#Took a long break from this fandom because the rancid takes were overshadowing the good takes

[lagosbratzdoll]

On Daenerys, Colonisation and Race Discourse within the ASOIAF Fandom

This has been on my mind for a good long while and honestly, as much as I would like to leave discourse in the pits, it has been bugging me intermittently over the past few weeks.

Far too many of you get on here and call people who like the fictional dragon-riding family, neo-Nazis and that sentiment is so prevalent, that white people feel comfortable telling me a black woman that I am a neo-Nazi for rooting for Daenerys Targaryen. I am upholding neo-Nazi power fantasies for wanting to see a little girl live at the end of a story. I am a neo-Nazi for wanting to see the rape survivor have the family she aches for and children with the man (or men) she loves.

Then, those same people go on spiels about how the systemic erasure of those who sing the song of the earth and other old races is not colonialism. That their removal from their home is not displacement but an agreement between two equal parties. The fact that the only place where those who sing the song of the earth exist in the present timeline is north of the wall, surrounded by the bones of their dead, is not a travesty. That the expulsion of the old races from their home isn't that bad and should not be condemned. 

Instead, people argue, completely seriously, that the harm that the First Men and Andals have caused is centuries in the past, so essentially the slate has been wiped clean. The logical leaps that are required to arrive at such a boneheaded conclusion are truly mind-boggling, and those who make such arguments are not good people. 

I am unsure how one could read those books and come away with the impression that the old races do not mourn the loss of their home. I am unsure how one could read The Last of the Giants[1] and Ygritte’s reaction to both the song and Jon’s dismissal of the ethnic cleansing of the giants then believe that the old races and the free folk have moved past their displacement. 

In Westeros, from the Wall to the broken arm of Dorne, they all speak one language despite the fact they are all different ethnicities and they all landed on the shores at different times. That is not the case in Essos, we have been introduced to at least six languages and in A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion notes that the Valyrian spoken in the Free Cities has evolved into nine distinct dialects, and they are well on their way to becoming different languages.

How would a continent as large and diverse as Westeros maintain its hegemony over the people if not for forced assimilation, discriminatory practices and violence? The brutal repression required to keep one house in power for thousands of years is nothing to sniff at. The suppression required to keep the vast majority of Westeros worshipping one (or seven) gods. The systems in place ensure that language does not grow or evolve amongst the highborns at least.

Centuries before Aegon's Landing the maesters were the definitive educational authority and even now centuries after, nothing has changed. The grey rats still decide who learns what and when they learn it. There's one in every highborn home, all correspondence passes through them, they are the healers and the councillors.

The circular logic gets even more blockheaded when you factor in the fact that Daenerys is far from the only white character in the books. She is not the only character who wishes for home. She is not the only character who draws strength from her ancestors, her bloodline and her magical creatures. 

Cersei draws strength from her family’s iconography, and the Stark children (Jon included) all draw strength from their direwolves, their home and their blood. Sansa, Arya and Bran wish to return home and their home was built on the indiscriminate murder and displacement of the indigenous peoples. Their home is built on centuries of rape, murder, exclusionary practices and sexual slavery. 

However, if we give the nonsensical argument that time erases crimes air; the Starks, Lannisters and Tullys are warring to settle personal grievances in the present timeline. As a consequence of that war, thousands (a modest guesstimate) of small folk, minor nobles and even some major ones have been raped, tortured, maimed and killed.

Despite all this, no one writes meta after meta about how Sansa and her siblings must surely die for justice to be had for those who sing the song of the earth, the free folk, the giants and all the old races that fled beyond the wall.  

People write meta about Cersei and how she must die, but those are typically more misogynistic nature. They typically argue that she must die not for the “crime” of being Lannister, but for the “crime” of being Cersei and “ruining” Jamie. 

I would not mind criticisms of Dany and her peace-focused approach to ending slavery because the approach is naïve and she gives the slavers far too much ground. However, she is learning, growing and self-critiquing. At the end of A Dance with Dragons, she has decided to embrace fire and blood, her knight is breaking the false peace which is a necessary step forward.

What I find offensive is people saying that she should have planned better before she abolished slavery. And that the death, violence, and sickness that arises from her quest to eradicate slavery is somehow worse than the death, violence, and sickness that already existed in Slaver’s Bay. 

This argument often downplays the horrific conditions and suffering that exist(ed) under the slave system in Slaver's Bay. Such arguments are often in poor taste and prioritise the lives and comforts of the slavers more than the people they have enslaved.

I would not mind criticisms of Dany if people applied that same critique even-handedly. The same people who believe that Jon and Bran have done much to rectify the evil that their ancestors perpetuated believe that Dany has not done anything to right the wrongs of her ethnic kin. They praise them for the non-existent steps that they have taken, but in the same breath, they condemn Dany for not being able to immediately end the plague that is slavery. 

It is perfectly alright to not like fictional characters, no law requires you to like certain fictional characters over others. However, what is not right is making broad accusations about those who do, it is beyond the pale. It is disgusting, and annoying, and trivialises real-world issues to score cheap points against fictional characters.

Equating the survival of a teenage survivor to the restoration of a fascist house or neo-Nazi power fantasy when such designations do not exist in the world of ice and fire is strange behaviour. Saying that the teenage survivor will eventually be manipulated and raped (again) before ending up dead on her manipulator's blade is also strange behaviour. 

Dismissing the horrors of colonialism, especially when the text shows you that the involved parties are still affected by it, is not normal and often veers into real-world imperialism apologia. While criticism and analysis of characters and their actions are valid and even encouraged, it is essential that we do not resort to sweeping generalisations about other people and that we keep criticisms of characters grounded in the text. 

[1]  

Ooooooh, I am the last of the giants, my people are gone from the earth.

The last of the great mountain giants, who ruled all the world at my birth

Oh, the smallfolk have stolen my forests, they’ve stolen my rivers and hills.

And they’ve built a great wall through my valleys, and fished all the fish from my rills

In stone halls they burn their great fires, in stone halls they forge their sharp spears.

Whilst I walk alone in the mountains, with no true companion but tears.

They hunt me with dogs in the daylight, they hunt me with torches by night.

For these men who are small can never stand tall, whilst giants still walk in the light.

Oooooooh, I am the LAST of the giants, so learn well the words of my song.

For when I am gone the singing will fade, and the silence shall last long and long.

[maneaterwithtail]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Fangbone! Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Fangbone/Bill Characters: Fangbone, Bill Summary:

La vida en la tierra ha sido relativamente normal para Bill el humano desde que su mejor amigo, el guerrero craneano Fangbone retornó a su planeta de origen, Craneovania. Bill continuó sus días y hoy es un adolescente relativamente normal, hasta que algunos sucesos relacionados a la magia y un extraño suceso astronómico llamado "luna azul" despertarán sus sentimientos más enterrados con respecto a la partida de su amigo hace ya tantos años.

Google translatation below the cut

Blue Moon (One-shot!)

TheGreatGoddessScatagh_Macha Summary: Life on earth has been relatively normal for Bill the human since his best friend, the cranial warrior Fangbone returned to his home planet, Craneovania. Bill continued his days and today is a relatively normal teenager, until some events related to magic and a strange astronomical event called "blue moon" will awaken his most buried feelings regarding the departure of his friend so many years ago.

Notes: Well, to the corridas and everything, but I'm quite happy to finally be able to upload this one-shot of this beautiful series that lately has managed to enter its fandom!

In this fanfic, the headcannon endures that Bill really is good at practicing parkour, since in itself it is not a form of fight and in fact it works quite well with his personality more intelligent than warrior.

Clarified this, I hope you enjoy reading!

Work Text: Calm and darkness reigned in the room, breaking into pieces as the light of the single sun of the earth began to rise on the horizon, beginning the journey of a new day. Suddenly, the impertinent sound of the alarm banished the young head of fire from the dream paradise. Sleepy, he felt out of the warm fortress of his bed and put out the infernal apparatus, grumbling with disgust, got rid of the sheets. The alarm clock read five in the morning.

Determined not to allow the dream a victory, he sat up. The cold of the morning sneaked into the room making him tremble, he kept looking at an indeterminate point of the room, forcing himself not to go back to sleep. As a first task, he dressed in a blue slacks and gray tracksuit pants.

Taking care not to make much noise, he left his room, the hallway of his home was in the quiet silence of dawn, after all it was still too early even for his mother to get up. When he reached the kitchen, he took out the refrigerator and drank orange juice until it was satiated. With her mind still blank, she tied the laces of her slippers, took the mp3 from the table and started her way out.

The cold wind of the morning received him as soft but implacable licks on his face, the music soon began to sprout in his ears, giving him the perfect setting to start his morning run. Slowly the sun began to rise on the horizon, illuminating the world with its soft light, in the wind, the scent of another new dawn. He could see, out of the corner of his eye, his neighbor greeting him as he passed by; He raised his hand, returning the greeting, a big smile on his face as he walked down the sidewalk.

He ran, half way, a place in the past came as an intruder to disturb his thoughts. He observed the small set of land in the middle of the river, under the bridge. The water flowed peacefully between the improvised rock road that led to the rustic entrance, which from the outside seemed a direct hole to some well or dark and damp cave, but he knew, it was really the entrance to a cave where ever , had galleries adorned with swords, forge ovens and skulls of unknown creatures. But now, it was just an abandoned cave, where the dust reigned and perhaps no one, no one but him, could suspect that there was ever glory and life.

He pressed his lips in a grimace of nostalgia at the same time that a voice recalled in his head the name of that place, where in the past there would have been so many adventures.

He shook his head in an attempt to decimate those thoughts and that feeling of regret, finding then a renewed energy to continue with his "training."

Upon entering the city park, lungs burned in his chest, each puff resulted in a burning that ate the inside of his chest, the heart beat like a war machine against his ears, almost succeeding in drowning the music, and his hot body by the exercise began to sweat under the diver. The sun was already high in the sky, even with its light without the characteristic power of midday, playing and creating shadows among the treetops, while the morning wind flooded his entire being.

When she decided that she had achieved her goal today, she let herself fall under a tree, enjoying the heat that the sun slowly gave her between the branches, her reddish, damp hair clinging to her forehead as she felt the fire in her lungs. caused ironically by the freshness of the morning. Slowly he recovered, his lungs calming the itching and burning, his heart leaving the galloping trot of his ears and returning to his chest. Then, like a nocturnal walker lurking in the dark, a thought laden with grief hit with all his might against Bill, bringing to the non-mortal but ancient pain, while his voice rumbled in his head with a reality like a curse. which would never be undone.

Five years.

It had been five years since Fangbone, his friend, his "brother in arms" had returned to Craneovania, after the fall and final triumph over Drool they spent a couple of years fighting the numerous cracks that united their worlds and the deadly creatures, barbarians or assassins that appeared every time one opened. However, with the passage of time the cracks each time decreased in number, which, at first they believed was good, but they continued to decrease, then it was rare the occasion when they saw an open crack or even a creature belonging to Craneovania.

When they noticed, Magical Willow and Bear-ax advised Fangbone the idea that it was time to return home.

Obviously, the young barbarian had not been able to refuse to return, leaving Bill and his friends on earth under the vague promise - at least for Bill - that they would never stop being battle brothers.

No one could blame him, of course. Much less Bill. The young hair of fire understood well the decision of his friend. It was obvious that in the end, Fangbone could not avoid choosing Craneovania over the Earth, even though he wanted to believe, at the time, that the earth and he? It was equally important to the young warrior.

But now things were different. Bill was sixteen years old already, and they were halfway through high school. For his luck, it was not necessary to change the institute he attended. There were some new companions and other childhood friends, even so, this time there were no monsters constantly lurking, waiting for the slightest chance to lower their guard to steal the powerful big toe from some dark and poisonous green sorcerer, who I wished that extremity to complete its plan of the dominion of both planets. No, just normal days and relatively calm compared to that time.

And that was good. Bill had been convinced of that. Now he should not worry about not being strong enough, being hit by trolls, taken prisoner by some multi-eyed monster, having to save his brother from barbarous blood to become a "normal" subject for the rest of his days, or fight against his malignant version because of the crash of a cranial promise that he did not even understand why it involved sucking his fingers.

The last memory of Will made his body tremble, remembering himself so evil, damn skilful and without control of his own body, while an entity born of himself handled him like a puppet, where his own voice and opinion He had no place, using it to hurt his best friends.

God, how he hated Will. I did not want to know anything about dyeing her hair in blue, never-never.

He sighed as he concentrated on the music that had been pounding in his ears for several minutes and which he had forgotten as he immersed himself in the thoughts. Likewise, the lyrics of that song did not serve as a relief for his heart, which was frightened by the passage of time, and accustomed to the pain of abandonment. "We are blood brothers"

No more, not for a long time.

With that dark and heavy thought he sat up, he was refusing to let nostalgia overshadow his humor. For all the trolls, he began to look like his mother, worrying about a boy who would be able to kill him or a colossal beast without sweating or hurting himself at least during the process.

At least Fangbone was fine, though not sure, but happy in Craneovania, probably hunting some kind of strange and dangerous creature to claim another trophy, or fighting with other barbarians. Or hunting trolls to make them into soup while devouring quantities of unhealthy rancid meat for any human being, or confronting the Bear-Clan Leader to the point of getting him mad. That image in his head made Bill laugh, at the end of it all, he always hoped that his brother would be fine ... doing whatever he did.

As their spirits had returned, he sat up again, inhaling deeply to get as much air as he could, and starting a new race back to his home, now even more animated.

He had not yet entered his house when the scent so familiar and beloved from the freshly made waffles caused a snarl in his stomach. He entered the house, entering the kitchen and greeting his mother animatedly, who received him with his usual familiar smile while continuing to cook.

"Did you go running again?"

"That's right, today I broke my own record."

"Really? Haha, that's my son! But ... Bill ... "

His mother served the waffles while giving him a scrutinizing look from head to toe.

"You're all sweaty. You'd better take a bath before going to school. "

"I'll do it after eating your delicious waffles."

A laugh of complicity on the part of the woman was the bell that gave permission to the young redhead to begin to devour the delight of spongy dough known as waffles bathed in that sweet brown liquid. After savoring that delicacy cooked by the gods his mother , he went to the top of his house, locking himself in the bathroom and opening the hot water.

The warm torrent cleared away any regret that had accumulated in those few hours of the day, moving away the bad memories and nostalgia at least for the moment, plunging him into a stupor that almost caused him to arrive late to high school.

He entered his room and quickly began to organize everything to leave before the bus arrived. Clean and with backpack on his shoulder, he walked down the steps with speed and said goodbye to his caretaker before leaving the house on the way to the institute.

The school day continued with normal regularity, however for some reason which was unknown to the school in general was somewhat more shocked than usual. For his luck, it was pizza Wednesday and he had been able, this time, to arrive with enough speed to rejoice with the food. He took a bite of the delicious slice of dough covered with cheese when a familiar figure arrived at his table.

"Hello Bill!"

"Hello Patty"

The young woman took a seat in front of him with her tray, little powders of glitter fell from her black hair adorned with sticky glitter. While those years had served to grow both, the Asian girl's love for glitter was as strong as Bill's love of video games, something they could never completely abandon, or wish to do.

"Do you know why the whole school is like this?"

"What? Do you live under a stone? It's the month of the blue moon! "

"The blue moon?"

I would be lying if I said I was prepared for that news, perhaps because of the fact that the last few weeks I was somewhat self-absorbed in completing exams and projects along with their video games, but I had not heard anything about a blue moon, even in News. Even more, he doubted even that the moon was capable of taking such an unusual tone. He raised an eyebrow as he swallowed another piece of pizza, watching Patty, wondering if he would not indigestion when eating glitter that had occasionally fallen over lunch, or if she was already used to it.

"Every few years, an astronomical event happens, I do not remember what happened, but the moon turns into a beautiful blue color! Is not it amazing? There are even some strange rumors "

While he was limiting this, Patty threw a trail of bluish glitter over their heads and Bill did what was necessary to keep it from falling on his pizza, instead covering his reddish hair with the glitter.

"Strange rumors?"

"Yeah, I do not know, some weird magic or something. Were not you the one who knew about that? "

"Yes ... yes ... that was Patty a long time ago."

"Oh! Right ... I'm sorry Bill. I did not want to bother you. Did you not know anything about Fangbone? "

"No, since five years ago. Anyway, how are you going with that glitter? "

They continued having lunch, Patty quickly grasped the perhaps not so subtle request from Bill to change the conversation. However, that subject regarding the blue moon did not stop returning to his mind during the rest of the day.

He found himself reflecting about it in the afternoon, inside the bus, questioning how much truth there would be about those rumors. Bill always believed that the idea of ​​the moon turning blue was just a rumor, or it would be that when it happened in the past he was even more young and distracted as to get to notice something so irrelevant in his childhood. What if they were not just rumors?

Okay, it was okay, it was not like lately strange things were happening to her with increasing regularity. Because, hey, there was nothing strange about waking up to find that your alarm was flying above your head, then falling and hitting you. Or that the pencil you swore you had left on the desk appeared in your hand when you needed it to complete a task. Yup. Nothing strange here.

Well, maybe it was not quite normal. But they could not blame him, after all, Bill firmly believed that all the remnants of his magic had been swallowed by that horrible Drool-balloon creature. What if that event had something to do with, perhaps, his magic as a sorcerer was not completely lost? For some reason, the vague idea of ​​that hope caused his heart to beat aggressively. The rest of the journey back home could not stay still, and was not even able to stop when entering his abode.

"Holamam, I can not speak anymore, I need to contradict!"

He was not even really sure that his strange greeting had been understandable to the woman, however, he did not notice it when he stumbled on the stairs climbed to the second floor and locked himself in his room.

He turned on the lights, breathing hard, looking around in the disaster that was his room. Dammit! Why was it that he had never been given to order before !? The first thing he did was clear the floor, throwing the messy shirts and pants, along with comics and video games away from the road. Then he stopped to think. I was literally looking for an enormous book of sorcery. Even he, no matter how messy he was, could lose him in a place as small as his room.

He had the idea of ​​first looking under his bed for a silly idea, he had to admit, underneath it and frustrated to find only empty pizza boxes and other dirt, a blue glow from outside caught his attention. Hitting his head as he left, he found that the huge book literally floated in front of him, wrapped in a celestial wake of energy.

"AAAAH! Wait, wait- this is fine, yes, of course. It's okay. Now ... if only I could lower it carefully- "

With a frightful rumble, the huge tome fell to the ground, then bowed like a fallen tree and banged against his desk. He cursed as, straining, he incorporated the colossal glossary.

The rest of that day was spent absorbed inside those pages, looking for anything related to the moon or similar astrological events, however, he found in the early morning the fact that there seemed to be nothing useful for him. Frustrated, he sighed and went downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible; he had skipped dinner for a stupid idea, and now, his stomach roared with ferocity claiming him for food.

He sat in the dark kitchen, only the dim light from the second floor illuminating the place, while he ate the cold leftovers and pondered. After all, it would be difficult to find anything about astronomy considering that Craneovania had in itself three suns, each with a name from some body part. It was not like it was the same for the earth.

...Just a moment.

Opening her eyes wide at her own epiphany, she hit her head, questioning how it had not occurred to her before, then taking a bottle of juice and running upstairs to her room.

What if the reason why he had not found anything in that tome of sorcerers was, precisely, because in Craneovania there were no similar lunar events? That would explain why there was none of that, since no sorcerer would have been exposed to an event as such before.

So what he had to do was look for information pertaining to the earth, surely there would be information about magic, or at least something that would guide him. For his luck, the largest information portal on his planet was a laptop away.

Under the excuse that he had to study, Bill spent the following days of the week until countless hours of the night and the dawn investigating. He found that, to his surprise, there was a huge community of magic on earth, consisting mostly of witches and wiccans, along with other types of sects. Maybe they were not the type of wizards like Magic Willow, since they did not throw cats in a battle against trolls, but it was the closest thing to them and their best route to find out what happened to their powers, and if they could still use them. He even visited the observatory for more scientific information. He had discovered that, in past ages, the blue moon had been considered as an astronomical event where it was believed that there were two full moons in the same month, however, at present it was considered a strange event that occurred every certain number of years, related to the position of the Earth in its orbit with respect to other planets, and that not only altered the tides, but also that it seemed to have a general effect on the environment among humans and even unusual behaviors had been observed by the humans. animals.

On the internet, he found that for many sects it was considered an event of great astronomical convergence and, therefore, of great energy. Many religions in the past would have used that time as a moment for the realization of the most intricate rituals, given the amount of planetary energy that was accumulated in the earth.

With that information, Bill deduced that perhaps that convergence was what was causing the resurgence of his previously extinct powers. And with that information, he went to sleep.

He was trapped, the corridors seemed to close around him as he put more effort into running. He did not feel the fatigue of the effort, as if his body was able to guide him farther than he had ever dreamed. He felt as if his dreams were fighting against the machines inside his head, like adversaries.

Then a strange door, then the light of torches in an old place, malignant and abandoned. He did not even try to stop before the huge monsters that ran to meet him, he knew he was not strong enough to fight them. He raffled them, sliding away from his fearsome claws. With speed he approached a balcony, jumping over it, and abandoning himself to the void with the assurance that he would be safe.

During the fall, before him, a beautiful landscape was rising. Two beautiful moons, bright in the starry sky of a mountainous land and full of life, illuminating the water that waited beneath its fall.

The water was freezing, but he felt more alive than ever. I was free. A voice, a call from someone who was looking for him. He did not know who he was, but he was looking for him, guiding him to the surface.

He raised his hand above his head, swimming toward the light of the moons. Then he could feel it, a strong and warm grip that took him out of the frozen solitude under the water, receiving him in the warmth of a hug.

Bill woke up screaming, babbling some incoherent words. Tears ran hot down her cheeks, and the pressure in her chest did not allow her to breathe. It felt good, and bad. Pain and happiness, both coexisted in his heart, why did he hurt so much? He did not even remember who was calling him off the surface, in the dream.

So why did he feel so bad, as if he had returned with something or someone he had lost?

Instead of denying the tears, he allowed them to run freely, whimpering for that anguish, and for that being who did not know if he had managed to find him in his dreams. There was no point crying for a dream, and he did not care. The overload of emotions was stronger for his sleepy sense of reason, confused and too tired to understand it. When he finally calmed down, he saw on his alarm clock that it was barely 3:30 am. He collapsed on the bed, exhausted and tired, he was not able to understand that before falling asleep again.

Upon awakening, his whole body ached, he felt as if a huge anvil had been thrown over his body, and it took him several minutes to remember why he was awake. I had the feeling that I had not been able to sleep well. Then he managed to remember that perhaps his powers as a sorcerer were back with him.

That was the only reason why he decided to get up that day as soon as he could wake up enough to think coherently, since he had proposed to try again after so many years. That afternoon in his high school there would be an event with food to observe the moon, and therefore, it was the day when more energy would be available. Sleepy, he yawned as he pondered sitting on his bed. If he wanted to get at least one small result before going to school, then he had to think of a word for his spells.

The phrase "bongopepinillo" came to him, but he discarded it with great speed. Even for him it was rather childish, after all, that had been a random phrase at the first moment when he began using his powers. He gazed around the room, hoping that a new idea would come miraculously to him. Then he saw the CD package of one of his favorite movies "Musculoso II"

Okay, maybe "Muscled" was not the best wizard phrase. I knew, however, anything was better than "bongopepinillo". He sat up and opened the volume of the sorcerer in the first pages, he had decided that the first thing he would try to do would be to levitate something light, like a book or something. He inhaled deeply and concentrated on the realization of the spell, unsure of what he hoped to gain from it.

"Very well ... Here we go, muscular!"

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing, the book on his desk stood there motionless, almost laughing at his misfortune.

He tried again, not even the leaves had moved with a breeze.

"Oh, come on!"

However, he was not going to give up so easily. He kept repeating that on several occasions, one less fruitful than the last. When he was about to give up, he tried one more time.

"Muscular!"

Then, as by some higher force, the book began to shine. It was first a bluish tone, almost imperceptible to his gaze, which intensified until it formed an entire halo around it. Then Bill raised his hand slowly, and gradually the book rose above the surface of the desk.

"Do not joke! Amazing!"

In his hullabaloo he almost dropped the book, and as if it were his most precious possession, he kept it floating a few centimeters above the ground.

Its powers. He had powers.

I still had powers !!

Weak, it was true, but they were there, dormant waiting to be used.

"Whojoooo!"

Unable to contain himself anymore, he shouted a shout of pure joy into the air as he leaped energetically. And then the book, which was still under his control, shot out around the room, throwing to the floor several boxes of video games and other belongings, to end up crashing into the head of the redhead, who fell to the floor of his room with a huge noise, growling because of the pain.

The last thing he saw was the roof of the place, illuminated by the morning light, and then he noticed his alarm clock on the night table, marking seven thirty in the morning.

Seven thirty.

... he was late for school.

Profiling an endless number of words that her mother would have reproached, she sat up violently and quickly dressed herself with the first thing she found at hand, cursing herself for becoming so absorbed in her new powers as for forgetting her schedules.

However, that day had been absurdly good. It did not matter if a locker had fallen on him, Bill felt encouraged as in a long time he did not remember doing it. I waited anxiously for a child to come in the afternoon, to conclude classes to go to the school playground, even if it was just to do something as simple as sit and wait for the moon to appear. Nothing could that day take away the hopeful and triumphant smile on her face, even if she got repeated calls for attention from the teacher, as she was with a drowsy and idiotic look in class when she should be paying attention.

He did not care. His powers were back, and that was enough for him.

Finally he was reunited with his companions and friends in the courtyard. The aroma of grilled hamburger meat filled the air, along with the music and the light conversation of the growing group of people. Even the teachers had decided to attend. For several hours I wait with a strange feeling fluttering in his stomach. He was undoubtedly nervous. His cold, sweaty hands trembled with emotion, and he smiled like a fool. What would happen? What if a portal opened? That was not possible, right? And even if it happened, I could not even tell if it was a Craneovania portal.

Even with all these insecurities, he found himself with a great hope that something would happen that night. I could feel it. Even his friends told him that he was even more cheerful than he already was.

The night came closed, and just for that occasion, I had even heard the rumors that they had agreed at the city hall to turn off most of the lights, for a better perception of the show. So the stars slowly came to be seen in the sky, illuminating it as Bill never remembered having appreciated before, only in the observatory. And yet, the white glow that tinted the darkness of the sky seemed even more special than usual, then the young redhead allowed himself to let his heart light up.

The moon appeared.

In the open night sky, the huge platinum star began its ascent through the darkness, which like two deep claws, born from the ocean, dispersed before its arrival.

His heart beat against his chest as if he had run a marathon for several hours. Slowly, the hours passed in the celebration while the moon took its place as the sole ruler of the night. Then it began to be dyed a subtle blue that then ended up engulfing the platinum color, merging with it. The people who had attended were silent, as if consumed by that supernatural beauty. His legs trembled and he might have fallen if it was not because he was leaning against a wooden bench.

The beautiful stele of celestial color was consumed in the center of the moon, and it expanded strongly, decimating itself in the night sky while the star remained of that color, dominating the skies.

Triumphant cries were heard from most of the people, while others took pictures and some others drank.

But Bill just felt cold.

That was all? And if so, then what was he waiting for? Did he think what, that there was going to be a huge portal through which Fangbone might enter, and he would apologize for leaving just like that so long ago? Was that really what he was waiting for, like a damsel waiting for his savior?

His body shuddered, this time not with joy, but with emptiness. He felt a void in his chest that threatened to swallow all light and hope he had imagined, even in the part he would never admit. A lump in his throat threatened to carry the tears and drop them, angry with himself.

She said goodbye to her friends, claiming that her mother would worry if she did not get home soon. It was a lie, he just wanted to walk. Walk and feel alone. Had he really been so naive?

While walking in the cool and deep world of the night, illuminated by those celestial rays, that guided him in the dark. Yes, it was true that his powers were back, but he knew, deep inside, that this was not what he had expected to happen.

He was an idiot.

He was an idiot for waiting for Fangbone to return, or for even hopeful about it. He was an imbecile to be deluded. His life on earth was good, he was sure of that. So, why did he want it back? He was angry at him, angry at leaving him, at choosing Craneovania above all they had lived.Even if a part of him knew well that this was not true, he did not want to think about that. I just wanted to be angry and frustrated.

"Hey boy, where are you going?"

"Leave me alone."

He had not even noticed that a group of boys until he heard their voices, probably older than him, had passed by his side on the way. I had noticed the smell of alcohol and cigarettes coming from them.

"I heard, we're talking to you, you little fool. So you talk to your elders? "

He cursed them inside. He stopped his step, turning to see them in the darkness. There were at least three subjects. Slowly the blood began to pump through his body, the hair on his body bristling at the thought of the threat approaching him.

"M -... look guys, I do not want problems. I do not have the phone on me, I do not have anything of value. Voucher? We do not have to fight "

"Oh? And who was talking about a fight? We just want to talk to you boy. You are very brave to go out alone at night. "

I hated it. The tone of voice, the voice itself of that subject disgusted him. He was angry, angry at those subjects for not leaving him alone, angry at Fangbone for abandoning him so long ago, and not even trying to contact him at any time, angry about always having to run, being the brain and still the weakest in front of others. He could not contain himself when the words sprang from his mouth.

"Then leave me alone, damn it!"

The moment he finished saying that, he regretted it. They did not need any more words, he could see that evil and ruthless tint in the eyes of those subjects. At a speed that his slowed brain could not comprehend, his body had already turned and he was running as fast as he could.

Behind him he heard the screams of his attackers, hunting him as if it were an animal. Inhaling, he ran faster, trying to think of some way to lose sight of them.

He turned into a corridor between buildings and houses, passing by some trash cans and throwing them along the ground. He heard the clang of metal against the ground as he pulled away, throwing behind him anything that worked as an obstacle, yet his attackers kept up the pace. He turned a corner, finding several meters ahead a huge wooden fence in front of him. Dammit!

Seeing no loopholes, he increased the capacity of his impulse and jumped, climbing over some garbage cans and taking a long stride towards a container. He almost lost his balance in the bullfight, mating all his strength to stay on his feet, and propelling himself. He held on to the fence, lifting his hips and his legs danced in the air, falling from the other side with a big bang.

His whole body ached, he was too agitated to repair the damage. Sitting up awkwardly, he continued running until his lungs burned and his legs gave way to exhaustion.

He stopped at the corner of a street, drowning in his own breath. He coughed, inhaling heavily.

"There is no longer where to flee, child."

He turned violently, two of the subjects had been left behind, however, the one that seemed his leader had been able to hunt his trail yet and when he was sure he had run at least ten blocks.

Then he noticed the celestial light that illuminated the dark face of his attacker, and remembered the moon.

Moon. Its powers. I could use them!

But I was barely able to lift a book without causing a disaster ...

Perhaps, what I needed was just to cause a disaster.

He concentrated on his powers, without even really being sure what he wanted to achieve, then concentrated on not killing the man accidentally.

"Come on, come on, you can! You have to do it!"

"Wow ... you're really weird, are not you?"

He could feel what he believed was the magic flowing inside him, like a huge pulse pulsing in his chest, purging out. He concentrated on directing it through his hands.

" MUSCLE! "

A huge torrent of blue energy erupted from his body, heading in the direction of the man. Then a wheel flew out of a nearby car and threw the subject against the asphalt. Bill focused on him, surrounding his entire body with the wake of energy.

Sweat dripped down his face, hitting his hair to his face, the scrapes and blows hurt him and his chest burned with a force that had never felt, at least not since he fought against the monsters of Drool. Suspending him, he moved the subject through the air, who did not stop screaming and insulting to be lowered, and threw it, stopping to strike against a lamppost.

The wake of celestial magic slowly disappeared, the young head of fire fell on one of his knees, although both ached from the previous fall in his unfortunate encounter with the fence.

His attacker remained motionless on the ground, completely knocked out. Bill sighed in relief. When his legs were strong enough to keep him on his feet, he started on his way, he was not far from home.

As he walked the adrenaline began to diminish, and then he could have a notion of the wounds scattered on his body. In general, the damage was not so great. His knees were bleeding from the fall, he had numerous scrapes and bruises, and probably tomorrow parts of his body would ache that he did not know he used when walking ... or breathing. Apart from that, he was fairly well.

Then he remembered why he was angry before. However, that feeling did not last long in his heart, as he soon began to have the growing feeling that he was still being watched. He looked around, there was no one in sight. He stopped to sharpen his hearing, unable to listen to anyone, he came to fear hearing in the distance the voices of the subjects who had tried to rob him, but in truth he did not hear anything.

If he thought about it, confronting them verbally and then running away had not been the best of his plans in a long time. Likewise, even if he had tried to reason, he probably would not have been unharmed without at least one good hit on his face and ribs, so even if it was not the best, he preferred that to being intimidated by a group of imbeciles. And the event with the car wheel was a huge demonstration that his sorcerer's powers were with him, that Drool had not left him empty of magic. Maybe now he could use them like he did not at the time.

But he could not shake the instinct that now, it was someone's new prey, or something.

So consumed was he in his thoughts, lost in thought, that he did not even notice the gentle flow of water under the river that ran beside him, he did not even notice that place so familiar to him. He could not feel it, because at that moment he swore that a shadow had passed close to him.

He turned around, tired of that situation. He would walk across the bridge to get to his house, and if that involved facing another thief or a huge dog or what the damned universe had him, then he would.

Arriving at the stone bridge he walked over it, noticing again that entity that used its agility to stay hidden among the shadows that the faint light of the blue moon did not reach to illuminate. He stopped halfway, closing his fists.

"Alright, I'm fed up! Whoever it is, or whatever, leave me alone! I had a lot for a day fighting with those morons! Just attack me and y- .. "

He did not finish his sentence, since when he turned to finish speaking, holding a sword that shone with softness and sharpness, a huge human figure, illuminated by the bluish light, stood at the other end of the bridge, observing him.