#I don’t think we talk about drey enough…

[teehee-vibes]

Anybody wanna think about Drey Ferin’s canonical era as a pirate cowboy and legendary Horsean sharpshooter… please…?

(Also, I have a oneshot where said era is very gay and ends very tragically, if that’s your cup of tea. Smile.)

[looking-to-rattle-the-stars]

thinking abt gillion but i think for my 3am thoughts post i actually wanna talk about the ferins

like there’s so much we still don’t know about ava and the ferins have such rich lore and it makes me want to explode i would fucking kill a man for an episode just where jay and drey just like talk or some shit and we get to hear more about the ferins. cause like ?? jays the girl with “special blood” and also her family (at least dads side) has that whole thing with the sun and then their eye(s) turning golden ?? and then fucking may with the tree !?!?? god i circle back to this one ferin art post on the patreon because just god I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM !! they’re such an interesting family and i feel like their stories might go back to the small beginnings of mana but who knows! not i! oh my god and jays grandma too i need to know more about that woman because look at her sons !!! and circling back i would love to hear more about ava. just grrr i cant think cause im tired but i would love to know everything there is to know about the ferins and their role in mana. i seriously gotta listen to the fucking uhh hole in the sea oneshot especially with the recent shit going on good god.

erm anyways cause i love siblings do you think there was a period of time where jay maybe blamed herself for ava’s death. like maybe she felt that if she has stayed with the navy that what happened to ava wouldn’t have occurred or that she could have been there to do something, maybe taken her place? HOLY ??? DO YOU THINK AVA AND JAY COULDVE BEEN PARALLELS TO JAYSON AND DREY??? i gotta relisten to fucking uhhh 101 or find a supercut of times ava was mentioned.. i know jayson is incredibly fucked up but do you think maybe he was part of the navy with the hope to make a difference and then his mother fucking twisted that ideal away from him and maybe that’s why he is now? do you think maybe he encouraged ava to join with the purpose of changing the navy for the better? also while i’m here i feel like grandma ferin may have had a role in ava’s death because like there’s no way in my mind, as fucked up as jayson is, that his first born child and one of his captains he could just watch die like that. but anyways yeah thinks about ava and jay i want to know more about their relationship :( cause jay loved her dearly, enough to go looking for answers in relation to her death, i just ough i would kill just to hear about a childhood memory of hers with ava. i wonder if may has flowers at the tavern in ava’s memory :( like maybe tiger lilies perhaps? or like maybe small bundles of baby’s breath and forget-me-nots,, sighs also thinks abt jayson and drey cause like OUGGGHHH fucked up brothers holds them in my hands i want to know their in depth story too i just really love the ferins and their lore

okay it’s fucking uhh 3:40am and i got class at 9:30am so hopefully i don’t miss that lmaoo anyways i leave you with

albatrio to mars by sleeping at last

okay nighttt

[tigers1o1]

Tell us your silly little theory, tumblr guy.

LMFAO yes yes, I forgot to talk about it after posting that jdbfisnfo but the people have spoken

So that’s the poem (shout out to someone in the comments of 93 for writing it out so that I didn’t have to LMFAO)

I’m just gonna break it down line by line

A map - I’d assume this is the map on the backs of Chip, drey and finn. (Could also be referring to the map that captain Hendrix gave to captain rose)

That is a guide and key passed around the hands of destiny - so obviously a map is a guide to somewhere, but my guess is that they have to have all the maps together in order to return to the place where arlin is/the setting of the hole in the sea. The maps are the needed to get in. The destiny thing could hypothetically mean a few different things. My favorite idea when it comes to this is Gilion, or rather, destiny using Gillion as a way to get Chip to where he needs to go. Gillion is Chip’s guiding hand of destiny (idk man it makes sense in my brain). Destiny could also refer to the interactions w Niklaus and how he’s been watching them. Or even straight up divine intervention (I wanna say Chip felt like he was on /pos fire when they entered the sun temple (WHICH I WANT TO TALK ABOUT AT SOME POINT))

It leads to chaos infinity - the map leads them to chaos. Maybe the place where Arlin is, is literally a realm of chaos. Maybe that’s why he’s in pain (like Niklaus said to chip in ~ep 55)? Or the events leading up to finding Arlin will be chaos. This line reminds me a lot of the Stone Age what if but I’m not sure 100% why. Chaos could also refer to the Navy

Beneath the seas - my guess is that the boys are going to have to go through the hole in the sea again (which also- the aforementioned chaos could be the kraken creature and terrifying amalgamation things again). Also, if the chaos is the Navy, then this could be referring to the Mecha leviathan

The guarding giant - Arlin!! I think that most people assumed that the giant is guarding wherever riptide needs to go, but I think that Arlin is the guardian (or was, for a time)of the nameless prince which brings us tooooo

The nameless prince - Chip! We don’t know where he’s from or what his original name was. In all reality, he probably didn’t have a name (or didn’t know his name) because in Arlin’s flashback, Arlin was the one to name Chip (bc he said “ship” funny)

The unborn kings - you can’t have a prince without a king/queen. My running theory for this atm is that the kings are the Gods/Goddesses, because it’s a common idea that “gods aren’t born, they’re made”. But idk if we know enough about the religious climate in Mana, because people might not view gods as kings? Idk, but that’s the running theory. Which would mean that they created Chip (which would explain his ability to speak celestial), and he’d probably be some kind of successor to them

All await to be inevitably -I think this is pretty self explanatory. The people are trapped. Chip, Arlin, maybe even the gods (ESPECIALLY if the mecha leviathan is a thing) are trapped. But by who? What do they need to be free from?

Free - from the Navy. The navy is a growing force in Mana, and it’s pretty clear that their rule is pretty cruel.

So all in all, Chip and Arlin are key components so some kind of plan of the Gods. Some kind of plan to maybe stop some kind of chaos or tyranny? I think there’s still a loooot of the story that we’re still missing.

I think the two most solid ideas I have are about either Finding Arlin, or Stopping The Navy.

I think the Navy one would make more sense, just given the genre of the maps and poem and whatnot. Divine intervention wouldn’t make very much sense if it’s just to find one person. I think the end goal of this campaign is to stop the navy, but they do need to find Arlin. He’s important to this somehow.

[unusualindigo]

Mother Knows Best [Richard Thompson]

AD 2067, XX/XX, Unknown

Siebzehn silently looks around the empty void within his own dreams, waiting for them to appear. Ever since his trip into the Boundary, he’s seen them, but kept silent. He doesn’t want to cause any more worry than he already has.

Always first to manifest, Acht dramatically sighs, “I still can’t believe you forgave that brute.”

Siebzehn narrows his eyes at his mother. “Akira-san is like that because of you, as I recall.”

Acht huffs, “Hardly my fault, deary. I made him an offer, he accepted. That’s how deals work.”

Siebzehn sniffs, “You took advantage of him. What you did was—”

Acht scoffs, “That boy wanted power, and we gave it to him.” She looks at Siebzehn coldly. “Besides, I get the feeling that this is less about that brute, and more about upsetting Kagari.”

Siebzehn fights back a wince.

Acht presses in, giggling, “Oh honey, we simply must work on your taste in men! This silly little crush has gone on for—”

Siebzehn hisses, “It’s not a crush!”

Acht narrows her eyes and hums, “Oh? Still clinging on to him like that? Even after he went through all that trouble of letting you down easy?” She chuckles, “My, my. What must the little princess think of that?”

Siebzehn glares darkly at his mother, jumping when a hand presses to his shoulder.

Sechs glares down at his son coolly. “Kagari Touya… I cannot fault your fascination with him.” He leans in closer. “But shouldn’t you know by now that yours is a lost cause?”

Siebzehn, well aware of his father’s disdain for what he deems futile, glares right back at him. He pries Sechs’ hand away and puts distance between the three of them.

Acht huffs, “He’s right. That boy wouldn’t know the first thing about what to do with you.” Acht’s smile grows dark. “Even if he were to accept you, what do you think you’d do? We all know how bad you are at sharing. Look at Takumi—”

Siebzehn growls, “Leave him out of this.”

Drei’s dry voice sounds from behind. “When was the last time you allowed that boy to make a true friend? You’re as possessive as ever, child.”

Siebzehn whirls around to stare daggers at the colossus. “Like you’re one to talk. All of you were so desperate to hold one another hostage that you’re using my mind as the cell.”

Acht scoffs, “As if we had a choice.”

Drei huffs, “We are here because of your folly in seeking other worlds. Nothing more.”

Sechs murmurs, “Even if we wished to leave, we could not. Such is power of the Boundary.”

Siebzehn groans, “Even if that’s true, it gives you no right to root around in my personal life.”

Drei coolly eyes him. “It was my intervention that made your conception possible. We are the ones who brought you into this world, do not be ungrateful when we critique your poor choices.”

Siebzehn glares up at Drei, jamming a finger into his chest, converting it into ice with his Drive, Absolute Zero. “Remember that I can send you away, even if for only a while.”

Drei looks down at his cracking skin and clothes without much emotion. He locks his garnet eyes with Siebzehn’s verdelites and scoffs, “You really are so childish.”

Acht whines, “Just when I thought he was finally getting a hold on those hormones at last.”

Sechs monotonously sighs, “Kagari Touya will not give you what you seek. Why press on?”

Siebzehn glares at his father. “Touya is a good man. He doesn’t want to take advantage of me. That alone is enough to have my respect and more.”

Acht giggles, “You really do have it bad, poor little Siebzehn.” She murmurs, “Why not simply try to wait him out, then? Wear down his defenses until his poor little heart has no choice but to make room?”

Siebzehn turns his stare to her disdainfully. “I’m not like you, Mother. I don’t manipulate people.”

Acht pouts and then smirks devilishly. “Oh, heaven’s no. You just ‘advise’ people, right? Give them all the little pieces to your puzzle until they do exactly—”

Siebzehn bites out, “At least I give them a proper choice! They don’t have to listen to me! Just… Just shut up.”

Sechs scoffs, “Yet you still resort to underhanded tactics when they do not listen. We see all that you do, do not try to lie to us.”

Drei chimes in, “Your last intervention is a prime example. Whilst that boy sought to save his sister, you ‘advised’ him to save the world instead. We all know how that turned out.”

Siebzehn turns stiffly, shattering Drei’s chest with a burst of lightning. “I said, shut up!”

Acht and Sechs watch on coldly as their partner is sent spiraling back into nothingness for a time.

Sechs sighs, “Such childish tantrums. What’s done is done.”

Siebzehn growls, “Shut. Up.”

Acht laughs, “Or what? You’ll ‘kill’ us too? Like you did poor little Say—”

Siebzehn’s mind roars with anguish and fire as he screams, “SHUT UP!”

Siebzehn opens his eyes to a roaring inferno as his sheets are ablaze. Using his Drive, he converts them to ice, turning a growing fire into a harmless puddle. The searing burns on his hands cause him to hiss in pain.

Takumi bursts through his door with a wild look in his eyes. “Aniki! I heard—!" Takumi stares at Siebzehn’s hands, tears welling up in his eyes. “No, no!”

Takumi rushes forward as his hands glow with healing magics. Siebzehn does his best to not flinch away as Takumi grasps his hands and begins healing them.

Kuon, Elise, Ringo, and Ume are in the doorway, staring at Siebzehn with worry and suspicion.

Siebzehn sinks in on himself, murmuring, “I’m sorry… it was just a bad dream.”

[antifainternational]

Hi, I'm from Germany and it's bothering me that you're using the three arrows in your avatar. 1933, the german communist party called for a general strike against Hitler and the iron front who used the arrows as their symbol refused to participate, weakening something that could've been a very powerful action of all workers. One of the arrows symbolizes fighting communism, which means that the iron front rather sat and did nothing against fascism instead of working with communist. If you show up with the three arrows at an antifascist protest in germany, you get side eyed, not only by communists but also by anarchists. To us they symbolize being inactive in a time where action would've made a huge difference, and today only the party SPD is using them sometimes when they want to act like they're part of the antifascist movement while they're in reality centrist cowards that have been busy butchering worker's rights for the past 30 years. They're using the arrows specifically to distance themselves from more radical anti-capitalist groups and groups who feel that parlamentarian democracy is not enough and call for a government that makes it possible for everyone to participate way beyond voting. Some of them think talking to nazis is a good strategy. I gather that the symbol is seen differently in America, but for a worldwide antifascist group I feel like you should consider the origins

Ah, it's that time the year again when we get to school folks about the antifascist "three arrows" symbol!

The antifa “three arrows” symbol is one of the most recognizable anti-fascist symbols in the world.  It originated with the Iron Front - a militant antifascist organization created in late 1931 in Germany by the Reichsbanner, the socialist SPD, and various labor organizations (Bray, Mark; Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook; pg. 23).  The SPD had a lengthy history of hostilities with the KPD, the German communist party at the time, which is probably why some people have misconstrued it as an "anti-communist" symbol.

Mark Bray writes in his book that the “three arrows” symbol was created for the Iron Front by a Russian socialist living in Germany named Sergei Chakhotin.  “While walking around town, Chakhotin noticed that someone had drawn a line over a swastika to cover the Nazi logo.  This gave him the idea of turning the line into a downward facing arrow.  After discussing it with receptive comrades, he turned it into three arrows (Drei Pfeile).  In his mind, they stood for ‘unity, activity, discipline,” or the SPD, the unions, and the Reichsbanner. (Ibid, pg. 24). Let’s reiterate that last point for you, Anon: In his mind (the mind of the person that designed the symbol!), they stood for ‘unity, activity, discipline,” or the SPD, the unions, and the Reichsbanner.  

Some people (like yourself, Anon, and also Wikipedia) claim that the three arrows symbol is anti-communist, but the person who created the symbol was a socialist who created it for a coalition that included socialists and trade unions and clearly did not conceive of it as an anti-communist symbol.  Eighty-six years later and any “anti-communist” or even specifically socialist meaning that may or (more likely) may not have been implied with this symbol has been lost as it’s become as commonplace and recognized an anti-fascist symbol as the “two flags” symbol of Antifaschiste Aktion (which was formed by the KPD in response to the popularity of the Iron Front [Ibid., pg. 25]).  

Like we always say, anti-fascism is non-partisan.  It’s a big tent where people of all sorts of different political inclinations unite in their mutual opposition to fascism.  We don’t believe that the three arrows design ever symbolized anti-anything besides anti-fascism and even if it once did over eighty years ago, we certainly don’t think it does in this century.  

[meichenxi]

Grimm’s Law and Verner’s Law: part 1 - Indo-European background

OR: how ‘cannabis’ and ‘hemp’ are actually cognates

tldr: sound change is cool and this great series of videos can explain it better than I can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aal9VSPkf5s. this is going to be the first of a few posts on sound change in German and English. I originally wanted to explain the second sound shift, but quickly realised that it doesn’t make sense without any of the historical context, so please bear with me

What makes a language Germanic? Imagine for a moment that you’re an alien a la Matt Haig, newly arrived to Earth and presented with a sample of the world’s languages - or specifically, part of Eurasia’s. Some languages look very similar to each other; some very different. How would you go about building a hypothesis about which languages were related to each other, and which weren’t? How would you then test this hypothesis? And how, presented finally with data that shows your languages are related, would you explain how these changes came to happen in the first place? 

Before we go on to Germanic, though, let’s talk about Indo-European today. You guys probably all know that IE is a large language family that stretches from Icelandic to Hindi; Germanic is one of the sub-groupings of this wider IE family. Within the sub-family itself, there are divisions: German is more closely related to Dutch, Norwegian to Swedish, Icelandic to Faroese and so on. This seems all fairly obvious to us now. 

Way back when many centuries ago (not that many centuries, and certainly long after the Bible began), the idea of a language family spanning English to Russian to Farsi was a little less obvious. For much of the 17th century, people (esp a bishop dude called John Wilkins) sought to prove that English was related to Hebrew - this was an important endeavour at the time, because it would lend the language religious authority, especially in its translation of the Bible. Fast forwarding to the 18th century, a man named Sir Williams Jones who lived in Bengal realised - on account of his classical education and extensive contact with Indian languages - that there were much greater similarities between Latin, Greek and Sanskrit than anybody had previously realised. He wasn’t the first to think it, but he was one of the first to make such a definitive statement. The following quote is probably one of the most famous in historical linguistics, so I apologise for quoting it in full: ‘The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have spring from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists: there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothick and the Celtick, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanscrit, and the old Persian might be added to this family.’

He was wrong in a lot of ways - he excluded some languages that do belong in this family and erroneously included others. He also wasn’t the first to come up with this idea. This quote, more than anything, marks the beginning of people’s interest in the ‘common source’: how could such a thing ever be proven, if we didn’t have access to the language itself?  Part of the building ground for Indo-European historical linguistics was the desire to prove that linguistics was an empirical science much like any other, with laws that held universally and hypotheses that could be tested and demonstrably falsified. This rested on two principles both promoted by the Junggramatiker, or Neogrammarians, a Leipzig based group of scholars. Firstly, that sound change - the process by which sounds change, arise and disappear - was a highly regular process that held universally and obeyed certain rules. Secondly, that languages that exist today are structurally and in principle no different from languages that existed thousands of years ago - that is, we have no reason to assume that processes existed in the past that don’t exist today. This is called the uniformitarian principle. 

If both of these things are true, that means that it would be possible to not only determine how exactly these languages were related, but also reconstruct an earlier version of the language once spoken by all Indo-Europeans!! (I hope you agree that this is immensely cool.) 

Reconstructing these rules is important, because it allows us to better understand structural similarities between languages. There are some similarities which are surface deep: it’s easy to compare English cold and German kalt or warm and - well - warm, and say that they look alike. Pfad and path is a little harder, but when you compared Pfeffer and pepper it’s clear, ok, there’s a <pf> / <p> alteration going on there. Leaving the Germanic family behind, though, things get a little more tricky. 

How exactly is venue cognate with come? What about English quick and Latin vīvus? And how can sister and Hindi bahan possibly be cognates??

Some of the most meaningful observations are structural; they are not surface deep, and they’re not immediately available for study. This is because, quite simply, the time depth since Indo-European was spoken is vast; there have been extensive sound changes in all of the languages concerned. 

And that’s exactly what Grimm’s Law is. It’s a sound change that happened specifically in the Germanic branch of Indo-European, so it’s common to all Germanic languages, and nothing else. It’s one of those diagnostic criteria that an alien would use to determine that Norwegian and Dutch were related: it’s present, apart from where further sound change has obscured it, in every Germanic language - and it’s not present, apart from in borrowed words, in any non-Germanic language. That’s what we mean by diagnostic. 

Let’s have a look at some examples! We’ll explain it in more detail next time, but this might whet your appetite. Don’t worry if you can’t read the phonetic description; it’s the consonants that are important at the moment (don’t, please, ask me about vowels. just please don’t).

(nb: where I use an asterisk *, this means that this form is reconstructed, not actually attested: we don't have any records of IE. > just means ‘goes to’ or ‘becomes’ in the various daughter languages. Also <these> brackets are talking about spelling, and /these/ brackets are talking about phonemes, or actual sounds. Also, the little ‘ means aspiration - we’ll talk more about what that means next time)

*p > f (no later shift in German, though /f/ is sometimes spelled v):

Engl. brother, Germ. Bruder (cf. Lat. frāter, Skt. bhrā́tā)

Engl. full, Germ. voll (cf. Lat. plēnus, Skt. pūrṇás)

*t > *þ (Engl. th) > Germ. d

Engl. three, Germ. drei (cf. Lat. trēs, Gk. /trê:s/, Skt. tráyas) Engl. thin, Germ. dünn (cf. Lat. tenuis, Skt. tanús)

*ḱ, *k > h (no later shift in German):

Engl. hundred, Germ. hundert (cf. Lat. centum, Gk. /he-katón/, Skt.

śatám)

Engl. horn, Germ. Horn (cf. Lat. cornū)

*kw > *hw (Engl. wh) > Germ. w:

Engl. what, Germ. was (cf. Lat. adjective & relative quod, Skt. kád)

*d > *t (Engl. t) > Germ. z:

Engl. two, Germ. zwei (cf. Lat. duo, Gk. /dúo/, Skt. dvā́)

BRUH. ISN’T THIS COOL!! AND THERE ARE MORE!

You can see here already by looking at the German and English that both have sometimes subsequently undergone sound changes, like English */hw/ to /wh/ and then finally to /w/, which becomes German <w> or /v/ - these sometimes obscure things. And if you really want to find out why German is different to English, well, we’ve got quite a few sound changes to get through before we get there! 

Melissa, you might be saying, I know for a fact there’s something yucky and not-worky about Grimm’s Law. What about cases where it doesn’t seem to apply? What’s that? Also, I swear some Danish dude had the idea first but just didn’t publish...

Well. You’re not wrong. But this post is long enough already. Next time, we’ll go over what exactly it is, where exactly it manifests itself, and how it didn’t seem to work 100% of the time...and I suppose I still haven’t answered how ‘hemp’ and ‘cannabis’ are cognates...you’ll just have to stay tuned! 

Bis zum nächsten Mal! 

[fictionwordcounts]

Sweet Things in Bitter Places [Luke x Reader]

Word Count: 3000+

Summary: Being a barista on the coldest planet in the galaxy isn’t exactly a glamorous job, but it does have it’s perks. The cute rebel who buys a cup of caf from you everyday is one of them.

Requested by @racheltheclumsy

As you waited for the caf beans to finish brewing in the caf distiller, you brushed your hair behind your ear and stifled a yawn. It had been a long day with very few of the rebels asking for anything at your small coffee stand. There had been rumors of a lifeform somewhere out in the swirling snow that had gotten everybody rushing this way and that to do their jobs. It left very little room for stopping to get even just a small cup of the bitter drink. You watched the distiller even though your customer was behind you waiting in silence. You tried to casually look around, but it seemed to make the waiting worse. Finally, after a good two minutes, you turned around to Wedge Antilles.

"What was out there today?" You asked him, genuinely curious. "I heard that they might have found something?"

Wedge, obviously relieved you had started talking, chuckled. "It was just snow and ice today," he reported. "That's all it ever is." He shook his head and smiled. "Sometimes I think the generals make that stuff up just to keep everybody on their toes."

You laughed and maintained a casual conversation until the caf was done. The distiller let out a beep indicating it was finished. You poured Wedge a glass of it and added sugar and cream until he said it was enough. He placed a few credits on the counter and grabbed the cup.

"No, Wedge." You told him. "You don't have to pay." You shoved the credits back to him. He always did this and it made you feel greedy when he insisted you take them. Credits, of course, were of no use on the secluded planet of Hoth, but they were held onto in hopes that going back to a normal life someday was possible.

You put the currency in the pocket of your apron when Wedge refused to keep them, and looked up as two tauntauns rode in the open hatch door across the base, their riders covered in snow. The riders hopped off the tall, furry animals and shook the snow off of themselves.

After a while, Wedge called to the pair. You recognized one of the riders as Luke Skywalker as he ran toward the friend who had called him. He sat down next to Wedge with a big smile on his face. The other rider you assumed to be Han Solo, the "scoundrel" everyone complained about. The friends chatted merrily as you cleaned up around the small stand you had stayed at all day. Your job seemed so unimportant, but all the rebels agreed it was good to have something warm to keep their energy up. Noticing Han waving you over, you put the cleaning supplies down and walked over to see what he wanted.

"How much for one of those?" he asked, gesturing to the coffee Wedge was drinking. You shrugged.

"Whatever you see fit."

Han looked at her with interest now. "Anything?" He questioned. "Even nothing?"

Laughing, you nodded.

"Well then I'll take one." With his final decision he nudged Luke. "She's giving drinks away for free, Luke. You want one?"

Luke nodded knowingly. "I know, Han. Haven't you ever ordered caf from here before?" He inquired.

Han scrunched his face. "Caf?" he said sourly. He turned to you as you started pouring the drink. "Nevermind."

Stopping quickly, you looked at Luke and rolled your eyes. He laughed softly and offered to take the drink instead.

"You're telling me you drink that stuff?" Han asked him, surprised.

With a spark of mischief behind his eyes, Wedge answered him.

"Are you kidding?" he snorted. "Luke comes by here every day and drinks twice as much as any of us." He elbowed Luke. "Because you don't come here for the drink, do you?" he teased.

Luke laughed, finding a new interest on the counter in front of him. He stumbled on words, trying to say something cohesive. It caused him to turn beet red with embarrassment. You turned back to cleaning. Blood was rising to your face and making your cheeks warm. Wedge was always joking about you and Luke "having a thing" (as he put it) for each other, and you both should've been used to it by now. Still, you couldn't help but feel butterflies flittering around in your stomach every time he brought it up, but you could easily cover your nerves with the thin veil of a shy smile.

It was true enough that you had begun looking forward to Luke coming to the caf stand every day. He always showed up with an upbeat and terribly contagious attitude, and it was a bright part of your day to laugh and joke with him until he left for whatever work he had been assigned. Often times, he'd tell you the burdens of his mind–whether they were trifling small or unbearably large. You didn't mind it when he did, and equally as often you found yourself able to talk to him about your own concerns. Perhaps it was your imagination, but you both always seemed more at ease when either of you revealed your troubles to the other. You willingly shared whatever burden the other had.

You were subconsciously aware of Han and Wedge walking away while laughing to each other. You poured yourself the last of the caf and sat down next to Luke.

"They'll never let that go," you joked. He nodded silently for a second then jerked his head up.

"Come with me next time," he suggested. With one look at your face he knew he needed to explain. "The next time I go out there to patrol come with me."

Could you really do that? You knew that only a few select people would be chosen for that job, and a small, quiet, coffee stand attendant wouldn't even be considered. You liked the idea though. The thought of trying something new from your general routine exhilarated you.

"I don't think I can," you reasoned, trying to suppress the sudden interest in the idea. He turned more towards you.

"Sure you can!" he said excitedly. "I know Leia. She's my friend, and I'm sure if I asked she would let you." You tried not to be as excited as he was, but as he smiled certainly, you couldn't help but feel that it was worth a try. He set his caf down and stood up. "Let's go find her," he said lending you his hand. You gladly accepted and Luke guided you through the rebel base to find Leia. You turned into a small tightly packed room with flashing buttons and screens in every direction.

"I haven't been here before," you admitted quietly to Luke, whose eyes were darting around the room. He continued walking.

"Most of the rebels haven't," he answered. "They're always busy with this or that, but they can come in when needed." He stopped abruptly and pointed.

"There she is!" He jogged up to the woman he pointed to in the little space he had with you close behind him. The princess was standing with a man who was examining a clipboard she was holding. She looked up when Luke approached.

"Luke, I'm glad you're here," she said, relieved. "I had Garven Dreis on patrol duty for tomorrow, but his sickness has only gotten worse and he can't do it." Leia turned back to the clipboard. "I can't find anyone to replace him. Do you know of anybody?" Luke looked hopefully at you.

"Actually, I do." He nudged you forward. You stuck your hand out but withdrew quickly. How was one supposed to act in front of the former princess of Alderaan?

"I'm Y/N," you said with a quick and awkward bow. It didn't feel right, but, thankfully, Leia said nothing of it.

"Have you been on patrol before?" she asked you. You shifted nervously, realizing this might not work after all.

"No, I haven't," you confessed. Luke stepped in.

"But she is good with the tauntauns and the scanners," he stated. "I'm sure she would be a great help."

Leia looked you both over then nodded. "If you think so, Luke. I trust you." She turned to you. "You can take the north markers tomorrow." With that, you and Luke left the room.

"I guess I have my work cut out for me tomorrow," you said, relieved that Luke's plan worked. He grinned.

"Yeah, but you'll want some sleep. Patrols start early." You said goodnight, to him and watched as he walked away. You didn't think you would get any sleep that night, but you would try so you could see him tomorrow.

________________________________________________________________

You waited by the closed hatch door on the north side of the base with your tauntaun next to you. You had been given warm clothing to replace your casual wear, but the coat you were wearing was so bulky it was hard to bend over. You hoped it wouldn't be a challenge to mount your tauntaun. Many of the rebels were up already and scattering about doing their jobs. You looked around eagerly for Luke, but you hadn't seen him yet. You figured he must be at a different door than you were now.

"Please stand clear of the doors!" An announcement came over the speakers indicating it was time for the doors to open. Even though they said this every time, you felt embarrassed as you backed away from the huge doors. You spun around quickly when you heard another tauntaun approaching. Tauntauns were not quiet animals with their constant, strange chatter to one another, but they were very sweet and useful. Luke steadied the animal and smiled down at you.

"Are you ready?" He raised his voice to be heard over the sound of the opening doors. In response you nodded and mounted your tauntaun with the difficulty you had hoped would leave you alone. You followed Luke to the side of the base where he stopped and turned around to you.

"We have to let the airspeeders go first," he explained as he smoothed his tauntaun's fur. "Are you excited?" You looked out into the freezing landscape the doors had hidden just few seconds before. You were excited, but the weather on Hoth was not the type you go out and have a good time in.

"I'm a little nervous," you answered.

He laughed. "I can't say I was my first time," he admitted. "I mean, I was pretty excited." He looked to the hanger door as the last of the airspeeders left. He turned back to you. "It's our turn now. Don't worry, you'll do great." He kicked his tauntaun lightly urging it to go forward. Yours bleated and followed right after without instruction.

As soon as you were outside, the cold wind whipped at you angrily. You had forgotten to pull your goggles down and the ice blowing into your eyes made it impossible to open them. You would have gone back inside, but Luke was already far ahead of you. You pulled the goggles down and lead your tauntaun farther through the swirling snow. Luke had stopped at the top of hill and waited for you to catch up.

"Is it always blowing like this?" you hollered over the wind.

"Sometimes in the mornings, but it'll clear up," he assured. He moved his tauntaun closer to you and showed you the map he had on the scanner. "You can go east to where the north and east markers meet up." He pointed in the direction you would be headed. "When you're done with that it should be clearer. Meet me north-west from there. I have something to show you." He smiled and headed off to where he would patrol, and you did the same.

After you found the east marker the weather cleared, making it easier to find your way around. You took the cloth from your mouth so you could breathe some of the fresh cold air and lifted your goggles so you could wipe them off. You looked down at the scanner you had been relying on to tell you what was out in the snow. There was nothing exciting about it, and you wondered why Luke had wanted you to come with him. You looked off in the direction Luke had wanted you to go next. Whatever was over there was the reason. You urged your tauntaun forward who seemed confused about going in the strange direction but obediently trotted on. Finally you spotted Luke standing at the entrance to a small cave.

"What's this?" You asked curiously as you approached. He smiled widely.

"Tie your tauntaun up here and follow me," he ran inside the cave without waiting for a response. You suspiciously tied the loud animal next to Luke's and ran after him. You collided with him which scared you more than it hurt you. "Sorry," he said after making sure you were alright. "You have to close your eyes."

"Luke, what's this about?" you questioned him.

"Come on, don't you trust me?" he asked. You stared at him skeptically for a little bit before you closed your eyes. "Just be careful. It's a little slippery," he grabbed your hand and led you down through the cave. His gloves were stiff from the ice that made its' home there, but he made sure you didn't fall once. He let go leaving you standing there with your eyes closed.

"You can open them," he said from seemingly farther away. You opened your eyes to a beautiful opened cave where ice hanged, glistening from the ceiling. There was soft snow that lay thinly over the thick ice floor and mounds of snow that almost made you want to lay down in them. Luke stood in the middle of the ice with his arms outstretched to show off the cave

"It's amazing," you said, awed. You took a closer look at the ceiling and found large hole that was letting the sun in and making the ice glow purple. "How did you find it?" you asked, hoping he hadn't found it by falling into it.

"I thought I saw something come this way once, but it was nothing and I saw the entrance." Despite the beauty of the cave, you were shivering with cold. You rubbed your frozen hands together and put the cloth back over your mouth. "I'm sorry, you must be freezing!" He jogged up to you and put his arm around you. "Let's get you back to the base." You stayed close to him as he led you out of the cave. Once you were back outside, you were greeting by the obnoxious noises of the tauntauns that were waiting for you.

"How many more markers are there?" You asked Luke.

"Don't worry about it," he said, turning you toward him. "I'll finish up the markers. You get back to Echo Base and warm up. Save some caf for me, OK?" He smiled and started walking toward his tauntaun. You held his hand firmly until he turned back around. "Is something wrong?" You looked into his blue eyes, wondering what to say to him. You stood on your toes with your heart pounding and kissed him on the cheek. Your face turned red standing out against the white snow around you. Luke walked backwards into his tauntaun still smiling despite the loud bleat it made.

"I'll be waiting." You said as you mounted your tauntaun.

"I'll be there." He murmured in response. Feeling warm suddenly you rode back to the rebel base and worked at the caf bar while you waited to see him again.

________________________________________________________________

You waited anxiously at the north doorway for Luke to come back. You had already closed up the bar and made an extra batch for you both to drink to help him warm up. The wind was starting to pick up again, making the snow blow in. At the sound of a tauntaun you strained to see the incoming rider. Han Solo entered the base and hopped off his animal swiftly. You couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Where's Luke?" You asked him. Han turned to you, just realizing you were there.

"He went to check out a meteorite that crashed near here," He answered before walking off. Luke was always very inquisitive. It made sense that he would do that, and you felt stupid for worrying so much.

The rest of the day passed slowly and still there was no sign of Luke. You had wanted to ask Han if he had seen him at all, but he was in a bad mood and ignored most of your questions. You found Han standing with C-3PO next to the Millennium Falcon. Before you could reach him He had run off to talk with somebody else, but you knew Threepio wasn't one to keep secrets if he was told one.

"What's going on?" You questioned the droid. He turned around startled.

"Oh, it's just that, master Luke has gone missing," He responded. "Nobody knows where he is." Your stomach flipped. You knew something had been wrong, but you tricked yourself into thinking otherwise. A hand seemed to be squeezing your heart with no mercy. You looked over to where Han was stirring up commotion to see him ride off into the hungry snowstorm waiting outside. You spotted Wedge standing by the open hatch door and ran up to him.

"Where's Han going?" You asked breathlessly.

"He's gone to look for Luke," He responded without even glancing at you. You sat at the base of the Falcon, feeling too weak to stand. Everyone was on edge while waiting for Han and Luke to return. The later it got, the colder it was, and the need to close the hatch doors was growing. The decision was final and the whole base fell silent as the massive door shut slowly. You buried you head in your hands. Why hadn't you said it to him before? You were scared. Too scared to admit it to yourself. You loved Luke. The three small words that had scared you into denial were a powerful tool you had chosen to put away. Now you regretted that. I love him. You thought over and over until morning.

A gentle hand placed on your shoulder stirred you.

"Y/N," you heard Leia's voice and you woke up quickly. She smiled warmly at you. "Y/N, it's OK. They found Luke and Han." You sat up from the hunched position you had slept in. It took you a second, but you processed what she was saying.

"Are they alright?" You asked hurriedly.

"They're alive," she assured you. "Luke just barely made it, but he should be better soon." You stood up sorely with strong protest from your legs.

"He's here?" Leia nodded.

"He's in the recovery room. He asked for you," she said with a knowing look then stood up and walked away.

You walked into the recovery room to see Luke sitting on a small couch they had there. He turned around quickly.

"Luke." You said relieved. Luke stood up quickly.

"Y/N!" He hugged you tightly. Your heart raced happily.

"I thought you were dead." You whispered to him with tears in your eyes. You felt him shake his head.

"I'm alright." He responded. "Han found me and looked after me." You pulled away from him and reached down for the cup you had set on the table.

"I saved you some caf," you told him. He laughed and sat back on the couch. You sat next to him after putting the cup back on the table. "You can drink it when you tell me what happened." You bargained. He explained shortly about being abducted by a huge creature whos home had been the cave they had been admiring earlier. How he had escaped you still didn't understand, but you understood all too much about Han having to stuff Luke into his dead tauntaun's stomach.

After the story you sighed and rested your head on his shoulder. You were just glad to have him back. Luke had always been a good friend to you, but you noticed the more time you spent with him, the more you wanted him to be around. The want turned into need as he became the only happy thing in the messed up world around you. He was much more than a friend to you, and you hoped dearly he would feel the same. The fear that he wouldn't kept you away from the three words you wanted to say to him from the beginning.

"You scared me," you whispered to him. "Don't ever do that again." He held you close to him.

"I won't," he promised. You hesitated as you practiced the words in your mind.

"I love you," you voiced, shaking. He rubbed your shoulders to calm you.

"I love you, too, Y/N"

[howlingday]

Jaune: Oooohhh... What happened last night?

Weiss: Good morning, Jaune.

Jaune: Not so loud, Weiss! I have a massive headache!

Weiss: Yes, well... considering last night...

Jaune: What happened?

Weiss: You, well... You turned into a werewolf last night, and attacked a small sheep farm outside Mantle.

Jaune: (Groans) Well, she did warn me this might happen.

Weiss: Huh? What do you mean? Who warned you?

Jaune: Oh, well, uh, you see... Ruby and I have been... sort of... intimate recently.

Weiss: Uh, okay, you don't need to explain anything mo-

Jaune: And we've been experimenting; you know, to help keep the relationship fresh.

Weiss: No, really, I understa-

Jaune: And, it turns out, she's part werewolf.

Weiss: You know, you don't have to keep talking if you don't want to-

Jaune: And I've heard of the term, "an animal in bed," but...

Weiss: Wow, that is actually too much information!

Jaune: And I've seen cuts that heal really quickly before, but I've never seen a hymen repair itself so quickly after being kno-

Weiss: DAMMIT, JAUNE! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU KEEP TELLING ME THESE THINGS?!

Jaune: (Sighs) I feel bad for that farmer, though. I hope he can forgive me.

Weiss: Actually, you only attacked one sheep, but I don't think you did any physical harm.

MEANWHILE

Fiona: (Panting, In a stable) Best... Fuck... EVER! (Sighs) Brothers, I hope I'm pregnant...

Weiss: But don't worry, Jaune, we'll be able to cure you soon.

Jaune: That's great! I can't tell you how grateful I'll be when this is all over. I mean, Ruby says I might be able to control it, but I'd rather not have to deal with it at all.

Weiss: We'll watch you tonight, and we'll have a solution by tomorrow morning.

THAT NIGHT

Jaune: (Werewolf transformation complete) Okay, I... I think... I think I have the hang of this- WATCH OUT! (Leaps out at Team RWBYNROP, They jump away) Okay! I did try to... "assault" you then, but I didn't. That should count for something, right?

Blake: This isn't working.

Yang: Argh! How will we save the White Wolf!

Weiss: Stay calm, everyone; we just need to- ...Wait. "White Wolf?"

Yang: Yeah, he needs a name, right?

Weiss: Huh. Not a bad idea, but I think we could have a better name for him.

Oscar: What about "Knight Wolf?"

Weiss: No, that just makes me feel sleepy. Hm, how about "Wolfenstein?"

Ruby: But he's not a Frankenstein monster. I mean, we could just call him "Jaune-enstein."

Weiss: (Unimpressed) Really?

Ruby: Well, it's either that, or "The Wolfman!"

Nora: No, that doesn't sound original enough.

Yang: I've got it! We'll name him "Drei!"

Weiss: Yang, you can't just name him after your dog like that!

Nora: I've got it! We'll call him "The Wolfman!"

Penny: That is a fantastic name, Nora!

Nora: Thanks, Penny!

Weiss: We're not getting anywhere like this. We need to focus, and- Wait! I've got it! Everyone, back to my mansion!

THE NEXT MORNING

Jaune: So, how'd it go? Did you find out how to cure me?

Weiss: Not to worry, Jaune, it's all been solved!

Jaune: Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank y-

Weiss: We decided to call you, "Tuff Puppy."

Jaune: ...What?

Ren: Now, whenever you transform into your werewolf form, you will be easily identified.

Jaune: ...You want to name me "Tuff Puppy?"

Oscar: Yup!

Jaune: ...I AM A WOLF!

Weiss: (Shrugs) It wasn't my first choice, either, but it does grow on you after some time.

Jaune: Weiss, you don't understand! I do not wish to be a wolf!

Weiss: You said it yourself you'd control your powers eventually, so for the sake of continuity-

Jaune: You guys are sons of bitches!

Nora: Actually, you're the son of a bitch, Jaune, remember? Remember, Jaune? Remember how you're a werewolf, Jaune? Remember, Jaune? Remember?

LATER THAT NIGHT

Jaune: (Leaps at his friends, Snarling)

Weiss: (Everyone leaps out of the way) Nora, you idiot!

Nora: It was worth it!

[kotka212]

Today’s Dear Drei

Dear Drei,

A few months ago, I walked out of my family home, and I’ve been looking back ever since.  Once upon a time, my father and I were very close. I looked up to him greatly, and I believe he was proud of me. But in recent years, I have come to believe that my father was set in his ways. He no longer listened to me, and I could not agree with the choices he was making for the future of our family.  I still believe he is wrong, and I’m not prepared to compromise my beliefs and integrity for the sake of a reconciliation.  But this letter isn’t about my father.

I have recently received word that a younger relative is engaged to someone I certainly don’t think is suitable. My exact relationship to this person is complex, but is analogous to that of a grandfather and his grandson. Because he is a member of my lineage, I feel a duty to protect him, and I respect him in his own right.  Put baldly, I think he’s a pleasant, intelligent young man, and I would hate to see him hurt.  My ‘son,’ the linking relationship between me and this grandson, is dead. We did not have a healthy relationship, and I worry that my son may have poisoned my grandson’s opinion of me. This is one reason I have not directly approached him with my concerns.  Although I fear what this will make you think of me, I further struggle to put my own pride aside. If my father found out I had spoken to my grandson, he might take this as a concession to his way of thinking. I cannot bear that thought.

I’m not sure this relationship my grandson has entered himself into is built on love: I think my father might be pressuring him into it for the sake of the family.  The proposed partner is politically powerful and offers much to my family.  He has a violent history, and his father and I have been in more than one physical confrontation. I’ve been spying on their “dates,”  and while my grandson’s fiancé is always courteous and considerate of his needs, I cannot shake a bad feeling. Even if they get along well enough now, there can be no question that this relationship was initiated for political gain.

Should I intervene? I could easily remove the fiancé from the equation, or perhaps bring my grandson to a safe secondary location to discuss his decisions.

Most sincerely,

He can still Count on Me

Dear Count on Me,

What a mess! First of all, you’ve ended an entire relationship because of your father’s views? Based on the number of generations that seem to be living together, I can guess you’re from a long-lived species. Your father must be ancient, so of course some of the things he says are a little outdated… he’s a little dated himself!  You didn’t say what exactly you were arguing about, but you don’t have to agree with someone on everything to love them. Assuming your father isn’t some ridiculous bigot, maybe try to work things out?

As far as your grandson goes, you can tell him you’re worried, but in the end you’re just going to have to trust him. The two solutions you’ve offered seem like they might be murder and kidnapping, and for legal reasons I have to tell you not to do that.  If he’s an adult, he can make his own decisions, and if he can count on you (as you say), then you’ll be there for him even if things go wrong. Also, stop spying on his dates. Wouldn’t you be upset if someone did that to you?

So what are your next steps? Communicate! Just talk to your family! 

Love, Drei

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

Coffee and Blood or Coffee with André, Bleeding with Piper

Quick Tag List: @kuruumiya @spacelizardtrashboys @enigmaticandunstable @nattinngrst @amyofaquitaine

This passage contains potentially: drinking (recreational), sexual 'jokes', swearing, violence.

Summary: In this 'chapter' Kirby hangs out with both André and Piper, sharing drinks with the giant and sparring with the Scotsman. We also get more of an introduction to the rest of the Daughters of Darkness and Damien.

Kirby’s POV:

I woke up earlier than expected on the following Thursday, around four-forty-five in the morning, before sunrise. I decided to get a head start on my usual morning routine, brushing my teeth, showering, washing my long blonde hair and brushing it whilst drying it with a hairdryer.

I have decided that the moment I get enough money, or the moment it gets too unmanageable, I will cut my hair and possibly dye it. I remember back when I was a teenager I had dyed my hair all sorts of crazy colours. When I won the tag tag titles back as a part of the Celtic Warriors, my hair was a dark green, in contrast to Erik's (My tag partner's) ginger locks.

I managed to find a black shirt and some sepia hued trousers in the mess that was my suitcase, having let Holly borrow my old graphic band tees a couple days ago meant that she had rearranged my stuff in a way that no human would think possible. By the time I had gotten dressed the hotel landline next to the bed started ringing, hesitant at first, I decided to pick it up.

"Hello, Mademoiselle Lucifarian?"

"André?"

"Oui, uh, I was wondering if you would like to get breakfast together, around six?"

"Oh, uh, Oui, I would love that, where should I meet you?"

"The hotel lobby, the sooner the better, people are staring at me."

André hung up the phone and, after putting my hair up into a ponytail and a watch on my wrist, I headed down to the hotel lobby, the ideas of where André could possibly take me ranging from quaint cafe's to any bar or pub that would be open this early.

By the time I got down to the lobby I could see a small crowd around my fellow giant. He waved me over and said his goodbyes to the gaggle of fans and we left.

Somehow, in the middle of New York, André had managed to find a quaint little café. We found a small table at the back and got to talking, and eating. I had taken my mask off and placed it beside the small sugar bowl on the table. André ordered our food and then starts the conversation.

"So, uh what did you do before you came to America?"

"Oh, I wrestled in a tag team while in England."

"What did you do before wrestling?"

"I can't remember much, I think just school. Kid stuff. You?"

"I wrestled in France under many names. Before that, I was schooled until I was fourteen."

"You left school at fourteen?" I took a sip of the coffee he had chosen for me, tasting a hint of whiskey and cocking an eyebrow at him.

He smiled and nodded, taking a swig from the pint of beer in front of him. André is known for his drinking, although I am also a giant, the fact that he's paying for the two of us to drink so early in the day makes me cautious of how much he drinks, or am I more afraid of how much he'll make me drink. I shake the thoughts from my mind and take a larger sip from the Irish coffee he has blatantly ordered me.

"Drey." I look over at his plates, unlike my one plate, a full English (minus the black pudding) André has a whole side of the table covered in food.

"Drey," good lord, I've already given him a nickname, "Drey, how can you eat all of this? A lesser man would have no chance to get through that."

He puts a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter and our conversation continues for a while until André brings up an uncomfortable subject.

"Why do you hide your face?"

I shift in my seat and André's brows furrow slightly with worry. He picks up the mask before I can put it back in it's rightful place, turning it in his hands, examining it in all it's small details.

"I guess it drives up my asking price." It's a bold-faced lie and I know it but it's better than revealing all my insecurities before I even have my first match, or even cut my first promo in the WWF.

André nods solemnly, he can tell I don't want to talk about it any further. He pays for the meal, I put my mask back on and we parted ways. I went back to the hotel, changed into my work out gear, grabbed my gym bag and headed to the nearest gym.

I set myself up at a heavy bag and begin my usual workout after warming up. Punches, knees, kicks. And right when I'm in the middle of my workout I feel a tap on my arm. I whip around and whip my hair into my arm.

"Oh, it's you, Roddy," I try to get my breath back in-between words, upon regaining my breath I continue, "What d'you want?"

"I just wanted to say, you have excellent form." The smug smile on his face tells me everything.

"I'm not in the mood, Roddy, bugger off." I growled at him.

Roddy scowls before continuing the conversation, "Alright missy, those are fightin' words"

"Oh really?" I challenge.

"Really."

We begin walking over to the makeshift ring.

"Really Roddy?"

"Really Gluttony."

Out the back of the gym, open air but clean of any twigs or bugs, simple but sturdy. The Squared Circle.

Piper gets in the same way as last time we sparred as do I. I get a quick glance at Piper's reaction, his eyes widen slightly, he's still surprised by me jumping over the ropes.

"You must have a thing for proving your agility, Gluttony," He stops momentarily and it's as if I can see the cogs turning in his mind, "What is your name?" He finally says after a minute of silence.

"I'm Kirby Lucifarian," a white lie but technically whilst in the ring my surname becomes 'Lucifarian' and no longer am I a 'Trevor', "Most people know me as Gluttony, however."

"Even with that mask on?"

It's honestly a good question but I don't want him knowing every little detail of my gimmick.

"Even with the mask on."

"Really?"

At this point he's taunting me and so I put my fists up to start the sparring session, "Really really."

During the sparring session he questioned me on my work with the WWF.

"When's your first match?"

"Saturday, West Milford, New Jersey, Why d'you ask?"

"Can I watch?" He smirks before trying to Irish whip me into the corner and failing.

I stop, making myself a dead weight in the middle of the ring, "What!?"

Rod takes a couple step backwards, I follow him, backing him into the corner of the ring.

"What did you just ask me, Piper?"

He puts his hands up over his head, "Hey, I'm just messin' with ya."

"No, no no no, what'd ya jus' ask me? Ya dafty, what'd ya jus' ask me?"

Now fully backed into the turnbuckle, Rod puts his hands on my shoulders to keep me out of his face, "I only asked if I can watch you wrestle."

Upon hearing a lack of fear in his voice, I cock an eyebrow, confused and take a step back.

Upon realising that he's stunned me, Roddy takes his chance and punches me in the gut.

I double over, winded but not too hurt.

When Roddy gets close enough I hit him with the Vampire's Bite.

He falls back, slamming his back into the mat.

I get up and check him, unknowingly letting him kick me in the groin, hard.

"Ya hit," I heave, "A little low, Roddy."

He lets out a laugh and reaches out a hand.

I help him up and he pulls me into a hug, "I'm sorry about that, ya dafty."

I glare at him and he lets out another laugh, I fail to keep my composure and laugh with him. I look over at the building, a clock on the outside wall reads four-thirty, pm.

"Another time, Roddy?"

"Ya gotta go somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet Damien and the girls for dinner at five." I point the clock out to him.

He looks at the clock and once again I see the cogs turning in his mind, "Maybe the clock's wrong."

I laugh and he shrugs.

"Ya never know, d'ya. Kirby?"

"Yes, Roddy?"

"Ya never said if I can watch ya wrestle on Saturday."

I give him a glare before sighing out a "Sure, Roddy."

He smirks, his dumb face making me want to punch him in the mouth."

I slip on the wet grass, getting out of the ring and fall over onto a jagged rock, splitting open the palm of my left hand and the my right shin. I yelp out a quick 'shit' and Rod rushes over to me, helping me up.

He grabs my stuff whilst I clean myself up in a nearby bathroom. When I get out of the bathroom, Rod walks over to me with a roll of gauze.

"C'mere," He grabs my wrist and wraps the gauze around my hand, wrapping the bandage around two or three times before cutting the gauze and tying it off and moving to wrap the gauze around my leg.

He rolls up the right leg of my leggings and I give him a look of 'Do you really have to do that' and as if he can read my mind he mutters out a small 'shut up' and continues to bandage my leg.

Piper gives me my gym bag and lets me walk back to the hotel. I reach the hotel with a slight limp from the pain now coursing through my leg every time I take a step or put my weight on the leg.

I take the elevator and reach my room, hearing Sam's voice already in the room, "God, she's got a spare key, hasn't she." I whisper to myself before opening the door.

Sam, already dressed in a suit, springs off the bed and runs to hug me.

"Hey, Fireball."

"Hey, Tall-ass."

Sam lets me go before noticing the bandages.

"What happened?" Her voice instantly turning from 'Cute Little Sister' to 'Italian Mafioso Interrogator' in an instant.

"Me and Piper were sparring, I slipped when gettin' out of the ring, why?"

Her eyebrows raise and I can immediately tell what she's thinking.

"You were, 'Sparring'?"

"Not like that, Sammie, actually sparring, he kicked me in the groin, we weren't 'Sparring' like Billie does, alright?"

"Alright," she looks down at her wrist watch, moving her leather glove to do so, "We've got three minutes."

Putting the final flourishes of my suit, which matches Sam's, into place, "Let's go then, Sammie."

We leave the hotel, Sam helping me lessen the weight on my leg and head to what we both would call 'The Fanciest restaurant in New York'.

The table Damien has reserved for us, under the 'Lucifarian' name, is bigger than expected.

"It's as if Damien's expecting more than just the eight of us." Billie points out, smoothing out her short, midnight blue dress.

"Good evening ladies." Damien brings Sam, Billie and myself over to our seats.

As per usual, I am at the opposite end of the table to Damien, he always keeps an eye on me but keeps me at arm's length.

"How did you get hurt, Kirby?" Damien brings up the injuries I sustained earlier yet again.

"I fell over earlier while at the gym."

I don't want Damien knowing about me and Piper sparring, he'll admonish me for hanging around Piper without him there. He looks at me with a slight suspicion in his eyes.

I order a glass of Rosé wine and a bowl of French Onion Soup.

"So, Sam's said you've been 'Sparring' with somebody." Holly asks.

"Actual sparring Hol, not 'Sparring'." I clarify, taking a moment to size up Damien and make sure he doesn't question me further.

When the food finally arrives I shift my focus from Damien to the food. The fact that the last time I ate was this morning finally hits me and just looking at the bowl of soup makes my stomach growl ravenously. Upon hearing this, the rest of the girls struggle to contain their laughter.

"I know, I know." I shrug off the humiliation of my loud-ass stomach and manage to finish my meal and wine before the rest of the table.

After the meal, Damien makes us (except for Vickie) pay for the cheque. We go our separate ways. I go back to the hotel and sit on the edge of the bed, still in my suit.

"Man, I gotta wrestle with injuries now, how's that for a debut." I mutter to myself and shift my focus to getting out of the suit so I can sleep.

I take a long look at myself in the mirror and sigh, before questioning myself, "Why am I so afraid of Damien knowing I sparred with piper?"

And with that question still in my mind, I go to bed and quickly fall asleep.

END OF COFFEE WITH ANDRÉ, BLEEDING WITH PIPER / COFFEE AND BLOOD

[theelliottsmiths]

Could you please liveblog the making of Sonne?

I got a few of the same request yes hello

Fun fact everyone already knows Sonne was my first Rammstein experience (that I remember). The video was played at least once a day on kerrang and my dad would play it to help me sleep when I was a bairn.

Okay was it a fan added thing or was Oli stoned when he had the idea? It seems like a stoned thing to do

Maybe it's because I grew up around mining towns but... Hot.

They all look so cute schneider looks like a Rat

"did touring in the US have any influence on the album?"

"Nope" the most adorable twisty smile I've ever seen

"I hope not"

*very strange noises from Richard that I have never heard before or since* "it wasn't an influence"

Does till drink super strangely out of that cup or am I overanalysing?

This hair is what immediately comes to mind when I think Till Lindemann

Rat. Rodent man.

It's interesting that they're all saying such soft lovely things about making the album as if nothing happened and everything was fine the whole time. I guess it's nice they didn't just sit and complain about each other though. Love and solidarity.

Richard. Looks very nice :) good shoulders. Next person who meets him say good job growing those shoulders. More people should wear tank tops I feel.

God they're all so adorable I have to keep replaying bits.

He does say Glück auf right? Why did they have to completely soot him up is it because the truth looks a little silly?

The grin at Richard will end me one day.

@struwwelzeter I think? Once pointed out that he says irgendwie a lot and ever since I've been unable to not hear it when he says it in the last minute he's said it at least twice. I mean I get it I too have things I say a lot but god it's worse than "you know?"

It's just such a long sound to make as filler? It has three syllables

I love the way he's talking and would like a full documentary of him just discussing things like this just ask a vague question and let him run with it

It's so nice hearing from Oli always I think he does it on purpose. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. A treat

Schneider is a dumbass yes but his intelligence also. He's right, you don't actually have to do what you're supposed to as long as you're doing good work

"we tried to make songs we'd still like in two years" smart move, they're playing several of those songs still not far off two decades later

I can really feel Paul's accent when he talks right after someone else it's so round and I love it but I do worry that if I ever decide to properly learn German I will accidentally develop his accent

Schneider doing the pounding will be the death of me actually that's what'll do it

Why does Richard just kind of lick the spoon I can almost hear the found of his jaw clicking shut

I like Jörn a lot. Im tempted to hit him over the autistic thing but in his defence that was fifteen years ago

It's really cool actually that they use the same few directors for the most part, I love seeing how their ideas and techniques have evolved even though I don't know very much about that kind of stuff. Sonne vs Ausländer.

It doesn't help that they made Paul look MINISCULE next to till in this shot. Why does he seem to like the short jokes? I suppose he gets them a lot he has known flake since he was 18

Till is so ! giggly ! In this video ! He is enjoying this so so much! Like a proper big laugh teeth fully out

The boys slow motion headbanging together gets me in my feelings for some reason it's just very sweet and fun

They too look high

The entire "we wanted to name it Herzeleid" bit almost always has me cry-laughing for some reason it's just so Him and so Funny and Cute and you can see his own amusement building inside of him as he prepares to deliver the line

There is already a Herzeleid album and unfortunately it is also by us

He's a pretty man I love when you can see that glint in his eyes

Did Paul mispronounce synthesiser?

Till eats like he's the youngest of six children have you ever noticed that?

The Cain Instinct rising within Paul and nobody moving to stop him. Flake and Schneider just stare and wait to see what he'll do looking just a little concerned. He looks like he's trying to explain and demonstrate something to Schneider but I don't know what he's saying just before he does it

It's funny that their objectively best song was written for and seemingly rejected by a boxer. It's obvious if you know but if you don't you'd have no idea

That sounds very silly im sorry I still have ok stick in my head

Till is flirting. I think Till is flirting. Too many little genuine smiles.

Have any if you played Skyrim? Schneider is sitting in that chair like a Jarl in a bonnet

I think Paul just picks random numbers any time he needs numbers. What was it, 37 extra new songs after the untitled album was finalised? 27? I don't trust him.

Oli is refusing it seems to take credit and also talking like a sub just saying don't @ me

Ways the dwarves. Were right.

A little bit indignant? Yeah rather shocked

Poor Robert hhh

I'm not saying Paul seems excited about being spanked but what I am saying is

He can't explain it but I think we all can

God till is pretty in this tree bit

"eins, zwei, drei, oh!" Typical Schneider behaviour and I truly do adore.

Putting Paul on Olis side was a choice that was made

I really do appreciate just how much work they put into all the details of this, I don't know what professionals think but I for one think they did an amazing job. No wonder they kept hold of Jörn

The boys doing their cuddles! I wonder why there isn't more fic based on Sonne, I think I've only read one or two? Is it because you guys don't know enough about mining because I don't think anyone would mind

I would do many things for a documentary with Paul as the David Attenborough type figure

There's something so charming about Till arguing about the logic of finding out snow white is dead(?) and whether or not Schneider needs to inform them of that fact

Of course they'd put Schneider first look at his little suspicious face

Okay this but they go into way more detail about their favourite parts.

Flake likes to grumble but he is also the most genuinely content man I have ever layed eyes on. If he's with the band he's happy.

Olis little gesture is the cutest actually?

Okay yeah you can totally tell they made up and it's all water under the bridge they worked it out and are happy

Nevermind, Flake just had to do it. "Perhaps in time we'll learn that not everyone has to concern themselves with everything" honey you can say Richard, Paul and Schneider it's okay

They learned to trust each other, basically. They accept the support and help and recognise the expertise of the others. A lot of bands never find that. A lot of people in general never find that, actually.

I still cannot tell whose laugh is the fucking ridiculous one, it's either Richard or Schneider and I think it's Schneider despite Richard looking like a yawning dog

Oh that's Paul's partner next to him right? With the red hair?

Who is the dude till is cuddling with? He looks familiar is he in the ITDW making of?

I do love to see a gaggle of giggling boys

Okay no it's schneider, the fool. His laugh is completely unrestrained and cascading and barking and odd and its glorious to behold.

I would love to see them watch and reach to their older making ofs because so much of it is mirrored. What Paul says about it needing to be fun, the Keine Lust thing that. Actually that's also about it needing to just be for fun. Hm. Still, do it.

Tills joke about getting to that point in the next twenty years how did he knowwwwwww

Fortunately I can knock on wo—thats not wood

Alleth gut, he says.

[laserdog10]

Loneliness

”It’s not so bad not being in a league that suits me.”

It was a personal mantra that she told herself every day, even if it did kind of hurt. Citrus was born as both a Rose and an Arc, two powerful family bloodlines that were well renowned on Remnant by now, thanks to the defeat of Salem. However, Citrus’ elder siblings Garnet and Blossom, have been shown to be marginally stronger and almost gifted...or actually gifted. Garnet had inherited a portion of Ruby’s Spring Maiden magic on top of Jaune’s hefty Aura with the addition of a strong Semblance, while Blossom was a Silver Eyed Warrior, the greatest of all destined to slay Grimm and be the heroes of humanity. While Citrus was...just normal.

Yep, no insane powers, no off-the-wall weapon that has multiple transformations, no fancy Semblance (other than the ability to talk to animals), she was a normal girl who wanted to be a Huntress, like everyone her generation. However she felt an odd lonesome feeling inside her, when her brother and sister went off to Signal for the first time, Citrus was alone at home with her aunt Yang, grandpa Qrow, uncle Tai, and aunt Raven. If that wasn’t enough her Semblance let her speak to the family dog Zwei and the five wolves Ruby adopted, Drei, Vier, Funf, Sechs, and Null. And yet...she still had this emptiness in her heart. Well unlucky for her it was about to intensify that feeling tenfold as she was about to head to Signal tomorrow, the day after her siblings and cousin graduate. Right now it was well into the evening, the sun setting on the horizon, rays of light beaming down on the Rose-Arc & Xiao Long-Branwen residence, Citrus leaning against the railing, teetering her weighted collapsible scythe, Soulful Reave, back and forth, her emerald green eyes staring off into space, tangerine curled hair catching the wind.

Jaune: Someone’s a little broody.

Citrus: Hmm?! Oh, hi dad!

Jaune: Is Qrow’s mysterious edginess rubbing off on you or am I just reading too much into this?

Citrus: Pffft, nooo dad, I’m fine, thank you. Just...thinking, deep contemplation about the future.....

Jaune: Excited you’re going to Signal tomorrow?

Citrus: Heheheee, not really...?

Jaune: Why not?

Citrus: *stops teetering her scythe* Dad, do you think I’m...special?

Jaune: The “daddy loves his special girl” kind of special or...

Citrus: The special that’s meant for amazing things, I don’t feel like I am.

Jaune: Woah woah woah, what brought this on?!

Citrus: Nothing, I’m...*sigh* Dad, compared to Garnet and Blossom, I’m so bland! I have nothing truly remarkable about m-* her shoulders are held as she faces her father*

Jaune: Citrus, tell me what’s going on, is everything okay?

Citrus: I don’t think so...have you ever had the feeling of overwhelming loneliness and that you’re far behind people close to you?

Jaune: More than you could fathom, sweetheart. But that was a long time ago, and with a little bit of time, and the love from those people around me, it eventually went away. Why, is it the fact that your brother and sister are way ahead of you getting to you?

Citrus: *tears form in her eyes* Y-yeah, a lot...

Jaune: Oh, sweety. *he brings his small daughter into a huge hug* Believe me when I say that feeling is completely normal, your mother and I had this lonely, by-our-selves spell when we first went to Beacon.

Citrus: I just feel so out of place. I hear about all these kids who were raised by amazing Huntsmen, their amazing transforming weapons, and their powerful Semblances, then there’s me. Swinging around a simple scythe and talking to animals, no Maiden or S.E.W. powers...

Jaune: Citrus, look at me. *his gaze is met by the distraught, teary-eyed face of his daughter* All these feelings, all these issues you’re feeling right now are completely normal for a thirteen year old to experience! Think it like, you’re still going through your “character arc,” which always starts just as you turn thirteen. You’ll get to that important “climax” of your story some day.

Citrus: *sniff* R-really...?

Jaune: I know so. Now let’s go inside, dinner’s almost ready!

Citrus: I’ll head in a second, gotta go put Soulful Reave back in in the shed.

Such an action to her weapon would make her brother, proverbially, lose his mind, but she took good care of her scythe, occasionally but primarily leaving it in the room she shared with her siblings, like they do with their weapons. Tomorrow would be the first step into this “character arc” of hers, and she would tackle it however she could!

-The next day-

Strolling down the halls of Signal wasn’t so bad, she was old enough to be by herself while her parents weren’t too far off. Ruby had gone with the many other parents of new students to a little meeting, confirming their classes and whatnot, meanwhile Citrus wandered around Signal, her orange cloak flowing as she strolled along, seeing big metal lockers to hold plenty of supplies, classrooms, a library, and the cafeteria. What she didn’t expect to come across was a large crowd of kids clamoring around a board with a myriad of papers on it. Among this crowd the youngest Rose-Arc saw the red-patched blonde hair of her sister.

Citrus: Blossom? *she called over the talkative graduates*

Blossom: Hey baby sis! You here on your intro tour? *the blonde side-stepped through the moderate sea of teens, a few of which turned heads to the younger teen*

Citrus: Yep, mom just went with the other parents to that meeting! What are you doing over here with everyone?

Blossom: Seeing who got their academic success title.

Citrus: You’re what?

“An awesome title for how well you did in your classes!” chimed a female student.

Citrus: Oh, cool!

Blossom: Wanna guess what I got?

Citrus: I...don’t know what they are.

Blossom: Oh, well come look.

Taking a closer look at the board, Citrus saw this hefty list of names that made her head spin. So many names, numbers, scores, classes.

Citrus: This makes my brain hurt...

Blossom: Same here, and could you help me find my name, I’ve been helping everyone here find their’s for a while n-

Citrus: You got Salutatorian, Garnet got Valedictorian, and Lea’s below both of you!

Blossom: I’M WHAT?!

The students: THEY’RE WHAT!?

“I’m what now???” came a familiar voice behind the girls and the crowd. They turned to find Garnet himself, in the midst of eating a roll of cookie dough from the cafeteria. Without thinking the students swarmed him, barging questions left and right; “How are you so smart,” or “Please teach me your ways,” and “You’re amazing Garnet!”

Garnet: Woah, slow down guys, I’m not that great honest! I just studied and practiced like anyone else would.

“But you got Valedictorian, dude!!!” exclaimed a male student with very punk-rock hair.

“That’s an achievement in and off itself!” cheered a preppy looking girl.

“You’re a freaking prodigy, bro!!!!” cried a sporty, muscular lad.

Garnet: Alright, listen up everyone, I’m gonna give you some life advice you all need to hear. Trying to be like me is impossible, and I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m a prodigy. Yes I have powers of a Maiden inherited from my mother, yes I have a massive amount of Aura and strong Semblance to boot, yes I also have multiple weapons and am highly skilled in using all of them. However that doesn’t place me above the rest of you, nor should it make you all downplay yourselves! You all have your strengths and weaknesses, but you shouldn’t strive to become like me, because I’m not perfect. Imitation is the cheapest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay in greatness. Don’t strive to be me, strive be a better you, because their can only be one of us in the world! And if you do find someone like you later in life...*claps hands* Then I got nothing. *awkwardly smiles*

His audience applauded, but mostly laughed at the perplexing finish to his speech. His sisters had their own reactions, Blossom shaking her head and smiling in a way that conveyed a “The fact I’m related to you is astonishing” feel, Citrus on the other hand was captivated. “Strive to be a better you,” this phrase alone struck many chords in her, to the point that the lonely feeling of hers dissipated somewhat...

“Ohhh yawn-a-fuckin’-rama! That was the cheesiest shit I’ve ever heard, One Armed Arc!”

The students instinctively winced at the sound of the boastful and snarky voice. Collectively looking to the source, a tall girl with long burnt-orange hair and indigo eyes, clad in gray armor with a gold trim, a jet black waist cloth on the tool belt around her. Strapped to her back in a sheath was a morning star mace, the signature and feared weapon wielded by Signal Academy’s tyrant.

Blossom: Carly Winchester...

Citrus: ...

Garnet: And why are you here?

Carly: No reason, except I just heard a one-armed loser spouting some bullshit and being humble. Face it, you could be running this school! And yet you choose to be weak, lumping yourselves with these peons who could get their asses reamed by you.

Blossom: Garnet isn’t weak!

Carly: Aww look, little Ms. Self-loathing wants to act all big and tough! Why don’t you can it and go cry on the roof like you always do.

Citrus: *grits teeth and clenches her fists*

Garnet: What I do doesn’t make me weak Carly, I-

Carly: OH FUCKING SPARE ME! Hearing your high and mighty “holier-than-thou” bullshit makes me sick, you have the powers of a damn GOD and look where you are!

Citrus: ...hat’s it to y... *mumbles*

Carly: Hmm what’s that Shorty, got some shit to say? If you don’t then butt the fuck out, the adults are tal-

Citrus: WHAT’S IT TO YOU!? All you ever do is hurt and scare people, that’s not power, that’s being a jerk!

Carly: You-!

Citrus, standing in front of Carly now: My big brother is more of a Hunter and leader than you could ever hope to be! All you are is a bully, a coward, and an absolute BITCH!!!

Everyone present gasped, Garnet and Blossom were shocked into silence. Calling Carly a bitch was something else entirely, but hearing it from Citrus, someone who had never sworn in her life?! Surely they must’ve been dreaming, right??? Obviously they weren’t, for Carly had looked around incredulous, thinking she had heard the orangenette right.

Carly: The fuck did you just say to me you little shit...?!

Citrus: You heard me, you’re nothing but a BI-!

Carly: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!

The warrior girl screamed in tandem with swinging her mace directly down onto the smaller girl. The motion happened at such a speed, all that was seen was a shiny, gray blur kicking up dust and debris when it landed.

Garnet/Blossom: CITRUS!!!

The youngest Rose-Arc braced for the impact beforehand...but it never came. Instead when she opened her eyes, she was in a dust cloud, embraced by her cousin, Lea Xiao Long-Schnee, her giant gauntlets blocking the crushing blow.

Lea: Might I ask why the hell you are attacking my cousin, Carly? *she said in a low tone, pushing the warrior girl back a good few feet*

Carly: Mind telling me why your brat isn’t on her child leash?!

Lea: *eyes turning lilac, blue fire adorning her hair* I think Citrus is going to be the least of your worries right now...

Citrus stepped back, knowing full well what was coming next. Garnet walked past her but not before looking at his baby sister.

Garnet: Might wanna go get mom and the principal, this courtyards about to become a war zone. *he winked*

Carly targeted him first, her mace colliding with the boy’s head and sending him staggering. He regained his footing, readying his own gauntlets as Lea pounced on Carly, throwing her into one of the support columns in the courtyard, Garnet running up and landing jab after jab upon Carly. Blossom held Citrus’ hand as they ran off to find their mother before the situation got worse, as they ran they heard the unmistakable sound of the Maiden powers flaring from their brother and cousin.

Blossom: We’ll leave it to them to kick Carly’s butt.

Citrus: ...

Blossom: You okay?

Citrus: Yeah yeah, just thinking.

Blossom: You narrowly avoiding getting brained by an amazon brute???

Citrus: Well...besides that, but what Garnet said earlier.

Blossom: Oh that.

Citrus: It stuck with me, and...and I think it should solve all my problems.

Blossom: ...if you say so!

Seems her father was right, today was when her character arc would begin, and now she would walk through it with her head held high!

[aiyakuma]

Chappie Drei (Pathfinder X Reader)

(Chapter three of Finding the Path to Your Heart on Wattpad, a SFW robot X human fanfiction) )

I never did run into him again that match.

Our squad made it to ninth place before ultimately falling to Bloodhound and their team. I managed to get two more kills, and while Bangalore and Wraith each got three times that amount, it still felt good to have contributed. Now I was once more back in the dropship, awaiting the final results of the battle alongside all the other fallen fighters. Their whoops and hollers during the fight between the final five squads was deafening, so much so that I half-considered jumping off the ship again just to escape it. I never did understand all the excitement surrounding Apex matches, and experiencing one for myself hardly changed that opinion… Though, I will admit, it wasn’t so bad watching Pathfinder play. The little quirks he had made him fun to watch, from high-fiving fallen enemies to bubbling over every zipline he got a chance to ride. But ultimately he too fell to Bloodhound, making the mystery-in-a-mask and their squad the Champions.

It was only a matter of time before those last two squads joined us on the ship. Everyone was buzzing about the winning squad, while I was more looking forward to seeking out Pathfinder and thanking him again for what he did. Out of nowhere a hand landed on my shoulder, making me jump out my skin.

“Oh, it’s just you, Bangalore. You scared me…”

“Sorry, sorry, kid,” she waved apologetically. “I just wanted to apologize for giving you such a hard time earlier. You did alright for it being your first match,” she offered a warm smile.

“It’s okay, I don’t blame you. I still have a lot to learn.”

“You’ll get the hang of it in no time. Shoot Turret, and I could have sworn you almost went down right at the beginning. Good thing you aren’t that bad at fighting though, right?” She gave a rough but friendly slap upside my back. “Haha, yeeeaaah…” I laughed nervously, trying to avert my eyes from her before my more foolish side revealed the truth. I didn’t have to pretend to be distracted for long though, as just then the top two squads emerged into the room, including Pathfinder.

Everyone instantly swarmed around them, gushing about the epic battle they’d just fought. For a moment I gave up on talking to Pathfinder, seeing as how occupied he was with everyone else. But that wasn’t so. Pathfinder raised a hand to high-five the crowd as they came, only for everybody to rush past him and high-five his teammates instead. Ouch! The only thing worse than getting left hanging was seeing someone else get left hanging. How could they ignore him like that? Even Bangalore and Wraith had no problem sliding past him to congratulate the others. But he got second place! He deserves to be celebrated just as much as his teammates! Yet as infuriating as it was to witness, Pathfinder didn’t seem to mind. With a big, yellow smile displayed brightly on his chest, he lowered his hand and went about his own way to go fidget by the window. It didn’t sit well with me at all.

“Pathfinder!” I called out, charging towards him with an outstretched hand. “Highfive me right now!” He almost didn’t turn around in time, just barely meeting my hand with a startled slap that broke air (and possibly a few bones) upon contact. “El Turret! I’m sorry, you caught me off guard. Did I hit you too hard?”

I fought back a tear as I gazed down at my quivering red palm. “No, not at all. I’m fine.” Shaking my head, I clasped my hands behind my back and turned to face him. “Nice job getting second place. You fought really well,” that’s what he’d want to hear someone tell him, right? “Right?! That was a fun match. Too bad we both lost to Bloodhound, they’re a tough person to beat!” His smiley face momentarily became slanted to match his bummed out expression.

“You think so too? Well, my first match wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, thanks to you,” I offered a smile.

“That’s what friends are for!” Friends, huh? He slapped me on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up. Only, I didn’t jump when his hand landed on me like I did with Bangalore, probably because I saw him coming. What I didn’t see coming was a man appearing between me and Pathfinder and throwing his arms around our backs. It was the same magician guy I killed last match. “You guys, we should go to the bar to celebrate another match well done and the newest Legend to the roster, yeah?!” He proposed the room.

“Shut up, Mirage. Match well done my ass, you were the first fucking guy to die,” a big, mad scientist looking man huffed.

“Compliments to this lady right here, uh, whatever her name is,” Mirage pointed at me. “Come on you guys, first round’s on me!” The entire room cheered, and soon me and Pathfinder found ourselves being swept off our feet by the crowd of alcohol-craving fiends. The bar we ended up at was fairly standard and lively. I sat right in the middle of it all, pushed and pulled around by people who danced and swayed like grass under a landing airship. Drops of who-knows-what spilled from the rims of swaying drinks and rained down on me every now and then. It was pretty stuffy in here to begin with, and now I was beginning to reek of alcohol too, despite not having drank any. What am I doing here? According to Mirage, half of this drinking party was held in my honor, but it didn’t really feel that way. I couldn’t raise my voice enough to talk to anyone, and everyone else was already so invested in their own bubbling conversations I didn’t want to interrupt them anyways. No, I should stop wasting my time here and just go home already. I don’t think anybody would notice if I slipped out now...

But as I got up to do so, I noticed Pathfinder in the same awkward position that I was in, not being able to keep up with anyone else as they drank away either. The same guilty feeling I had from earlier swelled up, and before I knew it I was making my way over to him and taking a seat besides the robot. “Hey, Pathfinder. You aren’t gonna drink either?” I asked, not realizing my own stupidity until the words were already out my mouth.

“I would if I had a digestive system! How about you, how come you aren’t mingling with everyone else?”

“I guess I’m just feeling a little uncomfortable right now. Still getting used to everybody, y’know?”

“You’ll fit in before you know it. I’m still trying to fit in myself. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a robot, so I could drink and party just like everyone else,” he leaned his head on his hand.

“I think it’s really cool that you’re a robot!” I blurted out. “I mean, I think robots and machines and stuff like that is cool. I like them, anyways,” I scratched the back of my neck nervously. Why did I have to out and say something so weird to exactly the kind of person I shouldn’t say that too?!

“You think so? Heh, thanks!” He beamed. “It’s nice to hear someone say that for a change. I bet my master is going to say the same thing when I meet him.”

“Your master? As in who built you?”

“Yup! The whole reason I’ve participated in Apex in the first place is to put myself out there so I can find him. I know he’s out there somewhere, probably trying to find me, too.”

“I see. I hope you two reunite with eachother soon. You know, I’ve met a lot of people that build machines for a living! If it’s any help, maybe I can ask arou-”

“Woah, hold the phone! You haven’t gotten anything to drink yet, have you? Try this, I call it ‘Mirage’s Mirage-Inducing World Famous Special Juice, Working Title™.’ You’ll love it!” A tall shot glass of neon-orange juice was laid out in front of me by his truly.

“That looks radioactive,” Pathfinder said.

“Um, I’m sorry, I don’t really drink,” I waved my hands apologetically.

“C’mon, just this small shot. Try it, I made it myself!” He looked so excited for me to try it, I couldn’t say no. I’m a sucker for homemade goods. Plus, it looked like it was mostly juice. How bad could it be?

“Fine, I’ll try it. Oh, you don’t mind, do you Pathfinder?” I didn’t want to go drinking right after he’d been talking about how much he wished he could too. But he waved me okay, so without further ado I downed the entire glass at once. Instant regret swelled up from within me in the form of a harsh fire that burned through my mouth and nose tubes and tapered off at my ears. I clenched my face and pounded my fist on the table to cope with the intense effects. “What was in that, antifreeze?!" 

“110% alcohol content, baby!” he finger gunned me. “A little bit of hot sauce too, just to spice things up. Tasty, right?” He was so enthusiastic, I couldn’t tell if he deliberately made it that awful just to mess with me or if he was really that bad at brewing. Either way, I was grateful when Mirage offered a normal juice pouch as a chaser. “You aren’t missing much, Pathfinder. Alcohol is the worst, don’t ever drink it if you get the chance!” I sobbed in between sips.

‘Ouch. That bad, huh? Maybe I did put a little bit too much mustard extract in there…” 

“Uhm- Why don’t we go outside and get you some fresh oxygen? You look like you need some,” Pathfinder suggested. He didn’t wait for an answer before dragging me away from the counter and leading me outside with a hand on my back for stability...

[jonthethinker]

Together Or Alone?

Since I finally have a few days off work, I want to get weird and really dig deep into why I personally enjoy the Mighty Nein and its particular breed of found family so much, and why the dynamics between its members are so satisfying for my heart in particular. Let’s get unnecessarily deep, shall we?

You may not completely understand why I think this would be weird, but you’ll understand fairly quickly as I get started.

I’ve been on a sort of spiritual journey, in a way, over the course of this most eventful year. A small part of me feels bad that while so much suffering is going on, and so much of the world feels like it’s falling apart, I’ve been making positive strides in determining my place in the grand scheme of things. But a larger part of me is just really grateful to finally find a bit of internal peace after years of not having it, of finally having some bit of quiet in a mind that’s never been able to still itself long enough for any such thing.

I haven’t exactly found religion, but I have given more shape to how I best want to imagine our universe and my humble place in it, and I’ve finally started asking the right questions.

One of those questions stands above the rest, and it’s the question I’ve decided the Universe Itself is asking; Together or Alone?

I started seeing attempted answers to this question everywhere. In the universe bursting outward, yet huge masses of it clinging together to form all we know and can perceive. I see it in wondrous solar systems forming and spinning in a rippled field of mutually affected gravity; and I see it in the black holes that can form, and tear and pull all that beauty into nothing. I see it in incredible ecosystems where the life and the land combine to form what feels like its own organism, larger than just the sum of its parts; and I see it in the environmental devastation caused by our own actions, killing that organism, and in turn doing irreparable damage to the very spirit of our world.

I see it in humanity’s natural inclination for cooperation and concern for others; and I see it also in our inclination to be blinded by power and in that blindness, inflicting unspeakable harm on each other in order to hold onto that power. I see it in our bodies, organs one by one relying on each other in a perfect act of faith to form something greater than a liver or heart or brain could ever be on their own; and I see it in cancer, single-minded in its pursuit of self-replication by all means, all memory of belonging to something greater stricken from its damaged DNA. I see it in basic elemental particles, most of them ready and able for their eventual combination with other particles to build wonderful compounds with entirely new properties, adding untold dimensions of complexity to how our world works; and I see it in those small rogue particles the neutrinos, that can shoot off from a star for eons without interacting with a single thing.

The question and its many answers, and the dialectical relationships those answers have, are what I feel can really undergird all of our interactions with each other, all progress and all regress, all friendships and all rivalries. It’s there in all our stories and all art we create; Together or Alone? What’s your answer?

For me, the answer that felt like it escaped the singing lips of an angel, was, “Of course, together. Always together.”

It shapes my politics heavily. I’m a lefty, but its not just because I believe we’re all equal as individuals; it’s because I believe we are all a part of the same thing. We are all a part of that same great organism, that same great body. The Universe. God. Whatever you want to call it, though it needs no name. We are in this together because we are one thing from many different things, whether we like it or not.

But I’m not just blindly optimistic about this. I don’t think it works like this all on its own. It takes work and time. It took billions of years for solar systems to form. For single-cell organisms to band together into colonies and then evolve into multi-cell organisms. It took a while longer for creatures to stick together as families, for the mutual dependencies of ecosystems to form, and even longer for the first tribes and societies to form. It took time, and an incredible amount of energy and effort, and so much failure. We’ve hurt each other so much, that’s true. But it’s only by coming together that we’ve ever been able create anything new, anything Good.

The universe has a bias towards entropy; things tend to fall away and apart. So there’s a beauty in the struggle for togetherness. I’d argue that it’s the only source of beauty in the first place; the unity of forces interacting. The quest for togetherness gives my life meaning, drive, and purpose. And for someone who’s struggled with depression for so long, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have purpose, especially for something bigger than me.

And by this point, you’re probably wondering when I’m going to stop sermonizing and actually talk about Critical Role. so here we go.

The individual members of the Mighty Nein are some deeply flawed and deeply troubled people, at least when we first met them. Some of them have done awful things, sometimes against their will. They’ve all been the victims of powers much greater than themselves, and as a result, have been left feeling frayed at the edges. They’ve all had hurts and been shaped by those hurts; whether it was loneliness, unfair expectations, or just being unfortunate enough to be different in all the wrong ways. Damaged is a word that carries unfortunate implications, as does broken; but it’s undeniable that you’ve got seven people who have all felt like Sisyphus when the boulder rolls back down the hill.

Some have taken this fate better than others, but it’s undeniable that these people have suffered, and in that suffering, gained nothing.

But then they met each other.

It wasn’t all roses from the get-go. You throw these people with underdeveloped social skills and an untold amounts of personal baggage, and you’ve got yourself some friction to say the least. But when they all met each other, they had nothing but their bodies and their hurts. They were total equals. Even when the Mighty Drei met Caduceus, they had just felt like they lost everything, and they were meeting someone who had no one. They all started together at their foundations, and over time, built something I think is truly beautiful.

This process hasn’t been perfect. Beau, for instance, can still be totally rude and abrasive to strangers and outsiders (and I love that about her), and still has a hard time swallowing her pride long enough to ask for help. Caleb is very much struggling with his trauma, and that path is never a straight line of progress for anyone. Jester for the longest time still didn’t really want to feel any negative emotions around the others, and her own pride has gotten in the way of owning up to how new she is to all this. Yasha bears a great deal of guilt for a great many things, and while she’s making strides, it’s still left its mark on her. Veth has come so far, but doesn’t know how to reconcile the contradictions between the two lives she wants as both a mother and an adventurer. Fjord has a deep desire for answers, answers that may open up a lot of wounds that have started to heal in the Mighty Nein’s care. And Caduceus refuses to share his troubles, his doubts about how much his time with Nein has fundamentally changed him from the boy his family knew all those years ago.

That’s a lot of hurt, and some of it will never go away completely. But it’s like how our bodies have all of these vestigial functions that no longer serve any purpose to it, and make our daily lives in office chairs or standing in one place all day harmful to our health. Or like ancient seas whose waters are long since gone, but have left their undeniable mark in the shapes of canyons and mesas, in the colorful layers of sedimentary rock they leave behind. The past is an unavoidable factor in how everything in the universe gets to take shape, but the present finds a way to adapt. And we people get to choose how to adapt. And the Mighty Nein chose caring about each other as their method of adaptation.

And the thing of it is, I don’t think its just having people finally caring about them that has allowed them to come as far as they have. I think it’s also the act of caring, the act of serving others, considering how the path you wish to take will affect someone else, that has really pushed them to this great place we currently find them in. I truly think there something inside of us that wants to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, and that in the moments we feel emptiest it isn’t because of what we lack on the inside but the connections we lack on the outside, and it’s the systems we inhabit that make us think otherwise. I see this so clearly in the Mighty Nein. If left all on their own, in the cruel worlds we first found them in and have learned they came from, I see seven people going on seven unique paths of self-destruction; but together, they can build something greater than themselves, that thing being the Mighty Nein.

I really do think the Mighty Nein is like its own entity. They are something totally different when they are together, like seven different elements that came together to form a compound with entirely different characteristics. It’s why the work so smoothly together in combat. Why, when the pressure is on, they tend to work as a relatively well-oiled machine. Why they hurt so much less when they are with each other. It’s like up-scaling from an atom to a cell, a cell to an animal, an animal to an ecosystem.

This togetherness is why I love the Nein so damn much. It’s reaffirming at a deep level for me. The story that they are telling, and the one forming without their active intention even being involved, is a wonderful thing. Stories about togetherness are my bread and butter; it’s why I’m a sucker for a good romance or found-family narrative, because I love it when people come together to make something more than them, making one plus one equal three. There’s nothing quite like it. And Critical Role has it in spades.

And it’s not all about the depth of answering some spiritual question. I enjoy the potty humor and the eight people just trying to fuck with each other and make each other laugh. I enjoy the silliness and joy and endless pop culture references. But also the act of eight friends coming together to make a show where they create a beautiful, silly, heartfelt story together has its own sort of spiritual resonance with me.

I also want to establish that I understand that this is a company selling an entertainment experience to me. They aren’t just doing this in the spirit of togetherness, they are doing this to strengthen their careers and incomes. I get that. But in the end, it’s all a part of the dialectic. It’s all motivation for me to continue working towards building a world where people can make wonderful art like this without worrying about building a career out of it or paying the bills. It reminds me of how much work there is to be done, but also of all the work that’s already been done.

Critical Role has its flaws, but it is a wonderful thing and I’m happier everyday I’m reminded it exists. The Mighty Nein are probably my favorite found family ever, and lately, a very powerful affirmation for my own journey. I do wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences, with this artwork or others like it. If so, I’d love for you to share them with me.

[booklovingturtle]

A Sweet Suli Spice (Kanej GVBB)

A/N: AH I can’t believe the time has finally come for me to share this with you all! I had so much fun working on this in the midst of the worst and most stressful semester of my life!

Shout out to my gang, Spice of Life, for making this so much fun bc they are all so talented and easy to work with! The Corporalki both understood my writing which made the revising/editing process really smooth. They made sure the fic you’re about to read is actually understandable. They read this more than once and in the midst of their own crazy lives which I will never not be thankfull for. The Materialki are ridiculously talented. You HAVE to click their links to check out their work. I know they all worked really hard on them and it totally paid off.

Also big thank you to @grishaversebigbang​ for hosting this and being a terrifying yet wonderful Master of Tides.

Please feel free to comment, reblog, or message me your reactions to this! It’s the first super long pic that I’ve ever written and I’m really proud of it. Okay enough rambling…ik y’all just want the fic!

Corporalki: @ninxszenik , @ethereal-magia

Materialki: @theartistwitch  @wavesofinkdrops @xan-drei

Masterlist: Don’t have an Ao3 but I do have a master list of all my fics.

Summary: Inej Ghafa hasn’t seen her family in four years. Not since she’s been taken. Now that it’s been so long since she’s seen them, Inej is scared and nervous to go back. One night, while sitting on the rooftop, Kaz asks her to teach him Suli. That inspires Inej to fight her nerves and finally find her family. She asks Kaz to go home with her and he takes this opportunity to learn more about her and her people. Once home, Inej is faced with a guilt of her past, the fear of family’s reactions, and the hope of finally being ghar (home).

The heart of Suli culture flowed with spice-flavored blood and beat to the sound of performance drums. It hummed through Inej’s body every time she whispered her native language to herself under Tante Heleen’s ring-clad fist. She stored the precious words so deep inside of her that she feared the garbled sounds of Kerch would drown out their melodious syllables.

Once she was under the employment of the Dregs, she would practice Suli as often as she could. Some nights she would stare into the mirror, barely recognizing the woman in front of her as she spoke in Suli to herself. She would even write letters to her family in the beautiful script they had taught her. Those letters were always burned before the ink could dry. The content didn’t matter to her. She didn’t write them for the sake of filling a paper with impossible hopes and dreams. She wrote them because she feared losing her mother tongue. It was an irrational fear that she had never been able to vocalize to anyone before. Well, at least before Kaz came into the picture. He had asked her one night if she could teach him Suli and noticed, as he always did, the change in her face at the mention of it.

“I understand if you don’t feel comfortable teaching me. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Kaz reached out to place his hand on her leg.

Inej watched his pale, scarred knuckles rest on her knee. They had made their way up to the roof of the Crows Club, as they usually did when Inej was home. Whatever time wasn’t spent up there was used to carefully test the idea of being together.

“It’s not that I don’t feel comfortable. It’s that…” Inej’s words wandered away from her. She watched the way his thumb moved along the inside of her knee. It was such a small touch for someone else; for a different boy and a different girl that touch was meaningless. For them, it was everything.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“No. I want to. I’ve spent so many years away from Ravka and most of my people. I only ever get to speak Suli when I’m working with the Dregs or helping people escape a sinking slave ship. For years, I was afraid that one day, I would wake up and forget the language entirely.”

“Is that possible?” His deep voice sounded raspy but soothing against the black night. “Not to lose it in one day, but for you to just forget Suli that easily?”

Inej nodded slowly. “I already have.” It broke her heart to admit it. “When I first arrived to Ketterdam, everything came to me in Suli. Dreams, thoughts, speech. I had to learn to filter my words into Kerch. Now I find that more and more of my thoughts and dreams come in Kerch than they do in Suli.”

Kaz was silent for a few heartbeats. Inej felt as if she had stripped herself bare in front of the entire Barrel. It was odd to feel that way around Kaz now. He had seen and touched parts of her that no one else was ever given permission to. Kaz knew her like no other person could, yet this was a part of her she hadn’t accepted about herself, let alone explained to him. There was an intimacy that came with talking about her culture that made her feel exposed.

“The language is not the only thing that ties you to the culture, Inej. You will always be Suli as long as you carry it in your heart.”

Tears surprised Inej by burning the back of her eyelids. “Come home with me,” she spoke through the lump in her throat.

He looked taken aback. “Home? You mean Ravka?”

She nodded. Inej had felt confident the first time she asked the question, but the way Kaz was looking at her now made her doubt her request.

“Yes. To Ravka. To my family. I-I’ve been thinking about going back for a while now. I even asked Nina for her help in tracking my family down.”

“I didn’t know that,” Kaz’s eyebrows came together in a way that meant he was already calculating things. She recognized that look: scheming face.

“You may be Dirtyhands on this island, Brekker, but that doesn’t mean you’re privy to everything east of Kerch.”

Kaz grinned wickedly. “Maybe not east, but we all know that I was able to conquer the North quite easily.” This was also a new side of Kaz that she had gotten to know over the last few months: one that was playful without an edge of cruelty attached to it. The air around them changed and Inej no longer felt the sadness that usually came with thinking about home.

“We conquered the Ice Court together. With the help of some friends, which you had to beg for help from, if I remember correctly.”

Kaz looked appalled. “I never begged.”

“So you admit that you did need our help.”

“Need is a strong word, Inej. The only things I need in this world are food, air, and you.”

It was her turn to look speechless. Kaz was rarely ever so direct with her about his feelings for her. She knew, of course, that he cared for her as she did for him. It was one thing, however, for her to know it and another for him to be so forward about it.

“And because I need you, Inej, my answer is yes. I want to go to Ravka with you. I want to go everywhere and anywhere with you. We’ll conquer the world together if that’s what you want. I want to be wherever you need me to be.”

Kaz’s words echoed in her head. She would hear them every time she thought of home. Her real home. Thanks to Nina’s help, Inej was sailing to Ravka within months with Kaz by her side.

The Wraith soared through the water and, in what felt like one night’s rest, Inej’s crew was docking The Wraith in Os Kervo’s main dock. From the stern of her ship, Inej could hear the sound of her crew talking and moving. The water lapped against the underside of her ship, gently rocking her reflection back and forth.

Inej prayed in Suli as she strapped Sankt Petyr and Sankta Alina to her forearms. She tried to quell the anxious shake of her hands while Sankta Marya and Anastasia were readjusted on her thighs. Sankt Vladimir fit snugly into her boot, making Inej wonder what her mother would say at the sight of her in Fabrikator-made boots, not Suli slippers. Sankta Lizabeta with her rose-engraved handle sat at her belt, hidden under the folds of her black Suli wrap.

When not in front of a roaring crowd, the Suli were a reserved people. Despite Tante Heleen’s disgusting portrayal of her culture, Inej still loved the vibrant colors of Suli dupattas and embroidered kurtas. When she felt the jerk of the anchor settling into place, Inej realized how long it had been since she dressed in chiffon and silk. She didn’t recognize the Suli woman staring in the mirror staring back at her. For one, the sleeves were tailored to be much longer than she would have normally needed during Ravkan summers. However, she didn’t want anyone to see the network of scars that decorated her skin from years of violence. The second thing that threw off her reflection was the way she’d styled her hair. Though she performed with her hair in a braided coil, Inej knew her mother loved it best when it was wild and loose. Finally, the last time she had seen herself like this was when she was still an innocent girl who yearned to grow into a talented acrobat.

Inej was now so fundamentally different from that child. If anything, the dupatta she was wearing felt like a costume.

Knocking forced her to turn away from her damned reflection.

“Adara aaen,” Inej called out, already knowing who it would be before he stepped into the room.

“I assume that means ‘come in,’” Kaz’s slim figure filled her doorway. He was dressed in an inmanulate suit as usual, gloved hands resting on top of his crow’s head cane and a smirk on his face.

“What?” Inej hadn’t realized the words had come out in Suli instead of Kerch. It was rare for her to mix the languages up like that. The fact that it had even happened spoke of her nerves. “I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to translate everything into Suli to get some last minute practice.”

Kaz’s arrogant look slipped and he shook his head. “No need to apologize. I love hearing you speak Suli.”

Inej forced a smile to her face. “If the Saints allow it, soon that’s all you're going to hear.” She looked out the port window, watching the lazy rays of sun dance along the sky. Somehow the Ravkan sky seemed to shine brighter than the Kerch one.

“Don’t slip away from me,” Kaz prompted her gently. She realized that she had started to float off into her own thoughts, something she’d found herself doing more and more the closer they’d gotten to shore.

“Are you ready?”

“No. But I don’t think I ever will be.”

“We don’t have to do this, not if you don’t want us to. I’ll go and ask Getz to take The Wraith right back if you’ve changed your mind, or we can take a trip to Nina’s instead. Whatever you want to do, I'll be here for you.”

Inej shook her head. “I might be terrified, but I want to do this. I just feel out of place in a Suli outfit after not having worn one in so long.” Her fingers pulled at one of the tightly knitted seams.

Kaz leaned his cane against the wall, closing the door behind him. He went up to Inej and turned her to face the mirror. “I don’t think your parents will be any less happy to see you if you wore a dupatta or a kefta or a sack. They’ll be too excited to see you.” Kaz’s arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her body into his. Inej felt his warm, solid chest against her back. She inhaled his calming smell, grateful for his presence.

“In Suli, we have a saying for people who have betrayed their kind, who have disgraced them or turned their back on them. Kadema mehim. It’s the worst sort of punishment you could receive for your actions.” She shuddered at the thought of ever hearing those words said to her. Inej herself had only ever used them once.

“I am not the same little girl who was taken from them. They might realize that and see me as forsaken. As someone who has turned away from the Saints.”

Kaz brushed her hair off to one side to rest his head on her shoulder. Kaz’s reflection towered over Inej’s own in the mirror. His sable eyes looked stubborn and unwaveringly serious. “You are many things, Inej, but a traitor is not one of them. It’s true that you are not the same girl you were when they knew you. But they will see that you grew into a brave, strong woman who will stop at nothing to do what is right for the people she loves.

“They will see that you have fought against all the odds and have become an unstoppable force that they should feel blessed to have in their lives. They will love you, Inej. It is impossible for them to not love you.”

This time she didn’t stop the tears that slid down her cheeks. She took a shuddering breath and placed a hand against his jaw. The sharp line was lined with light stubble, but that didn’t stop her from running a finger against its curve. Her fingers traced the scar beneath the right edge of jaw, thinking about the other scars that peppered his skin. Many of those scars earned alongside her.

“They will love you, too, Kaz.” Inej knew that he was almost as nervous as she was to meet her family, though he would never voice it out loud.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He kissed her cheek and pulled away. “They might think of me as the man who corrupted their daughter.”

She shook her head. “No, they will think of you as the man who has made their daughter too happy to put into words.”

Kaz stared at his gloves, refusing to make eye contact. “Will they? Have I?”

It was her turn to reach out to him. Inej wrapped her hands around his neck. “Yes and yes. You have made their daughter happier than she ever thought possible.”

Kaz’s hands tentatively grabbed her waist. His eyes were on her lips but he didn’t move. Not until she did. Inej leaned up, catching his mouth with hers. The sounds of the crew and the ocean were replaced by the sound of her heart in her chest. Kaz was always gentle with her. His kisses were soft like the petals of spring and sweet like caramel. He held her like there was nothing that could ever separate them.

Inej sighed, melting into his every touch. It was impossible to feel anxious or scared in his arms. His fingers pressed into her silk wrap and Inej released a gasp. Kaz took that opportunity to take everything she gave him. Her skin suddenly burned. The sweetness was still there, dancing with a fiery spice that surprised her. They had rarely ever held each other this long without the waters swallowing him up.

His hands buried themselves in her long hair. Inej reached into his jacket, feeling the muscles beneath his white shirt. Kaz then broke away, breathing hard and shuddering. His face was flushed and his lips looked deliciously swollen.

Inej, realizing what they had done, began to apologize for having been too forward.

“No. It wasn’t you. Believe me, it wasn’t that.” Kaz shook his head, gloved hands holding hers against his chest.

“But if it wasn’t...why did you stop?” Inej could feel a blush spreading across her cheeks.

“I really didn’t want to,” Kaz’s gaze made goosebumps dance across her skin. “But we need to leave soon if we want to make it to Ivets before dark. And to be quite honest with you, Wraith, I’m not sure how far we would have gone this time. I really didn’t want to stop.”

Inej laughed. “Neither did I. It’s okay. We’ll have time another day. We have the rest of our lives to do that and so much more.”

“Captain,” Getz called from outside her door. “The crew’s settled and waiting for your orders.”

“Duty calls, Wraith.” Kaz’s smile was as sharp as ever. He adjusted the tie she’d crinkled.

Inej pulled her shoulders back, stepped through the doorway and told her crew that they could do as they pleased for a few hours. Within the next hour, she and Kaz were on their way to Ivets, the city where Nina had informed Inej her family would be performing for the next week. Every road they passed brought her closer and closer to her family. Inej could hardly contain her excitement and nervousness. While passing a crowded marketplace, Inej almost barreled into a group of children running across the street.

“Whoa, Inej,” Kaz called as he held her back from stepping into the walkway. “Careful. I know you’re excited to see your family, but even I think it’s a little much to trample a few children along the way.”

“Could you imagine that after getting back to Ketterdam, the Wraith and Dirtyhands voyaged all the way to some unknown city in Ravka just to run over a few children?” she joked, though her voice wavered enough for Kaz to notice.

“When you put it like that...” Kaz’s eyes had the same spark in them that always appeared right before a job. “While that does sound tempting, I think my bloodthirsty reputation will survive despite having let them live.”

By sunset, Inej could hear the pounding of Suli drums. They had passed through the heart of Ivets’ main city before reaching the boundary of an open field. A golden tent heavily embroidered with thick swirls rose high over the clearing. Inej’s breath caught in her throat at the familiar sound of Suli folk music floating outside of its flowing entrance. Sweet curling smoke filled the air with the smell of fried dough, glazed fruits, and…

The smell of her family gatherings to celebrate the Saints. She envisioned her mother, kind and beautiful, carrying baskets full of fresh vegetables for dinner. Her father, strong and brave, chopping potatoes alongside his wife. Her cousins fighting over plates of food. Her aunts handing out sticky sweets. Her uncles setting up place settings.

The music reminded her of the first time she stood on a tightrope. The bottomless drop that yawned beneath her and the open sky that blanketed her. How it felt to be covered in performance glitter and to curl her hair to fall around her round cheeks. She remembered scrapping her hands on trees, trying to beat her cousins to the top. How it felt to look over the Ravkan landscape and see nothing but endless opportunities.

After years of darkness, years of bloodshed, years of the staccato sounds of Kerch, Inej Ghafa was finally home.

Home...and rooted to her spot at the edge of the circus grounds. Ravkans stood in line, waiting to be let into the performance tent; the same tent that she had spent countless days in during the early years of her life. A bronze-skinned man stepped out of the tent, dressed in loose fitted black pants and a thick, colorful coat. His voice was deep and stern as he hollered the rules of the performance out into the crowd of people.

Inej stared in wonder, unsure about who the man was. Chaacha Jilé was the one who used to tame the crowds before they entered the performance area. The man at the entrance was not her uncle.

“Hanzi,” the name came to her with a jolt.

Inej was suddenly flying. Or at least that’s what it felt like as the grass was crushed beneath her racing feet. One minute, she was standing beside Kaz and the next, she was running straight to her cousin, pushing through the crowd of guests until she stood at the very front.

“Hanzi,” she said again, this time facing the man whom she now recognized.

Her cousin’s words died on his lips and he froze, arms limp at his sides as looked at her. “Inej?”

A sob escaped her. She could hear the sound of the crowd’s confusion but she didn’t care.

“Hanzi,” was all that she could say.

His face broke into a smile. A roaring shout came from him as he yelled in Suli. “Inej! Inej is here! Masi Calla! Chaacha Baraz! Inej is home!”

Tears streamed down her face at the sound of her parents’ names: Calla and Baraz. Mama and Papa. Inej waited anxiously as the longest few seconds of her life passed. She could see from the sliver opening in the flaps a flurry of motion. She caught her name be repeated and questions thrown. Hanzi shouted again, tears in his own eyes.

Inej’s whole world froze as Mama and Papa came through the entrance. They stepped out, first looking at her cousin with an agonizing look of hope and confusion on their faces.

“Mama. Papa.”

They turned towards Inej as she called out to them. Her mother’s face was more wrinkled than it had been when she’d been taken. Her hair was still long and elegantly braided to the side. Her father’s beard was mixed with grays where it was once solid black. He was clutching his wife’s shoulder, eyes landing on his daughter for the first time in four years.

“Inej.” He didn’t say her name like Hanzi had. He said it with such certainty and conviction that it made Inej’s knees give out from under her.

Before her body could fully hit the ground, her parents’ arms were around her. She buried her face in her mother’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around her father’s waist.

“Esfir,” her mother whispered in her ear. Inej couldn’t describe the relief and joy that flooded through her at the word.

Esfir was Suli for ‘little star.’ Late at night, they used to tuck her under her covers with a kiss. Her mother used to say that Inej was her little star and her father would explain that she was their guiding light.

Inej didn’t know how long they sat in the damp grass, crying and hugging and whispering to each other.

“I’m home,” she would say.

“You’re home.” One of them would repeat.

“I prayed to all of the Saints that you would find your way home to us.” Her father said.

“They called us fools. Said that we would never see you again. They told us that you were taken too far for us to ever reach you again,” her mother cried.

“Never,” Inej promised. “I will never be too far to come back home. The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true. My heart is here.”

After some time, Inej realized that the rest of her family had come outside of the tent. Night had fallen and the crowd was now gone. Her older cousins looked as if Sankt Juris had come down to blow his blue flames. Disbelief filled their faces. Some of her younger cousins looked just as shocked, though less afraid of her. Inej also noticed the soft coos of the newest editions to her family. One toddler who must have born within the first year she was at the Menagerie. Two more who looked as though they came along while she was in service with the Dregs.

The Dregs. Kaz.

Inej pulled away from her parents, realizing who else she had forgotten about for the second time that night.

“Mama. Papa. I didn’t come here alone,” her words scratched against her throat. She hadn’t realized the tears had dried out her voice until that moment.

Inej turned around, knowing that Kaz would have waited as long as she needed him to. He still stood towards the edge of the trees. Inej called out to him in Kerch.

Kaz came forward, trying his best not to look like Dirtyhands under the cover of night with his crow’s head cane and thick gloves. Though he no longer needed them with her, Inej knew that he wasn’t ready to hug every member of her teary-eyed family.

Kaz stood beside her. Inej took his hand in hers and squeezed tightly.

“This is Kaz.” Inej had practiced this speech so many times in her head. She had carefully racked her brain for the proper words in Suli to say what she needed to say.

“Kaz and I...we have been through too many things together to explain in one night. Most of the last four years have been cruel and lonely. Kaz has been one of the few good things to come into my life since I was fourteen,” her words choked off. “I ask that you be kind to him and embrace him as a part of my life. He has saved it in many ways over the years. In some ways, it is thanks to him that I am here.”

Her father stood from where he was still crouched in the grass. He approached Kaz, looking more serious than Inej had ever seen him look in her life. He stood a few inches shorter than Kaz, but still managed to look down at him.

“Do you speak Suli?” Baraz asked him.

“No-” Inej was cut off by Kaz.

“Not fluently, but I am learning.” Kaz shocked her by responding in fluid Suli instead of Kerch. He gave her side-eyed look, clearly enjoying the shocked look on her face.

Her father nodded. “Then I can thank you properly. For helping my daughter return to us.”

Kaz bowed his head. “Inej is the wisest, most determined person I have ever met. She would have found her way back to you with or without me.”

Baraz laughed, “Esfir is just like her mother in that way. Nothing stands in the way of her and what she wants.”

Inej smiled in relief. “That is true. And right now, what I want is some stuffed peppers and goulash made the proper Suli way.”

Her mother laughed, standing to embrace Inej once again. “You can have whatever you would like, Inej.”

“My turn!” Hanzi called out from the cluster of cousins closest to her. Inej turned to find him now barreling towards her.

Inej froze for a second, not feeling entirely comfortable with the tight embrace. She tried her best to laugh through the rush of panic. It hadn’t even occurred to her until that moment how her homecoming would be full of physical touching that she wasn’t entirely ready for.

Her arms didn’t move from her sides, but at least she didn’t pull away until he did. Hanzi didn’t seem to register her tight shoulders.

“I can’t believe you’re really back, Inej! What took you so long? Adja has been driving me crazy. She thinks that she’s in charge now because she can do a handstand on the highwire, but now that you’re back, you can prove to her that you’re in charge. I even reminded her that you used to be able to do an entire double front routine on the high wire without a net.” While her older cousin may have gotten older, he still rambled half made up tales as though he hadn’t aged a day.

“I don’t even have the energy to explain how wrong that is,” Inej shook her head at her cousin’s infectious joy. Hanzi had always been one of her favorites because, no matter what, he could always tell some ridiculous story to make her laugh.

“First of all,” a female voice interjected, “I’ve been able to do a handstand on the high wire for years. Second, all I said was that you weren’t in charge, Hanzi.” Adja said from behind him. She was only two years younger than Inej, but she had been terrified of the high wire. While Inej had danced around it barefoot, Adja refused to step onto one.

“Come on, Nej. Remind Adja who the real master is!”

“No,” Calla stood in between her daughter and her nephew. “Inej has only been with us for a few minutes and already you are trying to get her in trouble,” her mother chided Hanzi.

Kaz chuckled from behind her. It was clear from his expression that, while he wasn’t able to understand all of their conversation, the sound of an upset mother seemed to be universally understood.

“Come, Esfir. We’re going to have a proper welcome dinner,” her mother nodded towards the rest of her family. “Disah and Remen, go to the Ivetan market…”

Inej allowed her mother to assign everyone their tasks while she looked back at Kaz. He was smiling, looking proud of her, but she couldn’t tell why.

“What?” she asked him in quiet Kerch.

“You didn’t pull away when he hugged you,” he truly looked proud of her. Inej looked towards Hanzi worriedly.

“No. I didn’t exactly hug him back.” It would have been a lie to act as though she wasn’t disappointed in her reaction to Hanzi’s embrace. It was an unexpected reality of what she had endured all those years ago. “Do you think they noticed?”

“He was too excited to have you back to notice,” Kaz shook his head. “That’s not the point. The point is that you didn’t pull away. It wasn’t easy, but you did it, Inej. You’re home and your family couldn’t be more happy to see you.”

She took a deep breath. She hadn’t even realized that her nervousness had started to creep up on her after Hanzi’s hug until now. For a while there, she had forgotten about all of her anxieties. Now that her family had split itself into their roles to prepare for her homecoming diner, she had a quiet moment to be reminded of them.

That was when Kaz, ever supportive and aware of how she was feeling, stepped in to ease her nerves. “Kaz, do you think I should tell them the truth?”

“You don’t owe anyone any explanations. You tell them as much as you want to. It’s your story to tell.”

Inej had known long before that night on the rooftop that she was in love with Kaz. She had known for quite some time. As she stared into his honest eyes, surrounded by the sounds of her family, Inej was reminded of how deep her love for Kaz Brekker went.

“What did I ever do for the Saints to bless me with you,” she wondered out loud.

It was hard to tell with the pale moonlight as her only source of light, but for a moment, Inej thought that she saw Kaz’s face blush. His gaze left her and landed on the starry Ravkan sky.

“I ask myself the same question about you every day that we are together, Inej.”

“Nej!” Adja yelled from the performance tent. “Masi Calla asked me to help you and your...friend...find new clothes.”

Inej looked down at her Suli dupatta. “What’s wrong with what we have on now?”

Adja eyed the Wraith and Dirtyhands with pursed lips. “You both look as though you’re going to a funeral. Tonight is a party, Nej. You need to be dressed in party clothes. Now let's go, Masi might cut the wire during our next performance if I don’t get you both dressed in time.”

Inej remembered how her mother used to fuss over her dirty silks when she came back inside from an afternoon spent playing outside. “You’re right. Mama would absolutely do something like that.”

“Where are we going?” Kaz asked her, keeping up with her hurried steps with his usual ease.

Inej glanced at him. “Oh, so you suddenly don’t speak Suli anymore?” They walked around the performance tent to the line of caravans far behind it.

Kaz smirked arrogantly. “I never said I did. Just that I was learning. You didn’t think that I was going to come and meet your entire family without at least attempting to familiarize myself with the language, did you? It’s not that difficult to memorize a few phrases here and there.”

She pushed him lightly with her shoulder. “How about on the boat? Were you faking then?”

Kaz shook his head. “Technically, I wasn’t faking. I know some words and phrases, but not everything. Not yet. Give me a few weeks with your family and I’ll be fluent.”

Inej rolled her eyes. “Not a chance, Brekker. My language is too poetic for a shevrati like you to con your way in that short amount of time. Memorizing a few parables is not the same thing as being able to use all the beautiful nuances we have.”

“It would be easier if I had some help from a beautiful and smart teacher.”

“You’re right. I think Hanzi would probably be willing to sign up.”

“It’s rude to speak in another language, you know,” Adja said from in front of them. The three of them finally stopped in front of Adja’s family caravan.

Kaz shot a glance at her cousin. Inej translated and he apologized in Suli.

“Not you,” Adja nodded towards Inej. “I meant Nej. She was always a quiet one, you know. At least you got her talking.”

Kaz nodded along pleasantly thought it was clear he didn’t understand. When Inej explained, his bitter coffee eyes looked amused.

“I wasn’t quiet, Adja. Hanzi was just usually screaming over me about nothing.”

Adja giggled and unlocked the door. “That is probably true. I was thinking, you should fit in my outfit from Sankta Day last year instead of just a normal dupatta. As for Ka-s,” she stumbled on his Kerch name, “He can borrow Papa’s performance kurta.”

Kaz looked somber, but didn’t argue. “Chaacha Micta used to make some interesting fashion choices,” Inej explained to him as her cousin went in search of the outfits.

“How so?”

Inej bit her lip, holding back laughter. “Let’s just say that he probably could take a few tips from Jesper.”

His eyes widened. “Inej-”

It was too late. Adja emerged from behind a curtain carrying multiple pieces of thick fabric. For Inej, she had a neatly folded Anarkali suit of rich burgundy. Sparkling gold embroidery lined the long, slightly flared skirt and traced the cuffs of the fitted sleeves. A light, white and gold wrap also came with the outfit. On top of it sat a pair of high heels that matched the wine-colored clothes. Inej took the clothes into her hands, feeling the soft yet firm fabrics that were saved for more festive clothing in her culture.

“It might be a little long for you,” Adja eyed Inej’s smaller frame. “But it will do.”

“Thank you, Adja.”

She shrugged off her cousin’s thanks. Her other hand still held Kaz’s outfit. He was standing dangerously still beside Inej. His face was blank of any reaction, but Inej could only imagine what was going through his head. While her outfit was designed with elegance and grace in mind, Kaz’s was made for a true showman. Or at least for a color blind one.

Chaacha Micta had a performance kurta that was radiant white with orange and green gems cascading down the sleeves. Sunset colored pants were folded to match the sparkling jewels. It was both bright and sparkly, two things Kaz hated in clothing.

“Dhanyavaad,” Kaz mimicked Inej’s Suli to thank Adja. Inej was reminded of how good of a liar he was because if she hadn’t known better, she would have thought Kaz looked almost excited to wear her uncle’s kurta.

Adja beamed, looking between the two. “I don’t think Chaacha Baraz or Masi Calla would be okay with me leaving you two in here alone to change but…” Her cousin broke off and shrugged. “If you brought, Ka-s all the way here, I have to assume that it is not the first time you’ve been left alone.”

Heat flooded Inej’s cheeks. She couldn’t meet Adja’s eyes when she nodded. “It’s okay. Mama and Papa won’t know if you don’t tell.”

Adja continued to look between them. It was the same look Nina had given them before Inej had actually opened up about her relationship with Kaz. A look that said that Adja could see something they couldn’t. She was used to getting that look from her friends or other Dregs, but it was a little unnerving to see that look in the eyes of someone she hadn’t seen in years.

“Just don’t take too long. Chaacha and Masi will seriously cut the rope if they find out about this,” she pointed between Kaz and Inej. She swiftly ran out of the caravan, giggling at Inej’s eye roll.

Once she was out the door, Inej’s focus was back on Kaz. His polite smile dropped with Adja out of sight.

Kaz spoke seriously, “Inej, you know that I care for you deeply. More than anything in this world, I care for you.”

Warmth filled her heart, but her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

“Because I care for you, I want your family to like me.”

“I already told you-”

“Yes, I know. I’m wonderful. A trickster god amongst men. But that’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Then what is it?”

Kaz looked at her in disbelief. “Do you even have to ask me that question? This,” Kaz raised the clothes in his hands to meet her eye level. “I’ve never seen anything so…”

Laughter burst out from Inej. She quickly moved to cover her mouth with her hands, but there was no concealing the way her body shook from amusement.

“That is a traditional Suli kurta, Kaz. It’s an important part of my culture.”

He shook his head. “I have seen kurtas. This does not look like that. This looks like some nightmare Jesper and Nina would have designed.”

“Poor Dirtyhands is too insecure to wear something so dazzling,” Inej placed a hand on his cheek. She ran a finger down the sharp cut of his jawline. “I’m sure you’ll look great. Not as good as Chaacha would in it, but a close second.”

Kaz’s eyes held a playful fury. His ebony eyes only ever fixed on her that way. It was a look that promised both a punishment and sweet reward for her words.

“If the Dregs ever find out about this…”

A wicked smile broke onto her face. “I can’t imagine how they would. I keep all your secrets.”

“Don’t even think about telling them, Wraith.” One of Kaz’s arms found her waist.

“Jesper, on the other hand,” her fingers moved to run through his hair. “Jesper is a bit of a big mouth. If this somehow got to him, I don’t think there is any way of stopping him.”

“I can think of at least twelve different ways I could stop him with this kurta alone.” His face moved closer to hers.

Inej turned so his lips landed on her cheek. “No time for that, Brekker. We have to get dressed.”

He sighed and gave the bedazzled shirt a weary look. “If you ever doubt how I feel about you, Inej, just remember this moment.” Before she could respond, Kaz gestured towards the room Adja had gone into to find the clothes. “I’ll change in there.”

Time and time again, Kaz reminded her of why she fell for him in the first place. He had seen every part of her and touched almost all of her, yet Kaz never made assumptions about her limits. No matter how far they had or hadn’t gone, Kaz always asked for permission. On the nights when all she could do was hold his hand, he never pushed her to go further. Even now, after what had happened on the boat and having had met her family, Kaz gave Inej the privacy she needed without hesitation.

With Kaz gone from her sight, Inej was left to unstrap her daggers and quickly dressed into Adja’s Anarkali suit. After a few minutes, Inej stopped hearing Kaz’s quiet cursing.

“I’m almost ready.” She called to him through the curtain.

He shuffled around on his side of the caravan. “This looks even worse than I imagined.”

Inej ignored him, debating whether or not to strap on her beloved blades for the feast.

“Inej?”

“I’m almost ready, you can come out.”

Kaz had been right. The kurta had looked worse than she had imagined. The shirt hung at little too loose from his slight frame, but the pants were too short for his tall stature. They stopped just above his ankles, showing a peak of his white socks.

“Oh.” Inej cringed. “You were not joking.”

Kaz looked at her intently. “You look beautiful, Inej.”

Inej had yet to see herself in the mirror, but Kaz’s reaction was all she needed to confirm what she had already suspected. Adja was slim like Inej but stood a few inches over Inej . The rest of her outfit fit as it was tailored to. The top complimented her figure while the bottom flared out into an elegant skirt that pooled around Inej’s feet more than she would have normally allowed. It wasn’t perfect, but she loved it regardless.

“Traditionally, I would have special Sankta Day earrings that have some sort of token to represent a Saint.” Inej absentmindedly tugged at her ears. “Though, I haven’t worn any earrings since leaving the Menagerie.”

His look softened. Kaz forgot all about his unfortunate attire. “Would you like to? I’m sure Adja would let you borrow hers.”

“The holes have closed by now. It’s okay. I don’t need them. I have these.” She slid Sankt Petyr, the dagger he had given her so long ago, into place. She tried to ignore the fact that it took her far less time to strap all seven of her blades into place than it had to properly dress herself in the Sankta Day skirt.

“I’ll tell Adja we’re ready.”

“Wait,” Kaz’s fingers intertwined with hers. He reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a matingkia made of expensive gold and rich-colored stones. It was simple, as far as Suli headpieces went, with one clear diamond in the middle of a small ruby flower.

“Kaz,” Inej’s breath caught in her throat. “Where did you find this?” Her fingers curved delicately around the precious metal.

“A vendor in Ketterdam had a tent full of Suli jewelry. He has a Suli wife that makes all the items to sell.”

“Do you believe him?” It was more than possible that the vendor’s story was a ruse to get more money from gullible tourists visiting the island.

“I’ve met her.”

“You did?”

“Yes. When I asked her to make this one for you.”

The matingka felt heavier in her hand than it had moments ago. “You asked her to make this for me?” Inej tried to envision Dirtyhands entering a Kerch market to meet with an ederlly Suli woman. She thought of how long he must have spent picking the design, and then jewels to place in it.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered to him. “She’s clearly very talented.”

Kaz tried not to look too smug which was a change for him. “Only the best for my Wraith.”

“Sometimes we wear them for special holidays.” Inej debated whether or not to say the next part. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by making any assumptions. “These are traditionally given to Suli women by their father or husbands.”

She saw him nod nervously. “I know. The woman, Gintha, explained to me the tradition. She said fathers would give them to their daughters and pray that the Saints would give them wisdom as they grew into strong women.”

“Did she tell you why husbands give them to their brides?” She couldn’t deny the fear or eagerness that she felt waiting for his answer.

“To symbolize the love and respect he promises to show her every day after they are wed. The same love and respect that I have felt for you every day for too many years to count.”

Inej’s body was frozen with emotion. Love. Kaz loved her. He didn’t just love her. He respected her. Respected her boundaries and dreams and goals.

“Nej! Are you done yet?” Adja suddenly banged against the door of the caravan.

The reality of her situation flooded back to Inej. For a few moments, she had forgotten who she was. Where she was. Inej took the head piece, not bothering to hide her flustered look as she pushed Kaz back behind the curtain.

“Get out of those clothes. Hurry!” Kaz laughed and she realized how her words sounded. “No! That’s not what I meant. I mean change back into yours! My family will just have to deal with your Kerch suit during dinner.”

She rushed back to the door and let Adja in. “I’m almost ready.”

Adja looked her up and down. “It fits better than I thought. And Ka-s?”

“The clothes didn’t fit him so he’s changing back into his. Here,” she handed Adja the matingka. “Can you help me put this on?”

“Did he give this to you?” she pointed towards the curtain.

“Yes. Now help me put it on. I’ve never put one on myself. Papa only ever put it on me once.”

Adja waved her off. “It’s easy.” She spun Inej around and took a few hair pins from her own brown hair to fasten it into place. “There! Done! Just in time.”

Kaz walked into the room, looking much less miserable now that he was dressed in his own clothes.

“Tell her that her father’s wardrobe should be burned.”

“He says that he loved the kurta and is sorry that it didn’t fit,” Inej easily lied. “Also your tie is crooked again.”

He cursed under his breath and nervously put into place as her cousin spoke.

Adja beamed at her. “I don’t believe that’s true, but it doesn’t matter. Come on! Everyone is waiting for you.”

Inej’s stomach turned over nervously. She had been so overcome with emotions when she’d first greeted her family. Those emotions were starting to settle, but in their place grew the seeds of anxiety once again.

Inej and Kaz trailed behind Adja as they made their way back from the caravan section of their carnival to the performance area. Inej looked around the cool night air, keeping track of all the things that looked familiar and different at the same time.

She pointed to a smaller performance tent made of a thick white sheet. “What’s that?” she asked Adja.

“We started to tour with a second family about two years ago. Hanzi is engaged to the daughter of their paira vaala.” A breeze opened the flap of the white tent and Inej could see the bed of coals used for the paira vaala, or fire walker.

“Hanzi’s getting married?” Inej couldn’t imagine her cousin as she had last known him having a fiancé. He was always too loud and playful when around his family, but unearthly quiet around other girls their age.

“I know! We were all just as surprised as you were. Chaacha Jilē almost fainted.”

“He didn’t tell them that he was seeing her?” Inej’s surprise only grew. While she may not have gotten her parents’ permission before choosing to be with Kaz, her situation hadn’t given the option of choosing the favored Suli traditions.

“He didn’t even tell me! And I’m his favorite bhara. At least I have been since you…” Left? Were taken? Disappeared? Inej could hear the end of Adja’s sentence even if her cousin didn’t want to fill it in.

“I remember that,” Inej awkwardly filled the silence. She pointed to a section of tents reserved for carnival games. “Kila,” one of their older cousins, “once bet me thirteen kruge that I couldn’t win every game in the tent.”

“Kroog?” It wasn’t until the word left Adja’s mouth that Inej realized that she’d forgotten the Suli word for currency or money. It was such a small thing to forget, but it made her stop in her tracks.

“I-” she started to explain. “I’m sorry. I guess I just haven’t used that word in Suli in a few years. Uhm,” Inej racked her brain, digging deep into her memories to find the right word.

“What’s wrong?” Kaz, who had been silently listening to their conversation, spoke up. He couldn’t understand them, but he could see Inej’s face change. “I think I heard you say ‘kruge.’”

She shook her head, momentarily confused as Suli and Kerch collided with each other in her head. Rupe. The word finally came to her in a blunt memory. “I forgot the Suli word for money,” she said to him in Kerch and then explained it to her cousin again.

“Oh!” Adja didn’t seem fazed by her cousin’s slip up. “Kila was such a gambler. A terrible one too. Though I guess he doesn’t need to worry about that anymore. He married a wealthy Shu family. How he wiggled his way into that, I have no idea.”

Inej nodded along as Adja rambled. She was no longer listening to her cousin’s end of the conversation. Instead, she began filing through the mental dictionary in her brain. What other words had she forgotten?

Bread? Roti. Butterfly? Titali. Bowl? Katora. Horse? Ghora. Ocean? Samudara.

Random words were tossed and turned in her head. Adja continued to talk about their uncles and aunts. She went through family gossip as quickly as Nina went through maple-drizzled waffles. Inej didn’t hear any of it. All she could hear was the sound of her Suli-Kerch dictionary flipping page after page.

Torsion wrench? What was the Suli word for the little tool she had used numerous times to pick a lock? Had she ever known the word? Had she ever needed to use that word in her native language before? Would she even need to say torsion wrench during dinner tonight?

Ketterdam isn’t all that bad. At least I learned how to pick locks using a torsion wrench.

No, there was no way she could even imagine herself saying something like that to her family. Inej realized that she had let her nerves run a little too wild. Adja hadn’t even noticed when she said “kruge” instead of “rupe”. The odds of her family being upset with her for not remembering a word here and there were small.

Kaz tugged on the fabric of her skirt, drawing her attention to him once again. His dark eyes met hers, silently asking her once again if she was okay. This time she didn’t have to force a smile on her face to reassure him.

“How did Mama put together a dinner so quickly?” Inej said the moment the smell of paprika, garlic and bell peppers hit her. They had circled back around to the performance tent. Instead of it holding a crowd of entertained Ravkans, tonight, the tent would be used to spread out a Saints-worthy feast.

Adja beamed at her. “Masi Calla asked all of our masis and chaachas that were cooking dinner for after the show to add extra coals to the fires. Some of the food had to be bought from the markets so it won’t be exactly like you’re used to, but it’s all that we could get together so quickly.”

“It’s perfect. You could have fed me rocks and I would have been just as happy to be home.”

The heavy tent flaps were pulled wide open and she could see dark-haired figures moving frantically around the tent. The round seats used for audience members were stacked on top of each other. Inej remembered how long it took to carry the iron seats from the caravans to place them in their rows. She had been too small to carry them herself, so she would hold the bottom half of a stack while Hanzi carried the brunt of the weight.

The high ropes were still strung up from their looming poles. She itched to climb up and test her technique. The chaacha who had first taught her how to balance was strict about proper posture. Though she had no real use for it when sleuthing for the Dregs, she could still hear his sharp calls to straighten her spine or keep her gaze forward.

“Make room! Inej the Great has entered the tent!” Hanzi exclaimed. His voice cut through the flurry of her family’s movement. Inej realized why her uncle had stepped down to let Hanzi handle the crowds. His deep voice was effective when it came to getting a crowd’s attention.

Toffee and hazel eyes all met hers. All of her family, almost twice as many as earlier, froze where they were to stare at her and Kaz. His gloved fingers curved in hers, but no one seemed to care at that gesture as much as they cared about the dazzling headpiece sparkling in the candlelight. Her parents had tears in their eyes as if it was the first time they were seeing her again. Inej had to hold back tears of her own. She saw the circle of food splayed out around the lush carpets dragged from Saints know where to cushion the hard ground.

Sarma, stuffed peppers, bogacha, and xaimoko were still in their metallic cooking pots, steaming as if the fire had just been dosed from under them. Pirogo and xaritsa sat in porcelain crockery that Inej suspected came from the Ivetan market her cousin had mentioned. Silver kettles of chao filled the room with a lingering sweet smell. Dark cups of kafa were already served and in the hands of some to her cousins.

The meal flooded her with too many memories to catch at once. She was swimming in a stream of random memories. Her tongue burning from spicy stuffed peppers and then from chugging a fresh cup of chao in a vain attempt to ease the sting. Mama teaching her how to prepare the sarma properly. Papa stiring a pot of goulash.

“Why are you just standing there? Come! Sit!” Papa gestured to a spot right in front of Inej’s favorite platter.

She blinked back tears. No more tears. Tonight was for celebrating all that she had come back to, not for mourning the years she had lost.

“Some of it had to be bought so it won’t taste exactly like you remember but-” Her mother rushed to her side, holding her daughter’s hand and pulling her and Kaz towards her father.

“Mama, I don’t care how the food tastes. This is already so much more than I could ask for. Just being with you and Papa and everyone else is enough for me.”

Her mother’s dark brows furrowed. She took great pride in her cooking, as a Suli should. “Yes, yes, but still...If you had sent us some sort of message so we could have been prepared, the food would have all been ready. We would have canceled the show much sooner. But no, leave it to our little Esfir to show up as if the Saints had let her fall from their very sky at random.” The novelty of Inej’s arrival was definitely wearing off if her mother was already scolding her.

She laughed despite her mother’s pointed words. Inej settled in her seat comfortably. Kaz sat beside her, looking so out of place in this bright colored tent surrounded by equally colorful kurtas. She couldn’t believe the sight in front of her. Kaz Brekker being handed a steaming cup of chao in his crisp, black suit.

Her own hands were already clutching a plate overflowing with food. Her father had served her heaping spoonfuls of every dish that sat before her. He paused, looking at Kaz curiously.

“Eh...food?” Her father surprised her with the Kerch word. She hadn’t known he spoke any Kerch.

Kaz nodded, “Krpya.”

Her father looked excited by his answer. He piled almost as much food on his plate as he had on hers. Kaz was excellent at hiding his emotions, but there was no hiding the amusement in his eyes. He took the plate with open arms. Everyone, including Inej, watched as Kaz lifted a fork to take a scoop of the rice-stuffed green pepper. He didn’t even flinch at what she could assume to be the spiciest bite of food he’d ever had. He chewed slowly, ignoring the flush that creeped up his neck. Judging from the smell, her family hadn’t held back when it came to spices that night. Finally he smiled, thanking her father for the food.

That seemed to be the cue her family had been waiting for. Everyone unfroze and went for a plate.

Kaz waited until they were no longer staring at him to reach for the tea. She had to bite back a laugh as he gulped down the entire cup.

“Spicy?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

Kaz looked at her as if she had grown an extra ear. “Spicy? Inej, I thought I was going to die.”

This time she couldn’t hold back the laugh. Everything about the night filled her with so much joy and laughter that Inej had to put down her food for a second. Her stomach burned from the giggles that shook her body. Kaz was actually blushing as her cousins closests to her looked at them.

“Kaz said the food almost killed him.” She explained to them. “The Kerch prefer their food much less seasoned. Mostly a hint of salt and pepper. It’s actually very sad.”

All of them broke out into smiles.

Her mother who was still standing behind them said, “Tell Ka-s that he’ll have to get used to real food if he’s decided to stay with you.” She placed a hand on Kaz’s shoulder affectionately.

Kaz, clearly not expecting the sudden touch, went still. His body tensed beneath the touch and his jaw tightened. Her mother noticed the change in his posture and jerked her hand back. She looked at her daughter quickly, but Inej could see the hurt and confusion in her eyes even if it was just for a second.

“It’s not you, Mama.” She rushed to explain for Kaz. His eyes had dropped to the plate resting on his lap.

“I told you that our life in Ketterdam wasn’t easy.” She tried to find a way of explaining without revealing too much of Kaz’s past. “He isn’t used to people touching him unless they’re trying to hurt him. Give him time, Mama.” That part was at least true.

Her mother nodded, looking apologetic but no less confused. This time she was looking at the visible scars along Inej’s arms. Her cousin’s outfit didn’t hide them the way her earlier outfit had.

Hanzi, who was watching the whole exchange from across the tent, spoke out. “What was it like, Nej? In Ketterdam?”

His father, Chaacha Jilé, used a serving spoon to give him a hard tap on the head. “Hanzi!”

“What? We were all thinking it!”

His father shook his head. “You know better than to ask that kind of question.”

“It’s okay.” Inej cut in before her uncle could use the spoon again. “Hanzi is right. You all want to know what happened. I don’t blame you.”

“See!” Hanzi pointed a vindicated finger towards Inej.

“Hush!” His father waved the spoon in front of his son.

She bit back a smile and continued. Inej looked at Kaz. His rigid spine loosened a bit, but he still looked a bit on edge. “I’m going to tell them.”

A small smile tugged on his mouth. “You know I support whatever decision you make.”

It was all the encouragement she needed. “Mama, Papa, you may want to sit down. It’s a long story and most of it isn’t pleasant.”

Her mother worriedly sat beside her. Her father put an arm around her shoulders, physically supporting his wife in the same way Kaz had just supported her.

“I was taken by slavers. They broke in and took me just as the sun had started to rise. They brought me to Ketterdam, where I was sold to a heartless woman who made me do unspeakable things for terrible men. Kaz worked for a group of young men trying to build a new business and went to meet with the woman at the request of his boss. I realized I could escape with his help, so I offered him my skills as an acrobat. He agreed to employ me legally and without having to do any of the things that I was doing there. He taught me how to defend myself. I worked as his spy and I was good at it.

“Ketterdam… it can be an ugly place that brings the ugliness out of even the best people. I’ve done things I pray the Saints will one day forgive me for; but I’m not the same girl I was when I was taken. If I was, I don’t think I would have made it through the first night in that city. I will never be that girl again, no matter how hard I try. And I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.

“I was able to eventually afford a ship and a crew to run it. Now, I'm the captain of a crew of people dedicated to keeping other people from having to go through what I went through. I hope that the work I do at sea can help weaken any shadows I have created during my years in Ketterdam.”

Inej had, of course, changed a few details in her story. There was no way she was going to tell her entire family that the “business” Kaz was running was actually a deadly street gang. She was also never going to explain to them exactly how good at her job she had gotten. They would never understand the things she had done. In fact, if they could see the crimson stains on her hands, they’d probably be so repulsed that they would kick her out on the spot.

Her mother was crying again. Her father looked heartbroken as if all of his worst fears had come true.

“Inej…” Adja spoke first. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

Inej was surprised to realize that she wasn’t in tears as she feared she would have been. “It’s not your fault.” She looked at her parents, realizing that they must have carried some guilt with her disappearance just as she carried the shame of the things she had done.

“Nor is it yours. We couldn’t have known those slavers were going to break into our home. You two did everything you were supposed to. When things were at their worst, I could hear your voices teaching me how to pray to the Saints. I was able to survive so long because I always carried the hope you taught me to hold on to. The hope that I would one day return to you.”

Her father looked furiously stubborn as he said, “And you have. You are home, Inej. That’s all that matters. We don’t care what you had to do to get here. As long as you are here with us again.”

“The Saints don’t punish actions done to survive.” Her mother agreed. “You don’t need to ask them or us for forgiveness. Forgiveness is earned, Inej, and you have been through more than enough to deserve it. We know you. We know you have a good heart. We love who you are now because it brought you back to us.”

“You will always be our esfir.” Her father held his daughter's trembling hands.

Those words were like the first bite of bread after a year long fast. Inej hadn’t realized how much she needed to hear them, or how much it would mean to hear them from her parents. Her father’s touch didn’t wipe away any of the blood on her hands nor did it take away the dark memories she would always carry. But it did make her feel hopeful for the future. For so long she feared that she could never return home; she feared her family would reject the woman she was sharpened into. Her parents didn’t look like they were ready to throw her out. In fact, they looked like they were ready to hold her tighter than ever.

“Wait a second,” Hanzi once again drew all the attention in the room back to him. “You said you were a spy and now a ship captain?”

Inej wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “Yes.”

“And that Ka-s...runs a business?”

“Yes, Hanzi.”

He looked suspiciously between Kaz and Inej. Then at the leather gloves and silver crow’s head of his cane. His jaw dropped. “Inej, you’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”

She bit her lip, unsure of how to answer.

“He knows, doesn’t he?” Kaz’s gravelly voice was full of pride at being recognized.

“Don’t look so smug. I don’t think he recognized you until I said that I was a ship captain.”

“INEJ!”

She turned back to Hanzi. He was almost buzzing with excitement to hear her answer. “Are you who I think you are? Is he who I think he is?”

Her mother narrowed her eyes at her nephew.“Inej is whoever she wants to be. As for Ka-s, he’s Inej’s...”

Inej looked to Kaz for the answer. They had never felt the need to use a word to explain their relationship. Everyone on their tiny stretch of an island knew better than to question Dirtyhands or the Wraith. Their friends didn’t need an explanation. What she shared with Kaz went deeper than anything she could describe.

“What?”

“They want to know what you are to me.”

“Then tell them.”

“What do you want me to tell them?”

“What do you want to tell them?”

“That you’re the person I love most in this world.”

His smile was blinding. “I’m more than okay with that answer.”

“Kaz is my heart.”

Adja cooed, clutching her heart. Her mother looked approvingly at Kaz. Her father looked relieved by the answer. Hanzi still looked unsatisfied by it.

“Why are you all just staring at us? Let’s eat!” She mimicked her father’s earlier remark. The silence was once again filled with her family’s celebratory cheers.

“Thank you for coming with me. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Kaz looked smug. “I love you.”

Inej smiled, looking around the circle of happiness brought together by a bond that went deeper than blood. “I love you, too.”

A/N Pt 2: Hi hello! If you happened to have read this before January 2, 2020 then you might remember that there used to be a long paragraph at the end of this fic where I acknowledged all of the cultures that I read about as inspiration to flesh out the Suli culture in this fic. Welp, because Tumblr enjoys to make life difficult, it actually decided to erase the entirety of this fic, leaving only the title. Why? I have no idea!!!! But that means I had to do everything and luckily I had all of the fic saved except for this second A/N bc I added it in right before uploading. While I’m incredibly annoyed by Tumblr glitch and am not able to fully write the original acknowledgment, I still want to give add a smaller version of the previous one.

All of cultures I drew from for this fic can be found listed here. The Suli language was a modified mixture of Hindi and Punjabi. The foods are mostly Romani in origin. The names are a mixture of Turkish, Hindi, Romani, and Slavic names. The clothing have all been specifically named. The head piece Inej wore was directly inspired by a South Asian maang tikka however out of respect for this real cultural practice, I changed the name/origin for the fic. Any parables/customs/religious beliefs explained in the fic are completely fictional that were either pulled directly from the SOC series or made up for this fic. Any connection/similarities to real cultural practices are completely coincidental unless I specifically said so. I believe that was everything important that I had in the original acknowledgment. I’m so sorry if anything was left out. If you do feel that I forgot to mention anything in this rewritten version, please let me know and I’ll do my best to fix it immediately! 

[shinobirain24]

Water and Ice- Chapter 6: Let me Protect You

Back in Beacon, I have met a boy, then everything dawned on me. He may not have remembered me when we first met in Poseidon Island. The land of seas. There, he has eyes, blue as the deep ocean. Blue hair as bright as the morning sky. The moment I held his hand when we gazed at the meteorites, I can feel the warmth through his aura. Such a funny and cocky personality. What I feel fond of him for is that he never asked for my name, nor did he came after me for my status as an heiress. I have one desire, and one thing only. To let him know how I feel for him. But how can I if I am not the right person he can choose? But now, all I saw was a struggling soul beneath his own cockiness. I knew he lost someone important to him. All I want to do now is to stay by his side, until the very end. But will he feel the same for me? After my sister is about to go after him? For what his brother has done? Either to help Winter catch Neptune, or to help him escape and find his brother? I love my sister, but I cannot let her bring him to justice. I think he's already suffered enough as it is. Neptune, I know you asked me not to follow you. But please give me a sign you're still around the island. I don't want you to die. Let me be there for you. Weiss is sitting in front of a firepit to warm herself up for the night.

Her thoughts began to roam in her mind. Now that her sister deemed the man she holds dear as a suspect. First he teamed up with her to find the answers about the Thunderbolts. After the lies Winter spread in the news. Meant to lure the Thunderbolts. Winter had been there for her when their mother couldn't. Defended her from their father. But when she left for Atlas Academy, Weiss has never felt lonelier in her life. She cannot meet eye-to-eye with either of her family members. Until she went to Beacon Academy to get away from it all. There she met Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. They became a team and the best of friends any girl can ask for. Standing by them to fight for freedom and peace.

Currently, her younger brother is working things out with their mother after she put their father in jail. Starting little by little to his recovery from what their father have put them all through. Still, the siblings are still not yet in speaking terms. Now that her elder sister is clenching to her duties as a general. Weiss cannot seem to bring herself to talk to her due to their differences.

Still, she does not want her to arrest the man who melted her frozen heart. Then the thoughts went on, tears stream from her eyes. She left her team to recuperate from the events; the Fall of Beacon, Battle in Haven, and Atlas. Who will she choose, Winter, or Neptune? She cried herself to sleep. Chills blew on her spine. But it didn't matter to her.

"Hey Schnee, wake up." She is then shaken awake when somebody is talking to her. Her eyes fluttered when she felt like someone is placing a hand on her shoulder. She roses up from the log she used as a pillow and rubbed her eyes. Hoping it was Neptune. Her vision went blurry at first. But when she blinked, she sees Drey. "Looks like the snowflake awakens."

"Oh no, not you." Weiss gasped. Hastily drawing her Myrtenaster and leapt backwards. But Drey raised his hand in defense, showing that he surrenders for a moment. "I'm not here to harm you." He assured her. But Weiss did not seem to believe him. But puts away her blade to hear his side of the story.

"Cut the act, Brandwood. I already know you and Rick are spying on us." She snarled.

"I came here to warn you. I saw you with Neptune earlier, and it looks like you're the only person he can trust."

"Why are you telling me this? What does that have to do with him?"

"What I'm saying is that you need to get Neptune off this island right now. Ricks' going to hunt him down and kill him to end his bloodline." Weiss eyes widened when she heard this. Another person hunting him down. But why would an enemy like Drey warn her? Then she has a theory that he has a soft spot. Not willing to do what Rick says.

"But why would you follow Rick? For all I know, you and him attempted to torment Neptune. And what do you mean ending his bloodline?" Drey turns around before he could spoke a word. He sighed to brace himself for the revelation.

"I cannot give you the full details about Neptune. But I can tell you this. I only followed Rick because not only he's my best friend. But he's also my cousin. My mother and his father are siblings. When we were young, he used to stood up for me. We make trouble together. I wasn't willing to do anything bad to the guy. But I go along with it because I owe everything to him. But as we got older, he changed. I don't know what he has against Vasilias, but it started when my uncle got killed in a cruising accident. The same day his brother, Jupiter Vasilias, disappeared along with his huntsmen team. After his semblance was unlocked, it's like his eyes are burning with pure hatred. And he blamed him for a reason." Drey explained, feeling ashamed to ever be related to the arrogant huntsman.

"Why didn't you report him when things got this bad? Why not giving him the help he needed?" Weiss glared. Wishing that he would've done it sooner.

"It would mean losing the best and only friend I ever had. He'll hate me for it." Drey responded in sadness. The he turns back to her. "I have to go, or Rick will find out. Get Vasilias off the island while you still have the chance. I'll try to stall him while you're at it." He begged. Leaving Weiss in desperation to save Neptune from the would-be assailant. Drey puts out the fire to not leave any traces that would led his cousin to kill his rivals. Weiss begins to understood the fact that being close to a family member would mean a sever bond, between parents, siblings, and cousins. And she and Drey are one of those people who're not willing to betray their loved ones.

Sorry Rick, but I can't let you do this. What else can I do to have you let this hatred go? He thought. Staring at the former heiress as she runs. Pulling out her Myrtenaster once again.

The next morning, Weiss keeps rushing through the island. Everywhere around is all too quiet. Since the other huntsmen and huntresses are petrified and taken to the Atlas Hospital for recovery. Neptune, where are you? Please. She thought pleading to herself for his safety. "Neptune, where are you!" She shouts. Needing the response. But all she hears is nothing but silence. To the point that Neptune has already decided not to involve anyone he cared about because of his reasons of searching for his brother. But this got Weiss thinking if Jupiter is truly a Thunderbolt. Why was Neptune blaming himself for his vanishing? It could've been an accident, at least not on purpose. She then questions herself about his bloodlines. And why would Rick wanted to end it? Could it be that there is a connection between Rick's father and Jupiter. As they both got caught on the accident on the same night. Nevertheless, she has to convince him to let her help him connect the dots.

Meanwhile, Neptune is back into the Colosseum, where he was still trying to touch the water before he can look further for his brother. Until he heard footsteps. He could tell somebody is following him. "I know you're out there. Come out." He said coldly, Weiss didn't hesitate to come out for his sake. "I've been looking for you, Neptune!" He looked up to the upper right corner to see Weiss standing on the pillar. She then jumps off and lands in a perfect form.

"What are you doing here? I told you to go back to Atlas." Weiss ignored this and shook her head in response.

"Never mind that, Neptune. We need to get off the island immediately." He turned away again.

"I can't, I have to find..."

"I know. I could already see how you felt. But you need to listen. Rick Argo is coming to kill you if we don't escape."

"Fine by me. I can take care of him myself."

"You're never going to stand much against him. Drey have me fully aware of how dangerous he is. You should know that there is a reason he has a grudge against you. And he won't stop."

"You can leave if you want to, Weiss. I'll take him down by myself." He shot a cold glare at her. Acting tough for a man with aquaphobia. Weiss isn't having it, so she has to take drastic matters. "If you won't listen to me, then you left me no choice." She then spun her revolver on her Myrtenaster. Summoning a platform to form earth objects from the ground underneath Neptune. But he jumps backward and lands near the walls. And Weiss stikes lunging. Neptune avoids her again by flipping back into the air.

"I guess there's no other way to convince you, huh? You know the strength of my glyphs!" Weiss gave him one final warning. "Don't you understand? I don't want you to die, Neptune!"

"Oh, yeah?! Try me, Snow Angel!" He called her by that nickname. But with no effect. Despite that his weapon is at a disadvantage, it's still enough for defense. Blocking her slashes.

Weiss has the upper hand by summoning her Armored Gigas. The projection then swung its sword at Neptune. But he transform his guandano into a trident in his Tri-hard. Stab it on the back of its head and making a huge electric barrier to make it dissipate. He then lands on the water. Which he wasn't aware of, since he's too busy fighting.

Weiss landed there to collide her blade with his spear. "I'm tired of fighting with you already, just give it up!" She said.

"I have to find Jupiter one way or another. I am not afraid of death! Now get out of the way!" He pushes back.

"No!" But she also pushed back holding him on the position. "That's enough!" Neptune didn't realized that the water is reacting to his body for defense. Catching her off guard, and pushes it at Weiss, knocking her to another pillar. "Ahh!" She screamed. He then realized what he has done, and rushes towards Weiss to see if she's okay. "Weiss...Weiss!" He held her into his arms. She felt her head hurt for seconds before regaining consciousness. Opening her eyes and gazed at him sadly.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish, Neptune. After Beacon, and Haven fell, anybody we knew and cared about has either lost their minds, or their lives. The truth is, I don't want to lose you." Weiss does not hesitate to cry onto his shoulder. Neptune felt guilty for hurting her, and not letting her help him when he needed it.

"Oh, Weiss." Neptune said softly. Wrapping his arms around her to console Weiss. He has no idea what she has been through over her journeys. How traumatic those experiences must be. "Neptune." She sobbed. "There's nothing for you to be sorry for. If anyone's apologizing, it should be me. I am an idiot, okay? I don't like to let anybody get hurt or killed because of me. I should've told you this a long time ago. I wasn't honest with myself." He felt her body shaking from all the sobbing, still in fear that he could get hurt. He never saw her cry before. Weiss has been very composed and more focus, sometimes bossy, she has yet to show any emotion towards him. But this time, she did.

Weiss looked up at him. He wiped the tear from her left cheek. Calming her down. To assure that he'll be fine. He lifts her up and asks her, "Why don't we get back to Argus and take a break?" Much to her relief. She nods. He held her hand to lead her back to the bay and waited for the ferry to come. Weiss looked back at the island, worried what might come to Drey since he warned her of his cousin's insanity. Then she and Neptune boards the ferry and went back to Argus.