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mischiefandspirits · 3 years

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Children of Dionysus

In a group of cells, hidden somewhere within the labyrinth of caverns and tunnels that spread out from the Underdark city named Gotham, a group of teenagers huddled together for warmth and meager comfort. They flinched at any hint of footsteps, knowing what would happen should their captives come for one of them.

The soft sound of wings, however, had them looking up in confusion. None of the cultists any of them had seen had wings and they never bothered to be quiet.

The teens watched as a small dark red bird fluttered into the room the cells were located.

The Underdark Robin’s back and primaries were pitch-black, contrasting the bright yellow of its breast and legs. Black also splashed across its face above its dark green beak, which matched its tailfeathers. Its white eyes looked around the room before hooping up to the nearest cell. “Hello.”

The teens in the cell flinched at the whisper and it ducked its head.

“Sorry. It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you. I am the Red Robin and this is my familiar.” It held out its leg, showing a small bat charm hanging off the limb.

The teens shared a look, then a half-orc crept towards the bars. “You’re really a Bat?”

“I am. I’ve been trying to find you all. Is anyone hurt?”

She shook her head. “Nothing more than a few scratches here, but… They’ve taken someone. They called us sacrifices and said he'd be the first. I don’t know…”

The robin cursed, its feathers ruffling. “When was he taken?”

She shook her head, glancing back at the others. “Not long, I think. It’s hard to keep track of time.”

“An hour, maybe,” a gnome said from another cell.

“Could have been a little longer, but not by much,” a dragonborn in a third added.

“Okay, I’ll find him. Hopefully, there’s still time. Carrie, my familiar, will get your cells open then lead you through a hidden path to where my griffon will meet you. He’ll protect you while I deal with the cultists. Can you tell me what the one who was taken looks like?”

“He was an elf,” the gnome said, leaning against his cell bars so he could see the robin better. “Blond and older, eighteen maybe.”

“He was a high elf,” a half-elf added from the same cage as the gnome. “I think he was moon heritage. He had the white-blue skin and silver eyes they tend to have. He was tall for an elf, a little under six foot.”

The robin froze, then nodded. “Alright, I’m going to leave Carrie to it. She’ll let me know if something goes wrong and I’ll come to help. Otherwise, just follow her lead. All of the Cultists seem to be gathered near the altar room so just stay quiet and be fast.”

The teens all agreed and the robin flew to a set of levers and switches that controlled the cell bars.

On the other side of the tunnel system that the cells were a part of, Tim blinked as he stopped using his familiar’s senses. He reached out to stroke the snout of the spotted griffon curled protectively around him to let Redbird know he was back. He gave her some jerky as a treat before sending her off to the meeting point.

Once she was gone, he pulled the hood of his Cloak of the Detective up and quietly slipped down the tunnel that would lead to the altar room. He knelt in the doorway and peered inside, grabbing his staff off his belt.

He sucked in a breath when he saw one of the Chaos Monsters standing over Bernaril with a dagger poised to kill.

He told Carrie to get the other kids out fast, then stepped into the doorway. His staff extended from a palm-sized rod into a quarterstaff in a flicker of black shaped like Bat’s wings and he held it towards the altar.

“Hctirdle tsalb.” Red eldritch energy crackled across the staff and two beams of energy shot off the point. One hit the cultist with the dagger and the man fell, knocked out before he even hit the ground. The other hit a cultist standing between Tim and the alter and the man collapsed, severely injured but conscious.

“It’s a Bat!”

“But how!?”

“Ssenkrad.” Before the rest of the cultists could react, he pointed at the altar and a cloud of darkness swarmed out of the slab to cloak the room.

“Where is he?”

“I can’t see!”

Eyes glinting with Devil’s Sight, Tim ducked around the cultists and up to the alter. He pulled out a knife and cut through the ropes tying Bernaril down.

“Is it really you?” the elf gasped.

“Let’s get you off that altar.” Tim helped him up and turned to the fight, just in time to deflect an attack from one of the cultists that were stumbling around, waving their scimitar around blindly in hopes of hitting him.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” Bernaril whispered. “You’re the Red Robin! I was… obsessed with you.”

“You can see?” Tim asked, guiding his friend back as another cultist stumbled past.

“Devil’s Sight,” the elf said with a familiar cocky grin.

When had Bernaril become a warlock? He’d always been more interested in girls and conspiracy theories than studying or learning to fight.

Tim shoved him towards a door. “Then get out of here, now. The others are already out. I’ll take care of this.”

“That’s what you think.”

What?

Tim looked over his shoulder, and his distraction cost him as a cultist managed a lucky blow.

He barely noticed the small cut or the dissipating darkness, though, too distracted watching as Bernaril held out his hands and hissed, “Hctirdle tsalb!” to send out a pair of beams that knocked out one of the cultists and injured another.

“I’ve been training,” he said, glancing back to meet Tim’s eyes as best he could with Tim’s mask. “You don’t have to fight on your own.”

Tim felt something warm in his chest that he didn’t understand, but forced it down to focus on the fight.

With the darkness gone, the remaining cultists were able to turn their attention to the boys. Two came at them with their scimitars, but the warlocks ducked around the blows.

Tim sent out another forked Eldritch Blast at the two, knocking out one.

During his attack, another cultist snuck past him and slashed at Bernaril.

The elf hissed at the pain, then gestured towards the cultist. “Hsilleh ekuber!”

The man was engulfed in flames that caused him to scream before falling to the ground unconscious.

The worry that had flooded Tim was washed away by a sudden calm.

It didn’t make sense. He should still have been worried for his friend, but… He liked having Bernaril there. Despite being outnumbered, even more so as another group of cultists arrived, it just felt… nice. Safe, in a way he hadn’t felt since Bruce’s disappearance.

“Hey?” Bernaril said as Tim deflected another attack.

“Yeah?”

Bernaril cast Eldritch Blast again. “If I don’t make it out… can I ask a favor?”

Tim took a hit, then shoved back his attacker. “You’ll make it out -”

“Please.”

Tim hesitated, then nodded.

Bernaril stumbled under a slash to his shoulder, face determined. “Tell Tim Drake…”

Tim’s eyes widened at his name, barely noticing how the closest cultist tried to hit him and missed by a wide margin.

“He helped me realize my true self. Who I am. Tell him… Well, he probably knows. He’s the smartest guy I’ve ever met.”

Tim blushed as he knocked out two cultists with an Eldritch Blast.

“But tell him… I wish we could have finished our date.”

Tim’s brain stopped even as his body sidestepped an attack.

Oh. OH!

Bernaril dodged an attack and fired back with an Eldritch Blast that took out his opponent.

Their date.

Tim fidgeted with his vest, feeling naked. It seemed like it had been forever since he’d gone out without armor, either the special glamoured armor all the Bats wore while investigating or the elven chain he wore while overseeing the Wayne family’s businesses. Bruce had been handling all the social engagements since he’d returned, so Tim had been devoting all his time to work. Protecting Gotham and keeping the family’s businesses running was exhausting, but it was important work that he was happy to do.

And yet, for reasons he didn’t understand, he’d completely set aside the case he was working on to get dressed up in some nice clothes (including the vest, which he was starting to think was actually Dick’s) and meet up with Bernaril Downdrift, a friend he hadn’t seen since their shared school had been shut down after the war riots. The elf had been sent to a boarding school in Sommerset and Tim had moved up to Blüdhaven. Even when Tim had returned to the Underdark, he hadn’t been sure if he should reach out.

Until any chance he had was buried under Jason’s return, then Damian’s arrival, and Bruce’s disappearance.

Bernaril had reached out, though, and Tim had agreed to meet without even thinking about it.

Bincy’s Hog, the tavern they’d decided on, was higher-class than the kind he usually met his friends at, but nowhere near the upscale kind of place he’d bring business associates to. The band played soft, lively music and the atmosphere was relaxed instead of stiff or chaotic. Most people were sitting at booths or tables, though there were a few at the bar.

Tim fidgetted with the vest again as he looked around for Bernaril, then berated himself for being nervous. There was no reason. Maybe they hadn’t seen each other in years, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t the same guy.

“Tim?” a voice said and Tim turned around to see an elf standing behind him.

“Bernaril! There you are.”

The three years had been good to him. He’d grown some and was about even with Tim, or a few inches taller if you didn’t count Tim’s horns. He’d lost the long, prissy hairstyle he’d had in school, instead his golden hair was cut to around ear length in a soft look that fell partially into his face. His silver eyes had bits of blue and green in them that Tim swore hadn’t been there in school.

He looked… He looked…

Bernaril pulled him into a hug that he easily returned.

“It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” Tim pulled back with a smile. “Wanna go sit down? I hear this place has good cave steaks.”

“They sure do.” Wrapping an arm around Tim’s shoulders, Bernaril lead the way to a table. He tapped on Tim’s chest with a smirk. “But just to be clear, we’re not splitting the tab, Lord Tim Wayne. ”

“Shove off,” Tim said, rolling his eyes.

The elf laughed and pulled away so they could take their seats. “You know I’m kidding. Seriously though, the Wayne family? How did that happen?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” Tim chuckled.

Bernaril leaned forward, tilting his head. “I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

A date!

It’d been a date, and Tim even hadn’t noticed.

Tim spent the rest of the fight on autopilot, dodging most hits and taking down the rest of the cultists alongside Bernaril.

It was a date. Bernaril thought it was a date, at least.

Did Tim want it to be a date?

He liked Bernaril, had liked him from the beginning really, but was he attracted to him?

He didn’t think he’d ever been attracted to a boy before, no matter how many jokes his friends and family had made about how close he was to Kon.

Wait… did he have a crush on Kon? Did Kon have a crush on him?

Nope, one crisis at a time.

Did he have a crush on Bernaril?

Sure, he was fun to hang around with and good looking, really good looking, but...

Maybe Barbara was right about needing to take some time away from the business to figure himself out.

“We did it,” Bernaril said, looking over the defeated cultists.

“Yeah, I think we did.”

Carrie chirped at the edge of Tim’s consciousness and he turned to the elf. “The City Guard has arrived. I had someone send them our way as soon as I was sure this is where the Children of Dionysus had brought you all. Let’s get you out to them. These guys aren’t going anywhere.”

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

Bernaril was preparing lunch for himself when he heard someone knock on his door. He glanced out the window and was surprised to see a coach sitting on the road in front of his house.

His breath caught when he opened the door to find Tim Drake standing on the other side.

If the tiefling had looked hot all dolled up for their date, he looked absolutely adorable in a loose-fitting red shirt that complimented his light brown skin, bringing out the red tones. Instead of being neatly combed back, his near-shoulder-length black hair was left a little wild, curling around his face in a way that framed his pupilless slate-blue eyes and matched the dark brown horns that sprouted from his temple.

“Tim? H-Hi! I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been meaning -” Benaril cut himself off. “I mean, I wanted to say -”

“Bernaril, wait. Let me talk.”

He nodded, keeping up a smile despite the squirming in his stomach.

Was it over already? They’d barely gotten through half their date…

Unless that was the problem.

Bernaril still felt cold when he remembered how Tim had collapsed after that blow from the Chaos Monster. Maybe that had just been too much and Tim was cutting his losses. He wouldn’t blame him.

Or maybe Tim had found out about the Children of Dionysus. The City Guard had made sure to keep quiet about how the kids who’d been taken had all been initiates attempting to join without realizing the cult’s true intentions, but Tim was a Wayne now. He had the connections to find out exactly what had happened.

“I’m really glad you got home okay. I was relieved. And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, about that night, and I…”

Bernaril braced himself.

“I don’t know what it meant to me. Not yet. But I’d like to figure it out.”

He blinked then his smile became real.

It wasn’t a confession of love, but it also wasn’t an end to their relationship before it could even begin. It was a chance, and Bernaril wasn’t going to miss out. “I was hoping you would. Tim Drake… Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I think I want that.”

The tiefling’s hand came forward and Bernaril took it, rubbing his thumb against the back of Tim’s hand.

“I have to go, but I’m free tonight?” Tim offered, glancing back at the coach.

“Tonight,” he agreed. Then he smirked and leaned down to press a kiss to the hand he held. “How about we stay in this time? Less of a chance the place will be attacked and you’ll have to play knight in shining armor.”

Tim rolled his eyes and pulled back his hand, but the flush that peaked through the tiefling’s cheeks was as cute as ever. “Sounds good.”

“Geat. We can do it here, then. Unless you suddenly learned how not to burn everything you try to cook since we last talked?”

Tim blushed harder and glared at him. “In my defense, it’s not like anyone’s ever tried to teach me.”

“It’s a good thing Wayne’s got people for that then,” Bernaril chuckled and Tim turned to leave with a snort.

“I’ll see you tonight, then. Same time as last?”

“Yeah. See you then.”

Bernaril watched Tim until his coach disappeared around a corner. Then he swooped inside to grab his coin pouch and a bag, lunch forgotten. He’d need to run to the market to get a few things.

Dinner had to be perfect.

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

I've been watching and listening to Oxventure a lot recently so I thought I'd see what it'd be like if the DC characters (primarily the batfam) existed within a DnD inspired world. Originally the first part was going to be Stephanie and Tim meeting, but then B:UL #6 came out and... I'm still working on the Steph and Tim fic so that should be out next.

For the record, I started working on the project and had all the main character sheets done up before I found out about Dark Knights of Steel. Glad I did, honestly, because Bruce looks awesome in full plate so I might have rethought my plans and made him a paladin after all if I'd seen that first.

Rolling the fight scene had been fun, but I have to admit I had to fudge the damage for Bernard's Hellish Rebuke because I might have underestimated how much damage it would do. Yeah, it was an instant kill. Oops.

A note for the future: Blüdhaven is also in the Underdark, but Blüds and Gothamites only refer to it as the Upperdark since it's part of that higher portion of the Underdark.

#Tim Drake #red robin #bernard dowd #timber #Dungeons and Dragons #fanfiction

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zazatannazatara-blog · 7 years

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Zatanna had this thing about her were she tried to create happiness where it was hard to find. She frequented hospitals and in this case of course shelters. Her main focus were the children but, anyone that wanted to watch her do a few simple magic tricks were welcomed. Being a soft spirited woman she tried to shine happiness even into the darkest places. Seeing the wonderment in other people’s eyes is what she strives for. It gave her a warmth that she had trouble finding else where.

So it was no surprise that she dropped by a shelter. Even with Vivian missing she knew the other would want Zatanna to make others happy. She also tried to never go back on her word though like most people she failed to do that sometimes. It was a natural human thing to do. Yet, this was more for a distraction from the stress of John. Or, so she thought, as she walked into the shelter something felt a bit off. There was a negativity she hadn’t felt before it rolled off her skin and caused it to feel as though her skin was crawling.

Pushing the feeling down she walked to the middle of the shelter with a careful smile in place. It was on she used for business or when she couldn’t get herself really into an act. It was hard for others to really tell if it was fake from the years of practice. Though if someone knew her well enough they would know automatically. No one could place the smile as fake though as people gathered around her in an excited fashion. Taking off her top hat she showed to the crowd before flipping it over and tapping the top.

With each tap a small bouncy ball would bounce down onto the ground and back up into the hat. It received a few giggles from the crowd. Scrunching her face Zatanna flipped the hat back over putting her arm into the hat up to her shoulder. Feeling around she bit her tongue until she found what she was looking for. Fake struggling Zatanna pulled out a bouncy ball the size of a soccer ball. It looked identical to the one that was bouncing out of the hat earlier. She handed it off to one of the children before bowing at the applause. Flipping the hat around Zatanna held it above her head before putting it back on.

She moved to do her next trick her hands pressing together before a loud noise caused everyone to become silent. Zatanna’s brows came together as she it was the sudden explosion. The rolling of dust and what seemed to be fire that caused her to throw her hands up screaming pots as everyone stopped. With everything frozen around her Zatanna gave a quick look around. She didn’t like what she saw people tripping over themselves and rushing for the door. The strange thing was that it was few people that did so. Like they had known this explosion was going to happen.

Crossing over to the window she looked out not seeing anyone strange yet. It caused her to narrow her eyes. She could only freeze so much of the property out to the road. where the property line ended. Her feet took her towards the blast stopping just as the edge of it. Knowing that she couldn’t do anything for the people back near the blast Zatanna pressed at her eyes. Feeling the sting of tears she wasn’t good with death, or watching people getting severely injured. But, a thought accrued when she turned to look at the people catching the sight of the house structure beginning to collapse. Seeing as the house was rather old it wasn’t too surprising to her.

Zatanna knew she could move the people out past the property line though if there were people out there that meant to grab them... What could she do? SHe could start with someone responsible and explain to them that if anyone were to try to take anyone to tell them no. That would only do so much... But, with everyone worried about everyone else.. She couldn’t just reach out for help. She was on her own. Crossing her arms she thought about her options. Zatanna could get everyone out reverse the blast and then get the ones caught in the blast out. But, she wasn’t sure about their injuries... She couldn’t just take away their injuries that took a more complex spell that required her blood.

She could send them through a portal to the hospital that could possibly work. Zatanna felt like that was the better option. Biting her finger winced at the sharp pain of her flesh opening. Walking over to the wall she started working on the portal. It would disappear after the blast would hit it. Though now she wished she had gotten this as a tattoo.. Now, she understood why John had so many magical tattoos. It took a good minute but after she was done she wrapped her finger in a scarf before moving the people that weren’t in the blast outside. Putting them just at the edge of the property line she picked one member of the shelter staff.

She listened to him scream and fall to the ground throwing his arms over himself in attempt to protect his head. Zatanna waited for him to look around bewildered before he locked eyes with her. “Hi, okay.. See these people here? I need you to pull them over the property line and make sure no one takes them anywhere. Absolutely, no one.” Zatanna spoke firmly before giving him a look. “Do you understand me? This is important. I’m trying to figure out what happened and I need you to make sure that no one disappears.” She spoke a little louder until the man gave a nod standing and doing what he was instructed to do.

Turning back to the house Zatanna rushed to make sure no one was on the second or third floors. Which she was counting some lucky stars because there weren’t any. Rushing back down the stairs Zatanna went back to the edge of the blast. Her hands coming up as she focused on the burning energy esrever tsalb came out of her mouth. Her eyes watched as the blast began to withdraw following it she counted the people laying on the ground with injuries. It caused her to flinch a bit. This part took a while having to drag the injured through the portal where they would just show up in the ER waiting room.

It seemed like hours as she worked until she managed to get the last person which happened to be a child through to the other side. Sighing she looked down at her stage outfit knowing she would have to buy a new one. It didn’t bother her now but it would later. Her feet carried her through the house as she tried finding were the blast came from. After a minute of searching she found out that it was a series of small explosions. One of them was placed on the side of the house and the other was on the gas line. Which was still counting down to blow up.

Taking a step back Zatanna went and double checked the house before making her way outside. Snapping her fingers she walked towards the property line. She didn’t watch as the first ripple went through the house but it was the second one that made her look over her shoulder. with everything rushing forward she looked at the people that weren’t too injured or unscathed with a small smile. Her hands went to her hat before pausing her eyes landing on a few vans rushing forward with people rushing out of them. Her eyes narrowed as she ran towards them putting herself in-between them and the people from the shelter. Throwing her hands up she screamed og ot peels watching as they fell over in a deep slumber Zatanna turned and looked over her shoulder at the people from the shelter. She had to get one of these guys back to John and the people from the shelter somewhere safe. But, at this point Zatanna was trying to grasp what was safe anymore.

#selfpara #plot drop thingy?#what am I supposed to tag?!

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