#I had Neve take down the wards in this run too

[sassypeacock0501]

I was going to save posting these two being so happily in love, intimate, and vulnerable with each other for down the line. But I feel like sharing this clip now, especially since things didn’t quite work out this way for Grier and Davrin in the end.

Also, WOW, was it a treat to watch this scene after the first run. *Starts playing “I Can’t Hear it Now” from the Arcane soundtrack.*

Enjoy my first attempt at a fanon codex. Be kind!

Codex Entry: Heart of a Hala

A crisply folded letter stuck between the pages of a monster hunter’s manuscript.

Davrin,

I really don’t know how I’m supposed to start this. What am I even supposed to say. Emmrich tells me it’d be healthy to get my feelings out, but damn if it isn’t hard.

I doubt you’d want me to apologize a thousand times. Started that count already anyways. And I know you’d want me to stop taking on the blame, but it’s a hard habit to kick. Going nowhere with this.

Guess I could fill you in on what you’ve missed.

Neve and Lucanis are doing great. Gallus has really stepped into her own as the new head of the Threads. Kinda scary honestly, but it’s working for her. And Lucanis finally made the split with Spite. I miss the weirdo a little. I’m talking about Spite, just to be clear. I know you’re probably thinking of a comeback. Well you would’ve, I mean. Anyways, it’s gonna be great for the both of them.

Bellara is doing better. Evka promises me that things are looking up. I just hope they’re not holding back around me. (Furiously scribbled note on the margins: Damn it! He wasn’t there for that. Idiot!) Anyways, Bel’s off working with the Jumpers. They’re trying to get every bit of info they can pry out of that artifact, the Nadas whatever. Thought it was a good idea to keep the knowledge stored in something that doesn’t talk at you like you were born yesterday. The Dalish get talked down to enough as it is.

And Taash and Harding are going strong. Lace ran off with Taash once things quieted down around here. They both needed the escape after everything. Lace writes a lot though. I think she’s picked up some of the overbearing qualities that Varric sometimes had.

I know you’d ask, but I just haven’t really thought about taking a break myself. I’m used to keeping busy so it just feels right to keep that pace going. You’d understand.

And I promise I’ll go and see the other griffins when I don’t think it’ll hurt as much get the chance. Assan would want me to. Miss the little guy, wherever he is.

Anyways, I

You meant the wor

You’re gone. We’re Wardens, so this should’ve been easy. But we caught a glimpse of a future for us. It was so close. And then it slipped away.

I can’t say goodbye. Not now. Probably not ever.

But I want you to know that I’ll keep living. For you. For Assan. For us.

Whatever it takes,

Rook

[datvtranscripts]

Sea of Blood Pt. 1

Welcome to Antiva

Lucanis Masterpost

Signs and Portents Masterpost Previous: The Crossroads Previous: The Smuggled Relic Case

Rook travels to Treviso, and the scene pans over the city, focusing on the numerous Antaam forces that patrol.

Treviso. One of the finest cities in Antiva… now living under occupation.

Crow Rook: I've arranged for one of my friends to meet us.

Non-Crow Rook: Let's hope our Crow contact can meet us.

They are approached by a woman as they wait on the bridge.

Origin dependent dialogue:

Crow [1]

Non-Crow [2]

1 - Crow → As a Crow, you’ve met Teia previously. Teia: You made it! I hear you go by "Rook" these days. Rook: It's good to see you. Meet Andarateia of House Cantori. Teia: No need to be formal with friends. Teia, please. Come. Viago is gathering the others. He's happy you're home. Rook: I doubt that. Teia: Trust me. He complains more when you're not around. [3]

2 - Non-Crow Teia: Welcome to Antiva. You must be Rook. Rook: And you're Andarateia Cantori. Of the Crows? Teia: Teia, please. Come. My associate Viago is gathering the others. We can talk business when we arrive. [3]

3 - Scene continues.

The Butcher: (Amplifier) Your hourly reminder that we are here to enforce your safety.

They explore around the bridge, where a boat is docked nearby.

Trevisan Citizen: Rations?

Weary Trevisan: To feed their men. That's what I heard.

They follow Teia, passing some Antaam as they go.

Antaam Soldier: Mind your business. Antaam Guard: Move along.

Young Trevisan: My uncle wasn't a part of it. I was told he'd be released. If there was a request. If you had any word from…

Antaam Guard: Go about your business unless you wish to join him.

Antaam Guard: Move along. Antaam Guard: Keep moving.

They pass more Antaam.

Trevisan Citizen: The documents. It's… all there.

Antaam Guard: Sloppy. Have your papers in order next time.

Trevisan Citizen: Of course. Yes. I'll be more mindful.

Antaam Guard: Good. We're here for your protection.

Antaam Guard: Move on. Antaam Guard: Keep order.

Two Antaam speak to another civilian.

Antaam Soldier: Meravas adim kata.

Antaam Guard: My friend says "come with us."

Trevisan Citizen: I… all right. I'm not trying to cause trouble. I swear.

Bellara: How long have the Antaam soldiers been here?

Harding: The Antaam soldiers have made themselves at home here.

Neve: The Antaam soldiers have made themselves comfortable.

Teia: We have suffered their company for too long. The Antaam reached a stalemate in their war with Tevinter. Some turned here instead. Antiva was rich, comfortable… and has no standing army to stop them.

They pass by a healing tent.

Trevisan Citizen: You went to the physician?

She stitched it well enough. Gave me what she could to ward infection.

Trevisan Citizen: What she could?

Injured Civilian: The Antaam confiscated half her supplies. Said they need it for their army.

Trevisan Citizen: For our damned "protection."

They keep moving.

Crow Rook: I hate seeing Treviso ground down. Non-Crow Rook: It must be hard, dealing with the Antaam.

Teia: This occupation will not last. The Antivan Crows remain. And one day, I will see a knife through every would-be tyrant's throat.

Trevisan Citizen: She didn't come back?

Weary Trevisan: She said too much. They were listening and�� they won't let us speak to her.

They follow Teia up a trellis and across a zipline.

Teia: We have arrived.

Bellara: Wow! This is… not what I expected.

Harding: A casino?

Neve: A casino. Nice set-up.

Crow Rook: Rook: The Cantori Diamond.

Non-Crow Rook: Teia: Welcome to the Cantori Diamond.

Teia brings them inside to where a few Crows wait.

Origin dependent dialogue:

Crow [4]

Non-Crow [5]

4 - Crow → As a Crow, you belong to the same house as Viago. Viago: Did you finish that contract? To stop the Dread Wolf? Rook: Hello, Viago. And it's complicated. Viago: How many times do I have to tell you? Crows always finish the job. Rook: We just can't take initiative, right? My run-in with the Antaam taught me that. Teia: Don't let him scold you too much. Vi was worried about you. Viago: (Nervously clears throat) Rook. This is Caterina Dellamorte. Rook: The First Talon. I'm honored. Which makes you… [6]

5 - Non-Crow Viago: You're the client? Teia: This is Rook. Did you want a drink? I promise not to let Viago near it. Viago: (Sighs) Viago de Riva. Fifth Talon. And this is Caterina Dellamorte. First Talon of the Crows. Rook: An honor. And you are? [6]

6 - Scene continues.

Illario: Illario Dellamorte. Her grandson. What brings you here?

Rook: Right. My target is a pair of elven gods—or that's what they call themselves. They're ancient blighted mages.

Crow Rook: I need our best. The man who brought blood mages and Venatori to their knees.

Non-Crow Rook: My detective says you have a man who brought blood mages and Venatori to their knees.

Caterina: Lucanis. My grandson. They called him "the Demon of Vyrantium." He was the one who did those jobs.

Dialogue options:

Affable: Perfect. [7]

Sarcastic: Well, that’s a relief. [7]

Stoic: What’s the catch? [8]

7 - Affable: Perfect. Rook: Exactly who we're after. Viago: Except Lucanis Dellamorte is dead. He was killed a year ago.

8 - Sarcastic: Well, that’s a relief. Rook: Sending a demon to take down a god. Sounds like a plan. Viago: It's a nonsense plan, but that's not important. Lucanis Dellamorte is dead.

9 - Stoic: What’s the catch? Rook: Sounds like there's more to it. Viago: Lucanis Dellamorte is dead. He was killed a year ago, now.

10 - Scene continues.

Caterina: What I say doesn't leave this room. The body our people brought back was not my grandson. It was dressed in his clothing, but it had been altered with blood magic to have his face.

Illario: My cousin is still alive? And you didn't think to tell me?

Viago: His ship was attacked. We knew someone sold him out… so you kept your suspicions to yourself.

Rook: But you've brought it up now. Why?

Caterina: I've had eyes on the Venatori ever since they took my grandson from me. They were hunting your Dread Wolf. And what you did to his ritual threw them into disarray. They made mistakes. And now I have a location. The Ossuary. Where the Demon of Vyrantium is kept. Find this Ossuary. Free Lucanis. You'll have your god-killer. And I'll have my grandson.

Next: The Demon of Vyrantium

[profoundfics]

Tertiary Opinions I/I

Unorthodox Introductions - I: The Whisperer & The Reaper

Rating: Mature - Canon Typical Violence and Sex

Pairing: Rook Ingellvar x Emmrich Volkarin (Neve Gallus x Lucanis Dellamort | Lace Harding x Taash)

(A03 Chapter Index) | (Tumblr Chapter Index)

-- --

Casual destruction of the dead.

That was the accusation levelled at Lieutenant Yaryna Ingellvar following the War of the Banners. A serious allegation for any member of the Mourn Watch to face. It was not an accusation made without a reasonable degree of evidence that the loss of the undead was borne from a deeper disregard for life and unlife. Emmrich stole a glance at his unexpected companion, attempting to discern from her appearance alone whether Ingellvar, or Rook as she introduced herself, could be capable of such a crime. She had asked him for a moment before ringing the bell, and he watched as she traced necromantic sigils across the boss of her shield, green light shimmering then being absorbed into the mental face .

‘I really should know better than even leave the Lighthouse without armour,’ Rook remarked to Bellara, picking the shield up and turning her attention back to him. ‘What can we expect down there?’

‘Once I start the spell, it will draw attention from any remaining spirits of despair,’ he explained. ‘You’ll need to hold them off while I work - it will take a few minutes for the bell to the gain the momentum it needs for the spell to work.’

‘What does that mean?’ Bellara asked.

‘That it’s going to get cold,’ replied Rook, ‘dependant on how many spirits are left. This might even get more dicey than that ogre.’ She lifted her shield, contemplating it for a moment. ‘Haven’t got the resources for an additional hex-weave, so remember when I use the blade spell, shoot your charged arrows at them to cause an explosion.’ Her attention returned back to Emmrich. ‘Ready when you are.’

He walked to the centre point under the bell while the two women took up defensive positions, Rook slightly ahead of him and Bellara behind. He called the Fade to his fingertips, directing the spell through sweeping movements, channelling the magic upwards and waking the bell as Bellara alerted them to the arrival of Venatori. Out of the corner of his eye, Emmrich caught Rook’s swift movement, the long skirts of her leather coat flying around as she threw her shield behind him, marching after it, eyes on her next target before catching it, turning with it’s momentum and throwing it at her next target.

Throughout the fight, Rook focused on putting herself between Bellara and himself deflected the ranged attacks back at the Venatori in fiery showers of magic.

‘There’s too many of them,’ Bellara called above the fray, multiple demons rising around the room.

‘We just have to hold them off until the bell rings,’ Rook replied watching mist rise from her breath. ‘Professor, how long?’

‘About half way there,’ Emmrich responded.

‘Okay, Bel, keep them in front of you,’ Rook instructed. ‘Keep moving side wards with your back to the wall. Don’t let them get behind you, and on my mark, we’re going to aim for the pride demon. Professor, whatever you have to throw at that thing, please do.’

Rook set off into a run, dodging around two mages that she hit with her shield and followed up with swipe of her sword without losing momentum. Emmrich noted she was fast, covering the space then yelling her signal for Bellara. The roar of magic flew at the demon from three directions, Rook’s magical blades slammed into the Pride spirit, crystal shards sundering the body followed by Bellara’s arrows shattering them in a devastating shower of lightening charged shards exploding out of it’s twisted body. Emmrich followed up, his magic tangling around the remains of the spirit as it continued to lash out; Rook ran at it, kicking it then bringing her shield down as the bell tolled.

The spirits twisted until they evaporated into the Fade. Rook turned, throwing her shield one final time. It spun across the room into the remaining living assailant, striking between the eyes, dead before they even hit the ground.

‘Well, at least we’re not short of bodies for new undead guards,’ she remarked drily, catching Emmrich’s eye as she caught the sheild. She turned her attention to Bellara, walking towards here. ’Told you it would get dicey.’

‘Definitely worse than the ogre,’ Bellara replied. ‘The second one.’

Emmrich watched Rook walk to Bellara, place a hand on her arm. ‘You were brilliant,’ she said, a smile lifting her face.

‘Let’s ensure these cultists didn’t leave anything dangerous behind,’ he said once the two women were done exchanging words.

Rook clipped the shield to a leather strap over her chest and slung it over her shoulder.‘What are we looking for?’

‘Anything out of place,’ Emmrich directed, walking towards one of the alters around the central plaza. ’Scan for any magic that doesn’t belong.’

Under the resonating toll, silence fell across the chamber. Emmrich didn’t know exactly what he was looking for; it would have to be powerful but subtle magic to have been able to pass the wards.

‘And this is…’ Rook announced from the other side of the room. ‘Oh, a Hand of Glory. A real, working Hand of Glory.’

Emmrich turned to see Rook examining her find, the palm close to her eyes.

‘The Venatori should never have this,’ he declared crossing the space to Rook’s side, holding out his hand. ‘I must find out where it came from.’

Rook looked at him, steely-blues eyes met his with her eyebrows raised. Her head tilted to the side, stray locks of her lilac hair brushing her shoulder before she held the artefact out to him. He examined it, the runes carved into its flesh, noting the truncations as Rook watched him, apparently studying him.

‘We should head back up to the Upper Mortuary, I need to report this incursion,’ he said, referring to the headquarters of the Death Callers, pocketing the Hand in his Robes. ‘You can tell me why you’ve sought out a Fade expert on the way?’

‘Of course,’ she said, following him back out the chamber towards the elevator.

He watched her dust off her coat, patting out small puffs of dust from the leather sleeves.

‘I really need to stop leaving the Lighthouse without full armour - getting this repaired would take an age.’ Their eyes met; steely grey-blue eyes gently bore into him. ‘Thought we’d be relatively safe with this one, don’t know why,’ she finished looking at Bellara. ‘The Necropolis is a hive of hidden danger at the best of time.’

‘Especially at present,’ put in Emmrich, ‘if this incident is anything to go by. This way please.’

He led them to the elevator, Rook still dusting down her coat until they were moving upwards.

’So, how is it I can help you?’

‘Yes,’ Rook rubbing her hands together. ‘We, that is to say Bellara, myself and a number of my associates have found ourselves caught up in race to save the world from two blighted Elven gods who escaped from a prison within the Fade. We need a Fade expert to help us understand the nature of that prison and help us make sure the rest of the Blight remains locked away there as well helping us navigate a portion of the Fade known as the Crossroads safely.’

She spoke in a rush as if she had rehearsed what she was going to say a couple of times over. Her gaze had become a challenge; a dare to tell her that she was making things up but Emmrich had seen the changes to the currents of the deeper Fade. He’d even felt it pulling apart several weeks earlier with a fluttering of fearful excitement among some of the more volatile inhabitants.

‘And how do our new friends fit into this?’

Rook blew out breath she had been holding in the aftermath of her speech, relief sparking over her face at not being dismissed out of hand. ’They have aligned themselves with the Gods, doing their bidding.’

‘But why come here?’ Asked Bellara.’What’s here that could interest them?’

‘Bellara, the Necropolis contains powerful, magical relics that have been collected for over a thousand years as well as the raw magic that keeps it alive,’ Emmrich explained gently.

‘And they had vessels for siphoning magic,’ said Rook. ’No doubt the ancient magic here interests the Gods.’

‘Making it more imperative we discover who was behind the Hand of Glory,’ said Emmrich lifting the artefact to his eye line to examine it. ‘Who knows what destruction they could have wrought with it.’

He separated the fingers then turning it over to scrutinise the sigils carved into the flesh hoping they could tell him something about who had it. Bellara’s face screwed up in disgust while Rook’s eyes widened with curiosity, fire kindling in her express as she tilted her head in interest.

‘You’ve never seen one before?’ Emmrich enquired.

Rook focused on him. ‘There’s a dried up, dormant one used in practical demonstrations at the academy. Hardly comparable to an active one. The magic radiating off it -‘

‘Indeed,’ Emmrich said slowly, placing it back in his pocket and returning his full attention to Rook. ’Now, back to your query, navigating the Fade and understanding the nature of a prison within the Fade, how would you expect me to provide you with such insight?’

‘Our base of operations, the Lighthouse, sits within the Fade, built by the creator of the prison. We believe the prison is in close proximity to it,’ explained Bellara, ‘we also have access to where Solas opened the prison. But I can’t convert the information into something we can use. Artefacts are more my thing.’

‘Very your thing,’ put in Rook, placing a hand on Bellara’s upper arm. ‘We need help monitoring the prison, but also, perhaps find a way to return them to that prison.’

Bellara’s head turned sharply. ‘What? I thought we were going to attempt to kill them? After D’Meta’s Crossing and the dragons, Minrathous… It’s why you hired Lucanis.’

Rook squeezed Bellara’s arm, turning the younger woman to face her, expression serious. ’They’re Gods, Bellara,’ she spoke softly. ‘We need options to end this, and we have to consider that if Solas could not kill them, only imprison them, that might be our only way out of this as well.’

‘Solas?’

‘Also known as Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf,’ replied Bellara turning to look at Emmrich.

‘The actual Dread Wolf,’ put in Rook. ‘He was also responsible for tearing the veil open over Ferelden and Orlais ten years ago.’

Emmrich frowned. ‘Then he too needs to be stopped.’

Rook nodded her head. ‘That’s another reason to look at the prison. When Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain escaped, Solas was pulled in - now he’s trapped in the Fade prison, and we’d like it to stay that way.’

‘I will do all that I can to assist you,’ he replied with a resolved nod.

[minsimagines]

Rescue - part 4

A/N: I’m SO sorry the delay for this!!!! I’ve been working two jobs and studying and traveling the world since late april. So I’m sorry :’(( Characters: The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes x reader Warnings: Loss, a little blood.  Summary:  Readers an innocent and slightly giddy person. One night her apartment is broken into, and her mysterious neighbor comes to the rescuse. Word Count: 3531. Picture source: https://kingsebastian.tumblr.com/post/149745802022 Part: 1. 2. 3. 4.  

Y/N stared at the woman.

No way. No way!

“you… Why- why are- you’re lying,” she whispered.

Confusion was an understatement.

Anger. Sadness.

Her mother was gone, how dare she talk like that? How dare she tell a lie like that?

“My mother…” Y/N took a breath as the tears welled up in her eyes again, “my mother is dead.”

The lady just smiled at her.

Y/Ns attention went from the lady to James as grunts left his throat. She saw his chest heave and fists curl around the armrests. The grunts were slowly turning into muffled screams as the machine seemed to send shockwaves of electricity into his body.

Closing her eyes, she let out desperate sobs as she tried to think of what to do.

She could always try to run, but James would most likely get badly hurt and she would probably be stopped on her way to the door.

Letting out a shaky breath, she looked at James again. Her body hurt, looking at him.

“Please�� Stop, I don’t know what to do,” Y/N looked at the woman with pleading eyes.

The woman tilted her head.

“Of course you do, you just need to move the bear,” she smiled at the crying girl.

As James screams were getting stronger, Y/N gripped the table.

“What the fuck do you want!? How the hell am I supposed to move something without fucking touching it!?” She screamed at woman, anger bubbling inside her like a bomb ready to explode.

“Use your head.”

“How am I supposed to use my head when you’re killing him?! I can’t fucking think!”

The woman gestured for the men to stop the machine.

“Let’s try this again. Calm down and move the bear.”

Y/N looked at her in disbelief before looking at James who was slowly steadying his breath. He looked at her with desperate eyes.

She wanted to go to him and touch his cheeks and brush her fingers through his hair. She wanted to hug him and stroke his arms and back. Protect him, calm him.

She looked at the woman again.

“I’ll do anything, please, I don’t know how…” Y/N bit her lip.

“Focus on it and move it. Or else we will have to put him under again.”

Y/N felt her anger grow even higher.

“That’s not physically possible! You hurt him and you kill him, because I can’t move a fucking teddy bear!? What the hell is wrong with you people?!”

She knew it probably wasn’t the best idea to anger psychopaths, but she was angry, and she was hurting, and James was hurting. He was hurting so much more, and it was her fault.

The lady just looked at the other scientist and he stepped fore ward, leaning towards Y/N.

“Listen, we don’t want to do this-“

“So, don’t! Stop!” Y/N cut him off.

The man licked his lips in annoyance before looking at James.

The machine started again, and Y/N met eyes with James as he was strapped up once more.

She wanted to scream. To kick, to slap, to hurt the people around her. She wanted to throw them at the wall. She wanted to throw the walls at them.

She looked at the teddy bear in anger. And she stared at it. She pictured it lifting, pictured it flying, pictured it slapping into the ladys face. But all she felt was stupidity. All she felt was James screams, breaking into her body and ripping apart her soul.

She stared and stared and stared. Her mind was a loop of a flying teddy bear, but nothing happened.

As she heard the male scientist whisper about how it wouldn’t be long until James was wiped completely, she felt fear and anger rush through her limbs. It was like something she had neve felt before.

Her fingers started shaking in her lap, her body rigid. Her breathing was getting harder, blending in with the horrid screams from James.

Her James. They were hurting her James.

Memories of their mornings at the breakfast table ran through her mind. The peace and kindness she felt from being with him.

She was staring at the bear.

She almost jumped when she thought she saw it move, although… the bear wasn’t moving. Or; the bear wasn’t the only thing moving. Everything around the bear was moving. Shaking. It was like a small earthquake.

The lady and the man looked at each other with what seemed to be shock and happiness. It made Y/N even angrier. The old building was creaking. But she didn’t feel fear. The only thing she felt was the warmth she had for James.

The shaking got worse. But they didn’t stop. They didn’t turn of the machine. They didn’t stop hurting her James.

Her kind, sweet, handsome James. The man who got shy talking about women he saw on TV yet didn’t hesitate to go through lengths to save her life.

The man who promised to protect her, and the one she had promised to protect back. He had laughed a heartwarming laugh at her statement, and she had smiled her brightest smile at him.

At the thought of losing him, she felt her body didn’t belong to her anymore.

-

Y/N’s mind was blank. There were no sounds, no emotions, no thoughts.

It was all dead. Everything was there, but it was all nothing.

She was there, then she wasn’t.

Looking at the woman in front of her one second, then the next, she was floating through the room, watching herself sit on the chair.

There was a feeling she felt as she was floating around. She couldn’t touch upon it, and she couldn’t tell you what it was, but it was there. In the nothingness.

The room was getting darker around her, and a tiny ball of light appeared before her. She stopped and looked at it. Curious, she leaned closer.

The ball flew backwards.

Y/N exhaled in wonder and flew after it.

The world around her was gone, but she didn’t see. She saw nothing but the so curious light in front of her. It wasn’t flying fast; it wasn’t running from her.

It’s playing with me.

Y/N’s smile grew as she reached out to try to catch it. It slipped away. Each time she would reach out it would slip away.

She would let out a chuckle and try again. It tickled. Whenever she would touch it, it would give her a little shock in the finger.

The feeling was warm and comfortable. She wanted it.

But after a while, she grew tired of it. Frowning, she stopped abruptly in the air.

The ball flew away from her, the light slowly dimming. Staring at it, she wanted to know it, understand it.

For once, taking her eyes from it, she noticed the nothingness around her. How empty it was. Yet… how full. So much darkness.

So many eyes. She couldn’t see them, but something could see her.

She could see nothing, but somehow, she knew there was something. The feeling she had felt earlier was encircling her again. It was not a good feeling. Not like the ball of light, no, the light was good.

A shiver went down her spine as she felt something cold slowly creep up her ankles. Like arms of black nothingness.

Her breathing caught in her throat as she felt something cursing through her veins. It was getting colder yet warmer, burning inside her.

Darker.

The light.

Taking a sharp breath as she looked towards the ever-dimming ball of light, she took off.

But no matter how hard she tried, no matter how she pulled at her body, the cold was at her knees now, swallowing her.

Stretching her hands towards the light, it was slowly getting closer, but it was too far.

She could feel the slight warmth on her fingertips, but the cold heat was holding her back. Her legs were disappearing into the black nothingness, she was slowly being devoured.

The fear was gnawing at her chest as she desperately tried to break free.

The heat was raging inside her like a beast trying to eat its way out of her belly.

Clawing at the air, trying to get hold of something – anything, she was nearing it.

But the void had reached her thighs and she could no longer feel her legs. Her eyes teared and burned.

Her heart was pounding against her ribs; her breath was scratching at her throat; the beast was growing.

She couldn’t contain a scream as she closed in on the ball and felt it with her fingers.

She enveloped it with her palm as the dark reached her stomach, and squeezed her eyes shut as the whole of the darkness exploded in blinding light and she was thrown far away.

Tumbling through the nothing.

Until the nothing came to an abrupt stop.

 -

Air left her lungs as the back of her body hit the ground. Gasping for air, she grabbed at her chest. Eyes wide, staring at the ceiling – or, what once was the ceiling, she wheezed.

Coughing, she tried to move to sit up, but everything hurt.

What the hell is going on?

Breathing hard, she was scared. Tears left her eyes as the fear welled in her chest. What happened?

Turing her head, she saw people on the floor. The light was flickering, the walls shattered. It looked like an earthquake- wait a second.

There was an earthquake. And it had destroyed everything.

Looking around, she saw the soldiers. Some were grunting a little, some were half under a big chunk of… well, building.

Looking down at herself, she was covered in dust, and she winced as she brushed it off. Managing to lean on her arm, she sat up slightly to get a better view. She felt pain in her other arm and noticed a nasty gash right under her shoulder.

There was smoke, dust and… blood.

Swallowing, she panicked as she thought of James.

Where is he?

Looking around frantically, she grunted as she gathered her legs to stand up.

Breathing hard and clutching her stomach, she stood and stumbled towards where he had been. There was a big bit of… ceiling in the place the chair had stood.

Letting out a breath, she covered her mouth. Her eyes shut tightly as pain flowed through her chest.

She knelt. She could see a part of the crushed chair poke out from between some rocks. All she could see was his face in her mind. All she could hear was his voice. And all she felt was pain. Anger. Regret.

If she had only done something. If she had just been with him, maybe he hadn’t been taken.

Maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

Choking on her sobs, she coughed and felt her body draining of energy. Letting the rest of her body fall to the floor, she laid there, her head on her arm. Looking at the mess around her. The world was slowly going dark, but she fought to stay awake.

Though it didn’t help. She was empty. Her body felt so strange. She couldn’t fight it. And as the darkness took her, she thought of the ball of light.

Slowly blinking her eyes open, Y/N winced at the bright light. Reaching her hand up to cover her eyes, she felt pressure around her arm.

Squinting, she looked down on it. There was a bandage around her arm. She noticed she was wearing a hospital gown, but the rest of her body was covered.

Warm.

She was in a bed.

Her mind was racing. She was in what seemed to be a room at a hospital. There was something connected to her hand, a tube of some sort.

Swallowing hard, she grabbed it and pulled it out of her hand. She hissed at the sharp sting and threw the thing on the floor. Looking towards the window, she saw it was dark out.

Why was she here? Where was she? How did she get here? Where were the others?

Y/N pushed her legs over the edge of the bed, letting them hang off it while she tried to gather her thoughts.

Not having any success with that, she decided to see if there was anything in the room that could give her any clue. Stepping down to the floor, she felt a pain run through her body. It felt sore, like she had been running for hours.

Wandering over to the window, she saw the city lights. She could recognize them; she knew she was in town still. She turned around and inspected the rest of the room. There were no items around the room, only the bed, a table and a closet. Y/N stepped towards the closet and opened the doors. Inside she found the clothes she had worn earlier and pulled them out to change.

After doing so, she pulled out a little box on the shelf above where the clothes had been. Her wallet and cellphone. She put them both in her pocket and turned towards the door.

Outside it, she saw an empty hallway. She could hear someone typing on a computer and soft music, probably a radio.

Taking a deep breath, she decided she would walk out of there and go home. Stepping towards the sound of the radio, she saw a young lady with bright red lipstick typing away at the computer. The woman looked up at her and she stood up once she saw Y/N.

“You should be sleeping,” she said as she went to step around the little booth she sat behind.

Y/N walked faster.

“I don’t think so.”

“Miss!” the lady yelled after her as she walked towards the elevators in a hurry.

Pressing the button a million times a second, Y/N cursed under her breath.

“Come on…” she whispered as she heard the nurse approach her.

“Miss, you can’t just leave!”

As the door dinged open, Y/N ran in and pressed the close button as if her life depended on it, because well… it might.

Y/N saw the lady start running as the doors closed, but she didn’t make it. The doors closed and the elevator rushed down. She now knew she was in the 11th floor.

What the hell…

When the elevator reached the 1st floor, she rushed out and walked briskly towards the entrance doors. A guard greeted her on her way.

“Good evening, miss,” the old man smiled.

Y/N just smiled back and continued to hurry towards the doors. And she didn’t stop once she was outside.

Once outside, she almost started running. She walked as fast as she could to the main road to get a cab. She was going home. Maybe she had hit her head, and this was all a dream and that James was still alive.

James.

She hadn’t even thought about him until now. The image of him smiling at breakfast made her body freeze. It stopped dead in it’s tracks and her eyes teared. She felt her breath hitch in her throat as she almost leaned out to grasp at the image of him. Gulping, she bit her cheek and pushed past it. She needed to get home.

After getting in a taxi, Y/N still couldn’t relax. She knew where she was headed and she knew that what had happened must have been a dream, but she needed to see. She needed to physically feel his body before she would believe it. And this taxi wasn’t moving fast enough.

When it reached her building, she gave the taxi driver some money and said he could keep the change, just so she could run out. Sprinting into the tight alley besides her building, she pushed between two dumpsters and lifted a small rock from the ground. Beneath it she found her spare key and ran out again.

Sprinting up the stairs, she gasped for air; both from the run and from the fear. When she got to her floor, she came to an abrupt stop. Someone was exiting James’ apartment. But it wasn’t him. It was a man, probably James’ age. He was handsome maybe, but all she knew was that he wasn’t James.

“Hello there!” he greeted her, with a grin and a wave.

“What are you doing?” she said. He looked at her.

“Excuse me?” he asked with a confused smile. He had a british accent.

“I said, what are you doing?” Y/N said firmly as she stepped towards him and pushed him out of the way.

“I- hello!?” he yelled as Y/N pushed past him into James’ apartment.

The apartment was… the same, but different. It wasn’t her saviors. There were decorations. Even a vase on the kitchen table.

“It’s- it’s all wrong…” Y/N whispered as she felt a horrible pull in her stomach. She felt sick.

“Excuse me!? Care to tell me what you’re doing in my apartment?” the man demanded.

Y/N suddenly felt furious. She spun around and faced him. Her body was shaking.

“This is not your apartment,” she said, sounding like venom was dripping from her lips.

The man took a step back.

“Hey, I don’t know what your talking about, okay? I just moved in,” he said, holding his hands up.

Y/N frowned.

“When?” she asked.

“What?” the brit asked, stupidly.

“When!?” Y/N screamed, and it was like the walls shook with her voice.

The brit nervously looked towards his walls for a split second. Y/N kept her eyes on his.

“I- uh, I moved in yesterday, I’m sorry…” he did sound sorry.

Y/N didn’t know how to process the information just given her. She wanted to scream how this made no sense. How this had to be a dream. He seemed to see the confusion in her eyes.

“Hey…” he said gently, “where do you live?”

Y/N’s eyes searched his for any malicious intent but found none.

“I live next door,” she whispered.

He seemed to both like and dislike this information. She had to admit she understood him.

“Well, okay… so, I guess you knew the last one that lived here then?”

Knew was an understatement.

Y/N just nodded her head at him. Her mind was racing.

“And I guess they didn’t tell you they were leaving?”

Maybe he had, she had just been too busy staring at his beautiful blue eyes to see.

Y/N frowned.

He took that as a yes.

“Okay, let’s sit down, hm? Maybe we can figure something out?”

Y/N hated to admit it, but this brit was a nice guy. Nothing like her mysterious teddy, but he seemed alright. She nodded her head as he held his hand out towards the kitchen table.

As he walked over, she slowly followed and sat down.

“Boyfriend?” he asked.

Y/N’s head snapped up at him. She didn’t know what James was. They had been friends in the beginning for sure, but friends don’t look at each other like they did towards the end.

The end… what if this really was the end?

Y/N bit her lip and he nodded his head.

“I see, well… I never met them. I had just posted my number online so anyone who knew about an apartment could call me,” he explained. She frowned.

“Them?”

“Yeah, there were two people, a couple I assume,” he shrugged.

“But… There was only one man living here, why were two people-” as her mind went to the woman in the abandoned building and the man, she panicked.

“I- I need to go,” Y/N pushed up from the chair and ran out.

“Hey, wait! Where are you going?” he came after her.

She fumbled with her keys in the lock on her door. Getting frustrated, she couldn’t calm her shaking hands.

Gentle hands grabbed the keys from her hands and pushed her own away. For a second, she thought it was James. Looking up at the man, she couldn’t even hide her disappointment.

The man unlocked her door for her, and Y/N pushed it open. The brit behind her was worried it might fly of it’s hinges at her force.

The apartment looked like it usually did. Except for the kitchen table. On the kitchen table there was a vase with flowers and a note. Y/N froze. The brit stopped next to her. He looked at her terrified expression and looked at the flowers.

“What?”

Y/N didn’t answer. Her breath deepened as she stepped closer to the table. The flowers were pink, orange and yellow. They were beautiful, but they weren’t hers.

Picking up the note, she opened it. Her eyes widened and a gasp left her throat as she dropped the note on the floor. The brit frowned and picked it up.

“Oh, you been ill?” he looked at her after reading it, only to find the face of a deeply disturbed girl. Looking down at it again, he checked the back of it to see if there was something he missed, but he didn’t find anything.

He only saw a lovely get-well card. She saw a lot more.

Will be back to check on you soon. You made wonderful progress. Your friend sends his regards.

                 Much love.

                        -   Your mother.

“No...” Y/N whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Then what’s wrong with this? You don’t like your mother?” he asked. 

Y/N swallowed hard preparing to answer, and the answer shocked the stranger as much as the letter shocked her. 

“I don’t have a mother.”

Tag list:

@buckysgirl04

[adrift-in-writing]

An Unexpected Gift - Chapter 3

Concluding chapter for @jainapridemoore since I put this off for some time.

_____________________________

A couple of days with a fennec fox in the household proved to be a little more troublesome. She was always so energetic, and so...you. Rarely did she go to sleep and came along quietly to do so, but when she did, it was nice. A little furball sleeping on top of you and accepting you was the best thing.

Elise had woke up one morning a bit more exhausted than she was before. Giselle was supposed to be on her side, yet it would appear she was gone. There were occasional yips here and there emanating from the kitchen, undoubtedly playing with her new dwarven ball, or snacking on more rabbits. Or both.

Her fondness for Giselle inevitably subsided in the days they were together. It was always so...noisy. Plus it kept trying to get out of the house to dig a hole in the grass, or try to enter Nora’s cave.

She should really get that cave sealed off. Ever since the corruption, things just reeked sinister out of it.

Whatever the case, a nice gesture of a gift quickly became a bite in the ass for her. She still couldn’t get around to doing anything to support her pet; there would be no easy way to get sand nor would it be easy to keep a fox around.

The elf smacked her lips and got up. She didn’t bother dressing herself, wearing only her pants. Her obsidian necklace had dangled about, occasionally jingling as she swayed. Wood underneath her feet had creaked with every footstep as Elise rubbed her head while going to the kitchen.

To nobody’s surprise, Giselle had made a mess of the floor by eating raw rabbit again. The little kit had roamed around, flinging little bits of bone here and there. Upon her hearing Elise coming up, she stopped playing around with her automated ball and looked upwards.

The redheaded elf of course, knelt down and picked Giselle up from the ground. She had no resistance against it, albeit it did have a seemingly confused expression on its foxxy little face.

Giselle’s ears flopped, much to the delight of Elise.

“Always eating my rabbit storage. And here I was thinking Neve was the only messy eater.”

Come to think of it, she never talked to Neve as much anymore, and that wendigo never made her appearance be known for a while. Or...really, anybody. She was all alone.

Never mind that now, what needed her attention was the fox in her hands. For a moment, her eyes wandered the kitchen so Elise would know where to go to clean everything up. Empty bottles of Honningbrew mead from the few days following Giselle’s welcome littered a part of the floor accompanied by relatively small bones, so that’d need to be taken care of somehow.

Elise had let Giselle go roam somewhere else for the time being. She let herself droop in a nearby chair, humming to herself. She hadn’t the faintest idea of where to go today...or any day for that matter. She didn’t want to find some old decrepit trove to raid. She didn’t want to go and be errant; those days still brought back far too many dark memories.

An audible ‘thud’ had reached her pointed elven ears, and it snapped Elise out of her train of thought. She blinked, and heard the thud again. Over to the entrance of the house, Giselle seemed to be trying to get the door open.

“What is it this time? Pretty sure it ain’t business since you went in here a few times already, runt.”

In response, the kit turned her attention towards the elf. It yipped and squeaked noisily, as if begging for the door to be opened. Elise began to open her mouth, but chose not to say anything.

“I’m not dressed. People see me and they’re gonna think I’m a wood nymph. Oblivion’s sake, I am a wood nymph! Even with clothes!”

Giselle wouldn’t change her mind. She intently kept yipping, this time more aggressively. Much to Elise’s dismay, she let out a long sigh and clicked her tongue.

“Lemme get a shirt on.”

She stood up, marching towards the entrance first to open it up lest Giselle make more unnecessary noise. “There. Happy?”

Without anymore noises, Giselle escaped the lodgings as Elise watched out of the cabin. It didn’t go very far, just by Elise’s observations. Past that bridge, it didn’t want to get any further. It simply...ran around. A nearby Imperial vanguard had been marching in the kit’s direction, but they paid absolutely no mind to it.

Exhaling deeply, Elise left the door open and went back to her room to grab an olive green shirt to put on, and a pair of leather boots so her feet wouldn’t get dirty. Lastly, her mother’s obsidian ring wrapped itself around her index finger. By the time the elf had returned back to the front door, Giselle had been intently waiting on her. Elise had shut the door behind her and paused momentarily, getting a breath of fresh air.

Crossing the bridge, Giselle seemed more giddy than normal. When the two had met on the other side, the kit turned around and began walking towards a nearby forest on the way to Riverwood, and naturally, Elise followed.

Maybe it needed a walk. Maybe it was following something for some time, but Elise never knew what it was since it didn’t concern her all that much.

Nearby wolves had raised their heads at Elise at her little fennec fox, growling yet unable to make any predatory moves, though she was not in the mood for it. In response to the growling, Elise made a much more aggressive growl in return to ward them off. They did so, almost whimpering back at her.

Giselle’s walk turned out to be farther away than their current cabin, and for a moment Elise was unsure on whether or not to follow any further. She stopped in her own tracks, and Giselle knew about it and stopped as well.

“Where are you even going, little one?” Elise had said, questioning even herself for allowing her fennec fox to get this far.

It yipped, like it always did. Then it took a quick glance at a roaming bunny, and proceeded to chase after it. Despite her age, Giselle had managed to match its speed with the bunny and had taken it down already.

“...You wanted to come out to hunt?”

She hadn’t even eaten yet. Heck, she didn’t even get her hunting daggers or her bow for this occasion. Though she was indeed strong enough to take down a deer - or perhaps a fully grown bear if she put effort into it - things got messier that way, and she often never chose the messier way unless she had to.

Once Giselle had gotten her first kill, she raced back with fresh meat between her teeth. The bunny itself was fairly small, though it did seem to break physics and the natural order on how things worked. For one, a baby kit could not even utilize its teeth in this way, or at least not this early. And for another, it couldn’t have ran and caught up with a small bunny.

The fox had set down the rabbit at Elise’s feet and squeaked some, but Elise shook her head.

“...No. I’m not hunting. I can’t.”

That only caused Giselle to squeak even more. She seemed angry; the volume of her squeaks became louder and she became more erratic, until Elise raised her hand for Giselle to stop.

“Fine! We’re getting my dagger since I don’t feel like shooting anything.”

The elf had gestured at Giselle to stay put, simply by pointing intently at where the dead rabbit was. Sure enough, the kit stayed put and began gnawing on the rabbit’s carcass.

Returning home, Elise went downstairs to go grab her golden kukri and her other hunting gear. From a satchel to some extra belts with pouches, throwing daggers and the like, she equipped herself enough so that she was prepared well-enough that she’d be out for a while. As an added bonus, she reconsidered and brought along her bow and hunting arrows.

It strangely felt good, having to wear these again. Elise hadn’t picked up anything for the past few months that rightfully belonged to her save for a bow and dagger to keep up appearances, but otherwise...

Her return to Giselle didn’t take as long, and the fox did as she was told. It had already eaten about a quarter of the way into an unskinned bunny by the time Elise had come back, and Elise picked up that dead thing to put into her satchel.

Next thing the redheaded elf knew, Giselle ran into the forest, eager to get her next kill. For a moment, Elise got reminded about herself and the way she felt, that ‘urge’ to go hunt even though she already stockpiled enough. It didn’t matter if it was a deer or a large fox, she’d track them down and make it quick and painless.

And in that moment, Elise smiled a little as Giselle went ahead. The distinct sound of a deer being attacked was heard followed by yipping noises. Her heart almost skipped a beat, and the thrill of the hunt came back to her. After some careful consideration, Elise nodded once.

“Sure. I’ll play with you.” She had muttered, unsheathing her knife before running in as well, directly where the noise was coming from.

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Getting Paid To Scuba Dive: My Experience Working With the Indonesian Tourism Board

I’ve already written about my time spent scuba diving in Alor, Komodo and Raja Ampat, but they were mostly just detailed guides about how to get to the sites and experience the diving in Indonesia. I wanted to write a separate article from my perspective, as a travel blogger, being invited to take part in such an incredible trip.

When we first started this blog, our dream was to one day get paid to travel the world, but that dream felt so far away that it seemed to be just that… a dream. In the beginning, our blog grew extremely slowly. I’d check the stats every day to see 10 or 15 people had visited our pages.

Over time, as we started writing a lot of guest posts, getting featured on big media sites and properly marketing our blog, it began to grow. After about 2 years, we started receiving offers to get paid to travel.

First it was Mashable who hired us to take part in a campaign they were working on with Cathay Pacific. They paid us a wage and flew us to New York for a weekend spent offline. Since then we’ve worked with the Malta Tourism Board, Discover Kyrgyzstan, Discover New Hampshire, Juicertrip and numerous other brands on paid travel campaigns.

Being interviewed in Upstate New York during the Mashable / Cathay Pacific campaign

Pretty much every single one of these trips that Dariece and I have taken part in have been bucket list travel items for us. They’ve all been extremely well-organized and none of them have felt like an organized tour.

We can’t imagine being shipped around a bus with 40 other people, which is how many of these press trips are organized for travel bloggers. We typically turn down any trip that would feel like an enormous tour group.

Turning down free and paid trips is definitely a luxury that we never would’ve imagined having when we first started travel blogging. Lately though, it seems that there’s an email in our inbox every month, inviting us to some exotic land on a paid “press trip”.

It sounds like it’s too good to be true, and it kind of feels that way too… but there is a considerable amount of work to be done for each trip.

We get paid to travel, and in return, we offer a lot of exposure, videos, articles and all forms of digital storytelling for the brands, boards and companies that we partner with. We do our best to share both the positives and the negatives of the places we visit.

People always ask us why we tell people to start a travel blog. We have it posted all over this website: “Start a travel blog today and get our free ebook that will show you how to grow an audience and earn money online!”.

Quite honestly, it’s the best decision we ever made. That’s why we want to help others start a blog to share their stories and information with the world – while being paid to travel and live abroad.

Had we not started this blog back in 2012, where would we be? What if we hadn’t read that post by Johnny Ward that inspired us to start blogging? What if we had read it, but never actually followed through on creating Goats On The Road?

We look back on those days like a lottery winner looks back on the day they bought their winning ticket. “What if I hadn’t walked into the store that day?” – “What if the person in front of me bought the ticket instead?”

We did buy that ticket and because of that decision, I was able to take part in the Trip of Wonders 2017 scuba dive trip.

Getting invited on experiences like this reminds us just how fortunate we are and how happy we are that our paths brought us here.

For those who love travel, writing and photography, travel blogging is the ultimate job. This is the best way to combine the things you’re SUPER passionate about, while earning money at the same time.

When we received the email from The Ministry of Tourism Indonesia, saying that I was invited to take part in the scuba-focused Trip of Wonders 2017, I was blown away. This was really the trip of a lifetime and it was with an incredible crew of people.

Meet The Team

The Trip of Wonders took 10 online influencers to the 3 best dive locations in Indonesia. The trip included everything, flights to and from Indonesia, flights between islands, all transfers, accommodation, diving and food… everything.

This was all organized by Boulle, a miracle worker who somehow put this whole thing together with his team and it went off without a hitch. Our trip leader was Pinneng, a hilarious guy from Kupang, Indonesia who we all came to call Dad.

Me & Pinneng On The Liveaboard Dive Boat in Komodo

There were also numerous people from the Ministry of Tourism who joined the trip at different times. In total, most of the time we were travelling with around 15 people.

From the moment the trip started, it was obvious that we had a great crew. Nobody was a diva and everyone was out to have an adventure. We all met for a “welcome dinner” at the Novotel Hotel at the Bali airport and while it was a bit quiet because everyone was jet lagged, it was still fun to meet the group and hear more about our upcoming trip.

The first morning of the trip, I had to say goodbye to Dariece. We hadn’t spent more than 48 hours apart in 10 years! This was going to be 12 days and it was definitely a sad goodbye. She stayed in Bali, while I took off on my scuba diving adventure.

From Bali I flew to Alor and that morning was the last time I had to carry my backpack. Boulle had the trip so well-organized that we literally didn’t even touch our bags on travel days. We’d leave them outside the hotel room door and the team would pick them up, take them to the airport, check them, and then take them to our hotel room on the other side.

We didn’t have to deal with any of the annoying things that typically come on travel days. We flew economy, but enjoyed lounge access at every stopover. What service!

Landing in Alor, we hopped on a bus that took us to a local tribe where we witnessed a really cool traditional performance. It felt a little bit “put on” for tourists, but the dancing and the music was beautiful and it was interesting to see their traditional clothing.

The next day the diving started. I have to say that Indonesia truly raised the bar for what makes a good dive. In Alor, every dive was phenomenal. We had visibility up to 30 meters and there were such thick clouds of fish that they blurred my vision and partly blocked out the sun on some of the dives. It was incredible!

On one of the dives in Alor, I remember being at around 15 meters and a smile creased my face. Suddenly it hit me. I was being paid to do something that I love. I was being paid to scuba dive.

I remember the day (back in 2008) when I got my Open Water dive certification in Thailand and how excited I was. I paid a lot of money for that course and a lot of money on the dives that followed. I would’ve never thought that one day I would be hired by a tourism board and get paid to dive in some of the best locations on Earth. What a job!

After Alor we hopped on another flight that took us to Komodo Island. My friend Justin had dived in Komodo in the past and told me that it’s the best diving he has ever done. Justin has done nearly a thousand dives, so it was a big statement coming from him.

In Komodo we met up with the livaboard dive boat, which is where we were going to live and dive for the next 3 days. I had never joined a liveaboard before, so I was extremely excited to experience it.

The boat was awesome. There were plenty of areas to lounge and relax and our cabins even had air conditioning! I was lucky to have my own private cabin and although it was tiny and quite basic (there were no blankets), I was happy that I didn’t have to share a room like some of the other people on the trip.

Our Liveaboard Dive Boat in Komodo

That first afternoon in Komodo we all jumped off the side of the boat, swam, drank a few beers and watched as the sun set over the rippled, curtain-like surfaces of the Komodo Islands. As the sun dipped beneath the Savu Sea, massive bats started emerging from the horizon and their flapping silhouettes flew right over our boat.

It was the perfect end to our first day in the National Park.

The following morning we woke up at 6:30 (we woke up early every single day on this trip), had breakfast on the liveaboard boat and then hopped on a smaller boat that took us to Rinca Island. This is where we saw the massive Komodo Dragons.

Dariece and I visited Rinca Island back in 2009 and not much had changed since then. We walked around the island with a ranger and spotted over a dozen of the 200lb lizards. I’m still shocked at how close the rangers allowed us to get, I could’ve literally poked one of the dragons with my GoPro selfie stick at one point.

These things can run at 30km / hour and are able to take down buffalo, so I wouldn’t be surprised if these relaxed regulations change in the coming years. It will only take a few more tourists to get devoured by these lizards before they tighten up the rules (yes, there have been incidents in the past).

After the dragons, it was back on the small boat to start diving in Komodo. The first dive site was Manta Alley and I was dying to spot a manta ray – an experience that has been on my diving bucket list for years.

Luckily we saw two enormous mantas on that dive! One of them swam right towards us and as I fumbled with my GoPro to try to hit the record button, I was literally staring down the throat of the 7 foot wide ray. It banked left at the last minute and I have some amazing shots of it (don’t miss the video at the bottom of this post).

That first dive was incredible, and they just got better and better after that. We spotted dozens of turtles, eagle rays, sharks, crocodile fish, octopus and eels in Komodo. The fish life was just as abundant as it was in Alor, but there were so many large pelagic here, so I think it was a better location.

On the second night in Komodo there was a night dive scheduled. I had never done a night dive before and I have to say that it’s an eerie, but thrilling experience. We went down with flashlights in the pitch black and spotted sharks, octopus, squid, lion fish and some giant puffers.

On the night dive, even if I lost sight of the group for a second, my heart would start racing. There’s something nerve-wracking about being in the middle of the ocean at 18 meters depth, with nothing but a flashlight and the sound of your own breathing.

The second morning in Komodo we woke up at 3:30 am (I know… crazy). We all rolled out of bed like zombies and hopped on the small boat that took us on a short ride over to Gili Lawa. We arrived on the beach in the pitch black and started hiking up the highest hill on the small island.

I was exhausted, trying to get my body to move when it wanted to be back in bed. I looked up and saw a sky full of stars – the kind that you have to travel far from civilization and light pollution to see.

Sunrise at Gili Lawa

When we reached the top, we all set up our cameras and waited for the sunrise spectacle to begin. When the sun finally started to rise above the sea and illuminate the folded surfaces of the Komodo Islands, I was speechless. I rarely get up for sunrises, but this one was worth every missed minute of sleep.

After the sunrise, we had two dives planned and they continued to amaze me. Castle Rock dive site was mind-blowing and we finished Komodo off with another visit to Manta Alley where we spotted one more manta ray.

After Komodo we hopped on another series of flights to bring us to Raja Ampat, the final location on the trip. Again we didn’t touch our bags and they were magically placed in our rooms upon our arrival to the Raja Ampat Dive Resort.

This was my favourite part of the trip by far. Not only is Raja Ampat a very remote dive location that few people get to visit, it’s also one of the most visually stunning places I’ve ever seen in my travels.

Tiny coral crusted islands dot the sea, their white sandy edges diving beneath the calm surface – illuminating the water around them in a brilliant aquamarine glow.

Villagers passed by in their small boats looking at our large dive boat with curiosity. They were probably taking their children to and from school – their lives, although passing so close to ours, seemed so far away.

We checked into the dive resort and it was my favourite accommodation of the trip. The word “resort” really doesn’t do this place justice. There were 8 funky bungalows sitting right on the sand overlooking the bay.

Mike and I shared a room in one of the rustic but modern bungalows. We could literally hear the sea lapping up on the shore just meters in front of our door. A romantic place for two grown men without their girlfriends .

The diving in Raja Ampat was the best on the trip, the accommodation was the best, the above water activities were the best, and Raja Ampat is probably my new favourite place in Indonesia.

We did 8 dives around the islands and each one was better than the last. Words really can’t explain what the sea looks like when it’s this rich in marine life. Actually, a world record was set here for the most fish species spotted in one dive – 374!

Diving like this needs to be experienced to be believed.

On one day of diving, we also visited the Piyaynemo Islands. This network of tiny atolls attached by white sandbars looks like something out of a fairytale. Emerald waters separate jagged cliffs and sandy shores in this natural wonder of the world.

If you’ve ever seen a photo of Raja Ampat, it’s likely from the breathtaking viewpoint at Piyaynemo Island. We hung out around the islands for a few hours, flying drones, taking photos and just jumping off of our boat into the crystal clear water.

  By this time, our group had become really close. We were always laughing, joking and having a great time. We spent every hour of every day together and we got along really well. Each of us seemed to appreciate how fortunate we were to be on such an epic trip.

On the last day, Boulle organized a farewell party at the dive resort. He invited some local performers from a nearby village and we all danced, drank beer (and some rum), sang and partied all night.

These are the parts of the experience that I didn’t include in the videos that I created or in the blog posts that I wrote because it was a part of the trip that was just for the influencers. The farewell party was an amazing end to a trip that I will never forget.

The following day, groggy and hung over, satisfied to have completed such an epic adventure and sad to see the end, we all boarded our final flights back to Bali.

I feel so honoured and blessed to have been invited on this trip and I’m so happy that I was able to meet all of these awesome people and see all of these incredible places in Indonesia. I don’t know that I would’ve ever made it to Raja Ampat, Alor and Komodo on my own and if I did, I doubt I could have planned it so well and surrounded myself with such amazing diver friends.

I really wish that Dariece was able to dive and take part in this trip and it seems strange to have such an amazing travel memory that I didn’t share with her, but hopefully next year we’re invited again and she can join.

If you ever get the chance to visit any of these parts of Indonesia, don’t hesitate. They are spectacular – both above and below the water.

Don’t Miss The Videos!

▶︎ Diving in Indonesia Part 1: Alor

▶︎ Diving in Indonesia Part 2: Komodo

▶︎ Diving in Indonesia Part 3: Raja Ampat

The post Getting Paid To Scuba Dive: My Experience Working With the Indonesian Tourism Board appeared first on Goats On The Road.

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[embklitzke]

Awakenings - Book 6 - Chapter 9

The world ended on an August Sunday.  This is the story of some of those who survived the end of everything.

Nine

               “If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” Jacqueline grumbled, standing near the tangled holly and lavender that grew along the edges of the ravine now, planted months ago in the hopes that it would help anchor the wards that Marin had worked so hard to lay, the ones that they’d all tried to help her with—with varying levels of success.

               Phelan stayed quiet, kneeling next to one of the plants, idly fingering its branches.  There was something calming about the action and calm was something he certainly felt like he needed in the wake of everything going on—from his realization that Vammatar’s sisters were back on his trail to Cameron’s news about Leviathan, he needed something to help him find his center again.

               There’s no telling when I’m going to have to pull another trick like what Matt and I did the other day or what I did on the ice to save Thordin—and I don’t know if I’ve got another trick like either of those in me at this point.  Maybe not ever again.

               “Phelan, are you listening?”

               He blinked, looking up.  She was staring at him, a strange look on her face.  He frowned.

               “I’m sorry,” he murmured, looking back down at the stalk of lavender between his fingers.  “My mind was wandering.”

               “It’s been doing that a lot the past few days,” Jacqueline said, sinking down to sit beside him.  “What’s wrong?”

               He shook his head slightly.  The buds were soft against his fingertips.  “I’m all right.  There’s just a lot on my mind.”

               “There’s a lot on all of our minds, Phelan,” she said softly.  She put her hand on his arm and squeezed.  “Talk to me.  Don’t shut me out.”

               Phelan shook his head again, shifting to sit instead of kneel.  Jacqueline sighed.

               “Is this the way it’s going to be?” she asked. “Are you going to clam up every time something’s bothering you just so you don’t upset me by letting me in on what’s going on in your head?”

               A choked laugh escaped him.  “I hope not.”

               “Then talk to me.”

               Phelan closed his eyes and leaned toward her. She wrapped both arms around his waist, resting her head against his.

               “I love you, Phelan,” she murmured.  “Even if you keep secrets and scare the crap out of me. I just don’t want you to shut me out.”

               “I won’t,” he promised, wrapping one arm around her.  “I promise.”

               “Does that mean that you’re going to tell me whatever the hell is eating at you?”

               Phelan choked on a laugh, a weak one, but a laugh nonetheless.  “When it rains, it pours,” he said, as if that would explain everything. Jacqueline’s exasperated sigh told him that it absolutely hadn’t and Phelan scrubbed a hand over his face.

               “I don’t know if I can do it again,” he said simply.  Jacqueline frowned, her brows knitting.

               “Don’t know if you can do what?”

               “I don’t know how much use I’ll be in the next fight, or the one after that, or the one after that,” he said, his stomach hollowing out.  Thinking it had been one thing, but putting voice to it was so much worse.  “I just—I can’t—”

               “I don’t understand,” she said softly. “Phelan, what are you talking about?”

               He sighed, closing his eyes.  She wrapped both arms around him and squeezed tightly.

               “Talk to me,” she whispered.  “Please, Phelan.”

               “I’m sorry.  It’s hard, okay?  Articulating it is—” he broke off, frowning and staring out over the ravine.  “What Matt and I were able to do at the battle against Olympium.  I don’t think I can pull off something like that again, or what I did on the ice that woke Leviathan—not that I’d ever want to do that again.”

               “I hope you’re never in a position where you feel like you have to, not again.”  Her lips brushed his temple and he shivered.  “You’re not the only one who can fight whatever bad guys show up here, Phelan.”

               “No,” he murmured.  “I’m just the one with the most experience.”

               “Something tells me your cousin would dispute that.”

               He shivered again.  “My cousin was a boogeyman that people used to use to scare their children.”

               “Well, at least he’s on our side now.”

               Phelan choked on another weak laugh and squeezed her close.  “I love you, Jac.”

               “I love you, too.” She squeezed him again, then drew back slightly.  “Now stop beating yourself up about things you probably can’t help.  Whatever happens, happens.  We’ll be okay.  Somehow, we’ll be okay.”

               I hope she’s right about that, Phelan thought, then reached up to scrub a hand over his face.  “Of course—we’ve been all right thus far, anyway.  Now what were you saying?”

               “You mean when you weren’t listening?”

               One corner of his mouth lifted in a rueful smile. “Yes, then.”

               “Nothing all that important,” she said, then shook her head, giving him one last squeeze before she let go and started to stand up. “I’m going to go back.  You coming?”

               He shook his head.  “I’ll stay out here a little longer.  You’re going to go check on Neve, aren’t you?”

               Jacqueline nodded.  “She’s probably getting closer than any of us realize.  I don’t think she was paying attention to when things might have happened.”

               Phelan chuckled softly.  “Probably not.”  There was a lot going on then.  “Go on.  I’ll catch up later.”

               “You going to be okay?”

               “Always,” Phelan said, though they both knew it was probably a lie.

               Jacqueline leaned down and pressed a kiss to his temple before she turned and walked away.  Phelan looked out over the ravine again. His fingers sank into the grass as he sat there in front of the hedges.  The wards were weaker now, weaker than he remembered them being.

               Marin hasn't been out here to tend them for a few days.  Probably what it is.

               The fact that they relied so heavily on her to take care of the wards should have worried him more than it did, especially in light of what he knew, of what she’d told him in the past.

               We need to change that.

               Footsteps approached from behind and Phelan opened his eyes, exhaling quietly.

               “What is it, Thordin?”

               The footsteps stopped.  “How did you know it was me?”

               “You’re still limping,” Phelan said, turning. “Where’s Sif?  I thought she was still attached to you at the hip.”

               Thordin shrugged slightly and sank down into the grass next to him.  “I told her I was going up to the forge.  She said okay.”

               “This isn’t the forge.”

               “Nope.”

               Phelan stared at him for a long moment.  “So you lied to her.”

               “Eventually, I’ll make it to the forge.” Thordin shrugged with one shoulder.  He was still pale after his ordeal and Phelan was more than half certain he’d dropped a dozen pounds—probably of muscle—during his recovery as well.  The lindwyrm had very nearly been the end of him.  “I did want to talk to Matt about some things and he’s up there, but I also felt like I needed to talk to you.”

               “About what?” Phelan mumbled, staring out over the ravine again.  A shaft of sunlight through the canopy of trees caught his eye and he tracked it up to a gap between branches and trees before letting his gaze drift away again. “Did I miss something?”

               “If you did, it’s less than what I missed.” Thordin shook his head slightly. “They’re coming back for another round, huh?”

               “Seems that way.”  Phelan chafed his palm against his arm, biting down on the inside of his lip.  “Honestly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.  Daniel and his pack must have been very good at laying a false trail and bogging them down.”

               I hope they didn’t pay a price for it.

               “Or they got distracted by something else,” Thordin said, his voice quiet.

               "Like what?  I don’t know about you, but my experiences with them point to a serious interest in vengeance—to the exclusion of everything else.  That’s the only thing that knocked me off their radar. Well.  That and distance.”

               Thordin shook his head slowly.  “They’re more easily distracted than you think, especially if they think they’ve found better targets.  But they don’t forget.  Sometimes I think they bank on that—their targets forgetting before they do.”

               “Except we haven’t forgotten,” Phelan said, squeezing his eyes shut.  We’re just not ready for them.

               “No, we haven’t,” Thordin agreed.  “But I’ll be damned if I know how we’re going to handle them and Leviathan.”  He lapsed into silence for a moment, absently rubbing at his injured side, close to healed, but Phelan knew it still bothered him and probably would for the rest of his life.  Some wounds were like that—like Cameron’s, where the dirae had gotten a piece of him, like Teague’s where one of Hecate’s daggers had dug deep into his side.

               What would he say now if he knew? Phelan wondered, his thoughts drifting.  His attention snapped back as Thordin cleared his throat.

               “I’m guessing from your silence that you don’t have any really stellar ideas, either.”

               “No,” Phelan admitted.  “But how the hell do you know so much about them?  I thought you didn’t remember everything.”

               “I don’t.  Sif and I have been talking, though, and they’ve got a reason to hate her, too.”  His lips thinned and he swallowed hard.  “I’m worried about her.”

               “In what way?”

               “I’m worried that she’ll try to talk me into cutting and running,” he admitted.  “I’m worried that I’ll listen and then you guys won’t have us or worse yet, we’ll go, some of you guys will come after us and you’ll find us dead or worse because we can’t handle those bitches on our own and running isn’t going to help.  We can’t run forever.  I think that’s the only thing that keeps her from doing everything I’ve just said.”

               Phelan winced, rubbing at his jaw.  “Are you sure?”

               “Never, not anymore.”  Thordin leaned back, resting against his elbows and staring at the sky.  “If there’s anything that’s become abundantly clear to me in the past year, it’s that there’s a lot of shit I don’t know and even less I understand.”  He shot his friend a weak, wry smile.  “Honestly, I’m not sure I would want to carry that burden anyway.”

               “Trust me, you don’t,” Phelan muttered.  “But in some ways, I’m starting to be in the same boat. There are some things I know are supposed to happen and Thom and Marin’s visions have been confirming it, but there’s stuff that I—” he broke off, his jaw tightening for a moment.  “It’s starting to get hard to track all of it and keep myself alive at the same time.”  And have a life and maybe a future that doesn’t involve me wandering the face of the globe looking for prophecies and shepherding them to their fruition or whatever damned bullshit we were taught to believe a Taliesin was supposed to do. “Maybe I should stop.”

               “Stop what?”

               “Trying to make sense of all of it,” Phelan said, then sighed.  “Stop trying to play the role of the Taliesin in a world where maybe I’m not needed anymore—not in that capacity, anyway.”

               “Phelan.”

               The tone of his friend’s voice made Phelan grimace. He rubbed at his temple.  “I know what you’re going to say.”

               “Are you going to make me say it?”

               “No,” Phelan said, feeling the weight of the world crash down on his shoulders again.  “No, you’re going to tell me that I’m needed, that I still have a job to do and the world still needs a Taliesin.”

               “Mostly that,” Thordin said.  “But I was also going to say that being the Taliesin and being happy aren’t mutually exclusive.  Being the Taliesin and mostly staying here, staying with Jac and the others, you can do that.  You’re the Taliesin.  You make the rules and no one is going to tell you that you’re doing it wrong.  The only person who could is Seamus and he’s got his own shit to deal with.”

               Phelan smiled crookedly and shook his head. “When the hell did you get so wise about this sort of bullshit, Thordin?”

               “I don’t know,” the other man said.  “Maybe I always was and I never had to rise to the occasion.  Probably that, honestly.”

               Phelan chuckled and Thordin grinned.

               “You want company up at the forge?” Phelan asked.

               “I probably wouldn’t say no to it,” Thordin admitted.  “You ready?”

               Phelan nodded.  “Yeah.  Let’s head up.  Thanks for pulling me out of my own head.”

               “Easier than pulling you out of your own ass,” Thordin said as he got to his feet.  “You’re welcome, Phelan.”

               The Taliesin threw his arm around his friend’s shoulders and together, the two headed up the hill toward the forge.

Awakenings is a fiction serial written by Erin M. Klitzke.  It updates three times a week at http://awakenings.embklitzke.com.  Full chapters will be released here on Tumblr once a week.

Copyright 2008-2017 Erin M. Klitzke.

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