#Amatuer writing

[lazyollie]

Lloyd x Captured Reader

Before I would start please let me tell you that I haven't write fanfictions before. All the fictions what I have read inspired me and I want to make content too about things I like and I'm interested it. It might turn out bad but hey, we are learning from our mistake. It's a test for my ownself. Now let's go with the story.

Summary: Reader is Lloyd's civilian partner who got captured.

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It was a normal day like usual. Finish the work, packing up, close the store and then walking home. It wasn't a problem since you lived near to your workplace. Everything seemed fine.

Until you felt like someone is following you. Wherever you turned you felt like someone is watching you. Your heart speeded up as you started to walk faster. From the corner of your eyes you saw a dark figure moving in the shadows what caused you start running.

The panic got best of you as you took out your phone out of your bag searching for a person from your contacts. A person that you can count on every time you are in trouble. Lloyd.

Before you could call him you bumped into someone in the corner, your phone falling to the ground with a loud noise. The person who was in front of you covered his face with a mask. You tried to back up as your breathing became uncontrolable trying to find a way to escape from him. Your brain was mush from how scared you were. Before you could back away from the guy you bumped into another one. And in the blink of an eye you were knocked out falling to the ground surronded with more masked people.

Before you would pass out you tried to reach your phone next to you. Just one tap on the screen and you could call help, but your vision got blurry and all your strength left your body. Your limbs became limp, you were blacked out.

•~

During this time Lloyd was having fun with the other ninjas that who could reach the point first. They were all fighting to get there, laughing filled the air as one of them win or fooled the other.

After a hour they all walked back into the Monestry each of them doing different things to chill. Zane would cook, it doesn't matter how surprising, this is what makes him calm. Nya went to take a shower. Jay and Cole sat down onto the couch to play video games while Kai was watching them. Llyod decided to go up into his room to change his clothes into something more comfortable. Before he would did he checked his phone.

6 missed calls from Y/n's mom

He immediately called her back concerned, thinking about all the possible things what might happened.

"Hey Lloyd, is Y/n with you today?"

"No miss, I thought she's working today."

"Yes, she worked, but she didn't come home. I'm waiting for her for so long now. She didn't picked up the phone. I called her workmates but nobody knows where is she..."

He tried to stay calm as he was thinking about where you might be. Maybe you're just shopping, hang out with your friends or walking in a park. Unfourtunatly, it was not like you. There's no day when you're not informing him about your day or plans. Something was wrong and that made him nervous. He was lost in his thoughts.

"Lloyd sweetie, are you there?"

"Uhm I am. Don't worry I will find her. Stay calm, miss!"

"Thank you Lloyd. Good luck. I'll call you if she comes home or something!"

And then she hanged up.

He felt sick to his stomach and felt like the room is spinning. He had to sit down to calm hisself down. He started to zoon out as panic built up inside him.

'What if something serious happened to her? I have a lot of enemies. Someone might want to hurt me by hurting Y/n. Oh God, stop! She's fine. What if she's not-'

"Hey Lloyd!" Nya knocked on the open door to catch his attention. She was done with the showering and now she was in her comfortable clothes. "Are you okay? You seem a little nervous." she approached to him sitting next to him onto the bed. Lloyd sighed looking into the emptiness worried. "I got a call from Y/n's mom. Y/n didn't come home from work today and weirdly nobody knows anything about where she is." he said his leg moving up and down in anxiously. "You're worried, are you?" She asks placing her hand on his shoulder as support. "Yeah, I am. I have a bad feeling about her disappearing." Nya carresed his shoulder what made him look at him. "Hey, she's only gone for a few hours. Maybe she has to do something before she goes home. Don't think about anything bad." She smiled softly at Lloyd who smiled back at her weakly.

"Maybe you're right"

•~

You woke up for a strange feeling. Your head hurt so much as you tried to open your eyes, the bright white light hit them, making you close your eyes again. You blinked few times to make your eyes get used to the light. You looked around with a half blurry vision. The room was all white full of medical stuff what made it look like you were in a hospital. You tried to move but your arms didn't listened. You looked down.

Your hands were restrained to a chair. Your clothes were changed. You were confused.

'What is going on? Where I am?' you think.

Now you remembered what happened. The masked men who cornered you. The panic kicked in as you tried to set yourself free. That's when a strange man walked into the room. He wore a white coat and had a messy mustache.

"Hey, don't struggle, it only hurts you. And there's no escape from here. So stop those movements." He said with an evil grin on his face, approaching you.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

This was the part 1. Let me know if you want this series to continue. Sorry if It's too cringe don't hate me for this please.

[escapedaudios]

The prevailing attitude that self-promotion is bad and shameful tacitly supports the idea that the only media worthy of circulation is media backed by ad campaigns or content with existing algorithmic momentum pushing it. I will never shame independent creators for hustling their work. I will never pressure someone into hiding something that they have every right to be proud of.

[painty23]

Questions

a one-shot that I may write more about, idk

based on this (Old)drawing

A piercing scream echoed through the forest, whilst a beam of blinding light traveled miles away.

Residue of that light scatter, traveling far and wide to who knows where. many fell far and close, and some came close together, and specifically speaking these VERY close shards of light that fell closely on their landing space.

And the moment those shards hit the ground as their form expanded and took a bigger shape, soon giving conscience. Both beings noticed the other's presence, observing each other, realizing that both made a deal with the same person.

A Man who looks like his late 20's; has an unusual circular face shape, reddish-brown hair with a short pigtail, a dirty white polo shirt and pants, abnormal circular pink rosey cheeks, and violet eyes.

And a woman who seems to look from 19 to early 20's; a slight baby face, chocolate brown hair with white steaks, two pony-tails with hot pink tints on the end tied by ribbons, Pink tattoos that appeared from his face then past down her neck, She wore a dirty shirt with a light pink coat, and ringed eyes.

The man slowly got up as the woman watched him with wary eyes. The tattoo marks of the woman lit up when what looked like target symbols showed itself over the man's violet eyes and the back of hand. He examined her for a moment, making her feel off.

He then dusted his pants and offered his hand out "Howdy there young lady, you've must've met a terrible fate" he stated, as it was a fact. It ticked her off.

She declined his offer and got up herself "So? You don't look so good yourself" she retorted, finally taking in his appearance as she looks at him up and down, noting every detail of his clothes to judge what kind of person he is.

He looked pale, with abnormal circular bright pink cheeks and Violet eyes and Hazel Hair. He wore a white dirty shirt, and Dark pants with a gash that could’ve been from a lethal attack

He gave an eerie smile "True, but those scars say otherwise" he replied with a gentle yet off setting vibe. The woman looked confused. Scars? she had no scars.

They had a bit of a stare down but the man looked away dismissing the glowing lights, he examined the area with a smile "We're no longer in the Safe space, Something must've happened" The man explained, he seemed troubled yet he still has that smile on his face.

The woman stared at him with unease, but once his words sank in her head she too, started to examine her surroundings.

The night sky, the realistic green trees, the moist grass, the cool breeze and the sounds of crickets. She couldn't believe it, where was she? How did she get back?

"What do you think happened? I thought the deal was a one-time thing" the woman was skeptical, as she put more thought into it.

She looked up to see trails of light fly past them, the man looked up to where she was staring.

"So that's what happened..." the man muttered, His violet Eyes shined against the light from the sky. light of the souls traveling to their death marks, they flew in various lights, colors and sizes, which depended on their very being.

“Ha! Someone actually fought back, and won''The man grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets. keeping his eyes on the sky, watching the beauty of the traveling souls.“I wonder how and who managed to do it…''He muttered under his breath, catching the woman’s attention.

“...What? what are you on about?”The woman accused, getting wary of the strange man.

The man looks back at her with the same eerie look in his eyes, She keeps herself composed as she gives him a straight face “Tell me, Who are you and what’s going on?”

“Azriel, but they call me Li…That’s what I’m mostly called”Li introduces himself with a small bow, but She couldn’t shake off the way he said it and the fact that it sounds… fake. “And may I know yours, Miss…?” He inquires, Curious of the woman in tattoos.

“Mei-” If he’s going to play this game, so will she “-Just call me Mei”

“Hmm…What an elegant name for a gorgeous Lady~" Li Compliments her, the name seems to fit her, he thought. He walks to her, not minding the fact she took a several steps back until her was finally in front of her.

Li Reached out his hand for her to shake.”It’s nice to meet you Mei, I’m sure you have an interesting story, no?”

Mei keeps her eyes at him, still wary of the strange man. “I can say the same for you” She returns, watching his words. She didn’t take his hand though, and He saw that, retracting it back.

But he didn’t mind, he was a stranger to her and other debtors were usually distrusting “well, now that we’re done with introductions…I believe we should get going!” Li chirps, turning around and walking to a random direction, Expecting her to follow him.

“What? Hey, you didn’t answer my other question!” Mei calls out, 

balling her fists. Catching up right behind him, She needed answers and he looks like he has an idea why this is happening.

Li doesn’t look back to see her face, he simply keeps walking until he sees a way out of this Forest ”We can talk when we’re in a more private setting, instead of staying like sitting ducks!” Li chuckles, Mei didn’t say anything about his response but narrows her eyes.

What is he on about? it was a secluded place!...unless. She shook her head, she kept following him as he led them out of the forest.

“Finally! Now if Remember, there should be a motel here” Li thinks back to where it might be, he looks down the road and turns to the opposite direction.

Mei was skeptical and was judging how confident he was in directions, but she kept silent. She didn’t know why she’s so eager to hear his thoughts to blindly follow him, perhaps it’s because of a lack of communication for 38 years that she’s desperate for a companion to actually talk to.

As They walk together Mei decides to walk side-by-side, Facing her front but sometimes glancing at the stranger beside her. She didn’t know what to make of Li other than that they’re both in a similar position, Perhaps since she can ask more questions, since he didn’t seem too opposed to answering questions.

Soon enough, they see a run-down Motel sign, its lights dim and blinking every 9 seconds. The Motel itself doesn’t look any better either, it looked liked it was at least 7 decades old.

“Sheesh, I guess time hasn’t been kind to you” Li grimace, not liking the state of the building itself, but he walks to the old property anyways.

Mei took notice of his reaction, he knows this place and has some connection to it or probably a connection to the owner. That’s what she speculates at least.

“Let’s go”

The two walks past the parking lot, the trash, graffiti and the old molded paint wasn’t pleasing to look at.

Mei’s eyes wandered around the building, looking at the worn down doors and windows. She didn’t like the hygiene of this place at all.

Li knocked on the Staff room’s door, but there was no answer, so he knocked again.

“What are you doing?”Mei narrows her eyes at Li, why is he immediately going to staff?

“There’s a special room here and it’s not easily accessible to the public, since it’s specifically made for…” Li’s voice trailed, expecting Mei to finish that sentence.

“...is it made for us? the debtors?” Mei guesses, trying to get a good look at him. She feels like a little duckling, following him and filled with more questions in her head.

“Yes! exactly-” He turns his head to her with a smile, it was still a bit creepy but not as much anymore “-it disrupts the connection, so we’ll be safe here”

“Ah, I see” Mei sais with a small nod of understanding “so when will-”

The door opens abruptly, cutting Mei off as a girl in pajamas looks at them with a forced composed smile “Hello, How may I help you?”

[lostincoloste]

Act One, Chapter Five

The wind howled through the pass, cold wintry air slicing through the world, rattling the windows of the village. Snow danced through the air, sticking to the sides of houses and exposed rock face. While the pass was the safest way through the mountain range on the way to the wall, safest didn’t mean safe. The village was small, more built as a waystation for travellers along the mountain pass, from a time ling ago, when people still travelled this room. The humans that had once built this waystation and the road it sat on had long abandoned it.

Day 8: The wind shrieked and howled, almost doing enough to drown the sounds of the rook that occupied the village. It would take steps, patrolling along the perimeter, not following a schedule or logical progression. The young mother, Elenwe, inside one of the buildings tended to the fire cracking in the stove, was bouncing her baby lightly and praying to her gods that the child wouldn’t cry. She passed him onto his father, gently stroking the fur along the babies chest and stomach, black and blue like her own fur colourations, but with wiry and long fur like his father, Brenin. Her baby coo’d and giggled, and she smiled. The rook was named Korvaxx in her tongue. Human tongue of the region would call it Ice-Fury, or Frozen Menace. The Shaman-Chief of her people, wizened with white fur, said it was punishment for their crimes. They were not supposed to rest in human settlements, but the storm caught them in this village, and now Korvaxx prevented them from leaving. Two of the warriors of her clan had gone out, to scout an escape. They were hunted and Destroyed by Korvaxx. Luckily, whenever the humans had left, they left preserved and dried foods, somehow still edible. Her people had been surviving off rations of that, but they would soon run out.

Beyond the thunder of what I thought was a normal storm, and the pain of the wind shredding through inappropriate for the weather clothing, the only other thing I could hear was the sharp flapping of my cape, or the steam whistle within Castlello piping hard to warm up the little guy’s body. Once again, I thought to myself, that I was going to die because I didn’t listen to my father. I should have packed winter clothes, gloves and a hat. But I thought I knew better. I pined for Lila and her tea, and her warm house, which even my campfire last night was a pale imitation of. I forgot to write the past few days, sorry journal, but it was just so boring, walking and walking and walking, until I came to the edge of the forest, and saw a huge mountain range, nearly impassible except for one tine path carved through. So that’s caught up now. Through the thick fog and frozen mist, I saw something move. I thought it was just a hallucination, but I could’ve sworn I saw a little hairy man scurry away, into the fog. Just a silhouette really. Then, I saw something beautiful; constructed buildings, wood and stone houses built into holes in the mountains beside us. And from one of the buildings, the largest one, emanated a bright orange glow; the promise of a crackling warm fire. As I approached, I heard what sounded like voices, melodic and deep, speaking. But I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Castlello heard it too, as I saw it turn to face the source of the noise; and then open the door at it’s front, and suddenly the voices were loud and clear. I’ll write down what sounds they were making, but it’s all gibberish to me. “Zul nul-uvanin karbuk!” barked one, a deep voice that sounded out of breath, “Iv golevursh zul'akal” replied a different one. A few seconds passed, and the first voice quietly said “Kel n'vulen ush ner'ganin balre” and was cut off by a new, almost old sounding voice, “Fath zulgari zaurlan Korvaxx? Ashke nul!” but they were all silenced by a passionate voice, which yelled “Zuul zhah'goth, nul-sul karnak-nul yishgar!” and then the door of the large building slammed open, a furry little diminutive figure standing in front and looking at me with large eyes.

“Something comes near!” the deep voice of one of the scouts barked out. Elenwe saw a lone figure emerging through the snow, her form shrouded in a dark, flowing cloak that fluttered in the wind like a restless ghost. Despite the harsh elements, she walked confidently forward, her footsteps resolute and solid. Her silhouette was tall and slender, with a straight-backed posture that hinted at discipline and training. The shape of her sword could just be discerned, a long and formidable blade strapped securely to her back. “I think it is human” Brenin said, holding their child and watching the stranger approach, cautiously stepping back from the door. She was coming right for the building they all huddled in. The scout, now in the building, having climbed in through a window that he promptly shut, quietly asked “"Should we tell it to turn back?" and was quickly interrputed by the Shaman-Chief “And risk getting caught by Ice-Fury? Absolutely not!” He spat, his voice thick with fear and attempt to restore his authority. Elenwe fiddled with the rings on her fingers, upset and betrayed by the Shaman-Chief. “I'm going out there, someone needs to save it!” Elenwe shouted, and ignored the immediate reaction of the people around her, catching them all by surprise as she threw open the door into the blizzard, hanging out the door and looking at the human. She hadn’t noticed the small rook that walked beside her, and caught herself in a gasp, doubting herself. The human approached faster, trudging through the howling winds and thick snow, quickly approaching Elenwe and the door, before stopping, and saying something. Elenwe, or any of her people, didn’t understand what the warrior said, but she looked inside, and saw all the people of Elenwe’s clan huddled, and hiding. Then, she pointed to the fire, and then rubbed her arms in an exaggerated motion, Elenwe (And the rest of her clan) took this as the wanderer asking for warmth by the fire, and it was not the way of her people to turn away a stranger in need.

The small creature that opened the door to me caught me off guard. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, small, and covered in blue and white fur, with a animalistic face with large expressive purple eyes. They appeared to be wearing garments made of thickly bound leather and fur patchworked together, in a sort of Great Kilt style. The ones who carried weapons, which appeared to be carved clubs, also had leather plates of some sort on their shoulders and legs. “Thank you for saving me…” I muttered to the little creature, but she simply cocked her head at me. She couldn’t understand what I said, and I began to panic. I had to convey what I meant somehow; and clearly I’d have to perform the action. I looked inside, at the various little creatures in there, with varying fur colours (Most shades of blues, greens or purples) and saw them huddled around a fireplace. To the one at the door, I gestured to the fireplace, and made an exaggerated gesture of being cold. She nodded, and held open the door, nodding at the fire. I almost rushed in, but then realized that might seem like a threat. Castlello didn’t seem to want to come in, instead preferring to guard the door. It’s choice. I instead slowly walked in, keeping my hands clearly away from my sword, before kneeling down at the fire, dwarfing in size the few that were here. They seemed…. Not quite frightened, but not excited or awed.

The stranger entered the building with a quiet, purposeful stride. He long, tattered purple cloak billowed out behind her, and her personal guard, a mini K’letor. The demon seemed loyal to her, and a quiet whisper crossed the room as she walked, calm and confidently. The warriors of this tribe watched her curiously, enviously. She walked with her hands nowhere near her weapon, such was the confidence of this warrior surrounded by strangers. The chain and ball at her belt rang out with every step, barely visible through her outfit. She crouched down by the fire, near the young ones. Elenwe almost smirked, her nose twitching in effort to maintain her solemn and serious look. The young ones were scared, but also trying to pretend not to be, but the air was thick with the anxious smell the young ones give off when anxious. The stranger was nearly shaking, and Elenwe noticed that underneath her magnificent purple cloak, they were wearing what looked like thin clothes. Not suitable for this weather, or travel. She wasn’t experienced with humans, and without being covered in fur that changed colour and markings as one aged, humans were hard for her to guess the age of. But wearing thin cloth like this, and passing through this pass? The stranger may carry a fearsome sword and control one of the demons, but based on that one choice, (or mistake, Elenwe thought to herself) told her enough about this human; she was young, inexperienced, or unprepared. More likely, she thought to herself, all three. She looked to her own child in her partner’s arms, and then looked once again to the stranger. She sat near the fire, eyes steely but darting around; hunter’s eyes. Always alert for danger.

The novelty of the stranger wore off after a while, and soon food rations were being passed around. The tribe passed a portion to the stranger, and without much of a reaction, she passed it on to the child next to her, watching her. Elenwe frowned a bit, still examining the stranger, now from her alcove with her partner and child. Brenin and her shared a look, and Elenwe quietly asked Brenin to grab the spare materials. As he left, Elenwe’s eyes drifted to the Shaman-Chief, whose look was angry, nearly quaking with the rage within him. The gods wouldn’t punish them for helping a stranger, and she knew that he was only trying to protect them all, but the fact that his authority was undermined, something that had never happened before, was eating him up inside. Elenwe stood up a second after the Shaman-Chief began to move He was lunging towards the stranger, and Elenwe instinctively got in between him and the young stranger, the sudden movement waking her child, who gasped with the sudden movement. “Elenwe! This stranger needs to go! For all we know she’s calling Ice-Fury!” He said to her, his voice nearly a roar. But Elenwe stood her ground, leaning forward in a challenging stance “Since when do we abandon people who need our help, Vrakkis,? If the gods are already punishing us, then they will destroy us for doing that!” Elenwe completed her challenging of the authority of the Shaman-Chief by calling him his adult name, instead of his title. There was a muffled gasp, and shock passed through the people of her tribe. Vrakkis bristled, and opened his mouth to say something, before wind whipped into the building like a bull through the weak wood, nearly shattering the door off of it’s hinges, and the ground shook. They all knew what that meant. Ice-Fury was back. Elenwe nearly caught a self satisfied smirk on Vrakkis’ face, as if this proved the stranger was calling the demon. The stranger, who was watching this whole event unfold, jumped to her feet, hand instinctively on her sword. Then, she said something in their language, broken, and in the wrong tone for what Elenwe presumed was a question, “Ice-fury?”

I stayed with the little furry people for a while, warming up. They tried to pass me food, but I had my own and it looked like they were hiding out the storm here, and had children. Such as this one, with soft green fur and big brown eyes that stared at me the whole time I sat there. He was kinda cute, in a weird way. These people had delicate, animalistic features, and most of them wore jewelry on their person, whether on their fingers, wrists, ankles, or sewn into the clothes. There had been a slightly uncomfortable quiet in the house since I arrived, with murmurs quietly at the edges of the room. The children who had once stayed by my side had long since fled to their parents, or what I assume was their parents. The one who held the door for me nursed a baby, and I caught her eyes glancing between me and an angry looking one covered in white fur and cloudy grey eyes. What happened next was like a blur to me. The old one lunged towards me, but the mother that had let me in placed herself between me and the old one. She placed herself in a defensive stance between myself and the old one, and they spoke to each other in their language, the old one barking out something that barely sounded like individual words, and more like a series of barks, yells and roars. She leaned forward, and I noticed she was actually larger than him, and more steady on her feet. He almost seemed to deflate as she did this, and she spoke clearly and calmly to what I assumed was their chief. When she finished what she said, I could feel the room get quiet and tense, and I nearly thought the wind breaking down the door was some sort of magic chief had, before I recognized the familiar sound of a rook’s footfalls, and the sounds they make. They’d been repeating a word, almost spitting when they said it, and I was about to bet that it was this thing they were referring to. I looked at the mother and the chief, and asked “Korvaxx?” and they both looked at me like I’d grown a second head. Then the roof got ripped off. Giant icy claws more accurately tore through the roof, the biting wind stinging as the snow war hurled at me like tiny daggers. I had found Korvaxx. I widened my stance, hand instinctively falling to the chain at my hip, before I thought and realized what was more important than defeating this rook. I glanced behind me, and saw a house beuint into the overhanging crag. I pointed, and shouted “GO!” a few times. The people were frozen in shock, until the mother realized what I was attempting to communicate. She shouted in her language, and the ones I had identified as warriors barked out a response. They quickly organized themselves, the non-warrior adults quickly gathering essentials and children, while the warriors strode to the sides, distracting the rook with stones thrown from slings that barely did anything. I was about to join them, help guide the rook away, when I noticed the rook had it’s glowing blue eye on something; a mop of green fur that was partially buried by the snow. It was the kid that was watching me, and the rook lunged toward it, it’s icy claws reaching out. I wasn’t about to find out why it was after this kid, with a sharp ring, my blade was off my back and at my side, and I threw all of my weight into a swing with the blunt edge, up and diagonally, which smashed through the icy claws and smashed a chunk off the hand of the rook. It let out a bellow, the sounds of cannons firing in it’s voice, before the storm whipped up, snow blinding everyone. But my ears picked up the sounds of it’s footsteps, backing up like a wounded beast, disappearing fully into the blizzard. I reached down, scooping up the child below me, pulling him from the snow and holding his shivering body to my chest. The warriors watched it flee, then looked at me.

The purple cloaked savior pushed through the door behind the warriors, carrying one of the children. Elenwe couldn’t believe they had lost him, and she rushed forward to take him from the stranger, who lightly let him down in front of Elenwe. The child didn’t even really look hurt, more confused and cold. Vrakkis’ white face stared at Elenwe and the stranger, before rushing forward and hugging the child. It was his own grandchild. After all. He hugged for a while, before sharing a quiet whisper, and gently nudging the child to the fireplace where someone was trying to start a new fire. The cold that Ice-Fury had created left them all shivering. Elenwe worried that some of them might not get warm enough this time, the surprise attack had taken them by such surprise that many were in their indoor dress, nearly naked, and had signs of forstbite. She looked to the stranger, who was wearing a grim frown, and Elenwe could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She was devasstated by the attack too, terrified of what could’ve happened to the tribe. She cast a look over all of them, and then turned to the door, and quickly left.

I couldn’t just leave these people to this, they clearly hadn’t found ways to fight off rooks at all. The kids, the baby, were all in danger. I went outside, and found Castlello digging itself out of a pile of snow. I would’ve normally chuckled, and in hindsight it’s pretty funny. But all I felt was rage. I would not let a rook devastate these people, or take any parents away from children. Good thing I was a skilled hunter, and have the type of rage that makes me intensely focused. It’s not hard to track what is essentially a moving building surrounded by a magic blizzard. It was stalking the perimeter of the village, and I quickly caught up to it. I yelled, getting the thing’s attention. Unlike other rooks, this one wasn’t a castle, but a massive Rook constructed of ice and snow. The Rook's body was made of jagged ice bricks, while its spindly legs and arms are crafted from frosted, gnarled tree branches. It towered over me, easily thrice my height, it’s lone eye glowing with a chilling blue light. I rolled my neck, cracking it, and dropped my hand to the weapon at my belt.

Elenwe had followed, sneaking behind the stranger. She originally intended on stopping the stranger, but she had moved too quickly for Elenwe to keep up in the snow, and she dared not cry out for fear of Ice-Fury. The blizzard worsened, and she heard the stranger issue a challenging cry, and the scene came into Elenwe’s view. The wind howled, kicking up flurries of snow that danced around the combatants. Ice-Fury’s body was entirely ice, with a lone sickening eye that locked onto the stranger like a wolf looking at food. With a sudden burst of speed, the demon lunged at her, it’s ice claws slashing through the air, but the stranger was faster, and sidestepped the attack, hew purple cloak billowing behind her, looking less like a human and more like a savior from the stories. There was a glint, a spark at the strangers side, the ball and chain at her side sparked. The demon roared in anger, and unleased a blast of icy wind at her, and she responded with a wide swing of her ball and chain, the crackling energy of her weapon dispersing the blast before it could even reach her. With a fluid motion, she spun the chain around her, and flung the ball at the demon. The ball struck the beast’s icy body with a resounding thud, causing it to stumble backwards on it’s tree legs. The stranger took the opportunity, and charged forward, her massive sword held high. The demon swung it’s massive arms, but the stranger was too quick, darting in and around with blinding speed. Then, with a cry that Elenwe could swear pierced the heavens, the stranger leapt into the air, her cloak behind her like the wings of an avenging spirit, and brought her sword down in a mighty ar. The blade sliced cleanly through the demon’s icy body, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The snow and ice exploded around her, sending flakes swirling in every direction. She landed gracefully on the ground, her sword blade resting against the settling snow. Her eyes scanned the area, ready for anything else that might try her. But she never saw Elenwe, who by now had scurried back to her tribe, ready to regale them with the tale of their savior. No longer a stranger, now the Fury-breaker.

After I destroyed the Rook, I was surprised to find it was really unlike any I’d fought before. It fell apart, and there really wasn’t any internal mechanisms to speak of, other than a stone that had to be the Rookstone. I noticed it was about the same size and weight at the pommel stone of my sword, and I had an idea, to try when I could camp. Then, I made my way back to the house with the people. It seemed like I attracted trouble, and so I wouldn’t be staying. My best chance was to just push through the snow, now much more manageable without the Rook making a storm. I opened the door to the building, to a waiting audience. The old one and the mother were at the front. When I opened, chatter went silent, and they all repeated a word, a few times. Then the mother help up a hand, and they went quiet. “Thraxxikor” she said, the same thing they were all saying. I figured out they were calling me that, like some sort of nickname? Or title? But they all said it with reverence, and eventually they passed forward a garment, the old one giving it to me. I realized it was like what they wore, but larger for my size, and sewn in with many, many pieces of jewelry, crafted from metal, wood and bones. I took it, and it seemed like they were expecting something, so I put it on on top of my lighter clothes. It was warm, and comfy. They seemed pleased with this, and so I nodded. And turned towards the door, and saying my thanks. I also mentioned that my name is Niamh, not Thraxxikor. I know they wouldn’t understand it. Then, I left. I found Castlello struggling through the deep snow. Eventually, it found it’s way to the packed snow that I figured had to be some sort of path, and walked beside me. It almost seemed like it was upset, perhaps that I didn’t let it protect me in the fight. I figured it would get over it. We travelled a few more hours, until the light of the brazier turned red, and dimmed. By then we were through the worsts of the pass, in a lower mountainous section that was jagged and craggy, but not snowy. I figure I must’ve somehow messed up, this didn’t feel like a mountain pass that was traversable, but it is what it is. Then I set camp, and noticed that in the pockets of the garment was a preserved gourd of some sort, and when I opened it and tasted the liquid inside, I understood it was a gift. The honey sweet, berry and botanical flavors of an alcohol danced across my tongue. This was delicious, and to be saved.

The stranger left, as Elenwe predicted. Avenging and protecting spirits didn’t stick around when they weren’t needed. After Fury-Breaker left, the storm began to get better, and for the first time in days it seemed like things would be okay. Then, it felt right, the time to name her child had come. She turned to Brenin, and held her arms out for their child. “Niamh, I think we can call him Niamh.” It was one of the last things the spirit had said in the human tongue it spoke, and it felt right to Elenwe.

[that-dumb-moth]

Come with me in the days of forever darkness Abandon those dreary thoughts of solace And travel away from the snow where doomed men dare not go.

[oodlesofweird]

Shuro thoughts (1201 words)

If i had to assign a term to Shuro that describes his character, it’d probably be ‘a lack of connection with others’, many of shuro’s relationships in dungeon meshi follow a similar pattern, in that they're all very neutral. He feels like he’ll constantly be in his dad’s shadow no matter what he does, leading to him not trying much, along with some resentment towards him. There’s also his relationship with Maizuru,who was one of the more positive figures in his life who he ends up blocking out as he grows older. Even his relationship with Hien is kinda. Nonexistent. They used to be quite close when they were kids, but their friendship eventually deteriorated when they grew older. 

It makes sense since the difference in status is more prevalent, but this made me think about how he reflects Laois. Even though they both have similar upbringings, with fathers who are in a leadership role which they would benefit from. Laios is still ostracized from the rest of his village, and pretty early on ends up leaving to become a soldier, where he ends up even more ostracized. It’s only when he leaves the army and goes to the island, that he becomes an adventurer and meets his party, where he finds companions who he’s on mostly friendly terms with. Despite everything he’s able to create his own life outside of his family. 

Meanwhile Shuro has presumably lived with his family up until he gets sent off on his adventure. He’s constantly in his fathers shadow, and everyone that he’s surrounded with is in some way related to his father. The retainers are all employed under his father and are more or less lended to him. Even when he leaves for the island, he’s still connected to him by the quest that he’s sent on, and his retainers that follow him. He doesn’t come to the island for himself, it’s for a competition arranged by his dad.

Another way that they’re foils is through their siblings. Laios’s relationship to Falin is incredibly important to the story. They both clearly love each other and left home to find their own path side by side. But Shuro and his siblings have a large distance between them. It’s never stated why, but I don’t think it’s made better by the whole, competition for inheritance thing. I think it’s also interesting how Laios’s adventure brings him closer to Falin. While Shuro’s takes him away from his brothers, furthering the gap between them.

Even in laios’s party, where he’s able to make connections with people not from his home, he still can’t really connect with others. Namari and Chilchuck both drink after work, Falin and Marcille are besties and all get along pretty well. They’re all comfortable enough with each other to speak their mind and jokingly riff on each other, all except for Shuro, whose relationship with them is much more like co workers. 

It’s the same in his old party. Hien and Benichidori are able to form a friendship with each other, and Tade forms a friendship with Izutsumi. But Shuro is distant from them all, to the point where him going “you guys did a good job, I’m sorry I dragged you guys down here” is enough to bring Maizuru to tears and confuse the hell out of them all. While Laios’s party criticizes him pretty openly, Shuro’s party instead just goes with what he does.

One similarity between him and Laios that I didn't really notice until now is that they both lack real friends, just for different reasons. Laios can’t find real friends because he can't read social cues or socialize well with other people, but he still tries to reach out to people even if things end up sour. Meanwhile Shuro doesn't have friends because he doesn't try to connect with other people, he's passive and only makes connections if they come to him first, ending in friendships that he’s not even happy with.

I also think it's interesting how he has a special relationship with both Touden siblings, just that one is out of love and one is out of hate 💀 Both of these relationships lead to him breaking out of his passive personality and making his own decisions instead of just moving through the motions. By falling in love with Falin, he makes the decision of finally leaving the party in order to form his own rescue team. Due to his hatred of Laios, he ends up getting into a fist fight and finally showing his true emotions and feelings. Both Touden siblings influence Shuro to make active decisions throughout the story (Proposing to Falin, leaving the party, deciding to turn marcille in, fighting Laios, etc). Even though these are bad decisions, (proposing to someone without any kind of romantic relationship first, fist fighting someone while half your party is dead), they are still him finding a voice. Both Laios and Falin make Shuro break away from what's expected and make his own path, even if it's very brief, and even if those decisions were very stupid.

Even though Shuro’s whole reason for coming to this island is the quest he’s sent on by his father, we don't really get much of that in the main manga, instead more focus is put on his relationship with Laios and Falin, (something something even narratively he finds his own path by having an arc based on his relationships instead of his quest). If he had an arc in the manga, I presume it would be around him finally understanding Laios? And eventually repairing the relationship between them and forming a real relationship (Though honestly i'm not sure about this). But nonetheless i think Shuro’s relationship with Laios does improve, even though he says he hates Laios, he also admits that he's envious of him. 

The two of them have personalities that fundamentally clash with each other while reflecting the other. Shuros passiveness and Laios' lack of observation skills basically guarantee their relationship would go south, but they do manage to pick up the pieces, after beating the shit out of each other. 

Laios and Shuro have a genuine talk where Shuro admits his envy, and even offers Laios a way to escape to the east, despite not being asked to. And in the final chapters, Shuro ends up hugging Laios with a genuine smile, despite not being comfortable with physical contact. Even though the two had a rough fight, their relationship manages to recover and become somewhat positive. 

By the end of the story, even though it's implied that Falin rejected Shuro (good for her), he's still on good terms with the Toudens. He finally makes his own decisions and speaks, and even though things got kinda ugly, he's still able to have a positive relationship with Laios and Falin, not as besties or as a married couple, but just as fellow people. He finally finds his voice and speaks up, end creates connections by the end of it. 

If anyone would like to add more to this or has points they wanna bring up please do ^^, these are just my disorganized thoughts that i finally wrote down.

[themtron]

The best writing process I've ever had is writing intentionally "bad" versions of my scene, and using it as a base for the real attempt. But oh my fucking god it is making me genuinely tweak, every time - letting myself write garbage first and not fix every single little-

[imperfectlysaid]

You swore we'd be forever

But you weren't brave enough to stay.

You swore we'd be together

But beside an empty grave

Is where I now lay.

-vira

[deadeyedoodles]

Becoming A Sallow, Chapter 1

"He's staring at you again."

She sighed in frustration at his whisper, glancing up from her notes to read what was written on the board before looking back to her parchment, writing it down.

"I do not know why you continue to tell me this, Andrew, there isn't much I can do about it." She whispered to her friend, without looking at him or the person who was staring at her. What Andrew didn't know was she could feel his gaze on her, and it made her feel... dirty. As if she needed to scrub every inch of herself clean just from being under his gaze.

Which was rude. She shouldn't have such thoughts. Back in fifth year, they'd been such good friends, then sixth year he seemed to become a bit more aggressive, and now, even after being rejected so many times, had resolved to staring at her until she acknowledged him. Then would ask her again.

"He's a brave one to be doing it so openly," Andrew muttered.

"From what I've learned, Gryffindors are known for their bravery," Tessa murmured, her eyes finally meeting the green ones that had been staring at her.

[lakenostalgia]

While some people say there’s such thing as ‘too familiar’ in relationships, I wholly disagree. Though I know where they’re coming from, and I too could differentiate between when your girlfriend starts to feel like your partner - how special it feels to know someone so well, inside and out, that your mind starts to feel intrinsically linked.

And when we stand there in the bathroom at the end of a long day, with mouths full of toothpaste, even though her speech has turned into a gibberish of indifferent vowel sounds;

somehow I still understand her every word.

[lazyollie]

ur zane and cole platonic hcs gave me an idea omg

so basically what if reader is like kai and nya's younger sibling and also a ninja (let's say they have elemental powers too but they somehow got it from smth else, u can choose what the powers are) and reader is like younger than nya by a year and now suddenly everyone else treats them as a younger sibling too (+ reader always ends up saying the most crazy things as if its the most normal thing ever and reader is just always seen as weird or eccentric by others)

also male or gn reader pls (prederably male)

The Ninja with Nya & Kai's little brother (reader)

Personal comment: Oh my. You're so smart. My followers/readers are so creative🤩. Anyways, my headcanons might be inrelevant, because I'm the oldest sibling in my family so I don't really know how it is feels like being the youngest. I will try my best though.

Alright so sibling headcanons ordered and here it is<3

Warnings: bad grammar, typos

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

☆° For the first time when the ninja met you they were shocked how you looked a lot like them.

☆° The eye color from Kai and the hair from Nya. Your power is kind of powerful because you can control the fire and water also.

☆° I think you would be the chillest one out of your siblings. You just got used to their anger issues so you're the one who keep them calm.

☆° The ninja were surprised when they literally started yelling, throwing things in a heated argument and you were just sipping your apple juice like nothing would happen.

☆° Of course, when their yelling got on your nerves you step between them and the person they are fighting with. But you're still the chillest one.

☆° You rarely get mad but when you do you're worse than them.

☆° As the youngest one (let's not talk about lloyd's mental age yk the tea incident) everyone started to treat you like a child.

☆° If it upseted you or got mad they will try to stop treating you like that but there's no doubt they will still be kind of protective over you.

☆° Sometimes they are hard on you during training, not because they want to make it difficult for but because they want to make sure you can protect yourself and fight on missions.

☆° They just want you to be safe:3

☆° Since the team is like a one big family with an old father and lot of children and all of them look at each other as siblings the pranks can't be put on sides.

☆° Sometimes you make pranks with Jay or Cole or whoever feels like wants to do it. So you make together a plan. Then when it will be succesful you're running away from the ninja.

☆° They get easy on you while the other one who you were pranking with faces with madness. Sometimes they fake cry saying It's not fair that your not getting any punishment.

☆° A lot of child fan of the ninja are jealous of you, because just imagine having all the super powerful ninja as your brothers and sister.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Fhuu it took me more time to write this than I thought I will need. I'm kinda proud of this one. Still have 2 requests and 5 drafts to finish🥲

[thatcatinthewindow]

the emptiness echoes

a mournful lament of

discontent for a life

full of wonder lost

on a journey to find

the meaning of

love and happiness

-Cassandra Coxon

[synthwayve]

Back at it again

[lostincoloste]

Act One, Chapter 4

I descended the final stair, into what looked like some sort of… tomb? Shrine? It was long abandoned by people, but there was signs we had been here. Stone carved chairs, what look like elevated presenting or speaking areas, crumbling bookshelves. I first caught sight of the creatures at that last step too. They flitted out of the light as I approached, like a shadow moving across the wall. I didn’t think anything of them at first, but I soon would. I was more worried about Castlello, who was beginning to move sluggishly, lost balance and stepping with all it’s weight. Almost like a little toddler, staggering down the steps. “Cas, are you alright?” was all I could say. I’d never seen it like this before, even when exiting it’s sleep, it’s not disoriented and staggering, just a bit slow. Then I heard the sound box inside of it playing… and then I realized it was mimicking a sounds I hadn’t noticed. A song of some sort, quiet and strange, but with a rhythm. Like a choir, or church congregation. I threw my cape over Castlello, hoping to block out the sounds, but all it did was plop down, sitting onto it’s rocky bottom. “Are you kidding!?” I pleaded with it, but all it did was sit and gently rock around. Fine, I thought to myself. I’ll just examine this alone, then. I was worried, of course, but the anger at the abandonment by my only companion made me act out. I didn’t need a rookling to be an adventurer. The ruins stretched on in front of me, at the end of a short hallway was a thick stone door, partially open, that revealed some sort of engraved wall inside. I quickly pushed my way in, throwing open the doors with abandon, and looking upon the carved wall. I was massively dwarfed by the size of the wall engraving. It was huge and nearly untouched, the bottom bit, the only bit someone of my height, or a bit higher, could reach, was covered in various oily looking hand prints, obscuring much of it. It looked to be a wall, possibly dating to before whoever inhabited here figured out writing, as it was covered in pictures of the hero, brandishing sword and lyre, in various scenes likely depicting tales of heroism.

I approached the wall, my own hands seemingly acting on their own to touch the engraved images. The second my hand made contact, pain wracked every nerve of my body, and my head snapped back, vision going dark for a second. Then, I saw, clear as day, what I knew to be the hero depicted on the wall, a massive sword like my own hanging from his back. He was tall, with dark skin and long curly hair, wearing a very revealing tunic and leather skirt, reinforced with rook pieces made of a red-gold material I’d never seen a Rook of. In his hands, however, was a Lyre. The Lyre looked to be made of bone, or antler of some sort, similar to the hilt of my sword, carved and engraved with something incredibly intricate. I looked out and saw what he was looking at: a city, and a massive rook, nearly the size of a city itself, bearing down on it. He plucked a tune I couldn’t quite make out, like listening to one instrument of a song through the water, and as he played, the air thrummed, and the rook slowed down, then brought itself down into a resting position, before stopping like that. The hero grinned a self confident grin, and strutted down the hill he was perched on, breaking into a jog and shouldering his sword.

Then the scene changed, now rain was beating down on us, massive droplets hailing down on us like arrows from the heavens. I looked behind us, and was shocked by what I saw: My hometown, Stonebrook. Well, Stonebrook before it was Stonebrook. But I would recognize the landscape anytime, The creek, little cliff, and there were even a few houses I knew were old. My home was there, at the base of the Little Cliff. I also saw people, terrified people, hiding in those homes, and running away. I turned back around to see what was terrifying everyone so, and nearly cried out in fright when I turned back. An army of Rooks, monstrous and rampaging, giant swords clashing and cannons thundering. Bearing right down on us, charging. Then, I heard a note, plucked from the lyre, just the one before I couldn’t hear what he was playing. I felt the rooks approaching, and then, above them, I felt a drumbeat, a war song, reverberate through my chest. Once again, the air itself seemed alive, and thrummed with the music. The rooks in front of us stopped, a rampage of these monstrous constructs crashing into each other some moving with such force that the fell apart and broke as the charge halted. Then, after a couple seconds, they turned, and began to flee, the infighting among them worse than before, ruins and bits of them being left as fragments . Soon, they had all fled, thundering into the distance. Then, my vision went dark again.

I awoke on the floor, cold and shivering, my body wet with sweat. I could smell myself, which is disgusting. My muscles felt like I’d been standing there, flexing every single one intensely for several minutes, which I probably was. On the engraving wall, I saw exactly where my hands had been, scorched and dug into the wall. While visions aren’t normal exactly, visions that make that happen feel less normal. My hands weren’t burnt, or even dirties than before, but there was no mistaking that was where I had been standing mere minutes ago. I pulled myself off the floor, and wiped away the sweat on my face with my cape, readjusting my sword on my back to be ready to draw. I had a bad feeling about all this. From here, there was 2 doors out, ignoring the one I came in from. One looked heavy, like a fancy door that might have led to a vault or something of the sort, and the other a plain stone door, unadorned. I opted for the fancy door, reasoning that if I was looking for something in here, hopefully the Lyre, it would likely be hidden in the vault or treasury or whatever this room was. It took all my strength and a good powerful position, but I braced myself and slowly pushed the door open. The room was dark, and once I pulled my torch in, in the centre I saw something weird: A humanoid looking stone construct, holding a bag and stuffing shiny pieces of metal into it. The head of the thing, which looked like a crown of stone, slowly turned towards me. I looked at it, in shock, as it looked back to me with blue glowing eyes. It was made of a dark grey stone, different than the walls of the dungeon, and in it’s hand was a large sack that it was clearly pushing stuff into. I looked at the thing in front me, recognizing what it was doing. This thing was a thief, and likely not from in this tomb. It chattered at me, before dropping the sack on the floor, and pick up a sword off the table, the blade an ancient rusted thing in an unfamiliar design.

The thing swung it’s blade at me, a wide and clumsy strike the I easily backpedaled away from, a half step being all I needed. As it’s blade collided and bounced off the wall, I was able to quickly launch the ball hanging from my hip at it, the ball doing just enough to distract it for a few moments, giving me the time I was buying to pull my sword from my back, and slam it down on the thing’s arm, shattering the limb, sending it back a few steps, reeling. I flipped my blade to the flat side, and threw the whole massive sword over my shoulder and then down in a crescent shaped strike across the creature’s body, it’s stony exterior shattering and flying around the room. For a few seconds, the glow of it’s eyes remained and I could see some sort of… sad expression on it’s face. I was probably reading into it; Rooks and rook related things weren’t truly alive, and don’t have feelings. It’s just out nature, as people, personifying them. As it’s gears ground to a halt and the lights that were it’s eyes went out, I remembered what it was doing. Looting.

I found it’s bag, an old burlap thing that worked very well for carrying treasure. And my-oh-my did it have a good haul. Tiny little fragmented Rookstones, worthless to me but very valuable to crafters. It also had a small wooden box in the bag, which held clearly ancient books within. That’s a good haul. I didn’t think about it in the moment, but it was important that whatever that thing was, it recognized the value in human, intelligent writing. As I write my journal, I worry that what I thought I knew about Rooks and things like them isn’t the full truth I’d believed. I’ll have to… think. The room wasn’t fully looted yet, either. I rifled through cupboard and cabinets, finding what looked like a piece of a Rookling, one I could put onto Castlello, once it wasn’t malfunctioning. I shoved that into the bag, as well as a few more pieces of Rookstones and jewelry made of precious metals.

The faint singing became louder again, and I readied my sword, ready to fight whatever was making the sound. I first saw it’s eyes, glowing like a cat’s in the dark, and a crimson. The whistling slowed as this thing stopped, and then took on a new tune, a droning high pitch, quickly moving up and down in pitch and note. It’s skin was pitch black, I could only barely make out the creature’s size. I called them Ruinlings. It rushed me, sharp claws raking across my shoulder, ripping my shirt and throwing the torch from my hands. I scrambled, moving to get into the light before I was swallowed by the inky darkness that filled the room. I saw a flash of it’s red eye, and dodged into the light of the torch, ducking into a dive roll, and managing to pick up the torch as I rolled past it. As I got to my feet, I pirouetted, swinging the torch around, cracking the torch into the face of the ruinling. The beast fell to the ground, and I gave it no chance, bringing my sword down into the creature, killing it in one fell swoop. Once it wasn’t moving so fast, I could see it better by the torchlight. It’s skin was pitch black, and very wet, almost oily looking. From what I could see of the thing’s mouth, it appeared to have fluted teeth-like bone protrusions that likely were the source of it’s whistling sounds. The rest of the whistling ringing through the ruins had changed, now anxiety inducing droning was heard in dozens of different pitches, a sound I could feel in my skull, rattling and buzzing in my ears. I would have to find whatever was in here fast, and pray to the spirits it would be worth it. I caught my breath, poured a bit of water from my canteen over my scratch. It stung, but it wasn’t deep. Looks like these things kill you by a thousand cuts.

I opened the door that I hadn’t touched yet, and from what I could see, it was a simple long hallway, echoes of the whistles reverberating back and forth across the ancient polished stone. I walked down the hallway, torch held high, with a careful eye for movement, but I was quickly distracted. The walls had similar markings and runes carved into them as Castlello, ancient and faded like it’s own body, but familiar to examination. As I pressed onwards, I heard the whistling change tune again, and before I could listen to what it sounded like, the ground began to rumble underneath me, and the walls on either side slowly began to move inward, threatening to crush me.

Panicking, I searched for a door, or an exit proper, but found nothing. I frantically kepts rushing down the hallway, looking for a way out, but my efforts were fruitless. With ever passing second, the walls pulled in closer, the claustrophobic space filling with the sound of the stone grinding. Then, as I began to lose hope, I saw something. Not necessarily better, but something not crushing at the end of the hallway. It looked like this part of the ruins had fallen into some massive underground sinkhole, a sheer drop awaiting me. I didn’t have time to think, it was either get crushed or brave the drop. I chose to brave the drop. As I ran up to it, I pulled the electrified chain off my belt, and prayed it would work like a grappling hook. I spun it a few times, until the crackling electric energy began to spark off the ball, and jumped from the ledge, into a freefall. I lost my torch, it slipped from my hand and went falling, spinning down hundreds of metres, before splashing into what must be some sort of reservoir that connects to the lake above.

There’s a moment, when you jump into a freefall, before you’ve really registered that you’re falling to likely your death, where it feels like everything is standing still. That hang time is very important to death defying stunts, like the one I did. I tossed the electrified ball, praying that it’s force would crash it into the wall with enough force to embed and hold. I wish I could say it was all skill that saved me, but like everything on the adventure so far, I got lucky. The walls closed as the ball of lightning and steel arced and slammed into the walls, fully securing my ball. Gravity seemed to finally pull me down, and my knuckles went white as I gripped onto the chain for my life. I fell , the chain going taut in my hands, and I began to arc down, swinging back and forth before eventually coming to a slow stop. My arms were already burning and shaking, and I still had to climb up. It took minutes for me to climb just a few metres. But then I lucked out, I saw the faint outline of a tunnel, my eyes having somewhat adjusted to the dark. I lowered myself a bit, and began to swing my legs, slowly building up momentum back and forth, inching my way closer to the ledge with every swing. That’s when the trouble began, as I heard something in the water blew make a splash. I didn’t look down, but within a few moments, I didn’t need to. A giant serpent-like creature launched out of the water, bioluminescent scales lighting up the whole cavern with rainbow lights. It gracefully launched out of the water, it’s gnashing toothy maw taking a few snaps in my direction. My lews swung in a panic, and I fell of the kilter I needed to be swinging at, my hands nearly slipping from the chain. The snake flew at me again, this time coming mere feet from getting me, it’s maw full of rows of razor sharp teeth. I tried to swing my legs again, my body covered in sweat and shaking, when I heard the creature launching at me once more, the roar of the water giving me an idea. It had gotten closer each time, now I bet it was coming directly at me, with power speed and momentum. I held my breath for a moment, then ducked my legs up just in time as the creature’s mouth snapped where I would’ve been a few seconds before. Then, just as fast, I slammed my feet down, springboarding off the snout of the beast and getting launched by it’s speed. I flew forward at a breakneck speed, and felt the chain go loose in my hand as the metal ball pulled out of the wall it was embedded into. I tucked and rolled, hitting the ground hard and tumbling, wrapping myself up in the chain.

Honestly, for a while I just laid there. My body was exhausted, and I was getting hungry. As I lay there, I asked nobody in particular “Why did it have to be snakes…” after who knows how long, I stood up and disentangled myself, putting the ball and chain back properly on my belt. My chest was heaving with the deep breaths I was taking, but as I stood there, I noticed something. Silence. No whistling, no singing; perhaps the Ruinlings thought I had fallen to their trap, or the underground serpent. I slowly stumbled my way through this hallway, before coming to the end, which felt like an intricately carved door. Luckily these engravings didn’t throw me into a vision was all I was thinking. I pushed open the door, throwing my whole body into the push, and it slowly pushed open, grinding open across the floor.

The library opened for me, the light surprising me. I squinted, and looked up, surprised to see there being a skylight, the lake above ground being directly on top of this library. The light flickered and floated around, casting everything is a soft dreamlike view. The room was massive, ancient bookcases covered in dust and cobwebs filled the room. It must’ve been sealed for years, it looked completely untouched, either the ruinlings never found this area or never cared enough to go past the door. They didn’t seem like readers, so it makes sense. I spent… hours flipping through the ancient books. Most were in a language that seems like it’s almost what I could read, but just different enough that I could make only a few words out. The light from the brazier above me turned to a golden orange, and began to dim before I found what I needed, as I put a book back and went around to pick something new at random, and as I pulled it out, I saw a folded, weathered page fall out onto the ground. As I picked it up and read it, I got excited. A symbol of a tower, with a Lyre above it, was sketched out onto the corner of the page, and as my eyes gazed out over to the other side, there was the symbol of a library and an ancient building, perhaps a temple. Presumably, that was where I was. This was a symbol of a map, and I could use it to guide me to the temple. Between the two symbols, there were symbols, telling me to go east, follow through a door, then north, and through another door, before I would be at the tower. While it didn’t tell me much at all, and absolutely no idea on what was between me and the tower, at least I knew approximately where I had to go. Now I just had to get out of here. I also shoved several more books (The ones with the most intact spines and covers) into my burlap sack, betting these would be worth something to someone, or at least a neat gift or keepsake. As I pulled books off the shelves, one got caught, something stopped it as I pulled it out. For a moment, I pulled harder, before realizing it was fake, the pages were just a large chunk of wood. As I realized this, a deep stone grinding noise reverberated through the entire room, dust falling and the ground quaking. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it stopped, and a part of the wall clicked lightly, and then gently swung open, revealing a tight set of spiral stairs.

I climbed the stairs, reaching what appeared to be a dead end, but was truly a fake door that swung open easily as I pushed it. I was back in the central room, with the engravings on the wall. However, what was also here was several ruinling corpses, smashed and broken. What could have done this, I asked myself, before turning to see Castlello, my purple cloak stuck on it’s roof and it’s body marked deeply by new scratch marks. As it saw me, It bounced between it’s legs in excitement, and toddled up to me, playing a happy note from the music box within. It had defeated all the ruinlings? I counted five, excluding the one I had fought. “Hey buddy… you t. I shuffled through my bags, and pulled it out, and I swear Castlello recognized what it was, as it opened the door that I called it’s mouth, and marched towards me. I supposed it knew what it was doing, and I deposited the piece. It closed, and I heard it’s inner mechanisms working, before going quiet, and then producing an incredibly bright light from within, illuminating the whole room in powerful white light. It seemed happy about, this, and turned to me. Castlello seemed like it was waiting for something, so after a few moments I clapped, smiled at it, and gave it a thumbs up, which seemed to satisfy it’s look. “Alright, buddy, I don’t know why you didn’t follow me, but you did good. Let’s get out of here.” doing alright?” I asked, rhetorically, before remembering the piece I had found for it

I left the same way I came, and saw it had fallen into night out here. I can’t believe today was just one day. My shoulder hurt, and I finally finished the now cold tea Lila had made for me. I know she isn’t far but she feels forever away, and I mourn that I will likely never see her again. My journey is taking me further and further away, and I need to embrace my solitude. But I’ll do that tomorrow. Tonight, I found that she put some ointments in my travel bags, and use them to patch myself back up, smelling the powerful medicine and thinking of her. And of home. I wonder if this is how Mom feels right now? Maybe she’s helping someone out there, being a hero.

[anthemsofashootingstar]

[leoneliterary]

So I’m assuming that Sefu’s got a lot of beef with anyone that is considered a noble+ (most likely due to his and Tamu’s past experiences, which is understandable) so he probably wouldn’t be the most supportive of Laverna/Aretas/Merikh/Sarai romances… Also very likely an anti-Sutek supporter as well for obvious reasons lol

I wonder if he’d come around though if the MC has really high friendship with the Ducklings/Talons? It’s hard to choose between found family vs. blooming love :(

I'm so happy you brought this up!

A lot of attention has been paid to how the ROs with status and the people around them would react to the MC, but the MC has people too. The MC's loved ones aren't going to just sit and watch the MC get involved with someone without forming an opinion.

Sefu, Desma, Tamu, Amatus, and even Hadassah and Yusra will have certain reactions to certain ROs, whether that be concern, approval, or outright "over my dead body" responses. Depends on your choices. (You'll have to read to see who feels which way about who hehe)

You could also try to keep some relationships hidden. What could go wrong with that?