#Very early on I knew I had to remove hunger mechanics and as my plan went I did so by making it always at a constant sub-sprint level.

[edwardos]

Very old screenshots of my mod.

[merelliahallewell]

The Drust in the Night Fae Campaign (2)

This is the last of five posts that examine the Drust through the lens of what information is presented to us during the final bit of involvement the Drust have with the story. It will contain spoilers from the Drust to Ashes chapter of the Night Fae campaign.

Part 1 - The Drust Background

Part 2 - The Drust in BfA

Part 3 - The Drust in Ardenweald

Part 4 - The Drust in the Night Fae Campaign (1)

There is one small thing that I had missed in the last two parts: apparently you can save the Masked Fae from their enslavement, but only early on. There appears to be a process, as viewed in the first Drust portion of the campaign. The Drust keep them prisoner, and either convince them to don the masks or forcibly place them on. After that, there is mind enslavement, which seems to take some time to go through. There is a quest in Shimmerbough where you rip masks off of faeries and free them, so a mask being placed on you early in the process is not an immediate death sentence.

With that said, onto the campaign spoilers.

Story Rundown

This is the culmination of the Ardenweald campaign, and it feels very satisfying to finally be returning to the Drust again after meandering through night warrior stuff and loa. I don’t particularly like the inclusion of all these other stories into Ardenweald because I feel like they weaken the narrative even if they are vaguely tied to one aspect of the zone.

Today is the final assault against the Drust. As put by Lord Herne, “the Drust have inflicted enormous loss on this forest and its denizens.” We’ve seen time and time again how devastating they are to Ardenweald- they not only rip away friends and allies, but they enslave them and make use of them as armies. Most of the Drust forces seem to have been drawn from Ardenweald itself, and that loss is as great a tragedy as the anima drought.

It is Lord Herne that confirms the Maw of Thros in Darkreach is the gateway into Ardenweald. Gorak Zhar, their leader, appears to be performing some sort of ritual near the gateway as we press the attack. During this battle, Ingra Drif is slain- he was the Drust responsible for leading much of the effort to convert the Fae. Drif is described as a captain, which may confirm that the word “Ingra” is indeed a title that means something around that.

The magic of Thros acts as a protection for Zhar, with runed tree stumps empowering a barrier. Once the runes are destroyed, the barrier can be shattered. Also, apparently Kivarr knew Gorak Zhar at some point, which strengthens the idea I proposed in the last one where she knew Ulfar. If she knew him, then she would certainly know of his teacher.

As we arrive to confront Zhar, we find that she holds some wildseeds, and they are being drained of what looks to be Anima- directly into Thros! We put a stop to the foul sorcery, but it was nothing more than a trick. A new thing Drust magic can do is disguise living(?) beings as other ones, and Zhar used Ara’lon to stand in for herself.

As much of the Wild Hunt is at Darkreach, the Drust immediately take advantage of this fact and march on the Grove of Awakening and the Heart of the Forest. Apparently, they believe it will bring them victory somehow. All of Ardenweald is summoned to war in response, and the Winter Queen herself takes to the field.

They seem to have set up pretty well at the Grove of Awakening, taking control of several foci that are likely involved in the awakening of wild spirits before they are sent back to their worlds.

Each member of the Court of Night is sent to battle for control of these foci, while the Winter Queen engages in a sorcerous battle of her own, holding the line against any Drust forces that Zhar can summon to throw at her. We duel some named Drust, and then break down the wards once again protecting Gorak Zhar.

Then we kill her. She doesn’t even do that much damage. Ardenweald is saved, and presumably all the Drust are slain. The portal to Thros clozed when Not!GorakZhar was defeated and the Wildseeds were removed. Maybe they were holding it open? It’s unclear.

Also, can she come back because she wasn’t killed in Thros like Gorak Tul??

Motivations, Again

We get a bit of explanation of what the Drust want out of all this once again, this time from Gorak Zhar. However, it also doesn’t make sense entirely with the context of what we’ve seen previously.

Gorak Zhar boasts that she will claim the Winter Queen’s throne and crush the Heart of the Forest. They will claim every soul and grove.

This vaguely fits with their ambitions to “conquer all” and to “rule all realms.” Apparently they have some grand dreams of conquest but some very specific goals of conquering Ardenweald.

Trying to free themselves from the curse of Thros and take advantage of the rebirth, as mentioned before, doesn’t... really make a ton of sense when meshed with this. The rebirth mechanisms send beings back to their home planet, and the magic of Thros is the only reason they have been able to conquer this much to begin with- it is instrumental in every plan they have had. Also, I think the passage between Thros and Azeroth is still open, so they could have come through whenever they wanted.

Nothing makes sense but I am probably overanalyzing it.

Types

The neatest part of this quest was that we actually got some cool names of various Drust types and individuals as the Wild Hunt carved through them. I believe the more human-shaped Drust types (the ones the Masked Fae turn into) are called Reavers. The crawly aberrations that look as if they’re made only of muscles are either Creepers or Lurkers. The lady Drust are witches, Dread Evokers or Nightscreamers. The ones with Vrykul models are called “True Drust,” by the Night Fae but one of their unit types are Slayers. I poked around the game files and found that the Nightscreamers and vrykul-model Drust are called “Drustnative” in files, so presumably those are the ones that were native to Thros- or at least, the first ones who fled there.

Named Drust:

Gorak Tul Gorak Zhar Ingra Drif Ingra Maloch Ingra Saor Ingra Krazic Estrk Drina Kirgvald Lukir Gallak Haassert Skuld Vit Deathbinder Hroth Thulsketha the Binder The Hungering Ones (my personal favorite) Fulfir the Scarred Yulkatar the Cruel Dread Caller Skulfir Valfir the Unrelenting Soultwister Cero Faeflayer

A Final Note

The Drust may have been defeated, but as Lady Moonberry put it, they were just making the existing problems worse. War has ended in Ardenweald, but they will need to put down any remaining Drust forces who have been cut off from Thros now. The groves they conquered and desecrated will need to be reclaimed at some point, and they are assuredly cursed by Thros’ touch. And the Gorm and Spriggan are still causing problems.

Also, it’s very interesting that the Drust sought to destroy the Heart of the Forest. Y’know, the main thing that’s imprisoning the Jailer. That’s some cool food for thought. I wonder if there is a connection there. I wonder if we’ll go raid Thros. Please let us raid Thros.

[bluboothalassophile]

Are you planning on continuing Lost Voices at some point? Or perhaps do a short one shot? I only ask cause I all of a sudden have an urge to see Raven holding Baby!Damian and being like "This child is trying to bite my finger off. This is a good sign. Sadly his teeth are underdeveloped and lack sharpness."

Hello,

I’m sorry I sort of abandoned Lost Voices unintentionally, but I’m happy to continue it, here’s Chapter 3!:

Meeting of Lost Souls…

She stood there staring out at the world around her, she didn’t understand where she was, it was unlike Hell and unlike Azarath, she didn’t like it. Pulling her long hair back she twisted it into a firm knot, her eyes raked over the land and she looked at the dying sun. There was a sound behind her, soft, gentle like, almost inaudible, she turned when she felt him nearing. She knew it was the male who had been obsessed with her all day, he would not take her warnings to not touch her seriously. She would teach him no one touched her, which was what had her turning on him.

The male was naked, the shock at his audacity had her freezing.

“My beautiful Rachel,” he came at her, she gasped when hands caught her, shoving her up against the wall, lips on hers’. She didn’t know what happened, or why she froze, Raven had fought off male demon suitors before, she had obliterated any who dared to think they could touch her.

The male’s hand closed roughly over her breast, and she snapped, the reaction was a screech from the back of her throat as she gnashed her teeth, shifted to slam her knee upwards, and shoving her weight from the wall. They toppled over, which had her rolling over and to her feet, the skirts she wore tangled, and the man stumbled to his feet. She snarled as she took a defensive stance. The male, like the others she had fought, would be bigger and stronger, heavier, more aggressive, but she would be faster. He smiled and came at her, which had her reacting. Grabbing his arm she twisted it before slamming her knee into his elbow, before she slammed her heel into his nose which had her backing away. The man spat out the blood, Raven moved to put the table between them, her eyes never left his, he glared as he staggered to his feet.

Raven moved, he leapt over the table, she gasped as hands came to her throat, she fell back, he fell between her legs; she felt his errection press on her. A snarl tore through her, even as he gasped in pleasure, tightening his grip. The reaction was instinctive, as she caught his wrist, grabbed his triceps, turning as she put her foot on his pelvis and in his arm pit. Once she was perpendicular and his arm was in her grasp, she had her other leg over his head, and she lifted her hips with her full strength, his scream was deafening with the snap. She shoved him away, rolling to her feet as she ran for the balcony, she heard people behind her, breaking doors, she kept her footing sure, as she stepped upwards, her bare feet hitting the railing before she leapt over the edge. Raven moved to hit the water, taking a deep breath, the river currents nearly knocked the air out of her as they dragged her around, she gasped as she broke the surface to see the people, she still didn’t have her powers, but she moved with the river; rivers were swift to get her away for immediate distance. The struggle was keeping her head up with the skirts getting tangled.

Frustrated she went under the water, tearing the material, kicking it off her legs, as the currents rushed her further away. Finally breaking the surface again she gasped as she looked around for a way out of the water. There was a tree, she struggled against the currents and keeping her head up, before she finally caught the branch, pulling herself upwards. Looking around she saw it was dark now, the dying light would be gone soon, she heard a rush of noise which had her carefully making her way up the tree.

“She went below the surface back there!”

“Find her! She is mother of the savior!”

“We will have boats in the waters, dragging the river.”

Raven frowned at the odd language, looking at the men below her, she didn’t move, despite the chill settling over her skin. The people moved, getting into strange carriages, with lights illuminating their way and disappeared. She waited until she could hear no nothing near her but the running water, and then she carefully started navigating her way down the tree, landing in the soft soils she looked around. She wouldn’t follow the river, they would expect her to be near the water, which would mean she’d have to travel away from a water source. She didn’t like that. For now she would find a way across the river and take the high ground, until her powers returned she didn’t know what she should do. She saw huge shadows beneath the surface, a glint of red eyes, which had her eyes narrowing before she ran along the edge of the river.

~~~*~*~*~~~

He stumbled in the early morning’s light, very lost, by a river, and with a wailing baby in his arms, he didn’t know what to do. He needed to get home, he had to get home, he needed… who did he need? He didn’t remember, which was what had him looking at the river.

Somewhere in the night they had lost the motorcycle, it had run out of gas. He had followed the river. The dead had littered his trail and he knew he would need a way to get away from that, to escape. Escape where though? He didn’t know.

Until he knew where they were going, he would try to comfort the baby in his care.

There was a shrill snarl of a woman’s protest, something in him snapped to attention at that sound; having heard it before. Woman, in distress, he reacted, racing over the ledge, he got there in time to see a small black haired, very pale woman struggling against the hold of two men, she was putting up a hell of a fight; but she was too small to inflict true damage. The other men were jeering, she screeched when her dress was torn revealing her, he reacted, the sword was out; already bloody from his escape and he leapt into action, slashing off an arm. The girl was fast to escape in his diversion, her hand breaking a nose as she twists away. He finds her behind him, her hand grips one of the knives from the back of his belt, and he crouched low. The girl was fast, she and he sprung into action.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven slashed the knife, aiming for tendons, delivering crippling blows, as she went through them, it was only after three men were dead at her feet, the ground stained in the deep, rick crimson of blood that she twisted around to stare, ready to fight, at the figure who had aided her.

The figure was tall, taller than her, his hair was black, it curled a bit, his face was odd. One red eye on the right, three red eyes on the left, and the lower half of his face was red. There was no mouth, no nose on his face, there was a gurgling figure on his chest, and a sword was listlessly resting in his fingers. He made no noise, no move towards her.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

Finally he lifted his head, staring at her, his eyes and face were so devoid of any sign of life she would’ve found it unnerving; if not for the thing strapped to his chest.

“Ja… Ja…. Jay,” his voice was halted, almost inaudible, and for the first time since she’d been torn from her world she felt something with her empathy. Immense pain, panic, fear, confusion, and adoration. Standing in a relaxed stance she studied the figure, walking over, she could weakly differentiate the emotions emitted by the man and the thing on his chest. It was when she was standing before him, and he tilted his head down towards her. Something about his eyes bother her, which had her hesitantly reaching up. He didn’t tense, even as she touched the odd material, it was hard, cool to the touch, but loose. She gently pushed it up, and a pair of aquamarine eyes looked down at her as she pushed it to the top of his head. The eyes flashed green when her fingers came to the material covering the lower half of his face.

She withdrew her fingers when she sensed his discomfort at her touching the material.

“Jay,” she repeated his word and tapped his chest.

He nodded.

“Raven,” she tapped her chest. The gurgling thing finally had her attention, now that she could see it, she could see it was offspring. Small, feeble, weak, there was a bit of black hair on it’s head, and green eyes which glared at her. She reached to touch it’s brow, the contact sent a flood of emotions in her, hunger, contentment, joy, hunger, hunger, and now curiosity.

Jay was tense, but she removed her hand before he reacted poorly. Clearly, he was the offspring’s protector.

“Who is this?” she asked him.

He looked at the baby, she could sense his love and adoration for the baby. “D…D…” he made a sound of frustration, which had her catching his hand, instinct had her trusting him; there was something dangerous and safe about him, which even she found unbelievably appealing. His eyes flashed bright green and she smiled.

“D,” she said back to him. He relaxed. A shiver racked her body now, as the adrenaline of a fight left her, and she felt the cold hitting her, her tattered clothe was no longer suitable to travel. Suddenly her arms were full of offspring, and she watched Jay mechanically undo his belt, she was about to bolt when he pulled off his red garment and dropped it on her shoulders before pulling his belt back on and grabbing D from her grasp. She looked at the odd garment, pulling her arms through the massive holes, and then looking at how to do it up to close it like he had. He was faster though, his hands nimbly moving over to do up some sort of elaborate laces, and she nodded. He hadn’t taken her knife.

“R-Ra-Rae,” he whispered.

She frowned until he tapped her. “Rae,” he repeated thickly.

She nodded. “Rae,” she decided. Something about him was mechanically wrong, she could feel it, around his tongue and mouth, his body did not seem to want to cooperate with his will, she wanted to help, but she didn’t know what more to do.

There were noises which had both their heads snapping over to where her attackers had come from, she moved to run, he grabbed her wrist as he ran in the other direction, for the strange carriage, she stumbled after him, but soon righted herself as she ran after Jay. They both leapt into the carriage, he pulled D off him and put the babe in her lap before he had the carriage going, and they were moving, she twisted a bit to look behind them, the knife tight in her grip.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Dick looked over the reports in the YJ cave, from Zatanna, who was lounging there.

“What does this mean?” he asked finally, ceasing to pretend that he was B and all knowing; he’d been staring at her report for an hour and somehow it was just gibberish.

“There was a high concentration of Magic used here, the Dark kind, Dick,” she said sweetly.

“So?”

“So we should investigate, there’s a satanic cult somewhere in Africa, very mobile, and I think they’re up to something.”

“Zee we’re investigating an actual threat with the metahuman smuggling ring,” he started dryly.

“Dick, this is serious, at least ask Garth or Donna to investigate, if I’m right, there’s a very powerful demon about to wreak havoc on this plane of existence,” she said.

“Fine, I’ll ask if they can be spared from their countries long enough to look into your hunch.”

“Thank you.”

[covid19updater]

COVID19 Updates: 08/04/2021

Malaysia:  #COVID19 Malaysia recorded 19,819 new positive cases with 257 deaths.

Florida:  @vijayanpinarayi #Kerala is consistently contributing 50% of all #COVID19 cases in #India. 10 of the 14 districts are among the top 18 districts in the country with intense spread. These 10 districts alone contribute more than 40% of all cases in India. Mismanagement at its peak

World:  "Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September, to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #VaccinEquity 

World:  With the Delta variant, it might not be possible to stop the spread of Covid-19 completely, a health expert says. LINK

North Carolina:  HAPPENING TODAY: N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper is set to provide a COVID-19 update this afternoon as the state faces surging numbers of new cases and hospitalizations. LINK

UK:  United Kingdom Daily Coronavirus (COVID-19) Report · Wednesday 4th August. 29,312 new cases (people positive) reported, giving a total of 5,952,756. 119 new deaths reported, giving a total of 130,000.

UK:  Health Secretary Sajid Javid says he has accepted the JCVI's recommendation to vaccinate 16 to 17-year-olds and has asked the NHS to prepare to vaccinate those eligible as soon as possible.  Jonathan Van Tam, deputy CMO, says he doesn't want to 'rule in or rule out' jabs for those aged 12-15 He says they want to proceed very carefully & very safely

World:  #BREAKING: WHO calls for pause on COVID-19 booster shots in wealthier countries LINK

Japan:  Tokyo reports 4,166 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase on record

Thailand:  Thailand reports 20,200 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase so far, and a record 188 new deaths

US:  U.S. COVID update: More than 146K new cases, including 2-day backlog from Florida, as number in hospital surges - New cases: 146,339 - Average: 92,477 (+5,750) - In hospital: 55,813 (+4,713) - In ICU: 13,891 (+1,179) - New deaths: 666

US:  Rolling 7-day average of daily coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 4 weeks ago: 13,653 3 weeks ago: 25,619 2 weeks ago: 38,229 1 week ago: 62,411 Today: 92,477

Michigan:  BREAKING: @EasternMichU announces that "All students will be required to wear face masks in classrooms regardless of vaccination status." @detroitnewsarchivist-blog

Florida:  12,408 now hospitalized w/COVID in Florida, setting new record, per updated HHS data.

US:  The FDA is reportedly aiming to fully approve the Pfizer-BioNTech covid  by start of September, despite the absence of long-term safety data. NYT reports FDA has accelerated process, acknowledging an upgrade from EUA might   take-up rates;

China:  Officials on Tuesday ordered that no one could leave Hunan province city of Zhangjiajie. Residential communities sealed Sunday, preventing people from leaving homes. Zhangjiajie recorded 19 cases since last week-but cases linked to city spread to at least five provinces;

UK:  In a statement circulated on Wednesday afternoon, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said its decision had been made after “large changes” in the way that Covid has been spreading in the UK, “particularly in younger age groups”;

US:  Nearly 72,000 kids tested positive in US last week LINK

Japan:  Japan's unwanted gold medal today. Covid cases hit a new all time high of 14,207, as per media outlet NHK;

Australia:  The outbreak in Australia’s NSW has seen its third highest number of daily cases so far. 233 new cases announced on Wed. 47 were infectious in community, 21 were in isolation for part of their infectious period, and 73 cases were under investigation;

China:  China authorities reported 71 local cases Wed, highest since Jan, asbattles its largest outbreak in months by testing entire cities & locking down millions. The results of tests reveal a low caseload, despite outbreak of Delta variant spreading to dozens of major cities;

Israel:  Israel has reinstated several curbs amid a wave of cases, including only allowing  people at indoor gatherings of 100+  people, requiring masks at outdoor gatherings of 100+ people, & ordering gov’t agencies to reduce number of people working in offices to 50% from Sun;

California:  J&J Covid vaccine recipients can get supplemental Pfizer or Moderna dose in San Francisco LINK

World:  NEW - Pfizer #COVID19 vaccine linked to  cases of eye and skin inflammation, according to a multi-center Israeli study published by the peer-reviewed ophthalmology journal Retina (JPost)

Georgia:  Georgia COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rise again LINK

Arkansas:  CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs postponing elective procedures to focus resources on COVID-19 and other critical care needs LINK

UK:  NEW: The CEO of the Road Haulage Association has warned that the UK is 2-3 weeks away from a supply chain collapse

Indiana:  Monroe County is Indiana's first to reinstitute a #maskmandate, effective tomorrow at 8am.

World:  Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that fully vaccinated people are also susceptible to "long COVID" if they have a breakthrough infection. LINK

Israel:  JUST IN - New lockdown in #Israel, one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, to be imposed as early as in two weeks and not in September, the Covid cabinet discussed today (Channel 13)

Texas:  Texas State Republican Executive Committee Member Scott Apley has died of COVID-19.

US: Jerome Adams:  I’m a physician, former State Health Commissioner, and former Surgeon General. Yet short of pulling my 11 yo daughter out of school, I’m at the mercy of local officials to protect her from #COVID19. Here’s to hoping state and school leaders put all of our kids over politics.

Florida:  Ron DeSantis, when asked if the state should re-open the COVID testing centers it shut down a few weeks ago, says "you can buy a test and take it home and do it yourself." (Nero fiddles while Rome burns)

Florida:  Of interest: The strain on oxygen supply at hospitals within Broward’s Memorial Healthcare System: • Doctors are relying more on oxygen therapy instead of ventilators • Safer way to treat #COVID19 critically ill, but requires more O • Vendors have supply, so no shortage yet

Arkansas:  “Throughout the pandemic we’ve had zero to three, maybe five kids in the hospital at any one time,” Dr. Barr said. “Today (August 2), we started out the day with 24 children in our hospitals with COVID-19, and eight of them were in the ICU, and five were mechanically ventilated.”

Massachusetts:  Massachusetts to require COVID-19 vaccine for all nursing home staff LINK

Cuba:  Hotels become hospitals as Cuba battles soaring Covid cases LINK

RUMINT (US):  A “mild” case of Covid completely destroyed my life. To this day, I have not been hospitalized. Hearing media describe breakthrough cases as “mild” is HIGHLY OFFENSIVE. What part of “LongCovid is disabling” don’t people understand? How can we just allow everyone to get infected?  All three of my kids got Covid. Their hair is still falling out. Eldest has chest pain, exercise intolerance. Middle son has no hunger/thirst/taste & has lost weight; my youngest can’t feel his full bladder, & holds it until he sweats. No one knows what the future holds for kids.  January 2021 was a particularly grueling and miserable month. My initial infection was in February 2020. In the months following, no one knew about LongCovid yet. I thought I was dying. This year I’m learning it doesn’t actually “just go away.”

Texas:  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vows no more COVID-19 lockdowns LINK

World:  #NHLBINews: Full-dose blood thinners reduce the need for organ support in moderately ill #COVID19 patients, but not in critically ill patients. LINK

New York:  The New York International Auto Show, which had been scheduled to open to the public in just two weeks, has been canceled due to concerns about the Covid-19 Delta variant and the steps being taken to prevent it. LINK

Israel:  "If you are at the age of 60 and above - there is almost no difference between being vaccinated or not. You have the same chances of getting the disease!" Here on Twitter noticed that this sentence is true a few weeks ago, but only today it was live on the Israeli Chanel 11 @kann 

Iowa:  DMPS temporarily closes MetroKids program site due to COVID-19 LINK

World:  'Shipping braces as China goes into lockdown mode' Supply chain issues to continue in some capacity for the foreseeable future LINK

Asia:  Fresh outbreaks of the Delta coronavirus variant in Southeast Asia have crippled its factory sector, disrupting global supplies of goods such as rubber gloves, semiconductors and SUV

US:  Surgeon General: "Odds are high" vaccine for kids under 12 will be approved next school year LINK

Maryland:  I went to a party with 14 other vaccinated people; 11 of us got COVID | COMMENTARY - Baltimore Sun LINK

California:  LA County positivity rate back up to 6.0% today. 3,734 new cases (Most cases since February 6, 2021)

US:  CONFIRMED: The Biden administration is developing a plan to require nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of eventually lifting travel restrictions that bar much of the world from entering the United States.

World:  The unvaccinated can expect to pay more in copays and deductibles, as insurers end their previous policy of zero-charge treatment for COVID-19 hospitalizations LINK

New York: Employment Agency:  We're dedicated to making Maximus a happy and safe place to work. Employees who volunteer proof of vaccination can remove their mask at their desk. Show off your smile!  #COVID19 #Smile #Safety

Australia:  Sydney suffers worst pandemic day as lockdown nears six weeks LINK

RUMINT (South Carolina):  Family friend, a nurse in South Carolina, just posted a photo on Facebook of the covid tents going back up outside her rural hospital in Horry County. It's just heartbreaking.

Georgia:  Henry County issues State of Emergency due to COVID-19 rise.   According to the order, Piedmont Henry Medical Center in Stockbridge, has 68 COVID-19 patients, 48 acute patients and 24 ICU patients. County officials said the hospital, which is the county's primary healthcare facility, has exceeded its capacity to serve ICU patients LINK

[stylesonator]

Kick Ass | Dean Winchester

In which you contact Dean after years of not talking to each other due to a demon problem.

Requested: Yes

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 1905

She had never planned on contacting him again. Not because she didn't want to, but because he told her not to unless it was an emergency. This was definitely an emergency.

High school students had been disappearing mid-school day, the only trace left behind was always sulfur on the windows. If Dean Winchester had taught her anything is that sulfur usually meant demons.

Her father had been a hunter, quite a well known one at that, but sadly died during a hunt. Leaving her mother to take care of a four old and a baby on the way. Her mother then decided to pick her things up and leave a 14-year-old to take care of her 10-year-old sibling.

A year later was when the Winchesters stepped in, they had come to town due to a haunted auditorium. And during the process of finding what type of spirit it was and who the spirit once was, Dean and (Y/N) fell in love both John and (Y/N)'s foster mother believed it was a game of lust.

Two horny teenagers getting it on for fun, but when it was time for Dean to leave, the number of tears shed (and the amount of time that they shed) from both parties were surprising. John watched with a little of disappointment as his son, who supposedly was tough, cried his little 15-year-old heart out to the verge of sobbing.

(Y/N) on the other hand was terrified, her biological mother had told her what her fathers' job had been before she left, so she was scared for her life that one day she would get a phone call, or see in the news, that her first and only love had died by the hands of a monster.

They had kept in contact for awhile until Dean decided she was safer not contacting him in any way. Unless of course, something 'Supernatural' happened.

So when her students started going missing in her new town in Georgia, a town surrounded by hills, lakes, and woods, the only person she thought of was Dean.

She wasn't a nervous person per say, but right now her hands shook as she searched through the phone numbers in her old contact book, hoping he hadn't changed his number seeing as she really needed his help right now.

And there it was, Dean Winchester, it used to have a little heart next to his name, but when he left she couldn't bear looking at it so she removed it.

With a shaky breath, she punched the numbers into her new mobile phone. She stood there considering her options before deciding she had to do this, not for herself but for her missing students.

So with her heart hammering in her chest, she brought the phone to her ear, each beep making her heart lurch in her chest.

"Hello?" Was the first thing she heard, the voice was deep, much deeper than Dean's when she had last heard him speak. But then again more than a decade had passed.

"I-is this Dean Winchester?" Was her shaky response, she could still feel her heart hammering against her chest, and her hands shaking so hard the phone was hitting her lightly on the face.

"Who is this?" The man's voice grumbled out, it was a very Dean-like trait to answer a question with another question, you could say it was a defense mechanism.

"It's (Y/N)."

"(Y/L/N)?" He questioned further.

"I'd like to know what other (Y/N) you know," Most of the nervousness had left her, glad to hear his voice.

"It's nice to hear from you don't get me wrong, but is there a specific reason as to why you're calling me?" You could practically hear the smile on his face. On the other end of the line, Sam was looking weirdly over at his brother weirdly as a huge smile had taken over his face, he hadn't had that expression since (Y/N).

'Oh'. Sam realized who was over on the other side of the line, shaking his head lightly with a small smile remembering how happy Dean had been with her. However, a look of confusing replaced the grin that had been placed on his face as (Y/N) spoke the words he had feared.

"I think I've got a demon problem," the girl finally came out with the reason she had called him, "I really need your help, Dean."

"So then my Literature professor told my class that if he shot the paper ball into the trash can, that he would give the whole class an A on our quiz," the now  English teacher laughed along to her senior class before she got interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hold on," she smiled at her pupils, turning to the door to see the secretary mentioning for her to come out.

"You guys get started on the 4-page long essay on whatever your favorite topic is."

As soon as she opened the door she saw Annie, the secretary, with her two favorite boys that she hadn't seen in a long time. A huge smile making her way onto her face as she closed the door behind her, taking three long steps before wrapping her arms around the elder Winchesters neck, breathing the familiar manly scent that only Dean had.

The biggest of smiles appeared on his face as he wrapped the woman in from of him in a hug, she had changed but then again so had he, they were no longer hormone filled teenagers, they were now adults that knew the risk of the situation they were in.

They separated, once they heard a manly cough interrupt their little moment of nostalgia, still looking into his eyes, the same green eyes she used to see before she fell asleep against his chest, she said.

"It's so good to see you guys!"

She had always been a cheery person, always looking into the bright side of things and never letting what people thought of her get in the way of what she wanted. However, most people were surprised at how much sarcasm was held in her, which is probably the reason that people nearly always loved her no matter where she went.

"Samuel!" She laughed at her old nickname for the younger Winchester brother pulling him into a hug as well, she had always loved to hug them, they were always big cuddly teddy bears, even if their exterior said otherwise.

"It's good to see you again (Y/N)," Sam smiled softly as he returned the hug the girl that used to babysit him was giving him.

As she pulled away to take them in properly, Sam was no longer an awkward pre-teen with a weird sense of style. The man before her was enormously tall, with longish hair and manly features, the young boy she once knew was long gone.

"Look at you Sammy getting all manly," She teased the younger boy before turning to her ex-lover, "And you Dean, you're just like fine wine getting finer with age I see."

The smirk that appeared on his face was basically indestructible, "Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

"Shut up."

Annie had left as soon as the hugs had started seeing as it was more of a personal thing. The door to her classroom opened up to reveal a brunette, probably around the age of 18.

"Hey (Y/N), could my essay be on sex seeing as that's my favorite topic and it could count for your Sex Ed class as well?" The girl asked hopefully eyeing both the Winchesters with a look of hunger in her eyes.

"Sure thing, just make sure it's not too explicit or I might be forced to explain things to the principal," The teacher smiled at her pupil before remembering something, " let the rest of the class know that I'm letting you guys leave early today okay?"

"I'll make sure of that ."

With a bright smile, she turned back her boys, "Let's continue with the tour shall we?"

(Y/N) had the boys follow her to her house in Deans' Impala, as she wanted a place more private to investigate this, talking about why sulfur had been found on the school windows and that it was to do with the fact that demons most likely took them probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

She invited the boys in and had them sit down, talking over a cup of coffee about why and who would want to hurt a couple of high school students when they heard a voice behind them.

"Maybe it's due to the fact that they weren't innocent high schoolers."

In a flash, Dean and Sam had jumped off the couch and pushed (Y/N) in an attempt at protecting her. What they didn't know was that she was quite familiar with the figure that stood in front of them.

"Crowley what the hell are you doing here?!" Was what angrily escaped Deans' mouth as he tried to make sense off of how Crowley knew that they were there and that they were with (Y/N) of all people.

"Well, I had to make sure my dear friend Sydney was okay with all the demon activity going on in this town didn't I?" Crowley stated a smirk appearing on his face as he winked at the Winchesters.

"King Of Hell! How are you?" Sydney questioned as she pushed Sam and Dean away from her to make her way over to the friend that had helped her out of really sticky situations.

"Great now that I can finally tell you what's been going on behind the scenes."

"Wait how do you know each other?" Sam confusedly asked.

"Well mister Crowley here saved my ass from a few demons a while back and he was nice enough to me so I befriended him!" The light brunette said cheerily before adding, "Oh! I also met your angel friend, Castiel is his name right?"

The Winchesters answer was a nod of their heads.

"Real charmer that one is," Sydney said sarcastically, "Got all protective asking how I knew so much stuff about you, nearly bit my darn head off!"

"Damn it Cas!" Dean spoke softly to himself.

"But it's fine though I totally understand with all the shit you've been through," (Y/N) said a soft smile falling onto her lips before she remembered the situation that they had at hand, "now I'm guessing that you know where the demons are along with the kids and that that's why you're here?"

"Then you would be correct," Was all Crowley had to say on the matter.

The quartet had separated into pairs Dean and (Y/N) were after a couple of demons, while Crowley and Sam went to free the kids since (Y/N) didn't want her students to know that she was involved with the supernatural world.

As they (Dean and (Y/N)) stood in front of the house that was located near the biggest road in the town she lived in she turned to Dean before saying.

"Are you ready to kick some demon ass?"

"Only if you are," Was all Dean had to answer with.

"Then let's do this crap."

But before she could even take a step away from the car Dean had his hand around her lower arm and pulled her towards him only to pull her into a powerful kiss. One that neither had experienced since they had broken up.

She pulled away for air a sheepish smile on her face as she said, "Now I'm definitely ready."