#Stone Bridge Cutting Machine

[bridgesawlosangeles]

Stone Cutting Machine, also known as a tile or marble cutting machine, aids in the construction of sturdy buildings with appealing aesthetics that can withstand the test of time. Bridge Saw USA provides tools for building components of your idea that are more durable, precise, attractive, and streamlined. You can go to a store if you are looking for a used bridge saw for a short-term project or light handy work.

[ivanttakethis]

Post Round 2 [Pt. 2] - Tov’s Log

————————————————————

A moment of silence passed.

Then another.

Elias’s arms were still tense.

Finally, he sighed.

It was different sounding than Prem’s sigh. Elias sighed like he knew this confrontation was inevitable.

“Sounds like a fine name to me.” He said. His tone gave nothing else away.

The elevator stopped its descent and the doors slid open.

Tov assumed Elias would turn to the right towards the main clinic area, but instead he went to the left.

She furrowed her brow, hesitating, but continued to follow behind him.

As if he’d sensed her confusion, Elias spoke up again, “We’re going to the medical technician room. We have proper equipment to recalibrate your band there.”

Tov felt like he was speaking to more than just her.

Probably so.

She wouldn’t doubt that every inch of the dorm was covered with hidden cameras and audio recorders.

There was really no such thing as privacy in Alien Stage.

Tov took two steps for each of Elias’s long and sure strides.

He walked to a rhythm.

One. Two. One. Two. One. Two.

Her pace was a little faster.

One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three.

Something about counting steps like this felt nostalgic to her.

They came to a stop in front of a set of white doors. Elias removed one of his gloves to place his thumb on the scanner next to them.

His skin was dark like hers. A large scar stretched across the back of his hand.

The doors swung open automatically.

Inside was a sterile white room filled with medical equipment and various machines Tov could recall seeing in the hospitals she frequented; all very expensive and equally as delicate.

Elias gestured for her to enter first and manually pulled the doors shut until a heavy lock clicked in place.

There were a few medical beds lined up in a row against the left wall. Tov sat on the edge of the nearest bed.

“We’ll be able to talk freely in here,” he said, forgoing a chair to lean against the counters across from her. “All of the equipment frequencies interfere with the audio listening devices used throughout the complex.”

Tov briefly glanced around the corners of the room, “What about cameras?”

“There’s a lot of proprietary medical technology down here. Cameras are forbidden in case of a breach.”

Huh. Good to know.

Elias tugged off his helmet, revealing black, tightly coiled hair cut close to the scalp. His jawline was sharp, but his eyes were sharper; ink black and stone cold.

He crossed his arms, meeting her gaze head on. “So,” he started. “Prem?”

Tov nodded once, “Prem.”

He sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Tov imagined that it was close to how she looked whenever she found out Nyx or Dian did something stupid, usually in the other’s company.

Elias muttered something under his breath before clearing his throat and addressing her, “Okay then. How much did he tell you?”

“He said you’re the one who wrote the notes and that you told him not to tell me. Then he gave me your name, the shift you work, and the code word.”

“Great, so, basically everything I told him.” Elias huffed. “Damn it, Prem.”

Probably should’ve worked alone.

Tov didn’t say that aloud.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I’ll answer as much as I can before we need to go back upstairs to avoid suspicion.”

The openness was… odd.

She wasn’t expecting Elias to be so forthcoming. She thought she’d have to pry information out of him like she had to with Prem.

But this time, she didn’t have any leverage. It was for the best that she didn’t run into any resistance.

“You’re the original author of the notes?” She asked.

Elias nodded once, “I am.”

“Did every contestant get a note?”

“No. Only you.”

Tov frowned, “Why?”

“Because the information was only relevant to you.”

On its face, the answer made sense. Tov was close to Solei, Aurien, and Nyx. Of course she’d want to know they were alive and safe.

But Lang was also close to Nyx. Why was the information about him given to her and not Lang?

There had to be another reason.

“Why did you chose me specifically?” She asked.

Elias hesitated. Tov wanted to seize the moment by the throat.

“I— did it as a favor.” He said stiltedly.

She wanted to groan long and suffering in that way Tallis always hated to hear.

You’ve got to be kidding me…

“So you’re another middleman.” It was a statement, not a question.

“No, I’m the primary source.” He countered. “I’m the one who took the risk of gathering the information and writing the notes.”

“And you risked your position just to fulfill a favor? You don’t even get anything out of it?”

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck, “Well, no. I do get something out of the agreement.”

Tov leveled him with a look that she could tell he was pointedly ignoring.

“If you’re getting something out of the agreement then it’s not a favor. It’s a transaction.” She said, voice flat.

“I don’t think I could put a price on what I’m getting.” He said.

Tov was getting really tired of everyone being so fucking cryptic all the time.

“Who asked you to write those notes and give them to me?”

“I can’t say.”

Oh fuck no—

Elias cut Tov off before she could even open her mouth to argue.

“—And no, I’m not as easy to crack as Prem. You can’t blackmail me into telling you who they are.” He spoke with such finality it made Tov want to draw blood.

“I made a promise and I plan to keep it.” He said. “A soldier’s word is his bond.”

By the way his set his jaw and narrowed his eyes, she knew he wasn’t going to yield. Normally, Tov wouldn’t either.

But there was still more she could learn from him, even if this was a dead end.

She relented with a sigh, breaking eye contact. “Fine.”

“Good.”

There was no way that ‘good’ wasn’t patronizing. But Tov let it go.

She needed answers about Lark.

“Do you know anything about the investigation into Lark’s poisoning?”

Elias’s expression turned grim.

“Unfortunately, no. But not for a lack of trying.” He sounded as disappointed as Tov felt. “As soon as the preliminary autopsy suggested poisoning, the AREPH swooped in and took over the whole case. They iced everyone out and pissed off some of the higher ranking guards.”

Tov mulled the new information over as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

Why would the AREPH get involved in a poisoning case?

There was nothing to suggest Lark’s death was connected to any of the security breaches or escapes.

It was a question that had been bothering her since she was interrogated by those AREPH agents the morning after Round 17.

Now it was gnawing.

“Have they made any official statements?”

Elias scoffed, “That’s not part of their operating procedure.” He said. “If guards lack transparency, then the AREPH is completely opaque by comparison. We know next to nothing about the extent of what they do and how they do it. Even their facility locations are classified.”

“No leaks, I assume?”

He shakes his head, “None that I know of. Medics tend to catch wind of most rumors.”

Tov knew she was coming up on yet another dead end.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about the AREPH?”

Elias thought it over for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows, “Well, there is one thing. But I don’t know if it’s relevant.”

I’ve got nothing to lose.

Tov gestured for him to continue.

“When the security breach during Round 6 happened, I got caught in the chaos with some other guards doing crowd control. We ended up crossing paths with a group of AREPH agents heading in the opposite direction, and there was a human with them.”

She blinked.

Wait.

What?

“A pet-human?” She asked.

“Maybe? I’m not sure.” Elias shook his head, “All I know is that they were wearing an AREPH uniform and badge.”

Tov couldn’t stop thinking of the possibility that the human was one of her classmates.

She tried to think all the way back to Round 6. Who was alive and who was dead?

Azure. Moran. Stasya. Min. Rose was still alive.

It couldn’t have been any of them… right?

“What did they look like?”

“Young, grey hair, black face mask, really fucking tall. You can’t miss them.”

The only person she knew close to that description was Nyx, and he was definitely not helping the AREPH.

Tov hoped he was somewhere resting peacefully, but still very much alive.

“Could the AREPH be recruiting humans now?” She asked.

“They could be, for all we know.” He muttered. “No clue why a human would work for those ghouls, though.”

Tov raised an eyebrow. “People probably say the same about you working as a guard.”

“I didn’t have a choice.” He said.

“Maybe they don’t either.”

Maybe as humans — no matter where they ended up in this system — would never have a choice.

Somewhere off to their right, a tone chimed.

Elias pushed away from the counter, sidestepping her loaded statement.

It was for the best.

“We should probably start heading back now. Any last questions?”

Tov shook her head, “None that can be answered right now.”

“Alright, do you mind if I ask you one then?”

“Sure, why not.”

“How did you get Prem to confess?”

“I faked a medical emergency to lure him into my room.” She said. “Once he was inside, I locked us both in and threatened to report him for writing the notes if he didn’t tell me who actually wrote them.”

Elias stopped halfway through putting his helmet back on.

He blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Then he doubled over laughing.

The joy ringing in his voice was so incongruous with his appearance and demeanor that it caught her completely off guard.

It reminded Tov of her own giddy, uncontrollable laughter after Nyx was rescued.

But she was still confused.

Tov tilted her head at him, “What’s so funny?”

Elias shook his head, waving her off as his laughter subsided, “Nothing. It’s nothing.” He was smiling now.

The stone cold look in his eyes had melted into something soft like putty. “You just reminded me of someone I know.”

“I see.” Tov didn’t know what else to say in the wake of such a genuine expression of emotion from a stranger.

Luckily, Elias kept talking.

“I think you would’ve made a good soldier.” He said. “You’ve got the mind for it.”

Tov thought for a moment, before asking, “If I agree, will you tell me who you’re working with?”

He chuckled again as he fastened his helmet on.

“Look, Tov. If you really want to find out who’s behind all of this, keep going.”

————————————————————

Tov got some answers (yay!), but they only led to more questions (boo!).

All will be revealed in due time. She just has to keep going…

Anyways, new relationship dynamic just dropped: Tov and Dian worsties (besties that have constant beef) 😁

Also, Eddy was the human AREPH agent that Elias saw during Round 6, so Tov sort of knows who they are now.

The next log will be post Round 24. I’m still trying to process Himei’s death and the extent it will impact Tov’s wellbeing (spoiler alert: it’s not good), so that might be a few days? We’ll see.

And then Round 26 is like… right after that. Big oof 🫠

Tallis and Eddy belong to @lookatmysillies.

Nyx and Dian belong to @rockwgooglyeyes.

Lang belongs to @pwippy.

[spitefulhoney87]

We all suffer TFES AU

*This is a headcanon ive had in my head after i just rewatched parts of tfes and the season 2 ending- to be honest i made it so i can give starscream a redemtion arc. There shouldnt be any major warnings- maybe some light phychological torture in future stories*

!this is worlbuilding brainrot- no character diologue or interactions!

Synopsis: Mandroid had been foiled and the lives of all cybertronians saved at the end of the battle, yes. And the victors- the Maltos, Terrans, Autobots and Decepticons alike could breathe a sigh of relief at their victory and subsequent survival. But unknown to anyone, the strings of fate will be woven by the madman even after he is gone, for he made sure that even in death, he'll prove a point in the end.  

Chapter I - a madmans plan

A good scientist always plans ahead, at least, that's what Mandroid did. During his year away, he had plotted and made hundreds of simulations, utilizing the time he had gained now that his new form didn't have a need for sleep. All his tests had one goal in mind- wiping out all cybertronians on Earth, to save it when so many were blind to the cybernetic beasts that were mere flippant whims away from wringing humanity's neck. Throughout all his simulations and experiments one thing became sure- the emberstones and subsequently that ''Quintus Primes'' powers were an unpredictable factor. His plans could never be foolproof. So, he implemented a failsafe, something that would ensure that people would see those mechanical war machines for what they are, but he also hoped that his failsafe would cut out the need for humans all together- make the cybertronians tear each other limb from limb themselves. With his actions, he'd make sure that the embers of the Decepticon and Autobot conflict would be stoked into a blaze once more. 

The Maltos stood at the wrecked tower, rejoicing in their victory, hugs and kisses abound between members of the family, relieved everyone ultimately made it out alive. The Decepticons and Autobots taking a moment to compose themselves after almost returning to the well of sparks, thank primus none remained injured. After a moment, everyone composes themselves and gets to work gathering the emberstone shards. The Decepticons, despite their previous misgivings towards the humans and Autobots stayed to help. It seemed like the bridge between Decepticons and Autobots was being slowly but surely crossed. But, after a while the Decepticons that were in its vicinity began to act...odd. The emberstone shards seemed to ignite something in them, as if it was drawing out some kind of restlessness within the previously cooperative Decepticons. It didn't take long for them to conspire and steal the first emberstone shards. Then the second, then the third and then many more after that. Madroids plan had worked. 

Alex's theory about the stones ''rules'' being broken, while partially true, was incomplete. The ''rules'' weren't broken themselves, but moreso supplemented with additional ''rules'' courtesy of Mandroids implanted failsafe, which made it unstable to the point that it had initially shattered. Noone could be faulted for not realizing everything of course, after all, the one person who had schemed this whole plot was already dead and buried and no one would question the good ol' proverb of ''Decepticons will always be Decepticons'' 

The Decepticons were the ones affected by the modified emberstones power- it brought out in them that little whispering voice that weaved itself into their programming. The voice that made false promises of grandure, of returnign home, of getting revenge on those who stand before them. It exacerbating their worst traits and dulling their empathy all the while twisting their previous thoughts and actions to aid in their gradual reshaping back into simple villains. This trait was even more prominent in the newly formed chaos Terrans- lifeforms that were created by the power of the emberstone, but were, from birth, corrupted by its influence.

The effects of the corrupted stones power varied from Decepticon to Decepticon- some barely changed and some became almost... violent.

next/

This is my first writing project and my first language isnt english so i hope this wasnt too jarring to read, if anyone actually sat through this. Hope to continue!

[nocturnal-phantoms-fandoms]

Regulus Arcturus Black. in less than an hour:

for @pieceofshitregulus fest

a word, under the cut

Ive no idea if anyone will vibe to it, but alas, I made it, might as well share it. I wanted to focus on what we know about R.A.B: how he joined the Death Eaters so young, how he found out about the Horcruxes, and his journey to the cave.

Icarus - Bastille Natural - Imagine Dragons LOOKATME - Jann you should see me in a crown - Billie Eilish Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Lorde Emperor’s New Clothes - Jann Meet Me In The Woods - Lord Huron Battle Cry - Imagine Dragons We Have It All - Pim Stones What The Water Gave Me - Florence + The Machine The Drink Of Despair - Nicholas Hooper [HP6 Soundtrack] Deep End - Ruelle Goner - Twenty One Pilots In the End - Linking Park

below my interpretation of the songs

Icarus is great for an opening song. It encapsulates the whole of Regulus; his ambition - that led him to join the Death Eaters - was what brought his untimely death and he can blame no one but himself. I especially like the line "you'll drink yourself to death" because his death was, in part, due to the potion he drank. (Also here the part "you leave because you're certain of who you want to be" can be seen as Regulus making the final decision to betray Voldemort and steal his Horcrux, which was the choice that led directly to his death).

Natural is Regulus's internal dialogue, whenever he tries to rationalise the values he was raised with ("In this house of mine nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost"), the sacrifices he needs to make to fulfill the role he's supposed to play in the pureblood society ("That's the price you pay" "You gotta be so cold to make it in this world"), and the choice to join the DE ("rather be the hunter than the prey"). He may battle with himself, but at the end of the day he is a natural - a rightful heir - and he takes great pride in that.

LOOKATME is here because of the lines "I lived for validation I met your expectations Pushed down on my temptation That's not what I want". I see Regulus as a dutiful son, a perfect heir, but one that was craving even more power and raw violence than his parents. He was raised to represent the oldest, most noble pureblood family, in a modest and respectable way - instead his greed pushed him to join the extremist group trying to seize the power by force.

you should see me in a crown is self explanatory. (Though I will admit it fits Bellatrix rather than Regulus a smidge better.)

Everybody Wants To Rule The World is the exact moment Regulus learns about Voldemort’s Horcrux - after joining the Death Eaters (Verse 1) and before planning to go to the cave (Verse 2) to destroy it (Bridge and last Chorus). Here the lines “Turn your back on Mother Nature” and “Nothing ever lasts forever” have a double meaning: they refer both to Regulus (when he joins the Death Eaters; and when he decides to sacrifice his life) and to Voldemort from Regulus’s perspective (what Regulus believes making a Horcrux entails; and what he essentially says in his letter).

Emperor's New Clothes can be a Regulus song if you are delusional trying hard enough. The lines that are repeated for the second time is how Regulus is recalling them after he learns about Horcruxes. While at first he was happy to serve and obey and make sacrifices for his Lord, now he is bitter, thinking about the promises (of power) that turned out to be lies (because apparently Voldemort is trying to become immortal). Regulus betrays Voldemort because he feels betrayed by him in the first place, and the feeling of hurt is so strong, the need to do something about it - throw it all away - so overwhelming, he starts wondering if becoming a Death Eater was ever worth it; to the point of questioning his own hunger for power, even trying to convince himself he never craved it in the first place.

Meet Me In The Woods has some “Regulus learning the truth about Horcruxes and slowly realising what he has to do” vibes. And the lyrics of Battle Cry just scream “Regulus making the final decision to steal the Horcrux”.

We Have It All is another perfectly Regulus song. It’s from the perspective of someone who makes a pact with the devil knowing it was the wrong choice, doesn’t entirely regret it (or is only now starting to) and makes excuses for himself - but in the end calls out to someone who could save him.

What The Water Gave Me: water themed suicide painted as a sacrifice for one’s loved ones. Need I say more? That, The Drink Of Despair from the Harry Potter soundtrack, and Deep End refer to the exact moment of Regulus’s sacrifice via the potion in the cave.

There is a lot of irony in Regulus’s sacrifice that accomplished next to nothing and I believe it makes him that much more tragic as a character. He was promptly forgotten by everyone but a house elf, did not help his cause in any way and Voldemort never even found out that it was him who discovered his secret. Hence the last two songs: Goner, which is another one of Regulus’s letters (begging to be known and remembered after his death) and In the End, because it didn’t even matter.

[valhallasoutlaw]

"I did it!" Brighid cried, breathless as she presented a horned, porcelain seashell painted with stripes of mauve and deepest pink. After seeing the pearls Argus had idly gathered from the seabed to occupy himself, Brighid had made up her mind to bring an ocean trinket of her own to the surface.

She had marched into the surf, only to realize--in her peculiar way--that she no longer possessed the watertight circuitry and plasteel certainty of a service android. She had let out an involuntary yelp the instant the water was deep enough for her feet to leave the sandy floor and her corporeal instincts urged her to swim. Argus had watched her eyes go wide as shock turned to panic, and panic turned to gridlock. The waves knocked her off balance and she floundered, sputtering and gasping like...well...a human woman who had spent the last 40,000 years in the body of a machine.

Argus was there in seconds, grasping her beneath the arms and lifting her head above the water in one effortless motion.

She gasped for a moment, clinging to his massive hands like a wet sheet, before she collected herself.

"I'm fine," she had said, scraping chunks of curly red hair away from her eyes. "I just have to try again."

Argus remained silent as, over the next hour, she reacquainted herself with the water.

"I want to try diving," she declared, looking up towards where Argus stood in the surf a few feet away. "Will you show me?"

"This isn't the best location," Argus replied slowly.

"Where did you find those pearls?" she gestured with her head to the tiny pile on the beach behind.

"There's a small reef by those stones," said the Space Marine. "Can you swim that far?"

Brighid squinted at a ridge of mossy grey rock nearly 500 feet away, the bridge of her nose crinkling in consideration.

"I think so," she declared, planting her hands on her hips.

Argus pursed his lips incredulously, warping the scars at the corner of his mouth.

"I will be close by," he said, knowing that she would attempt the feat no matter what his opinion on the matter was.

"I know," she said, grinning, and held out her hand.

Sparkling beads of seawater fell from her pale fingertips like drops of starlight, and as Argus reached out, he suddenly found himself following the curve of her arm to her freckled shoulder. The beginning stages of a sunburn was beginning to pinken her arms, back and cheeks. His stare lingered, taking in the way that the water and the sunlight turned the ripples of her hair into spun copper, like sheets of fine chainmail set alight. Her eyes, creased in a smile, were cut from the ocean itself and set into the alabaster mask of her face the way a silversmith would present a masterpiece.

The sleeveless white tank she wore clung to her skin, and Argus found himself transfixed by every delicate curve made by her body. She had always looked like a doll to him--something fragile that he needed to protect lest she shatter on a stone floor Argus hadn't been aware of.

Now, she appeared as something softer than that, something more like a snowflake or the new petals of a rose. A soap bubble cast in the shape of a woman, the whisper of daylight on linen sheets.

Suddenly, the gap between subspecies had never seemed wider, and Argus felt every bit like the brutal, ugly, rough creature that he was made to be.

-O-

More 40kRenegade content, featuring Argus and Brighid, an OC by @icantbelieveitsnotwormstm and I cannot stop drawing these two morons they don't even know they're in love

[thebusytypewriter]

Okay Salem my beloved two options for my req you do whichever scritches the brainrot best 💕

—Reader-insert/Kamukura Despair-era shenanigans (shippy? chaotic? hurt/comfort? angsty? up to you!) (Bonus points for bullying Servant/Nagito /hj)

—A oneshot for any OC you haven’t gotten to talk about (enough) on here :> I know you have an FMAB and a non-Rosalind fangan kiddo in particular; maybe one of those!

ily Salem thank youuuu :D

Jonnie my beloved you give me options but this is for YOU and I know you love Kamukura so I offer Despair-era shenanigans :> It's a rather..... specific idea but I hope it suffices nonetheless! 💕

Towa City—the most fucked-up city in this new fucked-up world.

So why, exactly, are you—a former investigator before everything went to shit—finding yourself heading into this fucked-up city? Easy. You’re chasing a phantom.

Not a literal phantom, of course; you’re tracking an individual who’s popped into and out of your radar for months now, showing up without fail at the preferred locations of every Remnant of Despair. You have a couple of buddies in what remains of the civilian-formed safety corps, and they had the misfortune of running into this phantom while on patrol once.

Their number of squadron members was cut in half that day, and the bastard apparently never lifted more than a finger.

You’re intrigued, of course, but you want to make sure this odd man never causes any more disasters.

And so, you’ve found your way to the newest circle of hell: Towa City.

Based on reports, the bridges connecting it to the mainland have since been destroyed, but that doesn’t stop you from commandeering one of the small motorboats remaining at the docks. Ripples in the water nearby alert you to the fact that your target had the same train of thought. You quickly check your supplies before absolutely hauling ass across the water.

As you approach, you’re greeted by a surprising lack of robotic killing machines. They had been the staple danger of Towa City, and you’d prepared several countermeasures against those beasts, but there’s nothing; not even so much as a single ball-sized bot. It doesn’t sit right with you.

(You don’t notice the long-haired man staring down at you from the bridge’s remaining supports, taking in your confusion.)

Nevertheless, you continue on your way, handgun at the ready just in case. As per your training, you follow every turned stone, every shifted pile of dirt, and every open door to track your target. You can’t help but feel pride at your skill and luck to make it this far, to get so close to this strange person.

(He’s moving too fast ahead of you for you to see him laying out the path.)

You climb flight after flight in this one building, all stones gone, all dirt replaced with concrete. The only thing that guides you now is the echoing footsteps above you, growing ever so steadily fainter.

(He takes care to make noisy steps for a change.)

The sound of a door alerts you to the phantom’s exit. Tenth floor—a penthouse suite, you think. You pursue, ready for another chase… or maybe a fight. After all, no one really knows anything about this person; you could be dealing with the former Ultimate Taekwondo Master for all you know.

(You are. Among other things.)

You’re surprised to see your target standing perfectly still within the living area, back to you as they look out of the window toward the skyline. There’s no indication of hearing your entrance, and it unsettles you once more. Now significantly closer, you can reasonably identify them as male, or at least male-presenting. His long black hair drapes over his back and partially obscures his pristine suit from your view, and it’s almost annoyingly perfect and smooth. He stands tall, posture simultaneously relaxed and proper in an effortless manner.

He’s a bit of a vision, you catch yourself thinking.

Focus.

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, you take careful steps forward. One hand holds your gun, which is loaded in case of the worst, and the other delicately pulls your singular remaining pair of handcuffs from your belt.

Thirty feet from him. Twenty. Ten. He makes no move to run, no move at all, so you hesitantly holster the gun so you can have both hands at your disposal.

Just as you step within reach, he turns, and you manage to block a knifehand strike with your forearms. It catches you by surprise, but what combat training remains in your head took action just in time to save your ass from being knocked unconscious.

You have only that brief moment to take in his face—chiseled, neutral, objectively handsome. Intense red eyes stare you down, but they’re not angry. They’re not anything.

His head tilts, and after a beat, he opens his mouth to say something.

He doesn’t get the chance.

You manage to grab hold of the hand he’d used to attack you, and one side of the handcuffs is shoved on.

Click.

That’s when he moves, tugging the caught wrist back and attempting to shove you back by the chest, but you’ve got a vice grip on the other cuff.

“Come on,” you growl, keeping still the hand you just caught as you fumble to grab and get the other under control. “Don’t make me use my fucking taser—”

Click.

“AHA! Oh…” You move back just a hair, staring in disbelief at your target’s wrist… and yours.

In the confusion, you’d gotten it half-correct. You’d handcuffed him, all right. Just… to yourself.

Well, shit.

“This is awkward.”

He stares, thoroughly unimpressed. But he makes no move to escape.

“What, can’t you just get out of it?”

Red eyes blink back at you.

“…Thanks for the input.” You sigh. “Dammit, why couldn’t this have just gone the way I’d planned? Fine, let’s just… save both of our prides. I’ve got the key.”

Using your free hand—the right one—you reach into your small utility bag attached to your belt and grab the single steel key from within. Even as you hold it up to show him, your target continues to just stare. It’s unnerving, but at least he isn’t trying to kill you. That’s a first, and a welcome one at that.

However, despite your training and ability to lock and unlock handcuffs blindfolded, the edge of the key catches on a ridge it shouldn’t, and the dumb thing slides out of your hand and onto the floor. You ignore the burning in your cheeks and squat to retrieve it.

Just as you reach for the key, he swiftly kicks it with the toe of his shoe, sending it flying an impressive distance across the floor and under the penthouse’s oven.

You stare in disbelief at where it disappeared. Then you look up at him.

How the fuck is he able to look so smug while still remaining expressionless?

“The hell is your deal?” You push yourself up and waggle your cuffed wrists in front of him. “Unless you know how to get out of handcuffs without a key—which I don’t—then we’re stuck. Is that what you want?”

Blink.

“Or you could just not talk to me. That works.”

God, you wish you still had a team.

“You’re a detective,” he finally says, tone as flat as his expression. “You don’t appear to be related by blood to the Kirigiri line, and the lack of a ring on your hand implies that you are not married.”

The analysis throws you for a loop momentarily as you process it. “The Kirigiris? I mean, I know of them, but no, we’re not related. I’m just a private investigator from Tokyo. I came here to—”

“To track and apprehend me,” your target finishes, “someone you could not figure out. Someone who remained just out of reach. Now you have time to do so, and I will be able to do the same.”

“You make it sound like you planned this.”

He doesn’t refute it.

The sound of approaching vehicle engines alerts you to the presence of someone else outside. It’s faint, given your height at the tenth floor, but you’re still able to classify them as military-grade. Probably those Future Foundation people. You wonder what they’re doing in this city.

…You wonder if they can get you out of the cuffs.

Your target narrows his eyes at you, as if reading your thoughts. “That would be a terrible idea.”

“Good thing I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“If you surrender to the Future Foundation, it is quite likely that they will consider you an accomplice of mine.”

“Oh please, I’m a licensed detective, they have no reason to distrust me—” Now it’s your turn to blink at him. “Wait, did you say accomplice of yours? Who does that make you, then?”

For once, he hesitates, appearing to mull something over in that strange head of his. Then, he finally says, “I am called Izuru Kamukura, and I am considered to be a part of the Ultimate Despair, who are now the Remnants of Despair with the death of Junko Enoshima.”

It processes for a moment, then you huff a half-laugh. “A lot of uncertainty there.”

“They are facts.”

“Right, right. So the Future Foundation…?”

“Wishes to kill me.”

“Gotcha. And me showing up, handcuffed to you—”

“Would likely end in your own death, or at least imprisonment with suspicion of cooperation with a terrorist.”

“Son of a bitch.” You glare at Kamukura, gesturing vaguely toward the stove. “Then why make me lose the key? Are you just that sadistic?”

That smug little twinkle in his eye comes back. “No. I knew it would be interesting, being locked to the person who’s been following me for two months.” He leans forward into your personal space, dark hair falling to curtain the both of you. “Checkmate, detective.”

Heat rushes over your face once more.

Guess you have no choice but to follow his lead.

‘Interesting,’ without a doubt.

[christisilluminati]

Part 2: Bridging Spiritual and Mental Realms l The Man of Sin and Modern Afflictions

The Man of Sin:

Mark 5 forms the base of my ministry because it reveals the Man of SIN, exposing him for who he is. In this passage, Jesus encounters a man living among the tombs, who had often been bound in shackles and chains, only to break free from them. This man cried out night and day cutting himself with stones. The passage also describes the man as aggressive by informing us that no one was strong enough to subdue him. (Mark 5:2-5)

Let's break down this story to gain a full understanding:

The man was isolated in the tombs, a situation indicating severe mental distress. He wore shackles and chains, marking him as an inmate by today's standards. Today, he might be seen as someone struggling with addiction. These are characteristics of SIN. His act of breaking free from the chains is akin to that of an escaped prisoner. It takes a brave soul to escape prison these days. He'd likely carry a gun and would possibly murder for his freedom. This too is a characteristic of SIN. Cutting his wrists with stones is an act of self-harm, while his cries for help are symptoms we see in mental illness, both of which further illustrate the depth of his suffering and the manifestation of SIN.

The Legion was the source of all this man's suffering and SIN—a Legion of "many members" housed within the man. Each one of this man's SINFUL thoughts that led him to his SINFUL actions was an effect of LEGION. "Cause and effect."

Spirits are invisible; you cannot see them. With that, it becomes clear that Jesus was in conversation with a formless voice in this story, and it was not His first time. Jesus could hear the audible voice of a spirit without form dwelling inside this man's tabernacle of flesh, those thoughts that led to the man's SINS. Today, we would describe this phenomenon as schizophrenia.

Was Jesus schizophrenic? I'll need you to be patient with me as I explain this, but yes, He was. And I'll show you in the next section, but are you aware that our science today supports the notion that He was? They have analyzed the major prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Paul from a behavioral, neurologic, and neuropsychiatric perspective to determine the nature of their revelations. They are saying that these men had experiences that resemble those now defined as psychotic symptoms, suggesting that their experiences may have been manifestations of primary or mood disorder-associated psychotic disorders. These findings suggest that persons with primary and mood disorder-associated psychotic symptoms have had a monumental influence on the shaping of Western civilization. We already live in a world where we no longer believe God still speaks to His prophets with and AUDIBLE WORD, and now science is aiming towards a world where we will believe they NEVER DID.

Linked With Mental Health:

Schizophrenic patients believe they can hear the thoughts of other people. We call this telepathy, and now have machines that are capable of doing so. Science calls it synthetic telepathy. One must wonder how this is even possible. Such a thing seems like science fiction.

The ability to use telepathy is something the Illuminati are known for by many of those who are suffering. The ones I'm trying to reach with my message. They believe that this telepathy ability is a part of how THEY control their minds. Was this man's mind controlled? YES, IT WAS. By whom? The "many members" of the Legion. And where was this Legion? Inside the man DRIVING him into the tombs. DRIVING him to cut his wrist. Very much the same way that THIS KIND DROVE the boy to FALL into the fire. NIV 2011.

Luke 8:29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. NIV 2011

Luke 8:29 For he commanded the unclean spirit, that he should go out from the man. For he took him oft times, and he was bound with chains, and kept in stocks, and when the bonds were broken, he was led of the devil into desert. WYC 1382

THIS KIND is the Legion. This Legion was this man's SIN. This is the Man of SIN. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) A spirit, the murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44) The offspring of the Viper. (Matthew 12:34) That Viper that eats dust all his days. (Genesis 3:14) Man was made from the dust. (Genesis 2:7) So were the pigs. (Genesis 1:24)

Each action of SIN this man thought of, IN HIS MIND, came from the WISPERS (Matthew 10:27) of the Legion that was capable of speaking audibly to Jesus. This body of "many members" may have been able to speak to the man as well. This is schizophrenia, all of that SIN dwelling inside the man. Who in our world today is teaching this? These "victims" need the TRUTH, not pharmakeia.

When Jesus gave the Legion permission to enter into the tabernacle of those pig's flesh, we see them immediately change their behavior to match that of the mans. They became lunatic. Something had happened to them WITHIN THEIR MINDS, and they immediately turned violent, probably attacking each other all the way down the steep bank into the sea and drowned themselves. They committed suicide. (Mark 5:12-13) They Legion DROVE them to murder themselves. I remind you; MURDER IS SIN. What was these pigs SIN? Legion was, wasn't he? The murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44)

What happened to the man when the Legion left his tabernacle of flesh? That home was swept clean, wasn't it? (Mark 5:15) Where then was this man's SIN? At the bottom of the sea inside a herd of dead pigs. SIN is not a choice; He is a spirit. He has a Kingdom of his own. I want you to think about secular history: a Legion belongs to a Kingdom. (Luke 17:21) He is the THORN that kept Paul from being conceited. That angle of Satan that harassed him, that Christ's grace was sufficient enough to cover. A body of "many members" that belongs to the Man of SIN.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 And lest the greatness of revelations enhance me in pride, the prick of my flesh, an angel of Satan, is given to me, that he buffet me. For which thing thrice I prayed the Lord, that it should go away from me. And he said to me, My grace sufficeth to thee; for virtue is perfectly made in infirmity. Therefore gladly I shall glory in mine infirmities, that the virtue of Christ dwell in me. WYC 1382

Let's link this together:

Was the boy and isolated? No! Was the Man? Yes! Were the pigs? No!

Was the boy an inmate? No! Was the man? Yes! Were the pigs? No!

Was the boy aggressive? No! Was the man? Yes! Were the pigs? Yes!

Was the boy self-harming? Yes! Was the man? Yes! Did the pigs? Yes!

Was the boy a lunatic? Yes! Was the man? Yes! Were the pigs? Yes! - All characteristics of SIN.

Romans 7:15-20 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is SIN living in me that does it. WYC 1382

When Jesus taught the lesson about plucking out ones eye, or cutting off ones hand, what was He teaching? "Many members," individual SIN, demons needing to be CAST OUT, belonging to a body. SIN. I pray my readers can see what has been missing in our doctorines.

Matthew 18:8-9 And if thine hand or thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it away from thee. It is better to thee to enter to life feeble, either crooked, than having twain hands or two feet to be sent into everlasting fire. And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, pull it out, and cast it away from thee. It is better to thee with one eye to enter into life, than having twain eyes to be sent into the fire of hell. WYC 1382

 

Have you ever wondered how Jesus and Paul taught the same ministry, "many members," when Paul had never met Jesus? - THE SAME SPIRIT!

Jesus and Modern Experiences of Spiritual Affliction:

In Part One I shared a story about a woman named Ashley Baily who believed she was Jesus and Illuminati who slit her boyfriend's throat. I also shared my person story of the time a spirit claiming to be God "came to me and said," "Put a bullet in Chewy's head." Chewy, who was my boyfriend at the time was asleep when the "voice came to me."

Imagine being told to murder by an invisible voice claiming to be God. These are things that Jesus faced in Matthew 4 when He was led into the wilderness by a spirit to isolation, (Matthew 4:1) just like the man in Luke 8 was led into the solitary places by Legion. He held a conversation with an invisible voice in this story too, one that was instructing Him to act out certain odd things, like turning stones into bread. (Matthew 4:3) This is something we see in psychosis patients today, with complaints that demons or other voices are instructing them to act out certain odd things as well. What they need is for someone to show them what they are experiencing is the foundation of Jesus' teachings.

He was SEIZED by Satan and TAKEN to the holy city where Satan SET (CONTROL) Him on the highest point of the Temple. Satan then instructed Him to commit suicide, which is SIN. "Throw yourself down." (Matthew 4:5-6) The boy in Mark 9 too was "SEIZED" so that he was "thrown into the fire." (Mark 9:17-18) Consider what that would have looked like to those who were standing around the Temple at the time. You see, we always say that Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, (Matthew 4:2) but when Satan SET Him on the pinnacle of the Temple, (Matthew 4:5) He was no longer in the wilderness. There would have been many people around the Temple. You can assume that someone saw Him. Imagine a man standing on the edge of a New York skyscraper, ready to jump. What would you think about him? Mental illness, am I right? Jesus also saw visions of all the Kingdoms of the world in a moment's time. (Matthew 4:8) How could that be?

Patients with psychosis often experience vivid and sometimes disturbing images or scenes in their minds that can feel as real as watching a movie, even though their eyes are open. Science suggests this phenomenon occurs because the brain struggles to differentiate between reality and these hallucinations. This symptom is a hallmark of schizophrenia, manifesting as visual, auditory, or other sensory hallucinations. These experiences can be very vivid and lifelike. They are real to the person experiencing them. I have even found a poem expressing the tear between the good and evil auditory voices and the visions of the mind titled, "The Movie in my Mind."

Was Jesus' experience real? Yes, it was. What about those experiencing it today? Yes, their experience is just as real as the boy's in Matthew 17, the man in Mark 5, and Jesus'. They are the same, and science agrees with me. While they are feeding pharmaceuticals to the experience, claiming it's not real and a mental illness. I stand up for the truth that this is what Jesus' ministry was about. Our Christian society is not doing what is required of them to receive salvation by neglecting those with spiritual gifts and experiences.

Revelation 18:23-24 and the light of [the] lantern shall no more shine in thee, and the voice of the husband and of the wife shall no more be heard in thee; for thy merchants were princes of the earth. For in thy witchcrafts all folks erred. And the blood of prophets and of saints is found in it, and of all men that be slain in earth. WYC 1382

Revelation 3:1 And to the angel of the church of Sardis write thou, These things saith he, that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, for thou hast a name, that thou livest, and thou art dead. WYC 1382

I've had so many Christians try to rebuke my teachings. A prison minister once attempted to disprove to me that the Legion in Mark 5 is not the same spirit Jesus encountered in Matthew 4, stating that God cannot be demon possessed. The fact is, I understand the Christians are only standing up for what they understand the truth to be. I am aware: to them it seems as though I'm changing the entire Bible. What they lack in knowledge is: it has already been changed, and it's not our generation's fault. We are not the ones who altered it, leading to the dissention. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) No one is thinking to look 600 years back. I understand, really. I do.

However, I too am armed with a rebuke. Look at what I have already been able to show you. Also, when tracing the words back through a Strongs concordance, you will find they are synonymous. In my YouTube video, Strong's Comparison for Satan and Demon: An In-Depth Analysis, I detail my study techniques in response to the email I received from the prison minister. In it, I confirm that the words "Satan" and "Demon" are synonymous.

The intention was for us to understand where the BODY OF MANY MEMBERS IS, where the Kingdom is, and to recognize that SATAN ALSO HAS A BODY.

Luke 17:21 neither they shall say, Lo! here, or lo[!] there; for lo! the realm of God is within you. WYC 1382

[thelawsofdaylight]

Lots of things to discuss in 1.1.4 but I think my favourite thing will forever be how Hugo uses it as a discussion point to talk about the guillotine and the death penalty more widely (spoiler alert he is not in favour!!!!)

In particular I just really enjoy how he emphasises the guillotine itself is not a neutral object and rejects neutrality in the view of the observer too. Hugo’s prose here is just really beautiful (it’s the Romanticism!!!) and it feels like the first time his opinion really comes through as his own without him having to use another vehicle to convey it. He’s really laying out a thesis and it’s important that this question of death and what right we have to use it as a punishment comes so early on in the text- Hugo has a lot to say on the subject and only 1462 pages in which to do it!!

Also, this is the first time we see Myriel even a little less than 100% self assured and Hugo makes a point of how witnessing the execution has a very visible effect on him. It’s also the first (explicit) hint we get that maybe his way of viewing the world isn’t entirely as good as it maybe seems- he doesn’t stop the execution! He doesn’t agree with it but there’s a contradiction between human law and Divine law that he can’t bridge and that shakes him to the extent that he then avoids having to confront it.

Also okay this next bit is under the cut for (very minor) Spoilers but:

I just really enjoy Hugo’s phrasing of this section:

“The scaffold is a vision. The scaffold is not a piece of carpentry; the scaffold is not a machine; the scaffold is not an inert bit of mechanism constructed of wood, iron and cords.“

And how it really reminds me of something Enjolras says about the barricade in 5.1.5:

“This barricade is not made of paving-stones, nor of joists, nor of bits of iron; it is made of two heaps, a heap of ideas, and a heap of woes.”

These constructions are more than the sum of their parts!!! You cannot view these things divorced from the context in which they are constructed or as less than the things they represent (and don’t even think about trying!!) These objects defy neutrality!!! You cannot observe the guillotine or the barricades and come away the same person!!! I just think it’s neat!!!

[jitendra030]

Manipal University Online MCA

Conquering the Digital Frontier: Unraveling the Manipal University Online MCA Program

In the whirlwind of the digital age, a Master of Computer Applications (MCA) degree has become the gold standard for aspiring IT professionals. If you crave the flexibility of online learning while seeking the prestige of a renowned university, Manipal University Online's MCA program might be your perfect launchpad. Let's delve into this innovative program, examining its curriculum, eligibility criteria, fees, and the key factors that make it stand out.

Unveiling the Course Structure:

Manipal University Online's MCA program spans across four semesters, meticulously crafted to equip you with cutting-edge knowledge and hands-on skills. Here's a glimpse into the core areas you'll conquer:

Foundational Semesters (Semesters 1 & 2): Laying the groundwork, you'll master programming languages like C++, Java, and Python. Data structures, algorithms, and operating systems will become your playground, while subjects like computer networks and web technologies open doors to the digital world's infrastructure.

Specialization Semesters (Semesters 3 & 4): This is where you carve your niche. Choose from specializations like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Software Development, or Cyber Security. Deepen your expertise in your chosen domain with advanced electives and capstone projects that put your skills to the test.

Eligibility Criteria: Unlocking the Gateway:

To embark on this journey, you must have:

A Bachelor's degree in any discipline with Mathematics or Statistics as a compulsory subject at the 10+2 level or at the graduation level.

Secured a valid score in national entrance exams like NIMCAT, MAT, or ATMA.

A passion for technology and a thirst for continuous learning.

Admission Criteria: Demystifying the Selection Process:

Once you meet the eligibility criteria, your merit score in the chosen entrance exam forms the basis for selection. Shortlisted candidates are then invited for an online interview where your communication skills, technical aptitude, and career aspirations are assessed.

Financial Considerations: Unmasking the Fees:

The program fee for the Manipal University Online MCA program is currently set at around INR 2.5 lakhs per semester. However, scholarships and financial aid options are available for deserving students, easing the financial burden and making the program accessible to a wider pool of talented individuals.

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Spotlight on Specializations: Dive deeper into each specialization, highlighting the specific courses, industry trends, and career prospects.

Alumni Success Stories: Feature interviews with successful alumni who have carved their niche in the IT world after graduating from the program.

Comparison with other Online MCA Programs: Briefly compare Manipal's program with other online MCA offerings, highlighting its unique strengths and value proposition.

Student Testimonies: Include quotes from current or past students about their experiences with the program, its challenges, and its rewards.

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Q&A Section: Address frequently asked questions about the program, admission process, and career opportunities.

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[ofpd]

anyway top five les mis moments that could put someone in a hospital

ok i am so biased towards certain characters but here are some devastating scenes (devastating lines are a different category to me). under the cut as an excuse to post longass passages. bolded lines are my fave parts of the scenes

this whole scene in 3.7.4 is cray but at a highlight is when eponine says this

I often go off in the evening. Sometimes I don’t come home again. Last winter, before we came here, we lived under the arches of the bridges. We huddled together to keep from freezing. My little sister cried. How melancholy the water is! When I thought of drowning myself, I said to myself: ‘No, it’s too cold.’ I go out alone, whenever I choose, I sometimes sleep in the ditches. Do you know, at night, when I walk along the boulevard, I see the trees like forks, I see houses, all black and as big as Notre Dame, I fancy that the white walls are the river, I say to myself: ‘Why, there’s water there!’ The stars are like the lamps in illuminations, one would say that they smoked and that the wind blew them out, I am bewildered, as though horses were breathing in my ears; although it is night, I hear hand-organs and spinning-machines, and I don’t know what all. I think people are flinging stones at me, I flee without knowing whither, everything whirls and whirls. You feel very queer when you have had no food.

in 4.12.3, after grantaire has gotten drunk instead of lamarque's funeral and the barricades are being built

Enjolras, who was standing on the crest of the barricade, gun in hand, raised his beautiful, austere face. [...]

“Grantaire,” he shouted, “go get rid of the fumes of your wine somewhere else than here. This is the place for enthusiasm, not for drunkenness. Don’t disgrace the barricade!”

This angry speech produced a singular effect on Grantaire. One would have said that he had had a glass of cold water flung in his face. He seemed to be rendered suddenly sober. He sat down, put his elbows on a table near the window, looked at Enjolras with indescribable gentleness, and said to him:— “Let me sleep here.”

“Go and sleep somewhere else,” cried Enjolras.

But Grantaire, still keeping his tender and troubled eyes fixed on him, replied:— “Let me sleep here,—until I die.”

Enjolras regarded him with disdainful eyes:— “Grantaire, you are incapable of believing, of thinking, of willing, of living, and of dying.”

Grantaire replied in a grave tone:— “You will see.”

there are a bunch of iconic exr quotes back to back in 4.1.6 and im not even including all of them here

“What about me?” said Grantaire. “Here am I.”

“You?”

“I.”

“You indoctrinate republicans! you warm up hearts that have grown cold in the name of principle!”

“Why not?”

“Are you good for anything?”

“I have a vague ambition in that direction,” said Grantaire.

“You do not believe in everything.”

“I believe in you.”

“Grantaire will you do me a service?”

“Anything. I’ll black your boots.”

“Well, don’t meddle with our affairs. Sleep yourself sober from your absinthe.”

this in 5.1.8... love both the times that enjy kills a guy but the other one is more sexy and this one is more devastating

The captain of the piece was a handsome sergeant of artillery, very young, blond, with a very gentle face, and the intelligent air peculiar to that predestined and redoubtable weapon which, by dint of perfecting itself in horror, must end in killing war.

Combeferre, who was standing beside Enjolras, scrutinized this young man.

“What a pity!” said Combeferre. “What hideous things these butcheries are! Come, when there are no more kings, there will be no more war. Enjolras, you are taking aim at that sergeant, you are not looking at him. Fancy, he is a charming young man; he is intrepid; it is evident that he is thoughtful; those young artillery-men are very well educated; he has a father, a mother, a family; he is probably in love; he is not more than five and twenty at the most; he might be your brother.”

“He is,” said Enjolras.

“Yes,” replied Combeferre, “he is mine too. Well, let us not kill him.”

“Let me alone. It must be done.”

And a tear trickled slowly down Enjolras’ marble cheek.

can't make a list of devastating les mis scenes without eponines death :) this isn't the whole thing but i did want to have some limit on how long this post was

“Now, for my trouble, promise me—”

And she stopped.

“What?” asked Marius.

“Promise me!”

“I promise.”

“Promise to give me a kiss on my brow when I am dead.—I shall feel it.”

She dropped her head again on Marius’ knees, and her eyelids closed. He thought the poor soul had departed. Éponine remained motionless. All at once, at the very moment when Marius fancied her asleep forever, she slowly opened her eyes in which appeared the sombre profundity of death, and said to him in a tone whose sweetness seemed already to proceed from another world:—

“And by the way, Monsieur Marius, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you.”

She tried to smile once more and expired.

[whispersafterdusk]

Heart of Stone - ch 14

The next day Unsuur woke to his alarm as usual and as he rolled onto his side to sit up the blanket fell away, leaving the heart knot on his wrist in full view; he felt his own heart swell up at the sight of it - he and Dawn were together now. He'd never been happier in his life. It filled him with an energy that propelled him out of bed and through his morning routine in record time, and even the stiff collar on his new jacket didn't dim his mood as he stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air; it was clean and still rain-scented, with a healthy underlying hint of drying dirt and the promise of all the flowers that would start showing up later this afternoon. Dawn was going to love it. ((Continued below cut))

--------------------------

He stopped by briefly on his first patrol; she had been at her fence reading through some mail and had waved and greeted him cheerfully. She had a busy day ahead of her forging whatever robot contraption Qi had designed -- he saw the blueprints and it honestly looked like a toy so he still wasn't sure how it would help build the bridge quicker but trusted that Dawn, Qi, and Heidi knew what they were talking about.

After that it felt like he was gliding through the rest of his morning; today all his usual daydreams kept circling back to Dawn and what the future might hold. Maybe it was too soon to think about THE future but he couldn't help himself -- everything he could picture now had Dawn as part of it too. He'd be deputy, and she'd be the best builder in Sandrock, and everything was only going to get better. Getting lost and winding up here was officially the second-best thing that had ever happened to him.

As he wanted her to have time to eat lunch before they went for their walk he waited until late in the afternoon to go back. She was at a machine that had a large hammer and anvil as its main features, and between her hands was some kind of metal panel that she was ever-so-precisely moving underneath the pounding hammer to curve it bit by bit around the anvil's horn. When he got closer he noticed the thick gloves and could smell heated metal; whatever she was working on must be very hot so he was careful to keep his distance while moving to where she could see him without needing to take her eyes off the machine. She saw him and smiled and finished off the piece in her hands, stepping over to lay it on the corner of the assembly platform before peeling her gloves and safety glasses off.

"Well hello there. Time got away from me," she laughed, fanning her hands at her sides - to cool them down or maybe dry them off, he assumed.

"Hi. Ready for a walk?"

"Definitely. I've been smelling everything all morning and can't wait to see which flowers are making which scents."

He held out his hand and after giving her hands a quick wipe on her pants she took it, falling into step beside him and briefly leaning her head against his arm -- if only he had a third arm on that side so he could hold her hand and also put an arm around her.

Wait... He'd look very weird and people would probably run away from him if he did, so maybe it was better that he had a normal number of arms. Just holding her hand now was fine.

"How's the robot turning out?"

Tipping her head back she partly groaned, partly sighed. "It's proving to be a massive pain in the butt to assemble. It looks stupid and there's a few parts of it - mostly the outer shell - that seems less like a lifter robot and more something meant to be driven into battle. I'll be glad when I'm done with the thing."

Unsuur frowned -- battle? "But, you're not building it for battle. Right?"

"I'M not, no. There's no weapons or anything on it, it's just got a thicker body than I think it needs considering it's just a glorified robot shell that's meant to lift heavy things - like he's sneaking armor into the design. There's obviously some thickness needed to help with structural integrity -- you don't want it crumpling under too much weight or not properly counter-balancing what it's lifting or whatever. But this..."

"Justice and I can keep an eye on how it's being used once you're finished building it," he said.

"Seeing how, um, weird Qi was being about it that's probably a good idea."

"Any idea how much longer it'll take to build it?"

"I've got everything I need for it so...assuming nothing else major comes up I could have it done in a few days." After a moment she grinned up at him. "Then I'll be free to go see that rock stack you mentioned."

"It's really great, I can't wait to show you."

"Speaking of being unable to wait to show something," Dawn said lightly. "I have something new I'd like to show you when we get back."

"Do I get a hint?"

"I turned the rose quartz you gave me into something -- something I'll eventually wear, just not when I'm working so I don't damage or lose it. I'd be pretty upset if I lost it," she added, pouting a little. "But, what I made out of it was inspired by you, so..."

Unsuur blinked at her. "By me? What'd I do?"

"You'll see."

It was a very pleasant walk - not all that different from one of his patrols, to be honest, but it was a hundred times better than a patrol - and while he would have loved to stay out there longer they both had jobs to get back to. When they got back to the workshop he followed her inside and sat down on the couch while she retrieved a wooden box polished to a sheen and with tiny blue flowers and a vine pattern painted across the lid from beneath her bed. Inside was a small collection of jewelry (it was mostly necklaces, hairpins, and combs, including the one she'd made with the opal he'd given her) and he spotted a glint of silver with a hint of pink.

She sat the box on the table and gently lifted out a necklace; hanging at regular intervals on the silvery chain were small rose quartz pieces shaped like little drops. She slipped it around her neck and made certain it was hanging straight then pulled a silver hair comb adorned with more of the rose quartz and tucked it into her hair above her ear, turning her head so he could see it clearly. It was an irregular shape, thicker on one side and tapered and thinned on the other, with a wavy, irregular lower edge sort of like...

It looked sort of like a dripping swipe of paint. -- oh.

She laughed quietly when he realized. "Can you guess what inspired me?"

"I can. That's pretty clever, and now you'll have that little memory you can carry around with you. Maybe I should paint my walls more often now."

Smiling Dawn took the hair comb out and returned it and the necklace to the jewelry box. "I don't know, I kind of like the green in there."

"It is nice," he agreed. When she went to tuck the jewelry box back under the bed he stood up. "I should get back on patrol. I'll be back around with dinner later like always."

"Could you tell Owen he can definitely make this one the last free meal? I'll go personally thank him tomorrow but I won't be nearly as busy with this lifter as I was getting the trusses done."

"I can do that. See you in a little while."

She walked with him to the door and out into the yard, and when they paused to split off to the gate and back to the machines she stood on her tiptoes to give him a little peck on the cheek.

He quickly bent down to return the gesture. "-I'm going to start doing that more often so I don't fall behind."

"I didn't realize it was a competition," Dawn giggled.

"It's not, but if it is, I want to win," Unsuur replied, bending to kiss her again.

"Shoo," she jokingly scolded, blushing bright red as she gently pushed him toward the gate. "I'll see you at dinnertime."

"Later," he said, allowing himself to be moved a few steps before relenting and heading off under his own power. As he crossed the tracks he rubbed his fingers over the knot, smiling to himself, and continued on to quickly duck inside the saloon to talk to Owen; afterward he hurried down the street and took his usual route up toward the temple. Pen was coming down the stairs toward him so he scooted over to give them enough space to pass each other, and was surprised when Pen stepped into his path.

"So...you and the builder, huh? Whole town is talking about it."

Were they? Dang, that was quick. ...though, most of Sandrock had seen them together last night so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. "Yeah. I'm really happy about it."

Pen wrinkled his nose briefly before forcing a smile. "I'm sure you are, and I'm sure everyone with their little gossip circles were rooting for you both or whatever, but, let me give you some advice buddy: enjoy it while it lasts."

Unsuur stared at him; he'd delivered that advice in much the same way as he always spoke - with that full-of-confidence bravado - but Pen's smile had shifted just enough to look...weird. "What do you mean?"

Pen sighed and looked around, like he was expecting eavesdroppers, then bent toward Unsuur and lowered his voice. "I've personally seen it happen with a dozen girls -- a way better man is going to carry her off and she won't even look back."

"You're wrong," Unsuur blurted out before he was fully aware of his mouth moving. "...you're wrong, she's not like that - we like each other a lot, and she wants to stay here in Sandrock. She told me that way before we became a couple."

"Girls say a lot of things," Pen said, straightening and carelessly waving a hand. "Just trying to keep you from being blindsided when it happens."

"It's not going to happen, but...thanks?" Unsuur said slowly.

Pen pushed passed him and continued down the stairs with a final "don't say I didn't warn you!" called over his shoulder.

Unsuur watched him go; the entire conversation had given him a strange feeling that he couldn't quite name. He didn't believe for an instant that Dawn would run off with someone else (and if Pen wanted to keep thinking that Unsuur couldn't really stop him - thinking incorrect facts wasn't a crime) but the whole thing had felt off. Was Pen jealous? ...that had to be it. Dawn had never liked Pen and he'd never seen her attempt to talk to him, only run away; she was pretty so Pen probably had a crush on her too, AND he knew the man wasn't fond of losing competitions.

Well, now that weird feeling had shifted to feeling a sort of pride in having Pen of all people jealous of him.

Shaking his head and tracing a finger along the wires in the knot he continued up the steps toward the temple.

---------------------------

Compared to the trusses Dawn got the robot lifter done quickly; it took about a day and a half to craft and assemble it, then she had delivered it to the bridge construction area and Unsuur hung around briefly to watch one of the men piloting it - he didn't think it seemed dangerous and Justice agreed, so they left the men to it and went about their business. A few days after that, when the bridge was "finished," Matilda let them know that an inspector would be arriving from Atara to make certain everything was good with the construction then finally the bridge would be re-opened and things would go back to normal.

This morning Justice was tagging along on Unsuur's usual route; yesterday Unsuur had spotted what he thought was a pack of rockyenarolls trying to establish a den way too close to the Wandering Y so after a quick morning meeting they'd started off from the Corps building and marched along the tracks. The construction crew was already at work and the rest of Sandrock was quiet - hardly anyone else was up this early aside from them and, once they were close enough to spot her, Dawn. Unsuur had planned to wave and keep going, since they had a job to do, but Justice didn't mind standing off at a distance and waiting for a few minutes to give him time to chat with her.

He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and leaned against the fence to glance around the yard; every furnace was running but nothing was on the assembly platform now that the lifter had been moved. "Big plans for today?"

She shook her head. "More of a catch up day -- I've used a ton of metal and materials lately. It bothers me to not have a stock of stuff on hand so I'm taking the day off from commissions and getting some basic stuff restocked. How about you?"

"Justice and I need to chase off a pack of rockyenarolls. They're moving in too close to the ranch and we don't want them hunting Cooper's yakmel."

"It's...not a BIG pack, is it? Not too dangerous?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Not too big - maybe six of them. Nothing we can't handle."

She frowned, crossing her arms. "Yeah...but, be careful. I don't want to see you hurt."

"We'll be careful, promise. Maybe we could go for a ride later? Boulder needs to stretch his legs some."

"If I'm not buried in wire and screws, sure," she answered, smiling at him. "Be safe."

He was able to lean over the fence and give her a one-armed hug then stepped away with a wave and returned to Justice. They continued along the tracks and a sudden movement on the train platform drew Unsuur's eye -- there was a man there, laying on a bench. He was...sleeping, or something, and had rolled over and was balanced precariously on the bench's edge.

"Whoa, do you see that?" Justice asked, tensing beside him.

"He's really close to the tracks..." Unsuur said quietly, staring at the man. If he moved so much as an inch further he'd-

The man's balance tipped too far and he rolled clear off the bench AND the platform, and a split second later the warning blare of the train's whistle sounded. Somehow neither the whistle nor the impact of landing on the track woke the man.

"Train's comin'-" he gasped, breaking into a sprint.

Could he outrun a train? (Was it considered outrunning the train if they were moving toward each other?) His breath burned in his throat and his pulse was roaring in his ears as he raced for the man; when he reached him he didn't bother trying to stop and just let his hands grab whatever they latched on to and used his momentum to hurl them both to the side where they hit the ground and rolled several feet before coming to a stop as the train rolled up to the platform where they'd been only seconds before. It was only then that Unsuur felt a startled huff of air against his neck from the man sprawled under him, and as he crawled off he was greeted by the man's look of sleepy confusion. The hiss of the train's engine drowned out whatever the man tried to say as he slowly sat up and looked around; as the hissing began to taper off he could make out the sound of approaching footsteps and was almost bowled over as Dawn threw herself down beside him, grabbing his arm.

"Are you ok?!"

"Yeah, I'm ok. Maybe a few bruises," he answered, finally looking himself over. His heart was still racing, his jacket sleeve was stained and smeared with dirt, his hip kind of hurt where he'd landed on his ammo pouch (he checked to make sure he hadn't just spilled bullets everywhere but thankfully the pouch had remained closed). His gun was still in its holster and the safety still on as well.

Justice skidded to a halt a few feet away, looking him and the stranger over before letting out a relieved-sounding sigh. "Nice one, buddy. I was, uh, just about to do that..."

"Huh? What's going on?" the man mumbled, rubbing his head and blinking blearily.

Their tumble away from the tracks had left the stranger with a minor scrape on his chin; if he hadn't just saved his life Unsuur would feel a little bad about it.

Dawn turned toward the man with a glare, hands on her hips. "Who exactly are you and why were you on the tracks?!"

The man looked surprised at her glare and sharp tone. "All I remember is... I was feeling sleepy when I got off the train last night, and... Oh, I'm Mint. I was sent here by the Ataran government to inspect a railway bridge." He scooted away on his backside and then stood up, brushing himself off. "Where can I find City Hall? I'm supposed to talk with Mayor Trudy."

Before Unsuur could answer Justice stepped into the space between him, Dawn, and Mint, fixing the inspector with a stern look. "Hold your horses, pal, you're not getting off that easy. I don't care if you're the Deacon of Meidi, here in Sandrock everybody subscribes to a little tenet called 'responsibility.' What if we hadn't shown up? You'd be in the hospital right now, at best."

Mint at least looked a little sheepish at that and rubbed a hand against the back of his neck.

Justice huffed, shaking his head. "Next time you feel like taking a nap check your surroundings! Ask yourself questions like: am I near any heavy machinery? Am I in a den of monsters? Do I smell gas? This line of thinking may save your life one day, 'cause we're not always gonna be there. You got it?"

"Er... I'm sorry, sir. I'll try to be more careful from now on," Mint answered quietly.

"Yeah, you do that," Justice said after another moment or two of stern staring, then he relaxed a bit and shifted to offer Unsuur and Dawn both a hand each to help them up. "All's well that ends well, I guess. Dawn, me and Unsuur need to get after those rockyenarolls, can you do me a solid and take the inspector here to City Hall? I'd feel a lot better if you went along, considering the circumstances," he added with a final warning glare at the man.

Dawn let him help her back to her feet and nodded. "I can do that. Be careful, you two."

Unsuur got up and Justice clapped a hand on his back in approval, then they moved around Mint and started down the tracks again. Behind him he could hear Mint apologizing again and Dawn replying, though Dawn was too quiet for him to hear clearly.

That had been uncomfortably close -- for both of them, to be honest. He hoped he never had to do that again.

--------------------------

Dawn was busily assembling something new when Unsuur walked by on his way home for lunch; the rockyenarolls had luckily only just started digging out a den and hadn't put up much of a fight when he and Justice went to run them off -- none of them looked pregnant so Unsuur didn't feel too bad scaring them away and denying them a safe home. There were loads of places further out in the Eufala they could settle in, without needing to worry about animal-on-human violence (or vice versa - they were seen as deadly pests more often than not and a lot of the surrounding villages shot them on sight).

"There's the hero of the day," she greeted him, smiling widely but not moving away from the platform.

Being called a hero made him feel a little self-conscious, but also it was a nice feeling too. "Just doing my duty. What are you building now?"

She was smoothly sliding two lengths of bronze pipe together; one was thinner so it would fit inside the other and could be tightened with a bolt threaded through a metal cuff set into the larger one's end. The thinner one was capped with a rubber foot and he could see two more identical pieces sitting nearby, next to an odd-looking gadget about the size of his backpack. From just looking at it Unsuur didn't recognize what it was.

Dawn's smile soured a bit at the question then she shook her head and moved the partially finished whatever-it-was in front of her. "Well, along with almost getting himself killed our bridge inspector also forgot to bring the equipment he needed to inspect the bridge."

Unsuur stared at her. "...I can't tell if you're joking."

"I'm not."

"Oh." Are we sure this guy is the real inspector? Maybe he or Justice should verify that...somehow.

He looked back at the thing on the assembly platform; there was some kind of viewing or measuring machine connected to a wide swivel, that then connected to a tripod made up of the bronze pipes for legs. With the third leg complete Dawn gently laid the device on its side and began attaching the legs to the bottom of the swivel.

"So...then, is this thing what he forgot to bring?"

"Yep," Dawn grunted, grabbing a brass-headed hammer and first tapping the bottom of the rubber foot of the leg in hand then tapping all around the opening the leg fit into. "Qi, somehow, had the needed blueprints sitting around."

"Wow. You built that really quick."

She blushed and smiled up at him again. "Through sheer dumb luck, anyway. I was able to scrounge the rest of what I needed out of the salvage yard in record time with Venti's help. Won't take me long to finish up the last few pieces that go inside, then test all the power connections are working...then try not to beat Mint over the head with it when I go to give it to him," she added dryly.

"You're determined to have me arrest you."

"Maybe I am," she said slyly after a moment, winking at him and reaching for another leg.

Though she'd said it with some confidence her face turned a bright shade of red, and Unsuur's ears felt hot. "Uh... Oh, will you need to do anything else once you finish this? Will the bridge be officially done?"

"It should be, yeah. Can finally put all that behind us," she sighed, sounding relieved. "I don't want to have to do anything like this again." With some more hammer taps she got the remaining legs attached then flipped the device upright and tested the range of the swivel; it moved smoothly and silently, and she nodded in satisfaction. "Shouldn't take me too much longer. Maybe we could make it an evening ride? ...makes me wonder if I should get a horse," she mused after a moment. "When we went out gathering materials back in Atara we had pack horses we borrowed to help haul everything back -- never got to ride them, only lead, but it was really helpful having them carrying the bulk of the weight, and they were so sweet and calm too."

"Boulder is a nice horse. Just don't have any snacks in your pockets or he might try to fit his nose somewhere it doesn't belong. Or pick you up... He did that to Burgess once and I had to pay to replace the pair of pants he tore when Boulder picked him up by the back pocket trying to get at the bag of dried sandberries he was carrying around."

Dawn started laughing; it was such a nice sound, he loved it. "I'm at least much lighter than Burgess so maybe my clothes won't tear but I'll keep that in mind - no snacks."

"I should get home to eat lunch but I'll be back tonight with Boulder," he said, waving as he hurried on toward his house.

Boulder would be happy for a chance to stretch his legs doing something other than patrolling around; he took him out on walks and rides as often as he could (and sometimes Cooper would let him set him loose in the yakmel paddock so he could free-roam for awhile) but he still felt guilty leaving him in the stable so much. Would his saddle comfortably seat two? There'd never really been a reason to think about it before...but he was reasonably certain that two-seater saddles weren't a thing, or at least weren't something he could go out and buy on such short notice.

Dawn was small, at least; she should easily fit behind him, if there wasn't enough space in front of him. He'd need to remember an extra blanket...

-------------------------------------

It was much later than he'd intended when he headed back to Dawn's; though it was rare to get thieves in Sandrock he and Justice had spent the rest of the day chasing down a man who had snatched an armload of Arvio's goods and taken off across the as-of-yet-not-open bridge, blowing right passed a startled Mint and his bridge-testing device. Justice had been close enough to actually see the theft and Unsuur had been coming down the stairs from the temple when he heard the shouting. Justice had taken off on his horse with Unsuur hurrying to saddle up Boulder and follow, and then once he'd reached the bridge he could see Justice pursuing not just the one thief but a group of three fleeing on horses on the far end of the bridge.

Logan might be THE famous bandit in this area but there were still plenty of petty bandits that could be found lurking along the trade routes between the outlying villages; they apparently weren't one of the more successful groups, a fact that became all the more apparent as he and Justice quickly caught up and with some creative lassoing took them all off the backs of their horses - the horses looked dangerously skinny and the bandits didn't look that much better off.

They'd tied the bandits up and got them back on the backs of their horses then led the entire group back to town; Justice marched them into the jail cell then started to sort the stolen goods and fill out the intake paperwork while Unsuur led the poor horses over to Cooper's.

Then, finally, he was free to head over to Dawn's.

She was sitting on a stool to the left of her front door, a book open in her lap; though the air still smelled of hot metal she'd changed out of her work clothes and was wearing regular jeans and a simple teal t-shirt, and as he trotted Boulder up to the gate she closed the book with a smile.

"Sorry, Justice and I got caught up in something."

"It's all right. You won't get in trouble if you're here with me and not helping him, will you?"

Unsuur shook his head. "I left at the paperwork step - he doesn't really need my help with that."

Quickly she ducked inside and seemed to trade the book for a small cloth pouch, hurrying over to the gate; Boulder's ears immediately pricked up at her approach, and the horse craned his neck forward to start sniffing at her.

Dawn laughed softly and reached out with her free hand to pat his nose. "I know I said no snacks but in my defense they're not in my pocket." She dumped a small handful of dried sandberries into her palm and held her palm out, flat, for Boulder; the horse quickly slurped up the berries and nosed her fingers looking for more. She emptied the sack into her palm and held her hand out again and Boulder ate the rest just as quickly.

After that run across the bridge and almost passed the old outpost Boulder deserved a treat; Unsuur waited for the horse to confirm for himself that Dawn did not have any more snacks before he maneuvered him around so Dawn could mount up.

"Do you want to sit in front of me or behind me?"

"Um... I think it'll have to be behind," she answered after a moment. "Elsie gave me some really basic riding lessons so I know how I'd get on by myself but my brain is going blank on how to swing my leg over with you there too."

"...would you rather sit in front?"

"I... yeah, kind of."

With that Unsuur slipped off the horse and held the reins, gesturing for Dawn to mount; once she was settled he got on behind her.

Yeah, this wasn't so bad; they both fit rather comfortably on the saddle together and he slid an arm around her waist to help hold her steady as he guided Boulder away from the gate. They set off at an easy trot, passing the oasis and heading for the new bridge. Mint wasn't there this time so he supposed the bridge inspection was done with and they'd hear the official news soon; it was a much calmer ride across this time and once they were over he felt Dawn shift against him, turning her head to look up at Gecko Station.

"Haven't been any signs of the Geeglers returning, has there?"

"Nope. Pen was checking daily for awhile and kept reporting no signs of any kind of life left in the station. He seemed really disappointed he didn't get to fight any of them."

She huffed. "Of course he would be..."

Now that he'd mentioned Pen their conversation from before came to mind, about a 'better man' coming in to carry Dawn off to somewhere better than Sandrock. It hadn't bothered him too much then but now that he was thinking about it again, staring at Gecko Station and thinking of Dawn's brush with death...

"Since it's empty of Geeglers does that mean Justice will open up the ruins soon? Maybe it'll attract people back to town... I saw a lot of interesting things down there, in between fighting for our lives. Lots of iron too - more than enough to build a bridge and then some. If only we'd had easier access to get at it...it would have taken ages to get all the needed scrap across the canyon using the cable cars. But! At least now if anything else big needs to be built or needs repair, it'd be just a short jaunt across Shonash bridge."

She kept talking as he replayed that scene in his mind - of her and Justice falling and the cable snapping. That had been awful, and there were loads more ways to seriously injure oneself in the desert...maybe a better guy wouldn't be the reason Dawn decided to leave: what if she decided it was too dangerous to stay?

"You ok?"

Dawn's voice cut through his train of thought. "Oh, uh. Yeah. Sorry. What did you say?"

She shifted in the saddle to look back at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She frowned at him. "...it's nothing. Just something Pen had said that came to mind."

"That...Pen said? What exactly did he say?" she asked, nose wrinkling.

"You... You still want to stay in Sandrock, right? Despite all the bad stuff that's happened?"

For several moments she stared at him silently, seeming confused by the question. "I- yes, of course I do! Why? Don't tell me Pen is spreading rumors that I'm going to leave?"

Unsuur shook his head. "No. Well, not exactly. Just-" He really, really didn't want to repeat him verbatim right now. "-that you might move on to somewhere way better than here. I know you've already said you wanted to stay in Sandrock so I shouldn't be worrying but--"

Letting out a groan she tipped her face toward the sky. "That stupid meathead... I have no intentions of going anywhere, Unsuur, I promise. I don't even plan on going on vacation! Whatever Pen's said, he's wrong." She turned back around and leaned into his chest, sliding her hand over his where it rested on her hip. "I have a home here, a boyfriend, and a job...pretty much everything I was looking for in life. I'm not giving this up so easily." After a pause she tilted her head back against him, smiling. "Sorry, you're stuck with me."

He smiled and lowered his chin to rest it atop her head, prompting a giggle fit. "Sounds good to me. And, yeah, I really didn't hear what you said."

"I was asking if Justice would open up Gecko Station, and musing on how nice that'd be."

"Oh, yeah. Justice did actually mention something about a final check of the place last week but he said it would have to wait until the bridge was finished. So...now that it's finished, it shouldn't be too long before we go in to make sure it's really safe."

They fell into a comfortable silence; everything was nice and peaceful out this way -- not even the tripions were paying them any attention and were happily sifting through the sand in their own little worlds. Unsuur directed Boulder up the hill and out passed the front of Gecko Station and the old outpost, heading for the open dunes. Far off to their right was the canyon with its impressive view of the rocky walls studded with Old World ruins; sometimes it boggled the mind to consider how big cities must have been back then -- Unsuur had seen single rooms inside ruins that could have comfortably held the entire population of Sandrock.

Of course, big cities meant a lot of people, and the Calamity had wiped out...a lot of people. That wasn't so nice to think about.

"-what are those?" Dawn asked then, bringing him back to the present.

She leaned forward a bit, pointing ahead; Unsuur looked that way and could see a small pack of penskies playing on top of one of the dunes. "Those are penskies. They're friendly -- too friendly, sometimes. Justice calls it 'aggressive affection' I think. Don't ever feed them or you'll get mobbed - they won't hurt you on purpose but being jumped on and licked by a big group of critters with hard heads and sharp claws on their feet isn't fun."

"Noted," she said with a quiet little laugh. "They're cute though!"

"Yeah, they are. I think Grandma Vivi used to sell stuffed animal penskies but the yakmels were more popular. Probably because you could walk out to the ranch to see and pet them but a pensky meant you had to come all the way out here."

He steered Boulder to the left to avoid the dune and penskies and a stretch of sand crowned with a gigantic rib cage bleached white by the sun and pitted and worn down by years of wind came into view - along with an unexpected resident sitting on top of it staring intently in their direction.

"Uh oh..."

Dawn stiffened against him. "Uh oh...what? What's 'uh oh'?"

Whoops. He hadn't meant to say that out loud but at least now she'll see and know about one of the desert's bigger dangers. "Do you see that big rib cage over there?"

"Yes, I- what is that on top of it?"

"That...is a dive buzzard," Unsuur answered. "And they're the most dangerous single creature in this area."

He felt Dawn's hand tighten over his. "It looks big even at this distance -- that thing must be huge."

"That's actually one of the smaller ones."

"What?!" she squeaked, shrinking back against him. "You're kidding!"

Though it was on the "smaller" side for a dive buzzard it was still big enough to make out its details easily: enormous body and wingspan with billowy, hair-like feathers covering its head and gathered into clumps that looked like pigtails on either side of its face. This one had found a pair of goggles somewhere and had them around its neck and was wearing what looked like air or gas tanks on its back; he'd seen them wearing shiny bits of robots and other debris before too.

"I wish I was. They're mean, whether they're big or not. They roam the desert looking for food and consider any place they happen to be at that moment to be their territory. Always be wary of any shadows that pass by overhead -- you might have guessed by their name but they attack by diving down on their targets. The REALLY big ones can snap yakmel spines if they land their dive, and if they miss they'll kick up a big cloud of sand to cover their next try. Usually they don't come this close to town... I need to go get Justice and Pen and we'll drive it off. Or, kill it." Odds were high they'd have to kill it. "Sorry, but we'll have to cut our ride short."

"It's ok, there's always another day."

The ride back into Sandrock was at a quicker pace and luckily Unsuur spotted Pen standing in town square; he trotted Boulder up toward him and stopped a few feet away, slipping down to help Dawn out of the saddle.

"Spotted a dive buzzard-" he started, only for Pen to perk up and slam one fist into his palm.

"FINALLY something almost worthy of my attention! Where?"

"-out passed the old outpost," Unsuur continued. "Have you seen Justice?"

Pen scoffed at that and walked around the other side of Boulder, breaking into a jog and heading for the bridge. "Please, I don't need him! Leave it to me!"

Normally Unsuur would trust to the man's skill - he WAS really good at fighting - but not when it came to dive buzzards. "I should catch up to him. Can you find Justice and tell him where we are?"

Dawn nodded. "I will. Be careful -- and, um, when you're done, how about we have dinner together instead? I'll cook."

"Sure. I'll be back as soon as I can, and I'll be careful, I promise."

Unsuur bent to kiss her cheek as she rose up to kiss his and they almost-but-not-quite met awkwardly in the middle; Dawn's breath was warm against his skin as she laughed softly, then gingerly pressed her lips to his instead.

It was the best feeling in the world. He wanted to do that again but there was a loud 'AHEM' from nearby and Unsuur pulled back to find Miguel standing there, an eyebrow raised.

"Uh... I should go. And find Pen. Like I said I would."

"Y-yeah, don't let me keep you. And sorry, pastor," Dawn added, pressing the back of her hand to her lips, face a bright red. She turned on her heel and rushed off down the street; Justice was usually coming in from the ranch area around this time of day so hopefully she'd run into him quickly.

Unsuur knew his face was also sporting a blush and hurried to hop onto Boulder and head for Shonash bridge again. Boulder let out a grumpy-sounding whinny as his hooves touched the stonework running along the track and Unsuur patted him reassuringly.

"Sorry, I know you don't like walking the same path over and over. It's really not so bad once you're used to it. Lots of time to daydream," he said, leaning in close to the horse's neck and urging him into a faster gallop.

Once more out in front of Gecko Station Unsuur could spot Pen running ahead of him, cutting a direct path for the rib cage where the buzzard was still quite visible sitting and surveying the area. The remaining sunlight glinted off the goggles around its neck as it spotted Pen coming and spread its wings, flapping a few times before taking flight.

That wasn't good -- Pen was technically a smaller target than Unsuur and the horse so the buzzard would probably ignore him in favor of the bigger potential meal. Turning Boulder around he directed him to the side of Gecko Station, hopping off and leading him to a spot where the stairs that lead up to the cable car landing would shield him from any sudden buzzard attacks. "I don't want you getting hurt so wait here until I come back, all right?" He tied the reins loosely to a pipe sticking out of the ground - it hadn't budged at all when he grabbed and pulled on it so it would suffice as an impromptu hitching post for now and the knot wasn't so tight that the horse couldn't yank himself free if he needed to flee.

The sound of an approaching horse reached him as he dashed back out toward the open dunes; Justice was galloping toward him and Unsuur waved at him.

"It's in the air, sheriff!"

"Got it, let me-" Justice called back in a rush, not finishing the sentence and accidentally showering Unsuur with kicked up sand as he abruptly changed Truth's trajectory to run him over toward where Boulder was sheltering.

With Justice warned Unsuur hurried after Pen, keeping one eye on where he was running and one on the skies above.

-------------------------------

The door had barely opened when Dawn threw herself into his arms for a tight hug then just as quickly pulled away, eying him up and down.

"You're ok? No injuries?"

"I'm fine." And that was true - aside from maybe bruising his knees when he'd stumbled he had come out of that buzzard fight unscathed, and so had Pen and Justice too. "It didn't put up much of a fight. Pen punched it a few times when it dove down at us, and Justice and I each shot it once. I don't think we hurt it badly enough that it'll die but after it got shot it did fly away and didn't come back."

"Will it come back later though?"

"I'm not sure. Pen said he'll keep an eye out for it and finish it off. I didn't want to kill it if we didn't have to but Justice said that B3, the sheriff before him, had told stories about how they sometimes even attacked the trains as they came into town so we can't let it stay this close to Sandrock. If that means we have to kill it then...we have to kill it. I was expecting we'd have to but it doesn't mean I like it."

She frowned at that. "I agree about not wanting to kill anything needlessly but nothing about these things sounds pleasant to to coexist with..." Shaking her head Dawn stepped backwards through the doorway and pulled the door open wider; Unsuur could smell potatoes and rice and what he thought was fish, and his stomach growled loudly enough that Dawn heard it. "Come on, it's just about ready," she giggled, gesturing for him to step inside.

The table was already set with plates and silverware and a folded trio of tea towels in the middle, and those delightful smells grew stronger now that he was mere feet away from the stove where he could see two covered pots on the burners and that the oven was on, and sitting on the counter nearby was that little tin timer ticking away steadily. She put a pitcher of chilled water on the table and Unsuur filled both their glasses before downing half of his; his scalp itched with sweat and sand and he was looking forward to cleaning up once he got back home.

Dawn lifted a lid off a pot and stirred its contents briefly - a sweet scent wafted out. "After I found Justice Matilda caught me heading home and said the bridge passed inspection -- not that I expected it would fail, but it was nice to get the official word. She wants to have an opening ceremony for it first thing in the morning."

"Really? That seems kind of short notice."

She laughed and turned off the burner, then moved that pot over to a cold burner. "I guess it is, sort of, but on the other hand I don't see anyone having anything better to do since they've all been watching and waiting for the bridge to be done-" the timer went off then and she jumped slightly, reaching over to turn it off. "-so I bet the whole town shows up."

Out of the oven came two covered pans, one narrow and oblong and the other a rounded square shape; she sat them on folded tea towels on the table and removed the lids to reveal fragrant, poached sandfish in a cloudy broth and a spicy-smelling dish made of cubes of potato and diced leek and peppers. It all smelled really good but he was curious about why there was one tea towel left on the table but two pots on the stove top.

Of those two pots Dawn moved one to the table and the other (the one that had smelled sweet) was left on the cold burner on the back of the stove; inside the one on the table was rice flavored with green flecks of herbs.

"I hope I didn't accidentally make something you don't like."

"You didn't, don't worry. There really aren't any foods I don't like, maybe because my parents made me try everything when I was a baby. No refusing food in their household."

"That sounds familiar," she said, laughing a bit as she gestured for him to serve himself. "Though no amount of feeding them to me has ever made me like raw onions or the green kind of olives."

"I have no idea what an olive even is," he replied, carefully lifting a delicate sandfish filet out of the pan and managing to get it onto his plate without dripping the broth everywhere or breaking the piece apart. "What do they taste like?"

"Disgusting by themselves," Dawn said dryly. "They're salty and briny and bitter, and burn the tip of my tongue. I tried some that had been cured with herbs and garlic once and those were tolerable but the oiliness was kind of a turn off."

They both filled their plates and got to eating; he had no idea what she'd put in the rice but it was amazing - ALL of it was good but he especially liked how simple yet how delicious that rice was. He could definitely see himself eating that alongside a bowl of yellow soup if he could get the recipe and was about to ask her for it when he noticed a calendar hanging on the wall beside the door, with the dates marked through with a single line until today -- the 24th, and it reminded him of something.

"Did you ever get to speak to the Mysterious Man?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, not yet. With everything that's been going on I've missed his visits - I'll hopefully get to see him next month. At the very least I'll have a lot more time to make jewelry, and Amirah has more time as well."

That was right...she had mentioned Amirah the last time too. "What does she need time for?"

Dawn stabbed at a bite of potato. "Well... You know those glaze drips she brought me?" Unsuur nodded. "The kiln she has will harden glaze if it's by itself but not when it's on ceramic pieces. She's tried all sorts of glazes that would supposedly work with lower temperatures but so far she's not had any work properly. She needs an electric kiln - the big, fancy ones you'd find in Walnut Groove or Atara, and those things are expensive even if you're just buying the blueprints. Then, there's me: I need a specific type of furnace that can both reach the super high temperature needed to melt glass while also maintaining a set temperature while I'm working with it. The furnaces I have right now can get hot enough but I don't have precise control over the temperatures... I know Qi could likely design me a furnace but it just so happens that the kiln Amirah needs shares a lot of the components the furnace would need. It'd be easier on everyone if we just buy the blueprint, I build Amirah her kiln, and let Qi alter the blueprint for what I need."

Aha. "So Amirah needs time to sell more, so she can afford to at least buy the blueprint."

She nodded. "Exactly. The plan at the moment is to split the cost, assuming we can convince the Mysterious Man get us a copy. I don't see it being a problem though," she added, tone light and with the barest hint of superiority underlying it. "He and I have worked together before so he knows I'm good for whatever price he sets."

"What about Amirah?"

Dawn slowly inhaled and finally stuck that bite of potato into her mouth, chewing thoroughly and swallowing. "...that might be trickier. He doesn't think very highly of her work even though he's bought a few of her complex, complicated pieces. Those took her days of work each to make so it's not feasible for her to concentrate on making the complex goods, and he thinks her regular work is boring and has told her as much. If it was just Amirah asking him to bring her the kiln blueprints, even if she had the full cost on hand, I don't actually think he'd do so. I don't doubt that he'd do it for me though."

"That seems a bit rude."

"He can be, yeah," she sighed. "But, he's successful, and knows what he's talking about along with having a good eye for what will sell, how well, and when it'll be in demand. It doesn't excuse being outright rude but...sometimes knowing ahead of time that what you're doing isn't going to pay off at that moment can save everyone some headache."

Once the main course was done Dawn moved the empty dishes over to the counter and brought out two clean bowls, then moved that last covered pot from the stove over to the table; she tested its temperature by pressing her bare hands to the sides of the pot and with a satisfied nod lifted the lid to reveal a creamy rice porridge.

"Owen gave me a few ideas on how to make yakmel milk work with this recipe so here's my first attempt."

"It smells nice," Unsuur said as she got a serving spoon and dipped it into the pot.

She gave the spoon a little swirl and quickly lifted it out with a heaping helping of the rice and placed it immediately into the bowl in front of him; for a few seconds it held a lovely rounded shape before slowly spreading out, and there was still some steam rising from it. It reminded him of something he'd had before; maybe his parents had made something like this when he was really little since he didn't remember it clearly but it sure seemed familiar, and homey, and overall had a comforting feeling just from the smell. Dawn handed him a clean spoon and, after testing the temperature with a quick probe of his tongue, he stuck a bite into his mouth.

It was soft, creamy, and delicately sweet, and there wasn't too much of a yakmel funk to it until you swallowed; Dawn was watching for his reaction as he spooned up another bite. "It's good. I like it."

"Phew," she sighed, smiling and taking a bite herself. "--hmm. Aside from the aftertaste it's almost there. It's not right, technically, but it's close."

"What did you do differently than normal?"

"I had to scald it to infuse some sweeter flavors into it. Owen wasn't certain if it'd completely cover up how strong the milk is so he gave me a few different 'recipes' to try, and also suggested using sand date or the sandberry chestnut milks and adjusting the sugar to account for it. I think those would be TOO sweet though, but I'll still give them a try."

"Me too," Unsuur said, smiling and getting a little smile in return.

They finished up and Unsuur helped with dishes, and it wasn't until he'd headed out through her gate that he remembered he'd meant to ask for the savory rice recipe. Oh well -- he'd see her tomorrow in the morning at the bridge ceremony.

It was a nice night out so he decided to take the longer walk home and as he crossed the tracks he spotted Pen standing at the commerce building, leaning against one of the posts of the front overhang; while Pen's pose seemed intended to appear casual there was a stiffness to it, like he was ready to move at a moment's notice. "The dive buzzard didn't come back already, did it?"

It was several seconds before Pen responded. "No, unfortunately... Cowardly featherbag is still nowhere to be seen. More's the pity - I barely felt my heart rate pick up during the battle."

"Oh." So at least he wasn't waiting for Unsuur because they had to head back out into the Eufala. "Then...was there something else over here?"

Pen let out a soft grunt. "If only. I thought I saw a shadow on the horizon but couldn't track down what I might have seen."

Unsuur glanced back the way he'd come; Dawn's workshop was still and dark aside from the soft yellow light coming through the window. "When did you see something?"

"Doesn't matter. Wasn't even a hint or a trace of anything worthwhile. Don't worry your little head over it," Pen grumbled.

...if there was something lurking around Dawn's place, or the salvage yard, that sounded like something to worry about, but if there WAS something dangerous out there Pen would have already gone out to beat it up without bothering to tell anyone first. "...all right then. See ya."

"Hmmph."

Unsuur continued up the road and passed by Miguel sitting on the saloon's upper porch, offering him a wave as he walked by; he was sitting with one leg propped over the other and his arms crossed, relaxed and looking comfortable, and lifted the fingers of a hand from where they curled around his arm in a sort of wave in return. If he was still disappointed in that public display of affection earlier he didn't show it or seem inclined to lecture him about it as he continued on.

Once he reached his doorstep Unsuur paused and vigorously rubbed his hands through his hair to dislodge all the sand, then had to take his jacket off and shake it since he'd done those two things in the wrong order. After he was sufficiently dusted off he took one last look out toward Dawn's -- he really hoped Pen had just been seeing things but it was nice to know that he was keeping an eye out for Dawn's safety too.

Heading inside he tossed his jacket over a chair and began undressing on his way to the bathroom; if there was going to be a ceremony celebrating the bridge tomorrow he should probably fully clean up tonight so he looked his best for Dawn tomorrow. She and Mi-an deserved to be recognized for that crazy amount of work they did in such a short amount of time.

[bridgesawlosangeles]

Marble Bridge Saw is a heavy-duty stone-cutting machine that undertakes the mammoth job of cutting the hardest material like marble and granite in various shapes and sizes these stones are widely used in the building construction business as a popular choice of many other related products in Los Angeles.

[serenanymph]

tag game: 10 songs, 10 people

tagged by @macabremoons! put a playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up, then describe how they relate to your WIPs or worldbuilding. gonna use the beast playlist for this. be warned tho most of it is filled with pretty random japanese songs just because they had a Vibe.

gonna tag @lyssa-ink, @reneesbooks, @allianaavelinjackson, @withlovelunette, @sidhewrites, @loopyhoopywrites, @revenancy, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @sam-glade and @morganwriteblr for this! + open tag as usual (whew that is a lot of people)

under the cut bcuz it's kinda long and I added bonuses.

You're On Your Own, Kid - Taylor Swift: My friend pestered me into listening to Midnights when it came out and I feel like this song really fits Rhyme? Just the entire "You're On Your Own, Kid" bit. She's been on her own for a while now.

Resolution - Haruka Tomatsu: Not much to this song other than I thought it had Vibes tbh.

ANIMA - ReoNa: Another SAO song. Why do I have so many ahdfagsdjfhadsgjads. The bit in the bridge where she goes "What is the colour of the you that is living" hits different though (yes it's an extremely clunky translation but I swear it sounded better in japanese)

Daylight - MindaRyn: I got obsessed with this song when I first discovered it but I feel like it doesn't really fit Beast anymore tbh. Not sure why it's still in my playlist??

Torch of Liberty - KANA-BOON: One of the earliest songs I put in! I legit have an entire daydream MV that I have refined over like a year because I am a) weird b) get bored very easily

Elastic Heart - Sia: Oh this one is a very Crys song but also a very Rhyme song. The entire second verse is like ouch

Ougon no Hibi - Eve: Despite being my favourite artist he only has one song in the Beast playlist (and one song in the Corrupted one)?? The title literally translates to Golden Days and it makes me think of Rhyme's past a lot which makes me go :(

Burn the Pages - Sia: Also a song that is very Rhyme and very Crys. Specifically the bit that goes "And I know there's a hungry dog tugging at your frayed ends, but he's just playing with you, he just wants to be your friend". It makes me think about how Crys's issues with opening up and being vulnerable.

I Wanna Go To A Place... - Rie Fu: ALSO a very Crys song. It seems all I have are these. But the BRIDGE. The ENTIRE SONG IN GENERAL. "I wanna go to a place where I can say, that I'm all right and I'm staying there with you" is just so him honestly.

progress - Ayumi Hamasaki: Another Vibe song. That's just about it + BONUS (bcuz it's more fun ranting about character theme songs)

Sticks & Stones - Jónsi: Used to give me Crys vibes but reminds me more of Icarus now (also Crys already has too many songs ashgdfjsgfjkadsf). It just feels extremely hopeful??? Also it's from httyd which kinda has Beast vibes in general.

Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine: Okay I discovered this song via Guardians of the Galaxy and I literally got obsessed. The way happiness is described as a train on the track or a bullet in the back????? I don't even really know what it means but it is just?? Such a Crys song?? This song?????

[moiraineology]

Moiraine Damodred: a playlist

Geyser (Mitski): Moiraine POV

Paprika (Japanese Breakfast): Moiraine POV

Hebridean Sun (Vashti Bunyan): Moiraine POV

Long & Lost (Florence + the Machine): Moiraine POV

Some things Cosmic (Angel Olson): Moiraine POV

Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart (Mitski): Moiraine POV

Francesca (Hozier): Lan POV

I'd Like to Walk Around in Your Mind (Vashti Bunyan): Moiraine POV

Explanations under the cut:

Geyser:

You're my number one

You're the one I want

And you've turned down

Every hand that has beckoned me to come

and

But I will be the one you need

The way I can't be without you

I will be the one you need

I just can't be without you

This is first on the list, and iirc Mitski wrote it about the unstoppable pull she feels toward her craft. In the same vein, I interpret this as an ode to Moiraine's mission, her reason for living, her guiding light.

Paprika:

Lucidity came slowly

I awoke from dreams of untying a great knot

It unraveled like a braid

Into what seemed were

Thousands of separate strands of fishing line

and

How's it feel to be at the center of magic

To linger in tones and words?

I opened the floodgates

And found no water, no current, no river, no rush

How's it feel to stand at the height of your powers

To captivate every heart?

This is just how I imagine it feels for Aes Sedai to hold Saidar. Also, the imagery at the beginning is so evocative and so relevant.

Hebridean Sun:

Traveling towards a Hebridean sun

To build a white tower in our heads begun

The grass knows, the hills know, we all know

Spring has come, the good fountain flows.

Each hoof fall brings us nearer the land

Of peat and seabirds and silver sand.

I've included almost every lyric in the song. I think the first book in the series begins at springtime/Bel Tine so I like to imagine that it's the journey that Mo/Lan/EF5 begin toward Tar Valon, or maybe just a song for Mo & Lan's travels. The White Tower reference is almost too good. Also, I headcanon Cairhien as having a really unique musical tradition, replete with microtones and lyrics that are akin to poetry.

Long & Lost:

Is it too late to come on home?

Are all those bridges now old stone?

Is it too late to come on home?

Can the city forgive? I hear its sad song.

Every time Moiraine returns to Tar Valon, a city built entirely of dusty stone, it has been years (if not decades). This song simultaneously evokes nostalgia, homesickness, and the awful, underlying knowledge that the city is home no longer.

Some things Cosmic:

Before we draw

My dear, dear friend

I promise you my word

If we should part

My dear, dear love

You know you're in my heart

and

If cosmic force is real at all

It's come between you and I

I want to be naked

I don't mean my body

I don't need my body

I mean, of course Moiraine believes in cosmic force. Fate has separated her from everyone she has ever loved. I thought of this song for when she masks the bond with Lan, leaving him in Fal Dara and taking Rand to the Eye of the World. She wants the bond back as much as Lan does. The moody vocals and dreamy (nightmarish?) atmosphere are also very good for the Blight (the wall of thorns from Sleeping Beauty had to have been an influence. Right?) The end of the song speaks to the nature of a bond (shared vulnerability, a nakedness that doesn't involve the body) as well as Moiraine's conviction re: her imminent death at the Eye. Also, I just love that this song is addressed to a friend. Platonic soulmates 5ever.

Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart:

There's nobody better than you

It took me a while 'til I knew

But you knew from the start it was us, didn't you?

It just took me a while 'til I knew

and

So, I don't blame you

If you want to bury me in your memory

I'm not the girl I ought to be

and

There's some kind of burning inside me

It's kept me from falling apart

And I'm sure that you've seen what it's done to my heart

But it's kept me from falling apart

That last stanza^ is The Mission, but more importantly, the strangeness of that beginning riff absolutely screams "massive breakdown." So I headcanon this song as what goes through Moiraine's head as she executes mental gymnastics convincing herself that Lan needs to get away from her as quickly as possible, by any means necessary (post 1x08). Also, we know that Moiraine considers Lan to be her better.

Francesca:

Do you think I'd give up

That this might've shook the love from me

Or that I was on the brink?

How could you think, darling, I'd scare so easily?

and

Now that it's done

There's not one thing that I would change

My life was a storm, since I was born

How could I fear any hurricane?

If someone asked me at the end

I'll tell them put me back in it

Darling, I would do it again,

If I could hold you for a minute

Darling, I'd go through it again

and

It was too soon

When that part of you was ripped away

This is almost self-explanatory, but I'm going to explain it because I am so in love with this song for Mo and Lan. It captures Lan's selflessness, his deep love, and his unshakable willingness to support her. There is a reference in the song to a traumatic event befalling the object of the singer's affection, and it can be read as directly paralleling what happened to Moiraine. Finally, the lyrics allude to someone's choice across lives to come back for the person they love, which is totally breathtaking (and relevant to the worldbuilding in WOT).

I'd Like to Walk Around in Your Mind:

I'd like to walk around in your mind someday

I'd like to walk all over the things you say to me

I'd like to run and jump on your solitude

I'd like to rearrange your attitude to me

and

I would disturb your easy tranquility

I'd turn away the sad impossibility of your smile

and

I'd sit there in the sun of the things I like about you

I'd sing my songs and find out just what they mean to you.

This is the song that bites at my heart. It is so lovely, and I wanted to end the playlist on a hopeful note. This is for the stretch of time during which Mo and Lan are walking on the beach together (right before Lan asks for the bond back). Something that took me a second to realize is that Moiraine wants the bond back as desperately as he does. This song is about that. She knows he is still wary around her after the way she treated him, and that breaks her heart. She misses knowing what he was thinking and feeling without having to ask. The line that really does me in, though, is the one that refers to the warmth of the things the singer likes about their beloved. That she imagines them filling their partners' mind like sunlight. The warmth and love between these two characters, the profundity of their shared understanding--it's exquisite. I'm tearing up at the very thought of it.

[lordofthenerds97]

Blood, Sand, & Bone

Aloy is known as many things; Outcast, Savior of Meridian, Anointed of the Nora, and Daughter of Ullia. One choice on a rainy night sent her life spinning in an entirely different direction. When she studied Tenakth history in the Carjan Libraries of the Palace, she never thought she would be living among them. Ullia chose her as her daughter, and Aloy accepted. She thought that was the end of it. But now, as she finds herself living among the Tenakth and learning their ways, she realizes that there's much more to the Westerners than she thought. But when she receives a transmission on her Focus, her life is spent spiraling again. Trying to make sense of who she is, who she wants to be, is put on hold as she tries to put the world back together again.

Chapter 1: Now: The Embassy

Screaming.

Explosions.

Machines screeching.

Howling from the people above.

War cries from the Tenakth beside her.

It was a blur of a moment. Fire arrows rained from the sky and buried themselves in the backs and limbs of the fleeing Carja. They were almost across the bridge, but she wasn’t sure if they would make it to the gate in time.

Fashav was with them.

“Left flank! To the Carja! Run them down!”

The soldiers mounted on Bristlebacks began charging down the mountainside after the retreating men. The hooves of the machines thundered in the air and shook the ground.

“They’re not going to make it…” Aloy choked.

Fear gripped her heart as she drew her bowstring back. The thin cord touched her cheek and she released it with a battle cry of her own. She felt a sting against her skin as she released the drawstring. The feather of the ridgewood arrow cut into her skin as it shot from the weapon in her hands.

She barely registered it.

Fashav held his sword above his head. “Carja! Stand your ground!” He dug his heels into the ground and braced for the incoming attack.

The soldiers on the battlements drew their weapons and fired upon the attacking Tenakth. But it wasn’t enough. They couldn’t get enough clean shots in.

Varl shouted her name as she drew back again, two arrows nocked on her bow as she aimed for the soldiers attacking the Carjan side of the Embassy.

A loud boom sounded from above her and she glanced up to see a ball of fire colliding with the stone archway that she had been taking cover behind. Aloy lunged forward, rolling her body out of the way as the brick and stone came crashing down into the space she had just occupied. When she turned, she saw Fashav swinging his sword and howling with rage as he launched himself at his attacker. He hooked his weapon into the hind leg of the Bristleback and brought the machine to its knees. He was a blur of movement as he swung his sword and challenged the other warrior.

Her heart thundered in her ears as she moved towards them.

She wasn’t fast enough.

She couldn’t get there.

They were going to kill him.

Aloy quickly pushed herself off the ground and onto her feet, already running as her body fell into position. Her boots dug into the sandy earth as she threw herself towards the battle.

It happened so fast, but she saw it through slow motion as adrenaline coursed through her veins.

A masked Tenakth braced his spear and drove it into Fashav’s chest.

“NO!”

The scream tore through her throat before she could stop it. Fashav’s body was slammed into the ground with a thud as the enemy soldier dragged him alongside the cantering machine.

After having dragged the Marshal twenty feet or so, the man quickly released his spear and grabbed his bow before shooting the remaining Carja soldier.

Aloy dropped to the ground, her hip smashing into the stone with a thud as she skid under the weapon of the passing Tenakth. She snarled and drove her spear into the Bristleback’s underbelly before thrusting upwards as hard as she could. She jammed her shoulder into the machine’s joint and shoved her weight against it. The soldier riding it tried to throw his own javelin into her but she twisted away and threw a dagger into his chest as she continued sliding.

Without turning back, she got up and ran.

She skid to a stop beside Fashav.

He was still alive.

She dropped to her knees, her hands wrapping around the shaft of the spear. Blood spilled from his chest and mouth as his wide eyes stared up at her. “Aloy-“ he choked.

“No, don’t talk,” she said quickly. Her hazy green eyes bored into his, begging him to stay alive. “You can’t leave me now, Fashav. You can’t!” She pressed down on the wound in his chest as his blood seeped out between her fingers. She applied as much pressure as she dared to try and stop the blood flow.

He coughed, his eyes rolling back as he groaned in pain. “You have to save them, Aloy.” he said. “Fight for our people.” His eyes flicked back toward the Tenakth emissaries before meeting hers again. His expression was pleading. “Don’t let this be for nothing."

Aloy grabbed one of his hands in her own blood soaked one as she shifted her weight on the wound. He grunted but she could feel him squeezing his fingers around her hand. “Don’t you dare, you scab.” she hissed. “You aren’t shucking off your responsibilities that easily.”

Fashav shook his head. “Go,” he said weakly. His eyes slid past her again to fall on the Tenakth. The soldiers that had held position to wait for the few representing each clan were being circled by more mounted rebels. There wasn’t any more time. “Go!”

Closing her eyes tightly and clenching her jaw, she shook her head. “I’m sorry!”

And then, she did as he asked.

Aloy forced herself onto her feet and ran back towards Varl and the others. Regalla was still sitting atop her Clawstrider, watching with a sneer that Aloy could see from her position below the cliff.

“HEY!” she screamed. Regalla turned her attention to the other woman. “Come down here and fight fair!” Aloy snarled.

Regalla sneered. “Lancers! Take the center!”

More rebels mounted on Chargers began riding down the opposite side than the ones who’d attacked the Carja. They took off at a canter, and Aloy skid to a stop in front of Varl. “Get ready!” she shouted.

The Marshals and other soldiers all braced themselves. They drew their bows and swords, hefting their weight into the soles of their feet as they dug into the ground. “Stick to cover! Archers on the ridge!"

She recognized the voice of the High Marshal as she drew her own bow again.

Acid arrows flew from her weapon and began eating away at the machines and rebels that were attacking. She heard the cries of pain and surprise from those who she’d hit with her ammunition. It was a blur as she shot and slashed, fighting not only for her survival, but for that of the others with her.

Varl shouted and drove his dagger into the abdomen of the woman fighting to kill him.

The High Marshal drive his sword into the side of a rebel and tossed him away easily.

Another blocked a strike with his shield and swung his sword.

Kivva grunted as she was thrown backwards and Ezekko slid on the ground between his squad leader and the rebel, driving a javelin through the shins of the enemy.

Aloy turned to loose an arrow at an oncoming rebel. Her arrow connected as the rebel fired their own two shots into the chest and shoulder of the High Marshal. She heard a gravelly voice screaming out. When she looked, she saw the Marshal with the shield running forward, grabbing a javelin and launching it full force at the rebel soldier. The force of the blow knocked him off the Bristleback and throwing him about ten feet.

Aloy’s heart clenched as she saw the High Marshal begin crawling away. The other Marshal grunted and slammed himself shield first into the charging Bristleback. She could see the gear on the machine’s mouth smashing into the shield, eating the wood and drawing his arm closer into its mouth. She heard his pained scream as it dragged him towards it.

“Lookout!” she shouted. Drawing two arrows at once, she fired and got the machine’s attention as it reared on its hind legs and waved its front in the air. The High Marshal snarled and spun faster than Aloy thought possible, shoving a spear into the underbelly of the machine, similar to what Aloy had done previously.

A shower of sparks rained down on the two men and the machine’s life was ripped away. But that didn’t stop the heap of metal from crashing down and crushing the two men beneath it.

As much as she wanted to go to them, her attention was drawn by more riders circling her and Varl. He shouted words of encouragement as she let loose shot after shot at the machines and rebels alike.

“ENOUGH!”

Everything suddenly stopped. The riders all turned their attention to a masked soldier who was atop a Bristleback beside Regalla. Aloy cautiously looked around with bated breath as she tried to gauge what the rebels were doing.

“You! Outlanders! I will skin you both!”

The masked man turned to Regalla. Aloy couldn’t hear everything spoken, but she gathered he was asking her permission for something.

Regalla nodded once and it turned to chaos again. Grudda, if Aloy’s memory served her correctly, challenged her to single combat.

There was no way she could refuse, even if she wanted to.

Aloy stood her ground and was determined to stand her ground. They exchanged blow after blow, hit after hit. He had an interesting piece of tech that Aloy didn’t have time to study, but she easily found the weak points with her Focus. She tracked his movements, analyzed his patterns, kept light on her feet. They moved and fought, almost in an intricate display of a tribal dance. He’d injured Varl within moments of stepping foot in front of them.

I should have warned him not to intervene, she thought.

Grudda was quick on his feet. She didn’t have time to dwell on what she should have done. She needed to focus on the here and now.

And then…

It was over.

A few well placed strikes took out his shield and her quick movements back and forth confused him. And it cost him his life.

She stood back, breathing heavily before she drew her spear from his chest. Then she turned to face Regalla. “Your turn!” she shouted. “Come down here and face me!”

Rage coursed through her veins. It was an interesting emotion, rage. It was one she hadn’t felt often; When Helis killed Rost. When she discovered what Faro did to the other Alphas.

This however, was different. This woman, Regalla, who had once held so much honor and respect within the tribe, had slaughtered her people. She’d turned her back on their Chief. She’d spilt the blood of the men and women that stood beside her.

All because a of a grudge.

At least Helis had fought for a deity he believed in. He fought for the Sun and for Hades and the belief that the world would somehow be better after what he’d done.

Faro’s acts were done in what he thought to be the best interest of humanity; to save them from the mistakes of the past and protect them from the terrifyingly haunting results those mistakes would produce.

“No,” Regalla said calmly. “It was an honorable challenge. You’ve earned your life today.”

Aloy scowled.

“Comrades! Mark this day. Today you have decimated the Marshals. Slaughtered the Carja. So begins our war on Hekarro.” She motioned for her warriors to take their leave. She stayed rooted to her spot for a moment, appraising Aloy with a careful eye. Aloy sneered back at her, spitting on the ground next to her. Regalla smirked and turned her Clawstrider away.

The rebels made their retreat.

Knowing that they were safe for the time being, Aloy turned her back on the rebels. She looked at Varl. “You okay?”

“I’ll live,” he said. “Go help the others.”

She nodded once and took off towards the Tenakth soldiers that were raising the Bristleback off of this High Marshal and the other man. She reached them in time to help drag the one she briefly recognized as Kotallo, one of Fashav’s close friends, from underneath the corpse. He was half conscious and she could tell he was incoherent from both pain and the blood loss. “Prop him up,” she said. She knelt down in front of the injured Marshal as his companion settled behind him. Kotallo groaned as he was jostled around. Aloy winced as she took in the damage. His arm was demolished. The Bristleback gear had ground his arm into a pulp. What was left of it, at the middle of his bicep, was reminiscent of ground boar. Skin hung from the mauled appendage, holding on to chunks of flesh that were too stubborn to let go.

She reached into the pouch at her side, grabbing the tub of healing salve.

Not like this will do much…

Regardless, she dipped her fingers into the balm ad grabbed out as much as she could from the small jar before slathering it onto the stump of Kotallo’s arm. He screamed in pain when her hand came in contact with his flesh. Muscles, tendons, and meat jumped under her touch out of reflex. Aloy winced. “I’m going to need you to hold him down. This isn’t going to be pleasant.”

Ezekko nodded. “I understand.”

“Be easy,” she said gently. She braced her other hand against his good shoulder while Ezekko wrapped his legs around Kotallo’s thighs to keep him in place. “I’m sorry,”

She quickly tore a band of fabric from her skirts and wrapped it around his bicep, about six inches above where the limb had been removed. She tied it tightly, pulling the ends apart as much as she could while Kotallo writhed under her hands. Aloy quickly tied the fabric into a knot to keep as much blood from spilling out as she could.

If the pain itself didn’t kill him, the loss of blood would.

“We need to get him to Scalding Spear as soon as possible.” she said to the Ezekko and Kivva. “I don’t have the equipment to treat him here.” She grabbed the few bandages she had out of her pouch before reaching into another for stickpaste. She worked quickly, doing as good of a job as she could to wrap the stump and keep what remained of it together. Blood was already soaking through the makeshift bandages and she was going to need more. Soon.

“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath. “Okay, let’s get moving. On my mark. One, two, three!”

Ezekko grunted and hoisted himself up, using his weight to force Kotallo to his feet as well. Kotallo let out a moan and slumped against his fellow soldier. His right arm was wrapped around Ezekko’s shoulder while Ezekko held his wrist and had his arm tightly against Kotallo’s waist. Kotallo’s eyes slid over to Aloy, who was ripping off more of her skirts to make bandages. She couldn’t place the emotions swirling around his face, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. “Let’s go.” she said.

How did I get here? she thought. How did it come to this?

She knew the answer. It was something she’d thought about many times before. She wondered if the choice she made that day was wrong; if she hadn’t listened, would she be in this situation? Would she still have this weight on her shoulders? Would she still have the crushing pain in her chest?

Rain pelted her as she made her way through the bandit camp. Janeva had pointed her in the direction of several escaped prisoners. One of them, a Tenakth woman, was holed up in a camp surrounded by bandits and ruthless killers.

Too bad Nil isn’t here, she thought wryly. He would’ve enjoyed this.

But he wasn’t. This task fell on her shoulders, like most things seemed to do. But she accepted it with grace. With everything she knew was coming, Aloy couldn’t risk the chance that bloodthirsty bandits and killers were on the loose. She’d have her hands full with the Eclipse. She couldn’t take the chance that more people would be in danger because she left a few bandits and prisoners take less of a priority than they should have.

It was these thoughts that kept her pressing forward. She moved as silently as a Stalker as she snuffed out the lives of the bandits she came across.

And then she heard the voice of a woman who she could only assume was Ullia.

“Do not fear death…beckon it!”

She danced with the bandits in a lethal way, spinning and ducking and parrying.

And then Ullia made her presence known.

Aloy fired several hardpoint arrows as Ullia rushed her. The arrows glanced off the armor of the other woman and Aloy had to duck under her as the Tenakth woman swung her sword with a battle cry.

Damn, she’s fast.

Aloy grabbed her spear and abandoned the thought of finishing the fight from a distance. The woman was painted with red and blue, with white stripes cascading down her face. She was ruthless in her attacks as she tried to wear Aloy down. Aloy sliced the blade of her spear across Ullia’s leg as she dropped to the right to avoid a blow from the other woman’s sword. Ullia hissed with pain and kicked out with the injured leg, catching Aloy in the abdomen. She grunted and rolled to her feet in time to parry the strike Ullia was delivering.

“You fight well for a Savage,” Ullia said, raising her lips to show her teeth.

Aloy snarled at her. “Strong words for a prisoner of the Carja,” she snapped back.

Ullia laughed, the sound full of contempt. “All the Carja do is talk. Talk and bleed and shackle me. But you? Oh ho ho, you fight like a Tenakth!” She shoved Aloy backwards and swung her sword with one hand while the other grabbed at Aloy’s belt to draw her closer.

Aloy raised her spear to block the sword and quickly angled her body out of Ullia’s grasp. Thinking fast, she grabbed the dagger that was strapped at her thigh and thrust it into Ullia’s midsection.

The blade sliced through Ullia’s flesh with a slick and wet sound and the Tenakth grunted in pain. She wrapped a hand around Aloy’s wrist and narrowed her eyes. A pained expression took over her features as she sank to her knees.

Aloy allowed Ullia’s grasp on her wrist to pull her towards the other woman.

“I’d have taken you for my child,” she said.

Aloy raised an eyebrow. “You can’t just take a child-“

Ullia suddenly jerked Aloy towards her, knocking the younger woman off balance. “The strong take from the weak,” she snarled. “And in the taking are made stronger.”

She gestured to the black ink that adorned her arms and Aloy’s eyes darted down the the intricate art. “These stories, pricked into my skin? Look. Children, riches, lives, and land! All of these have been mine.” Aloy knew she should rip herself away from the Tenakth woman, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the black ink. Those were stories? How? She raised her free hand to gently brush her fingers against the black on Ullia’s shoulder. “Drink of my blood, and they’ll live on.” 

At that, Aloy looked at Ullia. Her eyes were pleading as she begged the Nora to do as she asked. “Your life? Your stories?” she asked quietly. “They’re recorded on your skin?” She hadn’t heard of anything like that. She wasn’t sure what it was that held her attention as it did. But it was tearing at her, worming its way into her mind and whispering, calling to her. “I’ve enough stories to carry, Ullia…” she said quietly. “I don’t know if I can…if I can carry more.”

Ullia pulled her closer as she became unsteady, falling backwards. “I can sense the warrior’s spirit in you, girl. Don’t waste this chance. You’ve the Blood of the Ten in those fiery veins of yours.”

Aloy helped her to the ground, gently laying her on the wooden logs that made up the bridge.

“Take my blood as yours. Mark yourself Tenakth. Learn of my stories, child. Make them your own and record your deeds on your skin.”

“Okay,” she said quietly.

Ullia ran her fingers across the wound on her abdomen, gathering some of the blood that was oozing from her body. She reached up, placing her fingers on the side of Aloy’s forehead and dragging them down her face. Aloy closed her eyes as the sticky liquid trailed down her skin. “My daughter. You are Tenakth. Take this,” she had removed her bracer at some point and shoved it into Aloy’s hand, “This is made of a Scorcher’s heart and painted with my colors. It will grant you safe passage through our lands and mark your heritage.” She coughed, gripping Aloy’s hand in hers. “You will make our Tribe proud.”

Taking in another gasping breath, she went limp against the bridge.

Aloy stared at the bracer that had been given to her before she looked at Ullia. Her eyes were still open and she stared lifelessly at the sky. With a quiet sigh and trembling fingers, Aloy reached up and gently slid her eyes closed.

Aloy grunted as she switched places with Ezekko. They’d been walking for several hours at this point. It was at least another day’s journey from their current position, just west of Stone’s Echo, to Arrowhand. And another half day to Scalding Spear.

Kivva had suggested making a temporary camp to rest. There was a shelter about another hour to their south, and Aloy agreed.

Kotallo had been in and out of consciousness. There were times he was able to walk with assistance and other times Ezekko and Pivallo had to alternate carrying him over their shoulders.

Aloy chewed mindlessly on her bottom lip as she tried to figure out what to do.

Getting Kotallo to Scalding Spear was most important. She knew they would have the resources there for her to properly tend to his wound before handing him over to a healer. Her time spent in the Embrace had accustomed her to dealing with life threatening wounds. Granted, she hadn’t ever seen an amputation as bad as the one Kotallo was sporting, but she’d learned how to sew up her fair share of wounded bodies.

But right now, she was out of bandages and pain salve.

“Kivva,” she said, turning to the other woman.

The Sky Clan warrior quickly caught up to her as Aloy readjusted her grip on Kotallo. He was stumbling along beside her, muttering thingns she couldn’t quite make out. She cursed under her breath and gripped his right wrist tightly as she held onto the belt of his tassets to keep him upright. “I need you, Ezekko, and Pivallo to head to the shelter. I need to go back to Stone’s Echo for supplies. And…I’ve got an idea of how to help move Kotallo faster.”

Kivva raised an eyebrow. “Care to share?”

Aloy shook her head. “Not yet.”

The Sky Clan warrior chuckled. “Keep your secrets, then. We’ll get him safely to the shelter. Meet us there when you have the supplies you need. We’ll rest for a few hours and continue on our way.”

“Good. I’ll be there soon. Hopefully the Utaru don’t take all my shards.”

Kivva snickered. “Here, trade me places.” She wiggled around Aloy to support Kotallo and Aloy made sure she was settled before bidding the squad farewell and taking off at a jog vac towards the settlement.

She had plenty of time to think as she jogged, and her mind was rolling.

Her foremost concern was getting the Marshal to the Desert Clan capital alive. Then she would worry about working with a healer to keep him that way. She would need to see Atekka at some point to explain what had happened at the Embassy…and she would most likely be expected to report to the Chief in the Grove. She also had to worry about tracking down Sylens and Hades, and find in a GAIA backup. On top of it all, Regalla and her new band of Rebels were going to be wreaking all sorts of havoc in the Clan Lands.

She was sure Varl was going to be tracking her down at some point. She had to admit that while he was new to her lifestyle, he was catching on rather quickly. And he had proved to be an unexpected help.

“Greetings, Aloy.”

She hadn’t realized she’d slowed to a walk and was at the outskirts of the Utaru settlement. She nodded to the farmers who had called to her, raising a hand and smiling in greeting.

Aloy made her way through the settlement, looking for the herbalists and healers. She came across a woman behind a table, mixing salves and herbs. “Hi,” Aloy said.

The woman looked up, mildly surprised to be interrupted. “Greetings. Aloy, correct?”

Aloy smiled. “Yeah, that’s me.”

The Utaru woman smiled back. “I haven’t had the pleasure to meet you. My name is Zo.”

She inclined her head. “Nice to meet you.”

Zo nodded back. “What can I do for you?”

Aloy scanned the herbs, salves, and liquids that adorned the table Zo was working at. “I need medical supplies,” she said, turning her attention back to Zo. “One of my squad-mates is seriously injured.”

Zo nodded. “I’d heard of a group of Tenakth with a wounded soldier. One of our scouts reported it. How can I help?”

“Lots of bandages. Some pain relief salve, if you have it. Cleaning spirits, fresh cloth, a needle and thread.”

Zo raised an eyebrow. “Exactly how injured is this man?”

Aloy shook her head. “He was mauled by a machine. It…took his arm.”

Her eyes widened. “And you didn’t bring him here?”

Again, Aloy shook her head. “No…we need to get back to our own territory. He wouldn’t take kindly to another Tribe in his current condition.”

Zo nodded understandingly. “I see. Please, take what you need.”

“How much?”

“Nothing. Consider it a gift.”

Aloy frowned. “Are you sure? I can pay-“

Zo held up a hand to stop her. “I insist. Please.”

She nodded her head in thanks. “I appreciate it. Thank you, Zo.”

“Of course. Please, feel free to return should you need anything else.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you.”

Aloy grabbed the supplies that Zo offered her and tucked them safely in her pouch on her belt. Zo hadn’t been stingy with the bandages, to which Aloy was grateful.

When she was sure she had what she needed, she headed north to a Charger site she’d noted earlier.

Kivva, Ezekko, and Pivallo didn’t know how to ride, but that was something she could remedy rather quickly. And getting Kotallo on a Charger one way or another would definitely speed up the journey.

She made her way over the rocky terrain, avoiding the blighted areas that threatened to choke her. Before long, she’d overridden four machines and had cleared out the rest of the herd.

Aloy mounted up, whistling for the other machines to follow, and took off at a gallop towards the shelter where the rest of the group was making camp. It took her a quarter of the time to get there than it would’ve had she been walking. She smiled and leaned back on her Charger momentarily, savoring the breeze against her face.

She sat up straight when she heard Kivva’s alarmed shout.

“Machines on the approach!”

“Hold your fire!” Aloy called out. “It’s just me.” She eased back on the machine’s speed as she approached the small camp, slowing to a trot before stopping in front of the group.

Kivva raised an eyebrow as she slung her bow back over her shoulder. “This was your big plan?” she asked. “How did you even get these things?”

Aloy shook her head. “That isn’t important right now. How’s Kotallo?”

Kivva sighed. “He’s unconscious again. He’s got a fever. And that arm isn’t looking good.”

“I’ll take a look,” Aloy said quietly. She dismounted the Charger and made her way towards the cot where Kotallo was laid out. He was moving fitfully and mumbling incoherent words. Aloy’s heart clenched as she knelt beside him.

The bandages had soaked through with his blood, despite her rough attempts at a tourniquet. From the looks of it, Kivva had tried adding her own bandages, but it wasn’t doing any good.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. Her fingers worked swiftly but gently to peel the stained fabric away from his flesh. He groaned as she did, and she winced internally.

“This is gonna hurt like hell,” she said. “But I’ve got to clean out the wound and Lee any infection from spreading.”

He furrowed his brows and grunted something she couldn’t make out.

“Pivallo,” she called, turning to her companions.

He looked up from the campfire at the sound of her voice. “Yes?”

“I need you to hold him down. This is going to be extremely…unpleasant.”

Pivallo nodded, setting down the plate of food that Kivva had prepared before heading over to her. His eyes stayed fixated on the wound on Kotallo’s stump. The flesh was red, raw, and angry. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Shoulders?” he asked, turning to Aloy.

“Yeah,” she responded. “Keep as far from his left arm as possible, but keep all your weight on him.”

“Copy,”

Pivallo stood at the head of the cot and took a deep breath before placing his hands on Kotallo’s shoulders and leaning almost all of his weight on the wounded Marshal.

Aloy grabbed the medicinal spirits from her pouch and uncorked the bottle. She glanced up at Pivallo, who nodded, before leaning over Kotallo.

“Here we go.”

She dumped the contents of the bottle onto the stump of Kotallo’s arm. He let out a gravelly scream and tried to throw off Pivallo, but the Sky Clan warrior held firm. At the sound of his scream, Kivva and Ezekko came rushing over, abandoning their meal by the fire. Kotallo squirmed under Pivallo and Aloy and Ezekko jumped in and practically laid himself across Kotallo’s chest to keep him in place.

Aloy dunked her hand into the pain salve and gathered as much as she could before slathering it on Kotallo’s arm.

He made another pained sound as she tried to speak soothingly to him as she worked.

She stood back a moment and the other two men relaxed their grip on him as his body started to calm down. He shook sporadically as Aloy cleaned her hands and began wrapping the stump again. From what she could tell, the blood was starting to clot. That, at least, was a good thing. However, he was pale beneath the white war pint he wore, which concerned her. He’d lost a large amount of blood and had a fever. Sweat ran down his face as he fitfully tossed his head from side to side. There looked to be the start of an infection, if the yellowish puss surrounding the bone was any indication, and she hoped the spirits she’d dumped on it was enough to keep it from spreading.

If they didn’t make it to the Clan Lands soon, she wasn’t sure that Kotallo would make it at all.

Kivva knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Aloy shook her head. She’d seen enough death and bloodshed to last more than a lifetime. She didn’t want to be thrown into the middle of it again. “I’ll be better once we get to Tenakth territory,” she said.

The Sky Clan warrior sighed. “I know. So this plan of yours to get us moving faster?”

Aloy raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh?”

“We might not know how to handle machines the way you do, but we’re fast learners. Show us what to do and we’ll figure it out.”

Aloy smiled softly. “I know. I need your help with something else, first.”

“Name it.”

She ran a hand through her hair and sat back, her eyes landing on Kotallo. Ezekko and Pivallo were standing close by, keeping watch over them. The Marshal had gone still, but Aloy could see the rapid rise and fall of his chest. “There’s no way I can keep Kotallo upright on a Charger. If we can make a sled of sorts, I can attach it to the Charger. It will be an uncomfortable ride, but better that than him falling off.”

Kivva frowned. “There’s some supplies in the stash chest in the shelter. We could create as much of a cushion on his left side as we can.”

Aloy nodded. “Good idea. I’ll wrap it with more bandages to add more padding…and as much relief salve as I have.” She gestures towards a grove of trees not far from them. “If I can find some willow bark or feverfew, I’ll keep that on hand in case he wakes up.”

“I’ll start working. You, get some rest. We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

[cherriontop]

Cherriontop Masterlist

Updated January 29, 2023

AO3: 

Lost and Found -  After Alpine gets out while Bucky's at work, Bucky's handsome and incredibly kind neighbor brings her back as well as an invitation for more.

Pleasant Dreams, My Love -  After Steve "Captain America" Rogers rescues the 107 from Hydra's clutches, Bucky falls ill on the way home.

The Darker the Weather -  Bucky struggles to find himself in the throes of Hydra's torture, only made worse when he meets the man on the bridge.

Breathing Water -  After being kidnapped, Bucky is waterboarded for information.

(Don’t) Fall in Line -  After Walker helps get Bucky out of jail and therapy, he demands the support of Bucky and Sam in his role as Captain America, and he's not going to take no for an answer.

Stucky Bingo Round Four: 

(Not Quite) Hard as Wood -  Prompt: Kink: Object Insertion - Steve, tired of his sickly body constantly failing him in the bedroom, decides to take matters into his own hands in order to bring his boyfriend to pleasure.

This is My Arm - Prompt: Recovery -  After Bucky admits he doesn't like his metal arm, Steve decides to show Bucky just how good his arm can be.

Forgotten But Not Lost - Prompt: Forced Longevity -  In 1945, Bucky Barnes falls off a train and into the hands of Hydra. For seventy years, they erase all traces of who he is, until he's nothing but a killing machine. Or so they think, until one fight with the man on the bridge helps bring back the man he knows is hiding within the Winter Soldier.

WIP:

Don’t Leave Me Here (Without You) -  Chapters 4/? - After returning the infinity stones back to their original places, Steve comes back an old man and promptly cuts contact with all his friends, dropping off the face of the earth. Suspicious, Bucky and Sam team up to discover what truly happened to Steve when he went back into the past. But the more they uncover, the more questions that arise, and the more danger they find themselves in, until finding the truth seems impossible. How can you find someone who doesn't want to be found? They catch a lucky break as they decide to travel back and meet with Steve, jumping back just in time to witness him be kidnapped by none other than the Winter Soldier, only he isn't from their timeline. In fact, neither is the Steve who returned to the future with a sinister plan that endangers them all. Now Sam and Bucky not only must rescue their Steve from the clutches of Hydra, but also stop the new Steve from reigning terror over their timeline.

Drabbles: 

You Fine