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talonslockau · 1 year ago

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Fire and Ice - Chapter 17

Chapter 16 || Index || Chapter 18

It had been nearly a half-moon since the fox was first scented in Thunderclan territory. Despite the best efforts of the Clan's top trackers, they had yet to catch the wily creature, the red-furred predator always two steps ahead of those that would drive it off.

Subsequently, the apprentices had been cooped up, eagerly awaiting the news that they'd be released from the confines of the training hollow. Even dawn patrols had become something of a luxury, the chance to get out on the territory outweighing the exhausting time. And as the moon waxed, they had been getting more and more restless for the arrival of the long-promised hunting competition.

By the evening of the Gathering, the tension among the apprentices hung over them like a dark cloud. Even Firepaw was feeling anxious, his pelt crawling as though a hive of ants had descended upon him. And when the last fox-hunting patrol turned up empty-pawed…

"This isn't fair!" Cinderpaw snarled, slashing at the tree stump beside their den angrily. The bark crumpled beneath her claws. "We're all seven moons by now! We don't need to be babysat by a bunch of warriors because of one fleabitten fox!"

Firepaw winced, but he didn't have any way to dispute her feelings when he shared them himself. "What do you think happens now? The Gathering's tonight, after all."

Cinderpaw said nothing, focused on grinding up the bark beneath her claws. After a painfully long moment of silence, it was Graypaw that spoke up. "Maybe we'll all get to go?" He suggested hopefully.

"I'm afraid not." They all looked up to see Tinyfrost approaching. Over the past half-moon, he had kept his word as best he could, and the new apprentice was finally beginning to relax around him. But his words now only made Firepaw's pelt crawl. "I just talked with Bluestar and the other mentors. It's been decided none of the apprentices will get to go."

"They what?" Cinderpaw growled as she turned to Tinyfrost, a snarl on her face. "Why can't we go? Except for Ravenpaw, none of us have been to one!"

The warrior shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. Bluestar didn't want to bring too many apprentices, with the fox still on the territory, and Quickflash didn't want to look like he was playing favorites with his kits." He sighed sadly as he glanced across the clearing to where the leader and deputy were talking. "I just wanted to tell you all, so the announcement wouldn't come as a shock."

"What about Firepaw? Or Ravenpaw?" Graypaw challenged the mentor. "They're not one of us! They could go and then the four of us would get to stay behind so Dad doesn't have to choose."

Tinyfrost shook his head. "They didn't want to bring an inexperienced apprentice. Their words, not mine." He added, giving the tom a sympathetic glance. "And Spottedleaf didn't want Ravenpaw to journey that far. It wasn't my choice, I promise. If it were up to me, they both would have gone."

Firepaw swallowed, his throat suddenly parched. "I believe you." He admitted slowly. "It's just, first the confinement, then the competition, and now this…"

"I know. I know." His mentor dipped his head mournfully. "I'll see that you get to go next time. I promise." With one last glance, he departed, leaving the apprentices stunned in the wake of his announcement.

"Foxdung to all of this." Cinderpaw suddenly spat from beside the tree. "If Dad doesn't want us to go to the Gathering, then there's no point in staying up. I'll see you all for 'training' in the morning." With that, she disappeared into the ferns of their den.

They sat in silence before Dewpaw stood up. "I should go after her." The molly said aloud, quickly following her sister into the den.

Firepaw glanced at the others as she departed, looking for any sort of explanation. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but Dewpaw's always been Cinderpaw's favorite." Pepperpaw sighed as she watched the leafy entrance of the den. "Whenever Cinderpaw was in trouble, it was always Dewpaw that helped her out of it."

His ears perked in surprise at that. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed." The few times he'd seen them interact, she'd always seemed to be picking on her sister. "If she's Cinderpaw's favorite, why does Cinderpaw tease her so much?"

Pepperpaw shrugged. "I think it's how she shows affection." At Firepaw's dismissive snort, she shook her head. "No, really! I know it seems weird, but that's just… how she is."

"It's true. Cinderpaw's always been weird." Graypaw stretched out with a heavy sigh, the fur along his back still slightly raised. "Look, Bluestar's approaching the rock. We might as well see who's going, even if it isn't us."

He didn't need to look to picture the silver molly leaping gracefully up to the tip of the Highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" The Thunderclan leader called out, and Firepaw diligently obeyed, even though it felt as though there were weights in his paws as he did so.

"Even as the full moon begins to rise, Thunderclan still is under siege within its own territory." The leader's blue eyes reflected the moonlight as she gazed down at her loyal warriors. "As you all know, a fox continues to run rampant in our territory. For this reason, I have decided that our queens and apprentices will stay behind tonight."

Firepaw glanced over to the queens, who didn't seem surprised or upset with the announcement. Perhaps it had been their decision to stay behind. On the other paw, the elders seemed delighted by the announcement. After being forced to stay home the moon before, he supposed they were glad to be able to go to this Gathering.

Bluestar allowed for a moment of murmuring before continuing. "The warriors that will accompany me to tonight's Gathering will be Patchpelt, Whitestorm, Lionheart, Tigerclaw, Willowbranch, Mistspring and Sandstorm, along with any elders that wish to make the journey."

The called warriors eagerly stood up, clearly excited to leave. Firepaw couldn't help but feel bitter at seeing their excitement. He could be joining them too, if they had done a better job and found the fox by now. But he knew that wasn't fair to them; every warrior in the Clan did their best.

"Clan dismissed." With that, she swiftly jumped off the rock towards the camp entrance. The warriors followed her, alongside Quickflash, Spottedleaf, and all the elders. He turned away, envy welling up within him despite his best efforts.

He startled slightly as Pepperpaw brushed up beside him as they walked back to the apprentice den. "It's okay to be upset, you know." She murmured gently to him. "We spent all this time hyping up the Gathering for you, and now none of us get to go."

Firepaw hesitated at that. "I'm just tired of being cooped up all the time. I guess I should be used to it, but if I'm honest…" He paused, not sure if he should say what he was thinking aloud. "Honestly, some days it's not much better than being a kittypet."

She was silent for several long, painful moments. Just as he was pulling away, afraid to look at her, she finally responded. "I can see that. Twolegs only let their kittypets into their den and their little marked territories, right? If camp is like a den and the hollow is like those territories…"

"Twolegs call them gardens. And yes." Firepaw looked to see she was looking at him with a mixture of sympathy and something else, and he was instantly grateful that she wasn't scolding him outright like he was sure many warriors would. "I mean, we're still out in the wild and we get to eat real prey, but…"

"You can't help how you feel. What matters is what you do with those feelings." Firepaw blinked in surprise at her words. "Mom told me that when I was little and mad at Cinderpaw for something, I don't remember what. But it's true, isn't it?" She nuzzled his shoulder one more time before sitting down. "You've been doing your best not to act on those feelings. I can tell. So in my opinion, you're doing okay."

"What are you two talking about?" Graypaw finally joined their conversation alongside Ravenpaw. It seemed the two had been watching the Gathering party leave. "Are you worried about how you've been doing in the Clan? I wouldn't be. Tinyfrost seems really pleased with you these days."

Firepaw had to smile a little at his friend as the gray tom plopped down beside him. "Something like that." He replied. "It's hard to tell sometimes, with him. And with everything that's been happening, I just wish I could really prove myself."

The other tom nodded solemnly. "I know what you mean. With the fox and everything, we haven't had the chance to get out much, and-" He cut off suddenly, eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "Say, now there's an idea."

The ginger apprentice tilted his head at the sudden change of direction. "What's an idea?" He asked cluelessly.

"We need a way to prove ourselves, right? And none of the warriors have actually caught the fox yet, so what if…" He paused for dramatic effect, "What if we caught the fox for them? We'd be heroes!"

"That is possibly the most mousebrained idea I have ever heard." Pepperpaw was the first to cut into the stunned silence. "We've barely had any battle training, except for Ravenpaw. None of us have ever seen a fox, let alone know how to hunt one. And even if we did, we'd technically be breaking the warrior code by going against the leader's will."

Graypaw deflated slightly. "Okay, but, if we pulled it off…"

"That's a pretty big if." Firepaw observed. "I have to agree with Pepperpaw. Even with all six of us, I don't think we could outmatch a fox."

"You can definitely count me out." Ravenpaw spoke up from the tree stump. "If I got caught sneaking out…" He paused for a moment, as though the words were too heavy to speak. "Father wouldn't be happy with me."

"Fine, fine. I can see I'm outnumbered." Graypaw huffed, looking away with a pout. "It was a great idea, though."

"Mhmm." His sister gave him an amused glance. "Why don't you go get some rest? Maybe you can cook up more great ideas in your dreams."

Graypaw spat crossly back at her. "I will, but only because I want to, not because you told me to." He nudged his friend with a shoulder. "Don't stay out here too late, you hear me? You wouldn't want my sister to turn you into a stick in the mud like her."

"You mean a sensible, smart feline like her?" Pepperpaw called softly after him, but his only response was a dismissive lash of his tail as he disappeared into the depths beneath the ferns. "And so there were three."

"Are you going to join your siblings?" Firepaw asked curiously. "I wouldn't blame you. It's getting pretty late."

Pepperpaw shook her head as she laid down, enjoying her space now that her littermates were gone. "I'm gonna stay up and wait for the Gathering patrol to return. I had to miss it last time, but I'm not on the dawn patrol this time, so I might as well." She sighed almost wistfully. "It's too bad the others won't be here with me. It'd be just like old times."

Firepaw grinned at her. "I'll stay up with you too, how's that? It won't be quite the same, but I like to think I'm good company."

She purred in response. "I wouldn't mind that at all. Thank you, Firepaw." She glanced to the last of the apprentices curiously. "What about you, Ravenpaw? Are you planning on staying up as well?"

The black tom, who had been staring off into the distance, suddenly startled at his name. "I- Uh-" He paused, regaining his composure. "I don't really feel like sleeping. I think I'll just stay out and… uh… watch the stars."

"That's a lovely idea. Much better than Graypaw's fox scheme." Pepperpaw purred, tilting her head up skyward. "What do you think, Firepaw?"

He hesitated for a moment. He knew that to the Clans, the stars meant a great deal more than they ever had to him. And yet, he supposed, it didn't matter if he wasn't looking at the sky in the same way they were, did it? "Yea. I've always enjoyed the night sky." He told her, laying down and tilting his own head back to observe the stars beginning to twinkle overhead.

He had no idea how much time had passed when Pepperpaw suddenly startled next to him. "Do you see that?" She asked him in a rushed whisper.

"See what?" He asked, scanning the now brilliant sky for some anomaly.

"The moon." His eyes moved to the bright orb in the sky, a single cloud drifting across it. "There's a cloud covering it."

Firepaw hesitated, unsure if she was messing with him or not. "So?"

She was silent for a moment, and he had just looked to her in time to see her release an anxious sigh. "I keep forgetting you're not Clanborn. A cloud covering the moon is a warning from Starclan that danger is near. Especially on a Gathering night."

He blinked in surprise at her. "Really? It could just be a coincidence." He hadn't realized they were superstitious about clouds, of all things. What did they do when it rained at night?

She shook her head. "It's not a coincidence. If Spottedleaf was here, she'd tell you the same thing." Her nose crinkled in worry. "Something must have happened at the Gathering."

Firepaw hesitated. "Should we do something about it?" Not that he knew what they could do about it. If anything happened at the Gathering, what could they do about it back at camp?

Pepperpaw shook her head. "No, I-"

"HELP! SOMEBODY, HELP!"

All three of them were immediately on their feet at the shriek of fear echoing through camp. "Who was that?" He asked, unable to quite place the voice. It wasn't Tinyfrost, or any of the apprentices.

"Speckleflight! In the nursery!" Pepperpaw was already charging across the clearing, Firepaw just behind her.

The first to make it to the nursery entrance was Pepperpaw's mentor Dappleshine, the tortoiseshell's fur puffed as far is it could go as she barged into the nursery with no hesitation. Her apprentice quickly followed, with the orange tom right on her heels.

He scanned the large den. In front of him were two thoroughly bushed felines, one bright gold and one pure white; he recognized them immediately as Goldenflower and Frostfur. Behind them was a dappled queen he recognized quickly as Speckleflight, curled protectively over a very large nest. And in front of them…

He took in the long, pale, thin snout of a canine cautiously poking its way into a hole in the nursery. Black paws scratched against the brambles, making the hole wider. And the rest of the creature was a bright red color he knew he'd seen somewhere before.

This was the fox that the warriors had been searching for, right in their own nursery.

He copied the other queens, allowing his fur to bristle and tail to lash as he slowly formed a barrier beside them, a growl emanating from deep within him.

The fox took one step into the nursery before catching sight of the wall of hissing, spitting cats in front of it. He didn't know fox very well, but even he could read the expression on its face; something very similar to 'Oh, foxdung'. Or perhaps, 'Oh, catdung'.

The two sides squared off as the moments trickled by. He could see the fox eyeing the prize behind them, and for a moment he worried that it might somehow get past them anyways. Then Dappleshine lashed out, claws less than a whisker-length from its nose, and it decided that the smart thing to do would be to turn tail and run.

It was with great satisfaction that he watched the white tail tip disappearing into the night. Perhaps the fox had thought that a lone queen and kit were easy prey, but instead it had bit off far more than it could chew and summoned half the Clan to defend Speckleflight and Snowkit.

"Oh, Speckleflight! Are you two alright?" Dappleshine was the first to break the silence, rushing over to nuzzle the nursing queen. He remembered belatedly that she was also Speckleflight's mate, and Snowkit's mother. "Did it hurt you?"

"I think Snowkit is fine, and I am too." The pale golden queen moved aside to reveal a tiny fluffy cloud beneath her. It took Firepaw a moment to find the bright blue eyes within the white cloud to realize it was actually a kit, and not some stray cotton. "When I heard the fox scratching at the walls, I immediately called for you…" She looked up at what was surely half the Clan gratefully. "Thank you, all of you."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Dappleshine purred, her fur beginning to flatten as she began licking their kit's fur. "I don't know what I'd do if it got to you…"

"Not as long as I'm around." Frostfur spat, blue eyes ablaze as she looked over her shoulder to the empty hole created by the fox. "A whole horde of foxes wouldn't be enough to get through me!"

"Of course not, Frostfur." Speckleflight purred as she looked down at Snowkit. "It's okay now, sweetie, the fox is gone…"

Firepaw caught the big eyes of the kit as it stared at him and the others, and he realized with a jolt this was the first time that the kit had seen him. "Maybe he's scared of us." Firepaw joked, looking over to Pepperpaw beside him, whose spine still bristled angrily. "This is only the first or second time he's seen most of us, right?"

Pepperpaw's own eyes widened at his words. "Of course! We should get out and let him calm down." She looked over Speckleflight and Dappleshine, her eyes softening at the two queens. "We'll be right outside if it comes back."

"Of course. Thank you, Pepperpaw." Dappleshine purred to her apprentice, her own face awash with gratefulness. "I'll be with you all in a little."

With that, Firepaw filed out of the narrow nursery entrance, right alongside several familiar faces; Mousefur, Longtail, and Tinyfrost had evidently come to the queens' aid as well.

"A fox in the nursery! What next?" Mousefur was the first to speak. "Shadowclan taking Snakerocks?"

Firepaw stayed quiet as Longtail spoke up. "And during the Gathering, no less, when we were at our weakest. Do you think it knew?"

Tinyfrost shook his head. "How could a fox possibly know that? If it did, it would have also known that the apprentices and half the warriors were still here." He glanced over to the three apprentices that had responded to Speckleflight's call. "Speaking of, you all performed admirably. Just as a warrior should. Your father will be pleased with your bravery, Ravenpaw."

The oldest apprentice shrank under the warrior's words. "Just doing my duty, Tinyfrost." He managed to squeak out.

Tinyfrost's eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned back to the other two warriors. "We're going to need that hole patched before the fox comes back to take advantage of it. Can one of you take the apprentices to gather bramble? Longtail?"

Longtail stiffened. "But what about the fox? We should send a patrol after it! Now might finally be the time to catch it once and for all!"

Tinyfrost hesitated before shaking his head. "We can't risk it. What if it loops around and attacks again? We'll need at least two warriors guarding the hole, and with a warrior protecting the apprentices, that won't possibly leave us with enough cats for a fox-hunting patrol."

The striped tom snarled out at the bramble barrier to camp. "That fox has the worst timing." He growled bitterly.

"Thank you all again." Dappleshine emerged from the nursery, nosing her apprentice as she joined the conversation. "Frostfur and Goldenflower will be guarding the nursery entrance until it can get repaired."

Tinyfrost dipped his head to the queen. "That's good to hear. Maybe you should be the one to take the apprentices out to gather new building materials, so we can repair the walls and strengthen them at the same time."

"Of course. I'd be glad to." Dappleshine looked to Firepaw, Pepperpaw, and Ravenpaw, her eyes still full of worry, before turning back to Tinyfrost. "What will you be doing?"

Tinyfrost hesitated. "Well, if Frostfur and Goldenflower are guarding the nursery, then I suppose-"

"What's going on here?"

Bluestar's voice echoed across camp, and the assembled cats turned to see her striding from the camp entrance towards them, the rest of the Gathering patrol behind her. Both groups stared at each other in surprise, not expecting to see the other at precisely that moment.

"Bluestar! Thank Starclan you're back." Tinyfrost was the first to speak. "A fox broke into the nursery while you were gone. We managed to drive it off, but we didn't have enough warriors to send out a hunting party."

"A fox?" Spottedleaf stepped forward, white patches of fur shimmering in the moonlight. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, thankfully." Dappleshine answered her sister, stepping forward to greet her. "But you should check on Snowkit and Speckleflight, just in case. Snowkit was very rattled from the whole thing."

"Of course." Spottedleaf agreed, slipping towards the nursery. "If that's alright…?" She hesitated, glancing at Bluestar.

The leader waved a paw dismissively at her healer. "Yes, yes." She stepped forward, blue eyes on Tinyfrost. "When did this happen? Do you think we might still have time to go after it?"

Tinyfrost hesitated. "It's gotten a good head start by now. And with how clever it's been, avoiding trackers in the past…"

Bluestar considered his words. "That might be true, but we still have a good lead. We shouldn't waste it." She looked over the assembled cats. "Mousefur, Tigerclaw, Quickflash, and Mistspring. See if you can track it down."

"Yes, Bluestar." Quickflash stepped forward, and Tigerclaw and Mistspring were close behind him. "Mousefur, you should take the lead. You saw the fox; you should have a good handle on its scent."

"Of course, Quickflash." Mousefur flicked her tail for the patrol to follow her, and they quickly vanished into the nursery, leaving the rest of the Clan behind them.

Bluestar turned back to Firepaw's mentor. "Now then. We'll focus on rebuilding efforts in the morning, when they get back. For now, I want two warriors posted at the hole, in addition to the two warriors already on vigil."

Tinyfrost hesitated. "Goldenflower and Frostfur have already taken posts outside. Unless you want them relieved?"

Bluestar considered the question for a moment, then nodded. "I know Frostfur may not appreciate it, but I'd rather the queens be the last line of defense, rather than the first. Longtail, why don't you and Darkstripe go take over?" She glanced to the black-striped warrior, who nodded and hurried off to find the other dark tom.

"Why are you all back so early? Did something happen at the Gathering?" Dappleshine glanced up to the moon, which had not quite reached its zenith yet. "It's not even moonhigh yet."

Bluestar dipped her head, but it was Patchpelt who was the first to speak. "Brokenstar and Tallstar got into a fight."

"What?" The cats that had remained behind bristled in shock at the older warrior's words.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." One-eye yawned, pushing her way past the burly warrior. "They had an argument over territory, and Brokenstar tried to attack Tallstar, but Crookedstar stopped him. There wasn't even any blood." The elder flicked her tail dismissively. "Shadowclan was just being a bully, like usual."

"It sounds like it was a bit more than that." Dappleshine observed with an incredulous look. "Did Starclan do anything about it?"

"They sent a cloud to cover the moon." Bluestar dipped her head as she spoke. "That was when the Gathering ended. We returned as swiftly as we could."

"It's good that you did. Perhaps now we'll drive off the fox once and for all." Dappleshine looked to the three apprentices, who had been merely observing the conversation so far. "These three were the first to defend the nursery when Speckleflight called for help. They performed admirably in the face of danger."

Bluestar nodded and dipped her head to each of them. "It is good to hear Thunderclan has such brave apprentices. I'm sure your mentors will be more than pleased to hear it."

Firepaw glowed with pride at the leader's words. Even despite the tumultuous events, it seemed everything was finally going better. And if the patrol managed to drive off the fox that very night…

"For now, you three should get some sleep." Tinyfrost's voice broke through his reverie. "You'll need all your energy for repairing the camp tomorrow. It's been a while since we reinforced the perimeter with bramble, anyhow."

Firepaw groaned internally at that, but nodded. "Yes, Tinyfrost." He stood up, beginning to pad towards the apprentices' den.

"You may also want to tell your denmates that perhaps we will be having a hunting competition after all, with how you three did against the fox." Tinyfrost called after him. It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, he felt a thrill of energy surge through him. By the looks of the other apprentices' faces, they felt the same way.

"First one to the den gets to tell them?" Firepaw suggested with a grin to the other two.

Pepperpaw smirked. "You're on!" With no warning, she bolted ahead of the other two.

"Hey! No fair!" Firepaw called, chasing after her while a purr rumbled up in his throat. For the first time in a half-moon, he felt like things were finally beginning to look up. Maybe, just maybe, everything was beginning to look up after all.

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foreignerabroad1994 · 2 years ago

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Wrinkles: Short Story Writing Prompt

My response to u/Kitty_Fuchs prompt on the r/WritingPrompt subreddit to the following prompt:

"In the galaxy, every mission of exploration has to be accompanied by at least one human. Not because they have special skills, but because the cuter a human finds a new species, the more likely it is that they are terrifyingly dangerous and/or genocidal maniacs."

The mission has been a bit of a drag, Warrior admits to herself as she resists the youthful urge to kick away a charred purple rock on her path. Warrior's human tracker, Steve, is not the jovial sort. She observes him - his round stomach, his auburn hair and pallid skin protected by the clear dome of wildly overpriced Earth chemicals, his plain spacesuit around his miniscule frame, a mere 6'2 to her more average 7'0. The assignment is rather new, given that they had to retire her last companion when they couldn't resist breaking protocol and squeezing the threat they just identified. Sometimes, Warrior would prey in her chambers at the station that she could be granted the humans' tracking prowess, but her wishes were never granted.

Human Steve is much more subdued, and Warrior finds herself worried the human may find himself - she's pretty sure he is male, if his record was correct - unable to conjure the intense emotional outburst that accompanied tracking missions. But Flame has assured her that he was vetted and was found to be a highly skilled tracker, so she must accept her hairy companion. She still found the bizarre way they grew their hair - fur? - and often shortened or removed it to be entirely evolutionarily absurd.

A series of high pitched sounds from her heat device signal that the life form is nearby. She finds it amusing that humans, despite their designated role, don't do any actual tracking. No, they merely detect. But she supposes "tracker" does just fine for their purposes.

"Up ahead, around the bend. Prepare your... senses, human."

Human Steve just nods. He flexes his semi-hairy upper appendages.

It's not long before they reach a creak flowing through the otherwise dry air. The two moons glow in the sky overhead, bathing the deep purple water in shimmering light. The trees seem to sigh with the light wind, tendrils of their flora tinkling against each other.

Before long, a small sound sends Warrior into action, and she drags Human Steve behind one of the purple rocks framing the sides of the creak.

They peer over silently, and Warrior is thankful that Human Steve doesn't talk nearly as much as her previous companion, though his fidgeting in place makes her jaw tick.

As they watch, a round, short figure appears. Under the purple-tinged light, its light pink fur is practically a plume, whisper soft. Its body is a complete sphere, no bigger than a human head. Its dark pink arms are tiny, jutting out of its fur on either side of its spherical body, covered in shorter fur and ending in miniscule fingers, four on each hand, the whole palm hardly the size of a human nose. It waddles as it walks on legs so short only the feet are visible through the fur - round and dark pink, with tiny claws on the ends of its four round toes. Instead of a defined face, two round, shiny black eyes blink slowly and leisurely as the creature looks around, with no visible nose. When it makes a little chirping sound, its tiny mouth is revealed, curving up in a resemblance of a tiny smile. It accidentally trips sideways, and huffs in its diminutive voice as it rolls itself upright, bouncing and squishing on itself as it does, like a ball of freshly harvested Mars cotton.

As Warrior finishes cataloguing the details of the creature's appearance for later documentation, she observes Human Steve. This is the moment of truth, where Human Steve's usefulness will be tested.

Warrior watches in fascination as Human Steve's impassive face slowly morphs. His mouth seems to tremble, his appendages flex and open repeatedly as if squeezing invisible balls, and his eyebrows relax from their slight frown and bend sideways over newly watery eyes.

"It's... It's..."

Warrior feels herself craning her neck in anticipation, her body coiled and ready.

"It's the single cutest thing I have ever seen. It's so... short. And round. And soft. You could just..." He seems reverent, losing his breath. "Squeeze it."

Warrior's spine straightens completely. Human Steve is stellar. His emotional reaction is obvious yet not loud, allowing her to spring into action undetected. As Steve struggles to resist the intense human desire to approach the creature and bond with it, Warrior jumps into action.

As the pink spherical creature sees her, its eyes briefly widen before, abruptly, its tiny mouth expands into a giant, gaping maw, its body expanding in size until it towers over her. Its tiny arms grow longer and longer, supporting the creature as it lunges at her. Its round shiny eyes are now unnervingly giant, surrounded by new additional eyes on each side. Out of its back grows a giant, dark pink skeletal tail, tipped with a dripping, poisonous end.

As Warrior calls for backup and pulls out the portable cage, jumping around on rocks and trees to avoid the shrieking pink menace, she wonders if Human Steve would bond with this version too. As her first human tracker called it, she believed this creature was no longer "friend shaped", to human eyes.

She remains incredulous as backup pulls in.

At least they're useful, the odd things.

#creative writing #short stories #fiction writing #writingprompts #short story #short fiction #writing community #writing practice #writing prompt #fiction #writing scifi #scifi character #scififantasy #science fiction #space story #humans in space #cute #cute story

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college-girl199328 · 2 years ago

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It took one GO Transit scheduling change to turn Siddhartha Batra from a regular commuter to a full-time remote worker. A direct bus operated by the regional transit provider provides an easy way for the 31-year-old civil engineer to travel from home in downtown Toronto to his job roughly 35 kilometres away in Mississauga, Ont.

But some changes GO operator Metrolinx recently implemented on some of its most popular train and bus routes effectively doubled Batra's travel time, based on GO Transit's trip tracker. The prospect of the longer commute prompted him to obtain permission to abandon the journey altogether and work from home permanently.

"There is no way on Earth I'm travelling two hours on public transit, one-way," Batra said in an interview. "I won't be using it all because it just doesn't work anymore."

Batra is not alone in his frustration with the scheduling changes, which Metrolinx announced late last month and implemented as of Saturday.

The agency bolstered service levels on the busy routes connecting Toronto and Kitchener, Ont., but also scrapped some train services and replaced them with bus routes. Some bus schedules were also adjusted to eliminate a key connection point at Toronto's Union Station, a transit hub linking the regional and local public transit systems.

Batra's old Route 21 bus fell victim to the change. Rather than catching a direct ride from Union, travellers are now being asked to take a GO train to one of three stations on the Lakeshore West line before reconnecting with the bus to continue the trip.

"We now have to go from Union to Port Credit and then take a bus across. So it's just made a lot worse, the transit time," Batra said, noting the new schedule adds nearly an hour to the commute.

The routes in question run through some of the fastest-growing regions in the province. Statistics Canada's latest census data shows the population of Milton, Ont., the final destination for Route 21 buses, soared 20 percent between 2016 and 2021. The denizens of Milton's home region of Halton jumped nearly nine percent during that time, while neighbouring Peel Region saw its population climb roughly five percent to about 1.45 million residents.

A statement from Metrolinx said long-anticipated efforts to refurbish Toronto's Gardiner Expressway prompted the changes on Route 21, arguing the new schedule will make travel times more "consistent and reliable" amid the expected construction.

A message on the GO Transit website announcing the service adjustments said they result in "faster trips for those heading further west to Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton and beyond."

Batra, for his part, isn't buying the effort to position the changes as improvements. "That's just false advertising, so that's my first frustration," he said. "My second frustration is the amount of notice we were given was communicated with no notice at all for people to adjustments to their jobs."

Batra believes Metrolinx should have given commuters at least four months to adapt their travel plans or work schedules, noting transit systems in other places he's lived in, like Singapore and Dubai, don't generally overhaul routes on such tight timelines.

He's not the only one unhappy with the latest changes. Mississauga resident Quratulain Syeda, 34, anticipates the alterations will turn her commute into "a whole mess."

"This was basically my main way of getting into the city because I only use public transport to get around," she said of the old Route 21 bus. "I do not have a car, so I rely on it heavily."

Syeda, who frequently travels to Toronto to visit friends and attend events, said she used to be able to get from her front door to Union Station "in 45 to 50 minutes at any time." The new configuration has added about an hour to that trip.

"I will probably look at [taxi] options or maybe not try and go to as many events or things in the city," she said.

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lexpressobean · 4 years ago

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I've been thinking about these 3 alot...

... and how much they seem to really respect Shino. I know it's a filler, but, like... Why does it seem like Shino has a knack for finding children who have wondered off away from school? Like, he's just taking a walk, making his way around the village or surrounding forest, and then there they are. Kids playing hooky or some shit. And Shino just takes it upon himself to approach them and steer them back to where they should be, while getting them attached to him somehow in the process??

But honestly. If this was just one of many times this had happened, I'd say Shino does this not out of his knack for teaching or having a way with kids. Rather, he developed a way with kids and easily applies that to his teaching because he has a strong desire to simply protect children. And it's not even from some paternal instinct as much as survival, because I think it stems from the developing trauma of losing Torune to Danzo. And I don't think it's all subconscious either.

Like I know the novel and anime frames his desicion to teach as a sort of a new goal in life as the war has ended for a couple years already and a noticable Peace has been achieved by the Blank Period and well... He's an Aburame.

Like, the Aburame are literal living, breathing, walking bioweapons. With no fight to utilize that, what else is there? Well, much like the Nara have the Nara forest and Pharmacology specifically, The Aburame most likely have a historical stake in the area of Konoha, perhaps it was simply in their Ancestral Home. Idk, but they're here to stay, they ain't budging. They're Clan Culture is very Martial and I'd argue Spartan in nature, but otherwise, they do other things too. I think they'd do well as major players in the conservation and research of native species of animals and plants, but definitely insects too. I bet they play a huge part in the general area's ecosystem, especially due to the fact that the Kamizuru clan attacked with a whole clan's worth of non-native Hymenoptera that could very well have become and still are an irritatingly and consistent problem as invasive species tend to be. And as a far as goods go, why not put some of them to use and handle an apiary? Honey is a great good to sell. All of this is great as a clan that no longer needs to fight. But, what about individual members in general, and so Shino?

Well Shino is the Heir of this clan. This Noble Clan. This "ready to throw hands at any moment" clan. It's future is in his hands, so to speak. So I doubt Shino would completely sever his connection to Shinobi life all together. And so, teaching at the Academy would be a great way to keep that connection. Teachers have to know their stuff, after all.

But what if in order to ensure teaching was his calling, Shino did his absolute best to make Jounin ASAP so he could take on a Genin Team. And. And by chance, it ended up being these three?? And they are absolutely STOKED!!! And they also pass Shino's genin test, which... would probably be a feat in it's own right. But they already know Shino, and Shino has bestowed upon them some wisdom they actually took to heart! Yeah, well, in reality they might be just a tad too old to be Shino's first official genin squad, but they were still his squad one point in a sense, right?

Kon Nohara, Tano Ikemoto, and Aoki Kobayashi

I even gave them names help Imagine these three are already chuunin at least and decide they want to pay Shino a visit and even volunteer to help Shino during class time on a collective day off because they admire him so much (T~T)

But even then if not these three kiddos, maybe these three li'l shits lol

Even in times of Peace, Shino's special set of skills seem too useful to waste, and being a Jounin teacher would definitely have been a way he could still go on missions, but also definitely commit to becoming a Sensei at the academy once he was 100% sure and got older. Kurenai became a Jounin/Genin Squad Leader in her late twenties, but in comparison I see Shino doing that more mid-20s. (He needs some time to travel and find his big bug friend and generally live a little?)

Kurenai was a Genjutsu Specialist who manned a Tracker/Sensing based team. This sounds like it was a highly beneficial combination, even if she ended up being somewhat sadistic lol. Asuma was bound to Team 10 by Tradition as InoShikaCho and Sarutobi have that Pact together. Kakashi's team was literally Cherry Picked for him specifically by the 3rd Hokage. And Gai, a Taijutsu Specialist, had a team that Specialized in Taijutsu and Physical Offense.

Of all four teams, Kurenai and Gai were very suited to their teams, Gai in a complimentary way and Kurenai in a Challenging way. In that same vein, I think Shino would imitate Gai. Shino as a Shinobi himself has a general set of skills, but the way he goes about them are very niche. But, he was always very stealthy, and could sneak up on nearly anyone. Gags aside, he could go unnoticed as long as he wanted too, and by the time he was noticed or was ready to attack, he has you quite literally surrounded. Honestly I can see why Search and Destroy would be an Aburame's forte, but when there's no need, a person with a personal skill of high quality stealth could probably man a team with an emphasis on Reconnaissance and/or Surveillance, even Bodyguarding. I feel like Shino would probably put an emphasis on Stealth and Tracking too, utilizing his insects as sort of assistants that keep tabs on his students (Stealth Test) as well as to encourage just enough fear during too much down time in his students to inspire quality training opportunities, so maybe Kurenai rubbed off on Shino more than they all realized haha

(Plus I'm sure his students would be be smart and thoughtful enough to eventually understand what Shino and his bugs are: a complete unit. They realize just how strong and dedicated Sensei really is to be the way he is, and they all learn more in depth about Kikaichu and it's like WOW SENSEI YOU REALLY ARE RISKING BEING EATEN ALIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY, AREN'T YOU? But he's still here, because THAT'S how strong he's become over the years and the confidence to manipulate the Kikaichu while having to think of current chakra level, the most efficient use at any given time, how many he actually needs, how long usage will last, ect. They are high maintenance, man!)

Shino would no doubt produce highly skilled Bodyguards and Masters of Stealth. Maybe the type that would end up being in high demand for the eventual Celebrities that start to pop up as times change, but still very much needed when it comes to Criminal Activity, like in Sora-Ku?

But as time passes and he decided to teach at the Academy, he'd feel very at ease to do so. He'd be happy to be put in charge of all these children, because he would be able to help teach them things they need to know to defend themselves and others in a world where adults like Danzo had and will continue to exist. Maybe while he's at it, he'd use his stance as a Noble Clan Heir and accomplished Shinobi to push for changes in government with Sai's help and with Naruto and Shikamaru's cooperation? Like, the truth does come out, everyone on the Council were actually horrible and had too much power. So HERE are some ideas and REASONS why these ideas should be implemented because Shino's not going to let his brother's life and death be in vain!? HELL no, we WILL make some changes around here. Shino sees his students and just wants a future where no kid ever has to live in fear of being completely taken advantage of by the very system that was supposed to keep them safe and they pledged allegiance to.

I cannot help but think of the quiet but absolute fear little Shino was harboring for the years to come after Torune was taken by that strange man and Father Shibi didn't even attempt to stop him. His own father didn't dare beat the shit out of this strange man who came looking for him, and the only solution for Shino to stay was for Torune to make himself look more desirable as an asset and be taken instead. I bet there was a lot of misplaced resentment there for a while, and talks that just didn't happen. Maybe a classmate doesn't show up to class one day and Shino is IMMEDIATELY stressed out and just... takes it upon himself to look for them after class. And he's relieved when he see they're simply at home with a fever. Shit like that just fucks with Shino, because theres people taking kids and no one is doing anything about it?? And then as Shino grew older he realized exactly what happened and how slimy the machine of Konoha really is and it was never completely Shibi's fault that Torune had to leave. He grows mentally at a faster rate than most of his classmates, and knows more than a kid really needs to know.

Shino doesn't want that for any other child. Shino is the kind of person who hears kids screaming outside of his house and he can't tell if they're playing or being murdered and it's stressful to the point he'll check through his window and he sees them for himself. He get stressed out seeing a kid in public unattended and WANTS to approach them to help if need be but also maybe he's overthinking it and the parents are there somewhere and he'd just end up looking suspicious. Like, that's what I kind of figure for Shino. He's so hyperaware of the power dynamic between kids and adults and seeing a kid so ready to fall victim to that makes Shino feel ill the more he thinks of what could happen. And he wonders if watching the kid in the market until they finally reunite with their parent so he could move on with the rest of his day causes him even a fraction of the the utterly disgusting flurry of nerves and fear that Shibi must have felt all those years ago. It goes along with his desire to spare every single little insect's life he can. It goes a long with the fact he only gets violent unless absolutely necessary. Like he wants to be strong but he doesn't want to go mad with power either, less he becomes the very thing that hurt him and his family in the first place.

Originally Shino wanted to become strong to be able to defend himself because at a very young age adults failed him and Torune. But then that changes to defend not only himself, but others as he grows on a team, and realizes trust is important. And then he figured if there must be adults out there that would hurt a child, it's only logical that he should become one that would only nurture and teach one to be strong as well.

Anyway, yeah. Had some feelings. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

#anime: naruto #aburame shino #shino aburame #tis i #i wish we could've seen jounin-sensei Shino #imagine he's consistently given a team of -bad kids-#but by the next chuunin they're an absolute unit in sync #people think he's the -scare them straight- sensei #in reality he's the -im not mad im just dissapointed- sensei #its super effective lol #being such a positive figure in the open as an Aburame would definately make the clan look good too #because I have a suspicion that Aburame were very often taken into ANBU and ROOT and while good for Shinobi life #its not seen as the best for public relations #anyway don't mind me im just rambling

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komotionlessqueenmm · 4 years ago

Text

One man's trash, is another man's treasure.

(3-4)

Short story # 6

2,216 - Words

Fandom - House of Wax (2005)

Pairing - Bo Sinclair X Reader

Summary - The reader finds herself & her 4 month old son stranded in Ambrose. While Bo finds himself enamored with the woman, wanting nothing more than to protect and provide for the two of them.

Warnings - Some dark topics, talk of abusive relationships, eventual blood & death, eventual smut. (I'm not sure what else tbh)

Notes - At this point both Bo and (Y/n) are really feeling that connection between them.

Pt. 1 ~ Pt. 2 ~ Pt. 3 ~ Pt. 4

----

By the end of the day (Y/n)'s jeep was all fixed up, but with as late in the evening as it was she decided to stay another night, with some encouragement from Bo of course. While (Y/n) and Von slept soundly in the guest bedroom, Bo met his brothers down at the garage, discussing what they should do, and if they should do anything in the first place. "I don't know Bo, her ex tried killing her because she was pregnant... She'll be running her whole life from a man like that." Lester sighed, not wanting anything to happen to (Y/n). "So we let her stay here, we can protect her from him easily." Bo shrugged. "What about when she realizes what happened to the people here? Or she finds out about Vincent's projects." Lester argued. "We'll explain it, make her understand." Bo countered. "How?" Lester asked feeling a little concerned. "I don't know yet." Bo admitted with a sigh. "I think we should start by introducing her to Vincent." He continued his thought, glancing to his twin, who made an almost concerned groan. "If she can accept him, I'm sure she'll accept the rest." Bo lit a new cigarette after finishing his statement. "And if she doesn't?" Lester asked. "That's not an option." Bo's smirk made worry spark in Lester's heart. Despite this however he chose to keep his mouth shut, and allowed his older brother to do whatever he had in mind.

When morning came, (Y/n) woke up early and cooked breakfast. "Morning." Bo murmured with a sleepy smile on his face, having been woken from the smell of bacon. "Morning Bo, I hope you don't mind." (Y/n) smiled sheepishly as she looked to what all she had cooked. "Not at all." Bo shook his head, happily accepting the cup of coffee she handed him. "Great." (Y/n) smiled brightly, the pair of them taking a seat beside eachother, eating their breakfast in a comfortable silence. Excluding the occasional hum of approval Bo gave when he bit into something new. And by the time they finished Von began crying from upstairs, cueing (Y/n) to fetch him to begin his morning routine.

"Hey I was going to do those." (Y/n) pouted playfully when she entered the kitchen, finding Bo working on the dishes. "Eh don't worry about it, you cooked I'll clean up." Bo winked making (Y/n) blush as she sat at the counter, adjusting herself to feed a fussy Von. "My brother wants to meet you before you leave." Bo stated casually. "Really?" (Y/n) smiled softly. "Mhm." Bo nodded his head with a hum. "I'd love to meet him." (Y/n)'s grin widened a little, feeling honored that he'd want to meet her. "We'll meet him up at the house of wax in an hour." Bo confirmed as he finished up the last dish. "Sounds fun, I've never been to a house of wax before." She hummed as she propped Von onto her shoulder, burping him. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower, let me know when you're ready." Bo insisted casually as he moved to wipe the spit up off of Von's chin. "Okay will do." (Y/n) smiled with appreciation, hopping up from her seat to get herself and Von dressed.

Once inside of the wax Museum (Y/n)'s attention was drawn to just about everything within sight, making Bo chuckle as he watched her ogle everything. "I take it you like it?" Bo mused with a grin. "I'm a little obsessed, is everything in here really made of wax?" She asked turning to look Bo in the eye. "Just about everything, most of its wax, but some of it isn't." Bo shrugged a little. "The vase?" (Y/n) asked as she pointed to the large decorative vase. "Wax." Bo nodded. "The couch?" She pointed to the couch two wax figures sat upon. "Wax." He chuckled. "How about the...." (Y/n) looked around before realization struck her. "The building?" She turned her attention to Bo, her eyes widening when he nodded his head yes. "Wow that's insane." (Y/n) chuckled with astonishment. "But you like it yeah?" Bo asked. "I love it! I can't imagine how long this must have taken to craft all of this, but it's very impressive." (Y/n) beamed making Bo chuckle softly. "Vincent will be happy to hear that you like his work." Bo mused. "Wait he did all of this?" (Y/n)'s eyes widened. "Not all of it, but a lot of it." Bo explained. "Wow I wish I had that kinda talent." (Y/n) chucked softly, jumping when a statue in the back moved. "Alright no need to scare her." Bo chuckled with a shake of his head, the once statue approaching the pair. "I was not expecting you to move, I really thought you were a statue." (Y/n) chuckled nervously.

"(Y/n) this is my brother Vincent." Bo introduced the two, the masked brother timidity offering (Y/n) his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." (Y/n) smiled looking at his mask with curiosity. "Is your prosthetic made of wax?" She asked without thought, but he only tilted his head to the side. "Your mask." She clarified, smiling when he nodded his head yes. "That's very cool, did you make it yourself?" (Y/n) asked chuckling when he nodded his head again. "You don't talk much huh?" She tilted her own head a little. "He can't." Bo clarified unknowingly making (Y/n) suddenly feel guilty. "Oh I didn't know, I'm sorry." (Y/n) ducked her head down, feeling stupid for opening her mouth. "Vincent do you wanna show her?" Bo asked his brother, who hesitated for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. (Y/n) picked her head up, watching in amazement as Vincent removed his mask. "Wow." She muttered under her breath, taking in the sight of his face, frowning a little when he looked away from her. "What happened?" (Y/n) turned to Bo. "We were born as Siamese twins, and our daddy was an unorthodoxed doctor. He was able to separate us as infants." Bo explained suddenly feeling subconscious himself. "Wow... That's incredible." (Y/n) murmured softly. "You're both incredible." She chuckled softly looking back to Vincent, who smiled back at her before putting his mask back on.

--Later that day--

Having decided on stay one more day (Y/n) sat with Bo in his living room talking about this and that, and joking about nearly everything. "(Y/N)!" A voice yelled from outside, cutting off (Y/n)'s laughter, a look of terror filling her eyes in an instant. "(Y/N)!" The man yelled from outside for a second time. "It's him... It's Trent, he's come for me!" (Y/n) panicked, explaining to Bo why she suddenly got so fearful. "(Y/N) I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!" Trent yelled, sounding a bit closer to Bo's house now. "I'll keep you safe." Bo promised before he rose to his feet, grabbing the shotgun he kept near the front door. "Wait he's dangerous." (Y/n) rushed to follow Bo outside, leaving Von in his crib asleep. "COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT!" Trent taunted from the center of town, his attention turning to a pissed off Bo Sinclair. "Found yourself a gullible local huh?" Trent sneered at (Y/n) who ignored her fear and continued following Bo. "I suggest you get outta here and forget about (Y/n)." Bo warned, resting his shotgun on his shoulder, standing about eight feet from Trent, who only scoffed at his threat. "How about you go fuck your sister, and leave me to my business." Trent hissed, his words only fueling the hatred Bo felt for this man. "Your business best consist of you getting outta my town." Bo glared Trent down, who only chuckled. "Sure I'll get outta your town, once I have her." Trent pointed to (Y/n), but Bo only pushed (Y/n) to stand back a little.

"That ain't gonna happen." Bo shook his head with a mocking grin on his face. "How did you even find me!?" (Y/n) asked the question that had been plaguing her mind. "Remember my buddy Stan? I had him bug your car with a GPS tracker." Trent mocked as he flashed them the receiver of the tracker. "Now get over here." He growled as he pulled a pistol from the back of his belt. As Trent trained the pistol, Bo stepped in front of (Y/n) training his shotgun on Trent. "I'll only warn you one more time." Bo hissed, resisting the urge to just blow the motherfucker away. "Fuck you, you fucking redneck." Trent taunted before he pulled the trigger, but his gun jammed and Bo smirked. "Nah fuck you." Bo retorted before pulling the trigger, blowing open Trent's chest. (Y/n) screamed at the sound, her heart racing in her chest. Almost like everything was moving in slow motion, (Y/n) watched Trent's body hit the ground with a thud, dead as dead gets. Bo was quick to spin on his heel, gently setting the gun on the ground he scooped (Y/n)'s shaking form into his arms. "Sh darling it's alright, I've got you. You're safe now darling, I've got you." He murmured against the crown of her head, carrying her back into his house. "It's okay (Y/n), rest now. I'll take care of everything, I'll take care of you." Bo promised as he laid her down on the couch, lovingly stroking her hair, before he kissed her temple. The events suddenly flipping a highly protective and tender switch within Bo, not that (Y/n) was complaining in the slightest, taking great comfort in his words and actions.

A few hours passed and in that time, (Y/n) had calmed down, and thought about a lot of things. Bo had dealt with the body and come back to (Y/n)'s side within the first hour, allowing her to cuddle into his side and think. "Bo what is this place?" (Y/n) asked with worry laced in her voice. "What?" Bo frowned his brows, a confused smile on his face. "Please don't lie to me anymore, please tell me what this place is. This town its just not right, in all the time I've been here I've only seen you Lester and Vincent." (Y/n) explained, suddenly feeling concerned for her baby's well being. "I want to tell you, I've wanted to tell you for a while now... But I don't want to scare you away." Bo hung his head. "Not telling me is scaring me, Bo please tell me." She insisted. "You know I would never hurt you or Von right?" Bo asked, his eyes the tiniest bit glossy. "Of course I know that." (Y/n) licked her lips, ignoring the worry bubbling at the back of her mind. "The town been abandoned for a decade, me and my brothers took it over a few years ago." Bo began. "Brothers?" (Y/n) asked having caught the plural. "Lester is mine and Vincent's younger brother." Bo explained frowning a little when (Y/n)'s eyes filled with worry.

"Lester convinces people to come to Ambrose, and me and Vincent kill them." Bo revealed, his confession making (Y/n)'s breath hitch in her throat. "Lester called me after he dropped you off at the gas station, and he told me to help you out, he insisted that we spared you." Bo licked his lips nervously. "I wasn't going to listen to him, but when you didn't snoop around town like everyone else, I was curious about you... Then I seen you, and your baby, and any dark thought I had washed away in an instant. The more we talked, the more I was intrigued with you... The more I wanted to protect you, especially when you told me about your ex." Bo admitted, his words surprisingly soothing (Y/n). "I'm sorry..." Bo muttered under his breath. "I forgive you." (Y/n) smiled softly, sitting up she adjusted herself to straddle Bo's lap. "I forgive you." She repeated herself as she took his face between her hands. "You've been better to me than most people in my life, and while the knowledge of what you and Vincent do... Is almost heartbreaking... I forgive you. I know you won't harm me or Von, to proved yourself to me today when you saved me from Trent." (Y/n) leaned in and gently kissed Bo's lips, pulling away all to soon. "I don't want to leave, I want to stay here with you... To love you despite the things you do, to love you despite the monster you can be... I want you for who you are, darkness and all." (Y/n) confessed, making Bo's mind go hazy with adoration. "Please stay." He muttered subconsciously. "I am." (Y/n) rest her forehead against his, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

----

Part three is complete!!!!

Part four will hopefully be posted tomorrow evening.

（＾_＾）

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agoddamn · 3 years ago

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Kenobi time

>certain scenes in this fictional series may contain scenes upsetting to viewers

oh BOY

oh boy, time for the flashbacks to emotionally destroy fandom

that said, why AOTC-era over ROTS I wonder? Ewan's hairline is looking a little sad lmao they're both looking very 'trying so hard to pretend I'm twenty years younger'

oh, so here's all the people I was wondering exi--HAJA?!

how the FUCK is he alive????

plant?

anyway, what exactly are these people anyway? They seemed to imply that they were Force-sensitives, but there's a lot of them

so Reva didn't just toss a tracker on Lola, she totally reprogrammed her in the ~10 seconds she had grabbed her? I mean, sure, whatever

my saber recognition skills aren't what they used to be, but one of those things looks a bit like Mace Windu's to me?

even past!Obi-wan looks insanely rumpled lmao

this back thing is. weirdly sexual

general :] aww, he took the robe

Obi-wan: she SAID she wanted pickles

Roken has a wookie bowcaster

shakycam why

this is 6 eps long so I suppose we're coming up on the climax, right? Somehow it doesn't feel like it, I guess because every ep has a big dramatic fight sequence in it?

[Obi-wan catching up with what we all knew from ep 1]

does Anakin have his eye scar here? Something about his face looks weird

would be awfully nice if there were like, one grenade in this whole rebel cell

RIP Tala we hardly knew ye but you still lasted an ep longer than I was betting so good job

oh hey! I guess she had the only grenade

>hands cuffed in front

amateur move

"there are other ways to fight, like 4d psychological warfare"

cinematography guys went really extreme with the lightsaber reflected lighting; too hard, I think. How are they out here in full bright daylight and the saber is what's illuminating Anakin's face? They also still look way too saturated to me. Colored light doesn't look like this--the color of a colored light is paler than what's giving it off, always. The sabers in ANH are nearly white; the 100% saturation blue just doesn't look good

LMAO THAT WAS THE DECOY SHIP

...that was some mediocre-looking CQC, Obi-wan

we about to get choking?

underwhelming flashback fight. I thought the reveal there was gonna be Anakin using Force choke, not Obi-Wan pointing out that CQC exists

remember how I said that Reva was a proxy for Obi-wan to have the flashy Vader fights he couldn't? -spreads hands-

>helicopter music stops

you know, I think Reva should have gotten to be more unhinged. "I'll falseflag Vader" is a fucking insane plan and Reva thinking she can play at being a Sith without staining herself would have been great

>Grand Inquisitor, who is also a former Jedi, obsessed with calling Reva gutter trash

He's enough of a delusional dick that this is perfectly IC, but still

>Tala dies from one blaster wound to the stomach and Reva walks off lightsaber impalement

You know what, whatever

...okay, no, I'm sorry, tying the comic relief to the serious dramatic plot is a bad move and it's always gonna be a bad move. It was bad with Jar-Jar and it's bad here; the celebrity casting makes it feel even worse because Haja is clearly here to be comic relief and not a nuanced character. "Whoops Kumar dropped Obi-wan's phone, that rascal!" god please no

#boots watches kenobi

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shyrose57 · 4 years ago

Note

2: At first? No. Ran was the first one who noticed when something was off but Ranbob brushed it off as him being tired. Though when he saw that his brother was still acting that way he kept checking in, til "Ranbob" eventually snapped at him one day, scaring and hurting Ran enough to get him to stop. His parents and Lias and Memi also noticed, but Lias and Memi didn't ask as often because Ran told them not too, and when Memi asked Ranbob gently told her its ok and to not worry. Lias was hesitant to accept this but eventually did, with Ranbob promising to tell him if something was wrong, a promise he sadly broke. Ranbob was close to his family, especially his younger siblings, and loved to play and study with them. He had a lot of friends at first that he played games with and joked around with. Though after he started to get out under more pressure and the introduction of Dream he got distant, lost all of his friends (even though he still cared for them), didn't play with Lias or Memi nearly as much, started skipping dinners and not talking to his parents or Ran. And when Dream was mostly and fully in control, he stopped talking at all, and ignored everyone. Lias desperately tried to get him to talk but that just resulted in a harsh stare with a silent promise, Memi tried to hug him, which he then pushed her away, and when Ran tried one last time to talk to him, but "Ranbob" just punched him and walked away. When his parents tried one very last time to intervene, that's when it got fatal. The Gladiators where horrified at what they read, finding it hard to believe and making them sick to their stomach. Benjamin caught them reading it, though he simply sadly smiled at them and said, "I read it too. Its horrible isn't it? He didn't deserve to go through that. But we'll help him. We'll help him be free and be himself again, I promise you, and everyone else. We'll save him." They felt like they where staring at a ghost, it was unnerving, to see such a happy and young Ranbob, knowing what will happen to him that will wipe him clean of all happiness. And it felt disrespectful when they caught sights of Ranya, Seth, Lias, and Memi. Cause they never knew them, and now they where looking into the such happy and gleeful eyes of dead people who don't know the torture their son and brother is going through. (And that went for everyone)

3: This is literally Ran's mentally when it comes to being stabbed, "I've been stabbed multiple times before and I haven't died. Therefor, I am immortal." Yes he is :). He gets threatened with Benjamin because if Benjamin finds out he isn't eating or sleeping Benjamin will force him to eat every bite of a full meal and force him to go to bed, sitting next to him and reading to him until he falls asleep. Which sounds nice, but considering Ranbob doesnt want to "bother" them, its a threat to him. Raq will always cause problems, he's a expert tracker and because of that he's able to hunt the groups down. He often will pop out of nowhere and attack the group, chasing them down until someone turns around and attacks him. Often Ran attacks him by looking Raq directly in his eyes, causing him to flee. Cause even though Raq wants to get Ran, he knows very well if they make eye contact he will lose a battle no matter what he does, so its best to run and attempt to blind him at a later point. Ran his very happy to be on the road again, and if Ranbob wasn't there (who's keeping Ran on edge and preventing him from fully enjoying the trip, though its mostly just Ran doing it to himself), he would be non-stop talking and running ahead of the group. But even with Ranbob there he's happy to finally be moving again.

4: The gladiators did not witness it first hand, rather they heard screaming and went to check it out, worried and alarmed. And when Ranbob went into the depressive state did Benjamin come over to them and explain what was going on and what was going to happen. When then Jackie offered to help keep Ranbob company while Grievous and Watson offered to go along with Cletus to find Ran. When they heard the scream Jackie was scared and nervous, Grievous was anxious and on edge, Watson was calm yet curious, and Ran was mad and on edge. And when they found out what happened, Jackie felt bad and sympathetic, Grievous felt sad and a bit guilty, Watson was sympathetic and felt bad for him, and Ran was pissed.

5: Isaac and Benjamin just kinda accepted it and went "Yes he is like a lost puppy and we love him for that.", Charles was embarrassed and instead of responding properly he muttered out an excuse and left, cause he was not expecting to be confronted with Ranbob being like a puppy at all and didn't know how to respond, and Cletus just stuck his tounge out and blew raspberries. And Ranbob was just purely embarrassed.

6: Actually first thing Ranbob got when he arrived to the fishermen house was wrapped up in multiple fluffy blankets and had a hot chocolate shoved in his hands. Also whenever he goes into a depressive episode or wants to go back the fishermen just bring out emergency blankets and quickly make either hot chocolate or tea and Ranbob loves it every single time.

7: Ranbob is mixed, he loves it being back as it reminds him of such good times, but it also doesn't feel right when Charles says it because Ran was the one who made it. It only sounds right when Ran says it. Ran is angry that Ranbob is letting someone else call him Bobby (which he is also sad about), but is also mad that he's mad that someone else is using it. But he's also happy its being used again, and is happy to see Ranbob still enjoys it. Grievous of course notices it, but doesnt look into it, and so does Watson but he also doesn't ask about it, determing it to be something the brothers themselves have to talk about.

8:Because if it was Porkius or literally anyone else, they wouldn't of helped and would've watched happily as the two fought, waiting until one fell and even encouraging the fight. But they also jumped into the area from the stands and Cletus specifically placed himself between the two, pushing Ran back and yelling at him (which rarely anyone does) when Benjamin then came up to try to calm the raging enderman down, while Charles checked on Ranbob, and Isaac kept look out for any sudden movements between the two so he could intercept the potential attack. Plus when Isaac saw the other group approaching he ran to meet them, asking if they knew Ran and when they said yes, quickly stating a plan to safely restrain Ran long enough until Ranbob was taken to safety. Then leaving Ran to the group, but also saying how he wanted to talk later.

10: Sounds like the certain town just may be the ruins of the Greater SMP. So I'll probably have Wilburs Decendent (which I dont currently have a name for, if anyone has one please feel free to suggest one!) As a popular performer there and also the towns historian, so when our groups get there Wilbur is able to provide information about Dream, Ranboo, basically everyone and the history of the SMP. Most likely going be a part of the story when Ran truly starts to slowly believe that his brother didn't meant to do everything he did.

11: Yep, he knows Ranboo used to have bad memory (not how bad it was, just that it was bad) but he's never read it because Mizu never had the actual book, it was only told in tales and stories that Mizu had. If that makes sense. Ranbob will get plenty more hugs I promise you, though that also means he gets hurt more.

12: Kinda but also cause I enjoy writing angst.

Ok ok here's some fluff: These all take place a good week or 2 (or longer) after Ran forgives his brother and the relationship gets better. Watson walks in on the two sharing a blanket and sleeping against eachother. With them leaning on eachother and leaving almost no space between them. Ran finally calls Ranbob Bobby again and Ranbob cries and hugs his brother tightly, Ran is shocked but quickly hugs back just as tightly. Ranbob gets to finally pull a big brother move and tease Ran about his "nerdy" habit of reading so many books, Ran tries to fire back that Ranbob literally picked a idol that requires you to be a bookworm but he simply shoots back that Technoblade also requires you to be a bookworm. Its been spotted multiple times of either Ran or Ranbob having their tail wrapped around his brothers wrist or leg, and the two aren't very far apart now. Jackie jokes about being replaced by Ranbob and being heartbroken, basically draping himself over Ran and whining while everyone else laughs at Rans distress. Ran and Ranbob eventually agree to merge their two hauntings, which is extremely rare and is the biggest sign of trust and love there is in enderman language. Ran reads to Ranbob one night after a bad relapse, which ends up soothing Ranbob much sooner than anything else.

I also have a more mythical idea of fluff that probably wont be in the main story, but im willing to share it if you want.

2: Only his family noticed? Dang, okay. I’m irrationally attached to his siblings now that they have names, and this only hurts me. Do the gladiators have any noticeable changes in behavior towards Ranbob and Ran after reading it? Also, who may Ranya and Seth be? I don’t believe I saw them mentioned earlier.

3: Technically, he’s right. He hasn’t died yet, anon, and he’s been stabbed multiple times, he could very well be immortal. I guess he should probably do his best to not get stabbed again though, I hear it’s kind of bad for you.

Ranbob: *Not doing something he should do for his own health*

Benjamin: *Self Care But As A Threat(Gently)*

Ranbob:

Ranbob: *Does it*

Also, even though I acknowledge that Raq could be a genuine threat, all I can imagine are Team Rocket shenanigans. He keeps trying to blind him in various, complicated ways, and fails hilariously. One time he actually manages to do it only for Jackie to take him out or for him to turn around and accidentally look Ranbob straight in the eyes cause the poor hybrid was trying to knock him out without a fight.

4: Yikes, that must have been pretty scary, just hearing everything go down. If I may ask, what exactly happened with Ranbob? You said there was screaming?

5: Well, at least everyone’s come to terms with it. Ran uses people as tote bags, and Ranbob is the local puppy, and it is what it is.

6: Very good! He needs it! Also, do they just keep them on hand? Just-he looks a tiny bit sad and Benjamin pulls blanket and tea out of thin air and burritos him.

7: Aww. But also, ouch. Oh well. At least we can get Ran eventually picking the nickname up again.

8: Oh? Interesting. Sounds like these guys are pretty quick on their feet. I can see why it’d impress the gladiators.

10: That? Sounds so cool? Oh, I really like that honestly, I can’t wait to see where you take that.

11: Neat. Is that where he got the idea for his diary, or? And why? Why must we suffer in order to take comfort from the kinder things in life? Why can’t Ranbob just have hugs without pain?

12: Did you genuinely just admit to aiming for my feelings with that last one?! Anon, how could you! I’ve been injured! My heart, Anon!

13: AWWWW. To all of this. So fluffy, and cute! Just what we needed, thank you! Also, more fluff, you say? Please share, we need all the fluff we can get.

Have a good week, Brothers Anon, and thank you for the lovely fluff, and equally lovely pain. I’m excited for more!

#Brothers AU #dream smp au #dream smp #tales from the smp #the lost city of mizu #ran #ranbob

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babieyangyang10 · 5 years ago

Text

violent ends (chapter 12)

(chapter 12)

series masterlist

genre: hunger games!au

pairings: huang renjun x oc, na jaemin x oc

warnings: lots of kissing, mentions of killing, description of injuries

previous | next

Athena's POV

It took a while for Jisung's quiet sniffles to fade the night of Chenle's death. By the time Mark and I had made our way back, Jaemin and Jisung had found out the news after they saw his face among the dead in the sky. Honestly, it was almost easier for Jisung to find out that way. I know Mark was in too much pain to tell him. As for me, I don't know how I could bare to look him in those innocent eyes and tell him either. As expected, he took it pretty hard. I mean, he was his best friend. He literally cried so much, that he eventually became exhausted and fell asleep.

I took the first watch, since Mark looked like he needed rest as well. The only other person who was still up was Na Jaemin.

"What are you thinking about?" Just like when we were alone in the first days, his head was resting on my lap.

"Jeno, Renjun, and the District 5 girl are the only ones left other than us." I point out.

Focusing on the positives, he replies, "Okay, well I'm guessing they'll go after her for us, since she's alone. Hopefully, they'll kill each-other. If not, we'll do it."

My voice was in a small whisper, "And then?"

He's silent.

I know District 2 is watching me right now. The same district that attachment is only necessary when it pertains to something you need. Once you have gotten what you've needed, you have to detach yourself. Almost like how a leech sucks enough blood until their fulfilled, then falls off on their own free will.

These people have given me my fill. Mark and Jisung took Jaemin and I in, even after Jaemin was injured. However, now we are both healthy as can be. As they sleep in front of me, what is stopping us from running away or even just killing them? Friends. Something I never had before. I never understood it until now. How it means that even though I'm full, I feel obligated to them too. To give just as much as they gave me.

But they are right. This is what they warned us about. This obligation will keep me captive. Let's say that we do all make it to the end together. Even so, the games will continue until a single victor. It happens every time.

The longest was the 25th games, it lasted for a total of twenty-seven days. This year the Districts had chosen the children of their mayors. Because of growing up wealthy and sheltered, none of the kids knew anything about fighting.

So they didn't. Half of them were wiped out by vicious mutations on the third day, then eventually others by starvation. However, the Gamemakers had a twist this year. Instead of the parachutes sending things to help and aid you, they sent down things like tracker jackers and acidic rain. No longer did the tributes have to survive eachother, but instead the sponsors.

Three weeks later, only two managed to do this: a brother and sister from District 9. Hopeless and broken, they decided to draw straws to see who would survive and win. The brother ended up getting the short one and gave his sister a kiss on the cheek before she stabbed him to death.

This just proves no matter how much you care for the other survivors, the Capitol won't give up until you kill the other.

The long silence was interrupted, "You know you're my priority. Ever since the beginning, only you."

"You know what I'm saying, what I'll do if I need to." Jaemin whispers sincerely, "I know you wouldn't like it, but we promised it would be me and you in the end, right?"

I knew exactly what he was alluding to. It doesn't matter if it's Mark or Jisung, he would kill anyone so we'd survive.

"I know." I speak even through the lump in my throat. There's no point in pretending or acting like things could never possibly come to that. I mean, it's not like the games are a place where you make friends.

Jaemin is sensitive to my discomfort, "Hopefully, it won't come to that, okay?"

All I could do was respond with a nod. Let's hope it doesn't.

It's almost natural the way I once again played with his hair to calm down. I noticed that since we've been separated, time had caused his nearly-black roots to appear, fading nicely into the frosty blonde. His eyes were more sunken in and tired, but still held the same old light as he peered up at me with interest, "You really have no shame, Athena."

"What do you mean?" I tease, playing innocent like I wasn't obviously checking out the beautiful boy just seconds earlier.

Then, in a burst of affection, the boy literally almost tackles me. My elbows brace myself up on the ground, as he leans over me. Alarmed, I turn my head to see the boys fast asleep, a good distance away.

When I look back at Jaemin, I feel my head start to buzz. It's seems like so long since I've been this close to someone. A someone who is somewhere far away in this arena. Someone, who in was in this same position with the night before I came here. In a soft voice, Jaemin's voice brings me back to the present, to him.

"Please."

Not long after I nod, I feel his lips softly brush over mine. Almost as if he's testing the waters. The kiss that follows is soft and delicate, yet brief. It's like I'm a piece of glass, that he is trying his best not to break. When, he backs away to see my reaction, I nearly chase after his lips. He just laughs to himself at the display of eagerness. I move back, so I'm entirely laying on the grass.

I try to be patient, not wanting to overstep our boundaries. However, when he looks down at me with absolute adoration, I didn't stop myself from grabbing his shirt with both my hands. Once I pulled him down into an bruising kiss, I could hear him let out a content sigh.

I get lost and entirely forget where I am. Instead of in an arena, it just feels like we're two young teenagers making out under the stars. It feels normal and completely right. Out of breath, he is now laying on top of me. My mouth is open in awe, while I marvel at the feeling. Relaxing, I could feel Jaemin smiling into my neck. Even in the dark, I know the cameras can see me also smiling like a fool to the sky.

After that, Jaemin decided to take his watch and let me sleep. It was the first peaceful sleep I have had until forever. That was, of course, until a young boy named Park Jisung ruined it.

"We need water!" Beside me was a knocked out, Jaemin. He was leaning against a tree, while my head was leaning against his shoulder.

"Okay, fine. Just shush." I was trying to be wary of Jaemin, who stayed up for both of our watches.

Grabbing my stuff, I say a brief goodbye to Mark. Jisung happily follows me like a little puppy, probably glad to finally get out of the camp again.

The fresh sun illuminates the water of the lake. Birds are singing good morning to one another. I hand my bag to Jisung, as I take out my bottle. The tiny fish quickly swim away as I fill Mark and I's bottles up with water.

I feel a tug on my leather jacket.

"Athena." Jisung was pale, looking behind me.

My head snapped around to automatically meet eyes with Lee Jeno. Across the lake, he had just arrived with Renjun.

I don't waste any time before grabbing Jisung and running into the woods behind me. However, we could only get a small distance before Jisung fell to the ground, clutching his bad leg, "I can't."

"You can. Come on." I tried to hold him up like I did during the forest fire. I could hear the two Careers just around the corner.

"I'll slow you down." Jisung begged, "You gotta go without me."

Not even having it, I grabbed him and sat him down behind a nearby bush. Since the bush was fairly small, I had to go to the only other one across the clearing.

"Let's split up." I hear nearby.

Through a gap in the branches, I see Lee Jeno come around the corner. My heart pounds with each of his steps. Jeno gets closer and closer the bush Jisung is hiding behind. I violently curse in my head as I realized Jisung was carrying my backpack with all of my weapons in it.

I guess we're gonna have to do this a different way.

I dart out of my bush and begin running in the opposite direction of camp. That way, Jisung could hopefully make it back undetected to get help.

I don't look back at all. I just keep running until I get back to the lake. Before I can change direction, I feel someone jump on me.

Crashing down, the side of my head collides with a large boulder. At first, it's completely numb and I'm able to push the tall boy off of me.

However, once I push myself up, I start to see black and fall back to the ground.

"Hey, I got her!" Jeno yelled out to Renjun.

"We've been looking for you, pretty girl." His arms have mine completely pinned to the dirt. The more I struggle against him, the more the white dots fill up my vision.

Renjun's POV

When I run towards Jeno's voice, I eventually found the two of them.

Jeno was holding the small girl. Lee Athena's face was as white as a sheet. Blood was pouring out of her head, falling in thick drops down the side of her face. I couldn't even tell if she was even conscious at this point.

She was completely limp as the boy sat her up on her knees, "Why don't you finish her off?"

"Look who came to join us." He cooed, grabbing her hair to make her look up at me.

Her half-lidded eyes recognized me right away. Although, there wasn't any signs of fear or sadness for what she knew was about to happen to her. She almost looked like she was challenging me. You wouldn't.

Would I?

"Do it." Jeno urged me. Her chin was tilted back by his hold on her hair, neck entirely on display. My hand was tightly wrapped around the familiar blade in my hands.

I tried to quickly come up with an excuse for my next actions in my head. I mean it would have to happen eventually. At least, it would be somewhat quick.

Then, I did it.

#nct dream smut #nct smut #nct au #nct #nct dream imagines #nct dream #renjun #jaemin #jeno #haechan #jisung

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247sooyoung · 8 years ago

Text

;tracker

170430

Writing

relying on rivals ft. @247yoori

wordkill ft. @sehun247

sweet & easy ft. @247jiyong

sugarpink ft. @247sumin

deck the halls with blackmail ft. @jongin247

look how they shine ft. @seunghyun247

bear trap ft. @seunghyun247

true colours ft. @247minho

curious n shop ft. @247lalisamanoban

the crown ft. @247xbora

blast from the past ft. @247kth

starter ft. @247dean

starter ft. @jaebum247

starter ft. @247ophelia

Waiting

no one!

so, as you can see, I’ve decided to drop the royalty ball event threads: they were getting very old and i had absolutely lost muse for them. however! if we were threading for the event and you want to either move that thread out of the event, or plot something else, feel free to hmu!!! i’m more than up for plotting as always!

it’s a bit late for me now so i’ll be going to sleep soon, but tomorrow i have the day off and i plan on devoting it to writing replies, so expect most of these to come tomorrow and the rest during the week!

#;tracker #{ this tracker doesn't look nearly as long as the last one #which makes it much less daunting tbh lol }

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dixonious · 6 years ago

Text

arrowheads | a twd fanfic

Summary: Y/N and Sophia have breakfast, while doing so Y/N askes about Sophia's aloneness when she found her.

Warning: some language and possible grammatical errors.

ONWARD AND YONWARD!!

_______________________________________________

Chapter [4]: Burning Squirrels and Talking Shop

Narrator's POV.

To Y/N's suprise, no danger had found them that night. It was quiet, other than the crickets and cicadas that hummed in the darkness.

It was deemed "safe" for that night, yeah, but Y/N wouldn't want to try her luck being under tree than in one again.

Now, just a couple of hours before the sun rose, Y/N watched as the little blonde started to stir in her spot against the tree. She was only sitting a few feet away from her as she figure it'd be nice for the little girl to wake up to breakfast. Squirrel.

"Mhn." A quiet groan escaped Sophia's lips. Her eyes shot open, and she began to look around frantically.

Y/N quickly took action, "hey, hey." Y/N said rushed over towards Sophia, putting her knife she used to poke at the squirrel in it's holster. "It's alright, you're alright." She said once she reached Sophia, trying to make eye contact with the girl as her eyes bounced all over the place.

Finally catching the girl's eyes, Y/N nodded at her in reassurance. "You're okay." Sophia nodded back, getting that she was okay.

Y/N smiled softly, "I'm making squirrel. Figured we could eat and talk about getting you back to whoever you were with, yeah."

Sophia stared at Y/N for q long minute before looking over her shoulder and pointing.

Y/N frowned and gave a head tilt before following Sophia's gaze, her jaw nearly hitting the ground as she caught sight of the problem.

Squirrels catching flame.

"Shit!" Y/N exclaimed as she rushed over to their meal. She quickly grabbed the shirt she had as an oven mitt and she picked up the stick that was holding the squirrels.

She held it up and blew as hard as she could at it.

For Sophia, this was pretty amusing. She sat straight up, letting the blanket fall from under her chin. She watched as her rescuer struggled to get the flame out.

Y/N continue to blow and blow, and eventually the flame distinguished.

"Phew!" Y/N let out a breathe of air. "I'd say this is just about perfectly done." She said with confidence. "Or. It's just about perfectly overcooked." Y/N let out a chuckled sigh,

"this is why I shouldn't be allowed to cooked." Y/N whispered to herself.

Y/N's head snapped over to where a giggled came from her left side, "so you think this is funny, huh?" The h/c archer said with amusement in her tone.

Sophia continued to giggled as she nodded her.

Y/N snorted, "yeah, yeah, laugh it up." She said as she put out the fire and placed the squirrels back onto the makeshift rack.

"Come on, we'll let these cool a bit and then we can eat up."

Sophia took herself and the blanket over to where Y/N sat, sitting crisscross applesause on the opposite side of her. And to Y/N's suprise, the little blonde spoke.

"Do you always burn your food?" Sophia asked, laughter in her voice, along with curiosity.

"Pfft! No. No way! I'mma good cook." Y/N denied.

Sophia raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, fine. I do. But not always. Just sometimes."

Sophia giggled again, and Y/N couldn't help but smile.

"Messing up food has nearly always been with me." Y/N explained as she twirled a twig into the dirt. "I can cook, I swear. I just, at times, forget about the food that I'm cooking and it may or may not burn."

"It does burn." Sophia said in laughter.

"Yeah." Y/N chuckled.

A couple of minutes passed. Those minutes spent in silence, and munching on their squirrels. Y/N took the more burnt one, while Sophia took the less burnt one. And honestly, to Y/N, her burnt squirrel wasn't that bad. She finished it up rather quickly with having barely ate the day before.

When she was done, she went into her pack and count the bottles of water that were there. Four. Four water bottles. The Georgia heat would make a person want to drown them all right then and there. But they'd have to make this work until she could find a new source of water.

Y/N reached and pulled out one, she screwed the cap off and drank a little less than half. She passed the rest to Sophia, who gratefully accepted it.

She finished up the rest of her squirrel and took to pretty small gulps of the water.

Sophia reached the bottle back out toward Y/N. "No, no. It's cool. You drink it." Y/N said.

Sophia looked reluctant to, but she took another swallow, reaching the bottle back to Y/N again.

"We should save it." She said softly.

"Kid, just drink it." Y/N said with a slight chuckle.

"Mhn-mhn." The little blonde shook her head.

The archer sigh, taking the bottle from the little girl. She screwed the cap back on and placed it back into her bag.

"Little Blue. The last time you saw your people or whoever. They were alive right?" Y/N asked as she closed her bag back up, hoping she would get an answer.

"Yes." Sophia responded.

"Okay. I wanna help you find 'em." I said, waiting for a response.

There was a long silence before she decided to reply, "I was with my mom. And a brunch of other people, friends. We were coming from this really big..doctor place."

"The CDC?" Y/N asked.

"Yeah, yeah that's it." Sophia exclaimed.

"Was that were y'all last were?"

"No." Sophia said sadly. "I think the doctor that was there..I think he was crazy. We wanted to leave but he locked us inside. I didn't really understand what was going on. There were a lot a big words used. But, I remember him saying something about the air going to set on fire."

Sophia watched as Y/N's face scrunched up in horror, "we all got out. Well, except our friend Jacqui. She didn't. I remember us running to the cars and we got down and the place exploded." The little girl said, sadness in her voice.

"We were on going somewhere else, but we got to this highway and cars blocked our way and a lot of the monsters came, we hid under the cars. I thought that they were all gone, but they weren't. I got up, and two of them chased me."

"That's how you got lost." Y/N said in understanding.

Sophia nodded, sadly as she looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry. And I'm sorry about your friend Jacqui, too." Y/N said sincerely.

"Me too." The little blonde whispered.

Y/N thought over everything that Sophia had just told her. She knew about the CDC. About how they were looking for a cure for all this shit. They. Yet there was just him? One doctor?

Maybe the others had died. But they should've been safe inside there, right? Y/N was pretty sure they were heavy on lock down. It was a facility after all.

That one doctor was still there and then he stayed even with knowing the place would blow. And so did that Jaqui lady. They knew what was going to happen. They knew their fate if they stayed.

There were times were Y/N just wanted to quit. To give up, even before all this. But, she could never actually see herself giving up. She was determined to stay alive, to beat this. Determined was practically Y/N's middle name.

"Do you know where the highway is, Sophia?" Y/N asked.

"No." She answered. "I just remember, mostly going straight towards it from the CDC. And that there were a lot of cars there."

Y/N frowned in thought. If this was the same highway that she was thinking of, then she knew were it was. Hell, she had gotten just about half of her supplies from there.

"I think I know where it is." Y/N said.

Sophia's head shot up immediately, "you do?" She asked.

"Yeah," Y/N said, surely. "I came across is it, a week or so ago. But, we're not that far from it." Y/N answered.

Sophia frowned in confusion.

"Yes, just about a week ago I was there. But I didn't exactly leave the area. It's only about less than a 2 day's walk." The archer explained. "Do you know how long were you out here before I found you, Sophia?"

The little girl looked up in wonder. "It got dark 2 times, so 2 days? I think." She said.

"Holy sh-crap." Y/N said, catching herself, Sophia smiled a bit.

"Sorry." Y/N chuckled, catching the girl's smile. "You've just been out here all by yourself for a long while."

"I stayed the first night in a small cabin in a closet."

Y/N frowned, "why didn't you stay there?"

"I heard a monster. I got scared and I ran."

Y/N nodded. That was understandable for someone her age and size.

"I'm gonna getcha back to your people, Kid. To your mom." Y/N said determinedly as she stood from her spot on the ground, she grabbed her bookbag from the ground, Sophia took this as sign of leaving so she reached the blanket she had wrapped around her out towards Y/N.

"We'll backtrack to where I found you. You think you can remember which way you came from there?" Y/N asked as she started to pack everything up.

"I think so." Sophia said in a tiny voice.

"Alright. It's no big, if you can't. I'm no pro, but I'm a pretty good tracker. If nothing messed up your path, we're good." Y/N stated.

"Okay." Said Sophia, as she reached for her doll and stood.

After packing everything up, and placing everything where it went on her, compound bow in hand, Y/N knelt down to Sophia's height.

"Listen, Little Blue. Those idiot living-nonliving things usually don't go to deep into the woods, but that doesn't mean they can't." Y/N explained carefully.

"If we come across them you gotta promise me you won't run. If you do, you might get lost again, and maybe I won't be able to find you. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. But you can't run. Okay?"

Sophia took in every word the woman had said to her. She understood. But she wasn't sure if she could not run. But she'd try.

"Okay. I understand." She said, with just as much determination in her voice as Y/N had just moments ago.

"Good. So, let's do this." The archer said, as she stood full height, reaching her hand out to Sophia, who accepted with no hesitation.

Together, the two set out on their journey.

_______________________________________________

Boom! And that's the fourth chapter! I really like this one, I hope y'all do, too! :) let me know what you think?

The next chapter may be up in a few hours or tomorrow, so see ya then!

@coffeebooksandfandom, @checkintoreality, @wnygirl2012, @assassinsasha23, @catlya, & @aristocracy-y.

If anyone else wants a tag, just let me know!

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