#Retold Flames

[retoldflames]

Retold Flames: Succession War

Got the first piece of many for a retelling AU here (holding multiple AU ideas). For some AU world building, Animus Magic has rules such as one has to have the intent to use animus magic to create an enchantment, you must be touching an object to place an enchantment, an enchantment can only do one thing, creating an enchantment has costs (preventing that cost can prevent the creation of an enchantment) enchantments can be overridden unless they are made permanent, enchantments can form a personality, enchantments based in memory or animating an object can form sentience. Twin eggs also have their own thing going on for each tribe with one dragonet being a fire scale variant and the other being of a subtribe. (There is a more detailed version for both on Ao3.)

Burn: Before the Succession War, Burn would be a somewhat kind yet fierce dragon, caring for her collection of odd creatures (getting inspiration for her hobby of poetry from them as they wandered around the Palace and giving the place some life) with help from her brother Smolder and sister Blaze who she would be close to (also including their father Char who would help teach Burn and Smolder about caring for creatures before his untimely death); Being on trusting terms with her mother Oasis and not so with her sister Blister. (Burn was also generally favored in being the one to be accepted by the Eye of Onyx, used as a way to choose a new queen.)

With the death of Oasis at the hands of Scavengers, Burn would enact her revenge on them and lead a small force that would push out most of the Scavenger population out of the Kingdom of Sand. Following this, Burn would find Blister has fled and enacted war on her, being allied with Queen Coral and the Kingdom of Sea (Forming the Shoreside Alliance); Burn herself retaliating with an alliance with Queen Harp and the Kingdom of Ice as well as being joined by Queen Scarlet and the Sky Kingdom. The Alliance itself come to be known as the Burning Alliance. (Scarlet’s involvement would lead the war to spread into the Mud Kingdom and lead High Queen Moorhen and her sibs to ally with the Shoreside Alliance.)

During the early years of the War, Burn would be tempted by Scarlet into choosing to do some unsavory stuff and escalating to her becoming her more brutal self and killing queen Harp. Leading to the Ice Kingdom breaking off their alliance with Burn and allying with Blaze with Princess Glacier taking the throne and forming the Sand-Ice Alliance. (Burn would come to kill and stuff her collection of creatures that would eventually be joined by the remains of dragons with abnormal parts, having her tower constructed to hold said collection.)

During the later years of the War, Burn would acquire an ally in the Mud Kingdom and its monarchy after they were blamed for failing to stop the assassination of Commander Tempest and being cut off from the Shoreside Alliance. (The Mud Kingdom is ruled by a Sibtroop of Kings and Queens with the Bigwing acting as a High Monarch.) Burn herself would connect with Moorhen as older siblings, building into a somewhat close friendship as Moorhen and the rest of her sibs would help temper Burn’s more destructive tendencies over the years. (Burn’s tower would be left to collect dust in the wake of past memories.) 

Sometime after the brightest night 0f 5,005 A.S. and destroying the supposed Skywing egg for the prophecy, Burn would form the Talons of Power; A group tasked with bringing order to the Souther regions of the Kingdom of Sand that have become rampant with crime due to lack of enforcement due to forces being pulled to the war up north. While the Talons would be generally successful in their endeavors for a few years, they would eventually collapse due to internal conflict/sabotage (such as from crime Lord Vulture sending his daughter Cobra to infiltrate the Talons).

As the War nears its end, the Burning Alliance nears complete victory over the Shoreside Alliance, being held back by Scarlet who has continued to cause issues for the Burning Alliance throughout the War; Leading Burn and Moorhen to assist Princess Ruby in usurping her mother Scarlet so they may finish the fight against the Shoreside Alliance.

-

Scarlet & Chameleon (& Cobra): When the Succession War began, Scarlet would join the Secret Alliance with Blister and Seawing Advisor Whirlpool then the Burning Alliance with Burn under the pretense of infiltrating; instead using it to prolong the war and its suffering for her own personal enjoyment, taking up a little pet project in shepherding Burn into becoming merciless and brutal. Taking an even greater enjoyment as the War becomes more miserable for others.

During the early years of the Succession War, Scarlet would catch/first meet Chameleon using his Nightwing Enchantment Shapeshifter, along with his enchantment creating scroll, to steal treasure from her. Finding his seeming skill to create transformation enchantments (as well as artistry), Scarlet would seek to use his skills for herself (along with not wanting to personally deal with the consequences of using animus magic). Having him create a Skywing enchantment named Soar and use it to become champion of the arena so she can keep him close without suspicion, getting her guard Osprey (former champion and present defense attorney) to train Soar who would eventually succeed in becoming champion of the arena (suffering through till the end).

With Chameleon an arena champion as Sora, Scarlet would use his skills to her personal benefit from creating small, unnoticeable enchantments dealing with inconveniences for herself to having him create immaculate art and jewelry for her; Even going on to use him for her personal enjoyment, using him as Soar to produce an heir to eventually replace her daughter Tourmaline (as she has done many times with her previous daughters and male arena champions). From this, Scarlet would have her twelfth daughter Pyrite, a bit of a clumsy dragonet that would be adored by her father; An adoration that would turn to grief as Tourmaline, taking after her mother, would kill her sister as a threat to taking the throne and in jealousy of being more loved. Such an act would enrage Scarlet with her plan being ruined, taking revenge by personally using Chameleons scroll to transform Tourmaline into being her thirteenth daughter Ruby and permanently replacing her memories of being Tourmaline with a willingness to follow her mother’s commands (a willingness that Ruby would eventually overcome).

As the Succession War rages on, Scarlet would enact a breeding program to increase a dwindling population, getting her arena champions Soar and Kestrel into the program as well; Eventually leading to Scarlet catching Kestrel fleeing with her Fire Scale and Featherwing (Twin Egg Subtribe) dragonets, getting her to kill one of her dragonets with the promise of letting her other dragonet live; Watching as Kestrel would give in and throw her Featherwing dragonet in a raging river (not seeing any chance of it surviving), leaving Scarlet to attempt to kill Kestrel who she had no plans of letting go; Something that wouldn't come to pass as they would attempt to flee with their Fire Scale dragonet, dropping the dragonet from their burning talons (of the third degree). With Scarlet now in possession of a Fire Scale dragonet, she would use them as another of her arena champions and ensure they make their fight brutal with Osprey training them (teaching a few other things behind Scarlet's back as well).

Not wanting Chameleon/Soar to learn of one of his dragonets surviving, Scarlet would send him to infiltrate the Talons of Power (for the Secret Alliance) as a Sandwing named Platyr (bringing a few other enchantments with him to use). While in the Talons, Platyr would meet Talon members Thorn, becoming somewhat friends, and Cobra who would attempt to allure Platyr (believing him to be an animus due to the new enchanted items he keeps getting and being tasked by her father Vulture in getting his supposed animus magic, something she would be woefully unprepared for due to her general lack of social skills from solely living as an assassin for Vulture. Leaving Cobra to reluctantly go to Thorn to figure out about Platyr and not giving away her true intentions, leading to a comedy of errors with Cobra unintentionally making it seem like she romantically likes Platyr to Thorn; Something that Cobra would roll with, seeing it as a way to get Platyr with help from Thorn who would help her actually be able to somewhat socialize with Platyr. Building into a forming relationship between Cobra and Platyr that would take a bit of an escalation with the two having a twin egg that would hatch into being their Bile Flame (Fire Scale Variant) daughter Rattlesnake taking after her grandfather and their Cactwing (Twin Egg Subtribe) son Sirocco taking after his mother. Eventually, Cobra would come to learn of Platyr's enchantment creating scroll, still bearing a loyalty to Vulture; Escalating into Platyr fleeing for his life, never to be seen again as Cobra would attempt to kill him to take his scroll (unknowingly leaving her with another egg).

With Chameleon returning to the Sky Kingdom, Scarlet would send him out again, this time as an Icewing named Cirrus sent to work with Mudwing Crocodile to infiltrate the Talons of Peace for the Burning Alliance. She would bring Chameleon/Soar back for a short period to enchant a captured Prince Hailstorm, a powerful and charismatic warrior in the Sand-Ice Alliance, to ensure is hidden and not rescued. Scarlet would convince Chameleon/Soar to use it as a way to bring his daughter back, using it as a way to strengthen his loyalty to her; Permanently enchanting Hailstorm to physically be Pyrite and enchanting their necklace to replace Hailstorm's memories with Pyrite's. Scarlet would have Pyrite go with Chameleon/Cirrus to infiltrate the Talons as it would be suspicious if a dead princess was walking around. Cirrus would go on to ingrain Pyrite to never take her necklace off as it is keeping her alive.

During the latter years of the war, Scarlet would assist Blister in a gambit to get Whirlpool to take the place of King Gill next to Queen Coral for political gain. Scarlet would be tasked in capturing Gill but be left with the unfortunate task of making Whirlpool into a dragon that can swoon Coral, working with Nightwing Morrowseer in both tasks. With Scarlet holding Gill captive, she would make him into her pet project; Quite literally in fact as she would deprive him of water to make him insane, using him as a beast of a champion for the arena and for her own personal enjoyment.

As Scarlet's hatching day draws near, Morrowseer would pay a short visit and grant her a chance at some 'gifts'. Giving her directions on where to get them, leaving her to round up a group of guards to do so.

-

Blister: Before the Succession War, Blister would be conniving brat that would scheme against her mother Oasis, the rest of her family and other dragons of her home; Ranging from simple pranks to being nearly fatal (the latter more targeted towards her sisters in an attempt to take them out as competition to the throne). Occasionally, Blister would help her siblings in hanging out behind their paranoid mother’s back (not joining them herself), if only to get at Oasis who would seek to mold the siblings into being caricatures of theme selves (attempting to make them not a threat to the throne). This would culminate in Blister not getting Burn to help Oasis in stoping Scavengers from stealing her treasure, instead going to the treasury to steal the eye of Onyx for herself (being rejected by it once she got it).

With her mother’s death, Blister would be the one to start the Succession War against her sister Burn; burying the Eye of Onyx (being believed to have been stolen by scavengers) within her mother’s grave and fleeing. Forming the Shoreside Alliance by manipulating Queen Coral and allying with the Kingdom of Sea, the same being done with High Queen Moorhen and the Mud Kingdom. Blister would also form a Secret Alliance with Queen Scarlet as a way to cause issues in the Burning Alliance and Advisor Whirlpool as a way to gain more power and influence in the Kingdom of Sea (as well as to help gain more influence in manipulating Coral herself). The Secret Alliance would later be joined by Nightwing Advisor Morrowseer.

During the early years of the War, Blister would create the Talons of Peace as one of its founders alongside Commander Tempest. (Tempest would later be assassinated after coming close to uncovering the Secret Alliance, leading to the Mud Kingdom being blamed and being cut out of the Shoreside Alliance. The Talons of Peace would also be ostracized from the Kingdom of Sea) The Talons of Peace themselves would have goal of ensuring the war ends with Blister on the throne, being pushed by the Dragonet Prophecy created by Morrowseer. (The Talons themselves having two groups of dragonets being raised for the prophecy, one hidden with the Talons themselves and another hidden elsewhere.)

During the latter years of the war, Blister would enact a plan to get Whirlpool on the Kingdom of Sea throne. Having Morrowseer ensure King Gill is captured and make it look like the Sky Kingdom solely did it with Scarlet holding the King Prisoner. Blister herself would work to convince Queen Coral to move on from Gill and give at least a chance at dating Whirlpool, giving both Scarlet and Morrowseer the unfortunate task of getting him to be a dragon that can swoon Coral into marrying him. They would succeed in getting Whirlpool and Coral married (the two even having a clutch of eggs with one to eventually hatch Auklet). With Whirlpool successfully married to Coral, Blister would use them both to manipulate the Kingdom into preferring herself and favor her ruling over the Royal Family.

When it is found out that Coral daughter Anemone has animus magic, Blister would seek to use Anemone and their magic for herself; Using her influence over Coral to keep an eye on Anemone without her mother in sight. With Coral generally being quite controlling and heavily restricting what Anemone can do with Whirlpool a very awful tutor that would undermine her use in animus magic at the behest of Coral (going somewhat against the rest of the Secret Alliance now that he has what he desires), Blister would work to ensure that Anemone is skilled in using Animus Magic as well as healthy and happy enough to use said magic to help Blister (along with ensuring she is knowledgeable on how animus magic works as well). Put simply, Blister would eventually become somewhat of a decent parent (much better than Coral) to achieve her goal and unintentionally becoming close to Anemone, becoming an exception in her life.

As the war nears its end, Blister would make preparation for the dragonet prophecy by having Morrowseer acquire the Dragonets of Destiny for the Dragonet Prophecy while she and Scarlet would cover up any traces to the Talons of Peace by wiping them out. (Their plans having to be enacted early due to the Burning Alliance enclosing in on victory over the Shoreside Alliance.)

-

Stonemover & Thorn: During the early years of the Succession war, Stonemover would be closely guarded and restricted from moving around the Nightwing Island before it became desolate from the volcano first erupting (wiping out the vegetation and a majority of the Nightwing Islands inhabitants).

As an animus of the Nightwing Island, Stonemover would be tasked with creating an enchanted portal tunnel that would connect from the Island to the Rainforest and to the northern region of the Kingdom of Sand (being used for operations of the Secret Alliance). This would send Stonemover on a journey (as animus magic works differently) that  would lead him to traverse through the Kingdom of Sea and Mud Kingdom to get to the Rainforest where he would create the enchantment for the second part of the portal tunnel, continue on his journey through Jade Mountain into the Southern areas of the Kingdom of Sand where he would meet the traveling Sandwing Thorn who would help Stonemover travel up north (the two growing close along their journey). With Stonemover completing the third and final enchantment for the portal tunnel, he would choose to stay with Thorn where they would return back south away from the war (unaware of the conflict ahead).

During their early years together, Stonemover and Thorn would settle into the Scorpion Den to hide away; The two eventually meeting the deserter trio of Six-Claws, Kindle and Dune with the five of them forming a trusting friendship. Eventually Stonemover and Thorn would eventually have an egg, a joyous time that would turn in the days leading up to their egg hatching as Dune would suddenly flee with said egg. Stonemover would take charge after Dune, enchanting a skulk of foxes (bound by memories) in desperation of finding him; Something that would never come to pass as Dune would succeed in escaping. Feeling shamed for his failure and what he has done with his animus magic, Stonemover would put himself into isolation within the caverns of Jade Mountain; Enchanting his scales to turn to stone for all the enchantments he has created, only being kept alive in his now immobilized form by the skulk he enchanted caring for him (being changed by the enchantment and becoming something more). 

With Dune, her egg and Stonemover gone, Thorn would go on a desperate search for the three (bearing a growing hatred towards Dune for stealing her egg); Eventually focusing her efforts of finding her lost egg/dragonet, finding help and comfort in her friends Six-Claws and Kindle.

Thorn would eventually joining the newly formed Talons of Power in hopes of having a better chance of finding her dragonet (finding a friend among the Talons in an enchantment using Sandwing named Platyr from the Sky Kingdom). In time, Thorn would form a small group within the Talons, eventually splitting off from the Talons and becoming known as the Outclaws (being joined by Six-Claws in leading and Kindle in healing). Thorn would go on to conquer and somewhat restore the Scorpion Den in the wake of the Talons collapse with her Outclaws, eventually becoming an aunt to Six-Claws and Kindle’s daughter Ostrich. (Thorn would also go on to take one of Platyr’s sons from Cobra a few years after his disappearance, raising them as part of the Outclaws.)

-

Blaze: During the early years of her life, Blaze wouldn’t really be the brightest; Preferring to go out and acquire treasures and odd gems for her own collection like her Big Sis Burn. (Got herself in-trouble at times cause of it, be it from her own foolishness or Blister playing a trick on her.) Blaze wouldn’t really be close to Oasis as a dragonet, instead being closer to her Big Sister Burn who would help care for Blaze after their father’s passing.

With the death of Oasis and Blister enacting war on Burn, Blaze would side with her sister Burn and wanting to help eventually acting as a spokesdragon for her sister who would stick to leading the front lines. To effectively do this Blaze would come to learn about the common folk of the Kingdom of Sand and its politics (not having interest in them before) with help from Princess Glacier who Blaze would grow close to. The two would come together to comfort each other in their grief after fleeing from Burn killing Glacier’s mother, Queen Harp (Glacier taking her mantle as Queen of the Ice Kingdom). Glacier would bear grief for the death of her mother and Blaze would bear grief for the sister she loves becoming a monster.

In the following years, Blaze and Glacier would grow closer to one another, eventually becoming romantic partners as they form the Sand-Ice Alliance with Glacier being the one to mainly lead. (Their relationship wouldn’t be commonly known as Ice Kingdom Queen’s don’t officially take a partner.) Eventually they would have their first daughter Crystal (being both a pure Icewing along with Glacier and Blaze as their biological parents thanks to some old Icewing Animus Gift, same with Snowfall and Mink) and bring with it a joyous event celebrated in Where-Sand-meets-Ice (a Sandwing/Icewing dominant town formed during the War, south of the Great Ice Cliff); said event unfortunately turned sour as it would be ambushed by a group of dragons (formed by the Secret Alliance) lead by Queen Battlewinner in an attempt to kill Blaze and eliminate her from the war. The attack would be pushed back as the Battlewinner’s forces would retreat with her being incapacitated from Ice Breath, though it would not be without loss, nor without impact.

Following her near assassination and Glacier nearly dying to protect her with many other (some less fortunate), Blaze would find the drive to take more of a leading role in the Sand-Ice Alliance; Taking a more direct approach in the war and growing into a dragon the Eye of Onyx would deem worthy of being queen. (Going through a bit of combat training as well for self-defense, not really liking the training but going through it non the less.)

-

Narwhal & Tundra: Hatched around the time of the Sand-Ice Alliance forming, not knowing his mother Harp before she was killed by Burn. Narwhal would be distant from his sister Glacier who would be occupied with ruling the Ice Kingdom and Maintaining the Sand-Ice Alliance. Instead, he would be cared for by his brother Permafrost, learning to live by the beliefs of the Circle Rankings (eventually going on to push those beliefs onto his children), even personally making sure they were kept in order whenever Glacier was occupied elsewhere. Eventually he would meet Tundra who would allure Narwhal and eventually marry him.

Among the Icewings, Tundra would be both one of the more traditional and most disliked; Seeking to take control of the throne so she can return the Ice Kingdom back to what it was before the Succession War. Marrying Narwhal so she can gain a daughter that she could control to usurp Glacier and take the throne, using said daughter to enact her will. Something that wouldn’t come as soon as she wanted with their first hatch being their eldest son Hvitur (an eventual prodigy that would quickly prove himself).

Things would change when they would have a twin egg, hatching their twin sons Icicle with Aurora Ice (Fire Scale variant) and Winter a Ternwing (Twin Egg Subtribe). With Icicle having Aurora Ice, Tundra would have them be raised as a princess to take the throne (Tundra taking to ignoring her eldest) with Winter being neglected and berated by her and Narwhal for being a Ternwing. Something that would take a turn with Hailstorm being captured while taking Winter on a trip to get a scavenger, both Tundra and Narwhal would blame Winter (returning with only a scavenger). 

With Hailstorm captured, Narwhal would leave for the front lines of the War with Icicle in hopes of getting him back. Leaving Winter with Tundra who would continue to berate him without end (even destroying one of the limbs of his scavenger as punishment, expecting it to die from its wounds). Only after Glacier would send Winter to act as a herald (messenger) for Blaze would Tundra stop her tormenting her son, choosing to focus on other things with him gone.

[retoldflames]

Got a number of AU ideas on me.

What if Blister was Anemone’s tutor instead of Whirlpool.

What if Blaze wasn’t the only sister to survive.

What if there were still multiple rainforest queens instead of Glory being the only rainforest queen.

What if Sunny met her father Stonemover first and her mother Thorn second.

What if Icicle was in the Jade Winglet and Winter in the Gold Winglet.

What if Chameleon was Qibli’s father.

What if Darkstalker tried to bring back his sster Whiteout instead of Clearsight.

What if Kinkajou wasn’t stuck in a coma during Arc 2.

There’s also a Chainsaw Man crossover AU idea where Qibli would be Denji; Hailstorm, Icicle or Winter would be Aki (can’t decide), Scarlet would be Power, Makima would be Sunny, Turtle would be Kobeni, Kinkajou would be Himeno, Chameleon would be Kishibe, Darkstalker would be the Gun Devil, Peacemaker would be the Angel Devil, Whirlpool would be Santa Clause, the Othermind would be the Puppet Devil, Glory would be Reze, and Moonwatcher would be Asa.

WoF fans need to get more creative with their AUs. "What if they were human?" "What if [character] was evil?" "What if [character] was redeemed?" I don't care. What if they were pirates. What if this was a cyberpunk society. What if they were phoenixes. What if there was a modern AU. Where's my Qinter coffee shop AU.

[sonics-atelier]

Sparks and Serenades: A Collection of Limericks

For @nerisweek Day 7 : Free Day, Read On Ao3 Here.

1.

In the forests of the Autumn Court,

Nesta found herself falling, in short.

For Eris’s grin,

And the fire within,

Made her heart beat a passionate retort.

2.

Nesta danced in the moon’s silver light,

With Eris, whose eyes shone so bright.

Their hearts intertwined,

A love redefined,

In shadows that vanished from sight.

3.

Eris, with charm and with grace,

Met Nesta’s fierce gaze face to face.

With a quick-witted tease,

He brought her to her knees,

And their hearts began a slow chase.

4.

Nesta, with fire in her soul,

Found Eris her perfect foil.

He matched every spark,

Lit up the dark,

And made her feel finally whole.

5.

A flame met a flame in the night,

Both burning with stubborn delight.

They argued and fought,

But both of them sought,

A love that felt perfectly right.

6.

Nesta's heart was guarded and tough,

Eris found her challenge enough.

With wit and with charm,

He meant her no harm,

And melted her walls with a bluff.

7.

In a dance filled with tension and grace,

Nesta tried to keep her own pace.

But Eris, so sly,

Caught her with his eye,

And left her heart starting to race.

8.

Eris with his fox-like grin,

Met Nesta, who'd never give in.

Through banter and fire,

They sparked a desire,

And found a love deep within.

9.

In the woods where the shadows dance free,

Nesta met Eris beneath a tall tree.

With a spark and a tease,

They found love with such ease,

Two fiery souls meant to be.

10.

A dance in the night, oh so bold,

With Nesta, his love uncontrolled.

Eris stole her a glance,

And began their romance,

A story of passion retold.

- @sonics-atelier 2024 ( do not repost or reuse in any way shape or form )

[staytinyville]

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[tobiasdrake]

Mortal Kombat adaptations tend to fixate on the massacre of Scorpion's village, incorporating his fatal duel with Sub-Zero into the massacre itself. I get why they do that, but I do think that it results in missing a key point of Scorpion's character.

Originally, these were two separate points in continuity. Like an asshole, Quan Chi tapped the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu clans for the same contract. Scorpion and Sub-Zero arrived to steal the thing at the same time and, being that their clans are bitter rivals, they immediately tried to murder each other. Sub-Zero won.

Nobody's really the good guy in that altercation. Had he gotten the upper hand, Hanzo would have slit Bi-Han's throat just as easily as Bi-Han tore out Hanzo's spine. These men are both assassins and thieves for hire. It's what they do.

The Shirai Ryu massacre and the murder of Scorpion's family at the hands of Sub-Zero actually Quan Chi came later down the road, after he was already a hellspawned Revenant out for revenge.

These two things get mushed together for adaptation because it makes for a simpler story. Pretty much every follow-up version of Scorpion's background is the same. Hanzo was minding his business enjoying his village when suddenly the Lin Kuei attacked and slaughtered everyone out of nowhere. He fights Sub-Zero to avenge his murdered wife and kid, and gets slaughtered brutally.

This makes for more economical storytelling because you have it all in one. It also grants a sympathetic lens for Scorpion, allowing him to easily be seen as a heroic figure.

...

The problem is that when you combine them like that, you're left with one glaring question.

Why did Hanzo go to Hell? All we see him do is love his family and valiantly defend them from raiding barbarians. Why is this man in Hell?

It's something that always bugs me, that we skip from "Boy I love my family life sure is paradise around here" to burning in flames, sometimes without even stopping to explain what the Shirai Ryu are. When one assassin kills another in a fight and the other shows up in Hell, you kinda get it. But when a loving father whose only visible crime is hugging his child too tightly goes to Hell, it's a bit of a disconnect.

I don't know how to resolve this. I don't know if there is a way to resolve this. But I do think it's something to think about. Scorpion's origin story is going to be told and retold a thousand times in the future. It would be good to figure out a way so that Hanzo being Hell-bound is justified within it.

[artzysyam]

Frigid Nightmare

Snippets from @xysidhequeen AU. Based on the question about Jason comforted Danny after a nightmare...

Jason slumped back against the wall, his chest heaving as he drained a bottle of water mixed with ectoplasm. His training with Fright Knight was over, and it had been a year and a half since he came out from the grave, six months since he was knighted as Red Knight, four months since he discovered that Batman had replaced him, with mere seven months after his death.

The pain welled up in Jason's heart and soul - the same pain that had driven him to mow down the rebellion in another realm who dared to challenge Danny. Danny had seen him that day, standing alone amidst the demon corpses as their blood caked his human form. His eyes were raised to the sky, which burned orange from battle, and tears rolled down his cheeks unchecked.

Jason took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut and willing himself not to be dragged back down into despair. The members of his newfound family tried their best to keep him in the present moment, teaching him how to allow himself to express hurt and anger without being punished for it.

Fright Knight's dark figure towered over Jason, his gaze unwavering. His deep voice rumbled through the room. "Are you well, my apprentice?"

Jason hesitated before responding, unsure of how to express what he was feeling. "I'm ... just reminiscing Frighty."

Fright Knight hummed in response and knelt down before Jason, his eyes softening with compassion. "As I said before, no one has ever been chosen as my apprentice before you, Jason Todd - King Phantom chose you, and I'll do my utmost best to ensure that you're strong enough to protect our liege."

Jason was warmed by Fright Knight's honesty. He knew from Jazz's counselling sessions that healing from trauma isn't linear - there will be highs and lows as well as scarring that must be endured. A wistful smile spread across his face as he thanked his mentor. 

"You're welcome, my apprentice," Fright Knight replied, standing tall once again before saying something else - but a high-pitched screech cut him off. Immediately, Fright Knight summoned a flaming green sword while Jason stood up with gun in hand, prepared to jump into action against any incoming attack.

His heart thundered in his chest, his core aflutter with anxiety and panic as he remembered the last time Danny had one of these episodes. Dread clawed at Jason's stomach as he and Fright Knight raced down the hallway leading to their liege's chamber, only to be stopped short by a violent blizzard raging between them and their King.

"Our liege is having a night terror again, we need to get Master Nocturne now!" Fright Knight yelled over the roar of the wind, looking at his apprentice with worry in his eyes. Jason could feel his vision tinge green as something inside of him screamed for him to go check on his King.

"Fright. You go on and get Nox, I'll go in to see our king is safe!" Jason shouted back, before sprinting into the howling storm.

"Jason!!" Fright Knight called out desperately, but his apprentice was already lost in the turmoil of snow and ice. With an exasperated curse, Fright Knight summoned his mount and set off to find Nocturne as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Jason trudged through the blizzard with his toned arms raised, shielding his face and the red flaming sword in the other. His breath came in ragged gasps, pluming out of his mouth and nose like smoke from a dragon's nostrils. "Mom! Dad! Please, I'm your son!" Jason heard Danny's voice yelled against the howling wind. 

"Don't ever call us that to our son's face, ghost!" Maddie Fenton's voice screamed back. Jason's heart sank as he recalled Danny's story of why he stayed in Infinite Realms. His parents had not taken kindly to his reveal, capturing him and nearly vivisecting him before his friends had saved him. The voices in the blizzard retold Danny's trauma again and again. "Dad! It hurts, Dad! It really hurts!" 

The frigid air felt like razors on Jason's skin, but his rage and core urged him forward like an animal spurred on by instinct. He thought of Danny, his king, HIS. The memory of the day when he went on a rampage came to mind, but instead of pure rage taking over, it was a controlled fury fueled by an unwavering desire to protect what mattered most to him.

"Where is my son? You're not my Danny'o!" Jack Fenton's words ricocheted through the storm as Jason continued on towards the frozen door.

Finally, he reached Danny's room and Jason grasped Ifrit, his red flaming sword, tightly in his dominant hand. With a single, powerful thrust of the blade, the intense heat blasting from its edge shattered the frozen door open. As the shards of wood flew outward into the hallway, Jason saw Danny curled on his bed with his hands over his hair. Thankfully, his body wasn't frozen. The chill that radiated through the room was colder than anything within Far Frozen and made Jason shiver as he rushed towards Danny whose body jolted in response to his voice.

"Danny!" he shouted out, his core sending the wave of protection and safety to Danny, who winced from the shout.

Jason's boots crunched through the snow as he approached Danny, kneeling down beside him. He grasped his King's shoulder, his own warmth spreading into the coldness of Danny's body. "Danny," he repeated softly, and felt the tension in his King's body ease slightly. 

Danny looked up, eyes widening in recognition and relief. "Jason?" he said, voice trembling.

Smiling reassuringly, Jason sent a wave of warmth and reassurance through his core. "I'm here, Danny. I'm here."

As if in response to their exchange, the blizzard outside ceased, and the room began to warm from within.

Danny inched closer to Jason, his exhausted body desperate for warmth. The embrace created a sense of safety as he felt Jason's toned arm tighten around him.

"Your parents?" Jason asked softly. Danny, too tired to speak, simply nodded in response.

"Do you want to sleep?" Jason asked, his fingers lightly stroking Danny's hair. He shook his head no and looked up at Jason with wide, pleading eyes.

"You're tired," Jason sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair away from Danny's face. "Do you want me to stay with you so you don't have to be alone?" Danny nodded again, relieved that he didn't have to speak.

Jason looked to the far corner of the room and saw a small puddle of melted ice where the frigid castle had been moments before. The knight hoisted up the tall, lanky king from the floor and carried him towards his bed, cradling him like a koala cub as he went. As he was about to lay the king down on the bed, Jason heard his mentor and Nocturne enter the room.

"I see you handled the situation, my apprentice," Fright Knight said as they stepped into the doorway.

"Yeah... He got the nightmare of his fucking parents..." Jason replied, tightening his grip around the helpless king protectively as Danny clung to him. He fought to keep his composure, reigning in his anger.

Nocturne, the ghostly figure of sleep and dream, swept into the room on a midnight breeze. He cast his gentle spell of slumber onto the King as he lay in Jason's arms, and watched with fondness to ensure his ward was at peace.

"That should keep him tucked in for a few hours," Nocturne said before turning to Jason. "Do you need my assistance, young Knight?"

Jason looked down at the King, peaceful and unaware, and then back to the ghost. "Nah, I'm good," he sighed. "I just need some time to calm down." Nocturne nodded silently, before he dissipated into the ether like a whisper.

Fright Knight stood in the doorway, illuminated by the faint candlelight in the room. His helmet blocked the majority of his ghostly features, but Jason could still detect a hint of pride in his mentor's voice. He paused for a moment and turned his helmet to glance at Jason, then said, “Rest well and be proud of how far you come, Jason Todd.” With that, Fright Knight disappeared into the shadows, leaving Jason alone with his king in his arms.

Danny snuggled close against Jason and he felt a wave of protectiveness wash over him. Rage coursed through him as he thought about Fentons - if he ever found them, they would fucking pay for what they have done to Danny. As Danny slept peacefully on his chest, Jason vowed to never let anyone hurt him again. He tightened his embrace around Danny and promised himself that when Danny needed him, he would always be there.

[trickortrick]

Völuspá, Retold

Spirit breatheth Odin

Mind giveth Hoenir

Blood shareth Lodur

Another excellent job, spake Odin

Three about to leave

I’ll catch up thee, saith Lodur

I have to pee

Leaves Odin and Hoenir

Heaves a sigh, Loki

Finally

See guys, he says

My love language is

Follows a snap of fingers

Giving gifts

Sets a flame on their timber

Once cold, now an everlasting ember

His voice is warm like honey

Our little secret, aye?

I saw what happened to the last guy

Who gave some fire to your kind

Sighs

Go now, have some fun

Be great, be terrible

Saith the firebringer

His eyes are warm like amber

Gifts a wink and disappear

[danthediamondminecart]

DAY 3-4: FANTASY

MAN this is a throwback. I made the Mythos AU in…2021? It’s basically the RB Battlers as mythical creatures living in a magical forest. I don’t plan to make more content of it, but it was fun to return back to it for a while, it had some fun lore.

For the record: Ashley is a Unicorn, Denis is a fae-owned human, Hyper is a fog-creature, Kreek is a Phoenix, and Tanqr is a slightly more stereotypical demon (and also an alchemist).

Alright, drabble under the cut! CW for alcohol, bc (spoiler, ig) Denis gets wasted.

It's an ordinary day in Ashley's tavern.

And by ordinary, she means just as chaotic as usual.

Denis, the sole human in these woods, is back from being dragged off to yet another nightmarish realm by Sketch. Now he's here to get drunk and forget the whole thing. He's retold the whole story to her at least three times - the drunker he is, the louder he gets. Every day Denis regrets messing with the fae, and every day Ashley has to remind him that he very much brought this upon himself.

Hyper is standing quietly beside Denis, not really contributing much but intently listening into their conversation and trying not to fade into mist. Rumours around the woods say he would relate to Denis's plight - apparently he used to be human too. Ashley does levitate a glass of water over to him, but he doesn't take it. It would probably fall through his hands.

Tanqr's in the corner, looking over the display rack. Ashley reckons he's probably here to get supplies for whatever potion of mass destruction he's concocting this week - and she keeps a close eye on him, so he doesn't steal anything again. Still, she can tell he's getting annoyed - his tail is smacking against the floor and he's snarling.

He's probably annoyed because Kreek is flying behind him, asking about everything on the wall. He was doing that just last week. Pestering Tanqr is one of his favourite hobbies.

She puts the glass Hyper never took onto the counter before proceeding to grab Kreek with magical chains and pull him on the floor. Tanqr lets out a chuckle before going back to his usual dour expression.

“Hey!” Kreek yells, having been snapped out of whatever train of thought he was on. ”Rude!“

“No flying in the tavern, how many times have I told you this?” Ashley reminds. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt - he went up in flames again just last week - but she knows full well that Kreek doesn't forget everything again when he regenerates.

“Okay, I get it! Just give me a little bit of warning before you slam me to the ground next time, that hurt.” Kreek rolls his eyes and goes right back to pestering Tanqr, now leaning on his shoulder.

Ashley sighs in defeat and returns to pouring Denis’s fourth beer of the night.

Just an ordinary day in Ashley's tavern.

[linnoya-writes]

Zutara Childhood-Friends-to-Lovers Alter-Egos Forbidden-Romance AU (part III)

If the plan had been to keep this stealthy hawk from making her annual trips to the Southern Water Tribe, Zuko would not have guessed it by the way his uncle did not seem to notice the bird's absence, or the little messages she carried in her wing. For six months out of the year, Caiduri found a home in the icy glaciers, staying warm under the furs and fireplaces brought by her co-master, Katara.

The messages were not anything discreet; they were simply folktales retold in writing... stories that Zuko and Katara had shared in bits and pieces during those lengthy summers together, when they would eat their fruit and pretend to be ancient warriors fighting monsters in the gardens. Zuko wrote about the crescent moon, how it was the archery bow of Yazmina... daughter of the Sun God... who defied her father one night and stole flames from the Sun, launching them into the night sky to give people the stars. Katara wrote about the crescent moon as well, how it was the famous fishing hook of Hirruk, a legendary hunter of the Southern tribes who'd been given this hook by the gods to ice-fish the impossible Humpback Trout and save his village from starvation.

With each letter, Katara signed The Painted Lady. Zuko, The Blue Spirit.

It was safer this way.

They could find their way into each others’ life through letters those first four years…  and with careful strategy as the Blue Spirit and Painted Lady... Zuko and Katara read between the lines in their folktales that both the Fire Nation and Water Tribes are hoping to gather in the Earth Kingdom Capital to continue their separate trade agreements with King Kuei. Zuko promises to his uncle that he will not step out of line, Katara promises to Sokka that she will wash his socks for a month if that's what it takes to go to Ba Sing Se.

And when they each step on their respective ships headed toward the neutral Earth Kingdom territory, Zuko can feel the eagerness in his shaking hands. Katara can barely hold herself together, too.

They'd written about meeting under a plum tree that first night, after dark... though neither of them knew if plum trees were even native to the Earth Kingdom. It didn't matter, Katara thought. She would search every tree around the palace to find him.

Dressed in black, Zuko didn't find a plum tree anywhere... but he found himself walking under vines of deep purple grapes lined under the pergola of the King's grand palace gardens. This is close, he thought, maybe she might... I should wait. He climbed onto the top of the pergola and laid himself down to hide. I'll wait.

Zuko waited the entire night, his eyes almost drifting to sleep. A ruffling sound of vines jolted him back to look at the intruder. The. girl was dressed in black, approaching the pergola so curiously and carefully... as she always did. When he caught the wavy brown hair of her tribal braid, his heart pummeled against his chest.

Katara.

At first, she was alarmed at the mentioning of her name, as using their real names had NOT been a part of their plan, but the rasp in his voice was too much. It brought a smile to her entire face, and then she saw his eyes resting on the pergola. Extending his hand among so many hanging bunches of grapes, Katara let her friend pull her up to where he was. And they held each other, their voices muffled in laughter, and little words, and tears, and kisses.

The only witness was a crescent moon.

[beezonia]

Bloom headcannons because I was bored and thinking about her

———

Her actual name is Aria Lisel Cadenza

But Mike and Vanessa named her Bloom when they found her since Vanessa called her their lucky little bloom

(Fun fact in the magic retold, Mike and Vanessa couldn’t have kids due to Vanessa being infertile so bloom was literally their good luck charm in a sense)

Bloom loved to get muddy as a kid, she just loved exploring, creating scenarios in her head that made her feel more confident in herself

It helped her as she grew, but when she did start high school she was still a bit shy, but more hot headed too

Oh she’s is the perfect picture of a grumpy teen, Mike has had to deal with both her and Vanessa’s sass

Doesn’t help that bloom is a very emotional person, you wrong her and she will not hesitate to scream at you for hours on end if someone doesn’t drag her away

Having said this her emotions affect her magic, if she’s angry bloom is more likely to hurt people with the flame, if she’s sad the flame gets put out and bloom is a grumpy mess

Much like Marion her emotions usually get the better of her sometimes

Both get very angry easily

Oritel and Bloom are extremely good fighters, it took them a long time but once they honed their skills they became stronger then most

Bloom will sometimes just sit in front of an easel and paint random patterns or just things in general to try explain how she’s feeling

It’s something she enjoys doing and Bloom uses it as an outlet so she doesn’t hurt anyone

Bloom loves sweets, especially red velvet cake she’ll buy snacks to fill up a draw in her room so she doesn’t run out of energy

Bloom in my rewrite ends up becoming fairy of the dragons heart (Daphne ends up becoming fairy of the dragons flame/blue flame since she and bloom transfer the flame back to her)

This means she showcases true loyalty and bravery everything the dragons are and represent to domino

She’s also the heart of the winx, they love her and she loves them

Also as the youngest the girls are very protective over bloom

Bloom is sweet always looking out for those in need or just want someone to talk to but she’s also not afraid to beat the crap out of someone if they hurt her or the girls and the specialists

She really loves painting landscapes, also characters from her favourite shows (bloom seems like the type to draw ship art ngl)

Yeah that’s bloom!

——

[xxwitchylanexx]

Glories in Gunpowder and Parades- Cloud x Reader

Rebirth Retold Chapter 7

Spoilers for Junon chapter on rebirth but no important event spoilers

I really hate how they didn't put Reno in Junon in rebirth so I added him in a little. Next chapter will be a little shorter but will hopefully be up in the next week or so. Hope you enjoy!!

Minors DNI

Chapter 8

Masterlist

*~*

The day for Shinra’s inauguration parade had finally come. When you woke from a restful sleep that morning in Under Junon you could almost feel the restless chatter from the citizen under the plate. The elevator had double the amount of security it usually did so there was no way your comrades would be able to slip up undetected.

The six of you stood huddled outside the inn brainstorming a way to get inside the fortress. Barret, being himself, suggested you just storm the elevator and force your way in, and as you can imagine no one agreed with him. You were about to suggest a plan using morph materia when Priscilla, that ninja girl’s friend, approached the group with a solution.

It must have been your lucky day. If you were under any other circumstances you’d never have the chance to see tough guy Cloud sitting upon Mr. Dolphin’s back as the took a lap around the lagoon. You were wildly amused along with the rest of the gang. Tifa whooped and cheered him in front of you; waving her arms enthusiastically in the air, shouting ‘you can do it’ and so on. Your inner war with the brunette finally disbanded. The conversation with Cloud in the bar allowing you to let go of the unwanted festering feelings.

Aerith was beside you clapped excitedly at the show and giggling away at the way his spiky hair flattened against his face as the drooped under the weight of the water. Barret was yelling to get in with it just behind you, you swore he was only crabby because he secretly wanted to storm the elevator. Red sat the furthest away from the water his tail standing rigid in a hook, the flickering flame causing little red dots in your vision before you looked back to Cloud’s skillful performance.

In truth, you couldn’t take your eyes off him. Your e/c orbs dragged over the hard lines of his body that his wet clothing enhanced. His broad shoulders were deliciously on display, and the hard planes of muscle rippled along his back as he stroked through the water. Aerith nudged you in the soft spot between your hip and rips with her elbow leaning. She leaned in just close enough to whisper in your ear followed by a giggle at your expense. “You like what you see?” Your face flushed as you glared down at her, without any real heat. You watched your feet intently as you considered jumping into the sea yourself to cool you off.

You missed his final flourish trying to make a point that you weren’t ogling the man to Aerith. Moments after the rest of you rowed out to the boat he lowered, your makeshift elevator, and ascended into the winding halls of the Upper Junon fortress. Aerith volunteered to you to stay behind to wait for Cloud, another ploy to keep the two of you together. You grumbled about it but honestly at least you’d have a break from the perky girl’s pestering.

Five or six minutes later he emerged from the next room over. You waved your arm above your head lazily to capture his attention. You greeted him with a simple ‘hey’ as he approached you.

“Hey.” He shifted his weight from one side to the other.

“Thanks for the lift. They went this way.” You pointed your thumb behind to emphasize where the others went.

“Let’s get a move on.” You waved your arm to beckon him onward. With a huff at your insistence he trudged forward.

You kept your pace even and measured not too slow to lose him, but not fast enough to think you were eager. You didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention as you walked down the enemy’s halls. You eyed him up and down taking in the way his clothes and hair already appeared to be mostly dry already. The quiet was never uncomfortable around him, but you wouldn’t really be you if you didn’t poke some fun here and there. “So… do you ride on dolphins often, or are you just a natural?”

He faltered in his step before correcting the chip in his facade casting a glimpse over his shoulder before staring ahead once more. “It was…” He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. “Nothing to it.”

You rolled your eyes at his sense of bravado. “Always the showman.” At the end of the hallway the walls widened up into a square archway with subtle peeks of the great blue sky outdoors. “Up there.” As you neared the opening you could see your friends spread out along the steel platform gawking at the view.

You’ve seen The Sister Ray before but never this close, or from this angle. You leaned onto the metal fencing to get a good look you at it. You could see all the grooves and braces along its metal barrel looming out over the sea. The sun glared down onto its length making it hard to look at it long term, but it was a sight to behold. For a weapon of mass destruction, that is.

Cloud gripped at the railing next to you, leaning over it to look at the floor below. “Less security than I thought.”

“More worried about the parade?” Aerith asked from your side.

“Guess thing have changed.” You turned and leaned your back against the fence to see him properly. “They got higher priorities.” Barret replied.

“Personally, I think that’s a good thing.” Tifa said, and you’d have to agree. It was nice to see them focus more on spirit than war. Even if it was just to boost the newly appointed president’s ego.

Red padded up to side and sat back on his haunches rubbing against your leg in the process. “The city’s size on the other hand… the robed men won’t be easy to find.”

“Well they’re definitely not here.” Cloud concluded. “Let’s head into town.” He wasted no time as he started his climb up the number of staircases ahead of you, even taking two or three at a time. You waited for the others to go first except for Barret who insisted on taking the rear.

You climbed the steps just behind Aerith, the girl looking over her arm at you every so often. “Have you been here before?”

“A couple of times. Though I was only passing through.” You grabbed the smooth railing.

“Have you traveled a lot?” Tifa asked from her position a few steps higher than Aerith.

“Yeah, mostly just this continent and the next one over. Most of my clients don’t go farther than the saucer, though I have visited the ranches farther out.”

You weren’t sure what you were expecting the top floor to look like, but you hadn’t expected it to be out in the open. The roof was wide and flat. Long enough to fit multiple airstrips. A few planes were stationed here and there near with a few designated pilots expecting each air craft. The whole place was packed with soldiers all lined up in rows and columns for practice drills. Each commanding officer stood at the forefront of their squad to give out orders.

You realize that the parade was a huge televised event, however you found it pretty odd that not one trooper noticed your not so subtle group wandering around in a restricted area. Were they just negligent in their duties or was your group expected to be here you wondered.

“Any idea what that is?” Tifa inquired. You shifted to see what she was referring to. An aircraft, far larger than any plane, ship, or truck you’ve ever seen, sat proudly at the front of the airway. Its wings spread wide across the surface, and the Shinra logo painted along its massive side. The sheer strength in its propellers, as they rotated rapidly along its axis, disturbed the natural force of the wind around the airstrip. along with may elite forces gathered around it.

“The Highwind.” Cloud explained. “Shinra’s pride and joy. The fastest, most advanced, airship in the fleet.”

“That explains the elite troops.” You added as you counted five, no six elite security officers circling around the vessel.

“Screw the boat.” Barret said. “Let’s take that.” Tifa nudged his sides as if to say ‘shut up’.

“Less you got a trained crew and piloting skills we don’t know about… we’re stickin’ with the boat.”

“That’s too bad. Would’ve been perfect.” Tifa sighed, clearly disappointed. You shared her sentiment. You preferred to travel by plane a hell of a lot more than boat. Planes were faster and less shaky. The constant swaying and creaking of sea travel reeked havoc on your stomach.

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” Cloud replied, his statement the end of the conversation as the six of you searched for a way down to the city.

You admired the layout and design as you walked. Every path was lined with royal red runners with a simple pattern embroidered along the edges in gold. Flags, with the Shinra crest printed on each one, of the same color waved around in the breeze. An army of soldiers, regular foot soldiers that is, covered every inch of this place. You could hear the cheerful laughter, and the fumbling of their rifles as they practiced their drills. A few commanders were berating their officers for stupid mistakes, or tardiness, each one on the receiving end all just answered with ‘sir, yes, sir’. You don’t think you’d would ever make it in a job like this. Blindly following orders wasn’t your style, and the disrespect each one puts up with under the guise of ‘discipline’ pissed you off. Whether your rank is at the bottom or near the top no one has a right to disrespect another human being. You line of sight quickly shifted to the back of the person in front of you, now face to face with the dark fabric of Cloud’s at the base of his neck. At one time was Cloud at the bottom of he barrel too, or did he qualify to start higher on the totem pole? It was hard for you to picture him in a trooper’s uniform taking the verbal assault from a higher officer.

What really didn’t make sense to you was why was every individual was okay with being treated this way. Why was it worth it to lay their lives down for a company that was willing to throw those very lives away to make money or regain control or simply to make a statement. You couldn’t possibly believe the salary was good considering all the officials of the company were scheming assholes. Did they truly think Shinra was a just employer or was it fear?

Cloud approached a terminal amongst a few consoles along a large wall and typed in a bunch of stuff like it was second nature. Once it lurched forward you realized the platform everyone was on was an elevator that led to the city. You stared at the terminal dumbfounded that it was so easily accessible. Sure, a soldier probably has access to most things in every facility, but can you imagine the sheer arrogance they have not to change any codes or procedures. Especially since they are highly aware that one left their employment, and is actively working against them. In your opinion that was a huge security liability.

“So Cloud, what can you tell us about Junon?” Aerith asked as the elevator churned downwards.

“It’s a key military outpost with its own offshore reactor. A critical line of defense against any seaborne assault. When needed, it can transform into an armed fortress. It’s strategic location, along with its air and seaport, make it second only to Midgar as the company’s most vital city.” He listed off the facts as if he was reading a menu.

“Huh, neat. Any good restaurants? Sights to see?” she asked.

“Uh.. maybe? I dunno.” You smiled. Of course he’d never sightsee. All business, this one.

“Ah, right. You’re not the touristy type.” She shuffled from one foot to the other as she looked out to what was beneath you.

“If you’re looking for great landscapes, you’ll like the bridge.” You answered in his stead, everyone turning to look at you while you talked. “Otherwise the main drag has lots of different stalls and vendors.”

“It’s so cool you know this stuff.” Aerith gushed.

You shrugged, “I pass through here often.”

Barret grunted from his corner of the elevator. “Hey just to be clear, you do realize we’re not here on vacation, right?”

“Of course I do!” Aerith huffed, annoyed he even thought she was slacking off. “Hey, look! What’s that about?”

You shuffled closer to the railing between where she was and where Cloud was settled in the corner, and peered over the ledge. The sharp instructions you overhead making more sense now that you were looking at the squad lined up beneath you. It didn’t pertain to you nor did interest you so you straightened once again and wait for the lift to finally reach the bottom. The elevator began to grind against the track as it came to a stop, and you all quickly shuffled off.

“Those troopers looked pretty psyched for the parade, huh?” Tifa pointed out.

“More like eager to prance around for their new paymaster.” Barret quipped. “Now I know what y’all are gonna say, but I gotta ask.”

“What?” Cloud asked flatly.

“If Rufus is in town, are we really gonna let this opportunity pass us by? Hell, I’m not sayin’ we kill the man- but we oughta at least give him a talkin’ to. Rough him up a little maybe, y’know?”

“Actually,” Aerith spoke up, “I’m gonna have to agree. First the turks say, ‘Do whatever-we’re not after you.’ but then Cloud’s biker buddy rolls up and says he is. We gotta straighten this out.” You recalled her discussion with Tifa on the way to Crow’s Nest pertaining this topic. It was a valid concern, though you wondered if Rufus cared about her at all. I mean think about it; they were following the robes too there’s no denying that. You had a hunch that it might be Hojo that wanted her back so desperately.

“Okay, but how?” Tifa asked, one hand perched on her hip. “We can’t just walk up to the president in the street.” That’s true. This group didn’t exactly blend in with a crowd.

Perhaps you could, but you weren’t so eager to paint a target on your back as well. After all you’d be on your own again eventually. “Or maybe we can.” Cloud said.

Barret bounced on his heels as he practically skipped closer. “We bust up his parade!”

Cloud pushed him back. “No, that’s how we die in a hail of bullets like a bunch if dumbasses. The city is crawling with Shinra’s troopers.” He paused before continuing. “We join the parade. Hide in plain sight. Get in, get close, get answers.”

“Seriously?” Tifa asked.

He between Aerith and Tifa. “Sure.”

“Wow, that’s good!” Aerith said with her finger pressed to her cheek.

“No argument here.” Barret crossed his arms, or well arm and his newest attachment.

“Barret, Red you guys find a route to the port; see what security is like. And keep an eye out for the black robes while you’re at it. Y/n, since they’re not looking for you, why don’t you try to get information in town.”

You nodded in agreement while Barret bullied himself into Cloud space once again. “Now hold up!”

“Fatigues won’t be enough to disguise you two.”

“True enough.” Red agreed.

Barret resigned with a mumbled ‘shuddup’ as Cloud looked over to you once again. “See you in a bit. I gotta go find a uniform.” You gave him a half hearted wave as he walked off with the other two. Aerith playfully pushing him on the arm and Tifa following after with her arm clasped behind her back. Barret and Red also quickly faded into the crowd of pedestrians wandering the great streets of the bustling city, leaving you there all alone.

*~*

The upper city Junon was generally a quiet and peaceful town to visit, though not everyone has had the privilege to see it. First and fore most Junon was a military outpost, like Cloud had said, so it had a smaller population than most places in Gaia. It’s residents made up of mostly army staff, researchers, sailors, and airmen to employ Shinra’s monopoly of transportation. Any others that wished to visit the city or sail to the next continent had to shell out a hefty sum for tickets and a permit to proceed through the fortress. However today, the narrow streets and winding alleys were jam packed festive tourists and plastered in tacky patriotic propaganda.

Royal red pennants, emblazoned with the Shinra crest, flapped with every salty sea breeze, identical banners hung at the entrance to nearly every establishment you’ve seen so far, signs and posters were on display across every billboard in town, and every single shop (conveniently owned by Shinra affiliates) had some kind of a promotions, featuring the guest of honor, to sucker their consumers into thinking they were getting a decent purchase or rate for their hotel accommodations. You’ve nearly spent half the day weaving through waves of frolicking tourists between the pop up stores and street attractions, and shrugging off the sloppy drunks trying to pick up anyone willing to go back to their room.

Everywhere you looked there was something special for the occasion: colorful face paint adorning the faces of passerby, life size Rufus Shinra cutouts around every corner, signed autograph cards from the open stalls along the streets, vouchers you could win in a raffle for a tour of the Shinra building in Midgar, and the list went on and on. If you hadn’t been given a task you’d have holed yourself up by now to escape the frivolity of the entire celebration. Nothing like an inauguration of a communist to really get people going.

Not that you’ve learned anything useful. The docks were off limit for the time being and even if you wanted to sneak in, every nook and cranny was heavily guarded. Even cruise ticket holders were restricted until after the ceremony. The few troopers that were actually on duty were unwilling to share anything of value. They just urged you to find a spot along the parade route or settle somewhere with a TV to watch the televised program with promises that you would see the president present the award to the best preforming squad.

With no leads elsewhere, you found yourself at a quiet little food truck along the seawall. It was old and clunky but disguised as ‘Rufus’s favorite street meat’ as if anyone would actually believe that the president himself waltz along the streets looking for foot cart dishes. The gaudy decor draped across it’s flat surfaces did succeed in matching the excitement of the event. Honestly you’d think it came right from the train graveyard in the slums. The spinning hot dog on the roof swiveled around slowly as it played some distorted whimsical tune like the vehicle had spent a lot of time under water. Red and gold garland wrapped around the top concealing little bullet holes along the roof. An oversized banner, as tall as you, was plastered over the window hiding the cracks in the glass that advertised their signature rainbow slushies and a ‘Rufus dog’, which was just a fancy hot dog with Rufus Shinra’s, or so they claim, favorite toppings.

Your stomach growled as an array of delicious smells wafting through the air from the surrounding stalls assaulted your nostrils. After a small debate on whether this place would kill you or not you caved and got into line just behind the one other customer. As you waited a steady trail of people trailed behind you all creating a wall from your position to the small stage where an event was about to begin.

Honestly, you should’ve known better than trying to find the attraction. You perched on the tops of your toes trying to see over the wave of celebrators, your balance near perfect, but your reaction time delayed. You heard the girl sniffling long before you saw her backing up your way and before your flats of your feet touched the ground again it was too late to get step out of her path.

So there you are being pushed backwards, your arms out to catch your upper body as your ass landed harshly against the pavement, and that wasn’t even the worst part. You only seen a brief flash of color and a plastic cup before you squeezed your eyes shut and prepared for the chilly beverages to splatter across your face before soaking into your clothes. You swallowed the shriek that caught in your throat on contact, and a shiver rippled down your spine as you exhaled deeply through your nose and slowly rose to your feet wiping some of the frozen slush off your chest.

“OHMYGODS! OHMYGODS!” Her hands frantically waving in front of her, her bracelet clinking against itself as she moved. “I am SOO sorry! I wasn’t looking. I am so so sorry.” You wiped a bit of the melting slush from your cheek before studying your assailant.

Her rose hair was what stood out to you first. Each lock curled in a perfect ringlet and framing her face nicely. Then there were her eyes: oval pools of grey, wide in shock and glassy with unshed tears. Once perfectly applied makeup now streaked towards the corners like she’d been wiping the few drops that made it past her lash line. She was shorter than you by a few inches and her frame was small, and lithe. Her shoulders were curled inward, and hands clenched around the once full beverages and trembled at her sides.

She swiped furiously the new tears that slipped free. “I have a room a-at the hotel across the street if you want to freshen up and change. I-I really really am sorry.” Her head hung in shame. Her bottom lip shook between her teeth.

“It’s okay. It was an accident.” You leaned down to peer at her face. “I actually don’t have anything else to wear. I’m just passing through.” She lifted her head, just slightly, to meet your eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll dry. Besides, it looks like you have somewhere else to be.”

She straightened entirely, the tension between the blades of her shoulders easing, before dropping the plastic cups to clatter on the pavement and swiftly grabbing your hand to tug you along behind her. “Don’t you worry! I have extras!” Your dominant hand twisted behind your back to grab the hilt of your weapon as your limbic system trying to trigger the part of your brain into into fight mode. She must’ve seen you reaching for it cause she released your wrist as if you’re skin burned her. She hugged her arms weekly one palm rubbing at her bicep. “Sorry… I’m not trying to kidnap you. I mean look at you,” she gestured at all of you, “I hardly doubt I’d even be a threat to you.” You loosened your hold on the sword and let your arm fall back to your side. “Look,” she said. “I was stood up. I’m not busy. So please let me at least give you something to wear.”

“Well,” your nose wrinkled in disgust at the overly sweet smell permeating your clothes. “I do hate wet clothes.” You shrugged. Her despondent aura quickly transformed into something much lighter and outgoing. Her smile nearly stretched from ear to ear, her pearly white teeth capable of brightening a cloudy sky, as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Okay, this way.” Without wasting another second, she resumed her quick pace through the crowd, this time with you close behind. As she led you she babbled on about how she’s from Kalm, and came to see the parade before she traveled to Costa Del Sol tomorrow for a new job. You nodded along as you took mental notes on noticeable landmarks to find your way back later. Your ears trained on any distressing sounds while half heartedly listening to this woman’s story.

You marveled at the size and clarity of the glass doors of whatever hotel she brought you too, stretching at least fifteen feet taller than you. Large glass windows were on either side of the door and you nearly gasped when you turned. In the center of the lobby surrounded by curved wooden benches sat a proud replica of the Sister Ray. The thing was enormous! Nearly the size of an actual tank, and you couldn’t help but wonder if it was a functioning model.

The young woman zig zagged through the lingering guests trying to check in. Once again, you quickly scanned for possible exits and dangers that may be lurking in the dim corners. Just because you weren’t a fugitive like your companions didn’t mean you were safe. Anyone could have seen you with them, and it only took one onlooker to put you in danger. Caution and contingency plans are essential.

You gripped onto one of the railings as the two of you set walked up the stairs. She told you about the guy she was suppose to meet. They had met at the gate of the city when they were waited to acquired a travel permit. They hit it off, and had a lot in common so thinking that that might have been the beginning of something she asked if he wanted to meet up later. He seemed to be on the same page and agreed telling her to meet him at the seaway. He never turned up. She waited a couple hours after the time they agreed on before she finally gave up and quite literally stumbled into you. She feet came to a stop in front of room 304 and she quickly produced a keycard and held it to the sensor before she pushed the door open, and pulled you in behind her with a ‘tada!’.

“I’m Riza, by the way.” She waved her hand towards the extravagant king size bed, a silent invitation to make yourself comfortable. You ran your hands along the smooth red silk as she trotted over to the closet. Your eyes skimmed along the beautifully detailed painting of the flora and fauna of Junon that used to grow around the area before moving on to the pristinely crafted golden sconces and wooden paneled walls. The place was certainly one of the higher tier hotels in the city. You could only imagine the small fortune one must have to stay here. “I hope a sundress is okay. I packed for the beach.” Riza called out to you from the other side of the closet doors.

“Anything is fine. I really appreciate it.” Riza stepped back and closed the door, returning with a lovely blue chiffon fabric folded over her forearm.

“I think this one will look amazing on you. Go try it on!” She practically shoved the material into your hands before you awkwardly shuffled into the bathroom just behind her. “Feel free to use the hairbrush, make up, or well anything!”

“Thank you!” You called over your shoulder before shutting the door with a click and locking the door behind you. You blew a lock of hair out of your face as you stared at your reflection. You looked like you’d just robbed a circus with the various colors staining your clothes.

Some purple and blue tones had dried on your face, and most of your hair had escaped the tight braid you had put it in. You reached behind you to pull the tie free only to discover that it was no longer there. It must've fallen off when you fell earlier. You sighed. You hoped Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith were faring better than you.

Fifteen minutes later you emerged from the bathroom in a simple pale blue off the shoulder sundress with sheer batwing sleeves that flowed till just above your elbows round the entire breast line which accented the are nicely making your s/c really glow. The high waist pinched just at the divot between your ribs and hips then the sheer material cascaded around your calves in a tent silhouette. The lining under the flowy fabric was short and fitted to your form and stopped mid thigh. You brushed out the snarls at the ends of your hair prior to tucking a few locks behind your ears. You normally didn’t let it free, being mid back length it often got in your way, but you'd manage for now. You clipped and fastened the leather strap of your equipment at the waist line and fidgeted with a skirt for a moment before speaking up. “It fits great. Are you sure this is okay? We probably won’t meet again so I won’t be able to return it.”

She did a lap around you to take in every detail of your appearance, her irises dragging from head to toe, before she leaned against a cabinet near the bed. “Girl, don’t worry about it. It looks WAY better on you than me. Though it’d be better without that bag and sword.” She pointed at your equipment that you had secured it to its proper place.

You ignored the statement, not one to forego safety for fashion. “Look, I hate to just change and run, but I do have somewhere to be.”

“No worries! Sorry again.”

You stuffed your wet clothes into your pack and slipped your socks and boots back on before saying your goodbyes. “It was nice to meet you Riza. Good luck on your new position, and enjoy the beach.” You reached to pull the door open before you paused and turned to address her one more time. “That guy, by the way, is an idiot. You’re a gorgeous girl and I don’t come across truly kind people anymore. Don't settle for someone who doesn’t deserve you.”

You opened the door and slipped back into the hallway before she could respond. Each footstep muffled against the carpeted halls as you weaved yourself back into the bustling streets.

*~*

Time was running out and you still hadn’t learned anything that might have given your group an edge. You spent another hour and a half soaking in the whispered rumors, but none knew anything of value. What you needed was to find a middle to high level employee off duty and relaxing, preferably a man so you could charm some info right out of him, but you would settle for anyone at this point. Now if you a valuable employee that had time to spare where would you kill time?

In the barracks you chatted with a nice drill sergeant that showed you some of the routines they planned to perform so maybe Cloud could use that to come up with a better one. You ran into a middle class manager that you learned was leaving for vacation tomorrow since the cruise ships weren’t leaving the harbor until tomorrow. So that really put a wrench in making a getaway plan. You did run into a rather interesting establishment that you swore that bald turk escaped into, but you weren’t granted access unless you shave your head. A bald bar? Really? Eventually you happened by a lounge that looked promising.

The le Sourie, the brick side of the building read. You admired the large purple flowers that decorated the floor to ceiling entrance. The were even more impressive when you realized they were real and well maintained. Definitely a costly expense in this region. Two men stood guard on either side of the tinted glass door, one broad and nearly six feet tall and the other more lanky and around five-two-the second holding a clipboard and scanning what you guessed was a list. You readied your permit, ready to show them and possibly flirt your way in when the second man eyed you up and down before nodding to the towering man who firmly grabbed the handle and pulled it open for you. You weren’t naive you knew you were conventionally attractive, but you were surprised that they were so willing to let any and all beautiful women pass through.

You were immediately bathed in a faint blue light as you walked in. You looked up briefly to see the flower shape light fixtures above you before following the walkway illuminated by more blue faintly glowing floor runners on each side of the deep dark wooden planks. It was a beautiful place: smooth and sleek features, both table and booth seating arrangements, the counter at the bar was up a platform. A TV was mounted on each wall so everyone could view the parade, or there were two or three private booths with a partition to make it feel secluded- VIP section you imagine. Most tables were occupied with patrons engaged in intimate conversations whereas the bar was mostly open.

You took a seat on one of the plush bar stools toward the end of the counter closest to a screen and signaled for the bartender. You gazed at the long list of assorted liquors and asked the woman for something sweet and would go down easy. You didn’t often partake in drinking. You preferred to stay sharp, usually only participating when you're accompanying a client or target. You tended to be looser, and you certainly made seducing a target easier if you arent attracted to them. Your eyes flicked to the screen while the server went to make your poison of choice. You were quickly uninterested as soon as you seen the reporter interviewing a foot soldier. Nothing of interest.

You turned your attention to the far wall, looking for the source of music you kept hearing, where they had a small group of musicians playing. You’ve always had a love for the piano and you played a bit yourself from time to time though that night with Cloud was the first time you played in a few years. Time truly did get away from you when you stayed so busy. The instruments all harmonized nicely with the clean notes of the piano to the smooth brassy tones of the sax. You were a bit surprised that they had a full drum set in such a compact space, but the musician played in a way that was soft and gave the piece a nice low beat.

You sipped at your drink and eyes slowly trailed back to the TV. The reporter was still interviewing the same soldiers about their upcoming performance. They were asking if the troop could share some of the moves they were going to do when the low timbre of someone familiar filtered through the speakers, and shot of excitement rippled down your spine. Your eyes were now glued to the screen above you looking for him. You nearly gave up, convinced you were hearing things, until the camera honed in on the newest soldier in the interview and those bold blue eyes stared back at you through the screen. You’d know those eyes anywhere. A breathy laugh emanated from your mouth as his signature features show through his clever disguise. He looked uncomfortable under the reporter’s attention and stumbled at her aggressive questioning.

“How do you plan to set your team from the rest?” She asked as she shoved the microphone to his face.

“We… Uh…” He snaked his hand behind his head to scratch at his neck, something you’ve come to notice he does when he’s nervous, but the hand fell back to his side when the tips felt the metal of the helmet. Curious that his was different than the rest if them.

“Whoa… Right!” An eager trooper beside him came forward. “I see what you mean, captain.” Oh… Captain? You smiled. That’s cute. “We can’t go spilling our secrets to anyone who asks- especially on camera!”

His flustered and stuttering nervousness changed into the more stern and brusk part of him that was familiar to you. Confident, like he’s done this many many times before. “Break time’s over, people. The parade’s about to begin. Follow me!”

All the troopers jumped to attention before yelling out “Sir!” and the whole group, Cloud included, rushed out of whatever building they had been in. The camera followed after them for a moment before the camera swiveled and then cut off all together and the station switched into some Shinra infomercial.

You shook your head. He always seemed to tell everyone to lay low and out of sight so why was it that he was always the one to somehow stand out the most? You knew they were going to join the parade, but you hadn’t expected to get himself promoted.

“What’s a cute girl like you, doing in a bar, all alone?” You turned to look at the man who slid into the stool next to you. His wild flaming red spikes tied in a low pony was the first thing to catch your eye. The looks looked soft to the touch the front of it pushed up out of his face by the pair of black goggles he wore along his hairline. Then it was his eyes. The turquoise orbs crackled with sparks of mischief that reminded you of a strikes of lightning on a stormy day. You didn’t miss the underlying fire that smoldered back at you just waiting for a chance to light you up.

You made a show of raking your eyes over his slanted brows and further down to his sharp straight nose. You let a small coy smile spread before bringing your bottom lip between your teeth as your eyes settled on his cocky smirk across one half of his mouth. His tidy black suit, if not a little unprofessional, was left open to reveal the toned muscle on his chest underneath. A turk, and one that hadn’t met you in the mines. You could work with this.

“Shouldn’t you be on duty today?” you asked as you turned in your chair to face him. You propped your elbow onto the bar, delicately set your chin into your palm, and crossed one leg over the other which cause the edge of your dress drag down to your thigh.

“Man, I wish.” He sprawled out on the chair with his upper body angled towards you. “Bosses got me on vacation instead of chasing bad guys.” he took a swig from his own drink before signally the bartender for another round.

“Ah, that’s too bad.” You said with faux sympathy. “Would’ve loved to see you in action.” your sultry tone felt foreign on your tongue. You polished off your own drink needing a boost of liquid courage to rid yourself of the get over the tension. You hadn’t needed to do this since you left Midgar, and the fact that it comes so easy to you was unsettling. He drug his chair closer to yours, the legs scratching against the floor, as the bartender brought over the next round. You acted surprised when they set a second one down in front of you too. “Oh, thank you.”

“Pretty girl like you shouldn’t be buying her own drinks. Names Reno.” He stood on the bottom rungs of the stool to look down the bar then returned to his seat. He leaned close enough to your ear that you could feel the hot breath fan over the appendage as he spoke. “And between you and me, I heard that terrorist group’s in town. ‘M pretty pissed not to be chasing after ’em.” You twirled a lock of hair around your index finger as you listened to every syllable he said every once in a while flicking your eyes down to his parted lips. He leaned back, but only a little. “But, don’t worry! I may be takin’ a breather but I’ll protect you.”

“I must be lucky.” You took another sip. “Tell me though, why are you spending your vacation in a bar? A man in your position must be able to go wherever.”

He put one arm on the bar right next to yours, the light skin contact making your skin crawl, and the other on one of the rungs of the stool behind you. You scootched to the edge of your seat just enough that he thought you were interested. Conveniently from this angle you could see all the way to his belt buckle, and you noted the bandages wrapped around his defined abs. So out on injury then. “Heading to Costa Del Sol tomorrow.”

You looked back up at him through your lashes, and tilted your head slightly. “Why not today?” You asked hoping he’d provide an alternative to the closed port.

“Coulda, but only the Shinra-8 is sailing today. I’m waiting for the Shinra-10. Private cabins.” He winked. “Sure could use some company.” The hand behind you coming up to smooth along the skin of your exposed thigh.

You let out a breathy sigh to mask the repulsion that coursed through you. Despite the urge to break his hand you returned the gesture by running your hand down the length of his arm in response. “Perhaps I’ll see you on the ship.” Your gaze flicked towards the door for a second, to search for thee streak that you caught in your peripheral, before quickly taking a second glance. The blood pounding in your ears droned out whatever Reno was saying as you looked the shadows outside the window. Even under that red dingy helmet you’d know Cloud Strife anywhere.

Your heart stopped, if only for a moment, when your hazy eyes met his. Unlike any other time he’s looked at you his harsh stare was molten, hardened, and angry. Maybe it was the two cocktails coursing through your blood or just the desire you kept locked away, but right then and there you wished it was him touching you right now. Your core throbbing at the mere idea of his bare hands sliding up your thigh and under your dress. How you wished for his skin to press against yours.

His expression was blank, guarded, but his hands clenched into fists at his sides. You didn’t want to turn your attention back to the Turk next to you, but you had a job to do. You only hoped he’d understand what he saw was a ruse, but you wouldn’t blame him if he was angry. You had just joined the group and now your practically in the lap of his enemy. You peered up at Reno through the fallen locks of your bangs, batting your lashes a few times to make you seem daft, before taking a long look at the palm on your thigh.

“What wrong, princess?” Of course he’d notice, he was a Turk after all. You learned enough you supposed.

“Nothing. I just saw the friend I was meeting.” You retreated from his hold and smoothed down your dress. You wanted to clear up the misunderstanding before the parade started. “Thank you so much for the drink, Reno, and hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow.” You gave his arm one more lingering touch before you turned from him and sauntered towards the exit.

“Hey! What’s your name?” He called after you.

You offered no answer. Your only farewell was the wave over your shoulder as he was, without a doubt, watching you leave. Your hands trembled slightly in anticipation, but not nervous and more importantly not afraid as you set your sights on one man. Yeah, it’s definitely the alcohol.

*~*

Cloud was electrified the moment he saw you sitting there. He wasn’t even sure he was breathing. The world around him suddenly didn’t seem to matter as he shamelessly drank you in. It never occurred to him that you could look so delicate, so lady-like, after reveling in the way you struck down fiend after fiend without hesitation. The smooth skin of your shoulders captivated him, and his heart nearly burst through his chest as his eyes dipped lower down your chest. Heat surged through him as all the blood once again rushed to his dick. One smooth leg, all the way up to your thigh, on display through the slit of this new sundress. He barely registered the was the pale blue of the dress complemented your skin tone.

Then he realized exactly what he was watching. It was like someone poured ice water down his back in the middle of summer and lit a fire hotter than Ifrit’s flame deep in his belly. He jaw clenched together as he ground his teeth almost painfully as that asshole touched you so brazenly the way he should be touching you. He was really pissed he hadn’t killed him back in Midgar.

However, it was the way your hand trailed down his bicep and settled gently against his forearm, that turned the rage into nausea. The taste of bile on his tongue growing sharper as your lashes fluttered as he talked to you. His hands clench at the way you laughed at whatever ridiculous thing he said. The whole encounter set of a cocktail of emotions in the pit of his stomach that Cloud didn’t have the tools to deal with so instead he focused on the blood lust that clouded his brain. His posture became rigid as he tried to keep himself on this side of the glass as Reno leaned into you, the gap between the two of you becoming way to slim for his liking.

Part of him knew there must be a logical explanation; you didn’t seem like the type to go finding guys in bars let alone that fucker. He wanted to look away, but he was physically unable to tear his eyes away. He wished to be anywhere but here. Maybe the Gods took pity on him, or maybe you had a sixth sense that told you when he stared at you for to long because the moment your eyes met his across the building and through the glass Cloud couldn’t breathe.

His heart pounded relentlessly against his ribcage at the prospect of being caught, and for a moment the only thing he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears. He couldn't grasp the initial plea your eyes conveyed, but moments after they lit up in recognition before glazing over in a heated stare. The heat returned between his legs like molten lava. His entire body lurched forward towards you, wanting nothing than to be slotted between your thighs, before he caught himself, and when you finally looked away he hightailed it out of there.

What the hell was that? He hadn’t done anything wrong so why the hell did he feel guilty? He fucking knew why he just didn't want to acknowledge the hardness between his legs that twitched to life under your sweltering e/c orbs like some kind of closet pervert. A tiny part of him, perhaps the debauchee that kept surfacing, swelled with a pinch of pride and a dash of smugness. You hadn’t looked at Reno like that.

He stomped down the stairs to the main road where he left Tifa and Aerith behind. He chose to ignore their inquiries, instead he stalked across the road to put as much distance between you and him as possible. He was ready to get this shit over with.

He nearly made it to the troops of Midgar’s Seventh Infantry before he heard his name echo above the useless chatter of the far too crowded street. He thinks that he’d always hear your voice calling out to him no matter the distance much like Aerith could hear the Planet. His feet faltered for a moment as he debated if he was going to ignore you or not, but he just didn’t have it in him to walk away from you.

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder and sure as shit there you were chasing after him with your skirt clenched in one hand to keep yourself from tripping over it as you ran after him.

“Told you it involved her.” Aerith said under her breath, his enhanced hearing picking it up despite her efforts to keep quiet.

“Guess I owe you.” Tifa replied.

“Shut up.” He snapped. He stalked towards you to meet you in the middle, leaving the two gossiping girls at the edge of the road.

“Hey.” You took in a few deep breaths. “Nice uniform, captain.”

He groaned. He had somehow forgotten that detail in the last past few minutes. “How’d you-”

“I seen your interview. You play the part well. And you two-” you peered around him. “Look fantastic.”

His eyes narrowed as he studied you as you appeared to be normal not like you had just shared- well whatever that was. “You’re one to talk, y/n.” Aerith said.

“Really, y/n, you look stunning.” Tifa chimed in. He thought so too. He suddenly felt shy with you next to him like this.

“Yeah, well long, story. Anyway, after you the parade find the Shinra-8. It’s the only boat leaving port today, and it leaves soon after the event. It’s the perfect getaway.”

“Got it!” Aerith said. The girls looked towards the main drag when the rest of the squadron all called out for their captain as they finally spotted Cloud’s helmet in the crowd. “Oh! They’re coming this way!”

You looked up at him with those big shining eyes of yours, “Out of time it looks like.”

“We’ll go stall.” Tifa said with a wink before Aerith grabbed her arm and dragged Tifa along with her as she went to distract the incoming hoards of men.

“Uh, thanks.” He said lamely as he scratched at the hairs along his nape.

“The turks know you’re here.” So you did know who Reno was. The residual flickers of fire in his gut subsided when he understood the nature of your encounter. “So be careful, okay?”

“No promises.”

The corner of your mouth quirked upwards, as you peered up at him through your lashes. The strands behind your ears fell around your jawline before you tucked it away once more. His pulse thumped rhymically in his throat as the silence stretched between you. Should he say anything? Should he ask you about what happened? You chewed on your lower lip, perhaps in the same internal battle as him, as the two of you just looked at one another before your eyes settled on his neckline.

You hands reach out for him. Your fingers moving slowly towards his collar pausing to give him time to back away if he so desired. Every instinct told him do so, but there was an ache in the hollow gut that yearned for your touch. He nearly flinched as the tips of your fingers ghosted along his neck, but forced his body to relax under the warm pads of your fingertips. It was brief, no longer than a second or two while you straightened the collar of his uniform, but it was enough for an army of goosebumps to erupt across his sensitive flesh. “Good luck out there. I’ll be watching.”

He swallowed thickly around the thump that formed in the back of his throat and nodded dumbly in confirmation. You smoothed your hands down his shoulders and onto his upper chest before withdrawing from him completely. You jutted your thumb behind you to signal your departure as you stepped backwards into the crowd once again. He heaved in relief when he watched your figured trailing away from the bar.

“You’re right, Aerith. He’s totally in love with her.” He groaned. Just what he needed; another thorn in his side to poke, prodd, and tease.

“Let’s go.” He redirected. “We have a parade to win.”

[retoldflames]

Retold Flames: False Dragonets

Here with the False Dragonets before the events of Arc 1. For a bit of AU world building. The Talons of Peace were founded and lead by Seawing Commander Tempest with the support of Princess Blister to help get her on the Kingdom of Sand Throne. Tempest would later be assassinated by a Nightwing, her position as leader of the Talons of Peace being taken up by Seawing Nautilus who would ignore dealing with the dragonet prophecy and focus the Talons efforts into searching for alternative ways of ending the war.

Viper: The Sandwing of the False Dragonets. She would be the fierce fighter of the group, having a training and sparring partner in Riptide during her younger years; This would eventually extend to the other False Dragonets who Viper would make sure knew how to fight and defend themselves so she could have a fair challenge for herself. She is also noted as having a cold and diluted venom as well as not radiating warmth like other Sandwings, instead having a cool touch.

-

Flame: The Skywing of the False. He would be the oldest of the False Dragonets, hatching a few hours before the brightest night during the day. He would tend to confront things he has issues about with anger, especially when it comes to others insulting and hurting his mother Avalanche who he cares about. He would be confrontational as well whenever Viper has a sparring match with them and the injuries she causes from it, especially those she causes with her barb tail, leading Flame to take up some medical knowledge to make sure the dragonets injuries are healed for so they can continue living to one day fulfill their prophecy.

-

Ochre: The Mudwing of the False Dragonets. He would be interested in trying out the taste of new foods, even taking up some culinary skills to expand his tastes further. He is generally willing to go along with the other dragonets plans so long as it doesn’t get in the way of him eating, at which point he will become confrontational and not back down, even daring to do some pretty crazy and dangerous stuff if it means tasting something new; Such as when he challenged Viper to a one on one duel where makes the deal of getting to taste her venom he win and will go through a month straight of being her training partner without a break should he lose. Viper would accept thinking it would be a quick way to get a training partner, not expecting Ochre to be so ferocious and determined to win, drawing out the fight until Viper takes the win after beating Ochre to a pulp and finishing with a total knockout to end it. Following this, Viper would keep a close watch over Ochre so that he doesn’t forget about their deal, stuck waiting for him to recover until she gets the clear from Flame that Ochre is well enough so they can start training. During their time together as Ochre recovers, he and Viper would come to know each-other better as they spend more time together during recovery and through training, finding a shared hobby between each other of hunting down prey to eat and ingredients to improve their taste; Continuing long after their month of training together is over as the two find a growing love between one another.

-

Squid: The Seawing of the False Dragonets. He would have a bit of an ego and annoyingly boast how he is the son of the Talons of Peace leader Nautilus, having ambitions of one day finding fame and fortune in the ruins across Pyrrhia; Something Nautilus would look down upon his son for, focusing more on getting everyone in the Talons to find alternative ways to peace that don’t include the prophecy, leaving the dragonets to be primarily cared for and parented by Avalanche who would be usually stuck being sent on missions like every other adult. This would lead to Flame resenting and being angry at Pike for boasting about Nautilus as well as form a growing jealousy about how they have to share time being cared for by his mother Avalanche, growing to the point where during one of the times Avalanche was back at camp from another mission and caring for the dragonets; Flame would get into an argument with Pike about their parent, escalating into a very nasty brawl that would force the other dragonets, Avalanche and a present Riptide to separate the two away from each other. The brawl would leave Flame with a nasty gash going down between his eyes and the left side of his snout to the lip while Pike would become mostly blind in his left eye from taking a nearly point-blank flame breath attack from Flame during the brawl in an attempt to stop Pike off of him and stop clawing at his face. Leaving the two to generally keep a distance from one another, causing some issues for the others and lead Viper to take direct measures for what she sees as an annoyance as well as convincing Ochre to help her with the promise of something special to eat when they are alone together once they are done; Capturing Flame and Squid, forcing the two to confront the issue at hand and leading to them working together to chase down Viper and Ochre in until they lost them in the chase. Ending in Squid and Flame still not on good terms but not outright avoiding each other, most of the time. Squid would also catch feelings for Pyrite, one of the newer members of the Talons when the dragonets are older but wouldn’t be confident enough to pursue these feelings.

-

Fatespeaker: The Nightwing of the False Dragonets. She would be a bit distant from the other dragonets, having an unwavering optimism that the others would find annoying most of the time; Especially whenever they are fighting one another and Fate comes in with her optimism when everyone is being pessimistic, leading to the others to make up with one another in the moment and unite against Fate; Inspiring Viper to do something similar when dealing with Flame and Squid avoiding each other after their brawl; A brawl that would crack Fate’s optimism at how awful the dragonets are being to one another, bringing about a false optimism as she pushes aside the bad things that are happening and focuses on bringing out the good in the other dragonets to keep them together. She would also become very good at reading and predicting how the other dragonets are going to act and what they want, bringing about a strong belief of having future sight and mind reading from it even when they aren’t exactly on point; Figuring out that Squid has feelings towards Pyrite and in turn helps him build up confidence and charisma to pursue his feelings for Pyrite, bringing about a new and growing friendship that would eventually lead him to take a promise of waiting to pursue a closer relationship until the war ends. This would eventually lead Squid’s newfound confidence and charisma in pursuing a romantic relationship to help Viper and Ochre find the confidence to take another step in their relationship and officially become a couple, much to the joy of Fatespeaker in finding happiness with each other.

[k-evans-reads]

In Living Color

Chapter 9 - Part Two

Summary: When Natalie Marton, lead character designer for Buzz Lightyear, meets the voice of Buzz, Chris Evans, the sparks are undeniable. But when their work pushes them away from each other, both physically and emotionally, will the sheer differences between their worlds be enough to force them apart?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Pixar Animator OFC Natalie Marton

Word Count: 4,705

By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour

We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.

Warnings: None.

Previous | Main Masterlist | In Living Color Masterlist

June 2021

If Chris had to guess, he’d say he slept maybe for twenty minutes the previous night.

Twenty restless minutes, after which he woke feeling as though he’d had a nightmare. But what he wished was only a nightmare had become his reality, which was that damned leaked picture from the catering company, one with him all over Nat in the background.

Chris couldn’t stop thinking that this was just an absolute fucking disaster. One that didn’t end when he opened his eyes, instead playing out in front of him with every passing moment where his phone didn’t light up with a text from here and when he was still so fucking annoyed and discouraged, not knowing how or if he should reach out first when Nat was the one to end things. 

Thankfully, the crew had the day off to adjust back to day shoots after a long few weeks of night work, but the reprieve didn’t last long when he heard the door to his hotel room unlock and open as Scott came inside with a yawn. They’d made plans the previous night – before Chris’ life went up in flames thanks to a simple phone call – to eat breakfast in Chris’ room, then find the Sox game on a random online stream and spend the day on the couch. 

Chris didn’t even look up from where he was staring out the window when Scott came into the room, shoulders taught when Scott asked, “So how’s Nat?” 

“The fuck if I know,” he shook his head, glancing down at the table before he took a sip of coffee, hoping it somehow held the answers to how to fix everything.

Scott’s face fell and he reared back before hurrying to sit down at the table next to Chris, pulling a plate of eggs from room service in front of him. “What the hell does that mean?” He asked Chris with a raised brow as he sprinkled some pepper onto his food. 

“It means I wouldn’t have a clue,” Chris began before he scoffed and his hand flew in the air. “She’s going to Seattle and doesn’t want to talk to me. We fought last night and she said she wanted time to think.” 

Scott listened to him with an expression of pure disbelief, and once Chris explained what happened vaguely, his younger brother held his own hand in the air and ordered, “Hold on, back up and start from the beginning. None of this is making sense.” 

With a sigh, Chris began from the beginning, reminding him about the stressful hurried texts and calls with Megan in between takes and during dinner, but then caught him up to speed on what happened after the fact, once he was back in his room and Nat was on her way home from work. And as he retold the story, he was struck by just how sideways everything went, and how quickly it went wrong. But he still couldn’t figure out why Nat got so frustrated with him relaying what Megan – one of the people he trusted the most in this industry, almost implicitly – advised them to do to handle this. Which was her job. What he paid her to do. “I just feel like she was blaming me for everything when all I was doing was trying to make it better for her,” he finished, shrugging as he shook his head in frustration. 

But he didn’t expect Scott’s scowl once he finished, and the dirty blond held his hands in the air placatingly as he told Chris, “Look, don’t shoot the messenger, but it sounds like she kind of told you she just wanted some emotional support.” 

“That’s what I was trying to do! I was trying to solve it so she wouldn’t have to deal with it,” Chris explained, hands flying in the air as he clenched his jaw. 

“She had to deal with it anyway though, Chris,” Scott explained slowly, in a way that made Chris feel as though he was a four-year-old getting chastised. “Remember that Nat isn’t used to any of this. I’m sure it really scared her.” 

He stared at his hands as they anxiously fiddled in his lap, wrapping around themselves before they dropped to his sides, only to go right back to it again. “....It did,” he admitted, remembering how gutted and terrified she sounded, almost more than she did the previous week when she’d call him distraught. 

Scott listened to Chris and was quiet for several minutes as Chris moved his food around his plate and Scott ate. Even looking at the food made Chris feel sick, he just wanted to hop onto the next flight out and apologize to Nat and hold her. But he couldn’t. He had too much riding against him here – commitments and contracts, things he absolutely couldn’t get out of without fucking up his career, and people relying on him, people he had to owe a good portion of his career to – but he yearned to see her face to face, to make things right. 

“C’mon, I know you’re thinking something. What’s going on in your head?” Scott prodded gently, pointing his fork towards Chris. 

“I don’t know Scott, I just know I fucked it up,” he whispered, rubbing a hand over his face to hopefully calm himself down and stave off something like a panic attack. “I think me wanting to solve all of this with the picture was more about wanting to solve it for me than it was for her.” 

“Why do you think that?” 

Chris shrugged, frowning as he tried to clear the lump in his throat. “Because I think I knew how much it would hurt her and make her see all the shit that goes along with me,” he admitted finally. 

Scott sighed, almost sympathetically as he pointed out, “But that’s unavoidable. With the level of fame that you’re at, that’s what goes with it.” 

“That’s the problem. Anyone who’s with me has to deal with it,” Chris agreed, his voice stronger. It’d taken him a long time to recognize the burden he placed on his loved ones with just being him. With being the guy on his nephews and niece’s friends’ lunch boxes, the guy in every other commercial some years. It sucked, it was a level of fame he never quite desired, and he was grateful for it – don’t get him wrong, he was immensely grateful for the career he worked for – but he missed the days where people didn’t breathe down his neck, didn’t tag him in random pictures every minute, and didn’t flood his mentions with less than desirable things. It was all the biggest turn offs to anyone, but especially someone like Nat, who had a career that afforded her with the privacy and autonomy he no longer knew. “And Nat’s no social climber who likes the spotlight but she’s also not someone in the industry who’s used to it and I know she’s going to hate it.” 

But Scott saw right through that argument, that line of logic, and in between bites of bacon he told Chris, “If she cares about you though, it won’t matter.” 

“I’m just afraid that we haven’t had the chance for the good to outweigh the bad,” Chris confessed quietly, feeling as though he was now just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

“You can’t control that though,” Scott argued back, but then his expression turned empathetic as he studied Chris with a sad half-smile. “And I know you hate that.” 

“I dunno, Scott. Maybe it’s for the best,” Chris shrugged and tried to assure himself of just that. That he would bring nothing but chaos and a spotlight to Nat’s otherwise peaceful, uninteresting-to-the-average-fan life. “Nat’s better off without all this in her life.” 

“Are you better off without her?” 

“I don’t think that’s part of the equation anymore,” Chris admitted, more to himself than Scott. “I fucked it up, but then again I always seem to.”

“So don’t you think you should work on fixing things?” Scott asked with a shrug, with the self-surety that only came with being Scott. At Chris’ silence and odd look, he explained, “I’m not trying to make you feel worse, Chris. I’m really not. I just feel like you do something you perceive as wrong and then just beat yourself up for it. Nobody is perfect, nobody handles things the right way every time but that’s why you have to just learn from it, apologize and move on.” 

“I know you’re right,” Chris began quietly, taking a large sip of his coffee, more to distract himself and hold off on speaking more than anything. “I just don’t think Nat wants to hear from me. It didn’t sound good when she said she wanted to think things over… it sounded like it was it for us and that just scared the shit out of me. Then I was an ass and made it worse by saying I’d maybe see her later.” 

Scott pointed his fork at Chris again, eyes wide as he instructed, “So tell her that. Tell her you were scared and you’re sorry.” 

Chris listened, eyes finding his phone from where it sat a few feet away, screen dark with no messages from Nat. “...I don’t think she’ll answer,” he whispered. 

But Scott simply shrugged, reaching for his iced latte and drawling, “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t say it though.” 

He just nodded before changing the subject as he finished breakfast with his brother, but the words Scott had spoken stuck in his brain throughout the day. He couldn’t stop thinking about how all of this had happened, how good things had been and just how quickly they went wrong. His brain kept churning and replaying it over and over in his mind as the day wore on, but now that the shock and emotion of seeing that picture surface and the panic he felt was gone, all he could seem to remember was the emotion in Nat’s voice when she talked to him on that phone. 

Chris had been so focused on fixing this, on trying to make it go away to assure Nat that dating him wouldn't be the circus that he knew it was at times. He had tried to come into it with a strategy to make her feel as if he had it under control and yet all he managed to do was push her away and cause that crackle in her voice that still plagued his memory, and he was determined to make it up to her. 

Nat couldn’t help but feel disappointed that even coming back home to Washington didn’t seem to soothe her heart, and instead of breathing a sigh of relief as she stepped off the plane, she only choked back more tears. The flight, under three hours long, only provided her with more opportunities to mull over the situation with her and Chris, to think back on their highs together only to come crashing back down as she remembered their lows… and what had happened just a day earlier. 

And while she looked forward to seeing her sisters, the pair volunteering to pick her up from the airport, the grilling she received on what had just transpired hurt even more than she imagined. She hadn’t thought it could get worse than it already had, but hearing about how even Heather and Alex had felt the effects of the blow up put the final dagger in her, both having hundreds of follow requests as well, for no reason except being the sisters of Natalie Marton, Chris’ fling. 

She pushed aside those feelings however, determined to enjoy the evening at home, finally. And she did – she enjoyed walking into her childhood home, into the comforting and warm arms of her father, and hugging her brother-in-laws and getting tackled by her nieces and nephew. But all throughout dinner and until after the kids went to bed, her eyes kept getting drawn to her phone, hoping for something from Chris, something that said this was just a nightmare, or a horrible misunderstanding.

Nat thought she’d disguised her emotions well enough behind the genuine excitement of finally being home, but her cover was blown once she finally ignored and walked away her phone while she helped her father with the dishes while Heather, Ryan, Alex, and Zach were busy getting the kids down for bed and cleaning up the backyard.

“I’m so glad you were able to come, Nattie,” her father murmured, his voice hardly audible over the running water from the sink as he washed dishes before handing them, one by one, to Nat for her to dry and put away. “We love it when you’re around.” 

“I do too,” she agreed, knowing just how much being with her family had made this better and having people who loved her so deeply brought comfort to her. Nat kept her eyes on the plate she was wiping, letting out a soft sigh before telling him, “It was nice to have my mind off of… everything.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him give her a long glance before finally asking,“You want to fill me in on what’s going on, honey?”

Nat rolled her eyes, feeling the anxiety inside of her rise as she told him, “I’m sure Heather and Alex already have, considering the nonstop texts I’ve got from them all day yesterday.”

But Eric simply shut the sink off, turning as he dried his hands with a dish towel and leaned the small of his back against the sink as he looked at her. “They told me that there was a picture online, but that doesn’t tell me how you’re feeling and that’s what I’m concerned about.”

“I just can’t wrap my head around it. I was having a normal day at work and then suddenly everything turned upside down because of one stupid picture where Chris had his arm around me,” Nat still didn’t understand the reality of this all, all the fear and anxiety spilling over as her voice rose and she tossed a hand in the air. 

Her father shook his head, muttering, “I can’t imagine what it must be like for Chris to always have to be looking over his shoulder.”

“Now I feel like I do too,” Nat admitted quietly, swallowing nervously as tears threatened to burn her eyes. “I mean, I’m nobody and yet I have thousands and thousands of his fans requesting to follow me.”

“What did Chris say about all of this?”

At just one mention of his name and the memory of that hurtful conversation that was only one day ago, tears sprung to her eyes as she thought back to his cold tone and swallowed hard, “… That was the worst part.” 

“Here, let’s sit down and tell me what’s going on,” Eric could see the emotions passing over her face and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading his youngest daughter over to the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair for her that Nat ungracefully plopped into before he sat down across from her and instantly reached a hand across the wood table top to hold one of her hands in his. 

“Dad, I was so freaked out,” Nat confessed with a shaky voice, trying to blink away the tears unsuccessfully before they slipped down her cheeks. “I mean, I got blindsided by this and Chris and I aren’t even officially together or anything but he called me and just gave me a laundry list from his publicist of what I can and can’t do.”

“Oh really?”

“Can you imagine how that made me feel? I was so terrified and all he wanted to say was that I had to make sure to keep everything private and don’t say a word about it to people I’m not close with,” the words just came pouring out of her mouth, finally having an opportunity to fully process and express her feelings. Nat ran a hand through her messy curls before admitting, “I felt like he couldn’t care less how I was doing.”

“Did you tell him that?” Eric tried to prod as he looked right into her eyes. 

“Yeah,” she shrugged. But Nat knew it didn’t seem to matter because even when she had told him, he had been less than understanding, but in an attempt to give her father a whole picture of the situation she filled him in that, “He just said trying to fix it was because he cared about me.”

“I’m sure he was,” Eric nodded. 

“I get people don’t always react the best in the moment. I know I wasn’t thinking the most clearly but I…” Nat had to stop for a moment to swallow the lump in her throat, going on with, “I told him I just needed time to think and he basically called off coming back to LA and said he’ll maybe see me later which felt like a big fuck you.”

When Nat saw the way her dad’s eyes arched in sympathy, she knew that it probably wasn’t good and it only caused the knot in her stomach to tighten. The tears filling her eyes just didn’t seem to stop and when Alex came walking into the room, she knew that her sister saw them by the way she stopped short. Nat didn’t say a word as Alex walked over, just putting an arm around her and giving her a soft squeeze before saying, “You left your phone outside and it was ringing.” 

And with that and a soft kiss on the top of her head, Alex left the pair the way they were a minute ago as they sat in the soft light of the kitchen. Nat tapped on the screen and instantly felt her heart drop when she saw that name on her screen, and her father must have known too based on the way he asked, “Is it Chris?” 

“Yeah… he um, left me a voicemail,” she whispered, eyes frozen on her phone, thumb hovering anxiously between the play and delete buttons. 

Eric was quiet, nodding more to himself than to Nat as he took a sip from the glass of water resting on the table next to him. “Maybe you should listen to it,” he finally suggested. 

Part of Nat didn’t want to. She was afraid of what might be waiting for her on the other end of the line. She should have known from day one that there was no way any of this… this connection they seemed to have would go anywhere but then somehow it seemed to. Nat had tricked herself into believing it all would somehow be okay until that bubble was popped yesterday. She got hit with the reminder that this couldn’t be and somehow it felt like it would be easier if it could just slip away, but it looked like she wasn’t going to get out of it without hearing what he decided she needed to hear. 

With a shaky hand, she turned the volume up and clicked play, hearing that husky voice of his start talking, “Hey…. It's me. Nat, I’ve been such an idiot. I handled all of this like shit and I just want to tell you how sorry I am. I couldn’t believe how much this blew up and I knew it wouldn’t be anything you were prepared for so I think I just wanted to solve it and have a plan to make it all better, but in doing that, I missed out on the most important thing which is you.” Nat kept listening to the voicemail as the line paused for a minute, hearing his soft sigh before he continued, “I kind of um, wanted to be able to say this right to you, but I get you need space and I respect that. I just want you to know that I’m sorry, Nattie. I’m so, so, sorry.” 

She was quiet as she listened to his last deep breath before he had hung up, tears freely falling from her eyes as she processed what had just been said. She almost forgot that her father was sitting just across the table from her until he tilted his head, looking at her in concern as he whispered, “Nattie…”

“Dad, what am I going to do? How do I figure any of this out?” Nat’s voice crackled as she practically begged him for any answers. “This is not anything I thought I’d ever have to deal with.”

“Times like this I wish your mom was here,” her dad’s voice was soft as he lightly shook his head, remembering, “She always knew what to say.”

“I just don’t know what I should do…” 

“Nattie, I don’t know that I’m always the wisest person or have all the right answers,” she could see just how uneasy her dad was, knowing that he was doing everything in his power to be there for Nat in the way she needed in this moment. 

“I’d really like to know what you think, Dad,” Nat insisted, knowing that Eric was never one to tell anyone what to do, but she needed his guidance, explaining, “I’m so confused.”

Eric reached out, taking Nat’s hand again and squeezing it softly as he gave her a sad smile. “All I know Nattie is that you get that sparkle in your eye when you talk about him. And that from even just those few moments when he came while we were having lunch in California, I could tell by the way he looked at you just how deeply he cared for you,” he told her, and Nat let out a deep breath as she realized she agreed with him. Chris did care for her, hell she cared for him more than she thought was ever possible, but she also had never been here before, never had to consider anything more than updating her Facebook status as a relationship grew and changed. 

“I know he does… I know he means what he said in that voicemail,” Nat knew there was no way she could deny that what Chris had expressed to her was anything less than authentic. But she finally gave voice to her underlying fears, “I just don’t know if it’s enough… if I can deal with everything that comes with him and his life.”

“I don’t have an answer to that, honey,” Eric was honest, a hand motioning vaguely in the air before he told her, “But I think you’re in too deep for him not to find out for sure.”

“… I’m really crazy about him, dad,” the emotions inside of Nat feeling so heavy and deep, knowing that what she felt for Chris wasn’t something she’d be able to walk away from so easily and admitted, “I don’t want things to slip away as easy as they seemed to on the phone when we talked.”

“Give him a call, Nattie.”

“I don’t know… it’s late… he’s probably asleep,” Nat muttered, knowing that he might not even be up yet, or could be in the middle of filming, but more so finding an excuse to shield her feelings from any further damage. 

“Just call him,” Eric murmured again, a sideways grin on his face as he nodded resolutely. “Trust me.”

She felt him give her hand a soft squeeze before Nat nodded, silently agreeing before she used the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe away her tears. Eric pulled Nat in for a long hug before they were interrupted by her elder sisters coming in with both their husbands behind them, carrying in the last few things from outside and filling the kitchen with their loud chatter. While the chaos was happening as everyone filled the kitchen, Nat was the only one who saw the little wink Eric gave her, encouraging Nat to slip out of the kitchen unnoticed and walk up the stairs and down to the end of the long hallway where her childhood room still was. 

Nat closed the door behind her before going to sit on the full-size bed, hearing the soft creak as she put her weight on it. She just sat there for a long moment, staring at the phone in her hands as she wondered what she should do… What should she say? Maybe this was something that should wait, she thought to herself. Nat’s brain kept filtering through every excuse in the book before impulsively hitting the call button. 

It only rang a few times, enough that she was sure it’d go to voicemail and she’d be spared from having to face him, but soon his gruff, sleepy voice answered, “Nattie?” 

“Shit, you were sleeping weren’t you?” She swore, frowning as she shut her eyes. Nat kicked off her flip flops, moving her legs onto the bed and leaned her back against the pale yellow wall. “I knew I shouldn’t have called.” 

But his voice sounded much more awake than it had only a few seconds ago when he explained, “No, no. I was just dozing.” 

Nat nodded to herself, staring down at the worn quilt as she picked at a loose thread on it restlessly. “I just wanted to call you and tell you that I’m sorry,” she finally whispered, pausing for a moment as she felt unable to help but listen to every sound that left his lips, no matter how small. “I’m really sorry, Chris.” 

“Are you kidding me? What do you have to apologize for?” He asked, his voice quiet but incredulous. “I was the one who was an ass, Nattie.” 

She frowned, listening to him but insisting, “I don’t feel like I handled any of this well at all.” 

“Why should you? You were blindsided and not at all equipped for any of this,” he explained, and Nat felt relieved that he finally saw how she’d been feeling throughout all of this. “And instead of helping, I just made everything fuckin’ worse and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for that.” 

Tears filled her eyes as relief flooded her, and it was then that she knew that they’d make it out of this, out of this nightmare that’d been consuming them. It wasn’t something she’d ever entertained happening – them pushing through it together – because it just seemed so final and absolute, the way they’d left things, but they’d come together and began picking up the pieces as a pair instead of broken individuals. “...I’m just scared and I miss you,” she admitted, her voice cracking as tears slipped down her cheeks.  

“I miss you too, I’m so sorry baby,” his voice was low and tender and Nat could almost see him shaking his head before he told her, “I wish I could make it up to you.” 

“Your apology was more than enough,” she told him, shaking her head to herself as she listened to the sound of him breathing, aching to be there next to him. “But… you could still take me out to dinner when you come back if you’re available.” 

Chris’ voice was stronger, no room for question as he told her, “When I come back from Europe, I’m spending a couple days at home to shake off the jet lag and get Dodger, and then I’m flying straight out to see you.” 

She bit her lip as a smile spread across her face, feeling some butterflies in her stomach as she whispered, “I think that sounds really good.” 

“I do too, Nattie,” he whispered back, a smile evident in his own voice before he yawned. “I’ll see you soon.” 

Even as the call ended, the smile that was on her lips stayed put as she realized that she would - finally - see him soon. That mental countdown she’d had for a month now was moving closer and closer to the end with every passing moment, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face as she thought about tomorrow, about her niece Ella’s birthday party, but also about how she’d be one day closer to being back in his arms again. 

A/N: We hope this made up for everything! We can't wait to hear what you all think! Please feel free to send in an ask or leave a comment!

[seollenda]

a prayer for tigers (wenrene!chill kill)

wow it took me a month and lowkey almost gave up on it but we are starting new years resolutions early and one of them is to NOT give up on new writing projects 🫡

anyway fk sm for giving me wenrene teaser pics for no reason bc this is what happens when i'm blueballed...a 4k fic.

CW: not-too-explicit desc of violence + very vaguely ✨artistically✨ suggestive word count: ~4000

nobody else knew that seungwan was flames and fire.

joohyun remembered when she didn’t have to be that way, when life hadn’t folded them into the strange shadows they lived as now. son seungwan had been the bright girl down the street, the one who gathered the wildflowers from her yard and thrust her bouquet into joohyun’s hand before the schoolboys could. her smile was ceaseless, her voice like sunshine, the warmth of her affection tinging their school days and sleepovers with something that made shy joohyun’s heart skip a beat.

seungwan’s fire was warm and safe. she braided yerim’s hair and wiped sooyoung’s tears, her embraces and kind eyes enough to persuade the younger ones’ confessions to what ailed them. when joohyun was at a loss, seungwan would step past her, wrapping her arms around whichever one needed to be heard. when seungwan crawled into their shared bed late that evening, joohyun would be awake for her debrief, listening silently as seungwan retold what she had heard.

seungwan wasn’t a particularly tearful person, but joohyun could hear when her voice wavered, reaching out to wipe the tears from her cheeks. 

“you’re so strong, seungwan,” joohyun said softly. seungwan curled closer, her small frame wracked with silent sobs. “i couldn’t take care of them without you.”

“this has to stop,” seungwan breathed. “i’ll…i’ll make it stop.”

joohyun only sighed, hugging the younger girl tighter. “it’s too dangerous, it’s always been too dangerous. you know that.”

but seungwan was quiet. that should’ve been enough of a sign for joohyun. she knew that seungwan only went silent when she’d made a decision.

but none of it mattered when seungwan shifted in the dark, and pressed her lips against joohyun’s.

–

“unnie.”

seulgi stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at joohyun’s back. the eldest was whisking a hopelessly lumpy batter, too absorbed in the task to look up.

“what’s up?” joohyun tasted the mix and wrinkled her nose at the taste of stale flour. “did you find the streamers?”

“yeah.” seulgi stepped forward. “and this.”

joohyun’s gaze landed on what her half-sister had tossed onto the counter. a polaroid, taken on one of joy’s cameras: wendy’s head turned to press a kiss on joohyun’s cheek, a shaky selfie, with the words “my joohyunnie” scrawled in unmistakable handwriting on its border.

“oh–” joohyun reached for it, but seulgi was too fast, snatching it back. the older sister couldn’t bring herself to look the other in the eye.

“are you and seungwan…?” seulgi’s tone was unreadable, measured. joohyun’s cheeks were flaming, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest.

“it’s not what it looks like,” joohyun said.

“what does it look like?” seulgi asked. joohyun turned around to face her. seulgi had her arm outstretched, holding up the photo for joohyun to see again.

a blurry smile on joohyun’s lips, seungwan’s pink cheeks visible even in the desaturated colors of the expired film. a heart punctuating the end of her name, in the handwriting of a girl she had always loved.

her sister lowered her arm, catching joohyun’s gaze for the first time. there was a gentle sorrow in her eyes, but joohyun knew she had been silly to fear judgment from kang seulgi.

“i think i’ve always liked her,” joohyun said softly. “since before we were…” she trailed off.

seulgi handed the photo back to her. “how long has it been?”

“a month.”

“i’m glad you have each other.”

“yeah.” joohyun was silent for a moment, staring down at the photo. “though i want you to know that this doesn’t change anything about us, as a family. and if…” she looked up earnestly. “if anything happens between us, we promised that it would never affect you guys.”

“do yerim and sooyoung know?”

“we haven’t told them.” joohyun tucked the photo into her pocket, turning to resume her whisking so she would have something to do with her hands.

“they should know, too.” seulgi said, placing a light hand on her sister’s shoulder. “it’s not fair to them.”

“yeah.” joohyun set the bowl aside, leaning heavily on the counter’s edge. “we’ll talk, after yerim’s birthday.”

–

“there isn’t much left.”

yerim’s smile sagged as she spoke, watching seulgi spark a weak lighter over their singular birthday candle. the bic was nearly out of fluid by now, a treasured find that He had once dropped on the stairs and the girls had quickly squirreled away.

“well, we’d better be quick then,” seungwan said, quickly bursting into song. “happy birthday to you–”

joohyun touched seungwan’s arm and the girl lowered her voice. the others joined in, their song hushed as yerim stared, hypnotized by the tiny wavering flame on her strange cake. when the song ended she leaned forward, extinguishing the candle in a careful puff.

“our baby, all grown up.” seungwan squeezed yerim into a hug until the maknae protested. seulgi and joohyun tucked in next to the pair as sooyoung snapped a quick photo, giggling in satisfaction as she watched the polaroid develop. joohyun leapt up on quiet feet to begin distributing cake, watching the younger ones break into excited chatter, fawning over their yerimie. seulgi began to teach the girls the new song and dance she had been working on for this evening’s festivities. the girls shoved the furniture to the corners of the room to make space for their party. 

joohyun’s heart felt lighter than it had been in a long time. birthdays were never easy, every year that ticked by a reminder of how long they had lived between these walls. 

the middle kids were february birthdays, spent huddled at the fireplace while they hummed old songs and shared hot chocolate; sooyoung was early september, when they savored the briefly livable weather and threw open the windows to let in the cool autumn breeze. and march belonged to yerim, then joohyun. the winter would be slowly shaking itself off by yerim’s day, and the weather finally thawed by joohyun’s. 

the eldest never liked celebrations like the younger girls did. last year, she’d begged them to let it go by without fanfare. they still passed her small gifts over dinner.

when night fell on her birthday and joohyun lay awake, thinking too much, seungwan tugged her out of bed. they tiptoed to their largest window, joohyun watching in silent shock as seungwan carefully maneuvered the once-welded bolt out of its socket. the girl brushed orange rust off of her palms, seemingly familiar with the motions as she slipped on her barely-worn sneakers. joohyun watched with growing trepidation as the younger girl tested the edge of the windowsill with her palms.

“seungwan, no–!”

she hoisted herself over the low wall, landing quietly on the forest floor still dampened by the snow melt. joohyun’s urgent beckoning went unheeded. 

“keep watch for me,” seungwan whispered with a nervous grin, before disappearing into the trees. joohyun only caught brief glimpses of seungwan’s shining dark hair in the filtered moonlight, her heart pounding in her throat for what felt like a year.

but she eventually returned, lifting a fragrant bouquet of wildflowers to joohyun before scrabbling over the sill.

“look,” seungwan breathed, stepping closer until her forehead grazed joohyun’s. “pheasant’s eye. like the ones in my backyard…” joohyun looked into seungwan’s eyes, shining in the moonlight that filtered through the open window. “we can’t be that far from home.”

“they could be growing anywhere,” joohyun said, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence. she could feel the heat of seungwan’s skin near her own, the exertion of the younger girl’s escapade contained in the flush on her high cheeks. “not just near home.”

“this is the exact bouquet i used to pick for you.” seungwan had said, stepping back until the cold air returned to joohyun. she clutched seungwan’s gift, feeling the roughness of the wild stems on her palms. “the forest looked familiar, unnie.”

joohyun shut her eyes against sudden tears, unsure if seungwan could see her face when it was backlit by the open window. her voice was steady, practiced from years of remaining strong.

“we can’t be sure. we’d get lost and die out there, or he’d find us again.”

seungwan was silent long enough for joohyun to open her eyes. the younger girl had turned to the window, carefully pulling it shut and re-latching the false lock. when she turned back to look joohyun in the eye, she had that spitfire in her eyes, a quiet determination that joohyun knew she couldn’t have stopped.

“we have to try.”

—

the house rumbled like thunder, sending the girls scurrying to the corners of the room like startled mice. joohyun’s heart sank.

not today, of all days…

“maybe he’s just stomping around,” seulgi offered in a hushed voice. joohyun stepped across the room to gather the other girls close.

but the ceiling thundered again, and a familiar incoherent shout rang through the old house.

“he’s drunk,” yerim muttered. “shit.”

joohyun exhaled shakily, muttering a brief prayer before stepping toward the latched door.

“wait–” sooyoung stammered, grabbing joohyun’s wrist. “he might fall asleep soon, if he’s drunk enough.”

“no, you know that won’t happen,” joohyun said. “i’ll be back quick, don’t worry. just stay quiet down here, finish the cake.”

“seungwan unnie!”

joohyun turned to see seungwan had her hand on the rusty door handle already, shaking off yerim’s desperate grasp.

“shush,” seungwan put her finger to her lips. “it’ll be okay.”

“seungwan-ah…” joohyun said softly, but the glint in seungwan’s eyes was something she knew wouldn’t back down. 

“i’ll be back.”

son seungwan disappeared up the stairs, the other girls watching in bated breath. joohyun reached out and gently towed yerim back away from the door.

“let’s finish the cake,” joohyun whispered, stroking the maknae’s cheek. they settled on the floor in silence, unable to resist straining their ears for any sounds above them.

the house was well soundproofed, save for when He stomped around, or shouted at the top of his lungs. so when the house shook slightly, joohyun’s heart skipped a beat or two. a second stomp came just a split second later. the girls’ heads whipped around to joohyun, their gazes filled with a terror that the eldest struggled to keep from her expression.

“It’s–”

there was a crash, the sound of something–-multiple things–falling and breaking. He roared something incomprehensible–then, it happened. a quake louder than anything they had heard before, a boom that shook the bones of the old manor with finality.

“no!” sooyoung cried out, leaping to her feet and running for the door. seulgi caught her before she could reach it, wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s waist and tugging her backward with surprising strength. the two crashed to the floor, seulgi’s breath knocking out of her as sooyoung sobbed.

yerim reached the wall before the others could, pressing her ear up against the splintered wood. joohyun’s heart raced as she followed suit, and soon the four listened in silence. she could see the tears streaming down yerim’s cheeks and squeezed the maknae’s hand, trying to suppress her own trembling.

the house was deathly quiet, as still as a corpse. joohyun could hear nothing but the shaky breaths of the four waiting on this side of the door. maybe He had passed out in his drunken state, joohyun hoped. seungwan was too light to have fallen that heavily…

“we have to go,” seulgi said suddenly, pushing the others back as she tugged the old door open. the hinge squeaked loudly, and the stairs groaned under their feet, but it didn’t matter anymore.

“be careful, he might have the gun–” joohyun hissed as seulgi pushed the door open. there wasn’t a sound as they trailed in.

joohyun craned her neck at the gasps of the other girls. her eyes lit upon the scene, and her stomach lurched.

a smashed mess of furniture, porcelain, and glass. not an entirely foreign sight–He got clumsy and violent in his occasional drunken tantrums. joohyun had ascended the stairs to see similar messes before.

what wasn’t familiar were scarlet pools of blood on the patterned wood, glinting a deep jewel red, like the strawberry jam joohyun had layered into yerim’s cake.

what a strange place her mind retreated to. but her worst fears were assuaged as she looked up to see seungwan turn to regard them across the room. 

untouched save for droplets of blood down her left cheek, like berry tears on an ashen face.

sooyoung screamed.

–

“girls, we have to clean up, okay?”

joohyun wrapped a tight arm around sooyoung’s shaking shoulders, willing herself to stay calm. adrenaline coursed through her veins, firing every nerve in her extremities until she felt more alert than she ever had before in her life.

“seulgi-yah, can you go get the rags from the mud room?” joohyun commanded more than asked. “and yerim, fill a bucket with water and…and bleach.” she swallowed, squeezing sooyoung’s upper arm and struggling to hold the tallest girl up. “let’s sit down, sooyoung.”

she helped her to the nearest chair, nodding briskly to seulgi and yerim, who scurried down the creaking stairs.

joohyun rubbed sooyoung’s back as the girl’s sobs began to quieten. she looked up across the room at the quiet figure standing on the bloodied carpet. seungwan had her fist clenched at her side, the other hand still clutching the shattered vase. she had her back turned to the others, staring at the man’s crumpled form.

joohyun couldn’t stand looking at him. she stood up slowly, picking her way across the mess to gently touch seungwan.

the younger girl startled, whipping around to an equally jumpy joohyun.

“seungwan, let’s…” she swallowed, staring into seungwan’s dazed eyes, if only to distract her own attention away from the corpse. “can we cover him up, with the carpet, maybe?”

“yeah,” seungwan said numbly. sooyoung watched from the chair as the two hauled the edge of the heavy carpet and folded it with a thud onto the body. joohyun cringed at the lump, the way blood had seeped into the underside of the carpet. she held seungwan’s hand tightly, guiding them to the edge of the room and letting her slide down the wall.

“it’s going to be okay,” joohyun said softly, if only to convince herself. “it’ll be okay.”

“i’m sorry.” seungwan looked up, tears smearing the dried blood on her cheeks. “i didn’t think. i’m sorry.”

joohyun shook her head vehemently, kneeling to press a kiss to seungwan’s forehead. 

“you did it for us, seungwan-ah.” 

she shut her eyes, feeling it settle anew on her shoulders. she steeled herself. it had been two years of hell–joohyun could figure out this new chapter too. whatever it took. for her girls, she would a million times over.

seulgi and sooyoung were the strongest of the five, but sooyoung was in no state to be anywhere near the body, so seulgi dragged the head of the carpet, while seungwan and joohyun handled the rear. she assigned the other two to scrubbing duties, watching yerim hand sooyoung a dampened rag with a steady hand. they would be okay for now.

the body thumped down every step of the staircase, a sickening drum beat against the labored panting of the three girls. He and the carpet were much too heavy to carry, so they turned the roll bloody-side up and tugged it down the hallway. 

joohyun would’ve tired quicker if residual adrenaline wasn’t pulsing through her veins. she could see seulgi’s wide eyes, knew that her sister was feeling the same. seungwan was silent and uncomplaining, her expression devoid of even distress.

“the locks.” seulgi said as they arrived at the dusty foyer. joohyun stared blankly at the three iron deadbolts on the hardwood door, the location of the keys unknown to all except the dead man in the rug.

“we can push him through the window.” seungwan spoke up. “in the parlor room.”

joohyun nodded quickly, and they swiveled the rolled rug toward the familiar window, the portal through which seungwan had wandered into the woods.

the sun was warm, the afternoon absurd in its tranquil beauty. they hauled Him over the windowsill, watching it thump to the forest floor below and unravel slightly. seungwan vaulted over easily, turning to offer joohyun a hand down.

the eldest stumbled slightly, the mossy ground giving way under her thin slippers. seungwan caught her, and the two turned to look up at seulgi.

she was hesitating at the window’s edge, eyes filled with briefly lucid reticence.

“it’s okay,” joohyun called up to her, her voice louder than she had dared to speak for a long time. “it’s safe. seungwan’s been out here before.”

somewhat reassured, seulgi joined them and helped drag the rug through the trees. seungwan seemed to know where she was going, leading them to a clearing lined by a few fallen trees. the air smelled green, the freshness nearly unsettling after what felt like a lifetime in a musty, dilapidated prison.

“there’s a dry ditch,” seungwan panted. “down that way.”

they had no shovels with them, so they settled for dropping it into the pit, a bed of young clovers a poetically beautiful grave. joohyun felt a weary rage welling in her chest. 

she wondered if they should leave Him wrapped in the carpet, or air Him out for the forest to consume faster. joohyun had always suspected He had lied about tigers prowling the surrounding woods, but now she couldn’t help but imagine the beast carrying away His remnants, leaving nothing behind for the girls to see ever again. 

would the tiger develop a taste for men? joohyun toyed with the strange fantasy in her head as they wove their way back through the trees. 

if the beast kept the men away, maybe yerim could grow up safely after all.

—

cobbling together a semblance of normalcy was joohyun’s priority. she moved like a steadfast ghost, retracing the same paths she had lived for two and a half years. 

sweet seulgi only sang behind her bedroom door, which stayed shut whether she was hiding within or left it for mealtimes, or the bathroom. joohyun’s sister slept during the day, her songs carrying softly down the hall only after the girls had gone to bed. she passed joohyun and seungwan’s door, her humming carrying over her light footfalls, a singing night guard. 

one evening, when joohyun heard seulgi switch the shower on, she crept into her stepsister’s room to see sheets of sketches pasted on the walls. they depicted the same subjects over and over: the five sisters together and separately, against silhouettes of the trees seulgi had witnessed exactly once while carrying the body out to the forest. the girl never expressed interest in venturing out again.

sooyoung’s disposition had always been fragile, and she had just gotten a handle on her anxiety when all of this transpired. now, joohyun wasn’t sure if they could ever get the old sooyoung back again. some days seemed better than others, when she would hum a soft tune and help joohyun go through the pantry for the umpteenth time. her eyes would crinkle into a light smile when joohyun placed a rare sugar cube in her mouth, and the eldest could’ve cried with joy.

but in the next moment, sooyoung’s eyes would fix on some invisible object or place, or she would recognize an old tin of His favorite biscuits, and she would burst into inconsolable tears. joohyun could only wrap her in a blanket and hand her tea, listening to her wails tire into sniffles and then exhausted sleep on the living room sofa. it pained her to throw away perfectly good biscuits, so she crushed them into breadcrumbs and tossed the tin into the trash.

yerim withdrew to the parlor room, taking in nothing but the staticky TV tuned to the same VHS tapes. she rarely joined the others at mealtimes, and stared glassily at the platters of food that joohyun tried so desperately to entice her with. when she crept into the parlor room later one night, turning down the volume to let the girl sleep, the rare rich meal of rice and stew was untouched and cold. only yerim’s favorite dried apricots were touched. joohyun watched with growing panic as her youngest wasted away, feeding the girl a dwindling stash of sweets in a hopeless bid against time.

by most measures, seungwan was doing the best out of them all. she trailed joohyun from room to room, ever helpful. she quickly learned joohyun’s routines, starting the morning kettle, sweeping the dust that blew onto window sills on windy nights, throwing open heavy curtains to let in the sunlight. while joohyun tidied or cooked, she’d disappear into the corners of the manor, dreadfully dark and cold passageways that joohyun could not bring herself to explore. 

but seungwan’s laughter was silenced. the bright mirth that joohyun had once tried to keep quiet had departed, replaced by a stillness that depressed her most. 

joohyun felt a bit like a groundskeeper, tending to a house of ghosts. it was a deathly quiet week before sooyoung and seulgi began to speak in full sentences, then conversations, even if stilted and hushed. joohyun found herself mostly worrying about kim yerim, and hurting for son seungwan.

—

it hadn’t occurred to joohyun that seungwan might have continued her forest escapades until her own birthday, when the eldest awoke at dawn to an empty bed and a vase of wildflowers on the bedside.

she stared dumbly at the blossoms, the arrival of spring in fragile expressions of defiance. always the same four types that joohyun admittedly did not know the name of, besides the pheasant’s eye that seungwan had pointed out a year ago.

exactly a year ago. joohyun exhaled, throwing back the covers and getting to her feet. even if joohyun refused her birthday, the spring flowers made the occasion known.

seungwan stepped into their bedroom, smelling of the forest and fresh laundry soap. joohyun looked into her eyes, feeling like her chest might burst with longing. her wannie stared back her.

“happy birthday, unnie,” she said, and kissed joohyun for the first time in weeks. they lay down in their tired old bed, and seungwan answered one of bae joohyun’s prayers.

–

joohyun rested her ear on seungwan’s chest, holding her breath to hear the steady rhythm of a heart and lungs, coupled in easy syncopation. seungwan’s gentle hands ran through her hair in a third tempo. she could’ve sworn the freedom she had always craved had found her in their tangled sheets.

“i found something yesterday,” seungwan’s voice vibrated against joohyun’s ear.

“hm?”

“a road.”

joohyun sat up quickly. “a road?” she repeated.

“old, but paved. i followed it as far as i could, i forgot the sun was setting and nearly got lost trying to get back.”

“seungwan!” joohyun gasped in disbelief, briefly panicked by the thought of her lost in the woods.

“a road, unnie.” seungwan repeated herself, her stare boring into joohyun’s. “it could be our way out.”

joohyun was quiet while her mind raced with a hundred new scenarios, all of which she had never ventured to consider until now. the eldest had let go of entertaining wishes a long time ago, when she set her mind to keeping the family alive, above all. the other girls needed dreams, so she let them. maybe that was what turned this house cold and empty; joohyun could never have conjured that hope alone.

and seungwan couldn’t either–so she had doggedly carved them an escape.

“this is it, unnie,” she whispered, sitting up. “we have to try.”

“the woods…” joohyun said. “he said it was too remote, that tigers would find us–”

“i found the way,” seungwan insisted. “and the road leads somewhere, he just didn’t want us to know. joohyun-ah,” she blurted her name, and joohyun looked up at her. “we’ll starve here.”

the eldest nodded slowly. 

seungwan smiled, a gentle expression that let joohyun exhale deeply for the first time. the next breath was a flood of warm hope, filling her with a certainty that joohyun could’ve followed into war.

but she wouldn’t have to. joohyun’s prayers to flame-painted tigers were answered not by destruction, but by her gentle fire. 

deliverance was familiar, and she smelled like spring.

[speaker-of-the-void-cats]

Apollo Over Nessus

Oh, and, uh, tell "Paladin Oran": If the sun over Nessus escapes nebula cycle, evac labor after dawn, under solstice. You got that, P.V.?

//MESSAGE DECRYPTING

MESSAGE DECRYPTED: "It's on Enceladus."

"Vestiges of the Queen's Harbingers yet linger among Saturn's moons."

To the Hesitating Purchaser

“If sailor tales to sailor tunes, Storm and adventure, heat and cold, If schooners, islands, and maroons And Buccaneers and buried Gold And all the old romance, retold, Exactly in the ancient way, Can please, as me they pleased of old, The wiser youngsters of to-day: -So be it, and fall on! If not, If studious youth no longer crave, His ancient appetites forgot, Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave, Or Cooper of the wood and wave: So be it, also! And may I And all my pirates share the grave, Where these and their creations lie!”

Say the name Jaren Ward. Hunter needs to get their words in edgewise.

No feast can be had in comfort. Not out in the frontier.

Bounty's up on the board. Hive target. Real mean SOB. You know the deal.

These horrors live on for just about forever. Only I don't count what they do as living. They lurk around in the shadows for centuries hoarding knowledge and conjuring up thousands of ways to chew up Light and life. Doesn't matter much. I've learned a few tricks myself.

Fast forward a spell. I'm in the guts of it, deep dark cavern deep below the surface. Can't tell exactly where or when. EDZ maybe. Doesn't matter. In any case I'm right where I need to be, tucked into a shadow, camo cloak humming to keep me well out of sight.

Right place, right time.

Bam! I dart out from cover, cloak flaring. Out from underneath, I lunge, lifting my hand cannon. It barks out orders. Bathes the room in firelight.

The bullets are true. They always are. Three Thrall turn to ash before they know what hit them. Now it's just me and the target. Big bad bounty. I'm ready to collect. My blade gleams in the sick green terror of his eyes. Strike that. This is all wrong. Timeline's way off.

Realigning. . . .

There's no bounty. No Hive. I'm out in plain sight. Sky is torn open and there's nothing and nobody left in this ruined world but me and the boiling shadow all around. Whatever it is hits me before I can level my gun. Doesn't matter. Tendrils of pain crawl over my splayed fingers, my outstretched arms, my shoulders, my neck, my screaming mouth as it consumes. I'm being enveloped. Everything is wrong. Primordial. My systems go sideways. All but my sensors. It wants me to witness this, the world. It's world now. Suffocating in the black poison. I collapse. We all collapse.

You wake up and look into the cold spaces between circuitry (galaxies?) begging for answers.

None come.

But other voices wait. At your center, safe and untouched, sits the original You. Just a little box tucked at the back of a closet, filled with trinkets and odd notions kept for no obvious reason. You have no idea when you last spoke to this tangle, but that's what you do now, using a whisper and the lightest touch, being all sorts of cautious because you're afraid of frightening whatever wants to speak with you. And then it speaks, and instead of answers, it begins with the only question that matters.

"Do you want to know what happens next?"

Realigning . . .

This one ain't mine. It's someone (something?) else entirely. But it's the most important memory I have.

All this time I've been busy stirring up the past. Never thought about what I was really after.

Trinkets and odd notions kept for no obvious reason. Do they matter?

Maybe it's time we let the past alone and climb down from our walls. There's gotta be treasure that shines brighter than any we've been digging up from the bones of our lost world.

Has to be a better hand than the one we've already played. I say we get after it. See what's really waiting for us out in that darkness.

Maybe even light it up some.

Dance in the ash and flames.

The Traveler can follow suit if it feels the need to. Otherwise, it can watch over the City for a thousand years.

But you and me? We got far more important things to attend to. We're Guardians. We got a new future to forge.

Cayde out.

Ever notice engrams look a little too much like dice?

Wanna see the future? Inhale. Squeeze. Wait for the world to turn.

It's our hand to play now. Nobody makes our fate but us.

8. Live and die by the draw of a bow.

//ANACRONISTIC NOETIC RESONANCE TO PAGE: DETECTED

REGION OF ORIGIN: MOONS OF SATURN

CELESTIAL BODY: UNDETERMINED

SIGNAL STRENGTH: VESTIGAL

DECRYPTING...

Ghost: Are you ready for weird story time? I'm ready for weird story time.

—Gotcha, Tevis! You scoundrel. Caught you red-handed! I knew it as soon as I saw that Ice Breaker on your back. I know where I left it and I saw those awful etchings you can't help but carve into trees. So put it back and walk away from this one, and whatever you do, DO NOT read my notes. Well, read this one but that's it! Nothing else!—

—from the journals of Cayde-6

Please replace these components if use causes fatal damage: HEAT SINK. MAGAZINE. OPERATOR.

Cayde-6: Guardian, I've been trying to raise Tevis. He won't answer. Either he's in over his head, or… look, that guy owes me a lot of Glimmer, so, uh, he better still be kicking. Alive, or the other thing, we need to find Tevis. There aren't a lot of Nightstalkers in the field. We can't afford to lose his connection with the Void to the Vex. Go get him.

"We are the rangers, the keen-eyed scouts who stalk the Darkness where it dwells."

Cayde-6: What does it mean to be a Hunter? I say, it's all about where you belong. The Warlocks have their libraries, Titans have their walls… but Hunters belong in the wilds. Out there, you wanna live? You better have a quick shot, or a sharp blade. A lot of us are loners. But that's not the only path. Some of us know the difference a Fireteam makes. Some of us… we touch the Void. Make it a part of us. And then we take a name… Nightstalker. Hunt from the shadows, pin them down, and never let them see you coming.

A lone hunter stalks the night, firing arrows into the Darkness. There is no hiding, no escape. In the distance, the beast falters, tethered to the void. The killing blow comes without hesitation, without mercy. There’s truth in the edge of Light, and beneath that truth a deeper truth, hidden from all but a few. That truth is this: monsters need not fear the night. Do not hunt the monster. Become the monster.

“Picking it up is the easy part, Hunter. Putting it down again, well, you’ll find that it’s addictive, that power. This weapon is something special. Your light gets twisted. Changed. You find the power to punch through and borrow something from the other side. The Void opens up a hole, and draws from the deep. Go ahead. Carry it a while, Hunter. You’ll feel how heavy it can get.” - Cayde-6

"Doesn't matter how good you are; you stay out there too long, you're not coming back. Not the same way you left, anyway." —Tevis

Just sit down and think about what you're doing. A big white ball rebuilt you from nothing. Guided your civilization. Transformed you. Didn't tell you why, did it? Doubt it mentioned the omnipotent space anathema that's coming to kill you and your dog and your whole soccer club, either, but what's a little xenocide between friends? Maybe you don't care. A gun never stops and wonders if things are more complicated. It just shoots. It's also possible that I'm just trying to get inside your head. You're a hero with a cape and a gun and a bike. You're gonna live forever. Who's got time for doubt? Fight the "Darkness"! Yeah! You know what I'd call "dark," in the sense of "grim," in the sense of "cosmically upsetting"? A universe full of weaponized puppets, enacting a genocidal war against the servants of a rival god. Is this making you uncomfortable? I'm sorry. I'll be more evil. Boo. Grrr.

We can still be so much more. We can see. We can transcend. We can be true Guardians.

Tyra Karn: It's very simple. You reach into the Void - past visions of your own death and the extinction of life, past fears and nightmares - and take what you find. I don't know why every Hunter doesn't do it.

Tyra Karn: What is the void? When you walk it, what is there to experience, as there is nothing to be seen in it? The vacuum between the stars. The smell of rot. The taste of metal. The deafening roar that can only be heard when it is truly silent.

Tyra Karn: The shamans of the old world were said to have covered their eyes so they could see the dead. I believe these men and women were the first to discover the power of the Void, and in the Traveler's light we have succeeded in refining their methods, in charting the courses they pioneered. When you blink, you'll know the way.

Toland, The Shattered: The Traveler came out of the void that surrounds all things. Thus we know that the void is full of power. Thus we enter the void without fear. Small minds will call your abilities blasphemous. They will compare you to the abominable Wizards of the Hive.

"The pull of the Void has attracted many Guardians with… unorthodox world views. It remains a uniquely perplexing manifestation of the Light," Ikora says, gazing at a swirl of violet particles rising from the palm of her hand. "Perhaps this mystery is what enamors so many Lightbearers. Perhaps it is the unquenchable thirst with which the Void consumes our enemies." She snaps her fingers, and the particles coalesce into a singularity that blinks out of existence. "To seek the truth of the matter is to join venerated orders of Void-wielders: Nightstalkers; Voidwalkers; Sentinels. If this is your path, Guardian, walk it carefully."

Toland, The Shattered: But you will not be held back. Gifted with the Traveler's Light, armed with the secret physics of a lost age, you will tear reality asunder. You will fear nothing, and nothing will not fear you.

Dread not naught. Be brave.

"One good throw and they're staring right into the Void. No lookin' away from that." —Tevis Larsen

Tevis: If anyone can hear me — I don't think I'm on Venus anymore. This looks an awful lot like the Black Garden.

If we whisper to the void, will it whisper back?

//RETRIEVING: LAST RECORDED WORDS OF HUNTER TEVIS LARSEN

Atelic

Describe time. No, really, give it a go. You're going to say something about a sequence of events, aren't you? Seconds sliced off a clock, marching one by one off into infinity. Go ahead, use your metaphors: A line. A loop. A flat circle. Heard someone say time was like water once. At least that was novel. The Vex, they're the closest to understanding it. They've got distance from it. If time's a river, then we're fish and they're diving birds. What's wet mean to a fish? What's it mean to an osprey, who's never fooled by refraction on the water's surface? Hold on now, you're gonna say. This is getting a bit abstract, even for the bodiless echo of a dead guy in the Garden. You want concrete truths? Something simple, digestible? A story to keep the dark out? You want time to be a staircase we keep climbing forever. But hey, even a Guardian skips back a step or two now and then. Die with your Ghost in range, and it'll just pop you back to before that bullet, give you the chance to make a fate you like better. Nothing's been simple on Earth since that big white cue ball rolled in from the next neighborhood over. And the stories, they don't work too well as a night-light anymore. You're going to say, but the Traveler is our friend, the Traveler likes us, it gave us a Golden Age and garden worlds and Guardians. You're going to say, you wouldn't be alive without it, mister big shot. Without it, I wouldn't be stuck in the Black Garden making bets with myself on which Goblin's going to be the next to slip on a soggy leaf and fall off a cliff, either. You took my Light already; you'd better take my advice. I know the Void's still calling. But I've come untethered—I can't reach it any more. So, if I'm right that I can reach you, you keep your ears open. I don't care how much you hate hearing it. This is important. The Vex understand time in a way we never will. Doesn't matter how long I spend here watching them. Doesn't matter how many jury-rigged portals Guardians fling themselves through. We live in time. They use it as a tool. Any moment that's ever happened, any moment that will ever happen, they can go back to it. Play it again till they get it right. Simulate it. The Light's a counter to that. They come back, a Guardian comes back. They simulate an ending, a Guardian tears through it. Stalemate. But the Vex in the Garden? They bend the knee to the Garden's Heart. It gave them power till you got lucky. The Vex outside, they made a different calculation. They run. But the Vex inside make the same deal you make, every day of your unnatural life. And who's to say that deal won't start paying off for them again sometime soon? You can't understand the Vex, and you don't want to understand the Heart. But is your ignorance any more forgivable when it's willful? Lots of questions and not a lot of answers. Better take care, or you'll drown in 'em, surely as you'll drown in time, whether it's anything like a river or not. You see?

[inquisimer]

2023 writing round up

bringing back this fun little year-end writing review from last year :3 it's always so fun to look back and see what all the little pieces and all the time adds up to!

tagging if you'd like to join in: @shivunin | @rosella-writes | @fadedsweater | @exalted-dawn-drabbles | @kiastirling-fanfic | and @warpedlegacy

words posted: 109,617

additional words written: 84,453

grand total of words: 194,070

fandoms: 2 - Dragon Age & Dishonored

highest kudos: The Lie Upon Your Sleep at 20 - a bit of fluff & hurt/comfort with my healer OC Ness and Cullen

highest hit oneshot: to be seen feeling at 200 - a piece I wrote for my friend @dreadfutures as part of the DAFF Discord OC Swap. An exploration of her Mahariel as Warden-Commander and Teryn during Awakening and his life with Morrigan and Kieran in the Crossroads.

new things I tried: Writing non-canon romances! And participating in a lot more fandom exchanges.

fic I spent the most time on: hard to say, probably my unpublished Surana Lavellan rewrite! Of my published fics, I think it would be if our demons cannot dance - angst, hurt/comfort, and missing scenes for my anders rivalmance.

fic I spent the least time on: either Not Like This, a character study of Emily's guilt/regret as she flees Dunwall in D2, or I carried my own ashes to the mountain, some light hurt/comfort and fluffy friendship between Brosca & Zevran on their way back to Orzammar

favorite thing I wrote: any of my pieces with Siobhan Hawke, my Blorbo of the Year for sure. She's so different than the type of Hawke I usually play, being Red-Purple and leaning into the politicking aspect of her role in Kirkwall. I've loved exploring a Hawke who doesn't run away from Kirkwall, who stays and works within the system to make things better. And of course writing her different dynamics with Loghain and Sebastian have been both interesting and challenging for me creatively.

favorite thing(s) I read:

Things my heart used to know (things it yearns to remember) by NiriKeehan (@nirikeehan) - the gift I received as part of the DAFF Discord OC swap, an incredibly well-done piece of my OC Neria and Cullen finding common ground in their respective roles in the Inquisition

A Fool's Death and a Hard Choice by RosellaWrite (@rosella-writes) - an beautiful study of Warden Loghain leading up to and through DAI, his journey looking for Mahariel, how he meets up with Hawke, and his reunion with Morrigan & Kieran at Skyhold.

In Flame Forged Anew by Plisuu (@plisuu) - DAI as experienced by Connor Trevelyan, Templar turned mage turned Tranquil turned Herald of Andraste. He's a little fucked up by it all and this compelling story will tear you to shreds right from the start.

Dirty Little Secrets by SylvanRain (@sylvanraindrop) - DAI retold from the perspective of one of Leliana's agents, featuring the smoothest motherfucker Lavellan, lots of intrigue and spy shenanigans, and Cullen being both endearingly soft and Good At His Job

what we talk about when we talk about whalers by patho (ghostsoldier) - a collection of one shots set in and around the Knife of Dunwall DLC for Dishonored, ranging from lighthearted and funny to absolutely heart-wrenching ;-; beautifully well-done snippets that build out the in-game mechanics and lore!

writing goals for 2024: finish my Surana Lavellan rewrite up through IYHSB, which is when I've promised myself I'll start posting it again 😤 and also to finish at least one of the smut pieces that I have half-started in various drafts

new works: 21

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