#;howling at the queue

[wolfvirago-m]

@memcria - from this

She wasn't sure how a creature like this one could even exist beyond the forest. But maybe it was because similar creatures to the yokai existed everywhere... Clinging to spiritual energy and feeding upon fear.

Robin didn't know if her blade could harm this strange beast. Which was why she had taken the nearby girl and run, fleeing so they could regroup.

"It will hurt someone if we let it keep thrashing around. Which is why we have to stay put and think over our battle plan." The shifter began, before her thick brows furrowed together.

"No. Not our plan. Mine. You stay here, alright?" She came to a stop, urging Moana to hide amongst the brush. "I mean it. This is not kid stuff."

Unsheathing the holy blade at her hip, the shifter grunted and tried to calm down, to feel the energy of what was behind and ahead of them.

[mayoinomori]

@slumbrlcnd - robin and raggedy ann - from this

The outburst had mostly been sarcastic, exclaimed when mentioning her own dragons to fight... A story of a woman clad in wolfskin able to slay any beast. That had been the story she wanted to tell, but...

Childhood had been stolen from her. Even now, trying to tell tales as brightly as she once had felt... Wrong.

And the little doll's glove on her finger feels like someone squeezing her heart, tears burning behind her eyes.

"How do you know that for sure?" The shifter hated how her voice cracked when she spoke then, body trembling on her bed. She hunched over, as if trying to make herself small again.

"How do you know things will be alright? I'm alone!"

[animal444]

[userfrieren]

Howl's Moving Castle (2004) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

birthday gift for @shadowsofrose ♡

[wolfvirago-m]

@selfmenticide - from here

A great shudder runs through the woman, gazing back at the panicked entity. While part of her wanted to gloat, to laugh at the creature for being so frightened, she also knew it wasn't a good sign for them to be this frazzled at the mere sight of her.

Usually, Dark found her. She would take a wrong path, pass the wrong loop, then get thrust into darkness and the Void. They would have their usual conversation (or scolding more like it) and then the creature would throw her back to where she first fell in.

Their encounter now, however, was like the roles had switched. And for the briefest of moments, Robin smirks.

"What? What now? Nothing I do is ever good enough for you!" The smirk drops, instead giving away to frustration, anger that had festered for many, many loops. Robin could feel the energy in the crystal cracking and spiking, humming with the deep celestial magics hidden in her soul.

"You're always in my way. I'm simply trying to find my friend, and get out of these damn loops. Did I catch you in the act too soon, little demon?"

[wolfvirago-m]

"It's a horrible creature." Is all she can manage, mind spinning at a hundred miles an hour. Even if she wanted to explain the lore and mythos of this particular yokai, it wouldn't help them. There was no exploitable weakness. No hero in its legend that slain the beast or outwitted it.

A thought does come to mind in her frantic searching. A realization. The smell o freshwater revealing where the beast might have been coming from.

That's right. Ushi-oni often made their territory at the foot of loud sources of water-- oceans or waterfalls. It could hide itself in the loud roar of water and then strike when it had the strength (and chance) to do so. It could leech the life force of those who gazed into its ravenous eyes long enough.

Robin swallowed, breath uneven as she heard the other human in her peripheral try to make a game plan for them. Cover.

With no other options, she spotted a ravine nearby. It was a steep drop, with many discarded trees and brambles that would likely cut up anyone's soft flesh... But it was better than having poison.

As the great, horrible beast bellowed, black-ish purple smog fanning from its drooling maw, Robin gave a mighty shove to her traveling companion, before diving into the ravine after him.

@storyuntrue

“𝑨   𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕?!”   Damn   it,   he   needs   just   a   minute   —   that’s   all   it   would   take   for   him   to   get   his   armor   on   and   get   the   both   of   them   the   hell   away   from   whatever   was   charging   at   them.   But   that   minute   could   be   enough   for   them   to   become   a   meal   to   some   freaky   monster   and   Tony   just   could   not   risk   it.   Not   without   some   kind   of   safety   net.   

The   fact   that   the   beast   after   them   apparently   had   the   ability   to   breathe   freaking   poison   was   just   a   cherry   on   top   of   a   very   messed   up   pie.   

“Can   you   get   us   some   cover?!”   He   tries   to   shout   over   the   wind   blowing   in   his   ears,   heavy   thudding   of   boots   against   the   forest   terrain   and   the   sound   of   his   own   frantic   heartbeat,   as   he   puts   all   his   energy   into   running   away   from   the   danger.   He’s   hoping   that   Robin   knows   at   least   some   parts   of   these   woods,   and   could   find   them   some   momentary   hideout   where   he   could   finally   put   his   suit   to   good   use.   “I   need   a   minute   of   cover!   Whatever   you   can   give   me   works,   as   long   as   you   can   get   me   time!”   

[mayoinomori]

@rathalascendant - from this

She was forgiven, and that was enough. But why did her stomach still churn with cold, burning spike piercing through her and making her heart flutter? Anxiety lingered, even as her mind spat at itself for feeling such a way.

"Once again?" The wolf found herself asking. Had Red gotten himself injured before in defending Mari from some monsters? There seemed to be another story here.

Carefully holding her mug so it wouldn't spill, Robin eased herself down to the floor, legs crossed as she settled. Now at eye level with the rider, she was more attentive. A little more relaxed.

"I haven't had much chance to see the creatures of your world beyond the ones at your village." Were they at all like the yokai of the Woods? Perhaps reflections, distorted by the spiritual energy...

[userfrieren]

for @shadowsofrose

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[wolfvirago-m]

@starsweepers - from this

"I'm fine." Robin answered with a shake of the hand, waving away any concerns the younger might have. She was entirely too used to fighting these creatures... Purifying the essence in smouldering ash upon the ground, left for the spirit to hopefully seek retribution beyond the pale.

"I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough. Onryo are good at scaring the life out of you." She saw the ghost trying to get Marinette to freeze, to suck away her life essence or make use of her as a vessel. If Robin hadn't come, there'd be an exorcism needed...

Her own hand lifts, finding the prayer slips her mother had created years ago, before she was ill. They were used only in dire circumstances to weaken yokai before coming in for the kill with the holy blade... She only had so many left.

"I'm going to assume you got lost." The shifter continues, eyes wandering the glade for any other malice. "Let me guess. Fell down a rabbit hole?"

[wolfvirago-m]

There were always whispers. From the beginning, as she tried to carve out a name for herself, Robin would hear those sounds behind her back. The giggling. The whispers and soft tsks of disappointed adults. None of them understood why she was going through all this.

She had a chance to do what her mother never could. She could be free, far away from the forest and all its responsibilities. The curses of old generations left to rot slowly.

Robin was wrong about that, that curses didn't exist and were left in her past. But she didn't know it yet.

"You're braver than you think, Dames." A soft nickname offered, as the blonde adjusted in her seat. There was a pause, their eyes lingering upon one another...

Before she remembered what she came in to report.

"Oh! Right. I meant to check up on your speech prep for the next debate. How's it coming along?"

@blueheartedmayor

He couldn't help it. When he looked up at her, the smile blossomed as naturally as the sun would rise each morning.

Robin's rise to this position was nothing short of a constant struggle to prove herself in the face of people who wanted nothing more than to silence her. Damien would lying if he said that she wasn't an inspiration to keep going when the odds were stacked against him.

Once more, her comment brought with it a warm laugh from the Mayor. Most men would try and defend their honour, insisting that they could fight for themselves... But they both knew Damien was a pacifist. He would be pummelled if forced to fight in any capacity.

"You would look amazing," he repeated, fully in agreement. "Truthfully, I don't think anyone would have a chance if they were up against you. They refuse to see you as you are because they aren't ready for someone as skilled as you." Robin was like Celine, in that regard. Women that were too good for this world, who were too ahead of their time as they grew frustrated and waited for the men to accept that the truth was as clear as day. It bothered Damien that Robin wasn't allowed the same level of respect that he had.

"I think they are fools not to see that you are the reason I can win my battles."

[mayoinomori]

@lightcreators - bernkastel + robin - from this

Yes, somehow... Robin felt as if the girl who had cried out for help in her dreams looked so very much like Bernkastel. Perhaps they were connected, or the witch's past human self had desired to be saved... So badly that she had reached across time and universes, pulling a piece that was never on the Hinamizawa gameboard in the first place...!!

Robin's fate was always the same. To be the guardian of a realm not unlike topsy-turvy Wonderland, slaying demons and ascending to a god... A kami who purified herself and gave up humanity.

Was that not her fate here? To ascend past humanity, to become a witch and purify the gameboard so her friends may live blissfully unaware of the tragedy unfolding for a century?

"I have no need for a miracle. I will find the happy end with my own two hands, carve it out with my teeth and claws. A miracle would be like giving up and cheating." The wolf smirked a bit. "Bernkastel, huh? A German name. Is it borrowed from some dusty old philosopher?"

Wouldn't be surprising. That other annoying sweets witch had a name composed of Greek symbols, giving meaning to frilliness that often had no true desire.

"There must be a reason we have met this time. Are you acknowledging me as a witch? Or am I being tossed around as a miko again?" She could never remember which witch had claimed her first and cursed her with this power.

[echobsilly]

stand in

[userfrieren]

That's my girl.

[wolfvirago-m]

@intoshards - from this

Part of her wants to scream. She wants to rage, to slam him down to the ground, to claw out his throat just to feel the blood splatter against her skin. To wail, to show him how much all of this has hurt...

After all, his energy was so much like the one of the Entity, the thing that had forced her into these loops. The one who had driven their friends mad.

The other's face was like the creature's. The same one who had shoved her soul into the mirror realm, her fists bloodied as she pounded against the glass.

(DAMIEN! CELINE!! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! DAMIEN!!)

(I thought you were my friend. Don't go.)

At the same time, this creature couldn't be *her* Damien at all. And that was why she had frowned at him with empathy, across the darkened expanse of their shared tomb. A Sea of Fragments of their worlds, their loops, ever spinning without a sound.

"We are the same, then. How long have you been traveling this place?" A laugh, the girl rubbing her eyes. "Time is odd here."

[mayoinomori]

@lightcreators - rika + robin - cont from here

As the eldest in the club, Robin felt it was her responsibility to take care of them all. She was not the alpha of their pack by any means, but she could rise to that leadership role if necessary.

Especially now, with poor Rika burning with a fever and so obviously trying to dismiss any concerns upon her trembling form. Maternal instincts rushed like a flood within the wolf woman, her hands a bit more firm in guiding the smaller girl to the water pump by the school shed.

"It's not like you to over-exert yourself like that. Not very ladylike of you to go and overdo it." Teasing her friend, Robin turned the faucet on and splashed a little of the clean water onto the younger's face to help cool her down.

"Are you worried about Watanagashi? It's not your first time performing the dance, is it? Mion-chan mentioned you had a pretty big role!"

[wolfvirago-m]

@blueheartedmayor - from this.

"Damien." The name escapes her without allowing it to, dancing upon her breath in a cloud of mist. The winter pierces her, anxiety cold and unyielding as it settles upon her stomach. It dances in the scar on her belly, burning.

She had fought so hard to find him again. She had been told, quite smugly, by the strange entity that this world was the closest she would get to finding Damien. Or rather, what was left of his shattered soul.

She had chased him across galaxies. Across loops and loops of the same date, the same party, the same heist. Her hands were stained by the blood of countless men with smiles like his.

None of this is fair. It never was.

WITHOUT ____ IT CANNOT BE SEEN.

The forest is achingly familiar. His axe has fallen so many of the trees that had consumed your days as a child, more boy than darling daughter, more wild child than woman. He had broken down every bit of your beastly form to reveal a princess. And yet. And yet.

You are both cursed. The pathway is still obscured, but Robin was certain that this time, for sure, she would find the exit.

"Let's go home." Spoken with quiet determination, yet the voice wavers, girlish and frightened. "Let's just go home."