#I had to put my switch away before I beat the calamity | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

talesfromgringolandia · 3 years ago

Text

The Visit - A Father's Sword Chapter II (LoZ AU)

part 1

Link trekked through the forest, his green cap flapping behind his head. The goat he carried weighed heavily on his shoulders, but it was food. The little cottage in the woods came into sight. He smiled at the sound of his sister’s voice, then quickly assumed his normal stoic frown as she approached.

“Hi Link!” she called as she ran towards him.

“Hi Saria,” he replied brusquely. “I got dinner.”

“Awesome!” she laughed. Her blond, curly hair and smiling eyes made it absolutely impossible for Link to resist smiling.

It wasn’t long before the goat was roasted, eaten, and the excess stored away for the week. Saria jumped up from the table. “I just remembered!”

She returned from her room with a small round instrument in her hand. “I finished writing a song on my ocarina!”

“Nice,” Link replied, doing his best to seem uninterested. 10 years his minor, Saria knew that he loved listening to what she played.

As always, Link listened to the song, glad his sister was happy despite the horrible world they lived in. The fireplace was warmer than ever, staving off the cold night air, as Saria crafted a cheerful jig, the kind that should be danced to. Link allowed himself to bob his head to the beat.

Knock knock knock.

Saria put down her ocarina in surprise. Link slowly stood up, glaring at the door. They lived in a cabin in the middle of the woods. Who could be at the door?

“Saria, go to your room,” Link commanded. Saria moved halfway across the room and hovered there. Link picked up his sheathed sword, which he had left leaning against the wall beside the door. With a flourish, he unsheathed it, sending light from its reflection sparkling across the room. Armed and ready for danger, he opened the door.

Behind it stood a little old lady, not quite half his size. Behind her was a girl, around Links age and height, towering over her… guardian? The elder was the same woman he had saved from the bokoblins earlier today.

“How did you find me?” Link immediately demanded.

“I followed you,” the old lady replied nonchalantly

“No you didn’t,” Link growled, “I would have noticed.”

“Apparently not,” the old lady laughed, and stepped forward to come inside.

“No.” Link levelled his sword with the woman’s chest. He heard the teenager behind her inhale sharply.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The elder smiled warmly, as if unaware of the deadly weapon. “I am Impa, and this is my ward, Zelda.”

The girl raised her hand, smiling weakly, and muttered, “Hello.”

Impa continued. “We have an urgent request for you, Link.”

“Isn’t there somebody who doesn’t live in a shack in the woods who you can trust?” Link responded.

“You know there isn’t,” Impa replied. “Now can we come inside, away from prying ears?”

Link hesitated, then sighed and lowered his sword, letting the old woman and her daughter enter.

As Impa passed, she glanced at Link’s sword and grinned. “Your father’s blade fits you well.”

“You knew him?” Link asked as he followed Zelda inside.

“Oh, yes,” chuckled Impa. “Link the Greater had such potential.”

Zelda gasped. “You’re Link’s son? Oh, happy day! You can help us!”

“You talk funny,” giggled Saria, as she walked up to the new folk.

“Saria, I don’t trust these people and neither should you,” reprimanded Link. “Now, who’s my father to you?”

“My mother knew your father,” replied Zelda, her face still lit up.

“Really?” Link finally sheathed his sword and leaned against the wall. “Then where was your mother when he died?”

“Dead,” croaked Impa, as she made her way towards the fire and settled herself down in an armchair. “Oh yes, long dead.”

“I’m sorry about your father, but surely-” Zelda began, but Link interrupted.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, and Impa, get out of my chair.”

“Nonsense,” laughed Impa, “come sit down, Zelda, we are guests.”

“No, you’re not,” snarled Link. “You’re uninvited… shelterees.”

Saria burst into laughter, and ran towards Zelda. “You’re no fun, Link!” she hollered. “Where are you from?” she added, facing Zelda.”

The blonde girl smiled and crouched. “Not from around here,” she began, “you see, a long time ago-”

“Zelda, if you’re going to tell that story, you better do it from a chair,” the old lady called, ”or your legs will grow stiff from standing.”

Zelda stopped and looked up hesitantly at Link, who sighed vehemently. “Take a seat,” he growled, pulling a seat from the dining table for himself. Zelda sat down in the only other armchair Link owned. When Saria jumped up on Zelda’s lap, Link immediately admonished her. “Saria, you can sit in my lap. Leave Zelda alone.”

“Can I sit on Zelda’s lap instead?” Saria asked ever so politely.

“I’m okay with it,” Zelda added.

“No,” Link insisted, “You can sit on my lap, or on another chair.”

Saria pouted and plopped herself on the floor at Zelda’s feet with her arms crossed. “Hmph!”

Link glared at her for a second, then gave in. “Fine. Sit there.”

Zelda smiled and patted Saria on the head, earning a scowl from Link, then looked up at her audience. “So you see, a long time ago-”

“Wait.” Link held up a hand. “I’m sure your story is very interesting, but first,” he looked at Impa, “why are you here?”

“Straight to business, I see,” Impa noticed. “Very unlike your father.”

“Wait, what? I remember my father very well, and everything I do, I got from him.”

Impa smiled sadly. “Maybe after the Calamity. Now, to business. Link, I need your help.”

“So you said.”

“I believe I know a way to defeat Ganondorf.” She paused for a second, her smile gone.

Link gaped at her. He glanced at Zelda, then back. Then he nodded. “Sure. Ganondorf? I have a sword and a bow, he has an empire.”

“Yes he does. But I have a plan. I need you to transport Zelda to the Lost Woods and back, safely.”

“To the Lost- you’re crazy, woman! Nobody goes into the Lost Woods, and comes out alive!”

Impa grinned eerily. “You did, and your sister.”

Link glared at her in anger, and stood up. “If you know that, then you know that I’m not going back there.”

“Why?” asked Zelda, “What’s at the Lost Woods?”

“My father’s grave,” replied Link, still glaring at Impa. “It's where he died to save me.”

Zelda gasped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t kno-”

“And you want to send Zelda there?” Link roared. “How old are you, fifteen? Can you even wield a walking stick? Impa, do you know what’s in the Lost Woods?”

“Yes, Link, I do,” growled Impa, exasperated.

“My father was the best swordsman I know,” Link was on a rampage. “He didn’t stand a chance against those monsters. The only reason I managed to escape with Saria was because he stayed behind to hold them off. He gave his life so we could live!”

“Yes, but unlike your father!” yelled Impa, her eyes aflame, “we are not trying to hide from our enemy!”

For a minute, silence reigned. Zelda’s gaze rapidly switched between Link and Impa. Link sat back down, his face slack with defeat. Saria’s eyes rested on the floor, weeping unnoticed tears. Impa continued to glare.

“Are you finished?” she asked, softly. Link nodded.

“Well then,” Impa cleared her throat. “Just so you know, the Woods do not take well to uninvited guests. Your father had abandoned his post, and running from Ganondorf, attempted to take shelter in the Lost Woods, an endeavor perilous not only to himself, but to his wife and children as well.”

Zelda gasped. “Your mother died too?”

“Be quiet,” snarled Link. “So why do you think the Lost Woods will be more forgiving towards you? Just, magic?”

“Because we have something your father did not,” replied Impa smugly. “Firstly, a just and desperate cause.” She leaned forward and added, “And yes Link, we also have magic.”

Saria sniffed. “You have magic?” Her eyes were filled with wonder.

Zelda smiled and lifted the little girl onto her knee. “Well, I did have a story to tell. But long story short,” she explained patiently, “I’m the rightful heir.”

Link buried his face in his hands while Saria innocently asked, “What does heir mean?”

#Legend of zelda #writeblr #fantasy #writing #loz

1 note · View note

raisingsupergirl · 4 years ago

Text

I'm Back! Returning to the "Real World" After Six Weeks Unplugged and Undrugged

If I'm being honest, I don't really want to write this post. I don't want to go back to the way things were. It feels like returning from vacation on a Sunday evening and setting my work alarm for Monday morning. I know my next vacation won't come for a while. I know I'm "back in it" now. And the sensation is completely opposite of what I'd expected from all of the "restrictions" I put on myself six weeks ago. But I'm sure you're just dying to know how I did, so here goes.

I failed. A lot. Just like I said I would. And the number one thing I failed at was reading to my kids. I tried it. Once. I started Harry Potter, but it felt like pulling teeth. I didn't enjoy it. The kids didn't enjoy it (even though I poured all of my energy into the BEST character voices). But even if I didn't read to my children, at least I didn't fail completely at reading. In fact, I stayed pretty true to my goal of replacing my weeknight TV with reading (with a subtle exception… but I'll get to that later), and it was honestly one of the biggest successes of all. Just an hour or two of quiet entertainment and contemplation in the evenings (whether with a Bible devotional or a bloody space adventure) did wonders for my mood and sleep habits. And speaking of sleep habits…

I failed at that, too. Again, not completely, but I definitely didn't live up to the whole bargain. I don't care how comfortable I got with going to bed at 9:45 pm and waking up at 5:45 am, when I would get home from work at 9:15 at night, there was no way I was going to have time to eat, shower, and wind down enough to be asleep within thirty minutes. And so, I bent the rules a little. But never more than an hour. And that's where I found my rhythm. I would never go to bed or wake up more than an hour different than I did the day before. That compromise allowed me to adjust slowly to different schedules without suffering too much.

Interestingly enough, the things I succeeded at completely are the things that sound like the biggest commitments. I worked out every day without fail, I didn't get on social media or YouTube, and I cut out all drugs (aka alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, night time snacking, and weekday fast food) cold turkey, right down to my morning pre-workout drink, which has a little caffeine in it. I'm not sure exactly why these things were easier to stick to. I'm sure a part of it has to do with my particular personality, but I suspect the bigger part is the nature of these things. They're easier to define. Easier to grasp and control. So what's the big deal about sleeping in a few extra minutes on the weekends (half-asleep rationale is always a little bit skewed…)? Why should I fight to read to my kids if they don't even enjoy it? But exercise and diet are very external. They're obvious to myself and to others when I screw them up. There's more accountability, so they're not as easy to make excuses for. The hardest promises to keep are the ones nobody knows about.

And… there's a third factor, and I hinted at it earlier. Remember when I said I didn't TECHINCALLY stick to the "no TV during the week" goal? Well, I didn't "watch" TV during the week, per se. But that's because I was playing a video game. A video game called "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." And, well, I was completely unprepared for it. First, Zelda is my jam. Always has been since I was a wee lad. Like most functioning adults, I fell away from video games after high school because I was trying to make all the monies and didn't have time to spend six hours at a time in front of a screen. But when Santa brought us a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, I knew there was a game I "had" to try. And, well, BotW didn't disappoint. Those who have played Skyrim or other open-world games would have known what they were in for, but I didn't.

The moment I popped open that glider and drifted off of the Great Plateau, the real world faded away. This game had no limits. No boundaries. It's impossible to describe my awe at that slow and continuing realization as I delved into underground temples, climbed distant peaks, and trudged through vast deserts, so I won't try. Those who think video games are "a waste of time" will never get it, and those who embrace the value of story telling already know what I'm talking about. Suffice it to say that I "did the Zelda things." Not all the things, mind you. I didn't find all the koroks, beat all the shrines, or kill all the lynels, but I DID awaken the Divine Beasts, sneak into the castle dungeon to claim the Hylian shield, tame the royal mare, ride all the animals, build Tarry Town from the ground up, and head butt a guardian to death with the Lord of the Mountain. I trudged through every region and stared out at the realm from the highest spire of Hyrule castle. In the end, I defeated Calamity Ganon and brought peace to the land. And in that triumphant moment, I finally realized the truth about the game…

It was just another drug. You see, I never did have a real urge to sit down to a whiskey and a pile of snacks on a Saturday night, even though that had become an engrained habit over the past year. Why? Because I had an entire world to explore and save! And I needed to stay hydrated and healthy to beat the biggest baddies in Hyrule. The game completely overshadowed other primal urges. Any time I was feeling lazy or weak—times when I would look for a quick, mindless reward—I would pick up the Switch controller. And sometimes, that would be during the week. In fact, all told, I played 110 hours over six weeks. That's around two-and-a-half hours a day, EVERY day! So the amount of time I would have generally wasted with social media, TV, or "drugs," I instead committed to Zelda.

In the end, I'm not sure what to think about the whole six-week experience. I do know that I grew closer to God. My thoughts cleared significantly. I experienced deeper and wider peace, seeing previously scary and stressful situations with new clarity and confidence. I loved my family more completely, and I committed harder to my duties (work, family, etc). But I had low moments, too. Not enough to hit rock bottom or consider giving up, but because I knew what it felt like to ride that "high" with my savior and creator, to be present in the moment with a sense of purpose and appreciation, every moment of minor disconnection or apathy hit me harder than it normally would have. So I guess everything is relative. Once we know just how good we can feel, our expectations rise. On the other hand, my perspective has changed regarding rewards and fulfillment. A moment of earned relaxation or celebration doesn't need to include a glass of wine. I don't "need" to stay up late and sleep in on the weekends. And most importantly, my joy comes from God, not from the things I do, but there ARE some things that keep me away from God's joy. Mostly things that become habit—things I fall back on when I want to "check out."

And I guess that's the whole point. When we're present and intentional, life's good. We're happy with our choices and usually with the results. But when we're exhausted, when we've given all we can and think we've earned some reward (or at least a break)… well, that's when we make mistakes. And that's when we should just go to bed. Sure, maybe a little reading to calm us down and get our minds right first, but we're never at our worst than when we're mentally tapped out. And so, I plan to be more aware of this fact through the rest of the year. I'm going to continue to cut out electronics during the week. I'm going to avoid the Facebook scroll (which doesn't appeal to me even a little bit anymore). I'm going to enjoy sunrises and cuddles. And, most importantly, I'm going to create the time and space for quiet thought and divine whispers.

That's my secret to happiness. Do less (especially less "check out" activities like Twitter and television) and think more. Talk less and listen more. Let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no." In other words, live a life that speaks for itself and don't feel the need to justify your thoughts and actions to everyone. Live lightly, love deeply, and let the rest wash away with the tide. That's all I've got, friends. And you know what? This post was actually a joy to write. I'm excited to be back, to see my friends again, to share what I've learned with you, and to learn FROM you. And most importantly, I’m excited to enjoy all the beauty that the real world has to offer...

#lent 2021 #lent #social media fast #unplugged #take time to unplug #soberissexy #religion #christianity #minimalism #mindfulness #zelda #botw screenshots #botw #momblr #mumblr #dadblr

5 notes · View notes

candideangel · 4 years ago

Text

Unseen Scars

Crystal Memories Pairing: G’raha Tia x Angelique (WoL/D) Rating: Teen Word Count: 3177

Memories were a funny thing to consider, old memories buried under new, some resurface most that are full of humor bring light a story to a table. However, there are those memories that leave an imprint on the heart and soul, and whilst new memories of the good things following a positive future are nice, they are simply a salve over the pain and scar tissue. These are the kind that while can simply be hidden would oftentimes find themselves a way to resurface and reopen, certain moments causing the switch to click. This was often seen in those who suffered great trauma, from battlefields to tragic accidents, but none could feel it more than the Warriors of Light and Darkness. Some had decent ways of coping, but for a bard these shadows that still lingered fleetingly from periphery ready to make a strike when she least expected it.

“Come on, we can’t let them get away!” Alisaie’s voice practically echoed as there was a march of boots across the fields of Mor Dhona, crossing onto the broken brick and cobblestone roads that had once been neatly paved until the land became ravaged by the calamity. As it turned out being a Scion was nothing short of too terribly boring, quiet at times, but never often boring. There was always something that could have gone awry like rampaging flocks of beasts to what they were chasing down now; a simple matter of a thief trying to get away with a chocobo caravan filled with deliveries meant for trade.

However, while the terrain was rough, the speed in which the thieves were taken off was certainly making it difficult for those who could cast spells to get much in. The other downside is the cast or firing off a wrong spell could potentially harm the held hostage trader family that were still held somewhere within the cart. Though there was a pair who seemed to understand the location like the backs of their hands, a glint in the purple tinted light of the gloomy weather’s anemic sun reflecting from Thancred’s gunblade as he took a shot, aiming to send at least the chocobos reeling, the blast resonating from the impact as there was a smashing of wood, but the birds were still being spurred forward.

From one of the jutting crystals, Angelique looked ahead for a moment then brought two fingers to her lips, unlike a call for her chocobo companion, this was a sharp single blast that made red ears perk straight up like a pin. Crimson eyes glanced up as G’raha Tia pulled himself up from behind from behind a rock along the path while his other was gripping the staff in his hand, taking in a deep breath as he was still waiting patiently, but part of him was still uncertain that this plan of hers was really going to work. However, it wasn’t the time to hesitate as his opening had come to serve, the crystal focus that Tataru had plucked from the tower aglow with its brilliant blue hue and body moving on its own to step out onto the path, an all too familiar spell coming from his lips, “Break!”

Like a charm his aim for the chocobos talons and the feathery companions of mortals would drive to a very sudden halt, startling the driver who was trying to get the blasted things to go. However, finding the magic and the one person on the middle of the road, there was a click of a flintlock’s hammer and the barrel a dark void in front of crimson eyes. For a moment G’raha could feel himself slightly frozen, and his heart was suddenly in his throat, he only remembered a pistol like that once...and he had been the one on the receiving end of that bullet. Or...at least the Exarch had been.

Instead of the blast that would come off from it, or a trigger pulled, there was a sharp whistle again as this time an arrow came shooting down as if from the heavens knocking the pistol out of the man’s hand and catching on the wood of the footrest, sleek red and white plumage dancing in the gentle breeze.

“Hmph, what a showoff.” Thancred huffed in amusement as Alisaie took to the coach and held one of the thieves at the point of her blade now that the caravan had been halted, and Angelique had took a jump from her perch, landing on the front, pulling back on another nocked arrow of the similar plumage while her foot was firmly pressed on the metal of the pistol.

As they had rounded up the thieves, Alphinaud and Urianger had gone to tend to the hostages after they were free from their fetters. It was good, they were much more unharmed and would be able to return to the boy that had come calling for aid, especially with the smallest girl who was curled up and shaking from the shock of it all in her mother’s arms. “You know you could have kept us informed us about your little plan before you decided to take G’raha Tia into your schemes.” Alisaie sighed as she rest her hands on her hips and sent a look to Angelique who shrugged and crossed her arms, just keeping an eye on the roped up thieves knowing Thancred and Y’shtola could handle them easily if matters had taken a turn.

“I understand, but it was a sudden thought that came to mind. I rather thought it was a good idea, risky, but it at least did work.” Though she hadn’t expected the pistol, but it was why she was there, to provide cover for him. It was risky, and one would argue that she had put G’raha into a position that could’ve gotten him severely injured after only just coming back to waking in the Source with the Exarch’s mind and memory melded into his younger day body. “But...I get the context of your phrase.” the bard relented, figuring it better to cross that bridge now rather than wait for the explosion.

Alisaie’s shoulders relaxed for a moment after all; how could she put G’raha through his paces if he was already put back onto bed rest? Just as she opened her mouth to respond there was a high pitched “Kweh!” and a startled shout, followed by a clattering of metal hitting the stones and soft hisses of pain. The two had turned to see G’raha Tia on the ground, having fallen from a rock with Florian; Angelique’s beloved chocobo’s Celeste blue feathers looking a little ruffled. “Geez…” Alisaie sighed, but her blue eyes looked to the corners to see that Angelique had turned and had gone rigid.

Green eyes stared at the scene before her, and while there was some, very soft tone of rationality trying to tell her it wasn’t real, the rugged scene of Mor Dhona had melted away into the scene inside of the Crystal Tower. The clattering of a staff echoing on crystal floors, hearing his cries of pain, clutching at his own leg that had started to turn to crystal. It flickered, back and forth, like a magitek’s reception when the lines had been cut off until everything in her ears became this kind of overwhelming sound of static with only his soft sounds of pain and crackling breaking the sound. Her heart started to pump with a rampant set of emotions; fear, anger, sadness, hurt...a whirling torrent flooding her, making her stomach churn and everything feel so disconnected.

“I’m fine.” G’raha spoke to Alisaie with a soft grunt as he pulled himself off the ground, “Florian gave me a bit of a start and I lost my footing. Not quite used to being a bit lighter than usual.” He spoke with jest, smiling a little though his leg throbbed with a possible scrape on his flesh though the clothes Tataru had made were still intact. But just as he trailed off he saw Alisaie curiously shaking Angelique who had been standing there as if stunned or charmed and he felt everything in his system grow cold as he saw the far away stare in the bard’s green eyes. “Oh no. No, no, no.” he felt a small surge of panic and regret fill him when he scrambled over and his hands would soon touch her face.

“Angelique, it’s okay.” he spoke trying to keep his voice level as his fingers brushed some of her golden bangs away from her face. “Focus, concentrate on my voice.” G’raha would lightly hold her face in his hands again making sure that even if her eyes were staring off several malms that she would come to focus. “I’m here, I’m fine...whatever you’re feeling, whatever you’re seeing, it’s not there. It’s not this moment.” Though he knew deep down what she could have been seeing, knowing what could have thrown her into the state. There was a long beat of quiet words like a delicate mantra, soothing tones to try to bring someone back to the present, and as if she had been dredged underwater unable to take a breath finally took a gasp for air, perhaps for the anxious pattern where everything had been rapid and hard to control. G’raha and the Scions watched with growing concern, but the red haired miqo’te was both thankful and apologetic as his thumb brushed against a sudden gale of tears that started to stream down her cheeks. “There we are…” he muttered softly and pulled her close for a moment, speaking a soft apology to Angelique’s ear and helped the bard collect herself.

“Why don’t you take the civilians back to Revenant's Toll? I’m certain their son and brother will be happy to see that no harm had come to them.” He suggested and Angelique took a deep breath to calm down and nodded.

“Yes, that’s a good idea.” she responded, voice a little shaken still, but she cleared it to regain some confidence. Turning on her heel she offered the three a smile and bowed politely before asking them to follow her back to the town. Thancred eyed them for a moment then looked at G’raha, making sure the bard was well out of earshot as he tossed the tied up culprits to the back of the caravan as the Break spell had been wearing away from the chocobos so they could follow back to town.

“What in the seven hells happened there?” His voice spoke brow furrowed into a scowl, but it seemed G’raha had been preparing for a reaction of some kind and made a small gesture for him to calm down.

“I will explain when we reach back to Revenant's Toll, but at this particular time it wouldn’t be prudent.” He would rebuke with a surprisingly level tone before going over to Florian and the dropped staff that had fallen to the ground, reaching up to lightly pet the chocobo, who had in returned nuzzled him and took off in a quick clip as the Scions gathered what they had to before working to take the thieves to the proper authorities in the small location as well as return the carriage and supplies to the traders.

~o~o~

After turning the thieves over to the Brass Blades that were stationed in Revenant’s Toll, G’raha had started to explain what had happened with Angelique. Most of all what had happened during their chase down of Elidibus, when he had collapsed, leg succumbing and joining to the crystallization like most of his body had started to. He faintly recalled all the pain he had been in and the brief flash of anger in those eyes that looked to him so caring, succumbing to the sadness that she had obviously been feeling. The top of the tower had been no better, the time to leave the Exarch’s physical body behind and trust to her his mind, his memory, and to hold onto the hope that the gamble they were betting on would come to bear fruit.

“Tis not unheard of that our dear friend would succumb to such terrors even in the broadest of daylight.” Urianger conferred with them. “A significant emotional weight doth beareth heavily upon her shoulders.”

“Angelique used to still have night terrors, but they were not as frequent in the First. Perhaps it was just because of the ease of mind that was at a constant.” G’raha muttered, remembering the nights he sometimes caught her shifting and aching in her sleep, crying out sometimes aloud other times wordless for someone to stop, anyone to help. “But with the fresher wound it is still going to be a road for her to fully recover.”

“And to understand that you aren’t going to vanish just like that.” Alphinaud piped in, his gloved finger lightly thumbing against his grimoire attached to his side. “You act as her emotional anchor now. It’ll only be a matter of time before she allows herself to take her ease and know that you aren’t reverting each time you go and scrape your knee.” He gave a faint chuckle, but it was a half-hearted one at best. “Until then, I think we know it best to leave her in your care.”

G’raha Tia felt his cheeks redden a little and absently his hands fidgeted a little bit. “That’s a fair reasoning I suppose.”

Though it seemed everything had returned to normal at first, Angelique had only disappeared for a change of clothing and a wash up after the duties were done, and joined them for dinner that evening at the bar that was attached to the Rising Stones. They talked, they laughed, and really had a good time as if that moment of the Warrior of Light staring into oblivion had never happened. As the hours waned, everyone parted for their rooms for rest and peaceful end of the evening routines, sleep would come differently for those during the bells that passed.

In the room they had shared in the headquarters, moonbeams shone through a window, illuminating the solid stone floor and gracing a serene scene in its cool silver light. G’raha was sleeping deeply, ears only flicking to the faintest of sounds, but otherwise he was perfectly dead to the world of the room he shared with Angelique, who on the other hand had opened her eyes a little, only shifting to sit up in bed. Fingers would trace along the stitching to the duvet that covered their bed, keeping them warm during the cool nights while her eyes glanced to a set of automatons in a basket nearby in a manner of speaking at their own rest. They were the spitting images of G’raha Tia and the Exarch, ones she was very, very adamant about keeping around much to the real one’s discomfort of having a toy of himself following her around every which way she went.

Her gaze slowly went over to G’raha as he was sleeping, long lashes gracing against his cheeks while his braid had been sufficiently undone and a deep red pooling and curling along the white sheet that covered the pillow. Angelique reached a hand over and gently brushed away some of the strands that were threatening to tickle his nose and smiled a little, he looked so peaceful now and was getting used to a normal sleep schedule now that he wasn’t taking naps for years. However, Angelique’s gaze would start to go lower until she saw the outline of his legs lifting the duvet in a delicate curve while a lump rose in her throat.

“You’re being ridiculous…” she scolded herself, but her action of pushing aside the blanket and sheets carefully would still be done until every ilm was revealed. G’raha had worn shorts to bed...and everything appeared normal with the exception of the small wrapping around his knee to keep away infection as it healed. Reaching over a little; the tips of her fingers touched his skin and she could feel the heat that radiated from him and the flex of his calf muscles, his tail lashing behind him at the small disturbance of the tickling sensation. But, there was no crystal to be seen or felt, no essence of the tower trying to make some kind of haunting return. “...I really am being ridiculous…” she muttered softly as she felt every bit the fool.

Angelique was allowing her fears and paranoia to eat away at her. What use would she be if she acted so amateurish during a time when her attention was needed most?

G’raha’s ears had flicked to attention though, hearing the sound of shuffling sheets and his crimson gaze looked to Angelique who was sitting there, obviously berating herself. Sometimes he didn’t need to know verbally. Slowly he would bring his arm up and wrap around just under her torso, “Come here my love.” he spoke softly though still sleep laden, coaxing her to come and lay herself back down, but instead of her head on the pillow G’raha would guide her to rest her head upon his chest. “Stay a while, and listen now to the soft beat of life.”

Angelique glanced up at him and while she wanted to argue or title his string of words a cliche, she could hear it.

Th-thump. Th-Thump. Th-thump.

A steady beat on a drum, but it wasn’t a drum at all. It was the beat of a heart that had nothing but love and adoration. A sign of life still to be long and healthy. It differed greatly to the Exarch’s in his final moments within that body, everything succumbing to the crystal and becoming hard to function. But despite the comparison Angelique could feel that ease start to overwhelm her in the safety and security to know that he was going to be here for a lot longer. His big hand would gently pet the side of her head, smoothing the pale gold locks and a sleepy smile crossed his features. “I’m not going to leave you. Not in this lifetime.” he spoke gently, letting them stay like that until eventually he felt the tell-tale eased weight of Angelique falling into slumber as the staccato rhythm lulled her back to rest more than his voice could right now.

Reaching over he pulled the blankets back over their bodies, cocooning them back in the warmth from the chill of the room before his hand went back to rest wrapped around her shoulders. This life was a second chance for him, and he wasn’t going to squander it, even if it took days, moons, he would always be her emotional anchor to the scars that were unseen to the eye. Leaning in a little his lips pressed gently to the side of his head and he smiled a little as his eyes started to drift to sleep as a soft word of the Fae language passed by tired lips.

“Goodnight, my angel.”

#ffxiv #ffxiv writings #mun writes #5.3 spoilers #patch 5.3 spoilers!#g'raha tia x angelique #g'raha tia x wol #crystalangel #I haven't written anything containing angelique's mental distress outside of rp #and how G'raha is going to be there to help her cope #it's all part of the healing process of scars gone but not forgotten

15 notes · View notes

wilddaydreamingcat · 4 years ago

Text

The Untamed 陈情令 - Translation of Chinese Subs - Episode 7

Please do not post this outside Tumblr, thanks!

Notes:

The line breaks mostly correspond to each line of mandarin subtitles within the episode. However, I have switched some around so that the English translation can make more sense and flow more smoothly.

The Untamed Episode 7

Lan Yi:

For many years,

my spirit has been guarding this place –

the Lan Clan’s forbidden ground.

No one can set foot into this place since.

Wei Wuxian:

Then what happened to my Grand Master afterwards?

Lan Yi:

Your Grand Master?

Wei Wuxian:

To tell you the truth,

my name is Wei Wuxian.

Although I was taken in by the Jiang Clan when I was a child,

but Cangse Sanren is my mother,

and Baoshan Sanren is indeed my Grand Master.

Lan Yi:

So many years have passed by.

That year,

Baoshan Sanren hadn’t taken in any disciples yet.

I didn’t expect that

she even has a grand disciple now,

and he is standing right in front of me.

It’s a pity.

Ever since I caused this catastrophe,

she went into retreat and never reappeared.

I was too ashamed to seek her out again.

Lan Wangji:

Elder,

I have a question to ask.

Did Elder summon both of us into this place?

Lan Yi:

No.

For a hundred years, my spiritual powers was being used to suppress the Yin Iron,

and to maintain the barrier surrounding the back mountains.

But for the past decade,

the Yin iron has been showing signs of restless movement.

My spiritual senses have also been weakening.

I fear that

the resentful energy from the Yin iron has infested the water.

Wei Wuxian:

Why were there sudden movements from the Yin Iron for the past 20 years?

Lan Yi:

If my conjectures are correct,

it is because the other pieces of the Yin Iron have appeared.

Wei Wuxian:

It looks like

the cultivator who had his soul snatched

that we saw previously,

was because of someone imitating Xue Chonghai’s methods

to create a puppet.

Lan Wangji:

They are experimenting.

Lan Yi:

Ever since I released the seal,

the fragments of Yin Iron have began to sense each other again.

It was a stroke of luck that I could exist peacefully for a hundred years.

I will never escape from

the day that I worry about.

Wei Wuxian:

Elder,

is there nothing we can do

to stop the Yin Iron from causing disaster among mankind?

Lan Yi:

The Yin Iron is a naturally formed object with spiritual awareness; it cannot be completely eliminated.

Also, since it was broken into pieces, the resentful energy has flowed out.

Evil creatures will definitely appear in the places where they are hidden.

The only way is to find the other fragments

and submerge them forever within the Cold Pond.

It is a pity

that I cannot personally make amends for my wrongdoings.

Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji:

Elder!

Lan Yi:

Do not be worried.

My life is ending.

My stealing of a hundred years of life was only so that I could repay my debt.

Now that both of you have come,

I no longer need to endure.

Lan Wangji:

I, Wangji, as a descendent of the Lan Clan, will do my duty

to definitely fulfill Elder’s last wishes.

I will find the Yin Iron, and submerge it within the Cold Pond forever.

Wei Wuxian:

I will do my duty as well!

Lan Wangji:

These are the affairs of the Lan Clan. It is not your business.

Wei Wuxian:

Lan Zhan, you cannot stop me.

Although I, Wei Ying, grew up among the Jiang Clan,

I am never confused between the principles of right and wrong.

Also, because of the Yin Iron, my Grand Master went into retreat for a hundred years.

For whatever emotion or reason, I cannot sit by and ignore this.

Lan Yi:

As the grand disciple of Baoshan, this should be the case.

Remember,

the business of the Yin Iron

is full of difficulties.

No matter what,

I hope you will not repeat my path.

Wei Wuxian:

Elder may rest assured.

I, Wei Ying, will put in all my effort.

Elder!

You haven’t yet told us

the location of the other Yin Iron fragments!

=============================================

Wen Qing:

The barrier set up at the back mountains of the Cloud Recesses;

Is it just to protect this mountainside?

Jiang Cheng:

Young Lady Wen!

Wen Qing:

Young Master Jiang.

Jiang Cheng:

Young Lady Wen,

are you also searching for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji?

Wen Qing:

Umm...

Wei Wuxian:

Lan Zhan!

Lan Zhan, I didn’t do that on purpose!

Jiang Cheng:

Wei Wuxian!

Wei Wuxian:

Jiang Cheng.

Lan Wangji:

Get up!

Wei Wuxian:

Right...getting up.

Wen Qing, Jiang Cheng.

Why are both of you here?

Jiang Cheng:

I should be the one asking you!

Wei Wuxian,

where have you run off to for the entire day and night?

Did you know that my sister was so worried that

she couldn’t eat or sleep?

If I still couldn’t find you,

I would have to send a letter to Lotus Pier to inform my father!

Lan Wangji:

It has been a day and a night.

Jiang Cheng:

Yes.

Zewu-jun has also been searching for you both

without any rest or sleep.

Did you realise how anxious everyone was?

Where on earth did both of you go?

Wei Wuxian:

Oh, I’ll tell you after we return.

I can’t speak clearly in such a short moment.

Wen Qing:

Wait.

An aura of extreme cold energy is emanating from both of your foreheads.

What kind of place is it

in there?

Wei Wuxian:

We were originally treating our wounds at the cold spring,

but a current of water inexplicably carried us away

and washed us into a place of extreme cold.

Jiang Cheng:

What place?

How can such a thing happen in Cloud Recesses?

Wei Wuxian:

We were trapped in that place

and swam for a very long time.

We used up all our energy

before finally finding the cave entrance and got out.

Wen Qing:

What’s inside there?

Lan Wangji:

There’s...

Wei Wuxian:

What else can there be

besides ice and water?

Let me tell you both,

I was nearly frozen to death in there.

Jiang Cheng:

All right.

We can talk about it after getting back, and spare others from worrying.

Wei Wuxian:

Yes, you’re right.

Let’s go back and talk.

Come on.

============================================

Lan Qiren:

In the end, we still cannot escape this calamity.

Lan Wangji:

Uncle, Elder Brother.

You were aware of this?

Lan Xichen:

Ever since Elder Lan Yi damaged the barrier,

the Lan Clan sealed off the back mountains,

for fear that the resentful energy from the Yin Iron would infest all living creatures.

That’s why among the five great clans, only the Lan family head knows of the Yin Iron.

The knowledge is passed down with each generation.

Wei Wuxian:

So you already knew that

the cultivator who had been soul-snatched, and the disaster of the waterbourne abyss,

was related to the Yin Iron?

Lan Xichen:

Young Master Wei is extremely quick-witted.

During the incident at Bi Ling Lake,

you had already guessed most of it.

Wangji,

you had questioned me previously.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you the truth.

Wei Wuxian:

Confidants, eh!

Lan Xichen:

After all these incidents happening,

Uncle deduced that this was all related to the Yin Iron.

So he told me to check the barrier at the forbidden grounds;

It was indeed weakening.

Because to this, Uncle also travelled to Qinghe

to meet with Clan Leader Nie and discuss this matter.

We did not expect that

both of you would enter the Cold Pond Cave so quickly,

and also did not expect the Yin Iron to reappear.

Wei Wuxian:

The Qishan Wen Clan again!

Lan Xichen:

There’s no need to chase it.

Lan Wangji:

It seems that the Wen Clan attended the lectures

also because of the Yin Iron.

Wei Wuxian:

Elder Lan Yi said,

the fragment of Yin Iron had shown signs of movement for the last decade,

due to the reappearance of the other pieces.

Lan Xichen:

It looks like our deduction was correct.

Wen Ruohan already has a piece of Yin Iron,

and he is very much aware that Cloud Recesses has another piece.

That is why he sent people to investigate.

Lan Wangji:

How did Wen Ruohan find out

that there is a fragment in Gusu?

Lan Qiren:

The Yin Iron is suppressed from four directions,

but, after a hundred years,

there is no longer anyone who knows where they have been kept and suppressed.

However, Wen Ruohan

could even obtain a piece of Yin Iron;

I suppose there may be someone assisting him.

Wei Wuxian:

Elder Lan Yi also said that,

the pieces of Yin Iron could sense one another.

Since we already have one piece,

why not use it to track down the others?

Lan Wangji:

Uncle, Elder Brother, what should we do now?

Lan Qiren:

With the appearance of the Yin Iron;

If it falls into the hands of one with ill intentions,

it will cause much terror and bloodshed.

The only thing we can do now,

is to seal it again, return it to the Cold Pond,

re-erect the barrier, and allow no one to approach it.

Lan Wangji:

Uncle,

Wen Ruohan already has a piece of Yin Iron;

With the connection between the fragments,

I fear that it would be useless

if we return the piece to the Cold Pond again.

Also,

Wen Ruohan greatly covets the Yin Iron.

I am afraid that we cannot hide it even if we attempt to.

Lan Qiren:

We will discuss this later.

Lan Wangji:

Uncle!

Lan Qiren:

Cease mentioning this matter now.

Today’s incident

concerns the secrets of the cultivation clans...

Wei Wuxian:

Ah...that! Teacher, you may rest assured!

I promise never to tell anyone else!

==========================================

Nie Huaisang:

Brother Wei!

Second Young Master Lan.

Brother Wei,

I knew you would definitely return alive!

Where have you been?

Why was Zewu-jun looking for you?

It’s not another beating?

Wei Wuxian:

You can stop worrying; there won’t be a beating this time.

It’s just that the Cloud Recesses is way too big.

Even Second Young Master Lan almost got lost.

Nie Huaisang:

You got lost just by soaking in the cold spring?

Both of you disappeared for a whole night.

Did you encounter anything strange?

Wei Wuxian:

Strange encounters?

I suppose there’s one.

Do you want to hear it?

Nie Huaisang:

Tell me about it.

Wei Wuxian:

Right.

Yesterday night, in the black darkness and howling wind;

A pair of tentacles suddenly burst out from the bottom of the cold spring,

and pulled me and Lan Zhan underwater.

Can you guess what those tentacles were?

Nie Huaisang:

Wh...What?

Wei Wuxian:

Snake monsters!

Don’t run away!

Do you want to know what those snake monsters looked like?

Nie Huaisang:

No...don’t say anymore. I’m most terrified of snakes.

Strange encounters like this,

I’ll leave it for you to think it over slowly.

I’ll go off first!

Oh right! Don’t forget about lighting the lanterns tonight!

Wei Wuxian:

Off you go!

Jiang Cheng?

Jiang Cheng!

Why are you walking so fast?

Jiang Cheng:

Wei Wuxian,

you’re pretty friendly with Lan Wangji now.

I guess you might as well change clans and join the Lan House.

Don’t go back to Lotus Pier.

Wei Wuxian:

What are you thinking?

How can Cloud Recesses be better than Lotus Pier?

Just the 3000 clan rules

will kill me.

Stop thinking crazy things. Let’s go.

Wen Chao:

Father!

The Yin Iron at the Cloud Recesses has appeared.

Congratulations, Father.

Wen Ruohan:

You congratulate me?

Did you obtain it?

Xue Yang.

Xue Yang:

Chief Cultivator.

Wen Ruohan:

Yueyang. Go there.

Xue Yang:

Then the Yueyang Chang Clan...

Wen Ruohan:

You can do whatever you wish.

I only desire the Yin Iron.

Xue Yang:

Thank you, Chief Cultivator!

Wen Ruohan:

Xue Yang, there are some words that need not be said.

Xue Yang:

Chief Cultivator may rest assured.

I have no interest in the Yin Iron.

Moreover,

I’m just an unimportant little cultivator.

How could I ever escape from the Chief Cultivator’s hands?

Wen Chao:

Father!

How could you agree with that scoundrel and allow him to go to Yueyang?

Wen Ruohan:

Then should I let you go instead?

Wen Chao:

But Father,

if Xue Yang has an ulterior motive,

then...

Wen Ruohan:

That is why your mission

is to bring people to coordinate with him.

If Xue Yang has any motives,

you know what to do.

Wen Chao:

Then what of the Yin Iron in Cloud Recesses?

Is Father just going to let that go?

Wen Ruohan:

The Gusu Lan Clan will not escape this.

While they plot against us, we will attack them unawares.*

*Translator Note:

螳螂捕蝉, 黄雀在后 (táng láng bǔ chán huáng què zài hòu) – Chinese idiom, lit: the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Wen Chao:

But...

Not letting me go?

You think I don’t have a plan?

==============================================

Student:

That’s wrong. It won’t be stable like this.

You can watch while I fix this.

Student:

That’s not very sturdy.

It’s better doing it this way.

Get this part bound up first.

Student:

You’re too stupid.

Give it to me.

Student:

As if you’re really smart!

Student:

Is it really like this?

How do I fix it?

Student:

Look, this piece needs to be coiled in first.

If you bind it like this, it will fly even higher.

Student:

That’s right. Binding it this way is correct. It will fly higher.

Tie it tight.

Student:

Yeah, right.

Go and make one by yourself.

Student:

That’s not bad.

Student:

This...

got tied into a dead knot.

Wei Wuxian:

Lan Zhan,

on account of us having shared the perils of life and death,

let’s light a lantern together to celebrate.

Lan Wangji:

I am used to being alone.

Wei Wuxian:

Habits can be changed.

Also, my lantern

is made especially for you, Second Young Master Lan.

Look.

You smiled!

Nie Huaisang:

Brother Wei!

This lantern of mine is the most finely made among all lanterns!

It wasn’t easy to make it!

How could you just burn it like this!

Wei Wuxian:

Brother Nie, I’ll compensate you with a lantern, all right?

Nie Huaisang:

This paper is produced from the workshops of Qinghe,

thin as the wings of a cicada, yet smooth as jade, and worth its weight in gold.

It can’t be compensated just because you, Brother Wei, said so.

==============================================

Mianmian:

Look, quickly!

Nie Huaisang:

I, Nie Huaisang, wish that my studies can be smoothly completed,

and that I will never need to return to Cloud Recesses in the coming year.

Wen Qing:

I, lady of the Wen Clan, beseech the heavens,

to protect my little brother, A-Ning, for him to be safe and sound,

and be free of all hardships for his entire lifetime.

Wei Wuxian:

I, Wei Wuxian wish to

live my life eliminating evil and aiding the weak, to have no regrets within my heart.

Jin disciple:

Young Master.

Wei Wuxian:

Senior Sister,

what wish did you make?

Jiang Yanli:

I wished that A-Xian would grow up faster, and not be so playful.

Wei Wuxian:

Liar.

You must have wished for a good marriage.

Mianmian:

Young Lady Jiang’s marriage has already been decided.

What else is there to wish for?

Student:

Her husband-to-be is right there.

How could Young Lady Jiang light the lantern alone?

Didn’t they build the lantern together just now?

Student:

I heard that Young Master Jin and Young Lady Jiang

are going to get married very soon.

Why not light the lantern together and pray for a long and happy marriage?

Mianmian:

That’s right, Young Master.

The Cowherd star and the Weaver star* only meet once each year,

they will surely bless both of you with a long and happy marriage.

Translation Note:

The Cowherd (the star Altair) and Weaver (the star Vega) is a Chinese folktale. Their love was forbidden by the heavens, as the Cowherd was a mere mortal, and the Weaver was a celestial being. They were eventually banished to the opposite sides of the Heavenly River (the Milky Way). The lovers meet once a year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, when a flock of magpies form a bridge between them to reunite them for a day.

Jin Zixuan:

Mianmian, it’s getting late. Let’s go.

Jiang Cheng:

What are you doing? Wei Wuxian!

Mianmian:

Young Master, what’s wrong?

Aren’t we going to light the lanterns with Jiang...with them?

Jin Zixuan:

That’s enough. Don’t ask about it again.

Mianmian:

Young Master, forgive me for speaking out of turn.

You and Young Lady Jiang are already engaged.

Isn’t this going to let other people ridicule us?

Young Master!

Jin Zixuan:

Mianmian, listen,

this marriage arrangement was not my idea.

Don’t mention it again.

Wei Wuxian:

Wait!

What do you mean by “Don’t mention it again”!

Jin Zixuan:

Wei Wuxian.

Does this have anything to do with you?

Mianmian:

Young Master Wei!

Wei Wuxian:

What do you mean by “Don’t mention it again”!

Jin Zixuan:

Is it so hard to understand

the four words “Don’t mention it again”?

Wei Wuxian:

You...

Mianmian:

Young Lady Jiang!

Something’s happened!

Young Master Wei...

Young Master Wei and our Young Master have gotten into a fight!

Wei Wuxian:

I’ll going to beat you death!

Don’t stop me!

Jin Zixuan:

Come get me!

Wei Wuxian:

I’ll beat you to death!

Don’t stop me!

Come on!

Jin Zixuan:

Wei Wuxian!

Wei Wuxian:

Don’t stop me!

Lan Wangji:

Wei Ying, stop.

Wei Wuxian:

Lan Zhan, don’t you stop me!

Jin Zixuan:

Let me go!

Wei Wuxian:

Stop holding me back!

Mianmian:

Let us through!

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian!

Wei Wuxian:

Come at me!

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian!

Jin Zixuan:

Come and get me!

Wei Wuxian:

Don’t stop me!

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian!

Student:

We heard that it was Jin Zixuan who looked down on Young Lady Jiang,

and wanted to break off the engagement.

Wei Wuxian was outraged on his Senior Sister’s behalf.

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian,

let’s go home.

================================================

Lan Wangji:

Wei Ying,

since you know how to regret, why commit the mistake in the first place?

Wei Wuxian:

Lan Zhan!

Lan Zhan, look!

So many ants, like a stain of black lacquer!

Lan Wangji:

You were to kneel and ponder over your wrongdoings as a punishment.

Yet you had the mood to play with ants?

You are indeed hopeless.*

Translation Note:

朽木不可雕 (xiǔ mù bù kě diāo), Chinese idiom – lit: Rotten wood cannot be carved.

Wei Wuxian:

But the ants are really...

These ants are really cute!

Uncle Jiang! Why are you here?

[Jiang Fengmian, Yunmeng Jiang Clan]

Jiang Fengmian:

Kneel down!

Jiang Cheng:

You can actually kneel obediently!

Wei Wuxian:

I kneel often. It’s not like you didn’t know that!

As for that flower peacock Jin Zixuan,

I bet he’s been pampered and spoiled rotten, and never kneeled before.

If I don’t make him kneel down till he’s screaming for his parents today,

my surname is not “Wei”!

Jiang Cheng:

You still have the face to say that?

Father travelled thousands of li for several nights to get to Gusu on your behalf!

Later,

get ready to be punished by old Master Lan.

Wei Wuxian:

Jin Zixuan, you’re so dead!

[Jin Guangshan, Lanling Jin Clan]

Jin Guangshan:

Master Lan.

Brother Jiang.

Lan Qiren:

Both of you must be tired from the long journey.

Please have a seat.

This incident happened all of a sudden.

Although it is merely the mischief of the young generation,

it affects the marriage arrangement between both the Jin and Jiang Clans.

As a mere elderly man, I dare not make a decision without any consultation.

Hence, I can only request both Clan Leaders

to come here personally for a discussion.

Jiang Fengmian:

I am already aware of how this incident came about.

Wei Ying is stubborn and unruly by nature,

and caused much trouble for you.

I, Fengmian, did not instruct him well.

Please accept my apologies, Master Lan.

Jin Guangshan:

Brother Jiang,

that is not at all necessary.

I know just a little about this incident.

Once I return, I will definitely give A-Xuan a good scolding.

Lan Qiren:

For fighting without permission,

I have already punished them in accordance with the house rules.

Both Clan Leaders need not worry any further.

But this marriage arrangement

is not a trifling matter.

Jin Guangshan:

Master Lan spoke correctly.

Marriage is definitely not a trifling matter.

Jiang Fengmian:

Brother Jin, I have a request to make.

Jin Guangshan:

I would be honoured to hear it.

Brother Jiang, please speak.

Jiang Fengmian:

The Yunmeng Jiang Clan

has always emphasised on being true to oneself and having pure intentions.

I will never force my children to do what they do not like to do.

Although A-Li and your son have long been engaged,

this was originally insisted upon by A-Li’s mother.

It now looks to me

that both sides are rather unhappy with it.

It would be better not to force this.

Jiang Cheng:

Father!

Jin Guangshan:

Brother Jiang,

the children are too young to understand.

This is merely a misunderstanding.

You and I need not pay any attention to this.

Jiang Fengmian:

Brother Jin,

we can help them arrange the marriage,

but we cannot perform the marriage for them.

Eventually, they themselves are the ones

who must spend a lifetime together.

I have already sent a letter to A-Li’s mother.

It is better to call off the engagement.

Jin Guangshan:

Brother Jiang,

the blame rests on my son’s rash behavior,

ruining what had been a perfect arrangement.

Since Brother Jiang has already decided,

then I will do as you requested.

Only, this incident

must not affect the friendship between our houses.

Jiang Fengmian:

Of course not.

=========================================

Jiang Cheng:

It’s not good! Wei Wuxian!

Sis and Jin Zixuan’s marriage engagement is going to be called off!

Wei Wuxian:

What?

Jin Zixuan! Has he not been punched enough?

He really called it off?

Jiang Cheng:

It wasn’t! It was Father who mentioned it!

Wei Wuxian:

Uncle Jiang said it?

Where’s Senior Sister?

Jiang Cheng:

She should still be in the house.

============================================

Jiang Fengmian:

Young Master Lan.

Lan Xichen:

Clan Leader Jiang.

Lan Qiren:

Clan Leader Jiang, I will not hide it from you;

This time, I requested for you to come

also because I had an important issue to discuss with you.

Jiang Fengmian:

Master, please speak.

Lan Qiren:

Please do not be alarmed, Clan Leader Jiang.

It is simply because this matter is of great importance.

We have no choice but to be extremely careful.

Lan Xichen:

I am not sure if Clan Leader Jiang has heard of

the strange incidents that have happened recently?

Jiang Fengmian:

I have indeed heard of it.

The cases of cultivators having their souls snatched,

have even happened in Yunmeng.

I wonder what is the cause of this?

I hope you can enlighten me.

Lan Xichen:

The cause of these incidents

is due to the reappearance of

a spiritual object that existed some hundred years ago,

Jiang Fengmian:

What object is it?

Lan Xichen:

The Yin Iron.

============================================

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian,

I know it’s you.

A-Xian!

Wei Wuxian:

Senior Sister, I...

Jiang Yanli:

You knelt for a long time, are you all right?

How are your knees? Let me have a look.

Wei Wuxian:

Senior Sister!

It’s all my fault.

Why don’t you give me a scolding?

I’ll feel better this way.

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian,

this doesn’t have anything to do with you.

Don’t think too much about it.

One’s fate

cannot be forced.

Wei Wuxian:

Senior Sister,

in the future, you will definitely marry

an ideal husband who is a hundred times; ten thousand times stronger than him.

Jiang Yanli:

Then A-Xian will definitely marry a talented and beautiful lady

as well in the future.

Wei Wuxian:

No way.

I only want to stay at Lotus Pier and accompany Senior Sister.

Jiang Yanli:

A-Xian,

the lectures have ended.

We will be returning to Lotus Pier in a day or two.

Wei Wuxian:

It’s ending just like that?

Jiang Yanli:

You haven’t played enough?

Father said,

when A-Cheng comes back,

we will go to the Elegant Room together to bid farewell to Master Lan.

=============================================

Jiang Fengmian:

I did not expect there would be such a reason behind this.

Lan Xichen:

I will not hide this from you, Clan Leader Jiang.

What we are most worried about now

is the piece of Yin Iron that appeared first.

If it was used by one with bad intentions,

events will repeat itself,

and there will be endless suffering.

Lan Qiren:

The Qishan Wen Clan

is concealing much evil from us.

Jiang Fengmian:

Speaking of which,

I also heard of a strange incident on the way here.

Recently, at Yueyang,

a few small cultivation clans have been massacred, one after another.

No one was left alive.

I wonder who the mastermind behind this is.

However, it seems that the murderer

is a young retainer of the Wen Clan, surnamed Xue.

Lan Qiren:

Something like this happened?

Lan Xichen:

It looks like the Wen Clan are revealing their ill intentions.

We must act fast.

Come in.

Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli:

We students bid farewell to Master Lan and Clan Leader Lan.

Lan Xichen:

Accomplishments must be rewarded, and wrongdoings must be punished.

Young Master Wei,

you have been punished

for the mistakes that you committed in Cloud Recesses.

As for your accomplishments,

I believe Clan Leader Jiang will have his own reward.

Jiang Cheng:

What accomplishments does he have?

Lan Qiren:

Clan Leader Jiang,

Wei Ying really needs to be disciplined more.

Originally, if he had not come here,

none of the disciples of this clan would dare to be so bold.

But, ever since Wei Ying arrived,

the young weaklings who had mischief in their hearts

were influenced and instigated by him,

wandering around at night and drinking liquor wantonly.

Jiang Fengmian:

Ying has always been so.

I have given Master Lan much trouble with his discipline.

Lan Xichen:

Come in.

Wangji, what is it?

Jiang Fengmian:

Clan Leader Lan,

I, Fengmian, bid you farewell.

Lan Xichen:

Clan Leader Jiang.

Jiang Fengmian:

Clan Leader Lan may rest assured.

I am aware of the pros and cons of the situation.

If the Lan Clan has any orders,

the Yunmeng Jiang Clan will fulfil our obligations.

Young Master Lan.

Master Lan.

Second Young Master Lan.

I will take my leave now.

Lan Xichen:

Clan Leader Jiang, take care.

Jiang Fengmian:

All right.

Wei Wuxian:

Lan Zhan, about the Yin Iron...

Lan Zhan...

Jiang Cheng:

Let’s go.

Lan Xichen:

Wangji,

be careful along the way.

Jiang Cheng:

Wei Wuxian, did you grow hair in your ears?

Lan Wangji hates you so much,

why are you always provoking him?

Wei Wuxian:

What?

We were classmates for six months. Why can’t I say farewell to him?

Jiang Cheng:

You’re asking for a beating.

When Lan Wangji heard that you were leaving,

he must have been happy beyond words.

Wei Wuxian:

Rubbish!

I’ll tell you this,

the disciples from the various clans like me very much.

None of them can bear to see me leave.

Senior Sister,

do you agree?

Jiang Yanli:

Yes,

our A-Xian is adored by everyone.

Jiang Cheng:

Then I’ll ask you,

Among so many disciples from various clans,

why is Lan Wangji the only person you bid farewell to?

Wei Wuxian:

I appreciate him, all right?

Isn’t it because all of you are unable to defeat me?

I’m a lone wanderer asking for defeat.*

It’s not easy for me

to meet my match in battle.

Translation Note:

This is a reference to 独孤求败 (Dú gū Qiú bài), a fictional character in Jin Yong (Louis Cha)’s wuxia novels. He was a legendary master of martial arts who was so powerful that he was undefeatable, and wandered the world looking for someone to defeat him. His name literally means “Loner asking for defeat”.

Jiang Cheng:

You’re so shameless!

Wei Wuxian:

Who’s shameless? The one trying to hit me is shameless!

How about it? I’m talking about you!

Jiang Yanli:

Stop it, both of you.

Cloud Recesses does not allow fighting.

It’s not too late to play after returning to Lotus Pier.

Wei Wuxian:

All right, Senior Sister. I know, Senior Sister.

You can rest assured. I’ll definitely not hit him!

Jiang Cheng:

Wei Wuxian! You...

You...

Stand right there!

You stop right now!

How dare you hit me!

Wei Wuxian:

Senior Sister, look!

Jiang Fengmian:

All right. Stop playing.

Wei Wuxian:

Stop!

Cloud Recesses forbids loud disturbances.

Jiang Cheng, what are you doing?

Jiang Cheng:

Sis, look at him!

Lan Xichen:

Now that Young Master Wei has left,

Cloud Recesses will become peaceful like before.

Wangji,

should you tell Young Master Wei

of your journey to find the Yin Iron?

Lan Wangji:

There’s no need.

Wei Wuxian:

Little rabbit,

Cloud Recesses does not allow pets,

so I can only hide all of you here.

Are you happy living here?

Happy!

That’s great!

If you’re living happily, then I don’t need to worry.

You reckon

should I bring all of you back to Lotus Pier?

I’d better not.

If Lan Zhan is ever bored one day and wishes to find you,

he won’t be able to...

But...

Lan Xichen:

(Wangji, be careful along the way)

Wei Wuxian:

You reckon

where do you think he is setting off to by himself?

He’s not looking for the Yin Iron by himself, right?

#陈情令 #chen qing ling #the untamed #the untamed episode 7 #the untamed translation #chen qing ling translation

4 notes · View notes

captainchrisfics · 5 years ago

Text

Nightmares to New Normals

About: After half of the universe returns following Thanos’s defeat, Steve Rogers and a first person pov narrator struggle to find their sense of normalcy again. Five years apart, her nightmares, his hero complex, and their lack of communication create quite the angst. But that always makes the happy endings better, right?

Word Count: 4,546

Warning: There’s some talk about the loss of loved ones and post-trauma stress. Speaking from experience, I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a capital P panic attack, but be aware it gets little intense imo and I wouldn’t want to accidentally unearth any unwelcome feelings or reminders for anyone

Requested By: @rororo06 - I thought this was a great idea which ended up turning into a story I wouldn’t have come up with on my own so thanks for sending the inspiration my way :)

Snap.

I shot up in bed, throwing the suffocating blankets off of me as I tried to find my breath again. My heart pounded so hard I thought it made my rib cage rattle, or maybe it was that special brand of post-nightmare fear that made your bones shake. I sprung up from the mattress like it was an ejection seat in this plane crash of a panic attack. Nervous energy propelled my paces along my side of the bed as I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my temples vigorously, hoping to erase the memories my subconscious evoked.

The flicker of a light switch turned the inside of my eyelids orange as my heart sank to my stomach with the guilty realization that I’d managed to wake Steve up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, still groggy with sleep. I paused like a deer in his headlights, staring with wide eyes as I tried to decipher between fight or flight. Steve looked like an old oil painting, his strong shirtless form draped in cream sheets as he supported himself on an elbow. His eyebrows were furrowed, tugged down by the weight of concern, as he rubbed at a tired eye to adjust to the light. Steve’s blue eyes bore into me, but I felt like a ghost he was looking right through. Like we weren’t seeing each other, not really. We hadn’t in a while. “Well?” he prodded with the unique impatience of being startled awake in the middle of the night.

“I...” My voice came out hoarse, even though the noise hit my ears like it was someone else speaking, and I realized for the first time how badly my throat hurt. It wouldn’t have been uncharacteristic for the soreness to come from screams, but then I thought maybe I’d been crying. My hand rose to my cheek like it was moving through molasses. I stared at my fingertips which were shiny with tears, though they didn’t feel wet. I couldn’t hide it, let alone from the person who’d been sleeping next to me.

I felt exposed. Vulnerable. Steve usually helped. He’d hold me, calm me down, tell me to breathe with him until our inhales were synced and so were our heartbeats. But this time, even just the way he was looking at me with this caution in his eyes was anything but benevolent. I knew he was running out of patience. You could only wake somebody up so many times so early in the morning, recoiling from their extended helpful hand, before they lose it. I swallowed hard, trying to shove the lump in my throat to the side so I could get some words out. “I just need some air,” I whispered, afraid my voice would quiver as violently as my chest was shaking if I spoke any louder. Either way, it wasn’t a convincing lie.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to decide if he’d rather except me at face value and get back to his beauty sleep or call me out on the lie and start a fight at 3 o’clock in the morning. He dropped his hand and sighed as he said, “Let’s go on a walk then. Central Park isn’t far and it’s not too cold.”

I appreciated Steve trying to support me, honestly. It meant a lot to me that he was putting me first. He wouldn’t know it by the way I shifted uncomfortably in my fight or flight, looking for any way out of spending time with anyone. I wasn’t in the place for performative emotions, to pretend like I was keeping myself afloat for the sake of his sanity when I felt like I was drowning in my own lungs.

“Actually,” I paused for a beat too long, running my fingers through my damp hair, trying to find a good cover. Something that’ll get me a minute alone to collect myself. Something that wouldn’t worry him any more than I already had. “I’m gonna take a shower instead.”

I bolted out of the room before Steve could question me again. It still wasn’t fast enough to hear his disappointed, impatient sigh. He sounded like a deflated balloon, but I couldn’t worry about that right now when I’d just popped. I kept the lights off, finding some comfort in the dark without Steve’s eyes burning holes through me, as I peeled my shirt off, sticky with a layer of cold sweat.

With years of experience with trauma of his own and always being the strong rock others felt they could go to, Steve learned a thing or two about dealing with panic like this. He’d told me to ground myself in the moment, take in the things around me with a deep breath in between. Like the smooth curve of the porcelain tub beneath my feet. Inhale. The way the hot water pelted my back, running down my body soothingly. Exhale. The trickling sound it made when it hit the bottom of the tub and the sucking sound of the drain taking it all away. Inhale again.

I was cold, inside and out, when I stepped back into our bedroom with only a towel around me. I’d left in such a rush I neglected to grab clothes and, thankfully, Steve fell back asleep. He was still sitting up and he’d left the light on like he’d been waiting up for me. I wondered how long I’d been gone. His sleep couldn’t have been that deep since he woke, startled again, by the sound of my drawer slamming shut. It was an accident, pushing it way harder than I meant to, but I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t feel guilty for something like this. A stranger in my own home.

“We need to talk,” Steve said with a father’s sternness. I didn’t want to talk, though. I wanted to sleep. Even my bones felt tired of supporting me. But if I slept, there wasn’t a guarantee I wouldn’t have the same nightmare. The same scenes played in my subconscious constantly, whether I was asleep or not, but eyes strained from a lack of sleep watching tv or reading a book was better than when they’re shut.

I crept into bed next to Steve, feeling even more foreign now that I was clean and my sheets were still damp. My pillow still tear-stained. I curled up into his side with my head on his chest, mostly so I didn’t have to see the disappointed droop in his brow and exhausted bags under his eyes and so he couldn’t see mine either. I took a hand to his stomach and rubbed slow, soft circles just below his belly button in a way I knew eased Steve into a dream. “I think it’d be better if we just went back to bed,” I said with a voice steady enough to convince myself. It was another lie, but maybe one tempting enough for a super soldier with as little sleep as Steve. Once he’d drifted off, I could untangle myself from him and the sheets. Go run a few miles. Read a couple books. Anything to keep me busy until the sun came up.

Steve dropped a heavy hand over mine on his stomach so I’d stop. “We have to talk about it,” he repeated. “It won’t stop bothering you unless you deal with it and, quite frankly, neither will I.” Steve had that resolute tone in his voice that made him such a good leader. It was a great motivation in the field, to have someone so sturdy and sure of success, but right now it got under my skin in a way I couldn’t entirely explain. He didn’t know what was best for me. He didn’t know that even just thinking about it made me bite my cheek so I wouldn’t cry. He didn’t know how impossible it was to put words to the way everything inside me felt like I was put together wrong.

“Steve, you really need to learn when to stop,” I growled, every bit of the cornered animal I felt. Steve didn’t seem to be intimidated by the idea of getting snapped at. He sat up straight so I couldn’t bury my head in his chest anymore. I couldn’t stand that insufferable look in his eye, it was a feeling I couldn’t place. Annoyance? Disappointment? Pity, maybe?

“I only want to help-“ Steve reached to squeeze my shoulder, only to be met with me shoving his hand away. His face contorted with hurt I’d caused. In that instant, with his glassy, kicked-puppy eyes and fallen smile, something inside me broke.

I felt like a volcano, all of this magma inside of me boiling my insides and looking for an escape. Something else to take down with me. He couldn’t help. It pushed up past the lump in my throat until dirty smoke was shooting out of my ears, the rattling that still hadn’t stopped in my bones turned into a rumble. I couldn’t be helped. Like a tectonic plate buried deep in the earth, something inside of me shifted with a devastating crack, the kind that only comes with calamity.

“You can’t save me, Rogers,” I spit out some lava. There was suddenly an unstoppable rush of liquid fire pouring out of me in angry words. “That’s your issue, you’ve always got to be the man of the hour. Always treating everyone like a charity case, like we should be so grateful for your never-ending help. Like I even need your help,” my voice grew louder, booming with my explosion. Tears were pouring out of me too as I shook with the earthquake I caused. Steve tried to brave my barrage, a stoic look on face chiseled in igneous rock. But his blue eyes always gave him away, the intensity lit by the lamp’s glow made them look on fire. Like he was staring at my eruption, finally seeing every ugly bit of myself I kept bottled up and buried. “You had five years to grow up, time I lost and I’ll never get back, but you seem to have wasted it since you’re still just a man with a shot and the very same hero complex.”

“I didn’t waste shit!” Steve snapped, stooping down to a level I didn’t realize I was on until he became my mirror. His hands tore at his blonde hair as he growled, “Instead I went through all the shit trying to get you and the rest of half of the universe back and you’ve been nothing if not unappreciative.” He threw his hands back on the mattress, thumping harder than my heart. It was rare Steve ever reached this point of anger, but when he did it was like a bomb went off. Everything, including him, is decimated on impact, reduced to mere atoms of what he used to be.

If you’ve ever seen pictures of Mount St. Helens after its eruption, you’d know the crater in the middle and the kind of cavity made by a bomb look strikingly similar.

Steve jumped from the bed like just sharing it with me burned and faced the wall, running his hands through his hair like his mind couldn’t catch up. His back was taught with tension as I watched his shoulders expand and deflate with deep breaths that didn’t calm him. “I just wanted you back. That’s why I did it, all of it, so I could be with you again. Hear your laugh, see your smile, hold your hand,” he said, broken like a dud firework. I didn’t realize it was really the ticking of another timer before he’d turned around with a fit of newfound anger. I realized how long it’d been since I’d done any of those things as of late.

“Instead I got someone I barely even know. You never used to keep things from me or go off and hide like being alone was better. Every time you flinch when I try to touch you, hell you even wince when I try to talk to you, it hurts. Sometimes I wonder if you even wanted to come back to me, if you want to be here at all.”

This explosion was quieter, like if atomic bombs had silencers like guns. Or maybe they sort of do with the way no one’s left to really hear anything other than a constant high-pitched ring in their ears. Steve’s words were like that, barely above silent and even more potently lethal than before.

I didn’t know how to react to that kind of anger, the quiet kind that crept into your heart and didn’t leave if you weren’t careful. The hurt that angers causes, the hole in my chest I was feeling now, behaved in the same way. Instead of making a home there, the pain turned to more wrath which escaped out of my mouth instead. “Don’t sit there and act like I’m oh so ungrateful, Rogers, because being snapped into oblivion and dropped in a world that went on for years without you is a walk in the fucking park, right?”

Steve had a timer, a hell of a lot of patience, and he needed something to ignite him, someone to push him hard and just right. I exploded in seconds without a warning other than a low rumble deep inside, something hot and deadly bubbling internally until I was shook and it all came spewing out. His anger dissipated with the short length of his fuse, a ball of combustible energy that was over just as suddenly as it started, leaving nothing but wreckage in its wake. Mine stuck around longer. Eruptions could last for centuries, you know.

In short, Steve was done fighting. He was tired and out of breath having exerted his anger with just a few shouted words and a couple wrung hands. I, on the other hand, was just getting started. I stood up to meet him with balled fists, trying to challenge a fighter who was ready to leave the ring. “Come on, Rogers, you wanted to talk, huh?” I shouted, begging for another brawl. Anything to make him the bad guy, to take Steve off of his pedestal. But he stayed standing straight with the resolve of a statue, like one of those people in Pompeii. He looked more worn though, with this tiredness seeping from inside of him I don’t think anyone could capture in marble.

Though I was taken aback by his inaction, I kept shouting, “Or maybe we could go back to that walk since that’s just what’s supposed to make it better? Your easy fix for solving all the nightmares, all the heartache, all the disassociation? To take a fucking walk?” If the king-size mattress wasn’t separating us, I’d be worried what I would do to him. His silent throat looked good to throttle.

“You know what?” Steve shouted again, throwing his hands up as if to ask what else he had to lose. His mouth crinkled before his face fell to the floor as he second-guessed himself. I was grateful he finally contributed to filling the thick air between us, even if it was with more harsh words. I braced myself for another impact, feeling like sirens were screaming in warning around me, but all Steve did was snatch an old t-shirt off of the floor. He stormed toward me with that fire still in his eye, though now I had the impression it was coming from inside of him. “Yeah, I want to take a fucking walk and I’d appreciate some company.” Steve snatched my hand and pulled me along with him.

I stumbled along without protest. As much as I wanted to, curiosity and surprise had gotten the better of me. So I trailed behind Steve, who tore through the New York City streets like he owned them in nothing but his pajama bottoms and the same shirt he wore yesterday. I didn’t look any better, red from anger and clad in one of Steve’s hoodies and old smiley face-patterned shorts that barely fit anymore. The two of us together, Steve pulling me with a purpose behind him without saying a word to one another all the way to Central Park, must’ve been a scene.

He didn’t stop until we were at a bench facing Turtle Pond. The sun had just barely started to peak over the dark blanket of night’s sky, turning the cloudy scape a periwinkle blue in its wake. For the city that never sleeps, the park was unusually quiet. The only people other than Steve and me included the occasional early-morning jogger and tired dog-walker, all too bleary-eyed to notice and bother the superheroes sitting on their trail’s sideline. It was a welcome change of scenery, to be so out in the open with Steve, ready to air everything out with him.

“When I used to come to the park, none of this was here,” Steve said with that wistful voice he had when he was lost in a memory. He pointed to the baseball fields that stretched as far as the eye could see before his arm swept to include the entire pond. “It used to be this huge field where my mom, Buck, and I would go picnicking on occasion. Sometimes I’d draw the landscape,” he reminisced with glossy eyes. “It was beautiful with a view of the pond, the water wasn’t as green then.” Steve looked over the horizon like he was really seeing it and I could, too. The fathers playing catch with their sons, mothers in swing dresses with full skirts pulling lunch out of wicker baskets, little girls running like they’d just entered the atmosphere as they tried to make their kites fly.

“I came back to find fake turf and invasive turtles all over the place,” he huffed like it was half funny. One of those simple pleasures you don’t realize you’d miss until it’s gone. He’d lost so much even before the snap. It was something I’d always known about Steve, of course, but I didn’t realize how impressive it was that he’d remained so whole until I was the one falling apart. Steve turned to me with a sincerity in his blue eyes I hadn’t expected. “If anyone else understands feeling out of place in their time, it’s me.”

I extended my hand as an olive branch and squeezed his knee, hoping it could offer even a fraction of the support I wanted to. Steve was right to say that he, of all people, had an intimate relationship with the feeling I was struggling to connect with now. In the smog of my erupting emotions, I’d lost sight of his. “I keep having this nightmare,” I began even though it was hard, trying to offer the same vulnerability Steve had. To let him know I saw him, too. He recognized my effort and reached out with a hand of his own until it reached mine. We intertwined our fingers “We’re back fighting in Wakanda and he snaps, except this time...” I choked up. I couldn’t get the words out, but I don’t think there were any for the way watching the one you love the most disintegrate into dust, watching as they blew away in the wind, knowing it was because you failed to save them.

There weren’t words for how Steve’s last scream echoed in my ears. It was always my name, just like he yelled when it was me who was reduced to ashes. Only it was so much more heartbreaking to watch him blow away. I’d take my brief bit of nothingness over the defeat of being knocked to my knees, Steve’s disappearance hitting me worse than any blow I’d been dealt before. “It’s the other way around?” Steve said it without really having to. He must’ve recognized the loss in my eyes, it’d been staring back at him in the mirror for the last five years. His voice heaved with the same heavy sadness in my chest and I realized that, as many terrible thoughts my nightmare trudged up, it’d been his reality. Steve didn’t have the luxury of opening his eyes to see me laying beside him for a long time. In the five years I lost from my life, he’d been living with my death and then some.

I realized that I lost my anger along the way to the park as it was replaced by a flood of guilt and sympathy that put out our fires. I pressed my forehead into Steve’s shoulder as I said, for the first of many times, “I’m sorry.” I didn’t bother to stop the tears this time, comfortable with Steve again. So I stained his grey t-shirt as I cried and kept going. “God, I’ve been such a brat. I’ve been swamped in so much of my own suffering I just... I didn’t want to be alone in it anymore,” I confessed, my voice strained with tears, though I knew it was no excuse. “And I completely disregarded your feelings, everything you’ve been through, in the process. I’m so sorry.”

Steve stretched his strong arm to wrap around my shoulder, pulling me into his chest without letting go of my hand. He kissed the top of my head and I knew he accepted my apology, finding our common ground again amidst our personal ground zero.

“It isn’t a contest, doll, pain isn’t comparable,” he said softly. “But I’d totally win if it was,” Steve smirked as he tried to lighten the mood, my head vibrating against his chest as he laughed at his own joke before growing serious again. “And even if that were true, there’s a lot of people who have it worse than me so don’t ever feel like you aren’t allowed to hurt.” His thumb massaged circled into the back of my hand absentmindedly as I nuzzled deeper into him, surrounding myself with his scent. Even after all this time, Steve still smelled of soap and the crisp, clean air of the Adirondacks.

“If anything,” he breathed heavily like the air in his chest was turning to lead. “I should be apologizing. I should’ve realized how much you were struggling, I’m sorry I didn’t sooner.” Steve dropped his chin to rest on top of my head. Slowly but surely, we were losing ourselves in each other just like we used to. “I was so relieved to have you back again, I just wanted everything to go back to normal. But I have to come to terms with the fact that neither of us are who we were five years ago.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I insisted, hating the thought of Steve blaming himself for any of this. Without undoing the knot our fingers made, I wiped my tears on the back of Steve’s hand. “You couldn’t help me, I didn’t think anyone could. But I wasn’t giving you a chance to either.” Steve hummed in acknowledgment but offered no other response, looking out over the lush trees around Turtle Pond to the skyscrapers that peaked out overhead. A reminder that, as the rest of the city woke up, we would have to abandon our personal paradise for our harsh reality soon.

“You help me,” Steve said so quietly I wasn’t even sure if I heard him until he repeated himself with more fervor. “You help me get through all of it. I didn’t realize how much until you were-” he cleared his throat. “Until you weren’t there. Sometimes even just being with you makes the world feel… Right again. I want to do that for you too.” Although the words tumbled out awkwardly as he tried to make sense of them, Steve spoke with a confidence that made my chest lurch for him.

“I want that too,” I reassured him, grinning so wide my cheeks ached from being out of practice. “You’re right that we aren’t going to go back to the way we were,” I admitted, chewing on my bottom lip. I felt Steve’s neck contract, stretching to look down at me incredulously. It wasn’t often I professed his correctness, especially not when it was about something he feared so deeply. I couldn’t write this off though, lie to him and tell him we could get back to the way we were. It just simply wouldn’t happen. I wasn’t that me, but neither was Steve. “I think we’ll be better. Grow from all of this, you know? We’ll find a new normal,” I asserted with a conviction that comforted him.

“A new normal,” Steve repeated, testing the words on his lips. I picked my head up so I could see him properly, though he didn’t take his eyes off of the horizon. Still looking ahead, a lazy smile of satisfaction tugged at the corner of his rosy lips. Steve’s cheeks were tinged with pink from the cold, early morning air and his hair was still sticking up in almost every direction except the same one, but he still looked at peace. “I like the sound of that.”

“You know what I like the sound of?” I asked, prompting another quiet murmur from Steve. He turned to me with heavy eyes that drooped with a lack of sleep as I pressed tiny kisses to the side of his thumb. “Breakfast.” Steve laughed and agreed, punctuated by a yawn. “And a nap after?” he suggested as he stood from the bench. There was a twinkle in his blue eyes, more familiar and comforting than the fire it replaced, as he extended his hand to me. The rising sun surrounded Steve like a halo.

I allowed him to tug me off of the bench and agreed that catching up on sleep was tempting. Our hips bumped together as we walked around Central Park, trying to find an exit without much of an aim. Steve slipped his hand into my back pocket since our conjoined ones kept bumping into our hips.

“Is that little waffle place still on the corner?” I inquired. So much other than us changed in the last five years. There were new logos on every corner and foreclosed businesses I’d frequented next to them and an unfamiliar culture we were all trying to navigate in between.

“The one we always used to go to on our way home from the compound?” he specified as if there was another. I nodded tentatively as I realized Steve was stalling as his head bobbed up and down, maybe more hesitantly than I did. “There’s this little mom-and-pop diner we’ll pass I’ve been meaning to take you to. You know,” he shrugged shyly. “Since we’re trying new things.”

I laughed at Steve without really meaning to as I wrapped my arm around the small of his back. “I’d really like that,” I said, brimming with appreciation. He was stubborn, citing that adage about how you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, so it meant even more that he was making an effort. “As long as I still get your hashbrowns.” Steve laughed from his belly and agreed with, “I guess some things never change.”

Tags: @patzammit , @thegetawaywriter , @coffeebooksandfandom , @captainsteveevans , @intrepidandabitcrazy

181 notes · View notes

spliinkles · 6 years ago

Text

Fragility (Pt. 1)

My first fanfic post, I hope this goes well- anyway, enjoy my Linked Universe angst™

The Au is made by @jojo56830 | @linkeduniverse

________________________________________________________________

If there's one thing Twilight knows, it's that life is a frail thing.

Not to say the others didn't know, no, they were well aware of the difference between life and death, but growing up on a farm, Twilight had dealt with his fair share of how precious life is and how quickly that can be taken away. He knew that life was fragile.

Yet the memory kept replaying every time he closed his eyes, a constant loop that was stained fresh in his mind. He still couldn't believe what had happened, the idea itself heaved at his heart and had him nearly choke on his breath. He found himself looking downwards again.

One, two. In, out.

Wild was still breathing.

Good.

From his position, sitting beside the sleeping Hylian, Twilight caught himself yet again mimicking the rise and fall of Wild's chest with his own. From the back of his mind he knew it was a subconscious reminder; everything's ok, he's breathing- he's safe. We all are. Even still, his body refused to rest. Not when he fully knew that death had nearly knocked on their door today, no, he knew he wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

A gentle breeze caught the leaves above them, and Twilight let it surround him. The branches swayed and leaves rustled, a wave of cool air hit him. He heard the crackling of the campfire some feet away, embracing him in the warmth that radiated from it and drove the fleeting cold away. From the depths of the flame, he listened to the twist and pop of embers. He sighed.

He had been so angry.

He closed his eyes once more.

>>>

"So that's a… Linale?"

"No, a Lynel, like… L-y-n-e-l."

"Oh."

"they're very impressive monsters." Two pairs of eyes caught the third, "with a whole arsenal on its back no less. You've defeated them before?" Time questioned, watching Wild alongside Wind, who shrugged,

"A few. Not too many, never defeated a silver one before."

"There are different ones?" A forth voice piped up as Sky ducked his head above from their hiding spot and watched the creature roam around its surroundings proudly,

"Oh yeah. red mane, blue mane and white mane. It's like their status? Reds are weakest, but by no means 'easy' to fight- didn't stop me though." Wild muttered.

From a couple feet away, Twilight listened on as his protégé informed the presumed 'basic' knowledge on the beast merely a hundred feet from them. From their position, they were safe- in theory, a little voice nagged in his head, but he shrugged that away. The only thing that seemed to really put him on edge were the overhang from the cliffs- little room to fight, is all Twilight couldn't help but to think.

Twilght dared to peak out once more from their protection- a single rock, no more than six feet tall, yet wide enough for the group to pack behind. He saw the signature white mane, with the said arsenal in clear view as the Lynel had its back turned from them. He couldn't help but to look in awe. The beast definitely displayed an intelligence far greater than most monsters he's encountered- not to mention the absurdity of its brute nature.

The thing itself towered incredulously high- had it not been for the assortment of weapons scattered upon it's back, Twilight would've guessed it was still strong enough to attack bare handed. The horns themselves looked sharp enough to pierce through skin like a knife through paper.

Before he could do anything however, a piercing roar- one that had dared to shake the ground erupted from the beast and he jolted back, lips shut tightly as to not attract attention. He pursed his mouth.

Had it seen him? No, it's back was turned.

He looked at the others, most in which were near bug eyed at the intensity of the sound. As the sound died off, Twilight reached Wild's eyes, who had knitted his eyebrows into a frown.

"I think it's looking for a challenge- the roar I mean." Wild stated, "haven't had much time to figure it out, I tend to avoid these."

"Oh, so, why are we going to fight it then?" piped Legend. Wild's frown deepened,

"I think once I defeated Calamity Ganon, they've started diverting from where they were assigned to watch." He glanced down at his slate, switching from the photo of the Lynel he had taken to the map,

"Here," he pointed at the lower corner, allowing the others to come close and peak in, "is Oseira Plains. There were two Lynel's watching over, yet when we were coming through, none of them were there." a tension seemed to sweep through the group and Twilight felt a cold dip in his stomach,

"That's bad." Wind whispered. Wild nodded.

He zoomed in on his slate and dragged the map upwards. He pointed once more.

"And here we are, around half a day's trip from their original location." He paused as if contemplating his next words. "If you want, you don't need to fight it, I should be capable to do it myself." immediately, Twilight saw Wild regret his words, yet he himself couldn't help but to frown at him, much like the others.

For a minute or so, to each there own reassured Wild that they wanted to help- 'we were chosen as a hero after all, weren't we?' Warriors had pressed, a proud smile on his face. Wild agreed, yet Twilight, as perceptive as he was, knew something was up. A look from Time however, shot any attempts at questioning though.

"So, battle plan?" The old man questioned, cutting the silence. Wild blinked.

"Uh."

"Don't… don't tell me you just jumped right in did you?" Wild shrugged,

"As long as I had strong weapons…." Time rubbed his forehead,

"I'm going to have grey hairs by the end of this..." he sighed, "Ok, new plan." He went around, formulating an idea between each person. Twilight watched from where he was perched, listening in as Wild would cut in from time to time, putting his input about certain roles and the defences that the Lynel itself had. He thought about taking another peak at the beast, yet shook that thought away. If that thing was looking for a challenge, he'd bet it was smart enough to see even a lick of hair poking up from their hiding place.

After several minutes, the plan was set.

An attack consisting of the entirety of the group barrelling in, in theory, was a stupid move. Wild himself explained that it'll do more harm than good, emphasising on the Lynel's near 'explosive' abilities; "too much going on and we'll be confused, it'll be a blood bath and not on the Lynel's side." so that idea was scrapped immediately. The second called for a mix between long and short range. Mostly long, as to keep everyone from getting confused- this consisted of Four, Wind, Hyrule, Legend and Sky. That left Time, Twilight, Warrior and Wild to encounter the beast head on.

"Always aim for the face." Wild stated, passing a handful of arrows to the Four, "It's their weakness."

Again, they paused as the beast bellowed out once more.

"Ok, let's do this."

>>>

Twilight looked on incredulously.

This power before him- the radiating energy of pure malice incarnated as this monster was horrendous. The brute force of the Lynel caused tremors in its wake from merely walking, yet seeing it gallop -seeing it sprint towards him- was heart stopping. From the corners of his mind he registered his name being screamed- Wild? Twilight had thought dumbly, barely even registering the name. His feet were glued to where he stood, as if paralysed.

This isn't the time to freeze, his mind whispered, and he agreed, but he wouldn't move. He couldn't.

The Lynel raised its arms, both of the muscled limbs wielding a weapon that rivalled the size of the beast itself. From his position, twilight marvelled at the beast. This is what Wild had fought time and time again? This beast, that breathed fire and shook the earth with only it's voice? How could he not marvel at this beast, the very thing that could rival even Ganon had it not been under his control.

But now it isn't.

And it's still headed straight for him.

The idea of that seemed to startle him as he jolted from the sinking feeling that dropped into the pits of his stomach. It was headed straight for him. He wondered how Wild felt the first time he came across this beast with even less knowledge than what most people here had. How did he survive?

He shook the thought out of his head and tumbled backwards slightly, cut from the trance he was in.

And above him the Lynel loomed.

"Oh." He could've laughed. A hero, chosen by the goddess herself and born to protect his land, and he had, yet his famous last words were that of surprise, let alone a breath of recognition. Twilight knew that life is fragile, that in seconds it can be taken from you. He knew what would happen next once the beast swung.

Then as if time had slowed, he watched as the arms launched forward, weapon following along the arch straight towards him. Twilight could faintly hear the beat of his heart as his ears filled with white noise. Was this an attempt to stop the sounds of their voices from reaching him? Maybe.

Twilight felt cold.

He took a deep breath in.

Then, an arrow collided with the beasts face.

Time sped up immediately as the beast pounced backwards, bellowing his anguish at the arrow embedded within his head.

He heard the others cheer, their tones filling with relief as he felt the warmth of someone reach him. His eyes left the beast, who was carelessly ripping the item from its place and discarding it without a second thought.

His eyes met Wild's.

"You froze." He was blunt, yet looking into his eyes, Twilight knew Wild was shaken up by the ordeal. His mouth felt dry,

"Good observation." He noted, eyes drifting. In the distance, he saw Time look at him. I really messed up this time, Twilight thought, hovering over the frown the old man had.

"Don't scare me like that." Twilight noted the tremble in Wild's voice, but didn't voice it,

"Tell that to him." His head bobbed in the direction of the Lynel, who had regained its stance.

"You good on your own still?"

A question even Twilight couldn't answer right now. Why had he froze like that? He had dealt with numerous amounts of monsters, both big and small, yet one look of this beast was all it took to stop him in his tracks. Was it the absolute brute force of the malice that radiated from the beast that shook him to the core enough to paralyse him in the battle field? Maybe.

Twilight didn't have time to think about this however, watching as Warrior jabbed and prodded at the beast mercilessly, who in retaliation faced the Hylian with its piercing red eyes and a growl even Twilight could hear from where they stood. Before it could attack, Time quickly shot forward, relentlessly slicing his sword at the beast from behind.

Twilight looked at Wild,

"I'm fine, lets defeat this beast then we'll talk." Wild nodded.

From then on, it was like a game.

A pattern, Twilight realised, that gave opportunity after opportunity to attack the beast, in which they did so relentlessly. First, they'd wait. The Lynel would attack, releasing numerous fireballs towards them. Then came the arrows. After a successful hit, the beast would collapse if not for mere seconds, allowing the team face-on with the beast to unleash their attacks in the seconds provided.

Time, alongside Warriors, attacked the back, leaving twilight to the front. After a couple seconds, the three jumped back, just as Wild jumped onto the beast's back.

The first time it happened, Twilight almost had a heart attack. Minutes previous, he had been paralysed in fear for his life, yet then, he was utterly gobsmacked watching Wild mercilessly attack the Lynel, who brutally bucked for what seemed like forever before Wild would make his escape.

This time however, Twilight noticed it.

The beast heaved.

It was struggling.

"It's nearly dead!" Wild exclaimed, paused merely feet from the beast. Twilight paused as well. Wild drew out his sword, taking a glance at Twilight. He was looking for approval. Twilight nodded.

This was their chance.

The beast was immobile. Hind legs shaking, arms bent forward to stop it from dropping to the ground the its weapon itself was discarded feet from it. They needed a shot to kill this and thing, and now was the chance.

Wild launched forward.

A burst of energy Twilight has seen numerous times. He himself knows the feeling well. A feeling of knowing before the actual victory. To know that one hit was all it will take to assure victory was fine, but the seconds before that said victory? He saw it now, he could feel it.

Wild's movements were like lightning, his body swift and graceful- Twilight couldn't help but to feel the swell of pride bubbling in his stomach. In his hands, Wild meticulously rose the blade with deathly accuracy, aiming straight at the beasts head. The beast stayed down. Twilight could feel the excitement from the others, even stealing a quick glance at Time, who had a wide eyes and a hopeful gleam.

Wild jumped, a look of determination striking his features.

Then, there was an arrow.

Twilight gaped,

"Hey!-" he forced himself to stop from looking back. His whole body ran cold, a buzz of fear pierced his very soul.

He knew it wasn't them that shot that arrow.

It was a shock arrow.

The second Lynel.

"WILD!" He screamed, voice cracking at the realisation.

All he could do was watch however, as the object pierced Wild's chest.

A direct hit.

Eyes wide, mouth agape. Wild's body was flung back, his whole body seizing up almost immediately. His weapon fell to the floor with a start, and his body soon followed. What followed was something Twilight knew would haunt his very being till his death.

A scream so raw, so blood-curdling- it was something Twilight had never heard before. The scream was like a knife to the gut, twisting and twisting until he felt like his knees could buckle underneath the pure intensity of it.

He saw Wild convulsing.

Twilight felt like vomiting.

It was a tortured minute that dragged on seemingly forever, his eyes couldn't tear away from the body unnaturally jerking, the choked scream ravaging on and swarming Twilight's head. His head felt like cotton. Shapes blurred and his breath caught in his throat, nearly choking him where he stood, once again paralysed. He tried to move, but it was like a rope to his neck- one step and he'd tumble.

Through the strangled scream, he could barely register the others; blurry figures running past him, weapons clashing. His could hear his heart beat loud and clear, beating him down with every passing second, as the body ahead of him shuddered.

And as quick as it began, the screaming stopped.

Wild went limp.

Twilight knows that life is fragile.

He knows it damn well.

But he isn't prepared for it to be taken away just like that. No, he thinks dully, not him. Not Wild.

He only registered that he was attempting to walking when his knees buckled and he fell. Quick enough, his arms caught the brunt of the fall, yet all he could do was watch the limp body ahead. His mind was panicking, only a single sentence formulating within his head, repeating over and over- Get to him. Get to him. Get to him. It was like a light switch turned on in his mind and his arms shook as he pushed himself from the ground, feet wobbling.

He then started running.

His legs nearly spasmed through the first couple steps, yet he persisted, his mind running faster than his legs and his breathing twice as fast. By the time he was mere feet from the body, he had only then registered Time, his heart dropping when they connected eyes. Time himself looked rough, though not as bad as Wild- Twilight cringed at that thought. Time looked at Twilight, an unreadable expression on his face as he held onto Wild.

Twilight thought nothing of it, he couldn't, even if he wanted too. He fell to his knees beside them.

It was silent.

Yet a ferocious roar cut through the lands and brought them back to reality, earth shaking, yet Twilight couldn't help but to think his own shaky hands could rival it. He dared to look back, although taking half a second to wipe his eyes- when had he started crying? It's ok, Wild's ok- He shouldn't be crying.

The second Lynel- a red mane as Wild would've distinguished. Although weaker, it delivered attack after attack against the group. Twilight could see Sky and Hyrule a far way back, bows in hand as the rest swarmed the beast.

Twilight looked back, towards Wild.

He felt.. Something.

He didn't know what, but it was bubbling inside of him as he looked at the Hylian's face. A mixture between utter anger for the beast- absolute seething anger yet the feeling of fear- the overwhelming sensation that he could lose Wild almost numbed him immediately. He almost felt calm, but Twilight knew. His eyes drifted, before coming to a stop at his chest.

He choked.

The arrow was still there.

The electrical charge had all but disappeared, yet the arrow remained, sticking out of him- it was surreal. There was so much blood -too much blood- flowing out of the wound, escaping the fingers that Time had held around the arrow at an attempt to stop the bleeding. He felt like the air around him was suffocating.

Wild's chest rose.

Oh god, Twilight thought as a wheezing sound escaped Wild's lips, no louder than a whisper.

He leaned over Wild, fingers shaking as he rested them on Wild's cheeks.

"…Cub?" he choked, yet the words weren't there- not even loud enough for him to hear.

Yet Wild's eyes opened.

He was instantly teleported to the first day he ever saw Wild, curious eyes watching twilight's wolf form as he set down his bowl of food. Wild had tilted his head, looking into Twilight's eyes in a childish manner. Twilight only mimicked his movement, watching those curious eyes gleam in excitement.

Now, Twilight watched his dulled eyes fade, barely able to register what was happening around him.

It felt like someone had put a vice around Twilight's heart and squeezed it, the sensation causing a choked noise to escape him.

His hands fell to Wild's shoulders and in a fit of pure adrenaline, he shook Wild's form, the words of 'don't go- don't go' shoved into his throat unable to escape him,

"HEY!" A shove and he fell backwards, hands escaping his protégé's shoulders. He laid for a second, breathing heavily before glancing back up at Time. Beneath Time, he heard the sharp gasping Wild made and Twilight's heart plummeted again,

"I- I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Don't." Time cut him off, looking sharply into his eyes, "He needs you here, but you need to think. Breathe." he did as told, taking several deep breaths in and out, pushing his nerves down before pushing himself up.

He was right.

Wild needed him.

Twilight watched as Wild blinked slowly, his arms limp uselessly to his sides. His hair flayed to the side of his face, sticking to the dried blood on his face- must have been from the Lynel, Twilight chalked up. Wild's face was scrunched together, the wheezing slow -painful- to listen to. His eyes drifted, from above, to below, reaching to Time then to Twilight.

"…Twi… ?" His voice was ragged, eyes drooping slightly before opening once more.

Twilight felt empty.

"Yeah- yeah bud, It's me." He kept his hands to himself this time, afraid he'd hurt him again, "You.. You need to hang on for us, ok? We'll get you a potion- it's, it's all going to be ok…" Twilight cursed at himself- it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself If anything.

Below him, Wild breathed out, yet a pained noise escaped him as he realised the intensity of his wound and he spasmed for a second, eyes scrunching in agony much to the pain for Twilight and Time. Seconds past before Wild opened his eyes once more.

The Hylian parted his lips,

"It's…. Ok…." he said, eyes sweeping around in a daze.

From behind them, a series of battle cries filled the stale air- the battle was raging on, as one of their own was dying.

Twilight gulped, his hands shaking.

He knew life was fragile.

Yet, it wasn't for another minute or so until Wild started coughing blood, that they knew.

Wild wasn't going to make this. They had no potions- why they hadn't thought to stock up beforehand was beyond them.

Twilight felt so, so empty, his entire body trembling. Time himself hung his head low, before gently bringing Wild's body to Twilight, who immediately knew what was happening and merely looked into Time's eyes, pleading to not do this to him.

Time shook his head.

"You. It's got to be you." he whispered. Twilight heard the words and let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was right, again.

He gently took Wild into his arms.

The first thing he noticed was how cold Wild was. It wasn't the kind that felt like goose-bumps- something that a simple blanket could fix, no, Twilight's skin prickled at the idea that this was the beginning of death.

Wild was dying, and he had to watch.

"Mph." His focus snapped onto Wild's, watching his eyes slip close, the sound of his wheezing drifting off slightly. Twilight panicked, but gently shook his protégé, as not to hurt him like before,

"Cub? … hey, come on, don't sleep on me yet."

"…Mi…pha…"

They paused.

They had only heard that name a hand full of times. Mipha, the princess of the Zora and the Champion of the Divine Beast Ruta. Barely enough to tell a story, but enough to paint a picture on her significance in Wild's life, much so he even had her diary. Was Wild hallucinating her? Twilight thought, his heart going out to his young -way to young- protégé. God, we're all so young, he continued, why? Why us? He knew he was asking questions that would probably never be answered, but looking at Wild's fleeting gaze, he couldn't stop himself.

Wild then shot out of his arms,

"Wha- !"

The Hylian heaved, dropping to his knees, arms stopping his body from falling onto the ashy ground. Time and Twilight immediately dived, arms reaching to help him, but Wild shook his head, his body convulsing as a spout of blood projects from his mouth and onto the ground. Twilight couldn't begin to count how many times he's felt his heart drop today, but this time he felt it from his very soul, puncturing it mercilessly until he was cold all over.

He then saw Wild gasping,

"Mipha." his voice was strong- unwavering. Something the two watching couldn't think was possible. Twilight reached out again, yet was met with a hand pushing his away, as Wild shook his head once more,

"No. No, don't." he whispered, the gasps audibly getting louder and longer.

"A punctured lung." Time realised. Twilight grimaced.

Wild was drowning in his own blood.

The others didn't even know.

Yet, Wild was tired.

Twilight could see it, Time could see it.

"…Mipha… I…." Twilight could barely hear it. Two words he was probably never meant to hear- two words that weren't for his own, yet he did and his mouth tightened, eyes yet to release unshed tears.

Then, several things happened in a sequence- one right after the other.

The red-maned Lynel shrieked, the sound reverberating the entirety of the area they were in- birds escaped their trees, flocking above into the sky at an attempt to flee. Rocks tumbled from the tops of the cliffs and the ground shook once more. As it cried out, the beast fell, the whole entirety fading into an abysmal black before dying out into nothing in front of them, in its wake were treasures, left by the beast after its demise.

Voiced whooped and hollered in victory, satisfactory smiles plastered on their faces as they lowered their weapons and exclaimed in relief.

Wild, taking one last painful gulp and a shaky hand, ripped the arrow straight from his chest, screaming out in pain as he fell, eyes rolling to the back of his head. Time and Twilight, in retaliation, both reached out to catch the falling body- eyes wide, mouths agape as Twilight released a strangled cry.

Twilight caught him, eye burning as he turned the Hylian around as eyes fell onto them. Twilight didn’t wait, reaching down to try and find his breath- he trembled, his mind immediately replying the same words over and over- he isn't breathing, he isn't breathing, why- why isn't he breathing?!

Yet a second shriek pierced the earth, and heads whipped around wildly, connecting towards the silver Lynel -the first one- which looked to be ready to attack with its brute force, red eyes gleaming in malice towards the group of those who had defeated the red-maned monster, leaving Twilight to tremble over his fallen protégé.

And then.

There was a light of pure green-

and there she was.

#linkeduniverse #linked universe #fanfic #spliinkles writes #angst

451 notes · View notes

vergils-daughter · 5 years ago

Note

Ahihi! It's my turn! 🖤🖤🖤 Can I please request for V and Reader splitting up, with her trying so much to make him stay but, he still leaves? Then, many, MANY weeks later, he seeks her out, wanting to fix things with her. I want to see what's your take in it. Thank ya! 🖤🖤🖤

Well, first thing I am sorry it took me so long. And a second apology - I may have gone a little crazy and literally punched the canon in the face. But I like to describe time and place and put Reader in specific environment. If you wish, I can write more canon-like fic, just let me now :-)

V x Reader splitting up

This should have never taken place. Nevertheless, just like small sand grains all these malices, divergences, bagatelles became serious misunderstandings and started to disturb the work of delicate mechanism called your relationship. All this leads to the day when V leaves you…

“You need to understand that I can change myself for you, but i cannot stop being myself!”

Of course it would not be the first time he leaves the apartment to put his mind at ease. The way you are, you could make a stone crack from rage and V, despite his phlegmatic temperament, has his limits, too.

“I cannot be with someone who controls every aspect of my life. I need space!” - this is one of those rare occasions when V talks with his voice raised up. You are standing face to face in your small apartment. V’s silhouette is towering above you, as he is much taller than you, but in reality it is you who is the dominating one. You felt it in the way he turns his head. He is talking to you but it is already obvious that he wants to retreat. He wants to escape. No way!

“First of all, do not shout” - you speak with a cold voice - “and secondly, I do not control you, but I do organize our life, because YOU are not capable of it”.

Ouch. You see how he snorts and how his muscles show when he clenches his jaws. Then he opens his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but you cannot allow him to interrupt.

“You don’t have a normal job and because of all this business Dante dragged you into you almost died. Certainly you are not fit to be a demon hunter, V! Has that episode with Qliphot not taught you anything?

"Well, it is good that you always support me” - he speaks with a hurt tone.

“Spare me! You are saying, that I organize your life, but in fact you are angry that someone other than that long dead poet tries to put everything in order. Grow up, at least a little!” - Your anger starts to overflow you and the next wave takes you with it. V grabs his book and makes a move as if he wanted to open it. - “Don’t you dare to put a quote or I will throw this fucking book through the window!”

V clenches his fingers on the book as though he was afraid that you would really take it away from him. His eyes become dark, he has had enough. He turns his back to you and speaks very slowly.

“There is not a thing in me that you like. Maybe you were just wrong about me?”

And now he … This was getting out of control. Maybe this time you pushed him too far? You approach him and grab his arm in an attempt to turn him to face you, but he just pushes you away.

“You know that is not the case, V!” - you try, desperately.

“The truth is… I do not know, what IS. And I do not want to enquire any longer.”

With increasing amazement you watch him take his coat and the bag which he always took for the long missions. Then he walks towards the door.

Not entirely understanding what is happening now – or maybe, not wanting to understand? – you shout behind him:

“Don’t you dare leave!”

But of course that doesn’t stop him. When the door slams behind him you call out, so that he can hear you from the corridor.

“Don’t you think I will cry after you!”

Well, you do that a bit later, when you wake up at the morning, after a night spent on frenetic cleaning of the apartment, and find out that all of his stuff is gone. He must have come when you were asleep, but he did not wake you up. He took his books and clothes and just disappeared from your life. Perhaps for ever.

…

Dante wouldn’t be himself if he simply accepted just like that what had happened. When you said that you are moving to the far east, he looked at you as though he saw you for the first time.

You cross your arms and shake your head.

“But it is not the fault of this..” - he tries.

“Dante, I need to be back in my homeland” - you interrupt him before he starts the topic you very much wish to avoid right now. It is obvious that your splitting up with V sent some shock waves across the demon hunters’ world. Your romance started dramatically after the destruction of Qliphot and you saving V from crumbling into pieces. The rituals you had to use will give the demonologists something to ponder on for at least a few decades. However hard you and V may have tried to maintain some privacy afterwards, you were quite famous for a while.

“I have on offer for you, though” - you add. “I will set up a DMC branch office. Where I used to live there are demons, too, and there is no one to take care of all that rabble. Besides, I want to come back to giving lectures. I have so much to offer to my students after this Qliphot incident.”

Dante nods.

“You surely are not the type of person whose mind one can easily change, are you?” - he says, but you can see a genuine disappointment in his eyes.

Well, hell no, you are not.

…

“The concept of performing rituals that are based on demonic artifacts is very tempting, however the risk is very high. Sadly, not all of us are sons of Sparda” - you smile when you see the halls’ reaction to that - “…who can easily switch between the astral states of the soul. This is why for us, humans, rituals which originate from our tradition and available resources are more appropriate. Today we will talk about the angels’ talisman.”

You turn towards the board and draw a circle. The chalk squeaks, accompanied by the scratching of the pens and pencils. The hall is full, you notice not without satisfaction. The young, the old, a few theorists and occultists like yourself, but also some hunters marked with scars. Some of them are taking notes, and some came to listen, like this tall guy sitting in the last row, all in black…

Your squint as your weak eyes cannot see him clearly from this distance, but his silhouette seems familiar. You shake your head and resume the lecture. You do not have any time for this.

As the lecture ends, for some reason you leave the hall quickly when the lecture ends, before any of your students has a chance to rise from their seat.

Not now, not now…

From the university you go straight to the DMC office and the thought of all the work that awaits you there causes you to release a small sigh. You took a lot on yourself and even the fact that you no longer do any field work did not help. It got even worse – when your team is on the mission, you coordinate the transport and the details of payment and future commissions. You wonder how Morrison managed to work without a place to store all the documents and contacts. As you are walking by a store, the light of street lanterns reflecting in its windows, a thought crosses your mind – perhaps running an antiques shop would be an interesting change in your life?

But when you look at the window you see the reflection of a person following you.

You feel the shivers running across your spine. You are sure that is it not a random pedestrian that goes in the same direction as you. You feel the attention focusing on you. You pretend that you did not notice anything and try to keep a monotonous pace and walk as though nothing happened.

Something tells you that you should not run or it will be like in one of this silly horror movies. The tapping of your steps and the beating of your heart muffle all other sounds. You grab your talisman subconsciously and you focus so much on that someone stalking you that you don’t notice a man who arrives from around the corner. With a surprised cry you both fall down to the ground.

And when you try to get up quickly, not sure if to fight or apologize, you see the face of the man you fell on. V’s face.

That is, you see a bearded guy with a long ponytail, so unlike this sleek mage that miraculously survived the destruction of Qliphot. Wearing linen pants, a black t-shirt and a heavy coat that covers his tattoos. In clothes that are surprisingly… plain. And in boots instead of his favorite sandals, although that is a little less surprising as it is wet and cold on this distant isle he arrived at.

But the eyes… they remained the same. You were unable to forget them, even though you have been trying so hard. If your heart was pounding like crazy in your chest a moment ago, now it is clenched painfully like a fist. You jump up and watch V rising up. Ah. Whoever was following you a moment ago, vanished. Was it a trick of V’s?

“What are you doing here?” - you say through clenched teeth. You look at him in a way you hope looks hostile. V brushes away some stray hair form his face in a manner so familiar to you and smiles shyly. You really want to rub this smile off of his face with a fist.

“We need to talk” - he says.

You rise you arms as in defense and shake your head. But before you manage to say something, he grabs your arms and pulls close to him.

“I was wrong, I cannot make it without you, you were right, I am not fit to all this” - he says on one breath, hugging you tight. You feel that he trembles.

“V, I…” - you make an attempt to see something, but he holds you even tighter.

“Forgive me for leaving you, S/Y. This world is full of suffering and I cannot separate myself from it. All of this is too strong…” - he presses his lips to your ear - “You gave me peace and calamity. I cannot live without it…”

“V, you cannot live in a constant fight” - at last you can say something. - “You are not capable of killing. This is why you felt so lost…”

“But I’ve changed my job” - he says.

“Wha…” - you are at a loss for words now. You tilt your head and look at him with amusement. -“You… resigned from being a demon hunter?!”

V only nods his head.

“And… what do you do then?”

“I… collect magical artifacts and… stuff. Rare books. Dante helped me to organize a small shop, I run something similar to a used book seller.”

You shake your head as you cannot believe what you hear. You take a deep breath, because it costs you a lot to say what has to be said.

“I… shouldn’t have imposed anything on you and tried to gain control over you. I only wanted to… protect you, but not by changing you. For that you must forgive me” - you end the sentence in a voice so quiet that you are not sure if he heard you at all. You look at him, not sure what you will find in his eyes, but there is only pure adoration on his face. He leans towards you and kisses your lips, very gently, and you cannot hide that you missed it so much.

You loose track of time in this intimate moment. You feel that an urgent desire awakens in you to recall one additional aspect of your relationship. With a sigh you break the kiss and take his hand.

“Umm… do you have a place to stay for the night? Because I have an apartment nearby, so..

"I do not. Will you invite me?”

“On one condition”.

He gives you a suspicious look, but calms down when he sees your smile.

“You need to shave this beard. I bet that when you are summoning Nightmare you look like a Santa on drugs.”

And the Polish version:

To się miało nigdy nie wydarzyć. A jednak, niczym powoli nawiewane ziarna piasku, wszystkie te złośliwości, rozbieżności, drobnostki urosły do rangi poważnych nieporozumień, zakłóciły delikatny mechanizm, którym był wasz związek. Wszystko to doprowadziło do dnia, w którym V cię opuścił.

-Musisz zrozumieć, że mogę się dla ciebie zmienić, ale nie mogę przestać być sobą!

Oczywiście, nie byłby to pierwszy raz, gdy opuścił mieszkanie w poszukiwaniu chwili oddechu. Masz tę skłonność, że nawet kamień potrafi przy tobie pęknąć z wściekłości, a V, mimo swojego flegmatycznego temperamentu, też ma swoje granice.

-Nie mogę być z osobą, która kontroluje każdy aspekt mojego życia. Potrzebuje też miejsca dla siebie! – to jeden z niewielu momentów, gdy V mówi podniesionym głosem. Stoicie naprzeciw siebie w salonie, w małym mieszkanku, które dzielicie od paru tygodni. Sylwetka V wznosi się nad tobą, jest wyższy o głowę, ale tak naprawdę to ty nad nim dominujesz. Czujesz to w sposobie, w jaki na wpół odwraca głowę, słowa kieruje do ciebie, ale już widać, że chce się wycofać. Chce uciec. Niedoczekanie.

-Po pierwsze, nie krzycz – rzucasz zimnym tonem – po drugie, nie kontroluję ciebie, tylko ORGANIZUJĘ nam życie, bo ty nie jesteś w stanie tego zrobić.

Auć. Widzisz, jak się żachnął, a mięśnie odznaczyły się pod skórą, gdy zacisnął szczęki. Otwiera usta, by coś powiedzieć, ale nie pozwalasz mu.

-Nie masz normalnej pracy, a przez ten cały biznes, w który cię wciągnął Dante, prawie zginąłeś. Przecież ty się nie nadajesz na łowcę demonów, V! Ten jeden epizod z Klifotem cię nie przekonał?

-Dobrze jest mieć w tobie wsparcie – mówi urażonym tonem.

-Och, daruj sobie! Mówisz, że ja ci organizuję życie, ale tak naprawdę to jesteś zły, że ktoś inny poza jakimś dawno nieżyjącym poetą próbuje ci wszystko poukładać. Dorośnij choć trochę. – gniew przelewa się kolejnymi falami i unosi cię ze sobą. V wyjmuje z kieszeni książkę i wykonuje ruch, jakby chciał ją otworzyć. - I ani mi się waż rzucić jakimś cytatem, bo wywalę tę pieprzoną książkę przez okno!

V zaciska palce na książce, jakby bał się, że mu ją wyrwiesz. Jego oczy ciemnieją, ma już dość. Odwraca się od ciebie i mówi powoli.

-Nic ci we mnie nie pasuje. Może po prostu myliłaś się co do mnie?

Czujesz, jak grunt usuwa ci się spod nóg. Chyba tym razem za bardzo go przycisnęłaś. Podchodzisz do niego i chwytasz za ramię, próbując go obrócić twarzą do siebie, ale się wyrywa.

-Wiesz, że nie o to chodzi, V!

-Prawda jest taka, że ja już nie wiem, o co ci chodzi. I nie mam ochoty dłużej dociekać. – z rosnącym zdumieniem patrzysz, jak sięga po swój płaszcz, bierze torbę, którą zabierał na dłuższe misje i kieruje się w stronę drzwi.

Nie do końca rozumiejąc, co się właśnie dzieje – albo nie chcąc rozumieć – krzyczysz za nim.

-Ani mi się waż wychodzić!

Ale to go oczywiście nie zatrzymuje. Kiedy drzwi zatrzaskują się za nim, wołasz jeszcze, licząc na to, że usłyszy cię na klatce schodowej.

-I nie myśl, że będę za tobą płakać!

Robisz to znacznie później, kiedy po nocy spędzonej na frenetycznym sprzątaniu mieszkania budzisz się rano i orientujesz się, że zniknęły jego rzeczy. Musiał przyjść, kiedy spałaś, ale nie obudził cię. Zapakował swoje książki i ubrania i po prostu zniknął z twojego życia.

…

Oczywiście Dante nie mógł tego zrozumieć. Kiedy zapowiedziałaś swoją przeprowadzkę na wschód, popatrzył na ciebie jakby cię zobaczył pierwszy raz w życiu. Krzyżujesz ręce i kręcisz głową.

-Ale to nie wina tego…

-Dante, wracam w rodzinne strony. – rzucasz szybko nim pociągnie temat, którego wolałabyś teraz uniknąć. Oczywiście, że twoje rozstanie z V rozeszło się już szerokim echem po światku łowców demonów. Wasz romans zaczął się dramatycznie, od zniszczenia Klifota, ocalenia V od rozpadnięcia się na miliony kawałków, a rytuały, które były w to zaangażowane, zapewnią demonologom materiał do badań na kolejne dziesięciolecia. Jakkolwiek próbowalibyście zachować prywatność, przez jakiś czas byliście dość popularni - Ale mam dla ciebie propozycję. Założę filię DMC. Tam, gdzie mieszkam, też zdarzają się demony, a brakuje kogoś, kto ogarnąłby całą tę hałastrę. Poza tym chcę wrócić do wykładów. Mam za dużo do zaoferowania studentom po tej przygodzie z Klifotem.

Dante tylko pokiwał głową.

-Cóż, nie jesteś osobą, której zdanie łatwo zmienić, co? – rzuca, ale widzisz w jego oczach szczery zawód.

Oczywiście, że nie jesteś.

…

-Koncepcja przeprowadzania rytuałów opartych o artefakty demonicznej proweniencji jest kusząca, ale niesie ze sobą spore ryzyko. W końcu nie każdy z nas jest synem Spardy – uśmiechasz się, widząc poruszenie na Sali - który potrafi swobodnie przechodzić między astralnymi stanami duszy. Dlatego dla ludzi bardziej odpowiednie są rytuały oparte na naszych tradycjach i dostępnych środkach. Dziś omówimy talizman aniołów.

Obracasz się w stronę tablicy i rysujesz na niej okrąg. Kreda skrzypi po tablicy przy akompaniamencie skrobania długopisów i ołówków. Cała sala jest pełna, zauważasz z zadowoleniem. Osoby młode, stare, teoretycy i okultyści jak ty, ale też poznaczeni bliznami łowcy. Niektórzy pilnie notują, inni tylko słuchają, jak na przykład ten odziany na czarno wysoki typ siedzący w ostatnim rzędzie…

Marszczysz brwi – z tej odległości twoje słabe oczy nie widzą go wyraźnie, ale jego sylwetka wydaje się znajoma. Kręcisz głową i wracasz do wykładu. Nie masz teraz na to czasu. Z jakiegoś też powodu wychodzisz z sali jak tylko kończy się wykład, zanim ktokolwiek ze studentów zdąży wstać.

Nie teraz, nie teraz…

Z uniwersytetu kierujesz się prosto do biura DMC, a na samą myśl o czekającej tam pracy wzdychasz ciężko. Sporo na siebie wzięłaś i nawet rezygnacja z pracy w terenie nie odciążyła się. Gorzej – kiedy twoja ekipa jest na misji, ty koordynujesz transport, dogadujesz szczegóły zapłaty i kolejne zlecenia. Zastanawiasz się, jak Morrison to wszystko ogarniał bez jednego miejsca, w którym trzymałby wszystkie papiery i kontakty. Kiedy mijasz witrynę sklepu, w której odbija się światło ulicznej latarni, przychodzi ci na myśl, że prowadzenie sklepu z artefaktami mogłoby być ciekawą odmianą.

A kiedy zerkasz na szybę, widzisz odbicie postaci podążającej twoim śladem.

Włosy jeżą ci się na karku. Jesteś pewna, że to nie jest przypadkowy przechodzień zmierzający w tym samym kierunku. Czujesz jak przez skórę skupioną na tobie uwagę. Nie dajesz po sobie poznać, że coś zauważyłaś. Starasz się zachować jednostajny rytm i iść przed siebie, jakby nigdy nic.

Coś ci mówi, że nie powinnaś zrywać się do biegu, że to będzie jak w jednym z tych głupich horrorów. Odgłos twoich kroków i bicie serca zagłusza wszystkie inne dźwięki. Podświadomie zaciskasz palce na amulecie ochronnym i jesteś tak skupiona na obecności za twoimi plecami, że wpadasz z rozpędem na człowieka, który wychodzi zza rogu. Z okrzykiem upadacie na ziemię.

A kiedy otrząsasz się i próbujesz wstać z mężczyzny, na którym leżysz, niepewna, czy powinnaś walczyć, czy przepraszać, dostrzegasz jego twarz. Twarz V.

To znaczy, jakiegoś brodatego, długowłosego gościa z kucykiem, zupełnie niepodobnego do wymuskanego maga, który cudem ocalał zniszczenie Klifota. W lnianych spodniach, czarnym t-shircie i ciężkim płaszczu ukrywającym jego tatuaże. W ubraniu zaskakująco… zwykłym. I w krytych butach, co w sumie nie powinno cię dziwić, bo na tej odległej wyspie, na którą go zagnało, jest zimno i mokro.

Ale te oczy, one pozostały te same. Nie udało ci się ich zapomnieć, mimo że bardzo się przez ostatnie tygodnie starałaś. Jeśli do tej pory twoje serce tłukło się jak szalone w piersi, to teraz ścisnęło się boleśnie jak pięść. Zrywasz się i patrzysz, jak V wstaje powoli. Ktokolwiek cię śledził, zniknął.

-Co tu robisz? – cedzisz przez zaciśnięte zęby. Patrzysz na niego koso, i, masz nadzieję, wrogo. V odgarnia z czoła niesforne kosmyki – ten gest pamiętasz aż za dobrze - i uśmiecha się do ciebie nieśmiało. Masz ochotę zetrzeć mu ten uśmiech z twarzy pięścią.

-Musimy porozmawiać.

Wyrzucasz ręce w górę w obronnym geście i kręcisz głową. Zanim cokolwiek powiesz, V chwyta cię za ramiona i przyciąga do siebie.

-Myliłem się, nie mogę dać sobie bez ciebie rady, miałaś rację, nie nadaję się do tego wszystkiego. – rzuca na wydechu, obejmując cię mocno. Czujesz, jak drży.

-V, ja… – próbujesz coś z siebie wydusić, ale on przytula cię jeszcze mocniej.

-Wybacz, że tak cię zostawiłem, S/Y. Ten świat jest pełen cierpienia, a ja nie potrafię się od niego odseparować. Za mocne jest to wszystko… – przyciska usta do twojego ucha - Dawałaś mi spokój i ukojenie. Nie potrafię bez nich żyć…

-V, nie potrafisz żyć w nieustannej walce – w końcu udaje ci się coś wtrącić – nie jesteś stworzony do zabijania. Dlatego byłeś tak zagubiony…

-Mam inną pracę.

-Co… – na moment cię zatyka. Odchylasz głowę i patrzysz na niego zdumiona. – Zrezygnowałeś z bycia łowcą demonów?!

V kiwa głową.

-To co teraz robisz?

-Kolekcjonuję magiczne artefakty i przedmioty. Rzadkie książki. Dante pomógł mi w zorganizowaniu małego punktu, w którym prowadzę coś na kształt antykwariatu.

Kręcisz głową, nie wierząc w to, co słyszysz. Bierzesz głęboki wdech, bo sporo trudu cię kosztuje wypowiedzenie tych kolejnych słów.

-Ja… nie powinnam ci wszystkiego narzucać i próbować cię kontrolować. Chciałam cię chronić, ale nie poprzez zmienianie cię. Wybacz mi. – kończysz głosem tak cichym, że nie jesteś pewna, czy w ogóle cię usłyszał. Zerkasz na niego, spodziewając się gniewu albo goryczy, ale jego twarz wyraża tylko czyste uwielbienie. Pochyla się i składa ci na ustach delikatny pocałunek, a ty nie jesteś w stanie dłużej ukrywać, jak bardzo ci tego brakowało.

Nie wiesz, jak długo trwa ta chwila bliskości. Czujesz jak budzi się w tobie nagląca potrzeba, by przypomnieć sobie jeszcze jeden aspekt waszej znajomości. Z westchnieniem odrywasz się od niego i ujmujesz za rękę.

-Hmm… masz gdzie nocować? Bo mam tu niedaleko mieszkanie…

-Nie mam. Zaprosisz mnie?

-Ale mam jeden warunek…

V rzuca ci podejrzliwe spojrzenie, ale łagodnieje na widok twojego uśmiechu.

-Musisz zgolić tę cholerną brodę. Pewnie podczas przywołania Koszmaru wyglądasz jak naćpany święty Mikołaj.

#dmc #dmc5 #dmc 5 v #request #splitting up just like that? wel.. and #and yes i think that he would look ridiculous with white beard!

19 notes · View notes

loki-fanfic-whore · 5 years ago

Text

Doppelganger ch.4

warnings- descriptive situations, bad grammar

@drakesfiance @thatweirdwalangpake

Chapter 4 Truth Amongst Lies

You awoke with a groan, you felt like your body had been hit with a bus.

“Wh-at?” you croaked out hoarsely as you realized the smell of sterilization and alcohol. Bright florescent lights blaring down on you. You were in a hospital.

“Darling, welcome to the land of the living.” A familiar voice purred out.

You tried to sit only to groan out in pain and fall back against the metal table. You weren’t in a bed you were on a slab.

“Where am I?” You hoarsely spoke, your throat felt like a blistered desert.

“Stark Tower. We brought you here after you. Well…it wasn’t a smart thing you did pet.” The voice spoke as it moved closer, you tried to see who was speaking from your peripheral, to no avail. Whoever it was they were staying out of your eyesight.

“Don’t chastise me asshole. I cannot live without Tom.” You spoke again, every word hurt and you found tears pricking your eyes.

“Shhh don’t cry darling. No tears needed.” Tom’s doppelganger rushed to you and picked your hand up. He looked exactly like him, but with black hair and no glasses.

“t-tom?” you croaked out as you tried to sit up again.

“I am afraid not, pet, but I have been told the resemblance is uncanny. I wouldn’t know though. My name is Loki.” He smiled as he helped you to sit up and fetched you a small glass of water.

“small sips darling. You vomited quite a lot of medication and charcoal. We had to pump a lot of it out of you.” He rubbed you back as you greedily sipped the water. It burned going down.

“You said you wouldn’t know. So you haven’t met tom? He isn’t here?” You looked to him sadly.

Loki shrugged his shoulder and cupped your face.

“Not that I have seen. We came upon the scene and there was some chaos. Some people were missing and some things blown up. We found a wallet with a photo of you in it. Thor called right as I assume you were trying to destroy yourself.” You shivered at his touch and scooted painfully away, removing your face from his hand. He dropped it to his waist and took a step back.

“My apologies…in a different life, you look like my beloved…you could be her twin.” He smiled sadly his line of sight falling to the floor.

“What happened to her?” You asked taking the bait.

“She died….suicide…she had been kidnapped by a waring realm and they threatened to- to tear the child from her womb…she destroyed herself before they could…”He mustered up a single tear to slide down his cheek.

The door to the lab opened and Bruce walked in.

“Oh good! You are awake! My name is Bruce and this bastard is Loki. Don’t believe a word he says. He is the God of lies.”

“Is tom here?” you gasped out glaring at the grinning Loki.

“Shh hey, don’t work yourself up. Yes, Tom is here and he is safe. We needed to run some tests so we staged a battle and took him. Sorry for the circumstances. When Thor called and you were indisposed, he knew something was wrong so he scooped you up and we felt responsible, so we patched you up.” Bruce smiled as you threw the cup of water at Loki.

“Get out!” you snarled. He looked like tom, but he was no twin. He was indeed his doppelganger. Loki slithered out of the lab laughing.

Sirens blared overhead as an explosion rocked the entire building.

You tried to stand only succeeding in ripping out your IV and falling flat on your face. Bruce grabbed you and sat you on the table. He hit a switch on the wall and the lab locked down.

“We are safe in here, something or someone is attacking the Tower.” Bruce explained. You felt hot tears prick your eyes as you began to tremble.

“Tom… we have these abilities we gained…He has super strength and speed. I can heal people, but not myself.” You blurted it all out terrified in his angry stupor that Tom was now fighting the avengers.

“I doubt it is Tom he is sedated in an interrogation room.” Bruce said as another explosion rocked the lab.

Soon the calamity calmed and there was a knocking on the door. Bruce flipped the switch to turn off the lock down and the door opened to show a distressed and no longer pristine Loki, blood dripped from his lip.

“They took him.” He said breathlessly.

“Loki, I swear to god if this is a trick.” Bruce marched over, ready to beat the shit out of him. Loki held up his hands in surrender.

“No tricks- Hydra said he would be a super soldier. They took him.” He panted out. You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding, as a sob.

“My poor Tom.” You spoke softly. Loki approached you and held out a hand.

“May I please heal? I got hit with one of the explosions, it sent me flying.” He held his hand out but didn’t approach any further. You hesitantly put your hand in his and gasped as images flashed before your eyes.

“N-No! My darling! My beloved, my beautiful Sigyn.” He screamed out holding a lifeless, pregnant corpse. Blood covered him and her. As he held her by the back of the head to his chest. HE was on a deserted battle ground screaming in rage and anguish.

“it-it was the truth.” You gasped as Loki retracted his hand. He nodded sadly.

“unfortunately, it is.” He mumbled and moved away feeling much better. The interaction had drained you of what little stamina you had left and you practically fell back onto the metal table.

#bad grammar #loki au #doppelganger #fish oil #loki x reader #tom Hiddleston x reader

38 notes · View notes

necrokittytales · 6 years ago

Text

Necrokitty Tales: Trouble in Inkwell Isle (Chapter 9)

Authors’ note: Remember, Necrida’s writing will be in italics and SPKC’s writing with be regular font.If you have no idea what this roleplaying thing is, you can start from the beginning here.

Harvey entered the door with a slight limp and was immediately immersed in the chaos of his family. He could see his mother in the kitchen and tried to slink past her so she did not pick up the condition he was in.

Unfortunately, he hadn't gone more than a few feet when her ears suddenly went rigid. She turned around quickly and spotted her son, scuffed up, a fresh cut on his ankle, his cheeks still slightly damp

with tears...and his clothes torn.

“HARVEY! WHAT HAPPENED?” His mother shrieked, running over to her son and immediately smothering him.

Harvey sniffled. “I'm okay, mom, really.”

“Your overall button's been torn clean off!”

One of his sisters came by, “Do you have a cut on your leg?”

“Torn. Clean. Off!” His mother exasperatedly repeated, pulling at the fabric. “Tell me what happened!”

“My friend and I were walking home from school and some bullies took her special notebook and threw it into Cagney's field. And when we went to go get it, Cagney attacked us.”

Mrs. Hare ground her incisors together. “Did he now? Who does that weed think he is?! I swear if I ever see him again, I'll give him a piece of my mind, alright!”

“Mom, it's okay.”

“Heather! Go get the weed killer from the garden!”

“You mean the gardening hoe!”

“Don't sass me, girl, and just give it to me.”

“Mom! Really! It's okay. Okay? I'm okay. Please don't try to attack him.” His mom could be a very passionate rabbit when the situation called for it and he was fairly certain she would passionately lose to Cagney very quickly if he allowed the situation to continue.

She huffed and placed the hoe in the kitchen. “He's lucky your father is not home. Your father knows people, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harvey sighed. He thought about the situation. “Do you think we could have carrot cake tonight? I think carrot cake would really make me feel a lot better.” He asked hopefully. This day could still be turned around.

Mrs. Hare softened. “Oh course, my little dust bunny. Now go get washed up, okay?”

Harvey smiled, feeling better. “Thanks, mom.”

---

The bats reached their home. Isabella landed carefully and helped Mina get off her back.

"Now you get your little trouble making tushie to the shower, and you better have your nails clipped when you get out of there!".

"Yes mama...". She noticed she was still angry so she limped her way to the bathroom.

Isabella sat in the kitchen table, still agitated. When she heard the door of the bathroom close she released her pain in the shape of silent tears. She hated Italy, she hated italians, she hated everything that reminded her of that country.

After a few minutes, Isabella calmed herself down and decided to check on her girl.

After the day she had, Mina thought she deserved a bath instead of a shower. While the bathtub was filling up she looked at the clipper, then her nails, then the clipper again. She decided too keep her claws since they have proven to be very useful when in trouble and hid the clipper behind the toilet seat with a smirk.

The little b-cat got inside the bathtub and layed as she relaxed. She started thinking of her notebook. All that research and discoveries lost forever! Her eyes started to fill with tears.

She looked at her big bruise in her leg. The pain was starting to go away but the purple mark was still very noticeable. For once, she was glad her mum couldn't see, or she would have definitely beat up an apology out of the flower.

Isabella walked in after knocking at the door. "How are we doing here?" She said cheerfully.

"Good" Mina replied wiping her eyes and hiding her bruised leg as a reflex. She was glad to hear the lighter tone in her mother's voice.

Isabella sat at the border of the bathtub. "So you were defending your new friend from a bully?" The bat said keeping her friendly tone.

"Yeah" Mina nodded "Spike and his stupid friend Todd! Yesterday he wanted to steal Harvey's money, and today he wanted my adventure journal! And now its lost forever!" She couldn't hold her tears anymore and cried.

Isabella's heart melted again. She tenderly rubbed her daughter's back to try to comfort her. "Oh! Don't cry 'dulceata'. I'll go tomorrow and take it back from Mr Flower" She smiled at her.

"You think he'll give it back?" The little girl wiped her tears and her eyes filled with hope.

"If not I'll have to show him what a BECH I can be!" Isabella lifted a closed fist in the air. Mina chuckled, she understood the play on words, they were the Bechstains and kids at other schools already pointed out the similarity of pronunciation with the B-word insult. "Nobody steals from my 'înger' and lives to tell it.”

Mina admired her mother's determination, but after seeing what the flower could do she wasn't sure she could take him down. Still, she felt better knowing she might have her journal back. She hugged her mum spilling water everywhere.

"Oh! Mina!... " the mother complained but returned the hug with a smile. Suddenly, the woman remembered the smell that made her nose itch. She had smelled it before in some clubs she used to sing for with her band. "Dandelion!"

Mina cocked her head in surprise "What?".

"What?... nothing.... let me see those claws," The bat said nervously.

---

"Ok, fuck this!" Hilda muttered angry frustrated that no matter how many times she broomed there was still shards of glass coming out. She was tired and in pain. She wondered if Cagney might have busted a rib or something. She still couldn't believe what he did. Where did all that hate came from?

She looked at the now open ceiling and pulled the switch to see if the white sheet was still working.

It was a bad idea.

The second the sheet moved a new rain of sharp shards fell into room covering it again. Hilda sighed and decided to go have a raspberry tea.

She took a few sips of her tea and breathed deeply. Her entire chest was sore. She had pretty big bruises circling her upper body.

'You know, I changed my mind' Taurus spoke 'lets go to this Friday and KILL HIM'.

Hilda hold her head between her hands with a exasperated sigh. She wondered if she overreacted by telling him to leave his own surprise birthday, but... he almost killed her! THAT was overreacting. She just couldn't believe how things escalated so quickly.

This remind it her she had to fill the damn hole he made outside her home, there wasn't much she could do for the tree though.

And what about the dome? She will have to talk with Grimm and Djimmi again to make it as perfect as she wanted it. But who would pay for it? She spent most of her savings keeping this place from crumbling.

'Cagney broke it... shouldn't he be the one to pay for it?' Sagittarius carefully said in Hilda's mind.

The woman rolled her eyes at the idea. She could almost hear the giant weed laughing at her face. Plus, he probably didn't even had that kind of money. How much can you make selling flowers?

The soreness was driving her mad. She lifted her shirt to check on her bruises again. Her pale skin was covered with all kinds of purple and blue shades, with an occasional red line. Some of the smaller thorns got stuck deep on her skin. She tried to take them off only to hurt herself even more. After a few tries she gave up and looked at the time. She should get moving if she wanted to put up the stars in time... but she really didn't feel like it tonight.

---

Amber was very perceptive. Or at least, she liked to believe she was. Which was she was somewhat irritated to learn that she had just missed a huge brawl earlier that day. Brawls led to distractions. Distractions led to open pockets. And opened pockets led to a happy Amber.

She finished applying her gloves and stretched. She wondered who had been stupid enough to actually trespass in the carnation's field. Even she wasn't stupid enough to do that. Trying to get the sneak on something that just had to stick its hand in the ground and it could kill you? Yeah, no thanks.

It was bad enough she had encountered him at the observatory. What the heck had he been doing there anyway? If she had to have guessed, it might have been a date but there was no way that could have been the case.

She sighed at the missed opportunity and eyed her next target, the Clip Joint Calamity. There was going to be a brawl tonight. And liquor. Between the both of those, she could look forward to a very satisfying night indeed.

Harvey felt much better after a shower and a change of clothes. Dinner helped him perk up a bit. And the smell of dessert in the oven did make him feel pretty swell. But he was very worried for Mina. Her mom looked really really mad. He only hoped that he would get to see her tomorrow. And apologize for not being a really brave bunny.

He sat at the dinner table and squared his little furry fists together. Starting today, he was going to be a braver bunny. A bunny who knew how to kick with the best of them. So bullies like Spike and Todd wouldn't pick on kids like Harvey and Mina. He'd be the bravest and most courageous bunny the isle had ever seen.

There was a knock at the door and his mom called out, "Just a minute!"

Harvey stood up, chin up. Why not start being brave now. "Don't worry, mom. I got it," he declared, waltzing over to the front door.

"Thank you, Harvey. Can't imagine who it would be. The sun's just setting at this point. A little late for visitors," Mrs. Hare mused as Harvey reached the door.

Harvey pulled open the door with a, "Good evening can I-?" And stopped dead in his tracks. Staring down at him with a sharp scowl was Cagney Carnation.

"Hey, listen-."

Harvey managed a choked yelp and slammed the door shut. Mrs. Hare looked over irritated. "Harvey Hare, don't you go slamming doors around here! The frames can't take that much force these days!"

The little rabbit swallowed as there was a harder knock on the door. Mrs. Hare washed her paws. "I'll be right there."

"No," Harvey realized, "I got it, sorry! Just, uh, stay there mom. Is the cake burning?"

"I should hope not!" She gasped, turning her attention back to the stove.

Harvey cracked open the door and looked up worriedly at the carnation. "Y-you better leave or I'm gonna-gonna," he struggled.

Cagney realized the boy was probably going to need some encouragement. "Get out here before I drag you out," he grumbled.

Harvey's eyes widened, not wanting a repeat of this afternoon. He quickly walked outside, leaving the door ajar in case he need a quick escape. Cagney loomed over him, something tucked under his arms.

Harvey pressed his paws. "I'm really, really, really sorry we went into your field."

"Okay, good to hear. Now-"

"Please don't feed me to the piranha plants."

"Oh for God's sake, I'm not gonna feed you to the piranha plants," he rolled his eyes.

"You promise?" Harvey asked.

"Just, shut up a second. And don't cry. I'm here to apologize." The words were like lead coming off his tongue but he managed to spit it out.

Harvey rubbed his ears, confused. "Huh, what did you say?" There was no way he could have heard that correctly.

"Harvey, who's at the door?" Mrs. Hare pushed open the door and her smile froze. She glared up at Cagney. "YOU! You stay right there!" She demanded, dashing back inside.

Cagney blinked and glanced at Harvey. "Uh, what?"

Harvey swallowed, realizing that he was not about to get fed to carnivorous plants. "She's getting weed killer."

The carnation's eyes widened. "Woah, woah, wait, wait a minute there!"

Mrs. Hare busted open the door, brandishing her hoe. "I've got my weed killer, you dirty dandelion!" She snapped.

The flower stared at her. "That's a hoe."

"Don't you sass me! Now why are you here bothering my son?" She demanded.

"I'm trying to apologize!" Cagney spat out.

She stopped brandishing the garden utensil. "Eh, what?"

"I'm apologizing, okay?"

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Mrs. Hare had a funny expression on her face, as if she didn't quite understand. "I uh, oh. Huh. Okay then. Thank you."

Harvey noted the carnation looking irritated still. "Mom, the timer went off for the cake."

"It did? Huh. Okay, just, hold this just to be safe," she instructed, handing the hoe to Harvey. She shot Cagney a quizzical look. "Well, color me surprised. If you start acting nice like this, I might know a daisy or two looking for a date to the dance coming up."

He stuck out his tongue. "Hell, no."

She laughed and walked back inside, leaving a calmer Harvey. The rabbit still wasn't quite sure. "You're apologizing to me?"

"Yeah. Sorry for nearly killing your friend and banging you up a bit. I thought you were someone else."

Harvey scratched his head with the hoe. "Oh, Uh, well, thanks. I appreciate that. I'll stay out of your field." He brightened up and pointed at the carnation. "But uh, you should say sorry to Mina!" He pointed out, a burst of courage in his chest. The carnation fixed him with a disbelieving look and Harvey faltered. "Please? She was really upset."

The flower sighed. "Yeah, I was going to. Do you know where she lives?" Harvey hesitated and Cagney threw his hands out. "I'm not going to do anything bad. I'm just going to apologize, got it?"

The rabbit nodded slowly. "Okay, she lives by Chip. Near the observatory."

Cagney hissed quietly to himself. That was a bit too close to Hilda than he would have liked. But he had already come this far. And chances were, she was already out and about. "Alright, thanks kid, appreciate that."

Harvey nodded and was about to go back inside when he stopped. "You better be nice to her or I'm gonna hit you with this hoe," he blurted out. Cagney chuckled.

"Well, well, looks like the bunny has a backbone. I'll keep that in mind. Don't let your mom blab to too many residents, please."

----

It was dark out and Cagney had some difficulty finding his way above ground but he soon came across the home of the bats. It wasn't much to look at, but to be fair, he slept on dirt under a tree three quarters of the year, so a house was a house.

He saw the observatory and his stomach clenched. The dome was broken. There needed to be a new one but the cost alone was for this piece of astronomy equipment was, well, astronomical. Even if he was on speaking terms with Hilda, he barely had anything to his name. Still, that's not why he was here. He was here to see the bats.

He knocked on the door and flexed his feet. It still felt weird to be walking around uprooted. He never quite got used to the feeling. It was a bit unsettling sometimes. He waited for someone to answer the door.

"I'll get it mama" Mina stood up from the table and opened the door. Her eyes widened and immediately closed it back.

" Mina! What are you doing?"

"Run! He's come to finish me off!" Mina hold the door.

Cagney swore under his breath something along the lines of "for fucks sake" before knocking it again.

"Oh c'mon Mina..." Isabella opened the door this time, ignoring her child begging her not to, and crossed her arms. She stood there serious, pointing her ears at Cagney and discretely delighting herself with the scent of carnation.

Hilda stared at her empty cup for a while now. She was feeling bad for not putting on any stars. After a few minutes she stood up, packed some stars muttering colorful insults for a plant and went out to cast a cloud.

She started to gain some altitude when she notice a familiar figure on the neighbors house. She immediately casted more clouds to hide herself.

"What the hell he's doing there?" She whispered to herself, and discreetly moved her clouds closer across the sky.

Cagney found himself facing Mina's mother and had to resist the urge to let his thorns out. The woman was blind for fuck's sake, it's not like she could see how uncomfortable he was being there.

He swallowed and began carefully. "So, hi, listen, I'm here to...apologize," he managed. The word still felt like lead in his mouth. It was an awful word. He glanced at Mina who definitely was eyeing with some pretty righteous suspicion.

Isabella smiled enjoying how uncomfortable this was for him.

"Mina" she called her daughter who came out cautiously "Do you accept his apology?".

Mina was uncomfortable with the situation as well. "Eh... y-yeah? Thank you Mr Carnation".

---

Hilda was sorry she couldn't get any closer, but at least she managed to get a good view.

---

"Don't mention it. Seriously, DON'T mention it," he emphasized, "I'm really sorry about this all. But so help you if this gets around that I'm going around apologizing then I'm going to have bigger problems to deal with."

He hesitated. "And, uh, I think this is yours." He held out her notebook to her, "That's a pretty good drawing of Venus," he admitted.

"My adventure journal!" Mina opened her eyes widely holding the need to cry of happiness and took her precious notebook like she was holding a treasure. "Oh!" She hugged his leg "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Isabella was pleasantly surprised and smiled sincerely. "That is very nice of you, Mr Carnation. And here I was thinking we were up to a bad start" her smile turning more charming.

Cagney resisted the instinct for his thorns to pop out at the sudden contact and froze briefly before realizing that this was a hug and not an attack at his legs. He carefully brought a hand down, tempted to pry her off but just kind of patted her head. "Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. I'd kinda be upset too if I lost something like that."

He glanced at her mother. "So, uh, are you and I cool, Miss, uh...?"

"Isabella Bechstein" she stretched her arm to offer a handshake. "And... we will be ok after I talk to you for a minute. Mina, please go to your room. I need to talk to Mr Carnation".

Mina nodded "Good night, Mr Carnation!" and she hopped happily to her room. There was a sound of a door closing.

---

Hilda's eyes widened incredulously. Was... a kid hugging Cagney? Why would any kid hug Cagney?

'Because he is charming as hell!?' Gemini replied giggling.

"Oh! Shut up!" Hilda tried to control her emotions even though she agreed. That damn dandelion can be a real gentlemen if he wanted to... like that time at the---she shook her head to prevent any more thoughts to run wild in her head and focus on what was going on.

Hilda was watching even more carefully now.

'What is going on?' Sagitarius slowly spoke.

'Argh! Can't we get closer?' Gemini complained.

"Shhhh!" The woman was starting to lose her patience.

---

Cagney brushed his petals back and shook her hand. "Fair enough. Cagney is fine, by the way. Mr. Carnation was my dad," he explained.

"Wait, shhh" the woman stood in front of him quiet shaking her hears towards the door. After a few seconds the ears stopped abruptly and she turned towards the door.

"I said, to your room, Mina!".

"No way!" Mina's voice sounded from the stop of the stairs "How did you know!? I was super quiet!" This time she slammed the door from the other side.

Isabella smiled proud of herself.

"Sorry about that. What were we... ah! Yeah, I'll call you Cagney then" her tone was really enticing. "So... there is no easy way to say this... so I'll just go ahead" she lowered her voice and got close to him. "Are you a junky?" She asked, back to being angry.

---

'Maybe she's an old friend?' Sagittarius carefully asked.

"What? She just moved in! Plus I've been with Cagney since... forever! I think I would know if he had a bat friend..."

'I guess...'

'They do look awfully friendly though.... ' Taurus stepped in 'look! She's getting closer to him!'

Everybody stared in silence.

---

Cagney's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "WHAT?! Definitely not! I do not-why are you-?" He stopped talking, realizing what exactly she was referring to. He whistled. "Okay, for being blind, you're pretty perceptive. So, listen."

He got a little bit closer to her, so as not to be overheard by a potential eavesdropper in the form a tiny bat. "I uh, accidentally hit myself with my own dandelions. How familiar are you with dandelions?" He was hoping further instruction wasn't going to be necessary but it probably was judging by her face. Still he waited to see if this was the case, already putting together an explanation in his head.

Isabella had a good idea what dandelions did, but admitting it might not be so good for her reputation if she was planning on staying here a while.

"I know enough to prevent my kid to get close to it... what does it do exactly?" She played dumb.

Hilda was getting livid. Now Cagney was getting close!

"You ever blow on a dandelion and can't help but feel a little bit dizzy afterwards? Yeah, multiply that by a 100 and that's what I can do." He groaned. "It's a self defense thing. They're not fast, but if someone runs into one, it creates a sense of motion sickness, dysphoria and a lot of confusion."

"I was trying to make some up when Mina's book landed nearby and scared the shit out of me...and I took one right in the kisser." He hung his head low at that. "It's really embarrassing..."

"Got to admit, it probably didn't help the fact that I have got pretty much no sleep last night after my friend's home got broken into while I was over. And your kid really looked like the cat who who did it."

He held out his hands. "I started putting two and two together when she didn't sound the same and she had wings...but then her rabbit friend started throwing stuff and then everything kind of went to shit."

Isabella listened attentively and cocked her head. "Y... you... make those..."

She was a bit confused, but it sure it was good to now that this fella can manufacture them. "And that's terrible, about your friend's house" her voice turning sweet again. "Does she live far from here? It’s not like I have a treasure in there" she pointed at her house "but I wouldn't want my little 'înger' getting hurt."

Hilda's cloud was getting grayer.

Cagney hesitated. "Yeah, she runs the observatory. Well ran it. I'm not sure she's going to be able to open anything more than some exhibits and minor stargazing for a bit. A couple things got a bit wrecked last night. " Like a friendship and possible relationship he wanted to add but kept that to himself.

He realized she called the little bat something else. "Wait, I thought her name was Mina?"

Isabella laughed "Her name is Mina, înger means angel in romanian. I'm romanian. And no. I'm not related to Dracula" she smiled. "It’s really too bad about the observatory... I'll try to pass by tomorrow see if I can help somehow." She open her mouth hesitantly and finally decided to speak. "Say... eh... this is going to be too forward but, if it's not too much trouble, perhaps you could show me around whenever you have free time? I would like to meet new people but it's kinda hard when you can't... well, see them". She hated to admit she had limitations.

Unless she had ability to blow glass with her wings, there probably wasn't much she'd be able to do about the observatory.

Huh. Romanian. Explained the accent. Cagney thought about asking why the heck they'd come to a place like this if they were from some other place like that but decided against it. People had their reasons and as long as it didn't lead to too many weird people showing up, he was fine to leave well enough alone. He was, however, caught off guard by her request.

"I am probably the worst person to ask, but considering you haven't come at me with a gardening hoe, I wouldn't mind showing you around," he agreed. At the very least, he could weed out the individuals that would try to mess with a blind woman. "I've got a free day tomorrow if you've got time? Not sure how settled in you are yet."

"Splendid!" She joined her hands cheerly. "I can make some time in the morning."

The sky was almost covered with dark clouds and sounds of menacing thunders were getting louder.

Cagney nodded, a slightly genuine smile on his face. "Mornings are good for me. I'll come pick you around 9?" He paused, "We may have to take a few breaks just cause I'm not the best at walking long distance without putting my feet in some soil. Will that be alright?"

He didn't know why he would check with her on that. It's not like he wasn't going to do it but there was something a bit attractive about her that made him extend the question. Maybe it was her looks. Or the fact that she was stubborn. Or the fact that he's pretty sure she swore him out earlier and that was always kind of fun.

The woman showed a delightfully charming smile at the flower. She was starting to find him interesting. "There is no problem in stopping now and then, " she said with her enticing voice "I'm not much of a walker either" she spread her wings in a innocently seductive pose to show she was more of a flyer. A huge thunder filled the sky.

Cagney looked at her elegant figure and felt himself swallow a bit harder than he intended. "Ah ha, yeah, wings. Those are nice. Er, flying. Flying must be nice." What was with him and girls that could fly? It was beginning to become a pattern, he realized, catching a glimpse of her curves.

The sound of thunder in the sky brought him back to reality. He didn't remember there being any storm in the forecast. Then again, he hadn't really consulted the forecast since it was connected to Hilda. And the last thing he wanted was to be caught in the rain trying to find his way back home in the dark. "Well, it was a surprisingly nice to meet you and your daughter. I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

"Tomorrow morning it is" the bat said with a caramel voice. She was about to turn around "oh! I forgot to thank you for bringing back Mina's notebook" she got close to him but she realised, thanks to her echolocation, that she wouldn't reach the flower's face. "Hm... would you mind lowering for me?"she smiled and tried to keep that sweet tone.

He raised an eyebrow at her but shrugged and leaned down, figuring she was going to tell him something she didn't want her daughter to overhear. "Sure, what'd you-?"

Isabella softly kissed Cagney's cheek. "Good night" she whispered.

A huge lightning illuminated the scene followed by a terrifying thunder. "Dumnezeule! You be okay walking home under the storm?" She asked, worried.

Cagney felt himself completely heat up at the unexpected kiss and his mind went blank. He stood there a bit slack jawed until her words registered. He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"I uh storm. Yeah, no I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'll go by underground worst case. You have a good night, Isabella." The carnation backed up only to trip over his own feet. He got back up quickly. "I'm okay!" He assured her before taking off back to his home as his entire plant body still tingled from the small gesture.

He hadn't been kissed by a non flower in uh forever? And her lips had been so soft against his face that he was surprised he kept it together. Maybe that was a Romanian thing. A guy could get in a lot of trouble living with women like that.

Hell, he should apologize more often if that was a possible result. It was handy that Isabella was available tomorrow. Cagney was fairly sure he had something planned for Friday.

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Hilda," he realized out loud. He had actually managed to work up the courage to ask her out. Sorta. He chickened out and didn't specify it was a date persay, but it was definitely different than their normal types of hangouts so she had to have known something was up. He even put a reminder note on the flower he brought for her. Which he was pretty sure she had probably smashed in her anger.

Their date was Friday. "There was no way in hell she'd go. She probably wouldn't even remember and if she did, there's no way she would go," he told himself with an irritated sigh. Would he go? He didn't know. Maybe? Just to prove himself right that she wouldn't show.

He kept walking. Well, just as well Hilda was nowhere around. The last thing he needed was for her to be lurking around, listening in and getting the wrong idea about things. He still wanted to never see her again...right?

Isabella chuckled at Cagney and heard him leaving. She stood there a few more minutes delighting herself with the carnation's aroma that was still in the air and enjoying the noisy rain. She loved the rain. It felt good to hear the thunders over her head filling the emptiness.

---

Finally it started to downpour. Hilda was holding her head trying to keep the constellations in control.

'Let me have him! Let me have him!'

'He doesn't love us anymore!' Gemini started crying.

'I-it's probably not what it looks like...' Sagittarius tried to comfort the others 'maybe they did know each other?'

Hilda went back to her observatory seeing red.

"Unbelievable! That... that damn weed piece of... cutted grass-I can't even think of a good insult!" She went directly to her room and let herself fall on the bed. "...ooh... I know! I'll go this Friday, alright, but... with a 'friend'. I'll give him a reason to not want to see me again!".

Gemini stopped crying abruptly ´oh! Who we gonna pick?!' They said cheerfully.

'I don't think this is a good idea guys... and may I remind us, we did tried to poke his eyes out' Sagittarius tried to reason with them.

'After he snapped a Goddamn tree in front of us!' Taurus immediately replied getting agitated.

"Aaargh! quiet already!" Hilda silenced them and layed in bed thinking about how was she going to get anyone to go with her in such short notice.

#cuphead #rp #rolplay #necrokitty #tales #smallpersiankittencuphead #smallpersiankitten #necrida #cagney #carnation #hilda #berg #mina #isabella #betchstein #harvey #hare #submission

23 notes · View notes

feynites · 7 years ago

Text

@lillotte17 I finished it! Follow-up to the Kidnapping Attempt in the Clusterfuck Triplets AU!

It takes Nightmare a long time to calm down, after the Kidnapping Event.

They spend a lot of nights watching over the babies, and they frequently find themselves counting heads. Making certain that they have not lost any of them, somehow, even though the new wards and alerts and systems put in place would make it impossible for them to not notice if another incident occurred. They do not sleep for nearly a month, and they know it is taxing on everyone. Ardal himself seems to bounce back from the experience within a few days of nothing worse than some clinging.

But eventually, life regains a semblance of its former pace.

Nightmare finally gives in to sleep, and wakes up to find that no calamity has befallen anything in their absence. The paranoia eases, bit by bit, and they sleep for several nights consecutively, a few days after that. Restoring themselves, and regaining themselves. Their ragged edges move back out towards the periphery of their nature. They let the babies sleep through several nights in their cribs, and stop feeling something lurch in their chest every time Mealla leaves to go attend her duties.

And Aili relaxes, too. They feel some guilt over that. Working themselves up always seems to wind her up in turn, as she does her best to keep them calm and reassured. It works - she knows what she is doing very well, by now - but it is tiring. Uthvir and Thenvunin help, but Nightmare feels a pressing need to look after her, in turn, once the worst of their paranoia has passed, and their mess of a mind settles down into its usual cycles of self-recrimination, doubt, and reassurance.

When they carry her off to their bedchambers a little earlier than usual, and let the others put the babies to bed, Aili does not seem surprised.

“Let me?” they ask her, even so.

She runs her fingers gently over the feathers of their wings, and hums at them, as they hold her in their arms.

“Of course,” she agrees.

She leans in and presses a kiss to the side of their mouth. They cannot help but let out a breath, and even smile. Aili, oh, vhenan. They inhale deeply, and let out a long sigh, before carrying her the rest of the way to the bed. And then they give in to the urge to touch her. To brush their fingers through her hair, and press more insistent kisses to her lips, and untie the knots of her clothing. She brushes their cheeks and the tips of their ears; and the first bite of the evening actually goes to her, as she nibbles on their bottom lip. Playful, but nowhere near hard enough to draw blood.

They pull away from her just a little, tweaking one of her ears in unconvincing rebuke, before they manage to undo the front laces of her shirt. Then they bend in and kiss the top of her breast, right over her heart. Letting their senses sink through her, to feel the beating rhythm of it. The connection to it. Warm and familiar, now, sometimes steadier than their own thoughts, as they blink and for a moment see the network of her veins. Her blood like light, running throughout her form.

A reassuring view; though not the most scintillating. They blink, and their eyes itch for a moment as they switch back to something more comfortable. Then they set themselves to the task of pulling down her leggings, and untying her underthings. She brushes her fingers through their hair, helping here and there by shifting her hips or moving her legs, but otherwise letting them take the lead. They press a kiss to her navel, and trace over familiar scars with their fingertips. And they breathe in the scents of her. Some light sweat, and the soap she had used in the morning, and her building arousal.

It relieves a tension in the back of their chest. Makes them feel steadier. Safer. Everything is safe, their wards are humming, the night is quiet, the house is asleep, and they are touching Aili. Gently, almost teasingly, as they trail kisses down from her navel, and then settle her thighs atop their shoulders.

“If you need me to stop, pull my hair,” they say, looking up at her. A beautiful view, with her tunic still tangled around her arms, and her breasts exposed, and her face angled down towards them.

“Can do,” she promises, and wriggles her way out of the rumpled tunic.

Uthvir sets their mouth to the waiting folds of her sex, then. Eager to see how many times they can make her come. It has been too long since they indulged, since they felt safe enough to cut loose, and risk them losing all sense. But they love seeing her unbound. Lost in pleasure. Her highs echo through their skin, make them feel pleasure in a way that almost chases back everything else, without costing them their own wits or leaving them too vulnerable at the same time. They like it best, really.

The taste of her on their tongue is so tied with these associations, they let out a hum of their own anticipation as they set upon her. Teasing, testing, just at first. But then with more concerted determination. They know precisely where to put their tongue, and how to move it - and they do. Working as best they can without magic. Magic will be later, they think. They want to make her come against their lips without it first. Want to feel her thighs tremble and hear her breaths break from nothing more than the press of flesh against flesh. Their wings furl outwards, their focus sharpening with intent, and Aili’s thighs tighten around them as they set about devouring her.

They feel lit. The heat at their mouth meets a warmth in their chest, affectionate and erotic at once, as her pleasure builds and carries across their bond. Always so potent, when they are this close. They sink soft-nailed fingers into her, and tease the sharper nails of their opposite hand across her hip, and find the spot inside of her that makes her sing…

…And one of their alarms goes off.

Nightmare reels back, reflexes jangling and crashing confusedly for the several seconds it takes them to feel the alerting spell go off, and then realize what it means. Aili is startled, equally disoriented between the rush of arousal and pleasure and then the sudden crackle of fierce unpleasantness. They recover first; ineffectually flinging a blanket over her in a moment of confused instincts, before they turn and rush through the house to where the babies are.

In a clearer frame of mind, it would not actually have been their first move. The babies are in the nursery, with Mealla, who had volunteered to keep an eye on them tonight. They are fine; still sleeping, utterly unaware of the alert which had gone off. An alert for the outer segments of the property, not the inner rooms. Nightmare sucks in a ragged breath, and lets out it again, and hears the door to their other self’s room open.

“One of the alerts went off,” they hear Uthvir say, most likely to Thenvunin. And then foosteps, heading determinedly down the hall. Somehow hard settling into the bond.

Angry.

“Aili?” their alternate self calls. “Clothes?”

“I won’t need them, this won’t take long,” Vhenan replies, as Nightmare moves to leave again. Mealla is rousing, by then, though, and she commands their attention for a moment.

“Nanae?”

“An alarm went off,” they reply. “Stay with the babies.”

Virevas turns in her cradle, and Nightmare hopes they don’t wake - don’t have to endure any fussing or fright - before they quickly check Oisin’s breathing, and leave the room. They hear Mealla sweep her blankets aside, and start to follow them.

Aili marches, entirely naked, down the main hall towards the front door. Carrying a pair of her curved knives and looking distinctly murderous.

Nightmare appreciates this, but also, nakedness is vulnerability. Uthvir seems to agree, as they hurry after her, hissing at her to head back and let them take care of this. Mealla blinks, and while she is not normally perturbed by nudity, she looks from her mother towards them, and then runs a hand down her face.

“Not thinking about it,” she murmurs firmly to herself. “Nope.”

“Aili,” they call.

“Look after the babies,” she says.

Nightmare frowns, and then catches the eye of a bewildered and sleep-addled Thenvunin. They nod towards the nursery, and gesture Mealla pointedly back into it.

“Look after the children,” they tell him, as Aili and Uthvir reach they door. Then they follow after the pair, as Aili storms onto the grounds, and one of the babies - Virevas, they think - wakes up and starts to make early-warning sounds of fussing. It keeps Thenvunin and Mealla occupied, at least, while Uthvir finally just bodily grabs Aili and thrusts her - knives and all - at Nightmare.

Aili turns her knives to avoid stabbing them, and Nightmare scoops her off of the front porch, on high-alert now for whatever set off the alarms. They close the door behind themselves, aware that the wards on the entryway have not been set off, at least.

“Put me down, if it is those people again then I am going to stab them this time,” Aili hisses at them.

She means it, too.

Nightmare hardly blames her. But they keep ahold of her, too. It is unlikely, after all, to be the same elves. And the night air in the village is cold, bereft of environmental charms, turning brittle with the nearness of winter. They cannot see anything telling. Just the garden wall and the path outwards, but no other alarms have been set off, and the furthest perimeter for their home is set just outside the walls anyway.

Uthvir glances at them. They share an unspoken moment of communication; Uthvir will go and check. Nightmare and Aili will cover the door.

“Let them check,” Nightmare murmurs.

Aili tenses a little.

“Alone?” she asks, radiating dislike for the concept.

“It is not far, “ Uthvir replies, silently. They move down the path, then. Aili wavers for a moment, caught by her obvious need to help their other self and sate the fire of her wrath - which is still, currently, considerable - but stymied because that would require her to struggle out of their arms. And Nightmare is holding tight enough that she would have to hurt them to do it.

Not a measure they would ordinarily take. But she is utterly without armour, and as a breeze curls around their ankles, she shivers, too.

They wrap a win around her.

She lets out a breath, and they can see her make her choice, as the tension in her changes. She makes no move to push them off. But stares at the path intently, still tense as a bowstring, until they hear a sudden yelp of pain.

“Uthvir!” Aili calls.

“Got her,” Uthvir answers, and appears at the gate again. Holding something small and furry, with the aura of an elf, in one hand. Small and furry and struggling. “Trying to climb over the wall, hm?”

“Unhand me this instant!” the furry thing demands. “Who do you think you are, snatching me up like that?! I was just leaning against the walls! Is that a crime?”

“No. But trying to climb them is,” Uthvir replies.

Aili nudges them, and Nightmare releases her. Uthvir has the intruder - provided there was only one. But only one alarm was triggered, so, that seems likely. If another tries to get inside, another alarm will trigger. And their other self will not let any animalistic elves break their grasp and savage Aili. On this point, Nightmare is confident enough that some of their tension eases again.

More succinctly than ordinarily, too.

Perhaps they are getting better at this. Or perhaps they are just better at it this time. It can be hard to say.

“A raccoon?” Aili asks. She levels a knife at the elf, and they immediately stop struggling. A whiff of fear escapes them, sharper than the low-grade alarm that had seized them before. Nightmare catches it. Surprise-tinged sudden realization that the situation is more dangerous than anticipated.

“What were you after, breaking into our home?” Vhenan continues, narrowing her eyes. In the moonlight she looks dangerous, and lovely, and as sharp as Nightmare ever imagines themselves to have been in a full suit of armour. “Another would-be kidnapper?”

The raccoon gulps.

“Kidnapper?” she says. “Who would...? N-no! I just wanted to see them, I swear! Look, I am sorry, it was a bad idea. I can admit that. I thought I could maybe get close to a window, and just… I mean, I’ve never seen a baby before, and you have four, I thought my odds would be pretty good!”

Vhenan is not convinced. Good. Neither are they. Uthvir gives the raccoon a slight shake.

“If seeing them was all you were after, you could have just waited until we took them on an outing,” they say.

“I have been!” the raccoon insists. “I have been waiting since I got here, but it has been days and I have to move on.”

Their other self puts something together, then.

“You are with the survey group, the one collecting census information,” they say.

The raccooon’s discomfort increases. Identified, then, or nearly.

“Um,” she says. Her eyes dart to Aili’s knife, and then she turns her head and looks towards Uthvir. Mana’Din’s spymaster, of course. Nightmare is beginning to think this elf really is young and foolish, from the way shock keeps colouring all their fears. But that does not mean they are going to let their guard down.

After a moment, Aili lowers her knife, though. She lets out a breath, and looks at Uthvir.

“You know who she works for?”

They nod.

“Official surveyors report to district managers. The territory census is conducted from Daran, though. I know everyone she answers to. More directly, I know who the head surveyor staying in the village is right now. I suppose we shall go and see what she has to say on your conduct, hm?”

They give the raccoon another shake, but she is less afraid now that no knives are being aimed at her.

“Maybe we could just… chalk this up to youthful curiosity…?” the raccoon suggests.

Uthvir snorts.

Aili sighs.

Nightmare remains suspicious, as their vhenan makes her way back towards them.

“I suppose I have to put on some clothes,” she mutters.

They let out a long breath through their nose, and finally take a moment for themselves to lament the interruption to the evening’s proceedings. Uthvir moves the raccoon - who is still trying to talk them into letting her go - back outside the household wards. Faintly, through the door, they can hear the distinctive sounds of Virevas kicking up a fuss. Thenvunin or Mealla probably carried her into the hall in hope of keeping her from waking the others.

The evening, it seems, will not be set back on track.

But despite the disruption… Nightmare does not feel as if they have been ground back down to Step One again.

They reach out, and brush a hand down Aili’s arm.

“I will make it up to you,” they promise. Sending their assurances - and their own steadiness - through the bond.

She blinks. And then she reaches over, and grasps their face; and reels them in for a quick kiss.

“Thank you,” she murmurs.

“Really, though… you are very naked,” they remind her.

She snorts.

#aili x uthvir #sharp and shiny ship #clusterfuck triplets au #also if you sent me anything i have not gotten it #i have not gotten anything for a while actually #which is suspect but also could just be slow #citrus #(but no worries either and all)#(i hope u like this <333)

7 notes · View notes

astroellipse · 4 years ago

Text

lil late but wtv. turned into sort of a photo shoot post, just a big ol current outfits log

Looks like I’m speedrunning, now. the next update is in 6 days. I’m going to level AST and DRG, probably... I can go back for the others later.

A bedtime story from Norvrandt. “Warrior of Darkness, servant of death, take care of our souls at our dying breath... Let sinners and eaters of sin go with thee, That all may return to the sunless sea.” Servant of death, huh.

OH MY GOD. YOU. YOU CAN HEAL A PERSON IN A CUTSCENE????? I’m playing as AST right now cause the outfit is pretty and EVERY time someone gets hurt in a cutscene you’re doomed to just stand by, but... you can help Alphinaud in this one that’s adorable.

he is helping... Also. In some lighting he just looks so strange. This is Doran trying his hardest not to combust both of the Chai’s in this instant. I think it’s his lips that’s the issue? Idk it just... flattens his face...

Oh while I remember... here are more pictures........

this one’s just cute, ignore the door interactable in the back :|

And here’s a view of the outfit in full. I need to find a weapon I actually like, this is just the level 70 scaevan weapon... I might add a ring, was thinking a little gold ring with a pear or other white stone would look nice. Might swap out the boots if I find anything better, and I’ll see how the 2B leggings look with this once I get them. the accents on the bridesmaid tights go with the rest of it pretty well, though I don’t care for being able to see the hem.

And while I’m here, I might as well do the others.

Dragoon! Now sort of my canon class.I’m really satisfied with it, i love the boots especially... the texture is good and you can’t see it well here with his feet digging into the ground but they have heels on them. There’s little metal bits poking out of his hair that I like quite a bit, and I think they work even better with this hair than the other.

This one’s a bit goofy but I remembered that you can do battle animations in gpose. I actually forgot that I picked up those boots for this outfit but I like them! I wanted to make the outfit a little more my own, having the hat body piece and shoes from one set was too much, especially with a color so close to the default.

Ah... i was gonna screenshot the outfit I had for SMN but I haven’t fixed its accessories yet. Not that it’s a permanent outfit or anything I just enjoy it. Makes Doran look like a creepy bastard a bit, like some kinda cult leader. And then there’s my GNB glam... I... almost like it. But the pants HAVE to be jet black. they’re purple right now, temporarily, but. I need them to be black. the problem is, even a single pot of jet black dye is 300-400k gil :( Speaking of... i should go check the markets.

hhghghggh I caved. 350k, 367k after the fee. All in all just about as low as it was gonna get without waiting for an idiot to lowball the price. I uh. Forgot to take a pic of the glam though and am now in a cutscene lol

Oh man that was bad. I did the first dungeon as DRG and fucked up so many times, like, not in a way that was detrimental to the group but. I kept pressing v instead of c which. Meant I, several times, interrupted my combo with an aoe attack which is VERY visible and also audible. Incredibly embarrassing.\

Oh god

This uh. Has story implications on a different level. This... is how I resolve the issue of who’s gonna take the reins between Doran and Secret. Secret I’m fairly certain answered with the third choice, haggard as she was. The first choice is the cleanest answer, Doran is willing to take on the responsibility. The second one is... uncomfortable for how serious this is, especially with Ardbert in the back there. But it could certainly say something about Doran’s attitude about all this, even if he’s just putting on a brave face. And the third would lead to him succumbing to the same feelings as Secret... the first choice it is, then.

Doran’s life has been forfeit for so, so long at this point. He was the first to be joined to Secret, hailing from the fifth, his shard bringing the first umbral calamity with the aspect of wind. He’s been joined to that base shard of Azem longer than anyone. Secret at least thought she might have had her own life, before realizing that her perceived amnesia was actually just an absence of memories for having her person be fabricated by Hydaelyn. But Doran... any memory of the lives he lead on the Fifth have been washed away at this point, for as long as it’s been. He didn’t rightly have a will or conscience outside of an incredibly vague awareness until Secret unconsciously willed him to once more. He will do this if it means lightening Secret’s burden.

This has been an incredibly roundabout solution for Secret’s problem. Why continue with what you’re doing? For yourself. Technically. i suppose once Doran catches up to Secret, they’ll go through a little switcheroo. maybe Secret and Doran could be aware of each other, and sapable of some small form of communication. Secret for one will not be pleased with Doran having to make any difficult decisions in the future and will doubtlessly come to regret letting this all happen. i really should uhhhh actually write some of these imagined scenes huh. Much easier to have funny little brain people though.

Aw mannnn I fixed my outfits but entering the Occular launched me into a cutcsene. Hey when do I get to see Emet-Selch again? I forget when he introduces himself but I know he’s around. Probably soon, with the WoL having beat their first light warden. Aw man I love G’raha’s voice acting it’s so good. I don’t even know how to describe it his va just gets his oddly casual but learned speech so good.

Oh here we go. Picture time.

alright this one’s goofy. but you can see the outfit well enough. actually here’s another. ACTUALLY now coming back to this part. I really like this picture above it is very cute..........

Hmmm... not sure if I ever took a pic of his old outfit that was mostly just this. All the pieces were dyed lavender, and the corsage was instead some pastel lillies. That color scheme didn’t look as nice with this hair, though. There was suddenly too much of that dark purple, which had previously been balanced by the shoes. Dark then became the primary color, and orange a main accent instead.

And finally GNB. The lighting messes with it sorta, the shirt and shoes are purple.

I’ll be switching out this one’s weapon, too. His hair sticks right through the shirt’s hood which is unfortunate, but I paid a fortune for this shirt before I changed his hair and I am going to USE it.

Oh jeez it’s 6:30. I’m going to keep playing but end this here. Know that I love Doran and am now at the point where I will cry about him right now, like I promised I’d get to a while ago.

#mmorpg hell

0 notes

killscreencinema · 8 years ago

Text

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U)

youtube

“When I was younger, I grew up in the countryside of Japan. And what that meant was I spent a lot of my time playing in the rice paddies and exploring the hillsides and having fun outdoors. When I got into the upper elementary school ages — that was when I really got into hiking and mountain climbing. There's a place near Kobe where there's a mountain, and you climb the mountain, and there's a big lake near the top of it. We had gone on this hiking trip and climbed up the mountain, and I was so amazed — it was the first time I had ever experienced hiking up this mountain and seeing this big lake at the top. And I drew on that inspiration when we were working on the Legend of Zelda game and we were creating this grand outdoor adventure where you go through these narrowed confined spaces and come upon this great lake. And so it was around that time that I really began to start drawing on my experiences as a child and bringing that into game development.”

-Shigeru Miyamoto

NPR Interview, June 19th, 2015

Make no mistake - the sense of awe and wonder that comes with exploration and discovery, which originally inspired Miyamoto to create The Legend of Zelda in 1986, is the BIGGEST draw of the most recent Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. Even though the Zelda series has had over a dozen installments across various Nintendo systems since the first game’s release, Breath of the Wild is the first to truly live up to Miyamoto’s original vision.

Which isn’t to say those other games are crap (except for the CDi games, and sorry, but those technically count). It’s just that no Zelda game except for the first one has fully realized the sense of freedom that Breath of the Wild pulls off flawlessly! Also, even the more hardcore Zelda fan would have to admit that formula was beginning to get stale.

It should be mentioned right off the bat that, as you can obviously tell, I decided to go with the Wii U version. Here’s the thing – I just bought my Wii U a couple months ago because I got a good deal on it. So I intend to explore the library of games for the Wii U before I, er, switch to the Switch. Knowing Nintendo, I’ll probably have a 2-3-year grace period for them to build up a decent amount of games for the Switch anyway, so I’m in no hurry. Besides, I hear the Switch version has framerate lag issues anyway, so I think I made the wise choice sticking to the Wii U. I’m certainly glad to hear that the Switch has been relatively successful thus far, once again pitching shade at the haters that seem to have a hard-on over the idea of the Big N eventually going down in the flames.

Breath of the Wild begins with Link waking up from a 100-year slumber. When he emerges from his “crypt”, he finds Hyrule almost completely in ruins and Hyrule Castle enshrouded with the dark energy of an evil being known as Calamity Ganon. It is eventually revealed that 100-years ago Link attempted to defeat Ganon, but failed miserably, and so was put into a stasis to try again later, while Princess Zelda keeps Ganon trapped at Hyrule Castle. However, Zelda’s power has begun to wane, forcing Link to confront Calamity Ganon before his evil spreads over the rest of the world. Whether this means you march right up to Hyrule Castle, armed with only a tree branch, Hylian britches, and a measly four hearts of health (good fucking luck); OR you wait until after you find the legendary Master Sword; OR you conquer the Four Divine Beasts, so that they help you defeat Ganon, it’s all entirely up to you!

It’s hard to describe just how staggering the sense of freedom is in this game, but people who have played games like Skyrim or Fallout are very familiar with the feeling. However, even then, those games don’t offer the option of going straight to the end boss at any point that you feel like. Most open world games still have a narrative thread you must follow before completing the game. Not so with Zelda BOTW.

As of the time I have written this review, I have yet to beat the game, but I have gotten the Master Sword and defeated the Divine Beasts, so aside from a few side quests that I fully intend to complete, I’m very close to the end. I’ve played enough to say that the hype is real and the game is an absolute masterpiece.

But you already know that.

So instead of continuing to gush at how good the game is, I’ll just mention my favorite aspects of the game. First and foremost, I love how expansive the world is and how you can explore any part of it you want at any point in time. There are no “invisible walls” or barriers that impede your curiosity. While the game doesn’t arbitrarily stop your progress, it doesn’t hold your hand either – so if you haplessly wander into a field that happens to be home to a ferocious Lionel (one of the hardest enemies in the game), you do so at your own risk! So, get used to seeing the words “Game Over”, because you’re going to get familiarized with it quite a bit.

My favorite moment of the entire game, though, is when you first discover the Master Sword. I took an educated guess and looked in The Lost Woods, once I unlocked that portion of the map, and after I successfully navigated the spooky, fog filled forest, I emerged into a beautiful clearing to see the legendary sword waiting for me. I wasn’t expecting to find it, as in some games the sword is found in other locations, so it was still kind of a surprise, if only because the game never FORCED me to go find it. I just decided to explore on my own and there it was. You can’t just walk up and pull the sword out. You must be “strong” enough, which is to say, you must have a certain number of heart containers or else you’ll die trying to pull the sword out. This creates quite a bit of tension as you hold the A button, watching Link slowly pull the sword out while his health rapidly diminishes. When the moment finally occurs that you pull the sword out, though, it’s fucking sweet – probably the best “Link Finds the Master Sword” moment of any Zelda game ever.

I also quite enjoyed the subdued soundtrack of the game. It’s mostly very quiet as you traverse the landscape, which is nice because it allows you to get lost in the atmosphere of the game. As much as I love the classic overworld theme from Zelda, having that, or any, music play constantly on a loop would only become distracting. The arrangement of the music was very reminiscent of a something you’d here in a Studio Ghibli film, which perfectly complements the art style of the game, which reminded me of games like Shadow of the Colossus and Ico.

It’s funny – when I first played The Legend of Zelda as a child, I was blown away by the sheer vastness of the game. I had never played a game with such a huge world, and it was almost kind of intimidating. I never played the game with the intention of beating it, but simply enjoyed exploring the world of Hyrule, discovering the dungeons and secret caves incidentally. I never thought I’d re-experience that feeling with Zelda, only times one hundred, but here we are! There are few games I’d recommend as absolutely MUST PLAY, but Breath of the Wild is one of them.

Now to finish off my review with this great video by Donkey Breath - enjoy:

youtube

23 notes · View notes

intergalactic-nimrod · 8 years ago

Text

Finished Breath of the Wild today (Spoiler Free)

First off, I’m not much of a gamer. Mum never let me get a console when I was a kid, so I never got to get into them. I always knew though that eventually when I would get a console it would be a Nintendo one. Nintendo is the root of video games as they are today, and their main line IP’s have always really resonated with me. So, I preordered a Switch launch day, fully aware it would have problems and a limited selection of launch games, but I wanted to support a game company that still sought to innovate with how people play games, rather than pushing an ultimately futile graphics barrier. There’s only so high of a resolution that the human eye can see, and no matter how realistic you try to make a game it simply will not hold up in time, whereas games with more artistic styles have much greater life spans.

My expectations for Breath of the Wild were sky high. Again, I’m not much of a gamer, especially because of my restrictive budget, but it just looked exciting and fun. I had watched playthroughs of the other Zelda games and loved the general world and culture of the series, and gained a huge appreciation of its history. I loved seeing Breath of the Wild trying to break away from conventions and both defy and redefine what a Zelda game could be. I thought it would make an excellent introduction for me into console gaming, and I just fell for the emotional tone of the trailers.

So here I am, having finished the game 13 days after its release, and I have to say, it was good, but it was NOT a 10/10 game. In fact it was great, it was ambitious, it was almost as perfect as I could’ve asked for it to be in a lot of parts, but this is not the end of the Zelda franchise, with no place for it to go from here.

I enjoyed my Zelda experience immensely. I found myself smiling and giggling throughout parts of it, and I find it hard to feel emotions these days through art and entertainment after being exposed to it my whole life. I felt pure and honest joy through most of it. The game play was always fun and clean, and there were few things I would change mechanically.

The flaws with the game come not out of its mechanics, but out of its philosophy, which paradoxically is also the thing that is so amazing about it. The world is open, it’s free, and you can easily get lost in it, but it’s a happy feeling of being lost. At the same time though, there is the story and general motion/pace to the game that flows nicely and can guide the player, or let them break away from it. The problem with this though, is that at times it can be too much... and I know this is where I may lose some, but after I had finished the story (exempting final boss), about 100 of the shrines, found all the memories, beat all the dungeons, and completed my map of Hyrule, I suddenly found myself bored. VERY bored.

The greatest experience of BotW is that Hyrule itself is a character. Each tower was a checkpoint, but also a step forward as it opened up more of the world to explore. When I first left the Great Plateau and went out into the world, it was wild, open freedom and discovery. As I went on, I would find shrines to serve as mini checkpoints, and that’s the brilliance of the game. You can get lost, but you only get lost exploring. As you open up the map, you see things you didn’t see before, and the shrines serve as stations to teleport you around and get you closer to interesting things. They help you fill out the spaces in the world, and whereas at first I was just a kid named Link, running about, I slowly found myself literally conquering Hyrule. I was going about, enthralled by the story, and mastering shrines, becoming stronger, and facing the wild. It’s an excellent formula: the confusion and wonder of stepping into the unknown, the curve and quest to survive and thrive, pulling the content and rising above its challenges, and then besting it, becoming its master as you teleport around, filling in the gaps of your understanding of the area.

But when all was said and done, I had conquered Hyrule, and suddenly there was nothing to do. The last shrines I missed were a drag to find tucked away amidst the huge map that I had already conquered at 97%, and that last 3% felt like it wouldn’t have been worth it without story to keep my trajectory going forward. There was one last thing really worth doing: Ganon, the biggest, baddest, overhanging quest and priority. I ended up looking up walkthroughs to find and get the last shrines, just because I wanted the final reward and to max myself out for the final challenge.

I thought about finding all the Koroks, but after my entire time playing the game I only found 171 out of NINE HUNDRED. Definitely not worth it. I tried maxing out my armors, but soon found that to be boring, as it was mostly just trying to tediously gather hard to get materials.

I had conquered Hyrule, gone over it a ton of times, and there just wasn’t enough tucked into every percent and square inch of the game to drive me to go beyond the story too much. In fact, that’s another criticism: I love the story for what’s there, but I wish there was more for such a larger game, OR I wish the game and world was smaller to balance out the actual scope of what the story does. It’s very simple, and though it is perfectly done for what is there, the world is too big and its spirit gets stretched thin.

Hyrule is enormous, and that becomes a problem when you start seeing the same towers and art styles and patterns everywhere. I started noticing how geometric a lot of the terrain was, and the imperfections of the world and graphics as I constantly went back over. The world, for as big and fun as it is begins to lose some of its face that it desperately needs its story for. Some things just look and feel too samey, like certain parts were just copy-pasted about. Eventually a lot of shrines were just combat trials to fill in the gaps and most Korok puzzles felt the same. I lost the drive to look around for secrets because I knew they were always going to be the same thing, whether it be a chest with rupees or some weapon I’ve seen a hundred times.

The only mechanical problem with the game was the now infamous glass weapons, which is a criticism I agree with- to a limited extent. I was constantly having new and powerful weapons being thrown at me as I went around, so having plentiful weapons helped to easily balance how quickly they broke, but the constant fear of a weapon I liked or was saving breaking or having to be tossed out of my limited inventory lingered over every battle, and I just wished they would have higher durability so I could experiment more and find a style or set of weapons that worked and made combat situations like a puzzle in themselves, with me having a versatile strategy which I could employ to fit the context of the battle. It makes the player become more skilled and trained with the combat system, but instead I found myself stocking up on high powered weapons and just wailing on enemies until they broke, just to bring out the next disposable weapon and continue the same. It didn’t completely not work, but it felt counter intuitive to the brilliant and challenging philosophy the game had set up about choice, but also choice with the limits of strategy and thinking. You COULD run into a battle stupidly and just go swinging wildly, but it would be more EFFECTIVE and BENEFICIAL to the player to go about things carefully and with thought. Unfortunately, the brittle weapons undermine this idea, and throw a spike into the squeaky clean design of the battle system.

My favorite thing about this game by far though, was its philosophy. In every piece of media, there is the concept and then the execution. Breath of the Wild is an excellent idea, with just a few missteps in execution that I’ve already mentioned that undermine its philosophy. However, don’t let that take away from how brilliant most of it is conceptually and doesn’t belittle the player. It perfectly understands what Zelda games were, what they should be, and did an extremely admiral job of nearly getting there. It’s a game that’s clearly designed and aware of what it wanted to be, unlike lots of other modern games. You could execute the most perfectly polished and well put together turd in history, but it’s still a turd. Breath of the Wild is quite the opposite, though its imperfections in execution are not nearly so horrible as could be eluded from such an absolute analogy.

The best thing that Breath of the Wild could have done is perfect its philosophy, and that much is very clear. The name of the title is The Legend of ZELDA. This is not a game about Link. Zelda is made the most complex and likeable character in this game, and your quest is to go out and remember her, to regain the past that was her, and restore her future. I wish Link were a little less stilted, as in a little more expressive (in cut scenes I mean), but the game clearly understands what Zelda was about in its first inception. Zelda is your ultimate quest, your ultimate goal. SHE is the legend and the core of the game, and so long as I was going after saving her, the game was amazing.

[Very mild spoilers from here on out, but nothing major at all. I’m still keeping things very vague] The final boss fight of the game was good, but almost underwhelming, and it made me wish Ganon had been somewhat of a character, rather than just a force. It would rhyme well with Zelda, as the calamity was the source of her pains and her need to fulfill her duty (and her inability to do so). Making Ganon an actual character again would’ve embodied this force into something more human and relateable, giving part of her struggles a face to identify with. The only face the calamity has is the threatening image of the corrupted Hyrule Castle, always in the distance, always looming. That in itself is very effective, but I still can’t help wishing for more story. Again, it was amazing for what was there, I just wish there was more.

I was also partly disappointed by the ending, partly because I wished it were still harder (and it would’ve been more satisfying if Ganon were a character/individual rather than just a beast), but also I wish the ending would do more than just... end. I’m probably flawed in that I do have a specific image of what I’d like the end of a Zelda game to be, but at that point I’m probably better of making a Zelda movie. For as much as the game redefined the Zelda series and took itself back to its roots while also moving forward, I wish the ending would’ve also moved their world forward. I’ve always hated the Zelda timeline, where every game is essentially a reboot or re imagining (often with some gimmick or circumstantial them). It would’ve been amazing to see a very satisfying ending where it breaks all final conventions, and takes the future of the franchise in a new direction as well. That wouldn’t have just been amazing, that would’ve been REVOLUTIONARY (for the series at least). It’s not all bad, in fact not bad at all, and in a sense it does fulfill my desire be leaving things off in an open way. It really felt like this was just the first installment of a new series, like there was more to come... and thus that brings me to a conclusion.

This is not the epitome of exactly what a Zelda game should be. It’s not PERFECT, and it’s not the Zelda game to end all Zelda games that I hoped it would be. Instead, BotW presents itself as something completely different: a new beginning. From here on out, I want Zelda to continue what this game has started, not just rebooting itself over and over, but expanding and fixing the flaws that lay in the small cracks of its perfect foundation. I think I ultimately found this game a little unsatisfying because the world began to look and feel the same throughout a lot of it. Also, it felt like too much of Hyrule was destroyed and disjointed. I’d like to see the next installment be a restored Hyrule, at its near full glory, but without erasing the ruins of the past. I want the history implied in BotW to still show, like destroyed town and places, but I want to see a more flourishing and characterized Hyrule rising out of its ashes.

The next installment could be made even better by doing just a few simple things. Ultimately, the world was made bigger than the game could comfortably sustain. It lost some of its streamlined nature and its fat began to spill out of its inappropriately fitting clothing (which it could’ve fixed by scaling up, and finding something to wear that was more flattering and appropriate to its larger form, though this is where I end this analogy), and by just making the game less of an open world, it could actually FEEL like more an open world, only one far more interesting. This game can’t afford to look generic like the environments of Minecraft, because in that game the player directly manipulates their world. Here, the players relationship with the world is just a little more restricted, and that’s fine and good and perfect, but that also means implementing more design, environment specific things, and unique areas of interest.

I don’t like numerical grading systems, but I highly recommend this game. It’s a real blast and worth picking up as soon as you can. Seriously, this is not one to miss. My consensus can be most closely comparable to an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 (closer to 8.5 though).

#nintendo #zelda #breath of the wild #botw #link #ganon #games #video games

5 notes · View notes