#altprompt 4

[whumpapalooza]

@whumpcember '24 - Dec. 8 Prompt: lies (alternate prompt 4)

COSMIC SERVICE INTERNSHIP – AEGIS

The crew aboard Aegis shared nearly everything – a living space, a duty, their passions. They shared trust in each other. But even in trust, they maintain privacy.

And that meant that some of them would lie.

Tabby was lying about her tattoos. Specifically, the flower on her collarbone. She told Brando it was the first one she’d gotten, which he believed. She told him it came from when she was being stupid, which sounded right. But she told him that it had no meaning, and that she didn’t even know the name of the flower. Brando didn’t buy that for a second.

Blare wouldn’t speak candidly when telepathy was a topic. The way she stood with stiff posture, spoke in a short, clinical words, made her seem unchanged from how she behaved at the start of their assignment. Blare wouldn’t let anyone challenge her. The crew wasn’t even sure that she knew she was doing it.

Blare knew that Glen was hiding something, but she couldn’t tell what. When they swapped stories, there were occasions where she saw panic blink across her friend’s expression. But it was always gone as fast as it came, and Blare couldn’t find any connecting theme that triggered it. Glen never mentioned it, and Blare was hesitant to pry – but Glen was definitely hiding something.

Slipper spent his homeworld life in solitude, and he still didn’t fully understand the idea of benefiting from a lie – but it didn’t stop him from living a few of his own.

[lostwhump]

@whumptober | Day #4: ALT PROMPT "Shivering" Big Sky - Happy Thoughts (2.10)

[angelwings-crossbowstrings]

Whumptober 2024 No.4

Prompt: Finding Old Messages (Alt)

Warnings: Angst, angst, angst. Emotional whump.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

gif is not mine - google

“What’s this?” You stared at the paper, a hastily drawn map to Alexandria but that wasn’t what unsettled you. It was the message beside it, Daryl’s handwriting.

I belong with you

Daryl flinched, his back facing you. You saw his shoulders tense under your gaze, understood that he knew of what you spoke without seeing it himself.

You asked again, “Daryl, what is this?” You stood, the paper between your fingers, Dog whining at your heels. “Was this her place?” He continued his silence. “Is this where you were with her?” His head dropped forward, fingers flexing at his sides. “It is.” You reasoned with a nod, grasping the note with both hands.

“Was hers. Came back an’ she was gone.” His voice was small, but the words were steady.

You nodded, letting the paper flutter to the floor. “So you chose me because you couldn’t have her.” It wasn’t a question but spurred him into an answer regardless. He finally turned, his blue eyes sad and apologetic.

“Wasn’t like that. Ain’t like that.”

You opened your mouth but snapped it shut, not trusting your words to be anything but venomous. With a shake of your head, you turned to the door and walked, not knowing where you were going but Dog followed on your heels.

“Y/N, don’t.” Daryl beckoned from the doorway once your boots had left the porch.

As difficult as it was, you turned, not bothering to wipe away the tears. “And all this time, I thought you belonged with me.”

He called your name as you disappeared into the trees, but he didn’t follow.

And you found that you didn’t want him to.

[whumpypepsigal]

Whumptober 2023 | No. 4

Alternative prompt: Examination

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds s01e03: “Any closer and that could have hit the carotid.”

@whumptober @whumptober-archive

[secret-bug-pain-blog]

Whumptober Day 4 - Forgotten (REPLACEMENT PROMPT)

Back at it again. For proper reading experience, please read this while being screamed at by one to five 3-4-week-old kittens. We're borrowing Jay from @zombiebugbites - she's from the Everlasting Primordia AU, and giving us a lovely opportunity to bring up fun aspects of The House Is Established's universe that won't come up organically in normal AU posting! Very exciting.

Ink smeared on the word count lettering a bit, but it's fine, nothing's perfect. We will now go try and finish the Day 2 fill so we can finally dedicate our Carousel pen to something else and/or work on Day 5. See you... soon.

[losthavenmine]

Whumptober 2023 Day 4 || Drugged

[ardenation]

’Must’ve Slipped my Mind’

“Hey, Captain? Mind doing a headcount?” Wars nodded and turned to count the others who were following behind them. “One, two, three, four… five, six, seven, eight.” Assuming Wars wasn’t including himself, Time thanked him and went to continue down the path.

—

When Sky woke up, it was, unusually, to complete silence.

Or, the Chain really need to start double-checking they have everybody with them when they pack up and leave camp, and Sky needs to work on his self-preservation skills.

(written for another whumptober alt prompt ‘forgotten’. no i will not apologize for the title)

[whump-tr0pes]

Lux in Tenebris - epistolary interlude

This is part of the Lux in Tenebris interlude, which comes after the Whumptober 2021 recapture arc which ended with this chapter.

Lux in Tenebris masterlist

AO3

Contents: epistolary writing, grief, death, burial, demon whumpee, survivor's guilt, past abduction, pining

~

Dee,

Fall is here and I can’t stop thinking of you. I know that you’re dead - Dara told me that you’re more than dead, you’re gone - but I can’t stop myself from looking for you in everything. I know we planned to carve pumpkins this Halloween, and I keep staring at yours. I didn’t carve mine, either. They’re both starting to rot. Dara keeps telling me I need to throw them out, but… not yet. I can’t do it yet. 

We buried you. Or… the body you lived in. I go and sit by your grave but I can’t feel you there. That makes sense - you’re not there. Even if there is such a thing as ghosts, Eva and Dara keep telling me that you could never be one. You’re not in heaven or hell. You weren’t exorcized after being stabbed, you just… stopped. But… please, Dee. I’m begging you to please be alive, in some way. Even if you choose to haunt me, please, please, I don’t care. Just something that would show that you’re still with me. Even if you were angry. Even if you hated me. Even if I never got to see you again because you were sent somewhere I could never be. As long as you were still alive, it would be alright. As long as I didn’t have to live with the fact that I got you killed, I could stand to be haunted by you. 

I looked for you, Dee. We looked for you. I’m sorry it took us so long to find you, and I’m sorry we got so little time together, but I looked for you. I wish I could tell you that you never deserved any of it. I saw in your eyes that you thought you did. It was a lie. It was a lie, Dee. 

I go to the playground where you were taken every day. I try to remember how it felt in those last few happy moments we had together. I try to feel something of you that might still be there. I try to think of what I could have done to stop you from being taken. I would have done anything, Dee… I’m so, so sorry. It was my fault. I’m so sorry. 

Please still be with me, somewhere in the world or beyond it. Please find your way back to me. Please still be alive. Please come back home to me. I’ll never let you go again, if you will just let me prove it to you. I’m so, so sorry. Please come back to me, Dee. Please. 

I’ll wait for you. As long as it takes, I will wait.

Love,

Ilya.

@womping-grounds , @free-2bmee , @quirkykayleetam , @walkingchemicalfire , @inpainandsuffering , @redwingedwhump , @burtlederp , @castielamigos-whump-side-blog , @whatwhumpcomments , @whumpywhumper , @stxck-fxck ,  @whumps-the-word , @justwhumpitwhumpitgood,  @inky-whump ,  @orchidscript , @inkyinsanity , @this-mightaswell-happen , @newandfiguringitout , @whumpkitty , @pebbledriscoll , @im-just-here-for-the-whump , @endless-whump , @grizzlie70 , @oops-its-whump , @kixngiggles, @1phoenixfeather , @butwhatifyouwrite , @carnagecardinal , @laves-here, @mylifeisonthebookshelf , @wolfeyedwitch , @batfacedliar , @also-finder-of-rings , @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump, @extrabitterbrain, @i-eat-worlds

[oriorchids]

whumptober day 3 - venom (alt prompt)

You bite back your words before you could lash out. Your throat tastes bitter.

[how-much-for-a-whump]

WHUMPCEMBER day 4:

Altprompt: "Forced to watch"

Bambaşka Biri 10. Bölüm

@whumpcember

[distant-screaming]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Persona 4 Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Amagi Yukiko/Satonaka Chie, Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu Characters: Amagi Yukiko, Satonaka Chie, Hanamura Yosuke, Narukami Yu Additional Tags: Fluff, Humor, Established Relationship, Amagi Yukiko-centric, Canon Universe, Friendship, Hair Braiding, Studying Series: Part 15 of Flufftober 2024 Summary:

Chie has a habit of fiddling with things. Yukiko is pretty sure she's not fully aware of it, but it's incredibly cute.

Oh, Yu and Yosuke are there too.

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober Day 22:

"They never saw us coming, 'till they hit the floor."

Glass shard | Vehicular accident | "Watch out!"

Alt. Prompt: no.4 decoy

Fandom: Voltron

Prompts used: All

So this one is a little rushed as well, cause I wanted to put so much but needed to keep it short lol. Like with day 21 I tried to do angst with another character, but Lance still got most of it. I have too many headcanons dudes. Also the lyric was used like an inside joke, I will come up with a moment if someone asks lol.

TW for OC character death and like mentions of Lances near/death experiences.

…

Space was weird.

They all knew it, each new experience up here reminded them that their life was this crazy mess now. That they had to figure out how to face everything as it came at them, because it could mean the end of their lives or that of the universe if they didn't.

Lance knew this intimately, he'd looked death in the face a few times from different distances, had kissed him once for the briefest moment- though it left a chill in his bones even still. He wonders if Shiro has that chill sometimes, the man never seemed cold, but that didn't mean anything really.

He stares at the mess before him, ears ringing, cheek pressed against the cold floor- where was his helmet?- and shards of glass- the space equivalent anyway, he couldn't recall the name- scattered everywhere he looked. He moves his arm across the floor, the drag of something in his arm stinging something terrible, to help push himself up. He had things to do, he had to make sure the team was okay, there were bad guys to beat.

His body protests every movement, but as he gets his knees under him, gets his bearings, what he's supposed to be doing comes back to him like a hammer to the gut.

"Quiznack. Alright Lance, you have a job to do."

Standing is hard, but he handles it with a spite like determination, his helmet is nearby, the view screen cracked and pretty beat up, but necessary for his mission. The comms are wrecked, a squeal in his ear, static, a word or two, and more feedback than anything, he switches it off.

"Looks like I'm on my own." What's new?

He adjusts his armor, grimacing at the red color, so used to the familiar soothing blues, but it's temporary, it had a purpose. His wrist HUD is a little glitchy, and he finds a large shard of glass sticking out of his arm, but his directions are visible and the shard- shars probably- is fine for now. Something about pulling it out seems like a bad idea without bandages- a bitter thought about how his original armor definitely had bandages in it crosses his mind but he pushes it away.

"Alright, big bady shouldn't be far, just plug in the device, get his attention and run. You got this, you can handle this." The building- the one belonging to the overlord of this planet, the overlord they are trying to overthrow to free the people- is surprisingly neat and guard free as Lance makes his way through the halls towards the grid he's supposed to plug the device into. "Keith better appreciate this."

It's even more worrying to find the very important server room where the grid lays to also be unguarded, but he's gonna take what he can get. Once the little light on the device Pidge gave him turns green, he leaves the room, seals the door, and begins part 2.

"Alright, Mission pretending to be Keith to distract the bad guy is a go." He mumbles.

Pulling his bayard out he takes a deep breath, and runs.

Keith paces the length of his cell, fury burning in every nerve. He can't believe he got captured, and he wasn't even on a dang mission! He was just shopping! But he'd asked about Voltron- he just wanted to hear how they were doing- and someone had heard and suddenly he was being interrogated by some huge guy who hit like a quiznacking truck, and they wanted the Red Paladin, but Keith was a Blade now, Lance was the Blue-Turned-Red Paladin and he wouldn't freakin tell this snoz where Lance was.

But now he was alone, with at least a broken rib if the wheeze in his breathing meant anything, with no way out unless he could get this dang darn door to-

Open…

The door just, opened. No one outside of it, he hadn't done anything to it- besides kick it, but his foot just hurt from that so- and now it was-

"Don't have all day, dummy." A voice- oh so familiar- comes from the electric lock pad on the door, Pidges little gremlin hacker head laughing on the screen.

"Pidge, how did you guys even know I was here??" Keith steps out of his cell, looking around the deserted hallway.

"Kolivan noted your absence and didn't tell us he was worried, or to come find you, nope."

"And you guys came to find me? How'd you hack in remotely?" Keith is touched that not only did Kolivan contact his team for him, but that his team came for him at all.

"Keith, I will literally answer all your questions if you can get out of there alive. Lance is distracting the big guy-"

"What!? The really big dude that hits like a truck!?" Keith feels panic swirl in his aching gut, but Lance was probably distance fighting so it was fi-

"He'll be fine, he's being you, now get out of their numbskull."

"What do you mean, being me?"

"Seriously Kei-"

"Pidge! The guy has been looking for the Red Paladin, he beat the quiznack out of me for information. Please tell me Lance isn't-"

"Keith." Shiro's voice filters through the small speaker, "Get out of there, and Lance will follow the plan."

"The plan, Shiro please tell me you didn't purposefully send Lance-"

"He's the Decoy, because you are the Red Paladin Keith-"

"You did a whole damn show about how I definitely wasn't the Red Paladin anymore! Shiro this guy has no guards, he doesn't need them, tell me where Lance is or so help me-"

"Pidge-"

"No! You didn't tell us any of that!! Keith he's in the East wing of the building! Hurry! We lost contact after his pod entered the premises!"

"Shit!" Keith takes off down the hallway, telling his protesting body to shut up, he had to get to Lance!

Lance is beginning to think the universe is telling him something. Like yeah, it has been telling him a lot of things- he's working on it- but this 'always close to dying' thing was getting old. Like, he gets it, he sucks, but chill.

He ducks under another swing, keeping his breaths short as he bends, and comes up to shoot at the hulking aliens back. His skin sizzles and he roars, but he simply turns to come at Lance again.

"You've got issues dude." Lance pants, head spinning.

“Perhaps, but one will be taken care of as soon as I am through with you.” He growls back, taking Keith’s luxite blade from his waistband and raising the dagger threateningly.

Lance gives his own growl,

“That doesn’t belong to you.”

“What, are you going to take it?” He taunts, giving no time for a retort as he lunges.

Lance grits his teeth, his blaster changes last second, flashing into his sword form as he counters the downward strike, twisting just enough to fling the blade from a meaty hand, however, it does not stop the bulldozer from hitting Lance. He grunts, back hitting the wall, sword pinned between them.

“Your time is through, Red Paladin.”

“They never saw us coming,” Lance gives a bloody grin to the confused tyrant.

“‘Till they hit the floor.” Keith’s voice is a growl to join the club, his blade- now elongated- slashes across the aliens back.

Like Lance's shot, it only has the alien lashing out in anger, but Lance is free to join Keith.

“You were supposed to run.” The Cuban comments.

“And let you have all the fun?” Keith gives him a once over, glaring at their opponent angrily at the damage done, “Nice sword.”

“You’ve missed a lot.”

“Then let’s finish this sharpshooter, and you can tell me all about it!”

The battle is on once again, though this time they are on the offensive. Fighting side by side like they’d been doing it all their lives, their team would probably be shocked. Lances bayard changes forms fluidly, Keith hadn’t even known it could take so many for one Paladin, he really had missed a lot. They have the alien tyrant beat, he’s finally swaying on his feet, another blast to the knee and a cut to his ankle, has him going down hard.

“Ha! ‘Till they hit the floor!”

Lance's face, obscured by blood as it is, lights up in a way Keith realized he had missed very much. In the few video calls home he’d made during his time with the blade, the team had seemed different, Lance had stood on the edges, a frown on his lips that unsettled Keith. He never wanted this smile to leave the Cuban again. He moves closer, hand outstretched, to say something, when the smile falls,

“Watch out!”

Keith is shoved out of the way, as Lance takes the charging alien in his stead. Everything seems to blur as time slows and speeds forward at the same time somehow, Keith’s ears ring, his feet feel like he’s running through sludge, there’s a shout, a noise, the tumbling figures stop moving.

“LANCE!” He shoves at the lifeless form, dead weight taking all his might to roll off. There’s a smoldering hole between his eyes, and Lance is wheezing but alive.

“S’ry mullet, gonna need yer h’lp ag’n.”

“I got you, sharpshooter. Just stay with me.”

“Yer bad at math too.” His mumbles taper off, his eyes sliding closed.

Keith doesn’t remember getting him to the Castle, doesn’t recall getting him into a pod, but he's stationed before one now, refusing to leave Lance's side until it spits him out, because he knows Lance hates them. Shiro, or rather his lookalike, is in stasis in another pod, Lotor too even further apart from the Cuban. Things had gone to shit, but they could handle it… together.

[x688plsloveme]

Mistaken Identity

Danai gets beat up horribly and wakes up, pain medication still coursing through her body, and mistakes Hancock for her late husband.

Hancock bursts into the clinic, panicking in a way he hasn't felt in years. He's uncaring of the volunteers as he shoves them aside to the head doctor. He doesn't know her name - doesn't care either - all he knows is that she would be the one to do surgery on Danai. On the woman he's given his heart to.

She looks startled when he stops in front of her. He speaks, "Where. Is. She?"

Understanding flashes across her face. "She's down the hall, second door to your left."

He doesn't even say thank you before sprinting to her room. Here, he calms down, knowing that Danai could very well be able to hear everything happening outside her room. He doesn't want to stress her out further.

He opens the door and there she is. All the tension in him washes away immediately when he sees her, healing and breathing and alive. He smiles. He moves to close the short distance between them, but he doesn't get two steps before he hears her.

"Nate?"

His heart sinks into his stomach.

Of course Hancock knows who Nate is, but that doesn't make the reality of her calling out for another man any less painful. He's the one with her now. He's the one who's been with her through most of her journey in this hellscape. He's the one who loves her every day through thick and thin.

"Nate, come here."

His hands get shaky. Her mind doesn't even go to him. He can hear in her voice that she has a lot of Med-X in her body - at least that explains something. It still hurts and he wants to leave, but he's never refused her before. He makes his way over to her and sits down on the bed beside her, avoiding her hand when she reaches out to grab his. His heart squeezes when she makes a small, sad sound because of it, but he loves her too much to shatter her dream.

If Nate is what she needs, Nate is who she's gonna get.

He instead pats her on the head, running his hand over her locks in what he hopes is a soothing gesture.

She hums, content. He continues to do this for a few minutes, thoughts racing around his head as he struggles to not disturb her with him anxiously bouncing his leg.

She quietly asks, "Talk to me Nate. Feels like for'ver since I heard you."

Hancock cringes and stops his movements. He weighs in his head whether he should try to oblige or not - if she would notice how gravely his voice is in her drugged, half-asleep state.

He struggles to keep his voice from shaking and says, "I'm here."

There's a pinch in her brow for a moment before she relaxes again. "Must be sick," she mumbles. She nestles into her pillows some more, looking seconds away from drifting off.

"I love you, Nate," is the last thing she says before falling asleep again.

Hancock stays there for a while, tears welling up in his eyes as he finally grabs her hand. He's gentle - couldn't be anything else with her if he wanted to. Every flaw of his runs through his brain as he tries to figure out why she didn't call out for him once. He sinks to the floor, kneeling and clutching her hand as the tears begin to fall. He needs to do better. Needs to be more for her. Needs to do something. There has to be a reason!

Right?

He looks at her, tears obscuring his vision slightly. She looks so peaceful even with all the bandages and tubes on and in her. She's beautiful. He will figure out how to be better to her. He knows he can't live without her.

He brings her hands to his lips, placing a tender kiss on her knuckles.

"I love you too, Sunshine."

[den-of-the-jadewizard]

Whumptober: Day Four: I see the danger, it's written there in your eyes

A/N: YOU TAKE THE MOON AND YOU TAKE THE MOON AND YOU TAKE THE MOON AND YOU TAKE THE MOON AND YOU TAKE THE MOON AND YOU TAKE THE MOON AND YOU TAKE THE-

Or Moon gets some bad news and Rivulet has to do something they really don't want to do.

It was an average cycle...at least for Ruffles.

Water flooded into Moon's systems, willingly this time as her cooling system tried to keep up with the pure overwhelming anxiety she felt. It honestly felt like she was having the iterator equivalent of a panic attack right then. Her systems hitched, a low buzzing emanating from her puppet.

Something crawled into her lap, she flinched but quickly realized that it was Ruffles. She clung tightly to them as they made strange sounds of what could be attempts at comforting her. Eventually the panic subsided, and she lessened her grip.

Ruffles stayed on her lap for a while longer, looking up at her, they seemed a bit worried about her still. Clearly whatever that was could not have been good for her. A lot of things weren't.

"I'm fine, Ruffles," She lied, "You don't have to worry."

One of their brows raised, doubt on their face. Moon paused, anxiety biting her once more, but she buried it down. She couldn't tell them what she knew, what she just found out today. It would break their heart; she couldn't let it happen.

"It's okay," she said, attempting to more convince herself rather than them.

It would be fine. They would be long gone before it became an issue to her.

They still didn't seem to believe her, however they squirmed out of her grip, moving to the far side of the island, where they kept some left-over fruits for dinner. They slowly munched on the fruit, Ruffles doing anything slow was unusual, and Moon has never seen anyone eat so anxiously before.

Oh, Ruffles...

She froze, something catching her optics, hot pink lurking near her chamber, she silently alerted Ruffles to it as well in case of it being a predator. Both stared out of the chamber's damaged hull, waiting for it to show itself.

To their surprise, it was an overseer. However, it was one Moon had not recognized. It hadn't belonged to anyone of her local group, it was quite unusual to see an overseer so far from its iterator as well.

It was quite mysterious really.

"H-hello, I do not recognize who you are from, overseer," She stuttered a bit, "I suppose there is not much here for you or who is watching behind your lens. My coms have been down for quite some time as well."

The overseer took this information in, nodding strictly in affirmation, then it looked to Ruffles who was cocking their head to the side like a confused lizard pup. The overseer made a strange warbling noise, to which the slugcat perked up at, chirping at it.

It made sounds and they replied, it was clear they understood one another somehow. Moon watched them chatter with one another, musing that someone else from other far lands had somehow made a translator for these creatures. 

She had to admit that she was slightly jealous of its ability to communicate with slugcats. It would be practical if not at least recreative to understand them.

The overseer nudged itself towards Moon while warbling what sounded like a question. It took a moment for Ruffles to reply, but then they suddenly dropped to the floor making mock explosion noises.

Moon pondered this interaction for a whole minute, but then it clicked, it wondered what had happened to her.

"I've suffered a total structural collapse due to a... drought that had occurred some time ago," She rattled off numerous damages, as well as error codes they would find interesting if they could decode it.

The overseer nodded at her, seeming to understand the graveness of her state, then it looked to Ruffles again with a sound. They perked up at whatever it said to them, they gazed back and forth from Moon to it several times, before they warbled in awe and asked something.

It nodded at them, then it said something that made them flinch in response. The world itself seemed to slow as they stood there wide eyed, it seemed it wasn't anything good that was said.

It looked at Moon again almost morosely, then the overseer almost threw itself to the side to avoid a rock that was chucked at it. 

Both it and Moon stared as Ruffles heaved, their slick fur bristling and their body writhing in apparent agitation. Then they got in front of Moon; arms outstretched in defense of her.

The overseer made another sound, placating.

Ruffles snarled at it.

It said another word before it turned and left them both.

They panted for a moment, lingering for a bit longer before trudging back to Moon and laying against her side. Ruffles sighed grumpily.

What could've possibly gotten into them? Moon pondered. What did it say that incurred such wrath in them? Maybe she would never know, but it was clear it was not good, and it had upset them greatly. She placed comforting hand against their back.

"Ruffles... The cycle is almost over. It's not safe here, you should take shelter."

They only huffed in response.

Moon hummed. They could stay a few minutes more she supposed.

...

Her systems shuttered, metaphorical heart dropping when she got the news from her status report. No... this couldn't be happing, and so soon? Now? Was this some sick joke the ancients were playing on her?

She thought she had more time, but she didn't.

It was too late now.

Moon sat there on her little island. On the outside she seemed calm, but she was screaming on the inside. She was almost as terrified as the time she was when she collapsed. It should've been expected really at some point, it was a long time coming for her.

She just couldn't believe after all this time, and after everything that this would happen.

The sound of something splashing into the water broke her out of her stupor. Ruffles approached her island, carrying a pearl for her to read.

Moon tried to ignore how she felt as she automatically rattled on what was written on the pearl. It almost worked, she could almost forget, almost pretend that she wouldn't-

She screeched in pain as her sight flashed red with errors, her puppet convulsing on the floor in a seizure, pearl left forgotten on the ground. Ruffles rushed towards her, franticly whining in concern. Moon just laid there even after gaining reason back, she numbly gazed at them for long while. Eventually she sat up, gazing down at her island.

"I'm not okay," She admits finally, dragging circles in the sand with her digits. "I didn't want to tell you...that everything you did was for nothing and I..."

She sighed, resting her hands on her knees.

"I'm dying, Ruffles."

The admission went through them like bolt of lightning, the whole world stopped and seemed to spin at the same time, their heart had clearly shattered, like a cyan lizard smashing through a glass pane.

Ruffles cocked their head to the side, wabbling franticly like a drowning creature, a question she knew without words.

Why!?

Moon was reluctant to say, avoiding their gaze. She didn't want to, but she knew they wouldn't just let this go. Finally, she relented.

"You know how Pebbles is sick?" She started, "And how you gave me that power orb from him? Some of his sickness snuck onto it before you got there..." She trailed off.

Ruffles paused, thinking in concentration as they mulled over her words, trying to understand what she meant.

Their legs bucked underneath themselves sending them onto their haunches, horror washed over all of their features as they stared at nothing, chest rising and falling rapidly in apparent hyperventilation, the realization had stuck them with an unrelenting terror.

Ruffles had killed Moon.

Inadvertently.

"It's not your fault, Ruffles!" Moon pleaded, "It's not your fault."

They slowly moved their gaze up to stare at her, horror still etched onto their face.

"I didn't want you to know...to grieve me and morn. I simply thought...I thought I had more time."

Ruffles limbs grew slack, shoulders slumping as their expression grew grave. They then did a gesture with their hands, small fingers flexing back and forth.

How long do you have left?

"I feel the strain in my systems is a more aggressive and faster growing version of Pebble's rot. Perhaps it had adapted to his attempts to rid himself of it..." She cut her musings off with a sigh, an estimate coming to her in quick fashion, "Five cycles at most."

For the third time this cycle another shock smashed into them. That was not very long at all, considering how quick cycles seemed to be now a days.

"I- it's not safe here, Ruffles...you should leave-"

The slugcat lunged and buried themselves into her arms. They made heart wrenching whines as they held on tight to the iterator. Moon couldn't help but break down as well holding on to them just as tightly and for the first time in a long while...

She cried over the tragedy of it all.

...

The next few cycles were spent awkwardly.

Ruffles refused to leave Moon's side till the rain came once again and they had to part. Moon reasoned that even when she died, that they still wouldn't leave till the rot had consumed every inch of her and leave nothing left to morn.

The thought was heartbreaking enough on its own.

They grieved of course until they're tears were spent, then they sat in the silence trying to enjoy what was left of their time together. There were moments where they could just pretend everything was fine, that they would always see each other on the next cycle. Joy was had rarely as the thought of it all ending soon always damped it, snuffing it out quick as it happened.

There were times where Moon caught Ruffles staring at her strangely, as if they were pondering about something.

Then on the last cycle it happened again, this time very early as well. They stared at Moon again, but this time it was different, she could tell. That look unnerved her greatly, she couldn't place why. As the gaze continued to bore down on her, her biological side screamed at her that this wasn't right, her logical side concluded her feelings however.

Ruffles was staring at her like a predator, her body treating them like they were a threat to her wellbeing.

They started to breath heavily all of sudden, their tiny fists balling as they glared at the ground. It was all concerning.

"R-Ruffles...?" She stuttered out, nervousness clear on her tone.

They sighed hard, body unclenching and after a moment they suddenly looked up at her again, this time their expression was determined anger, as if they had steeled themselves for a hard task that had to be done.

As they slowly approached her, Moon writhed backing as far away from them as arm would let her, soon her legs futilely kicked across the sand unable to gain more ground from them.

"Ruffles, you're scaring me!" She claimed, "What are you-!"

They went around her till they stood behind her, staring at her back where her wires were.

"No! You shouldn't go back there it's-"

Ruffles grabbed one of her wires and yanked as hard as they could.

Moon screamed, warnings flashed into her mind, the pain overwhelmed all and any senses, it was one of the worst pains she had ever felt, and she had suffered much agony before.

When she came back from the blinding pain, she found herself on the floor, tears blurring her optics. Ruffles stood there next to her, one of her cords dislodged entirely in their hands, they let it drop to the floor and gave her a sympathetic glance before getting behind her again and grabbing another wire.

"Don't-!"

They yanked another out sending her back into the agony again.

In a pain induced panic, she lunged at the slugcat, intending to stop them at all costs, but it was clear Ruffles was far stronger than her and after a quick struggle she found herself pinned to the ground.

They laid on her back, their hands and feet pinning her limbs down, tail slapped upon her head, preventing all and any movement.

As she felt their teeth sink into the next wire, the horrible realization that there was nothing she could do washed over Moon like the rain. She could do nothing but scream and writhe under the torment her friend was causing to her.

She felt utterly helpless.

"W-hy...doing-doing this-s-s?" She stuttered out, voice horse and glitching out, "Ru-ru-ffles...please-se-se..."

The pain was started to fade, dulling as the errors quickly became less frequent as well, eventually stopping altogether, she would've found it strange if the pain and grief didn't eat her alive.

The last thing Moon felt was Ruffles sinking their teeth into the final cord on her back, then nothing.

...

The first thought that came to Moon was that she did not expect to ever wake again after all of that...

All of that?

She stilled when the memories came flooding back, the sight of Ruffles standing on the far side of the island filling her with anger.

"YOU!!!"

Moon pointed an accusatory finger at them, they flinched under her gaze, almost shrinking. Despite the lingering ache of her body, she furiously made her way towards them to give them a piece of her mind.

"HOW COULD YOU!?" She demanded.

With every step she took, Ruffles took another one back, till eventually they slipped and fell backwards into the water. They quickly rightened themselves to glance guiltily at Moon and then avoid her gaze.

She continued to approach them, screaming.

"I TRUSTED YOU! AND-"

She could feel as if she were about to cry but her mood snapped, mild surprise overcoming her as she noticed the feeling of cool water up to her neck. She glanced down, she was in the water.

What...?

But how? Her arm couldn't reach that far...unless.

Moon looked behind her and everything that happened became clear to her.

Her umbilical cord lay on the island barren and empty. She wasn't attached to it anymore.

How could this be?

Ruffles warbled next to her worriedly.

"...That's what they suggested, wasn't it?"

The lack of answer said everything she needed to know.

[voidwhump]

Day 4, Alt. 1: Betrayal

Behold! A guy with a name! This is Kiah, who you will see later under the title Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

Ingredients: Environmental whump, fucked up workplace

Despite how nice it felt to be wearing half decent equipment, Kiah couldn’t shake their nerves. They were looping over the sequence that had been laid out for them as their partner led the way into the thickening smog.

They were only paying just enough attention to avoid tripping over their own feet, jutting flakes of sharp, volcanic rock jabbing them through their heat proof pants whenever they looked up for too long. Get there, let your buddy watch your back, leave quickly. They hadn’t been given much to do, despite this apparently being some sort of skill test for them. It was probably just the environment then.

The heat was already suffocating, even through the layers of protection they wore, and the smoke was getting so thick they could barely see their partner only a few feet ahead. Kiah squinted, rubbing some grime off the outside of the glass shielding their eyes, and briefly sped up, hoping to close the distance a bit. This proved to be a mistake.

They barely registered the bruising pain in their shin before they went down hard, almost smacking their face on another rocky shard that probably would have shattered the lenses in their mask. Groaning, they got back to their knees, blinking reflexive tears out of their eyes.

“Wait up, would you? I can’t see fuckin anything,”

Their voice sounded muffled, as if the smoke absorbed the sound. No one responded.

“Hello?”

They stood up, shifting their weight around and finding that they could stand fine. Probably just a bruise. The cavern was dead silent. There wasn’t much water down here anymore, and not a lot of things liked to spend much time in temperatures this extreme. Before, they could at least hear the footsteps ahead of them, slightly out of synch with their own, but even those were gone now. 

“If you’re messing with me just because you think I scare easy, you’ll be fuckin sorry when you don’t get any credit for the haul I’m about to get. By myself.”

Still nothing. Even though it wouldn’t be out of character for their lovely coworkers to try to haze them or something, there was also a chance that he just hadn’t noticed them fall and kept walking. They palmed the cibite compass they’d been provided, just in case, and felt the weight shift in their hand as the small, drained crystal inside rolled towards the closest charge it could find. They could do this, even if they had been abandoned they should probably be where they were expected to be anyway. They set off, holding the route shown and described to them in their mind as vividly as possible. 

Or maybe they couldn’t do this. The heat had gotten steadily worse as they walked, which they were expecting to a degree, but the air cleared suddenly, all the smog trapped at the ceiling, and they rapidly retreated from what was clearly a set of active heat vents. They didn’t expel anything but heat, and some light, but the air shimmering around the cracked, rocky mounds made them look almost malevolent. 

Even the split second of being within ten feet of the thing had them pressing their hands through their gloves, checking to see if they’d still managed to burn themself somehow. It didn’t seem like it, but this route was absolutely not the right one. They backtracked in their head. They had been hoping for a straight shot, but that wasn’t working out. They hadn’t been paying much attention to the forks they passed, so they turned around to check again. It’s not like they wouldn’t be making the walk anyway. 

Kiah passed up the first few, their educated guess being dead ends or more vents, but finally they stopped at one and considered. It was hotter at the entrance, but the passage dipped down very slightly. It could be that the path itself would be a bit cooler, and the more they thought about it the more they felt like they recognized a few features that their supervisor had been talking about earlier. If those features actually described when they should make a turn was up in the air, but they figured this was an alright choice. They chipped a visible slice out of the fragile layers of rock around the fork with their chisel, marking it as already traveled and which direction was out.

Luckily, it seems that the route they picked was a pretty straight shot. After a little ways of tunnel and a weirdly circular cavern, the heat returns and they enter a relatively narrow crevasse packed full of cibite. The crystals refract the light from their lamp hundreds of times over, lighting the whole area with a flickering, yellowish glow. 

There’s still no sign of their partner, or anyone else. Kiah rolls their eyes and gets to work anyway. Time is still of the essence, as their supervisor put it. These tunnels are unstable, and waiting around might mean the difference between your way out still being there when you get back and your route being blocked. They start chipping away at the crystal, breaking thin spines of it off at the base and sliding them into the set of insulated tubes they’d been given to transport them. 

It’s not fast work, but they’ve never been a slacker. They’ve wedged themself a ways into the crevasse at this point, two thirds of their containers filled. It’s an extra 40 pounds, or just about, but the walk back won’t be too long now that they know their route for almost sure. 

They’re scoping out their next target when a distant scratching, clicking sound they’ve been ignoring abruptly shifts and echos in the space behind them. Kiah turns, holding their light behind a nearby cibite spire to amplify the light without pinpointing their location to whatever is approaching. It doesn’t sound like earth moving the way it did from a distance. 

A shadow on the wall appears, a many legged, flat backed omen of the creature casting it. Kiah doesn’t stick around for the real thing. They force their way into the crowded space ahead of them, counting on this crevasse not to put the dead in dead end.

Smaller cibite spines break off and shatter around them as they force their way deeper. Whatever’s behind them is still moving after them, hardened limbs creating soft chimes as its steps impact the crystals. There’s a branching tunnel up ahead, and Kiah takes a gamble on a tight but direct squeeze. They lose. A hidden cibite spike catches the treated fabric of their suit and punctures it. It misses their skin by inches, but the heat of the environment invades their protective coating. The crystal itself burns against their skin, making a sharp line of heat across their side and back that brings them one step closer to real panic. 

The creature behind them speeds up, encouraged by their predicament. They pull to the side, yanking the crystal out of their suit, away from their body. One of the cylinders they’re carrying is lost in their rush, catching on the same spike and rolling out of reach. Pushing past, tight to the crystals on their other side, Kiah sprints down the tunnel. They can’t move as quickly as they’d like, those familiar shards of rock impeding them, but they can move fast enough. The thing behind them didn’t have an easy time getting to this path either, but the rhythmic tapping behind them has resumed. It’s getting louder, they likely couldn’t see it through the fog even if they checked, but it’s probably gaining on them. 

The temperature starts to rise, and despite the situation they slow. They come to a stop as the pervasive fog starts to thin, and once again they are face to face with a set of heat vents. Kiah’s stomach drops. The thought that they actually might end up dead hadn’t really sunk in until right that second. Then, they recognize the vents. They’re the same ones they ran into earlier, and now that they’re looking from the other side they can see it’s only fifty feet or so until they’d be out of the heat. With their suit punctured though…

The steps of the creature speed and stop, and as they feel the air move behind them through the hole in their suit they realize the thing just jumped at them. They don’t have a choice. Kiah runs all out, not caring about getting closer to the vents than they technically have to. They’ll get burned either way. Even the parts of their body still protected are prickling in the oppressive heat, their chest hurting with every inhale. The area exposed to the heat started blistering the second they cleared the fog, and they can only hope they clear the vents before there’s permanent damage.

And then they’re through. They immediately trip again, over a fog obscured rock shard, landing hard on their knees before taking the rest of the impact more gracefully on their side. Kiah just lies there. The rocky floor digs into them through their suit, aggravating the minor burns that probably cover any part of their body where the suit fit even a little bit tight.

Their body aches, the strain of the actual work they did compounding with the burns and bruises. They’re sweaty, blistered, and still don’t know where the fuck their partner went. They get up, slowly. On top of it all, they’re actually crying a bit now. They can’t wipe their face through their mask so they just blink until their vision clears somewhat. There isn’t any real emotion behind it, so they’ll probably stop soon. They’re just tired.

It’s a long walk back to the company checkpoint. It probably takes them twice the time on the way back, hurting and weighed down with the cibite. Eventually the bright lights of the little underground shack go from distant blurs to defined lamps, and as they approach they see not only their supervisor, waiting as she said she would be, but also their alleged partner. They aren’t even upset anymore, nothing to be done about it now.

“Did I miss something?” Kiah sheds the cylinders into the racks placed just inside the shack, metal clanking on metal as they separate the filled containers from the empty ones.

“It looks like you didn’t miss much, you filled more than half of those all by yourself?” 

Well at least they’re impressive. 

“Sure. Wasn’t expecting to though, what happened to him?” They gesture at the guy who was supposed to be with them. 

“Oh, this was all you! Don’t worry, you’ll be compensated accordingly, you just never know what’s going to happen in the field, you know?”

Oh. That manages to ignite the last fuck they have to give. 

“If something else like this happens, I’ll make an educated guess and straight back. I don’t see why… messing with me like this would make for good training.” Kiah looks around for somewhere to sit. Their body is done for the day. Probably done for the next several days.

“You’ll get it once you’ve gotten some rest. Come on, lets get you back to first aid, looks like you need it,” She takes their arm on their less burned side.

They glance over their shoulder at the collaborator in this stupid scheme. He doesn’t look particularly apologetic. He’d better not be getting paid for this.

[frighteneddraz]

Anthology of Arik 4

Triggers: Torture, gore, slavery, human experimentation, imprisonment, amputation, self mutilation

Some of these are more implied than overt, but again, I'd rather overtag than undertag. Thank you for reading my edgy nonsense.

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

Arik didn’t have long, Malkion would be back soon. He pulled at the shackle holding his right hand, there was a tearing sensation, a sickening squelch, and suddenly… his hand was free. Next came the left, as the skin on his right regrew, Arik pulled with all his weight, the left was tighter though. So Arik pulled repeatedly, a pop, a crack, the sound of flesh being stretched and torn and an exquisite agony that radiated up Arik’s arm into his shoulder, then up his neck before pinging off his brain. Taking the hand, he reattached it to its stump, the flesh knitting back together in the darkened lab Arik had occupied for… he wasn’t sure how long. He would find out soon though. 

Arik looked at the hell that had been his home, his eyes had adapted to see in the dark, part of his bodies mutations according to Malkion, damp grey stone walls lined with rusting steel pipes. He was naked, as he had been since shortly after his arrival, but he was strong, and it was time to make his escape. But… a familiar dark voice spoke in the back of his mind, the Beast, as he had come to call it. Kill him. He has chained you here, torturing you for his own pleasure, make him scream as he made you scream. Make him suffer as he did you. You can do it. You have the power now. Arik considered the Beast’s words, a dark smile spreading across his scarred face.

The preparations were set, Arik had made a batch of the elixir Malkion had created for his unhealing wounds, a double batch, in fact. Malkion was late, by Arik’s reckoning, but that suited him fine, it gave him time. He was strong, but Malkion was far from weak, so those hours were crucial. The Elixir was made into a trap, one which would blind Malkion, as he had so many times to Arik, from there, Arik would push him against the wall and chain him there. Then… he would begin his own dark work. The thought filled Arik with more cruel glee than he would ever admit.

Malkion strolled into the lab in a chipper mood, he had broken subject 116 after all, things were going his way. Now for his favorite subject. The first thing that hit him, as always, was the smell of blood and chemicals, subject 10 was the only one who he kept in his personal lab and as always the aroma of him was glorious. The second thing was a new sensation… fear, as he saw the shackles on the wall lay empty. Subject 10 had escaped. No, no, no, no… The third thing that hit him was yet another new sensation: agony.

Arik watched the door handle turn as he hid in what would be Malkion’s blind spot, ready to cover the bastard in the acid he called an elixir. Malkion was smiling, and humming, carrying his supplies for today's experiments, including that sword. Perfect. Arik could barely contain his glee as he poured the elixir all over the mad scientist’s head, aiming to get most of it on the front side; he was largely successful, given the screaming and the fact Malkion dropped the experiment supplies to clutch uselessly at his face.

Without missing a beat, Arik kicked Malkion in the back, sending him sprawling forward, but caught his right arm, and swung his body into the back wall. Malkion still hadn’t registered what was happening, the pain taking away any situational awareness he otherwise would have had, and soon, he was being chained as Arik had. Quickly, Arik took the healing potion he had brewed and poured it over Malkion’s eyes, restoring them so that he could gaze upon his precious Experimental weapon: subject 10. 

Laughing darkly Arik looked down at Malkion, his face hideously scarred by the acid, and his newly restored eyes filled with fear and despair. “Well Malkion, what was your most recent Experiment number? 119? That would make you experiment 120, correct? Now, let’s begin expanding your limits, shall we? Hahahaha! AHAHAHAHAH!”

Now it was Malkion’s turn to scream. And scream he did, Arik kept him alive for days, butchering him and tormenting him in uncountable creative ways, until he was wholly unrecognizable. Even as he begged for Arik to kill him, Arik, no… The Beast that Malkion had created, had finalized the form of, had given purpose to, laughed in his face. Malkion wanted it to end. Subject 120 begged. Pleaded, but The Beast would not relent. Would not let him rest. Subject 120 died, not from his wounds, The Beast would not allow that, instead, his heart gave out. He died of agony, and as Arik had once promised, when he arrived in the Hells below, he wept for joy, for the devils were not half-so creative as Arik had become in the 6 years Malkion had known him as Experimental Weapon: Subject 10.

Arik looked at the skinless corpse that had once been the great Alchemist Malkion of Vildholm. He felt a profound emptiness. The glee that had come with his vengeance, the dark joy of watching his own personal subject suffer was spent. All that remained was darkness. He left and only now did he remember the others. Those dubbed experiments 115-119, the most recent batch of poor fuckers Malkion had obtained for his twisted research.

He found 115 in her cell. She had once, probably, been pretty. Malkion’s experiments had turned her dark hair white, her now lifeless eyes a light brown, her skin a deep golden tan, and on her neck Arik found a holy symbol. She had once been a cleric, or perhaps a paladin, Arik realized. The fact she wore her holy symbol meant that Malkion had broken her. Arik closed her eyes, he wanted to cry, but the all consuming darkness in Arik’s heart prevented that.

116 was a large fellow, a mite taller than Arik, and he had been decidedly handsome, pale skin with blonde hair and blue eyes with high cheekbones. Arik noticed something, he had learned enough from being experimented on to recognize that this man had likely been… alive when Arik had begun his vengeance. He had died of thirst. Arik closed his eyes too, guilt burning in his breast, but he took some small solace noticing that he too, bore a holy symbol around his neck. A cleric? A paladin? He wasn’t sure but… He hadn’t cost someone their life who wasn’t already dead.

That was what Arik thought at first, but he found 118 alive, the 3 man cell occupied by 117 and 119 as well. 117 appeared to be a high elf, blonde hair and translucent pale skin with emerald green eyes. He was lithe, as most elves tend to be, and relatively tall for a elf, he looked like he had been capable. 119 was likely 117’s sister, as she appeared mostly identical, save for… Arik’s gaze landed on 118, a giantkin of incredible size, a wound on his stomach likely the only reason he was even still here. But he looked tired, and thirsty. Arik realized that he had to move quickly. Running back to the lab, he broke one of the pipes and filled as many containers as he could with water, before returning. 118 drank deeply, downing several liters of water in only a handful of minutes. When he had drank his fill 118 stared Arik down, he looked… angry.

“My friends’d be alive if you hadn’t… I heard the screams. I’m glad that fucker suffered, and I know it’s not fair of me to say this, but… Why the hell didn’t you…” The giantkin looked like he was going to hit Arik, but then… he just deflated. “Leave,” he said, and Arik, not knowing what to say… simply did so.

6 years. That’s how long he’d been in Malkion’s “care”, something he determined by reading some of Malkion’s own notes. He should have killed him and left, but… that wouldn’t have been good enough, whispered that dark voice in Arik’s mind. He needed to suffer, and you made him suffer. Arik couldn’t make himself disagree, and that sickened him. He had lost so much more than time, he had lost something integral. He had lost the ability to look people in the eye and not have them see only the darkest pit of his soul. He had lost his chance at happiness. He had lost much of his humanity. They will know your pain, we will show them, whispered that horrible, beautiful darkness. They will know the fear when they meet your gaze. They will suffer as you have. Arik hated how much that appealed to him. Hated how much he hated everyone. Hated how dark Malkion had made the pit in his soul. He may have broken out, but in the end, Malkion still owned him. Still laid claim to the goodness in his heart. Arik feared he had taken it with him to the grave. Arik feared that he would always be subject 10.