#Human of Green (Human Willow AU)

[atomic-sludge]

Oh yeah here's a style exploration from a couple weeks ago. Not sure why I made them humans? i meant to finish these but uhm... yeah.

[thornwillow]

Tag Dump

[smallpapers]

The Owl House + Lumity + Hunger Games AU??? Idk LMAO I’m still on a THG kick after rereading/watching the whole trilogy!!

Some thoughts on the AU under the cut

Okay so this is a stupid idea but I’m just having fun with it. Obviously it won’t follow the hunger games directly because the situation and characters are different, but some stuff kinda connects!!

Katniss and Peeta= Luz and Amity

Prim & Ms Everdeen & buttercup = Vee and Camilla and King

The Mellarks = Odalia (fitting!), Alador, and Ed + Em (fits since both Peet and Ami have two older siblings). I don’t think they’d run a bakery though, but something abomination related that fits here.

Haymitch = Eda

Madge = Gus??

Gale = I’m afraid there’s no Gale equivalent here because it doesn’t make sense in this AU, and I’m not a fan of love triangles anyway.

Effie = Hooty. This is funny to me. the peak of my fanart career

Cinna and Portia = Darius and Eberwolf

Senecca Crane = Kiki

Snow = Belos obviously

Ceasar = Adrian

Plutarch = Raine

Finnick = Hunter

Annie or Johanna ish situation = Willow??

Coin = ummm either Lilith or Collector hm

Anyways I kept the human and witch ears because I thought that could be an interesting tie with the Merchants vs Seam. And Amity’s hair is fully green in the interview scene because she got her grown roots dyed during the makeover! In this scenario I imagine Odalia would make her children dye funky hair colours in hopes of getting into the ‘capitol’ equivalent, which I guess is the Emperors Coven.

Also instead of girl on fire, Luz would have some ‘light’ related title.

[kraviolis]

i told y’all. i told y’all i was gonna go crazy over this post made by @gummy-goat-galaxy​

full disclosure i drew literally all of this before looking into the details of the AU so this is 70% my interpretation of his original post but i need to explain my thought process so. here’s the post explaining the details of the actual AU!!! and below is what my brain made up on the spot

ok so belos finds tiny child luz and is like “fuck everyone. this is mine now” and treats her like a goddamn princess. to him, she is a Gift From God to remind him to stay on his Righteous Path. an innocent little girl who is just so bubbly and always tries to see the good in everything, including him. she is a reminder of how Pure and Good humanity is, and seeing as though she’s the literal only human he’s had any contact with besides caleb in 400 fucking years, he is never letting the demon realm corrupt her like it did to him.

she’s basically his Lamb and he the Shepherd, and because he’s so desperate to keep her “““pure”““ he strictly keeps her within the castle and even then not all of the castle is available to her. he keeps her contact with witches to an absolute bare minimum.

he entrusts her protection specifically to hunter, despite the fact he’s only 2 years older. his reasoning is “caleb did a pretty good job raising me so this’ll be fine probably.” when belos himself cannot keep an eye on her, it’s hunter’s job. luz and hunter end up being raised in a sorta similar situation to catra & adora from she-ra but they are actually siblings and not just best friends.

(if u havent seen she-ra, basically its their abusive caretaker creating a golden child + scapegoat dynamic, where one kid can do absolutely no wrong (which doesnt mean they cant still be abused/manipulated!!) while the other kid is blamed for literally everything that goes wrong. the caretaker also regularly pits them against each other to encourage competition & keep the all power in the caretaker’s hands.)

similar to catra & adora, the whole competition thing doesnt really work. luz is just too damn kind and too damn good for hunter to ever resent her, and she’s all he really has. because hunter is the scapegoat, he grows wise to belos’s manipulations WAY sooner. it’s easier to figure out when you’re being mistreated when you literally watch ur guardian treating ur sibling so much better than how they treat u.

unfortunately, because luz cannot help but see the good in absolutely everyone and can be empathetic to a fault, she doesnt realize belos’s game until she ends up sneaking out of the castle. she actually really loves belos and is thankful for him taking her in for a long time. she calls him uncle like hunter, despite belos nudging her towards seeing him as a father bcus he sees her as a pseudo-daughter. (but luz remembers her dad, and has no desire to replace him with someone else no matter how much she cares for belos)

belos does love & adore luz, he would do almost anything to keep her happy and “innocent” and “pure”, but not to the extent that he could still end up redeemed. he still manipulates & subtly emotionally abuses her to keep her in line, but it’s only when she sneaks out and meets eda the owl lady does she start getting clued into this. and once luz learns what belos has done to hunter it’s all fucking over.

hunter loves luz. she is his sister and always will be. but while he’s stuck to belos because of his duties as golden guard, she sees how green the grass is on the other side and doesn’t even hesitate to hop over there. watching her slowly grow more and more distant while she keeps sneaking out to visit with her new friends (eda, king, willow, gus, amity, etc.) is one of the most painful things hunter has had to deal with.

he feels betrayed at first, as if luz is replacing him with other people who arent broken like he is, and when luz actually leaves for good- belos lies to the public and says she was kidnapped- hunter is the one who leads the hunt to find her and bring her back home safely. when they confront each other, luz tries to do her whole dramatic speech about how wrong belos is and how he’s been lying their whole lives, but hunter already knows. the only reason he stayed was for luz, but she couldnt even stay from him? it fuckin hurts man.

they end up on opposite sides for a minute. hunter gains no satisfaction from trying to ruin this new life she’s found for herself but goddamnit, he has a job to do. he cant just defect. and then he defects after watching belos try to kill luz because she’s let herself become corrupted by the witches.

thats about all my brain got for this so far. TL;DR basically just listen to the “first time in forever” and “mother knows best reprise” and “broken crown” by mumford & sons and thats pretty much the gist of it.

[the-stolen-century]

Raine and Eda's gem fusion (TOH / Steven Universe crossover)

Their fusion dance is just the scene in Eda's Requiem where they play their instruments back-to-back, but then they glow and fuse - but continue playing, because now they have 4 arms, Raine's arms on top playing the violin and Eda's arms on the bottom playing the cittern.

Their combined gem is sphene/titanite - base colour gold (eda) with green (raine) and red (both of them) sparkles. More designs and AU description under the cut:

Separate designs for them (Eda is big and shaped like Garnet because she's a fusion between Eda and the corrupted Owlbeast. Her harpy form is the harmonious fusion that happens after the Owlbeast's corruption is healed):

Alt design for the fusion, with merged/faceted eyes instead of separate ones - I just love how perfectly Eda's pointy eyes fit under Raine's round ones!

I imagine their combined personality might be like a rock star, because Eda's brashness and showmanship overpower Raine's stage fright, so they can finally be a star musician together. I love to think about how elated they would be after their first performance!

Plot (?):

So titans can travel through space, just because they're so magical. Several hundred years ago a titan arrived on earth to hide from the Archivists, carrying with it a lot of refugees from its original planet. The titan died, exhausted by the stress of the trip, but the refugees whom he protected survived and started a new life. They are protected by shielding magic from curious humans. They are a little different from the witches and demons of the boiling isles - they're gem-based lifeforms who form visible bodies around their gems, and they have very long lifespans.

One summer, Luz the human (obsessed with gems and magic) accidentally goes through a portal that Eda has made, ends up on the island and decides to live there instead of summer camp.  She meets Eda, whose gem has become fused with the corrupted gem of the Owlbeast, so sometimes the Owlbeast takes control of their shared body.

Luz becomes best friends with King (King is basically Steven and doesn't know he's actually a titan/diamond), who didn't have any friends before her because nobody has seen his type of gem before so everyone thinks he's weird. (The gem society in Steven Universe is kind of obsessed with roles, ranks and hierarchies, so seeing an unknown gem is unsettling). She basically becomes Connie to King's Steven (non-romantic, lol).

Luz has some adventures learning about the island. She gets to know Willow, who is an "overcooked" jasper and insecure about it just like Amethyst, but v. powerful once Luz helps her overcome the insecurity. And Gus and Amity.

Meanwhile, on the titan’s home planet, Belos (not a human in this AU) has formed a deal with the Archivists to be allowed to rule the planet in a way that the Archivists approve of in exchange for trying to find the escaped titan. And now they have found earth somehow. Raine, who leads an underground rebellion against Belos, manages to be the one sent to earth. Unfortunately for them, Belos sends Hunter (Belos’s pearl - Hunter has big pearl energy, right?) along with them.

Once they arrive on earth Raine keeps trying to secretly sabotage Hunter’s attempts to find the island so they can find it first themselves and warn everyone.Don't know how that goes, but eventually they find Eda - maybe even in the human world and not on the island? So they finally meet again after a long time. Back then she was too afraid to tell them she's a fusion but now she doesn't give a fuck, which leads to them rekindling their relationship!

[crimeronan]

hang on, what ARE everyone's canon ages in the AU as of the last fic? I had it in my head they were over 18 now. (Gus notwithstadning)

luz is still 17! she's 16 at the very beginning of The Horrors (TM) and just about to turn 17 when she takes the throne; she's now been empress for about half a year. (unless my math is REALLY off.)

amity, vee -- and willow, whenever i drag her into the canon -- are all ~18ish, i'm hcing that amity is just a little older than luz & willow is just a few months older than her in turn. (if amity is still 17, it's like Right before her 18th birthday as of now.)

vee's Exact age is a mystery bc i don't think even SHE knows, she'd have no reason to know. but as far as legal documentation goes i think on-paper she's 18 and a freshman in college.

(don't ask me how camila secured her an official human identity, i don't know enough about the US legal system wrt undocumented children. camila would have tried to do it legally & then if she Couldn't, she would have done it illegally. "if we need to find a way, we'll find a way!")

that makes hunter 19. so HE gets to be a full-fledged adult who knows everything. and definitely does not need help from anyone else, ever.

but as far as LEGAL status goes, being empress sort of supersedes the age of adulthood. in real life kingdoms, oftentimes underage royals have to wait to assume the throne while a regent rules in their place -- but i don't think belos had any such stipulations about the empire. he was already planning to leave luz the kingdom before she turned 18 anyway. if anything, belos is More likely to leave huge responsibility to Actual Children, because they're more likely to Do As They're Told.

gross. leave them alone old man.

so. legally speaking, on the isles, luz can do whatever she wants whenever she wants, for any reason, forever, and no one on god's green earth can stop her. which is essentially adulthood but worse. and ALSO legally speaking, back in connecticut, camila would still have parental rights to her.

that camila has surrendered those rights & isn't pressuring luz to come home is a testament to how much she Genuinely Cares about luz's wellbeing.

[chaoticnebu]

I want to know more about your palistrom au Hunter. Anything. Everything. When does it start happening to him? Did any other Grimwalkers experience this? Was there an event or exposure that triggered the tree growth? (Palisman blood perhaps? Belos needs to be more careful when he eats those things.)

What kind of jokes does Gus tease Hunter with? Does Willow use plant magic on him? Does Hunter find it ticklish if/when she does? What do palistrom tree flowers look like and would Hunter give them to the Captain?

Did Belos use Hunter's condition to advance his 'evils of wild magic' narrative? Does Dell have a professional opinion on Hunter's condition? Does Eda have an unprofessional opinion? Has Flapjack ever tried to build a nest against the twigs on Hunter's head? Just how hard is it to find clothes/uniforms for Hunter and does Darius help out with modifications?

The people have a right to know!

cracks my knuckles and hits that readmore because there’s a lot to write

(( CW for a sketch with blood and bruising + mention of fantasy SH ))

so! I imagined multiple instances where the palistrom mutation happens (aus of the au, if you will.) the main one happens at the end of season 2/during season 3 BECAUSE of the Draining Spell

I always thought that grimwalkers are 100% living beings with the same organs and tissues as other demons and witches (minus a magic bile sac in Hunter's case because he originated from a human) because the various ingredients for making grimwalkers simply transform into living organs and tissues. the Galdorstone becomes a real heart, the one bone of Ortet turns into a whole skeleton, the palistrom wood turns into skin, hair and nails, and so on.

BUT the Draining Spell, due to its nature as a magic nullifier, made the Grimwalker Spell on Hunter regress

their blood turned to green magic (the same of palismen)

and the skin of his right arm, scar tissue and right shoulder turned into blue bark

had the draining spell run its course they would've probably turned into a plant monstrosity :) (i also tried to imagine his heart going back to its galdorstone state, but that would’ve probably been excruciating if not lethal, so idk if it would work at all)

having the Draining Spell been stopped in time, though, the mutation happens slowly and only after Hunter and the rest of Hexsquad have fled to the human realm. it takes about a month for the first palistrom leaves to sprout and before that, Hunter has only suffered a terrible itch (everyone thought it was just mosquito bites at first)

when branches finally start to grow and his arm looks less and less human, hunter realizes that hiding his nature as a grimwalker is impossible even with Luz’s help at that point and he leaves the noceda household during a panic attack (he just can’t stop running off into the woods) they eventually reunite and the grimwalker reveal happens WAY EARLIER than TTT (i like it to be a lot deeper conversation.) they also have to deal with Jacob (the museum asshole) being even more determined to catch and expose the kids after finding out that there's a tree boy with them

the second instance of the AU happens earlier, when Hunter is still the golden guard and the cause of the mutation is the Collector. star kid was feeling especially bitter towards Belos and they tried to mess up the grimwaler spell, which resulted into this one grimwalker to mutate at some point during season 2

this AU develops into two scenarios:

Belos tries to dispose of Hunter before Hollow Mind, but the kid flees thanks to Flapjack and finds shelter in Bat Queen’s cave, where she welcomes them as yet another lost thing despite all the harm he caused in the past. he ends up joining the BATS, attacking scouts who confiscate palismen to save them and made up for all those that died because he brought them to the Emperor

Belos decides to keep Hunter and tries to convince him that he was cursed with wild magic just like the Emperor, manipulating the kid into considering himself unworthy of love and acceptance, that his uncle is the only one who understands what it’s like. it takes Hunter A LOT MORE to distance himself from Belos and learn to trust Flapjack and Hexsquad. this is also the instance where Belos has to be more careful about feeding off palismen

So, about Willow! She totally can use plant magic on Hunter after the mutation manifests (limited to his right arm) but unlike healing magic, plant magic is a manipulating kind of energy that could make the bark grow even more and she would rather not try that. IF she tried i’d assume it would itch just like when the palistrom grows naturally

I never thought about palistrom flowers, i think that it might be a fun art challenge coming up with a design for them :) but Hunter would not give them to anyone because pulling them (like pulling leaves or snapping the branches) hurts like hell. a dark bit about Golden Guard Tree Boy if that he plucks leaves and flowers despite it hurting a lot just because he hopes to look "less wild" to the eyes of the Emperor

BUT a cute thing I like to imagine is that when the flowers bloom (around march/april like it happens to most plants) Hunter becomes especially affectionate!

Gus (and Luz!) totally pester him with tree puns! They never leaf him alone :)c ( /shot )

Dell… don’t know what kind of professional opinion he would have, but I like to think he’d be the one helping Hunter recovering after Belos’ possession (because it happens, it’s uglier than canon, and Hunter’s palistrom comes out of it burned and cracked)

Eda’s also very professional opinion is that she’s sorry she can’t stomp Belos MORE after hearing all that the poor kid has gone through

Flapjack totally tried to make a nest in his branches. Actually he still does because he’s very much alive in Palistrom AU :) He was just so badly damaged that he can’t fly anymore. Being beyond repair Hunter had to carve Waffles as a movement aid for them both and Flap gets to hang out with a silly little sister!

finding clothes with accomodations for Hunter's branches is literaly hell (i know it is because i never know how to draw them) so boy has to make his own. Camila helps with it a lot when the kids are in the Human Realm, while Darius helps when they're back to the Demon Realm :D

[bleachification]

⸻ CHAPTER FIVE; ALL MEN ARE EQUAL

pairing: dazai x f!reader (fantasy au)

warnings: mentions/themes of depression

chapter list: this is CHAPTER FIVE of a multi-chapter fic series. PLEASE read the chapters below (in order) before this one or you will be very lost!!

prologue

one

two

three

four

word count: 3.5k

+ + + + + + + + + + + + +

Back in your homeland, at the Imperial Palace, the largest constructed facilities are ones of sport and training. Sharpened swords and polished armour take the place of bookshelves on bedroom walls, and the practice of scripture is seldom found. Higher education, though no less important than warfare, is strictly limited to scriveners, court officials, and the professional erudites of your father’s choosing. In the face of current conflicts, most of your father’s people are far more absorbed in military affairs and bureaucracy than arithmetics, the sciences and the humanities.

Although, when it came to you, it was like a switch went off and all those sentiments were turned upside down. 

By a certain age, your tutelage switched from scholarly knowledge to that of etiquette and what he referred to as ‘womanly affairs’. Those usually consisted of things like sewing, music, and art classes. The only one you ever enjoyed was the horseback lessons. 

But thankfully, your father’s one track mind meant you were never discovered for—or suspected of—possessing further-education books and studying politics, diplomacy, and military tactics on the days general schooling lessons were cancelled. It is why you find yourself in the royal library, hours before you are due to meet Dazai for dinner. 

Hundreds, if not thousands, of marble shelves line the walls from floor to ceiling. Each one is stacked, end-to-end, with leather bound tomes and tea-stained manuscripts. There is a fireplace in the right corner, carved from blackened stone and crackling with warmth. Around it sits a pair of dark-green, thickly-cushioned armchairs, along with a matching sofa that is wide enough to fit at least four people. 

You walk further in and are greeted with four arched windows spanning the length and height of the space, each one clear as the summer sea. You squint, momentarily blinded by a sudden passing ray of sunlight. Birds are chirping underneath the morning sky, and branches of a looming willow tree sway in front of the left-most window. You take in the sprawling garden view; a labyrinthine maze of hedges take up the centre, and a large assortment of decorations speckle the grounds. Smaller fountains, rainbow flower beds, and iron-wrought benches are only a few of what you can see. 

You look around a bit more, noting the study tables anchored to the floor and the winding staircase that leads to the open-plan second floor. The library is well-kept, as shown by the pots holding blooming flowers along the window sills, but the dust lining the shelves indicates that no one has used the archives in a long time. You wonder why—it is the first and only comforting place that you have found in the cold, lonely palace. 

You make your way down the stacks before a section catches your eye.

A Comprehensive Guide on Abilities and a Meta Analysis on their Structural Archetypes; 

The Scholar’s Circle’s Codex on Yokohama’s Political Affairs;

North vs. South: A Dynastic Tale of Continental History. 

You grab all three and almost lose your balance from the weight of each text. More and more books are added to the pile in your arms until you can no longer see straight ahead. 

With a huff, you drop the mountain of pending research onto an oak-stained study table and quickly get to work. 

Hours pass, the concept of time long faded as you lose yourself in the world of preternatural powers, warring states, and the cluttered institutions that make up the Kingdom in its most present form. 

The striking differences between Yokohama and the Northern Empire are more vast than you had ever imagined. It's a stark contrast—governance, industry, arts, religion and everything else you've come across so far. Not a single commonality to be found.

“How has…? But wouldn’t the roots originate from the dark ages? Let’s see…” you mumble, talking to no one in particular. 

“Have you found a specially interesting read?” A particular person asks. 

You fall out of your seat in surprise. 

“General!” You squeak, reeling from his sudden appearance. 

The mild-mannered Fukuzawa gives you a gentle smile and moves to help you up. He hooks two large arms under your own and lifts you back onto your chair. The scene reminds you of a mother cat picking its kitten up by the scruff of its neck.

You drop your head onto the table in embarrassment, refusing to make eye contact until, hopefully, a meteor comes falling onto earth and crushes you to death. 

“Good morning, General,” you mutter. 

“Hmm.”

You peek up at him with one eye. “What?”

“It is five in the evening,” he replies, bemused. 

“What?!” You bolt up, shame long forgotten. 

It takes you a second to realize how orange the library is, cast in the hues from the setting sun. 

You drag a hand over your face, rubbing the fatigue from your eyes. “Shit, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”

Fukuzawa raises a brow. 

“What? You’ve never heard a noble cuss before?” 

He taps his chin. “I can’t say I have. You truly are a breath of fresh air, Your Highness.”

You grin. “As are you, General. And please…”

He listens, head tilting in curiosity. 

“It is [name]. We are friends, are we not?” Your false sincerity coats your words like a second skin.  

The sun dips far below the horizon, robbing the world of its light. You take in the storm clouds in the distance, absentmindedly wondering if the Empire would experience the same downpour later in the night. 

Fukuzawa ponders your question for a moment longer before answering. “We are, but I am also your subordinate, so I am afraid I must decline.”

“And if it is an order?”

Fukuzawa’s eyes sparkle. “Then I am under aristocratic obligation to comply.”

In a tone laced with authority and bemusement, you proclaim: “I, acting Monarch of Yokohama, hereby order General Yukichi Fukuzawa to act beyond propriety and address me by given name only. No titles, no fancy designations. Just [name].” 

“As long as you are willing to grant me that same honor, [name].”

You grin. “See? Isn’t that so much better, Yukichi?”

The General only laughs and turns to take a seat across from you. The armour he dons makes a clanging noise as he settles himself. Patches of dirt litter the surface of the metal while other areas sport minor indents—likely from the force of a blade's flat or hilt. 

“Did that hurt?” You nod towards the largest dip in the steel. 

He looks down at his left side, around the area between his upper ribs. “Couldn’t even feel it.”

“Of course not,” you wave, returning your attention back to the pages. 

“I see you are interested in…” Fukuzawa leans over the table, peering at the emboldened titles of each tome. “Yokohama politics, history, and culture?”

“The pen is mightier than the sword, as they say,” you muse. “And a bright mind is far mightier than those stumbling blind in the darkness of their own ignorance.”

“I do wish more members of the court shared that sentiment. It would certainly make my migraines less frequent.” 

You faintly recall the term from a book you finished earlier. “The… inner court?”

“The very same. A parliamentary round table of aristocrats and representatives, headed by the Four Noble Houses.”

“The Four Noble Houses? You mean…” You cringe, an unpleasant memory resurfacing. 

Fukuzawa’s eyes gleam with amusement. “Ah, yes. I recall a certain purple-faced duke drenched in the colours of His Majesty’s most favoured cabernet sauvignon.”

You smile sheepishly. “I messed up, didn’t I?”

“Formally? Yes.”

You groan and drop your head in your hands.

Fukuzawa lays a palm on your shoulder and gives you a gentle pat. 

“But reasonably? Absolutely not. He deserved ten times worse than what he got.”

“Someone needed to stand up to him,” you point out. 

“Sadly, there are not many people who can.”

You sigh at that and go back to your research. The moment you set your eyes back on the book, the pages in front of you begin to blur and mesh into a whirlpool of ink. 

“Maybe it is time for a break…” you murmur. 

Fukuzawa leans forward and studies your fatigued expression. 

“What have you learned so far?”

You snort. “You mean other than our sordid history? The decades of hatred and conflict brewing between our countries?”

“Ah, yes. Besides that fun little facet of our politics.”

You run through the miles of information you had just absorbed, each little bit coming together piece by piece to paint a very clear picture of the modern world—one where mystic abilities, gods of old, and monsters coexist in disharmony. 

‘Abilities’ as you have come to know them, are practically non-existent among the lower caste in the Northern Empire. The only ones who wield them are of noble blood, aside from the rare few commoners—unfortunate individuals who would be executed for merely holding power outside of their status. Even then, barely anyone manifests one. In recent years, the only ability-user you know of is Chuuya.  

In Yokohama, these powers are respected, admired, and much more plentiful. In your textual observations, it is noted that the military and governing leaders are chosen for their abilities. 

“Hm… what is yours?”

 You are curious. What sort of fate-bending, death-defying power could this seasoned warrior have?

“Mine?”

“Your ability. You must have one, being the head of such an elite corps.”

“My ability…” he pauses. 

You raised a teasing brow. “What? You’re not going to tell me?”

“Just considering the risks of doing so. You have proven yourself to be both smart and deceitful. A deadly combination.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” You place a hand on your chest in mock offence, scoffing in indignation. 

Fukuzawa laughs—that familiar smooth rumble that you have come to find placating. “Would I be wise to?”

“Of course not.” You wave a dismissive hand. “But you should tell me anyway because I am curious and stubborn and will likely find out on my own regardless.”

The general’s gaze is filled with a kind of warmth that is unknown to you, only interrupted by a flicker of a melancholy that twists his expression momentarily." It happens so fast you almost mistake it for a trick of the light.

“You remind me so much of her…” He mumbles under his breath so softly you pass it off as a whisper of the wind. “Very well. I will tell you.”

The sun has all but disappeared from the horizon, the shimmering moon slipping in its place. The dark, glittering night falls onto Fukuzawa’s features beautifully, making  him seem a little more weathered and a little less mundane as he explains his decidedly non-mundane powers. 

“It allows me to control my soldiers’ own abilities. I am able to manipulate their capabilities, help navigate their potential, and expand the boundaries of what they can do. That is my ability,” he explains. 

You mull over Fukuzawa’s words, a bit surprised at the nature of it all. The powerfully built military veteran looks at you like he knows what you are thinking—knows that you are confused on why someone with his battle prowess has such a passive skill. 

“You forget, Your Highness, that before I am a warrior, I am first and foremost a leader. Without my men, I am nothing, and without me, many of those men would not have survived until now,” he states. He says it like a fact, and perhaps in some ways, it is. It makes more sense the longer you think on it, his ability is almost perfectly suited to his position. You wonder what yours would be if you manifested one. What about Dazai? Would his ability reflect bloodthirst and coldness? Or would it be the opposite of what you know him as?

You make a mental note to come back to that question later, and direct your attention back to the conversation at hand. 

“[Name],” you correct.

Fukuzawa blinks. “Sorry?”

“You called me ‘Your Highness’ just now.”

“I apologize. Force of habit,” he drops his head in a slight bow and the moonlight streaming through the open windows reflects off his gray hair, transforming it into a silver mane. 

Fukuzawa apologizes to you a lot, like a father fumbling for words in front of his newborn, careful not to be anything but kind. If anything, you find it endearing. As well as a little… disappointing. 

“General.”

Fukuzawa’s smile drops at your change in tone. The worry in his eyes is clear. “Is something wrong?”

You give him a small smile, a tad tense. “No. Not really. Though, I would like to ask you something. Would you humour me?”

“Of course. I will answer anything within reason,” he reassures. 

You rest your cheek against your palm, curiosity and wariness burning bright. 

“Why are you so kind to me? I know how this country views the Empire—views me. I am not blind to the scornful glances nor hidden insults thrown around. I am numb to them. But you… Kunikida… that peculiar doctor as well, you are all much too cordial with a sworn enemy. Is it pity? Some misplaced sense of duty? Or perhaps it is all fake and you are all laughing behind my back as we speak.”

Silence spreads through the empty library, the only noises are the crackling of the fireplace and the gentle swishes of the willow branch behind you. The only thing you hear is your pulse thrumming against your skull.

If Fukuzawa is taken aback by your bluntness, he does not show it. Despite only knowing you for this short period of time, he is probably already used to your brusque manner of speech. He folds his hands in front of him and leans backward, taking some time to come up with a suitable answer. You can practically see the gears turning in that head of his. 

A few moments pass before he finally speaks in a serious, yet gentle, voice.

“Do you think yourself undeserving of our respect?”

You shake your head and answer: “Not at all. I am only surprised you would willingly impart it to me.”

“I cannot speak on Sir Kunikida or Dr. Yosano’s behalf—although, I imagine they share the same thoughts—but I am kind to you because it is common sense. I am kind to you because I am honoured to serve under your reign,” Fukuzawa assures. His expression softens. “I am truly sorry about the harassment you have had to endure. I will do my best to keep them in check, but if it happens again, do not be afraid to use your status. You are their ruler. Do not let them forget it.”

A lump forms in your throat and you force yourself to swallow it down. The support eases your heart, but the anxiety does not fully disappear, nor does the cold tingle of resentment in your chest. They probably never will. For now, you will accept his words, but with caution, as you are still very much in enemy territory. You will need to lead with your mind to survive, not your heart.  

And Fukuzawa? The gentle general is merely a stepping stone, not a friend. 

“I… am grateful. Tha—”

“General Fukuzawa!” In a very familiar fashion, the doors to the library burst open to reveal a man, effectively cutting you off. 

Kunikida stands beneath the frame, face alarmingly red and breaths coming out in short, laboured puffs. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch Fukuzawa grimacing. 

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?.” The minister spits out each word with barely contained anger—more accusation than actual question. 

“Chief Minister.” Fukuzawa bows and slowly inches himself towards the door, closer and closer to the fuming blonde. “I see you are… upset.”

Kunikida’s eye twitches. “Upset? Upset?!” His voice hits an impressive octave and you briefly wonder if he’s ever considered a career in opera. He certainly has the knack for it. 

“I—” 

“The outdoor arena is on fire.”

The general clears his throat. 

“Right. I did tell them not to try out those new techniques without me around, though His Majesty’s soldiers were never ones to adhere to the rules.”

“A black hole opened up in the ceiling and swallowed three stable boys. They were… fully nude when they fell out an hour later.”

Fukuzawa blinks. 

“That’s… new.”

“You have five seconds,” Kunikida says flatly. 

“Well. Duty calls. I shall have to put out some fires… er… literally.” Fukuzawa makes his way to the open doors and is about to leave when he adds: “Have a wonderful  night, [name].”

“Good luck,” you laugh. 

He gives you a small wave before disappearing down the hall. 

You turn your attention to Kunikida who is now slightly less red, though still glowing a nice shade of pink. 

“Good evening, Chief Minister. To what do I owe the pleasure?” You ask. 

“I am here to bring you to dinner service. Perhaps you have forgotten? You seem to be engrossed in our literary offerings,” he answers plainly. 

Kunikida stays standing, but has walked further into the room, hands clasped behind him as he studies the books you chose with furrowed eyebrows. 

“I enjoy reading. Is that such a crime?”

“I am only surprised you were able to find this place. After His Majesty banned entry, most just ignore it as they pass by.”

You cock your head to the right. “I was curious about that. Why? It is a beautiful library—a sunlit treasure trove of knowledge. I would imagine most people would be clawing at the doors for just a glance, yet it is as barren and untravelled as the deserts in the West,” you muse.

 Your curiosity is only a mild interest until Kunikida’s gaze sharply turns away from yours, blatantly avoiding your poking and prodding. His averted eyes cause what little inquisitiveness you had just felt to balloon into a wave of eager investigation. 

“Kunikida.”

He adjusts his glasses and nervously glances at his timepiece. “We are going to be late if—”

“Kunikida.”

He sighs, relenting. 

“If nobody uses this place, why is it so well kept? There are no dirt patches or cobwebs, but the dust between pages suggests that no one has opened them for many years. ”

“If I were to make an educated guess…” Kunikida stops for a moment to think. “I would wager that His Majesty misses what it used to be, and is only trying to preserve the last of that magic. Though the memories here are much too vivid and much too painful for him to come back to.”

What it used to be… 

A flicker of something… a fleeting feeling… No. A memory. At the very back of your mind—

“But I do not think he will continue to do so.”

It vanishes, and you fall back to reality, grasping at nothing and nowhere. 

You shake yourself out of your daze, a bit peeved at the interruption, but curious all the same. 

“Do what? Preserve this place? You believe he will let it just… crumble to ruins?”

Kunikida takes a seat and folds his gloved hands together. The lines on his forehead appear as he tenses, preparing his next words with careful precision. He works his jaw, tension releasing and forming with each movement, as if he is warring internally, fighting to either let the words out or keep it in. 

You hope he chooses the former. The more information, the better. 

His expression settles and a stern look replaces his calm visage. Whatever he has to say must be serious.

You catch yourself tapping the side of your thigh anxiously under the table and clamp your fingers down on your leg… hard. Your father did always say that a royal must be poised and perfect, and he made it extremely clear that such emotions were to be erased and forgotten. 

And if they weren’t… 

A chill runs down your spine at the memories.

“I am well aware that you are, and pardon my candor, untrustworthy.”

You almost snort. Not the first time you’ve heard that and it certainly won’t be the last.

Kunikida continues. “But I believe it is only right to tell you as His Majesty’s spouse. King Dazai is… he is…” Kunikida pauses as he fumbles for the right word. 

A clock ticks. Kunikida settles on a phrase. 

“Unwell. A disease of the mind and heart that has stolen his will. He is here only to serve a purpose and that purpose is not to live out the rest of his life. He exists, but for years now he has not been… here. Almost as if one wrong move and the line His Majesty balances upon disappears and takes him with it.”

Time slows. The air thickens. Are you breathing?

“Slowly but surely, he is fading away,” Kunikida pauses and swallows as he tries to work out his next words. 

“Some days I believe he is better. Most days I do not allow myself to indulge in such a lie.”

—

˚ · . tags: @zjarrmiii @aiizenn @emyyy007 @letsliveagaintoday @bejeweledgirl @nat-the-gayass-down-bad-mf

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

Realized that in my Immortality Speedrun AU, even though Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing likely wouldn't have had the opportunity to get thrown from Heaven since they'd be working overtime at their posts, Ao Lie very much would still have the opportunity to land himself on death row as a prince, so.... Sun "An enemy of Heaven is an ally of mine" Wukong gets a roommate for buddy comedy reasons

[ID: 1. An illustration of Ao Lie and Sun Wukong. Ao Lie is in his princely attire, but notably disheveled. His green outermost robe is hanging half open, with burnt and ripped hems. The red sash at his waist is hanging in tatters as well. His hair is loose down his back and he's holdining a sword in his right hand. Sun Wukong is in his human disguise, wearing an open checkered daoist's robe. His white inner robe is not tucked into his pants and a red dudou is peeking out from underneath it. He's staring at a book in his left hand while chewing on a piece of willow, his right hand scritching his chin thoughtfully.

2. A sketched comic, with Ao Lie in teal and Sun Wukong in orange. In the first panel, Ao Lie bursts into a cave in a rush. In the second panel, Sun Wukong is sitting on the floor of the cave next to a table, looking at Ao Lie at the cave's entrance. SWK says, "Uh. Hi? This cave is already occupied." In the third panel, Ao Lie attempts to pull otu his sword in surprise, crying out "Stay back!" before he's interrupted by Sun Wukong casting a freezing spell "定!". In the fourth panel, Sun Wukong has a cheerful but annoyed facial expression as he approaches the frozen Ao Lie. He says, "LOL Nice try, punk- Now what the hell are you doing in my cave?", then, "Wait a min-". In the fifth panel, Sun Wukong is looking up at Ao Lie with a surprised and incredibly amused expression, exclaiming, "Wait- You're the Ao kid who managed to set his father's palace on fire underwater!". Ao Lie looks back at him with a tense expression, saying, "Please don't tell me you're gonna hand me in." To which Sun Wukong replies, "Hell no I won't!"

3. A sketched comic, again with Ao Lie in teal and Sun Wukong in orange. In the first panel, Sun Wukong is reading some plans in the foreground and Ao Lie is in the background. Sun Wukong says, "Xiao Long, could you head out and fetch me some lingzhi? I'm fresh out. In the second panel, Ao Lie responds, "I'm a prince who has an active warrant out for his arrest, and you're just some rogue brewing illegal immortality. Wouldn't it make more sense to go out yourself?" In the third panel, an unimpressed Sun Wukong presses a basket to Ao Lie's chest. Sun Wukong says, "I've got arrest warrants for crimes you wouldn't even imagine. Plus, it's my magic and my cave keeping you hidden, so pull your weight, Princey." Ao Lie rolls his eyes and has his hands up in a mock defeated pose. End ID]

[yanderespamton78]

RARE CHARLIE OC POSTING?!?!??!???

My babies :3 the tall one is Willow (she/her) the short blue one is Termite (it/it's) and the small green thing is Gleebo (it/it's) oh and btw if you use he or they on termite or gleebo i will come to your house and steal your organs :3

LORE TIME BITCHES

So willow is just some 7ft tall forest woman idk how she got there I haven't gotten that far yet. She lives alone and has for as long as she can remember and can't speak English nor really communicate in general due to the fact that she never needed to (also her vocal chords are blocked by the mushroom thing I'll get to in a min so she can't make sound in the first place) but she is still very clever. In the human au I made with my friend she went to like Oxford or Cambridge or smth idk but ANYWAYS thing with willow is she is immortal BUT she has a disease that causes mushrooms to grow in and on her body, which will one day kill her. She has a few hundred years before this happens tho so she's fine for now since she's only in the early stages but for now it causes pain and also means that she is blind in her right eye since a mushroom grew there. But anyways willow is very jumpy and timid like she is CONSTANTLY anxious. She is pretty lonely and also loves snails because they are the onely things she could pick up and take around with her that wouldn't run away or bite her. She is also not very strong because she doesn't have the guts to kill anything and eat it so survives off of nuts and berries meaning she's kinda malnourished

SECONDLY termite so termite is less fleshed out because it hasn't existed for as long (I've had willow for YEARS) but it is this like 4"10 creature thing. It has roughly the intelligence level of a border collie and has also, like willow, lived alone it's whole life. It's also like fucking rabid it survives solely off of meat and could kill a village in cold blood. Now you might be wondering "how it's like 8 years old" WELL it can kinda transform into this much stronger being if it's trying to kill smth big. I have a drawing of this but I haven't posted it I will when I'm finished :3 but in this form it has quadriplegic legs and claws and spidery legs on its back which it uses to tear apart prey plus a tail with a spike on the end which it can stab things with. Like it is fucking terrifying. Also the lil green thing gleeb is a weird lil alien thing termite adopted :3 because termite saw it and was like "hold on a second that thing doesn't look edible and also doesn't look like it's from earth. Twinningggg mine now bitch" and adopted it. Gleeb isn't very intelligent. It can recognise termite and follow it around but other than that it kinda just exists and doesn't do much.

So termite and willow do meet eachother at some point because termite was injured or smth I haven't decided that yet and willow was like "shit something that isn't a small mammal or an insect this is groundbreaking" and took it in. They are cutie patooties :3 neither of them really know how to deal with other beings so their relationship is kinda unnatural but they like eachother. But like for example termite would bite willow affectionately and then nearly bite her arm off. It doesn't help that neither of them can really communicate as termite just isn't intelligent enough to really and willow can't speak at all but a lot of how they communicate is through clapping and other things like that. In the aforementioned human au willow adopts termite and termite has some kind of learning disability that I will research and name ✨later✨.

The thing is willow and termite have such good potential for angst because willow will end up succumbing to the mushroom disease and termite will have no idea why its only carer is dying and isn't able to do anything about it but watch her slowly waste away. Y'all watched ep1 of sweet tooth??? Or when the wind blows??? Yea that kinda thing. And termite would likely just sit next to willows body like a dog sitting near it's owners grave waiting for her to wake up. But you know what we can ignore that and just look at the sweet nice family fluff parts :3

As for willow and termites environment uhm uh. Minecraft. Like they literally live in the world of minecraft. Termite got it's clothes through Minecraft achievements.

LOOK termite was originally a drawing of my Minecraft avatar then it turned into a whole story leave me alone

But anyways for the few people who read it I hope you enjoyed my incredibly long winded ramble about my OCs :3

[fox-from-malta]

Trollhunter [Tales of Arcadia] x The Owl House AU :) Wanted to rework this AU xD then I ran into like 5 other versions but thankfully, from what I've seen I think my idea is original enough to stand on it's own? so... gonna go ahead and do some more art for it and share my ideas xD so take this as Part 1.

Jim Lake Jr. - Human Lives with his mother, Barbara, and accidentally finds himself in a world of witches and trolls. He trains under Blinky and Aaarrrgh to become a witch himself ~ using Blinky's staff and the glyphs to aid him (until eventually getting his own staff,,, or amulet??)

Toby Domzalski - Witch [Beast Keeping Track] First witch Jim runs into, and quickly they become best friends. He's a fan of creatures, and becomes a friend of Aaarrrgh too, trying his best to help him find out what type of Troll he is. His palismen is a lil Gnome called Chompsky.

Mary & Darci - Witches [Illusion and Bard respectively] Mary and Darci, friends of Toby's, at first don't trust Jim but quickly join his side and act as the brains and clown of the friend group. Their palismen: Mole called Mascot and raccoon called Jeans.

I choose their track and palismen, based on what I think they'd do? and what fits their personality or colours? I know Darci's colour is green, but I think she'd be more into Bard then Plant magic (Her magic colour would likely be green though).

Hopefully next post will reveal other characters, and their place in this AU, but basically these 4 would be in place of these characters if in canon: Jim - Luz, Toby - Willow, Mary & Darci - Gus. The story also would be a mix of both show's canons, and not quite follow only one of them xD more will hopefully be revealed in my next post.

Original AU Art: Scrapped, but wanted to share my designs/art from 2021 haha.

[ratsoh-writes]

Ages updated!!!!

I’m gonna do my best to include all important characters, including some “side characters” that appear often enough! So let’s begin!

Undertale: Sans: 65, papyrus: 49, Undyne: 47, alphys: 54,Toriel: 934, Asgore: 933, Grillby: 522, Mettaton: 22

Underswap: Star: 60, honey: 44, Twister: 44, Winter: 1013, Napstablook: 23

Underfell: Red: 66, edge: 43, storm: 44, King: 998, felltron: 21

Swapfell Mal: 60, cash: 51

Horrortale Oak: 75, willow: 59, Miss: 944

Horrorswap Lilac: 70, Basil: 54

Horrorfell Rust: 76, Noir: 53

Underlust Charm: 66, sugar: 52, Amor: 367, winnie: 10

Lustswap Sparks: 59, Salt: 50

Lustfell Lush: 63, Pepper: 51, Jezebel: 212, Marcelo goldenfoot: 455

Lustswapfell Sir: 68, weasel: 52, snow: 61

Lustred Flambe: 55, Pesto: 54

Lustgold Butler: 68, gold: 49

Outertale Pluto: 67, Jupiter: 49, titan: 598

Outerfell Orion: 60, atlas: 52

Outerswap Helios: 44, Artemis 36

Fellswap Lord: 60, mutt: 53

Fellswap gold Wine: 64, coffee: 50, Empress: 1033

Farmtale Peaches: 51, rancher: 46, Rosemary: 550, Yosemite: 501

Farmswap Cider: 50, Barley: 42, Carmen: 85, whisky: 520

Farmfell Ram: 49, pitch: 40, russet: 478, pooch: 489

Horrorfarm Moose: 64, maple: 53

Mafias Butch: 60, snipe: 58, ace: 53, boss: 50, slim: 48, bruiser: 45, tempest: 64, Don: 645, Madame: 647, Mr corgi (aka Charles): 67

Birdtale Quill: 59, crow: 51

Birdswap Mango: 62, papaya: 36, canary: 278

Birdfell Roost: 53, harpy: 42, Lewis: 90

Draketale Alden: 68, Ollivander: 60

Drakefell Barin: 71, Arwin: 59

Drakeswap Hilda: 66, saga: 63

Seatale Fisher: 60, Jasper 25

Seaswap Finn: 59, sails: 27

Seafell Hook: 58, captain: 30

Gastertale G: 80, green: 79

Dancetale Pop: 52, rhythm: 45, salsa: 678

Theatretale Tempo: 50, vibrato: 29

Fallouttale Lens: 69, cricket, 49, piranha: 65

Templetale Zen: 67, shield: 35

Nomadtale Gears: 49, compass: 42, copper: 645, lilo: 21, weave: 126, wisteria: 157, linden: 158

Here’s a quick rundown of a monsters lifespan:

A common monster has a life expectancy of 700 years give or take. The oldest monster in record (that wasn’t a royal) was a Drake monster who lived 732 years.

They are considered infants/babies up until the age of two. Toddlerhood is from 2-6

Children are from the ages of 7-13. Most monsters start public school at ages 7-8

Teenagers are from 14-19. Monsters mature at a slower rate than humans, and so while the body may look grown in the later teen years, they have yet to develop sexual maturity until around 20.

Once 20 they are considered adults, but some subspecies can continue growing up till 30

After puberty in the early 19-22 range, a monster is considered a young adult from 25-190. You can compare those ages to a human in their early to mid 20s physically

Middle Ages range from 200s- 400s roughly

500s are considered older and retirement age, 600s are elderly. Anything past 680 is fragile

The lifespan goes down with halfbreed monsters ( “full” monster parent and “full” human parent) where they live around 600-650 years

The lifespan takes a bigger drop for mages who have an expectancy of 250 years. Witches (humans who have trained to use magic) are known to live up to their 130s if they aren’t soulbonded to a monster partner.

Monsters and half breeds born with the disease called dimming rarely live past their 400s

An exception to the monster lifespan are the “royals”. They take a ritual after being voted into office that binds them to their country, making it so that any decisions they make for the country has to be for its and the peoples benefit (as far as they believe), making them a servant to ebott for the rest of their lives, but extending their life and health in return. The ritual can be broken for the royals who wish to retire and die in peace. The oldest recorded ruler was rumored to be around three thousand

And now the crash!!

For those who don’t know what that is, it’s when all the AUs merged (and my excuse for why all these guys are in the same place lol).

The crash started 17 years ago, and ended within 9 months. Since then no other mystery groups of monsters have been discovered.

Here’s a brief timeline of ebott from crash until now

First day: the land mass that holds ebott appears

Day 2: undertale, underswap, gastertale,, dancetale, theatretale, templetale, all the “farm” AUs, “lust” AUs and the “outer” AUs

Month one: the bird AUs fall from the sky, the nomads stumble out of the forest and the sea AUs mysteriously arrive on ship to shore

Month two, after two months, most of the fell aus (underfell, swapfell, fellswap gold) appear

Month three, the factory (mafias) monsters appear along with the “ghost city” now inhabited and known as ebott city, the capitol. A few weeks later, the fallout monsters appear and ebotts first official hospitals are created

Month four, the royals are finally brought together after threats of inner fighting, and Asgore is voted in as the king

Things settle for four more months, and the new land is explored, vary basic laws are out into place, and things start getting divided into districts.

Month five: Ebott makes contact with several other countries and is introduced to the worlds currency system. Ebotts gold, silver, copper coins is recognized as a currency by the rest of the world

Month seven, the first and only orphanage is founded for any unclaimed children.

On month nine of the crash, the monsters finally access the underground, and to their horror, they find three separate chambers housing the starving horror AUs who had no idea everything that was going on above.

Month ten, land is sold and divided, and ebott begins creating large scale farms

May 20, 2007, ebott celebrates their first official year as a country. The capitol city is named new ebott (cause Asgore sucks at naming things and frankly the rest of the royals aren’t much better)

May 30th, the royal guard is finally re-organized

December 2007, ebotts first countrywide gyftmas celebration, also an official design for the flag and coins are voted on and implemented

February 2008, the first official jail is built and used in ebott lol

July 2008, ebott is finally let into the rest of the worlds internet, and electricity reaches more areas besides just ebott city

August 2008, ebotts children and teens discover tik tok, and it is unanimously decided by every one that a standard public school has to be created

Late august 2008, the first public school is finished in city center

September 2008, the number of school sites number around 300, and counting

January 2009, ebott state college is built and open

April 2009, the ebott scouts is formed, and children hoping to join the guard in the future are able to sign up.

March 2010, ebott is opened by presiding countries for international students and charity programs

November 2010, the following of lady magic opens the temple to the public, and takes over the maintenance of what used to be known as the horrors underground. A grotto is transformed into a place of remembrance for those left behind before the crash

May 2011, the core from the stable underground is moved to the surface and duplicated into several other power factories. All of inhabited ebott is at least within an hour of power

May 2012, the stable underground is open to the public as a tourist attraction. Ebotts is opened by presiding countries to tourism

February 2013, because of public pressure from mainly farm, bird, lusts and the temple monsters, human-monster marriages are now recognized under the state as valid

July 2013 A farm monster discovers how to successfully cultivate magic crops from the underground, aboveground. He shares the secret for free, and other farm monsters take initiative to start sharing their own crop secrets. He is awarded the title of prince.

January 2014 Due to complaints about side effects from human foods, money is poured into research about safer ways to process and preserve foods in ebott.

April 2014, mellowmart becomes the largest company in ebott, finally beating out Walmart in scale.

December 2016, ebott petitions to be recognized as a free independent country to the United Nations. Ebott is turned down

December 2017, ebott petitions again to be recognized as an independent nation

February 2017 Immigration into ebott is closed, and monsters begin boycotting imported human goods. The ebott navy is built.

July 2017, ebott is declared an independent nation

March 2018, the royals declare ebott self sufficient in feeding the country when the amount of food related exports finally exceeds the imports for the first time

July 2018, ebott celebrates its first freedom festival

October 2018, the first college dedicated to the arts is opened in the captitol

July 2019, magical spars are declared the national sport after a grueling battle between spar fans and pickleball fans

November 2019, the first echo festival is celebrated in Goldenvalley

February 2020, humans not born in ebott are finally allowed to apply for citizenship, and the process for that is created.

April 2020 the goldenflower festival is organized for the first time

September 2020, several big brands like coco cola, Hersheys and nestle are banned in ebott when complaints of health issues becomes too much

March 2021, Wendy’s becomes the first company to create a monster-safe fast food outside of ebott, and after months of testing, is given permission to sell. Many other food companies follow and begin making separate recipes for their monster customers

May 2022, snails are declared the national animal of ebott, and popular snail breeds are recognized and the society of the domesticated snail is created for shows and licenses

November 2022, a different country tries to declare war on ebott on the grounds of them “stealing” their young working force (immigrant workers). Ebott threatens to close borders to tourists, those coming for medical care, and all outside companies selling in their lands. The untied nations slaps down the country declaring war.

February 2023, a new branch of the royal guard, called the NPTRF (national people’s trafficking relief foundation) or more commonly called the reverse kidnappers by ebotts supportive teens, is founded to combat the rapidly rising issue of monsters and humans being trafficked and dragged outside the country

[skyclan-funny-name-squad]

Expansion on that human fae au idea

• Fae take on traits of something that they connect to, like an object or element; before then they are changelings which are kind of like the nymphs (in an insect sense), a bit opalescent skin wise (very shiny) with basically useless wings that can either become fully functioning later in life or fall off if seen as “unnecessary” in adulthood. Because Rusty spends his youth in the very human clans, he becomes very humanoid, almost to a point where he nearly blends in, outside of the red of his hair which is unnaturally bright, and his eyes which are an unsettlingly pretty forest green.

• Changelings change overtime, but are no longer considered changelings when their wings either fall off or change. If they lose their wings beforehand, you can tell when the marks of where they used to be vanish, or, they grow new ones.

• fae reside in the otherworld, and they can come in and out through gateways like fairy circles or other peculiar natural formations. The clans will rarely fully obstruct these gateways out of fear of their wrath (taking people away), but they do try to stay away from them.

• Humans and fae in stories come from the same kind of place — the difference is their bodies, fae bodies change to reflect the soul, while human bodies are difficult to change and greatly fragile. To the clans, stories have twisted fae into distorted humans — trading their mortal flesh for an undying form with the other, but in exchange they lose their “freedom”, aka, the ability to freely walk the earth. Whom they traded this freedom with is among plenty of heated discussions as the clans don’t fully understand anything on the fae side of the supernatural — though they’d be akin to Gods in their eyes. Fae alternatively believe humans left their fae bodies long ago to wander the earth.

• Because humans and fae are intrinsically connected, StarClan spirits are a lot more like fae than one would think. Due to the lack of a body, aspects of their souls will change the physical appearance of the deceased in the afterlife, and leaders and medicine cats while living also undergo alterations as the power of the human spirit alters them physically. The dead can also bless objects occasionally.

• Examples of the above; Bluestar’s hair turns blue literally, and even as she ages no white hairs grow from her head — when she dies, her hair turns white as her spirit leaves her body. Cinderpelt after becoming a full medicine cat is gifted with a blessed cane made from the bark of a willow tree, the cane in times of danger turns into a spear (This is medieval esc in my head, think dnd), she also gains this lingering scent of ashes on her and an odd immunity to fire, as it dances on her skin, but does not harm her. The gifts/blessings vary in power ofc.

• Fae generally can have multiple forms naturally, but for whatever reason when raised/live long enough among human folk they lose this ability somewhat, only able to change small aspects of themselves (ex; Firestars hair can turn into actual flames in moments of high emotion)

• Fae aging is a bit weird. Fae ages coincide with humans, with the exception of “growing old”, similarly to crocodiles they don’t experience how we age and don’t necessarily slow down or weaken with time. Fae actually just get stronger the older they become. That doesn’t mean fae won’t take on the forms of elderly humans, mostly just that it’s mainly an aesthetic preference.

• Fae can’t (easily) die in the other world, but they can 100% be killed on earth. They’re especially weak to certain metals.

• The clans have their unique opinions on how to deal with fae. WindClan is actually somewhat friendly with the fae, which gives them a bad reputation amongst the clans. ThunderClan is extremely superstitious when it comes to them — heavily avoiding any landmarks they suspect as fairy gates and occasionally trying to ward them off. RiverClan is curious, but similarly to ThunderClan very wary of them, often avoiding them completely if they can help it. ShadowClan is the only clan that still currently created weapons to slay fae, which is seen as extremely dangerous if not begging to be killed. Old SkyClan openly obstructed fairy gates — while new skyclan ofc has fae warriors in their midst.

• Fae still definitely take children from the clans and switch them with their own a la changeling mythos. The clan law of not harming children extends to changelings, though, so physically they’re often fine, though often socially ostracized. The excuse of kits with disabilities being changelings is often used by cats to excuse social ostracism even if the disability is gained after birth, two examples of this being Crookedstar and Deadfoot. Sometimes the changeling accusation comes towards anyone that strays from clan norms, including adults.

• people who run off with fae don’t become become fae, but fae do easily except humans as their own and humans in the otherworld do change ever so slightly to become a teensy bit more magical.

• Half fae are often more destructive than normal fae due to a lack of control over their abilities when young. While changelings aren’t that powerful when compared to normal fae, and depending on the age can be considered helpless — changelings have a little bit more control over their own bodies as magic is inherently apart of them. Half fae do not naturally carry said disposition to their magic and often don’t even realize they are using magic. Half changelings are extremely accident prone and often seen as a greater danger due to their unpredictability. Half changelings cannot control what traits they take on or how “human” they remain.

It's still absolutely incredible to me how far my concept of "lmao kittypet fae" have taken off, you all are putting so much thought into this its genuinely so cool to see!

[dj-devil]

welcome part 1

don't go there

pairing: prince!hyunjin x fem druid!reader

genre: medieval fantasy au

warnings: fluff, angst, magic, shapeshifting

words: 2.4k

summary: the forest is cursed. not many remember why, and only some are curious.

he is the prince who has been watching the forest his entire life

she lives there. as one of the last of a family of shifters that now roams the forest.

Masterlist

The sun outside the forest no matter how dull is still brighter than anything you were used to, being just beyond the border only yielded so much sun. The process of studying and learning how to be a raven was two months, which cut it a little too fine for your taste. The raven choosing was in little under two days and shape was always the hardest part. And feathers. You've never done feathers or birds in general.

This field, a large unkindness called home. All day various groups talked, to each other and other animals that would wander close enough to get to the lake surrounded by the trees they called home. Gliding, walking, eating, talking, flying, interacting. All things you would have to think about when becoming a raven. It weighed on your mind that you would not get this right in time for the ceremony. It's not like it only happened every five or something years. Something to do with teaching and learning to be ready for the care they would need, you were sure that was what the guards had said that time.

Leaving the forest always seemed the wrong thing to do, whenever you had tried in the past there was always a watchful eye somewhere aware of your plans. You had always noticed it in the corner of your peripheral, the disturbing feeling of being spied on; stalked. But now, for some reason, things were calmer, like some of the weight of your decision had been shifted. It was not something you understood, but for the moment were grateful for.

The guards and residents of the castle stayed away for a few days, stopped rigorously watching the field of vibrant green and dotted black. It was in those few short days that you crept from the safety of the woods to be with the ravens up close. The person who had named a flock of ravens had had something against them, you'd always thought, since learning that it was called an unkindness. They had probably never talked to them either, not big on gossip but rather casual informative conversations.

"Is there room by the lake for one more?" You asked the flock as they sat at the water's edge, under the guard of the willow trees around its edge. To most, this would be just a cacophony of endless squeaking. To you this is a dozen voices asking the same question; "If we make room are you going to sit or walk away like the rest of those idiot humans?"

The question makes you smile, speaking to new groups of animals always does. The surprise squeaks when in the space they make, you sit.

"How did you…?" One speaks up after some silence, and you find the raven's face in the sea peering at you inquisitively.

There is only one word for this, you know that. Only one word to elaborate a lifetime that they would understand; "Druid."

Wide eyes all around, a group hopping in time another just off. Surprise is the most shared emotion, it seemed so cute on ravens. Wings opening slightly, either slight or full hopping, beaks that let loose the gasps and squeaks.

"Does that mean you're Ivory's daughter?" Comes a quieter whisper from beside you, a smaller bird. You turn to face them, patiently putting out a hand to give them a gentle pat on the head.

"Yes. She was my mother."

"Why are you here then? And not in the forest working on the smog?" Turning back to the group, there is one raven in the centre staring up at you with a kind of curiosity that you know you have, the one knotted with a desire to fix the problem. To search your whole life for a solution when the only things you have to go on are what others tell you about the problem. You could see the gears turning in the raven's head, chugging and groaning under the weight of the knowledge of the cursed forest that was always passed around. Through most animals in the surrounding area, the understanding of at least part of what happened passed through the generations.

You give them all a small smile, "I am here to learn how to be a raven." Not fully answering both questions, but one seemed enough. The rest would be answered in time. A chorus of oh's fills the air. An excitable voice piped up. "You have watched, now you wish to be, yes?"

"Yes." You answer with a giggle at their enthusiasm. They sit together in a group, in their matriarchal stages as the lady who runs both the unkindness and this part of the field makes her way to me. She walks two steps before quickly hopping the rest of the way.

"That would've taken too long, right. I'm Bone, I've led for 200 years. And you wish to be a raven? You are?" She breathes deeply as she lands in front of you, wings flapping slightly to create a light wind that can cool her off a little.

"I am Y/n, I come from the Yellow Wood forest. I need to be a raven to help my family; the last druids." You speak with confidence and wide eyes to the raven in front of you. She; who definitely saw the beginnings of the smog 20 years ago. She; who won't tell, but could be there to offer words of wisdom if they are needed and accepted.

Bone watches you closely, small eyes peering at you as if you are a whole forest that has withstood a hundred wars. As if you are the forest you have lived in all your life, while there is a little truth to it, you feel everything that happens there, lived through enough to know how every part of it functions. Even now trees creak and leaves shift, you know exactly what part of the forest that is in. It is a part of you, you'd been running every part of it as long as you could run. It is your home, the centre of all your problems and the centre of all your love.

"You have much to learn, starting with feathers.."

Bone flaps her wings generating a gust of wind that wanders by you through your hair to its tips, decorating the fields with petals of the wildflowers it sent into a spinning match. The images of how to transform hair into feather pulses in your head, spreading through every fibre of your being, over the hair all over your body begins to grow longer and blacker. Pushing through the discomfort of the new change, feathers take a staggering form bristly and fragile, and a strange form of disfigured autumn leaf-shaped leaves take over your body. Your body shrinks to the rough size of a raven, a little larger than an adult which by how you feel itchy all over is just the beginning of the process.

"Well, that is a better start than I have seen in a while. The last to do that good, was your mother." Bone nods approvingly, as you shift back to human. A curious glint in your eyes, as you watch Bone, turn to the others to usher them into the trees so there is less pressure, eyes that can be discerned add to the crushing weight you feel like an avalanche building around you; the last of your ideas hinged on this working, the last of your hope to break the curse you were born into. All on this one plan, that could if you weren't careful go horribly wrong.

Over the next day, your body and mind go through the changes in order to take and hold the form of a raven, your idea of feathers becomes clearer, though more complicated than scales, it becomes easier than fur. You'd become a mouse once, it had taken 6 months of trials to even come close to the concept of fur.

You get to know others in the field, some had come from places you had never heard about with names you couldn't pronounce to give their chick the chance to be accepted into the castle. It is an easier life than outside the castle walls. That is the hardest part of this plan, you still had to be chosen. The dread and sense of responsibility that weighed on your back the feeling of carrying the entire forest, it is not all your burden to bear, though it did feel that way.

***

In the distance, beyond the wall, the castle came alive with movement and sounds, a steady drum began to sound as people scurried around the courtyard. A flurry of banners was placed in a few minutes; black, red and bronze. Mumbled yelling from this distance, the guards seemed to be in a rush. The day had broken a few hours ago, it wasn't that they were late, was it?

Through that meant there was still time, in the stillness of the field, barely rustling as a light breeze washed over the the tips of the grass. Still, time to be able to fully become the raven you needed, the friend that was going to get you into the castle. At least you hoped it. With this in mind, you sat on the ground, cross-legged and hands on your knees. Mind only focused on one thing, completely being a Raven for the first time.

What most people were always unsure about with Druid's was how the shifting process worked, most assumed the animal would be in the same age sphere as the person shifting, however, they start as the baby and then grow up just like everyone else does. Albeit a little quicker depending on lifespan and animal.

But like most other things it is a learned skill that you work at. Sometimes it took days or weeks, years and sometimes you never actually managed it. Everyone was different in the animals they could become.

Your body worked in tandem with your mind, shrinking and growing the barely formed feathers of a chick whilst also turning you fully into that chick that you are so set on.

The stomping of the guards begins to take over the sound in the area. An earthquake of boots and metal marched into the field. Spouting words of don't worry, we'll give them back and we won't hurt them. The scattered squarks of we know, you're late and move forward filled your ears.

Your voice becomes shrill to the guards who grow closer the more confidence they got for the chicks that are not moving and parents who are not freaking out. Some of the guards wince at the noise created by all the chicks together, deafening them a little. Others smile and bob to the ground; eyes glistening with tears over the selection they were about to make.

A selection of stuck-out feathers and wobbles brings their attention to you, as you get pushed to the side by the multitude of other chicks that are also here. As tiny as all the others are, you seemed smaller to them. Two exchanged a glance of worry and determination, as you did not have a mother watching over you or another to squawk back to.

To your right, a familiar face comes into view. Dressed in red and black, adorned in silver accents, is the boy who interrupted your staring contest a month ago. With light brown short hair and warm orange eyes, he watches over the exchange of rights to parenthood by the ravens at present. He also catches sight of you, concern and uncertainty plastered clear on his face.

In your observation of the guards and the boy, you did not notice the pair of hands closing in on you, encircling your feet and releasing you from the pressures of standing by yourself. To your small form, the lift seemed higher than it was, the ground a mountain beneath you.

"Hey, hey, hey!" You warn, suddenly worried about the fall from a height like this.

"I got you. You're ok, little one." The guard picking you up reassures you, placing you gingerly in a box with a thick blanket lining. "There. Much better, huh?" Under your feet is the fluffiest blanket you've ever seen, a deep purple you'd only seen in the flowers closest to the centre of the forest. It feels strange on new feet, not to mention as you carefully put your body down as well, the scattered feathers do little to shield your new skin from the blanket. Pecking at the fluff until it is comfy, turns out to be a difficult task when your beak is longer than expected.

The new revelations take up all the space in your brain, the rest of the process of picking chicks, making sure they are comfortable, moving the boxes inside the castle and removing you from the box to a lush pillow don't even touch your tiny bubble of wonder at the life of a raven. What does, is the loud voice beside you.

"Whatcha doin' there?" Turning you see a somehow scraggily raven - even more so than you - perched on a red pillow, staring at you.

"Not really sure." You speak slowly for the first time, the language feels strange coming out of your beak.

"Did you at least bring them a present? They love it when you bring them presents. I brought a flea, but I'm Flea, and I'm covered in fleas. So I brought a flea."

Your head cocks in confusion first and disbelief second, trying to understand. Now was this a human thing or a raven thing?

The queen appears in your view crown almost glowing in the morning sun. She walks up to both of you and Flea smiling ravishingly as she puts out her hand for the dead present trapped in the boy's beak.

"Oh, thank you, glad to know we're appreciated." She says as she takes the flea and wanders over to the prince for him to look at. Human thing, right. As you follow her your eyes fall on the prince, blonde hair with hazelnut eyes. Your staring contest buddy was the prince?

"It's… dead. And all mangled, I don't even know what it used to be?" Hyunjin raises his eyebrows in confusion.

"It's a present regardless, it must be appreciated." His mother scolds.

"Thank tha thank….you. I think.." He manages with a nod in our general direction.

[kittiwittebane]

ANOTHER FIC FOR YALL!

Human, Babysitting AU.

Includes: Human AU, Babysitter AU, Willow’s uncannonical Family.

____

Hunter walked up to the door. What if they don’t like me? He wondered. He knocked on the door nervously. Two older men answered.

“Hello!” They both spoke. Hunter gulped.

“Hello Sirs!” he smiled awkwardly. He scratched his face.

“Come in, Ava is inside.” the men waved him inside. Hunter stepped through the door into a very nice house. Wow. he thought. Though the house was much less fancy than his, (and rightly so, his father was a very rich man) it was pretty aesthetic. Pictures of the family all over the walls, flower pots everywhere and-

Woah.

Hunter had to stop his mouth from dropping. There, next to who he assumed to be Ava was a stubby girl with emerald green eyes, who was undoubtedly very attractive to Hunter.

“So we hear your name is Hunter?” the first man, much stockier than the second with blue hair asked.

“Uhm, uckg.” Hunter failed to speak, still marvelling over the girl. “Yes!” he replied after a hot minute. “Hunter. That is my name.” he smiled, showing his tooth gap, before shutting his mouth again awkwardly.

“Right.” The second man stood, feeling the boy’s uncomfortable emotion. “I am Harvey, and this is my husband, Gilbert.”

Gilbert waved. Hunter waved back.

“This is our daughter, Willow.” Gilbert introduced.

Willow… pretty name. Hunter mused.

“Right,” Harvey continued. “And the one you will be taking care of is-”

“Hi! I’m Willow Park, And this is my little cousin Ava!” Willow grabbed his hand and shook him vigorously in a handshake where the ‘shake’ was way too emphasised.

“Nice- to- meet- you!” Hunter voiced between the aggressive shakes. She finally let go and he took his hand back. She bruised it… wow she’s strong.

“Hi!” The little girl exclaimed. “I’m Ava!”

Hunter instantly loved her. His mind flooded with thoughts of adorableness. Without thinking, he sat on the floor and Ava ran into his arms.

“Good!” Ava declared, turning to her Uncles and her cousin. It took Hunter only about half a second after that to realise what a fool he was making of himself. Harvey and Gilbert sighed in relief, not even caring about the fact he looked a bit stupid.

“Finally!” Willow wiped her forehead. “Ava is soooo picky with her Babysitter. She’s gone through… like six??”

“What can I say?” Hunter said stupidly. “I’m good with kids.” Hunter then cringed at his own words, wishing he had not said that. Good job, Hunter, you fricked it up.

Willow giggled airily, and it made Hunter feel lightheaded. He’d only known her for what?- five minutes? Why was she making him feel like this? What was this?

“Right so you will be staying with her tomorrow, from 8am to 9pm for 100 dollars, yes?” Gilbert continued. Hunter nodded.

“Good.”

___

Hunter breathed out again. He could do this! Just one small child. Hunter knocked on the door.

“Hello!” Willow opened the door very enthusiastically.

“Hi!” Hunter spluttered, attempting to lean against nothing impressively, then falling over.

Titan, kill me now. Hunter thought. He looked up and Willow had her hand out. He took it and she helped him up.

“Are you ok?” she asked worriedly.

“Just a bruised ego.” Hunter muttered. Willow giggled. She thought this was really funny. It wasn’t.

“Hellooooo!” Ava ran up to them, quite impulsively attaching herself to Hunter’s leg. Hunter looked down and then back up quickly, then smiling proudly.

“Well just maybe we won’t have to find a new babysitter.” Willow laughed.

“It would help if she didn’t mind staying at home with Willow.” Gilbert chuckled. “She says Willow isn’t cool enough. Way to down her own cousin.”

“She isn’t.” Ava huffed. “I want Hunter!” the little girl looked back up at Hunter.

“Oh and Hunter?” Harvey started.

“Yes?” Hunter asked.

“I hope you don’t mind but I did forget to mention that Willow will be staying with you.”

Hunter froze.

“What?” he choked.

“Willow can’t come with us, it’s an adults only event.” his voice dropped to a whisper. “And besides, I can’t trust her with the house. The last time I did that, she and her friend Augustus wrecked it.”

“Papaaaaa!” Willow complained. “I was fiiiive!”

Hunter made a small giggling sound.

“It’s not funny!” Willow whined playfully. “It’s not MY fault the babysitter was incompetent!” Harvey and Gilbert just chuckled heartily.

“Ok, Flower, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Anyways, the rules are on the fridge, and you can ask Willow if there is something we didn’t write. See you later!”

Both of them then left.

Oh, Titan. Of course it wasn’t just going to be a little girl. It’s a little girl and a teenager. A girl teenager. A very… attractive teenager.

“Right, so uh, let’s do this?” Hunter mumbled.

Willow nodded. “Let’s do this!”

[foundtherightwords]

The Firebird - Chapter 5

Pairing: Prince Paul (Catherine the Great) x OFC, Fairytale AU

Summary: When Paul, a spoiled young prince, spots a strange bird in the forest near his palace, he impulsively chases after it, hoping to both escape from and prove himself to his disapproving mother. Thus he is plunged into an exhilarating adventure across a magical realm populated by enchanted princesses, dangerous monsters, and powerful wizards, an adventure that may change him more than he can ever imagine.

Chapter warning: none

Chapter word count: 4.2k

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

Chapter 5 - Tales

The sun was setting when Paul woke. He tactfully put Zhara's clothes behind a bush, and once she finished dressing, they continued on their way. There were more signs of human habitation on this stretch of meadow, fences along the forest, the trample of cattle's feet along the bank of the stream, and the cattle themselves, strange, ferocious-looking creatures, as big as bulls but covered in coarse black hair, lying asleep in the grass like huge, shaggy boulders. The stream now widened into ponds and pools, headed toward the big river that wrapped around the distant hills like a scarf made out of cloth of silver.

Some of these ponds and pools were occupied by a number of young ladies, who sat on the bank with their feet in the water or swinging on the branches of the willow trees that grew by the edge, brushing out their long hair, their pale, pale skin glowing in the dusk. They giggled and waved to Paul as he went past, and suddenly he found the heat of the meadow unbearable, his skin itchy with sweat and dust, while the water of the pond felt so cool and inviting. Without realizing it, he started toward the women, and would have jumped into the pond with them, had Zhara not put out an arm to stop him.

"Be careful," she said. "Those are rusalkas. Summer is the height of their feeding frenzy. Get in that water and they'll drown you."

Paul looked again and saw that the young women's smiles were hungry, their teeth sharp, their hair green and stringy, and they were brushing it with fish bones. For some reason, it was these fishbone combs that horrified him and broke the spell. He scurried after Zhara. The rusalkas' watched him go with protruding and colorless eyes, like a fish's, but didn't follow.

Eventually, the ground became too rough and muddy for Zhara's bare feet, and they stopped beside another pond, an empty one—or so Paul thought. Zhara examined the duckweed and water lilies covering its surface with interest, apparently seeing something there that Paul couldn't see. "Do you have any tobacco?" she asked him.

Though surprised at her question, he dug through his pockets anyway. His fingers closed around an enamel snuffbox in his waistcoat. He didn't take snuff much, but he carried it around because all fashionable men carried snuffboxes around. "Will this do?" he said, showing it to Zhara.

"Perfect." She took a pinch of snuff and, placing it in the water, whispered some words that Paul did not quite catch. A tiny whirlpool appeared, swirling the snuff around and sucking it down into the water, which started to bubble. Even though Paul had prepared himself for the appearance of another magical being, he couldn't help shrinking back in disgust at the creature rising out of the pond, with its half-frog, half-human face, green hair and beard covered in mud and algae, and webbed paws holding a still-wiggling fish.

Zhara laughed. "Don't be frightened," she said. "He's a vodyanoy that lives in the pond. He's far more benevolent than the rusalkas, trust me."

The vodyanoy's eyes, which glowered like two red coals, did not look particularly benevolent to Paul. The creature tossed the fish onto the grass, nodded at Zhara, and ducked under the lily pads without a word.

"Here, you can clean the fish," Zhara said, handing Paul the broken sword. While Paul had been all for throwing it away, she had taken a stone and smoothed down its jagged edge. It now resembled a rather misshapen dagger, but at least it had some edge to it and was more useful.

Paul looked at the flopping fish as though it were some monstrous thing, which, considering where he was, it might very well be. "How?" he asked blankly.

"You cut open its belly and pull out all the guts."

"That is simply barbaric! I've never had to clean a fish in my life!"

"And who do you think cleaned the fish you've been eating, Your Excellency?" Zhara asked, tossing the sword at his feet. "You're going to have to dirty your hands if you want to eat."

She left to gather firewood. Paul reluctantly picked up the sword with one hand and the fish with the other, wrinkling his nose. He made rather a big mess of things, partly because the sword was not sharp enough, and mostly because he had no idea what he was doing, but Zhara said nothing about it. She simply skewered the fish with a green birch twig and put it over the fire she'd just started.

By the time Paul came back from washing his hands at the pond, the fish had finished cooking. Like everything in this world, it tasted sweeter and more buttery than any fish he'd ever eaten.

"Does your—does your brother have that power too?" he asked, nodding at the fire. He'd been trying to think of a way to bring up the question of her brother without sounding nosy. Now, seeing Zhara flinch and seem to withdraw into herself, he felt guilty that he'd even asked at all.

She then let out a long, deep sigh, and said, "No. I inherited this from my mother. She was a vila, a nymph—well, she is one, if she's still alive." Seeing Paul's quizzical look, Zhara smiled sadly. "There aren't as many nymphs around as there used to be. My father was traveling in the northern mountains of Arthania when he met her. He fell in love with her, and she with him, but her kind isn't meant to be wives and mothers. She vanished after I was born, leaving me with her fiery eyes and her fiery power as the only things to remember her by."

Paul's chest tightened with a pang of unaccustomed sympathy. So she was an orphan too, like him.

"Soon after that, my father took another wife, a Lukomorian, and she gave birth to Lariosha—my younger brother. My half-brother, really. Illarion. Lariosha was my pet name for him when we were children."

The story was taking shape for Paul, the familiar pattern of the old tales becoming clear. "I suppose she was cruel to you growing up, wasn't she?" he said. "The evil stepmother, always favoring her own child, a son?"

Zhara stared at him, aghast. "What? No!" she exclaimed. "What a horrible thing to say! She raised me as her own. She was the only mother I ever knew."

Paul looked down, cheeks flushed from his blunder, and mumbled a quick "Sorry." He must remember never to assume anything in this world.

"But that was perhaps why everything went wrong with Lariosha," she continued.

"What do you mean?"

"You asked if my stepmother favored her own child over me. The truth was the opposite. Both she and Father favored me. Because I was the firstborn, because my mother left me, because I have this power... Lariosha ended up neglected. I tried to befriend him, I really did." She shook her head. "But the older he grew, the more he resents me. He believes that as the only son, he should be the one that inherits the throne, not some—some half-breed such as myself, and a girl at that." Paul shifted uncomfortably. "Father hated him for that. So Lariosha turned to dark magic, searching for ways to obtain power. And eventually, he found it."

"Koschei?" Paul asked, remembering her puzzling answer when he brought up that mythical dark wizard.

Her eyes were bleak as she looked into the fire. "Nobody had seen or heard from Koschei in a long, long time, even longer than Baba Yaga," she said. "Perhaps he had gone to the same place my mother and her sisters had, to Vyriy, the place birds fly to for the winter and souls go after death, where the veil between the worlds is still impenetrable.

"But Lariosha must have found him, or his source of magic, for he unleashed it the day Father announced me as his heir. As the whole court gathered for the ceremony, Lariosha announced his plan to rule, not just Arthania, but the whole of Lukomorye as well. And then he murdered Father. In front of me. I tried to stop him, but I failed." She repeated, to herself as much as to Paul, "I failed. I failed."

"It wasn't your fault," Paul said.

"Was it not?" Her look of despair went through his heart like a knife, and, without thinking, he reached out and put his hand over hers. Her eyes snapped to him, astonished, and he quickly withdrew.

"How did you get away?" he asked, to hide his embarrassment.

She buried her face in her hands and shuddered at the memory.

"It was chaos," she said. "Lariosha had a bunch of medallions in his hand—I didn't know what they were for. He tried throwing one at me, but I burned it off. That really angered him. He started throwing curses left and right at the courtiers, turning them into birds, squirrels, foxes. I don't think he meant to curse me, but one of the spells may have hit me by mistake... I've been on the run ever since." She looked at Paul, her eyes swimming with tears. "I can't understand what I have done that angered him so. I was willing to rule with him, or even forfeit my claim and give him the throne. Yet he wants more."

Paul listened to her with a sinking heart. How many times had he dreamed about his mother's demise so he could take the throne? How many times had he complained to Panin and anyone who would listen that a woman should not rule? Had he been just as bad as Zhara's brother? Could he be as bad, given the chance? Could he kill his own mother to get the throne? He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Why are you so sure that he didn't mean to curse you?" he asked, trying to avoid those horrifying thoughts.

"Because he needs me alive. And in full power." She spread her trembling fingers, and sparks shot out of them, blending in with those from the crackling fire. "Remember how I had to use my blood to chase away the Noon Wraith?"

"Was it not because you couldn't do this"—he snapped his fingers—"as a bird?"

"No, not quite." She flexed her hand, and the sparks swirled above her palm like a swarm of tiny fireflies. "See, this is just normal fire. This can never touch the Noon Wraith. The fire from my blood, though, is different. It's magic. It can destroy everything in its path. Nothing can stop it, not even the heaviest flood or the coldest freeze. But it can also bring power, if used the right way. And the more I bleed, the more powerful it is. So that's what Illarion wants. To bleed me dry and use my fire to temper a needle, where he stores his death, making it indestructible. He will then hide that needle inside an egg—"

"—and hide the egg inside a duck, hide the duck inside a hare, hide the hare inside a chest, and put the chest underneath a stone at the center of the world," Paul finished. "So he could become immortal." Zhara glanced at him sharply, and he shrugged. "It's a well-known tale."

"Yes, I believe that is his aim," she said.

"Can he do it?"

She gave a mirthless laugh. "You've seen what he did to poor Alyosha. I have no doubt he is capable of it. Would it work? That's another matter. But even if it doesn't work, it will be too late by then. He will have destroyed the entire kingdom to hunt me down."

"So you're hoping that Baba Yaga could help you stop him?"

"She's only one powerful enough."

"And to find her, we need Tsar Afron's horse."

The girl examined him more closely in that usual birdlike way of hers. "Why are you so calm?" she asked. "Only two nights ago, you were screaming bloody murder because of the leshy, yet now here you are, not a ruffled feather in sight."

Paul shrugged again. "I grew up listening to these stories," he said slowly. "There is always that disappointment when one realizes they are just that—stories." But in the last two days, he had seen so many things he never thought were real, marvelous, uncanny things, knights that turned into wolves and princesses that turned into birds, walking trees and singing toadstools, mermaids and frog-men. Even the idea of someone killing his own sister to achieve immortality, horrific as it may sound, had a sense of wonder about it. "I suppose it is a relief to find out they are real after all."

Zhara looked at him for a moment or two longer, her eyes unreadable. Eventually, she said. "We, too, have heard tales of those few Russians, fortunate or unfortunate enough, depending on how you look at it, to stumble upon Lukomorye. In those tales, they are stupid, or cruel, or both. It is a relief to know they are not all like that." Having uttered those enigmatic words, she turned her back to the fire and lay down. "Get some rest. We have to look presentable to request an audience with Tsar Afron tomorrow."

***

By late afternoon the next day, they reached the fortress. The stream had now turned into a river, where the sun was dipping low, its rays glittering on the water, reflected on the white walls of the fortress, and covering the hazy snow-covered peaks in the distance with a coat of gold. There was no need to worry about the Noon Wraith here, for the meadow was gone, replaced by a settlement that had sprung up along the river, surrounding the fortress that towered on the hill above it. The river was diverted into a moat that wound its way around the fortress, and a stone bridge spanned the moat, leading to the main gate set deep inside the battlements.

This settlement was much bigger than the tiny village Paul had visited on his first day—it was a real town, with tall houses made of wood and daub, their roofs, windows, and doors painted and carved in all colors and shapes. Smoke spewed from countless chimneys, and yet more houses were being built all along the river. In fact, it would have been quite undistinguishable from a normal town in his empire, if it hadn't been for some strange creatures he saw—an excessively hairy one perching on bags of wheat on the back of a wagon, something that looked like a ball of soot with eyes lurking behind a window, and a naked, green-skinned old man covered in birch leaves sitting at the door of a bathhouse—no doubt guardian spirits of some kind. But those creatures had the furtive, listless air of displaced people, and there was none of the otherworldly feel of the forest and the meadow about the town. No wonder the nymphs and Koschei and Baba Yaga were abandoning this land.

People and carts thronged the main thoroughfare, but nobody gave Paul a second glance, which suited him just fine. Zhara didn't know if Illarion was tracking her or not—had it been a coincidence that Alyosha had shown up in the forest just mere hours after Paul mentioned her name in the village? So, to be safe, Zhara had asked Paul to hide her, and he was now sweating from the double dose of heat from her body as she nestled in his waistcoat, which felt rather like having a bed warmer in one's pocket, and the heavy cloak covering everything up.

Since they couldn't present themselves to Tsar Afron before Zhara returned to her human form, Paul avoided the main road leading to the fortress and headed down the river. This area was also crowded with boats and skiffs, loading and unloading timber and stones and bricks, dry goods, and other merchandise. He went further down the bank. He was hungry again—they had divided the last of the bread rings between themselves that morning—so when he saw a man sitting by his wagon eating dinner, he had to swallow his pride and traded his snuff for a bottle of kvass and a wedge of the man's vegetable pie. His face burned with the humiliation of having to beg and trade, like a commoner, for every scrap of food, but it was either that or go hungry. At least nobody knew him here, so the humiliation was solely his own making.

Eventually, the crowd thinned. Paul sat down under a willow tree by the riverbank with a sigh, took off his cloak, and let Zhara out of his pocket. She looked a little squished from being squeezed into his waistcoat all morning, and she gave him an annoyed look as she tried to preen her feathers back to shape.

"Don't look at me like that, you're the one that wanted to stay hidden," Paul said, as he broke off some of the pie for her.

After finishing his meager meal, Paul went on a little walk to explore and kill time, with Zhara perching on his uninjured shoulder. He walked down the riverbank, following the tall stone walls of the fortress, pointing out to Zhara how similar it was to the Moscow Kremlin, only without the more modern buildings. There was something medieval in those white walls, with their battlements and watch towers, and in the high turrets and the onion domes of the castle that peeked over the walls. Not for the first time, Paul wondered how old this world was, and whether it had been one with his world in the past and had drifted apart at some point.

He had almost completed a circle around the fortress when he came upon a large clearing that stood directly under the castle, surrounded by a tall fence made out of sharpened logs. A watchtower looked down on it, so soldiers inside could keep an eye on both the castle and the clearing. This special care piqued his curiosity, and he put his eye to an opening between two logs to see what was inside.

He found himself looking at a pasture, scrupulously maintained with lush, emerald-green grass, which put the meadow around it, yellowing from smoke and heat and trampling footsteps, to shame. The moat widened into a pond inside the clearing to provide drinking water, and willow trees around its bank gave some cooling shades at the height of noon. And standing in the middle of that pasture was the most magnificent horse Paul had ever seen, tall and slender, its ivory white coat shone with a metallic sheen, its mane and tail, of a bright gold color, rippled like ripe wheat under the setting sun, as it gracefully lowered its head to drink from the pond.

"It's the horse," he breathed out. "The horse with the golden mane."

Zhara, balancing on a fence post, nodded at him. And with her confirmation, the nagging feeling that had been bothering Paul since their encounter with the wolf suddenly became clear. "It's the fairy tale, isn't it?" he continued. "Prince Ivan, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf. I'm the prince, you're the firebird, and we've met the wolf—only he wasn't as helpful as the wolf in the tale. And now we're supposed to be stealing the horse and then bring back the princess..." He paused as the familiar story came back into his mind. "So why are we wasting time waiting for Tsar Afron? Who knows if he would even let us borrow the horse? We can steal it as long as we don't touch the golden bridle, and this horse has no bridle! Let's just take it!"

The moment he mentioned stealing the horse, Zhara started twittering in an agitated manner and tried to fly into his face. Confused, Paul glanced at the watchtower, but it remained closed. The meadow was empty all around. There didn't seem to be any imminent danger. He pushed her aside and searched for a way into the pasture. The gate was locked, but the fence wasn't high—he could just about reach the top. Paul put a finger to his lips to shush Zhara's frantic chirps for fear she may alert the horse, and tried to climb the fence. Zhara was still flying around his head, her chirps turning into angry squawks, but he refused to be deterred. After several tries, he was able to hook his fingers in a gap between the tops of the fence posts and hoist himself over.

The horse had noticed their presence and was now eyeing them curiously yet calmly, which Paul took to be a good sign. Though dusk was falling, its coat was so bright that he could still see it quite well. He carefully approached it, keeping his eyes on it, his hands held out in front of him. The horse tossed its beautiful mane and let out a soft whicker.

Zhara flew behind the bank of willow trees. A moment later, as the last rays of the sun winked out, she poked her head out from behind the bushes and hissed at Paul, "You fool! Stop this nonsense at once!"

"Be quiet," he said. "You'll thank me for this."

"At least give me my clothes!"

Paul realized he was still carrying her rolled-up clothes on his back. He untied the belt and tossed the bundle to her, without taking his eyes off the horse. He was now only a few steps away. A moment later, Zhara, now dressed, ran out into the pasture and tugged at his hand.

"Get back before you'll get us into trouble!" she said in an angry whisper.

"What, is it going to turn into a monster and eat me?"

"No, but even if you catch it, how do you propose we ride it without a saddle, you idiot?"

Paul hesitated. It was true; he had never ridden a horse bareback before. He began to realize how foolish he'd been. And this was right after he'd told himself not to assume anything in this world too! Just then, the horse inched forward, spurred by curiosity or perhaps a want for companionship, and pushed its soft nose under Paul's hand.

Before Paul could be surprised by this astonishing turn of events, there was a movement in the grass. A shape jumped out of seemingly nowhere and landed square on his head.

"Thief!!!" A scream pierced Paul's ears, while blows and kicks rained down on him, blinding him as to where they may be coming from. "Horse thief! Villain! Catch them!" He stumbled, trying to throw off the thing on his back, while next to him, Zhara was squealing in pain as the thing turned on her, yanking at her hair.

Paul's legs were thrown out from under him. As he fell with a painful thud on his back, the thing jumped on his chest to pin him down, and he finally had a good look at it—a creature the size of a small child, covered in coarse black hair like the cattle he'd seen on the meadow, with the face of an old man, a pair of calf's ears, goat's legs, and skinny arms with hands that ended in long claws. Its eyes, shining malevolently from deep sockets, glared at Paul. Paul tried to shake the thing off, only to find his hands and feet bound tightly by ropes that had sprung up from the ground. Next to him, Zhara was similarly tied up.

"What is this thing?!" he screamed.

"A dvorovoi. He protects the pasture and the stables," Zhara explained in a long-suffering voice.

"Burn off the ropes and get us out of here!"

"No." She lay back and stared up at the sky. "You have gotten us into enough trouble as it is, so excuse me if I'm not going to take your order, Your Excellency."

Soldiers filed in through the gate. The dvorovoi jumped off Paul's chest and disappeared into the grass, while soldiers hauled the two of them to their feet.

"Trying to steal the Golden Horse, are you?" the commander said. "Some nerves you've got. Off to the dungeon with him! As for this one—" He ran a knuckle down Zhara's throat. "We'll have some fun with her, won't we, lads?"

"Leave her alone!" Paul shouted, straining against the ropes, which only earned him a round of derisive laughs from the soldiers.

Zhara whipped her head away from the commander. "How dare you touch me!" she said, her eyes ablaze with fury. "I am Tsarevna Zhara Artyomovna of Arthania, and I demand an audience with Tsar Afron!"

"Nice try, lassie," the commander snickered. "But everybody knows that Tsarevna Zhara Artyomovna is a fugitive. She'd be a fool to show her face here."

"Is that so?" Zhara snapped her fingers, and just as Paul had done the first time he'd seen it, the soldiers all recoiled in alarm when fire burst from her hand. A second later, the ropes burned right off her wrists, while the soldiers stared, mouth agape. "Now, are you going to take us to the Tsar or not?"

Chapter 6

A/N: There is no mention in mythology or fairy tales of the rusalkas using fish bones as combs, but I got the idea from Joe's Off Menu episode, where Ed and James both misremembered "The Little Mermaid" and insisted that Ariel used fish bones as a comb (she uses a fork! But to be fair, it was a very funny bit in the podcast.)

Taglist: @ali-r3n