#lapblood

[rin-solo]

Cartoon Series Pt. 3 | Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods

This is part 3 in an art series for TUC!! I will probably do one wallpaper for every book/quest. Are you interested in seeing more of these? You can find parts 1+2 on my profile, btw!

Yes, the style is close to Phineas and Ferb; Idk why but, for some reason, I fell in love with the way the characters look in this style.

Disclaimer: the bg is a stock image; the rest is drawn by me!

[quohotos]

Sketched Lapblood in paint 3d as a warmup today. Rats are actually very difficult to draw.

[overandunderland]

Ripred:*trying to pretend he's the same grizzled cynical rat he's always been since Gregor's absence.*

Gregor noticing a building of a nest in the den he shares with Lapblood:

[yesthefandomfreakblr]

Thoughts on lapblood?

underestimated and unsung queen. On the third book she was starving. Two of her children she left dying and knew they were gone. Her SMALL CHILDREN. Dead. And left the other two for her supposed sister (headcanon) to watch. She chose to leave them in service of them and her country. To find a cure and hopefully be able to hunt for them again. and her HUSBAND. Died on that quest. Right in front of her. She didn’t want to go on. She tried to end her life twice/save him. And kept fighting for those two children she had at home. She now had no one on this quest. No one she knew or felt safe with. No one to lean on. Ripred was actively abusive emotionally. And yet. In the last book, less than a year later, we see her having amassed THOUSANDS to the cause of killing the bane and her children growing well beside her. She deserves the world. She was also a kind soul. she also spoke up on behalf of Ripred to convince the other rat’s to stand with him. She’d become incredibly politically active and important after returning from the jungle.

[aldoodles]

Two faves I don’t draw enough

[haveihitanerve]

I have this headcannon that ripred just pretty much shows up at home with his new kids every once in a while and just assumes everyone is aware and every single one of his pack members accepts his kids, but the first time are always baffled by it like- Ripred: and as i was saying- razor did you have something you wanted to say? Razor: um… yeah. Who-? Why is the warrior here? Ripred: *glancing at eleven year old gregor who is playing hopscotch with another rat pup* thats my son obviously. Now as i was saying- - Mange: *waking up and yawning. Walks out of cave* good morning everyo- GAH JESUS CHRIST Ares: *hanging upside down right in front of the cave entrance* oh. Good morning. Is ripred here? Mange:...*heart rate at 200 beats per second*.....Yeah. yeah. Just inside Ares: *sweetly* thank you - Razor: Mange: Lapblood: Ratriff: Clawsin: Razor: why is the queen here? Lapblood: ripred just showed up, dropped her off, said something about retrieving the other one and left Luxa: *chewing some bubble gum* sup. - Ripred: Aurora: Ripred: Aurora: Ripred: Aurora: Ripred: *sigh* fine Aurora: yay! Lapblood: Razor: Clawsin: Ratriff: Mange: did any of yall get that? Them: nope.  - Ripred: *walking into cave for pack meeting time* theres more coming behind me Lapblood: oh okay we can- Ares: *flies in with gregor on his back* sup yall Mange: hey pup. Now- Aurora: *flies in with nike attached to her leg by a piece of rope* hey Nike: *sullenly* id didn't wanna come Razor: h-hi? Ratriff: okay so- Andromeda: hello! Howard: hey Luxa: *cartwheels in* sup bitches *high fives gregor* Mareth: *carrying a wet boots* gregor she said shes not feeling polite today Gregor: okay. Does she need to go to Regalia? Mareth: no shes just not feeling polite Boots: *hiss* Hazard: *comes skipping in* hello! Lapblood: is that the last of them? Ripred: *counting* yeah should be.  Them: …. Ripred: what? Mange: you have to count your kids? Ripred: THERES A LOT OF THEM OKAY???

[snekatiemainy]

Ripred this Ripred that

Well have you considered Lapblood?

[tigirl-and-co]

if there was an underland video game, I don't CARE what kind of game, i DEMAND a social management aspect. Like you, as gregor, have to keep the different party members from fucking killing each other (or dying of exhaustion by running themselves ragged bc nobody wants to help them)

and if you finish a quest with either no deaths or max affection you get bonus scenes/good endings

[ezilo]

TUC week, Day 5!

Okay, missed a few days, but here I am. The prompt today was Code/Claw, but I mostly focused on the last book in general.

So here's an AU where Gregor actually dies in battle. You have been warned!

By the time her cell door opens, Luxa is a little less angry at Gregor. Aurora pointed out many a time in the last days that Luxa may have done the same in other circumstances, and Luxa just wants to see Gregor again, even though she may not. Will not.

It is Mareth who opens the door, and after one look at his face, she falls to her knees. She barely has enough strength to raise her arms and reach for Aurora, who wraps her in her golden wings. Her bat chokes out “Ares?” and Mareth shakes his head. Luxa weeps, like she had a year before in Vikus’s arms, losing her best friend. She sobs, shameless, for this boy and this love and a lifetime she will never have. She cries for his sacrifice, his bravery, his delicate smile. The clip-clop of Mareth’s footsteps comes closer, but she shakes her head. This is a time for no one but her and Aurora. They stay entangled for a while longer, until Luxa remembers who she is, a queen, a leader, and gets up. Her grief is dragging her down, as it has for years, but still she takes a few steps toward Mareth, toward the stairs, the light, the rest of her life.

“Wait.” Mareth says, grabbing her wrist. “It is not just Gregor.” Her heart hammers, and she leans against the wall, closes her eyes. “Tell me.”

“Solovet.” Her first sword lesson. Holding her hand at her parents’ funeral. Bright, blinding force passed down to her. She breathes in. “Who else?” “Vikus had a heart failure. He is in the hospital, between life and death.” Luxa buries her face in Aurora’s fur, smells the warm scent of her bond, and hopes it will be enough to bring her back together. “We have reason to believe Ripred is gone as well.” The sharp pain in her, she had not expected. Ripred could not die, could he? Luxa had thought she would build back the Underland hand in paw with him. No, she had not expected this.

“And the Bane?” Mareth gives a tired smile. “Gregor and Ares killed him.” Luxa smiles, too, and climbs out.

*

In the days to come, Luxa is whisked from meeting to meeting, held upright by Aurora and Howard and Mareth. She finds the time to read Gregor’s last letter to her, sitting in the museum one night, and whispers “I love you too”, indulges in the pain for a moment, as during the rest of the day, she has no place for it. She carves out a half-hour here or there to sit with Hazard and the orphaned nibbler pups and wash them, and look at Boots play with them. She doesn’t know, yet. And who is there to tell her? Lizzie is in shatters, Grace is at the Fount, the rest of the family in the Overland somewhere. No, this task is also Luxa’s. But she does not have the time, or the heart, to tell her.

Sometimes, she has dinner with Vikus, leaning on the bed, feeding him bits of mashed food. He holds her hand, and she relaxes a fraction, lets go of the tension in her shoulders. She even falls asleep once, wakes up snuggled up to her Grandpapa like she did as a little girl. It is dark, the hospital has turned off almost all torches. She buries herself further under the blankets and falls back asleep.

In the morning, she gets the first reliable numbers of the victims. She crumples the paper in her hand. A third of her city is gone, most of the nibblers left with no home. She had asked her advisors to find out the numbers of the gnawer victims as well, which had surprised them. She stares at the number at the bottom of the list, and wonders if that is enough paid. Gregor’s bright brown eyes appear in her mind and she thinks nothing will ever be enough.

*

Luxa is crossed-legged in the code room, staring at a map of the human territory, wracking her brain for a solution to the water supply problem, when they enter.

“Luxa?” Lizzie’s small voice echoes in the room. Her parents stand behind her, arms on her shoulders, Grace leaning heavily on her husband. Boots is standing next to them, her little face flooded with tears, her lower lip wobbling. Luxa opens her arms, and the girl stomps all over the map as she rushes to her, messing up her plans. “Gregor is dead, yes?” Her little voice asks in Luxa’s ear. She opens another arm for Lizzie to fall into, and has to say “Yes, Boots.” And then, because it’s what he would have wanted, she adds “You said his name, sweetie. Good job.” Lizzie is sobbing in earnest now, finally looking her own age. And then, something amazing happens. Grace and Jonathan join them, fall to their knees, and suddenly Luxa is the one wrapped in someone’s arms, Luxa is allowed to cry into someone’s chest. She squeezes the girls closer, and leans into Grace. “It will be okay, sweetie. I promise.” And Luxa enjoys  a mother’s hand passing through her hair, and dreams about those words ringing true, one day.

“I keep him here?” Boots asks, pointing at her chest.

“Yes, Boots. I keep him here too.” Luxa folds her fist on her heartbeat. “We all do.” Jonathan adds. Boots still looks scared and confused. Luxa feels a pang of melancholy at how little Boots will remember of Gregor. She thinks about how he had always put her first, pushed her onto Ares as he inhaled poisonous fumes, asked Ares to break his vow and save her first, cried in desperation as he searched for her in the Swag. Gregor sacrificing his food for Boots, reaching for her, turning into a rager just to protect her. A million other moments none of them knew about because they had only happened between them, a brother and a sister. Luxa did not grow up with siblings. But she’d learned everything about it from him, and it had given her the courage to take Hazard in.

They stay, hugging close, a little while longer. And then Luxa has to get up, has to compose herself, and head into a council meeting. Just as she crosses the threshold of the door, Grace catches up with her, wheezing slightly from the effort. She reaches for the crown on Luxa’s head, and rearranges it neatly. “There.”. Luxa’s eyes almost fill up with tears again – it has been so long since a mother’s touch. Instead, she asks, “Will you have dinner with me? All of you?” and Grace smiles.

*

And so the family practically moves into her quarters. Sometimes, when she’s passing through between meetings and obituaries, she sees Jonathan explaining things to Hazard: the functioning of an exoskeleton, the hierarchy visible in anthills, the mating rituals of worms. Hazard hangs on to his every word, Boots dutifully by his side, playing with Temp. She still plays, still sings, still eats and smiles. But sometimes she catches herself turning around and looking for her brother, and then she will burst into hot angry tears. Lizzie mostly sits at Luxa’s old desk and writes, using the tree of transmission, the code of claw, or her own invented ones. She writes out all the prophecies neatly, and asks Luxa for stories about her brother completing them. Luxa tells her all she knows, all she can bear to tell, and then sends for Mareth, Dulcet, Howard or Temp. Some of the anecdotes even make Lizzie smile, however briefly.

Every night, Grace comes pounding at the Council door and says she has come to retrieve Luxa for dinner. No one in the Council dares object, because she is the Mother of Light, and because, frankly, Grace is a little bit scary. Luxa appreciates the protection, more than she thought she would.

She asks them, one night, what they want to do with Gregor’s body, once Lizzie and Boots are asleep, curled up with Hazard in his room. Grace and Jonathan both still, look at each other. It is an entirely different kind of love than Vikus and Solovet had, than even her parents had. Unburdened by royal blood and diverging ideals, there is a sense of friendship to them, of being a team through it all, that Luxa so admires. And a little part of her thinks that perhaps, she and Gregor might have had that, given time. Of course, it is foolish; if Gregor had lived, he would have returned home. But still, her heart is treacherous enough to imagine.

“We would like to take him home, and bury him with our family.” Luxa nods. “Then we shall do that.” But they share a look, and Luxa braces herself. “Luxa… no one has made any plans to take us home. There has been no talk of it. We are starting to get worried.”

Of course, there has been talk of it. Almost every day in the Council, Luxa is battling the same arguments: the usefulness of Boots to rally the Crawlers; Lizzie’s sharp, young mind against codes to come. These extraordinary children, given away to the Underland, Gregor laying down his life for them. Every day, Luxa  has been fighting them off, but there is little she can say, despite a weak it would not be right. “This is not what Gregor died for” she whispers to Vikus over and over, and he agrees. If it comes to it, Luxa will fly them out herself, if she can find a way out of the palace. Surely she could enlist Temp’s help. She so wishes Ripred were here.

“I will get you home. Do not worry. But perhaps after the surrender, if that is alright? The warrior’s family should be here.” Grace looks uncomfortable. “And I shall like to have you by my side. It will be a little like…” She cannot say the words. But Grace covers her hand with her dark one and nods. “Okay, Luxa. We’ll be there.” And it is so like Gregor, the shortening of syllables, the intonation of okay, that Luxa really does feel like a part of him is here with her.

*

The day of the surrender, Luxa carefully fills the deep pockets of her dress. She takes the two photographs of her and Gregor, a drawing Hazard made of her and Hamnet together, the blue fish stone, and Vikus’s ring in her right pocket. In her left, she rests Solovet’s ring, a stone from her father’s coronation crown, and the crown the nibblers had used as their signal to her. The Council tells her to fly out with Aurora, but she walks through the city. She fills her eyes and her heart with her destructed home, promises justice to all who ask.

In the arena, everyone turns to her. She wishes Vikus were here. She wishes a lot of people were here.

But she holds her head high, sidestepping the holes on the ground. Her eyes sweep over the bleachers: Gregor’s family is huddled with the Crawlers, though Lapblood is near them, her tail wrapped protectively around Lizzie; Hazard sits with them, and he gives an encouraging smile, as Aurora lands; Howard, York and Susannah, practically the last of her mother’s side of the family, are also there, looking at her expectantly; and Nerissa, tired and frail, does not look at her, and Luxa wonders what that means.

A part of her wants to run. Wants to say no, I am only twelve, hop on Aurora and run away to Ares’s cave, pretend that Gregor will round the corner in a minute and they can finally have their picnic. Instead, she calls upon the gnawer’s representative, expecting it to be Baereleg, who does open his mouth, but -

Of course, nothing in Luxa’s life has ever quite gone to plan.

She has no time to be happy that he is alive. As she watches Lizzie jump onto him, laughing for the first time in weeks, Luxa squares her shoulders, shares a look with York. The game has changed, with the Peacemaker appearing (she almost snorts – there is no doubt in her mind that this wound is self-inflicted). Luxa is weakened, and so she does what she has been taught to do: attack.

“Good. Then you should have no problem peacefully leading your fellow gnawers to the Uncharted lands.” She says icily.

“Yes, I do have a problem with that, Your Highness. And I am willing to bet I am not the only one. What have you done with my little warrior, huh? What does he think of this?”

Luxa grows cold. Even for Ripred, that is a low blow. To taunt her, to make her say what has been prophesied for so long. What she has known since the first time she laid eyes on Gregor: he would be taken from her.

“What do you think, Ripred? Gregor’s light has faded.” She watches the smallest glimmer of hope faint from Ripred, watches a flicker of genuine sadness be replaced quickly. Right there, in the moment Ripred has waited for his entire life, the moment he has worked and bled and killed for, he crouches next to Lizzie and abandons all negotiations in order to care for her. Luxa is stunned, staring at the huge rat, oozing blood, wrapping his paws around the girl. She can guess where this is going, if she stands her ground and he stands his: such moments will not happen again. Such genuine friendships between human and rat, Killer and Gnawer, will not come around again. She thinks about Gregor crying over Tick, Hazard being the first of his kind to learn another language. She thinks about Boots feeding the stingers, earning the title of Princess because of her kindness, not her blood. She thinks about Gregor sparing the Bane, and is sure, in that moment, that even if he had known the future, that foolish, idealistic, wonderful boy would not have killed it. Suddenly, she is very, very tired.

The gnawer is back to negotiation mode, rambling about justice and guarantees, cutters at the border and treaties, but Luxa interrupts him.

“Ripred.” Her voice is not queenly, or controlled. It is hoarse, and human, and grief-stricken. It is genuine.

He turns to her, snarls, “I will give you a war if it is one you want, your Highness.”.

Luxa thinks about One of us has to live, and steps toward the gnawer with a raised hand.

“This is what I offer. A bond between all humans and gnawers. A vow, to defend one another. To fight side by side, to learn about and from each other. To teach our pups differently. No treaties, no promises – but bonds.” Luxa smiles at the stunned crowd, and then turns back to Ripred. “Do you dare take it?”

Ripred’s smile is genuinely proud. He presses his claw against her palm, and so Luxa gains a new bond.

Aurora, Hazard, and Howard launch themselves at her, showering her in congratulations and expressions of pride. “Grandmama is rolling around in her grave.” She tells Howard. He laughs. “But Gregor would be so proud.” A shadow of sadness falls over Luxa, but she smiles. “You know what, I think you’re right.”

*

Lizzie’s solution is ingenious, and the compromise is sure to be a success, but Luxa is anxiously watching the Council members, their carnivorous smiles at Lizzie. Oh, how useful she and her little mind would be. She wraps an arm around the girl, and shares a look with Ripred.

They feast, and Luxa points out the shrimp in cream sauce to the rat. But he shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t think I can bear it quite yet.” She frowns. Hazard takes a spoonful of it, and says “Oh, this is what Gregor brough to the jungle for you, is it not?” And Ripred nods. “Yes. Yes it is.” But he does not elaborate. Instead, he launches into a conversation with Hazard about echolocation lessons, and Luxa makes herself a sandwich.

They get them out that very night, secretly. Lizzie clings to the rat until the very last minute, and Temp weeps as Boots says “See you soon!”. Aurora flies them all out, even though they’re heavy on her back, but it was the only way. She orders them to lay on their bellies, hidden from guards, and places trusted soldiers at the gates.

She hugs Boots close, and Lizzie too. “Thank you.” The girl says. “For what?” Lizzie smiles, looking beyond her age. “You made him happy. A lot.” And then she’s stepping out, into the mysterious Overland. Luxa pokes her head out, just to see Gregor’s world for a second. The moon curves elegantly in the sky. Jonathan kisses her cheek, Grace hugs her close. “Sweetie, you will make such a wonderful queen.” Luxa buries her face in the woman’s shoulder.

She’s crying by the time they land back at the docks. Ripred, Mareth, Temp, Lapblood and Hazard are still there. She catches the last bit of dialogue, Lapblood saying “Shame, I would have been proud to bond with the warrior.” and smiles. Hazard takes her hand, asks her if she is alright. “I will be.” And she brings him close to her side.

“Now, we have work to do.”

Ripred narrows his eyes. “We do?”

“Oh, have I not told you? You are all part of my new Council. I am getting rid of Solovet’s lieutenants.” There’s silence, and then Lapblood is whooping loudly, Ripred and Mareth already deep in negotiation.

“Me, in the Council, me?” Temp asks, bewildered. Luxa crouches next to the creature that had welcomed Gregor here, that had taught her so much, and smiles.

“You, in the Council, you.”

[antique-symbolism]

The scene in Curse of the Warmbloods where Gregor grooms Lapblood is truly one of the most powerful moments of the series.

I feel like it's the moment Gregor truly internalizes the humanity of rats. Before this point, he's been able to accept and even appreciate Ripred and Twitchtip. But it isn't until he recognizes the mirror image of his grief in Lapblood that the barrier is truly broken and he realizes there is no fundamental difference between humans and rats.

Lapblood is on this gruelling journey for a cure that may be ultimately futile. She and hers have been starving for months, she knows some of her children are dead already, that the others are dying, she just watched her mate die violently in front of her eyes. She can't go on. She is exhausted, grief stricken, surrounded by people who revile her just for being a rat. The only other rat left in the party berates her with some kind of twisted 'tough love,' unable to show any compassion, saying in the process that he only wants her there because she's useful in a fight.

Then Gregor, a human, the enemy, the Warrior who is prophecied to defeat the rats, steps in and shows her sympathy, shows her hope. Lays his hands on her not in violence but in healing. It isn't saving her life in a flashy show of heroism - it's different than when he tackles Henry away from killing Ripred in Overlander, different than when he jumps in after Twitchtip in the whirlpool in Prophecy of Bane. It's a calculated, gentle display of compassion. It's intimate. And very, very public, with every eye from all sides of the conflict silently observing.

And then, after all that, with every eye still on him, he brushes out his own hair with the very same tool he used to groom Lapblood, her fur mingling with his hair as if to say, 'This is not my enemy. This is my kin.'

[returntoregalia]

Ripred's always so proud when Gregor gets salty with others. Like. "Hell yeah, that's my boy." Bro gets so joyous and warm fuzzy when the 12 year old bitches back at Lapblood and Solavet or Luxa. He laughs and backs him up. I just love that detail with Red so much and it's so funny that he's this middle aged war vet with an elementary schooler. Like teaching a sixth Grader to say 'fuck the police' in your old hard years. It's just "AWWWWWWW that's so precious. Lookit my lil' baby."

YES I love when Ripred admires Gregor's attitude! Those are the best scenes. Like when Gregor talks back to Luxa and Henry in Book 1 and Ripred is like "Tell them, boy! Tell them your country fought a war so they didn't have to answer to kings and queens." Great times

[unorthodoxiguana]

A theory I thought of

The names of the gnawers are not their actual names. Ripred isn't actually called Ripred. Lapblood isn't actually called Lapblood. Those are just the closest human translations of their actual names in the gnawer language, names that could have related, but still entirely different meanings.

[orangeblobby]

I was catching up on @returntoregalia, and it was mentioned that the nature of Mange and Lapblood's relationship is a little unclear in Curse of the Warmbloods. I thought I remembered something, so I checked in the Code of Claw-- and it is confirmed that Mange and Lapblood were mates. Flyfur and Sixclaw (and the others who were lost) are their children.

[yesthefandomfreakblr]

Okay but Ripred sighing his french pet name for Mrs. Cormaci dreamily and referring to her as a goddess.

This guy.

This man.

You really can buy his love with food.

[thesweetnessofspring]

Gregor washing up Lapblood did me in last night. Full-on sobbing.

[haveihitanerve]

How I Think the Underlanders would react if they walked in on Gregor changing

(i added twitchtip this time)

Luxa: *leans on door* *wolf whistles* it just got hot in here

Ares: *eyes widen* whoops, sorry bro *stands in front of door like good bro and stops others until hes done*

Howard: *blank stare* what the actual fu- Howard: my cousin actually likes you? yoU?!?

Ripred: *gags* *retches* *screams, ‘MY EYES, MY EYES*

Sixclaw: AHHHHHHHHHH Flyfur: GOOD SANDWICH HES GOT HAIR!!!! (are the dramatic bad asses we know and love)

Lapblood: *doesn't even acknowledge him and just goes around the room tidying up*

Nike: OH GOOD SANDWICH SAVE ME FROM THE TERRIBLE FATE THAT HAS BEFALLEN M- Gregor: *kicks her out*

Aurora: oh! My bad! *just chills and waits for him to finish. Its nothing she hasn't seen before, they friends*

Andromeda: *just casually walks right back out*

Mareth: dude. *shakes head* theres this thing called a lock you know? You should try it. *closes door and leaves*

Hazard: bruh. I wish i looked like that! *just walks out and leaves door open*

Dulcet: Oh! My apologies overlander. *closes door*

Twitchtip: *knows hes changing* *doesn't give two fucks and smashes the door down giving him a heart attack* maybe you should learn to lock the door Gregor: iT WAS LOCKED YOU FU-AAAH!!!! *leaves* Twitchtip: *smirks* Ripred: *takes notes*