#“listen to the willow listen to the sound / listen to my voice you should hear me now”

[since-times-long-forgotten]

HOME IS WHERE I AMMMMMMMMM 🎵

[handlemehyuck]

LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP for boyfriend dreamies

♡a voicemail for mark˚ ⋆。

“i keep listening to songs i haven’t heard in forever, not since i was a kid or teenager, and they transport me back to that time. suddenly, i’m wearing pink converse and jean shorts and the t-shirt from my summer play. it’s saturday, and i’m sitting on the stairs waiting for my friend to arrive, sunlight all over the walls. we wanted to have a sleepover, but there’s church in the morning, so she’ll stay as late as she can, probably until we’re dozing off on the couch watching one of the dvds she brought. naturally, i have to think about you because music wraps around your life in a way it never will for me. we’ve probably talked about this. maybe the conversation took a different shape before, but what’s a song that takes you back? what’s a time you miss and revisit through music? do you have time to think about those things? your life is go go go, and i’ve made silly wishes on eyelashes about peering into your head. i’m a reminiscer, and i know not everyone is, but you’re a creative. you’re a writer—music wraps around your life in a special way, so the idea of nostalgia visiting rarely seems unrealistic? but i guess i can’t know until you tell me. i see it often. i see it when i’m out without my glasses. the distant view is blurry, and suddenly, there i am, riding a bike, pink converse on. what shows up in your blurry nostalgia view?”

♡a voicemail for renjun˚ ⋆。

“babyyyy, i had the best time tonight. i feel like i’m covered in stars. areum’s parents have this sprawling backyard, so we collected a bunch of blankets, packed a picnic basket, and stayed out for hours beneath the most beautiful willow tree i’ve ever seen. i wore linen pants and a bikini top—your favorite one. i had a cardigan too, just in case, but the weather was perfect. i really needed to get out of the city. i know you know that, and i wanted to call you because… hmm sometimes i feel like my life is strung together by reminders. reminders of you and other people and things i love. reminders of our beginnings and all the sweet milestones along the way. i think my love could light up all the stars, more stars than i could ever see with my own eyes, enough stars to make a path between your hometown and my own. i’ll bring you back a jar of stardust. it’ll be empty… you’ll think it’s empty. sometimes magical things are invisible, or they just glow in the dark. anyway, it’s late, like 3 am, and i’m honestly glad you didn’t answer. as badly as i want to hear your voice, you should be asleep. i hope this voicemail makes you smile in the morning. i’ll send you some pictures too. see you on sunday. MWAH kisses *giggles*.”

♡a voicemail for jeno˚ ⋆。

“i’m going to my mom’s tomorrow, and i keep thinking about the drive. i rented a car… you know all of this already, but i guess it’s just present in my mind again. i’m staring at my luggage right now, and the entire thing feels wrong. i’m sorry if this sounds horrible, but i’m so used to you leaving. i’ve gotten really good at that. i’m good at being alone. i made sure i love my apartment and feel at home in it when you’re away because i’d fully unravel or find myself at your place more often than i already am if didn’t love it… stopping by to water all of those plants you don’t actually have. anyway, yeah… it just feels weird. i feel like you should be coming. i keep thinking about driving together: which one of us would pump the gas? who would run inside for snacks? what would we talk about in the car? would you drive halfway or drive all the way because you know i’d rather not if the option’s available to me? i know i’ll be fine. i’ve driven long ways on my own before, but it’ll be weird. i’ll be in a guest room. i don’t know what color the comforter is. i don’t know if i’ll like the sheets. my mom knows i’m weird and particular, but will she remember that when she’s fluffing up the pillows? what will i do when i can’t sleep? i love my mom. i haven’t seen her in months, but i close my eyes and daydream about being with you. i yearn for you in the stickiest of ways. it probably falls off of me too and hangs thickly in the air, gets stuck to the bottom of people’s shoes. i’d apologize if i knew, but i’m all caught up on you you you... i’m saying all of this, but i know this trip will be good for me. i know i’m not dependent on you, but last year was one of your busiest yet. and pride isn’t a question—i’ll spend my entire life being proud of you, but i can’t pretend there weren’t nights when the missing was so palpable i couldn’t sleep, so i read or baked bread or watched my toes wrinkle in the bath. it would be good for me to sleep at my mom’s, wake up to a new view, share breakfast, and simple conversation. i know i need the rest. i know everything will be fine.”

♡a voicemail for haechan˚ ⋆。

“if you told me the grass and the trees and the streets are all white, i would believe you. it’s like a blizzard out there. i’ve never seen so much white in my entire life. honestly, it’s kind of freaking me out, making me feel claustrophobic. i look up at the sky, back down again, and nothing changes, apart from the shapes and the saving grace of traffic lights—at least their colors are still clear. could we get by with just green, red and yellow for the rest of our lives?… some food for thought. anyway, it’s snowing *laughs*. i’m on my… third? tea after a few hot chocolates as well. no food so far today, just warm drinks. last time it snowed, you made kimchi jjigae and we ate in front of the window. do you remember that? we brought over my coffee table and the pot, bowls, and rice… i stopped listening to your story, all zeroed in on a snowflake. i didn’t look away until you kissed my neck. that’s quite a dangerous superpower: you have me at will with kisses, but i trust you with my weakest point... it wouldn’t be the same if i make kimchi jjigae and eat in front of the window without you. i should sit at the dining room table or maybe even the kitchen island—give myself a break from all the white. hopefully, i can still see you tomorrow. maybe you can kiss my neck again and tend to a few of my other weaker points… i love you.”

♡a voicemail for jaemin˚ ⋆。

“i want you to come over right now, and i know that you can’t. i also know that i might not see you for a couple of days, but i want to do nothing with you. i wish it didn’t feel silly… or embarrassing to want. i don’t know why wanting is so uncomfortable for me to share, especially because i’ve wanted loudly with you already, over and over again… but i guess i just wanted you to know. i painted my nails and went to the grocery store and chopped bell peppers because if they’re already prepped i know i’ll be more likely to eat them. i hung up some pictures in my room, and i kept thinking about you when i’d step back to make sure each one was straight. you would’ve done that part for me. i want to do everything together, and i don’t want you to feel bad because we can’t. that’s not why i’m leaving you this. i just know how happy it makes me feel when you express your want for me, in small ways, in spontaneous ways, in sexy ways… in uncomfortable ways, when you just want to be held, when you just need me to listen… it never ends with you. it never ends with me. we’re these entities that constantly move together and around each other, and i know i can get where i need to go without you, but it’s so much more fun when you’re here, and we’re in motion together. i’m making tea, and i think i’m going to drink it on the balcony. i’ll have to put socks on and a coat, but i want to hear the traffic noise and look down at people by themselves or in groups walking around and existing. i was existing for a long time. i felt really disconnected from living, but i knew i wanted to—to feel like i was living again. i just wasn’t quite sure how to get back to that place, but i was starting to figure it out when we met. on our first date, i felt like i struck gold. it was in your smile and your laughter, and this feeling that embraced me because all of a sudden i wasn’t nervous. i had only said your name out loud three times, but it felt so comfortable in my mouth. i remember leaving and whispering it to myself over and over again, and i couldn’t help but hope it would become a name i’d say for the rest of my life. so i’m going to drink my tea and enjoy this beautiful city we live in. i’m going to fold laundry and plan dinner. i’m going to think of you and get excited about the next night we fall asleep together.”

♡a voicemail for chenle˚ ⋆。

“i made it through the list of movies you left me. that sticky note is cute by the way. i like the border of little bears wearing scarves. where’d you get it? i almost threw it out on accident yesterday when i was cleaning my kitchen. now it’s living on my fridge. i taped it down on every side so my cleaning, autopilot fingers can’t attempt a second disposal… when you get this, i’d love some more movies. i’d ask for a horror film, but the idea of watching anything scary without you sounds worse than unclogging the shower drain or some other unpleasant household chore. oh! i went out this morning with chaewon, and she’s dating someone new. i started talking about hosting a dinner before i could really think it through. would you host another one with me? no pressure. chaewon told me not to even mention it to you, something about bad luck… she needs to wait a couple months before bringing them around all of our friends—has to pass 60 days of dating. there’s something romantic about a dinner party to me, though. maybe it’s just the wholesome quality time with my favorite people and knowing you’re only a look away. i don’t know if you remember, but you would always trail your fingertip up and down the back of my arm and kiss my cheek every time you got up, never wanting to interrupt the conversation but noticing the glasses in need of more wine. *groan* everything you do turns me on… ridiculous. do you even have a clue? no, i know you do. *sigh* g’night sunshine.”

♡a voicemail for jisung˚ ⋆。

“that fight was gross. i had to shower as soon as i got home, and the clothes i was wearing are already in the washing machine. are you ok? i know we tried to make it pretty again, but it felt ugly even at the end, and your eyes were so red. i hate seeing you cry. i love it actually… seeing your emotions, but never when it’s like that. i was so close to going to your favorite restaurant and picking us up something, but i know you need some time. but, if you listen to this, you can text me if you’re hungry, and i will go to your favorite restaurant. i can leave the food outside or just in the entryway, unless you’re crying again when i get there. then, i will take off my shoes and hug you, and i won’t stop until you at least hug me back. i’m so sorry. i don’t… most of the time i don’t feel insecure, but sometimes it comes out, and it takes this ugly shape that looks alien to me. i hope it looks alien to you too. i don’t want to be that way often enough for it to become familiar. tell me if it ever does. the idea alone makes me feel sick to my stomach. please text me at least. ok. dammit, i don’t want to hang up. i keep thinking you’ll pick up—”

[moirindeclermont]

@hugmeter06 requests an "All the Polín first times we didn't see" about a certain willow tree. Perhaps it's the first time Colin makes Pen release without even touching her core, at least directly.

They are promenading, and upon seeing the willow tree Colin is struck with a very wicked idea. He watches his adorable wife, who is watching him, rolling her eyes. "Colin, no! It's broad daylight and everyone could be watching us".

Colin pouts but then looks at her.

"What if we don't need to get naked at all. I just need you to sit in front of me while we enjoy the shade under the tree."

Pen knows her husband has something in mind, but she can't fake a thrill going through her as she think of what he might be up too. He always has the best idea, she has to recognize that...

They put a blanket over the grass, and they sat comfortably, Colin behind Pen. Slightly inappropriate but not scandalous. Not yet.

"I think we need better memories about this spot."

"Colin..."

"If I can make you release without touching, what would be my reward?"

They exchange a brief kiss, very chaste.

"If you can manage that, you can tie me when we get home".

The look Colin has in his eyes informs her he doesn't want to lose. She should remember that a challenge is the last thing a Bridgerton needs.

The next several minutes passes with Pen trying to resist from moaning and whimpering as Colin begins to whisper in detail what he plans to do once he ties her up later.

"I think I want for you to wear the silky nightgown, the red one that I love so dearly,"

She wants to reply, but Colin is faster.

"Nah, I don't think so. Your job is to listen today, okay?" In that deep, deep voice that makes her tremble.

"After, I would tied you up using the light belt that keeps together your robe. Only your hands. And I'd leave your mouth open, I want to hear all of your sound.

I'd love to kiss you all over. First with my hand, and then with my mouth"

All Pen can hear is his voice, the ton and everyone's else is in the background, while she's trying her best to not mount him right there..

"I think for tonight I want to discovering how many times I can make you release. I think we arrived at three, but I would love to know if you arrive at six... Or more.

And while every release can be on my fingers or my tongue or my cock, every time you'll tell me one of your dirtiest fantasy."

Pen gulps, her breath accelerated and her hand sweaty as she feels her core getting wetter and wetter.

"I know about your fantasy of doing it in the middle of a ball, watched by everyone. I know about your fantasy of me tupping you in my coat, pretending I'm a pirate. I know about your fantasy of me taking my pleasure while you read and write."

She can't move a muscle or she would release. Her core is asking desperately for something to fill her and her nipples are hard against her bodice.

"I'll make you confess some more. Like how much you like when I say I have a wanton wife. A harlot."

She does moan now, but it's very quiet.

"I know you're close. Such a nice naughty wife I have. If the Ton knew you are so naughty, making your husband make you release in the garden... What would they say?"

She is close. He didn't touch her and she is close.

"I don't know what they would say, but I'd answer them that you're my harlot. Say it Pen"

"Say I'm your harlot while you find your pleasure."

"I'm a harlot," and luckily she is not screaming it, as she comes hard, right in the middle of the garden, under the willow tree that saw a particular awkward conversations months ago.

"You're amazing. And mine. Let's both rest 10 minutes before going home. We have much stuff to do."

And she smiles. Her husband wants to wait because he is not presentable either. They wait and exchange soft and chaste kisses, until they take their leave.

They're not seen for two whole days after that afternoon.

I accept request! Dm me or send me an ask with your favorite first time you want me to talk about.

[lost-letters-from-atlantis]

I am fourteen and tired and sitting alone under a willow tree. You look like a ray of sunshine. You smile and laugh and talk my ears off about something you saw yesterday, and all I know how to do is nod and wallow in my own self-hatred. Envying you, for still knowing how to live. Envying the ones that make you happy because surely, they're making you happier than I do.

You shouldn't stay with me, I say. You look up at me with that puzzled expression like you're trying to figure out what the hell I'm talking about. You don't know yet that you're the first one to stay. That you'll have to repeat the same thing over and over and over again, year after year, scar after scar. "I won't leave you. I love you." And the words will always be the same, always in a different form, echoes of conversations from the beginning of time. You have better friends than me. I am a monster.

I expect you to withdraw after each word I say, just like I will spend years expecting you to abandon me after each fight, each outburst, each attempt to push you away.

But all you say is "I won't leave you. I love you."

And you said it again when I turned fifteen and begged you to stay with me on the phone because I was scared of what I'd do if I was alone, without you.

"I won't leave you. I love you."

And when I was sixteen and thought you'd hate me for being scared that you'd choose someone else over me.

"I won't leave you. I love you."

Even when at seventeen I started remembering what happiness felt like and I resented you for not seeing the danger of stepping in malicious traps. Guilt and fear washing over me after I gave you the cold stare, saying sorry for biting at you like a terrified dog whose owner made him walk on burning pavements by mistake.

"I won't leave you. I love you."

Time after time you say sorry for making me bleed from old wounds, and you listen to the sound of my pain pouring from my lips.

Now I am almost eighteen and this time I think I'm going to lose you for real. Our friends have fed me poison, my tongue is made of acid, and I spit their harmfulness back at them, as intensely as I can, and you ask of me if I can go to war alone and I say yes, because it is the least I can do for you. Because I love you too.

Somehow the story got twisted on their corrupted tongues. So that I am the monster. And you are the knight. Shining bright in his golden armour, bathing in their praises and congratulations. Little did they know the dragon and the knight had always fought side by side.

But I realise as I read their foolish tale, that all I have to offer to you is this burning arson. This broken loneliness outside of their idealised world, without princesses to save, and crowds to acclaim you. And you are a shining knight. With a shield and a sword that you never dared to brandish against anyone. And I am a dragon. With acidic venom and claws that I use to tear others apart.

And somehow, suddenly I am eight years old again, and going back to my old ways, I stand in the middle of an empty train station and say You shouldn't stay. You have better friends, and I am a monster. I have nothing to offer. I will hurt you.

And this time, I believe it's the last time I say those words. Because soon enough we will go to college and be pulled apart, and I'm starting to accept that I'll never get the stability I thought I craved for, for nothing was ever meant to be permanent in my life.

I hear your voice, and you answer me "I won't leave you. I love you."

And I realise we only played the same script again. The one where I got scared to death and you reassured me, and I won't ask you why you did it because I already know the answer.

We built the world together every time it crumbled down around us. And we are going to do it again. And we are going to do it again.

Fellas is it bad that I saw a sad post (giving credit for the inspo? please tell me if I should remove the link) and immediately thought of how I used to believe the same thing until my best friend @arsuns-ramblings proved me wrong?

[oven3bird]

Young Justice (1998) Voice-Claims

Hi, did this a couple of months ago, and now that I finally have a Tumblr account I'm sharing it! :D Some voices are more speech patterns and accents than actual voices tbh.

Tim: Just his normal Gotham Knights voice, I think it fits him well.

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxh8enmUJj--34Pndc9QstqI5BpOMPV_UY?si=8wk1v5X-jqzqlHjW

Kon: I imagine him knowing multiple languages, so I was looking for someone who spoke at least two to use as an example. Hakka is as cheerful as I view him and the unhinged laugh fits Kon's vibes.

Greta: Hear me out on this AND YES IM USING TIKTOKS, Greta can be TERRIFYING, imagine her going absolutely batshit crazy and having the most beautiful voice ever. Also, I can't stop thinking about Greta singing so have that as well. (Tuesday voice)

https://www.tiktok.com/@silly_shadow_/video/7366371574959590698

https://www.tiktok.com/@silly_shadow_/video/7400781906146610475

Cassie: Hear it for yourself, this is my fav claim bc I think it is perfect, the link will send you to a page then listen to the first voice from the Demo reels for animation. (Also yes, another singing claim bc I love Roca for Cassie)

https://www.themorganberry.com/voice-acting

Bart: This may be controversial, but I was going for a feeling, the tone that the guy uses is so Bart for me, maybe not the voice that much (I imagine his voice a little higher) but THE SPEECHHH.

https://www.tiktok.com/@maranjio69/video/7352209060663528737

Slobo: Another big vibe based claim, for me he should sound a little off, you hear him and you know he's not human, coarse, and giving uncanny valley.

Cissie and Anita don't have claims because I can't decide on anything, Cissie one of my fav options for now is Beta Willow (The Owl House) but that's still not what I want, Anita has been more difficult to find something that would fit her, as I see her as someone strong and firm, with a clear voice and clear speech but nothing is screaming Anita for me rn lmao.

[lollytea]

Pouring one out for Gus during the huntlow situationship era when Willow is like "yeah 😎 everything's chill 😌 why would you ask 🙂" as her balcony creaks dangerously under the weight of all the flowers growing there. meanwhile Hunter's on the floor listening to Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE on repeat like "do you think it's too early to add this track to our wedding playlist"

He's hanging out at Willow's house and for the most part, she's semi-normal. She can keep a conversation going about Gus and what's going on in Gus's life and everytime he asks why all the walls of her room have been devoured by big fat blooming flowers, she waves him off like "Don't worry about it :)"

And then when he lounges back against her bed, he discovers something familiar stuffed between the pillows and curiously picks it up.

"Willow, how did this-?"

"OH! How did that get there?" Willow blurts out, her attempts at keeping her voice casual failing miserably, as Gus' ears catch the obvious spike of panic. She snatches Hunter's wolf shirt out of Gus' hands and babbles away about how he probably left it behind at their last sleepover.

Willow then falters, staring intensely at the garment as she rubs her thumbs against the fabric. And that's when she's suddenly inhaling the fucking thing, like it's been doused in witch cocaine.

Now Gus has seen a lot of strange behaviour from Willow but somehow she manages to make something as innocuous as sniffing a shirt to be very high on the deranged scale. It's all about the presentation. The sound she made while sniffing was loud.

And just when Gus thinks she's gonna shove it in a drawer somewhere and move on, Willow rubs her upper arm. "It's kinda chilly, don't you think?" She asks, not waiting for Gus' response before she's throwing the accursed t-shirt on over her tank top. And then she moves on.

Willow recovers swifly from that. She doesn't mention Hunter or make any reference to his existence for the rest of the hangout session. But the flowers are still big and bright and the wolves are still stretched across her chest. Gus opts to ignore it.

He heads home a few hours later, expecting to wind down for the rest of the night and get some progress done on this article he's working on.

"GUS!!" He hears the urgent cry before he even fully swings open his bedroom door. There is a creature of some kind perched on the edge of his bed. But before Gus can process what that creature is, he gets his answer in an explosion of golden flash and suddenly, there's a pair of hands gripping his shoulders and he is nose to nose with the usual wearer of Willow's cocaine shirt.

"How long have you been waiting for me to come home?" Gus asks, not nearly as startled as he should be.

"Doesn't matter" Hunter makes a one handed dismissive gesture, as the other hand is holding a notebook. "I've been thinking about Cosmic Frontier,"

"You've officially gotten my attention," Says Gus with a waggle of finger guns, crossing the room to land on his bed.

"Alright. So!"

Hunter suddenly blips from Gus' doorway to his bedside. He's hurriedly reading aloud.

"O'Bailey met the talented botanist Jun in book 1, chapter 4 and showed the first signs of attraction to her in chapter 12 and vice versa in chapter 15..."

He had successfully lost Gus' attention.

"Uh huh," He says anyway, because he can see Hunter's tiny cramped handwriting coating across every inch of the page. He has clearly put a lot of thought, time and effort into this.

"However!!" Hunter blasts from the bedside to the doorway to the desk to the window to back to the bedside again. When he continues his spiel, Gus is blinking back stars from the assault of bright gold light.

"They don't begin an official romantic relationship until book four and aren't married until book five. Let's talk about why that is. Why all the waiting? Why all these emotions left unspoken? I've written a comprehensive essays on what I believe to be the reasoning behind this and hopefully, we will leave here tonight with a better understanding of their relationship as a whole!! You excited, Gus??"

Hunter is grinning, gripping his notebook beneath his chin. But Gus doesn't miss the way his hands are shaking.

Gus doesn't hesitate.

"Fuck yeah!!" He declares, not really feeling the enthusiasm, but putting enough chutzpah into it that it's got Hunter wagging his nonexistent tail.

Hunter clearly needs this. He needed to write that essay. And now he needs to read it aloud to someone. He needs to channel everything that he's feeling somehow. And if Gus didn't realize how well O'Bailey helps Hunter figure his emotions out, he wouldn't have introduced him to the books in the first place.

Gus lays back against his pillow and half listens to Hunter spit out a 7k word essay.

He was meant to be writing his article on the Russian Sleep Experiment for the Human Enthusiast Magazine that he founded...but well....guess he's doing this instead.

[inkirasity]

Willow

CW!: attempted r*pe, violence, fem! reader

°This took me a while and I am surprised this finished first than the Yasuo fic I was writing. I haven't proofread this so you have been warned!

Kayn had yet to wander around the woods again.

Or any place that has woods really.

He had successfully beaten Rhaast unintentionally but with a cost of loneliness. Talking to the scythe or per se the Darkin was all he had after Zed died and killing Jhin.

This happens whenever he slanders groups or goblins that he finds in his way. Stealing their valuable belongings and selling them to merchants. It's rare for him to take any interest in them, he just wants power—to kill. He would then go to the nearest forest, walk around or take a stop and listen to the whispering sounds of the trees.

He thinks it's much better than silence and denying the fact that he missed Rhaast's Darkin ramblings.

Today was different or so he thought.

He saw a camp with small bandits and thought of a chance to swiftly kill them and steal goods. The unlucky part was that they called reinforcements, almost catching Kayn and leaving wounds around his body as he escaped.

Almost

He thought, it was fine at least. It is better to go home with heavy wounds than to be dead.

Kayn limped to a village, a possible scenario coming in his head: as he limps towards the village, someone would spot him, help him clean and heal his wounds, and with him fully healed he can have the chance to steal—if they resisted he would not give them any chance to live.

Instead of lively markets and kids running around—he found an abandoned village.

"Today is not my lucky day, I see."

Despite the calmness, he wanted to throw a fit and scream. He can't die because of blood loss from a big wound given by a stupid hunk taller than him. He shouldn't be!

Kayn rested his back on the brick wall of an abandoned house and sat. He couldn’t see or hear any noise but the wind passed by his ear as it sang.

The sun was going down, a sunset. Colors of orange-red and the faint yellow slowly disperse as a deep blue color rises into the sky with the glittering stars. Other than listening to the silent melancholy of the forest, Kayn thinks the sight of the night sky is beautiful. He can make out the constellations or even make a new one.

He looked down at his resting body, dried blood and grime. Kayn grimaced when he moved his body to make himself comfortable. He should think of something that could help stop the blood, wrap a cloth around it before he could drop on the sandy floor and slowly die from blood loss.

A soft melody he heard. His ears perked like a cat hearing its prey. Kayn shakily stood up, the scythe as his support. Putting his weight on the brick walls Kayn limps again to follow the sound lingering to his ear.

The moonlight glowed on a tree—a weeping willow tree perhaps. Its leaves softly danced with the wind, the melody becoming louder. There he saw a lone girl, sitting under the tree a lute cradled with her hands.

Kayn stopped and stared at the girl in silence. Eyes would move to the birds flocking around the girl and look back at the girl. He could see her fingers strumming on the strings and her eyes closed as if she is also drowning in her music as Kayn is.

He felt tired. The heaviness on his shoulder didn’t help, his head then started to spin and his vision went blurry.

Pain shot his side, Kayn gasped for air and cupped his hands at the side to grab his scythe. His heart fell when he couldn't feel the familiar weapon. Noticing he was sitting on a bed almost smaller than him and the bandages neatly wrapped around his wounds.

"You're… awake." A soft voice emerged from the door he didn't notice. 

His eyes widened at the person standing at the door, "You… you are that person playing the lute." Kayn internally cringed at the roughness of his voice, he saw the flinch of the girl's body.

An easy target

You placed down the wooden tray beside him and poured tea on his cup and gave it to him, "Drink it, it will regain your strength—or at least help you."

Kayn reluctantly accepted the cup from you. He couldn't trust you immediately, though he is injured and the scythe is nowhere to be found so he is helpless in your hands.

At least he could try befriending you before killing or selling you.

He quickly drank the tea clean and right after Kayn asked your name.

"...I don't tell my name to people like you."

Kayn's fake smile fell, "What?"

"No—I can't tell you my name." You didn't elaborate why and left him alone in the room, leaving the tray beside Kayn.

He tried to stand up and catch up to you but the gash on his torso sent him a painful feeling. Kayn cursed under his breath, the wound had opened and blood started to seep in the pristine bandages. 

Have you ever tried to stitch his wound while he was unconscious? Or were you doing it on purpose knowing who he is.

Nothing to do, Kayn laid down on the bed and stared at the dully looking ceiling, cobwebs in each corner of the room. His eyes squinted, there were drawings on the ceiling from stick man to trees and ugly looking houses. This might have been a child’s room, he wouldn’t know at first because there was nothing in the room other than the dresser and the bed he’s using. 

What are you doing right now? Maybe you found out that he is a wandering assassin and also found his scythe—

He shot from his bed, he winced loudly enough for you to hear.

“What is wrong with you!?” You cried as you ran to the assassin curling in the bed. 

You shoved his arms away from his torso to take a look at his bandages. Horror filled your face. The bandages you wrapped around him in the morning have been soaked by his blood, you lightly touched the bloody part of his torso, red painted your whole palm.

“Ev-everything is blurry.” 

The assassin weakly stretched his hand toward you as you hurriedly took your lute.

“Don’t move.” You said as you prepared your lute. Surprisingly, he followed and slowly lay down on the bed. His eyes never left you.

You closed your eyes and started to strum your lute.

Slowly, Kayn’s eyes were closing and his breathing became calm, but you didn’t stop. The faint green glow from the assassin’s torso brightened as you quickly played the instrument. Your breathing became rigid and your heart quickly ran, you needed to at least close his wound completely, forget the anesthesia later.

When you felt the wound slowly closing you stopped playing and took a deep breath. You never healed a person for awhile, especially this critical. You were taught to heal small scratches and cuts from knives, not in this kind of situation.

You placed the lute beside the bed and opened the dresser to take the bandages. 

Slowly, you removed the soaked bandages with a swift cut after you reached out to pluck a tone out of your lute. You throw the bandage somewhere in the room, you take note to throw it in a proper place later after patching the man’s wounds.

You took your lute and the bloody bandage and left the room.

Bard! That man is dangerous!

“I couldn’t let him lay there bloodied.” 

He is a wandering assassin! Zed’s child!

“You, little bird, should stop snooping around people’s business. Also I don’t know who Zed is and I don’t want to know what he does.”

You shaked off the sparrow and walked outside the house to do the things you usually do. You swing the lute behind you and throw the dirty bandage beside the work table.

Were you injured!?

Bard there is an injured fawn! Help him!

You ignored the question and hastily followed the forest wolf to the woods.

“Ah, stepped on a bear trap.” You winced as you looked at the trap gritting on the fawn’s left leg. The fawn turned its head at you and tried to run but fell. You slowly walked towards the forest animal, careful not to startle it.

“It’s okay, I can help you.” You said with softness in your voice, scared that it would try to run and hurt itself even more. You reached your hand to pet the fawn’s body and it calmed, its head slowly laid on the grass. This was your time to use your lute again.

Thank you for treating my son, bard of healers. Said the mother. You are the only one I trust among the humans.

“There are others that are like me, you don’t see them often.” You said to the mother deer who is laying down in front of you with her children, the fawn you healed is on your lap as you continuously pet his head.

Quite unlucky then. Unlike you, they hunt us and use our heads as trophies, I am glad a person like you exists. A gem.

“Well I exist to help the injured, nothing special about the bard of healers mama doe.”

Hmpf! Nonsense, you do not place traps in the forest.

“Speaking of traps, I will remove them so you and the other families can roam freely.”

You stood up, the mother followed you and her other children. The fawn who laid on your lap ran to his mother.

What do you say to her?

Thank you bard!

“You are most welcome.” You said, putting your green cloak on and its hood over your head.

You waved the family goodbye and started to walk back to the village to get your pack for taking out traps and ropes scattered in the forest.

“I did not know you were strange.”

You froze on your tracks, the crunch of leaves slowly drew near you. It stopped when a hand grabbed your arm and forced you to turn around. Gosh you hate having those eyes stare at you like you were prey. You tried to shake his grip on you but it tightened instead.

“Let go of me.” You gritted between your teeth. How could this man recover so quickly even losing that much blood, you couldn’t imagine the possibilities that this man is immortal.

Your heart dropped when he chuckled, his wicked smile fading when he looked at you.

“Not until you explain what you did to my wound.” 

Kayn aggressively dragged you down the hill, ignoring your trips on rocks here and there. When you two reached the house Kayn’s grip on you let go as he almost threw you on the wall. You gripped on the chair beside you.

“Sit.”

It was risky if you tried to fight him and you were drained from healing two things an hour apart. So you sat, quietly as you stared at his eyes. He stared back at you while he leaned on the door frame, ready to capture you if you tried to escape.

“Obedient. You are smart not to go against me.” Kayn said as he lifted himself from the frame, slowly advancing his way towards you.

“I recommend you not to hurt me.” You spoke, clutching your back to ease the aching pain Kayn had caused. “That will cause you problems.”

Kayn scoffed, leaning down at the level of your face. Your noses an inch close to touching, “Why? A healer isn’t rare around the place, no?”

You bit your lip. Healers… were not rare— not, until slave traders raided the village and took everyone except for you. This person might not know about the abduction years ago or he is insulting you and your people.

“You don’t know what is circling in your veins.”

“My veins?” Kayn’s eyes widened as he stood away from you, his brows then furrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

“Your wound, the big one on your torso is infected. The weapon used might be spelled by venom, if you kill me no one will heal or help you.”

“Why?”

“You’re a wandering assassin.”

You quickly raise your arm and slashed Kayn’s arm with a whip. He quickly dodged but the end of your whip still hit him, earning a slash on his arm. You saw him raising his hand to his back, his face fell when he realized there was nothing hanging on his back.

“Where is it?!” Kayn screamed, his panicked cries caught you off guard. He looks like a child throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t find his toy. You would expect more anger from him, charge at you immediately when he noticed his little toy was taken away from him.

Kayn looked around the empty room, hoping he could find his scythe and kill this girl for threatening him. You rolled your temporary whip and hung it at the back of your waist, walking up to him you looked down meeting his eyes.

“Let me be your companion, then I can heal you.” As you stared at him you pointed the lone cabinet at the other side of the room. Expected, Kayn scrambled up to his feet and ran towards the cabinet and opened it.

Kayn smiled as he raised his scythe as a trophy, “Hah I have you again—” he turned around, “Oh I can not wait to have your blood on my scythe hea—”

You were not in the room. Kayn had realized, his smile becoming sickening knowing that you had run away—scared of the scythe, him. Kayn likes a swift death, a death the victim could not expect but he likes it when people try to run away from him, beg for his mercy—it was his definition of fun . With his grip on the scythe Kayn walked out of the room to chase you down.

Or so he thought.

He saw you, instead of running, was on the floor packing things in your big bag. Kayn stood there, confusion painted on his face, confused why were you not running away—crying for your dear life. You had noticed his gloomy presence behind you as you finished packing your things with a big zip of the bag.

You stood up from the dusty cement and swinged the bag to your back.

“I do not think you have anything with you, we should go.”

"You know I could kill you—"

"But you did not." You said as you whirled around to face the assassin. His messy hair, uneven breathing as he desperately gripped his scythe gave you the hint not to push his buttons. Simply, you turned against him and continued with your business.

Walking to the workshop standing at the back of your house, you gave it a swift brush on the surface and whispered i will miss you and stretched your hand to let the birds rest. Years of using the desk, you finally—maybe buy a new one if the possible journeys with the assassin give you money.

You looked at the empty desk, remembering the memories and the things you made with it.

‘I’m going to have a better one’

Stay with us!

I miss you already!

She is old enough to make her decisions, let her be.

Glancing at the birds on your arm, their bickering and attempts to talk to you made your lips twitch a smile. A yellow bird flew on your shoulder, you can hear its small chirps in order to talk to you.

“Now now,” You laughed, as a hoard of animals surrounded you. “Let’s not be mushy, it will be hard for me to leave.”

“I have not accepted you coming with me, healer.” A hushed voice hissed at you, making your eyes roll and politely made the animal get off you.

Looking at him with a hard gaze, you crossed your arms, “Then you can leave without me,” Your face softened, but your lips pressed in a thin line, “But you are going to die in a few hours or so.”

“What is it?!” Kayn desperately asked, his eyes intensely looked down at your form.

“A venom spell from black magic, only born of healers, could remove that from a human’s body.”

A white barn owl flew past Kayn, hitting his head on purpose and landed on your shoulders. You smiled as you communicated with your feathery friend, as it asked to be your animal companion in your adventures.

Kayn could only stare at you, if he is fully healed by you, later on he will kill you.

Kayn thinks of how he could kill you in a hundred ways while traveling city to city, while you on the other hand are talking to your now new companion. Animals who talk to you don't necessarily need to open their mouth and speak with barks, meows, or chirps—they would look at you and speak in your mind, you don’t know how that is possible but you are determined to figure it out while on your journey with the assassin.

Be careful around him, I can’t be that much of a help—but I will try my best to protect you.

“Do not fret about it, there is a reason I own a work desk for items I use around the forest.”

I trust you, bard. I am your animal companion after all.

The owl broke his gaze from you for a second and turned his neck to you.

He is deep in thought I suppose.

You looked at your back to see Kayn talking to himself, you couldn’t figure out what he was saying, you hoped it wouldn't be the ways on how he could kill you.

“I mean, he is the first man who came here after a few years… of the raid. So he would be a good shot, I can’t wait for another ten years for a person to find this place.” 

I agree, Ishlacan Village is a hidden place.

‘was’  You frowned at your thought of the hidden place of your village being found.

Your owl noticed the change of your expression and flapped his wings to get your attention.

Let us… call the assassin, he might lose his mind.

"You," you called, earning the assassin's attention, "Your name."

He looked at you, both of his eyes going up and down to yoir form as if you were something before replying to you.

"Kayn."

" Kayn? " you narrowed.

He glared, "Kayn."

"Alright, Kayn. I decided to be your traveling companion until I found clues about my people's disappearance, and of course, until the venom is cured and you are fully healed."

"A horrible decision."

"But it benefits us both, is it not?"

He didn't say anything to your commentary, so you think he agreed. He slightly agreed . Walking up to him, you handed a bottle to him—it was runny and clear like water, but it was sparkling.

"What is that?" Kayn eyed the bottle like a picky kid, his eyes looking at you and to the bottle.

"Medicine for the venom in you— I do brews with my magic, it is convenient when I can't use my magic." you replied, crossing your arms after Kayn reluctantly accepted your medicine.

"Does it fully heal?"

"No,"

Somehow you think you saw Kayn's ears flop like a sad wolf for a minute before you continued.

"I have them packed with me so do not worry. You drink once a day—when emergencies then you will drink extra."

What happens when the emergency comes with no medicine of yours, bard?

'Then we have no one to guard us.'

"Does this actually work?"

"Obviously,—are you doubting my magic?"

"This is brewed—"

"By my magic, I made it so we won't be stopping minute by minute to unwrap your bandage and heal you directly inside the deep forest."

"You get tired by using your magic?"

"Like all people who wield magic, it drains us like how people fight using their energy."

He looked at you before drinking the whole bottle, wiping his mouth clean with the back of his palm. You reached your hand to him, he stared at it before realizing that you needed the bottle back. 

The bottle now stashed in your bag, you whispered to your owl before he flew away.

“Where is it going?” Kayn looked up at the sky trying to look for your animal companion.

“Tyto is scouting for anything unusal.”

The walk was silent, you were actually nervous as you disabled the traps you see. Kayn could kill you here and there in the deep woods, after all that is what an assassin does, excecute you in times you don’t excpect, or in the dark—but fortunately he was just there following you, the crunch of the dead leaves against his boots audible to your ears.

It was a bad idea to have him follow you at the back, but you know Tyto is looking down at you—ready to call for assistance from the animals living in the forest.

After you disabled a trap, you heard Kayn clear his throat.

“What?” You said, not looking at him but looking for the traps you could find.

“What happened to your people?” He asked. It made you stop. You never get that question very often, not only there were no people stumbling on your abandoned village but the animals you talked to had witnessed it.

“Gone. Kidnapped by raiders.” You continued on your way.

It was silent. You sighed.

“You want a story time? Sure.”

You took a stick and used it to poke the ground.

“My ancestors were mages, but a few hundred years ago we were seperated in groups by what magic we could do. I was born with the hands of a healer, we are named Ishlacan—we often have special abilities when we reach the age of six. And I, can speak and understand animal language.” You raised your sleeve and showed your inner wrist to the assassin, a green tattoo of the caduceus to distinguish your people from others and to be a proud healer.

You lowered the sleeve to your hand where it couldn’t be seen, “ I remember it was daylight when it happened, children my age are running around with me near the fountain waving their hands to boast their newly formed magic. We would laugh and run away from their scolding mothers telling us not to play the magic blessed to us.”

Your grip on the stick tightened, “There was a scream, then before I knew it the raiders found our village. Taking children, women, and even men—the ones who go against them were knocked conscious or beaten into submission.”

Both you and Kayn immediately looked up after a familiar screech. Tyto flew to your shoulders.

A marketplace up ahead, there are swarms of people.

“What did it say?”

“A marketplace,” You placed your hood up and looked at Kayn, “Are you coming?”

“No,” Kayn replied, his brows knitted as if you said something wrong, “I prefer in the shadows.”

You handed out your hand to him. Kayn looked at it questionably.

“Give me your coins, I know you have them.”

He deadpanned at you, shoving his hands in his pockets and aggressively handed you a handful of coins—some fell on the ground but you didn’t bother to crouch down and take them.

“This will do,” You turned away from Kayn and faced your owl. “Stay here, we won’t want people to look at us.”

Will do.

You then walked towards the marketplace Tyto directed you before going back to the forest by your command. You never did look back, thinking there would be people alreadly looking at you, so you walked with the swarm of buyers in the marketplace.

There were nothing but meat and skinned animals hanging on each stall. You scruched your nose and immediately walked to another place where no stink of dead meat invaded your nose.

The crowd never died, some people still pushed you here and there though you do not mind. Around you were filled with vegetables and fruits, some sell spices and sweets in the corner. 

Now this is what you want.

You wanted a healthy dinner later, especially for Kayn—he was healing after all and needed the energy for his athletically fit body, so it is possible he needed big portions and healthy food. This was never your first time cooking for someone (who is human), your grandparents would teach you how to cook the basics—what is good and what is to avoid eating. You would get compliments as a kid, the people telling you that you indeed have the hands of a healer even without magic.

With those ego boosting words, you’re hoping you still have it to this day.

In a flash, you stood at the front of the vegetable stalls. The greens are freshly laid on the wooden crates on display for you to choose. After picking the ones that passed your “who is the best” test, you hand them to the trader with the coins Kayn has given to you.

Thanking the old man, you proceeded to the next stall which was filled with oranges. You could feel the freshness of the oranges by just a touch.

“They were freshly picked just this morning.” the merchant said, moving a crate full of oranges.

This would be good for his skin while he heals.

When you didn’t respond to the merchant, he eyed you up and down. You were… ordinary, like those people who are obsessed with hiding their faces or cloth themselves head to toe. As you reached for another orange his eyes squinted at your wrist, something green popping out from your sleeve. His eyes widened, just to be sure the shopkeeper reached his hand to yours while you were busy looking for the perfect orange to feed to Kayn.

“I will buy five of these—” 

You gasped when a body collided onto yours, hands a snake— it slithered around your waist with lips near your ears for you to hear the whisper.

“Play along,” whispered by a familiar voice. “I was looking for you and here you are standing in front of a stall that sells… oranges.”

The man was hooded like you, but you knew that voice—spiteful and hushed. Right now he sounded like he was trying hard to be enlightened by finding you standing in an orange stall. You could feel his firm hand grip your waist tightly, he wanted you to respond.

“O-Oh, I was looking for fruits for us to eat at home.” you half-truthfully said.

“Then I will pay for it, you already paid enough let me do it for you.” 

With a swift you and Kayn are already outside the marketplace with five oranges in your bag. Kayn removed his hood and stood in your way, his amber eyes angrily stares you down.

“You almost got caught. ” he said with gritted teeth.

“What do you mean by that,” you looked at yourself, there was nothing visible even your hair. “I have myself perfectly covered.”

You gasped when he took your hand, showing your tattoo peeking out of your sleeve. When you get a good look he lets go of your wrist.

“I saw the orange merchant reaching out to your wrist, he saw your tattoo.” Kayn angrily said, his eyes looking around if there is someone lurking at the both of you. He sets his gaze on you as he reaches the hood to place it on his head.

“We need to stay low, stay in the forest.”

“What? That is dangerous!” you resisted.

Staying in the forest for the night was the least you wanted. Sure you talk to animals and you live near a forest but that doesn’t ease you anyhow. Even when you can talk to animals, some you can’t persuade.

“It would be more dangerous when we go straight to a city, they can easily spot us,” he turned around. “After all there are a dozen or more of them in the city.” 

“But—”

“If you want me to be with you,” Kayn bent in front of you, his eyes directly staring into yours, almost making a hole. “You listen to me.”

‘How atrocious!’

You could only curse in your mind before stomping to follow Kayn into the woods. Tyto flew back on your shoulders, his wings flapped gently before settling down to rest on you.

What did he say?

‘We are staying in the woods for the night.’

Hm, I can rest on branches how much I would like then.

‘Please not also you’

I could not help myself, sorry in advance.

The walk to the woods was silent, only Tyto’s fluttering wings were heard whenever he flew back to you after surveying the area. Other than that there was nothing but you and Kayn’s light footsteps.

“Do you have at least a blanket to lay on?” you asked him when he found a good spot to stay in for the night.

“No,” he said. “I don’t need one.”

Your lips pressed into a thin line. How can this man be comfortable resting in this forest? You could only sigh and place your bag down and take out the things you needed for the night: a blanket, a small pot, and a knife.

Here are some sticks, bard.

Tyto laid a few sticks in front of you. Thanking the owl, you started to make a bonfire.

Kayn stared at you before walking to another direction. His scythe in hand.

"I will look for more." he said before disappearing into the shadows.

Sighing, you rested your shoulders and took the food you bought from the marketplace. Luckily you had the small wood for you to cut the ingrefirents and poured the water from your waterskin into the pot and lit the bonfire.

While waiting for the water to boil. Would you play music, bard?

"If you say so.”

With a swing from your hand, music played out in your lute. Humming in the tune your grandparents taught you when you were a child. It was a song mostly played in your village, a classic, like by old people to children, maybe it is because it was one of your people’s traditions.

“It’s late to play music,” in a swift Kayn appeared from the shadows, startling you. He noticed you immediately putting away your lute and grabbed a stick to poke it to the fire.

Putting the scrapes of wood he collected, Kayn sat down across you with his eyes staring down on the cooking pot with eagerness.

You knew he was hungry, so you took a cup and poured the soup in it with a spoon and handed it to Kayn. He thankfully accepted it with his right hand, amber eyes now bore at you.

"You have been doing this for…?"

"Almost ten years."

Kayn hummed in reply. Softly blowing the hot soup served to him. You told him more about your people while both of you were eating dinner, he would ask things like what your village’s customs were and so on. Thankfully he didn’t ask anything about you. Like you have something to say about it anyways.

“Your tattoos, are they part of your clan?” you asked, gazing over Kayn’s bare body. You never pay attention to human features even when you patched Kayn while he was unconscious. You were too busy trying to save his life.

“No, they are not—though I was a part of an Order.”

You raised your brow, “Order?”

"Order of Shadows, it was run by my old master, Zed, but later on he was killed by the Golden Demon we were trying to catch. After my master's death, I searched for the Golden Demon high and low until I found him and killed him myself."

Zed

You remembered a bird mentioning that name to you. With curiosity you asked Kayn about the order, what happened after his master died, why is he wandering instead of becoming the new master?

He looked at you for a moment, disbelief painted on his face. Are you not scared that you asked too many questions about him and his order? You should be, yet you are here sitting across him, eager to hear his story like a child.

Kayn shifted on the lumpy ground, then told you the story and even answered your questions. He was there, Kayn’s eyes not leaving Zed’s bleeding body. There were no words exchanged between them, only silence and the shifting of brushes from the escaping Golden Demon. He gave his master a proper burial, the Order in chaos, of course, knowing that their master had been killed by the Golden Demon himself after they faced each other. 

At some point in his life he wanted to be the master and surpass Zed. But all he is after right now is the Golden Demon, Jhin. Not so long he met the demon, but before he could strike him down something has taken control of him and woke up to a dead Jhin a few steps away from him, brutally stricken down by the scythe multiple times.

“Does that explain your appearance right now?” you asked.

“It… doesn’t, I shouldn’t be like this or be even the Kayn you know right now.”

You gave him a confused glance, he could only shrug at you.

“So the whole thing taking you over was supposed to be permanent?” you shifted, more eager to know about him now, “Did you bargain with the Devil?”

Kayn gave you a look, “No,” he turned away, “It’s late and we should rest for tomorrow’s energy.”

You groaned, “Tell me about it?”

“No, what I said tonight is enough. Ask another day.

Kayn grunts as he lays on the tree trunk, his scythe beside him. You looked at him before turning to your bag to shuffle at something, throwing an old sleeping bag in his way, he caught it with his hands. He raised his eyebrow and glanced at your way but you were already laid on the sleeping bag with your blanket, your back facing him.

His face softened, unfolding the sleeping bag and laid on it, not engulfing himself inside the fabric knowing that there are still dangers lurking in the woods.

☤

“Kayn,” you said, poking Kayn’s shoulders.

He slowly opened his eyes as he adjusted from the rising sun’s light. You sat besides his resting body, a vial in your hands. After he saw the vial, he rose up looking at you expectantly.

“Drink this, then remove your bandages after I’ll try to heal it faster.” you said, turning around to stir the pot after Kayn took the vial from you.

He removed the cork and drank the contents of the glass then started removing the bandage around his torso. Kayn waited for you, looking at your form, your arms moving from putting food into the bowl.

Turning around you handed him his serving and took your lute.

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked.

You only nodded, not having the energy to talk.

You hummed, slowly but steadily strum the strings of the lute. Your hands began to glow faint green so does Kayn’s bruised torso. He could only stare at you, the bowl you gave him was untouched because of how mesmerized he was while you were healing his wound.

With the last strum you sighed, plopping yourself on the ground.

“The venom should be gone by the next few hours, you might get your strength back soon,” you breathlessly said, “Tyto found a nearby city, I think we should hit up there, he said there is a library. I should not miss it.”

You looked at him, he did not notice until now how tired you are, sweating like it was a hot summer day even though it was just morning and the day’s winds are cold and breezy.

“Did you sleep last night?” he asked, putting the bowl down.

“Yes.”

“Properly?”

“Uh… somehow.”

Kayn stood from the sleeping bag, took his cloak and grabbed your bag.

“H-Hey!” you shouted, wanting to stand up but exhaust washed over you, “At least take a sip of the soup I made? It’s not good to drink a magical medicine and leave it with an empty stomach.”

He looked at you before snatching the bowl and took a big gulp, finishing it an instant.

“We should go to the city and find an inn, I don’t trust you having a ‘proper’ rest, you could not even stand up by yourself.”

Your face turned red, suddenly you feel hot, though you did not try to stand up on your feet. You are tired. Kayn sighs, walking up to you and outstretched his hand for you to reach out. He helped you to your feet and placed the cloak over your shoulders and fastened it above your chest.

“Wait here, I’ll pack up the rest.” he said, putting your bag down and taking the things from the camp and stuffed them into your bag.

Kayn stopped, “Did you eat?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why did you look tired then?”

You sighed, “I put all of my effort removing the venom, thus I am tired. You see two big bowls there?” Kayn looked at where you were pointing at, “That’s how big I ate before I healed you. I did have a proper rest.”

“Good then,” Kayn stood, your bag on his shoulder, “Where is your owl.”

You two stared up at the sky when Tyto screeched, earning your attention. Kayn looked at you and began to walk by your side, following Tyto who is leading you to the nearest city.

The city is bustling with merchants and shops. Children screaming and running around the streets with laughter passed by you and Kayn. The assassin stuck by your side, as if he is going to lose you to the noisy crowd. Tyto was nowhere to be seen but you can feel his sharp gaze on you.

“There,” Kayn pointed, “An inn.”

He pushed through the crowd, you still by his side as the both of you walk towards the inn. With a shut of the door the noise was muffled by the wooden door and was replaced by soft clinks of glass and someone playing the drum followed by soft chatters and laughter.

“We would like to rent a room,”

“Twenty for two, sir,”

“One is enough."

Kayn placed ten coins on the shopkeeper’s counter. You gave a look at Kayn, he was not looking at you but to the shopkeeper who walked out of her counter and led the way to the room.

“Here’s your room,” she said, “Though I recommend not to be loud, especially at night, I don’t want angry customers drumming on my counter. Call me when you need anything.”

Before you could explain that she misunderstood the shopkeeper had already left and Kayn closed the door. He placed the bag on the floor and removed his cloak to reveal his bare body. You looked away before he could even catch you staring at him, walking towards the bed to sit.

“Go and rest, I’ll go outside to scout anything unusual.” Kayn said, putting his scythe behind him.

“What about you?”

“I slept and felt better than ever thanks to you,” he stopped, “You should really rest.”

After hearing an  ‘okay’ from you Kayn left the room. He walked down the stairs and opened the inn’s door and stepped outside, hearing the clamorous place again. He leaned back on the wall, observing the city street. Normal he thought and very noisy . Kayn could only shake his head, if he wanted to settle down, the city would not be his fit with all of the noise coming from people and the wagon’s noise.

“Hi mister!”

Kayn looked down to see a child, about the age of six, he had a stick in his mouth and his other hand holding something, a candy.

“You look lonely,”

He gets that commentary often, he did not mind. After all, he is destined to be lonely after Zed’s death and Rhaast’s mysterious disappearance. You being his companion will be temporary, knowing after you found your people you will leave too.

“Here,” the kid stretched out his little arm, holding out the candy to him, “To keep you happy.”

Kayn took the candy from the kid, saying thank you after. The kid waved him goodbye and left. He looked at the thing, hard and somehow translucent when it’s color red.

He put the candy in his pocket and stood there for a while, until frantic claws found its way to Kayn’s bare shoulder.

“Wha—”

He turned around to see Tyto flapping his wings aggressively, small screeches coming out from his beak. Kayn can’t figure out what the owl was saying, he doesn’t have your magic to understand and talk to animals, he could only see an owl trying to scream at him.

Tyto, forgetting that Kayn can’t understand him flew over the inn’s door, pecking it frantic like something is—

“Fuck!”

Kayn opened the door, entering the inn, Tyto following him. He hurriedly took the stairs, almost tripping on one of them. Opening the door, he found you on the bed, a buff man’s arm around your neck and a mage’s hand beside your head, visible electricity running on the mage’s hands. He looked at you, your face terrified as you gripped on the muscular arm. You mouthed no at Kayn when he reached for his scythe.

“An inn,” said someone. “Not likely to be used by an assassin I’m afraid.” They came out from the shadows—no it’s not him, looking at his light armor and an obvious mark on the shoulder pads of his armor says that he is a raid leader.

He could be the one who took all your people or maybe another person. He has white hair, a bald spot on top of his head, face covered with freckles and  wrinkles.

Too old

Kayn reached out for his scythe, only for the arm around you to tighten—threatening to break your neck. Kayn lowered his hand and the arms loosened around you, giving you time to breathe.

“You will get your dearest here with her severed head if you try to take a hold of your… weapon there.” the old man said as he eyed Kayn's scythe.

Kayn gritted his teeth, not knowing what to do when you are held hostage.

“Put your weapon down, slowly, kick it towards the guy in the cloak.” the man nudged his head to the left. Kayn had no choice but to slowly put his weapon down on the floor and aggressively kicked it to the person in the cloak.

The man chuckled at Kayn’s attitude, a biter, he thought.

“Zubair is my name,” said him, “and you are?”

“Is it necessary for you to know?”

“Yes, your information is helpful when it comes to shipping you out. Less work.”

“What do you want?”

“Not telling me your name?” Zubair scoffed, “Zap the healer to dea—”

“KAYN!” he screamed, earning Zubair’s attention, “Kayn is my name.”

Zubair smiled grimly, “Kayn, I see, what a beautiful name.”

“Are you going to hurt her?”

“If you do what I tell you, then she will be safe as a pet living in luxury.” Zubair turned around to face you, gripping your chin for you to face him, “It is a waste to kill off a rare breed of a descendant of ancient mages. A pretty face too.”

You winced when Zubair flicked your face to the side. You are scared, you don’t know what to do now that Kayn is unarmed and open. You don’t even know destruction magic, healing magic and healing magic only. Tears started to swell up but you tried to stop them, not wanting any of these men see your weakness, or even Kayn.

“Anyways, sack their heads, tie up Kayn and don’t let a single scratch leave on the healer. We are going now.”

Darkness engulfed your vision, the constant shuffling of cloth and metal was heard. No noise, not even from Kayn, everything is quiet. You let out a gasp when unfamiliar arms wrapped around the back of your knees and brought you up on someone’s shoulder.

With a few steps, you were placed on something wooden, and suddenly something—or someone was thrown besides you.

“Bastard.” you heard Kayn’s whisper.

“Kayn,” you called out to him with a shaky breath, “Where will they take us?”

“I don’t know.”

“Kayn, I’m scared.”

“I know,” he softly said, “I’m here, I won’t leave.”

Kayn shifted towards you, bumping his knee against yours as an attempt to calm you down. There was this warm feeling inside your chest, you could not figure out what it is, though that is the least of your problems and you two are facing a big one. What matters right now is Kayn at your side. You leaned your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes, hoping that sooner this will end.

You were woken up by a demanding voice booming in front of you. Kayn is forcefully dragged away from you, your face dropping on the wooden floor. You winced at the pain stinging on your cheek, before you could recover a hand grabbed your arm and dragged you down the wagon (or what you thought they used).

“Kayn?” you said in worry, not knowing where he is because of the sack still covering your vision.

“I’m here,” you heard his faint reply. To your demise he is far away from you he won’t be at your side as you are to be surrounded by unknown strangers.

“Walk.” a deep voice commanded you.

You did, following where the person is leading you. They stopped, their hands still tightly holding your arms, you heard a door opening and you were led again. You were forced down to sit on a soft chair, the sack removed from your head.

You were in a room, a bedroom to be specific. It is not big nor is it small, a normal room that can be used by one person. The color of dark red painted most of the room, even the sheets of the bed are dark red silk. Brown dresser beside the door and a vanity from the corner of the room where the bed is, and the floors are completely covered with velvet carpet.

“Am I supposed to be in jail?” you asked the large man leaning on the door frame.

He shaked his head, somehow he looked like you are not supposed to be here. Or somewhere worse.

“To women like you captured by Zubair, this IS prison.”

Your heart dropped, “What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t think he will care talking about him,” the man sighed,

“Zubair is a raid leader, he also takes the people he raided as slaves, some were sold off to rich people.”

“Am I going to be sold off?”

“No.”

Your heart lightened.

“What will happen to me?"

“Something not good.”

The door opened, revealing Zubair. He walked inside the room with women scarcely any clothing covering them followed behind him. Zubair stood in front of you but kept distance as the women surrounded you like pigeons flocking on little pieces of bread. They swarmed you, touching you with no permission. Gaze at your skin, your face complimenting how perfect they are, and even look at the whole of your body judgingly.

A clap stopped the women from touching you further, when Zubair flicked his wrists the women who surrounded you were out in a flash. It was only you and Zubair in the room, the bodyguard you talked to earlier was long gone, maybe was told off by Zubair when the women looked over you.

“What do you want?” you spoke, hard even you know you are scared of what will happen to you.

Zubair smiled, he stayed put, no intentions to go near you or touch you.

“Oh it’s nice to see an Ishlac again.”

Again

You felt anger bubbling inside you, “You were there—it was you.”

“Surprising isn’t it?”

“What did you do to them?” you kept yourself intact, even if you tried to attack this man your fate won’t end well.

Zubair only shrugged, “I don’t know exactly, they could be everywhere—slaves— dead .”

“What did my people even do to you?”

“Nothing really, it is my line of work. No grudges, nothing personal, just about work.”

“Selling people? Hurt them? Put them as slaves? What are you trying to achieve here?”

“None of your business.”

He walked to the door before he could go outside, Zubair looked back, his smirk not leaving his wrinkly face.

“Oh, to inform you Kayn will be shipped out tomorrow. Though I don’t give goodbyes to my employees.”

You sat on the stool, Ravika, a woman you met who is nice, paced from the vanity to you as she was doing your makeup. You shifted on your seat, uncomfortable in the clothes provided to you by Zubair himself. It was disgusting, there was barely any cloth covering you, only shining rocks hung around your skin.

“You’ll get used to it,” Ravika said after seeing your discomfort with the dress, “There, it’s finished I’ll lead you to the sofa room where he is.”

After she placed jewelry from top to your ankles, she led you to where Zubair was waiting. The gold and diamonds you wore tinkle every step you take, eyes are on you as Ravika assisted you to the sofa room.

“Ah, Kalos,” Zubair greeted. He sat on the biggest couch you’ve ever seen, you could even sleep there if you want to.

Ravika patted you on the shoulder, you gave her a nod and she walked away. This man for sure loves the color velvet, every furniture and things were in color of velvet and gold. But mostly velvet.

“Come, sit, here.” he pointed beside him.

No

With no choice, you obeyed, walking up to him and sat.

Please

Uncomfortable, you could only think, your attention was caught by something in front of you. It was the nightclub, neon colors filled the dim room, you tried to find Ravika only to see her serving drink for those filthy men.

“What do you want from me exactly?” you asked, so boldly.

Zubair raised an eyebrow, but answered your question nonetheless, “You are the only one left of your people, you are deemed to be a big-ticket.”

He is telling you you are worth something so much that he wants to flaunt how rich he is and how horrible of a person he is. You could only stay in silence, not wanting to have a conversation with Zubair no more. Your worries lay more on Kayn, you don’t know where he is or what they could be doing to him. You need to find a way.

As Zubair minds his own business looking over the nightclub you look around the room. Everything is decorated with expensive things, even throphy animals were hung on the wall. How cruel . You saw a jug of water placed on a glass tray with golden cups surrounding it, it was beside a metal pot. There were no guards inside or even outside the room, you know since the room has a doorway, the outside is empty.

“Say, should I pour you a drink?” you ushered, hoping that he will say yes.

He looked at you and raised an eyebrow at your action, you could only shrug at him, “Isn’t it more flashy if the last of the Ishlac is serving you?”

He smirked at your statement, “Smart, go on, I could use a drink for myself.”

You stood up from your seat, walking up to the metal pot, looking behind you making sure he was watching the nightclub. To be less suspicious you used the jar and poured wine on the cup, putting it down and reaching for the pot.

Slowly, you walked towards him, the metal in hand.

“Why are you taking a while to pou—”

Before he could fully turn around you, you smashed the pot on his head giving him a good night’s sleep. You grabbed his collar before he could fall on the floor and slowly laid him on the sofa, you placed the metal pot on the floor. Looking at his body, you turned around and ran for the doorway only to be stopped by a large figure. Your heart dropped, looking up to see the man you saw in your room earlier looking down at you.

“I—I—”

“Turn three lefts and the fifth right, you can see the dungeon where your pretty boy is.” he said, “Go, before he wakes up.”

He steped aside for you to walk out, you looked at him, shock still plastered on your face. You could only whisper a thank you and rush out of the room, not looking back.

You followed the man’s directions given to you, after entering the fifth right, dark metal gates loomed. It was open, you took a peek looking left and right if there was someone inside. You entered, trying to find the cell where Kayn is.

“Kayn?” you whispered.

“Kayn?” you said. Louder this time.

“Healer?”

You ran to the voice that seemingly called you, you never told your name to him. Grabbing on the metal bars you saw Kayn walking up to you, his face inches away from yours, the bars keeping you from him.

“I—I don’t know where the keys are.”

“No need for keys,” he still has his eyes on you, scared that you might disappear, “Take the scythe and give it to me.”

You looked at where he pointed, the scythe was laid on the brick wall, besides it was your lute. With haste, you ran to the scythe and took it. Before you could take another step towards Kayn’s cell, your hair was immediately pulled making you scream in pain, letting go of the scythe having it fall and slide on the floor, you tried to grab the hand gripping your hair.

“You dare to smash a metal pot on my head?” Zubair whispered to your ear, “You will regret that.”

You were thrown on the cold floor, knocking off your flute in the process.

He saw the lute, he smirked and took it, smashing it on the wall, green smoke emmits from the lute then it disappeared. Leaving only a dull broken lute.  You could only look at the broken lute in horror, all those wood from your village, the handicraft made by both of your grandparents. Gone.

Zubair loomed over you, his hand wrapped around your neck, choking you. You tried to gasp for air as you squeezed on Zubair’s hand. His other hand started to take a hold of your clothes, you panicked, you tried to wriggle while his hand was around your neck.

You choked a cry, Zubair smiled, “You look beautiful this way.”

Disgusting

You closed your eyes and screamed, “Kayn!”

Then it was silence, the hands prying on you were gone, you heard a thump followed by a warm liquid pooling around your feet.

“Don’t open your eyes, stay here.” said Kayn, you followed what he said, in fear of what you see in front of you after you heard a loud thud earlier.

Everything was silent, though you could hear muffled thuds through the walls of the dungeon. You still have your eyes closed, followed by heavy breathing from you, you heard footsteps. It stopped when it found itself in front of you. You felt a cloth placed on your shoulders, keeping you from the cold and giving you warmth. Arms found itself around you to help you stand on your feet, you felt the warm ooze on your sole. You decided to ingore it and followed the arms that are guiding you.

“We are safe now.” Kayn whispered into your ear, “Don’t open them yet.”

You only nodded, finally knowing that you are now safe in the assassin’s arms.

“Steady your stance,” Kayn said, “Swing it towards me.”

You swung the dagger to Kayn, he easily dodges it.

“Not fair, I don’t have your skill.”

“That is why we are doing this,” he positioned himself, you could only groan in frustration.

After the incident and knowing what happened to your people, you and Kayn ventured around taking small quests or even participating in Kayn’s work and meaning by his work means him killing bandits, stealing their things and selling them. You were willing to help him, not knowing what it is, and when you knew you promised to yourself you won’t be helping him anytime soon.

He asked you what you will do now that most of your people are gone or scattered around the world. It is almost impossible for you to find them, you just told him you will be his company from now on. He was silent, of course, since you knew in your first meeting with him he was not willing to take you as his temporary company until you found out what happened to your people. You told him it’s fine if he doesn’t want you—though he cuts you off, telling you he likes your company.

Then here you are, getting trained by the assassin Kayn.

“Okay, time out, that was tiring.”

“I’ll be cooking this time then.” Kayn said, walking to your camp, leaving you in the temporary training grounds you use.

“Well at least your cooking is getting better, so go on.” you smiled, placing your dagger down on the stump and followed Kayn.

You sat on the ground, looking up at the sky. Night will soon take over.

“Hey,” you called out.

“Yeah?” Kayn replied.

“Come look at this.” your eyes never left the turning sky, colors of orange-red disperse as the darkest blue took over with glittering stars in the sky.

You heard a soft thump beside you, Kayn sat close to you.

“Beautiful,” Kayn smiled, “Reminded me of a senario that happened a few months ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the same sky, same time where I first saw you in your village, playing the lute under the willow tree.” He looked at you with such intensity in his eyes, too close to each other, you were liking it. “Such a melody caught me almost in trance, before I fell.”

His face was an inch away from yours, “Hey I—”

You kissed him on the cheek, cutting him off guard. You could only look at him and smile.

“Kayn you’re too obvious, even Tyto noticed it too.” you laughed, a screech from Tyto you both heard.

“Dang bird, did he tell you?”

You nodded, he smiled.

“Well my intentions have been exposed,” he held your hand, “Then?”

“I have nowhere to go, my people are gone, some are around the world far away from me to which it is impossible to find them. You accepted me as your companion with your adventures… and as your look out when you do your assassination work. I think this is obvious too, Kayn.” you said, giving his hand a squeeze.

“More than that actually, as my—uh—parnter?”

“Of course, aren’t we already?”

“Oh,”

You could only laugh, you felt his shoulders shake, trying to prevent himself from laughing.

“Do you love me then?”

“Depends.”

“...”

“...I do.”

You smiled, placing your head on Kayn’s shoulders as you two both lay on the soft grass while looking at the starry night. Bodies cuddled together for warmth from the cold night. You liked this, no doubt Kayn too. You hoped this would last forever, forever in his arms.

[shroudkeeper]

09. prompt / fair

An evening such as this makes me ponder if the heavens could hear the very pounding of my heart as it rejoices that I am chanced with another meeting with you, m'lady. Under starlight, and the tapestry of the night that offers us shelter, I come to you as I have mentioned in my last missive, for I will take leave soon and wish to see you.. one last time.

I know, I said I didn't want to say goodbye anymore, but this will be the last time, a temporary departure in order to fulfill a promise I made to you.

❝ She is not here.❞

Any elation I felt was depleted by the voice that echoed across from underneath the sway of the trees we admire in our solitude. There, among the statues where we once stood, under the sway of whispering willows, I found no evidence of you.

Instead, moonlight graced the scowl upon your father's features, and at his side, the hound we saved, one that was said to deliver my messages to you. Words suddenly failed me, turning to ash as I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could gather courage to say a word, his voice pierced into the space between us. I could not help but let my eyes wander to where his hand was resting.

He was armed.

❝ You must think me a fool, Mister Fitzgerald, and here I believed you would respect my wishes. Kami forfend that I believed you would listen. ❞

I could hear each breath escape me, ragged and shallow, as my eyes fell to the blade he wore. I knew well what he was capable of, what he may do to me, yet he did not brandish steel, rather made sure with his posture that I knew well of my place.

And I did not mean to question it.

My approach is a careful one, taken with languid steps forward and arms extended in his direction so he may see that I was unarmed and bore no ill intent.

"I have not done anything to sully her good name, I just --"

I couldn't finish my sentence, this ongoing, quiet rage within him, had grown and spread not an inferno, and from him came the flames of his rancor as the thunderous sound of his voice cemented my feet to the gravel path leading to him.

❝ Silence!

I told you to proceed with caution. You chose to disregard these words, throw caution to the winds and continue to defy me. I am aware of what takes place under my roof, and trust me when I say this: I humored this long enough, your fantasy of being with her ends here. ❞

His hand finally left the weapon at his hip to motion towards the dog at his side, the small courier who carried my confessions, my haiku, all of my planning, to you. It had been a well-crafted secret, but secrets had ways of being discovered.

How much had her father known? How long had he been aware?

"For that deceit, I will forever apologize profusely if you ask this of me. But, I won't apologize for what I feel for her, what I would do for her. That is something I will refuse to do." I couldn't stop myself as the emotions were roused within me.

Something inside me became undone, the seams that held these emotions back were ripped free. I had never spoken these words to another soul, but you know what I hold in my heart for you is true, and now, everyone else will know of it.

I am tired of denying myself. Of lying. Of hiding.

❝ Then do so in silence and leave her be. This is no request I make like before, a betrothed woman should be respected. For once, be an honorable person. ❞

And then something else broke inside me.

My own heart was delivered a severe blow, he may as well assailed me with his katana.

"..What? What do you mean.. --"

I am not sure what possessed me, what drove my legs to move forward when all I desired was the gravel to give out underneath me, but I marched to him and fell to my knees. The flurry of emotions crashed around me within an instant; suddenly, the beautiful hydrangeas lost their radiance and perfume, and the stars that I loved to share with you were extinguished one by one.

I wanted to call him a liar, but this was no deceit, those smoky greys gave an intense glare that spoke volumes of this truth. He nearly defeated me with this look, and perhaps this was his purpose, to shock me with this revelation. And he almost did, but I couldn't, I wouldn't simply let you go.

I have come this far. I have loved you this long in the shadows. I told you I would bear this with you.

And I will. I will earn a chance to walk side by side with you, under the sun.

❝ Go. Leave and forget her, so she could begin to forget you.❞

He shook me out of my reverie, but I needed an answer out of him, and when I spoke it, I saw something within his gaze shift into something morose even if his jaw had tightened and formed a severe contour.

"Does she know?"

❝ The personal ongoings of our clan is no concern to a foreigner, we have a business relationship, you are just the contact we have with the East Aldenard Trading Company, nothing more. ❞

And the truth was there, sewn between his words.

"How is that even fair to her!" I couldn't contain my resentment and felt my body tremble; I was not exclusively angry at the position I am in, but for you.

You ..who were unaware of it all.

❝ You want to speak of fairness, Mister Fitzgerald? You, who has manipulated her already for personal gain, who considered putting profit before her feelings? You whom she would risk all for and has to protect? Yet you could not muster the courage to do the same. ❞

I assumed there would be backlash to my question, that I was to be met with more waves of his ire. Yet the tone he used carries something far more somber than what one would expect.

❝ Assuming you never had children, then you would not know the overwhelming pain of seeing one pass, it is devastating. No parent should bury their child, they should be kept safe. I have failed at this before. I shall not repeat the same mistake again.

What is fair.. is giving someone I love dearly a chance to live. I am old now, and though I am proficient in swordsmanship, my body will eventually betray me. I need to have someone who will protect the one who protects others. But most importantly, to protect the other half of my heart from meeting an untimely demise.

How could I trust that task unto you, who has not shown me --❞

"I love her!" The words stumbled out of me that my head spun and my heart became naught but a deafening sound in my head. His lips gave part, and he may have spoken something, but I couldn't hear it. All I wanted was my bleeding heart to be seen, for once.

I love you. I love you.

I want to say these words to you without fear.

"I love her more than I could conceivably put into those letters you've read, more than I can proclaim to you right now! I know what she means to you, but understand that I would never wish to be a burden to her. What I feel is authentic, and for the months we have spent together, it has only made these feelings grow.

We both love her.."

His face softened then. He is your father after all, and despite how selfish we are as mortals, even I could understand what he must be feeling. He wants to protect you, to keep the flower of his clan from wilting, he wants to see you bloom in this cultivated garden.

❝ Mister Fitzgerald, I have made my choice.❞ I could hear the gravel shift underneath his footsteps, he meant to depart, but this was not to end this way, I will not allow it.

"..Give me a chance, just one I ask." He paused and I watched him take a deep breath before motioning for me to continue with a nod.

"I am willing to find a rare treasure, said to be in the Ruby Sea, that will grant her a voice, even if it is for a sun or a few bells. I want to give her an opportunity to tell you how much she loves you."

Perhaps me, too.

He did not disagree, and I took it as a positive sign that he would allow me this one chance to be a proper suitor.

And I do not mean to fail him, or you.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Watching and Dreaming Liveblog

The last that ever she saw him Carried away by a moonlight shadow He passed on worried and warning Carried away by a moonlight shadow Lost in a riddle that Saturday night Faraway on the other side He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight And she couldn’t find how to push through

And thus we arrive at the finale, the very last of this amazing show, a show that I have had the pleasure of sharing my journey through with you, my dear readers.

…even if progress hasn't been very quick, not constant. I could write a few paragraphs talking about how hyped I am and maybe lay out some of my general predictions and expectations, but at this point I just wanna get into it.

So here we go, with the final episode of The Owl House: Watching and Dreaming.

(Future Lampman here, expect to hear from me a lot. Just as a reminder: I won’t get through the entire episode tonight, I’ll be publishing this liveblog across the weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Also, as of this writing, right before this post is published, I have not actually seen the end of this episode. I have the last few minutes left. I figured I might as well leave the last of it for Sunday when the final part of this liveblog is published.

This is not gonna be true end of my Owl House livebloging however; I am going to do the pilot episode which was leaked a while back as well, and that will be nice little end. But enough talk, let’s get into it!)

And we’re starting the episode off with a happy screenshot, that’s nice. This is moments before the last episode ended, with the gang gathered on the Titan’s skull beneath The Collector’s Archive House, or Taira Halls as I call it.

We’ve got Luz and Amity being in love, as per usual, with Luz holding her newly hatched palisman, the snakeshifter Stringbean. Hunter and Willow are holding hands, also in love, good for them. Gus is just happy to be alive, relatable. Camila is cuddling with the cute animals. Truly, she is the wisest of all gathered here.

And cue things going wrong as a result of The Collector snapping their fingers at the end of the last episode in three, two, one…

The others get taken away by pink ribbons, and then Luz is taken by… The Beyonder!??!!?!?

”I AM FROM BEYOND! I APOLOGIZE ABOUT MY LITTLE BROTHER’S BEHAVIOR. I WILL COMPENSATE YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES. NOTHING YOU DREAM OF IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO ACCOMPLISH!”

Now, considering some of the stuff that happened to The Beyonder both in Secret War, and in Secret War II, I really hope that this bright light is the first and last similarity between him and The Collector.

(getting this screenshot should not have taken me ten tries)

GAH! Bloody hell’s bells!

Ooooookay, so, uh… so after Luz was taken away in a beam of light like this was the first episode of Tillbaka Till Vintergatan, she ended up in the in-between space, confused. There was a voice calling out for her, trying to get her attention, telling her to wake up. Smash cut to this not at all terrifying image. A skull, with one eye glowing yellow, and one empty eye socket with a little Hooty coming out of it. Charming.

So, um… this is the guy we saw in the in-between last episode and, ah… yeah, this is The Titan, the Boiling Isles in person, King’s dad. I mean, who else could it even be? It could be literally no other person. At least it could be no other person that makes sense to introduce here and now.

So first things first, I was right! The Titan was totally still around in some form. And quite conscious too by the sounds of it, his spirit stuck in the space between dimensions. I guess it kinda makes sense, Titan’s Blood pierces through dimensions, King had those visions of The Collector’s prison in what looked like another dimension… it’s not out of the question that The Titan’s spirit would still be around after he imprisoned The Collector.

But this also means that what Philip said was true, the world itself was trying to hide the magical glyphs from him. And when Luz listened to the islands and they showed her the new glyphs, the island literally did show her those glyphs. Because the islands is a person whose sprit even in death lingers to protect the little creatures living on its body.

Compared to the last two episodes, this one’s intro before the title was quite brief. Very brief even. And while we’re comparing things, this title card is quite dark and gloomy when compared with the other two. Thanks to Them was warm orange with a bright spark to illuminate it. For the Future also had a spark and was bright purple. And while you could definitely see antagonist’s influence in it, with little owl taking on The Collector’s colors, it was still bright and cheerful.

This one? It’s dark and dreary, and Luz finds herself waking up in Emperor Belos’ throne room, the giant beating heart hanging over her. But even more ominous than that, the eyes of the owl in the title glow cold blue, like the eyes of Philip in his corrupted, monstrous form. Even the title itself is bathed in the same sickly green that colors the tyrant’s rotting body.

(Which reminds me, I’ve been rewatching some of the Atop the Fourth Wall storylines recently, and Philip kinda reminds me of Lord Vyce. Both are masked villains who conquered other dimensions while on the hunt for some enemy they feared and hated, both were driven mad and delusional by their obsession, and effectively became the monsters they hunted.)

((also, The Collector is obsessed with playing games, just like the piece of itself that The Entity left behind after the rest of it… left))

(((Linkara: ”You have a magic staff? Where’d you purchase that?”)))

...

...

I hate being right sometimes.

[galarglory]

🎤🎤

Song Association

Running with the Wolves by AURORA

Go row the boat to safer grounds But don't you know we're stronger now My heart still beats and my skin still feels My lungs still breathe, my mind still fears But we're runnin' out of time (Time, ah) All the echoes in my mind cry There's blood on your lies The sky’s open wide There is nowhere for you to hide The hunter's moon is shinin' I'm running with the wolves tonight

Neath the Grove is a Heart by Yaelokre

How do I begin when the roof is ever changing? In the grove is a heart that's still in slumber You can remain, will you stay and tell a tale Would you want to tear it down, to see better? Foolish dreamer bе awakened Do not walk to wherе you were, to where you're staring Listen to the willow, listen to the sound Listen to my voice, you should hear me now Be still, be steady, and be

[fakesmilesallaround]

𝐭𝐰𝐨

WILLOW SAT ON A PIPE ON THE ROOFTOP, cradling her baby. She took the cloth that she had used to secure the baby and covered her up along with the left side of her chest. As a first time mom, she still isn't quite comfortable breastfeeding in front of others, but it was about time her little one needed it.

Rick and the others stood, eyeing the streets and the large number of the dead that walked upon them.

"It's up to us to find a way out." Rick said, looking back at everyone.

Merle grunted. "Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear. Ain't that right, sugar tits?" He grinned disgustingly at Willow. She scoffed and ignored his crude comment. "Hey, honey bunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? We gonna die anyway."

She glanced over at him, pathetically on the ground and still cuffed to the metal bar. "I'd rather."

Glenn, who sat further down the pipe, let a subtle smirk play at his lips.

"What about under the streets, the sewers?" Rick asked Morales who's eyes lit up.

"Hey Glenn, check the alley. See any manhole covers?"

Glenn ran over to the back side of the building and quickly checked before returning. "No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are."

"Maybe not." Everyone's attention turned towards Jacqui. "Old building like this built in to '20s, big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding. Down in the subbasements."

"How do you know that?" Willow asked, Glenn nodding in agreement.

"It's my job-" Jacqui shook her head. "Was. I worked in the city zoning office."

"Let's go check it out then." Rick stated, heading towards the stairs, everyone following behind shortly after.

"Don't forget to come back for me darlin'." Merle winked at Willow as she covered up and wrapped her baby again.

"Wouldn't be at the top of my priority list." She scoffed, heading down the stairs.

-

The room they entered was dim and dusty and smelled of horrid mold. On the right side of the room, a massive hole with a ladder caught everyone's attention. The drainage tunnel that Jacqui was talking about.

"This is it? You sure?" Morales asked, shining his flashlight down into the tunnel.

"I really scoped this place out. This is the only thing in the building that goes down." Glenn responded, swallowing hard. "But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?"

As he said that, everyone looked at him, as if they were all saying the same thing. From the look on his face, he received the message loud and clear.

"Oh. Great." His eyes fluttered back to the dark tunnel.

Willow felt bad for the group sending him down. "We'll be right behind you." She approached Glenn's side.

"No, you won't. Not you." His voice sounded frustrated. "You're carrying a baby around, and the last thing we need is a baby without a mother."

Willow eyed him for a minute but nodded.

"Look, until now I always came here by myself, in and out, grab a few things no problem." The group listened intently. "The first time I bring a group, everything goes to hell. No offense. If you want me to go down the gnarly hole, fine. But only if we do it my way."

Rick nodded.

"It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll take one person."

Right as Rick was about to say something, Glenn beat him to it. "Not you either. You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors covering our ass. Andrea, you have the only other gun so you should go with him." He pointed to the blonde before pointing to Morales. "You be my wingman. Jacqui and Willow stays here. If something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry." Glenn took a deep breath after rambling.

"Okay. Everybody knows their jobs." Rick patted Glenn on the back before he placed his flashlight in his mouth, descending the ladder with Morales. After the two of them had began walking the tunnel, Andrea and Rick retreated to the store, leaving Jacqui and Willow in the old room.

"What's her name?" Jacqui asked, eyeing Willow and her baby tenderly.

"Sienna." Willow responded, rocking her baby back and forth.

"May I?" Jacqui approached them, holding her arms out. Willow took a small step back, eyeing the woman. She still didn't know if she could trust them all yet. Being in a group wasn't exactly Willow's plan or intent, and it takes her a while to warm up to people, but that was then. The world has gone to shit, and running into any living being was a rarity now. She figured now more than ever she'd have to learn to trust others.

Willow nodded, gently placing Sienna into Jacqui's arms, the woman's face immediately lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"Hi sweetie." She said gently to the baby she cradled. "She's got your eyes." Jacqui said, smiling up at Willow.

She did have her eyes. Warm, doe-like hazel eyes. She thanked God that she did. They made looking at that baby that much easier.

"Do you have any of your own?" Willow asked, trying to ease her way into getting to know these people.

The woman shook her head. "Wasn't able to have children."

Willow's face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Jacqui shook it off. "Don't be. Never knew if motherhood would be right for me, anyways." She looked back down at Sienna who was now grabbing her index finger in her little hands and let out a small laugh. "Though this little one makes me think otherwise."

The grunts of the two that ventured to the drainage tunnel pulled them out of conversation as they climbed out of the hole. Before any questions could be asked, glass shattering could be heard from the room over, causing the four of them to run and follow it.

Upon entering the store, Rick and Andrea stood in front of the doors. The first set had been broken, the dead walking through and beginning their assault on the last set. Jacqui quickly handed Sienna back to Willow as they all stood in fear.

"What did you find down there?" Rick asked, pistol at the ready.

"Not a way out." Morales replied, out of breath.

"We need to find a way." Andrea said in desperation.

The pounding and growling grew louder as more of the dead began to pile at the doors.

The group made their way back to the rooftop to check the streets in hopes they had cleared, but the head count was just as high as before.

Rick looked through binoculars before passing them down to the others. "That construction site, those trucks- they always keep keys on hand.

"You'll never make it past the walkers." Morales responded immediately, eyeing the hundreds below them.

Rick took a step back, looking at Glenn. "You got me out of that tank."

"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted." Glenn pulled away from the ledge.

"Can we distract them again?" Rick asked.

A voice from behind them chimed in. "Right. Listen to him, he's onto something'. A diversion, like on "Hogan's Heroes"

"God, give it a rest." Jacqui said towards Merle.

"Maybe we can send him down there as our distraction." Willow said in annoyance, pointing at Merle, earning a glare from him.

"They're drawn by sound, right?"

"Right, like dogs." Glenn answered Rick. "They hear a sound, they come."

"What else?" Rick pushed. Willow didn't know much about Rick, but it seemed that he was still acclimating to the new world.

"Aside from they hear you, they see you, they smell you, and if they catch you, they eat you."

"They can tell us by smell?" Rick asked, stirring up an idea in his head.

"Can't you? They smell dead, we don't." Willow glanced over the edge of the roof again. "It's pretty distinct."

With no more conversation, Rick let out a sigh.

-

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn muttered, grabbing some rubber gloves.

"Just take some time to think this through." Morales pressed on towards Rick.

"How much time? They already got through one set of doors." Rick responded, still gathering gloves and jackets for everyone.

"He's right. Those glass doors won't hold forever." Willow said, eyeing the group.

Morales, Glenn and Rick went out the door and collected one of the dead walkers they had killed earlier to let them inside, dragging it into the room. The group stood around the body, the putrid smell burning their noses. Rick knelt down, patting the dead man's pockets, pulling out an old wallet that sat in them.

"Wayne Dunlap." He said, pulling out the man's ID. "Georgia license."

Willow felt a pang in her stomach. She, too, isn't acclimated to this new world. Seeing the once alive now dead but walking around the streets, she can't help but imagine who they were before the world went to shit. With each walker she killed, she still felt a slight sense of guilt, but she knew that in order to keep her and her daughter alive, eventually she would have to push that guilt to the side.

Rick grabbed the fire axe that was once encased in glass and raised it behind him, crashing it down into the man's abdomen. The group flinched back in disgust and horror as thick dark blood sprayed the room. He kept swinging more and more until the man's insides were easily accessible. Using their gloved hands, they gathered the mush that was left of the insides and began to spread it heavily on Glenn and Rick's jackets. Willow and Andrea stepped away for a second to gather themselves as the air in the room became tainted and foul.

"If we make it back, be ready." Rick said sternly to the group.

"What about Merle Dixon." T-Dog asked the question no one else wanted to ask. Rick slipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a small metal key, tossing it to T-Dog.

-

The rest of the group watched over the edge of the roof, Morales peering through the binoculars in hopes to spot Glenn and Rick. It took a while to spot them in a sea of walkers.

"There!" Morales exclaimed, pointing down to a street across from their building, but their attention was turned towards the sky as dark clouds moved and covered the sun with a loud grumble of thunder following it.

Willow felt a drop of rain splash onto her hand, before another and more. She ripped off her jacket and draped it over Sienna on her chest.

"Oh man." Morales said, as he too felt the rain that was coming.

Everyone glanced over the road, following Glenn and Rick. So far, the dead were still mindlessly walking, but as the rain came down harder and harder, they could see the walkers starting to become entertained by the two of them. Within a blink of an eye, Rick's axe was plunged into the head of a walker that showed too much interest in him, only to fuel the energy and hunger of the others surrounding them. The two took off into a sprint, smashing their weapons into the heads of anything that got in their way. They finally got to a chain linked fence, throwing their weapons over before climbing it, just barely getting over before the walkers were gripping the metal.

Willow let out a breath of relief, but Andrea shot it down fast. "Don't relax yet. The plan isn't over."

Sure enough, as the two climbed into the truck, the fence broke down, hundreds of walkers trampling over it and towards their vehicle.

"They're leaving us." Andrea said in shock.

"What?" Willow grabbed the binoculars from Morales, holding them up to her eyes. The Ferenc truck crashed down another fence, heading down a street beyond their view. She took a step back, handing the binoculars back to Morales. Her mind filled with worry and fear with an 'I told you so.' She felt foolish to put even an ounce of trust into those people.

But she was wrong.

"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street- meet us there and be ready." Glenn's voice spoke through the device Morales held.

They all stumbled back, desperately grabbing their bags and belongings.

"Come on, let's go, let's go!" Morales yelled, quickening his pace towards the steps.

Willow followed quickly, hearing Merle scream behind her. "Hey, you can't leave me here! I'm not fooling' man!"

The group was halfway down the stairs, everyone but T-Dog.

"T-Dog, come on!" Willow screamed up to him, hoping he could hear. Her feet didn't stop moving, carrying herself down with the rest of them to the doors Glenn had spoken about. More glass cracking and shattering was heard from the store, everyone's hearts beating a thousand beats a minute. Willow stood beside Andrea and Jacqui, bouncing Sienna as she began to cry.

"Come on T." Morales said impatiently.

The group grabbed the chains that would hoist open the door, listening to a car alarm blaring past the building.

"What is that?" Andrea questioned, hands still ready to pull.

Suddenly, more glass shattered, only this time the moans and groans of the walkers could be heard much clearer. Willow turned towards the entrance to the garage, T-Dog flying through it with his bags. "They're here, let's go!" He yelled, as walkers started to slowly pile through the door.

A loud bang was heard on the garage door, signaling the group to start raising it. Willow glanced behind her as everyone started throwing their bags into the truck, hopping in. She held her knife in front of her tightly, raising it and stabbing it into one of the dead's temples, allowing more time for the group to get in.

"Willow, come on!" Andrea yelled back at her.

Willow turned, throwing her things inside the truck as well, jumping in, just barely missing the hands of a walker. Morales quickly untied the ropes that held the truck door up, slamming it closed as Rick began to drive.

Everyone sat on the flat of the truck, gasping and sweating at how quick everything was before turning their attention to T-Dog. He sat against the passenger seat, holding his side, panting. "I dropped the damn key."

They stared at him in silence, not knowing what to say, but Andrea spoke to eliminate the silence.

"Where's Glenn?"

Rick wiped his forehead. "Got him a car to distract the walkers away from the garage. He'll be meeting us there."

"Where exactly is that?" Willow spoke out, untying Sienna's carrier.

"You'll see." Morales spoke before turning ahead to face the road.

-

Word count: 2,442

[pinkhairandpokemon]

To record something, you’re probably going to have to hit the button with the square thing with the round circle on it—that’s the camera button.

Hop: Okay, I think we've got it! Took a few tries, buuuut here it is!

--- [ATTACHED: A video. Hop can be seen setting up the phone on a rock, before he leaves to somewhere off frame, revealing Auberi sitting on a boulder behind him holding a Riolu-sized guitar.

"It's on, right?" They ask, ear twitching. "I think so!" Hop replies. "Go for it!" They hesitate and stare into the camera for a moment, before looking down at their instrument. Finally, they begin to strum, and start to sing. "Foolish dreamer, be awakened Do not walk to where you were, to where you're staring Listen to the willow, listen to the sound, Listen to my voice, you should hear me now Be still Be steady And be..." Blake slowly walks up and appears on screen, and Auberi casts them a smile and a nod like they're beckoning them to join. The Eevee grins a bit shyly, and trots up to sit beside them before singing the next verse. "How do you begin, when the earth is ever changing? Neath the grove is a heart that's still in slumber You can remain, will you stay and tell a tale? Or would you want to tear it all down to see better?"

Hop is the next to join them, seating himself beside Blake and singing along. "Home, is where we are now Home, is where you are Home, is where I am standing Where I'll be staying Forever, now..."

There's a small instrumental chorus, where N reluctantly decides to jump up onto the boulder with Auberi and complete the group. The three offer him a reassuring smile, and he gives a slightly more awkward one in return before singing with them in unison. "How do I begin, when the roof is ever changing? Neath the grove is a heart that's still in slumber You can remain Will you stay and tell a tale, or would you wanna tear it down to see better? How do I begin, when the roof is ever changing? Neath the grove is a heart that's still in slumber You can remain Will you stay and tell a tale, or would you wanna tear it down to see better?" Soon enough, the song comes to a slow end. Auberi sets their guitar down in their lap, once again exchanging fond smiles and light chuckles with the rest of their teams. "N, I didn't know you could sing!" Blake suddenly exclaims, looking to N with eyes full of marvel. "It's... not something I do very often..." The Zoura admits, glancing off to the side. "You were great," says Auberi, with a small nod of approval. "Yeah!" Hop agrees enthusiastically. "You should sing with us more often. Oh, wait!" The purple Shinx quickly bounces up onto his feet, and dashes over to the camera. He knocks it over when he reaches for it with his paw, and lets out a quick "oops" before turning the recording off. End video.] --- //song

[this-genius-isnt-mine]

Foolish dreamer Be awakened Do not walk to where you were To where you're staring Listen to the willow, listen to the sound Listen to my voice, you should hear me now Be still Be steady And be…

There was no great commotion with rebirth. Unlike the months planning and tumultuous torment that came with bringing a life into the world the first time. For the undead there were no such proclivities, only a sudden understanding that once again life had been shoved into this form which it had abandoned.

Tip-toeing it’s way back in first through the fingertips before each nerve up to the brain slowly awakened as if the whole empty void from which she was plucked from was just a blip. A blink and you’ll miss it moment, but as the weight of the earth around her began to sink in, in more ways than one there was definitely something missing. As if the life in her was as uncertain and confused as she was, sliding around and out her as if there were holes where the rest of her life should be and all she was left with was the bare minimum of existence.

“...”

Her body opened its mouth automatically. Expecting to breathe as if it was hoping to resume like nothing had happened. And maybe nothing had happened…The more she awakened the more she felt like she was in a fog trying to traverse a field covered in holes unsure what she was even doing or thinking but finding more spaces to trip on at each step. Her thinking spun in circles but was halted as no air filled her lungs instead only the cool earth pressed against her. It was only then she noticed the darkness, cold and wet ,pressing against her eyes. She’d forgotten that there would even be a need to open her eyes. But as each part of her woke it remembered that it did, in fact, have a job to do. As if life was slowly pushing itself back in shaking her awake, poking her, as her body whined for 5 more minutes in oblivion.

The dark seemed comfortable, a familiarity she couldn’t remember experiencing before. That was when the panic set in. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Her entire body screamed at her Something was wrong she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see, what was she, who…who was she, what…She needed to get out, she needed to get out. Of where? Her body opened its mouth to scream to scream for something or maybe just to prove she had a voice at all but instead she tasted the coldness of dirt on her tongue smothering her fear. The panic ebbed into a cold sinking feeling in the pit of what some deep part of her knew to be her stomach. A sudden understanding that she was still alive even though no air passed through her mouth. That her skin hadn’t broken despite the earth pressing on it. That she could just open her eyes, crawl out of this earth 

and 

scream.

…The first thing she recognized when her head broke free of the earth was song. Just under the ringing in her freed ear. As soon as she heard it her body seemed righted in place as if being held by a steady pair of hands. Her own hands were unsteady, shaking, as they clawed out of the dark dirt cavity into the light her eyes fluttered open the world going from endless dark to piercing all encompassing blue. The sky. That was the sky. And filling that blue was a song. So familiar. Her now freed arms and legs shivered in the open air instinctively her fingers rested on her chest.  Waiting, waiting for a beat to guide them, but nothing came from within. As if her mind knew the song but her body could not bring it beneath the flesh. A remnant of the void she could still taste in the back of her now dry throat. There was no beat inside her chest. No drum to guide her hazy dance through her own mind. Only the cold swirling fog of her continued realizations.

She blinked realizing the bleary blurred state of her vision, something wasn't quite clear, circling in the sky above. she rubbed her eyes and with focus realized the shapes were...birds. A voice in her head spoke as if it were as simple as the blue sky. Birds, birdsong, that’s what she was hearing. That was so simple and yet it felt like a large step in the fog. Song, it was so fundamental. Just hearing it was like a lighthouse in a storm and yet she could not grasp it fully in her fingers slowly slipping away like the dirt coating her palms. Why was she so lost in her own mind? She didn’t even recognize the voices in her head.

Wetness crept down her face as the song continued to go on back and forth melodies she couldn’t understand them she didn’t understand them and yet something in her stirred like a poorwill stirring after winter is over, the sun shaking it as life shook her saying

“Wake up! Don’t you hear summer coming?”

Something in her was slumbering still. Too lost in the dark to see the sun. Still waiting to be born again. Its tired tears on her face streaking down back onto the earth from whence she came. Waiting, waiting to come out of the ground as well. Watered by the tears she shed.

[sunnydayzes]

"I hope you haven't been feeling neglected.", Malcolm continued, raising an eyebrow at his betrothed. "You know that you're my first priority, Cassie."

Cassandra could only nod and smile. She felt like she had been doing that her whole life. And, if she went through with the wedding with Malcolm, it would continue. Malcolm would expect her to heel and behave herself. He had been raised rather harshly by his mother, and, after Johnny left the family to chase his dreams of building his own fortune without the Landgraab name, she had been particularly hard on her younger son. Cassandra felt bad for him, but she also knew that he wasn't going to change. There was too much at stake.

"Malcolm....there's something I have to tell you.", she started, as he rose from his seat and offered her his hand.

"Later, my little songbird. Let's sit on the couch and watch that documentary I was telling you about! The one about the founding of Pleasantview? I know your family has connections there and it should be really very interesting to you."

Cassie hated that about Malcolm. She hated that he never wanted to listen to her talk. He didn't value her words, or her voice, and that was why the irony of him calling her songbird as a pet name wasn't lost on her. But, maybe that was the whole reason why he called her that. He only wanted to hear her when she was happy and pleasant; not when her emotions were getting the best for her.

She followed him over to the couch and they settled in to watch the movie. It was boring stuff, really; mostly because everything in the documentary she already knew about. Her father had done extensive research on his family and their legacy before moving to Willow Creek to settle down and start a new life. Did she really need to hear all of this again from some quack who was convinced there was some conspiracy to rewrite time? It just sounded too strange to be true.

Nevertheless, she couldn't concentrate on the movie anyway. Not with the way his hand was rubbing her thigh, as he had pulled her legs into his lap. Cassie knew what was coming, and she was hoping she would be able to talk him out of it this time. Only time would tell.

[floatinginsideoflimbo]

*Asy huffs…*

Foolish dreamer Be awakened Do not walk to where you were To where you're staring Listen to the willow, listen to the sound Listen to my voice, you should hear me now, Be still, Be steady, And be…

[queenofcats17]

The Ink Demonth 22

Day 22 was Radio.

============================================

"Listen to the radio

The safety's lost and we will show

Our preparations and what you know

Will surely help you flow."

Alice frowned, looking up from the door she'd been fiddling with. It wasn't uncommon to hear Sammy singing, it seemed to be how he kept himself sane, but this was a new song. She'd never heard it before.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, approaching the glass of her cell.

Sammy stopped his song. "I am singing. Isn't that obvious?"

Alice huffed, folding her arms. "Yes, I can hear that. But what are you singing? I've never heard it before."

"I heard it on the radio."

"They let you have a radio?" Alice asked incredulously.

"I haven't tried to escape or called our captors names that don't bear repeating." Alice could hear the smugness in his stupid voice.

"You're insufferable," she growled, sitting down with her back to the glass.

"Coming from you, I take that as a compliment," Sammy hummed, plucking out a few notes on his banjo.

There was a beat of silence, the only sound being Sammy's banjo, before Alice spoke again.

"How does the rest of it go?"

"You want to hear more?" Sammy sounded surprised.

"There's nothing else to do," she couldn't help but snap. "And your voice isn't terrible."

Sammy gave a little laugh, then began to sing again.

"You know you’ll never swing

When the color's gone and everything

Has signed their way as my offspring

And now you'll hear them sing."

Alice closed her eyes, listening intently to Sammy's voice.

"Calling out, you're in danger

A stranger, he’s angered

Your life's on the line, running out of time

All through these halls I would wager

You're braver, a savior

Determined to find, and crawl through his mind."

This song sounded so familiar. She almost felt as though she'd heard it before. But where?

"Seeking for answers

With darkened thoughts

Blind, yet you clearly see us

Praying that you will rise up

Wake up and face reality."

That was when Sammy stopped singing.

Alice opened her eyes, frowning. "Why did you stop?" She demanded.

"The rest of the song is in... other voices," Sammy said. "The other verses aren't mine."

"The other verses aren't yours?" Alice repeated, somewhat skeptical.

"They're not for me to sing," Sammy said. "Not all the songs on the radio are for me to sing. They're sung in other voices. Voices that are not mine."

Alice rolled her eyes. She should have known that sooner or later Sammy would end up saying some kind of strange shit.

"Well, it was a nice song I suppose." She stood up, returning to where she'd been tinkering with the door. "It's good to know at least you still have your voice. It always was the best thing about you."

"The next verse is yours, you know," Sammy hummed, beginning to pluck at his banjo once more.

"...Excuse me?"

But Sammy said nothing more, only humming "Willow Weep For Me" to himself.

Alice rolled her eyes again. Whatever. Sammy's ramblings didn't matter. What mattered was getting out of this awful place.

...Maybe once she was out she could find a radio. Then she could hear the full song for herself. See if the next verse really was hers.