#LUSTER WILL BE BACK SOON DONT WORRY

[malewife-overlord]

Six Cycles Later -- Part III Invert

um. so its been a while. hi sorry for the long gap between updates ive been. so burnt out. recently just been trying to take time for myself and not create stuff because ive just been so tired. working full time at a job i dont really love but need to get by, and like...just trying to keep afloat...has been so stressful man. but anyways. i did manage to get this next chapter out and had fun with it :> i do intend to continue this story im just kinda...slow. sorry to my five readers

that out of the way!!!! here's the next chapter >:3c who's ready for whats hiding in the demon swamp!!!! yay!

word count: 5046 there IS a trigger warning for this chapter -- self harm. also, a bit of bigotry. seekers arent regarded super well by everyone else, it would appear.

also! this chapter features a cameo from @callsign-relic's Starburst :) check her out if youre interested in him! he's super cute <3 thank you for letting me rough your boy up Relic!

chapter below cut! previous chapter can be found here and beginning can be found here

“LET ME OUT!”

At the sound of the voice her spark leaped in its chamber. Invert grinned despite her prior grievances, the swamp and all of its horrors left behind. Though no one could see it, she raised an arm and waved. 

“I’m here! I hear you! I’m coming! Hold on!”

Water splashed around her pedes as she practically sprinted for the ship, concerns of an Autobot ambush cast aside as its dark entrance yawned. The buzzing grew in volume as she closed the distance, and though she was loath to fully disable her audials, she found she had no choice. Her helm was threatening to split from noise alone.

Whoever was in this ship had to be strong, she could feel it. She ran over her options again: Bombshell, Shrapnel, Kickback. Which had she decided was the most useful? Oh, whoever, she didn’t really care! Well, maybe she did a little, but truly, she’d be grateful just to have another ‘con around. Someone who was on her side. Someone who she could plan with and fight by. Even if they were, according to the data pack, a bit hard to get along with.

Oh well. She would top the pecking order in no time. They didn’t know what she was capable of, and they’d learn fast to respect her. 

The interior of the ship was larger than it seemed from the outside, as most Decepticon ships tended to be. The floor before her was completely underwater, its silver squares smothered by a thick layer of dark organic grime. The walls were colored purple, though their paint had long stripped. Water stains alongside long white streaks of organic substance decorated her surroundings. On the far right, where the front of the ship rested comfortably, the bridge sat in ruin. 

If she was a bit more concerned about escaping the planet, perhaps she would have been distressed by that fact. But Invert couldn’t have cared less at the moment, for her optics were focused on the barely glowing sign hanging above a broken door across from her. The Insecticon ship was small, with only a bridge, a large main area, and a side compartment for the med bay. Under most circumstances, that compartment was sealed, but the presence of the entrance told her all she needed to know about where to find her future friend. 

She left the bridge and the main area behind, taking a step down into the cramped quarters of the med bay. And there, bundled against the wall like a clutch of eggs, sat five stasis pods. 

Three were open. One was dark. And the last one—

It looked like it had been almost destroyed.

The metal was warped and bulged outwards. The glass was cracked and shards of it sparkled beneath the stagnant water. Deep gouges tore up the walls beside the pod. She could see scuff marks on the floor and what looked like burns on the ceiling. The display on the pod was glitching and barely functional, showcasing error codes and a single life signal. 

She furrowed her optical ridges, wondering just what had happened here to incur such damage. 

Well, it was of no major significance to her. Whatever had happened here had passed, and all it had left behind was an Insecticon soldier ready to burst forth and support his cause. Her audials indicated that the source of the buzzing, and logically, the screaming, was the pod. In fact…as she stepped closer, they displayed warnings: the sound being produced would cause damage if listened to at such range, even with muted audials, for elongated periods of time. 

He was strong. Sound based powers? She was reminded of Soundwave and his cassettes. Would this Insecticon also have something similar, then? But how would he–

Nope, not even thinking of it. That was gross organic stuff. She needed to focus on anything but the fact he was mimicking a filthy organic. Yes, all she needed to focus on was releasing him from the pod. 

Approaching it, she took additional note of the severe damage to the door–its seal was incomplete, which possibly indicated stasis failure. The dents on its middle pushed out in the molded shapes of angry fists. On the sides she could see the groove of hands where it had been gripped with enough force to bend in both ways. 

Claw marks on the wall, punches on the door, warping on the edges. Invert wasn’t stupid. Whoever—or whatever—had been forced into this pod had only done so after fighting for his life. 

Why?

She couldn’t see very well inside—though the shape of the Insecticon’s head was discernible, a layer of moisture had formed inside, obscuring his details from her sight. Was he battle damaged? Had he been frozen inside screaming?

Was that why the pod was buzzing so loudly?

She had no answers yet, but she could certainly assume that he was probably rusting in there, with all that water. She didn’t know his story in the slightest, or why he hadn’t been with the other Insecticons, but considering her circumstances, she didn’t have many options besides opening his pod. If she trusted her preservation instincts, which told her this was a terrible idea, she left behind her only potential ally left on this planet. Whatever circumstances had seen him trapped in his stasis pod were likely behind him. She’d just have to trust that he wasn’t as violent as the area around him seemed to indicate. 

Besides. Insecticons were unsavory on their best days, completely uncooperative on their worst. She was probably seeing the results of a spat between the four, soon to be three. 

Three. They’d really trapped one of their brethren in their ship and abandoned him for years. 

Scowling, Invert tapped the broken screen, trying to see if she could convince it to initiate release. 

It gave no such indication. She tapped again, trying to pull up any kind of menu. Besides more error messages, the screen gave no further function. 

“Come on!” She said aloud, giving the pod a kick. 

Whatever was inside reacted. She saw the head turn towards her. The sensation of optics locking onto her form creeped up her back.  

Invert’s spark tightened from both fear and excitement. Oh. He was awake. That meant…oh. That was why he’d been able to make the noise. He had been frozen screaming. The faulty seal had likely forced his body into stasis, but not his mind. 

LET ME O U T 

Her audials indicated they’d picked up on words. She ex-vented through her dentae. 

“Uh, hi!” She said, waving a hand. “Um, I’m Invert. I got your distress call! I’m here to get you out.”

The Insecticon did not move. 

“I’ll, uh, get on that, then. Do you have any idea how to open this pod? Any recommendations or tips? I’ve never been in this ship, so…”

Nothing. 

“Right, on my own again, gotcha.” She turned away and rolled her optics. 

Okay, if the pod didn’t want to behave because it was broken, she could force it. Grabbing the bent edge of the door, she planted a pede against the wall and pulled with all her might. Her joints creaked in protest, but the door didn’t budge in the slightest. 

Frowning, she searched around for a tool, coming back with a metal pipe found submerged at the back of the ship. Jamming it between the door and the pod’s edges, she braced herself against the wall and tried to forcibly pry the door open–only for the pipe to snap and fly across the room. 

Invert cursed and retrieved the blaster she’d brought with herself, pointing it at the seal. A purple glow illuminated the dark ship as she fired several blasts in, succeeding in adding more sear marks, but not breaking or melting the metal in the slightest. 

The door wasn’t budging. She scowled. Looking at the glass, she could see the Insecticon watching her, probably thinking about how pathetically this mass-produced, one-trick Seeker was failing to perform a single task.

Well, she’d damn well show him. Brute force wasn’t her style anyways. She had one trick that was sure to work, and prove that she was worth keeping around–and respecting. 

Oh, he’d damn well respect her, if he was already thinking so negatively about her. 

For Invert had a special ability, one that had kept her around despite how often she’d heard other ‘cons whispering about having her deactivated. It might be an ability that was difficult to use, incredibly dangerous on her best days, and ran the chance of killing her every time she used it, but it was hers. It set her apart from her Seeker brethren. It made her special. 

It made her worth keeping around. 

She stepped back from the pod and smirked. So far she’d only used her ability on other Cybertronians, but she saw no reason it wouldn’t work on their technology as well. It wasn’t like she’d been given time or items to test it on, when resources had already been so slim on Earth. This could serve as a beta test for it, probably. Though, she had to wonder…would it damage the Insecticon inside?

…Once again, she didn’t know. Didn’t really matter, probably–it would be the start of their pecking order. Her on the top, him keeping a distance at all times. 

“Hey, Insecticon?” She said, “I’m going to try and get you out. There might be some sparks, so try not to panic!” 

The Insecticon in the pod did not respond to her words or her movements. His head remained turned towards her. She could feel optics locking onto her, sizing up. Trying equally to determine if she was one to be kicked around.

The buzzing had stopped, her audials indicated. In its absence, the silence hung like the organic slime outside.

“Well, alright then.”

To use her ability, she’d have to mess with her T-Cog. It was always easier said than done. Her T-Cog was located in her side, as it was with all Seekers. All she had to do was plunge her servos through her plating and manually crank it. The plating on her side was intentionally thinner for this purpose, meaning any old blaster could deactivate her with a proper shot. And whether it was blaster fire or servos, thin plating did not change the fact that, no matter how her ability was activated, it would hurt.

Easier said than done. Always easier said than done. But she couldn’t show weakness now. They didn’t even know one another’s name, but the pecking had already begun, and she was not about to be on the bottom. 

Invert hovered her servos over her side, ex-venting again. She hadn’t used her ability since before the attack on Autobot City. Only once had she been deployed, during a particularly nasty clash with the Autobots. ‘All soldiers on the field’ had been the order. She’d eagerly flown (tumbled) out with her fellow Seekers, and landed (crashed) straight in the thick of it. With guns pointed at her from all angles and her Seeker brethren flying overhead, ignoring her plight as she floundered amongst a group of Autobots, it wasn’t like she’d had much of a choice. 

They’d paid her more attention after everyone in a hundred foot radius hit the ground–the extent of it had been Starscream demanding why she hadn’t remained in formation and helped with the Aerialbots. She hadn’t been stable enough to properly respond, and when she tried to her voice shrieked with static. 

She didn’t remember who won that day. All she remembered was being dragged back, repaired, and left to work only in the base, since. 

Well. She wasn’t in the base anymore, and their situation demanded nothing less of her than all she had. Which meant her ability as well. 

Frag the pain. Pain made stronger soldiers. She’d be one worth respecting and keeping around no matter what. She’d grit through it like she’d grit through everything else, including flying to this damn place, drinking organics–her tank still felt like it was about to purge–and tolerating humans. Invert ex-vented one more time and held it. 

Then she punched her fist through her side and released it all in a shriek of agony. No, a war cry. It was a damn war cry and she did not feel like she was about to collapse and sob. 

Her servos found her T-Cog in a second. They immediately turned it in the wrong direction, straining her wiring and sending a jolt of pain through her. Her HUD glitched, displaying several warnings about internal damage. Then her audials shut down completely, followed by her optics, as her body tried and failed to change its shape. 

For a second she was left in the void that was never-ending, frame wracking agony. Was she still screaming? She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t feel her throat. She couldn’t feel her voice. 

Her optics onlined. No, she was still in the ship, and her faceplate was contorted from crying out, and her surroundings–

Oh, she recognized glitching when she saw it. 

The field that had formed around her, invisible and just as deadly as radiation, had already taken effect on everything powered within it. She was frozen with pain, but her frame was still standing. The same could not be said of the pod–or its occupant.

The screen had completely scrambled, error messages becoming illegible binary code. The life signal had become erratic, beating too much, beating too little, not beating at all, activating emergency stasis, disabling it. The glow fizzled, flashed, and went out as the wires within the pod gave out, unable to support itself anymore. The head she could just barely see jerked back, snapped to the side. 

The shrieking was back. Was it her own, or his? 

The pain was becoming too much. She couldn’t hold it for much longer. Her entire vision was red, the sight of the ship lost. Energy seemed to crackle around her servos, numbing her entire arm. Was she still gripping her T Cog? If she moved her arm, she certainly wouldn’t be. The numbness was spreading, blooming out from the source of her T-Cog and spreading up her arm like the stillness of death. But she held on. 

And it paid off. 

The screen on the pod fizzled out. Invert tore her arm free just as the numbness hit her shoulder, staggering against the wall and leaning on it for support. Her frame felt cold despite the 98F heat reading her temperature display indicated. How long had she been holding her ability up? She tried to check her internal timer, focusing on maintaining her venting and balance. 

Twelve seconds. She felt ready to purge. 

The groan of metal drew her attention back to the pod. In the low light, she could make out three massive, jointed claws closing around the bent edge, their deadly sharp tips already forming punctures in the metal. Her audials notified her of growling. 

Then the pod door burst like it was not a mech it contained but a bomb. In a stroke of luck, as the door hurled past her and embedded clean into the opposing wall, it missed Invert by a few inches, saving her from an untimely end at the awakening of her new ally. 

Or perhaps saving wasn’t the right word for it. For as the bot inside rose up, towering over her by almost half her height, a sinking feeling in the pit of her tank told her that perhaps the door knocking her helm off might have been mercy compared to whatever his intentions might be. 

He was absolutely massive. She’d seen the combiners, the great Omega Supreme, even Astrotrain in his spaceship mode, and she still wasn’t quite prepared for how large he was. His frame took up the entirety of the room as he wrenched himself free from the pod, tearing pieces of it free as he did so. 

The Insecticon’s visor lit up, illuminating his face with an ominous red light. What looked like three needle-like proboscises were folded atop his mask, which reminded her just enough of Soundwave’s to tell her that maybe she should have tried to size up her ally before attempting to establish pecking order. Bulky antennae uncurled and shifted. His large claws opened and shut as he cracked his neck, optics locking onto her vulnerable form as he took a step forward. 

She didn’t have the energy to react as his claws shot to her throat, raising her off the ground like she weighed nothing. The numbness in her body eased whatever pain she might have felt from it, but her HUD swarmed with danger notifications, and not just from the structural damage her frame had sustained. With a single click of his claws, the Insecticon could decapitate her. 

Instead he twisted and hurled her with enough force to punch through the ship, splattering her against the opposite wall in the main area. Her HUD glitched, momentarily offlined, and returned with a staunch warning: emergency stasis would soon set in. Invert fought against it, standing on shaky legs as the numbness promptly consumed one, causing her to stagger. 

And yet despite the fact that half of her body was cold and she could see graying on her right servos, she held on.

She would not die here. Her left arm was still functional. As the Insecticon tore apart the threshold of what to him was a tiny door, she retrieved her blaster and pointed it straight for his helm. Metal shrieked as the Insecticon ripped his way free of the stasis room, optics locking onto her. 

He was glaring at her. She returned the look, feeling Energon leaking from her optics. 

“Take…another…step…” she garbled out, spitting pink into the water, “and I…shoot…your head…off.” 

He cocked his helm back, looking down at her over the bridge of his mask. His chassis rose and fell a few times with what seemed like laughter. And then he held his claws out, spreading them in a provocative gesture. Do it. He was daring her. 

She gripped the blaster tighter, willing with all her might to move her numb right arm. Electricity was crackling through her systems, replacing that numbness with uncomfortable tingling. 

“Don’t you mock me,” she crackled. 

He held his gaze on her, and it took her a moment to realize that her audials were alerting her to noise. With a mask covering his face and a thousand danger notifications to keep note of, she hadn’t even thought about turning them back on. Digging the command prompt out of the sea of pop-ups, she promptly reactivated them at 50% capacity. Even with her best efforts, the audio came in slightly distorted.

“...--en, you weak little plane.” His voice was low and accented. “See where that gets you.” 

“What?”

“Do it, then,” he snarled. “How many times do I have to say it before you get it through your tiny little processor?”

“Oh yeah?” She challenged, trying to straighten up as much as she could while only having one functional leg. “What are you going to do, rip my spark out?” 

“Are you giving me ideas?” 

“You think you’ll have the brain left to process them?” “You think you’ve got the firepower to drop me in one shot?” He leaned forward, a smirk all but plastered on his masked face. “Because I think I recognize a standard issue Seeker class blaster when I see one.”

Frag. She kept the blaster pointed at his helm, but the fact of the matter was she held no power in this situation. Injured, numb, and significantly smaller than her foe, she was touting a blaster that only had potential to kill in extremely close quarters, and only against light armor. 

Her foe easily towered over her and was heavy armor class just from a glance. Even a blast to the face would likely be just a singe to him. Unless she could aim exactly into his optic or intake, she had no chance of sending a fatal bolt to his spark or processor. 

She had no power here, and he knew it. All he was doing was teasing her. 

“Now…” His voice picked up in its distinct growl. “Where are they, Seeker?” 

One heavy pede stepped forward. She vented sharply. 

“Who are ‘they’? The other Decepticons? Wait, the other Inse–”

He jammed his claws into the wall beside her, shredding it like paper. A trickle of cold ran down her back as she was pinned between his massive chassis and the panels.

“The others. Shrapnel. Kickback. Bombshell.” 

This close, she could make out the intensity of his optics behind his visor. He looked like he could be the face of a war poster. One of his proboscises unfurled, scraping against her faceplate and leaving a scar. 

Yep, she was going to purge. 

“They-they’re–!” 

And then she did, right onto his chassis. Pink energon combined with the sludge of the indigestible organics she had consumed. She coughed several times, optics momentarily offlining with each hack. 

Sharp claws moved right to her throat, accompanied by a low buzz. Oh, there it was. Maybe he only made it when he was pissed. 

“They’re…dead,” she finally said, glowering at him. “Everyone is.” 

Did she necessarily believe it? Maybe. Did she want to admit it, speak it aloud? Absolutely not.

And for forcing her to say it, she hated him, she decided. 

He didn’t relent for a moment as they held each other's gaze. The amount of vitriol contained within his own could strip plating. She tried to load the same hatred into her own.

Metal shrieked as the Insecticon tore his claws free of the wall, venting in disgust as he turned away from her. She pulled herself off the wall, stumbling as her right leg gave out again. 

“Your processor is half-melted,” he said dismissively, heading for the open side of the ship. “Who even are you? The Decepticon ranks don’t need broken weaklings who lie to save their plating.” 

A fire lit in her tank at the words, and she snapped. “Weakling!? I flew all the way here from the last Decepticon stronghold on this planet just to answer your SOS signal! I risked my aft to get you out of your stasis pod! We’re currently so deep in Autobot turf that at any moment, we could be ambushed, and that’d be the end of the cause!” Sparks crackled from her side as she yelled. “And you’re calling me weak!?”

He didn’t even look at her. “Yes, I am, little Seeker. Crossing the planet to engage in a suicide mission doesn’t make you brave or strong. It makes you incredibly stupid. But I suppose you Seekers have never been renowned for your intelligence.”

She didn’t really think about her next action, which saw her raise her blaster and shoot a bolt straight into his side. A puff of smoke rose as the energy singed his segmented plating. The Insecticon glared down at the tiny insult, then at her. 

“See? There’s your proof, dead metallico.” 

And he lunged. 

Well, if she was dying, she was taking him with her. Invert abandoned her blaster and jammed her servos into her side, the burning, agonizing pain only fueling her rage. The action made him pause right before his claws would collide with her helm, deadly sharp spikes halting mere inches from it. 

She smirked. “What’s wrong, Insecticon? Scared of a weakling Seeker?”

He didn’t get the chance to answer. They both heard the sound of an engine, followed by the crack of a jet shooting by overhead. The Insecticon’s head immediately turned to the entrance of the ship. 

Autobots. They didn’t need to say it aloud to both understand. Every Decepticon knew the sound of a Seeker’s engines and the roar they emitted when they flew low over the ground. This sounded nothing like that. 

He was off her in a second. Instinctively she fell in place behind him, keeping her servos over her T-Cog. Glancing out together, they both saw nothing in the sky–yet. 

“Take to the skies,” the Insecticon ordered. “I’ll handle whatever ground troops have arrived.” 

She grimaced, sucking an ex-vent in through her dentae. “Uh. So. About that.”

The roar sounded again, and this time they both saw the blur of what looked like a tiny rocket. The Insecticon’s antennae perked right up. Invert raised an optical ridge. 

“It’s small. A scout,” she whispered. “They don’t know we’re here yet, probably. If we can stay hidden, he might leave.”

“Hidden?” The Insecticon scoffed. “It’s one scout. I have done enough hiding in that damnable pod. I don’t care what’s wrong with you, Seeker. Get in the sky and kill him.”

“I–”

Before she could say another word the Insecticon grabbed her and charged out, roaring as he threw her into the air. She yelled, tumbling through the sky as her body instinctively tried to take its alt mode, failed, and crashed into the trees. 

“Are you KIDDING me!?” She heard echo from below before hitting her helm on a tree and momentarily losing consciousness. 

“Hey, Decepticon!” Another voice. This one sounded like it belonged to a ‘bot who was widely regarded as annoying. So, basically, any Autobot under the sun. “You’re supposed to aim at your enemy, not the sky! And since when do Seekers count as bullets?”

“GET DOWN HERE!”

“Not on ya’ life, ugly!” 

Invert groaned, peeling herself free as the sound of blaster fire rang out from nearby. Just one Autobot scout, and they were both already threatened with the possibility of termination. She needed to do something about this all. They needed to regroup back at Victory, and they needed this Autobot scout silenced. 

For one meant many–he’d probably contacted his allies the moment he saw them. 

With a bit of effort she extricated herself from the tree, splashing down onto the cage below it. The water began to turn pink as she pulled herself up. Her blaster was gone, which might have inspired her to use her rifle, except…

How could she even hope to transform it with one functional arm? Let alone try aiming it with so much crowding her HUD?

The sound of nearby blaster fire grew louder. Splashing was followed by hissing. Metal creaked and shrieked, and then she saw a frisbee of shrapnel fly through the air, missing the tiny rocket as he wheeled up and did a twirl, promptly transforming in the air just to gloat.

He really was tiny. His faceplate was gray, his plating a light orange. Blasters were mounted on his arms, which he crossed as he smirked down at the Insecticon. 

“Ya aim needs work, buggy!” And turning back, he promptly activated his boosters and shot just overhead, circling around to unleash another barrage. 

He was fast. No way the Insecticon managed to hit him with a piece of shrapnel. As he tore another piece free of the ship, Invert pulled herself up on her knees, bracing against a nearby tree. Even if they both had blasters, as long as the rocket stayed in the air, neither of them could hit him. 

As if he even cared about her. Busy toying with the giant Insecticon, the scout had already counted her out of his game. What was a broken Seeker thrown around as ammo going to do to a speedster like him?

Idiot. Did everyone think she was useless because she couldn’t fly? Because she was never deployed? Because the thing that made her useful almost killed her? Because she…

Because she would show him, damn it all. Experimental or not, her body was her weapon. Kneeling in the muddy warm, gradually growing pinker from the Energon leaking out of her side, and ignoring the constant warnings pinging in her HUD, Invert gripped her T-Cog tighter. Peering through the trees, she traced the Autobot’s swift movements, waiting for him to dive just a bit closer.

The Insecticon would suffer from this as well. She really didn’t care. He damn deserved it. 

Another metal shriek sounded through the air, followed by more taunting from the Autobot. 

“Alright, I’m getting tired’a this, ‘con. Tell ya what, surrender now, and the great Starburst will put in a good word for ya when my buds arrive, yeah? No need ta’ draw this cybercat and glitchmouse game out anymore!” 

“Get down here and we’ll see how much longer it’s drawn out,” the Insecticon warned. Starburst chortled and promptly took off again, circling and dodging branches as they were hurled for him. 

A sound like a squeal of pain escaped her, which was just as quickly silenced by biting her glossa . Focus, despite how the pain was radiating up her side. Focus, despite how many warnings were flashing in her HUD. Focus, despite how her processor was threatening to offline at any moment. 

An orange and cream blur. The pink of blaster fire. Dark of a leaf. Between the trees. The blue of the sky. Everything was starting to blur. Circling, he was circling. Which meant if she waited till he came just a bit closer, to the spot where the leaves parted and the branches formed the shape of a X– 

She practically ripped her T-Cog out of its socket cranking it to the side. One second the flash of orange was in her sights. The next the crackling of static overcame her vision and consumed her HUD. 

She heard screaming from two voices. They sounded like they were in agony. 

Good. Feel my pain.

As she thought it her body slumped and hit the ground alongside two other splashes. Water covered her optics, blurring her vision as it tried to online, turned to nothing but red, and gave up. A single message flashed several times.

ENERGON LEVELS CRITICAL. INITIATING EMERGENCY STASIS. 

Was this really it? In the heart of the Demon Swamp? She’d always thought she’d go out on Cybertron again, and that it’d be just like the first time, buried in all that rubble. 

It had been lonely. At least here, she had company. Enemies, for sure, but company. They’d all offline together. 

And then she was out. 

[scottishhellhound]

Godlings: On Victory’s Wings Chapter 1 Excerpt

Here’s the first few paragraphs from Chapter 1, along with it’s shiny new title.

From Godling Chronicles: Hades Rising to Godlings: On Victory’s Wings

This story as grown an evolved from a nearly decade ago of being an inexperienced attempt at writing my first full length story, to a piece I can be proud of sharing with other people.

Chapter 1:

Aislinn exited the gym, waving at the students who called out to her in greeting, not stopping to chat as she normally would have.  Callused fingers pulled through her still damp red hair, ripping at the tangles in agitation.  Her mind raced, one thought tripping on the heels of another; each worry vying for her attention.  She chewed on her lower lip as she tried to make sense of what she had seen on her morning jog.  

The first a dead lawn.  Not yellow death from over or under watering, or lack-luster care. No.  The ground was the gray of old decay, as if life never existed there; the earth cracked and cobbled as if by drought.  Trees, leafless and petrified, lined the yard.  A mist that was more miasmic and thick than any she had seen on earth, hung in the air.  When she ran her hand through it, it clung to her skin, swirling around it, like ink in water, writhing and reaching.  As if it would take form at any moment and steal her essence.  More alarming, was that the lawns of the houses on either side were still lush and green with life.  Untouched by whatever had decimated the lone lawn.

The second – and the one that concerned her more – was the man, standing alone in the middle of a field.  A man, dressed in full, authentic, Spartan hoplite armour. A brown leather cuirass, leather strips hanging from around the waist, providing some modest coverage. A bronze tipped spear gripped in his hand, shield hanging on his back, and a sword at his waist.  On his head a horse hair crested helmet, crest dyed red, tail trailing down his back. She slowed her jog, coming to a stop at the edge of the field, staring at the helmeted figure in confusion.  She tried calling out to him, speaking in Greek.  “Warrior! Are you lost?  Do you have payment for the Ferryman?” 

In response to her call the hoplite turned towards her.  The helmet, and distance, hiding his features.  She watched him shift his stance, lifting the shield from his back with ease, fitting it to his arm.  He raised the shield in front of himself and levelling the spear over its edge, glared at her over it.  Before the Hoplite could charge, his form wavered, a mirage in the sunlight, then vanished from sight.

Aislinn shook her head at the memory, turning the last corner that would take her down the hall that contained her locker. ‘What would a Shade be doin’ in the middle of a field?  Here of all places?  Drake knows better than that.’  She thought to herself as she reached her locker.  Letting her gym bag slid off her shoulder, she reached for the dial, twisting and turning it, inputting her combination.  ‘I’ll talk to him about it after school and see if he knows anythin’.’  The lock popped open and she lifted handle, opening the door.  She swung her bag inside with one hand, while the other searched for an extra hair tie.

A flash of bright pink caught her eye, and she turned to look at the post-it stuck to the door.  Her locker mate, and best friend, Diana Williams, had left her a note on the offensive coloured paper.

‘Hey!  I had to run to the nurse’s office for my meds.  Wicked headache today, and I don’t want it to turn into a migraine.  See you and Drake in class.  Diana’ 

Aislinn winced in sympathy for her friend, knowing how debilitating her migraines were if not treated.  She blinked as a thought hit her.  If she hurried she may be able talk to Drake before Diana even made it to class.  She needed to let him know what she had seen, as soon as possible. 

Her questing fingers located a hair tie and she pulled her hand out of the locker.  She grabbed her book bag with the other hand, and swung it up onto her shoulder, as she hip checked the locker door shut, hurrying down the hall.  She ducked her head as she pulled her hair up into a messy bun at the base of her neck. Since her eyes were on the ground, she didn’t see the other student coming around the corner until she walked smack into him.  Sending them both crashing to the floor in a flurry of limbs and curses.

“Ay!”  The other student had tried to catch themselves and ended up tripping over their own feet, sending them to the lockers to their right.

“Son of – shit, ar’ya all right?”  Aislinn asked, upon realizing that she had knocked over another person. And not just walked into the wall again. She rolled over and pushed herself into a sitting position, a contrite look on her face, taking in the fallen student. His skin was a light golden brown, and he was dressed in dark jeans, with a white shirt under an open, dark blue button up.  Long fingers felt through his silver-blonde hair – that to Aislinn’s eyes didn’t look dyed - as he felt the bump near his temple. 

Aislinn climbed to her feet and took a step forward to help him up.  “I am so sorry.  I swear I’m not usually this much of a klutz.”

He waved her off.  “It’s okay.  No real harm done.”  His words were enunciated carefully and Aislinn could pick up a faint accent, though she couldn’t place what it might have been.  Pulling his hand away from his head, he looked at his hand.  Showing it to Aislinn, he wriggled his fingers, an awkward smile on his face.  “See?  No blood.”

“Still, I’m sorry.  I should’ve been payin’ more attention.”  She held out her hand, offering once more to help him to his feet, but he shook his head.  Instead using the lockers he had knocked into for balance, he climbed to his feet himself.

He stood on too long legs, and dusted himself off.  He had the look of a teen who had hit a growth spurt and his body hadn’t yet caught up to his limbs.  Shrugging broad, but scrawny shoulders as he straightened up.  “Eh, it’s a Monday.  I have never known them as good days, but…if you want to make it up you could answer a question for me?”  He looked at her, a shy smile on his face as his dark blue eyes met Aislinn’s green.

Aislinn fought not to react as every hair on her neck and arms stood on end.  An all too familiar shock raced up her spine.  ‘Demi-god!’

[ecotone99]

[MF] To Love The Wind_A Simple Beauty

So ive been wanting to write a novel for a long time now, but it never seems to pan out for whichever reason, mostly i have a hard time finding good inspirstion plot wise. Tonight, me and my girl were reading a short story about the God Of Arepo, and she asked me if id be able to write something similar. What i came up with is kind of metaphorical for both of our lives, so its a little sappy, and honestly im a pretty meh writer in general so also meh. But it felt good to write again for the first time in a while, and if j can continue to find the inspiration, i may expand this into a short novel. Either way its not done, and ill probably be posting the next couple parts soon. Also im new to reddit so be gentle if i dont get how this place works. But dont be gentle on the story, rip me a new one, reafirm all my self doubts and self loathing please.

To Love The Wind Over the ages, people have made a dozen limericks and expressions about love, and how it can save you. But Sevi never thought much of those old tales. Something about it was off to her. If you need it to save you, is it really love? If someone can really love someone, did they ever need saving? No, since she could walk, Sevi fought tooth and nail not to love people, not really. People could be fun maybe, but the more she started to love someone, the more she worried they changed her, claimed her.

She would rather love the trees and the wind. The meadows and the winds, the road beneath her, the worn sandals that kept her feet from bruising on the stone, everything she could find to love. For but a moment, as she scrambled for something new. She never really stopped loving, not once she had started, but rather just leaped and ran, constantly scouring for something new, someone new, something to outshine the last. The dew on the grass never lost its shine, the blue copper that streaked the mountains never lost its luster. But who could remember that, when staring at the sun.

For most of her young life, this suited Sevi just fine. Her feet always licked by thorns and brambles, but if you just keep running, the sting never really stuck. Until one day, she got herself caught. As she looked at herself in a creek by her favorite meadow, something just didn’t seem right any more. No longer did her hair seem to shine, her eyes seem to luster. And on that day, she gave up her love. She stopped running, and lay down to weep, and eventually, to rest. Others still saw her beauty, but to her, she was like bark on a tree. So like a tree, she planted herself, down in her favorite meadow, where she could be alone in her favorite patch of moss, in the shadow of an ugly old oak tree. And from that patch, she never rose, not when people came to wake her, not when family came to leave offerings of flowers and jewelry at the roots of her tree.

A Simple Beauty People rarely starved in the valley between the green hills, and rarely were they put to flame. But rarely did they see the beauty of the outside world; the shining seas, and high peaks, the gilded halls of lords, or the mosaiced temples of gods. But the people of green hills were happy with their simple beauties. One such beauty, was a particularly ugly oak tree, in a particularly plain meadow. It sat on the banks of a thin, muddy stream, shading a patch of moss, where old folks often sat down for lunch, and children or young lovers sat to skip stones.

It was an ugly tree maybe, but its boughs gave shade for beautiful things. And from time to time, people around the meadow would take turns tending to the tree, to the little patch of moss they all visited from time to time, but no one thought much of it.

One day, some soldiers came through town, brandishing no torches or swords, but searching for more who might. With them came a young soldier, one from a town nearby, who didn't really know why he’d joined. His whole life he’d had little to fight for, and money was a good enough reason he supposed.

As he strolled about, his hand resting on the pommel of his new sword, he lifted his eyes a bit for the first time, proud in a small way to see himself as a man. But without a way to prove it, he knew it wouldn't last.

On his walk, he chanced upon a small meadow, where a young couple sat beneath and old oak, and he thought to himself “That’s what I should fight for. For a place I can call my own, a home with simple beauties.” But try as he might, the words rang hollow in his mind. Still, the small beauties of the valley did him well, for the months he stayed there.

But the soldiers who marched over those hills one frigid winter cared little for their simple beauties. The green hills had burned before, and surely they would again, and the people who lived there simply left, with tired eyes, and heavy hearts. Not everyone could run, but the local soldiers laid no claim to the valley, and decided to leave rather than defend it. But as one young soldier strolled about the hills in his camp, he looked down on what felt like his home, saw what felt like his family he never knew, the old or long rooted, the few who defiantly refused to run.

He saw them being slaughtered by men with swords and horses and fire, and he though to himself, “This is what I’ll fight for, for people I can call my own, So others can live their lives in peace, without worry.” And though the words rang hollow, he charged down the road to help his neighbors, not caring if an arrow found his heart, or a sword his throat. But it wasn’t an arrow or a sword that found him, but a stray hoove, that set his eyes to black.

When he woke, he found a village in ruins, the last of the fires smoldering in the cold wind. As he stumbled to his feet, he searched for a place to rest, someone to fight, someone to help, anything to make him feel lucky to be alive. But all the houses had burned, all the soldiers gone, and the villagers dead or captive. And as he started to lose hope, he found himself lying in a patch of moss, near a small creek, kept running from the muddy water that wouldn’t quite freeze. And he looked up, at his favorite, ugly oak, its boughs torn and frozen, its meadow set in snow and ash and gore. But despite everything, it still stood, sheltering its little patch of moss from the storm and war.

He looked around with tired eyes, and found himself hungry, starving really. For a day he lay there, too tired and dazed to move. But the tree sheltered him, and the moss eased the pain in his back, the gurgling of the creek soothed him. When finally he sat up, calm, but famished, he saw the wilted offerings at the base of the tree, old flowers and jewelry, and thought to himself “I must not be the only one who loves this tree”.

“I guess I owe you a favor eh?” He said, half bored, and half lonely “I’ve not much to offer. But you can have this… I won’t be needing it any more.” And he laid his sword at the base of the tree.

He set about, and looked for something to eat, but all the fields and stored had been pillaged and burned, the game all scared away. After searching for what felt like hours, he sat back down in his patch of moss, despondent. But as he did, he saw something new, something he hadn’t noticed before. In the muddy little creek, was a small noose trap, likely set by a child in hopes of catching a minnow. And in that trap, was a small, shrivelled fish, still wiggling. As he went to pry the fish, he found a bush of berries, hidden away by the boughs of the oak.

Looking at the great oak, and some of its branches, scattered across the ground, he decided to make a fire. “Im sorry tree” He said as he lit it “Already you’ve done me so much, but it seems ill need your help some more.”

The fish, though shriveled, felt satisfying to him, and the berries delicious. “You’ve done me so much, but I’ve never got your name” He said, half to himself, “Well you can have mine if it matters. I’m Aren.”

Much to his surprise, the tree responded, in a quiet, feminine voice “I'm Sevi.”

submitted by /u/ByTheBurnside [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2Ll9UeB

[doye1-blog]

Food Facials To Nourish Your Skin

Food Facials To Nourish Your Skin

Its not easy being skin in a world thats full of toxins. Not only does your skin have to battle toxins, but the sun can cause damage as well. Most people really dont give the job that their skin does a lot of thought. Its just there. They start to notice it whenever theres an outbreak, an infection, or a rash that pops up. And you might not realize the toll that your eating, sleeping and lifestyle habits can take on your skin. While genetics do come into play (and so does age) when it comes to how your skin looks, there are some simple facials you can use to rejuvenate your skin and make it shine with that healthy glow. Why Use Food Facials? Food facials are natural and dont contain ingredients that can harm the skin. Theyre relatively inexpensive and easy to whip up right in your own home. Plus, food facials are always jam packed with good-for-your-skin ingredients like antioxidants. These antioxidants dont just fight off stuff that can damage your skin, but antioxidants are great at restoring skin thats been damaged. If youve suffered damage from toxins, the sun or irritants, a food facial can help repair the cell changes youve encountered. Food facials can offer you a ton of benefits that will help you see the difference when you look in the mirror. For one, they can help tone the skin. When you use a food facial, the ingredients in the mask work to tighten the pores. As the pores are tightened, your skin feels and looks firmer. Your skin undergoes a lot of stress just during a normal day, much less any days that youre doing additional things that can impact the health of your skin. When you go through your day, the things that you do can impact the pH balance of your skin. If this balance is upset, youll see it. When the pH balance isnt right, your skin can become too dry. It can also become too oily. You might notice red patches or areas of flaky skin. The balance must be kept between a certain pH balance and something as simple as washing the hands can change the pH balance for your hands. In the shower, the shampoo that you use can leave a residue on your skin that can upset the balance. Though most products are pH balanced, not all of them are. You can tell if youre running into a problem with your skins balance if you start to notice that after exertion or after being in warmer temperatures, your sweat has a stronger, more distinctive odor. If you notice that, its a sign that the alkaline is off kilter. Some people might not think keeping the skin balanced is a big deal. But one of the things the pH level does is help to prevent bacteria from entering the body through the skin. If the pH balance is off, your skin can become an open door for bacteria.

The Honey Facial

Honey is a natural facial that can work wonders for your skin. Its loaded with antibacterial ingredients, so if there is bacteria lurking on your skin, honey can fight that for you. These antibacterial properties can help prevent acne flare-ups as well as other skin infections. Its also full of antioxidants which can keep cell damage at bay and since your skin is exposed to so much that can cause damage, you definitely want this. But thats not all that the antioxidants in honey can do if you use it as a facial. These little gems are some of natures best weapons for helping you fight the battle against aging skin. You end up with younger looking skin, thanks to the anti-aging properties of honey. Plus, honey is great to use for hydrating the skin - so after you use it, youll notice that you have that refreshing glow to your face. Because it can hydrate the face, it works wonders to put an end to dry skin. When you use a honey facial mask, your skin will go through a deep cleansing because honey is known to open up pores. That means that if youre struggling with clogged pores, honey can put an end to that. And unlike the chemical facials that you can buy at the store, honey doesnt upset the natural pH balance of the skin. So you wont have to worry that youre going to end up with dry or oily skin after using it. Some people have struggled for as long as they can remember with problem skin or common skin irritations, so they avoid using facials. But because honey is all natural and soothing, it can be used even on problem skin. Anyone can use honey as a facial, regardless of the skin type. You want to make sure that you use raw honey and not any kind of processed honey. The processed types of honey arent good for the skin. Because these types have undergone processing, the majority of the health benefits that honey was had is long gone. So it wouldnt do you any good to use processed honey. Its best to make sure that the honey is warmed before you attempt to apply it. You can do this one of two ways. You can gently warm it a little at a time by putting some in a glass container that you place into a sink full of hot water or you can warm it in a pot. If you do warm it in a pot, you need to make sure that there arent any hot zones left in the honey before you use. So test it first before you apply it to your face. You need to warm the honey until its smooth enough for you to be able to easily spread it. Honey thats a cooler temperature will be thick and not as easy to work with. If you heat it on the stove, dont put the pot its in directly on the source of heat. Instead, put a pot within a pot to heat it with water in the lower pot. Let that water boil and as soon as it does, remove it from heat and test the temperature of the honey. If its cool enough, then put it on your face in a very thin layer. You want to leave it on anywhere between 10-15 minutes. Rinse your face completely when youre finished.

Avocado Facials

Not only are avocados tasty, but theyre also fantastic to use as a facial. Youll find that avocados are packed with skin boosting benefits. Theyre known to roll back the years that take a toll on the skin. So if youre looking for younger skin, this is the mask that you want to use. If your skin has been having problems with the pH balance, an avocado facial can help to restore that. Its known to treat dry skin as well as skin that has lost its luster. This food is packed with antioxidants and minerals that help hydrate the skin. Using an avocado for your facial gives you a surge of skin healing vitamins. These vitamins contain helpful boosters that get to work fixing what life has damaged on the skin of your face. When you use it, the avocado properties go deep into the skin to make sure that youre not losing moisture as quickly as you have been. A lack of moisture is one way that your skin suffers and you end up with red, dry or itchy skin. If youve been using expensive creams or lotions in an attempt to moisturize your face and they havent worked, its because these over the counter treatments dont make it past the first layer of skin like an avocado facial can. And one of the biggest bonuses with avocados is that they contain retinol. This is what helps to stimulate your body to produce collagen. When your body produces collagen, your skin ends up looking younger, smoother and the problem areas are effectively treated. Plus, avocados are known to fight things like free radicals that can cause a lot of damage to the skin. If youre someone whos experienced sun damage, using an avocado facial mask can help restore the cells that were damaged. To make this revitalizing mask is easy and convenient. Choose a ripe avocado, cut it in half and take out the pit. Place the insides of the avocado in a dish and use a whisk to stir it until its smooth. Gently put the mixture onto your face lightly, but dont rub it in. Place it on the face until all the areas are covered. Set a timer so that you can remove the mixture after about 15 minutes of use. When youre done, rinse your face with warm water.

Mango Facial

Mangos are not only delicious, but they contain a wealth of vitamins. Theyre loaded with the important B vitamins including B6. The minerals in the mango are part of a healthy diet - not just for you to eat - but for your face as well. Because the fruit contains Vitamin C, it can help fight skin irritations or the overproduction of oil and other issues that can lead to an acne outbreak. Not only can this fruit help you be able to say goodbye to acne, but it also minimizes the damage left behind by scars. The Vitamin A in the mango is an antioxidant. Any fruit that contains an antioxidant is known for helping to restore a youthful vitality to the face. Not only that, but the mango helps promote the growing of new cells that can boost your bodys collagen production process. Plus, it helps restore the firmness of the skin tone, so that any wrinkles look smoother. For this reason, the mango is often referred to as an anti aging food. The fruit is a combination skin healer in that if you have skin thats too oily, the mango works to help clear the pores. If you have skin thats too dry, the mango helps hydrate the skin. So its great to use for people of any skin type including those with sensitive skin. If youre someone who likes to have fun in the sun, using a mango facial can also help keep the damage that the suns ultraviolet rays can do to your face at bay. Making a mango mask is super easy, but you need to be careful that you dont get any of the peel into the mixture. The peel of the mango has urushiol, and if that sounds familiar, its because its the same chemical that gives poison ivy its itchy, painful reaction when you come in contact with it. So if youre someone who has a bad reaction to poison ivy or poison sumac, youll need to be extremely careful with this fruit. You can use mango as the only ingredient in the mask or it can be mixed with other natural food items. If you use it as the only ingredient, just peel the fruit and place the pulp into a bowl. Make sure you mix it so that its a creamy consistency so that it spreads easily across the face. Put the mask onto your face and leave it on for about 10 minutes before rinsing with warm water. If you decide that you want to mix it with another food item, you can mix it with avocado for additional helpful benefits to your skin. If youre experiencing a skin flare up, you might try mixing the mango with honey since honey can soothe away irritants because of the anti-inflammatory properties it contains. It can also be mixed with yogurt. If you want to focus on a strong exfoliating ingredient, then add a couple of teaspoons of plain oatmeal.

Lemon Juice Facial

Like fruits, lemon juice is packed with a ton of helpful minerals and vitamins that are good for your skin. Because its very acidic, some people might find that using lemon juice on the face tends to sting the skin. If this is the case with you, youll find it helpful to mix the lemon juice with just a little bit of water so that its not as acidic. Your face goes through a lot in life and your skin takes the brunt of living. The face especially can fall prey to the harshness of things you have to deal with in life. You can end up with scars or areas of the skin where the skin tone is no longer even. You can develop skin irritations and as you grow older, you might start to notice certain dark areas known as age spots have cropped up. Using lemon juice as a facial can help with all of that. It alleviates the pigment changes in the skin that make scars more noticeable and it lightens age spots. Because its loaded with antibacterial properties, it can be used to treat common skin problems - including minor rashes and acne. It can be used as part of a regular facial routine to keep acne from developing. The skin on your face can become coated with a build up of oil the skin secretes as well as other things and when you use a lemon juice facial, the ingredients strip away the build up, which leaves you with younger looking skin. Because lemon juice is an exfoliant, it will promote the growing of new skin cells, which makes your skin look revitalized. Its also beneficial for those who have oily skin because the lemon juice cleanses and tones oily skin. If you have dark places on your skin - or an uneven skin tone, youll want to use a lemon juice facial because the juice from lemons is widely known to lighten dark areas on the skin. Even though its acidic and you might think the opposite, lemon juice can moisturize skin. Plus, it can tighten wrinkles and lessen the appearance of fine lines. To make a lemon facial mask, you can use it straight or you can mix it with water. Some people will put the juice into a spray bottle and spray the mixture directly onto the face. But the lemon juice can also be mixed with honey. If you choose to mix it with honey, add a tablespoon of raw honey for every half of lemon that you use. Put the mixture on the face, taking care that you dont get it into the eyes. Leave it on a minimum of 15 minutes, but the mask can be left on as long as a half hour if your skin can tolerate the acidic nature of the lemon juice. You might want to build up your time with this food mask, since it does have the ability to alter the color of your skin, brightening it as it works topically. There are many foods that you can use in facial masks. For instance, bananas moisturize your face. Vinegar can tighten up sagging skin. Mayonnaise is a wonderful cleanser. Dont ignore anything in your fridge or on your shelves. Look to see if it can be used as a facial mask. For example, even yellow mustard acts as a fantastic stimulant, but not everyone can tolerate it, so you have to do a test spot beforehand.