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haee-elia · 7 months

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spence-tober: day 8 - indie director

pairing: indie/small film director!spencer reid x fem!reader

summary: in which a director asks to capture your little piece of heaven on film

word count: 1420

warnings: fluff, unintentionally flirty spencer

spence-tober masterlist

It wasn’t often that you had the time to sneak off during the week and just relax on the end of the pier. It was small, but that’s what you liked about it. To be completely honest, it was one of the main selling points for your small cottage house. The ability to walk a small distance on a clean and tidy cobblestone path and make your way to the lakeside where your own private pier was waiting for you.

The waters were never too rough and although you didn’t fish or boat around, just having a small picnic or taking a chair out to sit and relax was enough for you.

And that was exactly what you were doing right now. Your foldable chair was setup, you had a small tote bag with some baggies of snacks and your kindle for some light reading. You had gone out early in the morning with having everything packed last night so all you had to do was drag yourself and your chair out to the small dock in the morning.

Judging by where the sun was, it was now early afternoon and you had been out on the pier for several hours now. It was incredibly peaceful.

“Hey, darlin’!”

Until it wasn’t.

The sound of your neighbor, Leigh Anne Lockley, broke the silence of the calm waters hitting the wooden structure of the pier. You didn’t have anything against Leigh Anne, in fact, she had helped you get an in with the seller of your cottage to help lower the price for you. The older woman was your next door neighbor and often brought over her baked goods and vegetables from her garden. You, in turn, helped out with any problems including finding someone to vacate the bats in her attic, getting her set up on Tinder, and hooking her up with all the streaming services since the RedBox machine at the grocery store had gone away.

Despite your afternoon alone on the small quaint pier being disturbed, you turned your head around, still sitting in your folding chair, to look at her. However, she wasn’t alone.

A taller man was right behind her. He looked to be around your age if not a little older. With light brown hair gleaming in the noon sun and glasses on his chiseled face, you were suddenly glad it was so hot out because you were sure you must be blushing.

The man was wearing simple high waist dress pants coupled with a simple small striped button up, however, it was the set of headphones around his neck and a walkie talkie clipped onto his belt that confused you.

“Hey, Leigh Anne, who do you have here?” You responded back. You moved to take off your sunglasses from your face so you could see the two of them in a better light.

Leigh Anne gave you that hundred watt smile and gestured her hands over to the man, who moved his hand to wave at you, “This here is Spencer, sweetie.”

It definitely wasn’t one of her children or grandchildren, you thought to yourself. Leigh Anne had pictures of them posted all around her house and often talked about them enough for you to be familiar enough with their names.

You waved back and exchanged your own name, “Is there something I can help you with, Spencer.”

He went to speak, but it was Leigh Anne who opened her mouth first, “He’s a director.” She said, like it was some sort of big secret or god-like status, “He’s shooting a film just over the lake there in the woods.” She pointed out over the water and on the other side of the lake.

At least you knew what the headphones and walkie talkie were for now.

Spencer spoke this time, eyes making contact with yours, “That’s right,” He confirmed, “I was over on the other side of the lake when I saw this pier. I was wondering if I could convince you to let us shoot a scene or two here another day this next week.”

Leigh Anne took a step back so Spencer couldn’t see her out of the corner of his eyes and gave you a not so subtle wink and a thumbs up. You blushed harder.

“I’ll leave you two to talk about all this.” She said, removing herself from the conversation, “I’ll be back over this weekend with some snickerdoodles, sweetie.”

You watched for a moment as she departed through the pathway and then focused your attention on Spencer, still standing on land rather than the wooden dock.

“You’re filming a movie?” You ask to confirm.

He nods, “Yeah, just a small indie film.” Spencer brushed it off. “I wasn’t too sure how to find out if this land was owned or not, but I was knocking on a few doors and Ms. Lockley informed me that this pier is yours.”

This time you nodded, “Came with the property.”

“Is there a way I could convince you to let us film here sometime next week?” He asked again, “I could give you a small compensation or we could draft a permit with some rules. I promise we wouldn’t be a bother and it wouldn’t be a large setup. Just five or so people during sunset or sunrise.”

You stood from your chair and walked over to Spencer. “How long would you be using the pier for?” You asked curiously.

“We’d just need a day. Probably wouldn’t even take up the whole day.” Spencer answered you.

You nodded, thinking about it, “And you wouldn’t be doing anything damaging to the surroundings or the wildlife?”

He shook his head, “No, not at all. Just a few talking scenes on the pier with the lake and woods in the background.”

“Alright,” You agree, “I’ll give you permission. You don’t need to give any compensation either.”

He grins, “Thank you, I really appreciate your cooperation.” He shakes your hand. “It’s a really beautiful place.” Spencer looks out behind you, admiring the scenery.

You nod your head with a fond smile on your lips, “It is.” You turn back to Spencer. “So, you’re the director of the film? Is this your first or have you directed before?”

“I’ve directed before, mostly small stuff. I just really love having beautiful backgrounds to compliment beautiful moments.” He answers, looking down on you a little bit.

Spencer stands taller than you, with his lanky but lithe figure, and as he’s staring down into your eyes, you feel your heart beat a little faster with his words.

You look away, bashfully, “That’s really nice.” You swallow down the nervous cough in your throat, “Would I be able to see the movie when it releases?”

He hesitates, “Unfortunately it probably wouldn’t get a theatrical release.” He responds. “But, I wouldn’t be averse to giving you a private showing.”

Your face is burning red now and you can’t imagine this man in front of you is staying oblivious to what his words are doing to you.

His brows furrow and he inspects your face, “Are you okay? You look a little flushed.” Spencer comments, his hand almost moving to touch your cheeks, “Is it the sun?”

You nod fervently, “Yeah, must be.” You deflect, “Forgot to pack sunscreen.”

My god, you think, he really doesn’t know the effect he has on you.

Spencer seems to accept the answer you gave him and retracks his hand from your face. He then glances down to the leather wrist watch he wears, checking the time.

“I actually have to get going,” He sighs, as if he doesn’t want to leave you, you muse.

He pulls out a piece of paper and a pen from his back pocket and scribbles on it quickly, “Here’s my number, you can call if you have any other questions.” Spencer has the audacity to wait for a moment and look at you with a small grin before finishing writing down his information, “Or, for anything else.”

You think you might need to splash your face with some of the water in the lake.

He hands you the slip of paper and jogs back up the path, but not before he gives you a wave goodbye.

As you stare down at the piece of paper in your hand (in which he’s included a derpy written smile next to his name), you can hardly hear anything over the rapid beating of your heart.

You definitely need to thank Leigh Anne later.

a/n: this is probably the flirtiest spencer i've written thus far and i love it. i want to write more flirty spencer and i have a few more prompts and aus that i think would work with that.

#criminal minds #criminalminds #spencer reid #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfic #dr. spencer reid #dr. spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds fic #spencer reid au

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talesofesther · 2 years

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Darkest nights

Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: You find Eddie after he witnesses Chrissy's death.

A/N: This is just a small drabble, I guess to warm myself up into writing for Eddie, because I love him loads but for some reason, he's kinda hard for me to write about. Also, because in the scene where they first find him at Rick's home, I just wanted to give him a hug man, he was so goddamn scared. Do send in Eddie requests if you have any, I lack ideas.

Masterlist

"Can you just please drive a little faster?" You held onto Steve's seat, from the backseat of the car, peering over at him.

"I am going fast, don't worry we'll find him." Steve took a sharp turn. Trees and darkness surrounded the moving car as you made your way to Lover's Lake, and to Rick Lipton's house, where hopefully, Eddie would be.

Your knee bumped up and down in anxiousness, eager to find him and see for yourself that he was okay. If what Dustin said was right, and this had anything to do with the upside-down, you could only imagine what Eddie had gone through.

The isolated house came into view amongst the dark night, the car's headlights illuminating the front porch. The wheels had barely stopped moving and you were jumping from your seat. It was a cold night, there was a soft fog looming over from the trees around you.

Grass crushed beneath your feet, crickets singing in the distance, and the quietly moving water of the lake were the only other sounds.

"Eddie!! It's Dustin, we just wanna talk!" Dustin called out, pounding on Rick's door as soon as you all reached it. You pointed your flashlight against one of the windows, the house was a mess but it looked abandoned, no one seemed to have come here in a long time. Your eyebrows furrowed, your mind running a mile a minute with every possible scenario.

"Hey, guys." Max's voice called your attention, you and everyone else walked up to her. There was a boathouse at the back, with metal walls and small enough to not call much attention.

The air was eery as you carefully made your way inside, feeling goosebumps rise on your skin; the boathouse was devoid of any light, save for your flashlights and a clear blueish moonlight seeping through small windows. A boat rested in the water right in the middle, soft waves making it rock back and forth from time to time. You directed your flashlight around to see floaters, various buckets with fish bait, fishing rods, nets, and many other fishing supplies. Just like the house, it was messy and abandoned. Your heart accelerated in fear that maybe Eddie wasn't here, your palms holding the flashlight became clammy.

Steve had started to poke the tarp above the old boat with an oar, you tuned out his bickering with Dustin, rummaging through one of the counters in search of anything that told you someone had recently been here. You found discarded chocolate wrappings and were about to speak up when the loud noise of the tarp and the boat moving made you jump, followed by screaming and a loud thud as someone shoved Steve against the wall.

"Woah woah woah, Eddie stop," Dustin exclaimed worriedly, raising his hands and keeping a safe distance from Eddie, who had a broken bottle against Steve's neck. Robin and Max stood behind him, and you rushed beside them.

Your breathing got caught up in your throat when your eyes finally found Eddie. You didn't pay much attention to Dustin trying to calm him down and telling him you were all there to help. You had never seen him so distraught, and it tore your heart into two. Small beads of sweat covered his forehead despite the cold night, his hand around the broken bottle was shaking and his voice broke when he spoke.

With a gentle hand on Dustin's shoulder, you stopped his rambling and walked around him slowly, careful to not spook Eddie more.

The glow from Steve's flashlight on the floor illuminated your face as you walked forward. Your lips curled up in a bittersweet smile. Eddie's gaze laid on you and his eyes softened, you saw tears collecting at the bottom of the brown orbs you loved so much.

"Eddie." You called out lowly, extending a hand to him. "It's okay." You promised, your own voice breaking at the last syllable.

He gulped, his gaze averting from your eyes. He didn't pull away when you touched his cheek, it was wet, making you realize the tears were already falling. And he didn't object when you carefully took the broken bottle from him, handing it to Steve.

"You're okay." You breathed out for him only, thumb moving to wipe away the wetness beneath it.

It was instant, his lips parting in a quiet sob as he lowered his head on your shoulder. Eddie felt the tension leaving him in waves, his hands were shaking violently as he clung to you, to the feeling of finally not being alone after all that happened.

Your hand moved to the back of his head, tangling in the fluffy hair there and pulling him more towards you. "I was so worried about you."

"I didn't know where to go, or- or what to do, I'm sorry." He cried against your skin, you could feel the lapel of your jacket getting wet.

"Don't apologize, I'm just glad you're okay." You rubbed his back soothingly, closing your eyes in relief.

Eddie wouldn't be letting you go anytime soon, you could tell from the way his grip on you never wavered. His body shook on your hold, you could only imagine what happened for him to be this terrified. As you nuzzled your head on his shoulder, all you wished you could do was drag him away from all this mess; even if deep down there was no turning back now.

"I didn't do it." His quiet voice brought your focus back to him. A sob broke through, you felt his fist closing on the fabric of your jacket. "I promise I didn't do it."

The break in his words cut through your heart, how his main concern was telling you he wasn't a murderer, as if you'd ever believe otherwise. Eddie was the sweetest man you knew. "I know, Eddie. I know."

"Are they, like, together or something?" You caught up on Steve's voice.

"I have no idea." You heard Dustin answer, dumbfounded; making you roll your eyes at them, even if they couldn't see it.

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Thank you for reading this little story. Feedback and reblogs are very much appreciated. <3

Eddie’s taglist: @milkiane

Let me know if you wanna be added to his taglist.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson #strangerthingsedit #stranger things #eddie munson x you #imagine #fanfic #fluff #angst #eddie munson fanfic #eddiemunsonedit #joseph quinn #stranger things x reader #st #my story

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stemmmm · 29 days

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Stem's thoughts on Harvest Moon GBC2

AKA how I ruined a perfectly good game for myself

The first Harvest Moon on the GameBoy was a port of a pretty simple game onto an even simpler console. The limitations involved meant that only the most basic mechanics could reasonably be left in. The farming gameplay loop still existed, but without any superfluous aspects like wandering the forest for forage or speaking to any of the NPCs. The town still existed of course, as you needed to have a place where you could buy more things for your farm. The compromise they made was to turn the whole thing into a menu where you could choose a business and go inside to buy things, but nothing else, which is disappointing but understandable for such a simple game.

The first thing that Harvest Moon GBC 2 does is put you in a conversation with an NPC, and then makes you run around the town– a place that you can actually walk around in, with buildings and people outside –to talk to and meet everyone as you tell them that you’re going to take over the old farm.

To say this game was a relief to play is an understatement. I actually played this one immediately after GB1 because I decided to skip 64, so when I turned on the game and experienced its opening, I was still extremely raw from how awful GB1 felt. The first time I played it, I actually had to stop after day one, I didn’t even get to do any farming yet, because I was reeling so hard from how absurdly different this one was– and how COMPLETE! The excuses I made in my mind for GB1 were a complete and total sham!

The first thing that you see when starting a new file is something of a character creator. It’s a simple menu where you choose your name, your gender, pick a birthday out of any day in one of the four seasons (64 only let you choose a season), and then choose between a cat or dog for a pet. You aren’t told this in the selection, but a cat will bring home random seeds you can plant, and a dog will scare away wild animals, meaning that you can only leave your livestock outside overnight if you have a dog. I like free stuff though, so I chose the cat.

The next thing you’re exposed to is the town and what story there is, but I’ll get into that later. What I’ll instead explain next is your farm, which is a little weird compared to earlier games. In the first area, you have your house, a big open space, and then the usual barn, coop, silo, wood bin, with extra space on the left and bottom of the farm for a sheep pen and hothouse/greenhouse that you can buy in the future. You cannot grow crops in this area. Instead, there’s a different area to the south that hosts a huge, empty field where you’re expected to grow everything. This is also the only place where there’s an outdoor shipping bin, so you have to go all the way down there rather than just to the entrance of your farm if you have forage to ship. To the east of the farming area is a lake where you can catch fish, and a pond where you can save fish you’ve previously caught. The only thing to do with fish is sell them though, so the only reason I can really see for using the pond is if you caught something past 5PM, when anything put in storage will rot before it can be picked up. The lake is connected to a river that runs through the crop fields, and there’s actually a space to put a bridge so you can access the other half of the space for double the planting capacity.

You won’t use any of that space to plant grass though, as all of that is meant to go behind the animal houses. Each one has its own individual field behind it for planting grass, and the game won’t let you buy any animals to go in the corresponding buildings unless a certain amount of grass is growing in the field behind it. It’s pretty awkward to make sure the grass is actually cut, as a player who doesn’t go back there every day, but I see the logic behind it. They want to make people plant grass as an extra way to gatekeep animals beyond just money. It also works pretty tidily with the mechanics they have for putting animals in and out, which is that you get special tools for each of them that automatically sends them in or outside. I didn’t use these things because I didn’t have a dog, so putting my animals outside was equivalent to throwing them to the wolves… literally. And as you may have already theorized, individual items for three different types of animals turns into an inventory disaster because of the way tools work.

In your house is a tool chest that opens a menu when you interact with it. The chest holds up to 20 tools, each with a designated slot, and it has an additional page for all the different types of seeds you can buy. You’re able to carry four different tools or types of seeds on your person at any given time, with the ability to swap between which one is equipped quickly via the START button, or more precisely by opening up the inventory menu via the SELECT button, which is pretty nice in my opinion! It works quickly, and four tools is more than any other game has let you carry so far, but that only means so much when the game has such an excess of tools, while most others only have about six– not including seeds. Navigating the tool chest also becomes something of a pain because there are so many items, so it’s desirable to only keep the absolute necessities on your person.

Included in the excessive amount of tools is an exciting new item: the bug net. See, this game has reincorporated the forest as a foraging area, but it’s a little more than that. While it has the usual seasonal wild plants, a daily-replenishing supply of lumber, and a hot spring, it also has a myriad of insects that wander or fly around in short, predictable loops. It’s no Animal Crossing– the bugs always spawn in the same place and do the same thing for a whole season until the next one, where they’re replaced by a different kind of insect doing the same amount of nothing, but I think that’s appropriate for a game on such a short schedule. Bug catching is less about skill and more about remembering to bring your net with you on days and times that you haven’t gone bug-catching before. The fishing mechanic is similarly simple– it’s less about waiting and more about timing, as the rod will bob in the same pattern every time you cast it, you just have to catch it at the right time. As a result, if you get the timing down, you can always reel it in at the first bob and catch fish extremely quickly. This strategy ended up being my favorite during the time while I was getting started and didn’t have a lot of cash for seeds or animals yet.

But what do you do with these things you catch? You can sell fish but you can’t sell bugs. Instead, both are recorded in collections that you can access at the library in town! The function of the library is to let you access your collections of bugs and fish, view photos that you collected through experiencing events (kind of like what was in 64), and connect to the save files of your friends who have the game to share information and trade items. See, this game took a little inspiration from Pokemon in that while there aren’t separate versions, you only get access to certain things if you’re playing as either a boy or a girl. You get different crops, different bug and fish spawns, and there’s a certain quest that requires making a connection. It’s very cute! But inaccessible if you aren’t playing a physical copy of the game on original hardware, unfortunately.

Other than the library, the town has a carpenter, clinic, church, restaurant, ranch, tool shop, and flower shop. My making a big deal about how the town isn’t a menu this time feels a little disingenuous getting more into it, because while it is a space you can navigate and where people walk around, once you go in a building it’s almost exactly the same– no interior, just a portrait of the shop owner and their wares, but all of this is preceded by an option to talk to them this time around! Not that they have much to say, but it’s still a difference. You get another chance to talk to the shopkeepers and give them gifts (because you can carry items between rooms this time) on Sundays when all the shops are closed, which is another unique feature compared to GB1 where every day was exactly the same.

To the north of the town is a little square with a fountain and bulletin board where everyone who isn’t employed usually wanders about during the business week. At the start of the game, the bulletin board is loaded up with handy tutorials on how to play the game (yet another thing GB1 severely lacked). Later on, it fills up with dates for town festivals like the cherry blossom festival and horse races. The festivals usually aren’t much, shops don't even close for the majority of them, but they give the world a little more life and variety and the horse race gives you the ability to purchase a minigame from the tool shop that you can play anytime you want! There are several minigames which are all unlocked to replay by doing things like going to events or completing certain objectives.

The last new thing in this game is that if you press SELECT twice, instead of giving you the option to turn on Harvest Sprite helpers (no sprites to be found here), you get a more detailed menu with information about your animals, possessions, and then a long FAQ list with information like “weeds are back!” and explanations on how to get sheep or grow flowers inside the hothouse.

The Story

The premise of the story is that there’s an old farm in town that’s going to be replaced by an amusement park. It opens with your character trying to talk the mayor out of agreeing to any deals, saying that you’ll take over the farm to save it. He agrees to give you three years to do the best work you can and then you’re sent on your way. The first thing you have to do is announce the deal to everyone in town, who all happen to already know you… and apparently very well! The town doctor confirms that you grew up in this town, and everyone around is your childhood friend. I’ve never personally seen any farming sim take this angle, and I think it’s pretty fun! The game doesn’t do a ton with it, but it at least has a different vibe. It works well for a game where you do have relationships with these people, but they’re not in a ton of depth and they don’t go anywhere in the end because marriage doesn’t exist here.

This entry is also the first in the series that we see a wholly unique cast (almost). You could argue that 64 does it since technically the folks in town aren’t the same, but they’re awfully damn similar. Everyone here is a new character design unrelated to anyone we’ve seen before. Aside from Mary (librarian) and Ken (carpenter) anyways, who are both the same exact design as their counterparts in 64. While their personalities are similar, there’s nothing to indicate that these are the same characters in any way.

The stories to do with all of these characters mostly aren’t anything too special. There’s twin boys who run the tool shop and their narrative is tied to how you get tool upgrades. Whether you play as a boy or a girl, there are a couple events that indicate certain characters have a crush on your farmer. There’s also a marriage that happens once you make it into year three that puts a tiny change in the town where Rosie, who runs the restaurant is replaced by her sister. Some of these events have to do with little quests where just about all you have to do is go to a certain location when asked, others just occur. As I said before, the story’s all very simple, but it’s just fine like that.

For the most part, necessary events will trigger when the time is right, but other things only happen if you’ve made good friends with everyone by talking on a regular basis and occasionally giving gifts. You’ll know if you’re on the right track when peoples’ dialogue changes, which happens a few times as you become closer. There’s apparently all kinds of little events in the game, but I failed to see a good number of them.

As usual, the easiest way to get on everyone's good sides and progress the story further is by doing well on your farm and either giving people the appropriate harvests as gifts or just upgrading things further. Despite all the changes to your farm layout, the actual things you have to do to work the land and care for animals are the same as ever. It’s pretty simple and quick to get good farming work done, and a decent amount of options afforded to you in terms of how you want to focus your energy– be it crops, animals, fishing, forage, or friendship, so it’s up to you how you want to get to the finish line. While you’re not told the requirements very clearly, the game is pretty low-stakes and just wants you to take your time and enjoy the three whole years it expects you to play.

How I ruined the game for myself

So of course, without a clear goal given to me, I had to look up the endings as soon as possible. Which brings me to my problem with this game: the requirements it has for the best ending are completely absurd. Well, to be accurate, one of the requirements is completely absurd. The best ending in the game requires 70 or more Happiness Points, having 10,000 G or more, have at least 3 of each animal (cow, sheep, and chicken), find 10 Power Berries, and have the third home expansion built, which are all extremely reasonable to do. So reasonable in fact that I handily managed all of those things before the end of year two out of three. The final, problematic requirement is to ship 10,000 or more items. This is a ridiculous amount of items. This is a “fill your entire field to the brim and never let it run empty” amount of items. I knew this from the second I saw it, but… well, it’s three years of gameplay right? And you aren’t told this is what you need anywhere within the game that I saw, so surely the developers thought this would be a reasonable goal for people, right? I had to give it a try, right?

Saying this from the future where I succeeded, I wish I didn’t try at all. I spent the full three years of this game constantly on the grind, filling my fields as completely as I could, and panicking to rush everything to the shipping bin before 5PM hit so I would have more empty land to plant more crops that I would water in the dark of night before going to bed and doing it again. Fun fact, this game doesn’t make you reset until 6AM the next morning and without any real repercussions. I only found this out because I’d stay out all night weeding and watering. There was very little time left to talk to the people in town after that. I did manage to get them all up to their maximum friendships pretty early on, before I had the means to constantly be churning out veggies, so I had every opportunity to catch their events, I just missed them because every day, no matter the season, I was farming.

The funny thing is, I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy playing the games this way. That is still true, and I very well could have enjoyed my time much more if it weren’t for the damned horse and its awful AI. See, there may be four inventory slots for tools, but there are none for items. Every individual one has to be plucked and carried to the shipping bin, same as SNES, same as GB1. The saving grace in those two games, and technically this one as well, is that around winter-ish of your first year, a horse will appear on your farm, and when it grows up in a couple seasons, it either already has or you can buy for it a saddle bag which functions as a mobile shipping bin. All you have to do is ride your horse out to where you’re harvesting and while it wanders a bit, it stays put well enough for you to load it up with veggies as you run back and forth to harvest, which speeds up the process dramatically in the vast fields you have to work in these games.

This horse is not like those other horses. This horse will take off in a dead sprint with no warning in any direction it pleases. In my experience, this was usually in the worst possible direction that would put it the farthest away from me. And the timing of it was typically whenever I was about to throw something into the saddlebag. This aggravated the hell out of me not only because it was a huge waste of my limited time, not only because it wasted a ton of crops, but also because it was constant. Nothing I did, no positioning I tried was able to help keep the horse where I needed it, and this was how I was spending 80% of my time in this game, dealing with this horse. I could have been seeing fun events, I could have been peacefully farming at my own pace and leisure, even better this technique easily could have just worked out if the horse didn’t behave so erratically.

But I can’t judge the game on the merit of all the time I spent with the horse alone because that was my own choice to do. The best ending may require 10,000 shipped items, but all it takes to avoid the worst ending is to have more than 10 Happiness Points, more than 2,000G, more than four Power Berries, expand my house, and ship 100 items. With three entire years of game, the only way you fail to achieve that is by basically not playing the game. The vast space between the requirements for the best ending and the worst ending is to get a normal ending that accomplishes exactly the same thing as the best ending does, only the cutscene is different and you get a trophy for the best one. The cutscene barely stands out as anything special, which led to me having no idea what ending I got until I discovered the trophy was a thing I had to search for in my house. That’s it, you still get to keep playing the game either way, not that there’s terribly much else to do regardless of which ending you get, since there’s no special post-ending content.

I’ll still judge it a little bit though

While it makes sense to use your workable area to its fullest extent, having it be a requirement for the good ending to use all of it to the best of your ability for the whole extent of the game is excessive to me, especially since by year 3 it becomes completely unnecessary to try to earn money. I already had everything I was working for, and the requirement being to ship more things rather than better things meant there was no reason to get anything other than what was cheap and quick. No reason to make my animals like me so they’d produce better stuff, no reason to use the maker machines even though they weren’t obtainable until it got to the point where money had no meaning. I hardly bothered with the hothouses because they were both so confusing about what I could plant in each, and so tedious both to unlock and to harvest things since I needed a special tool that would take up a precious inventory space, lest I have to run back and forth between the tool chest. The hothouse might have been more useful if there weren’t winter crops, but there were.

What’s wild about my criticisms is that the game itself has something built in to mitigate everything that I struggled with. There is a tool called the miracle glove that automatically ships your crops the moment that they are harvested. But the only way to get it is via a link connection to a friend’s copy of the game– something near impossible in this day and age because you’d need to somehow find two working copies of this game with two functional GameBoys, and completely impossible if you’re using the magic of the 3DS eShop which doesn’t exist anymore and didn’t have functional multiplayer for most games anyways. That item alone would have solved the biggest problem I had in playing this game, and it was functionally DLC.

Closing thoughts

It took me a really long time to try and get to this review, and I’ve beaten two more games since, which has given me a new perspective. My original nugget for this one was going to focus on how much I hated the horse the whole way through and on how disappointed I was that the game was so hard for such little reward, but I’ve since realized that playing in a way that was no fun for me was my own choice. At any point I could have scaled things down and reprioritized to focus on the details of the game that are more fun like seeing events, but I just clung to that damn horse for 50 hours instead– which by the way, is longer than it’s taken me to beat any other game in this series so far that I’ve recorded my playtime for. The average sits around 25 hours.

If you don’t play like I did, it’s actually a really neat game!It’s not dissimilar to a scaled-down version of 64, with the way it focuses a little more on events and adds features to make the world feel just a touch more alive like the bug and fish collections. It’s not as deep or detailed as 64, but you still get to experience something of a sweet little story with a small set of characters in a game that feels very smooth and fun to play.On the bright side, even with the struggle I went through trying to get the perfect score, it was still a better game than GB1. It says a lot that I’ve found it more appropriate to compare it to 64, a fantastic game, rather than its actual predecessor.

#m.txt #hm posting #harvest moon #story of seasons #harvest moon gbc2 #hm gbc2 #game review #the worst part of these is always getting images together #i think you can see me getting lazier with each entry #by the time we reach the wii games these will be text only

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dilf-din · 1 year

Text

Safe Place to Land: Part 8

—A Frankie Morales Series—

WC: 2600

Warnings: language, brief mention of alcohol, PTSD mention, themes of grief. I recommend listening to or reading The Great American Game by Levi the Poet if you’d like to explore the conversation of loss and nostalgia a little further.

Chapter 7 // Chapter 9 (coming soon!!)

I’ve got an ache in my chest for every season I miss and it gets worse when the snow starts to fall. There are butterflies alive in that couple’s eyes a few years since forgotten by all, and sometimes, if the phone starts to ring, I can still hear their wings when you call. — Levi McAllister

September 2010

“Where are we going?”

“I told you I’m not telling you.”

“You know I hate surprises,” you pouted from the passenger seat.

“You’ll live,” he smiled, patting your thigh.

When you woke up that morning, Frankie had told you he wanted to take you somewhere, and all he had said was to dress warm. Colorado falls were cold to begin with, so that was a no brainer. Your hair tucked in a thick beanie, your jeans tucked into tall, worn leather boots. You sipped the last of your coffee and set the empty paper cup in the holder. Your head pressed against the window, breath fogging the glass that was like ice against your cheek.

The car drove quietly down a winding road lined with the trees dressed to the nines. Showers of amber, crimson, and pale yellow falling when the wind gusted. Leaves dancing on the black pavement as you blew past them. Frankie pulled off onto a gravel path that inclined up.

“Are we going on a hike?”

“A short one.”

Your brow furrowed, still unsure as to what his surprise could be. The path went on for about a mile you guessed as you bumped along, a small building coming in to view. It was a rest stop for a park. A water fountain sat next to a map of the trails in front of the grey stone building you assumed housed the restrooms. Frankie parked next to the only other vehicle in the gravel lot.

“I’m not gonna tell you,” he said with a smile, hopping out of the driver’s seat.

You rolled your eyes and followed him. He held his hand out to take yours in it and you fell into step with him heading up a dirt path.

“Don’t we need a map?”

“I know where we’re going,” he said casually.

You decided to stop pestering him with questions and enjoy the beautiful woods around you. There was something about autumn that always had a foothold in your heart. You had fond memories of camping with your dad. Early mornings on a freezing lake, not catching any fish, barely sharing any words. Your mind wandered to your first time trick or treating with him. You insisted on being a super hero princess. Your hair bouncing over a poofy dress with a cape on top. His big hand reaching down to hold yours, carrying your plastic pumpkin bucket when it became to heavy for your own little arms. Your gaze fell on the man beside you, his strong jaw and broad shoulders. Visions of him carving pumpkins with your own kids filled your head. A mess of dark curls and pumpkin seeds. You leaned your head against his arm and gave his hand a light squeeze.

“Almost there, princesa,” he announced.

You were a little sad to have your walk cut short, but you gasped as you crested a hill and saw what he had led you up here for. Sitting next to the ranger’s station was a helicopter. A man in a khaki uniform stood out in front of it, face lighting with a smile as he saw your figures come into view.

“Morales! Good to see you,” he said cheerfully clapping Frankie on the back.

“Jim, I can’t thank you enough for this. This is my wife,” he stepped aside so you could shake hands with the ranger.

“I trained his team, and in turn, he’s letting me take you on a little spin,” he said with a wide grin.

You had never flown with Frankie before although you had begged him for years. It wasn’t exactly easy to get your hands on a giant metal bird for civilian purposes. The rangers here used them to look for missing persons, scout for fires, things like that.

“Well you couldn’t have picked a prettier day,” Jim commented. He gestured towards the chopper, “She’s all yours, you don’t need me to show you around.”

Your heart was beating wildly as you followed Frankie, leaves and acorns crunching under your boots. He swung open the door, the sound of metal groaning low dancing away on the wind, and climbed in with ease offering a hand down to you. You took it and stepped up, clinging to his other arm as you got your footing.

He let you take a look around while he got situated in the cockpit. Flipping switches, checking gauges.

“Can you pull the door shut?” he called back to you.

You grabbed the wide handle with both hands and pulled it firmly shut, clicking in place.

“Is that it?” you asked nestling yourself into the copilot’s seat.

“Yep, no fancy locks or anything,” he offered over a headset to you. You pulled it on around your beanie and adjusted the mouthpiece to sit close to your lips. You mirrored his movements strapping yourself in, drawing a deep breath.

“Ready?”

You nodded.

“It’s loud,” he warned flipping the final few switches to bring it humming to life. The whir of the blades shook the craft just a bit as they spun. Fallen leaves in a whirlwind around you outside of the thick glass.

With one move Frankie had lifted you from the ground. You climbed quickly above the maze of trees, warm sun beaming in. You know you should be glued to the window, eyeing the trees and the mountains, the roads winding like threads stitching the landscape together, but your eyes are locked on Frankie. The comfortability and ease he holds doing what he loves to do. His jaw relaxed, his eyes flitting from gauges to the horizon. He catches you with the corner of his gaze, mouth turning up in a grin.

“Enjoying the view?” he teases.

“I’ve seen it before, but somehow it’s prettier from up here,” you cooed.

Flush crept up his neck as he suddenly felt bare in front of you. The only part of himself he’s never been able to share with you before this moment suddenly on full display before your soft eyes.

As hard as you tried to look out the window, you couldn’t tear yourself away from him. It was hard to describe what you were feeling. A mixture of pride swelling in your chest, a sense of awe, reverence. This felt like holy ground to you, him inviting you into a place that had previously belonged to him alone. Frankie felt it too, that unexpected intimacy. He hadn’t intended for this make you both feel like your hearts were in your throats. You spent most of the rest of the ride in silence, dancing above the Rocky Mountains.

He circled back around to bring you to a smooth landing, flipping switches and powering down the copter. Your eyes met each other and you drank in that heavy feeling.

You were the first to break the silence.

“Take me home, Morales,” you whispered.

“Yes ma’am,” he breathed back, his eyes locked on your lips.

“Let’s just order in tonight, whatever you want,” he said pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You were tucked into his side, arms wrapped around his torso, legs tangled under the heavy, grey sheets you had broken out for the colder weather.

“Let’s get wings and try to catch the broncos game,” you smiled up at him.

“Oh so you just want this to be my perfect day?” he said with a dramatic gasp.

“The wings are for me, don’t get it twisted,” you chuckled placing one last kiss to his lips. You kicked off the blankets and grabbed the green and black flannel he had worn today and a pair of black faded sleep shorts. Frankie pulled on sweatpants and a clean tee shirt before making work off collecting the stream of clothes you two had left upon leaving home. The trail led from doorway to doorway, a love letter spelled out in jackets shucked off and pants half unzipped. You wrapped your arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Having him safe here with you was never something you were able to take for granted.

He swung his arm over your shoulder and pivoted so you were tucked to his chest.

“What’s up?” he asked softly.

You were flipping his dog tags through your fingers, running them over the bumpy letters.

“I’m just thankful. For you, for today, for our whole life. Thanks for always coming home to me,” you barely whispered.

His arms cinched tighter around you and he buried his face in your neck, “There’s not a thing in this world that could stop me, mi amor.”

December 2010

Frankie bolted up in a cold sweat. He panicked taking in his surroundings, looking for anything to ground him. He twisted his eyes shut and shoved his hands into his face trying to steady his breathing. He felt something wet nudge his hand and he flinched to see Rocky coming into focus. His big brown eyes full of concern.

“Hey, bud,” Frankie whispered wrapping his arms around the dog’s thick neck. “You knew something was up, huh?”

Rocky just stood there leaning into his shoulder for as long as he needed. Frankie willed his breathing to slow down and eventually let go of the hold he had. Rocky gave him a quick lick to the nose and wagged his tail just a little.

“Good boy,” Frankie murmured running his hands over his floppy ears.

The nightmares were sporadic at best. They never seemed to plague him when you were around, but you had school today and he had dozed off on the couch after breakfast. He didn’t want to think about a world where he couldn’t take a nap without his demons getting the best of him. He felt weak and pathetic. So he pulled himself into a quick shower and changed into something warm, pulling out his phone to text you.

Got any lunch plans?

No sir.

You do now :)

Grabbing his keys, Frankie quickly made his way down the steps from your apartment. He figured he’d stop at your favorite deli and pick up a few sandwiches and something sweet to share, pulling into the school parking lot with a time to spare. He stood stationed outside your doorway waiting for the last few minutes of class to tick by. He figured seeing you would settle the last bit of unease he had in his heart. The bell went off overhead causing him to startle, he willed his heartbeat to slow down as a stream of kids filtered out of your classroom. He smiled politely waiting for the last one to exit before sliding in.

“Hi Mrs. Morales,” he sang causing you to turn from your desk. You had on tights, boots, a pencil skirt, and a patterned sweater with little snowmen on it. “Don’t you look pretty.”

“Hi Mr. Morales,” you smiled closing the distance to embrace him. “Your heart is pounding, are you okay? Did Sandra give you a hard time about a visitor’s pass because I emailed her that you were coming today.”

“I’m fine,” he choked out.

You raised an eyebrow at him taking the bags from his hands and laying them on your desk. He pulled a chair up and sat in it backwards, hands gripping tightly to the blue plastic back.

“I just, I’ve been having bad dreams. They usually only happen when I’m deployed, but they’re getting more frequent and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go to a place I can’t come back from,” he admitted softly, eyes avoiding your gaze.

You reached to take one of his hands to find it trembling.

“Frankie, love,” you started, “Hey, look at me. First off, there’s nothing wrong with you. People who have seen what you’ve seen deal with all kinds of PTSD, anxiety, or worse. Second, thank you for telling me. I’m here to support you however you need. You’ve still got some time before you go back so let’s maybe talk about getting you a therapist or getting you on medication, we’ve got time to try stuff out. It’ll be okay,” you gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

His eyes rose to meet yours flooded with relief.

“Thank you for saying we,” he almost whispered.

“I’ve got your back,” you said linking your pinky with his.

“Always.”

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve rolled around like it did every year. Your mother made an extravagant meal for you and Frankie, and you spent the night sipping bourbon and playing board games. It was one of your favorite nights made even sweeter by Frankie’s presence. He had missed Christmas last year, so you were extra thankful for his presence this time. The time passed too quickly for your liking, hours slipping through your fingers as midnight approached.

“Drive safe,” your mom smiled, placing a kiss on Frankie’s cheek. “Text me when you get home,” she gave your cheek a kiss of its own.

“We will, and thank you for dinner,” Frankie smiled, his arms piled high with Tupperware containers full of leftovers. His cheeks were rosy from the bite of the wind, glowing in the soft porch light of your old home. He was wearing a long, black woolen pea coat, a beanie pulled over his curls, thick gloves, and a peek of a red scarf spilling out of his collar. Snowflakes clung to his lashes. He looked radiant, you couldn’t help but stare at him on the walk to your car.

“What is it, princesa?” he teased.

“I’m just having a good time with you,” you smiled, opening the passenger side door for him to set the containers down carefully. “Can we go for a walk?”

“Sure,” he smiled, holding out his arm for you to wrap yours around.

You walked through the gentle snowfall, eyeing the houses glowing with colorful lights. You leaned your head into his shoulder, thankful for the simplicity of this moment. The streets were quiet, most people fast asleep in anticipation for the coming morning. Just the sound of slush and salt crunching beneath your boots. Huge snowflakes padding the ground around you and sticking to the wool of your coats. Clouds of breath slipping out every time you opened your mouth to speak, ghosts of Christmas present, past, and future slipping out to climb into the atmosphere.

Your chest felt like a chasm the more time that passed, the longer you went on without your dad’s steady presence in your life. You felt him in the snowfall, in the steam rising from your coffee cup in the morning. You heard him in your mother’s laugh and your own irritation when sitting in traffic. You missed him wholly and in fractals all at once. Caught between two worlds, the one with him still in it, and the one you were in now that you longed for him to see.

Frankie could always sense the shift in your mood, spoken or unspoken. He pressed a kiss to your forehead, lips cold from the wind.

“He would be proud of you,” he whispered, his mustache ticking the space between your eyebrow and where your thick beanie sat nestled on your head.

You smiled sadly. “He would be proud of you too. You’re a good man, Frankie.”

His heart swelled.

“Let’s get home, princesa,” he whispered turning you back towards the car.

Taglist: @littlenosoul @shinypants13 @mirasantidotes @certifiedhunter @daff0dilfs @bannahrae74 @rav3n-pascal22 @evitamarija @reiya-djarin @wonwoosthetic @djarinsstuff @sotvtaughtmehowtofeel @k-k0129 @casa-boiardi

#frankie morales x reader #frankie morales x you #frankie morales fanfiction #frankie morales fic #Frankie morales #triple frontier #triple frontier fic #frankie catfish morales #safe place to land

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solarcal · 10 months

Text

@amity206 i wrote out and organized the world building a long time ago, so it’s not exactly up to date with the newer seasons and season area’s but i guess if someone’s interested i should maybe look into updating it? hm something to think about ig lol either way, here’s my whole world building sheet its veryyy long so uh take your time reading it, im totally willing to answer any questions you have too :3

Isle of Dawn-Binial

where all moths are born

Moths are Megabird shaking off their feathers

those feathers fall to isle in a meteor type fashion and when they land, they are a ball of Megabird’s light which soon reforms into a classic moth with no cape, the basic moth hair, pants and mask

this happens at random which is why sky kids must keep constant watch over the beach for new arrivals

its rare for more than one moth to be born at a time but it can still happen

they are usually considered siblings more than most and its strongly encouraged not to separate them

they can leave each other when they are old if they so wish but most dont

Moths are called Mids, the species of sky kids are called Skids, and butterfly sky kids, so someone between moth and vet are called Butids

Caretakers-a whole “job”(i say job very loosely) you can have as a vet where you simply wait at the beach in isle for moths to be born to then help them adjust to their new bodies and take them to one of the various house in isle to grow up and either get adopted or picked up by a guider or just get old enough to choose to set out on their own

Guiders-more similar to mentors than a parent

they wont adopt the moth into their family but simply help them learn how sky works and take them through the realms til either they reach Empyrean or find a place they want to live or an apprenticeship learning sometime of art or craft

they can take more than one moth too where people adopting rarely do

they usually are either near the end of their lives or they are simply bored for a while, sometimes they do it just to be nice, it depends on the guider

Guiders and sky kids come to adopt moths here

Some stay for the community feeling because its like a suburban neighborhood with many moths and elder skids sticking around

Others like it for the quiet they can find by the shores as mids are typically contained to the center of Binial for their safety

houses above ground and houses built into caves and buried in the ground

Cave of prophecy

It's more like a fun training ground! Or an obstacle course

They don’t actually die, the prophet just laughs and helps them back onto the course

They're more like a referee than a prophet

Daylight Prairie-Digarem

Fisherman type region

Everyone here fishes or builds the various types of boats, water or air

They can also train mantas for various jobs

Some people are butterfly breeders/keepers

Other don't have an area specific job but like the peace and quiet

Sanctuary Isle

A beach type resort place

People commonly go to just relax and play with the flock of mantas and swim in the water

Hidden Forest-Hirthlim

Mainly filled with artisans and researchers

only place in this world you can die unnaturally is from the deadly rain of Hirthlim

Very dangerous which is why younger skids are rarely wandering alone and if they are, everyone will constantly check up on them and ask if they need help

Wood carvers, painters, jewelers, metal workers, forgers, etc etc

They just carve out like mini statues and then plop them down, scattered everywhere across the forest. You can just find one hidden away a little bit as you’re walking/flying your way through the forest

there's hand crafted stuff everywhere in forest, various sculptures littered along side the paths, crystal garlands hung from branch to branch etc

at night you see the reflection of flittering fireflies in the rivers and lakes that make them look like the stars in the sky that is actually hidden behind the leaves and branches above

The cave in the tree has gems, metals and stone that they mine to use for decorations

Treehouse

A big commune basically

People go there if they need to hide from someone or they simply need to get away from it all

It's also where mids who’s guiders/family have died or the mids who got lost in Hirthlim are taken to

Sometimes the mid isn’t a good fit for the family either they are brought back to Binial or brought to treehouse to be readopted or if they are old enough, to simply figure out if they want another family or if they wanna go off on their own for a while

the mids take a while to show their personality and sometimes the family either cant properly take care of them for some reason or its detrimental to the family itself and the mids are well taken care of and due to being so young, they quickly forget the past family and harbor no sadness or trauma from the parting

skids who work/live here commonly go searching through Hirthlim looking for lost moths

Flight

The mail center

Also a huge manta training grounds but only for riding or helping with pulling carts

Also used as training grounds for flying in tight spaces or with really strong winds

the mail is carried by the wind currents and birds pass messages between the spirits and skids that work there

like the big current that takes you all the way around flight but hundreds of tiny ones

mail leaving flight is either put on a cart dragged by a big manta or given to mail skids who have a specific section of each realm that they deliver to

they ride smaller mantas to travel around quicker and deliver the mail

the skids do the sorting and taking them out of flight

The widespread corruption and the fall of King Resh and of Sky has not happened yet

Its is starting to though, with small infrequent dark plants sprouting in Hirthlim and the corruption of the first manta in Gaial

The draining rain is not caused by the corruption, it is part of the natural Sky world that people have come to live with

Valley of Triumph-Valem

Large bustling city, think new york and street fairs

Valem + Empyrean hold like 70% of all skids permanent homes

It has many markets and schools and overall is just a huge culture landmark due to its size and population

Anything you can think of, they have have

A lot of mids stay here a long time before making the journey to Empyrean and some just never leave

Super big on competition and flying

Many sports and they hold a ton of games and celebrations

Village of Dreams

Moth epicenter

Basically the suburbs

Many many families have their permanent homes here

Huge houses

Where ice skating lessons are held :3

Hermit Valley

Where a lot engineers and inventors and scientist and researchers live

many move up to hermit valley because no one else lives up there so they dont have to worry about bother anyone with their creations and since everyone is a researcher, they are used to dangerous stuff

They are the ones making the flying boats and looking into the dark plants and the power crystals

There’s also the normal types of researchers like how the world works and there’s a lot of researchers investigating the old murals and trying to write of of sky’s history and religion down

There’s also a lot of people looking into helping disabled sky kids and making better gear for various jobs + mantas

They’re looking into creating fake wings for skids that can’t fly but so far are unsuccessful

They mainly focused on saddles for service mantas as well as other needed aids such as googles to improve eyesight

at the peaks of this giant mountain range where it snows and is giant enough to fit whole villages and a city

Along side all the birds you fly up to the top to Valem and suddenly you burst through the blanket of clouds and you’re soaring above them

You can either take a boat or manta up or fly up a wind tunnel/highway to get up

Golden Wastelands-Gaial

mainly farming fields before the big border wall for Empyrean

inside that wall are smaller villages

basically like the midwest, farms for miles and miles

a canyon is in the west but people rarely venture that way due to being so far out of the way (where the first corruption of a manta, the first step towards krill and the person who has semi control over it)

a small town/castle thing lies on that coast

Forgotten Ark

there's no ark there

its just another farm but since its an island, they have different crops and such

very floral and such, think tropics

Abyss

very veryyyyyyy small fishing village

its very hidden and people rarely go there

the fishers there venture out sometimes to sell their catches but its mainly made up of 2-3 large found families that dont want to interact with other sky kids nowadays so they just stay in their village

Vault of Knowledge-the library

its filled with researchers and scribes

all of the kingdoms history is recorded here

this is where the “priests” live too

priests arent actually priests but more the high level scribes, because they know a lot of information and can offer good advice

no one can actually talk to Megabird obviously but they have studied the memory cubes for most of their life so they know more than anyone else which is why people go to them for advice

this is like home base for all researchers

any researches elsewhere come from the library and will return there if their research is finished

they also send all their reports there

Starlight Desert

the childrens library!

this is where moths can learn about the history or just hear stories

sometimes older sky kid will leave their moths here for a while like a daycare

there’s people who live in eden that are like school teachers basically that work in starlight

Eden-Empyrean

this is like a huge spiraling city

i saw someone compare it to the tower of babel so i’m strongly referencing that

there’s multiple levels, getting smaller as they go up

the very top level is where King Resh and his advisors live and work

lower level down is where they hold meeting with the elders and just general important stuff idk

floors 1-4 are split in half basically

one half is purely the library and the other is normal house and stores and workshops and such

spirit mantas are used to move large groups of people around like buses or to travel around on one floor if they dont want to fly or have a large package or something

spirit mantas are also used in the library to reach the memory cubes higher up because that way the scribe would be stable instead of having to flap up and down

spirit mantas are used instead of regular mantas because they are calmer and easier to train

they also grow up quicker and can fly stationary in the air which is great for the confined space of eden

that’s all the like physical world, the rest is the culture and society of my world

Culture/Lore

Families are called flocks and some flocks have a bird as their emblem kinda thing

Memory cubes

the things that line the walls of vault, you can record information in it like a book, you can either record a little hologram like a video or your voice reading out words like an audiobook

they are how sky stores all its information and how they send information thats too much to fit in a letter

King Resh

the King of sky (he’s also the one that caused its downfall but that hasnt happened yet in this world and won’t for a while)

the ruler chosen by Megabird and he oversees all of sky

lives in eden and mainly is in charge of big transportation projects like new boat systems like in dreams and hermit valley

theres a lot more of them in this world due to the fall not happening yet

he also can request the researchers/scribes to look into certain topics like the darkstone/power crystals and such

also gonna have a huge religious role but i have to finish the religion first

Geography

the world is one big island surrounded by ocean

its just a straight line from one realm to the next

Binial is a flat beach

Digarem is rolling hills with lots of rivers and both sides are by the ocean

it gently slopes up as you get further from Binial but you can still reach the ocean easily

Hirthlim is a big forest that starts to slope up more rapidly

there are streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes formed from the water run off from Valem and the constant rain

at the beginning it doesn't rain and you could still kinda reach the ocean below but there's no beach anymore

as you get higher, on the ocean sides is a sheer cliff face with no beach below, just like rocks

Valem is the mountain range that separates Hirthlim and Gaial from each other

you pass through the clouds to reach the snowy peaks of Valem

then there's a kinda steep slope down to Gaial which is closer to the ocean

the sides near the ocean slope down to meet it so fishing can occur here too but rarely does due to most people farming here

then there's the border wall to Empyrean

the villages inside with smaller farms and then the circular city rising up

Darkstone

a mysterious stone that is mined from the mountains

Power crystals-darkstone is refined into a power crystal which is used to power machines like the boats and doors

Theres a job of just refining darkstone

Gives a connection between life and their machines

sky kids bodies are made of light and as they grow up their light get stronger

thats how you gain your cape and more flaps

you gain a lot when you’re younger and then it slows down as you get older til you start losing it

then eventually you lose all your light become extinguished and you turn to ash and scatter in the wind

so its very common for families to take them to their favorite spot so their ashes can be scattered where they love most

basically the rain leeches away your light and so you are slowly drained and if you get extinguished here you just die

Megabird

basically god and the universe and light

its where all things come from and all things go

it created all of sky, people and everything and is a being of pure light

its also semi the sun?

it doesn’t really dictate what people do but is part of sky’s natural rebirth cycle where when anything light dies, their light/soul returns to Megabird to then later be sent back down to sky

its the deity that the spirits and sky kids worship

its who appointed Resh as king

its commonly depicted as a bird in all the murals in sky which is why ive just made it a bird

Megabird is like straight vibing, making the universe but at the same time is the universe but is also traveling through it

its complicated

Megabird is the very fabric of the universe and each atom and plant and animal is made up and created by Megabird

but Megabird is also just a giant bird thing made up of pure light and stars gliding across the galaxies

but like at the same time the trail left behind it is what makes stars and planets and comets and everything

Logic behind why Days of Rainbow and Lights exist is because Megabird is a semi physical being

it cares deeply about all of its creations which is why it returns to check up on Sky twice a year

Rainbow being a brief pass by on its way elsewhere and Lights is Megabird checking in more closely on everything, that its all going well and nothing is horribly corrupted or anything

Jobs

the whole thing about sky is there is no “jobs”

no one is forced to work

you can quit or change jobs because everything is basically an art or a genuine love for what they are doing

some sky kids dont have a profession at all, they are simply wanderers or just like vibing and exploring or staying home with their flock or whatever

Death and Rebirth

you dont die in eden

basically your light returns to Megabird and for a while you are one with it until your feather falls down to sky again

reborn as a new moth; people reborn wont remember their past life nor will people from their past life recognize them but they will have similar characteristics to their past life and sometimes feel deja vu from their past life

skids are rarely reborn while their surviving family is still alive as it takes a while for their feather to be shaken off again so past family and reborn moths rarely exist at the same time and even rarer do they meet

skids dont remember what it was like to be one with Megabird but they know that it is nice and Megabird is kind so people dont fear natural death

when someone dies its a happy sadness because their family knows they are “whole” again and they will return to sky as well as when the family dies, they will meet up with their loved one in Megabird

Moths learn about the rebirth cycle from a young age but in a soft happy way

Spirits-??? still unnamed

arent actually spirits, cause they arent dead yet

basically they were the species Megabird sent down before the sky kids

they've lived in sky a long time before sky kids

they have a very long life span so when we arrive they are tired from their long life which is why they rarely move from the area theyre in

a year to sky kids is like a day to them so they are content to watch us enjoy ourselves and be so lively and free

they still give us the cosmetics and such but its like kinda a spell

like your body is made of light and they are teaching you how to manipulate that light into that specific hair or clothing style

The first time they help guide your light into the right shape so you know how it feels and then you can recreate it

Kinda like this

the spirits having the skykids just sit down while they give like a magic lesson lol. One spirit standing with a bunch of lil skykids sitting around them on the ground staring up at them with awe. It’s dark out, and you can clearly see that they are a spirit. The stars are twinkling up in the sky and then they start to demonstrate how to make their hairstyle. The spirit is like “now follow my hand movements” and then they do like a twirly thing with their hands and lights are sparkling around their hands and poof! Wow suddenly a hairstyle! “Now let us go through the movements together. Picture [insert cosmetic here]. Feel your light magic flow through you. Feel it building in between your hands.” The little skykids follow and mimic what the spirit showed them

you can get all the cosmetics, including seasonal cosmetics and past ults

ults are more rare as they are only given by quest givers to those they like or gain their favor

some give out ults more easily than other, everyone has flight ults as Ms Flight gives them out freely but Prophecy or Gratitude’s ults are harder to obtain due to them being more picky/higher standards

Clothing/Cosmetics

because the cosmetics are the spirits teaching you how to manipulate your light, theres no physical object you obtain

if you buy clothes or a mask that another sky kid made, that would be physical and you would have to pick it up and put it on, to replace the spell you’re wearing

if you are wearing a sky kid made cosmetic, you have to take it off like actual clothes

the only cosmetic a sky kid cant make is a new style of hair due to that being pure light and you cant cut that

some of the older sky kids can combine two or three hairs to make a new style, but that takes a lot of discipline and concentration to achieve which is why only older kids can do it

researchers are looking into making new hair style spells but unsuccessful so far

Skids can talk and emotes and calls arent a thing, you can see and talk to people without lighting or friending them

Bc of this you have to actually learn to dance and do the various emotes, you cant just perfectly copy it

Economy

There isnt rlly any

money doesnt exist

usually sky kids will just give things away for free or trade things

like if youre a seamstress and you want a special wood carving you can offer an outfit or something in exchange

people are incredibly kind and if you give them something for free, they will remember it and be sure to pay it back later

Bc of this its next to impossible to be poor

you dont have to buy or pay for a house

if youre down on your luck, people will just help you out, giving you clothes and food, a place to stay for a while so you can look for your own house comfortably

Housing

since sky kids are so nomadic almost? many families will have more than one house in different areas

they have their permanent house which is where they live most of the time and have most of their stuff in

sky kids will have extra, usually smaller houses, in other areas to vacation in or move to if they want a change of scenery for a while or if they travel a lot

they can stay in their extra house while passing through, like a large family could have a big house in village of dreams but then have a beach house in Binial for when they want to adopt a moth or one in Hirthlim to stay in while passing through or maybe they’ll get a house just cause it looks pretty while passing by

houses are free

there are sky kids that just build them for fun and as long as its structurally sound, they can build it however they want

so theres many different types and colors and shapes of houses and lots of empty free ones

if you want a house, you simply need to hang a wreath of flowers on the door to show its claimed and that no one else can have it

every house has basic furniture which is needed because if you a wandering sky kid, you can stay in an empty unclaimed house for a day or two instead of sleeping outside, though some still do that

theres not rlly any hotels, well there is a couple in Valem and Empyrean but you mainly go there as a vacation, to relax and not have to cook your own food or make your own bed or anything

Army

sky doesnt have an army, cause theres nothing to fight

there are people who like spar for fun, like boxing or martial arts or like archery and fencing

most sky kids are trained in basic survival like climbing and fishing, just in case for when they are out exploring or wandering

most people are nice but there are a very very small amount of sky kids that others might need to defend themselves against

Calendar

Normal january to december, 24 hours, monday to sunday system

they have clocks to keep track but nobody really bothers with them

they go off of the sun or moon in the sky and its always a vague time

if they do use a clock, like two friends could agree to meet at like 3 pm and it wouldn't be uncommon for them to actually meet at 3:30-4 pm

scribes in the library are the ones keeping track of the years and major events and such

Holidays

each holiday lasts a month, so there are 12 major holidays

people dont celebrate every single day of the month obviously but it makes it easier to meet far away friends and family and making time for everyone, plus the mood and festivities can continue for longer

most of the holidays are based off of ones already in the game but theres two ive added and ive changed the others to fit better

Days of Fortune-Fortune

January, specifically the first as the big celebration day obvi

theres fireworks and wishing everyone happiness and success

its incredibly popular time to change professions or try something new

moths come down more often in isle as well

Days of Love-Love

February, specifically mid feb

this is when you just let people you know you love them

adoptions and confessions are very common during Love

its a very soft emotional month

Days of Prayer-Prayer

March

this is when everyone thanks Megabird for all its done and wishes it well in it’s journey through the universe

usually they ask for advice or wishes during this month as its rude to do it any other month

this is also generally the month when moths learn more about Megabird and the religion

Days of Bloom-Bloom

April

celebrating the start of spring

the flowers are blooming and the air is sweet

everyone is energized for the coming months

moths born during this time are more playful than most

Days of Nature-Nature

May

everyone takes a little time to appreciate the world they live in and how well it takes care of them and they take care of it

people visit their favorite locations and enjoy the scenery

photo taking and painting/sketching rises dramatically in this month as everyone wants a memory of where they’ve been

Days of Rainbow-Rainbow

June

rainbows appear frequently around the world of sky

due to the fact that Megabird flies in front of the sun and the rainbows are a sliver of its brilliance reflected on the world

Days of Sovereign-Sovereign

July

this was the month that either Resh was born or made king, depending who you ask

generally people send gifts to him as thanks or be grateful for the services he provides such as the boat transportation system and the researchers

Days of Summer-Summer

August

the crops are growing and being harvested food is plentiful

it's a time for long days of hard rewarding work and storing the food away for feast

sky kids that arent farmers come to help them with either temporary labor or taking care of them after the long days in the fields

Days of Lights-Lights

September

Megabird draws closer to Sky so everyone’s light grows brighter so for this month people start glow

the glow starts at the beginning of sept grows brighter and then mid month starts to dim so by the end of sept everyone is normal again

moths born in this month naturally glow a little year round and is the brightest sky kids during lights, makes them very easy to spot

Days of Mischief-Mischief

October

time for funny pranks and tricks

everyone can dress up and be a little crazy

it's a giggley time and people are relaxing after the harvest

Days of Remembrance-Remembrance

November

this is when people remember those who are gone

its days of the dead type thing

its a sad kind of happy, cause they know their loved ones are safe and well and theyll see them again and it isnt forever, theyll return to sky one day

they cooked their favorite foods and visit their favorite places and tell stories and memories about them

its a very mellow time

Days of Feast-Feast

December

they've celebrated their lost family now time to celebrate their current family

huge huge meals

people coming from all over to meet up, gifts are given and merry times are had

Basically you have Remembrance with remembering your dead family and friends, then Feast with appreciating your living family and friends and then Fortune where you look forward to new family and friends to come

Realm specific holidays

Binial- they celebrate every time a new moth is born of, they make sure to mark down the exact date and time so the moth can always know when to celebrate; they also celebrate fortune extra hard

Digarem- celebrates when a group of mantas completes training or there is a particularly big catch of fish

Hirthlim doesnt have many forest specific celebrations, sometimes flight will have a “theres no mail for a few days lets chill” celebration

sometimes older vets will go out and dance in particularly heavy rainfalls

some specific artisan groups will celebrate the completion of a big project or a particularly good mine from the caves

but the only forest wide celebration seems to be the quiet mourning that comes with finding someone turned to ash too early

Valem has so many celebrations that people physically can't celebrate them all so they just celebrate what's important to them, there's sports celebrations and arts celebrations and family ones

Gaial also doesn’t have many celebrations just the first planting, first harvest, end of growing, last harvest, everything stored til feast

Empyrean has a random assortment of celebrations, most of them religious or related to the researchers/scribes, i never finished the religion so maybe i should do that lol

Food

basically there's a lot of fish and crab dishes

there's food crabs and pet crabs but pet crabs get a distinct marking painted on their back so people know not to eat it

Crabs aren't corrupted yet and thus are passive

but those are the only meats in sky, so its mostly vegetarian foods and such

they do have eggs from birds but they grow like corn and sugar and wheat and rice and such

how it works

basically everything is made/grown with light from the sun which is Megabird so food is what helps grow and maintain your light

when sky kids are younger the effects are more obvious, they gain more stars on their back and cape strength

when they get older and this slows down, food helps maintain the amount of light u have and basically like slows the aging process

because aging is just losing your stars and food makes that happen slower so food is vital to growth and maintaining a sky kids light

people also tend to eat a lot more often in forest to survive the draining rain and replenish their light so it's less likely they'll die and can stand out in the rain longer

Arts

Every art is revered

Everyone plays their part and enjoys what they do and its incredibly important because it’s what people fill their lives with

Theres no job to do, no money to worry about, no school that you must attend so people have time to fill with whatever arts they chose

Spirits do still hand out music sheets to those who ask but they don’t make new ones

Sky kids can and do create new sheets to share with others

i am only now realizing how long this, oh god. i should have split the world and the culture into two posts or something, im really sorry Amity (is that your name? i just guessed from ur username) but heyyy uh if u manage to read all this, good job! and also im dying to talk about this again so yea just reblog this with whatever questions or comments or anything u got

#sky cotl #sky lore #fan lore #im so sorry for how long this is #i got excited #>< so its like way too many pages long #hopefully that doesnt scare you off...#guess we'll see #so uh yea hope you enjoy this?

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ohtumbly · 9 months

Text

Little Miss Naughty the Hat Thief

Written by me

Artstyle: My style

It takes place around current day

It's a bright and sunny morning in Misterland and Little Miss Splendid was walking in the park with her poodle, Fifi. She got tired and sat on a bench.

Fifi knocked her hat off and fell onto the other side of the bench.

When Little Miss Splendid looked at the other side of the bench, a pair of purple hands snatched her hat and it was gone.

Little Miss Naughty snuck up somewhere around Crosspatch Cottage where Mr. Grumpy was plucking the flowers from his garden, as usual.

Little Miss Naughty took out a bow and a plunger tethered to the bow. Within seconds, Mr. Grumpy suddenly thought that his head felt lighter. He touched his head and didn't feel his hat.

"Someone must have taken my hat!" Said Mr. Grumpy, and he opened the door and went in.

Little Miss Naughty found her way into Nonsenseland and got a fishing rod with a three-way hook.

There was Little Miss Dotty, Mr. Silly and Mr. Nonsense fishing by a green-coloured lake. Little Miss Naughty climbed up a tree and prepared her fishing rod.

The hook grabbed all three hats from their heads. However, the hats came loose and slipped off the hook.

"Hey, this hat is much taller." Said Little Miss Dotty with Mr. Silly's hat on her head.

"Well Miss Dotty, that's my hat. The one on me is much rounder." Said Mr. Silly.

"Mr. Silly, you're wearing my hat. This one felt much broader." Said Mr. Nonsense.

"That's mine." Said Little Miss Dotty.

And they spent the rest of the afternoon swapping hats until they finally got the right ones.

Meanwhile, Little Miss Naughty went on to grab more hats from more of her friends.

She took Mr. Cheerful's hat and Mr. Cheerful shyly covered his three hairs with his hand.

She took Mr. Snooty's shiny black hat.

She took Mr. Small's tiny little hat and wore it on her thumb.

She took Mr. Topsy-Turvy's upside-down hat and wore it upside down.

She tried to take Mr. Funny's hat. She sniffed the flower and sneezed, then the flower squirted grape jelly on her nose.

By the time the sun has set, Little Miss Naughty has a tower of hats on her head.

Little Miss Fickle ran up to Mr. Forgetful and told him what happened.

"Mr. Forgetful, my hat has disappeared! No, no. I think I should say, vanished! Or how about, perished!"

Then Little Miss Neat came up towards Mr. Forgetful.

"My hat is gone! I've ironed it last night!"

Little Miss Fickle looked at Mr. Forgetful's head. "Mr. Forgetful, you're hat's missing."

"Wait, was it?" Then Mr. Forgetful touched his head.

"Oh dear." He said.

Little Miss Chatterbox looked all around Chatterbox Cottage for Mr. Chatterbox's hat. She got very tired and fell on an armchair.

"(puff) (pant) I'm sorry Mr. Chatterbox (puff) I can't find your hat in the house. I've looked everywhere in the house, under the chair, and the table, and in the bath, and under the covers, and in the kitchen..."

"We'll ask Mr. Clever." Began Mr. Chatterbox, "I bet he knows where the hat is."

Mr. Chatterbox didn't want to talk more until he gets his hat back.

Little Miss Chatterbox and Mr. Chatterbox went to Mr. Clever's house and met Mr. Forgetful, and Little Miss Neat, and Little Miss Fickle, there.

"Hello, what are you doing there?" Said Mr. Chatterbox.

Mr. Clever opened the garage door.

"So you've all lost your hats, haven't you? Well I have too. Come in."

"We'll bring in two people as cheeky as Miss Naughty, with hats. Mr. Tickle, and Mr. Mischief, will be dispatched into the forest and hidden in a bush. Mr. Tickle will hold a tree branch and knock the hats off one by one. Mr. Mischief will pick up the hats."

Little Miss Bossy walked on a street and met Little Miss Lucky, who still had her hat on.

"Miss Lucky, my hat is gone and I need it returned as soon as possible. Do you understand?" Little Miss Bossy commanded sternly.

"We'll wait until the culprit drops all the hats. It'll happen at any moment..."

Meanwhile, Little Miss Naughty was walking in the forest, still had the tower of hats on her head. Mr. Tickle took a tree branch and lifted it up. Little Miss Naughty walked under the branch and some hats fell. Mr. Mischief picked up the hats that fell on the ground. One of them was Miss Bossy's hat.

Mr. Rush returned with his hat on his head, and handed Little Miss Bossy her hat.

"Here you go Miss Bossy!"

"See? What did I tell you?" Gleamed Little Miss Lucky.

Mr. Mischief looked around and found a hollow log.

"I might have to break the rule here, but I have a better idea."

Little Miss Naughty continued walking in the forest and looked at the bark of a log.

"Hello Miss Naughtyyyyy..." Said the log. "It's all fun and games until you get a turn..."

Little Miss Naughty ran out of the forest, with all the hats falling off her head and left in a trail.

Out of the forest are all the Mr. Men and Little Misses who hasn't got their hat yet, and Little Miss Lucky stood in the middle.

"And that's how it's done!" Said Mr. Clever.

They all laughed, but Little Miss Naughty didn't.

The hollow log and Mr. Tickle followed the trail, and picked up all the hats left on the ground.

The laughing stopped when the hollow log came out of the forest.

Mr. Tickle pulled Mr. Mischief out of the log.

"It is I, Miss Naughty!"

"Oh, Mr. Mischief!"

And everyone laughed again, this time, Little Miss Naughty joined in.

The next morning, Little Miss Naughty received a gift box. She opened it up and pulled the gift out of the box, and she gasped.

"It's another hat!"

Little Miss Naughty thought about what happened last night, but still tried it on.

Little Miss Naughty walked outside and Little Miss Curious walked towards her.

"What's that on your head Miss Naughty?"

"Uhm...a hat. Someone gave it to me."

"It looks like a man's hat? Who gave it to you?"

Little Miss Curious kept on asking questions, and Little Miss Naughty kept talking.

The more Miss Naughty talked, the hat grew bigger.

So big until it covered her mouth and her arms. She couldn't speak anymore and tried to walk away. She tripped over a stone, fell over, rolled sideways and down a hill.

When she reached the bottom of the hill, the hat shrunk and Little Miss Naughty was left feeling dizzy.

Can you guess who gave her this hat?

That's right. It's Mr. Chatterbox! He was given a hat like this before.

#mr men little miss #little miss #mr men

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madphantom · 3 months

Text

I'm back with a Susan's Hell Sprint snippet:D

Suddenly the Dog raised his head, squinted into the breeze. As if he'd heard someone call, he leaped up and ran into the darkness of the trees.

“Hey, don't run away!”, I yelled and ran after him, but after a few steps I realized he was a great deal faster than me. I turned around. “Any idea where he might have gone?”

Rory chewed his lip.

“Hmmmm,” he said. “A vague one.”

“The cemetery is larger than it looks at first glance,” Rory explained while we walked down an overgrown footpath leading into the direction the Dog had ran. “If you walk through the treeline, you'll find a second chapel and some graves. All abandoned of course.”

I skipped over to his side. “Why abandoned?”

He chuckled. “Fear.”

“Oh? Is this another ghost story?”

“In a way.” We crossed the treeline and instantly, a cold breeze blew my hair out of my face. I shivered. Something fluttered in the treetops.

“Once upon a time there were seven friends who wanted to build a house where they could all live together,” Rory began and his voice was light as the leaves crackling beneath our footsteps. “They looked for a good place for a long time, until finally, they set foot in a valley, and knew it was right. The long grass swaying in the soft breeze, the lake glittering in the pale spring sun, the green hills and fragrant woods…they all seemed to call for someone to find their peace here.”

“I'm gonna go ahead and assume it was this valley.”

His thin lips curled into a fine smile. “You're absolutely correct. As I said, the moment they arrived in this valley, they knew it was their destiny to stay forever. And so the friends began to build a house.

It was a long and tedious process, but they were friends, and they built it with mutual joy and happiness in their hearts. And after seven months, the house was completed, and the friends moved in and celebrated all night long.” He hesitated. “But when they were drunk with wine and unable to defend themselves, tragedy struck.”

A dry branch broke beneath my foot and I jumped. The sudden sound had set the scene.

Rory's voice cracked a little when he continued. “A...a group of intruders broke into their peaceful home, eager for blood and screams. For seven days, the men tortured the friends and murdered them one by one.”

“That took a dark turn,” I commented. For some reason, my heart was drumming.

Rory climbed over a dead, skeletal tree that had fallen over the path and I followed. The bleached wood was smooth and cool under my fingertips.

“Dark turns are frequent here.” He chuckled. “Do you want to hear the rest of the story?”

I shrugged. “Of course.” Then I squinted when I saw the outline of something large among the trees. “What's that?”

“That, my dear, is the abandoned chapel,” Rory explained and we stepped onto the clearing.

The chapel was not gigantic, but also not too small. The bells in the tower occasionally made soft, deep sounds in the wind. Weathered angel statues, their wings chipped and partially broken off, seamed the half open door, guarding the entrance. By the chapel stood seven overgrown gravestones.

Rory walked over to the left side of the row. “The first was drowned in the lake on a moonlit night, and sank like a stone to sleep with the fishes.” His voice was melancholic. “His bones rested among pebbles, algae grew in his ribs and great carps tugged and tore at his white skin and flesh, until the current carried him to the banks and he was found, tangled in the roots of a willow tree.”

He walked over to the second grave and a crow called somewhere in the woods.

“The second was strung up in a tree, and his lifeless body still swayed among the branches for months after, until the rope snapped and he landed in the thorny foliage, tangled up and slowly consumed by the brambles.”

Two steps, the next gravestone.

“The third was given a merciful death by one of the less inhuman crooks, choked by a pillow in the house he had built, the very house he had wanted to find peace in. His body was left in the bed, still sore from the beatings, and blood and skin soaked the once pristine sheets.”

I shivered as he walked over to the next grave.

“The fourth was beaten bloody and senseless, and pushed face down into a roadside pond. Silvery bubbles rose up from among his long hair, but he was unable to move. He died, gargling muddy water, floating just beneath the surface.”

Just like Aunt Dot, I thought and as if he'd read my thoughts he glanced up. “You alright?”

I nodded. “Yes, keep going.”

“The fifth was brought into the hills, his face skinned off with a rusty knife, and he rolled around the rocks and tall grass in anguish and blinding pain, until he succumbed to his wounds.

The sixth was tied to a tree out in the field and starved. For six days he fought the weakness in his bones, until his body gave in and he curled up like a leashed dog and died, his ribcage exposed as if he had already passed a long time ago.”

Something poked me in the side and I flinched. When I looked down the Dog looked back, wagging his tail. I got on my knees and ran my fingers over his soft fur. It was comforting.

“Good boy,” I whispered. When I glanced up, Rory was standing on the side of the seventh grave, his nose scrunched up, as it always was when he was skeptical about something.

“What happened to the seventh friend?”, I asked. “Did they kill him too?”

“Oh.” He smiled a little, but it was an oddly cynical smile. “No, they let him live. Someone has to tell the story, they told him. But they didn't want to make it too easy for him, so they led him to the edge of the woods, where he could just about see the lights of the nearest house, and then they cut his eyes out. And laughing, they left him there, and told him to find someone who'd want to listen to him now.”

“Oh my God.” I paused, breathless. “Did he find the village?”

Rory smiled. “Yes. Yes, as a matter of fact he did. He collapsed on the doorstep of the first house, pleading for help, and help came. A family lived in that house, and they took him in, and they treated his wounds and listened to his story. Meanwhile, a search party set out. They found the six other friends, but the murderers were long gone, and all that was left was the house, and the curtains blowing in the wind, and the moon reflecting in the lake, and the age old peaceful silence in the valley.

Well, what can I say? The six were buried while the seventh still fought for his life in the family's guest bedroom. Three days after the funeral, the fever finally won.

But when he died, he made a promise to that family. He promised that he would not let what had happened to him and his friends turn him into a vengeful revenant. He promised that he would believe in the goodness of humanity. And he would protect it…no matter the cost.”

He trailed off, staring into the shadows among the trees, and I realized his hands were shaking ever so slightly.

“That's a sad story,” I said.

Rory turned to me and smirked. “But it's true.”

#personal post #sarah the novel #susan's hell sprint

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simpdewvalley · 1 year

Text

Year of the OTP Event 2023- Snow (Sambastian)

If there was one thing Sebastian hated, it was snow. He hated how the sticky, wet substance would grip onto his boots each time he went out to smoke a cigarette and the fact that it was too cold and dangerous to take his motorcycle out. When the first snowfall hit, it wasn't hard to see the disdain in his hurting eyes as he looked out the kitchen window. Small flakes of snow flurried about as they fell to the frozen ground where they had already begun to accumulate. He let out a sigh before making his way to the front door to put on his black snow boots. They were still wet from his last smoke break. Once he slipped on his boots, he stepped outside. Not bothering to put on a heavier coat, he began his usual stroll to the lake by his house. This time of year, the lake was frozen enough that one could walk on it.

Sebastian pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He brought a cigarette up to his lips and fished around in his jacket pockets for a lighter. A few moments go by as his hands search for one. Just as he thinks he left it at home, his hand finds one and pulls it out. He takes a long drag and looks out at the lake. Lost in thought, he fails to notice a pair of footsteps crunching behind him in the snow.

"That shit'll kill you, y'know," a familiar voice expressed. It was Sam, Sebastian's best friend.

"So? I'm not afraid of death. You know this," Sebastian replied, taking another drag, "How'd you find me out here anyway?"

"I've noticed you always come out here when you smoke." There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment before Sam spoke up again, "It's really snowy tonight."

"I hate this shit," Sebastian said coldly.

"I dunno if I do. It makes the world seem so beautiful."

Sebastian looked up and noticed the pale snow settling on the treetops across the lake. The wind shifted the branches softly and snow would flutter onto the ground.

"I suppose I can see it," He mumbled insincerely, flicking the ash from his cigarette onto the ground. One of the many things that he liked about Sam was his optimism. There wasn't any situation that Sam couldn't make brighter, even if it was something Sebastian hated as much as the snow. He looked over and saw Sam standing next to him, his typical jean jacket replaced by a heavy winter coat. His blue jeans were torn from the many times he had fallen off his skateboard, which rested at his side, and a red beanie concealed Sam's blond hair. Everything about him made Sebastian's heart skip a beat. He finished his cigarette and put it out in the snow before stuffing the butt into his jacket pocket to dispose of later. "Let's head inside."

Sam fidgeted with his gloves, "Actually, let's stay out here. It's the first snowfall of the year. We should enjoy it together."

"I guess so," Sebastian replied, "Just not too long though."

Sam's eyes lit up and he bent down on the ground to pick up some snow. He turned around for a moment before suddenly a snowball hit Sebastian in the face. Completely unamused, he scoffed at the blond, who was laughing.

"I totally got you good." Sam giggled. Sebastian couldn't lie, he loved the sound of Sam's laughter. It was always contagious.

"Whatever," Sebastian griped, wiping the excess snow off of his face before pulling another cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it, "Don't do it again."

"C'mon man, you're no fun," Sam teased. He looked over at Sebastian, who was holding a cigarette with his bare hand, "Aren't you cold?"

"No, I don't get cold," Sebastian muttered. Sam reached down and grabbed his free hand, effectively making him blush.

"Really? Then why's your hand cold as ice?" He asked.

Sebastian didn't have an answer. Instead, he let his hand linger in Sam's for a little too long before pulling it away. His face heated up at the warm touch of his friend.

"You okay?" Sam asked, "You're really red."

"I'm fine," Sebastian sighed, looking away, clearly embarrassed.

"Alright. If you say so," Sam murmured as he looked over at Sebastian. His medium-length raven hair was slightly disheveled from the breeze and he could see both of Sebastian's eyes- a feature that he often missed. His mocha brown orbs seemed filled with emotion, though Sam couldn't figure out what. Sam turns his eyes away from the male and looks up at the snowflakes falling from the sky. A smile glances across his lips as he sticks his tongue out, catching a snowflake or two. Sebastian looks over at Sam and fidgets with the lighter in his pocket. By this point, his cigarette had gone out and he stored the butt with the other in the pocket of his jacket. Sam looks back at Sebastian with his tongue still sticking out, a grin plastering his face. "They don't taste too bad!"

Sebastian looks away for a second before replying, "Really? Then let me taste,"

He grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him in for a chaste kiss, leaving them both blushing like mad. Tension arose in the air when his lips met Sam's. Sam moved his free hand to rest on Sebastian's arm. When they pull away, Sam rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I-I... I didn't know you felt the same way," He muttered.

Sebastian didn't respond and instead interlocked his fingers with Sam's, rubbing the back of his hand gently with his palm.

"Let's go inside," Sebastian murmurs, looking at Sam.

"Y-Yeah."

As the two turn to walk away, Sebastian takes one last glance across the frozen lake. The trees still dancing in the wind and the snow still scurrying about. Sebastian starts to see some of the beauty that Sam was talking about. After all, the snow was what got him to confess, right? Maybe the snow isn't so bad after all.

#Year of the OTP #Year of the OTP 2023 #sambastian #sam x sebastian #stardew valley sam #stardew sam #stardew valley sebastian #stardew sebastian #sdv sam #sdv sebastian #safe for work #stardew valley #stardew #sdv #just a cute lil drabble I wrote #mlm #fanfiction

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immortality-becomes-you · 1 month

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RUMORS•e. munson

masterlist

chapter 9

Ziggy and Eddie had settled back into the boathouse, creating games to occupy themselves. They had decided on their own version of beer pong, only the ping pong ball was a pebble and the cup was an empty can.

"So, how many of them do you actually know?" Ziggy asked before pelting the rock on the ground, watching it tumble to the left.

"Who is 'them'?" Eddie asked, taking his turn. His shoulder brushed against hers as he tossed the pebble.

"Harrington, Robin, Dustin-" she listed off. Eddie cut her off with a small 'oh'.

"Just Henderson. He's really close with Steve, though. I know Wheeler's brother, too." He replied, keeping his eyes on the can as her pebble bounced off. He hissed as she threw her head back in despair.

"Is he anything like Nancy?" Eddie scoffed at the thought.

"Nah, he's a little freak. Loves D&D and his girlfriend from California." Ziggy raised her eyebrow at the picture she had in her head.

"Then he probably doesn't have one at all. Sounds made up to me." Eddie drew his hand back, ready to launch his rock before freezing. He tilted his head in thought, turning to Ziggy with a look of suspicion.

"Ya know, Henderson has a supposed girlfriend from out of state, too." Ziggy let out a low whistle, raising her brows. Eddie chuckled, finally throwing the rock and landing it in the can. He snapped his fingers and chucked darkly as Ziggy rolled her eyes at his celebration. She turned to mock him when she heard something. Putting her hand on his arm, she halted Eddie's movements and enveloped them in silence. A car was pulling in the drive. Eddie looked at her before his eyes shot to the window. Quietly, Ziggy walked in a crouched position until she could peer out. Her breath hitched. Eddie crouched behind her, resting one hand on her back and the other on the window sill next to her head.

"It's Jason." She whispered, ducking down when he glanced their way. Ziggy scurried to his pile of belongings, fishing his walkie out of one of the pockets as Eddie fumbled with something behind her.

"Hello? Dustin? Or whoever can hear, are you there?" She mumbled into the walkie. Upon hearing no response, she tried again.

"If you're there, we need help. This is a code red, emergency, life or death problem! Hello?" She turned to Eddie in a panic.

"Eddie, they're not answering." She sounded like she was ready to cry. He crouched down in front of her and held her by the shoulders.

"Okay, we've gotta go." Her eyes widened, ready to shake her head. He cut off her movements by nodding his.

"Yes, we do. Get in the boat." She froze, eyeing the hunk of wood.

"Eddie-"

"We don't have time-"

"Eddie, I don't know if I can swim." Eddie froze at her uncertain statement. He tilted his head, leaning closer with a panicked expression.

"You don't know if you can swim, or you can't swim?" Ziggy hesitated, staring at the boat with fear. Eddie shook his head.

"Doesn't matter; I'll be careful, okay? But we have to leave now." With a shallow, shaky breath, Ziggy stumbled to her feet. Eddie held her by the arm and helped her climb into the boat despite her shaking limbs. He released the boat from its chain and pushed off, sending them into the lake. Eddie paddled the boat while Ziggy kept her eyes on the house. He had sent them a good thirty feet into the lake when she spotted two figures rush out onto the lawn. She reached her hand forward, clutching onto him by his vest.

"Eddie-"

"Hey, freak!" Jason yelled across the lake. Eddie turned around to face him, cursing under his breath. Ziggy lightly shoved his shoulder forward with a whimper.

"Keep paddling!" She instructed as Jason started to shed his clothing.

"Where do you think you're going?!" He jumped into the water, bringing Patrick with him as they swam after them. Eddie moved to the motor, trying to start it. He yanked the chord repeatedly as they drew closer.

"Fuck it." He grumbled, moving back to the front to paddle while Ziggy shifted behind him, pulling the chord herself in an attempt to get it to start. Jason was right behind them.

"Go faster!" She yelled looking behind her to glare at the back of Eddie's head.

"I'm trying-" Eddie glanced behind him, eyes widening when he saw Jason reach up. Eddie lurched forward, trying to grab a hold of Ziggy before Jason could pull her into the water, but failing. Ziggy let out a screech as Jason's hand yanked her into the water by her hair. Eddie stood in the boat and held his oar up in the air, ready to swing. Ziggy tried to kick to the surface on her own, but found herself unable to breathe until Jason pulled her afloat himself.

"Ive got your girl, freak. Where are you gonna go now?" Jason looked behind him, ready to ask Patrick for backup. Ziggy gurgled on the water as Jason lost focus on keeping her above the water.

"Patrick, let's go! We've almost got him!" Suddenly, Patrick fell beneath the surface. Jason called his name again, hoisting Ziggy up further. Suddenly, Patrick shot into the air. Eddie lost his balance, tumbling backwards into the water. Ziggy gasped as his limbs started to snap, just like Eddie had described. She held her breath until every bone in his body was broken and he was released, plummeting into the water. Finally, Ziggy let out an ear piercing, horrified scream. Jason let go of her suddenly, submerging her in the water as he swam to his dead friend. Water was sucked into Ziggy's mouth, choking her as she flailed around beneath the surface. Eddie dove down, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her up for air. As soon as she inhaled, she choked on a cough, sending her into a fit and water sputtered out of her mouth.

"Cmon baby, kick." Eddie mumbled in her ear, struggling to get them to the boat. He held her to his chest and did a backstroke, keeping her head above the water. When she caught her breath, she immediately began weeping at what she had just witnessed. Eddie clutched into the side of the boat, pulling her in close enough so that he could latch her hands onto the side. His arms caged her in as she faced the wood, tilting her head up to keep from swallowing any more water. One of Eddie's hands left the boat to cradle the side of her head, pressing a kiss to the other side.

"I know, baby. I know." He mumbled into the side of her head as she let out a whimper. He wordlessly startled working her up and into the boat, where she laid her head down in her hands until he could manage to climb in after her. When he was settled in, he worked on getting them to shore and away from the scene where Jason held Patrick up in the water. He didn't say anything until they were on solid ground. Ziggy silently helped him pull the boat onto shore. Eddie stared at the ground with shaky hands, only looking up when Ziggy started to walk away from him with her hands on her head. He scrambled after her, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her back to face him.

"Hey, you've gotta stay with me." He quietly instructed. Her breathing was picking up. Ziggy's hands clenched into fists as she replayed the scene over and over again. Eddie shook her eyes open by jerking her shoulder.

"Hey, listen to me." He snapped in front of her, staring down at her in the darkness. She dropped her hands down to his shoulders, staring up at him.

"It's gonna be okay." She let out a sob, losing it again. Eddie's face dropped, pulling her into his chest where she could cry quietly. She gasped suddenly, covering her mouth with her hands and pulling away to look up at him in horror.

"Oh my god, Eddie, I'm so sorry." Her voice strained at the end, dying off into a squeak as the words caught in her throat. He had been telling the truth the entire time. He nodded, pulling her in closer again.

"It's okay. Now you know." He caressed her wet hair. When Ziggy's cries died down, she suggested getting away from the waterline, to which Eddie agreed. As they ventured deeper into the woods, Eddie began to recognize their surroundings.

"Hey, I think we're by skull rock." He mumbled. Ziggy clutched his arm as they walked, jumping at every small sound. Eddie lead the way, heading in the direction he thought the landmark was. He gasped when he found it, relaxing the slightest bit despite feeling Ziggy's trembling hands around his bicep and forearm. Eddie was the first to climb under the rock, spreading his legs wide enough for Ziggy to settle between them. She crawled closer to him, pressing her back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against his body. She had crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself warm, her hands finding Eddie's that were clutched to her front. As they sat on the cold ground, they started to shiver due to the night air chilling their wet clothes and damp hair. Eddie let go of one of her hands, making her panic slightly as she tightened her grip on his other hand, looking at him over her shoulder. Eddie shushed her, using his free hand to pull her hair over her shoulder. He leaned in closer, clutching her hand again and resting his chin on her warm shoulder as she looked forward once more.

The silence made Ziggy think. She was always a thinker, but the revelation that everything Dustin and Robin had been talking about for the last few days called upon some reflecting.

"I'm so sorry, Eddie." She whispered, letting her head fall back on his shoulder with closed eyes and a pained expression. Eddie shuffled his sprawled out legs, straightening his back against the rock he had been leaning upon.

"For what?"

"Everything. Not believing you, not talking about it, leaving you at the boathouse-"

"Hey, none of this is your fault." He ran his hand up and down her arm, looking at her from the awkward angle. Ziggy shook her head for a second, stopping when she felt herself bumping into him.

"I know. I just-I should've taken it all more seriously."

"Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to take things seriously when everyone is talking about a dark wizard and little girls with superpowers." Eddie smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood. Ziggy's eyes opened, staring at the underside of the rock that was leaned above them.

"Poor Chrissy." She whispered, thinking about the sweet girl who must have been so scared. Eddie frowned, pursing his lips.

"Yeah, poor Chrissy." He nodded. Ziggy finally turned to look him in the eyes. She licked her lips in thought.

"You've been dealing with all of this, and I was talking to you about college." Her voice seemed to falter at the memory, laced with regret and disappointment. Eddie furrowed his brows.

"I'm the one who brought that up. I wanted to talk about other stuff. It helped get my mind off of things."

"Even when we talked about sad stuff?" She questioned. Eddie's eyes shifted down to her pouted mouth and back up to her eyes.

"Even then." They looked at one another in silence for a few moments. Ziggy's chest shook as she exhaled a deep breath.

"When I told you to leave last winter-" she started, hoping that talking about 'sad stuff' would take her mind off of things too. Eddie gazed down at her with glassy eyes.

"-I didn't actually think that it would be, like, permanent?" The end came across as a question. Eddie furrowed his brows, nodding for her to continue as her eyes welled up.

"Like, I just figured that we'd end up talking again. Like the bullying would stop and we'd pick up where we left off, or we'd bump into each other after graduation or something." Eddie's eyes flickered down in thought.

"But even when I thought it would only be for a little bit, I was so sad." His attention found her eyes again, finding a small tear run down her cheek. He brought his finger up to brush it away, keeping it rested on her face as she continued.

"Because I wanted you with me right then and there. And then time passed and the bullying didn't stop. We never bumped into each other. Nothing happened. It was like I did all of that for nothing." Her chest shook as she tried her best to hold back her tears.

"I was kinda relieved at the boathouse cause I thought that maybe I was right about it all and we were gonna make up and all of this would go away and we could hang out again. But-" she swallowed the lump in her throat, shaking her head in fear.

"-but Eddie, this is so much more than I thought it was. I really might never see you again." Eddie shook his head, pulling her closer to his chest with a solemn expression. She cried into his arm as he pressed a small kiss to the side of her head.

"It's gonna be okay. We're gonna figure it out." He reassured despite feeling doubtful himself.

#eddie munson #imagine #netflix #stranger things #stranger things 4 #fanfic #joseph quinn

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queenofonions · 6 months

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Love in the Afternoon

Summary: A tender moment between Luna and Ginny.

Ginny fell from the portkey vortex in a dizzied heap. She lay there for several minutes, catching her breath and soaking in the heat from the high afternoon sun. The grass was warm under her hands, leaching away the lingering chill from the sodden quidditch uniform she wore.

The light summer rain they had been practicing in had whipped into a torrential beast that exhausted everyone, but it was only when lightening had obliterated the snitch that the captain finally called it and sent the team home.

Ginny had not even bothered to change before activating her personal portkey. Her wand was strapped to her forearm and she could have easily cast a drying spell over herself, but the relief of being home after such a wretched morning made her limbs and mind pleasantly heavy.

She rested the backs of her hands against her eyes to block the sun. The scent of flowers wafted over her and she took a few moments to breathe it in.

Just a few moments...

...

Luna closed the basket on the plimpies she had caught, took up her fishing net and made her way back home, enjoying the feel of the mud by the lake as it squished between her bare toes. She wore a gauzy white summer dress in deference to the heat of the day and left her long blonde hair loose and flowing down her back, her wand tucked behind her ear as usual.

It was a short walk back to the rook-shaped house, where she stowed away her net and set the basket on a picnic table. She summoned a fillet knife from the kitchen and directed it to clean and prepare the plimpies.

As she tucked her wand behind her ear again, she heard the bass-toned gonging of the windchime that announced the activation of a homing portkey.

"Ginny," she breathed, her face beaming, and at once headed down the lane toward the stretch of meadow half a kilometer from the house. Luna easily spotted the small daisies that blanketed the warded area and felt the magic wash over as she passed through, disappearing from view to the outside world.

The sight of Ginny dozing amongst the flowers made Luna's heart clench sweetly in her chest.

She sank down onto the grass next to her and tilted her head quizzically as she looked Ginny over, noticing the state of her uniform and the deep pink of her cheeks and nose.

She dried the uniform with a wave of her wand down the length of Ginny's body, but the redhead did not wake. One kneepad hung loose so she gently unlaced it completely and transfigured it into an extra large beach umbrella to shade them both from the sun.

Luna looked around her and plucked a handful small daisies, placing them one by one in Ginny's hair like a crown. Her fingers stroked through a long lock of red hair and lifted it to brush the silkiness across her own cheek, then her lips. She flicked the end of the lock softly across Ginny's nose and finally Ginny stirred, scrunching her nose and blinking sleepily.

The sight of Luna made Ginny smile and her heart swoop with delight. "Luna, love," she breathed and caught the blonde's hand up to kiss her fingers.

Luna hummed in pleasure and leaned over to press sweet kisses over Ginny's cheeks, forehead, nose, and lips.

Ginny cupped her cheek and pulled her closer, taking the kiss deeper, sipping at her lips and licking into her mouth until Luna was draped over her body and they were both breathing heavily.

Luna pulled back a little and shifted against Ginny with a slight frown. "I'm glad I dried your uniform, but it is quite uncomfortable to lie on."

Ginny freed her wand from its strap and grinned. "I can take care of that." A swish and twirl of the wand removed that obstacle completely.

Luna's eyes danced merrily, "Oh, thank you, that's much better." She stretched her body out over Ginny's again and sighed dreamily as their curves fit snugly against each other. "Mmmm, that's just lovely."

Ginny laughed, wrapped her arms tight around the woman she loved and kissed her again amongst the flowers.

AO3 (pen name Xedra on AO3)

#harry potter fanfic #ginny weasley #luna lovegood #ginny x luna #my fic #ficlet #i made this #fluff #romance #xedra

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tryingtocomeupwithagoodname · 6 months

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THE HOUSE ON THE SEA

Bassemere was a large town situated near a lake. It lay just on the edge of the city of Davensport, the last form of civilization before the black sea. Bassenmere wasn’t well known for anything of great value. Its wares were as such that could be bought anywhere in Adonia. Its people were both as friendly as the friendliest village and as unfriendly as the unfriendliest town in Adonia too. Overall, it was a fairly average town and a great place for someone looking to hide.

Or, it would have been had there been any way for Rome to make a living.

It turned out the rumours of the physician needing a runner for his medicines was a lie. Or, not a lie so much as the position was filled by the time Rome and Comet made it to Bassenmere. The blacksmith had no use for them, nor the merchants or the taverns. With their coin steadily running out Rome had tried his hand at fishing just to save himself from buying a meal for two.

His boots were sold to the first boy who asked, Comet giving him a dark look as Rome waved them on their way. “We’re not that desperate yet,” Comet grumbled.

Rome had shrugged, his boots having been a pain since the moment he’d bought them. “Just because we don’t need the money now doesn’t mean we won’t need it in the future. You never know, those three coins might be the difference between a good meal or no meal at all.”

Comet didn’t agree. Truthfully Comet had been jumpy ever since they had ran from Owltree. Rome couldn’t blame him. Sometimes Rome too woke in the night needing to check Comet’s neck was still in one piece. But for the most part Rome had waved their stay in Owltree away. Paris hadn’t gotten a good look at them. Even if he did figure out that the maid he’d brought up to his rooms had been Rome there had been a bonnet and dress distracting away from his face. Paris was still as lost in his search as he had been when he’d begun it. Maybe more so with Rome shedding his Othranian wear for a more Adonian one.

“Those boots helped you blend in,” Comet said, climbing onto Rome’s shoulder. “People will think you’re poor now.”

“I am poor,” Rome reminded him. Just because they had received one good pay did not mean their money troubles were over. Far from it as Rome looked around for anywhere that might be advertising for a job. “We may have to move again.”

“Not Davensport,” Comet said. He had a problem with Davensport.. Ever since he’d heard people had gone missing he’d been adamant that Rome steer well away from it. Rome thought he was being a little dramatic. People went missing everywhere. Most likely they had been contacted onto a ship and had forgotten to tell their loved ones. That was usually the way of it in Othra. Rome’s mother used to warn him day and night not to go to the drinking halls when the sailors were recruiting. They had tactics that made even the army wary. One such being plying a man with drink until he could barely stand. He’d wake that next morning on a ship with his name signed to a years contract and no say about it.

Still, “Not Davensport,” Rome agreed. Davensport, like all big cities, was a little too expensive for them. “I’ll have a think.” Which he did over their map.

The problem with a lot of towns was that they had just the right amount of people living in it. Everyone knew of a cousin or an aunt or even a long lost sibling that could fill a role if it was made available, meaning it was hard for someone like Rome to find a position. In big cities or small villages that was where the jobs lay. No one wanted to work in the middle of nowhere unless they were born there. Just the same, everyone wanted to work in a big city until they realised how hard it was to live in one. People came and left like the tide. Meaning perhaps they would have better luck moving to the little village just a day's walk from Bassenmere.

“One more night,” he made sure to splurge on, counting out the three bronze coins it took to stay at the local tavern here. One of the problems with small villages was that they had either really cheap rooms or really expensive ones. Rome refused to take the risk before he had one last night of a decently priced room here.

Comet didn’t disagree either. Not when Rome filled the tin bathtub for him. A candle lit and food on its way up Comet spent his evening splashing about like a newborn pup as Rome decided the best way to travel to Hookanshare.

He reached for his goblet, the water low. It was low in their pitcher too, Rome sighing before telling Comet not to answer the door.

The bar was busy when he clambered downstairs. There was a bard playing, a new song about a lady losing her voice barely made its way over the chatter of the townspeople. Rome got in line for the bar.

“It’s busy,” Rome noted to the bartender.

He got a nod in response, Daisy taking his pitcher from him. “The games are starting in Davensport next week. People are preparing to travel. We have rooms booked up as more pass through,” she sent him a pointed look.

“We’re leaving tomorrow.,” he promised.

She handed the pitcher over, rome sending her his most winning smile as he turned and promptly knocked it all over the man behind him. He was starting to wonder if people just stood too close to him or he had some innate ability to spill liquid only when someone was behind him..

Either way the man took it in good spirits, wiping himself off and brushing away any apology Rome tried to send his way. “My fault,” he said, hailing Daisy for another pitcher. Another two actually. “So you don’t have to come back down. It’s a bit busy tonight.”

Rome nodded. Then, since guilt was still eating away from him offered, “I can dry your tunic for you if you like. I have a room here, the fire’s already lit. It’ll be dry by the time you leave.” And it wasn’t like he would be the only shirtless patron. These games were causing the ale to flow a bit too freely.

“I’m not staying too long,” he said.

“Still,” Rome pressed. “I’d hate for you to catch a cold.”

The man relented, following Rome up the stairs to his room. He looked younger than he had in the bar downstairs. Or maybe it was because Rome wasn’t constantly looking at his tunic that he finally took in the man’s face. He couldn’t be that much older than Rome, his hair a dark brown that complimented his olive skin nicely. There was a sword hung across his back he took off at the door, handing over his tunic not long after.

“Is that a rat?” The man asked.

“Otter,” Rome answered before Comet could, sending a pointed look Comet’s way. They’d agreed that part of their disguise would be Comet keeping quiet. A talking otter wasn’t exactly a common thing in Adonia. Travelling with an otter at all wasn’t really a common thing here either. But it wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Rome had spied a man with an actual bear the other week in his rooms. “He’s a little wary of strangers so I would keep my distance.” He hung the tunic over the iron grate. “I’m Rome by the way.”

“Santiago,” he shook Rome’s hand.”Do I detect an accent?”

“I’m from the mountain range,” they were said to have odd accents. At least, Paris had told him they had odd accents when they were younger. “I take it you’re here for the games.” Santiago didn’t seem local. Rome had been here long enough to pester the majority of the population in Bassenmere and Santiago didn’t strike a chord in his memory.

“Guilty,” he grinned. “And yourself? You look like you’re handy with a sword.”

“Hah!” Oh he was serious. “Oh. No. I er, I wish I was but…” he shrugged. It was kind of hard to explain that growing up poor meant he had to spend more of his time running around doing errands for his mother than picking up a sword like other boys his age. “I can handle a knife alright but swords were usually for hunters where I grew up.” Hunters and guards. “But you’re a swordsman?” Rome guessed since, well, there was one literally lying by his doorway.

“I’m okay,” Santiago said in that way all warriors did when they didn’t want to brag about their skills too much. “I’m hoping to be better.”

“You win a big prize right? If you win a game?” There were a bunch of them. Archery, running, javelin, sword. They had something similar in Othra. Except less bloodsport. The rules here were a lot better when it came to keeping their competitors safe. Rome thought they made it a lot more boring. He’d always drifted off when someone started comparing the games in Adonia to the ones at home to him.

Still, “A chance to serve in the High King’s army if I can win three different categories,” Santiago agreed. “Maybe even a knighthood if they like the look of me.”

Which meant… Paris would be coming to this side of the country for these games… he should have paid more attention in his lessons. “That’s great!” He had to leave. “I’ll root for you.” Far far away from here.

Santiago talked a bit more about the games. How he hoped Paris and his sister would be there this year. How Orland always made an effort to show up since he was the one who decided who could join his personal guard. The more Santiago talked the more uneasy Rome felt. Comet was uneasy too. He’d abandoned his bath as soon as he heard Orland would be present, curling himself up on Rome’s lap as he, like Rome, probably thought of where in this large country they could hide.

Santiago, like he said, couldn’t stay too long. “I have one more stop to make before the games. I was supposed to journey there long before now but my mother was struck with dropping.” Rome thought he was making a considerate face. He knew how horrible dropping was. Some of the servants he’d grown up with had gotten it at one point, all of them blaming the Adonian’s since, apparently, it was unheard of before they had started making frequent trips to their shores. It was rather hard to know what his face was doing however since half of his mind was still occupied with running away. “My brother offered to go for me but he had to stay home when my father…” he shook his head. “A lot happened anyway.”

“Is it important?” Rome asked.

“Well,” Santiago stood, fetching his sword from the doorway, “my sword,” he took it out of its scabbard, “it’s been in my family for three generations now. It has always brought me luck which was why I had hoped to compete with the matching knife it was forged with. I found its owner a few months ago, after years of searching, and, like I said, was supposed to fetch it before now.” He sighed, admiring his blade in the firelight before sheathing it again. “It will take me seven days to get there and back. Likely I will miss the first day of the games.”

“Is that allowed?”

Santiago nodded. “Usually competitors merely show up for their own games when they’re on. If I were more renowned perhaps I could afford to miss it and merely show up when the knife throwing starts. But there’s the socialising and if I don’t show my face…” he rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry. This is more than you are probably wanting to hear.”

Well, “not necessarily.” sharp claws dug into his arm as Rome decided, “See, Comet and I are what you might call errand boys…”

Santiago was more than delighted when he heard they could fetch his knife and meet him at the games. Especially for such a small fee. To him. To Rome, he was starting to wonder what amounted to too much for these people. Seven gold coins, one for each day they took to get there and to Davensport, was enough to tide Rome and Comet over to the mountain range if they wished it.

Which Comet did not, naturally. “We just narrowly escaped Paris and now you want to walk into Orland’s hands yourself!”

“I’m hardly walking into his hands,” Rome sighed, packing up his blanket. “The games are in the centre of the city. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, will be there. There’s no way I’m going to be spotted in that. Besides, we’ll only be there for a second to drop off the knife. The knife, might I remind you, that is located on an island which means that we’re not even going to be in Adonia for most of the next week. Even if Orland himself was riding through Bassenmere to get to Davensport we won’t see him. This is great. It’s easy. And best of all it’ll get us money to travel somewhere else.”

Comet harrumphed, telling him outright, “If we get caught-”

“I will deal with the consequences.” and that was that. With half their payment in their pockets the two of them waved goodbye to the tavern and its jolly guests and started towards the black sea.

Rome wasn’t sure if he had simply been blind to the amount of people travelling through Bassenmere before but stepping out he definitely noticed the increase of people wandering the streets now. It was crowded enough for Comet to climb on Rome’s shoulder, his claws digging in as he, as well as Rome, saw the number of guilded knights that also appeared. Rome didn’t know many of the banners of Adonia but he did know the yellow and red of Orland’s men.

Thankfully none could be seen. But Rome knew Comet was keeping a lookout as Rome did his best to battle to the towns edge.

The walk to the sea was nothing to note. They bought food before they left Bassenmore to last them their journey there, and the path was relatively clear, many people journeying on the other paths that led towards and not to the side of Davensport.

The ships appeared before the cliffs. Merchant ships with sails that stretched to the sky were docked all along the ports that littered Davensport and down for miles and miles. There were birds circling the air, Comet dragging Rome’s cloak over himself as they passed underneath them.

Santiago’s directions told of a house in the middle of the black sea. It lay within eyesight from the beach but as far as he knew there were no docks or ports to be seen. That meant they had to journey west.

The sand filtered through his toes as he walked along the beach. He put Comet down after a while, rolling his eyes when his poor friend stayed close. “They’re gulls Com,” Gulls preferred smaller prey than otters. “You’re fine.”

“You don’t know that,” Comet said, tugging Rome’s cloak back over himself. “How much further is it?”

“Not too far,” Rome said.

He might have been lying.

It took them almost an entire day and a half to find the house Santiago had described. When he had mentioned a house in the sea Rome had been expecting, well, a house. The house before him was nothing short of a hut. It could barely be seen either, the speck in the distance making his toes curl in the sand. “I think that may be too far to swim.”

Comet shot him a dark look, “You were going to swim?” and, yeah, maybe it wasn’t Rome’s best idea.

But, “I didn’t think it would be that far!” He thought it was a home in the shallows. Or somewhere he could walk when the tide was out. But even with the tide out the house would still be too far away to swim quickly there and back. “We’re going to have to go back and hire a boat.” Which meant more time added onto this journey which meant Santiago might not pay them what he’d promised and- “I mean, it’s not too far.” He could still see it. “Maybe when the sun hits midday-”

“Are you insane?” Comet snapped. “Actually, don’t answer that, I’ve lived with you too long to know that you are.” He stamped out of the safety of Rome’s cloak, sitting on his hind legs as he told him to, “Look out there. Do you see anyone else swimming?”

Rome sighed, “No.”

“Exactly!” Comet’s nose twitched, “It doesn’t smell right. The water’s too still. Plus it’s black. Water shouldn’t be black Rome! You are not swimming in there.” He reached up, tugging on Rome’s cloak until he bent enough to grab the coin purse. “I’m going to fetch a boat. You see if you can get whoever lives there’s attention.”

Rome was surprised. “You’re actually chancing the gulls?”

Comet shot him a look over his shoulder, “Don’t move,” he huffed, scurrying away across the beach and back towards the docks.

Rome sighed, sitting himself in the sand.

He wrapped his cloak over his head when the sun grew heavier, the sand seeming to soak it up and blind him with heat the longer he sat there. If there was movement in the house he couldn’t see it. What he also couldn’t see was the sun on the sea. It took him a while to notice it. Longer than he thought he should be sitting there. But eventually Rome noticed how there was no reflection in the water. There was nothing in the water at all. Just an empty shadow that should have been the sea.

The day grew longer and Comet remained away. Rome may have helped himself to some of Comet’s portion of their food, promising himself he’d buy Comet something nice when they were paid. Or even something nice on the way to getting paid. It wasn’t like they were without money now.

Speaking of money, “Come on Comet…” the longer they took the more Rome knew Santiago would take away from them. He seemed like a nice enough fellow but a bargain was a bargain and Santiago was still a stranger at the end of the day. They had gotten lucky with Marion but Rome wasn’t stupid enough to believe that everyone who hired them would be as true to their coin purse as she was.

The day moved on and still no Comet. Rome was actually starting to worry about him. He’d thought for sure that gulls didn’t eat otters but what if they did? The gulls here looked like the ones at home but that didn’t mean they were. There could be different kinds of gulls just like there were different kinds of a lot of animals. Who’s to say Rome wasn’t just sitting there as his friend was in mortal peril?

No. He would know if Comet were in danger. He’d known before. He just had to trust that maybe the negotiations were taking longer than Comet hoped they would.

Probably because Rome had sent his talking otter instead of himself he realised. But going there and coming back after waiting all this time and- urgh- no-

He stood up, shedding his tunic alongside his bag. Digging out the smaller coin purse Santiago had given them to pay the seller he strapped it to his waist before kicking off his breeches.

“It’s just water,” he told himself. “If sailors can sail on it then you can swim in it.” It would be fine. He’d never been afraid of water before and he shouldn’t be now. So Rome cast one last look up the beach and across the sea. He even looked behind him to the cliffs to see if a small furred beast would come charging down to tell him to stop being stupid and get in their boat.

But Comet didn’t come. So Rome dipped his toe into the water.

His toe was gone. Then his foot. It looked like darkness swallowing him as he waded into the still water. He wondered, vaguely, if there ever was a tide. He hadn’t witnessed it sitting on the beach, but perhaps this sea didn’t work like other seas. Maybe this one ebbed and flowed according to the moon cycle. Or even what day of the year it was. For all Rome knew it would recede tomorrow. He wondered what that would look like. If he could see the ripples as the water moved. Right now he could see nothing. He could feel it. It certainly felt like water, his body weightless as silky smooth liquid held him up. But he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t see it move as he raised his hand. It was merely like he was disappearing. One second he was there and the next he wasn’t. Except he could still feel his body. He could still move it in long, broad strokes. He moved too, his feet, before long, barely hitting the shallow at all. Then he didn’t, his body relying on itself to stay afloat now.

“It’s just water,” he told himself, eyes narrowing on the hut ahead. He could make it. It was just water. He’d swam further distances than this.

It didn’t feel like it. For every stroke he took it felt like the hut took one too. Either the hut was moving or his eyes had misjudged the distance. Rome didn’t like either of those options.

He moved faster.

Rome wasn’t sure how long he had been swimming for. His arms were aching by the time he reached the small beach the hut lived on. His feet were more than happy to scramble up onto the sand, his chest heaving as he waddled out of the sea. The land seemed to move, Rome stumbling, eventually succumbing to all fours as he tried to get his bearings. He just needed a rest. Hopefully the seller would let him relax out here for a while before sending him off.

Urgh, the seller.

Catching his breath, Rome carefully got to his feet. The land seemed to move again, Rome promising he would take it easy as he walked up the small slope to the hut.

Up close, it didn’t look like somewhere anyone would live in. The sides were made with large sticks tied together with seaweed. There were gaps the builder had forgotten to fill in, and the draft from the wind was already chilling Rome’s sea soaked skin. The roof wasn’t any better. There was nothing to stop the rain from falling in. How this place was still standing at all was a question Rome had for the seller. The seller who didn’t appear to be in.

“Hello?” He didn’t have to strain to see through the gaps. As far as he could tell there was literally no one but himself on this island. “Damn.” His head whipped around, eyes scouring the sea for any other house on the water. However, like before, there was literally nothing to be seen. This was literally the only house for miles and unless Santiago had been given false directions-

“Hello?” The voice came behind him. It was soft, lyrical, and had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

There was a young girl sitting in the middle of the hut. Her hair was long and wet where it stuck to her body. Her skin was a sun burnished bronze and her smile soft as Rome opened the door. “I’m looking for the seller of a knife? It was part of a set? The sword had some kind of inscription about the sun in it,” he couldn’t remember the exact wording right now, nor if the knife had the same inscription. “My buyer said he exchanged letters with a man?” But letters weren’t people, and Rome had met many people in his time who had names that could be for either gender.

The girl didn’t look offended, “My father,” she said, beckoning Rome closer. “He should be back soon if you would like to wait.”

Something made him hesitate by the door. “Do you have the knife?” He untied the purse from his waist, “I have the money. I’m sure your father won’t mind if we did business.” His bad feeling was growing.

“Well…”

He hit the ground, his legs flying out from under him. Something was clasped around his ankle, the sand biting at his skin as he was dragged to the water. The girl was gone when he looked up and claws were drawing blood when he looked down. He managed a shout as he hit the water, his voice drowned by shadowy nothingness.

Something dug into his thigh, another his waist. Teeth ripped into his arm, Rome doing his best to hit it with his other arm. He couldn’t see. He just- something grabbed his neck and that was it, he was dying one way or another, better it be later than now. With barely a thought his eyes saw through the water, the black disappearing to show the creatures biting into his flesh. They looked human, save for the sharp teeth in their mouths and claws on their fingers. They were strong, Rome unsure whether it was merely because he was in the water or if it was just how they were born.

The next one who reached for him their claws didn’t break skin. They bent instead, the creature’s eyes widening as it poked them. The teeth in his neck retracted, more than one of them now retching in the water. His arm was grabbed, Rome ready this time. Except they didn’t bite, instead they were looking at his arm.

Something was screeched in the water, Rome covering his ears, the sound piercing his skull. He was dragged up, his head breaking the surface. His back hit the sand, more hands pushing him up as something dragged him from behind. The air burned in his lungs, Rome coughing until he could swallow without gagging.

He was surrounded on all sides, men and women alike with their heads above water or lying on the sand with him. They didn’t lunge, some of them still wiping off the blood he’d made burn in their mouths. “I only came here for a knife,” Rome said. “But if you try and eat me again I will boil your sea until actual flames spill from the sea bed. Don’t think I won’t.” It would be easy.

The girl from the hut broke through the huddle, her hands raised in, “Peace. We did not know who you were.” She climbed onto the sand which Rome was starting to think was actually moving as the edge seemed to move down as she pushed herself up.

“Who I am?”

His arm was taken, Rome tensing, his other hand clawing, as the girl pointed to the snake still glowing on his arm. “You are Romulus.” She let go, Rome sitting back.

“You’ve heard of me.” That wasn’t unexpected. Not completely anyway. He knew those on the land would know of him. But the sea? Huh.

“We were there when Orland sailed to Othra,” one of them said.

“When he raided the temples for your power,” said another.

Rome looked at them again. “You’re all sailors?” There were some he could imagine as sailors, But the girl in the hut? The one watching as the glow faded from Rome’s arm? She looked too young to have sailed with Orland all those years ago. Then it dawned on him. “You’re the drowned ones.” Ghouls who haunted the seas and dragged anyone else they found to the deep. Often they haunted lakes. Rome had seen a few at home in Othra. They were the souls of those who died horribly in the raids and the purge after. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought they would be here too. Or that they would be so clever. “There isn’t a house on the sea is there?”

“That is unimportant,” the girl said.

“I disagree,” that house was his whole reason for his being here. His way to live until they moved somewhere else. “You tricked me. Tricked Santiago. How many others have you done this to?” he looked around at the faces surrounding him. How many others had come here in search of something they needed? “Is there even a knife?” This was bad. This was beyond bad.

“You must listen to us Romulus,” the girl insisted, her claws sinking into his skin. “We have heard what men say on their boats. What Orland has said about you.”

“I know what Orland says about me!” Rome snapped, climbing to his feet. “Why do you think I’m here instead of at his castle? Why do you think there’s a freaking manhunt-”

“A ship has been sent for your mother,” shut him up. “Orland hopes the power that resides in you resides in her also,” one of the men said, and Rome had no reason to call them liars. Not in this instance.

“You cannot give yourself in,” the girl said. “We tell you this to warn you. If you go he will capture you.”

“A hundred is not worth one,” the man said.

A hundred? This was his mother. This- “I-”

The claws dug in again. “You know what he wants with you. Your mother’s fate has already been decided no matter what you do.”

So what? He was to do nothing? “Why tell me then?” Why not let it happen blindly? “You know what? Screw this,” forget what he said earlier, “You’re lying. No one this stupid would tell someone their mother is in danger if they couldn’t do something about it.” he rubbed his neck, the cuts healing along with the others on his body. “Whatever you’re stalling me for I’m not falling for it. So I’ll give you one chance: leave, go back to your water and never approach me again.”

The girl opened her mouth and, like Rome had promised, he set the seal to boiling. It heated up faster than he thought it would, the bubbles black and frothing, the ghouls screaming, scrambling at the sand Rome stood on. He felt the sand heating too, his feet remaining fine as the ghouls melted in the heat. They wouldn’t stay dead, only true fire could defeat them. But the water would hurt all the same.

The land under his feet started to shrivel, a shriek piercing the air. Rome fell to his knees, the world upending. He hit the water, his magic keeping him safe from the heat. He saw something big coil around the column that held the hut. It broke, Rome swimming as fast as he could away. Something hit his leg, the breath knocking out of him as he was dragged further under.

His ears started hurting the deeper he went. Then his head, he had to use more magic to make sure he could breathe as he tugged at his foot. It was caught between two of the sticks that used to make up the hut and with the force it was sinking- well, Rome had already used this much magic.

The sticks turned to eels, the two slithering away as Rome swam up towards the surface.

He swam as soon as he hit the air, uncaring of the direction so long as it was away. The drowned ones didn’t follow him.. By sunset Rome was floating on his back, the snake on his arm long having faded back to red. He wondered if it was worth it to even go to shore. There were things down there, in the deep, that he knew would get him if he stayed here. Maybe he should let them.

Night fell with the moons in the sky being the only thing separating the sky and the sea beneath it. There was no reflection on the water. It made Rome wonder how Comet even knew where he was, a distant light he thought was a star growing bigger until Rome could make out the boat’s bow “ROME!”

He held a hand up, hearing a splash and furred nose meeting his own after a minute.

“You idiot,” Comet told him, the two of them climbing into the boat.

Comet had his own story to tell about his day at the beach. He’d found a boat almost as soon as he got onto the docks. It turned out, man, creature or animal, business men were happy to do business with anyone with money. “If you’d come with me you would have learned like I did that we were sent on a fool’s errand. He tricked us Rome!”

Well, someone tricked them.

According to Comet someone merely needed to ask a local and they would have told them that there was no house on the lake. The drowned ones were known to everyone who lived near. As were what they could do. The sailor Comet had hired, Barney, told them they have had a bit of trouble from someone using the ghouls to dispose of their buyers. “It’s a scam,” he told them, shaking his head, “He gets them to send him gold through the letter and has them eaten before they can complain about the loss of goods. Your friend was smart not to send the gold.” But he wasn’t smart enough not to fall for the scam altogether. If Santiago had gone instead of Rome he would likely be dead by now.

Which led to the question, once they were back on shore and quite near Danvensport as well, “What now?” They had lost the coins Rome had around his waist and hiring Barney had cost them more than they could spend without bringing something back to Santiago.

“Could you magic it?” Comet asked as Rome unrolled his bedroll for the night.

Rome considered it. But, “I don’t know what it looks like. For all I know I would be conjuring just any old knife.”

Comet inclined his head, “According to Santiago he doesn’t know what it looks like either. He merely knows his sword came with a knife. Who knows when his grandfather lost it.”

Which was true. Conjuring a knife was better than Rome’s plan anyway. It wasn’t like they were keeping the knife either. Paris wouldn’t be able to find them with it.

They spent all night crafting the perfect knife out of mud. Comet remembered more about Santiago’s sword than Rome, suggesting some of the inscription along with a sun along the blade. “Maybe the hilt,” Rome said as he realised how long they would have to make the knife to have all of this detail. At some point a knife stopped being a knife and became a dagger. Or maybe that was how it was shaped? Rome didn’t know. What he did know was that carving was hard and eventually he asked one of the off duty sailors if he could help out. They did it in exchange for Rome and Comet helping unload some of their wares.

By the end of it they had a knife. A wooden one that Rome easily turned to steel and gold.

They fled the harbour before any kind of guard could show up.

The roads to Davensport, no matter which way they turned, were full of merrymakers preparing for the games. Families, competitors, even friends were queued up across the streets and homes hoping to find a bed for the night or something tasty to eat. More than once Rome spied the red and gold of Orland’s banner. It made his heart beat faster every time it happened but it wasn’t like they could avoid them. Orland’s guards would be accompanying Orland. They may even be here with family, Rome hearing more than one person with hopes of joining the royal guard if they win their three tourneys. Even seasoned knights from other kingdoms had hopes and aspirations of working in the high king’s castle. Rome didn’t see why, the place wasn’t that impressive.

He supposed most of the people here wouldn’t think differently. For a lot of them this seemed to be their first time travelling at all. More than once Rome had to stop as a child kept their family still in the street, their eyes wide as they looked at the banners and bunting strung overhead or the goods merchants were selling faster than they were getting them. It made Rome think of his mother.

“Do you think they were lying?” he asked. He’d told Comet about what the drowned ones had said as soon as they were alone.

“They wanted to eat you,” Comet reminded him. “I think they would have said anything to get your guard down.”

Maybe. The more Rome thought about it the more he wondered if it was a ploy to eat him. He had merely assumed, as well, that those men were sailors. For all he knew they were merely unfortunate sea goers. Passengers who had fallen overboard. Rome didn’t think they were lying about overhearing some of the conversations on the merchant vessels either. They could know his name from that. They could also put two and two together when some guy with a glowing snake tattoo who had magical powers turned up looking for a knife as well. Rome was sure everyone was on the lookout for it, which was why he had it covered now as they looked for the signs to take them to the stadium.

“She’s fine,” Comet said, making ‘uppy’ motions when he was knocked into again. Rome hefted him up, holding him close for a moment before letting him climb where he wished. “Orland wouldn’t be stupid enough to take her.”

“I don’t know about stupid,” desperate was perhaps a better word. Especially if he believed Rome’s powers came from her. “You’re right though.”

“You’ll find I’m right about a lot of things.” He pointed to the left, both of them spying the arrow hung at the end of the street.

More arrows were spaced across Davensport. A lot of them led to nowhere or tourist traps. They found out eventually the arrows painted in gold and red were the ones that led to the stadium. Naturally.

The games were in full swing, the first day almost over by the time they made it up the steep hills and winding streets to the wooden colosseum.

Competitors were spilling out. Some of them were on gurneys, others sitting with something cool against their heads. Most of them were warming up for their rounds or clustered together sizing the others up. Santiago was further inside. He’d managed to catch a seat in the stands, Rome debating whether he wanted to climb his way over to him. When he looked to the royal box however he couldn’t see the red and gold of Orland’s men. The box was empty, the only gold Rome spying were those waiting to compete.

Taking a chance, Rome had Comet hide under his cloak and excused himself across to Santiago.

“One knife, as promised.”

Santiago took the knife as soon as it was presented, his eyes scouring every inch of it. Rome held his breath as the knife was turned over, the metal gleaming in the sunlight. A little too bright. Perhaps they should have muddied it up a bit before bringing it here. Or have someone dull it as Santiago shook the finger he’d cut on the blade.

“It’s the right one, right?” It was definitely not the right one. But Rome wouldn’t know where to begin to find the man who was feeding his clients to ghouls.

He could probably do it if he was given ample time. Maybe a horse and cart. Maybe a lot more gold than seven coins. Well, three coins now, they already had the other four.

“It’s beautiful,” Santiago said, Rome letting out the breath he’d held in. “Did you sharpen it for me?”

Rome shrugged, “Just wanted to make sure you could use it.”

Santiago lay the blade gently by his side, rifling in his bag for a box to place it in. “The seller? Did he give you any trouble? The money was correct?”

“Er,” Right, the money. The seller. “He- erm- look, personally, I wouldn’t do business with him again. In my opinion, I don’t think he came across that knife as honestly as he probably told you. He almost swindled us out of our own treasures.”

Santiago at least looked horrified as he said, “I’m sorry. If I had known-”

“It’s fine,” Rome waved off. “Just don’t go to the house on the sea okay? If you do talk to him again, make sure you guys meet in a tavern or something. Somewhere populated.” and with witnesses.

Santiago nodded. “Thank you anyway.” He handed over Rome’s payment. Plus another coin for his troubles. Rome handed it to Comet, his coin purse tugged from his waist as Comet counted out their payment.

Rome watched the men fighting down below, debating for only a moment before asking, “Where’s the High King? I thought he usually came to this thing.”

Santiago’s face darkened. “He did. He does.” He sighed, “They were here yesterday. His highness even visited a few taverns. He wished us all luck competing.” Paris Santiago meant. Highness was for princes, grace was for kings. At least Rome thought it was that way. “Then someone said he fell ill. He was seen clutching his chest, a retinue rode from the citadel not long after.”

Rome looked back at the royal box, “So they’re gone?”

“For now,” Santiago huffed. “It had to be the year I’m competing.”

Rome felt kind of bad. Then again, Orland was the worst so maybe he’d done Santiago a favour. “You’ll still get a chance to impress other lords,” Rome said. “Glory doesn’t always mean fighting for the ultimate power in the land. Some of the best knights don’t work for Orland.”

“But quite a few of them do,” Santiago said. “I suppose there’s next year.”

Hopefully not.

Rome wished Santiago luck anyway, wandering back onto the streets. “Orland’s gone then?” Comet asked.

“Looks that way.” Rome didn’t think for a second that he would stay away. There were still knights in the city. If Orland had left all of them would have left. Most likely he was waiting in the castle for Paris to return. Or at least to hear word from him before returning to the games. This was his prime time to recruit after all. “We should avoid the water for a while.” Which meant no lakes, no sea and no rivers. “Paris will be looking for us there.” If he was seen clutching his chest then he was definitely on their scent.

“Hookanshare is out then?” Comet asked since that, too, was too close. Once Paris had exhausted the water he would look on land. They needed to journey inland and far fast.

“A lot of places are out.”

They spent a night on the streets overlooking their map. It was hard work. Between fending off drunkards trying to use Comet as target practice, a few more propositioning Rome and the candlelight from the tavern being walked over by body after body Rome was surprised he had a plan at all come morning. Yet there they were, Rome asking if Comet needed to pay a fee as he negotiated with a cart heading to the mountain villages.

Two coins down, Rome finally rested his eyes, the bards singing about a girl who lost her voice lulling him to sleep. The last thing he thought of before the cart started rolling was where his mother was.

END

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elizaknightwrite · 8 months

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The Last Moonlight, Chapter One

Here is the first chapter of an original story called The Last Moonlight. I hope you enjoy!

Titania knelt beneath the crooked willow tree, the soft grass cushioning her bare knees. The bright mid-morning sun beat down against the back of her neck and the long, pointed tips of her ears, making her flip the hood of her cloak over her head to keep her pale skin from burning. She glanced over at her little sister Evie to make sure she was still where she could see her, lying on her stomach on the grass, weaving together colorful weeds into a flower crown.

A soft breeze whistled through the trees, carrying the smell of salty river water mingled with warm dirt and flowers. When Titania breathed in, her chest swelled with the warmth of home. Her fingernails were sticky with mud and sap, but she continued examining and plucking wildflower after wildflower and laying them gently in her basket to take back inside.

If Titania listened closely, she could hear the jaunty music playing in the Rivermoor town square, only a few miles away. The faint melody washed over her like gentle rainfall; the tinkling of the bells, the rich notes of the lutes, and the deep thumps of the drums.

When Titania closed her eyes, she imagined herself there, in the center square, music and dancing echoing around her. The smell of cooked apples dripping in cinnamon and butter and fish roasting over fires tickling her nose. All the other elves of Rivermoor would be waving blue and green scarves, singing along to the song.

“Above the river there’s a town that’s lively with singing.

And every night I hear their songs echo in my mind.

So like a foolish guppie I swam up to hear their playing,

And that’s when all the music stopped and she caught my eye.”

The music seemed more electric today, brimming with excitement, since tonight would be the Gathering, the most important event during the week-long River Festival. All the fully-grown elves in Rivermoor would meet by the lake in their best attire, welcoming King Dusk and his commanders to their small town. Other than those few details, Titania had no idea what else went on during the Gathering, despite living in Rivermoor her whole life.

“Tania? Hey, Titania!”

Titania’s eyes flew open, her little sister’s chipper voice yanking her out of her thoughts. All at once, the images of the square, of the scarves catching the light of the sun and leaving a mosaic of colors across the cobblestone street, the rich smell of cooking food, the smiles spread on everyone’s faces broke away in an instant. Titania was pulled back in the present, digging up flowers a few yards away from her lonely house, miles away from everyone else.

“What is it, Evie?” Titania asked, keeping her voice light and happy.

Evie sat up and carefully placed the flower crown she made on top of Titania’s head. “Do you think Dad and Mommy will let us go to the River Festival this year?”

Titania paused. The music must’ve enchanted Evie just like it enchanted her.

“Mom and Dad let us go to the Festival every year,” Titania answered slowly, choosing her words carefully. She couldn’t let Evie know how badly she needed to get away from this house, how much every muscle in her body begged her to just take Evie and run to the square. Just for a minute. Mom, Dad, and Gram would never even notice they were gone.

“Yeah, but only for a day!” Evie whined. “I want to go to the Festival all week. It isn’t fair we have to be the only ones to stay at home.” Evie flopped back onto the muddy ground, her thick, copper-colored hair fanned out around her head like a halo. She wiped her hands on her apron, leaving streaks of brown across the white fabric.

“If Mom and Dad don’t let us go to the Festival, there must be a reason. We’ll get to go tomorrow anyway, so there’s no point in walking all the way down there today.”

Evie sat right back up and blew a raspberry, spewing spit all over Titania’s face.

“Blegh! Evie!” Titania quickly wiped off her face with the backs of her hands.

Evie crossed her arms and glared at Titania with big brown eyes, puffing out her cheeks. Titania bit her tongue to keep herself from commenting on how adorable Evie looked when she was angry. There were flecks of mud on Evie’s face, blending in with the thousands of freckles sprinkled all over her small body. Her pointy ears just barely poked through the thick curls of her red hair, and the green cotton smock she inherited from Titania was still a touch too big for her frame. Her belly pooched out a little bit where she hadn’t quite lost all her baby fat. It had only been spring for a month, but Evie’s skin was already starting to tan, while Titania was still pale as ever. Her skin never tanned, only burned, so her mother forced her to wear a thick cloak and stay in the shade whenever she went outside.

“Tania, come on! Why can’t we go now, just the two of us? You’re like, the only old person who doesn’t go to the Festival.”

Titania scoffed. “How old do you think I am?”

“21 is pretty old, Tania. You’re like, ancient! Also, Rory’s older sister told him that elves over 20 have to go to the Festival for the whole week, especially during the Gathering. She said it’s matadory.”

“Mandatory, Evie. And…that rule doesn’t really apply to me.”

Titania’s voice trailed off. A memory she didn’t want to relive resurfaced to the front of her mind. Her father explaining to her on her 20th birthday why she still wouldn’t be allowed to go to the Gathering, even though she was old enough. Why she wasn’t allowed to go to the market past sunset. Why Evie would be inheriting the apothecary when he got too old instead of her. Why she wasn’t allowed to start an apothecary of her own so she could make her own money and find her own house. Why she wasn’t allowed to go to town dances, where other elves her age would be looking for marriage partners. Why she wasn’t allowed to even think about marriage. Why she wasn’t allowed to-

“Why? Why doesn’t that rule apply to you?”

Titania swallowed back the ache in her throat, shoving her feelings down into the depths of her mind, where she would never have to think of them again. “Because I’m adopted, and I’m not really a Rivermoor elf. I’m from a different elf clan. That means I have to follow a different set of rules than you do. So I can’t go to the Festival, or the Gathering tonight, because it’s only for Rivermoor elves.”

“Oh,” Evie answered weakly after a long beat of silence. She stared down at the fish pattern stitched onto the hem of her apron, guilt twisted into her face. Then she bolted up to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. “That’s stupid! We don’t even know what other clan you’re from, so you might as well be from Rivermoor! You should be able to go, too!” Evie fell into Titania’s lap and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “If you can’t go, then I won’t go, either!”

“Great! Then you can help me pick flowers for Dad.”

Evie groaned again, louder this time. “But I don’t wanna do that either! I don’t even know what half these plants do! What if I pick the wrong ones?”

Titania tickled Evie, making her giggle.

“You won’t pick the wrong ones, because I’m here to help you.”

Tania pointed to a small plant with wispy, feather-like petals that shimmered like gold. “See that flower there? That’s a Honeycrisp,” Titania picked the Honeycrisp from the base of its stem and laid it gently in her basket. “If you brew it into a tea, it can be used to cure headaches.”

Titania pointed to a different flower, one with silvery-white petals that coiled around each other like a rose bud just about to bloom. “This flower is called a Spiderwick. Dad and Gram mash their petals up into a paste and uses them on patients who have really bad cuts or burns. They can disinfect wounds and relieve pain, too.”

Titania handed the Spiderwick to Evie so she could examine it closer. Evie brushed the soft petals with the pads of her fingers, then held the flower up to the sky so she could watch the silver petals gleam in the sunlight. Slowly, the frustration and boredom melted from Evie’s face. She cradled the Spiderwick close to her chest, then gingerly stuck it in the pocket of her apron.

“Spiderwicks are pretty. Are there any other pretty ones?”

“I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to keep helping me to find out,” Tania answered in a sing-song voice.

“Woah, Tania! Look at this one! What does this one do?”

Titania turned back around to her sister. A wide grin split Evie’s face, showcasing the gaps in her mouth where her adult teeth were just starting to peep through her gums. She cradled something in her cupped hands, holding it out proudly like a prize she’d won.

Titania peered between Evie’s fingers, an answer poised just behind her closed lips. She knew every single plant in Rivermoor by heart. She knew which ones were poisonous, which ones counteracted poison, which ones cured diseases, and which ones were just nice to look at. But when she saw the flower Evie held, her answer came up blank.

The flower bud in Evie’s hands was tiny, barely the size of a coin. The bud glittered like an opal in the sunlight, reflecting different shades of blue, lilac, and jade green against Evie’s palms. It seemed more like a diamond or crystal than a flower. Its petals closed in on and overlapped each other, like they were protecting each other from being seen.

“I-I have no idea what that is,” Titania whispered. The bud’s pattern of colors danced across her mind, coloring her vision until she was entranced. “I’ve never seen it before. Let’s take it back to Dad and Gram. One of them will know…”

Without realizing it, Tania reached out to touch the plant, as if the flower bud had attached invisible lines of thread to the tips of her fingers, pulling her hand closer to it.

Its petals are soft. I guess it really isn’t a diamond.

That was the last thought she had before her mind went black.

She felt a sharp jab to her head, like an ice pick stabbed into her brain. Titania crumpled to the ground, an ear-bleeding scream ripped from her throat. She clutched her head in her hands, squeezing as if her skull would crack apart into tiny fragments if she let go.

“Tania? Is it another migraine? Tania? Titania!”

Evie’s voice knifed its way through Titania’s thoughts, but it was quiet and distant.

Images flashed across Titania’s mind, moving so fast the backs of her eyes went numb. The flowers in the front lawn and her father’s garden withering into dried brown husks. The moldy smell of the dead roses and daisies filling the house. Ash raining from the sky, turning the healthy grass black. The Rivermoor river drying up in an instant. The fish laying dead against the rocks, mud and scum sticking to their silver scales, their mouths open and their glassy gray eyes gaping up at the sky, frozen in a perpetual state of fear.

“What you’re imagining isn’t real. None of those things are real. Rivermoor is a safe place. You don’t have to worry about any of those things you see.”

The mantra Titania’s father always told her after one of her migraines rattled in her mind. But it sounded like a whisper. The visions were so much louder.

Titania felt a hand grip her shoulder, but she couldn’t tell if the hand was trying to help or hold her down.

“Dad! Dad! It’s Titania! She’s unconscious again!”

I’m not unconscious. I can hear you.

“Rey, help me get Titania to the house!” It was her father’s voice this time. “Evie, go inside and tell Gram to brew some Honeycrisp tea and light some incense to help her wake back up. Don’t just stand there, Evalyn, go to Gram now!”

But I’m already awake. I can hear you guys. I’m fine. Why can’t you hear me? Evie? Dad? Why can’t you hear me? WHY CAN’T YOU HEAR ME?

#story #original story #fantasy #elves #chapter 1

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sky-limits · 1 year

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[twwm] polaris prompt 8 - misty dock

I haunt this place, a ghost, a spirit, a transparent flicker caught in the warped, hand-blown glass of windows at the darkest time of night. I still remember when little children would tease each other about approaching me in my past life. I was a cryptid, unseen, a legendary myth in the woods that called to others, providing helpful healing and remedies for every malady known to those who ailed. I was tall, then, and I am stocky now. My head does not peer above these rotten windowsills, soft shutters hanging limply as they fall away and dissipate into nothing, destroyed by time and rain. Clay pots that existed outside my home have fallen into disrepair, dissolving under the harsh rains that possessed this land after I changed.

The door hangs loosely from its frame, last strong bolts holding it steady. The roof sags in, a sad drooping shape that barely shields the inside of the house, and constantly drips on the floors. I don’t mind though. It makes it feel homier. If I walk the routes I usually would, following a preset pattern from my past, I visit every room still left in my collapsed home. The kitchen, its shelves fallen down, old vials and bottles stolen by treasure seekers. The spice rack, once full of dried herbs I grew myself, is empty and rusted, a few legs missing so it sits askew. Floorboards creak under me as I creep around, a stranger in my home and the place where I belonged.

Often, the only place that feels like home is when I am not in my home. I will wander down the cliffs, floating on days when I am too tired to move my legs. The chalky soil follows me down in pitters and patters when I brush it, small crumbles falling to the sand as I fall with it. My lantern clings softly behind me when I walk down the shoreline, calling to it like tolling church bells spirits in need of help. Wearily, but with care, I help them, and move onto the next. I am tired of being the healer, and I am tired of being alone. The freshwater lake lapping at the cliffs below my home feels like a salve, a balm that I couldn’t possibly hope to recreate. One day, standing at the end of my mist-covered pier, I look deep into the water.

It waves over itself with the energy that is constantly running through it, soft as silk and dark, enfolding secrets and sadness in its depths. It seems like it calls to me, hums softly with a little song, chirping out a plea for my attention. It is magnificent, how the longer I stand there, the longer I stare down into this water, neck bent low and body completely still, the louder the instrumental that comes from this water is. It reaches a crescendo, the music from the water crashing cymbals and speeding its violins, deep cello plucking, and that is when I finally decide to dive in.

The water accepts me, curling me into its arms and wrapping me in the music, comfortingly soft now, a timid string section highlighting my world in pale blues, trembling drums echoing it, adding deeper undertones of purple. The warmth from the concerto, despite the shocking cold, seeps into me and I imagine the brass playing delicately beside the drums, wind instruments following along with the violas quietly, like a small dog, pale and pastel yellow spots in my vision, ringed by the blues and purples. Overcome with all I am feeling, I start to remember my past life again, fading away into the music. I am swimming, deeper and deeper, into the void that swallows me up.

It is almost overstimulating, the music crashing and stinging, pulses of light and color passing over my vision, and not letting me go. But what if I don’t want to swim up? I could stay down here, lost in the orchestra of a second watery grave, paddling forever with my only company being fish, no light coming to the depths...light. Light. I remember light, and it is her face, framed by frizzy, shiny hair. I remember light, and gleaming wood, worked with polish, and her smile. I remember the past, and what I would leave behind if I lived in the murky depths. These things are all familiar to me now, the memories of bleating goats and warm summer days, hammock naps and hard work.

I remember my life before, and I remember what I could make it into now. This water, these waves and their symphonies shouldn’t hold me any longer. I dove in here of my own choice, for peace and rest, and I leave by my own choice too. I break the surface in a few strong strides, and clamber back onto the pier, settling in the fingers of the mist that trail along my lantern, dissolving in the light. This dock had led me to another answer I could have for myself, for my purpose, but that wasn’t the right one. This was, I knew, as the wood creaked with the movement of the water. This was the right place for me – the place I haunted.

My home, filled with the memories of that beautiful face, the kind eyes, and slightly snubbed nose and toothy smile. Her coppery hair in all its fiery, halo-like glory. The rough softness of her small hands, the humming of songs to the rhythm of her needle as she sewed. Our past home, with our goats, and filled with the gentle lullaby of the woman, singing to a baby that was not yet ours. While it hurt, deep down, the suffering inside me, the hole, would likely never leave, I still knew that I could distract myself. I might not feel whole for a very long time, but I have a home, and I’m going to make it my own, that homey place I had with the woman in my past once again.

#polaris origin prompts #twwm #polaris #sky's words

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daechwitatamic · 2 years

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Chapter 4: A Dumb Analogy || KTH

(banner by @itaeewon)

Title: Complete Faith (Masterpost)

Pairing: Taehyung x female reader; {background SJ x OC, mentions of YG x OC, and HS x OC}

Rating: Soft R overall, this chapter: PG-13

Wordcount: 50k total; this chapter: 4687

Summary: It’s Taehyung himself who admits that it’s usually around the one-month mark that he starts to lose interest in his relationships. So even though you’re helplessly crazy about him… when you start dating, you feel like you’ve got an expiration date from day one. But will it be Taehyung’s issues that get in the way, or your own?

Alternate summary: coworkers to friends to lovers to idiots to lovers again

TW/CW: Full list on the Masterpost. This chapter: strong language, terrible flirting

Notes: This fic is complete and will be updated every Friday evening (EDT timezone). A HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to @kookstempo for the amazing beta job tytytytyty!

Chapter 4: A Dumb Analogy

June

In the morning, you wake up early – this always happens when you drink too much. You can never sleep it off like a normal person. You throw on some clothes and pull your hair into a braid and make your way downstairs. All the other doors are still closed, but you hear tv or a video playing from Yoongi and Ji-hyun’s room.

Downstairs, Jimin is still passed out on the couch. You creep past him quietly, stopping at the fridge for a fresh water bottle. You drink almost half of it, then fish for your car keys. You drive into town with the windows down, drinking in the fresh air.

You return to the lakehouse about half an hour later, two trays of coffees on the seat beside you. You’d driven practically four miles an hour trying not to spill those, and you’d pretty much succeeded. As you pull back into your parking spot, Jimin comes out onto the balcony.

“Come help me carry these!” you call up to him, and he makes his way down the steps.

“We were kind of worried,” he tells you, as you pass him a tray of coffees. “After you vanished for two hours last night, and then we woke up and you were gone?”

You sigh. “Here, there are two bags of breakfast sandwiches in here, grab one.”

Back inside, you glance around. Hoseok, Demi, Yoongi, and Ji-hyun are on the couch, watching a sitcom on the tv. Jungkook and Namjoon are talking to Nikki and Seokjin in the kitchen. Taehyung is nowhere to be seen.

“Uh, hi guys,” you say. Cringe. “I wanted to apologize for making it weird last night. I brought coffee and breakfast sandwiches as an I’m sorry.”

Nikki beams. “Have I told you that I love you?” she gushes. “I need that coffee STAT.”

Yoongi comes over and takes two, giving you an understanding smile as he carries them back over to Ji-hun, handing her one. You follow him over and hand two cups to Demi and Hoseok. Demi has the decency to look a little shamed – probably about her comments last night. You let it go – you know Nikki had your back in your absence.

“Hang on,” you say to the guys in the kitchen, who are picking cups out of the other tray. “One of them is a tea, for Taehyung.”

“He went out, too,” Jungkook informs you, checking each cup for the one with the teabag inside.

“If he comes back with coffees, I’ll fight him,” you say. “This was my excellent apology idea.”

“His car’s here,” Seokjin points out, peering out at the driveway. “He must have gone for a walk.”

“What’s the plan today?” Ji-hyun asks from the couch, where her legs are draped over Yoongi’s lap.

“It’s supposed to storm this evening, close to dinnertime,” Hoseok informs everyone. “I was thinking we could try and enjoy the lake earlier in the day before the rain comes in.”

“It is gorgeous out,” you say, looking through the house’s back windows towards the blue expanse of water. “It’s pretty warm already.”

“Let’s bring a cooler out to the dock,” Nikki suggests. “Then we don’t have to come back and forth through the house.”

“You’re so smart,” Seokjin says affectionately. “How did you get so smart?”

“Ate my veggies,” Nikki jokes and begins rummaging through the refrigerator for things to put in the cooler.

“Waters, please,” you request. “I’m going to go up and get changed. Should we try to head out in the next… half hour? Or so?”

“We need to find Taehyung first,” Jimin points out.

“I’ll call him,” Jungkook says, fishing in his pockets for his phone. You take a sip of your coffee, and Nikki sidles up beside you, covertly sliding her phone over to you, a text conversation displayed. You glance down, trying not to look like you’re looking.

[3:09 am] Jimin: sooooo are y/n anfd tae fuvking orrrrr?????

[3:14 am] Nikki: omg. Go to sleep, drunky.

[3:16 am] Nikki: and no, not to my knowledge

[3:16 am] Nikki: nosy ass.

[3:20 am] Nikki: ……..theyd be so cute together tho right??

You slide the phone back to her surreptitiously and pull out your own, typing quickly. You appreciate her heads up that the gossip hound was sniffing. You also know – from years of friendship and firsthand experience - that Jimin doesn’t mean any harm, he just must know everything the second it happens.

[10:14 am] You: Still no, fwiw lol

[10:15 am] You: though something definitely almost happened before you INTERRUPTED last night???

Nikki looks at you, eyes wide. Seokjin sees your silent conversation happening and wisely makes his way into the living room, sitting on the arm of the couch beside the two couples. Jimin is digging through a cupboard for the crackers he wants to bring out to the dock, so Nikki opts to keep texting. You head to your room, knowing your phone will be buzzing any second.

[10:17 am] Nikki: define “something” please

[10:20 am] You: pretty sure we were about to kiss? Like, two minutes after he explained to me exactly how he fucks up every relationship he’s in? so disaster avoided, probably

[10:21 am] You: I guess I should say thank you lol

[10:22 am] Nikki: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[10:24 am] You: girl, I know. But I am trying not to get fucked over lol

You dig through the clothes you’d put into drawers the night before, choosing a simple black string bikini and a white cover-up. You lean in towards the mirror and do a cursory make-up job – chances are you will end up underwater at some point today, so why waste time and effort? You brush out your hair but decide to leave it down. You’re about to grab your towel and head back downstairs when you pause to look in the mirror one last time. You quickly switch out the white cover-up for a pair of denim shorts. You grab your things, popping a pair of sunglasses onto the top of your head, and go back downstairs.

The couch has been vacated, so you figure everyone else is getting ready. Outside, the sun is already hot, and you lay out your towel on the dock. You stand over the spot you’ve claimed, looking out across the lake at the mountains. You can hear the rise of voices behind you, but you ignore it. You lay back across your towel, closing your eyes against the morning sun.

As expected, the boys go running off the end of the dock and straight into the water as soon as they come down from the house, their feet thundering past you. You sit up in alarm – you’d almost fallen asleep.

The shouts and splashes echo, and you look up to see Nikki placing her towel beside yours.

“Jin and Yoongi are taking the canoe further out to try and fish,” she tells you. “So I’m all yours for a while.”

“Goodie for me,” you grin. “Hey, I didn’t do sunscreen yet. Spray my back?”

You two lounge in silence for a while, watching everyone else horse around in the water. Hoseok is walking through the water carrying Demi wedding-style, and she clings to him and shivers. The other three idiots are wrestling, you think. You’re trying not to look, not to notice the expanse of Taehyung’s bare shoulders, the abs you weren’t sure he’d have, even his bare arms somehow look good.

“Ready to be amazed?” Jimin asks you, pulling himself back up onto the dock.

“You’re dripping on my towel,” you tell him flatly.

He flips you the bird and takes a running start towards the end of the dock again, this time kicking off to do a front-flip before hitting the water with a splash. Jungkook gives a hoot of appreciation and swims over to climb up. He follows Jimin’s footsteps perfectly, making the flip look like a piece of cake.

When he surfaces, shaking his wet hair away from his face like a dog, everyone looks at Taehyung, who is treading water a little further out.

“No thank you!” he calls cheerfully, and Hoseok laughs like this is the funniest thing anyone has said all day, taking one arm off of Demi to splash at Taehyung playfully.

Hoseok and Demi eventually join you and Nikki on the dock; Ji-hyun and Namjoon never came down from the house.

“You think she’s okay? Should we check on her?” you ask Nikki, who shrugs.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Probably hungover,” she says. “And Joon was doing a work thing on his computer, he said he’d be down later.”

You get up and walk back to the other end of the dock, closer to the house, where you’d all left the cooler. You pull out a water bottle and turn back to the lake, twisting the cap off. You catch Taehyung looking at you, though he turns quickly in the water to make it seem like he hadn’t been.

You feel a tug in your chest. You want to go hang out with him. You want to talk to him more. You know it’s stupid, there are a hundred reasons that make it a potentially bad mistake, but your foolish heart doesn’t seem to care.

Fuck it, you think. You put down the water bottle, shimmy out of your jean shorts, and take the dock at a run.

You’re lightyears from being able to flip, but you can dive pretty well, so you throw your arms to the front as you push off the edge of the last plank of wood. The water is cold and dark, and you stay submerged for an extra second, relishing every part of it.

When you surface, the boys are looking towards your general area with mild alarm, and Nikki is sitting up on the dock, looking for you as she shields her eyes from the sun.

“What?” you ask innocently, treading water with your legs as you push your wet hair back from your face. “Did you think I drowned?”

“You didn’t come up,” Jimin laughs.

“I liked it down there,” you joke. You roll onto your back and float, the warmth from the sun dissipating the cold from the water.

“You’re such a weirdo,” Jimin tells you, sending you a splash.

You eye the dock. “Niiiiiiiiiiik,” you sing.

“No,” she tells you, not even deigning to look over at you.

“Nikkiiiiiii,” you try again, swimming closer.

“Y/N, I will fuck you up. Go away, I am not getting in.”

“Do you hear how she talks to me?” you pout to Jimin. Jungkook and Taehyung have waded up to where they can stand, and are both eyeing the paddleboard and having a quiet conversation.

“Nikki, what’s the point of coming to the lake if you aren’t going in the lake?” Jimin points out.

“Would you believe me if I said I just like your company?” she asks.

“No,” you tell her simultaneously, causing everyone to laugh. Jimin leans on his knees, his head dipped low towards the water.

You turn to face the floating platform out in the middle of the lake and get an idea.

“Hey,” you call, splashing water towards Taehyung and Jungkook to get their attention. “Race to the platform! Go!”

You don’t wait – all three of these guys are athletic and will have no problem catching you. All you have working in your favor right now is the element of surprise and a bit of a head start. You put your face in the water and launch into a quick front crawl.

You can hear someone right on your heels but you don’t waste time looking to see who it is. You’re almost at the platform when a hand wraps itself around your ankle and pulls, literally jerking you backwards in the water. You let out a shriek of surprise, and it morphs into indignation as you realize –

“That is cheating!” you protest. The hand moves from your ankle to your waist, hot against your bare skin, and turns you gently. You and Taehyung face each other in the water, both treading, panting from the exertion of the race. Jungkook and Jimin are on their way, but they seem to be having a similar ankle-pulling situation going on out there.

“So sue me, then,” he says, his voice impossibly low. He rests his other hand on the other side of your waist, holding you gently in place before him. You both kick lazily to stay afloat, and he looks at you so intently, a question on his face. You look back at him, chest hurting – hurting over how much you want this, how much you like him, how truly fucking stupid this could be – and you make a decision.

You lean backwards, away from him, and he releases you quickly. You reach back and grab the metal rungs of the ladder.

“I win,” you whisper, but really... it feels like you’ve lost.

You all shit around at the floating platform for a few hours before heading back to the house, ready to eat. Luckily, Yoongi and Jin had some success fishing, and they add their catch to the lunch menu. By the time you all head back in, dripping and sunburnt and happy, lunch is spread out across the picnic table in the yard.

Everyone fixes their plates and finds spots – a few people heading inside for a break from the sun, others taking their food to the end of the dock to sit with feet in the water. You take your plate and stand on the deck, looking at the water as you eat. Nikki finds you, putting her plate on the railing. She glances around to see if anyone is nearby, but the closest people to you are Namjoon, Yoongi, and Ji-hyun, and they’re down across the yard.

“I think you need to fill me in on some things,” she says, eyes wide. “Because from the docks, it looked an awful lot like you two were in each other’s personal bubbles.”

You lower your eyes, also looking around to make sure no one has come closer to the two of you. You double-check that Taehyung – and Jimin, because if he knows then Taehyung also knows – is still at the end of the docks, too far away to overhear.

“I need a life coach,” you lament.

She mimes putting on a pair of spectacles and shoving them down her nose to peer at you. “Dr. Nikki is in. Let’s hear it.”

You push your plate to the side, leaning your elbows on the railing. “Nik, I think I like him a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I haven’t felt like this about a guy… I’d say since Ben, but… like, I know Ben and I loved each other but I don’t know if I liked him as much as I like Taehyung right now. I’m at the point where I truly want to abandon you right now and go sit by his stupid ass on the docks, and for what?”

She squeals a little, quietly, dancing in place. “I love this for you!”

You sigh. “I wish it was just that simple.”

She stops the dance. “So what’s the problem?”

“You want the list?”

“I really do,” she says, reaching over and shaking your shoulder affectionately. “Let me have it.”

“Alright,” you take a deep breath, “first – we’re coworkers, and if things go wrong we’ll have to see each other all the time. Second – the friend group, people will have to pick sides.”

“Y/N,” she cuts in. “You can’t make a decision based on what might happen if it doesn’t go well.”

“Sure I can,” you say firmly. “For example, I will make the decision not to try rock climbing, because of what might happen if it doesn’t go well which is I will die.”

She purses her lips at you. “I need a better reason than you’re scared of the fallout. I love you with my whole heart, but that’s a chicken move. You’re better than that.”

“Fine,” you say, voice a little steely. “He also told me some stuff last night about why his relationships never work out. It sounds… very self-sabotagey. If you love me with your whole heart then you won’t want me to walk into a situation like that.”

She shakes her head at you. “I hate your brain sometimes.”

“My brain keeps us alive,” you tell her.

“Okay,” she says, tapping her fingers against her lips. “I’m mulling that last one over. That one is a little bit legit. What else is there? Is that the list?”

You take a deep breath. You don’t want to give this one a voice, afraid saying it will give it more power. “Don’t freak out,” you tell her, and she cuts eyes at you, wary, “but… I don’t know, Ben has been on my mind a lot.”

“Y/N!” Nikki explodes. “Please tell me that’s a joke!”

“I don’t want to get back together or anything,” you said quickly, trying to explain. “It’s just… hard to keep him off my mind. When Taehyung flirts with me… I feel almost guilty? Like I’m moving on from mourning too quickly?”

She scoffs. “Okay, that one is bullshit, cross it off the list entirely. Ben was garbage and you should have moved on before you left him, frankly.”

You don’t answer, fiddling with the edge of your paper plate.

“Y/N,” she says, softer, and you look up. “It’s normal and fine to think about him sometimes. But I really want you to know that you don’t owe him anything. Okay?”

You nod, feeling a little choked up.

“Okay,” she says briskly, clapping her hands once. “Life Coach verdict: the only valid concern is the one about his other relationships. However, Life Coach officially feels that if you’re already talking about that problem before you even start something… that’s a positive sign. He’s aware of the problem and he’s being forthright about it. A guy who wants to fuck you over doesn’t do that.”

“I guess…” you murmur, still unsure. “But just because he doesn’t want to doesn’t mean he won’t…”

“You can’t live your life looking out for potholes,” she tells you seriously. “Life is going to happen. It’s fine to be prepared for some bumps, but you have to hit the gas sometime.”

“This is a dumb analogy,” you tell her.

“Come on,” she says, rolling her eyes at you. “Let’s start packing up the yard a little – the storm later is supposed to have serious wind, we don’t want all our chairs and stuff to blow away.”

The clouds begin building quickly, the day darkening to the point that you turn on the lights inside in the middle of the afternoon. You sit by one of the windows, watching as the first fat raindrops hit the wooden floor of the deck outside.

Those of you who had been in the lake quickly work out who gets to shower first with a series of rock-paper-scissors matches. You get second, after Jungkook, so you head to your room to gather your toiletries.

After washing the lake water out of your hair and sunscreen from your body, you pull on a t-shirt and a pair of grey joggers. You comb your hair out, but leave it wet. Air-drying this once won’t kill you.

You make your way down the hall, pausing at Taehyung and Jungkook’s door and knocking. Jungkook opens it, rubbing a towel against his still-wet hair. “Hey, Y/N,” he says. “I was on my way downstairs.”

He pushes the door further open and you step back to let him pass you. He heads down the stairs with light steps, and you turn back to their room to see Taehyung sitting on the end of the bed, scrolling through his phone.

“Hi,” you say. “I just, uh, was going to tell you it’s your turn to shower.”

He looks up at you, a smile growing across his face. “Are you being shy with me? That’s adorable.”

This makes you laugh. “Shut up,” you tell him, still smiling. “Go shower, you smell like fish.”

“Come here and smell me,” he dares you, eyes narrowed playfully.

“No need, I can smell it from here,” you retort. God, you like him so much.

He stands, slipping his phone into his pocket. He looks you up and down and gives you a look you’ve never seen on his face before, not even in the lake today. “You looked fucking good earlier,” he says, and you’re floored by how direct he is, but definitely a good kind of floored, “so explain to me how you somehow look just as good now, in these?”

Words, brain, words!

You recover quickly, quipping, “What have I told you about flattery?”

He laughs. “I think you told me that it gets people nowhere… yet here I am, talking to you, so clearly that is not the case.”

You roll your eyes, smiling. “I’m not talking to you because you flatter me, I’m talking to you despite the flattery. Go shower, Tae. You’re holding up the line.”

“I think I like you calling me that,” he says, raising an eyebrow.

You shoot him a smirk and turn to go. You’re thinking about how you’d told him last night not to start with you if he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t play games. He’d agreed easily when you’d said it. Yet here you both were, barreling forward. You guess he, just like you, can’t help himself, can’t leave it alone even knowing it’s the smarter move.

Downstairs, a fire has been started in the double-hearth in the living room. You pause in the kitchen and start heating up some water in the kettle, thinking the vibe is a good one for a mug of hot tea. Yoongi is there, organizing ingredients to cook dinner.

“Hey,” he says, looking over at you for a second. “Having a good time?”

“Today’s been great,” you admit. “What’s for dinner?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he tells you, frowning.

“Well shout if you need help,” you say. You lean against the counter in comfortable silence until the kettle whistles. You fix your mug up and head out to the living room, the fire crackling and inviting.

Seokjin is in a chair, Nikki sitting sideways across his lap. Namjoon took the window seat you’d been at before, and he looks like he’s deep in whatever book he’s holding. Hoseok and Demi aren’t there, nor is Jimin, so you assume they’re upstairs. Ji-hyun is on the little two-seat couch, and Jungkook is on the big one.

You join Jungkook on the other side of the big couch. Outside, the rain comes down in sheets that pass left to right across the deck outside. The wind blows in gusts now and then, shaking the screen door before dying back down. There’s been a rumble or two of thunder, but not much. A glance at the weather app on your phone shows you that the worst hasn’t passed yet.

You all pass the afternoon somewhat quietly. You end up at the dining table with Yoongi and Jimin, working on a jigsaw puzzle. Not exactly how you thought you’d spent your vacation, but it’s weirdly relaxing. Of course, those two bicker until you can’t stand it, and you eventually give up helping and move back into the living room.

You can see through the back windows that it has gotten impossibly darker out there, and you start to see flashes of lightning. The thunder has changed from low and distant rumbles to furious cracks that make you all jump. You sit on the now-empty little couch and wrap yourself in the afghan blanket that was draped over the top. For a while you watch Taehyung, Jungkook, Hoseok, and Demi play a card game around the coffee table, but you get bored and start scrolling on your phone.

You answer a text from your dad – confirming that Sierra hasn’t reached out to him, and him asking if everything was okay here. You send a new text to Sierra (“Hi, Tiny!”) and then you open social media. You pick a few cute pictures – you and Jimin in the car on the way up flashing peace signs and cheesy smiles, you and Nikki on the dock in your bathing suits, a shot of the group gathered around the bonfire last night, and then one of the mountains across the lake. You caption it, “Never leaving,” and quickly tag Jimin and Nikki.

You hit post and check out how it looks on the feed. Content, you scroll to see who else has been posting, and there’s Ben. By the crowd around him and the lighting of the shot, you assume he’s at a club. He’s grinning at someone out of the frame, his arm over the shoulders of a pretty young woman who has her head thrown back in laughter.

That hollow feeling creeps back in. You want to screenshot it and send it to Nikki, but you don’t want the scolding. It’s not even about the girl, you defend yourself to the scolding that you didn’t actually receive. Just Mr. I’m-Too-Busy-to-Text-You-Once has time to go clubbing, apparently?

A particularly loud clap of thunder shakes the house and your drop your phone with a shriek. A few of the others jumped too, and you laugh at yourselves.

Your phone buzzes on your lap –

[5:23 pm] Work – Kim Taehyung: scared of the storm? Need me to come protect you?

You roll your eyes, feeling the smile on your face. You send back the barf emoji. You watch him try to keep his face passive, fighting a smile as he glances down at his phone, which is on the ground by his feet. He’s sitting on the floor between the fireplace and the coffee table, meaning you have a perfect side-profile view of him but he can’t turn and look back at you without being obvious.

[5:24 pm] You: ew, what a line!

[5:25 pm] You: there’s a difference between scared and startled

[5:26 pm] You: btw did you know you’re in my phone as ‘Work – Kim Taehyung’? is that how I’m in yours?

[5:27 pm] Work – Kim Taehyung: WHAT

[5:27 pm] Work – Kim Taehyung: that’s insulting

[5:28 pm] Work – Kim Taehyung: change it right now

[5:29 pm] You: what should I change it to? 🤔

[5:31 pm] Work – Kim Taehyung: you were in mine with just your first name but I’m considering adding some 😍😍😍

You giggle, change his name, then take a screenshot of the conversation to send back to him so he can see his name at the top of the screen – “Tae 😏”

[5:33 pm] Tae 😏: I am HONORED

[…]

“Taehyung, put your phone away, it’s your turn!” Jungkook scolds. Whatever Yoongi is cooking in the kitchen smells amazing. You turn to look and see Jimin still at the table with the puzzle, watching you intently.

Uh oh. You avoid his eyes entirely and scurry into the kitchen to help with dinner. But you feel the weight on Jimin's suspicious gaze on your back long after you've escaped his line of sight.

Wheeeeew, we got some flirting!!! Finally!!!

Thank you so much for being here! I appreciate every single like and reblog! Chapter 5 will be the first chapter to be rated R!

To quote the genius Min Yoongi….. what do you think? Please feel welcome to comment or message thoughts and reactions! It would make my day to even receive your keysmashes lol

#bts fic #bts fanfic #taehyung fic #taehyung fanfic #kim taehyung fic #kim taehyung fanfic #taehyung x reader #taehyung angst #taehyung romance #complete #friends to lovers #slow burn #coworkers au #non idol au #Complete Faith fic

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