of bones and shaken them.

Summer whimpered. From deep within the darkness came a low rumble in reply, and suddenly the dragging noise got louder. I spotted a brief flicker of light far out in front of us, catching the outline of... something really big. The ground began to tremble slightly as whatever it was grew closer.

Heart humming in my ears, I turned to Summer and whispered, "We gotta get out of here. Hurry up the slope as fast as you can."

She nodded fearfully, struck mute with terror. Despite my instructions to move quickly, she stood up slowly and began trying to scramble up the mound behind us. It was a lot steeper than I first thought, apparently. I looked away from her progress to eye the thing coming closer. Another burst of light briefly revealed horns and an angular head, and now I could make out a pair of gleaming red eyes. They didn't need any light to shine, glowing with a violent inner fire. I turned back to Summer franticly. "Hurry it up Sum, that thing's almost here!"

"You try c-climbing this any faster," she stammered, scrambling with renewed vigor.

"Here, let's do this." I turned, twining my fingers together, making a little basket out of my hands. "Hurry up and climb," I ushered urgently, sparing another look at the creature-it couldn't be what I wanted to call it, that was impossible-and frowned. It was sure taking its sweet time eating us.

"A-are you sure? I don't want to hurt you," she worried.

"Summer, I'm a little bit more concerned with the giant animal coming to eat us than with you standing on my hands."

"F-fair enough." She lightly put her foot on my joined palms, grabbing my shoulders to stabilize herself.

The creature seemed to take that as its cue, letting out a low bellow as it released a steady stream of fire. Summer's scream overlapped mine as we cowered against the wall, feeling the searing heat flood the small area. It was even hotter than the summer sun outside. I could have sworn I felt some hairs singe.

Either it had awful aim or it wasn't trying to barbecue us, because when the actual fire stopped flying we were miraculously unharmed, if not very shaken. Instead, a previously-unseen torch was flickering steadily on either wall, illuminating the immediate area and the creature that had just given us a heart attack.

The creature was so tall that its long, pearly white horns scraped the ceiling. Its body was long and pitch back, with very obvious muscles and dangerously curved claws. It was littered with bones, which meant that my guess earlier had been right. Finishing it off was the malicious pair of blood-red eyes and a spine of white spikes that could easily be mistaken for more bones. It was the most metal thing I'd ever seen and I might have been a little in love, but this also proved one other thing.

It was undeniably a dragon.

Dragons were real.

"Summer," I whispered, staring up at it in awe. "Summer that's a freaking dragon."

Summer made a nonsensical whimpering noise, looking like she was going to either pass out or cry, or maybe both.

The dragon seemed almost smug as it leaned down, bringing its head within touching distance. I was very tempted to reach out and stroke its scaled nose, but somehow I got the impression that it would bite off my hand. Its lips pulled back, revealing a full maw of impossibly sharp teeth, each of them probably a little bigger than my forearm, and it growled threateningly.

My nose scrunched up as the hot air rushed over my face and I raised my arm to cover my nose. "Whoa, dude, your breath reeks. Have you ever heard of dental hygiene? Some mouthwash might do you some good."

In hindsight, insulting a giant beast of legend that was six or seven times my size was probably a really bad idea, but current me wasn't thinking of that. Current me was just thinking that the giant dragon really needed a good flossing, because I was pretty sure I could see bits of its last meal sticking out of its teeth.

The dragon didn't seem to take that so well, because it opened it massive mouth, roared in my face, and lunged toward me.

3 notes · View notes

soulcrazy2017-blog · 7 years

Text

The Future (Of Gaming) Is Female

New Post has been published on https://soulcrazy.org/the-future-of-gaming-is-female/

The Future (Of Gaming) Is Female

We’re getting into a brand new generation of video gaming. New Playstation 4 special Horizon Zero Sunrise is an epic open world RPG high-quality for its cinematic visuals, wowser narrative twists, and electrifying fight. The other factor worth citing: the lead man or woman is a woman. Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy is one in every of a small coterie of playable woman characters within the gaming world this is slowly pushing lower back towards decades of male domination.

Gaming

“The enterprise is seeing a want to shift, however, publishers are frightened approximately it because they sense like their center demographic is younger adult males, and young adult males need to play heroic male characters,” says main gaming critic Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen. “Publishers are nonetheless pushed through stats, but it’s like a snake eating its tail. More women aren’t going to begin playing games until they see themselves represented in video games.”

Hex has had a lifetime of a laugh with a controller in hand, but the large majority of her gaming avatars were men. In an international where women are historically consigned to damsel-in-distress or hypersexualized cliché, complex woman characters that act with autonomy and purpose are tough to locate. But they exist, and their numbers are growing.

The secret ladies And Busty Babes Of The Early Days

Inside the early days of console best gaming pc, women have been snuck into the outskirts. One of the earliest playable girl characters turned into Samus Aran in Metroid (1986), a helmeted area crusader who changed into known as ‘he’ in the sport’s marketing cloth. It became simplest while a participant completed the game in under five hours that Samus removed her helmet to show a long ‘shock’ of blonde hair — an inept gender signifier in an eight-bit world.

In the ’90s, ladies in video games moved from surprise object to intercourse object — the scantily clad protagonist proliferated. At Pleasant, ladies have been bloodthirsty bad-asses who ought to ‘preserve their own’ in a person’s domain, like Chun-Li of Streetfighter (1992) who was an early icon, letting fly with rapid-hearth lighting fixtures kicks then asserting herself as “the strongest lady in the world.” Lara Croft of Tomb Raider (1996) changed into the pinnacle of women’s representation in that generation — the sole protagonist in a movement adventure panorama. She became hugely famous, but now not pretty the avatar girl game enthusiasts deserved. “Even people who don’t play games recognize Lara Croft, but she became certainly designed inside the male gaze, as a kind of busty, warm-pants carrying hero running via the jungle,” Hex says. “There was hearsay that the sports designer changed into playing around with one of a kind sliders for her frame parts and by accident pulled the slider manner out for her bust, and simply decided to leave it there.”

Skip in advance More than a decade, and the Lara Croft reboot indicates how woman characters have slowly turn out to be Greater nuanced in both their motivations and their selections. Exploring Lara’s Foundation tale, Tomb Raider (2013) presents the killer archaeologist at the non-violent beginning of her profession, compelled via situations closer to her hardened, heroic destiny.

“What it did as a game become explore the outcome of loss of life for the primary time. The primary component she has to kill is honestly a deer, and that second has real weight, she’s truly sorry for having to take that lifestyles. From a female’s attitude, I suppose that’s exciting.

Female gaming

“Then while she has to have a war of words with a male enemy, that second is truly severe as well, you see her pressured into a state of affairs where she has to do so, it’s surely quite violent, and it’s simply virtually rare for a sport to have that point of view.”

(Literal) girl Energy

Cutting-edge-day Lara remains clean at the eyes, but that is now not a prerequisite for girl heroines. At the same time as there have continually been girl characters designed for little girl gamers — hiya, Ms. Pacman! — Recent years have seen women appear as playable characters in famous mainstream games. Before everything acting as the child accomplice of the lead character, Clementine takes centre-stage inside the Walking Useless: Season Two (2013) and proceeds to wreak unholy hell on the zombie apocalypse with smarts, adulthood, and wonderful survival capabilities.

Ellie, the potty-mouthed tweet from the severely-acclaimed survival horror recreation The Remaining of us (2013), has a similar spunk. “She’s forced to grow up and make lots of hard selections and learn how to survive honestly speedy,” says Hex. “There are moments while she is pretty susceptible however she manages to fight her manner via using her intelligence and agility. You couldn’t rely on guns a whole lot in that recreation, so it became surely interesting to see a lady person navigate an environment which you would usually tackle with guns, while you play like her.” That is the brand new breed of girl heroine; no longer some tokenistic man or woman with fantastical bodily proportions, no longer a ditsy dame in want of rescuing. Women have begun to tackle complex roles in big franchise games — like Cass in Fall Out: New Vegas (2012) and Aveline in Murderer’s Creed 3 (2012), however, the most interesting characters at the make aren’t bit-players in a person else’s story. They’re the women who take centre-degree, like Aloy in Horizon 0 Dawn, Religion in Replicate’s Area (2008), Chell in Portal (2007) and FemShep in Mass Effect 3 (2012). They are characters who make us think about what a lady may bring to the table.

About the avalanche of titles that function men — particularly white guys — as lead characters, women in video games nevertheless have a protracted manner to head, but We’re pointed within the right course.

“I’d like to hope that publishers are waking as much as the reality that humans want to play video games providing all styles of characters,” Hex says. “I don’t necessarily want to play as a woman to enjoy a sport, but I want to have characters which have interesting testimonies and a unique angle. It’s approximately having the option available so that you may be excited about an industry representing you and being which include each person.” Inside the current past, video games have turn out to be the in thing in town, leaving many youngsters engaged in their consoles for terribly long hours in the course of the day. For people who were kids in the 90’s, You could bear witness of the truth that the evolution within the subject of enjoyment has been massive. The diverse competitors have made a tremendous improvement in now not only the game-play but additionally in the numerous devices utilized in gaming. They’ve created consoles which are just best for the palms. This has made the revel in better. There may also be an enormous progress within the images and the general gameplay, with snapshots becoming Greater practical than ever earlier than.

Responsible gaming is not all that horrific

Despite the fact that numerous unwell and terrible stuff has been said approximately gaming, and its capability to result in dependency that tends to make many children come to be unproductive, there are some real blessings of undertaking Accountable gaming. As an example, kids who’re actively engaged in Responsible gaming tend to develop an experience of alertness and coordination. That is because of the keen interest this is required in some of the video games which include jumping ones. Coordination is due to playing video games which include sports and adventure ones, among many other deserves.

Girls and video games

The numbers of ladies actively undertaking playing these sorts of digital devices is overwhelming. This may be attributed to the numerous video games for women which can be available in the market. The builders and creators have additionally incorporated many female characters inside the games, for this reason making it More appealing for all genders. Current stats additionally suggest that the wide variety of woman gamers is slowly overtaking the quantity of male gamers. Subsequently, You could certainly see that that is an affair match for each gender. I suppose games inside the destiny may be even Extra-sensible then the video games we have already got with our Xbox 360s and Play Station 3s. Microsoft and Sony will Greater than probably come out with something even Extra insane like a virtual game or something and that might be the sport of the century. To have a digital game which you placed on however nevertheless used an Xbox or Play Station, and also you performed taking pictures video games such as you play online today. I think that might be the exceptional game to pop out ever.

In case you simply concept about what we have now and simply think about we can have inside the destiny you have to be amazed due to the fact with female pictures and gaming getting so much Greater fine in satisfactory and appearance it going to be a good stock futures.

Future gaming

Similar to I said about the virtual sports aspect you can have that identical concept, however, have just sunglasses to put on, and you see everything thru the lenses. That could be a light-weight piece to the position on yet an entire huge bag of the game If you simply had that and an Xbox you would be set for gambling online. That might be an entirely new online enjoy for most gamers. I would not suppose that all people had ever visible whatever like that earlier than.

Additionally, humans are suggesting that they would like to have the ability to speak with characters from the sport. The whole point of the game is to play no longer speak what I assume. I suppose In case you need to speak you need to get on-line and play a sport like A Counterstrike or Day of Defeat or perhaps get on Xbox stay and perform a little Gears of Conflict or Halo 3. It truly is the form of games which you must want to speak on or to. If you ever go browsing you may see people speak online plenty and that might motivate you to get concerned. It’s a lot better to want to talk to other humans online then speak to a person in a recreation that is made to answer questions that you are going to invite except it has a mind and may talk and suppose on its very own. I don’t think something like that could come out for at least some other hundred years.

In case you are only to talk then you need just to go online or get an Xbox and an Xbox live account and get started out gambling shooting games on-line or play a few kind of role playing game. It’s In case you need to speak in the sport which you are playing. You could nevertheless not speak and play online or in every other game. I think playing video games online like Madden and sports games are amusing and also you do not have to speak with different human beings. Most of the people do like the idea of having the ability to talk with each other specifically since You can communicate with human beings from everywhere in the global. I do not see why someone would need to speak with a game person in a recreation.

0 notes