#Got up very quickly and flew away running into people and trees alike in his great escape

[grian-in-a-plethora-of-places]

Grian is graduating college (with a degree in pranking)!

Grian is graduating!

[lost-souls-wander]

Hunter x Reader

Chapter 1

It happened very fast, and everything went out of control. One moment humanity was just doing its thing and living in order. The next week however, everything had changed for the worst. All because of some kind of green flue. Don't take me wrong, I was concerned in the beginning, the fear of losing my slightly rhythmic life sure had taken its toll on me, especially after everyone around me started to panic, including my parents.

"HANNA! You cant just leave us! HANNA!-" those were my dads last words to his ex-lover and wife as she had taken the car, and drove off with our supplies and food. Dad was a mess after after what happened. He couldn't properly take care of us anymore, he had lost a lot of sleep in a few weeks time, his behavior also worsened. He was quick to anger, and constantly irritated. So I took it upon myself to learn things on my own as he continued to reign terror on the last of his family. I had snuck out just a few hours before sun rise and grabbed my bike. My fastest form of transport at the moment, and made a quick tour to the library, as usual, but my dad never knew. And it was possibly better this way.It was empty and deserted, I could hear a few inhuman groans here and there but couldn't quite picture what these "zombie" like creatures looked like, our dad was pretty much a helicopter when it came to the outside world when the apocalypse hit and mom left. None was allowed outside the house at all, just him. And he alone went scouting for food and food alone, here and there some materials but never something for us, his children.I could see his state worsening by the day, and considered it top priority to get away as soon as possible with as much knowledge on how to survive as possible. The building of the library was thick with a musty sent of old books and dust, lots of iron too, which I could only guess was blood. I stayed away from the strong scent of iron and focused on getting to the herbology section of the library.In these times mankind forgot that the true power of surviving came from knowledge, no knowledge? No advantage. No advantage? Possibly a gruesome death would follow.My hands brushed the polished wood that kept the books in their place on the shelves, thinking of how many people had touched these books, read through them, and possibly never did something with the knowledge inside. It was a shame really. I wanted to perhaps become member of this society and yet here it was, crumbling away at these un-dead. It saddened me a little, and I was horrified for a while when I heard it. What was I gonna do now? My degree in art and drawing was pretty much useless now. At least I could scavenge for a cabin in the mountains and settle down there, far away from society, where no zombies or humans could reach so I could exist in peace.

I chuckled, a mid-tone raspy chuckle filled my throat and echo'd a little through the empty apocalyptic library as I stopped and continued thinking about what to do and where to go. But first order of business was to get knowledge from the books and find a place to escape to. Grabbing my black old school bag I ripped it open quickly, wanting to fill it with the necessary books and just get out of here, The sounds of the un-dead in the distance was off putting, and I wasn't taking a chance to be caught in the middle of a group of them. I might have not seen them. But I knew damn well that from the clips on TV that those fuckers were fast. And me without my bike? Not so much.

I grabbed the books by pairs, quickly turning them to their back side and skimming through what the book would hold.

Edible herbal plants... Seasonal plants... Look alike's and their dangers... Looked valid enough. It went like this for a few minutes until my bag was full with books about surviving in nature, herbs, and making shelters for the night. Although I doubted it would help against zombie apocalypses it was always good to know how to make something remotely sheltering and how to acquire food from its natural source.

I quickly flung my backpack over my back and quickly took in the noise around me, the hoard had gotten ever so closer, and it started to make me anxious. If I didn't get out of here soon and back home I would be in a LOT of trouble, perhaps more trouble than being chased down the streets by a hoard of zombies. So I speed-walked towards the exit, the broken doors were leaning against the framework that had red and black splotches all over it the doors pretty much being smashed in two pieces by something extraordinary big. A shiver ran down her spine, May did NOT want to know what was big enough to do that.

after leaving the library doors she quickly hid in the bushes, peeking in between the leaves to see there was any danger, the branches poked and prodded at her form, the twigs leaving nasty marks on her clothes and bare skin.

There! in the distance she spotted her bike, old and a bit rusty, but it did the job well, I looked around if there were any zombies walking around and about, the road was clear, and so was the road ahead. It was a bit strange considering I hear an entire group of them just a few minutes ago but that must have been the other side of the building, luckily not the way I needed to go in order to get home.

I got partially up and half crouched/ran towards my bike which was placed against the opposite building in an alleyway, the alleyway was filled with trashcans and bags that had been ripped open by rats and other critters that roamed the streets and needed some food. Not that it was of any use now, it was all rotten and left a horrid stench that made my nose scrunch up in disgust.

I got on my bike and quickly started to get home, it was then that I started to feel like I was being watched. I felt it crawling over my skin that there was something or someone watching me, maybe some of the other survivors? or perhaps a zombie? I didn't want to find out and started to bike a little faster.

And then it happened all so fast, an inhuman growl came from my left and I was flung off my bike, panic setting into my very bones as I felt the bike get out of my grip, my face looked upwards as I saw the dark sky with a few light rays from the sun. I felt the cold harsh ground on my back and the air flew from my lungs as I tumbled down the steep hill, the creature flung with me yelping in surprise at it's own actions, we both rolled harshly down the wall of the construction site that was never finished.

I felt whatever air I had in me leave my body as I harshly was flung onto ground and came to a stop on my back, I groaned in agony face twisting in pain. everything hurt, my shoulders were probably bruised beyond belief and my legs felt like they had been ripped off whilst still being attached to me. And don't even get me started on my head, it hurt like a bitch!

I continued to wallow in my own pain for a brief moment until I heard a scream that sounded like it came from the depth's of hell itself, and a squishing like sound like flesh had been impaled on high impact, until all that was left was sound of screams of pure agony.

I didn't want to look at what had happened, I was in so much pain and the adrenaline was so high in my system that I made a run for the hill and grabbed what was left of my bike and just went, the howls of pain in the background growing fainter and fainter as the black concrete enveloped my mind, the scent of iron in the air was even more noticeable than before, and the distant sound of zombies screaming left me in even more panic than before as I skidded to a stop in front of my house, put my bike back in its place and threw myself over the fence to climb in the tree, and get inside of my room.

I did not come down that day for food or anything else.

That night I laid in bed curled up in fear and confusion, what had attacked me? what was it even? was that a zombie?! panic and fear had settled itself deep into my mind, I did not want to go back to the library in fear of coming across whatever that was, but fear soon turned into a guilty sympathetic feeling as I remembered what had happened to it, it had gotten pierced by metal rods and maybe was there, slowly dying, starving to death. If it even was alive that is.

I shut my eyes, letting my dark room filled with plants and comfortable blankets fall from my vision as I let a restless sleep take over me, for the next up coming week I did not sleep well, only thinking about the creature that might still be stuck there. Waiting for whatever was next to come.

[90spumkin]

Have Yourself a Spooky Little Christmas

Summary: What the holidays are like with Spencer and your 5 year old son.

A/N: Well here it is. My first Christmas fic! I enjoyed writing this it made me all warm and happy. I don’t know who to give creds to for the pictures because I got it from google. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this, and message me if you would like to be added to my taglist or the taglist for a certain series just specify which one. Also this is kind of how i pictured Ronan while writing this. Let me know if any of the links throughout the fic are not working and I will fix them.

Pairing: dad!Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Warnings: lying to a child about Santa, the rest is just fluff 

Word Count:1942

It had been a long day at the office. Pile upon piles of paperwork were coming in trying to get everything settled before the holidays. I had just curled up on the couch with my son Ronan to watch a Christmas movie, when the door of the apartment flies open and in comes my husband weighed down by shopping bags.

I instantly untangle myself from my blanket to go help him. As I make my way to him as I quickly as I can my dorky husband starts on one of his rants before I can even get a hello out.

“Y/n you are not gonna believe all the Christmas stuff I just found at that little Christmas store down the street. I was gonna surprise you guys with getting home early. Well as you can see, I got distracted.” Spencer giggled at himself and I stood staring at my husband still trying to process that my Halloween obsessed husband was actually excited about Christmas.

Don’t get me wrong we have always celebrated Christmas the 8 years we’ve been together, but we have never really gotten into the festivities of the holidays. Spencer was bent over rummaging through the bags he had dropped on the floor. He stood up with what looked like sweaters clutched in each hand a goofy grin on his face, “Where’s Ronan? I got us all matching Christmas sweaters!”

“Asleep on the couch. Spencer honey why on earth-?” I was cut off by Spencer walking away and gently shaking our son awake. There was a loud screech and yelling of “Daddy! Daddy you’re home!”

Ronan attacked his father, wrapping his arms around his neck. Spencer picked him up and walked back over towards me. He showed Ronan the sweaters and our son just thought that they were the best thing ever by the look on his face.

I looked down at the bags at my feet which contained way more Christmas decorations we had room for. Spencer noticed me looking and said, “I thought we could visit my mom this weekend and decorate her room with what we don’t use here.”

I thought my heart was gonna explode. This man is so caring and loving and I swear looking at him holding our son and love evident on his face I knew I would continue to love this man for the rest of my life. I nodded and smiled, “Oh course honey, of course.”

Spencer’s grin only grew. He started to bounce Ronan who giggled in return, “Who’s ready to decorate?” Ronan squealed in his arms and shouted, “MEEEEE!”

Spencer put him down and they grabbed the bags Spencer had dropped on the floor and raced to the living room where they dumped the bags contents on the couch.

I walk in a little less as excited knowing we still haven’t put the Halloween decorations away, “Spencer honey are you forgetting something?” He looks at me questioningly and I only point at the skeleton standing in the corner and the fake pumpkins lining the fireplace mantle. He smiles and gives me a wink, “Oh those are staying.” This of course draws out even more excitement from the little boy at his side. They are so much alike with their mop of brown curls, love of learning, and love of all things spooky. I just take it all in at stride and decide to set the mood with some Christmas music.

30 minutes pass and we have our tree up and tinsel lining the kitchen island. I begin to hum with the song playing as I place ornaments on the tree. Spencer and Ronan are in the process of placing lights and a Santa hat on our lovely skeleton friend. Ronan begins to sing while he works and decides to change the lyrics, “Have yourself a spooky little Christmas.” This makes his father so happy and from then on out we no longer say Merry Christmas.

------

A week or so passed since we decorated the house. We have not had time to do any other holiday festivities. Of course, Ronan wasn’t missing out due to all the Christmas things he gets to do in school.

It was the first day of the two weeks we get off for the holidays and I made the decision to celebrate and spend time with my little family as much as I possibly could. About the time I had made this said decision, the apartment door flew open and was followed by the pitter patter of little feet and the laugh of my husband.

They came into the kitchen where I had been since they left to get breakfast. Ronan had a serious look on his face as he said, “Mommy, we need to leave right now!”

I was a little concerned, but one look at Spencer’s face told me all I needed to know. They had concocted a plan and it all started with this conversation with my favorite little boy.

“Oh, we do? And why is that honey?” I asked while trying not to let a smile slip and break my serious composer.

“If we don’t leave right now then we’ll miss Santa at the Christmas festival!”, he leans in and whispers the best he can, “If we miss Sant then Daddy will be grumpy and we don’t like him when he’s grumpy.”

Spencer of course still hears him, and snorts and I can’t hold back my smile any longer, “Oh we definitely don’t want that. Let me grab my coat.”

This brought a loud squeal from Ronan who launched himself into his father’s arm who also started to squeal in excitement.

Once we arrived at the festival my attention was locked on all the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. There was breathy ‘wow’ to my right, and I looked to see the two most important people in my life staring at the lights and decorations with their eyes wide and mouths agape. They were both so mesmerized that I was able to catch the child like wonder on both their faces in a picture that I would cherish forever.

I had just enough time to put my phone away before Ronan snapped out of it and said, “Okay Mommy, Daddy. This is our game plan. First, we find hot chocolate. Second, find Santa.” He put his little hand in the air between us and we laid ours on top of his and as soon as he said “Break!” Spencer scooped him up and our little Christmas mission was ago.

We had managed to drink two cups of hot chocolate each by the time it was our turn with Santa. Ronan was so excited he could hardly stay still. When they told him, it was his turn he all but ran to sit in Santa’s lap. When Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, Ronan thought for a moment and then leaned and whispered in his ear. Whatever he told Santa made him let out a gleeful ‘HO HO HO’.

Once we were a little ways away with Ronan holding mine and Spencer’s hands as we walked, he asked, “Would you guys like to know what I asked for?”

Spencer smiled down at him, “Only if you want to tell us buddy.”

“I asked for a little brother or little sister. I think I would be a good big brother.” He said with a huge smile. I looked at Spencer who was already looking at me. We smiled and said in unison, “You sure would.”.

We found a little café to have lunch and as we ate, I watched as Spencer and Ronan discussed where we would go next. I couldn’t help but to feel overwhelmed with love knowing my husband goes above and beyond for our son because he loves him so much, he wants him to have everything he didn’t as a child. And in return Ronan all but worshipped his father.

----

It’s Christmas Eve and our apartment is full of laughter and flying flour. Spencer and Ronan’s chestnut curls look as if they have frosted tips. I let out a laugh at how cute they are, “You guys are a mess!”

“Mommy your hair is white too!” Ronan and Spencer snorted at my shocked reaction. I hadn’t realized how much I had been hit in the crossfire.

“Okay that’s it I am never letting you two back in the kitchen.” I said with a pointed look. This just caused a whine from both the boys. I of course responded with throwing more flour at them both.

Cookies were finally in the oven and I was able to talk the boys into helping me clean up the kitchen. Ronan was bringing me the dishes to put in the dishwasher and he seemed to be deep in thought. Spencer noticed this also and paused in wiping off the counter to ask, “Hey bud, what’s on your mind?”

Ronan handed me the bowl he was holding and turned towards his dad, “How does Santa visit us? We don’t have a chin tea.”

Spencer’s face twisted in confusion and then his genius brain caught up, “Oh chimney. Well me and Santa go way back. We grew up together, and so I gave him a key so he could make sure you got all your presents.”

Ronan smiled really big and made the ‘come here’ motion with his finger. Spencer squatted down in front of him and Ronan place his hand on Spencer’s cheek and said, “You are a very good Daddy.”

Tear swelled in Spencer’s eyes and he wrapped our little boy in a hug. All I could do was clutch my heart and smile with tears in my eyes. They stayed like that a few minutes until the oven timer went of and Ronan detached himself from Spencer and yelled, “COOKIES!”

-----

Waking up slowly, stretching with the sun shining through the window onto your face. That’s the ideal way to wake up. But that is not how Spencer and I woke up on Christmas Day.

I was brought out of my blissful sleep by a tiny foot in my rib cage which was connected to a little boy screaming, “SANT CAME! SANTA CAME!”

Spencer and I both groaned, but Spencer was awake a lot faster than I was. He scooped Ronan up and started running to the living room screaming a long with the boy in his arms. I followed close behind wondering how they have so much energy so early in the morning.

Once we were all in the living room Spencer started giving Ronan his gifts one at a time. After opening every gift Ronan would say, “This is the best present ever!”. This of course made us giggle.

Seeing the joy all over Ronan’s face and all over Spencer’s as he watched our son was the best gift I could have ever asked for.

After a long day of opening and playing with gifts we all curled up on the couch to watch Ronan’s favorite Christmas movie, A Nightmare Before Christmas. Ronan was curled up in my lap with his head on Spencer’s lap. Spencer looked at me then at the boy in our laps. I looked over at him as he was running a hand through Ronan’s curls in a calming manner. He looked at me and said with a smile, “I would never want to spend a spooky little Christmas with anyone else.” He kissed my head and I curled up into his side pulling our son closer to us. I never wanted Christmas to be over.

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Taglist: @criminalmindzjunkie​ @brooklynxnicole​ @hendersonsshadow​ @homoose​

[contagiousprincess]

i defy you, stars- Chapter 1

“From your first cigarette to your last dyin’ day”

Two households, both alike in dignity

(In fair Verona where we lay our scene)

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;

Whose misadventurous piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

The fearful passage of their death-marked love

And the continuance of their parents’ rage,

Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,

Is now the two hours traffic of our stage;

The which, if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend

-William Shakespeare

The Whispering Woods were once tangled growth, full of creatures and plants alike waiting for their chance to claw to the surface. The soil was fertile and the air was sweet, but the area was crowded. The so called “whispering” was the noise of the wind pushing and squeezing it’s way through the brush and tightly woven tree trunks. Or, according to legend, it was the noise of the wildlife twisting, changing, moving to confuse lost travelers. 

No one was quite sure how the first people managed to make their stake along the banks of the river that ran through the heart of the forest and emptied into the ocean. But they imagined that they had to follow the forest's rules, because otherwise they would have been eaten up and spit out like the bugs that crawled along the skin of the ground. However they did it, those people weren’t alone for long.

Soon enough, another group came to compete, on the other bank of the river. The two different clans of people could have cooperated, learned to help each other, and survived to tell the tale to others. But just like the wildlife and fragrant trees before them, the two seemed determined to push the other down to reach the top, drawing lines in the silence that separated them. 

Where before, the forest was one giant, breathing body, a new word was introduced to the area: border. They fought for control of the harbor and the trade route along the river, but they were so evenly matched that no one ever won, instead locked forever in an endless stalemate.

So, the two groups began a bitter rivalry. One that continued for many, many, many years. Long after a bridge was built, connecting the two sides of the river for trade (though neither group would dare suggest it was necessary). Long after The Whispering Woods no longer whispered since the trees were gone and the wind had grown hot and stale. Long after the bugs and skin of the earth was replaced with cobblestone streets and alleys. So much long after, that now when asked what they were fighting over, the groups could not even remember, only that if the Horde and the Alliance ran into each other on the streets, someone would walk away badly hurt or worse. 

And this was how on a particularly sweltering hot day, six people almost died.

“Did you just flip us off?” Though most of her thick hair was pulled into a band beside her face, Mermista brushed the remaining pieces of hair out of her eyes, as if to make sure she was seeing clearly, but her dark eyes and thick eyebrows were dangerous, daring anyone to mess with her.

“And what if I did?” Lonnie catcalled, the sound ringing through the street. She was shorter, but stood tall, her boots planted firmly on the street with her hands on her hips. The braids on her head framed her face and softened the defined lines, but there was nothing soft about the way her mouth curled as she taunted the other girl.

“I’d tell you that if you apologize for it, we won’t beat you into a stain on the street.” Mermista stood shoulder to shoulder with Sea Hawk, who might not have been the sharpest tool in the box, but could fight just as well as the next guy. His dorky mustache and dumb boot and bandana combo seemed harmless enough, but he had a tendency to burn down anything in his path. Literally.

Lonnie considered this, and turned to Rogelio, who was broad and as mean as nails, visually and physically intimidating. “Do you think we would get arrested if I flipped them off again?”

“Yes,” Rogelio said simply. A man of few words, so when he used them, it was prudent to listen.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine.” Lonnie looked Mermista up and down and called, “I didn’t flip you off, but I was flipping someone off! Now, why are you still here?”

“You picking a fight?” Rogelio said. 

“Me? Pick a fight? Never,” Mermista said, eyes flashing.

“Watch it,” Rogelio grunted. 

“Now why would I do that?”

“Because Shadow Weaver is behind you!” yelled Lonnie, suddenly. She pointed, fear flashing across her face. Mermista and Sea Hawk spun around wildly, craning their necks, but they were only met with the normal hustle and bustle of the harbor. 

Lonnie busted out into laughter, doubling over and eventually having to sit on the ground to catch her balance and breath. She held her stomach, tears running down her face as her laughs echoed through the street. 

Mermista and Sea Hawk turned around, faces red and now so furious, sparks practically flew off of them. Sea Hawk unsheathed his sword and started towards them, but his friend grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, but he still strained against her.

“Oh, we got ourselves a comedian, huh?” Mermista drew her sword and faced them. “Personally, my favorite joke is the one where we pummeled the two Horde scrum into dust and they got washed down the river. The punchline always gets me.” 

Lonnie finally started to rise from the ground, and pulled out a dagger. “I’d like to see you try.”

Rogelio turned toward her, drawing his sword, and quietly said “Don’t forget that parry maneuver we’ve been working on. It’s all in the footwork.”

“Not the time, Rogelio! We have bigger problems, like a princess and her big fat mouth!”

At that, Mermista released Sea Hawk, and the four lunged towards each other. As soon as the clang of metal swords started to echo through the city, a young male voice could be heard yelling for them to stop. 

After a minute passed with no avail, an arrow careened over the group's heads, making a horrible screeching noise and catching their attention for a moment. Taking advantage of the opening, Bow pushed his way into the center, driving them apart. A top notch archer, the dark-skinned teen was well respected in the Alliance. He wasn’t necessarily the strongest, but agility and cleverness kept him on his toes, as well as alive. 

“Everybody back up! Do you have any clue what you’re doing?!” he screeched, desperately holding his hands up in a feeble attempt to keep them from colliding again. He finally managed to wrest Mermista’s sword out of her hand and pushed her and Sea Hawk away from the Horde teens. 

“We stand on thin ice as it is,” he said to the two of them. “Whatever the Horde trash did to provoke you isn’t worth it.” Raising his voice, he called, “They aren’t worth any of your time.” He gestured to Lonnie and Rogelio with Mermista’s sword, glaring as he did.

Lonnie opened her mouth to defend herself, but she was interrupted by another member of the Horde. 

Scorpia was tall and extremely buff, making Rogelio look like a prepubescent boy. Her shock of white hair on top was cropped close to her head and her eyes, normally kind and warm, were furious and focused. Scorpia, drawn by the sounds of fighting, had started running over seconds ago but now was faced with the sight of Bow pointing a sword at her two friends. 

She stormed in front of the two and stared down Bow, who paled upon seeing her. 

“Threatening my friends, Bow?” She towered over the other boy, and he craned his neck to see her. “Hope you had fun, because I won’t let it happen again.”

“I was trying to get them to stop fighting, Scorpia!” Despite their difference in size, he set his jaw and didn’t back down.

“With your sword drawn?” She scoffed.  “A likely story! You Alliance brats are always so high up on your horse, yelling about peace, complaining about the fighting but then you come into our territory and attack us when we mind our own business, and I, for one, am sick of it.” 

Bow began to speak very slowly and deliberately, as if explaining something simple to a child. “I. am. not. attacking. anyone. But if I was, it wouldn’t be much of a fight,” he smirked. 

Scorpia, enraged, drew herself up to her full height, and faced him, head on. “Lets have at it then,” she said, voice deadly even. 

Bow hesitated, and then knocked an arrow and drew it. “Fine with me”

Scorpia charged at him, leaping towards his head with her bare hands. Bow quickly ducked and rolled underneath her, coming up behind Scorpia on one knee. Just as her feet hit the pavement, he released his arrow. The arrowhead fractured in midair and split, shooting out a web, the delicate filaments of wire and carefully placed weights searching for a target to ensnare. 

The web slammed into Scorpia’s shoulder, biting into her skin and pulling her down, but only managed to wrap itself around her arm, fortunately for her. Unfortunately for Bow, Scorpia grabbed hold of the web and began to swing it, transforming her trap into a weapon. 

She advanced on him, taking the weighted net with her. Bow tried to back up and pull another arrow, but she closed in on him, taking advantage of his lack of close range weapons. She swung the web at him, and he ducked the first time, narrowly avoided the second, but on the third she feinted towards his head, changed course and then used her net to sweep his feet out from underneath him. 

Bow fell flat on his back, his head hitting the ground with a sickening thud, and Scorpia towered above him. She raised the heavy weights above her and started to bring them down on him, but a shout stopped her cold in her tracks. 

A small crowd of citizens had gathered, circling the group, but they during the fight began to chant something that completely baffled the six enemies. 

“Down with the fight! Down with the Horde! Down with the Alliance!”

The racket grew and grew, gathering almost all of the citizens not affiliated with either the Horde or the Alliance. The cacophony reached its peak when a horn call sounded and the crowd cleared a walkway and silenced. They stared up in awe as the 3 most powerful people in Whispering Woods strolled in front of them: Hordak, Shadow Weaver, and Angella. 

Hordak was muscular but not overly so. He walked with an odd gait, and his greasy black hair and beady eyes that were almost red were disquieting. But he radiated power, and as he walked the citizens bowed. Hordak was the Prince of the Whispering Woods, and he would be obeyed. 

Shadow Weaver was the leader of the Horde, one of the feuding groups, and Angella was the leader of the Alliance, the other. The two were both tall, but the similarities ended there. Shadow Weaver was lanky, and had long dark hair. She was clothed in deep red, and wore a mask covering her face. Even though her eyes couldn’t be seen, anyone who felt her stare grew anxious. Angella, on the other hand, was willowy, with long, bright hair. Her face was kind, but sharp. This along with the circlet inlaid with a pearl that sat on her forehead, immediately gave the impression that this was someone who was to be listened to and obeyed without question. 

The Prince strode in front of the other two, but they stood as far apart as possible, shooting each other with dark looks that made the citizens uneasy. Hordak, commanding the attention of every person in the street, sauntered up to where Scorpia still stood over Bow. Without saying a word, he flicked his wrist and Shadow Weaver and Angella untangled the two and dragged them as well as the other four to opposite sides of the circle that the crowd had formed. 

“Citizens!” Hordak boomed. “I have heard countless complaints about the feud which has led to this incident.” He sneered as he said it, making the fact that the enemies had almost killed each other seem as insignificant as childhood tomfoolery, and in a way, it was. “This ancient grudge has interrupted trade, caused countless injuries, and endlessly fosters riots and unrest amongst my people. It is high time for it to break.”

Angella and Shadow Weaver began to stammer, no doubt trying to pin the blame on the other, but Hordak simply held up his hand and they fell quiet. 

“I recognize that I cannot control the… feelings of my citizens.” His lip curled. “However, something still must be done. The city cannot stand with its people constantly fighting in the streets. So, my decision is this: whichever of you causes any more disturbance in my city will pay for it with their life.”

The crowd broke out into anxious murmurings, and the feuding groups began to protest, but Hordak held firm.

“I have made my decision. Now all of you go before I regret not ending you all here and now.” He leveled a glare at both groups and the citizens, who hesitated but began to disperse. Hordak turned his gaze to the women who led both groups and called out to them. “Shadow Weaver, follow me. Angella, I will speak with you later.”

The Horde and Alliance members all hesitated for a moment. 

“Was I unclear? GO!” roared Hordak.

With one final glare at each other, the two groups broke apart. Shadow Weaver fell into step behind Hordak, Angella led her Alliance towards the other side of the river, and Scorpia took the Horde members in the direction of their manor.

None of them noticed what was left behind. As they all meandered away, muttering darkly about their respective foes, a clear mark of the fight remained. Though no one could say exactly who it belonged to, it didn’t really matter in the end. 

A singular smear of sticky, scarlet-red blood stained the cobblestone street, seeping into the cracks in the mortar, already beginning to dry in the sweltering hot sun. 

notes: hiya! im katie and the idea for this fic basically mugged me in the middle of the night and i had to do something about it. this is just a teaser i think theres like a part two of chapter one but it was bulky and i wanted to post something bc why not. im not quite sure what im doing with this fic but i dont care im having fun lmfao. ive never written any fic before so be nice or i will block you i dont give a shit! this will probably go up on ao3 as soon as i can get an invite so for now this will live on tumblr yee haw! anyways lmk what yall think but only if its nice kk byeeee xoxoxo

[insomniac-dot-ink]

Breadcrumbs

It was Saturday night so you knew it wasn’t going to be a good time. I mean, someone would probably be having a good time, but that was usually the problem. I work as an EMT downtown and a “good time” didn’t always turn out right for everyone. Weekends in particular often saw a good number of drunken brawls, passed out Freshmen on lawns, people accidentally locked out of their homes and close to frostbite, and all sorts of mild concussions.

I had been dreading this particular day for the entire week. Madison is a college town, meaning that most of the population is young adults trying to get a degree in psychology or international relations or getting alcohol poisoning by the age of 22. It also meant that when things happened at the college, the rest of the city felt it.

It was the weekend after finals and we felt it. The night before had seen a tiny girl in a rainbow shirt puking in the ambulance three times (and on me) and a pre-law student having a nervous breakdown over their test results while I asked them over and over what they had taken. And at the very end of my shift around 3 am a frat boy tried to punch me and then cried, asked to call his mom, and fell asleep all in the span of ten minutes.

I was actually one of those students just a few years earlier with the same panic and sleep-deprived wildness in me. I tried my best to help with sutures and calming words and a very large puke bag. “Doctor” had been the dream job since I was old enough to google youtube videos of live-surgeries, but getting to “Dr. Braginsky” was a thing far in the future.

For now, it was just me and my crew and the frigid streets.

It was the regular gang that night for the Ford pick-up rig: Mary Keynes who was at least forty but drove like hell and texted her kids every few hours. She had been there longer than any of us and often regaled us with the story of how she left her husband and decided to make several “life changes.” Driving an ambulance was one of those changes.

And then there was the other paramedic on duty: Jimmy Newark. He wasn’t even that interested in medicine as far as I knew and worked as an accountant during the day. He told us he just wanted something to fill his nights and was a slow-talking calm man with a sad-dog look about him, like he had been kicked a few too many times as a puppy. I also knew that I only ever saw him really come alive was when he was staunching a head wound or trying to resuscitate an old lady from heart failure.

It seemed he got some weird thrill from it, but he was good at his job so I never said anything.

It was me, Mary, and Jimmy. We were pretty chummy at that point and worked well together and the first few hours flew by.

We picked up a kid with a badly sprained ankle after he took a spill on some black ice and visited two seniors who had taken some party drug that had them picking at invisible scabs and babbling. I didn’t think anything of it.

It was a ten hour shift and we were four hours in. Downtown was all lights and red faces and bad music coming from somewhere. I had my flash cards out. I had been studying for the MCAT for almost a year and a half by that point and being an EMT was good practice, but it wasn't a replacement for the actual book knowledge med school would take. And I kept getting nervous.

My hands are steady and there was no end to my fascination with the weird things of the human body, but thinking about testing into competitive schools like Johns Hopkins always got me a little stomach sick. I was getting that nervous sick feeling thinking about applications when we got the call.

It came in over the radio and Mary took it right away. I didn’t hear most of the conversation since I was absorbed in my own thoughts and figured it was something like a college student slipping on a beer bottle. But it was different.

“Right, Sherman Avenue.” We made a quick U-turn and turned on our lights just as I stuffed my flashcards away into a separate compartment as to not get in the way. “Good Samaritan call-in.” Mary said over her shoulder, “an injured man off Sherman avenue. Near the park.” Jimmy leaned forward, “Cuts? Broken bones?” “Didn’t say,” Mary said and made a sharp right turn. “He said it might be a homeless guy. That he just looked bad.” “Okay,” I said and mentally prepared myself for any of the “worst” possibilities. There was a relatively small homeless population in Madison, but they were the most vulnerable to violence and the worst of the Wisconsin winter.

We made it in good time to Warner Park and I looked up just in time to see the slate grey skies starting to release little tiny puffs of snow. “Oh great,” Jimmy sighed and looked up with me. “I left one my house windows open.” 

I rolled my eyes and we pulled up to Sherman Avenue with a Goodwill across the street and dark stretches of park on the other. I sighed, “I don’t suppose there was a better tip-off for where this person actually is?” Mary stopped the engine. “Better get out and give it a quick sweep.” We usually only spend a little while looking for an injured person on busy nights like this, but Jimmy pointed first.

“There,” he said and jerked a finger up. “By the light.” There was an upright figure caught in the pure white light of the street lamp on the sidewalk and standing perfectly still. “Is he… hurt?” I asked and squinted and Jimmy was already out of the car. “What are you talking about?” He pinched his gloves on and was running, I got my own gloves on and ducked after him.

“Don’t you want the stretcher?” Mary asked, but I didn’t pause. The man looked like he was standing just fine by himself.

Snowflakes kissed my cheeks softly and I followed Jimmy’s hurried steps toward the figure. “Hold on sir! We’re coming.”

My heart was pounding and I didn’t know why. It beat it in my ears with a hot sticky pulse and my breathing was feverish and far too fast for our light jog. I blinked once, twice, and then the man was farther away. Standing in the light of the next street lamp.

“Wait,” I didn’t like this. I turned to reach for Jimmy, but there was only air besides me. I slowed and looked left and right, “Jimmy?”

Soft snow landed on the tip of my nose and there was a red and visceral scent on the breeze. I took a deep breath of it and recognized the rusty hardened stench of old blood. The type that’s been left there to turn to copper and old musty globs.

I tensed from head to foot and when I looked down there were several tiny drops of blood spattering across the sidewalk. Leading me forward. They were wet and must have been what gave the air a putrid smell.

“Jimmy?” I looked around again, but the street was empty as the wind whipped through the branches of the park trees nearby. I turned to get away from this new eerie twilight feeling.

I took a step and the toe of my shoe dipped into a small puddle of blood. I jumped back, I wasn’t a stranger to blood but it looked darker than normal and seemed to sit...wrong. It was too thick and too shiny in the light.

I stood there as if transfixed, and a soft moan crawled through the space. It matched the wind itself and crooned almost sweetly. I jerked my head up and there was the figure again.

He was standing this time inside the park itself by a bench and tall beech tree. I scanned the area around for Jimmy one more time and then figured maybe he got ahead of me. The moan weaved through the air and I reached out a hand toward it.

“Sir?” The smell of cooking meat and winter chill filled my mouth and I covered my nose with my sleeve. The man stood next to the bench, unmoving, and I tried to be rational, there’s blood. Someone’s hurt. Do your job.

I walked quickly on autopilot to get closer to the stranger. Nothing about him came into sharper focus: he was still a faded silhouette among long shadows. I did notice however there was a light I hadn’t seen before.

It was so faint you might be able to convince yourself it wasn’t there, but it burnt pale and tinted blue around his form. An outline a very determined child might have painted around someone.

I sucked in a deep breath and swallowed down the brackish scent once more as I drew closer to him. Spots of blood appeared as shiny pools on the ground. The moan was even softer now and barely audible.

“I’m here to help.” I heard myself say as I indicated the medical insignia on my jacket. The wind slapped me in the face and I winced.

I looked up and there was no one by the bench, but my gaze was driven deeper into the wooded park by a gentle light. And the figure.

I shivered and knew I needed to turn back, I needed it like water or air or a hug after a long day. But there was this smooth line of blood slithering toward him and I was walking. I tried to make it make sense- I couldn’t just leave the fellow and surely once I had him I could drag him back toward the ambulance and find Jimmy again.

I walked past the park bench and past the leafless trees and some of the slush left over from a storm a few days earlier. The snowflakes caressed my cheeks and I squinted ahead.

The moan was musical at this point and I almost started swaying along to it. I didn’t, but I found that I was still walking and walking.

The park passed by and my eyes were filled with the soft glowing blue light and the deep melodic groan that led me toward the earthy blood scent and faded outline.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away and barely noticed as the landscape opened up. The trees fell away and the wind died down and all I was left with was the smooth ground and shiftless dull winter skies. I was however aware of the crack. There was a crackling, electric sound alike to fireworks or eggshells being crunched on the floor.

The moan fell away altogether and it was quiet with only the crackling of the ground and the lovely blue light that seemed to seep inside me. A strange beckoning feeling followed. “Sir,” I whispered as I finally, finally, reached the outline, “You’re injured…”

That’s all I got out before the thing turned around and something stood before me. Featureless, blank skin and something in the middle of its face like a tearing, violent slash that you might describe as a smile. No eyes, no nose, but a jagged smile that split the face in two with the same sick crackling sound as the ground. Something shifted under me.

I gasped and looked down to see that I had stepped out onto the park lake and that’s when the utter cold swallowed me whole.

Cold and cold and freezing water engulfed my head and my vision went white. I tried to pry my eyes open, but the water was black and thick and there was only the barest hint of shine ahead. A shine like long teeth and something looming and huge just beyond me.

“Ah!” A yell like a battle cry erupted from above and I was being wrenched out of the water just as quickly as I had fallen into it.

I sputtered for air above ground.

“Don’t follow the glowing man.” A hoarse voice wheezed into my ear like a chant over and over. “Never follow the glowing man.” I passed out in a twinkling haze of shaking and murmuring.

----------------------

I was saved by a homeless man sleeping on one of the park benches by the lake. No one on my shift remembered me leaving or where I went. All I knew was that I had followed something thoughtlessly out onto the Warner Park lake and fell in.

I asked a nurse, once, if she thought there was something in that lake, but she just gave me a funny look and said that the lake wasn’t deep enough to house much wildlife. I shut up after that.

In the years that followed I never stopped trying to help people, but sometimes I hesitated now. When it was dark, hard to see, and drops of blood littered the ground. I stopped and listened for melodic moaning in the distance.

I didn’t see anything like it again, but working the ambulance wasn’t the same. I looked around corners too much and jumped too easily at different sounds. I took the MCAT as quickly as I could and things become easier in well-lit fluorescent rooms. 

I do stop whenever I can though and give out blankets to anyone sleeping on the street and avidly tell college students and locals to avoid the lakes at night. And not to follow any trails of blood that lead you onward and onward into the dark.

---------------------

If you enjoyed the story I have a patreon for long term support and exclusive bonus content and a ko-fi for one-time tipping and $3 coffee trips, please consider giving to the artist if you can! Even a little helps 🤗

[certainglitterhologram]

Lysander Scamander and Lily Potter II

I have a feeling that growing up, Lily and Lysander were best friends. Lorcan was super, super, SUPER close friends with Lily, and obviously Lysander, since they are twins, (trust me on this,), but Lily and Lysander just shared a bond the tiniest bit stronger. 

Lily being an adventure seeking, adrenaline junky, while was Lysander, also adventure loving, but with limits. He knew his boundries and where to draw the line, but struggled to show that line to Lily, who would just jumped into every tree, every river, wanting to ride the hippogriff that she found in the woods behind the Scamander’s house. 

Lysander putting his head into his hands each time, saying “Lily. It’s dangerous. It could bite you, you could fall off, it could have rabies, fleas or something even worse. “

Lily rolling her eyes and attempting to do it anyway, running up to the hippogriff and almost getting trampled to death. Like Scorpius’ dad, but actually life threatening. 

After getting her out of there, Lysander smirked at her and said, “Don’t really wanna say I told you so, but....... *Pause* Oh who am I kidding, of course I do. Never tell me I’m wrong Lily, and expect to succeed in whatever dumb thing you’re doing. Lily just scoffing and said “I’m Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley’s daughter. The only reason I almost got trampled was obviously because the hippogriff sensed you behind that tree.”

Lysander, used to these egotistical comments, says “Oh yes, how could  I be so stupid. It’s not like I’m the great-grandson of Newt Scamander, or anything. And the situation we are talking about involves a damn hippogriff. “

 On the Hogwarts Express, Lily, Hugo, Lysander and Lorcan in the same compartment and a tall, lanky dark haired boy comes in. He introduced himself as Matthew Corner, and Lysander, being the best with people, gets up and politely introduces himself, and introduced the others.

Matt is immediately liked by everyone in the compartment, and they form their own little quintet, bonding over candy and pranks in the compartment. 

When Albus and James come in to check on Lily, she just giggles and waves, before redirecting her attention to Lorcan, who had eaten one of those cool sweets that make you grow features of an animal, that Hugo had brought on the train.

The Sorting Ceremony went as expected, really.

Matthew, was one of the first, and had barely sat on the stool, before the hat shouted “RAVENCLAW”

Hugo went next. He was on the stool for a long time with that hat on his head. Not enough to be a hat stall, but just enough to be notably long, before the hat yelled “HU-GRYFFINDOR!”

When Lily was called, she sashayed up to the stool, with an overwhelming amount of confidence, and James yelled “YES, LILS! WHOO!”. The hat suprisingly sat there for a while, debating between Slytherin and Gryffindor, before ultimately deciding on Gryffindor. 

Lysander had a feeling of dread at that moment. He did have seperation anxiety from Lorcan, just a mild case, but enough to make him dread the thought of them being in different houses. He hadn’t thought of it until that moment, becuase Lorcan and him were so alike. He ruled out that thought, and focused on relaxing himself

Lorcan jumped on the stool and only had a couple seconds of deliberation, before  “HUFFLEPUFF!”

Lysander knew even before going up there, that there was no way he would be in Hufflepuff. He wasn’t exactly the definition of hardworking. Not that he wasn’t, no, he just had a tendency to quit things that no longer interested him, rather than working throught it.

When his name was called, he was immediately sorted into Ravenclaw. He knew he should feel proud, as he was taking after his mother, and had one of his closest friends with him, Matthew, but being away from his twin, best friend and other close friend, was paining him. But Lysander was known to almost always be happy, so shut these feelings down, sucked it up and got used to it. Eventually, he found that it wasn’t that bad, and that Lily and him were still best friends, and Lorcan was still his right hand man. And vice versa.

In their second year, Lily tried out for the Gryffindor quidditch team, and made it, as their Seeker. A few weeks into the season, it was Lily’s third match, Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff and literal miliseconds after Lily caught the snitch and secured the win for Gryffindor, in a rage, one of the Hufflepuff beaters bat a bludger straight at the back of her head, knocking her out. 

Lysander, Lorcan, Hugo and Matt sprinted down the stands, running over towards her. She was crumpled on the grass and being levitated onto a stretcher by Headmistress McGonagall. 

The culprit of the injury had jumped on his broom and flew towards the castle, and Lysander was trembling with rage. He snapped at the other boys (Hugo, Matt and Lorcan,) to follow him to see if they could find the boy. They found him trying to run into the castle without being seen, but Lysander jumped on him, and pinned him down, so he couldn’t get away, while Lorcan and Hugo sent red sparks to the teachers, letting them know the found him.

Then, of course, Lysander did the unexpected. Just when the teacher and the student were coming into view, he let go of the boy and punch him straight in the nose, breaking it, as soon as the first met the boy’s face. A single punch before Lysander pulled him close and whispered in a deadly calm tone 

“Never. NEVER touch my Lily, EVER again.” Dropping the boy on the ground, before walking over to a shocked twin and Matthew. Leaning against the wall behind them and wiping the blood from the boy’s broken nose in the white-blond hair, not even caring at the streak of red in his hair. 

Consequently, he recived three weeks of detention. Could have been worse, I suppose, was his attitude. For the next month, he recived fist bumps from James in the hallways and tiny smirks from Albus, telling him, they were proud. 

Three years later, in fifth year, Lysander was noticing that he was catching feelings for Lily, but then, Matt had shyly asked her out, and she replied with “Why not?”.

Everytime they held hands, hugged, kissed or did anything of the sort, Lysander felt a rage build up inside of him. But for Lily’s sake, he tried to be happy. For Lily. 

Lorcan noticed immediately, and after teasing that Albus owed him 12 Galleons, comforted him and said that he was sure that Lily felt the same way, but just hadn’t noticed it yet, and told Ly to just play along and calm down.

Hugo noticed it in History of Magic, his first class after breakfast, where after seeing Lily and Matthew snog right in front of him, Lysander had crushed a goblet with his hands. After giving him some kind of twin telepathic look that Hugo couldn’t interpret, Lorcan sighed and muttered “Reparo”.

Hugo thought it was weird, but thought not much of it until he realized in the middle of HOM. (He is Ron Weasley’s kid. Ofc he wouldn’t fucking notice.) 

Hugo sent a note to the table where Ly and Matt were sitting, across the room, in a oragami swan (^-^) that read on the outside

Matt, if you’re reading this, just give it straight to Ly. Nothing really that interesting here, 

In it, read 

Lysander, mate...I realized you like Lily. Or Matt. I’m not sure, mate, i’m not going to make any assumptions. If it is Matt though, good for you. If it’s Lily, It was kinda obvious, so maybe, don’t crush a goblet next time they snog... just trying to help, but just know, that if Lily doesn’t choose you or doesn’t feel the same way, (Which she does.) the whole Potter-Weasley-Granger-Johnson-Delacour clan is on your side. 

If you need anyone to talk to, I’m always here, mate. Just say the word.

-Hugo

and Hugo got a paper dragon back, saying

Well, I shouldn’t really suprised, but it’s Lily. I’m not fucking gay. But thanks for being supportive. Love you, bro.

~Ly

Lysander walked out of that class feeling a lot better,  while Hugo felt smug. Hugo ran up to Fred II saying how he was about to have won his little bet with Rose. But they walked into the middle of the hallway to see Lily and Matthew, both looking solemn, (which was a first for Lily, who was almost always happy.)

They were speaking in hushed tones, Matt nodded and hugged Lily in an almost friendly manner, before walking away, with a smile on his face.

“What happened?” Lysander asked Lily, plainly curious.

“Oh, Matt and I both agreed that this relationship wasn’t working. We did like eachother.. but we agreed that being friends was more benefical for both of us. 

Lysander tried very hard not to break out into a grin, while saying “Aw.. You two were cute together. “

Lily snorted and just walked into the Transfiguration classroom and plopped down in her chair.

During the passing period after the next class, Lysander quickly told Lorcan the news, who encouraged him to ask her out at dinner. And Lysander agreed

Lysander worked up his courage to ask her out and was about to walk over to the Gryffindor table, went she walked into the Great Hall, smirking. 

“YOU!” she yelled, pointing at Lysander. The hall went silent. 

“ME!” Lysander yelled back, sticking his toungue out at her. 

“GO ON A DATE WITH ME ON THE NEXT HOGSMEADE TRIP?” Lily shouted, across the hall and out of nowhere. 

“ANYTHING FOR YOU LILS!” The sentence slipped out of Lysander’s mouth before he could stop it, but he was glad he did. 

Lily ran over to them, while Lorcan and Matt nudged Lysander, but Lily ignored them, pulling Lysander into a kiss that lasted a good forty five seconds. 

The Great Hall cheered, and Lily whispered “I saw you crush that goblet at breakfast today, Ly. I didn’t even remember it until an hour ago. I knew you felt the same as me, so I did something so you wouldn’t have to ask me out. Carriages to Hogsmeade at 10 sound good?”

Lysander couldn’t say anything, so he nodded. 

“Perfect! “ And Lysander watched Lily walk to her awed girl friends and a particularly smug Hugo. 

Let’s just say a lot of money was exchanged that day.

[kumeko]

Title: history lessons

A/N: written for the @crossroadszine. I got assigned Aang, who I thought at first would be impossible to write, but I think I managed quite nicely here.

...

...

...

“So this is it.” Aang stared up at the familiar spirals, the gently rising towers of the air temple. A flock of birds flew past one, black specks against a white cloud. Aside from the group of lemurs chattering in the bushes, there was nary a sound.

 “Wow!” Tenzin gaped as he turned around, his tiny feet almost tripping as he spun. With nothing to block the view, it was almost like flying. Blue skies stretched as far as the eye could see, unmarred by the land. Then, as though remembering himself, he solemnly nodded. “The air temple.”

 Aang scratched his cheek. He wasn’t quite sure who Tenzin took after—definitely not him or Sokka. Even Katara and Zuko, the most serious of their group, let loose occasionally. His youngest son, on the other hand, was like Aang’s old teachers, somber to a fault.

 Maybe reincarnation was not limited to the avatar after all. He repressed a shiver at the thought. Shaking it off, he started to walk the winding path toward the temple. “Wait till you see what’s inside!”

Tenzin nodded, quickly following after. They’d make better time flying up the steps but Katara had prohibited it before Aang could even ask the question. Maybe it was for the best—Aang never really had to teach airbending before and his lessons were…erratic, if he was kind. He had only the half-remembered lessons of childhood to go by, memories buried beneath war and death and the struggle for life. What little he could remember was overlaid with a filter of grief. Time had dulled the sharp edge of sorrow to a blunt manageable thing.

 He stilled at the thought, earning a questioning look from Tenzin. Waving it off, Aang gestured at the bushes that littered their path. “Guess what’s in there.”

 Tenzin squinted at the closest bush before walking toward it determinedly. His chubby fingers touched the leaves and suddenly a winged lemur popped out, chattering excitedly before it leaped up and soared of to another bush. He stumbled back, surprised, before gaping awestruck at the creature. “Momo!”

 “Momo’s cousins!” Aang corrected cheerfully, crouching down next to him. His robes swished gently with each movement and if he just squatted for the entire walk, he could sweep the area clean. “One of them, at least.”

 As though in response, a dozen lemur heads popped out of the bushes, each chattering and chirping as they leaped out and soared away. Tenzin shouted gleefully, almost falling as he craned his neck to follow their movements. Laughing, Aang reached down to steady him. “Wild, huh?”

 “So cool!” Tenzin bounced, smiling so broadly Aang could see the hole from missing tooth.

 “Very cool.” That was much better. He almost looked like a proper child now. It was getting harder and harder to elicit this reaction from him. Aang settled Tenzin back into place, releasing him so he could walk once more. Holding his tiny hand, they headed once more to the temple.

 As they passed through a vaulted arch, Tenzin looked around curiously. Aang suppressed smile—while the high ceilings and open concept was similar to the temple they were staying at, the Southern Air Temple gave a very different feel. Maybe it was the age of the place, the chipped paint and faded glory. Perhaps it was the air itself, wild currents that whistled through the halls, untouched, untamed by man. Possibly it was the aura of centuries of tradition that lay forgotten, just waiting to be rediscovered.

 Or it might just all be in Aang’s head. He smiled down at Tenzin, gesturing at the courtyard as they passed through it. “I used to live here.”

 “Your home?” Tenzin asked, his eyes growing wide as he looked around with renewed interest.

 “Yep, my home.” Aang grinned, pointing at a statue of a skybison. “I used to fly behind that and pretend it could talk. Scared my old teacher once that way.”

 His son looked aghast. “You did that?”

 Really, that was almost identical to the look his teacher did when he caught Aang the first time. Maybe it wasn’t a joke to think his teacher reincarnated as his son. Aang laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck at his son’s stern glare. Perhaps this wasn’t a good time to mention the other pranks he played here. Or anywhere, for that matter. Such as the hole they’d just passed. “Let’s go to the meditation room next.”

  Tenzin squinted up at him for a long moment before nodding, mollified. “Okay.”

 Well, that part was definitely Katara. Aang sighed and took his son’s hand once more. “I used to train out here—with these huge wooden panels. Maybe they’re still here; we can look for them later. Like in a treasure hunt!”

 Tenzin nodded seriously. “Like in training.”

 Bumi would have insisted they looked now. Kya would have laughed at the pair, while secretly looking forward to it. Tenzin took it all too seriously and perhaps Aang had been a little too eager to impress his culture onto his son. Even now, as they entered a vast chamber empty save for a few statues at the end, Tenzin solemnly stood inside instead of running or even cart-wheeling through it.

 “What’s that?” Tenzin pointed at a black scorch mark at the wall next to them.

 Aang stared at it for a long moment, before comprehending what it was. What it meant. He remembered the gold and scarlet armour he found years ago and closed his eyes. “A burn mark. From the Fire Nation.”

 “Fire—Uncle Zuko?” Tenzin perked up.

 “Not quite.” Like ivy, the black marks crawled across the wall, craters blooming along the path. Now that he’d seen one, it was impossible to ignore the rest. Aang swallowed. Somehow, the years did not make this easier. “Remember the war I told you about?”

 “The ‘undread year war?” Tenzin gripped his hand tighter.

 “This is from then.” Aang stared at the marks for a moment longer, before turning away. Eventually, Tenzin would have to learn this, the way that Bumi and Kya did, the way that all children now did. Eventually, but not now, not like this. History was a little too close here, like Aang could reach back in time and touch it. If they spoke about it, his imagined ghosts could become real, tangible.

 “There was a tree in the central courtyard.” Aang changed the topic as they walked down a long hallway. “I hid in it all the time.”

 Tenzin looked over his shoulder, back at the shadows on the wall. “Daddy, what about—”

 “Later.” Aang cut him off with a smile, trying to keep it steadier than he felt. “I promise I’ll tell you later. First the tree, okay?”

 Tenzin frowned dubiously before nodding. “Okay.”

 Their footsteps echoed softly as they walked, a steady, foreign clop. It was funny how the air temple in the republic didn’t sound anything like this, what with the acolytes inane chattering, Bumi’s pranks, and Katara’s and Kya’s laughter.

 There was none of that here and for a moment, he saw what Tenzin saw: a dead place, a quiet place. Not the lively temple with teasing monks, who would effortlessly switch between soft mantras and bellowing laughter. Not the place where Aang pulled a thousand and one pranks, each resulting in a strict scolding and an even stricter punishment.

 No, this place was nothing like that now, abandoned by time and people alike. Katara had looked at him before he’d left, her lips pursed tightly after their argument on whether he should take them all with him.

 It’s not a vacation, he’d told her.

 I know. Her eyes had been reproachful. But this is your history. Let it become ours as well.

 He hadn’t understood it then. This was his history and his alone, the scenery of his memories only that. But at this rate, that was all it would ever be—a graveyard. For the Air Nomads to live again, to truly come back, there had to be more than just the past. There had to be a present, a future. “Think Kya and Bumi would like to come next time?”

 “Bumi.” Tenzin scowled, probably remembering the time his brother had teased him. “No.”

 Aang laughed. That settled it; he’d have to bring Bumi next time. Along with Kya and Katara, though the latter would definitely smirk with an I-told-you-so on her tongue. Remembering the craters, he added, “Toph too.”

 This Tenzin approved. He nodded eagerly. “Auntie Toph!”

 She could fill in the holes, repair the temple, and maybe then the acolytes could visit here too. Maybe even live here. Aang looked down at his son, at the tiny hand curled tightly in his.

 Maybe one day, this place too could be a place of life to him.    

 “Race to the courtyard?” Aang let go of Tenzin’s hand, a mischievous grin on his face. Without waiting for a response, he lightly jogged forward.

 Tenzin scowled before scrambling after him. “No fair!”

[damien-ward]

Unusual Allies

Continued from here: Journey to Lordaeron

The ground rumbled, weapons clashed, yells and battle cries of both Horde and Alliance alike echoed across the battlefield, and smoke continued to fill the air. Dardillien slowly stirred awake moving his hands to push off the ground, he shook his head a few times to try and brush off the drowsiness. Then it hit him. Alyssa.

“By the Light, Alyssa..” He suddenly jerked off the ground looking in the direction of the battlefield where the Alliance laid siege on Lordaeron. How long was I out? I hope I am not too late. Dardillien thought as he was now fully awake and dropped onto all fours rushing towards the on going skirmish.

It was chaos.

The entire area leading to Lordaeron scorched, destroyed, and ravaged by the Alliance on its war path to the city that held the Banshee Queen. The worgen rushed past it all, past burning trees, destroyed land, all to get into the fray and find his sister.

The battle raged on as friend and foe fell, and the hatred between the factions was palpable. Dardillien made his way onto the battlefield, sword in one hand and his revolver in the other, his main goal was to find his sister, but he had no problem cutting down any Horde along the way after what they had done to Teldrassil. He made sure to stick with groups as he made his way through the chaos, cutting down and firing away at any Horde that stood in his way. However, every time they killed one Horde soldier it seemed that three more popped up out of nowhere, it was truly a Horde. 

It didn’t seem to matter where he looked his sister was nowhere to be found as he traversed the area. Dardillien continued to scan the field for his sister until he came across a wounded soldier laying on the ground with an Orc standing over top of him, the man tried to crawl away as the Orc lifted his axe to finish the job. In a quick motion, Dardillien aimed his revolver directly at the Orc’s head and fired. It was a killing blow as the Orc toppled over, the Gilnean then moved to the man’s side and knelt down.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” Dardillien said with his adrenaline rushing as he wrapped the man’s arm around his shoulder and lifted him up.

“AGH!” The soldier let out a yelp of pain, “Thank you...” 

Dardillien led the man as quickly as possible back towards Brill, fighting all around them causing them to turn and sway to avoid being attacked. This plan would not last however as a group of Horde soldiers killed the soldiers standing between Dardillien and them. The Gilnean quickly reloaded his revolver and got it ready to fire, but it wouldn’t be able to stop them all of them.

They began their charge.

(NSFW-ish due to violence below cut)

“Shit.” Dardillien stated backing away faster with the soldier.

“Just leave me.. you won’t make it with me.” The soldier exclaimed trying to convince the worgen to drop him and run. 

“No. Come on, just move faster.” Dardillien pulled the man along picking up their pace, but it was futile, the Horde group was closing the distance with ease. Seeing this he fired his revolver into one of the Trolls in front, the Troll fell to the ground, but it didn’t stop the others from rushing towards them.

Suddenly time seemed to slow, it felt like the end, but Dardillien wasn’t going to go easily as he reached for another bullet and began reloading his revolver. He went to aim again, but it was too late they were barreling down on top of them, his eyes going wide as he watched an Orc lift his axe to cleave him in half..

“AGH!” The Orc yelled causing Dardillien to jump as he watched a sword fly through the chest of the Orc. He stumbled back a few feet staring at the weapon before falling to his knees. 

What the hell?! Dardillien thought in a panic when suddenly a wraith-like hand moved in front of him from the corner of his eye and begin to materialize as it grabbed the blade, and then a full wraith-like being formed into a worgen with dark plate armor before ripping the blade from the Orc’s chest.

“Go! Now!” The worgen turned and yelled, sending an icy chill down Dardillien’s spine, just then a giant winged skeletal creature landed behind them as if waiting for them to get on. Dardillien wasn’t going to argue and began moving towards the winged creature.

The worgen then turned back to the other Horde soldiers that had stopped in their tracks and began his own assault, he lifted his hand causing one of the Tauren to lift into the air gasping for air as if he was being asphyxiated. Then in a flurry of strikes at blinding speed and ferocity the worgen cleaved in half a Troll and decapitated an Orc, Dardillien watched the whole thing as he helped the injured soldier onto the creature before getting on himself and it took off in the direction of shore where the Alliance had first made landfall.  He looked back to observe the worgen fight his way through the Horde soldiers, it was a kind of brutal fighting he had never seen before, until eventually he could no longer discern who was who in the sea of people.

“What is a Knight of the Ebon Blade doing here?” The injured soldier asked with a cough.

“I’m.. I’m not sure. However, we are very lucky he showed up when he did.” Dardillien said equally as perplexed as the soldier.

“Either way I am thankful for your help, I didn’t think I was going to make it back there.” The soldier gave a nod and grunted in pain from his stab wound in his side.

“We aren’t in the clear yet, and you need assistance as soon as possible.” Dardillien sighs, Alyssa, please be safe... I can’t lose you a second time. He thought to himself.

The two rode on the winged skeletal creature for what felt like an eternity when really only thirty minutes or so had gone by as they made their way to the shoreline. The smoke from the area continuing to rise and fill the sky.  That’s when they saw it..

“What is that?” The injured soldier asked as both stared in awe at the sight before them. Flying through he air, through the smoke, heading towards Lordaeron was a giant ship, neither could believe their eyes. “Is that thing going to help in the fight against the Horde? How is it flying? Who is flying it?” All good questions and none of which Dardillien had the answers to as he gazed at the magnificent ship pass by on it’s way to Lordaeron. As quickly as the ship appeared before them, it disappeared into the smoke like a ghost on it’s way to the battlefield, both could only hope that it was there to help their allies.

Eventually the two landed at the shore where people were running about, on and off the ships carrying supplies to help in the battle. Dardillien jumped off the winged skeletal creature then helped the injured soldier off and setting him down gently, as soon as both were off the creature flew away in the direction they came from. 

“Stay here, I am going to go see if I can find a healer or medic.” Dardillien stated, the soldier giving him a nod while holding his side. The Gilnean then left to begin his search, one that would prove to be bittersweet for as he made his way along the beach he could not find a medic or healer, however as he walked along he noticed a demonic gate open up and out of it came several soldiers... and his sister. By sheer luck, fate, or perhaps even the Light, his sister had been dumped right in front of him from a demonic gate, she looked like she had been through hell and back, but he had found his sister.

(Mentions @alyssa-ward and this was my way of introducing my alt Death Knight @william-hendrickson )

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Crater Dreams

An origin story for the city of Sootopolis written for Serebii’s Alpha and Omega contest, featuring a surprisingly popular depiction of Kyogre.

The Sootopolis gym was closing for the day. Workers were leaving for home, and Trainers were heading towards the Pokemon Center for the night. At the Gym's master bedroom, a young man with a white shock in his hair was talking to a young boy with turquoise hair and a white beret. "Wallace," said the young man. "It's time for a bedtime story." "But I'm not tired yet! I wanna train my Pokemon some more, Juan!" Wallace replied, his face in a visible pout. "Now now, Wallace," said Juan. "This story is about your ancestors. The ones who founded this very city." "...So?" said Wallace, crossing his arms. "They're dead now. Why should I care?" "Tell you what, if you listen to my story, I'll let you train your Pokemon a bit more." Wallace glanced warily at Juan. "I suppose..." "Alright!" The two sat down. "Long long ago," said Juan, "On an island far off the coast of the Hoenn mainland, there were two children, one much like you..." ------ A small island village was winding down for the day as the rays of the setting sun licked the thatched rooftops of its huts. Farmers returning to their houses and mothers were calling their children inside. One green-haired girl and her young Tropius, however, stayed outside and moved towards the edge of their village. "Come on, Blanca!" said the girl. "I wanna explore some more!" The Tropius, who at the time wasn't much taller than the girl, plodded along behind her, giving small, contented "Pi"s. The girl noticed a turquoise-haired boy sitting beside a small pond, watching a Feebas swimming about. "Hey, you!" said the girl. The boy looked up in surprise. "What kinda Pokemon is that?" "She's a Feebas!" said the boy. "Her name is Thetis!" "She's ugly!" "No she's not!" "Yuh-huh!" "Nuh-uh!" In the background as the string of "yuh-huhs" and "nuh-uhs" continued, Thetis and Blanca took notice of each other. Blanca nudged Thetis with her nose, causing the Feebas to attempt to hop out of the water and nuzzle back. The two Pokemon then began making bellows and burbles at each other in a sort of conversation. The two children eventually turned and noticed. "They... like each other?" said the girl. "I guess?" said the boy. The two looked at each other a bit awkwardly before the boy spoke up. "I'm Apollo! What's your name?" "...Narissa." "Narissa!" said a voice from the huts. "Time to come in!" "Gotta go!" said Narissa, running back to the huts with Blanca. "See you!" "See you!" said Apollo, waving back. ---------- A skinny young man with turquoise hair sat at the edge of a seaside cliff, gazing out into the ocean. It wasn't long before a Milotic slithered up next to him and began nuzzling him. The young man smiled. "Hey Thetis! Good to see you, girl!" He petted the Milotic, who cooed in response. "Apollo! There you are!" The young man turned to see a young woman with green hair and a Tropius approaching. Thetis immediately slithered over to the Tropius and began a Monese conversation. ''Narissa!" Apollo said cheerfully. "Good to see you here too!" "I've searched the entire village and the whole island looking for you!" Narissa replied, putting her hands on her hips. "We're supposed to harvest Cheri Berries today!" "Come on, Narissa," said Apollo. "You know this is my favorite spot." Narissa sighed. "Fine. I suppose you want me to join you?" Apollo nodded. Narissa sat down next to him and gazed out to sea alongside him. "... It is really pretty," she said after a while. Apollo smiled. "See why I said it's my favorite spot?" Narissa smirked. "Yeah." "But you're right," said Apollo. "We should be-" "Tropiiiiiiiiii!" "What is it, Blanca?" said Narissa. Blanca and Thetis were pointing out to sea with a foot and tail, respectively. Apollo and Narissa looked to see a trio of ships with Absol footprints painted on their sails. Their expressions changed to ones of abject horror. "The Absol Paw Tribe," said Apollo. --------- The four rushed back to their village, where people and Pokemon alike were running around in a state of panic. Apollo, panting heavily, ran to one particular hut, where men were gathering weapons and armoring their Pokemon. "Father! Where are you?!" yelled Apollo, looking around frantically. "Apollo!" said a man with similar turquoise hair and a necklace of Sharpedo teeth around his neck. "This isn't your fight! Get to the boats on the other side of the island!" "But Father-" A tremor rocked the huts. "Now!" yelled his father. Hesitantly, Apollo turned and ran back outside to Narissa. "Apollo, are we-" she said. "We have to get to the boats, now!" he replied. With that, the two and their Pokemon ran south as more raider boats came ashore. ----------- The two young adults and their Pokemon trudged through a mangrove swamp, looking about hurriedly for any boats. "We should be getting close..." said Narissa. Apollo noticed something out of the corner of his eye heading straight for Narissa. His eyes widened in horror, andhe immediately tackled her to the ground just as a Fire Blast passed over their heads. Just as quickly Thetis and Blanca pulled them into the undergrowth and concealed them amid the mangrove shoots and roots. Soon after, a man alit within the mangroves atop his Salamence, scanning the area. "You see 'em, boy? I didn't see 'em." he said. His Salamence growled and started scanning and sniffing the area. In the undergrowth, Apollo, Thetis, and Blanca held deathly still. Narissa, on the other hand, didn't even dare to breathe. instead shaking in fear at the large, vicious carnivore approaching their location. The Salamence moved closer. Narrisa's heart pounded at a rapid pace. Quickly, Apollo grabbed a rock and threw it as high and far as he could. The rock landed with a loud splash a fair distance away. "There they are! After them!" yelled the man. The Salamence roared and charged after the source of the noise. As soon as they had moved off a ways Thetis scooped Apollo and Narissa onto her back and charged out to sea, Blanca following close behind. ----------- Out to sea, Thetis and her passengers drifted aimlessly as Blanca circled overhead. "Do you see any boats?" said Apollo. "All I see is storm clouds ahead..." replied Narissa. The two grew silent for a moment. "I don't think anyone made it..." said Narissa, shaking her head. "No, no, someone else has to have made it..." muttered Apollo, his voice wavering. Thunder cracked from the oncoming storm. "Blanca!" said Narissa. "Try to find dry land! The rest of us are going under!" Apollo nodded. "Thetis, Dive!" Thetis blew a massive bubble encapsulating herself and her riders; she then dove underwater as Blanca flew east. ----------- It was dark and featureless beneath the waves, and Apollo and Narissa huddled close as Thetis moved their bubble along. "...The storm isn't that bad judging from when we've surfaced for air," said Apollo. "Do we have to stay down here?" Narissa shook her head sadly. "It's likely to get worse." "Good point." "We've lost our families and our home already. Losing our lives is not something-" "Narissa. We're going to be OK. I promise you that." His voice wavered slightly as he said it. Narissa paused for a few seconds before embracing him, sobbing. Apollo hugged back for a while before opening his eyes and realizing the darkness around them had grown deeper. "Thetis... Where are we?" Thetis cooed uncertainly, then spotted a pinprick of light above. "Tic!" She quickly shot upward, taking her passengers along for the ride. ----------- The three emerged in a lake within a massive volcanic crater. Around the lake were patches of volcanic soil where Berry trees grew, which gave way to cliffs of white rock with their own patches of soil further up the crater's slopes. The storm seemed to have bypassed it, as the moon and stars were visible above its lip. Narissa gasped. "It's beautiful..." Thetis quickly came ashore, where Apollo ran his fingers through the dirt. "It seems rich. No wonder the berries are growing here!" He looked around, the faintest cracks of a smile forming on his caught himself and shook his head, his expression becoming more serious. He then noticed Narissa climbing the cliffs. "Narissa! Be careful!" "I'm fine!" she replied, smiling and heaving herself up onto a cliff. Apollo sighed and followed. The two, after much climbing of cliffs, eventually reached a cave entrance, pausing to stare at it a while. "M-Maybe we should get Thetis before we go in..." said Apollo, beginning to back up. Narrisa stared at him for a second before her expression hardened and she clenched her fists "Hey! You can't back off like that! You wouldn't let me do that, right?" Apollo nodded nervously. "Well, I ought to do the same with you. Now come on!" She stood back patiently. "...All right," said Apollo. "Let's go." They headed into the cave together. -------- The darkness of the cave was punctuated by blue and red crystals glowing with geothermic clustered above, Zubat and Golbat sleeping soundly as Apollo and Narissa made their way through. "Wow..." the two said in unison. Apollo's foot bumped into a small object on the cavern floor. "Hmm?" He picked up a small, flower-shaped blue crystal. "Looks like this one got dislodged." He handed it to Narissa. "Here! It's yours!" "Oh! Thank you!" said Narissa. ~Now now dearies,~ said a voice in their heads. ~If you want to take it that's fine but it's best you ask first!~ "...Who was that?" said Narissa. "I... don't know..." said Apollo. They hesitated for a few seconds before heading deeper into the cave. --------- Upon entering the deepest part of the cave, Apollo and Narissa saw that a pool in the middle of the cavern contained the massive, sleeping form of Kyogre. "I... I don't think we should wake her..." said Narissa. "Well, she seemed friendly..." said Apollo uncertainly. Kyogre's eyes snapped open. ~Humans!~ she said. ~I haven't seen humans in this spot in... well, ever! Of course me and Groudon made this crater long long ago, so maybe you just overlooked it. What brings you here, dearies?~ "Well..." said Apollo. "We... kind of lost our home." ~Oh? How?~ "The Absol Paw Tribe." said Narissa. "They're these zealots, ruffians... They took over our home, killed everyone..." Kyogre snorted. ~Oh, them. Giratina's been telling me about them. Says they're giving him a bad name! Well if you've run afoul of those creeps you're more than welcome to stay in this crater!~ Apollo started. "We can?" Narissa bowed profusely. "Thank you, thank you!" ~No problem, dearies. And keep ahold of that crystal! It's a very nice one. But if you see a blue orb with an Alpha symbol on it, keep it away from me! It makes me go berserk and sends my powers out of control!~ "...Noted," said Apollo. Apollo and Narissa exited the chamber and started heading outside. "Apollo?" said Narissa. "Yes?" "...Do you really think we can start a new life here?" Apollo paused. We've lost everything. We have barely a chance of survival even here. Who knows how it'll all turn out? He clenched his fists. And yet... We've both made it so far... Mabye... He relaxed and smiled, much more naturally than any other smile in their whole ordeal. "I think we can." ----------- The morning after the Kyogre encounter, Apollo and Narissa were sleeping next to each other on an island in the middle of the crater, Thetis curled up beside them. Narissa was awakened by a nudge to the face. "Zzzz... Wha?" She opened her eyes to see a familiar Tropius staring down at her worriedly. "Blanca! You're OK!" She jumped up and hugged the Tropius tightly, stirring Apollo and Thetis awake. "Oh! Blanca!" said Apollo. "...What's she holding in her mouth?" Narissa plucked the object from Blanca's mouth. "It's a piece of cloth... My mother used to love weaving this pattern..." Apollo stared at the cloth for a few seconds, his eyes widening in recognition. He hurriedly grabbed Narissa's shoulder. "Narissa! Do you know what this could mean?" Narissa stared back at Apollo for a few seconds before the realization hit her like a Salamence's Outrage. "Blanca! Take us to where you got that cloth!" Blanca bellowed as the two hopped on to her back and began to fly off, with Thetis looking on and giving a series of sad "tics" in response. --------- Blanca soared over a mainland beach where a crowd of people had gathered, and landed amidst them. Apollo and Narissa were immediately swarmed by the overjoyed crowd, and were embraced by two women in particular. "Mother! I thought I lost you..." said Narissa. "We thought we lost you all!" said Apollo. "These are all that managed to make it ashore before the storm," said Apollo's mother. "And your father..." Everyone grew silent for several moments. Apollo forced himself to stand tall and face the others. "We've lost many..." said Apollo, still wavering. "But Narissa and I found a place where we'll be safe from the Absol Paw Tribe and anyone else that tries to hurt us!" "Apollo," said Narissa, frowning. "How in Rayquaza''s name are we going to get everyone to the crater?" Apollo looked around at the various Pokemon scattered amid the humans in the crowd. "We're going to need as many swimming and flying Pokemon as we can get." ------------ The crater was now bustling with activity, with humans and Pokemon working together to build small shelters amid the cliffs. Meanwhile, flying and surfing Pokemon carried people, smaller Pokemon, and supplies into the crater via the sky and secret entrance "Keep it coming!" said Apollo, directing the surfers and flyers with waves of his hands. Beside him Thetis was doing the same with her tail, letting out "tics" and coos. Above everyone, Narissa and Blanca flew around the lip of the crater, keeping an eye on incoming Flying mons. Then, she noticed a Flygon decorated with Absol Paw warpaint circling the crater. Her eyes widened and her gut clenched in panic at the sight. She then shook her head and barked out an order. "Blanca, u-use Air Slash!" The Tropius quickly fired a blade of air at the Flygon, but it dodged and flew off into the distance. Narissa cursed under her breath. "We need to warn the others!". She and Blanca dived into the crater below. -------- The villagers and their Pokemon had all gathered around the crater lip and in the lake below, each group armed with makeshift weapons. Apollo and Narissa were in separate groups, but keeping an eye out for each other from a distance. All were completely silent. Then... "They're coming!" A Huntail with an Absol Paw rider clinging to its back emerged from the lake below, only for them to be peppered with a volley of attacks and forced back. More Water Pokemon riders soon emerged, however, and Apollo and his allies often found themselves split between multiple opponents. Meanwhile, Narissa and her fellow air-mounted villagers engaged flying invaders as they attacked the edge of the crater, doing their best to prevent them from landing and attacking from above if they did, as well as attacking the three ships gathered around the crater. Narissa was in the process of knocking the rider of an Altaria off his mount when Blanca yelped and ducked a Fire Blast. "Hehe... And you thought you escaped me last time." A familiar man flew into view on a familiar Salamence. Narissa's stomach clenched again and her heart started racing. "I don't think you'll escape this time," said the man, smirking. Narrissa paled and gulped, but stayed at the ready. The Salamence lunged at Blanca's throat with a Crunch. Blanca veered out of the way, only to get singed by another Fire Blast. Meanwhile, Narissa was trying to get a hit in with her spear to no avail, while the chieftain was getting dangerously close with each strike of his. Down below Apollo looked up and saw the commotion, his eyes widening in shock. This time, however, he just as quickly gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Thetis! Ice Beam, now!" Thetis looked up and shot a ray of cold into the sky. The Salamence yowled in surprise and quickly veered out of the way of the Ice Beam. Narissa saw the display and her expression hardened, her hands clenched around her a spear. "Blanca, Air Slash!" Blanca took the opportunity to send an Air Slash at his face, disorienting him and causing him to flare his wings in shock. Narissa quickly thrust her spear as hard as she could at its left wing, hearing an audible crack and seeing gushing blood. The Salamence yowled again in agony, bucked its rider, and fell to a cliff below. Still atop her mount, Narissa looked around at the chaos below, at her people being pushed back into a corner. Even with the leader down they're still coming... she thought. How are we- Then, she felt the crystal in her pocket and realized what she had to do. "Everyone!" she shouted as loud as she could. "To the cave!" Every villager turned tail and ran to the caves, the Absol Paw Tribe members in hot pursuit. ------- A contingent of Absol Paw Tribe members were pushing their way through the cave, squeezing one at a time through narrow openings. "Bah!" said one. "Damn scrawny villagers getting through this faster than we can..." "Are you sure this is a good idea?" said another. "I think they took down the chief..." "If so," said a third, "It's our duty to avenge him! We'll take those heretics and gut them like-" They all stopped in their tracks upon reaching the end of the cave. Illuminated at the end of the cave were the villagers- all sitting astride the back or riding water Pokemon beside the massive form of Kyogre. ~Excuse me?~ said Kyogre. ~You said you wanted to hurt these people?~ "We're not afraid of you, false god!" said a tribe member. "The One Beyond will overcome you!" ~False God? How dare you! You are fools if you think you've won Giratina's favor. He does not like you, and quite frankly neither do I.~ "We don't care how powerful you are. We'll take you on!" ~If you insist.~ She opened her maw and blasted the tribe members with a torrent of water, pushing them back through the cave and out the entrance. The villagers all cheered, embracing their fellows and Pokemon in celebration. "Thank you, Kyogre!" said Apollo, patting the massive Pokemon from astride Thetis. "But..." said Narissa. "What if they don't leave?" ~Oh, I have a solution to that.~ said Kyogre. -------- Storm clouds began forming over the crater, causing the Absol Paw tribe to look up in , strong wind and waves started buffeting the ships outside the crater, knocking people overboard. Thunderbolts began striking within the crater, causing tribe members and their Pokemon to scatter. A whirlpool formed within the crater lake, pulling anyone still in it under and spitting them out outside the crater. It didn't take long for the tribe members to leave en masse. ------- After the Absol Paw tribe had fled, Narissa, Blanca, Apollo, and Thetis emerged from the cave in the pouring rain and looked around. Good riddance to the Absol Paw tribe, thought Narissa. Let's hope they never bother us again. It's finally over, thought Apollo. I almost can't believe it. He closed his eyes and felt the rain splashing down on his body, smiling. Almost. The two looked at each other and nodded before returning to the cave, their Pokemon following. ----------- The next day the crater village was busy once again, this time with people and Pokemon repairing the damage from the attack and tending to the wounded and deceased. On the central island Narissa was tending to Blanca when Apollo and Thetis approached. "Oh, Apollo! How's it going?" "Good, good. The repairs are going smoothly!" He looked over to one hut, where a certain Salamence with a splinted wing was eyeing Narissa warily. "The chieftain left his Salamence behind. He's still scared of you." "Good!," said Narissa, crossing her arms and smirking.. She then turned to Apollo with a smile on her face. "But I heard you're becoming chieftain! Congrats!" Apollo gulped audibly. "Actually," he said, shifting nervously, "I was talking to the surviving elders and we agreed..." "...Oh?" "...That you should be chieftain." "Huh?!" "Look, we've stuck together through this whole thing. And you weren't the only one who was scared. I was terrified and paranoid and trying to hide it the whole time behind fake optimism. But that final battle proved you handled that fear better than I did." "I... I..." "I know, it's a lot, and if it's too much I can- Mmph!" Apollo was interrupted by Narissa kissing him passionately on the lips, Thetis and Blanca giving a "Tic!" and a "Tropiiiiiii!" of approval in the background. When Narissa broke the kiss she and Apollo stared at each other sheepishly. "So... " said Narissa. "If I'm chieftain I have my first duty for you." "Oh?" Narissa gestured out to the rest of the crater. "Name our new home." Apollo gazed around the crater and thought. His mind thought back to its early days, belching lava and soot. "Sootopolis." --------- "Is the story over?"Wallace asked with a frown. Juan smiled. "This story? Yes." "Awww." "What's this?" Juan asked with a tilt of his head. "I thought you didn't want to hear the story." "I didn't, but then it was so cool!" said Wallace, bouncing up and down. "I'm glad you liked it!" said Juan, grinning. "Wait," said Wallace, frowning. "How do we know it actually happened?" "Funny you asked..." said Juan. Juan pulled out an unusually shaped crystal rock that oddly resembled a rose. "The rose!" said Wallace in amazement. "Yep. It's been passed down through your family for generations!" "Can I..." Wallace yawned. "Can I have it?" Juan patted his head and smirked. "Someday, little one. Someday. For now, appreciate the great heights your ancestors went to!" "Will I reach great heights, Juan?" Juan smiled wider, knowingly. "Perhaps! But for now, you can always dream." Juan switched the lights off, tucking Wallace in for sleep. -------- In the dark depths of the Cave Of Origin the sleeping Kyogre smiled. ~~~

[ramblinganthropologist]

Inkjournal Day 2 - Splat!

Summary: Snow brings out the worst in people. However, what starts as a cold, dreary days ends in a fiery hot battle between friends that melts the grey away. Maybe winter isn’t so bad after all. Word count: 1549

---

Unsurprisingly, snow was still pretty cold.

Overnight, Skyhold had been transformed into a winter landscape as a thick storm had rolled in while they slept. A half foot of fresh snow lay on the ground, scraped clean in places where people needed to go. Elsewhere, it was undisturbed and practically pristine.

It made her toes cold just looking at it.

Trevy fought back a shudder as she pulled her cloak closer and continued her walk from the mage's tower to the library. Once, she wouldn't have felt it at all. However, those days were long behind her, and now it just plain sucked.

“No wonder nobody likes it.” She sniffed, glad for her heavy robes made for the drafty corridors of the Ostwick circle. It had been months she had put them on, but desperate times called for equally desperate measures. They were warm, and that was enough for the moment.

Her sentiment was shared by soldier and civilian alike, she noted. Those pour souls stationed to clear the snow or stand guard shivered in their armor, padded with scarves, heavy gloves, and anything else they could fit under it. Anyone needing to go outside did so quickly, head bent and posture rigid against the chill.

It would have been a downright dreary sight if not for the children. Indeed, they were the only ones who stayed outside for longer than a few moments. Wrapped tightly against the chill, they charged head first into the snow, churning it with their games. For them, it was if the cold didn't matter at all.

“At least someone is having fun, I suppose.” A smile crossed Trevy's face as she stopped for a brief moment to watch them play. Somewhere, she supposed she had done that once too. However, all she could look back on was the black hole in her memories created by the sunburst brand upon her forehead. All she could remember was cold nights in the tower, avoiding Templars and straining to finish work she had no care for.

It was much colder after that.

Sighing, she shook her head and continued down the walk towards the main part of Skyhold. At least inside, it would be warmer thanks to the fires in the grand hall. The library would no doubt be freezing, but at least she could take breaks somewhere warm. That alone was enough to cheer her slightly as she reached for the handle to the side door.

Her plans were stopped, however, by something cold and wet slamming into the back of her head with a splat.

“What the-” Trevy whipped around, hand instinctively reaching for the staff she kept on her back. However, there was no threat that warranted it. Instead of an enemy mage or a Red Templar, her opponent was far smaller and familiar to her.

Jackel was besides herself, snickering from her spot in a bare tree. Near her feet, there was a perfect hand-sized indentation from where she had scooped up the snow for her ammunition. She flashed a grin before ducking behind the tree, avoiding any retaliation that might follow.

At this point, the mage knew she had two options. The far more realistic one would be to ignore the attack, go inside to dry off, and start her day of cataloging books for the Inquisition. That was what any adult would do in her mind, and she was pretty sure she counted.

Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling too mature at the moment.

A grin crossed her features as she dashed away from the door, hopping off to the ground below. Her much larger hands made for a more sizable piece of ammunition, even if her aim wasn't nearly as good as the elf's. In this instance, quantity over quality might have mattered after all.

Trevy found Jackel hiding behind the tree, hand pressed over her mouth to muffle her laughter. She was almost knee deep in the snow, sunk far too deep to make the quick escapes she was known for. Even assassins are hampered in deep snow, and now she would pay for it.

“I think this is yours.”

And without another word, the mage dumped the large boulder straight onto her dear friend's head. Jackel let out a squeak of surprise as she was temporarily blinded, and shivered as the cold snow hit her sensitive ears. Unable to react, she was powerless to catch her attacker.

And that's when Trevy made her escape, running as fast as she could back to the cleared path. Behind her, she could hear the elf shouting her revenge, and soon was in hot pursuit. Another snowball whizzed by her head, landing somewhere in the snow to her left. The next one hit her in the back, but she kept running.

“Get back here!” Jackel was soon on her back, putting all of her meager weight straight down. She knew how to throw it around of course, so both of them were soon toppling into the snow. For her trouble, the mage got a face first of snow, while her companion bounced off and landed flat on her ass in the cold whiteness that surrounded her.

Really, it was quite the ridiculous scene for anyone that was watching.

It took Trevy a few moments to regain her senses as she sat up, spitting out snow. Her face was wet and it stung. However, she found herself chuckling as she brushed her shoulders clean and grabbed for another handful of snow to form her next attack. After all, that had been as good as a declaration of war.

“Don't start something you know you can't finish, Trev.” Jackel was in the same position, scooping up snow and packing it tightly. There was a glint in her eyes and a large grin that stretched her face more than she had ever seen it before, even as she worked on her mischief. Snow was beginning to fall around them, but they didn't notice.

For the next few minutes, it was an all out battle between the mage and rogue as they fired snowballs back and forth. Quite a few hit their intended targets, though neither really flagged in their intensity as they continued attacking.

Of course, a war of such intensity was bound to draw attention. A number of people, civilians and guards alike, stopped to watch. A few had to duck out of the way as errant snowballs missed their targets and went flying into the crowd, but no one mattered very much. After all, it was rare to see something like this.

“Sure you're not ready to give up, Jack?” Trevy ducked behind a wall as she threw her snowball. Something wet answered her question as she barely missed an attack to the face. She was breathing hard, but breathy giggles kept escaping as she packed snow down hard.

From across the way, Jackel shouted her reply. “Only when you're good and beat!”

Both started gearing up for a truly monumental final blitz, unaware of the goings on. Someone was walking through their no man's land, stopping with a rather frustrated look on their face as they tapped their foot.

“Just what are you two doing?”

Josephine had only come out because of the noise that had distracted her from her work. Unfortunately, her timing was just a bit off, as was her position. She had no time to get out of the way as two massive snowballs flew from either direction, hitting her in the head and back with surprising force.

“Oh fuck.”

Trevy and Jackel's voices were in unison as they peaked out from their hiding spots. The Inquisition's ambassador wasn't saying anything as snow dripped down her face. She just stood there, blank faced and unmoving.

A few moments later, Kaaras was the one who exited the keep, looking around with confusion. Just minutes earlier, Josephine had informed him she was going out to investigate the noises coming from the common area. When she hadn't returned, he had become more than a little concerned.

“Where did she get to?”

“Jackel Lavellan, you slow down right now!”

A blank expression replaced the confusion as he watched his ambassador chase his cousin across the common area, the latter laughing as she ran as fast as she could. Somewhere in the distance, he could see a mage streaking towards freedom and the library, a secondary target that had escaped at the last moment. All three were soaking wet, and there were gouges carved out from the snowy landscape below, marred by footprints and snowballs alike.

A better leader would've sorted it out and got to the bottom of it perhaps. However, memories of snowballs to the face made Kaaras grimace. Instead of being that better leader, he turned on his heel and headed back into the grand hall.

“I'm not going there.”

They were all adults, so he figured they could sort it out themselves. Besides, it was cold out there and he wasn't wearing any shoes. Only a complete moron would go out there barefoot, and he had at least some sense in his head.

At least, that's what he told himself as he shut the door and returned to work.

[epilogue-and-prologue]

Challenge

 Imagine being a hybrid issued of an experiment Palpatine led: his own genome and a Hapan women he captured and fell in love with. You have been rescued by the Resistance when you were an infant. Your parents were never to be found again (dead in other words) and you had to live and grow inside a population that looks at you like you are the enemy. That’s when you meet Poe Dameron.

Note: Based on the word prompt I gave myself: "Nobody is here to see me shine" (Not included in the story). Warnings: Language? Disclaimers: Not my characters.

This was the only chance you had at convincing everyone you were not some kind of monster. As you grew up, you thought people were looking at you strangely because you were Leïa’s protégé(e) but you had learned pretty quickly that you were wrong. Starting at school. You had little to no friends at all. Diplomats’ child only there for a short period of time. Most of them never knew your origins, and you thought that it was what kept them from ever being mean or rude to you on purpose.

Some persons even believed that it was you, who had driven Ben Solo to the dark side. You thought so too for a very long time. Although you were an orphan, folks always saw you for your genetics not the parts of you that mattered to Leïa and her family.

Han had taken you in for some sort of internship. It lasted two years and you had learned everything and anything there is to learn about piloting a spaceship. You would not go as far as saying he was proud of you, but at least, he was not regretting his choice. Now, you had to make him proud. You were taking a test to be incorporated into the air force.

You had passed the theoretical ones, now you had to pass those.

Some other ten children of Rebels, and fifteen persons outside of that circle. Only ten would be trained and given a ship.

The first exercise was easy: they were testing your abilities to react quickly and how you were under pressure. As it happens, thirteen were not retained for the next step. Last year, they had driven three students to have a panic attack and ten to cry. Big ones, small smart ones and very annoying ones alike. The second was something else. You were given the order to pair up with someone you did not knew to test your adaptation skills. Anyone trying to cheat would be eliminated. On one hand you were relieved, it meant you would not have to find yourself with someone you knew hated you or feared you. On the other, the new possible recruits had time to talk with people from the base. Some of them were looking at you the way they all did: not meeting the eye. Except one. He was not too tall, but he was taller than you. He had a face that made some people swoon. It did make you weak in the knees though. The whole Prince Charming vibe, hero-thingy made you wince but it was effective. You kept it to yourself though. Too much was at stake for you to let this guy blew it all away.

That was only the beginning of the task: as most of the persons around you were already paired up, they had an announcement:

“Now that you found your partner, time to buckle up. Every team drives a ship, we’ll see how you coordinate up there. We – the pilots – will be playing the roles of your opponents. Two ships per team. If you manage to get us to retreat, you’re in. Good luck!”

You were not that surprised by this. It had been a long time since they had played that card for the acceptance of new recruit. It was always effective though. The pilots were always having a lot of fun trying to get the trainees out of the sky. They would be flying within the atmosphere and in a safe area, so the only thing they risked were just a few bruises. In the worst case a broken hip but the guy had no belt on so it was entirely his doing. He got in anyway because he had managed to get the last remaining ship of his opponents to fell with him.

It was not that wild, but it was a good shot of adrenaline.

Still, you were looking around you and found that almost everyone had a partner. Figuring out you would find yourself with someone who was lucky they were even here in the first place, you walked straight for the ships.

“Hey! Where are you running like that?”

You turned around. Charming was there.

“What?”

He smiled brightly.

“You heard me. Between you and me this one is not fit to fly.”

You turned to look at the ship. You chuckled.

“You’re obviously not from here. This one may look old and crusty, but the mechanism is pure fire.”  as you were about to leave, you could not help from asking “Why is that of any matter to you anyway? Haven’t you got a shiny new toy looking like a ship and a nice-looking co-pilot waiting for you right now?”

He laughed. Out loud. As if it was funny.

“Well. I’d say I’m standing right in front of them?”

You raised an eyebrow, before realising. This guy would get you killed. Cocky AND charming. Nope, not a good equation on a ship.

“No. No way. - Yes. There’s always a way. Oh by the way I introduce you B-B8.

A small droid rolled to where you were both standing. He rang happily.

“Hello…? Well. There is no time to discuss this, right? Don’t answer that. -OK. Let’s go B-B8”

They both settled in the ship waiting for the order to fly. You tested the coms.

“One, two… Charming you can hear me? - Loud and Clear. Charming? - Yeah. Got a problem with that? Your name’s not written on your head. Made a wild guess but I’d say I’m not that far from the truth. -Actually you could not be more wrong, Grumpy. My name’s Poe. Poe Dameron. - It was nice knowing you Dameron. I hope we never see each other again.”

Poe did not answer.

“Hello? Still there? - Yes. I am pretty certain you’re not the only one though.”

That, out of everything, made you laugh. Bitterly, but still.

“Wow. I did not know Grumpy knew how to laugh.”

His comment made you cringe. “My name is (y/n) (y/l/n).”

An angel passed between you two. Before he got time to talk again, the signal was given. You were to follow the purple flagged ships. Coordinating faster than you thought you followed them. “The infamous daughter of Palpatine, huh? I heard only bad things about you. - Well, it’s always better to hear that than to be deaf, right? Understand now why I’m laughing? - Yeah. Sorry for… Well. Sorry for every other specimen of the human race who probably gave you a hard time. - You really chose a bad timing for that Charming.”

Driving in a loop, they were now into “combat zone” and were trying to lose you.

“Grumpy, I was born with bad timing.”

They were now too far for you to find them with your eyes only. You had to scan the area. It could take a while.

“Thanks anyway. You’re the first to apologize for his species as a whole… Just out of curiosity why anyone would want not to see your face again?”

Poe took a time to answer, setting up the commands.

“Well… I may have slept with one or two recruits. - One or two? - What? Alright maybe four, but why does it matter? They still will be glad if I don’t get in. - You remember who you’re talking too. I don’t mean to put the “my situation is way worse than yours” card, but I feel like I have to here. - I have a lot at stake for this, you know. It’s my only chance at ever becoming a pilot. If I fail, I’ll be a farmer. Like my parents.”

You were bewildered by his sentence. That’s when the alarms went off, and you spotted them. They had noticed you too though, and almost lost you slaloming between the trees. They were slipping away.

“I have an idea! - What kind of idea, Dameron? - Crazy kind? -Do it then! They are escaping!”

He took the speed stick and pulled it to its fullest. He was aiming at them.

“Can you… - Neutralize their shields? Already on it!” You were shooting your content on your future teachers. Well, more like the enemies right now. The first ship’s shield gave in faster that the second. They took cover as soon as it was off, but not too far from his ally. The mountains were too sharp and the woods were too low to get to now. “I’m taking the energy for this last blast, Poe! - No! We’ll lose the speed! - Not if it’s really, really close to them.” He understood your manoeuvre. Poe flew your ship right behind the two others, slowed down by the first. You thought they would stop mid-air leaving your ship to blast itself in the mountains, but they never thought about it. Lucky you. When the shot was ready, you got right between the two ships, one right in front of you now and the second under you.

Your shot aimed at the engine and it did not miss. They were so damaged they could not be repaired remotely. They had to retreat. As for your speed, Dameron was right. You were losing it, but faster than both of you had expected. You hit the second ship on one of its tails. It made both of the pilots retreat back to the base, probably fearing for a crash. Before they could turn around, your ship was picking down on the base.

“We are above the base?! - Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t realise it either! -Fuck! We’ve got to take the damages away!”

Closer to the ground than ever you both tried to pull the nose of the ship higher than the horizon was but it was too late. In the air shed the workers were running away. So were the pilots on the ground. The landing strip was being emptied when you finally stopped your course right before going into the potato field. You were shaken, but alive.

Poe on the other hand… He was trying not to mouth his pain, but you could see he had trouble getting out of the cockpit. Taking one of his arms you helped him out of it. “I think I may have a broken rib. Or two. - Huh? With that stunt, you’re sure it’s not four?” He laughed. Before trying not to laugh or even smile, because, you know. A broken rib hurts. So one or two… Before anyone could get to you, a furious commander approached you. Never addressing Poe, he looked right at you.

“The Sith’s offsring huh? You really had to make a mess of things, didn’t you? You’ll pay for that! - You…”

Poe took you by the arm, still clutching his stomach. His eyes turned to the pilot. “Sir. I understand you are a pilot. I also understand that you value the place of your co-pilot. If ever I was to insult them you would defend them, right? - Of course, boy! - Then you’ll understand why I’m doing this.”

And he punched him, knocking the guy out. You gasped, surprised. Before he turned to you, you managed to get very angry.

“That’s all Prince Charming! I did not need you to do that! - Yes. But it did make you feel a little bit better, right?”

You took a deep breath, crossing your arms on your chest. The crowd was getting thicker around both of you. For once they were not looking down on you. It felt good.

“Yeah it kind of did… Well it definitely did. I really wanted to tear his mouth off of his face. But, next time I’ll be the one doing the punching. - Fine, Grumpy. Next time I’m insulted you can defend my honour. - What? So, you assimilate that to defending my honour? - …It’s not what that was? - Of course, not!”

You were interrupted by Leïa herself. “What happened? Are you alright?” You smiled softly at her concern. “You should not worry like that. I am fine. I am always fine.” She smiled brightly at that and hugged you, out of nowhere. “Han would be proud, love. So proud.”

Your eyes were tearing up this time. You nodded softly.

“Thank you. It means a lot.” She let go of you, and stared at Poe intensely. He bowed to her, always a smirk on his face. She kept him because of his skills of course. But also of how you looked at him. Just like she looked at Han once. In another life.

Even after getting back to the other newly integrated pilots, you could not stop yourselves from bickering and laughing.

Working with this specimen by your side was going to be a challenge. The good kind of challenge though.

[themadlostgirl]

Not Dead Yet (Part 30)

*I enjoy writing slowburns way too much. Development. I live for watching and creating development between characters piece by piece. Hope you do too cause I just keep dragging this baby out.*

Pairing: Reader x Peter Pan

Warning: language

The next couple of days I was more than able to keep my silence around Peter. He’d make a comment here or there to try and get me to crack but I let it roll off my shoulders. I would acknowledge his presence, nod along, or do what I was asked but without a word spoken. Only problem was that it didn’t seem to bother him. If things continued like this I’ll just have to start ignoring him altogether.

“Devin,” Peter approached where Devin and I were lounging, “We need extra stores of dreamshade, take someone and go collect more.”

“Come on, Y/N.” Devin nudged me.

“Someone else.” Peter grabbed my arm keeping me in place. Devin gave me a sympathetic look before grabbing Nick and heading off. Peter dragged me off in the other direction. He pulled me in close with an all too familiar look in his eyes. Oh this poor naive thing.

I brought a hand up to to his lips and pushed him away. He peered at me annoyed. “The vow of silence I can handle but you won’t even let me kiss you now? Why? You don’t have to make a sound if you don’t want to.” he reached for me again. I rolled my eyes and spun him around, stole his dagger from his hip, stabbed the material of his tunic into the tree and left him pinned there as I went back to camp.

I sat down next to Ben with a huff. He glanced at me before going back to his whittling. “Still not talking to him?”

“Yep.” I picked at the shavings on the ground. “I think I’m starting to wear him down.”

“Is that what you’re doing? I’ve never seen him happier.” I glared back at him, “What? You not talking to him put him in the best mood I’ve seen him in years.”

“Do I need to stop speaking to you too?”

“I’m only teasing.” Ben assured me. “This spat between you two will be over in a week or so like they usually are.”

“Not this time.” I drummed my fingers against the log, “I am gonna make that boy crack and I don’t care if it takes me a decade of silence. He will admit that he was in the wrong.”

“Care to tell me what it is that he is wrong about?”

“Not particularly.”

“Okay then. Need a pointy stick?” he held up the slightly sharpened branch in his hands.

“Sure, we can go sneak up on people and poke them.” I took the stick and hopped up.

Ben followed right after. “Sounds fun.”

The day went on but Peter didn’t approach me again though I could feel the pissed off glare he burned into the back of my skull when he thought I didn’t notice. I don’t care what Ben says, Peter is getting annoyed. Best case scenario, he’s nearing breaking point. Worst case, he’s just being his overdramatic pouting self because I won’t let him grind on me while I’m not speaking to him.

If anything this break from him the past couple of days has given me the chance to think about my life. I’ve lived on Neverland for decades now. I am not the same person I was when I was first brought here. Most days I couldn’t even remember who that girl was. Years will go by between realizations that this wasn’t what I always was. Sometimes it makes me sad to think about. If I think really hard I can remember living in a little shack somewhere very cold with weak lungs struggling to breath the arid air. I can remember my father long dead. Not a name or even a face. Just a warm nostalgic murmur amid the blaring noise of my demented life.

Some nights I’d lay out where I could see the stars and pretend I was somewhere else. I’d hum to myself an old tune dredged up from life past. Perhaps it was a lullaby, maybe something else. Who knew. The only song that ever got stuck in my head that I could remember was from years ago when Peter and I were stranded in the Enchanted Forest. It wasn’t the night of that wedding we crashed (the wine made sure all I could remember clearly was my hangover the next morning.) No. Another day during our travels we came across an old fiddler playing for alms. I tossed him a spare coin and he began to play anew. Peter spun me once before we fell into a ridiculous dance right there in the square. At the end of the song we laughed about it and Peter tossed the old man another coin.

Such a simple memory but one of my favorites. It’s one of the reasons I know Peter’s wrong now. You don’t have times like that, you don’t smile like that, laugh like that, you do not enjoy something so mundane that much unless you also care about the person you’re doing it with. You, for sure, do not break open an entire island for someone you only think of as a comrade and piece to have.

Am I thankful that he saved me? Yes. Am I surprised that he acted the way he did when he thought I had died? Not as much as I initially thought. I know Peter’s gotten close to past Lost Boys and was upset when they left or died so maybe his reaction to what happened to me wasn’t unexpected entirely. But the degree to which he took it was.

I am glad that I mean something to him even if he won’t admit it. I am proud that I know him as well as I do. I’m thankful that he finds my life worth saving. What I cannot condone is his disregard for others in order to keep one alive. The safety of the many does not yield for the safety of the few...or the one. What is the life of one Lost Girl to that of say, twenty Lost Boys? Can I honestly sleep at night knowing that the reason they are dead is because of circumstances regarding my own fate? That I should live at the cost of their lives when their lives need not have been lost in the first place?

Knowing all this and thinking of all this just made my anger at Peter more substantial. He struts about this island with no regard for anyone or anything he deems unworthy of his attention. Then he gets upset when he doesn’t immediately get his way.

It’s been two weeks since the kissing incident where I left him stuck to a tree. He’s tried a couple more times to coerce me into giving in but the response, or lack thereof, was always the same. What had gone from being a fun game morphed into a personal challenge and it was starting to get bothersome.

Finally it all came to a head during training one morning.

“Alright everyone, gather round!” Peter called to the camp, “We’re going to be doing something a tad different today for training. Based on what I witnessed during our last fight with the pirates your reflexes have faded hysterically so.” He gave me a pointed look, “So that’s what we’ll be doing this morning.”

He took a dreamshade coated bolt from the quiver on his back and loaded it into a crossbow. “Let’s begin.” he shot the first bolt directly at me. I ducked out of the way just in time for it to fly over me and land somewhere else. I am going to literally use my last dying moments to physically emasculate him if he hits me with one of those.

The rest of the Lost Boys scattered. Felix and Peter alike were shooting dreamshade bolts at the quickly retreating targets. One of the younger boys wasn’t paying attention and Peter shot a bolt at him. I tackled the kid out of the way and the bolt tore through my sleeve as a result. I could feel the blood rushing out of my face as I rolled up my sleeve and inspected the spot. Oh thank the gods above, he only got my shirt.

I shot daggers at him. He hid any kind of remorse behind a mock innocent face. That’s it, I had had about enough of this. I gripped the hilt of my club as I rose to my feet. I don’t need words to knock the teeth from his head.

The egotistical blockhead had the audacity to smirk at me in that triumphant way of his. We’ll see how smug he looks when I’m tearing the ears from his head and shoving them down his throat!

Wait a second. I paused for a moment when I noticed he was pointing the crossbow at the ground. I looked back up at those startling green eyes and realized what this all was. This was just another attempt to get me to break. This, my anger, it’s what he wants.

With great difficulty I drew in a deep breath, lifted my head high and turned my back on him. Let him shoot me in the back. He won’t do it. If it was my attention he wanted then it was my indifference he would receive.

A bolt flew by my head embedding itself in the tree. I smirked at the last ditch effort and continued on my way. I didn’t see him for the rest of the day.

~~~

“So…” Felix watched as Y/N disappeared into the jungle, “I’m guessing this was a failed experiment.”

“I don’t get it. I shot deadly poison at her and she just walked away. She never backs down from a fight, never. So why would she run away now?”

“It’s not so much running as...sashaying away.” Felix pointed out.

Pan aimed the crossbow at him. “You want another scar?”

Felix held up his hands in defeat. “I merely meant that perhaps riling her up isn’t the best way to try and break this silence.”

“Don’t come to me with your well-meaning advice. You’re the one that spoke to her and started her on this whole annoying tirade.”

Felix took a step back. Yes, he did tell Y/N to rein things in with Pan. Did he care that they had their disgusting arrangement? No. He could quite honestly care less about their indulgences. What he did care about was the safety of the island and the remaining Lost Boys on it. If that meant poisoning their relationship, figuratively and literally, then so be it. She had too tight a grip on him and it needed to be loosened if not dropped entirely. Felix would always be loyal to Pan, that would never change. But if it took his anger at Felix to get things back to a safe and normal state then he would allow it.

Pan shoved the crossbow at him then disappeared in the blink of an eye. Seems that ends training for today.

~~~

Stupid, annoying, insane Lost Girl! This had been fun at first. Hell, it had been downright bliss. No nagging, none of her annoying jokes, and no screaming matches. Peter figured that Y/N would go through with her tantrum for a week at most then everything would go back to normal. Now it had almost been a month and he could count on one hand the number of times Y/N made eye contact with him for more than three seconds.

What did he want from her? He saved her life, again, and she acted like it was a crime. Yeah, some boys died but it was just the way things were. Boys died. They’d bring more in.

Sometimes Peter had to keep from yelling at her that she was in fact a murderer just like him. She’s taken lives and yet she still acts the martyr. Y/N can claim that all the boys are her family and that she cares for them all in her own sisterly way but it is all a load of crap. Besides her idiot trio she couldn’t care less about the others. She barely remembered their names half the time and if she wanted to she would strip this island bare until she was the last one standing with the makings of her own empire. She’s a wolf that wants to believe she’s a sheep. But the red on her hands will never wash out, it will only grow, he’d make sure of it.

The only way to ensure his ruthless Lost Girl stayed on his side though was to play along with her game.

He found her at camp playing games with the boys. “Hey,” he tapped her shoulder, “I need to talk to you.”

She didn’t so much as turn her head. Okay, she was going to be like this about the whole shooting her thing, was she? Peter shot a glare at the others and they scattered. Y/N made to follow them but he kept her in place. “I know you’re not talking to me but you need to listen.” He sat her back down. “Things got a little out of hand yesterday, I’m sorry for shooting at your head. What do you say we put that behind us?”

She remained silent staring off into the jungle. “Y/N, I know you’re not speaking to me, for a really dumb reason I might add, but you can at least give me a nod or something.” He tried not to let his irritation show on his face.

A solid minute passed of Peter just sitting there watching her while she made a blatant point not to even glance in his direction. “What? Are you just ignoring me altogether now? Not even going to acknowledge I’m right next to you?”

At this she stood up and left to follow the other boys. Her demeanor immediately changed and Peter could hear the sound of her laugh as she joked with the boys. “Hey! We’re not done yet!” he grabbed her again. She shrugged him off like he was nothing and continued on with her conversation despite the boy’s clear apprehension. That’s it! He gripped her wrist and transported them to the beach. “Now listen here you--”

Without as much as a pause in her step she turned and headed back into the jungle. “No! Get back here! Y/N, I’m talking to you!” she disappeared from view among the foliage, “I am your leader and you will listen to me! Turn your ass around! Y/N!” Thunder cracked to life up above. Y/N never came back.

~~~

A storm like nothing I had ever seen broke out after I left Peter on the beach. With the first clap of thunder my poised steps faltered. “Damn…” I looked back at where I came from, “Why do you have to be such a pain?”

Maybe I should go back. Not talking to him was doing the job fine enough but ignoring him altogether may have taken things a tad too far. The rain poured down soaking through my clothes in seconds. I shivered against the cold.

No. This is exactly why I’m doing this. He claims to not care about me. That I am just another child on his island to do his bidding and such. Peter refuses to acknowledge that I affect him whether he likes it or not. This storm just proved my point.

I want to forgive him. I really do. I want to have him back in my life. I miss joking with him and relaxing with him. Hell, I even miss making out with him. He is my friend. I’ve told him things I haven’t even told Devin. In a way he is my best friend, despite how much I want to kill him most days. He understands me in a way I can’t comprehend. But that doesn’t excuse what he’s done. He let boys die and didn’t think anything of it. He looked me in the eye and told me that I was nothing to him. After everything I’ve done for him and he’s done for me he denied that I meant anything to him.

I risked my life to get him his damned eye. The eye that will give him the information he needs so he doesn’t die. I’ve kept his secrets. I’ve followed his lead without question. He’s saved my life in more ways than one. He rescued me from a terrible life. He brought me somewhere where I can have a family and adventure. He listened to my trauma and took me to find closure. Yet after all that he has the gall to say I mean nothing? Was this damned storm he conjured up because I simply won’t look at him nothing?

I turned back and ran further into the jungle clutching my doused, freezing arms to my equally frozen body. If this was all an act then it was bloody convincing. King of pretend indeed.

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[justanothertheatrekid]

Episode 1 (The invitation) Rough*

They weren’t sure how long they’d been running, but they were so winded that they had to take a moment to breathe. Looking around the wood, they found a sizeable tree to hide behind, just in case. The sun was almost done setting, and Jay Lexin was starting to get very, very anxious. Jay was really good at being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and this time it was serious. It wasn’t often that the Draekuns - half demons with beautiful human faces, but with cat like claws and black, bat like wings - roamed the villages; they usually stuck by their covens in their mountains. But, apparently, today was far from being a normal day for Jay, much to their dismay. ********************* Spring had always been an important time of year for garden farmers, like Jay, and they started their day like any other in May. Step 1) wake up sister, step 2) prepare breakfast, step 3) tend to the vegetables patches, step 4) tend to the apple trees, step 5) get paper work in order, and head into market. This is how it had been for the past several years, and the past several days of the current spring. However, on this day even from step one there was something odd afoot. “Ray, rise and shine, we’ve got a lot to -” Jay looked around at a room with an empty bed and books spread about the floor. “Ray?” Jay called, as it was not like their sister to be much of an early riser. “I’m in the kitchen!” Ray hollered back. The sun rise was shining in a way that it seemed to illuminate the kitchen table, Ray sitting sweetly, a breakfast of her own creation prepared. “And what’s all this? Neither of us have birthdays any time soon” Jay said, grateful, albeit slightly confused. “Did you hear the news? The wealthiest heirs from the Capitol are visiting the mountainside villages to invite some of us for the Lumina Festival! Oh we must go, Jay! You’ve done work with some of their culinary heads, yes?” Ray chimed out, excitedly. A bit taken a back, Jay took a moment to reply. “I’ve helped to provide them with some of our finest fruits and veggies from the garden, yeah, but I’d rather not get involved with their sort beyond that, truth be told” “Oh but Jay, it would be so elegant and extravagant! You don’t truly believe the rumours, do you?” Jay hesitated, “It’s not that I believe the rumours, Draekuns tend to stay at the top of the mountains. I just don’t know if that elegant crowd is really…us”. The rumours, of course, were that the wealthiest in the region who resided in the Capitol, had a history of doing shady business with Draekuns. Mostly in relation to assisting in, “resolving” family feuded. However, Jay’s understanding was that the Draekuns avoided the general human populous, just how Jay, and most humans preferred it. Jay’s actual reason, however, was simply that they felt so disjointed from the high society folk from the Capitol, especially those from the wealthiest families. “Ugh, but Jay! It’s not like I’m suggesting we find husbands” Jay raised an eyebrow “or wife, or some other manner of life partner, or partners” Ray quickly added “it’s just one night to feel like high society for once” Jay sighed. A night off did sound nice. “If we get a start on the morning chores, we’ll have time to head to the - town square?” “They’re gathering by Marwin’s Inn, a few steps down from the square, to meet with villagers and decide who to invite” Ray explained. “Okay” Jay said, “I’m assuming we should probably dress better than, uh, usual?” “Well of course!” Ray brushed back a curly pink lock of hair from her face. Jay only just noticed that she had freshly washed her rose hair. “I guess I should let my hair down” Jay said, as they touched the two small buns on the back of their lavender ash head. “So it’s settled! Now, let’s get a start on those chores!” Ray exclaimed as they headed towards the back vegetable garden, adjacent to the kitchen. Jay was almost dumbfounded. They decided it was probably best to let their sister have a go at this chance for a night out with those high society folk, especially if it meant having the daily tasks done with such enthusiasm. As the sun was high in the sky, the two siblings walked by the town square. Ray was decked out in one of her cuter spring dresses, with a pink and yellow floral patten, complimenting her pink braided hair and blue eyes. Jay wore billowy green slacks, with a lace blue tunic, with their straight lavender ash hair just barely past their jaw. There was already quite the crowd gathered outside of Marwin’s Inn, right next to an exceptionally fancy carriage. It would seem that the three wealthiest families sent their three heirs, and some of their siblings in one limousine carriage. Ray started to fidget, nervously. “Everyone looks so well dressed…” she said, frantically looking around. Jay glanced about, and they had to agree with their sister; the hopeful villagers that had showed up were dressed to impress, young men, women, and androgynes alike. That being said, Jay wasn’t about to crush their sister’s hopes. “You are by far the prettiest and most sprightly gem among us” said Jay, earnest in their voice. Ray smiled at their older sibling “And none is more charming and uniquely captivating as you, Jay.” Jay laughed “If for some strange reason they offer me a spot and not you, you can take my place. We’re both Lexins, it shouldn’t make a difference” “Oh don’t talk like that” said Ray. Just then, the sound of a baritone horn erupted from just outside the carriage. “Attention all” called the Capitol’s ambassador, Thien Hutarl, a short stubby androgyne with short black hair and a purple dance suit “the children from the Clarence, Impunda, and Quorille family is now ready to meet you. Please form three clear lines as calmly and quietly as possible”. Ray and Jay joined the line just to the left of them. And then they saw the children of the wealthiest families in their region. Jurra, and Karru Clarence, identical twins, short and petite, walked to the most right line first. They both had bright emerald green hair and golden eyes. Omaer, Yalek, and Liira Impunda went to the middle line. The Impunda’s had rich dark skin, with light green eyes, the two older boys with dark auburn hair, and Liira with rich, tight curly black hair, all with strong builds. Jay let out a sigh. Why wouldn’t the Impunda’s gone to their line, the thought. Oh well. The Quorille family was by far the wealthiest and most pristine of the families, but only with one heir. Florence Quorille was a tall, slender androgyne with long silver hair, and magenta eyes. They walked with such grace, yet had the most commanding presence of all the Capitol heirs. Florence, unlike the other Capitol heirs, flew through their line. One glance at a villager, and they either walked directly past, or handed them an invitation and went to the next person in the line. They were only a handful of people away “This is happen so much faster for our line, I’m not ready!” whispered Ray, exasperated “It’ll be fine, just calm down” said Jay, assuringly. When Florence finally got to Ray and Jay, something they stopped in their tracks. Florence looked at the Lexin siblings, and spoke in their angelic voice for the first time since they exited the carriage “Jay and Ray Lexin, the ones who run Lexin Garden farms” they said. Jay wasn’t quite sure how to respond, while they thought of about five different witty quips they could have made, the decided against it. “Yes, that would be us” said Jay, in a calm and pleasant voice. Florence locked their magenta eyes with Jay’s blue-green eyes. “My baker always uses your apples to bake my favourite pies”. Ray finally pipped up “how did you know who we are?” Florence looked into Ray’s blue-grey eyes. “Henri, who picks up the culinary supplies for my chef made mention of the sprightly pink haired gem, Ray and the captivating and charming Jay, with the lavender ash hair. Most of those outside the Capitol do not poses these hair colours, so you’re not exactly hard to miss”. Ray blushed. It was true, that Ray and Jay’s family did originally come from the Capitol on their mother’s side; their mother, Joirra Helen fell in love with their faetha, Quinne Lexin, a simple village garden farmer, who was the reason the family was raised in the country side village instead of the Capitol. That was years ago, though. “I’m glad you’ve enjoyed what our garden has to offer” said Jay humbly. Florence held out two invitations and simply walked away. Jay and Ray looked at their invitations in silence. “Well, I guess we can head back and start on the afternoon chores, then” said Jay. “That happened so fast, am I even awake right now?!” Ray could hardly contain her excitement. “Ouch!” Jay had pinched Ray “Yeah you’re awake alright” they chuckled to themselves. “You know what? I’m too happy to be mad at you. Let’s go home!” They were nearly done their afternoon chores, an hour earlier than expected, when the next strange thing happened. There was a knock on the door, and Ray answered it. “Missus, you and Jay must stay in tonight” it was their neighbour, another garden farmer, Gyol Rake. “We can’t, we’ve been invited to join the Capitol heirs in the first set of caravans heading to the Lumina Festival” Gyol shook his head “Something’s not right about this. Them’s Capitol heirs haven’t invited common villagers to the Lumina Festival in years. Jay walked over “Does this have to do with the rumours?” “I’ve said what I came to. Please do what’s safe” and with that, Gyol left. Jay crossed their arms “I’m not sure about this…” “Jay, Florence Quorille personally invited us, we can’t just offend them and not go. The caravan will be picking us up in only a couple of hours.” Jay looked out the window “Okay, but if ANYTHING seems even slightly off, we’re getting out of that caravan.” “Nothing’s going to happen” Ray said, rolling her eyes “but fair” she sighed, reluctantly. She knew her older sibling just wanted to make sure they were both safe. Their parents left the Lexin children the farm so they could travel out on the seas, so Ray understood the responsibility that Jay had to keep in mind, in addition to the safety of their younger sister. With their chores done, there was one hour left to get ready for the caravan. “All I need is to decide on my dress!” Ray had turned her room more upside down than usual, if that was even possible. “Why not the orange one?” suggested Jay. “It would be perfect if it weren’t for the chocolate cake stain from your birthday party” said Ray, disheartened. Jay checked the clock. “The sun’s only just starting to set, I think I’ve got enough time to head to the Wood’s Well”. The Wood’s Well was a well in the centre of the nearby wood, the Trock Trail Wood. Even in the dead of summer it’s water was ice cold, and perfect for removing any stain. “Are you sure you can make it back in time?” “Well, I’m already ready, and it’s not like my dress shorts and dress shirt would be ruined from the walk” Jay shrugged. “Okay, but please be quick, I’d hate to make the caravan wait” said Ray. “It’ll be fine, probably” said Jay. Ray gave them a look. “By probably I mean defiantly, calm down” When Jay got to the well, they slowly started to let down the bucket, humming to themselves, and started lightly singing as they poured the water from The bucket into their water skin . “That’s a familiar tune, what’s it from?” came a soft, baritone voice, a mere few steps behind Jay. Jay nearly jumped, their hand quickly reaching for the dagger they kept in their sleeve; they hadn’t noticed there was anyone behind them. In front of them stood a towering man, with a dark cloak, gorgeous face, incredibly pale skin, short black hair, and deep blue eyes. Jay had never seen them before, and kept their hand on their dagger. “It’s an old folk tune my faetha use to sing to my younger sister and I” said Jay, calmly. “Sounds like they had good taste in music” said the stranger. “I am Krenshaw, what’s your name?” “Jay Lexin” Jay started to calm down, as the stranger did not seem dangerous. “What brings a sweet, young androgyne like yourself out to the woods at this time?” asked Krenshaw “Nothing gets stains out like the ice water of the Wood’s Well” Krenshaw laughed “Fair enough, but what’s so important that you need a stain out right now?” “My sister and I are going to the Capitol for the Lumina Festival. We were invited by Florence Quorille themselves” said Jay “my sister’s dress is perfect, save for a chocolate cake stain”. Krenshaw’s eyes darkened. “I’m actually on my way to the Lumina Festival tonight, with my clan. We can escort you and your sister.” There was something in his voice that didn’t sit well with Jay. “Thank you for the offer, but the caravan is expecting us” said Jay, as polite as they could. Krenshaw’s blue eyes started to change. “Oh my sweet dear, that was not an offer. That was a promise”. It was then that Jay noticed, in the setting sun that Krenshaw’s cloak had a strange texture to it. Jay’s hand slowly went back to their dagger. They had never seen a Draekun this close in person before, and their mind started racing, trying to think of their weaknesses. It’s almost like Krenshaw was reading Jay’s mind. “You’re so cute, and I’d hate to have to damage your stunning self” his wings started to spread. Jay started slowly walking backwards, water skin in the right hand, dagger now out in the left. “Please, I’m a simple farmer, I don’t have anything you could want. I promise I won’t tell anyone I saw you here, you have my word. I’m no one, same with my sister.” Jay was getting ready to run. “Farmer, duke, princess, engineer, it doesn’t really matter. You happened to cross the path of travelling Draekuns. Contrary to popular belief, we do enjoy the temporary companionship of humans. I promise you no harm, so long as you come along willingly” Krenshaw had a hungry look in his eye that Jay really wasn’t thrilled about. “Well, you see -” Jay started “KRENSHAW” a booming voice called from the west. The moment Krenshaw looked away Jay bolted down the trail leading along the river. It was a twisty trail with several forks. It was a confusing complicated route back to the Lexin residence, if you weren’t familiar with it, which Jay was hoping that was the case for Krenshaw. As they ran they heard a growl escape Krenshaw, in addition to the sound of their wings fully spreading out and starting to flap. Running through the winding path, Jay was certain that they were covering more distance than Krenshaw could whilst flying, given the crowded trees and wide wingspan of the Draekuns. “I WILL FIND YOU JAY LEXIN” Krenshaw bellowed. As terrifying as that was, it sounded like he had gone in the wrong direction, just as Jay hoped. They continued running as fast as they could, until they finally had to take refuge behind a tree to catch their breath. Having lost track of time, they only just now realized the state of the setting sun. The sun was almost done setting, and Jay Lexin was starting to get very, very anxious. ****************

[whataboutmyfries]

Chapter 24

Being the expert researcher she was, Hermione had found something within 7 minutes of her reading.

"Look at this, so it says that mates can actually speak through a mind link, but only if they've um..... completed the bond. Have you two...." She stammered, blushing furiously.

"No 'Mione, we haven't had sex," Harry said, turning the colour of his Gryffindor jersey.

"Well then," Hermione said, clearing her throat. "Spell it is."

Hermione quickly rifled through a book until she found the page she was looking for

"There it is," she said, the large tome thudding to the table as Hermione pointed excitedly at something on the ancient pages.

After quickly scanning the page and understanding the nuances of the charm, Hermione practised the charm a few times, on herself and Ron, making her mate go all over the castle to make sure she could cast the spell over longer distances. After she was completely sure she was ready for the real thing, Hermione sat her friend down as she took in a deep breath and goes about casting the spell.

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Draco blinked his eyes open to his chest covered in blood and his torturer no longer present. He groaned at the pounding in his skull, before sitting up best as he could in his bonds. He looks back down to examine his wounds to see the letters 's' and 'c' on his chest.

the memories from before he blacked out come flooding back to him as he winces as the pain in his chest intensifies. He sucks in a breath, trying to steady himself when he hears a voice in his head.

Draco! DRACO! love where are you? I'm coming alright? just hold on babe, I'm on my way!

Draco shakes his head, thinking he was hallucinating from the pain when he heard it again,

"Draco love, can you hear me? Please talk to me, can you tell me where you are?"

"Harry?" Draco tentatively said, trying to get his thoughts across to Harry.

"Oh my god, darling, I thought I lost you. Could you tell me where you are? I'm coming to get you."

Draco sighed in relief, finally finding some hope for this horror to end. "I don't know where I am, but I think I'm with those people we read about in the newspapers. I'm in an attic and I can sometimes hear people outside, but there are no windows and only one man ever comes in here."

"Okay dray, 'Mione's gonna cast a tracking spell on you. I'm gonna take some of your stuff for this okay?" the Gryffindor said into Draco's mind.

"yeah sure. I'm waiting, love" The Slytherin said back; waiting impatiently for his rescue.

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Harry ran back to Hermione, informing her of the new developments and telling her that she now had to cast.

"Alright, could you please get me something of Draco's to track him with?" Hermione said, already preparing for the spell.

"Way ahead of you," Harry said, dropping a couple of the Slytherin's sweaters in front of his friend.

"Hey thank you so much for doing this, you're a miracle 'Mione," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Harry, you're my best friend. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you." She said before closing her eyes and starting to cast the spell. Both boys waited anxiously, watching as Hermione did her thing.

In a few minutes, Hermione had Draco's location and the trio was racing towards the Headmistress's office to inform her of the situation.

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Malfoy heard footsteps from the outside room. Thinking fast and wanting to stay conscious for his mate's arrival, Draco pretended to be out cold. When Alcott walked into the room, Draco held his breath, hoping that he wouldn't sense something amiss.

"Please just walk away. please just walk away. please just walk away." Draco chanted in his head, even as Alcott's footsteps stalked closer and closer.

The man lifted Draco's head up by his blonde hair. Draco swallowed a gasp and kept his body limp. Alcott grunted, dropping the blonde before walking out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

"come on Harry..."

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Harry, Ron and Hermione somehow coaxed McGonagall to go ahead alone, though she made them take backup with them. Although, backup was going to take a while to muster, so the trio raced ahead to save their newfound friend.

Harry and Ron decided to take their brooms, and for Hermione's fear of them, she chose to take a thestral instead. She knew Draco's exact location, so she flew ahead of both boys.

It took them a good five minutes for the three of them to get to the place, and when they did, Harry finally let his pent up anger out, letting loose an animalistic growl before he shot both guards with a stunning spell and walked into the building.

The place where Draco was being held was an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere surrounded entirely by trees. The place had a single road connecting it to civilisation. After checking the area around them for spells (there were none) they chose to land at the back of the warehouse, noticing the two guards upfront and the single guard at the back. When they got a little closer to the ground, Hermione hit the man with a stunning spell and tried to push the door open. Seeing it was spelled shut, she told the boys to take the front door.

Harry burst into the repository, instantly duelling and taking down 7 guards. His magic was crackling around his frame, sparks of electricity running up and down his arms and legs. He hadn't even realised that his wand was still in his pocket. He was magic personified, every spell he was casting was completely nonverbal and wandless. He stormed the place, taking down person after person, his fury alike to that of the gods themselves.

He destroyed room after room looking for his mate, his rage mounting every time he came up empty-handed. Suddenly he remembered Draco saying that he was up in an attic somewhere. Immediately, he ran up to the very top of the warehouse, taking down whoever so much as crossed his path.

Finally, he found himself standing at the threshold of a long, narrow corridor; leading to a lone metal door at the end of it. He ran towards it, blasting the door off its hinges to find himself looking at an unconscious, and very beaten up Draco.

[xottzot]

2017-3(MAR)-16-a--Thursday-2017.

Firstly, I am NOT posting this up until later today for reasons of security which will be obvious to you as you read this entry.

2017-3(MAR)-16-a--Thursday-2017.

As I start writing this first section, it's currently 1:36am.

I did not ty at all to 'stay up', but I simply could not get to sleep. And I was not allowed to sleep.

But I am going to try to force myself to sleep again.

Just as short while ago, a loud siren (possibly a fire engine) zoomed close by down the road, and once AGAIN, there's a lot of smoke outside. And it is is infiltrating inside this hovel. This is the second time this has happened in as many days.

Fire engine(s), POLICE,........

I'm going to try to sleep. I'll once again have nightmares as I have had every night since late 2015 because Fliss is not with me.

Sam and Max have been having nightmares a lot too. Tonight it was Sam's turn as he lay next to me and he was howling in his sleep having a terrible nightmare once again.

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6:55am, I awoke. I was awoken by a large amount of vehicle traffic outside my window and terrible vehicle fumes (petrol and diesel) getting into this hovel, chovkig me in my tiny amount of sleep, and so I had to get up.

And as soon as I was awake, dear Sam & Max were demanding to be fed and let out. (and of course they can never decide which they want first.)

But first I had to check to see if Max had been okay during the hours of sleep and darkness.

And I found that Max had thrown up AGAIN, the second time in as many days, and he'd thrown up all on his sleeping mat in the living room and the floor again.

Max sleeps next to Fliss's empty chair. It's the only place he finds some tiny amount of solace in.

I had to attend to that dog throw-up, and let them outside. Max was very sullen and growley.

Both dogs Sam & Max ate their dry food okay and so I went outside with them and kept watch whilst I also got things ready to hose down all the vomit from Max's padded sleping mat, which is a padded mat that has a removable linen cover. (both were soaked in vomit)

Whilst outside more VERY loud jet planes from the airport were thundering overhead taking off and flying right over this hovel.

And just a few houses away (just across from the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD), workers are using some power tools or whatever that is very noisy, pneumatic or electrical tools stuff on concrete, cutting and hammering away at.

Two aboriginal kids came around that street corner and one went into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD. The other one went fruther down the road along Clayton Street. - They were deliberataly going AWAY from school. Once again the lies and appearance of them ever going to school was being made.

And whilst that was going on, the kid from the troubled corner house (that has had its wooden picket fence torn to pieces and large gaping holes in it by aboriginals), that kid was walking down the street to go to the school across the road. He was dressed for school and had a school backpack on. But he has not gone to school and no doubt will never do so. He has learned his lessons well from his aboriginal 'friends', the same ones who beat him up and steal things from him and family and who smash the place he lives at.......

You see just after him seeing the criminal aboriginals roaming about, he changed his mind about going to school and walked directly away from the school which is across the road.

Fire engine sirens have been sounding about as fire department vehicles are moving and attending a fire somewhere close.

At 9:03am, when the school has started it's school day, now that it has started, out comes aboriginals from the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD. A male aboriginal kid shabbily dressed and barefoot walks with an aboriginal female adult (the woman is dressed in a crimson t-shirt and thongs (flip flops),) and they walk along ON the roads towards the nearby shops which also has an alcohol store.

9:05am, a white utility/wagon vehicle pulls up at the vacant car park area beyond the end of the roads next to the oval next to the school. It parks up and watches. Nobody gets in or out of the vehcile.

Within the next couple of minutes, along Clayton Street (which runs past the school), along comes walking two adult aborginals. They go into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

Then the barefoot aboriginal school-aged kid comes along the same way, but he sees them walking ahead and stops walking in that direction. Instead he walks further along Clayton Street to the bus stop shelter or wherever. He wastes time there for less than a minute, then comes back and aimlessly makes his way to the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD and goes there.

That white utility/wagon vehicle drives away from where it had stopped. Nobody had got out or into it. It had been observing.

As soon as that vehicle was gone, out from the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD walks that same aboriginal kid, now aimlessly swinging two tree brabches about in his hands as he walks further up the street. When he gets to the intersection he continues walking AWAY from anywhere near the school direction.

At 9:23am, that aboriginal kid walks back, picking his nose, and looking all about, especially in the direction up the street where the shops are. He walks on and into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

At 9:30am, the woman in a crimson t-shirt and thongs (flip flops), she comes out of the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD, and slowly dawdles up the road, ON the road, and she walks straight into the corner house (that has had its fence smashed by aboriginals). She is accessing a mobile phone held in her hands all the time. She walks to the front door area. She stays only a minute or less, then comes out again, still intently looking at the phone. She walks along ON the roads and heads to the shops and alcohol store direction.

This is just one morning of the 'aimless', criminal wanderings that goes on around here all the time........

9:38am...the last of the two workers vehicles that had been parked at the end of the road across from the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD has driven away and gone. A large very noisy jet plane flew overhead at the same time.

9:50am....false calm.

The ONLY difference that has been made thes past few months is that the numbers of overt (visibly seen and noticed) criminal aboriginals and criminals roaming all about here has been lowered, but they are still about and they are still hiding out in houses and locations of their own choosing.

At 10:10....a siren (Police or fire engine) could loudly be heard closeby in the south of this area. It lasted a short while then stopped.

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Because Max is so unwell, I am going to feed both Sam & Max some plain Weet-Bix cereal damp with milk which is very plain, and which will hopefully help Max's unwell stomach. (they have of course already been fed their normal dry dog food earlier).

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At 9:45, an aboriginal man walks out of the criminals pedstrian walkway. He walks down at the end of the street, walks down the roads, and appears to cross onto school property. But he is only gone for a minute or less, then walks back the same way again and quickly walks away through the criminals pedestrian walkway and is gone.

Then, at 10:10am, two young teenage aboriginal males come out of the walkway on pushbikes. They circle aimlessly around ON the road intersection until one yells out and signals to a small young aborigial male kid who comes out from the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

The small kid is dressed in a school shirt and shorts but is barefoot. And of course he does NOT and did NOT go to school across the road. He literally runs up on the road to the one of the aboriginals on bicycles and they have a quiet talk meeting on the middle of the street. The kid walks back again. The other bike rider joins the first one and they begin aimlessly circling around on the street until they turn and one LOULDY yells out then they both ride up the road rowards the shops area. And as they're doing so, one of them is intently acessing a mobile phone he's holding in his hand.

At 10:20am, a car rapidly takes off from further along the street nearer to the shops direction and loudly squeals its tyres on the road doing so.

Does this dear reader, look like overt drug-dealing to you by the criminal aboriginals? - The same aboriginals who roam all about the streets and in and out of anyones proerties at will, the same aborignals that have asaulted people, children and adults alike, the same aboriginals who smash stuff all over the roads, the same aboriginals who have made life hell for all innocent people including adults and school children and dear pets......look back in my blog and see the earlier entries of how feted by depatrments these criminal aboriginals have been, how they have been given anything they want such as pathetic outdoor toys that they then use ON THE ROADS IN TRAFFIC, and see how rampant these criminal aboriginals are but the Police and departments kept feting and rewarding them on and on and on.....Police and departments would actively choose to totally ignore some crime whilst focussing on others that they had little headway in.....

10:32am........an adult walks into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

Then a very loud jet pane flies overhead, taking off from the airport. (I keep mentioning these damn loud planes to show you the frequency of how many there are. Some I have not mentioned at all.)

10:33am.....those two on pushbikes return. One has a blue plastic bag of small goods hanging from his handlebars. They ride down the road towards the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD. But they seperate. And whilst one stands outside on the driveway of the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD, the other one on bicycle goes down the end of the roads keeping watch alond the roads for Police, the other one crosses another road and rides all about there in the carpark looking for Police or observation vehicles. (this is VERY VERY common behaviour around here by them). Then he rides back up the streets and joins the other bicycle rider in the driveway of the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD. - They are joined by a small in height aboriginal woman in a red coat. She's acessing a handheld mobile device in her hands, and therafter they ALL go into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

Just another typical day in this hellhole.

11:00:am.....an aboriginal kid on a bicycle comes out of the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD and rides along and across the roads onto the school oval area on school property and is gone.

11:01am...another LOUD jet aircraft flies overhead taking off from the airport......

11:25am.....false calm.

There's going to be another spike in aboriginal activity very soon. I need to lay down because I'm in so much pain. However, first I have to check to see if Max's padded sleeping mat is dry from the hosing down and dousing it with disinfectant I had to put upon it because of poor dear Max's vomit had been all over it.

11:28am...5 aboriginal females, consistig of 3 women, 1 youth, and that toddler girl child all came out of the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD and they slwoly walked to the shops area. -- As they did so, another aboriginal woman? walked up from down the road direction and went straigt into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

Just as I alreay stated, another spike in activity has begun......and this goes on and on and on all day EVERY day. - What you dear reader have read is just one partuial days telling of the crap that goes on around here. But I haven't yet seen the open street fights and loud yellings and all the other criminal crap that goes on around here.

11:37....back comes those 5 aboriginal females including the aboriginal toddler and they walk along ON the roads and straight into the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD.

I've now returned Max's sleeping mat after reassaembling teh dried mat and so on outside and bringing it in and laying it down for him. Max slumped down and growled.

Then...as I was doing that....at 11:48 a motorbike came tearing thru the pedstraian walkway and sped NOISILY along the streets towards the shop and liquor store area.

AGAIN, this happens and HAS been happening almost EVERY DAY and NIGHT for over 3 months solid straight........

They may not go to the shops. They may instead simply use the roads and rampantly speed along them and cross onto footpaths walkways, and pedestrian areas to lose Police vehicles as they have long ago learned to do.

At 12:07pm (just after midday) as I was outside tending to matters that needed to be attended to, I could hear aboriginals roaming about loudly on the streets in the south and south-east of this hellhole.

Within a minute or two, a loud POLICE car siren was heard in the east of this helhole suburb. It lasted a short while then stopped for unknown reasons. It was all unseen by me but could not be unheard.

And now, in agony, I'm going to try to lay down and rest. But I can be asured that myself and all others will not be allowed to rest.

Midday is also a prime time for aboriginals and criminals to thieve from parked vehicles at the shops area, and to thieve from the shops themselves inlcuding the liquor store. Many times in the past has seen people running along the streets from there, running into the criminals pedestrian walkway followed by people on foot or in vehicles giving pursuit.

But I am going to lay down now in agony.

This has been a standard morning in this hellhole........

P@12:24--I love you Fliss and want to be with you.