#Let this experience be the fire that forges our resolve | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

prosegalaxy · 10 months ago

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"Unlikely Heroes and the Quest for the Orb of Avarin"

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an orange glow over the once-peaceful village, a group of unlikely heroes found themselves gathered around a crackling campfire. Each had been drawn to this place by a mysterious call, their fates intertwined in ways they couldn't yet comprehend. Among them was a timid bard named Elara, who carried an ancient guitar adorned with intricate runes. Her soft melodies seemed to weave a spell around the group, binding them together as friends and allies. There was also the burly warrior, Thorne, whose battle-scarred hands held the hilt of a magical sword that could cleave through darkness itself. A silent shadow among them was the enigmatic sorceress, Morganna, who wielded a staff inlaid with precious stones. Her eyes flickered with power, hinting at untold secrets and abilities that would prove invaluable on their journey. Lastly, there was the cheerful rogue, Finn, whose nimble fingers danced as he picked locks and disarmed traps with ease. As they huddled around the fire, the heroes exchanged stories of their pasts, revealing the reasons that had led them to this fateful gathering. Elara's song echoed through the night, filling their hearts with courage and resolve. They knew that ahead lay a perilous quest filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists. And though they were unsure of what challenges awaited them, one thing was certain: together, they would face them all. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the group of unlikely heroes gathered around their makeshift campfire. Their eyes sparkled with determination and hope as they listened intently to the storyteller. His voice was deep and resonant, painting vivid pictures of the epic quest that lay before them. "You see," he began, "our world has been plagued by darkness for far too long. A malevolent force threatens to consume all light, leaving our once vibrant realm a shadow of its former self." The heroes nodded solemnly, their expressions serious. They knew the stakes were high, but they also knew that they had been chosen for this moment. "Each one of you possesses unique abilities and talents, honed over years of training and experience," the storyteller continued. "But it is not just your skills that make you powerful - it is your unity, your shared purpose." He paused, allowing the heroes to absorb his words. "Only together can you hope to triumph over this darkness." A hush fell over the group as they contemplated the weight of these words. They knew their journey would be fraught with peril, but also filled with wonder and magic. The storyteller's voice grew soft as he finished his tale. "You will face epic battles, forge alliances with mythical beings, and uncover magical artifacts that hold the key to restoring balance in our world." As the night wore on, the heroes shared their own stories, revealing their diverse backgrounds and motivations for joining this quest. They spoke of past triumphs and failures, of loved ones lost and dreams yet to be realized. The bonds between them grew stronger with each word, and they knew that together, they would face whatever challenges lay ahead. "It's time," the storyteller declared, his voice filled with conviction. "We have waited long enough. Let our journey begin!" With a final glance at their campfire, the heroes set off into the unknown, eager to face the epic quest that awaited them. As the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon, the campfire from the night before had turned into nothing but cold ashes. The unlikely heroes, who had gathered around it, each had their own backstory and abilities that made them unique. They were a group of misfits brought together by a mysterious call, and now they faced a perilous journey filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists. "Alright," the grizzled warrior named Grondar began, his voice strong yet weary from years of conflict. "We have our task before us, and I believe in all of you. Let's be clear: we are not the heroes that many would expect, but we are here for a purpose." His companions nodded, each with their own reasons for joining this quest. The enchanting sorceress, Elara, had lost her family to a terrible curse and sought to reverse it; the cunning rogue, Kael, sought redemption after being betrayed by his own kin; and the gentle healer, Liora, yearned to restore balance in their world. "So," Kael chimed in, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Who has the first lead on our quest?" Liora stepped forward, her voice soft yet filled with determination. "I've been researching ancient texts and I believe that the key to restoring balance lies within a legendary magical artifact - the Crystal of Eternity." "Then let us be off!" Grondar roared, his face set in a grim determination. "We have a world to save, and no time to waste." And with that, the unlikely heroes embarked on their epic quest, their shared purpose driving them forward as they faced challenges and adversaries that would test the limits of their abilities and bond. Through it all, they remained united, knowing that together they had the strength to restore balance and make their world whole once more. The group of unlikely heroes, each with their unique abilities and backstories, huddled around the crackling campfire as night fell. The air was thick with anticipation, the echoes of their shared purpose resonating through the cool evening breeze. A tall figure with a hood obscuring his face spoke up first, his voice deep and gravelly. "We've all been called here for a reason," he began, his eyes glinting in the firelight. "Each of us has a role to play in this quest, a destiny we must fulfill." The warrior woman with the scarred face nodded solemnly. "I've fought many battles, seen much bloodshed," she said, her voice low and filled with sorrow. "But never have I felt such urgency, such need to protect what's dear to me." The mage with the wild, unruly hair chimed in, his eyes sparkling with curiosity and excitement. "I've seen worlds beyond this one," he said, a proud smile playing on his lips. "And I know that we must act now, before it's too late." As their stories unfolded, the heroes found common ground in their shared determination to restore balance to their world. They vowed to face any challenges ahead together, their bonds growing stronger with each passing day. And so, under the watchful gaze of the stars, they embarked on a journey filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists, forging a new destiny for all who called this world home. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the camp as the heroes huddled around the crackling fire. Each of them carried the weight of their own pasts, forged in the fires of adversity and hardship. The alchemist, Thalia, a woman of indomitable spirit and unparalleled knowledge, had lost her family to a plague that she was unable to cure. Her thirst for understanding drove her to explore the farthest reaches of magical artifacts in search of solutions. Across the flames, the ranger, Cedric, held his bow tightly, his fingers calloused and strong. He had been raised by wolves after his parents perished in a brutal attack on their village. His solitude honed his skills, making him a master of the wilds. The dwarven warrior, Grond, bore the mark of his clan's disgrace upon his scarred flesh. He was cast out for failing to protect his people from an enemy that seemed invincible. A life of exile and bitter solitude had hardened him into a formidable fighter. "Why have we been brought together?" Thalia asked, her voice a whisper carried away by the wind. "What unseen force pulls us into this adventure?" Cedric sighed, his gaze fixed on the flames. "We are each broken in our own ways, but we must find the strength to mend ourselves and this world. We are united not just by our individual purposes, but by a shared goal - to restore balance to our realm." Grond clenched his fists, the veins bulging on his thick forearms. "We will face great trials, and we will prevail. Together, we will stand against any force that threatens our world." The heroes nodded in agreement, their resolve unwavering. They knew that the road ahead would be fraught with danger, but they were determined to rise above their pasts and forge a future where hope and harmony reigned supreme. And so, with hearts full of courage and minds sharpened by experience, they embarked on an epic quest that would change them in ways they never imagined. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the campfire's flickering light, the group of unlikely heroes huddled together. Each had their own story, each had their own reason for being there. The warrior, scarred and weary, had once been a ruler, his kingdom destroyed by darkness. The mage, whose magical abilities were whispered to be the cause of her exile, sought to redeem herself. The thief, once a simple pickpocket, had discovered an ancient prophecy that would change their fates forever. As they shared their tales around the fire, the air crackled with tension and anticipation. A newfound camaraderie began to form, borne from their shared purpose. The time had come for them to embark on an epic quest, to gather the magical artifacts spoken of in the prophecy and restore balance to their world. "Alright," the warrior spoke, his voice firm and resolute, "we have our mission. Let's discuss our plan." The mage nodded, her eyes filled with determination. "We must journey to the ancient ruins of Eldarath, where the first artifact lies hidden." "And from there," the thief chimed in, "we'll follow the clues to the remaining artifacts, until we have them all and can face the darkness together." With that, their fates were sealed. They knew the road ahead would be fraught with perilous battles, treacherous terrain, and unforeseen challenges. But they also knew that only by working together could they hope to succeed. And so, with renewed hope and a shared purpose, the unlikely heroes began their journey into the unknown. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting an ethereal glow upon the campfire that illuminated the faces of the unlikely heroes huddled together. The air was thick with anticipation as they exchanged stories of their pasts, each more incredible than the last. "I used to be a thief, swiping treasures from the richest of the rich," said one, his eyes twinkling in the flickering light. "But then I stumbled upon an ancient artifact that changed my life forever." The second hero, a skilled archer, nodded. "I was raised by wolves, living off the land and honing my skills with bow and arrow. But when I found a magical bow that could pierce any shield, my destiny was clear." "I'm a mage," added the third, her voice barely audible amidst the crackling fire. "Banished from my tower for dabbling in forbidden spells, I wandered until I discovered an enchanted staff that granted me unimaginable power." Their eyes met, and they knew that together, they were more than the sum of their parts. As they pledged to embark on a perilous journey, the heroes felt the weight of their mission and the responsibility that came with it. They had been chosen for a reason, and they would stop at nothing until balance was restored to their world. And so, with newfound purpose, they set off into the unknown, ready to face any challenge that lay ahead. The sky was an eerie shade of purple, casting a strange glow upon the group of unlikely heroes who huddled around the dying campfire. Each member of this motley crew had been chosen for a reason - their unique abilities, their mysterious pasts, and the secrets they held within them. The first hero, a silent woman with eyes that seemed to see through time, was a master of ancient magic. The second was a rogue, cunning and agile, who had spent years honing his skills in the darkest corners of the world. The third was a warrior, strong and fearless, whose reputation preceded him like a storm cloud on the horizon. As they sat around the fire, their eyes met, sharing unspoken understanding. They knew that the quest ahead would test them to their very limits, but they were determined to see it through. "We're not just doing this for ourselves," the rogue spoke up, his voice low and gravelly. "We're doing this for all those who can't fight back." The warrior nodded, his face a mask of resolve. "And we won't rest until balance is restored to our world." In that moment, they knew they had found their purpose. United by a shared cause, these unlikely heroes set out on a journey filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists. They would face perils beyond imagination, but together, they were stronger than any force that stood against them. And so began the adventure of a lifetime - an adventure that would change them all forever. The sun had just begun to dip below the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the campsite as the unlikely heroes gathered around the crackling campfire. Each of them carried a unique backstory and an array of extraordinary abilities that had brought them together on this epic quest. "So, you see," began the stoic warrior with a scarred face, "I was once a fearsome bounty hunter, but I found my purpose when I discovered the dark wizard's plan to enslave our world." The petite thief, her hands nimble and adept at picking locks, chimed in, "My life on the streets taught me cunning and deception, but it was only after witnessing the devastation caused by this wizard that I decided to use my skills for good." A spellcaster with a penchant for enchantments added, "I was an apprentice to one of the greatest mages in our realm. We were tasked with creating a protective amulet, but when the dark wizard stole it, I vowed to retrieve it and protect our world." Finally, the quiet healer, whose soothing touch could mend even the most grievous wounds, confessed, "I was a humble herbalist, content with my simple life. But when the wizard's minions attacked my village, I knew I had to join this fight for our very existence." As they shared their stories, the heroes felt an unbreakable bond forming between them. Their shared purpose and the weight of the mission ahead united them in ways they could have never imagined. They knew that the journey ahead would be perilous, filled with epic battles against dark forces and the quest to find magical artifacts that held the key to restoring balance to their world. With determination in their eyes and a renewed sense of purpose, they huddled together around the fire, knowing that whatever challenges lay ahead, they would face them side by side, as one unified group of unlikely heroes on an epic quest to save their world. It was a dark and stormy night when our unlikely heroes first gathered around a flickering campfire, their faces illuminated by the dancing flames. Their diverse backgrounds and abilities brought them together under the shared purpose of embarking on an epic quest. The chimeric bard, a being of both human and mythical creature origins, strummed an ancient melody on his enchanted lute, the strings humming with magical energy. The warrior, a stoic figure with a heart as cold as the steel in her sword, spoke in a hushed voice, "We must restore balance to our world. The darkness is growing, and only we can stop it." She glanced around the fire, meeting the eyes of each hero, one by one. The alchemist, a quirky man with an unkempt beard and wild hair, cleared his throat and began to recount his past, "I was once a simple scholar, but my curiosity led me to delve into the forbidden realms of arcane knowledge. I discovered a powerful artifact – the Heartstone – that could either save or doom our world." The group listened intently as the alchemist continued, his voice filled with determination. "With its power, we can face the darkness head-on and restore balance to our world." The heroes nodded in agreement, their eyes glowing with resolve. As they prepared for their perilous journey, each hero knew that they had been chosen for a reason. They would face epic battles, wield magical artifacts, and navigate unexpected twists as they ventured deeper into the unknown. Together, they were unstoppable. Around the flickering light of a campfire, an eclectic group of heroes huddled together, their eyes reflecting the determination burning within them. Each hero had a unique backstory and set of abilities that made them stand out in the world. The first hero, a stoic warrior with a scarred face, was known for his unparalleled strength and combat prowess. The second, a nimble rogue with an air of mystery about her, was revered for her cunning and agility. The third, a wise mage who had mastered the elements, was sought after for his magical knowledge and the power he wielded. As the night deepened and the shadows danced, the heroes exchanged tales of their past adventures, each story revealing the hardships they had faced and the friendships that had forged them into a united front. They spoke of epic battles against fearsome creatures, legendary quests for powerful artifacts, and unexpected twists that had challenged their very beliefs. Their stories were filled with triumphs, failures, and sacrifices, but most importantly, they spoke of the bonds they had formed in the face of adversity. The heroes knew that their journey ahead would be fraught with peril, but they were determined to restore balance to their world. They stood resolute, ready to face whatever challenges lay before them. With renewed vigor and a shared sense of purpose, they prepared for the road ahead, knowing that together, they could overcome any obstacle. And as the last ember of the campfire faded away, they slumbered, their dreams filled with hope and anticipation for the epic quest that awaited them. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm orange glow over the campsite, the group of unlikely heroes huddled together around the crackling fire. Each one brought a unique skill and backstory to the table, but they were united by their shared purpose - to embark on an epic quest filled with perilous battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists. "So," began the gruff warrior, his voice booming over the gentle crackling of the fire, "tell us more about this mysterious artifact we're after." The sorceress, her eyes gleaming with determination, described the powerful relic that held the key to restoring balance in their world. "I never thought I'd be on a quest like this," the agile thief admitted, his fingers deftly picking at the strings of his bow. "But when my village was threatened by dark forces, I knew I had to do something." The group nodded in understanding, recognizing that each member had been called to this mission for a reason. "We must be prepared for whatever lies ahead," warned the wise mage, his voice echoing through the night air. "The artifact is said to have immense power, and it's no doubt guarded by fierce foes." The heroes nodded in agreement, their eyes gleaming with resolve as they vowed to face any challenges together. And so, with the moon casting its silvery light upon them, the group of unlikely heroes set off on their epic journey, hearts full of courage and determination, ready to face whatever trials awaited them in the pursuit of balance and a brighter future for their world. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the heroes' campfire, they huddled together, each with their own unique story and abilities. The group consisted of an elderly wizard, a cunning thief, a brave warrior, and a wise healer. Their combined experience was vast, but it was their shared purpose that brought them together on this epic quest. The old wizard, Eadric, had once been a powerful mage in his youth, but now all that remained was the knowledge of ancient spells and enchanted artifacts. The thief, Lila, was quick and nimble, with a knack for finding hidden treasures and navigating through dangerous territories. The warrior, Thorne, was strong and fearless, leading the group with unwavering courage and determination. Lastly, there was the healer, Elara, whose hands were skilled in restoring the wounded and soothing the sick. As they sat around the fire, sharing stories of their past adventures, the heroes listened intently, each one eager to learn from the others' experiences. They spoke of the magical artifacts they had encountered on their individual journeys, some with immense power, others with secrets waiting to be uncovered. "We must work together," Eadric said, his voice firm and steady. "Only by combining our strengths can we hope to succeed in this quest." The heroes nodded in agreement, their eyes locked on the fire as they pondered the challenges that lay ahead. They knew the road would be treacherous, filled with epic battles, mysterious artifacts, and unexpected twists at every turn. But together, they were unstoppable, ready to face whatever dangers came their way and restore balance to their world. Under the pale glow of the moon, a group of unlikely heroes huddled around a crackling campfire. Their eyes darted towards the distant sound of an axe splitting wood, and they exchanged nervous glances. The tall figure, clad in chainmail armor, was their unofficial leader. A former soldier with a limp from a battle scarred past, he had been brought together with his new companions through fate. To his right sat a mysterious archer, her hood concealing her features. Her unnerving accuracy with a bow and arrow was legendary among the villagers. To the left of the soldier stood a grizzled old man, who seemed to know every secret path and cave in the mountains. His hands, gnarled like the roots of an ancient tree, were evidence of his years as a skilled smith and trap-maker. The final member of the group was an enigmatic sorceress. Her eyes flashed with power, and whispers of her spells healing wounded warriors or freezing foes in their tracks filled every tavern in the land. Together, they had embarked on a perilous journey to find the legendary artifact that could restore balance to their world. "We must reach the hidden cave before dawn," the soldier whispered, his voice low and steady. The others nodded in agreement, their eyes burning with determination. "There's no time to waste, let's move out!" As they continued their journey, each hero shared their backstory and abilities, revealing the threads of fate that had intertwined their fates. Together, they faced epic battles against monstrous beasts, navigated through treacherous terrain, and unraveled riddles hidden in ancient tomes. They forged a bond stronger than any magical artifact, as each hero's unique skills complemented the others. Despite the challenges that lay ahead, they remained steadfast in their quest. The heroes knew that only by working together could they restore balance and bring hope back to their world. And so, with courage in their hearts and destiny at their backs, they pressed onward towards their ultimate goal. The group of unlikely heroes, gathered around the campfire, exchanged glances as they listened to the old storyteller's words. They each had their own reasons for embarking on this epic quest, but a shared purpose now united them. "So you see," the storyteller continued, his voice low and urgent, "this magical artifact holds the key to restoring balance in our world. And it's hidden deep within the treacherous heart of the Forbidden Mountains." The group nodded, their eyes reflecting determination. The warrior, a skilled swordsman with a dark past, clenched his fists. The mage, once an outcast for her powers, tapped her staff thoughtfully. The thief, a master of stealth and deception, adjusted the hood of her cloak. And the healer, a kind-hearted woman who had lost everything to disease, squeezed her bag of healing herbs. "We'll need all our skills," the warrior growled, his voice echoing through the night. "And more." "Indeed," the mage agreed, "we must also rely on each other, for we are stronger together." The healer smiled softly, "Together, we can face any challenge that lies ahead." As the heroes prepared to set off, the thief whispered a cautionary word: "Be wary of traps and deceit. The enemy will stop at nothing to keep us from our goal." And so, with words of encouragement and a final glance at the flickering campfire, they ventured into the unknown, ready to face epic battles, solve riddles, and uncover the secrets of magical artifacts that would lead them ever closer to their ultimate quest: restoring balance in a world plagued by chaos. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an orange glow over the camp, the unlikely heroes huddled around the crackling fire. They were an eclectic mix, brought together by fate and necessity. There was the skilled thief with nimble fingers and unparalleled cunning, the stalwart warrior with a heart as brave as his sword was sharp, and the wise mage whose ancient spells held secrets older than time itself. With a deep breath, the warrior began to speak, "We have all been chosen for a purpose greater than ourselves. Our world is in peril, and it falls upon us to restore balance." He paused, his gaze meeting each of theirs in turn. "Together, we must embark on an epic quest, facing unimaginable dangers and seeking out the magical artifacts that hold the key to our success." The thief nodded, a glimmer of determination in her eyes. "We may be an unlikely group, but we are united by a shared purpose. We will face this challenge head-on and emerge victorious." The mage's voice was soft, but no less powerful. "Our journey will take us through treacherous lands, filled with peril and unexpected twists. But together, we are stronger than any force that dares to oppose us." As they continued their discussion late into the night, the heroes realized they had found something more valuable than the magical artifacts they sought – a bond that would carry them through even the darkest of times. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the heroes gathered around the crackling campfire. Each had their own unique tale of triumph and defeat, yet they were united by a common purpose - to restore balance in their world. Thorin, the battle-scarred dwarf with a heart of gold, shared tales of his adventures as an expert treasure hunter. He was joined by Elara, an enchanting elf mage with the power to manipulate the elements, and Fyrax, a fierce dragonborn warrior known for his unwavering loyalty. The group also included Zariya, a wise and mysterious sorceress who held secrets deep within her soul. As they sat in the cool night air, their eyes sparkled with determination and courage. They knew that the road ahead would be filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists. Their bond was strong, and it was this unity that would guide them through the perilous journey. "We are not ordinary," Zariya whispered, her voice echoing into the night. "We have been chosen for a reason, and together, we can face any challenge." The heroes looked at one another, understanding the gravity of her words. They were unlikely allies, but they were united in their quest to save their world. With renewed resolve, they set out on their journey, each stepping forward with newfound confidence and determination. The path ahead was unpredictable, but they knew that their shared purpose would guide them through the darkest times. And so, the unlikely heroes embarked on their epic quest, ready to face whatever challenges lay before them. In the land of Eldoria, where magic and technology coexist in harmony, four unlikely heroes found themselves united by destiny. The first was Amara, a skilled engineer with a talent for creating enchanted gadgets. Then there was Kael, a wise healer who possessed the power to mend both body and soul. Elysia, a fierce warrior who could summon the winds of change at her command, also joined their ranks. Lastly, there was Nolan, a timid bard with an uncanny ability to unravel the truth through his songs. Gathered around a crackling campfire, they shared their backstories, each one more intriguing than the last. Amara spoke of her invention, a device that could harness the power of stars. Kael recalled the time he saved an entire village from the brink of death. Elysia told of her epic battles against the storm giants, while Nolan sang a song about a long-lost kingdom. As the night grew darker, they realized that their individual talents and stories had brought them together for a purpose greater than themselves. The world was facing a cataclysmic event, a disruption in the balance of magic and technology. They were the chosen ones, destined to embark on an epic quest to restore harmony and save Eldoria from utter destruction. With newfound resolve, they set off into the unknown, their hearts bound by friendship and duty. The journey ahead would be fraught with perilous battles, magical artifacts of unimaginable power, and unexpected twists that would test their bonds to the core. But together, they knew they could face any challenge and triumph over the darkness threatening their world. The sun had just begun to set, casting a warm glow over the heroes gathered around their campfire. They were an unlikely group, each with their own unique backstory and abilities. There was Mara, a skilled archer who had once been a thief; Thorne, a once-disgraced knight seeking redemption; Elara, a mage banished from her magical academy; and Kael, a barbarian raised in the harshest of environments. As they sat around the fire, the heroes shared tales of their pasts and the reasons that had brought them together on this epic quest. They spoke of ancient prophecies and the magical artifacts that held the key to restoring balance to their world. Their stories were filled with adventure, hardship, and moments of triumph against all odds. "We are not here by chance," Thorne declared, his voice echoing through the night. "Each of us has been chosen for a reason, and together, we can face whatever comes our way." The others nodded in agreement, their eyes burning with determination. They knew that the journey ahead would be fraught with peril, but they were ready to face it together. "We must work as one," Elara said, her voice steady and strong. "Our individual strengths will only take us so far. It is our unity that will see us through." The group agreed, their resolve strengthening with each word. They knew that the challenges ahead would test them in ways they could not yet imagine, but they were ready to face them head-on. As the night wore on, the heroes continued to bond over shared stories and strategies, their spirits buoyed by the knowledge that together, they could overcome any obstacle that lay ahead on their epic quest. In the land of Elyria, far beyond the reach of civilization, an ancient and powerful artifact lay hidden, guarded by mysterious creatures. The artifact was said to possess the power to restore balance to the world, but only in the hands of unlikely heroes. One fateful day, a group of strangers found themselves drawn together around a crackling campfire. Among them were a rogue with a heart of gold, a timid mage with hidden powers, an elven archer with a past shrouded in secrecy, and a brave warrior who had lost everything. As they shared their stories, they realized that each of them possessed a piece of the knowledge needed to find the artifact and fulfill their shared destiny. "We may be different," the rogue said, "but we're all here for a reason. Together, we can do something extraordinary." The heroes embarked on a perilous journey through treacherous mountains, haunted forests, and cursed lands. Along the way, they discovered that their bond was stronger than any force that sought to tear them apart. As they encountered epic battles and faced the darkness within themselves, they realized that the artifact's power lay not only in its magic but also in the unity of its wielders. "We may have started as strangers," the elven archer whispered during a quiet moment by the fire, "but we became family." And so, these unlikely heroes, bound by their shared purpose and love for one another, continued their quest to restore balance to their world, knowing that together, they could overcome any challenge. In the land of Aeloria, where magic and technology coexisted in perfect harmony, an unexpected group of heroes found themselves drawn together by fate. The ancient artifact known as the Crystal of Balance had been shattered into seven pieces, each possessing immense power that could either save or destroy their world. Around a crackling campfire, five unlikely heroes shared stories of their pasts and abilities. There was Elara, a skilled archer with a bow forged from starlight; Zane, a cunning thief who could outmaneuver any guard; Luna, a mage whose spells could bend the elements to her will; Raiden, a warrior whose strength and agility were unmatched; and lastly, Amara, a healer who possessed a gift for understanding the language of beasts. Each hero had been on their own path when they stumbled upon a clue leading them to the next piece of the Crystal. United by their shared purpose, they formed an unlikely alliance. With determination in their eyes and courage in their hearts, they embarked on a perilous journey filled with epic battles against dark sorcerers, treacherous terrain, and cunning traps laid by their enemies. As they ventured deeper into the unknown, the heroes began to rely on one another, forging an unbreakable bond. In moments of despair, they would gather around the fire, sharing tales of their pasts and finding solace in their shared experiences. Through these conversations, they discovered that they were not alone in their struggles, and together, they could overcome any obstacle. Together, the heroes faced the challenges before them with unwavering determination, forging ahead on their quest to restore balance to Aeloria. With each step, they grew stronger and more resolute, knowing that the fate of their world rested on their shoulders. The sun had barely risen, casting a golden glow over the land as the group of unlikely heroes gathered around a crackling campfire. Their eyes sparkled with anticipation and determination, each knowing that the journey ahead would be fraught with danger and challenges. The first hero, a stout dwarf named Gror, had been an expert blacksmith in his hometown, but after losing his forge to a fire, he set out on this quest to find the legendary hammer of the ancient king, said to grant unparalleled strength and skill to its wielder. The second hero, a graceful elven archer named Liora, had been exiled from her village due to a terrible accident that left her family dead. Seeking redemption, she aimed to retrieve the enchanted bow of her ancestors, which could shoot arrows with unmatched precision and power. The third hero, an ambitious human mage named Eadric, was driven by ambition and thirst for knowledge. He sought the mysterious staff that held within it the secrets to unlocking powerful spells and mastering elemental magic. As they sat around the campfire, each shared their own personal struggles and dreams with one another, forming an unbreakable bond. They knew that together, they could face any challenge that lay ahead. With a final glance at the night sky, they huddled together, their hearts filled with courage and hope, ready to embark on the perilous journey that awaited them. "We might be different," Eadric whispered as the others nodded in agreement, "but we're stronger together." And so, the unlikely heroes set out on their epic quest, facing countless battles and overcoming unimaginable obstacles. As they ventured forth, their friendship and determination only grew stronger, proving that even the most improbable of allies can achieve the impossible when united by a common purpose. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the campsite, the group of unlikely heroes gathered around the crackling fire. Their diverse backgrounds and abilities made them an unconventional team, but their shared purpose united them in ways they never could have imagined. "So," began the grizzled warrior with the scars on his face, "tell us about yourselves." The mage, her eyes sparkling with intelligence and curiosity, hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I'm Elara, and I come from a long line of powerful sorcerers. But I never thought I'd be part of a quest like this." The thief, a sly smile playing on his lips, chimed in. "I'm Zane, and I was once just a humble pickpocket. But after witnessing the terrible consequences of my actions, I decided to use my skills for good." "And me?" asked the young healer, her hands shaking slightly as she played with a lock of her golden hair. "My name is Aria, and... well, I come from a small village where we healers are revered. But when my family was attacked, I vowed to protect others." As the heroes shared their stories, they realized that each one had faced tremendous adversity in their lives, yet they had all emerged stronger. They swapped tales of their struggles and dreams, and with each word, an unbreakable bond formed between them. "We must embark on this journey together," Aria declared, her voice resolute. "Together, we can face any challenge." And so, the heroes set out on their perilous journey, filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists. Through it all, they relied on one another, proving that even the most improbable of allies could achieve the impossible when united by a common purpose. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the group of strangers gathered around the crackling campfire. Each one possessed unique abilities and came from different corners of the world, united by fate and destiny. "I never thought I'd find allies in such... unusual companions," grumbled Kael, the seasoned warrior with an air of melancholy. His once-proud voice now carried a hint of weariness. "But here we are, bound together by a purpose greater than ourselves." "In this vast world filled with wonder and danger, it's easy to feel alone," whispered Aria, the mage who could summon the elements with ease. Her eyes sparkled with determination as she gazed into the fire. "But we remind each other that we are never truly alone, as long as we have each other." "What do you dream of achieving?" asked Sylas, a nimble thief whose dexterity was matched only by his cunning. He looked around at the others, curiosity shining in his eyes. "Do any of you dare to imagine a future beyond our current struggle?" With a deep breath, the group shared their dreams and aspirations, creating a mosaic of hopes that intertwined with their personal struggles. As they spoke, an unbreakable bond began to form, a silent promise that echoed through the night air. "We may be unlikely heroes," said Luna, the enigmatic healer who carried the weight of countless lives on her shoulders. "But together, we are stronger than any force that seeks to divide us." The heroes exchanged knowing glances and nodded in agreement. They knew they were destined for greatness, their unbreakable bond a testament to the power of unity. With newfound resolve, they prepared to embark on their perilous journey, filled with epic battles, magical artifacts, and unexpected twists that would prove even the most improbable of allies could achieve the impossible when united by a common purpose. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an orange glow across the landscape, a group of diverse individuals gathered around a crackling campfire. Huddled together in the cool night air, they shared their personal struggles and dreams, each story more intriguing than the last. Among them were a skilled mechanic who dreamt of space exploration, a retired detective with a knack for solving riddles, and a young artist whose paintings held magical powers. As the embers danced in the firelight, they began to discuss an ancient prophecy that foretold the arrival of a powerful artifact capable of reshaping the world. Intrigued by the possibilities, they decided to embark on an epic quest to find this enchanted object. Their journey was fraught with danger, but their unique talents and unwavering determination allowed them to overcome every obstacle. From battling fire-breathing dragons to navigating labyrinthine mazes, they grew stronger with each challenge. As they traveled together, their bond deepened, transforming them into a formidable team of unlikely heroes. One evening, as they rested beneath the stars, the retired detective shared a riddle he had encountered years ago: "The more you take, the more you leave behind; what is it? Footsteps." This simple puzzle resonated with the group, reminding them that even the most improbable allies can achieve the impossible when united by a common purpose. And so, our heroes continued their quest, ever closer to fulfilling the ancient prophecy and changing the world for the better. The sun had barely crept over the horizon, casting its golden hues across the land, when the group of adventurers found themselves gathered around a crackling campfire. Their eyes were weary from days of travel, but their spirits remained high as they exchanged stories of their pasts and dreams for the future. "I once saved an entire village from a fire-breathing dragon," boasted the burly warrior, his voice filled with pride. The others listened intently, captivated by the tale. "And I... I used to be a thief," admitted the sly rogue, her face flushed red with embarrassment. "But now, I use my skills for good." One by one, each member of the group shared their story, revealing their true selves and forging an unbreakable bond. As they spoke, a feeling of camaraderie and hope swelled within them. Little did they know that their newfound unity would be put to the test as they embarked on the epic quest before them. The following morning, the group set out towards the mysterious ruins of an ancient city, rumored to hold a powerful magical artifact. As they ventured deeper into uncharted territory, they encountered fierce beasts and perilous obstacles, each one testing their resolve and forcing them to rely on one another. In the midst of their treacherous journey, the unlikely heroes stumbled upon an unexpected ally - a wise mage who had been tracking the same artifact. Realizing that they were stronger together than apart, they formed an alliance and continued their quest as a united front. Together, the group overcame countless challenges and emerged victorious in epic battles against fearsome foes. As the sun dipped below the horizon on the final day of their journey, the heroes stood before the ancient city, ready to claim the magical artifact that would change their lives forever. And with that, the impossible seemed within their grasp. In a world where technology and magic coexisted, a group of unlikely heroes found themselves gathered around a warm campfire. Each one brought their own unique backgrounds and abilities, from the skilled mechanic to the fierce warrior, the cunning thief to the mysterious mage. As they huddled together, sharing stories of their personal struggles and dreams, it became evident that they were bound by more than just chance. A common thread wove through their lives, connecting them in a way that could not be broken. The group consisted of a young inventor named Finn, who dreamt of creating machines that could harness magical energy; Elara, a skilled thief with a heart of gold and an uncanny ability to disappear without a trace; Kael, a battle-hardened warrior with a tragic past that haunted him in every corner of the land; and Mira, a gifted mage whose parents had been consumed by their pursuit of power. Together, they formed an unbreakable bond, fueled by their shared goal: to find and retrieve the legendary Orb of Avarin, a magical artifact rumored to hold the key to mastering both technology and magic. As they embarked on their perilous journey into the heart of the ancient city where the orb was said to reside, the heroes faced countless challenges and foes. They navigated treacherous terrain, battled fearsome creatures, and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Along the way, they formed unexpected alliances with others who had been touched by the call of the Orb, and together, they began to uncover its secrets. In the end, it was their unbreakable bond that carried them through, as they finally discovered the hidden chamber containing the elusive Orb of Avarin. With their newfound powers combined, the group demonstrated that even improbable allies can achieve the impossible when united by a common purpose. And so, they returned to their world forever changed, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead, together. The group of diverse individuals gathered around the warm, crackling fire, each of them sharing their personal stories and experiences that had led them to embark on this epic quest. The tales were full of adventure, loss, and triumph, weaving together a tapestry of interconnected lives and destinies. As the moon began to rise in the sky, casting its ethereal glow upon the campsite, the air seemed to grow thick with purpose and resolve. "It's time," whispered the seasoned warrior, breaking the silence that had settled over the group. "We must set out in the morning if we are to find the Orb of Avarin." The others nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with determination. As dawn approached, the group prepared themselves for the journey ahead. They exchanged final words of encouragement and farewells, knowing that they might not see each other again. With a final look at the fire that had brought them together, they set off into the unknown. Not far from their campsite, the adventurers came across an old woman sitting by the side of the road. She looked up as they approached, her eyes twinkling with wisdom and mischief. "You seek the Orb of Avarin?" she asked, her voice like a whisper carried on the wind. "Yes," replied the warrior, his voice steady and resolute. "We have been brought together by fate to retrieve it." The old woman smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Very well. I can help you on your journey. Follow me." And with that, she turned and began to walk down the road, the adventurers close behind.

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thebibliosphere · 5 years ago

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ADHD reward system? Please tell me your secret!

My therapist has been helping me find a reward system that works for me, and as it turns out, gold star stickers are really helpful for making me feel like a tangible goal was met, and helps give me that sweet, sweet dopamine release that comes with completing a task, something which us ADHD’ers really struggle to achieve and are already coming at from a disadvantage with our brains regularly not producing enough “happy” hormones as it is.

It was supposed to be “a sticker for every time you finish a chapter”, but after some revision, my therapist said that was too tall of a goal, and that I should pick something smaller. So instead I now get a star every time I finish a 500-word milestone, placing the sticker in my writing calendar/journal thing that I use to keep track of my writing, and ironically, I have started to produce more work than when I was stiving for one chapter a day.

To give you an idea of how staggeringly effective this has been for me, I’ve written over 30k of original fiction in the last week. (75k total if you include my social media and blog stuff, which I currently do not but likely should.)

So this is what it looked like when I was attempting to do a chapter of edits and revisions a day during the month of December 2019 (note: I was supposed to start this in Nov, so you can see how well that worked out for me lol):

ID: A calendar showing days of the month with a shiny star sticker showing a completed task.

And this is what my writing journal looks like now that I’m doing a star for every 500 words:

ID: an image of a handwritten journal with the dates mapped out, followed by a shiny star sticker for every completed 500-word milestone. There are 65 stars in total for the month of January 2020. It’s also tinged by a green light cause I’m doing a chronic pain experiment, so far with positive results!

So as of today, January 8th, with ever star = 500 words, then 65*500 = 32500 words totalled in 7 days. This does not include, like I said, my social media output where I am far more productive, this is just my fiction and some editing work for friends.

(Which side note: this is not to flex, or to say that others should be able to achieve this level of output. I am a professional writer, this is my main job and only source of income. And also, I was forged in the fires of understaffed editing hell where we would be expected to churn out 100k+ a week in edits and revisions to keep on track. I have the time and a learned skillset I have spent years amassing to be able to do this and am working towards a rigid deadline. I simply have not been healthy enough in a long time to manage it, and am finally working my way back up to speed after years of illness. Don’t look at this and think, “I’m not achieving enough”, every victory no matter how small is worth celebrating. And I say that with the utmost sincerity, as someone who spent most of the last 2-3 years unable to get out of bed.)

I’ve also started using it to help keep track of bills and chores around the home. So every time something gets done/done on time, whoever completed the task gets a star on the calendar. This includes Oppy the Not-A-Roomba, who does a very good job of taking care of the house on a daily basis:

ID: an image of a chore calendar denoting various tasks that have been marked off with a holographic silver star sticker, including our robot vacuum who does an excellent job and deserves all the stars. (Our names got blurred out cause ETD doesn’t want his real name out there in the world, so that’s what is blurry.)

This system is useful for several reasons, the primary one being a sense of achievement and continued motivation, and the second, to allow you to review each month to see where you are doing well, and where you might otherwise be struggling.

For example, if I have a bad day for writing or decide to take a day off, I write that down in the calendar rather than leaving it blank, so that I have a record of what went wrong (or right, if I am electing to self care that day and take a day off) and how my overall progress is doing.

In terms of house stuff, this has been especially useful for ETD and myself, as it shows us where we are managing to do a good job with the house, and where our executive dysnfunction issues really trip us up and where we need to make improvements. And I don’t just mean in an “I should try harder way”, I mean you have to actively sit down and be like “hey! What is preventing me from completing this thing” and trying to figure out effective ways to either get around it or resolve a larger issue at hand.

So for us, the biggest thing we tend to miss is doing dishes after dinner, meaning we get left with a pile-up of dishes to deal with first thing in the morning, and my ADHD can’t handle that. It won’t let me eat until I’ve cleared all the mess, but I usually don’t have the energy to clean up if I haven’t eaten, so it’s this awful cycle of ineptitude. We’re doing better with the star reward system, cause it’s showing us our progress loud and clear on the fridge door, but we are both usually so fatigued and exhausted by the end of dinner that doing dishes is just one thing too many for our mutual disorders. So, the solution for this would, of course, be a dishwasher, cause if we had one of those, we could load stuff in, turn it on, and let those dishes get done while we go to bed then put them away in the morning. We can’t afford to do that right now, and we have other appliances we need to buy/replace before we can do that (still don’t have a tumble dryer, or a washer I can access, rip) but it does give us a tangible goal to work toward, and also, the motivation to keep on top of things because it goes from “an endless task with no end in sight” to “there’s a solution for this, we can manage a while longer.”

Now you could be saying, but Joy, I’m an adult! Surely I shouldn’t expect rewards for completing every day tasks that I should be able to do?!

To which I say, neurotypical people get rewards all the time and get an unconscious dose of dopamine/serotonin from their brains every time they complete a task. They’re playing the game of life on easy mode, the gold star is your achievement for completing it daily on Nintendo 99 hard mode. IF THE STICKER WORKS, TAKE THE STICKER

YOU’VE EARNED IT.

#kaitokenji37 #adhd #adult adhd #adhd reward system #life hacks #adhd hacks #personal #okay to reblog

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the-ethereal-serpent · 5 years ago

Text

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

On February 9, we will experience a passion-filled Full Moon in the sign of Leo. This Full Moon is one that will bring about heightened energy and courage and give us the initiative and strength to chase our greatest desires.

This is the first of two Super Moons we will experience this year and will reach its peak at 2:33am EST. Super Moons occur when the Full Moon is closest to the Earth as it moves about its elliptical orbit, making them appear up to 30% brighter and larger than usual.

This incredibly luminous Super Moon will see us experience more heightened energy and vibrations as we are showered in radiant moonlight. This Full Moon was originally named the Snow Moon by Native American tribes because of February’s winter and snow-filled weather.

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

Leo is ruled by the Sun so anytime that we have a Full Moon in Leo, we experience a super-charged energy portal that shines a divine light down on those things in our lives that feel heavy and dark. This Leo Full Moon will ignite a fire in our souls and allow us to connect with our inner Sun, clearing away anything that seeks to dim our inner flame.

We are reminded that life is made to be experienced, not controlled. The Universe will help us feel more connected than ever before to our true life’s path. We are asked to take some time for self-reflection.

What brings you a sense of purpose? What sets your soul on fire and fans your inner flame? We will be showered with the divine clarity to clear away anything that separates you from your purpose and fails to bring peace within your life.

This is an incredibly strengthening and motivating Moon filled with incredible restorative energy. We will feel more connected to the present than ever before as we tune into the Full Moon’s energy and infuse it with our own. We are being supported in letting go of that which no longer serves us and that which seeks to weigh heavy on our soul.

This Full Moon relates back to the Lionsgate portal we experienced in August 2019 and we may find ourselves revisiting themes that arose during this time or harvesting the seeds that were planted during this time. As we push past old fears and barriers, we usher in a time of tremendous breakthroughs.

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

With the Sun opposite the Moon, our relationships will come into clearer focus in the next few weeks. We will naturally put our attention towards our relationship dynamics and intuitively realize what is causing disharmony. Our emotions are at their highest during a Full Moon which can sometimes cause tension between our inner and outer selves and can sometimes feel draining.

However, it’s important to use this moment of increased subconscious awareness and connection to self to look at your relationship from an outside, balanced, and impartial perspective. The Universe is providing us with the clarity to see our circumstances and the power to make the necessary changes to create more harmony in our lives.

This emphasis on creating harmony is furthered with the Full Moon trine Mars. Mars is the planet of motivation. It blesses us with the courage and motivation to move from a follower to a leader, allowing us to make the first move and take the lead. Your intuition is at its peak as your instincts kick in, you realize exactly what it is you want to accomplish, and you see a clear path on how to get there.

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

If you are a normally shy person, prepare to unleash your inner passions as you naturally become more assertive. Don’t be afraid to speak out. You are being wholeheartedly supported by Mars as the entire Universe stands by your side. Continue to move forward with honesty and sincerity, pushing past the fears that seek to dim your inner light. Mars becomes a motivational speaker standing firmly by our side. It offers us the support and motivation to move forward with confidence

The projects that we start during this Full Moon will blossom into something truly beautiful. Mars allows us to acknowledge the fears that have been holding us back, the pains that we have been carrying, and the things we have tried to avoid resolving. It creates a space for change, for progress. Allow yourself to shift, releasing those things that rest heavy on your spirit. Feel your body, mind, heart, and soul lighten as you awaken to your divine inner light.

As Mars and Neptune both increase our emotional sensitivity, we may feel conflicting emotions that can stir up confusion and tension. The lesson here is balance. If you feel tensions rising, take a step back. Become at peace with your situation and circumstances.

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

Find the balance within your life as notice the positive shift that this conjures. Find the balance between service and sacrifice and emotional sensitivity and emotional outbursts. By having trust and faith in yourself, those around you, and the Universe, you create a foundation of pure love.

The two major fixed star alignments that will come into play during this Full Moon are the fixed star Ras Elased Australis and Ursa Major. Both of these stars will act as the planet Mars does and help to further reinforce the alignment of this Full Moon trine Mars.

Ras Elased Australis at 20 degrees Leo showers us in bold energy and a heightened power of expression. It allows us to look at our situations carefully before deciding to forge ahead. However, once a decision has been made, our journey down our life’s path will be divinely powerful as we let no challenges stand in our way.

Ursa Major will bless us with the gift of patience. As Mars ignites the fire within us, Ursa Major gives us the self-control we need to find balance.

We are being encouraged by the Universe to let go of past fears as we move forward with passion. We are showered with the confidence to act boldly but are reminded that any action must not be done out of selfishness. This Full Moon is all about balance.

By finding the balance between emotional sensitivity and pure bravado, we find harmony within ourselves and unleash our innate power. The Universe is reaffirming that it is this balance within ourselves that is the key to having our greatest desires fulfilled and the key to manifesting our wildest dreams.

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

We are being taught to always move from the heart. Our heart is our soul, it is our inner truth and our most powerful tool. By liberating our hearts from the self-imposed shackles, we have created, we give ourselves permission to try, fail, learn, and evolve. Vulnerability is not weakness; vulnerability is power. Allow yourself to be vulnerable, even in the face of fear.

You are never alone in anything you face and will always find yourself supported by the Universe. It is by looking fear in the eye and saying “not today” that we see our biggest and most incredible growth. It is this shift in mindset that helps us find our inner strength and confidence, helps us to break free of our chains, and allows us to level up on our journey.

This is a Full Moon dedicated to standing in our power. This is the time to walk in alignment with our highest calling and connect with our Higher selves. Leo is a sign ruled by the Sun. It is time to connect with our own inner suns and the core of who we truly are. The core of our being is our ultimate reality and this Full Moon is here to show us our divine truth.

☽⦁──────── ⦁🌕⦁ ────────⦁☾

Article Source : https://www.moonomens.com/february-super-full-moon-2020/

Image Sources :

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8TmKYnnX- /?igshid=18n6hpusbnuhr https://www.instagram.com/p/B8VMrUxh3rc/?igshid=1acfng7h5ztz1

https://pin.it/tx2bct6n6x4zsp

https://pin.it/kvosm3j7vqp4yz

https://www.instagram.com/p/B581UtinKde/?igshid=et0odb8jl7f5

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8PDqQNB7GN/?igshid=1l61yyx1viygk

https://pin.it/ya233opaosgdar

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thesolitarystripe · 3 years ago

Text

A Strange Meeting

I got ahead of myself in posting Tindyl’s reunion with her guild. Of course, she had a little persuading from an unlikely source.

Some days passed after Tindyl was reunited with her beloved; they went about making plans to continue in their duty to aid Oribos and the rest of the Shadowlands realms. It was a daunting task when done solely as a pair, but, if Tindyl wished it so—the warrior would be steadfast in his promises. Their siege upon Castle Nathria to end the tyranny of Sire Denathrius was plotted delicately and the birth of that mission would occur in the later hours of the day, when the sun hung low and shadows of the dismal trees that littered the courtyard before the castle, stretched thin upon the ground. Hours before, Tindyl kept busy within the markets of Oribos—crafting potions that might give them even the smallest advantage over their foes. She frequented the vendors often, especially with how often she managed to drop her vials and lose them among the hundreds of Alliance feet that tread through those halls.

“Preparing for a battle, young one?”

A voice came from behind the Archdruid, one she could not place to anyone she knew but in its delicate tone, there was an odd familiarity. Tindyl turn on her heel, having concluded her business with the local alchemist and affixed her eyes upon the one that spoke. Another night elf, one whose face was not known to her eyes. It was a female, with shoulder length golden hair, tied tightly up in a large bun upon the top of her head. Two flaming eyes blazed against hers, soft and pale like the color of the moon. The women held one another’s gaze in silence until the older Kaldorei spoke.

“That doesn’t seem like enough to support any army,” her voice was slow and thick, like expensive honey dripping down the side of a golden jar. The woman stepped forward and dared let a single finger poke beneath the leather flap of Tindyl’s satchel, where she had just placed her potions. “Perhaps and army of four,” she shrugged, glowing us flicking up to behold the bewildered expression on the druid’s face. Tindyl knew better than to disrespect her elders but pulled the leather pouch away hurriedly and slapped a palm over the top of it to dissuade the woman from attempting to touch her items again.

“There are many factions within the Alliance, some work in droves—others prefer to work alone.” Tindyl kept her voice steady and smoothed out her features to appear pleasant again.

“Do you prefer it?” One golden eyebrow rose even further up from where it laid across the woman’s brow. “Tindyl, isn’t it?” The female crossed one arm across her body, holding her elbow as her other hand waved upward and tapped a single finger against her lips.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” Tindyl pointed out hesitantly, uneasy that this woman knew her name and yet she was sure she had never seen her here or anywhere else upon her travels.

“I assure you; we have been young druid but, please, don’t stray from the question.”

This woman spoke with authority and stood with an aura of arrogance swirling about her. Tindyl could feel the power emanating from her counterpart but dared not take a step back, though her legs urged her to. A mage, no doubt. Swift eyes took notice of the staff that hung from her back, fire lapping at the blade as if it were made of wood—a spell of sorts that made the metal burn and yet it spread nowhere else. Who was this woman?

“Perhaps there was a time I preferred the company of others, but those days have since passed.”

“You were a guild leader, no? Have you left your people? Strayed from the flock?”

“Excuse me?”

“A small but mighty guild, with just enough heroes to make miracles happen and save Azeroth. Archdruid Tindyl, the fearless leader with nearly no experience in battle when she signed the guild charter—yet she found those willing to follow and even better, succeeded. Is that not you?”

Tindyl paused, her mouth ajar as her breath evaded her. “No…well...not anymore—I’ve left, you’re correct.” Now, she did take a step back, her confidence dissolving as it had so many times over the last several months. She felt backed into a corner, the high rising walls of Oribos closing in on her as she admitted openly that she was only a shell of her former self; to a stranger nonetheless.

“Why?” These were the first words the mage asked that did not feel as if they were being pressed into Tindyl’s throat with the point of a dagger. They sounded, caring.

“It’s a long story,” was all she could think to say as that tiresome lump formed in her throat. She had been so easy to cry these recent days and it bothered her so.

Silence fell between them. Tindyl’s eyes fell to the floor, her hands still clutching her leather pouch as her shoulders fell along with her resolve to look composed. Heat spread like wildfire across her chin so suddenly, Tindyl thought perhaps the mage had whispered some incantation upon her but her senses told her that it was only the feeling of skin on skin that touched her face. The druid watched as pale fingers had grasped her face, lifting her eyes back up to meet the warm glowing embers that intimidated her so.

“A story that I know; I only hoped you would tell me.” The mage again seemed soft in the way she spoke now, holding Tindyl’s jaw tenderly.

“News travels quickly,” Tindyl sighed, knowing well that rumors and gossip were not below even a hero within the Alliance. Her business traveled from ear to ear and yet none had bothered to come to her for insight into what had caused her to leave her beloved guild.

“Unfortunately, so,” the mage sighed. “I know it is difficult, young one—to be different. There are many that would seek to harm you for that sole purpose. People, beings, do not think like you do. They are not within these ranks to save the world. As difficult as it is to understand, there are some only here for power, greed, and self-gain. They will allow nothing to stop them from obtaining that end goal even if it means defamation of someone else. Betrayal. Lies, deceit! For every good soul, there are the damned ones. They will seek out the light in you and destroy it.” Her fingers clenched Tindyl’s face almost painfully, pulling her in closer. “You cannot let them win.” This came as a whisper. It was not a threat but between those breathy words, Tindyl felt the challenge within them.

“Why.” It was Tindyl’s turn to inquire. Despite the minor ache in her jaw, she peered up at the mage, eyes glistening as she asked the very question that plagued her mind daily. At this, the mage’s hand loosened and for a moment the druid thought the mage was about to pull her in and embrace her.

“My dear, if you spend you days asking that question, you’ll go mad within these very walls. There are so many petty reasons that drive men to act—it will only hurt you to linger on it.”

“Why are people cruel! Why join a cause so noble if your aim is to harm! Why risk your life if you do not care for the living that surrounds you?” Tindyl yelled, the anger that she fought to keep locked away within her pouring out into the face of this intimate stranger. “I’ve lost so much,” her breath hitched, and she looked up to stop the flow of her tears but they rolled defiantly.

“You are not the first Kaldorei to experience cruelty of the world, dor’elah. Many of us have been wounded over the many years that our lives span—it is what you choose to do with that pain, that will forge you.”

“What if I’m tired,” Tindyl’s voice came weakly, embodying the very words she spoke.

“Tired of what?”

“Being wrong.”

“Who says that it is so?”

“I imagine, everyone.”

“Do not let your imagination speak for you. We live based on evidence and tangible truths—who has said you are wrong? The ones that have left? So be it, let them run along with their thoughts because they are exactly that, thoughts. Just because it exists does not make it truth.” Tindyl’s eyes fell back upon the face of her elder, her jaw still nestled in that all too hot palm. “A hero would make nothing of themselves if they cared for what others thought of them, you would do best to learn that now at your age. I took was young when I learned that what others want, what they believe, will not always align with what is best for me. That does not make me wrong, does it?”

“No.”

“Then why does it make you wrong? Why have you allowed one treacherous man unravel you? Because his allies follow him blindly and hang off his promises like babes to a teat? Hold your head up Archdruid, remember who you are and where you come from. You were not born of weakness. Have your tears and be done with it. Fight for what you are and what you believe in. Dragons do not heed the opinions of the cattle that they eat.” Finally, she released her hold on Tindyl whose tears had suddenly dried. “So, what will you do then druid? Will you be undone by someone who holds less worth and integrity than an old haggard boot? Or will you rise upon the horizon like your precious Mother Moon?”

The mage took a single step backward as if to take her leave, her eyes hard upon the face of the youth before her; that edge to her voice returned in full. She eyed the druid up and down, taking one last look before she spoke plainly.

“Make your decision Archdruid and remember—” Her hand reached out, her index finger finding the hard ridge of Tindyl’s chin just enough to tilt it back upward. “Head up.”

The golden haired Kaldorei turned then and took her leave within a small part of other mages, their cloaks fluttered behind them, her companions deep in conversation. They were gone around the corner before Tindyl could speak.

“Min’da,” her eyes were fixed forward as the realization washed over her. She had never seen her mother, not in her cognizant years. Her father spoke so little of her and Tindyl never dared broach the subject. That familiarity, the way with which she spoke, the fire in her veins—Tindyl knew. The Druid jumped forward after the small party but as she rounded the wall and stood in the entrance of the hall, they were lost among the crowds. Laurel Moonwillow was a powerful fire mage who worked within the Alliance and even had ties within the Kirin Tor; she had left Tindyl and her father not long after Tindyl’s first birthday. Her appearance had changed from the few stories Bai’len had shared of her—once blue haired with eyes to match, cool toned skin and bright yellow eyes. The fire magic had changed her. That was no surprise, Tindyl’s father had harped on that for years and it was one of the main reasons he had wanted Tindyl to fight only with bow and sword. Even as a babe when her affinity for nature magic and druidism began to blossom—he baulked at the thought of his daughter becoming a user of any magic.

Tindyl’s mind raced with all that had happened. After searching the halls for any signs of her mother, she eventually gave up and retreated to the outer edges of Oribos again.

What will you do then druid?

Deep within her heart, Tindyl knew what she must do—but was her heart strong enough after all it had endured, was what worried her.

#wow oc #OC #World of Warcraft #creative writing #creativewriting #Author #Authortok #me writing #thesolitarystripe #Tindyl

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melestasflight · 1 year ago

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Fingon the Valiant is the dashing Prince of our hearts, and that role certainly befits him more than the one of a sorrowful king, sitting upon the cold trone Fingolfin left behind. We despair for King Fingon, as much as the narrative does.

But that nothing about him seems to suggest he’s a great leader? I’m sorry, I have to disagree, fiercly.

Fingon’s kingship is extremely different from Fingolfin’s, primarily due to the circumstances he inherits. Beleriand is ruined (think roads, agriculture, safety points, environmental pollution, and all kinds of other devastation!), Dorthonion is gone, the economy and military strength of the Noldor are frail, Celegorm and Curufin have committed treachery in Nargothrond, Finrod is dead, the house of Bëor is practically gone, and Sauron rules the Pass of Sirion (a crucial strategic point in Beleriand).

Fingon's rule is defined by all the challenges that come with rebuilding a country in the wake of a devastating war (while war still goes on actively!), the assimilation of refugees, and a marked lack of cohesion between the realms of the Noldor. Despite it all, I would say, he holds on with remarkable strength.

For one, Fingon inspires community and allyship among the Noldor. This is clear even in the days of Valinor, for better or for worse, Fingon already has a following and these people stay beside him even during the Kinslaying. Then, upon the Ice, he is accounted among one of the leaders people follow still: “The fire of their hearts was young, and led by Fingolfin and his sons, and by Finrod and Galadriel, they dared to pass into the bitterest North”

In Beleriand, his rescue of Maedhros is driven precisely by the necessity to reconcile the hosts of Noldor, to prevent division and civil unrest: “Then Fingon the valiant, son of Fingolfin, resolved to heal the feud that divided the Noldor, before their Enemy should be ready for war; for the earth trembled in the Northlands with the thunder of the forges of Morgoth underground.”

This single act in the interest of the people is the basis of everything that later gets built in Beleriand. Without this reconciliation, there would be no Kingdoms of the Noldor, no Long Peace.

Fingon's tact for building allyship (and therefore, diplomacy) does not stop with the Noldor. Significantly, Dor-lómin is not just “handed over” to the Hadorians. Fingon gives his lands willingly, otherwise, there would be no symbolic gifting of the dragon-helm of Dor-lómin. That helm, which becomes a significant heirloom for the Hadorians, is clearly part of a commendation ceremony, quite frequent in feudal times as a Lord and Vassal entered into a formal relationship of loyalty.

This is a strategic move, not uncommon in feudal Europe, for example: lands in exchange for military service and I would suspect, economic support. I’ve tackled this mutual benefit among the Nolofinweans and Hadorians in Húrin’s biography here. And it pays off, the Hadorians stand loyal even after Fingolfin’s death. Galdor dies for Fingon while protecting his King's fortress, and Fingon trusts Húrin with the place of a right-hand commander at the Nirnaeth.

I mean, let’s take a closer look at Húrin’s last stand - undoubtedly one of the most epic scenes in the Silmarillion. Húrin, thinking he's about to die, screams Aurë entuluva! This is, of course, a response to Fingon’s earlier Utúlie'n aurë! Loyalty from Fingon’s mortal allies to the last and least. Certainly, not something Caranthir can claim, Uldor slipping right in front of everyone’s nose and almost killing Maedhros at the Nirnaeth.

On a side note, the moment of Húrin trying to hold the Noldor back at the Nirnaeth is an interesting one. In The Children of Húrin Tolkien decided to swap the dialogue. The order of events remains unchanged, but Fingon, not Húrin, advocates for patience among the ranks. Christopher Tolkien comments that this change was likely done to avoid character discrepancy: "such prudence and experience of Morgoth should lie rather with Fingon King of the Noldor than with Hurin, a Man of no more than thirty-one years."

More on allies, we also have Fingon’s friendship with Círdan (an extremely underrated relationship, imho!). After the Bragollach, when Morgoth reissues his attacks, Fingon is succored by his allies: “There Fingon was outnumbered; but the ships of Círdan sailed in great strength up the Firth of Drengist, and in the hour of need the Elves of the Falas came upon the host of Morgoth from the west. Then the Orcs broke and fled, and the Eldar had the victory, and their horsed archers pursued them even into the Iron Mountains.” Horsed archers, note, are Fingon's people.

If we follow the published Silmarillion, Círdan also fosters Gil-galad, son of Fingon, after the King's death. It speaks volumes to the intent of preserving Fingon's legacy.

During the Nirnaeth Fingon commands quite a diverse group: “For there all the Noldor of Hithlum were assembled, together with Elves of the Falas and Gwindor’s company from Nargothrond, and he had great strength of Men: upon the right were the host of Dor-lómin and all the valour of Húrin and Huor his brother, and to them had come Haldir of Brethil with many men of the woods,” along with Mablung and Beleg from Doriath who “joined themselves to the host of Fingon.”

This is quite significant. Círdan’s people remain in friendship, even after numerous battles. The people of Haleth, who had never come out to join in large battles before, are here. We have Gwindor, Mablung and Beleg, who yes, are small companies, but important ones. These people stand up against their Lords and choose to go to war. They join Fingon, not Maedhros.

There’s of course Turgon, who opens the leaguer of Gondolin after 356 years and risks everything he has built to aid Fingon. Even on the last day of the battle, when he probably knows that everything is lost, he “hewed his way to the side of his brother.”

Now Maedhros also has a hand in pulling people together, he has the Dwarves of Belegost on his side, along with the Easterlings. But he is not without flaws as a commander either. Indeed, his incapacity to control his own brothers leads to Nargothrond standing aside. It is not certain, but I would bet that if Maedhros was willing to put Curufin and Celegorm to trial (or at least offer some sort of recompense to Orodreth), relationships with Finrod’s people would be different. There is also the entire deal with Ulfang’s treachery.

Let’s not forget that the Fëanorians are the first to flee the battlefield, their host falling apart, their allies turning against them (save Azaghâl’s people who stay to avenge their Lord). Quite a different picture from Fingon’s people who stand with him to the end: “At last Fingon stood alone with his guard dead about him.” Dead, because they stood protecting him.

I’m not sure if this is a controversial take or not, but I don’t think Fingon was a particularly good or capable king. The Silmarillion almost seems to damn him with faint praise, his bravery and selflessness are always singled out. But nothing about him seems to suggest he’s a great leader.

All of his best and most heroic actions are either individual or directly leading small numbers of troops, the rescue of Maedhros, routing Glaurung with his horse archers. Not much is said of his leadership during the battle in Hithlum, between the fourth and fifth battles.

I think it’s quite notable that his lands in Dor-lómin are just handed over to Hador. It suggests to me that Fingon either had very little following there or that he wasn’t doing a good job of ruling it and even Fingolfin saw this. After Fingolfin’s death he’s the only viable Nolofinwean heir, Turgon and Aredhel are missing, Argon is dead.

I also think it’s notable that everyone calls the alliance the Union of Maedhros, and Fingon is unable to leverage Orodreth and Nargothrond to back it. Maedhros is the power behind Fingon’s throne, and everyone knows it. Maedhros is the politician and the military strategist. Fingon has little skill or little interest in these I think. I also like the idea that despite the love between them, Maedhros is manipulating Fingon at least a bit. Maybe unintentionally, but Maedhros is a Machiavellian at heart, a determined and capable pragmatist. He will trample the hearts of those he loves to get what he wants.

I also think it’s notable that Fingon charges in after Gwindor while Turgon hangs back. Fingon has let the tail wag the dog, and been drawn into breaking his strategy by one of his subordinates. He’s passionate and emotional, Húrin has to restrain him from charging even before this! Turgon doesn’t get drawn in even when Fingon does, and I’m pretty sure that Fingolfin and Maedhros would not have done this either. That’s not to say Gwindor should have been abandoned to die, but providing some force to relieve them and cover their retreat when they inevitably get bogged down and have to pull back (like Turgon did for Fingon) is very different to committing the whole army to a gamble made with no prior thought.

I like Fingon! He has many good qualities, and up until the 5th battle was a major factor in the success of the Noldor. He’s brave and dashing, selfless, a good cavalry commander. He rescued Maedhros and stopped a civil war! He routed Glaurung! But I do not think he was ever a good king.

#fingon #fingon defense post #close reading #hurin #cirdan #turgon #maedhros #extremely challenging kingship #silmarillion #the children of húrin #tolkien

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southeastasianists · 5 years ago

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It was 22 years ago this month when racial violence against Chinese Indonesians broke out in Indonesia. Amid the violence, over 1,000 died and thousands were more bankrupted or fled the country.

People who had not been born then – Generation Z or Gen-Zers — are highly aware of this side of history despite having no direct experience with the event. Supported by their tech savviness and influenced by global movements, young Chinese Indonesians are forming new social alliances and building their own narratives.

They no longer only see race as their sole identity. They are becoming more and more critical of intersectional identity, incorporating class, privilege, gender, and sexual orientation.

Older conversations about racism and discrimination against Chinese Indonesians tend to avoid the class issue, mainly because of the prevalent stereotype that all Chinese Indonesians are wealthy.

But to make the case of their own discrimination, young Chinese Indonesians today will have to break the taboo and talk about class and privilege, researchers say. To beat the ghost, don’t run away; run towards it.

After the fall of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno and his leftist allies, right-wing Chinese Indonesians moved closer to General Suharto, who rose to power following the 1965 communist purge. Suharto then utilized Chinese Indonesian businesses to execute his economic development programs, while actively distinguishing their ethnicity from the so-called “native Indonesians,” or pribumis.

The businesses grew into conglomerations — the likes of Salim Group, Astra International, the Sinar Mas Group, Gudang Garam, Sampoerna and the Lippo Group — all owned by ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs.

Indonesia’s economy grew, but inequality deepened.

When the economic crisis hit in 1998, food shortages and mass unemployment triggered riots that targeted ethnic Chinese throughout Indonesia, mainly in Medan, Jakarta, and Solo. Property and businesses were looted and burned with men, women and children still inside, while over a hundred of women were raped and thrown into the fires. Casualties included both Chinese and non-Chinese.

The memories are painful. Outside of Indonesia, there have been efforts to preserve these memories through art, such as Rani Pramesti’s Chinese Whispers graphic novel, performance, and installations in Australia. Back home, the whispers are far more quiet.

The Diplomat spoke to about a dozen Chinese Indonesians between the ages of 16 and 22 years old in Indonesia, and found that they were aware of the events of May 1998. They, too, felt the sting when stories were passed down in a hushed manner by parents and teachers.

When asked about what to do about the unresolved cases, they are divided. Some strongly believed in pressuring the government for justice; others took a more pessimistic view.

Today, the middle class and the wealthy Chinese Indonesians living in the cities remain segregated. They live in different neighborhoods and go to different schools from the so-called pribumis. They have limited interaction with people outside of their own ethnicity.

Some still experience being called “Cina” (Chinese), a derogatory racist term. Many understand that they belong to a different ethnicity and class than most Indonesians, but are unsure what to do with that knowledge. They do not speak Mandarin and feel out of touch with their ancestors’ culture.

At the highest level, wealthy Chinese Indonesian business elite are again assisting President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ambition to attract investments and build infrastructure. The conglomerates formed during the Suharto era are alive and well. They remain at the top and are positioning themselves as “the bridge” in contemporary Indonesia-China relations.

As the result, Jokowi’s administration has forged closer ties with Xi Jinping’s China, which the president’s critics claim is giving more advantages to Chinese investors and businesses.

“Those outside of this exclusive group (of business elite) have expressed discontent over the direction of Chinese Indonesian identity politics, and these internal divisions may widen even further in the future,” Indonesian scholar Charlotte Setijadi wrote in a 2016 research paper.

Now with Gen Z in the picture, it does not seem that younger Chinese Indonesians would, or should, stay passive and let their identity be directed by a handful of their older, wealthy counterparts — again.

Thung Ju Lan, a researcher at Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), pointed out that the main gap in Indonesian society now is less about race than it is about class.

“If you compare with the politics in the ‘60s, today’s gap is no longer a divide between the Chinese and the non-Chinese, but between social classes. The wealthy are friends with each other regardless of race; they hang out together in Singapore and whatnot,” Thung said.

Human rights groups have strongly criticized Jokowi’s administration as favoring large businesses — Chinese owned or not — over the people’s welfare.

Hoon Chang Yau, researcher at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, affirmed this view. He said if the average young Indonesian of any ethnicity were to learn anything from the New Order era, it’s that conversations about race and ethnicity must include rejections of economic inequality and of the oppression of other minorities.

“If we want to talk about race, we cannot pretend there is no class issue, because actually a lot of problems are rooted in socioeconomic problems,” he said.

A growing number of Gen-Zers are starting to realize this. Not only they are critical of discrimination they face themselves, but they are also building solidarity with people from other intersections of marginalization.

Kai Mata, 23, is a Chinese Indonesian who has been generating media buzz lately for being the first openly gay musician in Indonesia. In 1998, along with her parents she left Indonesia as a baby for the United States. She came back to Indonesia at 13 years old.

Kai uses music and social media to promote acceptance of gayness. Her Instagram and Twitter accounts are adorned by rainbows. When it comes to her ethnicity, she said she never fully understood it while growing up. When she asked around about the May 1998 riots, she received an underwhelming response.

“A lot of Chinese Indonesians survive in the past because they are quiet and stayed hidden, and a lot of them still moved forward with that rather than speaking up, and we don’t raise our voices for the people in the past that have died,” Kai said.

“From that aspect I think that’s why I’m quite vocal about all aspects of me being Indonesian,” Kai added.

Kevin Ng, 20, coordinates the Aksi Kamisan protest in Perth, Australia, while being a student. Kamisan is a silent protest held every Thursday urging the government to resolve cases of past human rights abuses.

Active in various youth and nonprofit organizations, Ng believed that the issues of class, racism and discrimination cannot be separated from one another.

“Class struggles is one of the factors creating that (social) friction… Our main enemy right now is capitalism, where Chinese Indonesians are not the only capitalists,” Ng said.

Meanwhile, Jesslyn Tan, 18, busies herself in womens empowerment activism and theater. For her, the most important thing is to start over and build up her heritage again, starting from her generation.

Moving forward, the responsibility for the future is with both sides, Hoon said.

Hoon strongly recommended the education sector be activated to promote multicultural citizenship.

He also pointed at the gaps. While Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren, are scrutinized and expected to foster tolerant teachings, little attention is paid to expensive, private Christian schools.

“They (Christian schools) seem to want Indonesia only for the privilege. They don’t see poverty, they are blinded to differences. They think Indonesia is heaven because they go to Singapore, Bali, and Australia. So (the kids) are being prepared for cosmopolitan lifestyle, and that’s problematic because it doesn’t match the reality of Indonesia,” Hoon said.

To give the past any meaning, young Chinese Indonesians must stand with their non-ethnic Chinese friends, the underprivileged, and all other minorities, and set the course of their own journey. Only then will walls and boxes disappear.

#indonesia #may 1988 #may 1988 riots #history #race #racial politics #ethnic identity #class

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clansayeed · 4 years ago

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Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ― Chapter 22: The Soldier

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ⥽

While struggling with nightmares of lives she’s never lived, a shadow from the past looming over her city, and the proposed idea that her life may just be a little bit too weird to handle alone, Nadya makes sure to tell herself that everything is perfect just the way it is. If only. When the self-proclaimed King of Vampires (and Maker of her sometimes-girlfriend and always-boss, can’t forget that little tidbit) Gaius Augustine returns intent on claiming Manhattan as the throne that was promised, she and her friends find themselves forced into the task of saving the world. But with millennia-old vampires and an Order of hunters on their heels as well as allies hiding catastrophic secrets at their backs… it won’t be an easy task. Too bad destiny didn’t exactly ask for her input.

Bound by Destiny II and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

TAG LIST: @googlesentmehere, @cess02

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Destiny II tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

He would do anything for Her. She is his Goddess, his Maker. And he is Her Soldier.

[READ IT ON AO3]

He has done everything She has ever asked of him — everything but this. No matter Her insistence, or the pain that came from the disapproval She never voiced but he no less felt. And he was right. All these years… he was right never to trust the former prince.

“What madness is this, Xenocrates?”

“This is not madness brother,” Xenocrates reaches out and clasps his hands over Gaius’ in an unfounded display; concern, imploring — a yearning to be heard and understood hidden for decades now finally free, “but the opposite. This is sanity; and I gift it to you with all of my being. For lifetimes we have stood by Her, duty-bound at Her side. But the rights and wrongs of the world are not made by duty.

“They are not made by Rheya.”

Gaius pulls away in haste; already several long paces back before he even realizes his body has carried him as far as his emotions would demand. When given measure — even he finds himself surprised at the enormity of them.

“Wherever you intend to go with this—this heresy of yours, Xenocrates, I would hear no more of it.”

They both hear it; the waver in his tone. They both see it; the hesitant flick of his eyes right to left to right again as though She will sense this new and vile emotion welling forth from him and swiftly descend to snuff it out.

For out of any in Her kingdom, none should be more loyal than they. The First and Second Sons — the chosen lucky enough to be fashioned for eternity by the Goddess Rheya Herself. Yet there he stands, the prince of nothing, as if to defy the laws of Her Gracious Benevolence by simply existing.

But it seems Xenocrates has taken it upon himself to take a page out of Gaius’ own petulant book this night. He won’t back down. “I fear the time for ignorance has passed, even for you. Can you truly look me in the eyes and tell me you have never once questioned Her; even in the smallest of ways?”

“I would never.” I understand the meaning of devotion.

Xenocrates shakes his head. “I do not believe you.”

“What you believe is not my concern,” Gaius snaps in reply, “since it is with growing clarity that I wonder what you believe in at all. If not our Goddess, then what?”

And why do I care? He doesn’t, Gaius reasons in his mind, and knows it to be true. But the very existence of this doubt unsettles him; not just as one devoted to Her, but as Her protector — Her soldier. If Xenocrates of all people could be swayed to false beliefs…

The First Son turns his head slightly, his features cast in profile against the exposed ceiling and the moonlight filtering down unto the pair of brothers. Half to Gaius, half to the Tree.

“I wish I could give you the answer you seek Gaius, truly I do. But just as the world is painted in shades, so are the lines between right and wrong blurred at the edges. I believe, now, in many things. And have an equal lack of faith in everything I once thought to be certain.

“Rheya has brought upon the world a new power; a new dynasty. One that I once thought was the answer for all the problems that my father and those like him had created. But I can no longer lie. Not to you, not to Her… and not to myself.” Their kind — the immortal children of the Goddess Rheya — are as still as they are immutable. So to see Xenocrates’ lower lip trembling with the weight of his words is more than a surprise for Gaius. It is a new experience.

One he would rather have spent eternity ignorant of. “Were I you, brother,” how he practically spits the word with the strangeness of this talk, “I would guard my tongue. Our Goddess has been nothing but generous from the moment She ascended. None else were blessed enough to share in Her gift as we were.”

A true politician; the true extent of his caution may as well be painted across Xenocrates’ face.

“Do you truly think this life to be a gift?”

Surprise; indignation; outrage flit across his face scarred long before he was destined to meet Her. “How can you ask such a thing?” Gaius’ voice cracks as he asks. “Of course it is a gift! True and untapped godhood flows through our veins!”

“At the cost of the veins of others.”

He scoffs. “A small price to never age; to never die. Incomparable to the promise She has given us to see Her kingdom through.”

“Her power is unquestionable, Gaius.”

“Finally, something out of your mouth that doesn’t border blasphemy.”

“But that only ensures the threat of it is unquestionable too.”

Mortals have lived and died in lifetimes since the last time Gaius felt the bitter nip of winter winds or the choking heat of summer twilights. Yet here he stands with a shiver down his spine; sweat plastering his linen tunic damp down his back.

No longer is this the time for careful warnings.

“The only ones threatened by Her are those who would defy Her. The ones resistant to the future She will bring. And make no mistake, Xenocrates,” words lisping around extending fangs, “Her future will be seen done. And at the hour of victory those loyal to Her will not go unrewarded.”

The brothers in blood lock eyes. Holding one another’s gaze; determination to read the intentions of the other quickly mutating into something sickening; desperate. Xenocrates finally crumples under the pressure of it and turns his head away as if in pain. Proof all the more that Gaius, Her loyal soldier, follows the right path.

“Loyalty cannot only be this,” the elder murmurs; but to their ears his voice rings crisp like theatre, “there must be ways to prove it other than mindless obedience and the willingness to slaughter Her enemies.”

“You would rather they live? Only to strike us down another day?!”

“I would rather live a life without a dagger in hand waiting for the next zealot to catch me unawares!”

“Snuff out the dissenters and you won’t have to!”

Fists come to clench at his sides; then Xenocrates speaks clear and strong — not that conviction makes his words any less treacherous.

“A kingdom forged of the blood and bones of all who would oppose you is the kingdom of a tyrant!”

All around them, the world itself protests. Gusts of wind rage like rapids against the tomb’s old chambers, the seasons cower below their feet for safer times. Even the Tree of Eternal Life, as unyielding as its title suggests, seems to let its topmost branches sway in a ritual dance. A herald of dark times.

After everything… this is where he stands. Spared by Her, respected by Her — all efforts made wasted.

“How easily you waste Her mercy,” spits Gaius finally; the bite of venom sharp on his fangs, “proof you were never worthy of it to begin with.”

Dark eyes widen, aghast. “You think what Rheya did to the world was merciful?”

“Compared to what was done unto Her… our Goddess was in every right to burn the world and raise Her kingdom from the ashes! But instead She offered the willing the chance to take part in a new age by Her side!”

“Surely you play at this naïvete! How many innocents have you alone slaughtered in Her name, Gaius?!”

“I regret not counting you among them! Traitor!”

Gaius lunges forward with a furious cry and an avenging fury. He swiftly pries his sword free from his hip and sends it down as merciless as their Goddess should have been to begin with; a fire in his eyes only made tame with the intent to kill. In Her name.

They have each served Her in their own way; Gaius with his strong and passionate hand and Xenocrates with his honeyed words — words Gaius now knows to be nothing but lies. But if it were as easy as the swing of a single sword they would be naught but a mockery to Her name; to Her blood.

Xenocrates’ hand is soft from his mortal life of luxury as it flies palm-up to stop the blade with brute strength. Something about the reminder of who they were, of how little they meant before She came into their lives and gave them Her gift, only hardens Gaius in his resolve. He presses all of his weight down his sword’s iron grip; tries to force the weaker metal through the bones of the traitor son’s hand through sheer force of will. But even as blood runs in thin rivers down the raised forearm only to fall in waste to the ground between them; the First Son proves himself deserving of the title.

Gaius gives a silent vow to strip him of it down to the bone.

“Gaius—brother—please stop—It should not be this way!”

No it should not. “You stand in blatant defiance to our Goddess—and seek to tell me how things should be?!” Every word louder than the last, every swing harder than the one before it. Blood red almost black under the moon seeping into the fabric of his himation to mark him for his sins; for the crime of even so much as thinking against Her.

Even before Gaius was made stronger than any blade forged by mortal man, he knew the pain of his own sword well. The former King had been a cruel and ambitious man — what he had done to Rheya was proof enough of that. But he had only demanded the best of his army; of those like Gaius who had nothing but the armor on their shoulders and the sword in their hands. How else was he to know the limits of the enemy when he did not know the limits of himself?

But no more; he had more than that now. He had his immortality, he had his Goddess; he had his faith in Her. Armor was no better than a costume compared to the strength of his natural hide. But there are worse things than death — his life as a soldier taught him that, too. So Gaius knows when to slice shallow into his skin and when to pierce deep in muscle. Xenocrates will heal; in time.

Time enough to be punished by the one he truly wronged. By Rheya Herself.

And until then Gaius continues, his false brother’s blood staining his bared teeth; in hot flecks on his cheeks and matting in his hair so affectionately touched by Her graceful hands. Because Xenocrates deserves it for everything he has said and for all the things left in the air between them. He is Her Soldier, and he will not let those words dare to be spoken.

“She gave you everything!” He thrusts the word deep in the other man’s abdomen; twisting both edges of his sword while blood flows faster than any mortal could survive. A thin red stream trickles from Xenocrates’ lips; teeth stained red and grinding together to keep his composure.

This close, though, Gaius leaves himself exposed. Worth it now and a hundred times over to feel the crunch and yield of lower ribs cracking and insides shifting as Xenocrates is forced to hold every steel inch of the soldier’s hatred inside.

“Enough… of this… Augustine!” Scarlet eyes with pupils narrowed into slits snap up and meet Gaius’ head on. The very sight swells a new anger inside — which is exactly what the former prince wants. Distracted by the intensity of his own everything, he unwittingly gives the First Son the sliver of a chance he needs to reach down and separate soldier from sword with a snap.

He abandons the blade inside his enemy with a howl of pain. Staggering back, snarling through eyes blurry with tears while his free hand slowly begins to push the white shock of broken bone protruding from his forearm back where it belongs.

Xenocrates the wise; Xenocrates the advisor. Xenocrates with the pale hands that shake too violent for his bloody palms to pry the sword from his belly. The very sight is enough for Gaius to sneer in satisfaction; the only thing that gets him through the agony of his bones forcing themselves back together under muscle tissue. Like this they are on equal footing — until one takes in hand all those times that pompous human life kept him from enjoying the rich rewards of the hunt and kill.

The only thing their Goddess could not snuff out of him; his aversion to the hunger.

With one last pained noise the sword falls heavy to the ground at Xenocrates’ feet. Slick blood coaxing the dirt to cling to the blade from hilt to point as if he couldn’t sully the things Gaius holds sacred enough.

He staggers; finds purchase against the closest stone column with such force it groans in protest and makes grit fall down from the ceiling mooring. But the sand is just another thing to cling to Xenocrates’ forehead, with his dark curls unkempt and temples shining with exertion. He is the enemy, and even the lowest rank of soldiers would see him and know he is defeated.

So why does he not yield?!

“Enoug—’gustine…” his words repeated choked and bloody, “just… enough.”

“Indeed, my Prince. I believe I have seen… more than enough.”

Silent tears stream down Gaius cheeks. In Her presence his pain is given purpose. At Her touch he feels more than the strength to continue on — he feels the will to do so at Her guiding hand. And when Her Soldier cranes his neck far enough to snap, the sight of Her speaks volumes to him that he already knew.

She is his Goddess, and She is worth it. All of it. Everything. Over and over again from now until the end of time.

The humble nature of his Goddess always leaves Gaius in awe. She emerged from the depths of the tombs reborn and renewed, and with Her bare feet leaving dusty prints on the former King’s polished floors in Her wake. Dust soon turned to blood; long sweeping trails of crimson that followed Her like a holy procession. Rheya took the sacrifices She was owed in abundance. As was Her right.

And even now; gliding forward with silent steps, the familiar bright white hem of Her gown coming into view. Before he can cast aside his doubts and pains for Her, She offers him an extended hand instead. Long fingers curled just so; coaxing him forward for Her — to Her.

Gaius takes Her hand in his and finds the will to stand. “My brave Soldier…” She croons, fingertips like silk tracing along patches of braised skin. In Her touch he feels it; the lifeblood thrumming in his veins, called to the surface of his flesh and compelled by Her to do the bidding of the Goddess. To heal him; to bring him back to Her side as swift as Zephyr himself.

She is all he sees. And he holds Her gaze for his own, selfishly taking everything She has to offer. He grasps Rheya’s upper arms as tight as he can and knows with some measure of claiming that She will never bruise. She’s too perfect.

The back of Rheya’s hand slides soft along the curves of Gaius’ jaw. Wordless, nameless nothings sweetly lilted on Her lips. “You fight with passion, Gaius. Strong, unyielding; unwavering. I could not ask for anything more.

“Ask it,” he rasps, “and I will give you everything and more.” His words bring a glint of satisfaction to Her eyes. He needs nothing more.

“I know you will.”

If only this moment could last forever. If only. But distant shuffling catches their ears and Gaius is forced to watch, forlorn, as his Goddess steels Herself to deal with the matter at hand. He turns his face towards Her touch in the breath before Her fingertips leave him; a tasteless kiss with pale lips before She is in a place he will never be able to reach — let alone understand.

Rheya crosses the central chamber of the tomb cool and calculating; watching Her First Son as though through the sheer curtain of a waterfall — distant; removed.

“Always a creature of dignity… my little Prince,” mockery blunt on Her tongue like a bludgeon, “but how far has it gotten you?” Her eyes trail up to the base of the Eternal Tree; how he falls just short of it. “Never far enough.”

Xenocrates looks between Rheya and Gaius. “You… followed me here?” And the thought amuses Her enough to let him live beyond that moment.

“From the moment you accepted my gift, Xenocrates, your blood became my blood. You are nothing more than a part of me that reaches beyond the limits of the flesh…” Even still, Her serenity is marred with even the slightest furrow of Her brow.

“Yet here you are; a part of me… and not. How did you mask your will from my sight?”

For the first and only time that night, the man’s diplomatic persona slips. Baring a grimace of bloody teeth up at Her.

“No god is infallible. Not even you.”

“… We shall see.”

Rheya takes one step forward and, to his credit, Xenocrates manages to keep himself from recoiling violently. Eyes squeezed shut; awaiting Her retribution and wrath. But it doesn’t come.

Like a shadow over the moon Rheya passes him with little concern; Her focus drawn to the Eternal Tree towering over them all. Even from a distance Gaius can feel the power radiating from its petrified limbs — power that grows stronger the closer his Goddess gets. It calls out to Her — it yearns for Her. Power recognizing power.

She hovers a touch just shy of the tree trunk as if under a spell of Her own. “I knew from the moment I entrusted the knowledge of the Tree to you that eventually the temptation would be too much to resist. You are men, after all. And what are men if not weak in the presence of true and unbridled power?

“It was only a matter of understanding you enough to know who would succumb first.”

Rheya presses Her palm against the Tree. Bark biting into Her palm like the teasing nip of a lover. All the power coalescing around them comes together in that moment, in that touch; energy so thick they can taste it on their tongues sweet like rich blood and wine.

“‘Who would it be,’ I asked myself,” she continues, “my Soldier… or my Prince? The compassionate soul so desperate for my approval that he would seek to walk at my side rather than kneel before my throne? Or the young man once promised the world I had taken for mine own; no longer content with my benevolence when tempted with forbidden fruit?”

But even the sweet honey of Her voice is not enough to hide the bitter poison of Her words. Gaius staggers slightly, unseen at Her back. Pain crumpling his pride under Her heel.

“My Goddess —” choking on his own voice, “— I would never —”

Rheya silences him with a simple twitch of Her free hand. “I know, Gaius. You have proven yourself beyond mere fealty. As your faith carries you to my side, my faith carried me here — to the Tree. Everything had been ripped from me in one swift moment; my dignity, my identity, my personhood. But no matter how hard he tried, Kaelsius could never take away my belief in my gods.

“And for my suffering I was rewarded beyond all others.” In a flash Her touch hardens; the open-palm caress digging nails against the skin of the Tree as a claim. “Me, and me alone.”

Echoing silence follows. Rheya’s back turned away from them; almost hunched over the Tree as though to let Her body shield it from the corruption of their eyes.

Then, Xenocrates laughs.

A wheezing thing; lungs not used in decades forced to awaken and work like nothing had changed since he was last mortal. He laughs through the struggle to remember how, through the pain of his open wounds and the ones healing too slowly. He laughs until blood and spittle gurgle on his tongue and he only pauses to swallow it back down before it returns renewed.

The very sound reignites Gaius’ anger in a new wave of revulsion.

“You dare mock Her?!” He snarls. “Blasphemer! Traitor. Coward!” And a whole litany of other foul names — every one he can think of — but one look from Rheya and he forces them all down. For now.

She waits until Xenocrates has had his moment; unwavering in Her patience and stoicism. When the First Son finally deigns to waste his unworthy eyes upon Her, though, the toll of his amusement could not be more clear. His skin dulled with an ashen taint, the circles under his bloodshot eyes darker and more prominent. His words croaked through cracked and peeling lips.

“You think…” —wheeze— “that I came here to curse myself twofold? That I want to rival your wicked desires?”

The only outward sign she gives is the tightening of Her grip and the flecks of bark that pry free from the Tree’s surface. “To imbibe from the Tree of Eternal Life is to become my equal. A secret I have only shared between my blood; between the two of you. Why would you come here against my wishes — against the will of Your Goddess — if not to use it against me?”

Even in his sickly state the look that brightens Xenocrates’ eyes is unmistakable.

Pity.

“I did not come here to take part in your power,” Slowly and with visible effort he reaches around to pry something from the folds of his himation. Rheya’s foot shifts in an unconscious step back, but she remains otherwise unfazed.

“I came here to purge the world of its tyranny. Your tyranny, Rheya.”

Dread holds Gaius’ voice hostage in his throat — leaving him frozen with unfamiliar fear. Xenocrates pries the dagger free from his hip to hold it up and outward. The blade kisses the moonlight with a shine; dangerous to anyone else. But not the three immortals gathered here.

The sight makes amusement twitch at the corners of the First Vampire’s lips. “Even if such a pitiful needle could fell me… did you not consider that together the Eternal Tree and I, united, are made invulnerable?”

“I may be a fool,” scoffs Xenocrates, “but perhaps you have forgotten, my Goddess, that I share your blood. Your powers are my powers, you hunger is my hunger. Suffice to believe our bond of blood goes both ways.

“And that my weaknesses are yours.”

A fool, indeed, with foolish notions. Gaius watches, a victorious smirk alight on his face, and waits for Her to prove Xenocrates to be nothing more than the jealous, corrupted failure of a usurper that he is.

He waits.

And waits.

And is kept waiting.

Rheya does not answer.

Xenocrates finally rights himself on his own two feet. Stronger; empowered by his vindication — by the first and only victory he claims tonight. But one is all it takes.

Finally, she commands him; “Explain yourself,” she says, but there’s nothing obedient about his answer.

“During the Siege of Solinthia, I was ambushed. The last of Aenos’ refugees — farmhands, laborers, children.” Dried blood flakes down his chin as Xenocrates’ upper lip curls in disgust; only at himself. “I was struck with the splintered end of a hoe, right here.” He touches the tip of his dagger to the flesh of his shoulder.

“The pain was unlike anything I could remember. But I did, eventually. It mirrored the day you returned from the depths of your banishment, oh Goddess, and chose to enslave Gaius and myself for your amusement.”

Enslave?! “You speak only for your own heresy! I would never waste my Goddess’ gift!” But there is no use reasoning with heretics; infections that need to be burned out to be cleansed.

“It was the feeling of dying, Rheya,” Xenocrates continues unhindered, “and in my state of weakness I did the only thing necessary to survive. But as I stood among their drained corpses I realized their deaths were not in vain. They were but sacrifices to the greater cause — to your end.”

Rheya’s expressionless guard slowly melts; sympathy heavy with burden radiating from Her with an unfelt strength. She wordlessly crosses the divide between them and cups Xenocrates’ stubbled chin with slender hands.

“I could have lost you, my little Prince…” and Gaius has never seen Her like this; never heard a tremble in Her strong voice or seen the cracks in Her armor such as these — never for him, but for that traitorous, ungrateful… “How could you keep this from me?”

The two of them, that close to one another; there’s only one word to describe them and Gaius hates it. They look tender together. At one another; sharp and clear edges of them bleeding together at the seams. He’s witnessed this sight and its close relations too many times to count — too many times for him to have any hope of carving it from his memories no matter how strong his convictions.

He’s seen it when his beautiful Goddess knows he’s there. And as many times in secret, dark places where he should not be… but where he cannot find it in himself not to go. And is he not justified, now? Has Xenocrates’ heinous betrayal not meant he, Her endlessly devoted Soldier, was the only one to truly care about Her?

How dare she look at him that way after everything he’s done against Her!

Only the truly villainous could be gifted those eyes… that smile… the intimacy of that reverent touch and just as easily cast it all aside for selfish gains!

Don’t give it to the unworthy. Find one who will never see anything but beauty, power; all that you are. Who will return it tenfold.

Give it to me.

Gaius would beg, would weep on his knees in confession to Her if he could. Maybe not this night, but the next, or the one following. When Xenocrates has been denounced and suffered Her wrath and served as example for any who might seek to betray the boundless heart his Goddess carries in Her breast. When she can then realize… see with wide, open eyes…

He is Her Soldier. And he can never be anything else.

Slowly, agonizingly, Gaius watches the tension drain from the former prince’s form. How his shoulders ease and the dagger hangs limp in three fingers instead of a tightly closed fist. That is the power She wields; and it is a glorious sight.

On anyone else.

“I blame myself,” whispers Rheya; dragging one hand up along the curves of Xenocrates’ face up to wind Her fingers in dark damp curls, “you were suffering, my Prince, and I was blind to it. To be gifted this new life — to be freed from the chains of mortality — only to find them lurking just out of sight… and all on your own…”

Xenocrates allows Her to tilt his head closer. She kisses his forehead with a whisper of Her lips; all the affection of the night sky and its thousands of stars in that single act. His eyelids flutter shut, dark lashes dusting his cheeks.

“No world changes willingly, Xenocrates. Our every act has a higher calling. But in my ambition I failed to remind you of our grander purpose; our immortal future… it is no surprise you lost your way.

“I forgive you, my love. And grant you pardon to find your way back to me.”

The first sign of trembling shoulders nearly sends Gaius launching forward, ready to take the dagger into his own body as many times as needed to spare Rheya any more of the pain of betrayal. But trembles become shakes, become the heaving ragged sounds of weeping. Somber, deep; befitting of the tomb around them.

The dagger falls lamely to the ground. His hands freed, Xenocrates grasps Her upper arms, clings so tight with his preternatural strength that he threatens to deform the ornate golden cuff around Her skin. She is a benevolent Goddess — she coaxes him closer with soft whispers of “sssh, my darling, all will be well…” through his pain to rest his head against Her collarbone.

Gaius barely realizes he has taken several steps closer to them when Rheya meets his eyes across the chamber. She gives him the slightest, barely perceptible shake of Her head; too slight for the First Son to notice. But even at a distance he recognizes the darkness bubbling beneath Her eternal beauty and youth. The same kind of ruthlessness here and now; Gaius has been witness to it while dutifully at Her side — watching in reverence as she strikes down Her enemies where they stand.

He has never seen Her look more beautiful than in this moment. So exquisite, so ethereal that he wants to make for the dagger and carve out his heart in offering to Her. She is a divinity that deserves an offering of blood — not tears.

“So much death and suffering…” Xenocrates reminds them both of his presence; the deep baritone of his voice warbling with grief, “and violence, and pain, and tragedy. My father’s crown was forged in unjust violence and—and I swore, Rheya, I vowed on my life I would right his wrongs no matter the cost.”

Her long fingers comb through the matted knots in his curls. “We will, we have.”

“I am stained with innocent blood. I cannot wash it from my soul.”

“Necessary sacrifices,” another kiss to his forehead, “all of them for a future without death, without suffering and tragedy and evil.”

“A world without evil…”

“One we will build — all of us — together.”

With the heaviest parts of his anguish passed, Xenocrates steadily pulls back from Rheya’s embrace to take in Her face unhindered. Dirt-smudged fingers brush aside a strand of dark, silken hair to tuck it behind Her ear.

“I see that now.” He agrees with a newfound surety. A sound that brings a rare but very real smile to Rheya’s face.

“I see a world of peace, of atonement. One without the evils that we have known… and without those we have created.”

“Necessary sacrifices,” she repeats; and flickers Gaius a confident look over Xenocrates’ shoulder.

He nods once. Agreement, complacency, apology — all the things Rheya demands of them and more given freely. Sealed as a promise with a chaste kiss to Her lips.

“In one way or another you have always shown me the right path, Rheya. From the moment we met… I knew you would help me understand. I was so lost, but I’ve finally found myself — with you.”

A strange look passes over Her. Curiosity and bemusement; things full of poetry and philosophy and other things she seeks Xenocrates’ learned company for. Things Gaius will one day force himself to understand. But only when he has seen Her world come to life; the trusted blade in Her hand no matter the enemy.

“I’m so glad you understand.”

Rheya’s head tilts to the side. She shifts with a discomfort Gaius can’t quite source from far away. “And what is it I understand?”

He’s too far away.

By the time he sees the white knuckled grip he has on Her for what it truly is, that is the only thing left in the world that he knows with every fiber of his being.

He’s too far away.

“Necessary sacrifices.”

Wisps of Her hair brush against his fingertips lighter than air. His hand outstretched, straining with every muscle; the last wounds from their earlier fight tearing open fresh and red and new from the effort. None of that matters. Tear off his limbs if they slow him down. Rip him in two if it means he moves twice as fast. Either way — Gaius gives everything to reach Her in time.

His everything just isn’t enough.

The branch blooms from the center of Her chest in crimson and ivory. He doesn’t realize his mouth is open in a silent scream until he tastes Her on his tongue — flecks of blood warm tasting rich on the tip of his tongue. Fate mocks him cruelly by stabbing the center of his palm with the tip that impales Her — mocking him. So close, little Soldier. But not close enough.

The wave of power that surges out from the Eternal Tree is a deafening roar. It sweeps Xenocrates off his feet and sends him flying through the tomb. He collides with the farthest wall with a crunch, his body falling to the ground limp and unconscious. It tries to take Gaius, too. But he uses his wound; clings to the pain like an anchor in a maelstrom and refuses to let it take Her from him.

Then as suddenly as it started, the energy stops. Gone, no trace; as though it never happened at all.

But it did. Her glassy eyes, blood dripping from Her soft lips, the strength of the gods worth nothing where Her arms hang limp at Her sides is all proof enough of that.

Even with the pain ringing in his ears, Gaius can hear the word as it tears itself from his throat.

“RHEYA!”

#bloodbound #bloodbound fanfiction #choices fanfiction #kamilah x mc #gaius augustine #bloodbound mc #mc: nadya al jamil #xenocrates #rheya apostolous #fic: oblivion bound #oblv: bound by destiny ii #oblv: new chapter #; my fics

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genshin-impact-updates · 4 years ago

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"All That Glitters" Version 1.3 Update Details (Part 1)

Dear Travelers,

Below are the details of the Version 1.3 "All That Glitters" update and the update compensation.

〓Compensation〓

1. Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300

(60 Primogems for every hour the servers are down)

2. Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300

(Please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Eligibility〓

Maintenance Compensation: All Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2021/02/03 06:00:00(UTC+8)

Compensation must be claimed before the end of Version 1.3.

Bug Fix Compensation: All Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2021/02/03 06:00:00(UTC+8)

Please claim from in-game mail before 2021/02/06 11:00:00(UTC+8)

Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓

Update maintenance begins 2021/02/03 06:00:00(UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.

(Note: Precise timings are subject to change. Players may also experience disruption outside of this period.)

〓How to Update Game Client〓

PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen. (Alternatively, you may open Google Play and tap Update.)

PS4: Highlight Genshin Impact from the PS4 Home Screen and press the OPTIONS button > Check for Update.

Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue swiftly.

〓Update Details〓

(All times below based on server time)

I. New Character

5-Star Character "Vigilant Yaksha" Xiao (Anemo)

◇ Vision: Anemo

◇ Weapon: Polearm

◇ A yaksha adeptus who defends Liyue. Also heralded as the "Conqueror of Demons" and "Vigilant Yaksha."

Elemental Skill "Lemniscatic Wing Cycling": Xiao instantly lunges forward, dealing DMG to enemies in his path. This maneuver can also be executed in mid-air.

Elemental Burst "Bane of All Evil": Xiao dons the Yaksha's Mask, giving him enhanced abilities at the cost of draining his health: He deals increased DMG, attacks are converted to Anemo DMG, and his jumping ability is greatly increased.

During the event wish "Invitation to Mundane Life," from after the Version 1.3 update to 2021/02/17 15:59:59, the event-exclusive 5-star character "Vigilant Yaksha" Xiao (Anemo) and the 4-star characters "Kätzlein Cocktail" Diona (Cryo), "Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean" Beidou (Electro), and "Blazing Riff" Xinyan (Pyro) will have their Wish drop rates greatly increased!

II. Rate-Boosted Characters

5-Star Character "Driving Thunder" Keqing (Electro)

◇ Vision: Electro

◇ Weapon: Sword

◇ The Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing. Keqing has much to say about Rex Lapis' unilateral approach to policymaking in Liyue — but in truth, gods admire skeptics such as her quite a lot.

During the event wish "Dance of Lanterns," from 2021/02/17 18:00:00 – 2021/03/02 15:59:59, the 5-star character "Driving Thunder" Keqing (Electro) and the 4-star characters "Eclipsing Star" Ningguang (Geo), "Trial by Fire" Bennett (Pyro), and "Shining Idol" Barbara (Hydro) will have their Wish drop rates greatly increased!

More character event wishes to follow during Version 1.3.

III. New Equipment

◇ Primordial Jade Cutter (5-Star Sword)

◇ A ceremonial sword masterfully carved from pure jade. There almost seems to be an audible sigh in the wind as it is swung.

*During the event wish "Epitome Invocation," from after the Version 1.3 update to 2021/02/23 15:59:59, the event-exclusive 5-star sword Primordial Jade Cutter and the 5-star polearm Primordial Jade Winged-Spear will have their Wish drop rates greatly increased!

◇ Staff of Homa (5-Star Polearm)

◇ A "firewood staff" that was once used in ancient and long-lost rituals.

◇ Lithic Spear (4-Star Polearm)

◇ A spear forged from the rocks of the Guyun Stone Forest. Its hardness knows no equal.

◇ Lithic Blade (4-Star Claymore)

◇ A greatsword carved and chiseled from the very bedrock of Liyue.

*Staff of Homa (Polearm), Lithic Spear (Polearm), and Lithic Blade (Claymore) will appear in future event wishes.

IV. New Events

Take part in Version 1.3's flagship event, Lantern Rite, for the chance to obtain a free 4-star Liyue character of your choice!

◆ Gameplay Duration: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59

◆ Event Rules: No Original Resin needed to take part. During the event period, Travelers can claim a 4-star Liyue character of their choice in "Stand by Me." Complete challenges in "Theater Mechanicus" to obtain Peace Talismans, which can be spent in the Xiao Market on rewards including Crown of Insight and a new namecard style "Celebration: Lantern-Light."

〓Lantern Rite Questline〓

Duration:

The Origin of the Lanterns: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59

Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns: 2021/02/14 04:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59

Light Upon the Sea: 2021/02/18 04:00:00 – 2021/02/28 03:59:59

〓Lantern Rite Tales〓

Unlock Criteria:

Lantern Rite Tales I: Complete "The Origin of the Lanterns" to unlock.

Lantern Rite Tales II: Reach the Festive Fever stage "Guests Flock From Afar," complete the questline "Currents Deep Beneath the Lanterns," and complete all requests in "Lantern Rite Tales I" to unlock.

Lantern Rite Tales III: Reach the Festive Fever stage "Glow of a Thousand Lanterns," complete the questline "Light Upon the Sea," and complete all requests in "Lantern Rite Tales II" to unlock.

● Complete requests in "Lantern Rite Tales" to win Primogems and increase Festive Fever. Increase Festive Fever to progress through the Lantern Rite.

※ After the event gameplay ends on 2021/02/28 03:59:59, requests will no longer be available to complete.

〓Theater Mechanicus〓

Unlock Criteria:

Complete the quests "The Origin of the Lanterns" and "Liyue: Theater Mechanicus" to unlock

● Each attempt at Theater Mechanicus costs 1 Xiao Lantern (regardless of whether or not the challenge is successful). Xiao Lanterns can be crafted at a Crafting Bench, and the required crafting materials can be obtained by gathering plants and ore, or by defeating specified enemies.

● Progressing through the stages of Festive Fever unlocks new maps, new mechanici, higher upgrade levels, and increased difficulty levels.

● Progressing through the stages of Festive Fever unlocks new Theater Mechanicus challenges. Complete them to win Peace Talismans.

● Theater Mechanicus challenges can only be completed in Single-Player Mode or a two-player Co-Op session.

〓Xiao Market〓

Duration:

Stage I: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59

Stage II: 2021/02/14 04:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59

Stage III: 2021/02/18 04:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59

● Spend Peace Talismans at the Xiao Market to purchase items including Hero's Wit, Mystic Enhancement Ore, Character Level-Up Materials, Talent Level-Up Materials, the Crown of Insight, and the namecard style "Celebration: Lantern-Light."

〓Stand by Me〓

Duration: 2021/02/10 10:00:00 – 2021/03/07 03:59:59

● Reach the Festive Fever stage "Glow of a Thousand Lanterns" and spend 1,000 Peace Talismans in "Stand by Me" to receive one of the following 4-star characters: "Exquisite Delicacy" Xiangling (Pyro), "Blazing Riff" Xinyan (Pyro), "Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean" Beidou (Electro), "Eclipsing Star" Ningguang (Geo), "Juvenile Galant" Xingqiu (Hydro), or "Frozen Ardor" Chongyun (Cryo). You may claim only one character in this way.

Five Flushes of Fortune

◆ Event Duration: After the Version 1.3 update to 2021/02/10 03:59:59

(Please notice that this event will start from 2020/02/03 04:00:00 on Euro and America Server.)

◆ During the event, Travelers can claim a Kurious Kamera from Ji Tong. Equip the Kamera and take pictures of specific targets to obtain photos of different colors. Collect photos of five different colors and exchange them for a Fortune Trove to obtain Primogems, Hero's Wit, Mystic Enhancement Ore, and other rewards!

More events to follow during Version 1.3.

V. New Questlines

1. New story quests

After the Version 1.3 update, Xiao's story quest "Alatus Chapter" will be available.

◆ More story quests are on the way, so please stay tuned!

2. New world quests

◆ A total of 26 festive World Quests will become available over the course of the Lantern Rite event, accessible from "Lantern Rite Tales" on the Events menu.

◆ A further world quest "Bough Keeper: Dainsleif" will also be added.

VI. Other New Content

• Gameplay

1. New monsters: Geovishap, Primo Geovishap

2. New gadgets:

Parametric Transformer

Complete the world quest "Tianqiu Treasure Trail" from Lan in Liyue Harbor to obtain the Parametric Transformer. Enhancement Materials can be converted into Character EXP Materials, Character Level-Up Materials, and Weapon Ascension Materials by placing them in the Parametric Transformer to undergo transmutation.

3. New consumable: Dust of Azoth can convert the Elemental Type of Character Ascension Materials.

4. New achievement "Transmutation Nuclide"

5. New recipes:

Xinyue Kiosk's "Fullmoon Egg"

Wangshu Inn's "Vegetarian Abalone"

Liuli Pavilion's "Stone Harbor Delicacies"

• System

1. Archive addition: Living Beings

Records information on enemies defeated and living things caught or discovered. Travelers can consult the Living Beings section of the Archive to view how many times they have defeated different enemies and also review tutorials for certain enemies.

2. New conversion function on Crafting Bench:

Combining some Character Ascension Materials with Dust of Azoth at a Crafting Bench lets you convert their Elemental Type.

3. Travelers' profile pages now include Achievement progress and a Character Showcase.

4. Controller support added for devices running iOS 14 or above. Currently, the following controllers are supported: Xbox Wireless Controller (Bluetooth Version), Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, PlayStation DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, some other Bluetooth Wireless Controllers designed for iOS.

5. On the Weapon Enhancement screen, holding the selected material will add it rapidly.

6. A quick delete function has been added to the mailbox. Does not delete unread mail or mail with unclaimed attachments.

7. New photography method added for the PS4 version. Take a photo and save it to the PS4's local storage in one single action.

VII. Adjustments & Optimizations

• Characters

1. Adjustments to Zhongli:

1) Adjusts the effect of holding Zhongli's Elemental Skill "Dominus Lapidis":

◇ Original effect:

Causes nearby Geo energy to explode, causing the following effects:

·Creates a shield of jade. The shield's DMG Absorption scales based on Zhongli's Max HP, and absorbs Geo DMG 250% more effectively.

·Deals AoE Geo DMG.

·If there are nearby targets with the Geo element, it will drain a large amount of Geo element from a maximum of 2 such targets. This effect does not cause DMG.

◆ Post-adjustment effect:

Causes nearby Geo energy to explode, causing the following effects:

·If their maximum number hasn't been reached, creates a Stone Stele.

·Creates a shield of jade. The shield's DMG Absorption scales based on Zhongli's Max HP. Possesses 150% DMG Absorption against all Elemental and Physical DMG.

·Characters protected by the Jade Shield will decrease the Elemental RES and Physical RES of opponents in a small AoE by 20%. This effect cannot be stacked.

·Deals AoE Geo DMG.

·If there are nearby targets with the Geo element, it will drain a large amount of Geo element from a maximum of 2 such targets. This effect does not cause DMG.

2) Adjusts the effect of Zhongli's second Ascension Talent "Dominance of Earth":

◇ Original effect:

Planet Befall deals additional DMG equal to 33% of Zhongli's Max HP.

◆ Post-adjustment effect:

Zhongli deals bonus DMG based on his Max HP:

·Normal Attack, Charged Attack, and Plunging Attack DMG is increased by 1.39% of Max HP.

·Dominus Lapidis' Stone Stele, resonance, and hold DMG is increased by 1.9% of Max HP.

·Planet Befall's DMG is increased by 33% of Max HP.

2. Optimizes Mona's Talent "Illusory Torrent": When Mona is hit, she can use Illusory Torrent more quickly, as is the case with sprinting for other characters.

3. Adds a new idle animation for Kaeya.

4. Optimizes Zhongli's animation under "Weapons" on the Character Screen.

5. Resolves issues with Aiming Mode for Bow-wielding characters when obstacles are present nearby, such as character shaking and off-center shots.

6. Optimizes precision when firing shots at moving targets.

7. Resolves issues of shaky clothing/movements when some characters perform actions such as walking, attacking, skill casting, and sitting.

• Monsters

1. Adjusts combat logic for Dendro Slimes: When a Dendro Slime is hiding relatively far from your location, you will not enter combat mode.

• System

1. Spiral Abyss

Updates the monster lineup on Floor 12 of the Spiral Abyss.

The Ley Line Disorders on Floor 12 are adjusted to:

• For this floor only, the ley line flow will be normal

• No Ley Line Disorder

Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 1.3, the three Lunar Phases will be as follows:

Phase I: When active character's HP is less than 70%, ATK is increased by 20% and ATK SPD is increased by 15%.

When active character's HP is less than 35% and they are under the protection of a shield, CRIT Rate is increased by 20% and CRIT DMG is increased by 40%.

Phase II: A Charge will accumulate every 10s, with a maximum of three existing at any one time. If the active character's HP is less than 50%, they will consume a Charge when they hit an opponent to create an unstable energy orb at the opponent's position. This orb will explode after 1s, and only one of them can be created every 2s.

Phase III:

When the active character's HP is less than 50%, they gain a 2% DMG Bonus for 10s after hitting an opponent. This effect can stack up to 10 times, and each character in the party will have their own independent stacks and durations. Each time the stack count or duration of this effect resets, there is a 50% chance to release an Energy Blast. An Energy Blast can be triggered once every 10s.

2. Deleted chats will not appear in the chat list.

3. Optimizes display order of chat column: After entering team setup in Co-Op Mode, the chat column will automatically switch to the team column.

4. Optimizes the display hierarchy when there are multiple overlapping icons on the Map.

5. Optimizes UI transparency on mobile devices upon entering Aiming Mode in the Spiral Abyss.

6. Optimizes the Kamera gadget for the PS4 version: When equipped, using the Kamera directly stores a screenshot with the UI hidden to the local storage.

7. From Version 1.3 onward, extra Fragile Resin rewards will be included in the BP system:

Starting from BP Level 5, Sojourner's Battle Pass and Gnostic Hymn provide Fragile Resin ×1 every 10 BP Levels. The original rewards of Mystic Enhancement Ore provided at these BP Levels will be added to the rewards at other BP Levels instead, and the total quantity of Mystic Enhancement Ore that can be obtained from the BP system will not change.

8. Removes the Delete button from the Portable Waypoint interface of the open world map.

9. Optimizes the size of the Wind Glider on the Dressing Room screen for certain characters.

10. When using a controller, improves the refresh rate when switching between tabs in the Paimon's Bargains section of the Shop.

11. Optimizes the experience of moving the crosshair in Aiming Mode when the frame rate is low.

• Audio

1. Voice-Over Optimization:

a. Adds a reverb effect to internal monologue voice-over in quests.

b. Character combat voice-over can interrupt idle voice-over.

2. The Chinese voice artist for Amber will be changed, and this adjustment will take effect in Version 1.4.

3. Adds Chinese voice-over for some characters.

4. Adds Japanese voice-over for some characters.

5. Adjusts the audio effects for some voice-over on mobile and PC versions.

• Other

1. Adjustment to the Geo Elemental Resonance "Enduring Rock":

◇ Original effect:

Increases resistance to interruption. When protected by a shield, increases Attack DMG by 15%.

◆ Post-adjustment effect:

Increases shield strength by 15%. Additionally, characters protected by a shield will have the following special characteristics: DMG dealt increased by 15%, dealing DMG to enemies will decrease their Geo RES by 20% for 15s.

2. Geo Shield balance adjustments:

Geo Shields are adjusted from having "250% Geo DMG Absorption" to having "150% Physical DMG and Elemental DMG Absorption."

This adjustment affects the following:

• The Geo Shield produced by Zhongli's Elemental Skill

• The Geo Shield produced by Noelle's Elemental Skill

• The Geo Shield produced upon picking up a Geo Crystal dropped by a Geovishap Hatchling

3. Amends the tab for the standard wish "Wanderlust Invocation." *Only the tab has been changed. The Wish contents and rules remain unchanged.

4. Optimizes item source descriptions for Mist Grass Pollen, Mist Grass, and Mist Grass Wick.

5. Adjusts descriptions for the materials Fragile Bone Shard, Sturdy Bone Shard, and Fossilized Bone Shard and adds their sources.

6. Adds a description for the rules of Elemental Orb drops in the "Test Run" event (the actual mechanics in-game are not affected by this change).

*Note: In order to allow Travelers for a quicker use of Elemental Bursts and more efficient testing experience, the opponents on trial stages drop additional Elemental Orbs. However, due to our negligence, this effect was not individually listed in the event details, leading some Travelers to misevaluate characters based on their trial stage performance. We sincerely apologize for any confusion this might have caused. After this update, the event details will be supplemented with the relevant rules. We will continue to optimize the trial stage experience in the upcoming versions.

7. Adjusts the Stellar Reunion event as follows:

a. Adjusts the order of rewards in Passage of Time (total obtainable rewards remains unchanged).

b. Reduces the number of points required in Homeward Path to be eligible to claim the sword "Prototype Rancour." Points requirement reduced from 700 to 500.

Scope of Impact: Travelers who activate the Stellar Reunion event after updating to Version 1.3.

#genshin impact #genshin impact updates #genshin impact 1.3 #official #whew #that was rough to do on mobile #part 2 coming when i get home #so i can use my laptop

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ascendantevolution · 8 months ago

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Spiritual Transformation —> Transmutation: The Purpose of Pain

I do a tarot and oracle card reading every morning as a way to connect with Spirit. My card reading this morning was in response to the question, “What do I have left to heal in myself?”

One of the cards that popped up this morning was a Pluto card, which points to 1) darkness being an essential part of balance in the cosmos, and 2) there were things that I needed to resolve in myself that I was not seeing. I was prompted by my Guides to pull tarot for this card to get some clarification and assistance.

Before I could begin pulling tarot cards, Spirit and my Guides began to speak to me: I have wounds, which I thought were healed, still causing me pain. I was shown shadowy fragments lodged in my chakras and light body, fragments of control, fragments of judgment, fragments that have silenced me my whole life. It doesn't matter who the fragments were from. What does matter is that they have been lodged in me since childhood, leaving me feeling disempowered on a very deep level. Of this, I was unaware. Forever will I continue to be humbled.

Eating my words, my feelings, my needs my whole life ultimately led me down a path to self-destruction. I often call this my Great Annihilation. It was my Phoenix moment. The ultimate Tower moment. A complete shattering of the self. The Dark Night of the Soul.

It has been seven years since my rebirthing process began. It has been a period of serious transformation. But, even as I write the word transformation, it no longer accurately describes my process. I had to be re-membered, as in putting the members of myself back together piece-by-piece. However, before that re-membering could happen, I had to stand in a metaphorical fire and let it burn away all of the parts of me that had become necrotic. Let me be clear: The pain I felt in that fire was nothing compared to the pain caused by the necrotic parts that leached self-hate into my system for years. I absolutely loathed who I was.

So, my rebirth was not a transformation as much as a transmutation. I am no longer THAT person - who I was - anymore. Just as our physiology regenerates every so many years at the cellular level, I have regenerated. I am truly a new version of me.

These past years have been a slow building upon the newly forged, re-membered, transmuted me. In that process, my spiritual world, which I had rejected for decades - out of fear of being rejected, called “crazy,” and because some otherworldly beings can be flatout terrifying to deal with - opened up. Spirit is with me everyday now. The Angels work with me everyday. My Guides talk to me all day, every day.

As a result of my card reading this morning, my Spirit Team led me through an amazing energetic healing process. When it was all said and done, before I came out of that space where my energetic healing happened, before I opened my eyes, I was shown in the clearest of terms the purpose of it all.

Why the wounds? Why the pain?

Our open wounds compel us to move somewhere. The pain makes us move. We have free will, though, which means that we get to choose how we want to proceed. Will we face the pain and grow as a result of processing it? Will the intensity of the pain paralyze us at the mouth of our path? Will we take two shots of whiskey and amble down the path with our earbuds blaring gangsta rap so that we are distracted and don’t have to deal with it? (Not advised - I tried this, and it is always THE most losing proposition).

There is no escaping the pain because there is no escaping Earth School. We are here to grow and learn. Period.

Here’s the deal: If we listen to the pain, it becomes one of our greatest guides and teachers. Our open wounds lead us where we need to go. The journey through the pain requires incredible courage because we have to experience it fully as we move through memories and traumas, through all shapes and sizes of the wounds that have been the result. However, experiencing the pain endlessly, sometimes driven by feelings of shame and guilt, or because we have been taught to be comfortable with these feelings, perhaps even deserving of them, becomes a neverending feedback loop of misery. Self-flagellation forever is not the goal. Integration and gratitude for the learning is the goal.

Remaining in the mire prevents our wounds from closing. I have been shown that, once we land firmly in the learning, after we have fully embraced the suppressed or avoided emotions that needed healing, we must consciously choose to extract ourselves from the mire. We need to let the wounds dry out so that they can scab over and finally heal.

When the pain no longer serves, unconditional love, compassion, forgiveness, and grace become our balm. Free will, Baby - we get to choose that for ourselves. Pull out the poison. Cauterize the wound. Call in the Angels to seal it with Light and Love.

Then stand back and look at the scar with love and admiration. Tell yourself, with loving pride, “I DID that. I survived that shit!” That scar is a beautiful reminder of

the sacred journey

. Let it become a source of empowerment and wisdom to guide your future days as well as to benefit others.

Originally written in the Spring of 2021.

#shadow work #transmutation #Dark Night of the Soul #shamanic journey

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witchingrey · 5 years ago

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❛ There are no happy endings, because nothing ends. ❜ (OK IM DONE THIS IS JUST HOW THESE TWO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER AND I HAVE FEELINGS)

THE LAST UNICORN / a.

She idly laces their fingers together; marveling at how large they seem to be. Were they always this large? This naturally fine-laced threading of skin like a born aristocrat’s.

If one can surpass these parameters, then he has the ability to become ‘King’….. and he had. He’d never really ‘wanted’ this, she knows this. This ugly mask to wear of hatred; but he’s borne it, and he’s matured.

When she looks at him they are now match for match, no longer the distant observer, but two shared souls that did not require any names as simple as ‘love’ nor ‘hate’.

He would take that with him into the next world..wouldn’t he? The one she can’t follow, not this time.Oh but he’ll be hopeless without her there, won’t he?

She almost smiles at that.

“…is that your way of telling me I won’t be lonely? Or that I should be lonely without you? Arrogant, silly man. “ No longer coating her velvet words with ‘boy’, just a lulled whisper. They are in the quiet of the night. There are approximately scarce months behind them and the dawning of the World’s Requiem before them.

“What makes you think I’m going to miss a brat like you? “ C.C. teases; though there’s a somberness in her tone, her eyes dulling just a bit. How now they brighten; the familiar twin suns that have long guarded his nights and days.

Kept his secrets close, his sins halved because she was there. Because she promised. Yes, he may be breaking his promise in a sense…. but the emotions and life of the girl with echoes of sound for a name has sleepily opened her eyes within the crevasse of her heart and called out: hello, is anyone there, I’m here!

“It’ll be a bit lonely…without you. I had a lot of fun, didn’t you? You’re more selfish than I am, breaking your promise to me. “ A protest settles on his lips; but dies with him, and likely will with what is to come.

She knew this..but did not turn away…..when did such unselfishness spring? Quietly, she rubs his knuckles in a soothing gesture, not realizing it’s for both of them. They all are sacrificing themselves in a way. She, Lelouch, Suzaku.

They will all in a sense ‘disappear’ together.

The old Witch of before will ‘die’ with him, and like Spring, something new will blossom and burgeon into a single radiant flower. Fitting, for how she first saw him surrounded by them; willful boy, facing the cliffs with heat on his cheeks and fire in his eyes.

That’s how she’d like to remember him. Smiling. It’s with a firmness that they both need, though she’d deny it, that his accomplice continues running circles around his hand; flipping it over idly. There’s nothing but an innate tenderness there, a quiet, comforting thing she’s done and he has done . This is the end, in many ways….isn’t it. Was she so silly to think they would go on forever?

“No, I don’t want your sorry, Lelouch. Everyone has always apologized or been sorrowful when they looked at me, unable to grant my wish…they were filled with regret. We can’t avoid our regrets..but you came to me because you haven’t fully resolved with me, have you? Selfishly seeking my comfort you really are too much, and not in the slightest good way. Ungrateful thing. “

“Such a joke.”

But the cold mask will not return, the beautiful structure of the Witch’s features on sunless nights and lifeless days will not return. It will resurface on their final, true goodbye…but is it really a goodbye? So instead he smiles back her; lets her see what their bond has made of him, and in the silence, her lips do turn.

“ I’ll miss you. But I think I want to start trying this…’living’. I want to…stop accumulating experience. Perhaps I’ll travel the world I’ve trod so many times, find something new? Go back to where it all began and say farewell once again.”

To the Witch who had stood beside him long before he ever rose to the top of the world….to the woman who had forged a bond through fire and sins, finding that he was willingly taking hers with him into the grave? All she could do was firmly squeeze his hand, shoulder against his.

Just as there is no end to her life, there is no end to the memories they have shared, the life they have lived these short but fulfilling years. With an oddly kind boy turned man, who smiles and mouths her name in the stillness of the dark, not her false name…not C.C.

But that one: _______ .

C.C. closes her eyes; surprised that there is a pricking to them that soon fades. Is this humanity in its rawness, its painful newness of being? Is this what she has buried like a graveyard inside her? When had she become aware?The smiling violet eyes on hers match her own, bittersweet, but inherently, achingly fond.

They did this together, didn’t they? From beginning to beginning..end to end.

“Lelouch, one day I’m sure I’ll meet a selfish boy like you again…but until then I’m going to go on living, in that long flow of time. And I’ll remember. So…until even time disappears - ” She leans in, still fondly holding his hand as she whispers something into his ear….

[’ Wait for me, in C’s World..‘]

Goodbye. Thank you. I’ll miss you. Goodnight. Sleep tight.

#obligeas #bye #.* ◇ ─ : ‘but even so; the path will go on forever. ‘╱ ❪ ic. ❫#.* ◇ ─ : to question is to seek another; to seek is to be human. ╱ ❪ query. ❫#r2 to be tagged / post r2 verse tbt.#going with this route.#oof #goD NOTHING I'M WRITING I'M SATISFIED WITH.#THE VIRUS IS IN MY BRAIN APPARENTLY.

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tsuraiwrites · 6 years ago

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If you want to practice here you are: 18, 22 34 or 38 with Regis/Geralt would be awesome ! :p (Couldn't choose just one...)

I love me some mutual pining, so 22 is my jam. I feel this would fit better in the hansa era, but I’m only partway through Baptism of Fire so post-game it is.

Again, a prompt that wasn’t supposed to be this long but things happen.

for this ask meme

Fic: Biting Your Tongue

“I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.”

Regis freezes entirely, hand hovering halfway above a bag of allspice. He’d felt Geralt’s approach, yes, but thinking back that should have been the first sign: the witcher knows better than to bother him when he’s brewing. So he’d let the man get close, curious as to his reasoning, and was met with this.

When his mind finally parses the words, Regis’ first move is to douse the fire under alembic. “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean,” he says, well aware how short his voice falls from the disinterested tone he’d been reaching for. It’s far too late, anyway. Geralt can hear his heart pick up as surely as Regis can do the same. The witcher moves close enough that Regis can feel his breath hitting the back of his neck and has to fight a shiver. He braces himself against the table, silently cursing when he notices his control’s slipped far enough that his claws dig into the hardwood.

“Regis…” Geralt starts, then hesitates. A hand lands gently on his shoulder and Regis doesn’t fight it when he’s turned around. He doesn’t quite know what expression he makes, but some of his burgeoning panic must show on his face because Geralt brings both hands to his shoulders, squeezing bracingly as he gazes straight into Regis’ eyes.

“I…know I’m bad at words,” he pauses, rallying when Regis says nothing, “so I told myself to wait until you came to me. But you haven’t.”

The words aren’t an accusation, but the stab he experiences in his chest makes them feel like one.

“Geralt,” he rasps, “I couldn’t- I would never-”

“Never what? Tell me how you feel about me? Ruin our friendship, because the bonds we’ve forged are that fragile?”

Regis tears his gaze away, not wanting to admit to himself that, yes, that was part of his reasoning. “No, I just think… a vampire and a human, we’re not that compatible, regardless of my personal feelings.” He is sorely tempted to simply leave – with a thought he can be a puff of mist and out the window in mere seconds – but perhaps something in him has been waiting for this too. Waiting for Geralt to start this conversation, even if Regis thought himself rather adept at keeping his longing under wraps. He grabs nervously at the strap of his satchel, only to remember he left it on the worktable. However, the aborted tic is enough to have Geralt release him, though he doesn’t step away.

“We’re not Syanna and Dettlaff. And I’m not human,” the man retorts, tone flat. “That’s not the problem and we both know it. Don’t lie to me, please.”

“Your Yennefer-”

“Hasn’t been an issue for a long time, as you well know.”

Regis bites down the words on his tongue, yet another deflection to try to ward the witcher away.

His thoughts are a jumble – the fear he has, of a confession destroying what they have and being forced never to see his friend again. Of a confession being accepted, only to find their friendship doesn’t translate well to romance and sharing a bed. Of them building a loving relationship only for death to take the witcher away far too early, destroying Regis’ heart in a manner he is terrified he will never recover from. Myriad fears crowd into his mind, jockeying for position as the worst-case scenario.

When the silence goes on for too long, Geralt sighs. “Hey, look at me.” And his voice is so gentle, coaxing in a manner he hasn’t heard in a long time. He meets the man’s golden eyes and softens, just a bit, at the warmth in them even when Geralt’s mouth is set in a neutral line.

“Be honest, just for a minute, and tell me what you want from me. Because I want to give them to you.”

He sounds so confident, and that surety is enough to make the last of the vampire’s resolve crumble.

“You,” he murmurs, words dragging out with a longing he can no longer contain. “Just, all of you.”

Regis is blessed to watch his words hit home, to see up close the way Geralt’s eyes spark in response and the shift of his body as he reaches up to put a hand behind Regis’ neck and lean their foreheads together. Without forethought Regis settles his hands around Geralt’s waist, the fabric of his white shirt surprising soft to the touch.

Then Geralt is kissing him, firm but not quite edging on demand. Regis gives as good as he gets and more, pulling the man into him with a strength that has the witcher gasping in surprise then closing his eyes as he leans his weight into him. Regis takes it without hesitation, mind gone silent of everything but a small, nearly inaudible voice in the back of his head. It sounds quite a bit like Dettlaff as it breathes, “Finally.”

#fic #ask meme #the witcher #geralt/regis #prompt meme #arkhaniel

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xtolovers · 5 years ago

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Wild Ember

Wild Ember Companion fic to The Anvil Pairing: Aloy x Erend Rating: M ( albeit in later chapters) Warnings: Graphic Mentions of Violence

Chapter 2: Ochrebloom Root

“If I might ask, what does this… device show you, Aloy?” It is Karan, not Erend who slips next to her. Careful, she studies his face, but can find nothing but friendly curiosity, and she relaxes. “It shows… well, everything, almost,” her brows furrow as she tries to find the right words. “It’s… like everything around me is covered in a net of light, and only the important things get caught in it so I can focus on them. People, animals, and most importantly, machines. But it doesn’t just show me where they are, it tells me what they are, shows me their weak points, the paths they will likely take…” “That sounds… “, Karan trails off, apparently unsure of what to say. “Unbelievable?”, she challenges with a laugh. He chimes in with a pleasant low chuckle, and grimaces apologetically before his curiosity returns. “Does it do that with humans too?” “Show me their weaknesses? No. Maybe because they’re either very obvious or not as palpable. Either we have them all, or each one of us has them individually. We’re not as easy to categorize as machines, I suppose.” “Oh, I have to disagree with that. We categorize ourselves frequently, firmly and with favor, and I would admit our collective weaknesses are very evident.” At her puzzled look, he continues: “ Well, the Carja’s weakness is their stiff adherence to protocol and their vanity. For the Nora… I suppose their rigid beliefs and maybe… their fear, though I can only judge that by rumors and reports of others. You seem to contradict that, as have the Nora I have met, but I suppose given the fact that I could meet them makes all of you outliers of the general rule.” He gives her a careful look, making sure that he hasn’t offended her, and Aloy gives him a grin. He isn’t wrong. Satisfied, he too, grins. “ And well, for us Oseram, it’s clearly a hearty drink- and being too strong and handsome for our own good.”

At this, she has to laugh. He hasn’t struck her as very Oseram until now, with his more mild manners and thought out answers, but now she can see that it is experience, not lack of temperament that subdues the Oseram nature in him. “Or their famous humility, and how stealthy and fast their armor makes them.” With a laugh, she raises her hands in surrender. “Alright Karan, I’ll give it to you. But that only proves my point: I don’t need my focus to point out our weaknesses.” “I suppose not. But how did you find Ersa then? Erend tells me you… read the land and it showed you what happened.” “That’s not exactly what happened. The focus shows me a lot of things- I have had it for some years now, and I still feel like I have only uncovered a tiny bit of what it can do. There are a lot of things I still do not understand. But it does show me trails of blood to follow, path someone has recently taken, things that have been disturbed. It helps me identify things. But it does not tell me what has happened. It shows me… clues, and I can only try to put them together. What happened to Ersa was a guess— one that was luckily right.” “Then we are even more indebted to you than I thought.” The words make her stiffen a little. “You are not indebted to me, none of you. Erend helped me, and now I help him— and because it is the right thing to do.” Karan is silent as he thinks about her words, then he nods, more to himself than to her. “I see what you mean, but I think you might underestimate another Oseram weakness: stubborn honor.” Aloy snorts. “We’re chasing a pretty dishonorable Oseram right now.” “As I said: outliers.” Karan shrugs good-naturedly. She wants to ask if he is an outlier too, but ahead of them, the path winds down towards a river-bend in a small valley, and their conversation stops as they make their way down. The Vanguard spreads out and pull their packs down as Erend stomps over to her, a scowl on his face. “Do you mind clearing the perimeter?” She frowns at the frustration in his voice. He knows she can easily check their surroundings from here, but she trusts he has a reason. With a shrug, she jogs away, following the edge of the valley for a little bit before she crosses back and over the small river. There she stops and gathers the cool water in her hands to wash her face. It’s a new, fresh relief she hadn’t experienced before she had left Daytower three weeks earlier. Sure, the summers were warm in the embrace, but nothing compared to the soldering heat of the desert. With a huff she brushes the thick tangle of her hair from her neck, slick with sweat, and sighs with relief as she dampens it with fresh water. A quick swim would be a relief, but Aloy knows better than to wet her new leather armor with hours left on the road before she can take it off. Instead, she dips her hands back in, letting them drift in the slow current. When she returns to camp, all of the Vanguard are sitting down, silently bowed over their food. Karan hands her a package of burlap. He gives her a small smile, but turns around and sits down next to Oren. Inside the satchel she finds a small loaf of dark bread, a piece of hard cheese and small links of dried, spicy boar sausages, some dried fruit. Nothing fresh that needs to be hunted or gathered. No time wasted away from the forge or a fight. They eat in heavy silence, the soft rush and the occasional roar of a few faraway Tramplers the only sounds to be heard. She glances over to Erend, but he’s staring at his food, shoulders tense. He’s probably calculating the progress they have made this far, and how long it might take them to get there if they kept their pace. Calculating how the northern weather might stop them probably, just like she is. Worse, probably. Aloy can still hear his voice break over the word face. It had turned out it hadn’t been Ersa, but until they find her alive, he’s likely still imagining her that way. It’s unreasonable self-torture and doesn’t help them, and so she’s sure Erend is doing it. If it were just the two of them, she would make an effort to distract him, but there are five men sitting around them, that haven’t — save for one— made any effort to talk to her. She mulls it over as she slowly chews her food, until an unbidden thought that had been chewing on her the whole day breaks through and settles in her stomach like a stone. Maybe he’s not thinking about Ersa, maybe he’s just avoiding me because he’s embarrassed to talk to me in front of his men. She’d heard the names they call her in Meridian now, the Vanguard most of all, now that she’s deciphered Ersa’s disappearance. The Nora Outcast. The strange Redhead. Machine Huntress. The All-Seeing. Who knows what else they thought of her. Her gut tells her that is not what’s happening, but the years of exclusion and banishment have sunken too deep in her bones. The helpless anger is gnawing at her, trying to wind its way back into her head. She knows that’s likely not what is happening, and she knows that even if it is, it doesn’t change anything. Erend has helped her. Ersa might be alive. And if she can save her, she will. But she can’t drown out the voice inside her that wonders if it will be like this wherever she goes. It’s a quiet hour that they spend resting beside the river. Aloy lies back on the ground and closes her eyes, trying to forget about the heat, the silence, the thoughts. Partly she succeeds, and by the time they gather their things, she has resolved to look for mounts to speed their travels. She wants to think it’s because she’s the bigger person, but there’s a small voice inside her head that can’t help but think that if they’ll shun her for it, at least she’ll be rid of them faster. Without a word she pushes back to the front of the procession, happy to pretend there is only herself and the trail before her. The sun arcs across the sky as the miles disappear beneath her feet. Her whole body clings with sweat. Behind her, the men chat in low voices. After a while they cross a small herd of Tramplers. Aloy watches them through her focus, but they do not seem to be moving out of the way. With the river to their left and the rise of a mesa to their right, and not much cover between them, she decides the easiest will be to just take them down. She warns the Vanguard, and Erend signals them to form up to the right of her. The herd is evenly split, so Aloy stalks to the right, and draws out two Chillwater Arrows. Four seconds later, the two Tramplers on the left are roaring and covered in frost as she lets lose two more Chillwater Arrows toward the two machines on the right, while the Vanguard starts to rush in. Aloy rushes forward, and switches to Hardpoint Arrows. Two quick strikes and the processing unit of one Trampler explodes. She runs past it and dodges the fire blast of the other one, nocking two arrows at once. There’s a boulder two her left, and in three quick steps she’s on top of it, launching herself into the air, sending the arrows straight down into the other Trampler’s power cell. She lands and rolls away, barely dodging the now burning Trampler that is coming for her with its last steps. The machine staggers and tries to turn around, before it sinks down in a shower of sparks and flame. The second one follows seconds later, as she sinks her spear into the cords and wires of its neck. She stands back up and looks over, spear gripped tight, adrenaline drumming in her ears. Erend is standing next to a dead Trampler, a look both incredulous and amused on his face as he keeps looking between her, and Andrik and Enoch, who are both standing next to her and staring at her. Behind them, the other three are just taking down the last Trampler. Uncomfortable with the attention, Aloy turns around and starts to loot the machines. Behind her, she can hear the loud Oseram elation of a won fight, their dissection of the fight and who played what part, and surprisingly, easy praise for her skill. Irritation buzzes in Aloy’s head, and she pushes all the guesses and thoughts aside, telling herself that it doesn’t matter what they think or if they approve. She’s got better things to do than worry herself with what’s going on in an Oseram’s head. Back on the road she is looking out for possible mounts, but luck is not on their side. A herd of Grazers is all they cross, worthless for her purpose. So they put one foot in front of the other, and continue their slow procession north. It is late afternoon when they decide to make camp at a river bend next to a cliff, a position easily defensible, with fresh water, cover and, as her Focus tells her, no machines but two geese nearby. The purple lines vanish around her as she taps her Focus, and there are heavy footfalls behind her. “So what is it this time? Machines to take down, or killers to track?” It’s the first time he sounds like himself today as he refers to their discussion back at Red Ridge Pass, and she can’t help but smile. “No machines except a few Glinthawks south of here, but they don’t worry me,” she points in the direction, and Erend stares at the mountain, confused, before shooting a glance to her focus. “ There are some geese downstream however.” Before they can escape she hops over the river and sinks into the tall grass. It’s an easy hunt: a quick stalk through the underbrush, two quick arrows and their dinner is settled. Only when she gathers the birds does she realize that she just left Erend standing there. She feels a little guilty, but there’s no way to change it now, so she starts gathering Ridgewood on her way back to the men, to replace the arrows she has used earlier. Aloy can hear them way before she can see them. It makes her a little uneasy how loud they’re being, but they have shown her that they are capable enough to hold their own. They’re just so different. But that doesn’t mean she can’t adapt— for now at least, until they’re actually close to Dervahl and his men. Then, she hopes, they’ll forget their Oseram blood for a little while. Enoch and Oren look up as she steps out of the grasses and crosses the river. The others are raising tents, and Aloy sees they have made good progress on their makeshift camp while she was gone. No one acknowledges her, but they don’t avoid her eyes as they did earlier anyways. Without any further comment, she sinks down to the ground and gathers the birds in her lap, gripping a fistful of feathers. As she pulls them out, a large shadow slips infront of the low sun as Oren approaches her and stretches his hand out towards the geese. “Let me handle those. You did the catchin’, I do the cookin’.” His voice is deep and booming, slow, but deliberate. Aloy studies his face, but can see no hostility or afterthought in it. She mulls it over, but her gut stays silent, so she gives him the birds and a smile. “Never been much of a cook myself, anyway.” “But an excellent huntress, I can see. Straight through the head.” “Can’t afford to waste the meat when you’re the only one feeding yourself,” she adds, wincing a little at how… savage that must sound, but Oren doesn’t bat an eye. “And good training for aiming at anything with even bigger heads,” he retorts. She laughs. “That, too.” Oren steps away and reveals Erend, who is across the camp, building her tent there. A strange feeling settles in her stomach, equal parts warm and reluctant, and she gets up and walks over to him. “You didn’t have to do that.” She isn’t exactly polite, but Aloy is not used to people doing things for her, and it makes her uncomfortable. She knows that it is a normal part of life, of company to do these things for each other, but it’s just so weird to her. Once Rost had shown her how to build her own tent, she had had to do it herself. Because in the end, he might not always be there to do it for her, so she needed to be able to rely on herself. He was right, in the end. “Eh, had nothing better to do, and you were already making yourself useful, so I thought I should do the same,” Erend grins sheepishly. She’s noticed that tendency in him, to put himself down, and it irritates her just a little bit. Aloy never had time or leisure to doubt herself, because doubting could easily mean dying out in the wilds. Erend had all the leisure in the world to doubt himself. He was showing her a kindness, but all she could see was how different they were. She did her best not to judge that too harshly. With a soft smile and touch to his shoulder— a silent thank you— that is easier to give than to accept his help out loud, she gathers the straps out of his hands and finishes what he’s begun.

From then on, it’s easier. As they sit around the fire and eat the geese that Oren has cooked way more expertly then she would’ve ever managed, the men chat with enthusiasm. After the first occasional lull, Erend starts telling stories of the Vanguard, each one more silly or outrageous than the other. Aloy has to think back to the day she met him, easily dissolving the Nora’s misgivings and capturing their attention and trust. He makes her laugh, makes them comfortable, and soon they all have tears in their eyes as he relates a story about Andrik’s misguided attempts to seduce what Aloy can only assume was probably Talanah. She isn’t directly part of the conversation, but not excluded from it either. Whenever there’s a story that she can’t quite follow, one of them throws in a short explanation for her benefit. The sun vanishes behind the cliffs, the sky above them drifting from blue to orange, and Karan declares that he will take the last watch. Aloy offers to take the first watch, sure that the men who are used to walking the streets of Meridian and not miles and miles of desert would be glad to get the sleep. She’s used to it, and she’s sure that the men will gladly accept her offer. Given her “second sight” as they call it, she can easily cover a shift alone. But they surprise her, insisting that she and Erend take first watch together. Aloy can see him blushing and sending sour looks towards his men. She assumes they want to keep him company so he won’t think too much about Ersa, but staying up with either of the men would only result in drinking. She’s the logical choice. Erend, however, doesn’t look happy. He probably resents seeming weak in front of his men. They banter as they gather their things, and Aloy grabs the Ridgewood she has gathered. She bows over the task, thinking of tomorrow and mapping the parts of the way that she knows in her head, trying to think of the closest spot to get a mount. Silence settles over them as the evening slowly swallows all daily noise. Aloy figures she should ask him about the mount situation, but as she looks up, Erend his staring into the flames, stoking the fire and lost in thought. She wonders what he’s thinking about. Ersa, probably. Drinking. Or maybe his new situation. Maybe something else entirely. Since she came to Meridian she’d seen his moods shift swifter than the winds out on the planes. Raging, shouting, when he thought his sister was dead. Now, where she’d expect him to be foolishly hopeful, he is silent and brooding. Two weeks ago she thought that he was rather… straightforward in his thinking, but now, Aloy’s not so sure. “How are you doing?” He looks up at her just a second before the words leave her lips, and she can see she’s taken him by surprise by breaking the silence. Erend takes a second to respond, looking away from her and back to the fire. “Haven’t had a drink in nearly a week, so could be better. It helps that I don’t have to mourn Ersa now, but the worry isn’t exactly better.” Aloy is glad he isn’t drinking anymore, but it hasn’t escaped her notice that he has barely touched his food. Sure, he was busy telling stories and making them laugh, but she knows there is more to it. While she can’t blame him for it, she needs him strong and capable. She doesn’t have a way with words like he does, but she’s good at surviving. If that’s all she can offer, she’ll do that. “You didn’t eat a lot.” Erend brushes it off with his easy smirk that she doesn’t entirely buy. “Eh, I’ll eat better once we have her back, and once I can have an ale with it. Before that, my stomach is denying me its work.” “Are you in pain?” “Nah, just… queasy. Happens to the best of us, right?”, he pauses briefly, then his lip twitches slightly. “ It does happen to you, right?” Aloy can’t help but roll her eyes. Always evading, always playing it cool. Well, she can help with that, too. As she rises to her feet she orders him to boil some water. With a tap of her finger, her focus flickers to life and she turns and walks out into the darkness, looking for the familiar ligneous stalks surrounded by dozens of red blossoms. It doesn’t take her long, and she starts to dig, pocketing the blossoms and stalks before she rips off the roots. She jogs to the river beside them and rinses the dirt off it and returns to the camp where Erend has complied to her request and his expecantly looking out into the darkness, waiting for her. “Ochrebloom root. The tea will help your stomach,” Aloy explains at his quizzical look. She slips the knife from her boot and slices the root into pieces and throws them into two cups before she pours the hot water in them, Erend silent next to her. He murmurs a quiet Thank you that sounds too gentle for the Erend that she knows, and with a nod they sink back into silence. The thick, slightly bitter and spicy steam that rises from the cup envelops her, the scent both comforting and upsetting. It’s a smell that reminds her of Rost, of grief and strangely, the passage of time. Rost had prepared this brew for her a couple of times when she was a child, but she hadn’t known what it was back then. He’d only explained to her when she had started to get her monthly blood, and the accompanying cramps, to boil the roots of Ochrebloom stems to help alleviate the pain. Naturally, the whole thing had sparked questions from her, and he had sat her down to explain that she was growing up. Becoming a woman. And, consequentially, what all that was for. Told her that she could become a mother now— and how. For the Nora, the first blood was a sacred thing. The threshold to becoming a woman, and thus the threshold to motherhood. Had they been of the tribe, Aloy would have been celebrated that day, blessed with gifts— necklaces, carvings, braids and beads, and blessings of the High Matriarchs. Because they weren’t, there were no blessings. But because Rost was Nora to the bone, he had carved her blue beads in anticipation of this day. That night, he wove them into braids as he answered all her questions. It was one of the few times she’d seen him unsure, as he’d explained what happened between a man and a woman. That part hadn’t concerned her that much then— she has grown up in the wilds, she has seen animals mate, and once or twice some Nora couple that had stolen away into the bushes, while she was out hunting with her focus on. What had concerned her was that now, she was on another journey that she hadn’t anticipated. Of course she’d known that she was a girl, and by logic, also a woman. But because of the lack of any female examples in her life, she had never thought that that meant she would change. That night, she couldn’t sleep, plagued by questions about womanhood, about what that meant for her identity, about her place in things, questions that she still had no answer for, and for the first time she had felt the passage of time, that she was aging, that her journey was stretching far beyond what she could guess, past the Proving, and how the change and answers that would come with it were only the beginning, and that her identity was comprised of more than just being an outcast. And most of all, that night, she truly felt motherless. Rost came over then, and silently placed a cup of the purple tea on her bedside, sensing her quiet struggle, but leaving her room to deal with it on her own terms. From then on, the taste of Ochrebloom tea was one connected to pain, but also with comfort. Until the Proving, and the following weeks, when it started to taste of grief and explosions and blood. Now it upsets her stomach as much as it helps settle it. There’s the faintest reflection of her face on the surface of her cup. Aloy can see the blue spots of the beads in her hair, and wonders if she has become a woman yet. An awkward cough pulls her from her thoughts as Erend shifts next to her. His contrite expression catches her off guard, but less so than his words. “I… have something to confess.”

#ereloy #aloy #erend #aloyxerend #hzd #hzdfic #ereloyfic #erendxaloy

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