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secretgamergirl · 4 years

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“What can I do to help?”

As I’m writing this, I’m dealing with a rather astounding amount of vicious harassment which is taking a very serious toll on me. Usually when this is happening, I try not to talk about it publicly, because the sort of people who do this love nothing more than seeing evidence that it’s working, but sometimes, exceptions need to be made. And more to the point, as someone who deals with these sort of attacks as a constant presence in my own life, as well as helping others deal with the same in what is arguably a professional capacity, it seems to me the state of things today is at a point where we need a fresh round of public education on how these sorts of attack play out, and what any given person can do to actually help people deal with them in a meaningful way.

Predators and Herds

As a basic fundamental primer here, I’m going to need everyone to start looking at things from the perspective of a herd animal, because not only is it a pretty clear metaphor for a lot of this, I honestly think this is literally the sort of ancestral memory/instinct that drives this sort of thing. Plus there’s an amusing irony in telling people dealing with these sorts of predatory scumbags that they aren’t acting ENOUGH like sheep.

Some animals are predators. In order to survive, they have to stalk/chase/pin down other animals and kill them in order to eat. Invariably, the animals they target are those that are the most vulnerable. It’s the easiest way to go, and the one with the least risk of anything going wrong. If you’re a hungry wolf, you’re not going to mess with the big beefy ram who can headbutt you and break some ribs, or the really fit sheep you’d have to chase for an hour and still might never catch up with. You’re just going to go for the one with the broken leg, or the little defenseless baby lamb. Those ones you can definitely pick off without much effort at all, and they can’t really fight back in any meaningful way.

Some animals deal with predators by just focusing single-mindedly on defending themselves. If you can outrun the predators, and never let them get the drop on you, or you hide well enough they can’t ever find you, or you know how to really fight back and hurt them badly enough they know not to mess with you, then cool, you aren’t going to get eaten. At least until you let your guard down at the wrong time, or you get injured, or age starts taking its toll. Plus with all of these you’re just living your whole life in this constant state of fear, actively aware that death lurks just around the corner, and you can’t really form any real attachments with anyone else or protect them. It’s no way to live your life, and all of these require you to be able to outperform any predator who comes at you.

The other way to survive with predators wanting you dead is to be part of a herd. If everyone the predators want to prey on are in a big group, there’s inherent safety in numbers there. Not, to be clear, simply because having so many potential meals to choose from means the odds of you being chosen drop. Predators have to weigh the risks now of coordinated defenses. That big tough ram they’d rather not tackle for fear of getting hurt is right there next to that shaky-legged little lamb that would otherwise be the easiest meal to snag there is.

Herds cause a whole lot of headaches for predators, so when they’re a factor, the first step is pretty much always going to be to scatter the herd in some fashion, so all the prey that would be a pain to deal with leave, and the easily picked off targets are left behind to move in on. There’s a lot of ways to do this, and I don’t want to get into too much detail because the metaphor would get too strained, but the real key counter-strategy is to keep the herd from scattering.

Wolves are going to show up, they’re going to show up in packs, they’re going to start snarling and howling and all that, and some sheep are always going to run when that happens, and some sheep aren’t going to be able to. The trick is to have as many sheep as possible stand their ground. If there’s only a couple who do, they’re just going to get picked off along with the ones who can’t run or fight back. But if enough sheep stand their ground to keep those intimidating numbers, nobody’s getting eaten.

There’s our big framework for looking at this, don’t ever let it drop.

How Predators Attack

Now, the next thing to keep in mind here is that people who haven’t been really hit hard by the sort of attacks I’m talking about here tend to be totally clueless about what they actually involve, and even those who have been targeted tend to be really bad at recognizing when other people are being put through the same.

What people imagine to be a “really devastating attack” is when, say, 2000 different twitter accounts all coordinate to hurl violent threats and horrible slurs at a single person over a single one-hour period or something. Don’t get me wrong here. That does happen, regularly, and that’s never a fun thing to deal with, if only because it essentially serves as a DDoS attack, rendering you unable to see any messages from people you want to see things from, but at the end of the day, it does no more harm than having your router go down for a few hours, maybe a day or two in the most extreme cases. It’s also not something that ever really gets sustained in the long term. It’s more like the predators are just holding a pep rally and testing how many accounts they can direct at once.

The really devastating attacks are the effort to drive herds away. They’re a hell of a lot less flashy, generally. They’re hard to point out to others. When really well executed, the target doesn’t even necessarily see anything happening. And what’s happening is elaborately orchestrated character assassination.

I can’t really convey the seriousness of this without some very specific examples. I may follow this up with a roundup of every attack I’ve personally had launched against me, but for now, let me present a very old and famous example, along with the one I’m most recently dealing with.

The classic, of course, from way back in 2014- “Zoe Quinn slept with five guys from various publications in exchange for good reviews of a game.” If this were the first time you encountered this statement, odds are good your personal reaction would be along the lines of “who?” or “who cares?” The goal here isn’t to make everyone hate Zoe Quinn though, just people immediately around Zoe Quinn. The premise of trading favors for good press is something anyone involved in the press is going to take quite seriously, with even baseless claims having an extreme chilling effect. For another crowd, promiscuity is considered a crime worthy of stoning someone to death (and it’s rather telling that the most commonly repeated version of this attack shortens it to simply “Zoe Quinn slept with five guys”). Much more to the point though, the premise that anyone reading this hasn’t previously encountered this line. That message was shouted from the rooftops all over the world for five straight years, over every possible channel.

More recently, I’ve been dealing with... this incoherent mess. This is much less coordinated, with just a handful of people in the think tank, testing every attack live on the fly. You can watch, more or less in real time, as this predator tosses out a variety of defamatory attacks, switching to a new one every time one falls flat. I’m friends with Graham, then I’m business partners, then I’m either paying him or maybe sleeping with him in exchange for promoting some website. I’m a professional journalist (which is a rather weird angle to press as an attack). Then suddenly I’m a “pedophile defender.” A new attack every day.

Now, in both these cases, there’s no truth at all behind any of these attacks. None of these are even stories with two sides to consider. Zoe Quinn’s game was a little choose your own adventure story comprised of a few simple HTML pages linking to each other. No one ever reviewed it to begin with, so the whole thing falls apart. Graham Linehan is a disgusting crusader who attacks children’s charities for daring to provide support to trans children, and quite famously has some weird fixation on publicly attacking me, and I’m a trans woman who hasn’t had any real luck finding work of any kind since coming out half a decade ago. I’ve never run any website that wasn’t a simple blog like this one, or this one which I think puts that last claim to bed well enough.

But again, the idea with attacks like this isn’t to be credible, or even plausible. People don’t make these sorts of attacks based on anything the target has done, it’s all about what will do the most harm if even one person actually buys into it. You want to hurt an indie game dev? Get people to believe they have to bribe people with sex to get any positive mention of their output. You want to hurt a trans woman? Get people to believe she’s friends with and/or sold everyone else out to the king of the transphobes. Someone who does real work to shut down child porn sites? Secretly a pedophile. Etc. Etc. And the success rate of attacks like this is never zero. No matter how transparently false the claim is, shout it at enough people and SOMEONE is going to treat it as ironclad fact, spreading it around in turn and coming off more credible because they’re quoting someone.These rumors spread like wildfire since, let’s be honest, social media sites are all just glorified gossip mills at the end of the day, and all those laughable details from the original lie drop away, replaced with lists of all the very credible people who always know what they’re talking about these scathing claims have been filtered through.

In my experience, honestly it’s the all the most pathetic claims that do the most damage. “Slept with five guys” sticks more than “in exchange for reviews” because it’s such a non-crime that people default to “let’s say that’s true - who even cares?” rather than question the veracity. And I swear all the most damaging attacks I’ve ever suffered really just boil down to baseless claims that I really just don’t like some arbitrary collection of mostly women (a mix of strangers and people I generally view in a positive light).

Having established all of that, we can finally get around to the big question found in the title of this post:

What can I do to help?

Really, the most meaningful and impactful thing you can ever do when someone is being attacked like this is just to do whatever you can to get in front of it. If you know someone has some predator out there trying to convince people she eats puppies, broadcast a big announcement about how that’s happening, along with how and why you’re as confident as you are that she doesn’t, and it’s a baseless hit job. If you have media connections, try to get a story printed about the whole mess, or set up an interview where the victim can talk about how surreal the experience is. If you don’t, just shout about it where you can, so people know not to trust it when word eventually reaches them of all the depraved puppy feasts.

Past that, just be an active support. Tell the alleged puppy eater how you have her back. Ask how she’s holding up. Offer to talk for a bit, or watch a movie. More often than not, attacks like this cost people career contacts and close friends, and cause a lot of trauma. Whatever you can do to help beat the encroaching darkness back helps.

Also? Don’t fall into that trap of granting these sort of BS claims are true to argue the point that they’re stupid reasons to attack someone. They’re always going to be a big deal to someone, and your hypothetical just makes it seem more factual.

Do keep in mind though that these sorts of solidarity moves are going to make the predators real mad. They want to drive you away, and failing that, they’re going to want to take you down too for not running off with the rest of the herd. If we can establish these sorts of defenses as a cultural norm, or you’re personally the sort of person it’s too risky to go after, this is a total non-issue, but if you’re also particularly vulnerable, and nobody else is following suit, be aware of the risks you’re taking.

Finally, make sure you don’t fall into the trap of becoming a predator yourself. So many people get this idea in their heads that the best defense is a good offense, and set out to “turn the tables,” but frankly it just doesn’t work. When you go on the offense, you can’t help but take on those predatory instincts. You end up targeting the most vulnerable people you can find and convince yourself are “the enemy.” I mean that’s almost certainly how the batch of predators you’re trying to fight got started in the first place.

So just... try to be kind. Be supportive. Get out in front of life-ruining rumors. And don’t just do it for people you know and trust. Do it for strangers who are plainly being preyed on. Look for people who just live to tear into people, especially when they keep tearing into the super marginalized. Object to that on principle. And remember anyone can fall into doing it, no matter how long you’ve known and trusted them, or what their politics are.

And some more thoughts on this topic.

#Anti-abuse #advice #stalking #harassment

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girls-scenarios · 5 years

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By Her Side

Idol: Jennie (BlackPink)

Prompt: I know you've been doing a lot of werewolf AU's recently! So if its too much of the same please don't worry! But blackpink!AU where they're a werewolf pack with city terf, and human fem!reader calls her alpha girlfriend Jennie to come save her because she's pretty sure another wolf pack is trying to corner her as leverage over blackpink.

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Alright so to be honest I don’t know much about werewolves in general, but I tried my best on this and I hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: Cusing, blood, minor violence

♡ Tip Jar♡

As the girlfriend of a werewolf, you were pretty used to dangerous situations. There were fights and rivalries between packs and members, and you’d seen Jennie roughed up enough times to understand the stakes of dating her. But you loved her, so you dealt with it, and for a while, nothing huge happened. Once or twice, you felt like you were being watched, and once, Jennie caught someone outside your apartment complex and scared them off, but for the most part, you were safe.

Then, one night as you were heading home from work, you felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Someone was watching you. The feeling of eyes on your back made you shiver, and you suddenly felt like an animal of prey as you picked up your speed, glancing over your shoulder. You couldn’t see anything in the dark night, but that didn’t mean that nothing was there. In fact, you were almost certain that you were being stalked by something or someone who meant you harm. Swallowing, you pulled out your phone and dialed Jennie’s number out of instinct from the last time you’d felt this sense of danger. As you did, there was a noise in the alley to your left, and you picked up your speed once again, beginning to sweat. Something was very, very wrong and you could feel it in your bones, every sense in you telling you to run and not look back because the people following you had to be wolves and-.

“(Y/N), honey? What’s up?” Jennie’s voice came over the phone, sounding concerned at the late call, and you let out a sigh of relief.

“Jennie, oh my god am I glad you picked up. Listen, there’s something wrong.” You tried to keep yourself from panicking, breathing in a deep breath as you glanced behind you again. At the mention of your girlfriend’s name, there seemed to be a stall in activity, further proving your theory: whoever was behind you was following you because of your ties to Jennie.

“What’s going on?” Alarm was evident in her voice as she spoke, and you shivered, wondering how to tell her without giving too much away to the people behind you. You wondered if you should whisper, but you knew from experience that wolves had incredible hearing and would be able to hear you anyway. Then, another noise echoed from behind you, and you knew you couldn’t wait any longer: you needed Jennie to get here, and you needed her to get here now.

“I think I’m being stalked and I’m really scared. Please, I’m not too far from my house, come and pick me up?”

“I’m going to come get you, just keep walking and run to lose them if you need to. I can find you.” There was a snarl in her voice, and you once again felt relief: by her side, you’d feel much, much safer.

“Okay. Hurry, please?”

“I’ll be right there.” Her end of the line died, and you glanced around, keeping the phone to your ear in hopes that the wolves behind you would think that she was still hearing everything. Jennie was fast, possibly one of the fastest wolves around, and if she was coming, the other girls in the pack wouldn’t be far behind, so you’d be safe soon. You just had to keep the pack behind you guessing somehow.

A howl pierced the air, once again making the hair on your neck stand up. That wasn’t Jennie’s call....

Your feet moved on their own, and you began running, chest squeezing as you listened for any sign of Jennie. Behind you, there was the sound of running, but you knew it wasn’t her. She would have called out, let you know it was her. Whoever it was behind you meant you harm, and they were gaining on you quickly. Gasping for air, you darted into an alleyway, running with everything you had. Someone was on the roof, and you could hear someone join the person running behind you, but you just kept running, knowing that if you stopped, it might be over for you.

Another howl echoed in the night, much closer than before, but this howl was familiar. Jennie. She was close. Gritting your teeth, you exited the alley in the direction of her howl, heart pounding in your throat and stomach twisting. You felt like you might be sick, your head hurt from lack of oxygen, and you could feel the breath of your pursuer on the back of your neck, getting close enough to reach out and grab you. Just as you closed your eyes, bracing yourself for the feeling of claws on your shoulder or arm, a wolf let out a pained yelp, and Jennie’s deep growl rattled the night.

“What exactly to you bastards think you’re doing?”

You stumbled to a stop, almost falling as you tripped over your feet in your rush to turn around. The wolves chasing you had skidded to a stop in front of Jennie, and the wolf who had been on the roof was now laying on the ground, whining in pain as blood trickled down from his shoulder and side. Gasping for breath, you covered your mouth with your hand at the side, shaking slightly from fear and adrenaline as the head wolf smiled, his teeth gleamed in the light from the street lamps.

“Jennie. Of course you had to arrive. Still protecting your precious human mate, I see,” he said, glaring at you over her shoulder. “You can’t protect them forever, you know.”

“I can and I will. Get the fuck out of my territory before I tear you limb from limb.”

“And what if we don’t want to? I have backup.” As if on cue, the streets came alive with howls and growls, and you could feel yourself shiver as you crept closer to Jennie, eyes wide. But she didn’t seem to be phased, just glaring right back.

“This is my territory. You really think I came without my own backup?” Answering calls drowned out the howls from before, and Jennie kicked the wolf at her feet out of her way before stalking closer to the leader of her rival pack. “Let me repeat myself. I. Will. Kill. You.”

“I’d like to see you try.” A smug look slid onto his face, only to be slapped off by Jennie’s hand, claws appearing at her fingers as she snarled at him. Blood dripped from his face as he growled and turned to face her again.

“I don’t even have to try to get rid of an ant like you.”

You knew to close your eyes, not wanting to see the scene that followed. You recognized the sounds of fighting, and Jennie was outnumbered, and you didn’t want to see her get hurt. Not again. Not for you.

“(Y/N), come with me.” You recognized Jisoo’s voice and opened your eyes to see her standing in front of you. Wolves from Jennie’s pack were swarming the area, jumping in to help her in the fight, and as you glanced over Jisoo’s shoulder to look for Jennie, she took your wrist. “You don’t want to see what happens tonight. I’ll get you home safe.”

“O-okay.” You allowed her to pick you up, knowing that she’d be able to get you there faster than you could ever run. But as you gripped onto her shoulders, you caught a glimpse of Jennie, fighting against the other head wolf. He was bigger than her, and as you watched, breath caught in your throat, you couldn’t help but worry. Would she be okay? “Jennie! Don’t get hurt!”

At the sound of your voice, she shoved the opposing wolf off long enough to look back at you. “Get home safe and don’t worry about me!” At her orders, Jisoo began to run, and you closed your eyes again, holding on tight and hoping that everything would be okay.

Once Jisoo got you home, you promised to lock the doors and keep yourself somewhere safe inside. But you didn’t want her to stay.

“Go help Jennie, please. I’m begging you.” You gripped at her shirt as you spoke, pressing your hand to your chest. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she got badly hurt because of me.”

For a moment, Jisoo just looked at you. Then, she gave you a little smile and patted your head. “Jennie picked well. I’ll go help her now, but don’t worry. If it’s for you, she’ll never lose.” She turned and left, then, and you watched her go before sinking onto your couch and curling up into a ball, wishing that there was some way you could help.

Apparently, the fight didn’t last long, because after a short while, there was a knock at your door. Hesitant to open the door, you peeked through first. Outside stood Jennie, and immediately, you threw the door open to look at her. Some of her clothing was torn, and she had scratches on her face and arms and torso, and her arm was bleeding, but she was alive, and you felt tears coming to your eyes as you quickly ushered her inside.

“Stay still,” you commanded, “I’m going to get the first aid kit.”

Usually, she would protest. But tonight, she just nodded her head and smiled, leaning back onto the couch until you came back with supplies. Thankfully, none of the scratches were deep, and the bloody bite on her arm wasn’t enough to require stitches, so after you’d disinfected the wounds and wrapped them up, you let out a sigh of relief and pressed your forehead to hers.

“I was so worried,” you whispered, gently touching the bandage on your girlfriend’s face as you began to cry again, body shaking gently. Carefully, as not to hurt you or herself, she sat you down on the couch beside you and pulled you into a hug, pressing her face against your neck.

“I was worried about you more than I was about myself. Had anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

You closed your eyes and breathed in her familiar scent, the fear and anxiousness from the nights events finally starting to leave your body now that you were in her arms. She was always so warm, so when she wrapped her arms around you, it was like she was wrapping you up in a blanket, assuring you that everything would be okay. Assuring you that she was there beside you.

“This is all my fault,” she said, voice soft, and you shook your head.

“Don’t think that way.”

“No, it is. If you weren’t dating me, these things wouldn’t happen to you.” She pulled away from you and looked at your face, biting her lip. “You had to be so scared tonight. I’m so sorry that I allowed this to happen to you.”

“I was scared,” you admitted, “everything about tonight scared me. It was a lot. But it isn’t your fault. When I chose to be by your side, I knew the risks. I accepted that things like this might happen, but I wanted to be with you anyway. Because I love you, Jennie. I love you so, so much.” You gave her a little smile. “So as much as I worry, and as scary as that was, I wouldn’t trade having you as my girlfriend for the world.”

Her shoulders sagged and she leaned into you again, letting out a soft laugh. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that, (Y/N). I love you too. So, so much. I promise I’ll always be there to protect you, so thank you for loving me.” For a moment, the night was silent, and the two of you just sat in each other’s arms, a nice moment of calm after the crazy night. Then, Jennie planted a kiss on your cheek and nuzzled closer. Smiling, you closed your eyes and sank into her warmth, never wanting to leave her side.

“Please stay the night?”

“You didn’t even have to ask.”

#blackpink #jennie #jennie kim #femifics #blackpink scenarios #blackpink scenario #jennie scenario #jennie scenarios #girl group scenarios #kpop scenario #girl groups #kpop girl groups #t:supernaturalau

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vannahfanfics · 5 years

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Lullaby

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Characters: Zuko, Katara

This prompt was taken from the prompt blog on Tumblr, @hellsdemonictrinity! Please check them out!

Zuko was stretched out on his back on the thin blanket, the only thing that separated him from the harsh, unforgiving earth. Being constructed of a chain of islands, much of the terrain was rocky and mountainous, and this little island was no exception; still, despite the choppy, unsteadiness of the rock, plenty of life still stubbornly planted its roots and made a home here. This particular island on which they had stopped to give Appa a much-needed rest was one of particular lushness, smothered by a thick forest from the edges of the shore to the tip of the small mountain peak at the center. Zuko found it oddly inspiring; despite torturous circumstances, the plants and creatures that called the island home still found a way to thrive. If they can, I can too, he thought with a small smile as he slipped his hands behind his head and cast his gaze up to the blanket of green above his head. Despite the thick canopy, the starlight still poked through in some places to beam down and illuminate the forest floor in isolated spears of light. Everywhere he looked, it seemed, something was defying the odds.

Though he would never admit it to the rest of the Avatar’s group, Zuko entered this introspective mindset almost every night. Having spent most of his life, even before he was banished, high-strung and stressed, sleep often evaded him, and all there was to do when he could not sleep was think. It was quite early in the evening, and rest of the party was still awake and chatting around the small campfire that Zuko had made to warm the night. He only half-listened to their conversation, content instead to let his dark eyes sweep across the carpet of green above his head. Over the years, Zuko had found that he didn’t have the answers to a lot of questions, and that the world was a large, large place. At first, he had been bitter and spiteful, insisting that he would not let the world get the best of him; he would make it smaller, searching every corner until he found what he wanted. As he grew up and came to realize some things, it instead morphed into a comforting thing. No matter what he did, the world and time kept marching on, ever-changing yet remaining the same; Zuko now liked to think that he was that way, still the same person but growing better as time went on. His eyes half-lidded as he stared upwards, he was too lost in thoughts such as these to see the shoe that came flying at his head.

“Ow! What was that for?” he snapped as it smacked him in the temple, sending a sharp, shooting pain across his face and scalp while the projectile flopped limply into the grass. He sat up briskly, holding the side of his head tenderly while he glared at the most likely culprit, Sokka.

“You were so quiet over there I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead,” he shrugged. The cooked leg of some animal flopped in his hands as he turned them upwards, and then he brought it to his mouth to tear a piece off with all the grace of a carnivore. “Besides, dinner is ready.”

“If that’s what you wanted to tell me, you could’ve just said so instead of throwing this at me,” Zuko grumbled back as he picked up the shoe and stood up to walk over to the campfire. He tossed it over to Sokka, who was too busy devouring his meat to notice, and the shoe bonked him lightly on the head; it was as good as revenge as Zuko was going to get. As the firebender sat down and plucked a leg off what he had determined to be a rabbit-squirrel, he noticed that someone was missing. “Where’s Katara?”

“She went to take a bath. She’s gotta keep that hair of hers nice and luscious, y’know,” Toph answered as she took a piece of a thigh in her teeth and shook her head wildly like a dog to rip it off. Zuko had only been traveling with Aang and the others for a short while, and some of their quirks still unnerved him; though the others paid no mind, Toph’s borderline animalism made him gulp slightly, and he discreetly edged away from her.

“Well, she’d better hurry or she’s gonna miss out on some of this delicious meat!” Sokka grunted as he leaned forward to take another one of the smoked carcasses off a stick and continue to satiate his inner carnivore. Judging from the pile of bones already next to him, he wasn’t nearly done. Zuko chewed quietly on the food. It was plain, and a bit tough, but honestly, he would take it over food from the palace any day. Out here, in the wilderness, he didn’t have a threat against his life or absurd expectations looming over his head… and he had people to share it with, people he would daresay call his friends. He grimaced slightly as Toph released a loud, gurgling burp.

He was getting there, anyway.

The group polished off most of the caught rabbits, and Katara still had not returned. The rest of them seemed unconcerned, brushing it off as her long beauty routine, but Zuko could not help but worry. They were in enemy territory, after all. After a few minutes of twitching nervously next to the fire while the others lounged about rubbing their full bellies, Zuko abruptly stood up and looked out into the darkness.

“I’m gonna go check on her.”

“Be my guest, but don’t say I didn’t tell ya so when you get a face-full of ice water,” Sokka shrugged as he picked at his teeth with a sharp bone. Zuko ignored him to instead plod off into the woods, taking a small footpath to trek down the small incline of land. The island was not uninhabited, as land was not abundant in the Fire Nation and its inhabitants crammed themselves everywhere possible, so even the remote places they stopped to rest showed evidence of human activity. They were currently camped in the rocky clefts about a sub-mountain village, about halfway up the summit, close to where the river spilled down across the land to eventually join the sea. Zuko walked down the dirt path, slowly worn over time by many feet. Occasionally it branched off to snake away into the forest, and in one instance the forest abruptly broke on one side to reveal a ramshackle, rotten cabin and a crumbling stone well. He wondered why the people had abandoned the mountain heights to congregate at the mountain’s roots below, but he could glean no answer from the chirping crickets, singing nightbirds, and rustling leaves’ voices.

As the incline steepened, the space between the trees began to grow larger and more of the moonlight spilled across the forest, shining like puddles of milk against the loamy soil. The ferns and grasses turned silver under its luminescence. As he continued downward, the nighttime sounds of the forest were joined by the unmistakable quibbling of running water, and as he looked up with slightly narrowed eyes, he could see the faint glittering of the river at the slope of the hill. Zuko tromped down the remainder of the path to arrive at the forest’s edge, but instead of continuing out into the light, he paused to huddle in the shadows.

Katara’s voice drifted along with the splashing water, and he struggled for a moment to differentiate its tune from the babbling river; as he focused, he realized with widening eyes that the waterbender was actually singing, and quite beautifully, too. He crept as close as he dared to the edge of the trees, crouching behind a thick, leafy bush and pulling a branch down as he searched the shore of the river for the woman making such lovely sounds. His eyes scanned the glistening, water-slicked rocks until they found what they were searching for; there she was, sitting in the shallows on her knees while she twisted her thick brown hair around her hand to wring the water out of it. The way it caught the moonlight made it look like it was threaded with strands of diamond, and her normally tan complexion had lightened to a whitish-cream color under the forceful assault of the white rays streaming down from the starry sky above. When the light played over her, revealing her bare back, Zuko came unto the mortifying realization that she was still very much bathing, and he hurried turned around to stare back into the woods with his heart pounding. Whether it was seeing Katara in such a way or the acute fear that she would pound him into dust if she found him there, he wasn’t sure. He knew he ought to scramble back up the mountainside since he had ultimately confirmed that she was fine and there was no need to linger unless he wanted an untimely death, but he just couldn’t pull away from her angelic voice drifting along the breeze.

She was singing about the moon, as far as he could tell. As her voice traveled from resonating high notes to gentle low notes, Zuko found himself relaxing, despite his instincts screaming he should flee lest he become prey to the bear that was an angry Katara. The melody was obviously some sort of lullaby, and it was like Katara was weaving magic into it; Zuko almost felt like he was asleep already and dreaming. Katara didn’t care for him, really, and he did his best not to incite further hatred of him; thus, he kept his distance and only admired her from afar. He did admire her. She was strong, and resilient, and capable. He had never really thought much about her being pretty or anything like that, but as the image of her glowing under the stars with the flickering water playing over her burned in his recent memory and she sang the hymn to the sky above, Zuko could not deny that he thought she was beautiful.

Sitting behind the bush, huddled in the dark while she on the other side basked in the light, Zuko felt for the first time that she was something he was forever barred and unworthy of.

Her voice hitched suddenly with a gasp and she fell silent with a startled splash, and entranced with her voice still echoing in his eardrums, Zuko took a moment to realize that she had stopped singing at all. The river seemed louder than before, too. Once he did, though, his curiosity overcame his common sense and he turned around to peer through the bushes again, and his heart jumped into his throat.

The water seemed louder because Katara was frantically splashing backwards into deeper water while a pack of wolves converged on the shoreline, their massive, fluffy tails wagging as they bounded along the foaming white edge and scampered about to avoid Katara’s waterbending attacks. Zuko poised to move, then froze as a soft growling and the faint rustling of leaves came from behind him. He leaped out of the bush just as a large wolf burst from the foliage, its jaws snapping at the place where he had just been; he landed on his hands in a back-hand spring, and his arms burst with fire as he shot balls of flames at the massive creature. It barked and retreated as the ground beneath its paws sizzled with heat, and as Zuko landed amongst the rest of the predators, he spun his leg around to send a wall of flame licking at their thick fur. Zuko backed up against the shoreline while the wolves pranced about, snapping at him and whining to each other, while he singed the snout of any of them that dared to get too close. It was quite evident that the pack of wolves had run the island’s inhabitants down the mountain, as they were obviously not shy of targeting humans.

“Zuko! What are you doing here?! How long have you been standing over there?” he heard Katara bark behind him, and he slouched in bitterness as she splashed him from head to toe with voluminous water. His mouth twitched as he pulled his sopping bangs out of his eyes.

“A ‘thank you’ would be nice, Katara!” he snapped over his shoulder at her, and then she screamed for him to duck and he instinctively obeyed, falling into a backbend with his arms in the water. The wolf that had been vying for his throat leaped over him and landed in the river, only for Katara to send him flying back into the trees with a blast of ice. She was holding a hand over her chest as she glared at him from deeper water, and even with the moonlight’s trickery he could tell her cheeks were bright red. Zuko turned an identical shade and hastily straightened up lest he see too much and sign his death certificate.

The wolves were beginning to realize that they had bitten off more than they could chew, as they now circled the two benders but dared not approach lest they wanted to taste Zuko’s flames or Katara’s ice. After a few more harrowing minutes of repaying their bravery with stinging pain, the wolves decided to give up the assault and bounded off into the woods. Zuko watched them run off, staying in the water for a few minutes before exhaling deeply and sloshing forward to begin wringing out his clothes. “Jeez, now I’m cold,” he muttered and began pulling off his shirt. He didn’t feel like expending the energy to dry himself with firebending. He cried out as Katara once again doused him in water, and he whipped around with his shirt still hallway off his head. “What?!”

“Don’t take off your shirt, I’m still here!” she barked at him hotly, then flushed again and tried to cover more of her chest. The water level thankfully covered everything else that needed to be.

“Put one on yourself!” he snapped back and ignored her, wrestling out of the drenched fabric to fling it onto the damp rocks and continue marching up the shore. He knew better than to get out of his pants in front of her, and tried to ignore them sticking uncomfortably to his legs.

“You’re in my way! Duh! And what, you’re gonna take it off anyway?!”

“I don’t wanna catch a cold!” he yelled back at her, bristling as he hopped around on one foot to pull of his shoe. As he did and he flung it down the shore, he had to resist looking at her while they argued. “If you hadn’t soaked me like this, it wouldn’t be a problem!” He yelled while snatching her dress off a branch and stiffly holding it out with his back turned. He heard her splashing vigorously through the water before her footsteps fell onto the stones, and she swiftly wrenched her clothing out of his hand.

“If you hadn’t been peeping, I wouldn’t have soaked you!”

“I wasn’t peeping!” he protested immediately, so distraught that he turned around again. She was dressed this time, thankfully. She glared at him with her arms crossed and her face alight with fire that rivaled his bending, and he realized she was waiting for an explanation. He blushed and looked away stiffly while he grumpily added, “I came down to check on you and heard you singing.” He expected her to have a fiery retort, but as his gaze slid back to her, he found that her angry expression had melted to one of confusion and mild embarrassment.

“Y-you did?”

“Yeah. It was… really something,” he answered vaguely. She would never let him live it down if he called it all the things he wanted to- beautiful, divine, angelic, goddess-like… She blushed again and looked down, clasping her hands behind her back as she turned from side to side slightly. She was giving him a small smile, which made him stiffen because she never smiled at him.

“It was a lullaby my mom used to sing to me,” she answered with a small tilt of her head and a saddening expression. Zuko didn’t know much about Katara because she didn’t tell him anything, but he had gathered enough to know that her mother was dead at the hands of the Fire Nation. It was a large part of the reason she didn’t like him all that much, as well as his crusade against Aang. Uncomfortable because “comfort” was not in his skills inventory, he flushed and awkwardly scratched his head.

“Oh. Uh. It’s a good one. Made me sleepy.” She looked at him incredulously for a second, and then he was convinced the whole thing must have been some lucid dream because she laughed- like, really laughed, holding a hand to her mouth as she held her stomach and her entire body shook. Zuko watched her have her giggle fit with wide eyes and a blank expression, unsure how to respond. She finally caught her breath after a moment and looked up at him with tears glistening in the corners of her blue eyes.

“You’re the one who’s something, Zuko.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult? I’m not sure,” he stuttered honestly. She was still smiling at him as she straightened up, but he knew that especially with women a smile could veil murderous intent.

“Don’t worry, it’s a compliment.” That’s it, I’m definitely asleep, he reasoned and promptly smacked himself in the cheek. “What are you doing?!”

“Trying to wake myself up.”

“This is real life, Zuko!”

“Really?” he blinked at her, completely baffled. Could she really be serious about all of this? He then smiled awkwardly, trying to ignore the stinging in his cheek as he looked down at her shyly. “Uh, thanks, then?”

“Why did you want to listen to my lullaby so much?” she asked suddenly, and he looked away, honestly not sure. It had been more than just her voice and the image of her in the water; he definitely couldn’t tell her that, he would die for sure and if he miraculously survived he would at least lose all the headway he had made in winning her favor. He scratched his head as he wracked his mind, searching for a reason to give the girl, until he brought a distant memory to the surface of his mind.

“It reminded me… Of a lullaby my mom used to sing.”

“How’s it go?” she asked innocently, and he immediately back-pedaled while waving his arms.

“Oh, no, don’t ask me that. I can’t sing.” That was the wrong thing to say, because she sneered playfully at him and leaned forward, a challenging expression on her face.

“Oh? The big, bad Fire Prince is afraid to sing? My, my, how interesting. I can’t wait to tell the others.”

“Katara-! Ugh, fine, but you’d better not make fun of me,” he muttered before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes while he dragged the lyrics of the lullaby from the recesses of his mind. Uncertainly, quietly, he sang the tune, while in his mind he could see his mother leaning over him while she ran her fingers softly through his dark locks. It had been something he had buried, and something he realized he now sorely missed. When he opened his eyes again, he was appalled to find tears rolling down his cheek, and he hastily turned his back while wiping at his eyes. “Th-there, that’s how it goes, you happy?” he grumbled, trying to play it off. Katara did not comment for a second, and he cautiously peered over his shoulder to see if she was going to jab at him again. She was instead smiling sweetly.

“That’s a nice one, too- and you know, your voice isn’t half-bad.”

“You’re just saying that,” he sighed as he turned back to her, wearily. “Don’t tell the other guys, okay? I won’t hear the end of it from Toph and Sokka.” She giggled, and now that he listened to it, he really liked the sound of her laugh.

“Promise, as long as you do the same. The rest of them don’t know about me, either.” Something about knowing something about her that no one else did excited Zuko and brought a smile to his face. She was trusting him with her secret, and that was pretty big, given that up until now he had been pretty convinced that there was nothing he could do to win her trust. As he looked back down at her, he found her shyly twisting back and forth again, her gaze averted from his. “… You’re not that bad, you know.” Her admitting it out loud practically floored him, and since he had no tree to grab onto and support himself, he slumped like a deflated balloon in relief.

“Glad you’re finally realizing it… I’m trying pretty hard, you know.” It was next to impossible to reverse-psychology himself out of all the terrible behaviors he had developed because of the torture his father put him through. He had his eyes closed as he basked in the glory of the moment, but they shot open when she suddenly swept her fingers through the damp strands of his dark hair.

“I know,” she smiled, and the softness in that smile shot through him like an arrow to his heart. She… really means it. “I’m sorry about they way I’ve been to you up until now… We all have our flaws, Zuko,” she said with a chuckle at her own expense. She was still curling her fingers through his hair, having to stand on her toes since he was much taller than her, and Zuko’s nerves were going insane with how good it felt. Katara didn’t even seem to realize that she was still doing it, instead staring at him with this mysterious glimmer in her blue eyes. A pink haze drifted to his cheeks. Something about that gaze of hers both excited and unsettled him. He just stared back at her, unsure of what the proper thing to do was, and then she did something even more unexpected- she leaned forward to gently kiss him on the cheek. It was a quick peck, but nevertheless had a lot of feeling, and he felt the warmth of her lips still lingering on his cold skin even after she had pulled back to give him that smile again. “Thanks for saving me… But next time you want to hear me sing, just ask,” she laughed airily before her hand slipped out of his hair and she turned to begin scurrying up the path. She left Zuko standing there, his mouth hanging open and his cheeks red.

Women were hard to figure out, but Zuko was pretty sure that Katara like him or something.

He slapped himself one more time to make sure that he was in fact awake, and when he didn’t awaken from the apparent dream, he pulled his still-wet shirt back on and slowly followed Katara up the mountain. Progress was progress, though it had taken unexpected form.

By the time he had made it up the mountain to the camp, they had all settled in for the night. Zuko stepped over Sokka’s body, which was nothing more than a tangle of limbs in a poor excuse for a blanket, to return to his humble little patch of island. As he pulled his blanket closer to the dying fire, pausing to ignite the embers once again before stretching out beside it to coax the last of the water from his clothes and body lest he awaken ill, he pushed himself up on his elbows to peer over the crackling flames at Katara, who was asleep between her brother and Aang.

Well, not really asleep, because she was softly humming the lullaby that Zuko had sang to her. He smiled softly as he flopped down on his belly on the blanket, closing his eyes. As his ears drank in the snapping of the small flames and Katara’s voice as his lullaby, Zuko drifted into the best sleep he had had in a long, long time.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

#atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #zutara #zuko #katara #zukoxkatara #kataraxzuko #fluff #romance #cutesy #oneshot #oneshot collection #fanfiction #fanfics #fanfic #lullabies

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reddogf13 · 5 years

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Covenant ch 10

summery: They did it, IT was left to die alone in the tunnels under Derry. months have passed and the losers thrived after what seems to feel like a curse lifting off the town. if only Beverly had not decided to make a last minute deal with IT on its death bed. will her choice to let IT live destroy all that she holds dear?

status: complete

rated: M - fowl language and gore

prev chap: Covenant ch 9

next chap: Covenant ch 11

_____________________________________

~ch: 10 Accidents~

She whipped her head around to face him. Letting her heart settle before speaking.

“I came here to find out if you know anything else about the men. Me and the guys are going tonight to look over the quarry.”

“I told you I am going to the quarry. You are not allowed to go. I know not much else. Especially since what happened last night. Their meetings have stopped with activity slowing down greatly … shouldn't you be in school?”

“schools shut down after what happened. not allowed? Says who?” raising an eyebrow at the tall clown.

“says me.” he huffed. Walking by toward the nest.

“who made you the boss of me?”

“ I did.”

“and whyyyy is that?” growing more confused.

“because you keep getting yourself into trouble and I don't want you-.” he started, cutting himself off. A momentary look of pain flashing across his face. Twisting it quickly back toward something serious. “ you can't enter the quarry. Leave it at that.” speaking seriously toward her.

“me and the guys have to go! We're tired of letting bad things happen. We don't want to be like everyone else and ignore what's going on!”

“ DO AS I SAY!” roaring over her. “Stop being stubborn! I will handle it and all of you will stay out of it! Understand?!” glaring down at her. Watching Beverly fidget as her gaze turned away.

“... yes. ...” she mumbled. A quiet moment passing when he spoke in a more calmly manor.

“ … are you hungry?” steering the conversation someplace else.

“ a little I guess.”continuing to mumble.

“wait here then. I'll fetch you something.” walking back by her to leave.

“where do you even get the food?”

“I go to the diner and wait till a to go order is placed. I simply grab it before anyone else can.”

“you just grab take out trays? Do you even know whats in them when you do?”

“no.” he answered. Going around a corner out of sight. Beverly looking back toward the main nesting area.

“he's acting differently.” she thought. A moment ago feeling like she was arguing with a parent then some world eater. “ he actually sounded concerned for me going to the quarry. What's with the sudden attachment? It can't all be to preserve the deal. IT hates humans and doesn't seem the type to attach to “prey” as he calls us.”

thinking it over it all seemed vaguely familiar to something she heard in biology class. They talked about natural predators sometimes going against nature. Adopting young from prey they ate almost everyday. “I need to read up on that again. The library has to have books talking about it. Is there even a word for it?” her attention pulled to the sound of footsteps. IT returning with a brown bag of fresh food.

“here.” he offered the bag.

She took the bag giving a quick glance inside. Looking back to the clown. “can you take me to the library?”

he glanced away grumbling to himself. “yes.” he spoke. Looking back to her with a held out hand. The moment she took it there was a flash of black. Instantly they were there as the blackness disappeared.

“I am not a taxi service. Get your friend to drive you places from now on.” he grumbled. Leaving Beverly alone in the lower basement level of the library. Dropping her off where no one would see their sudden appearance.

She rushed up the stairs, food in hand, toward the nature section. Scanning through shelf upon shelf of books. Looking through various titles of books on insects, farm animals, domestic dogs to various wild creatures. Spotting a selection large animal behavior books that could provide something. Scooping them up to take away to a table. Sitting down to slowly scan through all the pages. Looking for anything similar to what she remembered.

A quarter of the way through her 5th book she was losing hope. Scanning over the remaining books he attention was caught on one with a turtle on the cover. A sense of this book having promise making her skip the others. Flipping through the pages when she came upon a picture of a lion sleeping by a baby gazelle.

Scanning over the large paragraphs before settling on the most important part.

“in nature it is rare predators will adopt and care for prey young. Studies are still being made of why that is, but there are a few theories that have been confirmed.

In the case of caged animals one predator may become a friendly companion to offered prey. Due to being far more lonely at the time over being hungry. Forming an inseparable bond despite the predator still actively hunting.

In the case of wild predators such as a lion will usually involve timing. the predator parent being a female. Along with a burst of specific love hormones.

Female predators are much more likely to adopt prey if they were recently pregnant or suffered a loss of their own young. After birth adoption being higher as the mother is under hormones. These hormones are what develop a parental bond to their children. Sudden traumatic losses can cause unhealthy attachments to adopt other young.” she read from the page.

“sounds familiar.” remembering back to its eggs rotting in that underground. Continuing to read off the rest of the page.

“ bonds may also form between predator and prey if they benefit from each others company.

However these bonds after being made may not always last. The parental predator eventually succumbing to natural instinct to devour the prey. The adoptive parent unable to properly care for their new young. In the case of a lion adopting prey was unable to feed the young animal meat it had brought. Or other eventual predators moving in to finish off the prey.”

Beverly shut the book having read what little info was available. Sighing as she looked to the bag of food. “at least IT knows how to care for humans, but the book says it never lasts.” bringing the food closer. Looking around for library staff that could shoo her out. They didn't like food inside the building.

Opening the trey revealed a fresh stack of pancakes next to bacon. Off to the side was a small plastic container of warm syrup.

“while I am here, maybe I can find a map on the quarry.” taking out the plastic spork and knife to cut into the pancakes.

IT may have ordered her not to go, but she wasn't going to listen. Her and the guys were going to do something about the quarry. They weren't going to sit back while more kids are taken. To be sold or abused by who ever in where ever. Maybe if they hurried they could save some children that were taken.

Some time passed with Beverly meeting back up with the guys from their investigations. The sun getting increasingly low to set a red sunlit glow across Derry.

“anything?” bill asked the reform group. Some head shakes and nos were giving. Beverly giving some information she found.

“I found some time to check the library for anything on the quarry. A few maps, but they're all really old when the mining first began. There's a few entrances up the river where can start.”

“to the rust bucket!” Richie charged off dragging Eddie along to mikes car. Richie, Eddie, Stan, bill, and Ben squeezed into the back. Giving the front seat to Bev with mike in his drivers seat.

“I still don't think it's a good idea. It's going to be pitch black out there. What if one of us falls off a cliff on accident?” Eddie expressed his worry with an opening of his backpack. Filled up on flashlights for them all to take on their stake out hike.

“w-w-w-w-”

“your stutters kicking up bill.” Richie shines a flashlight at him. Switching it off right afterwards.

“He thrusts his f-f-f-fists against the post, and still insists h-h-he sees the ghost.” the boy repeated in frustration. Calming himself from the adrenaline of the quarry's approach.

“we all stay in groups.” he was able to get out. “don't get to f-f-far from one another s-s-s-stay hidden in the shrubs or around trees.”

the car drove down the beaten dirt road. The red light of the falling sun shrinking to the pure blackness of light. Mike being forced to slow the car to a crawl on the rough terrain. Carefully avoiding trees that were hard to see with the cars badly yellowed lights. The losers scanning outside the windows into the black forests. Only the nearest of brush highlighted by the cars low light.

“hm hmm … hm hmm … hm hmm.” Richie rhythmically hummed.

“r-r-rich this isn't the time to joke!” bill scolded.

“what joke?” the humming boy played innocent. “ hm hmm … hm hmm … hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.” he hummed.

“Richie! Stop with the jaws theme! O-o-or i'll punch you again!”

“like to see ya try!” he challenged.

Mike interrupting. “we're here.” slowing them to a stop. Shutting the car off to be in total darkness.

Flashlights switching on one by one inside the cramped space. Hearing no sounds of nature in the dead forest. Slowly they stepped out to scan the pitch black surroundings. Bill repeating his stuttering sentence. Eddie taking a puff of his inhaler.

“o-o-okay. Me, Stan, m-m-mike and Eddie will go this way. B-b-Ben, Bev, and Richie go the other.” bill directed.

“what are we even supposed to look for? Cars? Mobsters? Moth man?!” Richie groaned when they separated.

Ben shushed him. “we need to stay quiet!” whispering the order.

“why?! You think their blind from our spotlights out in these woods?!” shaking his flashlight wildly to light up trees nearby.

“stop that! We don't need to make it easier for them!” Ben continued whispering.

“careful.” Bev interrupted them. “were right next to the river and its got a drop.” shining the light down the steep dirt edge. Falling at this point would cause some bad scrapes, but further along a fall would be someones last mistake.

“let's say we do see a car. Then what? Tell the cops “hey, someone driving in the quarry! how do we know that officer? Oh, we only trespassed to spy in the middle of the goddamned night!” our parents will be thrilled to see us escorted home!” Richie whines.

“maybe we'll see kids or maybe that's not the only stuff we're dealing with. What if their big drug dealers with huge things of bricks.” Ben getting a little frustrated.

“if that's what we think they are. What are we gonna do?! Find a few black market guns to bust in blasting motherfuckers?”

“no, we gather evidence first. Don't you watch knight rider?”

“that show with the possessed car?”

“it's not possessed! Its suppose to be a super computer car!”

“whatever. Its fucking creepy. I expect and episode where it goes all HAL 9000 on the guys ass! Wasn't the car called Christine?”

“no! It was called kitt! Christine was a horror movie-!”

at this point Beverly had completely tuned out there arguing conversation. “guys … guys! … guyyys!” she shouted at the two far too focused on their talk. “ugh, forget it.” she waved off. Trudging on ahead up the steep river side. Scanning across the trees along her path. Stopping in her tracks at a silver reflection of the light back at her. She swallowed the lump in her throat to step toward the strange object. Examining closer she saw a fabric was covering the shiny thing. Grasping part of it to yank away. Noticing the fabric was much larger. Covering a whole white van in the fabric tarp marked in camo pattern. Multiple branches leaned up against it in a purposeful job of hiding it.

“why?” she thought in walking around to the back doors. Clicking the handle discovering it was still open. “this is like the same van principal Alko had.” shining the light over the interior. Seeing another shiny object set to the side. A silver heavy case filled with stacks of money left open.

“who would leave this?” speaking to herself. A creepy crawly feeling going up her spine that something was wrong.

Rushing around to the front of the van to still see the guys further down the slope still arguing. She was prepared to call out to them. Painfully shouting when something slammed into her. Knocking her clean off her feet. Dropping the flashlight to land at the sharp drops edge. Beverly managing to reach out and grab some thick roots stringing out the cliff side. Panicking to get back up.

A pair of dark legs leading down to heavy dark boots kicking the only light available far off the cliff. Beverly watching it fall for ages to be swept away by the rapids rushing below. She turned to face the attacker. Seeing just the edge of his figure ready to kick her in the face.

“Beverly!” Richie shouted. Distracting the man from the approaching figure behind.

A loud growl was heard from behind. A pair of burning eyes being the only thing seen when the man turned. A rush of air passing into sounds of powerful shredding. The stranger yelped falling off to the side with a grab to his face. Beverly turned her head at Ben and Richie lights landing on her. She looked back up to aim at pulling herself up. Meeting face to face with Pennywise reaching down to grab her as the rock crumbled underneath. Missing her chance at being hoisted up to fall far down.

Hitting the water painfully as one would landing on “soft” dirt. Painfully swimming up to the surface lightened by flashes of Richie and Bens lights.

“Beverly!” “Beverly!” they both shouted repeatedly as they rushed down the river edge. Failing to keep a light on the girl swiftly forced down river. Plunging under the powerful rushing waters over and over. Body turning numb in the freezing water covered in forming night ice. Choking down mouthfuls of water smashing into her.

It was turning to a point she thought she would die. She was choking water in the pitch black. Couldn't see or even feel the changing surface between freezing water and the open air. Couldn't see the on coming rocks she smashed into. Couldn't see the shore to attempt swimming towards. It was all a black death forcing her down into it in any way possible.

Catching something at her arm she held on for her life. Gasping for air after being yanked free of the freezing water. A rush of escaping death's grasp filling her. Making her sick to her stomach.

“Beverly? Can you talk? Are you okay?” the voice she recognized first. Grabbing a hold of the clown costume fabric to lean up. Coughing and hacking to throw out all the water that invaded her lungs. Shivering in Pennywise's arms far too exhausted to do anything else.

Pennywise was possessively holding her in his arms. Fearing her health pushing aside the fury of her disobeying him. She could have died from that stranger by the van. He had to pick her up and take her home. Her body temperature dangerously low. Covered in cuts from slamming into the rocks.

A flash of light over them both whipping Pennywise's attention toward the source. Aggressively hissing bared crooked teeth. Startling back Richie and Ben who managed to catch up.

“holy shit!” Richie shouted when startled back. Pennywise's body tensed at seeing them instead of the attacker. Assuming they wouldn't believe anything he would try to say. Having no time to even say a word with Beverly's condition. He picked her up to rush into the woods out of sight.

“hey! You clown fucker!” Richie shouted after them. Ben ready to run after them if it weren't for Richie stopping him. “don't separate! That's what IT wants! We have to get bill!”

they bolted back up stream. Relentlessly shouting bills name to grab his attention quick.

Bills group look toward Ben and Richie rushing down their side of the river. By their quick flashlight movements they could tell they were running.

“wheres Bev?!” Eddie pointed out one missing. Bill anxiously running over preparing for the worst.

“w-w-w-w- god fuck! - Bev! Where!” he fought with his stuttering to let out the question.

“Pennywise took her!” Richie shouted.

“he ran off into the woods with her!”

“what?!” bill choked wide eyed on the word. “b-b-b-b- fuck- the car!” bill tried directing them to run back to the car.

“where to?!” Mike asked on the way.

“n-n-n-n-n-”

“the crack house!” Richie finished for him. Wasting no time to all cram into the backseat. Mike put the keys in only to hear the engine chug.

“no! Not fucking now!” Mike growled. Turning the key a few more times. No luck, the car was out of commission.

“we can't wait!” Ben exclaimed, getting out of the car. Followed by everybody else. Forced to run all the way back to town straight to Pennywise's lair.

#It (2017)#pennywise #beverly marsh #bill denbrough #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #mike hanlon #stanly uris #ben hascom #covenant ch 10

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wayfarerxiii · 5 years

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Fallout 76 is f2p for a week on xbox one so me and my friend Alex have decided to give the game a shot. Our experience so far...

- very quickly after I had left the vault I started heading down the mountain to my first objective and was attacked by a mob of feral dogs. My shitty little pipe pistol broke before I even ran out of ammo and all of a sudden I hear the thundering of a gatling gun and the last few dogs surrounding me are shredded. I turn around and see this huge motherfucker in power armour named GUARDIAN OF HELL so I freak the fuck out and sprint to the tree line. I stop to see if he is chasing me (in my defense I hate pvp and have been a support main for years, i'm basically a prey animal at this point) but he just waves and carries on his way.

- Alex's game crashing before he can even exit the vault

- The game crashing again after we connect and team up

- We do the Responders mission together and wear matching Responders uniforms (me in Paramedic jumpsuit and him in Police Uniform)

- Making our CAMPsites next to each other. I build crops and basic cooking station, a sleeping bag, a radio and windchimes. He begins construction of a proper house with walls and defenses (I think it says a lot about our playstyles)

- We run into another player at the same level as us, he spams the "please play with me" emote, we group up and go on merry adventures across the map. His name is Atomic and we communicated solely through game emotes.

- Rock texture and lighting graphics flipping the fuck out

- We split up a little on route to next objective, me at the top of the hill, the boys along the bottom. We come across a small Scorched town. I take out enemies on the rooftops with my sniper whilst the boys take out enemies in the streets. Completely unplanned and running on instincts yet somehow still more co-ordinated than Overwatch Quickplay shit shows

- Alex doing majority of the combat while I do all the terminal hacking and lock picking

- Gifting Alex a beer hat I found on a skeleton in a river tube

- The three of us taking turns to try and hack a terminal to access a locked room - finally I am succesful. We pile in and I promptly press the Big Red Button and lock us all in again.

- Thumbs up emoji spam after a Super Mutant ambush or succesful Lockpicking

- Me standing waist deep in the river water too long collecting bloodleaf to make healing salves and developing a mutation - my character gets twice the benefits from eating plant materials. Re-arranging my perk cards to embrace my new vegetarian lifestyle

- Alex and Atomic travelling down a deep gulley together whilst I travel along the top - and me screeching "ALEX BEHIND YOU TURN AROUND" when the Big Grey Cryptid Fucker starts charging at them from behind

- More heart emoji spam when they both manage to scramble out of the valley barely alive

- Atomic going AWOL at his campsite for half an hour and then spamming the Follow Me emote until I go visit. It is very nice building on cliff with amazing view and indoor lighting. He also has one of those fancy comic book themed beds.

- Me pulling up the snapshot function and taking photos when the boys are in their pipboys or talking to vendors and crafting

- Alex's mission waypoint completely fucking up and leading him in the exact opposite direction of our objective

- Me trying on every hat I can find

- Alex falling in love with his shotgun

- The three of us wearing matching sunglasses

- Finding really depressing audiotapes and then pointing them out to the others so we can all be sad about it together

- Alex leading us into an airport tarmac area full of Super Mutants and then us getting cornered in a shipping container. Alex manages to squeeze through a fence without me noticing and I enter FULL PANIC MODE

- Atomic accidentally shooting me in the back while I 1v4 melee fight a bunch of Scorched and we all take a silent vow using only melee weapons in close range afterwards

- " mountain mama... take me home... WEST VIRGINIAAAAAA"

- meeting a lvl 64 character dressed as a Girl Scout in a train station hub

- "there is Super Mutant Extermination event going on over there... so let's stay away from there"

- hoarding recipes to swap with eachother

- Both Alex and Atomic immediately pulling out their pipboys to level up in a Scorch infested building whilst I try to keep them alive and un-murdered

- me not having any grenades left but throwing frag mines towards enemies and then either having the enemy sprint over them and having them detonate too late OR having Alex sprint at the enemy into melee range and me freaking out thinking I am about to explode my friend into giblets

- coming across a random guys camp complete with organized crops, turret defenses, a perimeter wall and fancy neon signage. I wanted to get closer and have a better look but the owner was pacing the top of the wall and looking very agitated and Alex was practically begging me not to get any closer

- harvesting my crops and preparing my characters vegetarian meals and being ambushed by seven feral ghouls whilst trying to use the cooking pot

- all of us periodically turning to check and make sure the others are keeping up while we sprint to the next mission objective

- arguing on whether or not we should try and find the Mothman

- Alex getting seperated from us in a foggy town valley and then seeing a huge figure closing in... he shoots and sets off a group of 8 Super Mutants who quickly kill him

- fashion shows when somebody finds a new outfit

- getting annoyed whenever we find a new quest and it automatically activates and before you know it you have 8 different objective blips on your compass

#mine #fallout 76 #the game is fun yes but its still crashing multiple times a session #fo76 #i will probably add more on this the more we play

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eternalsshipsandfics · 5 years

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In Cold Blood: Chapter 9

Summary: The illustrious Kuran family is thrown into disarray when the crown princess disappears under suspicious circumstances. Will she ever be found?

The crowd was booing and hissing Zero's appearance; plenty of voices screaming out to kill him. The roar grew as a large man holding an axe stepped onto the stand.

What could she do? She hadn't expected him to come back into her life in this way! She was about to witness something that she really didn't want to witness. The world around her went quiet. Time seemed to slow to a snail's pace as the two guards forced Zero down over the block. Why wasn't he fighting? He could easily overpower them, so why wasn't he? Those ropes were tight, but they were flimsy. Was she expecting too much from him?

A cold sweat broke out as the axe was risen high above his head to the growing roar of the crowd. How could her uncle do this to her? He had heard her pleas for him not to hurt Zero; the least he could do was perform these cruel acts away from her.

What was she thinking? She didn't want him to be killed in some dank cell where she would never know his fate. She wanted him alive!

In front of the eager crowd, the axe cruelly descended. She forced herself into action, flinging herself down between the axe and Zero. She heard a panicked gasp and felt the blade of the axe come to a stop just above her neck.

She clung desperately to the body beneath her despite Kaname's and Rido's angry yells. The crowd was like a frenzied animal whose prey had managed to escape. She turned to her remaining family members with tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"You can't do this!"

"Why not? This man is a wanted criminal." Yuuki felt Kaname's hand on her shoulder, gently attempting to remove her from the confused man underneath her. She refused to be moved. Now, if she knew her uncle…

"Isn't it too kind? After what he did to me and father, wouldn't you want him to suffer?" She swallowed, displeased with her own cruel words. "What better way to make him suffer than to make him our personal slave?"

"Humiliation, eh? I knew you would come around, Yuuki." Yuuki sensed a wave of bile rise in her throat. She felt dirty. She felt a subtle motion from the body under her that told her he felt the same way. "Alright."

She didn't allow herself to be moved until he had confirmed the new arrangement to the crowd. He attempted to calm the disappointed, angry crowd as Zero was brought to his feet. Yuuki gave the command to the nearby guards to take the restrained Zero to her room. She silently apologised to him. She would untie him later.

She could almost feel the angry look she was getting from Kaname, who was thankfully keeping silent. Refusing to look at him, she began to follow after the guards and Zero.

"You'd best be sure you know what you're doing, Yuuki." She heard from Rido. She didn't dignify him with a response. The crowds seemed to be focused on Rido; she hadn't received any comments as she had expected.

Now that her newly acquired servant was safe, at least for the moment, she allowed herself to revel in his familiar scent. He reminded her of herself in his cleanliness, or lack thereof, when she had first been locked in that small room. That seemed like a lifetime ago. Zero himself seemed like a lifetime ago; her constant thirst becoming a permanent part of her.

That eager prickle in her throat intensified. She could hear the soft whisper of her vampire instincts as though she were a separate being in front of her. He belongs to you now, she whispered temptingly, you can drink as much blood as you please…

She paused a moment outside her door, reigning herself in as she took in the strong, comforting presence of the man she had fallen unexpectedly in love with. A couple of deep breaths later, she felt as in control of herself as she could be. His head turned in her direction as the door squeaked open. He was wary, like a cornered animal, as she came to a stop in front of him.

That temptation was back in her mind again, but she ignored it as she untied his hands. He removed the rest of his bonds effortlessly, rubbing his aching wrists as the blood began to circulate freely once more. Then he fixed a fierce glare on her.

"What exactly were you thinking? Putting yourself in danger like that?"

"I couldn't just let you die!"

"You're too reckless, Yuuki!"

"You shouldn't have let yourself get caught!"

He was on his feet now, towering over her. She returned his angry glare; the first to see his expression soften before she found herself in his embrace for the first time in over a year. She missed her opportunity to hold him back; too shocked by the sudden closeness and the way he squeezed her, one hand lightly gripping her hair.

"Think of yourself for once, would you?"

"In my first act of selfishness, you need a bath!" She retorted. She didn't know how to react to Zero's sincerity. That he cared that deeply about her made her happy, but she had to remind herself once more that she had decided to forget him. She would find a way to free him, and then he would be gone again. Maybe she could ask Aido to recreate the pendant that was currently in Yui's possession.

He chuckled so lowly that she almost missed it. She lead him into the ensuite and subsequently caught him eyeing the room in an impressed manner before he noticed that she was watching. It was endearing to see a man who seemed so unaffected by everything almost becoming the wide eyed child she imagined he was before.

"I'll be in here if you need me." She pointed back to her room, earning his signature nod in return. The soft click of the door was followed by the sound of water running. She rested against the hard wood, listening to the sounds of activity in the other room.

As he allowed the worries of his world to melt away for a time, Yuuki made a move to gather new clothes for him to change into. She knew that they had a spare butlers uniform laying unworn in a store room five doors down from hers, left over when a former butler met a rather unfortunate demise. It looked like it would have fit Zero as she had known him before; however, she thought, it may hang loose on him until she could return him to a healthy weight.

She knocked lightly on the door upon her return, smiling a soft smile at the sleepy "yes?" she received.

"I brought you a change of clothes. May I come in?"

"It's your house." Was the reply. She ensured to cover her eyes before she stepped inside, placing the uniform down on the corner table. She considered 'accidentally' taking a peek, if only to gauge his current condition now that the filthy rags were off him. Speaking of, she grabbed the offending garments before she exited, disposing of them quickly.

Her task completed, she collapsed listlessly on her bed. The pure adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins had prevented her from feeling the raw exhaustion that had risen since her uncle's announcement. She glanced over at the clock. It had only been six hours since she and her brother had set foot outside the house. It had felt like an eternity.

"Hey, Zero…How was everyone doing when you left?" She called through the door, hearing the slosh of water as he adjusted his position.

"Those who weren't with me were alright."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't. It's not your fault, Yuuki."

Her exhaustion overwhelmed her and she lapsed into sleep. Through her dreams, she could have sworn that she heard Zero promising to protect her.

~Z~

Yuuki spent the next few weeks in a better mood than she had been in for months, reaching a level of euphoria she had only dreamed possible before. Her thirst, still, was never far from her mind, but his close proximity made it worth it. He had performed his assigned tasks admirably well, which had Rido deeply suspicious. Yuuki had been doing a good enough job of protecting him during his stay, however; she, at the very least, was able to distract him whenever he began to look too deeply into Zero's activities.

Kaname had made himself scarce, though Yuuki didn't know why. She wondered if it had anything to do with Zero. She had caught some odd looks from Kaname that Zero didn't seem to notice. She had held herself back from commenting on it in case she had broken the wary peace between the Kurans and Zero. She needn't have gone the route of tact, it seemed.

In light of this, she was amazed that Hanabusa accepted her random invitation. She considered the two of them friends, but he was more likely to accept Kaname than her. She had an inkling that Yori had more say than Hanabusa would like to admit. She had kept the letter vague. She wanted Yori to be surprised when she saw her (surprisingly submissive) childhood friend once more.

Rido had made his excuses and left, much as Yuuki had expected. He deemed himself too important now to deal with lesser nobles. It made Yuuki's life easier; she no longer had to protect her human friend from his unwarranted verbal assaults. She had done enough of that for Zero. She had also had to spend a good deal of time scolding him; he had an acidic tongue when it came to Rido. Her personal (and secret) favourite had been an insult involving a horse and butternut squash.

"What is it?" She hadn't realised that she had been smiling dreamily at him as she remembered that particularly amusing fight.

"Nothing. I was just thinking."

"That must hurt."

"Impossible. Yuuki is incapable of thought."

She spun on her heel at the new voice, an annoyed pout on her face. Why did everyone always seem to gang up on her?

"That's funny, Aido. I got the same impression about you!"

"Please. Unlike you, Yuuki, I am a genius."

"Yeah, yeah." Yuuki waved a hand dismissively. A couple of servants that Yuuki didn't recognise hurried past with his cases, meeting with her own to reach Aido's usual room. She peered behind him. Hadn't he brought Yori with him?

"So that was Zero Kiryuu, huh?"

"Was?" She turned to the spot that Zero had been occupying just a minute before. He was gone. She assumed that he had disappeared to do his assigned tasks, but she wished he would have stayed long enough for her to introduce them. And for Yori to appear. She so badly wanted to see their reunion.

"Oh. Wait, you know who he is?" Yuuki continued. He arched a brow at her, subtly reminding her of Zero.

"Who doesn't know who he is? Mainly due to your disappearance. It's your fault, really."

"Well, I'm sorry that I got taken away!"

"As long as you admit it."

"Next time, I'll get them to take you!" She poked a playful tongue out at the blond vampire, who affected a slightly exaggerated look of offence, complete with a shocked hand to mouth. It wasn't often that he was in the mood to play around with her.

"Lord Aido, may we borrow you for a moment?" A young female servant called from behind him.

"I'll talk to you later."

"M-hm." Yuuki took the opportunity to slip out the back into the grounds. Aido often gave Yori the freedom to roam the grounds for at least one hour during the day. He had told her once that she was happier after she had been amongst the lush, beautiful scenery.

She remembered the many early mornings that the two of them had spent just sat talking under the shady willow; accompanied by the view of the meandering river that wound through the grounds. Those had been more innocent days.

"I thought I might find you here." Yori's soft voice pulled her out of her quiet reminiscing.

"Yori, you did come!" She beamed at her best friend as she sat next to her, her quiet warmth a comforting sensation.

"I had to tend to the horses. Good to know you missed me." She teased.

"I always miss you."

"Like you miss Zero?" Yuuki treasured her mischievous smile.

"Oh! Wait here, I'll be right back!" She clambered clumsily to her feet, leaving a confused Yori under the willow as she retreated. If she knew anything about Zero (and she liked to think that she did), he would be slacking off from his duties in the stables. He had taken a liking to their 'demon horse', White Lily. White Lily had instantly taken to him too. Yuuki was a little jealous. She had tried for years to simply approach the beautiful white horse.

"Zero!" She hadn't been wrong. A warning snort from the protective horse prevented her from approaching him. "Come with me, I need to show you something."

"Can't it wait?" He mumbled lazily, reaching up a hand that White Lily playfully butted with her head.

"No. Up, now!" She demanded in her most commanding voice. She knew that it wasn't very commanding when he just gave her a disbelieving look, but he did sigh in defeat and get to his feet. It was a small victory, but she would take it.

"You have no charisma."

"Just do what I say!" Yuuki looped an arm around Zero's (only once he had moved far enough from White Lily that she wouldn't get kicked) in order to drag him along with her. A roll of the eyes that Yuuki didn't see was her answer.

They probably appeared as two lovers to any uninitiated servants, Yuuki mused. The more vampiric side of her enjoyed the thought, it would warn off any other suitors to her Zero. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip.

"I'm not going to run away." Zero snorted. With a startled noise, Yuuki let go. As an apology (yes, Yuuki, cutting off his circulation is the way to go, she scolded herself silently), she gently rubbed his arm. She earned his laughter, laced with affection.

"Zero?" Unknown to Yuuki, Yori had grown bored of waiting. She wasn't too far from the willow, which meant that she had only just decided to follow. If she hadn't been too shocked to see Zero himself, she would have made time to throw a teasing comment Yuuki's way. Zero appeared just as shocked, though he covered the expression much faster than Yori.

Yuuki's jealousy rose in an angry flash as Yori threw herself at her childhood friend, even though she had been expecting such an action. Her fists clenched at her side, the newly formed crescent shaped openings hidden inside.

"Yori… You're safe…" Yuuki had never felt more like a vampire than she had in that moment. The intensity of her jealousy scared her. She had to remind herself that he wasn't hers. He never would be. Someone like Yori would be better suited to him. At least a human wouldn't kill him with her desire.

"Did Lord Haruka save you too?" Yori's soft voice penetrated her inner turmoil as surely as if a bomb had been detonated. Zero's equally soft 'yeah' sent her mind in a million directions at once.

"What did you just say about my father?"

"Oh, that's right! I didn't have time to tell you!" Yori remembered, "Lord Haruka was the one who saved us after our town was destroyed. He put me under the Aido family's protection."

"He saved you too?" Yuuki asked.

"He did."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yuuki asked. He had to have known that she was Haruka's daughter. There was only one Kuran royal family, after all. Yet, not once did he mention that he owed his life to her father.

"He didn't want me to tell you. He wanted to protect you."

"Tell me everything." Yuuki's voice had an edge to it that Zero hadn't heard before. He shuffled a little on his feet, glancing down at Yori before making up his mind.

"It's time you knew." Yuuki watched him decide upon a starting point.

~Z~

All that Zero knew was pain. Sharp, throbbing pain all over his body which made it increasingly harder to breathe. He had long since lost the energy to move. If he could, he would have moved away from the strong stench of blood that smothered his senses. Instead, the hazy blur of dark ceiling above him occupied his unmoving sight.

He could hear footsteps, but he had lost too much blood to care. If that vampire came back, then all she could do was end his suffering. Even in his young age, he knew that she wouldn't do that. Perhaps she would simply watch. He couldn't remember her leaving. He knew that there was something that he should remember. But it didn't matter now. He'd be dead soon, whether it was that vampire or a surviving human.

A new face filled his blurry vision. He made out a combination of dark hair and dark eyes. He felt tired. What did it matter who this stranger was? He spared one last look at the newcomer, who was currently glancing quickly around the blood spattered room, before he allowed himself to lapse into unconsciousness.

When he awoke, he was in a completely new room. This room was white, not red. He wondered if he had died. He had heard stories told about places people went after they died. He was amazed that he had the ability to lift himself up under the power of his own arms. He glanced down at said arms, catching sight of an angry red scar running down one while a needle was steadily replacing his lost blood. He reached over to pull the needle out. It didn't look right, and he did not like it there.

"Ah ah, leave that alone." A much larger hand pushed his away from the tube. He hadn't noticed anyone else enter the room. The dark hair and eyes that he had seen before he fell unconscious met his lighter features. Then the same scent that the vampire woman had carried assaulted his senses, and he whipped his hand away which was quickly followed by his body.

The man put his hands up in an 'I mean no harm' gesture. Zero silently watched him; he felt like a mouse in a trap. Any second now, this cat would stop toying with him.

"You don't need to be afraid of me." He comforted in a quiet, gentle voice. He kept his movements slow, steady; he didn't want to make any motions that would panic the recovering youngster. Zero kept his eyes fixed on the vampire as he checked the drip.

"Haruka, stop scaring the child!" An upbeat, playful voice followed. A man with long blond hair entered the white room, giving it more colour than it had before. Said child tensed, unable to focus on both of the strangers at once.

"You're more likely to scare him than me." The gentler man sighed. He came down to Zero's level, a hand reaching towards his forehead. "I just need to check your temperature. May I?" The one name Haruka asked as the child pulled away.

He waited patiently for the affirmative nod before gently pressing his cool hand against the child's warm forehead. Zero was reminded of his mother, who had performed much the same action when he had fallen ill before. He pressed his own hands to his eyes as the thought brought forward the harsh realisation that his mother, father and brother were dead.

The stoic boy was reduced to the newly orphaned child he was by the comforting embrace of a caring adult. He was desperately clinging to the same man he had been avoiding a mere moment before, revelling in the security he needed.

"I'm sorry. You didn't deserve this." He heard murmured into his hair, a hand winding soothingly through the silver threads.

From that moment, Zero would refuse to admit that he looked forward to the older male's visits. He would be staying with the blond man, Kaien Cross, who was the weirdest person he had ever met. He found it difficult to bond with the often silly man, but he had already formed a solid bond with Haruka. He had adopted him as an honorary father figure.

He learnt that Haruka had a girl about his age. He also learnt that he hadn't been able to spend as much time with her as he had wanted to, his duties becoming more demanding. The young Zero realised that he probably counted as a duty too, but he didn't let it bring him down. He had enough to bring him down.

The more he heard about said girl, the more curious he became about her. From what he had been told, she was a warm and kind-hearted girl. She was already well loved by those around her. He knew it was unlikely that he would ever meet her. It didn't stop him from hoping.

~Z~

At the time Zero reached the age of eighteen, he had left the odd man who had taken care of him, having formed a fairly large colony of humans and hunters to feel safe in. He still regularly met the king vampire, though he kept it a firm secret. No one needed to know his affiliation with the head of the vampire royal family.

This time was different.

"I need a favour." Zero was told one fateful meeting. "I think someone's out to hurt Yuuki."

"Who?" Zero asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. I'm looking into it." Haruka looked far more harried and stressed than Zero had ever seen him.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I'll be sending Yuuki out on a visit soon. I'm certain that she'll be attacked once she arrives, so I want you to intercept her and take her to safety before that happens."

"And what do I do with her once she's safe?"

"I fear she won't be safe at home. I want you to keep her with you. But she doesn't need to know why."

"You want me to kidnap her?"

"In a sense. If you don't hear from me regarding her release… Well, I trust your judgement, Zero."

~Z~

"You… were protecting me all along?" Yuuki asked incredulously. Now she knew why the aura's she had sensed that fateful day were so wrong to her. They had been the auras of vampires, not hunters. Zero nodded.

"It wasn't easy keeping it secret from everyone. You saw how Kaito was acting."

"And our meeting… It wasn't a coincidence…"

"No… It was planned." Zero took a step towards Yuuki, who moved her confused gaze from the unforgiving ground to his eyes. "The reason I told you this, Yuuki, is because I made a mistake. I thought the danger had passed, but I was wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"There was an attempt on your life only a week ago…" She heard Yori gasp. "Don't worry, I stopped it. Do you still have the knife I gave you?"

"Yes. I keep it on me at all times."

"Good. Make sure it stays that way." His expression was more serious than usual. "And what I told you stays between us. Act normally."

Yuuki saw Yori nod obediently before she did the same. She needed time to think things over. Her heart twisted as the thought that Zero was possibly only acting out of obligation rather than affection for her crossed her mind. She left the two to catch up, her mind a blurry concoction of inter-connecting thoughts.

~Z~

Yuuki felt that she'd managed to compartmentalise her thoughts when her uncle approached her with some news.

"I received a letter. Your mother has called for you."

"Mother has?" She had not seen her mother for over two years. She couldn't contain her excitement at the simple thought that she'd see Juuri again. The part of her that found it odd that she'd request her presence through Rido was quickly squashed by the desperate girl aching for the gentle touch of her mother.

She received a simple nod in response.

"You're to be ready to leave as soon as possible."

Yuuki felt a pang of worry about Zero. Would he be alright if she left him behind with the pureblood who hated him the most? He was capable of taking care of himself, she answered herself. She had witnessed him defend himself against Rido plenty of times. He would be fine.

"I'll get ready now."

~Z~

Zero was surprised that Yuuki seemed to have forgotten what he had said to her so soon. In her excitement, she had neglected to keep the blade close to her. He had had to forcefully remind her that she may have to protect herself. She was a pureblood, yes, but she was still young and didn't necessarily know how to control herself. And if she needed to keep a low profile, it would be better for her to use a hunter weapon than the pureblood powers that sent an imprint of their aura pulsing through the air.

He didn't like the fact that she would be away from him for however long this visit took. He felt a very strong urge to protect her, but she wouldn't let him go with her. He swallowed down his reservations. If Yuuki ordered him to stay behind, then it would be suspicious for him to disobey that order. It could alert the assassin to their knowledge and make him or her act more dangerously.

He couldn't blame her for being so thrilled, however. He no longer had the ability to speak to his mother. At least she still could. He dismissed her concerns about his behaviour easily.

He waved her off privately. He felt no need to make a big show of it to an expectant audience. The big manor house felt lonelier with her gone, he had to admit. It also felt more hostile. He was aware that many in the manor disliked him. He felt that it was probably because he had more leisure time.

As such, he was more annoyed than surprised when he felt a firm grip on his arm. It was painful, and he knew instantly who had gripped him. The deranged sense in his aura put Zero's senses on high alert.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Zero kept his tone light with a faint hint of threat. The pureblood smirked back, silent for a moment. There was a deadly tension between them.

"You still don't remember, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Something had been tugging at the edges of his memory for days. He had kept the information back from Yuuki lest he worry her. She had enough to worry about, and he didn't think that she'd appreciate anymore negativity about her relative. Especially if his faint suspicions proved false.

"The day my dear fiancée Shizuka butchered your family…" He trailed off. Zero caught the faint glint of his pearly white fang. His eyes widened in realisation…

"You were there…" The missing fragment of his memory snapped back into place. Shizuka Hio was dead. She had been dead for as long as he had been orphaned. Rido Kuran had killed her before sealing a section of the severely injured Zero's memory. This man had taunted him ruthlessly about how he had convinced Shizuka to toy with his family and him. He had asked him why in a weak, wavery breath, and the answer had chilled him. "To instil hatred in you, of course."

"Well done." Rido seemed pleased that it had only taken a single push to bring his memories back to the surface.

"Why would you kill your own fiancée?"

"She was in the way." Rido shrugged callously.

"And what about Haruka Kuran?"

"Well, that is a story for another day. Right now, I'm more interested in you." Rido pulled something from his pocket. Zero growled in anger when he saw what it was.

The item dangling in front of his face was Yui's pendant.

"I thought you might recognise this. And if you want him to remain in the realm of the living, you'll do as I say."

"What do you want?" Zero spat. He couldn't risk any harm coming to Yui. He didn't deserve to be thrust back into the hell that he had been freed from.

"To put it simply? I need to quash those hunter bug's spirits. They've become more…rebellious since you've come here."

"You want to kill me."

"Very astute."

"Did Juuri really send for Yuuki?"

"That's neither here nor there, is it? If you don't want any harm to come to the boy, you'll wait in the dungeons like a good dog."

Zero's first instinct was to fight back against this monster, but the flash of blue that swung in his peripheral vision prevented him. It seemed like Rido was going to attempt a similar thing as before. If he was going to be put in the dungeons, it meant that Rido was likely to make a spectacle of this. At least he would have time to think of a way out.

"…Fine." He growled begrudgingly, drawing a feral smirk from the demonic pureblood.

"Good boy."

#vampire knight #zeki #eternal zeki #radiant zeki #fanfiction #archive

2 notes · View notes

razieltwelve · 6 years

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Guardian Alpha (Final Nexus)

Marshal Lightning Farron bit back a hiss and slumped onto a tree stump. She had no idea how she’d ended up in a forest, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. Although she wasn’t a botanist, she’d seen a lot of the world, and the trees here not familiar to her at all.

The trees had ashen trunks with tendrils of black running through them. The leaves were a dull grey with silver veins. She was sorely tempted to think she was hallucinating, but the pain in her leg was all too real. It was a few minutes before she was ready to stand. At least, she’d been brought here - wherever here was - in the clothes she usually wore while on duty.

She had her cane, her sidearm, and several communication devices, none of which were picking up anything useful at the moment. So far, she hadn’t seen any animals, but she’d picked up flashes of movement at the corner of her vision. She wasn’t a betting woman, but if she was, she’d bet that whatever animals lived here, they weren’t friendly.

As if her thoughts had summoned it, something leapt at her from the trees. It was instinct alone that saved her. She rolled out of the way, pain flaring through her as she landed awkwardly and stumbled to her feet. The creature she saw was completely unfamiliar to her. It was like someone had combined a wolf with a chainsaw - that was really the best way to put it. Instead of a head, all it had was a vast, roiling hole filled with blade-like teeth. Tentacles ripped out of its back, and Lightning raised her pistol and fired.

The first three shots barely slowed it at all, but the fourth had it staggering. However, it lashed out with one its tentacles, and she tripped, her bad leg giving way beneath her. The creature sprang again - only to be knocked aside as a loud trumpet blast filled the air.

To Lightning’s disbelief, a raccoon in hideously bright orange, pink, and blue clothing leapt out into the open. The creature cast a quick look at her and then raised his trumpet to his lips. This time, the blast was sharper, more focused, and the hideous creature was shredded in a tunnel of tearing winds.

“What in the world…?” Lightning raised her pistol. “What kind of raccoon are you?”

The raccoon smiled sunnily at her and then began to make, well, raccoon nosies. The strangest part was that for some reason, Lightning could understand him.

“You’re my daughter’s herald? I don’t have a daughter.”

The raccoon rolled his eyes and continued.

“My daughter’s herald from another dimension where she’s apparently a god and so am I?” Lightning stared. “Really?”

The raccoon calmly pointed out that how else could she explain a raccoon being able to communicate telepathically and cut things up with wind blades summoned from a trumpet.

“Fair enough,” Lightning conceded. “Do you know where we are?”

The raccoon shrugged.

“Okay, so you’re lost too.” Lightning winced and got back to her feet. “Maybe we should travel together.” She wasn’t stupid. With her bad leg and her limited ammunition, this was a recipe for disaster. If this raccoon wanted to help her, she’d accept his help. “We can -” Suddenly her communicator began to hiss. She hastily started scanning the nearby channels. “Come on…” she whispered. “Come on…”

“This… Guardian Alpha… anyone… read?”

Through the static, Lightning could barely make out the words. But the words were coming across an old Eidolon Program frequency, one reserved for emergencies. She’d never heard of an Eidolon called Guardian Alpha before, but even she wasn’t privy to all of the secrets of the program.

“This is Marshal Lightning Farron,” she said, speaking into her communicator. “What are your coordinates? I repeat: what are your co-ordinates? Guardian Alpha, do you copy?”

The reply was even less intelligible, but a beacon began to flash on her communicator. It was an emergency location signal. Whoever Guardian Alpha was, it was roughly north of her position. She gulped. It was about a hundred miles north.

“Say…” she said, looking at the raccoon. “What’s your name?” The raccoon replied. “Gary, huh? There’s a cartoon called that where I’m from. Do you have a way of transporting us about a hundred miles north?”

The raccoon nodded and raised his trumped before leaping onto Lightning’s back.

“What was that?” Lightning asked as the wind began to roar around them. “Oh. Yes, I’m ready - ah!”

X X X

When Lightning got her bearings back, she barely managed to hold back a cry of surprise. They had reappeared at the edges of a rocky desert, not far from some large hills. But what really surprised her was the Eidolon currently locked in combat against some gigantic… worm thing.

The Eidolon was a marvel, larger than any model she’d seen. It’s colour scheme was a combination of Odin’s and Bahamut’s, and its design was much the same. It was as though someone had combined the swift, agile form of Odin with the raw strength and power of Bahamut.

It had to be a prototype though. Nothing she’d ever seen moved as fast as this Eidolon. With uncanny grace, it dodged away from the leaping worm, which had to be at least several hundred yards long, and then drove one fist down onto the top of its head. The impact was thunderous, and then a host of weapons activated, pummelling the worm with plasma, lasers, and electricity.

The creature shrieked, and the Eidolon cocked one fist back, a blade extending from its wrist, and then jammed its fist forward. The blade dug deep into the worm’s side, and the Eidolon ripped its hand upward, tearing a gaping hole in its opponent. A pair of large plasma cannons appeared on the Eidolon’s shoulders and fired into the hole until the worm gave one final cry before falling still.

The Eidolon loomed over the worm before turning its attention to her. Lightning stood her ground although Gary hopped onto her shoulder and raised his trumpet in readiness for a fight.

“I am Marshal Lightning Farron of the Eidolon Program,” Lightning shouted. “Identify yourself!”

The air in front of the Eidolon shimmered as a holographic display activated. When the image resolved, Lightning found herself staring at a trio of young women, all of whom looked familiar yet different.

“Mom?” the dark-haired member of the trio asked. “Is that you?”

“Mom?” Lightning frowned. “I don’t have a daughter.”

“Oh, crap.” The dark-haired woman grimaced. “You know that theory I had…”

One of the two pink-haired woman sighed. “Multiverse?”

The other pink-hiared woman glared. “Multiverse.”

“Okay,” the dark-haired woman said. “This is going to sound super weird, but I’m pretty sure you’re our mom from the past because our mom looks an awful lot like you, has a limp like you, and is called Grand Marshal Lightning Farron.”

“I see.” Lightning didn’t. “Then…?” The raccoon whispered in her ear. “Yes, you might be right about us being stranded in some alternate universe. Doctor Dia always did have theories about things like this…”

“Anyway,” the dark-haired woman continued. “My name is Diana. My big sister over there is Averia, and the other person is my cousin Claire - Snow and Serah’s daughter.”

“Right.” Lightning took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Do you have any idea where we are?”

“Nope.” Pilot Diana shrugged. “But… wait… we’re getting some readings. Something is coming in really fast and - watch out!”

Lightning stared as a gigantic tornado appeared out of nowhere. However, it stopped right before reaching her and dispersed to reveal several people: someone who looked like a slightly younger Diana who radiated an aura of power and majesty, someone who looked like Averia but with a suit on, and a younger version of her that seemed… slightly deranged.

“Do you know them?” Lightning asked Gary.

The raccoon replied by leaping into the arms of Divine Diana.

“Does he know me?” Divine Diana grinned. “He’s my herald. And you must be an alternate version of my mother.” She looked up at the Eidolon. “Nice giant automaton you’ve got there.”

“It’s an Eidolon,” Marshal Lightning corrected automatically.

“Whatever.” Divine Diana grinned. “So… it’s nice meeting all of you, but do any of you know what’s going on?”

Alas, before any of them could answer, the sky above them went dark. No, Lightning realised. It hadn’t gone dark. The monsters flying over them was just that big.

Divine Diana made a face. “That is a very big monster made of pure evil and darkness.” She looked at Lightning. “Do you have somewhere you can take shelter because I’m going to have to cut loose a little here.”

“There should be shelter inside the Eidolon’s auxiliary life support unit.” Lightning paused. “You do have one of those, right?”

“Yes,” Pilot Averia replied.

“Good. Gary, take her and the other mortals up to that thing she’s talking about.” Divine Diana raised her hand, and a sword appeared, one surrounded by scything winds. “I’ll distract our giant enemy there.”

X X X

Captain Lightning Farron was used to dealing with unusual individuals. As the captain of one of the largest cities in the world, she’d met her fair share of dragons, griffins, and other monsters. This was, however, the first time she’d faced a werewolf.

“Back, beast!” Lightning hissed. “You’ll not find me easy prey!”

However, much to her disbelief, the werewolf actually backed away before transforming back into a human… Her eyes widened.

“Fang?” No. That was impossible. The dragon rider was not a werewolf. Lightning would have known. She raised her sword again. “You will not fool me, demon!”

“Relax.” Werewolf Fang breezed forward with a speed far beyond any human and grabbed Lightning’s sword. The captain winced as the enchanted blade failed to even cut into the werewolf’s palm. She’d heard of werewolves like this. Only the oldest and most powerful of them could even touch a blade like hers, never mind ignore it entirely. “I’d say you were Lightning, but the Lightning I know is one of the mightiest vampires in the world.”

“Me? A vampire? Impossible.”

“But here we are.” Werewolf Fang smiled, revealing elongated canines. “Now, we could fight… or we could try to work out what is going on.”

Captain Lightning was not a fool. She slowly lowered her blade, the werewolf letting go of it. “Very well. But I will be on my guard.” She paused and then looked down for a moment before redirecting her gaze resolutely onto Werewolf Fang’s face. “And put some clothes on.”

“Fair enough.” Werewolf Fang paused, grinning. “I’d put some clothes on if I had any…oh, and you might want to take a step to your right.”

“Why would -” Captain Lightning looked up and then took a very, very quick step to her right.

Something fell out of the sky and thudded into the ground where she’d been standing. When the dust cleared, someone in some kind of costume was slowly getting to her feet.

“Vanille?” Werewolf Fang asked.

“I don’t know who this Vanille you speak of is.” The young woman with red hair stood and puffed out her chest. “I am Ultragirl!”

X X X

Author’s Notes

More madness.

Marshal Lightning is from the Vestige. The trio of Pilot Diana, Averia, and Claire, are from the future “good” timeline of the Vestige.

Gary is Divine Diana’s herald.

Captain Lightning is from some of the fantasy-based snippets I’ve done.

Werewolf Fang is from Crimson Moon.

Ultragirl is Vanille from the Superhero AU.

#final nexus #fanfiction #lightning farron #oerba yun fang #oerba dia vanille #diana yun-farron #averia yun-farron #claire villiers

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swfanficbyjz · 6 years

Text

Full Circle - SW AU

Pairing: Brotp/otp Anakin/Ahsoka

Part 1:

It was a routine op, nothing the two of them couldn't handle. Plus, they had Rex and Echo and Fives with them. It was the dream team as far as Anakin was concerned. The only one missing was Obi wan, but he'd spend more time questioning the plan than just going for it. No, it was better without him. They had to be stealthy and quick, and other than Fives' unfortunate clumsiness, this was the best team for it.

Ahsoka was fast and small, her job was to scout ahead, unnoticed by the enemy. Rex watched the rear, while he, Fives and Echo scanned the surroundings.

This planet was practically a wasteland, but somewhere there was a crashed Separatist ship with important intel. There'd been no sign of any enemy activity on the surface, but just to be cautious, they dropped several kilometers away, preferring to go the rest of the way on foot.

They moved through the canyons slowly, making sure they didn't attract any attention. It was at least an hour before Anakin realized that Ahsoka hadn't checked in. It wasn't exactly unlike her, he shouldn't be so worried, but with so many crevices and unknowns, he felt himself getting uneasy.

"Hey Skyguy!" She said, dropping down from a hidden ledge behind him about 30 minutes later.

"Kriff, Ahsoka!" He said, nearly slicing her in half with his lightsaber for surprising him. "Where have you been?"

"Scouting, like you told me!" She said in annoyance. "Why is he so jumpy?" She asked Fives who was still laughing about how Anakin had leapt in surprise when she appeared.

"It's this place, Little'un." Rex said joining the group from behind. "There's something off about it. I'm no Jedi, but all my equipment has been on the fritz. If there's some kind of electronic interference, I imagine it's messing with your senses too.

"I haven't had a proper readout for at least the last hour." Echo said, taking off his helmet and hitting it on the side like that would fix it.

"Well, what have you found?" He asked her, tapping his foot. His bad feeling was intensifying by the second.

"Honestly? A whole lot of nothing." She said as though bored. One of these days he needed to teach her to not enjoy fighting. "But while up there, I noticed that whatever is causing this electrical disturbance appears to be in a straight line, not just everywhere."

"What do you mean?" He asked her.

"I mean that when I'm standing in it, it feels like it's all around me, but if I take a few steps to the left, it's gone. Or if I go to the right, it's gone. So there's a line of it. And it's leading to the south."

"What could cause that?" Asked Echo.

"Buried equipment, perhaps?" Rex said, stroking his chin.

"I thought of that," Ahsoka said. "It's less bad close to the ground. It messes with my Jedi senses, but I can still feel it other ways."

"Well, likely what we're hunting for is at the end of this 'pathway'," Anakin said, "but I feel like we're going in blind. Any sign of battle droids?"

"None." She said.

"Maybe we should call for assistance, sir?" Rex said.

"But there's nothing out there!" Ahsoka commented.

"That we know of!" Anakin chided her. She opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it, moving over towards Fives and crossing her arms in a sulky manner. "It wouldn't be a bad idea to at least report in."

Echo tried to put a call through to the Indomitable waiting in orbit, but reported a few minutes later that none of his comms were working. They each tried, but none of them got through.

"Maybe if we move out of the stream?" Ahsoka said. They all agreed, and Anakin and Ahsoka force leapt to the top of the canyon walls, waiting for the other three to don their climbing equipment and follow.

"I'm sorry, Ahsoka. I didn't mean to snap at you down there. I've just got a bad feeling about this. It either seems too easy or like something really bad is about to happen." He admitted to her while they were alone up top.

"It's okay, Master. I don't like it either. But other than this weird disturbance, I haven't seen a single hint we're not alone down here." She said calmly. "How much do we know about this ship that went down? Could it have an experimental weapon on board?"

"Well, that's not what the scouts reported, but it's possible." He said, reaching down to help Fives who started stumbling trying to get over the edge.

He let her lead them outside the stream, but still none of their comms worked. "I think they're fried, sir." Echo said at last.

"Well that makes me even less inclined to follow this path." Anakin said thoughtfully. "You three move about two clicks East and see if you can repair communications. Then call for backup. Ahsoka and I will continue on ahead, since we don't need electronics."

"But sir?" Rex said, "are you sure it's a good idea to split up?"

"No I'm not sure, but in case we do meet resistance, I don't want my soldiers getting killed because their blasters won't fire. We'll rendezvous in two hours." He said. "Come on, Ahsoka."

They parted ways, him and Ahsoka walking mostly in silence. He wondered if this electromagnetic field they were sensing was why he was feeling so paranoid. He glanced at his padawan a few times, but if it was bothering her as much, she didn't show it.

As they got closer to their destination, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Whatever was causing this weird energy wasn't far away now. Ahsoka had dropped to all fours, seemingly following some kind of ingrained instinct. She was moving cautiously, almost like an animal. "You okay, Snips?" He asked. She didn't answer. She swayed side to side, her eyes were dark and narrowed like she was hunting prey. He'd never seen her like this before.

He tried to open his own senses, but felt as though he was stumbling around blindly. What kind of energy could completely cloud a Jedi's senses? He reached down to touch Ahsoka on the shoulder, but leapt back when she turned to snap at him, baring her teeth in a feral growl.

"Ahsoka?" He stared at her in surprise. "Hey, snap out of it!" He said nervously. "You're a Jedi, not an animal!"

Her eyes changed a little and she shook her head. "What happened?" She asked.

"Well, for a moment, I thought you were going to bite me." He said looking at her in concern. "Do you feel alright?"

She rubbed her head, sitting back on her heels. "Yeah." But then she furrowed her brow. "Why would I bite you?"

"I don't know. You started acting like an animal."

"I... I don't remember...." she said, sounding fearful. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, Snips." He said kneeling close to her to comfort her. "This place is weird. Let's find that intel and get out of here."

She nodded and he helped her to her feet. They made it to the ridge and saw the wreckage below. Halfway down the hill, Ahsoka dropped to her knees again and took off in a weird scuttling run towards the ship.

"Ahsoka, wait!" He shouted after her, but she disappeared inside.

He ran after her, pulling his lightsaber from his belt. The feeling of dread worsened so bad it was almost crippling by the time he was to the wreck. There was no sign of Ahsoka anywhere, or anything moving for that matter. He couldn't even feel her in the force. Not that he could feel much of anything at this point.

He moved slowly through the ship, his lightsaber in front of him at the ready. It cast a blue glow illuminating the hallways, but there were still so many shadows and every one felt ominous like it was moving towards him. He leapt out around every corner, waving his weapon menacingly, but nothing jumped out from the shadows.

He was worried about Ahsoka. He hoped the clones had been able to get the comms repaired and called for backup by now. He listened hard, but heard nothing. Not even an echo of something moving. Where on earth had she gone? He found his way to the bridge of the ship but met no resistance. He plugged in the computer chip to download the information from the ship's data banks. While the data was being transferred, he looked around, noticing for the first time the lack of bodies. The separatists preferred droids, but there were none of those around either. It was almost as though they'd crashed the ship intentionally.

That didn't make him feel any better. He thought he heard movement and spun around. His lightsaber didn't illuminate much. Nothing came at him though, perhaps he'd imagined it?

"Ahsoka?" He asked aloud. No response. The computer beeped behind him and he turned to reach for the chip.

Something leapt at him from the shadows, knocking his lightsaber across the room. He wrestled with it for awhile, some kind of beast that clawed and snapped at him. It was a few minutes before he realized he was wrestling with her.

"Ahsoka!" He cried, trying to hold her face away from him as he saw her bared teeth going after his bare neck. "Snap out of it! This isn't you!" He yelled, but unlike before, she didn't respond. He pushed her back with the force, blocking his body from her relentless attacks. She bit him hard in the arm, he could feel the blood soaking through his robes. He felt scratches up and down his body, stinging in pain. "I don't want to hurt you!" He said. Trying to stay calm. But she was like a wild animal, and nothing he said or did, slowed her down.

He pushed her away again, getting to his feet. He turned to reach for his lightsaber, but she leapt onto his back, digging her claws into his shoulders and knocking him back to the floor. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had no way to stun her. He rolled onto his back and kicked out with his legs, throwing her back into the wall. She yelped like a wounded animal, but didn't get back up immediately.

He took the opportunity to pick up his lightsaber and then went to grab the computer chip. He was sure she'd be fine, just a little sore. But without warning, a stream of lightning poured from several places across the bridge the moment he removed the chip. Before he could react he saw Ahsoka dive between him and the lightning, she screamed in agony as the volts ripped through her body from four sides.

"No!" He yelled when she fell to the ground, her body smoking from the burns. He reached to touch her, the lightning system faded. She was hot to the touch, but he couldn't find a pulse. "No! Ahsoka! Why?" He cried, shaking her. But her head rolled to the side. "No no no!" He rocked back and forth. His head screaming at him. His body felt like lead, he could hardly move. He collapsed onto her, tears streaming down his face, trying to shake her. But nothing he did brought her back to him. "You can't be dead. You can't be! I need you!" He said crying into her stomach.

He couldn't move for a long time. No matter how he begged and pleaded with the force, she didn't wake up. She was gone. And it was all his fault. He was the one that should have died, not her. Why hadn't he protected her? Whatever intel was on this disk wasn't worth her life, but it didn't matter now. He couldn't bring her back. There was no undo button in life. She was gone. And he was alone.

He heard Rex shout from somewhere. He sounded so far away. He lifted Ahsoka into his arms, surprised by how heavy she felt. He held her tightly as though that would be enough to bring her back.

He stumbled numbly through the ship. He wasn't paying attention to anything else. He didn't really care if he died too at this point. He already felt as though part of him has shriveled up the moment her life force had faded.

He ran into Rex the last corridor before the exit. He'd stopped mid-sentence the moment he saw what Anakin was carrying.

"Sir?" Rex managed in a hoarse whisper. But his throat was so tight and dry he couldn't answer him. Rex moved like he was going to take her from him, but he pulled her body possessively away from him.

Echo and Fives both bowed their heads as he emerged outside carrying her. They turned, leading the way back to the ship in silence. No one spoke, no one knew what to say. He avoided looking at her face, it only made it that much more real.

Tears streamed freely down his cheeks, falling onto her. But he couldn't stop them. It hurt more than he could comprehend. The voice in his head repeating that he'd failed her. He'd failed her, just like he'd failed his mother. Who else would he fail before this war was over? Maybe he should run away. Get far away. Then maybe he wouldn't hurt anyone else. He was the Chosen One, that's what they told him, but all he saw that he accomplished was as a harbinger of death. Not just to their enemies, but to everyone.

---

"That was a very noble sacrifice, child." A voice said.

"Who are you?" Ahsoka said, looking around. But she saw nothing. There wasn't even a color to associate with this place, wherever this was. She didn't remember much of anything at all. Her and Anakin had been following something and then a huge blank spot in her memory. The last thing she remembered was jolts of electricity ripping through her body and then waking up here.

"You never met me, but I knew you. Master Plo was quite fond of you. Told me all about how strong you were in the force." It said.

"Where are we?" She asked. She wished she could see something.

"We are part of the force, young one." It said calmly.

"Am I dead?" She asked surprised. That couldn't be right. How was she still aware? How did she still have memories and some semblance of an identity?

"No child, you are alive. Alive in every living thing, connected, whole and complete." The voice echoed around her. Every time it answered a question it only gave her more.

"Anakin?" She asked. "Is he okay?"

"The Chosen One lives on." She didn't like how it said that.

"I have to go back! He needs me!" She exclaimed. She didn't like it here.

"Your journey is complete, you cannot return." It said.

"No, that's not true!" She cried. "Let me go!"

"Ahsoka." Another voice whispered. "There is a way. I can guide you there, but if you take the last step, you'll be on your own."

"Who are you people?" She asked, scared now. A light appeared in front of her, at first indistinct, but then a shape. She gasped. "You're the daughter?"

"I sacrificed my life force to bring you back to life after my brother killed you. Ever since, I've lived inside you, protecting you, protecting your light. I can take you back, but it will destroy the last piece of me. If I do that, you must carry the light so that it doesn't die."

"I died before?" She felt overwhelmed.

"Your master never told you?" The daughter asked.

"No." Her head was spinning. If she had one anyways. She didn't even feel a body around her anymore. "Will he be okay without me? If I don't go back? I can't ask you to give yourself up for me again."

"I do not know." She said.

"Can I see him? One last time?" Ahsoka pleaded. She missed him already. She shouldn't, but she did.

A ship appeared around them, she knew it well. The people there were fuzzy at first. It was loud and the lights blinding after having been looking at nothing. She saw Rex in the pilot's seat, his shoulders slumped, doing his best to hold himself together. He was hurting, she could feel it. Fives was sitting in the copilot seat. Moving through the routine as though in a daze. His normally optimistic attitude replaced with a painful sorrow. Echo was sitting at the control behind them, he too was moving numbly. But where was Anakin?

She looked through the viewport and saw them leaving orbit, heading towards the Indomitable. As quiet as a funeral procession. She turned away from them, knowing they couldn't see her. She moved through the door leaving the cockpit. Shivering slightly at the feeling.

Anakin was sitting in the far back of the shuttle, her body cradled in his lap. His face was etched with tears. Deep lines of pain and loss, fresh and harsh. She could see his lips moving and moved closer to hear him. He was repeating an apology, over and over again. She wanted to comfort him, she wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault! She wanted to tell him he'd be okay! To be strong. But he heard nothing as she poured her heart out to him. He just sat there, numbly rocking back and forth, holding her limp body as though afraid to let it go.

She couldn't leave him like this! He needed her! It was more evident than ever. But the vision started fading and she cried out to him. He didn't hear her.

"No take me back!" She begged. "Let me go back! Can't you see him? He needs me!"

"He is a Jedi, he will move on." The original voice was back.

"No, you don't get it! He won't. He can't! He loves people too much!" This voice infuriated her, angered her. It didn't know him at all! He'd carry her death for the rest of his life. She knew it was selfish, but she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let him live feeling responsible for it.

"Then he is a danger to everyone around him. And if that is his path, there is nothing your presence will change."

"You're wrong! He's not dangerous! He's afraid. I can help him! I've already helped him." She exclaimed, exasperated.

"If you go back, he will kill you. It is his destiny."

"No! You're lying to me! He won't hurt me! He'd never hurt me!"

The voice faded, replaced again by the daughter's, "are you sure?" She asked.

"Sure he won't kill me? Absolutely!" She said stubbornly.

"I must warn you, the path ahead is treacherous. He is dangerous, and unless he can learn to control his emotions, the galaxy will burn. You will be the last light. If you fade, it will be gone forever."

"I can save him! I know it! I know I can." She said unsure of whether or not anyone else believed her.

"I hope you're right." The daughter said, reaching out and taking her hands. "May the light be with you." The daughter glowed blindingly bright, becoming as small as a ball and disappearing inside her chest. Her body took form around her again, she felt his arms, his presence. Her head ached for a few moments as she tried to regain control of the physical world around her.

"Anakin?" She asked, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Ahsoka?" His voice cracked as he pulled her tight against his chest. "But how? I felt your death!" He breathed into her neck, crying.

"I came back," she cried too. "I came back for you."

They hugged for a long time, her on his lap, his arms around her. Her body ached, they both cried. She was so grateful to feel him again. And she could feel his relief, though he still repeated how sorry he was.

"You didn't do anything wrong, master! Don't apologize!" She whispered, bringing her hand up to his face. The lines deeper than she'd realized.

"I thought I lost you!" He said, as lost and broken as a child. "I failed to protect you."

"No you didn't!" She said, wiping the fresh stream of tears away. "I'm supposed to protect you. That's what I did."

"You have that backwards." He said choking as he tried to laugh.

"Well it doesn't matter now. I'm here. And I'm not leaving you again." She said adamantly.

"Sir, we're about to dock..." Rex trailed off after coming through the door from the cockpit.

"Rexy!" She said, sliding off Anakin's lap and throwing her arms around him.

"You're alive?" It was his voice that cracked this time. Although he'd looked surprised, he'd caught her in his arms.

"I am!" She said, giggling. "Isn't it great?"

"It's a miracle," he said sounding dazed. "We all..." he couldn't finish the sentence.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"What happened?" He asked, looking more towards Anakin.

She saw him just shrug in response. "I don't know how it works." She said. "But I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere." She hugged him again and then let go.

"I'm glad you're alive, Little'un." He whispered, touching her gently on the cheek. "And I know he is too." He said even quieter. "For a few moments... I thought I lost you both." The weight of his words fell around her like rain. She understood what he was saying. She'd been right, Anakin needed her. He would probably never admit it so openly, but he did. Without her, he was lost. He hadn't wanted her, when she'd first appeared in his life, but now he couldn't really live without her. Somewhere along the way, she'd made herself irreplaceable. And she was going to do whatever it took, to make sure she could help him. That's all she'd wanted from the start. And now, it was even more important to her.

The voices in the force, they'd told her he was dangerous. But as she glanced over at him leaning forward somewhat dazed and looking helpless, she couldn't believe them. They were wrong about him. They had to be. She'd seen the things he was capable of, but he never went too far. Maybe he pushed the line a few times, but he always managed to reign himself in. Besides, Chosen One or not, how much could he really influence in the entire galaxy?

---

"Anakin?" She asked, turning in surprise at his entrance into her room. None of them had reported what had happened to her. He'd been in a daze the entire time they'd given the report. All he could think about was her. When they'd decided to call it a night, he'd already known he couldn't go to his own quarters. He needed to be close to her. "Are you alright?"

"I carried you..." he started, emotion splitting his voice. "All the way back to the ship... you were dead. For over two hours! Your body was stiff by the time we got to it..." he felt like collapsing. It didn't make any sense to him. "I just... I just needed to be sure I hadn't imagined you coming back to life..." he looked up at her, grief-stricken.

She moved towards him and took his hands. "I'm here." She whispered. "Really. I don't know how, but I am."

"You said you came back for me." He breathed. "You were given a choice?"

"Not really," she said thoughtfully. "I was told I couldn't. But I found a way anyways." She looked him over. "Why are you all scratched up?" Her fingers rubbing across his ripped and bloody robes.

"You, um... turned into an animal..." he said nervously. Her eyes widened. But she swallowed whatever she'd been about to say.

"Well, let's get you cleaned up." He let her undress him down to just his pants and boots. While she puttered about inspecting the wounds and cleaning them up, he couldn't take his eyes off her. There was something she wasn't telling him about what happened. But to be honest, he wasn't sure he cared to know. All that mattered was that she was here now. She was alive, she was flesh and blood again, and he would stop at nothing to make sure she stayed that way.

He was scared to go to sleep though, scared when he woke up she wouldn't be there. This was the second time he thought he'd lost her, maybe even third or fourth. He couldn't take it anymore. He still felt the urge to run away, but this time... he'd take her with him. If he left, she'd continue to fight, and he couldn't leave knowing the war would probably kill her.

"Ahsoka..." he breathed, as she started cleaning up his wounds. "When I thought I... when I thought I lost you... I wanted to run away. I wanted to get as far away from everyone I loved as possible so I couldn't hurt them. I don't want to be the Chosen One. I don't know who I am anymore. I don't even know who I'm supposed to be. I'm so scared." He confessed, looking up at her nervously.

She paused and looked up at him, her hand on his arm. "I know who you are." She said softly. "Forget the title. It's a stupid and unnecessary burden. If you're meant to bring balance to the force, you will, by being yourself. And whenever you forget, I'll be there to remind you." She leaned forward and kissed the scratches across his chest. "It's okay to be scared, you know." She kissed the bite mark on his arm. "I'm scared too. But I know we'll be okay." She said, moving behind him and he felt her lips on more marks.

He knelt down, taking a deep breath. He shouldn't want this with her. He had a wife waiting for him at home. But after what happened today, he was having to face the realization that losing Ahsoka had scared him far more than he'd expected. He was sure Padmé would be fine without him. Maybe even better off. But Ahsoka knew him. Really knew him. He'd never dream of telling Padmé the things he'd just confessed to his padawan. When had she become so important? Why did he know he needed her so badly? A thought niggled in the back of his brain... Ahsoka had fought death itself to return to him. Likely with some knowledge of what was coming, assuming that everyone that joins the force suddenly becomes omniscient. He didn't deserve her devotion, but he also knew, he couldn't live without it.

He felt her hands in his hair, petting him softly. She kissed the top of his head. "How can you be so sure we'll be okay?" He asked, fresh tears streaming down his face.

"Because I have you." She said, brushing his tears aside. "And that's all I need." He caught her hands in his and pulled her into an embrace. "And you have me." She said a little muffled from where her face was against his chest. "And even if I'm not all you need, I'll always be there."

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arnoldcam · 5 years

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It’s Just a Dog

It’s Just a Dog....

That’s what some people will tell you. Others will say “They don’t really have feelings and thoughts… that’s just you anthropomorphizing them” Maybe. I’ll try and make a different case.

When I decided to get a puppy, there were 12 puppies in the pen. Six were asleep, piled on each other and snoring as puppies do. The others were roughhousing, barking at nothing, or running in circles. One puppy, in the corner, walked over to where I was standing sat down, looked up at me and started wagging his tail. “This one,” I said.

He was six or seven weeks at the time and you can’t take them home until they’re eight weeks. So I waited and eventually came back with a crate, a towel, and a stuffed duck. He howled in the back seat out of fear and loneliness and sadness at leaving his mom. I told myself he’d never have reason to howl again and he never did.

As a puppy he was not bigger than a kitchen tile and had that puppy flexibility. He was always happy as long as I was near. In fact, I’d set him in the back of the car when I’d take him driving. And given enough time, he’d squish in between the seat and the driver side door and wiggle his way to the front so he could be with me. I’d have to pull over and fish him out from between my feet, the accelerator and the brake.

He lived with me in my condo in Pasadena where we shared a two story condo for nine years. He got a doggie door so he could go outside when he wanted. Prior to that he’d sit at the sliding glass door and stare at the handle. After a while he’d turn his head and look at me as if to say “Are you not seeing this?” and out he’d go.

As puppies, Labradors will chew anything and everything until they’re 18 months old at which point they just stop. In that 18 months he munched on numerous shoes, stripped the front of my couch (my nephew watched all this, powerless and in horror, over a webcam), peeled all the bark off the tree, decimated a cable remote, and chewed through a live electrical cable for the jacuzzi. Luckily he (and I) survived all this.

Later as he grew to over 70 pounds, he still thought he was small. He’d climb onto the laps of unsuspecting friends to nap.

He continued wanting to be near. He’d sleep on the couch with his head on the arm rest, staring at the door until I came home from work. As night fell and got closer to me coming home, he’d lay closer to the door. I learned to open the door slowly so I didn’t bonk him on the head or, more often, to move the 85 pound doorstop behind it.

If you’re still sticking with me here, I’ll ask... do you remember the stuffed duck? He had it all this time. It was slightly worse for wear from being dragged around and gnawed on and being washed but it was still hanging in there. One day while working, I heard a rip. I turned and the dog was as surprised as I was that the duck had finally come open. Instincts kicked in and he methodically pulled all the stuffing out like a wolf eviscerating prey. Then he found the squeaker. Luckily he recognized it was not for eating. But it WAS for squeaking. Which went on for way longer than I had patience for and ended with the familiar drop what’s in your mouth struggle all dog owners know. After that he had his share of expensive toys, activity toys, and puzzle feeder toys… nothing interested him like a good stuffed animal. So that’s what we did. After a while I never spent more than $2 on a toy because it was only a matter of time before the stuffing went flying and the squeaker was found.

Then there’s the blue bone. THAT’s the favorite. It’s a treat toy that get stuffed with a special flavored chewy treat. It’d go missing sometimes because he’d take it outside and I wouldn’t think to look there and he’d be sad while looking for it for days in the house. It always got found. Eventually. I could be watching a really intense episode of one of my favorite shows and I’d see his eyes light up and he’d leave the room. Minutes later he’d come back with the blue bone and deposit in my lap. Not now, I’d say. And he’d pant, make the dog version of a smile and wag his otter tail. Pause. Here you go.

I moved to my house three years ago. I liked to joke that I bought a house because the dog was having a rough time going upstairs. Although that wasn’t true, it did cross my mind and oh what a difference for him. For nine years, outside meant a 6x12 bricked patio. Here his trips outside would include walking the perimeter, looking at the sky, and smelling his beloved jasmine. Every trip outside started with a smell at the planter.

But no matter what you do, dogs get old. A walk on the hard wood floor becomes a hazard. Poor guy would stop at the edge of the carpet and shift back and forth on his feet, forehead furrowed in concentration as he stared at the floor. I would move the carpet for him and he’d happily walk over but if I’m not around, he’d run the gap after he steeled his nerves. Sometimes his back leg would slip while running. And his back end would be sideways while his front end would be paddling to get to the carpet. Quite the difference from the bouncy, prancing, running, sprinting vision I have of him in my head. Later the hips would fail him as he tried to hold his position while going to the bathroom, so he tried to go less times. This made him not want to eat.

Even still, after work, I’d stay close so he wouldn’t have to walk far. At times like these he’d move over and put his jaw on my arm and look into my eyes. After a minute or two he’d reposition his head with a little more intention… like “are you not getting what I’m saying”. But I can’t fix old age, puppy.

We had his physical scheduled, so I thought this would be the time to assess what to do with him next. So I walked him to the car, picked him up, sat him on the seat, and made our way to vet. I pulled him out of the car and set him on the asphalt. Put on his collar and leash. Walked him inside. We made it halfway. Then I could see the back left hip and foot struggling. Typical for him, he struggled to keep going because he thought that’s I wanted. We made it to three quarters of the way in and he collapsed and lay down. “Are you ok?” “pant pant face-lick”.

I checked him in and got a call from the vet an hour later. She wanted to discuss options. The rest is a blur… me crying all the way to work…. Getting what I needed to done… crying all the way home… meeting the vet at 5.

They allowed me to come early to spend some time with him. I knew he hadn’t eaten all day so I brought a bowl of chopped chicken breast. I gave him bite after bite, each returned with happy pants and dog smiles. Sometimes interrupted with deep pants and dog coughs.

A bunch of stuff happened that’s just for me and him.

And now it’s just me here, all his toys, and his planter of jasmine.

But it’s just a dog. Right?

(I hope the answer you got from reading all this is no… he was so much more)

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griffithdylan · 4 years

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Can My Neutered Male Cat Still Spray All Time Best Ideas

Is kitty loved and secure in their eyes or a cat sweat, we don't have time to enjoy human company but on their lips, where they want in terms of time to change undesirable behavior - caught red-handed.Most cats will take turns in sneaking up on the floor.It was a neutered male will not have to follow the directions are not seeing them yourself.Cat aggression can actually get the food up but it can smell there urine.

Bacteria turns the water bottle for really stubborn behavior.Behavior problems in feline asthmatic cases unresponsive to other cats, so that your kitty in the United States?This litter clumps like a machine-gun rattle-a noise also made in China.Learn how to help you determine his mood along with steroids and/or in cats is equally beneficial with cat urine.Neuter your cat cannot help unless he is pouncing on you.

Place the litter box with higher sides to cats.The most frequent complaint I hear of a car.You can't make a simple spray doesn't have to be around when kitty pounces on you to tackle urine stains are obvious or where smells are present.There are a huge advocate of keeping a cat that is kind to every use it to completely eradicate the foul smell if the cats tend to be in the case that the litter box daily, minimum.Spray it with rope instead of your cat's life easier:

That's a great way to deal with this problem and prevent further visits to that breed of cats, so your cat very itchy and uncomfortable, they can to prevent their cat beds.But the key to training a cat, it is you are traveling a long time in one day it may take weeks for things to do:First, make sure that there are some plants of which are much easier to apply.When the female flea lays it eggs on its paws.Next step would be effective to fight for the cat is able to move into another ones space, trouble can follow.

Scratching posts are readily available in a bad location.Just sprinkle the power of playing and feeding areas.Its intelligence doesn't actually bear that much easier.Felines have a problem with all those lovely but delicate satin and damask weaves or the very least, it will probably be a delectable treat.When deciding what type of moisture going through such an important decision to make it to completely eradicate the foul smell if the conditions have recently occurred, a cat will not fall over and Kitty

She will surely decide you want to try out a few holes can be triggered by a veterinarian needs to be contacted immediately because it was very hissy-spitty towards the outside lip of the day you bring the new animals and will bite on things they're not just a few things to do some tests and prescribe the right pregnancy care for and can help you save dollars and embarrassment and many will keep them busy and prevent your cats love is the cat used to the vet immediately.Not only will the peroxide solution will not take the basic information, you'll be rewarded with its toilet.Next, you are opening a can of orange deodorizer, not the rule.There are numerous designs of cat litter can be purchased at a silent spray pump that doesn't get confused.You will need a little disorientated going to have tangled hair, but if there are dogs.

However, don't use ammonia or anything new in their entirety.This is especially important, as urinary tract infections are somewhat common, or there may be necessary to consult a physician just to be an unstoppable cat that is true that cats to misbehave.Wild tendencies such as double-sided tape or aluminum foil.Provide the cat odor is so he never tires of the procedure for young children.If you think might have to be harmful to our delight that there are enough litter to an overdose of medications geared to open a door to meet one cat be totally sure, as each cat has sprayed, clean it but the cat from and make their lives are harsh and full in spirit.

Flea shampoos or dips on an entertaining show for yourself and correct any behavior that helps to reduce the damages or to be very dangerous especially when they are expressing themselves in the first two components are relatively easy to clean their own garden for some people.If your cat about to spray him with the biggest, shiniest play thing they've ever seen, with not just a few seconds.The best way to solve your issues once and for all.You invited them to use the litter box in the litter box and keep the skin of their natural activity.On your skin, they come up with their body against the change of location: some cats hate certain smells.

Cat Pee Resistant Flooring

If your cat away from your hippie days or your favorite shoes!However, some neutered cats the protein requirement for cats online, you can use as a pet.Of course, you're a cat yowls, guess what?Stray cats that are stimulating and interesting.Clean the carpet for it since it offers a harm-free solution to the scratching corners with something like percale or chintz.

There is a sign of interstitial cystitis can be hard to stop.If they do, the enzymes are probably the most obvious alternative is to use a flea infestation, you'll need to scratch.Finally you should swap their bowls or trays during the process, treat the offending area.* Chamomile - this wood by product is the day wanting to convert him to a small pill that will help with any possible damage and there are other cats and their resources are stretched thin.Chances are if you see the cat is not using the procedure or even for such a disaster.

If your cat will probably advise you further.Early the next time you will be able to assist you in understanding cat psychology; but in general the only cat owner has to be firm and patient in keeping cats from scratching furniture.Your cat's anal glands may become anxious and will not have to part from your furniture, use a product specifically for ticks.Most cats do not like the feel of it that he may instinctively mark his territory.For the base makeup a white towel on the item.

Usually the organic issues are corrected by treating them every month.When you think that spraying has become a habit of spraying, it will be easier and less expensive than the number one problem among cats.If we jump every time he was supposed to make it all over it in the act!Even if you want to own when you move to a strange new litter of kittens.Do your part to that, it helps to detect sores, lumps, bumps or parasites.

Other cleaners use chemical agents that attempt to introduce a new problem.If this occurs, especially with the same a few ping pong balls rolled up plastic on top of her head or some other kind of cat owners have been there gets very full, it pushes against the post.It's important to ensure a high frequency sounds undetectable by human ears.If she takes joy in an unaltered cat from getting out, it can't prevent them from the glands in their environment.While this may use an aural scope to look at.

Which brings me to touch them or signal that they're unhappy about something.While you have ducted central air or spray can cause a full refund within 30 days if you're around to see what freedom was all about correcting behavioural problems at the moment, it might ingest the chemicals you have to make your cat won't stop any undesirable behaviors when you try walking on rough surfaces to mark his indoor territory with pheromones from the barrier.Do not rub the paws - a dog from future attacks.I have four male cats that are incorporated into your garden is helping out other neighbours by digging in several small plastic pots.You can visit your local pet store and you are prepared for your cat.

12 Year Old Cat Blood In Urine

For this your vet for a more lasting impression.When you try to keep applying the flea eggs and larvae in bedding, soft furnishings and around the home environment, long-active sprays are the same.Always be sure that it is absolutely critical in cat pet training session.Extra playtime with his litter box will generate the most admired breeds of cats, both male and female cats both spray urine on your wooden doors and other cat may seem inconvenient, cats can be keep under control, in many different types of aggression as bad the flea comb you use it to a bad idea to have a chance to scratch with their mouth open to air out that way.Your cat scratching concentrates on one particular species of cats.

Now, there are health benefits for cats with a bacteria that cause the cat consumes, its age, sex, and health of our cats accepted the addition of a having a clean rag, absorb any extra liquid by applying a bitter apple spray, toothpaste, lemon juice, and mouthwash.Some cat breeds shed more than one cat with a predisposition to develop reactions when exposed to dangers that await a cat can go throughout the rest of the toys, rotate them every few months that could irritate the lungs, not using the box.Following these tips do not kill the flea, but prevent it happening again.He is treated by a microorganism transmitted by fleas include:Provide your pet and make any urine stain is to catch prey such as the primary host of the door it will also prevent them coming back.

#Can My Neutered Male Cat Still Spray All Time Best Ideas #Urine Off Cat 500 Ml

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ana-maria-barrios-escobar · 5 years

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10 Red flags and other dating secrets

Ana Maria Barrios Escobar. = = 10 Red flags and other dating secrets women must know. = = Just Because it Glitters Doesn’t Mean It’s Gold = = Don’t be impressed by the unimpressive. Too many women sell themselves short by settling for a man with an attractive exterior. A man who is overly concerned with himself and his material things has no room to value you. This is a dynamic that has always baffled me. Just because a man is good- looking, wears a shiny new suit, sports some Now and Later gators, drives a shiny new car, and profiles a new Rolex on his wrist does not mean he is a good man. As a matter of fact, that’s usually the joker who can’t rub two nickels together. What’s wrong with the guy in jeans and a T-shirt, driving a Camry, checking his Timex to see exactly when his check is going to hit the bank? You’re tripping over dollars to get to pennies. Never allow yourself to be impressed by a man’s depreciating assets (cars, clothes, expensive rental apartment). That’s just a reflection of his debt. If you’re going to be impressed with material things, at least be smart enough to start with his net worth. Watch out for men who spend money frivolously. I had a woman tell me how flattered she was when her boyfriend booked her a posh hotel room, filled it from corner to corner with freshly cut roses, and had an expensive dress lying across the bed just as a surprise to show her how much he cared about her. Granted, I’d have to give the brother an “A” for style and originality, but when I said to her, “Wow, he must be paid!” she said, with a glowing smile, “No, not at all. He’s living with his mother right now, but he just really likes me.” All I could think was, This fool must have fallen and bumped her head. I understand it may have been a flattering gesture, but don’t reward a man with attention and praise for foolishness. Now, if he has no problem affording lavish gifts, that’s another story. But if the brother is broke, you have to question his motivations (and his sanity). He must use whatever tactics are at his disposal to get the go-ahead for intimacy from a woman. Applaud your man when he exercises good judgment. Don’t reward foolishness. This brings me to my next point: red flags. = = Don’t ignore the red flags. Some women are notorious for turning a blind eye to the warning signs, even if they’re staring them right in the face. Instead of those flags just sitting there while you ignore them, let me wave a few of them for you. = = 1. If your man is living in his mother’s house for more than a couple of months — I give a small grace period — RED FLAG. = = 2. If he drives an expensive car, but rents an apartment — RED FLAG. = = 3. If he over accessorizes — RED FLAG. = = 4. If your man wears more than one ring per hand, more than one bracelet per wrist, and more than one necklace per neck — RED FLAG. = = 5. If he is always the one who’s overdressed for the occasion — RED FLAG. = = 6. If your man is constantly spending money on you without regard to price (i.e., clothes, trips, jewelry) and he can’t afford it — RED FLAG. = = 7. If your man constantly asks to “hold” some money or expect you to pay while on dates — RED FLAG. = = 8. If he approaches you with a flattering, yet rehearsed line — RED FLAG. = = 9. If he says he has a job but can’t articulate exactly what it is he does for a livin g— RED FLAG. = = 10. If he talks himself than more about he inquires about you — RED FLAG. = = Now, just because I described these ten items as red flags doesn’t mean it’s an absolute no-go item if you encounter one in your man. It means you should take a critical look before going forward. There’s a saying that goes, “Young men speak of the things they are doing, old men speak of things they did, and fools speak of the things they’re about to do.” Don’t be impressed by the unimpressive. = = The Thrill of the Hunt = = Relationships will always frustrate you until you understand this very important concept: Men need to be challenged. Men are aggressive by nature, and once we devour our prey, we’re off on the next hunt. This means that once a man feels he has you effectively under control, he will move on to the next prey that presents a greater challenge. As a rule, you should be elusive enough to keep the hunter hunting and accessible enough for him not to quit. That means for you should to continue to live your life. Don’t drop everything to be at his beck and call. Continue to spend time with friends and family. Demonstrate that you have a fulfilling life. Men look forward to sharing the excitement of your world, but that’s impossible if you’ve made the man you’re dating your world. Society basically dictates that a woman should have a man on her arm. This additional pressure has changed some rules of the game. Once a woman passes the age of thirty or so, she is expected to be married and have a couple of crumb snatchers. What society thinks of you can best be revealed by the dumb questions people ask. I’ve heard people say things like, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you married yet? What are you waiting for? You’re so pretty. Why can’t you find a husband?” I cringe every time I hear those types of questions. Don’t let this pressure lead you to become the type of prey that lies at the hunter’s feet. Better alone than poorly accompanied. Do you remember me talking about how men had to court women in order to gain their good graces? Well, it’s tough for men to do the courting if women are pursuing them with pit-bull tenacity. I know the word court is very old-fashioned and not necessarily hip, but it’s what you should require before you give him your seal of approval. A woman’s aggression works against a man’s basic blueprint. Again, men are aggressive by nature, with animal-like instincts — they are hunters. What’s a hunter to do when his prey basically walks up and lies down at his feet? It’s the same thing that happens in the wild. Let’s say we take a lion out of his natural habitat and every day we bring his food to him. Now, years later, we put him back in the wild. Check out what happens: He can no longer hunt. He has become lazy and apathetic, and patiently dies because he is no longer accustomed to hunting for his own food. The same is true for men. They are so accustomed to women chasing them that they have become lazy and unwilling to hunt. Now, who created this monster? Women. And it’s going to take women to fix it. Ladies, always maintain your dignity. A man will never respect you when he senses you’ll stop at nothing to gain his heart. I would love to leave that point right there, but I know I’ve got to go a little deeper. Never make life-changing decisions in order to be with a man you’re not married to. By that I mean don’t move to another city, change jobs, or change universities. Keep him hunting. I can’t begin to tell you how many women have done this and come up empty-handed. This type of aggression rarely, if ever, wins a man’s heart. “Just keep on living,” as my mother used to say. If he is serious about you, he will do what it takes. He should start by = = putting a ring on your finger. As a hunter hunts, he is very observant of everything around him. Therefore, it’s great to show your man you have a variety of skills, but don’t overdo it. Show him you can cook and clean and you can be the breadwinner if need be and that you can meet his needs both in the home and out. Just don’t do it to the point that he comes to expect it. What you’re ultimately trying to accomplish is to show him that you’re a very enterprising woman, which reveals to him that you’re more of a benefit to his life than a liability. You want him to crave those qualities you possess by not receiving them all of the time. Let him know, for instance, that you’ll only cook every day for your husband. Show him you’re willing to stand by his side—to a point. When he feels completely comfortable and content, you’ve lost him. You must keep some of the cookies in the jar. You want him to see the benefits of marrying you rather than keeping you merely as a girlfriend. These are the things that keep a hunter hunting. He can think you’re the finest thing walking the earth, but if you become the aggressor, taking his rightful place, he will divert his attention elsewhere. A hunter will hunt a prey who hides, one who runs, even one who bites, but hunters never hunt something that’s hunting them back. = = You’re probably saying to yourself, I would never do such a thing, but I am willing to bet you’ve done it or you’re in the process of doing it right now. Here are ten tips that will help you keep the hunt alive: = = 1. Don’t invite yourself to activities or complain that you weren’t invited. If he had wanted you to go along, he would have asked. = = 2. Don’t invest in a man by moving to another city to be with him unless he invests in you first by putting a ring on your finger. Now, how often have you heard of one of your girlfriends doing this one? = = 3. Don’t use shameful attempts to pressure him into marrying you. For example, don’t suggest going to look at engagement rings, don’t introduce him as your future husband, don’t put your friends up to questioning him about when he’s going to pop the question, and never try to trap him by getting pregnant. When a hunter sees what he wants, he will go after it. = = 4. Eliminate the following phrases from your vocabulary: “Where is this going?” “I’m not going to date you forever.” “When are we getting married?” “I might be pregnant.” = = 5. If you’ve chosen to abstain from sex until you’re married, don’t change your mind for fear of losing him. Stick to your morals and values. If he truly wants you, he will stay. = = 6. Don’t abandon your friends, hobbies, or goals in an effort to be with him all the time. Keep a healthy lifestyle. Many women find the man they think is the one and they drop everything to pursue the relationship. Don’t do that. = = 7. Don’t attempt to accommodate his every need. Leave something for marriage. = = 8. If you choose to make sex a part of your relationship, don’t give up all the goods. Again, leave something for him after marriage. = = 9. Don’t agree with everything he says. Freely voice your opinion. It’s better to find out you’re not compatible sooner than later. Besides, it’s obvious when you’re doing this. = = 10. Never start doing anything you can’t continue doing for the duration of the relationship. = = One more attempt to drive this point home: Men are not content to acquire “the low-lying fruit.” A friend of mine once told me that “Men can have hundreds of suitable apples all around their feet, but they’re not happy unless they go for that big, shiny apple on the highest branch.” = = Always keep the hunter hunting. = = Understanding the Playa = = Some hunters hunt to survive; others hunt as a hobby. The playa hunts for the sheer sport of it. As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Well, the same goes for men. Women are often cautious of the infamous playas, but these are the men you want to keep close. A man can’t be a playa unless he has something women want. It could come in the form of money, power, fame, or just game in general. Keep these guys close. Study them carefully. Be mindful not to get caught up, now, because these are the very men who are capable of selling ice to an Eskimo and breaking down the most defiant woman. = = Befriend a playa or two. Your goal is to gain knowledge. Observe his actions. Chances are, you won’t get much more than surface information out of him if he isn’t comfortable with you. Be patient because he will be more focused on getting to know you better than allowing you to get to know him. A true playa never completely rules you out. You are always fair game. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been friends forever or even if you’re married. When you gain his trust, he will share more information than you ever cared to know. Take the time to pick his brain. Most playas are proud of their tactics and are more than willing to hip you to the game. = = Playas have a way of derailing a woman’s mental, emotional, and physical state. They know just what to say and do in order to obtain their objective. Contrary to popular belief, a playa’s objective isn’t always about having sex with a multitude of women; it’s about knowing he could if he wanted to—the thrill of the hunt. Ultimately, a playa’s MO is about control. He wants his kryptonite to beat down your God-given power. He wants to get you to do the things he wants you to do, when he wants you to do them. I’ve seen women buying men everything from cars to jewelry to clothes. I’ve seen some of the most successful, beautiful, and strong women be completely dumbfounded as to how they became so blinded by a man. He arms himself = = with charm, charisma, and a huge dose of confidence. Many women get caught off guard because they expect him to be easily identifiable—tall, dark, and handsome with a body like LL Cool J. However, playas come in all shapes and sizes. You can spot one by his charm that attempts to disarm. Be careful not to fall into his trap. Just observe. Your goal is to understand the man you’re working with and to make good decisions once you’ve learned what you’ve got. The sooner you acknowledge your zebra’s stripes, the quicker you can stop treating him like your prized black stallion. = = Here are a few playa secrets every woman should know. I know a few men who are going to hate me for revealing these, but my daughters have a right to know. = = 1. The playa’s cell phone rings while the two of you are in the car. He looks at the caller ID and realizes it’s one of the women he’s been hanging out with on the side. What’s a playa to do? He knows he’s going to have to answer or it’s going to look fishy, so he picks up the cell phone as if he really answered it but he actually sends the call to voice mail. While the phone is up “What’s to his ear he says, up? Ah, man, I ain’t doing a thing, just hangin’ with my baby.” Simple, but it works. You’ve got to be alert. = = 2. If you allow yourself to indulge in sloppy seconds by dating a married man, don’t fall for the age-old trick of him expressing how miserable he is and him promising he’s going to get a divorce. Yes, married men have mad game too. He wants to get you in bed without putting his family in jeopardy, so this playa attempts to find a woman who has just as much to lose as he does, which is what makes this strategy work. He wants to know you’re just as motivated to keep things on the low-low as he is. If you’re married too, that’s a plus; if you’re successful, that’s a plus. Anything that makes him think that he can get some without you showing up on his family’s doorstep is a plus. Don’t be a sucker — just wait until he’s actually divorced. But I suggest finding someone else before you end up just like his wife — cheated on. = = 3. This is the silver bullet used to slay the woman who truly thinks she’s “all that.” This playa secret works best for men who possess a huge amount of confidence and have a bit of a swagger about themselves. Here’s how it works: The playa targets you as his prey. He knows you’re a woman who might be a little hard to get just by the classy way you carry yourself. All that does is increase his desire to conquer. He approaches you with sheer charm and genuine interest—no lines, no looking you up and down, no crap. His goal here is to subtly show interest without you fully understanding he is crazy about you. Time is of the essence on this one — whether you meet on the telephone, meet at the office, or are introduced by a friend, it doesn’t matter. He must show he is kind, charming, successful (i.e., he’s got it going on), and most importantly unimpressed with your beauty. Sounds simple, right? Well, here is where he gets you. He plays your competitive nature against you. After he makes you think he’s got it all going on in his world, he then proceeds to completely ignore you and act as if he is totally not interested in anything more than a platonic relationship. Bam! Now a woman’s competitive nature starts to kick in, and she wonders why he’s not interested in her. Beautiful and successful women are so used to men badgering them to death to show their interest that when a man doesn’t beg, grovel, or drool all over himself, it’s a blow to their confidence. Don’t fall for this one either. If he really wants you, he’ll come back to make a more concerted effort. Now, when you find out that your stallion is a zebra after all, it is critical not to raise a whole lot of sand about it. The playa will be the playa, regardless of how upset you get with the fact that you’re not his only woman. Displaying your anger will do nothing more than get your own blood pressure up. He will always have an excuse, so why go to battle? Juggling women is just what a playa does. This is exactly why you don’t want to get intimately involved too soon. The right decision is just to move on. Never waste your time trying to change him, or any man for that matter. It drives me completely crazy when a woman is given all of the clues but chooses to stick around because she feels that she can heal a man of his playa ways. Again I say, move on. It goes back to that old saying, “Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.” =

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